Y'all, we need to pray for the Log Cabin Republicans after its vile 'Thank You President Donald J. Trump' tweet

I'm probably going to get blocked by the Log Cabin Republicans for this, so watch it while you can.  But I have to ask these folks:

What the HELL is wrong with y'all?

This President's Day, LGBTs say 'Thank you!' to President Donald J. Trump. pic.twitter.com/PavXuT82VV

— LogCabinRepublicans (@LogCabinGOP) February 15, 2021

From LGBTQnation: 

 The Log Cabin Republicans released an awkward video to honor George Washington’s birthday by praising former President Donald Trump. The video is for “President’s Day,” giving them a way to shoehorn Trump in, but that isn’t actually a federal holiday. The video features several queer supporters decrying their adoration for the most viciously anti-LGBTQ President in the nation’s history. The usual suspects appear in the video, including the group’s spokesperson Charles Moran, journalist Chadwick Moore, and the blogger “Brokeback Patriot.”

Bear in mind that while in office, Trump waged war against the LGBTQ people. He opened up the White House to religious right groups who used their access in attempts to deny us our rights as Americans. 

This is the same Donald Trump whose administration (thank you, Human Rights Campaign for this partial list): 

Appointed anti-LGBTQ judges: Trump has appointed anti-LGBTQ judges with alarming anti-LGBTQ records to appointments at every level of the judicial system, including anti-equality Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh and federal nominees Kacsmaryk, Mateer, Bounds, Vitter. Menashi and others. 

Supported employment discrimination against LGBTQ people: The Trump administration submitted amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting discrimination against LGBTQ people. 

Banned transgender service members from the military: Against the expert advice of military leadership, medical authorities, budget analysts, 70% of Americans and the armed forces of allied countries, Trump and Pence banned transgender people from serving in the military. 

Rolled back Obama-era non-discrimination protections: Trump’s Department of Justice upended previous DOJ interpretations of the Civil Rights Act that protect transgender and non-binary workers from employment discrimination and ceased enforcing non-discrimination protections as well as taking a hostile stance to LGBTQ workers in court. 

Issued rule to license discrimination: Trump’s Department of Labor issued a regulation designed to allow federal contractors to claim a religious exemption to fire LGBTQ workers because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. 

'Michelangelo Signorile: The Equality Act is being blocked by an LGBTQ senator' & other Tue midday news briefs

 

Senator Kyrsten Sinema

The Equality Act can now become law. An LGBTQ senator is blocking it. - Houston, we have a problem. More like Arizona, we have a problem. The reason cannot be seen as totally negative but we do have to come to some sort of agreement on this. 

Democratic lawmakers hope to enact statewide nondiscrimination law and ban conversion therapy for LGBTQ Texans - They do believe in miracles in Texas, I see. 

 An Ohio state legislator may have leaked a new set of anti-trans “principles” endorsed by three major anti-LGBT organizations. - This is how they are tying attacks against trans people to an overall attack on LGBTQ rights and safety.

LGBTQ+, Other Civil Rights Groups Enraged by Trump Acquittal - Can I be honest here? I don't give a crap. The votes weren't there to convict him, witnesses or not witnesses. We need to focus on the power we now have and the work we can do with it. THAT is a start when it comes to keeping that menace away from power.

Repost - The Erasure of ‘LGBT’ From Black History and the Black Community Must Stop

Editor's note - this is one of those evergreen columns (I originally wrote it in 2016) which I don't mind reposting. Folks unfortunately always need a reminder.

As a gay African-American, I’ve heard the argument about how “you can’t compare the gay civil rights movement to the African-American civil rights movement” more times than I care to count.

The constant so-called moral outrage of some African-American heterosexuals when the topic is mentioned has gotten me to the point where my mind automatically tunes out the monotonous drones of how supposed sinful homosexuals are “high jacking” the civil rights movement or how gays “can’t compare their sin with black skin.”

As such, I almost missed the epiphany which occurred two weeks ago.

