That Milo Manara cover…in 3-D (NSFW)

I’ve spoken at length several times about my distaste for the porntastic image of Spiderwoman as drawn by European artist Milo Manara (for an alternate cover to the upcoming Spiderwoman series, with art by the porn swiper extraordinaire himself, Greg Land).  Today I came across this image of a 3-D rendering of that image by Manara.

I don’t think the human body can contort into those positions. Not and still be alive.

 

 

And I’ve actually seen people defend Manara’s image as being anatomically correct.  HA!

 

That Milo Manara cover…in 3-D (NSFW)
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Being black in the United States isn’t a crime…right?

Christopher Lollie, a musician and father who lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, was tazed by police in January.  His crime?

Disorderly conduct.

Trespassing.

Obstruction of the legal process.

Those might be legit offenses if they actually happened.  So what did actually happen? The New Civil Rights Movement reports:

When walking to pick up his kids from day care, Lollie sat briefly in a business lounge along St. Paul’s pedestrian skyway where First National Bank building security guards reported him to police for trespassing.

Trespassing at the First National Bank.  Ok, if that’s what happened, I can see why the police got involved.  Thing is…he wasn’t trespassing:

The city of St. Paul owns the skyway network, connecting 47 city blocks of buildings, businesses and merchants. Its spaces operate like an enclosed mall with interconnected plazas, public spaces and lobbies. Police say that First National Bank building security guards told them the lounge Lollie trespassed upon was for employees only. However, The Star Tribune’s Chao Xiong described the lounge as it appeared yesterday:

On Thursday afternoon, there was no signage in the area indicating that it was reserved for employees. Three security guards worked the area, walking about and sitting at a security desk in direct sight of the lounge running the length of a long, busy hall that connects to the U.S. Bank Center.

No signage to indicate the area Lollie was sitting in was for employees only.  So if it was a private area, there was no way for Lollie to know this.  Initially, Lollie interacted with a female police officer who didn’t seem to be giving him any trouble:

Lollie: Like I told [the security guard], I’m going to New Horizons to pick up my kids at 10 o’clock.

Female Officer: Okay.

Lollie: I was sitting there for ten minutes. The [unclear], not before he walked up to me or anything…

FO: Thank you for — thank you for [unclear].

Lollie: He walked up to me a minute after, and got irate with me. So first off, that’s a public area. And if there’s no sign that doesn’t say that’s a private area and you can’t sit here, no one can tell me I can’t sit there. If that’s the case, [then] I can’t sit here!

FO: The problem was–

Lollie: The problem is I’m black. That’s the problem, no it really is. Cause I didn’t do anything wrong…

Unfortunately, “help” was on its way for the clearly beleaguered female officer, in the form of a MAN (I guess she couldn’t handle this incredibly unruly citizen on her own and needed to be rescued from certain doom by a savior, referred to in the following quote as HMO-hulking male officer):

Lollie: Please don’t touch me. Please don’t touch me.

Hulking Male Officer: Well, you’re gonna go to jail then.

Lollie: No, wait. Wait.

HMO: You’re going to go to jail.

Lollie: Hold on. I’m not doing anything wrong, sir …

HMO: I’m not here to argue …

Lollie: C’mon Brother!

HMO: I’m not your brother.

Lollie: I hadn’t done anything wrong.

HMO: Put your hands behind your back, otherwise it’s going to get ugly.

Since when do the police have the right to manhandle citizens who are doing nothing wrong?  Since when do they have the right to take a person to jail when they’ve committed no crime?  Welcome to the United States of Authoritarian Police Forces, where police are always right and no citizen (read: no black person) has any rights.  I’d be willing to bet (if I was a betting man, which I’m not; not after losing $400 years ago in a casino; I’d rather spend $400 on comic books, or a vacation, or groceries, or cool stuff for my pets) if it were a white man in this situation, well, there wouldn’t BE a situation.

Yikes. A tumble of physical motion ensues. Lollie drops his phone on a window ledge. The video goes dark. “Can somebody help me? That’s my kids right there! My kids are right there,” Lollie pleads as his kids cry in the background.

“You’re gonna get tazed,” the male officer threatens. The electric-buzzing of a Taser arcs up, and its frequency changes — it found grounding. Lollie spastically yelps.

“This is racist,” Lollie declares as his voice begins to fade down the skyway. He’s being hauled to jail for sitting in an open lounge. “They stopped me because I’m black … I didn’t do anything … they assaulted me … they tazed me … and everything.”

Lollie was charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct and obstruction of the legal process. All charges were dropped.

The St. Paul Police Department believes their officers acted appropriately.

