(no subject)

[themeletor]

ok you guys tomorrow had better be the best day in the history of ever for me, because today was another one of those which sucked like none other.

e.g. -- work wasn't too intense, except that someone randomly quit so I got three rooms added to my list, oh and also a couple of my co-workers decided to start gay-bashing. that is to say, we were discussing the etymology/historical usage of such words as prick and fuck, and then one woman (we'll call her J.) chipped in that "oh, gay isn't even originally a bad word" at which point coworker 2 (let's say, L.) came back instantly with "gay isn't a bad word at all" and I added my agreement BUT WAIT NO. L. continued to say that gay really only means "happy", as far as she's concerned, and she doesn't call homosexuals gay, she calls them fags or faggots. which made me pop my head out of the doorway of the bathroom I was cleaning and say "isn't that in reference to burning homosexuals?" (which I know it actually isn't, see here, but it was the quickest most dramatic least complex response and the point is her response: "well, if the shoe fits..."

I was already edgy after a full day's work and a late check-out, so I very very nearly exploded, and instead settled for heading off to do a room on my own and slam the pillows around as I made the bed.


since sexual orientation is included in WI's antidiscrimination employment laws, I'll keep an eye on this issue (though I won't make a stink just yet). because the fact is that while I don't yet feel threatened/uncomfortable enough to bring it up, if that ever does become an issue I do have the right to a non-threatening work environment. chances are she probably didn't know precisely what she was saying or to whom, so I won't be a drama queen about it :)

Comments

[linaelyn.livejournal.com]

I do have the right to a non-threatening work environment. chances are she probably didn't know precisely what she was saying or to whom....

Yes, you do have a right to work in a non-threatening work environment.

Okay, imagine you're a light-skinned person of African-American ancestry. You consider yourself "Black" and you check that box on ethnicity surveys.

Now imagine she was talking shit like that about African-Americans, and using similar hate-speech and the term "nigger."

In what world would that be okay even if you were white? That's right, the world of not so many years ago. The world I lived in in *my* youth. And then people, Black and White and Brown and Red and Blue and Green and whatever all stood up and said, "Hey, you know what? That's stuff's really messed up, yo."

Going to your supervisor isn't going to change her mind. But maybe, just maybe, going to her and (without in any way discussing your sexual orientation) explaining that verbally abusing people for who they are is REALLY NOT OKAY, not under any reasonable moral code and not under the laws of Wisconsin. REALLY. IT'S NOT.

But that's hard to do.

*MANY BIG HUGS*

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

Totally agreed.