Thread: Sochi Olympics and the Law against Gays in Russia +

(Deleted. L.) Colorado is not somewhere in Russia, it's in the US. Every American believes if something nasty happens in the "best country in the world", the same things occur much more frequent somewhere else, because the rest world is just a big hole in comparison with the US.

But gay rights, I believe, is one of the good things. One of the things which makes me proud to be American.

(Deleted. L.) Like George Carlin said: "I could never understand ethnic or national pride. Because to me, pride should be reserved for something you achieve or attain on your own, not something that happens by accident of birth. Being Irish isn’t a skill, it’s a fucking genetic accident. You wouldn’t say "I'm proud to be 5'11". I’m proud to have a predisposition for colon cancer." So why the fuck would you be proud to be Irish, or proud to be Italian, or American or anything?"

Being a gay is just "a fucking genetic accident", no more. You are proud of that? Congratulations!

Or maybe you are proud of protection of "gay rights"? Once again: there is no such thing as "gay rights". There are "human rights". If you say "gay rights", it implies that gays have some original/special rights (like disabled persons or mentally retarded; perhaps you are right, though). If you persist in saying that, I make up a conclusion that you have a totalitarian worldview ("minorities are better than majority"), although it must have hidden deeply in your mind.

Originally Posted by Paul G.

(Deleted. L.) Colorado is not somewhere in Russia, it's in the US. Every American believes if something nasty happens in the "best country in the world", the same things occur much more frequent somewhere else, because the rest world is just a big hole in comparison with the US.


(Deleted. L.) Like George Carlin said: "I could never understand ethnic or national pride. Because to me, pride should be reserved for something you achieve or attain on your own, not something that happens by accident of birth. Being Irish isn’t a skill, it’s a fucking genetic accident. You wouldn’t say "I'm proud to be 5'11". I’m proud to have a predisposition for colon cancer." So why the fuck would you be proud to be Irish, or proud to be Italian, or American or anything?"

Being a gay is just "a fucking genetic accident", no more. You are proud of that? Congratulations!

Or maybe you are proud of protection of "gay rights"? Once again: there is no such thing as "gay rights". There are "human rights". If you say "gay rights", it implies that gays have some original/special rights (like disabled persons or mentally retarded; perhaps you are right, though). If you persist in saying that, I make up a conclusion that you have a totalitarian worldview ("minorities are better than majority"), although it must have hidden deeply in your mind.

All of the above are lies, twisting the truth, distortion. What is here? Self-deception, confusion or "Don't bother me with facts!"?

Carlin on gays: "Leave the f... people alone for Christ sake!"

Originally Posted by Paul G.

Or maybe you are proud of protection of "gay rights"? Once again: there is no such thing as "gay rights". There are "human rights". If you say "gay rights", it implies that gays have some original/special rights (like disabled persons or mentally retarded; perhaps you are right, though). If you persist in saying that, I make up a conclusion that you have a totalitarian worldview ("minorities are better than majority"), although it must have hidden deeply in your mind.

You have a point there. That's just one example but those special interest groups on the left, often want special rights and feel they deserve advantages because they're so 'oppressed.' The mod can censor stuff she doesn't agree with but it doesn't change the truth.

Originally Posted by Paul G.

You wouldn’t say "I'm proud to be 5'11". I’m proud to have a predisposition for colon cancer." So why the fuck would you be proud to be Irish, or proud to be Italian, or American or anything?"
Being a gay is just "a fucking genetic accident", no more. You are proud of that? Congratulations!

I can't find the photo now, but a few months ago I saw a picture of a Russian gay activist carrying a sign with the following slogan:

Я не горжусь тем, что я гей -- я горжусь тем, что не стыжусь.

(I'm quoting from memory; the wording may have been slightly different, but it was close to this.)

Anyway, my point is that "Gay Pride" (or "Irish Pride", or "Black Pride", or "Jewish Pride") originated as defensive reactions against other people's prejudice:




So, "Gay Pride" makes sense to the extent that an individual is surrounded by people who say "You ought to be ashamed!" But I would certainly agree that, as Other People's Prejudice diminishes, the "need" for events expressing "I'm Proud to be [fill-in-the-blank]" becomes less obvious. So minorities may lose interest in having special parades -- or, in some cases, these parades cease being political demonstrations and become Mardi-Gras-style events.

P.S. By the way -- it should be noted that, contrary to popular belief, "No Irish Need Apply" signs were probably quite rare in US history, and were mainly found in neighborhoods where Irish-American Catholics lived next door to British-American Protestants. Which is to say that Swedish-American Protestants and Italian-American Catholics had no particular prejudice against their Irish neighbors; anti-Irish hostility, where it existed, was mostly an obsession of certain US Protestants who had (recently) immigrated from the British Isles. (And the prejudice went in the other direction, too -- a lot of Irish-American Catholics hated British-American Protestants, but weren't hostile towards German-American Protestants.)