The Results Of Bullying In Schools

This starts off bad but end up good.

The results of being the odd kid out at school often ends in bullying.

Stop and think for a minute… “Who gets bullied in school?”

Is it the most popular kid in school?
Is it the star football player?
Is it the student with a large “Click” around them?
It it the kid wearing glasses?
Is it the Kid that stutters?
Is it the boy who acts feminine?

I wore glasses in early elementary school and I was henceforth known as “HEY Four Eyes!”

It is the child who is different, the quite shy ones who get bullied.

High schoolers step in to fill sixth grader's yearbook after his classmates refused to sign it
'Just seeing him light up, it felt really good,' said one teen. 'It was a small thing, but it made him so happy.'
UpWorthly
By Jisha Joseph
September 9, 2022


Cassandra Ridder was heartbroken when her son Brody came home from school last week with only a handful of signatures in his yearbook—one of which was his own. "Hope you make some more friends. — Brody Ridder," the 12-year-old had written. A devastated Ridder saw that only two other classmates and two teachers had signed the yearbook apart from her rising seventh grader. According to The Washington Post, Brody has been a student at the Academy of Charter Schools in Westminster, Colorado, since fifth grade. Although he had several friends at his previous school, his mother revealed that he has struggled socially and has been repeatedly bullied over the past two years.

"There [are] kids that have pushed him and called him names," said Ridder, who explained that she switched her son's school before fifth grade to give him more academic support. "Brody has been through a lot." Although the bullying somewhat subsided after she addressed the issue with school administrators in February, the concerned mother says she could tell "the teasing was still there." She realized the true extent of what Brody was going through when he told her what happened when he asked his classmates to sign his yearbook on May 24.

This could have had a very different ending if wasn’t for some high schoolers.

Seventeen-year-old Joanna Cooper revealed that when she received a text message from her mother with a screenshot of Ridder's post, she decided right away that she would "get people and we're going to sign his yearbook" because "no kid deserves to feel like that." The 11th grader still remembers the intense pressure she felt to fit in when she was Brody's age. Having signatures in your yearbook wasn't only a measure of popularity, she recalled, but also meant simply "knowing that you have friends." "Signing someone's yearbook was all the rage," Cooper said. "That people would tell him no and deny him a signature, it just hurt my heart."

Cooper contacted several of her friends and they made a plan to visit Brody's homeroom class together the following day. However, what she didn't know at the time was that many other students were hatching the same plan. One of them was Simone Lightfoot—also an 11th grader at the school—who revealed that she could relate to Brody's plight. "When I was younger, I was bullied a lot like him," she said. "If I could do one little thing to help this kid feel a little better, I'd be more than willing to." Maya Gregory, an eighth grader at the school, felt the same. "No one helped me when I was in that situation," the 14-year-old revealed. "So I wanted to be there for him."

I remembers being the new kid on the block, we moved to town when I was just 7 and I hated the fact that my parents held me back so I could start in the first grade at the new school instead of second grade… I hated it!

Well I hated school in general but being held back also added to angst, looking back at it, they made a smart move. I was with the same group of kids not starting off as the new kid in second grade, we were all new kids in the first grade.

When the high schoolers marched in to sign his year book it shamed some of his classmate to also sign. The peer-pressure from the other classmates was broken.

That is the other thing about bullying… peer-pressure, children who know bullying is wrong but don’t speak up because it is “not cool.”

… Cooper said. The students' kindness touched school administrators, who explained that the transition from remote learning back to in-person classes has caused more conflicts and bullying. "A lot of students are struggling with peer relationships and social skills," said Brent Reckman, chief executive at the Academy of Charter Schools. "It's up to us to figure out how to help kids and families with it, but it's a challenge faced by all schools right now. It can be really tough to be a teenager. I was really impressed with how our students stepped up when they saw a peer in need."

What Political Party Does The Rainbow Flag Represents?

The Pride flag is being politicized by the Republicans, they seems to think that there are no LGBTQ Republicans.

Ohio parents sue over LGBTQ-supporting badges for teachers
New York Daily News
By Muri Assunção
January 17, 2023


A group of parents in central Ohio want to prohibit teachers from wearing a badge supporting young LGBTQ students.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, eight parents of Hillard City Schools accuse school officials of letting teachers engage in “intimate conversations about sexual behaviors, sexual attitudes” with young students when they have questions about gender identity or sexual orientation.

When teachers want to show students they can feel safe to ask about LGBTQ issues, they can wear a badge that reads “I’m Here” next to a Pride rainbow, according to local television station WCMH-TV.

[…]

The badges were designed by the National Education Association LGBTQ+ Caucus, a group that provides education professionals with safe schools free of anti-LGBTQ+ bias and intolerance. On its back, a scan code provides a link to websites with other resources for educators who want to learn more about how to better support their LGBTQ students.

Hold it right there!

Wait a second are they claiming that the NEA has sexually explicit materiel on their website?

What political party does
this flag represents?

That having a "Safe Space" is somehow sexual?

This is where the right-wingers goes wacko! They think that anything LGBTQ+ is sexually explicit. They think that gay man just by saying “My husbands…” is sexually explicit, they think that drag queens are sexually explicit. That is how warped their minds are!

They think we are like some wild rutting animal. Sex! Sex! Sex! That is all we do. They can’t get it out to their little twisted head that it doesn’t all revolve around “SEX” that we like to go to out to dinner with our partner and friends that it isn’t a big orgy. That we just want to live our lives.

They also think that being LGBTQ is a choice, that one day we wake up say… “Oh I want to be gay!”

Research shows that LGBTQ youth who live in a community that is accepting of queer and trans people report “significantly lower rates” of attempting suicide when compared to those who do not.

They twist that around by accusing us of being “mentally unstable” like some fiend from a horror movie, they did see that it their animosity against us is the cause. When people tell you that you are a pervert, sick, and evil it has a profound impact on the children, they see themselves doing “god’s work” in telling us that we are going to hell!

They want to stifle any discussion about LGBTQ and stick their heads in the sand making us go away. 

---

This is how warped their little minds are… safe space equals sexual explicit material!

You don’t believe me?

Here is another article about it from a local news station WBNS Channel 10,

A group of eight parents have filed a lawsuit against the Hilliard City School District claiming "activist teachers" are having "intimate conversations" with students about sexual behaviors or attitudes.

According to the filing with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, these conversations are taking place with children as young as 6 years old without consent and the teachers are taking steps to hide them from parents.

The lawsuit claims these events are "a recipe for indoctrination and child abuse."

The parents claim they have filed the lawsuit after the district's legal counsel refused to explain the policy on these matters. 

So according to these “good” parents that if a six year asks a woman teacher about her “husband” the teacher either refuses to answer… “I take the Fifth on the grounds I might get fired for what I say.” or she zippers her lips.

What does that teach the children?

1. It is something that is sinful being LGBTQ and something not to talk about.
2. If they are LGBTQ then they think that something is wrong with them.
3. That it is okay to pick on and bully people who are different.
4. That we will no longer exist because no one can talk about… they force us back in the closet.

Is that what we want to teach our children?

We Can’t Even Get A Vote

The Equality Act has been stalled in Congress for ages, the Republicans have been blocking it. They want to be able to discriminate against people who are different from them.

