[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Livia

Who are the hateful? Because I see much more venom and lots of insults aimed at people of faith in this country.

I have lots of gay friends, I don't know any of them who suffer being gay. Them embrace their lives, they have good careers, they're happy in their personal life... I never hear any of them moaning about homophobia, but I do hear them celebrating the fact that they can now marry in this country. I've been "best woman" at a gay wedding, it was the most joyful thing ever. Things are changing here... I'd rather be celebrating that.

Nobody is beyond criticism. If a religious person holds opinions that are inflamatory to another demographic then that demographic has as much right to respond as the former has to hold that belief and vice versa.

I criticise certain religious people (I'm not painting in broad strokes here, I know that there's a lot of religious people who have no issues with the LGBT) because I feel they use their opinions to justify their hate, I can understand that certain religious folk can't agree to gay marriage not because they are opposed to homosexuality but because they believe marriage is between a man or a woman. I also criticise people who are overly hateful towards religion because everyone has the right to believe what they want to believe in. I dislike organised religion, but I dislike it all equally so I'll often criticise people who are overly hateful towards one religion when they can't see that the problems they have with one religion have been common to all religions at some point or another.

Most people who are LGBT have lived a lot of their lives being made to feel that they are not right, that they are inherently wrong. Even after coming out, a lot of gay people won't feel comfortable showing affection towards their partner in public or talking about the issues that plague the LGBT community to somebody who isn't part of that community. LGBT people are always thinking 'hmm, how open can I really be about myself around this person? How much risk is involved?'

As a bisexual person, I feel very uncomfortable talking to both straight and gay people about troubles I've faced because I've experienced hate from both. I don't speak to many people IRL about the troubles I've faced because there's always going to be an element of distrust there, that you've got to hold things back. It's difficult to put into words how it feels but just because somebody doesn't speak of discrimination does not mean it doesn't happen.