Prop 8

[batskeets]

If you know me, you probably know that I'm not easily offended by many things. I'm not often bothered by stereotypes, because I recognize them for what they are, and I also recognize that some stereotypes exist for a reason. Some people take themselves too seriously, and some people look for insults when the intent is just not there.

Being half-Chinese has made me sensitive to discrimination, however. I can recall instances where I went shopping with my mother, and she was quite literally stared at in the grocery store, by sheltered East Coast people who acted like they'd never seen an Asian in their lives. It was far from being a direct act of hatred, but it was still unsettling.

A co-worker of mine was victim of a hate crime earlier in the week. Thankfully, they chose to attack her car instead of her person, so nobody was physically injured, but the circumstances indicate that it was clearly about her race. And this happened in Portland, a city that seems to almost define itself by its progressive and tolerant views. If we're so progressive, then we should know that a good person does not deserve to be put down, or treated like a freak show because of how they look, how they speak, or how they live.

With these thoughts having already been in my mind over the past few days, this short clip seems fitting:

Regardless of how you might feel about alternative lifestyles, discrimination is never right, and our country has a pretty ugly past when it comes to discrimination. I don't presume to tell people how to live, and it's not the law's job to do that, either. Legislating morality with measures like Prop 8 is a HUGE waste of time, when there are far more pressing matters to be dealt with than who marries whom.

I'm sure my California-dwelling friends are smart and reasonable enough to already know this, but it bears repeating. :)

Comments

[veiravx.livejournal.com]

1) amen.

2) that icon is awesome.


Proposition 8 makes me so angry I cannot put it into words.

[virgoqueen7.livejournal.com]

Wow I can't believe there was a hate crime in Portland!!!!! WTF???

[skeets.livejournal.com]

I know! I suppose it's naive to think that it doesn't happen, but it's still hard to picture it happening *here*.

On the up side, the rest of us at the office have taken up a collection to help her get the car cleaned up and fixed. That made me happy :)

[virgoqueen7.livejournal.com]

Well that's awesome. At least we know that even if crappy things can still happen in Portland, that there are enough people in this city who still truly care.

[bellybalt.livejournal.com]

A couple years before I got here, someone's house was burned down because they were gay.

So it does happen, especially by people whose families have lived in Oregon for generations and remember how Portland "used to be."

[virgoqueen7.livejournal.com]

Wow seriously? It still blows my mind even if I know its still out there.

[bellybalt.livejournal.com]

When I was a little kid, I was crying in the store and this nice old man came up to me and said, "Now be good, or we'll send you back to Vietnam!" My Mom was flabbergasted. He said it without malice or meanness, he really thought he was doing a nice thing.