The day you have all been waiting for (or undoubtedly forgot about) is finally here: Day Without A Gay! Yes, in an ongoing effort to fight against California’s decision on Prop 8, gays around the nation are not showing up to work or classes tomorrow and will instead be donating their time by volunteering for local LGBT groups. December 10 is Human Rights Day, and tomorrow marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In a quick little aside, it’s important to mention that the United Nations General Assembly is meeting tomorrow and will be discussing whether or not to globally decriminalize homosexuality. I just heard about this from a friend of mine today and don’t know much about it, so instead of just plagiarizing someone’s information I highly suggest you check out this article. If you don’t, the absolute basics are that this will be the first LGBT issue the UN General Assembly has ever discussed, 86 countries today still ban male homosexuality, and the Vatican is fighting against the UN on this one. A real shocker, that one. Read the article. It’s interesting.
An empty art exhibit. My god! Where have all the gays gone?!
Now, as I mentioned in a previous post, the idea behind Day Without A Gay is a bit controversial. The point, of course, is to show that gays exist everywhere and are very essential for every day life. We are your government workers, postal service employees, baristas, construction workers, police men, firefighters, actors, musicians, garbage men, doctors, lawyers, real estate agents, engineers, translators, pilots, etc. etc. etc. By not showing up to work, people are supposed to realize, “Oh, they’re human too. They have a job just like I do and do more than just wear glitter and prance around fields all day.”
The problem with this is that many people will either not notice or not care. When students don’t show up to class, they’ll probably just be thought of as stupid for skipping out on a final exam or lying at home sick. The people who actually call in “gay” and can’t show up to work probably have an employer who already knows and supports LGBT issues, and therefore the employer is less on employee and nothing is gained. The gay guy is just a jerk for putting all his or her work on everybody else.
An empty theater… What the hell is going on?!
Personally, instead of skipping out on classes and my Human Nutrition exam, I’ll go to class and just wear some of my pride clothing. Somehow over my two and a half years on this campus I have acquired tee shirts for everything from the Day of Silence to Equal Marriage Illinois (which is the shirt I’ll be wearing tomorrow). If you check out their website there is a section on six ways you can help fight for equal marriage rights in Illinois, which is one of those things that can be considered “volunteering,” even if it’s as simply as writing your state representative. I highly recommend checking them out.
In my humble opinion, I think it’s more important to actually show up to work or school and just make your presence as an LGBT person or ally known instead of just disappearing for a day. Whether you choose to call in gay or to show up to class with a rainbow painted across your face, or you choose to do nothing at all, at least make sure you’re keepin’ it real. Good luck on your exams, yo.
Liam Reed: 1987 model, runs fairly well, few dents, starts in cold weather, no baggage, loves flea markets and canned soup. Send all hate mail, love mail, and sexual advances to withtongue@gmail.com
Comments
Zachary (Zachary) says:
(Posted December 10th, 2008 at 10:08 am)
I might just write a whole bunch of gayness on my wrists so customers can either gasp or avoid their change. I just can’t call in because only two people close and I can’t throw the rest on someone else, I’ll just do what you suggest and just be known.
And about the UN General Assembly, can we say it’s about god damn time? Of course it doesn’t surprise me the nations that aren’t signing it (Turkey wants to be part of the EU, but isn’t signing it? Good luck with that one). Surely Obama will support it when he get’s into office and if and when it passes the Assembly. I’m pretty positive it will.
Not Mary Z (Not Mary Z) says:
(Posted December 10th, 2008 at 12:08 pm)
Well said, Liam.
Anon (Anon) says:
(Posted December 10th, 2008 at 3:41 pm)
I lol’d at the empty theater.
Jon (Jon) says:
(Posted December 10th, 2008 at 3:55 pm)
Like Liam said, I felt like I could call in gay today and my company would respect and honor my choice.
Then I realized that if that was the case, then there is no need for me utilize day without a gay. So there ya go. Kind of pointless.
Also, I guess if we took the day off, we were supposed to do community service. F that. Why cant I just drink Whiskey earlier than normal and call it a day.
Jeff Brandt (Jeff Brandt) says:
(Posted December 19th, 2008 at 1:21 pm)
Good work. Seems like you’ve put more thought into this issue than whoever organized the Day.
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Liam Reed
1987 model, runs fairly well, few dents, starts in cold weather, no baggage, loves flea markets and canned soup. Send all hate mail, love mail, and sexual advances to withtongue@gmail.com
Mike Consalvo (Mike Consalvo) says:
(Posted December 9th, 2008 at 10:44 pm)
Maybe Blagojevich can call in gay to work tomorrow, you know that way it can take the attention of other things going on in his life.