A few years ago as I was strolling through Fantasyland during “Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party”, a young boy around age eight or nine complimented me on my Fix-It Felix costume. “Thanks!” I said, “I like yours too!” He was dressed as Tinker Bell. At that moment I felt so proud to be a Disney cast member. I thought, ‘how great that Disney World is a place where this boy can feel free to dress in that costume, and how wonderful that his parents let him!’ (When I was his age I was watching ‘Three’s Company’ and listening to Mr. Roper call Jack Tripper ‘Tinker Bell’ as the audience laughed at the gay put-down.)
Gary, I’m sobbing reading your essay. I’m sad for what you are having to endure and the hate I know you will get for speaking out this way. I’m sad that a company I’ve long respected has taken such a horrifying turn. I’m sad that LGB rights and positioning in society have been co-opted and eclipsed by this movement. I am
sad that my beautiful teenage girl fell prey to this four years ago and that I am called hateful and transphobic for not affirming something I believe is dangerous and divisive. I am sad that she will likely cut her breasts off as soon as she is out of our house. I am sad that the political party I’ve spent my life supporting is now encouraging healthy young bodies to be pumped full of drugs to stop normal development and fast track them to permanent surgeries. I’m sad women’s sports will no longer be women’s sports.
I celebrated when gay marriage became legal. I never thought that we would end up here. Thank you so much for writing this. It’s everything I think and feel as a female, a parent, a GenXer, a human. I will be forever grateful for you speaking out.
Thank you for saying so very well everything I have been thinking and feeling for a while. It's time we regrouped with those of us who feel the same, and restore some sanity.
AMEN! Finally someone with common sense and willing to speak the truth. This "religion" (cult in my opinion) has got to go. All of this is so utterly insane and I can't understand how educated people can't see through the glitter bomb to realize that children and teens are being harmed.
Gary, I greatly admire your courage to speak out. You will be mobbed, demoted, fired, called a Nazi, a bigot, etc... You do not deserve this, but it will happen. 20 years ago conservatives who opposing gay marriage were called the same names, and some were fired for their beliefs (Brandon Eich among others). You may not like being in our deplorable company, but we welcome you regardless.
You draw a distinction between gay marriage acceptance and gender identity wokeness, but to us conservatives, they are expressions of the same error. Once you accept the logic of the sexual revolution (men & women are essentially the same and individual autonomy is the highest good), there's no stopping the train. You get no-fault divorce, out of wedlock births, gay acceptance and marriage, polygamy & polyamory, eventually gender identity lunacy, and we can already see pedophilia on the horizon. You imagine an ability to freeze liberalism in the nice 2010's, pro-gay state, but that's not how liberalism works. It seeks to liberate, from class, religion, race, sex, sexual orientation, age, and now even biology. Because if it stops "liberating", liberalism no longer has a purpose. It is an ideology of change, not stasis. It is conservatives who “stand athwart history, yelling Stop!", which is what you're doing in this letter.
You asked people to honestly consider your opinions as a gay man being offended by the LGBTQXYZ alphabet soup. I'm asking you to honestly consider the opinions of those conservatives that you have disagreed with, how the things you promoted may be largely responsible for birthing our current gender insanity. While that means you share the responsibility, it also means you have a unique ability to be part of the solution. This letter is part of that solution, and that is incredibly courageous. Criticizing an enemy is easy; criticizing a friend requires courage.
Again, I have the highest respect for what you're doing. You do not deserve the hate, the ostracism, the bigotry that will be directed at you. If you end up setting up a GoFundMe (unless GoFundMe refuses you for wrong-think), I would contribute to it. You have real courage. That is rare today (maybe it always has been) and should be supported.
Thank you for writing this, Gary. Everything you've written matches the countless hours of research I have poured into this topic. I care deeply about this topic because my 14-year-old daughter is going through gender ideology, and from my perspective it's causing far more problems for her than it solves, even if she doesn't obtain top surgery when she's 18 as she's promised. Regardless, I appreciate your eloquence, bravery, and honesty. Thank you.
