Sunday, December 31, 2023

2023 was a tough year for the planet, but thank the Universe for Jimbo!

It's been a tough year for the world.  

Fascism and dictatorship are on the rise, while democracies are under constant attack.  War continued in Ukraine thanks to the most evil person on the planet: Putin.  

Fascist Islamic antisemitic hatred in the form of Hamas also lashed out and brutally murdered 1,200 Israeli citizens and kidnapped over 200 more in southern Israel on Oct 7th.  

The Israeli response pushed back hard, as any decent country would, launching a war against the Hamas cowards, who willingly again hid among their own people in Gaza, thus causing Gazan casualties to skyrocket.   

Fascism continued to rise in the U.S. with the dangerous man child Donald Trump continuing to seize attention and win the hearts of the deplorables in the morally bankrupt Republican Party.   

Other forms of bigotry skyrocketed too, inspired by Donald Trump and other fascists.  

Trans youth, perhaps the most vulnerable and misunderstood human beings on the planet, were the targets of amoral, despicable right-wing politicians and others eager to join the fascist bandwagon.  

There was decent pushback though.  Jack Smith courageously charged the fascist Trump with many crimes in the U.S. surrounding his efforts to destroy American democracy.  Trump and co-conspirators also faced other charges in the state of Georgia and Florida.   

Those who believe in the rule of law continue to demand it be followed.  We'll see if Republican-leaning judges still stand by it too in 2024.  America may be reverting to fascist / sociopathic rule one year from now if some polls are to be believed (I don't believe them.)   

I'm lucky to be with my loving husband going into 2024.  My family is relatively well and happy.  My friends are still pushing through despite some personal setbacks this year.  I'm thankful for so many good things and pledge to continue to work hard to better those things I can change.  

As I look back at this year, I remember the great art and entertainment that brought me and many others happiness.  

My favourite pop culture icon to re-emerge with a hilarious vengeance: Canadian-born drag queen superstar Jimbo, who won Rupaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 8.  

Yes, they've had eight All Stars seasons.  This Canuck made me proud and helped me laugh my ass off this year.  Put aside your worries and enjoy some of the highlights below as you end out 2023:

 

Saturday, December 30, 2023

My Favourite Films of 2023 - FINAL

Barry Keoghan in Saltburn
 

FINAL UPDATE January 18, 2024:  I'm happy once again to share my annual list of my favourite films released this past year.  When I first posted this on December 30th, 2023, I hadn't yet seen all of the major 2023 releases I wanted.  But as of this week, I've finally seen everything I expected to be near the top of my list.  

Here is my list of 2023 favourites, in order! 

1. Saltburn - This one is not for everyone's tastes. I tend to prefer well done films that I also find super fun to watch over and over as my top pics every year. If some of the cultural politics around a film also appeal to my sensibilities, that helps a lot. This year, this darkly comedic, artful, satirical thriller takes the cake on so many levels. Adorable and talented Irish actor Barry Keoghan gets his sexy star turn as an Oxford scholarship student who befriends the rich son of an aristocratic family, and spends the summer at their lovely castle estate named Saltburn.  This wicked tale exposes and demolishes the stupidity of its upper class characters, who spend the movie largely bullying Keoghan's lead, slowly laying the groundwork for their fates. Additional viewings of this flick are essential, especially the final scene featuring a very naked Keoghan dancing throughout the mansion, probably the hottest, most beautiful image released on film this year.  This is an instant class revenge / queer classic from director Emerald Fennell, who proves her stunning feature debut Promising Young Woman was no fluke, but the start of a hopefully long, great filmmaking career. 

