Colleges: the best and the worst.

college-x750_0

The Advocate has a couple of good articles up about the best and worst campuses, so if you’re pondering where you might go, give them a read. First, the best:

The nonprofit organization Campus Pride — which advocates for more inclusive college environments — recently released its Best of the Best list of LGBT-friendly campuses. The list of 30 schools included some old standbys, like Tufts and Cornell, but newcomers too. Check out the universities that are new to this esteemed ranking below, and find the full Best of the Best list here.

Second, the absolute worst:

Campus Pride usually highlights the best colleges for LGBT youth, as expensive as they may be. But for the first time today, the advocacy group is calling out the worst campuses for queer students.

“Most people are shocked when they learn that there are college campuses still today that openly discriminate against LGBTQ youth,” said Campus Pride executive director Shane Windmeyer in a statement accompanying the Shame List released today. “It is an unspoken secret in higher education, how [schools] use religion as a tool for cowardice and discrimination.”

That secret has been spoken about more openly in the past several months, as the U.S. Department of Education announced in January that it was creating a searchable database listing every U.S. college and university that requested a waiver from the LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination protections outlined in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex (including gender identity) in schools that recieve federal funds.

Click on over for the full articles. These considerations fully matter if you’re hetero, too, as a school that is accepting and open is likely to be a much more positive experience.

What’s the Buzz?

moonlight1

A wonderful slate of new LGBT movies and TV shows is up at The Advocate:

The Intervention 
In theaters now

This ensemble comedy is a darkly funny take on relationships. The premise: When four couples go for a weekend getaway, one of the pairs learns that the rest have planned an intervention to tell them they need to get a divorce. The cast is full of talented young comedic actors, including out actress Clea Duvall (Argo, Girl, Interrupted) and lesbian icon Natasha Lyonne (Orange is the New Black, American Pie) playing a couple for the second time (they ended up together in But I’m a Cheerleader). Duvall also directed the film, which is being compared to The Big Chill, and is currently fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Spa Night
In theaters now

Spa Night is about a gay Korean-American teenager (Joe Seoh of Gridiron Gang), who struggles with the idea that he can’t live up to his parents’ expectations, while at the same time exploring the underbelly of gay Los Angeles nightlife. The movie is an impressive 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviewers calling it an “instant classic” and an “extremely personal film.” It’s also the very rare film that puts gay Asians front and center.

One Mississippi 
September 9, 2016

One Mississippi, brilliant lesbian comic Tig Notaro’s semi-autobiographical Amazon comedy series about returning to her small town following the death of her mother already has its pilot available to watch on Amazon, and it’s fantastic. The show, which is produced by Louis CK, is currently a 90 percent on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, and if the pilot is any indication, the show is the perfect vehicle for Notaro’s incredible talents.

Moonlight
October 21, 2016

Another emotionally charged and aesthetically beautiful film, Moonlight stars relative newcomer Trevante Rhodes (Tyler Perry’s If Loving You is Wrong) at three different points in his life as he tries to reconcile his faith with his sexuality. Playing his love interest is Andre Holland (Selma, The Knick), and the entire supporting cast looks solid. This film looks like it could be the antidote to the #oscarssowhite problem that has plagued Hollywood.

There are four more trailers at The Advocate, click on over to watch.

A Tale of Two T-Shirts.

lesbian-farmers-t-shirt-750

Rush Limbaugh’s rant that the Obama administration intends to flood conservative rural areas with lesbian farmers has inspired not only a musical tribute but an “America Needs Lesbian Farmers” T-shirt.

T-shirt maker Raygun unveiled the shirt on its Facebook page Thursday. It’s bright green with gold lettering and sells for $21.

News of the Department of Agriculture’s outreach program to rural LGBT people, designed to increase awareness of helpful government nonprofit programs, had Limbaugh warning that the federal government was attacking conservative values and conspiring to fill rural enclaves with LGBT liberals.

Full story here. This is a good idea, and I hope to see people wearing these Tees all over the place. On the other hand, there’s…

lgbtq-for-trump-tshirt-x750

A new “LGBTQ for Trump” shirt will set you back $30 — and set your rights back even further.

LGBTQ for Trump? That’s what the Republican presidential candidate is selling on his website, even if his stances on equality leave you feeling more “LGBTQ against Trump.”

Trump has been aggressively suggesting he’s the better candidate for LGBT people. After the horrific attack in Orlando that left 49 people dead and 53 others injured at a gay nightclub on June 12, the Republican candidate spoke out against the attack. “Ask yourself, who is really the friend of women and the LGBT community. Donald Trump with his actions, or Hillary Clinton with her words?” said Trump. A simple fact-check would answer that question.

