Why I love Ellen...

This is one of the reasons that I love this woman. Most people when they meet me make the assumption that I am straight. They do this, more than likely, because I am a big and tall man with a resonant deep voice. I am not what "they expect" a gay man to be like. If I had a dollar for every time I have heard someone make an wildly tasteless joke about gay or lesbians - or even worse - HIV/AIDS in front of me because they thought that I was straight and that I would find it humorous, I could stop working. How many times have I heard phrases like "you sure don't act gay" or "are you're sure your gay?". Every afternoon I hear kids as they walk by my house on their way home from school in an attempt to tease or insult each other calling each other "faggot". It's not a pleasant experience at all.

Most of my straight friends, even family members, would be shocked to learn of the crap that I have had to endure over my entire life because of ignorance and intolerance. I have chosen not to discuss these things with them as it would only upset them. These things include being physically attacked, harassed, and certainly discriminated against in such public venues as restaurants, bars, retail establishments and more. I have actually known more than one gay/lesbian acquaintance of mine who were murdered not unlike the young man that Ellen so eloquently discusses in her video. I have purposefully chosen not to discuss these things with my straight friends and family members in the past as I felt that it would only upset them. All of them are very special to me and each one has been very supportive of myself and certainly of my partner of the last 15 years.

But after watching and listen to the words of Ellen in the video above, and balancing them out against the words of this small minded, hate-filled, ugly cow in the video below (she is actually an Oklahoma State Representative at a gathering in her district. A LAW maker! All thanks to The Victory Fund for posting her vile words and creating the video which they have titled "I'm Listening") I feel that I may have to be a little more vocal about my experiences and a little less tolerant myself of the hate and fear offered by these brain-dead freaks.