Blythe del Kuzio

Fox News host Jesse Watters continues to impress with his imbecilic takes on gender, anything gay, trans issues — and now what he’s mischaracterizing as “gender season.” In a recent Fox News segment which Watters calls “DEI Thursday,” the one-time “funny” Fox contributor and now pale imitation to Tucker Carlson twisted a nuanced personal video narrative, made by U.K. nonbinary activist Dee Whitnell, into a mocking takedown of a concept way over the JV host’s head. In Whitnell’s video, released earlier this month, they talk about how their gender expression is affected by the seasons. “I feel more masculine in the summertime. I wear more masculine clothing, I wear shorts. I normally have my hair up more and I just feel more ‘boy’, whereas in the winter – for some reason – girl mode comes out and I’m loving skirts and dresses and having my hair down.” “This isn’t saying that all trans individuals experience this because that’s just not the case, or that seasons determine your gender...

A gay man who was targeted with relentless harassment – including being called slurs by his coworkers – won $60,000 as part of a settlement with his former employer, Memphis Tennessee’s Amerigo Italian Restaurant. The case, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. J.H.S. Holdings, LLC et al , took place after a gay employee filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that alleged he was facing intense discrimination at his workplace. He claims that this discrimination led to his false firing for a no-call/no-show, in spite of his attempts to contact management. The ex-employee in the case stated that he was subject to numerous homophobic slurs and insults by other employees, which management ignored despite his reaching out for assistance. Straight employees did not face the same treatment. The two companies who were named in the suit, 4Top Hospitality Group, Inc. and J.H.S. Holdings, LLC, have to provide anti-discrimination training to their employ...

Conservative politicians often argue that gender-affirming care should be restricted because those who receive it end up regretting it. However, a new study shows that fewer than 1% of patients who undergo gender-affirming surgical procedures end up regretting it. In fact, rates of regret are higher for people who get tattoos, elective plastic surgeries, bariatric weight loss surgeries, or have children, the study found. The study’s findings reflect those of other research showing that gender-affirming care benefits its recipients. It also contradicts some findings of the United Kingdom’s recent Cass Review , a study that has been criticized for bias that cited regretful de-transitioners as a reason to limit gender-affirming healthcare for adults up to age 26. The study, published in The American Journal of Surgery , conducted a systematic review of three databases, 55 articles, and three literature reviews covering regrets after surgical and non-surgical major life decisions. Rese...

Four Southern states have joined together with four conservative organizations to sue the Biden administration over a recently issued rule banning anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in education. Earlier this month,  the Department of Education (DOE) unveiled new Title IX rules  to address the needs of LGBTQ+ students. The rules interpret Title IX, which bans discrimination on the basis of sex in education, as a legal protection against anti-LGBTQ+ school policies. The idea is that it’s impossible to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity without taking sex into account, a legal argument that the Supreme Court has already used in its 2020  Bostock v. Clayton Co.  ruling with respect to job discrimination. With the new rule, any school that receives federal funding will no longer be able to discriminate against LGBTQ+ students. This could affect states and school districts with policies to out LGBTQ+ students to their parents or ban trans stude...

A U.S. appellate court ruled today that North Carolina and West Virginia have been discriminating against transgender people by failing to cover gender-affirming care. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit had taken on two cases concerning gender-affirming care access in both states. Kadel v. Folwell challenged the exclusion of trans government employees from gender-affirming healthcare coverage, while Anderson v. Crouch opposed the exclusion of low-income trans people from the state’s Medicaid program. “The North Carolina State Health Plan and the West Virginia Medicaid Program discriminate on the basis of gender identity and sex in violation of the Equal Protection Clause,” said the judges representing the majority ruling in the order . Due to the similarity of both cases, they were combined into one ruling, which affirmed the decision of the North Carolina district court and the West Virginia district court that refusing to cover transgender individuals constitutes ...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced that he has sued the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) over new Title IX guidelines that make discrimination against LGBTQ+ students in education illegal. “Texas will not allow Joe Biden to rewrite Title IX at whim, destroying legal protections for women in furtherance of his radical obsession with gender ideology,” Paxton said in a statement. “This attempt to subvert federal law is plainly illegal, undemocratic, and divorced from reality. Texas will always take the lead to oppose Biden’s extremist, destructive policies that put women at risk.” Earlier this month, the DOE unveiled new Title IX rules to address the needs of LGBTQ+ students. The rules interpret Title IX, which bans discrimination on the basis of sex in education, as a legal protection against anti-LGBTQ+ school policies. The idea is that it’s impossible to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity without taking sex into account, a legal argume...

