# We need more queer threads. I mean, a LOT of them. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 12, 2004, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737 "2004-05-12T04:56:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/61 "2004-05-12T19:11:42Z")
> [@Eyke](#): > > I also write letters to the editor in two local newspapers. I’m sure the **backwards, clueless, bigoted, racist, homophobic, “Christian” hillbillies in this close-minded Bible belt area of PA** are tired of having to read letters about homosexuality. Especially the one’s where I point out how out of context their scripture quoting is. Is that the kinds of words you use in your letters? Three guesses why you’re not making progress. > [@](#): > > So to those who think we “faggots and lesbos need to crawl back into the closet and accept the fact that the world is a tough place to live and just smeggin’ get over it” Need I point out that such sentiments have not appeared anywhere in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Eyke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Eyke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyke)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/62 "2004-05-12T19:22:11Z")
> [@Lizard](#): > > > [@Eyke](#): > > > > backwards, clueless, bigoted, racist, homophobic, “Christian” hillbillies in this close-minded Bible belt area of PA > > Is that the kinds of words you use in your letters? Three guesses why you’re not making progress. Why no…no they’re not, but the local press is NOT the pit, now it it? \:wally > [@Lizard](#): > > > [@Eyke](#): > > > > So to those who think we “faggots and lesbos need to crawl back into the closet and accept the fact that the world is a tough place to live and just smeggin’ get over it” > > Need I point out that such sentiments have not appeared anywhere in this thread? Not explicitily, no, but I think in intent they were when you insinuated that we gays are clogging up this board with our problems! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/63 "2004-05-12T19:35:29Z")
And, by the way…actually I DO find homosexuality, transsexualism, and an assortment of other sexuality-related topics to be endlessly fascinating. The reason? I have no first-hand knowledge and want to know more. Why? Because knowledge reinforces empathy, compassion, and helps me to combat people who would wish these people physical or emotional harm. Why is that so hard to understand? I feel the same way about a lot of topics. This just happens to be where I “know” the most people who can fill me in on stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/64 "2004-05-12T19:35:48Z")
It’s on the board a lot lately because it’s in the news a lot lately, and common topic of conversation. And if anything inspires a thread on political or social issues, it’s a news story or a conversation. Expect more threads. We ain’t going away, and we’re not going to condense a variety of rather different issues under one heading for your convenience. Job discrimination is different from marriage discrimination is different from gaybashing, etc. So why are people talking about it so much, on and off the boards? Simple. For the last five centuries, organized Christianity has been waning as a political force. Every generation or so, religious conservatives draw a line in the sand – against freedom of religion, against the theories of Galileo or Darwin – the examples are legion. Sometimes they win some small victory, but they always lose support in the long run. They drive their increasingly-embarrassed congregations to less-organized versions of the religion, to other religions, or to agnosticism. That’s what’s happening here. When it’s over, you won’t see many more threads about homosexuality. Instead, it’ll be threads about whoever has become the most recent scapegoat for those who like to mix politics and religion. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/65 "2004-05-12T20:13:09Z")
> [@Lizard](#): > > If you don’t like this thread, or my opinions, why don’t you quit reading them, moron? Is this that “irony” thing I keep hearing about? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/66 "2004-05-12T20:35:32Z")
> [@Lizard](#): > > Hmm. I post one thread, talking about the condition of the Pit specifically at one particular point in time, and mention that it seems to be the same as many other points in time. Then I conclude (not in the same post) this betrays a depressing lack of originality and, believe it or not, diverse thinking. > You therefore pull threads of my own from multiple forums, spread over several years, and claim it somehow proves. . . .that I’m fascinated with heterosexuality? If I am, then so what? Well, if you are, then why don’t you understand that certain topics fascinate certain people, and that issues involving homosexuality and gay rights constitute just a small proportion of the infinite number of possible topics that might interest people. As for the issue of lack of originality, surely your own threads suggest that originailty is not exactly your strong suit, either. More threads abouts sex and relationships, anyone? Just go see **Lizard** , he’s got just the thread for you. > [@Lizard](#): > > Go start your own thread bashing me for it. Just as I have done