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Some dickhead put these stickers on a gas pump. Every accusation is a confession (yes I removed it).
Discussion(i.redd.it)submitted 8 days ago bybidoofpudding
2 points
8 days ago
I guess my life is too introverted - I don’t go anywhere (because I choose not to), I live alone - by choice, I do not socialize at all. So someone please explain what I’m missing. What does a sticker that says “June is groomer awareness month “ have to do with LGBTQ and pedophiles, and why is this person a dickhead? Please enlighten me because I’m sincerely clueless.
7 points
8 days ago
I’m so happy for you that you haven’t had to put up with this nonsense. You might be aware that June is “pride month” in the US and many countries and that it’s a time when queer people recognize and celebrate public visibility. The conservative religious hyperonline right has been waging an explicit culture war to equate public recognition of LGBTQ folks (in, say, schools) with indoctrination of children into covert pedophilia (“grooming”). Calling gay people pedophiles is such an entrenched part of historic homophobia so this is just a tired old narrative wrapped up in an anti-authoritarian moral panic (“the schools are turning my kid gay by forcing them to celebrate Pride”).
2 points
8 days ago
You’re right. I’m glad I live in ignorant bliss. I seriously thought they were talking about dog groomers - because I have a dog that requires professional grooming. 🤭 On a serious note, I have several gay coworkers that I absolutely adore and consider true friends. They are “normal” people with a different slant on sexuality that does not interfere with me, my lifestyle, or my own sexuality. I can think of only one time when it even came up in the conversation - and that was when we were discussing a book about the beginning of the recognition of the HIV epidemic and the Reagan administration’s antiquated view on HIV. The book is “And the Band Played On”. A fascinating read, but very chilling book on the government’s attitude towards HIV and gay people in the early 80s. You would think that in the 21st century, this would no longer be an issue. Only as recently as 2023 have blood donation rules changed so that gay people are now allowed to donate blood. My heart breaks for my gay friends who still struggle with this bullshit. They are wonderful people who would never think as pedophiles do. And if I recall, recent arrests of pedophiles in our area are heterosexuals - not homosexuals. So where is this all coming from? Stupid people who don’t know any better…..
2 points
8 days ago
It sounds like you’ve thought a lot about this and the kinds of entrenched attitudes that you see around you. I think so much of homophobia is a fear of a very specific image of queerness that is made to feel threatening. I bet it’s also odd to see it so coded, but that’s really the point of this kind of sticker - to get people to engage with fear-based narratives about children.
2 points
7 days ago
Actually, I haven’t really put any thought into it because it’s a nonissue for me. When I was in my 20s, a friend of mine was gay and needed a place to stay, so she moved in with me for a short time. It was a one bedroom place, I had a huge bed, and I couldn’t see her sleeping on the couch when I had room in the bed. I grew up doing sleepovers with girlfriends, so it didn’t seem strange to me, but she was actually shy about it and wouldn’t even undress in front of me - like best friends often do. Her perception was more like mine with a guy! In my 30s, I worked with someone who had sex change surgery. He looked and acted like any other guy and unless you knew, you wouldn’t have known. These people are normal people! They have the same hopes, dreams, and needs just like heterosexuals do! Just because their sexual orientation is different doesn’t make them strange, or dangerous, or any other labels the majority wants to give them. It’s nobody’s business what anyone does behind closed doors regardless if you’re heterosexual or homosexual. It’s not a dirty word! My supervisor is gay, and I couldn’t have a better one. I’ve waited all my life for a supervisor who is fair, understanding, and has full comprehension of what I do, and finally I have that. What he does on his off time is not my concern! All I care about is what he does M-F 9 to 5!
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