 

2. Oppenheimer - Probably Christopher Nolan’s most accomplished film, he paints a chilling picture of science and technology in cahoots with military and geo-political forces racing to beat the Nazis at the end of World War II.  Cillian Murphy is perfectly subdued as the head scientist grappling with his own ethics.  The rest of the cast, let alone the technical achievements here are stunning.  The notion these nuclear scientists literally gambled on destroying the planet by conducting the first atom bomb experiment, depicted here as only Nolan can with minimal special effects, is bone chilling.  It is three hours long, and by the end many might feel overloaded with details.  I’m not sure what could possibly have been cut, though.  I am sure Nolan’s headed to a well-deserved Best Director Oscar at the Academy Awards in March 2024.   

 

3. American Fiction - I missed this film at the Toronto International Film Festival where it won the Audience Award in 2023. Finally, I caught the film in January 2024 and it's utterly wonderful, goodhearted, smart, and hilarious! Oh, man, this is so good. Jeffrey Wright plays an African-American fiction writer unable to get his next serious and straight-laced book published, and frustrated by what he deems the plethora of badly written "black trauma porn" stories finding massive audiences on the market. So he decides to write his own version of said black trauma porn called "My Pafology," which he later renames "Fuck". Hilariously, publishers eat it up and the book gets published and becomes a huge hit, even the movie rights get sold, leading to a deeply funny, ironic, perfect ending. I'm still chuckling about moments in this film days later. Plus, the characters and family story lines here are so enjoyable and moving. Overall, a great viewing experience!

 

4. Poor Things - Yorgos Lanthimos' latest masterpiece is also more charming, engaging and energetic than his previous great works (which include The Favourite and The Lobster). I loved the sharp hilarious writing in this edgy re-working of the Frankenstein story. Emma Stone is perfect, as are all the actors involved. This is very much deserving of the praise it's receiving. The art direction, costume design, hair and make-up, and all other technical aspects of this film are beyond beautiful. The stunning attention to detail is so welcome, giving this bizarre fantasy comedy such vibrancy, especially on the big screen. It probably didn't need all the nudity, but it certainly adds to the rawness of the festivities.

  

5. The Zone of Interest - British Jewish director Jonathan Glazer presents here perhaps the most quietly disturbing and unforgettable portrait of civilized evil I’ve seen on film in years.  The Nazi commandant in charge of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, lives alongside the horrific camp in a lovely house and grounds with his German wife and children.  We never see directly inside Auschwitz, only its foreboding walls and barbed wire, plus we often hear sounds of gunshots, dogs barking, muffled screams and trains pulling into the camp.  We also occasionally see the burning smokestacks especially horrifying at night shining shades of fiery red through closed bedroom curtains.  Much focus is paid to how these characters try to normalize everything about their existences, focusing on the comforts and beauties they cling to, including garden flowers (occasionally covered by human ash) and swanky parties amongst the Nazi elites in the area.  When the commandant is threatened with a transfer to another camp, it’s despicable how his wife fights to stay in her “fantasy” home they’ve spent years striving to build.  Living next to Auschwitz is literally her dream come true.  These characters are all complicit in the evil that surrounds them.  Evil’s fascination and comfort with physically beautiful things makes those things seem complicit too.  

 

6. Barbie - I have to say this film delivers on the social commentary and satire we hoped it would.  It is truly a new feminist masterpiece!  The acting by Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as her boyfriend Ken is stupendous, particularly Gosling whose performance is the stuff of comic genius (and will likely be rewarded with a Best Supporting Actor nomination early in 2024.)  But the biggest accomplishment is the writing by Greta Gurwig and Noah Baumbach.  America Ferrera’s monologue on the impossible challenges of being a woman is a stand-out.  This film’s massive international success reminds us that you can recycle a concept or even a toy brand and turn it into something modern, smart, thought-provoking, supremely funny and entertaining, as long as the creatives in charge are uniquely talented.

