LGBTQ news and entertainment
Some news stories you might have missed: • Presidential Debate: Tonight is the first (and possibly only) Harris v Trump presidential debate beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. Joe Jervis lists several outlets to watch at the link. Continue reading “Presidential Debate Tonight + New Music From Micah McLaurin + More News”
A video that went viral last week appears to show an ugly, homophobic attack on a high school student wrapped in a rainbow flag.
The incident, which took place at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia, was investigated by school officials and the local Sheriff’s office. Continue reading “Homophobic School Bully Charged With Battery”
Chuck Norris models ‘Action Pants’
• OUT: In a video clip that went viral, a 13-year-old trans teen was viciously attacked in the hallway of her middle school in South Florida by a bully. Equally disturbing, other students circled around the teen laughing and kicking at her while she struggled to stand up. The school and police say they are investigating, but a week later no disciplinary action has been announced. • JoeMyGod: The last on-air liberal has left Fox News as former DNC chair Donna Brazile and Juan Williams of “The Five” have both departed the right-leaning network. The New York Times reports that “Fox News has adapted to the post-Trump era by moving in a single direction: Trumpward.” • Pink News: A furious ‘Karen’ demanded to speak to the manager of the entire airport and got the response she deserves. The woman went from “I’m a women in a dress” to “You F’off” in a nano second.
Notice how she went from “helpless victim” to straight up about to charge at a guy in 0 seconds flat
Because I noticed that, those tears dried up pretty quick when the facts came out — classic fresca (@ClassicFresca) May 26, 2021
|
| CNN host Chris Cuomo (and his biceps) |
I write a lot about bullying, especially in regard to LGBT bullying that still happens are too frequently.
Sadly, we’re currently living in a time where some public figures, even some of our leaders, show respect for bullies.
Whether its dictators like Russian President Vladimir Putin or North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Donald Trump seems to revere them even though they’re famous for demeaning and diminishing those they see as beneath them.
This week, that dynamic was put on display yet again while Trump campaigned in Montana.
During the appearance, the Trumpster praised Montana’s only congressman, Republican Rep. Greg Gianforte, for “body slamming” a reporter, Ben Jacobs of The Guardian, last year for asking a question he didn’t like about healthcare.
“Any guy that can do a body slam, he is my type!” Trump said as the crowd cheered.
For his actions, Gianforte eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault in June 2017 for his attack on Jacobs. He was sentenced to a 180-day deferred sentence, 40 hours of community service, 20 hours of anger management and a $300 fine along with an $85 court fee.
Hunky CNN host Chris Cuomo called out Trump and Gianforte last night on his evening show, Cuomo Primetime.
“There is no question about what he did being wrong and illegal,” said Cuomo said of Gianforte’s bodyslam. “But the president celebrated him at a rally. Why does Trump praise bullies? Time and again, he celebrates punks who go after the little guy,” he continued.
“Everything Gianforte did is weak, okay?” Cuomo continued. “He attacked someone who wasn’t a threat, was at every disadvantage, Gianforte showed no control, no confidence, no respect for his office or his constituents or for the law. He is weak. And if he doesn’t like it, he can come body slam me as well. I welcome it.”
By the way, in case you hadn’t noticed Cuomo is totally jacked. Don’t expect Gianforte to show up at Cuomo’s door anytime soon.
Cuomo contrasted Trump and Gianforte with LeBron James, who during a recent basketball game was overheard telling his teammates, “Anytime you fall, your brother will come pick you up.”
Because that’s what true leaders do. Someone falls, you lift them up.
“Crazy and sad days when the lessons we teach our kids – ‘don’t be a bully;’ ‘strength isn’t knocking down, it’s lifting up’ – now those lessons must also be directed at our president,” said Cuomo as he closed the segment.
These are crazy times. But fortunately, there are lots of people (like Cuomo) who aren’t afraid to call bullies out for their weakness.
As the internet meme goes: “This is Chris. Chris doesn’t tolerate bullies. Be like Chris.”
And while I’m on the subject, let’s admire Cuomo not only for his positive message, but for his positively buffed biceps.
