The Daily Sheet - January to March 2023

[CellarDweller115]

Tuesday, January 10th, 2023

Revisiting ‘Brokeback Mountain’

When a finely crafted story lands up in the hands of a compassionate director, what emerges is an elusive yet haunting cinematic experience. Ang Lee’s movie adaptation of Annie Proulx’s acclaimed short story Brokeback Mountain is an intimate exploration of human turmoil, purpose and love set in the lush green snow-capped mountainous landscape of Wyoming. It takes us through the journey of Jack and Enis, two hardworking cowboys, who fall in love with each other when they take up a temporary paid gig of herding sheep on the steep pastures of Brokeback Mountain. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Jack Twist, the shy and vulnerable rodeo and Heath Ledger plays Enis Del Mar, the hot-headed yet deeply contemplative cowboy. Initially, shy about sharing their histories, they tend to the sheep and carry out the work as needed. The silence and cold air of Wyoming soon makes them open up to each other about their rough childhoods and far-fetched ambitions. Amidst the vast mountains, the two find solace in each other’s warmth and soon embark upon an ingrained human relationship which eventually becomes their fondest memory to hold on to. The story explores the consequences of not outgrowing a tendency to escape from what makes one truly happy due to societal factors. Proulx’s story was published in The New Yorker in 1997. The story also appeared in her short story collection — Close Range, which was published in 1999. Proulx spent most of her life in Northern Wyoming, amidst the intimidating, breathtaking mountains of endless greenery and intermittent snow patches. Revisiting ‘Brokeback Mountain’