 

7. Killers of the Flower Moon - Martin Scorcese’s latest masterpiece depicts a series of murders of Osage members and relations in the Osage Nation after oil was discovered on tribal land.  The tribal members had retained mineral rights on their reservation, and thus became the targets of racist, greedy white invaders trying to get their hands on that wealth.  The story focuses on how William King Hale (played by Robert De Niro) manipulates his simpleton nephew Ernest Burkhart (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) into marrying Mollie Kyle (played by Lily Gladstone), an Osage woman whose family owned oil head rights.  The film is long at 3.5 hours, but still kept me engaged throughout, but perhaps my bathroom break at the halfway point missing a few minutes helped with my viewing stamina (note to movie theatres: it’s time to bring back 10-minute intermissions to give the audience a break so they can comfortably endure ever-longer feature films.)  Nevertheless, this is a timely exploration of the immense evil that took shape around a little known and tragic period of racist American history. 

 

8. The Holdovers - Touching, beautiful, this is a quiet masterpiece about a brilliant but cantankerous classics teacher (Paul Giamatti) charged with supervising a handful of high school boys at their private school over the Christmas holidays in early 1970s New England.  Particular focus is on the emotional and intellectual bond that forms between Giamatti and one brilliant young student played by newcomer Dominic Sessa.  Da’Vine Joy Randolph as a mourning mother who keeps the males at the school fed adds to the delight of this latest masterpiece by Sideways director Alexander Payne.  I do agree this is Payne’s best film and will warm your heart if you give it a chance.

 

9. Anatomy of a Fall - A refreshing take on the whodunnit / courtroom drama, this French film with a tonne of English dialogue details the criminal investigation and trial of a successful writer after the surprise death of her less-successful writer husband at the family chalet.  The only witness is her partially blind young son.  Sandra Huller plays the woman to perfection, leaving us wondering throughout if she’s guilty or not.  The gripping conclusion unfolds organically, giving great satisfaction and emotional authenticity to a tragic situation.

  

10. All of Us Strangers - This lovely film is more muted and minimalist than I anticipated, but still quite moving. The story is about a lonely gay man in London, UK played by the beloved Andrew Scott. Approaching middle age and somewhat dissatisfied with his screenwriting career, he visits his childhood home where he miraculously finds his parents, both dead since they were killed tragically when he was 12, alive and the same age as he last saw them. Of course, this film engages in a lot of magic surrealism, integrating this mental and emotional exploration of the past with the present, as the lonely man simultaneously begins a new relationship with an attractive and equally lonely neighbour played by Paul Mescal. The effect is deeply authentic, but might leave some strangely dissatisfied with its quiet ending. There are no easy resolutions in life, and this film admits it readily, while still being beautiful.

 

11. Past Lives - A remarkably endearing and honest cross-decades romance about revisiting old loves who got away.  The best straight romance of the year.

 

12. The Killer - David Fincher again delivers shocking action and tension in this artful and well-written thriller about an assassin (played by the always sexy Michael Fassbender) who screws up on the job and then spends the rest of the movie (very efficiently) cleaning it up.

 

13. Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse - This animated adventure sequel (as well as the first Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse) adds as much if not more wonderful depth, character development and intrigue than most of the live action versions. 

 

14. Asteroid City - Another quirky delight from Wes Anderson, who brought us one of my favourite films in The Grand Budapest Hotel.  This one is less funny and accomplished, but still greatly entertaining.  The alien visitation scene is worth the price of admission.  

 

15. Maestro - I enjoyed this somewhat flawed character study about uber talented conductor Leonard Bernstein.  Bradley Cooper completely inhabits the character and is 100% convincing in all aspects of the role including the musical genius, body language, and frequent queerness.  I also bought into the romance with his true love played by Carey Mulligan, the woman who accepts him unconditionally.  Cooper does suck up most of the oxygen but Mulligan does hold her own next to him.

 

16. One Life - I saw this at TIFF 2023, although it won’t be released until 2024.  This moving, absorbing story about a British humanitarian who helped save 700 Jewish refugee children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia just before the start of World War II is made greater by the ever-wonderful Anthony Hopkins in the title role.  

