As I said often on radio, "religion" has been used for great good and great evil in the world. Everyone has the right to believe in the religion of their choice or not to believe in any religion.
But when "religious" people condemn gay people, I remind them that believing in religion is a CHOICE. Your race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation is WHO YOU ARE. Throughout history, too many people have used the choice of their religion to discriminate against those of different colors or backgrounds or orientation or whatever.
To justify this irrational condemnation, of course, the religious right regularly stands truth on its head. They say being gay is a choice. It is not.
If being Christian means loving your fellow humans no matter who they are, I am all for it. If being Christian means condemning others for who they are, count me out.
Targeting gays and immigrants and people of color and nonbelievers is now in vogue among the Republican base. The Texas Republican Party just adopted a platform declaring that "homosexuality is not normal." Well, having AB- blood isn't the norm either, considering only 2% of the world's population has it. Blood type is genetic. Every study I've ever read about homosexuality concludes that it is partly genetic (there are familial patterns and some predictive genetic markers), but if nurture is involved, sexual orientation is pretty well imprinted by the age of two. And the American Psychological Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in 1973.
This "gay is not normal" and "don't say gay" mania is meant to intimidate and control and oppress -- or bottom-feed for votes. This week, a mob of Proud Boys invaded a rainbow story time at a library in St. Joseph, Indiana, screaming about "perversion."
There is nothing perverse about learning that some children have two mommies or two daddies.
But go to virtually any 2022 Republican candidate's website and you'll find railings against "sexualizing our kids in school." Being aware that some children have two moms who love each other or two dads who love each other has zero to do with "sexualization."
When he signed the "Don't Say Gay" bill, Ron DeSantis said, "Kids should go to school to get an education, not to be indoctrinated." Not a single kid is going to be "made gay" by understanding that the best families have caring, nurturing parents. Period.
When there is a Parents Day at a Florida school, how is the teacher to explain a same-sex couple? Is the teacher supposed to lie? Are same-sex couples to be banned from the premises? How is the child of a same-sex couple to be told that HIS or HER parents are not welcome?
A working group of Texas educators is now debating replacing the word "slavery" with "involuntary relocation."
Regarding CRT, another Republican fake outrage, Governor DeSantis said that students "should not be taught to hate America."
How about teaching the truth -- the good and bad of American history -- and let kids think for themselves? How about trusting kids to know that there are families headed by two moms or two dads? Denying facts or science or employing misleading euphemisms is the opposite of education. And, as a nation and a society, we are all the worse for it.