According to Hollywood Gossip there is going to be a line of “Bruce Jenner” clothes…
Maltin has come up with the idea to create a novelty line of clothing called TransJenner.
The items included in it will range from men's and women's athletic gear... to socks... to headbands... to jerseys... to ties... to dresses... to blouses and much more. […] Maltin, who has applied to trademark the name "TransJenner," can't say for sure. But he swears it's not!
So now others are trying to make money off of Jenner’s transition. I don’t understand how someone can trademark your name.
1) This week's featured artist uses her middle initial (C. for Carolyn) all the time. Do you use your middle initial very often?
Only on legal documents where it is required,
2) In this song, a mother tells off the local PTA. What's the most recent school event you attended -- whether as a parent, a teacher or a student?
What about as an alumni?
I am on the alumni board of directors for the university’s school of social work, so I was there last week for the meeting. Also I went to a lecture by Laverne Cox as an university guest…
3) The lyrics reference the mom's miniskirts, which were trendy in the 1960s. The website Popsugar reports that gingham checks are trendy for 2015. Tell us about the most recent addition to your wardrobe.
It was a blue lace tunic that I got for a television interview, I read somewhere that you should wear a solid color not white or black. Here is a photo from the interview…
4) Thinking of moms, Access Hollywood named Carol Brady of The Brady Bunch TV's #1 mom. Who is your favorite TV mom?
Probably Shirley Partridge (Shirley Jones) from the Partridge Family the reruns are now in TV again.
5) Mother Winters always gave Sam peppermint tea to calm her stomach. Do you have any tried-and-true home remedies to share?
Naw… I don’t have any.
6) Sam's mother always tips 15% in restaurants. Sam has worked in food service and is more judgmental, tipping between 10% and 25%, depending on the quality of the service. What's your tipping policy? Are you more like Sam or her mother?
I usually give 20%
7) When the tip of her shoelace becomes frayed, Sam's mother snips off the end and then paints the tip with clear nail polish. Good as new! Sam thinks that's crazy because you can just buy new laces for less than $2. Are you more frugal like mother or spendthrift like daughter?
I’m a tightwad. But I will spend money on things that I want.
8) Mother Winters loves how french vanilla smells and burns her Yankee Candles all year around. Do you use scented candles or air fresheners?
I am a scented candles fanatic, I driving right by the factory in a couple hours as I drive up to the cottage and I might stop by the store on the way home.
9) Sam is celebrating Mother's Day with her mother's favorite, Hershey Bars. Would you prefer classic milk chocolate, dark chocolate or chocolate with almonds?
I hadn’t had a Hershey Bars still I was diagnosed with diabetes, but I used to like chocolate with almonds. Used to eat around the almonds to save them to last.
Barnes & Noble is the latest retailer to face a discrimination lawsuit filed by a transgender employee.
On Wednesday, a transgender woman who had worked for Barnes & Noble from 2007 to 2013 sued the bookseller in California Superior Court in Orange County for discrimination and harassment.
[…]
In 2013, Ramirez finally told her manger that she was transitioning into a woman and that she wanted to present herself as one at work. According to the complaint, the manager told Ramirez that wearing makeup and appearing as a woman at work would make other Barnes & Noble employees lose respect for her position as a manger and as a leader. The manager forbid Ramirez from asking coworkers to call her by her female name, Victoria. The manager later said that Barnes & Noble would not allow Ramirez to use the store’s women’s restroom or wear skirts because it might make other employees or customers uncomfortable. She could only wear makeup if it wasn’t obvious, the manager said, and she couldn’t discuss her transition with coworkers unless the manager was present to ensure that no one felt sexually harassed.
When one HR director went to hire her back at a different location her former HR director gave her an unfavorable recommendation. Meanwhile…
When contacted by Fortune, Mary Ellen Keating, a spokeswoman for Barnes & Noble, emphasized the company’s longstanding support of transgender workers. She said it works directly with transitioning employees “to provide the support they need to feel comfortable in the workplace” and with their coworkers “to ensure they are educated about the transition process and what to expect.” Keating declined to comment specifically about Ramirez. But she added “we are very proud to employ a large number of transgender individuals, whom, like all employees are treated with dignity and respect.”
They look great on paper but like many other companies and organizations the polices gets muddled as it moves down from the ivory towers and doesn’t become operational.
Yesterday I went to a dinner for a non-profit that works with our non-profit to fight discrimination. I scheduled a 30 minute drive to the banquet. My route was up Maple Ave. to Washington, by the Capitol and through Bushnell Park on Trinity St to Jewell St. to Trumbull St. and then down Asylum Ave. to the Bond Hotel.
But all came to a grinding stop at the Capitol. It was gridlock! There had to be over two dozen buses, some of them coaches and others school buses with kids in lime green tee shirts all over the place. Trinity through the park was closed and Elm St. was backed up all the way to Pulaski Circle.
So what the heck was going on?
This morning I combed the news and found out… it was lobbying by the Charter Schools!
Legislators are being bombarded with emails informing them every time a student applies to a charter school that the state has yet to agree to fund.
And when they turn on the television, they see advertisements warning that thousands of students will be trapped in failing schools unless state lawmakers spend millions more to expand enrollment in charter schools.
On Thursday, charter school groups bused an estimated 1,500 students, parents and supporters to the state Capitol to “demand that state legislators save our schools.”
You got that? Fifteen hundred students!
Behind this push at the state Capitol for charter schools is Families for Excellent Schools, Coalition for Every Child, a nonprofit led by investment firm executives that last year took on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio — and won.
When de Blasio tried to block the opening of three new charter schools, FES spent $3.6 million over three weeks attacking the action, the New York Daily News reported, citing a source. The New York General Assembly in the end appropriated funds for the charters and adopted increased restrictions on what the city can do to limit the growth of charter schools, The New York Times reported.
And in Connecticut they are also spending vast sums of money to block the funding freeze. So far they spent over $300,000 on lobbying.
All this spending is starting to raise questions…
With FES promising to host rallies and launch a "multimillion-dollar TV ad campaign" in Connecticut, some prominant [sic] legislators are questioning where the money is coming from, why it isn't being spent on the schools and the negative tone of the advertisements.
One of the problems is the lack of transparency with the charter school, they are maintaining that they are private companies and are not subject to state oversight.
In this era of tightening budgets is that non-profits are seeing their funding shrink and are fighting to defend their funding and I have to ask, where did the money come from for all those busses? Who is paying for all the staff and teachers that accompanied them on the lobbying trip? Did the students take time off from school to attend the lobbying day? Was any federal or state funding used for the lobbying?
Here is an example of the ads that are saturating the airwaves,
There is a national spotlight on the 50th anniversary of the first LGBT demonstrations in front of Independence Hall. It took place every July 4th from 1965-69. While it was a pivotal change in the struggle for equality, some are revising our history out of context by stating it is the 50th anniversary of the LGBT movement. That simply is not true.
[…]
In a chat with William Kelly, who was one of those marchers outside Independence Hall, he reminds people of the earlier struggle. He says: "Frank Kameny and associates formed the Mattachine Society of Washington, an independent organization, in 1961. Harry Hay and others formed the original Mattachine group even earlier, in 1950. ONE, Inc., got its start in the 1950s and successfully took a case to the Supreme Court while producing a pioneer newsstand-distributed periodical, ONE. Daughters of Bilitis was formed in 1955. San Francisco's SIR was quite active already in 1965 when I first got involved in the movement. Lisa Ben was putting out Vice Versa in carbon-copy form in the late 1940s. And, of course, granddaddy of them all though extremely short-lived, Chicago's Society for Human Rights was around in 1924. Also, there were street protests in Los Angeles and San Francisco prior to 1965, and in 1964, Randy Wicker organized a picket of the Whitehall Street military induction."
Okay, first of all he doesn’t mention anything about the trans organizations that were forming during those years. Second we were not invited to most of these events and many gays and lesbians were also not invited because they didn’t conform to the “gender norms” of the day.
To me, this article seems too be written by and for "Gay Inc." to pat themselves on their back.
It you want to read some good books on trans history, I recommend,
Transgender Nation
By Gordene MacKenzie
Paperback - 190 pages (April 1994), Bowling Green State Univ. Popular Press; ISBN-10: 0879725974
How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States
HONOLULU (AP) - The Hawaii Legislature passed a bill that could make it a lot easier for transgender people to change their gender on their birth certificates, joining a growing number of states to make the change.
Right now, people in Hawaii are required to undergo gender reassignment surgery if they want to make that change. But the state House and Senate approved a bill Tuesday that removes the surgical requirement, sending the bill to Gov. David Ige.
Can the Connecticut legislature pass the Birth Certificate bill, H.B. 7006 or will it die without a vote?
The comments on the New York Times op-ed are interesting; there are comments from the usual lunatics and also from the trans community. But there are some who wanted to address the topic with reason, one commenter wrote,
We should have a serious, responsible debate on this issue. It should start by first establishing the medical and scientific basis for anyone being born transgendered. Second, we should ask whether this is only a psychological issue. As to the first point their is no evidence supporting the idea that their is a physical or organic cause for someone being born transgendered. None. If it is a psychological issue caused by childhood issues, parenting or the environment we should recognize it as such. Transgendered people should be treated with respect, kindness and decency but if its roots are psychological it hardly qualifies as a civil right.
[…]
Finally, we are not allowed to have real, fact based adult discussions about such issues in this country. We are silenced, shouted down, derided and ignored. Meanwhile, hysteria and ideology are substituted for science, reason, adult argument and genuine kindness and love.
I strongly believe that Human Rights should not be open to debate. When the authors of our Constitution looked back at the document they realized that something was missing, protections for the minorities from the majority. Over time we realized that there should be more protections than those stated in the Bill of Rights and we added protections for race in the Fourteenth Amendment and we added the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We are starting to add sexual orientation and gender identity/expression to those protections.
The commenter also wrote that “As to the first point their is no evidence supporting the idea that their is a physical or organic cause for someone being born transgendered. None.” but the author is wrong. There is a large body of research that has found organic evidence supporting medical causes and even if there wasn’t any medical evidence it mean that there is no medical reason for being trans, no one knows the cause of left-handedness but it is real.
The third part of the New York Times Op-Ed is trans people telling their stories.
Had an interesting Op-Ed articles on Monday and yesterday that covered trans topics; one of them listed resources for the trans community yesterday, I won’t list them here because most of them are known to the trans community. One of the articles was,
A generation ago, transgender Americans were widely regarded as deviants, unfit for dignified workplaces, a disgrace for families. Those who confided in relatives were, by and large, pitied and shunned. For most, transitioning on the job was tantamount to career suicide. Medical procedures to align a person’s body with that person’s gender identity — an internal sense of being male, female or something else — were a fringe specialty, available only to a few who paid out of pocket.
Coming out meant going through life as a pariah.
Being transgender today remains unreasonably and unnecessarily hard. But it is far from hopeless. More Americans who have wrestled with gender identity are transitioning openly, propelling a civil rights movement that has struggled even as gays and lesbians have reached irreversible momentum in their fight for equality. Those coming out now are doing so with trepidation, realizing that while pockets of tolerance are expanding, discriminatory policies and hostile, uninformed attitudes remain widespread.
For me I lived in fear that someone would find out about “my little secret” it kept me deeply closeted until the stress from living that lie built up causing me to have medical problems related to the stress.
I think if I came out earlier I would have faced what the writer said, “tantamount to career suicide” and I would have been “a disgrace for families.”
The article goes on to say,
A generation from now, scientists will most likely know more about gender dysphoria and physicians will undoubtedly have found better ways to help people transition. This generation should be the one that stopped thinking that being transgender is something to fear or shun.
I have to wonder about the kids nowadays who are transitioning in kindergarten and earlier, what will their life be like? Will they face discrimination? Will they have a better life than those who are transitioning late in life because of fear and stigma kept them hiding?
I look at the lesbian and gay community as a model for the trans community in the nineties the stigma and discrimination that the lesbian and gay communities faced lessened and many of them started coming out earlier and not hiding in the closets, while others stayed closeted until later in life. I see the same thing happening in the trans community, some will transition early in life while other will transition when they are older.
A nearly two-decade legal fight by a convicted murderer in Massachusetts to get taxpayer-funded sex-reassignment surgery ended in failure Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected her final appeal.
The justices did not comment in letting stand a lower-court ruling denying the surgery to Michelle Kosilek.
“This is a terrible and inhumane result for Michelle,” said Jennifer Levi, director of the Transgender Rights Project for Boston-based Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders.
The history of the case began in 2005,
The prisons department initially provided hormone treatments, electrolysis to remove facial and body hair, female clothing and personal items, but Kosilek sued again in 2005, arguing that the surgery was a medical necessity and denial of the surgery was making her suicidal. Her lawyers say she has twice tried to kill herself behind bars.
A federal judge in 2012 ordered the Department of Correction to grant the surgery, finding that it was the “only adequate treatment” for her gender-identity disorder. It was the first time a federal judge ordered such surgery.
But the state appealed and that ruling was overturned in December by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 3-2 decision, so Kosilek’s lawyers turned to the Supreme Court.
As the article points out this goes against all medical research which has shown that surgery is beneficial to the health of the trans person and I think instead caters to the “Ick Factor” of the surgery.
Also the effort that the Massachusetts Department of Correction cost millions of dollars to fight this case all for a $50,000 surgery, they probably spend enough on appealing the case to pay for hundreds of surgeries.
You always hear a wives scolding their husbands for leaving the seat up, I think that the debate has been going on since the invention of the toilet seat. But there is one place that discussion does not belong. An article in Out & About in Nashville discusses that place…
I was sitting at my hangout in Austin, Texas, when one of the lesbians emerged from the ladies room and shouted pointedly at a bunch of us girls who were seated at the end of the bar. “Hey!” she yelled, garnering the attention of the entire bar as she pointed directly at us. “Which one of you bitches left the seat up!”
We looked at one another, then back at her. “You wanna be ladies?!” she shouted. “Then act like ladies!”
One of the things that I noticed when I attended trans events is feet facing the wrong way and finding the seat up, and I totally agree with the lesbian in the article. I have always said, “Respect the space that you are in.”
Unless you are in your own home you are sharing someone else’s space, whether it is someone house or a public bathroom we all are sharing the space so be courteous. I have been in some pretty messy women’s bathrooms; the worst was at a restroom in Virginia along I-81. However, there is a big difference between a messy bathroom and leaving the seat up.
As trans women we should be especially courteous when we use a public bathroom and respect the space.
Depending on whom you ask, “Jade Helm 15” is either a domestic military training exercise or a covert operation for the federal government to take over the state of Texas – and 2016 presidential candidate Ted Cruz just became the latest Republican to fan the flames of the latter theory.
Speaking at the South Carolina Republican Party’s annual convention Saturday, the Texas senator told Bloomberg’s David Weigel that his office had contacted the Pentagon about the exercise, which officially consists of a series of training drills throughout the Southwest for about 1,200 special operations personnel, including Green Berets and Navy SEALs. Conspiracy theorists operating on the fringes of the conservative blogosphere, however, have other ideas about what the exercise, known as Jade Helm 15, is intended to do – such as implement martial law, seize Americans’ guns, and imprison political dissidents.
Say WHAT? Does he really believe this? And he wants to be president.
And he is not alone…
Cruz isn’t the only presidential hopeful keeping suspicions about Jade Helm 15 alive. Last month, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul – who’s proven to be quite fond of conspiracy theories – didn’t exactly swat down concerns about the exercise, telling Iowa-based radio host Jan Mickelson that he had heard of Jade Helm only in passing and would look into it.
Do they really believe in these conspiracy theories or are they pandering to right wing conspiracy theories for votes. I don’t know which is worse believing this or stirring up conspiracy paranoia for votes.
When politicians try to do the right thing, what does the opposition do? They bring up bathrooms of course. The latest attack on us peeing in peace is in North Carolina,
The most contentious part of Charlotte’s recent debate over LGBT rights – transgender bathroom use – has resurfaced with an unexpected revelation.
In March, the Charlotte City Council rejected a nondiscrimination proposal that would have forced private businesses to accommodate lesbian, gay and transgender people. The proposal drew protests over a provision that gave transgender people access to the restroom of their gender identity at any place of public accommodation, including city property.
But it turns out the city is already following that approach at its own facilities.
City Manager Ron Carlee says transgender employees and visitors not only have the right to use the restroom of their gender identity in the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center, but also in other city-owned facilities such as Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Ovens Auditorium, Bojangles’ Arena and the convention center. The latter three are owned by the city but managed by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Bureau, which confirmed the practice.
And who helped lead the opposition? Any guesses?
The Rev. Mark Harris, a Charlotte pastor who helped organize the opposition, said the city’s approach is confusing and disappointing to conservatives who feel they won a victory when the proposed nondiscrimination ordinance failed.
“It’s been about eight weeks or less since the City Council dealt with this issue in what all of us know was a very challenging, emotionally grueling experience for both sides,” Harris said.
Surprise, surprise!
Maybe the City Council realized that to do otherwise would have resulted in EEOC fines and Title VII violations, not to mention possible Fourteenth Amendment law suits.
“We now don't care that you're transgender, because the fact that you're a Republican is yuk,” said radio host Rush Limbaugh, imitating an intolerant liberal. “How could you dare? You can't be a legitimate transgender and be a Republican.”
That quote foreshadowed another unexpected phenomenon: The conservative response to Jenner is somewhere between an embrace and a shrug. When the gossip site TMZ ambushed Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz, the Mormon Republican said he wasn't going to “sit around and judge” Jenner. […] “You know, if he says he's a woman, then he's a woman,” said Santorum, trailing off a little at the end of the sentence. “Look, this is an issue—my responsibility as a human being is to love and accept everybody. Not to criticize people for who they are. I can criticize, and I do, for what people do, for their behavior. But as far as for who they are, you have to respect everybody, and these are obviously complex issues for businesses, for society, and I think we have to look at it in a way that is compassionate and respectful of everybody.”
Santorum was not making a blanket statement about transgender rights. “I don't think the federal government should get into the whole issue of bathrooms,” he said. “I think those are things that the business community and local organizations should deal with.”
“…way that is compassionate and respectful of everybody.” Ah yes, being compassionate is denying us a place to pee, wiping your hands and passing the buck to the local level. Didn’t they say the same thing about slavery being a state rights issue and the federal government should stay out of the debate?
You want to show use that compassionate and respectful of everybody? Well pass legislation to include gender identity and sexual orientation to the Civil Rights Act and stop trying to pass draconian legislation that tries to dehumanize us.
The Smith College board of trustees Saturday voted to begin accepting undergraduate applicants who consider themselves to be transgender women. […] “From the civil rights perspective, we’re saying trans women are women,” Smith College president Kathleen McCartney said in a telephone interview. “What we’re doing here is really affirming that we’re a women’s college and we have an unwavering mission and identity as a women’s college.”
The school said the trustees voted after studying the issue for a year and appointing an Admission Policy Study Group, which examined the college’s admissions rules “in light of society’s evolving understanding of gender.”
I like how they put it “society’s evolving understanding of gender,” yes our understanding of gender is changing, that it much more than chromosomes. That it is a whole host of biological and social factor that influences gender.
1) You can't miss George Michael's gold hoops in the photo above or in the "Careless Whisper" video. Are you wearing any jewelry right now?
No, I just got up.
2) Though the label says this hit is performed by "Wham! featuring George Michael," George Michael is the only member of the pop duo who appears in the video. Do you remember the name of the other guy who was in Wham?
