The Gay Thread

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Archie will die taking a bullet meant for a gay friend

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

In 32 US states, you can be fired just for being gay. President Obama has promised an order banning federal contractors from firing or refusing to hire someone because of who they are or who they love. Experts say that it could set the standard for future employment laws.

But some anti-gay activists are lobbying Obama hard for a huge loophole. It would give employers a license to keep firing anyone they think is lesbian, gay, bi or trans if they say it's against their religious beliefs.

Obama's position for equality is clear. But powerful interests are trying to get him to back down right now. So, we're going All Out to make sure he sees thousands and thousands supporting him to say NO to anti-gay loopholes.

The order could come any day now. If you think no one should be fired for being gay, sign now and share with your family, friends, and coworkers:

https://www.allout.org/obama-no-religious-exemption

Despite huge advances for equality in the US, fewer than half of the states have made it illegal to fire someone because they're lesbian, gay, bi or trans.

In one case, a teacher was fired from her job after 19 years – because she wrote her female partner's name in her mother's obituary. Her story is heartbreaking, but it's not unique.

Will you show President Obama that you support him in protecting LGBT people at work?
Add your name here:

https://www.allout.org/obama-no-religious-exemption

In 2010, the first-ever victory for All Out members was asking the US leaders to stand up for LGBT people at the United Nations – and it worked! Since then, we've been able to show leaders around the world that there's more than 2 million of us fighting together for love and equality – and time and time again they've listened and acted.

Now, along with the American Civil Liberties Union, we're reminding President Obama that there is a global movement for love and equality that won't accept less than total equality for LGBT people. In the last week, over one hundred religious leaders have even signed a letter calling on Obama to leave out this dangerous loophole.

Will you add your name to the petition before it's too late?

https://www.allout.org/obama-no-religious-exemption

Thanks for going All Out.

Andre, Hayley, Leandro, Pablo, Melanie, and the rest of the All Out team.



P.S. Two weeks ago, the US Supreme Court held that private companies can use their religious beliefs to deny contraception to female staff. That's why religious lobbyists are ramping up their pressure campaign on Obama right now. If nothing's done to fix employment protections in the US, anti-gay employers could expand their discrimination against LGBT people. Sign now to ask Obama to protect LGBT people in the work place – with no loopholes: https://www.allout.org/obama-no-religious-exemption



SOURCES:

US: Faith-based leaders ask Obama to minimise religious exemption – Pink News, 11 July 2014
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/07/11...ous-exemption/

Will Obama's job bias order include a religious exemption? – Washington Blade, 19 June 2014
http://www.washingtonblade.com/2014/....QZ8V7i2l.dpuf

Taxpayer-Financed Bigotry – New York Times, 14 July 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/12/op...tors.html?_r=0

Rick Warren Joins Letter Asking Obama For Strong Religious Exemption In LGBT Executive Order – Buzzfeed, 2 July 2014
http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner...ng-religious-e

Meet people fired for being LGBT in 2013 – The Advocate, 18 December 2013
http://www.advocate.com/year-review/...2013?page=full

Is Obama's criticism of Uganda's anti-gay law hypocritical? – AlJazeera America, 24 February 2014
http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/s...ocritical.html

Nice going, SCOTUS. Now look what it's led to.

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Hobby Lobby harvest: religious discrimination

[Tazer That Evil, Yellow Bastiche Find all posts View Profile Close Tazer]

Yo.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/1...can-marry.html

Keys judge overturns same-sex marriage ban; attorney general to appeal

Tazer

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Gay marriage stirs backlash as businesses assert religion

[Tazer That Evil, Yellow Bastiche Find all posts View Profile Close Tazer]

Yo.

ya know, Im not somebody who thinks religion should necessarily take a back seat to financial tranactions, but I also dont see where alot of these companies are refusing to do business w/SS -types BASED ON religion.

while I still think that if a bakery doesnt want my money they'll just get the middle and Im movin' on, I also realize that their argument as to WHY they wont conduct business is decidedly lacking.......and Ive yet to hear any 1 of them say something other than "becuz religion".

pathetic.




Tazer

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Obama's LGBT executive order threatens religious liberty, advocates say

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Texas: "Gay marriage ban is best for children"

Makes me think of all those hetero couple who have murdered their children throughout history.

[TazzMission Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close TazzMission]

Texas: "Gay marriage ban is best for children"

Makes me think of all those hetero couple who have murdered their children throughout history.

imo the government should have zero say in adult consenting marriages gay or straight. plus i dont see how the homosexual community is affecting anyone it sure as hell isnt affecting my love for women. i dont think same sex couples sit around and go hey lets have a ban on heterosexual relationships.

