5.9.12 Special 4 STAR EDITION!!!!
May 9, 2012 19:45:49 GMT -5
Post by murly on May 9, 2012 19:45:49 GMT -5
Yeppers, he sure did!
I hope Melissa Maerz will really try to hear and understand the feedback she's getting and not just throw up the defensive wall that her critics are simply humorless.
Me too. I really had no idea the level of homophobia that exists in this country until I found myself coming out as a lesbian 13 years ago. My partner and I live in a liberal neighborhood, in a liberal city and yet still we have to be careful about how we act towards each other in public as both of us have jobs that could be adversely affected by someone seeing us together and taking offense (she's a teacher.. Elementary..her students are everywhere)
So no, we really have to stand up for ourselves when homophobia rears its ugly head. We are fighting for many things, but one of them is something I have heard referred to as "heterosexual privilege", basically the right to hold hands and maybe snuggle a little in public without worrying that behaving affectionately towards one another is going to cause a homophobic reaction that might involve jeopardizing one's career.
Personally, I have never gotten used to this business of not being able to hold hands in public. It continues to irritate me and I really hope in my lifetime, equality and acceptance reign supreme.
Go Obama!!!
This is exactly what I (a straight woman) try to explain to people who say, "Why do gay people feel the need to flaunt their sexuality? I don't do that!" I tell them to imagine a world in which homosexuality is considered the norm and heterosexuality is considered the immoral and disgusting deviation. They couldn't get married. They couldn't hold hands with their loved one. They couldn't dance together at a nightclub. They couldn't even exchange loving looks without someone spreading rumors.
Straight people need to picture how their lives would change if they had to hide the fact that they were straight, and then maybe they'd have an idea of what equality is about. It's not "having an agenda" or "shoving your lifestyle is my face." It's about being who you are without shame or fear. I get it, but you live it, and I hope with all my heart that someday the situation will change for the better.