Dutch Senate expands constitutional ban on discrimination
AP News
By Mike Corder
January 17, 2023


THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch Senate on Tuesday approved an amendment to the country’s constitution, expanding its first article to specifically ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or disability, a move hailed as historic by rights groups.

The constitution’s updated Article 1 mandates that all people in the country must be treated equally and that “discrimination on the basis of religion, belief, political opinion, race, gender, disability, sexual orientation or on any other basis is not allowed.”

Astrid Oosenbrug, chair of the country’s COC gay rights organization, called the vote “a historic victory for the rainbow community and a crown on years of work” by the group.

She said it was “an emotional moment when, after all these years, the Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of constitutional recognition this afternoon. At last, LGBTI+ rights are proudly mentioned in Article 1 and are no longer concealed.”

In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize gay marriage, but members of its LGBTQ community continue to suffer verbal and sometimes physical abuse in this country that has long been seen as a bastion of tolerance.

The Republicans said “Nyet” to the Equality bill. They don’t want anything to do with it. They think that it is their god given right to discriminate.

What I’ve Been Saying

If you follow my posts you know that I have said many times that Republicans just make up healthcare procedures for us. There has never been a case of a trans child* having anything that wasn’t reversible done to them as minors, it is only after the age of consent that procedures that are not reversible are preformed.

Guest opinon: Do legislators even understand minor transgender health care?
Daily Herald
By Brianna Cluck
January 17, 2023


Recently Utah house bill HB132 was introduced to the legislature. This bill, “Prohibiting Sex Transitioning Procedures On Minors” is an ill-informed bill based, not out of fact, but out of a fear and resentment for our transgender community.

It’s important to emphasize that “sex transitioning procedures on minors” are vanishingly rare. Section VI of the World Professional Association on Transgender Health (WPATH) standards of care lays out the treatment process for transgender minors

The majority of this treatment is therapy and social support. Medical interventions in youths are typically restricted to puberty suppressing medication of the same kind used to address early periods, growth plate disorders and other puberty-related conditions.

While hormone therapy is an option for minors, the standards of care state that hormone therapy can only occur in two cases:

• The minor is no longer a minor and still maintains a transgender identity.
• The minor has reached the age of medical consent for the state in which they live and have been on puberty blockers in conjunction with therapy for a minimum of 4 years to determine persistence in identity.

But the Republicans continue to lie and create indignation over doctors who treat us and they continue to push the envelope to see how much of a draconian law they can push through!

Moreover, HB132 comes with the precedence of other states who have attempted similar restrictions. For example, the Oklahoma legislature has now proposed “the millstone act,” which would bar medical intervention in transgender people up to 26 years old, well into the age of majority. These bills ultimately come from a misunderstanding of the transgender population and a fear of transgender people, relying on a kind of boogeyman of transgender activists trying to “recruit” children, similar to how “the gay agenda” was portrayed in the 2000s.

They know that the people don’t know anything medical procedures for trans children so they keep pushing the lies for votes and donations.

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*There are a number of surgeries done on babies just a day or a few days old, intersex babies without their consent had sex change surgeries (I say sex change surgery because these babies have no say in the matter and research has shown that to be wrong.) but the Republicans have no problems with doing the surgery.

Saying Anything.

The newest Republican poster boy Rep. Santos lied to the trans community… no surprise here!

Santos, as ‘Anthony Devolder,’ Pushed Transgender Voters to G.O.P. in 2019
A year before George Santos first ran for Congress, he appeared at an L.G.B.T.Q. event using one of his alternate identities.
New York Times
By Michael Gold
January 14, 2023


Months before beginning his first, and unsuccessful, bid for Congress, George Santos appeared at an event that urged members of the L.G.B.T.Q. community to leave the Democratic Party and embrace Republicans and Donald J. Trump, who was president at the time.

“My name is Anthony Devolder,” he said, using a version of his full name, George Anthony Devolder Santos. Mr. Santos, who is gay, described himself as a New Yorker who recently formed a group, United for Trump, according to a newly surfaced video clip of the March 2019 event held by the conservative Walk Away foundation.

He then addressed a conservative transgender YouTube star, asking her how she “can help educate other trans people from not having to follow the narrative that the media and the Democrats put forward.”

It looks like he was lying to all the minority communities, he lied to the Jewish community, lied about founding an animal charity, he lied about his mother dying of cancer, and he lied about hiring victims of the Pulse Night Club slaughter. He lied to gain sympathy of any group he thinks he could get him votes.

And the Republicans in Congress will do nothing about because “He’s our guy” and complaining about  Santos violates a Republican Commandment, “Thou shall not talk badly of a fellow Republican.”

“As a gay man, I stand proudly behind not teaching our children sex or sexual orientation,” Mr. Santos said.

Based On Lies

The right-wingers like to go undercover in “Gotcha” often which backfire on them lately.

Fairfax School Board Candidate Pretends to Be Parent of Transgender Child in Call to Clinic
Republican Jeff Hoffmann recorded himself lying about his identity on a call with the Inova Pride Clinic, which offers medical care for transgender people
News4
By Drew Wilder, Northern Virginia Reporter
January 16, 2023


A candidate running for the Fairfax County School Board is receiving criticism for a video he shared on social media of himself pretending to be a parent of a transgender child.

Republican Jeff Hoffmann recorded himself lying about his identity on a call with the Inova Pride Clinic, which offers medical care for transgender people. Hoffmann seemingly made the recording in an attempt to draw connections between the school district and the clinic.

"I have a … I used to say beautiful boy. I'm the stepfather," he says to the receptionist during the phone call, which Hoffmann posted to Twitter.

During the phone call, Hoffmann positions himself as a concerned stepfather doing research about the clinic, but then pivots to making implications an LGBTQ ally group for school staff and students called FCPS Pride is sending students to the clinic for gender conversion therapy.

[…]

Hoffmann told News4 by phone on Monday that he lied to the receptionist about having a transgender child in an attempt to get information about the clinic.

Yup, Republicans have no qualms about lying.

Here is what the station said on air,

Republican Jeff Hoffmann, who is campaigning for a seat on the Fairfax County School Board, recorded himself lying about his identity on a call with the Inova Pride Clinic, seemingly in an attempt to draw connections between the school district and the clinic. News4’s Drew Wilder reports.

They have done this aggressive editing in the past, with ACORN, abortion clinics, and other trans healthcare clinics. 

Snowbirds

Are you a snowbird?

What happens when you are a retired LGBTQ+ senior and you don’t want to go to Florida for the winter because of their persecution of us. Where can you go? Texas? No they are in competition with Florida on which state can pass the most draconian legislation against us. Arizona? It is one option but it is a purple state with the Republicans wishing to be like Texas and Florida. California? Now there’s a possibility.

When The Snowbirds Settle: Senior LGBTQ Retirement Development Opens In Palm Springs
Lavender

By Aurora Smith
December 15, 2022


When the snows fall in the winter, some folks in our local community decide it’s time to fly south for the winter. Affectionately known as “snowbirds,” these folks are lucky enough to be able to exchange the cold for warmer climates like Florida, Arizona, and the Coachella Valley in California.

And someday — they might decide to roost in these warmer areas permanently.

