Remember Amendment 2 from Colorado? That wasn't the last hate Amendment in that state. There is an Amendment 62, which uses the fraudulent premise that human life begins at conception to not only try to ban abortion in the cases of rape and incest, but to ban most forms of birth control, and to ban embryonic stem cell research. You can learn more about this misogynist, hate Amendment from the No 62 campaign.

The Young Turks did a great video on this subject.



The opposition to birth control and stem cell research proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the anti choice movement doesn't give a rats ass about "human life." Of course, their opposition to life saving condom distribution and real HIV education proved that point long ago. These people are rabidly anti sex, except for all the sex they are having.

Militant, Christian fundamentalists like to pretend that they are so much more moral than the rest of us. Yet, when they aren't busy stealing money from their congregations, molesting children, or breaking all of their own sexual taboos, they are so fond of act that is supposed to be immoral in every value system I've ever heard of: lying.

 

Christine O'Donnell, like the rest of the teabaggers, certainly fits this definition of "jerkoff" from the Urban Dictionary (#3):

Someone who is a complete dickhead and is a complete and total loser. Someone who has just completely and utterly screwed up your day, just by sight, and no one can fix it.

I would add an element of uselessness to the definition to get at what I think of for the nonliteral definition of the term. Anyway, O'Donnell is the teabagging candidate for Deleware Senate seat up this year. In the 90s, this brilliant person made the following statement on an MTV show about sex. (Huffington Post 9/2/10)

The Delaware Republican, who is challenging Rep. Mike Castle in the state's Senate primary and has earned the financial backing of a portion of the Tea Party movement, made an appearance in the MTV series "Sex In The 90s." Entitled "The Safest Sex Of All," the episode was ostensibly geared towards understanding the importance of abstinence. But O'Donnell's guidance went a bit further. Masturbation, she argued, is not a moral substitute for sex. "The Bible says that lust in your heart is committing adultery. So you can't masturbate without lust."

"The reason that you don't tell [people] that masturbation is the answer to AIDS and all these other problems that come with sex outside of marriage is because again it is not addressing the issue," she extrapolated. "You're just gonna create somebody who is, I was gonna say, toying with his sexuality. Pardon the pun."

Like a lot of people who are running on behalf of the Astroturf teabagger "movement," O'Donnell's right fringe views are not limited to economics.

This teabagger has been making the news for her gay baiting campaign tactics. Her former campaign staffers have spread claims that her Republican primary opponent is gay and having an affair behind his wife's back without any evidence. She has gone out of her way to publicize these rumors in a nondenial denial. This shows that the teabaggers are indeed heterosexist, thinking that saying someone is LGBT shows that they are somehow bad people and unfit for public service.

I'd say "jerk this" to O'Donnell, but I really am gay and don't have sex with women.

Photo: naama

Illustration: ddogbreath

 

Google sure is breaking their "Don't Be Evil" tenet a lot lately. Check out this fab song.

FUJI MINX - The Music Made Me Do it (Official Un-Censored Version) from FUJI MINX on Vimeo.

The more I learn about the wealthcare bill that the Obama administration pushed through Congress on behalf of the HMOs and health insurers, the worse it gets. From the Washington Post 3/27/10 (Hat Tip: No Blood for Hubris):

The bill restores $250 million over five years for states to sponsor programs aimed at preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases by focusing exclusively on encouraging children and adolescents to avoid sex. The funding provides at least a partial reprieve for the approach, which faced losing all federal support under President Obama's first two budgets.

"We're very happy to see that funding will continue so the important sexual health message of risk avoidance will reach American teens," said Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association, a Washington-based lobbying group. "What better place to see such an important health issue addressed than in the health legislation?"

Now we know the other reason why Bart Stupak voted for the wealthcare bill. The better known reasons were the woman hating restrictions on abortion in the Senate version of the bill and President Obama's misogynist Executive Order on abortion.

This is disturbing for so many reasons. These "abstinence only" scams promote teen pregnancy, and the kind of unsafe sex that causes pregnancy also spreads HIV. This action by Obama is typical of an administration that treats AIDS as one of its lowest priorities.

Also, these fraudulent "sex educations" programs represent deliberate religious indoctrination in the public schools. This violates the Establishment Clause, and it discriminates against atheists. Obama and the "Democrats" in Congress have had a really lousy record on state/church separation issues thus far, and it doesn't look like it will be getting better any time soon. I wonder if the same groups that will get funding for "abstinence only" scams also will get money under Obama's expanded hate based initiatives.

