Oh boy, here we go. Yeah, I guess you're right. I apologize to any fellow board member who might have taken offense. No, they're just entitled to equal treatment. Some people don't deserve shit. Depends on a category. "Bigot" is a category. These motherfuckers come in large groups. Trust me. I know. I come from a place ("place" being a geographical term here) where bigotry prevails over humanism, reason and common decency all the time. And it's not even Middle East. You got a point there. But we don't make a change by accepting other people's so called "opinions" ("fags should be exiled" is not an opinion, sorry). We make a change by opposing them, but preferably in a civilized manner, like David did. I personally would have lost my shit, but that's just because some... Factors made me extra sensitive to the subject. David actually accomplished something here, and I admire him for it.
Mister Mack, you're not just a great Trek writer, you're also a great human being as well. Well, yes it is a slur, I wouldn't call it an ethnic slur, now unless the word ethnic means something completely different in the mid west to here and it sure doesn't show up on the Wikipage for different ethnic groups. It's the same as calling a Welshman a "sheep shagger" or a Scotsman a "Jock" but just with less humour involved.
Uhm, mind enlightening those few of us who never watched Torchwood? I take it this has something to do with John Barrowman being a married gay dude?
^Torchwood is a series where the lead character was pansexual and pretty much everyone else in the regular cast had at least one same-sex encounter, with one of the male regulars becoming Barrowman's steady love interest after a while despite being principally heterosexual. Basically, it treated preference as a fluid thing. Although, oddly, in the American-produced Miracle Day season that debuted on Starz, they really amped up Jack's same-sex side, incorporating some pretty graphic guy-on-guy scenes in a flashback episode, but pretty much ignored the fact that he also liked women. Perhaps they thought American audiences could accept homosexuality more easily than bisexuality.
RTD did say one of his regrets about Miracle Day was that they made Jack "too gay" since the bisexuality is such an integral part of the character.
Well, even the gay community has pretty poor form for accepting bisexuality. There is still a prevailing view that bisexuals just can't admit to themselves that they are gay. This was apparent when Tom Daley came out as bi, but because he's in a relationship with another man, he's always seen as exclusively gay.
My thanks to one and all who have chimed in to share their support and commendations. I didn't expect such a profound response to a blog post I wrote to vent my annoyance at one fan's letter — but I'm pleased to see it has struck such a positive chord with so many people. You guys are awesome.
Call it cultural rather than ethnic, then, but it's still a slur against a distinct group of people, and it's a grotesque stereotype that somehow thrives and remains socially acceptable even when other stereotypes have been discredited. And it's particularly hypocritical when people condemn racism by buying into their own stereotyped belief that all Americans from a certain regional subculture -- whether "hillbilllies" or "rednecks" or whatever -- are equally racist and equally uneducated. That's just committing the same kind of intolerance they claim to be condemning. So yes, bigots should be condemned, but bigots are individuals just like everyone else. Go to any part of the country, any urban or rural area, any culture or subculture, and you will find a mix of open-minded, enlightened people and hate-filled bigots and everything in between.
In Torchwood, everyone has extremely ... fluid ... sexuality. Male, female, Human, Drakonian, whatever. It's about the person, not the gender. That has confused some viewers, who are only able to see in strict lines of male+female=only way.
The comments on the Trek Today article are less than pleasant. http://www.trektoday.com/content/2014/08/mack-idic-means-everyone/
^ Ah, well. Maybe they can hold a book burning with the mouth-breathers who trolled the comment thread over at the Blastr article about my post.
I just dislike the hate on either side, name-calling and vitriol solve nothing. I appreciate Christopher's words above about not retaliating with the very thing you condemn. Even if we don't see eye to eye on things, I still respect other people; glad when I see everyone treated with respect.
As a gay Trek fan (and a big fan of Mack's novels ) I want to say thanks David for being an ally. It's moments like this that remind me that the world is getting to be a better and safer place for me and mine.