Suspect Arrested In Edwin Chiloba's Death

Kenyan police on Friday said a suspect had been arrested in connection with the death of a prominent LGBTQ rights campaigner whose body was found stuffed into a metal box in the west of the country. Motorbike taxi riders alerted police after they saw the box dumped by the roadside from a vehicle with a concealed number plate, The Standard and The Daily Nation newspapers reported, quoting police sources. Activist Edwin Chiloba’s remains were found on Tuesday near Eldoret town in Uasin Gishu county, where he ran his fashion business, independent rights group the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) said. Research suggests acceptance of homosexuality is gradually increasing in Kenya, but it remains a taboo subject for many. The country’s film board has banned two films for their portrayals of gay lives in recent years. The death drew condemnation from several human rights groups, including the International Commission of Jurists Kenya section, which called for the speedy investigation and apprehension of those behind his killing. “Chiloba’s death is a tragedy and an affront to human dignity and violation of the right to life #JusticeForChiloba,” it said on Twitter. Suspect Arrested In Edwin Chiloba's Death New Packaging Features "Lesbian" M&Ms M&M's is launching woke 'all-female' packs to celebrate female empowerment and attempt to shake things up in a continued shift toward progressive branding. Mars, M&M's parent company, debuted the feminist candy wrappers earlier this week, exclusively featuring the company's three female mascots: green, brown and the newly-introduced purple. The all-female package - upside down, to show how powerful women have 'flipped the status quo' - will be the first time the brown and green M&Ms have been featured together since a viral tweet from 2015 sparked rumors they were a lesbian couple. The tweet contained a picture of the two characters holding hands on the beach, posted just two days after the Supreme Court effectively legalized gay marriage. In fact, a search for the two characters in the notorious fan fiction site Archive Of Our Own produces 11 different results. The green M&M supposedly posted the tweet herself, writing: 'It’s rare Ms. Brown and I get to spend time together without some colorful characters barging in.' Each of these limited run packages will only include the female-coded green, brown and purple versions of the miniature candies.  New Packaging Features "Lesbian" M&Ms Michigan's Civil Rights Commissioner Luke Londo said learning of his appointment to the Michigan Civil Rights Commission (MCRC) was the “second coolest” thing that happened to him that week. Becoming a dad was the first. And to be honest, he said, having applied for the Commission many months earlier, Londo forgot about it. “Three days after the birth of my son, on the way back from our very first pediatric appointment, I got a call from Gov. Whitmer’s office informing me that I was being appointed to the Michigan Civil Rights Commission,” said Londo, who is openly bisexual. He called it “the honor of a lifetime.” In 1964, Michigan became the first state to enshrine civil rights protections in its constitution. The Michigan Department of Civil Rights carries out the work of the Commission. While the MCRC is not a lawmaking body, it has power and influence. “The commission is so important, the department is so important, to really ensure that all Michiganders feel like they have a place they can come if they feel like their civil rights and human rights have been violated,” said Portia Roberson, chair of the MCRC. “There are a lot of education pieces that we have done and want to continue to do to really make people aware of the many issues that arise and that we can help them navigate.” As a bisexual man married to a woman and also a father, Londo acknowledges his privilege. He can pass easily, but chooses to be openly queer. He spoke of a time after being elected Executive Committeeman on the First Congressional District Republican party that he received pushback and realized there were people eager to use his sexual orientation against him. Michigan's Civil Rights Commissioner Transgender Health Care Targeted After a midterm election and record flow of anti-transgender legislation last year, Republican state lawmakers this year are zeroing in on questions of bodily autonomy with new proposals to limit gender-affirming health care and abortion access. More than two dozen bills seeking to restrict transgender health care access have been introduced across 11 states — Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia — for the legislative sessions beginning in early 2023. Bills targeting other facets of trans livelihood have been filed in many of the same states and are expected in several others with GOP majorities. Gender-affirming health care providers and parents of trans youths are the primary targets of these bills, many of which seek to criminalize helping a trans child obtain what doctors and psychologists widely consider “medically necessary care.” Erin Reed, a researcher who tracks transgender legislation, said statehouses where Republicans expanded their margins in the midterms will likely double down on anti-trans legislation this year and reintroduce some of the more drastic measures that didn’t pass in previous sessions. Transgender Health Care Targeted UK Census More Inclusive Transgender and non-binary people have been counted for the first time in the 220-year history of the census for England and Wales, which has revealed that 262,000 people identify as a gender different to their sex registered at birth. The number of people who said they were not the same gender as their birth sex amounted to 0.5% of the population that responded, lower than polling by Ipsos last summer in which 3.1% of people said they were trans, non-binary, gender queer or gender fluid, a gender or another gender that was not male or female. The tally is, however, similar to Canada, which in 2021 became the first country to apply a census to its transgender and non-binary population aged 15 and over, which found they made up 0.33% of the population. The England and Wales census also recorded sexuality for the first time, with 1.5 million people aged over 15 – or 3.2% – identifying as gay or lesbian, bisexual or other sexual orientation. The charity Stonewall, which has long called for the inclusion of gender and sexual identity questions, described the results as “a historic step”. Sexual identity has previously been monitored by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in its extensive annual population survey, but not through the fine detail of a census covering millions of people. The 2021 census found 748,000 (1.5%) people who described themselves as gay or lesbian, which was a slightly lower proportion than in the 2020 population survey. Six hundred and twenty-four thousand (1.3%) said they were bisexual, in line with the survey. UK Census More Inclusive Betty White - Gay Ally It’s been a year since the incomparable Betty White passed away, and it’s still hard to believe she’s no longer with us. The comedy legend and all-round icon tragically died at the ripe age of 99 on 31 December 2021, and an outpouring of grief swiftly followed. It’s not hard to see why – over the course of her seven-decade long career, she touched hearts and minds with her warmth and her extraordinary talent. It was her famously quick wit and her commitment to the art of camp that solidified her position as a gay icon in her heyday – but that wasn’t all. Over the course of her long career, Betty White proved time and time again that she was willing to stand up for the underdog. She cared deeply for her gay fans, and she was a passionate supporter of LGBTQ+ rights. As the world continues to mourn, we take a look back at eight times Betty White proved she was the ultimate LGBTQ+ icon and ally. Betty White - Gay Ally Your Laugh For The Day! Contributors: CellarDweller115 The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at http://www.ultimatebrokebackforum.com. Today's edition by KillersMom, CellarDweller115 Editors emeritae: CactusGal, Marge_Innavera, tellyouwhat, Stilllearning, MissYouSoMuch, gnash We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day. If you have items you’d like to see published, send them to CellarDweller115. To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, click the “Notify” button at the top or bottom of the page. When a new issue of TDS is posted, you will be notified by e-mail. The Daily Sheet Archives Respond to The Daily Sheet

