Meme Dump

Speak Out!!!

In the 1920s and early 1930s Martin Niemöller, a prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany, sympathized with many Nazi ideas and supported radically right-wing political movements. But after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, Niemöller became an outspoken critic of Hitler’s interference in the Protestant Church. He spent the last eight years of Nazi rule, from 1937 to 1945, in Nazi prisons and concentration camps.

Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for this postwar statement:

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

And that, one of my favorite poems, brings me to today, and a twist on Niemöller’s words:

First he came for the Mexicans, riding down a golden escalator and calling them drug dealers, thieves, rapists and murderers

And I did not speak out

Because I was not Mexican

 

Then he came for transgender people

And I did not speak out

Because I was not trans

 

Then he came for women, and their right to control their bodies

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a woman

 

Then he came for Haitians, saying they eat dogs and cats

And I did not speak out

Because I was not Haitian

 

Then he came for Puerto Rico, a US territory, standing in silence as a comic called it a garbage dump

And I did not speak out

Because I am not from Puerto Rico

 

Then he came for journalists and anyone who speaks against him … and then he came for Americans he dubbed “the enemy within,” and threatened to unleash the police and military on Americans … and he came for anyone who is “other”

And I knew I had to speak out before he came for me

And there would be no one left to speak up

Speaking out helps; speaking out let’s others who feel what you’re feeling know they are not alone. But, we all know, speaking out is not enough.

We know we have to vote to keep a dangerously, unhinged, incompetent, racist, rapist, misogynist, traitor and liar from any position of power.

The Funny Papers

Deb Milbrath, Nick Anderson, Mike Luckovich, Dave Whamond, Dennis Goris, Peter Kuper, John Buss, Tim Campbell, Marc Murphy, Gary Huck, Michael de Adder, Jack Ohman, Marty Two Bulls, Liam Simonelli

Tuesday Thought #3

On This Date In ISBL History: Russia Bans Tribute To LGBT Victims Of Nazi Germany

As I am in Oregon helping my Dad recuperate from knee surgery, I thought I’d do something I’ll call “On This Date In ISBL History” and repost some things from back when the blog was new, and newish … this was originally published November 4, 2011:

To paraphrase an old Kermit the Frog ditty …

♫ ♪ It ain’t easy bein’ gay ♪ ♫

In fact, it’s downright hard being accused of being responsible for all of the ills around the world. I mean, we’re on the threshold of ruining marriage; we’re thisclose to the absolute degradation and downfall of society as we know it, and we’ve long been accused of unleashing Rip Taylor on the world.

Can’t a fag catch a break?

I mean, over there in Russia, we can’t even say we’re gay lest we’re accused of sparking some sort of propaganda. Now, that I get; I can’t recall how many times I’ve walked down a street here in Smallville and passed someone who says, "How are you?” And when I respond with, “I’m gay” they have me arrested for trying to spread that Gay Propaganda!

Or howsabout the time Carlos and I were in the coffee aisle at Kroger, debating on trying a new brand of coffee, you know, acting all like a couple and stuff, and then we found ourselves kicked out for trying to convert folks to gayism, or something.

I know, stupid, right? To paraphrase Dan Savage: It Gets Dumber.

Back there is Russia, where just saying you’re gay is a criminal offense, they have banned a tribute to the LGBTI victims of Nazi Germany. Yup, the Moscow government has refused a group that sought to condemn Adolf Hitler’s actions and honor the 100,000 gay people arrested during World War II.

The intention of the tribute was to also spread the message about not repeating past mistakes and ensuring something like the Holocaust never happens again, but the authorities rejected the application, saying paying tribute to gay victims of Nazi Germany could potentially ‘influence’ children on homosexuality.

Oh. Well, since you put it that way, I guess I can see it. I mean, I can see how calling attention to the 100,000 or so gay men and women in Nazi Germany who were rounded up, arrested, and taken to a concentration camp where  they were experimented upon, used as slave labor and then murdered, would make a bunch of questioning Russian kids say, “Ooh, being gay sounds fun!”

