Don't Get Me Started with Linda Sharp

LGBT - When The "T" Stands For Terror

Not a day seems to go by now when some ignorant, fear based, anti-LGBT legislation isn't being introduced in this country.

Why?

Simple.  Look up.  ^^^^

IGNORANT.  FEAR BASED.

There is a cadre of dullards in this country for whom facts and education are anathema.  The mere idea of expanding their limited range of knowledge scares them, makes them ball their little fists, spurs them to strike out.  And sadly, many of them are in positions of power and influence - local, state, national legislators who have zero business in governance because they have zero grasp of governance. 

Power?  Sure, they grasp that concept easily. 

But the act of actual governance - that government is of the people, by the people, for the people - Well, that part eludes them.  In their worlds, the only people that count are the ones like them. 

So it is little wonder that LGBT individuals are constantly in their crosshairs.

Kansas - that bastion of sponge like cranial material - is currently pushing forward two bills that target the "T" in LGBT - transgender.

The bills work in tandem to demonize transgender students and their bathroom breaks.  Yes, because that is what strikes fear in the tiny hearts of conservatives who cannot be bothered to educate themselves.  BATHROOMS.  And the thought that they may be sharing pee time with someone whose genitals give them the oogies.

Oogies play the lion's share part in conservative logic when it comes to LGBT and equal rights. 

One of the bills states, “Allowing students to use restrooms, locker rooms and showers that are reserved for students of a different sex will create potential embarrassment, shame, and psychological injury to students.”

OK, children put your oogies aside and let's break out those thinking caps.  I'll wait while you find yours in the attic and remove the decades old layers of mold and dust accumulated by non-use.

Transgender students are PEOPLE.  Say that with me:  TRANSGENDER STUDENTS ARE PEOPLE.

People like you, people like me.  Their burdens are many, however, one of the larger is not so much that they grapple with trying to live authentically in a body that does not match their mind, their soul. (Envision that for a moment.  Seriously - TRY.)  No, it is that they have to grapple with YOU.  With your ignorance, your fear, your hate.  That is why the suicide attempt rate is 41%.  Why even when supported, loved, assisted towards transitioning, so many still find suicide to be the better answer to having to endure a hateful, stupid, bullying society.  You do not deserve that power.

Yes, we know you get tripped up on someone's genitals not matching their attire.  But here's the thing - transgender individuals are simply trying to live.  That's it, that's all.  And in terms of bathroom breaks?  They are simply trying to pee and shit in peace and quiet.

JUST LIKE YOU.

A female to male (FTM) transgender person wants to enter a male bathroom because they are a male.  A male to female (MTF) transgender person wants to enter a female bathroom because they are a female.  They are not going in to try to catch a glimpse of your junk, or cop a feel as you pass. 

THEY SIMPLY WANT TO GO TO THE BATHROOM.  IN A STALL.  BEHIND A DOOR.

There is no conspiracy at play, no cruel intentions, no recruiting, no perversion.  Just sit/stand, go, wipe, wash hands, leave.  You know, kind of what YOU do in there.

This notion that anyone unlike you is a pervert, a pedophile, a molester?  That exists one place:  in your tiny mind.

Look, are there perverts, pedophiles, molesters in the LGBT?  Sure.  Just like there are in EVERY demographic you can name.  Bad people exist in every color, creed, county, country.

But that is not what we are talking about.

We are talking about going to the bathroom.

These bills stipulate, “the physical condition of being male or female, which is determined by a person’s chromosomes, and is identified at birth by a person’s anatomy” thus denying a person's knowledge of who they actually are.  It also completely ignores that sex and gender are two very different things. They go on that these bills will “maintain order and dignity in restrooms, locker rooms, showers and other facilities where students may be in various states of undress in the presence of other students.”  

Again - a FTM is a male.  A MTF is a female.  They know who they are.  And trust me when I say that all they want is order and dignity.  Not a grope, a glance, a grimace.  And honestly, who the fuck are you to tell someone they are not who they know themselves to be? 

But wait!  If you order now, we'll throw in a gift with purchase!   

