"If you're gay, lesbian, or bisexual, would you sacrifice for your trans neighbors and siblings? If you're trans, would you sacrifice for your gay, lesbian, or bisexual neighbors and siblings? It's something worth knowing about yourself and those around you." --Autumn Sandeen, 4/19/2010, the night before GetEQUAL's DADT repeal protest at the White House
Public Calendar
Press/media, organizations, and individuals send your time-based event info to: calendar@phblend.net
The Christian Civic League of Maine's Mike Hein calls Pam's House Blend: "a leading source of radical homosexual propaganda, anti-Christian bigotry, and radical transgender advocacy."
He is "praying that Pam Spaulding will "turn away from her wicked and sinful promotion of homosexual behavior."
(CCLM's web site, 10/15/07)
Ex-gay "Christian" activist James Hartline on Pam:
"I have been mocked over and over again by ungodly and unprincipled anti-christian lesbians."
(from "Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline," 9/4/2006, written from the "homosexual stronghold" of Hillcrest in San Diego).
"Pam is a 'twisted lesbian sister' and an 'embittered lesbian' of the 'self-imposed gutteral experiences of the gay ghetto.'" -- 9/5/2008
Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality heartily endorses the Blend, calling Pam:
A "vicious anti-Christian lesbian activist." (Concerned Women for America's radio show [9:15], 1/25/07)
"A nutty lesbian blogger." (MassResistance radio show [16:25], 2/3/07)
Pam's House Blend always seems to find these sick f*cks. The area of the country she is in? The home state of her wife? I know, they are everywhere. Pam just does such a great job of bringing them out into the light.
--Impeach Bush
who monitors yours Bevis ?? Just thought I would drop you a line,so the rest of your life is not wasted.
Laurie Jinkins, a public health administrator, attorney, domestic partner and mom, finished first in the 5-way primary for Washington State House legislative district 27, position 1 (Tacoma). This means that Laurie is poised to be the first open lesbian to serve in the Washington state Legislature.
This past Wednesday, though it was 8 o'clock at night and she'd had a full day on the campaign trail, Laurie was still going strong -- a real dynamo. I'd just finished my second evening of phone banking for her, but before I zipped home to Seattle we sat down for a brief interview.
Breaking the Lesbian Barrier Laurie and volunteers have knocked on over 20,000 doors in the district. How many of those voters have broached the subject? Remember, Washington voters spent much of 2009 debating whether a new comprehensive domestic partnership law should be ratified at the polls. Laurie, an out lesbian, was the very public co-chair of the campaign that successfully preserved the law (a national first!).
"I haven't been asked a question about it once at the door. I talk about my family pretty openly at the door when it's appropriate. Talk about our son and that my partner has been the PTA president, and sometimes kiddingly say that I couldn't run for an office that's that political, which is PTA, which I consider to be the height of political challenge. [laughter] PTA can be tough. So it hasn't been a big factor in that way.
"It has been a huge factor in terms of my volunteer base, and I think probably to a large extent my donor base - the fact that I'm going to be breaking a barrier is a big deal. I've spent 20 years working on LGBT issues statewide and locally, so I feel really honored by the support the LGBT community has given me. And especially locally on the volunteer side of things.
But breaking the barrier isn't the primary reason Laurie is running.
"I would say that with the budget and all the other difficult choices that are going to have to happen in Olympia in the next few years, you know just breaking that barrier, that would not have been enough to make me want to run. It's going to be a really tough environment in Olympia - it's going to call on me to use all the skills and the resources that I've got, and probably have to learn a lot more skills. So it's a great thing to be able to challenge that barrier and hopefully break it, but it's not enough in this environment.
"I'm proud of the work I've done in the Community, and I'm proud of this legislative district. You know a big part of this legislative district voted for [the 2009 domestic partnership law] at the same rate as [Seattle's Gayborhood] Capitol Hill. And you know it wasn't every part of the district, but as a general rule Tacoma has been incredibly supportive of making sure that everybody has the same ability to protect their families. I'm really proud to be running here.