Thanks... I have been screaming about alphabet soup for 15+years and telling anyone that would listen that "trans" has no relation to us GLB-folks and we should NOT be lumped in with them, or rather, they should not be lumped in with us. It is heartening to see more gays speaking up about this and even some gay organizations-- for whom the big national organizations WANT the more letters they can cram in because it means more people to send them money...
I enjoyed this piece, it made me se things and think about it from a perspective I hadn't considered before. I shared it on twitter with a number of people because it's so well done.
Thank you so much for writing what I’ve been trying to articulate. I can’t get far enough from that rainbow flag and have practically gone back into the closet after being out for 40 years. We need more of this.
This is everything I have been feeling about this ideology, perfectly articulated in one place. Excellent work. Thank you for speaking out. You are an eloquent writer. Exceptional points and validation for your perspective.
Wow. You really do think everything is really about YOU. YOU want all sorts of people and all sorts of organization to conform to what YOU want. Well, it don't work that way, as they say.
"But we should first let him be a kid."
I run into this a lot. I find it comes from sincere people who were just not that mature when they were kids. And, in this case, as I've already said, you think it's all about YOU. I was a little kid, apparently a very self-aware little kid, who knew I was gay long before third grade. Sadly, this was quite a long time ago and it was made very, very clear to me that what I was was not acceptable. If someone had, instead, explained sexual orientation and, even better, said it was OK for me to be gay in third grade, grades three through college would have been very, very different.
While you bask in the attention you're getting from the likes of Rod Dreher, take some time to read his comments about trans people. You'll find lots and lots you agree with. Then take the time to go back and read what he thinks about you, a gay man. Maybe it'll open your eyes.
And while you're defending this law, why don't you opine on the TN version. It bans any discussion of sexual orientation or gender in all grades. And look at the laws the GOP is passing in other states. They really don't like you. Or me.
I Am a Gay Employee at Walt Disney World. Disney Does Not Speak For Me.
Gary, I’m sobbing reading your essay. I’m sad for what you are having to endure and the hate I know you will get for speaking out this way. I’m sad that a company I’ve long respected has taken such a horrifying turn. I’m sad that LGB rights and positioning in society have been co-opted and eclipsed by this movement. I am
sad that my beautiful teenage girl fell prey to this four years ago and that I am called hateful and transphobic for not affirming something I believe is dangerous and divisive. I am sad that she will likely cut her breasts off as soon as she is out of our house. I am sad that the political party I’ve spent my life supporting is now encouraging healthy young bodies to be pumped full of drugs to stop normal development and fast track them to permanent surgeries. I’m sad women’s sports will no longer be women’s sports.
I celebrated when gay marriage became legal. I never thought that we would end up here. Thank you so much for writing this. It’s everything I think and feel as a female, a parent, a GenXer, a human. I will be forever grateful for you speaking out.
Thank you for saying so very well everything I have been thinking and feeling for a while. It's time we regrouped with those of us who feel the same, and restore some sanity.
AMEN! Finally someone with common sense and willing to speak the truth. This "religion" (cult in my opinion) has got to go. All of this is so utterly insane and I can't understand how educated people can't see through the glitter bomb to realize that children and teens are being harmed.
Excellent analysis of this madness. Emperor has no clothes, everyone!
Wow! Thank you for going public.
Gary, I greatly admire your courage to speak out. You will be mobbed, demoted, fired, called a Nazi, a bigot, etc... You do not deserve this, but it will happen. 20 years ago conservatives who opposing gay marriage were called the same names, and some were fired for their beliefs (Brandon Eich among others). You may not like being in our deplorable company, but we welcome you regardless.
