unusualmusic_lj_archive | Feb. 18th, 2008

Feb. 18th, 2008

( spoiler for Adam )

From TerranceDC at Pam's House Blend Blog

I knew instantly what he was about. Late last year, Montgomery County passed legislation prohibiting discrimination against transgender persons in housing and employment. We're proud to live in such a progressive community, and chose it specifically because we want our children to grow up in a progressive community. I was particularly proud when, after the bruising battle over an inclusive ENDA, Montgomery County showed that some Americans are more than "ready" for transgender equality. And here is this guy outside our grocery store, spreading fear and misinformation as part of an effort to repeal the bill, by the same group who attempted to stop our schools from implementing a gay-friendly sex-ed curriculum, that also addressed anti-LGBT harassment and bullying.
I saw red. Some people actually laughed at the guy, but at least one man remarked, "There are more important things to worry about. People are dying, and this is what you're concerned about?"
"People are dying." That's why I saw red. That's why my immediate reaction was anger. People are dying. More specifically, people are being killed.

Maybe I was angry because I'd been reading about the murder of Lawrence King all weekend.

King was shot in the head Tuesday morning during a class at E.O. Green Junior High in Oxnard, police said. More than 20 other students were in the room at the time....King sometimes came to school wearing makeup and high heels, eighth-grader Nicholas Cortez, 14, told The Associated Press. Another eighth-grader, Michael Sweeney, said King's appearance was "freaking the guys out," the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.
"He would come to school in high-heeled boots, makeup, jewelry and painted nails the whole thing," Sweeney told the Times.
King was pronounced brain dead at St. John's Regional Medical Center on Wednesday, said Craig Stevens, senior deputy medical examiner in Ventura County. Doctors planned to remove some of his organs for donation Thursday, Stevens said.

Maybe it's because I just read about Cameron McWilliams, the gender variant youth who committed suicide in the U.K.

A BOY of 10 has been found hanged at his South Yorkshire home after telling his mum he wanted to be a girl.
Tragic Cameron McWilliams had already asked for permission to wear make-up, and been teased after he was found wearing his half-sister's knickers.His desperate mum Kelly McWilliams told a Doncaster inquest she had bought him girls' underwear to wear in private, but had refused his requests to be allowed to wear make-up. ...He had been teased after once being found in his half-sister's knickers, and had asked if he could wear make-up. His mum told him he would have to wait until he was older.
Mrs McWilliams found her son hanging, with a black leather belt around his neck, in his half-sister's bedroom at the family home in Montrose Avenue, Intake, Doncaster.
"When I got in the room he was not asleep, he was standing by the window with a dressing gown on," she said.
"His head was down and I realised something really serious had happened and I screamed."
The court heard Cameron was a lonely boy with no friends outside school. He spent all his time at home listening to music, playing on his XBox and using a laptop computer.

Maybe it's because I just read about the uproar over a school in Colorado accommodating a transgender student, in a news article that revealed just enough information to out the student. Maybe it's because I read about Laura Ingraham's idiotic remark about a transgender conference "killing the culture." Meanwhile Shanesha Stewart was, an actual person, was killed for being transgender. Maybe it's because I've researched the murders other transgender women, like Bella Evangelista and Emonie Spaulding, many of whom were driven to sex work as a means of survival due to employment discrimination that made it impossible for many of them to get "straight jobs."

Maybe it's because I just read that the murder of Rashawn Brazell remains unsolved after three years despite the efforts of bloggers and activists.

Rest here

Tell me, how many more people will we kill with our fear and hate? How many more lives will we stunt and destroy? How much more blood will we bathe in while we turn up our noses, selfrighteously? When will we stop? Will we ever stop?

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

America's Evolution Denial

If you have ever used a computer, talked on a cell phone, visited a physician, or operated a motor vehicle, you have benefited from science. Much of the food you eat, the medicines you use, and so many other things you may take for granted have been influenced by the biological sciences in particular. In addition to being the foundation of the modern biological sciences, evolutionary theory has been more rigorously evaluated and received more empirical support than any other theory from any branch of science. And yet, more Americans endorse creationist explanations for human origins than evolutionary ones (2001 Gallup poll).