Back in September, Michigan's Assistant Attorney General, Andrew Shirvell, made headlines with his stalking, harassment, and defamation of openly gay University of Michigan student body president Chris Armstrong. Shirvell devoted an entire blog to making libelous statements about Armstrong. He harassed Armstrong at his home, and followed him around on campus. The harassment got so bad that Armstrong had to file for a protective restraining order, and the University has banned the AAG from its property. Even worse, the Attorney General's office did nothing about it, saying that what Shirvell wrote on his own personal blog in his off time was protected speech under the First Amendment. Shirvell did, in the end, go on a voluntary leave of absence. However, there was no disciplinary action taken by the AG's office against Shirvell.
Despite the AG's inaction, Shirvell may soon be out of a job anyway. Chris Armstrong has filed an ethics complaint with the state bar, which regulates the practice of law and the actions of attorneys in Michigan.
In his filing today, Armstrong asked for an investigation and disbarring of Shirvell on “the grounds that he has repeatedly violated the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct by making obviously false, disgusting and utterly outlandish allegations about Armstrong’s lifestyle and personal behavior and by trying to get Armstrong ousted from a summer internship on Capitol Hill,” the press release said.
Armstrong’s request cites Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 8.4, which says: “it is professional; misconduct for a lawyer to … engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation or violation of the criminal law, where such conduct reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer,” the release said.
Chris Armstrong's complaint includes a request for Shirvell to be disbarred. If the state bar investigates and find that Shirvell's behavior violated the Rules of Professional Conduct, they could disbar him, prohibiting him from practicing law in the state of Michigan, effectively ending his career.
In addition to Armstrong’s complaint, [Armstrong's attorney, Deborah] Gordon filed a complaint of her own against Shirvell, citing Rule of Professional Conduct 8.3, which “obligates lawyers to report instances of professional misconduct that come to their attention,” the release said.
“It has come to my attention that Mr. Shirvell has engaged in a pattern of conduct that is untrustworthy, dishonest, tortuous, possibly criminal and calculated to bring disrepute to the Bar of the state of Michigan,” Gordon wrote in her letter to the attorney grievance commission. “He has apparently lied about and defamed Mr. Armstrong solely because he is openly gay. It is impossible to imagine how someone so willing to lie and distort, and has done so relentlessly, can operate as an officer of the court and a licensed attorney.”
On Monday, Armstrong dropped his request for a protective order, which was filed September 13, saying that he had had no contact from Shirvell since the filing. On Tuesday, the county prosecutor denied U of M's request for stalking charges against Shirvell. The prosecutor's office deemed Shirvell's conduct as Constitutionally-protected speech.
Shirvell is still on leave and will face a hearing on November 5 before the State Civil Service Commission. Apparently, in addition to stalking and harassing University students, the Assistant AG has pled guilty to driving under the influence, and has been charged with assault. He pled guilty to disorderly conduct and the assault charges were subsequently dropped. Let's hope that between the State Civil Service Commission and the State Bar that this obsessive whackadoodle will find himself out of a job. He has no business practicing law, and even less acting as an agent of the government.
Transgender Law Center Investigating Offensive Letter from DMV Employee
San Francisco - The Transgender Law Center is outraged that a California Department of Motor Vehicles employee sent a letter to the home of a transgender woman calling her "an abomination" and telling her that she is going to hell.
Last week Amber Yust, a transgender woman living in San Francisco, went to the San Francisco Department of Motor Vehicles to change her name on her driver's license. With her court ordered name change and all of the DMV paperwork in hand, Amber was able to get a new driver's license in her new name. But her experience with the DMV did not end there.
Unbelievably, on Monday, Amber received a letter from the person who had processed her name change at the DMV. In the letter, which had been mailed to her at home, the DMV employee quoted from the Bible and stated that Amber had made a "very evil decision." The strongly-worded letter told Amber that she was "an abomination" and said that homosexuals should be put to death.
