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Kihei, Hawaii
Aloha, my name is Saundra Farmer-Wiley, an African-American Mother/Lesbian and I live on the island of Maui. I hadn’t experienced the extent to which I was hated for being a Lesbian until I worked on getting the Freedom to Marry in the State of Hawaii in the last Election. The lies that were told about us and the venom with which Christians spoke at us as we did sign waving was both frightening and bewildering to me. A popular teenage boy came out in an interview during that same time and was almost killed by fellow students the following week at school.
Words have power for good or evil and the end product of hate speech is the denigration of our Children, both hetero and homosexual. They listen, silently learning either to hate themselves or someone else, or abuse or expect abuse. That is not the legacy I want for the souls that we have charge ove. I want our Children to learn to love and accept one another. In the Hawaiian Church that I attend the Children are being raised as Ohana (Family) to one another. That shouldn’t be that hard for all of us to do.