My world's are colliding in a strange way though this time I'm in the majority asking for the rights of a minority instead of the other way around.
AKC is considering opening up to mixed breed dogs. They are debating whether to just let mixed breed dogs compete in performance events along side the purebreds (which is what most of us have been saying they should do) Or creating a whole new registry and letting them compete separately (separate but equal - where have I heard this before?) [Vague ref: http://www.akc.org/mixedbreed_survey/]
What's funny is that there are parallels between this and the same sex marriage debate that went on in the queer community (less so now). Right now, I'm in the middle of an email debate with one dog owner (not a reader of this blog) who owns both purebred and mixed breed dogs and her take is that mixed breeds have been discriminated against (my phrase) by AKC for so long that why would they want to join now? Why would they want to give in and give AKC money? - No thanks.
I feel like I'm debating with GL folks like Jane Rule (a Canadian lesbian author who had the option to get married to her partner and turned it down for similar reasons and felt that others should do the same).
My point in both issues is exactly the same. YOU don't have to participate, but if others want to they should have the option to do so.
1 comment:
I must say that there are things about AKC that I still won't like, whether or not they allow mixed breeds to compete. And I do have a bit of that "they made me feel like a third-class citizen when I got my first dog 30 years ago to the point where I never wanted to ever give them money for anything ever again." I've now gotten to where I actually registered my BC with AKC--with misgivings--but I'm not sure how far beyond that I'll ever feel comfortable going.
-ellen
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