The Most Pathetic, Predictable Sex Panic

#125

Apr 11, 2022

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.

Third Cultured is available to all, but please consider becoming a paid subscriber in order to comment on articles and enjoy other community benefits.

This edition:

Essay/Opinion
Donate to the Protect & Defend Trans Youth Fund
Links, Quotes & Things

Essay/Opinion

The Pink Scare we're witnessing – truly, a full-blown sex panic – was completely predictable and if you've followed me at all over the 10+ years on any social media then you'll know I've been telling you it was coming. When you live in the Heart of Dixie during Obama's election, the financial crisis, and the Tea Party – none of this is surprising. I watched hate ferment in real-time.

Kyle Whitmire @WarOnDumb

Lots of moments today in the Alabama Legislature. This is one of them.

The conservatives and fascists of the United States are the most predictable, cyclical wastes of carbon. They are sheep that jump off a cliff at the slightest signal from their favored oligarch and hope the pile of bodies they threw over beforehand soften their landing.

After almost 15 years, I am exhausted even humoring their delusions and fallacies. Nothing they believe or want is based on fact. None of their political goals create a smaller government or more freedoms for everyday Americans. No. Conservatives – and the fascists that guide them by the nose – revel in their hypocrisy. They love to demonize LGBTQ+ people, particularly trans people, and ostracize women but have no words for the leaders within their own institutions that molest their children, steal their money, and defile God with tainted words.

saoirse gg 🏳️‍⚧️⚢📉 @saoirsegowan

this fucking “child groomer” paranoia is getting terrifying how are we supposed to feel safe on transit :( @Janeese4DC @BrianneKNadeau @ZacharyforWard5 @mdc_dsa )

I can't even pretend I don't judge you. Hell, I don't even respect you. You sit idle and passive while my people are attacked and you expect me to care about my tone, my words, or your feelings? You can't be bothered to fight fascists where you live and you think I will prioritize pleasantry for you?

What does playing the conservative interpersonal pageant game actually win anyone? A gutted Voting Rights Act? An avalanche of receding LGBTQ+ rights? Strangling abortion? Limiting immigration policies your white trash ancestors used to get here from Europe because you're terrified of Black and brown people after decades of Fox News telling you to be?

I am furious at how rapidly our hard-fought progress was unwound. It seems there is no thread that Christian Fascists won't pull to ensure we're all as miserable as they are. Even though I knew this would happen. There is nothing about Americans that surprises me. We are, after all, the nation that pulled off what Hitler and Putin could only dream of here on our own continent. Hell! What we did to Native Americans was their inspiration! But, you wouldn't know that based on the false mythology a swath of the population has built up in their heads.

I am disgusted by this country. Don't like that statement? Then actually do something to make it better – fight living and breathing fascists as much as you complain about a powerless left! Queer people are being attacked in the majority of this country and I don't have time anymore to pretend I care in the slightest that you don't get it yet.

Get correct or fuck off.

As always, thanks for reading, beautiful people.

Kyle (@kgborland)

Donate to the Protect & Defend Trans Youth Fund

Donate now!

Kimberly 🏳️‍🌈🌻 @MrsPantsFace

gofund.meHelp Trans Child and Family Relocate, organized by Kim GMy name is Kim and I am the mother of a beautiful, amazing trans kid. Today Governor … Kim G needs your support for Help Trans Child and Family Relocate

