Video: Gay Life As Seen on 1970s TV

 

One of my hobbies is to explore how LGBTQ people were depicted on television and in movies before the days of Ellen DeGeneres, Will and Grace, and (I still hate that damn show) Queer As Folks. So this video is right up my alley. Some of you young folks don't remember how it was back in the 1970s when we were depicted as the drama of the week. Consider this video as your entry into that world and a realization of how far we've come as a people.

'California budget includes $3 million to train teachers about LGBTQ issues' & other Tue midday news briefs

California budget includes $3 million to train teachers on LGBTQ issues - I'd like to see more states do this even though I can just picture the religious right outrage.

Tireless mom becomes lawyer in her 40s just to fight for her trans daughter’s rights - Mama grizzlies do NOT play. 

These 15 Historical Examples Of LGBTQ Culture Around The World You Might Not Have Known About - A little history never hurts. 

Olympics committee backs transgender weightlifter, prompting criticism - Pissed off people need to get over it.

NPR: How Ben Shapiro and The Daily Wire market conservative outrage for the big bucks

Having watched Ben Shapiro and his publication, the Daily Wire, target LGBTQ people with lurid articles like the ones above, it should be no surprise to know that they only do it for the almighty dollar.

The National Public Radio just busted conservative Ben Shapiro and his publication, The Daily Wire, on something which should already be common knowledge. They market outrage to make a quick buck.

From NPR   

Daily Wire articles with headlines such as "BOOK REVIEW: Proof That Wokeness Is Projection By Nervous, Racist White Women Who Can't Talk To Minorities Without Elaborate Codes" regularly garner tens of thousands of shares for the site, and Shapiro is turning that Facebook reach into a rapidly expanding, cost-efficient media empire — one that experts worry may be furthering polarization in the United States. "There's a demand amongst certain subsets of the public for outrage politics," said Jaime Settle, director of the Social Networks and Political Psychology Lab at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. "This happens on both the left and the right. But the people who do this on the right have just found a lot more successful ways of doing it."

   . . . The articles The Daily Wire publishes don't normally include falsehoods (with some exceptions), and the site said it is committed to "truthful, accurate and ethical reporting." But as Settle explains, by only covering specific stories that bolster the conservative agenda (such as negative reports about socialist countries and polarizing ones about race and sexuality issues) and only including certain facts, readers still come away from The Daily Wire's content with the impression that Republican politicians can do little wrong and cancel culture is among the nation's greatest threats. 

 An NPR review of stories on The Daily Wire about the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two months found numerous stories about potential side effects from COVID-19 vaccines, but none that portrayed the scientifically demonstrated efficacy of the vaccines or that focused explicitly on the hesitancy that has slowed the U.S. rollout. Often the site's headlines seem like a conglomeration of conservative buzzwords: "CNN Medical Expert Urges We Must Make Life 'Hard' For Unvaccinated, Test Them Twice-Weekly" and "DeSantis Team Offers 'Don't Fauci My Florida' T-Shirt, Triggers Leftists." NewsGuard, a company started by journalists that rates the credibility of news sites based on a number of factors, scores The Daily Wire a 57/100. "They tend to not provide very much context for the information that they are providing," Settle said. "If you've stripped enough context away, any piece of truth can become a piece of misinformation."

Such is what the conservative moment is today. It's no longer a governing philosophy. Conservatism is now an grievance industry filled with no-talent shills making money from the politics of  anger, outrage, and resentment.   

'ACLU sues Montana over trans ID law requiring proof of surgery' & other Mon midday news briefs

ACLU sues Montana over transgender ID law requiring proof of surgery - I am loving these lawsuits.

2 LGBTQ Books Pulled From Elmbrook Schools After Daily Wire Story - Oh good grief. What tripe. 

A Christian teacher demanded a religious exemption to using trans students’ names. A judge said no. - Somebody thought they were being cute and got checked.

5 really queer reasons we love ‘American Horror Stories’ - Fascinating. 

Louisiana GOP To Attempt Override Of Anti-Trans Bill Veto - Try it.

Three adults put under arrest for beating a 12-year-old child, shaving the word 'gay' in his head

These three were put under arrest for beating a 12-year-old child and shaving the word 'gay' in is head on a video last month which went viral.

A child's life has been turned upside down simply because of toxic masculinity and homophobia. And of course none of it was necessary.

From LGBTQNation:

Police in Atlanta have announced that they have arrested and charged three individuals for child abuse following their part in beating a 12-year-old boy and shaving the word “GAY” in the side of his head, all on video that went viral on social media. Brittney Monique Mills, 35, and Lorkeyla Jamia Spencer, 19, were both charged with cruelty to children. Jordan Jarrode Richards-Nwankwo, 18, was charged with “Battery – Family Violence” in addition to cruelty to children. 

 . . . Last month, after a video of a family torturing a 12-year-old boy went viral, the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services stepped in. The boy’s mother filmed the abuse and broadcast it on Instagram Live. Footage of the attack was captured from the broadcast and reuploaded across the internet. The video shows the young man being repeatedly smacked and demeaned by adults, as they shave his head, embedding the word “GAY” in the design. The word was put in his head as punishment because, as one person said in the video, “You still doing gay shit.” The boy, identified only as “Tyler,” was subsequently removed from the home.

More details here.

'Right-wing media harassing trans couple for taking care of their newborn child' & other Fri midday news briefs

Right-wing media are harassing a trans couple for taking care of their newborn child - As they always do, the right deliberately distorts a situation and is now using it to harass this couple. Disgusting. 

17 GOP states ask federal court for right to deny transgender kids medical care - Trashy bastards. Sorry but my patience continues to ebb for these folks with their constant attempts to foster discrimination. 

EU begins legal action against Hungary over anti-LGBT law - Good. Sock it to 'em!

Cornell University study on impact of discrimination on LGBTQ of color - A very MUCH needed study. 

A Gay Cheer Coach Was Fired Abruptly — Now His Students Are Fighting For Him - Good for them.

Family Research Council doing its part to undermine Biden Administration's vaccination programs

It's hard to believe but in the middle of the country's attempt to beat this COVID pandemic, the GOP and their conservative operatives have been undermining the need for vaccinations by both raising unfounded fears and making the absurd case that getting vaccinated is an affront to our "freedoms." 

Luckily, a lot of people recognize this as a political attempt to in actuality undermine the Biden Administration's fight against COVID. You may think that it's too farfetched to contemplate that some elected officials and their cohorts are willing to sacrifice the public health for political power,  but in today's world of politics, it's not as much of an off-the-wall theory as one would think. Nor is the fact that some of these same people comparing vaccination programs to 'Nazism' today would turn around and feign sadness while pointing the accusing finger at Biden should their fear tactics reap unfortunate success.

And in the middle of it all is, of course, the religious right. One organization, the Family Research Council, seems to be devoting a considerable amount of time and energy in exploiting fears about vaccines in the same manner it continues to  push fears and ignorance about LGBTQ people. It's an easy blueprint the group is following. When your game plan is scapegoating, you can change targets but you never have to alter your methodology.