Surprising responses to homophobia in Texas...

[The Hodag]

What do you guys and gals think about this segment? I don't like the format, but couldn't help but be moved by the results:

(warning: does feature some confrontational homophobia)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhl9MLno424&feature=player_embedded

[Spiffy]

I dunno. The guy who first intervened it was about "manners" (confronting the issue in public). Not about the actual deeper issue. Big deal.

The lady later on who said "it doesn't bother me", that might be different.

The "do you believe in Jesus" guy seems like a non-conformist type already, given his pair of earrings. Its touching, but hard to say how typical it is.

The "stats" they gave that almost half the people 'tested' intervened? Maybe that means something, but "Texas" isn't one solid block. We need to know more about the neighborhood/region this was done in. The results in Austin (a very liberal place compared to the rest of Texas), for example, would be RADICALLY different than those in some isolated prairie town. Or if the restaurant is by any University, it would differ from how the SAME people might act back in their home towns elsewhere in the same state.

Also, I'm REALLY curious why they didn't test this with two MALE parents. REALLY curious.

[The Hodag]

Also, I'm REALLY curious why they didn't test this with two MALE parents. REALLY curious.

They do show the results with a gay male couple near the end of the vid, though it's just a brief sequence. Seems like they just got the more memorable reactions with the two women and so made them the focus of the piece.

[Spiffy]

They do show the results with a gay male couple near the end of the vid, though it's just a brief sequence. Seems like they just got the more memorable reactions with the two women and so made them the focus of the piece.
Okay, I did go back and watch that. I'd skipped around near the end the first time I admit.

Did I also miss them saying what part of Texas this restaurant is in? Again, I think that's VITALLY important.

[The Hodag]

I dunno. The guy who first intervened it was about "manners" (confronting the issue in public). Not about the actual deeper issue. Big deal.

I don't think so. The guy was diffusing the situation, not giving a treatise on the deeper issues. What was he gonna do, spend the day trying to convince a bigoted waitress of the error of his ways? The better immediate approach is to shut her down for her lack of professionalism and end the immediate problem of her confronting patrons.

[The Hodag]

Did I also miss them saying what part of Texas this restaurant is in? Again, I think that's VITALLY important.

Er, it's in the first line of the piece.

Farmer's Branch, Texas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers_Branch,_Texas

[KJ!]

That was not at all what I was expecting, results-wise.

Great to be wrong.

And yeah, I teared up at the letter. I admit it.

[K-DoG7p7]

Spiffy: did you actually see it?
The Location is the first thing they say, and the entire ending is with two guys..

[t.c.johnson]

Er, it's in the first line of the piece.

Farmer's Branch, Texas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers_Branch,_Texas

Which, FYI, looks like it is between and a little west of Dallas and Plano.

[Hugin]

Which, FYI, looks like it is between and a little west of Dallas and Plano.It is. It's somewhat of a cross between a small town and a suburb. They're most famous for the illegal immigration measures passed recently.

[Lester C.]

I'll tell you what I find offensive. The story itself. If I'm eating I don't want to be distracted let alone be an unknowing and unwilling participant in a sociology study.

[The Hodag]

Agreed, skeevy methodology. And in the end it's only anecdotal. I just found it to be a moving anecdote.

Here in Texas we're pretty much always the black hats when it comes to LGBT topics, so I'll take what I can get when it comes to Texans showing tolerance.

[JBK405]

I'll agree with Lester completely, even while watching the video I was wondering at the pretty deep moral issues with the production itself, but it was still an extremely moving piece. That letter had me tearing up in real life and, like Hodag just said, it's nice to show that Texas isn't just a cliched hole.

[Chris Jones]

Donovan and Black Cap Guy are my new heroes.