Homophobia Rears its Ugly Head in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yet Again (new home, middle school)

[Mr Yuk]

I'm actually surprised this thread has lasted this long. Especially since the OP's only intent in starting this thread was to blast the people of NE PA. He had to know that he wasn't exactly going to get a warm reception in response to another one of his "I moved to the big city, and now I see what uneducated backwards bigoted hicks you NE PA people are" posts. Between C-D and the Times-Tribune site, its getting old.

[greentown]

Originally Posted by go phillies

I'm actually surprised this thread has lasted this long. Especially since the OP's only intent in starting this thread was to blast the people of NE PA. He had to know that he wasn't exactly going to get a warm reception in response to another one of his "I moved to the big city, and now I see what uneducated backwards bigoted hicks you NE PA people are" posts. Between C-D and the Times-Tribune site, its getting old.

We haven't heard from him in a while, yet when I saw the title of the post, I automatically knew who the OP would be and exactly what would be said. Some things never change.

[DaCoach]

Originally Posted by greentown

We haven't heard from him in a while, yet when I saw the title of the post, I automatically knew who the OP would be and exactly what would be said. Some things never change.

I guess we just needed to be reminded AGAIN that we're uneducated hicks. "Rednecks" was used a lot too.

For the record...and for the guilty: Avoid "Anyways"

[Slammin' Scrannin']

Originally Posted by sues1

I don't want any part of gay pride parades, latino parades, mexican parades, none of it. You never see white pride parades, because if you did, latinos, mexicans would be yelling we're all racists. I wouldn't miss any of them if they all went away. Let's have a white pride and heterosexual parade in the middle of Scranton and see what happens.

What would a "white pride" parade even mean?

"White" is too ambiguous and too broad to actually mean anything. Why? Because our country is so overwhelmingly white (80%-- hundreds of millions of people), and because "white" encompasses so many disparate ethnic traditions. White people celebrate their individual ethnic heritages. We have an Irish Parade, Italian and Greek festivals, Lithuanian and Polish picnics, and so on. I go to every one of them. Who can pass up the food?

And yes, "white pride" parades would undoubtedly carry the stigma of racism precisely because (1) "white" is so meaningless a term and (2) hate groups celebrate this meaningless racial category of being "white." That said, if you're against Mexican parades then this position is categorically racist unless you're against any sort of ethnic parade.

Granted, "black" can be just as meaningless a racial category as "white." It can encompass the same great variety of different ethnicities. But due to our limited black population and our history of slavery and discrimination, the experience of being black in this country is more singular. So it makes sense to celebrate black history month and that sort of thing.

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by stevej64

You know what's wrong with this site?look up at the right hand corner,you get deleted get a few points SO WHAT.

[Magritte25]

LOL GP. That's the look I had on my face!

[KarenRice]

*shrugs*

Whatever.

[NYRangers 2008]

Originally Posted by Cha Ching

Horse****.

It's a way to sit in judgement of people they don't like and never even try to understand. Then they pat themselves on the back for doing the "Lord's work."

I let Christian ACTS speak for themselves. Just because one CALLS oneself a Christian does not make you one. I treat people the way I want to be treated. If a "Christian" gives me a superior, hypocritical attitude, they get it back.

I rarely meet anyone Christian who walks the walk and talks the talk. Usually they just act like they are God's representatives on earth, when the truth is that they are ambassadors of hate. When you dole out hostility, that has nothing to do with God. And you WILL receive it back. THAT is why liberals are sick of the crap you peddle. It's a false mantel that you wear so that you can continue to preach hate. We're sick of it.

It's not preaching hate, you're wrong. It seems to me the liberals aren't tolerant of anyone who disagrees with them. Look at the Perez Hilton fiasco and the Miss America pageant. That poor girl answered his silly question honestly and look at all the flak she got. Tolerant liberal, I think not. We're sick of the crap from the bleeding hearts. So, because I don't agree with something and believe that's it's wrong, I'm hateful? So untrue. I'm a Christian and proud of it and I know where my heart is, I don't need anyone to tell me otherwise. I don't think I'm superior to anyone, I just don't need this liberal propaganda constantly shoved down my throat and that I'm supposed to swallow it smoothly.

[NYRangers 2008]

Originally Posted by greentown

We haven't heard from him in a while, yet when I saw the title of the post, I automatically knew who the OP would be and exactly what would be said. Some things never change.

I know. This soap box preaching and victim mentality is getting old. We've heard this over and over from this person. He doesn't even live in this area anymore and he's worried about what's going on.

[SteelCityRising]

The problem is that these "redneck hicks" are attacking people like me for being WHO WE ARE. I don't "choose" to be gay. It is part of who I am. This is no different than attacking me for being African-American, having green eyes, or being left-handed. It's sheer lunacy to see so many of you people defending them. Would those of you defending the "Bible-thumpers" also defend Neo-Nazis, KKK members, etc.? After all, they are all spreading hatred, are they not? They're just "adhering to their belief system," are they not? What's the difference?

Go Phillies, sorry if you and some others are offended by my non-Doomer comments on the Scranton Times-Tribune web site, but I'm not hiding the way I feel any longer while biting my tongue about issues that have always irked me about the region. I'm tiring of being told I have to be tolerant of people who are unintelligent enough to still think being gay is something that is an unholy anomaly that is capable of being "cured" through intensive prayer when medical professionals (yes, college degree holders) all agree that those right-wing conversion camps do NOT work. Just a couple of weeks ago I saw this issue addressed on CNN for crying out loud. If these Bible-thumpers KNOW that they aren't going to successfully "convert" anyone or save any souls becuase you can't consciously change one's sexual orientation, then why cause so much heartache and anguish by trying? Why would you knowingly want to set yourself up for failure? I tried for YEARS to "convert" myself before finally giving up all hope, and you know what? I'm finally at peace now.

Why don't I start a new "I hate smokers" group and see how long that lasts? I really have a STRONG disdain for people who smoke in public areas, but you know what? I keep my feelings to myself and even have friends who smoke. Smokers, unlike gays, DO hurt people around them through second-hand smoke inhalation, and yet they seem to be much more widely-accepted than we are even though we hurt nobody at all. I could also start a new "I hate alcoholics" group in Scranton, where judging by the local newspapers 50% of the population is glued to corner bars on a nightly basis for lack of wanting to patronize the city's non-existent book stores, but once again alcoholics, who kill countless innocents each year by getting behind the wheel drunk are still more widely-accepted than we are.

Until we're given EQUAL CIVIL RIGHTS in this nation you're just going to have to put up with people like me and my "ilk" as we DEMAND change. I'm tiring of just sitting by and accepting the status quo of being treated like a second-class citizen, as are MANY of my peers. If you want us to go away, then give us same-sex civil unions, give us same-sex benefits in the workplace, give us protection from discrimination like every other oft-maligned minority group, give us solid footing on which to stand for us to visit one another in hospitals, file joint income tax returns, adopt children, etc., etc. Until these (and other) demands are met, you're always going to have a VERY angry LGBT community. These aren't unreasonable "demands," either, and it's ludicrous that in states like here in Virginia conservative heterosexuals were allowed to dictate in a ballot measure what sorts of equal rights we should or should not be entitled to (in this case NOT!)