From: bbeer@milton.u.washington.edu (Bob Beer)
Newsgroups: soc.motss,talk.politics.misc,ca.politics
Subject: Re: Fear of Success (was Re: Oregon poll)
Date: 13 Oct 92 01:04:28 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

>
># Seriously, the OCA scares the daylights out of me, too.  Remember, I
># not only live in the same state but the same city as Hardwick (as in
># vs. Bowers :-( ).  We've had our fair share of gay bashings, murders, and
># other assorted hate crimes, and the thought of them being "officially
># sanctioned" makes me want to run for the hills.
># 
># #Mike Drayton      mdrayton@sr.hp.com       Hewlett-Packard Co.
>#  Mike Reaser, Hewlett-Packard N. Amer. Response Center - Atlanta
>
>How does Measure 9, by prohibiting the state from promoting 
>homosexuality, sanction violent attacks on homosexuals?
>
>There are real savages out there to watch for (and it's not just
>homosexuals that have to worry about neo-Nazi skinheads), but it's
>not at all clear that Measure 9 has anything to do with that problem,
>and there's certainly no alliance between the skinheads and OCA.

There might be no official collaboration between the OCA and the skinheads
or Nazis, but you can sure bet that a lot of the skinheads and Nazis are
all for the goals of the OCA.  People already weakened by one attack are
an easier target for an attack from another side.  Even though I don't
believe that President Bush really believes that gays should be evicted 
from their homes and fired from their jobs with no legal recourse, don't
groups like the OCA (and skinheads and neo-Nazis for that matter) get en-
couragement from his statements against gays and lesbians and his tacit
support of them through his sucking up to the religious right?  

The facts are that anti-gay violence is up in Oregon.  Two people burned
to death because of a firebombing.  There will be a memorial for those
people and other peaceful protests this Friday, Oct. 16.  Groups are
leaving from Seattle and I imagine other cities within driving distance.  
Be there if you can.  

Many folks also have gotten the idea that it is now okay to be openly anti-
gay (maybe a blessing since they can at least be called on it that way) in
Oregon, encouraged by the OCA.  A friend of my housemate was buying a ticket
to a movie in a smaller town in Oregon, and he was wearing a "No on 9" 
button.  The guy behind the window gave him his tickets and said "Here's your
tickets, faggot."  Our friend picked up a bench and threw it through the 
window at him.  The police were there and there was quite a scene.  While it
isn't the way I might choose, the message was clear, that he was not going to
stand there and take such crap.

We need to recognize the threats where they are, and defend ourselves against 
them.  We also need to make sure that we are out not only to those who are
"cool" but also to those who seem hostile.  A  person who thinks of gays
as "faggots, cocksuckers, dykes" is successfully dehumanizing them in his
/her mind.  If someone is respecting you and doesn't know you are gay, make
sure that person knows, because when a situation comes up where he/she might
just go along and laugh at an aids joke, or not defend anti-gay slurs, 
along with the idea of "gay" will be an image of a friend as well. We need to
have a face.  If every one of us who is silent at a gay slur or worries about
"what will someone think" will make sure that every self-confident homophobe
(an oxymoron, I know...) knows one of their friends is not living up to their
false assumptions, groups like the OCA will have a much harder time in finding
folks who will swallow their propaganda.

 
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