Social Commentary or Homosexual Propaganda

[Plain Old Jane]

That would depend on your point of view, and I'm hard pressed to take the absoluteness of in propinquity, but its power, its passion speaks to me. I think Americans (or westernized people in general) have been blessed with a sight too short to see how things usually end up. Blame it on when you were a kid and your momma told you that you could be president as she strapped the helmet on your head and escorted you to the little yellow bus, or when the legislatures put the media behind the good legislation instead of the ones that are supposed to piss us off. Such as the bill that allows states to take your home for economic boosting.

Plastered over most liberal sites over the past few days was a commentary made about a hardline senator opposed to queer rights and the outting of his Aid as a homosexual, read on:

"This well may be the least popular editorial that I have ever written. Having said that, having warned the "gentle reader" that I am about to drop a match onto the gasoline of well-defended complacency, it is time to begin.

Today's news carried a piece on the outing of Senator Santorum's aide as gay. It is not a stunning revelation in and of itself, for we have been treated to other gays serving our enemies in the past, going as far as to mastermind gay bashing and smear campaigns, but this one was unique in that a justification was offered. His justification was that the Senator was "a man of principle."

Yes, I said "our enemies." People who block, derail or attack our pursuit of the same rights that straights have such as not being evicted because of the gender of your lover, not losing your job arbitrarily because of who you sleep with or which sex you find attractive, tax credits, or the right to legally solemnize your relationship and provide protections and benefits for your partner are most certainly not our friends.

People who block hate crimes legislation on the grounds that it is a special right or protection at a time that the percentage of such crimes that are aimed at us approaches an all time high are engaging in a dishonest game of chess with our lives. We would not need such legislation if we were simply treated like everyone else. Again, they are not our friends.

I do not accept the argument that "our opponents" are acting upon their beliefs or consciences as justification for their actions. All of history has shown that the same specious platitudes were used for the persecution of each minority in sequence. Every time, every single time that it occurred in history it was proven to be morally wrong.

A person who questions any aspect of their own actions would have to at least pause at that fact of human civilization and wonder if that is the case now, that denying us equality is morally wrong.

Instead, those who seek to keep us in thrall as second or third class citizens summon crumbling theological positions to insist that this minority, the gay community, is somehow different. The "different" and therefore unworthy weapon was used against every minority before us as well as they came to the front of the room, hungry for justice, to ask whatever authority oppressed them "please Sir, I want more" as Oliver Twist asked Dickens's Mr. Bumble while he was a prisoner in the workhouse.

So, we the gay community do have enemies. Our enemies identify themselves clearly by the positions that they take against us. Rick Santorum, US Senator from Pennsylvania, is our enemy.

His now outed Chief of Staff told reporters that "Senator Santorum is a man of principle, he is a man who sticks up for what he believes in, I strongly do support Senator Santorum."

I read the words twice and sat back in my chair to reflect.

Senator Santorum is a man of principle. His principles are bad. He supports an amendment to bar same-sex marriage. He opposes gays and lesbians in the military. He has said that we "undermine the basic tenets of our society and the family." He opposed the overturning of sodomy laws, saying a right to privacy doesn't exist. He misquotes, twists words and overtly deceives when he discusses our aspirations and ambitions.

The argument that "other issues" lead gays and lesbians to support the Pennsylvania Senator and others like him doesn't impress me. It appalls me. What other issues take precedence over human rights? Do they truly believe that currying favour with the enemy will improve their position?

Yes, I did say "currying favour with the enemy." Strong words, I agree, but we are being undone by our reluctance to speak them. By not doing so we implicitly validate not only the actions of those of our number who aid in our oppression, but we also lend credence to the stature of a leader who engages in policies that are inherently and irrefutably morally wrong as judged by past history.

Having taken the plunge, "gentle reader", let us go a bit further together. Every gay who supports the election of a figure opposed to us, every one who raises or donates funds to those who campaign on a platform of oppressing us, every one who lends their skills to engage in the underhanded deviousness used to terrify the public with distortions, half truths and lies about us is akin to Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom" or to the Jewish kapos who enforced Nazi policy on the Jewish victims in the Warsaw ghetto. Another truth of human history is that groveling for crumbs at the table of the authority whose boot is fixed firmly upon your neck has never in the end succeeded. It will not succeed now.

The last major set of elections in this country was in the end about us and our aspirations. It was made a referendum on us by our opponents, our enemies who gloried in the chance to do so. Twenty seven percent of our number put their own future, their own safety and their own job and housing security aside to vote against themselves and against us.

A conservative acquaintance once said to me "we are not all like Alan Keyes." Well, if you support men like Senator Santorum, yes, you are. If you serve or help to fund politicians who oppose our rights, yes you are. You may justify it in your own mind howsoever that you chose. In doing these things, in lending time, money, skill, or intellect to the enemies of our rights you are, actively or passively, overtly or covertly, like Alan Keys or Rick Santorum.

I know that I am drawing a line in the sand. I know that I am saying to the collaborators that they are doing things that are morally objectionable and inherently evil.

Yes, I said collaborators. Every time that a gay, lesbian or trans person is dismissed out of prejudice because our enemies voted against protections the ink on the firing notice is on the hands of those of us who supported such men.

Every time that a gay, lesbian or trans person loses their housing because such rights have been denied to us the responsibility for the cold of the streets and the terror of homelessness is in the hands of those amongst us for whom "other issues" were more important than human rights.