One such warmer area that’s popular for snowbirds is Palm Springs. For LGBTQ folks looking for a supportive community in this locale, we’re delighted to introduce you to Living Out.

I know a gay man who moved there but I can see one big drawback… $$$$$.

It is very expensive.

Why LGBTQ Retirement Housing is Essential

Studies show that up to a third of LGBTQ seniors fear having to “re-closet” themselves due to their living situations as they age. Whether that’s because they might have to move in with less understanding relatives, they become separated from their partner, or they feel they need to hide photos that represent the memory of their husband or wife, it’s a real and valid fear.

That’s where Living Out comes in. This is a senior community in Palm Springs that’s intentionally designed to “provide a safe, joyful living environment for LGBTQ seniors to continue to live and love out and proud.”

[…]

Living Out Palm Springs will also provide onsite and virtual concierge services to meet the needs of all its residents.

Yup, this is definitively for “GAY INC.”

My brother and sister-in-law are snowbirds, every winter after New Years they pack up and head south. They rent a small condo a couple of blocks from the Gulf for 3 months.

My brother’s one complaint is that they are all Trump supporters, he said I have learned to keep my mouth shut. “These are hardline MAGA.” I wondered how the snowbirds from the mid-west would deal with me?

So where can the average retired LGBTQ working slob go for the winter?

I googled it.

The website Snowbird Advisor has an article “Top Destinations for LGBTQ Snowbirds” and they list,

Florida offers a variety of LGBTQ-friendly destinations.

Ft. Lauderdale

Ft. Lauderdale on Florida’s Atlantic coast has long been a beacon for gay men in particular. There is a thriving community here and the population grows each winter as more and more LGBTQ arrive. 

St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg on Florida’s Gulf coast has a considerable resident population of both gay men and gay women. There is definitely a sense of community with various events and celebrations for the LGBTQ crowd and this has made St. Pete’s a draw for LGBTQ snowbirds.

Key West

Key West has a well-known reputation for its gay friendly atmosphere. It has long been a haven for artists, writers and gay-cation goers who seek the calm, relaxing pace of the Keys.

Then they list Palm Springs and Honolulu along with Puerto Vallarta Mexico.

Like most articles they say LGBTQ but what they really mean is gays and lesbians.

Lets look at another article,

7 GAY FRIENDLY WINTER SUN DESTINATIONS YOU CAN’T MISS

If you love warm temperatures and are a sun-seeker all year round, especially when it comes to vacations, then there is good news for you! There are countless places in the world where you can spend your gay holidays in the warmth. Even during winter, say, between December and February.

In this guide, I will tell you about the most beautiful gay friendly winter sun destinations where you will find safe and enjoyable places for LGBT community members. I hope you’ll find the perfect getaway for you!

Here is another LGBT article when they really is once again, gays and lesbians.

South Florida – Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Key West

Mexico – Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Puerto Vallarta

Brazil – Rio de Janeiro

Um… Brazil is a country with one of the highest murders of trans people!

The article goes on to list other destination around the world that are clearly out of my price range!

There have been some problems with LGBTQ cruises, a Ru Paul cruise had pushback from the cruise line,

One passenger reported receiving this email from Carnival:

Carnival attracts a number of families with children and for this reason; we strive to present a family friendly atmosphere. It is important to us that all guests are comfortable with every aspect of the cruise. Although we realize this group consists solely of adults, we nonetheless expect all guests to recognize that minors are onboard and, refrain from engaging in inappropriate conduct in public areas.

Arrangements have been made for drag performances in the main theater featuring stars from LOGO TV. These functions will be private and only the performers are permitted to dress in drag while in the theater. Guests are not allowed to dress in drag for the performances or in public areas at any time during the cruise.

