4 ms·

A good example that social progress is not the inevitable outcome of economic progress. It seems like things are getting worse for LGBT people world-wide. Why

A good example that social progress is not the inevitable outcome of economic progress. It seems like things are getting worse for LGBT people world-wide. Why is this happening? Are we perceived as a threat, somehow?

DoofusOfDeath 9y ago
Perhaps this is stating the obvious, but I don't think there's universal agreement on what constitutes "social progress".
- sterlind 9y ago
  Good point. Even economic development is hard to define, and that can be measured in dollars!
lsiq 9y ago
Don't overthink it, this is China. There is no protection of free speech, quite the contrary, a lot worse is done on a daily basis by that government than yet another form of social media censorship.
onetimemanytime 9y ago
and the guy that decided this got essentially a lifetime job offer. Not good.
vertex-four 9y ago
Yes, people who don’t follow the primary social narrative (which, funnily enough, revolves around being white, cis, heterosexual, male-and-dominant or female-and-submissive, and so on and so forth) have always been seen as a threat. For a small amount of time, a group consisting primarily of gay men with minimal demands (i.e. stop directly physically harming us and, later, change a couple of forms) were in a political position in the West such that they couldn’t be ignored.
- andperseand 9y ago
  Given that the article is about China and that the OP wrote about global trends you can probably remove 'white' from your list of descriptors...
  - greglindahl 9y ago
    I don't know what the person you're responding to meant, but you might want to have a chat with your Chinese friends about different skin colors. Not only do many cultures have a thing about lighter skin shades, even the 1920s US backlash against immigration was mostly about 'swarthy' southern Europeans, who weren't as lily-white as northern Europeans.
  - vertex-four 9y ago
    Interestingly, in the non-predominantly-white countries I’ve lived in, lighter skin tones are desired heavily, and are often a class indicator. People will use creams with ingredients like mercury to attempt to lighten their skin colour.
louithethrid 9y ago
Because you twisted the whole history of the world into a narrative of a glorious liberating revolution for you and your allies . And you got it all wrong from the start. Because you dont got any allies. You have slave-holders, who use a caste of bred drug addicted males to bark at you- so you can be forced to labour in social institutions like the church, or the new office for gender equalizing ressource redistribution- and support a rather stress free life-style. The good thing about beeing a slave is having a master with a whip, a sugar-cane and a gun- he keeps those evel dogs at bay- all for a little cotton picking. The only allie you ever got was science and the industrial revolution- which generated enough surplus, to make your slaveholders no longer vital dependent on your serfdom. You can parade on rainbow street all you want, but it doesent help a bit - and half the crowd there is just taking your cause for a free-ride.
whatyoucantsay 9y ago
China's veer towards a more conservative, centralised political atmosphere as it has become the world's 2nd largest economy over the past decade has certainly wiped out much of the recent progress in gay rights within its borders. However, speaking of things getting worse for LGBT people world-wide, one trend dominates all others. Nothing else even comes close to the effect the growth of Islam. Both its intensification in previously moderate countries, such as Egypt, and its spread into left-leaning, mainstream politics in western Europe have been nothing short of catastrophic for LGBT communities. Unfortunately, both economic and political pressures can make it hard to criticize bad ideas, including on this site. The idea that homosexuality should result in social media restrictions, or in being thrown off a roof is a bad idea and should not be defended for either economic or political reasons.
- km33f 9y ago
  Please stop with the right wing propaganda.
namlem 9y ago
Where are things getting worse besides China?

DoofusOfDeath 9y ago

Perhaps this is stating the obvious, but I don't think there's universal agreement on what constitutes "social progress".

sterlind 9y ago
Good point. Even economic development is hard to define, and that can be measured in dollars!

lsiq 9y ago

Don't overthink it, this is China. There is no protection of free speech, quite the contrary, a lot worse is done on a daily basis by that government than yet another form of social media censorship.

onetimemanytime 9y ago

and the guy that decided this got essentially a lifetime job offer. Not good.

vertex-four 9y ago

Yes, people who don’t follow the primary social narrative (which, funnily enough, revolves around being white, cis, heterosexual, male-and-dominant or female-and-submissive, and so on and so forth) have always been seen as a threat. For a small amount of time, a group consisting primarily of gay men with minimal demands (i.e. stop directly physically harming us and, later, change a couple of forms) were in a political position in the West such that they couldn’t be ignored.

andperseand 9y ago
Given that the article is about China and that the OP wrote about global trends you can probably remove 'white' from your list of descriptors...
- greglindahl 9y ago
  I don't know what the person you're responding to meant, but you might want to have a chat with your Chinese friends about different skin colors. Not only do many cultures have a thing about lighter skin shades, even the 1920s US backlash against immigration was mostly about 'swarthy' southern Europeans, who weren't as lily-white as northern Europeans.
- vertex-four 9y ago
  Interestingly, in the non-predominantly-white countries I’ve lived in, lighter skin tones are desired heavily, and are often a class indicator. People will use creams with ingredients like mercury to attempt to lighten their skin colour.

louithethrid 9y ago

Because you twisted the whole history of the world into a narrative of a glorious liberating revolution for you and your allies . And you got it all wrong from the start. Because you dont got any allies. You have slave-holders, who use a caste of bred drug addicted males to bark at you- so you can be forced to labour in social institutions like the church, or the new office for gender equalizing ressource redistribution- and support a rather stress free life-style. The good thing about beeing a slave is having a master with a whip, a sugar-cane and a gun- he keeps those evel dogs at bay- all for a little cotton picking. The only allie you ever got was science and the industrial revolution- which generated enough surplus, to make your slaveholders no longer vital dependent on your serfdom. You can parade on rainbow street all you want, but it doesent help a bit - and half the crowd there is just taking your cause for a free-ride.

whatyoucantsay 9y ago

China's veer towards a more conservative, centralised political atmosphere as it has become the world's 2nd largest economy over the past decade has certainly wiped out much of the recent progress in gay rights within its borders. However, speaking of things getting worse for LGBT people world-wide, one trend dominates all others. Nothing else even comes close to the effect the growth of Islam. Both its intensification in previously moderate countries, such as Egypt, and its spread into left-leaning, mainstream politics in western Europe have been nothing short of catastrophic for LGBT communities. Unfortunately, both economic and political pressures can make it hard to criticize bad ideas, including on this site. The idea that homosexuality should result in social media restrictions, or in being thrown off a roof is a bad idea and should not be defended for either economic or political reasons.

km33f 9y ago
Please stop with the right wing propaganda.

namlem 9y ago

Where are things getting worse besides China?