Do we hate back? This gay ex-Baptist rejects moderation and advises a simple strategy against the far right: stay angry.

"Where do I put this fire? Where do I put this burning rage of fire inside me? Who the fuck do I lash out at? Mother? Preacher? God? I need to lash out. I need to blame someone."

That's a quote from my play Southern Baptist Sissies. The hero of the play, Hark Lee Fuller, is trying to find a place to put the hate that he now feels towards the church he grew up in.

I started writing Southern Baptist Sissies after Matthew Shepord was murdered. I had seen a picture in a magazine of the home of one of the killers, and prominently displayed on the wall was a picture of Jesus Christ. My mind started churning, and I wondered if perhaps the murderers justified their heinous act because of the teachings of their church?

Every evangelical minister I've known--including my own father and brother--has always said, "We preach to hate the sin, not the sinner" (and for the record, that principle cannot be found anywhere in the Bible). Somehow, I think the message gets confused in young, impressionable minds in those Sunday School classes across the country.

I did a little research and found that the Southern Baptists actually split from Northern ones over slavery, which the Southerners thought was fine and dandy. In the 1960s, Southern Baptist leaders vehemently supported segregation laws and opposed the civil rights movement. It took them until 1995 to issue an apology to African-Americans--about the same time they decided to switch their hatred from blacks to gays.

So how do you counter the hate that is being spewed so loudly in the name of the Lord from pulpits, political platforms, and the Oval Office? Do you hate back?

Yeah, maybe.

I know, I know, hate is such a strong word. Well, at the very least, then, I strongly believe we need to stay mad and scream back just as loudly.

I'm sick of hearing that we need to take a more moderate course, to soften our stance on our demand for same-sex marriage, for equal rights. We've come a long way in the post few years, and to back down now is just weak and cowardly. I am so tired of our community coming from a weak position. The church taught us we are not worthy. It's time we tell ourselves that we are.

Rosa Parks refused to get up from her seat on that bus not because she was tired but because she had had it--she was pissed off. She said, "The only tired I was, was tired of giving in."

Well, so am I. I have had it with the Jerry Falwells, the Pat Robertsons, the Jimmy Swaggarts, the George Bushes, the Rick Santorums, the Phyllis Schlaflys. And since they aren't planning to shut up any time soon, then neither will I. I will continue to expose their hypocrisy in my plays, my movies, the TV shows I work on (if I'm allowed--thank you, Queer as Folk), and in every interview I do.

I will not shut up until I breathe my last breath. I will not soften my position (are you listening to me, Human Rights Campaign?) I will scream loudly and counter the religious right's hypocrisy by exposing it.

OK, I guess it's time to climb down off this soapbox. Better yet, give me your hand and I'll pull you up here with me.

Shores has written for TV shows including Queer as Folk and Dharma and Greg. A revival of his body of stage plays, called "A Season of Shores," is now under way at Los Angeles's Zephyr Theatre.