I was vaguely scanning comments on a conservative site by an anonymous African-American female as she went on and on about how gays were never subjected to slavery, segregation or declared three fifths a person. While the logical side of my mind was gathering up the customary argument of how wrong it was for disadvantaged people of any stripe to play the “Oppression Olympics,” the emotional side of my mind struck immediately.

“This is the most ignorant crap I’ve ever heard,” I thought. “Just where in the hell does she think gay black people were during slavery and segregation? On a spaceship orbiting the Earth? “

I was instantly struck by oddity of what I had thought. Not that my outrage wasn’t coming from a place of truth, mind you, but how the simple fact never entered my mind that yes, gay people were subjected to slavery, segregation and racism because of our skin. Just as LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people of color exist now, we existed back then. Then it suddenly struck me again that I’ve never recalled any acknowledgement of this fact during the myriad of discussions, I’ve read, listened to or seen regarding comparisons between the gay and civil rights movements.

And why is that?

'The One You Never Forget' - short film reminds LGBTQ people about the sweet innocence of a first date

When I was in 11th grade, I rocked my entire high school by getting a date to the prom before most of my peers were even worried about Christmas gifts. If you saw what I looked like back then, you would understand why everyone was shocked. Seeing that it was 1988 though, my date was not with another guy. Granted, my prom date was a nice girl and we had a good time, but looking back, I often wonder how things would have been had I been able to ask a guy to my prom. 

That memory and the fact that Valentine's Day is Sunday put me in the mood to show the above video about a 14-year-boy on his first date. It's nice for an eight minute video. While not the usual call-out on anti-LGBTQ tactics, it's a reminder of who we truly are in spite of attempts of some to muddy our lives. And our souls.

'Fox's Tucker Carlson and guest spread medical misinformation about trans youth' & other Thur midday news briefs

 

Fox’s Tucker Carlson and guest Abigail Shrier spread medical misinformation about trans youth - Trash is as trash does. But this is very dangerous because Carlson has a large viewing audience. 

C.D.C. Report: Gay and Bi People at Greater Risk for Severe COVID-19 - Serious problem right here. 

Activists gathered 500,000 signatures to force Michigan’s legislature to vote on LGBTQ civil rights - Alright! Good for them! 

Governor says transgender athletes will 'destroy women's sports' - It's not about protecting women's sports, just like it was not about baking a cake or 'protecting marriage.'

Trump-supporting evangelicals should share blame for January 6 insurrection

Editor's note - the video below contains graphically violent footage of the January 6 attempt to overturn Biden's presidential victory. I saw it and couldn't stop wincing. I considered not posting it, but after talking with friends on Facebook, I am convinced that a point has to be made.

 

 During the first day of Trump's impeachment trial, the Democrats played the above video montage linking his lie about a stolen election to his supporters storming the Capitol in DC. Justifiably, it shook a lot of people to their core by showing them - probably the first time for some - how serious and historically obscene the situation on January 6 was.

Some have said that the January 6 riot will be his legacy. But it shouldn't be his alone. Many have pointed to his enablers such as Sens Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani and so many others who either chose to remain silent or passive-aggressively pushed Trump forward through his presidency and sad attempt to seal the November election.

But one group is missing:

The religious right needs to answer for how they enabled Trump. They gave him "mulligans," made excuses for his immoral behaviors, and diverted attention away from his obvious lies, while embracing him as a great Christian leader even though they knew he was far from it.

For the sake of attaining a conservative judiciary and White House access, so-called Christian leaders such Franklin Graham, Tony Perkins, James Dobson, etc surrendered the moral authority they claimed to have had and in doing so, chose Trump over America and, some would argue, God   And now as everything collapses under the weight of the consequences of Trump's dismal term, they have either chosen to downplay or ignore their once loudly touted connections to Trump. 

Or, even worse, doubling down on their support of Trump.

Not only should Trump be found guilty but every time people remember January 6, they should also remember the deliberately missed opportunities conservative evangelicals had to be the moral leaders they have claimed to be by attempting to reign him in.   

Or maybe they shouldn't have been considered moral leaders in the first place. 

