Day to `call in gay' finds few willing to strike

[Ghost in the Machine]

Day to `call in gay' finds few willing to strike
Published: 12/11/08, 10:05 AM EDT
By LISA LEFF
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A daylong work stoppage during which employees were encouraged to "call in gay" to express support for same-sex marriage drew spotty participation nationwide Wednesday, with some gay rights activists praising the concept but questioning its effect.

In San Francisco's gay Castro district, residents and merchants said they endorsed the message behind "Day Without a Gay" but didn't think a work stoppage was practical given the poor economy and the strike's organization.

"If we are going to make a huge impact and not be laughed at, then we have to take the time and make the time to communicate with all the parties. We could have shut down a lot of the hotels," said David Lang, a gymnastics coach. "In theory it's a great idea, but it's being done wrong and now that it's been done wrong, I don't think it will be done again."

The protest, which a gay couple from West Hollywood organized through the Internet, was designed to demonstrate the economic clout of same-sex marriage supporters following the passage of voter-approved gay marriage bans in California, Arizona and Florida last month.

Participants were asked to refrain from spending money or at least to patronize gay-friendly businesses for the day.

http://my.att.net/s/editorial.dll?bfromind=7814&eeid=6258170&_sitecat=1522&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=-2&ck=&ch=ne

[NeedleCast]

1. Probably due to it being a really f'ing stupid idea...

[cboy4]

2. Says the straight guy with all of his civil rights.

:eyes:

[Bluebear]

8. Hush, now! Ask permission for what's a good idea.

[cboy4]

12. I can't hear you under the bus Bluebear!!11!

Too much.

[NeedleCast]

9. And that has what to do with this being a stupid idea?

Yeah, in a failing economy with employers looking for any excuse to fire people in the name of keeping themselves afloat, "calling in gay" is a great idea.

Hey boss, I can't come in today, I'm gay.

You'll have to explain to me how someone not going to work, risking their job, or at best losing money shows support for gay rights. Without trying very hard, I can think of a dozen better ways to support gay rights/causes then this. The absurdity behind not going to work to support gay rights makes my brain bleed.

If you think a bunch of random folk calling their employers and telling them they're not coming to work today to support gay rights is going to help your agenda, you're a dishit.

[nykym]

13. So

your on the soapbox stop winning and start with the dozens or so ideas flowing.

[NeedleCast]

17. How about

National stick a fork in an electrical outlet for gay rights day?

You go first...

[nykym]

25. Your the one

with all the ideas. But all I keep hearing is negativity, maybe you need to get out of the post it does not sound like you have anything productive to say.

[NeedleCast]

28. How hard can it be?

Nykym,

How hard can it be to come up with a few ideas better than "calling in gay" and risking job, money, etc. in some lip service support to the GLBT community?

Go to a pride event near you, invite a friend who hasn't ever been to one.

Get together with the HR department at your office and ask if there are ways they could be supporting GLBT employees that they're not currently doing.

Donate time or money to a GLBT group of your choice.

Write and/or call government officials at state and local levels to advocate for GLBT equality.

Any of the above is more effective than some nation-wide call in gay day. In what way does calling your employer and telling them you're not coming to work HELP support equality? THe most likelty answer is that it won't, unless you have a very understanding boss, and the most likely effect is going to be, in the short term, detrimental to the person calling in and in the long term detrimental to GLBT equality in that all it does is produce annoyance on the part of the employer.

[BoneDaddy]

53. I love when someone points out the obvious

like "calling in gay may not be a good idea for x amount of reasons" and they someone obviously gets offen offended because God forbid someone make any form of criticism that has to be taken as full blown Homophobia.

Given this economy it was a stupid idea, hence the mild support it recieved nationwide.

[cboy4]

14. You're right....gay people should just stick to begging on their

hands and knees for civil rights.

Ha straight guy with all of his rights and protections?

[NeedleCast]

16. Again, explain to me how this is a good idea

How does calling in gay to your employer show support for this cause? When there are a variety of other ways to support civil rights for GLBT, why ask people to risk their livlyhoood and then criticis them for not doing it....ESPECIALLY when you said down thread you wouldn't have had the stones to do it yourself.

[cboy4]

19. Because I don't think you should feel so comfortable preaching

to a minority group about whether you think an certain action is a f'ing stupid idea.

That's why.

Let us take care of our business.

I can tell by your tone you couldn't give a fuck whether anything we do succeeds or not. You simply wanted to knock something that doesn't concern you.

[NeedleCast]

23. No, I just get easily annoyed by stupidity

it's a character flaw...I admit it.

You can't possibly have thought this was a good idea for supporting gay right. My tone has nothing to do with equal rights and everything to do with calling foul on a stupid idea.

Yesterday, walking to Barnes and Nobles to pick up some books, a person stopped me on the corner and asked me if I had a minute to talk about gay rights. I had a 20 minute conversation with her, dontate 10 bucks and went on my way. That girl on the coner...she's doing something for gay rights. She admited she gets crapped on pretty regularly by fundies while standing outside on a misty, cold day in D.C. That's someone doing something for the cause, Cboy. Calling in Gay is a dog and pony show that does what for equal rights for GLBT? Honestly, do you expect people to take shit like that seriously? It's not a matter of the issue, it's a matter of it being a stupid idea regardless of the issue.

