That Sound You Hear Is the Death Rattle of Dinosaurs

Remember Will Phillips, the 10-year-old Arkansas kid who refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance in class because the continued prohibition on same-sex marriage in most of the US renders the words "liberty and justice for all" meaningless to him…? Well, he has been invited to be the Grand Marshal of the Fayetteville Gay Pride Parade.

And that CANNOT STAND according to American Family Values Children Christian Liberty Freedom Patriot Association Foundation Organization!!!
The American Family Association, based in Tupelo, Miss., has called Will's selection to be grand marshal "a form of child abuse," and it has called on the city's mayor to "cancel his plans to issue a proclamation celebrating homosexual behavior and gay pride."

"We believe that it goes beyond the pale for adults to exploit a 10-year-old child for dark political purposes," said Bryan Fischer, the director of issue analysis at AFA. "He is too young to understand. There is nothing about homosexual conduct to be proud of and much to be ashamed of."

The AFA, according to Fischer, has sent an "action alert" to its members in Arkansas, and he says they have deluged the mayor's and city council's office with e-mails "asking him to stop this charade." Though there are no plans to actively protest at the parade, Fischer said, "as of noon Thursday our records show that the mayor and city council had received 12,300 e-mails asking them to stop the parade."
You know, it's funny—I can't recall the AFA ever issuing a press release about their passion to stop Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church Family Cult from putting "Gods Hates Fags" signs into the hands of five-year-olds.

Apart from the hypocrisy and evident bigotry emanating from the AFA, I've just got to call big-time bullshit on their contention that a 10-year-old is "too young to understand" the concept of equality or to have begun to rudimentarily develop his own set of ethics. A long time ago, I posted excepts from a journal I kept when I was 9, which included my contempt for an episode of Knight Rider centering sex and murder (instead of focusing on the technology and action stuff I loved, in no small part because it didn't feel upsetting to me).

The assertion that Will is too young to have come to his own conclusions about "homosexual conduct"—especially given that he has quite evidently been allowed the exposure to opposing viewpoints—is way more child-hating than offering him the chance to stand up for his beliefs at a Gay Pride Parade ever could be.

But I guess arguing he's being exploited is easier than admitting a 10-year-old kid is capable of more sophisticated thought than "God said so! I know because my dad said so! And he knows because his pastor said so! Because God said so!" which is the basis for the entire collection of unsupportable bigotries they call an ideology.

Shakesville is run as a safe space. First-time commenters: Please read Shakesville's Commenting Policy and Feminism 101 Section before commenting. We also do lots of in-thread moderation, so we ask that everyone read the entirety of any thread before commenting, to ensure compliance with any in-thread moderation. Thank you.

blog comments powered by Disqus