If there is anything that fills me with an absolute rage — an inconsolable fury — it is the apparent ignorance and arrogance of the heterosexual majority in America.

As a gay man, I am constantly reminded of the blindness of that majority; and whatever true vision is held by a few heterosexuals, with regard to gays, does not ameliorate my fury: They are silent, and for the most part avoid the issue until it is forced on them.

As an example of blindness, take a look at this article from CNN.com:

WAUKEGAN, Illinois (CNN) — An ex-convict has admitted punching, kicking and stabbing to death his 8-year-old daughter and her 9-year-old best friend on Mother’s Day, prosecutors in suburban Chicago said.

The article is just over a month old; but it is not an uncommon story. Scanning through local newspapers would show the heterosexual majority, if they cared to see, how many crimes are committed by heterosexuals against their neighbors, their family members, strangers. Add to the list of crimes a list of wantonness and licentiousness: the drug and alcohol abuse, sexual promiscuity, vulgar and crude displays, lies & deceit, idolatry, teenaged pregnancy, greed, sloth, and the other cardinal sins.

These things are of course taken for granted: Sure, Curtis, so what? Gays do these things too.

Yes, gays do these things: gays are human beings.

But to hear the Religious Right and their silent majoritarian supporters — which means, virtually every heterosexual in America — describe matters, gays should be barred from military service, marriage, communion, adoption, teaching positions, ministerial positions — and the list goes on.

Gay men and women are treated to a barrage of fascist attacks, some direct and some indirect, by those who believe in the Master Race: i.e., heterosexuals are the norm — they who perpetuate the Race — and homosexuals, an aberration or oddity or “variant.” Variant of what? —as if, of course, the Standard is the heterosexual. I have a blogging friend who swears he’ll always support our noble & grand American service members: there again is a reference to a Master Race, of a different sort, which Freedom Thumpers and good ol’ patriots have no problems advocating. We good; They not-so-good. But here comes a story from Texas, land of the monstrous:

Last Sunday, Texas governor Rick Perry made this “compassionate” statement to Gays and Lesbians in his own state:

“Texans have made a decision about marriage and if there is some other state that has a more lenient view than Texas then maybe that’s a better place for them to live.”

Sound familiar? Notoriously racist Mississippi governor Fielding Wright (Strom Thurmond’s running mate on the anti-integration “Dixiecrat” ticket in 1948) gave some remarkably similar advice to Black Mississippians half a century ago:

“If any of you have become so deluded as to want to enter our hotels and cafes, enjoy social equality with whites, then kindness and true sympathy requires me to advise you to make your home in some state other than Mississippi.” [Tim Hulsey, My Stupid Dog]

The righteous Governor was addressing gay and lesbian veterans returning from Iraq.

Where is the outcry from the Freedom Thumpers? Where is the call to action? When will freedom come to all Americans?

No doubt, a great many heterosexuals, even some of those sympathetic to the, er, so-called “gay cause” might question the suffering of gay and lesbian Americans: OH, but you haven’t had to live under SADDAM HUSSEIN! and silently wish for gay and lesbian Americans to stop their whining.

Let me tell you: the suffering is great. Not only must we who are gay witness, every day, the deep-seated American Hypocrisy — which is a very deep wound on our sense of home — but every minute of every day we are reminded of our place. Even those of us who have achieved some measure of “success” in our lives have had to live through decades of constant reminders of our second-class citizenship.

And I’m not just talking about marriage rights — those thousand+ rights denied to us. There is a social aspect, rights of passage, which go with marriage: having relatives, friends, fellow members of a church or synagogue, and others in our community lend the helping hand from the moment high school is over through the establishment of security and stability.

There is the learning curve that comes with commiseration with fellow members of the community: on the problems of marriage, on building a life with another, on financial matters affecting the union of two, on health issues, etc.

Sure, many gay men and lesbians manage to find new avenues of learning and social acceptance, eventually; but the discovery is often delayed, and the resources available to gay men and lesbians, particularly in rural areas, are quite limited. Such limitations tend to have a cumulative effect and represent a major hurdle in early adulthood which can last long past the time heterosexuals are forming families and networks of families, coworkers, and religious and spiritual support groups.

Meanwhile, gay men and women must constantly be aware, and beware, of the society around them. Will a new employer turn out to be homophobic? Will a bank representative deny a home loan because those who seek the loan are two men? Etc. The environment in which gay men and lesbians must learn to survive is not very different from the environment pre-liberation Iraqis had to navigate: when one must be on the lookout for an establishment that might oppose his free will at any moment.

The Freedom Thumper might say that gays and lesbians don’t have the threat of Torture and Dismemberment hanging over their heads — Gays should be happy they live in America and not Hussein’s Iraq! — but I would say, disregarding for a moment the Matthew Shepherds of America, that most Iraqis had already learned how to navigate safely through their oppressive environment. Most didn’t do the things that would lead to torture and dismemberment.

And we now have a governor of a large state telling gay and lesbian veterans: Go somewhere else, or suffer the consequences!

But my rage is fueled not by the oppression alone. I vacillate between extreme contempt and sorrow when I consider the oppression. No, the rage comes from the fundamental hypocrisy of a heterosexual society incapable of correcting its own infidelities. My rage comes when I hear President Bush say that heterosexuals are the best parents for children and then read, on the same day or any day, a new story about heterosexual child abuse, child murder, rape and other crimes against humanity committed by heterosexuals. Saddam Hussein was no faggot. Neither was Mr. Hobbs, the father in the CNN story who killed his young daughter.

My rage comes from the realization that so many heterosexuals who decry the “abnormality” of homosexuals fail to acknowledge the origin of homosexuals: Gays come from heterosexuals, are conceived by heterosexuals, raised by heterosexuals, and then are so often abandoned by that society that created them. If homosexuality is an unpardonable abnormality, it is an abnormality which would not exist but for the Master Race’s heterosexuality.

My rage comes from reading ultrapatriotic right-wing blogs, the words of Freedom Thumpers, who mince over every suggestion that America does anything but bring Freedom to the world while ignoring the great disservice America renders to its gay and lesbian citizens — or who, in fact, wail over and bemoan the “threat” of homosexuality.

My rage comes from witnessing the lies and violence committed in the name of “Freedom” by those who know nothing of freedom, the vehemence and patriotic zeal of those who would export what they cannot — or, will not — bring to their own nation.