Thoughts on the VRA

The other side of the argument is here.

"Living With the Undead"

I just finished famed vampire-hunter Liam McInnis' new book Living with the Undead: Anti-Vampire America since the Attacks of October. His explanation (in the preface) of the difference between European and American vampirism is interesting:

Vampires have always existed. For ages, tales of the bloodsucking immortals—nightmare creatures from the far edge of human consciousness—have frightened children and travelers away from the Dark. In late 19th century Europe, several spectacular vampire attacks provoked public attention and concern; the Victorian press gave Undead sightings as much breathless attention as they gave the exploits of serial killers; and for a time the infamous (and possibly mythical) Dracula rivaled the notoriety of Jack the Ripper. We in the US were slow to recognize the danger. Allied governments suspected vampire involvement in the early conflicts of the 20th century, particularly with Hitler’s Werewolves after the Second Were War, but decades passed before relevant WWII reports were declassified, published, and discussed in the media. More secretive than other major groups—the partially assimilated Fey populations, for example, or the North American lycanthrope clans (which have admittedly made progress in controlling the Change with medication)—the few vampires in the U.S. kept to the shadows, concealing their predation and avoiding publicity. Rumored Undead activity was left to the dubious defensive expertise of local ward-crafters, magicians, or exorcists. Official law enforcement seldom dealt with them. Certainly they were not viewed as serious threats to national security.

Vampires, however, have been documented—if sporadically—in the New World from the time of the European conquest. Visitors to Rio or São Paolo, or to certain Caribbean islands, are routinely advised to take precautions against vampires, as against voodoo or intestinal parasites. New Orleans has titillated tourists with rumors of the Undead since her inception as a city.

But after the new Millennium came the Attacks of October. And everything changed.

You Can Grow Up to Be President...

...maybe.

The recent election results have been exciting, no matter our politics, because of the historic nature of the President-elect's very identity. Some still object to his heritage, however, and remain unconvinced that he can be called truly American. Some call on the Supreme Court to rule him inelegible for the presidency because of it.

When will all of us accept our Fey and part-Fey nighbors as fully American citizens?

Fallout from Prop 8 (Banning Preternatural/Human Marriage)

The elections are over, and we're now seeing the blowback from the churches' support of the California prohibition on the "unnatural" marriages of preternaturals and humans. I have a personal stake in this issue--it was only by the barest margin that language was included exempting Fey/human alliances from the ban. It is mind-boggling to me that my 20+ year marriage, which includes two part-Fey children, was nearly declared unconstitutional in California. I can only imagine what my friends who are in werewolf/human, mermaid/human, and demon/human partnerships are feeling right now.

Actually, I don't have to guess at their reaction.

And it isn't just the preternatural populations who need to worry. As stated in this article from Reuters:

...[The] marriage ban could open the door to legal discrimination against unpopular groups if the state Supreme Court allows the voter-approved measure to stand, blacks, Latinos, Asians and other minorities said.... [O]pponents of the measure decry what they consider a civil rights violation.

California's highest court agreed on November 19 to hear a challenge, based on whether the state constitution requires support from the legislature -- as well as a majority vote of the people -- to strip rights from any group.

Legal scholars say the measure, which defines marriage as between a [human] man and a [human] woman, breaks new ground by limiting the courts' ability to protect minorities. "They could take away any right from any group," said University of Southern California Law Professor David Cruz.

The ban, California Proposition 8, amended the constitution with 52 percent support -- less than is required to approve some state bond measures.

"The entire purpose behind the constitutional principle of equal protection would be subverted if the constitutional protection of unpopular minorities were subject to simple majority rule," read a brief by black, Asian and Hispanic groups challenging the ban. "The history of California demonstrates with sobering clarity the potential for disfavored minorities to be subjected to oppression by hostile majorities," the minority groups say in their brief, pointing to segregation laws and one excluding Asian-Americans from land ownership as examples.

"It is not hypothetical. It's a track record," said Stanford University law professor Jane Schacter, who has not filed briefs in the case.

The California high court could hear arguments in March. Berkeley's Choper says it will be an uphill battle to persuade the judges that the measure requires legislative action. Choper said he understands why the groups are fighting the ban and he is sympathetic, "but that's not the way the system works."

