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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 9 months

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George W. Bush, the infamously anti-gay and neoconservative former U.S. president who invaded Iraq on a lie, has criticized congressional Republicans for threatening to defund the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a largely successful African HIV-prevention program that he launched back in 2003. “There is no program more pro-life” than PEPFAR, he wrote.

Though PEPFAR is estimated to have saved over 25 million lives, its funding is set to expire on September 30. Congressional Republicans are falsely claiming that the program promotes abortion and using its re-funding as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations. Republicans have threatened to defund the entire federal government at the end of the month unless they’re allowed to slash military diversity programs and military aid to Ukraine and to increase anti-immigration measures at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“We are on the verge of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. To abandon our commitment now would forfeit two decades of unimaginable progress and raise further questions about the worth of America’s word,” Bush wrote in a Wednesday opinion article in The Washington Post.

Bush said that his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, his White House chief of staff Joshua Bolton, and his senior policy advisor Michael Gerson had advised him to begin PEPFAR. Gerson reportedly told Bush that it would be “a source of national shame” if the U.S. didn’t try to help end the worldwide HIV epidemic.

Bush’s opinion article cited words that Gerson himself had written in defense of PEPFAR in November 2017: “Are Republicans in Congress prepared to squander a legacy of GOP leadership that has won the United States considerable goodwill around the world? Among evangelical Christians, what definition of being ‘pro-life’ does not include saving millions of lives from preventable disease and death?”

Adding his own thoughts, Bush wrote, “There is no program more pro-life than one which has saved more than 25 million lives. I urge Congress to reauthorize PEPFAR for another five years without delay.”

During his presidency, Bush backed a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, and used bans on same-sex marriage to help him win re-election in 2004. While he served, 27 states banned same-sex marriage.

Despite Bush’s anti-gay record, PEPFAR was “a sound investment in U.S. security,” Ben Plumley, the former CEO of the now-defunct international HIV organization Pangea, said in a now-deleted interview with Hornet.com. Plumley said the program “generated very significant goodwill towards the United States” and countered “the spread of radical Islam or radical anti-Western attitudes in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Plumley also noted that most HIV transmissions in sub-Saharan Africa are heterosexual, meaning that conservative Republicans could support PEPFAR without worrying about seeming too overtly supportive of the LGBTQ+ community.

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deadpresidents · 2 months

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"Graphic art was powerless before a face that moved through a thousand delicate gradations of line and contour, light and shade, sparkle of the eye and curve of the lip, in the long gamut of expression from grave to gay, and back again from the rollicking jollity of laughter to that far-away look." -- John G. Nicolay, Abraham Lincoln's private secretary

•••

To borrow one of his most famous oratorical devices, it was ten score and 15 years ago that Abraham Lincoln entered life and began one of America's most unlikely and extraordinary journeys, and 159 years since that journey ended because of an assassin's bullet. To us, Lincoln will always be a statue; a painting; a bust on Mount Rushmore; a monument on the Washington Mall; a solid, stoic, staid symbol staring back at us from a dull, green five-dollar bill, a rusty-looking penny, or a black-and-white photograph. Yet, he was one of us -- a human just as colorful as any American that has ever existed, and through his rise and his triumph, he told us a story that Republicans claim as the standard for their party, that Democrats claim as the inspiration for their party, and that Independents of all backgrounds do not dare to turn away from.

Lincoln's story is so extraordinary that we don't even think of him as a member of our species. He's on a higher level. He's almost mythological. A legend. We see his face like we envision the face of God. The halo surrounding him almost downplays the fact that he lived the same way we live. He needed oxygen and water and food. We all have sensitivities about how we are perceived by others, and Lincoln was no different. To many of his contemporaries, he was a freakishly tall, gangly, ugly man. During his life, people called him a "baboon" and "a barbarian." The man that Lincoln placed in command of all Union troops, General George B. McClellan, referred to the President as "the original gorilla." They made fun of his high-pitched, nasally voice. They made fun of his country accent -- the way that he pronounced "chair as "cheer" and said "hain't" instead of "haven't." They laughed at his careless clothing choices, and snickered at the fact that he never combed his hair. When he delivered the Gettysburg Address in 1863, one Pennsylvania newspaper wrote, "We pass over the silly remarks of the President. For the credit of the nation we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them, and they shall be no more repeated or thought of."

In Lincoln's lifetime, more people probably rolled their eyes instead of listened intently when he launched into yet another backwoods joke or funny anecdote that he couldn't stop repeating. He had family problems. His mother died when he was very young, and he had lifelong daddy issues. His borderline crazy wife was domineering, emotionally (and allegedly physically) abusive, and his young children ran roughshod over the White House. He had no real close friends and experienced devastating heartbreak -- including a love that was lost and the deaths of two of his young children. He was simultaneously considered inexperienced and weak, heavy-handed and harsh.

"Honest Abe" was the cleverest, sharpest, and most vicious politician of his time. The gentle and joking country politician destroyed his enemies, threatened his opponents, and steamrolled his rivals. This beacon of liberty and protector of freedom bypassed the Constitution and suspended Habeas Corpus. Abraham Lincoln began his Presidency intending to save the Union in whichever way possible -- even if it meant allowing slavery to continue. The "peculiar institution" was abhorrent to his beliefs, but an acceptable sacrifice if the result was the Union's survival. Until he finally reached a point where he recognized that the sacrifices being made during the Civil War were exactly the kind of bloody price that needed to paid to cleanse the nation of its original sin of slavery.

Like many, if not all, of our greatest leaders, Abraham Lincoln was a man full of paradoxes. Beneath the solemn visage that was Lincoln's complex face was a cheerful, jovial, informal man who loved nothing more than a good joke or a witty story. Yet, further beneath that genial layer was also a dark, depressed man who lost the love of his life when he was young, seriously considered suicide on numerous occasions, felt unsatisfied with his accomplishments and about his qualifications, and faced the death of his favorite child while he wrestled with the biggest crisis that this country has ever faced.

Lincoln may have have been our nation's greatest orator, perhaps even America's greatest pure writer. His writing -- and not just his speeches, but his private letters and messages to Congress -- is memorable and poetic. If the Civil War was a symphony, his words were the lyrics to its beautifully terrible music. When the war was going badly, he used his words to simultaneously challenge his generals, assuage the public, and exert his control over the many crises his country faced. When the war was going well, his words were soothing, inspirational, and a bridge to the South that invited capitulation without humiliation. Lincoln's words were the words of a writer who spent all of his life studying the English language, yet Lincoln was largely self-educated by the light of a candle in a dark, damp log cabin.

We will never know why it was Abraham Lincoln -- a virtually unknown frontier lawyer who had served just one term in Congress a decade before he even ran for the Presidency -- who was destined to lead the United States through the Civil War, but can we even imagine another person equipped to do so? Like a shooting star, Lincoln appeared and against all odds, he saved the Union. Then, when the war ended, he disappeared again. Not a day earlier or a day later, either -- on literally the first day that he truly felt that the Civil War had ended, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, arguably the last casualty of the Civil War.

So, the next time you think that all hope is lost or that you've failed at something or that you are "only human," think or Abraham Lincoln, who overcame a lifetime of obstacles and challenges and failures to save the Union that he loved and believed in and became a legend and hero to the world today. Remember that we are "only human," but so was Abraham Lincoln. You could be a lot worse off than being "only human."

The rocking chair that President Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, now on display at the Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan.

#History #Abraham Lincoln #President Lincoln #Civil War #Death of Abraham Lincoln #Assassination of Abraham Lincoln #Lincoln Assassination #Presidents #Presidential History #Lincoln Administration #Lincoln #Politics #Political History #Civil War History #Anniversary of Lincoln's Death

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nerdygaymormon · 10 months

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LDS LGBTQ Anniversaries for 2023

For 8 years I’ve been in charge of creating my stake’s calendar. In addition to stake meetings & activities, I include holidays and significant LDS anniversaries like when it was the 175th anniversary of the founding of Sunday School or 40 years ago priesthood and temple blessings were restored to members of African descent.