I’m motherfuckin’ sick and tired of police officers not only being treated as saints who can do no wrong (and are always in the right), but police departments backing up the offending officers!  The hulking male officer had no right to be forcible with Lollie.  HMO had no right to detain him. No right to tazer him. Nothing.  Yet the St. Paul PD thinks HMO acted correctly.  What the fuck?! I’d like to see their handbook of standards and protocols for this type of situation.  Or maybe not. It probably says “Hassle any black person in public. They’re supposed to be at home cooking, cleaning, or slaving away for their white masters.”

Being black in the United States isn’t a crime…right?

Being black in the United States isn't a crime…right?

Christopher Lollie, a musician and father who lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, was tazed by police in January.  His crime?

Disorderly conduct.

Trespassing.

Obstruction of the legal process.

Those might be legit offenses if they actually happened.  So what did actually happen? The New Civil Rights Movement reports:

When walking to pick up his kids from day care, Lollie sat briefly in a business lounge along St. Paul’s pedestrian skyway where First National Bank building security guards reported him to police for trespassing.

Trespassing at the First National Bank.  Ok, if that’s what happened, I can see why the police got involved.  Thing is…he wasn’t trespassing:

The city of St. Paul owns the skyway network, connecting 47 city blocks of buildings, businesses and merchants. Its spaces operate like an enclosed mall with interconnected plazas, public spaces and lobbies. Police say that First National Bank building security guards told them the lounge Lollie trespassed upon was for employees only. However, The Star Tribune’s Chao Xiong described the lounge as it appeared yesterday:

On Thursday afternoon, there was no signage in the area indicating that it was reserved for employees. Three security guards worked the area, walking about and sitting at a security desk in direct sight of the lounge running the length of a long, busy hall that connects to the U.S. Bank Center.

No signage to indicate the area Lollie was sitting in was for employees only.  So if it was a private area, there was no way for Lollie to know this.  Initially, Lollie interacted with a female police officer who didn’t seem to be giving him any trouble:

Lollie: Like I told [the security guard], I’m going to New Horizons to pick up my kids at 10 o’clock.

Female Officer: Okay.

Lollie: I was sitting there for ten minutes. The [unclear], not before he walked up to me or anything…

FO: Thank you for — thank you for [unclear].

Lollie: He walked up to me a minute after, and got irate with me. So first off, that’s a public area. And if there’s no sign that doesn’t say that’s a private area and you can’t sit here, no one can tell me I can’t sit there. If that’s the case, [then] I can’t sit here!

FO: The problem was–

Lollie: The problem is I’m black. That’s the problem, no it really is. Cause I didn’t do anything wrong…

Unfortunately, “help” was on its way for the clearly beleaguered female officer, in the form of a MAN (I guess she couldn’t handle this incredibly unruly citizen on her own and needed to be rescued from certain doom by a savior, referred to in the following quote as HMO-hulking male officer):

Lollie: Please don’t touch me. Please don’t touch me.

Hulking Male Officer: Well, you’re gonna go to jail then.

Lollie: No, wait. Wait.

HMO: You’re going to go to jail.

Lollie: Hold on. I’m not doing anything wrong, sir …

HMO: I’m not here to argue …

Lollie: C’mon Brother!

HMO: I’m not your brother.

Lollie: I hadn’t done anything wrong.

HMO: Put your hands behind your back, otherwise it’s going to get ugly.

Since when do the police have the right to manhandle citizens who are doing nothing wrong?  Since when do they have the right to take a person to jail when they’ve committed no crime?  Welcome to the United States of Authoritarian Police Forces, where police are always right and no citizen (read: no black person) has any rights.  I’d be willing to bet (if I was a betting man, which I’m not; not after losing $400 years ago in a casino; I’d rather spend $400 on comic books, or a vacation, or groceries, or cool stuff for my pets) if it were a white man in this situation, well, there wouldn’t BE a situation.

Yikes. A tumble of physical motion ensues. Lollie drops his phone on a window ledge. The video goes dark. “Can somebody help me? That’s my kids right there! My kids are right there,” Lollie pleads as his kids cry in the background.

“You’re gonna get tazed,” the male officer threatens. The electric-buzzing of a Taser arcs up, and its frequency changes — it found grounding. Lollie spastically yelps.

“This is racist,” Lollie declares as his voice begins to fade down the skyway. He’s being hauled to jail for sitting in an open lounge. “They stopped me because I’m black … I didn’t do anything … they assaulted me … they tazed me … and everything.”

Lollie was charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct and obstruction of the legal process. All charges were dropped.

The St. Paul Police Department believes their officers acted appropriately.

