Category: Gender studies

Science: there has never been a worse time to be 2SLGBTQQIA+ in the United States

by philg

A Scientific American article, as presented by Apple News:

There are “unprecedented threats” against American children who identify as 2SLGBTQQIA+ (I won’t hatefully exclude some categories, as the headline authors did by citing only “LGBTQ”). In other words, it was better to be gay in the 1950s or 1850s compared to now.

The article in Scientific American contains the “unprecedented threat” language in a subhead:

Families Find Ways to Protect Their LGBTQ Kids from Serious Harm—Physical and Mental—after a Flood of Discriminatory Laws

Hostility toward LGBTQ kids, enshrined in hundreds of new bills, has put families with such children under unprecedented threat, raising risks of suicide and physical attacks

Hate has spread beyond Florida and Texas:

She had moved her family three times over the past six years. Her house in New Hampshire was shot at—possibly by someone aiming at thce [sic] rainbow signs in her front yard. In 2022 she fled to Massachusetts, which seemed to be safer for her child, Grey, who is transgender. But whenever she hears the words “safe state,” a thought pops into her head: “Austria felt like a safe place in World War II, too.”

For the time being, Grey feels like they are in a good place mentally. (For their personal safety, the names of young people and their parents in this story have been changed.) They have found a community that sees them for who they are and a state that allows them to receive the gender-affirming care they need.

On a recent trip to Piedmont and Berkeley, California I was informed that there is more hate than ever in California and the U.S. generally and it is all the fault of Donald Trump, despite his departure from a position of power more than three years ago. I asked for how many more years Trump could be blamed, but received no answer.

How many of us are hated because of Donald Trump? At least 1 out of every 4 young Americans, according to Science:

Given the large number of young people who identify as LGBTQ—about 25 percent of high school students are not heterosexual, according to a 2021 survey…

Science says that states that reel in the 2SLGBTQQIA+ should expect to have a population in poor mental health, though this is not because of anything inherent to the 2SLGBTQQIA+ lifestyle:

Compared with other kids their age, LGBTQ youths are at higher risk of numerous mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, self-harm and suicide. These health issues have been largely ascribed to minority stress, the consequences of social sources of tension that come with a marginalized identity. These stressors are not an innate part of an LGBTQ identity. Rather they emerge from experiencing repeated prejudice and powerlessness.

Here’s a strange one: a Floridian considering fleeing has “passports ready”. Where in the world is more friendly to the 2SLGBTQQIA+ than a Democrat-ruled U.S. state, such as California or Maskachusetts?

Another parent, a single father to a 12-year-old trans boy in Florida, says he can no longer protest anti-LGBTQ bills, because it raises risks of repercussions for his child. “You always balance out your ideals, your principles, your goals as a citizen with the needs of your family,” he says. He has developed an exit plan in case his home state becomes even more hostile. He has passports ready and is prepared to quit his teaching job and start his own company, moving to another state or abroad if necessary. Being able to think about leaving, a privilege he recognizes many parents do not have, has bolstered his mental health.

That said, even Maskachusetts isn’t safe, according to Science:

Yet even now, in an apparently safer place [Massachusetts], she and her husband still find themselves trying to protect Grey from the news, transphobic relatives and hostile people on the street. Recently the three of them went for a walk through their city. Tamara noticed that they had fallen into “bodyguard mode”: one parent in the front, one parent in the back and their only child in between.

Circling back to the original topic, is it Scientifically correct to say that hostility toward 2SLGBTQQIA+ ideas and people is “unprecedented”?

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UN: Women and girls are the primary victims of the Russian-Ukraine war

by philg

When a World War I-style trench warfare stalemate develops, the real victims are those who never go anywhere near the trenches and who, in fact, are able to go to mostly peaceful Germany and marry the German taxpayer.

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What’s the relationship between women and Rainbow Flagism?

by philg

I went to Costco to set up my mom’s new life as a Floridian. As part of the sales process, Costco customers are informed that some of the profits from the towels for sale flow into the pockets of people who identify as “women”. The “Women Owned” logo certifying that this is where the money goes has a rainbow embedded within. What does it mean? Are they saying that a heterosexual cisgender woman, for example, is somehow part of Rainbow Flagism?

I ended up buying towels from Land’s End. Maybe other shoppers are persuaded by the magic of this logo or the idea that their money is going to business owners of a particular gender ID? Wirecutter says buy Frontgate Resort Collection towels.

For $500 of miscellaneous household items, I had a choice between the Heroes of Rainbow Flagism at Target or the more prosaic Walmart, which is a little closer to our house. I chose Walmart.

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Two men kiss (front page news for the New York Times)

by philg

January 28, 2024, front page of the New York Times:

And the link to the full story if you feel that you need to know more.

