Imagine that
Jan. 5th, 2009 04:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
axesladeI'm going to preface this by saying I'm not sure where I stand on the Rick Warren issue. I don't know enough.
I do know, however, that Melissa Etheridge and her wife have split from the majority of the GLBT community on the issue. And the community have ripped their throats out for it, which has been pissing me off.
From an article on Bilerico:
know it is not my place to tell Melissa Etheridge when she can and cannot speak, but when she continues to make excuses for Rick Warren's anti-gay bigotry, I have to say to her: shut up and sing.
And someone's comment, which pretty much sums up my opinion.
I started reading, but stopped at "shut up and sing". This reminds me of what the über-conservatives were saying when Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks denounced Bush during a concert. (Isn't "Shut Up and Sing" the name of a documentary about the incident and its backlash?)
She has the right to say what she wants, you have the right to post what you want on your blog but the difference between the two is that you're trying to stifle another point of view.
I don't agree with that point of view, but I won't tell someone who does to shut up.
From what I've read I don't think I agree with Melissa and Tammy-but they have the right to their opinion. We're always getting pissy when the far right and others try to put us all under one heading politically/socially...then we get pissy when anyone steps away from that heading. I think the Log Cabin Republicans are horribly misguided-but I don't tell them to shut up because it's their right. We know that Melissa is all for human rights, so just becuase she thinks one particular person isn't Satan doesn't mean that we should tell her to 'STFU!'
Feel free to throw things at me for this-just don't aim for the head ^_^
"I know it is not my place to tell Melissa Etheridge when she can and cannot speak..."
But you're going to do it anyway, right?
"I know that we ask that famous LGBT come out of the closet, but we should also ask that if they speak publicly about issues that effect our lives that they work with political organizations on messaging."
So they can toe the official party line, or else?
***
Re: "we should also ask that if they speak publicly about issues that effect our lives that they work with political organizations on messaging"
As a "LBGTQ", I enjoy being able to form my own opinions (without having to consult with a central organization first) and being able to express them.
I would not want to deny such pleasures even to celebrities.
I would recommend -- without demanding that you do so -- that you cease expecting every utterance by every individual who belongs to the same special interest group as yourself to express the lockstep opinions that you would wish them to.
***
It's infuriating that you would tell someone that because she is a lesbian and famous that she has to be YOUR spokesperson and cannot express her own views on an issue.
This is exactly what I hate about the whole idea of "coming out" in the first place, not just for famous people. Not only do you expect people to "be honest" about their sexuality (meaning, use the vocabulary prescribed by the activist community to describe their deepest feelings and most intimate relationships), you expect them to conform to your strict notion of what it means to be "gay," including which opinions one may hold, which candidates one may vote for, which political parties one may join....You don't make any sense. You say that Etheridge should check in with your approved glbt organizations before she expresses an opinion, but then you say you're not asking her to be your spokesperson. She is a citizen, an artist, and a lesbian, and she is expressing an opinion which, incidentally, is held by many other lgbt people. Those people might not be on your approved list, but their opinions are no less valid or informed or compassionate or right.
And, to address your speculation on my personal situation -- I have been out for almost 3 decades. If by finding my "place in the lgbt community" you mean learning how to march in lockstep with the activist establishment, I was pretty good at that in my twenties, but then I grew up and realized that the world is not black and white and that authoritarians are dangerous, no matter their ideology.
I do know, however, that Melissa Etheridge and her wife have split from the majority of the GLBT community on the issue. And the community have ripped their throats out for it, which has been pissing me off.
From an article on Bilerico:
know it is not my place to tell Melissa Etheridge when she can and cannot speak, but when she continues to make excuses for Rick Warren's anti-gay bigotry, I have to say to her: shut up and sing.
And someone's comment, which pretty much sums up my opinion.
I started reading, but stopped at "shut up and sing". This reminds me of what the über-conservatives were saying when Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks denounced Bush during a concert. (Isn't "Shut Up and Sing" the name of a documentary about the incident and its backlash?)
She has the right to say what she wants, you have the right to post what you want on your blog but the difference between the two is that you're trying to stifle another point of view.
I don't agree with that point of view, but I won't tell someone who does to shut up.
From what I've read I don't think I agree with Melissa and Tammy-but they have the right to their opinion. We're always getting pissy when the far right and others try to put us all under one heading politically/socially...then we get pissy when anyone steps away from that heading. I think the Log Cabin Republicans are horribly misguided-but I don't tell them to shut up because it's their right. We know that Melissa is all for human rights, so just becuase she thinks one particular person isn't Satan doesn't mean that we should tell her to 'STFU!'
Feel free to throw things at me for this-just don't aim for the head ^_^
"I know it is not my place to tell Melissa Etheridge when she can and cannot speak..."
But you're going to do it anyway, right?
"I know that we ask that famous LGBT come out of the closet, but we should also ask that if they speak publicly about issues that effect our lives that they work with political organizations on messaging."
So they can toe the official party line, or else?
***
Re: "we should also ask that if they speak publicly about issues that effect our lives that they work with political organizations on messaging"
As a "LBGTQ", I enjoy being able to form my own opinions (without having to consult with a central organization first) and being able to express them.
I would not want to deny such pleasures even to celebrities.
I would recommend -- without demanding that you do so -- that you cease expecting every utterance by every individual who belongs to the same special interest group as yourself to express the lockstep opinions that you would wish them to.
***
It's infuriating that you would tell someone that because she is a lesbian and famous that she has to be YOUR spokesperson and cannot express her own views on an issue.
This is exactly what I hate about the whole idea of "coming out" in the first place, not just for famous people. Not only do you expect people to "be honest" about their sexuality (meaning, use the vocabulary prescribed by the activist community to describe their deepest feelings and most intimate relationships), you expect them to conform to your strict notion of what it means to be "gay," including which opinions one may hold, which candidates one may vote for, which political parties one may join....You don't make any sense. You say that Etheridge should check in with your approved glbt organizations before she expresses an opinion, but then you say you're not asking her to be your spokesperson. She is a citizen, an artist, and a lesbian, and she is expressing an opinion which, incidentally, is held by many other lgbt people. Those people might not be on your approved list, but their opinions are no less valid or informed or compassionate or right.
And, to address your speculation on my personal situation -- I have been out for almost 3 decades. If by finding my "place in the lgbt community" you mean learning how to march in lockstep with the activist establishment, I was pretty good at that in my twenties, but then I grew up and realized that the world is not black and white and that authoritarians are dangerous, no matter their ideology.
