Tommy Karr

Ethan Sabo may be the most delusional, self-loathing young man I’ve seen on YouTube… and that includes having seen his heroes, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum, act like complete lunatics. Let’s dispel his claims by pointing out the flaws in his statement.  What follows is a fairly accurate transcript of his rant (video is available below) with my counter-arguments included throughout (noted by WTA before each).  I hope this proves his points false, his cultural awareness flawed and his broadly painted prejudices as ignorant.

Transcript:
My phone blew up, I’m talking blew up, with emails, comments and everything by the left and this is a message to you idiots. Ok. I’m sorry that I wasn’t brainwashed like y’all.  And I’m sorry that you can’t seem to be open-minded like you claim to be, you know, liberals.  You guys claim to be the most open-minded, free-loving people… you know peace, love and happiness… you know all this stuff, yet, y’all are the most close-minded hateful people I have ever met in my life.

WTA: Is this open-minded person “hateful”?  Mother Theresa called homosexuals “friends of Jesus,” stating, “Jesus loves you always, even when you don’t feel worthy. When not accepted by others, even by yourself sometimes, He is the one who always accepts you. Only believe, you are precious to him. Bring all you are suffering to His feet, only open your heart to be loved by Him as you are. He will do the rest.”

You guys, (sigh) you guys suck to be honest and it, it hurts my heart to see such hateful people and its so funny…          

WTA: Wait, it hurts your heart and it is funny? You lost me. 

…because you claim that the Republicans and the Conservatives are the hateful bigots but really you guys are the hateful bigots.

WTA: Let’s define bigots before you get too carried away.  The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines bigot as “a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance.”  So far, your argument feels very “pot calling the kettle black” but let’s move on.  I am not intolerant of you or of the conservative right.  I am intolerant of the way I am treated by the right and by your complete lack of compassion and community.

You say that Rick Sanoturm…

WTA: In an interview with the Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life (April 2008) Santorum had the following to say about same-sex marriage, “I would argue that the gay community has not made the argument. They may have made the argument as to why they want it, but they have not made any arguments as to why this is beneficial for society. They have not made any argument – convincing or otherwise, that I’m aware of – as to what the impact would be on heterosexual marriages and what the impact would be on children…. What do we know, really, about children raised by same-sex couples? We’re into, in many respects, an unknown territory.”

Well, if he needs us to “make the argument” he can reference this news feature from the Huffington Post, chronicling the results of a study in the Archives of Sexual Behavior “in which 17-year-old daughters and sons of lesbian mothers were asked about sexual abuse, sexual orientation, and sexual behavior. The paper found that none of the 78 NLLFS (National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study) adolescents reports having ever been physically or sexually abused by a parent or other caregiver. This contrasts with 26 percent of American adolescents who report parent or caregiver physical abuse and 8.3 percent who report sexual abuse. According to the authors, ‘the absence of child abuse in lesbian mother families is particularly noteworthy, because victimization of children is pervasive and its consequences can be devastating. To the extent that our findings are replicated by other researchers, these reports from adolescents with lesbian mothers have implications for healthcare professionals, policymakers, social service agencies, and child protection experts who seek family models in which violence does not occur.’”

and Michele Bachmann…

WTA: Senator Michele Bachmann’s now famous slur against gays was recorded during her speech at the EdWatch National Education Conference on November 6, 2004.  In it she claimed that being “gay” is a “part of Satan I think to say that this is ‘gay.’ It’s anything but gay… If you’re involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyle, it’s bondage. It is personal bondage, personal despair and personal enslavement.” Her husband called gays “barbarians” who needed to be “educated”.  

If she wants to get all biblical about this then let’s look at 1 Thessalonians 5:22 which commands that we “Abstain from every form of Evil.”  Then, Luke 6.37 (King James, Cambridge Edition) says “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:”  If you are following both of these doctrines then to judge another is a form of evil… and by that logic Bachmann and her husband are “part of Satan.”  Whoops.

and Newt Gingrich…

WTA: Newt Gingrich helped author the Defense of Marriage Act.  Need we go further into how intolerant and ignorant this is?  If we need to get into the semantics of “what constitutes a marriage” we could be here all night and frankly, we need to move on to the rest of this person’s diatribe.

…and all, you say that anybody that disagrees, with gay marriage or disagrees with gay rights are bigots are hateful people when its their opinion…

WTA: People are bigots based on their opinions.  Again, let’s remember the M-W definition which says bigots are “obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices.”  Seems pretty clear to me that, through one’s opinion(s), one can be called a bigot.  Want to call me one?  Fine.  But my disdain for your ignorance isn’t based on any prejudices.  It is based on having a greater understanding of and compassion for my fellow man than you.  I’m not a bigot.  I just think you’re kind of a jerk with your puerile insults and self-loathing.

