Yes, you read that right. I’m a gay man who is defending Phil Robertson from the bizarre hit show Duck Dynasty.
I’ll begin by saying that I don’t agree with what he said regarding homosexuality, but I agree with his right to say it.
I have read some articles accusing him of connecting homosexuality with bestiality and am a bit surprised about this.
Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he says.
I believe that’s what we call “reaching.” I read those comments quite differently. I see him stating that when you accept one type of sin as “normal,” it can morph into the acceptance of other forms of sin, and he goes on to include heterosexual promiscuity.
Other people seem to be quite disturbed with him voicing what pretty much every other heterosexual male has thought.
“It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer.”
I can’t argue with that logic. During my younger years when I tried to pretend that I was straight or at least bisexual, I had multiple encounters with women. And frankly I just don’t understand why any man would want to put anything in that place on a woman.
Which isn’t an abnormal comment considering I’m gay. I don’t like vaginas. If I did, I wouldn’t be gay. Quite simple, no?
Others have come out indignantly about his “racist” comments about blacks.
“I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white trash. We’re going across the field…. They’re singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’—not a word!…”
I consider myself pretty well attuned to when things are racist, discriminatory, etc., and I’m not seeing a racist comment here. He is clearly speaking from his experience. “I, never, with my eyes. . . “ He doesn’t deny other blacks experienced problems. His comments do not speak euphorically of the “good ‘ol days” when blacks “knew their place.”
While I cannot agree with his views on homosexuality being a vile sin, and while I believe he is just as guilty as many others of buffet religion (pick the parts you like from the scriptures and ignore the parts you don’t like), I don’t see his comments as justification for his termination.
I don’t agree with pundits who claim this is a freedom of speech issue either. When you work for a company and are, in effect, representing that company, you do not have carte blanche to say whatever the hell you like.
Speech has a price. You can say whatever you like, but you don’t always get to control the repercussions. In his case, it would appear he has been practically terminated from the show. That is certainly A&E’s right.
Though I do feel it’s misguided.
I don’t watch this show and never have. And I have absolutely no desire to, either. Frankly, I don’t see why anyone watches it. However, I think the network’s all-too-politically-correct (PC) response is ridiculous. They simply could have issued an immediate press release stating that Mr. Robertson’s opinions were his own and in no way represent the network’s opinions or philosophies.
By terminating him all they did was add to his martyrdom, and organizations like GLAAD jumping all over this just make the GLBT community a laughing stock.
As a community of queers, we demand equal rights. We want the same rights as others. Yet we’ll happily stomp all over someone else for expressing an opinion or belief different than our own.
This is just further proof of how misguided the notion of PC really is, and it works against us. All of us.
Mr. Robertson believes rampant sin is one of the reasons for America’s downward spiral.
I’m going to disagree there, too. Our biggest downfall is we’ve forgotten how to stand together. We’re divided by race, political party, socioeconomic status, religious views, and a myriad of other things.
Until Americans learn to start celebrating our diversity, accepting that others have opinions we may not like, and banding together despite political party affiliation, which place of worship we do or don’t attend, we are doomed as a society.
If Phil has shown us anything, he’s shown we have a lot to learn about being a true community. I guess Duck Dynasty may be worth something after all.
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