Alright, let’s see what we have today. I’m a (not so) closet transit nerd, and PAT released this awesome blog post about how each route got its number. I knew about the colors, but the numbers were always a bit confusing, but it’s really fascinating to read.
One of the Sabres’ goalies has a pride flag on his helmet (airbrushed, of course), and it’s a cool story that spawned from Pride Tape.
The queer community has a lot to fear over the next four (hopefully only two if we can win back the Senate) years. For those not sure why we’re so afraid, here are eight threats, and in true clickbait form: you won’t believe number 8. No really, yo won’t, it’s unconstitutional, the scariest, but a high priority of Republicans and the President-elect.
The NRA chants that the only thing that can stop a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun. But what about good people with dildos? Better add that to the list.
This post was started before the election and finished after. NaNoWriMo (which was a success) tends to do that, but enjoy!
When Arrested Development meets the debates, it’s perfect:
Aside from one glaring reason why this wouldn’t work (you know the scene in Empire where Darth declares he’s Luke’s father), it’s a great way to watch the prequels
The Supreme Court is taking up a landmark transgender rights case (about using the bathroom, because that’s how basic we have to be, sadly), this will be interesting to watch!
And speaking of, Secret’s new ads have been killing it, and their latest is no exception. Check it out.
Quite frankly, it’s a really scary time right now, especially for any minority group, and I’m still processing and figuring out how I can help try to protect the rights I have. The podcast Throwing Shade, right after the election had a great quote, which I transcribed:
Anyone who is marginalized in this world, knows the feeling of having to push through and work hard to feel safe and heard, and it’s shitty that it has to keep happening but it does, and then I really do think it’s over. I think this is one of the last death rattles we have to deal with, literally the voice of the angry white man. I think it’s almost over. I think this might even be the last of it. And I don’t care what I think, I’m doing to do all I can to make it the last of it.
And I think SNL nailed it with their cold open. The last line was great, “I’m not giving up, and neither should you:”
What if the Avengers had an opening like Full House:
WikiLeaks, which for some reason is trying to elect Donald Drumpf, has released the names and personal information of gay men from countries where it is illegal to be gay. For many, this is a death sentence.
I actually knew this, but it pops up every now and then: Disney and Cyan were in talks to make a Myst (or at least Myst-like) island at Disney’s now defunct Discovery Island.
Sadly, I”m missing the Pittsburgh premier, but here is the trailer for King Cobra, which looks amazing:
I’m so excited for “Hairspray, Live”! Here’s the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ7K0sbmIKk
The Pope, once again, attacks trans* kids. The normal reminder, that institutionalized discrimination, especially from something as big as the 1 billion-members Catholic Church leads to increased violence and suicides against those groups. And let us not forget that this is the same church that protects child molesters, so maybe people should stop listening to them. Just a thought.
HBO’s “Looking” wrapped up with a movie. Although I loved how the second season ended (and was heartbroken that it wasn’t renewed for a third season), the trailer looks like it’s kept to the tone of the show:
I”m more and more convinced the Catholic Church is a hate group. Case in point, they tell gay people that acting on their sexuality and finding love is a sin. And if you ever commit that sin, you can’t take communion. So no chance of love or happiness, but if you do, you can’t partake in a sacrament. Really, they can believe whatever they want and keep whatever rules they want, but we’ll still fight them since they have so much power in the world and make the lives of queer people around the world a living hell.
Today marks the 47th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which launched the LGBT-rights movement.
If you’re not familiar with the riots, here’s what happened:
And just this week, President Obama and the National Park Service has named the Stonewall Inn and Christopher Park a national historical monument (number 412 if you can believe it). We owe so much to those brave trans-women of color, homeless youth and drag queens who launched the riots and the queer revolution.
People ask why we celebrate pride. NoFo writes it much more eloquently than I ever could, here is an excerpt:
We’re proud because despite relentless persecution everywhere we turn—when organized religion viciously attacks and censures and vilifies us in the name of selective morality, when our families disown us, when our elected officials bargain away our equality for hate votes, when entire states codify our families into second-class citizenship, when our employers fire us, when our landlords evict us, when our police harass us, when our neighbors and colleagues and fellow citizens openly insult and condemn and mock and berate and even beat and kill us—we continue to survive. … We’re proud because—thanks to the incredible bravery shown by gay people who lived their lives openly in the decades before us—we can live our lives more and more openly at home, at work, with our families, on our blogs … and even on national television. … We’re proud because after all we’ve been through, the world is starting to notice and respect us and emulate the often fabulous culture we’ve assembled from the common struggles and glorious diversity of our disparate lives.
