annabutlerfiction

Hop Against Homophobia, Bi-and Transphobia, May 17 – 24

Today’s the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia and the start of the annual HAHABT. I love odd letter mash ups like that, don’t you? See this pretty image for a translation and the dates of this year’s Blog Hop – although we’ll gloss over the fact the two don’t quite align… HAHBAT comes closer…

 HAHI’ve been worrying about what my blog for this year’s hop might entail. As an ally, my experiences of homophobia have all been second hand, so I can’t give you any huge insights there.

But this has been an eventful few months for my gay friends. We’ve had gay marriage here in the UK for some time now and it hasn’t been the end of civilisation as we know it—well, if you discount the recent election, it hasn’t. Europe generally is getting there. The Luxembourg Prime Minister married his same-sex partner a couple of days ago to a vast amount of “Eh, good luck to you, mate’ and an equally vast amount of shrugging, because no big deal, right? Brilliant, isn’t it? A man got married and fire didn’t rain down from heaven.

In many US states, though, the religious kickback is really hitting people hard. States pass ‘religious freedom’ laws that are not even thinly veiled permissions for bigots to discriminate. They aren’t veiled at all. They’re you-go-right-ahead-and-claim-it’s-love-for-Christ laws, because God is with the pizzeria that refuses to cater to gay weddings. Er… how many weddings have you attended that were catered by a two-bit pizza parlour? Uh-huh.

Right wing pundits call for states to breach the constitution and defy federal rulings if that ruling is for gay marriage – the constitution that they would normally hold to be as precious as their bible and almost as precious as their guns. They foam and froth over even the bare notion of tolerance and equality, because tolerance and acceptance are what corrupts America and they poison the values that make America great. Everything is conspiracy: a war against American values, against Christianity (no other religions need apply, by the way), against ‘normal’, against the way they like things to run; against Texas. Oh wait… checking. Yup. They believe there’s a war imminent against Texas. Say no more.

Religious nuts tell you that trains crash because the engineer is gay. They say earthquakes, tornadoes and Armageddon happen because gay marriage is even being contemplated and trans people use the ‘wrong’ bathroom. Steamy gay sex caused the California drought. In short, God’s mighty wrath is upon us and there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth when we sinners are cast into the outer darkness. They know this because the bible tells them so. Mind you, I’ll bet their women wear nylon bras under cotton blouses, the men trim their beards and they all eat shellfish starters before dinner… but let’s stay well away from the bits of the Old Testament they don’t want to follow, okay? Heavens forfend that we apply any sort of reasoning here.

Apparently, it’s all down to the gay agenda. That’s why we’re all going to hell. Because gays *have an agenda* to change society to something unrecognisable (see remarks on tolerance and equality above, to see what changes are proposed). We’re all going to buuurrrrn for eternity because Adam and Steve have only reached item three and we’re running out of meeting time.

So here it is (with acknowledgments to LGBT Nation for the inspiration). The big, awful, civilisation-destroying gay agenda:

 Get up

Shower

Go to work

Clean the house

Pay the bills

Walk the dog

Go grocery shopping

Clean the cat box

Sleep in at weekends

Watch TV

Go out to lunch

See a movie

Telephone the parents (more often…)

Cook dinner

Do some gardening

Read a book

Walk in the park

Go to bed

 Yeah. That should send civilisation tottering.

Support the blog hop. Support the agenda.

 Here’s how:

Get the word out through Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and any other social media platform you can think of. Encourage your friends and family to join the blog hop.

Comment here to win a free copy of my sci-fi m/m novella, FlashWired. I’ll choose someone after the blog hop ends by the completely random stick-a-pin-in-the-list-of-names method – so make sure you leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you afterwards.

Visit all the other bloggers taking part in the hop here:

