Intent doesn't really... matter, is my point. You are still furthering the idea that hey, its ok to make fun of these people, which can fuel others' bigorty inadvertently, and that's not okay. I don't care how well you mean.

I'm not saying you're a racist bigot or sexist or whatever for making a rude joke. You're not really helping, either, however, and the onus is not on me to be able to discern between your ignorance and malice so your feelings don't get hurt. To put that above the well-being and lives of legitimately oppressed groups is the worrying part. I don't care how mean those darn SJW types are.

e. but yeah i'll take a chill pill and peace right out like i had been. no idea why i decided to post again, no one likes what i got to say

But if everyone piled on me, called me an awful person, got me fired, and generally tried to hurt me in whatever legal way they could, I don't know that I'd have learned anything. I'd be out of a job and miserable - who would I blame, myself, or them?

There is no such thing as "just trying to be funny", and it is not our job to coddle you while you figure that out. Give me a fucking break with that pity party nonsense. We're being murdered daily and you're worried about shit like this.

lol @ this

same

Ultimately it comes down to this: Tim Cook has money in the bank, right now, billions and billions of dollars that, even if he WERE to face the heaviest repercussion anyone can face for being openly gay in the workforce in 29 states of the US (termination), is just sitting there. Apple doesn't own it - it's all his payroll. He's literally set for life, and probably has been for a majority of his tenure as CEO.

I do not have this luxury. I don't have a bank account (due in part to the large amount of debt I already owe staring me in the face), and I live paycheck to paltry paycheck, indefinitely.

When framed this way, I think one would be very, very hard pressed to tell me Tim Cook coming out at work and me coming out at work is at all even remotely the same damn thing with similar or, lord, more things at stake for him!

This whole point is ludicrous. He is not "the common man" whatsoever and never will be, yeah he's a human being but he's a rich and powerful human being and that's a lot different than some kid who's homeless because he came out to his parents, sorry. That kid will never be Tim Cook, and Tim Cook will never be that kid.

edit: Man the more I think about it the amount of apologia for who is essentially the do-no-wrong idol of every tech person on the planet over like, actual struggling queer youth is really concerning to me. I'm just getting far too angry so I'm going to step away for a while.

Not at all. Let's not forget how many privileges economic class and power allows us in this world regarding even being a part of a minority group.

I'm conflicted. Yeah its always a good thing to have powerful people on your side, and to relate to. But at the same time, it is undeniable what this position of power affords him regarding a sort of diplomatic immunity. What exactly is going to happen to Tim Cook, CEO of arguably the most popular manufacturer of consumer electronics in the world, for coming out as gay? Compared with the meek twenty-something kid working as an intern/junior for a startup in their local hub, you can hardly call the situation the same or even similar. Like, of god-damn course the celebrities and rich-personalities of the world are able to come out safely. They have safety nets so huge they might as well not even bother with the tightrope act. How are the downtrodden queer folx aka the real people of the world supposed to relate to some rich guy who could probably buy his way out of any scrutiny anyway? It certainly doesn't make me any more relieved or willing to be open about myself. I can't afford to take that risk.

Look, I'm all for writing characters that express their sexuality in healthy and human ways. Spiderwoman being essentially a sexy pinup on a cover which is approximately 30% ass is not that. It doesn't tell us anything about her character, it is not respectful or meaningful in any way. It's just an ass. And I'm the one who is in the wrong "demonizing sexuality" because I don't want to see that? Give me a break.

I guess I am unsure what else you would need to tell you how bad it is. The other side certainly isn't going to condemn themselves by saying anything about what they do. If you ask them, nothing happens at all! This being the case, how do you get more in-depth analyses than surveying the only participating parties, both of which may be "inaccurate"?

How do you objectively quantify something like sexual assault and harassment statistics? I see this sentiment a lot and it's so baffling to me. Everything's got to be a hard data point to be legitimate, they say, but I think we should be more willing to accept what people say about their experiences instead of going on and on about how everything is conjecture until we get the facts. These are the facts. You're not gonna get any better data about this than people telling you it happens.