Sunday, October 11, 2009
Homo Meanwhile on Broadway
Posted by Christopher Frizzelle on Sun, Oct 11, 2009 at 3:58 PM
&Category
Overheard: "Hey hey, ho ho, Barack Obama has got to go" ad nauseam. Sounds like that may have been what they were chanting the sort of thing they were chanting in DC too.
UPDATE: I don't mean to say they were chanting that in DC. All I mean is that, according to that article, people fighting the good fight in DC are still very unhappy with the president. But they were chanting it here—at least several people were, a group toward the back—which is incomprehensible to me. Argue if you must (and I know you will, Savage), but Obama's speech last night was full of good news. (Maybe they were shouting "Barack Obama has got to know"? "Barack Obama is going too slow"? Or something? I don't think so. But if someone was there and I'm wrong I'm happy to correct the record.)
SERIOUSLY: Can someone who was marching at the back let me know what was being chanted, so I can clear this up? "Hey hey, ho ho, Barack Obama [something something something—that sounds like/rhymes with 'got to go']."
ANYONE? Meanwhile, I'll admit: It was snotty to call attention to one dumb chant and not mention all the other chants whose messages I wholeheartedly agreed with. I'm just not wholeheartedly with chanting; that's my problem. There are other ways of getting a message out, as a visit to, say, any one of Mike McGinn's three nightly phone-banking meet-ups proves. (There were 39 people making calls in the downtown office alone for two and a half hours tonight, and they do this five nights a week.) In contrast, people meandering down the street shouting things out into the open air in a neighborhood where everyone already agrees with them seems useless and cattle-ish and not the best use of everyone's time, especially when people could be, say, phone-banking for Ref-71 (lots of marchers had Ref-71 signs in hand, at least). That is just my dumb opinion, but I'm not the only one who feels this way.
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1
One of the chants was "Obama, Obama...let mama marry mama..." Yes...I know...very lame. There was another one that was a play on his name but I only heard it once and it escapes me now. I photographed the march for Baltimore OUTLoud across it's entire length of almost two hours and I never heard the one they used in Seattle...but considering the size of the march that doesn't mean much. There were probably a lot of different "Obama" chants I didn't hear. The march was huge. Easily as big as the largest previous D.C. gay rights marches.
2
"Hey hey, ho ho, Barack Obama has got to go"
Obama came highly recommended, even by Seattle's favorite Gay SpokesModel Princess...
He is a Democratic President elected by wide margins.
If, just months into his first term, he has "got to go" because the Gays find him so totally unacceptable then it suggests that the problem is not with the President but with the gays-
perhaps they are politically immature and have no clue how to successfully work the system or have it work for them, perhaps their goals are poorly thought out, perhaps they rely on easy but ineffective (or counter-productive) tactics like complaining and whining and screaming but are unwilling to do the more difficult but more rewarding things?
Obama came highly recommended, even by Seattle's favorite Gay SpokesModel Princess...
He is a Democratic President elected by wide margins.
If, just months into his first term, he has "got to go" because the Gays find him so totally unacceptable then it suggests that the problem is not with the President but with the gays-
perhaps they are politically immature and have no clue how to successfully work the system or have it work for them, perhaps their goals are poorly thought out, perhaps they rely on easy but ineffective (or counter-productive) tactics like complaining and whining and screaming but are unwilling to do the more difficult but more rewarding things?
4
Actually Christopher, if you had bothered to put your shirt on and come down to join us, that wasn't what we were chanting at all. Thanks for helping with the cause 'n everything...
5
What a bunch of short-sighted, politically naive queers. Obama has got to go? Really? I hate to break it to you, but you don't live in a direct democracy. Obama isn't beholden to your every wish simply because you voted for him. Dumb queens need to get over themselves.
6
4
yeah, Frizzle- you hack.
If you had shoved your fat ass into a pair of pants and joined the people you would have known the chant was:
"HEE HEE, ho ho, Barack Obama has got to go"
yeah, Frizzle- you hack.
If you had shoved your fat ass into a pair of pants and joined the people you would have known the chant was:
"HEE HEE, ho ho, Barack Obama has got to go"
8
Really, Chris? I can't believe anyone was chanting that -- there's nothing in the link about that being chanted in D.C. I find that impossible to believe.
I've been reading a lot of coverage today of the March for Equality in D.C. and if people had been chanting "Barack Obama has got to go" -- the homos had been stomping around acting like Glen Beck fans -- it would be all over the coverage. It's not.
