(07-05-2021, 02:31 PM)Lucky2Last Wrote: I'm not sure what we're doing with this conversation. I am contesting the idea that we need to celebrate LGBTQ+, and I'm pointing out that people are justified at being annoyed with these issues being thrust to the forefront of society. In support of that argument, I gave an example of another marginalized group that faced persecution throughout history, and pointed out that we didn't celebrate them to right the wrong. We just pushed back against the idea until people realized their humanity, then everything else fell into place. I have conceded that LGBTQ+ have been marginalized. I have conceded that there are still conservatives that hold bigoted views (as evidenced in this thread). I am simply contesting the idea that the parades and awareness are less about righting that wrong and more about subverting the culture. To that end, you haven't even attempted to address my grievance.

There have been many marginalized groups in US history. We have one black history month. No black parades. No Native parades. No blind history month. No blind parades. No Irish history month. No left handed parades....  this list could go on forever. So, what, pray tell, is the primary driver for the celebration of LGBTQ+ in American society? What makes it so special and necessary? The frequency and visibility of LGBTQ+ celebrations are unmatched, and it hardly fits with their level of persecution. It does fit with the philosophical underpinnings of the intellectual and cultural elites in this country that want to fundamentally change the cultural characteristics of the US. The common folk have every right to push back against that cultural shift in the EXACT same way they have the right to push back against the white supremacist accusation and the anti-patriotism movement. Put 2 and 2 together, my dude.

I'm not saying "we" need to celebrate it, but I understand exactly why they do. Conservatives, who were and are the prime resistance to allowing them into civil society, do not and frequently come out against it as you have here. Hence their militant response of "We're here, we're queer, deal with it." Had they not fought for their rights they would still be without them, because unlike the abolitionist movement not many people are willing to go to war to free them from the discrimination American Society foisted upon them. That's why I understand their putting in in everybody's face, because that's how they are winning. Alternatively I believe that corporations are shamelessly self-interested when they got "woke" on this and other issues recently and I don't think they care at all about "righting wrongs" as much as they are virtue signaling. It's really not as complex as you're making it.

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