Is it too much to want actual Democrats in Congress and the White House?

 

I'm not sure this one is for real, but I do know it would work.


This one is for real.


The scumbags at CBS and Fox banned this one.


You would think HIV would be more than enough reason for condom use, but whatever it takes.

 

I don't know how I got on the mailing list of the "Human Rights Campaign," but I suppose somebody sold or traded my address to them. I make a point of having nothing to do with the HRC. So, I wrote the following on the slip asking me for money and returned it in the Business Reply Mail envelope.

Take me off your mailing list. You are too corrupt, too homophobic, and too bigoted against atheists.

Perhaps an explanation to those of you who don't follow queer issues is in order.

Corruption and Homophobia at the HRC:
The HRC may pretend to support the queer civil rights movement, but their actions are quite different. Here are some examples.

1) Regularly endorsing politicians who are less supportive of lgbt issues than their opponents because they are Republicans.

2) Inviting vicious and fanatical homophobes like the Clintons and Nancy Pelosi to speak at their fundraising galas.

3) Focusing on pandering to wealthy donors to the exclusion of fighting back against the heterosexism among so many politicians in both major political parties.

4) Supporting, in 2007, a phony version of ENDA that excluded transgender queers and was riddled with so many other loopholes that it was almost completely unenforceable in court.

5) Inviting Barack Obama to give a bullshit speech at one of their dinners despite the fact that he had done nothing of any real significance to support lgbt issues and had actively promoted bigotry, discrimination, and violence against us by involving the notorious misogynist and homophobe, Rick Warren, in the inauguration.

Anti Atheist Bigotry:
The HRC is so hateful and bigoted that they have devoted a huge section of their website to Religion and Faith despite the fact that neither is a legitimate area of concern for political organizations. The HRC also devotes staff time and financial resources to this discriminatory endeavor.

All efforts to impose religion on politics are, by their very nature, deliberate and vicious acts of bigotry and discrimination against atheists and agnostics. Bringing religion into politics is a deliberate effort to oppress and silence freethinkers and to treat us as second class citizens. A lot of us are no longer willing to passively go along with this.

The whole effort is politically tone deaf as well. Religion is the main reason why people are homophobic. Debating queer issues in religious terms only reminds them that their religious faiths tell them that queers should be the targets of of discrimination and violence. It always has been far more successful to argue for lgbt equality in human terms. Sadly, the HRC is so fanatical in its bigotry against atheists that they can't even see this huge elephant in their living room. Of course, effectiveness has never been particularly important to a vapid, self serving, and shallow organization like the HRC.

The bigotry doesn't stop there either. In 2000, instead of supporting a civil rights march on Washington, they supported the "Millennium March," which functioned as an effort to shove religion down the throats of queers that don't want it. It also avoided lgbt civil rights issues and focused on producing an image of queers that excluded a variety of groups. The HRC was determined to erase people of color, atheists, non Christian religious believers, the transgender community, bisexuals, the leather community, liberals, drag queens, leftists, the sexually liberated, and the poor. Obviously, the HRC's bigotry wasn't limited to atheists, but we were front and center as a target of their hate.

It's no wonder attendance was so low. There just weren't that many people left.

I am so sick of the HRC pretending to be a civil rights organization and a part of the lgbt movement when it isn't even close to being either. I am so sick of being a target of their discrimination against atheists.

 

Mae Young was one of the most entertaining and adorable WWE characters during Linda McMahon's reign as CEO. I loved her and still do.



Linda McMahon's snarkworthy Senate campaign continues to roll along, eating up millions of her WWE dollars. I wonder how GOP primary voters will react if they find out just exactly what has been the WWE product under McMahon's leadership. McMahon shouldn't have resigned as WWE CEO to try to buy a Senate seat. I just don't think it is going to work.

 

 

Most people in this country really, really, really need to get laid.

 

This year's Blogswarm by Blog for Choice is focusing on the following question.

What does Trust Women mean to you?

Blog for Choice pointed out that the heroic Dr. Tiller often wore the button "Trust Women." In this society, this almost seems like a revolutionary idea. It's bad enough how we don't trust individual men, but women also get a double whammy from sexism. Misogyny makes far too many control freaks feel far too justified.