I never even heard of the group until now.
3) Much of the video was filmed on Watson Island, a man-made island near South Beach. Have you ever been to Miami?
Yes, when I was knee high to a grasshopper.
4) Born Georgios Panayiotou, George Michael is of Greek descent, the son of the Greek restauranteur in East London. When you think of Greek cuisine, what comes to mind?
Salad. Hey! I’m not big into Greek cuisine.
5) Today he lives in a tony suburb called Highgate, and his neighbors are Kate Moss and Sting. Tell us about one of your neighbors.
Not much to tell. We all have lawn services and garage door openers so I never see anyone outside, we all live on our backyard decks. Typical suburbia.
6) George Michael fans can purchase officially licensed merchandise from his website, including an iPhone cover with his photo and signature. Tell us about your cell phone. Is it Apple or Android? Is it a smartphone?
It is your basic flip phone, I think it is a LG
7) George Michael sang Stevie Wonder's "You and I" for Prince William's wedding to Kate Middleton. What's your favorite love song?
"I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner, runner up is Ray Charles’ “I Can't Stop Loving You” But yesterday on the way back from the NASW conference on Sirius XM channel 6 they played “To sir With Love” by Lulu and that song always touched a soft spot in my heart.
8) In 2014, George had a health scare. He was rushed to the hospital for tests and released the next day. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?
Yes, twice once when I was about eleven year old and we were in a car accident and then again in 1999 when I thought I was having a heart attack.
9) Known for hard partying in his youth, George is now in his 50s and says he's quite happy to spend his evenings eating takeout and watching DVDs. Are you doing any socializing this weekend?
Going up to Northampton MA today with some friends for the Pride celebration and to a party in Haverhill MA tomorrow for a overnight party with some friends
Today I am at the Connecticut chapter of NASW conference and right about now I am giving my workshop Cultural Competency. This is the fourth time that I have done this workshop for therapist and each year it is to a full house.
Update May 2, 2015 7:30 AM:
My workshop was very positive, lots of good questions at the end. The only thing that I didn't like was because my workshop was the workshop of the day some attendees left early to avoid traffic. I quick glace at the evaluations showed almost all of them were A+.
I had a trans man in my workshop and I was a little nervous with him there because I was more conscious of what I was saying... would he approve? Did I say that correctly?
I met a lot of classmate and there is this one woman that was in my class, she has a doctorate in public health and is the head of an agency. After class one time she asked if we could talk because she wanted to learn more about trans stuff. So we went to the "cafeteria" (vending machine, pre-made sandwiches, snack and coffee. But at least the coffee wasn't from vending machines). When I said I didn't have any money to feed the vending machines, she said don't worry she understood how it and patted me on my back. To this day I still time she thinks I'm broke.
Miami Republican Frank Artiles’ proposed “Single-Sex Public Facilities” bill has failed to progress past the committee stage of the legislation process and has been abandoned.
The bill would have made it a crime for trans people to use single-sex facilities in workplaces, schools or any business that is open to the public.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Minnesota Senate defeated an amendment that would have repealed transgender-inclusive policies of local school districts.
During debate on an omnibus education policy bill, Sen. Warren Limmer, a Republican from Maple Grove, offered an amendment targeting transgender-inclusive policies. The amendment is identical to one that was passed by the House on Saturday.
A controversial bill that would have provided transgender students with separate bathrooms in Nevada public schools was defeated by liberal politicians.
The bill passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee along party lines, with Democrats voting against it. But it was narrowly defeated, with Republican help, after debate in the full Assembly last week.
Meanwhile in Texas the debate continues according to KXAN…
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Transgender advocates are upset about a bill that would make it a crime in Texas for a transgender person to use a bathroom based on their gender identity. House Bill 1748 authored by Rep. Debbie Riddle (R-Spring) says if someone over the age of seven uses a bathroom that doesn’t match their gender, they can be charged with a felony. Similar bills have been passed in Florida and Kentucky.
