This state's attitude toward lgbt equality

[Boozy]

I'm glad she is bi ...I welcome her dating girls.

Don't get too excited. If I had a nickel for every girl that age who claims to be "bi".... Especially if they live in progressive cities where it's considered hip. Like Portland.

I'm not saying she is, not saying she isn't. But brief experimental phases aren't at all uncommon for teenagers.

[Greenday]

Bi-curious might be a better phrase for it.

[jackfaire]

Don't get too excited. If I had a nickel for every girl that age who claims to be "bi".... Especially if they live in progressive cities where it's considered hip. Like Portland.

Which actually backfires on those of us that are bi and live in the area.

[telecom_goddess]

The way I see it, even if it's a stage of curiosity and she never dates a girl again she's still bi, just on the lower end of the spectrum and leaning more towards straight.

Hard to say right now which direction she's going. But the main thing is she knows I support it.

[smileyeagle1021]

I'd revise what telecom said by saying, it doesn't really matter where she falls on the kinsey scale, love is love and as long as everyone is of age and consenting, it's beautiful.

[LadyBarbossa]

I'm straight, but extremely supportive of the LGBT movement. (Would 'movement' be the correct term?) I have both gay and bi friends that I love dearly, and this past weekend I went to my very first drag show at the local gay bar. One of the best times of my life, I swear

My parents, however . . . ugh. Dad's a former baptist preacher and not quite fundie level judgmental, so I'm not even gonna talk about that. I don't talk to him about gay people or my gay friends/coworkers because I know both of us will get mad. I almost lost my temper with Mom the other week. I was supposed to take a trip to the beach with my nephew (19 years old, ADULT), my friend Billy from work, and Billy's brother Jo. Jo is gay, possibly bi, I'm not sure. I only know he has a teenager from a previous relationship but is primarily interested in men now. They all ended up cancelling, which pissed me off somewhat, but mom almost made me lose it completely.

"Well, I kind of feel better, I wasn't really comfortable with nephew going if Jo was going to be there, anyways. Can he even behave himself around young men? Can he keep his noodle in his pants?" HER EXACT WORDS. She thinks just because Jo is gay that he's automatically gonna want to bend over every male in sight and stick it in. Shit like THAT is probably why Jo isn't very vocal about his orientation in the first place, I only found out recently and I was shocked. You don't really see a whole lot of gay rednecks, especially not here in the Bible belt. Then there was the bachelorette party last Saturday and the infamous drag show. She doesn't understand why I'd go to a place like that and kept asking me if it was strictly for men or for women and couldn't grasp how it could be a gay bar if so many straight people go there all the time. Also, even though it was a girl's night out, somehow our friend Justin ended up with us. He's a fellow coworker, 20 years old, flaming, and proud. Sometimes he crossdresses and he spent the better part of his night wearing his 5 inch heels just for fun. I showed her a picture of me with him and another friend and she goes "He's so cute, what's he doing, messing around being gay?"

[Nyoibo]

"Well, I kind of feel better, I wasn't really comfortable with nephew going if Jo was going to be there, anyways. Can he even behave himself around young men? Can he keep his noodle in his pants?" HER EXACT WORDS. She thinks just because Jo is gay that he's automatically gonna want to bend over every male in sight and stick it in.

My response to that is usually "Well can you control yourself around (insert whichever gender is appropriate) ?"

[Eisa]

What the fuck. Yes because liking the same sex means you have uncontrollable sex urges. -facepalm-



And now I get to deal with the repercussions of my sister having told her boyfriend I'm bisexual without my permission. Since he's threatening to be an utter douche and out me to my parents. Along with other various threats I don't want to get into.

Yeah, thanks, dude. Now I get to either lie and prevaricate, or tell them and hope I'm not disowned. Fuck off.

[smileyeagle1021]

My response to that is usually "Well can you control yourself around (insert whichever gender is appropriate) ?"

My guess is that she is probably the type of person who believes all men are incapable of controlling themselves, that it is only the fear of prison that keeps us from raping random strangers in the middle of the street.

I will admit, there have been times I have fantasized about bending a really hawt guy on the bus over the seat and just going wild (hey, it's a long and boring bus ride ) but the odds of me even considering actually doing that is zero.

