For some completely mystifying unfathomable reason, there are not many lesbian bars any more.

Rachel and Sheila Smallman spent the summer of 2016 traveling the Gulf Coast, trying to find the best place to open a lesbian bar.

There were queer bars along the coast, but they largely catered to cisgender gay men. The Smallmans visited at least five cities in four states.

Why does PBS say “cisgender”? Can we not just take that as read now? Wouldn’t “gay men” have done the job perfectly well? Would any reader be wondering if they meant trans men too?

On one night, the Smallmans met a friend at a New Orleans gay bar. They were there for about three minutes before

… Read the rest

Florida has passed a law governing the teaching of history in public schools. What next, a law on what brand of shoes the students must buy?

The Florida State Board of Education unanimously voted to ban teaching ideas related to critical race theory Thursday, making it one of the largest public school systems to fall in line with conservative efforts across the country to regulate certain classroom instruction of American history.

What’s the betting that they even have much idea what it is?

The rule says in part: “Instruction on the required topics must be factual and objective and may not suppress or distort significant historical events, such as the Holocaust, and may not define American history as something

… Read the rest

Mississippi being Mississippi:

At first, it seemed a joyous occasion. There was an audible gasp in the room, then boisterous cheering and applause when the announcement was made: Ikeria Washington and Layla Temple had been named 2021 valedictorian and salutatorian for West Point High School.

The president of the local N.A.A.C.P. in West Point, Miss., Anner Cunningham, smiled as the two young women, both standout students, were photographed. “It was a beautiful and proud moment to witness two young, Black ladies standing side by side given such honors,” Ms. Cunningham said.

And moment is what it was, because it couldn’t be allowed.

But almost immediately parents of other students near the top of the rankings raised questions about who

… Read the rest

Meanwhile girls continue to be relentlessly harassed and bullied.

Some girls can be contacted by up to 11 boys a night asking for nude images, the schools watchdog for England says.

In an Ofsted survey, girls explained that if they blocked boys on social media “they just create multiple accounts to harass you”.

The report also found nine in 10 girls experienced sexist name-calling or were sent explicit photos or videos.

The watchdog is warning that sexual harassment has become “normalised” among school-age children.

That is, the sexual harassment of girls. Real girls, not boys who have a fantasy that they’re girls. While people are losing their shit over “misgendering” real girls are treated like crap day in … Read the rest

Trump “issued a statement” – i.e. blurted out a bunch of stupid plus treasonous.

As President, I had a great and very productive meeting in Helsinki, Finland, with President Putin of Russia. Despite the belated Fake News portrayal of the meeting, the United States won much, including the respect of President Putin and Russia. Because of the phony Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, made-up and paid for by the Democrats and Crooked Hillary Clinton, the United States was put at a disadvantage—a disadvantage that was nevertheless overcome by me. As to who do I trust, they asked, Russia or our “Intelligence” from the Obama era – meaning people like Comey, McCabe, the two lovers, Brennan, Clapper, and numerous other sleezebags – 

… Read the rest

From 2018:

If you’ve been taking the New York City subway lately, you may have noticed that some stops are a little more colorful than usual, as rainbow flyers celebrating Pride month have cropped up in stations across the city. The posters are formatted and designed like official MTA announcements, with statements like “No hatred or prejudice allowed at this station at any time.” But the gag is, it’s not the MTA that’s putting them up — it’s a New York resident.

Pride Train is a guerrilla anti-bigotry campaign spearheaded by Thomas Shim, a global creative director at the advertising agency Y&R New York, and his friends. The group formed last year and has since expanded, adding volunteers and

… Read the rest

Originally a comment by iknklast on Prolonged drought aka desert.

States like Arizona, Utah, and Nevada are among the highest per capita water users in the US. People move to states without much water, then use water like there is a huge supply. The states with the lowest per capita usage are mostly in New England, where there is a better supply of water. I don’t have too much sympathy with people who move to the desert and then consume water they are usually stealing from somewhere else. And there is a water fountain in Phoenix that shoots water up to 560 feet (though the average is 300 feet). Most of that will evaporate in the desert air.

Also, … Read the rest

Again – infuriating.

"This is not a victory to treat trans people any differently."

Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission @KishwerFalkner says they support a tribunal judgement that views on gender are protected as a philosophical belief, but it's not a licence to discriminate. #R4Today pic.twitter.com/wtDevlnkxQ

— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) June 11, 2021

Why put it that way? Why not put it the more obvious way: this is a victory to treat women as having rights themselves? Why put all the emphasis on trans people and what they want and by doing that, imply that women are 1. the enemy and 2. vicious bullies? WHY DO THAT?

Why the hemming, the apologizing, the anxious propitiation, the … Read the rest

Uh oh.

[Water] Levels in Lake Mead – the largest US reservoir by volume – fell to historic lows on Thursday, as the region continues to face the effects of a devastating prolonged drought.

Stationed on the main stem of the Colorado River in the Mojave [desert] along the Arizona-Nevada border, Lake Mead was formed with the construction of the Hoover dam, which generates electricity for areas in Arizona, California and Nevada. It provides water for urban, rural and tribal lands across the south-west.

It’s approaching its lowest level ever and it will get lower over the summer.

In normal years, the dam produces enough electricity for 8 million people, but the water shortage will slow energy output while

… Read the rest

Suzanne Moore on that ruling:

What a huge amount of time, money and, for Maya Forstater, unimaginable anxiety it has taken to establish that she should not be sacked for believing simply that biology is real.

For knowing what we all knew until 5 minutes ago, when we received strict orders to stop believing it.

At a time when the scales are falling from people’s eyes about just how campaigners such as Stonewall operate, Fortstater’s win is cheering for all of us. I was never sacked for my gender critical beliefs but I was certainly made to feel that my workplace had become a hostile environment. How many people are labouring under the same pressure?

Approximately way too many.… Read the rest

Death threats.

https://twitter.com/georgeprbenson/status/1403127620338782208

Metro Vancouver says yeah!

https://twitter.com/TransLink/status/1403132576722735105

Our “pronouns” will be was/were.

Much progressive.

Updating to add screenshot:… Read the rest

Well…

Assuming “1940s Germany” is meant to suggest Germany 1940-45 as opposed to Germany 1945-50, I have to say well but what about the fact that Germany 1940-45 was engaged in genocide as well as global total war with casualties in the millions? What about that part? I’m not seeing that happen to trans people, or anything resembling it, or anything that looks as if it could possibly if left alone over a long time end up resembling that.

To put it more crisply, I’m not seeing the persecution.

Not seeing you as you see yourself is not persecution. It’s the universal human condition, and it’s not persecution, it’s just how things are. We all look different from the inside … Read the rest

H/t Dave Ricks… Read the rest

All these BBC reporters saying "these views", like they're wearing rubber gloves. Most listeners won't realise they're talking about essential truths supported by 99.9% of biologists. Imagine calling a belief the earth is round "these views" and pretending it's contentious.

— Simon Edge (@simonjedge) June 10, 2021

Maybe it’s nature’s desperate last gasp effort to get us to stop destroying the planet – convince enough of us that we don’t know the difference between female and male and surely the birth rate will plummet.… Read the rest

Holding on to it like an exposed lie, you mean.… Read the rest

Sarcasm makes the point better.

https://twitter.com/oliverburkeman/status/1402977223863308290 https://twitter.com/toriajayne/status/1402981127120322569… Read the rest

The Guardian does a better job than the BBC of giving Maya space comparable to the space it gives a dissenter.

Forstater said of the judgment: “It doesn’t mean the freedom to harass others. That was never what my case was about. Gender-critical beliefs and gender identity beliefs are both protected under the Equality Act and so, too, is lack of belief. No one can be forced to profess a belief that they do not hold, like trans women are women, trans men are men, and [be] punished if they refuse. The judgment means that organisations now need to consider whether their policies, encouraged by trans rights organisations, discriminate against people with gender-critical views.”

Louise Rea, a solicitor at the

… Read the rest

Even the god damn chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission is doing it.

“Some may see the beliefs of others as questionable or controversial, but people must be free to hold them. This is why this case is so important.” @EHRCChair on the ruling in Maya Forstater’s appeal.

See our case summary and full statement: https://t.co/6JrIH7179T pic.twitter.com/H57K26EIJ9

— EHRC (@EHRC) June 10, 2021

In other words…Maya’s beliefs are evil but she has the right to hold them.

Thanks a lot.

Leaves an opening for the misogynist trans women.

https://twitter.com/KatyMontgomerie/status/1402938615026569216

The way so many trans activists campaign against women’s rights and freedoms?… Read the rest

Also the TUC. The TUC ffs! As if there were no women in trade unions!

Everyone should be treated with dignity and respect at work.

Employers must keep all their workers safe from discrimination and harassment – including trans and non-binary workers.

Today’s Forstater judgement does not change this.

— Trades Union Congress (@The_TUC) June 10, 2021

Also including WOMEN – but the TUC implies that women are the enemy here. Not the bosses, women.

If you’re worried about harassment at work, ask your union for help.https://t.co/EJWBfdmnoV

— Trades Union Congress (@The_TUC) June 10, 2021

Any resources on misogyny and sexism at work? Anything at all? Hello?

It's incredibly sad, tragic even that you seem so unable to

… Read the rest

Glosswitch says it.

"Men often react to women’s words—speaking and writing—as if they were acts of violence; sometimes men react to women’s words with violence" (Dworkin, Intercourse). One for all those equating women seeking not to be discriminated against with women seeking to discriminate.

— Victoria Smith (@glosswitch) June 10, 2021

Take a bow, BBC.

"Reassurances" that feminists having the right to speak doesn't mean they have the right to harass aren't intended to reassure, but to reposition feminists as aggressors rather than victims of age-old policing of women's speech about their lives & embodied experiences

— Victoria Smith (@glosswitch) June 10, 2021

Nailed it.

https://twitter.com/boodleoops/status/1402975831924826114

Just look at the TUC doing exactly the thing Glosswitch said – repositioning feminists … Read the rest