LBGTQ

[Bozo_Casanova 26451]

8 hours ago, safe sex said:

The only public restroom completely safe to use in Austin, imo, is the Mueller Drafthouse. I haven't used a public bathroom other than that one in years 

It's so good - they solicited neighborhood feedback when they were building the place and that was the winning design - a urinal room and a row of toilet closets with a common sink area. More efficient and faster moving for literally everyone. 

[ChuckNorrisActionJeans 2668]

watch out for magnesium in any supplements, it can and does act as a laxative if a significant amount.

[StassneyHorn 6575]

Can you olds just move to Belize? You’re 45

[atomheartbevo 89659]

42 minutes ago, StassneyHorn said:

Can you olds just move to Belize? You’re 45

I would, but then I'm liable to end up accidentally murdering a neighbor, going on the run across multiple countries, winding up in a Spanish prison, and then commit suicide under "mysterious" circumstances.

[troph 24788]

1 hour ago, YGIFS said:

You can keep going pee or keep posting towns?   

Cool you love the outdoors, me too.  My point was how I/we forget about this bathroom bullshit until we get outta Austin where it's everybody else wondering whats in everybody else's underpants.  My close cousin, like an older sister, has been working with trans folks all her life and introduced me to many friends of hers over the years.  I just never in a million years thought the focus of a legislative session of a major state would be so singularly focused on where people peed (and this is the 3rd-4th session to that effect).  Look at the Germans, they don't care on whom you pee.  I mean where you pee.  They're doing strong to quite strong.  

this is all because they couldn't figure out any other way to increase voter turnout on their side.  so they had to drive an additional/new slice of the electorate out to the polls.  Someday, we're going to have to look back at hundreds of exit polls and admit that it wasn't water, or energy, or economics, or education, or even border security (all valid concerns) that millions of voters said was what drove them out to the polls-it was where people urinated.  And the next generation will ask, "Like, was people peeing in the streets and the water supply a big deal, like that kinda issue where public health was at stake?"  Nope, we were apparently terrified 17 transgender folks needed to take a leak in a restaurant one summer.  

Glad you love the outdoors too - you aren’t listening.

I don’t know who doesn’t think about bathrooms maybe you don’t but trans people never stop thinking about bathrooms. I was making the point with my “I’ve been everywhere man” list to say that we are everywhere from Austin to vidor to fort Stockton to Amarillo to Texarkana. It’s not ok Austin doesn’t care, too many places do. We never stop thinking about the fucking bathroom. How we might handle being called out, whether we want to take the chance or just hold it.  Let that sink in, we don’t ever stop thinking about where we have the fucking right to pee in peace. Maybe, maybe one day we can live with ordinary concerns without the fucking gestapo republicans coming after us. Shit, Florida is a state we can’t even step foot in now and it’s a place I love, straight up taken away from me because, and next session Texas may be the same. So crack open a beer and enjoy the outdoors and don’t think about bathrooms, we gotcha covered.

[YGIFS 19450]

It was merely a passing commentary on the rest of Texas.  We have had plenty of posts on how once you leave a city it turns to MAGA country very fast.  I’m not oblivious to your plight.   Before someone can become an advocate, sometimes they have to see OR be reminded of the injustices.  They can’t just conjure it all up at once.  Dialogues like this help.  

And if you don’t need my help, that’s fine.   Just know I’m coming for your enemies.  

[Bama Chick 28596]

Genuinely sorry to hear that. If my schedule gets off, it's so unpleasant. I had to go with a different protein powder as my normal was sold out and it was fucking awful. I had to carefully schedule gym and yoga for a few days. I can't imagine IBS.

It definitely requires planning.

If I have to fly or have a big work event or a day full of meetings, prophaltic Imodium is a must.

Ain’t no way I’m subjecting an airplane full of strangers to an IBS attack. I’d sooner jump out of the plane lol.