[blas87]

Outside of the internet, I hide a lot of how conservative I am in fear of being ambushed by Governor Walker haters who blame him for their flat tires, and because I'm conservative, I must be a gay hater and some rich, religious nut. None of those three are true at all.

[smileyeagle1021]

You know, there are many good reasons to not like Gov Walker... but some of the stuff I've seen him blamed for is ridicules.

[Kara_CS]

Geez I don't check Fratching often enough...

I'm a bit late to this party, and I think at this point everyone knows of my plight to be recognized and accepted for who I am... and Kansas is certainly one of the least GLBT-friendly states in the US (WBC makes its home here for a reason). I have looked into the process of having my info changed to "female" in this state, and it's ridiculously complicated. I'm surprised our current governor doesn't have us burned at the stake on the lawn of the capitol building, he's probably one of the most anti-GLBT leaders we've had in a LONG time.

So I sympathize. Every time I get brave and go somewhere new all prettied up, I'm all tense as I wait for someone to yell something at me or to be hit in the back of the head by something thrown at me. And so far, it's been a relief to not have experienced anything at all aside from the VERY occasional funny look from someone. I don't even have to pretty myself up, people can tell what I am just by looking at me the way I do my hair and the fact that my nails are often painted, and so forth. It's kind of messed up that I go somewhere expecting to wind up the victim of a hate crime and relieved to find it didn't happen.

The other part of the equation is that I know it will happen. Someday, I'm going to be confronted by some ignorant bigot and probably attacked. There might even be a picture of me all bloody in the hospital on one of those YouTube videos showing all the GLBT people who get assaulted every year. That I have accepted this as part of the process, rather than being determined to not let it happen. Not that I'll go down without a fight, but I shouldn't EXPECT to. There's a reason I carry my throwing knives in my purse at all times (in case of self defense, they are for stabbing and not throwing).

What's even more messed up, is that since I have completely and utterly let go and embraced my womanhood... I think my situation as far as how I'll encounter hate has been magnified by the fact that... I think I'm straight.

The problem is that, although my friends who accept me and only think of me as female now understand that it's totally normal... to people who can't see me that way... it makes me nothing more than a tranny AND gay (does that make me a double-fag?). I haven't seen it yet, but then again, I haven't exactly told many people other than very close friends who fully support me. I've always considered myself a lesbian. Not that I wasn't sometimes curious, but never enough to give the prospect of being with a man more than a passing thought. But, I've noticed, I get more.. fluttery, when man compliments me or buys me a drink. And last month, I let a man kiss me and it was the single most romantic and awesome kiss I've ever had in my entire life. There's a guy in the MMO I play with some coworkers, he flirts with me all the time in-game. After I added him on facebook, he went on and on about how sexy I am. I had to make sure he knew what I was, and he said I look like a girl to him, and I'm a beautiful (and hot ) girl, and he doesn't care. So... well we talk a lot in private. Nothing TOO steamy, but we do flirt and tease and I like it a LOT. He makes me smile. My guildies have caught on, and they're joking about taking up a collection to send me to Florida to see him. And I wouldnt' mind that at all, if it were possible.

I dunno. I do worry about how that's going to make things worse, when the hate starts. Because people don't understand. I mean, being transgender, whether you like men or women or BOTH is going to be wrong to SOMEONE out there. But, just like overcoming my fears and being true to myself, I'll be with whoever makes me happy and the hell with what everyone else thinks.

And when I'm prepared to deal with the consequences of giving my mother a massive coronary, I'll tell her I like boys.

[Mytical]

One of my female cousins come out, just about everybody in my family disowned her. Which how they hadn't known or guessed was beyond me. Yes she dated guys, but they were 'winners' (poor excuses for human beings). What consenting adults do, is between those consenting adults, and really not really the business of anybody else. *shrugs*

Now don't get me wrong, I support peoples right to say anything they want. No matter how stupid, ignorant, evil, vile, etc. Even when I disagree with it. As long as it stays in words, they have a right to say it, despite how much it may hurt somebody. Hate should not be met with hate, I find pity is much much better