Russia (and Korea) need more Faggotry.
"Russia needs some faggotry," writes Bryanboy, host of the token gay blog on my sidebar links, Bryanboy.com .
Indeed, I have just been eating my dinner tonight, minding my own business, when two anti-gay news news clippings coincidentally sailed my way. The first was this gem Ryan found in the Seoul Times. I normally don't write about political or human rights issues because they make people hate each other and argue, and make my head hurt. (I prefer to wrap my head around deeper, more pressing issues like what Victoria Beckham is wearing and what brand of Swiffers to buy). But this article is so blatantly... fabricated and bigoted, to put it nicely, that it deserves a mention.
"Some women who have a domineering father will only be attracted to those of their own sex because they have learned not to respect men. The same is true of some men who have a domineering mother. Others, should one of their parents/guardians not truly love them, from a very early age may unconsciously imitate certain masculine or feminine characteristics of the parent/guardian that they most admired."
Where are the footnotes to show what study these hailed from? Oh, right, Vincent Bemowski - Writer (U.S. Politics & World Affairs) & Webmaster of Catholic Messages USA - wrote the article. He is a Writer and Webmaster with capital W's, so those credentials alone should be enough to substantiate his hypothesis. Plus, with gays ' frequently attacking' the Catholic Church, I don't think Mr. Bemowski has time to commit to any formal studies as he busily dodges flying bullets.. and AIDS-filled syringes.
Next, I hopped over to Bryanboy's site to see that Moscow's first gay pride parade has been botched by "some 100 religious zealots and nationalists who, according to the AP, kicked and punched the marchers."
I guess the paraders should be glad they aren't in Iran, where they'd be hung from gallows. (Remember these boys from last year?)
Apartheid ended merely 51 years ago when Rosa Parks refused to sit at the back of the bus. Apartheid makes a great example, because the religious right was also very slow to denounce racial segregation. For example, my dad went to Bob Jones University in the late 70's. Almost 25 years after Rosa Parks had glued her hiney down to the seat, this university from the fundamentalist, religious right still forbade black people from registering as student. It also forbade interracial dating.
Thankfully, my dad didn't hold the same values. In 1982, the year my little interracial self was born, the Supreme Court ruled against Bob Jones University, but the university "refused to reverse its interracial dating policy, choosing instead to pay a million dollars in back taxes (Wikipedia)." It was only in the year 2000 that BJU reversed it's interracial dating policy, after a battle on Larry King Live. But only because it's moved on to newer battles.
"In October, 1998 the Associated Press reported that "Bob Jones University has a message for gay alumni: Stay away or be arrested." The administration partially retracted the ban after realizing that the policy could jeopardize the tax exempt status of its on-campus art museum (Wikipedia). "
Alas.. I hate to dredge this one out of the shadows, but it serves a point here: I also happened to spend the academic year of 2000-2001 at a religious university in Canada. Not only did I witness a ton of anti-gay sentiment (along with knowledge that a thriving, underground gay community existed on the campus- they would often butt heads with the religious right in the school paper via extremely long anonymous debates), but I also befriended one of the campus's only black students.
Her flatmates, about 5 girls from the U.S. - wonderful, shining Christians on the outside - were racist on the inside, making her do all the housework like a slave and at one point locking her out of her own house while they laughed inside. They called her a 'nigger' when they thought she was out of earshot. I met these people.. they are the lingering embers last century's human rights movement failed to douse.
So, as you can see, religious folk and the fundamentalist right will slowly catch on to things and grow accepting of others in due time.. one issue at a time.. but in the meantime, countless people will continue to be hurt, denied human rights, and killed.
For those who are hovering between both stances (pro-gay and anti-gay) I highly recommend reading The Chrysalids by John Windham, a book I read in grade 10, and which I'm re-reading now. It has nothing to do with the gay rights movement. Rather, it is a warning about what happens when humans create categories for groups of people who are 'deviations' from the 'natural, God-ordained' race. It can be applied to Auschwitz, Blacks, Homosexuals, The Disabled, The Elderly.. just about anyone who has ever been treated unfairly in history.
