Quote:
Originally Posted by Rickypt
He wasn't playing the victim. He was stating the truth--whichi is that queers are second-class citizens. And that second-class status has a very real and very harmful impact on our lives. It's easy to just say ignore all the hateful terms thrown our away, but I think true empowerment is challenging them every step of the way and pointing out how they are linked with policies and actions that keep gays in the second-class category. Maybe you won't change the person who spews the comments, but you have a chance to educate others. I've been taking this **** on for almost 20 years now and I've seen people change and understand the impact of their words and actions.
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I agree with everything here. At the same time, I've given it some thought since Carrie first said she didn't approve of the way he wrote that article, and I figure there are different ways of dealing. I know it's obvious, but I had to start looking at it in the context of another minority group, I suppose, and I thought about Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright and how the latter habitually crucified the former for not talking and writing about the race problem enough. Not to give everyone some unwanted history lesson, but she didn't see any point in writing about how she (and others) were and are disadvantaged for being black, and Wright (and other critics/writers) could not understand why she didn't consider it some responsibility of hers to constantly remind everyone of the injustices committed against her race. If I look for (glaring) parallels, then it's a matter of personal preference, and not everyone will address such issues in the same way. I'm more like Wright (perhaps only in this sense), but I wouldn't criticize a Hurston. Er...does that make sense?
All of this isn't directed at you Ryan, though I'm agreeing that he was just stating a fact. I guess it's just that some people would choose not to start off with a statement like that and would avoid a tactic like that.