[CellarDweller115]

Tuesday, January 24th, 2023

Larry McMurtry Honored

Larry McMurtry was honored with a Literary Landmark Dedication in a ceremony held at the Royal Theater on Friday, Nov. 18. and a plaque that was placed outside the Archer Public Library. Archer Public Library Librarian Gretchen Abernathy- Kuck opened the ceremony with opening remarks about McMurtry and the importance of this dedication. “I have learned so much about Larry McMurtry over this last year,” Abernathy-Kuck said. “And I hope tonight we can learn about, celebrate and honor his legacy with this gathering.” The Texas Center for the Book’s Rebekah Manley was one of many speakers during the ceremony. Manley was one of the main people spearheading the project with Abernathy- Kuck for the landmark distinction as the state only had five sites prior to this year. She said it has been wonderful to watch how the Archer County community rallied around the important distinction. “Literary Landmarks are special places which are located across the country that attract tourists, book lovers and history buffs to educate the public about the important literary works and history of the area,” Manley said. “A landmark is tied to a specific deceased figure, author or authors. It can be an author’s home, birthplace, a library where the work is crafted, an author’s burial site or in this case an author’s hometown.” Larry McMurtry Honored

Gay vs. Queer

As we’ve covered before, some gays aren’t fans of the word “queer”… and some queer folk aren’t so hot about the word “gay.” The two words aren’t as synonymous as homophobes would have you believe, but that hasn’t stopped those bullies from slinging both words as slurs. Twitter user @CoolRiderr recently sparked a debate over the two terms on Twitter, tweeting on January 5, “Quit calling gay people queer, we don’t like it.” Television writer Bryan Fuller, mastermind of the TV shows Pushing Daisies and Hannibal, was one of the famous figures who responded. “Queer is an inclusive word—that is the reason toxic white gay jocks don’t like it,” Fuller tweeted (in all caps, for emphasis). Preston Mitchum, Director of Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project, observed that the “we” in @CoolRiderr’s post “is doing a lot of work.” And singer-songwriter Simon Curtis tweeted, “A lot of us enjoy being as inclusive as possible and lean into language that fosters a more welcoming community. Gayness is queerness.” The debate also played out in the pages of The Guardian last weekend, after the newspaper reported that 15,000 people identified as queer in England and Wales’ latest census. In a letter to the editor published on January 13, reader Karl Lockwood of Brighton objected to that self-classification and said that he finds the term “insulting and derogatory, and certainly not ‘reclaimed.’” Gay vs. Queer New Lesbian Bar Opening Growing up gay in Worcester County, Danielle and Julie Spring both felt isolated from the kind of community they longed for. Even after the two met and married, Julie still faced homophobia from clients at her job as a hairdresser, while Danielle started several small businesses and slowly grew more comfortable with who she was, but still remained partly closeted. That all changed during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, when the Springs found themselves quarantined and watching TikTok videos about the lack of lesbian bars across the U.S. Now, almost three years later, Danielle and Julie are on the verge of opening what is ostensibly Worcester's first such venue, Femme Bar. "[Danielle] found a few lesbian bars that were in New York. Those were the closest," Julie said. "The rest are all in places you wouldn't necessarily expect them to be, in Texas or in the Midwest, and you're like, 'Why don't we have more in New England?'"  Femme Bar is currently preparing to open its doors at 62 Green St., the former site of Buck's, on Feb. 9. According to the Springs, the idea originally got off the ground when the couple took a trip to New York and spent a night out at the Manhattan lesbian bar, Cubbyhole. "We ended up being there until four in the morning. The energy and the vibe of a lesbian space is so different and so welcoming to all people," Danielle said. "We didn't even get drunk. We just hung out and enjoyed the vibe, and when we got home, Julie said, 'I want that in Worcester.'" New Lesbian Bar Opening Lil' Nas X is Bisexual The first time I had feelings for a boy, I was 11 years old. I already had crushes on girls in my class and wasn’t yet aware of bisexuality, so I had no clue what this meant. As far as I was concerned, there were only two options: straight or gay. I tried to fit my feelings into one of these labels, so I hid my attraction to men and identified as straight. It wasn’t until I turned 17 that I learned of the term "bisexual." Someone in my class had come out as bi-curious, and that opened up my world. However, my world quickly closed up again once I saw the reaction she received from classmates. She was ridiculed, mocked. Everyone thought