Being Read
I just got read by a Drag Queen. Via a Facebook message no less. I found it so amusing that I am posting it here along with my response. I realize my response might anger some on my friends' list and I will expound upon that at the end.
From the NYC Drag Queen ---> "You agree with Mutchnick's remarks? Well with that faggoty scarf you embarrass the gay community far more than any drag queens!"
My Response ---> "First off, it's a Dr. Who scarf, so that would make me a gay geek. If that makes me an embarrassment, oh well. Secondly, I don't necessarily agree with all of Mutchnick's remarks, but I agree with the sentiments behind the remarks. Pride no longer really represents it roots. It's no longer is an event that commemorates our history, our efforts to be free and prideful in who we are. Pride, like Mardi Gras, has become just another reason to be drunk in public and make asses of ourselves. I can say this because I have participated in Pride events, I have helped organize Pride, ridden on floats WITH drag queens, and year after year, it is more drunken debauchery, public sex, and drugs as with any circuit party. It is not the drag queens that embarrass the community, it is what Pride has become that embarrasses the community.
Even with all that, I would give anything for some sort of gay community to be a part of right now. Currently I live in the ass-crack of South Carolina with no community to speak of. I live openly even with the daily threat of lynching. This openness has led to losing jobs and currently being unemployed and being able to do nothing about it because there are NO protections in employment discrimination. I live with HIV and Rheumatoid Arthritis, in where what little immune system I have wants to attack my own joints. I knit that "faggoty scarf" myself and it took me over a YEAR to do so because of the arthritis, so it is something that I am PROUD of. You have the advantage of living in a gay mecca such as NYC, I do not.
And just so you know, drag queens have been some of my greatest friends. I have sewn dresses for them, repaired items, helped them choreograph numbers, and hell even have slept with some. So don't think for a moment I am going to let myself be read by one such as yourself.
Now with that out of the way, we are both intelligent individuals and I'm sure we can find some common ground, even if it is the common ground that we both disagree."
This of course is the scarf in question.
Addendum on Response: Now before you respond, my response comes from my own personal experience with Pride. I do know that not ALL Pride events are glorified circuit parties. There are some very good Prides out there I'm sure that still try to celebrate our history. These Prides I would love to experience and be a part of, but I also know that is something I can't ever afford to do. The Prides I've experienced have spend a majority of funds collected on alcohol and parties than actually celebrating Pride or donating to worthy causes including their own organization, and they wonder why they can't pay their bills to keep the organization running afterward. I also freely admit that most of my disgust on this issue comes from a form of self-hatred, which I deal with on a daily basis. I also admit that I have had some negative personal experiences with alcohol itself, one of the biggest being something I have to live with every day now for the rest of my life. I know that sometimes this shouldn't affect what I think about things, but it does. I will understand if some of you finally decide to defriend me after this entry. It will hurt, because the few friends I have, even those I have found online via Livejournal are important to me, but I will ultimately understand that we just don't view things in the same light, especially when it comes to alcohol.
From the NYC Drag Queen ---> "You agree with Mutchnick's remarks? Well with that faggoty scarf you embarrass the gay community far more than any drag queens!"
My Response ---> "First off, it's a Dr. Who scarf, so that would make me a gay geek. If that makes me an embarrassment, oh well. Secondly, I don't necessarily agree with all of Mutchnick's remarks, but I agree with the sentiments behind the remarks. Pride no longer really represents it roots. It's no longer is an event that commemorates our history, our efforts to be free and prideful in who we are. Pride, like Mardi Gras, has become just another reason to be drunk in public and make asses of ourselves. I can say this because I have participated in Pride events, I have helped organize Pride, ridden on floats WITH drag queens, and year after year, it is more drunken debauchery, public sex, and drugs as with any circuit party. It is not the drag queens that embarrass the community, it is what Pride has become that embarrasses the community.
Even with all that, I would give anything for some sort of gay community to be a part of right now. Currently I live in the ass-crack of South Carolina with no community to speak of. I live openly even with the daily threat of lynching. This openness has led to losing jobs and currently being unemployed and being able to do nothing about it because there are NO protections in employment discrimination. I live with HIV and Rheumatoid Arthritis, in where what little immune system I have wants to attack my own joints. I knit that "faggoty scarf" myself and it took me over a YEAR to do so because of the arthritis, so it is something that I am PROUD of. You have the advantage of living in a gay mecca such as NYC, I do not.
And just so you know, drag queens have been some of my greatest friends. I have sewn dresses for them, repaired items, helped them choreograph numbers, and hell even have slept with some. So don't think for a moment I am going to let myself be read by one such as yourself.
Now with that out of the way, we are both intelligent individuals and I'm sure we can find some common ground, even if it is the common ground that we both disagree."
This of course is the scarf in question.
Addendum on Response: Now before you respond, my response comes from my own personal experience with Pride. I do know that not ALL Pride events are glorified circuit parties. There are some very good Prides out there I'm sure that still try to celebrate our history. These Prides I would love to experience and be a part of, but I also know that is something I can't ever afford to do. The Prides I've experienced have spend a majority of funds collected on alcohol and parties than actually celebrating Pride or donating to worthy causes including their own organization, and they wonder why they can't pay their bills to keep the organization running afterward. I also freely admit that most of my disgust on this issue comes from a form of self-hatred, which I deal with on a daily basis. I also admit that I have had some negative personal experiences with alcohol itself, one of the biggest being something I have to live with every day now for the rest of my life. I know that sometimes this shouldn't affect what I think about things, but it does. I will understand if some of you finally decide to defriend me after this entry. It will hurt, because the few friends I have, even those I have found online via Livejournal are important to me, but I will ultimately understand that we just don't view things in the same light, especially when it comes to alcohol.