My apologies, Ameriqueers. I'm the asshole.

Last night I worked myself into a bit of a frenzy reading Queerty--a blog I've loved for years, but lately has SEEMED to be on the attack toward everyone and everything. I was angry because the day before Queerty had posted a blog smearing the Servicemembers United national tour--on the same day I posted praising them. I count some of the Servicemembers United guys as friends and people I greatly admire, and I took it fairly personally. Then last night, perusing more of their articles, I started to get red in the face, and accused Queerty of being anti-movement. Its not so much their postings themselves that are wildly anti-movement, its the crazy, irrational comments left by nutty Queerty readers in that white boys club that are far more divisive and anti-movement, and I began getting mad at Queerty for inspiring this gay-on-gay mudslinging...

And then I became one of them.

I started posting my responses to these commenters on Queerty on article after article... starting out funny with things like "[Joe Solmonese] may not be doing everything right, but you gotta give him credit for being the world's most adorable bottom!" Then getting a little more serious, until I was ready to throw my laptop out of the window out of frustration.

Mind you, its not the first time I've been tempted to smash this thing, it IS running Windows Vista, but I digress.

After I had spent about an hour commenting I decided it would be a great idea to post a blog attacking gay men who attack gay men. Then I lumped all of the blame on Queerty. Queerty gives people a forum to express their frustrations and anger, as well as their joys and their ideas. Queerty may be running a little on the negative side lately, but if you check out my blog, there's been full weeks we're I've spent time bitching about Cleve Jones, HRC, President Obama, Barney Frank and Boies and Olsen every day, so when you're following and commenting the news, it can happen.

However, I now regret having those feelings about Queerty for giving people a voice. Though I don't agree with these people and find their credentials for commenting... questionable (what the hell do you know about any of this shit, your primary source of information on the subject IS THIS blog post), I do agree that folks ought to be allowed to say whatever they feel like regardless if it is coming from a place of ignorance or not. Freedom of Speech is designed to protect not polite speech but OFFENSIVE speech, and I don't want to silence ANYONE.

Also, last night's post was an example of the very same gay-on-gay mean-spirited attacking that I was railing against. Not the smartest way to make my point.

Is Queerty an example of journalistic excellence? Absolutely not. Is Ameriqueer an example of journalistic excellence? Absolutely not. I can't criticize Queerty, really, for being crappy sometimes, because--well--this site is crappy sometimes too. Its not the NYT, folks, I needed to lower my expectations a bit and take things with a grain of salt. If I want excellence in writing, I know where to turn to anyway. Queerty is an enjoyable diversion, usually, and this morning I regret being so anti-Queerty last night.

In conclusion, the only person being anti-movement last night was me. Last time I hate on another entity in the gay community (please don't read that as "criticize," don't worry I'll still be doing plenty of that). Whether that entity be Lambda Legal, the Radical Faeries, the gay bikers that live down the street or the lesbians next door, Ameriqueer has always been an attempt to limit the negativity to constructive criticism... maybe with a little snarky sarcasm mixed in. That bitchiness just should have been left at the door.

Ameriqueers, thanks for putting up with my moody muddling and sticking with me. I look forward to hearing more from you and building even more bridges, rather than... well... you get the picture.