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No To The Notion Of Irresponsibility. Yes To Embracing Our Past And Our Future.

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Part One: No To The Notion Of Irresponsibility.

As a contributing writer to The Bilerico Project, I denounce the piece that ran on Thursday, Ronald Gold’s “‘No’ to the notion of transgender,” and its publishing. The piece was offensive, insensitive, mis-informative, and mired in ignorance. That it was published was equally offensive, irresponsible, and risked doing harm to our community and its members.

For some time now, I have had concerns with the editorial practices of The Bilerico Project. I have shared my concerns with its publisher and I assume he has shared them with the editorial team. Now I will share them with you.

In my opinion, the role of The Bilerico Project, as Bil wrote atop “‘No’ to the notion of transgender,” once it was clear there was a problem, “is to encourage dialogue among different facets of the LGBT community that might normally never interact this intimately.” I wholeheartedly support that endeavor. As it is, our community is fractured; providing a platform and encouraging dialogue is a noble, necessary, and important goal, and I applaud The Bilerico Project for its attempts.

However, in practice, I have found the lack of editorial oversight unprofessional and irresponsible. It should not be the role of a publisher or an editor to publicly, and regularly at that, chastise or criticise the work of their writers. That they would feel the need to do so simply indicates that they have not done their job. I myself have been the object of such criticism from both the publisher and the editor – some times justly, some times not – but when justified, for reasons easily corrected prior to publication.

The publication of “‘No’ to the notion of transgender,” however, is the culmination of a misguided editorial practice. It should never have been published, in any form. I was relieved to read Bil Browning’s, “My Responsibility: The difference between “challenging” and “offensive.” It is my hope, having read Bil’s response, that a more responsible and active editorial approach will be taken by Bilerico in the future.

Part Two: Yes To Embracing Our Past And Our Future.

Now, having said all this, let me tell you a story.

Thursday, I was sitting in my neighborhood diner with a wonderful friend, having a very late lunch and sharing remembrances of the Holidays of our youth. As we listened to the Christmas music playing, he told me about his memories of Christmas tree “bubble lights,”and his favorite Christmas song, a parody of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” while I shared memories of one of mine, the dog barking to “Jingle Bells.” Neither of us were familiar with the other’s song – nor I with bubble lights – so we went back to my home and YouTubed them. (Yes, they were all there.)

Twenty-five years ago, the dog barking to “Jingle Bells” song, the parody of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” as I learned, “bubble lights,” and a T.V. show called “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” were all commonplace. Twenty-five years ago, “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” ran an episode titled, “The Outrage,” which equated homosexuality and pedophilia. And twenty-five years ago, a man, one of the original five founders of a little group back then called the “National Gay Task Force,” worked to organize a nationwide grassroots campaign to prevent ABC’s airing of that vile episode. That man was Ronald Gold, the author of, “‘No’ to the notion of transgender.”

Now, I don’t know Ronald Gold. Before I read his post I had heard little of him. And yet, thanks to his decades of work, I am able to do mine, and to criticize his. And rightly so.

Everything in life has cycles. And there is always something taking the place of something else. Shows like “Marcus Welby, M.D.” are taken over by shows like “M*A*S*H,” which are taken over by shows like, “The Cosby Show,” which are taken over by shows like “E.R.,” which are taken over by shows like “House,” and so on. The grassroots activism of Mr. Gold’s a quarter-century ago has been replaced many times over. As have attitudes about homosexuality and gender identity.

Mr. Gold may have found himself approaching the end of a cycle. His beliefs about gender identity – at least when he penned “‘No’ to the notion of transgender” – are out-of-date as much as that episode of “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” which he fought to keep off the air. (By the way, ABC did air it, and made it somewhat less homophobic.)

Each of us can look into our past and remember fondly, and sometimes not so fondly, the way things used to be. Thanks to Mr. Gold, things are a lot better for us all, even those he offended yesterday. Thanks to Bil Browning, things are a lot better for us all, even those he offended yesterday, too.

Especially as this troubled year draws to a close, let us all look fondly upon the past, and warmly welcome our future, knowing each of us contributes to history as best we can, and knowing that the attitudes we share today about who we are, as individuals and as a community, may be equally out-of-date if we don’t embrace the very change we ourselves are creating. Mr. Gold would have been wise to do that. I hope I will have been by the time I reach his years.

