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US homophobia intensifies

pogofish said:
OH WOW...!

Rainbows oozing out of the ground, this didn't happen twenty years ago, WHAT is in our water supply:


Really, is anyone that utterly fucking thick..?
Click to expand...

Many many people, in number, even if few by proportion.

Reinforcement is the problem, at least I think so. In the ‘olden days’ someone spouting nonsense like this would only have been able to spout it to a few 10s of people in their immediate circle, and the ‘few by proportion’ bit above means that likely all and certainly the vast majority of those people (who also would by default be close and hence probably trusted) would have pointed out the mistake, and the original person thus becomes wiser, and the idea would sink.

Now pretty much anyone can spout views to hundreds, thousands or more, and can see the views of even larger numbers. So the previously isolated ignorant people can find each other and reinforce their stupidity. And positive reinforcement (yes you’re right) feels better (because of the way our brains are programmed) than negative (actually no that’s just diffraction of light), so that even though the second is better for the person and society, individuals are drawn to the former, it makes them feel warm and ‘belonging’. Subsequent attempts to educate then feel like an attack on that belonging, and are fought viscerally.

Not new ideas I know, and some of it my own over-extrapolation possibly (educate me! 😄), but I find myself getting more and more depressed about the effect this apparently growing phenomenon is having and is going to have 😞
 
prunus said:
Many many people, in number, even if few by proportion.

Reinforcement is the problem, at least I think so. In the ‘olden days’ someone spouting nonsense like this would only have been able to spout it to a few 10s of people in their immediate circle, and the ‘few by proportion’ bit above means that likely all and certainly the vast majority of those people (who also would by default be close and hence probably trusted) would have pointed out the mistake, and the original person thus becomes wiser, and the idea would sink.

Now pretty much anyone can spout views to hundreds, thousands or more, and can see the views of even larger numbers. So the previously isolated ignorant people can find each other and reinforce their stupidity. And positive reinforcement (yes you’re right) feels better (because of the way our brains are programmed) than negative (actually no that’s just diffraction of light), so that even though the second is better for the person and society, individuals are drawn to the former, it makes them feel warm and ‘belonging’. Subsequent attempts to educate then feel like an attack on that belonging, and are fought viscerally.

Not new ideas I know, and some of it my own over-extrapolation possibly (educate me! 😄), but I find myself getting more and more depressed about the effect this apparently growing phenomenon is having and is going to have 😞
Click to expand...
There's been plenty of warnings about the potential dangers of the internet (specifically social media) over the years and yet, here we are.

Just wait until the next leap in AI development (which at this current increasing rate should be next week) takes hold!

Imho, warnings mean little anymore. People don't want to listen (for reasons you give above etc) and, well, profit before prevention.
 
So people are now getting increasingly deranged about all those transes everywhere and behaving in very normal ways like accusing 9 year old girls of being trans for having short hair and being good at sports.

www.newsweek.com

Man stops track meet to accuse 9-year-old girl of being transgender

The man at the children's sports event in Canada demanded proof that the girl was not transgender.
www.newsweek.com www.newsweek.com

How long before 'Well, people just need to look like their biological sex if they don't want this to happen?'

As an alternative to... not being a paranoid, bigoted loon. But this is what policing gender leads to, because there is no sane way to do so
 
Cloo said:
How long before 'Well, people just need to look like their biological sex if they don't want this to happen?'

As an alternative to... not being a paranoid, bigoted loon. But this is what policing gender leads to, because there is no sane way to do so
Click to expand...
Already happening, see some of the replies to this tweet. Women getting harassed in women's spaces for not looking feminine enough is trans people's fault for existing.


This is about more than just individual harassment though as awful as that is. What impact is this climate going to have on people's confidence to breach gender stereotypes? How many times does it need to happen to a girl with short hair before she decides to grow it out and start wearing dresses when out in public? How will this play out in schools? How will employers react to complaints from customers that a staff member is in the 'wrong' space?

It's easy to imagine that gender nonconforming people are defiant enough to just brush this kind of shit off but it eats away at you and most people just want an easy life and will conform if doing otherwise becomes too unpleasant. Between conservatives, who know exactly what they are doing, and gender criticals who don't seem to care as long as it harms the trans, we're heading back to a world where just to be able to function in society women will be expected to perform femininity and satisfy the demands of the male gaze. And it's not like things are great for gender nonconforming people now. But everything that has been achieved to break down gender stereotypes now looks at risk of being lost.
 
