LGBTQ Support

The One Where I Get Political And Piss People Off

zoot

I love the city in Alabama I live in, but there are some aspects regarding the mentality of the state that politicians just, just PISSES ME OFF.

Republican Alabama lawmaker Gerald Allen says homosexuality is an unacceptable lifestyle. …under his bill, public school libraries could no longer buy new copies of plays or books by gay authors, or about gay characters

“I don’t look at it as censorship,” says State Representative Gerald Allen. “I look at it as protecting the hearts and souls and minds of our children.”

Listen, GERALD. Leave the concern of my son’s soul and mind to ME. I will decide what he can and can not read – NOT YOU. Back away from my parenting rights and allow my son and I to make decisions together as to what he should and should not be reading. And you know what? I am guessing that allowing him to read something by gay authors would do much less damage to his mind and soul than ten minutes alone in a room with you and your bullshit agenda. We are grown-ups. Allow us to parent our kids without YOU or ANYONE ELSE butting in where they don’t belong.

BAH.

Updated from 2020: Oh, Kim of 2005. You have no idea how much you’re going to piss people off about politics in the future. Wait until you wake up to the realities of white privilege and systemic racism! 

Published by zoot

28 thoughts on “The One Where I Get Political And Piss People Off”

  1. That type of “impose my morality upon you” thing is just really pissing me off even more than usual lately. I just wrote a paper on it last night, and I’m all het up. GAH.

  3. You tell it, sister! Seriously though, I’m with you 110% on this one. That would mean the loss of a terrific resource on one hand and on the other hand, I hate the idea of some stuffed-up politician decided how my children need to be raised. That is serious bullshit. I hope that bill doesn’t pass.

  7. Books by gay authors! How in the world do you go about determining that? What about Shakespeare? Aren’t half of his sonnets written to men? Good fucking lord people! By the way, I am hetero and proudly wear the rainbow wrist band you wrote about a while ago. Of course, I’m in Cincinnati, so know one knows what it stands for and I constantly have to explain it, but even the catholic school where I work is cool with it. Buy one if you haven’t yet. I get pretty good reactions to it.

  9. Oh. My. Word. Seriously, I have my own beliefs about the morality of homosexuality and what not, but that’s bloody ridiculous. Parents guide their children, not the government. Though some parents are dumbasses (is that a word?) and don’t want the responsibility themselves but GAH seriously. Zoot, I think you’re a great Mom and I respect the way you’re raising LilZ.

  10. I’m ashamed at you Zoot! Everyone knows that letting your kids read books by gay authors will FORCE them to turn gay!!!! Why would you do this? After all, being gay is the absolute WORST thing in the whole wide world! Jeeeeze. You’re so irrational!

  12. [Taking a moment to collect myself]

    So, I THOUGHT conservatives believed that the government was supposed to step back from running everything in favor of local control. But why is it they seem to believe the government should keep their mitts off our taxes and out of schools, and yet in charge our very THOUGHTS? Wow.

    Those libraries are just sin-wagons waiting to corrupt our innocent youth. Yup. Crack houses. Whore Houses. Casinos. Libraries. I see it all clearly now. The liberal media started with Tinkie Winkie and now they’re trying to recruit homosexuals through the written word!

  13. I saw this whole thing and was hoping you’d post on it.

    This is my question:
    There are so many guys’ guys who loved the Transcendalists and quote them all the time. WALT WHITMAN WAS GAY. GAY GAY GAY.

    And although I just don’t like his writing, it’s not because he was gay.

    Willa Cather? (My Ántonia for you folks who forgot) GAY.

    And what do we do with writers who are bi? Just let you read the first half?

  14. .I totally agree with your take. But also know that you live in a state where this IS the mentality. You live in the Bible belt and good ole boy state. I enjoyed my visit to AL, 2 years ago, it was pretty. But I encountered people who still call blacks “N”, women are treated like objects. They really do view gays as the work of Satan. I’d move if I were you. Here in California….it’s a totally different story. You will encounter this mentality till the day you die living in the south..

    But mostly you must acknowledge that your peers elected this man into power. This is the way that at least 60% of the people you encounter think. They may not verbalize it, or be as brave as this asshole, but they really do believe this man.

    I know it’s more expensive here, but damn it’s good to be able to hold your girlfriends hand, walk with your gay friends into a bar and be greeted with “Hey woman” and be kissed and hugged.

    Totally two different worlds

  15. This is OUTRAGEOUS! Even if you disapprove of gay/lesbian relationships, what in the hell does that have to do with censoring good writing? Or denying people their livlihood? Or being a decent human being? How is reading Oscar Wilde’s The Importance Of Being Earnest going to corrupt my child? I’d like to thank the gov’nt of Al to stay OUT of my library, and my child rearing practices.

  18. you aren’t really surprised are you? i spent most of my life in alabama. people honestly believe that the gay lifestyle is immoral & they should be hidden from decent god-fearing people. after all, the creeping gay threat is a much bigger problem that say, no education budget, high child mortality rates, high unemployment, you name any of the other issues that state should be handling first. if they ban books based on the authors sexuality, it’s just going to backfire & result in kids reading them when they wouldn’t have normally done so.

    by the way, when listing authors kids would miss out on, don’t forget the beats like ginsberg & burroughs.

  19. Hails and hazzahs to Miss Zoot! I totally agree!

    It always amazes me that the party that always claims to be for “less government” seem to be the one that always tries to legislate morality, especially if they can quote some Bible verse against it.

    Quit trying to ban things that offend you. If it offends you, don’t watch, read, or listen. Let those who enjoy it alone!

  22. I live in Oregon, and we even voted in a ban on gay marriage. Although our governor has announced that he thinks denying gay people the right to marriage is against the Oregon Constitution. That makes me hopeful.

    I get as pissed as you, Miss Z. But I take heart in the fact that this backlash is here because they know things are changing. And it scares them to death!

  23. ” I don’t look at it as censorship” I just look at is as making sure THE WHOLE WORLD CONFORMS TO MY ULTIMATE DESIRES ! *cough cough* did I say that out loud?

    Hey, I bet if we take away all those gay people’s rights we could get rid of the women’s rights and those pesky blacks too…..

  27. Gack. That is just wrong on so many levels that I can’t even go into it. Also it makes me depressed that I can totally picture that same garbage being spewed from the mouth of an Oklahoma lawmaker. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them here jumped on that bandwagon next.

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