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Northeastern Pennsylvania Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pocono area
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Old 07-24-2010, 04:21 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,616 posts, read 77,608,316 times
Reputation: 19101

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I've just returned from a 5-mile run that has my blood boiling with sheer anger. Once again I have been the victim of having very vulgar anti-gay slurs screamed at me from a passing vehicle as I traversed Main Street in Avoca. All I could do was scream "F-you" at the top of my lungs back at them as I flipped them the bird. This comes on the heels of also having someone throw a bottle at me from a passing vehicle while also shouting an anti-gay slur at me a few years ago as I ran through Dupont, a scum bag about my age (yet unknown to me) lifting up his shirt and taunting me in Avoca, and keeping pace with a passing school bus filled with Pittston Area high school students roughly five years ago, also along Main Street in Avoca, several of whom yelled very hurtful things out of their windows at me.

As more and more people I know here in Greater Pittston continue to "out" themselves now that they have relocated to more socially progressive pastures (two more in just the past 10 days alone) I would like to know how what is quickly becoming NEPA's massive LGBT epicenter can be so cruel and narrow-minded towards minorities. For a town that voted roughly 70% for President Obama in 2008 I am immensely disappointed by the lack of class so many here have by not only perpetrating such actions but by NOT standing up AGAINST those responsible in a show of solidarity for us. I can now safely say that I'm sorry I didn't come onto this forum sooner in a show of solidarity for Sheena12 who also experienced some similar close-minded mentality in West Pittston.

People seriously wonder why Greater Pittston remains the cess pool of NEPA?

 
Old 07-24-2010, 04:26 PM
 
3,756 posts, read 9,553,359 times
Reputation: 1088
Sorry Paul, there should be a zero tolerance for any of this. It is hard for me to understand as I never encountered this growing up or even now. Truly, for the first time going south recently, I passed signs on 81 for Pittston. It just shows how narrow minded people are today. Yet, it does not excuse in any way, shape for form this type of behavior. So sorry that you had to experience in Pittston.

Just curious, I had been following the thread with Sheena 12 while I was out of town. What is going on in Pittston folks???

BlueD
 
Old 07-24-2010, 04:42 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,616 posts, read 77,608,316 times
Reputation: 19101
Quote:
Originally Posted by BLUEDIAMOND64 View Post
Sorry Paul, there should be a zero tolerance for any of this. It is hard for me to understand as I never encountered this growing up or even now. Truly, for the first time going south recently, I passed signs on 81 for Pittston. It just shows how narrow minded people are today. Yet, it does not excuse in any way, shape for form this type of behavior. So sorry that you had to experience in Pittston.

Just curious, I had been following the thread with Sheena 12 while I was out of town. What is going on in Pittston folks???

BlueD
Thanks, Blue! I'm cooling off a bit now (in more ways than one), but to say I was irate is an understatement. I may project a persona of someone who wouldn't hurt a fly, but when I think of how being bullied for the way I am has hurt my self-esteem over the years and caused me to miss out on so many opportunities others have taken for granted I just lose it.

It's not like I was running down Main Street in Avoca with a tiara and a tutu on singing "Let's Get Physical" while swigging Evian with my pinky out. I was just running in a sweat-soaked King's College t-shirt, sneakers, and swim trunks while carrying a bottle of Vitamin Water. I wasn't hurting anyone. I'm actually the "butch" type of gay dude because growing up in a town like Pittston makes you fearful of being viewed as anything but "normal." It's like Stepford or Wisteria Lane---only not wealthy.

What is going on with the Pittston folks, you ask? It's a VERY cliquey town, and you're either "in" or you "don't belong." It's as simple as that. If you've been embraced as "one of the pack", then it's a place you'll love as you buy the Sunday Dispatch weekly to see yourself (or your neighbors) in the paper, hit up the tomato festival, and feel genuinely loved by as you rub elbows in places like LaFratte's, Agolino's, or even Perkins with people you know and are cherished by. If people get the sense that there's a reason why you are some sort of "outlier", then you're thrown to the wolves. I once had such grandiose visions of moving back to the region someday and making a concerted effort to restore horribly declining communities such as Pittston. While in high school I even paid for a short-lived web site I launched called "Pittston 2020", which was going to be a starting point for a grass-roots effort for me to rally the townspeople to take our town back from the depths of despair. Now? I'm gone for good, and many of my friends who haven't moved out say they plan to as soon as possible. It's a shame, too, since the town can NOT survive if we all move out.

