Not a single gay person in this county

[Tom Petty]

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

 

[SoCalScribe]

That was an interesting read, thanks.

 

[Tom Petty]

you bet.

 

[Mark2010]

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.

 

[Tom Petty]

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.

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.

 

[Batman]

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?

But the longer I stayed in Franklin County, the more I realized we're all to blame for this -- gay and straight, religious and secular. We're not quick enough to call out anti-gay hate speech, too ready to tolerate people who are different, to hold them at a comfortable distance, rather than understanding and embracing them. And, in the gay community, we're too shy about being who we are, especially if we find ourselves in seemingly hostile or unwelcoming territory.

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?

 

[Tom Petty]

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.

 

[Ace]

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.

 

[zagoshe]

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 **** other men in the ass" badge on their shirts with pride.....

 

[Uncle.Ruckus]

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 **** other men in the ass" badge on their shirts with pride.....

 

[KYSportsWriter]

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.

 

[Boom_70]

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."

 

[Batman]

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."

Surprised there wasn't a banjo player plucking away across the street to provide a soundtrack and a sweaty old woman fanning herself on the porch next to him to complete the effect.

 

[Boom_70]

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."

Surprised there wasn't a banjo player plucking away across the street to provide a soundtrack and a sweaty old woman fanning herself on the porch next to him to complete the effect.

Yup that to and maybe throw in a brick court house and a pick up truck with gun rack and rebel flag license plate.

 

[pressboxer]

Why do I get the feeling that someone in Hollywood will soon have a screenplay about a guy from a small Mississippi town moving to San Francisco, leaving the folks back home wondering is he or isn't he?

Working title: Don't Ask, Don't Tell

 

[Mark2010]

Why do I get the feeling that someone in Hollywood will soon have a screenplay about a guy from a small Mississippi town moving to San Francisco, leaving the folks back home wondering is he or isn't he?

Working title: Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Because that's what the Hollywood cesspool is and does. Go find the most recent perversion and portray it in such a way that the naive masses find sympathetic or normal.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Why do I get the feeling that someone in Hollywood will soon have a screenplay about a guy from a small Mississippi town moving to San Francisco, leaving the folks back home wondering is he or isn't he?

Working title: Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Because that's what the Hollywood cesspool is and does. Go find the most recent perversion and portray it in such a way that the naive masses find sympathetic or normal.

The theory that a God made you is proof there is no god.

 

[Mark2010]

Not as far-fetched as the theory that God somehow made people gay.

 

[JakeandElwood]

Why do I get the feeling that someone in Hollywood will soon have a screenplay about a guy from a small Mississippi town moving to San Francisco, leaving the folks back home wondering is he or isn't he?

Working title: Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Because that's what the Hollywood cesspool is and does. Go find the most recent perversion and portray it in such a way that the naive masses find sympathetic or normal.

So they're making a movie about your life next?

 

[pressboxer]

I see it as a romcom