I really shouldn’t be surprised at anything that Fred Phelps does anymore. The man is sick, bigoted, at least marginally insane, and has a very poor grasp on reality. He’s already shown that he has little to no respect for the dead, after his plans to picket the VA Tech funerals and his insistence on the reasoning behind the shootings - but I can’t help but be disgusted that he’s at it again. Now he and his followers are planning to picket the funerals of those who died in the Minnesota 35W bridge collapse.
Taken from a press release from Phelps’ website, godhatesfags.com:
Thank God for Minneapolis Bridge Collapse
WBC to picket memorial service for the dead, in religious protest and warning: “God is not mocked.” Gal. 6:7. God hates Fags! & Fag-Enablers! Ergo, God hates Minneapolis and Minnesota - Land of the Sodomite Damned.
WBC will also picket the funerals of those whom a sovereign God abruptly snatched from the Bridge in Minneapolis and cast into Hell…
Annoyance at gratuitous caps aside - how cracked do you have to be? I really wish that Phelps would do something worth arresting him for - arresting him, and locking him away for good. It’s very unlike me to wish harm on other people, but I’m allowed to wish that he bring harm on himself, aren’t I? No? [sighs] Okay, okay. Likely anything he did worth being jailed for would end up harming someone else, anyway.
Just…can’t we find some way to remove this man from society? He’s a blight, a polluted and poisoned version of the sidewalk prophet with his bell and pasteboard sign claiming that the sky is falling. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I don’t understand how anyone can think being so hateful is in any way doing the work of any god, unless your god is one sick son of a ****. From what I’ve heard from other Christians, that ain’t the way your god rolls, yo. Someone needs to clue Phelps into the peace and love thing.
And someone needs to tell Phelps that he is slime, pure and simple, for continuing to disrespect the dead and the families of the dead during already trying times.
Tune in later in the weekend for my thoughts on the LOGO presidential candidate debate. I’m too brain-burned for intelligent political discourse today.
We’ve talked about ex-gay/conversion therapy here before, as something that people do as a personal choice. I don’t agree with it, I don’t like it, but I can’t argue with someone’s right to follow that path if they really think it will make them happier with who they are. What I can argue with, however, is the recruitment for ex-gay therapy in public schools.
Parents and Friends of Ex-gays and Gays (PFOX) is celebrating after settling a lawsuit with an Arlington, Va., school district. The group will be allowed to distribute fliers to middle school students with the message that change is possible for people who are dissatisfied with living homosexually.
The Arlington County Schools had refused to allow PFOX to send home or post the fliers, even though other groups were allowed that privilege, including gay organizations. That’s when the Christian Legal Society (CLS) and Alliance Defense Fund stepped in, prompting the school district to settle.
Timothy Tracey with CLS said PFOX now can get important information into the hands of students.
“I think this is a definite victory for the First Amendment,” he said. “It’s Arlington County Schools recognizing its obligation to the First Amendment to treat community groups evenhandedly.”
As with every issue, there are two angles to consider for this story. If groups like PFLAG or a school’s GSA are allowed to hand out fliers in public schools, groups like PFOX should be allowed to as well, right? The question is whether or not handing out those fliers is causing potential harm to the students.
I, personally, think that telling already-confused teenagers that their sexuality is unhealthy but that it can be “cured” is beyond harmful. It’s wrong, it’s disgusting, and it leaves me aching for the children who are told such things at an impressionable age and come to believe it, damaging their self-confidence and their growth into healthy adults. Those who believe that homosexuality is wrong, however, could say the same about the advocacy of a school’s gay-straight alliance or fliers distributed by PFLAG, and claim that the organizations are corrupting their children into homosexuality. It’s hard to view this case objectively, when the validity of it is based wholly on standing to one side or the other of a subjective morality debate. Trying to enforce equality for all only clouds the waters further.
Despite my obvious leanings, being gay myself and quite firmly believing there’s nothing wrong with it, I try to look at it by breaking it down into two simple statements of intent:
PFLAG, GSAs, etc: if you’re gay, it’s all right; if you’re straight, it’s all right as well. We offer you support in accepting who you are at a young age so that you can grow up confident and healthy in your sexuality. If you’re uncomfortable with it, that’s all right. Most teens, gay or straight, start off uncomfortable with their sexuality. It just takes time.
