There's just no getting over the rainbow

www.themorningeyes.com

  Well, it's been difficult to narrow down a single pithy intellectual thought for this week's illuminating entry, so I offer this perplexing fodder to ponder.
   Two highly respected, left-leaning, mainstream newspapers schooled us recently regarding the fight for 'equality' and need to understand the gay community in modern American society.
  During New York's action to allow those of the same gender to marry, this New York Times Op-ed piece actually bemoans the loss of uniqueness gays have had up to this point and is saddened by having to succumb to the requirements of marriage.
   The second piece is from the lead story in a recent Sunday edition of the St. Petersburg Times, regarding AIDS transmission.
   Here's the nut of it:
   [Within the gay community there exists] ... the shadowy world of "gift givers'' — those who knowingly spread the incurable virus — and "bug chasers'' — those who seek it out. The sardonic nicknames describe people who refuse to believe the virus is deadly, or who know it is and don't care who is harmed.
   Take a little time to read each piece; I felt both confused and disturbed by the content.
   Possibly what was most disappointing was the "discussion" portion which followed the NYT Op-ed screed [which is no longer accessible ... hmmm] where some of those who stood in favor of gay marriage posted comments such as this one:

    CHRISTIANITY = HATE
    HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE
    HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE
    HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE
   HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE
   HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE
   HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE
  HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE

    Granted, this person may have some kind of psychological problem, but I was shocked (and really disappointed) to read so many of the comments that were filled with this white-hot rage, especially after such a breakthrough development for gays in America.
   So, again, I was amused/confused by the Times' Op-ed piece and disturbed by the 'pro' gay comments.
   The second item regarding "gift givers" was just flat-out sick and the phenomenon [if that's what it is] will be used by conservatives as a weapon not only against homosexuals, but as ammunition against the never-ending conundrum of national health care.
   I don't know how much of the St. Pete story indicates a blip or a trend, but I find it unnerving anytime a group of people can come up with their own vernacular to justify sexual assault with potentially deadly consequences.
   Other than that, have a happy 4th.