Tomi Lahren, I forgive you. Your recent, mean-spirited “Final Thoughts” video and Twitter tirade targeted the gays for holding a Resist March in lieu of a Pride March in Los Angeles this year. I forgive you for calling us “snowflakes” and “fruit loops” and here are some reasons why:
1. You are desperate for attention.
Your objective is clear: You lost your job some time ago and now you are trying to slip into the spotlight from any angle. You learned your tactics from the Ann Coulter School of Attention-Grabbing, lashing out at the vulnerable to get noticed. It is reprehensible, but it works in today’s political climate. So, good for you, gurl – you are (briefly) back in the limelight!
2. You are callow.
Let me give you my perspective as someone in his 50s. When I was a child, gay people did not exist in the media, and I had no idea that I had any support. Then AIDS hit and the gays were all over the news with intense, negative publicity. Rather than eliciting sympathy, AIDS brought virulent prejudice to the forefront of our national debate. The Republican party, in particular, was not the champion of individual rights that you claim. Due to hatred and blindness, the GOP fought against any medical progress and, instead, preached in support of “family values” and against my “lifestyle.” A whole generation of men – my peers – died out. Those of us who survived fought hard for any shred of respect and legal recognition of equality. We did not have any older role models to follow. We did not have many visible signs of support either. Pride parades were signs of strength. And resistance. So, Tomi, you have no idea what you are saying when you call the LA Resist March a “crock of crap” and a “crybaby fest of bullsh*t.” You are a mere 24, and have no sense of our history.
3. You are willfully ignorant.
You think that we march to “b*tch about an election [we] still can’t accept.” Honey, the election was like ice water in our faces, so it would be impossible not to accept it. You say that our “rights are not threatened, are you kidding me?” No, we are not kidding. Our vice president has a long history of working against my community in the name of “religious freedom.” Our attorney general spent 20 years in the Senate actively fighting against LGBTQ rights. Our secretary of education wants to allow states to legally discriminate against LGBTQ students. Shall I go on?
4. You want to please your new boss.
You now work for a super PAC in support of our president. You have learned to use lots of buzzwords that the base likes to hear: “Hollywood elitism,” “pop-culture glorified lifestyle,” “[the GOP] battled big government to protect your rights,” “silent majority,” “you resist, we persist,” blah blah blah. Your “Last Thoughts” video is simply a string of talking points from your super PAC wrapped up in your signature brand of outrage and sarcasm. If you weren’t parroting such insensitivity, your youthful passion would be kind of adorable.
5. You aim to provoke us.
I do not think that you are stupid – you must know that the phrase “never forget” has been used to remind us to never forget the Holocaust. But you use the phrase differently: “We had a march, too ― a big march ― into the voting booth on November 8th, 2016. Never forget.” I am not going to take that bait. [Oh, and who’s “obsessed” by the election? Hint: it ain’t me.]
6. You aim to minimize our impact.
I get it – your “silent majority” is terrified of losing power and wants to continually reassert its authority. But I have agency, too. In my own life, I fought for inclusion in my workplace, I fought to get legally married, I continue to fight for AIDS education and awareness. The LGBTQ community has been battling discrimination, prejudice, and condemnation at every turn. We are not snowflakes. We have battled and made huge strides forward in the past few decades, so it is silly to pretend that we are not doing anything “constructive,” as you say.
7. You are bothered by us.
You say, “You’re gay, and guess what, we don’t care.” But you must care. Why make a video to condemn us if we are so insignificant?
You ask in a tweet: “What are they ‘resisting’ exactly?” The LGBTQ community is resisting you, honey ― you and your brand of prejudicial, divisive activism. But this fruit loop forgives you.
But I won’t forget.
