Yes Virginia: there is a boycott

[dreamer_easy]

I remember reading a great report from Harlan Ellison on how he refused to spend any money while visiting a US state which had failed to ratify the ERA - IIRC not as much as buying a chocolate bar.

Now, with a visit to the US state of Virginia coming up later this year, where it's legal to discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in housing, banking, and employment, I'm thinking about following Ellison's example. This could be a bit of a nuisance for family and friends, so I don't want to go too over the top, but I wonder how many shopping trips, meals out, etc, I can move over the border into Maryland. I must of course accompany this behaviour with some letters to relevant politicans and perhaps newspapers too.

At the very least Jon and I should go and break the state's "crimes against nature" law a little.

Comments

[tencrush]

Will you be taking pictures of the crimes against nature bit? I am intrigued as to what they may be. And a wee bit turned on.

[jblum.livejournal.com]

This would be the famous "oral sex is still a felony in Virginia" bit. As are adultery and cohabitation, though they did concede that the bit against fornication was unconstitutional. Hey -- maybe we should find someone to move in with for the duration and go for a three-fer!

(And yes, they are still prosecuting -- including straight couples, such as a fairly high-profile case in 2004.)

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

We will be mining uranium in a World Heritage national park. So there, you pervert!

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

Nice one, Joisey!

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

*clocks your icon*

Who WITH?! Marduk? St Peter?

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[sheramil.livejournal.com]

> I must of course accompany this behaviour
> with some letters to relevant politicans and perhaps newspapers too.

you'll have to do that out of state too, unless you want to boost the Virginian stamp industry. i think a better pointy stick would be for everyone to send letters to whoever the relevant authority is, stating "we were going to holiday in Virginny this year. but no."

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

the Virginian stamp industry

Curses! Didn't think of that!

The complicated thing is that both Virginia and Maryland (where Jon's folks live) are basically suburbs of Washington DC. So it's a bit like visiting Fern Tree Gully while boycotting Upwey.

Huh?

[outsdr.livejournal.com]

>The complicated thing is that both Virginia and Maryland (where Jon's folks live) are basically suburbs of Washington DC.

Isn't that kinda like calling Australia a suburb of New Zealand?


Those parts of Maryland and Virginia (Silver Spring, Bethesda, etc.) that surround D.C. are very much extended suburbs, but both entire states?!?

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[redrose999.livejournal.com]

I would. It's funny stuff like this and the law allowing Doctors, hospitals and insurance companies to discriminate against gays in Michigan are never seen in the news. It really bothers me.

Thank you for posting it. I'm sort of passing it along.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_bigjobbies_/]

on Ellison - I think the boycott was while attending a con - and to avoid letting the state get any $$ he stayed over the border in a neighbouring state, and commuted each day...

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

You would probably find DC's laws to be more to your taste - our laws are sort of "Liberal and Liberaler."

When are y'all coming to the area?

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

Later in the year, once our bank balance has recovered from its general trauma. :-)

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

Excellent! We'll look forward to seeing y'all...

[lordalius.livejournal.com]

Alas, since I live in Virginia, it would be a little hard for me to do that. (They get funny when you don't pay taxes, for example.) But I'll be happy to support you in this in any way I can when you come -- I was horrified when that thing got ratified.

As for the "crimes against nature"... Well, I'll look the other way. ('Cause, you know, that's polite.)

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

Now this could solve the dilemma of breaking the law without paying for a Virginia hotel room.

(I am kidding, btw. >:-)

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

What an excellent story about Harlan Ellison, particularly after his recent bad press.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

Now what's that naughty chap been up to?

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

Oh, just the old groping-Connie-Ellis-on-stage thing.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

... in Virginia?

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

No, on her left breast.

And, er, Connie Willis, of course I meant, as I don't think she's agreed to take part of his surname.

Yes, Virginia...

[stevencaldwell.livejournal.com]

So, I guess this means that, given that you are a consistent kinda gal, that you will transfer this legal discrimination to your time in Australia. So no more dining at Chez Steven with his partner eating his divine mushroom lasagne? And the talk about Captain Jack's semen is right out of the question...

