The tug of war over the next generation

The on-going focus of this column is “LGBT parenting and family”. While most articles cover current events or legal and social matters there is another facet of parenting we should keep in mind – our childrens’ future. Not just their individual futures but the future of the nation in which they will live. It seems to be considered a given that the cause of full equality for the U.S.’s LGBT citizens is a matter not of “if” but of “when”. However, there is a tug of war going on over the younger generation that needs to be watched closely, as it calls into question the certitude of that outcome.

Will Phillips is a little person with a big spine. The ten year old 5th grader from Arkansas has drawn national attention for his refusal to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in class. As he said to the Arkansas Times, “I've always tried to analyze things because I want to be a lawyer. I really don't feel that there's currently liberty and justice for all.”

His mother, Laura Phillips, explained to the Times that they have many gay friends and have been dismayed by the efforts around the country to take away rights from these friends, whether the right to marry or the right to adopt. Arkansas has joined Florida in banning all LGBTs from adopting, although Arkansas' law is less overt in that it bars all unmarried persons from adopting (and since same-sex couples can't marry, well...). Without any prompting from his parents, Will took it upon himself to no longer stand and recite the pledge each morning. Regardless of pressure from the school staff, and classmates who have begun referring to him as "gaywad" among other harrassing behavior, Will still refuses to stand for the Pledge and his parents support him wholeheartedly. “We've told him that people here might not support you, but we've shown him there are people all over that support you,” Ms. Phillips said, referring to letters they’ve received and the creation of fan pages on social networking sites such as the Will the Mighty page on Facebook. That support extends to John Stewart and professional wrestler Mick Foley, who vowed while on the Daily Show to bring “a world of pain” to anyone who harasses Will or “calls him a wad of any kind”.

And Will is not alone among the younger generations who are becoming not only more accepting of their LGBT peers, but are vocally and actively fighting alongside them to win their equality. The nation-wide network of gay/straight alliances (GSAs) continues to expand and produce, promote or participate in such campaigns as National Coming Out Day, Day of Silence, and No Name Calling Week. As of 2007 there were over 3500 chapters nationwide registered with GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network). These school-based organizations often form even under the resistance of the schools in which they meet. These battles have frequently been settled in courts, and some school districts have chosen to ban all non-academic clubs in order to shut out GSA clubs.

On the opposite end of the spectrum from Will and the GSAs are the followers of Westboro Baptist Church’s Rev. Fred Phelps and his Godhatesfags.com website. Where Will Phillips refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance out of a sense of patriotism, meaning he expects the country to live up to the ideals it espouses, Westboro Baptists’ congregants express their own brand of patriotism by condemning the entire country simply for its limited and patchwork acceptance of LGBTs. Phelps’ followers, with many children among their numbers, appear at the funerals of military members who have fallen in Iraq or Afghanistan and wave signs declaring that they deserved their deaths since God has damned the United States. “God hates you” and “You will burn in Hell” appear on signs, often held by children of Will’s age and younger. According to their website they have held 41,226 “peaceful demonstrations (to date)” since their founding in 1991.

When appearing at these protests Westboro’s congregants sport eerie grins that never falter. They often laugh and joke as they condemn the dead and their loved ones. Like Will, they feel the country is not living up to its ideals, which in their minds means the country needs to be a wholly Christian theocracy (Jews need not apply, based on the anti-Jewish items on their site; irony lost on them that both Testaments of their Bible were created by Jews). If the nation is not adhering 100% to Biblical teachings and law it deserves to be destroyed. It is LGBTs and those who accept them that Westboro’s congregants see as the primary threat to the nation.

While the good Reverend Phelps and his followers are the extreme, there are others among the younger generation who might also be “lost” as future allies for LGBTs. One of the potential drawbacks to the current wave of civil rights battles across the nation is that, while much of the younger generation will be learning that LGBT equality is a no-brainer there will be others whose parents and communities will be more pro-active in teaching their children to not accept their gay peers. Many of these kids attend anti-gay protests and take part in other anti-gay political actions, either willingly or at the behest of their parents. Many are being groomed to fill the leadership roles of groups such as Focus on the Family and National Organization for Marriage. In the past, many parents might have stewed in silence which allowed for their children to be influenced by pro-gay lessons, or at the very least to grow up neutral on the issue. But now there are countless parents who have been galvanized into action and want to ensure their kids learn to not see LGBT citizens as equal (at best).

This means we are at a pivotal point in history. With the nation on a downward trend in terms of economic prosperity (in addition to the current recession, wages in general have been stagnant for several years while cost of living increases), the pressures on social issues will become intensified. A sad element of human nature for many is to turn on others when things get tough; a zero-sum mentality kicks in. Just as we are already seeing with the intense backlash against illegal immigrants (which likely translates as “all immigrants”, especially those from central and Latin America) and their perceived threat to American jobs, a large segment of the population needs a scapegoat for its ills no matter how irrational. Visible minorities with sizable populations often meet that need, and at the moment illegal immigrants and LGBTs fit that description.

There was a backlash against Chinese and Japanese immigrants during the economic slumps of the late 1800s, with the few rights they gained quickly stripped away while they also experienced an increase in physical harassment. Conversely there was a boom in social equality that took place in the post WWII years, and much of that progress can be credited to the simultaneously booming economy. The vast majority had plenty so became increasingly inclined to live and let live. Those days could be permanently behind us or at least suspended for the foreseeable future.

In spite of some recent battles being lost, all indications are that the pro-equality movement is on the march to victory in the long term, lead by the Will Phillips and GSA members among the younger generation. But we can not become complacent or presumptive. In these uncertain times many of us will see the need to pull together and ensure liberty and justice for all in order to get us through. Others will circle the wagons and begin naming and attacking any perceived threats, as seen by Westboro Baptist Church and many other anti-gay forces. How many of our generation’s children will be inside those circled wagons will be of huge significance to the future of LGBT citizens, their families and the nation as a whole.
 

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