I've long been gay friendly. My personal position is that who one loves is a personal matter. Gay or straight, black or white, young or old, none of it really matters. We share the basic human right to live, love, and associate as we please. My friends run the gamut of race, sexual orientation, age, gender, and religion. I like it that way. I support anyone who helps move public opinion towards tolerance and acceptance. I've always viewed it as a libertarian issue. My position has changed. I owe it to The Atheist Experience (blog).
Each week I drive from Orange County through Los Angeles County to Ventura County. The drive takes about an hour and a half each Tuesday morning. I stay a few days and then return home via the same route on Thursday. Only this time the drive can take as long as four hours. I fill the drive time by listening to podcasts. The Atheist Experience and the Non Prophets are two of my favorites.
During yesterdays drive I listened to the John Hagee episode. During the show they talked about participating in an Austin Gay Pride event. I think they had a booth up for the Atheist Community of Austin. One of the hosts (my apologies guys - I have yet been able to put a name to a voice), stated that gay rights is an Atheist issue because gay rights is a separation of church and state issue. It was like somebody turned a light bulb on in my head. I remember thinking, "Jeez, how did I miss that?"
Of course gay rights is a separation of church and state issue!Issues like excluding gays from the legal definition of marriage are clearly based in religion. James Dobson and his hate mongers push the agenda. Our politicians make it law. I feel like a tool for not putting 2 and 2 together on this one.
I wonder if the Atheist community of LA participates in any gay pride festivals? Wait... is there an atheist community of LA? Oh crap, my local chapter meets tonight.