The Importance of America's Evolution Denial

America has a long history of religious fundamentalism, and Americans' distaste for evolution is not exactly a new phenomenon. Despite widespread rejection of evolution in the general population, American science has continued to advance to the benefit of all citizens. Why then should this be a pressing concern now?

It is important to recognize that our modern world is becoming increasingly complex, as increased technological prowess is required in one's daily life. I remember making fun of my grandparents for not understanding how to hook up a VCR, but I now struggle to set up some of the high-end HDTV setups. My competence with computers far outstrips that of my parents, but I am confident that many 10 year-olds would blow me away without breaking a sweat.

Increased complexity requires increasingly sophisticated levels of scientific literacy and education, especially if America hopes to compete with the rest of the world in science and technology. The numbers are not encouraging in this regard, as America trails all countries but Turkey in acceptance of evolution. It is also concerning that the percentage of Americans who accept evolution has declined over the past 20 years.

Sources of the Problem

When one considers the sources of America's denial of evolution, the first thing that likely comes to mind is Christian fundamentalism. According to Michigan State University professor, Jon Miller, "American Protestantism is more fundamentalist than anybody except perhaps the Islamic fundamentalist, which is why Turkey and we are so close" (LiveScience).
Far too often, the media, and even many scientists, refuse to point the finger at religious fundamentalism. We are taught that we must respect religious beliefs, and a surprising number of scientists adopt the position that science and religion are two mutually exclusive domains which should not poach each other's subject matter.

Rest here

It’s very simple: treat every individual with respect and allow him or her to have a clean slate until they dirty that slate. Then, restrict that dirty slate to that individual, where it belongs.

- Via: The GayBlackJew

Warning: The above website is VERY bluntly anti-religious, with specific attention paid to Christianity. Please read with that in mind.

Gay-themed books for children 0-18 years old, as well as some articles on the state of said books in our libraries

Lamb "Gorecki"

Just finished watching "They Keep Killing Susie" from the Torchwood series.

From :The Raw Story

Via:Pam's House Blend

A Washington Post Style editor killed a story on a New Orleans madam who alleged she arranged trysts for Louisiana senator David Vitter (R-LA), a Post gossip columnist says.

Post gossip guru Amy Argetsinger arranged an interview with a madam in New Orleans after Vitter admitted his name appeared on the phone records of a DC madam. Speaking to the Washington City Paper's Erik Wemple in an article published Friday, she said her editor, Steve Reiss, "spiked the story on sourcing grounds."

“Reiss was aware that everyone else was writing about her but said that we can’t use that as an excuse—in essence, that the Post had to take the higher moral ground,” Argetsinger said in an email.

...

Wait, WHUT?

“Reiss was aware that everyone else was writing about her but said that we can’t use that as an excuse—in essence, that the Post had to take the higher moral ground,” Argetsinger said in an email.

The MSM taking HIGHER MORAL GROUND!!!!

...

...

...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAA

ROFLMAO!!!!

*pounds on floor, howling and whooping, tears spurting from eyes*

*gasping for breath*

Uh, since WHEN does "taking the higher moral ground" EVER interfered with getting a story where the MSM is concerned?!!?!?!??

Taking a stand

Bullied student tickled pink by schoolmates' T-shirt campaign
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 | 11:25 PM ET
CBC News

Two Nova Scotia students are being praised across North America for the way they turned the tide against the bullies who picked on a fellow student for wearing pink.

The victim — a Grade 9 boy at Central Kings Rural High School in the small community of Cambridge — wore a pink polo shirt on his first day of school.

David Shepherd, left, and Travis Price decided to spread word of their 'sea of pink' campaign on the internet.David Shepherd, left, and Travis Price decided to spread word of their 'sea of pink' campaign on the internet.
(CBC)

Bullies harassed the boy, called him a homosexual for wearing pink and threatened to beat him up, students said.

Two Grade 12 students — David Shepherd and Travis Price — heard the news and decided to take action.