"I was shocked to receive this letter from the person who processed my paperwork at the DMV," said Amber. "I would never have expected that a DMV employee could use information from my name change application to reach out and personally attack me. This has been a traumatic experience for me and I want to ensure that nothing like this happens to anyone else."
The Transgender Law Center is investigating the incident.
"This was an egregious act committed by a government employee," said Masen Davis, Executive Director of the Transgender Law Center. "Transgender people deserve to be treated with respect at agencies like the DMV. What happened to Amber is despicable, and we intend to do everything we can to hold the responsible parties accountable and to prevent this from happening again."
Despicable is the right word for it. Not only trans people, but all people deserve to be treated with respect by government agencies and the people who work at these agencies -- including by the people who work at Department of Motor Vehicles in my home state of California.
By the way, connecting the dots between Pam's earlier post today (entitled Bam Bam Barber's bottom line: 'Time to reunite church and state'), the kind of behavior shown by this DMV employee is an example of what government behavior might be if Matt Barber -- and many of Matt Barber's peers with the dominionist, religious right -- had their way.
The Dobson crypt opened and Focus on the Anus founder Daddy D fumbled his way out to croak an appeal to Dominionists to make their way to the polls because, well, something apocalyptically bad is going to happen if Democrats retain control of the House and Senate. Via Right Wing Watch:
Just as he did regularly when running Focus' radio program, Dobson dedicated his most recent "Family Talk" program to discussing the upcoming elections with his good friend Gary Bauer. And, as he's be prone to do more and more in recent years, Dobson is growing increasingly hysterical about the future of this nation:
Shirley and I were married on August 27, 1960 and two months later we voted for the first time in a national election. And I'll tell you, from that time to this - and we've been through a lot of elections - I don't think I've ever seen one that was more significant than the one we're about to experience, even though it's not focused on a presidential election.
Horrendous decisions have been made during these past two years and that nation is at a crossroads right now that could bring further ruin ... I don't know how to say it differently. If I could get down on my hands and knees and beg people, if that would help I would do it because this time it's now or never. If we take the wrong path with the issues that are on the table today, I don't think we will ever recover as a nation.
Friend of the Blend David Pakman, who conducted what is perhaps the most surreal interview with Peter LaBarbera I've ever heard (in a good way), has no patience for the apology given by Clint McCance, the disgraced bigot who stepped down from the Midland Arkanssas School District board yesterday.
It's refreshing to have all the cards on the table, isn't it? In the past the bigoted Dominionists usually like to cloak their naked ambition a bit, but as LGBT rights have progressed around the country, the increasing hysteria on the fringe has called for full-out official conflation of church and state like Matt Barber's WND op-ed, "Time to reunite church and state."
The U.S. Constitution, indeed our entire republican form of government, was crafted by deeply pious men who were overwhelmingly Christian. It was fashioned within the context and framework of the Judeo-Christian zeitgeist of the time and was further intended to function in harmony with a Judeo-Christian worldview - period. Though leftists may deny this reality, it remains indisputable fact. The historical record is unequivocal.
...Part and parcel of Obama's agenda has been to push, at a fever pitch, the most extremist pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, anti-Christian agenda in American history.
Indeed, in contrast with the deeply held religious and moral values embraced by our Founding Fathers, today's America is governed by an "immoral" and "irreligious" chief executive. Barack Obama is the high priest of secular-socialism.
He seeks to undermine - if not altogether dismantle - the American exceptionalism that, hitherto, has been fundamentally woven throughout our national fabric.
In this diatribe, we see the resurrection of the Marxist Obamazombie-freedom-crushing meme:
He aspires to the lowest common denominator. He seeks to uproot Ronald Reagan's "shining city on a hill" and relocate the "land of the free and the home of the brave" to a much lower altitude, alongside those Euro-Marxist nations he so admires and wistfully desires to emulate.
The U.S. Constitution was neither intended to, nor can it, work in harmony with the postmodern secular-socialist worldview embraced by those on the political left. Such a worldview is, by its very nature, counter-constitutional.