1. Erica Pike (M/M) 2. Cherie Noel (M/M)
3. NJ Nielsen (M/M) 4. K-Lee Klein (M/M)
5. Bronwyn Heeley (M/M) 6. Chris McHart (Multi: M/M, TR)
7. Andrew J. Peters (GAY) 8. Prism Book Alliance (MM, FF, TR, Bi, Rev)
9. L.M. Brown (M/M) 10. Dianne Hartsock (M/M)
11. ScuttlebuttReviews (MM,FF,TR,BI,Rev) 12. Anne Barwell (M/M)
13. Anna Lee (M/M) 14. Draven St. James (M/M)
15. Anna Butler (M/M) 16. A.L. Wilson (M/M, Bi, TR)
17. Jacintha Topaz (BI F/F/M, F/F) 18. Blaine D. Arden (M/M, TR)
19. L. J. LaBarthe (M/M) 20. Iyana Jenna (M/M)
21. Kracken (M/M) 22. Victoria Zagar/Infinite Love (MULTI, REV)
23. Brandon Shire (Gay) 24. Lex Chase (M/M)
25. Amanda C. Stone (M/M) 26. Stephen del Mar (Gay)
27. JC Wallace (M/M) 28. Lasha’s Reviews (REV)
29. Angela S. Stone (M/M) 30. Serena Akeroyd (M/M/F)
31. Marie Landry (F/F) 32. S.J. Frost (M/M)
33. Raythe Reign Publishing (M/M) 34. Susanna Hays (M/M)
35. Racheline Maltese & Erin McRae (GAY, BI, F/F, TR) 36. Kaje Harper (M/M, Bi)
37. Barbara Winkes (F/F) 38. Kat Fletcher (LES)
39. Moonbeams over Atlanta 40. Fever Dreams (Raven J. Spencer)
41. Kimber Vale (M/M) 42. Sexy Erotic Xciting~ Evelise Archer (M/M)
43. Amelia Bishop (MULTI) 44. Shayla Mist (M/M, DES)
45. Caddy Rowland(Gay)/Sibley Jackson (M/M) 46. Thursday Euclid (M/M)
47. Nic Starr (M/M) 48. Anastasia Vitsky (Governing Ana) (F/F, BI)
49. Blogger,reviewer,author, editor, promotion 50. Caraway Carter (M/M, Bi)
51. Grace R. Duncan (M/M, Bi) 52. Elin Gregory
53. Kade Boehme 54. Amberly Smith (M/M)
55. Remmy Duchene Mantasy (M/M) 56. L M Somerton (M/M)
57. Erin O’Quinn (M/M) 58. Lori Toland (M/M)
59. Tyler Robbins (M/M, M/M/M) 60. BFD Book Blog
61. BFD Book Blog (REV) 62. Crystal’s Many Reviewers (M/M, F/F, TR, Bi, Rev)
63. Kenzie Mack (M/M, BI) 64. The Novel Approach Reviews
65. J.P. Bowie (M/M) 66. Devon Rhodes (M/M, Bi)
67. Thianna Durston (M/M) 68. Morticia Knight (M/M, Bi)
69. Bryl R. Tyne (M/M, TR, MULTI, F/F) 70. M.A. Church (M/M)
71. Books A to Z Book Blog 72. Catherine Lievens (M/M)
73. James Lee Hard (MM) 74. Eva Lefoy (M/M)
75. Matthew J. Metzger (MULTI) 76. Andrew Ashling (Gay)
77. Charley Descoteaux (MM, Bi) 78. Michael Mandrake
79. Kate Aaron (Gay) 80. DiverseReader (REV)
81. Hans M Hirschi (Gay, TR) 82. Aeryn Jaden (M/M)
83. Alex C.Clarke (M/M) 84. Louisa Bacio (M/M F/F Bi)
85. Talon ps & Princess so (MM, Bi, Poly, DES) 86. Tasha’s Thinkings (M/M, Bi)
87. Christa Tomlinson (M/M) 88. Alexa Milne (M/M)
89. IndiGo Marketing & Design (DES) 90. Eva LeNoir (M/M)
91. A.V. Sanders (M/M) 92. B. Snow (MULTI)
93. Alexis Duran (M/M) 94. Dean Pace-Frech (M/M)
95. Lily G. Blunt (M/M, REV) 96. Joelle Casteel (MULTI)
97. Sage Marlowe (Gay) 98. Author Susan Mac Nicol (MM)
99. Sloan Johnson (M/M, BI) 100. Cody Kennedy (GAY)
101. Lea Bronsen (MULTI) 102. Brina Brady (M/M)
103. WindWhisperer (Erotica Whispers) (F/F) 104. Bey Deckard (M/M, BI)
105. Andrew Jericho (Gay) 106. NSBeranek (Gay)
107. Freddy MacKay (MM, BI, Queer Fic) 108. Mischief Corner Books (PUB)
109. Angel Martinez (Gay/Bi) 110. Catherine Dair Cover Designers (DES)
111. Toni Griffin (M/M) 112. Carly’s Book Reviews (M/M, TR, BI, MULTI, REV)
113. Rory Ni Coileain (M/M) 114. M.LeAnne Phoenix (M/M)
115. Lucy Felthouse (Multi) 116. Bottom Drawer Publications (PUB)
117. Tempeste O’Riley (M/M, BI, Genderfluid, TR)

Have fun!!

IDAHOT-banner-Jan15

42 comments

  4. :O Who said you could print the agenda?! Now they KNOW!!!

    A little bit more about Luxembourg, because I love that country. 80% of the population are Christian, a whopping 70% Catholic. Not a doctrine usually known for its tolerant views. Yet both the PM and the Deputy PM are gay, and in 2014 same-sex marriage was voted into law with an overwhelming majority (56-4). As early as 2006, polls shows 58% of the population supported SSM. Proof, if ever it was needed, that Christianity and social acceptance don’t have to be mutually exclusive ideals.

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    • Hunches shoulders and looks around shiftily. You mean it was a sekkrit? What if I make people promise not to tell?

      I have never been to Luxembourg. Maybe I should go. The Grand Duchess has some very spiffy tiaras to admire along with their forward thinking.

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  7. Hi Anna – I’m so glad I stopped by here because this is the first place where I heard about the Luxembourg Prime Minister! Very cool. Usually my Twitter feed keeps me well informed of anything LGBT-related in the news, but what a nice surprise and a great story. Have a great Hop week!

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    • I thought it was great that a head of state – albeit a very small state – could do this and there has been so little adverse reaction. It was a wonderful story.
      Enjoy the rest of the hop!

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  12. Wonderful post, I think you got me a bit hype with the gay agenda…my heart is palpitating. I’m a bit excited, I don’t know… Thank you for the post and for helping to spread awareness!

    humhumbum AT yahoo DOT com

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  15. Hmmm! Those are all things I would like to do in a perfect life! Thank you for the wonderful and informative post!

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  16. Great post! Thanks so much for being a part of the hop. 🙂
    Cheers
    ~Rissa~
    raynman1979 (at) yahoo (dot) com

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  17. They’re probably most threatened by the cat box cleaning. 🙂 Love it! Thanks so much…

    vitajex(at)aol(Dot)com

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