Happy National Coming Out Day!

That's all I wanted to say at the moment :)

A repeat of something I posted on facebook: The New Face of Homophobia (Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell)

I would like to bring your attention to anti-gay Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell:

When University of Michigan elected its first openly gay student body president, Chris Armstrong, U of Michigan Alum, Andrew Shirvell, immediately started the Chris Armstrong Watch Blog. He started stalking Armstrong's facebook page, protesting outside his house and verbally attacking his friends and family. 

Shirvell's blog claims that "the University's [of Michigan] first openly "gay" student body president, Chris Armstrong, is actively recruiting your sons and daughters to join the homosexual "lifestyle."" By this he meant that Armstrong threw a party, the description of which Shirvell was kind enough to post on his blog which read, "stop by GAE (Gamma Alpha Epsilon) for a RUSH party like no other: plenty of sloppy bbq, keg standing, chest bumping and grunting... and by that, we mean: plenty of light hors d'oeuvres, Cosmo sipping, jump hugging and squeling! Join us, the brothers and sisters of GAE, for an inaugural night of gaiety that Beyonce will certainly be t-t-t-telephoning GaGa about. WEEEE!!" 

I know this sounds REALLY threatening to you all. What with the hypnosis and brainwashing that was mentioned... what? there doesn't seem to be any of that suggested in this description? Oh! Then what the hell was Shirvell talking about? I hope that the mothers and fathers of U of Michigan students are smart enough to see through this nonsense. Shirvell also goes on to say that the description is meant to PURPOSELY deceive freshman as Gamma Alpha Epsilon is not a real frat. I really hope that the students of U of Michigan are not that stupid. 

Shirvell also quoted Armstrong as saying to new freshman, "to open up to themselves and others by being true to who they really are," and then concluded that Armstrong "was basically screaming at them to "come out of the closet" and join him in the cult that is homosexuality"... Now, just like Shirvell, I wasn't actually at the meeting where Armstrong said this, but it sounds to me that he is telling people to be WHO THEY ARE... i.e. if they're straight, be straight, if they happen to be gay, be gay. Shirvell seems to despise when people are proud of themselves, saying for example that Armstrong was being self-indulgent when he said he was elated to be part of a historic moment on campus (i.e. having the first gay student body president).

Shirvell went on to quote Armstrong as saying, "Your time here in Ann Arbor is as much about your own self-discovery as it is about your career," which Shirvell felt was telling them to be "entirely self-absorbed and seek self-gratification at all costs." I thought he was just telling college students that it was their time to discover themselves... i'm sure almost everyone who has ever given a speech at an orientation or a graduation has said something similar. 

Most of Shirvell's beef seems to be with the fact that on FACEBOOK, not the most sanctified or respectable location, Armstrong's friends sometimes mock god/religion. Shirvell often calls Armstrong and his friends "Anti-christian bigots" but in a recent interview with Anderson Cooper denied being a bigot himself. Anyway, let's return to this Facebook issue, most of Shirvell's attacks come from seeing Armstrong's fb page or his friends' fb pages. I wonder he has access to it but regardless one should not attack someone based solely on their fb page... it often has silly or inappropriate content. He often quotes obviously joking fb posts that Armstrong receives from friends. A friend posted something that said, "Hey Chris,I miss you and our rampant sexual adventures with multiple people at multiple locations such as churches and children's playgrounds. Maybe some day in the future ;)Love (and Lust),K" This was clearly a joke and Shirvell even attacks the fact that it was quickly deleted from Armstrong's profile... although I'd say Shirvell is probably part of why it was deleted. Most of Shirvell's arguments actually come from taking seemingly (and in some cases obviously) joking fb pages seriously. 

Shirvell's other big beef is with one of Armstrong's platforms, during his campaign for student body president, which was gender neutral housing. First of, Shirvell calls this part of "Armstrong's radical agenda." Shirvell's argument against this is "This proposal, however, endangers female students, as it will also force heterosexuals of different genders to share the same room and will undoubtedly lead to a massive increase in rapes." My understanding is that most gender neutral housing policies do not FORCE anyone to be involved. 

