Hey Guys. I have woken this morning to an immense sense of sadness that despite all the advances we have made in gay rights, people feel it still perfectly ok to use homophobic slurs like faggot.
Three separate news articles today demonstrate how endemic homophobia is.
First there were young gay and lesbians being threatened and assaulted on the NYC subway system. Thankfully there is video footage as in many of these cases charges are dropped as “there is no proof”.
The fact this occurred during pride weekend it really shows just how far we have to go. If the two guys had called out African Americans there would there been uproar and rapid arrests?
Not that racism is no longer present. USA Big Brother cast members Aaryn Gries, Spencer Clawson and GinaMarie Zimmerman have also shown their true colours as racist homophobes in conversations recorded about negro and homosexual cast members. While the modelling agency that employs Aaryn have stepped forward to say her actions are not acceptable, CBS is yet to make a statement as to how they will deal with the situation.
Forme the most disgusting episode has to have been Catholic cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez referring to President Obama’s nominee for ambassador to the Dominican Republic, James Brewster, as a “maricón”, a word that translates to faggot.
These three episodes really demonstrate what we as gay men and women are up against. Endemic, socially accepted homophobia. Unfortunately my gut feeling is that outside of the gay population and our allies, the most likely response to these three episodes would be “so what?”
For social change to occur we need to stand firm. We need to call people on their words. We need to tell these people that homophobia in all its forms are unacceptable.
As we move forward with fantastic gains such as the removal of DOMA and marriage equality we still have a long way to go…
Yours in good health. Out, proud and I’m more than happy to tell you about it.
Dr George Pic Credit: News.com.au
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