Tragedy in Orlando: Bars, Blame, and Bullshit

Trump says the Orlando shooter was born in Afghan, and revved up the media with a renewed dedication to keeping out the Muslim immigrants. Bullshit. This was a natural-born American man.


Some people are calling for confiscation of weapons of anyone under investigation by the FBI or on the No Fly list. Bullshit. I'm liberal as hell, but that would be an insane infringement on rights, not to mention easily and often abused. Besides, after several interviews, the FBI cleared Omar Mateen and he was removed from the watch and no fly lists.


[That said, holy shitballs did you see the piece Omar was packing?


Sig Sauer MCX

SIG SAUER developed the MCX rifle for America’s special forces. Their goal: a firearm that’s as quiet as an MP5, as deadly as an AK-47, and more modular than anything ever designed.

So, uh, maybe that weapon shouldn't be commercially available.]


Many, many conservatives are dredging the river again for the "Obama won't say Islamic Terrorism!" And that's bullshit. Obama is passive-aggressive trolling here. ISIS is all "Hey, we're The Islamic State!" and Obama grins and says "nope." He's not afraid to call it what it is, or catering to the PC crowd, he's refusing to give any legitimacy to ISIS by not recognizing what they are doing as Muslim in nature. Somehow, the conservative internet brigade that regularly incorporates mild invective with "The Democrat Party" and "Moslem" doesn't get that.

And speaking of insane bullshit and anti-anything-Obama-says, a Missouri county has refused to fly their flags at half mast. Grumble grumble Obama sucks. Hey, let's pull out the Flag Code and be dicks about a tragedy because Obama and gays.


This was a horrible tragedy, but the emerging story appears to be that American-born Omar Mateen was a very conflicted individual. He was Muslim with a hard homosexual lean. And he hated it, hated it in himself, and in that conflict found vindication for his hate in some radical online materials. He gave a shout-out to ISIS through 911, as a cry for help or attention or both. Of course, ISIS saw the carnage and was like "Ooh, yeah, that's all us, man! We totally had a part in that!"

This is not about immigrants because Omar was born here. This is not about Islam because religion was a bystander to rage. This isn't about terrorism because it was not an act planned to create fear for an agenda. And this isn't about guns or laws because there is literally no rational policy or legislation that could have been in place that would have stopped this from happening.

If anything, this is about the stigma and taboo our society still places on homosexuality. Despite a victory for same sex marriage, our society as a whole is still sopping with hate and fear and ignorance when it comes to the LGBT community. Perhaps if Omar felt comfortable in the world around him, felt at home with what was inside, a calm would have taken root instead of his ultimate decision. And that's the fault of his religion - most religions - and lingering ignorance and, in some way, every single one of us.

Be peaceful.

The Restroom Debacle: A Summary

The restroom debate continues, most recently with the response to the Departments of Justice and Education releasing guidelines instructing schools to treat transgender students according to their gender identity. The battlefield is not so much a warzone as it is wells of ignorance residing in the comments sections of conservative copypasta sites, a circle-jerk of OMGz.

Since some of the newer talking points erupting from conservative megaphones is "Libs are creating this as a smokescreen" and "Why can't we just let people decide this city by city?" [Hannity for the latter], I thought it might be instructive to take a step back and see how this actually went down.


Charlotte, NC



On February 22nd, 2016, Charlotte's city council passed an ordinance (7-4) which expanded protections to the LGBT community, effectively treating sexual orientation and identity as a protected class within Charlotte. Yes, the transgender bathroom accommodation was a part of that, but only a small part. Much of the ordinance dealt with business practices and not being able to discriminate based on sexual orientation when it came to serving customers and in hiring practices.

There was some news coverage of the ordinance, but it was generally quiet and passed under the radar. It was Charlotte's business.


NC State Legislature

On March 23rd, 2016, just days before Charlotte's ordinance went into effect, the North Carolina General Assembly called both houses back in for an emergency session. They opened the circus tents, piled in front of cameras, and explained why this needed to be done. It's for the children!

NC conservatives took one piece of the Charlotte ordinance - allowing trans people to use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify - and confounded it with perversion, pedophilia, and molestation to proudly build their straw man. They said and repeated something to the effect of: "This will allow any man to 'identify' as a woman and walk into a women's restroom for a peepshow whenever they like - and think of the children!"

Of course, that's not anywhere near reality, either of what the Charlotte ordinance would have done or why the state had to stop it.

