Keeping Up WIth George

Image:  Facebook

Though he was expelled from Congress last December, George Santos had declared his intention to run again, this time in a different New York district and as an independent rather than a Republican.

But he announced this week on X that he's bowing out of the race. The openly gay Santos explained that he doesn't "want to split the ticket and be responsible for handing the house to Dems."

There's that selflessness for which the serial liar is so noted. He's making this decision for the good of the conservative movement, and certainly not because his campaign hasn't raised one red cent.

Santos signed off his post, "It’s only goodbye for now, I’ll be back."

He may be Brazilian, but I read that and heard an Austrian accent.

This Week's Quote

Image by WikiImages from Pixabay

The rumors about Trump farting are flying around thick and fast. I know he fell asleep in court again today, but because it’s Earth Day, I pray he was at least able to reduce his emissions.

Bette Midler

Source:  X

Earth Day

 

An oldie from Walt Kelly, my favorite cartoonist. Still painfully pertinent.

Hunting for the Good

Image:  Facebook

I've thought of something positive to say about Marjorie Taylor Greene. She makes Sarah Palin look classy.

At the Trump Trial

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

LADY BRACKNELL:  To speak frankly, I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other's character before marriage, which I think is never advisable.

Oscar Wilde

Source:  The Importance of Being Earnest

And a Reasonably Priced One at That

 

Hitting the Books

Image:  Facebook

The American Library Association released a list of the 10 most challenged books in 2023.

Here's the upshot, from the ALA president: "In looking at the titles of the most challenged books from last year, it’s obvious that the pressure groups are targeting books about LGBTQIA+ people and people of color."

Folks tried to ban 4,240 titles in schools and libraries around the nation in 2023, a 65 percent jump from 2022, which was itself a record-breaking year.

We're in a maelstrom of censorship right now, courtesy of those who believe keeping kids from reading gay books will prevent them from being gay. That's not how things work. I don't recall reading any queer books growing up, and I still managed to attain full sapphic status.

I'll admit that, as a child, I loved "Harold and the Purple Crayon," but I'm pretty sure that doesn't count.

It Is to Ponder

 

This Week's Quote

Image by Ray Shrewsberry • from Pixabay

My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-seven now, and we don't know where the hell she is.

Ellen DeGeneres

Source:  Brainy Quote

An Arizona Wow

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Yesterday the Arizona Supreme Court ruled the state can enforce a law criminalizing nearly all abortions.

The law is from 1864. Expect the Court to issue a strong statement of support for the Confederacy any day now.

Hard to Learn

Image by Sammy-Sander from Pixabay

You'd think I'd know better, as a queer person, than to stereotype, but every so often I need to learn the lesson anew.

Today as I stood in line at the post office my eyes fell on a middle-aged man being served at the counter. A girl of about 11 stood with him, and both appeared to be Latinx. He wore a shiny short-sleeved shirt that I assumed touted some team.

It did:  Team Lucifer.

I realized the shirt sported upside-down crosses, pentagrams, goat heads, a veritable satanic smorgasbord.

My assumption that I was looking at a stereotypically Catholic, Hispanic father and daughter vanished in a puff of sulfur. It was a startling reminder of how inaccurate it can be to turn people into cliches.

I've learned my lesson. And I'll retain it for a good 36 hours.

Rats

Image:  Facebook

This time Trump didn't look straight at the eclipse.

There goes my plan for saving democracy.

Enigmatic No More

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

TRENT (spoken):

You can't cherry pick the bible,
Choosing which part you wanna believe

KAYLEE (spoken):
We don't do that

TRENT (spoken):
You don't? What's this?

(sung)
Kaylee has a small tattoo
That tattoo would be taboo
Kaylee guess what waits for you
An eternity in the fiery pits of hell

KAYLEE (spoken):
Hey!

TRENT:
Shelby, you seem sweet to me
But if it has come to be
You've lost your virginity
We'll be stoning you and your family as well

"Love Thy Neighbor" from "The Prom"

Source:  The Musical Lyrics

Last Sunday

Transgender Day of Visibility is observed annually on March 31. This year it happened to coincide with Easter. So when President Biden issued a proclamation in honor of TDOV, a number of conservatives spluttered that he'd hijacked the holiest Christian holiday just to show support for transgender people.

Some were so irate they practically accused Biden of sacrificing Jesus all over again.

The ruckus made me glad that I'm not a Christian. I belong to a Unitarian Universalist church whose spring festival for children and youth on Sunday was billed as "Celebrating Easter and Trans Day of Visibility." Activities included an Easter egg hunt and a drag queen story hour.

Conservatives are none too fond of Unitarian Universalists, either.

I Regress

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Normally I'm the soul of maturity.

Except when the University of South Carolina plays Oregon State University, which happened yesterday in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

When those two schools face off, something compels me to alert everyone that it's the Cocks vs. the Beavers.

Different Agendas

Image:  Facebook

Today President Joe Biden issued a proclamation recognizing March 31 as Transgender Day of Visibility.

