Queerty ReBUTTal: Special Edition

Alright, you guys know the drill: It’s Friday, which means we take some time to comment on your comments on our comments from the past five days. In other words, it’s Queerty ReBUTTal time. Yay!!

Let’s get to it…

Our first story of the week discussed Ellen DeGeneres’ massive win at the Daytime Emmy Awards. This, we thought, provided the perfect push for pride week (Ellen Tops Emmy). In fact, we’re so proud of gay pioneer DeGeneres’ accomplishments, we put together an entire gallery of her big night. In our Monday morning haze, we thought you guys would be as happy to celebrate the old girl’s new statues. Apparently we were wrong, because we were left high and dry on that one.

A few of you did pipe in, however, on Dallas’ gay mayoral hopeful Ed Oakley‘s defeat in last weekend’s run-off election against straight businessman Tom Leppert (Gay Loses Out In Texas). One voice, Texan native Jack E. Jett’s, rose above the others:

I am here to tell you that this was a clear cut case of homophobic media bias. Even though Mr. Oakley has years of experience, the media overwhemingly supported a business guy who just moved to Dallas a few years ago. The Heritage PAC made several thousand phone calls letting voters know that Ed Oakley is an “openly gay man” and that his opponent was a good christian man with a wife and a child.

While Dallas has long been know for its subtle media homophobia, this one caught them by surprise. They did not expect the “homo” to make it to the run offs. Once he did, they had to go into full BASH MODE.

I was sad to see that the city I grew up in is still living in the 1800’s. We could be the next Atlanta. However, when the media is operated by Pentecostals…it makes progress a little tough.

Since when do Pentecostals run the media? We thought that was Jew turf. Maybe we need to find a new industry lest we get stoned or something. Anyway, we’re not sure we agree with Jett’s assessment on this one. Sure, homophobia may have played a role in Oakley’s loss, but it’s hardly on a massive scale: he only lost by 13,000 votes. Also, we read a number of stories on Oakley and none of them set off any of our ever-sensitive anti-gay alarms.

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Moving on, you kids went nuts over the Ian Huntley story. In case you don’t remember the wonderful piece we called Killer’s Queer Love, Huntley’s in jail for murdering two ten-year old. He’s also on a hunger strike because prison officials won’t let him see his lover. We acknowledge Huntley’s a wacko, but we also wondered whether or not the criminal justice system violates prisoner’s human rights. Our exact words:

…This issue’s a bit more complicated than kid killer wants dick. Where do we draw the line on prisoner’s rights, particularly queer prisoners? They are, after all, human. Flawed, perhaps, but who isn’t?

Prison authorities can’t stand by while Huntley kills himself. They also can’t give into his every whim. Huntley and his lover deserve to be together just like any other lover…

A reader by the name of James Boston certainly didn’t agree:

Are you people at queerty serious? He fucking killed two ten year old girls…he should be treated far worse than prisoners who didn’t kill, especially children. Prisoners have their civil rights stripped away, in case you forgot. The piece of shit should be tortured Abu Ghraib style every second of every minute of every day. I have sympathy for those jailed because of ridiculous drug laws not child killers. And if the asshole was jailed for killing another gay guy in a homophobic rage, you’d want to see him hang too. But I guess you think killing children is just quaint. Get a fucking grip.

Whoa, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed. First of all, how can you endorse the kind of torture that went on at Abu Ghraib? In fact, how can endorse torture at all? It’s inhuman, even if someone did an inhuman thing like killing two ten year olds. Second of all, we would never want someone to hang for a homophobic murder. We’re not about the death penalty here at Queerty. The state does not have the right to take someone else’s life – period. It’s people like you, Mr. Boston, who need to “get a fucking grip.”

Speaking of getting worked up, you kids had a lot to say about sappho-journo Jasmyne Cannick’s love for faggot-flinging Isaiah Washington (Cannick Hearts Washington). Take, for example, reader Alexa:

Racists come in all colors, and Ms Cannick is a prime example. She deliberately forgets that Isaiah Washington not only used a gay slur twice, but physically attacked another actor. It takes more than a couple of weeks of therapy and a few PSAs to overcome that (though it’s a good start).

As for the others she mentioned, can anyone really be taken seriously who defends Star Jones? As for Lost, is she serious? Does she even watch the show? Does she know how many white actors have left? And how many minorities are still on the show in major roles? Oh except they’re not black, they’re Asian and Hispanic, but she doesn’t care about that. If she wants to complain about Lost, she should complain about the lack of gay characters on the show.

So, it sounds to us like Alexa thinks Cannick’s alliances should lie wit the gays. Reader Greywolf caused quite a stir with his somewhat racialist remarks:

Screw her. Washington’s gone and that’s how it should be. He has a history of rude and violent behavior. Black, white or whatever, he should have been fired. Assaulting a co-worker at any job will result in termination. I’m also tired of the professional victim crap played by so many Afro-Americans. The idea that a black person can’t be a racist is ridiculous. I see black faces all over my TV screen 24/7, but there are very few gay characters portrayed. And I suppose the NAACP is only concerned with bigotry against “Colored People”, whereas bigotry against other folks is acceptable, even rewarded.

Then there’s the story of all those Black Baptist Ministers who promote hate and intolerance towards gay folks, and don’t want their hate speech curtailed by any hate crimes law. I suppose it all comes down to whose ox is being gored? I learned a long time ago not to depend on the Afro-American community to be concerned about my human or civil rights. I mean after all, they’ve got that market cornered and want to keep it all to themselves.

“Afro-Americans”? Um, are you serious? Aside from being a bit racist, it’s terribly dated. If you insist on degrading black people just use that old classic, “nigger”.

