next day -- the accidental activist :)
Feb. 13th, 2004 02:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quietannI didn't mean to cause all kinds of guilt feelings! Really, I didn't! I was mostly annoyed because the way people are going on about the gay marriage issue on the poly-Boston mailing list, you'd think they'd want a chance to "stand up and be counted" so to speak. Standing around with all your friends talking about how stupid your enemies are is pointless.
I mean, I probably wouldn't have gone if Scott hadn't asked me to. But somehow having an immediate, personal connection to someone for whom this matters personally tipped the scale in favor of going. And hm, I realized that though many 'boids (including myself) are bisexual, most of our primary relationships are of the heterosexual variety. There aren't a lot of same-sex couples here (which has always kind of puzzled me...), at least not now. And many people don't work anywhere near downtown Boston, and I would imagine that many of our workplaces are rather more conservative than mine, such that whatever gay people there are stay quieter about it (I mean, my group studies HIV ... no room for homophobia here!)
Two more notes...
We kind of snuck out yesterday without telling all the coworkers where we were going. In particular, I kind of blew off my office mate, assuming that because he's a Chinese man, this issue wouldn't be one we'd agree on. But, I was wrong!!! When the whole thing resumes on March 11, we are planning another late-afternoon field trip to the State House, and he wants to come with us. so cool!
One thing that really bugs me about the folks on the "anti" side is how they are using their kids in demonstrations. The kids hold signs, and shout insults (if they are old enough to have an idea about why they are demonstrating...) and so forth, with the strong encouragement of the people around them. I have heard that on Wednesday, when things were much more raucous, some of the "antis" were using their kids as human shields so they wouldn't be attacked by the "pros" or so at least the "pros" would come on less strongly because of the kids being there.
Yeah, the "pros" bring their kids, too. But it seemed more in the service of trying to demonstrate to people that "we are families too, just like yours." I didn't see any really little kids on the pro side holding signs or shouting stuff; they were just there. And the parents were paying attention to their kids more than to the demonstration, "minding their children" as I said earlier. The kids on the "pro" side just seemed more... cherished, somehow. Not surprising given that for many gay couples, kids don't just show up; it takes effort to get them.
In fact, the only interaction I had with an "anti" yesterday was as I was leaving. There was a mom and a little girl (maybe 5 years old) standing on Beacon Street holding signs with long messages about how gay people are all sinners and they and their supporters would end up in hell, stuff like that. I doubt her kid could have read what was on her sign, much less understood it, but there she was. The little girl looked confused and cold. And I said to the mom that it was too bad she was teaching her daughter to hate, and she replied in a very spiteful voice that she wasn't teaching her to hate, she was teaching her not to sin. I went on because I just didn't want to get into it with her (especially in front of her daughter), but there was a man walking next to me who stopped to talk with her.
I mean, I probably wouldn't have gone if Scott hadn't asked me to. But somehow having an immediate, personal connection to someone for whom this matters personally tipped the scale in favor of going. And hm, I realized that though many 'boids (including myself) are bisexual, most of our primary relationships are of the heterosexual variety. There aren't a lot of same-sex couples here (which has always kind of puzzled me...), at least not now. And many people don't work anywhere near downtown Boston, and I would imagine that many of our workplaces are rather more conservative than mine, such that whatever gay people there are stay quieter about it (I mean, my group studies HIV ... no room for homophobia here!)
Two more notes...
We kind of snuck out yesterday without telling all the coworkers where we were going. In particular, I kind of blew off my office mate, assuming that because he's a Chinese man, this issue wouldn't be one we'd agree on. But, I was wrong!!! When the whole thing resumes on March 11, we are planning another late-afternoon field trip to the State House, and he wants to come with us. so cool!
One thing that really bugs me about the folks on the "anti" side is how they are using their kids in demonstrations. The kids hold signs, and shout insults (if they are old enough to have an idea about why they are demonstrating...) and so forth, with the strong encouragement of the people around them. I have heard that on Wednesday, when things were much more raucous, some of the "antis" were using their kids as human shields so they wouldn't be attacked by the "pros" or so at least the "pros" would come on less strongly because of the kids being there.
Yeah, the "pros" bring their kids, too. But it seemed more in the service of trying to demonstrate to people that "we are families too, just like yours." I didn't see any really little kids on the pro side holding signs or shouting stuff; they were just there. And the parents were paying attention to their kids more than to the demonstration, "minding their children" as I said earlier. The kids on the "pro" side just seemed more... cherished, somehow. Not surprising given that for many gay couples, kids don't just show up; it takes effort to get them.
In fact, the only interaction I had with an "anti" yesterday was as I was leaving. There was a mom and a little girl (maybe 5 years old) standing on Beacon Street holding signs with long messages about how gay people are all sinners and they and their supporters would end up in hell, stuff like that. I doubt her kid could have read what was on her sign, much less understood it, but there she was. The little girl looked confused and cold. And I said to the mom that it was too bad she was teaching her daughter to hate, and she replied in a very spiteful voice that she wasn't teaching her to hate, she was teaching her not to sin. I went on because I just didn't want to get into it with her (especially in front of her daughter), but there was a man walking next to me who stopped to talk with her.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-13 03:55 pm (UTC)But... things didn't end at 5 p.m. In fact, for the supporters of gay marriage, things really started rolling around 5:30 p.m. when people getting off from work and school started showing up. If I hadn't been wearing *really* uncomfortable shoes, I would have taken a break for dinner and stayed until the bitter end.