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Lady Gaga is bisexual

I think that counts quite a bit in light of the exposure she got at the event.  

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by: David Ehrenstein @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 15:00:03 PM CDT

Lady GaGa

I had no idea who she was until a few weeks ago. I'm not quite sure where I heard of her, maybe it was something said on KPTK. But then, I'm old ;-p

"Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis."

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by: thehawke @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 16:25:49 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

It's cable!

It's cable news: of course, they put their white male face on. They're reporting this not for us - the community - but for Middle America. We might be gay, but we're just as white and male as everyone else.

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by: jahlapenos @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 15:49:20 PM CDT

It's cable

That should be "Their reporting is for Middle America."

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by: jahlapenos @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 15:50:51 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Tell ya what...

Why don't all us nasty white gay men sit down and just let you handle it. OK? We're out... fix everything!

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by: ghostbuck @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 16:06:37 PM CDT

Autumn is not calling white gay men 'nasty'

Your comment is both rude and ill-founded.

Autumn did not call white gay men nasty. She merely observed that the television coverage of the NEM that she observed focused primarily on white gay men and used the term “gay” (and sometimes “lesbian”) rather than a more inclusive term.

Being asked to share the media megaphone with others is not an insult.

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by: pgraydon @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 16:36:23 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Call a spade a spade

From a GAY-WHITE-MALE standpoint, it sure sounded like an insult.

That's it Mary, let's build fences instead of bridges.

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by: bigjeff @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 16:58:12 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Sorry

Where do you see nasty? Where? Cuz I thought I could read and I missed the nasty part. Since when is making a correct observation an insult? Yeah you are sooo put upon.

"Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis."

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by: thehawke @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 17:03:40 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

"Cuz I thought I could read ..."

Well, then may be you should either reread it or read the reaction from the comments that follow.

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by: bigjeff @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 17:25:50 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Funny, I just did a CTRL+f

and the only NASTY I found was what came from your fingers and the other 3 were taking you to task for accusing Autumn of saying something that is simply not there.

"Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis."

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by: thehawke @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 17:32:11 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Are you on drugs?

Call a spade a spade
From a GAY-WHITE-MALE standpoint, it sure sounded like an insult.
That's it Mary, let's build fences instead of bridges.

Nasty - spelled N-A-S-T-Y....show me again where I said that.

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by: bigjeff @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 17:50:10 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Sorry

it came from ghostbuck. But you certainly are playing the part of the victim today. Easy to get you all mixed up. Don't you know that all GAY-WHITE-MALES look alike? "Mary" as a derogatory certainly builds bridges too.

"Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis."

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by: thehawke @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 18:15:05 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

LOL

Hey, I use Blanche a lot too.

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by: bigjeff @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 19:39:20 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

As you do

"colored people"

"Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis."

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by: thehawke @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 19:46:09 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Please reread my post.

My comment, as I said in the piece, isn't that gay white men should be shut out -- in fact, it would be absolutely wrong if they were shut out of commenting on matters that definitely effect them as gay citizens.

My comment was specifically about how cable network news is shutting others out. This isn't a commentary on gay white men; it's a commentary on how the cable news media has covered and HRC speech and the LGBT National Equality March, and functionally erased the other portions of the LGBT community.

Please reread this piece. Please read it from the perspective that I'm commenting not on the gay white males in our community, but on media coverage of our broader LGBT community.

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~~Autumn~~

As if there were safety in stupidity alone.
--Henry David Thoreau

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by: Autumn Sandeen @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 17:43:46 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Got ya Autumn

Autumn, I got that and my reaction was let's find a way to fix it.  There has just been a lot of "white-gay-male" bashing on this blog and it was getting to me.

I think one way to change things is on a personal level;  all of us should make a real effort to see everyone's included.  I know that sounds simple, but we can make a difference.

I do have a bug with Pam Spaulding though.  She's a very prominent nationally known blogger who could have easily attended the HRC dinner;  instead, she chose to be on Sirius, the only national satellite radio in this country.  If she had honored them with her presence, there would have been one more non-white-gay-male representing the LGBT community.

So let's have less bitching and more doing.

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by: bigjeff @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 17:59:11 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Pam's prominent

but I'm pretty sure she's not very rich. And even if she were, no way would I fault her for refusing to go to the HRC Gay Inc. leg-humping fest. HRC never has and never will represent the real diversity of our community so why should anyone waste their money on them?

"Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis."

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by: thehawke @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 18:19:07 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

HRC

I bet President Obama either knows Pam or has heard of her.  The point being made was, you shouldn't  complain about who attended especially if you chose not to attend (for whatever reason).  I know she had other obligations, and I'm not singling her out.  But please stop knocking on the people who actually went;  they did not attend because they are bad people.