Today former President Donald Trump issued a statement recognizing his wife Melania and Casper the Friendly Ghost as masters of invisibility.

But Wait, There's More

 

This Week's Quote

Image by Couleur from Pixabay

Trump is selling bibles, and Fox is blaming the bridge collapse on our "broken border."

There’s a big sector of our society that has absolutely lost its collective marbles.

George Takei

Source: X

Equal-Opportunity Meddling

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

I had plans yesterday to watch some of the NCAA women's basketball tournament with my straight friend Mary. When I arrived at her condo, a woman I didn't know was seated in front of the TV. As Mary introduced us, it took me one second to absorb that this woman was a lesbian.

I can't say whether my friend was engaged in calculated matchmaking, but when I departed several hours later, Mary whispered to me at the door, "She's cute, isn't she?"

Being set up has never worked well for me. However, as I drove home I decided it's a sign of progress that these days our straight friends are as hot to make a mess of our love lives as our queer friends.

That Would've Been my Question

 

Big Bucks

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

Faith & Freedom, the prominent evangelical advocacy group, plans to spend $62 million to return Donald Trump to the presidency.

Politico notes, "The investment underscores the degree to which the white evangelical community has allied itself with Trump, even as he faces a forthcoming trial on charges stemming from hush money payments to a porn actress."

Faith & Freedom will be laying out $10 million more than it did four years ago. But that's not really surprising. Inflation has raised the price of everything—including hypocrisy.

The GG Question

Image by rihaij from Pixabay

If you identify as gay or lesbian, what's the absolutely gayest thing about you?

This Week's Quote

Image by Robin Higgins from Pixabay

The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they’re okay, then it’s you.

Rita Mae Brown

Source:  Reader's Digest

Survey Says

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Yesterday evening, as I sat down to watch the news, I just had a feeling I'd regret it.

Sure enough, PBS brought me a story about a major survey that found support for LGBTQ rights has, for the first time, gone down in the U.S. 

Note to self:  must avoid the Sunday news if I don't want to start the week depressed. Or bitchy.

The Public Religion Research Institute interviewed over 22,000 adults in 2023, and found that support for same-sex marriage dropped two percentage points, and backing for non-discrimination protections dropped four points.

The CEO of the Institute said the downward tick surprised them. I can't say it surprised me, not with all the anti-LGBTQ legislation hovering about, but it was still hard to hear. I had to watch comedy for the rest of the evening to compensate.

The drop, said the CEO, was "largely driven by party polarization." She noted that her team "saw much deeper declines, for example, among Republicans in terms of their support for these issues, whereas Democrats tended to stay relatively stable."

This would be the moment to crack that Democrats are always more stable, but I won't.

She continued, "And I think what's happening is that you see many Republican leaders in red states, really trying to amp up the volume, so to speak on LGBTQ rights, and really trying to claw back some of those rights across the country."

And really being complete assholes.

The CEO finished, "And I think that's had a spillover effect nationally in terms of the attitudes of Republicans, especially on issues with respect to LGBT rights."

The red states have floated a cloud of bigotry across the country that other Republicans are getting high on. I never thought I'd write these words, but it's a shame Nancy Reagan isn't around to urge people to Just Say No.

Scientific Proof

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

On Fox Jeanine Pirro ranted that "Trump's never been charged with obstruction", when he's been charged with exactly that. In Jeanine's defense, she'd skipped her hourly breathalyzer test and been left alone near the cleaning products.

Paul Rudnick

Source:  X

I'm Confused

Image by Raquel Candia from Pixabay

There's been a settlement between plaintiffs and Florida officials over the infamous Don't Say Gay Law. Shannon Minter, the legal director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, declared, "This settlement is a huge victory for our community, both in Florida and nationally."

Meanwhile, the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis claimed the agreement is "a major win against the activists who sought to stop Florida's efforts to keep radical gender and sexual ideology out of the classrooms."

Both sides triumphed? I guess the title of the most magical place on earth has shifted from Disney World to Tallahassee.

Odd Advice

 

We've Come so Far

 

The Proverbial Bad Penny

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I turned on the TV this evening to watch President Biden deliver the State of the Union. Within seconds, as assorted members of Congress waiting for Biden to arrive filled my screen, I spotted former Rep. George Santos.

"My God," I blurted at the TV. "How did he get past security?"

Well, it turns out that even though the openly gay and remarkably deplorable Republican was expelled by the House, he was still allowed to attend the speech. Which he did, because he's a publicity whore.

It took me a while to recover. In fact, I didn't regain my equilibrium until after Biden had finished, when I was listening to political pundits on the "PBS NewsHour." It dawned on me that two of the three talking heads were openly gay.

Apparently, in my clearly tired brain, two esteemed political analysts cancel out one political toadstool.

Mush

Image:  Facebook

File this under We Really Are Everywhere.

When Apayauq Reitan competed in Alaska's grueling Iditarod sled dog race two years ago, a transgender pride flag billowed from her sled. Reitan, who is Norwegian and Iñupiaq, was 24 at the time. A short documentary called "Apayauq" captures her experience and her emotions as the Iditarod's first out trans woman musher.

