Find Me Serenity

I woke up this morning and did my usual sweep of news media, clicking on the usual headlines that catch my attention. Any time the words “anti-gay” turn up I check to see who it is, what it’s all about, and if there is something I can do about it (make angry posts on Twitter and Facebook, sign a petition, rant about it on my blog…). When I opened the “Duck Dynasty star says stupid things about gays” article I was not looking to crucify anyone. I was simply curious about whether or not I was right about the dialogue he used to condemn gays. And I was. It was nothing I was not expecting to hear from a 67-year-old redneck duck caller with a reality TV show. Gay is wrong, the bible says so, homosexuality leads to sex with animals. Yawn, yawn, yawn. I passed it off as the usual fodder and went on with my day.

And then the media shitstorm began. He has been taken off the air (not the show, mind you, just the guy who said the shit we’re upset about), people are shocked, in disbelief, falling down with amazement that these things could possibly come from, I reiterate here, a 67-year-old DUCK DYNASTY STAR. Homophobia and bigotry of any kind is uncalled for. I will never ask that we give leniency because the man is old, misinformed and, a fucking reality show star. But what I would like to point out here is the way this story came to be.

Mr. Robertson was being interviewed by GQ magazine. The interviewer found it necessary to ask the man what he thought of gay people. Mr. Robertson answered honestly and with the information he knows from his beloved bible and church. Is that OK? No. But I ask you, dear readers, why did the interviewer at Esquire ask a man who is famous for creating duck calls about his opinions on gay people? I will answer the question, though I simply speculate here. Because, my friends, he/she knew the answer and knew the shitstorm that piece of the article would cause.

We should in no way pass off the ignorant words spoken, and I appreciate the fact that A&E is erring on the side of caution and keeping him out of the show for an “indefinite period of time,” but I do wonder if we are going about this ass-backward. Thank goodness that homophobic old redneck duck caller can’t be on TV for a little while…meanwhile in India, Russia, South Africa (the list goes on and on) people are dying just by walking down the street and being who they are.

‘Murica. Land of the free. Home of the brave.