Gay&Night Januari 2014

ig thing we are working on now is
the Employment Non Discrimination
Act (ENDA). It passed the Senate,
but I’m not sure if it’s going to pass
the House of Representatives, since
there’s a Republican majority there.
There are no laws in the US for
protecting gay people in the work
place, so in almost 30 states you
can still be fired for being gay. The
problem is there is already a law that
makes discrimination in the workplace
illegal, but it doesn’t include sexual
orientation. So a lot of people think
this law isn’t going to do anything
new. Ironically, in the military you are
now protected by law if you’re gay,
but not in any other job.
Dennis: People have to be educated
about equality. It’s going to take
years and years for people to accept
homosexuality. Not just tolerate, but
accept.
How come it's such a
challenge for the US to get
equal rights for LGBT's?
Judy: I think it’s because everything
that has to do with sexuality in the
US is a challenge. It’s a thing. I always
joke that the American people are
scared of gays because they think they
have more sex and better sex! Who
knows, maybe it’s true. The straight
community is very jealous of that.
Also religion plays a big role in the
US and is very oppressive towards
any kind of sexuality being discussed,
especially out in the open. Sexual
education doesn’t even exist anymore
in the States, and that’s ridiculous,
especially because safe sex isn’t just
about getting pregnant anymore
nowadays. It’s about life and death.
But they don’t teach that in public
schools.
Dennis: It’s critical that we educate,
with prevalent diseases like HIV and
AIDS.
Another documentary
recently came out, called
Bridegroom. In that
documentary there's a
boy whose parents did
not accept their son's
homosexuality. How does
that make you feel?
Judy: It makes me very sad. A lot of
kids come up to Dennis and me and
often tell us that they wish they had
parents like us, because their family
has rejected them. It makes me proud
because they care about us, but it
makes me so sad that it still happens.
It’s heartbreaking. As a parent, your
kid should be number one in your life.
To reject them for who they are, when
five seconds before they came out you
still loved them, makes no sense to us.
Dennis: It’s heartbreaking. They
come up to you for a hug and you
see them breaking in to tears when
they tell their story. They’re just kids.
Everybody should be equal, regardless
of his or her sexuality.
Do you have any advice for
parents with gay children
that have a hard time
accepting it? And how
come you had no problem
accepting that Matt was
gay?
Judy: I think a lot of parents plan
their children’s future, and when that
plan has to change they’re unhappy.
I did not do that. My parents didn’t
raise me like that and I didn’t want
to raise my kids like that either. I had
lots of college friends that were gay
and me and Dennis are both from
the sixties, so it has to do with our
generation as well. Also, we are not
religious. We are not guided by a man
who tells us what we should think and
a lot of parents use their church as a
reason for rejecting their child. A lot
of members of the community think
they can’t be catholic and gay so they
have to choose. I always tell them:
well, your church leader might say it’s
not okay to be gay, but I don’t think
your god goes ‘oh, you’re okay and
you’re not’. I don’t get that. It’s your
child and you should accept them and
love them how they are. Also, as long
as people still believe being gay is a
choice, nothing’s going to change.
Dennis: It’s ridiculous. ‘Oh I choose
to be gay so I get beaten up and have
my rights taken away from me’. That’s
just crazy. Your job as a parent is to
help your children succeed on their
own. They should have all the tools
they need to do so and they don’t get
that if you’re ashamed of them or if
you don’t accept them. You should
always be proud of your children
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