Whenever I look up news on queer issues, I feel like I’m reading the same article again and again.
On Monday at a Princeton talk, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia ofĀ the Supreme Court defended his decisions condemning homosexuality. Scalia repeated his point that banning sodomyĀ was morally on par with banning bestiality and murder.
Whenever I look at ludicrous coverage like this, I have to to double check that I’m not reading Mad Libs. They are just as nonsensical but sadly not as funny. All you have to do is find a homophobic story, remove a few specifics and you’re left with a news template for the next decade or so.
In (Disappointingly Unprogressive Region), (Irrelevant White Guy) ofĀ the (Group with Vaguely Religious Ties) came out against (Form of Civil Rights). (Irrelevant White Guy) argued that they are not homophobic, but they just want to protect (Supposedly Powerless Anti-Gay Group) from the (Negative Emotion) of seeing gay people (Civil Rights Verb Ending in -ed).
Or you can translate it and use it to interpret all of your French news! Hollande has reiterated that he will take the draft billĀ to parliament in January, but you know that someone’s going to protest before then.
En (RĆ©gion dĆ©sespĆ©rĆ©ment rĆ©gressive), (Homme blanc sans importance) du (Groupe aux prĆ©tentions religieuses nĆ©buleuses) a pris position contre (Tel droit humain). (Homme blanc sans importance – encore) a soulignĆ© qu’ils ne sont pas homophobes, ils veulent seulement protĆ©ger (Groupe anti-homos soi-disant vulnĆ©rable) de (Une Ć©motion nĆ©gative) parce qu’ils auraient vu des homosexuels en train de (Verbe de l’expression d’un droit humain).
Look how easily you can write the news! Same-sex marriage isĀ coming soon to a UK near you, so of course there’s trouble. Even thoughĀ Culture Secretary Maria Mille, made a “quadruple legal lock” to protect religious groups andĀ made it explicitly clear that said religions wereĀ bannedĀ from performing same-sex marriages because theyĀ really don’t want to, some old dudes still got their boxers in a knot.
In (England), (a spokesperson) ofĀ the (Coalition for Marriage) came out against (same-sex marriage). (The writer) argued thatĀ theyĀ are not homophobic, but they just want to protect (Christians, Jews, Muslims and others) from the (legal nightmare) of seeing gay people (redefine marriage).
Same deal up north.
In (Scotland), (Rev Alan Hamilton) ofĀ the (Church of Scotland) came out against (civil partnerships or same sex marriage). (Hamilton) arguedĀ thatĀ theyĀ are not homophobic, butĀ they just want to protect (religious bodies and ministers and people of faith) from (getting hurt) by seeing gay people (get gay married).
I never know if I should laugh or cry anymore. On one side of things I could have a career ahead of me as The Most Depressed Clairvoyant Ever or I could continuously beat my head against a wall with each irrational argument. Given that everyone uses the same “logic” to come out against gay rights, why not make news into a game? Nothing lightens up a white-knuckled homophobic debate like a rousing game of Bingo!
Just keep a card in your pocket so the next anti-gay discussion is a little bit more bearable. Accidentally turned on Fox News? BINGO!Ā Ā Checking in on Bryan Fisher?Ā BINGO!Ā Watching conservative news coverage of France’s December 16th rallies for same-sex rights? BINGO!Ā Have to hang out with some Conservative family members and eat a turkey?Ā BINGO! Ā
Who knew oppression could be so fun?
This is great. Although I secretly suspect that 99% of all arguments boil down to Because Ewww!
Can I also add that this “quadruple lock” thing (which sounds like a wrestling manoeuvre/orgy position) specifically for the Church of England has a special, ironic hilarity. They keep spouting on about not redefining marriage, but remember back to your history lessons, kids… Why was the Church of England established?
BECAUSE A GUY WANTED TO REDEFINE MARRIAGE.
BLAAAAARRRRGGGHHH !
You win all of my points!
…you have just made it possible for me to continue reading the news without sinking into depression. Bunches of thanks.
Palm: Apply directly to the forehead!
Kristen tried to tell me she wasn’t political once upon a time.
Damnit Mal! You weren’t supposed to find out like this! (I was going to be gentle…)
“Pedophilic, necrophilic, polygamous bestiality.”
Sex with multiple underage, dead animals. Someone should probably mail Dan Savage a question about this, stat.
I can’t figure out how to log in right now??
Anyway, I really want to fill this out and anonymously send it to someone and be like “Congratulations!!!! You won Bigot Bingo!!!!!!”
This is possibly not a good temptation.
Under the community tab across the top is where the login button is hiding!
@Rachel THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
Oh my God, the snark coming out of this article is making me feel warm rainbow fuzzies which is ironic.
The hilarious thing about trying-to-defend-religious-freedom-by-putting-a-ban-on-churches is that neither of the churches wanted a ban! And were not even consulted about it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/dec/13/anglican-church-protests-gay-marriage-ban
(While their hierarchies are still against marriage equality, in beautiful fence-sitting tradition, they think a ban on church weddings is ‘a step too far’.)
Aye, the fourth part of the ‘quadruple lock’ was what made me go “Buh?” also. You can’t ban religions from doing things that aren’t affecting the rights and freedoms of others! That’s not right. You can’t make them marry the gays, but you can’t ban them from marrying the gays if they think god’s okay with it. Come on now.
I am going to get so drunk playing this.
Ha! Awesome!
Yesterday a swiss politician twittered that gays would be as good as parents as goats and instead of getting upset i just thought BINGO!!
I don’t understand how Scalia cannot recuse himself from the DOMA/Prop 8 cases. This man has SUCH a personal stance and bias against the LGBT community. It makes me crazy.
I agreed with him ONCE during my law school career, his dissent in Johnson v. California. Every other time, I roll my eyes and tried not to vomit while reading his opinions.
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