Okay, back to the regular 'Yay I ate kimchi' entries tomorrow, I promise.
Indeed, I have just been eating my dinner tonight, minding my own business, when two anti-gay news news clippings coincidentally sailed my way. The first was this gem Ryan found in the Seoul Times. I normally don't write about political or human rights issues because they make people hate each other and argue, and make my head hurt. (I prefer to wrap my head around deeper, more pressing issues like what Victoria Beckham is wearing and what brand of Swiffers to buy). But this article is so blatantly... fabricated and bigoted, to put it nicely, that it deserves a mention.
"Some women who have a domineering father will only be attracted to those of their own sex because they have learned not to respect men. The same is true of some men who have a domineering mother. Others, should one of their parents/guardians not truly love them, from a very early age may unconsciously imitate certain masculine or feminine characteristics of the parent/guardian that they most admired."
Where are the footnotes to show what study these hailed from? Oh, right, Vincent Bemowski - Writer (U.S. Politics & World Affairs) & Webmaster of Catholic Messages USA - wrote the article. He is a Writer and Webmaster with capital W's, so those credentials alone should be enough to substantiate his hypothesis. Plus, with gays ' frequently attacking' the Catholic Church, I don't think Mr. Bemowski has time to commit to any formal studies as he busily dodges flying bullets.. and AIDS-filled syringes.
Next, I hopped over to Bryanboy's site to see that Moscow's first gay pride parade has been botched by "some 100 religious zealots and nationalists who, according to the AP, kicked and punched the marchers."
I guess the paraders should be glad they aren't in Iran, where they'd be hung from gallows. (Remember these boys from last year?)
Apartheid ended merely 51 years ago when Rosa Parks refused to sit at the back of the bus. Apartheid makes a great example, because the religious right was also very slow to denounce racial segregation. For example, my dad went to Bob Jones University in the late 70's. Almost 25 years after Rosa Parks had glued her hiney down to the seat, this university from the fundamentalist, religious right still forbade black people from registering as student. It also forbade interracial dating.
Thankfully, my dad didn't hold the same values. In 1982, the year my little interracial self was born, the Supreme Court ruled against Bob Jones University, but the university "refused to reverse its interracial dating policy, choosing instead to pay a million dollars in back taxes (Wikipedia)." It was only in the year 2000 that BJU reversed it's interracial dating policy, after a battle on Larry King Live. But only because it's moved on to newer battles.
"In October, 1998 the Associated Press reported that "Bob Jones University has a message for gay alumni: Stay away or be arrested." The administration partially retracted the ban after realizing that the policy could jeopardize the tax exempt status of its on-campus art museum (Wikipedia). "
Alas.. I hate to dredge this one out of the shadows, but it serves a point here: I also happened to spend the academic year of 2000-2001 at a religious university in Canada. Not only did I witness a ton of anti-gay sentiment (along with knowledge that a thriving, underground gay community existed on the campus- they would often butt heads with the religious right in the school paper via extremely long anonymous debates), but I also befriended one of the campus's only black students.
Her flatmates, about 5 girls from the U.S. - wonderful, shining Christians on the outside - were racist on the inside, making her do all the housework like a slave and at one point locking her out of her own house while they laughed inside. They called her a 'nigger' when they thought she was out of earshot. I met these people.. they are the lingering embers last century's human rights movement failed to douse.
So, as you can see, religious folk and the fundamentalist right will slowly catch on to things and grow accepting of others in due time.. one issue at a time.. but in the meantime, countless people will continue to be hurt, denied human rights, and killed.
For those who are hovering between both stances (pro-gay and anti-gay) I highly recommend reading The Chrysalids by John Windham, a book I read in grade 10, and which I'm re-reading now. It has nothing to do with the gay rights movement. Rather, it is a warning about what happens when humans create categories for groups of people who are 'deviations' from the 'natural, God-ordained' race. It can be applied to Auschwitz, Blacks, Homosexuals, The Disabled, The Elderly.. just about anyone who has ever been treated unfairly in history.
Okay, back to the regular 'Yay I ate kimchi' entries tomorrow, I promise.
posted by s at 6:54 AM
5 comments
