Nerf Hofflemire
07-21-2006, 02:07 PM
This story made me pretty sick.
PROVINCETOWN, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Provincetown, New England's summer gay capital, is facing a rise in harassment and discrimination. But this time it's straight people who say they are being ridiculed as "breeders" and "baby makers."Would that offend me? No. If a gay said that to me, I'd think they were joking. This is like "Bizzaro World" from Seinfeld.
Less than a decade after a successful campaign to end violent paroxysms of "gay bashing" in the beach town at the tip of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, police and town officials report a resurgence in tension between gays and straight people.Being gay is wrong. There I said it. It's perverted. Yes, I know I'm such a hate-monger. I belive that if you die gay, you will not see the kingdom of God. Others may disagree with me on this but that's what I belive. Can they repent? Sure. Do they? Rarely.
Police Chief Ted Meyer said straight people complained of being called "breeders" over the July Fourth holiday weekend, and that in one serious incident a man was charged with assaulting a woman who signed a petition to ban same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, the only state where it is legal.What an insult. I could never stand being called a breeder! And besides, if a gay man attacked you, would you A) run away B) fight back or C) be secure in the fact that girly slapping causes no threat to your life.
Equally troubling, he said, Jamaican workers in Provincetown say they have been the target of racial slurs.
"It's been a series of issues," Meyer said.Jamaicans being a target of racial slurs is nothing new.
The flare-ups in a town that overflows in summer with a colorful mix of gay couples often openly holding hands or kissing, cross-dressers and flocks of curious tourists coincide with a planned vote this year in the state Legislature on an amendment to ban gay marriage -- a measure that has rallied activists on both sides of the issue.Exsuse me while puke through my nose. "a colorful mix of gay couples often openly holding hands or kissing". Oh crap, it's coming out my ears now...
Gay-marriage advocates have set up a Web site -- www.knowthyneighbor.org (http://www.knowthyneighbor.org) -- that publishes the names of people who have signed the petition, including at least two locals in Provincetown who say they have been singled out and verbally abused by gays since their names appeared on the Web site.That may not be good. I wouldn't like my name on a gay hit list, thank you.
Town officials said the town is struggling to strike a balance between protecting the right to freedom of expression for petition signers, and ensuring its gay majority contain their anger at what many see as an assault on their hard-won right to marriage.Gay majority? Is there a gay majority in Mass?
Police would not classify the slurs and name-calling as "hate crimes." But a town meeting was called last Friday to discuss whether social attitudes were changing in the gay resort village with a population of 3,431 that swells to 60,000 in summer and includes a large number of Jamaicans.I didn't know there was a gay village. Thats really funny when you say it out loud. "Gay village". "a village of gays". come on, say it!
"We have business that we haven't talked about as a family," Town Manager Keith Bergman said. "The impact of the same sex marriage petition is high on that list."
Some gays expressed shock at being accused of discrimination after years of suffering harassment.Two wrongs don't make a right. Come on, even Mr. Rojers knew that.
"There are still a lot of straight people who treat gays badly," said Steve Bowersock, 35, an artist who owns the Bowersock Gallery on the town's main Commercial Street.Oh give me a break! That's like saying "Well, teacher, he called me a name, so why can't I call him a name?" Its not good to treat gays badly (I don't agree with gay marrige and bevile it should be done away with however) and its not good to treat strights badly either.
Bowersock, who was once married to a woman, said he moved to Provincetown in 2004 with his partner because it gives gays a political voice. He admits he sometimes discriminates against straight people he finds offensiveSo do I. Gay people that is, not stright. Because being gay is wrong. Stright is normal.
"If there's a straight couple and I hear them in the background going 'oh fags', I'm like 'hello, where the hell do you think you are?' So in turn I get mad," he said.Just imigine a gay with a bad lisp saying that! Thats almost as funny as the gay village.
"If I see someone nervous like a big butch guy, and you can just tell he's a redneck, I'll grab my partner and I'll kiss him. It's not being mean, but 'hello you're in our town'."That sounds like satire doesnt it? If you hadn't read this in this article, wouldn't it come across as satire?
The Rev. Henry J. Dahl, pastor at St. Peter's Church, said several of his parishioners had complained to him of being singled out and verbally abused after signing the petition.
"I don't think it's totally unexpected that there would be some reaction to people who signed the petition," he said. "Let's just hope we can have civil discourse."
Joe Solmonese, president of gay rights group Human Rights Campaign, said the petition signers invited trouble by taking a position that says "loud and clear that you believe that gays and lesbians should be treated as second class citizens."I don't belive gays and lesbians should be treated as second class citizens. I belive they should be done away with for good. Don't like it? Move to France.
