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Legal Issues Personal

The new segregation

So, in reflection of the results from the election, I have a few more thoughts about the fallout.

I fail to see how any rational human being can’t see the connection between “gay marriage is wrong” and “interracial marriage is wrong.” They are both stupid, bigoted, irrational beliefs. Yes, I understand that all the fundamentalists and evangelicals and other loons believe that to be gay is a sin. Guess what? They are wrong. Just like people who believed fervently that racial divisions were somehow illustrative of real divisions of importance and agency were wrong.

The fact that the people of 11 states passed laws/amendments that ban gay marriage in their state both sickens and concerns me. They do realize that there are gay people in their states, right? And that they do things like, oh…work, and pay taxes? The LGBTQ communities in these states should be apoplectic with rage about now, and I say they show the states how unfair and backwards and blindingly silly that these amendments are.

Move. Go to a state that doesn’t treat you like a sub-human. If the states see a drop in the economic structure due to a mass exodus, perhaps someone will notice. Support studies that show that LGBTQ parents that raise children do so as well or better than heterosexual couples. Let your state know that to discriminate on the basis of sexual preference is no different than discrimination on the basis of race. The fight for racial equality in this country took many hundreds of years, and is still ongoing. The LGBTQ community has a fight on their hands, and it’s important that those of us who are not members of that community recognize and work with them to fix the harm that has been done this week.

I’m confused, angered, and more than a little embarrassed at the fact that these amendments passed…it’s going to take a long time for me to trust in my country again.

By griffey

Jason Griffey is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at NISO, where he works to identify new areas of the information ecosystem where standards expertise is useful and needed. Prior to joining NISO in 2019, Jason ran his own technology consulting company for libraries, has been both an Affiliate at metaLAB and a Fellow and Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and was an academic librarian in roles ranging from reference and instruction to Head of IT at the University of TN at Chattanooga.

Jason has written extensively on technology and libraries, including multiple books and a series of full-periodical issues on technology topics, most recently AI & Machine Learning in Libraries and Library Spaces and Smart Buildings: Technology, Metrics, and Iterative Design from 2018. His newest book, co-authored with Jeffery Pomerantz, will be published by MIT Press in 2024.

He has spoken internationally on topics such as artificial intelligence & machine learning, the future of technology and libraries, decentralization and the Blockchain, privacy, copyright, and intellectual property. A full list of his publications and presentations can be found on his CV.
He is one of eight winners of the Knight Foundation News Challenge for Libraries for the Measure the Future project (http://measurethefuture.net), an open hardware project designed to provide actionable use metrics for library spaces. He is also the creator and director of The LibraryBox Project (http://librarybox.us), an open source portable digital file distribution system.

Jason can be stalked obsessively online, and spends his free time with his daughter Eliza, reading, obsessing over gadgets, and preparing for the inevitable zombie uprising.

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