she was seeking attention. They said that if she was gay, she should just say it. I internalized this moment for years. I couldn’t see bisexuality as valid if no one else did. I didn’t see myself reflected in society either, as there were little to no bisexual people in the public eye (or at least none that I was aware of). I didn’t see bisexuality in any of the shows I watched or the books I read. I felt alone and it nearly killed me. I didn’t come out as bisexual until 2017, at age 25, when I determined that there was no way to deny my feelings anymore. I was reminded of this time in my life when Lil Nas X tweeted earlier this week, "be fr would y’all be mad at me if i thought i was a little bisexual." While it was originally unclear if he officially came out as bisexual, he followed up this tweet 24 hours later with another one: "that was my last time coming out the closet i promise," referring to the time he came out as gay in 2019. So I, along with many of his fans, have taken this as confirmation of his bisexuality. Lil' Nas X is Bisexual Apology from Tony Dungy Former NFL coach and NBC analyst Tony Dungy issued an apology after he received backlash this week for posting a controversial tweet from his personal account that promoted anti-transgender rhetoric. In the since-deleted tweet, Dungy responded to a video from The Daily Wire showing Minnesota state representative Sandra Feist advocating for menstrual products to be placed in boys’ school bathrooms across the state. Dungy said in his post that school districts across the country were “putting litter boxes in school bathrooms for students who identify as cats.” This myth has been widely debunked, including by NBC News and PolitiFact. Dungy claimed that he had apologized previously but “not everyone saw it,” so he issued a brief statement on the matter on social media Saturday afternoon. “I saw a tweet yesterday and I responded to it in the wrong way,” Dungy wrote on Twitter. “As a Christian I should speak in love and in ways that are caring and helpful. I am failed to do that and I am deeply sorry.” Apology from Tony Dungy Jojo Siwa's Anniversary She’s a boss lady. In a new Instagram post shared this weekend, dancer and internet star JoJo Siwa, 19, celebrated the two-year anniversary of her coming out of the closet as part of the LGBTQIA+ community. The former “Dance Moms” star took to the platform to share a throwback photo of herself wearing a shirt that read, “Best. Gay. Cousin. Ever.,” which she used for her initial announcement in 2021. “2 years ago today ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜,” Siwa wrote in the caption of the photo posted Saturday. “Now looking back on everything…. I’m SO proud of 17 year old JoJo.” In the comments section, some celebs left her messages of support, like her former “Dancing With The Stars” partner, Jenna Johnson Chmerkovskiy. The duo made history as the first same-sex pair to compete together on the hit show. After Siwa came out in 2021, she debuted her relationship with then-girlfriend Kylie Prew. However, the two split for good last August. The star then began dating TikToker Avery Cyrus for three months. That relationship ended this past December. She has since been linked to TikTok model Savannah Demers, according to The Daily Mail. Jojo Siwa's Anniversary Ally Maren Morris Apologizes Maren Morris keeps on doing the work as an ally. On a recent episode of "RuPaul's Drag Race," the country singer served as a Season 15 guest judge and shared a heartfelt moment with contestants on the rocky relationship between the country music industry and the LGBTQ community. "Coming from country music and its relationship with LGBTQ+ members, I just want to say I'm sorry," Morris said in a clip shared on the show's Instagram page Saturday. "I love you guys for making me feel like a brave voice in country music. So I just thank you guys so much for inspiring me." "I'm gonna cry, I need to go," the Grammy winner added. Drag queen Mistress Isabelle Brooks addressed the "Circles Around This Town" singer, saying: "Just you being here shows you're an ally." During a "RuPaul's Drag Race" confessional, Spice added they "loved hearing Maren share her story because a lot of times with country artists, they can't really express their more progressive ideals." Spice said, "Just her being here shows she's down to roll with the LGBT."  Ally Maren Morris Apologizes Your Laugh For The Day! Contributors: CellarDweller115 The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at http://www.ultimatebrokebackforum.com. Today's edition by KillersMom, CellarDweller115 Editors emeritae: CactusGal, Marge_Innavera, tellyouwhat, Stilllearning, MissYouSoMuch, gnash We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day. If you have items you’d like to see published, send them to CellarDweller115. To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, click the “Notify” button at the top or bottom of the page. When a new issue of TDS is posted, you will be notified by e-mail. The Daily Sheet Archives Respond to The Daily Sheet

