Todd Glass is a well known and very successful comedian who came out publicly as gay on Marc Maron’s popular podcast this week.
if you’re not easily offended by the use of profanity, I strongly recommend that you listen. It was remarkable. Glass was heroic, vulnerable, articulate, funny and fragile all at the same time. His decision to go public with this news was in large part because of the recent string of suicides among LGBT youth, and he has an insight into these matters that is worth hearing regardless of your stance on gay rights.
He has a story that everyone should hear.
Though Glass had much to say in terms of the way that LGBT people are treated in this country and what a straight person can do to be supportive, his final message was one that I thought was worth sharing:
If you believe that the LGBT community should possess the same rights as every American and should not be discriminated against because of their sexual preference, you need not march, protest, write letters to Congressmen, or sign petitions in order to be supportive and helpful. Simply begin living a life that is reflective of your beliefs.
If your church, political party, or community organization discriminates based upon sexual preference or teaches a message of divisiveness and hatred, you must revoke your membership from that organization immediately. There are plenty of other churches, political organizations and community groups from which to choose that do not support the discrimination of the gay community.
You cannot continue to go through life as the member of a church, for example, that discriminates against the gay community by not supporting their right to marry and adopt children and explain your continued support of that organization by simply saying that you believe in most of the good work that the church is doing but do not agree with that particular organizational belief.
Discrimination and hatred of this kind are too important to explain away or ignore. It is ridiculous and wrong to believe that you can remain innocent in your silent complicity of organizational discrimination and hatred.
Find a new church. Find a new political party. Join a different community organization. Live the life that matches your beliefs and the life that you know is right.
If churches, political parties and community groups found themselves losing members based upon their discriminatory positions and practices, things would change quickly, regardless of how ancient or codified their doctrine may be.
That was Todd Glass’s message, and I thought it was worth sharing.
Now go listen to the podcast.
