Let's Talk about a BUNCH of Stories This Week!

I had a hard time narrowing down which topic that I would like to discuss in this post, so I decided that I would talk about all of them! Why should we have only one chat when we can have five simultaneously? Apparently, my philosophy for this week’s entry is to go big or go home. (Honestly, I never thought that I would use that phrase on my blog.) Let’s get started, shall we?

In the category of stories that made me cry for the injustice of it all, we have:

- Uganda’s passage of a sweeping law that criminalizes homosexual acts, including allowing for life terms in jail for certain behaviors. Laws like this one encourage violence against citizens, harassment of sexual minorities, widespread violations of human rights, and could jeopardize Uganda’s receiving of international aid. (I am also looking at you Nigeria, whose parliament and president also passed a similar law in January.  

- Arizona’s legislative passage of a law that would allow businesses to discriminate against members of the LGBTI2SQQ community, including refusal of employment, goods, and services. Full passage of the law was vetoed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, much to the legislature’s dismay. Georgia legislators have filed and are seeking passage of a similar law. I would really like to know when people in power will stop feeling threatened by minorities and oppressed populations, because that is when I think this bullshit will end.  

 

In the category of a story that made me laugh/cry for the stupidity of it all, we have:

- Virginia Senator Steve Martin, who commented on Facebook that women are merely hosts for their fetuses, not humans or mothers. This almost caused my head to explode, until I read the pointed response by Maya Dusenbery, executive director of Feministing, who points out that the more comments like these, the louder the opposition will be to people like him. So fine keeping giving us reasons to vote you out sir.

In the category of stories that made me dance for the happiness of it all, we have:

- Jason Collins becoming the first openly gay male professional NBA basketball player. To which I say, fuck yes and about time. When do you think that baseball, hockey, and golf will get onboard?

- At least for today, Texas’s ban on same sex marriage was deemed unconstitutional. State Attorney General Greg Abbott will most likely bring suit in order to overturn the ruling, especially since he is in a gubernatorial race with Senator Wendy Davis. BUT in the meantime, we celebrate that Texas took a step forward in the LGBTI2SQQ rights community. (Who saw that coming?)

What stories made you cry, laugh/cry, or dance this week?

- Lauren, unable to choose just one story to discuss this week