Lately, I’ve been closely following this anti-gay referendum nonsense taking place in Romania on the 6th and 7th of October, meaning in less than a fortnight, after watching the situation gradually simmer over 3 years, since the proposal first germinated.

The idea would be to have the Constitution (of a secular country, mind you) state that marriage can only take place between a man and a woman, in order to block future attempts to legalise same-sex marriage.

The reason why it bothers me so much is not being taken by surprise, given the mentality there – it’s the sheer distortion and hysteria people lap up on mass, including people I know and was once friendly with, who are otherwise intelligent and have discussed the issue in nuanced ways in the past. The bar for neuron employment has sunk so low that it has become disgraceful. One would think even those agreeing partially with this initiative, out of cultural bias, still preserved a limit of decency they would not cross, if for no other reason than their ability to think deeper. Knowing that they otherwise have that ability but are now indulging in the sheer demonisation and dehumanisation of a minority is puzzling.

This isn’t a discussion on some Christian internet forum – it’s a national campaign, endorsed by the governing parties, as well as the sewage network of churches, now spilling out into schools through religious propaganda.

Demonisation and dehumanisation are not just  buzzwords here.

In terms of the latter, here is an example – a cheesy, squeaky and queasy (yes, even that alliteration is grating) little song scrambled together for this event , including lyrics like “the love story is (only) between him and her” (translation, gay people can’t experience genuine love), “let’s be human” (accepting gay people is anti-human), “don’t forget, this is the only way we can endure” (by hating gays), “this world will end if we stray from true, pure love” (gays will bring on the Apocalypse, OMFG). It goes on to remind how the country’s dead patriots have prayed for the nation… Jesus Christ, I can’t listen to this anymore. The cringe is simply unbearable. And they seem so enthusiastic, so happy, like after an orgasm or right in the middle of one, when they sing from the heart about keeping a minority under their boots forever.

Note that these brave crusaders for freedom of speech delete any negative comments on their cheesy-squeaky-queasy hate song.

Not only do they present as the purest breed of soy boys and sound like banshees on helium; it seems they lack the needed pair to tolerate or respond to criticism.

Whilst culture, which includes the media and entertainment industry, is said to be monopolised by the left in certain western countries, in others that monopoly is held by the right. Should the far left be tamed into moderation in the future, in first world countries, the religious right should not, by any means, be allowed to replace it. This is where things end up.

Jingoistic unbearable cringe and religious delirium.

 

Here are some examples of vastly circulated messages – on fliers, billboards, online banners and in an intricate sewage network of publications (it’s difficult to find any contrary opinions, though search engines are accused of ideological bias in their algorithms).

 

“We must protect and defend the traditional/natural family”; “Help us defend marriage between a man and a woman”

Never mind that absolutely no one outside of the LGBT community would be impacted in any way by a prospective legalisation of same sex unions down the line.

Marriage and the usefulness of the nuclear family are being disputed by radical feminists in the West, but that has nothing to do with gay people whatsoever – and anyhow, Romania is light years away from feminism having any kind of impact. In 2018, it’s perhaps just slightly more susceptible to feminism than Iran. Liberalism is very uncommon there, and even those proclaiming their adherence to social democracy are extremely conservative on these issues – in fact, the main political supporter of this nonsense was the Social Democratic Party, which is meant to be on the left.

The rights of the heterosexual majority have never been under attack in any way, nor would they be in the future. Their lives would never be hindered by the dynamics of a very small minority.

And yet they speak and behave as if they were presently under siege.

It’s as if there were a drive somewhere to ban heterosexuals from getting married or reproducing. Sheer insanity.

 

“Gay people are coming to take your children because they can’t produce any”

This was on a billboard in Timisoara for a while (a city with a population of over 300.000), and was subsequently taken down following complaints. The message read “if you don’t come to vote, your child will be adopted by two men”.

Gee, I had no idea that’s how adoption works – couples that can’t have children biologically simply go around and forcibly take someone else’s. Who would’ve thought? To top it up, in Romania, roughly 9000 babies born to heterosexual parents are abandoned every single year. The billboard should have said “if you abandon your child, he/she might one day be adopted by a gay couple”.

Of course, neither marriage nor adoption has even been proposed for legalisation to date; these alarms make it sound as if, should this vote fail, they would both become reality overnight. Never mind that even if they did, couples would go through the same process in terms of adoption as the rest of the population. Individuals can adopt right now, regardless of their private preferences.

There’s this idea that in countries where same sex marriage is legal gay couples receive preferential treatment and are prioritised in terms of being allowed to adopt. Even if that were true (which there is no evidence of), the billboard still made no sense. And it would not apply to Romania anytime soon, as gay people can’t even walk down the street as couples without risking violence. The thought that they would suddenly be given preferential treatment by the state, when they don’t even enjoy the same human rights as everyone else at the moment, is just mad.

 

“Voting yes is the only way to prove you care about your children”

Again this despicable notion the whole morass seems to focus on now – that allowing a path to someday legalising same sex marriage would irreparably endanger everyone’s children (not the gay ones, as they don’t count anyway).

That somehow an army of child-stealing, child-corrupting ogres would be unleashed on the general population (which they have always been a part of, but again, never mind) and that would compromise the entire future of the country.

You know what other minority they used to warn of in these terms? Jews. Back in the day, there was a widespread rumour that Jews were coming for everyone’s children to sacrifice them and drink their blood. This shit never gets old, does it? Just threaten the populace that if they don’t hate and oppress a minority, their offspring are in grave danger. Get that primal drive going so they would jump straight to others’ jugulars, ready to bite. It works.

