Seductive intolerance

Quotes from Between the Lines:

"If your reasons for voting yes on Prop. 8 had more to do with your moral values and religion, I want you to consider this. If you think I am going to hell for being a lesbian, then let me go to hell. God doesn't need your help and voting yes on Prop. 8 isn't going to get me there that much faster or stop me from being a lesbian."

- Jasmyne Cannick, Nov. 12.

"White gays often wonder aloud why blacks, of all people, won't support their civil rights. There is a real misunderstanding by the white gay community about the term. Proponents of gay marriage fling it around as if it is a one-size-fits-all catch phrase for issues of fairness. But the black civil rights movement was essentially born out of and driven by the black church; social justice and religion are inextricably intertwined in the black community. To many blacks, civil rights are grounded in Christianity - not something separate and apart from religion but synonymous with it. To the extent that the issue of gay marriage seemed to be pitted against the church, it was going to be a losing battle in my community."

- Jasmyne Cannick, in her op-ed column in the LA Times, Nov. 8.

"I wish they would explain to me how they (black people) can, with a straight face, use arguments against gay people that were first tested and perfected against us. When, for instance, they use an obscure passage from the Bible to claim God has ordained the mistreatment of gays, don't they hear an echo of white people using that Bible to claim God ordained the mistreatment of blacks? When they rail against homosexuality as unnatural, don't they remember when that same word was used to describe abolition, interracial marriage and school integration? When they say they'd have no trouble with gay people if they would just stop 'flaunting' their sexuality, doesn't it bring to mind all those good ol' boys who said they had no problem with 'Nigras' so long as they stayed in their place? …

That tells you something about how seductive a thing intolerance is, how difficult it can be to resist the serpent whisper that says, 'It's OK to ridicule and marginalize those people over there because they look funny, or talk funny, worship funny or love funny.'"

- Leonard Pitts, Jr.