This post was submitted by Amelie

Last Saturday, I ran into Zack at the Black Cat pre-Mousetrap. We were both grabbing a bite to eat before the dancing commenced. The conversation somehow turned to gay blogs or fancy lesbians, or something of the like, and he said “Hey, I told you about how Queerty linked back to our posts, right?”

 

I had not heard that, so I got kind of excited, if not kind of confused. My ladyblog posts don’t really seem to have a lot of space on a website that tends to have lots of pictures of shirtless dudes and more recently, censored nude photos of Dustin Lance Black. Then Zack explained a little more.

The post I was linked to was really one where they were dissing Zack’s article about culture coverage in the Washington Blade. However, they decided to choose my article about Fancy Lesbians as an example of TNG writers being hypocrites about our non-stereotyping mission.

“Meanwhile, for a web magazine so intent on breaking the stereotypes of gays, check out this lede stereotyping straights: ‘One of the things I’ve noticed about straight people is that they’re usually pretty oblivious to the fact that there are different types of lesbians.’”

Mission statement accomplished!”

They aren’t entirely wrong. Looking back on the way I phrased that sentence, I could have used some slightly different wording. I probably should have swapped the “tend” out for a “I have noticed that some straight people” in the beginning of the sentence. That sentence wasn’t meant to typecast straight people as queer-ignorant, more just as a segue into the rest of my post about Fancy Lesbians. I was actually surprised that was the sentence they chose to take issue with, since that whole article could be construed as me creating a whole new lesbian stereotype (though I was only trying to illuminate the mysterious existence of the “Fancy Lesbian” type lesbian).

While I suppose it would be nice to gain recognition by having people like what you write, I think I’m just as happy, if not happier, that my first appearence in the larger blogosphere was by getting dissed by Queerty. I haven’t really stopped smiling about it since Saturday. Why? Well, I’ve compiled a brief list.

1) Queerty doesn’t top my list of blogs I respect and adore. If I’d gotten dissed by Jezebel or Feministing, I might be a little sadder. And by a little, I mean a lot.
2) It’s kind of hilarious.
3) Again, it’s kind of hilarious.
4) I’ve decided this means I’ve arrived.

Yes, dear readers, yours truly has officially arrived. I’ve gotten hated on by Queerty, who, from what I can tell from my limited patronage of their site, seem to hate on most things. I’m glad to join that not-so-selective club of things hated on by Queerty, because lots of those things are things I like. For instance, Zack, Barack Obama, and women. Alright, I’m kidding about that last one. A little bit.

But, the point of this isn’t to hate on Queerty. They’re a respected gay blog and they certainly serve a purpose. It’s to celebrate the fact that someone else reads my columns besides my girlfriend. And it’s also to celebrate the fact that TNG is getting out there and growing, gathering the attention of more and more bloggers, and, through that, more and more readers. For every five readers of Queerty’s TNG-diss, I bet at least one or two went back to TNG and found a community they identify with even more. Any press is good press, right?

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