In 1985, when Ian Paterson sat down to decide his yearbook quote, he went with his ambition: “My ambition is to attend U of A and obtain my education degree. I plan to eventually settle down in a quiet suburb with a tall, rich, hunky man with a bushy moustache.” Paterson had already come out as gay in a poem in his high school’s literary magazine, a rare and brave choice for a young man living during the 1980s, during the AIDS crisis when homophobia ran rampant.  But Paterson’s high school nixed the quote. In response, Paterson started a petition and raised 300 signatures to allow him to have his original quote published and accused his school administration of homophobia. Though it made national news and was featured on a current affairs and documentary show, Peterson was ultimately unsuccessful in reinstating his quote. Instead, it read, “I plan to eventually settle down in a quiet suburb with a tall, rich companion.” Thirty-eight years later, Paterson’s quote is back in the ...

Actress and singer Bette Midler has collaborated on a satirical advertisement for a Donald Trump-themed perfume that makes you smell like “a big fat loser,” as Midler sings in the first line. The video was created by news site The Meidas Touch , and Midler provided the vocals. In it, she sings, “You can smell just like a big fat loser. You can reek like a repulsive fool.” Meanwhile, overlay text states “odor in the court,” mocking the fact that Trump has allegedly been farting during his ongoing criminal trial in New York. Midler continues, “With a hint of sexual abuses and toxic notes of universal ridicule. If you like a fragrance that’s psychotic, infused with rage and defamation too, a litany of liks so pathologic, Eau du Trump is certainly the stench for you.” The video then lists a tongue-in-cheek series of potential side effects, including stupidity, incessant whining, deceit, disgrace, treason, and comb overs. In 2019, Trump called Midler a “washed up psycho” in a Twitt...

The Iraqi Parliament has passed a law punishing homosexuals with 10 to 15 years in prison; transgender, gender-nonconforming people with one to three years in prison; and anyone who “promotes” homosexuality with seven years. The law has been criticized by the U.S. State Department and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups. Parliament passed the “Law on Combating Prostitution and Homosexuality,” an amendation of a 1988 anti-sex work law, on April 27, with 170 out of 329 members of Parliament supporting the law. Most supporters were from highly conservative Shia Muslim parties, The Star Observer reported . An earlier version punished homosexuality with the death penalty, but that provision was removed after strong opposition from the U.S. and European nations. In addition to criminalizing same-sex acts and “promoting” homosexuality, the new provisions criminalize individuals who undergo gender-affirming healthcare as well as medical professionals who provide such care. It also criminalizes...

Planet Fitness locations across the country have continued to receive bomb threats in the wake of an anti-transgender boycott campaign spearheaded by anti-LGBTQ+ hate influencer Chaya Raichik’s Libs of TikTok social media accounts. Media Matter reports that at least 53 Planet Fitness locations in 20 states have now reported receiving bomb threats. Earlier this month, the media watchdog group reported that 17 of the company’s gyms had reported receiving bomb threats . Those making the threats didn’t follow through on any of them. Since that April 5 report, Planet Fitness locations, including some that had already been targeted previously, reported 36 more threats, Media Matters reported this week. Raichik began posting about the national gym chain in mid-March after Patricia Silva, a cisgender Alaska woman, claimed that her Planet Fitness membership had been revoked due to her complaints about a transgender woman using the women’s locker room. However, in a statement, Planet Fitnes...

