Opinions

[blush]

Originally Posted by aishah

i feel like my words are being twisted here. it was a mistake to post in this thread in the first place; this is why i've stayed out of almost all of the marriage threads period. i thought that since it was relevant to the article, maybe it wouldn't be a terrible idea to post in here, and i was wrong. being called a privileged tosser who's completely ignorant of history and is setting the movement back has made me feel like shit, so thanks for that.

i understand, cheryl, that it carries emotional weight. what i am saying is that it doesn't seem to carry all that much legal or even political weight. we're still in the same spot we were before he said it - except now my facebook feed is blowing up because people think he's the second coming.

and yes, quintease, we all help out however we can - however, since the mainstream lgbtq rights movement in the united states has turned itself into almost a single-issue movement (gay marriage), those of us who work on other issues don't get heard that often (let alone funded). and the president is not going to make any grand, sweeping statements about issues other than gay marriage. and many straight people think that gay marriage is the only issue.

i still think that's a problem. and i still think that saying that's a problem is relevant to the article that snow posted. but i'm going to shut up now.

I think perhaps you're not considering the cultural weight and ramifications of his statement and how it might positively affect ALL situations. Much remains to be seen. Much needs to be done. But it's one of the few times we've moved forward instead of backwards. At this point, there is no legal weight, but there is a ton of political weight. Sometimes a seemingly single issues such as gay marriage is a "gateway drug" to bring more change and awareness.

[aishah]

maybe so, blush. i really, honestly, truly hope you're right. that's not been my experience. my experience has been people say "wait and let us get our little bit of whatever rights we want, and it'll trickle down to you" and it never does. people get their rights and they suddenly forget about all the people they're leaving behind.

[blush]

Originally Posted by aishah

maybe so, blush. i really, honestly, truly hope you're right. that's not been my experience. my experience has been people say "wait and let us get our little bit of whatever rights we want, and it'll trickle down to you" and it never does. people get their rights and they suddenly forget about all the people they're leaving behind.

cheryl, thank you for your apology. i wish it were possible to have heated debates that attack what people say instead of attacking people on the basis of age, or on the basis of being a "privileged tosser," as quintease said. i don't understand why any of these arguments couldn't have taken apart what i said without attacking me (or anyone here) as a person (or setting up a straw man argument claiming that i don't support gay marriage, when i clearly stated i do).

It's like Reaganomics for the queer world, isn't it?

It gets heated because it is so important (all of it)and we shouldn't have to fight it.