SOUNDBITES — “I have a lot of questions about what’s going to happen with the mainstream LGBT movement. The Matthew Shepherd Law, which QEJ opposes, passed; ENDA will pass; the military ban will be lifted; and if Obama is elected a second time, they will probably lift the Defense of Marriage Act. But there will still be poor people. There will still be people without access to health care. … Human Rights Campaign’s donor base is wealthy white gay men, and some lesbians, for whom marriage is it. Marriage is the last issue towards full white male citizenship. For the rest of us that won’t solve a whole lot.” —Kenyon Farrow, incoming executive director of Queers for Economic Justice (a group founded “to challenge and change the systems that create poverty and economic injustice in our communities”), on the state of Gay Inc., and apparently unaware the Matthew Shepard Act did pass (via Housing Works) [An editing error caused Housing Works to originally misstate Farrow’s remarks]
QEJ's Kenyon Farrow
“Human Rights Campaign’s donor base is wealthy white gay men, and some lesbians, for whom marriage is it. For the rest of us that won’t solve a whole lot”
Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...
We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?
Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated
Cam
What a fool, marriage isn’t the issue, it’s having equal rights under federal law. Once the federal discrminatory statutes like DOMA and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell are gone courts will not be able to reference them as excuses for other people to discriminate against gays. Queers for economic justice is an organization that is not geared towards gay rights, they are geared to anti-poverty issues. Attacking HRC (And trust me, I have MAJOR problems with HRC) because they are more fucused on issues like DADT would be like attacking National Organization for Woman for advocating to keep abortion legal and saying “Hey that won’t help these people with cancer!” Of course it won’t, That isn’t NOW’s mandate.
Additionally Kenyon has written several articles, and in every single article he constnatly attacks white people. For him to say that the DOMA and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeals will only help white people is beyong idiotic. Is he suggesting that Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians do not get married? Is he saying that there are no minorities in the Army? As for his problems with ENDA, part of the problem of poverty in this nation is because of people not being able to get jobs in this economy. Is he saying that employment protections to prevent people from being fired for their sexuality will not help gays of color?
His hatred toards the white community is interfearing with his ability to see these issues in a rational manner. He has spouted the same line for ages, and has consitantly attacked the gay community all the while offering no solutions.
andy
This is what makes America Great! Kenyon has his issues and I have my own issues: stopping discrimination of gay individuals and offer them equal protection under the law.
andy
Btw, Kenyon, I’m not white, I rent, and money is often an issue for me and my partner, but you know what… MARRIAGE is still important to us!
Peter
I normally encourage all LGBT organizations, believing in the Chinese adage , “let a hundred flowers blossom.”
However, I can not support a group that off the bat is deciding to be anti male, anti white. They are attempting to produce some class warfare in the process. I have also noticed that lots of persons who call themselves “queer” seem to get off on bashing gay men and their political projects, rather than expressing any solidarity or thanks for their contributions to the overall movement.
Groups like this put more energy into bashing other LGBT persons, calling us all the enemy unless we are in their organization. Sorry, gay men get enough bashing in the world without also taking any from some queers.
This is not a LGBT organization in the sense that they are not exclusively fighting for LGBT rights. They are fighting the overall American system, calling for economic revolution, and saying that they present a queer perspective (while others of us are contributing and fighting for their actual civil rights).
Tommy
His comments don’t make sense to me. Noone is saying marriage is the answer to all the problems of gay people, just they have the legal right to it.
Straight people have the right to get married and they still have problems with poverty and health care. Marriage is not an answer to social problems, it’s a legal right everyone should have.
Also I read that African American gays and lesbians are more likely to have children so marriage would seem to me more important to them than white gays and lesbians as far as protecting their families.
akn
@No.1 Cam:
I don’t think Farrow is saying that ENDA and the repeal of DOMA/DADT won’t help queers of color. I think he is saying that queers of color are faced with a unique set of issues that make them disproportionately affected by poverty — issues that, in his view, large gay-rights orgs should devote more attention to.
YCKTR
AKN is clearly the only one that didn’t join this conversation with an open mind. The rest of you are failing to see the point of his statements because you’re too busy defending your perspective. Newsflash…Kenyon isn’t attacking you…he’s simply offered another perspective. Food for thought perhaps.
Why do gays have to be so “extra” all the time? Just relax and listen…you might (shockingly) learn something in the process.
!