PFOX: If you’re gay, it’s wrong. That uncomfortable feeling is perfectly natural, because deep inside you already know that you’re doing something wrong. It’s okay. We can help you to correct that so you feel more comfortable with yourself and who you are, and so you can live your life in the way that you feel should be right.
I don’t know about you, but I know which one of those I’d pick as more damaging to young, impressionable minds.
[sigh] And yet for me to say that I don’t think that PFOX should be allowed to distribute its materials would be hypocritical, and in denial of my belief in equality. I argue often for fair treatment of homosexuals based on my firm belief that we are deserving of the same human rights as anyone else, because we are all created equal under the eyes of whatever deity or mathematical concept or whatever you happen to believe in. However, equal rights doesn’t just mean fair treatment for me and what I believe in; it means fair treatment for everyone, including people whose stances I absolutely abhor. As long as they use only words and don’t actually force anyone into conversion therapy, they have the right. It pains me to admit that, to the point where I’m grinding my teeth trying to force the words out, but fair is fair.
But I’m still allowed to say that I don’t like it.
One can only trust that the parents and friends of these children will be enough to counteract the propaganda spread by groups like PFOX, and that in the end, no matter what happens, nothing harmful comes of it.
In the post, LiveJournal staff address certain questions specifically, but leave others unanswered despite telling users that they are “misinformed” without explaining how - while at the same time asking users to elucidate how they can improve their services. The staff also address the behavior of the staff member previously found mocking users in a community meant for ironic satire as, and I quote, “bad judgment”.
Although LiveJournal takes large steps in clarifying its stance, most users appear of the mindset “too little, too late”; the delayed response time of Six Apart/Livejournal has done little to help its image among its customer base, or the perception of the company’s ideals of customer service. The deluge of comments to the post in LiveJournal’s lj_biz community has already begun, and is expected to continue until users are satisfied with their understanding of LiveJournal’s Terms of Service. The natives are beyond restless: the natives are angry, and demanding recognition.
LiveJournal has also not addressed how they defined ‘artistic merit’ in the case of ponderosa121. What they have, however, made clear is their stance on ‘illegal and harmful content’:
I. Content which violates LiveJournal’s policy against illegal and harmful content is:
a. Content that intrinsically violates existing United States or California law; in other words, where merely possessing, displaying or transmitting the content is a crime. This includes child pornography and threats against the President and successors to the Presidency.
b. Content that encourages or advocates hate crimes, the abuse of children in any form, or rape, even if the content itself is not illegal and may be protected by the First Amendment. This portion of the policy reflects the especially reprehensible nature of these activities; users who encourage or advocate these acts, regardless of their motivation, are simply not welcome on LiveJournal.
c. Content that solicits the commission of, seeks customers for, or provides instructions for illegal activities that would cause immediate and lasting physical or economic harm to others.
They then move on to explain how they apply this to content of a fictional nature:
* How do these policies apply to images of minors who are not real?
To ensure that we are compliant with child pornography laws, we have decided to treat any content which contains a graphic visual depiction of a minor (anyone under the age of 18, as defined by Federal and California state law) engaged in sexually explicit conduct as a violation of our policy regarding illegal content (see this link for definitions of graphic, visual depiction, and sexually explicit conduct). We feel this approach creates the clearest guidelines possible for users to follow and for the Abuse Prevention Team to enforce, and minimizes the risk of an incorrect evaluation of material. In short, we want to eliminate child porn from being hosted on LiveJournal.
That still leaves room for ambiguity in ponderosa121’s case, where the specific piece that caused her suspension left the age of the youngest character in question due to the style - not to mention LiveJournal’s own statement in response to the previously mentioned support ticket that it was deemed obscene not because of the ages, but because it lacked in artistic merit.
What the post does make abundantly clear, however, is one thing: anyone who violates these terms, for any reason and at any time, “regardless of their motivation, are simply not welcome on LiveJournal.” Fair or unfair, right or wrong, that’s the way it is. Make of it what you will.
Will LiveJournal’s community members be satisfied with the response? That remains to be seen.
Update 12:35 a.m. CST 08-08-07: They sure as hell aren’t satisfied with this line of commentary. I feel an Inigo Montoya moment coming on here. “I do not think it means what you think it means.”
