Friday, June 26, 2009

P.R.I.D.E. NOT a political statement


so, here i am, shooting my mouth off the other day when i blogged about how great my workplace was, how supportive staff were blah blah blah...fuck

i was asked today to take the P.R.I.D.E. decorations down that i had so lovingly and proudly displayed around my workstation the past almost 2 weeks

by management....not my own manager...but her's

and

the legal department did their own little fucking bullshit which i'll get to in a moment....

so, sadly, down came....

the PRIDE flag my friend T brought me back from Winners
my "CAN'T STOP, WON'T STOP" poster i mirrored from PRIDE Toronto's website
the P.R.I.D.E. acronym proudly displayed with accompanying words to suit
i was even able to find hilighters with ALL the P.R.I.D.E. colours to colour everything with

the reason?
well, our so-intelligent dept decided to hire an evangelically based 'person' who, without getting too detailed to cover my ass, is involved with work that deals with many many many gay folk for specific reasons....sorry, that's all i can say

anyhow, there was a freakin' uproar amongst all us gays at work when 'person' was hired on....so, apaprently, their keeping a close eye

BUT

to keep things 'neutral' in the office, so i was told, we are not allowed to put up any posters, decorations, etc etc that "could" be construed as political

AND

they, apparently, wanted to minimize any possible opening for this 'person' to start displaying their own stuff around their work area.

a resounding

WHAT THE FUCK?????

ok, i don't know about you all, but since when is celebrating and decorating for P.R.I.D.E. a fucking political event???????

and, as expected, my manager fought tooth and nail to try and get these assholes to understand that ALL of Toronto is celebrating P.R.I.D.E., ALL employees like to celebrate P.R.I.D.E.
it's a fucking human right to be allowed to celebrate
she went on to explain that it's no different than celebrating Christmas, Jewish holidays, Easter, Cabana, Mardi Gras....but to no avail

these assholes have fucking blinders on so tight, i swear the shit is going to start coming out of their eyes.

so, to further add insult to injury, i am ALSO no longer allowed to have my work pass flipped to the side where, remember, my IT Systems guy colour-printed my Lesbian Symbol PRIDE flag?




yeah, apparently, i was seen in the elevator by one of the legal losers who had a little brain red flagging occur that "it COULD be viewed as a political statement"

again

WHAT THE FUCK??????

sure, i could make a real stink about it....i could stand up for my humanity given human rights and trample on them all

but

1. as vocal as i am, i DO NOT like the limelight, ever, placed on me or being centered out
2. i'm in a position in that department where i am very well known, respected for my skills, knowledge, and all that shit....and, up to now, have been completely respected for who i am, the person i am - i cannot afford to lose my positive reputation and edge with upper management
3. if i fight this thing, do i want to make the work environment negative for the rest of the gays working there??

yet, for some reason, the more i think about it, the angrier i am getting

all this because they were stupid enough to hire some freakin' bible-thumping, evangelical homophobe.

this shit really needs to STOP!

3 comments:

  1. You are seething because in the interests of fairness, your human rights have been violated.

    Ask them to take off the crosses from around their necks because they might offend non-Christians.

    Ask Muslim women to remove their hijabs, or Sikh men to shave their bears because outward expression of their personal belief system might offend others.

    Ask people in the office to remove their trappings of heterosexuality - because it might offend those who are not heterosexual.

    They are afraid of the homophobe, and because of their fear, they are allowing him (or her?) to dictate what is acceptable and what is not. Essentially, that person now controls your office.

    People should be free to express themselves, provided they do not trample on the rights of others. If he gay-bashes, it probably violates your office code of ethics, and he can be forced to stop.

    How do your rainbows and pride signs offend? They don't.

    If I were you, I'd march into work Monday morning and put them right back up.

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  2. Anonymous1/7/09 12:30

    Sounds like your immediate boss is trying to be a good ally yet the higher management is having a hard time embracing the diversity of the work place. Do you consider your working environment a "safe space"?

    Pride is more of a cultural thing than a political statement. What a bunch of knuckleheads! Your in Canada where gay marriage is legal? weirdness

    Got any pride jewelry to throw on your bod? ;)

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  3. hi Jude. thanks for stopping by. yours and Camlin's supportive feedback is warmly received ;-)
    my immediate manager is a dream. she actually came to me today and was even more furious than last week when it happened. she really wanted to push the envelope with her manager but since we're dealing with a kind-of-backwards-thinking top manager, attempts could very well be futile. but, yes..i most definitely wear PRIDE jewelry on my bod.

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