This year there's only 1 significant anniversary I put on the calendar: Sept 21st will be 200 years since the angel Moroni first appeared to Joseph Smith.

For readers of this blog, here’s a few anniversaries this year that may be of interest:

75 years ago

April 1948 - Gay BYU students Kent Goodridge and Richard Snow met with church president George Albert Smith. They were in love and wanted to get a clarification of their ‘status.’ President Smith treated them with great kindness and told them to "live their lives as best they could" in their companionship. They had gambled making this appointment and worried they could be excommunicated on the spot, instead they left feeling loved and valued.

Unfortunately, this live-and-let-live attitude didn’t last long as President Smith's successor, David O. McKay, felt homosexuals "should be excommunicated without any doubt, that the homosexual has no right to membership in the Church."

30 years ago

May 18, 1993 - Apostle Boyd K. Packer gave an address to the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve, and the Presiding Bishopric, in which he stated there are three great threats to the LDS Church: the gay/lesbian challenge, the feminist movement, and scholars

September - The September Six are excommunicated for publishing scholarly work against or criticizing church doctrine or leadership. This was widely reported in national press and resulted in a chilling effect on academics challenging approved church narratives

25 years ago

October - Mormon-raised Russell Henderson and his friend Aaron McKinney tortured Matthew Shepard and left him for dead in Wyoming. The shocking crime made international news. The outrage over this crime eventually lead to the Matthew Shepard Act in 2009 which expanded the federal law’s definition of “hate crime” to include sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2018, Matthew's ashes were moved to the Washington National Cathedral

15 years ago

Chieko Okazaki, the first person of color to serve in an LDS Church general organization presidency, was first counselor in the General Relief Society President when she published a book in which she wrote “A family with a gay child is not a failed family. It's a family with a member who needs special love and understanding and who has love and understanding to give back.”

California’s Prop 8 - Church leadership heavily encouraged members donate time and money to pass Prop 8 which would ban same-sex marriage in California. About 1/2 of the money raised for its passage came from Mormons. The proposition passed and immediately there were protests at temples in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, and the church received a lot of negative exposure. Since then the church has preferred behind-the-scenes roles in its efforts to combat queer rights

10 years ago

Dec 20, 2013 - Same-sex marriages became legally recognized in Utah. Seth Anderson & Michael Ferguson, both former Mormons, are the first gay couple to get married in Utah

5 years ago

January 2018 - The documentary "Believer" featuring Imagine Dragon's lead singer Dan Reynolds premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Reynolds discussed the intersection of LGBTQ people in the Mormon community. Later in the year he appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and spoke of LGBTQ Mormons and suicides

January 2018 - Josh Weed, the most famous LDS gay man in a mixed-orientation marriage, announces that he & his wife will get a divorce. They apologize to everyone who ever had their story held up as an example that gay people can get married and stay in the Church.

February 2018 - Church-run Family Services states it no longer provides reparative therapy or sexual orientation change efforts

February 2018 - Richard Ostler starts a podcast called “Listen, Learn, and Love,” which has LGBTQ members/former members share their stories

March 2018 - BYU sponsors its first LGBT campus event, a panel of four students--Kaitlynn Wright, Ben Schilaty, Sarah Langford and Gabriel Cano–answer student-submitted questions

As president of the LGBTQAI+ and Allies Club, Jill Stevenson worked with administration at Southern Virginia University, a predominantly-LDS liberal arts college, to get the university to officially recognize the club, and to allow same-gender dancing on campus

June 2018 - The Church’s Family Search website starts allowing same-sex marriages to be recorded

July 2018 - The Provo Freedom Festival allows LGBTQ groups to participate in the parade due to a contract it had signed with the city of Provo which included a non-discrimination clause.

Dec 2018 - Stacey Harkey, a cast member on BYUTV’s popular show Studio C, comes out as gay

#queerstake

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dailyunsolvedmysteries · 4 months

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Murder of Robert Eric Wone

On August 2, 2006, Wone was fatally stabbed while staying overnight at a rowhouse on Swann Street in Washington's Dupont Circle neighborhood, owned by Price and his domestic partner Victor Zaborsky, where they lived with Dylan Ward as a polyamorous family unit. Wone had gone to Price's residence at approximately 10:30pm after working late, as had been arranged days before. Neighbors reported hearing a scream, later identified as Zaborsky's, during the 11:00pm newscast (i.e., before 11:35 PM). Zaborsky made a 9-1-1 call at 11:49 PM and paramedics arrived five minutes later, followed by the officers of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPDC). Price phoned Wone's wife, and Wone was pronounced dead at George Washington University Hospital at 12:24 AM on August 3. Price, Zaborsky and Ward all initially spoke with the police without attorneys, and video recordings of those interviews were shown at the subsequent conspiracy trial. The three men denied any involvement in Wone's death and speculated that an intruder had killed him. The three also denied any sexual relationship with Wone, and Wone's family have described him as both "straight and happily married". All three men attended Wone's funeral, where Price served as a pallbearer. Future U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who at that time worked at Wone's former employer Covington & Burling, called Wone "a kind and gentle man" who was "killed in the most horrible of ways". Paramedics responding to the emergency call "found the three residents’ calm behavior unusual; none were screaming or even helping direct the paramedics". According to Ward's attorney, detectives who interrogated the three housemates on the night of the killing informed them that they were the main suspects in the case, and asked many sexually charged, accusatory questions. Three days after the killing, the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit of the MPDC were called in, but unit head Sgt. Brett Parson declined to discuss the unit's involvement. Within two weeks of the murder, police publicly alleged that the crime scene had been tampered with. Investigators spent more than three weeks examining the Swann Street rowhouse in detail, "removing flooring, pieces of walls, a chunk of staircase, the washing machine, even sink traps". Allegations that the area around Wone's body had been cleaned were revealed in an affidavit in support of a search warrant for Price's offices at the D.C. law firm. The case remains unsolved.

#Robert Eric Wone #unsolved mysteries #unsolved #cold cases #crime #murder

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homomenhommes · 5 months

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THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … January 11

1755 – Alexander Hamilton, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (d.1804); One had to wonder what the current occupants of the White House would think if they knew of the ruckus caused a couple of centuries ago by Alexander Hamilton and George Washington, the American patriots who became the first secretary of the treasury and president, respectively. George, whom everyone knows had no children of his own, surrounded himself with a circle of young male revolutionaries who he called his "family." Among his favorites were John Laurens, who once fought a duel to defend George's honor sullied by some cad now lost to history; and Alexander Hamilton. George was thought by his enemies to be a bit soft on the boys and was suspected over being overly fond of young Hamilton in particular.

While in Washington's service Hamilton befriended a group of other young officers, with one of whom, John Laurens of South Carolina, he had a particularly close relationship. When the two were apart on separate assignments, they exchanged affectionate letters. In September 1779, gently chiding Laurens for not corresponding as often as he would have liked, Hamilton wrote, "like a jealous lover, when I thought you slighted my caresses, my affection was alarmed and my vanity piqued."

Between 1779 and 1782, Hamilton and Laurens exchanged a series of love letters, reprinted in Jonathan Katz's Gay American History, in which Laurens addressed Hamilton as "'My Dear' and offered flowery protestations of undying affection, to which Hamilton responded with the touching declaration: "'I love you'." To this day the letters are explained away on the grounds that 18th century men "were classical scholars whose thoughts and actions were colored by the grandeur of antiquity."

Despite the prestige of his appointment on Washington's staff, Hamilton wished to serve in combat like—and perhaps with—his friend Laurens. Using the pretext of a minor disagreement with the general, Hamilton requested and received a transfer in February 1781. The incident left no hard feelings on either side.

Hamilton and Laurens participated in several military campaigns together later that year but were again separated on August 15, 1782, when Hamilton wrote to his friend, addressing him as "My Dear Laurens." Looking beyond the successful conclusion of the war, Hamilton suggested that both of them should be members of the congress of the new country. "We have fought side by side to make America free, let us hand in hand struggle to make her happy," he wrote in a letter ending, "Yours forever."

