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So it's been a week for me.
You know what the first thing I noticed now that I'm alone? How much goddamn time I have on my hands. Seriously, I cleaned ALL THE THINGS yesterday. Everything. I found myself pacing. Video games didn't entertain me. I've been smoking more. Netflix asked me if I was alright because I watched nearly an season of Supernatural in almost one day, made it to episode 19. I am outright bored, and it doesn't help me with avoiding thinking of her. |
Just a small update. The Supreme Court here in the US is (probably) going to deliver its decision on DOMA (the so-called Defense of Marriage Act which makes the federal government unable to recognize same-sex marriage, even if certain states do) and/or Prop 8 (the same-sex marriage ban in California). Depending on how things go there could be lots of changes or not many changes for the whole country.
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I'm all for heavy debates, but I don't know if most members who post or view this thread would want that. Quote:
Perhaps you could spend more time with friends and let that keep your mind occupied. |
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You're right that this is a safe-space first though and that's what it should remain. I think my rant is better directed at D&D - I've just been pining for some serious discussion and intellectual stimulation lately. |
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Maybe you should start a D&D thread. Or maybe just say something here anyway and see what sticks. There is a certain kind of Daily Chit-Chat feel to this place sometimes depending on who's around and what we're talking about, but I'm sure that you could start some more discussion-based conversations. |
This is how the second break-up went.
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And you know what? I. Feel. Great. |
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So I would go out without my phone, or watch a film without my laptop on, little things like that to stop checking up on things constantly. |
You can always find yourself something to do that takes up time & makes you committed to it, like getting a job, applying for a course, or going training (playing any sport or just going to the gym)...
You'll be occupying your time & in the same time benefiting from it! Whatever you do don't "sleep it off", it'll make you lazier & make you tire easily. |
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Now I'm just like, whatevs, I still respect him as an artist and a person and stuff and if he can't do the same back at the very least, then that's his problem, not mine. And the reason I feel great, is because I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. |
I think you both were being immature. Fenrir, you moved too quickly before thinking about -everyone's- feelings in the situation, and Leon was hasty as well.
Right now it's all high drama because it just happened, but I say give it time to cool down, then if you want Leon back in your life as a friend, then approach Leon again explaining that the feelings were all new to you, and you had no intention of hurting him. Of course right NOW he won't listen because you just probably broke his heart a little, and emotions were going everywhere. Everyone needs to cool off. No one was "more in the right" than the other. Just looks like it is a big mess to me- people jumping from one partner to another is always going to be a bit messy. |
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I'll give him some time, I'll give myself some time, and we'll see if he wants to be friends later on. If anything, I still respect him as an artist. |
Can I join? I used to be Asexual, but now I'm a Genderqueer, and I believe in equal rights for all. Hopefully I will be active enough.
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And the fact that I'm pretty sure that's the only shred of respect he has for me is an begrudging artist's respect. Kinda like how I've got these two friends and they hate each other, but they respect each others massaging skills. |
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I thought you were just asking why for the sake of asking. :I But... I'll give that a try. |
So, I'm going to randomly pop in now.
First off; well, sorry to hear about your boyfriend and . . . your other boyfriend(?), Fenrir. (Lol) Also, all the crap that I posted before that was happening that kind of really sucked is pretty much over now. Granted, my ex's parents are now preventing me from speaking to or seeing him, so it's not completely over. And, lastly, I'm a bit sad that school's over. My crushes on other guys decided to start randomly developing a bit more towards the end of the year, lol. I'm crushing on three guys. One is a Sophomore, one's a Junior and one's a Senior . . . but the Senior is graduating and moving to go to college, so I won't ever really get the chance to talk to him. Out of the three guys I'm crushing on, he's the one I'm crushing on the hardest. He also probably doesn't realize I exist. I kind of wish I had joined the track team now, because it was the only sport that I had been considering before, and now that I realized that he was on it I figure that it might have been a way to get to know him. >.>; It's pointless to regret that, though, especially considering I was in a relationship for most of the year. Oh, and he was also the only one of the three that I wasn't sure of being completely straight. I've been told that he's definitely into women, but that it's possible he's bisexual, lol. My crush on the Junior is pretty minor, but I'd still like to stalk try and approach him next year and be friends. He has a girlfriend, and I know a girl that's, like, best friends with his older sister, so she confirmed for me that he's completely straight. As for the Sophomore . . . he was in my Biology class all year, and he sat next to me for the second half of the year. I've had a crush on him since the beginning of the year, but I was able to pretty much forget about it while I was in a relationship. After I stopped talking to my ex so much, my crush on him decided to grow and it became a bit agonizing to be sitting next to him. >.>; Lol. I know him the most out of the three guys I'm crushing on (considering I don't actually know the other two that well, and they probably don't even know my name. . . .) and I know that he's straight. He didn't realize I was gay until last week when he asked me if I had a girlfriend. Lol Random fun fact: all three of them are in a musical ensemble, lol. They're all really good at it, too. @[email protected]; The Senior can sing, play guitar, paint, is an excellent athlete on the track team . . . he's annoyingly good at everything, lol. |
So I return!