[troph 24788]

7 hours ago, YGIFS said:

It was merely a passing commentary on the rest of Texas.  We have had plenty of posts on how once you leave a city it turns to MAGA country very fast.  I’m not oblivious to your plight.   Before someone can become an advocate, sometimes they have to see OR be reminded of the injustices.  They can’t just conjure it all up at once.  Dialogues like this help.  

And if you don’t need my help, that’s fine.   Just know I’m coming for your enemies.  

I didn’t really need your quippy comment, but appreciate your help. It’s really really really fucked up. I cannot underscore that enough.  It’s level 10 fucked up. Like the fire drills, tornado drills or active shooter drills today in schools, this one isn’t a drill and we haven’t really been practicing for it. I wake up every morning and the first thing I have to do is work through the emotions of being in a fucking legislative war zone. I’d say it’s attempted genocide without the violence but I’m not sure the caveat will have much meaning given the rhetoric. I expect violence against trans and other LGBTQ people to continue to rise as their leaders enact legislation to effectively cause a mass (at least with respect to percentages) migration. It’s already happening with families with trans kids. Adults are next. 
 

 

[troph 24788]

And here’s the thing, 95% of the people on this thread will do their part. But it won’t be enough. Not even close. We are so screwed. Live in your home as a target of the state, be subjected to your existence being legislated, behave as a subclass citizen or migrate somewhere else. I really don’t think many of you can comprehend how unbelievable this is.  

[YGIFS 19450]

It'll be of cold comfort, but many of the donors we talked to prior to 2022 elections about Dan Patrick.  We knew they wouldn't back another candidate, we knew they'd still vote straight-ticket R.  But we pressed and pressed for them to at least not donate any money to him.  First off, he didn't need it.  Second, it just sends a validation signal to him that his policies are still wildly popular among mainstream Republicans.  It also gives him less to steal from in 2026/27 when he leaves office (hopefully).  We probably only diverted $50k away from Lt. Goebbels, but at least some senior staffer took the hint when a bunch of the usual suspects didn't return their calls. 

And of the reasons most oft cited wasn't abortion restrictions, school shootings, or a complete lack of a transportation plan for Texas...it was that all this anti-trans kids stuff didn't sit well with them.  Most of them are socially conservative, but they're not stupid.  They can connect the direct line between what Patrick wants to do and kids committing suicide, or at best having life long mental health scars from these formative years.  This is not sitting well with many Republicans.  They get throwing red meat to the base, but this is a bridge too far.  Of course, they're not speaking out...but you gotta start somewhere and cutting off the unlimited flow of cash to people like Patrick and Abbott is a start.  They see dollars as more of a validation of themselves than votes. 

Sadly this is all being done to appeal to 1/3rd of 1/3rd.  Otherwise, they can no longer win.  And as usual, the children lose.      

[troph 24788]

If you need a spokesperson for trans people behind closed doors I’ll be your huckleberry but I have zero interest in publicity, my kids deserve their own childhood uninterrupted or what’s left of it. I raised over $3m for HRC when I first came out. Most of my clients are rich white men. 

Edited May 23, 2023 by troph

[YGIFS 19450]

I certainly respect your privacy.  Keep raising money.  I can't help any Democrats win statewide here, what I can do is slightly shut off the spigot to statewide monsters who see every dollar as a validation.  They can now, almost in real time see what their soundbites and ads and mailers and emails raise.  

I helped Biden's campaign here all I could because that was the most obvious cure for Trump cancer.  But y'all know the Democratic bench far better than me.  I am fine being adrift with no party, they never meant much to me anyway.  But I think I found my calling, chipping away at the Texas GOP assholes every little chance I get.  

But to your point, this whole thing is gonna get uglier before it gets any better.  I knew they weren't go out with a whimper, but this is gonna take the better part of a decade to fix.

[Pancho 44771]

 

[Captainant 27660]

17 minutes ago, Pancho said:

 

fascists street fighting looking to harm their "out" group?