By the way, last night, long after the diner and the memory-lane YouTubing, as I walked my dog Text, thinking about the notion of transgender, Ronald Gold, Bil Browning, and that wonderful man with whom I shared memories of Christmases past, I strolled by another diner (Hell’s Kitchen has a lot of diners.) Even though it was two in the morning, they were playing their Christmas music rather loud. And do you know what Text and I heard? The “dog barking Jingle Bells” song.

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Fox News Host Suggests Trump ‘Force’ Court to Throw Him in Jail – by Quoting Him

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April 19, 2024

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Jurors, at the judge’s direction, were to remain anonymous, for their protection and the protection of the trial.

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New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan admonished the press for reporting the information, but some news outlets appeared to ignore his warning.

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Trump later posted Watters’ quote on his Truth Social platform, leading some, including New York prosecutors, to ask the judge to cite him for allegedly breaking his gag order.

Judge Merchan ordered Trump to not mention witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff, or the family members of prosecutors and court staff, CNN has reported.

New York prosecutors told Juge Merchan Trump has violated the gag order at least ten times.

“Prosecutor Christopher Conroy described the ‘most disturbing’ example as a social media message Trump posted on Wednesday evening quoting a Fox News host as saying, ‘They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury,'” Politico reports.

That host was Jesse Watters.

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Friday afternoon, Watters appeared to egg Trump on, urging the ex-president to violate the gag order.

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April 19, 2024

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U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) says some of his fellow House Republicans would “take a bribe” to throw the razor-thin GOP majority to the Democrats if a far-right faction calls up a motion to oust Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, allowing Democrats to hand the gavel to the Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. he warned if that happens, Democrats would immediately declare Trump ineligible to be President, pack the U.S. Supreme Court, and pass numerous laws like the American Rescue Plan.

“I do believe in a one seat majority there could be one or two or three of my colleagues who would take a bribe in one form or another in order to deprive the Republicans of a majority at all,” Gaetz said Friday on his podcast (video below.)

He added, “the risk that one or two of my corrupt Republican colleagues might take a bribe, take a walk, feign an ailment and flip this thing to the Democrats is a risk that is too high for me at this time.”

Gaetz’s fellow far-right Florida Republican member of Congress, Anna Paulina Luna, told listeners, “I heard that when, if and when the motion vacate is introduced, that there will be immediate resignations of a couple of more moderate members of Congress. And in the event that that happens, that ultimately means it does go to a Democrat speaker.”

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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) last month filed a “motion to vacate,” which she can use at any time to force a vote to oust the GOP Speaker, Mike Johnson. U.S. Rep. Tim Massie (R-KY) and just today, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) has signed on as co-sponsors.

Congressman Gaetz told listeners if Democrats do take the House through a force vote to remove Johnson, Democrats would “be declaring Donald Trump an insurrectionist and setting up a barrier to him being able to become the president United States.”

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Watch a short clip of Gaetz’s remarks below or at this link.

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Jeffries Vows Democrats Will Ensure Ukraine Aid Passes as Johnson Defectors Grow

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April 19, 2024

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Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed Friday the majority of Democrats will support Republicans’ Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and Gaza foreign aid legislation as Republican Speaker Mike Johnson lost support of another member of his conference to a faction determined to oust him.

“Democrats will provide a majority of our majority as it relates to funding Israel, humanitarian assistance, Ukraine, and our allies in the Indo Pacific,” Minority Leader Jeffries said. “It remains to be seen what Republicans will do in terms of meeting the national security needs of the American people, but it was important for House Democrats to ensure that the national security bills are going to be considered.”

Despite Republicans having a one-vote majority, more Democrats on Friday voted to move the critical and long-awaited foreign aid bills forward than did Republicans.

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The 316-94 vote included 165 Democrats and 151 Republicans voting yes, and 55 Republicans and 39 Democrats voting no.

Axios’ Juliegrace Brufke posted the list of Republicans voting against their party’s legislation.

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Amid the procedural vote to move the foreign aid funding bills forward, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, a far-right Republican of Arizona, announced he is joining Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Congressman Tim Massie (R-KY) in formally announcing their will vote to oust Speaker Johnson.

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“We’ve been very honest in our assessment of the situation from the beginning,” Jeffries on Friday also declared. “At the appropriate time as House Democrats, we will have a conversation about how to deal with any hypothetical motion to vacate.”

“Moscow Marjorie Taylor Greene, Massie, and Gosar are quite a group. But central to our conversation is to make sure that the national security legislation in totality is passed by the House of Representatives.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

 

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