LGBT PRIDE MONTH:
As a president may or may not have informed you last week, June is LGBT History Month. I think. Possibly Pride month. I mean obviously it’s Pride month, but you know what I mean. Anyways, what does it mean, you ask? Is that why there are a number of incremental but encouraging stories of progress on LGBT issues this week? It may forever remain a mystery. But we are not ones to look gift months or gift progress in the mouth, so here we are. What’s been happening?
+ The Federal Reserve Bank has been flying a rainbow flag over its building for the last week, and will presumably continue for the month of June. Cute, no?
+ In addition to the bill opposing employment discrimination for trans people, the state of Nevada has passed two more trans anti-discrimination bills. The two new bills prevent discrimination in housing, and discrimination in terms of public accomodation – this applies to public buildings as well as places like shelters, which is a huge deal for the disproportionately high number of homeless trans people.
+ In more gender identity news, a gender-inclusive anti-discrimination bill has passed the Connecticut State Senate. The bill finally passed on Friday with a vote of 77-76. “Governor Malloy said of the bill after the Senate’s vote, “This bill is another step forward in the fight for equal rights for all of Connecticut’s citizens, and it’s the right thing to do. It’s difficult enough for people who are grappling with the issue of their gender identity, and discrimination against them has no place in our society. Connecticut has lead the way in other civil rights issues and I’m proud to be able to support and sign this bill.”
+ The Department of Education is hosting an LGBT Youth Summit, a two-day event called “Creating and Maintaining Safe and Supportive Environments for LGBT Youth.” “[U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan] will highlight the administration’s commitment to ensuring equal access to education for LGBT students as it does for all students. He also will discuss the Department’s Office for Civil Rights recently released guidance on the protection against harassment in an education setting based on gender, which includes gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender individuals. The guidance, which was sent to schools, colleges and universities in a “Dear Colleague” letter, explains educators’ legal obligations to protect students from harassment based on racial and national origin, gender and disability.”
Not a bad start for June! Does anyone else have good news to share with the class?
GAY CONGRESS:
Not only is Tammy Baldwin running for Senate, which would make her the first openly gay Senator in the country’s history, but it turns out that the person trying to fill her seat in Wisconsin is also gay. Representative Mark Pocan is an openly gay Democrat, and he wants to pick up where Tammy Baldwin wants to leave off. “”Pocan says he has been asked about his interest in Baldwin’s seat by numerous organizations, including the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which provides financial and campaign support to gay and lesbian candidates across the country… Pocan says he and Baldwin have been friends for years — they served together on the Dane County Board and he succeeded her in the state Assembly in the 1990s — and he has no intentions of stepping on her toes.”
SCOUTS TOLERANCE:
The Boy Scouts have long been known to straddle the line between open and less-than-open homophobia, but now it looks like they might be trying to change that. “Britain’s best-known youth organisation is keen to dispel the myth that homosexuals cannot join the organisation and as part of this it has produced a document entitled ‘It’s OK to be gay and a Scout!’ The leader of the Scout Association has also filmed a video message stating that homophobic bullying will not be tolerated.”
SESAME STREET:
Sean Hannity freaked the f*ck out this week because Big Bird is going to turn your children gay. It’s true that Katy Perry was on it that one time!
THE WIRE:
The US Attorney General has ordered the writers of The Wire to write more episodes, probably because of Omar. “I want to speak directly to Mr. Burns and Mr. Simon: Do another season of ‘The Wire’,” Holder said, drawing laughter and applause from the audience. “That’s actually at a minimum. … If you don’t do a season, do a movie. We’ve done HBO movies, this is a series that deserves a movie. I want another season or I want a movie. I have a lot of power Mr. Burns and Mr. Simon.” Maybe Riese can be the next Attorney General!
GAY CUPCAKE:
It’s pretty self-explanatory. Seattle bakery Cupcake Royale is selling a gay cupcake. 50% of cupcake proceeds will go to the It Gets Better project. There is no downside to this cupcake situation.
THE X FILES:
This week I found a tumblr that appears to combine Texts From Last Night with stills from The X Files. This seems like it must be relevant to somebody’s interests, possibly even mine.
OTTER:
You guys hit the f*cking jackpot this week: this isn’t just an otter video, this is a f*cking otter biopic. Enjoy.
yes i saw that video and jesus christ. not only are they saying that accepting who you are is a bad thing, but they’re letting a guy who’s talking about killing puppets do it.
also, my birthday is in june (HOW WAS I NOT GAY?) and i will either swallow that cupcake or this cake http://megduerksen.typepad.com/whatever/2009/05/happiness-is.html
rainbows and cake go so well together…
My birthday is in June too! Let’s have a big gay rainbow glitter celebration!
Oh and also one more awesome story: A trans* girl/woman was crowned prom queen at a Florida high school.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/transgender-teen-voted-prom-queen-florida-town/story?id=13753899
Yay, for once, I’m not ashamed to be from FL!
I teared up at that story.
hmm i need to find a way to get a buncha those cupcakes for my bday tomorrow…
Prom King and Queen is serious shit you guys, what the fuck is happening to this country if we let a MAN win prom QUEEN? I’ve never seen the sanctity of such a classical American institution so blatantly disrespected.
(How do these idiots manage to breathe?)
Gills.
