Happy Sunday Funday! My friend is in town and I’ve been drinking a lot of milkshakes and going to a lot of museums and buying a lot of stuff at thrift stops and gift shops, how are you? Here’s some good gay news for you to mull over while I’m posting art on Instagram!
Kesha Wants Voters to Think of the Gays, I’m Like: Same
Kesha’s contribution to Vevo’s “Why We Vote” campaign is a moving video recounting a story of her own struggles as a bisexual woman and how she feels her vote can impact the fight for LGBT rights. I love Kesha, is what I’m saying, you should too.
“Using your voice and your truth and standing up and talking about what you believe in and voting is your power. You need to utilize that.”
American Wants You to Keep Your Job Even If You’re LGBT
A majority of Americans oppose discrimination against LGBT people at work — a record 67 percent. Even better? 75 percent of respondents to a Harris Poll survey on the subject want employers to respect the pronouns and names of trans and gender non-conforming folks, and 63 percent want supervisors to take action when they see an employee misgendering another employee. 59 percent of respondents consider that kind of disrespectful behavior harassment.
“We’ve known for sometime that the majority of Americans support treating everyone equally under the law, including those in the LGBT community,” said Matt McTighe, executive director of Freedom for All Americans, in a press release. “This study is further proof that lawmakers and business leaders should be fighting to ensure LGBT Americans are treated fairly.”
Honestly, these survey respondents can come thru, they seem to be my kind of people.
Tim Kaine Invited a Lesbian Couple to the Debate
Follow-Up Debate: Is inviting someone to a presidential debate right now an act of affection or aggression, let’s be real. But still! Meet Carol, Mary, and Emily — two married women who took action to ultimately end Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage and their daughter, who will be there glaring at Trump on Wednesday. BLESS IT.
This Church Has a Lesbian Pastor, I Support It
Rev. Jennifer Sanders was elected the new pastor of Beloved Community Church in Avondale, Alabama and seriously, so many praise hands for this intersectional powerhouse and her willingness to devote her pulpit power to talking about it.
“I’m a woman, a lesbian, a member of a progressive faith tradition,” Sanders said…
“It’s part of who I am, but it’s not the whole of what we do,” Sanders said. “My commitment to racial justice, to people with disabilities, my commitment to economic justice and environmental justice, are part of that, just as much a part of my commitment to rights for LGBTQ people.”
Oh My God Yes
This is Michelle Obama’s amazing speech on women. As inspirational posters. Honestly, though, Heather would’ve done this better. I vote Heather does this, but better.
I second the vote, Carmen.
It always amazes me how few people realized we can be fired (and evicted) for orientation, and identity (or the perception of those things even if someone is cishet) in a majority of states.
When people want to refuse to vote or go for Stein or Johnson, it’s because they’re white and they’ve got nothing to lose. They’re more likely cishet. They’re very likely secure financially and able-bodied. The rest of us, meanwhile, have a great deal to lose by letting even worse bigots rise to power.
If people were serious as allies, Hillary would be winning by a landslide. She’d be winning by that 59-75% from those various margins. Unfortunately, people don’t really care about the weakest and most vulnerable members of society when it comes to their vote. Sanders supporters (of whom I was one) who refuse to vote for Clinton (of which I’m not one) are saying Bernie or Jill Stein are the real progressives. Well, progressives prioritize the weakest and most vulnerable in society. Hillary is doing that and that’s what voting for Hillary is voting for… protecting those who need it most. If that’s not enough for your “conscience” maybe you should take your conscience into the shop and get it checked out.
That’s actually not true at all. People who refuse to vote Hillary or Trump usually have a better understanding of international politics than the rest of us. Hillary isn’t our savior, and I say this as a Muslim Pakistani lesbian. Obama wasn’t the cool President people like to think he was, he was the guy that increased the number of murders by drone in Pakistan exponentially in the last 8 years killing thousands of innocent children (who incidentally never got a chance to pick a sexual or gender identity, which is why I’m saying that’s identity politics have distracted us).
We’ve gotten distracted by identity politics and forgotten that we’re still building in and out groups. In the case of Hillary vs trump, the in group includes lgbtq people in the U.S., women in the U.S. etc and forgetting that Hillary will cause millions of deaths. It won’t be American ones perhaps, but people will die just like they did under Obama and Bush.
Yes she looks like the lesser evil right now, but that doesn’t make it morally correct to vote Hillary. To throw your hands up and say this is the system we’re in, and we’re trying to make the best of it, is to forget that you have a choice. And that choice is revolution. Not voting for a candidate that might not kill your families, but will definitely kill more Palestinians and Pakistanis and Yemenis and Somalis is a morally valuable position. Those are actually the weakest among us right now, because they’re not protected from certain death by drone campaign that the U.S. government has been on for the last few years. When they die, the media doesn’t cover it with long stories about each life that was lost like they do for American lives, they die and we just burrow our heads in the sand.
