Stirring the Kettle
In yesterday's blog I wondered aloud if gay rights had an Al Sharpton counterpart. And based upon my email inbox by asking the question I must have inferred that I thought we needed one - not necessarily.
I don't believe we should have one GLBT face attached to every social brouhaha that comes along.
I don't believe in a gay Big Brother who should merely exist to put a foot on our collective necks squashing our freedom of speech to semi quote a friend.
I don't believe that Jay Leno is evil for writing gay jokes.
I don't believe that Will & Grace did more harm than good. That's just silly.
What I do believe is words can hurt regardless of the context and intent.
Jay doesn't intend for a gay youth to be bullied at school, but how do we know that one won't be if the societal perception deems it okay.
I was never picked on, but I had good friends who were brutalized in high school because they were more Judy Garland than Steven Seagal.
It is naive to think that punchlines don't hone the bully's machinations - they do. Jokes make hate acceptable. Words can kill no matter how funny they are to the masses. That's the freaking point. The masses condone it and consequently it doesn't matter if the silly gays get equal rights or little Bobby gets teased in home room or one of 'em is left to die on a fence.
And even Al Sharpton can't change that.
There will always be:
Did you hear the one about the...
Join us today | Chat & Forums
Comments