…so technically I can say that y’all are hateful and bigots because you disagree on something. Ya know, I can and I will because (sigh) you guys, y’all are funny and its funny too.

WTA: Wait, which part is funny?  You lost me again.  Is getting beaten for being different funny?  Is the insanely high number of suicides by LGBT teenagers funny?  Take a look at these figures from The Trevor Project and then tell me why you are laughing.

• In the United States, more than 34,000 people die by suicide each year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC 2007).
• Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15 to 24-year-olds, accounting for over 12% of deaths in this age group; only accidents and homicide occur more frequently (National Adolescent Health Information 2006).
• Suicide is the second leading cause of death on college campuses (CDC 2008).
• For every completed suicide by a young person, it is estimated that 100 to 200 attempts are made (Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey 2003).

Here’s my main thing to with gays. You want people to accept you, you want people to give you rights and you want people to be nice to you but yet when I go out in public you guys are the most sickest, nastiest people I’ve ever seen.

WTA: Realy? The “most sickest”?  First, your poor grammar is exposing your limited intellect, not that I was questioning that.  Next, I’d like to see photos of the people that you’ve seen with your own eyes being (as you follow up saying) are flaunting their “gayness” in front of everybody.  Is it kissing in public that bothers you?  Is it jealousy?  What’s at the heart of your “disgust”?  I would like you to expand upon this.  

You make sure you flaunt your gayness in front of everybody. You make sure that you’re loud and rude.  You make sure at gay pride parades you’re half naked.  Walk around like a bunch of idiots.  Ya know, how do you, how are you supposed to gain respect like that when you got to show respect to get respect.  Ya know, it is so disgusting, disgusting, to see people who are gay and lesbian, even transgender people, being foul, being obnoxious just because somebody don’t want (sorry, had to interject your failings at grammar again…) to see, doesn’t want to see you making out with another guy or another girl in public.  You are so rude.  You are no better, no better than anybody.

WTA: Nobody said anything about being better than anybody else.  Well, some of your conservative right friends have said they are better or alluded to it.  The LGBT community has never said “we are better than heterosexuals”.  Nope.  Ok, yes, the family study above did show that children of lesbian parents in the study did not suffer any abuse by their parent or caregiver while those of heterosexual household did by an overwhelming number.  

And I understand that you want people to ya know, accept you for who you are but how can anyone accept you for who you are, you’re just so rude about it. Grow up. If you want people to respect you, be mature. Ya know, in these, these idiots going around glittering these politicians if you want people to like you why do stupid stuff.  It makes no sense to me, it kills me that y’all want all these things but yet, you don’t want to give back. You don’t want to put forth that, you know, you don’t want to stand up and say let’s do this the right way.

WTA: You mean the “right way” like these folks?  Because they seem pretty calm, pretty rational and pretty grown-up if you ask me.  Take a peek at the civility behind these active-duty troops and veterans marching for LGBT rights in San Diego or do some research and learn about the good being done by SAGE, the Trevor Project and the Ali Forney Center… just to name a few rational and productive groups of LGBT folks.

No, you riot. You, you destroy people’s property…

WTA: Wait, when did this happen?  You mean THIS news story?  Because that’s actually about a gay couple having their home burned down by bigoted criminals who slashed the couples car tires, wrote gay slurs on their home – prior to burning it down – and left threatening messages in the couple’s mailbox telling them to move.  As for riots, do you mean the White Night Riot of 1979 when protestors took to the streets of San Francisco, angered at the short sentence (seven years total) issued to Dan White for the murder of two people, including Harvey Milk (who was one of the more peaceful activists the world has known).  And technically, White was only charged with voluntary manslaughter, the lightest possible conviction for his actions.  Or maybe you meant the Stonewall Riot, in which a few gay men stood up for themselves against the harassment from homophobic police officers?  

And, this isn’t specifically relevant but at minute marker 3:48 you show what appears to be a wedding ring on your left hand.  Congratulations on finding a husband that is accepting of your very narrow-minded views.

…you spray paint rainbow crap all overt the place…

WTA: Please tell me where I can buy rainbow spray paint. This would be amazing. I could create a lot of Lisa Frank-inspired artwork with it.

…What is wrong with you people? Grow up, seriously, grow up. Be mature.

WTA: Again, “pot to kettle”.

Ya know, you don’t see straight pride.  You don’t see Catholic pride. You don’t see southern Baptist pride. You don’t see Pentecostal pride. They don’t have parades for all that.

WTA: Yes you do. Here is the government approval of a Straight Pride Parade in Sao Paulo.  Here is a Catholic parade.  Here is a Southern Baptist Parade and if that one isn’t significant enough here are more than 225 Southern Baptist volunteers from the Los Angeles Southern Baptist Association marching in the 122nd Annual Rose Parade.  And just for fun, check out the Republican parades held in Ireland.

