LJ Idol: Friends and Rivals is coming to a close, with the poll ending tonight: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/941351.html so make sure to get your votes in to choose your next LJ Idol!
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Usually, at the end of a season I pass the hat. But (1) I did that a few weeks ago and (2) I'm going to share this link instead:
http://www.oneorlando.org/
"The purpose of the Fund is to provide a way to help respond to the needs of our community, now and in the time to come, after the effects of the Pulse tragedy."
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Throughout the mini-season, and well, over the past few years - there has been a lot of talk about the differences between "Old Idol" and "New Idol", which is really just a new version of the "fiction" vs "non-fiction" debate. :)
On the way into work this morning, as I was drifting in and out of sleep, I was thinking about what I wanted to say in the last Green Room of the mini-season. I was thinking about conversations I had when non-fiction was the "norm". That by talking about it in a piece that was being voted on, that people were "exploiting" their own sexual abuse. That people were lying about being blind/deaf/etc or having multiple personalities.
That people were lying about their past - who they were, what they had done.
There was a lot of that talk behind the scenes.
A contestant was writing first person accounts of her life as a dragon. For some reason no one minded that. :)
Which was the example I always used - that if you tell me "I'm a dragon" I will say "OK, you're a dragon". Because what is it costing me to believe that? Absolutely nothing.
What reminded me of this has been all the talk about gender lately. Some of it in regard to Orlando (well that's been "sexual identity" which is different. But let's just lump it all into one thing while acknowledging that it's completely not the same thing), some from "Great Restroom Debate". Some just from reading what people are talking about, that intersected with the two.
I don't claim to be any sort of expert on how people identify. Far from it. I know some things, other things I've had looked up - and still more I don't even have a very good understanding of once I have - and of course there are constantly new variations and names for things popping up that leave me just shaking my cane and yelling at people to just stay off my lawn.
Here's the thing though - I don't *have* to understand the minutia to still get the overview of "let people live their lives". As long as no one else is being harmed and everyone involved knows what is happening and are consenting - how is anything going on with your life impacting mine?
So tell me your pronouns and I'll use them. Tell me who you love and I'll try to remember their names. (Note: I may fail in both of these, but that's just because I deal with a lot of people. But remind me and eventually I'll get it)
I'll get things wrong. Hell, I've probably gotten most of this post wrong and said something horrible! Go ahead and tell me (I prefer politely, because who wants to be yelled at? :D) and I'll make a mental note to not get it wrong next time.
Some might interpret this as "Gary cares about us", but really it's because you all look alike to me and really the only *true* label on you is "dirty hippie foreigner". Which makes you all equal when it comes to Idol. Everyone deserves the same amount of kickings, and you know you are going to get them!