Originally a comment by Sastra on A T shirt that could cause trouble or offence.

When psychologically fragile people are encouraged to believe they have no control over their emotions and no capacity to become mentally confident and self-sufficient — and society is told that these fragile people are completely and utterly dependent on outside validation in order for them to function or indeed even continue to live — we end up with self-appointed Saviors. Someone has to step in to protect the vulnerable.

We then go from a Culture of Respect, in which self-worth is inherent and restraint and resilience are held up as ideals, to an Honor Culture mentality, in which worth is socially determined. The ability … Read the rest

The new gay-basher, so like the old gay-basher.

Well done The Polo Lounge for turfing the TERF out – she had her chance. She was wearing a T-Shirt that could cause trouble or offence – she could have turned it inside… https://t.co/PhiRHiFBBY

— Scott Agnew (@scottagnew) January 21, 2020

Huh. Man approves of a bar that throws a woman out into the January night without her jacket and keys because she is wearing a pro-lesbians and gays T shirt. I guess Man is a Christian fanatic, or maybe a some other religion fanatic? Or just a secular fanatic? But anyway someone who hates lesbians and gays and is happy to see them persecuted and ostracized.

Mind you he would probably … Read the rest

Does it make sense to call it a “peaceful protest” – let alone “incredibly” peaceful – when many or most of the people protesting are conspicuously carrying guns?

No, it doesn’t. A large gathering of men carrying assault rifles is a threat, a visible calculated threat, aka terrorism.

Threats are not “peaceful” and guns are not not-threats.

What a turnout! Check out these images from Monday morning's gun-rights rally at the state Capitol >> https://t.co/Vl6hty00rO

From all accounts, it was an incredibly peaceful protest. pic.twitter.com/rMBVdPlqpk

— 12 On Your Side WWBT Richmond (@12OnYourSide) January 20, 2020

… Read the rest

More from the Hooray For Guns rally.

The morning commute #Richmond2ARally pic.twitter.com/gW946MyflH

— Andrew Kimmel (@andrewkimmel) January 20, 2020

This group, at least some of whom are militia affiliated, has been parading up and down the streets next to the gun rally. pic.twitter.com/HSN7IpkvQU

— Will Sommer (@willsommer) January 20, 2020

Earlier posted video of Pledge of Allegiance. For those who’ve asked, here’s the video of “We will not comply.” Taken seconds apart. pic.twitter.com/vl66eQsLIo

— Gabe Gutierrez (@gabegutierrez) January 20, 2020

… Read the rest

Brilliant.

Big groups of heavily armed men arriviving in Richmond, many in camo and body armor pic.twitter.com/N9SqKQadia

— Ned Oliver (@nedoliver) January 20, 2020

Just imagine if they were not white men.

Aw, swell, just what we need.

Caitlyn Jenner is using her voice to speak out for transgender rights.

The activist and former Olympian, 70, took the stage at the Women’s March in Los Angeles on Saturday and declared her desire to change the direction the country is taking.

Oh, at the Women’s March. A man who won medals at the Olympics and killed a woman with his car “took the stage” at the Women’s March, because anything for women is always improved by having a man take over. Always.

Dressed in a white blazer, lavender skirt and heels, Jenner shared her delight to be attending her very first Women’s March.

If you report on a woman you have to … Read the rest

No, really? That’s not fake?

It’s not fake; I found them.

Male

and

Female

On the one hand, the sex that produces spermatazoa, and on the other hand

The traditional definition of female was “an individual of the sex that bears young” or “that produces ova or eggs”. However, things are not so simple today. Female can be defined by physical appearance, by chromosome constitution (see Female chromosome complement), or by gender identification. Female chromosome complement: The large majority of females have a 46, XX chromosome complement (46 chromosomes including two X chromosomes). A minority of females have other chromosome constitutions such as 45,X (45 chromosomes including only one X chromosome) and 47,XXX (47 chromosomes including three X chromosomes).

Some people were chatting about the LGB Alliance.