Okay, now for Shirvell's most persuasive (and I use that lightly) argument, the fact that Armstrong allegedly joined the Order of Angell, which Shirvell claims is the "U of M's version of the KKK" and "a notorious secret student society with a well-documented history of racism and elitism." I will ignore the fact that something cannot really be a SECRET and be WELL-DOCUMENTED, and move on to the HISTORY part of the statement. The society had a history of controversy for being racially insensitive to Native Americans. The group used to be called Michigamua and had been criticized for its practice of wearing fake Native American apparel. Over the past decade the group has seemed to reinvent itself. In 2008 an article in The Michigan Daily said that the class of 23 had "women, some members of color, some members of the LGBT community and others who bring perspectives from other underrepresented populations." As of 2007, the group included (as an honorary member)  Jim Toy, a gay rights activist, who was arguably the first person in Michigan to publicly come out of the closet (in an anti-Vietnam war rally).  Other prominent members of the group include former President Gerald Ford, former supreme court judge Frank Murphy, former MLB pitcher Jim Abbott, former NFL quarterback Brian Griese and NFL quarterback John Navarre. You'd think with this extensive list of famous people the group's racism would've received a little more notice. 

Regardless, Shirvell isn't really attacking Armstrong for his racism... he's attacking him for his homosexuality. I think that Shirvell is grasping at anything he can to shoot down Armstrong. Perhaps Armstrong once jaywalked, Shirvell, you could attack him for that. 

Shirvell also spends much of his time attacking Armstrong for being from an affluent background. This would be a viable argument if it were a real political campaign (or a campaign at all, since Armstrong is ALREADY student body president), and the candidate were trying to show that he was "the average joe" but Armstrong's position doesn't have anything to do with his background... he wasn't elected because of daddy's ties, those ties don't matter in college. In his blog, on May 7th, Shirvell talked extensively about all of the vacations Armstrong has been on. If I someday become president of some organization will I be attacked for traveling in India or Europe? Besides, most Christian US Presidents got there because of Daddy's money (i.e. President Bush jr. among others).

Now for my opinions of Shirvell; I think that he is absolutely insane. I hope that no one is back his ridiculous theories up, although I'm sure there are those who do. I would be more inclined to listen to Shirvell if most of his evidence wasn't from facebook or his attacks just made more sense.  Frankly, if i were Armstrong I would sue Shirvell for libel. 

I shared this with you all because I am beyond frustrated by Andrew Shirvell's hate. First of all, he has chosen to focus on JUST ONE PERSON. It's horrible and I feel terrible for Chris Armstrong. I ask all of you share this information with anyone you think will listen or care. Even just keeping people aware of homophobia is a way to fight it. 

For Fun, a few more ridiculous quotes from Shirvell's blog: 

"...Armstrong, a militant homosexual activist who would probably tattoo a rainbow "pride" flag across his forehead - if he could get away with it... "

After a seemingly joking fb posts about a "gay orgy" that Armstrong supposedly hosted, somebody named Patrick wrote "apparently you host the best gay orgies... Ever!" Shirvell goes on to say, "It seems clear that Patrick, also a homosexual, was not invited to the orgy event, which is probably because he is also African American." If Patrick had made it clear that he was there, Shirvell would've attacked him for being homosexual but since he didn't Shirvell seems almost insulted that Patrick wasn't invited.

Shirvell has also attacked Armstrong for being happy about the fact that the judge who overturned Prop 8 in California went to U of Michigan. 

An Introduction

I've been pretty opposed to blogs for sometime. I'd rather hear about someone's day when speaking to them than when I read something written to the public. But I do enjoy many focused blogs. So what would I focus a blog on? Well, if you know me, and I hope many of you don't, my biggest focus is gay rights. I have gay moms. This is the explanation for the name of my blog. What is "queer spawn"? Queer Spawn is the colloquialism for the child of a gay person. 

Thus, I am a queer spawn and any of you out there with LGBT moms and dads are too.  Gay rights has always been a huge part of my life. 

With the recent wave of suicides by young adults who were harassed due to their sexual orientation, I have become increasingly frustrated by my lack of outlets to rant and protest. This is why I've begun a blog. I hope that this blog will become a resource of hope and information, for LGBTQ and allied people. 

The rules of this blog are respect, acceptance and tolerance. 

Homophobia is a horrible thing, whether it's the casual use of the word "Fag" or a vicious hate crime. Homophobia that is so bad that someone thinks it's better to be dead is worse. Although, this blog is not just about the several boys who recently took their own lives, I want them to be remembered forever. 

I look forward to sharing information and my own opinions with you! And hearing from you as well.

--Hannah