At this point I've been away so long that if I were to go back and read what I've missed I'll be there forever, so I'm going to cut my losses and just move forward. The whole ordeal is over, I'm fully back now so yay! Though I do bring with me a reminder that as gay rights get pushed forth in so many awesome countries, other countries aren't so lucky. (Also if anybody joined the club while I was gone and their name isn't on the member list, let me know on my profile :)) |
Okay, I hate to veer off topic, but I just need to vent to real people, even if nobody responds.
So, I work at a small store with what's essentially a skeleton crew of three other employees (including my boss). Being on shift with my boss is always a bit awkward, but I mean, he's a good guy, so I don't mind too much. The other two I've actually started to consider friends, which is huge. It takes me a long time to start to think of someone as a friend. And then the one guy, who I like working with the most, goes and gets himself fired for doing something that's not only against store policy, but is freaking illegal. And I don't want to get into what he did just for privacy, but when I say that I never, EVER would have expected him to do something like that, it's a huge understatement. I mean, he's been working there the longest other than the manager. He's the guy who's always drilling into us "Don't do this, it'll get you fired," or "Don't do that, you can get fined." And on top of that, telling us how to take precautions to make sure nobody can ever accuse us of doing those things (like making sure to be in front of a camera when doing certain things, and if possible, having another employee act as a witness). And out of the three of them, he's the one I would want to be there to have my back if something went catastrophically wrong and somebody held up the store or there was a fire or something. And my brain just can't even process this right now. It doesn't help that it just came out of nowhere, with no warning at all. My boss just texted me to call him when I had a minute a few hours after I got home, and told me he'd been fired. I mean, I closed with the guy yesterday. He was supposed to be on shift tonight a couple hours after I left. And I don't even have any way to contact him to find out what the hell happened. I could probably find him on Facebook, he has a fairly unique name, but it's just... what the hell would I say? I send him a friend request just so I can say "What the hell, man? What were you thinking? You're supposed to be Cool Trustworthy Guy, and you go and do this?" I just keep hoping that it was all a huge mistake, that there was some kind of misunderstanding somewhere and he can have his job back, because I just can't imagine him doing that. And if it's true... God, I don't know. I just don't even know. I feel like somebody just punched me in the gut. And to make matters worse, I'm now the most senior employee other than the manager. And I've only been working there two months. So that's fantastic. The store's already not reaching the (in my opinion) ridiculous goals head office keeps setting for us, which puts ALL our jobs in jeopardy. This is really gonna help. |
Inkblots, your story didn't turn into a sexy porno like I thought it was going to.
You have disappointed me. (I don't know what the guy did, so I don't know what to say other than . . . that sucks, but good luck with getting through what sounds like an annoying and stressful job. :x) |
Where do you work? Does it have anything to do with telecom? PM me if you're not cool with going public, but okay with talking about it privately.
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BlahIsSuck: It's a nation-wide electronics store. Sorry for being vague, but there's always that slim chance that somebody connected to what's going on in some way could read this, so...
Nakuzami: Thanks. It wouldn't be that bad of a job if we actually had enough employees to staff the store properly, but when you're in a small town at one of the smallest stores in a nation-wide chain, working with high-value product, are getting competition from a similar store a couple doors down and a big-box store across the parking lot, and being expected to do almost as much as the larger stores despite all that... Let's just say I'm really regretting taking the job, and while I'm grateful that I have a job, because I know a lot of people don't, I wish I could afford to leave, and have for almost a month. It was supposed to be a part-time job for a couple years while I get my freelance business established and study for my editing certification, but it's taking over my life, and I'm sick of it. |
Hey, spend more time with us in your off-time :P I suck at giving advice, so I don't know how stupid this is going to sound. You could turn this into something really resume-worthy, sticking it through shows you have persistence and meet adversity face to face. You didn't do anything wrong, the situation thrust itself on you, so I don't think anybody can judge you no matter how your performance turns out to be. But as an experience, I think what you're going through now certainly can be pitch-able. I know it's not a solution, but maybe you can look at it in a warmer light?
(all i care about is money >.<) |
Haha, yes, you do have a point. Money isn't a huge motivator for me though, haha. It's just too... intangible, I guess?