From Slate:
The DNC knocked it out of the park with this montage video comparing Donald Trump with some of cinema’s all-time most awful bullies.
From Biff Tannen, to Buzz McCallister, to Nurse Ratched, to the end where Clinton addresses a young girl’s question about bullies, the whole thing is just killer stuff (Biff’s character in Back to the Future Part II was actually based on Trump).
Anti-gay Catholic League president Bill Donohue has called for his promised boycott petition against Guinness beer for their pulling sponsorship of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade over LGBT exclusion.
From the Catholic League website:
Gays have never been barred from marching in any St. Patrick’s Day parade—they simply cannot march under their own banner. Neither can pro-life Catholics. The message of the St. Patrick’s Day parade is simple: it is to honor St. Patrick. It is not about any other cause. That’s why we have parades that celebrate other causes: it’s called respect for diversity. In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 to sustain the right of private parade organizers to determine their own rules for participation. If this ruling were otherwise, then groups that seek to veto the message of any parade would be allowed to march, thus undercutting the purpose of the parade. This would effectively kill freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
Guinness is showing its disrespect for diversity, its support for intolerance, and its contempt for the First Amendment rights of everyone associated with the St. Patrick’s Day parade. Make no mistake about it, Guinness chose to boycott this parade because of its quintessentially Catholic nature: radicals who hate the moral teachings of the Catholic Church fingered this parade because of its religious significance. If Guinness reinstates its sponsorship of New York’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, this campaign will end. Until it does, I support the Catholic League’s boycott of Guinness.
I doubt Guiness is shaking in their boots.
Remember – when the haters pull out their boycotts it’s standing up for morals. When gays decide to boycott, we’re “bullies.”
Right…
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
Strong, honest and eloquent essay by Paul Florez on Queerty that really struck a nerve for me. And probably for a lot of people like me who were bullied for most of their teen age years.
Paul writes not only about his high school years and “that one bully” who really went after him for all of those years, but also meeting him ten years later. What did ten years bring to Paul’s life? What did it bring to his bully’s life? And what happened when they were face to face years later?
Here’s just an excerpt that sets the scene for much of Paul’s teenage years:
I eventually made friends in high school, but there were always plenty of people ready to bully me. Some were overt about it, shoving me in a locker like a sad cliché. Others were more coy, sending me anonymous IMs with the word pato. But there was one person who’s bullying made me feel helpless, and I carried his cruelty with me the years following high school. For the sake of this article I’ll call him TJ.
TJ was not the meathead, Karofsky archetype from Glee that one normally thinks of when talking about bullies. He was a straight A student, in AP classes, and constantly on the morning announcements for his accomplishments. If there was anyone who was going to be valedictorian of La Salle High School in 2002 it was going to be TJ. He was also charming, able to win over large crowds with jokes and sat at the head of his lunch table like a king.
It’s easy to look back and say TJ was taking out some buried insecurity out on me. That wasn’t true. In fact he was the opposite of insecure. He was confident.
I really encourage folks to take a moment to read the whole article.
I have one of these guys from my high school years. He was a LOT like Paul’s bully. Maybe not so smart, but confident and happy to call me a whole list of names in front of hundreds of people.
I was lucky though, that somehow I ended up with two best friends who were popular (and very big football players). That slowed some of the bullying my last year of high school. But I “get” Paul’s whole perspective here, and I congratulate him for putting it down for others to read and take in.
I don’t know that I could handle the “ten years later” encounter like Paul, but it’s inspiring reading.
Dynasty Young, an openly gay student, moved to Indianapolis and enrolled at Arsenal Tech for the 2011-2012 school year. He said he endured months of harassment and bullying from other students while school administrators refused to acknowledge the abuse.
He was expelled in 2012 after using a stun gun to fight off a group of bullies. His family later sued, saying the district failed to protect him and didn’t stop students from bullying him, instead calling him “too flamboyant” in school.
Young later enrolled at Indianapolis Metropolitan, a charter school. He graduated in June 2013. The following month, his attorneys announced that the suit with IPS had been settled. The district agreed to take the expulsion off his permanent action and compensated him with $65,000.
Read more at FOX59.com