Cam
No. 6 · akn said…
@No.1 Cam:
I don’t think Farrow is saying that ENDA and the repeal of DOMA/DADT won’t help queers of color. I think he is saying that queers of color are faced with a unique set of issues that make them disproportionately affected by poverty — issues that, in his view, large gay-rights orgs should devote more attention to.
_______________________
Hi Akn, I think you are giving Kenyon too large a benefit of the doubt. I think he made his point pretty clearly. Where in his comment did he suggest any solutions? He just lashed out to attack other gay groups, white gays, white lesbians etc… he never said “This is what you should be doing”.
Cam
No. 7 · YCKTR said….
AKN is clearly the only one that didn’t join this conversation with an open mind. The rest of you are failing to see the point of his statements because you’re too busy defending your perspective. Newsflash…Kenyon isn’t attacking you…he’s simply offered another perspective. Food for thought perhaps.
Why do gays have to be so “extra” all the time? Just relax and listen…you might (shockingly) learn something in the process.
___________________________
Typical, your statement basically boils down to “You don’t agree with me therefore you have a closed mind.” Stop trying to rewrite the facts. You claim he offered another perspective. Funny, his perspective was to attack other groups that are centered on fighting DIFFERENT issues than his groups, AND he OFFERERED NO INSIGHT into any ways to imporove the issues he feels strongly about. He merely attacked, offered no solutions and ended it. By your logic, Uganda isn’t attacking gays, they are just offering a different perspective.
Ray
Ditto to AKN and YCKTR.
I appreciate that there is coverage on Kenyon Farrow and Queers for Economic Justice (QEJ) on a site like Queerty. But that statement alone with no context is just asking to start a fight.
Folks, please go check out QEJ’s website and educate yourselves on why “their” fight is really “our” fight.
http://www.q4ej.org
Chitown Kev
Baby, queerty is startin’ some shit, again…
I swear that is a small part of the charm of this blog.
Brian NJ
Disgusting racism. Another douchebag of color separating white gay rights from the rights of “their people.” Fuck off.
Brian
Socialism is even less popular than homosexuality. Idiots like this just confuse our issues and co-opt the argument. We’re not trying to change the world – we’re trying to obtain equality.
AlwaysGay
Kenyon Farrow started the shit. Queerty is just reporting it.
Pretty much all the money that comes into black gay organizations (actually any black organization) is from white donors. He has no point. Kenyon just wants to shift blame onto white gay people for problems that white gay people have nothing to do with. He doesn’t want to say black heterosexuals are the ones that are kicking out their gay children from their homes. He doesn’t want to say that black gay students are tormented at school by black heterosexuals which in turn causes lower test scores and a poorer future. Instead he just wants to undermine anything he sees as being led by white gay people. Oh, The Matthew Shepard Act is named in honor of a white gay man so Kenyon needs to oppose it. Oh, marriage rights will benefits white gay people so Kenyon needs to oppose it. The list goes on.
I can understand his disinterest in marriage because the black heterosexual marriage rate is so low (11%) and the divorce rate is so high (55+%). He’s grown up in an environment where marriage isn’t valued. It’s likely black gay people’s marriage rate would be even lower (although the divorce rate would likely be lower) based on data from places that have marriage rights for gay couples.
If HIV/ AIDS is Queers for Justice’s main issues than they need to work with other gay organizations to help educate black gay people how to have safe sex. Sexually transmitted disease rates in all categories in the black community are at least 32 times higher than any other group and that’s because black people are far less likely to use protection (condoms, dental dams etc). In many cities condoms are free because they are given out by the government. HIV/ AIDS is preventable.
afrolito
@AlwaysGay
Perhaps you should call yourself alwaysamoron.
So ALL black organizations (gay or straight) are exclusively funded by whites? Prove it
White heterosexuals don’t kick out their gay white children?
White heterosexuals don’t torment their gay classmates?
White heterosexuals don’t get divorced?
White heterosexuals value marriage more highly?
Funny how the divorce rate is over 50% in this country. I guess the MINORITY black population somehow push up the rates though.
HIV has taken a terrible toll on the black community, but risky behaviour and nihilistic attitudes cross ALL racial boundaries. Do the white crystal meth queens need a special education seminar to help them stop barebacking with strangers?
Brian
Kenyon Farrow is a racist. Our movement doesn’t need racists.
Brian
Racist and Socialist. I spent some time on their website.
Our movement suffers from “anger.” It doesn’t help any of us.
Kenyon Farrow is promoting socialism and racism. Our community should ignore him. He is preventing our equality.