It’s a new day, and time to get back to business as usual in this one-horse town, leaving the LiveJournal fiasco behind until something else of note happens (and as I’m writing this at 2:15 a.m. CST, nothing of note has happened). Remember the openly anti-gay Republican caught soliciting oral sex in a Florida bathroom? Well, now we’ve got homophobia, hypocrisy, prostitution, and racism all piled into one as he says that black people made him do it.
(Tampa, Florida) State Rep. Bob Allen (R), a longtime foe of LGBT rights in Florida, has a bizarre excuse for being charged with offering a male cop $20 for oral sex in a washroom at a park. [...] In taped statements made by Allen to police following his arrest and released by the force Allen admits to soliciting the male officer but claims that it was the result of being nervous by the high number of black men in the park.
[...]Of the arresting officer Allen said in the tape, “This was a pretty stocky black guy, and there was nothing but other black guys around in the park.”
He claimed he feared he “was about to be a statistic” would have said anything just to get away.
But on the tape Allen also admits warning the undercover cop that “undercover cops” were in the area and the man should be careful.
Because a big, stocky black man automatically means that you’re in danger of being sodomized and killed. Right. Sure.
At this point that man’s shoved his foot so far down his throat that his toes are playing peek-a-boo through his arsehole. I’m sure that looks great for Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign, what with Allen being a prominent figure in its organization.
I’m continuously amazed that people like this end up in office, and fear for what it means about anyone that he might endorse. Then again, I really should stop being shocked by people’s behavior. I accept that not everyone thinks the way that I do, or feels the same way about controversial issues such as homophobia and racism. But when a state rep tries to wiggle out a prostitution/solicitation rap by making racist statements, and when things happen like the family of an ailing gay man denying his partner of over two decades the right to see him, my already shaken faith in humanity takes another staggering blow.
Apparently the story has hit CNet yet again. You can probably follow things better there; unless I receive a response to the e-mail that I sent to Six Apart’s press contact, or until LJ/Six Apart responds on their news community or to their users, I’m probably done covering this topic and will be going back to business as usual on DR.
Update 8:28 p.m. CST: Aaaaand we have confirmation of life at LiveJournal/Six Apart. A few users have received responses to their support tickets. Well, response, as it appears to be a form letter:
Their Response:
Dear LiveJournal user [name],
Thank you for contacting us with your feedback, and I apologize that LiveJournal and Six Apart’s actions have left you so disappointed.
I am very sorry for the delay in getting a public update out to our concerned community members. Please expect more information regarding the situation later this evening in the lj_biz journal.
Please know that in the interest of employee confidentiality, we are unable to discuss human resource issues with people outside the company, and therefore are unable to discuss any internal issues regarding Abe’s comments to this community. However, we do recognize the negative effects of comments of this nature on the wider LiveJournal community, regardless of the intention behind the comments themselves, and so please be assured that this type of behavior is not condoned by Six Apart.
I understand that you may not trust us enough at this time to renew your account. If you do not feel the paid account benefits are worth the amount we are charging, or if you continue to be dissatisfied with the site’s management, we encourage you to not renew your account until you are satisfied. We don’t want any LiveJournal users to send us payment for our service unless they will be satisfied with the service that they’ll receive. We sincerely hope that, over the next few months, we will be able to re-earn your trust as a paid account holder, and as a member of our LiveJournal community at large.
Regards,
Carrie Stevens
Six Apart, Ltd. // LiveJournal.com
More coming later, probably, when the post appears.
Update 10:23 p.m. CST 08-07-07: If you’re looking for commentary on LJ’s recent statement in lj_biz, go here.
If you have no idea what this is on about, check the previous post for the Weekend Edition. I figured hey, it’s topical, I needed something to draw for today’s comic, so why the hell not?
Sorry if the art looks a little odd. Normally I do the lineart by hand on paper, then scan and add color in Photoshop. This time I was in a bit of a rush, had a lot to keep up with yesterday, so I did the whole thing in Photoshop with the tablet in a little over an hour. I tried to keep as close to my pencil-and-paper style as possible, down to a little line-shading…but some of the linework looks off, and I am well aware that that is the fugliest drawn laptop that anyone has ever seen. My hand-eye coordination just isn’t as good with a standard tablet (…which is why I really need to get myself a Cintiq).
See ya’ll tomorrow, unless anything interesting happens today.
Aficionados of various TV shows, comics, games, movies, and books, united under the common name of ‘fandom’, are currently speaking out in protest of popular blogging service Six Apart/LiveJournal’s customer service practices and enforcement of its Terms of Service.