Let me say this again: seeing someone gay cannot make you gay; having someone tell you they’re gay cannot make you gay; hearing the word gay cannot make you gay. You know what makes you gay: being born that way, and no matter what Russia tries to do, little bitty gay Russian babies will continue to be born every single day.

And it’s still dangerous, even life-threatening, to be gay in Russia.

Or even to be gay-friendly.

And you can blame all of that on the homoerotic posturings, both on camera and in politics, of Donald's BFF Vladimir Put-It-In, I mean, Putin.

Russia Bans Tribute To LGBT Victims Of Nazi Germany

To paraphrase an old Kermit the Frog ditty, ♫ ♪ It ain’t easy bein’ gay ♪ ♫. In fact, it’s downright hard being accused of being responsible for all of the ills around the world. I mean, we’re on the threshold of ruining marriage; we’re thisclose to the absolute degradation and downfall of society as we know it, and we’ve long been accused of unleashing Rip Taylor on the world.

Can’t a fag catch a break?

I mean, over there in Russia, we can’t even say we’re gay lest we’re accused of sparking some sort of propaganda. Now, that I get; I can’t recall how many times I’ve walked down a street here in Smallville and passed someone who says, "How are you?” And when I respond with, “I’m gay” they have me arrested for trying to spread that Gay Propaganda!

Or howsabout the time Carlos and I were in the coffee aisle at Kroger, debating on trying a new brand of coffee, you know, acting all like a couple and stuff, and then we found ourselves kicked out for trying to convert folks to gayism, or something.

I know, stupid, right? To paraphrase Dan Savage: It Gets Dumber.

Back there is Russia, where just saying you’re gay is a criminal offense, they have banned a tribute to the LGBTI victims of Nazi Germany. Yup, the Moscow government has refused a group that sought to condemn Adolf Hitler’s actions and honor the 100,000 gay people arrested during World War II.

The intention of the tribute was to also spread the message about not repeating past mistakes and ensuring something like the Holocaust never happens again, but the authorities rejected the application, saying paying tribute to gay victims of Nazi Germany could potentially ‘influence’ children on homosexuality.

Oh. Well, since you put it that way, I guess I can see it. I mean, I can see how calling attention to the 100,000 or so gay men and women in Nazi Germany who were rounded up, arrested, and taken to a concentration camp where  they were experimented upon, used as slave labor and then murdered, would make a bunch of questioning Russian kids say, “Ooh, being gay sounds fun!”

Let me say this again: seeing someone gay cannot make you gay; having someone tell you they’re gay cannot make you gay; hearing the word gay cannot make you gay. You know what makes you gay: being born that way, and no matter what Russia tries to do, little bitty gay Russian babies will continue to be born every single day.

source

The Sochi Winter Olympics: My Two Cents

I have somewhat conflicted feelings about the upcoming Olympic Games in Russia and the virulently, violent anti-gay laws there. Some folks say we should boycott the games, but that only punishes the athletes who’ve worked and trained, sometimes their entire lives, for an Olympic medal. Some people say we should boycott Stoli—personally, I have long been a Ketel One man—but isn’t that just punishing the Russian people and not the Russian government? There are some who say we ought to move the games from Russia, but that seems an almost impossible task at this late date—the games are just six months way; is that enough time to ready another venue, even the Vancouver site of the last Winter Games?

But one thing I do know is that we need to, as a people, a country, and a world, demand that this nonsense in Russia end. Being gay is not a crime; saying the word gay is not a crime. We need to stop this before it becomes another Nazi Germany and The Gays are rounded up and killed while we look on in horror, doing nothing.

Think I’m exaggerating?

The new law in Russia—similar to the section 28 law passed by Margaret Thatcher’s government in England in 1988—bans the dissemination of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation" towards under-18s and imposes fines on anyone convicted. You can be fined, or jailed, or worse, for just being gay, for just saying the word, for just coming out as gay.

The legislation has caused many people to demand action in Russia before it becomes another Nazi Germany—this time persecuting, and murdering, gays and lesbians. Last week the International Olympic Committee said it had obtained assurances from the Kremlin that competing athletes would not be affected by the law, but now we’ve learned that is not the case; any athlete who is gay, supports the LGBT community, from any country, is subjected to being arrested and fined and jailed, and maybe worse, in Russia.

