The Funny Papers

Marc Murphy, Aislin, Clay Bennett, Bill Bramhall, Nick Anderson, Walterink, Gary Huck, Michael de Adder, Lalo Alcaraz, Jack Ohman, JD Crowe,

Highway Adopted for Trans Teen Leelah Alcorn

In Warren County, Ohio, a stretch of Interstate 71 has been adopted for Leelah Alcorn, the transgender teen who took her own life on the Ohio highway last December.

Leelah died from blunt force trauma after stepping in front of a Freightliner semi-truck. Police investigators found her backpack, with her laptop inside, at the scene, and found searches for suicide prevention and runaway assistance in the computer’s search history.

There was no suicide note … that day. But a note did appear on Leelah’s Tumblr page after her death. In the note she talks of feeling like “a girl trapped in a boy’s body” since she was 4, but didn’t know it was possible for “a boy to become a girl” until 10 years later.

“When I was 14, I learned what transgender meant and cried of happiness. After 10 years of confusion I finally understood who I was. I immediately told my mom, and she reacted extremely negatively, telling me that it was a phase, that I would never truly be a girl, that God doesn’t make mistakes, that I am wrong. If you are reading this, parents, please don’t tell this to your kids. Even if you are Christian or are against transgender people don’t ever say that to someone, especially your kid. That won’t do anything but make them hate them self. That’s exactly what it did to me.”

Leelah Alcorn’s parents took her to see Christian therapists because she must be ill, right? And they refused her requests to aid her in transitioning because of that “illness.” She then told them she was gay, and they reacted by removing her from school, taking away her phone and computer, and isolating her in her room for months because she was “sick.”

And then she killed herself because she saw few choices possible in her future:

“Either I live the rest of my life as a lonely man who wishes he were a woman or I live my life as a lonelier woman who hates herself. There’s no winning. There’s no way out. I’m sad enough already, I don’t need my life to get any worse. People say “it gets better” but that isn’t true in my case. It gets worse. Each day I get worse.”

A group of her friends adopted the highway in her memory through an online campaign begun in August.

“We are keeping her memory alive by adopting and maintaining the stretch of highway where she lost her life, in hopes of bringing to light the issues faced by transgender people and so that these tragedies can be brought to an end.”

I had mixed feelings when I heard about this; I thought that renaming a stretch of roadway where she had taken her life seemed a little callous. No one renames a gun or a rope or a knife or a bottle of pills after the person who committed suicide.

But then I got to thinking … as people drive that road and see those signs with Leelah’s name on them, they might read it and forget it; or, they might read it and remember, and go home and find out about Leelah, who she was and why she died.

And maybe one of those people is another young person feeling different and not knowing why; another young person who might now understand who they are and why they are, and rather than feel alone, rather than feel like they have no choice, decide they can be themselves and they will be themselves.

Maybe Leelah’s name on a road sign will save just one life, and that’s more than enough to make it worthwhile.

Towleroad

Honor Greg Louganis On A Wheaties Box ... It's Long Overdue

Earlier this month HBO aired Will Sweeney’s documentary, Greg Louganis: Back on Board and one viewer was struck by something she saw in the film, or rather, something she didn’t see.

Julie Sondgerath watched a piece in the film where Greg Louganis is looking at a display of Wheaties boxes featuring Olympic athletes like Amy Van Dyken, Laura Wilkinson and Brooke Bennett, and she realized that Louganis, one of the greatest divers ever, had never been on the cover of a Wheaties cereal box as so many other American Olympians had before, and after, him.

And in terms of what Wheaties looked for in their cover athletes — being great champions — Greg Louganis certainly deserves the recognition. He won 13 world championships, a silver medal at the 1976 Olympics,  2 gold medals at the 1984 games, and 2 more gold at the 1988 Olympics; he is also made history at the 1982 World Championships the first diver ever awarded a perfect score. And yet he is one of the few star athletes, and Olympic multi-medalists never given the Wheaties box.

The question is why? And the answer might be homophobia. Even Louganis says so in the documentary, though there was not one person from General Mills in agreement; a spokesman for the cereal-maker said no one from that period was left to discuss the decision-making.

But there were rumors, both in 84 and 88, that Greg Louganis was gay; he was out, to be sure, but only to friends and family, and did not publicly come out as gay until the Gay Games in 1994, In 1995, in his autobiography Louganis revealed that he had tested positive for HIV before the 1988 Olympics, and, out of fear, he did not inform the doctor of his condition when he treated the bloody wound caused when Louganis hit his head on the springboard during a preliminary dive.