I’m motherfuckin’ sick and tired of police officers not only being treated as saints who can do no wrong (and are always in the right), but police departments backing up the offending officers!  The hulking male officer had no right to be forcible with Lollie.  HMO had no right to detain him. No right to tazer him. Nothing.  Yet the St. Paul PD thinks HMO acted correctly.  What the fuck?! I’d like to see their handbook of standards and protocols for this type of situation.  Or maybe not. It probably says “Hassle any black person in public. They’re supposed to be at home cooking, cleaning, or slaving away for their white masters.”

Being black in the United States isn't a crime…right?

Sunday Link Roundup

Photos of a lesbian Jewish-Hindu wedding

(for more images, see Feminist Batwoman; the original source for the photos, viyahshadinikah, is currently down for repairs)


Quote of the Day:

I’ll respect your opinion as long as your opinion doesn’t disrespect my existence.

(via Feminist Batwoman)


6 Things Parents Can Do To Raise Racially Conscious Children

I recommend this article for the helpful tips it gives white parents (by a white parent).   There are all manner of ways white people can help fight against racism, and this article gives some concrete advice that can be easily incorporated into the everyday lives of those with the power in the US.

 


 

 

Gendercrunching June 2014 – Including Nationality And Ethnicity At The Big Two

Spoilers:  There’s is an abysmal lack of representation of women and People of Color working as creators for Marvel and DC.

 

 


 

 

Gay characters in DC comics

I don’t currently buy comics (gotta have a job for that kind of unnecessary expenditure), and even if I did, I wouldn’t be purchasing any DC titles.  Still. I’ll give them some props for the use of gay characters (even as I criticize them for not having enough lesbian, bisexual, or transgender characters; as well as PoC who are LBGT).

 


 

 

Thanks to Feminist Batwoman for this one:

The Empowerment Plan is a nonprofit organization launched by Veronika Scott  that employs homeless women and teaches them to sew by making coats.  Not just any coats, but multi-purpose one.

(via FB)

 

As a product design student at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Veronika Scott developed a heavy-duty, lightweight coat that turned into a sleeping bag, as part of a class project. It seemed like the perfect product to help homeless people, until a woman in a shelter shouted at Scott one day: “We don’t need coats; we need jobs.”

In January 2012, a month after graduation, Scott launched the Empowerment Plan, a nonprofit that employs homeless women and teaches them to sew by making the coat. With stable, paying jobs, they’re empowered to decide what kind of job they want next, “to decide what kind of person they want to become,” she said.

It wasn’t easy for Scott: She was an art student, not a businesswoman, and her family wanted her to find a more traditional job.

“I didn’t think I was the right person,” she said. “But I recognized at that moment that I was, because nobody else was going to do it.”

Skeptics said homeless women wouldn’t be solid employees. It wasn’t a problem, Scott says: She found many women hungry for good jobs. But they didn’t always understand that it was OK to fail, so long as they learned to fix their mistakes.

Few women she hires know how to sew, Scott says, but within a few months, they can create a coat in hours.

Since launching in a homeless shelter closet with just a few people, the Empowerment Plan now employs 20 people. Every month, they make 550 coats, which are distributed for free to homeless people in Detroit and through outreach programs across the country. Production is limited only by space, but that is set to change soon: The Empowerment Project is expanding beyond its 3,000 square feet inside Ponyride, a creative workspace in a Detroit warehouse.

This year, The Empowerment Plan expects to launch a “buy one, give one” program that will make it sustainable beyond the donations and sponsorships that keep it running now. Hunters and backpackers who’ve asked to buy the coat will be able to do so, and the Empowerment Plan will still create coats for homeless people who need them.

More important, Scott says, the Empowerment Plan will be hiring.

(the above article about Veronika Scott is part of CNN’s series ’10 Visionary Women’)


These scarves, created by Australian based artist  Roza Kamitova are absolutely gorgeous!

Kamitova originally worked for eight years in the fashion industry until she decided that the world could use a bit more creativity in clothing designs. So, she began reworking thrift store items, altering and reconstructing them, and hand-painting them to create completely unique pieces. In 2011, Shovava was launched and the beautiful, nature-inspired line was born.

“I observe nature and find inspiration in the smallest details,” explains Kamitova. “Maybe it’s a butterfly’s wing or the patterned cell structure of a leaf. Maybe it’s a feather or a raven perched on a tree limb. I take in what I see in the natural world and then create my pieces.”

(for more awesome photos of these scarves, visit My Modern Metropolis)


Photographer Thomas Herbrich Took 100,000 Smoke Plume Photos Looking for Unexpected Shapes

 

Taking a look at these gorgeous photos, I’d say Mr. Herbrich found the unexpected shapes he was looking for.  These would look fabulous framed on a wall.