here. Why bother taxing the hamsters more than necessary. You’ve provided a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. By posting in this thread, i can demonstrate that not only do you have a stupidly narrow conception of what constitutes reasonable and interesting thread topics for a wide variety of people, but that you are also something of a hypocrite, decrying in others the sort of behavior you display yourself. > [@Lizard](#): > > I’m not accountable to you for what I’m interested in, and nobody here is accountable to me either. Anyone thinking clearly can see the OP was not aimed at any individual or belief. You can keep trumpeting that tired line, but i’m not buying it. Enough people interpreted your OP as a slam against discussing homosexuality that you must surely at least be asking yourself why so few people understood your “real” intention. > [@Lizard](#): > > But then, few are trying to be rational about this whole subject. It’s so much easier to switch off the 'ole higher functions and go into full attack mode on anyone who even APPEARS to hold an opinion they dislike. I can only conclude that “tolerance” to some people here doesn’t really mean what they would claim it means. It certainly doesn’t mean tolerance for someone like me. There are _real_ bigots out there, some of them a hell of lot more polite and well-spoken than most of the folks in this thread. It’ll take more than name calling and clumsy personal dirt-mining to make any of them go away. Clearly, most of the great thinkers here don’t really understand that. And it’ll take a lot more than sophomoric OPs whining about the alleged excess of homosexuality-related threads to make them go away. You still fail to understand, apparently, that implicit in your whole rant is idea that gay issues are somehow less worthy of discussion. You also seem to assume that gay-related issues are somehow irrelevant to us heterosexuals, when it should be clear to anyone without a pipe through his head that the issues being discussed in some of those threads are relevant to society as a whole. > [@Lizard](#): > > If you don’t like this thread, or my opinions, why don’t you quit reading them, moron? Want to lay money that you _won’t_ quit? You fail to understand the difference. I am responding to a specific set of “arguments” put forward by you, whereas all you are doing is ranting against a general phenomenon that need not have concerned you at all, had you chosen just to ignore the threads you don’t like. And, contrary to your assertion, i do like this thread. There have been some interesting and relevant points made in it. Just not by you. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/67 "2004-05-12T20:38:06Z")
Hoo, geez. Quite the trainwreck we have going here. And again, there’s a whole lotta misinterpretation goin’ on. Now, as is my custom, I shall make a post in which I attempt to clarify things as I see them, and as is also customary, I shall be largely ignored. That’s okay though; I’m used to it. It seems to me that all the OP is saying is that he doesn’t care whether or not anybody is or isn’t gay, and he wishes nobody else did either. Frankly, that is a sentiment with which I quite agree. If people could just mind their own fucking business and ignore other people’s sex lives if they found them displeasing, there’d be a hell of a lot less to argue about. So, his message itself was fairly innocuous. It’s just that, for reasons I cannot begin to fathom, he chose to state this point in the most inflammatory tone he could muster. It seems almost as though he was trying to deceive people into thinking he was saying something else entirely, throwing choice slurs about in an attempt to needlessly rile the more vocal defenders of gay rights. And boy, did he ever succeed at that. **Lizard** , if you’re saying what I think you’re saying, I agree with you. But you said it in a manner deliberately engineered to piss people off, and now you’re pretending to be surprised when you’re “mistakenly labeled” as a bigoted homophobe. I strongly suspect that you were attempting something else with this: a high-handed “test” of the average Doper’s rationality; that is, their ability to read beyond the surface wording of a statement and get to the true meaning of the statement itself. If this is true (and I use the word _if_ purposefully), that not only makes you an egomaniacal self-righteous asshole, but is also valid grounds for an accusation of trolling. Now, I acknowledge that I may be misinterpreting something here…but I doubt it. Regardless, I don’t think anything about the issue bears further debate. Either **Lizard** is trying to stir up a conflict, or else he just really sucks at trying to properly word a valid point. Whatever the case, arguing with him won’t get anyone anywhere. As such, let’s not. You may all now ignore me at will… ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/68 "2004-05-12T21:16:32Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I got burned by NASCAR! I got this giant album of 1993-1994 drivers- 3 complete sets with 550 drivers linked below. I paid 25. for it and figured I'd get 50. easily. How could I not it’s 550 cards! After 7 days of no bids I got 34.95 for it at the close of auction. After shipping and listing fees I cleared about 5.00 for over an hours worth of work in taking and transferring photos, researching and listing. > > Screw worthless NASCAR collectibles! :mad: > > [3 FULL SETS-FINISH LINE 94 -VIP PRESS PASS 93 - MAXX 93 > NASCAR Card Collection – 550 cards + sheets + binder](http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4127600604&sspagename=STRK%3AMESO%3AIT&rd=1) Hmm, I might have paid $50 but not for the collectibility but for the opportunity to browse through the Good ole Days[sup]tm[/sup]. Sorry. No more hijacking, I promise. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/69 "2004-05-12T21:22:21Z")