A pro-LGBTQ church in Plano, TX was firebombed on Sunday. A Youtuber had posted a video where he goes to the church, posing as a gay man and asks if he's welcome there. He then, criticized the church on his channel, labeling them Satanic and false teachers, and this was the result.

Authorities in Plano, Texas, are investigating what they call "an intentionally set fire" at a Unitarian Universalist church Sunday, just weeks after it was targeted for criticism in a video by an anti-LGBTQ Christian YouTuber.

A passerby spotted flames coming from the Community Unitarian Universalist Church early Sunday, Plano Fire-Rescue said in a statement. The fire was around the front door and was extinguished quickly, causing no injuries, it said.

The department is leading the criminal investigation into the fire, with the city's police department working on its own investigation, authorities told NBC News.

The church called the incident "a firebomb attack" in a statement on its Facebook page, saying "an incendiary device with a chemical accelerant was thrown or placed at the front doors of the main church building."
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MSN

www.msn.com

Here's the insidious part:

In the video, Alford, fellow YouTuber Cassady Campbell and another man film themselves visiting the Plano church. They ask the congregation about their beliefs while in their words, “pretending to be LGBTQ” with the goal of "testing" the church's theology and exposing "false teachers."

At the end of the video, which has been viewed more than 200,000 times, the men stand by the church sign and ask viewers to "pray for these people," calling the church "pagan and satanic."

In an email, Alford said, “First and foremost, my prayers go out to anyone effected by the fire. As to the accusations, My channel spreads the message of Jesus and his love for us. If you watch the video you will see the members of the church having nothing but nice things to say about us. She enjoyed our conversation and even ended it with a hug. The fact we are being labeled as a hate group and being tied to this fire in any way is appalling.”

In his social media bios, Alford describes himself as, "Believer Of Christ YouTuber/ Boxer/Pro Lib Troller." His videos often feature him and his friends "pranking" politically and socially liberal Americans, particularly focusing on members of the LGBTQ community.
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Sound like crocodile tears to me. He wanted this. He egged it on, and he got the exact reaction he was hoping for.
 
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I'm surprised they haven't gone after the ALA long before this. They have entire position papers on their website advocating for the right of everyone, including children to read. The far-right hates that sort of thing:

As a cold civil war is waged in libraries across the nation, a conservative library board in Wyoming retains far-right fame for having led the fight against an organization viewed as a bastion of wokeness.

“We are the first library board to remove association with the American Library Association (ALA)—the first in the nation,” Chelsea Butler, chair of the Campbell County Library Board told The Daily Beast on Monday. The board broke with the ALA in October.

On Friday, the conservative majority of Butler’s board chalked up what seemed to be another clear victory. As was first reported by the Cowboy State Daily, the board voted 4-1 to fire longtime library director Terri Lesley after months of tension surrounding her refusal to weed out the library’s shelves based on a vague new policy aimed at shielding children and teens from sexual content.

But the board underestimated the cumulative appeal of someone who had long labored with a belief that the purpose of a library is to serve others. A tweet about the meeting by the Wyoming Democratic Party was probably also a factor in who packed the standing-room-only meeting on Friday. Video shows that the great vocal majority of those who packed the meeting on Friday—maybe all but 20 of 250—rose to give Lesley a standing ovation as she departed.
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www.thedailybeast.com

Crowd Gives Board the Finger After Library Director Is Fired

A longtime library director refused to rid its shelves of content. When the library board gave her the sack, all hell broke loose.
www.thedailybeast.com www.thedailybeast.com

Here's the awesome part:

A number of Lesley’s supporters signaled their displeasure with Butler.

“I can’t remember the last time I was flipped off by a bunch of little gray-haired old ladies,” Butler later told The Daily Beast, adding that he could not discuss Lesley’s dismissal because personnel matters are handled in executive session.
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The library director had advocated for how I thought these books should be handled--put in place a challenge system, where a book can be challenged, but the challenger has to write a short book report proving they've read the book. That, however, was too lenient for the board:

Sage Bear, who was chair of the Campbell County Library Board during a July 24 board meeting, asked Lesley when the library staff could begin implementing the “Policy for Protecting Children from Harmful, Sexually Explicit Material” that the board instituted in June with guidance from MassResistance, which the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as a far right, anti-LGBTQ+ hate group.