[CellarDweller115]

Tuesday, January 31st, 2023

Interview With Kate Mara

After two decades of acting in primetime television, blockbuster movies, and independent projects, Kate Mara has been honored with eight nominations and two award wins for her work on screen. This month, Mara is recognized for the work she does off-camera—advocating for animals. Historically, the actress has shied away from praise of this kind—she’s been incredibly humble about her philanthropic efforts, presenting a strong front for animals while dodging the spotlight herself. On January 26, she will finally accept some recognition for the seminal work she’s done, as the Animal Legal Defense Fund has selected Mara as one of the prestigious honorees at its Justice for Animals Fundraiser. While we loved watching her in House of Cards and feel compelled to watch any film she’s in (The Martian, 127 Hours, The Fantastic Four … just to name a few of her many credits), we’re even more intrigued by her passion to help animals and support the organizations doing this necessary and unrelenting work. We chatted over Zoom to learn more about her commendable advocacy and glimpse into her purpose-driven life. Mara has carved out her own legacy in acting and activism, but she grew up in a family with a long-established legacy of their own in American football. Both of her grandfathers were executives in professional sports—her great-grandfather on her father’s side founded the New York Giants, and her great-grandfather on her mother’s side owned the Pittsburgh Steelers. The involvement in sports trickled down to her father, who serves as an executive for the Giants. Through their combined family wealth, the Rooney/Mara clan has taken on numerous charitable efforts, though like Kate, both parents have been extremely quiet in their involvement. Interview With Kate Mara