Full story here. I shouldn’t even have to mention what a terrible idea this is, and I can’t help but speculate how much Trump has spent on this utter isht.

Oh, the Love.

REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

REUTERS/Carlo Allegri.

Two Florida hospitals will not seek payment of medical bills from the dozens of people treated for injuries suffered in the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in June, officials at the health facilities said.

The move leaves the hospitals with estimated unreimbursed costs topping $5.5 million, they said on Thursday.

[…]

“It was incredible to see how our community came together in the wake of the senseless Pulse shooting,” said Daryl Tol, president and CEO of Florida Hospital. “We hope this gesture can add to the heart and goodwill that defines Orlando.”

Florida Hospital treated 12 shooting victims at a cost of about $525,400, it said.

Orlando Health said in a statement that it expects to absorb costs exceeding $5 million after payments from funding sources such as insurance plans. Its main hospital, Orlando Regional Medical Center, treated 44 patients at its trauma center located a few blocks from the nightclub.

[…]

“During this very trying time, many organizations, individuals, and charities have reached out to Orlando Health to show their support,” Orlando Health President and CEO David Strong said in a statement. “This is simply our way of paying that kindness forward.”

Another huge shoutout for people being great! My heart may have grown a size here.

Full story here.

This Time, Acceptance Takes the Flag.

cari-and-lauri-ryding-and-support-x750

Oh, I am loving all the small stories of accepting, loving pushback. In this very stressful and trying time, these are good to see, and we all need this, we need to know that our fellow humans are, and can be, truly terrific people.

A same-sex couple has received a colorful show of support from neighbors.

Rainbow flags were unfurled at over 40 houses in Natick, a suburb of Boston, after the home of Cari and Lauri Ryding was vandalized, according to The Boston Globe.

While the couple was on vacation, the house had been egged. And a rainbow flag, which the Rydings had ordered after the Orlando shooting, had been stolen.

The neighborhood was quick to act after the couple reported the incident to the police last Wednesday, and no suspects were immediately identified.

“We said, ‘Why don’t we all have the flags? They can’t take them from all of us,’” said Dennis Gaughan. A response team sent a flurry of donation and requests to the Rainbow Peace Flag Project, which offers free flags to local residents.

“It just happened so quickly — the whole neighborhood said, ‘Get me a flag. Get me a flag. Get me a flag,’” said Penni Rochwerger. “If we can stop whatever hate is out there, I think that’s really important.”

On Sunday, a group of children on bicycles delivered the rainbow flags across the neighborhood. Lauri Ryding was awed to see the bright banners unfurl after cleaning up the damage from her porch.

“One person’s act of fear and maliciousness created such a powerful statement of love,” she said. “We are very blessed, very fortunate.”

“Somebody’s fear called them to action,” she added of the vandals. “But our neighbors support and love called them to action, and love conquers hate. Love wins. We win.”

A huge shout out to this neighbourhood, you did great!

Via The Advocate.

A Biblical Failure.

The film, which courted Christian viewers and abandoned the gay subtext of the 1959 classic, could lose up to $100 million.

The film, which courted Christian viewers and abandoned the gay subtext of the 1959 classic, could lose up to $100 million.

Bye, Ben-Hur.

The film about betrayal in biblical times was an epic fail at the box office. Its opening weekend, it took in $11.2 million in domestic markets and $10.7 million in international ones, reports Variety, a dismal sum given to its production budget of over $100 million.

Ben-Hur ranked sixth at the box office, failing the cinematic chariot race to a top 5 position. It lost to films in their second and third weekend, including Suicide Squad ($20.9 million), Sausage Party ($15.5 million), and Pete’s Dragon ($11.3 million).

Prior to its release, Ben-Hurwas criticized by The Advocate and other outlets for not including the gay subtext present in the 1959 classic, a critical and commercial success that went on to win a slew of Oscars. In the 1995 documentary The Celluloid Closet, out screenwriter Gore Vidal revealed he had convinced the film’s director to incorporate this subtext in order to explain the tension between the film’s leads, a prince and a Roman soldier who betrays him.

Various excuses were offered as to why the gay subtext was not present in the story’s most recent iteration. At Ben-Hur‘s premiere, star Tony Kebbell (Messala, the soldier) said it wasn’t needed in the present day. In a conflicting report, screenwriter Keith Clarke claimed copyright law prevented him from incorporating it, as he could only adapt what was included in Lew Wallace’s 1880 book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

As a result, the film placed more emphasis on the novel’s religious themes and fleshed out the character of Christ. It also marketed heavily to Christian audiences, holding special screenings and releasing promotional videos that featured reviews from religious leaders.

