Pride goeth before a victory: SF Pride baby! Now with pix!

Edited to add...well, you'll see...

It's time again for that Technicolor wonderment San Francisco's Gay Pride. You know the event that's like if  you took Mardi Gras, a frat party, a rave, a cosplay convention, a street faire, and a parade put into a blender and wrapped in a gaudy glittery rainbow-colored she'll (and being Pride, served at $10.50 a pop.) I continue to be astounded by this event, even after being packed like a sardine on a BART train that took my almost an hour just to get on. (BART must stand Bad at Regulating Traffic. They have like a trillion customers for the day but the utilize only a weekend schedule? Come on now!) But Gay Pride is a such a blast it's usually worth dealing with the huge crowds, loud and sometimes obnoxious kids, and overpriced rainbow draped knickknacks and costumes so outlandish that even Lady Gaga. Plus, to pander to the growing illiteracy of the internet, for this post I've finally saved up 1,000 words and traded them for pictures! Yes, nothing shows off the wonder of Pride like awkward, poorly-cropped, unfocused photos (sorry, Annie Leibowitz I'm not.)  I'm having a little trouble using the picture editing system with this stupid thing right now, so pics will have to come later. Sorry guys.)

And this is why I still get a sense of awe and...well...pride at Pride. Even though I've been to these before, it's amazing how massive the gathering is. I think there were more people at this year's event then ever before. Despite my earlier complaint about crowds, there is a unspoken bond of temporary camaraderie amidst large groups of people who are like you (or at least openly willing to accept people like you). When you are part of a group that's encouraged, nay, persuaded to remain "invisible" and "unacknowledged," having such a blatant visible presence gives a sense of unity (and safety). There is power in numbers.  I also continue to be amazed at the different types of people that were at Pride. When I was growing up their was a perception of the gay community consisting primarily of buff upwardly-mobile white men, which made someone like me feel even more awkward and alienated from people. To see a wide range of enthicities, body types, ages, religious orientations and interests, marching, partying with each other, promoting their various causes shows that the LGBT community us far more vast than the stereotypes suggest. We are in fact everywhere, even if it doesn't always seem that way. However we do have events like Pride to remind us of that fact, which is why I'll always have an appreciation for the event.

I know that (piggybacking on the gay marriage issue I posted about earlier) there is criticism of Pride events as pointless large scale parties that gives a false sense of status about our lot muffles a lot of the issues that still need protest and activism to fight against. And to be fair, there is some truth in that accusation. Then again there were activist groups that wee represented at Pride too. BlackLivesMatter was there and groups calling for the release of Chelsea Manning. Also, so what? Sometimes socializing CAN be an act of protest in and of itself, particularly when a segment of society demands you remain marginalized at best and unseen as worse (something that becomes particularly apparent when we look at Gay Pride events around the world such as Turkey) That's one of the principals behind he rainbow flag. Something that bright and vivid is going to be noticeable and stands out (Especially when it's in the form of skimpy hot pants). Who says we shouldn't have the chance to defy society's expectations and be bright and vivid too? (I won't be in multicolored Lycra though, I promise!)

Update: One group that unfortunately was not represented at San Francisco was ISIS's sex toy division like CNN reported it was in London. Now to be fair to CNN, if you've seen the size of some of those things, you can understand how they might confuse them for Weapons of Mass Destruction. Still I hope San Francisco rectifies this situation next year and invites "terrorists" so that Gaystopo can finish terrorizing  Real American with our oh-so penetrating weapons.
Update 2 Electric Boogaloo: Updated to remove a link to a Taiwanese event that I am now convinced was NOT a gay pride event but the misinterpretation of some conspiracy-theory nutcase. Usually I would be wise enough to see through stuff like that and I apologize for naively helping to sow confusion about a tragic event.

Love has won: Your guide to same-sex marriage

I'm sure everyone has heard the big news about how the Supreme Court has established the Constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry and have this union recognized nationwide. Yes us gays have finally succeeded in "shoving gay marriage down society's throat" and spurting their sticky concepts of equality and liberty all over it's face. Obviously there is only one adequate response to the gays and their incessant need to be treated like equal Americans and have their love legally recognized as much as any Kardashian brand synergistic PR stunt:

Yah!