They passed a law shutting down Charlotte's non-discrimination policies and forbidding any other municipalities from attempting to do so in the future, claiming it was a state issue.



Deptartment of Education

On May 13th, 2016, The Departments of Justice and Education released guidelines stating transgender students could not be discriminated against, as it violates Title IX's provision prohibiting discrimination based on sex.

This is still in it's beginning stages, but the Administration has said that schools blatantly violating the guidelines could see their federal funding dollars disappear.


Realities

Pervs are going to perv. Period. They'll get caught sneaking a peak or hiding a camera, and the law will deal with them. Anyone thinking treating the trans community equally is going to suddenly make perverts realize this one new trick is naive and foolish - they're already dressing like women and getting caught in the act.

Realistically, dozens of schools and municipalities have been doing this for years. Increase in perversions or problems? None. Actually, since Target's policy on restrooms emerged and DoE came out with their guidelines, there has been one large increase in behavior: creepy conservative men, sometimes in wigs, have loudly protested and wildly barged into women's restrooms to prove it could be done. As if there was previously a police officer or gender force field keeping them from being an asshole for their YouTube Channel.

This issue, for me, has really shown a blatant hypocrisy in yet another facet of the conservative facade. They're presenting a completely unrelated story - say, girl gets choked by pedo dude in bathroom - and then uses that as a reason for more laws and more restrictions. It's kind of like what conservatives say liberals do when it comes to gun control. In this case, zero legislation would have stopped this predator from following a little girl into a restroom to choke her. That's already illegal. Making up new laws that will harm the rights of others in order to make a show for morality and old-timey values doesn't help anyone.

But the final reality of this issue and how it's playing out takes us back to where we started: Charlotte. Charlotte's ordinance was NOT just about bathrooms. Conservatives seized upon that because it could be exploited and blown large with misinformation and fear. The bigger picture is that conservatives are afraid of actual LGBT equality. Marriage was a big hurdle, and they see the avalanche. A federally-protected class is on its way, and when that happens, they will no longer be able to use the go-to excuse of religion to trump the rights of the LGBT community and justify discrimination.

And when that day comes, it will be a good one indeed.

Sean Hannity and the KY Debacle

Sean Hannity says Kim Davis is being persecuted because she's a Christian. Sean Hannity says Kim Davis is just practicing her freedom of religion. Sean Hannity says Kim Davis could just do something else and be fine.

Sean Hannity is an assclown. Sean Hannity is WRONG on every count. Sean Hannity needs to stop making his listeners more ignorant.

Kim Davis has a job. Kim Davis didn't do her job. Kim Davis stopped those under her from doing their jobs. All because of "religious freedom."

Which is bullshit. "But she had a change in her job description!" Bullshit. Kim Davis has one job description: do your job as it pertains to the law. The law changed. Her job changed. If she doesn't like it, she can quit.

Sean Hannity is catering to the lowest of the most ignorant of AM radio listeners. He regularly lets callers speak stupid to his audience and has more than once purposefully spread misinformation long after it was debunked.

Sean Hannity is a cause for concern. Listen often. You'll hear the heartbeat of the crazy.

SCOTUS Legalizes Gay Marriage Nationwide - Hannity!

I would like to congratulate all of my friends and their friends and everyone else in this nation who has struggled so long against an antiquated system of discrimination. Also: I'm available to solemnize weddings if you're nearby!

Even Sean Hannity inadvertently got in on the celebration via iHeartRadio. LOL.

Indiana is for Bigots. And Handouts. But NOT Gay Wedding Pizza Catering.

Anyone who has been paying any attention is aware of Indiana's new Religious Freedom law and all the hullabaloo it has created. The governor is under fire, legislature is frantically trying to rewrite the law, and businesses and organizations and even whole states are boycotting the Hoosier state.

(If anyone is not aware, Indiana's law is NOT the same as the federal or other state laws conservatives are comparing it to. It was written with the aid of anti-LGBT lobbyists who have been very clear of the intent of the law and can be seen standing behind the governor during the signing of the law.)

But aside from all the fallout taking place around the state, the story of Memories Pizza in the small town of Walkerton (pop. 2,247) in Northern Indiana caught my attention.

There's not a whole lot of people in Walkerton, so Memories Pizza isn't a huge business. But somehow they thought it a good idea to speak out to the media and publicly state that they would never cater a gay wedding with their pizza. Nevermind that no gay couple would ever cater a wedding with pizza or that Memories had never been part of such a request: they wanted to make it clear that because Jesus they would never be a part of this wildly hypothetical homosexual situation.

