Monthly Archives: April 2016

A Day of Pink and the Stupidity of the Transgender Bathroom Argument

April 13, 2016societyculture, gay, lgbt, queer, rightwing, society, trans, wingnutsfontfolly

A t-shirt proclaiming, "It's time to talk about bullying, homophobia, transphobia. Day of Pink, April 13, 2016." — Today is the Day of Pink, an International Day against Bullying, Discrimination, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Transmisogyny across the world.

I’ve been noticing a theme in the search terms bringing people to my blog lately—many variations of “stupidity of transgender bathroom argument.” Which is understandable. We have certain states falling all over themselves to pass anti-gay and anti-trans laws in the wake of the Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling, and the argument which seems to get the most traction with voters (or will get a certain type of person who isn’t a reliable voter to turn out) is the argument claiming that laws protecting trans people leads to sexual predators lurking in public bathrooms. So the laws that are getting passed include specific language demanding that people use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender listed on their birth certificate, or that “matches their genitals” and so forth. Which in turn means a lot of people who want to figure out how to debunk those arguments are searching the web for an answer.

And it makes sense that some of those searches will land here, since I’ve written about this topic at least once or twice before:

Setting aside some of the other ludicrous claims, the one take away that we need to return to, again and again, is that many states and cities have had laws that specifically allow transgender people to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity, and in none of those places as there been a single documented case of someone using that law in order to try to commit a sexual assault. Not one. Which is summed up nicely in the chart below.

mediamatters.org — None of those bathroom or locker room horror stories have a basis in fact. (Click to embiggen)

This chart (which was included in one of those previous posts) is a bit over a year old. Now, in addition to the original Media Matters nice compilation of statements from law enforcement officials and other experts from the 12 states that have had laws protecting transgender people on the books for year (some going back to 1993!) showing that there has never been an assault in a bathroom because of them, we have even more! Media experts, law enforcement, and real live trans people explain why the fear of men “pretending” to be trans to attack women and children in bathrooms has no basis in reality, and More Republican Lawmakers Arrested For Sexual Misconduct In Bathrooms Than Trans People.

But it’s important to note that in the 200 cities and 17 states with laws like this [allowing trans people to use the bathroom that matches their identity] already on the books, there are no examples documented of someone using it for nefarious purposes, of a transgender person who is this sex predator in the bathroom. It’s got no factual foothold. If anything, the irony in this is that it actually would require — and North Carolina now requires transgender men who have beards, who are muscular, to use the women’s restroom. So it actually creates the very problem that it claims to solve. —Dominic Holden, speaking on PBS’s Newshour

Why have I chosen today, the Day of Pink, which is supposed to be a day to raise awareness of bullying to come back to this topic? Because any time a law criminalizes or otherwise penalizes people because of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender, it encourages bullying. Businesses, school officials, hospital workers, and so on will reference the law as justification when they discriminate against someone who is queer or gender-non-conforming. The laws foster the notion that it is okay to mistreat, demean, and bully some people.

Ironically, these bathroom bills increase the likelihood that there will be assaults in bathrooms. It’s just that the victims will be the queer kids (or kids who are perceived by their peers as being queer). And it’s not as if school bathrooms aren’t already a place of terror for kids who are perceived as gender non-conforming, let along openly gay or trans children! In my early elementary school days, most of the teachers were women, and so the boys’ bathroom was a place where other boys could gang up on the class sissy or freak (usually me) with impunity. It got so bad for me at one school, that I simply stopped going to the bathroom at school. I avoided drinking anything all day, to try to stay out. My mom kept asking why I was running home from school and rushing straight to the bathroom.

So you can imagine the horror I felt when I read the headline: Kansas Bill Would Pay Students A $2,500 Bounty To Hunt For Trans People In Bathrooms! Geeze, talk about dehumanizing children!

"More United States Senators have been arrested for sexual misconduct in bathrooms than trans women." — It’s not just a meme…

I quote Dominic Holden (who used to write for one of our local weekly alternative papers, so I’ve been a fan for years) for his appearance on PBS’s Newshour above, and I’ve embedded a Youtube video of a snippet below (the link after the embed leads to a longer video and transcript, by the way). And while I agree with most of Dominic’s points, I think he gets one little bit slightly wrong. “…it’s really put LGBT advocates in a difficult place because they haven’t figured out how to respond to this. And for the most part, they have not taken it on directly.”

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

The part I disagree with is where he says that these laws have put advocates in a difficult place. No, we put ourselves there.

We were so giddy at the Supreme Court ruling, that we allowed ourselves to think the battle was won. I say “we” even though I was raising this concern back then. I raised the concern, but what did I do about it? Most of our official advocacy groups have been avoiding taking the issue on directly. They responding half-heartedly, if at all, to some of the earliest instances of backlash. They deployed a really generic fairness response in the Houston equal rights repeal, for instance.

And to imply that we don’t know how to respond is simply wrong. The current trans bathroom bill arguments are not substantially different than the arguments they have always made against queer people. The bigots have always claimed we are delusional—our orientation or gender identity is a choice we’ve made for sinful or other nefarious reasons, not an inherent characteristic. They have always claimed that we are dangerous sexual predators. They have always claimed that acknowledging our existence will cause confusion and harm to children. Exactly how they couched those arguments has changed. Which segment of the non-heterosexual population they were demonizing has changed, but the essence of the arguments are the same.

That is what they are claiming now. We’ve dealt with those arguments before. We have won battles in the court of public opinion against those arguments before. We can do it again. We just have to actually try. Marriage equality was only one touchdown out of a very long game. And it directly benefits only some of us, and only in some situations. The fight still belongs to all of us.

Confessions of a technology addict

April 12, 2016lifeComputers, dictionaries, habits, life, music, personal, technology, writingfontfolly

I was voting in the Locus Awards (annual sci fi/fantasy award poll held by Locus Magazine, which is open to anyone who wants to vote), and was completing the survey portion at the end, when I got to the question, “Do you own a computer? If so, how many?” and I paused for only a moment. See, I personally own three right now: my 7-year-old Mac Pro tower (gigantic thing that was way more powerful than I needed when I bought it because I wanted to be happy with it for years), my Macbook Pro laptop (also known as Hello, Sweetie!), and a 6-year old Windows 7 ultrabook (aka Macbook Air knock-off) for those few old programs I have that I can’t find equivalents of for Mac. Those are my personal computers.

Then there is my iPad Air 2, which I use for several laptop functions, particularly at work, because it is better at them than the clunky old Dell laptops that my employer provided (though we are finally, finally starting to get upgrades this year!). It is clearly a computing device, and a lot more powerful than many computers I’ve owned in the past. And I’m always pointing out that iPhones and high-end smartphones in general are actually pocket computers that obviate a phone, not merely phones themselves…

And then there’s another way to look at it. I’m married, and we’re living in a community property state, so technically my computers also belong to Michael, but more importantly for this survey, his belong to me and… well, I have no clue how many he owns. I mean, he has his older Macbook Air that he carries back and forth to work, and then there is his much nicer Macbook Pro that he uses for more serious portable computing, and then there are, if I just peek at his desk, four PC towers and mini-towers, and I see at least one laptop, and counting how many things are plugged into his giant KVM switch (that allows all of his desk computers to share his monitors, keyboard, and mouse)…. well, if I’m counting those right, there is at least one more computer in that desk somewhere that I can’t see. Plus the Mac Mini in another room that we use as a media server, and I know there are at least two laptops in his pile of “machines I could make usable if someone we know has a complete computer failure and needs something now” pile…

You can see why I have no clue how many computers he owns. So I asked him, “Honey, how many computers do you own?” To which he frowned, looked at me a little bit sheepishly, and said, “I have no idea. Why?”

I decided since he can vote in the Locus Awards himself, that I could just answer 3 for me, and not worry about the rest. Particularly since I could see that a subsequent question asked whether we owned any of the following: smartphone, tablet, iPod, e-book reading device. So I could count some of my other computing devices there.