The sad excuses for humans who brought forth these bills believe that any student who so much as sees a transgender student in their bathroom should receive $2500 and "monetary damages for all psychological, emotional and physical harm suffered as a result of a violation of this section.”

Yes, because money is a much better answer than actually educating our children that transgender people are, you know, PEOPLE.

Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook (R), a great mind who defends these bills, states, “Parents have reached out afraid for their children’s safety and they do not want attention for fear of being called a bigot, this legislation ensures accommodations, while still protecting everyone’s privacy rights.”  Puh-leez.  This is nothing more than government sanctioned bullying.

Mary, your problem, and the problem of those parents is far bigger than being called what you are.  Yes, you are bigots.  But the bigger label is simply IGNORANT. 

If you fall into this line of thinking, ask yourself, WHAT AM I REALLY AFRAID OF?  Transgender people or having to replace your preconceived and wrongheaded notions about them with facts and compassion?

Ignorance.  There is a cure for that.  Education.  Love. Understanding.  But apparently, those pills are just too bitter for some to swallow.

Ku ARE The Kompany You Keep

Something has been bothering me for quite a while as Trump has been on a tear across this country, gathering voters, ginning up violence, fomenting fear, and making them believe he will magically "Make America Great Again."  Tweeting crap like this like some middle school mean girl:

Bellowing and seeking only to drown out other candidates in the debates.  Literally bringing up the size of his penis in a debate because he really is that thin skinned and insecure.  He is a clown, he is a poser, he is inadequate in MANY ways. 

But the one thing that truly keeps bothering me is this:

HIS SUPPORTERS AREN'T REALLY LISTENING.

With every word salad campaign stop, they just clap like seals in a theme park show. 

If they were actually listening, they would HEAR HIM SAYING NOTHING OF SUBSTANCE.  Nothing that can fix a problem, no ideas, no policies.  Just blather, five words sentences in which he mainly brags about everyone loving him, or rants about tearing down an entire segment of the populace.  His speeches are not speeches.  They are not meant to inform, not meant to convince thousands that he has better vision or ideas - because they don't.  They can't.  They contain nothing but invective, hateful rhetoric, dares to the audience to do harm to others (I'll pay for your defense!), and a constant theme that "the other" is bad and needs done away with.

We all know who he means.  He has targeted Mexicans, LGBT, refugees, Muslims, continues to have black people ejected from his rallies.  He is making it ok to openly hate, to openly wear bigotry like a fashion item.  Much like Sarah Palin made stupidity fashionable - a brain mullet, if you will - and they all wore it proudly, Trump has made these supporters believe they are better, that they have every right to discriminate.

He is MAKING AMERICA HATE AGAIN.

And with that permission?  That subtle undercurrent of "Come on out, racists, bigots, phobes, and misogynists - I, Donald Trump, have got your back"?  It is no surprise that he is being endorsed, supported, and championed by the KKK, white supremacy groups, white nationalists, neo Nazis, Aryan followers - the whole pack of White Power cretins.  Robocalls are being funded by these groups.  David Duke thinks Trump is the Great White Hope. Literally.

And his supporters don't seem to care.

You could try the pathetic argument that Trump cannot control who likes him.  You would be WRONG.  Look, it's one thing to say that "green" has no control over who calls it their favorite color.  It just exists, you like it or you don't.  But when an entire disgusting sect of societal bottom dwellers rallies to your side?  Calls you their favorite?  Says you "speak for what we believe"?  Begins robocalling voters on your behalf?

Perhaps you want to rethink your direction.  And if you are supporting that candidate, perhaps you want to open your %^$#@ ears and actually listen to what he is saying that appeals to the worst in our society.  Because Trump is not the color green.  Trump can control this garbage.  Trump can get in front of a microphone and tell them to piss off and take their hate back to the swamp from which it oozed.

BUT. HE. DOESN'T.

So if you support him, you support them.  You are supporting a man who they believe is on track to support their causes, their ideals, their heinous view of other people not like them.  If you support him, you are them.  If you don't condemn this, you condone it.  There is no separating it.  You are attending rallies with them.  You are pumping your fists standing next to them.  And you are making it dangerous for the people they openly hate.