Reader Billie XX offered a thoughful response to Greymatter’s musings:

Afro-Americans…….Mmmmmm. Haven’t heard that phrase in sometime. But that’s cool because it’s clear from your rant where you stand. As for Cannick, she is simply doing what happens all the time in American politics: you support the folk you think have your best interests at heart. Cannick has written before how she does not trust they white gay/lesbian community when it comes to her rights as a black woman. Also she does believe in Washington’s apology.

And, as we all know, it’s a free country. Cannick can do what she pleases. Whether or not she’s doing the right thing, that’s up to you. Us? We still think that ABC fucked Washington. Are we sad to see him go? No, but they made him jump through hoops only to sack him. That’s weak.

As we’ve mentioned, it’s gay pride week. So, we put together two essays exploring the history and evolution of pride (Picking Apart The Origin Of Pride). We also spilled a considerable amount of ink on opposition to gay pride – or the internal tensions in the movement (The Shame of It All). In that second piece, we explored a variety of queer organizations who oppose the “assimilation” of gay pride – and identity – into the mainstream. hisurfer disagreed with some of our coverage:

I liked the first half of your Pride history quite a bit, but you guys lost me on Part 2. ACT-UP gets part of a sentence, while “jd” (which I’ve never heard of) and Queer Shame (ditto) get an extensive write-up. I was part of Queer Nation, but I’m not sure how we – or any of these – impacted Pride parades.

But I’m a bad fag these days, and started skipping the parades long ago – not so much for political reasons as because Pride parades bored me senseless. I still like the parties (and Manhunt, and that horrible music that makes LambCannon suffer so), so I’m not sure if I’m still allowed to be “queer”.

First of all, thank you hisurfer – and everyone – for your kind words on these essays. As for the ACT-UP/Queer Nation bit. First of all, we’ve discussed ACT-UP at length on this site. Quite frankly, we wanted to broaden your historical horizons a bit. You said you never heard of JDs. Well, you’d rather discuss the same groups we’ve been discussing for years or do you want to learn something new? Just a question. Second of all, ACT-UP formed as a response to the AIDS Crisis, not a response to gay identity, so it’s not as applicable as JDs or Gay Shame. We could have spent a little more time on Queer Nation, yes. We will, however, be featuring an in-depth look at the gay revolution on Independence Day. Bet your bottom dollar Queer Nation will get it’s fair share.

We won’t even begin to tackle all the comments that went along with our piece on New Yorker Observer‘s piece on New York gay prides slow death (NY Gay Pride Going Down). We do, however, encourage you guys to check them out. They’re all very thoughtful.

Speaking of thoughtful, we appreciated reader naprem’s comment on the story of Poland’s gay drain (Poland Faces Gay Drain):

While I certainly understand and sympathise with people not wanting to live under such a regime, the problem with this is that the authorities will take it as a victory. They’ll say “Good riddance, we didn’t want you here anyway.” Plus, what about the ones who can’t leave for whatever reason? They’re sure to feel a little abandoned.

True, the right may feel as if they’ve won, but WWH has a point:

While that may be true, Naprem, Poland will probably experience a brain drain as more enlightened people follow the gays.

One can only hope…

Another big gay pride-related story concerned Next magazine’s gay pride issue (Next Brings It To The Next Level). We never could have known that seemingly innocuous story would spark such a debate. The weekly fag-rag’s eschewed the party coverage for a more nuanced look at gay New York. Or, as they call it, “New Gay York”. As with “NY Gay Pride Going Down,” it’s impossible to sift through the debate on what – or who – qualifies as “New Gay York,” but we think you guys should read them.

On a lighter note, reader ProfessorVP raised an – um – interesting question with regard to Dolly Parton‘s Academy of Country Music win (Dolly Honored To Be Honored):

There are few in the business or who know Parton outside show business who aren’t aware that she is a lesbian. Dolly was and is a great singer and songwriter and, before she started tampering with her face and body, a great beauty. But she is financially in a position to come out, and also so many people love this icon that the idea of people turning against her is ludicrous. I am aware Parton is very “gay friendly” but logically, can Bullwinkle be moose-friendly? Can one be “friendly” towards one’s own group?

Um, is this a trick question, because it sort of made our brain hurt. But, yes, we all know Parton’s a lesbian.

You guys impressed us with your comments on the Charlene Cothran story. Cothran, you may know, once identified as a lesbian. She even published a lesbian magazine, Venus. Last year, however, she did a 180, joined the “Christian” cause and made the fag rag into an ex-gay mouthpiece. Naturally Pat Robertson and his 700 Club were all about it and invited Cothran on for an interview (Ex-Gay Publisher Up On 700). Nice comments all around, except for you, “Woof,” “One less lesbian…good riddens”. It’s actually “riddance”. And we actually don’t think that’s cool, schmuck. We love lesbians. In fact, we think they’re swell.

Finally, here’s one of the many reasons why we love you guys. This morning we posted a post taking the piss out of a transgender website. One of their readers had written in asking for advice on making fake boobs. The site’s manager, Beth, suggested ziplock bags. In “Got a Tit Problem?” we jokingly scoffed,

Who’s going to use ziplock bags for breasts? They’ll get all leaky and shit. Obviously it’s been a while since Beth had to dress as a woman, because everyone knows you use red balloons to stuff your bra. Sheesh. (And, yes, the balloons must be red.)

Just a little silliness on a Friday morning. Some of you lot, however, take fake titties very seriously:

Quite a community we have up in here, don’t you agree.

Have a good weekend, kids! Be sure to be proud of yourself this weekend. It doesn’t have to be your faggotry, but maybe you made a nice collage or finally got that booger out of your nose. Whatever it is, give yourself a pat on the back. You deserve it.

xoxo,
Queerty