Even More Saturday Night Live 'Gay Moments' for Pride Month 2021

 

 

As the sun slowly sets on the June 2021 pride month, let's observe it fading into our memories while sitting on the patio with a cocktail in hand. Or at the very least, while we watch another batch of Saturday Night Live LGBTQ moments guaranteed to make us laugh and raise our spirits.

Conservatives trying to add their homophobia & transphobia to Critical Race Theory hysteria

We can always count on conservatives and the right in general to get their white supporters stoked up about some fake controversy.  And these days, it's about Critical race theory. To hear them describe it, Critical race theory is a racist philosophy which teaches that white people are inherently evil and there is a liberal plot to indoctrinate children and America in general with it.

Or something like that. 

To those raising hell, the definition always changes and frankly they don't know what they are angry about. The only thing is they are sure is that they are angry because (wait for it), the right-wing propaganda engine and the GOP have been fearmongering about it.

According to Media Matters, Fox News has mentioned "Critical race theory" over 1,300 in the past three and a half months. 

Media Matters also said the following:

Critical race theory is an academic legal framework which examines the systemic impact of racism in the United States. But “critical race theory,” like “cancel culture” and “political correctness” before it, also functions as an umbrella term the right-wing movement uses to turn its mostly white adherents’ racial anxiety into political energy. 

 In this case, a sophisticated, nationwide network of conservative think tanks, advocacy groups, media outlets, and GOP officials have seized on the term and, in the words of Christopher Rufo -- a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute and a key player in the effort -- sought to render it “toxic” and apply to it “the entire range of cultural constructions that are unpopular with Americans.” Republicans have proposed or passed a slew of legislation restricting “critical race theory” and hope to use it as a core part of their political strategy in upcoming local, state, and federal elections.

According to the Free Speech Center:

Critical race theory (CRT) is a movement that challenges the ability of conventional legal strategies to deliver social and economic justice and specifically calls for legal approaches that take into consideration race as a nexus of American life. The movement champions many of the same concerns as the civil rights movement but places those concerns within a broader economic and historical context. It often elevates the equality principles of the Fourteenth Amendment above the liberty principles of the First Amendment.

 . . .Some of the basic tenets of CRT rest on the belief that racism is a fundamental part of American society, not simply an aberration that can be easily corrected by law; that any given culture constructs its own social reality in its own self-interest, and in the United States this means that minorities’ interests are subservient to the system’s self-interest; and that the current system, built by and for white elites, will tolerate and encourage racial progress for minorities only if this promotes the majority’s self-interest.

In other words, CRT is an amorphous legal argument which has obviously been selected by those on the right to scare its mostly white supporters into hysterically thinking their children are being "indoctrinated" into a dangerous philosophy. And in spite of the fact that CRT is not being taught in K-12 schools, conservative groups are using the "Critical race theory" name to attack all diversity endeavors, even when they have nothing at all to do with Critical race theory:

One conservative organization, the Heritage Foundation, recently attributed a whole host of issues to CRT, including the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, LGBTQ clubs in schools, diversity training in federal agencies and organizations, California’s recent ethnic studies model curriculum, the free-speech debate on college campuses, and alternatives to exclusionary discipline—such as the Promise program in Broward County, Fla., that some parents blame for the Parkland school shootings. “When followed to its logical conclusion, CRT is destructive and rejects the fundamental ideas on which our constitutional republic is based,” the organization claimed.

And especially endeavors to create safe school environments for LGBTQ students. Recently,  a Loudon County school board meeting was inundated with a large group of parents angry about the possibility of Critical race theory being taught to their children. The meeting got so rowdy that it was cancelled and two people ended up arrested. Some parents were also angry at measures which were to be taken for the safety of LGBTQ students.  Safety for LGBTQ students and Critical race theory are two separate issues, but SPLC - designated hate group the Family Research Council connected the two issues:

Surveys have shown that overwhelming majorities of parents oppose schools teaching that America was founded on racism and is structurally racist. It's no wonder, then, that Loudoun County parents turned out yesterday by the hundreds to offer their commentary on what that school system is promoting to students. Not only were many parents supportive of Christian PE teacher Tanner Cross, they were outraged by unfair treatment of a student whose parents opted him out of LGBTQ+ lessons for Pride Month. They also overwhelmingly oppose a proposed policy to allow opposite sex students access to bathrooms, locker rooms, and hotel rooms. And while conservative and Christian parents are painted as "out of order" or "unruly," it was the "screaming" parent of a transgender student who accused the "followers of Jesus" of "dripping with hate."

Unfortunately what happened at the Loudon country school board meeting - albeit not as violent -is replaying across the nation as school boards are dealing with angry parents manipulated by a sophisticated propaganda engine. And according to a recent article in Politico, this hysteria doesn't look like it will be stopping for a while.  The article says that the GOP and its associates hope to use the anger harnessed by this critical race theory moral panic to take control of Congress with next year's midterm elections. 

That is if the folks they are working up don't drop dead of heart attacks from all of their anger.

Excerpt: Unsportsmanlike: The Right-Wing Attack on Transgender Women and Children

People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch just published the first part of a informative piece which needs to be required reading and sharing for anyone fighting the anti-LGBTQ industry's attack on the transgender community. 

Unsportsmanlike: The Right-Wing Attack on Transgender Women and Children is an intensive report which spotlights tactics religious right and conservative groups have undertaken to demonize transgender women and children under the guise of protecting women in general and "saving children" from harm. 

An excerpt from the chapter  The Message Is Fear pinpoints how certain ugly and untrue narratives about trans women and children are created and spread to invoke fear that trans female athletes are attempting to "cheat" victories and records from cis female athletes:

To experts and activists watching these attacks, the implications are clear—and the portrayal that fundamentally misunderstands who trans people are, purposeful.

“It’s a very tactical argument, right? It’s fearmongering, because what it does is it takes people’s wants to protect their daughters, and it says, ‘This will protect your daughter, here’s all the ways that we trans people are going to hurt your daughters,’” said Schuyler Bailar, an LGBTQ activist, swimmer, and the first trans athlete to compete for a Division I men’s team. “It’s a way to fearmonger people so that they think that trans people are actually just men trying to hurt their daughters.”

The narrative is reminiscent of that used by right-wing groups pushing for the bathroom bills, which were successful for a while with “public conversations start[ing] from a place of fear,” said Arli Christian of the ACLU. “The narrative from the other side was not about trans women, and it never is. It’s about men in dresses, right? Because they don’t understand who trans women are,” she said. “So when we have a narrative that’s based on men joining women’s teams, no one is understanding the issue. When we have a narrative based on men entering women’s bathrooms, no one is understanding the issue.” 

'A 12-year-old boy was beaten for 'being gay' while his mother filmed and broadcasted it' & other Wed midday news briefs

A 12-year-old boy was tortured for being gay on Instagram Live. His mom filmed & broadcast it. - We need to have a conversation about toxic masculinity. Particularly with my African-American brothers and sisters.

'Sesame Street' features 2 gay fathers for 1st time in 51-year history - I LOVE this. 

Straight white politician says Pride is unfair to straight white men, says he’s being “crucified” - Oh waa, waa, waa! You big baby. 

These Photos Show Us What Gender Dysphoria Really Feels Like - Great project which lets the community do the talking instead of the talking heads and pundits. 

Louisiana Governor Vetoes Anti-Trans Sports Bill - Good for him!

While NFL player Carl Nassib comes out, homophobes go overboard pretending that they don't care

 Monday's announcement by Carl Nassib, a Las Vegas Raider defensive player, that he is gay is beneficial on so many levels.

For one, though Nassib is the first active football player to come out, his announcement is an opportunity to remember past openly gay football players like Dave Kopay, Jerry Smith, Esera Tuaolo, Michael Sam, and so many others. It's a great time to remember how they paved the way for his announcement. For another thing, positive visibility for our community and potential LGBTQ role models for our kids are always needed.

But then there is the other side of the coin, i.e. those who claim that Nassib has put undue stress on their lives and way of thinking about LGBTQ people simply because he had the audacity to not hide his sexual orientation. And such comments came via the wildly repulsive far-right site Free Republic. 

They had a time raising hell about Nassib and their comments were very amusing. Granted you may not think so, but monitoring this stuff for almost 15 years has given me a droll and cynical sense of humor.  And I admit that I enjoy reading the bigoted comments coming from the Free Republic when something pro-LGBTQ occurs. It's like observing  a zoo where you don't have to feed nuts to the animals because the nuts are the animals.

The following are some of the comments:

Yay, another colon spelunker. Like I care.

We do not care if this person is gay. We do not care if the clerk at your local grocery store is gay. Stop acting like we all need to know what you do in your bedroom. We don’t. 

Carl, whoever you are....PLEASE KEEP YOUR SEX SECRETS TO YOURSELF! UGH! 

Forty or more years ago there was an All In The Family episode where one of Archie’s professional football heroes hinted at being gay. And I swear the media breathlessly tells us every year of some pro athlete being gay. It’s old news to everyone. They announce these stories to pump their own egos. The MSM buries real news and regurgitates tired “revelations” like this ad nauseum. 

Hey, I’ve been meaning to get this off my chest. I’m straight, married to the father of our kids and never cheated. Where’s my historic headlines? 

Mr Nassib if you want adulation for enjoying a blood gorged crank up the ass you’ve come to the wrong place. 

He has an agenda. And what you think is love is really an attack on your freedoms. Even worse his agenda is targeting your children in school. Teaching them that this aberrant behavior is not just normal and natural, but any opposition is hate speech. 

Several times I have had casual acquaintances or people at work announce to me "I am gay" or "I am a lesbian" totally out of the blue and for no reason. Why do they feel the need to do that? I don't need to know and I don't want to know... 

It goes on and on like this with each participant spewing equally homophobic and badly unoriginal comments (even to the point of working in the corny "tight end, wide receiver" joke). It was like watching a schizophrenic tennis match with just about half of the comments telling Nassib to stop talking about gay sex (even though he didn't) while the other half going into details about gay sex so lurid that I was tempted to begin taking notes.

Homophobes are so amusing when kept in their cages. And it's a great reminder yet again that LGBTQ people aren't the problem.

They are.

'LGBTQ students aren't receiving much needed inclusive sex education' & other Tue midday news briefs

LGBTQ students need inclusive sex ed – but less than 10% in US are receiving it, report says- A serious problem. 

Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand Will Be First Trans Olympic Athlete - Some folks are bothered, but they need to get over it. 

8 Black trans women you should follow if you’re celebrating Pride Month - Yep. 

Valley athlete to be first female LGBTQ wrestler in Olympic history - We look set to kick ass in the Olympics like we always do. 

'We're not hiding': Gay and lesbian Russians say a cultural shift is underway - This is real bravery right here.

Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters hits a milestone! 7,500,00 hits and counting! But what comes next?

Congratulations to my lovely blog because as of today, it has hit over 7,500,000 hits. Not bad for a part-time gig in which I make very little money off of.

And yet, I don't feel celebratory. I'm tired just a bit. But more about that later.

 I began this blog in 2006 as a way of publicizing my book, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, as well as talk about how the religious right lies and distorts science to demonize LGBTQ people. I felt that this issue was not being covered as it should have been. The book, a self-published disaster, came and went. But the blog stayed and I stayed with it, reaching lots more people than I ever would have imagined and doing more than I could have ever dreamed with a book.

My blog allowed me forge alliances, wonderful friendships, and meet many, many famous people. I know I scared the hell out of former Sen/ Al Franken, but on the flipside I also helped to prevent Sen. Sherrod Brown from being the victim of a far-right set-up.

So many people opened doors for me (I will be forever grateful to people like Michael Rogers and Joe Sudbay), while others unconditionally embraced me for what I was trying to do (thank you, Monica Roberts. You will always be in my heart). And even more nudged me further up the road when during the times I seemed to have stalled (thank you, Pam Spaulding and Jeremy Hooper).

But taking all of that into account -  the little bit of notoriety and fame, the fun of the fight, the GLAAD Media Award nominations and one victory (oh come on, like you think I was actually going to not mention that) - I still am weary. 

'Did Justice Alito's religious stridency help the LGBTQ community in Fulton case' & other Mon midday news briefs

SCOTUS justice Samuel Alito has an anti-LGBTQ, pro-religion bias which backfired this time. But what about next time?

The White House installs an exhibit with LGBTQ artifacts & history for Pride Month - The first time, but hopefully not the last, this has happened. 

Justice Alito’s Massive Concurrence in Favor of Expanded Religious Freedom May Have Scared Off Two Conservative Justices - Friday's Fulton decision was a small loss, but a larger victory for our community. And it seems that an anti-LGBTQ, highly biased judge may have helped. 

Mexico Soccer Fans Banned Over Recurring Homophobic Chant - Stubborn jackasses are going to be stubborn jackasses. 

VA moves to offer gender confirmation surgery to vets - I'm all for it.

Danica Roem's message to LGBTQ youth: 'You have to care' about politics - Preach!!

Why Do Gays Love Disney Villains?

 

 According to Matt Baume, the creator of the above video:

We’re meant to root for their downfall. But somehow these scene-stealers are more beloved and memorable than the heroes. And who’s been among their biggest fans from the very beginning? Hashtag the gays. But … why? What is it about Disney villains that’s so appealing to gay audiences?

Baume says that Disney's attempts to covertly exploit stereotypically gay tropes in their animated villains to make them appear more creepier actually made them popular and relatable to gay audiences. I personally think he has a point because I am a fan of Disney villains (particularly Yzma from The Emperor's New Grove.) However, whether you agree or not, his video is still highly entertaining.

Unpacking the Fulton case - The anti-LGBTQ right fails again in attempt to enshrine homophobic religious bigotry into law

 

The Human Rights Campaign should be credited with how quickly it came out with its statement after SCOTUS's ruling.

By now, we are all aware that the Supreme Court ruled for a Philadelphia Catholic adoption agency  in the latest attempt by the religious right to enshrine homophobic religious bigotry into law.  But just in case some of us aren't, here is a recap from The Huffington Post:

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of faith-based foster agency Catholic Social Services in a case that has significant implications for LGBTQ foster parents as well as taxpayer-funded groups’ ability to discriminate against queer people or other faiths based on “religious freedom.” The case centers around two local foster agencies that the city of Philadelphia found would not work with same-sex couples as foster parents in 2018. The city deemed this a violation of their anti-discrimination policies, and stopped referring foster kids to those agencies. One agency, Catholic Social Services, sued the city, saying it was violating its First Amendment rights and demanding the city continue working with it even as it turned away gay couples as foster parents. In a decision released Thursday, the court held that Philadelphia’s refusal to contract with CSS violates the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, which protects a person’s right to freely exercise their religion. The ruling requires the city of Philadelphia to renew its contract with CSS. 

But don't grab your weeping towels just yet. You see there were broader implications in this case. Via this case, the religious right was hoping for a broader ruling which would prevent the enforcing of non-discrimination laws. But the SCOTUS ruling was extremely narrow, which means they failed in their goal. 

According to SCOTUSBlog:

Thursday’s ruling was a victory for Catholic Social Services, an organization associated with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and two foster parents, who alleged that Philadelphia’s refusal to make foster-care referrals to CSS discriminated against the group because of its religious beliefs about traditional marriage. But the decision fell short of the broad endorsement of religious freedom that the challengers had sought. While the justices unanimously agreed with CSS and the foster parents that the city’s action was unconstitutional, a six-justice majority left intact the Supreme Court’s 1990 decision in Employment Division v. Smith, which held that government actions do not violate the Constitution’s free exercise clause as long as they are neutral and apply to everyone.

Let me put in layman's terms:

The religious right wanted SCOTUS to overturn a 1990 precedent it had set in another case.  And this would have allowed anti-gay discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs, which also enshrines the right of entities to receive LGBTQ tax dollars while practicing anti-LGBTQ discrimination.  But SCOTUS said that governments can enforce non discrimination laws and the like as long as they are applied fairly and neutrally. SCOTUS ruled that in this case, the city of Philadelphia did not. It was a narrow ruling which only applied to that specific case.

Thursday's SCOTUS ruling is not unlike the Masterpiece ruling in 2018. The court ruled pretty much the same way as in this case - that the business in question,  a bakery in Colorado, was the victim of anti-religious bias by a civil rights commission because the owner's refused to make a cake for a gay couple in accordance to his his religious beliefs. The ruling then was also narrow and did not create an enshrinement of discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs.

While I am not an attorney by any means, allow me to unpack some thoughts how the LGBTQ community lost and won via this case. It's simply my opinion.

Losses - Of course the unanimous ruling against the city of Philadelphia is the big loss here. While the religious right didn't get what it wanted, the victory gives them incentive to press forward in their attempts to undermine LGBTQ rights and enshrine into law a right to discriminate on religious grounds. They've failed twice but if I know anti-LGBTQ groups (the Beckett Fund, the Alliance Defending Freedom, and others), they've already began planning their next step.  We have not seen the last of this.

Wins - The simple fact that the religious right did not get what they wanted here is a big win for the LGBTQ community. My guess is that with a conservative majority on the court, they were expecting a big win. But they only succeeded in getting a narrow win, which they can't do much with even though they will try.

How they are probably feeling now is best summed up by Justice Alito (who has not been neutral with regards to his belief that religious beliefs trumps LGBTQ rights). He wasn't happy that the ruling didn't overturn the 1990 precedent set by the Smith case:

In his 77-page concurring opinion, Alito argued that the court’s decision in Smith is a “severe holding” that is “ripe for reexamination.” He complained that, after all of the time and attention devoted to the case, the Supreme Court had issued only “a wisp of a decision that leaves religious liberty in a confused and vulnerable state. Those who count on this Court to stand up for the First Amendment have every right to be disappointed,” Alito concluded. He added, “as am I.”

Also, usually with a victory, however minor, comes bragging rights or an ability to set the narrative. I get the impression that religious right groups were caught off guard with just how narrow their victory was. Perhaps they expected a complete victory with a conservative majority on SCOTUS. Whatever the case may be, their usual ability to control the narrative was lacking here. The decision was scarcely announced on twitter before the Human Rights Campaign  sent the following online. 

BREAKING: #SCOTUS has ruled non-discrimination laws apply to taxpayer-funded child services so long as they are enforced neutrally but that Philadelphia’s law was not neutral. pic.twitter.com/COfLsBfghM

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) June 17, 2021

Other LGBTQ groups and allied groups were quick to send out their own tweets and statements. By comparison, anti-LGBTQ groups were a bit slow. Gradually the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, and other religious groups sent out tweets and statements, but the narrative, that the case was decided on very narrow grounds and did not establish a religious right to discriminate, had already been established.

So basically, this ends another chapter in the so-called culture war with regards to LGBTQ rights and safety. And it is a definitive one. Based on its two rulings in the cases involving LGBTQ rights vs. religious beliefs, SCOTUS seems to know what the religious right is attempting to accomplish, but also seems to reluctant to give these groups what they want. Not yet at least. 

Meanwhile this ruling underscores just how much of a intricate war this is. I constantly hear many of my LGBTQ brothers and sisters talking about "taking to the streets" and protesting. That is not going to do. At least not by itself.  Taking to the streets in loud protests won't help that much against opponents with deep pockets, powerful connections in government, and the patience for long planning - all of which those groups who oppose us have and then some.

The first thing we need to do as a community is stop ignoring these groups. Stop believing the inane idea that if we ignore these groups, they will go away. They aren't going away no matter what we do. We need to talk about these groups, make them the topic of conversations in not only our media but the media in general. Stop allowing them to put us on the defensive. Put them on the defensive for a change. Make them the topic of conversation instead of us. We shouldn't have to explain why we are deserving of our rights.

They should be made to explain why they want to take our rights away..

'The protest before Stonewall' & other Thur midday news briefs

Before Stonewall, LGBTQ history was made at Bucks County Community College — and then forgotten. Until now. - Not putting down Stonewall by no means, but there seems to be a laziness with implying that Stonewall began it all for LGBTQ people in America. If there were protests before Stonewall, then what else are we minimizing in LGBTQ history?

For the Christian Right Manufactured Enemies Put Money in the Coffers - Grifters gotta grift. 

Biden administration extends Title IX protections to LGBTQ students - Another victory.

Companies celebrating LGBTQ Pride Month are also advertising on Fox - Going where the money is. 

Schoharie judge resigns amid probe into Facebook posts - Bye. No trust, no peace.

Gay couple endured five years of creepy harassment from guess who?

 This situation is enough to make one paranoid:

 

 From LGBTQNation:

Lee Michael McLean and Bryan Furze endured years of anonymous anti-gay harassment at their home in Milton, Massachusetts, but a remarkable turn of events has freed them from the abuse . . . 

The men are upstanding members of their community, proud parents, and served in local government. But that’s when things turned ugly, they say. They started receiving dozens of magazine subscriptions with homophobic names on them. The men were confounded and police were unable to help since most magazines don’t require pre-payment. The perpetrator didn’t use a credit card that could be traced. For five years the couple got magazines, newspapers, and solicitations under the offensive fake names. It stopped during the pandemic, but when the neighbor tried to resume the harassment, he made a major mistake.

To find out the rest of the story, watch the video. But to clue you in - the entire situation simply shows how covert homophobia can be and how some of the most dangerous bigots are the ones who won't say stuff to your face.

It all sounds like something from one of those cable crime channels, minus the physical violence. And thank goodness the situation was taken care of before it came to that. I wouldn't be surprised if it would have. If you can spend five years surreptitiously harassing someone, whose to say that you won't take that last deadly step of violence?

'Virginia school district to appeal judge's decision reinstating anti-trans teacher' & other Wed midday news briefs

Virginia school district to appeal judge’s decision reinstating teacher who refused to use trans students’ pronouns - And I hope that the school district wins. 

Hungary's parliament passes anti-LGBTQ law ahead of 2022 election - Hungary is an awful place to be.

31 Unexpected Things That Made People Realize They Are Absolutely, Positively, Undeniably Not Straight - A little comedy never hurts. 

Opinion | Pride offers LGBTQ youth opportunities for community - Amen. 

Charles M. Blow on Bi Visibility and the Debt We Owe as Queer People - One of my favorite columnists. Does he have a Pulitzer yet?

Companies claiming to support Pride Month also support network which labels LGBTQ people as mentally ill and pedophiles

 

Thanks to Media Matters comes a video which should be required viewing, particularly during Pride Month. I love my LGBTQ brothers and sisters, but sometimes we have a tendency of thinking that if we ignore homophobes, they can't harm us. That's like saying if you ignore someone who is breaking into your house, he will go away. That doesn't happen, particularly when there is a revenue stream involved. And in this case, that stream has to do with companies which claim to celebrate Pride.

The right-wing conspiracy theory channel One America News regularly uses extreme anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, combating what it has called “militant LGBTQ recruitment” strategies. OAN’s baseless fearmongering about Drag Queen Story Hour, Demi Lovato’s gender identity, and transgender athletes, however, is being financially supported by cable companies and streaming services that claim to be celebrating LGBTQ people and Pride month. 

 Rather than relying on “advertising as a prime revenue source,” OAN reportedly relies on subscriber fees, also known as carriage fees, as its primary funding source. Verizon and DirecTV (and its parent company, AT&T) pay OAN subscriber fees in exchange for the network being available to their customers, whose subscription costs pay for OAN. While it’s difficult to quantify exactly how much revenue these cable contracts generate, Bloomberg previously reported that OAN “gets paid about 15 cents per subscriber by the companies.”

 OAN also generates revenue through subscriber fees via its streaming app, which charges its subscribers $4.99 per month and is available to download on Roku, Amazon Fire, Google Play, and Apple TV. In exchange for hosting OAN in their channel libraries, these companies reportedly take a percentage of that subscription fee. For example, according to Yahoo Finance and The Motley Fool, Roku takes 20% of subscription fees, and Apple TV takes 30% during the first year and 15% in subsequent years. 

These companies have all celebrated Pride month through statements and social media support, including Verizon, Amazon, Google, Apple, Roku, and DirecTv and its parent company AT&T. However, these companies also enable OAN to maintain a steady income, even though the network is in direct opposition to their corporate commitments to the LGBTQ community. What’s more, OAN’s hateful rhetoric adds fuel to the rising attacks on LGBTQ people, particularly trans people: Anti-trans violence in the U.S. has reached record high levels, hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people are on the rise, and state legislatures have proposed over 100 bills to restrict trans rights so far in 2021 alone.

You can read the full article at Media Matters here.

Seems to me that if these companies are serious about supporting Pride and LGBTQ people, they would correct this hypocrisy. One could easily play the "it's just this network's opinion" card. But subsidizing opinions seen in the video above - that LGBTQ people are mentally ill, sinners, pedophiles, etc  - shouldn't be the thing to do for companies who claim to support us. 

 

'Lesbian couple crowned prom queens after surprise win' & other Tue midday news briefs

Lesbian couple crowned prom queens after surprise win - Good for them! 

Dwyane Wade says daughter Zaya helped him become a better parent: 'It opened my eyes' - So many black fathers are out there supporting their LGBTQ children, but you hardly ever see it.

Nearly 1 in 5 young adults say they're not straight, global survey finds - Which spooks the religious right.

Wichita’s proposed nondiscrimination ordinance is so awful that no one wants it to pass - Well damn.

Michele Rayner-Goolsby Aims to Be Florida's 1st Out Person in Congress - Go on, gurl!

Hate group leader Tony Perkins gives tips for 'surviving' Pride Month. Please make fun of him.

 

Tony Perkins, head of the hate group Family Research Council has gall. That I will give him. According to Right-Wing Watch: 

“You can’t turn on the television, shop for cereal, or scroll through Facebook without being hit over the head with LGBT pride,” griped FRC President Tony Perkins. “Thanks to ‘woke’ corporate America and the most radical administration in history, there’s no escaping the left’s forced sexual revolution.”

 “How did we get to the point where celebrating sex and transgenderism became a 30-day event that rivals Christmas?” he continued. “We have a president who’s flying the rainbow flag above the U.S. flag at our embassies, a Democratic Congress that thinks the military should salute pride on base, and a White House that brags [that] almost 1 percent of its 1,500 appointees are LGBT. You can’t blame people for wondering: When did we become identified by our sexual proclivities? The world is upside down when American pride is something we should apologize, for but sexual perversion is the stuff of parades. Just a few decades ago, these activists said all they wanted was recognition, autonomy, coexistence. Now, a handful of years after Obergefell, it’s not enough to leave them alone with their choices; they demand validation, affirmation, celebration. Pride is the new religion, and everyone must bow a knee to their sexual gods or face the left’s fiery furnace.” 

If you have a strong stomach and a macabre sense of humor, you can see Perkins making this statement in the above video. You'll notice how he hits all of the talking points his side usually pushes when attacking LGBTQ people. Of course he attempts to link the LGBTQ orientation to sexual behavior. That pretty much falls flat in the first few seconds of the video, which merely shows people innocently enjoying Pride. In spite of Perkins's comments about about 'sexual proclivities, the most risque thing seen is probably a t-shirt of Bea Arthur.  It makes one wonder less about the Pride celebration and more about what lurid thoughts have parked themselves so deep into Perkins's mind that he only sees sexual acts when people are merely marching and waving flags. Maybe it was Bea Arthur which got him all hot and bothered.

Also, his nonsense about  'woke politics,' however is new. It's the latest talking point conservatives are using to make folks who support them believe that they are yet again under attack. They have been steadily repeating the word "woke" with a negative connotation in hopes that it will galvanize their voters by the time the 2022 mid-term elections roll around.

Then there is this part:

 Just a few decades ago, these activists said all they wanted was recognition, autonomy, coexistence. Now, a handful of years after Obergefell, it’s not enough to leave them alone with their choices; they demand validation, affirmation, celebration.

There is just one problem with Perkins' claim. His side has been saying that for years. It's a lie they've been pushing since before the internet, since before dancers began wearing jheri curls on Soul Train. It's a centerpiece of their "radical homosexual" narrative and goes like this:

Supposedly at first,  LGBTQ people said that we want 'tolerance' and 'acceptance' but what we are really trying to do is  "drive our lifestyle down people's throats" because we demand approval and sanction.