WillBFair
I half agree with Kenyon, but for different reasons. I don’t think marraige should be such a high priority. And we should switch to domestic partnership for strategic reasons. The public support that, a huge concession, and we should be dancing in the streets. Instead, we’re demanding something we can’t get, by orders from the victim complex crowd.
But I agree that we should also be pushing for health care. Our community needs it, as well as many other peoples. If the gay community can’t join with others for the common good, they’re just as selfish and heartless as the homophobes. They want the public to be more fair and giving and cooperative but can’t be bothered with any of that themselves.
Lady Ga-Gasp
White gay men with money give it to good causes? HOW DARE THEY!
YCKTR
You’re all blinded by privilege. If you think the mostly white organizations like HRC place the struggles and concerns of people of color anywhere close to the top of their list, you’re kidding yourselves. I work with sexual minority youth of color – if you ask them to make a list of concerns or needs…marriage doesn’t even make the list.
Does that mean that we should abandon the fight for marriage equality? Of course not. That would be silly. I just think our efforts should extend beyond personal interests and take the needs of the entire community into consideration…particularly those members whose voices are so seldom heard.
!
Transracial
Let’s be real
When it comes to most gay dudes
it’s not about gay marriage
it’s about a simple gay second date!
AlwaysGay
@afrolito
More deflections. Expected. Yes, most black organizations are funded by white people. It’s well-known in the activist community but seldom talked about. A few years ago there were a couple stories out how Historically Black Colleges faced closure because white donors weren’t funding them as much. Several admitted black alumni rarely donated anything back and it was a struggle to get black donors. This past summer New York’s black gay pride was held on Fire Island. The weekend long event raised money for the Ali Forney Center. Out of the 6,000+ black gay people that showed up only about $2,000 was raised.
Fitz
Anger is good. It just needs a gentle redirection. When disenfranchized people are not angry, they become door mats.
StopHRC.com
I stand with Kenyon.
Berry
wow. just wow. I’m really disappointed in some of my fellow Queerty readers. I was really excited to see economic justice issues mentioned on queerty…and then I kept reading. Clearly a big mistake:
Bleating about socialism. Calling someone racist because they pointed out the existence of white privilege. Strangely obsessed with white support of black organizations, even though QEJ does not appear to be a black group. Angry that someone (apparently, particularly a person of color) would dare to suggest the same-sex marriage and removing DADT will not solve gay homelessness, lack of health care/education, and classism?
I agree with YCKTR. Marriage equality is crucial but it’s not the #1 issue for every queer. While marriage rights help everyone in some ways, but it will disproportionately help people who are already less marginalized in society (and have the power to set the agenda of mainstream gay groups). I’m going to keep fighting for marriage, but we also need to hold our advocacy groups accountable to all members of this community.
tjr101
When DADT, DOMA, ENDA is all done with by the Democrats… the majority of white gays will simply run to the GOP, a party that has no concern about solving social inequity. The white gays will never be accepted by the traditional Republican but to them it’s better than bothering with liberal Democratic policies that pertain to social/racial inequalities in America.
afrolito
@AlwaysGay
Deflect what?
I asked you to provide proof that ALL black organizations (gay or straight) are exclusively funded by whites. I’m still waiting for it.
RainaWeather
What the hell does socialism have to do with anything. You sound like fucking Glenn Beck.
Kropotkin
Marriage is important, but he’s right. I think that the disproportional amount of resources have been throw at the fights and that in fact, there have been some activists and organizations that have advertised the impression (though not saying tacitly) that marriage will solve 99.9% of our problems.
I got to know one kid who’s father threatened to kill her for being gay and another who’s mother is threatening to commit her to a mental institution for being trans this week. Marriage won’t do anything for either one of them. So that’s a salient point.
Justin O.
People’s privilege is showing.
Nothing in this quote says white people are the enemy. The only thing that’s being said (and no one has been able to refute this because it’s irrefutable) is that white men don’t always think about the issues facing non-white people in the community and the issues being promoted by white LGBT activists are going to help white people as a whole more than people of color. Therefore, there needs to be organizations (like Q4EJ) that consider and advocate for issues not being addressed by the mainstream LGBT rights organizations.
And somehow that’s racism? Good lord, how are we ever going to stop society from being bigoted against us if we can’t stop being bigoted ourselves?
AlwaysGay
@afrolito
Deflect what? Your first post was “white people do it too.” Not at the same rates as black people. As far as STDs go black people get infected with every type of STD at far greater rates than any other group because black people use protection much less often than other groups.