Whereas the Constitution was intended to guarantee individual liberty and justice, limit the size and scope of the federal government and secure freedom of speech and religious expression; the goal of the secular-socialist is to control nearly every aspect of an individual's life, to massively expand the size and scope of the federal government and to suppress - if not altogether smother - freedom of speech and religious expression.
Where do we see this happening, Matt? We just saw Arkansas school board member Clint McChance idiotically express himself freely - the blowback didn't come from the government. Society didn't accept his bigotry as compatible with the control he had over his school district and they spoke their minds. How, Bam Bam, can you turn the clock back to make society reflect your ideal?
So is Matt calling for a poilitical uprising, burning of the Constitution and overthrow of the government?
People with conservative values - particularly Christians - need to take back America. We must take charge of government at every level from the municipal hall to the White House.
It's time for men of the cloth - as they did during the first American Revolution - to exercise true leadership, return to the pulpit and call for national revival, both spiritual and political. As George Washington so astutely observed, the notion that political issues, and those of "religion and morality," are somehow mutually exclusive, is patently absurd. They are one in the same.
Am I calling for a theocracy? Of course not. Am I calling for men and women of strong faith to retake control of all high-level positions of influence in government, academia, media and entertainment? Absolutely.
He and his BFF The Peter need to just shack up and get some relief; it may do them some good to unwind because both of them are reaching epic levels of stress over societal change.
Researcher Confirms Cameron Hypothesis: Children of ‘Gay’ Parents More Likely to Identify as ‘Gay’
No surprise here, except that an academic has the guts and integrity to report findings that challenge ”gay” activist propaganda. Parents are role models for their children. Homosexual parents are more likely to have children who identify as homosexuals (like their ”moms” or “dads”…). Duh. Note that try as he might, Schumm could not invalidate the hypothesis of Family Research Institute founder Paul Cameron — whom “gay’ activists and their fellow travelers have gone to considerable lengths to demonize.
LaBabera was prefacing a LifeSite news article which reached the exact same inaccurate conclusion - that researcher Walter Schumm proved Cameron's study to be accurate.
Again, this illustrates that people using social networks like Facebook, even if you keep your page private, it is only private if your "friends" concur with the bigotry you put on your wall. And that's the case of now-former Midland School District board member Clint McCance, was on AC 360 last night. He is stepping down because of the avalanche of criticism for choice comments he made on his Facebook page.
The video of McCance is below; BTW, he calls his statements "too harsh" and "out of control" - but he attempts to disown his comments in the same breath, as if third party placed the crap on the page. Anderson asked him whether he's only sorry that he got caught spewing that hate because one of his Facebook friends sent a screencap of his page to the press, ratting the bigot out:
McCance used the terms "queer" and "fag" repeatedly, promised to disown his own children if they are gay and stated that he enjoys "the fact that [gay people] give each other AIDS and die."
On Thursday, he disowned the comments.
"I would never support suicide for any kids," he said. "I don't support bullying of any kids."
"I'd like to extend apologies to those families that have lost children, for all those children who feel that suicide is the only way out, especially for the five families who have already lost children," he said, referring to a rash of recent suicides by gay teens. "I brought more hurt on them... they didn't deserve that and I do feel genuinely bad for them."
Though he disapproves of homosexuality, McCance said that "I give everyone a chance and try to love everyone."
McCance said that he has received an outpouring of criticism over his comments, including "thousands of phone calls, hate mails, people threatening to kill my family and me." He said he has sent his wife and two kids out of the state because of fears for their safety and that he is installing a security system at his home.
"I'm reaping what I've sown," he told CNN. "I've had a lot of hate speech thrown at me and my family on every level."
He said he would resign from the school board to spare the district the bad press and distractions of dealing with the fallout from his comments. "If they decide after five or ten years to vote me back in, then I'll run again," he said.
Of course CNN's editors, in the name of "balance," dug up this bible-beater to quote in the article:
However, not everyone disagreed with McCance's comments, which he had defended on his page by citing his religious beliefs.
