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Gay Jokes 4 Progress!

March 3, 2021
by: Jay Collinwood

David Marcus in The Federalist writes a keen essay on the more subtle harms that cancel culture (yes, it’s a thing) can do to our shared cultural achievements. It’s worth a read. He hits on a few points that are missing almost entirely from the public debate on censorship in general, and makes one very important observation about comedy: “by laughing about…stereotypes [we can] diffus[e] them.” This is a concept as old as comedy itself, and it has a special place in the history of gay rights and gay acceptance generally, which we should not want to be erased.

In the Nexflix era people who were born in the late 90’s and early 00’s (how is that even possible?) got to discover TV shows and movies older millennials and Gen Xers grew up with. Friends is the most celebrated example, since it had a “moment” in 2017 and 2018. But its resurgence was also met with controversy over the *gasp* problematic jokes, especially insensitive gay jokes that peppered its decade-long run.

The 90’s were a weird time. Pants were too big, hair was out of control, and most of the country thought gay relationships (not marriage, relationships) should be illegal. in 1996 Congress sought “to express moral disapproval of homosexuality” by passing the Defense of Marriage Act by 342-67 in the House and 85-14 in the Senate. It’s shocking today to even consider this. And in the midst of a national controversy about gay people and civil rights shows like Friends and Will and Grace flourished.

Tensions about cultural norms were high back then as they are now. No one had satisfactory answers about how much the government should be involved in dictating gay rights. Republicans and democrats took the position that the world would end if their preferred policies weren’t enacted. And while the “very political” class was engaged in blood sport, the rest of us did what normal people do: we laughed about it. In an environment where your elected leaders overwhelmingly disapprove of you, just being a part of the culture was liberating and life-affirming. Sure, a fair critique is that we were treated as two-dimensional objects and not three-dimensional subjects, but we couldn’t even discuss this “problem” if we had been left as zero-dimensional non-entities.

“Doesn’t it make sense to place ourselves in the continuum of what came before us and what will come after?” Marcus asks. Of course it does. No society springs fully-formed into perfection. We are, after all, flawed human beings, not demigods. Erasing the culture of the past deprives subsequent generations of guideposts to measure the achievements of a more just society. Acceptance comes as a result of changing hearts not by diktats or censorship that force the changing of minds. If we were to declare a new starting point, a year before which all cultural content would be obliterated, how would we know if we were progressing at all? It would be left to the whims of those who think they are our betters to tell us.

Not every positive change in society needs to be the result of some dour theory cooked up in a faculty lounge or in a Queer Theory seminar. As Aristophanes said “comedy too can sometimes discern what is right.”

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Filed Under: Constitutional Issues, Gay America, Gay Conservatives (Homocons), Gay Culture, Gay Marriage, Gay Politics, News and Politics

Bearded Harpy Seeks Higher Office

February 16, 2021
by: Jay Collinwood

PA state rep Brian Sims is an icon — in his own warped mind. The openly gay lawmaker has made a name for himself over the years, but not for anything he should be proud of.  He’s best known for offering his social media followers $100 to dox underage girls who had the temerity to pray peacefully in front of a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood. He also “welcomed” then-Vice President Mike Pence to Pennsylvania with this charming photograph.

Now, the bearded harpy of Center City wants a promotion: to Lt. Governor of the Commonwealth.

In one way he might be an upgrade. The current Lt. Governor, John Fetterman, pulled a gun on an unarmed black jogger in 2013 while he was mayor of a small town. Just imagine if a republican had done that.

But back to Sims. It took Sims five months to offer an apology to the young girls, even as his actions were being investigated by the police and were denounced by his legislative colleagues.

This isn’t the only incident that has called Sims’ judgement (and stability) into question. This past August, local police investigated Sims for threatening a fellow pro-gay lawmaker over an LGBT Bill of Rights that Sims was angry about. It’s unclear what caused the unhinged rant, but the issue was later dropped (because he’s a democrat, I’m sure).

Visible gay representation has been a cornerstone of achieving equality in this country. But Brian Sims is not the kind of politician, let alone human being, we want associated with us. Let’s hope the voters of Pennsylvania see him as the nasty piece of work he is.

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Filed Under: Abortion, aborting gays, Gay Politics, Gays & religion

Introducing Jay Collinwood

February 4, 2021
by: Jay Collinwood

Admiral Stockdale (google him, Zennials!) famously asked, “Who am I? Why am I here?” They’re good questions.

So who am I? What kind of blogging will I be doing? I’ve been around politics all my life. In my BabyGay™days I was an activist and politico in Washington, D.C. working on Capitol Hill and for gay rights groups. Although my views have always been pro-liberty, pro-markets, and anti-communist it was easy to fall in line with DC groupthink, if only to get the free booze at cocktail parties. I hope to give the reader some perspectives that smash the accepted narratives that we’re bombarded with daily. No idea is too sacred to question vigorously, and disagreement will always be welcome.

I have a background in the western classics, a love of history, three cats, and a brilliant engineer husband of more than 12 years. These themes will probably show up in my writing, and you’ll hear a lot about history and the frame of reference it can bring to our modern (mis)fortunes. I can’t wait to get started! Thank you, Gay Patriot for this wonderful opportunity!

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Filed Under: Gay Politics, General

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