the list of now

In the post I wrote yesterday, I discussed recent comments Gordon had made regarding the Tiverton High School GSA and also mentioned how other officials and the school’s superintendent had publicly voiced their disapproval of his remarks and support for the group.  The growing chorus of responses to his comments is a very good thing and several people had called out how inappropriate and misguided his attitude was.

I wanted to point out one response in particular that was excellent. Today, in a Letter to the Editor on the Patch website ,where Gordon’s initial inflammatory comment appeared, an alumni of Tiverton High, Sarah Jey Whitehead went a step further.  In her letter she completely spells out why his statements and disapproval aren’t just out of line, but actual homophobic harassment and bullying in that they single out students who identify as LBTQ and their supporters in an attempt to silence their visible identities in school.   She explains to him the difference between sex and sexuality, and the identity politics that go along with that.  My favorite part is where she very clearly and eloquently breaks down the heteronormative culture of the average high school:

High school itself could essentially be conceived of as one big Straight Club that everyone is, by default, expected to join. From what I have heard, the Tiverton GSA is responding constructively and respectfully to that dynamic, by initiating a dialogue that acknowledges sexualities that are often overlooked or condemned.

We are talking about protecting and supporting young people’s senses of self here- and in equating this agenda with delinquency, lewdness, and cruelty, I hope you understand that you are bullying too.

And, on that note, an Anti-Bullying Alliance sounds like a great idea for another new organization- but changing the current title of the GSA would not only deny their right to name the social issue immediately at hand for them, but it in effect would imply that there is something wrong with discussing that issue. Seeing that the Straight Club that is High School culture can persist as it has without debate around the issue of sexuality, it would appear that sexuality is not the issue here, but gay people, and those who choose to ally with them.

Word, Sarah Jey Whitehead.  Perfectly put.

It is important that this appeared on the local Patch website, not only as a direct rebuttal to Gordon’s latest hi-jinks, but as a primer for the entire town and community.  Although I was happy to see how many comments support the GSA, the town also has several vocal comment-trolls that don’t see any problem privileging their opinions and religious beliefs about gay people over the safety of students and their right to not be bullied or told to lie and stay silent.  And her letter is the first that doesn’t just say “Shame on you” to Gordon, but distinctly spells out the reasons why his attitude is fucked up and calls him out for the true plain homophobia at the root of his supposed concern to taxpayer dollars.  Please go read the entire letter because it’s excellent.

And Ms. Whitehead if you read this, thank you for bringing the verbal smackdown to a debate that really needed your voice. Well done.

Tomorrow is the Day of Silence.  It is an annual day of action started by GLSEN in which students and teachers at schools across the country plan protests, events and take a day-long vow of silence to represent the bullying and silencing of LGBTQ youth.

Obviously the necessity of a day like this personally resonates with me, as someone who stayed closeted and afraid all through highschool. With the recent suicides of several gay youth, all stemming from situations of bullying and harassment, it would seem like any reasonable human being could understand this issue.  Right?

I mean, it would take quite a bigoted, ignorant asshat to go out of their way to condemn or pick on a group of people working towards acceptance and safer schools for all students, wouldn’t it?

Well here he is, meet Rhode Island State Rep. Dan Gordon.

Here’s the short version of what happened.  A senior at Tiverton High School started the school’s very first Gay-Straight Alliance.  The local Patch website ran a great little story about her and the new group. I read it and was really proud and excited for the students.  I thought about how grateful I would have been to have that when I was in high school.  I thought about what a difference this would probably make in the lives of youth in this community.

Well. Representative Gordon had some other thoughts.  This one he posted in the comments on the blog:

“And this is why if I have anything to say about it, Tiverton will lose school funding to local charter schools. It doesn’t matter if gay or straight, if sexual meet-up groups are being promoted in our schools rather than improving test scores, that school is failing. Is it really more important for our children to get ‘sexed-up’, than learning advanced math?”

Since then he’s gone on local public radio to insist he’s not homophobic and defend himself. And it got worse, with him remarking that if students weren’t flaunting their sexuality, perhaps they wouldn’t be getting bullied.

I wonder if the words “ignorant gaybashing fuck” happened to get spraypainted onto Rep. Dan Gordon’s home, the perpetrator could use the excuse “Well.. if he wasn’t flaunting his homophobia, perhaps he wouldn’t have gotten singled out.”  (not likely. and I don’t plan to find out!)

But continue to flaunt, he does.  This dude is proud of picking on a group of students!!!

He has refused to apologize more than once, even though the local superintendent and other officials have stood by the group and condemned the comments.

And today, I visited the Patch site to see that he had sent in this gem:

Rep. Gordon:  School Officials Who Support GSA Add to Teen Delinquency

I mean… I don’t know what I’m more shocked about, that he’s still trying to talk his way out of this after everything he’s said or that anyone can still type with their head that far up their own ass.

So Mr. Gordon, if you can read this, here is your homework assignment for the Day of Silence and I will borrow a phrase that my darling partner likes to say -

Shut up and stop missing the point! 

If you want to tell this elected official your thoughts on his behavior, here is all his contact info:

email: rep-Gordon@rilin.state.ri.us

Providence Office:
State House
Room 323
Providence, RI 02903
Fax: (401) 222-6142

Portsmouth Office:
35 Alan Ave
Portsmouth, Rhode Island 02871
Phone: (401) 222-2259

If you are a student, teacher or youth-organizer taking part in an action tomorrow, I salute you and hope you have a very successful and empowering day tomorrow!

