I like to use the phrase “who cares?” a lot. Mostly amongst my closest friends, as a means of ribbing each other, to let each other know that particular topics are uninteresting, certain wrestlers or baseball players aren’t really as good as they might think they are, or as commentary towards random issues that when the day is over, aren’t really that important on a substantial scale.
But that’s really the basis of the words “who cares,” because it really does boil down the point of a lot of things in the world, that really just aren’t that important.
I don’t often discuss political matters, on my brog or in person generally, because frankly I don’t see any good out of it, in either arena. However, it should come as no surprise that I have a tendency to lean towards a liberal way of thinking, and that I don’t have any problem when it comes to the notion of equality. Frankly, people should be able to do what they want to do, within mostly legal parameters, including if people of the same sex want to be together.
When people come out of the closet, be them people I know, celebrities, athletes, or any other public figure, my response to such news is usually “who cares?” Not because I harbor any malice or wish that my appearance of indifference indicates hostile feelings, but because I honestly do not believe it’s a big deal, and although many would disagree, sexual orientation isn’t an important issue to me.
If a dude wants to marry another dude, more power to them. If a woman wants to get married to another woman, good on them. They have as much right to live happily ever after, or come to the decision that marriage wasn’t a good idea and have to confront the uncomfortable divorce process as well. None of it affects me in way, shape or form, so to the notion of the existence of homosexuality, I say who cares?
Unfortunately, a lot of people do, which perplexes me a great deal. Especially in Georgia, which so close to the last time I felt ashamed to be a Georgian, comes yet another bombshell by the state, with the passing of House Bill 757, which, in short basically says that faith-based organizations, like churches, schools and other institutions in the name of religion, can basically discriminate against homosexuals.
Like seriously, it’s 2016, how can so many people in positions of influence actually think it’s socially acceptable to single a group out and tell them that they don’t get to have the same rights as everyone else? It goes without saying that I find it humiliating to think that these people who passed HB 757 live in the same state as I do, and I would love to be able to have the capability to make sure my tax dollars didn’t line their fucking pockets.
But the thing is, why do they care? Like, if I’m any sort of business operator, from a restaurateur, property owner, or rental company, my first objective as a business operator, is to make money. Even if I’m a devout religious sheep, when the day is over, I’d still like to pay my bills and provide for my family. If gay people wanted to spend money to eat my cooking, live in my properties or rent my services, why the fuck would I want to turn away their money? I just don’t understand.
Now maybe if they were gay drug traffickers trying to spend cash in sequential stacks of $100s and it was safe to assume that there was a lot of blood mixed in with this cash, it would be a different story, but if it’s basically people who just want to mind their own business, live their lives as normal as their surroundings, and are earning honest money, who would be these people to want to turn them away, because they happen to be interested in people of the same sex?
I simply, do not understand, why people feel the need to discriminate.
Thankfully, a large subset of the educated populace, seems to kind of have similar means of thinking as I, and many others do. And more importantly, a large subset of the influential (read: rich) populace have gotten wind of such an asinine bill, and there’s plenty of traction going on that just might provide the means to strike down HB 757.
The NFL has basically stated that if HB 757 passes, Atlanta can kiss a Super Bowl and the millions of dollars it injects into the host city, goodbye. Same from the NCAA, who would basically blackball Georgia from hosting any of their lucrative events from bowl games to March Madness.
Just about every major household named corporation with Georgia roots, from Coca-Cola, Delta, and The Home Depot have all been quick to voice their opposition of HB 757. And even many of the numerous Hollywood film production companies who have flocked to Georgia within the last few years to cash in on tax breaks are being urged to possibly seek elsewhere to film, if HB 757 actually becomes law.
It’s funny, because every article that talks about how Georgia governor Nathan Deal has the decision of a lifetime to make, whether to pass a hate-law, or potentially lose billions for the state, tries their damnedest to make it sound like Deal has to decide on whether to save his wife or his kid, and can only choose one. A more appropriate analogy is that Nathan Deal has to choose whether to save his leftover Whopper Jr., or his child, from a burning chasm; and although a Whopper Jr. is a tasty hamburger, the choice is pretty obvious.
Who cares if Deal pisses off a bunch of old rednecks with values trapped from the Revolutionary War? When the day is over, money still rules over politics, and it’s a pretty clear cut choice of what Deal has to do in order to preserve his present and his future, and what is simply, best for the entire State of Georgia. Not only should HB 757 be stricken from the books, a close look should be taken at everyone who pushed it through the Senate, and some more modern-thinking politicians should be on the ready to take their places. This shit is pathetic.