Being a man who has never wanted children, pregnancy is difficult to even conceive of on any level. Yet, I can see that it would have an effect on someone so deeply personal that no one else could ever really understand it completely. If men got pregnant, some people would still feel justified about butting in. However, I strongly suspect that religions would take a far different stance. The Florynce Kennedy quote says it much more poetically than I could.

If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.

Our society trusts women to raise children. Women still are expected to do more in that department among most people in America. Yet, these same women who have the lives of children in our hands are not trusted to decide whether their pregnancies should continue to term or not.

I think women are perfectly capable to make decisions on abortion. I find it difficult to understand why that seems so hard for people to get. The first sentence of this paragraph sounds so obvious and banal, yet it is highly controversial. It's so bizarre.

I think a big part of trusting women is listening to women. The Guardian ran a piece in 2006 with nine women who had abortions without regret. I recommend listening to women who aren't guilted out by the Christian Taliban in order to find out how they felt about their abortions.

Read the Piece Now!

 

Republican ex porn star and Massachusetts Senate candidate Scott Brown (right) looking spaced out at a news conference after the 12/22/09 Senate debate. (Photo: Dan Kennedy's Pix's)

The various Billionaires street theater groups have been great at poking fun at corrupt politicians and interests on the right. And, they discuss a subject that corporate media outlets treat as taboo: class interests. This time, Billionaires for Brown has emerged to rag on Scott Brown, the corrupt Republican running for Ted Kennedy's old Senate seat.

Brown's main claim to fame is that he did a softcore porn shoot for Cosmopolitan years ago. Yet, he is a sexphobic, homophobic Republican now. His hypocrisy and absurdity make him an excellent target for satire in general, though the Billionaires have focused on his pandering to the banksters and the brokesters. Here's their 1/17/10 Press Release:

TODAY: Bank CEOs Stand With Scott Brown for Standing With Wall Street

“Billionaires For Brown” Rally in Support of GOP Senate Candidate

Worcester, MA – A spirited crowd of the super wealthy called “Billionaires for Brown” toured the state today to support GOP Senate candidate Scott Brown for his staunch stand against Obama’s initiative to recover bailout funds from Wall Street. The Billionaires lauded Brown for standing with Wall Street and against Main Street.

“Of course Scott Brown stands with Wall Street. Why should he be beholden to special interests like the Middle Class or the people of Massachusetts?” said Frida Market.

Brown recently announced that he opposes a plan to repay money paid out to Wall Street Banks during the bailout. The plan would return the 100 billion dollars left outstanding from TARP and other government programs.

“People act like we should return the bailout money just because it’s theirs,” said Billie O. Nair. “Just because we CAUSED the crisis doesn’t mean we should be RESPONSIBLE for it”

Billionaires for Brown noted Scott Brown’s strong support from America’s super-wealthy, and defended him from charges of elitism.

“Scott Brown understands what it’s like to suffer in this crisis. Owning five separate properties is not cheap!” said Clay M. Denied.

The Billionaires also took a stance alongside Brown against social spending to offset the impact of the recession. Dee Regulation summed up the GOP’s position: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what your country can do for your bank executive.”

WHO: Billionaires For Brown

WHEN: 2:30 p.m. Sunday, January 17, 2010

WHERE: 2:30 PM: Scott Brown’s Campaign Office – Corner of Main and Walnut St., Across from Mechanics Hall, Worcester.
3:30 PM Rally at Mechanics hall – 321 Main Street Worcester

###

About the Billionaires for Brown: A collection of investment bankers, CEOs and super-wealthy debuttantes backing Republican Scott Brown for his pro-Billionaire agenda. The Billionaires for Brown are a wholly-ownded subsidiary of the Billionaires for Wealthcare. www.BillionairesForWealthcare.com

I bet standup comics will be tempted to cast a vote for Brown out of naked self interest.

 

At a time when New York is loaded with crooked banksters and brokesters guilty of defrauding investors, people with predatory adjustable rate mortgages, and the general public, what is Andrew Cuomo, our illustrious New York Attorney General doing? He's focusing on prosecuting an alleged prostitution ring that advertises on Craig's list.

You can't make this shit up.

When he ran for Attorney General, I was so furious with the Democratic Party bosses for lining up behind an empty suit like Andrew Cuomo. Yes, his father was one of the best governors in the history of this state, but that doesn't justify the son trading on a family name rather than actually having positive accomplishments of his own.

