aware singapore on The P Spot
By Pat Law • Jun 9th, 2009 • Category: Uncategorized
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I make no apologies for being gay, neither do I think it’s right to rub it in anyone elses’ face. Or to rub anything in one’s face for that matter, unless its a nice pair of boobs.
I’ve never viewed my sexuality as a disability, and let it be known I refuse to think my sexuality is a bigger issue than Humanity itself. There are more battered, abused straight women in my country than there are lesbian bashing. Childish staring fights don’t count, my dear angry lesbians. Chances are, the bloke’s staring at you because you’re ridiculously hideous and fat.
Oh sue me for being truthful.
I’m not much of a whiner as much as I am a do-er. And that’s what I pretty much did for my column on LOTL, Australia’s leading lesbian magazine. The article I wrote was dedicated to Aware Singapore. I was proud of how we stood by together for all women. For all women. I wanted the Aussies to know too. That this little red dot isn’t some fascist state whatsoever. That we do care for each other. For everyone.
140 characters can only do so much, no? Let’s hope that the reason for being doesn’t change.
Not everyone possess the self-confidence like you, Pat.
It is not about whether we view our sexuality as a disability, it is how others view it as a disability. Perhaps the two of us are comfortable enough to be ourselves and f*ck what the world thinks – what about others, the young, people with low self-confidence, or people with parents like Dr Thio?
It is also not just about staring incidents and rude people. Let’s not even talk about people who may have suicidal tendencies. That’s a tad too extreme. Let’s think about social repercussions. Gay men who marry women to fulfill responsibilities. Same for gay women who marry men. Perhaps the spouses should know better than to marry someone who isn’t truly in love with them. What about the children? We all know how important the childhood is to the human psyche, or at least I know.
Basically we’re breeding generations of repressed/suppressed/depressed people just because of the lack of awareness, tolerance and acceptance.
Not everyone is mentally/emotionally as strong as you. This is a compliment from my heart.
I don’t give a f*ck about homophobics, honestly. However, being through a difficult childhood myself (though not due to my sexuality), I am concerned about others who may be subject to marginalization.
Sometimes the lack of physical violence doesn’t mean that it hurts less.
That being said, I personally do not push gay agenda all that often, but I would like to express another perspective on this matter for those involved. Supporting a cause is very personal, and while you feel for battered women, I feel more for stray, abused animals. That doesn’t make me less of a human. Same for those who feels very strongly towards gay discrimination and are doing everything they can about it (whine or not). At least they are doing something about it, doesn’t that make them better than those who cannot care less about anything at all?
Hi Winnie,
Pardon the late response as your comment deserves more than just a quick thank you. Time has been a luxury of late.
I agree that my thick skin has served me well, however embarrassing it might be for the people around me, but I beg to question further on the notion of people (whom I herewith assume you mean the straight ones, when you said “others”) perceiving homosexuality as a disability. There will be ignorant homophobes, inevitably, but while we cannot change others, we can always change ourselves.
By change, I don’t mean “turning straight” (like that is even possible) but rather, changing the way we think and feel. Ask yourself these questions:
1. Should I be affected by their ignorance?
2. Why should I care about being accepted by them?
3. Are they really homophobic or am I playing up a self-fulfilling prophecy?
As much as I disagree to discrimination against homosexuality, or any kind for that matter, I honestly don’t see how homophobic this country is compared to even the United States. I’m not saying there is no room for improvement. There is, of course. But at least I know I feel safe enough to walk down the streets of my country not worrying about being bashed up or raped for being gay.
There is a reason to why I’m against the promoting of the gay agenda too much, ESPECIALLY when utilising a secular feminist organisation’s name. Singapore, as you’d know, is young and people need to realise culture takes time to develop. Unfortunately, we’re in an era where technology accelerates our lives so much, we sometimes forget that we can’t change perception overnight. Can we? Sure, let’s have our very own Tiananmen riot too. Let’s take a thousand lives and paint the town red, literally. I’d like to see those loud mouths put their own lives on the line and take a couple of shots through the heads because some silly straight man call them ugly fat lesbians. Is it worth the trouble?
I don’t expect foreigners who’ve been in our country for a short while to know better, but I expect my own people to know how this country operates. Don’t ask, don’t tell. Do it, just don’t announce it.The freedom to speak comes with consequences. Don’t forget that bit. I want my freedom to know I won’t get beaten up for being gay, over the right to tell the whole goddamn world that I love eating pussies.
I’m a little nationalistic that way, I guess. I’m not entirely in love with my country, but I know that the respectful thing to do if I hate this country that much is to leave for another. No one deserves the bloody right to decide how the entire population should be governed.