Queerty ReBUTTal: Special Edition

Whooo, Friday! You’ve got two blissful days of freedom ahead of you, the potential for sex and maybe, if you’re lucky, a new Degrassi. What could be better? Queerty ReBUTTal, of course! You know, when we comment on your comments on our comments from the week that was?

We’re spicing things up a bit this week. Rather than reminiscing, we’re opening the floor to two entities that were mentioned on the blog this week. The first – Union Pool – popped up in a story about an alleged gay bashing at the Brooklyn bar. The other entity, Blog Rater, gave us an NC-17 rating for the words “gay”, “lesbian” and “zombie”, which we used twice.

Read what they wrote, after the jump…

We’ll start with Union Pool. You may recall a reader sent us a note explaining that Brooklyn boy Charlie had been assaulted by one of the bar’s security guards. You lots immediately responded, setting the record straight, so to speak. So, too, did Union Pool. They sent out the following note:

To all concerned,

Union pool has been and will always be a bar that supports our community. We have a long and proud history of welcoming all walks of life through our door and behind our bar.

We thank you for your sincere concerns regarding the incident that occurred after the Milksop party. If the incident occurred the way it was described in the blogosphere, we would be outraged as well. However, that’s not how things actually went down. Not even close. These posts were extremely irresponsible. Nobody attempted to get the story from the ejected patron (who’s name we won’t use, as he is a regular customer), Union Pool or the Milksop people. We’d like to straighten out some of the facts.

Haven spoken directly to all of the people involved, we are all in complete agreement that this was not a “gay bashing” incident. Homophobia played no part whatsoever in this patron being asked to leave the premises or anything else that occurred. The patron was one of many people in the back bar when it was being closed down at the end of the night (the front bar and outdoor area were still open). Not wanting to leave, he began to verbally harass the security staff. He was then told he would have to leave the bar altogether. At this point alcohol got the better of him, and he physically assaulted one of the security staff in a highly personal and uncalled for manner. Unfortunately, the patron decided to go out fighting and both he and the security were the worse for it. Nobody was “beaten bloody” that night. Our security person never struck this man. He only tried to subdue him using the techniques that are professionally taught and encouraged when a person has become uncooperative and violent. He is certified and trained both physically and psychologically, and has been working in this industry for over fifteen years.

The whole incident was regrettable for all the parties involved, but was no where near as bad as the gossip and rumors. The customer was not beaten, nor a victim of his sexual preference. Our security team’s job is to be there for all of us alike. They are controlled and reasonable people who put up with a lot of abuse and take our safety very seriously.

We care deeply about our community and everyone in it.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns regarding this or anything else.

Alyssa, Sage & Zeb

Union Pool
[email protected]

Well, there you have it – no gay bash in Brooklyn. Thanks, Union Pool. And we’re sorry if we caused any trouble. This round’s on us.

Next up, let’s we revisit our NC-17 rating. Here’s how Blog Rater works – you enter an URL address, for example, Queerty.com, and BR sifts through the text for pre-flagged words. Naturally we have some objectionable language, but it’s a bit queer “gay” comes up as an objectionable word. Reader Jonathan definitely agreed. So, he wrote an email to Blog Rater’s daddy, Matt: “Why on the blog rater is gay considered a bad word? It is sort of offensive.”

How about we take this to the next level?

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A real swell guy, Matt wrote back,

Hey Jonathan,
Funny you should email me, when I compiled the list of words that I considered “bad” gay was definitely one I was unsure about. Obviously gay isn’t a bad word, but I added it simply because the word “gay” has become the defacto insult amongst ignorant teenagers and often has negative connotations. I also added words if they were suggestive of material that might make up an PG-13 or R rated film. The MPAA usually lets films with heterosexual content get away with much lighter ratings than those with homosexual or otherwise (it’s pretty messed up, but hey – what can you do?) Also, keep in mind that the words aren’t necessarily meant as “bad,” just indicative of harsher ratings. There are also words in there like “explosion,” “bomb,” and “zombie,” which might make for an R-rated film.

If it still bothers you, let me know. I have no problems removing it.

We have no problem with the word “gay” being flagged. We do, however, object to “zombie”. As reader hisurfer remarks, “Lesbian Zombies always get the short end of the stick. Most of the gay community wished they would just go away – I applaud Queerty for finally acknowledging this midunderstood group.” They truly are misunderstood. Lesbian zombies aren’t all bad. And neither are Union Pool and Blog Rater. Thanks for chiming in guys.

Now, who needs a drink?

xoxo,
Queerty
PS: Today’s rating –

Still no XXX rating. Fuck.