I realize that this post is a bit late, today is quite literally my last chance to write it. Fall semester starts tomorrow morning, I'm probably not going to have ANY free time whatsoever until December (possibly, maybe) so I may as well get it out of my head while it's still somewhat fresh. As many of you may have heard recently, the Duggars are in some potential legal doo-doo, due to (see what I did there...) a series of robo-calls that were made to residents of Fayetteville Arkansas and the surrounding communities concerning a proposed anti-discrimination ordinance. The ordinance, which officially goes into effect in less than 30 days, would protect people living/working/shopping/studying within town boundaires from employment/housing/service/medical/etc discrimination based on race/sex/sexual orientation/national origin/disability/gender/gender identity (yes, there IS a difference between sex and gender.) The religious right-wingers in the Washington County area had their collective knickers in a twist because this VERY GENERAL ordinance includes protective measures for LGBT folks:
They're perfectly fine with screwing over black people and the handicapped, as long as they don't have to acknowledge 'them queers' as human beings. Fucking typical, man...
Ordinance 119 was, as far as I can tell, proposed earlier this year in the Fayettevile City Council. For some as-of-yet unknown reason, the local chapters of the Southern Baptist Convention decided that they didn't know what was going on (in the age of fucking Face-Book? Unlikely...) and that they were purposely being left out. Even if that were true in the least, they did a massive call-around to their conservative base and started bussing people into the Town Hall, many of whom wearing (you're gonna love this) PURPLE SHIRTS. I just love the irony of a bunch of homophobes gathering in the same place wearing one of the traditionally "gayest" colors that there is.
The meeting itself was utterly MASSIVE (I'm in the front row of picture #10, wearing a black hat) and at present the longest running City Council meeting in Fayetteville's entire history: 10+ hours! That was just over ten hours of people getting up behind a single podium, one by one, talking about wether or not they were for or against the ordinance in question or their proposed amendments. They let anyone who wanted to talk do so, and I DO MEAN ANYONE: Even the handful of Bible-bumping nutters that threatened Mayor Jordan and the members of Council with "God's judgement." I wish I were joking, but a few of the purple-shirts ACTUALLY did this! They got up in front of a room full of complete strangers, started going off about some Bible-babble and then whipped out the fire-and-brimstone bullshit. I love the Democratic process, don't get me wrong, but fucking-hell man... Some people just shouldn't talk, like, AT ALL.
Those of us in red shirts, people who are FOR the ordinance, not only greatly outnumbered the opposition, but I honestly think we had a lot more qualified experts in their respective fields on our side, too: Not just members of clergy (Two from the local Episcopal church and one Unitarian Universalist) but also a couple of licensed psychologists, the main administrator of the local Rape Crisis Center, the Omni Center, the North West Arkansas Center for Equality, and literally HUNDREDS OF RED-SHIRTS showed up to show their support for the ordinance. Though I should point out, unfortunately, that despite the record attendance not everyone was given the opportunity to speak at the meeting. There were just too many people there.
See, folks? The South isn't COMPLETELY backward. I love Fayetteville ^_^
Even I got up and spoke briefly, but I think I stuttered a lot (it's so easy to rehearse everything you want to say in your own head, then when it's YOUR TURN at the podium you freeze up like a sheep in Scotland.) Basically, the only NON-religious argument that the opposition was trying to use revolved around putting the ordinance up for a public vote in November. That was it, everything else was regurgitated nonsense their Pastors probably told them to say or what I can only aptly describe as grossly exaggerated "child-rape fantasies" about what will happen if transgender people are allowed to use public restrooms. Oi-fucking-vey, THAT'S IT? THAT'S ALL YOU'VE GOT?!?!? I had to say something about it, especially since they were still conjuring images of "State-licensed-child-rape-by-trannies" well AFTER the Rape Crisis Center administrator laid out the hard facts (with sources cited) about sexual assault and who likely perpetrators ACTUALLY tend to be (oh hey, what'd'y'know, many of them are CLERGY!!!) Nope, child-rape. And Jesus. That was pretty much all they went on about for 10+ HOURS!
The Council eventually voted to pass the ordinance 6-2, the meeting ended at 3:30-ish in the morning: Mayor Jordan was especially moved by the overwhelming testimony of residents of Fayetteville.
There are FCC complaints being filed against the Duggars for the robo-calls, which are illegal in Fayetteville without the necessary permits. But with THIS now coming to the surface, that will be the least of their worries. I personally will be drafting a letter to The Learning Channel voicing my concern and outrage that they endorse this kind of bigoted bullshit, yeah they'll probably ignore me but I feel like I have to do SOMETHING. The right wingers have already started their jowell-waggling "this isn't over" tyrade, but then again, when AREN'T they upset about something?
I'll do my best to keep posted as often as my curent class schedule will permit me to: I don't want to make any promises that I might not be able to keep.
Just let me know when Round Two begins, I'm SO THERE!
They're perfectly fine with screwing over black people and the handicapped, as long as they don't have to acknowledge 'them queers' as human beings. Fucking typical, man...