Greg Louganis seems almost fine with the omission from Wheaties, seeming to suggest that his being ignored by the cereal giant be placed in the context of the 1980s, a different time in America for gay people, and those with HIV.

“It was such a different time. There was a mentality of fear.” — Greg Louganis

But Will Sweeney, the producer of Back on Board, isn’t quite so understanding:

“Here was a guy who by any metric or evaluation was the dominant figure in his sport. And here he was standing against a wall of Wheaties boxes of people who people don’t know. How was it possible he never had a Wheaties box?”

Perhaps that can change now, almost thirty years after Greg Louganis’ last gold medal dive. I mean, General Mills recently honored the late Jim Thorpe with a Wheaties box, and has also honored many athletes after their retirement. Now, to be fair, Thorpe’s achievements occurred decades before Wheaties featured athletes, and he died in 1953, long before the medals that were revoked for his being a professional were reinstated in 1983, but in 2001 he was finally honored with a Wheaties box of his own.

Julie Sondgerath was so moved by the documentary, by Louganis’ talent, and by the desire to see him honored, that she created a petition on Change.org [HERE] asking that General Mills correct the error.

For his part, Greg Louganis is not campaigning for a box cover, but he is pleased by the sudden attention and the drive to make this change:

“I know that it’s done out of love and compassion. It comes from such a loving place that I’m just grateful to have that kind of support.”

Wheaties is well aware of the petition and released this statement:

“Greg Louganis was certainly a world-class diver and truly embodied the championship mentality of a Wheaties athlete. While we do not discuss future marketing decisions, we will look into how we celebrate his accomplishments.”

How you celebrate them is the same way you celebrated Mary Lou Retton and Carl Lewis and Michael Phelps, among others.

Put Greg Louganis on a Wheaties box. It’s that simple, and it’s well past time.

NYT

Greg Louganis Olympics photo
Greg Louganis photo
Change.org Petition

The Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame Inducts Linda Ronstadt

Yesterday was our monthly — well, really every five weekly — trek to the CostCo in Charlotte. It’s a nice drive through the country back roads and Carlos loves to visit CostCo for the snack ladies, but that’s another story for another day.

Back at home I perused the DVR for the weekend highlights. We had a Free HBO weekend, so I loaded up on movies — including, thankfully, and finally, The Normal Heart — and the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame telecast. This year’s inductees included Peter Gabriel, love him, Cat Stevens, like him, Kiss, thank goddess for fast forward, the E Street Band — who apparently were not inducted alongside Bruce Springsteen which makes no sense — Hall and Oates — Oates needs to lay off the surgery — Nirvana — the best part was Courtney Love getting booed— and Linda Ronstadt.

Well, I have been a Ronstadt fan, er, fanatic, since the very first time I heard her sing way, way, waaaay, back in the day. I could listen to her sing Country rock, Rock, Punk ,Pop, Operetta, Latina, Big Band and Blues and she sings them all flawlessly.

Seriously. I’m a fan. As a kid, the family took a motor home trip from California to Texas for a family reunion — yes, I have, had, have, family in Texas — and during a stop at the Grand Canyon, I found a cassette — for you youngsters, go ahead  and Google that — called Linda Ronstadt: a Retrospective. On that cassette she sang everything from “I Fall To Pieces” to “Hobo” to “Faithless Love” to “Rock me On The Water” to “Blue Bayou”.

And, during those long straight stretches of highway when my Dad would let me take the wheel of the motorhome I would pop in that tape and play it back and forth, round and round, again, and again, until Dad took me off driving duty or someone in the family threatened to jump out.

Like I said, fanatic.

So I was ready to hear me some Linda this weekend, but as she was inducted by Glenn Frey, of The Eagles, he told the audience that Linda no longer travels, and a quick Googling this morning revealed it’s because she suffers from Parkinson’s. And because, well, she’s Linda Ronstadt so let’s have her tell why she’s not really all that upset about missing it.

"I haven't given it one thought, I have to say. It wasn't anything I ever thought about. I never thought of myself as a rock' n' roll singer; I sang it, (but) it's just one of the things I sang. I sang a lot of different stuff. I didn't go the last two times I was nominated for a Grammy, either. I don't have anything against it; you just don't do things for those reasons. If you're working for prizes, you're in trouble. There's nothing wrong with it. I don't mind it. It's just not anything I ever gave a thought to." 