It is doubtful that Laurens ever read this letter, for he was killed in a skirmish on August 27. Upon hearing of his friend's death from Major General Nathanael Greene, Hamilton wrote back that he felt "the deepest affliction at the news," adding, "I feel the loss of a friend I truly and most tenderly loved."

1868 – Prince Bojidar Karageorgevitch (d.1908), Serbian artist and writer on art, was a member of the Serbian House of Karaorđević. He was a world traveller. He gave singing and drawing lessons and later earned his living as an art critic and translator. He was a contributor to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Figaro, La Revue de Paris, Revue des Revues, Magazine of Art, and other publications.

Prince Bojidar lived in France for most of his life as this family were in exile. Bojidar travelled a lot and went on a number of trips around the world. He served in the French Army and fought in the French campaign at Tonking and was decorated with the Cross of the Legion of Honour. To earn a living he gave singing and drawing lessons before becoming a translator and journalist

During one of his trips abroad, he travelled extensively around India, visiting thirty eight cities. He wrote a book about his experiences called Enchanted India in which he offered an account of the Indian people, their religious rites, and other ceremonies.

He was drawn to the cabarets of Montmarte, the haunt of artists, writers, poets, philosophers. It was there he met and befriended French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt, pioneer of modern dance Loïe Fuller, French poet, novelist and noted orientalist Judith Gautier, Suzanne Meyer-Zundel, Austrian composer Hugo Wolf, painter and illustrator Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and founder of the Ballets Russes Sergei Diaghilev.

His lover was painter Jules Bastien-Lepage, fourteen years his senior, who predeceased him when Prince Bojidar was only 22 years old. The artist, long ailing, had tried in vain to re-establish his health in Algiers. He died in Paris in 1884. Prince Bojidar, was with him at the end and wrote,

"At last he was unable to work anymore; and he died on the 10th of December, 1884, breathing his last in my arms. At his grave's head his mother and brother lovingly planted an apple-tree, which every spring showers down its wealth of pearly petals over the last resting-place of the great master whose loss we all mourn."

1962 – Today's the birthday of Welsh politician Chris Bryant. Born in Cardiff, Wales. He studied English at Oxford University and theology at Rippon College, Cuddesdon.

Bryant is openly gay, but he was ridiculed in the press when he was discovered to have a Gaydar profile featuring pictures of him wearing only underpants, whilst an MP. In an interview with Attitiude magazine he later described the incident as 'very, very, very, very unpleasant ... I didn't sleep much for about three months.'

Chris Bryant's "Gaydar" picture.

He later appeared looking very buff in swimming trunks at a parlimanetary swimming fundraiser.

In early 2010 Bryant 'married' his partner Jared Cranney in the first civil partnership to be held in the Houses of Parliament.

1966 – Today is also the birthday of American writer Marc Acito. Born in Bayonne, New Jersey, his comic novel How I Paid for College won the Oregon Book Awards' 2005 Ken Kesey Award for Best Novel, and was voted a 2005 "Teens Top Ten for Favorite Young Adult Book" of the American Library Association. He is also the writer of the syndicated humor column "The Gospel According to Marc", which ran for four years in nineteen gay publications. His humorous essays have appeared in many publications including The New York Times and Portland Monthly magazine; as well as on NPR's All Things Considered.

Acito is openly gay and lives in Portland, Oregon with his partner Floyd Sklaver.

Click for Full Monty)

1972 – Chad Donovan is an American performer and director of gay pornographic films. He has won numerous awards as a performer and director, and is a member of the GayVN Awards Hall of Fame and the Grabby Awards Hall of Fame.

Donovan was born into a Southern Baptist family. His rigid religious background and sexual precocity led to experimentation at an early age. "My first experience with a guy was about eight, just playing around and fingering buttholes. We probably didn't even get hard." Donovan's large endowment prompted teasing from his classmates as he reached puberty. "Through high school I had a difficult time because I had to change clothes for gym and stuff. I nearly failed gym class because I didn't want to change clothes. I got made fun of. Plus, not to mention, I hit puberty at ten. So all these little boys were bald as a peacock and here I am, full out baby's arm holding an apple."

Donovan was introduced to the gay pornographic industry by performers Chase Hunter and Tony DeAngelo. They worked as strippers at a 1470 West, a gay bar in Dayton, Ohio where Donovan was bartending. "We were kind of fucking around, having threeways occasionally. They took pictures of me, sent pictures all around," he recalls. Gay adult studios Catalina Video and Falcon Studios showed interest, and Donovan chose to work for Falcon. He was eighteen years old.

Donovan earned a $2,000 scene rate for his first movie. "When you're a kid living in Ohio, that's a lot of money. And a trip to San Francisco for three days. I did the one scene and two photo layouts. It was fantastic. What more could you ask for?" He filmed the scene with Hunter Scott and Anthony Moore. The scene was released by Falcon in 1994 in the film "Workin' Stiff." Donovan went on to film roughly 50 titles as a performer over the next decade.

In 2001, Bob East of Men of Odyssey broached the idea of directing. "He asked me if I'd be interested in directing. He said I seemed to have a good knack for finding talent, I've been in the industry long enough, why don't I try putting a movie together? So I did." That film was titled "Movin' On," and it was during production that he met and began a relationship with cast member Antonio Madiera, which continues to this day. "I had no intention of getting a boyfriend out of it. I hired the kid, I really liked the way he looked, he performed like a champ, and every time I looked down—when I wasn't even shooting him, I'd be shooting other boys in a scene—he'd be looking up at me with these puppydog eyes. I just couldn't resist."

Donovan's final onscreen sexual performances (as of December 2007) were in 2004. One of those films, "Studs 'N Pups" for MSR Videos, was the first time he and boyfriend Madiera performed together. Madiera continues to act occasionally, usually in films that Donovan directs. In 2007, Donovan helmed Basic Plumbing 3 for Falcon Studios; the film starred Chase Hunter and brought them back together 16 years after Hunter introduced Donovan to the industry. Although essentially retired as a sexual performer, Donovan occasionally appears in nonsexual roles. His early roles remain in circulation as they are continually repackaged into compilation tapes.

1974 – Max von Essen is an American stage and screen actor, and vocalist.

Raised on Long Island, von Essen is a graduate of South Side High School in Rockville Centre, New York. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and after graduation toured with Liza Minnelli. He is a member of the Von Essen family, who are part of the German and Swedish nobility. A son of Rita and Thomas Von Essen, who was the New York City Fire Commissioner during the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, he is the youngest of four children. He is openly gay.

He toured Europe in West Side Story and was a cast member of the U.S. national tour of Chicago. He made his Broadway debut in Jesus Christ Superstar in 2000 as Disciple and Jesus of Nazareth understudy. He appeared in Les Misérables on Broadway as the replacement for Fauchelevent and other roles, and starred in Dance of the Vampires alongside Michael Crawford in 2002. He played the role of student revolutionary leader Enjolras (replacement) in the Les Misérables Broadway revival in 2006 at the Broadhurst Theater.

In 2006, he was a soloist at the biggest Andrew Lloyd Webber musical gala to date, held in Tallinn, Estonia. He performed in the national tour of Xanadu as "Sonny" in 2008[8] and in the Roundabout Theater Company Off-Broadway production of Maury Yeston's Death Takes a Holiday at the Laura Pels Theatre in 2011. In 2015, von Essen played the role of Parisian aristocrat Henri in the Broadway production of An American in Paris, for which he received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical nomination.

Max von Essen is now a star of the off-Broadway play “Yours Unfaithfully,” and lives with his partner, Daniel Rowan, in a Hell’s Kitchen duplex.

1976 – Today is also the birthday of American singer Dylan Rice. He graduated from Northwestern University in 1998 (where he studied poetry) and now lives in Chicago. In 2004 he released an album called Wandering Eyes.

