I would say that the fact that this entry is shorter doesn't mean the incident is any less important. That's not exactly true. I mean...the way I view the whole thing is...IT'S ANN COULTER. I just have to ask myself and the rest of you--who really takes her seriously? Apparently gays do, but, just to be honest, I feel like gays take everything seriously when it comes to anything remotely related to homosexuality. I'm not trying to disrespect those people who are seriously offended by Ann Coulter's comments, since she apparently refers to people as "gay" all the time.
But one of the reasons why I have not been posting on Coulter's comment is because I just don't think she's worth it. I think she just likes to say and do crazy things to draw attention to herself, and people are still apparently falling for it. She's a fake celebrity, and that's partially thanks to people who let her get to them. Whether or not she means what she says or the fact that it's still derogatory to a certain group of people...I, personally, don't care. I feel like gay people are going to have to reach a point where they are not spending energy pointing out every single thing that could be perceived as a wrong, because it's not always worth it or going to amount to anything. And especially when you're just giving people what they are looking for, it's shooting yourself in the foot, in a sense. This is someone that absolutely no one should care about.
The way I view "hate speech" and hateful comments is that if it's not coming from someone I care about, I really just don't care. I understand the political implications of caring about and speaking out on more broad-scale events. I just feel like with some of these things, it's a matter of picking your battles and picking them wisely. And you just can't make people stop using words like "faggot" and "nigger." That's never going away, so I question the energy spent on these things. It's fine to let people know that you have a problem with these things being said, but you don't have to do it every time. And, frankly, Ann Coulter and Isaiah Washington and their ignorance have absolutely nothing to do with me or anything going on in my life. So why would I let them upset me because they have issues with people like me? I don't care about these people.
And a good point was made over at Jasmyne Cannick's blog about the way gays have been responding to Washington vs Coulter, and I would say, in particular, white gays. It seems as if any time a black person makes a homophobic comment or statement, it's so much worse than when a white person makes it. I'd never even heard an uproar to Coulter's past gay name-calling, or at least not anything like this, while the Washington thing is a "You're black...shame on you...you should know better" fest. I see way more disgust surrounding Washington's comments than Coulter's comments and people pointing out that blacks are more homophobic. But most of the time when comments are publically being made about gays in a derogatory fashion, or when there is public opposition to gay rights, it's coming from whites, in my opinion. While I do agree that homophobia is more severe among blacks, I don't see how white gays would really know this. If you're going to get mad about "faggot," don't use a double standard.
Finally, I think the Republican repudiation of Coulter is just for show. Think about what time it is--a Republican Presidential nomination showdown. They know that the Democratic candidates are talked about more than they are. They know people are excited about the history Clinton and Obama have the opportunity to make. They know gays look more favorably towards the Democratic party. In short, Republicans know they need help to win in 2008. It's not impressive to me that some of the Republican candidates have stepped away from Coulter. Coulter has always been an embarrassment to the Republican party, and Republicans are just now having a problem with that? Duh.
