10.1.15 Goodbye Leopard…. Hello Zebra! Back to the US
Oct 1, 2015 15:36:52 GMT -5
Post by Craazyforadam on Oct 1, 2015 15:36:52 GMT -5
I did not want to make this specifically about Texas, that is just the example used in this article. I have spent almost a year in Oklahoma, which when it comes to values, is quite similar to TX, and I learned both some good sides and bad sides of the culture there. I also met a ton of open minded people, and reversely, met my share of prejudiced folks in other parts of the world. But obviously, it is much harder, when the overall cultural climate is stacked against you. True for LGBT issues as well as others.
I find it frightening, how much females have to fight, right now, the battles that were supposedly won in sixties and seventies, how UN protocol about how to handle refugees is brushed aside with nonsense rhetoric, how foreigners are treated with more aggression these days, how dark skin is all of a sudden a reason to get shot at, and most of this, did not happen to be specifically in Texas.
But it has something to do with applauding the trash talker, while at the same time ignoring the words of those that speak with compassion, apprehension, and/or appreciation for the complexity of certain topics (see our Adam, for many examples).
Or most recently in the news, the pope for that matter.
It also has something to do with widespread resentment and outrage about everything and anything, but very little active personal engagement on any matter, leaving you to have a lot of energy left to pour into the outrage bit, rather than the action bit.
This outrage, I have now multiple times encountered in a reverse direction from the one in this article. Outrage at a gay person for not coming out. The weight of the decision to come out, is solely carried by the person coming out, not by the recipient of the information. I think, in a culture, where public figures coming out are praised by the media on a regular basis, there is some expectation by the public now, that gay people 'owe' us something. No, they don't, it is their life and their decision. But an article like this one, makes it a bit clearer what the stakes are for the gay person, and I think that is important to stress. And so I found the article helpful, and posted it here with the hope that it might find its way in other people's hands and hearts.
I find it frightening, how much females have to fight, right now, the battles that were supposedly won in sixties and seventies, how UN protocol about how to handle refugees is brushed aside with nonsense rhetoric, how foreigners are treated with more aggression these days, how dark skin is all of a sudden a reason to get shot at, and most of this, did not happen to be specifically in Texas.
But it has something to do with applauding the trash talker, while at the same time ignoring the words of those that speak with compassion, apprehension, and/or appreciation for the complexity of certain topics (see our Adam, for many examples).
Or most recently in the news, the pope for that matter.
It also has something to do with widespread resentment and outrage about everything and anything, but very little active personal engagement on any matter, leaving you to have a lot of energy left to pour into the outrage bit, rather than the action bit.
This outrage, I have now multiple times encountered in a reverse direction from the one in this article. Outrage at a gay person for not coming out. The weight of the decision to come out, is solely carried by the person coming out, not by the recipient of the information. I think, in a culture, where public figures coming out are praised by the media on a regular basis, there is some expectation by the public now, that gay people 'owe' us something. No, they don't, it is their life and their decision. But an article like this one, makes it a bit clearer what the stakes are for the gay person, and I think that is important to stress. And so I found the article helpful, and posted it here with the hope that it might find its way in other people's hands and hearts.