In July 2006, Dylan, who is openly gay, performed his stadium-rock anthem "The Faces of Victory" for 20,000 people at the Gay Games Closing Ceremonies at Wrigley Field in Chicago, joined onstage by Styx bassist Chuck Panozzo, and backed by a chorus of Chicago LGBT rockers. Written especially for the Gay Games, the song was also recorded in the studio with Panozzo, released as a single, and was highlighted in the official Gay Games VII commemorative DVD in December 2006.

For more information about Rice, visit his website at www.dylanrice.com Under the "Music" tab you can even download some of his songs.

1984 – The Wall Street Journal allows staff writers to now use the word "gay" as a synonym for "homosexual" in article and headlines.

2012 – In Life with Archie #16, Archie Comics' first gay character, Kevin Keller, married his partner.

In the storyline, Kevin returns to Riverdale as an adult after having served in the Army and having recovered from a battle-related injury in Iraq. He eventually ties the knot with Dr. Clay Walker, an African-American rehabilitation expert who helped Kevin regain his ability to walk, in a ceremony presided over by Riverdale's mayor.

Keller first appeared in the venerable Archie series in Veronica #202, published in September 2010, in a story entitled, "Isn't It Bromantic?" In that story, Veronica expresses interest in dating Kevin, but he explains to Jughead that the reason he does not want to date Veronica is because he is gay.

The issue sold out, prompting Archie Comics to issue a reprint for the first time in its 70-year history.

Keller returned in Veronica #205 and then in 2011 headlined his own 4-issue miniseries, Kevin Keller. That series focuses on Keller's life before he arrived in Riverdale, including his struggles in junior high school.

Anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera sees the whole development as an insidious plot to indoctrinate children.

LaBarbera has fulminated that the storyline is "really manipulative. Of course they are going to have a soldier having a homosexual so-called marriage with a black, so it's interracial, they want to work that in there, which is fine, interracial marriage is good but not between two men, and he was the physical therapist for this soldier so they're really manipulating these kids. Here you are taking something that parents take for granted is wholesome, Archie Comics, and now even that is being turned into a promoter of the radical homosexual agenda."

Of course, what really infuriates homophobes like LaBarbera is precisely what Teresa Theophano noted: comic books serve as a barometer of shifting attitudes toward sexual minorities and thus the mainstreaming of same-sex marriage in a beloved comic strip like Archie Comics is a reflection of increased acceptance of glbtq people.

2013 – African American Marco McMillian is the first openly gay candidate for political office in Mississippi when he announces his candidacy for mayor of Clarksdale, MS. He is slain a month later.

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vankeppel · 6 months

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God sometimes I really have to remember that TURN (which only ended in like. What. 2017) just straight up made Sir Henry Clinton effeminate and gay like. And again, the issue here is he's made to seem like an incompetent idiot too, gallavanting around with a YOUNG man especially and not bothering to fight the war. Like, its the denigration all over again and its so BLATANTLY false. Obviously its no surprise all the American men in TURN therefore come off as decidedly Masculine/rugged.

But nobody is supposed to care or notice what happens to the Loyalists or British (and Hessians!) in Amrev history, so its continually done. Repeatedly. Outlander THIS YEAR had to once more propogate Burgoyne being an incompetent, wine drinking fool who would rather fuck his mistress than do anything right (ie. Read the pervasive attribution of British men losing the war due to FEMALE mistresses influence as MISOGYNISTIC)

Why in Hamilton Musical are Seabury and George III (or Charles Lee for that matter, who was an American general but who so happened to oppose manly-man George Washington) made to prance around in trembling voices and then get obliterated by Hamilton and his macho-crew?

Like, if you wanna portray a historical figure as queer/effeminate etc based on possible (or most of the time very little) evidence then yeah thats your game, but it does NOT need to be denigrating...because hmm, what are you therefore saying about men who are decidedly feminine, or women, or queer people as a whole?

#this has been in my head for YEARS my god my god #american revolutionary war

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mightyflamethrower · 6 months

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Seattle middle school students sent a group of conservative moms pro-LGBTQ nastygrams as part of a recent assignment.

The parental rights group Moms for Liberty posted pictures of the hate mail they received from the Jane Addams Middle School class on Saturday.

Many of the colorful, hand-drawn cards repeated gay pride bumper sticker slogans such as “Say Gay” and “Gay is slay,” the Post Millennial reported. Others repeated more pointed messages, such as “stop being a rat” and “stop bullying and excluding LGBTQ youth.”

Enclosed in the package was a letter from Ann Christianson, a social studies teacher and coordinator of the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at the middle school. The GSA nonprofit network openly declares that its clubs are “vehicles for deep social change related to racial, gender, and educational justice.”

“Dear Moms For Liberty, Please read the enclosed cards from concerned middle school students in Seattle, WA,” Christianson wrote.

“Seattle Public Schools are spending class time indoctrinating and weaponizing your children,” Moms for Liberty responded on X. “The building of the Red Guard in America.”

Author and cultural critic James Lindsay decried the “demonic” letters on X and called for any school staff involved to be fired.

“Seattle middle school kids made to send hate mail to @Moms4Liberty,” Lindsay wrote. “This is demonic Red Guard stuff. People should be fired, if not jailed.”

Moms of Liberty has made a name for itself in recent years by calling out inappropriate sexual content in schools. The group is frequently targeted by left-wing agitators and has been labeled an “antigovernment extremist entity” by the far-left hate group Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

According to the SPLC, the conservative moms have a “web of political allies” who are connected to “antigovernment groups, White nationalists, election deniers, and participants in January 6th events.”

Christianson said in an automated email that she has taken a leave of absence from work, although it was not immediately clear whether her leave of absence was voluntary. “Thank you for contacting me. I am currently on a leave of absence and not checking email. If you have an urgent issue or question, please contact Assistant Principal Madeline Benz,” the teacher said. “I look forward to connecting when I return.”

This is not the first time the district has been embroiled in controversy. Following the George Floyd riots of 2020, SPS banned police from campuses and has regularly used a curriculum for MLK Day that removed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from the material and discussed his Marxist advisors instead. In Jan. 2021, the district sent out an email to faculty with education resources for teachers to indoctrinate students into the ‘abolish the police’ movement, and gloss over the riots that lasted for months across the country and caused billions of dollars in damage. Schools in the district have even offered free sex change “treatment” to students as young as 13 without informing the parents.

According to the Washington State Office of the Superintendent’s most recent report card for Jane Addams Middle School, 38.6 percent of students failed to meet the grade level in English, and almost half the students failed to meet the grade level in mathematics. Another 34.2 percent failed to meet the grade level standard in science.

This is the way of communists in every generation. They always use the children as leverage against the parents. When Cambodia fell to the commies the communist had children execute their own parents.

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leaf-kei · 5 months

Note

Hello! Love your Time squad posts ! Canon wise: do you think Larry was in love with Tuddrussel? What about XJ5 being in love with Sheila idea ? I really love checking for canon evidences it is so fun

HI!!!! I AM SO SORRY it took me so long to answer you ;__; My bad... I wanted to wait until I could give this ask my Full attention (tbh I've had Team Fortress 2 brain worms for weeks and have been unable to focus on anything GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT).

I'm so glad you like my posts! ;w; In general, I don't think things need to be canon to be worth thinking about & exploring creatively... but buddy? Larry being in love with Tuddrussel? That is IN THE SHOW. I can't stress enough that this HAPPENS in Time Squad. I would venture to say Larry wanting a loving relationship with Tudd and Tudd not giving it to him is a reoccurring theme (along with history and slapstick comedy and. gender roles, weirdly??? tune in for THAT essay later lmao). You may have seen it already, but I compiled a bunch of my favorite TuddLarry moments in a video here! It also includes moments where Something Gay Happens On Screen no matter what characters are involved... I know it's all there for comedy, but for the most part, the gay jokes in TS don't feel like they come from a hateful place to me. Everyone gets made fun of equally in this show... it has that kind of mean-spirited early 2000s humor lol

My absolute favorite underrated TuddLarry canon moment of all time is in A Thrilla At Attila's. In Tudd's fantasy recollection of the mission, Otto and Larry look up to him as a great leader... it's VERY CUTE that Tudd's dream is to be genuinely admired by them 😭 BUT at one point, the fantasy Larry (who is inexplicably wearing a tutu) swoons over Tudd with little hearts over his head while Tudd is fighting some other guy?! THIS IS IN TUDD'S FANTASY HE WISHES THIS WOULD HAPPEN

U know what, I'm gonna take this opportunity to ramble about family commitment as a central theme of the show!!