What gives?
I've been reading a lot of coverage today of the March for Equality in D.C. and if people had been chanting "Barack Obama has got to go" -- the homos had been stomping around acting like Glen Beck fans -- it would be all over the coverage. It's not.
What gives?
9
I went down there and was confronted by three people in less than 5 minutes trying to sell me Socialist propaganda. Clearly this local march was not representative of mainstream LGBT philosophy.
10
I was on the phone with friends all day in DC. I just talked to several people and no one was chanting that from their eye witness reports. I also checked out our local scene and did not hear anyone chanting that.
11
"Jason Yanowitz, a 37-year-old computer programmer from Chicago, held his daughter, 5-year-old Amira, on his shoulders. His partner, Annie, had their 2-year-old son, Isiah, in a stroller. Yanowitz said more straight people were turning out to show their support for gay rights. "
Because Marriage is SO IMPORTANT!!
Except,
Damn,
I just can't seem to remember to marry the mother of my two children....
Because Marriage is SO IMPORTANT!!
Except,
Damn,
I just can't seem to remember to marry the mother of my two children....
15
I was sitting in my apartment and heard it. They're not that far from me. It was a group of (insane) people toward the back.
17
I was in the middle of the crowd carrying my sign, and NO ONE was chanting "Barack Obama has got to go."
They were chanting "Homophobia's got to go."
Honestly, it took a few chants for me to figure it out, and there was a LOT of off-message, ridiculous chanting (Civil rights or civil war? What do we want... Abortion Right... When do we want them... Now...? Really? Let's focus on the topic at hand here, people...)
But I certainly didn't hear anything about Barack Obama at all. There was some grumbling at the rally in Volunteer Park about empty promises, but that's about it. Also, Jaime Pedersen called out Jay Inslee on not understanding about how to vote on Ref 71, which I thought was a little tacky.
They were chanting "Homophobia's got to go."
Honestly, it took a few chants for me to figure it out, and there was a LOT of off-message, ridiculous chanting (Civil rights or civil war? What do we want... Abortion Right... When do we want them... Now...? Really? Let's focus on the topic at hand here, people...)
But I certainly didn't hear anything about Barack Obama at all. There was some grumbling at the rally in Volunteer Park about empty promises, but that's about it. Also, Jaime Pedersen called out Jay Inslee on not understanding about how to vote on Ref 71, which I thought was a little tacky.
18
"But at the rally, demonstrators gave the president’s speech low marks for lacking any new substance and failing to acknowledge several major issues confronting the gay movement. In the words of Billie Myers, a musician who spoke to an eager crowd of tens of thousands..."
19
@15: Is it possible that you weren't hearing things properly since you were inside instead of outside reporting?
Also, the speech last night was a repeat of his campaign promises. There was nothing action-oriented there. I'm glad you felt good about it, but I don't think it offered anything real. It's good the media picked up on it -- hopefully they'll hold him to it.
Also, the speech last night was a repeat of his campaign promises. There was nothing action-oriented there. I'm glad you felt good about it, but I don't think it offered anything real. It's good the media picked up on it -- hopefully they'll hold him to it.
20
@15 "A group of people toward the back"... That seems like kind of an important omission. I read your post just now and felt rather dismayed, because I was there start to finish and never heard a single person chanting that, much less a lot of people "ad nauseam". A couple of the speakers mentioned Obama's remark last night that we need to keep the pressure on our leaders, including him, but that isn't even in the same ballpark as the sentiment that he's "got to go". Sure a few socialists came out, and no doubt some crazies too, but you wouldn't say this was a "socialist march for equality," would you? For that to be the one and only thing you bother to mention seems rather disingenuous. Given that two posts down is the Stranger Suggests for this exact event, I guess I just expected to find some coverage after the fact that was a little less... pathetic.
21
@18 It wasn't just people in DC who were disappointed by the President's speech last night. Have you been reading anything today on the Huffington Post, Pam's House Blend, The Bilerico Project, etc, etc?
I was disappointed. I thought it was another sales job. I'm ready for real action. Speeches or symbolically important, but that's about it.
I was disappointed. I thought it was another sales job. I'm ready for real action. Speeches or symbolically important, but that's about it.
23
I marched in DC and never heard that chant. I did hear the "homophobia's got to go" and the "Obama let my momma marry momma". The crowd around them laughed. It was a great day. Stop spreading lies.