Now, our corrupt and feckless Atty. General is providing tabloid sensationalism instead of going after the Wall St. crooks. When you think of all the people who have lost their homes and jobs because of crooked banksters and brokesters, Cuomo's decision to go after victimless crime is truly reprehensible.

A rather dim prosecutor is making threats against Craigslist (TG Daily 5/6/09).

South Carolina attorney general Henry McMaster asks Craigslist to remove certain “portions” of its classifieds categories that allow for “the solicitation of prostitution and the dissemination and posting of graphic pornographic material,” which is considered a crime in the state. Craigslist has ten days to comply with the request, otherwise the site will be targeted by a criminal investigation and prosecution, McMaster said.

South Carolina is the latest state to go after Craigslist and its “Casual Encounters” section, which is believed by authorities to have become a major channel to promote prostitution. The site has been in hot water over the issue for some time, especially with the attorneys general from Missouri, Connecticut and Illinois, with whom representatives of Craigslist met yesterday to discuss the issue.

In a letter addressed to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster, McMaster demands the removal of the section within ten days, until “5:00 pm EST, the close of business Friday May 15, 2009.” He claims that following a November 2008 promise the site “to install safeguards to combat unlawful activity and improve public safety” has not happened yet and that there are “indications” that Craigslist “has not installed sufficient safeguards since November to prohibit the Internet site from being used as a vehicle to advertise or solicit prostitution.” He added that “the unrestricted manner in which graphic pornographic pictures are posted and displayed by users on the craigslist site and their accessibility to minors” is also a concern.

You would think that a prosecutors would have better things to do with their time. But, with the high profile "Craigslist Killer" case, grabbing headlines is a high priority.

There's an obvious problem with these efforts to gain political traction by going after Craigslist. It's blantantly unconstitutional to prosecute them or sue them.

Efforts to get rid of prostitution also have never been effective. Those laws end up throwing sex workers in prison or extorting fines from them, but don't stop prostitutes because of the huge demand for these services. It's similar to the futility of drug laws.

Keep in mind that much of the ranting on Craigslist is typical technophobic scapegoating. Murderers have been targeting women who are sex workers or who are perceived as sex workers for centuries. (Remember Jack the Ripper?) It isn't the new technology that is the problem.

As long as our society demonizes prostitution and prostitutes, it will justify abuse of people in this profession in the minds of people with hateful and violent tendencies. An important first step towards ending this demonization and its horrific consequences is to legalize prostitution. The last thing that is needed is for irresponsible people in law enforcement and the media to throw tantrums over this profession just to appeal to the worst in human instincts.

 

We can not rely on politicians to create change. We need to fight for it. Here are some things you can do to fight for change.

1) Oppose "Abstinence Only" Scams
Militant Christian fundamentalists have been foisting what they pretend it "abstinence only education" on the public schools for years. These are basically anti-sex nagging used in place of legitimate sex education. Preaching this nonsense instead of teaching our youth about their bodies results in higher levels of unplanned pregnancies HIV infection rates. The National Partnership for Women and Families has an Action Alert calling on President Obama not to include this crap in the final version of his budget which he will submit in April.

Tell the White House "No More Abstinence Only Scams"

2) Support the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and a Trans Inclusive ENDA
There are so many reasons to support this legislation. Making it harder for employers to intimidate employees into not joining unions is a basic matter of fairness. Organized labor is a strong ally of lgbt issues and the issues of other disenfranchised groups in our society. Strengthening unions is a matter of practical politics for queers, women, and people of color. Also, increasing unionization improves the quality of lives for union workers. Indirectly, it helps non union workers because it pushes up wages and benefits across industries.

Of course, there also is the issue of balancing the power between various classes in our society. A strong labor movement means that the rich don't have absolute power over our nation's politics.

The Employment Non Discrimination Act (ENDA) is federal legislation banning most employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, and Harry Reid tried to get the gender identity protections taken out last sessions. But, gender identity is back for now.

Pride @ Work sent me an email asking people to fill out an Action Alert from organized labor supporting both the EFCA and ENDA. Here's Pride @ Work's take on the Employee Free Choice Act:

The Employee Free Choice Act was just introduced! Simply put, this legislation will allow employees to make their own decision about whether they want to bargain together - to advocate for fairer wages, benefits and working conditions - without the threat or fear of harassment and retribution and fear of losing their livelihood.

With no federal workplace protections, the LGBT community is already especially vulnerable on the job. Easier access to collectively bargained, inclusive contracts will benefit LGBT workers and their families immensely, especially during these tough times.

