Okay, so a clerk at this small store I always frequent is kind of backwards, and he holds some pretty redneck assumptions - Muslims are The Devil(tm), liberals are The Devil(tm), et cetera, et cetera. We have long conversations about said topics whenever I go in there. Well, the other day we were talking about the government screwing people over to make money, and he started going on about how gay marriage isn't being approved because insurance companies are afraid straight guys will use it to gain insurance benefits (and therefore lose money). "Just like that movie!" (I'm guessing the movie with Adam Sandler where he pretended to marry that guy from King of Queens.) I told him that was a shame people would do that, since it keeps gay people who love each other from getting married and that nobody should be denied the right to be recognized as a couple with the person they love. We then went on to talk about what a shame that was, and how this guy has no problem with gay people, he doesn't want anything to do with it but live and let live, that they have the right to get married like everyone else, he just doesn't like lewd public displays of affection regardless of who's involved. I agreed with him. It's just interesting that this guy's views on marriage were so liberal, considering every other political viewpoint he has expressed to me in the past has been xenophobic and extremely far right. It probably helps that the store owner is gay though...
>>>A clerk at this small store holds some pretty redneck assumptions--Muslims are the Devil, liberals are the Devil. We've been wondering where grandpa went...I'll send someone to fetch him shortly. But seriously it is always interesting when you come across people that pleasantly surprise you. I guess the over-used cliche "don't judge a book by its cover" has some merit.
Yeah, it was a pleasant surprise! But it helps that I started going to that store back when I was presenting female, and just all of a sudden started showing up dressed like a dude, so I'm sure this guy has intuited that I am myself one of the gays. I seriously doubt he would be all, "Nah man, **** those ****" since I'm one of his more regular customers. Lots of Southerners are conservative, but prejudice is bad business.
Just when you thought you had someone figured out, they surprise you. Although, I'd say in this instance, it's a good surprise. ^_^
This reminds me of when I used to work in a small computer store abou 10 years ago. I sold a computer to a really nice gay couple. It was a custom build so they came back a few days later. They came in we chatted a few minutes, picked up the PC and left. They owner returned from lunch as we were finishing up. He said he knowni they were gay he would not have sold it to them. I say why, gay money spends the same as straght money. He thought about it for a minute and walked off.
Well...I'm an independent and I find the far left as annoying as the religious right, but not annoying and I do have an issue with Muslim cultures in the middle east because they are misogynistic, backwards and violent. and I support gay marriage. People can surprise you and I don't know what his reasons for those particular beliefs are, but they could be perfectly rational as mine are (I hope). Just me .02 :icon_wink
I know of a few people like this. I'm from a pretty small town and there are a lot of "hick" or "backwards" folk who like to joke about asians, indians (aka First Nations peoples), hipsanic people, black people... just about anything. But the really strange thing is, if you get into an actual conversation with them about gay people, they usually have the "as long as they don't try to kiss me!" attitude and believe that we should all have equal rights. One of my (ex)friend's dads is a lot like this. Really gruff and can come off as being mean and likes to joke about fags, but is actually a really nice guy when you get to know him and has nothing against gays at all. Lately, people like that are bothering me less and less. I'm getting a lot more annoyed with the growing swarm of gays who have some new mission to get every other gay out of the closet and exposed for the world to see. The kind of people who are gay and complain about how awful and hard it is to live as a gay person in a small town, but then they turn around and gossip about whether or not another a guy is gay, and ask all his friends, and creep his facebook, and spread rumours, and eventually put him in a terrible situation where he has no choice but to come out. This drives me INSANE. I've seen it happen a couple times lately, including to one of my close friends, and have made every effort to cut these awful people out of my life, but they seem to have a growing army lately. Sorry... my post turned into a vent session.
Yeah, but you probably don't think they're trying to take over our country by buying up all of the gas stations and hotels. This guy does. Well he has said something homophobic in the past, which is why I had him mentally filed in my "Never approach about queer issues" folder. If anyone I knew would literally believe in a gay mafia, I think it'd be this guy.
oh the gay mafia exists, armed and fabulous. If a car full off queens ever drove past and threw skittles at you, yelling "taste the fucking rainbow" then you've been targeted for conversion.
Okay, yeah. I've never thought that. My comment about his beliefs maybe being rational is out the window now!
But so are fundamentalist Christian and Jewish cultures. Fundamentalism is bad in ANY religion. Confusing Islamic culture and Fundamentalist Islamic culture is just bad.
