It has been a wild and tumultuous campaign season rife with scientific inaccuracies and scapegoating. It is hard to imagine that the American public has the slightest indication about the political stances of their candidates - aside from hate and general stupidity. What really stood out to me was an article I came across on The New Civil Rights Movement about an incidence involving Rick Santorum, giving a campaign speech at his alma mater, where a student reemed him out for his policies about same-sex marriage and homosexuality in general. Santorum, as you might also remember, has been throwing a tantrum because when you google his name a very vulgar yet incredibly hilarious description comes up - courtesy of Dan Savage.  The article discusses Santorum's, and other anti-gay activists, recent spell of whining about how the mean scary liberals, with their ever-ending supply of agendas, continue to cast such inspirations of reason and logic like himself, Michele Bachman, and others as bigots. Piers Morgan has called by Christine O'Donnell and Rick Santorum bigots on his show for their radical viewpoints. Rick Santorum says he would love his hypothetical gay son and then in the next breath stated that the Bible contains eternal truths and that homosexuality defies natural law and reason. 

How about this for a compromise. I will stop calling the O'Donnell's, the Bachmans, and the Santorums of the world bigots when the following happens. I will stop calling them bigots when the organizations that they support stop using fear tactics to convince the families of America that transgender individuals are waiting inside bathrooms to corrupt women and small children. I will stop calling them bigots when news anchors, who are responsible for delivering the news to America in an impartial refrain from cringing and practically vomiting on stage as they discuss Chaz Bono and what surgeries he has or has not gotten. I will stop calling them bullies preaching venomous vile when TV stars don't threaten to kill their son should he come out as gay or when a professional athlete, in a heat of frustrating moment, chooses to call a ref a fag. I pray for a world where 14-years don't feel broken-down due to incessant bullying and conclude that the only way they will find relief or peace is to end their life; I wonder what the bigots of the world pray for? Do they pray for a world where those bullies that drove a 14 year-old to end his life celebrate his death at a school dance? I wonder what other messages gay teen youth receive about their identity that they may or may not be struggling with? Conservatives are outraged that the gays have infiltrated comic books; heaven forbid the new bi-racial Spiderman might be gay and soon there will be a gay marriage in Archie. Of course they do not seem to be too concerned when actual gay soldiers in real life get booed by hateful individuals who have probably not seen a day of military service in their life. They were probably too busy kicking lesbians off of planes, citing that their public displays of love and affection, are lewd and well eventually lead to a full out lesbian orgy on the plane.

Dear bigots, you spout hate and judgement for a group of people and then fashion yourself the champion of the people and of Democracy. You rail against those sneaky liberals in Washington yet spoon-feed your constituents medically inaccurate information and sacrifice minorities for a few points on the poll. Your hatred influences the minds of Americans, because for whatever reason people have classified you as leaders, and your illogical prejudice provides them ample justification and reason to carry out their hatred. 

You can't get mad because people label you a bigot, for these are your true colors. Just as I let my big mother-fucking gay colors fly brightly everyday. 

This is a propaganda poster, courtesy of our lovely friends at the Massachusetts Family Institute, used as a fear tactic to inspire hatred in the confused minds of conservatives statewide. 

Currently in the Massachusetts legislator there is a bill that would make gender identity or expression protected identities under the state's non-discrimination policy. Once again, opponents of the bill paint a catastrophic picture of the consequences of such a bill passing. They argue that should the bill pass (1) children will be indoctrinated with an ideology that encourages them to explore and express their gender identity and/or expression in a safe space - perish the thought (2) women and children will be put at severe risks as hoards of transgender-individuals attempt to violate the sanctity of a single-sex bathroom (3) Women-only fitness facilities will have to open the door to ever Tom, Dick and Harry that wishes to gain admittance (4) Last but certainly not least, anyone who even expresses disapproval of the bill could be charged with a dreaded "hate crime". 

So the Massachusetts Family Institute's (MFI) response to such a completely dire and bleak future is to contrive a hateful persuasive marketing campaign to instill fervent fear in the citizens of Massachusetts. Posters that proudly display the haunting message "Who's going to be waiting for your wife and daughter?" are splayed throughout the city. The take-home-lesson from this all is that according to MFI, bathrooms and other public facilities are completely safe and only with the passage of this bill will these spaces become unsafe and predatorily spaces. They argue, like all bills that afford rights to "special interest populations, the "Bathroom Bill" would open the world to a whole host of terrors. 

Various businesses and public institutions, including colleges, have already made changes to their facilities to accommodate transgender individuals. Whether it be gender neutral housing in the dorms or gender neutral bathrooms in offices, studies have demonstrated the positive impact these changes have made. Students in housing feel that they are part of an accepting diverse community where they can learn and grow in a supportive environment - regardless of their identity. Transgender individuals are people who are attempting to live their true and authentic lives and deserve respect, safety and acceptance. They do not deserve to be cast as the dark deviants, hiding in the shadows of bathroom stalls, ready to prance on the moral fiber and integrity of America. In the closing months of 2011, can we believe that society has moved beyond believing the irrational and hate-filled ideology of scared fanatics? Can we hope that we have raised our consciousness to recognize these messages for what they truly are; hurtful, damaging discrimination that does nothing to serve our society.