I think that the reason why the Gay rights movement does not have one noted leader is indicative of the complexities and the magnitude of sexual orientation and gender identity. The gay rights movement is enormously larger than one specific race or one specific gender or nationality. It includes all races, all cultures, people of all ages and it encompasses the breath of time throughout the ages.
The Thalamus Center attempts to visually convey the magnitude of this global phenomena regarding LGBT people, which has always existed. This is why the gay rights movement is able to succeed without one national or global leader, because it is so all-inclusive. The fact that this is true is the reason why, today, it is not so easy to even stereotype LGBT people. Because as more people come out the old stereotypes of the past drop like dead flies. We now have football players, other major sport figures, and political leaders, who have come out as being gay. Today, there is no one single caricature that can be applied to LGBT people that fits all. With the wide range of diversified people coming out as “LGBT” more in the recent past, we are beginning see the individual differences that are emerging regarding LGBT people. Photo
Sadly, what is now being caricaturized are the people who oppose the gay rights movement. This can easily be identified in California Prop 8 ads of 2008. One side spoke of love and well-being and the other side spoke of fear and being hysterical. The world saw this difference and this brought out many to leave the opposing side and who then became educated about human sexuality. The caricatures emerging about the opposition to the Gay Rights Movement is one of being ignorant and being inhuman to other human beings, like it was for the people in the past who oppose civil rights for any one race, nationality or religion. This is because they severely lack the necessary components of separation and individualization that is integral for any growth or a sign of intelligence. Photo Hitler and Stalin. Caricature in British newspaper "Evening Standard", November 1939
The opponents to the Gay Rights Movement were not just publicized in the California Prop 8, but they were also in the two previous Bush’s presidential campaign. They used "gay marriage" as can be seen, now, as a form of “gay bashing” based on fear and hysteria in order to win elections. When we do not thoroughly study our civic lessons and Church history we allow out civil and church leaders to literally get away with murder, rob us blind and do great harm to those unable to protect themselves.
I suspect that the Gay Rights Movements is moving faster in this time of our history due to the technology of computers and the Internet that promotes instant global communications. This is what caught the Vatican and the hierarchy off guard regarding the global public outpouring of the covered up sexual abuse cases for decades. This public outpouring was constant and concentrated all within a relatively short period of time of a couple of years. The Vatican and the hierarchy could no longer intimidate in their attempts to silence victims of sexual abuse and or their parents, behind closed doors. The same will happen to the Vatican and the hierarchy regarding the Gay Rights Movement, the severe mental and physical harm they cause to children and for their silencing and intimation of clerics and others members of religious orders from speaking out the truth about homosexuality. The compensation for the harm caused to LGBT people, by the Vatican and the hierarchy will be astronomical in comparison to sexual abuse cases.
It has been said by many political analysts that the Bush's administration had severely damaged the Republican Party. The same might well be said about Benedict XVI's reign as pope, including his time as the former head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, about his behind closed doors vindictive tactics with his hierarchy to silence and harm people who do not agree with him, who spoke the truth. This Benedict XVI has been doing for nearly 30 years. Benedict XVI is destroying the very last bits of trust people may have left for the hierarchy for a long, long time, likely for good. Benedict XVI's extreme authoritarian style of leadership goes directly against Christ's model as the great teacher. More time is spent by Benedict XVI behind closed doors plotting with his hierarchy than in front of opened doors teaching. For this reason, the Catholic hierarchy might some day look more like the Episcopal leaders, more accessible, more willing to discuss openly issues on any topic as the need arises. The Catholic hierarchy will likely have much less authority and be made up of a more inclusive range of people. The appointments of bishops will change quite drastically, which alone will end much of the corruption that presently exists in the Catholic hierarchy. The degree of this corruption globally regarding the Catholic hierarchy has been so vividly made evident to people by the countless news media reports of the decades of cover-ups and silencing of the child sexual abuse victims and the continuous reassigning of sexual perpetrators. Clearly the present Catholic hierarchy is a system that cannot correct itself and therefore is dangerous and morally wrong to continue. The misconceptions that Benedict XVI has about the facts of human sexuality, sexual orientation and gender identity and are blindly supported by all of the hierarchy is so severely harmful to a much larger population of people, than they realize. Again, this is another serious indication the Catholic hierarchical structure is not working effectively for the Church, and is especially harmful to children. It is a system that is not able to correct itself, while Kids are being hurt !!! Photo Madame President Bonnie Anderson preached at the General Convention's Community Eucharist on Friday, July 10.
The Episcopal Church is teaching us all what it means to be Church and how to courageously follow Christ, even in the face of great opposition. There is an awful lot to learn from how the Episcopal Church organized and ran their “General Convention Anaheim 2009.” For starters, one very key component is that women have equal voices to that of men, like it was with Christ. I can already hear some of my Episcopal friends quietly reminding me by humbly telling me “we have our problems, too.” I believe this may be qutie true. However, it seems to be a difference of a functional family working to resolve problems, an authoritative model, based on the discussions of facts, and a dysfunctional family, the authoritarian model, no discussion allowed. The authoritative model can appear quite messy, at times, but is far healthier for all involved. As oppose to the authoritarian model, which looks much neater, but is far more harmful for all involved, i.e. child sexual abuse cases, Kids are being hurt!!!
