'Schools having to deal with bad rumors of furries and litter boxes in classrooms' & other Mon midday news brief

Schools all over are being forced to deal with parents angry about furries & litter boxes​ - This right here is some seriously insane mess. It underscores how certain people with power aren't being good gatekeepers. You still have a responsibility to not say anything you feel you want to.

As election nears, some conservative groups have ramped up anti-trans campaign ads - Desperation always leaves an odor.

A Daily Wire hit piece smearing Arizona gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs’ husband’s work with trans youth has spread across right-wing media - So much for economic concerns. 

Suspect Indicted for Setting Fire to LGBTQ+ Spaces in Manhattan - Good.

Tenn lawmaker wants to ban drag show for lewdness. Says questions about lack of proof is 'distraction.'

Conservatives are still raising hell about drag shows, even to the point of making fools of themselves. 

From The Jackson Sun in Tennessee:

Legislators in Madison County and a number of members of the First United Methodist Church have filed a request for an injunction against the city of Jackson to halt a portion of the Jackson Pride event, which is slated to occur on Saturday — raising First Amendment violation concerns. 

Rep. Chris Todd, R-Madison County, is leading the charge to suspend the event along with Sen. Ed Jackson, R-Jackson. Controversy is swirling around the festival after Jackson Pride organizers announced the inclusion of a “family-friendly drag show” in their third annual celebration of the area’s LGBTQ community. . . .The injunction request asks that a judge prohibit the performance of a drag show in conjunction with Jackson Pride, as well as declare Jackson Pride’s usage of the center be declared a public nuisance and prohibit them from ever using the facility again.

 Here is the funniest part of the entire situation. Todd admitted that he hasn't spoken to any of the entertainers nor the organizers. He has no proof that the show will be lewd. Organizers, by the way, spoke to the Jackson Sun and assured the publication that the drag show is family-friendly. The kicker of it all is what Todd said when asked about his objections to the drag show: 

When asked how he could declare an event “lewd” if he had not inquired about the contents of the show, Todd said such questions were a “distraction.” 

“These are simple distractions and diversions,” he said. “That’s all those comments are. Because they have no sound legal grounds to argue the point. So they detract and divert the attention to something else. The info of what these drag shows are about is clearly in public domain and can be viewed online and on their individual social media platforms. It is very clear what they do.” 

 So Todd wants to ban a family-friendly drag show because he thinks it will be lewd. But when asked how can he assume the event will be lewd if he hasn't talked to the organizers, he calls the question a distraction. The article rightfully points out that there are First Amendment concerns with what Todd wants to do.

That's not the only problem as far as I'm concerned. I'm gonna need aspirin to handle all of the gaslighting. 

Mayor gets roasted online for hypocritical attack on 'all ages drag shows'

Glenn Jacobs

Earlier this week, Knox County, Tennessee Mayor Glenn Jacobs sent out the following tweets about 'all-ages drag shows.'

As far as it is known, no one seemed to know what Jacobs was talking about. However, he got blasted online by many people who reminded him of his former occupation. 

You see before Jacobs was a mayor, he worked as a professional wrestler at a company called World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). For those who don't know,  pro wrestling is an entertainment  genre which is a cross between a sports game and a soap opera.  In it,  the physical fights, called wrestling matches, are staged and are the result of intricate storylines called "angles." The wrestlers themselves are actors playing characters,   It's been a popular attraction for many decades, bringing men, women, and children to arenas around the world. 

The WWE is probably the most well-known wrestling company. But one can't actually call it "kid-friendly." Over the years, the WWE has had such characters as 

Val Venis - a former porn star

Rikishi - An overweight wrestler wearing a thong, which he hikes up in his rear before rubbing his buttckeeks in his opponent's face - a move called "The Stinkface."

The Godfather - a pimp who comes to the matches with his stable of prostitute (called "hoes")

 

Jake "the snake" Roberts - a man who carries a python (yes a python) to his matches and drapes it on his opponents after he wins.

And the storylines from the WWE aren't kid-friendly either. They can be as simple as two wrestlers ruining their friendship in match over a championship, as intricate as a tag team turning on each other during a wrestling match, or as mind-bogglingly idiotic as a 77-year-old woman having a sexual relationship with a 20-something black man and giving birth to a hand.(yes, I said a hand.)

Those were three actual plotlines in the WWE at one time or another. Including the one about the hand.

Jacobs himself  has portrayed three different characters over the years. The most successful one was Kane, the half- brother of another  WWE wrestler named The Undertaker, who everyone thought died in a fire years ago.  I told you the storylines were intricate.

In addition, Jacobs was the central figure in a few controversial storylines including

One in which he rapes a female wrestler and gets her pregnant

Another in which he wrestled the WWE's owner's son and ties a car battery to the young man's testicles

Then there was the Katie Vick storyline which involved necrophilia (sex with a corpse). And I really don't want to talk about that one but you can read about it at this link.

All of this leads me to ask a question. What is it about drag queens and drag shows which bring out hypocritical sanctimony in some people?

I'd like someone to tell me. Seriously.

'Ron DeSantis mocks LGBTQ people in campaign mailer' & other Thur midday news briefs

'Keep it classy,' Ron DeSantis

Ron DeSantis Mocks LGBTQ People In Campaign Mailer To Florida Voters - Mark my words. If DeSantis gets anywhere NEAR the White House, us LGBTQ Americans are going to have MAJOR problems.

Republican book banning attempt defeated after community stands up for LGBTQ people - In Greenville, SC of all places. 

Analysis: GOP mocks Paul Pelosi attack as gay lovers’ spat - Simply disgusting. Republicans didn't used to be like this. Or at least could fake being rational. This new batch doesn't even try. 

11 LGBTQ-friendly movies and TV shows for your 'cuffing season’ date night - Interesting.

Joe Rogan admits not being able to verify story of litter box in classroom for child supposedly 'identifying' as furry

Joe Rogan

When I was young, we got our news from more credible sources than we do now. There were at least very high standards. So much so that if you were caught telling a lie, you were history and your career was ruined. Not today, however. These days, any fool who looks good in a suit or a tight dress is deemed a credible journalist. Any idiot with a podcast is anointed as the "voice of regular Americans." And mistakes are just small blitches on the road to attaining power, clout, and money.

Case in point, Joe Rogan. He used to be a no-talent actor and a semi-successful comic. Now, thanks to his podcast and the pathetic delusions of many, he is seen a a credible voice. It would be funny except for when he makes a mistake, repercussions are nil:

From a Wednesday article in Mediaite:

Joe Rogan says the story he told to Tulsi Gabbard about public schools allowing students to use kitty litter boxes in the bathroom, had no proof behind it. Early last month, Rogan made headlines when he interviewed former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and discussed a bizarre incident he claimed happened to his friend’s wife who is a public school teacher. 

 In October,  according to LGBTQNation, Rogan said

“My friend, his wife is a school teacher, and she works at a school that had to install a litter box in the girls’ room because there’s a girl who’s a furry, who identifies as an animal and her mother badgered the school until they agreed to put a litter box in one of the stalls,” 

Rogan claimed without telling where this allegedly occurred. “So this girl goes into the litter room or to the girl’s room and urinates or whatever — I don’t know if she poops in it, that’s pretty gross.” “That’s the worst thing in the world about owning cats, you gotta clean that box of piss every day,” 

Rogan continued. “Imagine how f**king crazy that is. You’re a human and you prefer a litter box? You want to piss into a pile of sand rather than use a bathroom, flush a toilet, wipe yourself, like a normal person. Like, you’re so crazy with what you think an animal is that not only have you said this, but you’ve conned the school into putting this f**king litter box in a girl’s room. That’s just bananas.”

On Wednesday during a talk with author Michael Shermer​:

“The kitty litter boxes is a weird one,” Rogan said.

“It’s like an urban legend,” Shermer proclaimed. 

 “I fed into that and let me — I should probably clarify that a bit. I have a friend and my friend’s wife is a school teacher and she told him that there was discussions in the school that a mother wanted to put a litter box in one of the bathrooms,” Rogan began. 

 “And he told me this and I talked about it on here and then people were saying, ‘That’s not true, it’s an internet rumor.’ So I contacted him again and I said, ‘Tell me exactly what she said and contact her and find out.’ She no longer works for that school. She works for another school. She contacted the other school. She didn’t get a response,” Rogan added. 

 Let me break it down. According to Rogan, "his sister's friend's mama's baby daddy's cousin" told him this story and naturally he repeated it on his show before even bother to verify it.

Shermer is right. The story about litter boxes in classrooms for children who "identify" as furries is a lie. It's a story used to denigrate efforts to keep LGBTQ kids safe in schools. Rogan isn't the only one who repeated the story. According to MSNBC, 20 Republican elected officials and candidate have repeated the story in an attempt to scare parents about supposedly what schools are teaching their kids.

But back to Rogan.  He is an idiot so we should blame whoever hired him. 

It's obvious that whoever put  him in this position doesn't care about standards or accuracy. As long as blowhards like Rogan talk, as long as nothing-happening nobodies get an inflated sense of self-esteem by listening to him and as long Rogan's bosses are able to count the money, nothing else matters.

'New legal twist in Florida to block 'Don't Say Gay'' & other Wed midday news briefs

There’s a new legal twist in Florida to block “Don’t Say Gay” and this time there are receipts​ - Oh really. 

Far-right figures appear to be testing Twitter's boundaries for anti-LGBTQ speech - That they are. These are some really sad people.

LGBTQ+ youth are target of a massive fear-mongering campaign​ - And we need to recognize it. 

Transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney responds after Caitlyn Jenner misgenders her - Take her to school, gurlfriend!

Bigots have meltdown after PBS News Hour posts article defending drag

Recently on its webpage, PBS News Hour amplified a very good article by Jeff McMillan of Associated Press about the history of drag performances. The article gave a wonderful history of drag performances and debunked several myths repeated by a certain segment who claim that drag queens are supposedly "sexually grooming kids."

Opponents of drag story hours and other drag events for audiences of children often claim they “groom” children, implying attempts to sexually abuse them or somehow influence their sexual orientation or gender identity. The term “grooming” in a sexual sense describes how child molesters entrap and abuse their victims. Its use by opponents of drag, as well as by protesters in other realms of LGBTQ opposition, seeks to falsely equate it with pedophilia and other forms of child abuse. Perpetrators of the false rhetoric can then cast themselves as saviors of children and try to frame anyone who disagrees — a political opponent, for example — as taking the side of child abusers. 

 . . . In another tactic to discourage attendance, drag opponents have been known to attend performances, take and post a video that lacks context, and then troll or “dox” the performer or venue. One such video clip showed a profane drag act in front of a young child and framed it as abuse — though the child was with adults and the venue had advised attendees about coarse content, suggested parental discretion and required any children to be accompanied by parents. Other undermining efforts include a false claim that a performer flashed children at a Minnesota library and another false claim that the head of the Drag Queen Story Hour organization was arrested for child pornography.

Those who take offense to kid-friendly drag shows and Drag Queen Story Hour  descended on PBS News Hour's Twitter page and voiced their objections with intelligent and thought-provoking arguments.

Oh who am I kidding? 

They just screamed "groomer! groomer! groomer!" at PBS News Hour until it was forced to shut down its replies. Some of the attacks included the following:

 

And as I said before, some folks actually did nothing but scream the word "groomer" in various forms

Personally, I find these people hilarious. In their minds, they are so intent on supposedly "saving" children that they see nothing wrong with acting as if they are children.