Dignity and acceptance

Forgive me for using the N-word, but back in 1936 that was the word used and even used by black people to refer to themselves and each other. Rob Tisinai of Box Turtle Bulletin found a copy of The Negro Motorist Green Book. That guide allowed a black person in 1936 to travel across the country and know what establishments in what city were safe and welcoming. It simply would not do to show up at a hotel to find the door slammed in one's face when the proprietor saw a black person. Tisinai admires what blacks were able to do with dignity in a world that was full of indignity. He also sees acceptance. The world of 1936 might change, but that wasn't going to come fast enough for that summer's travels. The authors of the Green Book hoped that some day their guide wouldn't be needed.

Yes, there is a gay equivalent, the Damron Guide. I have a copy from a few years ago, though I've never used it in traveling. I don't go seeking the delights it catalogs. The Damron is changing because it isn't dangerous (in most places) to be gay, though sometimes we want to hang out with our own kind.

But all these "religious freedom" bills might make the Damron into the Green Book. How can we avoid making a reservation at a hotel and not be thrown out when the clerk sees two men and the room has one king-size bed?

Tisinai realized something while writing his post. It was fine to have a Negro version because low-paid laborers needed someplace to cater to their needs and the more separate the better. But many Fundies don't want the gay version of the Green Book to exist because, according to them, we don't deserve any services -- no wedding photos, no honeymoon suites, nothing.

Commeter Victor wrote that these religious freedom bills are because we used to have a society that was basically Christian. That is no longer true and Fundies are terrified that the society not only doesn't share their beliefs but outright challenges them. They are trying to hold off a New World Order ready and able to destroy all they hold dear.