Re: g0y?
You know what? By this logic, I hereby proclaim that I'm no longer white. You know why? Because some white people play golf, and I don't play golf, therefore I can't possibly be white. So from here on, I declare myself..."whyte."
This is
exactly what I was talking about: you cannot change yourself to fit other people's expectations, because other people's expectations are infinite and impossible. And frequently they are ignorant. Should I stop being white because the KKK is white? Should I change my last name because I don't approve of my brother's lifestyle? Should I pretend to be a Republican because the Republicans are in power right now?
Hollisterdude, I admire your convictions, but I doubt your ideal: where in the course of human history has your strategy ever worked? I mean, aside from various fascist movements? (none of which survived very long) Insinuating yourself into the mainstream by hiding your face is sinister and dishonest. "Effecting change from within" is nearly impossible because you forget what you went inside for and become your own enemy.
What
I wish to see, and what I work for, is an acceptance based on numbness on the part of those skirt-clutching old maids who feel that people who do things "over the top" are somehow
less than. What I wish to see in my lifetime is little old ladies and young men looking at a gay pride parade full of trannies and gogo boys and topless dykes and old queers on horseback and saying, "Meh, not my cup of tea, but they're having fun so it's none of my business."
That's what I want to see:
people minding their own goddamned business. If you don't want to have anal sex, if you want to be an Evangelical Christian, if you want to not be part of the gay community... well, fine. You have that right.
But you cannot tell me that it's my fault. And you can't tell me that you're
better than me, because those are fightin' words.
I have a different perspective than some because I
am one of those stereotypes. I've been effeminate since I was a tiny tot, as well as very weedy and weak, and I was called a fag pretty much every day of my life since the second grade. I'm
used to it, and so when my sexuality emerged there was nothing to protect... I
already lived with ridicule and hatred, being gay on top of that at least gave me a direction and a community. For me, coming to terms with my sexuality was not a process, it was foregone conclusion.
But now that I'm grown up, now that I'm no longer weak and weedy, I see that allowing people to dictate to me what I will call myself and what I will think of myself is wrong. And forcing people to hide their natural expressions of self is even
more wrong,
hideously wrong!
See, I'm not telling g0ys that they can't be what they are, I'm just telling them that I think their notions are wrong. I don't tell Christians that they shouldn't be Christians, I just tell them that I disagree with their beliefs and refuse to be ruled by them. That's the difference between what I'm saying and what a lot of other people are saying: I am not suggesting that you don't have the
right to order your affairs as you see fit; I'm saying that
I think your affairs are ordered incorrectly.
Do you see the difference there? I am pointing out something I think may be wrong, I am not telling you to change. Telling other people to do what you want them to do is one step away from
making other people do what you want them to do... and
that is fascism, and fascism is plain evil.
Furthermore, I am not saying that I am
better than you because I do things the way I do them. Of course I think my
way is better, but that doesn't make me a superior person to you. I will try and understand your point of view, and I will ask you to consider my point of view, but I will not force you or even pressure you to
come to my way of thinking. And that makes all the difference.
See, it's none of my business what you do... until you
make it my business by trying to
tell me my business. In the drag community, that's called "stepping on my skirt." And if you step on my skirt, I will push you the fuck off... I will probably get nasty and give you a good solid backhand slap, too, making sure the rings leave a mark.
So stay the fuck off my skirt, and I'll stay the fuck off of yours. That goes for gays, straights, bis, trannies, and anyone else on the face of the earth. What could be simpler?
I get a bit pissy when people talk about drag queens because I
am a drag queen. I get a bit pissy when people talk about blending in because blending in is something I am incapable of doing. And I get
really pissy when someone tells me that I am hurting the civil rights movement by clinging to my own identity in the face of monumental disapproval: I fought
hard for my identity, I've made sacrifices for my identity, and I am not going to give it up because some twat in Peoria thinks it's risque or tacky.
That's why g0ys piss me off: they
empower that twat in Peoria by catering to her prejudices. That's not my cup of tea... but so long as you aren't forcing your tea down my throat, have at it. See if I care.