I'm sorry. Let me try for an expression far more refined and appropriate for the situation:

It's about fucking time!

While we celebrate this achievement in human rights and do our hard-fought and much-deserved victory dance in front of those who thought that a portion of people could be treated as second-class  citizens, it's important to consider a few things by looking at the past, present and future of the gay marriage fight.

(Past). First of all, here's a quick summary/timeline of the gay liberation movement in the US to see what we had to struggle against to get to this point.

Let's be clear: this is not something that was just " granted " to gay people out of the blue. Don't let the fact that the turn-around on gay marriage has been gradual fool you that this happened apropos of nothing. (Let us remember that if was only roughly 12 years ago to that that our nation decriminalized what consenting adults did in their own bedrooms. And only about 7 years ago that "liberal" California passed the discriminatory, unconstitutional Proposition 8. A proposition that the majority of Californians would vote against now, incidentally.) If there is a public shift of opinion on this issue, it's because we refused to remain invisible and silence our voices.  We stood firm for our rights and refuse to back down. Gay people had a lot to struggle against and we fought back. Activism and challenging discriminatory practices does work, don't let "PC" accusations tell you otherwise. Yes it may do so more gradual than many would like, but it's all the more reason to start pushing back against oppression now.

(Present). Here's a very good thorough analysis of the why the Supreme Court made the decision it did.

Again it's important to note that that same-sex marriage was not simply "given" to us by the Supreme Court as a "present", but a a recognition of a right that (via the 14th amendment) should have never been denied in the first place. This was about ending legally sanctioned discrimination against gay relationships for purely arbitrary and irrational reasons (no, "eww gross! I think the gays are icky" is not a sound legal justification.) This is just a reminder that clear-headed people should NOT pander to or enable bigots, because their rhetorical inconsistencies will not withstand a challenge.

(Future). And of course as the repeal of Jim Crow laws has demonstrated, this victory this means that gay people will never face discrimination or repression of their rights ever again! (Insert an Eyeroll of Disbelief so strong I think it's actually affecting the tides.) We've already gotten pushback on this issue from Texas and Louisiana. (Because when you're a lawmaker, "laws" are optional now?) And expect to see more "religious freedom" bullshit flung around by primates who think the god of their choice gave them a legal "right" to impede everyone else's. Not to mentioned that buried under the celebratory nature of the gay marriage ruling is the fact that many gay people in many states are still vulnerable to abuse and discriminatory practices with few means of legal or societal resources. There's still work to do. It's not "over" despite what the naysayers might whine about (hint: you can speed up the process by NOT denying people their god damn rights.)  So yes, supporters of equal rights should celebrate, but not be tempted to settle into complacency because this should be only one of many victories.

But still,

Yah!

Cynical Proverbs 6:27

'Freedom isn't free"

But you can rent it by the hour. I think the going rate is $99.99 for the first hour, and $49.99 each additional hour.

Maybe I shouldn't joke about this. Giving the horrendous Citizen United decision in effect (Corporations are people! Unfortunately not the kind that can be made into Soylent Green?) this slogan might actually be true.

Dylann Roof's massacre: OF COURSE IT'S ABOUT RACE!

I advise readers to go here and read alleged Charleston Church shooter, Dylann Roof's manifesto so we can confirm once and for all what's been apparent from the get-go (major spoiler alert!):


THIS. IS. ABOUT. RACE!


Dylann Roof has not be shy or subtle about what "message" he wants to spread. The big "mental illness" that Mr Roof displayed here is that he simply didn't have the foresight to utilize coded words and dog whistles. The "mental instability" is his lack of subtly to avoid making racists look bad. (If the silly boy had just said he shot because those praying black folk left him "scared for his life" Megan Kelley would already be trying to schedule a softball interview appropriate for martyrdom). It certainly can't be because of the manifesto itself, who's general contents are blared throughout numerous Fox News broadcast, gets codified into law by conservative lawmakers, entrenched into law enforcement policies (as seen here, for instance), echoed as poorly-thought-out message board rationalizations throughout the web (including on many posts about this very tragedy.)