24
Actually, I was in that march and I never heard that chant at all. I did hear L-G-B-T! We demand equality. I also heard Hey hey ho ho homophobia's got to go! Why are you lying Christopher Frizzelle? And why wasn't a Stanger reporter there to actually do journalism? Why is the Stranger pulling the Barney Frank bullshit of attacking lgbt people and defending politicians?
26
Thank God socialists will stand up for equal rights since the Democrats won't. I woke up this morning and I wasn't any more equal than I was yesterday.
30
There was no news in the president's speech. Same promises, re-stated for our enjoyment. No timelines, no announcements of any progress, none of that change we were promised.
32
I have to say, I'm glad I didn't go. I really thought about it. But I would have found the trite rhymes that were anti-Obama super annoying and narcissitic. 9 months and he "has to go"? What? I know it was probably just to make a cutesy rhyme but I there is something I can't put my finger on that bothers me about the way the gay community has turned on Obama so quickly. I mean, we let Bill Clinton hem and haw and take 15 years to give a mea culpa for ACTUALLY SIGNING anti-gay legislation. Obama doesn't even get one year of breathing space?
33
If you think Obama is lackluster on supporting gay rights (and I definitely agree with that) you'll LOVE President Sarah Palin
34
This just hit me:
"I was sitting in my apartment and heard it."
So, you went to the roof of your apartment for the beginning of the march. Then you casually went back to your apartment (before the end of the march), sat down, and thhheeeen you "just heard" [it]? Is that your story?
The real story: you were on the roof, standing there, like a loser, snapping pix, thinking "how can I blog about this with my vagina?" This is the result. Just made shit up. This is why I hate journalists so much. This is 90% of them. It's all bullshit, and if it isn't, it's written to be made all about them.
Savage should knee you in the taint tomorrow morning.
"I was sitting in my apartment and heard it."
So, you went to the roof of your apartment for the beginning of the march. Then you casually went back to your apartment (before the end of the march), sat down, and thhheeeen you "just heard" [it]? Is that your story?
The real story: you were on the roof, standing there, like a loser, snapping pix, thinking "how can I blog about this with my vagina?" This is the result. Just made shit up. This is why I hate journalists so much. This is 90% of them. It's all bullshit, and if it isn't, it's written to be made all about them.
Savage should knee you in the taint tomorrow morning.
35
There were no anti-Obama chants. Why even print something that you know at least 3,000 people can easily refute? What 3,000 people CAN attest to is that morose, narcissistic poetry readings will not energize s crowd that is waiting to march. I use the number 3,000 cautiously because as the shadows lengthen the crowd slowly began to dwindle. It's all about context, people. Maybe a stream of conscious rant about your adolescent self loathing is suitable in the company of other...adolescents? But it's hardly something that will fire up the troops. For me, from now on, the six most dreaded words in the English language will be "and now, for my third poem".
38
This is ridiculous. No one was shouting that at the march. There were different chants going simultaneously. Perhaps you were hearing a combination of the "Hey hey, ho ho, homophobia's got to go" chant and "Obama, escucha, estamos en la lucha" or something else. The most provocative chant I heard was "We're here, we're queer, don't fuck with us." I'm not saying it's impossible that some people were yelling anti-Obama chants, but I didn't hear it.
My impression of this post is that it was purposefully disingenuous, which is pretty sad.
My impression of this post is that it was purposefully disingenuous, which is pretty sad.
39
#38
My sources tell me the chants went more like this:
"Turn the beat around,
Love to hear percussion,
Turn it upside down!"
Sung by a 7 foot tall dude in sequined hotpants on roller blades.
True.
All True!
#38
My sources tell me the chants went more like this:
"Turn the beat around,
Love to hear percussion,
Turn it upside down!"
Sung by a 7 foot tall dude in sequined hotpants on roller blades.
True.
All True!
40
Hey, #11 - Not everyone who is married HAS THE SAME LAST NAME AS THEIR HUSBAND/WIFE, you ignorant loser.
You also left out the part where he was talking about the fact that he supports civil rights for gays because his own kids may turn out to be gay one day. Pretty nice to hear a straight guy say that about his son and daughter.
This march wasn't just about marriage--it was about equality and civil rights. Get a clue.
You also left out the part where he was talking about the fact that he supports civil rights for gays because his own kids may turn out to be gay one day. Pretty nice to hear a straight guy say that about his son and daughter.
This march wasn't just about marriage--it was about equality and civil rights. Get a clue.