But honestly, right now, even though yeah, I'm concerned about what's going to happen with the store and my own job, I'm more concerned about him, and still trying to just get my head around it, y'know? Because the more I think about it, the more I just can't imagine him doing it. And the guy has two kids, his chances of getting a decent job are shot to hell now, and if he's convicted, depending on exactly what happened (I don't have all the details) he could go to jail. Dammit, I just want to shake him for being an idiot. |
You are making very curious about what he did.
It sounds serious. >.>; |
Sorry, I hate to be vague, it drives me crazy when other people do it too >_< But just, for right now, until I find out all the details, I don't want to risk ruining his reputation, y'know? And there are only so many people I can safely talk to - I don't want to talk to any of my friends in town, because there's a good chance they know him. I guess, I don't know, it's something that could be REALLY serious, or it might just be a technicality (I'm hoping that it's a technicality, I'd hate to think he had us all fooled) and he'll just have to pay a fine, but either way, it was one of the few store policies that are absolutely zero tolerance and always result in immediate dismissal.
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Not sure if this applies to ink's story. If so, I am terribly sorry; hopefully all goes well. |
No, he wasn't in charge, but he was on his way to being assistant manager. The main reason it effects me is that there were only 4 of us working in the store, ideally there should be at least 5 or 6, but we can't afford to hire that many and still give them decent hours, which means we all have to start working more hours to make up for him until a new person can be hired and trained. He was also - by far - the best salesperson, and was practically carrying the store by himself. If we go too long without meeting our quotas and sales goals, head office will just assume we aren't doing our jobs and "restaff" the store (i.e., fire all of us and transfer people over from another store). He was also the "get **** done" guy, and far more organized and timely with shipments/paperwork/etc. than the manager. I wish I could pick up the slack, but I just haven't been there long enough to have learned how to do half the stuff he did.
And it's just really hard for me to do my job right now because he was a friend and I trusted him, I felt way more loyalty to him than to the manager, and I feel like he betrayed us. He was a good teacher, always gave good advice, and now I just can't help but question it. We spent a lot of time geeking out about movies and stuff, and I spent more time working with him than anyone else. I worked what was supposed to be his shift today. His name's still up on the schedule, but his slot is blank. His shredded employee card is in a plastic bag pinned on the wall so the manager doesn't forget to send it out for company records, and his name tag is still sitting on the desk where we eat lunch because it's the one thing he always forgets to put away. It's just... sad. The manager was obviously pretty upset about it and completely distracted, I just wanted to go home and cry the whole day... I know I didn't do nearly as well as I should have. It's hard when you have to pretend to be all happy and cheerful when customers come in, and they ask how it's going, and I have to lie through my teeth when all I want to do is shout at them to go away. I'm just glad none of his regular customers came in today. At least I have tomorrow off and I'm going riding. All I've wanted to do since I found out was go visit the horses and forget it all for a couple hours. |
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It's so disgusting, but I guess Putin et al don't play by the rules of the rest of the world. It's a great reminder of how lucky we are to be living in countries that are moving forwards instead of backwards. |
Can I join too? I would love to! I am gender fluid myself.
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Though I heard that Russia is loses 1 million of its population each year. Maybe it's due to that? They want to increase their population by emphasizing heterosexuality? Either way it's wrong. |
No, none of that sort. It's just that they ban "homosexual propaganda". Apparently that ban isn't defined very well, so rights and freedoms activists are afraid that the government will use it to limit free speech, a free press, and so on. From what I've read, it doesn't seem to come with a criminal sentence, just a heavy fine, so I think we can call it censorship.
The Russian establishment sees LGBT rights through the lens of nationalism, as well. Every time they crack down on a demonstration or parade they're bound to arrest some foreigners. It's hard to make LGBT look good in Russia. It's hard to do the kind of activism they do in the West without offending some important people. |
It's all about children. From what I understand they're still allowed to talk about gay people, they're just not allowed to do it with children or in the presence of children. Which is a fantastic way to create a new generation of homophobia.
And welcome, Virgilin! |
From what I've read it's completely political. There are sound MP's in the United Russia party taking a rational approach to this law, so the result to me sounds like democracy hard at work. The party is catering to the conservatives who have had enough of LGBT demonstrations, and who they know will have their back during the next election cycle.
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That is just ridiculous... But I guess it could be worse... there are some countries in Africa where being gay is punishable by death...
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Yeah in Africa it is the way it is because some tribes choose to stick to their old traditional values.
The reason why this whole thing is happening may be demography-related too, as I've mentioned before. But then again, politicians would do everything for votes, even if the cost is some of therights of their fello citizens. Parties, such as Putin's, especially would take such actions I suppose to confiRm their legitimacy, since they are suspected of rigging the elections. Also thank you for letting me join!! |
I'd like to join.
