Republicans in Tennessee’s government cannot seem to shake their obsession with people’s private parts, especially those of women and members of the gay community. 

The most recent example is our Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, who showed keen interest in a gay man’s crotch on social media that “lit up his world,” he said, yet he votes AGAINST that same man’s rights.

Maybe I’m the only one old enough to recall the days when Republicans used to gripe about “over-regulation” and “excessive interference in our private businesses.”  But what business could be more private than what goes on in the deepest recesses of a woman’s you-know-what?  Or a gay person’s, and whatever they and their parents, mental health providers, and doctors agree is best for their well-being?

With all our HIPAA laws and doctor-patient confidentiality, why are the crotches of women and non-straight men suddenly a public matter to be “regulated” by a government of mostly straight white males?    What would they know about the economic challenges of being a single mom who only had her child because she was deprived of birth control, while vasectomies and Viagra generics are covered by insurance for the man who impregnated her? 

When has a straight white male ever had to worry about being beaten up or beaten to death for his sexuality?  Or for his color?  It still happens to gay and black men today, especially in rural areas and the South.  Tyrese Nichols of Tennessee and Steven Smith of South Carolina are probably the most recent examples.

I was raised in a Christian church by a Republican doctor and his wife.  Our Bible said to love our neighbors as ourselves, and nothing in the fine print excluded certain persuasions, colors, or religions from that love. 

I was taught that all creatures great and small are put here for a reason and that evolution is part of God’s plan.  He gave us all the ability to adapt to changes in our environment, and that’s what evolution is about—to help us survive in an ever-changing environment.  If we want to survive, we must change ourselves, sometimes, including how we think.

Besides, how do we know that the evolution of human sexuality is not part of God’s plan too?  Perhaps it’s a way of slowing the growth of our human species, which is overpopulating the other creatures and over-consuming the Earth’s resources.

Or perhaps God is simply trying to test our ability to truly love our fellow humans as ourselves, regardless of how different from “us” they may seem.  If so, the Tennessee Government is failing. 

Marian Galbraith

Tullahoma