This month’s installment of STEEL CITY NOIR is up today, and as you can see from the above illustration (beautifully drawn by Julian Lopez), we’re dealing with a homosexual protagonist. I can’t recall a noir story with a gay male lead, but I hardly think this is the first. If it is, whew! I broke new ground!
This is June, and June is Gay Pride Month. I think it’s safe to say that this was deliberate on my part (the timing of this SCN chapter). I’m not going to get into a long debate about gay rights, but to make it clear, I am for them. Whether it be marriage, or adoption, or anything…because it becomes a human rights issue, and there’s no need to separate gays from humans. That’s idiotic.
It’s no secret that I am a Christian, and I know that, in the mainstream media and in actuality, Christianity and gay rights are as far apart as China is from New York. Or not. It really depends on the Christian you’re asking. I follow this group on Facebook called The Christian Left, and I find that, more and more, this is where my heart lies. I grew up in a time where gays (gay men, especially) were considered weak and lesser. And as I got older, learned the story of Harvey Milk and Stonewall, I realize that those weak men? They fought for their rights as hard as any straight man I know. I also grew up with the idea that God is love. The idea that God loves unconditionally. The idea that wants us to love unconditionally. I think of how many gay men and women loved God until the Church turned it’s collective back on them. I think of that, and it makes me sad. If you have the time, read this article. It may get you to…maybe not change your mind, but hopefully it’ll help you think. Maybe it’ll let homosexual readers know that God is there for them also, and they don’t have to change who they are.
If I’ve offended anyone out there, I apologize, but this is my opinion and heart. In fact, I may have just ostracized myself from my own family, but… You can choose to look away, abandon me, etc., but that’s not what Christ would do. That’s the point of what I’m trying to say here. Being Christian means trying to live your life the way Christ would. We’re only humans; we’re gonna get it wrong. We can’t know the mind of God. And we can’t put human values and attributes on a supreme being (or, on THE Supreme Being). I might have offended some, but maybe, just maybe, I’ve opened someone up to the peace and love that God really provides me.
That said, I am Pro-Gay Rights. I am, and will continue to be, a Straight Ally. One day, maybe in my lifetime, the Rainbow flag will be replaced…
…with a red, white and blue one.
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