'Anti- marriage equality group targeting trans community to fundraise' & other Wed midday news briefs

 

Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage

NOM Has Gone All Anti-Trans All the Time - Revisiting Prop 8 - Loser anti-LGBTQ group changes tactics to raise the money. Bitches got bills I guess.

Jen Psaki Shuts Down Fox Reporter’s Question About Trans Girls Competing in High School Sports: ‘Trans Rights are Human Rights’ - Once more for the chilluns in the back! 

Is your home state LGBTQ friendly? See how your state measures up. - I live in South Carolina. Need I say more? 

Unsung heroes break barriers for Black LGBTQ community - Our elders.

Woman in high-profile same-sex custody case arrested after 10 years on the run

Lisa Miller (left) will now face the consequences for kidnapping her daughter instead of giving custody over to her other mother, Janet Jenkins (right) like she was ordered to by the courts.

Ten years ago, "ex-lesbian" Lisa Miller kidnapped her own daughter, Isabella, and ran away to Nicaragua rather than giving custody over to her former civil union partner Janet Jenkins. Custody was given to Jenkins after Miller refused to give her court ordered (and initially agreed upon by both parties)  visitation rights. It was alleged that anti-LGBTQ hate groups and figures helped Miller flee the country. But as of January of this year, Miller is back. She surrendered herself and was taken into custody. 

From the online site Heavy:

Lisa Miller, a former Vermont woman wanted for more than a decade in a high-profile same sex child custody case, has been arrested after turning herself in. She was wanted since 2010 when a warrant for her arrest was issued after she was accused of fleeing the country with the child she had during a since dissolved civil union. 

Miller fought to keep the child from her former domestic partner, Janet Jenkins, and when the courts eventually sided with Jenkins, she vanished. Her arrest was reported by The Associated Press and other news outlets. The case generated major news coverage at the time because it raised questions about the rights of same-sex couples, especially when different states offered different laws on civil unions. Miller said she had forsaken her homosexuality and was aligned with Christian causes, including Liberty Counsel, a legal group.

Isabella, who is now an 18-year-old, did not  return with Miller. According to the Associated Press:

Sarah Star, the Vermont attorney for Lisa Miller's former civil union partner Janet Jenkins, of Fair Haven, Vermont, said Jenkins is concerned that the child, Isabella, who is now an adult, did not return to the United States from Nicaragua. “I just want Isabella to know that I love her very much and that I have never stopped loving her,” Jenkins said in a news release issued by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has been representing her in a civil lawsuit against the people they allege helped Miller and her daughter flee. “Isabella has a family and support system here who will always welcome her home with open arms.”

As of now, it is not publicly known why Miller decided to return, but I'm sure the reason will be given soon enough. At the time of the incident, she kidnapped Isabella because it was certain that she would lose her court case (which really was her own fault ). One wonders everything will play out now.

Editor's note - Heavy has a complete breakdown of the controversy, which I suggest folks read now before the religious right attempt to distort it as they did 10 years ago. A special hat tip goes out to VTDigger.

'Four LGBTQ-inclusive ads appeared during the Super Bowl' & other Tue midday news briefs

 

  These are the 4 LGBTQ-inclusive ads that appeared during the Super Bowl - Didn't watch the Super Bowl, but progress is progress.

Rightwing blame pandemics on Jews & LGBTQ people. It’s still a Big Lie. - A bit of history we should all know. 

Arlando Teller, Gay Navajo Rep, Joins Buttigieg's Transportation Dept - Wonderful! 

Activist confronts women he says posted 'disgusting' transphobic stickers in N.Y.C. - Good for him. And he maintained decorum. It would have been difficult for me.

Bigoted activist Scott Lively attempts to 'explain' the origin of homosexuality. It's as comically bad as you would think.

