Category: indiana

Mike Pence’s Snarky Pride Letter; Chick-fil-A At Iowa Pride Picnic; Rue Paul Forced to Drop "She-Male"; Rudy Giuliani Is Pro-Gay

Mike Pence’s Snarky Pride Letter

For those who don’t know, Mike Pence is the governor of Indiana who signed an anti-gay religious freedom bill that caused a shitstorm not too long ago. He’s making headlines again for writing a letter about Indiana gay pride, without actually mentioning “Pride” or “LGBT” once. You can pretty much assume this was a snub.

It’s a form letter:

Greetings,

On behalf of the people of Indiana, welcome to Indianapolis. I am confident that those of you who traveled from out of state will come to know our famous Hoosier Hospitality.

Our state’s capital city is well known as a destination for conventions, festivals, business meetings and other events. In fact, a recent USA TODAY Reader’s Choice digital poll ranked Indianapolis as the Best Convention City in the country.

Like so many other organizations who continue to use Indianapolis as their destination of choice, I am confident you will come to know a vibrant city.

During your stay, please explore the many entertainment options Indianapolis has to offer such as our museums, restaurants, theaters, historic landmarks, White River State Park, and the Indianapolis Zoo, just to name a few.

So, once again, welcome to Indiana. We hope you enjoy your stay.

Sincerely,

Mike Pence

You know, it reads a lot better aloud, with a “breathy whisper.” 

The rest is here. 

Chick-fil-A At Iowa Pride Picnic

Aside from the fact that no one ever knows how to spell Chick-fil-A correctly, they always seem to be making news when it comes to LGBT related topics. First there was the whole family and bible deal that caused controversy, then there was a call to boycott them, and now they are serving chicken at the Iowa Pride Picnic.

Pride officials approached the franchise owner, Adam Donius, about getting involved after he sponsored a different event last year.

“We offered him different ways that he could contribute and be part of our Pride, help us build community,” Jewell Amos, chair of Iowa City Pride, told KCRG News. “He said that he totally believes in building community. So he was like, sure.”

The rest is here. I don’t know much about Chick-fil-A because I’ve never been to one. We live in a community where zoning laws frown on any fast food enterprises and the only place they’ve allowed in for the part thirty years was McDonald’s. Of course this is a good thing for small restaurants and other small businesses. 

But I’ve heard it’s good chicken.

Rue Paul Forced to Drop “She-Male”

There always seems to be something coming up lately about words, terms, and phrases we can and cannot use anymore. The PC police seems to be on everyone’s back, to the point where I find myself constantly self-censoring…right down to my shortest tweet. This latest twist with Ru Paul and the term “she-male” seems to be part of living in the world today, whether we like it or not.

I would not have changed it, but that’s their choice. Our intention was always coming from a place of love. On paper, you cannot read intention, so it was actually hurtful. First of all, drag is dangerous. We are making fun of everything. But when someone doesn’t get the joke or feels offended by it, it’s a lose-lose situation, because you can’t explain a joke. It isn’t funny if you explain it.”

I’m just waiting for the day they tell us we can’t say “fuck” anymore because it will offend asexuals. And you know that day is coming.

I found all this here. 

Rudy Giuliani Is Pro-Gay

I know a lot of LGBT people who only vote according to party lines and they probably don’t care about this it all. But Rudy Giuliani is a Republican who is openly pro-gay and pro-choice for women. And as a result he doesn’t think he could ever be taken seriously by his own party in a Presidential bid.

Because I believe I can’t get nominated because of my views on gay marriage, I’m in favor gay rights, I’m in favor of gay marriage. I see it as an issue of equality. I’m pro-choice. I’m anti-abortion personally but I’m pro choice. I’m pro-immigrant and I haven’t backed down from it.

Of course this is exactly the kind of thing we need most in the US…centrism. However, I doubt we’ll be seeing that any time soon, and I blame that mostly on overpaid political pundits on networks like Fox and CNN. The average voter is not informed with facts and most don’t even know who stands for what anymore. He/she is swayed with clever opinion and spins designed to attract ratings and clickbait by the likes of ambitious celebrities like Megyn Kelly and Rachel Maddow. 

You can check out the Giuliani article here.

The comments are as you would expect them to be. Nothing new to share there.

RIP Jim Bailey

Frankly, I’ve been seeing this all over social media and I don’t really know who Jim Bailey is. And I’m not the only one. I’ve seen many ask who he was each time something is posted. So this is interesting, especially with respect to gay culture. 

Jim Bailey, who helped introduce American television audiences to drag with his frequent appearances on classic series such Here’s Lucy, The Carol Burnett Show and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, has died at age 77. A message posted to the entertainer’s official website on May 30 reads: “Heaven is getting a fabulous show tonight with standing room only! Rest in Peace Our Sweet Prince.”