Who do I feel most sorry for? My peers who are just coming out now, in their 20s, after years of living with such a burden because they don't want to be subjected to the same harassment I had to endure before I moved to the South to an area where people do NOT scream slurs at you as you run. We don't want people to roll out the red carpet for us. We don't want to be embraced. I don't even expect people to approve same-sex marriage for that matter. I just want to be able to go out for a run in my hometown WITHOUT being bullied. It's disgusting, and, sadly, TOLERATED.
 
Old 07-24-2010, 06:30 PM
 
3,756 posts, read 9,553,359 times
Reputation: 1088
Wow, that is all I can say. I know what it is like in some social circles in NEPA. It is either you are in or you are out. Very very clickish. You know, maybe you should just pray for them because they have the issues, not you. I know first hand what it is like to be bullied. Even though it happened many years ago, I never forgot it. I never saw this in the areas that I was raised. I have to say it was more of "melting pot" but everyone accepted people regardless of their sexual preferences, skin color or religious beliefs. My hat goes off to you..
 
Old 07-24-2010, 08:11 PM
 
Location: NEPA
2,009 posts, read 3,780,889 times
Reputation: 1960
That's pretty bad, i don't understand the hatred against the gay community, it just boggles my mind.
 
Old 07-24-2010, 09:57 PM
 
Location: The New England part of Ohio
24,112 posts, read 32,468,260 times
Reputation: 68336
Sorry that happened to you Paul. It is an odd area - charming and inviting with a dark underbelly.
I still like Cooper's better in Pittston - foods the same but at least you are on the water!
 
Old 07-24-2010, 10:07 PM
 
783 posts, read 2,022,164 times
Reputation: 657
How did anyone know that you're gay? Were you running around in booty shorts and high heels?

Also, what does voting for Obama have to do with this? Democrats are known to be the biggest bigots around. If you think Democrats are free of discriminatory thoughts then you are massively delusional.
 
Old 07-25-2010, 12:12 AM
 
Location: The New England part of Ohio
24,112 posts, read 32,468,260 times
Reputation: 68336
YOU KNOW WHAT? it is you who sounds delusional. Not Paul . Not me. There really is something very wrong in that area. I actually think that my clean cut husband and brother in law were mistaken for
gays when we looked at that house in West Pittston. I kind of figured that out on my own. I do not think that all of NEPA is homophobic, bigoted or racist. But the Pittstons seem to be somewhat conservative. ... or something. Actually the last time we dined in Wilkes Barre was at Thai Thai and it is apparent to me that several families were gay. After all that has happened I have decided to stick more closely to Wilkes Barre and perhaps the surrounding cities of Kingston, Forty Fort. Paul please do not write off the area. Consider this whole thing "A Call to Change", Please do not abandon ship. I am hoping that you run for political office.

~ Sheena Listen to Interpol from the antics album 2005 this song that brilliantly contrasts small towns and cities. I will find the name and post.
 
Old 07-25-2010, 12:18 AM
 
Location: The New England part of Ohio
24,112 posts, read 32,468,260 times
Reputation: 68336
The song is caked "Next Exit" Paul. Listen on Youtube.
 
Old 07-25-2010, 04:39 AM
 
Location: Sheeptown, USA
3,236 posts, read 6,658,243 times
Reputation: 907
Quote:
Originally Posted by Love2Golf09 View Post
How did anyone know that you're gay? Were you running around in booty shorts and high heels?

Also, what does voting for Obama have to do with this? Democrats are known to be the biggest bigots around. If you think Democrats are free of discriminatory thoughts then you are massively delusional.
I agree. It's not like he's running around with a sign stating he's gay. How would anyone know or care?

Obama and most Democrats are some of the most intolerant, bigots in the country. Obama and his cronies hate this country and are very discriminatory.
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