We put up with a lot living in New York: sky-high rents, bed bugs, tourists. And, occasionally, we get harassed by homophobic street preachers.
Yeah, okay, there are nutso bigots in every city. But, damn it, this is New York City—the freaks are supposed to own this town.
Well, one homo Gothamite had enough: He stood up to to a bigoted preacher on the subway, and the entire train applauded him for it.
Above, a subway sermonizer is mouthing off with bon mots like “Michael Jackson died because he was gay,” when an unidentified gay man shouts back, “You are bad and full of hate. You are false. You are a false prophet. Do not listen to this man—he’s scared, he’s full of hatred.”
Our holy roller barks back, “You can’t put two men together. Man don’t got no breasts, man got penises. Man supposed to be man. Two man got penises.”
Last time we checked, yes.
At the 1:22 mark, our gay Norma Rae pops up and replies, “I am a man. And I’m a good man. And I’m a gay man. And Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me!”
You bet he does, bitch—and so do we.
h/t: Americablog
Chad Hunt
That is an everyday occurrence in NYC. I lived there for 10 years and probably got into fights like this on the subway at least once a week. Panhandlers love to come into the trains and read the bible for money.
Wh1t
Unfortunate to see that not only is the preacher very cissexist, but so is the article. Alas, casual cissexism is to be expected from a predominately cis gay news site.
LandStander
@Wh1t: Whaaa…? Ok, bye now.
Aidan8
@Wh1t: Ditto what LandStander says in #2, above…
DarkZephyr
For those that are confused by Wh1t’s angry, tactless and clearly unproductive and highly uninformative, bitter sounding rant about “cissexism” (my iPhone keeps wanting to change that to “cider ism” as I type this, very irritating), “cis” is a term used largely among transgendered individuals for those who identify with their biological sex. For instance a person who is born male-bodied and identifies as male and a person who is female bodied at birth and identifies as female. I assume that Wh1t is angry that QUEERTY agrees that “two men got penises” even though they did not agree or state that ALL men have penises.
Wh1t my friend, not the way to go about this. You will educate no one and more likely alienate a few people.
trojanboy
USA needs to change its laws. In the UK this would be a hate crime and this nut-job would be arrested. We have zero tolerance for this.
jerbear
@DarkZephyr: Well said. Thank you for the insight, I was JUST about to head to google to find out why all the anger in that post. Thanks for the clarification!
Chad Hunt
@Wh1t: what is unfortunate is for someone to expect others to view everything the way they do. The trans community itself is divided so to expect everyone to understand exactly everyones thoughts on sexuality, gender is just ridiculous. There are transexuals both pre and post op. A transexual is a person usually born with the looks and genitals of one sex who internally is the opposite sex from which they appear (Pre-Op). They therefore have an operation to correct this (Post-Op). A transgendered person is a person of one sex who views themselves as another. I’m a woman who just happens to have a penis. I’m a man who just happens to have a vagina. then it can get real confusing because there are also homosexual transgender and transexuals. To expect the world to rewrite the definition of what a man or woman is is just crazy. I mean seriously can u imagine the dictionary definition of what a man or woman is based on all of these principles.
Derek Williams
Even if one could argue that the Bible condemns homosexuality, it also commands death for disobedient children (Leviticus and Deutoronomy) and for pickong up sticks on the Sabbath (Numbers). Unless this screaming, deranged ‘preacher’ is killing naughty kids et al then he is a hypocrite. Truth is, most religionists don’t even read or know the Bible, one of the most violent and bloodthirsty documents in history. If they did, they would run for their lives from all such believers. Religion isn’t just he scourge of the homosexual, it is a blight on all humanity.
Chad Hunt
@Wh1t: I can certainly understand your passion but to expect the world to rewrite the definitions of men or women based on the trans community is really a little selfish. Can I assume what you would prefer is to just abolish those two terms entirely? Should we also then do away with male, female? exactly what then should people be labeled as?
Derek Williams
Excuse (phone) typos above:
*picking
*Deuteronomy
Chad Hunt
@Derek Williams: the OT books do not apply to Gentiles they were rules set down to differentiate the Jewish nation from other peoples. The rules of the OT only apply to the jewish nation of the era before Christ. The NT is a reinterpretation and understanding of the OT through Christ. For instance in the old testament we have animals that were considered unclean to eat. In the new testament we discover that now all animals have been cleansed. Likewise with circumcision and uncircumcision. etc.
BunnyRiot
That was NOT a read!!! Yay, he stood up for himself, but why appropriate rhetorical styles in order to make it seem noteworthy? I mean, in a different read, he just used his privilege as a white man to publically shame a black man (who was really shaming himself). I was expecting something noteworthy. Please, stop using buzz words to attract readership (! LOL) unless you got the goods to deliver.
