Homophobia and Hate – Alive and Well in SF

I’m to the Peets Coffee in the Marina by 6:30 in the morning at the latest now.  I get myself a cup of coffee, a code for the wireless (Peets holds you to 2 hours), maybe a nosh, and then grab a window seat and have my time online.

 

This morning, there were a few more people than usual.  At the window, two guys in their 50s probably – not too terribly much older than me – were having coffees and morning chat.  For the most part, I was able to ignore them, have my conversations online, and upload my blog from yesterday. 

 

Finally, though, somehow the subject turned to gay and lesbian children.  The one character who had the most to say about is apparently named John.  It was fascinating.  If I’d been in a bar, around 7PM in some part of rural Middle America, I wouldn’t have been shocked at all.  This was the conversation you’d expect from two, bitter, old, drunk white guys.

 

But this is 6AM.  In San Francisco.  And everyone is apparently sober.

 

John gets rolling with the “no grandkids” from gay and lesbian children.  I’m thinking, “Is he f’ing kidding me?”  Of course, he has to say it over and over, and then no less than 5 times, bring up “The Turkey Baster™” as an option for gays and lesbians to have kids. 

 

2008?  And people are still saying this stuff?

 

Oh, but wait … there’s more.  See, the hate and stupidity don’t end there.  “S/he’s got a gay son and a lesbian daughter.   And they say they’re proud.  What’s there to be proud of?”  This gets repeated as well.  More stuff about no grandkids.

 

What’s there to be proud of?  Are you kidding me?  People have been proud of their kids for their poo changing colors at age 3-6 months.  People are proud when their kids graduate high school, get a job … any achievement beyond breathing, really.  Hell,  people are proud when their pets go on the paper or in the litter box. 

 

Why is it so hard to believe that parents would be proud of their kids in spite of the fact OR because of the fact that they are GLBTTQQ?

 

Oh, that’s right.  When you’re blinded by hate, that’s all you can see.

 

People still tell me what a great accomplishment Same Sex Marriage is, pretty much weekly.   I’m glad that same-sex couples can marry in the State’s eyes, because it was a silly barrier, but then, State Marriage isn’t what it should be about, IMHO.  It should be about the commitment between two people, and if they so believe, their god, religion, and institution of higher worship.

 

It’s mornings like this one that remind me what’s actually important – educating people and changing people’s beliefs about non-heterosexuals.  It’s mornings like this that remind me that Homophobia and Hate live on in San Francisco and California. 

Day 2

Well, Monday was Day 2 on the new gig. Did I make much progress? NO.

 

I’d forgotten what it was like to work for a large corporation with bureaucracy everywhere. In the post-Sarbanes-Oxley world, it’s even worse, especially for a company that does all of its business dealing with money online.

 

So, for instance, I have to submit requests to have software installed on my computer. Now, for things like Microsoft Project, where licensing is involved, I can understand the need to have controls and be compliant. You would think that the company would have had that set up on the laptop of a person who is responsible for projects, but that’s another matter. In fact, 3 of the main tools I need to get my job done are not yet available to me. Oh, well.

 

That said … I cannot even upgrade my internet Exploder to Version 7. I’m not a huge fan of IE in the first place, but at LEAST with IE7, I can get tabs, rather than a separate window for every page I access. Sadly, I have insufficient permissions to accomplish that small feat.

 

None of this is to say that I’m dissing the rules of the company. I understand why things are done this way, and why they have to take precautions. It’s just frustrating, that’s all. I don’t like being less than effective.

 

On the bright side, I’m really loving the commute. It gives me time to rest or read or write or or or … it’s forcing me to to do some things I wouldn’t be able to make time for, like writing this blog. And, to be honest, it’s shocking how little traffic there is one the freeways. We come downs in the mornings on 101, and it looks like we’re heading back up on 280, and there is NO traffic to speak of. The HOV lane helps, of course, but even as I look around me, it’s empty.

 

Next step … get the password for the wireless on the bus. Then … watch out!