Don't think so?

One of our DGMSers has a black friend who shared this story with her today.  Her name is not included, so her identity is protected.

"I AM SEETHING!  I pulled up to a stop light and next to me was a car with three young males.
My dog was with me. In the other car, the front seat passenger kept turning and smiling in my direction. I smiled back because I thought he was admiring my dog. Well, he takes off his red hat and pointed to it. Trump - Make America Great. He had this evil grin on his face and was mouthing something. He then turns to his friend in the back seat and tries to give him the hat while pointing at me. His friend refused. I immediately, had a flash back of a similar incident when I lived in North Carolina. The guys were adults, with a confederate flag and a rifle in the back window of their car. They too were pointing and gesturing to me. The light finally changed, we went in different directions but I can't let it go. Writing is usually my therapy but it's still not helping. Was this action racially motivated? What if I was a young black male who saw this as a challenge? Isolated incident?? The way I feel at the moment, I doubt that it wasn't."

THIS is what following Trump means.  THIS is what you support.  THIS is what you are helping create.

As much as this woman wants to believe in the best, we all know - as does she - exactly what that was about.  This would not have happened to me - a white woman.  This is because hatred, bigotry, racism, and ignorance are alive and unwell in this country, and growing bolder with each stump speech given by Trump.  Trump has encouraged it to slither out of its hole into the daylight.

To turn his own words on him:  This is not a nice person.

This is not even a person who understands the function of the office he is seeking.  He literally talks out his ass (facial anus - same thing) as if the Presidency is a dictatorship (which I am certain he would love it to be) - no checks and balances, no rules, no need for diplomacy, compromise, vision.  And like his GOPer brethren, no true understanding or concept of the Constitution, the document they profess to love so dearly, but which they bastardize at every turn.

I have said this before - I like to think that people ARE complex, more than one thing, one thought, one feeling.  But to those who are supporting Trump, you need to open your eyes and start acting like it. Because there is nothing complex or redeeming about what you are doing, who you are supporting.  If you have a conscience, you need to let it kick in.  You need to allow it to ask you "What in THE hell are you doing?"

This is a game to Trump.  You are pawns in that game.  And when someone gets killed at one of his rallies, or on the street because he, and your support, have made it seem OK, there is only one thing that will happen...

Trump will retreat to his gilded penthouse waving his tiny hands in innocence, and yours will be left covered in blood.

Ku are the kompany you keep.

No Debating It: The GOP Is Our Embarrassing Drunk Uncle

Watching the GOP debate last night, one thing kept going through my mind:  It would be funny if it weren't so embarrassing.

Then again, truth be told, I have been thinking that same thing this entire election cycle.

It has been a rather impressive act of evolving and devolving simultaneously.

Donald Trump (yes, I think Drumpf is funny, but let's face it - his real name could be I Eat Babies For Breakfast McAssStain and his followers wouldn't care), began as a joke.  Oh, look, ha ha ha, he's at it again, thinking he could possibly be President.  Time went on and suddenly he was being taken seriously.  Not by anyone with a brain, not even by GOP leadership, but by the cadre of dullards emboldened by increasingly vulgar and violent rhetoric.

He was evolving into an actual candidate with supporters.

At the same time, he was causing a complete devolution of the entire campaign process on the right.  With every heinous, spewage of word diarrhea from his facial anus - with no discernible repercussions - those in the race against him felt the need to lower their own bars.  What we saw last night is simply the culmination of that.

Last night, for all the world to see, Donald Trump - referencing a poor man's stand up act Rubio had done for supporters earlier this week that had to do with the Donald's small hands and obvious small penis - just had to bring it up and make sure we are all aware that he is hung.  Yes, the world saw this, heard this - a candidate for POTUS, actually trumpeting his genital size in a debate.  Yes, the GOP is now the Grizzled Old Penis party.

It is shameful.  It is embarrassing.  It is a new low in American political discourse.

While I am still not the least bit worried about him actually becoming President - sorry Trumpettes, or whatever the hell you call yourselves - but you are still not a majority.  The bigots, misogynists, religious zealots, phobes of all ilk, and willfully ignorant are still wildly outnumbered in this country.  Just as they were the last two elections when they were SO CERTAIN they were going to win in a landslide.  Trump may be leading in GOPerland, but he tanks in a general election.