I'm planning to come out soon :D |
Hey GreatTornado, welcome!
Tell us a bit about yourself? How old are you? What's your background? Are your loved ones likely to be accepting? We want to hear everything and help if we can :) |
I just heard about a new gaming convention that might be right up our alley.
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It's close enough to me that I might actually be able to go. They say it's adults only though, since it's the first time they've held it, and they don't want to risk any of them getting hurt. (Also, I noticed shirts aren't listed in their dress code. lol) |
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I've only actually been to one convention (just a small sci-fi/fantasy convention. It was playing host to the Constellation Awards, which I had been blogging about, and I was offered a press pass for the weekend. It was pretty damn awesome. I never would have been able to afford going otherwise.), but I had so much fun! It was amazing to be in a space where everyone is so friendly and accepting, and you know that you'll be able to find common interests and strike up a conversation with nearly every person you meet. |
Do you ever feel like 'this is me'? Is there any kind of identity that clicks? It doesn't have to be visual.
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Thanks Raichu for the accepting welcome!
*WARNING: WALL OF TEXT!**WARNING: WALL OF TEXT!**WARNING: WALL OF TEXT!* I'm 12 years old, turning 13 next week (Yay), I'm a gay guy who loves Taylor Swift and is out to only one person irl (I came out to her yesterday and she wasn't negative!). I live in Australia and my parents.... well I don't know about them. I've noticed that when they think me and my sister are sleeping they sometimes watch LGBT shows but they never show any distaste or (for a lack of a better word)appreciation for the LGBT community. You can find me on Empty Closets as GreatTornado (So Creative). I actually have a crush on someone and I was wondering if I could get a little advice. He is in another grade but same year level as me (For better story telling let's call him John (Not his actual name but I have nothing against John's)). I really like him, I dream about us in a relationship a lot. I think he might be gay/bi because he sure seems like it (Stereotypes, it's all I have). He likes drama and has a lot of friends that are girls but some of his friends are boys. We have some P.E., English and Mathematics classes together and sometimes before and during school we talk, but not at recess or lunch since he likes hanging out with his other friends. I believe I am currently at the start of the friend zone with him but I don't know what to do now. I plan to come out to other friends soon but not my parents until either: A) I am in a (serious) relationship with another guy B) I get a clear view on their stance on LGBT |
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Why do you think you feel that way? I typed up a bunch of existential stuff about why I feel similarly, but I'm thinking I should just let you explain it yourself. lol |
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Do you not identify with having a body in general, or is that you have a mental image of yourself that doesn't match what you actually look like? |
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Why aren't you telling us more about the very nice lady friend of yours? That just isn't fair, Insomniac, and you know it. Spill the beans! All of them! The whole can! beans come in a can right? |
Some do, like baked beans. They're so delicious. Green beans, on the other hand, are devil food and must be destroyed.
Back on topic, I'm so happy for you GreatTornado. You're taking this step so young, it's fantastic to see. It took me til I was 22 years old to come out to my family and even then they found out through circumstances beyond my control. |
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So, spill the assorted beans Insomniac. Andy will just have to pick through any green ones. I'm waiting. And yeah, good on you GreatTornado. I'm going on 23 here and I still haven't completely come out of the closet; family-wise at least. What can I say? Narnia is fraking awesome. I mean there are little goat leg people here, centaurs, and a really fluffy ass lion. He's fluffy. Fluffy. You find something better than a big, poofy, cuddly, lion that doesn't eat people. On a side note, Pride is this week. Should be funfun. I'm being forced to go by my friend because, according to him, I am starving the local lesbian population by not making myself more readily available. I just think it's because I'm the only person he can bully into watching the drag show. |
Thanks for all the support everyone :)
I thought most people came out at at ages 14-18 :P I've heard of late bloomers but I didn't think that there were so many of them o.o I've got a mini update (Yay). I asked the friend I'm out to if my crush has kik and she gave me his kik name so now I have added him. I said hi but he hasn't replied yet :/ I also sent him an email earlier that day asking if he had kik or Facebook or something like that because the holidays are coming up and I want to keep in touch with him. I hope I don't sound creepy or anything... That's about it. Hopefully I can get a conversation going on kik. |
The age at which someone comes out is really variable and depends on so many factors, I don't know if there's really an average age. I didn't know or hear of many people coming out before they were at least 18, probably partly because my high school was not the most gay-friendly school in the world - superficially, the school appeared accepting, but there were so many people who would casually use "gay" as an insult for every little thing (e.g., "I can't believe we have to write an essay, this is so gay"), that I think it made people feel it was an unsafe place to talk about it. (My sister is now going to the same school. She says things have improved a lot in that department.)