- Otto is literally adopted by Tudd and Larry (Larry calls it adoption in Kubla Khan't), and Otto's addition to the squad forces their business-only relationship to change. Time Squad is (at least partly) about three very different characters navigating a new family dynamic formed by chance.

- They naturally fall into typical sitcom family roles: Tudd's the manchild fun dad, Larry's the homemaking strict mom, and Otto's the sweet kid who's trying to keep the peace... their personalities clash as they try to live and work and be happy together. It's significant that they're alone on the satellite they live on; with no one else from their own time period around them while they're at home, they're isolated with one another like a family unit in a suburban house. Even though they fight, they grow to love each other over time... what's that thing people say about hate and love being two sides of the same coin? I feel like Larry's love for Tudd manifests as anger a lot of the time—he gets upset whenever Tudd doesn't measure up to his ideal of a domestic partner. Is that healthy? Idk, probably not, but that's the way it is for them (at least in the two seasons that exist 👀).

- Of course, family commitments aren't always harmonious, and for these guys things are chaotic MOST of the time... but no matter what historical figures they meet or temptations they face, at the end of the day, they always come back together. They're a family, it's as simple as that. Otto doesn't need to have a logical reason to turn down George Washington's offer to adopt him in Father Figure of Our Country—no one can replace Tuddrussel, and that's it.

So tl;dr, Time Squad is about two men adopting a child and having a domestic committed relationship, and it uses that setup to tell funny stories and introduce fun conflict !?? And it's all in a cute art style AND there's HISTORY??? Cartoon Network should ABSOLUTELY bring it back and make a new season HEAR MY PLEA

—Of course, I think Tudd and Larry's relationship developing into a romantic (but still wacky) one would be a great setup for such a new season! But that's just my post-canon fantasy ;^) ... and what all my fanart and little writings are about lol

ANYWAYS HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Edit: SHIT I forgot to mention XJ5!! I ADORE the idea they have a crush on Sheila, that's my headcanon too!! BUT instead of being a jerk like Tudd is to Larry, Sheila is only ever considerate and nice and professional and friendly to XJ5 🤲 And XJ5 is so awkward with social situations (a real Robot's Robot) that they have no idea how to approach these feelings or how to articulate them at all... they could use a few lessons in human behavior from Larry hmmm?

#time squad #larry 3000 #buck tuddrussel #otto osworth #cartoon network #cartoon cartoons #asks #tuddlarry #THANKS AGAIN

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ghelgheli · 8 months

Text

The Stuff I Read in September 2023

Stuff I Extra Liked Is Bold

Books

Orphans of the Sky, Robert A. Heinlein

Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein

Revenant Gun, Yoon Ha Lee

All Systems Red, Martha Wells

Artificial Condition, Martha Wells

Rogue Protocol, Martha Wells

Exit Strategy, Martha Wells

Friendship Poems, ed. Peter Washington

Introduction to Linear Algebra, ch. 1-3, Gilbert Strang

Manga (mostly yuri [really all yuri])

Yagate Kimi ni Naru / Bloom Into You, Nio Nakatani

Kaketa Tsuki to Dōnattsu / Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon, Shio Usui

Onna Tomodachi to Kekkon Shitemita / Trying Out Marriage With My Female Friend, Shio Usui

Kimi no Tame ni Sekai wa Aru / The World Exists for You, Shio Usui

Teiji ni Agaretara / If We Leave on the Dot, Ayu Inui

Nikurashii Hodo Aishiteru / I Love You So Much I Hate You, Ayu Inui

Tsukiatte Agetemo Ī Kana / How Do We Relationship? Tamifull

Himegoto - Juukyuusai no Seifuku / Uniforms at the Age of Nineteen, Ryou Minenami

Colorless Girl, Honami Shirono

Short Fiction

It gets so lonely here, ebi-hime [itch.io]

Aye, and Gomorrah, Samuel R. Delaney [strange horizons]

Evolutionary Game Theory

Red Queen and Red King Effects in cultural agent-based modeling: Hawk Dove Binary and Systemic Discrimination, S. M. Amadae & Christopher J. Watts [doi]

The Evolution of Social Norms, H. Peyton Young [doi]

The Checkerboard Model of Social Interaction, James Sakoda [doi]

Dynamic Models of Segregation, Thomas C. Schelling [doi]

Towards a Unified Science of Cultural Evolution, Alex Mesoudi, Andrew Whiten, Kevin N. Laland [doi]

Is Human Cultural Evolution Darwinian? Alex Mesoudi, Andrew Whiten, Kevin N. Laland [doi]

Gender/Sexuality/Queer Stuff (up to several degrees removed)

Re-orienting Desire: The Gay International and the Arab World, Joseph Massad [link]

The Empire of Sexuality, Joseph Massad (interview) [link]

The Bare Bones of Sex, Anne Fausto-Sterling [jstor]

On the Biology of Sexed Subjects, Helen Keane & Marsha Rosengarten [doi]

Vacation Cruises: Or, the Homoerotics of Orientalism, Joseph A. Boone [jstor]

Romancing the Transgender Native: Rethinking the Use of the “Third Gender” Concept, Evan B. Towle & Lynn M. Morgan [doi]

Scientific Racism and the Emergence of the Homosexual Body, Siobhan Somerville [jstor]

White Sexual Imperialism: A Theory of Asian Feminist Jurisprudence, Sunny Woan [link]

Haunted by the 1990s: Queer Theory’s Affective Histories, Kadji Amin [jstor]

Annoying Anthro

The Sexual Division of Labor, Rebecca B. Bird, Brian F. Codding [researchgate]

Factors in the Division of Labor by Sex: A Cross-Cultural Analysis, George P. Murdock & Caterina Provost [jstor]

Biosocial Construction of Sex Differences and Similarities in Behavior, Wendy Wood & Alice H. Eagly [doi]

Political Theory

Some critics argue that the Internal Colony Theory is outdated. Here’s why they’re wrong, Patrick D. Anderson [link]

Toward a New Theory of Internal Colonialism, Charles Pinderhughes [link]

The Anatomy of Iranian Racism: Reflections on the Root Causes of South Azerbaijans Resistance Movement, Alireza Asgharzadeh [link]

The veil or a brother's life: French manipulations of Muslim women's images during the Algerian War, 1954–62, Elizabeth Perego [doi]

A Difficulty in the Concept of Social Welfare, Kenneth J. Arrow [jstor]

Manipulation of Voting Schemes: A General Result, Allan Gibbard [jstor]

China Has Billionaires, Roderic Day [redsails]

Other

Conversations I Can't Have, Cassandra Byers Harvin [proquest]

Earth system impacts of the European arrival and Great Dying in the Americas after 1492, Alexander Koch et al. [doi]

Why prisons are not “The New Asylums”, Liat Ben-Moshe [doi]

Uses of Value Judgments in Science: A General Argument, with Lessons from a Case Study of Feminist Research on Divorce, Elizabeth Anderson [doi]

Boundary Issues, Lily Scherlis [link]

#reading prog #can you tell i've been depression-reading yuri #these categories are so janky a lot of the yuri is technically short fiction the murderbot series is novelettes etc. etc.#also murderbot is yuri

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jacepens · 2 months

Text

Two of Us

A brief intro: this was what I sort of consider my first washette writing expect it's just detailed notes about how I wanted each chapter to go

Fandom/Tags: Hamilton, George Washington/Lafayette, draft, historically accurate

Chapter one- the dinner party! Laf is a brand new (honorary) major general and meets George! Later that night, George invites him to live with him and become a part of his military family

Chapter two- Lafayette gets very excited and is dressed and packed to the nines. Then he shows up and everything’s a shit show but Laf is like, it’s cool. I came here to learn not to teach. And George is like ❤️.

