For many, many people, politics is a lot like sports. They have a favorite team, they root for that team and against the other teams, and they rub their wins in the faces of their friends who are fans of the other team. Lots of funny needling and good-natured ribbing. My existence as a trans person, as a gay person? Entirely politicized. People are fighting over my right to exist in public, my right to exist at all. So, I have to be very careful with whom I choose to spend my time. For me, knowing someone's political preferences is one aspect of a larger safety issue. It's like Van Halen with the green m&m's: if they can't trust a venue to read the rider, how can they trust they built the stage to safety spec? Knowing, essentially, someone's opinions on politicians and policy is much more indicative of how they'll treat me when the chips are down and three guys in Southeast jump out of a pickup truck with intent to attack a trans woman. Sure, people say lots of things about how they love the sinner and hate the sin, or how they only vote for someone because of this other policy over here, and they are all very nice when they say it. But that's like going on stage when the green m&m's are still in the bowl. If I can't trust what a person says, how can I trust them in safety situations? And again, any public appearance is a safety situation. I am never off-guard. How can I let my guard down for you? It's more than politics; among leftists there are plenty of very mice garbage people who say one thing and abandon you in a crisis. My ex-wife, thankfully, was honest and obvious when she said, "you can wear what you want but if you get harassed when we're out, I'm taking the kids and driving home." It helped more easily evaluate my safety around her. ABM, I am sure you are a nice guy. And likable. But I look at your opinions on policy, and they are unkind towards people like me. You've already failed the green m&m test. There's no way in hell I would meet you in person. You might be nice, but I feel unsafe around you.
I wanna say, too: this thread is 18 months old, and some of the shit that's in those early posts means more than a few of you are in the same boat as ABM.
OK, if you're going to base your entire opinion of me around my political preferences, I can't really do anything about that. So be it. Actually, though, I was thinking you were basing it on something I've said to you (or others) in here. BTW, the Van Halen rider involved the brown M&M's (just in case you were checking to see if I were paying attention to your post. )
Oh, don't worry; while your political preferences labeled you as a threat to my rights, the things you said to me in this thread were what confirmed for me that you are not to be trusted in person, either.
I can't understand how someone would be confused about their specific political beliefs causing them to be shunned as a friend. It's one thing to be republican/democrat. Easy to have a friendship through a lot of the differences. But if your reasoning for being an R, or your voting record and preferences in voting R surrounds around issues that actively harm members of our coountry because they're different than you, how the hell can you expect a friendship around that? Sorry I voted for you to not be able to get married, wanna come over to my BBQ? gtfoh
I doubt ABM wants to be around me, but I am of same mind as Yam. I would feel unsafe, not because he would physically assault me, I'm a body builder FFS, but because he is doing everything he can to deprive me of civil and human rights. And calls getting angry about Holocaust getting my panties in a bunch (very term is misogynist, men don't call their undergarments panties, it's saying you're being a girl).
As Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' law takes effect, schools roll out LGBTQ restrictions Some school officials have been accused of warning teachers not to wear rainbow articles of clothing and to remove pictures of their same-sex spouses from their desks. As Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law — or what critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law — goes into effect Friday, some of the state’s public school districts have begun rolling out new policies to limit LGBTQ issues and identities from being discussed in the classroom. On Tuesday night, the Leon County School Board unanimously approved its “LGBTQ Inclusive School Guide,” which includes a provision to alert parents if a student who is “open about their gender identity” is in their child’s physical education class or with them on an overnight school trip. “Upon notification or determination of a student who is open about their gender identity, parents of the affected students will be notified of reasonable accommodation options available,” the guidelines read. “Parents or students who have concerns about rooming assignments for their student’s upcoming overnight event based on religious or privacy concerns may request an accommodation.” Representatives of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association accused school officials Monday of verbally warning educators not to wear rainbow articles of clothing and to remove pictures of their same-sex spouses from their desks andLGBTQ safe space stickers from classroom doors. The district’s legal department confirmed in a statement provided to the teachers’ association, which covers the Orlando area, that staff members who come into contact with students in kindergarten through third grade were cautioned about LGBTQ issues. And late last month, the School District of Palm Beach County sent out a questionnaire asking its teachers to review all course material and flag any books with references to sexual orientation, gender identity or race, said a Palm Beach County high school special education teacher, Michael Woods. Several weeks previously, the district removed two books — “I Am Jazz” and “Call Me Max” — that touch upon gender identity, he said. https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out...ect-schools-roll-lgbtq-restrictions-rcna36143
