Sunday Bitter Sunday: Pride FAIL 2009

In the immortal words of the Backstreet Boys, “Oh my god, we’re back again…”

Batman's back, ALRIGHT!

It’s been forever since I’ve done one of these. I want to try and update this blog more frequently, but we’ll see how that goes. Anyway, on to the bitterness (Bitter B approves. Or disapproves. Whatever).

Sunday Bitter Sunday: Pride FAIL 2009

A few weekends ago, I headed over to SF to take part in some Pride related activities. I met up with my friend Sophia and we hung out with some other folks in Dolores Park before the Dyke March. Played some “People Watching Bingo”, enjoyed the sun, and did the March, which ends in the Castro for the Pink Party. Other than a cursory glance in our bags, we went through security with no problems.

We decided to leave the party for a bit to go eat dinner. Once we finished, we headed back to the party. Easy peasy, right?

And this was when it all went wrong.

The line (if you could even call it that), was this massive, poorly organized crush of people. The security guards were not at all helpful; it was all yelling and threatening and general abrasiveness. Yelling at people that there were no backpacks allowed and that if they had one, they’d have to take it home or throw it away. Very slowly, we started to move. And then I thought I heard someone say, “Women on this side, men on this side.” No way, I must have misheard. But as we got closer the security guards were yelling it and directing people to go to the correct line.

Yes, that’s right. Gender binary segregated lines. At Pride.

How fucked up is that? The whole thing was just so bizarre. One of those “You have got to be fucking kidding me” moments.

And as if that’s not enough, when we finally got to the front of the gate, they made me throw out my leftover Indian food from dinner and my Chex mix. What’s so dangerous about Chex mix?

I guess the moral of the story is that if you fall outside of the gender binary, you’re not welcome to even stand in a fucking line at Pride.

And you sure as hell better not have any Chex mix.

Sunday Bitter Sunday: The L Word

*contains spoilers*

I was in danger of having my gay card revoked so I finally sat down and watched the final season of The L Word.

We were not amused.

There were some choice moments like the one below with Alice, Tasha, and Jamie dressed like Salt N Pepa and dancing to “Push It”:

But overall it was a crappy show. The L Word is one of those shows that could never really decide what it wanted to be. With the final season they made the (incredibly misguided) attempt to turn it into a murder mystery. But what’s the point of a murder mystery if you don’t have a big reveal at the end? Instead we get an off-screen death, no clear resolutions of anything, and a stupid three minute montage of the cast walking in slow motion and smiling as a wind machine blows their hair:

(the walking part starts at about 55 seconds in)

Dumb.

But after six seasons, I think I know what the “L” in The L Word stands for:

Lazy.

First there’s the lack of consistent characterizations. Plus the total disregard for continuity. Heavy-handedness with foreshadowing (if you can call it foreshadowing when everything is so obviously telegraphed). Then the reduction of most characters of color to little more than stereotypes. It seemed like nearly every sentence Pam Grier’s character said had a “Girl!” in it somewhere. And then the shitty way the transgendered character was portrayed. They couldn’t think of anything for him to do so they did an asinine “plucked from the headlines” pregnant man storyline. And I could go on and on and on…

It seems like if the creator were better able to think beyond her white, upper class lesbian world and, I don’t know do a little research, be consistent, and really try, the show could have been a lot more. It was fun in a “this is terrible yet I can’t stop watching it” kind of way, but I can’t say I’m really sad to see it go.

But still, I’m really, really glad that Jenny died.

Sunday Bitter Sunday #9

This was supposed to be posted last week, but me and Bitter B were too bitter to even finish writing it.

Sunday Bitter Sunday #9: The Advocate

Although I will give The Advocate props for being the oldest running gay magazine, that’s about all I’m willing to give it props for. Much like Human Rights Campaign and other assimilationist queer groups, it’s not for the whole queer community, but is geared towards white gay men and lesbians. For that reason, it’s been awhile since I’ve picked up a copy, and it’s generally been “out of sight, out of mind” for me. Until I saw the cover for the most recent issue:

Fail. Complete and utter fail.

For so many reasons.

First of all, the work of the Civil Rights movement is not finished. Racism is still a reality in the lives of black people in this country (and of people of color in general). The passage of the Civil Rights Act didn’t change that. To suggest that the struggle for racial equality is over (or is antiquated) is doing a huge disservice to people of color in this country. It is denying and bellitting our experiences, as well as completely ignoring the fact that some people are both gay and black (wow, what a concept).