 

17. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 - I’ve loved this trilogy in all of its naughty, original, hilarious, once-impossible-to-produce glory. Oddly for this third part in the trilogy, I found myself tearing up on several occasions. But also laughing out loud often.  This features another great vocal performance by Bradley Cooper who again plays Rocket, arguably the lead character this time around. 

  

18. Rustin - Colman Domingo is great in this good film about activist Bayard Rustin whose friendship with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. set the groundwork for the 1963 March on Washington.  

 

19. Nyad - Annette Bening delivers as Diana Nyad, the marathon swimmer repeatedly attempting to cross from Cuba to Key West.  But I especially loved Jodie Foster as her best friend who provides essential support to Nyad's exhausting efforts. 

20. Air - Thoroughly entertaining story about the partnership between a visionary Nike executive played by Matt Damon and basketball legend Michael Jordan that revolutionized the world of sports marketing and athlete compensation in major commercial deals. 

21. John Wick: Chapter 4 - Delivers what John Wick films have always delivered, but even more.  And with more beautiful art direction. 

Disappointing:

May December - Decent enough, although not at all convincing and ultimately disappointing film from the inconsistent Todd Haynes.  Natalie Portman is always interesting to watch in this, while Julianne Moore simply wasn’t.  Was she underwritten? It would seem so. I also didn’t buy the central story set-up of an actress spending weeks with her troubled subject before shooting a movie, nor did I believe Charles Melton’s character only now comes to realize he might've been exploited by the love of his life.  Far too easy a conclusion for a film that pretended to be more nuanced.

The Little Mermaid - Fine enough adaptation, but overly slow and often boring. Stick with the animated original. 

Not interested in seeing: 

Napoleon - Sadly, director Ridley Scott has been phoning it in for years now and, from what I can see, this film looks horribly inaccurate and heavy-handed with tropes that were tired in Scott films directed 20 years ago, let alone today.

I still need to see these films, in order:

Blackberry 

Origin 

The Color Purple

Priscilla

The Marvels

Passages

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One

Wonka 

The Boys In The Boat

Ferrari

Haunting In Venice

Dicks: The Musical

Dream Scenario

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

Eileen

The Boy and the Heron
Memory

Manodrome

The Iron Claw

Pain Hustlers 

Dumb Money

Bottoms

Anyone But You


Monday, October 16, 2023

Today's tonic: Poland frees itself from its neo-fascist, homophobic, anti-democratic government and embraces change

Donald Tusk, leader of the Civic Coalition

Amid the many horrors in Israel and Palestine this past week or so, this little bit of international good news is extremely welcome. 

Exit polls indicate that Polish voters this past weekend have given their progressive and centrist opposition parties enough seats in their next parliament to form a government, thus turfing out the far right neo-fascists of the Law and Justice Party, also known as PiS.   Now that's an appropriate term for these jerks.  

The neo-fascists greatly hurt many democratic ideals during their eight years of elected power in the country, including taking away women's rights over their own bodies by virtually outlawing abortion, threatening the independence of the judiciary and press freedom too by taking hold of the state broadcaster, and attacking LGBTQ rights.   

"The exit polls suggested that the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party received the most votes (about 36.6%), but that Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition together with two other opposition parties should have a route to a parliamentary majority.

Tusk, who was Polish prime minister between 2007 and 2014 and then became European Council president for five years, declared victory almost immediately after polls closed on Sunday, claiming there was no route for PiS to claim a third term in office.

“It’s the end of the evil times, it’s the end of the PiS rule. We made it,” Tusk said, speaking at a party event inside Warsaw’s ethnography museum to the sound of cheers from supporters. “We won democracy, we won freedom, we won our free, beloved Poland … this day will be remembered in history as a bright day, the rebirth of Poland.”

An updated exit poll released on Monday put PiS on 36.6% and Tusk’s Civic Coalition on 31%, with strong showings also for two groups that could form a coalition with Tusk: the centre-right Third Way (13.5%) and the leftwing Lewica (8.6%). The poll projects that the opposition coalition will win about 248 out of 460 seats.   