Re: Yes, Virginia...

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

*Pirate Planet Captain voice* BOYCOTT EVERYTHING!

Re: Yes, Virginia...

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

I finally worked this out. I need to edit the posting so it's clear I'm following Ellison's suit, not bloody Virginia's!

Re: Yes, Virginia...

[gregmce.livejournal.com]

If this ever happens, you and Mr Groenewegen are more than welcome to mail Kate's uneaten portions to yours truly. (Except, of course, that I live in Virginia. *sigh* But at least my county voted overwhelmingly against said prop. Change works from within. Little by little we're chipping away at the idiots in the rest of the state.)

Re: Yes, Virginia...

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

mail Kate's uneaten portions to yours truly

A BIT LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF A HORROR MOVIE

Re: Yes, Virginia...

[gregmce.livejournal.com]

IT CAME FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD... BUT IT HUNGERS FOR YOU!

[emma-in-oz.livejournal.com]

Jesus!

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

I'd suggest you spend as much of your time as possible in DC and Maryland, and use the DC Metro system to get around. There are many fine restaurants, hotels, and shopping areas quite near the various Metro stations.

Personally, I'd suggest you stop at Dupont Circle, eat a really good meal, and go window-shopping. Get an all-day pass and travel all over (the postal museum right at Union Station is quite fun and cute) after 9:30 am on weekdays.

If the relatives really want to go out, a trip into DC for dinner is entirely reasonable.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

I may just attach myself to the side of the Smithsonian like a giant leech.

Oh! I forgot! Day (or two) trip to New Yuck to look at museums.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[jblum.livejournal.com]

Don't know if New York will actually happen, now that my sister's living farther up New England way rather than in Hoboken. But we'll see...

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

That'd be a neat trick, since the Smithsonian is more than a dozen different buildings (and the Zoo). It'll take you the better part of a week to see them all, and that's only if you hurry through two a day. Plus there are many museums in the city -- from The Textile Museum to the Corcoran -- that aren't part of the Smithsonian.

If you go to New York, you *can* take Amtrak if you'd like. Washington DC to New York is part of the "Northwest Corridor", which is just about the only area in the entire country that passenger trains run often and mostly on time.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

It's a very big leech.

(I've kind of done Aerospace and the Hirschorn to death, so this time I want to suss out any Egyptian and Mesopotamian goodies they've got.)

I don't think I've ever been on a proper train in the US (not counting Metro). An adventure!

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

Air and Space hasn't had any new exhibits since 2003, so you're probably okay with skipping it.

Oddly enough, I know that there is a pre-History exhibit somewhere in Natural History that has Egyptian and Mesopotamian artifacts (including a bull mummy) but I've only found it once by accident -- I was looking for a bathroom for my niece. Considering I've lived in the area since I was a teenager and love going to the museums, I was kind of startled to find this exhibit that I'd never seen before but which was obviously permanent instead of a rotating exhibit. It's upstairs tucked into a corner.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

Heh! Thanks for the tip!

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

minor nitpick: the Udvar-Hazy (http://www.nasm.si.edu/udvarhazy/) center over near Dulles Airport opened right at the end of 2k3, and they've added all kinds of things since then. Personally, I find it particularly stunning and profound (I wrote about that here (http://thegameiam.livejournal.com/159912.html)) - Anyone who travels in through Dulles Airport should make a stop there...

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

We saw that! They have a Space Shuttle and Patriot Missiles and you can watch planes landing at Dulles in the distance.

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

Right - any museum with both a Space Shuttle and an SR-71 is my kind of cool.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

Blackbird, fly!

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

*dribble*

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[jblum.livejournal.com]

Not really a problem -- my parents live in Maryland anyway, it's just friends which lure us to the darkVirginia side. That and the airport, which we may be stuck with.

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

If you're really trying to avoid VA, use BWI instead of either IAD or DCA...

Aside: I find it particularly galling that as one walks up the ramp at DCA, the lettering on the inside says "welcome to Washington" - but you're actually in Arlington... Grr...