ArsTechnica:
I went to dinner the other night in a swank part of Paris (the 7th) with my friend Nicolas (aka @versac), and the maitre'd, who was clearly flaming, sat me down in the waiting area (my friend hadn't arrived) and made a joke about sending me any cute single girls who might walk in alone. I almost said to him "send me the cute guys too," but then thought twice about it because I just wasn't sure I was in the mood to come out to the maitre'd.
How many straight people are presumed gay when they enter a restaurant, and feel the need to clarify? Zero. It's not the same as being gay, the playing field is not even. There is always a presumption of heterosexuality, unless you're at the Eagle at 2am on a Friday night.
From Felix Salmon at Reuters:
Salmon, for his part, celebrates the coverage and laments the dearth of similar work. He argues that the default, namely journalistic silence on the topic of Cook's sexuality, is "unethical" because it amounts to "pretending" that Cook is a straight man. Yet one cannot move so easily from a lack of action to an active motive ipso facto; not writing copy about Cook's sexuality is absolutely not a sign of an active plot to misrepresent the sexuality of Cook. I don't think it can be called a passive, subconscious plot, either. The reality is, for millions of people, Tim Cook's sexuality doesn't occur to them one way or another until others raised it. There are scores of social issues challenging our society today, of which gay rights is only one. It cannot be the media's ethical imperative to cherry pick which identity politics matter and then foist them upon would-be heroes who aren't obliging our viewpoints. And it certainly can't be the case that media reluctance to do so means siding against diversity or social justice.There really aren't multiple "identity politics" competing in the workplace. No one gets fired for attending left-handed-pride parades, or visiting the local Italian bar. And in any case, Felix is absolutely right, it is assumed in today's society that you are straight unless proven otherwise.
I went to dinner the other night in a swank part of Paris (the 7th) with my friend Nicolas (aka @versac), and the maitre'd, who was clearly flaming, sat me down in the waiting area (my friend hadn't arrived) and made a joke about sending me any cute single girls who might walk in alone. I almost said to him "send me the cute guys too," but then thought twice about it because I just wasn't sure I was in the mood to come out to the maitre'd.
How many straight people are presumed gay when they enter a restaurant, and feel the need to clarify? Zero. It's not the same as being gay, the playing field is not even. There is always a presumption of heterosexuality, unless you're at the Eagle at 2am on a Friday night.
From Felix Salmon at Reuters:
All too often, secrecy surrounding someone’s sexuality is imposed upon that person by the straight society surrounding them. It’s the “I don’t want to hear about it” attitude which reached its nadir in the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. Many gay professionals — I’m tempted to say most gay professionals, at least outside the creative industries — act very much in line with an implicit policy of don’t-ask-don’t-tell; coming out to co-workers is done individually, on a case-by-case basis, and acts as a sign of deeper friendship and outside-of-work socialization. And it contrasts quite sharply with the overt displays of straight employees who happily plaster their cubicles with photos of their spouses and children or unselfconsciously talk about the attractiveness of members of the opposite sex.
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