The Tolerated Masses

pinch your nose discreetly when you walk by me

I never thought the word Tolerance was strong enough when it came to pushing for a larger collective acceptance of social deviates (most often labeled so because of the nearly seamless pervasion of standard and institutionalized "normal" behaviors and values in American society).

So when during the 10.3.08 VP Debate Sarah Palin emphasized her willingness to tolerate "adults in America choosing their partners [and] choosing relationships that they deem best for themselves" it really makes me queasy to imagine anyone would readily identify this as anything but a meaningless, prudent, homophobic, and conservative act of ignoring not only GLBTIQ culture at large but also ANYONE who deviates from Mainstream Americanism through their sex/gender/class/race/sexuality/profession et cetera. How nice to know I'm going to be tolerated like a screaming child in public or a rancid stench on the street.

I also think it's important to note her specifically locating her so-called tolerance to "adults" which, admittedly, could be a result of the context being in relation a question posed about Civil Rights/Gay Marriage; but it could also be indicative of a more worrisome sentiment: that Palin is ready to actively prevent queer youth from having programs and resources and ultimately choices and a voice and in their place promoting conservative Christian values that shame queer youth and criminalize their natural development.

Joe Biden more markedly addressed his Campaign's promise to "making sure that committed couples in a same-sex marriage are guaranteed the same constitutional benefits as it relates to their property rights, their rights of visitation, their rights to insurance, their rights of ownership as heterosexual couples do."

First of all, he made an error. He didn't mean Gay Marriage he meant civil rights as he later clarified he supports those over "redifining from a civil side what constitutes marriage." Regardless, he COMPLETELY fails to identify that Marriage is both a religious and social/political/economic institution rooted in patriarchy. He fails to address how promoting civil rights or even marriage to "committed" same sex couples still leaves the rest of queer culture unprotected, ignored, and compromised.

I don't support Gay Marriage because I don't support the larger institution of Marriage and the role GM has played in mainstreaming queer politics and encouraging an assimilationist attitude towards the very act of living life.

Behave exactly like us and we'll probably accept you and let you in to the party. We will tolerate you!

Piss on that. I happen to think (and I know I am not alone) that the Dems and the Reps are hardly different at all. They're just taking shits in different parts of America's back yard and desperately trying to uphold the same kind of racist, sexist, queerphobic fence. So I would recommend that all of us challenge, push, expand, and define this supposed Tolerance and demand a more inclusive notion of equality across the board. I enjoy the idea of flaunting our deviant behaviors while smartly and unshakingly demanding and promoting rights and liberation. I really don't want to preach in this blog but I'm hoping to at least ruminate, consider, and voice defiance when I feel assertive enough in my positions.

There's a lot of hype about Obama being the next great liberator: America's truely versatile and progressive hope. I'm really not convinced. I've been told I have anarchist leanings but at this point I am very unwilling to identify to any word or set of words (label) that can possibly distract people from having the courage and fortitude to consider the very possibility of change because of misunderstood or lost histories. That said, I am concerned that more and more of my progressive-minded friends can't seem to bring themselves to question the Obama-Biden campaign and the inevitable failure of the two-party political system. I'm sympathetic to the desperation behind this movement, too. After a gross number of years of international descent we're all looking for some kind of transcending hero and it's easy to indulge in that myth. To believe that one person or even one administration can initiate and actualize national and international change where each individual experiences a profound liberty. I certainly don't have all the answers; I have thousands of questions and more importantly an eagerness to engage in conversations that consider and question the issues I've put forth. So respond, call, write, rant, scream-sing-kiss openly and publically and without reservation.