Gays and lesbians are "thinking they're all right, and [God is] going to let them think that and go to hell for believing what they're doing is right," pastor Harry Craig, of Pleasant Plains Full Gospel Church, told CNN Little Rock affiliate KARK.
Before McCance resigned, Anderson spoke with Ellen DeGeneres about the flap:
When a relationship starts getting serious, people think about living together. For some couples, this happens after just a few months. Others might wait a year or more before deciding to move in together.
Often, especially for younger couples, this means moving into one person’s apartment or other rented home. Here are 4 legal issues you should consider:
1. Telling Your Landlord
Your lease may say that you have to tell your landlord if you want to add a roommate. It may even limit how many people can live in your unit. Even if it doesn’t specify any of these things, you should still tell them so that everyone is on the same page. You don’t want to give your landlord any reason to evict you or charge you some penalty for not revealing a change in occupancy.
You certainly don’t have to tell your landlord your relationship status with your partner. You can just call yourselves "roommates" and be done with it.
Most couples probably don’t bother telling their landlord, and think that the landlord probably won’t notice or find out anyway. They will. Go ahead and tell them so that you avoid problems later.
2. Will You Have to Pay More?
Probably. The landlord can increase the rent and usually the security deposit based on an additional person living in the apartment. Go ahead and pay it—it’s not worth it to hide the fact that you and your partner are now living together there.
3. Rights and Responsibilities of the New Person
If you move into your partner’s apartment, can the landlord make you pay rent or charge you for damaging property? Can you live there if your partner moves out?
No, unless you decide to become a cotenant. Let’s say Amy moves into Jannelle’s apartment, and Janelle tells that to her landlord. This could develop in four ways:
They don’t do anything else. The lease will still only be a contract between the landlord and Janelle, so the landlord can’t make Amy pay rent, and the landlord doesn’t owe Amy anything.
Amy and Janelle sign a new lease that makes them both cotenants. Now, they each have obligations to pay rent and other things and each have a right to live in the apartment.
Without signing a new lease, they tell the landlord that Amy is going to be a cotenant. Depending on state laws, this might create an oral contract that has the same effect as #2
Without signing a new lease or telling the landlord that she’s now a cotenant, Amy starts acting like one. She pays rent directly to the landlord. Also depending on state laws, this might create an implied contract, again having the same effect as #2.
4. Subtenants
Sometimes the person moving in will contribute to the rent, but will pay the money directly to his partner, not to the landlord. This is a subtenant relationship.
The key difference between being cotenants and one person being a subtenant is in who can legally kick someone out:
Cotenants: The landlord, but not the original tenant, can end the lease for either person.
Subtenant: The original tenant can legally tell the new person to move out.
A lot of couples like this relationship better at first. If the couple breaks up, the original tenant can legally tell his ex to move out. But watch out—your landlord may not let you do a sub-tenancy. If they don’t—and it’s what you want—it’s much better to find an apartment complex that will than to hide it from your landlord.
[Cross-posted at the Gay Law Report, where I discuss LGBT laws and related news.]
Of course they are already serving alongside gay and lesbian soldiers, so the point of this leak is not to surprise anyone. Clearly someone at the Pentagon (or the White House), in planning to push for doing something in the Senate before all hope is lost on DADT repeal, is floating this balloon for all of the Senators who have been hiding behind the fig leaf of "I'm waiting for the study." This development was reported tonight by NBC's Richard Engel (via The Wonk Room):
ENGEL: The findings are that for most soldiers, and this wasn't the sum total of all soldiers, it wasn't that big of a deal...The majority - the number one answer, first answer was 'I don't care.' That's significant.
MADDOW: Predominant answer is 'no big deal.'
ENGEL: Most common, number one. Number two was, 'I would deal directly with the person involved.' So when you put the two of those together, it is the majority. Now, there were some people who said, three, they would go to the chain of command and some four, who hated it, hated it. But the answers one and two are considered positive. So these studies show a relative if not positive outlook, at least an accepting outlook.
MADDOW: So the military study is, as you said, the survey of the troops is part of it. It's an overall study of the feasibility of the issue....this survey of the troops, what you've learned is that a majority of troops it's not going to be a major deal.
