70% Say Pass ENDA

According to a recent poll conducted by the HRC, that’s how many LGBT Americans think we should pass the non-trans-inclusive ENDA. 

Pertinent snips from the Advocate article:

• According to a new poll, 70% of LGBT Americans prefer passing an Employment Non-Discrimination Act that does not cover transgender people over not passing the bill at all. The poll, commissioned by the Human Rights Campaign and conducted on October 26, surveyed 500 members of the LGBT community across the country.
• The poll also asked people if they agreed that “national gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender organizations should oppose this proposal because it excludes transgender people.” Only about 20% of the people agreed with that statement.
• However, about 70% of people polled still believe that protections for transgender people should be included in the ENDA proposal, as they did in a poll conducted in 2004 — but they also favor passing a noninclusive ENDA as a path to gaining those protections for transgender workers. This shows a shift from 2004, when 70% of LGB respondents indicated trans inclusion was important even if it caused delay. 

Two things:

One, HRC could’ve saved all of that polling money by just taking my word for it in the first damned place, and two, the poll certainly indicates that wanting to pass the current version of ENDA does not make one a “traitor,” “backstabber,” “exclusivist,” “coward,” or “transphobic.” 

UPDATE:  This topic is getting really heated on the Blend!  That’s some hot coffee!

Dedicated to the Only Commenter I’ve Ever Banned

From the Washington Blade:

Passage of ENDA in any form would make history and no one in the “community” should be rooting for its demise. Politics has never been about “all or nothing” — it’s about the art of the compromise. Gay-only ENDA may not be the perfect bill, but it would bring immediate relief to millions of gays and lesbians hiding in the closet at work, fearful of losing their livelihood if their sexual orientation were exposed. 

Now why does this sound familiar?  Oh, yeah . . .

When we talk about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” we almost immediately get into a conversation about how unfair it is without regard to what came before it.  DADT is indeed an unfair policy, but it’s a damned sight better than the prior policy, where you COULD be asked your orientation and then dishonorably discharged for it.  DADT isn’t perfect, and should be changed, but at least it was a step in the right direction.  And so is a non-trans-inclusive ENDA.  It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing. 

We should take a step back for a moment and realize what progress we’ve made so far in order to recognize our next steps forward.  Ten or fifteen years ago, gay men were just beginning to be recognized as something other than freaks in the mind of the typical American.  And in the mind of that stereotypically macho American male, “Transgender” equates with “wants to chop his own penis off.”  It may not be fair, but that’s the mindset.  And while we can help our Trans brothers and sisters to fight the preconceived notions that bedevil them, we don’t have to abandon our own fight for equality along the way. 

Evidently, at least according to Mr. Kevin Naff of the Blade, those who oppose passing the non-inclusive ENDA are a “vocal minority.”  Trust me, Kevin, they’re very vocal.  And not very nice, either.   

Moewrrrrrrr 

Coming Soon . . .

The Gods of Hollywood seem to have been smiling on me lately.  Thanks to Homomojo, I should soon be in possession of a screener of this movie, and will be posting a review ASAP both here and at HM:

Website: Skullandbonesmovie

First impression: the baseball bat is a bit much.  But(t) we’ll see. 

I’ve also been contacted by someone associated with the new Online Star Trek movie: Gods & Monsters, which I posted the preview for the other day.  Check back soon, when I’ll have a couple of semi-exclusive behind the scenes pics thanks to Gregg Nestor, whose house was one location used for some of the filming! 

Website: ST: Of Gods & Men

Gay Stereotypes

Found this guy on youtube.  This is perspective we don’t hear often–although I don’t know that I’d use his phrase, “normal acting.” 

Anyone who says William Sledd is a “soon-to-be-drag-queen, I’m sure,” can’t be all wrong. 

I’d really be interested in some opinions on this very different video. 

Throwing Out The Baby With The Bathwater

While watching NBC’s Bionic Woman last night (I know, hell of a way to start a post, right?), Isaiah Washington’s “faggot” debacle a few months ago resurfaced in my mind.  And I have to tell you that I think we, “the gays,” may have gone a bit overboard.  Crucified him for the cause, if you will.  We were so damned MAD, we are so damned TIRED of hearing it, that we collectively snapped.  While I think that’s an understandable initial reaction, I don’t think it can be sustained indefinitely without applying some perspective. 

Yes, it was a hurtful thing to say, and an apology was deserved.  And while some would say it was dragged out of him, Mr. Washington did indeed apologize and attempt to make public amends.  Some would also say he “didn’t mean his apology.”  I fail to see how that matters one whit.  You can never honestly tell if someone “means” or “feels” something about any issue, you can only tell if you feel that they meant it.  So it’s completely subjective, and I think a bit hypocritical to completely disregard any apology.  No matter how you or I may “feel” about it.   

I’d like you to take a moment and try to remember what it was like when you were still in the closet.  I know that at least some of you must’ve been like me: overcompensating for your inner queer by being the most vocally antigay person in the room.  The whole, “methinks he doth protest too much” persona, you know?  Not that such behavior was right in any way–because it most certainly wasn’t–but I just want you to try and remember the mindset of the heteros you were trying so very hard to fit in with.  Knowing how much I was willing to denigrate myself in order to be one of the (straight) guys, I find it hard to hold a grudge against someone who really is one of them.  His remarks are, at least from my remembered experience, quite usual for his age group. 

Yes, we should work to change that.  But making people like Isaiah Washington realize how hurtful such things are is going to take effort, time, and repeated examples.  Which is why his apology should be accepted, even embraced by the gay community, with the knowledge that it may be half-hearted, or it may not–we can’t know for sure–but at least it’s a baby step in the right direction.  Ten years ago there wouldn’t have been an apology at all.  Instead, the gay community–myself included–tried to crucify the man.  When he repeated the word “faggot” at an awards ceremony we all went apeshit, even though it was a completely different circumstance than the on-set fight that started the whole thing.