By Tim Peacock

On his web show recently, David Pakman discussed the outrageous (yet not unexpected) responses people at CPAC had to news that Republican Sen. Rob Portman changed his position on same sex marriage after learning his son was gay.

“Just because something like that hits home…I don’t know why you change your beliefs. I mean that part bothers me. So his belief is very easily changed because he figures out his son is gay…I don’t get that,” one woman commented in a set of interviews Pakman featured courtesy of ThinkProgress.

What does it say about her – and about each of the persons speaking on camera – that they can’t understand the fundamental change people undergo when actually getting to know and care for LGBT persons? I suppose it’s easy to demonize a faceless, goal-set group of people if you don’t know them; that’s simple enough to follow and understand. How skewed does your belief system and educational background have to be that you can’t understand an evolution of belief systems after taking in new and different information on a subject? (especially if that information enlightens you to the fact that LGBT persons are not fundamentally different from their heterosexual counterparts)

That’s always been the impetus behind events like National Coming Out Day in October of every year. The more visibility LGBT people have – the more people that know or are related to a LGBT person, the greater the chances are that they’ll let go of the preconceived notions they previously held. Of course, when you live, eat and breath the conservative media bubble, that’s not possible. And if I had to guess, I’d say that the LGBT person in each interview person’s life is afraid to tell them for the exact reasons enumerated in their interviews: primarily, hate.

Here’s David Pakman’s clip:

About Tim Peacock: For virtually his entire life, Tim has been writing. Over the years he’s dabbled in mainstream fiction, science fiction, dystopian fiction, and personal essays. The one consistent thread through his entire writing career has been blogging – he’s been doing it since 1997 in one form or another. In creating Peacock Panache , he’s combined two of his favorite hobbies: blogging and current events/politics. When not working here, Tim toils away at editing & rewriting the novels he’s completed over the years. You can read samples of his other work here You can find Tim elsewhere online at his personal website. You can also find him on LinkedIn as well as on Twitter as @timsimms.

Peacock Panache readers:

Tim Peacock is the Managing Editor and founder of Peacock Panache and has worked as a civil rights advocate for over twenty years. During that time he’s worn several hats including leading on campus LGBTQ advocacy in the University of Missouri campus system, interning with the Colorado Civil Rights Division, and volunteering at advocacy organizations. You can learn more about him at his personal website.

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