It’s a weird flex, given the direction gay rights has been moving in the United States.
So much this
Lately I haven’t been seeing enough pride flags locally (I presume) because of all the crap going on against us queer folk, so this year I’ve decked my cars out in pride flags. They’re like a goddamned parade float everywhere I go.
I’ve got a 3ftx5ft pride flag on the bag of my CRV along with 2 11inx17in flags rolled in the back windows, and on my RIO I’ve got just 2 11inx17in flags in the back windows.
People point, people have made comments at stop lights and stores, some supportive and some not so much but I REFUSE to go quietly into that good night. My presence in known, my presence is felt, and by god I’m gonna ensure that others in the community who are too afraid to speak up know that they aren’t alone.
What’s the power of a flag? It’s something to unite people under, it brings people together, it tells people as far as the eye can see that there is a community there for them.
You aren’t alone. Don’t live in fear of being yourself. Be you, in the open, and you’ll realize that you aren’t as alone as you feared.
I like what youre doing, and it makes me happy to know people still care, but how are you not constantly afraid of having a target on your back?
Reason I’m asking is because you say this is on your cars which would make them extremely identifiable to Flock cameras. All it takes is one piece of shit cop putting your plate in the hotlist database and you’ll be getting stopped at every flock camera in the country for no reason, or possibly even falsely arrested.
I live in a fairly red area, I’m used to having a target on my back for being me. In fact the first week I had the flags on my cars I had multiple people tailgating me while I was on the freeway (so close that it looked like they were in my backseat), laying on their horns at stoplights, screaming out of their windows, brake checking me, etc.
Do it afraid, be brave. Have the hope that your actions will help others and work for that better tomorrow where nobody has to be afraid.
My city is rolling out flock cameras in my area to a massive amount of push back already, and I guess you could say that the more us average folk get wrongfully caught in their nets the more public push back they get.
Years ago I had a friend who immigrated from Tunisia and she had never been to the US, I was one of her only American friends so we talked a lot about the differences in our culture to help her cope with culture shock. One day she tells me she met a gay man for the first time and she was excited about it. I asked her to clarify like, the first gay american man? And she told me no the first gay person she had EVER met because being gay was illegal in Tunisia. My autistic ass laughed and told her it was impossible she had definitely met gay people before and just didn’t know it - granted my laughing response was rude but it was just so, strange? Surprising? It caught me off guard. The idea that making it illegal meant no one was gay being in this brilliant woman’s head just really seemed out of the blue to my equally ignorant about her culture American mind
My Tunisian family member (my wife’s ex-husband’s estranged second wife) is still shocked by things that I take for granted. And she’s been in the US for 36 years.
The other day she was telling us about the time she found out one of her kids teachers was Jewish and was frightened about how badly they would treat her child and how bad they were in general. Only to be surprised that it was a normal interaction with another person when she finally met them. Sure it was 15 years ago, but still surprising she had clung that kind of mentality for so long… especially since she knows I’m technically Jewish though I have no real connection to it.
On a tangent, I don’t think I’ve ever met an openly gay Indian either and I work and friends with lots of Indians. There is a lady in my club who seems to be lesbian but she never explicitly said if she is.
I understand in Muslim society being gay is forbidden, but I would have thought that India would be more open on lgbt because most are Hindu and with a huge portions of other religions. I’m curious if lgbt is taboo in India despite the historical and continued presence of hijra community there.
I know 2 gay Tunisians, but they are only gay when they are inside hotels aimed at European visitors.
This seemed to be a thing for a lot of (whatever sexuality) locals. Dating and drinking in hotels, away from the judgemental eyes of religious extremists.
This comment gives me flashbacks to when my dad said he “knew a couple” where {specific sexual information} occurred.
The kind of detail you are unlikely to know if you weren’t present.
Your dad sounds like a dark horse, as long as your mother was consenting / out of the picture then more power to him.
I met the guys near Monastir a couple of weeks before daesh militants AK’d the beach I had been on. About ten years later I ended up working with them on a project in southern France. They’re still together and a great pair of boys to this day.
Very punk