This is the second such incident in recent history; in May, LiveJournal sparked a revolt among its user base when, in the deletion of over 500 journals suspected of promoting pedophilia, several journals of artists, writers, abuse survivors, and even a community dedicated to literary discussion of Vladimir Nobokov’s Lolita were all deleted without warning and without recourse. Members of the community staged a peaceful protest by flooding LiveJournal’s news community with complaints, demanding a response regarding the reinstatement of those who were arbitrarily suspended without the actual content of their journals being reviewed to determine whether or not they were, in fact, a potential threat to child safety. After days without commentary save for the CNet article linked above, LiveJournal responded by restoring the deleted journals and communities and promising to be more clear and more careful in its review process.
Only now it’s begun again. Only two journals are known to have been permanently suspended without warning, without negotiation, without recourse, and with the warning that said users are not allowed to create new LiveJournals: those of users ponderosa121 and elaboration, both paying users. However, LiveJournal has changed their deletion standards so that deleted/suspended journals are harder to recognize, so others may have fallen victim without notice from those concerned. Both ponderosa121 and elaboration are respected members of the fan community, and thus drew a great deal of notice from users still smarting from the last blow. The main controversy has centered around the piece of fanart resulting in ponderosa121’s suspension, posted in a locked entry to a community [Update per ponderosa121: the entry was not locked, but was behind an obscuring cut with warnings, visible only if voluntarily clicked]; the art depicted two characters from the famous Harry Potter series engaged in consensual sexual activity, incidentally homosexual. In the image of Severus Snape performing oral sex on a teenaged Harry Potter, it was thought that LiveJournal suspended ponderosa121 because Potter’s age is ambiguous, and in the style of the drawing could be anywhere from 17-19, leaving a narrow margin for Potter to be considered ‘underage’.
Copyright issues aside, the community’s ire was aroused when a support ticket received a response stating that the ages of the characters were not in question, but rather whether or not the piece possessed any artistic merit as subjectively judged by LiveJournal staff. Users protested that LiveJournal has no right to judge the contents of their journals based on whether or not the LiveJournal staff believes it has merit and that depictions of sex do not automatically remove artistic merit, as proved by many works of recognized art and literature depicting eroticism. Rampant speculation has ensued that in these deletions and in the previous May incident, the deletions may have been a result of homophobia rather than an attempt to target pedophilic content. Without an official statement from LiveJournal, the community has been left to outraged conjecture and over 10,000 comments of protest in an attempt to gain a response from LiveJournal. This time, users have resorted to spam tactics.
Contrary to what you might think, these users aren’t so very upset that they may not be able to post any art or fiction above a PG-13 rating on LiveJournal; as a privately-held business, LiveJournal has the right to determine just how free one’s freedom of speech is when posting on their servers, and reserves the right to remove content that they feel violates their terms of service or any U.S. laws. The problem is that their terms of service haven’t been officially updated since even before the May incident, and nowhere in those terms of service does it provide hard and fast guidelines for what is or is not specifically allowed, so that users may know where the line is and how not to cross it. Previous clarifications in the LiveJournal news community have only muddied the waters further, with requests for further elucidation ignored and actions taken contradicting statements made at the time. Journals have been deleted for a single post, without giving the users in question a chance to remove the offending content, without allowing them to save the other contents of their journals, and without offering to refund a penny of the money spent on LiveJournal’s services.
At this point members of LiveJournal not even involved in fandom have turned an angry eye on the situation; paranoia already ran rampant after the May incident, but now users are wondering: who’s next? Will a mother be suspended for posting pictures of her baby’s first bath? Will a gay male be suspended for posting a photograph or even a drawing of himself and his boyfriend kissing? Will a closeted lesbian be suspended for using LiveJournal as a safe haven to discuss her erotic thoughts about other women? Will artists and writers be censored in their creativity because LiveJournal believes that writing or drawing about an act - be it sex, violence, etc. - construes endorsing and promoting it?
Perhaps the hysteria might not have reached these levels if not for LiveJournal’s continued silence. Users are threatening to leave the service, and many have either reverted from paid to free status or already migrated to other journaling services based on LiveJournal’s open-source client. While the speculations above may seem wild and extreme, LiveJournal has yet to make a statement easing those fears, and so among their disgruntled user base, panic has only continued to grow. The flames were fueled late Saturday evening when a prominent member of LiveJournal support/abuse staff was found posting mocking commentary (context debated, considering the nature of the community) regarding the situation in another LiveJournal community, while ignoring repeated requests for reassurance.
Over and over again users have stated that because they are paying for this service, they deserve better customer service, more clarification of their rights within the terms of service, and site-wide notification of any changes in those terms of service - now made mandatory by a California ruling that any updates to a company’s online contract must be made publicly known to the users, rather than expecting the users to periodically check the TOS on their own for any changes. Six Apart/LiveJournal is based out of California and thus held by this judgment.
Several days ago I attempted to contact Six Apart, LiveJournal’s parent company, through their official press channels for a statement. No response has yet been forthcoming. In the meantime, however, LiveJournal’s clients continue to demand answers. The global community of friends that millions of users have built has been threatened, with a major portion of users directly affected and leaving others uneasy. Thousands have rallied, in an effort so vocal and so persistent that I, frankly, would love to see such fiery determination applied to larger-scale issues such as transgressions of local government or gay rights. Others are more apathetic towards the situation, or speak out in defense of LiveJournal’s actions. LiveJournal could face accountability for anything hosted on their servers, even if their TOS states that they don’t.
Although I’m not involved in fandom or in the depiction of erotic art or fiction, I have a paid LiveJournal myself and can understand the concerns of other users. However, until an official statement, one must keep in mind that LiveJournal may, in fact, have more clear and proper justification for their actions. They are not obligated to host any content that they find objectionable even if users are paying for their services, and reserve the right to terminate the user’s contract at any time for any reason. It’s going to happen, now and then. That’s life, and that’s business.
But they could do it a bit more gracefully.
Update, 2:14 P.M. CST: Reader svz_insanity adds further clarification on ponderosa121’s art in the comments to this article.
Update 6:44 p.m. CST: Reader TheCaelum informs us that LiveJournal user thamiris has been suspended, although her journal is still visible but cannot be added to others’ friends lists and it is likely that posting permissions have been revoked. User thamiris has been deceased since 04.02.07. It is unknown whether or not the deletion is related to the same issue as ponderosa121 and elaboration.
Update, 8:04 p.m. CST: Several readers have suggested that the odd issue with thamiris‘ journal may be related to glitches in the memorial journal status with LiveJournal and may have nothing to do with the issue of content-related suspensions. Thanks for pointing that out, everyone. Still no update from LiveJournal itself.
Update 2:15 p.m. CST 08-06-07: Word has it that founder of LiveJournal Brad Fitzpatrick is leaving, partially due to Six Apart’s management, mainly due to…boredom, while Six Apart may be looking to sell again (source is uncomfirmed, gossip columnist). Also, users are tracking new suspensions with the possibility that they are related to the original issue, but they may have been deleted by their owners in the migration to other journal services or for any number of other reasons. Users have also been e-mailing advertisers and sponsors of LiveJournal, and apparently at least one has received a response.
Lastly, users have posted that Six Apart is now answering their phone lines when they attempt to call, but no statements have been made as to what information callers have received. I may try to call myself to get an official press statement when I have a free minute to get to a phone.
Any further updates from this point out will be in a new post on the main page - this is growing too long.
A woman is now blind in one eye and suffering possible brain damage because a man assaulted her. Why? Because first he thought she was a gay man, from her appearance. Then when he discovered that she was female and a lesbian, he beat her with a beer bottle.
Out lesbian Miranda Greer says a man beat her with a beer bottle at a Jackson, Tenn., nightclub after questioning her about her sexuality, according to local newspaper The Jackson Sun. The attack left her partially blind in one eye and may have caused minor brain damage, she has told police.
[...]According to the Sun, Greer says the man approached her after he saw her dancing with a male friend. The man assumed she was a gay male from her appearance. Using a homophobic slur, he told her to leave the nightclub. Greer told him she was a woman and a lesbian, upon which the man punched her in the face.
The man then used the bottom of a beer bottle to repeatedly jab her in the left eye before breaking the bottle over the back of her head, she told the police.
This kind of homophobia - well, any kind of homophobia makes me sick. I can’t stand how people seem to think we should be punished for being gay. It’s not like spanking your kids, people. Spanking your kids will get them to stop drawing on the walls with crayons, stop peeing in the bathtub, stop whatever bad behavior they’ve picked up this week. Subjecting gays to violence will not make us stop being gay.