Thank goodness they didn’t ask how many of those!

I only own the one iPad, myself. But since I have never gotten around to re-selling my old iPhone when I upgraded to the new one, I technically have more than one of those. And then there are iPods other than my phone: one for the car, one that I use as a watch, one that plugs onto my alarm clock and helps wake me up each morning, and I think four spares for the car (because we’ve had more than one stolen from the car over the years). The spares are squirreled away on my desk, so it would take me a bit to find them.

And my husband is worse, because he has more than one iPad he uses regularly (one lives more or less permanently in his bicycle bag. It’s an older one that he salvaged form a junk bin at work where it had a shattered screen and a slightly bent body; he straightened the body, installed a new screen, and may have done some other repairs to it to make it fully functional again).

So I should clarify, for people that don’t know, that one of the reasons we are over-supplied in this technology department is because he works for a computer recycler/refurbisher, and he frequently acquires dead or damaged computers, iPods, et cetera, and cobbles together working devices by scavenging parts out of them. And, truth be told, he did that sort of thing before he started working at this place, he just has a slightly more ready supply of the damaged tech to choose from.

But none of that explains my headphone collection. Because I have a bunch of those. Way more than I could reasonably use. I mean, I can only use one pair at a time, right? Well, it’s just easier to have one pair of wireless headphones that I wear for riding the bus to work, walking home, and so forth, and a wired pair kept with my desktop computer. And a wired pair with a good boom microphone for my laptop… and then there were those gorgeous purple headphones I originally bought for the laptop, but their microphone has degraded a bit, and they’re no longer really good for conference calls to work on my work-from-home days, or skype calls with friends; so I had to get the newer pair mentioned previously, but the sound quality for listening is still awesome, and they’re gorgeous purple, so I can’t throw them out!

And there’s a pair of wired headphones that live in my personal backpack so I have a set of noise cancelling headphones at conventions and such in case I need them. And a backup set of wireless headphones (or four or five, if I’m honest and look in that place on the desk where I keep them) for those moments (which happen with every pair of wireless headphones eventually), when you turn them on and prepare for your commute and you hear that dreaded crackle in one side… or no sound at all from one side. And there’s at least one backup set of headphones in my office bag, in case the wireless ones die while I’m out and about. And another set of wired noise-cancelling headphones that stay at the office so I can deploy them when co-workers (such as certain meetings that happen regularly in the conference room nearest my desk) get too loud and distracting for me to work. And, of course, a backup pair in my “computer things we regularly take to conventions” bag…

See, my headphone addiction is much, much worse than my iPod problem!

And then there are word processing programs! When I counted recently, I had nine or ten on my iPhone, a similar number on my iPad (but they aren’t all the same, because a couple of them are iPad-only, and some that are on the iPhone aren’t on the iPad for one reason or another), and there are way, way, way more on my laptop… Because some of them are better for some kinds of writing than others, and most of them can read each others’ files, anyway, so why not?

And let’s not talk about how many are installed on the desktop computer that aren’t on the laptop, nor why my Windows machine that I almost never use because it’s a backup, really, but it has more than one…

…and there is at least one licensed copy of a word processor that I prefer on my husband’s Macbook Air that I purchased and put on there so I could use his laptop if mine wasn’t available.

At least not all of my addictions are entirely digital. Most of the dictionaries I own are the old-fashioned printed on paper type…

…most…

Another anti-gay politician caught molesting children

April 11, 2016newshomophobia, news, rightwing, wingnutsfontfolly

When the former Republican Speaker of the House was a high school wrestling coach he sexually molested male students. (Click to embiggen)

If you’re an adult queer person trying to live openly in this so-called land of the free, Republicans want to be able to discriminate against you with impunity, while telling you that your very existence is destroying America and that you are going to burn in hell. But, if you’re a retired Republican congressperson who used to molest high school boys (the youngest identified by prosecutors was 14 at the time of the abuse) back when you were a high school teacher (Hastert Molested at Least Four Boys, Prosecutors Say), well then, of course, they want people to forgive and forget: While former House Speaker Dennis Hastert asks for leniency, media recounts corruption allegations. His lawyers have gone so far as to contact the family of one of the boys he molested, and asked them to write a letter asking for leniency because of all the “help” Hastert gave to the man later?

Excuse me? No, the fact that he paid out millions in hush-money doesn’t make up for the original offense! I think this headline puts it mildly: Dennis Hastert’s embarrassing, unforgivable offenses don’t deserve leniency

Some months back I first linked to those reports about former Republican speaker of the house, Dennis Hastert indicted for paying out millions of dollars in hush money to a man who Hastert had some sort of sexual relationship (sexual misconduct) with back when Hastert was a high school wrestling coach and the other man was a high school student. As I asked when I linked to this, “When do we get to acknowledge that sexual hypocrisy is in fact a constant theme of conservative politics — that every single time a Republican or ‘family values’ representative speaks to the bigoted mythology of homophobia or transphobia, they are closeting skeletons of their own?” Don’t forget Dennis Hastert had a terrible voting record on gay rights, and when Hastert was Speaker he tried to cover up the fact that Congressman Mark Foley had had sexual interactions with male members of the Congressional page program (high school age students).

But perhaps the worst is how, when he met with the parents of Matthew Shepard and sobbed as he promised the parents he would do everything he could to pass the Matthew Shepard hate crimes bill… and then, of course, he actually did everything he could to obstruct the bill.

I really don’t understand why anyone, particularly in the media, doesn’t immediately assume that a legislator or prosecutor or governor who pushes for anti-gay bills has a scandalous sexual secret. I mean, when someone can create an entire web site to chronicling the prominent anti-gay folks who are later caught in a gay sex scandal: GayHomophobe.com, it’s time to stop turning a blind eye to the issue!

Friday Links (worse than North Carolina edition)

April 8, 2016bloggingfriday, friday links, links, newsfontfolly

Visit Mississippi, where "We have an oppressive law to match our oppressive heat," says Funny or Die. — Visit Mississippi, where “We have an oppressive law to match our oppressive heat,” says Funny or Die.

Thank goodness it’s Friday! We didn’t quite get the record-breaking heat forecast yesterday, but we’ve have more than enough pollen in the air all week to make me miserable.

Meanwhile, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week, sorted into various topic areas.

This week in Writing

How Data Can Help You Write A Better Screenplay. The title is misleading. There’s lots of data about what kinds of screenplays go wrong, but there isn’t a how-to in there…

Culture war news:

Mississippi: We’re Even Worse Than North Carolina, Says Funny or Die.

TEXAS GOPER OPPOSES BILL PROMOTING FEMALE SCIENTISTS BECAUSE IT ‘DISCRIMINATES’ AGAINST MEN .

Wicked composer bans all productions in North Carolina.

Corporate America Just Became the LGBT Community’s Most Powerful Ally.

Mississippi law opens a new front in the battle over gay rights.

This will make you even madder about North Carolina’s anti-LGBT law: Right-wing backers have the gall to say they’re the victims.

Why North Carolina’s New Anti-LGBT Law is a Trojan Horse.

TV show and PayPal projects canceled in North Carolina in response to GOP’s anti-LGBT law.

Things Just Got Even Harder for LGBT Taxpayers in Mississippi.

Club Ordered To Pay $15K To Trans Man Beaten And Assaulted By Bouncers For Using Men’s Restroom.

Man who wore loincloth at gay pride parade wins appeal.

This Week in the Clown Car

“As a full-blown nut job, I freakin’ love him”: “SNL” skewers Donald Trump defender Scottie Nell Hughes.

Face it: Ted Cruz is as far from the Republican mainstream as Donald Trump is.

Kasich: Trump Would Spend His First 100 Days as President Looking for the White House Bathrooms.

Trump’s New Magic Number Is 40 Percent Of The Vote – His support isn’t rising as fast as the bar for winning.

Veterans’ Charities Await Funds Raised by Donald Trump.

