Maybe you shouldn't Google that
And by "that" I mean Pride.
Well, I’ve now done this newsletter for a full week! I’m having fun, are you? I think I’m going to keep it to weekdays for now, but I’m definitely excited to continue. If this were a podcast, I’d ask if you could leave a positive review on iTunes, but maybe you can just say something nice about it on social media?
By the way, most weeks you can hear me on the David Feldman Show! Here’s this week’s episode.
Stonewall forever
The massive commemoration of Stonewall 50 is upon us, so here’s one more great read to check out. Over at Next Avenue, PBS’ publication for older adults, Grace Birnstengel talked with three “voices from the Stonewall era” who reflected on their journeys since then.
She also recently wrote about the new affordable housing for LGBTQ elders that just opened in Brooklyn. I’ve personally gotten to tour a similar community in Philly and meet some of the residents, and these are really overdue facilities for our community! I hope there are more to come — because I might even live in one some day!
Thanks for putting those stories on my radar, Grace! (Submissions and tips are always welcome!)
Putin thinks we’re a bit excessive
Russian President Vladimir Putin has imposed a number of anti-LGBTQ laws, including banning “gay propaganda” — basically silencing queer activists. But in a new interview, he said he has “no problems with LGBT persons… but some things do appear excessive to us… They claim now that children can play five or six gender roles.” (Only five or six? So limiting!)
"Let everyone be happy, we have no problem with that,” he said. “But this must not be allowed to overshadow the culture, traditions and traditional family values of millions of people making up the core population."
We’re not part of the “core population.” Ok then. I’m not sure we want to be!
Bishops always have an excuse
Indianapolis Archbishop Charles Thompson gave a press conference Thursday to defend his recent crackdown on gay teachers in Catholic schools. He insisted it’s his duty “to oversee the living of the faith, especially for our ministerial witnesses.”
Responding to accusations he was singling out same-sex couples and not other living arrangements that also violate the moral code, Thompson insisted, “It is about the living situation, it's not the orientation. We would do the same thing if it was someone cohabitating."
Just a precious little reminder that same-sex couples’ families mean nothing to the Catholic Church.
YouTube cares more about money than LGBTQ people
So here’s an overly quick recap of how terrible YouTube has been this Pride Month with the latest update. My brilliant pal Carlos Maza over at Vox called out the way conservative troll Steven Crowder has repeatedly attacked him on YouTube with racist and homophobic language. YouTube waffled on the response, ultimately demonetizing some of Crowder’s content but still leaving it up. The CEO issued a hollow apology for the mediocre response.
This afternoon, Carlos noticed that BlazeTV is now running ads for Crowder’s show on YouTube and not so subtly referencing the “Socialism is for Fags” t-shirts that Crowder sells for profit. In other words, YouTube was willing to lightly punish Crowder for his offensive content with demonetization, but was still willing to accept its own profits from ads that push Crowder’s offensive content.
Recognizing how terribly the Crowder situation was handled, many of Google’s own employees petitioned to ban the company from San Francisco Pride, but were unsuccessful. In the midst of this internal upheaval, Google responded by actually threatening its employees that protesting the company at Pride would violate its workplace code of conduct.
When people criticize the way corporations profit off LGBTQ visibility during Pride while not being good actors, this is the kind of stuff they’re talking about.
Chosen names should be easy for IMDB
In show business, plenty of people use stage names, so it might make sense why a site like IMDB lists their real names. But it’s a huge problem that the site insists on listing trans individuals’ deadnames solely because that’s how they may have been listed in the credits of those past films. A coalition is fighting back with a lawsuit challenging the site from publishing that private and potentially harmful information.
Hetero unoriginality is a worldwide problem
Brazil’s got its own Trump in President Jair Bolsonaro, who’s super anti-LGBTQ. That’s already trickling down to the country’s soccer fans, who apparently don’t know how to cheer on their team without chanting anti-gay epithets at their opponents. At recent matches against Bolivia and Paraguay, the chants were so problematic that now the Brazil’s soccer federation has been charged a $15,000 fine.
Utah governor seeking penance over conversion therapy
Utah lawmakers were set to pass a ban on conversion therapy earlier this year until conservatives defanged the bill to the point of being useless. Gov. Gary Herbert (R) had supported the substitute proposal, apparently not realizing why the changes were so problematic. After the bill died, he apologized to the LGBTQ youth who had lobbied him.
