Day 6 at the Fair - Friday, July 31, 2009

I worked the evening shift once again - this time starting a little later so I could walk the dog between work and the fair (since Victoria is out of town). It was just Larry and I holding down the evening shift, and I could just sense that something was going to happen. But, before I get to that, let me fill you in on what took place earlier in the day.

3:00pm A young lady stops by just to chat. She seems to be a very happy and loving person.

3:15pm A lady comes by hurriedly and requests as much information as possible. The more she spoke the more we realized we didn't have the type of information she desired. She explained that she is the leader of a battered ladies group and that one lady there is a "dyke" and the woman at our booth is afraid of her (the "dyke").

3:20pm A young boy decides to donate a dollar to us.

4:00pm A group of young boys shout out "fags" but still stop to take some of our candy.

6:21pm Two young girls stop by and donate $3.00. "It shouldn't matter what gender you are or what gender you love," they explain.

6:47pm Jeanne, the one person who has commented on the blog so far, stopped by to say hello and to show her support. She mentioned that she really liked our "God" signs (some of the signs that Larry made to decorate the booth have a religious theme).

7:14pm Dylan S. stops by to say "hi" and ask how things are going. Again, it's great to be visited by friends.

8:00pm A lady walked by, stopped and just said "Are you guys for it or against it?"
Larry responded, "For it" and she just continued on her way.

8:15pm Larry was at the booth by himself while I stepped away to go to the bathroom and take a walk. He said some boys came up to the booth and started shouting "faggots" at him. Then, a few of the boys ran around to the back of the tent and started banging on the walls of it.

Ok, so now comes the busy part of the evening, which is ironic, because it all took place just as the big concert was getting started. Larry and I were both pretty well engaged from this point on, so I don't have thorough notes of the interation, but I'll explain what happened from my perspective.

8:31pm Two boys walk up to the booth, one 18, the other probably the same age, to ask us about our faith and how we could be both gay and christian. During the course of the conversation we learned that the boys are from the Presbyterian church in town. In the conversation, which I tried to stay out of since I am not a religious person, they started fired question after question to Larry about his beliefs.
Boys: "Don't you believe that this bible is the word of God?"
Larry: "As written by man, yes."
Boys: "If it is the word of God, then it is perfect and everything in here is true. You have to believe what's in here is true."
Larry: "Well, it was written by people, and I don't believe that all of it is true. It's not like God has a stenographer with him who actually wrote down what God said."
Boys: "Actually he did. It was written by men who were told what to write by the holy spirit." The conversation continued like this for a few minutes, touching on some things such as evolution. When Larry asked why there are no mentions of dinosaurs in the bible the boys correct him and point out that Job saw a dinosaur. Larry asked, "Don't you believe that the earth is billions of years old?" And the boys replied, "No. God created the world around 6,000 years ago." It was interesting to watch these boys work. One, the tall boy, was louder and more persistent, but not the brightest. He kept mixing up his scripture: "they do mention gays in the New Testament...it's right there in Peter," and "Jesus said there were two rules. Love your neighbor like yourself...and...and...I forget the other one." However, he was very confident in himself and his arguments, no matter how convoluted. "I'm destroying you guys right now!" he exclaimed. When I pointed out that it isn't very loving to "destroy" someone he quickly retorted, "Oh no, I love you. I just am destroying all your arguments." The other boy seemed to be quite smart and articulate. It was clear this was a game for them - like a debate, something to be won or lost. The had a response to everything, and showed little interest in listening to what Larry had to say. They didn't say hateful things, and they didn't bash us or make fun of us or anything, but they were very animated, raised their voices and were very keen to tell us, nay prove to us, we were wrong.

After the whole dinosaur discussion, I turned my attention elsewhere. A small group of teens has assembled, some by the boys talking to Larry (their friends) and then another small group off to the side. "Let me know if you have any questions, and feel free to help yourself to any of the literature," I said to them. "Oh no thanks," they replied, "we're just listening." Turns out this group contained Mount Vernon High School students (and one recent graduate) who belonged to the Covenant Christian church in town. They asked if we've gotten a lot of reactions like we were getting from the two boys. "Last year people were more mean to us. This year we've just gotten a lot of people making religious arguments to us. I feel like I have half of Knox County praying for me at this point." Then they asked my about my personal faith. I told them I'm not a religious person, and while I think Jesus had some good ideas I don't believe he is the son of god. They seemed shocked to hear this - as if they'd never heard it before. "Aren't you saved?" one of them asked. My conversation with them was long but productive. I felt as if it was a genuine conversation. We were all listening to each other, learning about the other person's perspective and experience. They were much more conservative (evangelical) than I would have guessed, but weren't preachy, which was nice. For instance, when I explained that I didn't choose to be gay they seemed to understand that. But later in the conversation one boy said, "I can see how you might feel like you didn't have a choice. You seen, satan's minions are all around us, and they are devious and do devious things. I believe that they've convinced you that you are gay and that there is nothing you can do about it."

Later in the conversation I tried to engage them in more secular topics. I asked if they thought it was fair that GLBT folks can be discriminated against in house and employment. The agreed that it isn't fair. Then I asked about civil marriage and whether or not they think it is fair to deny that legal status to anyone. Some of them struggled with this question. They kept going back to religious marriage and talking about what God wants. I reminded them that I was talking about a legal status and nothing else. A few of them agreed that we should be allowed that status, but one boy still struggled. "I just have a really hard time taking the religious aspect out of it." Then that same boy mentioned the campaign against using the word gay to mean stupid (there is a clever ad campaign direct at teens that use the phrase "that's so gay" to mean "that's so stupid"). He said these ads were ineffective, that really we should just let it go in one ear and out the other and we'd be better off. I explained that I disagreed. That back in the day a lot of people though the blacks in the south would be better off if they just stayed quiet in the back of the bus." One of the girls then chimed in, "Yeah, if they aren't going to stand up for themselves, who is going to stand up for them?" Then, I asked them how they felt about people of other faiths - namely Muslims and Jews. "Well, really devout Muslims hate Christians. In the middle east if a Muslim sees a Christian he'll just pull out an AK-47 right away." I explained that this wasn't true and they didn't agree.

Just then Larry was finishing up with his group (which had multiplied like Gremlins in water) and I looked at my watch. It was 9:30pm meaning we had been at it for an hour. I told them we had to pack up and we all said goodbye. All in all it was a good conversation. They seemed like really good, if terribly misguided kids. Maybe it's the complete lack of diversity in Mount Vernon that accounts for some of the ignorance about people of other faiths. Whatever it is, it really needs to be rectified.

Here's what Larry had to say about his experience talking with the other group:

"Six boys jaunted by, eager to engage in a somewhat heated discussion regarding how they were really concerned about our welfare - that is how we could be Christian and claim to be homosexuals. Through their faith and 'Christianity' and homosexuality do not go hand in hand. 'Isn't the bible the literal word of God? And if someone does not believe that, then that person does not have faith in God's word. Homosexuality is not from God, nor are people born gay.' Many prayers were offered for our salvation. Some of the other comments made included: Job confronted a dinosaur which is described in the bible. Cavemen and women did not exist. Adam and Eve were pretty much like we are today. They didn't believe in evolution."