Hunter of Gay Men Arrested

A Louisiana man who federal prosecutors say was inspired by notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and used the Grindr app to target gay men was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Chance Seneca, 21, of Lafayette, was convicted in 2020 of kidnapping and attempting to murder a gay man as part of a long-running plot to kill and eat his victims, according to the Department of Justice. “The facts of this case are truly shocking, and the defendant’s decision to specifically target gay men is a disturbing reminder of the unique prejudices and dangers facing the LGBTQ+ community today,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement. Seneca, who was 19 at the time, was talking to Holden White on Snapchat and Grindr for almost a month, pretending to be romantically interested in order to hide his true intentions of killing him, according to court documents. In June 2020, Seneca met White in person and took him to his father’s home, where he told White to put handcuffs on with the promise of sex. Instead, Seneca attempted to kill White by strangling him with a belt to the point that he lost consciousness. He then put his body in the bathtub where he hit White in the back of the head with a hammer, stabbed him in the neck with an ice pick, and slit his wrists with plans to dismember him. Hunter of Gay Men Arrested Birth Control Makes You a Lesbian? Throughout the near-decade I’ve been on hormonal birth control, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing—but the experience has always boiled down to whether the form of contraception I was on was right for me. As it turns out, the pill was not. I struggled with taking it consistently, and over time began to suffer from prolonged bouts of nausea and depression. Today, I’m a very satisfied Nexplanon user, but my fascination with birth control side effects—especially people’s varying self-reported side effects—has persisted. And in recent weeks, the wave of Twitter, Reddit, and TikTok users—and most infuriatingly, conservative influencers—pushing the theory that birth control can make you lesbian or bisexual has been equal parts fascinating, annoying, and frustrating. To be clear: No, hormone medication cannot alter sexual orientation. But let’s unpack all this anyway. First, here’s how this all started: Earlier this month, an Australian woman shared that she “became a lesbian” after going off the pill, claiming she felt “dull” while on contraception, only to now feel like a “horny teenage boy” with her new girlfriend. Of course, the story quickly went viral. The woman, Tessa, told the Australian Kylie & Jackie O radio show that before the pill, she used to be “100 percent into men,” and once she stopped taking it, she “suddenly” realized that “women are hot.” True! “Thank God I came off the pill,” she said. “I’m living with my best friend and I couldn’t be happier.” Birth Control Makes You a Lesbian? Lil' Nas X is Bisexual The first time I had feelings for a boy, I was 11 years old. I already had crushes on girls in my class and wasn’t yet aware of bisexuality, so I had no clue what this meant. As far as I was concerned, there were only two options: straight or gay. I tried to fit my feelings into one of these labels, so I hid my attraction to men and identified as straight. It wasn’t until I turned 17 that I learned of the term "bisexual." Someone in my class had come out as bi-curious, and that opened up my world. However, my world quickly closed up again once I saw the reaction she received from classmates. She was ridiculed, mocked. Everyone thought she was seeking attention. They said that if she was gay, she should just say it. I internalized this moment for years. I couldn’t see bisexuality as valid if no one else did. I didn’t see myself reflected in society either, as there were little to no bisexual people in the public eye (or at least none that I was aware of). I didn’t see bisexuality in any of the shows I watched or the books I read. I felt alone and it nearly killed me. I didn’t come out as bisexual until 2017, at age 25, when I determined that there was no way to deny my feelings anymore. I was reminded of this time in my life when Lil Nas X tweeted earlier this week, "be fr would y’all be mad at me if i thought i was a little bisexual." While it was originally unclear if he officially came out as bisexual, he followed up this tweet 24 hours later with another one: "that was my last time coming out the closet i promise," referring to the time he came out as gay in 2019. So I, along with many of his fans, have taken this as confirmation of his bisexuality. Lil' Nas X is Bisexual Colorado Baker Loses Appeal The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight, involving