Out Motorsports Creates a Space for LGBT+ Racing Enthusiats

Things don't change until there is awareness and people have the guts to be out there. When people have negative preconceived notions, the only way to break things down is to show people they're wrong. Thus a label is useful for a period of time. Just because things have improved, doesn't mean there isn't further to go. Motorsports might be a fairly welcoming environment, but it's also mostly people of from similar demographic buckets.

It's actually rather surprising to me how quickly attitudes have changed on these sorts of matters. I mention the following as a demonstration, not to get into the politics of it: Obama campaigned on the idea that marriage was between a man and a woman, in part I'm sure because that was precieved as the mainstream position.  Today, many would consider that to be a discriminatory position, possibly rendering a candidate unelectable with a left wing voting tent. Look any any reputable surveys/polls on attitudes towards LGBQ (deliberately listing the least contentious) issues in the not too distant past, things have changed rapidly.

slowbird said:

In reply to Brake_L8 :

You said it better than I ever could. Being proud of one's identity isn't about being divisive, it's about showing others that we're real human beings, deserving of fair treatment. (Certain states are trying as we speak to pass laws discriminating against LGBT+ people, so it's an ongoing fight, even though some people think "oh you already got marriage rights so it's all good now")

Most of my Family came over from Denmark throughout late 1800's, and settled in the Southern foothill's areas. That makes me a white, Southern, backwoods hillbilly. And I am very proud of my heritage. But if I were to get actively aggressive and exclusionary about it, how many people would have a fit?

              Its just that the thread  title "Out Motorsports Creates a Space for LGBT+ Racing Enthusiats" and your comment "I'm just Jake the race car driver" don't agree with each other.

That sentence, in and of itself, is true. However Jake is also very correct in saying the "I don't see color" (or replace with whatever) statements sound great on the surface, but its not a helpful statement. Just because ALL are EQUAL doesn't mean all have to be the same!!!  'Cause that only happens by force, and history shows that doesn't work out well.

That the trouble with trying to see all sides of a subject... It all gets so convoluted from there my head hurts if I think too much!

In reply to Snrub :

I'm thinking of the Pride parade on The Simpsons, where they were chanting "We're here!  We're queer!  Get used to it!"  and Lisa shouted back "We know!  We are used to it!"

We're not there yet though.

I also think of something a writer I used to follow online (a lot of webcomicists are gay or trans, I guess?  Or maybe just a lot of the good ones) said about trans women:  "You can tell who is trans because they're just wearing jeans and a sweater."  IE, not trying to overdress, or overcompensate, they just "are".

So I guess the vibe I'm trying to convey is, maybe a little bit of in-your-faceness is a good thing?  Because maybe people who aren't tolerant don't realize that they people they are intolerant of are actually right there next to them, working with them and sharing beers with them and whatnot, and maybe that is precisely the kind of perspective they need to get.

The issue with the "color blind society" idea that claims we're all the same has quite a few issues. Namely the fact that we simply aren't the same. Everyone has a set of variables they were born with and then more they developed over time through life experiences. None of those will ever add up to be the same person. That doesn't make any of us worth more or less than others, we still all deserve a fair shot at what makes us happy, and nobody has a right to try to hold anybody back. 

Those variables also form how people see themselves as a person and people have a right to be proud of who they are. The "we're all the same" approach asks people to ignore any of those variables that the majority doesn't think is "normal". So it's still a halfass way of including people that isn't very inclusive at all. 

In reply to Daylan C :

Worded better than I am capable of. Thank you.

To many of the people that are yelling "every one should have the right to think and be what they want"  seem to also believe "as long as they believe exactly what I do!" , and "everybody is equal, as long as I'm better"

In reply to Daylan C :

Also, taking away one's ability to label themselves and own it by saying "why all the labels" is just a way to whitewash society so the (I don't know the best word to use here, uncomfortable?) don't have to acknowledge those different from themselves.  

My very supportive mother has painted up this Ford Escort Mk2 for me. She's the best. Even if she doesn't always understand, she's always there for me.

Very cool purple M3. Plum crazy is cool but I'm biased to the techno flavor. 

Also, it's a polarizing topic, glad to see it hasn't gotten to out of hand on here. Cars are a universal language like numbers and just happy to see more people getting a chance to be exposed to the sport. 

I think this is a great thing.  Everyone should feel encouraged to join in the fun and not feel afraid to be who they are. 
 

its almost, almost, like the LGBT+ crowd are really just normal people who do normal things, but maybe have a different looking couples picture than some of us. 
 

also i couldnt help but notice it seemed like the first post here has had fluctuating "thumbs up". If someone thumbs down, does it cancel a thumbs up?  If hate to think a bunch of cavemen are thumbs downing this thing.
 

