MY NEW HERO
C.J. Philips and Charlie Rainwater
A gay “nerd” couple who bought the domain “JebBushForPresident.com” back in 2008, say they will create a website at that address to inform the public about LGBT issues. A gay couple from Portland, Oregon who call themselves “tech bears” thought they’d do a little internet speculation back in 2008, and bought something presidential candidate Jeb Bush may soon want very badly: the rights to use JebBushForPresident.com. Business insider reports that C.J. Philips and Charlie Rainwater bought the site name back in 2008 on the possibility that Jeb Bush would someday decide to run for president. But they didn’t do it for profit. The cuddly couple…told Business Insider that they don’t want to sell the website, they plan to use it “as a platform to educate our friends and family about political impact to LGBT families.”
It would be understandable if Philips and Rainwater chose to use their platform to roast a candidate who’s no friend of equality. They’d have every right to come out guns blazing in an effort to ridicule Bush (that might well be my tactic…which only proves they’re WAY better people than I am), but they’ve chosen instead to use the platform available to them to educate the public about issues impacting the LGBT community. No preaching, no ridicule, no rants against Bush’s homophobic pandering to the Religious Right. Where’s the fun in that??
Philips and Rainwater recognize that fighting their battle successfully can’t involve acrimony and hatred; Lord knows there’s been far too much of that already. All that happens when a debate becomes acrimonious is that both sides retreat behind their barricades and stop listening to the other.
Here in Portland, where Philips and Rainwater call home, being LGBT is about as controversial as being a Green Bay Packers fan. Sure, there are knuckle-draggers (and Packers fans) here in the Rose City, just as there are anywhere else, but it’s not like we live in east Texas. The legalization of same-sex marriage in Oregon was a cause celebre for perhaps two days, and then life went back to normal. The truth is that most Portlanders don’t much care about a person’s sexuality; they care about their character.
Philips and Rainwater are like most of the LGBT community; they just want to be left alone to live their lives in the way that feels most authentic to them. They want to understand and be understood. Why there are people who still find that offensive and controversial in the 21st century defies rational understanding, but there are still those WAY too concerned with the private sexual proclivities of others.
That said, their website will serve as a not so deliberate means of highlighting Jeb Bush’s bigotry and homophobia, which isn’t such a bad thing, either. Bush should be seen for exactly what he is and whom he chooses to pander to…and perhaps he should be forced to explain why “live and let live” is such a radical and unreasonable idea. People are people, and while you may not agree with or approve of their lifestyle and/or sexuality, it’s their choice to make. You don’t get a vote or veto power. No one has to like it, but if we’re to have any claim to humanity we really should accept them as people…because we’re far more similar than we are different.