ENGEL: Not a deal breaker, that they they're not going to be running from the army in droves. A key thing this study kept coming back to is that it's very important about the chain of command. What commanders say. How far commanders act. What tone they set. The marines were the most negative out of the services. They had the most people who were - with negative responses. And the marine corps leadership has taken a stance and has been very vocally against this issue. And the study found that most soldiers and sailors and all different service members follow a chain of command. So if the chain of command accepts this as the law, the data is that so will the soldiers.
Igor Volsky at The Wonk Room has a nice collection of quotes from Republicans who have been waiting for "what the troops have to say."
These midterm elections feature some really extreme, as in batsh*t, Republicans running. It's kind of extraordinary, since the GOP, under Michael Steele, was initially all about extending that big tent. Apparently the base didn't like that message, and so the Tea Party has given birth to candidates who are know-nothings, bigots, womb-controllers and empathy-free. Here's a good example of a few of them.
People For the American Way has produced four new videos showing the extreme far-right views of four Republican candidates for US Senate: Ken Buck of Colorado; Ron Johnson of Wisconsin; Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
These candidates promise to bring their dangerous agenda into the US Senate, and our videos show the candidates in their own words revealing their radical views on topics such as civil rights, LGBT and gender equality, climate change, the economy, and Social Security. You can find more information about all of the GOP's extreme candidates for US Senate in People For the American Way's The Rogues' Gallery.
No vlog today; thought I'd write something up. What's with the photo? Since I've not been in the best of health of late, I've always heard that if you dress up a bit, it can lift your mood. As in "take off the Cheetos-stained PJs and try cleaning up a bit." I don't have to dress up for my day job, so it's usually jeans and a nice shirt, and in the summer, sundresses on occasion.
But this week I broke out the berets. Hats, I've found out this week, tend to make people (even strangers) smile at you more and act more cheerful. It's quite noticeable. What is it about wearing a hat? Perhaps it's because hats are less common as an accessory these days (I certainly don't see people wearing them other than when it's cold). Maybe it connotes some sort of more formal dress code, even seen as costume-y. Hey, maybe these people thought I looked like a jackass, lol; I'll choose to delude myself that was just a cheery reaction).
Anyway, I have berets in black, brown and grey, so they will get used a lot this season. Well, until I'm laid up after surgery on Nov. 22, then it will be back to the PJs for a while (no Cheetos for me).
***
Surgery to relieve me of my plumbing woes is now 23 days away and I'm in relatively good spirits (today at least) as this is my third day without having had a hypoglycemic crash at some point.
As you might recall, during my last update I had to work out a regimen with my endo/nurse practitioner to keep my blood glucose extremely tight in order to stay at an 8.0A1C (or glycated hemoglobin, the average of blood sugars over 3 months).
That means few carbs, small meals and frequent snacks -- and lots of needles (6-8/day). My insulin requirements were so high (because of my insulin resistance), that I gained 15 lbs in less than two weeks (after having lost 40 lbs over the last six months). Yes, that's the downside of insulin. It keeps you alive, but it's a constant battle to keep weight off, something few know as they proselytize how handling type II diabetes is simply a matter of eating less and exercising more.
Anyway, off that soapbox...the good news is that my insulin requirements have now dropped dramatically because of the introduction of a third injectible drug, Victoza (Liraglutide). It's taken once a day, and slows food from emptying your stomach as quickly and stimulates your pancreas to secrete more of its own insulin. That illustrates one of the major differences between Type I (your pancreas makes no insulin) and Type II (your body doesn't use insulin effectively) diabetes. I've suffered no side effects so far from this new medicine, which is a marvel, since I seem to be sensitive to many meds.
In any case, less insulin means less chance of a low blood sugar event. Of course this doesn't stop the irritation or pain of BG testing and shooting up with Humalog and/or Lantus into my abdomen multiple times a day. Plus, less insulin means the weight gain has stopped, thank dog. It's been depressing to see the pounds spiral on, mostly bloating my face and my legs. But it's necessary to do this to enable me to have the hysterectomy safely.