 

(images courtesy of This is Colossal)

 

 


 

 

 

30 Stunning Black woman Paintings and Illustrations by Frank Morrison

Morrison’s work is stunning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Link Roundup

Ferguson, MO Updates

Missouri police sued for $40 million over actions in Ferguson protests

A group of people caught up in unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, after a white officer killed a black teenager, sued local officials on Thursday, alleging civil rights violations through arrests and police assaults with rubber bullets and tear gas.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, says law enforcement met a broad public outcry over the Aug. 9 killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown with “militaristic displays of force and weaponry,” (and) engaged U.S. citizens “as if they were war combatants.”

The lawsuit seeks a total of $40 million on behalf of six plaintiffs, including a 17-year-old boy who was with his mother in a fast-food restaurant when they were arrested. Each of the plaintiffs was caught up in interactions with police over a period from Aug. 11 to 13, the suit allege.

Named as defendants are the city of Ferguson, St. Louis County, Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Delmar, Ferguson police officer Justin Cosmo, and other unnamed police officers from Ferguson and St. Louis County.

 

I hope this lawsuit is successful.  The Police of Ferguson acted horribly and violated the Constitutional rights of the citizens of Ferguson in many ways, and they should be made to pay for it.  And as this article points out, why weren’t the cops wearing badges?  One of the plaintiffs in the case was arrested, along with her son, at McDonald’s for “failure to disperse”.  

 

The lawsuit states 38-year-old Tracey White and her 17-year-old son entered the McDonald’s at the intersection of West Florrisant and Ferguson on Wednesday, August 13, after attending an afternoon rally and march. The two were waiting for White’s husband to pick them up when a number of officers, including Cosma, stormed the restaurant “in what appeared to be army uniforms.” They ordered everyone to get out. 

White states that police began harassing her son after he came out of the bathroom. When she protested the treatment, she was thrown to the ground, handcuffed and told she was under arrest because she would not “shut up.” White attempted to hand an iPad she was holding to her son, and then he too was arrested. Both were transported to Clayton, where they were told they had been arrested for “failing to disperse.” Police released them five hours later.

This is authoritarianism run amok.  With racism sizzling all around.    Make me want to spit.  

 


 

Digital Ally says camera inquiries up five-fold after Ferguson shooting

 

Digital Ally Inc forecast full-year revenue of about $22.5 million, encouraged by a “five-fold” rise in inquiries for its wearable cameras from police departments in the aftermath of the fatal shooting in Ferguson this month.

The forecast translates into a 26.4 percent jump in revenue from $17.8 million in 2013.

The fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, sparked demand to hold law enforcement officials accountable and in turn fueled interest in companies such as Digital Ally and Taser International Inc.

The company’s 2014 revenue forecast was first reported by USA Today on Thursday, citing Chief Executive Stanton Ross, according to a regulatory filing on Friday.

Digital Ally said on Thursday it had received its first camera order after the Ferguson incident from the Michigan police department.

 


 

Petition Asks GoFundMe to Return Profits from Fundraisers for Officer Darren Wilson

Color of Change, founded after Hurricane Katrina to empower black people, has launched a petition demanding that GoFundMe return the profits it has made from campaigns for Wilson. The fundraising site automatically charges 7.9 percent and 30 cents per donation in the U.S. and Canada.

“GoFundMe should return any money it has made from Darren Wilson fundraising pages, and take them down immediately,” the petition says. “Profiting off the killing of Michael Brown is not okay. Profiting off of racially-motivated donors is not okay.”

Color of Change says it has 83,000 signatures so far and is aiming for 100,000.

On the petition, Color of Change says GoFundMe will be violating its own terms of service through the “financial exploitation of a crime” if Wilson is charged in relation to Brown’s shooting.

 


 

 

National March on Ferguson Leads Protesters to Police Station

Michael Brown’s parents Michael Brown Sr. and Lesley McSpadden, with activist Anthony Shahid (left).  Photo via Bryan Sutter for the  River Front Times.

 

 


 

 

Lawyer, NAACP Say Newly Released Recording Captures Audio of Michael Brown Shooting

A newly discovered snippet of video from an unnamed Canfield Green resident allegedly contains audio of the gunfire that killed eighteen-year-old Michael Brown. Much has been made already about the number of shots heard — about ten or eleven — and the pause between the volleys, though the tape has not yet been declared authentic by the FBI or the St. Louis County Police Department.

However, Adolphus Pruitt, president of the local St. Louis NAACP chapter, says he believes the audio is the real deal. He says his office has acted as a liaison between the witnesses who are afraid to come forward for fear of retribution and the FBI agents investigating the case. That’s how he met the man who made the tape as well as his lawyer, Lopa Blumenthal.

