t.o.grrl world

Homophobia masquerade.

2005-06-29T12:39:00.000-05:00

So the homophobes at work were sat down by a colleague and asked why they didn't talk to me - big wonderful butchy, gendered not the way they are, gal that I am. After an hour of dishing nothing interesting, the best they could come up with was that they didn't know why I wasn't talking to them, it must all be personality conflict.

Personality conflict. Right. A year and a half of excluding me at every turn, dismissing me as a professional and refusing to be able to work or talk with me as an equal in this office, it's personal conflict. Bullshit. How many times have people tried to hide their oppressive, insidious behaviour behind personality conflicts, laying the blame right back on somebody else, and dodging responsibility for their hatred? Let's be real. A strong, competent, professional butch dyke scares the shit out of women who feel they have weak grasp on a position in an office. So an unhealthy mix of sexism, viewing other women as competition, and homophobia is the root of the problem, don't even think about telling me it's a personality conflict!!!

Butches of the world, stand up and name it! It's homophobia and we don't have to take it!!

It's Pride Week in Toronto.

2005-06-21T09:05:00.000-05:00

It's Pride week and for the past two years I've been working in the most hetero, gendered workplace I've ever worked. So while it is Pride, I'm surrounded by an environment that is by it's exclusive to queer reality.

I come from a background of working in HIV/AIDS support and prevention where the majority of staff are either queer, or dealing with the fact that the majority of the community activists in the work are queer. So this straight environment is a bit of an experiment that isn't working out for me. In any workplace it seems there are a few people who try to control the workplace environment, and if management will not reign them in, their power to set the tone is unchecked. In my workplace, the people that throw their weight around have done so in a gendered and homophobic way. I'm sick and tired of women who are threatened by other strong, feminist, individual women trying to exclude those of us who refuse gendered roles, and who are out and proud of who we are at home and in the workplace.

So on Pride week, I want to say cudos to all you butchie gals who refuse to be anyone but yourselves. To you gals who get asked to leave the women's washroom, who get called sir, when you are 100% women loving women, I've got your back!!

Welcome to t.o.grrl world!

2005-06-20T12:42:00.000-05:00

This is my first blog, I've got a photo blog set up so far, but this is my first attempt at a real blog. Check out my photo blog at http://www.flickr.com/photos/togrrl/

More soon...