Marc Maron recently ran a follow-up interview with fellow comedian Todd Glass, who had come out as gay on Marc’s podcast, WTF. Marc’s podcast has often been strikingly introspective, and a moment came up that epitomized this. Glass started talking about language, the way that words can be weaponized, and
Continue readingTag: transphobia
Dented Blue Mercedes: Google Trends on “Transgender”
Posted for discussion and interest value. Out of curiosity, I plunked the word “transgender” into Google Trends. It’s not my terminology of choice, but it’s what most people use and what the general public is most likely to search for. Here’s what I got: The numbers aren’t an exact value
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Google Trends on “Transgender”
Posted for discussion and interest value. Out of curiosity, I plunked the word “transgender” into Google Trends. It’s not my terminology of choice, but it’s what most people use and what the general public is most likely to search for. Here’s what I got: The numbers aren’t an exact value
Continue readingMelissa Fong: What is satire responsible for? #CancelColbert trending & Colbert not apologizing for racism & transphobic tweets
Is it satire if it hurts millions of people it intends to defend? Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Repor is receiving a lot of heat for recent racist and trans-phobic […]
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Trans kids, washrooms and the new harassment
On October 13th, a story appeared at the Christian Broadcasting Network about girls being harassed by a trans youth in the washroom of a Colorado-area school. Soon afterward, the story was picked up by the Daily Mail, the Examiner, FOX News, and several webmedia outlets. One even embellished it with
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Trans kids, washrooms and the new harassment
On October 13th, a story appeared at the Christian Broadcasting Network about girls being harassed by a trans youth in the washroom of a Colorado-area school. Soon afterward, the story was picked up by the Daily Mail, the Examiner, FOX News, and several webmedia outlets. One even embellished it with
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: What LifeSiteNews’ attack on Pat Robertson says about religious freedom.
Last week, there was some curious notice given to American televangelist Pat Robertson, after he expressed support for transitioning trans people, and their access to sex reassignment surgery. Less noticed was the backlash from other far-right groups over the same comments. But it’s worth revisiting, because of what that backlash
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: “Sex by deception” and the shades of yes
A series of recent rulings (and the media circuses that have accompanied them) in the UK has raised questions about what is being termed “sex by deception” — that is, instances where people who are possibly trans are said to lie about their gender, in order to seduce another person. In
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Right-Wing Group Claims Trans Human Rights are a Plot to Normalize Pedophilia.
It has long been a practice of American far-right spokespeople and organizations that when sensationalistic rhetoric starts to fail, rather than try to polish it up and make it look more convincing, they often switch to something more sensationalistic and absurd, as a way of getting attention and scaring folks.
Continue readingSketchy Thoughts: Mtl: Captive Genders Discussion and Letter-Writing
Friday, March 293:30pm1800 Létourneux Join the Prisoner Correspondence Project for a reading from Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex and conversation with two California-based queer anti-prison activists. What are some of the uses and limits of a queer framework in anti-prison organizing? What does it mean for queers
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: A Real Bathroom Bill.
The Bathroom Bill was supposed to be voted on today. No, I’m not talking about the human rights bill that opponents have tried to tag with that nickname — C-279, which proposes to clarify and enunciate legal protections for most transsexual and transgender Canadians (although the removal of the class
Continue readingSketchy Thoughts: Pathology of Patriarchy: A Search for Clues at the Scene of the Crime
Another excellent essay by Sanyika Shakur, who was released from Pelican Bay SHU last August. As he wrote before his release: i was born Nov 13, 1963. Raised in South Central Los Angeles, by a phenomenal single, working-class, mother. Cut my teeth in the hostile gang culture in South Central
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Guest Post: Teacher plays scene from Disney Movie to Humiliate Student in Class
[This post comes to us courtesy of Michelle Boyce at the Alphabet Community Centre. -M] Anna Saunders is a mature student who attended a summer school class at Saunders Secondary School and a teacher decided she was a “guy in a dress”, beginning to use male pronouns and “Sir” when
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: MP’s trans predator fearmongering escalates.
On Friday, Sun News commentator Brian Lilley interviewed Rob Anders, the Member of Parliament who has drawn condemnation for conflating transsexual and transgender people with sexual predators in a petition he has been circulating on his website, and to at least one church in his riding. In “Children’s bathroom bill
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: The Mask of Gender
Normally, I’m not one to promote something if I’m in it. That kind of thing is horribly self-aggrandizing. So I’ll apologize right off for doing that here. But given the recent focus on trans issues due to the comments made by Rob Anders, I thought it would be a good
Continue readingFive of Five: Anders Pushing Transgender Hysteria
Calgary MP Rob Anders has once again drawn criticism for controversial comments, this time about the transgender community.Anders wants to stop Bill C279, a private member’s bill that would amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and hate crime section of the Criminal Code to include "gender identity" and "gender expression" as grounds for discrimination.He says the bill’s goal is to give
Continue readingFive of Five: Anders Pushing Transgender Hysteria
Calgary MP Rob Anders has once again drawn criticism for controversial comments, this time about the transgender community.Anders wants to stop Bill C279, a private member’s bill that would amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and hate crime section of the Criminal Code to include “gender identity” and “gender expression”
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Rob Anders, the transsexual bogeyman, and the weird phenomenon of MPs petitioning their constituents.
Rob Anders is on a mission. Hot on the heels of having to halfway apologize for alleging that NDP leader Thomas Mulcair drove former NDP leader Jack Layton to his grave, Anders is now sending at least one church (possibly more) a letter asking them to petition MPs to oppose
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Montreal LGBT couple beaten in Paris
I’ve heard via Michelle Blanc that on the afternoon of Wednesday August 1st, a Montreal trans advocate (who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting) was assaulted with her partner in Paris, in view of the couple’s children. Marie-Ève is with l’association Fierté Montréal Pride and has been active within Montreal’s
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: On Persecution Complexes and Rage
The interplay of rage and persecution complexes works to shape trans, LGB — and in fact all — struggles against oppression. It can become an eternal feedback loop that can stymie any attempt to move progressive causes forward, if it succeeds in establishing its circuitous pattern. This translates to many
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