But not even Jesus could save Ben-Hur from bad reviews. The film currently has a score of 29 percent on the film aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Critics called it “an amateurish effort,” “something soulless and empty,” “a compete snore-fest,” “gutless,” and a “digitalized eyesore hobbled in every department by staggering incompetence.”

“The filmmakers of this stagnant remake display all the technical tools needed to achieve greatness, but they lack that most basic of functions: a reason why this story needs to be retold,” wrote the Washington City Paper.

Wow. Those reviews are beyond scathing, those are brutal. I thought the whole hype of “Christian, Christian, Christian Ben Hur with Added Jesus!” was sheer silliness, but it turns out the film was much worse than the standard Christian silly. Ouch.

Via The Advocate.

McCrory Hits A New Low.

pat-mccroryx750

Just when you thought Pat McCrory couldn’t get any lower, he goes diving straight into an isht filled sewer of lies.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) has released a fear-mongering campaign ad that paints transgender people as dangerous predators who are out to rape children.

LGBTQNation.com posted the 30-second campaign spot on Wednesday, which accuses Democratic NC Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper of willfully endangering the state’s children by not upholding the so-called “bathroom bill,” H.B. 2.

The ad begins with a woman named Gina Little of Greensboro, NC saying, “At 9, I was molested by a teenager.”

She continues, “When I heard that Pres. Obama and and Roy Cooper want to force schoolchildren to share the same locker room, shower and restroom with someone who claims to be the opposite sex, I was horrified.”

“Gov. McCrory knows this is not about discrimination, money or politics,” Little claims. “He’s standing up under intense pressure and doing what’s right. Our governor is on our side.”

The implication is clear. Little is saying that if trans men, women and children are allowed to use the facilities corresponding with their expressed gender, they will rape and molest children.

The truth, however, is that the overwhelming majority of sex crimes against children are committed by men who identify as heterosexual and the bulk of these crimes happen in the home.

Oh yes, most of these crimes do indeed happen in the home, and are most often committed by family members or close family friends. It happened to me, I was raped by a family member for six years as a child, and it had absolutely nothing to do with queer people or any sort of shared facility. I know McCrory is desperate, but this is lower than low, and he is such an immoral, evil person for doing this. Transgendered people already face high levels of violence, and this will do nothing except make that worse. McCrory is out to harm people.

Via Raw Story.

This Time, Acceptance Takes the Cake.

KenCake

A trans Ken doll cake created by Freeport Bakery in Sacramento. (KTXL-TV).

SACRAMENTO — A local bakery is getting a flood of support after one of its custom cakes caught quite a bit of flack on social media. The cake was baked and molded into a transgender Ken doll.

“It wasn’t that unusual, we do doll cakes all the time.”

Eggs, milk, butter and a dash of controversy, the recipe at Freeport Bakery for the unorthodox custom cake.

A Ken doll wore a pink dress made of frosting, a sash, a tiara and jewelry.

“Naively, I guess I just thought this is a really cool cake, and look at how great they did with the butter cream,” said Marlene Goetzeler, co-owner of the bakery. “What’s wrong with a Ken cake?”

Baked at 350 degrees, but the real heat didn’t come until Goetzeler posted a picture of the dolled up delicacy on Facebook.

“I started getting some negative comments … Then a couple days later I noticed there was a big dip in unlikes. I was kind of surprised,” said Goetzeler.

An LGBT debate ensued. After a few hundred comments, and more than a thousand reactions, the bakery’s page lost dozens of Facebook likes and potential business, all because of the post.

“I was shocked that somebody would be offended,” said Goetzeler.

“Oh, I thought it was fantastic,” said Chad Graham, who attended the party where the cake was served.

Graham says it was at the birthday party for a member of a group that meets once a month for a dice game. He says the cake’s recipient is not transgender nor was he trying to make a political statement whatsoever. The cake’s recipient didn’t wish to speak to FOX40. The backlash took the group by surprise.

“I thought it was a little ridiculous. It was just cake,” said Graham.

But when word of the confection controversy began to spread, hundreds of people came to the bakery’s defense, both on social media and at the storefront.

“In the beginning, I thought ‘What’s the big deal?’ but now I realize how important it is to take a stand if you believe in something,” said Goetzeler.