 

Scott Lively

Based on 30 years of ministry fighting the LGBT agenda, I believe pederastic recruiting is the single greatest cause of male homosexual dysfunction – just as heterosexual male abuse of girls is the primary cause of lesbianism (both forms of predation being examples of dysfunctional male sexuality exacerbated by the societal abandonment of Judeo-Christian sexual ethics). That so many molested boys then embrace the "gay" identity without questioning its legitimacy only showcases the bird-like "imprint" power of sex-related brain chemistry in pubescent boys. In my view this is why God so harshly condemns male homosexuality from Genesis to Revelation, while discouraging lesbianism in just one verse (Romans 1:26). 

The moron behind this inanely humorous comment is long-time homophobe and failed anti-LGBTQ activist Scott Lively.  While many in the anti-LGBTQ industry have moved on from outright  and openly accusing gay men of "recruiting" children and other gross actions, Lively simply can't do without the "classics." I bet if you googled his name, you will also find him talking about all of the alleged intricacies of gay sex in a supposed disgusted manner.  

Not that I'm implying anything, mind you.

In this particular situation, Lively is exploiting a scandal with a Republican group, The Lincoln Project, to push the old and unfortunately more-undead-than-Jason Voorhees claim that us gay men simply live for hitting on young boys. Apparently we need them to "refreshen the ranks of our lifestyle."

I find it weird how people such as Lively get "gay agenda" memos but I have yet to get one since getting turned gay during that summer of 1983 when I viewed The Music Man on PBS three consecutive times.

Even though a few people still believe this drivel (as evidenced by the comments section under  Lively's post),  I don't feel the need to make an attempt to refute it. For one thing, one closeted gay guy making sad sexual solicitations to young guys does not mean you can draw a net of accusations on the entire community.

'Transgender activists in the South are battling homelessness with tiny homes and private shelters' & other Mon midday news briefs

Transgender activists in the South are battling homelessness with tiny homes and private shelters amid COVID-19​ - The transgender community has been putting it down with a checkmark and is serving as a model for the rest of the LGBTQ community.

Men Who Escaped Deadly Gay Purge Arrested & Returned To Chechnya - Well good lord. . . 

Dr. Fauci talks about his visits to gay bars & bathhouses (for scientific reasons) - A bit of history regarding Fauci and the AIDS crisis. 

Two Burger King Customers Were Called a Gay Slur, Then Pepper-Sprayed. Was It a Hate Crime? - Mercy!

Saturday Night Live demonstrates good comedy with devastatingly funny 'It Gets Better' sketch

This parody of the famous "It Gets Better" campaign by Saturday Night Live is an example of what I feel is a good joke about our community. There have been some criticism accusing LGBTQ people  - and a lot of it has come from within the community -  of not being able to take a joke. Some of us are supposedly a bit too sensitive and and "whine about being offended" too often. That's a bunch of nonsense. Good humor is not garnering cheap laughs by platforming nonsensical fears of the unknown. That's bullying. Good humor is nuanced observations and is not as difficult as folks like to pretend that it is.

Anti-LGBTQ former VP Mike Pence gets hired by anti-LGBTQ Heritage Foundation' & other Fri midday news briefs

 

Mike Pence officially hired by anti-LGBTQ Heritage Foundation. He worked for them as Vice President. - What changed? 

Trump appointee sues Biden over alleged ouster from advisory board - That evil homophobe Roger Severino don't wanna go. 

New York repeals 'walking while trans' law after years of activism - That law has to go. 

Color Purple Actress Fired for Homophobia Had Rule Against Gay Roles - Oh really?!

Discredited pediatrician says adoption & foster care agencies should be allowed to discriminate (against LGBTQ people)

 

Michelle Cretella of the anti-LGBTQ hate group the American College of Pediatricians

Today's post reminds me of efforts racists made to repair their bad image by claiming that they weren't "anti-black," but strongly "pro-white."

Via its phony online news publication, One News Now, the American Family Association hosted a discredited pediatrician who made a subtle dig against same-sex households who are raising children:

With many thousands of children available for adoption and in the foster care system, Dr. Michelle Cretella of the American College of Pediatricians says their best hope is to be placed in a positive and loving environment. 