41
I was at the front of the march but I heard nothing of the sort. All of our references to Obama were demanding that he follow up on his rhetoric, not opposing him in a broad sense. One specific example went something like, "Hey, Obama, take a stand. Equal rights across the land." The chant ended with a wisecrack about his Nobel Peace Prize shouted into the loudspeaker but the overall tone was never specifically anti-Obama.
I personally like Barack, I just wish he would get off his ass on social issues. Especially on policies like Don't Ask Don't Tell which seem like they could be resolved in a weekend. Everyone I talked to seemed to feel similarly.
I personally like Barack, I just wish he would get off his ass on social issues. Especially on policies like Don't Ask Don't Tell which seem like they could be resolved in a weekend. Everyone I talked to seemed to feel similarly.
42
40
The article referred to her as his "partner".
We'd say the odds of his pitiful kids turning out gay (or something) is pretty high...
The article referred to her as his "partner".
We'd say the odds of his pitiful kids turning out gay (or something) is pretty high...
45
@40 & whatnot -- I actually know an actual heterosexual couple who are actually married to each other, and they introduce themselves as partners ("I'm X, and this is my partner Y"). So who knows. Anyway, the point is that, even if he's not married, he could get married if he (& his partner) wanted to, whereas gay people can't. So fuck you.
46
I'm just not wholeheartedly with chanting; that's my problem.
Hey, I'm wholeheartedly with you on that one, Christopher. It still gives me a physical cringe reaction every time I think of that fucking "ain't no power like the power o'the people 'cause the power o'the people don't stop" chant, remembering anti-war marches that I was otherwise proud to be a part of...
Hey, I'm wholeheartedly with you on that one, Christopher. It still gives me a physical cringe reaction every time I think of that fucking "ain't no power like the power o'the people 'cause the power o'the people don't stop" chant, remembering anti-war marches that I was otherwise proud to be a part of...
49
It's areas off of Capitol Hill that could really use more focus and attention. Meanwhile in West Seattle....
http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=21436
http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=21436
50
#47
easily 3,000 --- you need to learn to count - one takes a half block and then counts the length.
healthy event, bright day, good mood, tons of youth, mixed crowd, very Ref: 71 focused, lefty crowd, enjoyed it totally.
Signed: Lady in Blue
easily 3,000 --- you need to learn to count - one takes a half block and then counts the length.
healthy event, bright day, good mood, tons of youth, mixed crowd, very Ref: 71 focused, lefty crowd, enjoyed it totally.
Signed: Lady in Blue
51
@33 I can only pray that Sarah Palin gets the nomination. There couldn't be an easier candidate to beat... EVER.
52
1. People ARE phone banking and canvassing. And other people are doing pub crawls, visibility actions, and marches. The point is that no single action is going to win this but all actions together can. I wish to God the queers who worked at the Stranger had a fucking clue about their own history and the history of this city. We've faced antigay initiatives in this state and city before and WE BEAT THEM by using a variety of strategies and tactics... not by doing only one. I'm curious when Christopher Frizzelle is schedule to phone bank since he seems to have such a hard on for OTHER people doing that.
53
What's most pathetic about the Stranger is that they actively make a point to side with the right wingers and fight against real grassroots activism and political organization in their own fucking community. Whenever people take a stand, the Stranger can be sure to attack them and lie about them. Anybody notice that the Stranger will cover porn and drinking with the candidates, but never rallies against hate crimes or for equality in their own fucking neighborhood? Why did it take phone calls from high school and university students to FINALLY even get the Stranger to mention the rally and march? Why is the BEST reporting the Stranger can do by reporters who are NOT at the actual events, but just waking up from their drunken stupors at midday hanging shirtless out of the window of their apartment? Protect Marriage Washington thanks the Stranger for its support.
54
The opinions of Christopher Frizzelle and Dominic Holden are like assholes: they stink and shit comes out of them.
55
45 jason could marry his partner but if he's not maybe she'd marry you, guy in spokane, because in this great equal free land we live in you or jason or any other guy could marry a gal.
maybe you should ask?
maybe you should ask?
57
I was close to the back, and like others posting, I heard "homophobia's got to go" but NOT "obama's got to go."
I think frizzelle heard what he wanted to hear. Being righteously indignant is an addictive emotion.
I think frizzelle heard what he wanted to hear. Being righteously indignant is an addictive emotion.
58
Sorry, the title and content has been begging for this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n13K5BWZB…
I tried to fight it, I really did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n13K5BWZB…
I tried to fight it, I really did.
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