'Letting our transgender kids tell their own stories' & other Mon. midday news briefs

For transgender students, acceptance goes beyond a bathroom stall - This is how we win the "bathroom bill" issue. Let our transgender children tell their stories.

 Multi-trillion dollar investors tell North Carolina: ditch ‘hate-filled’ HB2 - McCrory is one stubborn governor. We will see if it helps him come election day.

 Pope Francis Supports Protests Against Same-Sex Marriage in Mexico - Enough of the is the Pope supportive or not supportive of lgbts. We might as well write him off now.

Why Is Nightlife So Important To The Queer Black And Latino Communities? - Wonderful article!

Reminder - Trump is no friend to the lgbt community

A reminder from my friend Matt Baume:

'Out magazine backlash continues over editorial choices' & other Fri. midday news briefs

The Out magazine puff piece of alt-right Milo Yiannopoulos created a backlash.

Journalists Reprimand Out Magazine for Its Journalism - And the controversy grows. WONDERFUL! 

 Three myths about bisexual people debunked to mark Bi Visibility Day - We don't talk about our bisexual brothers and sisters as much as we should.

 Gay teen sues his Catholic school for depriving him of his senior year - Good luck to him, although I'm not sure about the issue about private religious schools unless they are getting tax dollars.

 
Trans Teen Gives Tear-Jerking Speech After Student’s Ridiculous Complaint - We must never forget that the issue of lgbt equality is important not just for ourselves but for our lgbt kids. What we do helps the next generation.  

Trump Gives Another Gift To Far Right With New Supreme Court List - This involves the lgbt community and it's scary.

Donald Trump's 'Legion of Homophobia' revisited

In light of the news that GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has selected the extremely homophobic Rick Santorum to be one of his advisors, I want to repost this list of Trump's other "advisors."  They are to be his "Evangelical Advisory Board," but I call them the "Legion of Homophobia." You can see why:

Trump seems to be calling out almost every "big-name" anti-lgbt activist to help him create policy, should he become president. That should alarm every lgbt in America.

'LGBT magazine under fire for 'puff piece' on alt-right figure' & other Thur. midday news briefs

Milo Yiannopoulus

LGBT media condemns Out Magazine for Milo Yiannopoulos puff piece - Picture a young man working for a venomously anti-lgbt publication. He delights in being a so-called provocateur, i.e. making transphobic comments, Islamophobic comments instigating troll attacks, sometimes racial, against celebrities, and being an all-around vicious proud "alt-right" member. One more thing. He is openly gay. It still doesn't take away from the fact that this young man (Milo Yiannopoulos) is a waste of space. But him being gay caused Out magazine to give him a "superficial puff piece" in its magazine. Naturally a lot of folks are angry. And with good reason.(Full disclosure note - I signed the open letter condemning Out for running the puff piece. My decision was for a number of reasons. It's gay men like Milo who once called me a "tar baby.")

Milo Yiannopolous - More information on this young man courtesy of Media Matters.  

NC Guv Lurched To The Right And Now It's Costing Him - How HB2 is biting NC Gov. Pat McCrory in the ass.  

Fired GWU coach accused of
 trying to out athletic director - Oh this is interesting . . .

Here’s How You Can Explain What ‘Queer’ Means To Kids - It's easier than you think. Heck, I'm surprised some kids won't sit their parents down and explain it. This mess from the religious right about the supposed corrupted innocence of children is a crock.

The deliberate ignorance of anti-lgbt activists

According to the above graphics from a defunct Facebook page, the argument over lgbt equality is relatively simple. One one side is a clean cut young man innocently stating his beliefs against the lgbt community and on the other is an angry person calling him names because of it.

The graphic omits a bunch of details. It omits the reliance on denigrating lies against the lgbt community, such as the comparison of gay men to pedophiles. It also omits the reliance on cherry-picked and junk science often used by folks like the young man on the left to make an argument against lgbt equality.

And it also omits the constant attempt to pass laws designed to make us second class citizens. These laws range from allowing businesses to discriminate against us on a religious basis to policing bathroom usage of our transgender brothers and sisters.

Taking all of that into account, how could anyone not agree with the anger of the guy on the right rather than fall for the subterfuge of the guy on the left.

And now for something completely campy and non-political . . .

Because there are times when even yours truly gets tired of the struggle. And with the election this year, we ALL need a break.

So, instead of a serious post, I present some of the best videos from one of my favorite shows growing up, The Electric Company. And for those asking about certain people - yes, that is Rita Moreno, Morgan Freeman, Denise Nickerson (Violet Buearegarde from the original Willie Wonka movie), and Todd Graff: