Hmm, category of Things Not Needed department: a Straight Pride parade.

A group in Boston wants to hold a “Straight Pride” parade in August. The event, pending city approval, will be hosted by a group called Super Happy Fun America.

The movement seeks to advocate on behalf of the “straight community in order to build respect [and] inclusivity,” among other things, according to the group’s website.

“Straight people are an oppressed majority,” John Hugo, the group’s president, said on its website. “We will fight for the right of straights everywhere to express pride in themselves without fear of judgment and hate. The day will come when straights will finally be included as equals among all of the other

Daniel Kaufman at The Electric Agora walks us through the t philosopher-Justin Weinberg campaign to ostracize and silence The Evil TERFs, starting with t philosopher:

Woke philosophy’s most recent moves can be found in an “open letter” to the profession, published anonymously (by “t-philosopher”) and entitled “I am leaving academic philosophy because of its transphobia problem,” as well as a lengthy essay, written by none other than our intrepid Weinberg, “Trans Women and Philosophy: Learning from Recent Events” and published at the Daily Nous. The two pieces are an exquisite pairing: T-philosopher is wounded and empowered and terrified and accusatory and defeated and defiant, all at once – sometimes, even in the same sentence –

Jane Clare Jones has a must-read post on Justin Weinberg’s long and intensely clueless post about the sorrows of “t philosopher.” She has resolved, somewhat to my chagrin, to curb her tendency to jokes and swears by way of professional courtesy. She also plans to be calm even though she is pissed, man, and even though this having to pretend not to be furious is in fact central to what she’s saying.

The letter written by the anonymous ‘t philosopher’ is principally an emotional appeal to vulnerability, an intent to share the philosopher’s “pain and anger about being forced out of a career that I once loved.” The argument is, essentially, ‘allowing these women to express their views makes

A woman writes about the mandatory high heels for women issue:

It’s hard to imagine men enduring decades of pain and long-term physical injury just to “look the part” in the workplace – after all, many bemoan the necktie as too restrictive for the daily grind.

Now consider this: millions of women around the world, at all levels of the workplace hierarchy, have consistently spent their working hours tortured by blisters, bloodied flesh, foot pain, knee pain, back pain and worse, as a result of the pressure to conform to an aesthetic code – sometimes explicitly written into contracts or policy, more often subliminally expected as a societal and cultural standard – that deems it appropriate to wear high heels.

The second tweet directly follows the first.

…..there is not, we can always go back to our previous, very profitable, position of Tariffs – But I don’t believe that will be necessary. The Failing @nytimes, & ratings challenged @CNN, will do anything possible to see our Country fail! They are truly The Enemy of the People!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2019

Twitter should let the banned Conservative Voices back onto their platform, without restriction. It’s called Freedom of Speech, remember. You are making a Giant Mistake!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2019

The New York Times and CNN are truly The Enemy of the People! Also, it’s called Freedom of Speech!… Read the rest

Also Pink News:

Let trans people swim in peace. https://t.co/zuehcMZclk

— PinkNews (@PinkNews) June 9, 2019

Let trans people swim in peace. Fine, let them, by all means. But what about women? Can we let women swim in peace too?

Hahaha don’t be silly, no, of course not, because what Pink News means by “Let trans people swim in peace” is let men who are trans swim with women and make women swim with men who are trans. It does not mean let women swim with women. It would be exclusionary to let women swim with women, but it’s inclusive to make women swim with men who are trans. Only some people get to do things in peace in this … Read the rest

A trans woman is suing The Times for…you’ll never guess.

A former editor at the Times is suing the newspaper for anti-trans discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and unfair dismissal on the grounds of gender reassignment — in a landmark case that, if she wins, could transform the UK media’s coverage of transgender rights.

Katherine O’Donnell was the night editor of the Scottish edition of the Times until January 2018, when she was made redundant after 14 years at the title, during which she transitioned.

Her allegations, which encompass bullying and blocking of promotions and pay rises before she unfairly lost her job, involve multiple senior figures at the Times, including the current editor, John Witherow.

O’Donnell transitioned on the job, which … Read the rest

By popular(ish) demand.

… Read the rest

They aren’t though. They aren’t equivalent at all.

Stop with the transphobic nonsense. Signs and protests like these are equivalent to having signs that say "women don't have sex with women". There are women who have sex with women and it is equally true that some lesbians have penises. #YorkPride2019 #YorkPride #acceptance pic.twitter.com/CMGnyl8Xuu

— ♿ Daniel Holt (@daniel_p_holt) June 8, 2019

Same-sex attraction is not the same kind of thing as claiming to be the sex opposite to your body. It’s a different kind of thing. Same-sex attraction is not the same kind of thing as gender dysphoria. Same-sex attraction is not the same kind of thing as thinking you were “born in the wrong body.” Same-sex attraction is not … Read the rest

Trump and his gang continue to think they can deal with climate change by lying about it.

The White House blocked a State Department intelligence staffer this week from issuing testimony to the House warning that human-caused climate change could be “possibly catastrophic,” according to The Washington Post.

The Post, citing several senior administration officials, reported that officials from several different White House offices took issue with written testimony Rod Schoonover of the State Department planned to deliver to the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.

Because the problem isn’t that climate change will be catastrophic, it’s that warning us about it will interfere with somebody’s profits.

Officials told the Post that the White House Office of Legislative Affairs

Pink News still saying Be Inclusive, Exclude the Feminist Women.

We stand for an inclusive community. Say no to TERFs. #Pride pic.twitter.com/zC8MdHUJYl

— PinkNews (@PinkNews) June 8, 2019

… Read the rest

He actually said that.

AG Barr: "As we've been watching the coverage of June 6, 1944 D-Day, I had the thought that my arrival this time felt a little bit, I think, like jumping into Sainte-Mère-Église on the morning of June 5, trying to figure out where you could land without getting shot." pic.twitter.com/D36xU0uYSj

— The Hill (@thehill) June 8, 2019

… Read the rest

The Guardian solemnly parses Trump’s Fractured Astronomy:

Trump’s declaration shocked many space enthusiasts, because the moon has not traditionally been regarded as part of Mars.

The leading theory is that a collision between Earth and a planet-sized entity, many years ago, resulted in debris that eventually became the moon. On average Mars is 140m miles from the moon. Nasa did not immediately respond to a question from the Guardian asking if the moon is part of Mars.

Well it’s Friday afternoon. I’m sure they’ll get to it on Monday.

Irrespective of whether the moon is part of Mars (it isn’t), Trump’s announcement was doubly surprising given his previous enthusiasm for a moon trip. His criticism of Nasa for “talking

Well ok then. I did not know that.

For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon – We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2019

… Read the rest

Please, tell us more about how terrified men are of women:

Two women say they were subjected to a homophobic attack and left covered in blood after refusing to kiss on a bus.

Melania Geymonat, 28, said the attack on her and her partner Chris happened on the top deck of a London night bus as they were travelling to Camden Town.

A group of young men began harassing them when they discovered the women were together, asking them to kiss while making sexual gestures.

Four male teenagers aged between 15 and 18 have been arrested.

They are being questioned on suspicion of robbery and aggravated grievous bodily harm.

How grievous? This grievous:

https://twitter.com/sophwilkinson/status/1137033059931500544

Ms Geymonat said: “They surrounded

Guys who identify as women reeeeeeeeeeally need to stop saying this.

From the Telegraph:

Author David Thomas still lives as a man, but has begun the male-to-female gender transition that will eventually result in becoming a woman. This week he tackles the controversial issue of transwomen using female-only toilets

You know how parents tell children who are scared by spiders, ‘It’s much more frightened of you than you are of it’? Well, the same thing applies to transwomen in female-only toilets. However frightened women may be by our presence, we are way, way more petrified by having to be there.

No.

No.

Men don’t get to say that.

First of all he doesn’t and can’t even … Read the rest