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04/29/2008
You're outraged? Well we're out and we're raging!
Watch this "outrage" from conservative radio host Sean Casey and then we'll get back to you:
Oh, so you're "outraged"? Yea, well, we're outraged too. We're incredibly outraged that rather than look into the facts of the matter, you instead chose to irresponsibly regurgitate this press release that was issued by the notoriously anti-gay Christian Civic League of Maine. For if you had chosen to look at this conference for what it is and represented its mission accurately, you might have seen it as less a source of outrage and more a cure for the outrageous oversight that society shows towards issues affecting male relationships. And if you drop the machismo, Mr. Casey, you might see that it's an attempt to recognize that not everybody falls under the simplistic "dolls and pink are for girls, trucks and blue are for boys" model of child development!
This conference, working under the heading "Masculinity Identity and Culture," is an attempt for sons and their fathers or guardians to cut through stigma and get to the core of human interaction. This is something that is severely lacking in American culture, where emotional expression is often seen as belonging only to the vagina-possesing set, and loving warmth is widely viewed as emasculating. The Boys to Men conference is trying to eliminate the shame that can come from trying to fit yourself into a paradigm that doesn't match your truth. They are trying to lead boys and men to let their realities inform society, not let antiquated societal norms inform their realities!
Now, looking at the "Queer, Questioning, Quiet: Developing Gender Identity & Male Sexual Orientation" workshop specifically: That is only one of 18 workshops being offered during the conference! Others include topics like suicide prevention, grieving, young people and alcohol, Jewish/Christian relations, and community violence. The queer-centric workshop is for those who are in need of such a discussion! Just like the Jewish/Christian one might not have any resonance with an atheist, the queer one might not speak directly to a hetero father and son. But nevertheless, it is a real issue that DOES affect many dads and their progeny. Yet because the Boys To Men organization is hosting a frank discussion rather than a shaming session, "conversion camp," or faith-based lecture, the social conservatives are "outraged." And they are implying that Boys To Men is trying to "teach boys how to become homosexuals" simply because they are hosting this workshop. And they are doing so using the exact sort of brawny, aggressive, close-minded, faux-machismo that justifies the need for conferences like this one.
Well some of us don't want to view the gay son as the one who can just be pushed off the sidelines. Those of us who have experienced the all-too-common adolescent homosexual experience are the ones who really hold the cards of outrage, and we are frickin' furious. We are deeply outraged over a world that still turns a blind eye to crass insensitivity while disenfranchising those boys who embrace their own sweet sensitivity. We don't wanna see queer youth who are mocked because their interests lie in Proust rather than A-Rod. We are sick of homosexuality as being portrayed as a parental issue with some must deal rather than as one part of the spectrum of normal child rearing. So we thank groups like Boys To Men for trying to leading us to a place where one's sexual awakening will not lead them to both depression and a strained father-son bond.
And if you don't embrace the group's mission? THEN DON'T ATTEND! TAKE YOUR BOY HUNTING INSTEAD! And if you do choose that activity, we will even keep our own personal views regarding the teaching of kids to kill defenseless animals within our own head!
More on the Boys To Men Conference [B2M]
Your thoughts
jeremy are you vegan? i am, if you are too you rock, i dunno over the months i get the impression you are vegetarian or vegan, or atleast care about animals which is awesome.
Posted by: queerunity | Apr 29, 2008 2:02:45 PM
Strict vegetarian.
Posted by: G-A-Y | Apr 29, 2008 2:06:36 PM
I suspected when I saw your tofurkey graphic back during Thanksgiving. You rock! I have a tofurkey in my freezer now which I wanna make but my boyfriend is too lazy to wait 3 hours to defrost and bake that delicious soy bastard.
Posted by: queerunity | Apr 29, 2008 4:54:23 PM
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