Saturday, March 30, 2013

When to educate, not delete

AfterEllen's Trish Bendix wrote a great post about how she handles Facebook friends homophobia:
"Chances are if you accepted someone as your friend on Facebook, you know them, at least a little bit, and there is something about them that you liked enough to allow them into your virtual life. This is what makes me think you don't have a Fred Phelps-a-like, but instead, one of those hearts or minds that could quite possibly shift in time. And if they're posting crosses with declarations of God's idea of what marriage is and should remain to be, they are likely expecting their LGBT and LGBT-friendly friends to shut them out, giving them some kind of martyr feeling, like they are being hated upon for their steadfast beliefs."
I'll be the first to admit, I'd unfriend someone pretty fast for posting hate, or hell, just plain ignorance. It's 2013. If you have even a small online presence, you have access to the numerous resources out there. But then I think, "what would I do if this were someone in my family?" I can't really "unfriend," nor, frankly, would I want to. I might not like it, but I'd be more willing to educate when that person means something to me.

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