Yes a thumbs down cancels one thumbs up.  So the people who don't want you to know they're bigots are just thumbs downing it and staying silent.  They know who they are, they just don't want everyone else to know.  

TJL said:

also i couldnt help but notice it seemed like the first post here has had fluctuating "thumbs up". If someone thumbs down, does it cancel a thumbs up?  If hate to think a bunch of cavemen are thumbs downing this thing.
 

Yes, a thumbs down cancels a thumbs up, and vice versa.  We actually played with this in a thread a while back, the reported score never drops below zero, but you see the real score after voting.  There was one post where it showed zero, you'd give it a thumbs down, and then it would show like -29.

Knurled. said:

TJL said:

also i couldnt help but notice it seemed like the first post here has had fluctuating "thumbs up". If someone thumbs down, does it cancel a thumbs up?  If hate to think a bunch of cavemen are thumbs downing this thing.
 

 

Yes, a thumbs down cancels a thumbs up, and vice versa.  We actually played with this in a thread a while back, the reported score never drops below zero, but you see the real score after voting.  There was one post where it showed zero, you'd give it a thumbs down, and then it would show like -29.

 

Can I only see the negative or can you? I voted you thumbs down just to see if your theory worked. 

In reply to DirtyBird222 :

It shows zero.  I gave it a thumbs down and it went to -2.  Reloaded the page and it shows zero...

I suspect you're right. 

Wouldnt it be "fun" to see who dished out the thumbs down?  Are people really that threatened?  

I've stayed out of this conversation, and here's my take.... I was brought up with one thought pattern: Until you can prove to me that you got to choose who, what and how you were born, I don't want to here your opinion. Everyone is the same sack of minerals, fats and whatnot. Our experiences drive who we are more than the color of our hair, or how many fingers we have. 

I also want to say "more pictures of the F100 please"

TJL said:

its almost, almost, like the LGBT+ crowd are really just normal people who do normal things, but maybe have a different looking couples picture than some of us. 

They're normal except I've noticed in this thread a tendency to be Ford fans.  Guess everyone has to have a least one flaw.

In reply to Stampie :

This may be a case of correlation but not causation. The Ford habits might be caused by some other negative environmental influence. More research will have to be conducted. 

Daylan C said:

In reply to Stampie :

This may be a case of correlation but not causation. The Ford habits might be caused by some other negative environmental influence. More research will have to be conducted. 

In my case, I think it was at least partly due to Bigfoot, the original monster truck. How can anyone see this thing and not become a Ford fan?

In reply to slowbird :

Because we fell in love with this first:

The heart wants what the heart wants. Just like people. 

In reply to Appleseed :

Touché.

Since we called Grave Digger already. Tom Meents era Monster Patrol as a GMT400.

The fact that Monster Patrol has appeared as various generations of GM, Ford, and Dodge trucks is irrelevant for the purposes of this discussion.

OG Bigfoot is pretty great though.

In reply to slowbird :

https://www.knkx.org/post/king-kong-out-crush-bigfoots-claim-fame-first-monster-truck

Good read for fans of the early days of monster trucks. I was already a huge fan of the dent-side fords, and remember when Bigfoot was just starting to take off. Read an article at the time in a car magazine, about the builder of King Kong Built by father and son, instead of corporate money (I think he said $90K in it) - stating he would go head to head with the corporate built Bigfoot any time!

Bigfoot had a built 460 -with twin Predator Carbs (first I'd ever heard of; have one now) and a ford trans/t-case with duce-and-a-half axles.

King Kong had same axles, but also the 600 ci multifuel and trans from axle doner!

slowbird said:

Daylan C said:

In reply to Stampie :

This may be a case of correlation but not causation. The Ford habits might be caused by some other negative environmental influence. More research will have to be conducted. 

In my case, I think it was at least partly due to Bigfoot, the original monster truck. How can anyone see this thing and not become a Ford fan?

Work on enough fords and you'll know why! 

bobzilla said:

Stampie said:

They're normal except I've noticed in this thread a tendency to be Ford fans.  Guess everyone has to have a least one flaw.

 

Daylan C said:

In reply to Stampie :

This may be a case of correlation but not causation. The Ford habits might be caused by some other negative environmental influence. More research will have to be conducted.

Work on enough fords and you'll know why! 

Stampie and Daylan C made a funny! All the easy ammo on fords, and that's the BEST you could do?