A Tale of Two Articles

Great News! No fuck that, Fantastic News!

A study from John Hopkins University published in JAMA Pediatrics shows that suicide attempts among queer teens has decreased since introducing marriage equality.

Written by the Associated Press via NBC News:

Teen suicide attempts in the U.S. declined after same-sex marriage became legal and the biggest impact was among gay, lesbian and bisexual kids, a study found.  

The research found declines in states that passed laws allowing gays to marry before the Supreme Court made it legal nationwide. The results don't prove there's a connection, but researchers said policymakers should be aware of the measures' potential benefits for youth mental health.  

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for all U.S. teens. Suicidal behavior is much more common among gay, lesbian and bisexual kids and adults; about 29 percent of these teens in the study reported attempting suicide, compared with just 6 percent of straight teens.

So it would appear there is a correlation between societal expectance and a reduction in suicide. I feel like this falls into the category of "no duh."

The article goes on to point out:

About 230,000 students reported being gay, lesbian or bisexual. The surveys didn't ask about transgender status. They included questions about suicide attempts, smoking and alcohol or drug use.

In 32 states that enacted same-sex marriage laws during the study, suicide attempts dropped 7 percent among all students and 14 percent among gay kids after the laws were passed. There was no change in suicide attempts in states without those laws.

So it would appear there is a correlation between societal expectance and a reduction in suicide. I feel like this falls into the category of "no duh." Jinx you owe me a coke. Ok I should stop being shitty about this, because at the end of the day it is such great news.

And now for the shitty part.

On the same day as the mega-ultra-super-phenomenal news broke, the Washington Blade published an article detailing the Trump Administration's plan to roll back Transgender Rights. Chris Johnson writes:

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, told the Washington Blade on Monday she’s heard from “reliable sources” President Trump has green-lighted the plan for the Justice Department and Education Department to send a “Dear Colleague” letter to schools rescinding the guidance. 

At the time of this writing, this is a rumor. Based on how this White House operates, I normally won't write about a rumor. However, Tump promised on the campaign trail to rescind the Obama guidelines barring discrimination against transgender students.

The article further explains:

Jointly issued in May under the Obama administration by the Justice Department and Education Department, the guidance asserts that denying transgender students access to the restroom in accordance with their gender identity violates the prohibition on sex discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. 

Rescinding the guidance is consistent with a legal brief the Justice Department filed earlier this month in litigation against the guidance filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on behalf of 12 states. As a result of the litigation, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor issued a preliminary injunction barring the administration from enforcing the guidance nationwide. 

Although the Justice Department under former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch filed an appeal along with a request with the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to limit the scope of the injunction to the 12 plaintiff states, the brief under Sessions withdraws that request and informs the federal appeals court the Trump administration is “currently considering how best to proceed in this appeal.”

Ugh. Fuck all of 'em. Those heartless shit bags. Going after any group of teens as political targets is disturbing, but going after LGBT youth is fucking deplorable. Transgender youth have it particularly rough.

According to the Trevor Project "In a national study, 40% of transgender adults reported having made a suicide attempt. 92% of these individuals reported having attempted suicide before the age of 25." The report they're citing is The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality.

What next are they going to propose euthanizing homeless children and orphans.

Fucking shit bags.

Update:

So yes they are rolling back protections for trans* students 'cause states rights, despite this being tied to federal funding and Title IX, but you know states rights... fucking muppets the lot of them.


Liam '17

Give 'em Hell, Harry!

Submitted without comment as no comments are necessary:

Published on November 11, 2016 to Senator Harry Reid's website: 

Washington, D.C. – Nevada Senator Harry Reid released the following statement about the election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States:  

“I have personally been on the ballot in Nevada for 26 elections and I have never seen anything like the reaction to the election completed last Tuesday. The election of Donald Trump has emboldened the forces of hate and bigotry in America. 

“White nationalists, Vladimir Putin and ISIS are celebrating Donald Trump’s victory, while innocent, law-abiding Americans are wracked with fear – especially African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Muslim Americans, LGBT Americans and Asian Americans. Watching white nationalists celebrate while innocent Americans cry tears of fear does not feel like America. 

“I have heard more stories in the past 48 hours of Americans living in fear of their own government and their fellow Americans than I can remember hearing in five decades in politics. Hispanic Americans who fear their families will be torn apart, African Americans being heckled on the street, Muslim Americans afraid to wear a headscarf, gay and lesbian couples having slurs hurled at them and feeling afraid to walk down the street holding hands. American children waking up in the middle of the night crying, terrified that Trump will take their parents away. Young girls unable to understand why a man who brags about sexually assaulting women has been elected president. 