A small gesture with a big impact. Goetzeler says this time acceptance takes the cake.

I think that’s a great cake, and I’m really happy that so many people took a stand and supported the Bakery.

Via Fox40.

Healthcare for Trans People? Oh no. No, no.

Texas-Governor-Greg-Abbott-800x430

Greg Abbott speaking at FreePac, hosted by FreedomWorks, in Phoenix, Arizona (Gage Skidmore/Flickr).

Chalk up another one for the persecution files. Texas and four other states are filing lawsuits, and crying the extra-large tears of religious persecution at the thought of providing proper healthcare to transgender persons. Oh gods, we can’t be discriminating ‘phobes!? Whatever shall we do, I know, sue!

Texas and four other states sued the Obama administration on Tuesday over extending its healthcare nondiscrimination law to transgender individuals, saying the move “represents a radical invasion of the federal bureaucracy into a doctor’s medical judgment.”

Texas, along with Wisconsin, Nebraska, Kentucky and Kansas sued on behalf three medical organizations, two of which are affiliated with Christian groups.

They argue the medical groups would be forced to violate their religious beliefs “and perform harmful medical transition procedures or else suffer massive financial liability,” according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, named as a defendant in the suit, was not immediately available for comment.

On Sunday, a judge for the same district blocked an Obama administration policy that public schools should allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choice, granting a nationwide injunction sought by 13 states, led by Texas.

I am seriously starting to think that it would be just fine to set Texas aside, get federal aide to get all the decent people out, herd all the fanatical asses in, then cut them off. There, there’s your kingdom, go figure it out and eat each other alive. Bye.

Full Story Here.

New Orleans Snags 2017 All Star Game.

2017-all-star-game-x750

Nearly a month after the NBA announced that it would move the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte, N.C., in the wake of the state’s anti-LGBT law, league leadership announced today that the game will take place in New Orleans.

CNN reports that the February 19 game will be played in New Orleans’s Smoothie King Center, marking the third time the Big Easy has hosted the All-Star Game.

“New Orleans is a world-class destination for sports and entertainment and we are very appreciative that the city is once again hosting our All-Star festivities,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement today. “We are grateful to Tom and Gayle Benson and the Pelicans organization and to Governor John Bel Edwards, Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation for inviting us back for what promises to be another exciting and memorable celebration of the game.”

The news comes as tens of thousands of Louisiana residents work to rebuild after historic flooding that has destroyed an estimated 40,000 homes in the southern part of the state, killed at least 13 people, and prompted more than 86,000 to seek federal disaster assistance. The NBA and its National Basketball Players Association have promised to contribute financially to the recovery effort, in addition to volunteering time and resources during the weeks leading up to the game.

“Even in the midst of a historic crisis, I am excited that the NBA has recognized how great the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana are,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a Friday statement. “In Louisiana, one of the strongest bonds that unites all of us is our passion for sports. Not only will NBA fans be able to participate in the All-Star Game events, they will also be a part of our world-famous Mardi Gras festivities. The fan experience can’t get any better than that.”

Full Story at the Advocate.

Trump’s Louisiana Donation: The Winner Is…

Family Research Council leader Tony Perkins Bil Browning

Family Research Council leader Tony Perkins.

Yes, that’s right, Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, a rabidly anti-queer religious extremist.

Donald Trump has reportedly donated $100,000 to help Louisiana residents affected by disastrous floods — but he’s put it in the hands of an anti-LGBT church whose interim pastor is Tony Perkins, head of the infamously homophobic Family Research Council.

I want to emphasize that reportedly, because supposedly, Trump has made donations before, but they have an interesting way of never showing up anywhere.

Trump visited the church, located in the Baton Rouge suburb of Greenwell Springs, and made other stops in the area at the invitation of Perkins. The church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, which believes that being LGBT is a sin. The Greenwell Springs church’s website includes a “Statement on Marriage and Sexuality,” which reads in part:

We believe that any form of sexual immorality, such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography or any attempt to change one’s sex, or disagreement with one’s biological sex, is sinful and offensive to God.

It asks church employees and volunteers to “abide by and agree to” the statement and “conduct themselves accordingly.”

[…]

Perkins, as a Louisiana delegate to this year’s Republican National Convention, took credit for helping to create what even the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay conservative group, termed the most anti-LGBT platform in party history. It continues to oppose marriage equality, denounces the Obama administration’s call for transgender students’ access to gendered facilities of their choice, and contends that parents have a right to enroll their children in any kind of therapy. The last is a thinly veiled endorsement of “ex-gay” therapy, even though major medical groups condemn it as ineffective and harmful, and several states and cities have barred licensed professionals from subjecting minors to it.

