Quote: Matter-eater Man said: Hmmn, who actually makes up the "we" part though? I know quite a few "queens, twinks,& leather men" that donate time & money to various events. Quite a few people that you seem to consider inferior.
I also know gay men who contribute money and time to gay causes, and these people do not fall into those categories. It is not that I consider queens, etc. inferior. No. Don't try to paint me into that corner. I was speaking of the Pride parade and the stereotpyes *the parade* perpetuates. The queens et al. are not inferior as people, but they may very well appear as buffoons or worse to others. It doesn't mean they ARE buffoons, but perception is so so important.
Not trying to paint you into a corner Jim. If the "butch dykes, the queens, the twinks, the leather men, rough trade, that kind of thing" are OK (not inferior) than I don't understand how you can rationalize hiding them away in an effort to appease ignorant people. I shook hands with my mayor this weekend. He didn't have a problem being in a gay pride parade with all sorts of dragqueens, leather guys and the like. Nor did several people running for office. The late Senator Wellstone never minded either. The gay cops & firemen were OK being there. PFLAG same thing. Folks like Unrestrained ID had a blast. The parades are fun & they promote tolerance & diversity.
Quote: Other than counseling young gays on the Internet, what else do you do Jim to help win any battles? How exactly are you better than they?
It seems I've hit a nerve here. I don't recall using the word "better" in anything I said.
A couple of posts ago you said "I'd like to aspire to something other than that, better than that." That was in reference to my saying we were all in the same boat, at least that's what I thought. What exactly are you aspiring to there?
Quote: But as far as what I do to help win any battles, I think I help in the most fundamental, basic, and ultimately most beneficial way possible: I'm a parent. I raise socially conscious, loving, tolerant, thoughtful pro-gay children and hope that the environment I've raised them in is one that they carry with them all the days of their lives and in all the things they do and to all the people they encounter on their personal journeys.
Tell me a more important "battle" than that.
Winning the war on anti-gay sentiment and homophobia is going to take a grass roots effort, a localized effort. The primary way to fight that fight is in the raising of a better generation.
Well Jim, I'm sure you helped raise some good kids but that really is the duty & responsibility of any parent. I think everyone can understand parenting is a demanding job & requires most of your time & resources. But looking at all the progress that has been made concerning gays in the last couple of decades, how much of a role did parents raising a better generation play? Way I see it, the folks who couldn't or wouldn't hide their gayness created events & organizations like gay pride. These things grew & now you have politicians & major companies attending them, competing for our attention. Essentially the people that your worried about making us look bad were the same types who made things better for us in the first place.