“I met at the attorney’s office, and they played it and gave us a copy of our records,” Pruitt says. “I’m convinced.”

 


Heal STL: Ferguson Nonprofit Braces for More Violence If Darren Wilson Isn’t Indicted

The nightly violent standoffs between police and protesters in Ferguson may have stopped, but the anger that fueled two weeks of unrest here — anger at police, at elected officials, at oppression — remains.

And if Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson isn’t charged with a crime for shooting and killing unarmed teen Michael Brown, anger could again swell into chaos.

“If there isn’t an indictment, we’re going to see the same thing again,” says Antonio French, a St. Louis alderman who has emerged as one of the leaders behind the movement for change and peace in Ferguson. “That’s predictable. It’s going to get bad.”

But this time, community leaders won’t be caught off-guard and “flat-footed,” as French says, by the anger. By the time the grand jury decides on Wilson’s fate five or more weeks from now, things will be different.

That’s where Heal STL comes in.

 

(don’t read the comments, they’ll make you want to break something)

 

Ferguson, MO Updates

Here, let’s rekindle some faith in humanity

(I think people know which definition of faith I’m using too)

Via Feminist Batwoman, I’ve discovered Human Beings are all Kinds of Awesome Sauce, a blog that appears to be dedicated to showcasing the many ways in which humans can be kind, dedicated, compassionate, empathetic, and just all around awesome.  My faith, sorry, confidence in humanity is often challenged (see:  police brutality), and stuff like this is a nice antidote.  Here are just a few of the images that really made me smile with pride at our species:

 

 

 

 

Here, let’s rekindle some faith in humanity

Here, let's rekindle some faith in humanity

(I think people know which definition of faith I’m using too)

Via Feminist Batwoman, I’ve discovered Human Beings are all Kinds of Awesome Sauce, a blog that appears to be dedicated to showcasing the many ways in which humans can be kind, dedicated, compassionate, empathetic, and just all around awesome.  My faith, sorry, confidence in humanity is often challenged (see:  police brutality), and stuff like this is a nice antidote.  Here are just a few of the images that really made me smile with pride at our species:

 

 

 

 

Here, let's rekindle some faith in humanity

There is something wrong with this picture

In a story from earlier this year, 41 year old Stacey Conner and her husband gave back their adopted Haitian son because, among other things, she found she just didn’t like him.  Yes, you read that right:  the child was adopted, then given back.  As if he were an unwanted pet.  

Stacey Conner, a 41-year-old mom and former attorney from Spokane, Wash., dreamed of having a large family with biological and adopted kids. “The world is a big place with a lot of children in it; we wanted to bring some of those into our family, to give our love to kids without it,” she says. After she volunteered in an orphanage in poverty-torn Haiti in 2005, Conner and her husband, Matt, a pharmacist, decided to adopt two children. But the process was so slow that by October 2006, when they brought home their (unrelated) 5-year-old Haitian son and 1-year-old Haitian daughter, Conner had given birth to a son, who was 1. “Having an instant multicultural family was magical,” Conner says, “for about two weeks.”

If you’re anything like me, you probably cringed at that last sentence.  I don’t know Conner, so I can’t speak to her or her husband’s motivations in adopting children.  That said, I really don’t think so we can have a multicultural family is a reasonable motivation for adoption.  Why?  This is a child’s life we’re talking about.  Not a new pet.  This child has an existence that is far more valuable than a desire for a “multicultural family”, but that “reason” ignores the needs of the child.  In fact, it ignores the child altogether, in favor of appearance.  From the outside, it looks like the Conner’s wanted a Haitian child to make their family look better, rather than because they wanted to help make the life of a child better. When things got tough though, the Conner’s decided to give back their newly adopted child:

Her older son, whom she calls J here, “engaged every person he met — he literally crawled into the laps of strangers,” says Conner. “But if I said ‘It’s time to go’ or anything that asserted I was in control, he’d rage, bang and scream for hours.” Very quickly, Conner had a sinking feeling she tried to push away. “I was committing the worst maternal sin: I felt like I loved one child less than the others.”

She broke down in front of her husband, who worked all day and hadn’t witnessed the worst of J’s behavior. Matt tried to reassure her that it was just a rough transition and started spending more one-on-one time with J after work. But things didn’t get any better, and by early spring, J had escalated from pinching his siblings to hitting them. Aside from her social worker, Conner met with a therapist specializing in attachment disorder, a broad term used to describe an inability to build meaningful bonds. One form of the disorder can develop when a small child feels repeatedly abandoned or powerless — things it’s not hard to imagine a kid in an orphanage might experience. When Conner got pregnant again, the therapist explained that it was too much to expect a boy who had already been through so much to be a responsible older brother, and that ideally J needed to be either the only child or the youngest in a family. “I felt like the expert was telling me that since I had babies, it would be best to find J another home,” says Conner. But as difficult as the situation was, she shrank from that possibility, saying, “Forget it. He’s my son!”