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Virginia same-sex marriage ban struck down

[Lantern A-train Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Lantern A-train]

STarted at The Picture thread

lol it was only a matter of time

That's like being proud of inheriting your parents' lottery wealth. What's the point? It's nothing you have actively chosen, acquired or built, you get no challenges or difficulties because of it, and if anything, you're ridiculing people on the other side of the fence.
And if you transfer this exact same thing to a different majority/minority scenario (white pride, proud of not being handicapped), it gets ugly really fast.
It's a "neener neener neener" chant in jpg form. And the text on the side painting yourself as the victim of intolerance is just idiotic.

Yeah, I've never really been too clear on the whole notion of taking pride in various attributes you possess through no action of your own. I can understand refusing to be ASHAMED because of them, but taking pride in them? I don't quite get it. So while I find this picture silly, I do find it works (minus the confrontational text, perhaps) as a kind of satire on the general notion of that sort of "pride".

I think the pride in terms of both racial and sexual orientation minorities is the struggles both have had to go through in their life. It is interesting to see how people treat the friends you have who are gay or of a different race. If you pay attention, you can see that even the little things are obvious.

I'd agree with that. You'd be surprised the little things I notice in regards to how straight guys act when they are around me. Even things like the usual general horseplay is different and I don't think straight guys even realize they act differently, if only in a miniscule way.

Is it equally possible that the straight guys notice little things that are different in how you act around them, too? Never having been gay, I wouldn't know, but I can say that I probably act different around women than I do around men, even though I'm happily married and therefore not CONSCIOUSLY trying to impress other women, and even if I don't find those specific women attractive.

Yeah I would say it goes both ways (no pun intended). I tend to be rather conscious of certain things I do around straight men and wonder whether or not it will make them uncomfortable. As most if not all straight men have the "I'm cool with it as long as you/they are not hitting on me" mentality you never know what can be misconstrued as a come on whether that was the intetion or not

Well, in terms of the "pride" aspect of it, there's one story that happened to me in high school that made me look at racism in a whole different light. And it's stories like this which help me to understand how someone could feel pride for being a minority. Especially when having to deal with bullshit on a constant basis from external forces.

It was senior year in high school, and I was on the yearbook staff. Which was basically used as time to run around the school and bullshit with my friends. I was running around with one such friend, who's black, when we were stopped by a teacher in the hallway. Now, we were both in the hallway, neither of us had hall passes. We're standing right next to each other, and the teacher immediately begins to berate and question my friend. Doesn't pay attention to me in the slightest. We both try to reason with him, but he ends up taking my friend to the principal's office. I guess in the office, my friend ended up cussing the teacher and principal out, and got suspended. So there was no defense I could help him with. It might not seem like much, but that occurrence changed how I viewed race relations. Literally, nothing was different about us besides the color of our skin. We were even dressed similarly because of the school's dress code. Only, I ended up being able to just go about my business in the hallway and my friend had to go to the principal's office and ended up suspended.

So imagine that happening to you, but having it happen on a constant basis. There was another time I was with black friends of mine, and I couldn't tell you how weird it was when we'd see people cross the street when we would come up on them. Not in a menacing way, just simply walking down the street. So I can see how they would have pride, for having to put up with that. The same for gay people as well.

back in highschool this one guy i knew was gay and flat out asked me out. now unlike a lot of hetrosexual men i told him sorry dude i am not gay.

at first it creeped me out because i figured the guy knew i wasnt but all in all i wasnt like a homophobe or gay basher or anything along those lines

What I tell most straight men straight men in regards to that situation is to just take it as the compliment that it is. Simply state that you aren't gay but you do appreciate the compliment. I know some straight men that are happy to know that a gay guy finds them attractive and they know it doesn't mean that said gay man is gonna try and jump in their pants every five seconds. Funny enough I have also met some straight men that get all pissed off if they think you are checking them out or think that you think they are attractive yet when you tell them that you weren't or you don't think that they also get pissed off or offended. It's like make a fucking decision dude.

The big problem with that situation is that, unlike women who can compliment each other on their attractiveness with no problem and not be labeled gay or have any issues, there is still the stigma among straight men that complimenting another man on his looks somehow automatically makes you gay. Hence the apparent need for the insecure straight boys to add the disclaimer "no homo" or "I'm not gay but..."


Perhaps we should move this to the gay thread as to not derail The Picture Thread.

man do i got some stories to tell you lol

Yo.



I see where yur coming from & I mostly agree with yur point, but playing devils advocate I dont see why we cant have situations where ppl who're in the majority of a societal makeup (like straight ppl) be proud of who they are like any1 else.

