Dear Babies

I wrote this letter to my future daughters last night, in response to an extremely homophobic Facebook status one of my husbands (now former) Facebook friends had updated about the upcoming Vancouver gay pride parade. I was angered and disgusted by the idiocy of such a status, so I thought I'd let my daughters know how their parents feel about homophobia and those who practice it. 

Dear babies,

Something you will discover when you come into this world is that it is full of unhappy, critical, hateful people. Since the beginning of time there has been judgment and oppression, racism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of hate boiling in the spirit of humanity; in many ways being hateful is a part of the human condition, and depending on what century or decade you find yourself in you will always discover some form of it. The version we seem to be facing most prevalently in our society today happens to be homophobia: the fear, hate, inequality, and in some countries capital punishment-inducing intolerance of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people.

And this is unacceptable, and has no place in the lives of civilized, intelligent people. In my short life I have heard GLBT people described as disgusting, immoral, evil, an abomination, and even predators, aggressively out to threaten and corrupt the innocent.  They are painted as something to truly be afraid of, and that we need to protect ourselves and our children from.

One day babies, when you’re old enough to understand it, you will learn about slavery, lynchings, pogroms, internment camps, and the Holocaust. One day, when you do, your heart and soul will ache for the suffering of the oppressed, and the victims of such horrors.  And one day, I hope you will realize that homophobia is absolutely no different than the hate that has fuelled these many dark marks on our human history.

And when you do babies, I hope you will realize to your very core that you want no part of it, and will in fact desire to actively fight against this ignorance. And because of this, not only will you be intolerant of hate, but you will also be brave enough to be intolerant of hateful people and you will keep them, and their poison, out of your lives.

I heard a quote once that said “the darkest places in Hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis”. And babies, I believe this completely; do not be neutral my dears, and do not ever be afraid to stand against hate and oppression or those who promote it. Because when it comes to being GLBT, the only disgusting thing about it is the amount of hate shown by so-called civilized people towards it. And while they may say they base their judgment on the words of the Bible, I firmly believe that if there IS a God (and I’ll leave that up to you to decide) He does not reserve a seat in Heaven for those who practice such vile treatment of their fellow human beings.

If there is anything I can teach you babies, it is to always practice love, compassion, forgiveness, and tolerance towards others, and to focus more energy on your own decisions rather than the personal choices of those around you. Live, and let live.

Love will open your heart and allow you to learn and grow in untainted ways… Hate will make you bitter and cynical and corrupted and miserable. And you, my darlings, are far too good for that.

Love Mama