Here is a quote from HIV/ AIDS activist Kenyon Farrow questioning condom use:
“Am I supposed to wear condoms all the time for the next 50 years? It makes no fucking sense, but that’s all we got right now. And I am tired. And given the HIV rates among gay men in general, and certainly among Black men, the idea that I can sero-sort my way through it for the next 50 years is just fucking ridiculous. And I am almost afraid to say that, but fuck it. It’s the truth and people need to hear it. As much stigma as there is for HIV+ black gay men, there is no space for negative men to say any of this. We’re treated like we ought to be fucking glad to not have it.”
http://myfeetonlywalkforward.blogspot.com/2009/09/interview-with-man-who-tells-damn-truth.html
Need I write more? When all the evidence points to condom use reducing STD infection Kenyon Farrow says I don’t know. Yet he’s certain about white gay people.
As far as white people funding black organizations and black projects, you are not going to find a singular study showing that. You’ll find articles which mention white people funding black organizations and black people’s lack of charitable money giving all over the internet. I don’t have time to look at every article. Jamil Fletcher, a fundraising expert, talked about funding of black HIV/ AIDS organiztions. In the interview he mentions “White gay men continue to support these [HIV/ AIDS] organizations despite the shift in the demographic being served…” and “The bulk of funding still comes from sources outside of the community being served.”
http://www.onediaspora.com/ledge/pdf/jFletcher032009.pdf
“Black-Oriented Museums Are Lacking Black Donors”.
http://tinyurl.com/ctm6g
“Economy Hits Hard on Black Campuses”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/us/19colleges.html
@Justin O.
Kenyon Farrow didn’t just say gay people should focus on poor gay people of color, he said he OPPOSES the Matthew Shepard Act, opposes marriage rights for gay couples and opposes a host of other issues involving gay people.
Tackel
@ AlwaysGay
Wow! You seen “SOOO HAPPY” to point out YOUR erroneous stats reguarding, the so-called black community having an STD rate, 32 percent, higher than any other group.Im gonna tackle this subjeck rather than your obsession about whites supporting black orginizations.
You spit out these stats like they come from the mouth of god.
Do you know anything about how surveys and stats are gathered reguarding STDs?? Well i do!
I have studied polls,statistics,and surveys and have held seminars on HIV/AIDS.These polls/stats are not an indicater of,but rather an indicater of POWER! When you are in power,you can MAKE stats say ANYTHING you want them to say.
The CDC which cannot be “trusted” (due to their role in the infamous 1932-1972 Tuskegee syphilis experiment, which they defended) has made themselves the main authority on infection/diseases in the U.S. Many of their polls/stats are race driven. Im sure your not gonna want to believe this.
The CDC,AMA and the pharmaceutical companies are all in bed with each other. All small government funded clinics must release their findings to the CDC. Big problem here! This is how numbers get skewed. The CDC knows this.
The majority of government funded clinics where the CDC abtain their stats ,are located in lower income minorty areas, used by the economicley disadvantige who happen to be black and brown. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figuar out that if 85/90-percent of the demographics is non-white who will make up the majority of STDs. Even with some of these areas being mojority Hispanic, the CDC even after 1932 is still obsessed with potraying blacks in the worst possible light.
The CDC choses not to focus on indivduals who can afford private medical care. Btw, a group that makes up 12-14 percent of the population with a disease rate 32 times higher than a group who makes up over 69 percent of the U.S.poulation would be mathmatically impossible. Do you really think that blacks are any more sexually active and have more unsafe sexual practices than whites?? All the white women tigar Woods had sex with (13) so far,none requested he use a condom. It has been my experience that white gay men have more of a fetish with bodily fluids (all kinds) then black men do. And an area like L.A. were white men are not the majority, but make up the majority who requent bath houses and sex clubs doing their bareback thing. Which is growing in the gay community. But with the majority of U.S. gays being white that will be the majority doing it.
Chitown Kev
Oh, dear…
You know, I don’t know too many queerty posters that think fondly of the Human Rights Campaign (albeit for very different reasons than Farrow’s) so there is some common ground there.
Also do remember that if an issue affects the black gay community then it indeed affects the gay community (by definition).
I’ve never looked at things like this as an either/or thing. There’s room for the HRC types, there’s room for the Farrow types, that’s as it should be. There’s really no need for the drama either from Farrow or queerty.
AlwaysGay
Tackel, you can look at black STD infection rates in any country and you will see the same pattern where black STD infection rates are far higher than any other racial group. I actually should have wrote black STD rates are 8 times higer not 32 times higher.
