Posts Tagged ‘new jersey’

30 Jul

Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences

Posted by Dayle Lynne in Politics. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

There have been many conversations, articles, pictures, and opinions thrown around lately over Chick-Fil-A’s donations to organizations that not only oppose marriage equality but also support “reparative therapy” and use BS studies to compare homosexuality to pedophilia. I wasn’t going to blog about any of that. I participated in and started a couple of Facebook discussions and felt I had my fill of the entire conversation.

I did, however, have another post I wanted to write on a related conversation. But that will have to wait because something else came up today that I need to discuss.

Today, a woman . . . the mom to a really cool, intelligent, and talented 10-year-old (I might be biased – he is my nephew, but seriously, he’s a really awesome kid) . . . and the legal partner of another woman (who, by the way, is also awesome) . . . drove by a local business and noticed a sign they had posted in support of Chick-Fil-A.

Joianne, my sister-in-law (former . . . whatever), left a message for them on their Facebook page. It was calm. It wasn’t vulgar or mean. It just simply stated how she felt. She wrote, “This is somewhere my son loves to pass by and we have been excited to visit. Not anymore. I’m sad to see a local business anti LGBT marriage.”

This business owner could have simply responded with, “I’m sorry you feel that way, but this is what we believe,” and I’m fairly certain it would have ended there. But that’s not how she responded. This is how she responded:

“Isn’t it wonderful Joanne Fraschilla, that you and your son can enjoy the animals here because I have a traditional marriage with a husband who works with me 90 hours a week to take care of these animals, and the summer camp….we’re 66-68years old….there were no gays or queers in our time…..if two old ladies chose to live together..so be it, let them deal with God when they get there…but to have the “face sucking” thrown in my face of two gay lesbians who are totally destroying the “normal balance in a child’s life” as you claim your son…where is the role model that your son needs to know how to act like a man? or will he only see the “one sided selfishness” of a “single parent”…and end up an out cast in society by being “gay” himself because he didn’t have a father as a role model. I’ll pray for you….remember what the bible says: “Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas”…..guess that’s why God invented aids….

THIS LOCAL BUSINESS WILL BE ONE MAN ONE WOMAN ONE GOD MAKES MARRIAGE….AND PROUD TO DO SO….YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY TO OWN YOUR OWN BUSINESS”

Like Joianne, I fully believe this woman has a right to her opinions, as psychotic as I might think they are, but when you lash out publicly with such vulgarity and hatred . . . when you personally attack someone like this . . . you deserve whatever backlash it brings.

Joianne started a petition on Change.org. She’s not asking for anything more than an apology. Earlier this evening, Joe from Joe.My.God. also blogged about the incident, helping to drum up more exposure. I think that’s important.

I don’t wish ill towards anyone and it’s not that I long to see someone’s business fall, but when you own a business, you should mind your words. I fully believe that there are more people ready to stand up and speak out against hatred and discrimination than there are those willing to condemn good, honest people solely because of who they happen to love. The response that’s come from this . . . in just the past few hours . . . has helped solidify my faith in that.

Thank you Joianne for standing up for yourself and your family, and thank you to the community for standing behind Joianne.

UPDATE: Since I posted this about an hour ago, Joianne’s story has been told on a bunch of other sites and blogs. Here are just the ones I’ve seen so far:

W. Thomas Adkins

Good As You

TOWLEROAD

Brody’s Notes & Scribbles

supersoygrrrl.tumblr.com

UPDATE: It’s been less than 24 hours since the original message was posted. (At this exact moment, it is 3:27pm on 7/31/12.) Joianne’s story has now been posted to several other news and blog sites, including The Advocate, Huffington Post, and Think Progress. In less than 24 hours her petition has garnered over 800 signatures (300 of them in the last 2 hours alone).

13 Apr

Pack Up

Posted by Dayle Lynne in Life, The Write On Project. Tagged: , , , , , , .

This post is a part of The Write On Project
Topic: Boxes

I used to look forward to moving. I did it so frequently as a child that I learned to embrace it. Every move was a chance to start over, a chance to make new friends, a chance to discover new things.

My mom-mom’s house in East Falls had a backyard full of “gold rocks”, crab apples, and chestnuts. Royersford had Alan’s, the candy store on Main Street. Audubon had a cool playground. Well, until they leveled it to expand the parking lot. Eagleville had the wooded area with the poison ivy where my friends and I set up our “club house”.

Lawrenceville had the video store with the vast selection of indie flicks and the gorgeous clerk who would recommend them to me. Princeton had over-priced, but outstanding delis. Riverside had Scott Street with the hippie shop and independent bookstore. Wissahickon had the playground that was immersed in tree cover – making my daylight-hating-self more apt to take my daughter out.

Every move has presented a new opportunity to find some hidden gem. Until now. As I think about the boxes and totes stacked in my basement, the ones I haven’t bothered to unpack in the 2 years since I’ve lived here, I dread the thought of doing this all over again. I’m tired.

32 years old and my next move will make it an even 20. I think about packing again and unpacking again. I think about the yard sales and more trash bags than I can count. I think about deciding, once again, what trinkets from my life don’t hold enough meaning to cart over to a new house.

I’ll go to supermarkets and 7-11s to ask for boxes. I’ll go to Walmart and buy more totes. I’ll ask my friend whose brother-in-law works for Dunkin Donuts if she can get me boxes again. Everyone will tell me that I have too much stuff. Everyone will tell me that I need to throw more things away. I’ll overreact and cry about how these are my memories and I can’t just throw away my memories. They’ll get exasperated and throw their hands up and tell me I’m overreacting. I’ll give them an evil stare.

If this was a year and a half ago, I’d walk outside and smoke a cigarette. Now, I’ll probably go pour a glass of wine from the box in the refrigerator.

I am tired of packing and unpacking my life. I’m tired of opening up the same boxes over and over and over again. Newspapers and bubble wrap to protect the fragile stuff. Packing tape and Sharpies to seal and label.

We need someone to drive the moving van. Or maybe we can save up enough to hire movers. And then we’ll load everything in, set up the furniture, bring the boxes to the proper rooms, and start the organization process. And the whole time I’ll be thinking, “If I don’t unpack everything and keep things organized in totes, it will make it easier for the next time I move.”

I’m tired.

It’s not exciting anymore. And at the risk of sounding cliché, I’m too old for this shit.

But I’ll do it. Because I have to. Because I keep hoping that my next move will be the move home.

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