"These children, many of them have suffered some form of abuse or neglect in the past, and that's the bad news," Dr. Cretella begins. "But the good news is that the effects of trauma in children can truly be healed by a loving and stable adoptive family." She points to the social science data collected over decades to demonstrate that all children thrive best when they are reared by a married mother and father in a loving home.

 "We therefore support all adoption agencies, particularly those which are faith-based and … only adopt out to married mother-father homes," the pediatrician tells One News Now. "That is truly in line with science and in the best interests of children. It is not prejudicial discrimination." So she says adoption agencies should not be subject to state or local anti-discrimination laws for following their faith and the science in how they place children for adoption or foster care.

Cretella seems to be saying "I am not anti-anything. I am simply pro-children." But a few facts trip her up.

You will notice that while she claimed that there are decades of social science data backing her position, she did not to name one study or report. That wasn't accidental.  To the contrary of what she said, there is an abundance of work which makes the opposite conclusion. Study after study after study have all said the same thing - children raised in same-sex households suffer no adverse effects and these homes are just as good for them as the traditional mother/father  household. And this includes cases of adoption and foster care.

Also while Cretella never says a word about gay parents or same-sex households, her dog whistle about allowing adoption and foster care agencies to discriminate against households not fitting the two-parent mother/father dynamic rings louder than she would like it to.  Added this point is her history of attacking LGBTQ people.

The organization she is affiliated with, the American College of Pediatricians, is a small splinter group of physicians who broke off from the larger and more credible American Academy of Pediatrics due to AAP's support of gay adoption. The Southern Poverty Law Center says it's anti-LGBTQ hate group, accusing it of trafficking homophobic junk science beliefs under the veneer of genuine science. Homophobic junk science such as supporting reparative or "ex-gay therapy" and claiming that gay men "sexualize" poop.

Cretella herself was called out in 2017 by The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine  (SAHM) for a post she published against the transgender community. In a letter on its webpage, SAHM denounced Cretella's post and then proceeded to call out eight errors and distortions she made in the piece one-by-one.

It's worth mentioning that very few fell for the attempt by racists to repair their image.   It's a lesson Cretella would do well to remember should she attempt to fool herself into thinking that her subtle dig against same-sex households raising children went unnoticed. She isn't fooling anyone else with that "won't someone please think of the children" act she's putting on.

'Golden Globe awards catches praise, heat for nomination of LGBTQ performances' & other Thur midday news briefs

James Corden

The Many LGBTQ+ Golden Globes Nods Unfortunately Include James Corden - Now don't be hard on James Corden. At least his character isn't sad and pathetic. And he lives at the end.

Hate Group: Transgender People Put EVERYONE in Danger - And it continues.

Richard Grenell demands White House press secretary “apologize to the gay community” - Bitch please! You first. 

Markey, Lowenthal to reintroduce bill requiring US to promote LGBTQ rights abroad - Nothing wrong with that.

Religious right have no problems with implying that transgender children are predators

The next big cultural fight is landing smack dab in the middle of trans issues. Be prepared for a retread of lies the religious right pushed against gays to be repackaged against transgender Americans. 

 But as the following memes from the Family Research Council demonstrates there is a nauseating twist. Claiming that LGBTQ equality and by extension, LGBTQ people, will harm children is an old but highly successful tactic of the religious right, going way back to the 1970s and Anita Bryant. It's probably the single most effective scare tactic they have and they use it in almost every fight against the LGBTQ community. 

But when it comes to specifically attacking the transgender community, there is a slight change in how they push the "harm to children" trope. Groups like FRC are personalizing their attacks against transgender people by portraying them specifically as the other out to harm children. And they have no problem with smearing transgender children with this label, either as these recent memes prove.

In their past lies, the religious right have claimed that it was LGBTQ orientation fed to children as a viable concept which could hard them. Now they seem to be pinpointing transgender children as the specific danger. For groups who claim that they want to "protect children," the eagerness they show in demonizing transgender children sends an ugly message about that they think about these most vulnerable boys and girls.

''Ex-transgender' & 'ex-gay' GOP staffer fired after being busted at MAGA riot' & other Wed midday news briefs

 

“Ex-transgender” & “ex-gay” Republican staffer fired after being busted at MAGA riot - Soon he may be an ex-free man.