“So Terri, what’s a reasonable time frame for them to go through the policy, go through the books, and do a weeding?” Bear asked.

Lesley suggested that the board use an established challenge procedure, which various private citizens had used when they found a particular book objectionable. One hitch, however, is that challengers have to certify that they have actually read the book. The process would also place the burden on the board to actually name the books rather than just sit back and insist that every title better conform to their policy. The board took the position that it was the library’s duty to police itself. It did not officially name a single book, but tasked Lesley with ensuring all of them conform.

“That puts the onus on the staff for violating the First Amendment instead of the leadership of the library,” Lesley replied.

“They’re not personally responsible,” Bear said.

“I feel like we are personally responsible,” Lesley said. “We’re the ones doing it. We’re the ones physically doing it.”

“Well, if that’s the way you feel, then I feel like you should find another job,” Bear told her.

Five days later, Lesley had a 10 a.m. meeting scheduled with the newly elected chairperson, Butler.

“To review the weeding process, or so I was told,” Lesley told The Daily Beast. “Instead, he showed up at the meeting with Sage Bear.”

Lesley says Butler and Bear asked her to resign.

“They told me this was because I refused to move the books,” she recalled. “They never told me which books they were referring to or why they should be removed to review.”
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I think vagueness is the reason for some of these policies. They want to make it vague so they can make people self-censor anything that might be the least controversial, which at the moment is nearly everything. One of the ways that dictatorships operate is the make lots of mundane things illegal and then selectively enforce it against anyone who opposes them.
 
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Lake Arrowhead shop owner shot to death over Pride Flag​


Detectives learned the suspect made several disparaging remarks about a rainbow flag hanging outside the store before shooting the owner

CEDAR GLEN, Calif. – San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies responding to a shooting call in the unincorporated Lake Arrowhead area on Friday, August 18, 2023, at around 5:00 p.m. discovered the owner of a clothing boutique suffering from gunshot wounds outside of the store.
The victim, identified as 66-year-old Laura Ann Carleton, the owner of the Mag.Pi clothing at 28938 Hook Creek Road, in Cedar Glen was pronounced deceased at the scene by emergency medical personnel.
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Through further investigation, detectives learned the suspect made several disparaging remarks about a rainbow flag that stood outside the store before shooting Carleton.

According to a source familiar, the suspect who arrived at Carleton’s store erratically removed a pride flag hanging as a decoration outside the shop. Carleton confronted the unidentified man who removed the flag. The male shot her multiple times before fleeing.
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You might hope this would cause a moment of reflection for those who have called the Pride flag the groomers flag and compared it to the swastika but I'm not holding my breath.
 
This is pretty horrific - as the presenter says, there's many hurdles, it is just a wish list and not guaranteed to happen, but if a Republican POTUS gets in next election it could happen and if even a small % of it gets through, that would be appalling.

One of the strands that multiple RW think tanks want is to outlaw pornography and class all LGBTQ+ content, and likely all expression of LGBTQ+ existence as pornography, and going as far as to rule that Federal law can overrule States that try to protect LGBTQ+ people from arrest and prosecution, ironically under some definition of freedom because those state would not be preventing minors from encountering the 'pornography' of LGBTQ+ people's existence. I simply cannot understand that degree of hatred - why? How can anyone calling themselves human hate someone who is doing no one any harm at all with such vehemence?

 
Cloo said:
This is pretty horrific - as the presenter says, there's many hurdles, it is just a wish list and not guaranteed to happen, but if a Republican POTUS gets in next election it could happen and if even a small % of it gets through, that would be appalling.

One of the strands that multiple RW think tanks want is to outlaw pornography and class all LGBTQ+ content, and likely all expression of LGBTQ+ existence as pornography, and going as far as to rule that Federal law can overrule States that try to protect LGBTQ+ people from arrest and prosecution, ironically under some definition of freedom because those state would not be preventing minors from encountering the 'pornography' of LGBTQ+ people's existence. I simply cannot understand that degree of hatred - why? How can anyone calling themselves human hate someone who is doing no one any harm at all with such vehemence?

Click to expand...


