Ron DeSantis’ infamous “Don’t Say Gay” law was initially aimed at young elementary school children whose tender ears were deemed too sensitive to be told their classmate Johnnie has two mommies or two daddies. The law covered K-3. It wasn’t long before DeSantis decided that even 12th graders are too young. From there DeSantis aimed his sights on state universities, banning diversity programs on the … Continue reading The Not-So-Slow Creep of Bigotry
An article in yesterday’s New York Times got me thinking. It described the latest round of something we see constantly these days: speakers (usually conservative) being shouted down or denied a platform altogether by (usually “progressive”) students or activists. The right does this too, though in their case it’s often more institutionalized than ad hoc. Examples include the expulsion this week of two Tennessee state representatives or … Continue reading Society Needs a Collective ‘Time Out’
The news has been consumed since 2020 with ‘The Big Lie’ where Trump & Company have been insisting the presidential election was stolen. Some 60 lawsuits have failed to present credible evidence, the Cyber Ninjas in Arizona actually found additional votes for Biden, and Sidney Powell’s source proving fraud is an “internally decapitated” woman who time travels in a semi-conscious state and talks to the … Continue reading The Other Big Lie
I became a socialist in the early ’70s before attending college. While never a member, I’ve been involved off and on in different capacities with the U.S. Socialist Workers Party (SWP) ever since — until last spring. In April I broke off my connection over political differences. This has led to a series of letters, texts and emails between myself and a close friend since … Continue reading My Liberal Turn
Effective today, beginning with this post, I am adopting the expanded acronym of LGBTQ+ over simply LGBT. As I’ve delved deeper into transgender issues, I’ve come to understand the old acronym is too limiting. The “LGBT” community is broader and more diverse than the traditional 4 letters represent. There’s nothing wrong with “LGBT” and it’s frankly easier to say and type, but I would rather … Continue reading Deja Vu All Over Again: The New Wave of Anti-LGBTQ+ Attacks
Updated with a new Afterword. To be nobody but myself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make me somebody else — means to fight the hardest battle any human can fight, and never stop fighting. E. E. Cummings Actor Elliot Page did an interview last spring with Oprah Winfrey on AppleTV+. It was his first TV interview since … Continue reading To Be Transgender is to Be Human
I feel a need to go on record regarding the latest transgender/women’s rights controversy that has broken out this month. Starting last summer I’ve found myself in the unexpected and unpleasant position as lone defender of trans women in debates on Facebook. The intensity of people’s opposition to transgenderism has shocked and shaken me. I’ve grown to assume my friends and associates accept LGBT people … Continue reading For the Record: On ‘Bodies With Vaginas’
An Epilogue updating this post appears at the end. Back in college one of the organizations on campus was the Revolutionary Student Brigade (RSB), a short-lived youth group aligned the Maoist Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP). Being a socialist and gay, I inquired about their position on gay rights. I can’t recall what they said exactly, but it was something along the lines that homosexuality is … Continue reading Bone of Contention: Socialists & the LGBT Community
There are two aspects to the transgender debate that trouble me most. First is the all-too-frequent rejection of transgender people’s lives and experiences. Their very lives are discounted as unscientific and delusion. The counterpart in my world are those who insist I’m gay because I choose to be, like choosing tea instead of coffee. I can’t imagine transgender people would put themselves through all the … Continue reading The Conundrum: Trans Rights vs Women’s Rights