I'll agree that it IS odd to see something like this, I also recognize that just like we have things which attempt to promote and celebrate those of different sexual leanings (or however U want to put it), I dont see any reason why we cant do the same for those who make up the majority (as long as we're not viewing every1 else as *them*, if U catch my drift?)



see, now the weird thing (and this is just my own opinion, not based on hard facts) about MOST ppl who come from a racial or sexual divergence dont suffer from an extensive amount of intolerance; not saying it never happens to most OR to minimize anything that any1 here has ever had to go thru in their own personal lives, but most of them (and I can put myself in this category) go thru their lives generally unscathed. yea, we do have those who see alot of intolerance & hatred, and yes we do have ppl who end up losing their lives over that bullshit, but I honestly dont believe ALL of us who arent within the societal majority suffer greatly for being apart from it.

does this mean we dont have struggles, no, not at all. but becuz WE have struggles doesnt mean THEY (the norm) dont, and tbqh Ive seen & heard instances where the majority get hit with verbal indignities & accusations just becuz they stand up for themselves, as if they arent supposed to becuz theyre "male" or "white" or "straight".

acceptance for 1 should be acceptance for all, but some tend to forget that.




Tazer

Tazer I agree with all of that.

Well, I might take pride if I felt I displayed grace under that kind of unfair pressure. If he's reacting to it by cussing out the teacher and the principal, that, while totally UNDERSTANDABLE, especially if that sort of thing is happening all the time, is not exactly something that I would take pride in. Like it says in the Bible (loosely paraphrased ), if you do the right thing, and people give you crap for it, that's admirable. If you give them REASONS to give you crap, not so much.

When I was in Middle School, pretty much everybody decided I was gay. I had people mocking me fairly constantly, I had people following me through the halls to do this, doing random crap like throwing a bunch of mouthwash on me. Telling them they were wrong made no difference. Really nothing did. I was never beat up or anything like that, just harassment, so it could easily have been worse. I guess in a way, I'm proud that I managed to make it through that time in as good shape as I did (but there were definitely times in there that I'm not proud of, like the couple times I decided to just turn around and take a swing at the nearest jerk). So I guess I can understand the notion of taking pride in bearing up under scorn.

They eventually decided I wasn't gay (or at least stopped mentioning it) when I got to High School. Not sure why, maybe they just grew up. I did grow a full beard Freshman year, which seemed to impress some of them. Maybe they thought a beard was too manly for a gay kid?

[TazzMission Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close TazzMission]

a few years back myself and some friends ended up at a gay bar just to drink at like 2am. when we walked in its like they knew we werent gay. probably one of the funniest nights i have experienced. my one buddy went up to the bar tender and asked if he can turn on one lesbian porno since there was 4 tvs with male gay porn. i was suprised they allowed that honestly

[JohnnyV Pictionary Master Find all posts View Profile Close JohnnyV]

The way I see it, being a minority is typically a disadvantage. That doesn't mean it's always a disadvantage or the world is always out to get minorities at all times. However, I know there are racial minority friends I have and gay friends who have had to go through things in life I would never even think of having to go through. And in that, you can have a sense of pride. Which isn't a bad thing and is behavior I can understand.

Like people who harp about gay pride parades. Well, trying being openly gay for a day and just see how people treat you differently for being so.

[TazzMission Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close TazzMission]

The way I see it, being a minority is typically a disadvantage. That doesn't mean it's always a disadvantage or the world is always out to get minorities at all times. However, I know there are racial minority friends I have and gay friends who have had to go through things in life I would never even think of having to go through. And in that, you can have a sense of pride. Which isn't a bad thing and is behavior I can understand.

Like people who harp about gay pride parades. Well, trying being openly gay for a day and just see how people treat you differently for being so.

i personally dont care what gays do in there lives i really dont because i dont expect them to go hey lets put a ban on traditional marriage because its unconstitutional or against ones religion .

not to turn this into a religious debate but i do blame a lot of the ignorance on religion. i dont consider myself a expert on it but i havent seen anything about it in the bible. plus i have told people who are hardcore christians whatever gays do in there private life is between them and god. its not for followers of christ to judge.


we hear all this negative stuff about gay pride parades and yet where is the same negative feedback for say black history month? not trying to be racist or ignorant but it is hypocrisy.

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

I will say this, and I apologize if this comes across as homophobic.

Part of my confusion with the Gay Pride notion in particular is that, while all the gay people I've known personally are just regular folks...I've been in San Francisco during a Gay Pride Day (not sure what the official name was, it was a huge event- I was actually there for a wedding that just happened to fall on the same day), and all I could think was, "If I were gay, I think I'd be somewhat embarrassed that THIS gathering is "the face" of my orientation." It seemed like most of the folks that come out for that event are some of the most extreme examples of gay stereotypes, or just out-there-strange (like the middle-aged couple of guys wearing nothing but giant diapers). It just seemed like, on the one hand, the message I was getting most of the time (and which was borne out by the people I knew) was that gay folks are just like you and me, only with a difference in who they are attracted to, but then on the other hand, when a big group got together to celebrate "gay pride" I saw a bunch of people reveling in how out-there and different they could be...