I think that the struggle of the Gay and Lesbian community is much like that of any other minority, and in the last 20-30 years they have been going through one of the roughest parts of American acceptance. The author in this article compares ELGO groups to Black student groups and rightfully so. Do we not acknowledge these people for being hated against and not having an easy pursuit of happiness, and by doing this do we sometimes try to help them out? Does this acknowledgement invite hate towards the very group these organizations try to uplift into social acceptance?
Of course we make these groups to help discriminated people find a place, and of course the existence of these groups will cause hateful out lash just because they exist. As a Muslim American living in a post 9/11 America I have grown up in the prime of the Muslim/Pakistani hate, the prime of the paranoia. And what did I find? Hate for Blacks, Gays, Jews, Southerners, Indians and other American groups is so prevalent within the Muslim American population itself that i grew to hate the very people i was a part of. True Hate within Hate. All Americans hate on each other, but I honestly think that until one has been hated and until one has had the right to hate back, a human being can not truly appreciate what they have and are a part of. Hate will not and can not disappear until we as a people realize that there is a thin line between love and hate, and that most hate comes from the pain one will suffer at the hands of another hurt and pained individual. One must realized that the hate one expresses is often the hate that one will be confronted with.
In my opinion we do not hate each other, not at all. Our biological responses to love and hate are the very similar, so when we see someone who we hate that feeling is nothing but a reflection of the love that we all wish we would have gotten. The love we all wish we could have shared.
This is a reply to both this blog and to jthinksaloud. So both of you realize that the Black community has had the toughest time dealing with discriminatory issues. I cannot disagree here and we also seem to realize this new issue with the LGBTQ community and their turn for injustice. What I am pondering now are your questions as to why. Why is is harder for a Black male to be gay? It is hard enough to be a person of color and receive negativity but why does sexuality have so much more impact than just color? I think a possible answer perhaps could be that with these new regions of sexuality, the public receives it as a threat on religion. The Bible states that that marriage is a pact between one man and one woman. God created Eve for Adam from Adam. I think that once we begin to tweak and manipulate this story then does society fear for the worst. If we begin to ignore our moral tie to the Bible the who knows what our society is doomed for? I am exaggerating here but I think this is a valid point to be made because if we begin to challenge the Bible then how long would it be till we eventually challenge government? The institution? We are already seeing and hearing for new regulations for same sex marriages. I think that here, there might be a slight fear of the institution for uprising and the topple of regulation. Even though there is a positive impact by creating different flavors of sexuality and the twisting of cultures, the institution however might think otherwise.
I am extremely confused by this post. So are you saying that minorities should not form in social groups together because it draws more attention to them being a minority? Social groups such as these are ways in which people who share a common heritage or preference congregate together and feel as if it is finally a place where they are understand and can be accepted. I also am not sure what the connection to the United States is. I do understand that in the majority of Middle Eastern countries American flags are burned daily and they blame all of their problems on the US but I am not sure how that is connected to the LGBT struggle. Also, I do agree when you are the target of hate for being different it often times propels you to have pride in what makes you different, but I do not think you need to be hated to be loved. I am not sure a gay student who is taunted by his peers would feel more inclined to parade his sexuality around and be any more proud to be gay.
Case in point: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/02/06/120206fa_fact_parker
Just saying….
Explain please!!!!!
@theblock: I think we interpreted this blog differently, so let me break down your comment and let you know how I understood it.
1) “So are you saying that minorities should not form in social groups together because it draws more attention to them being a minority?”
-There are many different ways to identify yourself- through religion, nationality, etc. It is only normal for people to categorize themselves under multiple identities and sometimes these identities overlap. For instance, optimusprime is both Muslim and American. The author is suggesting some Americans aim their hatred towards him/her for being Muslim after the 9/11 attacks, but the author considers himself/herself an American. The point is that it is only natural to form groups, yet hate for others is just human nature.
2) “I do understand that in the majority of Middle Eastern countries American flags are burned daily and they blame all of their problems on the US but I am not sure how that is connected to the LGBT struggle.”
-Well I personally think this could have been worded with a little more tact, but the author did manage to parallel these to show most groups receive hate and aren’t innocent of hatred towards others. For instance we talked in class about how the homosexuals in drag look down upon bisexuals. Similarly we see hatred between select Americans and select Muslims- the author identifies as both.
The rest of both your comment and optimusprime’s blog opinionated, so I won’t put in my two cents because I’m not sure where I stand on these topics. Hopefully you see another side to this, maybe the author can explain the idea more in depth?
Optimus: Please remember that these blog assignments should focus on a critical analysis of the readings we do for class and the artifacts we find in the archives. In your post you briefly address a discussion of Marlon Riggs film “Black Is, Black Ain’t” and a response to ELGO posters being ripped down. What I would have loved to hear more about was 1) what year and publication these articles were from and 2) how Marlon Riggs’ work might have compared to E. Patrick Johnson’s interviews with black gay men of the south in Sweet Tea. Additionally, I think some of the “hate” you discuss above is the same as internalized racism or homophobia or sexism, etc. Did Johnson or any of the other authors we read for this week talk at all about how we internalize the hate or oppression or discrimination we feel imposed on us from external institutional sources?