Link to story here. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060720/us_nm/rights_gays_dc;_ylt=ApcVwwYkp.61WLCsKL58sNcDW7oF;_ ylu=X3oDMTBhZDhxNDFzBHNlYwNtZW5ld3M-)
PROVINCETOWN, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Provincetown, New England's summer gay capital, is facing a rise in harassment and discrimination. But this time it's straight people who say they are being ridiculed as "breeders" and "baby makers."Would that offend me? No. If a gay said that to me, I'd think they were joking. This is like "Bizzaro World" from Seinfeld.
Less than a decade after a successful campaign to end violent paroxysms of "gay bashing" in the beach town at the tip of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, police and town officials report a resurgence in tension between gays and straight people.Being gay is wrong. There I said it. It's perverted. Yes, I know I'm such a hate-monger. I belive that if you die gay, you will not see the kingdom of God. Others may disagree with me on this but that's what I belive. Can they repent? Sure. Do they? Rarely.
Police Chief Ted Meyer said straight people complained of being called "breeders" over the July Fourth holiday weekend, and that in one serious incident a man was charged with assaulting a woman who signed a petition to ban same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, the only state where it is legal.What an insult. I could never stand being called a breeder! And besides, if a gay man attacked you, would you A) run away B) fight back or C) be secure in the fact that girly slapping causes no threat to your life.
Equally troubling, he said, Jamaican workers in Provincetown say they have been the target of racial slurs.
"It's been a series of issues," Meyer said.Jamaicans being a target of racial slurs is nothing new.
The flare-ups in a town that overflows in summer with a colorful mix of gay couples often openly holding hands or kissing, cross-dressers and flocks of curious tourists coincide with a planned vote this year in the state Legislature on an amendment to ban gay marriage -- a measure that has rallied activists on both sides of the issue.Exsuse me while puke through my nose. "a colorful mix of gay couples often openly holding hands or kissing". Oh crap, it's coming out my ears now...
Gay-marriage advocates have set up a Web site -- www.knowthyneighbor.org (http://www.knowthyneighbor.org) -- that publishes the names of people who have signed the petition, including at least two locals in Provincetown who say they have been singled out and verbally abused by gays since their names appeared on the Web site.That may not be good. I wouldn't like my name on a gay hit list, thank you.
Town officials said the town is struggling to strike a balance between protecting the right to freedom of expression for petition signers, and ensuring its gay majority contain their anger at what many see as an assault on their hard-won right to marriage.Gay majority? Is there a gay majority in Mass?
Police would not classify the slurs and name-calling as "hate crimes." But a town meeting was called last Friday to discuss whether social attitudes were changing in the gay resort village with a population of 3,431 that swells to 60,000 in summer and includes a large number of Jamaicans.I didn't know there was a gay village. Thats really funny when you say it out loud. "Gay village". "a village of gays". come on, say it!
"We have business that we haven't talked about as a family," Town Manager Keith Bergman said. "The impact of the same sex marriage petition is high on that list."
Some gays expressed shock at being accused of discrimination after years of suffering harassment.Two wrongs don't make a right. Come on, even Mr. Rojers knew that.
"There are still a lot of straight people who treat gays badly," said Steve Bowersock, 35, an artist who owns the Bowersock Gallery on the town's main Commercial Street.Oh give me a break! That's like saying "Well, teacher, he called me a name, so why can't I call him a name?" Its not good to treat gays badly (I don't agree with gay marrige and bevile it should be done away with however) and its not good to treat strights badly either.
Bowersock, who was once married to a woman, said he moved to Provincetown in 2004 with his partner because it gives gays a political voice. He admits he sometimes discriminates against straight people he finds offensiveSo do I. Gay people that is, not stright. Because being gay is wrong. Stright is normal.
"If there's a straight couple and I hear them in the background going 'oh fags', I'm like 'hello, where the hell do you think you are?' So in turn I get mad," he said.Just imigine a gay with a bad lisp saying that! Thats almost as funny as the gay village.
"If I see someone nervous like a big butch guy, and you can just tell he's a redneck, I'll grab my partner and I'll kiss him. It's not being mean, but 'hello you're in our town'."That sounds like satire doesnt it? If you hadn't read this in this article, wouldn't it come across as satire?
The Rev. Henry J. Dahl, pastor at St. Peter's Church, said several of his parishioners had complained to him of being singled out and verbally abused after signing the petition.
"I don't think it's totally unexpected that there would be some reaction to people who signed the petition," he said. "Let's just hope we can have civil discourse."
Joe Solmonese, president of gay rights group Human Rights Campaign, said the petition signers invited trouble by taking a position that says "loud and clear that you believe that gays and lesbians should be treated as second class citizens."I don't belive gays and lesbians should be treated as second class citizens. I belive they should be done away with for good. Don't like it? Move to France.
Link to story here. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060720/us_nm/rights_gays_dc;_ylt=ApcVwwYkp.61WLCsKL58sNcDW7oF;_ ylu=X3oDMTBhZDhxNDFzBHNlYwNtZW5ld3M-)