Carnival said any passenger who breaks the rules will be forced off the ship, no refunds given.

~~~~~~~~

Why I am a little leery when they only talk about gays and lesbians in their articles.

Because for most lesbians and gays when they can assimilate in to society but for many trans people we are easily identified as trans and that could be a problem.

Even in “Gay” towns like Provincetown and Ogunquit  trans people can have problems. I had problems in both towns. In Provincetown MA a while back when I was up there with a group of friends we were not waited on, after sitting at a table for twenty minutes and not getting waited on we got the message and left, and we even had the town’s first selectman in our party (and he was pissed!). Another time in P’town I was harassed by a group of gay smokers outside of a Tea Dance.

In Ogunquit ME the bouncer at the door didn’t want to let us in she said it was a lesbian dance and when we were finally let in after refusing to leave the bouncer said not to use the dance floor. When we sat down on the patio all the women around the other tables got up and moved away. It wasn’t until the lesbians we were with came in and sat down at our table that the other women started filling up the tables around us.

There are some Caribbean islands where being LGBTQ is still a crime. So beware and research you travel plans to see how accepting they are of trans people even if they say that they are “LGBTQ” friendly.

No Looking Ahead

[Editorial]

There is a shortage of trade people, by that I mean carpenters, electricians, plumbers, welders, and people who do things in their hands. Have you ever tried to hire an electrician lately?

The government is building more submarines, more aircraft, more ammunition, they are giving incentives to bring back semiconductor manufacturing here. New Lithium mines are being started for better or worst. Industry is hiring! It is a workers market.

I was waiting for my take out order from a local seafood restaurant and I overheard a table of college age people talking. They must have been college seniors and they were talking about job prospects. A couple of the kids were talking about getting jobs where they can work from home. Getting a job where you can work from home seems to be the current prize on the merry-go-round.

Call me old fashion but I think for college students they are dumb. The new “golden job” are computer programming jobs and yes there is a great demand for them, but as we just saw with layoffs in silicon valley they are big bucks job but they are also volatile. With all the IT layoffs from Meta, Apple, Twitter there will be an awful lots of laid-off IT people out there getting a job will be very competitive.

I was a desk jockey for 35 years working in manufacturing, I was, a technician, an engineer, and then department supervisor. We built stuff! And if we want to excel as a national we have to bring back manufacturing jobs here. No work at home jobs, these are get your hands dirty type jobs, all most all of it should handled by automation.

There will be many jobs to keep the machines running, people have to maintain the robots, and design them. Many of the jobs will not be IT jobs but the type of jobs where you have to get your hands dirty and not work from home.

In the future the jobs will be in either the trades or in manufacturing, work at home will be a dying fad and only for a slim portion of the job market. Read Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano that he wrote in 1952 and automation, he nailed it! Wikipedia writes,

Player Piano is the first novel by American writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr., published in 1952. The novel depicts a dystopia of automation partly inspired by the author's time working at General Electric, describing the negative impact technology can have on quality of life. The story takes place in a near-future society that is almost totally mechanized, eliminating the need for human laborers.

We need to plan for the long term not just for "Today" 

[/Editorial]

They’re Here!

That was spoken in Poltergeist (1982) but now it is about the “Parental Rights” bills have been introduced in the Connecticut legislature this session.

HB 5270 AN ACT CONCERNING PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION

HB 5274 AN ACT ESTABLISHING A SCOPE OF REVIEW PROCESS FOR THE ADOPTION OF NEW CURRICULUM GUIDES AND MATERIALS AND PROVIDING FOR LEGISLATIVE APPOINTMENTS TO THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.

Both of them are doozies!

(Note both of them are proposed legislation so the bills haven’t been roughed out.)

HB5270
1 That chapter 170 of the general statutes be amended to require a local
2 or regional board of education to make all curriculum materials
3 approved by such board for use in grades kindergarten to twelve,
4 inclusive, available on such board's Internet web site and to allow for a
5 period of public comment at all regular or special meetings of such
6 board.

This just adds another level of bureaucracy! Added a topic as innocuous what music is to be used in a music appreciation class will have to go before the boards of education!

Then there is “What happens is someone objects?” can one person force a change, or will their be a vote by those at the board of education hearings, or will it have to be a town referendum?

Then we have,

HB5274
1 That chapter 163 of the general statutes be amended to (1) create a
2 scope of review process for the adoption of curriculum guides and
3 materials that includes (A) public comment on any newly developed
4 curriculum guides and materials under consideration by the State Board
5 of Education, and (B) submission of such curriculum guides and
6 materials to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly
7 having cognizance of matters relating to education for approval
8 following a public hearing on such curriculum guides and materials by
9 such committee prior to the adoption and implementation of such
10 curriculum guides and materials by the state board; and (2) provide an
11 appointment to the State Board of Education for each of the six<
12 legislative leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

This is another stupid bill!

Talk about bureaucracy!

So if you want to add the “Grand Canyon Suite” to the list of songs played in music appreciation class, first it will have to be approved by the board of education, then it has to be be open to public comments, then it will have to be voted on by the General Assembly!

STUPID!

STUPID!

It will take over a year to get new songs to be approved! On the odd years the General Assembly meets for five months and the even years they meet only for four months. Then the General Assembly would have to take time to debate the changes.

Why?

It is all because the Republicans don’t want anything about race being taught! Nor anything about LGBTQ+ be taught in class!

What would happen if parents don’t want anything about 1921 Tulsa race massacre, or the Jim Crow laws, or about Stonewall, or the fact that Chinese couldn’t become citizens which would put it direct opposition to Connecticut non-discrimination laws!

The Kids Know.

All these anti-trans laws, the children know that they are bogus. When you are with trans children all day you get to know us as a person not some vague idea presented by ideologues.

Expect More Right-Wing Anti-Trans, Anti-"Critical Race Theory" Pushes in 2023 – and 2024
In this op-ed, political scientist Zein Murib explains the Republican legislative focus on trans people and “Critical Race Theory.”
TeenVogue
By Zein Murib
January 6, 2023


Republican candidates tried to make the 2022 midterm elections a referendum on health care for transgender youth, drag queen story time at public libraries, and critical race theory (CRT). Although the anticipated “red wave” failed to materialize in November, many of the most vehemently anti-trans and anti-CRT candidates won gubernatorial races in Florida, Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. And with Donald Trump announcing his third presidential run and making anti-trans discourse a central part of that announcement, it is safe to assume, as we approach the 2024 presidential election, we haven’t seen the end of using trans lives and an anti-racist curriculum as political footballs. 

[…]

Since 2020, however, Republicans at all levels of government have politicized transgender people, especially trans kids. They have introduced and in some states passed legislation that bans transgender girls from sports, which legalizes discrimination based on the fallacy that these laws protect non-transgender girls by ensuring fairness in sports. They have also sought to criminalize doctors who provide health care to transgender youth, even though the American Academy of Pediatrics describes these interventions as vital health care. 

But we are not the only targets of the right-wing conservatives… other minorities.

This is where the connection to anti-CRT legislation becomes clear. In most cases, anti-trans legislation and policies are passed in the same places where bans on teaching the history and legacies of slavery in the US are passed. The people who want these bills passed argue that they are protecting young people from feeling distress over the history of slavery in the US and its enduring legacies. For example, one school district in North Texas recently voted yes on a policy that would ban teaching “gender fluidity,” no longer require teachers to use a student’s pronouns when they do not correspond to their sex assigned at birth (even when requested by parents), and eliminate “equity audits” designed to ensure that school curriculum reflects the racial, cultural, and socioeconomic composition of the school district.

There is a song from the musical South Pacific that goes, “You've got to be taught to hate and fear” and that is what these anti-LGBTQ and anti-CRT are doing, they are teaching the children to discriminate against those who are different. The song goes on to sing,

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade
You've got to be carefully taught

And that is what all these Republican laws are doing teaching the children that it is okay to bully others  who skin is a different shade than their’s, or who loves differently from them, or those who see gender as a spectrum instead of binary.