But since this self serving orange stain is going to soil the air for a while longer, I would really love to know how willfully stupid his followers are.  Yes, willfully stupid.  There is no kind word at this point for what we see each day in his crowds and their behavior, as well as their complete disdain for FACTS about him.  It is very obvious they are all members of the I-Wish-I-Could-Tell-Everyone-To-Fuck-Off-Too Club.  They are also the retreads who thought Sarah Palin was any kind of credible as a candidate. 

Frankly, their word salad way of speaking is more than similar.  Seriously, tell me WHAT you people see in this that says ANYTHING?

"What a hat!"

This is the hallmark of a circus barker.  Divert, divert, divert.  Look at the shiny thing! The character in the Wizard of Oz was this technique.  "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"

So his followers don't.  They buy the fourth grade stump speeches.  They salivate at the bumper stickerese in which he speaks at them.  And they grow more and more emboldened by a charlatan who would not cross the street to pee on them if they were on fire.  Hell, he would set them on fire if they were in his way on the street.

I find it highly comical how these people completely lost their collective shit the first time Michelle Obama appeared without sleeves.  Oh the humanity!  But they seem to not care that with one Google of "Melania Trump" you can see a helluva lot more than her bare arms.  Look, I have zero problem with her making her way through the modeling world naked.  Go for it.  I do, however, have a problem with such blatant hypocrisy from his supporters.  Michelle's toned arms are disrespectful as FLOTUS, but Melania's entire naked body is not?

And these people have nothing but open disdain for immigrants, brown people, anyone not like them.  Yet two of his wives have been immigrants.  And the current one is barely passable at their beloved English language.  Where is the outrage?  The rending of garments?  Where is the drive to kick her out, to make her speak gooder?  (Sorry,. but watch one video of his constituents and you'd be hard pressed to call English their first language.)

He's a Christian?  Since when?  Since political expediency, that's when.  Yet they do not care.  There is no accountability in the bubble.

His rallies have grown increasingly violent.  Earlier this week a black teenage girl was roughly shoved back and forth, epithets rained down like Trump's spray tan, and today when his army of miscreants were again manhandling a protester, he shouted at them that he would pay to defend them in court.  Talk about ginning up violence, and emboldening people who have little in the way of critical thinking skills to begin with.  (Happy to note that so far two of the idiots who took pleasure in treating the young girl that way have learned that free speech doesn't mean free from consequences.  One has been told to fuck off by the Marines.  The other has been fired from his job.)

His supporters go on and on about "How he says what he thinks."  Sorry, kids.  He doesn't think.  He spews.  And the rabble rally around him because nuance, gray area, compromise are not in their wheelhouses to begin with.  He'll carpet bomb the middle east?  Kill their families?  He'll make Mexico build a wall?  Bull and shit, kids.  The world doesn't work that way.  If he were to order the military to begin waterboarding again?  They are not required to do that.  Know why?  IT IS ILLEGAL.  He'll "make America great again"?  Oh, please, someone expound on that nugget for me. 

What is he going to do?  Cover everything in gold spray paint?  Make everything yuuuuuuuge?

Look, I get this much.  There are 300,000,000+ citizens in this country.  That means there are 300,000,000+ Wish Lists for what we want done.  And none of us is ever going to get a candidate that plays Santa and fills it all.  And I hate to tell you Trump supporters, but your guy cannot DO any of the crap he extemporaneously hollers at you.  He has just as little idea of how governance happens in this country, as do you. 

You are supporting a reality TV character.  In that regard, kudos, Don, you make a great Kardashian.  All fluff, no substance.  You are supporting a man who is making you feel safe in openly displaying your ignorance, your bigotry, your hatred to the world.  But you should not feel safe in that and here's why.

He cannot win.

And when it is over, the only positive thing that will have come out of allowing our drunken Uncle to rant and rave and embarrass this country, is that YOU will have shown your asses, and we will not forget who you are.  (But rest assured, Donald will.)