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by: bigjeff @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 19:53:03 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

As soon as HRC realizes

that they need to stop compromising the rights of the Trans community, I'll stop knocking on them. But since I know from personal experience that this has been their modus operandi since 1994 (beyond a few token gestures here and there), I think I will still be advocating for activists to give their money where it will do the most good for quite some time. Either The Task Force, NCTE, TLC or even better, locally.

"Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis."

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by: thehawke @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 20:14:46 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I said quite openly that I had a prior commitment

I was at the Fire & Ink Convention, which was scheduled a LONG time ago and I committed to attend. The Sirius gig I was invited to do only a few days before we went on-air. I CHOSE to do that while in Austin so that I could be part of what was going on in DC because I wish I could have been in both places at the same time precisely because of the lack of diversity.  

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by: Pam Spaulding @ Tue Oct 13, 2009 at 05:42:22 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I know, I know

It's just that their knocking the people who did attend.  If it's  any consolation, I bet President Obama holds your opinion just as high as the entire membership of HRC.  Let's face it, we are the down and dirty voters on the front line.

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by: bigjeff @ Tue Oct 13, 2009 at 13:29:23 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Another gay white male

REALLY fed up with your RACIST SH*T today BigJeff

"Colored" folks and now spade

where's the usual trapdoor warnings?

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

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by: peteyPornpig @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 17:51:48 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

By a vowel and get a clue

"Person of Color" = "Colored" - That kind of includes all non white persons, not just black.  It is NOT a bad word (unless, maybe you use it that way).

And "Calling a spade a spade" had absolutely nothing to do with race.  Get real.

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by: bigjeff @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 18:02:14 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Calling a spade a spade

From wikipedia: The phrase predates the use of the word "spade" as an ethnic slur against African-Americans, which was not recorded until 1928; however, in contemporary U.S. society, the idiom is often avoided due to potential confusion with the slur.

"Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis."

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by: thehawke @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 18:21:36 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

wikipedia

Never use Wikipedia as a source.  It isn't.  And a "spade" is one of four suits in a deck of cards.  The phrase came from that, so loose that chip on your shoulder;  somebody needs the wood

....the aggregate of cards belonging to one of these sets held in a player's hand at one time: Spades were his long suit.

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by: bigjeff @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 19:47:50 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

spade ......urban dictionary

   http://www.urbandictionary.com...

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

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by: peteyPornpig @ Tue Oct 13, 2009 at 00:33:29 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

NO ....Person of color doesn't equal colored folks

Don't play that sh*t with me....You aren't big enough.

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

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by: peteyPornpig @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 18:24:00 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Watch your language

Looks like someone needs a time out.

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by: bigjeff @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 19:48:56 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

try me

    http://www.sledporn.com/osComm...

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

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by: peteyPornpig @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 19:56:35 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

If you're directing comments at individuals in this subthread...

...then you need to reread the flaming part of the Pam's House Blend Terms And Conditions Of Servive. Specifically, Section A, Item 9 states:

9. Activities such as (but not limited to) flaming, trolling, comment-spamming, and threadjacking are prohibited. You are responsible for familiarizing yourself with these terms using the provided links.

It is not the Service's intent to discourage you from taking controversial positions or expressing vigorously what may be unpopular views; however, PAM SPAULDING and the Baristas reserve the right to take such action as it deems appropriate in cases where the Service is used to disseminate statements which are deeply and widely offensive and/or harmful.

So, this isn't a comment to any one individual in particular, but to the multiple people in this subthread who made comments that are directed at others, aren't making any relevant points, don't clarify a discussion point, and that weren't meant to persuade others in the thread.

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~~Autumn~~

As if there were safety in stupidity alone.
--Henry David Thoreau

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by: Autumn Sandeen @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 20:46:45 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

boo and hoo

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

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by: peteyPornpig @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 16:55:30 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Uh, Ghostbuck.... how much of Autumn's article did you read?

I think you missed this part:

Now don't get me wrong here. Gay white men are integral part of the LGBT community, and should be represented in giving cable news commentary on LGBT news stories. The problem is that gay white males are the majority of the "go to" guys on LGBT stories; we're getting the LGBT diversity of the cable news producers' contact lists.

All Autumn is asking for is to have the diversity of our community represented in the news coverage.





Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction.

--- Blaise Pascal, Pensées, #894

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by: Lynn Miller @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 17:28:33 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Please stop being butthurt

And pardon the gay pun.

