my letter to Dan Savage

[riverafire]

Mr Savage,
      I am so terribly disappointed by your recent editorial slam against Black voters as well as the general backlash against black voters in the aftermath of the passage of prop 8. We are not the enemy here. Bear in mind too that Black and gay are not mutually exclusive categories. It seems like that point has been forgotten in this

Comments

[raybear]

you are so much more generous and open in attempting to enlighten him than my letter would be! but then again, i harbor a grudge from all the sexist and trans bullshit he's said along the way.

[riverafire]

well, this is like the 4th draft of the letter. The first draft began, "fuck you Dan Savage!"
Stay tuned for my entry on my election night fight with the no on 8 organizer who had sense enough not to blame poc in front of me, but who did blame just about everyone else, including "breeders" and people who didn't have the time to volunteer or donate cash to the campaign (because volunteering is not a privilege and everyone has surplus time/money on their hands).

[coldbeansoup]

fucking A

I'm so disappointed in him

[riverafire]

yeh, me too. This is almost as heartbreaking as prop 8 being passed. & I can't understand how folks can be so simplistic as to think that they can abandon one liberation struggle and it will help their own. & it doesn't help the cause to attack potential allies. & people are not just blaming Black people, they are blaming parents; "breeders". It seems like overnight this election has turned me into an invisible queer.

[ex_lunchmak]

beautifully written. i haven't heard/seen savage's statement yet but i've been hearing the same crap elsewhere as we all have. i'm ashamed of these people.

[ex_lunchmak]

and by "these people" i meant "white"

[riverafire]

I figured that.
When did queer black people become invisible? I was initially going to school him with some Combahee River statement excerpts to demonstrate that there is actually a long history of intersectional analysis of oppression among my people, but I didn't think he would read it anyway. Also, white people need to start doing their own homework before they start playinb the blame game. I actually almost got pulled into a comment thread where some liberal white person tried to say Black people don't know about James Baldwin or Bayard Rustin and white people need to support us (black queer folks) in fighting homophobia in the Black community. Did I miss the part where white people stopped being homophobic?! Are Black people now the last people in America who have homophobes among their ranks?

[ex_lunchmak]

just sent you an email about the saturday thing.

CANNOT believe someone would imply that shit about Baldwin/Rustin/etc.

AAAARGGGH.

[riverafire]

this, on so many different levels.

[nshgrl]

well said. you have grace.