Try being openly gay around these people. Saying "I went to a movie with male name " when specifically asked “What’d you do this weekend” is essentially the same thing as saying “I like hot steaming cock” to some of them.
Shortly after September 11 when, during a meeting, somebody asked my opinion on Jerry Falwell’s “gays/feminists/etc. made this happen” comment and I responded something to the effect of “That bloated old hypocrite” (something that lame). A Fundie in attendance took offense, made a complaint to HR and I was asked by a Dean to go to Sensitivity Training. I told her “I’d be delighted, reserve three seats for me… one for me, one for the ACLU lawyer I’m about to call [because if I can sit through countless testimonials and “ain’t God good?” lectures she can by God accept that I think Falwell’s a bloated hypocrite] and one for the reporter.” It was dropped.
My all-time favorite Fundie in the workplace story, and I swear to Perhaps that I’m not embellishing. Some years ago I worked for a company that I won’t identify (I’ll only say that they handled electronic data systems for clients- you don’t have to be Hercule Perot… em… Poirot… to figure out which one perhaps) that was incredibly Fundie heavy. Every Halloween the e-mail practically jammed due to the “razors in apples” “Hi Fool, I’m Satan and you think you’re celebrating a silly holiday but…” type glurge, and though the HR team even sponsored costume contests to try and boost morale it was heavily fought by both managers and workers as offensive. Nevertheless, some of us heathens (many of whom were Christian) did dress up (maybe 10% of the workplace); one Fundie came in dressed as Jesus to protest.
My boyfriend at the time came in very campy drag. He’d never done drag before in his life- it was totally a Halloween lark- pink boufant wig, cheap dimestore one piece, hose, etc… It was hysterical.
His manager, a she-Fundie, ordered him to go home and change. He refused, as it the memos were very clear that Halloween costumes were allowed. She elevated the issue to her managers, denouncing it as “immoral” and “promoting a decadent lifestyle” and just generally evil.
Here’s the punchline: when she did this, she was visibly pregnant with twins.
She was unmarried.
The babies father was her immediate superior.
He was married.
He was also a minister.
His wife was pregnant also.
He already had one son out of wedlock by a former member of his congregation.
Later her babies were born, she sued her boss/baby daddy (she claimed he had promised to divorce and marry her) and the company (case dismissed), he resigned for “health reasons” (though everybody knew it was really the scandal), and the Fundie who dressed as Jesus was left by his wife when she found out he was having sex with her best friend’s husband (though neither of them were gay or anything).
You have to give this to Fundies: their hypocrisies can be really fun in retrospect.