Scholars and pundits are still unpacking the 2022 midterm election results. But we already know that the historic youth turnout helped Democrats secure victories. This means that young people are now in a position to demand that Democrats show up for issues they care about: protecting transgender youth, queer folks, and ensuring that young people learn American history that is rooted in facts. 

Back in the sixties and early seventies it was the youth that got us out of Vietnam, today it will be the youth to get us out of the quagmire that we are now in.

You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate—
You’ve got to be carefully taught!
You’ve got to be carefully taught!

VOTE!
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The NCTE had this to say about the TeenVogue article in a January 14 Facebook post…

In Teen Vogue, Zein Murib explains how attempts to criminalize trans lives and censor the reality of racism are deeply connected. Extremist lawmakers have chosen to attack trans people and censor our classrooms, and it's always been clear that racism and transphobia are closely related. 

"Since 2020, Republicans at all levels of government have politicized transgender people, especially trans kids. They have introduced and in some states passed legislation that bans transgender girls from sports, which legalizes discrimination based on the fallacy that these laws protect non-transgender girls by ensuring fairness in sports. They have also sought to criminalize doctors who provide health care to transgender youth, even though the American Academy of Pediatrics describes these interventions as vital health care. 

Proponents suggest that these laws and policies will protect young people, but, in a version of a question I am always asking students to consider, which young people? Here, the answer lies in the claim that banning trans girls from sports will preserve fairness for non-trans girls. These contradicting goals — protecting non-trans girls by passing laws that will harm trans girls — reveal the aim of these bills is to preserve binary gender norms through the stigmatization and erasure of all those who do not conform. Digging further, because gender norms intersect with white supremacy to elevate white beauty standards for girls and women, these bills implicitly elevate the interests of white [cis] girls. 

This is where the connection to anti-CRT legislation becomes clear. In most cases, anti-trans legislation and policies are passed in the same places where bans on teaching the history and legacies of slavery in the US are passed."

---

Right now I am at a zoom meeting for the Governor’s council on hate crimes, later in the week the LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network, one of my concerns for the network is that it is being steered by the large Pride centers in the state.

My concern is that the network will be dominated by the larger pride centers and the smaller LGBTQ organizations will not have a voice. When I was director of CTAC it was hard to have the voice of the trans community heard, now that I am representing LGBTQ Aging Advocacy it is even harder for the LGBTQ seniors and trans communities to be head. That it will become the voice of "GAY Inc."

Simple Things Bring Big Rewards

I learned this in 2010 when I was on the Safe School committee where we were looking for ways to cut bullying in schools. In a 2005 paper “Creating a peaceful school learning environment: the impact of an antibullying program on educational attainment in elementary schools” in Medical Science Monitor I quoted,

Implement intervention strategies specific to aggressive children. Approaches to intervention with aggressive students and their victims fall into five general categories: (a) behavior management; (b) self-control strategies; (c) social skills training; (d) information processing; and (e) cognitive perspective taking.

Which brings me to an article in UpWorthy…

Researchers studied kindergarteners' behavior and followed up 19 years later. Here are the findings.
Every parent wants to see their kid get good grades in school. But now we know social success is just as important.
By Evan Porter
January 12, 2023


Every parent wants to see their kid get good grades in school. But now we know social success is just as important.

From an early age, we're led to believe our grades and test scores are the key to everything — namely, going to college, getting a job, and finding that glittery path to lifelong happiness and prosperity.

It can be a little stressful.

But a study showed that when children learn to interact effectively with their peers and control their emotions, it can have an enormous impact on how their adult lives take shape. And according to the study, kids should be spending more time on these skills in school.

That is what the 2005 paper found, early intervention can prevent life long anti-social behavior.

2. Skills like sharing and cooperating pay off later in life.

We know we need to look beyond GPA and state-mandated testing to figure out which kids are on the right path. That's why the researchers zeroed in so heavily on that social competency score.

What they found probably isn't too surprising: Kids who related well to their peers, handled their emotions better, and were good at resolving problems went on to have more successful lives.

What's surprising is just how strong the correlation was.

An increase of a single point in social competency score showed a child would be 54% more likely to earn a high school diploma, twice as likely to graduate with a college degree, and 46% more likely to have a stable, full-time job at age 25.

The kids who were always stealing toys, breaking things, and having meltdowns? More likely to have run-ins with the law and substance abuse problems.

The study couldn't say for sure that strong or poor social skills directly cause any of these things. But we can say for sure that eating too much glue during arts and crafts definitely doesn't help.

3. Social behaviors can be learned and unlearned — meaning it's never too late to change.

The researchers called some of these pro-social behaviors like sharing and cooperating "malleable," or changeable.

Let's face it: Some kids are just never going to be rocket scientists. Turns out there are physical differences in our brains that make learning easier for some people than others. But settling disputes with peers? That's something kids (and adults) can always continue to improve on.

And guess what? For a lot of kids, these behaviors come from their parents. The more you're able to demonstrate positive social traits like warmth and empathy, the better off your kids will be.

So can we all agree to stop yelling at people when they take the parking spot we wanted?

Early intervention for socially inapt can make a big difference, it ended bullying, and violence later in life.

Still, the 19-year study paints a pretty clear picture: Pro-social behavior matters, even at a young age. And because it can be learned, it's a great "target for prevention or intervention efforts."

The bottom line? We need to do more than just teach kids information. We need to invest in teaching them how to relate to others and how to handle the things they're feeling inside.

Ignoring social skills in our curricula could have huge ramifications for our kids down the road.

My conclusion in my paper  was,

From the research it is clear that a broad approach to end bullying is needed, that the focus cannot just be on the bully or just the school, but it must be focused on the whole community. That there has to be a wholesale intervention to bring about a change in culture that involves the community, parents, school administration, teachers and students in order to stop the bullying. In addition, it must be an ongoing process and not just a onetime intervention.

Regrets.

I have a lot of regrets that I have accumulated over the seventy plus years but one of them isn’t that I transitioned. But some have and the latest high profile detransitionor was the former Chris Beck who is now the poster child for the right-wing media.

Today I want to discuss detransitioning and regrets.

First off…

The medical term for transgender is “Gender Dysphoria” and the DSM 5 TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) ) defines it as...

The DSM-5-TR defines gender dysphoria in adolescents and adults as a marked incongruence between one’s experienced/expressed gender and their assigned gender, lasting at least 6 months, as manifested by at least two of the following:

A marked incongruence between one’s experienced/expressed gender and primary and/or secondary sex characteristics (or in young adolescents, the anticipated secondary sex characteristics)

A strong desire to be rid of one’s primary and/or secondary sex characteristics because of a marked incongruence with one’s experienced/expressed gender (or in young adolescents, a desire to prevent the development of the anticipated secondary sex characteristics)

A strong desire for the primary and/or secondary sex characteristics of the other gender

A strong desire to be of the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one’s assigned gender)

A strong desire to be treated as the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one’s assigned gender)

A strong conviction that one has the typical feelings and reactions of the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one’s assigned gender)

The code for Gender Dysphoria is 302.6 Gender Identity Disorder in Children and 302.85 Gender Identity Disorder in Adolescents and Adults.

[Side Bar:

There is a lot of misunderstanding of about the DSM, some people say it is a list of “mental disorders” it IS NOT! It is a list of “stuff” a therapist might want to bill an insurance company.

Suppose a client comes in saying “I am so embarrassed that I wet my bed at night that I’m afraid of going on sleepovers with my friends.”

Is that a “mental disorders,” no it is not but it is something that you might want to talk about talk about with your therapist. So the therapist pulls out their trusty copy of the DSM and looks in to it and finds 307.6 and it is even broken down to during the day or while sleeping. So the therapist sends a bill to the insurance company saying my client is suffering from 307.6.

