Physical and Political Violence Against Queer Folks is Skyrocketing
#127
Welcome to Third Cultured, a newsletter covering all things queer and techno-politics from the perspective of Kyle Borland. My goal is to highlight all the ways today is different (and not so) from yesterday.
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This edition:
Essay/Opinion
Donate to the Protect & Defend Trans Youth Fund
Links, Quotes & Things
Essay/Opinion
I don’t have much to add this week other than an update on global LGBTQ+ news below. Things are bleak out there, particularly for the 60,000+ trans youth, and it’s only going to get worse before it ever gets better. Kentucky’s law only applies to ONE girl!
Violence against Queer people is on the rise exponentially and people are getting more belligerent by the day with their “groomers” and “rapists” attacks. These people won’t rest until they’re allowed to openly kill us again without consequence, which seems like a tangible possibility with every new law they conjure from their cultural war firestorm.
Here in San Francisco, the City’s redistricting process showed how “As long as you south of the Canadian border, you’re South.” In a shameless, realtor-backed power grab, the redistricting task force attempted to dismember the voting power of the last remaining Black neighborhood in San Francisco, to separate the diverse, downtown LGBTQ+ communities, and to overwhelm the Latino voting power of the Mission with wealthy, white folks from Bernal Hill and Potrero Hill. After a tidal wave of community uproar and media revelations showing the Mayor’s “invisible” hand on one of her appointments, the task force voted down the map 5–4 and chose to continue redistricting past a key state deadline, ensuring a lawsuit, in order to properly meet the communities’ demands. The war isn’t over, and the reactionaries are powerful even in the liberal bastions like San Francisco, but we won this battle.
On the personal (and fun) front, I am helping to organize the “Back to Business Ball” here in San Francisco. I’m thrilled to be a part of bringing this event back to Bayview-Hunters Point. The first D10 Pride Ball was in 2018 and was an absolute blast. This year, we want to celebrate our neighborhood’s essential workers and local merchants. D10 Pride wants to celebrate that our business corridor hasn’t lost a single business through COVID and the growing LGBTQ+ community in southeastern San Francisco.
Please consider donating, and if you’re in the Bay Area – I hope to see you there!
As always, thanks for reading, beautiful people.
Kyle (@kgborland)
Donate to the Protect & Defend Trans Youth Fund
Links, Quotes & Things
Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws in the US
Air Force Offers Help To Military Families Hurt By States' New Anti-LGBTQ Laws (Huff Post)
Anti-LGBTQ Twitter account “Libs of TikTok” seemingly inspired attacks from Florida governor’s press secretary (Media Matters)
At War With the Pedophile Knowers (Forever Wars)
‘Can we not just live?’ Alabama’s anti-LGBTQ bills signed into law as teens worry about their future (AL.com)
Disney heir comes out as transgender & they are not happy about the Don’t Say Gay law (LGBTQ Nation)
Distraught over orders to investigate trans kids’ families, Texas child welfare workers are resigning (Texas Tribune)
“Explicitly Sacrificing Most Priorities of the Left” to Get Republicans to Play Nice (The Flashpoint)
Hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills have already been introduced this year. Here may be why (NPR)
Red States Push LGBTQ Restrictions as Education Battles Intensify (NYTimes)
Republicans in FL and DC are vowing to seek retribution against Disney for belatedly opposing FL’s "Parental Rights in Education" (Popular Information)
School bans unicorn book because it “could be promoting a gay lifestyle” (LGBTQ Nation)
Among attacks on LGBTQ students, Maryland law protecting kids advances in legislature (LGBTQ Nation)
Arson suspect 'systematically' doused floor of LGBTQ bar, authorities say (NBC News)
Costume Store Sued After Manager Allegedly Chases, Threatens Gay Man (Advocate)
Gay millionaire Ed Buck sentenced to 30 years for killing two Black men (LGBTQ Nation)
How Indigenous Societies Fought to Preserve Their Blended Gender Identities in the Face of Colonialism (LitHub)
Binary distinctions—wilderness/civilization, male/female—had little utility in this ever-changing world. People needed to adapt to local ecosystems and embrace a fluid understanding of what it took to ensure the health of their respective communities. Rigidly prescribing which types of labor men and women must perform made little sense to the Quechans; instead, they fostered a dynamic worldview that empowered individuals to take on roles based on evolving skill sets, accomplishment, and communal need. Europeans didn’t appreciate this complexity.
Ireland Reels as Suspected Anti-Gay Killer Is Arrested in Slayings (Daily Beast)
‘Jesus would not approve’: Targeted by an Alabama political ad, queer student and mother share their story (Birmingham CBS 42)
Life After Being The Center of The World (Forever Wars)
Pedophilia accusations were once a fringe QAnon belief. Now it’s a standard GOP tactic. (LGBTQ Nation)
Robin Thede, sketch comedy savant, is breaking barriers and paving roads (The Washington Post)
The Christian Right’s War on LGBTQ People Never Ended (New York Magazine)
There is a war, and it’s bigger than Disney, bigger even than Obergefell. The right understands this, and behaves as such. They don’t care if a “groomer” gets hurt. If LGBTQ people choose suicide over a hostile world then so much the better, the right concludes. The real risk for them isn’t that trans children will die, but that children will realize they’re trans. Faced with such an enemy, what can liberals do? They cannot place their hopes in the courts. Authority will not descend from on high to save anyone. The fight is on the ground, and the right is winning.
The LGBTQ Rights Group That Helped Launder Amazon’s Image (In These Times)
War in Ukraine
How LGBT refugees from Ukraine are highly vulnerable (Washington Post)
Prominent LGBTQ & feminist leader attacked in Ukraine (LGBTQ Nation)
What it’s like being a transgender journalist in Ukraine (LGBTQ Nation)
Why is LGBTQ ‘conversion therapy’ still prevalent in the American South? (Reckon)