Preternatural Immigration

A reader dissents:

How can you possibly believe it is a good idea to open our borders to groups like the German werewolf clans? Despite what you liberal-types believe, there ARE people who are so different from us that inviting them into our country puts us in DANGER. The werewolves are violent, over-emotional, and clannish. They have weird hunting and eating practices. They WON'T assimilate into our society--just look at how "well" they've been getting along with their neighbors in the Schwarzenwald! So lately they've been the victims of "ethnic cleansing," well, in my opinion it's probably JUSTIFIED. They fought against us in WWII, in case you forget. Seventy years ago they were TERRORISTS. The leopard doesn't change its spots, and neither does the WEREWOLF, imho. Sometimes I think that they have the right idea up in Alaska, hunting them from helicopters.

Of course that doesn't mean we shouldn't accept other, more peaceful preternaturals into our country. I am not a bigot. It's just that werewolves DESERVE to be prejudiced against.

I don't even know where to start with this. The werewolf clans fought against the US nearly a century ago, and that is reason enough to keep them out today, when they are in danger of genocide. Further, the genocide is their own fault because of their weird cultural practices. They won't assimilate, despite the evidence of our own perfectly assimilated American werewolf clans. We should not only not accept them as refugees, we should participate in the genocide ourselves.

But I am not a bigot, because I like faeries.

It seems like this type of reactionary, anti-immigrant thinking is gaining ground here in the US, particularly as the enonomy falters and people are fearful for their jobs. It is true that the werewolves, with their physical advantages, do tend to be particularly good at jobs that require strength, speed, stamina, and a sort of contained aggressiveness--jobs which might otherwise go to less educated Americans. But surely we all benefit from those abilities. Despite the falling dollar, we are still the land of opportunity and ingenuity. Surely we can figure out how to help these people who are facing destruction in their homeland find a better life with us.

Welcoming Werewolf Immigrants and Refugees

Those who follow news of preternatural communities at home and abroad will be aware that relations between werewolf clans and their human neighbors in central Europe have been strained if not adversarial ever since the end of WWII.

The original conflicts were over the clans' unfortunate support of the Nazis up to and through the end of the War and into the occupation.  Since then, problems have arisen over migration of weres from the east as the Soviet Union dissolved; other conflicts have been due to the difficulties inherent in merging former East and West Germanies.

Recently, the difficulties have flared into open conflict, and clans in rural areas are being forced to leave their homes. As Americans, in a country formed by immigrants, I hope we can accept these political refugees and help them find new homes among us.

Unfair Demonization

I see that the Vatican has initiated another round of attacks on demons. Anti-demon sentiment never seems to go out of fashion, especially among religious groups. Demons tend to be unpopular, and their negative reputation is warranted in many cases, but no group of entities deserves to be entirely condemned.

As a psychotherapist working with demons and their hosts to help them either live beneficially together, or separate amicably and without further trauma, it is very difficult for me to see just how often demons continue to be demonized. "Go back to where you came from!" they are told. Most of the demons I work with in my practice are trying to do just that; they have been summoned by a black-arts sorcerer against their will, and want only to return to where they originated. Often their destructive behavior can be attributed to frustration with our corporeal world. A little empathic listening goes a long way to reducing their understandable vexation with humanity.

We see demons depicted in the media as monumental, tragic, and terrifying,
humorous, or silly.
None of these is necessarily true.

This demon,

for example, was beneficial to humanity, or at least not harmful, and was recognized as such by one of our most renowned vampire slayers.

Not all demons, in other words, are like this:

On the Implications of Names and Labels

One of my favorite local private agencies has the name the Center For Human Potential, which I like to think was an oversight, with no intentional exclusion of those of us who are only part-human or not human altogether.

I know I risk sounding peevish, humorless, and hopelessly PC, but names matter.

And I don't like faery jokes either.

Correction

A reader reminds me that not all—or even most—werewolves consider their lycanthropy to be a diagnosable condition or disease. Rather, “we find our lives transformed, the Change an existential challenge which we face and survive triumphant to become both truly human and truly wolf,” as he eloquently puts it.

And I agree, to an extent. Why assume that a person’s challenges, no matter how difficult, are a handicap, or that they are necessarily regretted? At the risk of sounding like a second-grade lesson on citizenship, we should not make the assumption that different equals bad.

On the other hand, if a woman is missing work that she cannot afford on a monthly basis, breaking up the furniture when she can’t find the Cadbury, and scaring the neighborhood children (to say nothing of her own), maybe it’s OK to look for a palliative. Especially if she asks for help.

I agree that words have meaning, however, and “diagnose” can (or does) have negative connotations.