You draw a distinction between gay marriage acceptance and gender identity wokeness, but to us conservatives, they are expressions of the same error. Once you accept the logic of the sexual revolution (men & women are essentially the same and individual autonomy is the highest good), there's no stopping the train. You get no-fault divorce, out of wedlock births, gay acceptance and marriage, polygamy & polyamory, eventually gender identity lunacy, and we can already see pedophilia on the horizon. You imagine an ability to freeze liberalism in the nice 2010's, pro-gay state, but that's not how liberalism works. It seeks to liberate, from class, religion, race, sex, sexual orientation, age, and now even biology. Because if it stops "liberating", liberalism no longer has a purpose. It is an ideology of change, not stasis. It is conservatives who “stand athwart history, yelling Stop!", which is what you're doing in this letter.
You asked people to honestly consider your opinions as a gay man being offended by the LGBTQXYZ alphabet soup. I'm asking you to honestly consider the opinions of those conservatives that you have disagreed with, how the things you promoted may be largely responsible for birthing our current gender insanity. While that means you share the responsibility, it also means you have a unique ability to be part of the solution. This letter is part of that solution, and that is incredibly courageous. Criticizing an enemy is easy; criticizing a friend requires courage.
Again, I have the highest respect for what you're doing. You do not deserve the hate, the ostracism, the bigotry that will be directed at you. If you end up setting up a GoFundMe (unless GoFundMe refuses you for wrong-think), I would contribute to it. You have real courage. That is rare today (maybe it always has been) and should be supported.
Thank you for writing this, Gary. Everything you've written matches the countless hours of research I have poured into this topic. I care deeply about this topic because my 14-year-old daughter is going through gender ideology, and from my perspective it's causing far more problems for her than it solves, even if she doesn't obtain top surgery when she's 18 as she's promised. Regardless, I appreciate your eloquence, bravery, and honesty. Thank you.
Thanks... I have been screaming about alphabet soup for 15+years and telling anyone that would listen that "trans" has no relation to us GLB-folks and we should NOT be lumped in with them, or rather, they should not be lumped in with us. It is heartening to see more gays speaking up about this and even some gay organizations-- for whom the big national organizations WANT the more letters they can cram in because it means more people to send them money...
I enjoyed this piece, it made me se things and think about it from a perspective I hadn't considered before. I shared it on twitter with a number of people because it's so well done.
Thank you so much for writing what I’ve been trying to articulate. I can’t get far enough from that rainbow flag and have practically gone back into the closet after being out for 40 years. We need more of this.
This is everything I have been feeling about this ideology, perfectly articulated in one place. Excellent work. Thank you for speaking out. You are an eloquent writer. Exceptional points and validation for your perspective.
And u don't speak for the gay nor our LGBTQ.communities.
My 5 yr old asked if a boy could marry a boy & if a boy can wear girls' clothes.
Florida teachers are already speaking out that THEY'RE SCARED of answering questions like these now.
The law is TOO VAGUE. U didn't look that much into the bill, did you?
Wow. Exceptionally well written. Cheers.
Wow. You really do think everything is really about YOU. YOU want all sorts of people and all sorts of organization to conform to what YOU want. Well, it don't work that way, as they say.
"But we should first let him be a kid."
I run into this a lot. I find it comes from sincere people who were just not that mature when they were kids. And, in this case, as I've already said, you think it's all about YOU. I was a little kid, apparently a very self-aware little kid, who knew I was gay long before third grade. Sadly, this was quite a long time ago and it was made very, very clear to me that what I was was not acceptable. If someone had, instead, explained sexual orientation and, even better, said it was OK for me to be gay in third grade, grades three through college would have been very, very different.
While you bask in the attention you're getting from the likes of Rod Dreher, take some time to read his comments about trans people. You'll find lots and lots you agree with. Then take the time to go back and read what he thinks about you, a gay man. Maybe it'll open your eyes.
And while you're defending this law, why don't you opine on the TN version. It bans any discussion of sexual orientation or gender in all grades. And look at the laws the GOP is passing in other states. They really don't like you. Or me.