Cue the Justisplosion!

We start with the fuse being lit by this little story. People were just aching to see if anything would come of the law the way it was being framed and there it was in one happy little sound bite. It went viral.

To the Yelp! Yelp was the first to fall. I think they had 2 reviews before the story. Now they have hundreds of 1-stars. Likewise they were lambasted in comments on their Facebook page.

And because they hadn't secured their domain name, someone else bought it and populated it with a message not to discriminate.

And then things reportedly got a little out of hand. Apparently they were receiving so many critical phone calls and even some threats, the owner decided to temporarily close.

And at that point, I'm a little sad for them.

There's no excusing ignorance or bigotry, but the owner did clarify he welcomed anyone into the restaurant, just didn't want to take part in a gay wedding. I'll give him a bit of a pass on that. It was stupid to make a spectacle out of himself, but it's also stupid that there were so many phone calls and threats by people going too far that he had to shut down.

However, a funny thing happened on the way to shutting down. They started a GoFundMe page. And that's where the backlash to the backlash is living right now. As of this morning, they'd pulled in about $30,000. But then Glenn Beck plugged the hell out of the page on his radio show. As of this writing, they have pulled in over $190,000 in less than 24 hours. And since they keep bumping up their goal, it appears they're quite comfortable with the insane handout.

More than anything, this is an interesting societal proxy war on norms in the age of a 24-hour news cycle and unlimited interconnectedness. Bigotry will not be tolerated by much of our society, so when that one gopher head pops up in a hightened atmosphere of sensitivity, all of Yelp and Facebook and phones come down upon it. A way to counter the counter comes along. Some jump in to support. Some call that support "anti-bullying" but most are anti-liberal, anti-gay, anti-tech, right wing media brainwashed about the details, or all of the above.

Indiana rewriting the law is not going to solve the problem, and it's going to get worse before it gets better. Eventually LGBT will become a federally protected class, and then the real discussion of where one person's right to discriminate bumps into another person's right to be treated equally. Or at least we would if real discussions were possible in this environment of highly-polarized, highly-politicized, feigned persecution and bigotry wrapped in religion.


UPDATE: As of 11am EST 4/3: Yesterday's plug by Glenn Beck was followed by Rush Limbaugh then Sean Hannity. Hannity had the owner on his Fox show last night. The fund is at about $540,000.

Pat Robertson's Gay Boy Kiss

File this under schadenfreude.

The right wing is all abuzz about teh gayz again. Okay, fine, they never stop - one would think they had some kind of fixation on the homosexual lifestyle.

This time the youngest gay kiss on teevee EVAR has just happened, and OMG it was a kiss and it was two boys and they are 13! Good thing I didn't kiss a girl until I was 18 and consenting.


OMG, teh gayz are kissing!

The irony, the schadenfreude, comes with the origins of this kiss.

The Family Channel was founded by Pat Robertson. Yes, that Pat Robertson. He founded the channel as a Christian Broadcasting Network channel in 1977. It became the first basic cable channel to be transmitted via satellite from launch. In 1988, it incorporated the word "Family," going to The CBN Family Channel, settling on The Family Channel in 1990. In 1998, it was sold to Rupert Murdoch and FOX, with the one caveat: not keep it pure, not keep it Christian, but keep airing The 700 Club. Robertson made out like a bandit as the channel was purchased for $3.3 billion. After that, Fox Family was sold to ABC. ABC Family now regularly airs Harry Potter witchcraft marathons and, recently, a gay kid kiss.

So Pat Robertson, the man who claims natural disasters are created by the existence of homosexuality itself, turned over a solid values-programming channel for raw greed and spawned what is today the youngest gay kiss on cable television.

Hehe. Total schadenfreude.

Teh Gayz Driving Conservatives Crazypants

On Monday, the Supreme Court decided not to delay same sex marriage in Alabama, and conservatives are flipping their shit.

The huge flip-out is brought to you in part by Justice Clarence "Pubes on a Coke" Thomas. In his dissent on the Alabama case, he may have dropped a hint that SCOTUS is going to lean pro-LGBT in upcoming rulings.