For me (and a lot of other aces) I didn't even have a word to describe what I am until I was about 20. I just assumed I was straight (and a really late bloomer) for a long time. I'm 22 now, and I've come out to my friends, but I still haven't come out to my family, because I just don't know how to bring it up. It's great that you've figured this out at your age though, and have the courage to come out. I wish I could go back to my 13-year-old self when so many of my friends started dating and explain to her why I didn't feel the same way. It would have saved me so much confusion. |
Well schools ended but nothing happened much. Me and my crush talked a bit but yeah.
Off-topic: Also, I have a really red pimple on my neck (ACNE D: ) and a little kid came up to me and asked if I was a vampire. I said yes and showed him my sharp teeth and he ran away xD I think I ruined his childhood or something XD |
Man, my gf is too cute, and she doesn't even believe it :P
I keep wanting to drop hints to my mom like, hey, y'know, she's my girlfriend...but for some reason I keep getting interrupted by other people/things (i'm on vacation lol) and I can never bring the subject back around =__= Long-distance is still annoying, especially when she's way too shy to want to cam with me, and if I can manage to convince her to do it, she gets red and doesn't stay very long. Sweet girl. I might start saving up so I can try to go visit her next summer. I hope I'll be able to :D |
Same-sex marriage is now legal in California! Plenty however don't seem too happy about it. I'd truly like to see this become permanent so here's to the future! :)
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It's a huge win for the LGBT community. It was funny seeing all the bigots come out of hiding yesterday on social networks, though it's kinda sad to see all of the nasty things people decide to say behind the safety of their keyboards and computers. Nevertheless, it's kind of expected that Bible-thumpers would be out and about after being hit with a new dose of reality. What I don't understand is why people think gays marrying will affect them in any way? Why do people criticize something they don't even understand? The effort some people put into advocating for DOMA and Prop 8 was beyond bizarre to me.
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It is really good news to hear. Hopefully it can get legalised in other states too - it's another step for the LGBT community.
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I am so happy that DOMA has been shot down by the Supreme Court. The victory is small, but I'll take it and hope for more victories to come.
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I'm sorry to come butting in here, but I need to talk about some problems I've been having.
I wanted to explain to everyone that I had no problem with the repeal of DOMA, and why I wanted it to be that way, even though my beliefs seem to contradict those others with my religion. But I've been getting nothing but hate and "he's right to blindly hate religious people you know" and no understanding. What am I doing wrong? I can't bear to read some of these member's hateful posts, yet I power through to try to understand their view, and I reply to let them know that I do not support Prop 8, etc either. Yet some of these people come back and accuse me of being hateful… I'm sorry. But is this a gay people thing, to hate on religious people blindly? Because if that's how it is, I then revoke my support of gay marriage. If you won't treat everyone with equality, then you don't deserve equality. |
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Who cares about that? Who needs to know? The important thing is to understand that those people are wrong, and those people are to be ignored. |
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Do you expect us to drop our distaste with the bible? Especially when it has been used for decades now to support political and legal decisions in matters that aren't about gay rights as well? Did you know, that the bible has been cited as an excuse for gay bashing? For torment? For violence? It's not easy for us to drop everything we went through to just forgive the a book is a medium for hate. |
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I don't find your guys' posts harassing me enjoyable to read, but I still try to reply logically and foster some discussion. I even revise my arguments and counterarguments so that they reflect my understanding of your position better, often four or five times. But guess what? I'm not suddenly considering your posts to be complimentary of me. They still are incredibly rude imo, but I still replied and thought about my position and why it might be wrong and how your position may be right. Distaste≠ignorance. |
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You think I was harassing you? Sure, the tone may have been rude, but I wasn't harassing you. I was stating the facts. Now I am going to harass you a bit. Do you think that you have the right to talk to us about ignorance? After all the scorn and hate we've been through? Do you really think we are the only ones at fault? Because it seems like that's the way you think. Before you butt your head in on the matter of how ALL gay people are ignorant, you should brush up on your history and maybe watch or read the news. I find it really sad, that your ignorance has ignited anger from me. You have made the the angriest I have ever been on someone on the internet. And the thought alone depresses me. |
Whoa, wait, wow, what's going on? Where did all this come from? *confused* I feel like I missed something pretty major here, haha...
