rrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo) (05/23/84)
Have any of you who've contributed messages about gay topics to the other "nongay" net mailing lists experienced a reaction of either being ignored or given very little attention? I don't have reason (yet) to believe this has happened on the net but two things suggest it might be expected: --- someone last fall posted a notice to the net about Boswell's book on homosexuality & Christianity & got very little response; --- Boswell himself encountered the "ignore them; they'll disappear" reaction: Jerry Falwell has claimed on 3 separate occasions never to have heard of Boswell's book (Boswell quipped "either the man has a very short memory span or he's lying"). In fact, a journalist publicly presented one of Falwell's closest aides with a copy which was accepted. The author expected violent reaction to his book from evangelicals; but apparently the fundies feel so fundamentally threaten- ed by documented facts and texts that they can only deal with it by pretending Boswell & the book don't exist. I wonder if this isn't true to a lesser ex- tent of the net, except in cases where you directly attack another netter's message? Cheers, Ron Rizzo
lmf@drutx.UUCP (FullerL) (05/24/84)
<> I haven't submitted any such articles and so haven't experienced what you mentioned. However I suspect from other experiences I've had that there is a good probability that the "ignoring response" will probably happen on the net also. After all how many people "come out" to someone and get no response from the other person at all. Then that someone appears to forget you ever told them and asks when you are getting married. Or you mention your lover or anything that relates to your sexual preference and they ignore what you said and change the subject. And these people are often family or close friends. I doubt if the average person on the net is less homophobic. At least friends and family hopefully have more motivation to deal with their homophobia. Lori Fuller
pso@utastro.UUCP (05/24/84)
I didn't get ignored when I submitted an article to net.religion but I did get an attack of homophobia via the mail from some anonymous source who suggested that I get back into the closet and slam the door behind me. Sam