Instead, she tried an earlier suggestion from the social worker, doing “24-hour eyes-on parenting” — basically, not letting J out of her sight. This went on for two months, until one afternoon when J began throwing a ball at the ceiling. “I said no,” Conner recalls, “but he wouldn’t stop. So I took it away.” J went into a wild, screaming tantrum, unintentionally hitting Conner’s nose with the back of his head: “I was bleeding heavily, sitting on the rug, crying. My two little ones were hiding behind a chair, crying. And it hit me: This is a domestic violence situation; if their dad had done this, I would take our children somewhere safe.

At that instant, Conner faced a hard truth: “Forget love. Right then, I didn’t evenlike J,” she says. “In his short little life, he’d had a ton of loss. But it was clear to me that I was pushing him away to keep the smaller children safe. I couldn’t handle the idea of them being hurt. I could see that always putting the other kids’ safety above meeting J’s needs was creating a barrier between us. It was a painful situation.”

That night, she told Matt she thought they should find a new home for J: “We cried and cried. But he trusted my judgment.”

Conner began working with an adoption agency that did “secondary placements” — relocating kids when adoptions went awry — searching for a home where J would be the only or youngest child. “He had to be the sole focus, to be attended to and soothed,” she says.

 

I find it offensive that she labelled the actions of a child as domestic violence.  As far as I’m aware, domestic violence is a pattern of abuse committed by adults.  Domestic violence is a serious problem, and should not be trivialized.  Treating the lashing out of a 5 year old child who doesn’t understand what they’re doing, nor cause and effect, as an example of domestic violence does just that.  This also brings up another question:  what are the Conner’s going to do if any of their biological children lash out?  It isn’t uncommon for a child to hit-on accident or on purpose-a parent.  If one of their biological children hits one of them, will they also claim that was domestic violence? Will they put that child up for adoption?  Or will they work with the child and continue loving them?  Will they continue to nurture that child and support them?  I’m inclined to think they will.  They might spank the child (though I hope not, as violence doesn’t solve a damned thing, and yes, spanking IS violence).  They might put the child in time out. They might try reasoning with the child. They might do all three, or none of them. They might try something else.  In the end though, they’re likely to try to get their child to not act in ways that bring harm to other family members.  They didn’t treat J like that though. They treated J like an outsider.  They did not treat him as one of the family.  So why did they adopt him again?

 

There is something wrong with this picture

Rape and Death threats for criticizing video games?!

Yep. That’s the reality for women who criticize video games.  Just ask Anita Sarkeesian, a feminist and a media critic who is the author of Feminist Frequency, as well as the series Tropes vs Women  and Tropes vs Women in Video Games.  On the latter series, Feminist Frequency has this to say:

The Tropes vs Women in Video Games project aims to examine the plot devices and patterns most often associated with female characters in gaming from a systemic, big picture perspective. This series will include critical analysis of many beloved games and characters, but remember that it is both possible (and even necessary) to simultaneously enjoy media while also being critical of it’s more problematic or pernicious aspects. This video series is created by Anita Sarkeesian and the project was funded by 6968 awesome backers on Kickstarter.com

Earlier this week, she was forced to leave her home after receiving death and rape threats, for the “crime” of making a video that encourages video game makers to treat women better.  In what world is “I’m going to come to your house and rape you” or “I’m gonna slice you up” a reasonable response to someone requesting that video games treat women better?  First off, those responses are completely and unequivocally fucked up.  I do not support violence against anyone because I value the right to life of other humans. I don’t think violent rhetoric should be espoused either, as it can help create an environment where extremists might act on said rhetoric.  Even if I *did* think violent rhetoric was sometimes justifiable, it is not in this case.  Sarkeesian isn’t seeking to destroy countries and enslave populations.  She’s not trying bring the down the economies of entire countries.  She isn’t a comic book villain bent on world domination.  She’s a woman who wants video game producers to treat women better.  That’s it.  As Games.On.Net said:

Literally the worst possible thing that can happen here is equality. That’s the worst outcome, that’s the nightmare scenario. If, today, every AAA publisher said “We will start to include women more in our games and represent them better”, the only actual difference this would make to anybody shrieking about how feminists are destroying games is that they might have to pick their gender in the next Call of Duty game. Terrifying, isn’t it. Stuff of nightmares.