> [@Roland Orzabal](#): > > Hoo, geez. Quite the trainwreck we have going here. And again, there’s a whole lotta misinterpretation goin’ on. > > Now, as is my custom, I shall make a post in which I attempt to clarify things as I see them, and as is also customary, I shall be largely ignored… > > …You may all now ignore me at will… Actually, I thought you made a great point. I still think our OP needs to be bitch-slapped for his choice of words and attitude. It came off as both cruel and obnoxious. He may not be an asshole, but I think he wants us all to THINK he is. Sometimes I just don’t understand people. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/70 "2004-05-12T21:26:56Z")
> [@Rysler](#): > > …The current pit threads: > > Middle East (6) > Gay (9) > Personal Annoyances - Pitting a person the OP knows in real life. Includes Cow-Orkers and Neighbors. (13) > Moral Objections - Pitting Something the OP has Read from a News Outlet (5) > Board-Related Issues and Humor (3) > Object-Oriented Pittings (Fetish pittings?) (7) > Spam (1) Ya know what’s odd? Not one mention of Bush in that whole list (I’m not gonna count the sole Q about Rummie). Maybe there is something to this whole saturation theory. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/71 "2004-05-12T21:41:48Z")
> [@Lizard](#): > > **iampunha** , I just said it before you could. I knew you would get around to it otherwise. One more thing that is utterly predictable in what is supposed to be a website for creative thinkers. I’ve been around long enough to know when the possibility of a pile-on exists. But holding a minority opinion doesn’t make one wrong. And now **Monkey With A Gun** is not the only one who sees my point. Oh how cute. So you’re actually contending (or you’re just joking) that I, who hadn’t yet made an appearance in this thread, was going to first-post Godwin here? Honey, you don’t need any help digging yourself into a hole as big as the Ritz. I just thought I’d gently remind you what happened last time you pulled stupid shit like you hinted at in that post. And by the way, it’s an election year. And by the way, this is a hot-button topic. And by the way, you’re not a mod and thus not required to read the threads you don’t think you’ll enjoy (see, that’ll be more of the “If you don’t like this thread, or my opinions, why don’t you quit reading them, moron?” FROM YOUR OWN POST"). Holding a minority opinion doesn’t make one wrong. Of course not. What you have isn’t just a minority opinion, it’s a frighteningly mindless, undeveloped opinion. Even _that_ doesn’t necessarily make you wrong, it just makes you simple-minded. Par for the course, it seems, esp. wrt the threads linked to by **mhendo**. But hey, reducing sexuality to “who you want to sleep with” smacks of simplemindedness, so at least you’ve realized your true calling. ---
**Author:** ![Eyke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Eyke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyke)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/72 "2004-05-12T22:04:58Z")
> [@Roland Orzabal](#): > > It seems to me that all the OP is saying is that he doesn’t care whether or not anybody is or isn’t gay, and he wishes nobody else did either. Frankly, that is a sentiment with which I quite agree. If people could just mind their own fucking business and ignore other people’s sex lives if they found them displeasing, there’d be a hell of a lot less to argue about. Boy do I wish this was true. It would mean we’d would not have needless clogging of this board with gay issues. It would mean I wouldn’t have to buy newspapers just to see who is putting anti-gay diatribes in the reader’s forum and spend time researching the answers. (I know _that_ would make HWMBO very happy as I’d have more time to dote on him :p.) Since this isn’t the “perfect world” people are going to be asking questions, ranting and raving, and just generally discussing gay stuff. \That’s all I have to say about that.\ Have a great day! ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/73 "2004-05-12T22:32:50Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > As if gay people will obviously have a tougher time making marriage work than “normal” people. Well, they do. But only because of the scorn and prejudice of many of the so-called “normal” people they must interact with, not because of any inherent flaw or difficulty. (Yeah, yeah, the whole “it’s society’s fault” thing is overdone, but in this case, I think it’s true.) ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/74 "2004-05-13T03:20:14Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > And by the way, you’re not a mod and thus not required to read the threads you don’t think you’ll enjoy (see, that’ll be more of the “If you don’t like this thread, or my opinions, why don’t you quit reading them, moron?” **FROM YOUR OWN POST**"). As you demonstrate, repeating it back shows what an ungodly stupid argument it was to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/75 "2004-05-13T03:46:02Z")