his rejection of a request for a birthday cake celebrating a gender transition. The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that that the cake Autumn Scardina requested from Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop, which was to be pink with blue frosting, is not a form of speech. It also found that the state law that makes it illegal to refuse to provide services to people based on protected characteristics like race, religion or sexual orientation does not violate business owners’ right to practice or express their religion. Relying on the findings of a Denver judge in a 2021 trial in the dispute, the appeals court said Phillips’ shop initially agreed to make the cake but then refused after Scardina explained that she was going to use it to celebrate her transition from male to female. “We conclude that creating a pink cake with blue frosting is not inherently expressive and any message or symbolism it provides to an observer would not be attributed to the baker,” said the court, which also rejected procedural arguments from Phillips. Colorado Baker Loses Appeal Asexuality Awareness around what it means to be asexual has come a long way—more people are identifying with the orientation than ever before. According to a 2022 report by Stonewall, 2% of the population identify as asexual or ace (an abbreviation for asexuality). Recognition is a work in progress. In 2021, International Asexuality Day was recognised and celebrated for the first time on 6 April, co-founded by asexual activist and model Yasmin Benoit. In a recent interview, she talked about how we need to go beyond “awareness” of asexual people and identity, and is on a “quest for representation” that extends further. That said, there’s still a considerable amount of confusion and some pretty rogue assumptions about asexuality that need to be put to rights. We have tried answering all questions you may have about what it means to be asexual. What is asexuality?  Slightly different from other sexual orientations, which are being used to convey sexual preference, asexuality is a sexual orientation that is defined by someone who has no sexual desire for their preferred sex. This doesn’t mean that someone who identifies as asexual doesn’t experience romantic feelings or have a desire for physical closeness and many asexual people enjoy loving relationships, but they’re just not sexually attracted to their partners. Asexuality Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown Growing up in southwestern Pennsylvania, near the state of Ohio, it could be a rough-and-tumble world. When I worked on the Hill for my congressman from that area, we had the entire bottom left-hand corner of the state. It was during a time when steel mills and coal mines still mattered, so it was a hardscrabble, blue-collar constituency. Often, your elected representatives reflect their districts. My boss certainly did. He wore cheap suits and bought 25-cent rounds for workers at the gritty bars throughout Washington, Greene, and Fayette counties. He even went almost a mile underground and worked in a coal mine for a day. I was with him, and that was an awful day. I still say that is the toughest job in the world. Today, you really don’t see that type of elected official anymore. You could say that things are more refined, at least for the Democrats, or outrageously criminal, at least for some of the Republicans. Sure, there are some outliers, and you do have the Blue-Collar Caucus in the House, but overall, they don’t make them like they used to. Then there is U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio. He can relate to the working man just as easily as he can connect with white-collar professionals. He is the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, after all. Yet Sen. Brown really defies being defined, and that’s why, I for one, have an eye on him if our wonderful president, Joe Biden, decides not to seek reelection. And I’m not the only one who feels that way.  Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown Your Laugh For The Day! Contributors: CellarDweller115 The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at http://www.ultimatebrokebackforum.com. Today's edition by KillersMom, CellarDweller115 Editors emeritae: CactusGal, Marge_Innavera, tellyouwhat, Stilllearning, MissYouSoMuch, gnash We count on you to send us your news items, questions, and nominations for posts of the day. If you have items you’d like to see published, send them to CellarDweller115. To subscribe to The Daily Sheet, click the “Notify” button at the top or bottom of the page. When a new issue of TDS is posted, you will be notified by e-mail. The Daily Sheet Archives Respond to The Daily Sheet