Actress Sophia Bush has come out as queer at age 41 after rumors of a relationship between her and soccer star Ashlyn Harris began swirling last year. Bush’s essay in Glamour magazine details the immense pain she felt during her year-long marriage to entrepreneur Grant Hughes, as she knew something wasn’t right but felt completely trapped. She also expressed her profound love for Harris and emphasized that both of them were already deep into their respective divorces — including Harris’s from fellow soccer star Ali Krieger — before they fell in love. When folks first began to suspect their relationship, there was a lot of speculation that it was born of a cheating situation. “People looking in from the outside weren’t privy to just how much time it took, how many painful conversations were had,” she said. “A lot of effort was made to be graceful with other people’s processing, their time, and obligations, and their feelings.” “[In] what felt like seconds after I started to see wh...

Within the patriarchal, Christian, white supremacist structure that has perennially held power in the United States since colonial times, the issues that hold the highest sway among dominant group members in the 2024 election – even more than “it’s the economy stupid” – center on the so-called “cultural war” issues of God, Gays, Gates, and Guns (all connected to fears of invasion). God: Christians as “Innocent” and “Pure” The increasing numbers of school districts clamping down on students’ access to books and other resources on sexuality, gender identity, race, and the “hard” history of the United States conforms directly with major foundational principles of patriarchal Christian white supremacy. At a December 2022 panel titled “Straight White American Jesus” on the topic of white Christian nationalism in the United States, speakers talked of major components of Christian nationalism, specifically the “innocence” in history, and the “purity culture.” Sara Moslener , a l...

LGBTQ+ folks and allies are outraged at pop musician Katy Perry for posting a thank you message to X owner and Tesla founder Elon Musk for sending her a Cybertruck. “thx for the delivery,” Perry wrote, alongside a photo of herself posing in a red dress against the truck, for thousand of which have been recalled by Tesla due to issues with the accelerator pedals. Musk is extremely anti-trans and has let anti-LGBTQ+ hate run rampant on X since taking over the company formerly known as Twitter. Perry, long considered an LGBTQ+ icon, has disappointed many by seemingly fangirling over Musk – though it has not been lost on some users that these critics are expressing their anger on a Musk-owned site. Elon Musk is a transphobic misogynist. How much did you get paid for this? — Arthur (@ArthurBaitson) April 23, 2024 Do better — Alexander R (@_Alexander_R__) April 23, 2024 Girl you can’t be doing this if you wanna make a comeback https://t.co/t6DdP3qE19 — jorge (@WTFJX...

Eli. Underwood likes  the experience of voting in person, but they now have to vote by mail. Underwood went to a Detroit church to cast a ballot in the 2022 general elections, but chronic health conditions meant the two flights of stairs to the basement taxed them badly; living with Long Covid as well, Underwood was frustrated by the unventilated space and unmasked poll workers.  “It caused me great physical pain and anxiety, which made me angry and sad,” Underwood said. “It communicated to me that my vote doesn’t matter and I shouldn’t bother.” Extreme fatigue, pain, nausea, and headaches followed.  Polling locations are supposed to be accessible to all voters, including disabled and aging ones. But nearly  one in five polling locations  in the United States is a church, and religious entities are exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act, key civil rights legislation that helped establish that protection. A  2022 survey ...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has agreed to drop his pursuit of information on transgender patients who have been treated at Seattle Children’s Hospital. The agreement comes as part of a settlement announced Monday between Paxton’s office and the Washington state hospital, the Texas Tribune reports . Seattle Children’s Hospital sued the Texas AG’s office in December, seeking to block a November 17 subpoena demanding records pertaining to any Texas patients who received gender-affirming care at the hospital. Paxton believed that Seattle Children’s was providing puberty blockers and hormone therapy to minors in Texas, where such treatment has been banned for young people since last August. But gender-affirming care for minors is legal in the state of Washington, and the hospital argued in its lawsuit that Paxton’s office does not have jurisdiction over it. Furthermore, in a sworn affidavit the hospital system’s chief medical operations officer said that Seattle Children’s d...