As a civil unions bill winds its way through the Hawaiian legislature (currently in hearings in the Senate judiciary committee), a fierce battle rages outside the state capitol between equality advocates and those against any form of same-sex union.
Lesbian blogger Keori, who has been liveblogging for Pam’s House Blend, relates her post-hearing experience …
(please note I have added a link below for reference)
You know, it gets really tiresome to be called diseased and a pedophile and a rapist and an abomination and a threat to America three dozen times in one day. It infuriates me to hear that yes, heterosexuals have special rights (at least they admitted it finally!) and that is how it should be because The Big Book of Bronze Age Fairy Tales says so. To hear little old ladies screaming that they would rather see their grandchildren commit suicide than “be part of that disgusting, filthy, evil lifestyle”, isn’t even remotely amusing anymore.
Even better is to, due to the concussion headache beginning to blind me, forget to take off my little green and gold “equality” sticker on the way out of the building, and be followed to the bus stop by a bunch of red shirts with signs. Three 6’5″, 200 pound Islander guys with signs saying “Gay marriage is wrong” and “John 3:16” followed the lone little white girl with her laptop case across the street, yelling at me, “Repent!”, calling me a bitch and a whore, telling me, “You just need a real man to fuck you straight.” Nothing I haven’t heard before.
Then one of them said, “We know who you are now, and what you drive. We saw you last Thursday. You better watch yourself, fucking haole bitch.” Not one of the 20 people standing around the bus stop said anything to them. I got on the first bus that came along, got off three stops down the street, and caught my right bus a few minutes later. I rode home all alone, with my headphones on, praying no one bothered me. I don’t want to ever hear another fake apology from these people saying that they don’t actually hate queers, they’re just “protecting traditional marriage”. It’s just the latest lie in their christian hate grab bag.
The last time we were in Hawaii was back in 2001. While there we visited the Polynesian Cultural Center, which we later learned was owned and operated by the Mormon church. Considering recent events here in California, it is a mistake we will not repeat. And if this civil unions bill fails to pass, we won’t make the mistake of vacationing again in Hawaii either.
Hate truly knows no borders.