Chapter three- Army meeting thing next day. Looks like Howe is just going to attack Charleston- not Philadelphia. Next day- oh shit. He’s headed this way! Prepare for battle!!

Chapter four- Brandywine. Here we go. George, please let me fight. George (not thinking or in the mood to argue) yeah ok sure, wait. Too late. Lafayette goes in and is pretty awesome. Meets up with George and he’s like, your leg! Laf like, pffffh. I’m fine. Shit. And George is like: we’re getting that dressed immediately! A few days later he’s transported upriver but before that, he and George have a nice chat. Right before George shows up, he’s writing to Adrienne. Then after talk George writes report to Hancock

Chapter five- Laf has been moved to Bethlehem. Germantown happens and it’s bad. He wants to go and fight but George sends a letter urging him to wait. Laf writes a bunch of letters to France like, support America!!! Yay Saratoga! Laf gets very excited and writes to George like: for the love of God let me fight. Then when he doesn’t hear anything, he gets up and goes even though he can’t wear a boot to Whitemarsh where he is. Friends with Greene.

Chapter six- Valley Forge. Also dead Henrietta. He has a gut(cot??) to himself. People want George gone cause valley forge sucks. Established board of war. Good gay sweet flirts. Comfort.

Chapter seven- the gang is pissed at congress. (Oh my god, Alex. They would be so GOOD for each other. Greene’s over here like: that’s what I said!) they have long talk everyday! Still trying to hurt Washington, they appoint Laf for an expedition they know will fail and will give him the same rank as George. Gil is pissed and like, George! Look at this shit!! Anyway, he arranges some stuff, heads up to Canada and there’s literally nothing! He is super pissed and writes to Henry Laurens and then to George. George writes back a message of consolation. Laf just wants to be with him and vice versa and valley forge has realllllly gone to shit now.

Chapter eight- it’s from George perspective at valley forge!! Half the men are dead. He’s worried about Gil and just needs him in general. Need more details for George chapter but will end with letter from Gil saying he’s coming back and all is well again! Yay!

Chapter nine- Greene and Steubem have saved the day! Gil gets to meet Martha! Stuff is more organized and George has appointed Laf head of foreign affairs, which he does very well with. He’s helping George with a lot of training and clothing his own calvary. Also he’s being a sweetheart. May 1st, George gets a letter that he reads out loud to Gil. The treaty of France has been signed! Gil gets so excited that he kisses George and he’s crying! But he kinda brushes it off. Everyone is celebrating and super excited at valley forge. THEN Gil finds out Henrietta is dead. And he has to go out and pretend he’s happy but that night he talks to George and he comforts him and they cuddle.

Chapter ten- woes vs woahs

So, war is over and yay and stuff! But for some reason Laf is sad and upset and emotional

And he’s confused cause he should be happy

He also doesn’t realize that George has been spending more time with him than usual and that all the extra time with George has been breaking his heart even more (and George is feeling the same but instead he wishes to spend all his time with Gil)

Then there’s a nice party with an orchestra you know

And Laf just wants to leave because he’s had enough of this talk

And the whole night George has wanted to be with him but so many people have been bombarding him with questions and comments, and he can’t be rude, but he can’t hardly take two steps without having to talk to someone but he just wants to get to Gil because he sees how upset he is from across the room!

Then George eventually makes it over and is like, “I can tell something’s wrong, what happened?”

And Gil’s like, “Is it that obvious?”

And George kinda half-heartedly jokes (aw. Look at him trying to joke for Gil’s sake) like, “I don’t think so, I think I just know you pretty well.”

And Gil’s just kinda looking at him, smiling, and wishing that he could be alone with him for hours and just lay in bed next to him talking until the sun rose but instead what he says is something like:

“Oh please, don’t worry for my sake. It’s nothing. You need to enjoy this wonderful occasion and forget all about silly old me.” because HE’S CONFUSED (And doesn’t think he can handle George being so kind and sweet to him at this moment as it is making his heart ache more than it ever has before)

And George is like: “Nonsense! I will worry about you all I want because I care about you and you mean so much to me and your happiness brings me joy.”

And then he puts his hand on his neck and like, in his curly hair and Gil really loves the gesture (it’s not unusual, it’s the first thing he does when comforting Laf) but then his heart starts beating like crazy and he’s shaking a little and he has to pull away because his head was spinning and that whole thing felt embarrassing in public (because George was over here looking into his eyes and he just couldn’t take it at that momentXD) and he’s just looking at the ground

George is kinda confused because Laf’s never done that before and Laf feels a little guilty about it but he’s still kinda shook up and George is like, “I’m sorry Gilbert, it wasn’t my intention to make you uncomfortable.”

And George is kinda at a loss for words as he realizes that Gil seriously upset

And Gilbert, feeling guilty and emotional says something like, “I’m sorry but I just need you to leave me alone right now, please leave.”

And you know, Gil doesn’t really want George to leave, he just wants his overwhelming feelings to be quiet and let him go and thinks that temporarily removing George will accomplish that

And George, knowing Laf very well, knows that he hates being alone when he is distraught like this and is confused at the request, wishing to stay and comfort him (and enjoy every last second they had together before his heart was ripped in half) so he tries to assert his place and says that he will stay with him no matter what

But Laf just kinda snaps at George for a moment telling him to, “Leave me be!” While fighting back tears (Because why does he have to be so perfect and know exactly what he needs?? He can’t stand his kindness because he’s trying to forget him and not kiss him with the force of a thousand waterfallsXDXD)

(oh. That’s why this is making me so sad. That makes a lot of sense.)

And George fucking KNOWS that Gil, deep down wants him to stay (why is he crying?!? Don’t cry!!! Omg I love you so much!!!! Oh my god. I love him. That makes a lot of sense.) but he can’t be cruel when Laf has asked him to leave twice now even though it breaks his heart

So he simply takes a deep breath and slowly walks away

Laf is half-inclined to run after him, kiss him and confess everything and to apologize for his behavior but (luckily) George was lost in the crowd before he could

Now Laf really wanted to go back to his quarters and pretend that none of this happened. Pretend he didn’t finally make sense of the storm in him. Pretend he didn’t want to start singing on the rooftop that he was in love because that love was futile and impossible to pursue, especially when they were almost out of time.

So he left, and moped in his room

He’s awake (and balling) for hours and obviously can’t sleep because he has so much on his mind but then he hears a knock on his door that scares him half to death and then hears a familiar, “Lafayette, can I come in?”

Just for a second Laf doesn’t say anything but then George says, “I heard you Gilbert I know you’re awake *sigh* just please let me in.”

Lafayette says a little “ok” and George lets himself in

After his wallowing all night he was actually very very happy to see George and his presence was just the one he needed after an extremely emotionally exhausting night, and a small part is begging him to leave but Laf is a little weaker and listening to his (ridiculously in love) heart over his brain

George stands there awkwardly at the door and begins to speak but is then interrupted by Laf patting the bed next to him and George immediately obliges, unable to keep himself from Gilbert and as he sits down Gil wraps George up in a big hug and he hugs back very intensely with all the gd emotions they have to give

Gil can hear George sniffle and feels tears on his shoulder (Gil would be crying, but like, he’s been doing that all night and is so tired)

After a moment (and after George stops crying) Laf is like, “George. I’m so so sorry about tonight.”

And George is immediately like, “You think that’s what I’m upset about? I’ve been so worried about you all night, you weren’t acting like yourself at all. I’m not mad in the slightest, I’m worried about you.”

They part, but not very far and they’re holding hands

Gil says: “I’m okay now. Or at least better than before.” (after a moment). “Thank you. For coming here in the middle of the night, to comfort me, to check on me. You didn’t have to. But thank you.