An window into what’s on the minds of progressives! (But how is it consistent with their love for the Islamic Resistance Movement (“Hamas”) and Palestinian Islamic Jihad? Neither of those groups is renowned for celebrating the 2SLGBTQQIA+ lifestyle.)

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Audible: Updating Dickens with 2SLGBTQQIA+-ness

by philg

I recently listened to an “Audible Original” production of David Copperfield. My reivew:

If you love the ideas of two young English gentlemen getting naked together, massaging each other, and taking a shared bath, this is the novel for you. I downloaded the text from Project Gutenberg, however, and it seems that Dickens did not write these scenes of gay male passion. It should perhaps be retitled “Rainbow Copperfield” so that readers don’t get confused.

Helena Bonham Carter is fantastic as you might expect. Six stars for her.

It’s an interesting window into how the past can be quietly reconfigured to align with contemporary religion. A young follower of Rainbow Flagism, for example, might never realize that Charles Dickens was not a coreligionist.

Disney did the same thing with Dear Evan Hansen, but on a much faster clock. I attended the show in 2019, back when it was still legal to enter a theater in New York City. Part of my review:

One group that might not love the show is LGBTQIA. “This must be the only new Broadway show without an LGBTQIA theme or character,” I remarked. My companion, a regular at the theater, agreed, but that might be because her LGBTQIA teacher typically chooses LGBTQIA-themed shows for the public middle school crowd. The only reference to LGBTQIA issues is when teenage boys are anxious to avoid being perceived as gay (“that’s how it is in my school, too,” said the 12-year-old next to me).

When the play was turned into a purportedly faithful movie, the doctrinal error was corrected. The character who mocked gay male sexual activity in the play was turned into one who engaged in gay male sexual activity in the movie.

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New York-based journalists identify the world’s best soccer player

by philg

“She Was the World’s Best Player. Now She Won’t Play Soccer Again.” (WSJ, January 19, 2024):

The Wall Street Journal reporter and editors determined that this player was, prior to the unfortunate injury, a better player than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Here’s the reporter’s biography:

Related:

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How’s Adolfo Martinez, imprisoned for burning a rainbow flag, doing?

by philg

It’s been four years since Adolfo Martinez was locked away for stealing a rainbow flag from a church and burning it in the street outside a strip club. “Iowa man sentenced to 16 years for setting LGBTQ flag on fire” (USA Today).

Here’s a photo of the church back then:

Here’s the church web site as of September 25, 2023:

Who can decode the symbols on the “Community Pride Worship” banner above?

I can’t find any post-imprisonment media stories about Adolfo Martinez. He has been erased, it seems. He was 30 years old when he was imprisoned and will be 46, almost ready to retire on SSDI, when he gets out.

More recently… “UPenn student who praised ‘glorious’ Hamas terror attack later arrested for stealing Israeli flag” (New York Post):

Tara Tarawneh — a 2020 graduate of King’s Academy in Madaba, Jordan — was arrested Nov. 4 for allegedly stealing an Israeli flag from the front of a Campus Apartments house near the Ivy League campus, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported last week.

Tarawneh gave a hate-filled speech at a Philadelphia rally last month, with video of her addressing the pro-Palestinian crowd going viral, … “I remember feelings so empowered and happy, so confident that victory was near and so tangible,” she tells a crowd of the monstrous Oct. 7 attack. “I want all of you to hold that feeling in your hearts. Never let go of it. Channel it through every action you take. Bring it to the streets.”

Mx. Tarawneh could reasonably have expected an award for his/her/zir/their actions (the current gender ID of a college student today can never be assumed). A 2019 tale from NYU:

As soon as the [Israel Independence Day celebration] started, an anti-Zionist student rushed to the front of the protest line, held up the Israeli flag, lit it on fire, and threw it to the ground where it continued to burn. Adela [the Jewess] told her friends to ignore him, sing “Hatikvah” and move on.

Suddenly, a student protestor grabbed a microphone from a Jewish student, yelled “Free Palestine!” and waved his hands in the air. More protestors took the 10-foot Israeli flag, shredded it, and hung it from lamp posts and trees. Two protestors were arrested by NYPD and charged with assault, reckless endangerment, and property theft and damage.

Soon after, Adela, who was also a senator for the NYU student government, met with the administration to tell them that a line had been crossed and it was time to act.

What did NYU instead? They gave the anti-Israel hate group the President’s Service Award – the highest honor a student group can receive.