For First Time Ever, Three National LGBTQ Orgs Have Black Leaders - VERY significant. 

The 13 (Mostly Antigay) Senators Who Voted Against Sec. Pete Buttigieg - Our NEW Transportation Secretary made history. No thanks to these folks.

Family Research Council continues to miscast anti-trans report it helped to write as legitimate Dept of Defense work - My post from last night because news of this should be getting out.

Family Research Council continues to miscast anti-trans report it helped to write as legitimate Dept of Defense work

The Family Research Council helped to create a report which justified Trump's trans troops ban. Now they are attempting to pass it off as legitimate Department of Defense work.

With Biden's continued push for the rights of transgender Americans, the religious right is stepping up its game to spook the country via lies and distortions against the president's goals.

The latest comes from Family Research Council spokesman Peter Sprigg, who published a piece in the (very biased conservative online publication) The Federalist entitled  Biden's Transgender Military Order Is Based On Politics, Not Facts.

The title is ironic based upon the number of things in the piece Sprigg either omitted or got plain wrong. I want to point out a glaring (and deliberate) distortion and why it matters.

Sprigg said the following about Biden's recent executive order which overturned Trump's ban on transgender troops:

The Biden executive order appealed to “a meticulous, comprehensive study” issued in 2016 that asserted that allowing “transgender individuals to serve” would have “a minimal impact on military readiness and healthcare costs.” The “nonpartisan federally funded research center” that published this study was the RAND Corporation. On the other hand, said Biden, “the previous [Trump] administration relied on a review that resulted in a policy that set unnecessary barriers to military service.” Biden failed to explain this “review” was conducted by the Department of Defense. 

The findings were published in a March 2018 “Report and Recommendations.” A comparison of the RAND study with the Pentagon report helps to put the issue in perspective. Most importantly, the RAND study was speculative and released around the time the Obama policy was announced. Since transgender people had never been permitted to serve in the U.S. military, RAND could only make projections based on experiences in the private sector and in other countries. The Pentagon, on the other hand, provided actual data based on the 20 months or so of experience between when the Obama policy took effect and when the “Report and Recommendations” were issued, resulting in some interesting contrasts.

There is a reason why Sprigg attempts to trash the RAND Corporation.  It's all about credibility. The RAND Corporation has been around since 1948 and since then has provided research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. Its reputation is sterling.

By contrast, the March 2018 study supposedly done by the Department of Defense was in fact NOT done by the Department of Defense. In truth, it was done by an ad-hoc committee brought together by former VP Mike Pence. And the members of this committee were several anti-LGBTQ activists, including Tony Perkins. Perkins is the head of the Family Research Council and Sprigg's boss. In addition, Pence pushed hard for the ban, even to the point of overruling then Defense Secretary James Mattis who saw no problems with transgender men and women severing openly in the military:

According to a Zack Ford article in Think Progress on March 25, 2018:

Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern reported Friday night that, according to multiple sources, Pence played “a leading role” in creating the report, along with Ryan T. Anderson of the Heritage Foundation, which has been dubbed “Trump’s favorite think tank,” and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (FRC), an anti-LGBTQ hate group. Both Heritage and FRC praised the report Friday. According to Stern’s reporting, it was true that Mattis favored allowing transgender military service, but Pence “effectively overruled” him.

 A separate source independently confirmed to ThinkProgress Saturday that Pence was involved, characterizing him as forming his own ad hoc “working group,” including Anderson and Perkins, separate from the panel of experts Mattis had assembled. Though it bears Mattis’ signature, the report released Friday appears to reflect the findings of Pence’s working group and not the committee report that Mattis submitted to Trump last month. Mattis’ original document was not currently publicly available at the time of the recommendation, but it was widely reported that Mattis favored an inclusive approach that resembled what had originally been proposed by Defense Secretary Ash Carter under President Obama in 2016. His February recommendation, also released Friday, jibes with the new report, contradicting reports at the time.