And George’s heart is just melting as he’s like, “You may not understand Gilbert, but I simply had to come see you. I believe I didn’t have a choice in the matter, andI would so much more for you, with no thanks if it meant I could make you happy and be by your side.” And he kisses Gil’s knuckles and Laf is practically having a heart attack with how much he loves this man and George is trying his goddamn hardest not to kiss him

George: “Lafayette, there is something that I need to tell you before this night is over. Something that’s been gnawing away at me for such a long time now *deep breath*”

Gil is sitting still, stopped breathing, waiting to hear the words he had been dreaming of (that sounds cheesy)

George suddenly pulls Gilbert in for a big hug (cause he’s kinda scared to see the look on his face when he says what he needs to say) and with a quiet voice, proclaims his love for Gilbert

And Gil, although at first thrown off by the hug, hugs him back with a big smile on his face and small tears falling from his eyes and he says: “George, I love you too. I love you too!”

Then they’re both happy crying and giggling and hugging the daylights out of each other until they’ve just kind of exhausted themselves and part

And with their faces so close together, hearts on their chest, tears in their eyes, George places his hand on Gil’s cheek, completely taken aback by his beauty, and they finally kiss! And it’s great. And they pretty much just make out and chill and chat til the sun comes up (but only kissing because like, that whole night was stressful and they’re both tired, leave them alone.)

#jacepens cleaning out wips #hamilton #washette

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 3 months

Text

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/02/20/corporate-diversity-job-cuts/

As DEI gets more divisive, companies are ditching their teams

Zoom and Snap are among companies that have cut roles in recent weeks

By: Taylor Telford

Published: Feb 18, 2024

After George Floyd’s murder in 2020, companies made big pledges about racial equity, hiring teams dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion. Now corporate America is pulling back — cutting DEI jobs and outsourcing the work to consultants.

DEI jobs peaked in early 2023 before falling 5 percent that year and shrinking by 8 percent so far in 2024, according to Revelio Labs data shared with The Washington Post. The attrition rate for DEI roles has been about double that of non-DEI jobs, says Revelio, which tracks workforce dynamics.

In recent weeks, Zoom axed its internal DEI team amid broader layoffs, and Snap cut workers who worked on retention and engagement efforts for employees from underrepresented groups. Meta, Tesla, DoorDash, Lyft, Home Depot, Wayfair and X were among major corporations making steep cuts in 2023, slashing the size of their DEI teams by 50 percent or more, Revelio’s data shows.

“The overall number of DEI officers has decreased,” said Lisa Simon, Revelio’s senior economist, “but it’s not enough to destroy all the strides that happened after 2020.”

At Zoom, chief operating officer Aparna Bawa told employees that the company would replace its internal DEI team with DEI consultants who would “champion inclusion by embedding our values … directly into our people programs rather than as a separate initiative,” according to a Jan. 29 memo seen by The Post.

Colleen Rodriguez, the company’s head of global corporate communications, said Zoom “remains committed” to DEI work.

Snap made a similar decision in February, according to reporting from Business Insider. Snap did not respond to a request for comment.

Corporate America’s retreat from DEI has coincided with increased legal risk and political animosity toward systemic efforts to boost racial equity. State legislators have introduced at least 65 anti-DEI bills since 2023, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. The resignation of Claudine Gay, Harvard University’s first Black president, amid plagiarism allegations in January was billed as “the beginning of the end for DEI in America’s institutions” by the conservative activist who led the campaign to oust her. Mentions of DEI on corporate earnings calls have plunged in the past year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

For companies that were never really committed, “this is the perfect air cover for backing off diversity,” said Joelle Emerson, CEO of DEI consultancy Paradigm.

Not all companies downsizing teams are giving up on the work, Emerson said, noting that some employers overhired when they established their DEI teams.

“I don’t know that it ever made sense to have a 25-person diversity team sitting to the side of a core business function,” Emerson said. “Companies should be able to say, ‘We’ve tried this, it didn’t have an impact, we’re going to try something different.’”

The recalibration is happening under serious legal pressure. Last year, when the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, the decision didn’t apply directly to employers. But the ruling kicked off an effort, driven largely by conservative activists, to dismantle race-conscious policies in other domains of American life.

In July, 13 Republican attorneys general sent a letter urging Microsoft and other Fortune 100 companies to reexamine their DEI policies in response to the ruling. America First Legal, a group backed by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, has filed legal complaints over diversity practices at scores of companies, including United Airlines, Kellogg’s, Nike, and organizations such as the FBI, National Football League and Major League Baseball.

Edward Blum, the conservative activist behind the lawsuits that toppled affirmative action in college admissions, is suing venture capital firm Fearless Fund over its grant program for early-stage businesses owned by Black women. Blum’s group has also found success targeting major law firms over their diversity fellowships: Three big law firms — Perkins Coie, Morrison Foerster and Winston & Strawn — opened their fellowships for students of color to applicants of all races and backgrounds after being sued. A fourth law firm, Adams and Reese, ended its diversity fellowship after receiving an Oct. 9 letter threatening litigation.

Even before the tide turned last summer, DEI work was an uphill battle. As companies’ commitments have wavered, DEI professionals have had their work challenged.

“Any time I’d raise something with the word ‘equity’ … I was told it scares people away,” said a former head of DEI for a gaming start-up, who was laid off in January. He spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid violating his separation agreement.

After stepping into the role in 2020, he said he was disheartened by resistance from executives to pay-transparency policies and employee resource groups. The DEI budget kept facing cuts, he said, and he was constantly under pressure to show a “return on investment.”

When it comes to DEI, businesses are “interested until they’re not,” he said. “These positions are going away every day.”

Some groups have been imploring companies to maintain their DEI focus. On Monday, the executive board of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus sent a letter to CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, inquiring about efforts to improve Asian American diversity and encouraging them to stay the course amid growing attacks on DEI. The group noted that Asian Americans remain “severely underrepresented at the senior-most levels of the largest U.S. corporations.”

“Without executive leadership representation at Fortune 100 companies, AANHPI employees have fewer role models and fewer internal champions to guide and mentor them,” the letter reads. “Corporate leaders also have fewer internal resources to guide them in fully understanding the needs and aspirations of AANHPI consumers.”

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus sent a similar letter in December to acting labor secretary Julie Su, inquiring about tech layoffs that were disproportionately affecting Black workers.

“Tech companies who previously agreed to address bias and discrimination and create greater opportunities in the workforce are now quietly defunding diversity pledges,” the letter reads, according to TheGrio.

Some companies are bucking the trend. J.M. Smucker, Victoria’s Secret, Michaels, Moderna, Prudential and ConocoPhillips were among big corporations that expanded their DEI teams by 50 percent or more in 2023, according to Revelio’s data. Packaged-food giant Conagra Brands and NASA both doubled the size oftheir DEI teams.

With 30 years’ experience in diversity work, Cristina Jimenez, head of DEI at RHR International, a leadership consulting firm, says she has “watched the pendulum swing back and forth” between support and resistance. But this moment seems particularly fraught, she said. Her clients feel like “they’re in a battle zone all the time.”

“They’re not sure what to do next,” Jimenez said, “but they understand if they don’t do something, their talent strategies, their culture, their ability to succeed is all at risk.”

Many of the organizations that took on DEI ideology did so as True Believers. Disney is infested with it from top to bottom, resulting in billions lost at both the box-office and in stock price, and vandalized franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel where fans have gone from annoyed to no longer caring. Your paying customers no longer caring is worse than them being angry.

But many more took it on either as a "wokescreen" - to cover and distract from their far greater sins, such as Disney thanking a concentration camp in the credits for Mulan. Or as a form of Woke Passover, painting DEI blood over the door and hoping the activist plagues will pass over them and attack someone else.

#woke passover #diversity equity and inclusion #diversity #equity #inclusion #DEI #DEI bureaucracies #religion is a mental illness

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yr-obedt-cicero · 2 years

Note

George Washington

Sexuality headcannon; hetero.

Gender headcannon; cis.

Ship; I don't have any.