That is the purpose of the DSM. (Of course now that I Googled searched for this I am getting all types of ads for incontinence products.]

The therapist listens and ask question, a therapist does not steers the client in any direction they are a guide. So when you say that “I’m trans” he or she should ask probing questions to help them diagnose you properly. If the therapist is trying to steer you in one direction or another get another therapist.

There have been some studies on detranistioning. 

The Amsterdam Cohort of Gender Dysphoria Study (1972–2015): Trends in Prevalence, Treatment, and Regrets
The Journal of Sexual Medicine
Volume 15, Issue 4, April 2018


Background

Over the past decade, the number of people referred to gender identity clinics has rapidly increased. This raises several questions, especially concerning the frequency of performing gender-affirming treatments with irreversible effects and regret from such interventions.

Aim

To study the current prevalence of gender dysphoria, how frequently gender-affirming treatments are performed, and the number of people experiencing regret of this treatment.

[…]

Conclusion

The number of people with gender identity issues seeking professional help increased dramatically in recent decades. The percentage of people who regretted gonadectomy remained small and did not show a tendency to increase.

PubMed the online research website for the U.S, National Institute of Health has a 2021 study, Regret after Gender-affirmation Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Prevalence and they found that,

Results:

A total of 27 studies, pooling 7928 transgender patients who underwent any type of GAS, were included. The pooled prevalence of regret after GAS was 1% (95% CI <1%–2%). Overall, 33% underwent transmasculine procedures and 67% transfemenine procedures. The prevalence of regret among patients undergoing transmasculine and transfemenine surgeries was <1% (IC <1%–<1%) and 1% (CI <1%–2%), respectively. A total of 77 patients regretted having had GAS. Twenty-eight had minor and 34 had major regret based on Pfäfflin’s regret classification. The majority had clear regret based on Kuiper and Cohen-Kettenis classification.

Conclusions:

Based on this review, there is an extremely low prevalence of regret in transgender patients after GAS. We believe this study corroborates the improvements made in regard to selection criteria for GAS. However, there is high subjectivity in the assessment of regret and lack of standardized questionnaires, which highlight the importance of developing validated questionnaires in this population.

All surgeries have patients that have regrets, gallbladder surgery has about 1% of the patients that report regrets. While plastic surgery has regrets in the 60 to 65% range but you don’t hear legislators trying to ban those types of surgeries.

But still the right-wing conservative media holds up these people who have detransitioned as being common among trans people.

I have personally know three or four people who detransitioned and read about some other and I came up with three reasons why trans people detransition.

1.     Transitioning wasn’t right for them.
2.     Family and social pressures, including religious pressure.
3.     Economic pressure, they can’t find a job.

Let's go back and look at the definition of Gender Dysphoria… “a marked incongruence between one’s experienced/expressed gender and their assigned gender at birth,” Now ask yourself do you think those who have detransitioned no longer have Gender Dysphoria? Or is it because the gender bug wasn’t strong enough in them to transition?

Saturday 9: Hurting Each Other

Sam’s Saturday 9: Hurting Each Other (1972)

On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This week's song was written by Gary Geld and Peter Udell, who also wrote 1962's "Sealed with a Kiss." What was in the last envelope you sealed?

A check.

2) In "Hurting Each Other," Karen Carpenter sings she wishes she and her lover could stop making each other cry. Have you most recently shed a tear in the last week, the last month, or longer ago than that?

At a friend’s funeral, she died suddenly from an infection two years ago.

3) One of the Carpenters' first records was a cover of the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride." Both Karen and Richard were huge fans and nervous about how the Beatles would react to their version. They were thrilled to learn that Paul McCartney responded by saying Karen had "one of the best female voices in the world." Tell us some news you received recently that brightened your day.

It has been pretty dull around here. I don’t think that the sun has shown no more than a couple hours all week.

4) Karen died in 1983, but her musical partner and big brother Richard is still with us. He has said he grew up a big fan Top 40 radio, listening every morning as he got ready for school and every afternoon while doing homework. When you were a kid, did you like to study with music or the TV on? Or would you prefer quiet?

Um… first you have to assume that I didn’t procrastinate in doing my homework. I tried everything and nothing worked music, TV, quite.

5) Karen and Richard spent their teen years in Downey, California. It has the distinction of being home to the nation's oldest, still-operating McDonald's. It's been on the same site on Lakewood Blvd. since 1953. Tell us about a business in your neighborhood that seems to have always been right there, in that spot.

There was a bakery that was just a short bike ride away. For holidays my mother used to order fresh homemade pies, after school we stopped by there for donuts that he seemed to always have ready when the school bus dropped us off. Then in the summer there was the novelty ice cream, I always went for the ice cream sandwich.

6) The siblings may have had a squeaky clean public image, but Richard did have a brush with the law while in Downey. The Carpenter family lived for a time in an apartment complex, and one of their neighbors -- a policeman -- objected to Richard "banging on the piano" at all hours. When did you most recently interact with an officer of the law?

I can’t remember… probably the car accident 3 or 4 years ago.

7) In 1972, when this song was popular, Mark Spitz was America's premier Olympian, winning seven Gold Medals. A poster of Spitz wearing his red, white and blue swim trunks and all seven medals was a top seller. Can you recall a poster that decorated your bedroom wall when you were a kid?

They were all black light psychedelic posters.

8) Also in 1972, Liza Minnelli was encouraging us to "come to the cabaret." Without looking it up, do you know who Liza's famous parents were?

I think her father was Minnelli… that’s the best I can do.

9) Random question: Are you a better student or teacher?

Teacher, I loved when I took over the classroom for my presentation.

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

Nailed It!

I was watching the PBS NewsHour last Friday and the had a commentary by David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart discussing the House vote for the House Speaker, here are the transcripts of the discussion…

Amna Nawaz:

So, it took four days, over a dozen rounds of votes for Kevin McCarthy to just break the logjam, to try to work towards getting the votes to become speaker. He hasn't done it yet, as we sit here and speak right now.

But, David, let's talk about the holdouts, the ones who have consistently, the small number of members who consistently oppose him and still do. Are they just anti-McCarthy? Are they never going to back him?

David Brooks:

I don't think they're anti-McCarthy.

I think there's two schools. Chip Roy, who was earlier in the program, a congressman with a goatee, he does want to change the rules. And there's a case to be made that Congress needs reform. Most of them are not like that.

And, in my view, it's wrong to call them very conservative. There are a lot of Republicans who are very conservative. These are nihilists. They came here, and they're quite open about that, especially with their friends, and they say, we just want to burn the place down.

And we normally think, those of us who go in even journalism or go into political life, for sure, that you have some positive agenda, like, you want to do something good for the country. That is absent in these people. It's a posture of rejection, a posture of negativity.

And so they just want to be negative, be oppositional, and then go on TV and say everyone else has screwed up. And so this is a form of nihilism that is in the Republican Party. It's certainly in the conservative media sphere. Tucker Carlson was very much on these guys' side.

And it's something really that's a menace to the health of that party.

They want to tear the government down. They are anarchist. They believe that they can rebuild the government in their image.

Here we are stuck in a stalemate both sides not giving. Then Trump steps in and all of a sudden we have a speaker! No tell me that wasn't a setup? Trump popularity has been dropping since the elections and now he gets a shot in the arm. Those ten or so anarchist are going to blackmail the United States government and the Congress.

Jonathan Capehart:

Yes.

I mean, there's nothing to add really to what David said. I mean, the fact that there's going to be another vote maybe tonight, maybe tonight, he really — McCarthy breaks the logjam and gets the that he needs. But nihilists don't care about the schedule. They don't care about the timetable. They don't care that folks won't get paychecks because there's no officially no Congress. They want to blow stuff up.

And what better way to blow stuff up than to, with each vote, destroy the dreams, hopes and aspirations of Kevin McCarthy?

They don’t care as long as they get their way.

Gazing into my crystal ball, I foresee them holding up all the budget bill until they get their way.

I foresee a rash of misogynistic anti-abortion bills.

I foresee a rash of anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ bills, I wouldn’t even be surprised to see ant-Drag Queen bill.