Yep.  That’s about the it.

Yet that right there causes a segment of the gaming population to get in a tizzy.  They rant and rage, spewing hateful bile, filled with violent, and often misogynistic imagery.  Another woman, indie game developer Zoe Quinn has become the target of harassment in the wake of details of her life being spilled onto the net by an ex-boyfriend.  I’m not a huge gamer, but even I’m aware that these are not a couple of isolated incidents.  Harassment of women in video games has been an ongoing problem.

Dealing with harassment and hatred is all too common for the everyday gamer. One moment you’re enjoying your favorite MMO and the next you’re being bullied.

Maybe you’re an LGBT gamer, or you’re a woman who commented in a forum that maybe it’d be nice to have more female characters to play. Then suddenly you’re faced with mean and bigoted comments from fellow players. The amount of bile in game culture is unfortunately almost equal to the amount of support found in the video game community. It has inspired numerous calls for change, especially at gaming conferences where panelists attempt to address the issue.

Greg Tito, editor-in-chief of The Escapist, moderated a panel at this year’s PAX East titled “What You Can Do to End Bile and Hatred in Games Culture.” To Tito, this year has especially hard, with story after story hurting the image of gamer culture.  

“Back when PAX was a new experience, it was this kind of get together where we could be ourselves and we didn’t have to feel embarrassed. We found people like us and there was this great togetherness and I feel over the last year that’s kind of eroded away, even at PAX itself…” he said.

Tito and others have written about bullying in gaming and found it’s an issue some just don’t want to hear about. Commenters remark on their stories that they’d rather just read about games.

That’s one of the big problems in gaming (and other areas, such as movies, comic books, television and more):  a segment of the population is perfectly fine the way things are and do not want the status quo to change.  Unfortunately for them, another segment of the population also enjoys the same things and want those things to become better.  Yes, there are gamers who are LGBT, PoC, women, and people with disabilities.  They would like to see better representation of themselves in video games (and I’m sure they’d like to see a reduction or elimination in the vitriol directed their way).  Those who are kicking and screaming the loudest are like petulant children who want everything to cater to them and their needs, not realizing that the world doesn’t revolve around them.  They need to fucking wake up and become better people.

Rape and Death threats for criticizing video games?!

Daniel’s Coming Out Video

Trigger Warning:  homophobia, asshole parents

Recently, I wrote about the details of my coming out.  It wasn’t easy, and the response from my parents was far from ideal.  One thing they didn’t do though-they never kicked me out of the house.  They never beat me.  They never emotionally abused me.  They never disowned me.  Their reactions, homophobic though they were, never rose to the level of treating me as if they didn’t love me.  Would that that were the case for other LGB people.  By now, the Internet is abuzz with the story of Daniel Ashley Pierce, a young gay man who recently came out to his family (and recorded it), only to face the kind of rejection that fills me with sorrow for his plight, and near blinding rage at the homophobia and utter lack of compassion demonstrated by his family.   Here is some of what was said by his family:

“You can deny it all you want to,” the woman continues, “but I believe in the word of God, and God creates nobody that way,” Daniel’s mother tells him. “It’s a path that you have chosen to choose.”

Daniel, who is 20, talks about his biology and psychology classes. He tells his family he believes that “scientific proof trumps the word of God.”

“You go by all the scientific stuff you want to,” she responds. “I’m going by the word of God.”

The woman then says, “we will not support you any longer.”

“You will need to move out, and find wherever you can to live,” she adds. “Because I will not let people believe that I condone what you do.”

As the exchange heats up, there sounds like a slap, the camera is jarred, and Daniel says, “You’re not going to fucking hit me.”

Someone else says, “Son of a bitch,” and it sounds like a physical altercation is underway.

Daniel is called “a damn queer,” “a disgrace,” and “a little piece of shit.”

Someone, likely a woman, says, “I’ll beat you…” 

Religion poisons everything.  I believe it was the late Christopher Hitchens who coined that phrase, and it is so true.  When you strip away the blind, unthinking, unquestioning obeisance given to religion and religious beliefs…when you look at the effects religious beliefs have on people around the world…that smack in the face should be enough for people to reject religion asap.  Religious belief poisons the discourse on the rights of women. Religious belief poisons the treatment of rape victims.  Religious belief poisons the attempts to seek justice for the victims of the priestly sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church.  Religious belief poisons the discourse on gun control in the US.  Religious beliefs poison the discourse on corporal punishment as well as capital punishment.  I could go on at length, but I’ll add one more:  religious beliefs are one of the biggest obstacles to equality for LGB individuals across the planet.

