You would not expect much news to come out of the town of Caledonia, Ohio, population 560. You could easily drive by the town without noticing it on your way to the capital of Columbus, about an hour away. It is just a small, Middle American town with hometown values. But those hometown values put Caledonia in the hot seat this past week.
Why happened in Caledonia? A speaker at the graduation ceremony of River Valley High School in Caledonia dared to support marriage between a man and a woman. According to the Ohio Marian Star, commencement speaker Jim McGuire, an alumnus of River Valley High School and a pillar of Caledonia, said what is verboten according to the radical elites governing our culture—and he said it so close (May 27) to Pride Month of all times. What did McGuire say? He told the graduating high school students:
“Choose a spouse, I suggest. I also strongly suggest to make sure to choose Biblical principles, you know, a male with a female and female with a male.”
Immediately after saying those words, one thin-skinned LGBT supporter and 2018 alumna of the high school who attended the graduation ceremony went into a rage. She stated:
“When he made the comment that marriage should only be between a man and a woman, my jaw dropped to the floor, and I honestly thought I was hearing it wrong. I had to look around and see if other people were having the same reaction that I was, and they were. I felt like crying when I heard some people in the crowd clapping. But I was absolutely outraged and so were my parents and brother. I heard people behind me whispering about how inappropriate the comment was as well.”
This person then made the obligatory Facebook post attacking the speech to help draw the radical LGBT hate crowd into the mix.
Another person on Facebook likewise attacked McGuire’s speech:
“[I]f you were one of the young adults at River Valley High School who graduated yesterday, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry that this hateful speech overshadowed your amazing achievements and this incredibly special milestone in your lives. I know a lot of you are part of the LGBTQ+ community and I’m sure this man made you feel uncomfortable and unsafe. This is the kind of language that contributes to bullying and violence, and it is completely unacceptable. I know many of you desperately need to hear this, so I’m here to tell you that is it completely okay to be who you are and to be with whoever makes you happy.”
McGuire’s speech even caught the attention of NBC news, which wrote a story entitled, “’Hateful’ anti-LGBTQ graduation speech at Ohio high school sparks outrage.”
With the LGBT mob breathing hard down its back, the local school board distanced itself from McGuire’s speech. In a statement regarding the speech, the school board stated:
“As with all alumni speeches in past ceremonies, the speech was not reviewed by anyone on the RV Administrative team or Board of Education. Any views expressed by the speaker during his commencement speech reflected his personal beliefs. He was not speaking as an official representative of River Valley Local Schools.”
The school board than added that it would be “reviewing our processes for future ceremonies.”
However, many people did come to the defense of McGuire on-line. One person on Twitter wrote:
“So anyone who follows what the Bible speaks of about marriage is hateful now? My my.”
Another on Facebook stated:
“So, he spoke the truth and it is call hate speech. There was nothing hateful about the truth and a fact. It is only hateful to those who cannot face the truth.”
Yet another on Facebook declared:
“There was nothing wrong with this commencement speech. Good for him, good for him that he spoke truth. Our country needs more men like him, standing and speaking truth!”
And one person who supports the LGBT agenda even defended McGuire on Facebook:
“Hate, hate, hate. If someone disagrees with you its HATE speech. It’s NOT hate speech. It is a different opinion. Yes, it goes against what I believe, but it’s protected by the 1st amendment of the constitution. He has EVERY RIGHT to believe what he wants. You ALL have every right to believe what you want. Disagree, yes, but isn’t there enough REAL hate in this world, to not scream hate every time someone disagrees with you.”
So there you have it. One person who courageously defended marriage between a man and a woman at a high school graduation ceremony is viciously attacked by the radical LGBT hate mob. Yet fortunately sane people have risen up to defend him. Let’s hope that people gain fortitude from Jim McGuire and likewise defend the natural law and eternal truths–Western Civilization is depending on it.
Image source: Twitter