As someone who watched Saturday Night Live…uh, religiously… I often think of those episodes of the 70’s and how they might relate to today. I was especially fond of the Jane Curtin, Dan Akroyd Weekend Update and their Point/Counterpoint exchange. After reading letters to the editor in local newspapers.. I will admit…this line came to mind.
“(Jane) MaryAnn, You Ignorant Slut”
Now before you get offended MA, I am in no way in possession of any knowledge nor do I care to be.. as to whether the term “slut” might or might not apply. And frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn. I was a grown woman by the 70’s and have been called worse. Most earned.
But I do care about the actual knowledge or lack thereof some seem to posses as your group wax on and on about how you love THE Gays, you don’t discriminate and yet…yet, you feel compelled to write about (with 3 actual live witnesses) how you were appalled when you ran into what you called ‘transgendered men’ at the Basin Park Hotel restroom.
First off, unless you had some conversation with this person, chances are they…the group of men in ladies wear was attending one of the many cross-dressers conventions that USED to be held in Eureka Springs each year, and were not transgendered. They were part of the En Femme group who consisted of STRAIGHT married men and their wives. Many, many of those men are mayors, police chiefs, lawyers, and other professional types from many states. They came to Eureka because they found the town not only wonderful as a destination but as a place where they could act out their passions in dressing in women’s clothing that they couldn’t do at home.
You obviously have no knowledge on what you speak nor do you appear to want to educate yourself..or your granddaughter. Had you not been so much in a hurry to exit the bathroom…you could have taken a glorious opportunity..as a grandmother..and a mentor..to open dialogue and discussion with your granddaughter and the person who was doing his makeup. You might have welcomed him and invited him to explain to you and your granddaughter why they were in town and why he was in a dress? And if he preferred to be called he or she.
Every opportunity that presents itself when our youth is formulating their very own identities is an opportune time for loving conversation instead of the rushed display of disgust I am sure you displayed.
You are so sure that Ord 2223 will fill our bathrooms with predators. Sad and ignorant at the same time.
Furthermore…News Flash. I am assuming your granddaughter is teenage now…did you know that where she goes to school all transgendered kids are entitled to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with? Title IX of the DOE Federal Law allows them to use the bathrooms and all other school related activities without being discriminated against. Transgendered kids are protected under Federal Law. Strike 2. But should you desire more information. http://transgenderlawcenter.
If you take the time to read and learn you will find that the ‘bathroom issues’ are just the often used, fear inducing, save the children, lead the lemmings rhetoric and has no basis whatever. However, there are entire websites dedicated to Baptist Sex Offenders yet you have no problem spewing loving sentiments for the head of your congregation. If logic were a part of your brain, you would find it is more dangerous to enter a bathroom in the Baptist Church than in the Basin Park Hotel (who by the way probably adhered to Federal guidelines on gender identity during their convention)
Again, for your reference.
http://stopbaptistpredators.
http://stopbaptistpredators.
https://www.baptiststandard.
It seems to be a trend. Congrats, your church too can be on the list. There is a whole organization dedicated to victims and survivors of clergy abuse. SNAP http://www.snapnetwork.org/
Strike 3. Before you continue your group quest as you have done for years ..back to 2007 and the DPR that I know of…to demean those who live in your community that you SAY you love and would never discriminate against, get educated. For the love of God “Jane/Maryann”..uh…people, stop with all the nonsense of your version of backstabbing love. I will defend your right to your shallow, uninformed, ignorant flappings..but hey, it’s better to just say “hey, I don’t like all you GLBT and that’s why I see no reason to keep Ord 2223 in place” than to continually talk of love and exhibit hate and unkindness..and support vile lies to boot.
I ran across an African Proverb today… ‘The axe forgets; the tree remembers.’
You’ve been an axe for a long time here, the trees around here remember…you have hacked and hacked away, but good loving people will stand..no matter how broken you and your group try to make them.
So maybe spend some time getting a hold of your Pastor Acra Turners victims. No, seriously, talk to them. See if they are more afraid and have trepidations in a restroom with a man in a dress or does the nightly haunting of that day with the pastor still live in their hearts. Would they be appalled you find him so wonderful? Can you stomach to listen to their stories in detail? Or are you too busy perpetuating the lies of your group about bathrooms and hanging giant signs for all the guests of Eureka to question?
Can you tell your granddaughter that the preacher you love so much has brutally attacked and raped 3 women for which he was convicted? A 4th he admitted to. Can you describe in detail what that might be like if she at some point finds herself at the hands of a man like Acra Turner? Will you be so loving and forgiving then? Or do you tell her to commit any heinous crimes she wants and Jesus will forgive her?
http://docapp065p.doc.state.
http://newsok.com/victim-
Put your energy in something worthwhile. Help instead of hindering. And if nothing else, have the balls…no scratch that…have the vagina to just say you discriminate and are not about fairness. You weren’t in 2007, you aren’t now.
You may think that age 10 is an age of innocence and it is in many ways, it is also an age when a lot of kids realize they are not the same as other kids. Luckily, our society of today in many ways is more open to that than during my youth. But the fact remains if you have family, a church, and others close to you that constantly demean, then the kids of those familial units will dispel whatever self esteem they might have had.
Put down that axe, you have done quite enough damage.
However, I do believe if a potential danger might arise..either in triggering a PTSD event for a woman who has been sexually assaulted or in actuality, better safe than sorry… I have notified the above sites about your pastor and your church. Maybe a large truck with a banner for your church with images might be appropriate also for our tourists who might want to attend services while they are here. At least those are real concerns instead of the lies you are using.
And in the words of some of this group…”Please do not make us feel pathetic or silly for feeling the way we do”
Yes, your group are a REAL CONCERN on how little you care of equality. But always better to know than have to guess who has the axes ready to strike.
…J