Religious beliefs teach that we’re immoral.  They teach that we’re bound for hell. They teach that we’re in defiance of god’s rules.  They teach that we’re sinful.  They teach that we’re to be killed.  They teach that LGB people are no better than thieves, rapists, or murderers.  These beliefs can be found in religious texts in many cases.  In other cases, they’re beliefs instilled in people by their preachers, pastors, and ministers, regardless of their presence (or lack thereof) in religious texts.

These beliefs lead far too many people to reject us  for being LGB.   We are still rejected by our families and friends.  We are still kicked out of our homes.  We still live in fear of our parents or friends finding out and disowning us, or worse, killing us.  All for the “crime” of being gay.   All because someone’s religious text is interpreted as saying “the gays are icky, immoral, bestiality-loving, child molesters“.   I’ve written before that there is no moral component to being LGB, and there isn’t.  This isn’t an issue of morality, yet so many people view homosexuality in that light because they’ve been taught that in church.  There is no connection between being LGB and bestiality.  What intolerant, hate-filled bigots cannot seem to realize is that being LGB is about finding ourselves attracted-physically, psychologically, and emotionally-to people of the same sex.   When we seek relationship, we seek consensual relationships with other human beings.  When we fight for marriage equality, we’re seeking to marry another consenting adult.  We’re not seeking to fuck animals. We’re not trying to molest children.  Every. Single. Time. I’ve heard these lies, they’ve been spewed by fundamentalist religious assholes (of the Santorum, Bachmann, Dobson, or Coulter vein), with not a shred of proof to back their assertions up.  But when you’re talking about religious beliefs, proof is rarely in the picture.  Which is one of my many problems with religious beliefs.  People have them, and far too often, they don’t care whether there is evidence to support their belief.  All that matters is that this is what their deity believes, and that’s what they have to follow.

The family of Daniel Pierce chose to adhere to the antiquated, barbaric rules of their religious text rather than love their child.  They put their affection and love of a fucking book, and an imaginary man in the sky above their own child.  I cannot stress how much I despise shit like that, especially since I’m an atheist.  I see no saving grace in religion.  All the good stuff can be had in secular form.  All the bad stuff needs to be consigned to the dustbins of history.  I believe that people ought to ditch their religious beliefs and form opinions and beliefs based on the real world.  One of the things you’ll find if you pay attention to empirical evidence is that homosexuality is a normal and positive expression of human sexuality (so says the American Psychological Association).

But even IF one is religious, one need not be so narrow minded and bigoted.  I know plenty of people who are religious and who love their LGB friends and family.  They manage to rationalize their beliefs-and let’s face it, most believers rationalize their beliefs, bc I don’t know a damn person who follows all the tenets of their religious belief system-such that they don’t reject their friends and family if they come out of the closet.  They choose to continue loving that person, because to them, that is more important. They choose love.  The parents of Daniel, sadly, chose hate and fear.  I hope for their sake (and, depending on what he wishes, Daniels’ sake) that they realize at some point in the future how wrong they were and grovel before him and beg forgiveness. 

There is a bright spot to Daniel’s story.  A lot of people have become aware of it.  

Daniel’s boyfriend 
posted the video to Reddit. A friend of Daniel’s posted it to YouTube, and Dan Savage posted it on his blog, followed by Joe.My.God. and The New Civil Rights Movement. Soon after other sites, including the Backlot and The Advocate, had published it as well.

As a result, when Daniel’s boyfriend set up a GoFundMe Page, the money came pouring in.  As of this writing, more than $90,000 has been donated to Daniel.  Despite being kicked out of his home, at least he’ll have money to find a place to live on his own.  I don’t know what his feelings on his family are, so I won’t speculate if even that amount of money is worth what he’s endured (my gut says no), but at least it makes things a little less difficult for him.  


If you’re the parent of gay, lesbian, or bisexual child, I implore you:  don’t kick them out.  Do not physically or emotionally abuse them.  Being LGB in society is hard enough as it is.  We need the love and support that every child should have from their parents.  Being LGB is not immoral, I don’t care what your archaic religious text-written at a time before people even had the word ‘sexuality’ (let alone understood its meaning)-has to say.  If you’re going to place your religious beliefs above the love for your child, you’re an abominable human being.  You’ve utterly failed at being a baseline decent human being.

Please remember, if you are an LGBT child or teen in need of help, the National Runaway Switchboard at 1-800-RUNAWAY can help you. The Ali Forney Center has a local and national LGBT youth online resource guide. In the Atlanta, Georgia area Lost-n-Found Youth serves LGBT homeless youth. They’re also on Facebook.

(via TheNewCivilRightsMovement

Daniel’s Coming Out Video