Quote by stockard
i can't believe that in texas that gay can be refused to service.
in witch time live texas in 1700? or 1600? that makes me still cry.
i thought germany are not right on time what gay and lesbians is in law and the respect. but now i am happy to see that germany is much more in the right time. netherlands and danemark are in first place for gay and lesbian in law.
i hope it is possible to understand what i want to say.
after all texas is stone age in my eyes
stockard
WARNING: The following is potentially politically charged and comes from a pretty libertarian view. Please note that these are simply my personal opinions on matters and can respect thoughtful disagreement.
I don't really have the time to go through the entire video again, but I recall an overlay mentioning how many states had anti-discrimination policies on the books and it was less than half if I recall correctly.
That doesn't bother me in the least In the U.S. when it comes to business we have the freedom to vote with our wallets. If an establishment does something we don't like, you don't patronize the establishment. My personal opinion is that it's absurd for our elected officials to have to waste their time making laws to prohibit certain groups, or forcibly allow others (e.g. smokers). I firmly believe there are substantially more important issues to deal with (but won't go into that here). It's a nanny state I personally don't want to live in.
A timely national poll was released this week showing that for the first time, the majority of Americans are for Gay Marriage equality, and in my experience this number will only grow. If a business decides to exclude one group of people, you can bet that there will be a backlash against them by potential patrons. I don't think the government needs to step in.
I really liked this video because it presented things as "this is what happened" and didn't try to skew things to show that Texas or any other "red" (Republican) state were backwards homophobes, and "blue" (Democrat) states were enlightened intellectuals. This usual intentional mis-characterization of the participants in a debate does not help matters.
We need to get beyond the name calling and political affiliation demagoguing so we can get to the humanity of the participants. Only then can real debate and progress be made.
Years ago, when I finally came out of the closet and was making a new life for me in the area I live in now, I wrote a small missive for my MySpace profile as a creative way of telling people about who I was, and what my hopes and dreams were.
I firmly believe that real social change does not come from the Capitol, the Oval Office, or from the Pulpit. It comes from you and me respectfully interacting with the people we come into contact with. Parading half-naked down the street and simulating sex at a Pride parade isn't going to change anyone's mind about "gay equality".
But I have seen in my own life, how the "normalcy" of the life I have created with MikeyNY, has made us welcomed in our conservative leaning suburban neighborhood. My boss and several colleagues are very right-leaning, but I have had nothing but friendship, acceptance, and support from them. I interact with Indian vendors on a daily basis, and I have developed friendships with several of them even though their culture still shuns marrying outside of their caste, much less adding racial or sexual-orientation issues into the mix.
Even more shockingly for me: my devoutly-Catholic father has even come around after 3 years and is now willing to attend our marriage ceremony.
Sorry for the soap box moment. I guess I'm just tired of the labels and stereotypes on ALL fronts and am frustrated that some are actively encouraged for political reasons.