John Pilger and Steven Salaita have more in depth analyses that y’all should read. It’s not as black and white, good vs evil, as you think
Yes I agree 100%. Trump is going to win. The postwar liberal consensus is over. The global mood sweeping everywhere started with the Arab spring, then brexit, then trump. People’s living standards have got worse and traditional politicians have done nothing to help. So ppl r rebelling and electing the opposite of traditional politicians ie trump. Historically, democrat presidents can do the same war crimes in foreign policy against ppl, and get away with it more, cus americans don’t protest wen Obama or Clinton bombs Afghanistani ppl. Hillary Invented the racist three strikes laws and never enacted any law to help lgbt+ ppl. Obama did. Historically you never get 3 democrat presidents in a row. I have gambled a lot of money on this literally. Mass movements get change – lgbt+ and poc ppl have never been able to rely on individual politicians. Mass movements cause change. Politicians r forced to do shit wen we create a mass movement to pressure them. Trump can’t do much cuz of checks and balances plus the advisors who will advise him. Trust me, trump will be your next president.
“Trump can’t do much because of checks and balances” spoken a lot like a straight white guy. They’re the ones who talk like that because they’re the ones with nothing to lose.
He can’t do much as president with 42% of the country that support him and his violent rhetoric? With a Republican controlled House? For someone who likes to spout conspiracy theories and rhetoric you’re not very good at visualizing a white supremacist choke hold on the U.S.
Hillary did not invent any such law. That is a lie. Saying one person can enact any law is a lie. Has Hillary help champion policy to help LGBT+ people? Yes. It was a major part of her time as Secretary of State and she declared LGBT rights were human rights.
You said we’ve never gotten three Democratic presidents in a row. Great. That’s a lie by any definition. We’ve only had one: Obama. If you’re talking terms of office then you’re wrong. The most we’ve had in a row was five Democratic terms in office.
If you’re admitting to literally gambling on this and then trying to have a credible opinion? What the fuck is wrong with you?
@ineffable, your claim that “people who refuse to vote Hillary or Trump usually have a better understanding of international politics than the rest of us” is a pretty audacious one. Do you have any empirical evidence to support that claim?
Additionally, you say, “Hillary isn’t our savior,” to which I ask: who said that she was? No one; it’s a complete non sequitur.
I apologize if that came across as condescending, and it was from my own subjective experience so I could obviously be mistaken. However, there’s a reason why people vote independent and it isn’t because they’re morons. They’ve obviously taken the time to explore all their options, which usually indicates a better understanding of politics in general. Disclaimer: This is still a personal subjective opinion.
What I was trying to say was, don’t completely dismiss these people who are abstaining from the vote or voting independent, in response to Carmen above. The point about Hillary not being our savior was directed towards her as well, because she did say that it was a moral imperative to vote Hillary because she’s better for lgntq people at large ergo our savior.
I stand by the rest of what said.
If this documentary is true then the Clinton’s r very very dangerous ppl. It seems real, the evidence in it? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bJO_EsgCRls apologies if it’s not true but seems legit. Have to watch the whole thing doe, it starts off not so gr8 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bJO_EsgCRls
No one said Hillary was our savior. You, however, are inferring she is better for only LGBT+ people. On this article and in this context, yes I was referencing queer issues; but to deny the imminent threat to people of color if Trump wins is morally abhorrent.
In the United States, my identity is not “politics”. My identity puts me at higher risk of assault and murder. It allows me to be fired or evicted in twenty-eight states.
You want the white supremacist to win? How many will die then? In the United States AND overseas, because if you haven’t noticed there’s an unknown number of people of color shot every year by police and no way to know how many murders there have been.
People are dying. They are being murdered. They are committing suicide. They are being assaulted, losing their livelihoods, losing their homes, and even losing their children. It isn’t just white LGBT+ Americans in jeopardy, but the same issue with Brexit where white supremacists are feeling it’s “their time” and a Trump win could cause thousands of deaths and injuries by more white supremacists. I guarantee you a Trump victory will cause more war and death abroad.
Do people who waste their vote on another option have a better understanding of international politics? Prove it. Cite your source. Obama didn’t cause millions of deaths. Hillary won’t.
Voting for someone besides Trump or Hillary bolsters the chances of a Trump victory. It means more of those deaths you allegedly want to prevent. Furthermore, to advance an understanding of DOMESTIC politics, the President does not have the power to declare war. The Congress must. It is the Congress who gave executive powers to Bush to do the things he did. It is the Congress that must be held accountable and responsible. You cannot merely rant at Hillary for things she hasn’t done yet and think she is the dictator-in-chief. That is NOT how our system works.
She doesn’t look like the LESSER of two evils. She is a GOOD candidate and a GOOD person.
We cannot have an expanded focus on international politics when people are dying and suffering at home and a madman might get elected that will increase that violence and suffering exponentially. We’re dealing with an orange-haired lunatic and his white supremacists cronies and a proven propaganda machine that can cause untold levels of horror.
Do I support drone strikes or any other military action where there may be civilian casualties? No. Do you want a fascist in office who wants to know why he can’t use nuclear weapons whenever he wants or do you want a woman who will listen to reason?
Oh boy, that Kesha video was just the highlight of my day I really needed. Thanks Carmen.