Ordinance 119 was, as far as I can tell, proposed earlier this year in the Fayettevile City Council. For some as-of-yet unknown reason, the local chapters of the Southern Baptist Convention decided that they didn't know what was going on (in the age of fucking Face-Book? Unlikely...) and that they were purposely being left out. Even if that were true in the least, they did a massive call-around to their conservative base and started bussing people into the Town Hall, many of whom wearing (you're gonna love this) PURPLE SHIRTS. I just love the irony of a bunch of homophobes gathering in the same place wearing one of the traditionally "gayest" colors that there is.
The meeting itself was utterly MASSIVE (I'm in the front row of picture #10, wearing a black hat) and at present the longest running City Council meeting in Fayetteville's entire history: 10+ hours! That was just over ten hours of people getting up behind a single podium, one by one, talking about wether or not they were for or against the ordinance in question or their proposed amendments. They let anyone who wanted to talk do so, and I DO MEAN ANYONE: Even the handful of Bible-bumping nutters that threatened Mayor Jordan and the members of Council with "God's judgement." I wish I were joking, but a few of the purple-shirts ACTUALLY did this! They got up in front of a room full of complete strangers, started going off about some Bible-babble and then whipped out the fire-and-brimstone bullshit. I love the Democratic process, don't get me wrong, but fucking-hell man... Some people just shouldn't talk, like, AT ALL.
To include THIS guy, whom prior to the meeting went around the lobby of the town hall and started calling people "pervert," "homo," "sinner," he even (according to witnesses) approached a lesbian couple and started rattling off some particularly hateful bullshit to THEM AND THEIR SON. He was over-heard saying that LGBT folks don't have any rights under the Constitution, and I had to stop him as soon as the words "most Veterans would agree" dribbled out of his disgusting mouth: I showed him my dog-tags and told him I wasn't about to be dragged into his nonsense, he proceeded to threaten me with hellfire & brimstone, then called me a "traitor against America" and an "enemy of the State." Coming from YOU, you flag-fapping bastard, I take that as a compliment. I never got his name, but I'm pretty sure I heard him identify himself as a member of some Baptist church here in Fayetteville, also working for Veteran's Memorial... something, I didn't catch the last bit.
Those of us in red shirts, people who are FOR the ordinance, not only greatly outnumbered the opposition, but I honestly think we had a lot more qualified experts in their respective fields on our side, too: Not just members of clergy (Two from the local Episcopal church and one Unitarian Universalist) but also a couple of licensed psychologists, the main administrator of the local Rape Crisis Center, the Omni Center, the North West Arkansas Center for Equality, and literally HUNDREDS OF RED-SHIRTS showed up to show their support for the ordinance. Though I should point out, unfortunately, that despite the record attendance not everyone was given the opportunity to speak at the meeting. There were just too many people there.
See, folks? The South isn't COMPLETELY backward. I love Fayetteville ^_^
Even I got up and spoke briefly, but I think I stuttered a lot (it's so easy to rehearse everything you want to say in your own head, then when it's YOUR TURN at the podium you freeze up like a sheep in Scotland.) Basically, the only NON-religious argument that the opposition was trying to use revolved around putting the ordinance up for a public vote in November. That was it, everything else was regurgitated nonsense their Pastors probably told them to say or what I can only aptly describe as grossly exaggerated "child-rape fantasies" about what will happen if transgender people are allowed to use public restrooms. Oi-fucking-vey, THAT'S IT? THAT'S ALL YOU'VE GOT?!?!? I had to say something about it, especially since they were still conjuring images of "State-licensed-child-rape-by-trannies" well AFTER the Rape Crisis Center administrator laid out the hard facts (with sources cited) about sexual assault and who likely perpetrators ACTUALLY tend to be (oh hey, what'd'y'know, many of them are CLERGY!!!) Nope, child-rape. And Jesus. That was pretty much all they went on about for 10+ HOURS!
The Council eventually voted to pass the ordinance 6-2, the meeting ended at 3:30-ish in the morning: Mayor Jordan was especially moved by the overwhelming testimony of residents of Fayetteville.
There are FCC complaints being filed against the Duggars for the robo-calls, which are illegal in Fayetteville without the necessary permits. But with THIS now coming to the surface, that will be the least of their worries. I personally will be drafting a letter to The Learning Channel voicing my concern and outrage that they endorse this kind of bigoted bullshit, yeah they'll probably ignore me but I feel like I have to do SOMETHING. The right wingers have already started their jowell-waggling "this isn't over" tyrade, but then again, when AREN'T they upset about something?
I'll do my best to keep posted as often as my curent class schedule will permit me to: I don't want to make any promises that I might not be able to keep.
Just let me know when Round Two begins, I'm SO THERE!
I did a video about Fayetteville ordinance. I'm sure they'll try some dirty tricks in the book to get it overturned which will probably be a focus of the next City Elections
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFQJPJ_0LkQ&list=UUM5hz6xReLERxTDMFShIRAA&index=2