Category Archives: Politics

Gender and Sexuality, Politics

Homophobia: I’m not the enemy

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Today, Pam reminded her readers that today is International Day Against Homophobia. Thanks to this reminder, I felt it important that I not let such a day pass by without some sort of comment.

Homophobia is one of those unfortunate things that all of us wish would go away. It’s a shame that in 2007, people still have to worry about whether they could lose their job if their boss finds out they’re gay. It’s terrible that same sex couples still have to worry about their legal status and the protections offered to their relationship, things that heterosexual couples take for granted every day. It’s wearying to think that we have to listen to paranoid people attempt to raise animosity towards us by making alarming references to the dreaded “homosexual agenda” and “special priveleges.” It’s annoying to listen to these same people make accusations about “recruiting attempts” (which I’m convinced is little more than projection on their part).

I think the one thing that makes all of this more bearable for me is the realization that homophobia is not about me or other gay people at all. Homophobia is actually merely a manifestation of a greater problem: Some people’s need to have something to fear and attack as “the enemy.” If people didn’t have gay people to blame for the ills of society, they’d merely have to look for something else. They’d have to find some new danger to rally against, because it’s that perceived danger and fear of it that such people need to galvanize their will and draw their strength from. Without it, I suspect most of them would be lost.

I am not the homophobes’ enemy. I’m merely the screen they have chosen to project their own inner demons upon. Their real enemy lives within themselves. And as I keep that in mind, it enables me to deal with the issue of homophobia from a completely different mindset. It enables me to fight the consequences of homophobia — such as legislative discrimination — while understanding that the underlying issue isn’t about me — or even homosexuality — at all. And for me, that realization is liberating.

Memories, Politics

Remembering my own “letter writing” days

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In my previous post, I encouraged people who supported the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act to contact their Congressmen directly. That got me to thinking about my own experiences of contacting my Congressman. To be honest, I can’t say as I blame people who choose not to do that, given my experiences.

Back in 2001, I subscribed to the ACLU’s political action mailing list. Every so often (not quite once a week), I’d receive a note from them talking about some legislation that had come up and encouraged me to contact my representatives to voice my opinion. They even offered a service on their website where I could put in where I lived, and they would prepare a boilerplate message that I could edit (I usually didn’t) and then submit to them. Their site would then email or fax it to the appropriate representatives based on my home address. It was all quite handy, and allowed me to do something without putting a lot of effort into it. (What can I say? I’m lazy.)

For the most part, I’d never hear another thing about it. Well, at least that was the case with my one Senator and the House member that represented my district. However, my other senator (or more likely, someone in his office) always made a point of sending me back a reply letter. That particular senator was none other than the recently ousted Rick Santorum.

Anyone who knows anything about Rick Santorum (and if you don’t know anything about him, you must live even further under the rock than I do) shouldn’t be surprised that the letter was invariably a nicely phrased missive to say, “Thanks for writing, but I’m going to do the exact opposite of what you want.” This isn’t entirely surprising, as it’s a hazard of being a liberally minded individual who has the misfortune of being “represented” by a conservative — and insane, as more recent events have shown — senator. However, the experience was rather demoralizing for me. After receiving the third or fourth such letter, I began to wonder why I bothered even writing my senator. After all, it was clear that my little letters weren’t going to change his mind. So I eventually gave up. And I haven’t written a letter to any representative since.

Today, I sit here thinking about that. I find myself wondering if it’s time to give it another try. After all, I’m now in a different state, and I could stand to get a little more involved in such things. Though if I do decide to do it again, I think I may actually try writing my letters for myself. One of the things I struggled with over my experiences with Senator Santorum was that I didn’t feel I could complain too much about his obvious boilerplate response that practically ignored my concerns when I didn’t even take the time to express those concerns in my own word. So that’s something I feel I must address if I ever give the letter-writing process another try.

Politics

Great intentions that deserve a better implementation

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Checking my email today, I ran across the following forward that a friend sent me:

Please take a minute and sign petition and pass on.

It could make such a difference to so many women.

A mastectomy is when a woman’s breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards.

Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure.

Let’s give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

Mastectomy Bill in Congress

It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important… please take the time and do it really quick!

Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill – Important legislation for all women

Please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times. If you’re receiving this, it’s because I think you will take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who will do the same.

There’s a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It’s about eliminating the “drive-through mastectomy” where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on. PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below. You need not give more than your name and zip code number.

http://www.lifetime tv.com/breastcan cer/petition/ signpetition. php

This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends and family, and on behalf of all women, THANKS.

Now, being the skeptical person that I am, the first I did was check it out over at Snopes. As it turns out, this is one of those cases where the forward is not only valid, but is not out of date. Apparently, this piece of legislation has been popping up every couple years, only to die in some subcommittee. And it’s shown up in the current session of Congress, this time in the form of H.R. 119. For those who are interested, I would encourage you to check it out.

However, like the folks over at Snopes, I would encourage you to take a different route than signing an online petition. If you’d like to see this legislation pass, write your representatives in Congress directly and tell them so. Tell them that you are aware of H.R. 119 and that as your representative, you’d like them to give it their full support. After all, sending a personal missive to the folks you voted for is far more direct than being just another name on a petition.

Of course, before doing so, I’d also encourage you to research the whole topic quite closely. It seems that at least one organization that fights for adavancements in breast cancer research and treatment is not a fan. You might want to consider their arguments even if you end up disagreeing with them and supporting the bill anyway.