Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/01/03/british-lawmaker-comes-out-as.html
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@beschizza - should that be “Member…” rather than “Minister of Parliament”?
Otherwise, cool.
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The default orientation is hetero, which it publicized for every hetero person doing hetero things, whether they going around saying they’re hetero or not. It’s already publicized in that it’s already expected.
For people who are not hetero, yes, it’s helpful to publicize, for a lot of reasons. It’s polite, it helps others who may or may not be thinking about “outing” themselves, it creates visibility for what is essentially a minority position.
For a cis-hetero person, gender and orientation aren’t private or intimate anyway (i.e., a guy’s a guy, a gal’s a gal, and you know what goes where in the bedroom), so why should gender and orientation magically be secret and in the closet for anyone else? A person saying they are not hetero is NOT inviting you speculate on what they do in the bedroom, anymore than a person who is hetero is asking you speculate on what they do in the bedroom.
Mental struggles and infidelity aren’t the same as identity, so the amount of privacy they deserve is up to the person and their audience. Personally, I’d rather know more about how a person deals with depression or bipolar disorder, so yes, I’m grateful for people who share that. Infidelity? Not so much interest, thank you.
That’s true, but it’s also true that maybe someone out there would like to hear it. For every story of ifidelity that you and I would roll our eyes and say, “Ugh!”, there’s maybe some other folks who are struggling and really grateful for the information.
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As a British MP, if she didn’t publicize it, the tabloids would.
Or would it be more comfortable for you if people stayed in their closets and didn’t offend your sensibilities?
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Oh my stars and garters, whatever happened to puritanical prudishness and self shame?
Let me just grab my fainting couch before I swoon
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Sadly no. Fools embarrass themselves and their families publicly online daily.
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My irony sense is tingling.
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Probably because they keep getting asked questions and gossiped about. I supposed you have a point with random people (though even then, they will make statements for their circle of friends/family), but for people in the public eye may want to set the record straight so they don’t fall prey to rumors and lies.
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If everyone gave as few shits about this as you appear to there wouldn’t be any need for this thread, would there?
Until the knowledge that a female politician is dating a woman becomes un-newsworthy you can expect people to push back at comments like yours, even if you didn’t actually mean to sound so condescending and dismissive.
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I forgot to say, I think it’s fantastic that she came out.
If she had been committed to keeping it a secret, at some point it would have been leveraged against her to make her do something politically she didn’t want to do, or to smear her and force her from office.
I hope she has a wonderful life outside the closet.
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Perhaps also worth mentioning, as she is my MP, that she is bloody good at her job too. She represents the views of her constituents, rather than her party, something that the previously Tory incumbent noticeably failed to do.
In the UK, the earlier comment that, if she didn’t say something, the tabloids would, is spot on!
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Obligs:
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If I had that couch I would over dramatize everything just to faint into it repeatedly.
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How many decades have straight people been advertising their marital status via wedding bands?
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It’s quite the centerpiece.
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Victorian furnishings and décor kind of frighten me… especially when excessive.
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That couch does look to be upholstered with Vampiric Velvet…
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Just keep adding more until it starts to look normal.
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People sharing personal information about themselves is categorically not the same as people sharing personal information about someone else. If a kid shared their own mental struggles and some stranger online condescendingly dismissed them, I’d be here for that stranger’s ratioing as well. Be supportive, not dismissive. Or, if it annoys you, you can ignore it and say nothing at all. Just because you have the means to tell the world how you feel about someone being out, doesn’t mean you have to.
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