Thursday, August 26, 2010

bigotry and BS

While I don't deny that there is still much to be done for gay rights*...

(from SOTM)

...no one will ever call the cops on you if you walk down the street holding hands with your boyfriend.

__________________

*& speaking of...a bigwig member of the GOP who just came out this week had this to say:


Yes. More of this, please.

24 comments:

Weer'd Beard said...

As a Resident of Massachusetts I find this photo smug, short-sighted, and infuriating. I see two men (and two women ect ect) holding hands all the time. Hell here sometimes those hands have wedding bands on them. I see this in parks, on the subway, at restaurants and other public places.

meanwhile there is a famous case here where a man's coat was blown by the wind as he walked down the street. The only person to see his firearm was a cop walking a beat. The man's permit was requested and produced, and the day went on. When his permit was up for renewal he was refused for "bad Judgement", and he needed to get rid of all his guns (remember Massachusetts permits are to OWN GUNS!)

He did later spend several thousand dollars and many days in court to get his permit back (IIRC he still cannot legally carry concealed, but he was able to keep his guns)

Final note, at no point was this man charged with a crime, as he had committed none.

Tam said...

I wonder when was the last time the person in the photograph was gunned down by the cops in a Las Vegas Costco for the crime of holding hands?

nk said...

It's not that long ago that a father and son could walk down the street arm in arm. In America. Or a father could kiss his son in public. In America.

If anyone made the conduct seem "gay" ....

Mike W. said...

As I mentioned over at Weerd's, while at the beach last weekend two men next to me at the bar were making out.

No one freaked out, no one confronted them, no one called them faggots, and certainly no one called the cops.

Think I'd be treated with such benign neglect if I'd stood there with a stainless .45 on my hip? In that area of town I highly doubt it.

There are many similarities between the two civil rights movements, but in many ways gun owners are treated far, far worse than gays. We are certainly subjected to far worse with regards to the law.

Try holding hands with another woman on a sidewalk in San Francisco, CA. OK, now try open carrying an unloaded gun in the same place. The latter will create a much more negative reaction.

NotClauswitz said...

The hand-holders wouldn't last two minutes in Tehran... I take that back, actually they would. Men holding hands is an acceptable sign of friendship in the Middle East - but public kissing will get them killed.

Jiggyboo said...

"its sad, how as a culture we are more comfortable with two men holding guns than holding hands."

Consider the two scenarios:

Two men walk into a bank holding hands.

Two men walk into a bank holding guns.

I find the statement made on the poster board to be inaccurate.

Jake (formerly Riposte3) said...

It's all dependent on location, either way.

Here in Blacksburg, most people wouldn't do more than raise their eyebrows at seeing two men holding hands (or even making out), if that.

Drive 20-30 minutes west, outside the immediate area of the university's influence, and the only way I would even admit to being gay would be if I was carrying and very sure of the person I was talking to. There's no way in Hades I would hold hands with my boyfriend (if I had one) in public outside that Virginia Tech radius - it could all too easily result in my needing to use my concealed weapon.

Openly carry a gun, though, and most people (though certainly not all) won't think much of it. Unless it's on campus, then there are enough anti's that there's a good chance someone will call the cops and you'll be facing a dozen officers with weapons drawn.

The university can't legally ban non-students/faculty from carrying weapons on campus, but they sure like to act like they can.

Location, location, location!

Jake (formerly Riposte3) said...

ETA: I would still hesitate to just walk down the street holding hands with another man in Blacksburg, even on campus. This is still southwest Virginia, and while the university's presence strongly moderates the normal regional enmity towards gays, it doesn't even come close to eliminating it. Being assaulted for it is still a very real possibility, even here.

Hobie said...

Here in Staunton, VA we have lesbians and transexuals patronizing the local gun stores. Are they assaulted? No. Such an idea is generally ridiculous. HOWEVER, any person of any sub-culture or group could be assualted at any time for any number of reasons. It isn't sad that we can have education but nobody learns reason.

Sabra said...

I have to agree that it's based on location.

Neither should be unacceptable.

How about two men holding hands and guns? As the cliche goes, armed gays don't get bashed.

Borepatch said...