Every time that a gay, lesbian or trans person is raped, beaten or murdered because the assailant was inspied by hate speech from leaders the blood of the victims is on the hands of those who supported the speakers with their skills, time and money.

"If the case I present seems hard and uncompromising, it is because the evidence makes it so." The words were spoken by Justice Jackson, I embrace them today as the closing to this editorial.

Caillean McMahon
Pennsylvania Gay and Lesbian Alliance
17 July 2005"
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Love it or hate it, it certainly draws a line in the sand so to speak.

[Plain Old Jane]

Also, this came as a surprise to me this afternoon while watching NJN, but this is perhaps the first in a long line of amplifed gay image in the media, albeit not mainstream.

According to Larry Kramer, a well known gay rights activist and author, there is no gay communitee. there's groups that hook up resources to homeless folk but theres no large group that fights for rights, it has always been other liberal groups doing the fighting, the ACLU, Amnesty International, and the Human Rights commision. But no gay groups as large do the fighting; and I'm inclined to agree that there is no gay comunitee, just a gay population with crudely built social circles and programs, as there is evidence to support such an opinion.

Until now that is, it turns out relatively recently, that a business person whose name I forgot, summoned 200 of the worlds richest gay and lesbian people to Aspen for a commision on how to deal with gay issues and how to use their wealth to promote them. For example, the plague of AIDS that has consumed africa and is turning into an epidemic in america. Yes, there is 6 billion dollars sitting in coffers set aside for african relief, but theres a lot of strings attached to that money, like I heard "assured abstinance" and "guarenteed condom usage" which isnt likely to happen as a lot of Africa is Catholic and the pope says "NO CONDOMS! DURK!" (Funny Hat magazine, spring 2005) er... more or less...

Anyway, as a result in the next few years, we may see widespread activism for AIDS treatments and cures, support of gay youth, etc...

like Larry Kramer said, "If you have the ability to save a life, and dont..."

[Mike]

Your insessant harping on Gay Prejudice makes me hate Gays more than Alan Keyes and Senator Santorum do. Gays aren't the hot issue that they were 8 - 16 months ago. Nobody cares anymore.

[Plain Old Jane]

by all means, mike, click no further on the offending links, I'm putting this out there for everyone, the people who read the front page only and the people who join the forums. If they dont care, dont click on it

[Mike]

I click threads that give me any reaction. If it's a good reaction, I click it, if it's a bad reaction, I click it. You've just become a one trick horse. I used to think that you were actually interested in politics, world news, and the significance of current events ... but unless it involves either homosexuality or gender rights, it doesn't interest you.

--edit--

I also like to give the impression that TTT isn't only a Gay-Rights, America hating message board.

[Mr Biglesworth]

Well, it is, so, fuck off.

[Mike]

Fuck. I've failed.

[Plain Old Jane]

failed at what? you've been harping on a free thought based board, then you complain when its actually implemented? Argueing the content would probably augment my viewpoint faster than incessant nagging. It just happened to be in the news and caught my eye. Just like my next story caught my eye.

[Mr Biglesworth]

Yeah well what do you know? You're American.

btw, Gay Marriages in Canada got royal assent on wednesday, meaning it was signed into law.

[Plain Old Jane]

yay! ^_^

[Mr Biglesworth]

what do you care, you like girls.

[Plain Old Jane]

because queer people really dont have enough people fighting for them and educating, I think its sad because their cause is just, true equality under the law should be the goal of any society. Be it oppressive or liberated in right.

(and once the stuff down theres taken care of, I officially get a F on all my documents including amended or re-issued birth certificate. But thats off topic.)

[Mr Biglesworth]

no cajones?

[johnny]

jep's goin' to the vet to get fixed or something???

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Plain Old Jane

failed at what? you've been harping on a free thought based board, then you complain when its actually implemented? Argueing the content would probably augment my viewpoint faster than incessant nagging. It just happened to be in the news and caught my eye. Just like my next story caught my eye.

"Failed at what." Refer to Neil's post, which refers to my post.

"Harping on a free thought based board."
Point me to this harping and tell me exactly what I've been harping about.

"Incessant nagging"
I don't incessantly nag. I usually respond to the content, but there's just only so much "Everybody hates Gay people and Gay people deserve more recognition than straight people" that I can take. IF this wasn't about how everybody hates Gay epople or about how Gay people deserve more recognition than straight people, then the comment still stands.. I read like the first two lines, per usual.

because queer people really dont have enough people fighting for them and educating

Gay people have more than enough people "fighting for them," behind the multi-billion dollar corporations, there are more homosexual lobbyist groups than any other.

The rest of that post really didn't make any sense... "true equality under the law should be the goal of any society" is one of those things that sound really nice but it isn't true, and most of the people who are calling for "true equality" (which they could never define) want 'more' equality for them and 'less' equality for others. They then usually bring up obscur, cliched historical examples of things that are unrelated that they think make their point.

I like Gays as much as the next man, but unlike "the next man" I think that the best way to achieve "true equality" is to stop separating people on something as trivial as who they are attracted to.

[GT2000]

I really don't care anymore, the only time jep actually bothers me now is when he pm's me to whine about someone else picking on him or something, but even that has only happened a couple/few times.

[Mike]

Jep himself/herself doesn't bother me at all, I particularly like Jep more than a lot of other people. It's just too much homosexuality.

Though my friend just sent me this moments ago: