'Biden pledges to lead the 'most pro-equality administration in American history'' & other Mon midday news briefs

President-Elect Joe Biden

Joe Biden makes pledge to lead the “most pro-equality administration in history” of America - Alright. You heard him, LGBTQ America. Keep him to his promise.

Orgy Organizer Says Politicians Across Europe Attend His Sex Parties - Looks like we have a huge scandal in the making. 

Pelosi holds firm to support for transgender kids under hostile questioning - Good for the Speaker!

It's a record year for LGBTQ representation in holiday movies - That's good . .. I guess.

'Drunk History' presents Incredible Moments in LGBTQ History

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Drunk History is a television show, created in 2007, in which a drunk person attempts to talk about a historical event.  The rendering is accentuated with actors portraying a historical figure and lip syncing the drunk person's words. The person telling the anecdote is usually a famous actor, podcaster, etc and they do actually get drunk while telling the story. 

According to the creator Derek Waters, it's not scripted. What you are seeing is genuine, albeit the end result of a long process which you can read about via this link. The main thing is that what you end up seeing is not staged. A inebriated person is telling a historical event, which is mostly historically accurate. The dialogue of the actors in the historical anecdote isn't accurate but the gist is always true.

For the purpose of this blog, the above video is about the Stonewall Uprising and Edie Windsor's successful marriage equality lawsuit. Regarding Stonewall, there have been a lot of vehement disagreement about who was there and what actually happened. Some people may get slightly peeved at this rendition of the uprising, while others may feel that an inebriated and comedic retelling of our history in general trivializes our struggle. 

Personally, I think Drunk History is as an interesting and refreshing perspective on historic lessons.

'Anti-gay Hungary prime minister is furious about top ally being arrested at a gay sex party' & other Fri midday news briefs

Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban

Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is incandescent with rage over a top ally being arrested at a raucous gay sex party - Don't you just HATE it when that happens. LOL

A major insurance company is refusing to pay for a trans teenager’s health care - His family is suing and I hope they win. 

Comedian Leslie Jones verbally obliterates Donald Trump and his presidency in 55 seconds - Last night's post. Leslie Jones's rant was so therapeutic that I want to give it more coverage. 

House Dems pick openly gay lawmaker to lead campaign arm - Good. I'm all for it. 

Russian Activists Just Won an Important Battle Over LGBTQ Rights. But the War Is Far From Over - The struggle is real AND universal.

Comedian Leslie Jones verbally obliterates Donald Trump and his presidency in 55 seconds

Thank you, Leslie Jones for a very astute summary of Trump and his presidency.

The title of this post may seem like an exaggeration, but I think it's an understatement of what comedian and Saturday Night Live alumni Leslie Jones did to Donald Trump when she gave commentary of his nonsense. And even though she was commenting on his latest "the election was rigged" lie, Jones went all in on Trump, setting rhetorical fire to not only the lie but his entire presidency in 55 seconds. I firmly believe if she did this in his face, Jones would have reduced Trump to tears. Her commentary has already gone viral and has been described as "hilariously cathartic."  All I know is that she articulated what I've been wanting to say for four years. Definitely NSFW.

This is FUCKING EMBARRASSING!! pic.twitter.com/8fszMT8pbm

— Leslie Jones 🦋 (@Lesdoggg) December 3, 2020

'North Carolina ban on local protections for LGBTQ people expires' & other Thur midday news briefs

A New Day for Queer People in the South: North Carolina’s ban on local protections for LGBTQ people expires today. But more fights lie ahead. - Always the fight.

Corporate America loves LGBTQ people & anti-LGBTQ politicians - Geez, corporate America!

LGBTQ Organizations Urge Media to Stop ‘Deadnaming’ Transgender Stars After Elliot Page Comes Out - Amen. 

Nickelodeon Wants Its Next Kid Star to Be Trans or Nonbinary - I'm all for it.

Hate group 'expert' Peter Sprigg tries to pass off phony paper on 'ex-gay' therapy

Family Research Council fake analyst Peter Sprigg

Peter Sprigg is an employee of the SPLC- designated hate group the Family Research Council. When you read his biography, you see that he has no qualifications when it comes human sexuality, LGBTQ people, or any issues in general regarding the LGBTQ community.

But FRC pegs him as an expert in LGBTQ issues and as such, he has published many papers and studies on the community. Never mind that they are generally piss-poor and misleading. Sprigg just came out with another one in the same vein on the heels of the disastrous ruling I talked about  yesterday regarding 'ex-gay' therapy and minors. He summarizes it as such:

 

Sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE), referred to by critics as "conversion therapy," have been criticized by LGBT activists for decades. Nevertheless, individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions (SSA) continue to seek help in reducing homosexual conduct and SSA. In 2012, California became the first state to prohibit SOCE for minors by licensed mental health providers, and a number of states and localities have since imposed similar restrictions.

Critics use two arguments against SOCE -- that such therapy is ineffective, and that it is harmful. This paper addresses the latter argument, evaluating the scientific evidence of SOCE harms. A recent book noted 79 studies of SOCE. I found that 18 of the 79 studies (23 percent) do not contain any assertion or even discussion of the possibility of "harm" to individual clients resulting from SOCE. Another 28, or 35 percent, do assert or suggest that SOCE may be harmful, but feature no study subjects.

 Only a minority of the sources (33, or 42 percent) include studies or case reports on individuals who have undertaken SOCE. Only six studies (reported on in 11 of the sources) involved sample sizes of 50 or more SOCE clients. 

If you want to analyze Sprigg's nonsense, feel free. I chose not to for two reasons. The first is that Sprigg contradicts the premise of his paper in his own summary:

While these 79 studies do provide anecdotal evidence that some SOCE clients report the experience was harmful, they do not provide scientific proof that SOCE is more harmful than other forms of therapy, more harmful than other courses of action for those with SSA, or more likely to be harmful than helpful for the average client. If alleged "critical health risks" of SOCE cannot be found in these 79 studies, then it is safe to conclude that they cannot be found anywhere.

The claim that the evidence is "anecdotal" seems to be Sprigg's addition, i.e. the religious right tactics I pointed out yesterday -  cherry-picking scientific data and minimizing other scientific data which contradicts their desired conclusions.

The second reason why I refused to analyze Sprigg's silly paper is because the book he claimed to have received the studies from was published by an ex-gay activist. That raises a  serious question of credibility.

So in other words, Sprigg claims to have analyzed 79 studies used in a book by an ex-gay activist and from this analyzation, he further claims that "ex-gay" therapy isn't more harmful than any other type of therapy. That is except for, as he put it, "anecdotal evidence." But Sprigg fails to provide a definition of what he considers "anecdotal evidence."

That would be a good question to ask him. Another good question would be why did he choose that book while ignoring statement after statement after statement from legitimate medical groups and experts about the harm of "ex-gay" therapy?

Or how about the statement from several former "ex-gay" leaders who came together to condemn the practice and say it doesn't work?

Or how about the testimony of people who survived "ex-gay" therapy?

Or are the answers to these questions that obvious?

'Member of Hungary's anti-LGBT government resigns after getting caught at alleged sex party' & other Wed midday news briefs

Member of Hungary's anti-LGBTQ government resigns after fleeing alleged sex party - Ooooooo! Y'all nasty! Hypocritical AND nasty! I say 'y'all' cause he wasn't the only one.

 
Federal judge rules requiring “proof” of gender identity for a passport is unconstitutional - Thank God we still have impartial courts for now. 

Two Lesbians of Color Named to White House Communications Staff - Keep it coming! Visibility matters! 

Biden recognizes LGBTQ survivors in World AIDS Day statement - What a true president does.