California State Senator Scott Wiener Chooses Whining over Wisdom
I’m perplexed by the January 12, 2025, San Francisco Standard opinion piece titled: “Hate speech is free speech in Zuckerberg’s brave new world,” authored by California State Senator Scott Wiener.
According to Wiener, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, decided to “…end fact-checking and slash content moderation will flood its platforms with hate. No one will feel the impact more than LGBTQ people.”
I am a 68-year-old homosexual who disagrees with that statement. But even if it were true, the LGBTQ community has only itself to blame.
On the one hand, I agree with Wiener when he encouraged users: “It would be a mistake for all progressives to abandon these platforms because of this policy change. These platforms are inhabited by the very people we most need to reach — we are all worse off when we recede into our bubbles.”
On the other hand, Senator Wiener offered no solutions to combating hate speech beyond staying on these platforms. He didn’t forget to describe (whine) how some Twitter (now X) and Facebook users made his life a living hell. (And for the record, I lived with a heroin addict brother who threatened my life for years. So, I do understand the seriousness of threats on a person’s life)
The LGBTQ community has forgotten one of its greatest heroes, Oliver Sipple. I am willing to bet all my earthly possessions that 99.9% of young LGBTQ people do not know that in 1975, in San Francisco, Sipple, a gay man, saved the life of United States President Gerald R. Ford. That’s not Meta’s fault. Does the name Alan Turing mean anything to the LGBTQ community?
The reason I will never describe myself as an LGBTQ person is because I am a person, period, not an acronym. And I strongly suggest dropping the acronym if you are a person.
Furthermore, the world is rich with hate and richer with wisdom to combat hate. For instance:
“Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons.” — Denzel Washington
“You can’t make it to heaven by raising hell on earth.” — Allen Jones
“Nice is the most beautiful superpower.” — Allen Jones
“Instead of looking for the fairness in life, look for the challenge.” — Allen Jones
“I don’t hate anyone, especially those who hate me.” — Allen Jones
“Practice kindness, not blindness.” — Allen Jones
“A setback is a step forward for those who are determined.” — Allen Jones
“The only thing I love more than justice is the freedom to fight for it.” — Allen Jones
“You don’t have to be an Angel to do the right thing.” — Allen Jones
“A reject of man is a project for God.” — Allen Jones
“It’s not how people treat you. It’s how you treat people.” — A Voice
Too often, wisdom and philosophy have been whittled down to worn-out cliches. But I’m also willing to bet that there is more wisdom collecting dust on a library shelf that could lift people, any people, that it would make the 200 billion plus dollars of Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth look like petty cash. And by merely sharing enough of this wisdom or personal TRUE stories on such platforms, we can always lift what others try to tear down.
When I was 19 years old, my neighbor referred to me with such a cruel label that included my disability, race, and sexuality; it stopped me dead in my tracks. I thought, what would cause this man to say something so cruel? Then I recalled where I disrespected him at first.
In no way am I suggesting that Senator Wiener or the LGBTQ community disrespected these hate groups first. I am merely pointing out the fact: look in the mirror first and ask, why is it that at the top of your list of “LGBTQ” heroes, a gay man who saved the life of a sitting President of the United States is nowhere to be found when educating “LGBTQ” youth?
In conclusion, I learned to fully accept myself as a homosexual when I said a prayer to God a question about homosexuality that today, I do not recall. However, I will never forget the response. I woke up the following day, and as my eyes opened, simultaneously, I said the words, “Homosexual monarchs.”
I Googled those words.
That is how I learned that King James I was a homosexual. For the decades I spent in church and ten years as a Bible teacher to teenage murderers, rapists, and gang members in San Francisco, I never once was told or learned from my superiors that the most widely used version of the Bible in America was translated into English by order of a homosexual king. Even a gay Jew can celebrate that fact.
Or Wiener can whine (petition) Congress to place an asterisk on free speech.