… for filth? Hardly.
edwardnvirginia
With respect,
queer enclave elites seem CONSTANTLY fascinated with their own ‘courage’. And QUEERTY is fascinated with reporting on the ‘courage’ of its urban and other gay enclave readers.
Southerners invite you to come live daily in the rural American South, and spend some time weekly – if not daily – speaking back to local preachers, local and state politicians, businesses, your doctor, the guys that fix your car, etc
You might discover a different meaning of courage among queer folks, [perhaps vastly more inventive, inclusive, resilient, and persistent than urban, NE, West Coast, or other queer enclave habitues.
jim hamilton
You know I’m no longer Christian, but the words of this gay man, standing up against a railing subway preacher, boldly reclaiming the love of Jesus for himself, his exposing of the preacher’s veiled fear, the applause of the NYC crowd supporting him absolutely brought tears to my eyes that I could not hold back. The strength of this man, the weakness of this preacher, the support of these strangers… this is a wonderful moment of humanity at it’s best and worst played out on a crowded, rumbling subway train. WE ALL NEED TO DO THIS. BE THAT MAN, BE THAT CROWD. It doesn’t matter who the hate is aimed at, you or others – call bullshit. People’s well-being depends on it, sometimes their futures and their lives. And MAYBE, just maybe this preacher will walk away, look into the mirror tomorrow and say “My God, why am I afraid?” And he brought out something in these citizens that they were sitting on, behind shaking heads, perhaps unaware they contained it. They called bullshit and they said yes to a strong man who lives a kind of life that perhaps they previously may have had ambiguous or negative feelings about. But we can NEVER confront hate with hate… it feeds it, in everyone including us. Listen to this gay man, standing alone in a crowd of unknown opinions and convictions – he speaks from passion, truth and love, not hate. God, I hope someone held him close that night and told him how much good he’s done in the world through that one moment, how much light he’s brought into this world through one little pinhole pricked in a frightened, mistaught man’s rant.
BunnyRiot
@edwardnvirginia: I totally agree with you. I am from the South and I HAVE read a preacher FOR FILTH in my early 20’s (even if in the safety of my college campus — University of South Carolina REPRESENT!).
Chad Hunt
@edwardnvirginia: I think you are mistaken with this supposed “Fascination” of self-courage. Every instance of courage that is reported is done to help the next generation know they are not alone in their struggles, that they can make a difference, to be bold themselves, and to help foster a sense of pride in our community.
Kieran
Only in America can an immigrant get away with being a loud, obnoxious, public nuisance. Most countries would ship a noisy, annoying, ungrateful asshole like this back to the impoverished hell-hole from which he came.
jim hamilton
[email protected]edwardnvirginia: @ edwardnvirginia, I made comments below yours regarding my being touched by this man – THANK YOU for doing what you do where you live. But I have to speak to your comment nonetheless.
I grew up in small town Montana, I get it.
I was bullied mercilessly at school. I was sexually, physically brutalized by a homophobic father. I was verbally, spiritually bashed by my Pentecostal pastors and “saints”.
I came out full-bore and with great honesty and visibility and I have never backed down.
I have seen people brutalized – houses burned, a young man raped at the university with broomsticks, bottles and bricks thrown, lug nuts removed, people beaten to hell. I’ve seen bombs go off, businesses shut down.
And I’ve seen a hell of allot of this in liberal Seattle, too.
There are no sanctuaries.
I’ve stood up to churches, health departments, doctors and counselors, a taunting crowd on a bus and screaming students on a small town campus. I have confronted phobic teachers and administrations, I have been in situations where I’ve feared for my life and stood up, marched, spoke out, sat down and talked. And I’ve done it living with physical and mental health challenges and a past history you don’t need to understand.
There’s no martyrs here, and I praise the guts it takes for you to stand up where you live, but I praise this man too and I’ll hold BOTH OF YOU up as examples.
But I also take this article as a chance to praise anyone anywhere who takes a stand and to encourage others. It’s not easy and it can get harder and tiring.
It’s all a matter of context – maybe you have seen more than me and I’ve seen more than many. But it’s still difficult within the context of your experience.
Seasoned soldiers still need to buckle up, stop talking about their past battles and old wounds and help other soldiers, many fresh on the field, to find what they need to stand tall.
Ogre Magi
Too bad the gay man in the video started blathering on about “jebus”
Cagnazzo82
@Kieran:
An immigrant? I don’t see any immigrants in this video.
Lol, what are you talking about?
Akod69
JESUS IS LOVE and SO BE IT!!!… It’s so simple. Why complicate it?!…
Rusty
@trojanboy: I agree 100% that the US does need to change its laws about this.