I foresee a rash of hearings on President Biden's family, on southern border, the Afghanistan withdrawal, the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Justice, and the FBI in the search of Trump’s estate.

Jonathan Capehart:

At this point, no.

The rules package that they just released moments ago, whoever the next speaker is, is going to be beholden to the Freedom Caucus, beholden to these nihilists.

I foresee, some Republican challenging the Speaker and the vote for the new speaker will be a Democrat or a moderate Republican because they will be fed up with their cr*p.

The Republican party has sold its soul to the devil.

Domestic Tranquility

[Editorial]

What happens when two parts of our Constitution are in conflict? Which section wins.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

What happens when an amendment is in opposition to the Preamble to the Constitution?

What about my right to live without violence? Supreme Court decisions on guns harm survivors.
The damage of gun violence is a spreading blight on American society. It affects not only the victims but also their survivors, who must live with emotional loss and psychic trauma indefinitely.
USA Today
By Richard Alba Opinion contributor
December 27, 2022


I have lived since the age of 2 with the damage inflicted by a gun death.

My father was killed while serving in the U.S. military in late 1945 by another soldier test-firing his souvenir Luger in a barracks. I can still feel the powerful reverberations of that shot. It immediately threw the life of what remained of my family onto a much more difficult trajectory – less upwardly mobile, much less happy – than it had been on before. 

[…]

Recent Supreme Court decisions have torqued that difficulty. The District of Columbia v. Heller decision of 2008 established for the first time an individual right to gun ownership and invalidated a widespread previous understanding that the Second Amendment referred to a collective "right of the people," organized in a “well regulated Militia.” 

Justice Antonin Scalia’s majority opinion offers a tutorial on the conservative doctrine of originalism, as he strove to demonstrate the general acceptance in the 18th and 19th centuries of the principle that guns are necessary for individual self-defense.

But there is a glaring lack of balance in the opinion because Scalia, while admitting limits on Second Amendment rights in the abstract, provides no systematic reasoning or principles that might help us establish where the individual’s right to gun ownership ends and the right of the community to live without the constant threat of gun violence begins.

I have heard that some trans people are nervous about going out in public because of all the attacks on LGBTQ nightclubs. Some are anxious about going to public spaces like malls.

The damage of gun violence is a spreading blight on American society. It affects not only the victims themselves but also their survivors, who must live with emotional loss and psychic trauma indefinitely. 

In refusing to consider how to balance the Second Amendment’s right to gun ownership with the right of other citizens to live without the constant threat posed by ubiquitous weaponry, the court is contributing to the deterioration of the United States as a civilized society.

What is the cost of unfettered access to guns in the United States?

Now more and more states are going to permitless carry gun laws… it is the return of the wild west!

When I was driving through the Midwestern states you could drive for miles between homes, Bismark the capitol of North Dakota has a population of only around 75,000. just in the Bronx there are around 1.5 million people. It is totally insane to do away with concealed gun permits and to allow people to walk around with open-carry of guns.

The Preamble says to “Domestic Tranquility” what is tranquility?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary define tranquil as,

a: free from agitation of mind or spirit
b: free from disturbance or turmoil

Having someone shooting up a mall isn’t tranquil!

Having fear of going to a Pride event isn’t tranquil!

It is time for the courts to look at the whole Constitution not just a part of one sentence “...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

---

Update January 15, 2023

I just saw something on what Warren Burger said,

These are the kind of questions the American people must answer if we are to preserve the “domestic tranquillity” promised in the Constitution.

He wrote an article in the January 14, 1990 issue of Parade Magazine and said,

The Gun Lobby’s interpretation of the Second Amendment is one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word fraud, on the American People by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime. The real purpose of the Second Amendment was to ensure that state armies – the militia – would be maintained for the defense of the state. The very language of the Second Amendment refutes any argument that it was intended to guarantee every citizen an unfettered right to any kind of weapon he or she desires. 

[/Editorial]

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes.

The parents came to disrupt the meeting and not to let anyone speak at a school board meeting in Idaho, it is our god given right to be bigots.

Idaho School Board Meeting Erupts in Chaos Over LGBTQ-Inclusive Policy
Several residents of Caldwell, Idaho, said the policy would go against God's laws, and a state senator threatened board members with litigation.
The Advocate
By Trudy Ring
January 11, 2023


A school board meeting in Idaho to consider an LGBTQ-supportive policy devolved into chaos Monday night after a state senator threatened board members with litigation.

The Caldwell School Board presented a draft of the policy for public comment. It uses language from the Idaho School Boards Association and is one of 22 policies under consideration, Idaho Ed News reports. But it was the LGBTQ+ policy that attracted the most attention.

It would allow students to use the restrooms and locker rooms aligning with their gender identity, assure they would be addressed by their preferred pronouns, protect the privacy of their personal information, and assure their right to participate in overnight trips, dances, or other activities without discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Oh my… did that stir up a hornets nest!

The meeting drew an overflow crowd, with about 90 people packing the board room and more standing outside. The public comment period quickly became unruly, with most of the commenters speaking against the LGBTQ+ policy and many “speaking out of turn and yelling at the board,” TV station KTVB reports. “At one point when three Caldwell students went up to speak in succession, people began complaining.”

And of course there is god…

Many of the adults who spoke said the policy would endanger children, go against their religious principles and the will of God, and even “hasten the destruction of the United States,” KTVB reports.

And up against that animosity came three students speaking wisdom and calm.

Those three supported the policy, while one other student opposed it. One of the supportive students, Nicholas Mendez, offered this comment, according to Idaho Ed News: “We should be fighting for the rights of all people, even people that are different from yourself. Allowing LGBTQ+ students to use a bathroom that fits with their gender, be treated how they want to be treated, and be shown basic respect is not something I should be standing here fighting for. That should be something that is already established.”

It seems that the adults haven't learned that lesson.

---

I am so tried of reading “I am not against them, I don’t care what they do in the bedroom just as they don’t talk about it!”

Well mister and misses white straight American that by definition that is discrimination!

That is bigotry!

That is homophobia!

"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad." Part II

I thought that Florida couldn’t top banning a book on gay penguins… but they did! They banned a play about a play that was banned!

Students say Florida school play shut down over Don’t Say Gay
The show was about how detrimental censorship is. "I don’t need to point out the irony,” said one student.
LGBTQ Nation
By Greg Owen Monday
January 9, 2023


Students at a high school in Florida are pointing to the state’s Parental Rights in Education law, aka Don’t Say Gay, as the reason for the sudden cancellation of a long-scheduled drama department production.

The canceled play, Indecent by Paula Vogel, depicts the true story of another stage play called God of Vengeance, which was shut down in New York in 1923 on charges on indecency; the Broadway production of the Yiddish play depicted the first-ever onstage kiss between a lesbian couple in American theater.

The production at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville was scheduled last May and cast in December. Indecent was to premiere March 1, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the ill-fated Broadway show.

[…]

“Tonight during rehearsal our company was notified that the school board is shutting us down not because of, but related to the ideals stated in the Don’t Say Gay bill,” said Scotti. “They are trying to tell us this play is dirty, immoral, obscene, and, of course, indecent. And by that nature, they’re trying to tell me that I myself and my community is dirty, immoral, obscene, and indecent.”

Why is it dirty, immoral, obscene, and indecent, is it because the play discusses censorship?

Lets see what the two plays are about according to Wikipedia…

Indecent

Indecent is a 2015 play by Paula Vogel. It recounts the controversy surrounding the play God of Vengeance by Sholem Asch, which was produced on Broadway in 1923, and for which the producer and cast were arrested and convicted on the grounds of obscenity.[1]

Indecent was first produced in 2015. It had an Off-Broadway run in 2016, followed by a Broadway run in 2017 at the Cort Theatre. The play was nominated for three Tony Awards and won Best Direction of a Play for Rebecca Taichman and Lighting Design in a Play for Christopher Akerlind.

The Seagull

