Tag: LGBTQ

The Right sure does hate us trans folks

February 21, 2024

(Content Warning: US federal politics are discussed in this article.)

I try not to post political articles here as a rule. But this evening I got an email from Erin in the Morning Substack that makes me break that rule. The so-called “Freedom Caucus” is threatening to shut down the federal government unless several anti-trans policies are included in legislation to keep the government open.

If the “Freedom Caucus” has a coat of arms it probably includes the phrase “Libertas mihi sed non tibi.” That’s Latin for “Freedom for me but not for thee.” They want to take us back to the days when the people who made the rules were all (supposedly) white folks who didn’t take any crap from anyone who wasn’t in total agreement with them.

Last week, I mentioned that I was finally getting the gear I need to make demos of some of my songs. I’m getting my recording system set up after getting my audio interface yesterday. My song Somewhere Someone Cares will be the first song to get recorded, and I’m also working on recording another song. I wrote a song years ago that got put on the side after I fell out of love with the lyrics. But the music for the song wouldn’t get out of my head, so I need to write some new lyrics for it. I have the chorus already, and this latest move from the ultra-religious right is making me want to get the song finished and out in the world. I think you’ll see what I mean from the lyrics.

The Right is trying to chase us away
The Gays and Lezzies, the Transes and Enbies
They’re saying that we don’t belong
But what they don’t know is we’ve been here forever
They say that we are grooming their kids
But they confuse us with some politicians and church folks
No matter what they do or say
The queers are here to stay.

While Somewhere Someone Cares is a nice blues/progressive rock song, this one is a flat-out rocker. I think it could do nicely as an anthem for the LGBTQ+ community.

If you want your elected officials to stand up for the trans and queer folk against the “Freedom Caucus,” please contact them and let them know. Don’t assume someone else will do it, because they may assume you will.

Read Erin Reed’s Republicans Issue New Government Shutdown Threat Over Trans People on Erin in the Morning.

There’s a new Pride group on Boston

June 1, 2023

It was announced in February, but I just got the memo that there’s a new group organizing an LGBTQ+ Pride parade and festivals in Boston.

The old Boston Pride dissolved in 2021 after complaints that it felt LGBTQ+ folks of color weren’t being fairly represented. The new group, Boston Pride For The People, will have its first parade on Saturday, 10 June, and it will be followed by two festivals, one on Boston Common for everyone and a fest at City Hall Plaza for folks 21+.

I loved volunteering with Boston Pride, and I’m looking into volunteering with the new group next weekend. I won’t be posting if I volunteer and where here, but my friends can get hold of me to get the info.

Visit the Boston Pride For The People website to get all the info.

What one backlash took away, another backlash gave back

May 23, 2023

On 19 May, I wrote about the fact that the LA Dodgers revoked their invite of the Los Angeles chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to Dodgers’ Pride Night events on 16 June and rescinded the award they were going to give the “Sisters” for their work within the community. It turns out that there was a huge response to the team’s decision, and yesterday the team did a 180° turn and re-invited them to the Pride Night event and will give them their reward after all.

The change was pointed out to me by someone on Counter Social, who posted a link to the story from ABC7 News in San Francisco. Their story includes this tweet from the Dodgers which includes this graphic.

LA Dodgers 22 May 2023 statement on reinviting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to Pride Night

I’m glad the Dodgers changed their mind about including the “Sisters” in their Pride Night festivities, but they shouldn’t have been disinvited in the first place. Especially when so much of the initial complaining came from people outside of the state that don’t support the in the first place anyway like Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL).

You can read the story on the ABC7 News website, and the LA Daily News has an article on it worth reading as well. The LA Times, my favorite media resource on Dodgers news, has a great article on it, but it’s behind their paywall so you may not be able to read it.

LA Dodgers cave to “Christian” backlash against LGBTQ+ Pride Night

May 19, 2023

Yesterday I learned there was some bad news for LGBTQ+ fans of the LA Dodgers. News came out that the team was revoking their invite of The Los Angeles chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to participate in the annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night celebration and canceling the award the group was to receive for their work done in the community (per USA Today).

LA Dodgers statement on Twitter about the Los Angeles chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence participation in the 2023 LGBT+ Pride Night ceremonies

Why were they changing their mind? A group of conservative Catholics said the charity group was “anti-Catholic.” Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), who probably doesn’t support the team in the first place, joined the chorus suggesting the Dodgers were unfriendly to the church. Interestingly, I can’t find this announcement on the LA Dodgers’ website, and the folks at Dodgers Nation didn’t cover it either.

The backlash was swift. The “Sisters” said they are going to keep serving the community, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California said they won’t participate in the event. The Los Angeles LGBTQ Center revoked their invitation to participate in Pride Night, saying

Buckling to pressure from out-of-state, right-wing fundamentalists, the Dodgers caved to a religious minority that is perpetuating a false narrative about LGBTQ+ people.

They went further and suggested the team either reconsider their decision against the “Sisters” or cancel Pride Night completely.

We call on the Dodgers to reconsider their decision, honor the Sisters, and bring the true spirit of Pride back to Dodgers Stadium. If the decision is not reversed, we strongly encourage the Dodgers to cancel Pride Night. Any organization that turns its back on LGBTQ+ people at this damning and dangerous inflection point in our nation’s history should not be hoisting a rainbow flag or hosting a ‘Pride Night.’

It’s disappointing that this comes from the team that broke the color barrier in major league baseball when they signed Jackie Robinson, an event that was just celebrated by the team a little over a month ago.

I grew up being a fan of the Amazing Mets, but as a high school student in 1976, I became an LA Dodgers fan. After moving to Boston in 1989, people asked me why I didn’t root for the Red Sox, but I told them I was sticking with my Bois en Bleu. When the Dodgers signed serial hater and unindicted sexual predator Trevor Bauer for the 2022 season, I boycotted my team, saying that Bauer shouldn’t be allowed to wear the same uniform as Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax. I started paying attention to the Dodgers again as the postseason approached and was called a bandwagon fan but I explained that I had taken a stand for women Dodger fans.

I have to feel it’s appropriate that two innings after Freddie Freeman hit a grand slam for his 300th career home run, the Cardinals scored 7 runs, including two home runs, to put the game out of reach. I’d say Karma showed Freddie some love but made sure folks knew she wasn’t happy with the team’s ownership.

When I heard about the latest idiotic move by the front office, I told a friend that it’s making it hard for me to support my Bois en Blue. As of this writing, Pride Night is still on the LA Dodgers’ promotional calendar, although you have to look for it because it doesn’t show up on the team’s game schedule.

The LA Dodgers 2023 Pride night on their Schedule and Promotion & Giveaway pages

I’m pulling back on my support of my Dodgers, and unless things change, I’ll find a way to join the protest for Pride Night even if I am about 3,000 miles away. I’m sick of so-called “Christians*” and their hate forcing folks to turn their back on LGBTQ+ folks, essentially giving us the middle finger. It’s time for us to fight back, and if we get in trouble for it, Let it be “good trouble” that makes a difference and not just clutching at pearls.

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*Aren’t Christians supposed to be welcoming and showing God’s love instead of making us want to do anything but be a part of their community?