[GSU&UT 1798]

This shit with Target feels bleak. I understand not wanting your extremely low-paid teenage employees to feel threatened, but you know DAMN good and well this kowtowing is only going to embolden fascists.

[wildcat09 29353]

Getting closer and closer to Kristallnacht. 

[Pancho 44771]

I just fully believe radical republicans/white nationalists are planning something during Pride month. I’m not ready to say it will be something along the lines of Pulse, but I’m also not too far from that idea 

[mdmost 43001]

Yes, I'm getting a very uneasy feeling. The outrage merchants are pushing people to the brink of angry action. This disgusting playbook that acknowledging LGBTQ+ people exist is akin to grooming children has to be dealt with. There will be violence this summer. There always is. 

['stache 21813]

5 minutes ago, Pancho said:

I just fully believe radical republicans/white nationalists are planning something during Pride month. I’m not ready to say it will be something along the lines of Pulse, but I’m also not too far from that idea 

Oh it's gonna happen. If not this year, next year, or the year after. Tulsa's pride festival is massive, tons of people, taking over half of downtown. Some nutter who has been convinced of the evils of who they love is going to turn tragic. The political right will accept no blame, while not so subtlely hinting that they deserved it for daring to be out. "It's such a tragedy, but maybe its best if they just keep to themselves, we'll pray for them."

[wildcat09 29353]

They began saying that shit after the Colorado Springs club shooting and there wasn't any real backlash against their rhetoric from anyone in the mainstream. Next time they'll be much worse. 

['stache 21813]

There is no "mainstream" anymore on this issue. Literally half this country believes that being gay or trans is evil and anyone who dares live their lives openly should be treated as a second-class human. Probably half or more of that group would consider slaughters like Pulse as a good thing, cause jesus or some bullshit. 

[Pancho 44771]

 

['stache 21813]

And half the country says "that makes sense." The republican party is basically Westboro at this point.

[Pancho 44771]

 

[wildcat09 29353]

1 hour ago, 'stache said:

And half the country says "that makes sense." The republican party is basically Westboro at this point.

The thing is that it's not actually half the country. These losers are most of the Republican base but are actually only like 20% of the country. Another 15-20% are Republicans who sort of sympathize with them and don't really like gay people, but think actual violence against gay people is too far, and then the other 10-15% that gets us half of the country have generally been sympathetic to Republicans and consider themselves too smart to belong to a political party (because they're actually stupid), but have no idea that this is what Republicans are telling themselves constantly these days because they're just not paying attention.

The problem isn't that these terrorists are half of the country. The problem is that most people don't realize what they're saying because only a small percentage of the country that isn't part of the Republican base follows anything they say. And most Democrats have miscalculated, thinking it's better to pretend that most of the Republican party is sane and that they can work together, and these guys are just some fringe extremists. What Democrats need to be doing is putting this rhetoric front and center and pointing out that the entire GOP is beholden to these terrorists. Because it really isn't half the country that supports them. Most normal people think that a guy like Charlie Kirk is a creepy fucking weirdo, but they don't know who the fuck Charlie Kirk is or how important he is on the right.

[Chuckie Finster 22694]

Some girl that I knew from high school posted about boycotting target because they are selling "tuck-friendly bathing suits to kids and toddlers."

Against my better judgement, I told her that the statement is incorrect and posted the following link (with no other commentary): https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-target-swimsuits-transgender-pride-collection-892500330955

She replies that "I'm sure you can find an article on whatever viewpoint you want" and then blocked me.

This country is so doomed.

[Brian Fantana 6685]

2 hours ago, wildcat09 said:

The thing is that it's not actually half the country. These losers are most of the Republican base but are actually only like 20% of the country. Another 15-20% are Republicans who sort of sympathize with them and don't really like gay people, but think actual violence against gay people is too far, and then the other 10-15% that gets us half of the country have generally been sympathetic to Republicans and consider themselves too smart to belong to a political party (because they're actually stupid), but have no idea that this is what Republicans are telling themselves constantly these days because they're just not paying attention.