People can choose whatever name they want and organise how they choose but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to point out the name seems deliberately provocative and seems to send a clear exclusionary signal

— Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1) January 19, 2020

But what does that mean, “exclusionary”?

All groups “exclude” some people, necessarily, because if they don’t they’re just “everybody.” They may be open to all who want to join, but they still “exclude” those who don’t want to join.

This is ok. It’s allowed. It’s not automatically evil. Of course there can be exclusion for bad reasons, but exclusion by itself is neutral.

The LGB umbrella has been expanding by … Read the rest

And there’s the trendy angle.

My first inkling that trans was becoming trendy was in 2012 when a household of five lesbians I knew all transitioned within a year. It just seemed statistically impossible. And yet!

— Katie Herzog (@kittypurrzog) January 19, 2020

Two of the 5 still ID as trans and maybe always will. Trans people exist and social and physical transition helps many of them. But something else is happening here and ignoring or suppressing it is going to create a backlash that will hurt both trans and other LGB people.

— Katie Herzog (@kittypurrzog) January 19, 2020

This is not an exaggeration. And it’s not just among kids. Most of my friends are in their 30s and

This happened last night:

If we’re thinking that lesbians and gays and bisexuals should be able to have alliances and groups for lesbians and gays and bisexuals, Owen Jones is here to tell us we’re wrong to think that.

The 'LGB Alliance' is a hate group. It was set up purely to agitate against the rights and dignity of trans people and to drive them from the LGBTQ movement. If people promote bigotry against L, G, B, T or Q people in LGBTQ spaces, they should expect to be asked to leave.

— Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) January 19, 2020

But why does “the LGBTQ movement” have to be that and only that? Why is it some kind of law … Read the rest

Ah yes, the Amish. Who would ever have thought that a religious sect that isolates its members would turn out to have a nasty habit of raping its own daughters and sisters? Besides everyone who thinks about it for a minute?

As a child, Sadie* was carefully shielded from outside influences, never allowed to watch TV or listen to pop music or get her learner’s permit. Instead, she attended a one-room Amish schoolhouse and rode a horse and buggy to church—a life designed to be humble and disciplined and godly.

And very safe for rapey boys and men.

By age 9, she says, she’d been raped by one of her older brothers. By 12, she’d been abused by her father,

Man who identifies as a woman bullies woman (and Labour MP) to agree that he is a woman.

That is, trans woman Juno Dawson grills Labour MP Jess Phillips on why she retweeted the Women’s Party UK and does she understand why that retweet “caused some concern”?

Think very carefully before you reply.

@junodawson quizzes @jessphillips about that 2017 tweet pic.twitter.com/6jSNHFCo1Z

— PinkNews (@PinkNews) January 17, 2020

… Read the rest

Well?… Read the rest

Oh did they now.

National Archives exhibit blurs images critical of President Trump https://t.co/9XTBbEZNqc pic.twitter.com/KHRqFBWz3b

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 18, 2020

The National Archives admitted in a statement this week that it made multiple alterations to the photo of the 2017 Women’s March showcased at the museum for the centennial of women’s suffrage, blurring signs held by marchers that were critical of Trump. https://t.co/TRfpnlGjQs

— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) January 18, 2020

The Post reports:

The large color photograph that greets visitors to a National Archives exhibit celebrating the centennial of women’s suffrage shows a massive crowd filling Pennsylvania Avenue NW for the Women’s March on Jan. 21, 2017, the day after President Trump’s inauguration.

The 49-by-69-inch photograph

Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker tell us about Trump’s contempt for everyone who isn’t Trump:

There’s a room in the Pentagon nicknamed “the Tank” where the Joint Chiefs of Staff meet to make consequential decisions.

One hundred fifty-​­two years after Lincoln hatched plans to preserve the Union, President Trump’s advisers staged an intervention inside the Tank to try to preserve the world order.

By that point, six months into his administration, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had grown alarmed by gaping holes in Trump’s knowledge of history, especially the key alliances forged following World War II. Trump had dismissed allies as worthless, cozied up to authoritarian