Now, it seems he’s trying to compensate, ordering a state agency to craft rules governing conversion therapy. It’s unclear how far he’s willing to have them go, but he did say he wants the rules to be “governed by the best available science rather than left unregulated, or regulated in a manner that is colored by politics” — and science universally rejects the validity and safety of conversion therapy.
Today in everyday homophobia
A same-sex couple took their nephew to a “Treehouse Adventures” play area at a Georgia shopping mall while they sat and read a magazine. But one of the women put her arm around the other’s shoulders, which prompted one of the play area’s chaperones to chastise them for PDA. Since then, Yelp has exploded with negative reviews and the company is now complaining that they’ve been accused of homophobia, arguing that some of the kids reported seeing something “inappropriate.” I wonder where the kids learned that even the most benign same-sex affection is inappropriate?
LGBTQ mentions in the first 2020 Democratic debate (pt. 2!)
Thursday night was definitely a different night than Wednesday! LGBTQ issues didn’t come up quite as much, with trans people getting zero specific mentions after two significant references the night before. Here’s a rundown of what came up (and once again, you can click through my tweets to see the video clips!):
First, we have to talk about Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who made history as the first openly gay candidate to participate in a presidential debate. That alone is a milestone worth celebrating. There was a touching image of his husband Chasten fixing his tie beforehand, and he mentioned Chasten in his very first answer. While it didn’t specifically reference LGBTQ people, he also brilliantly called out the religious hypocrisy of Republicans and the way they wield their Christianity as a weapon — which definitely had LGBTQ undertones.
In an epic exchange between Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and former Vice President Joe Biden about racial justice, both candidates mentioned LGBTQ people briefly. Biden insisted that he supports civil rights “not just for African Americans, but the LGBTQ community.” As Harris pummeled him for his past positions on school integration busing, she likewise noted the importance of passing the #EqualityAct.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was specifically called out for his comments that the race, gender, age, and sexual orientation of candidates shouldn’t matter. He responded by saying he does value female and LGBTQ candidates, but then he retreated right back to his claims that economic solutions can resolve social inequities, which I personally just don’t agree with.
During her closing remarks, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) boasted about her vote to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which happened nearly a decade ago. I received some guff for how I framed my disappointment with this line, including from Gillibrand’s own deputy communications director, who noted that the Senator has taken the lead in opposing the transgender military ban in the Senate. That’s totally true! But she had a national televised platform and she chose to mention something very safe from the past instead of addressing one of the biggest injustices of the present. It just seemed like a big missed opportunity.
In his final response, Buttigieg made his only other reference to his own sexuality, noting the way the legality of his own marriage was determined by a single vote on the Supreme Court.
Lastly, as an honorable mention, I have to include a clip from Marianne Williamson. She’s kind of an odd duck, and the fact that she’s an anti-vaxxer should be an immediate disqualifier from anybody’s consideration. But her strange answers and strange accent just exuded “gay icon,” and I found her both amusing and bemusing to watch.
You may also enjoy Kate McKinnon’s impression of Williamson:
There are so many candidates who should absolutely drop out. I hope they do, so that the next debates can dig deeper on substance and the distinctions between the candidates who are actually viable.
Drag queen story time!
It’s a day that ends in Y so I guess that means there’s more drag queen story time news:
Remember the violent threats that shut down an event in Jacksonville? Well those same activists are going to protest another drag queen story hour event at the Museum of Science & History, endangering the families who attend.
Anti-gay extremist Peter LaBarbera called drag queen story hour “mental rape,” comparing drag to blackface.
The Family Research Council urged its supporters this week to literally pray against drag queen story time: “May governments that fund the public libraries prevent their taxpayer-funded facilities from being used to promote the sexual confusion and delinquency of minors.”
On The Opposition w/ Jordan Klepper, Niccole Thurman went “undercover” to find out what’s really going on at these events:
Have it your way
I’m not really sure what the particular appeal is of having a hamburger turned into diamond, but this Burger King celebration of marriage equality still brought a tear to my eye!
To everyone celebrating World Pride this weekend in NYC (or Pride anywhere else!), please be safe, patient, and kind and have the most amazing time! And if you happen to mention to friends and strangers this great new LGBTQ newsletter you signed up for, that’d be great too.
Until next time, stay platinum!
(Photo Credit: Flickr/yosoynuts)