'Day Without a Gay'| Los Angeles Times
Gay-rights activists are encouraging people to “call in gay” to work today to demonstrate how integral gay people are to American society.
“We are here, and we are not second-class citizens, and we deserve the same rights as everyone else,” said Julio Perez, a restaurant manager in Chicago who is planning to take the day off.
The event is among scores of grass-roots activities — including protests, boycotts and marches — that have sprung up in California and across the country since the passage of Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California, along with other anti-gay ballot initiatives in Arizona, Florida and Arkansas.
It was first proposed by Los Angeles Times columnist Joel Stein and is patterned after the 2006 "A Day Without a Mexican" work stoppage. After Stein wrote a Nov. 14 column proposing the idea (which he said he got from a friend), activists seized upon it and chose Dec. 10, which is International Human Rights Day. Sean Hetherington, a personal trainer and stand-up comedian who is among those coordinating the event, urged protesters to use the day to do volunteer work.
So....if you're bisexual, do you come in late or just not come back from lunch?
6 comments:
Depends if you want to marry a person of the same sex,the opposite,neither or both.
These kinds of things drive me nuts. I hate these kinds of stunts. If I did not already I would start supporting gay "marriage" just to not have to listen to these asinine ideas.
I don't think it's asinine, it just a way to try to shine a light on a gross injustice. It probably won't be that effective, because we've become so cynical and ironic and meta that any gesture gets deconstructed before it can even be understood. Meanwhile, the tyranny of the majority continues as those among us who claim to oppose that tyranny sniff dismissively at those trying to pry the boot off their throats.
If you're bi, you telecommute, logging into your computer, but watching Steve Wilkos and Ellen and Jerry Springer, only occasionally feeding the corporate computers something to appear to be working.
Okay. I'm cynical. But I still think it is silly.
Besides, it is just a weird, passive attempt at a protest. Calling in sick? C'mon. Show up and tell five people what's going on.
The whole Proposition 8 thing is a big honkin' deal. May as well act like.
Well, we were supposed to call in gay and then go volunteer to do good works. I, however, just went to work. Not because I don't support my brothers and sisters in. . .gaydom?. . .but because I need the money.
And I like my job. And my boss is totally supportive.
The only way this would be truly effective is if all the gay folks in DC and in the evangelical churches actually did it. THAT would be newsworthy!
But this is quieter and less flamboyant than a parade, and it keeps our issues in the public spotlight.
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