The problem isn't that these terrorists are half of the country. The problem is that most people don't realize what they're saying because only a small percentage of the country that isn't part of the Republican base follows anything they say. And most Democrats have miscalculated, thinking it's better to pretend that most of the Republican party is sane and that they can work together, and these guys are just some fringe extremists. What Democrats need to be doing is putting this rhetoric front and center and pointing out that the entire GOP is beholden to these terrorists. Because it really isn't half the country that supports them. Most normal people think that a guy like Charlie Kirk is a creepy fucking weirdo, but they don't know who the fuck Charlie Kirk is or how important he is on the right.

I think 20% is even a high estimate. 10% is more likely. Most people just instinctively cringe when they see anti-LGBTQ agitprop.

[elfenix 34238]

If Christian organizations don't denounce this kind of stuff, then it IS the modern form of being a Christian.  Sorry, but I can't continue to give them the benefit of the doubt and use a 2,000 year old definition of Christianity.  Christians continue to vote in the same viewpoints, continue to attend the same churches led by these same pastors, continue to ignore or justify abhorrent actions by their leaders in a number of different areas, and continue to say to themselves 'oh, but that's not MY religion.'  

Remember all the cries about "where are all the moderate moooooslums!"

[mdmost 43001]

3 hours ago, Chuckie Finster said:

Some girl that I knew from high school posted about boycotting target because they are selling "tuck-friendly bathing suits to kids and toddlers."

Against my better judgement, I told her that the statement is incorrect and posted the following link (with no other commentary): https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-target-swimsuits-transgender-pride-collection-892500330955

She replies that "I'm sure you can find an article on whatever viewpoint you want" and then blocked me.

This country is so doomed.

No, that's when you just laugh at her and post "well then enjoy Wal-Mart, you cunt". All these whiny white women will be back at Target in no time.  

[elfenix 34238]

i had forgotten (or blocked out) the details of his insanity immediately post-election.
i mean he truly thought he could just throw it out and be declared winner.

 
i can't believe we still have people on this site that would have been onboard with that. 

I see what you did there

[mchookem 16330]

exactly

[BevoAbyss 2058]

7 hours ago, wildcat09 said:

The thing is that it's not actually half the country. These losers are most of the Republican base but are actually only like 20% of the country. Another 15-20% are Republicans who sort of sympathize with them and don't really like gay people, but think actual violence against gay people is too far, and then the other 10-15% that gets us half of the country

 

5 hours ago, Brian Fantana said:

I think 20% is even a high estimate. 10% is more likely.

With all due respect: time's up for denials. You can post all kinds of percentages to somehow make it seem like it is not as horribly bad as it is. Just an evasion of the underlying reality suggested by the voting totals.

Bottom line: 45-50% of voters in Texas and America are down with fascism in various forms ... even if, or especially if, it means the marginalization/oppression of groups they hate or do not like, respect, care about, or think about. 

We are facing future rule by a violent fascist theocracy. It's all right before our eyes. The 2024 prez election will be close and Dem and Indie voters must realize how dire is the situation. Dems must turn our in huge numbers and some Indies will have to vote D.

Will it happen? I don't know. But it sure as hell won't happen if people think it's just 10-20% who make up the bad guys— i.e. the fascists and theocrats yearning to rule with violence— and the rest are just Christian freedom lovers!  F*ck that BS.

[MissingInAction 25065]

My local watering hole is frequented by a large contingent of trans folks at nights on the weekend. 

I'm never there after happy hour but I've heard stories of bigot asshats coming in there spewing their hatred. They are swiftly kicked the fuck out but sometimes I think it's just a matter of time before some self proclaimed Jesus warrior sprays the place with an assault rifle.

[Pancho 44771]

 

[Brian Fantana 6685]

4 hours ago, BevoAbyss said:

 

With all due respect: time's up for denials. You can post all kinds of percentages to somehow make it seem like it is not as horribly bad as it is. Just an evasion of the underlying reality suggested by the voting totals.