The vile ramblings of bigotry are so normalized that Dylann Roof can spew them openly among friends with merely a shrug of concern among them. But why shouldn't they? After all an armed person ranting such hateful irrational garbage isn't a sign of mental instability in our country. It's an all-too-accepted status quo.

Anyone who continues to insist at point that this is simply a matter of "mental illness" is engaging in willful ignorance and slandering the mentally ill community to boot, afraid to see the stark naked ugliness of the racist mentality ingrained within our system that this Roof monster inadvertently exposed.

But I thought "terrorism" was one of those Islamic words!

OK people let's get the rules straight. When the perpetrator of a mass-killing in the county is sufficiently Muslim-y enough for our sensibilities then:

1) It's unquestionably considered an act of terrorism, particularly since such actions never fail to whip the public in a panic.

2) All Muslim people in the United States (and often, all over the world, since "those people" are suppose to have a hive mind as part of the Collective or something) must grovel in forgiveness of "mainstream America" whether they associated with the killer or not.

So alleged shooter, Dylann Roof (who's "merely" a racist and white nationalist) whose HORRIFIC brutal crime at a historically black church in Charleston was done to inspire terror in on the black populace will be condemned as a brutal terrorist with any white person judged for how much sufficient protest they put up before our concerned society considers them not part of the "radical whites.", right? (I'll wait until the crickets stop chirping before you start to get the picture.)

I'll let someone else do the heavy lifting explaining the hypocrisy and inconsistencies of America's use of this loaded term in regards to the Charleston hate crime (don't worry, he certainly has the mental strength to carry the load.) So, take it away, Glenn Greenwald!

Cynical Proverbs 6:20

A particularly relevant quote today.

 "An armed society is a polite society."

And that's why Somalia is like a fucking haven for Miss Manners! ("Gentle Reader, always remember to say please while you're blowing someone's head off and sending thank you cards to their bullet-ridden corpse is an absolute must.")

Incidentally this call to genteel civility never clarifies who is actually suppose to be polite to who.

Charleston shooting: Society's mental imbalance

Edited to add a few more links

There's a lot to say about the deadly hate crime at a historic black Charleston church (yes! I know! Sickening, isn't it?) that took the lives of nine people as well as the alleged shooter responsible. I already covered a bit of my feelings on the racial component of this type of massacre when dealing with another black person getting shot in a racially-tinged incident, because apparently we must deal with issue on a biweekly schedule now. I'll still have more to say add regarding that theme later on. For now I wanted to get ahead of this particularly rhetorical sleigh-of-hand that usually follows a mass shooting, especially when the conversation turns to rather ludicrous gun control laws; and that's to diminish the gunman's massacre under a superficial diagnosis of "mental illness." (By the way you should also check out this fantastic piece on Salon that says many of the things I'm about to say in a much more thorough and insightful manner. Check it out, it's really good.) Anyway here's why we should be wary of this line of thinking.

First of all, the mentally ill are more likely to harm themselves or be the victims of violent crime, and this just reinforces the stereotype that the mentally ill are dangerous, and therefore make them less likely to seek help or get proper treatment that they need. Secondly, even putting that aside for a moment, the "it's just mental illness" excuse is still typical fallacious "parallel" thinking, which ignores that these attributes can intersect with each other. It's not either/or. Finally this ends up being a "good cop/bad cop" "front" for the type of racist thinking that the gunman exhibited. See this way, idiots who agree with his mentality, but wouldn't put it into such a brutal fashion can have cover for their toxic views ("see we're the 'warm cuddly racist,' by comparison!") And keep in mind that old friends and classmates have said he had racists views, but no one thought it s "big deal" at the time (I would even suggest that the fact that racism has become so "normalize" that we dismiss and diminish and whitewash casual exhibitions of it is the real "mental illness in our society.)

Update: If you want to see what typically happens to the mentally ill then go here. Once again it needs to be emphasized that the mentally ill are more likely to be victims of violent acts (particularly by the same "well-meaning" cops that tend to see African-Americans as a similarly assumed threat) rather than the cause of it. This also gives further emphasis that the problem with Dylann Roof and his utter murderous hatred of black people is not one to be dismissed merely as "mental illness."