Linda never wanted to be a star, though with her voice she couldn’t help herself; she just wanted to sing, and to sing whatever struck her fancy, no matter the genre.

And so she did, and she did them all to perfection.

But I digress — again, fanatic. See, as I waited for her to sing, and then heard she wasn’t even there, I was disappointed. Then, when I heard there would be some women who called Ronstadt an inspiration paying tribute I was intrigued. The first person was, and my heart sank, Carrie Underwood. Luckily, though, there would also be Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris and Sheryl, because, well, Carrie Underwood. 

Here's Stevie, Sheryl,  Bonnie, Emmylou and Carrie.

But, first we heard Carrie. Now, I don’t mind Miss Underwood. I think she’s passable, but a little too slick, not enough heart; glitter and heels and not at all Ronstadt. But, she came out first to sing “Different Drum” and she knocked that sh*t out. Toned down, no glam, no back singers, no pyrotechnics; just a voice.

And it was beautiful — not Ronstadt beautiful — but a beautiful tribute to a great singer.

Good News Friday: Harvey Gets A Street In San Diego

Lt. Harvey Milk

San Diego, California will be the first city in the nation to have a street named for gay civil rights activist, and one of my personal heroes, Harvey Milk.

The City Council voted unanimously to rename the two-block road leading up to the San Diego LGBT Community Center in Hillcrest from Blaine Avenue to Harvey Milk Street in honor of the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California.

There are all sorts of plazas and centers and even schools around the country that are named for Harvey, but this will be his first street. The name change is expected to become official later this month.

Nicole Murray Ramirez, a San Diego city commissioner and gay rights activist, who was friends with Milk, said Harvey fell in love with California after being stationed in San Diego as a Navy diving instructor in 1954:  “Harvey Milk has become a global leader for those who wish for gay civil rights and equality. It’s not just a street you’re naming. You’ll be giving a clear symbol to that young gay man or that young lesbian woman that they too can reach the highest offices.”

Of course, not everyone is happy about the name change. One of those "Christian" conservatives, James Hartline, spoke out against the idea at that city council meeting, but, um, well, he was the only person to speak out against the idea.

So, bugger off, Jimmy.

Harvey's got a street.

source

Miss Lauper Goes To Washington .....

... Oh, not to sing, although that would be nice, but, rather, Cyndi Lauper, advocate for homeless LGBTQ youth, is headed to DC to be honored for her charitable work.

Cyndi Lauper: ''I am doing something really important. 'I am meeting with members of Congress and the Obama administration to discuss ways to better help homeless LGBT youth. I am going to discuss the need for more funding to help runaway and homeless youth, ensuring that LGBT youth experiencing homelessness are not discriminated against in federally funded shelters and other agencies, and that we pass the Reconnecting Youth to Prevent Homelessness Act [read about that HERE]  that Senator [John] Kerry introduced last year. It is my first time visiting Capitol Hill and I am really looking forward to it.''

Kathleen Sebelius, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, will be marking National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day by presenting Lauper with an award at an featuring an art exhibit, reception and ''Heroes of Hope'' tribute.

Dr. Gary Blau, chief of the Child, Adolescent and Family Branch at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the organization presenting the event, says, ''The theme this year is 'Heroes of Hope'. The award to Cyndi is for her work and support of young people, particularly LGBT, and to give them hope as well.''

Cyndi Lauper says the major vehicle for improving the lives of LGBTQ youth is her True Colors Fund [visit them HERE] which was inspired by the True Colors Tour: "We thought if we could get people this excited with music and some comedy about LGBT issues, then maybe we could do even more on two issues that mattered a great deal to us: getting straight people involved in pushing for LGBT equality, and to help all these kids who are homeless because they were kicked out or ran away from home for being gay or transgender.''

There are a lot of celebrities who talk about LGBTQ issues, but there are few who stand as strong and as loudly, and proudly, as Cyndi Lauper.

No one deserves this honor more.

via Metro Weekly

That's Right B*tches!

I have been named, drum roll please, The Official Dustbunny Of The Day for March 17th, 2011!
My Irish Grandmother would be so proud. Now I simply must call The Smallville Times so the news can make the afternoon edition!
Read it and weep, HERE