I'm with Hobie. My favorite reply to gun banners here in Massachusetts is "Why do you hate gays?" The subsequent discussion of defense against gay-bashing is pretty interesting.

If I'm feeling particularly evil, I then follow up asking why the banner wants women to be raped.

I'm not invited to "polite society" very much any more.

Zendo Deb said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Zendo Deb said...

With all due respect to the folks stuck in Massachusetts - you are hardly a typical cross-section of this country. Both from a gay-rights and gun-rights perspective.

Try an open carry state in the Southwest. I think you might find this a bit more apropos.

It certainly applies in most of Florida. Have you ever heard the name, Ryan Skipper?

Zendo Deb said...

Or consider, how the Texas GOP wants to make 1967 again.

Texas GOP platform: criminalize gay marriage and ban sodomy, outlaw strip clubs and pornography.

So much for individual freedom, limited government, etc.

Tam said...

In a perfect world, a married gay couple should be able to smoke all the tax-free dope they want in their walk-in gun safe without asking the permission of any .gov flunky...

Tam said...

PS: Strike "they want" and replace with "they can afford". ;)

Lydia said...

You're right, they won't call the cops if I walk down the street holding hands. Instead I fear being beaten and raped so the narrow minded can "make a woman out of me".

You have the 2nd Amendment. I have decades of legal hurdles before I can ever be seen as equal under the law.

In too many states I can be fired for being gay. I can be denied housing for being gay. In Alaska discrimination against me solely for being gay is still completely legal.

When we have equal rights, then we can talk about the annoyance of being arrested.

Tam said...

"I can be denied housing for being gay."

Hey, guess what? You could be denied housing for owning a gun, too!

It'd be like a double whammy!

Mike W. said...

In too many states I can be fired for being gay. I can be denied housing for being gay. In Alaska discrimination against me solely for being gay is still completely legal.

Unfortunately the same is true of being a gun owner.

Of course OTOH you can't leave your sexual orientation at home or in the trunk of your car.

Bubblehead Les. said...

I don't hold hands with my wife when I walk down the street. I'll need both of them to get her out of harms way if we are attacked, one to push her behind me, one to draw.

Same principal works for Gays, Straights, Bi-s and Vulcans.

Does not apply when dealing with small children, dogs, luggage and walking canes/ crutches.

However, Two Gay Men with CCW permits and decent firearms can REALLY make a pack of Gay Bashers out for Blood have a Bad Day.

The RKBA is Gender Neutral, so get your CCW permits and carry a Firearm every time you leave the house if you can. If you live in a place where you can't get a gun permit, move or take your chances.

Live Free or Die is a Way of Life, not just a Slogan on a License Plate.

breda said...

When we have equal rights, then we can talk about the annoyance of being arrested.

Even though that's what the original topic of the post was about? The comfort level and acceptance of men holding hands by the public at large? According to polls, 52% of people in this country support gay marriage and again, no one will ever call the police on gay people holding hands.

And marriage is not a "right." Marriage is something the government gives you permission you to do...& I think we can all see the source of the problem there.

Anyway, the right to bear arms is a right that belongs to everyone - gay people included. You should have NO fear of being beaten or raped or murdered - why in the hell did you think I got a gun? Read the news, you don't have to be gay to have that happen, you know.

bluesun said...

I personally don't see why the govenment is involved in any marriage whatsoever, straigt or gay, black or white, etc. etc. etc.

Jake (formerly Riposte3) said...

"I personally don't see why the govenment is involved in any marriage whatsoever, straigt or gay, black or white, etc. etc. etc."

It's pretty much a holdover from the days in Europe and England when the church and the government were inextricably intertwined. It just got carried over when the founders said "no official religion" (and, of course, that only applied to the FedGov at the time - some states did have an official church/religion).

Mike W. said...

And marriage is not a "right." Marriage is something the government gives you permission you to do...& I think we can all see the source of the problem there.

+ 1000 to this. That said, Gays should enjoy all the rights that us heterosexuals do and should have the freedom to marry whomever they damn well please.

The institution of marriage is a government creation anyway. I don't see how allowing gays to marry has any real impact on the lives of others. It's a personal thing and no one else's business.

People used to get this worked up over interracial marriages too, and they were bigots as well.

*sorry for rambling. I tend to do that.