The Seagull (Russian: Ча́йка, tr. Cháyka) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. The Seagull is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises the romantic and artistic conflicts between four characters: the famous middlebrow story writer Boris Trigorin, the ingenue Nina, the fading actress Irina Arkadina, and her son the symbolist playwright Konstantin Treplev.

So they yanked a play that was nominated for a Tony Awards and won Best Direction of a Play for an unknown play from the 19th Century. It seems to be just like the books we were forced to read like 

Wuthering Heights and Great Expectations.

---

NPR reported on the play being yanked...

A play about censorship is censored — and free speech groups are fighting back
By Elizabeth Blair
January 11, 2023


PEN America and two other free speech groups are drawing national attention to Florida county school officials' decision to cancel a play that is itself about censorship.

Last week, Duval County Public School officials canceled a production of Paula Vogel's Indecent at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. Officials said the play about a play about a love affair between two women is "inappropriate," as reported by WJCT.

PEN America, along with The National Coalition Against Censorship and the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund released a statement condemning the decision and "urged school officials to rescind their decision and work with students to stage the play as planned."

[…]

The free speech organizations wrote that Indecent explores "LGBTQ+ rights, immigration, censorship, and antisemitism in the early 20th Century — themes which have striking relevance to the issues facing society today." They pointed out that Douglas Anderson's recent productions include RENT and Chicago, shows with, "as much, if not more, 'sexual dialogue' as is conveyed in Indecent."

"If vaguely-defined adult sexual dialogue' is reason enough to ban plays from school productions," the statement continued, "these, and many other canonical productions would be banned from student theaters — Romeo and Juliet for depicting sexually active teens, Oedipus Rex for its incestual themes, and other works that have serious literary and artistic value for students and community members."

Let us face it the only reason why the play was pulled was the lesbian relationship!

Misinformation

Lies, lies, and more lies.

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”

The Republicans are good at that… telling lies.

Misinformation from the right is distorting Texas court ruling in child gender case | Opinion
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By Cynthia M. Allen
January 7, 2023


If one word could encapsulate the mood of social (and often mainstream) media in 2022, it might be misinformation. It was the primary insult lobbed at anyone who shared anything contrary to the prevailing (usually politically liberal) narrative. And it was the charge, we now know, used to keep many people from participating on social media platforms such as Twitter, even when their “crime” was sharing data, science or opinions that have since been vindicated as fact or at least deemed uncontroversial.

[…]

But that doesn’t mean that conservatives aren’t sometimes responsible for propagating bad information on social media, even in cases that are harmful to their own political ends.

Naw, the Republicans would never tell lies for votes… right?

A family bad divorce lead the mother to take their trans child to California from Texas and is now a court battle between states.

The move is significant because California has just enacted a law to provide “refuge for trans kids and their families” from other states’ restrictions on child gender modification. Younger has been embroiled in a longtime dispute with ex-wife Anne Georgulas over the future and care of their twins. Georgulas contends that one of them identifies as a trans female called “Luna.”

The father ran unsuccessfully for Texas House last year, you want to guess on which party’s ticket?

And this is where the “lies” come in.

Poorly reported stories of the court’s decision circulated and were retweeted by high-profile conservatives on social media, many of whom offered disparaging commentary about the decision. “Woke judges!” they claimed. But it seemed clear in almost every case that the tweet purveyors hadn’t bothered to read the decision. Otherwise, they would have realized that Younger’s characterization of Texas judges and the related stories were, if not misinformation, at least bad information. The court states quite plainly that Younger has already secured a binding lower court order that prevents Georgulas from procuring medical transition therapies for their child (even out of state) and that she has further represented that she does not intend to use California’s new law to do so.

[…]

A second footnote expresses concern over Younger’s refusal to see either of his children in over a year “despite abundant opportunities to do so.”

A really caring father!

Yet he wants to but into their lives and prevent the child from transitioning.

Looney Tunes.

The Republican three ring circus is at it again, this time they are suing because they can’t discriminate.

Republicans plan to sue Gov. Katie Hobbs for being against discrimination
Opinion: When a group of unhinged extremists call themselves a "freedom" caucus you can be sure they believe in just the opposite.
Arizona Republic
By EJ Montini
January 10, 2023


It did not take long for Arizona’s new Gov. Katie Hobbs to show her true colors.

And it took even less time for Republican lawmakers to show theirs.

As one of her first acts, Hobbs signed an executive order directing the Department of Administration to prohibit discrimination in matters of hiring, promotion and pay based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Same with all new state contracts.

In other words, the governor wants to make sure the state puts into practice the idea that all Arizonans are “created equal,” a truth our founders believed to be self-evident. Although, apparently not to Republicans in the Legislature’s so-called Arizona Freedom Caucus.

[…]

Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman railed against “Katie Hobbs’ radical woke agenda” and in a press release from the group said, “We’re seeing a new breed of Democratic Fascism take hold of the governor’s office.”

I’m not sure from what history or civics class Hoffman came to believe that extending equal protection under the law to all citizens is “woke,” since that would make the U.S. Constitution “woke.”

I also don’t believe Hoffman quite understands what is meant by “fascism.” Although he should, since he has actively tried to institute it.

They get caught up in their own ideological fervor and have no idea how idiotical that is.

Let’s see according to them the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments are “Woke.” The Ninth Amendments,

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment XIV

Section 1.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

What has gotten the Republicans in such a tizzy, it was an executive order that the governor signed. The Arizona Mirror reported that,

Under the new order, the Arizona Department of Administration will reinforce nondiscrimination laws for state agencies, guarantee equal employment opportunities and establish updated procedures by April 1. New contracts and subcontracts with the state also have to include provisions to prevent discrimination. The provisions are aimed at ensuring there is no discrimination against LGBTQ workers.

The executive order by Hobbs amends two previous executive orders from 2003 and 2009 under Republican Govs. Jan Brewer and Doug Ducey. When asked about the fact that Hobbs’ order is amending previous Republican executive orders, Hoffman said it did not matter and that the “executive branch does not get to create law that does not exist.”

Yup, that got them hopping made because the executive order bans discrimination against us and it goes against the Republicans god given right to discriminate against us.

As the Looney Tune cartoons ended Porky Pig said...”Th-Th-The, Th-Th-The, Th-Th... That's all, folks!" 

Why Do They Hate Us So Much? By The Brittney Griner Resolution.

They are so vindictive and punitive in their dislike for us.

The Republicans have passed a resolution down in Louisiana, they passed an anti-Brittney Griner that condemed the Griner exchange… let’s see she is Black and a lesbian do you think that might have something to do with it?

Sports World Saddened By The Brittney Griner Update
The Spun
By Andrew Holleran
January 9, 2023


Brittney Griner is safely back home in the United States, but sadly, she continues to deal with hate.

The WNBA star was imprisoned in Russia for nearly a year. Eventually, the United States was able to work out a trade for her. President Biden sent arms dealer Viktor Bout to Russia in exchange for Griner.

[...]

Unfortunately, politicians in Louisiana are speaking out against the Griner trade.

“Members of the GOP committee attending their quarterly meeting in Lafayette supported a resolution condemning the Griner exchange through a voice vote. No members raised objections to the matter, once a reference to Griner being a ‘woke’ gay woman was removed from the statement,” Julie O’Donoghue of The Louisiana Illuminator wrote. “The Republican Party did not provide a written copy of the resolution to a reporter who requested one. Louisiana Republican Party Chairman Louis Gurvich said resolutions approved during the meeting wouldn’t be available for at least two weeks.

The Louisiana Illuminator wrote,

Prominent Republicans, including U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, accused President Joe Biden of working to free Griner over other Americans detained overseas because of domestic political pressure. In addition to being gay, Griner is a Black woman and has endorsed left-leaning causes such as Black Lives Matter.

[…]

Suzanne White, who drafted the resolution, pushed back on Rees’ amendment. White said Griner was released because she is a “woke” LGBTQ woman. She also criticized the WNBA for being “all about” LGBTQ rights.

Anything LGBTQ+ the Republicans want to tear down.