KXAN reporters should do their homework, the bill have been defeated in both Florida and Kentucky.
In Hawaii the Birth Certificate bill is advancing…
Bill to ease gender switch on birth certificates advances to State Legislature The Star Advertiser By Cathy Bussewitz Associated Press POSTED: Apr 30, 2015 A proposal to allow people to change gender on their birth certificates without having to undergo surgery cleared a legislative hurdle Thursday, sending the bill to the full Legislature for a vote on the brink of a legislative deadline.
Switching gender on birth certificates could get a lot easier for transgender people in Hawaii.
A proposal to allow people to change gender on their birth certificates without having to undergo surgery cleared a legislative hurdle Thursday, sending the bill to the full Legislature for a vote on the brink of a legislative deadline.
The big question, will the bill die because of inaction? That is what I worry about here in Connecticut, our bill is just sitting waiting for it to be voted on in the House. Will it be brought up at the last minute and then be debated to death as the clock runs out? That is one way they avoid taking a stand on the bill, “I’m in favor of the bill but unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to vote on the bill, but luck next year.”
When I was coming of age I was very naïve, I got Lou Reed’s “Take a Walk on the Wide Side,” the Beatles “Get Back,” and the Kink’s “Lola” you couldn’t not know the meaning of those songs but other songs like Melissa Etheridge’s “Come to My Window” was a little less obvious.
A trip down musical memory lane reveals that the Top 40 archives are peppered with one-time-only hits by LGBT artists — some beloved and some relatively unknown. Let's turn the radio dial to yesteryear and remember a few such gems.
Lou Reed, "Walk on the Wild Side" (1973)
If you're a fan of Lou Reed, who reportedly bedded both men and women, you know his tribute to transgender cult film stars Candy Darling and Holly Woodlawn, which made it to number 16 on the pop charts, was just the tip of iceberg. "Walk on the Wild Side" only hints at Reed's vast, decades-long musical catalog that explored life on a seedy Lower East Side. But of course, for many, this hit tune's catchy doo-doo-doos are all they'll ever hear of Reed, who died in 2013.
[…]
Janis Ian, "At Seventeen" (1975)
The best song about growing up female ever written, out folk singer Janis Ian's "At Seventeen" made it all the way to the number 3 spot on the pop singles chart (and hit the number 1 spot on the adult contemporary chart). This ballad of an "ugly duckling" was nominated for several Grammys, scoring a Best Female Pop Vocal Performance win. Though she continues to release excellent music, Ian never cracked the Top 40 again. But she's actually not a one-hit wonder: In 1967 she hit number 14 on the pop charts with "Society's Child," a timely take on interracial relationships.
But others like…
Me'Shell Ndgéocello and John Mellencamp "Wild Night" (1994)
Another one that's hard to believe: Critically acclaimed bisexual R&B songstress Me'Shell Ndgéocello has cracked the Top 40 just once, and that was in a duet with John Mellencamp. And the duet was a cover of an old Van Morrison tune. It went to number 3 on the pop chart.
And…
Baltimora, "Tarzan Boy" (1985)
Baltimora was a short-lived Italian dance-pop group fronted by a young gay Irishman named Jimmy McShane. It scored exactly one hit, "Tarzan Boy," which spent six months on the Billboard chart, ultimately reaching the number 13 spot. The song bounced back on the chart in remixed form in 1993, climbing to number 51. Sadly, McShane died of complications from AIDS in 1995.
I never heard of, but that is not surprising for me because I usually listen on to artist from mainly the sixties and seventies.
Joe DiMaggio fans, brace yourself. Film critic Jeffrey Lyons claims the Yankee legend once dated the world’s first famous transsexual, Christine Jorgensen.
Appearing on the Joe Piscopo radio show, Lyons (the son of columnist Leonard Lyons), said, “My parents were friendly with [Jorgensen]. They fixed her up . . . got her a date with DiMaggio.”
I wonder if this is true and I wish that there were more than four of paragraphs about this.
