Comments for Bishop In The Grove

Comment on Witness to the Protest at Pantheacon 2012 by Eddy Gutierrez

Eddy Gutierrez — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:12:00 +0000

Hi this is Hyperion – founder of the Unnamed Path – and I want to clarify something and confirm what Ambar Diaz said here. While Z did indeed gesture to me and my brothers and said “These are my defenders” I immediately corrected her and said “NO! We are here only to bear witness and hold space”. I do not take either side in this demonstration. I hold the void of the center – the point of cooperation and healing. We are not Z. Budapest’s defenders. We were silent witnesses. http://www.unnamedpath.com

Comment on Witness to the Protest at Pantheacon 2012 by Ambar Diaz

Ambar Diaz — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 05:14:00 +0000

“Z looks at the group of men who have gathered behind the cisgender women. They are led by Hyperion of The Unnamed Path.“There are my guardians,” Z says to them.”
I want to add my perspective on this: Z not only looked at them, but gestured to them with her right hand. (Many of the silent protestors were meditating with eyes closed and didn’t see the gesture; this led to some misunderstanding.) She was immediately countered by one of the men who said emphatically, “No, we are here to bear witness.”

Comment on Witness to the Protest at Pantheacon 2012 by Guest

Guest — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 05:12:00 +0000

This whole thing makes me sad. Thanks for keepin’ us filled in and I hope P-Con was otherwise a good time had by all.

Cheers,

Dave

Comment on Witness to the Protest at Pantheacon 2012 by Alan Sheridan

Alan Sheridan — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 05:09:00 +0000

Teo, bless you so much for such a great impartial recounting of your experience. Even for those of us not in attendance, this issue has been overflowing with emotion, and it’s gotten a bit thick. What I have garnered from various personal accountings of the experience at the protest is what I hoped it would be – a communication of changing attitudes and values in our communities.

Clear, open dialogue about the issue is needed, but I think going forward we would all do well to take the focus off of Z, but keep it on the desire to change our direction and work more towards inclusion, unity, and mutual respect. It’s clear to me that we as a community will no longer sit quietly by while any of us are subjected to discrimination and hate speech – and that’s where we need to be.

Again, thank you, and bless you a lot.

Comment on Witness to the Protest at Pantheacon 2012 by Teo Bishop

Teo Bishop — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:41:00 +0000

Thank you for reading it, Fire Lyte. I do hope that the video becomes available, although I’m not sure that it would help the conversation while the wounds are still fresh. A transcript, perhaps, but not the full video. Z is a bit of a fireball when she speaks. She explodes with energy, and I’m afraid that her passion may only incite more conflict online.

With that said, it will be what it will be. If I do catch wind of the video, I will do my best to share it here on the blog.

Comment on Witness to the Protest at Pantheacon 2012 by Teo Bishop

Teo Bishop — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:39:00 +0000

Thank you, Jhenah. I appreciate you paying the site a visit, and it was a pleasure to meet you at Pantheacon. Bright blessings to you and the Sisters of Avalon.

Comment on Witness to the Protest at Pantheacon 2012 by Teo Bishop

Teo Bishop — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:38:00 +0000

Thank you, Sonneillon. My hope is that a simple recounting of the events that took place might allow people to understand a little more the complexity of the situation.

Comment on Witness to the Protest at Pantheacon 2012 by Teo Bishop

Teo Bishop — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:38:00 +0000

It was a beautiful thing to witness, even in its complication and tension. I share you feeling of pride.

Blessings to you.

Comment on Witness to the Protest at Pantheacon 2012 by Teo Bishop

Teo Bishop — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:37:00 +0000

You’re welcome, Jason. Thank you for paying visit to the site.

Comment on Witness to the Protest at Pantheacon 2012 by Teo Bishop

Teo Bishop — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:36:00 +0000

Thank you for your comment, Kilm. I’m not sure that I feel comfortable with placing blame in any one direction, mainly because the situation is so complicated. Putting on a conference of this magnitude is no easy task, and neither is appeasing all those in attendance. Politics is difficult, even on a small scale, and when you factor in how many different perspectives there are in this situation it becomes exponentially more difficult.

I will say this: I did witness, as I wrote about in this post, that the conference staff was sympathetic to the protestors. They were in a very difficult position, and I have a feeling — just a hunch — that they will be engaged in fierce dialogue over the coming days and weeks about how to handle the Con next year.