So, what makes you any better that you can shut down an entire street and walk half-naked or naked.

WTA: Again, we’re not better.  We just have fun at parades while, at the same time, providing a socially conscious message.

I went to one gay parade, pride parade in my life and it was in Austin.  I will never go again. It was so disgusting. It was filthy. There were half-naked women walking around…

WTA: Ah, half-naked women… is this why you’re so angry?

…naked men, there was penises flying all over the place.

WTA: I can promise you, I have never once in my life seen a penis flying all over the place.  Ok, once, in this video but I don’t think any gay men were behind this.

That makes me not even want to go to a club because I have been to a few clubs and they’re just as disgusting. All the unsafe sex in the back.

WTA: You are right. That is gross.  And mostly the stuff of 70s porn.  I have not been to a single club that has had a back room for sex.  In fact, if you are that desperate you can probably find better places to have sex that are less sticky.  I mean, think of all that spillt alcohol.

Ya know, like I said, you want people to like you and you want people to accept you for who you are but you do nothing to make them want to do that. Nothing at all. So, let me tell you this… grow up. Put some clothes on. Be mature. And actually do something productive to get gay marriage, to get gay rights, to have pride parades do it in a mature fashion…

WTA: I think the folks at Broadway Impact would argue that they do plenty of productive work to get marriage equality for all.  So would Equality Across America, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, American Foundation for Equal Rights, Empire State Pride Agenda, Civil Rights Front, True Colors Tour plus hundreds, if not thousands, of other grassroots organizations across the country.  And all of this is done in a “mature fashion”.

…because right now we’re on the road to having nothing and its all the gay left’s fault…

WTA: Wait, I’m lost again. It is the gay left’s fault that we have made such massive progress in the last 43  years since the Stonewall Riots (not to mention all the thousands of years before that?  Well, then pass me a fault broach because I will proudly wear it on my lapel.

…to be honest with you because we gays on the right… I’ve never met a gay person on the right that goes to a gay pride parade, gets naked or puts their booty shorts on and walks around…

WTA: I bet you have.  But you weren’t at said parade to see them in their booty shorts and if they are as insecure as you appear to be I can imagine they wouldn’t want to share photos with you.  That or they are just afraid of how red-faced you get about booty shorts.

Never seen that and it’s really upsetting.

WTA: Wait, ok here we go again. Be clear.  You are upset that you’ve never seen a gay person on the right in booty shorts?

Yeah, that’s my rant on the gays and the hateful bigots that you guys really are. Ya know, false advertising when y’all say that y’all are (bunny quotes) peace-loving free people that just want to love and be open-minded because your idiots you’re wrong and you’re stupid. Grow up. Just grow up. I’m, I’m so, and I’m done.

WTA: Good. I was worried I’d be up all night proving each of your points to be nothing but frivolous preaching to cover up what seems to be a very insecure young man who is not yet comfortable with himself or the expanding world in which he lives.

You wonder why people hate you.

WTA: Hmm, that hadn’t really crossed my mind. I wondered why people were so against the idea that two men or two women could fall in love and wish to commit themselves to a shared life together under the law.  I’m not all that concerned if you or anyone else “hates” me.  Just give me the same rights I deserve.

You wonder why people don’t like you.

WTA: Again, no, I don’t.

You wonder why people spit on you and beat the living crap out of you.

WTA: Nope.  Wrong again.

You wonder why. That’s why.

WTA: I can’t help but notice that you have a very specific, very focused idea of what it is to be a gay male with liberal views.  Apparently, when you imagine one he is wearing tiny sailor shorts (probably ass-less), maybe a mesh shirt which is cut short at the belly button, with rainbow glitter lathered over his body, dancing down Main Street.  I feel sorry for you that this is all you can see.  The LGBT community is one that celebrates diversity and, sure, if you want to get your groove on and dance down the street at a Pride March, by all means.  You want to hop on a Harley with your girlfriend, do it.  You want to get twenty of your closest friends together to dance in foam on a tractor-bed float… please do!  But we also love seeing doctors, lawyers, teachers, corporate directors, civil servants, mothers, fathers, grandparents, children, nieces, nephews, friends all coming together to support and cherish the things that make us different.  I only wish you could do the same.  Do I hate you?  No.  I feel sorry for you.  I wish I could make you see that you are not looking at the whole picture and there is a lot to love about us.  I wish that you could appreciate this rebuttal, which admittedly brandishes some sass here and there, and grow from what it says.  No one is against you.  I, and many others, are against hate and ignorance though.  And if those things could melt away I think we’d all get along splendidly.

VIDEO:  So, Ethan Sabo has disabled embedding (and rating) of his video but I can provide this link which will let you watch it on Youtube.