"I just figured enough was enough," said Shepherd.
They went to a nearby discount store and bought 50 pink shirts, including tank tops, to wear to school the next day.

'Sea of pink' support

Then the two went online to e-mail classmates to get them on board with their anti-bullying cause that they dubbed a "sea of pink."

But a tsunami of support poured in the next day.

Not only were dozens of students outfitted with the discount tees, but hundreds of students showed up wearing their own pink clothes, some head-to-toe.

The two Grade 12 students show off the pink shirts they wore to school.The two Grade 12 students show off the pink shirts they wore to school.
(CBC)

When the bullied student, who has never been identified, walked into school to see his fellow students decked out in pink, some of his classmates said it was a powerful moment. He may have even blushed a little.

( Read more... )

Kill them to kill part of yourself

Posted by: Holly.

Earlier this week there was an update in the death of Sanesha Stewart: apparently the man who is suspected of killing her — let’s be clear, he was dragged from her apartment early in the morning, covered in her blood — had known her for quite some time. That doesn’t seem to fit with his claim (and the media’s original lurid story) that he was shocked to find out that Stewart was trans and flew into a homicidal rage as a result. Sadly, I wasn’t surprised to hear this at all.
Most Feministe readers will agree that the “trans panic” defense is bogus, and that one’s own fear or disgust of queer or trans people is hardly an excuse for violence or murder. But a lot of these “panics” are suspicious on more levels than one. In similar killings in the past, there’s been evidence that suggests the murderer knew very well that the victim was trans, and may have killed her in order to erase the association between them. The revelation in Stewart’s case brought to mind the aptly titled 2003 report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, “Disposable People.” Washington DC activist Earline Budd, who’s dealt with her own share of transphobic violence on top of fielding more than a dozen calls a month about other trans people being assaulted, sums it up well:

Budd, like many transgender activists, believes the “discovery crime” motivation is often bogus. Most transgendered people are up front with potential sex partners about their identities and anatomies, she says — and even in cases where they’re not, “how can you say that’s an excuse for killing somebody or beating them up?”
Bella Evangelista’s murderer, Antoine Jacobs, is reportedly considering a “panic defense” when he goes to court.
According to Sgt. Brett Parson, head of Washington’s GLLU police unit, Jacobs told police he and Evangelista “were engaging in sex for hire, he liked it, the act was completed, they parted ways, and some of his friends said, ‘Hey, man, that’s a dude,’ and he returned and shot her.”
Budd suspects that Jacobs simply got embarrassed when his friends found out he’d been with Evangelista, who was well known as a transgendered woman in the neighborhood where Jacobs lived.
“This was all to show off for the guys,” she says. “He came back and confronted her, and when she turned around to walk away, he pulled out a gun and shot her and just continued to shoot her. In the back. And that’s a panic defense? Come on now.”

Jacobs is just a particularly forthright example of how many of these “panic defenses” aren’t really about panicking when you find out your date is trans. They’re about the fear that someone else is going to find out you were with a tranny. I think sometimes we’re quick to assume that homophobia and transphobia always work in this straightforward “hate the queers, bash the fags” kind of way — the sort of hate crime that Budd describes a few paragraphs later:

“5th and K is just rampant for assaults. I think guys feel like, ‘Man, I’m going to go out and beat me up a faggot tonight, one of them ones dressed in women’s clothes.’” As in most major urban areas, such hate criminals know exactly where to find their victims.

That kind of shit clearly goes down. But not usually with a loaded gun or stab wounds to the chest. Let’s get one thing perfectly clear: trans people, especially women who already live on the economic margins of a racist, classist, transphobic society, are not idiots. With few exceptions, trans people know very well that we’re potentially in danger from bigots who can’t handle trans people. Nobody wants to get into an intimate, vulnerable situation with someone who might completely flip out on you. Every sex worker who’s less than completely green is aware of that kind of danger.

Rest here

Some really good comments here:

Names are power

Why Trans-panic defenses work

Transgenders are being true to who they are, and we need to make space for that

A jury is a random selection of society, prone to the same prejudices

Why is the perpetrator never focused on? Why is victim blaming so prevalent