This very quickly went to being a right vs left talk about abortion and even teaching girls on how not to become pregnant. Again I ask why it is so vitally important for the fundamentalist Christian maga right to prevent young girls learning how to keep from getting pregnant or learning sexual educations about their bodies !!!! Hugs. Scottie
I realize many people who come here also may go there. Roger is a well read accomplish author who is well versed on history and is up to date with much going on in the world. Please go to his blog and read his report on the Sudan crisis and the suffering of the people there. Man’s inhumanity towards each other knows no bounds or depth, but seems endless. Hugs. Scottie
Mighty Christian of this first one. Good old republican Christian concern and caring. Hugs. Scottie
Florida’s Senate approves a bill that would ban cities and counties from adopting requirements for mandatory water breaks and other workplace protections against extreme heat. https://t.co/zGlFrAG8Kr
Read the full article. The bill’s author, state Sen. Jay Trumbull, previously appeared here for his successful bill allowing medical professionals to refuse to treat LGBTQ patients. Last year, he authored a bill allowing businesses to sue to block local LGBTQ rights ordinances and other regulations.
Of note, the lead attorney in the lawsuit is Roberta Kaplan, who is best known to most as E. Jean Carroll’s attorney. Kaplan was also Edith Windsor’s attorney in the landmark Supreme Court ruling on DOMA.
This is quite a story and as you’d expect a portion of their ideology centers against LGBTQ people.
OK with this first batch I am trying to reduce the 74 posts window I have open. I have to start shrinking these windows. That means I can not go deep in depth on each thing I think is important to share. So for a few days I am going to shotgun a bunch of older stuff out. Do I expect everyone to read all of them? NO! What I hope is people see story titles that interest them, open them, and follow the story which is what I do. So expect a few more of these as I clear out old tabs. Hugs. Scottie
This is why republicans are so desperate to end any talk or, protection of, or acceptance of LGBTQ+ in schools. The more people see it, the more people have friends and family that are LGBTQ+, the more open it is in society on social media, the more normal and tolerant people are. The more young people will come out and live as the person they are. Republicans are desperate to stop this. Hugs. Scottie
LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. continues to grow, with 7.6% of U.S. adults now identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or some other sexual orientation besides heterosexual. The current figure is up from 5.6% four years ago and 3.5% in 2012. Bisexual adults make up the largest proportion of the LGBTQ+ population — 4.4% of U.S. adults and 57.3% of LGBTQ+ adults say they are bisexual.
Slightly less than 1% of U.S. adults are transgender. Overall, each younger generation is about twice as likely as the generation that preceded it to identify as LGBTQ+. More than one in five Gen Z adults, ranging in age from 18 to 26 in 2023, identify as LGBTQ+, as do nearly one in 10 millennials (aged 27 to 42). The percentage drops to less than 5% of Generation X, 2% of baby boomers and 1% of the Silent Generation.
LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. continues to grow, with 7.6% of U.S. adults now identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or some other sexual orientation besides heterosexual. The current figure is up from 5.6% four… pic.twitter.com/iweJ76PS1w
I came out in March, 1983, six months after the CDC coined the name Acquired Immune-Deficiency Syndrome and about a month after HIV was first identified as the likely cause. I was 15. By the time I could legally enter a bar, I had been to more funerals that most people will ever see in six lifetimes. And all while Republicans laughed and openly pondered how they could speed up the deaths.
There is a reason why so many of us survivors have CPTSD.
Don’t ever stop. There is so much more that needs to be done within the black community. As usual the disparities between communities of color and whites persist in spite of all of our efforts. Every young man you educate is part of your legacy.
Kinsey found that, among the men he surveyed, 37% had had sex with another man to orgasm.
That figure has been vigorously disputed by researchers who couldn’t accept his figures – and their own surveys managed to reduce the number a lot by excluding same-sex sex between young men, claiming that those orgasms weren’t really same-sex sex because mumble mumble mumble, and some altered their results by doing their surveys insecurely, where the men surveyed couldn’t trust that they’d be anonymous.
Now, with changes in attitudes, men are being more honest and researchers are doing less data manipulation to obscure men’s actual sexual activity – and the numbers in modern surveys are steadily increasing. I think we’ll find that Kinsey was much closer to the actual numbers than any of his critics would ever admit.
I know that, as an out gay man in the corporate world for several decades, the coworkers who hit on me over the years weren’t the other gay men I worked with, it was married men with kids who called themselves straight – but who tried to persuade me to have sex with them although that was obviously not straight-man sex. Sometimes I said yes, sometimes I didn’t – when I did, I enjoyed their intensity and enthusiasm. Those “straight” men were so, so hungry for the body of another man. It’s always seemed to me that there’s a lot more man on man sex going on than most people will admit.
So everything is basically reset back to where it was before this law. The only difference is teachers and schools will have to deal with fundamentalist Christian maga parents and wing nuts who don’t even live in those schools claiming that teachers are teaching gender or sexual orientation for allowing a rainbow sticker, that the schools are violating the law because the library returned the books with and about LGBTQIA characters / plots in them, and it will tie all schools up in lawsuits the state won’t help them with. DeathSantis is really just admitting he was wrong without saying it. Kaplan said that she was sure that the law would be ruled unconstitutional if they continue with the appeal, but that it would take at least two years of kids being bullied and the books out of the library. Of course DeathSantis is claiming a total win when it completely rolls back his law. Gay teachers can let the kids know they are gay, those married can talk about their spouses and post pictures. Anti-gay bullying programs are allowed again. Plus maybe the best thing, the gay straight alliance clubs are allowed again. The real thing you see is DeathSantis only pushed this as long as he was running for office, and once he was no longer needing to suck up to the fundamentalist Christians he backed down, and did not fight for it. I think he knew all along it was an illegal bill. Hugs. Scottie
*** Personal note. Was not feeling well all weekend and this morning I woke up at 4 am needing to throw up. But all I could bring up was air. Then after half a cup of coffee, I started to throw up last night’s meal. All morning I keep feeling dizzy and nauseous every 20 minutes or so. I have spent a lot of yesterday and so far today, in bed. Hugs. Scottie1`
Opponents said the law had created confusion about whether teachers could identity themselves as LGBTQ or if they even could have rainbow stickers in classrooms.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Students and teachers will be able to speak freely about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms, provided it’s not part of instruction, under a settlement reached Monday between Florida education officials and civil rights attorneys who had challenged a state law which critics dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.”
The settlement clarifies what is allowed in Florida classrooms following passage two years ago of the law prohibiting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. Opponents said the law had created confusion about whether teachers could identity themselves as LGBTQ or if they even could have rainbow stickers in classrooms.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis attends the drivers meeting prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Feb. 19, 2024.Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images file
Other statesused the Florida law as a template to pass prohibitions on classroom instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation. Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky and North Carolina are among the states with versions of the law.
Under the terms of the settlement, the Florida Board of Education will send instructions to every school district saying the Florida law doesn’t prohibit discussing LGBTQ people, nor prevent anti-bullying rules on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or disallow Gay-Straight Alliance groups. The settlement also spells out that the law is neutral — meaning what applies to LGBTQ people also applies to heterosexual people — and that it doesn’t apply to library books not being used in the classroom.
“What this settlement does, is, it re-establishes the fundamental principal, that I hope all Americans agree with, which is every kid in this country is entitled to an education at a public school where they feel safe, their dignity is respected and where their families and parents are welcomed,” Roberta Kaplan, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said in an interview. “This shouldn’t be a controversial thing.”
In a statement, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s office described the deal as a “major win” with the law remaining intact.
“Today’s mutually agreed settlement ensures that the law will remain in effect and it is expected that the case will be dismissed by the Court imminently,” the statement said.
The law, formally known as the Parental Rights in Education Act, has been championed by the Republican governor since before its passage in 2022 by the GOP-controlled Florida Legislature. It barred instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through the third grade, and it was expanded to all grades last year.
Republican lawmakers had argued that parents should broach these subjects with children and that the law protected children from being taught about inappropriate material.
But opponents of the law said it created a chilling effect in classrooms. Some teachers said they were unsure if they could mention or display a photo of their same-sex partner in the classroom. In some cases, books dealing with LGBTQ topics were removed from classrooms and lines mentioning sexual orientation were excised from school musicals. The Miami-Dade County School Board in 2022 decided not to adopt a resolution recognizing LGBTQ History Month, even though it had done so a year earlier.
The law also triggered the ongoing legal battles between DeSantis and Disney over control of the governing district for Walt Disney World in central Florida after DeSantis took control of the government in what the company described as retaliation for its opposition to the legislation. DeSantis touted the fight with Disney during his run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, which he ended earlier this year.
The civil rights attorneys sued Florida education officials on behalf of teachers, students and parents, claiming the law was unconstitutional, but the case was dismissed last year by a federal judge in Tallahassee who said they lacked standing to sue. The case was appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Kaplan said they believed the appellate court would have reversed the lower court’s decision, but continuing the lawsuit would have delayed any resolution for several more years.
“The last thing we wanted for the kids in Florida was more delay,” Kaplan said.
Of note, the lead attorney in the lawsuit is Roberta Kaplan, who is best known to most as E. Jean Carroll’s attorney. Kaplan was also Edith Windsor’s attorney in the landmark Supreme Court ruling on DOMA.
A settlement over Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law will allow students and teachers to speak about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom, if it's not part of a lesson. https://t.co/FTg3TWJCyo
#Florida settles lawsuit over @GovRonDeSantis' controversial parental rights law & will clarify vague wording. Plaintiffs calling it the Don’t Say Gay law say the deal will stop school districts from “overreacting.” https://t.co/E4SQGjlUYQ via @JeffSolochek
The short clip is very important for all to hear. Thank you TG for posting it. I know many here also follow Mock Paper Scissors, but for those that do not or missed the post, this is great. It is about mistreating children, it is about Nex Benedict. Hugs. Scottie
Due to not feeling well and the number of videos, even though they are short so are in foreign languages so I had to use the CC for those, so it took almost a week and a half to watch these and post them. So I did not include because it caused me to trigger, like the ones where parents beat their gender nonconforming children, to make them be the gender they were assigned at birth. That is like trying to beat the gay out of a kid, you can scare them into hiding it but you can’t make it go way or change it. I simply wanted to give those that don’t understand trans kids or trans people a way to see what it is these people are dealing with. Maybe it will change some people from being haters to being trans supporters. It only take a few people to believe in a LGBTQIA persons worth to make a huge difference in their lives, maybe even save a life. I hope people will take their time and watch the videos as I did, a few at a time over how ever long you wish. If you watch only one, please watch the first one where a trans hater learns that the trans neighbor she like was trans, and well she learned and grew. Hugs. Scottie
Get Off My Turf! is a short film about a transgender woman who finds out that her neighbour is transphobic. The film delves into some of the modern depictions of transphobia and explores friendship, solidarity and conflict between two very different women.
SYNOPSIS: Clara is a girl who cannot show herself as she is. There is something that can control her, and forces her to live under a name and appearance that are not real. “I’m not him” will show the harsh reality to which transgender children like Clara are exposed, as well as the strength they have to move forward.
“A trans boy struggles with dysphoria and anxiety as he contemplates a night out with friends.”
So for my theater class, our final was to create a short film. I decided to do a film about a female to male transgender teen. I apologize for the binder, it’s really bad. I didn’t own a real binder. Ignore that please. I hope you enjoy it.
This short documentary about transgender ftm boys was created to bring more awareness to the transgender community. We don’t personally know any mtf transgender girls so please no controversy over the subject. We own all rights to this film except the music, the quote, and the statistic. This is the first film that we’ve produced and we plan on creating more shorts. We hope you enjoy it!! *** The music on this one got louder than the voices, so I turned the sound off and used the CC. Hugs. Scottie ***
A trans themed short film, created by an all trans cast production team. On remote northern Iceland two strangers connect and realize they have a lot more in common than previously assumed.
Young and Trans. Watch this powerful short film challenging the stigma of what it means to be trans today. Let’s come together for a brighter future.
We have been filming transgender boy Kai since he was 9 years old. In this film, Kai is 14 and reflects on coming out and taking hormone blockers. We also hear from Alex, 18 who is also trans and has started taking testosterone. Kai meets with Tayler, 19 and they both visit the Museum of Transology, where founder E-J Scott gives them a tour.
This is 5 years of a 10 year project, filming Kai, as part of a wave of trans youth, who have been given the best opportunity in life, never having to go through ‘the wrong puberty’.
My Genderation is an ongoing film project focusing on trans lives and trans experiences. All our content is created by trans people, about trans people, for a much wider audience. Currently run by Fox Fisher and Owl Fisher.
Come As You Are follows Theo, a transgender female in a conservative household. This film is dedicated to the God of love, regardless of who you are or where you come from
Featuring young trans actors in trans roles, ‘Listen’ honestly and frankly depicts some of the myriad struggles experienced daily by trans children and teenagers, giving a much needed voice to this often maligned section of the community.
Coming to terms with who we are is hard enough to tell people, but for Sean he must come to terms with his exploration in a world that he cannot hear and a world that does not always hear him. A fascinating story of love, trust, and friendship.
I often wondered what my life would have been like if I had been a kid in the modern age where being gay was so much more accepting than it was for me in the 1970s with Anita Bryant spewing her hatred and lies about people like me. Then I remember that today there are the Libs of TikTok and the red state governors / republican fundamentalist Christian legislators who are doing to LGBTQIA kids what was done to me back in the 1970s by Bryant. Spewing lies and hate to make us hated as much as possible.
But there is another part of my thoughts. Like the boy in the short video I couldn’t find the spoken words to tell of my abuse and the signs I was showing people either they couldn’t hear or did not want to. What if I had had the words to say as a four-year-old what was happening when I was asked to go next door, that even though the man was nice, kind even, it left my butt sore, and the hell spawn I lived with would make fun of me for it. They knew, which makes me now believe the adoptive parents knew also. Maybe they pimped me to him? After all, someone had to tell me to go over there, to give me permission. Yes the man was raping me. But he was kind and nice to me. Unlike at home.
Imagine as a 6 yr in first grade, in torn clothing who had bruises all over me who in class just put my head down on my desk and went to sleep because I knew there it was safe to do so because no one would hurt me. To my little boy mind that was shattered when the teacher took me to what seemed to me a large room with some other adults. Both male and female. They asked me to remove my clothing. I started to obey as I had learned not to disobey that demand … but when they told me to remove my underpants I started to cry, to sob. I promised to be good, I promised not to sleep in school anymore, I begged them, I even said as I stood there after taking off all my clothing and they had me move in different ways while touching me to make me stand or show what they wanted to see, that I promised I wouldn’t tell as they asked me questions I dared not answer. I kept repeating that, hoping they knew that I would cooperate and not tell so they would be nice when they used me. They did not understand what I was saying when I said I promised not to tell. I knew the punishment for telling, I did not know they were trying to help. They scared me, because these were adults I did not know and the few times before with adults I did not know first what they did hurt really bad. I simply did not have the words, I did not understand what they wanted, and I had no way to tell them what they wanted to know, yes I was being abused, I was being hit, I was being … In a way that was somehow more traumatizing to me because in my 6 yr old mind I was about to be forced to please and give my body to these four or five adults … If I was lucky and they did not want to simply hit me to make me hurt even more.
If only I could have heard them, and they could understand that which I had no voice to say. I am really tired, I hate that just watching a short YouTube video can bring back such strong memories, making me feel those feelings, relive those events. Hugs. Scottie
I had to use both the CC and the ones the move provided. I would shut the CC off when it would write over / obscure the movie ones. Starting to feel a bit better, kept supper down last night. Hugs. Scottie
Scottie's Playtime 