It’ll just really f***ing piss us off.
We are who we are, and we aren’t hurting you by that - so you aren’t justified in hurting us. You are not fighting an evil; you are not righting an injustice. You are the evil, and you are perpetuating the injustice.
Jesus H. Christ humping a pogo stick, people; leave us alone. We should be able to go out in public without fearing violent assault just for being who we are, without even openly flaunting acts of homosexuality.
…the title says it all. I read an article this morning that just left me scratching my head and utterly torn as to how I feel or what I think about the issue. Every time I try to grasp onto a concrete opinion, I just end up flip-flopping between viewpoints.
In a decision handed down Wednesday in Philadelphia, a gay couple jailed for selling drugs will be allowed contact with each other while they serve out supervised releases.
It’s customary for the U. S. Probation Office to bar people from associating with other felons while on supervised release, but it ordinarily makes exceptions for close family members. Steven Roberts and Daniel Mangini were denied their request to be together during their probationary period, however, because their relationship was not heterosexual, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, who represented the two men in their lawsuit against the probation department.
On one hand, I’m less interested in the fact that they were gay lovers and more interested in why they were in prison. Considering that they were jailed for selling drugs, I’m not exactly inclined to make special accommodations for them. The whole purpose of jail is to punish people for doing things that are considered wrong by current laws, and while prisoners should have basic human rights preventing them from being cruelly mistreated, I’m not exactly fond of the “pamper the prisoner” mindset. It’s not a damned punishment if you’re doing your best to coddle them both in prison and on probation/supervised release, and they’re that much less likely to avoid repeating their previous transgressions if they don’t have a reason to fear punishment for them.
On the other hand, they served their time, and provided they maintain good behavior and don’t fall back into their old habits…well, I guess I’d say they deserve the right to start life anew with the same rights as anyone else, including the right to be with someone they care about. That would apply regardless of gender and sexuality. So denying them the rights granted to close family members of convicts because their relationship wasn’t heterosexual was unfair, but…
…gah. I just can’t seem to get behind the whole “victory for gay prisoners” sentiment. I can’t. I think that in the end the decision to allow the couple to see one another was technically the right one, but I just don’t and can’t see this as an actual victory for gay rights. If they hadn’t been doing and selling meth in the first place this wouldn’t be a problem, and these two aren’t exactly appearing in the news as stellar representatives of the gay community.
I just can’t settle on this. I’m torn between understanding the need to apply fairness regardless of sexuality, being appalled that former drug dealers are being spotlighted as a victory for gay rights, and banging my head against the wall trying to reconcile the two viewpoints. Maybe someone else will have something clearer to say about it.
I admit, I haven’t watched Desperate Housewives since the first season. I’m not normally into prime time dramas, but there was little not to love about DH; it had dry humor, neurotic redheads, a dash of mystery, and the absolutely incandescent Eva Longoria. It was a guilty pleasure* that unfortunately had to fall by the wayside when conflicting work shifts overlapped its broadcast schedule, and I was far too absentminded to remember to tape it every week. By the time that I was able to watch it again, I was too far behind to really spend the time to get caught up, and I’d been distracted by my other guilty pleasure: House, Hugh Laurie, and those devastating eyes.
That may have to change, though, and I may find myself taking a crash-course in Wysteria 101 in order to get caught up in time for the new season and two promising new cast additions: a gay couple, and Nathan Fillion.
The only way that could make me happier is if Nathan played one half of the gay couple; I’ve loved him and his wry delivery of lines ever since Firefly, and I think I’d just about melt my jockeys if I saw the man who played the role of Malcom Reynolds in a liplock with another bloke. (I can think of a few million slashficcing fangirls who’d be reviving all their old Mal/Jayne fics, too, and pairing poor Nathan off with Adam Baldwin for the millionth time.) Fillion, however, will be playing Dr. Adam Luther (with wife played by Dana Delaney), while casting is still open for the two house-husbands desperate to make their debut among the desperate housewives.
I should probably be ashamed that I’m more excited about Nathan Fillion than I am about the bump to the gay quota on mainstream TV’s prime-time lineup, and I’m sure Auntie Noxie will be along presently to revoke a few of my princess points for that transgression - but I can’t help it. My geek-fu is strong, and tends to trump my pink pride nine times out of ten.