More than that though, you're decrying the actions of people who didn't do something YOU ADMITED DOWN THREAD YOU WOULDN'T DO! Why the hell should anyone put their livelyhood on the line for you if you're not willing to do it?

And don't even presume to judge me on what I do and don't give a fuck about. I've given both finacially and in time volonteered to support equal rights for GLBT. As a person brought up in "the gay capitol of the South," Austin, TX, I've got more than my share of gay and lesbian friends who I care very deeply about.

[cboy4]

44. Then instead of just writing that this is an f'ing stupid idea,

why didn't you offer suggestions?

We've just gone through a hateful election, and now many of us feel we're being attacked by people who should be on our side.

If anything, the gay day idea was an indication of the desperation gay people feel we face ... we just begged to keep equal marriage rights that the Supreme Court ruled were ours, and we were told no as the voters pissed all over us.

You tell me what the answer is.

[cboy4]

47. ******Crickets******

I thought so.

[DonEBrook]

32. Can I pay you to stop being on "my side"? You're not doing this gay man any favors,

idiot.

[cboy4]

43. You're quite the scholar, aren't you?

No, you can't pay me. Move along.

[Ghost in the Machine]

34. "Let us take care of our business."

Well fine, cboy.. handle your business yourself then..

just realize that it has consequences & repercussions..

If that's how you *really* feel, and you feel strongly about it, here's what *you* do to take care of your business:

* Post about gay issues *only* in the GLBT forum that the DU Admins provided for you..

* DO NOT ask ANY heteros or hetero groups to stand with you and support your cause.


Ok, there's a starting place for you... are you ready to run with it?? Go take care of YOUR business...

:eyes:

[cboy4]

42. Awwww, you would have gotten all 6.0's for your dramatics

had it not been for the East German judge.

I don't have a problem with straight people helping out.

I was referring to one individual who decided to lash out at an idea in a non-constructive way.

No suggestions initially, just, oh this is an f'ing stupid idea.

And I'm supposed to be receptive to that kind of bullshit?

Yea, you roll your eyes dude.

[Ghost in the Machine]

46. Is that the sound of backpedaling I hear?

These were *your* words: "Let us take care of our business."

Let US take care of OUR business.... isn't that what you said?

Now you want to be hypocritical and say "I don't have a problem with straight people helping out"?? As long as they're 'helping' you, in your mind, everything is fine, but don't say anything bad about you or one of your causes... right????

You can't have it both ways, brother... it may seem hard to understand, but even people who agree with you and sympathize with your plight aren't going to always agree with everything you do....

You said something in this thread to the effect of "there's no way I could risk calling in gay", didn't you?? Wouldn't that mean that *you* thought it was a stupid idea, too? Why expect others to stand up with you, or for you, when you won't even stand up for yourself?

Hyperbole & drama queen antics will get you nowhere, dude...

[cboy4]

49. I just told you that I was referring to one particularly obnoxious

poster and not you or anybody else who wants to help us and offer ideas that might be better.

You're taking the "let us take care of our own business" out of context, since I was referring to someone who seemingly has no ideas. Yet is quick to bash the idea as f'ing stupid.

I didn't think it was the best idea, but I felt people who are secure enough in their jobs, and wanted to participate, should have had the opportunity to participate in this general strike for one day.

But thanks for referring to my sadness and heartache about having to plead for rights as being a drama queen.

And I can't tell you how fucking insulting it is to hear you tell me that not wanting to risk a job -- one that I'm very lucky to have and helps me earn a good living in this devastating economy .. an economy where I read one DUer after the next announce they're signing up for public assistance every day -- is not standing up for myself.

Do you understand how mad that makes me? It's mean and insulting.

Somehow I think you're more interesting in fighting me, than helping us fight bigotry and discrimination.

Otherwise, you'd be able to disagree in a respectful way .. offering ideas and hope, as opposed to just shitting on me and my people's ideas.

It gets tiresome begging Ghost. It makes my blood boil.

But unless you're intentionally acting difficult, I'm not sure you understand.

[BoneDaddy]

54. You do your orientation

a serious disservice.

[DonEBrook]

31. I'm gay and probably have been a lot longer than you...and it was a stupid fucking idea.

Yup.

[cboy4]

45. Yea and you're probably a fraction as active as I am

in trying to get things done.

Shameful.

I don't even know who you are.

I've never seen you post in the GLBT forum.

That sounds to me like you spend your day laying on the couch eating chips while the rest of us work.

[Sebastian Doyle]

4. !!11!!

Better get the big bucket out for this one......

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. "didn't think a work stoppage was practical given the poor economy"

Shows the extent to which such actions have been totally domesticated by capital, like the "planned arrests" at the protest marches.

Here's a hint: a LABOR action is supposed to fucking WRECK you as you the owner of a business (i.e., a capitalist). It is SUPPOSED to fucking HURT you.