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What have I been saying? I feel like I have been disrespected for trying to respect you. I say that I try to understand all of you. My expectations were not met, and they were simple. Mutual understanding. It seems like you want none of that, and thus I will have none of your "equality" bs if that's how we're rolling. I have the right to talk about ignorance. Just because of Hitler, do Germans not have the right to speak out against genocide? Just because of John Wayne Gacy, do Iowans not have the right to speak out against murders? No. They do have the right, the same rights as everyone else. And just because of the Westboro Baptist Church and such, do Christians not have the right to speak out against ignorance? And did I say all you gay people are bigots? And did I say that all gay people are ignorant? I didn't. I only said that, in my experience, I have seen many people, mostly gay people, reject my attempts to explain to them that Christians are not allowed to discriminate. No. I simply said that whenever I have tried in the past. Maybe there will be one or more in the future that do accept my views, and I am sure that there is one. Maybe you can become the first one. Maybe it's somebody else. But I am sure there is at least one. Your hate on me is Sodom and Gomorrah, and there will be somebody (or multiple somebodies) that is Lot and his family. I am beginning to think you are simply trying to find excuses to take out your prejudice on Christians. Read through and think it through. Maybe you are the prejudiced one. Maybe you discriminate against people. But maybe you aren't. But keep in mind, you could be. Never forget that possibility. All human beings are capable of prejudice. Just because you are gay doesn't exempt you from that rule. In fact, because you're fighting for your equality at this moment, you are more subscribed to this rule than the average person. |
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Had we just ignored injustices like that we'd still have slavery, and women wouldn't be able to vote, and Gays wouldn't be able to marry. (Well, still working on that last one.) |
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The problem I have is that you expect us to drop our prejudice about religion. It's not going to happen for a very, very long time. Centuries of hate and scorn doesn't go away so easily. It doesn't go away with a push of a button. SO STOP ASSUMING IT IS. |
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And so maybe I put the wrong wording. I should have said "politely prove them wrong" rather than "ignore". Confrontation is never the first answer, rather it's to have them understand why they are wrong. And I have a simple answer to the second - quote this from the Bible. "Give Caesar what is Caesar's, and give to the Lord what is the Lord's." This shows us our free will on this earth, something that the State is trying to protect. We have the free will to sin against God, so let the State protect that right. Quote:
I meant to say, if I didn't make myself clear, that the centuries of hate are still there. They are most definitely there. They are closer than ever, and we shouldn't ever ever forget them. But guess what? We can put that aside (in contrast to throwing away completely) for a while, and understand each other. Maybe trade some secrets, even! Who knows what we'll accomplish? But unless we make a truce, no peace or progress can be made in the end. |
I've also heard that prop 8 was dismissed due to lack of foundation. Not sure if that's true, but that's what I've been reading about on the internet.
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This came from the DOMA thread, and I just posted there. I do feel that droomph is being harassed though, but I'm not going through that on this thread.
First Snow, you just effectively justified prejudice by saying "just cuz I'm gay". I thought this thread was about overcoming prejudice, not well we've been oppressed over thousands of years and so we deserve a slap on the wrist. That's just plain ignorance to me. Prejudice is stupid. It's when you don't like something, so when it shows up a big red flag pops up in your brain and shuts it down. Is that something worth justifying? especially when you can use your brain and read critically and analytically to learn what the person is actually talking about? We want to overcome prejudice because it prevents us from being that wholesome, rational, and reasonable person that we usually are. Prejudice is a person abandoning their reason and defending prejudice is defending abandoning reason. Let's not. And I think what is going on with Prop 8 is as follows: a couple of gay couples sue against it, and California refuses to defend. The question is whether or not petitioners who support Prop 8 should be allowed to appeal on the behalf of California. The decision was no, they shouldn't be allowed to do that. And so Prop 8 falls because nobody is defending it. That's the legal gist of it, but yeah the concurring opinion said that petitioners don't have in stake in it, or injury blah blah blah. |
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And guess what happens when you take away 100% of a foundation? |
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-------------------- In other news, Australia has had some step forward in the fight for gay marriage! Our Prime Minister Julia Gillard was just ousted from her post by our former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who seems to have had a change of heart in his absence and wants to see gay marriage move forward. He's now pushing for a conscience vote (or even a referendum) to make it happen! Unfortunately the election is in like 2 months and there's no way he's gonna win because this government has screwed up so much over its 6 year run, so he's unlikely to get a chance to make it happen, but it's still encouraging to see. |
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This is just frustrating, the amount of "blah blah blah I can't hear you" I'm getting. |
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One hatred can cause an innocent person so much pain and suffering. As a result a new hatred is born. Look at it this way. X Attacks Y because Stone Cold said so. Y goes through hardships for something it can't control due to X's actions. Y now hates Stone Cold for influencing X to perform said actions. |
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Forgiving is not forgetting. It's, in fact, remembering. It's to remember what was done wrong, and to allow them to try again. I want to start a new trend, where everyone gets along. A new trend where everyone treats each other with the aforementioned forgiveness. And where better a place can we start than here? The American Revolution may have officially started on a battlefield, but to the people, to which it mattered, it started in their communities, in their homes. So we should start the same way. Who cares that this is just a Pokémon forum? It's just as good a place as whitehouse.gov. Let's try treat each other like we get along, and discuss where we don't get along in a manner in which we try to understand why we don't get along. This has nothing to do with ideologies, or religion, but rather because I want a better world and this is where I want to start. |
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If you were reacting to the term "Bible-thumper" (which was the only mention of religion before you brought it up), then you should know that it isn't descriptive of all or even many religious people. It only applies to those who try to force their opinions onto others just because a book said so. To be honest, that kind of people shouldn't have any influence on anyone, not because of what they believe, but because of their attitude and ignorance. The problem is that, in many places, they do have influence - they're the reason anti-tolerance laws like DOMA exist in the first place. As a member of staff, I'd like you to drop it before you take over this thread even further. If you don't want to let go, then please talk to another member of staff before carrying on. |
Prop 8 was defeated because the State of California refused to defend it when sued, and the court found that petitioners in favour of Prop 8 are not allowed to appeal on California's behalf, and so it will be lifted shortly because there may be another rehearing.
