How often have we seen the Far Right and the evangelicals claim that the GLBT community has a Gay Agenda? And on the Left? How often have our votes been taken totally for granted because they know that, for the most part, we're automatically going to vote Democrat?
Both attitudes are insulting and both drive me crazy. My own personal agenda is probably a little different than Nancy's, and both our agendas are undoubtedly miles away from the single gay guy next door who seems to love perpetuating several gay stereotypes. There is no monolithic Gay Agenda; there are, in fact, GLBT people who don't give a damn about the right to marry.
As for counting on my vote.... I'm used to that, both as a far left Liberal and as a dyke. It's conventional political wisdom that actively courting the gay vote is the kiss of death to a campaign. Which you know...step inside my Docs for a day and think about how that feels. "We want your vote, but we can't actually promise you anything at all or even acknowledge you except in the vaguest way. I'm sure you don't mind."
My point is that for white GLBT folk or allies to turn around and act as if there's a monolithic Black or Hispanic hive mind with a homophobic agenda is hypocritical. It's what people have been doing to us and it saddens me to see people turn around and do it to another minority, particularly when the numbers everyone's using to insist that Black voters were responsible for 8 passing are, to quote Rodney McKay, Wrong Wrong Wrong!!!!
If you're doing that, if you're assigning certain characteristics across the board to certain racial groups, well...that's racism, plain and simple.
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I've learned many wonderfully icky things from Dan Savage over the years, but during his most recent appearance on the Colbert Report, I learned that it's not the brown folk, it's the old folk we must blame.
ReplyDeleteAnd while I sort of agree with you on the whole hive vagina (you were right the first time), personally I find it gratifying to blame things on the AARP set, for two reasons. They consistently vote for things and people that fuck up a country they won't have to live in, and I'm weakminded and need someone to blame to make myself feel better.
Huh, Dan must have changed his tune; he wrote an article earlier last week that shifted the blame firmly onto the Black community.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, to a certain extent there is a generational gap; across the board the AARP set was much more in the Yes camp. That's one of those things that's backed up by other polling data; younger straight people don't have as many problems with Teh Gay.
And I have to admit find it gratifying to of blame the (some of) the old folks for the reasons you mentioned and also because it makes me feel younger.