Final results are still coming in, but it seems clear change is coming for Poland. 

Wonderful news for democracy and freedoms for all.  

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

No one is imposing "gender ideology" on children in schools, decent folks are trying to save trans & queer kids' lives and anti-LGBTQ protesters today are simply trying to hurt or even kill them

Let's call a spade a spade.

Gender-non-conforming kids and queer kids in our schools are extremely vulnerable to bullying, discrimination, harassment, and violence. 

This was my experience as a gay youth in my high school.  Sadly, it's the experience of most queer youth. 

Kids who are questioning their identities aren't a new phenomenon.  

Kids who are today questioning their gender identities are simply authentically asking these questions because we live in an era when many correctly have come to understand that trans and non-binary people are, have always been, and always will be a small but very beautiful part of the human family.  This has to happen in safe spaces where such kids don't fear violence, harassment and ignorance.  

So-called One Million March for Children Canada protesters marching today to promote hatred, purportedly to defend children, are actually attacking children including their safety.  They are promoting an environment which promotes violence and intolerance of children.  They are making their lives more dangerous. Period. 

Sadly, these anti-gay protesters are, in truth, trying to hurt or even kill these vulnerable youth.  

If their rights are denied, if their lives are disregarded and negatively impacted by these ignorant crackdowns on rights, many of these vulnerable youth will suffer, choose suicide or self-harm.  

I'm thrilled many counter protesters, who seem to outnumber these bigots in many places, are out in full force today to communicate clearly the rights of these kids matter.   

This debate is simple: what's more important?  The best interests of children in our care?  Or parents who may be so ignorant about their children's identities they need schools to tell them these truths.  Those parents need to have better relationships with their kids.  Not strip all queer kids of their rights.   

The safety, security and best interests of children and youth in our care should always be the top priority of adults, parents, educators and all.  Everything else is secondary.  

Parents do not have the right to undermine children's safety.  

#NoSpaceForHate

ADDENDUM

I just want to add that I think our laws need no changes or inappropriate interventions from government.  Educators are already empowered to inform parents when concerns about a child or youth’s safety or security arise.  

I simply don’t agree schools should be legally compelled by government to inform parents if a youth decides to experiment with name changes or gender identities.  It’s one size fits all and inappropriate.  Instead, if there is an issue of safety or security for the youth, including if they are vulnerable to self harm, and educators believe the parents must know about the situation, then of course parents must be informed.  

I also don’t believe outing kids should be banned as there might be cases when that’s appropriate as it’s in the best interests of the children for their parents to know.  

I’m against banning outing and I’m against mandatory outing.  Every situation is different.

I compare it to a case of a Muslim or Christian student who decides at their school to explore a different religion.  Imagine if the government compelled schools then to inform parents of those choices.  It would be unconscionable. So why must gender identity be treated differently?


Saturday, September 16, 2023

Today's tonic: "My question for Doug Ford: When it comes to gender who is indoctrinating whom?"

Today's tonic: "My question for Doug Ford: When it comes to gender who is indoctrinating whom?" by Toronto Star writer Emma Teitel.

"This entire gender identity freakout rests on the wildly idealistic belief that “woke-ism” has eviscerated age old gender norms. In truth, it’s hardly dented them. In order to genuinely believe gender norms are eroding one must live his entire life at the centre of a pride parade. Because to walk around mainstream society — and to raise a child in mainstream society — is to be hit over the head at every turn with the reminder that girls are girls and boys are boys, and don’t you forget it.

Saturday, September 2, 2023

Today's tonic: "Stephen Lecce’s stance on gender identity in schools is a recipe for more homeless youth"

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce
Today's tonic: "Stephen Lecce’s stance on gender identity in schools is a recipe for more homeless youth", by writer Emma Teitel.  