Fanboy crush on Fillion aside, though, I think I will try to make time for the upcoming season of DH, because I’m always curious to see how gay couples are portrayed on television. I can’t help but wonder if one of the men will be slated as the “wife” to keep with the theme of desperate housewives, and if they’ll be portrayed in stereotypical fashion. I hope not; there’s a bad habit of slotting the two halves of a same-sex couple into preset male/female roles, as if that’s the only dynamic that’s workable, acceptable, and understandable to mainstream viewers.
I’m going to hold out hope that the producers of Desperate Housewives won’t fall into that trap, and anticipate a fresh and innovative portrayal of gay life in suburbia. Will I be disappointed? Who knows. But I know that I will fairly soon be settling down with borrowed DVDs of the seasons I’ve missed, a tub of popcorn, and a weekend of completely wasted time indulging in my guilty pleasure.
…and I call my boyfriend a pop culture whore?
*Anything involving TV is a guilty pleasure for me. I don’t like broadcast TV. Give me a book or film any day.
DarksideRainbow.net is 451 Press's look at the darker side of the
rainbow - where gay life takes a decided turn away from the happy, the
shiny, and the pink, complete with news, gossip, and a healthy dose of
caffeine-fueled cynicism from gay blogger Adrien-Luc Sanders. Check in
Monday through Friday for a decidedly tongue-in-cheek slant on current
events in the GLBTQ world, spiced with a few fun rants.
The Trevor Project Gives Hope to Suicidal LGBT Youth One thing that readers of Pride and Opinions may not know about me is that I once founded and ran a nonprofit organization dedicated to teen suicide prevention. It is a subject about which I am [...]
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Fabulous Friday - Annoyed at the News Edition It has been a long time since I have screamed such a heartfelt and barbaric "TGIF!" as I did this morning when I sprung from the bed and reached for my first cup of coffee. It isn't [...]
The Politics of Desperation So it is that a certain presumed Republican nominee for the November Presidential race has deemed it necessary to resort to petty juvenile cracks directed at a certain presumed Democratic nominee’s [...]
What have you done today? Pride isn’t just about the sultry summer months full of white parties and parades, it is – or at least it should be – an every day thing. Every day is Pride Day. I don’t care whether you [...]
The First Episode Is Useless
I've said it before and I'm going to say it again.
You have to watch more that 1 episode before making up your mind.
I was reminded of this recently when I checked out the anime Air. I'll be [...]
Keeping the Slugs at Bay in Your Urban Garden I live in Portland, Oregon, and it is a lovely city. Very lush, with verdant landscapes and plenty of slugs to eat their way through it.
I can honestly say that I have never seen so many [...]
NiN in Dallas I had the opportunity to see Nine Inch Nails in Dallas last night at the American Airlines Center. This was the second time I've seen a concert at this venue and I quite like it. According the the [...]
Lower ... the DRINKING AGE?!?!? Man, are they SERIOUS?!?!
By now, you've heard that certain colleges want to lower the drinking age to EIGHTEEN! And why?? 'Cause they wanna end "binge" drinking on their campuses! Now, how do [...]
The results of the poll Well, at this time only ten people have participated in the poll but I full expect to see a couple more people in the poll later. And, you can look for yourself and see that 40% of the polling [...]
Guest Author Kathi Macias - Beyond Me Hello everyone and welcome to The Book Stacks. Today I have a special guest Christian author here, Kathi Macias. She is here as part of her virtual tour. I hope you'll join me in welcoming her to the [...]
Introducing Your Author I am Jerri Ann and as I mentioned in my last post, I'm going to cross-post from my personal blog the information that you might want to know about me as your author. So, I present to you, the [...]
Random Word Bank Wednesday Hello once again everyone!
Welcome to another mid-week random word bank. I rather like random word banks. There is a challenge in them that not only gets your mind working, but you can also end up [...]
didyouhearthat? That sound . . . that slightest of whispers . . . no, that loudest of gleeful yells . . . do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song, (etc.)
Yup - it's the first day of school on the Kenai [...]
minnesota, minneapolis, 35w bridge collapse, funeral protests, Fred Phelps, Shirley Phelps-Roper, Christian protests, anti-gay protests, Westboro Baptist Church, WBC, homosexuality
