Comments on Letter of the Day

On a somewhat related note, the Detroit Free Press has a beautiful article up celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Loving v. Virginia decision, which overturned the states’ bans on inter-racial marriage, and further compares the Lovings’ struggle for equality with the modern marriage equality movement. This section was particularly moving:

“The Lovings heard all the arguments against their love. It was morally repugnant. It was an abomination before God. It violated the norms of our society. It was disgusting. But even after they won in the Supreme Court, the cross burnings and angry mail never rattled their commitment to each other.”

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/COL03/706260317/1081

The site’s commenters then go on to very un-ironically compare gay men and lesbians to pedophiles and polygamists, as well as promote some eugenics-style argument that we have birth defects. They haven’t gotten into a trashy, KKK, Bible Zombie scripture quoting contest yet, but I’m sure that’s next.

These bigots just seem to lack a fundamental ability to treat others like human beings. Damn, I sure envy the Canadians; it must be so weird living right across the border in a country run by sane people. What is so horribly wrong with people in the US?

"Somewhat related note"??

OA, as I read the Slog and the comments, all I can think is "move to Canada!" We really do have it so much better here--and yes, we look on many Americans as at least a little bit crazy...

The last float of the parade should be a group of 10 or so in orange jumpsuits with litter pokers and garbage bags and dress as noteworthy community service celebs.

Boy George, Naomi Campbell, Paris, etc, marching behind the parade picking up garbage.

I can't wait to see the fierce response of apologists defending the LGBT community's right to make and leave a huge mess without cleaning it up.

Because, since this is Slog, you know you're gonna see it.

I used to be appalled by people who have no sense of litter right-and-wrong. The picture shown is pretty disgusting considering this is a town that purports to be ecology-minded (well, more so than some other places). As bad as it looks, it is nothing compared to the aftermath of the Torchlight Parade. The trash after that little event is knee-high from Safeco Field to the Seattle Center on both sides of the street. And people camp out for that event all day. They bring food and grills and all kinds of disposables. I lived on 4th Avenue for several years, and I'd get so upset at people who'd roll into town, take a litter-crap all over my street in my neighborhood and then split leaving mounds of trash in their wake.

When I voiced my concern about this publicly, I received a sneer (like who do you think YOU are?) and a reply, "The city HIRES people to clean that up!" And they do clean it up. The trash is gone by midnight. It's really rather amazing. You'd never know there'd been a parade.

Still, I'm appalled at the idea of just throwing shit down on the street. Seems kind of retarded and clueless.

And Jaime-Leigh, I AM headed for Canada fairly soon, but you know, don't you, it's hard to legally immigrate unless you've been hired by a Canadian company (under the required skills provision) or you are wealthy (under the entrepreneur provision) or you marry a Canadian or you have family already there?

Amy Kate Horn @ 2,

You slogged about trash, so I posted about DFP commenters who seem to be, well, trash. Kind of a high-flyin' metaphor, but still...

Jaime-Leigh @ 3,

I've looked into immigrating, but I feel like I can make more of an impact here and maybe make the lives of the next generation a little better. Sure is tempting, though.

I just don't understand how Canadians and Americans can be so different, especially those that live on the border. I need to read that book Fire and Ice. All I can say is that after years of watching the CBC and visiting Canada, Canadians are just such fundamentally decent people. You actually try to respect people and do the right thing and for every Stephen Harper and Stockwell Day, there's five more Liberals, NDP and Greens to kick their wrong-wing asses. I just wish people in the US were as commited to the principles that we claim to believe in (and not, you know, completely bonkers which sadly is the case).

Welcome to Seattle! Pride trashes the town every year. It's part of the fun. It almost makes Seattle feel like a real city.

Parades make messes. They all do, they always do. Someone writes the same dumb letter after the pride parade in every city in America: "We take pride in ourselves, but why don't we take pride in our city? How could we leave it so messy?"

If anything deserves a "zzzzzzzzz" it's this letter.

Have you ever seen New Orleans after Mardi Gras? Trash piled as high as your head; this weekend in Seattle was nuthin.'

And yes, people do need to be much more considerate.

As long as the trash gets cleaned up as fast as any other parade through downtown Seattle I don't see the problem. The picture looks like it was taken minutes after the parade ended.

At one point near the end of the parade, a few people came through with garbage bins on wheels asking folks for their trash. That's the first time I've ever seen that (though I don't usually stay until the bitter end of the parade) and thought it was a very welcome touch.

What would have been even nicer would have been if the Westlake Ctr garbage cans hadn't been completely full (some overflowing) before the parade even started. Is it possible for the organizers to arrange for an extra garbage pickup prior to an event that is sure to generate a lot of trash? Seems like it would be in the city's best interest to make that happen before any parade.

The best mess I ever saw was in Paris the morning after a football match between France and Scotland. The Scots, several thousand of them, in full kilt-n-sporran regalia, had partied all night long in a huge heaving, bobbing mass that filled the street from house to house on either side, and the next day that street was literally waist deep in beer cans. I've never seen anything like it. The next morning the Scots who were still ambulatory were seen all over Paris, flirting with Russian and German tourist girls. I took several pictures for them (on the girls's cameras).

did it sting a little , Dan?

yes, you pigs at the Two Bells could have used a big broom or two and filled the dumpster...

too much to think about when sloppy drunk .. oh, and might require some planning and energy or $$$$ to a couple of workers for two hours...

not good answer sloppy Two Bells folks

Looks like Pink and Green dont mix...

From the photo, it kind of looks like most of the trash was generated by parade participants, not parade spectators.

It looks from the photo that most of the trash came from parade participants, not parade watchers.

OA @8

We'd be happy to have you! In addition to legal gay marriage (marriage, not civil unions), aaaalmost legal weed and universal healthcare, we also have reasonable immigration policies. Oh, and if that isn't enough for you, the rest of the world doesn't hate us. In fact, they all sort of look on us as their dorky but loveable cousins.

I'm not too sure what makes us so different--but I'm proud that we are. The biggest difference, I think, (at least politically) is that we've managed to seperate church and state. That alone makes a huge difference as far as values and policy goes.

And luckily, not only are the Harpers and Days outnumbered, but they're pretty watered down as far as conservative assholes go.

Oh....and about the actual topic of the original post...in Toronto the city cleans it all up, and the streets are back to normal the morning after. That doesn't happen everywhere?

Seems to me the city could be a little more proactive in these situations. I think they should require temporary garbage cans for events such as this (FYI, parked my car on 4th around 3 on Sunday, the trash was still there. Not only that, but the no-parking restrictions ended at 3 ... Hello! Why not plan on cleaning up before cars start to park on top of the garbage).

On a similar note, every year, Hempfest participants flood out onto Alaskan Way from Myrtle Edwards park. There is not a single trash can for a half-mile south of the park, so the streets end up covered in post-hempfest litter. How much can those temporary trash-box-thingies possibly cost?