Let's imagine young Stephen Lecce tells his teacher at his Ontario high school in the 1990s or 2000s that he's gay and suffering from discrimination and bullying.   His teacher suggests he tell his parents about it because they may be able to help.  But young Mr. Lecce tells the teacher his parents have been saying homophobic things his whole life, and he worries their conservative Catholic upbringing may lead them to reject him as a son. 

Young Mr. Lecce then joins his school's straight-gay alliance to find support.  But then, the government adopts a policy if teenagers join such clubs in high school, even private high schools, the high school is then legally obliged to inform Lecce's parents about it (unlike any other club the student may join in high school.)  The revelation leads to young Mr. Lecce getting into a major fight with his parents who contend he's humiliating their family.  The fight becomes violent and young Mr. Lecce is ordered to "straighten up or get out!"  The next day young Mr. Lecce leaves home and becomes homeless.  What kind of future will he have now? 

This scenario is fiction, but sadly rings true to the experiences of many queer youth.  Something like it could have even happened to Stephen Lecce, for all I know.  (Although Ontario's Catholic high schools including private schools like his St. Michael's College certainly didn't have any gay-straight alliances in the 1990s or 2000s, so not as written above.)

Even so, it's disappointing that Lecce isn't showing more expressed sympathy for the trans youth whose rights and basic safety he is now putting up for debate in Ontario.  All of his talk of late has been about parents' rights. 

He's wrong.  This debate should be about the best interests and safety of the children in our care.  Full stop. 

The hysteria that is being spread by the conservative right on this issue - like all hysteria spread by the right - is corrosive and will only lead to more pain and violence.  And in this case homelessness.  And is just being pushed to distract from other issues.  

It's shameful and gross.  It could lead to the destruction of young lives before they even have a chance to start or to find out who they truly are. 

Whatever happened to personal freedom and autonomy?  Erring on the side of personal freedom rather than government control?  Apparently for conservatives, that policy only applies when you are exactly like them, and the more different you are, the less freedom and autonomy you should have. 

Do you agree with them?  I sure don't.  I wish Stephen Lecce would provide something resembling leadership here rather than the usual, thoughtless, and in his case hypocritical, conservative ideology. 

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/stephen-lecce-s-stance-on-gender-identity-in-schools-is-a-recipe-for-more-homeless/article_5d8ddef1-a5f2-5df6-a139-4045f712329f.html

Friday, August 25, 2023

Conservatives circle their hateful wagons around trans people; Have any of you ever actually met and spoken with a trans person?

My dear late friend Kyle Scanlon
I've been heartbroken watching the repeated, nasty attempts south of the border and now in Canada to demonize transgendered people, all for political gain.   

Trans folks have become the latest targets of the hate-filled right in North America determined to distract the masses from the immense damage that conservative economic policies are actually doing to most people.  

Conservatives always hurt the "little guy" whether they are straight or queer, female or male or non-binary, white or POC.

But to distract the little guy from what they're really doing, conservatives often love to find some unpopular or misunderstood minority group and demonize it, claiming the minority group is the greatest threat to ordinary families.  Through shared hatred, the conservatives attempt to bond with ordinary people.  Donald Trump is an expert on this strategy. 

I've lost count of the number of anti-trans laws that are spreading throughout the U.S., all based on ignorance and fear.  In Canada, New Brunswick has also started playing politics with the lives and safety of young trans kids in their schools, forcing teachers to disrespect and ignore the chosen names and pronouns of young trans kids in the classroom.  The result is a school system in New Brunswick that will be more hostile and dangerous for trans kids, who are the most vulnerable of our children.   

Now Pierre Poilievre's party is threatening to take this hatred nationally.  And PP has already called out Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for daring to speak up for vulnerable kids in Canadian schools.  

While I abhor the disgusting opportunism that conservatives are practising both here and in the U.S. to make political gains at the expense of the most vulnerable, I do understand the hesitation of some parents to get their heads around this issue.  

I get that most people, at first, react with some repulsion, or confusion, or ignorance to the whole trans issue.  Our society's gender norms are quite entrenched and when someone dares to live outside of those norms, they tend to stand out and draw much attention and, sadly often, scorn and violence.   

