And America Continues to Show it's True Colors. . .

[Censored]

The true colors of America are red, white, and blue. The problem comes in when people still want these colors to be criss crossed.

 

[D'Snowth]

Yeah, because then you'd end up with an odd shade of purple probably.

But I find it interesting that America places importance on the colors of its flag, because it makes me wonder how other nations feel that also have red, white, and blue in their flags, like France, England, the Netherlands, the Phillippines, and even Russia.

 

[D'Snowth]

I want to take the time to share a testimony of mine and show that it's possible for people to change.

Now, this is something I'm not at all proud to admit, but once upon a time, when I was a lot younger, I too was actually something of a homophobe, and while I admit that part of it was due to my religious upbringing, a lot of it was just my own sheer ignorance. I may be young, but I'm old enough to remember that homosexuality, in general, was a very taboo subject: parents would speak of how evil gay people were; if a family-friendly property even remotely suggested tolerance or acceptance towards the LGBT community, they were accused of brainwashing children into a cult; if a celebrity or a public figure came out of the closet, they were accused of trying to shove their lifestyle down everybody else's throats; the military had its infamous "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, and if a soldier was found to be gay, that would mean the end of his or her military career. I confess that as an ignorant youngster, I knew I wanted to avoid gay people at all cost, because I didn't know how I would even handle it: the idea of guys being attracted to other guys in a way that most guys would be attracted to girls seemed to weird and crazy to me, not to mention there was a point in time where a number of people were feeling more comfortable with coming out of the closet, that yes, even I felt that the very existence of heterosexuals in the world was being threatened - I do admit that.

But again, I was living during a time where homophobia was a foundation of the American way of life, and as such, I was just completely ignorant to what a bunch of hogwash this all was. As the years went on, and I grew older and wiser, and actually opened my eyes beyond what I knew (or in this case didn't know), I came to realize just how wrong everybody was: LGBT people aren't evil at all; they aren't threatening the existence of heterosexuals; nor are they even trying to take over the world or even indoctronate people into their own lifestyle . . . what seems like them "shoving their lifestyle down everybody's throats" isn't that at all, they're just trying to send a loud and clear message: they're human beings, just like everyone else, and they want to be treated like human beings, just like everyone else; they're not evil people at all, nor do they want to take over the world - they just want to coexist peacefully among everyone else in the world as we all should. So they happen to be attracted to the same sex instead of the opposite sex, so what? Other than that fact, who are they even hurting? With all of the destruction and tragedies happening around our world today, where innocent people are losing their lives at the hands of other lunatics out there who actually do intend to harm people for their own selfish gain, a man loving another man or a woman loving another woman is what bothers you the most? Isn't love supposed to be one of the things that makes our world go 'round?

As I said, I was ignorant about these things until I actually saw that other than their interest in the same sex, LGBT people are otherwise no different than other people out there. Take Jamie for instance: he's an incredible artist - I always look forward to receiving a Christmas card from him every year, and I also appreciate how strong and opinionated he is in advocating equal rights not just for the LGBT community, but for people of all walks of life in general, whether they be conservative or liberal, religious or irreligious, black or white, red or brown, purple or yellow. Slackbot: she's bi, with a stronger preference to women than men, and she happens to be an absolutely fantastic puppet builder, I've even learned a few different tips from the WIPs she shares of whatever projects she's working on, be it original characters, or her Fraggle replicas - she's very much a hard worker. Heck, my mom even has a cousin who's a lesbian, and she had it all at one point: a husband, kids, and a military career to boot . . . but she knew she couldn't live the lie anymore, so she eventually resigned from the military, divorced her husband, and isolated herself from her family to avoid causing them any embarrassment or humiliation . . . now that's real sacrifice.

Now that homophobia is a big thing again, and I see how so many people out there are still just as ignorant as I once was, all I can do is shake my head, and roll my eyes. You would think that in our modern world, we would move beyond things like this, but seeing how quick America was the regress back to such close-mindedness and ignorance makes me feel sorry for everybody involved: I feel sorry for the LGBT community for having to deal with the influx of being treated like they're less than dirt all over again (though I applaud them for making it clear they don't intend to go regress back to letting themselves be treated this way when they worked hard to achieve equal rights for themselves these past several years), and I feel sorry for the homophobes, whose irrational fears are more than likely based in nothing my ignorance like mine once was.

We all have a purpose on this planet - why can't we all just get along and make nice not war?

I wanted to add something to further emphasize how I was able to change in time:

Over a decade ago, a friend of mine had kind of fallen off the grid, and after trying to see if I could find out whatever happened to him, or what he had been up to recently, I ended up discovering that he was a closeted gay (or he wasn't sure, but felt like he was) - upon learning about this, I was absolutely mortified to think a friend of mine was gay; and again, this was back in the day when I didn't know much about the LGBT community, other than these were supposedly "bad," "dirty," and "evil" people according to my Christian upbringing, and because of society's then-closed mindedness. Fast-forward to more recent years, I learn that a longtime friend of mine is gay, and I honestly think no differently of him whatsoever, because . . . so what? He's still my friend.

 

[D'Snowth]

Wonder how long it'll be before Trump makes an insensitive tweet about Rosie O'Donnell's ex-wife's suicide?

 

[fuzzygobo]

Unless Rosie starts something first to reignite their feud that started way back when, I don't think Trump is going to bother.

It takes two to tango, and both of them should know better.

 

[D'Snowth]

And now, apparently, Trump wants to turn the 4th of July into a copy of France's Bastille Day - complete with big military parades and such.

 

[Old Thunder]

And the problem is?

 

[D'Snowth]

Feels like another example of Trump treating his presidency more like a dictatorship by making such demands.

 

[Old Thunder]

Sounds more like celebrating America's birthday to me.

 

[Censored]

How much do you want to bet that Trump is the first President to break the tradition of pardoning a turkey this Thanksgiving?