This week in Other Politics:

The Republicans’ Gay Freakout. “OUR infrastructure is inexcusable, much of our public education is miserable and one of our leading presidential candidates is a know-nothing, say-anything egomaniac who yanks harder every day at the tattered fabric of civil discourse and fundamental decency in this country. But let’s by all means worry about the gays!”

The GOP’s (other) convention nightmare.

Denying Housing Over Criminal Record May Be Discrimination, Feds Say.

Swiss police raid UEFA as Panama Papers scandal spreads.

“Were your eyes stitched closed?”: Elizabeth Warren skewers Federal Reserve regulator who played “pivotal” role in 2008 financial crisis.

The Most Important Election Yesterday Wasn’t The One You Were Paying Attention To.

How ‘Religious Freedom’ Laws Hurt Businesses.

This Week in Racism

Judge rules against Urban Outfitters defense in Navajo case.

This Week in Hate Crimes

James Dixon Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter of Transgender Woman Islan Nettles.

Gay Man Brutally Beaten in Miami Burger King.

Transgender Teen ‘Intentionally Struck’ by Hit-and-Run Driver in L.A.

Farewells:

Merle Haggard Died this Week on His 79th Birthday.

Things I wrote:

Sunday Funnies, part 17.

And then I felt better about the world.

Which part of ‘love thy neighbor’ confuses you?

Videos!

Marble Mountain, a themed marble machine “…a large marble machine still under construction. It consists of 25 sections that mesh together to form one kinetic sculpture. Every element is themed (or will be upon completion) to an aspect of my life or to something that I find interesting. Some of the elements include a roller coaster, ski jump, Times Square, Lombard Street, and a skatepark. It took 3 years to get to this point of being able to turn it on and watch it go…”:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Parson James – Temple:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Nina Simone – Mississippi Goddam:

(If embedding doesn’t work, click here.)

Which part of ‘love thy neighbor’ confuses you?

April 6, 2016societycivil rights, lgbt, news, rightwing, society, wingnut, wingnutsfontfolly

Billboard that went up in Jacksonville, Mississippi this week after the new anti-LGBT law was signed. “Guys, I said I hate figs and to love thy neighbor.” (click to embiggen)

Lots of us have been predicting that there would be many, many more of these so-called “religious freedom” laws passed with an intent to discriminate against queer people, and that there would be more of the anti-trans bathroom bills passed in states since the Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling. Some people thought that the swift backlash from both regular citizens and the business community which prompted the repeal of the Illinois law and then a similar Arizona law’s governor’s veto last year would put a damper on the anti-gay legislation fervor. I was not one of the latter. I knew that the bigots would keep doing this for years to come. The war for equality isn’t over. We’ve made a few touchdowns, we’ve stymied a few of the other side’s scoring drives, but there is a lot of struggle still ahead.

Mississippi’s governor signed a bill this week that is pretty awful. It protects any individual, business, or organization (including hospitals) that want to refuse service to gay people due to a sincerely-held religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, that sexual relations should take place only inside such marriages, and that the terms male or female refer to individuals’ immutable biological sex. So it specifies which “religious beliefs” are protected. That is not religious freedom, that is religious imposition. That’s not protecting someone’s right to a belief, that is forcing a very specific set of so-called religious convictions upon everyone.

Yes, the law later has specific language that says that it shouldn’t be construed to imply that anyone can be refused emergency medical treatment, but it will be construed that way, and people will die. We’ve had situations like this before. A lesbian couple was vacationing in Florida some years ago, one member of the couple was in an accident, her partner had their medical power of attorney paperwork, but was refused admittance to the hospital room, was not allowed to give consent to her partner’s medical treatment, and the partner died while the hospital was trying to track down a blood relative. There was no legal basis for the hospital to refuse the power of attorney. Personnel at the hospital refused because they thought that Florida’s ban on same sex marriage invalidated the power of attorney (it did not). Florida courts subsequently ruled that the hospital had been wrong to do that under the law, however they also ruled that the hospital and employees weren’t liable for the death or any sanctions, fines, or lawsuit because they had thought they were acting in good faith.