Tackel
@ AlWaysGay
Really!! So if i checked in
Albania, Switzerland,Cyprus, Germany, Finland, Poland, France, Spain, Belgiuim, Denmark, Italy,Greece Iceland and England (this list could go on and on) im gonna find the black STD rate higher than whites. OUTRAGEOUS!!
FakeName
ISTM that the issue is less “white gays vs black gays” than “all gays letting the straights set our agenda”. Marriage is at the top of the agenda because that’s where we’ve been getting attacked the most for the last decade and a half. DADT repeal is at the top of the agenda because our straight president promised to repeal it and has taken no action. ENDA, which should always be at the top of our agenda until it’s passed anyway, is at the top now for the same reason.
Cam
No. 20 · YCKTR said..
You’re all blinded by privilege. If you think the mostly white organizations like HRC place the struggles and concerns of people of color anywhere close to the top of their list, you’re kidding yourselves. I work with sexual minority youth of color – if you ask them to make a list of concerns or needs…marriage doesn’t even make the list.
Does that mean that we should abandon the fight for marriage equality? Of course not. That would be silly. I just think our efforts should extend beyond personal interests and take the needs of the entire community into consideration…particularly those members whose voices are so seldom heard.
____________________________________________________________
Your comment is deflection, The attack against those organizations were that the issues these groups are fighting for, “DOMA and DADT repeal” and “ENDA” passage would only help wealthy whites. The problem with people like Kenyon and with comments like yours is that you offer no details, just attacks, you say “Privilage” and everybody is supposed to shudder and run away afraid that your next lob is to call them “Racist”. Sorry, but you have said nothing detailed about how these other issues should be worked on, just vague platitudes about fighting for economic justice….
Let me ask you this. If the ENDA bill passes, how does that NOT help economically disadvantaged queers? Wealthier gays can hire great lawyers and fight with the companies. ENDA will help protect gays without those resources. If DADT is repealed, then younger queer youth kicked out of their houses who have their support pulled out from under them can sign up for ROTC and actually get through college. But people are too busy using the “Wealthy Gay” as a target for attacks it never even occures to them that laws that effect our civil rights effect us all. You have tunnell vision, and I understand that in your line of work it is beneficial. But just because your interest has taken you to work directly with diadvantaged youth don’t attack others doing other types of work. Keeping us as second class citizens will do nothing but increase the problems or our youth.
Sam
@Cam: If you want details and solutions, go to the Housing Works post that Queerty cherry-picked this quote from. Better yet, go to the Queers for Economic Justice web site: http://q4ej.org/.
I’m a privileged white gay male and I support QEJ over HRC any day of the week. Yes, I want ENDA to pass and DOMA to be repealed. But I also want homeless queer kids to be safe in homeless shelters and for poor LGBT folks to have services to support them. I think what Kenyon and so many others fear is that, once the priorities of HRC are accomplished, wealthy gays will forget about the other stuff. I fear it myself.
Cam
No. 38 · Sam said…
@Cam: If you want details and solutions, go to the Housing Works post that Queerty cherry-picked this quote from. Better yet, go to the Queers for Economic Justice web site: http://q4ej.org/.
I’m a privileged white gay male and I support QEJ over HRC any day of the week. Yes, I want ENDA to pass and DOMA to be repealed. But I also want homeless queer kids to be safe in homeless shelters and for poor LGBT folks to have services to support them. I think what Kenyon and so many others fear is that, once the priorities of HRC are accomplished, wealthy gays will forget about the other stuff. I fear it myself.
_____________________
Hi Sam,
I agree, but my problem with this post is this. I despise HRC. I donate and support charities etc… and I would be a prime target for QEJ and Kenyon to target in fundraising, volunteering, etc… but by his comments he makes himself appear to be somebody who isn’t trying to help but is instead just lashing out and attacking whites, attacking any movement on gay rights, etc… and frankly I think he does a huge disservice to his organization in immediatly doing that. Since his group is in a totally different arena than HRC and going after specific issues dealing with the financial he should fundraise based on that. What he did is similar to if the Susan G Komin center for Breast Cancer sent out a press release attacking people who donate to Planned Parenthood because Planned parenthood focuses on reproductive health and not on Breast Cancer.
QueerToday
Democratic Socialism has been terrible for Sweden. I mean who wants good transportaion, quality healthcare, and free education? And for Venezuela where a socialist revolution is happening, it has been terrible to see illiteracy eliminated and healthcare quality triple in strength.
Sam
@Cam: “I despise HRC.”
