Gay Rights

Dannyalcatraz · Jul 14, 2015

Talmek said:
I'm also a fan of Twain, and in sharing this will leave this conversation with this thought:

"All you need is ignorance and arrogance, and your success will be assured."

Ruh-roh!

Mallus · Jul 14, 2015

Talmek said:
Not...exactly one event a year. Based upon a quick google search (http://www.gaypridecalendar.com if you're interested) I found quite a list of events, some with entire months of the year.

Well, if you charter a bus and drive from one Pride celebration to another across the United States for several months, it will probably look like there's a lot of Pride celebration going on. In the liberal East Coast city I live in, it's one day out of the year.

However, we are talking about two different topics - constitutional rights vs. a respectful request for decency and mutual respect.

It's hard to argue with requests for decency and mutual respect - so I'll try not to. But I will say this: public gay pride celebrations come out of a specific historic context. It wasn't too long ago when being gay in the US was criminalized. Forgot nationwide marriage rights, a gay couple could be arrested for walking down the street holding hands; for existing. Law-enforcement agencies around the country would routinely raid businesses known to have a gay clientele. Making a pass at someone could get you busted on a moral charge.

Or beaten up, killed, fired from your job, publicly ruined, and/or your family shamed for creating you. Heck, in 1978 in San Francisco, of all places, the first out publicly elected official was assassinated. That's well within my lifetime. I was 9.

Imagine living in place where you couldn't hold your romantic partner's hand in public, for fear of everything from loss of income, arrest, to direct physical violence. For your entire life. Imagine all those voices telling you to be ashamed. Now imagine that changing...

This is a fertile soil that loud, in-your-face, public gay pride celebrations came from. It's fair not to like their excesses. It's fair to question their continued relevance in the 21st century -- and I'm sure a segment of the gay community does just that. But it's more than a little unfair not to acknowledge where certain gay pride celebration traditions come from, and why some members of that community might want to continue to honor them.

For the record, the public celebration you really want to avoid in Philadelphia, if you value both decency and your own sanity, is St. Patrick's Day. They bus drunk young people in from the hinterlands. It's nightmarish.

Dannyalcatraz · Jul 14, 2015

For the record, the public celebration you really want to avoid in Philadelphia, if you value both decency and your own sanity, is St. Patrick's Day. They bus drunk young people in from the hinterlands. It's nightmarish.

The Bayou Classic is worse.

It's the same basic idea as the Red River Shootout, but with smaller, less civilized schools than Texas & OU. Those kids hit New Orleans from the hinterlands at the same time as another mass of travelers- the event is during the Thanksgiving Holliday- and the city is flooded with a mass of revelers like no other.

I mean, the last time I was caught up in that mess, Popeyes & KFC ran out of chicken. Do you know what happens when a bunch of drunk southerners run out of fried chicken? SHOOTING!

Ryujin · Jul 14, 2015

Dannyalcatraz said:
The Bayou Classic is worse.

It's the same basic idea as the Red River Shootout, but with smaller, less civilized schools than Texas & OU. Those kids hit New Orleans from the hinterlands at the same time as another mass of travelers- the event is during the Thanksgiving Holliday- and the city is flooded with a mass of revelers like no other.

I mean, the last time I was caught up in that mess, Popeyes & KFC ran out of chicken. Do you know what happens when a bunch of drunk southerners run out of fried chicken? SHOOTING!

A situation that would easily be de-escalated by the judicious application of barbecued short ribs.

Umbran · Jul 14, 2015

Talmek said:
However, we are talking about two different topics - constitutional rights vs. a respectful request for decency and mutual respect.

A whole lot of censorship has occurred in the name of "decency". People try to ban books from schools on the basis of "decency".

Requests of the form, "Please *never* do that perfectly legal thing, because I *might* see it," may be phrased respectfully, but are, at their core, not reasonable. Making unreasonable requests falls somewhat short of respectful, in my book.

Dannyalcatraz · Jul 14, 2015

Ryujin said:
A situation that would easily be de-escalated by the judicious application of barbecued short ribs.

Much harder to find those being prepared in New Orleans than in other southern cities. Hmmm...

Ryujin · Jul 14, 2015

Dannyalcatraz said:
Much harder to find those being prepared in New Orleans than in other southern cities. Hmmm...

A little crawdad jambalaya will do in a pinch, as long as there's plenty of hot sauce available.

Dannyalcatraz · Jul 14, 2015

Ryujin said:
A little crawdad jambalaya will do in a pinch, as long as there's plenty of hot sauce available.

That's not really finger food- any substitute for fried chicken during the Bayou Classic would need to be more portable than jambalaya because there's not enough room in the food joints to handle the crowds. You order, you get your food, and you eat on the streets.