tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post8933808454576071299..comments2024-03-03T17:01:57.876-05:00Comments on Montreal Simon: The Gay Book Burners Strike AgainSimonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15309809679331128837noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-71285938476339129892009-06-18T00:02:19.332-04:002009-06-18T00:02:19.332-04:00Hi Niles...you know that's funny, I had the sa...Hi Niles...you know that's funny, I had the same thought. How on earth did that rube bigot ever find his way into a library? And what on earth would he want another book for when the Bible is his guide to EVERYTHING?<br />The good news is that I've seen YouTubes of other citizens of that town standing up to defend the library and in the end the bigots didn't get their way.So that's encouraging.<br />Still your last sentence is so true. Unfortunately these views are more prevalent among older people, so many gay people in senior homes are forced to go back into the closet again or live out their last days in fear.<br />It's something I really must blog about more, to make sure they've fixed up the problem...and installed the sauna and jacuzzi...before I arrive... :)Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15309809679331128837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-52642592766749128852009-06-17T23:53:17.758-04:002009-06-17T23:53:17.758-04:00Hi Scott...I can't remember if I read Hesse at...Hi Scott...I can't remember if I read Hesse at school...too many parties and too much pool. :)<br />But I do know what it feels like to be "not normal" and why I relate to all the oppressed. It's the position of an outsider...who's there but not really...since everything in the culture tells you you don't belong.<br />Nowadays I quite enjoy my outsider status. I think it gives me a sensitivity and sense of perspective I might not otherwise not have.<br />But when I was younger it was harder, and I used to wonder how it would feel like to BELONG.<br />Now I realize I never will so I just try to enjoy it and laugh in the face of it all.<br />Although with this kind of crude bigotry bombarding me all the time sometimes it's hard... :)Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15309809679331128837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-66616077473982461462009-06-17T23:43:55.717-04:002009-06-17T23:43:55.717-04:00Hi Torontonian...gosh I don't know about that ...Hi Torontonian...gosh I don't know about that guy. Between the speech and the beard he resembles the Christian version of Mullah Omar.<br />I don't know the United States that well so I don't know where these people come from...and I'm afraid to find out. :)<br />All I know is that since my mum is a good Christian, so I know what they look like, if anybody comes up and declares themselves Christians my answer would be prove it.<br />Because these fanatics aren't Christians by any stretch of the imagination...Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15309809679331128837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-6596578490368928392009-06-17T14:08:07.876-04:002009-06-17T14:08:07.876-04:00And how did these fragile old religious white men ...And how did these fragile old religious white men manage to totter into the young readers' area to be 'exposed' to the heinous radiation being emitted by this toxic tome? They were looking for a copy of "Viagra Niagara - Sex tours for Senior Straights on the Prowl" and took a left turn (left. always a bad idea) at Albequerque?<br /><br />If nothing else, they've ensured the readership of the book will go up.<br /><br />It's always nice to know that staight anglo white men of faith should be in charge of everything because they're the tough-minded, rational actors of the race. Until they're not the centre of attention and need to be rescued from horrible assaults on their emotional security and quivering psyches, hands being patted the entire time.<br /><br />And then they wonder why gay seniors would like a retirement lodge that is gay-only.Nileshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04096047389811381098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-44524388395476013902009-06-17T11:38:58.565-04:002009-06-17T11:38:58.565-04:00Goodness, what an uphill battle we have against su...Goodness, what an uphill battle we have against such harmful ignorance. I was lucky to be assigned to read Herman Hesse's Demian in my first college English class when I was still 17.<br /><br />Our teacher drew parallels for us between the protagonist's quest for self-realization and the struggle of gays to overcome the societal pressures towards heterosexuality that ultimately conflict with who they are. The book really clarified for me how being gay was simply another way in which someone can find themselves "not normal". Hesse illustrated how everybody has SOMETHING "not normal" about them, so it makes no sense whatsoever to cast anyone out from a full and equal place in society. <br /><br />I trust I would have reached a similar conclusion some other way eventually; but at the same time I am very glad to have avoided growing up in a society where the powers that be choose to burn the books they are too afraid to understand.Scott in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10702697033209213403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-29623773172731500052009-06-17T01:03:09.082-04:002009-06-17T01:03:09.082-04:00What slays me is that they style themselves the Ch...What slays me is that they style themselves the Christian Civil . . .<br /><br />Didn't know that Christians had the monopoly or exclusive franchise on Civil Rights! Unless . . .there's rights for pagans, idolaters, non-born-again-Christians, Muslims, Jews, infidels and assorted sundry others.<br /><br />So . . .they're saying their civil rights are more important than the laws of the land and the right of Free Speech?<br /><br />And that guy at the microphone reminds me of a failed evangelist gone to pot!<br /><br />What a gathering of strange Wisconsin cheese-heads. <br /><br />Better there than here. <br /><br />Were they also excited about Harry Potter and DaVinci Code? Don't they understand the concept of fiction or don't they understand the use of allegory and imagery in Biblical literature? And they profess to be Christian?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com