Happy Valentine's Day to our DU GLBT contingent. And love.

[darkstar]

Hey. I keep quiet on lost of issues here at DU. I Lounge it and lurk.

And the Snickers flapdoodle and other dust-ups are no different. My silence there is reinforced by a fear that this 50 year old will come off as mostly square and un-PC even in my support. Probably nothing as bad as "some of my best friends are gay" or "not that anything's wrong w/ that", but you get my drift. I hope.

Anyhow, today, in a topic wholly unrelated to Valentines Day, a kid in my class made a really homophobic remark. What made him think he could get away w/ it in aging hippie teacher's (me) college English class, I don't know. But it seems a line was drawn in the proverbial sand for me. Kind of a "stand for something or stand for nothing at all" moment. So I spoke my piece. I let him have it pretty good, and cut no slack for those who tittered at his comment. It felt good. And it felt right. And it felt long overdue.

I say this not to make myself out as some stand-up guy, but the opposite. I'm ashamed at having kept my yap shut here for too long.

Having finally sold our house, my wife has just joined me this week in Illinois after a Katrina/Rita-related separation that began the Spring semester of '06. And today was Valentines Day. I appreciate dearly what we have, especially on today of all days. And I think today I appreciated just how difficult individuals and broad culture-think can make it for our GLBT friends to participate equally in what I'll admit I can sometimes take for granted.

So next time there is a GD or GDP dust up, look for dinosaur darkstar to have his say. I may not stand in there toe to toe for days on end, but I'll lend my voice yours.

Thanks. Hope I wasn't too sappy or un-PC along the way.

:grouphug:

[SPKrazy]

1. Happy Valentine's Day!

as Retro's sig line says

"gay rights are human rights"

I stand in solidarity with my friends regardless of their sexual orientation, always!


:hug:

:loveya:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

4. Good post, but one thing...

it's not a sexual "preference," it's sexual "orientation." "Preference" denotes a choice.

:hug:

[SPKrazy]

6. Fixed...

:blush:

:hug:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

7. Thank you!

:loveya:

[Shine]

2. right on, brother.

good for you. :applause:

and happy valentine's day, too! :hi: :hug:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

3. Absolutely awesome post!

Thank you.

:hug:

[Pushed To The Left]

5. Happy Valentine's Day to the LGBT DUers!

And Happy Valentine's Day to you Darkstar! Thank you for striking a blow against prejudice in your class! I think that kids should learn that prejudice and bigotry are wrong as early as possible. I remember seeing films about racism when I was in elementary school. If there had been films about the evils of other kinds of bigotry, such as homophobia, kids would grow up knowing that all bigotry is unacceptable. Some "culture warrior" parents might be upset by it, but there were probably some white supremacist parents that didn't like films against racism. They were wrong then, and they are wrong now! In my opinion, bigotry is a character flaw that should be corrected and prevented by any means necessary.
Keep doing what you're doing, Darkstar! :thumbsup:

[Briarius]

8. Thank you, darkstar!

:hug:

[ThomCat]

9. Happy Valentine's Day!

:yourock:

[Midlodemocrat]

10. Beautiful post. I know the GLBT community appreciates it!!!

:hug:

[foreigncorrespondent]

11. What a wonderful post!!!

Thanks for sharing your stories with us. I truly appreciate every word you have spoken.

As for one who hasn't spent a Valentine's day (forced separation due to archaic immigration laws) with the love of her life for 5 years now, I am so glad you and your wife are together today.

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours. Looking forward to seeing you around a lot more. :)

[mentalsolstice]

12. Yesss!!!!

On college campuses there are LGBT-Straight alliances, I wish there were such organizations past the college level. I'm straight, but I grew up with such an awareness of LGBT issues as a child, really from a very young age, and have been aware all my life of the unjustness of it all. Love is love! That's all that matters!

[LostinVA]

13. Wonderful, wonderful post

Haruka read it to me over th phone last night because my computer was already turned off.

It was an even better read this morning. Thank you.

[swimboy]

14. K&R!! Thanks so much!

A well-timed word can redirect a lifetime of thought. Thanks for the welll-timed word! Best wishes to you and your wife--I'm very happy you are together again.

:grouphug:

[terrya]

15. Thank you!

Very nice post. :-)

:hug:

[Rhythm]

16. thank you, Darkstar...

:grouphug:

[Tyo]

17. Thank you, Darkstar

:grouphug: Posts like yours mean a lot. Thank you for taking a stand for us.

Belated Happy Valentine's Day to you and your wife. Hope your future is bright and hurricane-free.

[Trigger Hippie]

18. Dear "darkstar"

You are the best. Both you and the Mrs. My thoughts are with you both nearly every day. I miss you both so much. This is a great post, as well. Take care, E

:grouphug:

[GalleryGod]

19. Compadre'! My life/work is much like yours...except I teach politics

Nice work.

Off to museums!

[xchrom]

20. and love is returned.

:applause:

[myrna minx]

21. darkstar

:yourock: :loveya: