PocketEgo

PocketEgo

2p

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14 years ago @ qPDX - Queer news, vie... - Recap of the Queer Tow... · 0 replies · +1 points

So the motives for the decision (or whether it was, in fact, a decision) are hazy in my mind, but I still have to agree with Pepper in calling for a sensible middle ground in re: the Blow Pony fiasco - a mediation and public accounting of the events that occurred that night. The police are publicly funded and if the public wishes to heir a grievance with them and seek a response they are firmly within their rights. But riots and verbal mudslinging are not ingredients that make for effective debate (or a willingness on the part of the mudslingee to take your complaints to heart). They are certainly passionate and possibly showy, but they are reactionary. They slosh the water about, but they don't move the current forward. No member of the Queer community would debate the fact that certain individuals were victimized that night or that the responding officer behaved in a heinous way. We. Know. That. Now we must move forward and that is going to be much more readily accomplished with dignity, composure, and organization. We certainly need a demonstration of solidarity, but it needs to be tempered with a purpose. It seems to me that we shouldn't let this issue die a quiet death, but it seems only minimally gratifying to fillet one or two chosen officers at a town hall when we could seek a greater recognition of the very real and pervasive concerns of the Queer community on the part of the whole of the force.

14 years ago @ qPDX - Queer news, vie... - Recap of the Queer Tow... · 0 replies · +1 points

First of all I have to express how sad I am to have missed the Town Hall. It sounds like it was well-organized. Having said that, I think Pepper makes a great point about the lack of police presence. I don't know the full story so I can't be all too critical. Was an invitation ever extended to the police by the organizers? Maybe not. But was this done to be 'divisive' - to consciously exclude any possibility of a rebuttal or explanation on the part of the police force? Or was it perhaps done to avoid an altercation between an angry crowd and the single officer (or perhaps a small crew) saddled with the unenviable position of speaking for the entire force on what was obviously a fresh and heated issue? Maybe neither is the case. Quite possibly the organizers were simply focused on addressing the Queer community on a number of safety issues; like Perry said, aggression towards the Queer community is neither new nor something that we should be ill-prepared for. Safety and de-escalation are sensible topics to discuss at any time! If someone cares to fill me in on these details, I am all ears. Until then I will reserve judgment.