Religious-right activists are predictably outraged that LGBT students at Texas A&M will celebrate their spring graduation at a special campus event today (April 16). The university’s GLBT Resource Center is sponsoring the banquet, dubbed Lavender Graduation, this evening. Phyllis Frye, an A&M alum and the state’s first transgender judge, will be the featured speaker. (Frye’s appointment in 2010 as a municipal judge in Houston also sparked predictable outrage from religious-righters. They always seem to be mad about something.)
Students won’t receive their diplomas at the Lavender Graduation event. The university’s official commencement ceremony is in May. Lavender Graduation is simply a celebration, much like those hosted by other student organizations and academic departments at Texas A&M and on other campuses around the country. But anti-gay activists are attacking it anyway.
One News Now, the propaganda website for American Family Association (which the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified as an anti-gay hate group), quotes one of the most obnoxious voices of hate in Texas in a story about the event:
Regardless of the motive, Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values, says this is foolhardy.
“This special Texas A&M ceremony essentially promotes and celebrates dangerous and risky sexual activity that can fiercely jeopardize a person’s well-being,” he tells OneNewsNow. “I’m not sure this is the most responsible way for a university to prepare students for the real world.”
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Saenz also points out an issue that he believes introduces a problem for the school as it promotes the LGBT lifestyle: Texas recently passed an amendment to its constitution banning same-sex marriage.
“It would seem that groups like this at Texas A&M do not support our state law,” he suggests. “And so I would understand why students would be concerned that their fees would give the impression of being used to really advocate against clearly established law.”
Religious-right activists like Saenz seem to be obsessed by gay sex and LGBT relationships. It’s as if they see every occasion — even a graduation celebration, for Pete’s sake — as an opportunity to talk about both. (Frankly, it’s kind of creepy.)
Most Americans have grown tired of political activists who try to stigmatize and marginalize LGBT people. Public polling shows this pretty clearly. And poll after poll also shows that most Americans — by a substantial and growing margin — support marriage equality for all.
The Texas Freedom Network congratulates all of this spring’s graduates — LGBT or otherwise — and we wish nothing but success and happiness for them as they move on to their next adventures. We also wish the haters out there would get a life — or at least stop obsessing over and interfering in the lives of people they don’t like.
Their preoccupation with peoples sex lives seems to me as some kind of sickness. I don’t want to know about anyone’s sex life! No, No, No! It’s your business, not mine, and mine is my business, not yours.
I agree Dan.
This is just a simple graduation party for students who happen to be LGBT. Hundreds of other people who happen to be all sorts of other things (30 ornamental horticulture students, 130 senior sorority students, 16 football players, 25 geology students)will have parties. One would be hard pressed to find any people (who share at least something in common) who would not want to throw a party to celebrate graduation. Celebrating graduation is like celebrating Fathers Day or St. Patrick’s Day. Are we supposed to cancel St. Patrick’s Day because a gay person wants to drink a green beer?
I mean really. Where do they come up with such nonsense? Do they stay up until 2:30 a.m. around conference tables to think up nonsense like this: “How are we going to oppose the graduation party?”
And how do they fit gay marriage into this? It’s not a wedding reception. It’s a graduation party. Do they not understand the difference? Do I need to mail them a bridal magazine so they can scope out the difference?
It’s not creepy, they’re just closeted kinky people, and they just LOVE talking about all sorts of sex.
“It would seem that groups like this at Texas A&M do not support our state law”
Is there a Texas law against being LGBT? Oh, I see. Because the LGBT students want same-sex marriage to be legal in Texas, then they’re not supporting state law. Yeah, riiiiiight!
“…students would be concerned that their fees would give the impression of being used…”
Which students would those be? Who pays the referenced fees? LGBT? Are they not entitled to use some of those fees for their party? Of course. Only “straights” are entitled to use those fees. Yeah, riiiiiiight.
“…to really advocate against clearly established law”
Apparently, they think the rightwingnutjobs are the only ones allowed to advocate. Not only are the “straights” advocating against established law (separation of religion and government), they are actively trying every end run around that established law. In some cases, they’ve been remarkably successful in their efforts. Of course, that’s OK, since they are special because they’re “straight.” Yeah, riiiiiight.
I am so sick of the rightwingnutjobs who think that they have the right to get in everybody else’s life and business and force others to live according to the dogma of one religion or another. And they call that religious freedom. Yeah, riiiiiight.
That really is the oddest thing. Their right wing mantra is that they want they want government to stay out of peoples’ home life and private affairs.
Yet, sticking the nose of government into other peoples home life and private affairs is precisely what they are advocating to do.
You would think that some sane person would wake up to this inane insanity.