We’re proud because this weekend we’ll celebrate with drag queens, leather queens, muscle queens, attitude queens and you’d-never-know-they-were-queens queens, and together we can see through the “pride” in our parade and enjoy the underlying Pride in our parade.
Quite simply, we’re proud that we have so much to be proud of.
We can take some time, and even in the face of hatred, bigotry and discrimination, we can carve a place in this world, claim it our own and celebrate.
Because even if Pride doesn’t change many minds in the outside world, it’s our PARTY, darlings. It’s our Christmas, our New Year’s, our Carnival. It’s the one day of the year that all the crazy contingents of the gay world actually come face to face on the street and blow each other air kisses. And wish each other “Happy Pride!” Saying “Happy Pride!” is really just a shorter, easier way of saying “Congratulations on not being driven completely batshit insane! Well done, being YOURSELF!”
We can celebrate the community that we have, the radical acceptance that we embody and the fact that we’ve survived. We have a chance to come together, remind ourselves we belong to a larger community, have some fun and take back our city; just for a little bit. We know that hatred will continue, but still we march forward. We have pride because it helps those coming after us. In the words of Harvey Milk, it gives the next generation hope:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWo8BKJCxYQ
And this is a chance to celebrate the fact that I’ve survived. A chance to celebrate the fact that I’m a proud gay man. And even that act, powerful unto itself, has hopefully made a difference.
The most important and powerful action a person can make is to come out to those around them. Then the LGBT community isn’t a scary abstract anymore, it has a face. If you know someone who is openly LGBT, you see their humanity. You can understand that we’re not asking for anything special, just the same rights everyone else is guaranteed by the constitution. A chance to be happy. A chance to live the life we want, surrounded by those we love.
“Many of us want to, and will: when a gay, lesbian or transgendered kid isn’t at special risk of being brutalized or committing suicide. … “When a gay person’s central-casting earnestness and eloquence aren’t noted with excitement and relief, because his or her sexual orientation needn’t be accompanied by a litany of virtues and accomplishments in order for bigotry to be toppled and a negative reaction to be overcome.”
We will stop talking about coming out when it’s not news anymore, when the last barriers have finally been broken down. We’ll stop screaming for our rights when we’re finally treated as equals by our government. We’ll only stop telling our stories when they don’t matter.
The anniversary of Stonewall comes just two days after marriage equality came to all 50 states (and the anniversary of decisions in Lawrence v. Texas and Windsor v. United States), a major piece of the equality dream the drag queens, homeless youth and the rest of Stonewall protesters had less than 50 years ago. In 11 years, we’ve gone from no marriage rights to full equality across the country. We still have a lot to fight for, ENDA being at the top of that list, but for now, we can celebrate the ‘thunderbolt’ of equality that we have achieved:
So we keep fighting for progress, wherever we can. We celebrate our advances and keep chipping away at our obstacles: and this month we can celebrate both, as well as the individuals that make up our amazing community.
In light of the Orlando massacre, it’s more important than ever to celebrate Pride. To not be intimidated by the hate, but to instead keep rising, demand equality and fight for our very right to exist. What hurts the most about Orlando may be the reminder that even our own spaces, which we thought were safe, aren’t. Or maybe they never really were, not while hatred and prejudice still exist. But as we face, united, the epidemics of gun violence and homophobia, we can at least take solace in the fact that we, as a community, know how to win epidemics.
We’re proud of how far we’ve come. We’re proud to keep fighting. We’re proud.
A cute ad, very appropriate since the Euro football (soccer) tournament is currently going on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j80tCzDZgU
Did you know that Deadpool is actually pansexual? You’d never guess from the movie. So what if there actually was queer representation in comic book movies:
So, I’ll be back with a post about Orlando soon. Right now it’s too raw, and there’s still too much we don’t know. And every time I think about it I break down. I spent two days a crying, sobbing mess, and right now I’m still a little numb. But I’ll get to that another day. For now, here’s a distraction (of which I’ve needed many) of some of the fun, upsetting and crazy things on the Internet.
First up, the teaser for the live action Beauty and the Beast:
The teaser for the new Rocky Horror. Which, the guy playing RiffRaff, nails that line perfectly, which made me feel a lot better about the whole thing (and Laverne Cox looks awesome):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=outmDIi29Bo
This Saturday is the Ball on the Bridge, bringing Ball Culture (predominantly African American drag competitions) out into the open. Looks awesome, but sadly I can’t go, had I known about it sooner, I would have cleared my schedule.
The Pens won the Stanley Cup! Which was the most needed distraction Sunday night. Hockey Night Canada did an amazing job with their recap, and the music is so, so fitting, you’ll be hearing it a lot I think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwQ04ICfEH0
Okay, that’s it for now, but I’ll be back with more, and an in depth look at Orlando soon.