For me, I ask that you please try to put aside any misgivings and actually speak with and get to know trans people.  To learn from them. 

I had very little understanding of the lives of trans people until the mid-2000s when a longtime friend I'd first met as Kelli told me one night over drinks that his real name was "Kyle" and that he was in the process of transitioning to becoming a man.  

Kyle opened up my mind to the realities of trans life.  He told me stories about his childhood growing up in Hamilton, Ontario when he was still somewhat happy.  It wasn't until puberty struck and breasts began to form on his body (as a biologically born female) that a deep depression took hold.  No more could he pretend to be a "boy" as the body he was born with clearly no longer conformed with how he felt in his heart and head.   

Years of struggle, depression and denial ensued.  But finally in his adulthood, several years after coming out as a lesbian, Kyle embraced his true identity as a trans man.  He began taking medications and prepared for surgery which would bring his body more in line with his identity.  

Kyle was a sweet, loving, kind, smart, friendly man.  His transition did bring great happiness to his life and I know he lived many of his dreams.    

Alas, depression is a terrible thing and not so easily overcome.  Sadly, Kyle took his own life in 2012.  

I mourned him along with all of his friends and some family.  I often wonder if there was anything I could've done to be a better friend to him.  To help convince him to ignore the demons in his head and live longer.  I'm sure all of those who loved him have asked themselves the same things.  

Nevertheless, Kyle's legacy in all of our lives was to enrich us with great friendship and love.  And also greater understanding of his experience as a trans man.  I'll never forget what he taught me.  

For me, it's simple.  How can we as a society support gay people who are sexually attracted to their own gender?  And make room for gay people and even let us marry?   But not have support or acceptance in our hearts for people who simply don't conform with traditional male-female identities we've all inherited?  Is it that big a stretch?  I don't think so.  

We know masculinity and femininity are fluid and beautiful aspects of human life.  There is nothing wrong with being a woman, and nothing wrong with being a man.  Most of us don't fit neatly within the cultural gender confines we've inherited.  It makes sense to me that some of us would be biologically born one gender, but biologically or psychologically also find ourselves more identifying as another.  I'm not threatened by this reality.    

I ask all of you reading this: please, before you judge trans people and go along with any nasty campaigns against them, please seek out opportunities to talk with or learn more about actual trans people to find out their sides of the story.  Personalize the experience by actually speaking to the people in question.  And then, having listened to both sides, come to your conclusions. 

Please don't support misguided school policies that target trans youth without first speaking to trans youth to understand their points of view and what impacts those policies will have on their young lives.    

The way forward is always openness, communication and inclusivity.   Life is too short to make it torturous for the most vulnerable among us.  

Sunday, August 13, 2023

Today's tonic: "Michael Coren: My conversion on LGBTQ rights tells an important story"

Thank you, Michael Coren, for your advocacy and inspiration.  

"Jesus doesn’t mention the issue, and St. Paul’s comments, mainly in his letters to the Romans, are more about men using young male prostitutes in pagan initiation rites than about loving, consenting same-sex relationships. There is, however, one possible discussion in the New Testament. It’s when Jesus is approached by a centurion whose beloved male servant is dying. Will Jesus cure him? Of course, and Jesus then praises the Roman for his faith. The Greek word used to describe the relationship between the Roman and his “beloved” servant indicates something far deeper than mere platonic affection.

"Then there’s the love of David and Jonathan, Jesus refusing to judge and the pristine beauty of grace and justice that informs the Gospels. Most of all, there’s the permanent revolution of love that Jesus didn’t request but demand. His central teaching, remember, is to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. We’re told this in three of the four Gospels — Matthew (22:35-40), Mark (12:28-34) and Luke (10:27). It’s a transformational moment for Christians, to know that only by loving others can we properly know and love God." 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/12/opinions/priest-conversion-lgbt-rights-coren/index.html