 Ford goes on to carve up the report bit by bit, revealing its continued reliance on junk science. But here is the problem I have with this entire situation. 

At my count, that's twice that the Family Research Council  has attempted to pass off a study it had a hand in creating as legitimate Department of Defense work. My guess is that they are going to do it again and will continue to do so because very few in the media seems to care enough to put them on blast. With so many overwhelming things going on, folks aren't paying attention to how the religious right is creating a false narrative with about Biden and trans right. The attempt to reconfigure how Trump's ban came into place, while ignoring how they helped to create it, is only part of their plan

They stand in front of a broad canvas slowly but surely painting in a vile masterpiece filled with vividly colorful lies about how Biden is "erasing women," ignoring science, and putting Americans - particularly children - in jeopardy in order to satisfy a tiny but very intolerant minority (that's supposed to be us) with an "agenda" aimed at destruction. 

If they are successful in this pursuit, LGBTQ Americans will be having some serious problems in the future.

'How President Biden plans to end LGBTQ housing discrimination' & other Tue midday news briefs

How President Biden Plans To End LGBTQ Housing Discrimination - Keep your fingers crossed. 

Report: Hate groups in decline, migrate to online networks - Don't be fooled. They are simply hiding their hands. They aren't going away.

I Was Attacked By A Transphobic Mob. Here’s Why I’m Fighting Harder For Black Trans Women Now. - Harrowing story by a brave woman.

How the first time I ever saw LGBTQ people on screen made me fear Pam Grier

The first LGBTQ characters I remember seeing on screen are the lesbians who fought Pam Grier in Foxy Brown. But it had an opposite effect on me than the one the makers of the movie probably desired.

I'm going to divert a little from the usual fare in order to tell an interesting story about LGBTQ images. I hope folks reading this will give their comments in the section below.

On Twitter today, a question was raised which had me chasing memories. It was:

Finish this sentence: The first time I remember seeing a queer person on screen was ______.

— The Most (@Most) February 1, 2021

Ironically, as much as I write about LGBTQ issues, I could not remember the answer to this question. I remember seeing that Harry Hamlin movie, Making Love, in 1983 on network television courtesy of a channel in another state my T.V. could catch because my local station wouldn't show it.

I remember seeing a strange CBS movie, Welcome Home, Bobby in 1986 about a guy who may or may not have been gay.

And I remember seeing Revenge of the Nerds on VHS in the same year, which is extremely ironic because a little under a decade later, my college life mimicked that of the black gay character in the movie - i.e. being a semi-closeted black gay male in a predominantly white fraternity.

Then it came to me. 

 

The first time I remember seeing a queer/LGBTQ person on screen was in the first movie I ever saw on screen - Foxy Brown starring Pam Grier. To the uninitiated, Grier was the queen of blaxploitation, which itself was a genre featuring generally low-budget action movies in the 1970s starring black characters. They were also very controversial.  This particular movie, Foxy Brown, was one I saw at a drive-in with my uncle, aunt, and cousin when I was a little boy. In it, Grier was fighting a crime cartel in her neighborhood. The scene below was her attempting to rescue a prostitute from a lesbian bar:

 

 One would think that this scene created a negative view of LGBTQ people in me. Actually, it was the opposite view. Being a small child, I didn't understand the dialogue, but it disturbed me tremendously how Grier caused a huge brawl. To my young mind,  Grier went into the bar and began beating the hell out of the women who were simply minding their own business. Subsequently for a number of years - at least until college when I saw the movie again - I always had a fear of Pam Grier.. I saw her as the "big black lady with the afro who came to parties and fucked people up." I even imagined her using razor blades on folks (which she did not in this movie).

Maybe my experience proves how young people are simply too hip to fall for the junk that adults traffic to get us to fear each other. Or maybe, there was a small part of my mind which was aware of my LGBTQ sexual orientation, even at that young age, to recognize this silly attempt to demonize a bar full of lesbians.

Who knows? Regardless, I encourage and appreciate your comments about the first time you saw a queer/LGBTQ character on the screen.