Lez Keep It Real

My father loves Bill O’Reilly. Hey, we all have our flaws.

Seriously though, I don’t mind O’Reilly that much. He doesn’t affect me because I don’t watch him nor do I really care about what he has to say on a daily basis. I don’t blindly judge him either, as some people do who have never even watched his show. I have watched it before, and therefore can make an honest, balanced assessment of him. I think that sometimes he makes some good points and other times he’s talking out of his ass. To me he’s like an old I Love Lucy rerun. If absolutely nothing else is on and it’s a pretty good episode, I’ll watch it, which happens maybe once a year. Otherwise, I could care less if I miss it.

Last weekend my father was visiting and stayed with my girlfriend and I. My father and I ended up relaxing on the couch after a happy hour stint at his favorite hang out, and of course he wanted to catch O’Reilly. So, I humored him. It just so happened to be the episode in which the king of the “no spin zone” brought up the topic of lesbian gangs. (Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?) I watched it thinking … huh? Is this for real?

Then I thought, no wonder a lot of conservatives have poor or stereotypical prejudices about gay people. This is what they see on the news. This is what is shown to them. Forget the mainstream gays who make up most of the gay and lesbian population like myself, who live a relatively boring and simple life. No, the media wants middle America to see the 1 percent of the gay population that are apart of lesbian gangs, wear leather chaps at gay pride festivals and make a living in the gay porn industry.

This is what aggravates me the most. I think that there wouldn’t be all these preconceived notions about gay and lesbian people if more people like me were visible. But, I’ve gone off on a little tangent here. Let’s get back to the task at hand - regarding lesbian gangs.

Unfortunately, gangs like this do exist. But it isn’t as widespread as O’Reilly or the media wants us to believe. This isn’t a rising epidemic. Gangs and groups such as this have been around for ages.

I never touched upon the subject of lesbian gangs because: A. I thought it was ridiculous and there were plenty of other important things to write about. And B., so many other GLTB blogs did a pretty good job of analyzing it anyway.

This isn’t a recent issue, either. I stumbled upon a gay conservative blogger that had written about gay and lesbian gangs in August of last year.

The writer makes a solid point, being that a group of lesbians beating up a straight guy could be seen as a hate crime as well. What it comes down to, basically, is that violence doesn’t solve a damn thing - from either side of the coin.

By now you might be wondering, so what’s the deal with lesbian gangs? Are they a real threat or just a right-wing spin on a few isolated incidents?

Well, as far as being a real threat - that’s just silly. Going to war with Iran, that’s a real threat. This is just a group of gay individuals using violence as an outlet and the gang atmosphere to feel a part of something, to belong. Are lesbian gangs as widespread as the vicious gangs of Compton, LA? Hardly.

As for being right-wing spin, I don’t think there’s a conspiracy going on here either. News is news, and when something like a physical beating of an individual by a group of lesbians comes into the spotlight, the news is going to want to report on it. Where I think O’Reilly went overboard however, is having a so-called criminal analyst on his show to embelish the incident and cast a shadow of fear in the hearts of the 40 to 60-age middle Americans that make up most of his audience.

Here’s the news segment:

What I would prefer to see as a “back of the book” segment, is a report on a gay or lesbian group or individual that is making a positive impact in society. There are plenty of them out there doing wonderful things day in and day out. Yet, middle America doesn’t hear about them. Instead, they are being spoon fed fear in the form of such reports as “lesbian gangs” and “perverted pride events.”

Thankfully, my father has a real live lesbian daughter who’s relatively laid back, moderate in her political views, and has a keen sense of humor to form a solid opinion from. Otherwise, he’d have to form his opinion from the likes of O’Reilly and Ann Coulter.

Is it any wonder that gay and lesbian stereotypes, prejudice and hate crimes still exist?

lesbian gangs, bill oreilly, prejudice, hate crime