LGBT blogger Pam Spaulding from Pam’s House Blend over at Fire Dog Lake took to the steps of “Duke and Durham: Love=Love Candlelight Vigil.” last night to let her feelings be know about the North Carolina’s legislature attepting to pass a constitutional amendment that would ask voters to ban marriage, civil unions, domestic partnerships and other same sex relationship recognition on the May 2012 ballot.
Pam, a North Carolina native joined over 300 others at the vigil which was a somber affair. But Spaulding would not let her feelings be reigned in and spoke passionately, truthfully and from the heart.
The time for lighting candles and waxing poetic is over. It’s time to take to the streets and FIGHT.
If Pam Spaulding truly intends to be the fierce advocate that she claims to be in this video then she needs to break down that closet she built for herself and absolve herself of all the arrogance, ignorance, apathy, and hypocrisy she has hidden behind for so many years now.
Can you at least for one second, applaud her for standing up and speaking out and doing something instead of sitting behind a computer bitching like so many others and I don;t mean you when I say that.
But did she do something yesterday or was she the one sitting behind the computer doing the bitching? Think about it: While those legislators were making their hate speeches, she could have been leading our community in a loud, but peaceful protest outside the chambers but she didn’t want to get involved.
So before you accuse me of hiding, need I remind you that my online status is in green most of the day. What does your status say, Will?
I wasn’t accusing YOU of hiding. I was talking about many many others out there.
My point was someone did something good last night. Can’t we just leave it at that.
I don’t think some of you out there, and by that I mean ‘outside of NC’, quite really understand how outright DANGEROUS it is for gay people to even be KNOWN here. It is DANGEROUS for them to meet up at LGBT centers and count themselves among the populus openly IN ANY WAY. The level of connectedness between bigots and police forces, between bigots and politicians, between bigots and mayors, commissioners, and a high number of hate groups, makes what Pam does very, very brave indeed. If you think that bigots are just drunk rednecks who just TALK about how much they hate you, and any other minority, you are out of your minds and must live in a very nice, very safe place. ANY dissent by ANY ONE, gay or straight, against the status quo of ‘family values’ here is not going unnoticed. The ability for the ‘connected’, from one county to the next, people to disrupt, annoy, harass, and yes, physically attack, anyone they percieve as a ‘liberal or leftist’, is PROFOUNDLY easy for them to do. Only those who live OUTSIDE this state could live in some sort of bubble headed mindset where ‘nice people’ don’t behave like this anymore. Not everyone can afford to, nor should they HAVE to, run off to NYC or LA or any other less racist, sexist, and homophobic state. Some of you don’t seem to QUITE GRASP yet, that those of us in living in these areas sure would love to see some of you ‘nice people’ drive down to this state and organize and support us by the THOUSANDS instead of sniping at one woman from a distance. How nice for you. The fact that she’s blogging openly and CAN BE DISCOVERED, even by accident, is her painting a huge target on her own back just so someone like yourselves can sit back and criticize, instead of HELP. Come HELP us!! Well? Well? Alrighty then. How about you just either put up or shut up, ‘k? Cause there are people here who are quite literally surrounded on all sides by HATE, day and night, and hoping they can keep their jobs and hoping they can come and go without getting carjacked or followed onto a hiking trail or otherwise surviving, nevermind trying to live openly. I would recommend you peruse the SPLC’s website or google and hey, want it from the horses’ mouth? Just out any Topix forum. Go on. Pick a small town in the South. Anywhere. You’ll find out very quickly how the hate, rather than subsiding, is GROWING. It’s growing against anyone non-white and non-socially conservative. Add to this the animus and propaganda of the men’s hate movement, consuming so many young men’s minds now with anti-conspiracy rhetoric and such, and you will realize that the Freedom that America stands for is DISAPPEARING for far too many people. Every single day.
PLEASE, please…the hate groups are growing and the members are bolder than ever. A pride parade in NYC or SF is one thing. You’re preaching to the choir and having a big, fun time. People that try that mess in the South are risking ACTUAL BODILY HARM, nevermind their careers in the intricately webbed ‘good ol’ boys./Mason’s’ network, particularly of the Carolina’s. The pol’s in this state do not care about their pull on the Hill. They DON’T care. Being isolationists by tradition alone and unwilling to rock the boat anyway, they will ferret out by hill and dale any LGBT group they can, in any way, disband. They’re as patient as you and probably ten times as more monied and well connected. Things have become VERY scary here and if the dang ammendment isn’t enough for you to figure that out, nothing will be. Hiding behind a keyboard? Honey, you don’t even KNOW what ‘hiding’ really means!