L+G+B+T+Q = Better Together 🌈✌️
Newsletter + On This Day
Waking up to several hateful, ignorant reactions to a post I made in support of trans rights reminds me that some people really need to get a new hobby—and a life.
Anyone so triggered and upset that trans people—at just over 1% of the U.S. population—exist has more issues than the National Geographic. Sorry, not sorry.
People’s existence isn’t up for debate. People’s basic human rights are not up for debate. No matter how “different” their lives may seem to you, me, or anyone.
Most of us “color” outside the lines in some form or fashion. It’s wild to me how so many feel the need to point out a “wrong” color here or a “wrong” pronoun there.
Frankly, some folks need to mind their own damn business and worry about their own coloring books!
Being trans—or any gender, race, religion, or sexuality—doesn’t make one inherently “better than” or “less than” anyone else. The Founding Fathers of the United States weren’t always on the right side of history, but they did get this part right:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Declaration of Independence
July 4, 1776
History shows the LGBTQ “family tree” has never been one big happy family. With so many people and points of view, personality conflicts are inevitable.
As I often explain to straight friends, each letter of “LGBTQ” represents a diverse range of experiences and subcultures. Most of us grew up denying and hiding parts of ourselves, fearing our “secret” would make us lepers and outcasts.
Long story short, we’re a coalition of people who don’t look, think, or live alike.
That’s exactly why empathy and unity are important. The diversity under the LGBTQ umbrella—spanning lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, trans individuals, and queer people of all kinds—is our collective superpower, even if it sometimes feels like Kryptonite.
Too often, though, there’s an unspoken belief that certain identities are “more valid” or “more oppressed” than others. This ain’t Queen For A Day, y’all.
Drag artists and trans people are just the latest bogeyman in the anti-LGBTQ attempt to erase us from human history. Some argue that supporting trans people detracts from the goals of lesbian, gay, and bisexual rights, but that line of thinking misses the point that each and every advance sets a precedent that expands dignity and human rights for everyone.
I’m here to celebrate and uplift humanity. If you’re more interested in debating and keeping score, let’s just agree to disagree. You do you, boo. I’ll do me.
As I see it, we’re not just fighting for ourselves. We’re paving the way and standing up for those who come after us, helping make the world a safer place, filled with the kind of acceptance, love, and respect not enough of us experienced.
Thanks for reading!
Clint
ON THIS DAY = OCTOBER 28
BIRTHDAYS
1897 = Edith Head = American costume designer
1914 = Jonas Salk = American biologist and physician
1936 = Charlie Daniels = American singer-songwriter
1944 = Dennis Franz = American actor
1952 = Annie Potts = American actress
1953 = Desmond Child = American musician, songwriter, and producer
1955 = Bill Gates = American Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist
1962 = Daphne Zuniga = American actress
1963 = Lauren Holly = American actress
1963 = Sheryl Underwood = American comedian and talk show host
1965 = Jami Gertz = American actress
1966 = Chris Bauer = American actor
1967 = Julia Roberts = American actress and producer
1969 = Ben Harper = American singer-songwriter
1972 = Brad Paisley = American singer-songwriter
1982 = Matt Smith = English actor and director
1987 = Frank Ocean = American singer-songwriter
CELEBRATIONS
EVENTS
1492 – Christopher Columbus lands in Cuba on his first voyage to the New World, surmising that it is Japan.
1520 – Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Pacific Ocean.
1636 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony votes to establish a theological college, which would later become Harvard University.
1824 = The Marquis de Custine is beaten and left for dead after propositioning a male soldier. The scandal forces him out of the closet, but he recovers and lives the rest of his life as an open ‘sodomite’ with his partner Edward Saint-Barbe.
1886 – POTUS Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty.
1919 – The U.S. Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January.
1961 "Fiorello!" closes at the Broadhurst Theatre in NYC, starring Tom Bosley, after 796 performances and a Pulitzer Prize
1970 = Kate Millett becomes one of the first leaders of the growing women’s movement when she comes out as bisexual at a Daughters of Bilitis meeting.
1981 = Love, Sidney a sitcom starring Tony Randall as a middle-aged gay man living with an unwed mother and her daughter premieres on NBC. Though gay in the TV movie on which the series is based as well as the pilot, creators and even star Randall deny the character’s homosexuality in subsequent interviews.
1998 = Glen Murray is elected as mayor of Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is the first openly gay man to be elected mayor of a major North American city.
2002 = “Lose Yourself” by Eminem is released on the 8 Mile soundtrack.
2009 = POTUS Barack Obama signs the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expands federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
2021 = Facebook changes its corporate name to Meta Platforms.
PHOTO + QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.”
Bill Gates
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The quote from The Declaration of Independence was PERFECT here, Clint 👏🏻
I worked with Xerox 820-2's, KayPros and a host of other early desktop computers when I was with an early word-processing software company. You've never heard of it, never fear. Yes. I remember 8-1/2 and smaller removable disks (aka "media).