The Advocate has the story.

Lesbian and Transgender Hillbillies are Coming to Get You.

A lesbian couple sitting in a sunny field (Shutterstock.com)

A lesbian couple sitting in a sunny field (Shutterstock.com)

Well, the right wing has found something new to froth about, there are LGBT people in rural areas! Really, who knew. After all, everyone knows all LGBT people are in urban areas, struggling to get their glitter just right or something. There couldn’t possibly be native rural or Southern LGBT people, and farming? Forget about it. Of course, the truth is that there are lots of LGBT people all over the place, and queer folk in rural areas, the South in particular, have more difficulties in getting together with other queer folk, and don’t have near the resources of other rural people, especially farmers. The 15th annual Nationwide LGBT Rural Summit was held at Drake University in Des Moines, IA on Aug. 18. That would be the fifteenth one, but of course, right wing asses seemed to just now find out about it, and are joyful in the hissiness on display over yet another sign that the sky, it be falling, as all us queers are the 5th column intent on destroying the good ol’ conservative heart of Amerikka. Oh yes.

The right-wing freakout over the summit began at conservative website The College Fix, which mocked the summit, complained that it was a waste of tax money and denied that LGBT people living in rural areas might face any special hurdles.

By August 16, the Washington Free Beacon picked up the story, wailing that the summit will enable “lesbian and transgender hillbillies how to get subsidies from the government.”

“The all-day summit will teach lesbian and transgender hillbillies how to get subsidies from the government like rural housing loans and ‘community facility grants.’ Bullying will also be discussed,” said the Beacon.

Then, none other than Rush Limbaugh picked up on the story.

“Have you heard the latest Democrat scam?” Limaugh asked on his program. “Have you heard about the Agriculture Department’s financial grants to lesbian farmers? You think I’m making this up? See, this is how they do it.”

“(W)hat the point of this is, folks, it’s not about lesbian farmers. What they’re trying to do is convince lesbians to become farmers,” he insisted.

“I’m like you; I never before in my life knew that lesbians wanted to be farmers. I never knew that lesbians wanted to get behind the horse and the plow and start burrowing. I never knew it. But apparently enough money can make make it happen, and the objective here is to attack — they’re already attacking suburbs, and that has been made perfectly clear by what happened in Milwaukee. And they’re going after every geographic region that is known to be largely conservative. They never stop, folks. They are constantly on the march,” said Limbaugh, whipping the story up into another Obama conspiracy.

World Net Daily joined in the panic and ousted Breitbart.com editor Ben Shapiro’s blog The Daily Wire called it “dumbest thing Feds have EVER Spent your tax dollars on.”

Lesbian farmers don’t exist, said the Wire’s Amanda Prestigiacomo.

“I mean, if I don’t know that the chocolate milk I’m drinking was originally obtained from a lesbian milking a cow, things could really breakdown [sic],” she wrote.

Oh yes, we are seriously contagious there, alt right folks, so perhaps you should all get out of the rural areas, and don’t eat or drink anything you haven’t produced yourself. It’s the only way to be certain. We’re coming for you, yes we are. Yep.

Via Raw Story and Media Matters.

We Won’t Be Able to Pee Anywhere, Oh No!

Sandy Rios.

Sandy Rios.

Whip out those hankies and you’ll be able to catch crocodile tears!

Christian activists’ boycott of Target hasn’t exactly been a rousing success so far, as the company this week announced that it’s spending $20 million to expand its available restroom options while at the same time remaining inclusive toward transgender people.

Right Wing Watch notices that Christian activist Sandy Rios is so scared that the boycott of Target will be a flop that she fears she’ll never be able to use a public restroom again.

“If we do not keep the pressure on Target, this will quickly — we know how major corporations are, they are scared to death of anything that isn’t politically correct — this will spread like wildfire, we will not be able to go to the bathroom anywhere,” she told Breitbart’s Alex Marlow. “What’s at stake is all the other companies around this country that will just cave, they just will.”

Oh my, it would be nice if you could figure out that this is the way the rest of us already feel. We’ve been living fear of a public lav because of people like you, Ms. Rios. If you really want to settle this, just self ban yourselves from public lavs. Unfortunately, since Breitbart’s nastiest, slimiest, sleaziest, most unethical asshole, Stephen Bannon, has hired onto the Trump campaign, Breitbart is busy whipping this all up again, into a massive frenzy of bigotry and hate.

Full story here.