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Not a single gay person in this county

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Tom Petty, Mar 25, 2013.

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  1. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty New Member

    A pretty damn good read, btw:

    "Finding the first gay couple in Franklin County was the trickiest. On our first day there, a Saturday in early January, Ancil and I struck out in about a dozen interviews. People told us either there weren't gay people here, that there were but they didn't know them -- or that they thought people looked gay but weren't sure about the facts of the matter.
    With our options dwindling and the rainy, gray skies getting darker by the minute, we resorted to a bit of gay stereotyping. When we saw a hair salon in Meadville that was open on a Saturday (most businesses close by noon), we decided to give it a try. (I know, I know. It's trite and offensive. But we were getting desperate.)"

    http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/24/opinion/sutter-franklin-county-mississippi-lgbt/index.html
     
  2. SoCalScribe

    SoCalScribe Member

    That was an interesting read, thanks.
     
  3. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty New Member

    you bet.
     
  4. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Whatever. Sounds like the author had never set foot in rural Mississippi before and was there just to try to make some sort of point. Well, he found what he was looking for, so hopefully he left happy. I doubt anyone in the town cares much one way or the other.

    I mean, c'mon, if you live in Franklin County, Mississippi, it's not like you're going to up and start a "gay pride" march. You live your life but why do so in such a way as to cause trouble for yourself and anyone else? If being noticed over that is a big deal to someone, I suspect they'd have enough sense to get up and move somewhere else. Say, San Francisco.
     
  5. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty New Member

    so, you leave a heavily leaning bigoted post based upon "sounds like?"
    some things never change, mark. you hate you some blackie, some brownie and some gays, don't you? keep right on hatin' champ.
    btw, have you ever been to mississippi? and if so, that sure puts you a long, long way away from where you've put in time the past 15 or so years ... but then again, according to you, you've pretty much been and worked everywhere, haven't you? i guess we'll just take you at your word that you've worked in all 50 states and then some.

    EDIT: and i doubt you own the attention span to have read the entire piece.
     
  6. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Once again, if you need to find an example of racism and bigotry, Mississippi is your go-to guy.
    Maybe it was the point, but the reporter seemed to be trying awfully hard to find a problem where there necessarily wasn't one. Like he brought his own biases to the table and was determined to find a narrative for them.
    Racism and bigtory must've been everywhere in Franklin County because that's what he had always been taught to believe. It couldn't possibly be a small community where there were lots of open secrets no one talks about. Instead, since no one was talking about their gay lifestyle or flying rainbow flags, that's evidence they're being persecuted. The fact "hours pass" before anyone mentions a 50-year-old murder whose perpetrator died two years ago (as if it's something people would talk about 24/7 until the end of time) is obvious evidence of racial bigotry.

    And WTF does this paragraph even mean?

    He wants tolerance, but only on his terms? If someone is OK with him as a person, willing to live and let live and even consider him a friend, but doesn't approve of the gay lifestyle then that's not good enough? Until we all sing kum-bah-yah around a bonfire we're not making progress?
    What makes him the ultimate arbiter of what's an acceptable level of tolerance?
     
  7. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty New Member

    well, thanks for at least reading the piece before posting your review, batman ... in all sincerity.
    you didn't like it? great. at least you knew why.
     
  8. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    I liked the article. Very descriptive and kind of guerrilla funny.

    He captured the South well. It's not "live and let live." It's "we don't want to see or hear about any faggy stuff."

    Back in the day, Southerners were often much more polite to African-Americans than Northerners, as long as those folks knew their place and didn't get uppity and whatnot.
     
  9. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member

    I think this is indeed a great example of racism and bigotry and intolerance -- an elitist lefty looks down his nose at people from rural Mississippi who he deems not as enlightened as the people in New York and San Francisco just because they don't wear the "we fuck other men in the ass" badge on their shirts with pride.....
     
  10. Uncle.Ruckus

    Uncle.Ruckus Guest

     
  11. KYSportsWriter

    KYSportsWriter Well-Known Member

    Good grief, Zag and Mark. Can you be any more bigoted?

    Read the first part of the story, and found it pretty damn good. Will have to finish it later.
     
  12. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Good article. Like that they included the southern story staples of train tracks and saw mills:

    "I didn't think anything of it until we sat on a bench on Main Street in Bude, near the train tracks, a sawmill churning in the distance, two dudes eating lunch together out in the sun."
     
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