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Thursday, November 20, 2008

Cracked Skulls

Posted by Dan Savage on Thu, Nov 20, 2008 at 9:38 AM

Andy at Towleroad writes up a couple of recent gay bashings and asks, "Have we crossed that violence threshold yet, Huckabee?"

The bashings Andy cites both took place in Canada, which means they probably won't count toward the anti-gay-violence quotas, as set by Mike Huckabee, that gays need to achieve in order to be deemed worthy of our full civil rights down here in the United States.

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Comments (19) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
1
hi dan!
i love you, and hate huckabee.

but unfortunately....until millions of gays have been stuffed asshole to elbow in the bottom of freezing and musty slave ships, followed by a couple of centuries of slavery, torture, and lynching....well, no. the violence threshold wont be crossed.
Posted by sorry. on November 20, 2008 at 9:46 AM
2
Just like disabled people were, in the centuries before the ADA passed? Or vets were before they were specifically written into anti-discrimination statutes?
Posted by Dan Savage on November 20, 2008 at 9:54 AM
3
disabled people and vets were kidnapped, enslaved, tortured and lynched?
Posted by what? on November 20, 2008 at 9:59 AM
4
Marriage is a natural way of life for both gay and straight people. People naturally live together in family units. Marriage is not an idea that was invented by a church or a government, it's just the name used to describe people's natural way of life. Laws should recognize and reflect the natural inclinations of society.
Posted by Betsy Ross on November 20, 2008 at 10:00 AM
5
Oh sorry... and you are sorry. I'll ignore that you haven't heard of the holocaust, because civil rights are not dependent on violence. Slavery was horrible, but it is not why black people deserve civil rights. We all deserve the same civil rights because we are all human.
Posted by Frank F on November 20, 2008 at 10:02 AM
6
@4-well, sure.

but this has nothing to do with what we are presently debating in this post.
Posted by stutter on November 20, 2008 at 10:03 AM
7
no...
i acknowledge that the holocaust was a teensy bit violent as well.
Posted by a little less sorry on November 20, 2008 at 10:07 AM
8
Betsy @4

Living together as a family unit is called "nuclear family".

Having sex exclusively with one other person is called "monogamy".

"Marriage" is, in fact, a human invention because marriage is a contract. Marriage is not monogamy and marriage is not nuclear family.

If marriage were just a "way of life" then we wouldn't even be discussing Prop 8 or gay marriage because gays could just live that way and it would be marriage. But it's not. Because the "marriage" that gays are fighting for is exactly NOT just a way of life but a set of social and legal contracts that are human inventions.

I know what you're trying to say, but it's important to be able to articulate the issues correctly. Yes - I'm a nitpicky curmudgeon. :)
Posted by pffft on November 20, 2008 at 10:11 AM
9
@6 - marriage has nothing to do with full civil rights?
Posted by Betsy Ross on November 20, 2008 at 10:11 AM
10
@8 - I think the trees are blocking your view of the forest.
Posted by Betsy Ross on November 20, 2008 at 10:14 AM
11
@10 - It's a lovely forest indeed. I'm just sayin' it doesn't really further the cause to just make stuff up because it sounds nice.
Posted by pffft on November 20, 2008 at 10:28 AM
12
I'll volunteer to let Huckabee personally crack my skull if it means we get some civil rights. And if the skull cracking isn't fatal.
Posted by spencer on November 20, 2008 at 10:41 AM
13
hi-this is "sorry", from the beginning of this thread.

i'm just saying that you are never going to win this argument if you continue to compare the gay civil rights experience to ANY ethnicities civil rights experience. gay isnt an ethnicity. it crosses borders, age groups, its everywhere. it should be closer tied to the womens movement.

consevative african americans are already pissed for the usage of the term civil rights. saying that gays are a group of people that have suffered as much as them wont win any of them over. they will think you are fucking crazy.

while the millions, or billions of people through the years who have been beaten, killed, or just unfairly treated for being gay should be met with justice, it is ITS OWN THING. and should NEVER be compared with the black experience, or as frank demands, the jewish experience, or as I maintain is the group here that got the worst of it, the native american experience.

and yes if gay people want to be married they should be married. of course. be as miserable as most of middle america. grow a gut. buy guns. completely assimilate until its the most boring and trite thing in the world to be gay. knock yourselves out.

and no, the government should not remove your rights as married/civil unions, and they should not make your children bastards.

i am someone that fully believes that gay rights are fundamental to our growth as a nation. and someone who fully believes that aids was spread among gays by the government. i'm as lefty-wacko as they come.

and i want your argument to WIN.

but going around saying you have suffered as much as blacks is gonna ruin your credibility.
Posted by not sorry at all. on November 20, 2008 at 10:44 AM
14
@13,

While some people on Slog have compared the struggle for civil rights for gays to the struggle for civil rights for African Americans, I don't see anyone doing that here, except for you and Mike Huckabee.
Posted by keshmeshi on November 20, 2008 at 10:59 AM
15
#13

Not to minimize Jewish suffering but... Gays were rounded up and killed in the Holocaust too
Posted by checkers1952 on November 20, 2008 at 11:20 AM
16
Civil rights are civil rights. There have been plenty of gay bashings, but it's not about how severe they've been. It's not even about how they compare to what was done to black slaves and their descendants. It's not about any of that at all actually.

It's about the fact that we're all human and deserve the same rights as anyone else. Nobody on the face of this planet has the right to take those away from us.
Posted by Eric on November 20, 2008 at 11:21 AM
17
13, i hear you but claiming that "aids was spread among gays by the gov't" doesn't ruin YOUR credibility? next tiime, leave that part out of any future arguments if you're trying to sway people to your side.
Posted by ellarosa on November 20, 2008 at 11:55 AM
18
Let's call them Huckabee's Stormtroopers!
Posted by Vince on November 20, 2008 at 12:00 PM
19
Yay! Equal rights for all!
Posted by ams on November 21, 2008 at 3:21 AM

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