Freedom
It would be ironic if it were not so scary.
What the hell has happened to the US?
After freeing Europe from the Nazis, the two geographic areas went radically different directions. Western Europe has focussed on increasing human and civil rights, the US ever more on limiting, abrogating or rescinding those rights.
Part of the problem is that we, as homosexuals, are not a homogeneous voting block. Whereas it makes sense for marketing people to target us - we have money, taste and flair - our only value to politicians is as objects of hatred to rally around.
Objectively, it is absurd to believe that Obama or Clinton will really dramatically improve our lot in the US. No-one, absolutely no-one need doubt what will happen if the Republicans remain in power. After the last seven years, how anybody can maintain that "they're all the same" or "it doesn't matter" is beyond me.
Solutions? Seems to me that the best we can do is to hold our noses and vote for the least evil of the choices in autumn. Let our opinions be known, and loudly. Stop backing down and letting the hateful christianists get away with their attacks.
Unity, it's what's for dinner.
Look at the divisions in the gay community which set back marriage for years and years. Now that we can marry in Europe, and society sees that this is a good thing, the whole "you may not get married because I don't want you to" debate in the gay world has died down.
Look at the absurd position of the activist lesbian community throughout much of the 1980's: AIDS is a male-homosexual problem, we alone are the noble queers.
Discrimination against effeminate men is very much alive in our quarter of the world (full disclosure, at 6'2", size 13W shoes I have no choice but to play butch. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get shoes to match my bag in that size? Not to mention boas...).
And the attitude towards transgendered people (we got ours, who gives a fcuk about them) which permeated the anti-discrimination legislation last year was just plain sickening.
This election is the first chance in well over a decade to stop the erosion of civil liberties, to finally gain for us the same basic rights as other discriminated minorities and women have.
Nobody is ever putting me in the closest. I'll go down fighting - but I'll take as many of the bastards with me as I can. That's my cat's attitude; it needs to become ours. Write your congress-person. Demand of your politicians accountability. Stand up to the christianists!
Well now, guess who had too much coffee this morning...
Off the soapbox for now.
