(10-06-2023, 10:25 AM)The Real Marty Wrote:

(10-06-2023, 08:53 AM)Sneakers Wrote: The silence of many often speaks louder than the words of one.   The absence of any denial or objection from the people sharing the common characteristic, can be seen as implied agreement or support.  Where is the rebuttal from the LGBTQ+ community? 

When you want to win support for a cause, denounce those who abuse it as justification for lawless behavior.  Make your response immediate, emphatic and unequivocal.  Earlier this week, someone posted a video of a BLM organizer justifying the looting of upper end retailers as "reparations".  Where is Colin Kaepernick now?  Why haven't prominent blacks come forward to say this is not what the movement is about, we don't condone this behavior, we condemn it! 

If you stand idly by, while others misrepresent your cause, then expect your cause to be misunderstood.

First of all, let's start by agreeing that this wacko woman does not speak for the LGBTQ community, if there actually is one.  

Secondly, is everyone supposed to scour the internet every day looking for things that are said by people who share some characteristic with us, and denounce those things, or else they will be accepted as our opinions?   I'm a white male.  No one speaks for me.  I don't want anyone speaking for me.  I'm an individual, with my own views on things.  Just because I don't denounce some other white male's published views doesn't mean I agree with them.  We should give LGBTQ people the same allowance.  

To take the words of this one woman, and say "it tells us there's something wrong in the LGBTQ community," perfectly meets the definition of prejudice.  Just as if some white guy said something on the internet, and some black guy said, wow, "this means there's something wrong in the white community."

And besides, when you start casting people into "communities" because they share some common characteristic, aren't you doing what we routinely denounce around here- identity politics?  All gays think alike, all black people think alike, all white people think alike?  

Seriously, which "prominent black" needs to come forward and condemn looting?  You really think that that guy who justified looting represents some "black community?"  

People are so gullible.  Someone finds something stupid someone said, posts it to the internet, and says, "See?  That's what were fighting against!"  And so many people eat that stuff up, like sheep.  Because it's so easy to play on people's fears.  And they do it for money.

First of all, gay pride parades don't form spontaneously with random participants, so yes, obviously there is an LGBTQ "community.  I have no idea how organized it may be, but such events are planned by people somewhere.

Second, no, everyone is not supposed to scour the internet on a daily basis, and I think you know that isn't anything I'm suggesting.  However, when events dominate the news to the extent that everyone is aware, but remains yet silent, what conclusions can the public reasonably draw?  Who didn't know Fergusen was on fire?  If you choose to be the voice/face of a cause, don't you have an inherent responsibility to other supporters, to call out those who abuse said cause?  If it's something you truly care about, why would you allow others to misrepresent it, thereby undermining your ultimate goal of public understanding and acceptance?

Third, I don't believe that if there's something wrong with a member of the LGBTQ community, there's something wrong with the entire community, and I think you know that as well.  It is well-known that members of that community have argued for the right to "teach" their sexual identities to young children.  This is obviously an issue of great concern to many parents, so where are the dissenting voices from within the LGBTQ community?  

Fourth, you're the one who initiated "community" identity, based on common characteristics, in your original post (and several times in your rebuttal), and I responded.  Identifying a subset of people by a common characteristic is not automatically political, nor does it necessarily lead to secondary conclusions about those individuals.  I don't assume an 80-year-old guy on the golf course will be wearing plaid polyester, do you?

Fifth, glad you mentioned identity politics.  Why were police departments across the country abruptly condemned because of the actions of the police in Minneapolis? Peaceful demonstrations are fine, but when BLM protesters riot, loot and vandalize a thousand miles away, aren't they making their own identity statement?

Sixth, prominent blacks?  Let's start with any who knelt during the National Anthem.  They described it as a symbol of solidarity and chose to show support of the BLM movement at the most visible moment possible.  How many have since come forward to publicly denounce the violence?

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