A work stoppage becomes "practical" only WHEN it hurts the owners and customers of businesses, and not before.

[XemaSab]

37. Some of the people mentioned in the SF Chronicle article

were gay business owners.

The problem with this sort of protest is that it is more likely to affect liberal business owners than conservative business owners.

If a bus system is discriminating against gays, then gays should boycott the bus system. But lashing out at every business equally won't solve societal bigotry.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

5. in this economy how many of us can afford this? its not like if i got fired, i could get medical

coverage from my partner now, could i.

[Deja Q]

6. Not a surprise. Despite the economy.

Even before the immigrant fracas from a couple years or whenever ago, and even before the following reference, it's ineffective because there's this episode of "The Simpsons" where Bart tries to get the other children to be nasty toward the teacher as form of protest. Needless to say, none of the other kids supported him.

Seems real life is like a cartoon in more ways than one.

[cboy4]

7. We don't even have a federal Employment Non-Descrimination

Act in place.

We can be fired in many work places on any day of the week.

It's completely understandable why people didn't want to risk their jobs.

Yesterday fell on my regular day off, but there was no way I could risk calling in gay.

[whippo]

10. Why strike at all in San Francisco?

[Bluebear]

11. Since the whole town is just loaded, eh?

:eyes:

[whippo]

15. What the ...? San Francisco easily defeated Prop 8, did you miss that?

[Bluebear]

18. That wasn't clear from your post, sorry

[Demobrat]

20. Who did they think was going to cover their work

when they "called in gay"? And how many converts to their cause did they think they would gain from among the people stuck doing their jobs? Just curious.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

21. do you say that to unions who go on strike?

[cboy4]

22. Oh that's a good one!

:thumbsup:

I can't wait to hear the answer.

[Demobrat]

26. When unions go out on strike

they all go out together - that's why it's called solidarity. They don't expect their co-workers to pick up the slack, in fact there's a name for those who do (scabs). Now would you mind answering my questions? Who did you expect to do your job when you failed to show up? And how much support for your cause did you expect to garner from your absence?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

27. this is solidarity, solidarity for our cause. it is done because people dismiss our causes

as pet issues, including on du. its harder to dismiss a people when you notice their absence. i believe that was the idea behind this.

unions cause inconvenience us well. its just inconvenience you believe in.

[Demobrat]

29. Unions cause inconvenience to company management

not the colleagues who's support they need at the ballot box. Anyhow, I'm still waiting. Who did you expect to do your job when you didn't show? And what attitudes of theirs did you expect your actions to change?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

33. actually thats not true. different departments get affected when people strike

not always management. customers/vendors get affected as well.

the strike isnt necessarily for sympathy, its for visibility and show of strength, which i am sure you know because so are labor union strikes.

had i called in gay and told my coworkers why, they would all sympathize. of this i have NO doubt.

[NeedleCast]

30. So by making your co-workers jobs a little more difficult

you figured it would engender empathy for your cause?

Logic = missing.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

35. why would you assume its for sympathy? is that why labor unions go on strike?

sympathy?

[Hannah Bell]

24. they put it all on individuals to call in & take the consequences

individually. not a good model.

walkout at specific time with everyone meeting at central location to demo would be better. then folks aren't isolated in acting or seeing effect.

[auntsue]

36. Wouldn't it be better to show "solidarity"

by wearing a rainbow pin or triangle and be more "out" In my experience haters often don't know how many gays are in their circle.

[backscatter712]

38. In order to have a successful strike or work stopage, you must support the strikers.

That's why unions have been formed. That's why they charge dues, and why union members get strike benefits. It's not a replacement for their wages, but it helps fend the wolves from their doors for a while, so they can afford a massed work stoppage.

You don't have that, you can scream all over the world to strike, and everyone will respond with "and get fired? Yeah right..."

[La Lioness Priyanka]

40. this is a good analysis of what went wrong. nt

[MindPilot]

39. And us bi folks just didn't know how to deal with it

Drive half-way there and make a u-turn? Go home at lunch? Maybe show up but just do a half-assed job? :shrug:

[TheKentuckian]

41. Hell, we can't organize something like this for the 90-95% of workers

that are being enslaved to stand up for themselves and America's future, so its tough to figure how you can mount an effective offensive to stand up for marriage rights of a minority.

Maybe something of this nature would work if we weren't populated by sheep that only care about their own little world and are woefully out of touch with even the realities of that.

[MrSlayer]

48. Some people can't afford to take a day off.

My pay is based on production, if I'm not there I don't get paid. No sick days or personal days in construction. With the holidays coming up and all I couldn't afford to take the day in protest.

[cboy4]

50. Again....nobody said people who couldn't participate were going

to be sent to the San Quentin death chamber.

Everyone understands that not everyone could take the day off.

[MrSlayer]

51. I didn't think anyone was handing out the DP for it.

Else I would have lied. :P

I suppose the point should have been obvious.

[cboy4]

52. Yea....typical gay joke insinuating a DP has to be ... uh, errrrr

Oh, death penalty.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to joke so I can calm down.

The only point some people in this thread are familiar with is the one on top of their goddam cone head. :dunce: