Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Drag queens will get $200,000 settlement and apology from lawmaker who falsely accused them of obscene behavior with children


From Raw Story

 A state Republican lawmaker in New Hampshire must cut checks for a combined $200,000 to two drag queens to settle accusations that he defamed them for falsely calling one a sex offender and claiming the other danced with children in a sexual manner. 

State Rep. David Love must pay $100,000 each to Robert Champion, who uses the stage name Monique Toosoon, and Michael McMahon, who uses the stage name Clara Divine. Love must also apologize under the terms of the deal, which was agreed to Thursday. (Editor's note - Thursday of last week)

 Love, who represents the Rockingham 13 district. made the comments in 2022 as he introduced legislation to require public libraries to conduct background checks on every staffer and volunteer, according to The Boston Globe. His reasoning: concerns over library events that included drag queens. The lawmaker told a state house committee that one drag queen was a "convicted sex offender" and another was seen "rubbing butts" with children.

 Love said in a statement to media outlets under the deal that he failed to vet inaccurate information that he'd received.


 This the second time a drag queen has received recompensed after being falsely accused of obscene acts in front of children. In May of this year, drag performer Eric Posey was awarded a $1.1 million judgement against a far-right blogger who falsely accused him of exposing himself to children during a performance.

These lawsuits should be happening more often. However, unlike conservatives, the LGBTQ community doesn't have access to folks with a lot of money and the enormous ego to match to fund them.

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Monday, August 26, 2024

'JD, JD . . . (Married Lady)' - Randy Rainbow has a lot to say about J.D. Vance' (and it's viciously funny)

I haven't posted anything from Randy Rainbow in a while and with this election coming up, his talent is needed. I love the way he skewers Republican VP nominee JD Vance, but in a especially shady way.
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Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Harris campaign gives LGBTQ voters hope, DeSantis's culture war suffers another loss, and other Wed/Thur news briefs

 Editor's note - As you can probably tell, I've been light on posting. Please bear with me as I get through these rough times. 

'Fighting spirit': LGBTQ voters see hope in Harris campaign amid attacks from right - Damn skippy. 

Ron DeSantis' political star is tarnished after key Florida primary night losses - While folks are busy going through another election cycle, Ron DeSantis continues to suffer a backlash on his "war on woke." 

Moms For Liberty’s School Board Candidates Lose Bigly In Florida - And more details.

Florida quietly removes LGBTQ+ travel info from state website - But don't get too happy. Florida is still a hot mess. 

People with HIV cannot be categorically barred from joining the military, judge rules - Good. 

Black gay & queer men sound off on what they hope to see at this week’s DNC in Chicago - Nice to see some attention paid to our voices. 

Trump-stacked appeals court overturns trans worker’s court victory - It will be heard again. And she will win again.

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Monday, August 19, 2024

Video package: Phil Donahue gave the LGBTQ community respect and much needed visibility

We lost a good ally on Sunday:

"Groundbreaking TV talk show journalist Phil Donahue died Sunday night at home surrounded by his wife of 44 years Marlo Thomas, his sister, his children, grandchildren and his beloved golden retriever Charlie," his family said in a statement. "Donahue was 88 years old and passed away peacefully following a long illness." 

 At his peak, his nationally syndicated "The Phil Donahue Show" — later renamed "Donahue" — was a ratings hit and a precursor to similar shows with hosts Montel Williams and Jerry Springer. Oprah Winfrey described Donahue as a trailblazer who invented smart talk in the afternoon and brought startling new ideas into the living rooms and laundry rooms of American women. 

 “His show debuted nationally, and the whole country came to know his personal brand of issue-driven straight talk,” Winfrey said in 2002. “If there had been no Phil Donahue show, there would be no 'Oprah Winfrey' show. He was the first to acknowledge that women are interested in more than mascara tips and cake recipes — that we’re intelligent, we’re concerned about the world around us, and we want the best possible lives for ourselves.”

 

What I remember about Donahue the most is how he stood by the LGBTQ community during a time in which we didn't have as much visibility. He gave us respect and extended to us a powerful platform in which we could stand up for ourselves and educate the public about our lives. I think a wonderful way to honor his memory is to showcase various clips from his show in which he extended the microphone to us and our issues. 

   
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Sunday, August 18, 2024

'Supreme Court temporarily blocks Biden's attempt to protect trans students' & other Sun/Mon news briefs



Supreme Court blocks temporary enforcement of expanded protections for transgender students​ - Folks, if you don't know what the November election is about, this decision by SCOTUS should remind you.


Melania Trump cashed six-figure check to speak to gay Republicans at Mar-a-Lago - You didn't think she spoke because she supports our equality, did you? 


American Airlines banned a lesbian for having sex with a dude on a plane — yeah, she's confused too - First of all, I know what you are thinking and here is the answer - SHE DID NOT DO IT. 

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Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Conservative writer implies that Tim Walz sexually groomed boys, gets thoroughly humiliated on Twitter

Joel Berry of The Babylon Bee tried to smear Dem VP nominee Tim Walz but instead embarrassed himself.

This is Joel Berry. He's the managing editor of the far-right trash publication The Babylon Bee. He's also the latest conservative trying desperately to smear Democratic VP nominee Tim Walz. Unable to mount a suitable attack on Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, Republicans have turned their guns of slander and smear against Walz. They've run the gambit from attempting to smear Walz as a disgraced military veteran to lying that he put tampons in the boys' restrooms of Minnesota schools.