It is not a safe place for the LGBT community or its allies.

And, if we continue to let this stand, if we stand by and talk and do nothing else, we are basically becoming co-conspirators to the murder, torture, imprisonment, of gays and lesbians in Russia.

We let this happen once before and millions of Jews were murdered.

Are we going to sit back and let it happen again? Being gay isn’t a crime; being gay should not be against the law. How many LGBT Russians are living in fear that they might be arrested for simply being themselves?

And how are we, as a people, a country, a planet, going to feel if we do nothing?

As I said, a boycott affects the athletes; pouring Stoli down a drain is a symbolic gesture that is a waste of time. Cancel the games; tell Russia that no one is coming; tell Putin that we won’t stand by and clap and cheer as he sends gays and lesbians to their deaths.

Move the games, even if it takes an extra year to find a new venue, or ready a pre-existing one. Move the games and let the athletes compete without fear of persecution, and then, as a people, a country, a world, stand up to Putin and Russia and tell them we will not let this happen.

Not again. 

Washington Senator Mike Hewitt's Office Says The Gays Should Fend For Ourselves In The Face Of Discrimination

We all know that Washington State has some pretty cool politicians because they passed marriage equality there last year and, well, the state hasn’t fallen into the sea or succumbed to earthquakes and such.

But, while most people are okay with The Gays and marriage, we all know that Barronelle Stutzman was not. As the owner of a flower shop she gladly took money from The Gays for flowers for years, but then, lo and behold, when a gay couple asked her to do the flowers for their upcoming wedding, suddenly Stutzman conjured up the Baby Jeebus and he told her not to do floral arrangements for The Gay Marriages.

Then Washington state decided to get into the act and charge her with discrimination—which is what she’s doing—and then the Washington state Republicans decided to push their snouts into the mix and are working to pass a bill to make discriminating against The Gays legal. Yes, they want to make discrimination legal.

Well, Jay Castro, a reader of Slog—from whence this post came… see HERE—called Washington state Republican Senator Mike Hewitt's office to ask about Hewitt's co-sponsorship of that bill to legalize discrimination of The Gays and Castro says he was told this:

“Gay people should be prepared to fend for themselves.”

Now, Jay Castro, and most people capable of rational thought, knows that the likelihood of a bill legalizing discrimination will not likely pass, but Castro was concerned that other businesses might try to follow the lead of Barronelle Stutzman. So, during his round of phone calls to legislators, he posed this question:

"What are rural gays supposed to do if the only gas station or grocery store for miles won't sell them gas and food?"

And he says a staffer at Hewitt's office replied:

"Well, gay people can just grow their own food."

Yes, we can grow our own food if stores refuse to sell to us; we can make our own clothes if a department stores ban us; we can form our own colony, hopefully surrounded by barbed wire, when people won’t rent to us, or sell to us. This is what the asshats in Senator Hewitt’s office suggest The Gays do.

Castro asked the staffer’s name, but the man refused, and reportedly said, "I don't have to tell you that," then, "Don't call here again," before hanging up the phone.

Again, this bill will most likely never pass because, well, people, most people, aren’t that stupid in Washington, but it does raise the question of what some legislators and their office staff would like to do to The Gays.

Round us up and put us in communes where we can exist alone without bothering anyone. What was that thing that happened the last time people, who were deemed different, were rounded up and sent away?

Yeah. Of course, that won’t happen here, right? It couldn’t, right?

Another Hero Passes

Miep Gies, the Dutch citizen who helped Anne Frank and her family hide from the Nazis during World War II and discovered the writing that became Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, passed away Monday at age 100.

Gies was the last of the living non-Jews who assisted the Frank family as they hid in a secret annex in Amsterdam for 25 months before the hide-out was raided. During that time, the young Frank, who later perished in a concentration camp, wrote what would become her famous diary, which continues to be a global best-seller.

“People should never think that you have to be a very special person to help those who need you.”