-{ redgeek.net }-

Not ten minutes ago, as I was walking into my regular coffee house on the outskirts of Hillcrest – the “alternative lifestyle” district of San Diego – two guys in a car drove by and one shouted “Grow some hair, fag!” When I laughed, more at his limited and distorted view of the world than the actual content of the message, I think I just pissed him off even more. If I were actually gay it probably would have hit home, and I’d have been less likely to laugh, since I’m sure I would’ve dealt with a lifetime of prejudice already.

Regardless, if they wanted to stop and see if he could “teach one more fag a lesson,” I’d be game. Yeah, take me on, let’s see what you do against my decade of martial arts training, against thousands of hours of practicing taking down multiple attackers. Let’s see what happens when you challenge me, when you put me in what I perceive to be mortal danger. You’ve already expressed an emotionally-charged hatred of me; I don’t know how far you’ll go, so I’m not stopping until I know my life isn’t at stake: I’ll have no problem breaking your bones, gouging your eyes, raking your neck, stomping your groin, taking your heads to the concrete. You made that decision for me. What’re you gonna’ tell your friends when a fag takes you down, hard? I’ll sign your casts, “Love, Barclay,” and I’ll never tell you I’m not gay; I’ll let you and your crew think you got beat down by that which you deride the most. Yeah, you’re free to express your opinion, but when it affects others, you’re gonna have to deal with the repercussions as well.

Be careful where your prejudices take you. The next guy you yell at might be gay, he might not laugh, he might be bigger, stronger, and faster than you, and he might take out a lifetime of discrimination on your ignorant asses. And I won’t even feel sorry for you. You brought it on yourself.

Grow some tolerance, cretins.