Tim Pawlenty, the man who pardoned a sex offender, went on NBC's "Meet The Press" and other than taking a few jabs at Michele Bachmann, he delivered the traditional "T-Paw" performance. He was incredibly dull to say the least. David Gregory did however bring up one of those "Gotcha-media questions" that conservatives love to complain about. The question was whether or not gay people are born that way or if they choose to be gay. Now we all know that a "GMQ" is any question that a conservative feels uncomfortable answering because they don't have an answer or don't know the answer, but "T-Paw" mowed on through it.
Now before I continue, I will give you Mr. Pawlenty's response.
“There is no scientific conclusion that it's genetic. We don't know that. So we don't know to what extent it's behavioral. That's something that's been debated by scientists for a long time. But as I understand the science, there is no current conclusion that it's genetic.”
Now lets see.
Lawrence King was shot in the head at E.O. Green Junior High in Oxnard, California on February 12, 2008. He would die two days later. Lawrence King was openly gay. He had endured bullying because of it. His killer, Brandon McInerney, is on trial now and faces a possible life sentence if convicted.
Tyler Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge in New York City on September 22, 2010. The reason why he committed suicide is because Dharun Ravi (his roommate) and Molly Wei (a fellow hall-mate) streamed a video of Tyler having sex with another man in his dorm-room. Tyler reported the incident to his school officials.
Asher Brown also committed suicide in September of 2010 because of being repeatedly bullied over many issues. From his size to his religion. Because he didn't wear fancy clothes. Because some of his peers accused him of being gay. His tormentors pushed him down the stairs at his school the day before he took his life. His parents went to the teachers and the administrators and they did nothing. Asher shot himself because he couldn't withstand the constant bullying.
Seth Walsh also killed himself due to the constant bullying because of his sexual orientation. He was bullied before he came out as gay and especially after. His family knew he was gay and they supported him. Did that stop others from constantly menacing him for it? Nope. Not at all. Seth decided to hang himself. He was found unconscious in his backyard and rushed to the hospital where he spent over a week on life support before finally passing away. He also died in September of 2010.
Billy Lucas also committed suicide in September of 2010 (see the pattern here?) He was also heckled constantly because his bullies believed he was gay. He hung himself in his grandmother's backyard.
Then there is Matthew Shepard. I think you get the point I am trying to make here. Why would anybody of these kids choose a lifestyle that would subject them to constant bullying and abuse? Why would any of them choose a lifestyle that would make them a target to vicious homophobes? The answer is simple. They didn't. They didn't choose to be gay. They had no control over that. If they did, don't you think they would've opted out? Who would choose to be tormented, assaulted, killed, or driven to suicide when you can opt out? I know I would opt out. I have a tough time being an open and vocal atheist. I don't need any other complications. Especially if I could choose not to have them. Tim Pawlenty is trying to make a play to gain the homophobic vote on the conservative side. This is how far to the right the GOP is this year. Tolerance is a dead term to these people. We all know that bullying someone is wrong. I'm sure we've all went through some type of bullying in school. The question is why in the hell is cracking down on anti-gay bullying something that conservatives seem to be afraid of? The answer is that most of them hate gays. Too harsh GOP? Too bad.
Tim Pawlenty has stated many times before that he stands for "traditional marriage." He is trying to make gains with the Tea Party vote. Rich Swier, a Tea Party activist, said that anti-gay bullying is healthy peer pressure. It is people like him that Tim Pawlenty are trying to sway. In a way, Tim Pawlenty is just like these kids whose lives came to an unexpected and unnecessary end. They didn't choose to be gay. They were born that way. The bigots could not accept that. I do not believe that Tim Pawlenty's stupidity and ignorance was a choice he made when he decided to run for public office. I believe it is nothing like my atheism. I chose that happily. I believe that he was born that way. I believe T-Paw was born the way he is now. He just had to grow into it. My how he has indeed grown into it lately. However, Mr. Pawlenty shall receive no sympathy from me. If anything, he deserves to be glitterbombed at every single event he attends for the rest of his political career. If Tim Pawlenty wants to hide behind religion and throw his homophobic bombs, fine. He has a right to do so. If he wants to gain the votes of people who do the same, fine. He has a right to do that too. However, we have the right and a duty as Americans to make sure that this homophobic bastard and others like him NEVER become president of the United States of America. Afterall, this is the United States of America, not the United States of (STRAIGHT ONLY) America.