Matt Walsh, a conservative blogger, recently wrote a piece on Michael Sam in which he rails against Sam's announcement that he's gay and the attention he receives as a result. I have decided to respond to Walsh's piece in a letter to the blogger himself. Introductions aside, my response is as such:
Mr. Walsh,
From just a quick jaunt through your blog, I can tell that you have a problem with authority. I can get on board with that. Being told what to do is one of my major pet peeves and I imagine just about any independent, thought possessing human being will feel the same. Beyond being a mere pet peeve, however, it is a violation of a basic human right. Being told what you can or cannot do feels like an assault on our individuality and on our right to live. For what is living if it is at the discretion of someone else, right? That's precisely what the founders of our country fought to get away from. They fought for a country within which the right of each man to practice his life as he pleased would be upheld. It seems like common sense now. Who would deny a man his right to an equal life? It says it right there in the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
I have no doubt that you have these words etched into your mind, memorized for eternity so that you may forever remember that every man is deserving of the same respect and dignity afforded to the rest of society. I believe you to be smart enough to see where I'm going with this. You seem to have a problem with Michael Sam because you believe that his attention is ill-deserved and that the backlash received from professing this belief is indicative of intolerance. I agree wholeheartedly. No man should receive this amount of attention for being gay and I should not be persecuted for saying that. You know, I'll take it even further for you. No man should have to hide that he is gay in the first place. No man should have to fear the onslaught of discrimination and intolerance that lies in wait for anyone who has yet to exit the closet. No man should have to walk down the street in fear of being called a "faggot" or a "queer." No man should be treated differently for his sexual preference.
Admittedly, I'm in the same boat as you Mr. Walsh. I'm a straight white dude that's been shafted by society and persecuted on a daily basis. I NEVER get national attention when I admit my interest in sleeping with women and I am constantly getting told that I'll be paid more than my female counterparts. If I kissed a girl on camera, the world would shrug and never pay me any mind. I'll tell ya, life is ROUGH. Us straight white dudes have got to stick together though, right? I stand in solidarity with you, Mr. Walsh.
You address that Michael Sam's sexual life is none of our business. Damn straight. Right there with you. Beyond orgies and porn theaters, the act of sex tends to be a private discussion, unfit for public conversation. That's why if I ever see Michael Sam giving it to his boyfriend on the football field, I will politely ask that he cease his activity and find a room. Thank god kissing your loved one isn't a sexual activity but merely a romantic gesture, right? Otherwise the painfully adorable moment when Sam kissed his boyfriend upon learning of his drafting would have been super awk! I mean, imagine if every time you see a nauseating couple kissing in public, you had to cover your children's eyes. That would be incredibly tedious.
But, as you know due to your advanced understanding of liberty and freedom, it must be even harder to be Michael Sam. I mean, to live in a country in which being openly gay is met with vile stares from onlooking parents and hushed whispers around every corner. That must be like living in a society that does not lend itself to your lifestyle yet. It must be like living in a country in which coming out to the world is an incredibly brave move due to an ingrained societal norm of heterosexuality that finds the notion of homosexuality uncomfortable and unnatural. And although there is a growing amount of support, less than half of the states within this country will recognize a legal union between you and your partner and sixteen states prohibit what you and your partner may do behind closed doors. It's draconian and tyrannical. And you and I, as champions of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, should stand against this sort of discrimination. We should do our best to stand in solidarity with our fellow man as he fights back against the norm and proclaims that he is proud of who he is. Because even though we are a society that is becoming increasingly accepting of the concept of homosexuality, we have yet to see it actually integrated into many facets of our society. That's why we have to fight back against discrimination and cheer on those who would defy it. That's why Michael Sam is a beacon of light in the dark cave our nation is currently fumbling around in. That's why he's also a beacon of hope for those too afraid to make that step into the light.
I'm sure Michael Sam enjoyed every second of his media attention and scrutiny into his life. I'm sure that every single reporter that swarmed him, his family, and his boyfriend was worth the plunge into the unknown. I am sure that Sam thanks god every day for helping him make the decision to come out to a country full of people waiting to call him an assortment of different names. I am sure that he feels superior to you and I, the lowly white straight men who have nothing in this world besides higher salaries, total acceptance, and the ability to kiss our girlfriends in public. I guess life would just be a helluva lot easier if we were gay. Thank god it's a choice, right?
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