So in the meantime, I'll keep tossing on the beret, with my unusual fashion shows (note the pink flamingo sox!) to cheer myself up as I countdown to slice and dice.
Update: Didn't add the part about the Rocky Horor Glee Show episode where a character used the term tranny -- another pejorative. Adding it to the diary.
Last spring, the Fox Network's television show GLEE took a hit from some trans activists, as well as some lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community activists, for use of the pejorative "shemale" in one of their episodes. In that April 13th, 2010 episode, Coach Sylvester, (played by openly lesbian actress Jane Lynch) used the term "shemale" to refer to an androgynous appearing male student when she literally clipped off the student's pony tail.
PRESS STATEMENT, Gregory Varnum, Executive Director, National Youth Advocacy Coalition
"GLEE's potential impact on improving people's understanding and acceptance of youth regardless of their creed, race or sexual orientation is undeniable. The program has set an ambitious goal of showing youth that being different is okay. As an engaged audience, it is our responsibility to help the show's writers meet that worthy goal. The show's April 13th episode presents us with an opportunity to help a well-intentioned program see that even with those good intentions, their words can hurt some and offend others.
"For far too long the gender non-conforming members of our society have served as an easy source of humor. This bully-style humor just isn't as funny as the writers may think it is. I appreciate that using words like 'shemale' helps portray Coach Sylvester's character as antagonistic. However, the reality is that many watching the show will not appreciate the subtle messaging that since Coach Sylvester uttered the offensive term, it must be wrong to use. The reality is up to 99% of LGBT youth in public schools experience some form of bullying or harassment. Intentionally or not, GLEE's writers are perpetuating that situation by showcasing a school authority figure who mimics bullying behavior.
"The writing team for GLEE have proven that they have incredible talent and potential. I applaud their valiant goal and hope very much that they succeed. I would like them to use their talents to come up with a way to portray Coach Sylvester's character that does not revolve around her use of racist, homophobic and transphobic commentary. That strategy has been recycled many times already and frankly, it's getting old. If this show is truly hoping to improve how people who are different get treated, they will need to do better. We must hold them accountable. I know we can do better, and for the program's young audience, we must do better."
In that episode, Glee offended by what I'll label as commission of transphobia by a character; the most recent episode, entitled Rocky Horror Glee Show (video here), they offended a number of trans people by omission -- it's been the talk of my trans twitter friends.
Specifically, a trans pejorative was used, and the term transsexual was scrubbed from the fictional glee club's performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The pejorative was used when a male student saying he couldn't play Frankenfurter in the play because his parents didn't want him to play a "tranny." One example of transsexual being scrubbed from the episode was when the phrase "transsexual Transylvania" in the song Sweet Transvestite was replaced with "sensational Transylvania."
Apparently, the new word for people like me is "sensational."
The episode didn't touch on what transsexual means, what transgender means, and didn't discuss that there are brick-and-mortar world transyouth. For some reason, the Fox network censors let "transvestite" through the filtering -- a term that wasn't considered an pejorative in the seventies when the film Rocky Horror Picture Show was released, but is considered a pejorative by many transgender people now -- but didn't let the non-pejorative term "transsexual" through their filtering.
I know a lot of readers of Pam's House Blend like the show GLEE, especially because GLEE shows the acceptance of school outcasts -- one outcast in the show's glee club being a gay character. Just know that one can have a gay-friendly television show that is also transphobic; one can have a gay-friendly television show that also literally erases the existence of transsexual people.
Frankly, GLEE seems a friendly show for gay and lesbian people, but the show doesn't seem to acknowledge that bisexual or queer-identified people exist, and in one case has shown two characters as using hostile language to refer to trans people without any balance of acceptance of trans people by other characters, and in another case just erased the existence of transsexual people. To me, GLEE seems a mixed bag for LGBTQ community -- friendly on one level, unfriendly on another.
In the meantime, I guess you can just call me "sensational."