Support ENDA and EFCA Now!

3) Help People Facing Foreclosures
I'm amazed that there isn't a federal effort to stop foreclosures altogether for a few years, but this is a good step in that direction. Consumers Union is supporting legislation to help people keep their homes.

During its work this week on economic stimulus and the banking system rescue, Congress may allow struggling homeowners facing bankruptcy to restructure their mortgage payments and stay in their homes. This proposal won't cost taxpayers a cent, and is expected to save a million homes.

But some of the same financial institutions whose lending recklessness got us into this economic mess are fighting the change!

Right now, bankruptcy courts can modify all sorts of loans -- for corporations, commercial real estate, even vacation homes -- but can't do the same for families on the verge of losing their only home. The change would let homeowners get the same chance to restructure their loan and keep paying their mortgage.

Take Actions to Prevent Foreclosures!

 

Like so much in the corporate media, the efforts to make Rick Warren's AIDS record seem quite good are a bunch of bull. In, Rick Warren's Africa Problem in The Daily Beast, Max Blumenthal digs up the actual facts. I recommend reading the full article, but here are some of the most important facts from it.

Warren’s man in Uganda is a charismatic pastor named Martin Ssempa. The head of the Makerere Community Church, a rapidly growing congregation, Ssempe enjoys close ties to his country’s First Lady, Janet Museveni, and is a favorite of the Bush White House.

...

Joining Ssempa at Warren’s church were two key Bush administration officials who controlled the purse strings of the president’s newly minted $15 billion anti-AIDS initiative in Africa, PEPFAR. Ugandan first lady Janet Museveni also appeared through a videotaped address to tout the success of her country’s numerous church-based abstinence programs.

...

During the early 1990s, when many African leaders denied the AIDS epidemic’s existence, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni spoke openly about the importance of safe sex. With the help of local and international non-governmental organizations, he implemented an ambitious program emphasizing abstinence, monogamous relationships, and using condoms as the best ways to prevent the spread of AIDS. He called the program “ABC.” By 2003, Uganda’s AIDS rate plummeted 10 percent. The government’s free distribution of the “C” in ABC—condoms—proved central to the program’s success, according to Avert, an international AIDS charity.

...

Two years later, Janet Museveni flew to Washington at the height of a heated congressional debate over PEPFAR. She carried in her hand a prepared message to distribute to Republicans. Abstinence was the golden bullet in her country’s fight against AIDS, she assured conservative lawmakers, denying the empirically proven success of her husband’s condom distribution program. Like magic, the Republican-dominated Congress authorized over $200 million for Uganda, but only for the exclusive promotion of abstinence education. Ssempa soon became the “special representative of the First Lady’s Task Force on AIDS in Uganda,” receiving $40,000 from the PEPFAR pot.

Emboldened by U.S. support, Ssempa took his anti-condom crusade to Makerere University in Kampala, where senior residents of a men’s dormitory promoted safe sex by greeting incoming freshmen with a giant effigy wearing a condom. According to Helen Epstein, one day after she visited the school, Ssempa stormed on to campus, tore the condom from the effigy, grabbed a box of free condoms, and set them ablaze. “I burn these condoms in the name of Jesus!” Ssempa shouted as he prayed over the burning box.

...

By 2005, billboards promoting condom use disappeared from the streets of Kampala, replaced by billboards promoting virginity. “Until recently, all HIV-related billboards were about condoms. Those of us calling for abstinence and faithfulness need billboards too,” Ssempa told the BBC at the time.

...

AIDS activists arrived at the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto in 2006 with disturbing news from Uganda. Due at least in part to the chronic condom shortage, HIV infections were on the rise again. The disease rate had spiked to 6.5 percent among rural men, and 8.8 percent among women—a rise of nearly two points in the case of women.

...

Troubled by what he was witnessing in Africa, Rep. Tom Lantos led the new Democratic-controlled Congress to reform PEPFAR during a reauthorization process in February 2008. Lantos insisted that Congress lift the abstinence-only earmark imposed by Republicans in 2002, and begin to fund family planning elements like free condom distribution. His maneuver infuriated Warren, who immediately boarded a plane for Washington to join Christian right leaders including born-again former Watergate felon Chuck Colson for an emergency press conference on the Capitol lawn. In his speech, Warren claimed that Lantos’ bill would spawn an increase in the sex trafficking of young women.

...

