Do you remember Anita Bryant?

dseag2 said:
Such a great Christian, and a horrible human being.

Click to expand...

NOT a good Christian. A horrible Christian. Real Christians do not persecute other people, they love them.

Lunatics take Christian teachings, see red and go after people.

Real Christians take Christ's teachings and work in soup kitchens and help the poor and suffering.


Gay folks are the problem? Really? People should get a text read out of the daily porn spew that is in the heads of straight men.

Really.

Read a few pages of that and first of all, all women would immediately flee from us. Second, the few reasonable people would be like, "oh, those nice gay folks...why can't straight men be nice like them and not so disgusting???"
 
Why does Anita Bryant feel that gays are recruiting children? Where's the proof? In my opinion, she is rewriting the "written word" and fostering fear and intolerance. So, according to her, gays won't go to heaven per her interpretation of her god. I doubt that is true if there is a heaven or a just, loving god. And any god so cruel would not earn my respect.
 
Oh...and by the way, re gay teachers....


Back in 1994, I set up a talk, through my Amnesty International Group, with the first openly gay teacher in NJ...at a local Barnes & Noble bookstore.

After the talk, a group of us, which included a couple of high school kids...went to this NJ diner across the street.

At some point, that man looked at the two high school kids and said gently, but firmly..."you know, guys, it's getting late and tomorrow's a school day."

Exactly..exactly the way you would expect a caring teacher to talk to a teen. In that moment, even though I did not have kids, the first thought in my mind was....oh, yes...this is exactly who I want teaching my kid.

I don't know if I am describing this well enough.

You ever have that moment in life, when you meet someone so nice, you look at yourself and am embarrassed at what kind of loser you are? --- because this person in front of you is all class, all dignity?

I had that moment.

Now, I am not gay and I have not had all that much interaction with the gay community. But the thought that Anita was preventing kids from getting this guy as a teacher? Just so clearly, completely insane.

Oh, I forgot. Back in high school, I was pre-med. We had a biology teacher. He did the AP biology classes and was actually a reader for the AP organization. I can't tell you how many students came out of his program and wound up doctors. Tons. And he was a gay man.

He was such a dignified guy...actually from quite a wealthy background...taught because he loved it.

Even all the athletic coaches in the school, all the macho guys in the school...with him, everyone just stopped and gave him complete respect. He was that incredible of a person.

Now, I am sure the gay community also has its idiots, like every other group...but I did meet those two incredible folks, incredible teachers.

And again, the idea that those guys should not teach? Just lunacy. Complete lunacy.

Oh, I just found Mr. Jaeger's obituary...

https://www.silive.com/obituaries/2015/01/irwin_jaeger_81.html


RIP sir...you did an amazing job with us....
 
Anita Bryant represented mainstream American thinking in 1977. I was surprised to find out that she's still alive and "only" 82. What's interesting to me is that no one publicly espouses her views anymore. What was mainstream is now hate speech.

In a weird way, she helped promote tolerance by being so intolerant. She made the gay community's position look reasonable, which of course it was.
 
You have to remember this was 1977 and it was the thinking then. It was not talked about in my family or anyone elses. I never learned about being gay until long after I was married. I look back now and realize that we did not know better and now we do so our minds are changed and we are accepting of people no matter their status.
 
JimBob1952 said:
Anita Bryant represented mainstream American thinking in 1977. I was surprised to find out that she's still alive and "only" 82. What's interesting to me is that no one publicly espouses her views anymore. What was mainstream is now hate speech.

In a weird way, she helped promote tolerance by being so intolerant. She made the gay community's position look reasonable, which of course it was.
Click to expand...
JimBob1952 said:
She was about ten years behind the Lester Maddoxes and George Wallaces and Bull Connors of the late 60s and very early 70s. She did for homophobia what they did for racism, that is, she made it look bad.
Click to expand...
StarSong said:
A good Christian in her mind only. Many "Good Christians" shun, persecute, vilify and avoid the very people Jesus sought out. They talk a good game, but when in the company of those (they believe) are like-minded, the ugliness spews forth.

The stunning levels of blatant hypocrisy turned a lot of us against organized religion.
Click to expand...
+1, QFT. Well said, extremism always has a way of damaging the cause(s) that it so rabidly embraces.
 
Em in Ohio said:
Why does Anita Bryant feel that gays are recruiting children?
Click to expand...
She(and others) promoted the idea that kids can "catch" being gay, which is actually still a popular notion in Bible Belt areas. Also, the homophobic crowd has attempted to characterize gays as being pedophiles.
Of course, the idiotic notion that you can "pray away the gay" subjected countless children to mental cruelty and abuse.
 
terry123 said:
You have to remember this was 1977 and it was the thinking then. It was not talked about in my family or anyone elses. I never learned about being gay until long after I was married. I look back now and realize that we did not know better and now we do so our minds are changed and we are accepting of people no matter their status.
Click to expand...
It wasn't the thinking in Los Angeles in 1977, which is why so many people were aghast at her comments.
 
At my age I don't follow the gay/lesbian news. I like to remember some of her lovely songs that I will always treasure. Here are 2 of my favourites (Paper Roses & My Little Corner of the World):


 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top