Breaking news: Trump contradicts himself again; the sky is blue

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On today’s breaking news, we cover the shocking possibility that Trump is a AAA-grade expert in compartmentalization (emphasis mine):

In an interview with the Washington Post Monday, Trump said that if elected president, he would rescind these directives protecting transgender people. With Republicans leaders across the country overwhelmingly opposing the trans student protections in particular, this is no doubt what the Party wants to hear from their candidate.

But everything else Trump said in the interview sounded like he actually supports transgender people. He made the segue in a line denying that trans protections were a civil rights issue: “I don’t view it as civil rights or not civil rights. I think it’s something where we have to help people — and hopefully the states will make the right decisions.”

The Post summarizes that Trump “repeatedly said transgender people should be protected under the law.” He even seemed understanding of why it’s become a big issue. “You’ve got to protect all people, even though it’s a tiny percentage of 1 percent. I think from that standpoint, [states] should come up with a policy that’s going to work for everybody and protect people.”

They are, Donny Drumpf. They’re protecting the women and children, see. (As long as they’re cis)

Republicans have stated on numerous occasions why they oppose nondiscrimination ordinances for trans folk:

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The Transgender Dating Dilemma

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Content Notice: My thoughts below the article speak frankly of my sexuality as a trans woman.

Lauren Tamaki writes on The Transgender Dating Dilemma:

I’m surprised at how often I encounter people — typically cisgender men — who don’t understand what transgender means, even in a world where Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox make headlines. Despite the slowly turning tides, dealing with these potential partners is difficult because I often have serve as both and therapist and a teacher.

…

Sometimes the response has been positive. A few people — both men and women — have had a sense I was trans before I even told them. Other times, potential partners seemed to feel pity for me and quietly congratulated themselves for deigning to date me; I’ve had to check the value I’ve placed on cis people who dared to consider me worthy of their attraction. Still other times, the response — particularly from cis men — has been overwhelmingly negative: “If I had known, I never would have wasted my time” or “How could you think I’d be interested in that?” or the misguided “I’m not gay.”

…

Then there are the “experimenters.” The ones who say, “I’ve never been with a girl like you, but I’ve always wanted to.” I knew one guy who hoped to hook up with me as his first-time fetish, but when we discussed if he’d ever seriously date a trans woman, it was a whole different story. He had no problem having sex with or hanging out with a trans woman, but didn’t really see their value as actual partners. Aside from worrying about what his family and friends would think, he had decided that since trans women couldn’t have children, he didn’t want to date one.

I can relate. Ugh.

There’s no respite in Queer dating, either:

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Good music to have stuck in your head: Ori and the Blind Forest

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As a game, Ori and the Blind Forest probably qualifies as an exercise in sadomasochism. It’s one of those brutal unforgiving platformers in the vein of Super Meat Boy.

But as a soundtrack, OatBF strikes me as something that was legitimately composed to be listened to as a standalone epic. Now, its function as a game OST means that it has to represent a variety of environments, so most OSTs probably deliver a fair variety of musical attitudes. Yet Ori represents such a diverse range: anxiety, fear, mystery, curiosity, playfulness, tragedy, joy, PANIC.

The production quality of the game in other fields is also spectacular. The environments are hand-painted, and the cinematic direction manages to tell a hard-hitting story, enhanced, of course, by the soundtrack. Most critically, it has good controls for the controller, which is an important gameplay feature of a platformer! (It’s kind iffy on keyboard and mouse, but what platformer isn’t?)