With safe sex advocates on the run, Warren and Ssempa trained their sights on another social evil. In August 2007, Ssempa led hundreds of his followers through the streets of Kampala to demand that the government mete out harsh punishments against gays. “Arrest all homos,” read placards. And: “A man cannot marry a man.” Ssempa continued his crusade online, publishing the names of Ugandan gay rights activists on a website he created, along with photos and home addresses. “Homosexual promoters,” he called them, suggesting they intended to seduce Uganda’s children into their lifestyle. Soon afterwards, two of President Yoweri Museveni’s top officials demanded the arrest of the gay activists named by Ssempa. Terrified, the activists immediately into hiding.

...

But when Uganda’s Anglican bishops threatened to bolt from the Church of England because of its tolerant stance towards homosexuals, Warren parachuted into Kampala to confer international legitimacy on their protest. “The Church of England is wrong and I support the Church of Uganda on the boycott,” Warren proclaimed in March 2008. Declaring homosexuality an unnatural way of life, Warren flatly stated, “We shall not tolerate this aspect [homosexuality in the church] at all.”

Democrats to defend Warren don't have any idea who and what he really is. Those of us who know about Orange County, CA fundamentalists do. That county is littered with heterosexist and misogynistic Christ-Marts that promote dangerous misinformation on HIV.

When are people going to stop making excuses?

 

The media frenzy on Edwards' affair is bizarre and irrational. Here are more important things that the media might focus on instead.

Cindy Sheehan Made It Onto the Ballot

Tibetans in India, Nepal protest "blood" Olympics

Russia attacks Georgian city, peace efforts stepped up

Climate change: Prepare for global temperature rise of 4C, warns top scientist

Anthrax investigation not over

Prominent Myanmar human rights activist arrested

Calif. Senate OKs Harvey Milk Day

U.S. Attorney Scandal Probe Enters White House Circle

Our sexually repressed society can be so pathetic sometimes. So many people in the media and their audiences really, really need to get laid.

I should also point out that the corporate media are far more interested in the sexual exploits of Democrats than Republicans.

 

From Atomic Gay Wonk 7/15/08:

Obscene: Dole tries to name AIDS bill after Helms

Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) yesterday introduced an amendment that would have added the name of Jesse Helms to the title of the HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria bill that is before the Senate. Helms, who died eleven days ago, was the nation's most vociferous foe of federal funding for HIV/AIDS programs from the epidemic's beginning until he left the Senate.

The name of the Act proposed in S. 2731 is "Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008". The Act would be named after former Reps. Tom Lantos (D-CA-12) and Henry Hyde (R-IL-06), who worked together in their last years in Congress to achieve bipartisan support for federal funding for the fight against these diseases. Sen. Dole apparently thought the title was missing something. From the Congressional Record:

There really is typical of the off the charts nastiness of Republicans. They really like being hateful and obnoxious for the sake of being hateful and obnoxious.

Jesse Helms did everything in his power to promote the spread of HIV through his heterosexist and sexphobic attacks on HIV prevention programs. You would almost think Ms. Dole is trying to give Helms credit for doing so much to make the problem worse.

 

Some Notes on Living is a wonderful blog. Proudprogressive is my favorite writer there, though the others have quite a lot to say too. I just read a posting on Trans Pride in SF with a couple of sentences which say something of critical importance.

Remember if Gender ID and Expression is not protected - seriously no lesbians or gays are truly protected either. No matter how well you are assimilated. To society at large - we are all gay , all queer. The Ts are the canaries in our coal mine - don’t kid yourselves.

The same is true of the leather community, the sexually liberated (sometimes referred to as "promiscuous"), and the polyamorous. Until someone accepts as an equal every butch dyke, leatherperson, drag queen, and every other person whose very being makes it impossible to forget they are queer, they don't accept the most assimilated lgbt person either.

 

The local Staten Island Advance finally called for Rep. Vito Fossella (Rep. Staten Island/Bay Ridge NY) to resign yesterday. The bizarre and innapropriate thing is that they were more bothered by the extramarital affair revealed by Fossella's DWI arrest than the actual DWI arrest.

Serious as drunk driving is, we, like many people, were prepared earlier this week to say he should accept his legal punishment, including mandatory jail time, and warranted public scorn for the DWI charge, and then return to the House of Representatives a chastened man.

We thought he could come back from this severe setback as a strong, visible advocate against drinking and driving.