Berry, however, is using the traditional right-wing smear of implying that Walz sexually groomed boys because he served as a faculty advisor of high school GSA (Gay/Straight Alliance) when he was a Minnesota teacher.

It hasn't gone well for Berry. First the Community Notes on Twitter called him out:



The truth is that exactly what the Community Notes said. Walz was asked to be the faculty advisor. And based upon what former members of the alliance had to say, Walz was positive influence on their lives:

Jacob Reitan, now an LGBTQ activist and lawyer, was a founding member of the GSA at Mankato West High School in Mankato, Minnesota, about 80 miles southwest of Minneapolis. He said Walz and his wife, also a teacher at the school, provided vital support during Reitan’s formative years. “Both Tim and Gwen were incredibly supportive of their gay students, and they modeled values of inclusivity and respect,” 

Reitan, 42, told MSNBC this week. “I was bullied in high school. [Their values] helped not just me, but it also, I think, helped the bully. It showed the bully a better path forward, and I can think of no one better than Tim Walz to show that better path forward for America.” 

 Fellow GSA member Seth Elliot Meyer attended Mankato West from 2000-2004 and had Walz for 11th grade history. Meyer, 38, said he initially expected to hate Walz, because he was a football coach and a hunter. “I was a leftist punk rock, anti-everything kind of kid,” Meyer said. “In the year that I had him, what I learned is that he really cared about everyone and wanted everyone to be seen.” 

 While Community Notes simply corrected Berry's ugly connotation of Walz's involvement in the GSA, others who responded to his Tweet weren't so polite. And Berry deserved every bit of the dragging he received:
And because I love a good Twitter dragging (especially when it's a conservative getting called out for spewing anti-LGBTQ lies,) I added my two cents:
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Monday, August 12, 2024

JD Vance's drag photo resurfaces, Log Cabin Republicans blasted on Twitter after falsely claiming Trump did not ban trans people from military


J.D. Vance in drag during his law school days.

Today on my blog is rarity - a two for one.

First, Republican vice president nominee JD Vance has recently become the latest subject in the GOP Hypocrisy Boogie. 

From The Huffington Post:

Republican vice presidential candidate and Ohio Sen. JD Vance is getting dragged for hypocrisy after a photo from his law school days surfaced on social media, appearing to show him in a blonde wig and dress. The photo first came to light via X user Matt Bernstein, who said the pic dates back to Vance’s days at Yale Law School in 2012. 

 A short time later, Yale assistant professor Travis Whitfill said he was the source of the photo that Bernstein had posted, but credited another classmate for taking it. “It’s from a group chat of Vance’s fellow classmates and is from a friend of a friend. I believe it was grabbed from Facebook and was taken at a Halloween party,” Whitfill told The Daily Beast. The photo quickly went viral, with some social media users giving Vance the drag name “Sofa Loren,” a not-exactly-subtle reference to the “couch sex” meme that is based on a fake story about the senator. 

Bear in mind that it's not the fact that Vance wore drag in his law school days that's the issue.  Conservatives have made drag queens their scapegoats in order to feed into fears of LGBTQ people supposedly "recruiting" or "grooming" kids. They smear our culture as "deviant" because they are simply too chickenshit own their bigotry. But with this latest incident, we see that they have no problem with our culture. Their problem lies with our existence in general.

The outcry has been as you would expect. You know how we are when we find a Republican being hypocritical when it comes to attacking LGBTQ people. 

 From Queerty: 

 Many were quick to comment on Vance’s stance regarding LGBTQ+ rights. He has previously called opponents of “Don’t Say Gay” legislation “groomers”. Vance has opposed the US Census adding questions about gender identity and introduced a (failed) bill to ban ‘X’ gender markers on US passports. He also introduced a bill aimed at preventing minors from accessing gender-affirming care. GLAAD maintains a fuller list of Vance’s comments regarding LGBTQ+ rights.

Folks have also been pulling out "receipts" regarding past anti-LGBTQ comments Vance made, including the following:

Meanwhile, Queerty also points out that we've been having fun in the community critiquing Vance's attire and deciding which name he should use:

 . . . the suggestions for potential drag names rolled in. This one, liked over 110k times, appears to be the winner: Sofa Loren. . . Let’s also not forget Linda Loveseat, Ashley Furniture, Rhea Polstered and Anita Cushion.

 If I were a petty person, I would point out that I see where Vance got his love of eyeshadow from. 

But I'm not petty.

Item 2 for today was one which had me a bit angry for a while. Courtesy of the Log Cabin Republicans:



Never mind the words which spewed from my mouth when I read the tweet, but I will say I'll probably sleep good tonight.

It's bad when people lie in your face, but it's worse when you KNOW that they are lying and they know that you know they are lying, but they will lie anyway hoping to gaslight you into confusion. Personally, I think that is the personification of Donald Trump and his campaign, not to mention his time in office.

Folks were quick to drag the Log Cabin Republicans for this nonsense. And they brought "the receipts"


All I can say about today is that I've working on this blog for almost 18 years and it's comforting that I'm not so jaded that I still retain my sense of shock.
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