The Gay community and the power of Economics

[Az]

Cort Haus

sites like "gaywheels" ( wtf?!!!)

[Sikander]

Originally posted by MrFun

Since when is self-obsessed identity equated with legitimate concerns for equal rights and protection??

When the first concern about buying a BMW isn't how expensive or wasteful it is, but what sort of political statement it makes.

[Cort Haus]

It's preening narcicissm masquerading as victimhood.

"Equal rights and protection?", Mr Fun? Do me a favour! The article didn't point to a single sub-scrap of a fact that justifies such a pathetic complaint.

Or maybe I missed something. Perhaps Jacques Villenueve's F1 BMW Sauber has a "run over a shirtlifter today" sticker on it that I missed. Or Honda's aerodynamics sends out subliminal messages saying "deny gays the vote".

Or is it just that gaywheels dot com (wtf indeed!) have taken it upon themselves to start mincing up and down the car show rooms saying "ooh you're wicked".

the group is still waiting to hear from ...

for goodness sake it sounds like these brands are "helping the police with their enquiries".

[Ming]

I see you don't seem to grasp the concept of economic power being used to help their cause. The domestic-partner benefits issue is an important one... and this is an excellent way for gays to be heard. It's put up or shut up time for those companies who want to specifically target gays for their products because of their economic power in the market place...

But I guess some people think by making jokes about it that it makes them right...

Like any consumer, gays have the right to decide which companies they want to do business with. The fact that they now have places to go to check out company policies toward gays is a good thing... It will help them to continue to do what they can to support their causes.

[Cort Haus]

So this is the same as muslims boycotting denmark for 'Islamophobia', then.

[Japher]

Is it?

I see some difference between a state recognizing a citizens rights and a private company recognizing an employees rights.

In one instance its choice, in the other it's persecution.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Cort Haus
So this is the same as muslims boycotting denmark for 'Islamophobia', then.

Yes, utilization of economic power to make a political point. Its a great way of getting heard. The Reverand Martin Luther King, Jr. used it masterfully when the black population in Selma refused to use the city busses. Though I guess to you that would be self-obsessed identity politics and get a thumbs down.

[Ming]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


Yes, utilization of economic power to make a political point. Its a great way of getting heard. The Reverand Martin Luther King, Jr. used it masterfully when the black population in Selma refused to use the city busses. Though I guess to you that would be self-obsessed identity politics and get a thumbs down.

He probably thinks that... bigot or troll... you make the call

[Cort Haus]

I'm still not sure which 'rights' gays are being explicitly denied here, according to the claims. Fringe benefits for employees is a world apart from the apartheid-style lack of civil rights for black people in the USA before equality was defined in law, and it's disengenious to compare the two.

Working pay-and-conditions vary dramatically from employer to employer. Gay employees at one firm may enjoy far better conditions than non-gay employees at another. If there is an injustice, why not boycott all companies whose pay-and-conditions fall short of the optimum?

[Ming]

Originally posted by Cort Haus
Working pay-and-conditions vary dramatically from employer to employer. Gay employees at one firm may enjoy far better conditions than non-gay employees at another. If there is an injustice, why not boycott all companies whose pay-and-conditions fall short of the optimum?

And that's what gays are trying to accomplish... by setting up lists of companies who don't support the issues they want, they make it easier for the community as a whole to use their economic weight to make changes. This RIGHT is open to all groups who wish to use their economic clout. Many have done so in the past. This is important since many companies think they can take advantage of gay economic power, yet are blind to the ways they are treating the gay community.

Consumer boycotts have always been and will remain a powerful tool for consumers to fight back.

[Cort Haus]

So anyone who opposes the demands to ban satire against Islam is a bigot? OK, nice to know the framework for debate, here.

[Arrian]

Cort,

It may sound silly, but essentially this is just a gay rights group adopting the tactics of those who fight against them (say... Christian fundies). This "self-obsessed victimhood" stuff is par for the course in the social war, unfortunately. I generally agree with your "stop the insanity!" take on things, but this is not occurring in a vaccum.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

Originally posted by Ming


He probably thinks that... bigot or troll... you make the call

Woah. Cort's no bigot, and he's not trolling. That I can tell ya.

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Cort Haus
I'm still not sure which 'rights' gays are being explicitly denied here, according to the claims. Fringe benefits for employees is a world apart from the apartheid-style lack of civil rights for black people in the USA before equality was defined in law, and it's disengenious to compare the two.

So, say if a company offered domestic partner benefits only to whites, but not blacks... would you say no rights are being violated there?

And after all, what rights are being denied when a private bus company (yes, it was protests against public companies... but what if it was private) says that blacks have to sit on the back of the bus? However, it is the same thing, a minority using their economic power to enact change among corporate America.

[q=Arrian]Cort's no bigot[/q]

:shrug:

Sure sounds like it when he can't figure out why homosexuals would not be happy with companies that are against same sex domestic partner benefits.

[Arrian]

Meh.

-Arrian