Good grief, Jess! Lynchings?! How'd you get there from here??
Not treating this lightly, by any means. I know well how such stream-of-consciousness browsing can lead you places you don't want to go (or you feel compelled to follow). Just a week or so ago, Truman sent me a link to Wikipedia which led me to a listing of known victims of GLBT hate crimes (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_against_LGBT_people).
I swear, I spent hours reading the articles linked with each and every name, took me half the night. But what really kept me awake was knowing that the 35 names or so listed are the teeny tip of a very large iceburg. They all deserved better. And never mind the thousands or more not listed yet. It might make a good project to research this and add every single name we can find - if we all concentrated on say a 250 mile radius of our homes, I bet we'd add thousands easily.
I believe we as a society have come a long way - I have to believe that. Homosexuality is no longer classified as a mental illness. Many companies are offering domestic partner benefits and the number increases all the time. Gay marriage is legal in the Commonwealth of MA and with enough effort, hopefully it will stay legal there; other states are recognizing civil unions. Today, the US House passed a bill declaring discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation illegal (excepting the military - idiots!). It does not include transgender people, but most GLBT groups supported anyway as a good step; nonetheless, Shrub is threatening to veto it if a similar measure sponsored by Kennedy is passed by the Senate. It's out there, it passed, there's dialogue, we're moving forward.
But moving isn't getting there. And when you have loved ones whose very right to
life is threatened because of who they choose to love (like I know
you and the rest of us do!), it's very cold comfort.
It's just so frustrating that it seems for every teeny step forward there are people who will smack us back. Every legal victory results in numerous asinine challenges. The sheer number of states who have chosen to amend their constitutions to define marriage as M/F is truly appalling. This whole states' rights business regarding recognition of marriage and/or civil unions is a powder keg just waiting to be ignited. Hell, we fought a war once allegedly about 'states rights' didn't we?? It boggles my mind that some people believe civil unions are an acceptable alternative to marriage. I'm no legal scholar, but I think anybody with half a brain gets that 'separate but equal' was struck down by the courts years ago during the civil rights era. It makes me want to get a law degree and go to work for the ACLU, I swear.
OK..[/rant..as I saw Eric post once
]
Lynchings...appalling. I don't know how far removed we are from this, but not far enough. My last
casual bf was black and we had to deal with sh*t from people when we went out. Daryl actually helped me gain some perspective and moderate my temper or else I'd probably have a record for disorderly conduct.
BUT I did not put up with my father's not-so-veiled comments...OK maybe rant's not over. Granted he was born in 1939 and a product of the TN hills, BUT I've been making my own decisions since I was about 14 and I loved that 25 years later he thought he deserved(?) some input into my love life. The conversation went
Him: 'You were raised better than that.'
Me: 'Better than what?'
Him: (nods at D w/disdain)
Me" "How would you know? You stopped raisin me at 14.'
Silence.
It's one of those bitter, ironic, laugh to keep from crying things, but I think I got my point across.
Nonetheless, I'm sure he's got despicable relations, if he didn't have the guts to do it himself...made me seriously consider if D's very life was worth risking for something I wasn't that into in the first place. I wouldn't put it past them.