Bottom line: 45-50% of voters in Texas and America are down with fascism in various forms ... even if, or especially if, it means the marginalization/oppression of groups they hate or do not like, respect, care about, or think about. 

We are facing future rule by a violent fascist theocracy. It's all right before our eyes. The 2024 prez election will be close and Dem and Indie voters must realize how dire is the situation. Dems must turn our in huge numbers and some Indies will have to vote D.

Will it happen? I don't know. But it sure as hell won't happen if people think it's just 10-20% who make up the bad guys— i.e. the fascists and theocrats yearning to rule with violence— and the rest are just Christian freedom lovers!  F*ck that BS.

You'll get no arguments for me. What I meant was more like the very vocal extreme religious right (among the general population) is a smaller fraction of that 45-50%. In Congress, the percentage is much higher. I agree that they are all, to a one, culpable in the misconduct of members of their party.

[Bama Chick 28596]

You'll get no arguments for me. What I meant was more like the very vocal extreme religious right (among the general population) is a smaller fraction of that 45-50%. In Congress, the percentage is much higher. I agree that they are all, to a one, culpable in the misconduct of members of their party.

The fact that 20% are loud and proud doesn’t really matter when 45-51% of voters cast ballots for the side that encourages the loud 20%.

The quiet ones who support the machine behind the loud ones are the ones enabling the violence and bigotry.

Without the votes of the quiet, none of this would be happening.

[HenryJames 66048]

Spoiler

 

[YGIFS 19450]

God's return to the Earth after 2000 years of silence?  And he's decided upon laying waste to the Earth because of Republican Caitlyn Jenner at a Target store in Vermont?  I mean, I respect the man's authority, but this seems like a weird flex considering last time he showed some muscle, he killed 3mm people.  

[Pancho 44771]

 

[HenryJames 66048]

 

[Brisketexan 105122]

Oh it's gonna happen. If not this year, next year, or the year after. Tulsa's pride festival is massive, tons of people, taking over half of downtown. Some nutter who has been convinced of the evils of who they love is going to turn tragic. The political right will accept no blame, while not so subtlely hinting that they deserved it for daring to be out. "It's such a tragedy, but maybe its best if they just keep to themselves, we'll pray for them."

At this point, a trans person could shoot any given Republican and make a legally cognizable case for self defense. The GQP is a terrorist organization calling for violence.

I hope for a world where LGBTQ events have hidden AR-armed security who can slaughter these fuckers when they do the inevitable and attack.

[MissingInAction 25065]

There have been many Trans activities guarded by people in full Ninja gear with their own weapons and gear. 

I can't imagine a fire fight between them and a bunch of gravy seals. 

Probably make the Russian army look competent. 

Edited May 27, 2023 by MissingInAction

[HenryJames 66048]

 

[GhostOfTomJoad 9324]

Looking for advice on how to visually show my support as an ally. I'm a member of HRC and have ordered a Y'all means All t-shirt, but I'm also seeing Ally Cat as a popular symbol. I'd like to make sure my money is going to real LGBTQ+ campaigns that will assist in the fight for equality and not just some rando on the internet that's pocketing the profits. Links to specific sites would be appreciated.

Edited May 27, 2023 by GhostOfTomJoad

[HenryJames 66048]

Purina is trying to make my cat gay.

[Brisketexan 105122]

Purina is trying to make my cat gay.

You have a cat. You’re both already gay.
NTTAWWT.

[HenryJames 66048]

Three actually.

[safe sex 11721]

For real tho, I hope you feed your cats better food than that.

Edited May 27, 2023 by safe sex

[hobbes2702 13033]

On 5/25/2023 at 9:49 AM, Pancho said:

 

How’s that not criminal?

[HenryJames 66048]

33 minutes ago, safe sex said:

For real tho, I hope you feed your cats better food than that.

Yeah, the guy in the $5,000 suit is going to feed his cats Kit & Kaboodle. Come on!