HIPHOP BIGOTS

I just read a post found on Hip Hop Wired. With the Transgender Day of Remembrance only three days away, my jaw dropped to the ground after reading “Dude Looks Like A Lady: 10 Celebrities Caught With Trannies!”, penned by Jason Weintraub. I am guessing that this MAY have been intended as satire...one can only presume. The word “tranny” (to which I am generally not as sensitive as some...depending upon its use) was used no less than seven times. Mr. Weintraub also seemed fairly comfortable with the term “transvestite.

Well...I found neither satire nor comedy... nor ANYTHING of redeeming value in this column. It was crude, bigoted, insensitive and left me drained. Why, I asked myself, did I even dignify this piece of trash by even taking the time to read it? Well...I answered myself with my customary response. If we don’t read what’s going on out there, we’ll never know whether and to what extent the winds of change are blowing. And we won’t be able to help effect that change.

Mr. Weintraub’s column can essentially be dismissed as meaningless drivel...but...it’s the comments following the column that I found to be REALLY disturbing. It wasn’t the copious use of obscentities...I’m cool with that. It wasn’t even the disbelief espoused by the commenters. What DID sicken and scare me...and left me with a feeling of foreboding in the of pit in my stomach...was the level of hate and intended violence these cretins embody. It defies any sense of tolerance, empathy or even humanity.

And it wasn’t just a few commenter’s...there were many who had, for some unknown reason, a desire to spew their vitriol. Here are a few...

“Mothf@@@as talk that ***** but if they see this "IT" at the bar and find out it has nothing hanging in between "IT's" legs and no signs of being a chick they will not think twice about tearing that ***** up with or without liquor in their system!!!!!!!”

“Omg!!these Dudes crazy! da bow wow one look like a str8 up fem she pretty. Da second one wit neyo looks disgustin ewww how cud he. Wtf!! Danm sidney really wtf!! U attentiion suckin w***** lol”
“No telling how many men haven't been fooled by the one Bow wow was with, cause he looks like a woman.”

This one, however, blew my mind...

“He looks like a man in this pic, with his busted weave. All of this is disgusting and an abomination. This is how transgender and homosexuals get beat up and murdered, being deceitful. Some men can't take the shame. Then it's turned around and called a hate crime. I don't condon violence of any kind; but this is how we get violent crimes of p*****ion. To all you transgenders who have not been honest about your gender, you are a digrace. At least be honest about who you are, if you want to be a woman and are bold enough to have surgical procedures to be one of us. Be woman enough to tell your prospective partner, give that man an option; stop pulling that Crying Game sh**!”
When have you ever seen the trans panic defense better articulated? Not to mention the alleged “deceitfulness” of trans individuals? This mindset defies any attempt at reason.
I started to leave a response...there were actually several comments which could be construed as somewhat supportive...but asked myself if there were really anything to be gained by stepping in someone else’s droppings. Part of me felt compelled to add my comment...part of me chose to refrain.

So...my question is...are there times it’s better to keep quiet? Or..should I have added my .02?

Just wondering...

Hip Hop Wired