My roommate and I, who live in a part of town where quite a few neighbors are
same-sex couples, are wondering what the purpose of Queer Visibility Week
might be, in a town known for its tolerance.  The annual kiss-in on the diag
sounds like the annual smoke-in.  I know the latter activity is still illegal,
but is it illegal to kiss in public and does this give safety in numbers? 
Or is this a way to encourage people to do something which they would feel
uncomfortable doing as a lone couple?  I don't see a lot of public kissing
of any sort, but there does not seem to be any stigma against public hand
holding by any sort of couple or group.  (What I do find odd is that in our
culture, unlike many from other times and places, hand-holding is
automatically interpreted as being part of a sexual relationship.).

15 responses total.

I think the idea behind it is this: many people are okay with homosexuality
in theory, as long as they aren't confronted with it.  Several friends of
mine, when I came out to them, told me, in effect, "This is fine with me if
we never have to talk about it again".  I've been lucky; subsequently, those
friends have adjusted, and told me they really are fine with it, but the point
is, there are a lot of people out there who still aren't real comfortable.
Also, I imagine there's a bit of an effort to counter the perception that
homosexuality is a fringe thing that might happen in Miami or LA but never
<gasp> here in Ann Arbor.  I'm exaggerating, of course, but it can't hurt for
people to realize that they won't turn to stone if they see two MOTSS kissing,
and that it probably isn't all that exotic a sight.

But why kissing en masse?  Does that make it easier for the participants? 
What do you think actually makes (or made) your friends uncomfortable?

I guess they were hoping to make an Event out of it, get more attention, maybe
set up a situation where it was more accepted... I honestly don't know.

Ann Arbor, despite being the liberal mecaa of the midwest (competing with
royal oak, especially on the BDSM stuff), does not guarantee that all people
will be comfortable expressing their sexuality and attractions. It's always
a nice boost in the arm to know you're not alone, by seeing others "of a like
mind."

This is of the typical fontish ilk of being sorta in topic while hanging out
of topic: ann arbor liberal mecca?  (well, ok, perhaps for the mid-west...I
guess I will grudgingly give it taht, though in my opinion ann arbor is less
liberal than it gives itself credit for.)
But anyways, it was that I was over at a friends house, with a lovely lady
and we were sitting on the couch inside a condominium  complex, and she and
I were making out <gasp!>.  Later, I heard from the reputed owner of the condo
that someone had brought up at a meeting that there were some lesbians out
by the pool doing X, Y, and Z and it had to stop etc....and even threatened
the owner to throw him out...which caused quite a stir.  (I can't go back
there...and don't really want to) But still it disturbs me that there are
these "community ordinences" that govern what happens *inside* of people's
dwellings.  that's sick and wrong. Next it will be illegal to read the Torah
inside your house at this rate....

Was the issue a legal one, or one of what the condo's owner wanted?

Ann Arbor would be downright conservative in southern California, Font, and
I'll agree that AA folks like to think they're so much liberal than they
reallly are. Actually, in my experience, Ann arborites ARE liberal, but
they're also intolerant, perhaps more intolerant of alternate perceptions
(particualrly conser vvative ones) than any other city I've been to.

And there is also a lot of vague-and-fuzzy liberalism that winds up looking
radical and hairy because we still have a few hairy radicals wandering around.

... if they'd only shave, Ann Arbor would be a prettier place ...

   considering that most blue laws are still on the books, i can
definitely see the point of having a mass queer kiss-in on the diag.
and y'all are right about a2 not being as liberal as it would like to
believe. the only two places i've ever been directly threatened with
a queer-bashing or worse are corbin, kentucky (where they still lynch
niggers and are *proud* of it, one resident informed me) and ann arbor.

Yeah, I guess it's better than Romania, where I was informed they shood
homosexuals on sight, and are proud of it.  (but this was
coming from an individual who was all out gaybashing all over party, and so
I don't know if it's truth, or his fantasy)
er...that's *shoot* people, bang bang, dead...<shiver>

Romania is the country that banned contraception and abortion and had loads
of unwanted 'orphans'.  They were trying to increase their population.  I can
see that gay-bashing would fit that policy, but why AA?
I am curious what blue laws are still on the books.  Is it legal for MOTOS's
to live together?  I assume it is legal for MOTSS's.  I expect any leftover
rules, if enforced, would put more than half the population into jail.  I
wonder why they have not cleaned up the books.  (How do you make the plural
of MOTOS, would it be MsOTOS?).  Is it legal for MsOTOS to kiss in public?
Exactly what is it illegal to do in public?  I would expect most modern
bathing suits are illegal.  (In Bulgaria there was a $5 fine for each piece
of bathging suit you did not wear, at a time when women in the rest of Europe
went topless.  Women were fined $10 and men $5 for nude bathing.  I wonder
if they would have prorated that for someone wearing half a top.)  Is it
illegal to spy on people through windows.  (If you keep the light turned off
during the daytime you can't see in well without really trying hard).  How
long does it take for laws to catch up with reality?

If there's some vocal, conservative minority that would scream if they
tried to dump the blue laws and most people don't care because the
laws are ignored, the law may *never* catch up to reality.

(Didn't one of the ex-confederate states have laws applying to slaves until
a few years ago?)

yeah, it's a good thing those laws are ignored.  Hope they don't come into
fashon any time again.  <font waves a wishful thinking flag, and hope she's
not too cynical>

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