In just two days, Alabama has turned into a disaster. SCOTUS struck down the state's ban, meaning immediately same-sex couples can get married. But Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore was all "Hell naw, not in my 'Bama!" and ordered probate judges to ignore the highest court in the land and NOT offer marriage licenses. Some are complying and some are defying that order. And now a woman has been arrested for officiating a same sex marriage. Wut?

The walls of bigotry continue to fall, and it couldn't happen at a faster pace. Hell, even Nebraska took their lumps and decided they loved guns more than they hated gays and by proxy recognized same sex marriage.

But that doesn't mean the anachronistic creepers aren't going down kicking and screaming. Sam Brownbeck, governor of Kansas, took a break from dealing with the budget nightmare he created to issue an executive order removing LGBT from the state's protected class list. Because sometimes slashing pensions and cutting education needs to be punctuated with an announcement to the nation of "Don't worry folks, Kansas still hates fags."

And now we even see congress getting in on the action. Ted Cruz, recent ex-Canadian and potential presidential candidate, has re-introduced the State Marriage Defense Act which would require the federal government to defer to state law in deciding if people are married or not. This is, on its face, insane: imagine getting legally married in Alabama and receiving all the normal state and federal tax benefits and then moving to Ohio with your job and suddenly you're not married, lose all protections, and can't even visit your partner in the hospital. It'll never make it to Obama's desk. But Teddy's aiming for the White House and doesn't want anyone thinking he's okay with them queers.

We are living in a monumental time. SCOTUS will be deciding if the Constitution guarantees the right for same sex couples to marry by June, and based on Thomas's hint, it's going to change the law federally. It is going to be a sight to behold, and finally give me a chance to officiate same-sex marriages here in Ohio (or Indiana, or Kentucky).

Let's just hope that the sullied character of the bigots desperately grasping at straws and straw men don't do too much damage in their sad attempt to keep hold of a time long past its expiration date.

New Yorker's DOMA cover :)

Thomas Jefferson on Changing Times

"I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions. I think moderate imperfections had better be borne with; because, when once known, we accommodate ourselves to them, and find practical means of correcting their ill effects. But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."

- Jefferson to H. Tompkinson (AKA Samuel Kercheval), July 12, 1816

Liberty and Justice - For ALL

The Right to Marry: Prop 8 & DOMA

(sidenote: you hashtag FB and I'll pull your nosehairs)

I'm getting a little oversaturated with this week's SCOTUS questioning of California's Prop 8 and DOMA. The reason is that, for me, it's very cut and dry: every consenting adult should have the right to marry another consenting adult despite the sex of that person. Anything less is bigotry and discrimination, caused by ignorance and fear, and justified by hiding behind the shield of "freedom" or religion.

Some of the awful defenses we've all heard too much of:

The Bible!
Seriously? We're still doing this? There is NO sacred tradition of marriage in the Bible. Women are property; Solomon had 700 wives, etc. And even if there was a single, unified message of the Biblical definition of marriage?




It's Sacred!
Shut up. If it were so sacred you'd be fighting to ban divorce as vehemently as you are fighting same-sex marriage.


The Tradition!
There is no solid tradition in marriage. If anything, the definition of marriage has always been mutable. From the Bible to every period in history from women being solid property to being decidedly subservient to the development of a very equal marriage and now we've finally developed enough as a society to be okay with a man marrying another man. The people claiming tradition are the same ones calling for a return to the "idyllic" lives everyone lived in the 1950's.


It's Unnatural!
If we're looking to nature for examples to forge a definition of marriage, that's kind of a wide spectrum out of which monogamy is actually out of the norm. Females with competing mates and multiple partners? Check. Homosexual relationships? Check. Bang whoever's around for procreation? Check.

What else is unnatural? Polyester, cable TV, and corrective lenses. Ironically, some of the clergy preaching about unnatural acts are the purveyors of one of the few "relationship" statuses that does NOT exist in the natural world: celibacy.


The Natural Order!
This one is similar to the one above, but generally eschews any religious backing to specifically state that marriage is a natural institution for the sole purpose of procreation. This, of course, is absurd, and would limit marriage to two members of the opposite sex who are provably fertile and potentially void every marriage after menopause or male sterility.


Fine, I'll Marry My Dog!
This is the most ignorant. This is about two consenting adults being denied a right specifically because of their sex and sexual orientation. This does not open the door to polygamy or bestiality or the normalization of pedophilia. You will never be able to marry your dog, no matter how much you enjoy the way it licks the peanut butter off your privates.