You can see it all come together with this clip:

Your suggestions from the last thread have been heard, as well! Keep ’em coming. :)

-Shiv

Polyamory and Kink as Trojan Horses for Abuse

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I first encountered the concept of a “Relationship Bill of Rights” in BDSM. In a Dominant/submissive pairing, submissive partners are understood by the community to be in a process of negotiation with dominant partners, wherein all parties collaborate to have some (or in rare cases, nearly all) of the submissive’s “rights” to be subsumed by the dominant partner, until such time as either partner requests the arrangement to be withdrawn. But what, exactly, are said submissives surrendering? When I asked this question, I was introduced to the Submissive’s Bill of Rights, which was a guideline that suggested how s-types ought to advocate for themselves in a manner that fostered their psychological and emotional growth while submitting–in other words, what was unhealthy to surrender, and what no psychologically sound Dominant partner would ask of you. A brief sample below:

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Woo in a nutshell

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Sarah’s Scribbles comments on woo:

Source: Sarah's Scribbles

Source: Sarah’s Scribbles

To clarify, proponents of woo tend to over-prescribe lifestyle changes as a means to cure all ails. While there are health problems that can be fixed by improving one’s diet or getting regular exercise, “I’m feeling unwell” could be caused by a lot of different things. It’s rude to assume why someone is under the weather, even moreso to insinuate they don’t eat well or exercise enough.

-Shiv

How to do a bathroom bill properly

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Don’t:

The Liberal government is set to announce next week that it will propose legislation that would give legal and human rights protections to transgender people, following through on a pledge made during the federal election campaign.

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In his mandate letter, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Wilson-Raybould [the Minister of Justice] to make it a priority to introduce legislation “to add gender identity as a prohibited ground for discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act, and to the list of distinguishing characteristics of ‘identifiable group’ protected by the hate speech provisions of the Criminal Code.”

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“Our government is committed to bringing forward legislation that will respect and ensure that we eliminate discrimination in all forms in this country,” she said on Tuesday.

Trudeau, you so full of contradictions. In one breath, selling weapons to the oppressive Saudi regime, in the next, affirming human rights for trans Canadians. Make up your mind.

-Shiv

George Zimmerman tries to sell his murder weapon

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Content Notice: Racism, to put it lightly.

Today on “I can’t even,” George Zimmerman places an auction on GunBroker.com for the weapon he used to murder Trayvon Martin, whose sham of a trial was the flash point for the #BlackLivesMatter movement. It was thankfully taken down promptly, but check out the auction’s description:

“I am honored and humbled to announce the sale of an American Firearm Icon,” Zimmerman wrote in the item’s description. “The firearm for sale is the firearm that was used to defend my life and end the brutal attack from Trayvon Martin on 2/26/2012… This is a piece of American History.”

It’s a piece of American history alright. Symbolizing all at once the intersection of capitalist exploitation and imperial scapegoating. A nation soaked in Native and Black blood, boasting of its ability first create, and then exploit, the powerless. This is the legacy any of the former European colonies inherited, and it lives on in modern conservatism. It may hide under banners like “self-defence,” but we recognize it for what it is.

Zimmerman, you’re the type who makes me rethink my pacifism.

-Shiv

Good music to have stuck in your head: Trine

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I have a rather peculiar taste in music. It seems I don’t have any preference for genres, although some genre conventions mean the typical song within that genre might miss what I look for. As a classically trained musician, I harbour a strong appreciation for entire score. That is to say, I appreciate good “layering.” I don’t hone in on any part of a song, but rather have to consider the sum of the parts. If any part is off, I don’t like the song. The lyrics have to possess some kind of structure. The harmony has to be at least as catchy as the melody. The bass has to produce motion. Much like I can predict what is about to come in a sentence as I am reading it, I should be able to have an approximation of what’s going to happen in the next bar. It can’t be overly monotonous but transitions to different “attitudes” should be surprising. You see my problem?

So, I present a modern iteration of what I just babbled about: the Trine series. In particular, Trine 2:

While I’m waiting for my appointment with a publicly covered therapist, I need to deal with this crippling depression somehow. Getting lost in music that can take me on a journey seems like a safe way to lose myself, for a few hours at a time. No side effects or addictions. Plus, I can take note of songs I want to cover, eventually!

Please, share an ear worm with me, and tune in to the deliciously suggestive Trine 2 OST. Bob your head to the sway of the sassy Bassoon! She pokes her head in every few songs to “nuh-uh” the audience, wagging her finger back and forth. Unless she pairs with the harpsichord and strings, in which case, they’re all plotting something no good.

-Shiv