Notice the emotional manipulation as well – if you don’t join us in ostracising this minority, you clearly don’t care about your children; hatred is your moral duty.

On which planet is it rational to claim that the only way to prove you care about your children is to forbid complete strangers from getting married?

 

“Voting yes is the only way to DEFEND our children!”

Prioritising this chimera whilst poverty and all kinds of deprivations are a daily reality in this bastion of Christianity is not only absurd but out of this world. Reports keep pouring in of premature babies dying for lack of incubators, as they have to be sent home and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. There are not enough schools and hospitals and the number of children who can’t read or write (or get to school at all) remains high.

And yet, one is supposed to believe the young generation needs protected from this.

 

“We want to return to a traditional Orthodox country, not the decadent ones allowing us to prosper (or even survive)”

May I ask why they left in the first place?

Because it’s a little oasis? A little paradise? Or is it a romanticised slum where not just the system barely keeps itself from collapsing, but morale is so low that the only thing uniting people in a national drive seems to be hatred of anyone they think they can squash?

 

“Our religious rights will be taken away”

It puzzles me how the right to discriminate against their fellow citizens is seen as so sacred that being required to lower the volume, so to speak, would turn them into victims.

All that is asked of them is to stop raising hell and let others get on with their lives, having the exact same rights. To keep out of other people’s business. Nothing more. But in a country where everyone’s nose is stuck up everyone else’s business, and refining the moral purity of a collapsing society is a national hobby, the mere proposition seems outrageous.

 

“We’re nationalists; we want to preserve our traditions”

It’s funny how this nationalistic drive was just a box to tick on a regional agenda put together in Russia, covering the whole of Eastern Europe.

This is not organic. And unless they live under a rock, many people are aware of that. They simply don’t care.

 

“This referendum unites us, regardless of denomination”

As “poetic” as it is for a group to ecstatically congregate in order to throw rocks at someone who is already being held down on the ground (uplifting, isn’t it?), these Christian denominations are at odds with each other. In terms of support from abroad, Protestants were the main force, while in Romania, the Orthodox church mobilised voters (or octodox, more like it, as there is no aspect of society its tentacles are not wrapped around). One should know Protestants are seen by the Orthodox as heretics possessed by Satan, whilst the Orthodox are seen by Protestants as pagan. Each denomination claims the other is going straight to hell.

It unites them just like public holidays, when everyone is kind for a few hours, for many to then resume their acrimonious and hostile attitude when someone annoys them even slightly.

Someday, and I’m truly curious about this, the truth behind this charade will come out. It’s too well organised; too well defended, in its obvious absurdity, from criticism, which in 2018 should abound even there.

 

Later Edit

To complete this post, here is a translation of the above-mentioned song, shared and lapped up with orgasmic joy by loving Christians:

 

Since early childhood we have all found out

That God created man

That the real family is composed of a man and a woman

No, we never would have existed

If mother and father hadn’t respected

(The fact) that the real family starts with a man and a woman.

I needn’t say humans are conceived in all sorts of ways, including rape, incest and casual sex (as the Bible so often mentions). Respect or commitment needn’t have anything to do with it.

Let’s be human,

People, don’t lose your love,

The love story is (only) between him and her,

People, let’s make people

Don’t forget, only this way we’ll keep existing.

To start with, it implies that same sex couples are not fully human, or behave in anti-human ways, whatever that would mean.

“Don’t lose your love” is very ironic when the only purpose of this 4 minute yelp is to stir up hatred. It’s so painfully ironic. They go on to say that any love same sex partners have for each other is not genuine.

The concern for the perpetuation of the species is really bizarre in the context of heterosexuals being the overwhelming majority and our species in no danger of extinction.

It’s almost as if there were a giant communal vagina and a giant communal penis and individual minds were cogs in these two machines, ensuring their functionality. Except things don’t work that way.

Christians, let’s unite today,

Let’s be examples for our children,

Let’s not stray from pure love, let’s not deviate,

This world will end if we’re indifferent now

If we stray from true love, if we deviate.

Again, let’s not steer the giant communal penis away from the giant communal vagina, as it takes our conjoint spiritual effort to unite them. Don’t you know that if gay thoughts increase in individuals, the communal penis will lose its potency?

There is no “we” (unless those stories about Pentecostal orgies are true). Every person has their own instincts, preferences and freedom to do with them as they wish (as long as it’s consensual and legal). Heterosexuals can choose to be celibate, for instance.

Examples for their children, how? Not accepting gay people? Not being gay? They’re actually suggesting allowing same sex partners to marry will bring about the end of the world.

For faith and country,

For (their) family they went to die,

Their blood today cries out loud

Stand up straight.

Our parents from their graves

For us have prayed passionately,

Their prayers cry out loud today

Stand up straight.

This language is fit for old ballads, in times when freedom fighters had to infuse themselves with patriotism in order to break the chains of slavery.

You’d think they were standing at the gates of a burning fortress, ragged and bleeding after a fierce battle.

Let me briefly explain to those who wrote this bog roll, whose depth of thought seems to have resulted from a loving, heterosexual first cousin marriage.

They’re not the ones being kept down. They never have been. They’re the ones keeping others down in real time, claiming their “right” to do so in perpetuity. They’re already standing up proudly, free and unhindered, trampling on other people’s dignity.

You can’t get more condescending, delusional and pathetic, to the point of caricature.