On a blustery basketball court at Southside Park, leaders in the push to oust three justices for their role in a decision that legalized gay marriage in Iowa — led by the Washington, D.C., based Family Research Council and the New Jersey-based National Organization for Marriage – departed a touring “Judge Bus” emblazoned with “vote no” slogans and spoke to a crowd of about 15 people.
Gay marriage is tearing society asunder, and the decision to allow it runs afoul of the Constitution, said Chuck Hurley, president of the highly influential Christian organization Iowa Family Policy Center, which is a local affiliate of the Family Research Council.
“It’s a degradation of God’s best design for the family,” said Hurley, who was on the tour representing the center’s political action arm.
Hurley said gay activity degrades and alters the family structure, concluding that the debate is about stable homes.
“An intact father-and- mother marriage is by far more important than a good education, by far more important than their physical health in the well-being of a child,” Hurley said.
Hurley goes further than opposition to gay marriage, though.
“For millennia every sane culture has had restraints on behavior,” Hurley said.
Stable societies have always had restraints on incest and pedophilia, he said, and that should extend to homosexual acts as well.
“Every culture should have safe and sane laws regarding sexuality,” Hurley said.
And what would such insanity be without christianists who are actually trying to slither into the Legislature to do Hurley's upchucking for him:
At the anti-judge rally, Republican Statehouse candidate Dan Dirkx said the justices’ decision is jeopardizing Iowa’s way of life.
“I see this ruling as a frontal attack on our culture,” Dirkx said. “America is suffering a heart attack. The rest of the nation looks to us to have good sense.”
Dirkx of rural Auburn, who is running for the House District 51 seat now held by State Rep. Rod Roberts, R-Carroll, compared the marriage case to the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, and noted that legalized abortion is the result of court action, not the vote of the public or their representatives.
“We need to rise up and let them know that we understand why our form of government works,” Dirkx said.
Simply put, society should not give a stamp of approval to gay marriage, Dirkx said.
“When you offend God individually God will deal with you individually,” Dirkx said. “But when you offend God as a nation, that’s a different category.”
In other news, Dirkx said that he supports 'Inquisition-style' remedies against George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz for causing the nation to offend God by killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people in a false-pretense war.
Okay...
I'm just kidding on that - but wouldn't it be nice if the esteemed MSM would ask someone like Dirkx if war - particularly war-for-financial-gain - also offends a god that is soooooooooooooooooooo offended by gay marriage?
"The necessary legislative strategy to get 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' legislation through Congress in 2010 is not simple and will not be easy," said Alexander Nicholson, Executive Director of Servicemembers United. "The public needs to understand the nuances of the road ahead and this video message clearly lays those out. As you'll see when you watch the video, Servicemembers United is not going to just sit back and hope for the best. We're rolling up our sleeves and we're going to do everything we can to get this done."
The video message can be viewed on Servicemembers United's YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/ServicemembersUnited. It is also available on Servicemembers United's website at www.ServicemembersUnited.org and on the REPEAL THE BAN - End "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Facebook page.
The Dobson crypt opened and Focus on the Anus founder Daddy D fumbled his way out to croak an appeal to Dominionists to make their way to the polls because, well, something apocalyptically bad is going to happen if Democrats retain control of the House and Senate. Via 
The U.S. Constitution, indeed our entire republican form of government, was crafted by deeply pious men who were overwhelmingly Christian. It was fashioned within the context and framework of the Judeo-Christian zeitgeist of the time and was further intended to function in harmony with a Judeo-Christian worldview - period. Though leftists may deny this reality, it remains indisputable fact. The historical record is unequivocal.
People with conservative values - particularly Christians - need to take back America. We must take charge of government at every level from the municipal hall to the White House.
No vlog today; thought I'd write something up. What's with the photo? Since I've not been in the best of health of late, I've always heard that if you dress up a bit, it can lift your mood. As in "take off the Cheetos-stained PJs and try cleaning up a bit." I don't have to dress up for my day job, so it's usually jeans and a nice shirt, and in the summer, sundresses on occasion.