Related:

  • “Man gets 10 years for fatally stabbing Sioux City roommate” (Des Moines Register, also in the fall of 2019): 39-year-old Elmi Said was sentenced Friday. He’d been charged with second-degree murder for the Oct. 28, 2018, slaying of 40-year-old Guled Nur. … Said is also known as Abdiqadar Sharif.
  • “Iowa man in face-mask fight sentenced to 10 years in prison” (2021): Police and court records indicate Shane Michael, 42, went to the Vision 4 Less eyewear store on Merle Hay Road in Des Moines on Nov. 11 of last year. While there, Michael was wearing his face mask pulled down slightly, leaving his nose exposed.
  • “Chicago man gets 8 years in prison for robbing a bank in Sheldon, IA” (2023)
  • “Driver sentenced to 2 years probation in April crash that killed East High School student” (2022): The driver involved in a crash that killed a 14-year-old East High School student has been sentenced to two years probation. Des Moines police said Terra Flipping struck 14-year-old Ema Cardenas with her car on April 28, 2022. She drove away following the crash before and was arrested that same day.
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Second write-down for Gillette after the Toxic Masculinity and transgender ads

by philg

Loyal readers may recall A/B tests here in which the Dorco Pace 7 proved slightly superior to anything that Gillette offers. Other brands of razors were found to be grossly inferior. Background:

P&G wrote down the value of their $54 billion Gillette purchase by $8 billion after the Toxic Masculinity and transgender ads. The Wall Street Journal recently reported a $1.3 billion additional charge:

It looks as though Gillette is still stuck on the same 5-blade system that I tested in 2019, though it has been renamed.

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How is it legal to run a bank that lends only to women?

by philg

I was chatting with an executive from Grameen America, the U.S. division of Grameen Bank, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. I learned that, out of the rainbow of 74 gender IDs recognized by Science, Grameen American will lend to those who identify with just one gender: “women” (at an 18 percent interest rate).

Everything financial in the U.S. seems to be tightly regulated, so I’m wondering how this is legal. If a bank seems not to be lending with alacrity to Black and Latinx borrowers, the federal government is right there to sue them (recent example). How is it legal for Grameen to say “No men need apply”?

Note the “Meet more of our incredible women entrepreneurs” at the bottom. Why is “incredible women” a common phrase (3.3 million Google results) while “incredible men” is only about 1/8th as frequently used and “incredible nonbinary” occurs just 1,020 times on the Web? Are women 8X more incredible (“less credible”?) than men and vastly more incredible than the nonbinary?

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Advocate of gender discrimination loses gender discrimination lawsuit

by philg

“Robert De Niro: Hillary Clinton Should Be the Next President” (Daily Beast 2016):

“I think that she’s paid her dues. There are going to be no surprises, and she has earned the right to be president and the head of the country at this point. It’s that simple. And she’s a woman, which is very important because her take on things may be what we need right now.”

I.e., hiring for the President of the U.S. job should be done based on gender.

“Robert De Niro’s Company Is Found Liable for Gender Discrimination” (New York Times, November 9, 2023):

A federal jury in Manhattan on Thursday found Robert De Niro’s company liable for gender discrimination against a former employee who claimed that the actor assigned her “stereotypically female” job responsibilities such as washing his sheets and attending to his home even as she climbed the ranks of his company, awarding her $1.3 million in damages.

In more than six hours of sometimes colorful and explosive testimony, Mr. De Niro fiercely denied any wrongdoing and dismissed Ms. Robinson’s claims as “nonsense,” though he acknowledged that he could have called Ms. Robinson a “bitch” and a “brat” when she was his employee. He also addressed Ms. Robinson’s claim that Mr. De Niro asked her to scratch his back on occasion, saying that it may have happened one or twice, but that there was never any “disrespect” or “lewdness” attached to it.

Lawyers for Mr. De Niro, 80, portrayed Ms. Robinson, 41, as someone who exploited the trust and generosity of her boss, who had already given her significant perks and gifts — including a Rolex watch and part of a vacation in Hawaii — while also agreeing to pay her a salary of $300,000 per year in 2019, far more than other Canal office workers were paid. They argued that even though she received title changes, per her own request, her job responsibilities remained that of a personal assistant throughout her 11-year employment, and they repeatedly underscored the fact that she had not made any formal complaint over gender discrimination until she had been accused of financial improprieties.

Related:

  • “Years after presidency, Donald Trump is still living rent-free in Robert De Niro’s head” (Los Angeles Times, October 17, 2023): The actor has welcomed his seventh child, which he mentioned in passing earlier this year. The mother is his girlfriend Tiffany Chen, whom he credited with doing the “heavy lifting” with the newborn — De Niro may be an octogenarian, but she is a martial arts instructor. He told the Guardian: “[S]he does the work. And we have help.” … He’s also a grandpa several times over.
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