The worst part about that to me was that I won Prom King and our school’s resident Sassy Gay Friend won Prom Queen this year, and pretty much no one even blinked an eye.
I want credit for helping destroy America, dammit!
Why would puppets be liberal or conservative? Isn’t Sesame Street its own country with its own laws? Maybe I’m confused. Please don’t shoot anyone, sir.
GAKES! I love gakes and cupgakes. My friend Bobby and I have this tradition of buying a gake whenever something great happens, like when Judge Walker overturned Prop 8 or when DADT Repeal was initially announced. Commemorative gakes. It’s pretty awesome. I realize I have typed “gake” a lot. Not too surprising. On my old phone, when texting, “gake” would take precedence over “half” which became a problem if you were telling someone to meet you in a gake hour.
Anyway, this post made me pretty damn happy. Also, texts from last night + The X Files = WIN OF THE CENTURY.
Cupcake of the month… WANT!
How could there ever be a downside to any situation that involved cupcakes?
cupcakes are over.
I couldn’t even watch that video. That shit makes me so mad!!! (not the otter one…the other one).
Double rainbow all across the cupcake!
ordering at Cupcake Royale “i would like ‘the gay’ please… oh wait, make that two”
“Coming right up”
=) happy pride month
What bugs me about the Hannity clip, and most of Fox News’ programming, is the sweeping, paranoid generalizations about The Liberals. The Liberals won’t teach math! The Liberals want to indoctrinate your children! The Liberals advocate totalitarianism!
In the world of Hannity and his guests, boys playing with dolls is far worse for the future of humanity than demonizing a vaguely defined group of people because of their ideology. Maybe it makes me one of The Liberals, but I think that’s bullshit.
but boys are supposed to play with cars, not dolls
… god damn it, i hate these people so much
“You’re taking on Elmo and Sesame Street and Big Bird in your book!”
“Yeah, I kinda wanna take em out back and cap ’em.”
Of course! The Liberals are teaching our children bad values. Clearly, violence is the answer.
Violence IS always the answer. I don’t want my children growing up thinking that it’s not and that we should be considerate of others and share, or that we shouldn’t beat the sh*t out of people for being who they are. Especially if someone is a different color and prays to the wrong God! I’m sick of this Libr’al Bias in the media! DON’T LET THE LEFTIST MEDIA INDOCTRINATE YOUR CHILDREN!
*puts on tin foil hat and turns up the teevee volume*
The Federal Reserve is fucking horrible. Here’s a good video about money. It’s called “Money as Debt,” and it’s long, but watching it will give you a general idea of what are economic system is like, including the role the Federal Reserve plays in it:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2550156453790090544#
It was hard enough to get through that Hannity clip without tearing my hair out…but on top of it, did anyone else notice how every guy on the panel completely talked over/interrupted/ignored the woman? I’m not saying I agree with her either, but why does she want to align herself with a bunch of old dudes who could give a shit about her opinions, even when she agrees with them???
yeah and they even questioned her authority on shitty tv shows. plus the minute she started talking about the hypersexualization and objectification of women (something i actually agree with her on) they all just start talking over her.
I noticed that too, every time she started to make a point she was interrupted. I agreed with a couple of her points too (especially the one about how important it is for parents to talk to their kids about what they are seeing in the media).
For the first time in over a decade I actually made a New Years Resolution. I vowed that this year, I would go to Pride. I thought this would be a foolproof resolution, cuz how could I fuck that up? Well, turns out I could fuck it up by moving. I will be moving on Pride weekend. In fact, I will be up to moving-related shenanigans all of June.
FML
I went to Queens Pride yesterday, it was amazing! Now i’m pumped for NYC Pride and i believe I’m walking in it this year.
I live in Brooklyn but have somehow never managed to make it to Brooklyn Pride. And I can’t go again this year. But I do always go to NYC Pride. When my daughter gets a bit older I want to start walking it too.
I want that gay cupcake. Yum.
The texts from last night craze is all over tumblr. My personal favorite is this Glee one: http://tflnglee.tumblr.com/
Re the sinister liberal bias of Sesame Street: HOLY SHIT breaking down traditional anti-feminist gender roles?? Catering to historically oppressed and under-educated minorities?! Influencing our children in a way that will breed tolerance and acceptance?!! DEAR LORD WHAT IS THIS COUNTRY COMING TO?
i started talking over her too, though – but in protestation of how RIDICULOUS it was to see Miss America 2008 bemoaning the hypersexualisation and objectification of women in media. MISS AMERICA. where you are judged, in part, on how well you can model a bikini.
** that comment was @krissy. computer troublez.
computer troublez = story of my life. especially when my brothers are playing call of duty right below me and it interrupts the internet connection.
but yes that actually is a valid point….but also one I’m torn on. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a woman flaunting her bikini body on TV, the problem lies when society can’t get past her ass and titties. But then the question becomes why you would submit yourself to that kind of objectification in the first place. /wordvomit
This president will be held to a “higher” accountability when he has to face God on judgement day. When he ran on his “change WE can believe in”; he really came “out the closet” and now as a people we KNOW WHAT to PRAY for. If he is so for this celebration what will be the look on his face when his little girls kisses another girl in the mouth or for that matter another woman because it is “same-sex’ is it not?
Tiny otter ftw!
Fox news is just unbearable. I can’t even handle their stupidity.