I’ve never been able to understand that. My best guess is that it’s some kind of self-hatred self-protectively (in psychological terms) directed outward. But that might just be bollocks,
 
Cloo said:
This is pretty horrific - as the presenter says, there's many hurdles, it is just a wish list and not guaranteed to happen, but if a Republican POTUS gets in next election it could happen and if even a small % of it gets through, that would be appalling.

One of the strands that multiple RW think tanks want is to outlaw pornography and class all LGBTQ+ content, and likely all expression of LGBTQ+ existence as pornography, and going as far as to rule that Federal law can overrule States that try to protect LGBTQ+ people from arrest and prosecution, ironically under some definition of freedom because those state would not be preventing minors from encountering the 'pornography' of LGBTQ+ people's existence. I simply cannot understand that degree of hatred - why? How can anyone calling themselves human hate someone who is doing no one any harm at all with such vehemence?

Click to expand...

It’s just madness. And what even is that? I can’t see how you could make a comprehensive legal list without relying on crude stereotypes - and if we go down that road, a man slathered in make up who shimmies about to ‘Macho Man’ and was once married to the bespangled Ivana Trump is about as camp as it gets. I mean, it’s not blokey straight bloke stuff - it must fall under the + designation of traditional gender expression. As they say, try that in a small town - he’d be run out by nightfall, if he was lucky. Not that he’d consider staying the night in these places anyway - it’s always quickly back to gilded rococo in Palm Beach. Camp.
 
Cloo said:
This is pretty horrific - as the presenter says, there's many hurdles, it is just a wish list and not guaranteed to happen, but if a Republican POTUS gets in next election it could happen and if even a small % of it gets through, that would be appalling.

One of the strands that multiple RW think tanks want is to outlaw pornography and class all LGBTQ+ content, and likely all expression of LGBTQ+ existence as pornography, and going as far as to rule that Federal law can overrule States that try to protect LGBTQ+ people from arrest and prosecution, ironically under some definition of freedom because those state would not be preventing minors from encountering the 'pornography' of LGBTQ+ people's existence. I simply cannot understand that degree of hatred - why? How can anyone calling themselves human hate someone who is doing no one any harm at all with such vehemence?

Click to expand...


Why?

It's what Nazis do. It's irrational to the rest of us, but they follow their own twisted logic.
 
krtek a houby said:
Why?

It's what Nazis do. It's irrational to the rest of us, but they follow their own twisted logic.
Click to expand...
Yes. But still shocking. It’s shocking that we’ve even become relatively normalised to it, to the extent we can say without exaggeration ‘yeah, but what else do you expect - the American opposition party are basically Nazi’s’. That is a startling thing when you take a step back. The fact that tens of millions of voters - possibly even a majority, or at least enough to swing a majority in the electoral college - might respond well to this is a terrifying state to have reached.
 
Tanya1982 said:
Yes. But still shocking. It’s shocking that we’ve even become relatively normalised to it, to the extent we can say without exaggeration ‘yeah, but what else do you expect - the American opposition party are basically Nazi’s’. That is a startling thing when you take a step back. The fact that tens of millions of voters - possibly even a majority, or at least enough to swing a majority in the electoral college - might respond well to this is a terrifying state to have reached.
Click to expand...

Humanity's lack of. Unfortunately, nothing's shocking. After several attempts at civilization over the millennia, we should know by now of what humankind is capable of.
 
Cloo said:
So people are now getting increasingly deranged about all those transes everywhere and behaving in very normal ways like accusing 9 year old girls of being trans for having short hair and being good at sports.

www.newsweek.com

Man stops track meet to accuse 9-year-old girl of being transgender

The man at the children's sports event in Canada demanded proof that the girl was not transgender.
www.newsweek.com www.newsweek.com

How long before 'Well, people just need to look like their biological sex if they don't want this to happen?'

As an alternative to... not being a paranoid, bigoted loon. But this is what policing gender leads to, because there is no sane way to do so
Click to expand...

more of it

www.google.com

Utah official faces calls to resign after falsely suggesting teen girl is transgender

Gov. Spencer Cox denounced the official, Utah State School Board member Natalie Cline, saying she has embarrassed the state.
www.google.com www.google.com

news.yahoo.com

Utah parent accuses girl's basketball player of being trans, gets banned from games

Utah's anti-transgender laws are putting even children who aren't trans in jeopardy.
news.yahoo.com news.yahoo.com
 
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