First let me say that this ain't going to be a very pretty response. I am not directing this anger toward you. You have every right to ask those very legit questions. There seems to be somewhat of a misconception across America that many people think that gays are just being excessively whiny. Not all people think this way of course, but many do.
Most people do believe that gays are legit in their call for acceptance and equality but that much of it is also excessive whining.
Allow me to draw on my own life experiences to dispel that fucking myth.
I was born in a small rural farming town. Very conservative area. I was born and raised in the Evangelical Church. The right wing of the right wing. Forced to go to church every Sunday and listen to a message very similar to this video clip of Rev Jimmy Swagart calling gays an "abomination" and claiming "if a man ever looks at me that way I'll kill him". The message in this vid is pretty much the same hatred that my childhood preacher crammed down our throats from his pulpit.
That America will be the next Sodom and Gomorrah for allowing homosexuality and that America would soon suffer God's wrath for homosexual sin. This wasn't the message every Sunday but there were many sermons that were entirely devoted to gay bashing. I sat in the pew like a good little Fag and took in the propaganda.
This 2 minute clip is from a 2004 sermon.
http://religiousfreaks.com/2005/11/17/jimmy-swaggart-threatens-homosexuals/I took it in until about the time I was 8 years old or so. I started noticing something different about me. I knew I was gay even at that young age. I also knew that I had better shut the fuck up about it and tell no one out of fear.
The general mood in my hometown was "all faggots must die".
If I had a dollar for every time I've heard that phrase, I could buy my citizenship into Canada, today.
At the age of 14, I could no longer take the crap being brainwashed into my head and I left that church and refused to ever set foot back into it. This of course created a gigantic rift between me and my fundie parents. I had to get the fuck out of that town.
I attended 2 years of college at a nearby CC but I still needed to get away. At the age of 20 I enlisted in the Army. I signed up about a month after our initial invasion of Iraq in '91, and began basic training that summer. I spent 4 years on active duty.
Being young and naive, I didn't understand the homophobic world that I was about to enter. Bigotry IS alive and well in the military. Make no mistake, when people say there are white supremacists serving, they aren't joking. I'm not accusing all of our troops of this crap but there were many bigots serving with me.
I enlisted under Pappy Bush. I donated money and supported Bill Clinton as he repeatedly claimed on the campaign trail in '92 that if elected he would integrate gays into the military by executive order. I remember watching the news in uniform the day that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was announced.
Have you ever received a mental gut punch Cali?
I felt deflated and defeated, as did every other GLBT person in America on that horrible day.
I went into a deep depression but I didn't say a fucking word. Out of FEAR.
The general mood by many in the military at the time was usually either "ALL FAGGOTS MUST DIE" or "Don't ask, or we'll thump your fuckin skull". It was horrifying to be gay in the military after DADT. Why?
Because it suddenly caused a certain sense throughout the military of many looking at each other and thinking, "Is this dude gay, or is she a lesbian". I remained silent until the end of my enlistment and couldn't wait to get out of that often terrifying life. Had my gayness ever been discovered, I would have been kicked out at the very least.
I served a country that was already treating me like a second class citizen. Which leads up to my next point.
You asked about political persecution.
Every day, every gay American wakes up to the fact that we are being denied our humanity by being denied the right to marry the person we love.
Second class citizenship is pure political persecution. Our government is the source. Our Govt has the power to change and end this disgrace but refuses to do so.
I fear that the Matthew Shepard Act will be tossed on the scrap heap. It should have already been signed into law by now, but it's stalling in Washington and doesn't appear to be moving forward.
The Dems don't give a fuck. They just want the GLBT vote then we get swept back under the rug.
The Dems have lied to the GLBT community too many times. I want action, not broken promises and since Bill Clinton it's been nothing but lies and one defeat after another.
When you've been on the receiving end of second class citizenship, you'll understand the hurt.
Again, have you ever been mentally gut punched? Sounds weird til you experience it.
You also asked how Gov't perpetuates political persecution and why I live in fear for my life.
By legislating discrimination into our laws. DOMA DADT, by denying us protection under law against hate crimes.
Have you ever been called a Faggot? I have. Many, many times.
Have you ever looked into the eyes of a person that's just called you a faggot and seen the seething hatred in their eyes. Not knowing what their next move is going to be. I have. Many, many times.
Have you ever sat by the hospital bed of a close friend and held their hand as they recuperate from a severe gay bashing? I have.
Have you ever seen what a persons face looks like after they've fallen victim to a gay bashing? I have.
Eyes swollen shut, black and blue and face that looks puffed up like a bee sting reaction. I've seen it in person and I'm fuckin tired of seeing it perpetuated because our worthless Government doesn't give a fuck about its gay population. Other countries like the UK, Canada, Netherlands are enacting tough hate crimes protection to protect their gay populations. But not America.
It's not like there is a hate crime awaiting to happen around every corner. But that's also part of the problem. A person never knows when it's going to happen until it is happening.
If you want to know the description of terror, be on the receiving end of a hate crime. Not knowing just how far an enraged crazy fucker like that will go is utterly terrifying.
When something like this happens, it can leave a person traumatized and in a state of horror for months or even years after.
When you've been on the receiving end of a hate crime/gay bashing then you'll understand and comprehend the reason why I fear for my life living here.
I want out.
Peace