Brotp; am I the only one who thought he was gay for Fairfax in the Mini series?? Like I don't know historically, but my sister and I thought they had something when watching it.

Notp; Hamilton/Washington.

Random headcannon; he was a pretty good dad, and was a sort of grandfather figure to the Hamkids.

General opinion; he was just... a guy. I hate when Washington is always put on this pedestal of godly treatment. It wasn't even like he wanted to be remembered that way. Honestly his war techniques were bad, and people and historians need to know the work of people that helped him and advised him — rather than give him all the credit. Other than that, he really just seems like this tired family guy, that everyone kept pushing to be a political figure of power or representation of America.

#amrev #american history #american revolution #george washington #queries #asks games #sincerely anonymous

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todaysdocument · 2 years

Photo

Japanese Americans incarcerated at the Portland Assembly Center published this newsletter, 6/5/1942. The Evacuazette documents life in the converted livestock exposition center.

File Unit: Unsolicited Testimony J, 1981 - 1982

Series: Unsolicited Testimony Files, 1981 - 1982

Record Group 220: Records of Temporary Committees, Commissions, and Boards, 1893 - 2008

Transcription:

EVACUAZETTE

VOL. I No. 6 North Portland, Oregon Friday, June 5, 1942

VOLUNTEER BEET WORKERS LEAVE SUNDAY

According to state WCCA manager, Ernest Leonetti, the departure for Malheur County sugar beet fields may be delayed till Sunday night in order to include the late arrivals. He added that some of those who came here early today have shown interest in this particular outside employment proposition. As yet, the authorities do not definitely know how many are volunteering for this group.

******

GRADUATION WEDNESDAY

Commencement exercises for the many high school and grade school graduates will take place in the arena next Wednesday evening, June 10. The main speaker for this occasion will be Dr. I. G. Nace, of the Council of Churches of Portland. Rev. Bernard Montgomery of Central Presbyterian Church will give the invocation. Mrs. Y. Sato is the general chairman of this program.

*****

ART EXHIBIT

Exhibition of the works of art by talented persons in this center opened today and will continue until Sunday. This is the first known art display to be conducted in any of the Assembly Centers. The age of the artists range from 11 to 60 years.

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520 ARRIVED TODAY FROM WASHINGTON

627 MORE EVACUEES DUE ON SATURDAY

The arrival of 520 evacuees from Yakima Valley aboard a special 12-car train swelled the ever-growing population of the North Portland Assembly Center to an off cial[sic] figure of 3052. The trains reached here at approximately 6:00 a.m., one hour behind schedule, bringing evacuees from Wapato, Wenatchee, and Kennewick, Washington. The newcomers were greeted by several hundred early birds, who managed to forgo a few winks. The new arrivals got off the train by families and filed through the gate into the building to register and receive instructions before proceeding to their new quarters. Soldiers that accompanied the special train helped to carry small packages of the elderly evacuees as well as aid them in getting off the train. While the new arrivals were getting acquainted with the environment a crow of volunteer workers unloaded the baggage onto the platform. The population figures are slated for another boost tomorrow with the arrival of approximately 628 evacuees from Yakima, Toppenish, and Wapato, Washington. The Yakima Valley contingent of 528 is expected to reach here by a special train by 6:00 a.m., while another aggregation of a 100 from Lyle, Washington is due here via bus sometime in the afternoon.

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ANOTHER NEW ARRIVAL!!

A bouncing baby boy was boring into Mr. and Mrs. E. Saito's household at 8:00 a.m. today by the proverbial stork. Dr. Kinoshita attended the birth at the County Hospital.

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2000 PERSONS ATTEND SHOW

In sponsoring their 2nd movie, "Sun Valley Serenade," the Recreational Department ran up against much difficulty in the form of a faulty projector The first showing was held as scheduled on Tuesday night, June 2, but the second showing billed for 9:30 was held over till Wednesday night. Approximately 2000 persons viewed the gay, romantic, musical, spotlighting the nations IA Band, Glenn Miller and his orchestra. A short subject entitled "MagicCarpert[sic] of Movietone" was shown as the added feature.

[within box with dotted outline]

ANNOUNCEMENT! The EVACUAZETTE will not accept mimeograph orders from other departments on days of publication.

WELCOME NEW NEIGHBORS!

[page 2]

EVACUAZETTE

[underlined]EDITORIAL STAFF

Editor-in Chief

Yugi Hiromura

Associate Editor....... Feature Editor......

Umeko Matsubu Tokiyuki Aoki

Business Manager..... Sports Editor......

Ted Tsuboi George Hijiya

News Editor..... Art Editor.....

Taka Ichikawa Chiseo Shoji

Published Semi-weekly

Distributed without charge

BE PREPARED

On my honor I will do my best

To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law

To help other people at all times

To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

The scout oath, watchword of a million American Boy Scouts. Words familiar to millions of other follow Americans. The Boy Scouts of America, the admiration of a nation.

Here as well as else where, the boy scout perform their daily duty of service in a typical scout manner.

In this center, the boy scouts carry on with their duty, being prepared whenever the need arises. Being of service to the entire center in every possible way, besides their regular drum and bugle practices. Each morning the boy scouts raise old glory to the mast; and each evening lower her to rest. Ushering, guarding, first-aid, and numerous other lines of work are a part of the daily routine performed by the boy scouts. From dawn to dusk, the services of the boy scouts never cease.

They need no words of praise or gratitude, for the tasks they perform are part of their duty to aid other people at all times. And seldom are words of appreciation expressed to the boy scouts for the public knows too well that the tasks performed by them are in the line of their duty. Without expressed words of praise of gratitude, the boy scouts carry on, knowing there is a job to be done.

To the boy scouts add our words of sincere appreciation. The cooperative spirit of the boy scouts has proven invaluable to all of us. That their spirits has proven invaluable to all of us. That their spirit has proven invaluable to all of us. That their spirit of cooperation should be a practice we must all acquire some day in the near future. To you, we say "Thanks a Million."

MEMORIAL SERVICES

Services in commemoration of the dead which have been held annually will not be discontinued. A joint Memorial Day service, sponsored by all the religious organizations, will be held in the Chapel, May 30, from 9 to 10 A. M. After the services, the priests and the ministers are to go to both cemeteries and also to Mt. Scott.

With Reverend Terakawa as chairman, the following program has been arranged: Flag ceremony, opening address, meditation, flower offering, sacred chanting, incense offering, scripture reading, prayer, sermon, sermon, closing address.

[inside box with caricature of an Asian man with glasses, collared shirt, tie, and a large pencil behind his ear]

-BY-

[in bubble letters]SCOOP.

Hello everybody! I think I will quote a letter from a girl friend this time to show you how much they mis me on the outside.

(Quote)

My dear Stinky:

I miss you so much up here that I think I will add another boy friend to my list to make up for you Of course, honey, he can never take your place as he has money, looks, clothes, and the cutest sport coupe and stuff that you never had. Have you still got that mop-hair full of knots? Remember, sweet, on those full moonlight nights, when you and I used to sit under a spreading apple tree --- and untie the knots in your hair? My goodness, it seems like a long time since you slapped me in the face and broke your hand, well, I'll always remain true to you so don't worry, and write back soon.

Lovingly yours

M. H.

(Unquote)

I guess this letter will prove to all you bums that I have some personality and from nowon[sic] please show some respect for me. Nuff said, as I hate to talk about myself all of the time

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BY THE GATE

I stood by the gate and saw them pass,

Sorrowful, yet eager and then alas,

With misty eyes and cheerful shouts,

"Be seeing you , in a month or there-abouts."

With feeling of anxiety and of aweness

I stood by the gate and saw them pass.

******

[within box]

MEETING NOTICE!

All Senior and Regular Boy Scouts will meet, Monday evenings in the Arena starting at 8 P. M.

Boys interesting in scouting are urged to attend.

#archivesgov #June 5 #1942 #Japanese American incarceration #Japanese American history #Asian American history #World War II #WWII #Portland #Oregon #beets #graduation #Boy Scouts #Memorial Day

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