The film is well worth seeing. Though I do wish they'd interviewed the dogs.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson revels in making offensive remarks – with a history that includes comparing abortion to slavery, quoting Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, and referring to LGBT+ people as “filth”.

And soon, he could take on the top job in the state.

Gustaf Kilander

Source:  The Independent

Just Gonna Leave This Here

 

The DTs, Part 1

Image by Lisette Brodey from Pixabay

Politicians aren't known for their veracity. But Donald Trump isn't even on nodding terms with truth.

According to The Washington Post, Trump offered 30,573 false or misleading claims during his term as president. That's an average of about 21 lies a day. Who does anything 21 times a day? That shows a real commitment.

The numbers ballooned over time. In his first year in office, Trump averaged about six falsies a day, and 16 in his sophomore year. In year three he reached 22 claims a day, and in his final year, when he was desperately seeking re-election, he achieved the pinnacle of 39 lies a day.

I remember marveling at the time that all that lying didn't appear to cause profound internal dissonance. It seemed to me he was due for at least an ulcer. Or for random parts of his body just to fall off. 

I have to assume he has no conscience and so felt no dissonance. The untruths were merely a means to an end.

By the time Trump's fabrications had reached the stratosphere, he knew he could get away with it. His followers didn't care, the press had missed its chance to hold him accountable and Republican politicos had already gone remarkably deaf.

Now he's still at it, fibbing at a clip that would make Pinocchio jealous. Trump is such a fabricator that if he were suddenly to start telling the truth we'd see a mass fainting event from sea to shining sea.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Alabama.gov

Embryos are not life. They have the potential to become life. Most of them aren’t even viable, a lot like the Republican Party.

Dana Goldberg

Source:  X

Lingo

 

The Only Explanation

Image:  Facebook

I received my ballot for Washington's presidential primary in yesterday's mail.

Today I examined the choices listed under the Republican Party, and prepared to fill in the oval next to Donald J. Trump.

Then First Officer Spock walked by wearing a goatee, and I realized what the hell was going on.

Still Waiting

 

This Week's Quote

Image by Maicon Fonseca Zanco from Pixabay

I love being trans, gay, and queer because I'm 60% of the LGBTQ acronym and it feels good to be a majority shareholder in something.

Charlie Girard

Source:  Bored Panda

Warning

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

It's Presidents Day, the day Americans celebrate George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and, God help us, Donald Trump.

Whether he's in court or on the campaign trail, Trump will be omnipresent in 2024. I know and understand that many folks will strive to block him from their eyes and ears. I warn you now that I'll be doing the opposite.

In order to survive Trump-a-looza, I need to make sense of him and all he represents. That's just who I am. So if reading yet more about Trump sounds as appealing to you as gastritis, you'd best ignore General Gayety for the bulk of 2024.

Naturally I don't want to lose readers. But I also don't want to be sued for inflicting emotional distress.

Don't expect daily diatribes on the subject. I don't have the time. These ruminations on Trump world will be periodic.

I've decided, thanks to Trump's deleterious effects and his initials, to call each post "The DTs."

The Painful Truth

 

Herculean Task Accomplished

Image by caesar15a from Pixabay

Greek lawmakers voted yesterday to make Greece the 16th nation within the European Union and the 35th worldwide to legalize same-sex marriage. What's most striking is Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to take this step.

Somewhere Apollo, Sappho and Alexander the Great are guzzling ouzo and smashing plates.

Can You Relate?

 

Please Be Certain

Image:  Facebook

Democrat Tom Suozzi won yesterday's special election in New York to succeed Republican Rep. George Santos, the serial fabulist and accused crook who was expelled from Congress late last year. The only thing Santos told the truth about was being gay.

Maybe I'm a tad paranoid, but are New York officials sure Suozzi is who he says he is, and not Santos in Democratic drag?

This Week's Quote

Image by 3333873 from Pixabay

Love is a grave mental illness.

Plato

Source:  Parade

Take the Pledge

Image:  Facebook

Unless you've been living in Donald Trump's armpit the last couple of years, you know that red states have been pumping out all kinds of anti-transgender legislation. It's against that backdrop that the National Center for Transgender Equality last week released its 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey.

In the survey of over 90,000 people, 47 percent of respondents had thought about moving to another state because of the anti-trans goings-on in their state capitals. And five percent had actually moved.

It's appalling that transgender people feel the need to pack up and flee their homes. I call on every cisgender lesbian, like myself, to support our transgender brethren in their hour of need by pledging not to tie up all the U-Hauls.

The Fab Four

 

Palm Beach Episode

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

Take a gander at the lead of a story from The Advocate this week:  "The son of a Florida sugar company executive was arrested and charged with beating a female companion because he was upset at being seated next to a gay couple at a swanky steakhouse earlier that evening."

Perfectly reasonable. Whenever I'm seated next to a straight couple at Pizza Hut, the evening ends with tears and the SWAT team.