{"id":2420,"date":"2018-08-24T00:08:21","date_gmt":"2018-08-24T00:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/?p=2420"},"modified":"2018-08-24T00:08:21","modified_gmt":"2018-08-24T00:08:21","slug":"pride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/24\/pride\/","title":{"rendered":"pride"},"content":{"rendered":"

I got a message sent to the webmaster email from a parent about a month ago. \u00a0I get a lot of email and most of it I just skim and forward – or pop off a quick reply to guide someone to a resource.<\/span><\/p>\n

This one I read – then read again. <\/span><\/p>\n

The parent said in the email that her son had finally told her why he dropped out of school. \u00a0That a professor, in a classroom, had equated being gay to rape. He tried to get some assistance and wasn\u2019t taken seriously. \u00a0It bothered him so much that he didn\u2019t want to be in our classrooms anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n

I read it again, then forwarded to the appropriate office to investigate and respond to it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, what I know about this is so vastly overshadowed by what I don\u2019t know it might as well be a thimble of kool-aid on Jupiter.<\/span><\/p>\n

What was really said? \u00a0What was the context? Who did the student talk to? \u00a0How was that presented? What action was really taken? \u00a0How much was real? And how much was an overreaction?<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know. \u00a0And I\u2019m not in a position to know. \u00a0It\u2019s not important to my job and it\u2019s been given to the right people to resolve.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet\u2026 it keeps bothering me. \u00a0So, I reached out to the office that I forwarded this to and got a response today. \u00a0They haven\u2019t yet met with the student, though a meeting is scheduled. And they haven\u2019t responded to the parent at all – which surprised me a bit since they initiated the email in the first place. \u00a0They don\u2019t know which class or which professor, if this was said inside or outside the classroom. Or even what was really said and the context.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though, it would be a huge stretch to find some context where this wasn’t horrific.<\/p>\n

And once they do know, they aren\u2019t allowed to talk to me about it to preserve the privacy of the student – which I get, but is also frustrating.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a problem solver by my nature and this isn\u2019t something I\u2019m allowed to solve – or even know the solution when it is solved.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m frustrated and angry and I feel a little let down. \u00a0You hear about things like this happening all the time in the news and I had naively thought, \u201cwell, that couldn\u2019t happen here. \u00a0We\u2019re better than that,\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And we are. Except when sometimes maybe we aren\u2019t. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I guess what troubles me so much about this is that it\u2019s intended to make gay people feel bad about themselves. \u00a0That we\u2019re supposed to feel ashamed and be reviled. That we\u2019re wrong – just for being who we are.<\/span><\/p>\n

——————<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s been a flyer going around – on the internet and IRL – encouraging people to contact the Mayor\u2019s office and then also to protest the Akron Pride festival. \u00a0It was filled with the usual hateful rhetoric and I\u2019d generally dismiss it – but, like the problem in the classroom, this hit close to home. This is my town and we should be better than this. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, I\u2019ve decided that this year – my first year – I\u2019m going to Pride. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t plan on staying the whole time. \u00a0And I\u2019m really not good with crowds. But I think it\u2019s important to be counted. \u00a0And maybe see the enemy face to face too. <\/span><\/p>\n

I got some new socks to wear with my kilt and a matching t-shirt. \u00a0Looking forward to seeing my friends, marveling at the community, and just being a part of it all. \u00a0And relying on my speed and situational awareness to keep me safe if things go south. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the grand scheme of things, it\u2019s not much. \u00a0One more middle-aged gay guy at a pride festival.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, it matters to me. \u00a0To stand – and dance, maybe – with my brothers and sisters.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who just want a damn wedding cake. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I got a message sent to the webmaster email from a parent about a month ago. \u00a0I get a lot of email and most of it I just skim and forward – or pop off a quick reply to guide someone to a resource. This one I read – then read again. The parent said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_bluesky_dont_syndicate":"","_bluesky_syndication_accounts":"","_bluesky_syndication_text":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2421,"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420\/revisions\/2421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thunderofwade.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}