But we are not talking about Cuba's AIDS policies -- we are talking about Cuba's persecution of queers.
> When is it proper for the comfortable and privileged in an
aggressor nation to criticize the nation they are attacking?
To me, it is proper to criticize those who persecute queers. The fact that my government, over which I have limited control, does not always act in the manner that I and others who agree with me would wish, does not negate my ability as a queer to criticize the oppression of my queer brethren. Were I in control of the government or a supporter of its persecutions, I would be a hypocrite. But I am not a hypocrtite since I work to change the policies of my government.
Also, since you are so fond of hypotheticals: can a queer from a country that does not oppress Cuba criticize Cuba's persecution of queers? Isn't any and all such criticism dangerous since no matter where it originates, once it is out there, it can be latched onto by the US government as justification for its actions toward Cuba?
Also, if I believe that sexual self-determination and freedom of bodily control are human rights, wouldn't I be a hypocrite if I criticized only some countries and not others when they violated these rights?
> Practically all of what they wrote about the massacres
committed by the West was true, which is not what can be said in
the present case about Cuba.
But it can be truthfully said that Cuba persecuted queers, and it is this persecution that is the focus of my criticism.
> The sins of your neighbor are as much your responsibility as your
own sins.
Queer persecution is queer persecution no matter who commits it, whether on the left or the right. I have no idea why you want to give people a pass on it.
> The fact is you are for some reason unable to "get" the point, as you
say you do.
I get it. I just think it is wrongheaded. By your logic, a country can persecute queers and be free from criticism so long as it being oppressed by some other nation. I do not feel that my being a United States citizen imposes a restriction on my ability to speak out against the persecution of queers wherever such persecution occurs. I also speak out against my own government and its persecution of queers and its other oppressions.
Brian