Me too! Common ground. And, actually, if you re-read Kenyon’s quote (as I just did), he’s not really attacking all wealthy white gay men…he’s attacking “[HRC]’s donor base,” who he goes on to describe as “wealthy white gay men, and some lesbians, for whom marriage is it.” In other words, maybe he’s not so much anti-wealthy white gay men as anti-HRC donors, who just usually happen to be wealthy white folks.
I’d hope that he’d have no problem with wealthy white gay men who show a commitment towards the advancement of our WHOLE community, like my friend who won’t give a dime to HRC but is a major donor for Ali Forney. Hell, I’d hope he’d have no problems with folks who give to HRC but ALSO give to orgs like Ali Forney.
For me personally, the folks I’m afraid of are the ones who are going to be all activist-y until we get marriage – probably even just marriage on the coasts – then aren’t going to give a shit about the problems of poor, homeless, rural and/or flyover-state queers, ’cause they’ve got theirs. Seriously, once we win our rights, I can see a bunch of rich gays and lesbians becoming anti-tax Republicans, which is going to actively hurt a huge part of our community. Just my $.02.
Cam
@ Sam…
The funny thing is…a few more court cases like Iowa and all the “Fly-over State Queers” might have marriage before the coasts!
YCKTR
@ Cam
“You have tunnell vision, and I understand that in your line of work it is beneficial. But just because your interest has taken you to work directly with diadvantaged youth don’t attack others doing other types of work. Keeping us as second class citizens will do nothing but increase the problems or our youth.”
———————————————-
You don’t understand the first thing about the work I do. If you did, you’d CERTAINLY understand that working with youth and changing policy/systemic practice requires macro-level interactions and understanding. Tunnel vision indeed…hell, you can’t spell tunnel for christ’s sake.
And speaking AS a wealthy gay, I can tell you that I am in no way attacking the efforts of individuals based on how much money they make. That’s not worth my time. Instead, I focus my energy on making sure the interests of the silent minority are heard when it’s time to come to the table. Sometimes I physically BRING our youth to coalition meetings and policy brief working groups to make damn sure they don’t fall through the cracks. And guess what Chet? Until we get there, 9 times out of 10 LGBT youth are not even part of their agenda – they hadn’t even considered them. And why? Because LGBT youth don’t plunk down a cheque at fundraisers. In my world, that’s a problem.
I don’t hate the HRC and I would never protest against them or impede their goals. But I don’t give them money. Why? Not because I want them shut down…but because I want to put my money to work for causes that take the least of us into consideration when it’s time to step off the curb. The HRC is primarily funded by wealthy whites gay men…and for that reason they pile most of their efforts onto wealthy white gay guy causes. I get it. I just don’t agree with it.
!
Fitz
Maybe the gay rights movement should be led by broke, homeless, disabled, transgenders of color with HIV. Fucking victim mentalities here man.
Kropotkin
”
Maybe the gay rights movement should be led by broke, homeless, disabled, transgenders of color with HIV. Fucking victim mentalities here man.”
Knock, knock.
reductio ad absurdum?
Are you there?
Oh yes, there you are.
Yeah, asking for more representation and diversity for our movement is certainly automatically asking for that.
Fucking entitlement mentalities here man.
YCKTR
@ Fitz
“Maybe the gay rights movement should be led by broke, homeless, disabled, transgenders of color with HIV. Fucking victim mentalities here man.”
————————————-
If that’s all you were able to gleen from the conversation, you should seriously consider a lawsuit against whatever educational insitution burped you out into this grotesquely simple haze.
!
Fitz
Victim! Congrats, though. You are better at being a victim than me. Enjoy your crown, victim.
Steve
“I got to know one kid who’s father threatened to kill her for being gay and another who’s mother is threatening to commit her to a mental institution for being trans this week. Marriage won’t do anything for either one of them. So that’s a salient point.”
OK fine. Tell me the law we can get passed, tell me the money we can donate to what cause, that will change that. Tell me one thing any white person can do that will change that, at all.
All I can tell you is, the second any white gay person steps in and tries to tell a black parent how to deal with their kids – woof… Yeah, keep me far away from that firestorm. White people don’t touch minority issues because they get burned any way they try outside of the purely political sphere. We can pass things like affirmative action, that’s about it. You can take a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. If the black gay community thinks their parenting skills need an update, I think it’s pretty clear to everyone that the outreach there is going to need to come from black people to have any credibility. But we’ll fund you if and when you try. Oh, yes we do. We’re not all bad.