And that is part of the reason that these “religious freedom” laws are so dangerous. People will decide that their bias is more important than the life of a “sinner”—and other people will be harmed and sometimes even die. Often the person who let them die will get off despite those caveats in the law because it will be decided that they were acting in good faith.

The idea that the law will protect you if you discriminate against certain types of people will encourage people to take it further. As Justice John Paul Stevens noted in his famous dissent of the Supreme Court case that upheld sodomy laws, the mere existence of such laws, even when it was shown that they were largely unenforced, creates the notion that certain types of people are less than human. The existence of even a narrowly-focused law used to justify a plethora of other types of discrimination against people who the law is aimed at. A few years later, when the Supreme Court reversed that ruling and invalidation all sodomy laws, Justice Kennedy quoted Stevens’ earlier dissent in explaining the reason the court had changed course.

The most galling part of all of this is that these people are claiming to be following Jesus when the propose withholding medical care from queer people, refusing to sell food to queer people, refusing the rent to queer people, et cetera. No matter how many times I read the gospels—especially the Sermon on the Mount—I can’t find anything that Jesus said that could be construed to condone such action, let alone command it! In fact, Jesus said that if someone sues you for the shirt off your back, give them your shirt and your coat, also. He doesn’t say change the law so you can shun and be cruel to some of your neighbors and be immune to being sued or legally punished for any of the consequences thereof!

This is why people are fleeing the churches, particularly young people. These folks have redefined Christianity, replacing Jesus’s teachings with condemnation of gay people. You can ignore any and all of Jesus’s actual commandments, but if you’re anti-gay enough you’ll be the hero of the Christian Right.

When laws like this are enacted, they don’t just hurt the people who get the services denied. They scare other people. They send a message that people who don’t conform to one group’s religious precepts are less than human, that they are not safe, that they cannot count on the police to help them if crimes are committed against them, that they aren’t welcome, that they won’t be treated fairly before the law. And that’s why businesses speak out against these laws. It isn’t because they are beholden to some mythic ally power queer lobbying force. It’s because employees—not just queer employees—don’t feel safe being sent to those states to work.

The truth is, no one should feel safe in places that have laws like this. Because the law gives judgmental people a license to punish anyone they think might be queer, or might be supportive of queer people. That makes these laws a form of terrorism—they are intended to scare queer people back into the closet, and with that stuff about biological sex and sex outside of marriage, all sorts of other people to lie and hide and pretend to be something they aren’t—and I can’t find any definition of love that condones that.

And then I felt better about the world

April 4, 2016lifegood news, rebloggingfontfolly

"To the person going through our trash for your next meal: You are a human being and worth more than a meal from a dumpster. Please come inside during operating hours for a classic Pb&j, fresh veggies, and a cup of water no charge. No questions asked. - Your friend, the owner." — “To the person going through our trash for your next meal: You are a human being and worth more than a meal from a dumpster. Please come inside during operating hours for a classic Pb&j, fresh veggies, and a cup of water no charge. No questions asked. – Your friend, the owner.” (click to embiggen)

There are tumblr posts that come through my dashboard that make me proud to be a human. These images came from one.

"An elderly man in my neighborhood had a heart attack while shoveling his driveway. Paramedics took him to the hospital, then return to finish shoveling his driveway for him." — “An elderly man in my neighborhood had a heart attack while shoveling his driveway. Paramedics took him to the hospital, then return to finish shoveling his driveway for him.”

Once again, I had another post I meant to finish, but passing on a bit of uplifting news seemed a better use of my time and bandwidth.

"As I stood in line at the REDACTED public library, I watched as a clerk told a little girl she couldn't check out a book because she owed a $0.29 fine—then I watched as a teenage boy behind her dig in his pocket for some change to pay it for her. And then I felt better about the world." — “As I stood in line at the REDACTED public library, I watched as a clerk told a little girl she couldn’t check out a book because she owed a $0.29 fine—then I watched as a teenage boy behind her dig in his pocket for some change to pay it for her. And then I felt better about the world.”

