Generally speaking, Western societies have never been as equal regarding personalfreedomas they are now. This is a result of many different factors. Significant developments in philosophical thought, the advancement oftechnologyand cultural norms, as well as economic prosperity, are all contributing components.
RELATED:
Standing up for a group of people you’re not a part of is not easy, but can be necessary
Image credits:Kreemsicle
This woman in Tennessee went off in her small town’s public meeting in defense of the LGBTQ+ community
Image credits:SHVETS production (not the actual image)
The target audience of the woman’s speech was the homophobic rhetoric of Tennessee evangelicals in a public library
Image credits:Pixabay (not the actual image)
Her monologue went viral, gathering over 4o0k likes on TikTok, and provoked the resignation of the library director
Two years ago a video wentviralof a Tennessee woman, Jessee Graham, going off in a public meeting. Jessee Graham is a local of a small town in Tennessee and is a mom to four children. Graham’s story initially went viral in 2022, but since then the video resurfaced and her speech is still gaining traction.
Graham’s furious monologue took place in a public meeting at alibrary. Her speech was directed at evangelicals and Christian hypocrisy. The evangelicals were pushing demeaning rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community and their political agenda. To say that Graham was unhappy would be an understatement – the lady went off hard, not shying away from using some stronger words as well.
Graham stood up for the LGBTQ+ community, and went off on evangelicals especially, but touched upon her experience with Christianity in a more general sense as well. At that time, evangelicals were attempting to ban anyLGBTQ+community-related books. In their eyes, those books were inappropriate and therefore needed to be removed.
Image credits:RDNE Stock project (not the actual image)
In defense of the LGBTQ+ community, Graham exclaimed that it is “conversion therapy” for the evangelicals to attempt banning the books, as the LGBTQ+ community would lose access to learn more about themselves and their preferences. The woman’s passionate speech quickly gained traction oversocial mediaand put pressure on the director of the library, Zac Fox, to resign.
Conversion therapyis a pseudoscientific method which attempts to change a subject’s identity, preferences and expression. Healthcare experts and professionals have released numerous statements and declarations of the method not only being improper, butdamagingas well. The validity of conversion therapy has been widely disputed, with thescientific consensusbeing clear.
However, even if conversion therapy has been proven to not work, and also to be damaging or evenfatal, not all states in the US have banned it. Currently, 20 states in the US and 28 countries around the globe have banned it. Other countries, including Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, are currently considering bills to ban conversion therapy.
Ultimately, Graham’s speech caused the director to resign. Zac Fox was pressured on the topic of the censorship of the books months prior; however, the final decision to leave was only made after Graham’s statements were covered in various media outlets. Although, as covered in thisarticle, in his resignation letter to the board, Fox reportedly said that “he did not feel any pressure” to step down. The board stated their unanimous regret regarding Fox’s departure.
You can check the full video below:
People online are overwhelmingly appreciative of Graham’s speech, thanks for not holding back
Thanks! Check out the results:
Social Issues
