Shut up, George

[charliesmum]

In my continuing series of telling people in the news to STFU, I was going to MST the Shrub's speech from last night, but frankly, it's really long, and there are people out there who would do a much better job than I. Plus, just trying to read it makes me want to smash things, and thinking about it to much makes me start to shake with rage, and that's not a good way to develop inner peace.

I will say he did managed to use a lot of words without actually saying anything useful, and I did the following count:

September 11 – mentioned 5 times
Freedom – mentioned 21 times
Terrorists - mentioned 27 times

Now back to your regularly scheduled program

Comments

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

I know! And then there was this thing that said his approval rating went up and I'm thinking, "Who are these people?"

I don't know. I really don't.

But - yay legal marriage in Canada!

[purplemer3.livejournal.com]

Rah, rah, marriage-n-stuff. Mixed feelings. Not thrilled with the voices that get heard in the "queer community", not thrilled with the homogenization of "queer priorities" in the media and legislature, not thrilled about the movements that get funding and the ones that don't.

Others have said it better than me. Read up on the conflicting feelings in my girlfriend's LJ and in a friend's LJ.

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

Interesting. The way I look at it though isn't 'get married to be like straight people' but more like 'get married so your chosen partner can be with you in the hospital if you get sick/can leave things to you in her will without her family getting shirty/can get spouse health benefits/can stay in the country' and so forth.

It's all about the legality of it.

But I am only seeing it from my point of view, and am not knowing the nuances of the whole thing, so you can tell me t shut my gob. :)

Your GF answered my poll! (I recognize the user name) that is totally cool!

[purplemer3.livejournal.com]

It's not that marriage is about "being like straight people" (though some queers do make that argument). It's that there are so many other really crucial priorities in "the" queer community that get zero funding and zero media attention. So while equal marriage is all over the news and recieves millions in funding, what is overlooked?

Hate crime legislation? Systemic violence against queer youth? Rampant discrimination against queers in the workplace? The exclusion of queers marginalized within "the" queer community?

- 31% of queer youth are teased/bullied all of the time. This is twice the percentage of any other group of marginalized youth that are teased/bullied all of the time.

- 28% of queer teens drop out of school as the direct result of harassment.

- More than 25% - and as many as 40% - of street youth identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

- 26% of queer youth are kicked out of their families' homes.

- Queer youth are 7 times more likely to commit suicide than staight youth.

Systemic violence. Ignoring it, not funding the organizations that advocate for anti-homophobia education, the organizations that do anti-homophobia workshops, the organizations that counsel these youth, provide shelter for these youth.

And these are just my priorities. How about the fact that lesbians are far more likely to die of breast and gynecological cancers than straight women of the same age and socioeconomic status due to lack of access to healthcare? Can't come out to your doctor, or you're dismissed when you do?

On and on. Read my girlfriend's post on the topic here.

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

That is very interesting. I guess any step toward equality should be considered a good step, but I totally see your point - it would be easy to say 'well you got the marriage thing, what more do you want' and continue to ignore all the other issues you mentioned.

My friend Jennifer has no health care because she is self-employeed, and can't afford it (fucking American health care) and she can't get on her partner's plan because the company doesn't have the same sex health care coverage. So yeah, there are lots of issues, you're right.

And you GF's post was amazing. Really powerful.