It's true, as many have said, that he could have seriously injured or killed someone as a result of this irresponsible act; fortunately, he didn't. The actual result of a reckless act must be weighed in assessing its consequences, we believe. A person who has had such a close call is often a far more ardent and persuasive proponent of avoiding the risks of DWI.

You can tell the influence of the conservative Catholicism on Staten Island, where doing something that endangers peoples' lives is less of a problem than a personal sexual matter.

Anyway, even if their reasoning bites, they are finally calling for Fossella to go.

Here we have yet another sanctimonious, pro-war, heterosexist, anti-choice Republican getting in trouble on "morals" critiques. I suppose there is some irony in it all.

 

Pro-Wrestling is softcore porn for gay/bi men.

If you don't believe me, think about it for a moment. If a guy makes a living in a Speedo occasionally dominating and usually being dominated by other men, usually also wearing Speedos, what does that mean? Why would men want to watch this?

That job description certainly applied to B. Brian Blair, former WWF "Superstar." (One fun thing about the now WWE is that every performer gets to be a superstar.) Here is his wrestling website which has nearly naked pics of him. Here is a pic with Blair on the left and his much cuter tag team partner Jim Brunzell on the right.

Now that Blair has pretty much retired from his public, nearly naked, man-on-man contact, he has ended up becoming a heterosexist county commissioner in the state of stolen elections, Florida. He even sent out an email to his supporters which was quite hysterical regarding the Day of Silence, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network's annual event to publicize harassment and assault against queer youth in the schools. Here is some of the text from the over-the-top email courtesy of Tampa Bay's Channel 10.

"I have always believed that all citizens are equal and should be treated accordingly. On the other hand, no group of citizens should be given government sanction and support to promote their social and sexual agenda upon the rest of us and especially, on our children."

"Considering the fact that the same school system does not want to allow just one Minute of Silence in the classroom for God, this is preposterous."

"Can you imagine asking for a 'Day of Cheer for Heterosexuality?' If no action is taken to change this policy, then perhaps it is time for another surgical strike from the majority; 'A Day of Abstention' from school participation might be considered."

Notice how heterosexists cannot help but allude to the old pedophilia libel. It really is an obsession with them.

Back to pro wrestling as gay/bi porn.

One of the things that gay men talk about a lot among themselves, but not so often among the hets is that so many "straight" men really aren't that heterosexual. This truism is reflected in a popular joke.

What's the difference between a gay man and a straight man?

a six pack

This is a bit of an exaggeration, but bisexuality among men is far more common than our society acknowledges. I'm sure gay men reading this have been hit on in showers and locker rooms by guys with wedding rings on. It's easy to lump them in with closeted gays, and some belong there.

However, many of those men are just as aroused by women as men. Yet, they have few socially acceptable outlets. That's where pro wrestling fits in.

The sweaty, struggling men wearing next to nothing can be really hot. But, these sweaty, near naked men are being all macho and fighting, a perfect cover in our neurotic and macho society.

Pro wrestling companies seem a bit self conscious about this. They often have nearly naked woman parading around to straighten things up a bit. The UFC and other real, mixed martial arts promotions also are gay/bi porn and use the same trick. I guess it makes a major segment of their audience feel safer.

Is Blair bi or gay? I have no clue. There are plenty of hardcore gay porno stars who are hetero men. Personally, I hope Blair is 100% hetero. Someone as dimwitted, ugly, and obnoxious as him is someone who would be embarrassing to be associated with. If there actually are any straight men who have gotten this far, I'm sure they are hoping against hope that Blair is not heterosexual.

Almost every day, there is a new headline about Larry Craig. It's not like the media is looking for weird excuses to cover the story. Craig just keeps making noise. His doomed appeal of his conviction for a trivial crime and his factual statement that Romney “through him under the bus” is a calculated effort by Craig to keep his name in the media.

I don't think even a whackjob like Craig is arrogant or foolish enough to think he will ever restore his reputation in the GOP and get reelected to the Senate in a far-right state like Idaho.

If Craig wasn't so homophobic and sexphobic, I would feel sorry for him, given the terrible way the GOP has treated him over something so unimportant. But, we all know that he promoted the very attitudes that are pissing him off when he is the target.

But, does he know or care?

It really looks like he is going to use the “scandal” to hurt the GOP that has proven disloyal to him. You cannot blame Craig, but you can enjoy watching Craig's fellow homophobes and sexphobes alternate between whining and hiding.