Links, Quotes & Things

17 Unwritten Rules Queer Folks Follow That Most Straight People Are Clueless About (BuzzFeed)

100 Years of Men in Love: new film celebrates historic affectionate photos (Bay Area Reporter)

Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws in the US

A Texas teacher faces losing her job after fighting for gay pride symbols in school (NBC News)
Alabama governor signs anti-LGBTQ measures into law, ‘Can we not just live? (AL.com)
Alabama’s only LGBTQ+ lawmaker’s righteous rant goes viral as Republicans criminalize trans-friendly doctors (LGBTQ Nation)
Anti-LGBTQ Proposals Are Flooding U.S. State Legislatures at a Record Pace (Bloomberg)
Apple wields its lobbying might against LGBTQ laws (Politico)
Efforts to ban books jumped an 'unprecedented' four-fold in 2021 (NPR)
Experts fear Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill is already affecting the mental health of LGBTQ youth (Salon)
How ex-Californians are responding to ‘Don’t Say Gay’ and other LGBTQ restrictions (SF Chronicle)
How Disney fell flat in fight over LGBTQ talk in Florida’s schools (Washington Post)
It’s sundown for LGBTQ rights in Alabama (AL.com)
Kentucky witch hunts have begun. Estill County teacher is the first victim (Lexington Herald)
LGBTQ issues are at center stage. What does the public think? (Washington Post)
New Vatican war declared on LGBTQ+ teachers (LA Blade)
Our lives are not ideologies: your violent hatred is (Politically Enraged)

A.R. Moxon @JuliusGoat

When I was a child, they let us out of the classroom twice a day as I recall. It was a long time ago. It was the olden days: the eighties. The *nineteen* eighties. I do remember one recess game that was popular. It was called “smear the queer.”

getrevue.coPolarization And StrifeWhen I was a child, they let us out of the classroom twice a day as I recall. You can only hold 25-40 children inside a room the size of an average gas station for so long before the molecule turns unstable and I assume the teacher needs a few stiff drinks, and you can’t really have children in the…

Republicans’ Fresh Fixation on Vintage Homophobia (New York Times)
Teacher gets violent threats & resigns after writing supportive message for LGBTQ students (LGBTQ Nation)
Tennessee Republicans pushing to undermine same-sex marriage are backed by major corporations (Popular Information)
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert: coming Out before age 21 should be illegal (LA Blade)
Why Are Republicans So Obsessed With “Grooming”? (them)

Courtney Milan 🦖 @courtneymilan

All the pious holier-than-thou “I don’t want my poor innocent child to have to know that LGBT people exist“ folks are basically liars. I grew up in that culture, and trust me, you not only wanted us to know they existed, and that they were from the devil.

Congress Splits Over How to Address LGBT Rights in China (Foreign Policy)

France allows gay men to donate blood, regardless of when they had sex (Queerty)

Gang Savagely Attacks Three Gay Men Leaving Drag Show (Advocate)

How Google’s Autocomplete Predictions Encouraged Transphobic Searches (them)

Human Rights Campaign strips Fox News of preferred LGBTQ employer status: 'Enough is enough' (Washington Blade)

Lebanese LGBT community fights to keep safe spaces (AI-Monitor)

Magic Johnson on Learning to Accept His Gay Son EJ: ‘He Changed Me’ (Variety)

Equality California @eqca

We lose thousands of lives in the U.S. every year to the HIV epidemic... Last week, President @JoeBiden announced a historic $9.8B proposal for a national PrEP program, increasing access to preventative care for uninsured, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ folks. 👏👏👏 poz.com/article/bidens…

poz.comBiden’s 2023 Budget Invests $9.8B in PrEP and Boosts Other HIV FundingHIV advocates cheer: “In many ways, this is a very bold budget.” But they also call for a strategic national PrEP program.

New York City police searching for suspect who set fire to LGBTQ bar (USA Today)

‘Not in our Dallas.’ Protesters rally against alleged LGBT discrimination at Dallas Arboretum (Dallas Morning News)

'Safe To Be Me' LGBT conference cancelled after boycott (BBC)

Six LGBTQ men killed in Medellín since beginning of year (Washington Blade)

The Queer-Led Fight to Feed Ukrainian Refugees in Budapest (them)

This Quirky And Heartfelt Film Aims To Shatter Misconceptions About Bisexual Men (HuffPost)

Wheel and Come Again: Circular migration to and from the Caribbean (Lapham’s Quarterly)

Third Cultured