“I have a large family. I have one daughter and twelve granddaughters. The texts, emails and phone calls I have received from them have been filled with fear – fear for themselves, fear for their Hispanic and African American friends, for their Muslim and Jewish friends, for their LBGT friends, for their Asian friends. I’ve felt their tears and I’ve felt their fear. 

“We as a nation must find a way to move forward without consigning those who Trump has threatened to the shadows. Their fear is entirely rational, because Donald Trump has talked openly about doing terrible things to them. Every news piece that breathlessly obsesses over inauguration preparations compounds their fear by normalizing a man who has threatened to tear families apart, who has bragged about sexually assaulting women and who has directed crowds of thousands to intimidate reporters and assault African Americans. Their fear is legitimate and we must refuse to let it fall through the cracks between the fluff pieces. 

“If this is going to be a time of healing, we must first put the responsibility for healing where it belongs: at the feet of Donald Trump, a sexual predator who lost the popular vote and fueled his campaign with bigotry and hate. Winning the electoral college does not absolve Trump of the grave sins he committed against millions of Americans. Donald Trump may not possess the capacity to assuage those fears, but he owes it to this nation to try. 

“If Trump wants to roll back the tide of hate he unleashed, he has a tremendous amount of work to do and he must begin immediately.”

Kellyanne Conway via a CNN article written by Eric Bradner:

"I find Harry Reid's public comments and insults about Donald Trump and other Republicans to be beyond the pale. They're incredibly disappointing. Talk about not wanting my children to listen to somebody," Conway, Trump's campaign manager, said on "Fox News Sunday." 

Then, she added: "He should be very careful about characterizing somebody in a legal sense. He thinks -- he thinks he's just being some kind of political pundit there, but I would say be very careful about the way you characterize it." 

Conway's reference to "a legal sense" led host Chris Wallace to follow up, pressing Conway on whether she was suggesting Trump might sue Reid.

From Senator Reid's website:

Washington, D.C. –  Adam Jentleson, Deputy Chief of Staff for Senator Harry Reid, released the following statement after Kellyanne Conway, senior adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, threatened legal action in response to Senator Reid’s comments on Trump’s election: 

 “It only took five days for President-elect Trump to try to silence his critics with the threat of legal action. This should shock and concern all Americans. 

“Trump has always used threats and intimidation to silence his critics. Now he wants to silence a discussion of the acts of hate and threats of violence being committed in his name across the country. Silencing this discussion normalizes hate and intimidates the victims. 

“The facts are stark and shocking. Since Trump was elected, acts of hate against Muslims, Jews, women and people of color have spiked dramatically. The KKK is planning a parade to celebrate Trump’s victory because the KKK sees Trump as their champion. Today, a headline in one newspaper reads, ‘Popular neo-Nazi site urges readers to troll liberals into suicide,’ while another reads, ‘Post-election spate of hate crimes worse than 9-11.’ 

“But instead of rising to the responsibility of his office, Trump is hiding behind his Twitter account and sending his staff on TV to threaten his critics. 

“If this is going to be a time of healing, Trump must take action immediately to stop the acts of hate and threats of violence that are being committed in his name across the country. Trump owes the nation leadership, not petty attempts to silence his critics.”

Breathe... Just Remember to Breathe

I've despised Donald Trump since I first knew who he was. He's a greasy, borish bourgeois, orange asshole. I haven't written about him, probably because I despise him so much, that nothing productive would come from it.

He's one of the first birthers. I hear from friends that they believe that his political persona is simply an act; however it is now over 8 years old. He's racist, xenophobic, homophobic, bleh.

Now add Anti-Semitic. Go read the Mic.com story if you haven't already. The photo below was reposted from there.

Yep. Seriously. Jesus Fuck. It's not a sheriff's badge; it's a repost from a skinhead. Mother fuck. Roughly 40% of Americans would vote for that slimy shit stain.

40 fucking percent. Take a look to your left, Take a look to your right. One of those mother fuckers will vote for someone that frequently repost Neo-Nazi propaganda. Ohne Scheiß!

I get heart palpitations over that. I shit you not.

Fuck! This is the point where I start to hyperventilate, until I realize that we have no real equivalent to the SA.


Liam '16