I hope where ever you are, that you have at least a few moments to lift your mood. We all need little reminders that good things happen in the world, too. And sometimes the smallest kindness makes the biggest improvement in another person’s day.

Sunday Funnies, part 17

April 3, 2016bloggingcomics, funnies, things I like, web comicsfontfolly

It’s time for another in my series of posts recommending web comics!

This one is not a regular comic. It is instead three pages out of a Superman comic book. A lot of people have been sharing it because of how grim and dark and non-hero-like the last two official superman movies have been, as an example of what many fans love about the character, which is being completely lost in the new movies: A well written Superman. It really is good.

Surviving the World: A Photocomic Education by Dante Shepherd is another example of a comic that I don’t bookmark because at least once a week someone I know shares an example of this in my social media. I click on it, then read backward until I hit a comic I’ve seen before. A daily webcomic which has been going for about eight years, “Surviving the World” is actually authored by professor Lucas Landherr under the pseudonym Dante Shepherd, which he initial used so to avoid getting in trouble when he was a grad student. There’s a section of the comic’s About page where Landherr tries to list the fake biographical details he included during his years in grad school, and then his time working for an institution with a strict confidentiality clause. Most of the comics consist of Landheer, dressed in a lab coat and baseball cap, standing next to a chalkboard on which the day’s joke, comical observation, what-have-you is written. When he and/or his family go on a trip, the day’s strip is sometimes composed in another setting with a series of smaller chalkboards.

Some of the comics I’ve previously recommended:

“Mr. Cow,” by Chuck Melville tells the tale of a clueless cow with Walter Cronkite dreams. If the twice-weekly gags about a barnyard of a newsroom aren’t enough excitement for you the same artist also writes and draws (and colors!) some awesome fantasy series: Champions of Katara and Felicia, Sorceress of Katara. If you like Mr. Cow, Felicia, or Flagstaff (the hero of Champions of Katara) you can support the artist by going to his Patreon Page. Also, can I interest you in a Mr. Cow Mug?

“Deer Me,” by Sheryl Schopfer tells the tales from the lives of three friends (and former roommates) who couldn’t be more dissimilar while being surprisingly compatible. If you enjoy Deer Me, you can support the artist by going to her Patreon Page!

Scurry by Mac Smith is the story of a colony of mice trying to survive a long, strange winter in a world where humans have mysteriously vanished, and food is becoming ever more scarce.

And I love this impish girl thief with a tail and her reluctant undead sorcerer/bodyguard: “Unsounded,” by Ashley Cope.

Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu is the story of Eric “Bitty” Biddle, a former junior figure skating champion from a southern state who is attending fictitious Samwell College in Massachusetts, where he plays on the men’s hockey team. Bitty is the smallest guy on the team, and in the early comics is dealing with a phobia of being body-checked in the games. He’s an enthusiastic baker, and a die hard Beyoncé fan.

Muddler’s Beat by Tony Breed is the fun, expanded cast sequel to Finn and Charlie Are Hitched.

The Young Protectors by Alex Wolfson begins when a young, closeted teen-age superhero who has just snuck into a gay bar for the first time is seen exiting said bar by a not-so-young, very experienced, very powerful, super-villain. Trouble, of course, ensues.

Caterwall by Spain Fischer is the story of Pax (the orphaned son of a knight who was the hero of the kingdom) and his best friend Gavin (the descendant of a line of seers). Pax is a young man who has a reputation for pulling pranks and telling lies, who gets exiled from the kingdom.

Tripping Over You by Suzana Harcum and Owen White is a strip about a pair of friends in school who just happen to fall in love… which eventually necessitates one of them coming out of the closet. Tripping Over You has several books, comics, and prints available for purchase.

The Junior Science Power Hour by Abby Howard. is frequently autobiographical take on the artist’s journey to creating the crazy strip about science, science nerds, why girls are just as good at being science nerds as boys, and so much more. It will definitely appeal to dinosaur nerds, anyone who has ever been enthusiastic about any science topic, and especially to people who has ever felt like a square peg being forced into round holes by society.

