> We, yes you and me, are murderers and torturers of Iranians.
I am not equivalent to the government. I try to influence the policies of my government, and when I fail it is because I could not muster enough power to do so (and there is the legitinmate question of whether I could ever muster enough power to effect change).
> Why are you concentrating on Iran and not Columbia?
I concentrate on many places. My activities are quite widespread like the rosebud on a well-fisted anus.
> If there was a group of homosexual racists, what authority would
the Moral Majority have in opposing their racism? About as much
authority that you have in opposing sexism in Iran.
That makes no sense to me. My queer brethren around the world ask for and welcome my support. They say that it gives them strength in their struggle. Isn't solidarity with others who are engaged in struggle a good thing? Or are queer struggles an exception to this concept?
> Brian, I don't think there is anything I said that was homophobic.
Coming home to a private email from you felt like a queer stalking (especially when our other off-list emails have been about cinema and very pleasant). Your arguments come across to me as an attempt to silence queer voices by saying that they have no right to be raised and citing an argument I find not just weak, but extraordinarily weak. Even when I have disagreed with other arguments you have made, they were never nearly as negligible as this one is.
> I doubt that I can be called homophobic.
I do not think you are, but your argument comes across as chilling to me since it maintains that queers cannot speak across borders in solidarity and support of each other.
Doug:
> Well not exactly. I didn't murder anyone, and you probably didn't
either, and I doubt Brian did.
I can verify that I have not. As for the fellow who disparaged GYPSY, he lived and you don't really notice the limp unless you are looking for it.
Ravi:
> What does the statement "Iran does X to group Y, which is bad"
achieve?
My queer brethren tell me that it gives them a sense of support that they draw upon.
> Given my lack of a social life, as brutally summarised by Fraulein
Bitch ;-), the recruiting sounds like a positive not a negative (I
assume one can be a member without initiations that involve forearm
deep proctal adventures ;-)).
Of course, you would be welcome no matter what you do (or do not) desire in terms of anal stimulation. I believe if the chips were down and it meant the success or failure of the revolution, you'd take a fist for the movement if you had to.
> I too want queers in Iran (in whatever sense we can apply that term)
to be free and "practise their love" (in the words of our leader,
George W).
When I use the term, I am merely repeating a term my friends have chosen to use to refer to themselves.
> That support for gay rights can be always assumed in leftist
circles is not entirely accurate, I admit . . . there does seems to be a
virulent homophobia among the Orthodox Left.
Tell me about it. I was amazed by it when I first encountered it, but have grown used to its nagging presence like a low-grade fever that cannot be gotten rid of. Fear of a Queer Planet. Who would have guessed? (And like most anti-queer sentiments of either the right, left or middle, there is almost always some element of fear bound up with it).
Brian