Conservatives need a safe space to practice their bigotry

NBC News published an article about the "First Amendment Defense Act" (FADA) bill that's making its rounds in the House again (after a failed attempt in 2015), because a Republican-controlled everything suggests that this piece of shit bill could actually pass. In a nutshell, this bill would allow any business to discriminate based on the following:

"(1) marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or (2) sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage."

Does that sound insane? Obviously. Will it pass? Probably.

I believe its general intent is to deny gays service because you know...icky! However, the second part suggests that anyone who engages in pre-marital sex can be discriminated against as well. This pretty much leaves the companies who want this bill passed with a customer demographic of the very chaste, and children.

The bill is fucking terrible, but it is interesting to me that bigots can't handle interacting with the very, very, very large gay community so much that they need to pass a law to protect themselves from it. These are (likely) the same people who mock triggers and safe spaces in general. These people are likely white, Christian, and have never been to war, sexually or physically abused, or harassed regularly about characteristics they possess that they have no control over.

I admit I go into insta-rage when safe spaces and triggers are mocked. It's reducing a very serious illness (PTSD) into "whining" and being "too sensitive". This isn't even remotely accurate, and I would venture to guess that the anti-PC group minimized it this much in order to further their fight to be assholes publicly without being criticized.

I can't speak personally about safe spaces, because that seems to be more prevalent on college campuses, though Cracked posted a good explanation of what their intent is (and isn't):

"As for safe spaces, I'll just describe what they were where I went to school. I graduated from the University of Notre Dame, famous for (among other things) being one of the least LGBT-friendly universities in the country. A number of Notre Dame professors display a small rainbow sign outside their offices that simply read, "This is a safe space." It was a sign that told students who were struggling with their sexual identity (on a campus that is, again, not friendly to gay people) that they could talk to that professor without fear. Maybe a minority student could come to that professor when he didn't know how to handle the guys in his hall casually dropping the n-word around him and needed help valuing his cultural identity. That's it. Safe spaces aren't some club where nasty liberals sit around and bash cis straight white people. That's what coffee houses and drama clubs are for. In my experience, they're basically just small environments where students could go to not casually have "n****r" or "f****t" slung in their direction."
I can speak personally about triggers, however. As a rape survivor, it is extremely helpful for me to know if rape is going to be depicted on TV or in a movie. For example, there is a very brutal rape scene in the book "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo". It was hard enough to read, and I knew I definitely didn't want to watch it acted out. So, I didn't (Madscutter fast-forwarded through the scene, and I closed my eyes). That decision made the difference between having a nice movie night with my husband and being in a state of panic that may last for days. This was a trigger that was relatively easy for me to avoid since I knew it was coming. That's all people with PTSD want. They want to know if their trigger(s) are coming. One only needs to warn people out of courtesy. It's not the law. If you think I (and millions of others) am just being a whiny and sensitive libtard, then don't warn me. That is your right.

That's what amuses me the most about this bill. I don't have a law that will protect me from triggers, but Christian conservatives will soon have one to keep them safe from the gays. However, if the bill fails to pass and they're left still clutching their pearls in horror over gay marriage, I might start offering my office as a "safe space" for them.

There's a fainting couch and everything!


Comments

  1. This is a great article. I guess a lot of the people who like this bill spend a lot of time thinking about gay sex.

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