I got into a bit of an argument this weekend ... imagine that ... against a Hispanic, gay man that I found to be an annoyingly vocal hypocrite.
We were at brunch with a group of friends, celebrating his return from a Caribbean cruise, and generally enjoying each other's company after not having been together for a while.
... enter his politics ...
He is openly gay and opposes bans on his rights as a gay man.
He is fanatically anti-tobacco and supports all tobacco bans.
Ordinarily, I suppose I would have let this go ... but not this weekend. And especially not after hearing him discuss his cruise and say, "Oh, they knew we were there. We took over that ship..." We being the group of approximately 300 gay men on board.
So ... let me see if I understand ...
It is completely and totally ok for you to intentionally and purposefully interrupt daily lives and shove in the face of others that you are gay (when you could easily just live your life like a normal person without having to bring attention to your sexual preference every five seconds), but it isn't ok for someone else to choose to smoke in an area that you can easily remove yourself from?
Don't get me wrong - I could care less that you are gay, but do you really expect me to treat you the same when you insist on telling me that you're different? And do you really expect me to support your "equal rights" when you are so actively campaigning to take away the freedom of others, molding the world they way you think it should be? What happened to personal responsibility and the choice to walk away?
I am just so caught on this - It is wrong to take away your right to marry another man, but it is right to take away a smokers right to choose his own behavior because it might bother you?
Fuck you, Man!
I get that people are worried about second hand smoke and such ... but since when did we become a society that refused to let the market determine what will thrive?
My approach to the smoking issue is to let the owners decide whether to allow smoking. If you don't want to eat in a restaurant that allows smoking, eat somewhere else. If the market for non-smoking restaurants is demanding enough, they will all naturally become that way.
It is a fucked up day in our country when a child molester can walk down the street with more individual freedom and respect that someone holding a cigarette.
Posted by Princess Cat at November 13, 2006 12:20 AM @ 12:20 AM in I Wear These Boots For A Reason // Permalink | TrackBack... a very interesting argument....
Posted by: Eric at November 13, 2006 08:17 AMI hope you elightened him with your most proper 3-word response.
Posted by: Ogre at November 14, 2006 10:54 AMYou don't want to come to the Communist State of NY then. But your "friend" would love it here. I'm a non-smoker and I have gotten used to being in a smoke free environment due to our laws here. When I visited Vegas last month, the smoke was so overwhelming that the first few days I felt like I was being poisoned. After a few days I started getting more used to it. But I hadn't realized how drastic that would affect me.
Posted by: Laurie at November 14, 2006 12:51 PMGay men are filthy beasts. We need to give them an island somewhere and put them on it with no way to leave. Smokers are a different kind of filthy. I can put up with a little smoke now and then. It's hard for me to put up with a loud mouth sissy that is standing there with turds stuck to his penis thinking I am ever going to take him serious.
Posted by: Assrot at November 14, 2006 07:56 PM