This is directed at nobody in particular. I don't see what the problem is with a group of people being criticized. Okay, so, the group of people is full of gay white males. I am a gay white male. I seriously do not give a damn in the slightest.

If people are really opining for diversity, I suggest you go watch some more of the coverage of the March. It may not have been present in the celebrities, but that is largely irrelevant. It was there in the crowd. Every colour of the gay rainbow was represented, and according to most of the 300,000 or so people who attended, it was amazing.

I honestly don't understand where this sudden enmity between everyone is coming from. We hate the gay white male leaders, we're hating on the transgendered and sweeping them under the bus, we're hating them black lesbian perverts. What gives? We just got done with what is probably the most morale-raising event since Prop H8. You people should be happy yet you're willingly refusing to be that way.

"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion, you must set yourself on fire!"

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by: Reiuji @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 18:53:38 PM CDT

Hurr strikethrough

disregard that, it was meant to be emphasis.

"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion, you must set yourself on fire!"

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by: Reiuji @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 18:54:20 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

LOVED IT !!!

The march was the lead story all over the place.  People poo-pood it, but it was a HUG success as far as PR goes.  For all you people who marched, THANK YOU !

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by: bigjeff @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 19:42:18 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

See you building those bridges again

nice job! Army Corps of Engineers should hire you!

"Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis."

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by: thehawke @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 20:16:27 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I DEMAND that all white gay males sing in French!

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by: David Ehrenstein @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 19:07:54 PM CDT

Seriously?

You obviously didn't watch when CNN brought in 4 young gay youth to share their stories and struggles.  

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by: kcflood @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 20:29:23 PM CDT

In my opinion

I think the media uses "gay (and lesbian)" as an umbrella term to cover GLBTQA. I don't think it's right, but I also think they do it so they don't have to say out loud, "Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Bisexual, Queer, etc."

It would be nice if we could have a cover term for everyone involved that would be inclusive. We all may be vastly different, but we're all in this same fight together.

Too many people see queer as a slur for it to be used mainstream.

I think HRC and the media use gay white men as lube to get people ready for the full diversity of our communities. It's a tactic that they think they need to take baby steps. I think it's an idiotic tactic.

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by: ojrocks @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 20:30:17 PM CDT

Problem is Mainstream Media

I think finding a term that we all can agree upon will be much easier than to get the mainstream media to buy in to using the term. And yes, I know that is saying alot.

I mean, it seems I read a story from the AP that breaks their own damn style guide when referring to us! But then, if it bleeds, it leads and we all see how the media likes to whip different factions into a lather over each other.

"Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis."

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by: thehawke @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 21:52:27 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

We could make the PC terms to address us

officially designated "WE" and "US"
And our opponents could be called "them"

I tell you Chica that no greater abomination exists than women denying their spirit of sisterhood and instead becoming the oppressor. -Rebeca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

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by: MauraHennessey @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 22:07:13 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I can think of 5 go-to people

Two are white gay men and two are white lesbians.  One is a straight white mother of a white gay man.

And those five are tapped very rarely.  Oddly, the most positive voices are straight white men--Keith Olbermann and Jon Stewart.  There's not a lot of diversity of opinion because there's not a lot of opinion.

# Duty, duty -- honor is, is --
Honor, Creideiki -- alertly
# Shared, is -- Honor #

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by: MileHighDawg @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 22:44:14 PM CDT

I think there is plenty of opinion, what is lacking is name recognition

The mainstream media like to pick on persons whose names are familiar to their audience.  So the same spokespeople get called on, over and over.

Perhaps part of what needs to be done is to make our diverse leaders better known to the media, and to the public.





Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction.

--- Blaise Pascal, Pensées, #894

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by: Lynn Miller @ Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 23:09:35 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The best way, I'd think

would be for the large organizations to pick more diverse people.  Ousting Salmonese might be a good place to start.

# Duty, duty -- honor is, is --
Honor, Creideiki -- alertly
# Shared, is -- Honor #

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by: MileHighDawg @ Tue Oct 13, 2009 at 00:07:30 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

That won't help

HRC has a long history of choosing asshats to lead them.

"Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis."

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by: thehawke @ Tue Oct 13, 2009 at 00:29:57 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Thanks for posting the video, Autumn

I didn't get a chance to watch it until now (YouTube disabled at work). I LOVE listening to Kim Coco speak. Her gneuine passion for social change through educating and challenging the next generation shines through so clearly. She's one of our most amazing voices here in the Pacific. So glad she was able to get to the March.


God save ornery old queens! - kevinchi

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by: Keori @ Tue Oct 13, 2009 at 01:14:18 AM CDT