Letter to Michelle Bachmann

Dear Ms. Bachmann: I am writing to you as a parent and as an American citizen who believes in our founders' constitutional creation of “liberty and justice for all.” I have heard that you also believe in our constitution. As a mother of five, I am certain you can understand a mother's love for her child. I am also certain you love each and every one of your children unconditionally, and want only that they are happy, productive adults. I love my daughter beyond words and as her mother I am saddened by the hate speech I hear coming from you and your husband's mouths. You see my twenty-one year old daughter is a beautiful, confident, compassionate Lesbian. Rather than being influenced by Satan, I see my daughter's Queerness as a deeply spiritual gift. She has dared to become her authentic self in a world that encourages conformity. She did not choose to be who she is and she cannot change who she is. She simply is the incredible human being she is suppose to be.

That you desire to become the President of the United States baffles me. To me our President needs to be held to a higher, moral standard of character. Our President needs to strive for fairness and inclusivity. Our President needs to at least respect the American citizens he or she are working for. I do not want to hear purposeful, divisive hate speech coming from the leader of my democratic country. You say you want to reinstate Don't Ask Don't Tell. LGBTQ soldiers have and are giving their lives for this country. I believe their blood also bleeds red, white and blue.

According to you and your husband, Gay people are psychologically messed up and sub-normal human beings, in bondage, despair, and enslavement. Please, Ms. Bachmann, would you appreciate such an unscientific labeling of your children, family and friends? Along with my daughter, I have known and have a multitude of Gay friends and other family members. No doubt you have unknowingly met many wonderful Gay people. The Gay community is a part of every nation, every state, every provence, every city, every community around the world. My Gay friends, family and acquaintances are attending college, have careers, are loving parents, are community volunteers, are church members. I do not want my President to be so blatantly ill-informed.

I understand you have signed a pledge to create a constitutional amendment to ban Gay Marriage. As a PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) mother, I strongly believe the tide is turning, and equality cannot be stopped. Recent polls show the majority of Americans now believe Gays should be allowed to marry. What concerns me more is your pledge to investigate LGBTQ people who you believe are harassing people who share your particular beliefs on this topic. I do not want to go into the centuries of harassment, up to and including murder, that homosexuals have undergone. But please go to the Internet site, www.itgetsbetter.com to hear first hand of the suffering homosexuals have and still do experience during their growing-up years. No youth deserves such treatment. No youth deserves such hate and violence. And no youth should commit suicide because he or she feels so threatened and harassed that his or her life is not worth living.

I am not asking you to change your beliefs, but rather to embrace your Christian faith. For Jesus preached love not hate, the embracing rather than the distancing of one's neighbor. All I am asking, Ms. Bachmann, is that you try to change your blatantly hurtful, vitriolic words towards other human beings. During these deeply troubled and difficult times, I want my President to be a uniter rather than a divider. Sincerely, Victoria Koch, PFLAG mother, teacher, writer

© 2011