I hate to double post, but I found this on reddit and thought it was worth sharing and bumping. Apparently the following email was sent to American military personnel: Quote:
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Well for me it's much more than a tl;dr, because then you'd miss what I think is the significance of the statement. This is coming from what used to be don't ask don't tell, don't forget that. It's not only rights, but dignity, respect, and equality, and the Secretary of Defense made quite the statement in that respect. It's not that gays earn rights through shed blood. Not only do gays deserve the same rights, but everybody is brothers and sisters in arms through the strength of their character and their love for the country. And it's DOMA too.
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I just ran into a huge Pride parade in London. I didn't realize theirs was the same weekend as the one in San Francisco. And since I fly into SF tomorrow I'm going to get to see two huge parades back to back. And people in both places have a lot to be happy about this year. I feel like we're in the middle of history right now and it's kind of exciting and humbling.
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It would be interesting to compare Pride in London to SF's XD ours will look tiny in comparison! I kind of wonder when the expiry date on Pride will be... I mean, if more equality laws get passed then many countries/states will be majority pro-gay. Will we need Pride then? Will we just pick one day for the year? I suppose one advantage of Pride is that it brings in a lot of money, and awareness. Could be a great fund raiser for countries where LBGT rights are being chipped away even further. |
Me too. I cannot take the fabulousness. It's great to see someone who's more ... uh conservative! like me. You know that's the proper word for it. But yeah, spectacle isn't for everybody.
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I actually went to PrideFest here not too long ago. I found it quite fun actually. The parade was in the morning though so I didn't see that.
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And, of course, legal equality does not automatically mean social equality. Just think about how many racist people there are still in the world, even in countries where equal rights have long been established for people of all races and religions. |
Glad I missed the religion argument. I mean, good luck arguing for religion against me. >:]
.... (cries at the ghost of the Atheist Alliance) Going to the Pride parade tomorrow with a buddy of mine. |
The Toronto parade is pretty tame. Loud, but tame. And it's in two days! wow, time flies. Do I or do I not have time to go... probably not. I have fencing, but it's an hour later than usual... meh I'll do the same thing I do every year.
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Good afternoon everyone!
I'd like to join this club. It will be my first club on PokéCommunity too. Here is a little bit about myself: I'm a nineteen year old FtM (female-to-male) transsexual from Virginia, USA. I go by male pronouns both online and offline, and have been living/passing as male for several years now, despite still residing at home while I attend community college. I'm also gay; I'm in a relationship with another new member to PokéCommunity. Neither he nor I are "activists" per say. We watch the news and take notice of big things happening in the LGBT community, but for the most part, we try not to concern ourselves with political affairs. Despite us being gay we are also more interested in transgender issues than we are "gay issues", since gender identity is ... slightly more complex. Later on in the day I'll see if I can drag him in here as well. Until that time, though, it's just me. How is everyone doing today? |
I just spent the last few hours reading an article about LGBT MP's. For all you Americans out there, there have been 7 since 1983 (you don't count until you're out). The most remarkable conclusion for me was how their mere presence can open the door to legislation getting passed, due to familiarity with both their co-workers and the voting public. Also, the fastest growing group of LGBT MP's are Conservative parties, but over the long run the party ideology with the largest number of LGBT MP's will still be SocDem, Socialist, and Green Parties - the Conservative parties are playing catch-up.