Christians will be Persecuted! / Christianity will be Illegal!
Fox News: Stahp.
Christianity is a huge majority and every version of every equal rights bill that has been introduced includes provisions for religious institutions to be exempt from a mandate to perform a marriage. Anyone you hear this from is either purposefully spreading fear or parroting someone who does.


What is not being clearly stated (or purposefully lost in the chatter) is that this is not a religious issue; it's an equal rights issue. If I need to get a marriage license, I go to the county, not a church. If I want to get married, nothing requires me to have it done by a priest; just someone the state deems qualified to sign the county-issued piece of paper. There doesn't even have to be a ceremony! As a non-denominational, licensed minister, I can meet a couple at Starbucks, sign their paper, and as soon as the Secretary of State receives it, they're officially married.

And because this is a civil institution and a civil definition of marriage, it is also a civil right. No matter how ignorant or scared or bigoted or religious a person is, every single argument against marriage being offered to two consenting adults of the same sex.

Chik-Fil-A No Homo Cows

I'm just about Photoshopped out today :)

Boy Scout Bigots & Romney Racism

Today's a little bit of a hodgepodge, but all of it worth it.




Speaking of Comedy Central, if you haven't heard, the Boy Scouts of America have re-upped their anachronistic stance that homosexuals are NO GO in their group. Jon Stewart had a nice bit on it.

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

And I thought a change to their logo would be appropriate. Feel free to steal and share:



I'll readily admit it's not happening as quickly as it should be, but it is really exciting to watch this all happen, to see large corporations and public entities and public figures stand up and declare solidarity with equal rights for same sex couples. I wasn't alive for the fight over Civil Rights (though I understand that struggle continues), but it is a joy to see these flailing organizations flabbergasted over everyone calling their cherry-picking out of a 2000+ year old book what it is: bigotry.

We still have a long way to go before "all men are created equal" means what it says, but there is progress.


And if you feel like being astounded, here's what a Romney adviser stated upon arriving in London:

When explaining why Romney would have a better grasp of the relationship between the United States and the U.K., the adviser had this to say—

We are part of an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and he feels that the special relationship is special. The White House didn't fully appreciate the shared history we have.

Happy Wednesday!

Child Celebrities Opposing Kirk Cameron (CCOKC)

CCOKC - Child Celebrities Opposing Kirk Cameron - watch more funny videos

The End of DADT!

So for realz it totally gonna be done like tomorrow or the next day or something like officially and until then, something completely different:

Santorum Waxes Stupid on Marriage

Rick Santorum explains why marriage is marriage and gay marriage isn't. Or something.



Between Santorum Stupid and Bachmann Batshit, the right doesn't really stand a chance come 2012.

Cazwell: This is WTF Gay Rap at its Best

Ah, That Old God & Gays Argument...

Oh, hells yeah. Could someone put this right-headed thought and concern upon every politician in America? (God? I'm lookin' at you! Shit. That's just the bathroom mirror.)



Representative Steve Simon (DFL Hopkins/St. Louis Park) says a proposed Minnesota constitutional amendment is largely about religion. He says if sexual orientation is innate as science is showing us, and not a lifestyle choice, then God created gay people. He asks how many gay people must God create before we accept that he wants them around.

When Can we Just Call a Racist a Racist? Santorum!

Today we've got a two-fer: a regular post AND a Take It Back.

Hey, remember when this happened?




For some reason it just fit here:




So then, this last Thursday, Think Progress pointed out that Santorum's (campaign? exploratory?) slogan is "Fighting to Make America America again" which is awfully close to a line in a poem by Langston Hughes that states "let America be America again"

Arguably one of America's most amazing poets, Langston Hughes also happened to be African-American and gay. Ouch. Not only that, but the stanza

O, let America be America again-
The land that never has been yet-
And yet must be-the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine-the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME-

clearly turns the Republican stance on looking back at Great America on its head, saying that that America never existed in reality.

At first when confronted with the similarity, Santorum said he didn't know the origin of the phrase, that he had nothing to do with it, that it might be on a website or something.

And now he's disowned it, distanced himself, and don't wanna talk about it. Somewhere in the last 48 hours in a back room somewhere the words "It came from a black faggot?" were spoken and taken very, very seriously.

The only thing scarier than this story is the fact that this man still thinks he can be president.

UPDATE: And then he turns around and says he's going to reinstate Don't Ask Don't Tell. AhhhhhHhh!

Fags Killed the Birds

Seriously. Didn't you know?