If you want to read a nice, long graphic-novel style story which recently published its conclusion, check-out the not quite accurately named, The Less Than Epic Adventures of T.J. and Amal by E.K. Weaver. I say inaccurate because I found their story quite epic (not to mention engaging, moving, surprising, fulfilling… I could go on). Some sections of the tale are Not Safe For Work, as they say, though she marks them clearly. The complete graphic novels are available for sale in both ebook and paper versions, by the way.

Oglaf, by Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne is a Not Safe For Work web comic about… well, it’s sort a generic “medieval” high fantasy universe, but with adult themes, often sexual.

Friday Links (no foolin’ edition)

April 1, 2016bloggingfriday, friday links, linksfontfolly

A raccoon making jazz hands. — Jazz hands! (Click to embiggen)

Thank goodness it’s Friday. This was a weird week: the first day back at the office after the con was busy, but full of good news; then things started going awry and I spent the middle of the week trying to get certain software to work so I could make a deadline; finally fixed the situation by installing software on my personal laptop and cramming a few days worth of work into a single evening. I don’t know yet if I’m going to make the deadline.

Today is not only Friday, but it is also April 1, which is a day that has become problematic. My own rules about April Fool’s jokes have always included at least this: if it causes someone distress it is not a joke, and you have missed the point. Anyway, I collected all of these links before today, and as far as I can tell none of them are meant to be jokes. Which in a couple cases is more distressing the the most in-poor-taste April Fool’s joke I’ve ever heard of.

Meanwhile, here are links to some of the interesting things I read on the web this week, sorted into various topic areas.

Links of the Week

You (and Almost Everyone You Know) Owe Your Life to This Man.

This week in security

Follow the money: Apple vs. the FBI. I think he’s only half right. Yes, the success of Apple pay depends on encryption, but a company can also believe in doing right by its customers.

Questions Hang Over FBI After Apple Showdown Fizzles. (hmmmm, when we lie to the FBI it’s a felony, but when the FBI lies to a judge and the entire American people, it’s only a fib?)

5 authentication methods putting passwords to shame.

And other news:

Facebook post on collecting human remains leads police to raid witch’s Mid-City home, find bones, teeth.

This week in Health

Wentworth Miller Shuts Down Body-Shamers With Powerful Message On Mental Health.

This Week in Diversity

Stop using “anyone can die” as an excuse.

DIVERSITY 102: 5 THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE PUTTING TOGETHER A DIVERSITY PANEL.

This week in awful news

Suicide bomber kills at least 9 in central Somalia.

7 police killed in latest Turkey bombing.

2 Russian Police Killed in Separate Bomb Attacks in Dagestan.

Taliban splinter group claims attack on Christians at Pakistan park; 60 dead.

This week in Evil People

Seattle tree cutters could face felony charges.

News for queers and our allies:

Turning moments into momentum for LGBT equality.

Global health group takes on gay conversion therapy.

AMERICA’S FIRST PUBLICLY OUT TRANSGENDER HIGH SCHOOL COACH IS OPENING MINDS IN THE CONSERVATIVE RURAL TOWN OF GLOCESTER, R.I..

Science!

Scientists may have discovered the fossilised skull of a ‘Siberian unicorn’.

Scientists solved the Spallanzani’s dilemma. Newts are the masters of regeneration.

Link between fossil fuels and Great Barrier Reef bleaching clear and incontrovertible.

The More We Empathize With Others, The More Generous We Are.

See how to spice guard your bird feed – and other nifty chemistry life hacks.

Ancient arachnid was almost a spider.

Scientists have identified a universal Nope face.

‘Tumbleweed Tornado’ caught on camera in Albuquerque.

2,500-Year-Old Monument Could Help Crack the Mysterious Etruscan Language.

Science Fiction, Fantasy and Speculation!

How ‘Sailor Moon’ Fandom Became a Refuge for 90s Queer Kids. Video starts automatically.

How Did Batman Go From Being Fun and Gay to Sad and Boring?

Introducing ConFinder.