What's also interesting is that out of the 62 out LGB MP's in the world right now, 41 are elected in rural or suburban districts, while 21 are from urban districts. It's surprising to me because you'd think LGB candidates would be concentrated in liberal, urban districts, but apparently not. Part of their disproportionate success has to do how few of them there are. Because there's so few of them, they're unable to form voting blocs on their own, and they must make political alliances. This leads to educating and creating working relationships with their heterosexual colleagues, as well as creating familiarity. In contrast, other marginalized groups like ethnic minorities tend to have enough representation to form a voting bloc and keep to themselves. Also, if you are LGBT and live in Western Europe and is interested in public service as an MP, there is no better time than now. The parties want you. Anyways, it was political science article so it was mostly about drawing on the study of the representation of women and ethnic minorities to analyze the effects of LGBT representation in legislatures so most of it is pretty dry. And I don't know my terms of service so I probably can't copy & paste. But yes, if you are interested in the impact of LGBT representation in legislatures and society in general, here's some food for thought. |
Oh, MP's are ministers of parliament, who in the US would be members of Congress. So lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender they may be, but represent their constituency they still do.
And yeah! Because the LGBT social movement is associated with progressives, which is also associated with urban centres, it came as a surprise to me that around 2/3 of LGB MP's in 2011 came from rural/suburban districts. |
The study was done worldwide, and well, the US tends to be lacking in that department. Whether it help put down DOMA and Prop 8 - those were in the court's hands, but I'm sure the record high 7 members did their part in Congress debating the virtues (or lack of) of DOMA. The good side is that there'll be more in the future - there were only 4 LGBT members of Congress only last year, and now that Republican heavyweights like Colin Powell and Dick Cheney have come out in favour of same-sex marriage, the tide may yet turn. The US is a bit slower than Western Europe (or Canada for that matter), but change is coming.
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I am really happy about DOMA. I think it was a big step in the right direction and I hope the LGBT community wins more victories along the way.
But there are still the people who are against it. I heard some woman on the news saying that she hopes God forgives the US for recognizing gay marriage... >_<! |
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Or at least stop claiming to be "Christian" while actively hating an entire group of people. Totally. Missing. The point. |
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It's certainly easy to ignore what random people on the television are saying, but it's not the same when you know those people personally or you see them in your neighborhood. Same-sex marriage is all over the news, and it's great that DOMA was struck down and all, but all it's done is increase my dad's aggression towards gays. His favorite thing to say is that a bomb should be dropped in the middle of a pride parade.
It's unfortunate that people will continue to insist that being gay is immoral and same-sex marriage should be illegal, because no matter what type of victory we get, those types of people will always put a damper on the mood. |
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The polls are in: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/03/18/gay-marriage-support-hits-new-high-in-post-abc-poll/ You can check out the trendlines for yourself. Here is a great selection from another article: Quote:
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-06-06/national/39776961_1_marriage-equality-gay-marriage-fred-sainz |
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I used to think he simply exempted people he knew personally, because he has never commented on my own sexual preference and he actually really likes my boyfriend! I tried to get him to stop making the bomb comment year after year by asking, "What if I was at the pride parade?" His response was "Oh, well, I guess you'll be getting blown up too." Ouch. |
So one of my friends just came out as trans today! It's been many years coming for sure. She's hot as hell now XD It's nice that she's gonna stay herself, I felt do agree with her in that he played up the stereotypes a lot in high school. Glad to see that things are normal now.
Some good news to offset the bad lately. And I also agree that Glee sucks. |
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Well, she really played up the gay stereotype before, so that's why I went with he, but just for that one instance.
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This is super late but welcome Bumi! I think you're the first F-to-M transgender person we've ever had here - for some reason they're a lot harder to come by than M-to-F's.
Meanwhile that video was awesome. I love the honesty about it - the douchebag closet case and all. |
I thought I might as well say a hello to this thread again n,n' (it pains me to say again; why can't I stay on one site at a time gah)
Well its not that it matters too much, I wasnt that "big" on this site or thread. Well, I'm Rozen (or Matt) and I'm genderqueer and pansexual. I'm not a really serious person with sexuality and gender, I'm who I am and I'll like who I like. So to add something besides my reintroduction; I have some plans for a convention I'm going to (Otakon) - I'm going to be doing some crossplay (which apperently is a bit more taboo for guys?) with Meenah Peixes (homestuck), and I may also rock out some stockings when I go up to the LGBT group center (Don't forget the yaoi and yuri :>), |
I'm glad I went to all the effort of making Scarf compile that list of definitions in the original post just to have nobody ever see it :P
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