> [@Roland Orzabal](#): > > It seems to me that all the OP is saying is that he doesn’t care whether or not anybody is or isn’t gay, and he wishes nobody else did either. Frankly, that is a sentiment with which I quite agree. If people could just mind their own fucking business and ignore other people’s sex lives if they found them displeasing, there’d be a hell of a lot less to argue about. I find nothing here to disagree with. > [@](#): > > It’s just that, for reasons I cannot begin to fathom, he chose to state this point in the most inflammatory tone he could muster. It seems almost as though he was trying to deceive people into thinking he was saying something else entirely, throwing choice slurs about in an attempt to needlessly rile the more vocal defenders of gay rights. And boy, did he ever succeed at that. I see what you mean. It’s kind of like the effect describing some people as **“backwards, clueless, bigoted, racist, homophobic, “Christian” hillbillies”** , might have, huh? Assuming you consider those “slurs.” > [@](#): > > **Lizard** , if you’re saying what I think you’re saying, I agree with you. But you said it in a manner deliberately engineered to piss people off, and now you’re pretending to be surprised when you’re “mistakenly labeled” as a bigoted homophobe. “Deliberately engineered” is a bit much. > [@](#): > > I strongly suspect that you were attempting something else with this: a high-handed “test” of the average Doper’s rationality; that is, their ability to read beyond the surface wording of a statement and get to the true meaning of the statement itself. If this is true (and I use the word _if_ purposefully), that not only makes you an egomaniacal self-righteous asshole, but is also valid grounds for an accusation of trolling. Nah, none of the above. I know what trolling is, and I don’t do it. You’re analyzing a bit much, although unlike all the self-appointed social seers on here, at least you’re being rational. It’s simply this: I had a rant, and I made it. Of course, the obvious rejoinder is that all the threads I complained about are people getting out their rants too. But I think what **Eyke** said is more indicative. It’s more about expressing hatred of people not like them, which is the very thing they claim to oppose. I’m very, very weary of preaching from both sides, but you know what? I hear a lot more of it from the left side of the aisle. I’ve known a lot of Christians, and I’ve known a lot of gays. truth be told, I agreed with the views of the gays far more often. But when you got right down to it, they were a lot more unbearable to be around than the Christians were. Anecdotal? Sure. I never claimed to know anything more. > [@](#): > > Either **Lizard** is trying to stir up a conflict, or else he just really sucks at trying to properly word a valid point. Or neither, like I said above. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/76 "2004-05-13T03:56:08Z")
OK Lizard, do us all a favor then. Since we’ve proven ourselves incapable of rational behavior, why don’t you give us a translation of the OP? Show us how the words in the OP can be rationally interpreted to lead to anything besides the conclusion so many of us have drawn. Restate your “point” and show where in your original rant that “point” can be found. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/77 "2004-05-13T04:19:08Z")
> [@Jimmy Chitwood](#): > > OK Lizard, do us all a favor then. Since we’ve proven ourselves incapable of rational behavior, why don’t you give us a translation of the OP? Show us how the words in the OP can be rationally interpreted to lead to anything besides the conclusion so many of us have drawn. Restate your “point” and show where in your original rant that “point” can be found. Go read my last post again. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/78 "2004-05-13T04:20:23Z")
Oh, man, **mhendo** , there I was, innocently reading this thread and nodding my head at the sagacity of your posts, when I got to this: > [@mhendo](#): > > You also seem to assume that gay-related issues are somehow irrelevant to us heterosexuals, when\*\*\* it should be clear to anyone without a pipe through his head \*\*\*that the issues being discussed in some of those threads are relevant to society as a whole. Best. Phrase. Of. The. Thread! Oh, the mental image… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/79 "2004-05-13T04:20:53Z")
I read it. Very nice. You managed not to call anyone a queen. It didn’t answer my question. Where is that sentiment in the OP? ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737/80 "2004-05-13T04:38:46Z")
> [@Jimmy Chitwood](#): > > It didn’t answer my question. Where is that sentiment in the OP? What are you looking for? Do you think all OPs should meet your standards? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-more-queer-threads-i-mean-a-lot-of-them/244737.md?page=5)