Please bear in mind that Perkins and company (and their supporters) spin that narrative every time LGBTQ people go out publicly on dates, talk about our families, demand respect for ourselves, or do anything else (no matter how significant or insignificant) which ruins the false notion that we are sad, lonely, oversexed, diseased, bitter people who cannot have decent lives so all we do is have sex, sex, sex (in between the recruiting of children and the attempts to harm Christians. How DO we find the time?)

Now that we've heard from the peanut gallery about Pride Month, here is my advice. Enjoy it. Have fun. Make new friends, Educate yourself. And above all, love yourself.

I also had some advice for Perkins.  But telling him where he can kiss me sounds more like a treat and less like a rebuke. 

'Bi Trump Guy' arrested for scamming thousands from MAGA supporters' & other Mon midday news briefs

Bisexual man who duped Donald Trump gets arrested for scamming thousands from his base - Whoops! Somebody got caught. 

Kamala Harris Becomes First Sitting V.P. to March in Pride Event - Elections matter, folks. 

Ottawa Redblacks suspend player over allegations of involvement in aggravated assault in which homophobic slurs were used - This fool gotta go! 

North Dakota Finds Novel Way to Ban Most Conversion Therapy - Firestorm on the way . . . 

Why isn’t there a remedy for LGBTQ veterans that lost their pride – and benefits? - That's a good question.

Database charts 259 LGBTQ characters which have existed in children's animated programs

 

The online publication The Insider has created an engrossing database which tracks the presence of 259 LGBTQ and gender minority characters in children's animated programs from the 1950s until now.

From early Bugs Bunny to Disney villains like Ursula in “The Little Mermaid,” queer culture and gender transgression have always been present in animation. Historically, that inclusion has been illustrated through subtextual representation, leaving viewers to extract what they will — or won’t — from coded characters and storylines. But in the past decade, small-screen animation has undergone a noticeable shift. Representation in children’s cartoons in particular has increased in frequency, nuance, and overtness.

Establishing a specific criteria, characters and the programs which comprise The Insider's database range from the obvious:

To who the heck is this:

Announcing a list such as this generated a small, but vocal controversy. On Twitter, several people voiced the usual nonsense about children being "indoctrinated," and the equally popular "why are they exposing children to this?" which is always followed by "I don't have a problem with gay people, but why are they pushing this on children." And lastly some form of the inane refrain of "let kids be kids."

But I've discovered the funniest thing about these moral squad crusaders. When you let them expend their energy on their hysterical overtures and then simply ask them what is the wrong with LGBTQ characters in children's animation, you will find that either they can't cite a specific problem or they cling to the silly belief that LGBTQ people simply existing is a risque issue. And God forbid if you bring up the existence of LGBTQ families and their children and how these animated programs are doing nothing more than reflecting a simple and innocent reality.

Strange, isn't it? Almost as if their ignorance and dehumanization of us, our families, and children is intentional. It's almost as if it's not enough for them to have silly and dated ideas of LGBTQ people. They want to force those beliefs on the rest of us even though we know better.

'Pride Month giving the religious right the 'vapors'' & other Fri midday news briefs

Pride Month and Prejudice - The religious right is angry about Pride Month. And I think it's wonderful. 

Pulse Site to Be Designated a National Memorial - Just in case you haven't heard the news. 

Kid Rock Doubles Down On Using Homophobic Slur In Bizarre Tweet - Kid Rock is a sad idiot.

Corporations should ‘not expand’ in states with anti-LGBTQ legislation: HRC President - I agree but we will see what happens. LGBTQ people need to speak with our wallets and pocketbooks.

Franklin Graham angry that the Pride flag is flying at US embassy in the Vatican. Good. Stay mad.

For Pride Month, the American Embassy in the Vatican is flying our rainbow pride flag. Some people like Franklin Graham are upset about it. 

And I am so here for it

 If we are pushing an agenda (which is such a vague thing to say to begin with), it is one of joy, love, self-determination, and self-esteem. Now if Frankie wants to whine about a 'negative agenda, he would have much to choose from when taking into account the past four years. That was when he attempted to make Donald Trump seem like the orange incarnation of Jesus. 

To wit:

If Frankie thinks that he can go back to condemning  LGBTQ people without people reminding him how he coddled and kissed up to the worst president in American history, he is sorely mistaken.