Secondly, there are far too many other social movements and struggles happening now to suggest that gay rights (and notice how the terminology used is “gay rights”, not queer or LGBTQ or anything more inclusive) is “the last great civil rights struggle”. That whole language is just buying into “oppression olympics” bullshit. What about transfolks, intersex people, immigrants, fat people, and atheists/non-believers? What about all the complex intersections of identities that people have. What about all the other issues facing the queer community? Although I think queers should have the right to get married if we want to, I’m sick of the idea that that’s the most important issue facing the community. In some ways, I feel like the marriage movement is about white gays and lesbians wanting to gain access to the same privileges as their straight counterparts. I worry that once we achieve marriage equality, all the trannies, and the brown people, and the freaks, and the outlaws in the community will be left in the dust and forgotten.

When I look at that Advocate cover, I can’t help but think about all these problems. It’s like a visual representation of the failures of the mainstream gay and lesbian movement.

Pics from Oakland’s Prop 8 protest

Protest this weekend

Just an fyi:

Protests against Prop 8 and other similar anti-gay measure are taking place across the country this Saturday Nov. 15. You can go to this site here to find out about the protests happening in your neck of the woods. I will be at the Oakland protest so let me know if you want to come with.

EDIT: They have now created a facebook page for the Oakland event. And even my hometown of Fairfield is having a protest!

Sunday Bitter Sunday #5

Me and Bitter Batman are exhausted:

But we’re never too tired for a healthy dose of bitterness:

With the election fast approaching I thought I’d take this opportunity to get on my soapbox about something. That brings us to this week’s topic:

Sunday Bitter Sunday #5: People who are voting “Yes” on Prop 8

Fuck Prop 8. Seriously. And boo on the Mormon church for being its biggest financial supporter.

I haven’t heard an argument for it that isn’t somehow steeped in religion. Um, last time I checked we still had that whole separation of church and state thing that implies that, I don’t know, we don’t live in a theocracy and people passing laws based on the religious beliefs of some is not okay.

Some people just hate queer folks. Others try to dress it up and make it seem like they’re more accepting than they really are. I think they may be even more reprehensible than the first group. The basic sentiment boils down to this: “The thought of gay people getting married is icky to me because my holy book says it’s wrong. But we shouldn’t discriminate against gay people. No, I’m so tolerant. But they shouldn’t be able to use the word marriage because that’s for straight people only.”

What a load of bullshit. The very fact that they see gay people as unworthy of using the word “marriage” doesn’t sound like “tolerance” or “acceptance” to me. It stinks of discrimination, plain and simple. Sorry, but I refuse to be treated like a second-class citizen because my sexual orientation makes you feel icky.

The other argument these people love is the whole “the court overstepped its bounds, the voters should decide”. Sorry, but protecting the rights of a minority from the tyranny of the majority is well within their bounds. If we had left the issue of segregation up to voters I’d probably still be drinking out of “Colored Only” water fountain.

So if you’re in California, please vote no on 8 and urge others to do the same. Although, I can’t say I think too highly of the institution of marriage itself, queer people deserve the same rights under the law as anyone else.

From my apartment window

Gayme recognize gayme

So today after work, I headed to the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse. It’s a great place to go if you’re looking for crafting materials, cool antiques, or just random ass stuff. I went because I’m looking for more stuff for my Halloween costume. While I didn’t find anything that would help me on that front, I did find this:

Yes, “The Rainbow Gayme,” an early 90’s gay-themed board game. Check out the ga(y)me board:

It looks like Candyland, but (somehow) even gayer. Since it combines 3 things I love (the 90s, the gays, and games), I couldn’t not buy it, especially when it was only a few bucks. Who wants to play? Let’s get our gayme on.

In other news, my Halloween costume is coming along quite well:

POW! I still don’t know what I’m doing for Halloween, but I know I’m going to make an awesome Wonder Woman.

Apparently Clay Aiken is gay

Uh….

Duhhhhh.

What’s the T, gurl?

Whoo, the world’s best (and only) black gay TV dramedy is back! The Noah’s Arc movie is totally happening and being released on Oct. 24th. Plus it’ll be playing in actual movie theaters, not just on LOGO.

The cast is going to be here in the East Bay next week doing a marriage equality fundraiser, but I don’t think I’m going to drop $30 for it. But I’m so going to see the movie when it comes out.