Bailey’s manager Stephen Campbell told The Hollywood Reporter that his client died of cardiac arrest from pneumonia complications.

The rest is here, with a video of his work. 

Seriously, check out the videos. This isn’t campy drag and lip-synchronization.This is the real deal.

The Rainbow Detective Agency: On Fleek



J.K. Rowling Reveals Secret Pen Name; Indiana Gay Marriage Myths

J.K. Rowling Reveals Secret Pen Name

This morning I read that J.K. Rowling’s secret pen name, Robert Galbraith, was revealed. Rowling, AKA Robert Galbraith, wrote a mystery crime novel titled, The Cuckoo’s Calling.

In top-secret fashion, she published “The Cuckoo’s Calling” under the name Robert Galbraith. Her publisher, Mulholland Books — an imprint of Little, Brown and Company — described the author as a former member of the Special Investigative Branch of the Royal Military Police.

“He left the military in 2003 and has been working since then in the civilian security industry,” the publisher’s website said. “The idea for (protagonist) Cormoran Strike grew directly out of his own experiences and those of his military friends who returned to the civilian world. ‘Robert Galbraith’ is a pseudonym.”
 
The Sunday Times, curious about who this mystery novelist really was, connected the dots — noting that “he” used an agent, editor and publisher who had worked with Rowling.
 
Well. I think I hear the call of the wild on Amazon and Goodreads.  
 
And then, I read this article that talks about a review for The Cuckoo’s Calling that came out a week before the pen name name was revealed. Someone was on the ball.
 
An oddly prescient review of THE CUCKOO’S CALLING from July 7 — almost a full week before J.K. Rowling was revealed as the author behind the pseudonym.
 
Rowling made this comment, here.
 
“It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation, and pure pleasure to get feedback from publishers and readers under a different name.”
 
For those who aren’t familiar with authors using pen names, this isn’t something new. Any author who has been branded to death in one particular genre and wants to break into another, or associated with one particular style, knows the only way to do that is by taking on a pen name. If you don’t believe me just look at the reviews for Rowling’s novel, The Casual Vacancy, which I loved but many reviewed poorly. And I think that had a great deal to do with Rowling using her own name and being associated with Harry Potter.
 
I admire Rowling for taking the chance, and I also admire her for writing in another genre. Many authors with her kind of fame would have continued doing what they became famous for and wouldn’t have tried to reinvent themselves…most don’t have the capacity with which to do that…or the talent. And to be honest, I usually wait to see what authors like Rowling or E.L. James do after they have the big books. In this case, it tells me that Rowling is a true career writer and she’s not just in this for the money or the fame. And if I had to guess, I would imagine she would have preferred to keep the pen name a secret.
 
In any event, I think I’m going to check the book out now. I’ve been looking for something different to read, in a different genre, and this just might be the thing. I think what she did is inspiring.
 
Thank you, Robert Galbraith, for giving me something good to read this summer.  
 
Indiana Gay Marriage Myths
 
This past weekend I was watching something I’d recorded on DVR and I noticed a message come across the screen that said something about gay marriage and Indiana. I jumped back thirty seconds and re-read it. Basically it was an announcement about a new law that states if someone even files for a marriage license in Indiana they can be arrested.
 
I don’t know about most people, but when I see something that doesn’t make sense I look it up. And that didn’t make sense to me, and this is what I found:
 

The laws make it a felony for a same-sex couple even to apply for a marriage license and a misdemeanor for a clergy member to solemnize such a marriage.

But while several blogs portray those crimes as new laws passed this year by the Republican-controlled General Assembly, they’ve been on the books for more than a decade.

They date back at least to 1997, when the state’s marriage laws were recodified by the legislature. And they may have been on the books much longer, since they don’t specifically address same-sex marriage. Instead, they generally address perjury on a marriage license application and attempts to perform marriages not allowed by law.

I think that’s a good example of how much bad information there is going around about gay marriage (and dumb blogging). I know some zealots that would go berserk over that statement I saw in TV without even bothering to look it up. When in reality, the laws don’t even target same-sex marriage, and that’s most likely due to the fact that when the laws were written no one even thought same-sex marriage was an option.

There is a lot of other misguided information floating around with the recent SCOTUS ruling, so take what you see with that proverbial grain of salt and double check it before you start posting about it. I’m still trying to find out if same sex couples who live in states were same-sex marriage is NOT legal can marry in states where it is legal and benefit from not paying federal inheritance taxes. So far, I’ve had discussions with more friends about this than I can count and half say yes and half say no. So I’m not posting anything on that topic until I know for certain. If anyone has any links about this, please e-mail me.