If you are not taking part in the Day of Silence, but you want to show your support for those who are, please speak out and spread the word that it’s happening.  I will be tweeting tomorrow about it with the hashtag #dayofsilence and tumblring stories about it all day.

Very happy to see the news that Congressman Jim Langevin has officially changed his position on Marriage Equality. Having supported Civil Unions in the past, he now recognizes that so-called “separate but equal” laws just don’t cut it. He is calling on Rhode Island’s General Assembly to pass the legislation that has recently been introduced. (I wrote about it here)

An excerpt from his op-ed piece:

… That difference struck me as fundamentally unjust, and I began to challenge the wisdom of creating separate categories of rights for certain groups of citizens. I began to see that civil unions fell short of the equality I believed that same-sex couples deserved.

As the debate about same-sex marriage continues in Rhode Island and in Washington, I have taken time to reflect carefully on my own position. Based on my own experiences and my firm belief that all Americans should be treated equally under the law, I am now convinced that affording full marriage equality rights to same-sex couples is the only fair and responsible approach for both Rhode Island and the nation. If our nation expects to provide equal protection to all, then our civic institutions must reflect that noble goal.

-  Jim Langevin, The Providence Journal, March 5, 2011

While this is great to read and I am excited and hopeful about the possibility of our little state making some progress in this arena, I am hoping that Congressman Langevin will take his new position seriously on a federal level as well and recognize how important it is that equal rights in marriage become recognized for all American citizens.  State level would be wonderful, but still not equal.  I look forward to seeing what Mr. Langevin says and does in Washington on this issue in the future.

This is a follow-up to my previous post on how the Governor of RI is an Asshat.

The protest was well attended and beautifully planned/designed.  There was no yelling or signs and although I understand how powerful large people in groups with anger can be… this was totally different.   Everyone was there because of the outrage over this veto, but it was peaceful and a little bit somber.  The crowd with the candles lined the walk up to the state house and there was an actual mock funeral procession up the walk and onto the stairs, accompanied by organ funeral music over a PA.  It was very visual and in that way, very powerful.

It’s important to note that this was not a protest planned by a particular organization or a coalition of organizations, as they often are.  This was a few citizens calling up to get a permit, and organizing all their friends and people in their immediate communities to actually DO something instead of sitting around and complaining.   They did it with no budget and within a very short amount of time.   That’s excellent and inspiring.  Proof that we can ALWAYS do something and sometimes that something ends up being very powerful and getting recognized locally by the people who can make changes.

There was coverage by local news.  The Providence Journal:

PROVIDENCE — About 150 protesters lit candles in the dark Thursday night and followed a black casket up the walk to the State House steps.
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Six pallbearers placed the coffin on the white marble steps, a seventh placed a wreath of white roses upon it, and Joe Roch, 29, of Providence turned to address the somber crowd.
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“We’re gathered here tonight out of a mutual sense of anger and frustration at Governor Carcieri’s recent veto of the domestic partners funeral bill” Roch said. He drew applause when he referred to comedian Stephen Colbert’s “shaming” Carcieri on national television.
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Although Carcieri killed the bill, Roch said, “Tonight we present you not with the mangled, defeated corpse of a dream deferred, but with a greater hunger for progress and equality for every man and woman in Rhode Island.”
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Lt. Gov. Elizabeth H. Roberts told those attending the protests that “almost every single member of the House and Senate supported the legislation,” called the governor’s veto “a cruel act” and promised the next session of the General Assembly would overturn the veto.

And on local news network WPRI:

It’s not a secret that Governor Donald Carcieri is a first-class AssHat.  He’s earned that title several times over, but his latest veto is extra extra on the douchenozzle, even for him.

Towleroad sums it up the best:

If you’re gay and you die in Rhode Island your domestic partner won’t be able to make funeral arrangements for you because Governor Donald Carcieri just vetoed a bill providing for that.

Why?

According to Carcieri, “This bill represents a disturbing trend over the past few years of the incremental erosion of the principles surrounding traditional marriage, which is not the preferred way to approach this issue. If the General Assembly believes it would like to address the issue of domestic partnerships, it should place the issue on the ballot and let the people of the state of Rhode Island decide.”

((This makes me so crazy, I don’t even have the WORDS))

I also want to note this bill affects ALL unmarried partners, straight or queer, but it was targeted for veto by the Governor as being part of the so-called larger Gay Agenda.  This bill passed in the RI assembly 63-1, and those are not all people who support same-sex marriage.  I think that several of them just realized that the ONLY reason NOT to pass this law would be to go out of your way to deny fair treatment and make a point about same-sex relationships.

Steven Colbert does a pretty good job commenting on how absurd this is with his own special brand of over-the-top satire:

Those of us in RI who are furious, are attending a  Vigil and Funeral Procession Against the Veto happening tonight at the Statehouse.    I’ve been trying to spread the word this week by word-of-mouth and other mediums, but hadn’t gotten around to posting about it.   So I’m hoping that this is not the first you’ve heard of it, if you are in RI.   (I’m fairly sure all 2 of my local readers are people I speak with often and have already heard).

Everyone else out there, I just wanted you to know this was happening!