[CellarDweller115]

Tuesday, February 7th, 2023

"The Last Of Us"

No TV show, film, or game can succeed without a good soundtrack to invoke the emotions in the content. And Gustavo Santaolalla has delivered a gem of a score with The Last of Us . Santaolalla is from Ciudad Jardín Lomas del Palomar, Argentina. And his career in music goes back to when his grandmother gave him a guitar as a gift when he was five years old. From there on out, his music flourished and surpassed even his teacher’s abilities. He eventually co-founded the group Arco Iris and assembled Soluna. Both groups allowed him to adopt new musical styles and instruments into his work and albums. His career in soundtracks and scores goes back to the early 2000s when he did his first of many collaborations with Alejandro González Iñárritu, on the film Amores Perros. He then went on to win two Academy Awards for Brokeback Mountain and Babel in back-to-back years. And it was in 2013 that he first did the soundtrack for Sony’s Playstation 3 game The Last of Us. For Santaolalla, “The most important thing that makes The Last of Us what it is, is that it’s a very different project than other projects with more emotional content and with more emotional connection between the players and the characters. More identification. I think probably that led them to think of somebody like me to the music and not a more conventional composer.” "The Last Of Us"

Patrons of Gay Bar Robbed

Three men who visited a New York City gay bar were robbed of thousands of dollars using facial recognition access on their phones, the New York Police Department confirmed on Thursday. The three men, who were in their late 30s and 40s, visited a Chelsea gay leather bar, The Eagle NYC, on separate nights in October and November and were each robbed of $1,000 to $5,000, according to the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of public information. No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing, authorities said. Police believe the criminals used facial recognition to access the victims’ phones and funds once they were incapacitated, according to Capt. Robert Gault of the city’s 10th Precinct, who spoke about the incidents at a police community council meeting last week.  “What we think is happening with this scheme is they’re being lured away from the club, maybe to say, ‘Hey, you wanna come with me? I got some good drugs,’ or something like that,’” Gault said. “And then, once they get into a car to do whatever it is that they’re going to do, at some point or another, they don’t know what happened when they wake up.” Patrons of Gay Bar Robbed The Super Bowl and Lesbian Bars Leona Thomas made her way to the middle of the dance floor. Eighties music pulsed through the air, the dance floor full of women moving with it. Large TV screens — or at least, what was considered a big TV screen in 1985 — wrapped around the room, so the fans there could watch the Super Bowl without having to sacrifice dancing. Thomas was a teen coming out, and the former Gatsby’s in Cherry Hill was one of the first lesbian bars she visited in the process. It was a space that not only welcomed her but wrapped her authentic self with acceptance. A space that normalized being queer. And a space that felt safe — especially to watch the Super Bowl. Fast-forward 40 years, and the lesbian bar scene has dropped from 200 nationally to fewer than 25 today, according to the Lesbian Bar Project. In Philadelphia, that number has been zero since Toasted Walnut, its last lesbian bar and a popular place to watch the Eagles in their last Super Bowl, closed in 2021. Which leaves the question: Now that the Eagles have made it to the Super Bowl again, where will the lesbian community be able to comfortably cheer on the Birds? When Sue Gildea came out in the early ‘90s, lesbian bars were a safe haven for her. Whether she would pop into Hepburn or Sisters or Toasted Walnut, being in that space helped ease her anxiety. The Super Bowl and Lesbian Bars Women and Bisexuality Women’s sexuality is vastly understudied in science and is still considered a “taboo” subject. Often, the experiences of men have been taken as the norm in scientific research, yet there are important differences in the sexuality of men and women. In 2020, approximately 3.2% of the population in the UK over the age of 16 identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual. But when it came to bisexuality, there was a stark difference between men and women: women were much more likely to identify as bisexual compared to men (1.6% of women compared to 0.9% of men). Similarly, a study conducted at the University of Notre Dame found that women were three times more likely to identify as bisexual. “Women have a greater probability than men of being attracted to both men and women,” said researcher Elizabeth McClintock, when discussing the results of the research. “This indicates that women’s sexuality may be more flexible and adaptive than men’s.” The evidence overwhelmingly shows that women are far more likely to identify as bisexual than men. But it’s hard to say why this might be. Could it be that women are more innately bisexual? Or could it be the fact that it’s more culturally accepted for women to be sexually fluid, or to identify as a lesbian or bisexual than it is for men to identify as something other than straight. Of course, it’s difficult to separate the cultural and biological but research into sex differences in genital arousal may be able to tell us more. Women and Bisexuality Trans Refuge Bill State representative Leigh Finke (D.) introduced a bill before the Minnesota Legislature this week that would turn the state into a “trans refuge” for children seeking gender-reassignment surgery. The legislation “would make Minnesota into a trans refuge state by protecting trans people, their families and medical practitioners from the legal repercussions of traveling to Minnesota to receive gender-affirming care,” Finke, the first openly transgender politician to serve in the state legislature, said. Known as the Trans Refuge Bill, it is designed to alter Minnesota’s child custody statutes adding new considerations such as access to gender reassignment surgery. The legislation would restrict the ability of Minnesota police to cooperate with another state’s law enforcement authorities in child custody battles when the state does not offer protections for gender reassignment surgery. “This need is desperate in my community. This is not a hypothetical scenario,” Finke added. “There are gender-diverse people in Minnesota right now receiving gender-affirming care. More are fleeing their home states asking where they should turn.” The Trans Refuge Bill was condemned by Rebecca Delahunt, a public-policy director for the Minnesota Family Council. She argued that it “takes away custody from parents or guardians who deny their children access to gender-affirming health care.” Trans Refuge Bill Being Intersex About 1.7 percent of all people are born with intersex characteristics, an umbrella term for sex traits—such as external genitalia, internal reproductive organs, and chromosomal configurations—that don’t line up with society’s artificially tidy binary concepts of male or female bodies. Some of these characteristics are visible at birth: for example, genitals that are notably different from the norms or hard to classify as definitively male or female. Some only make their presence known during puberty, like when people don’t develop in the ways they might’ve expected. Some are so internal and subtle that they’re only identified during an autopsy. In any case, it’s usually impossible to tell if someone has intersex traits just by looking at them in everyday life. Still, living with intersex characteristics can have major impacts on people’s lives—including their sex lives. To be clear, an intersex characteristic isn’t a medical condition or disability. It’s just one of many natural variations in the way diverse human bodies look and operate. Some factors that lead to intersex variations, like atypical hormone production, can at times also cause serious medical issues that require treatment, but most differences themselves are purely neutral. Yet society’s obsession with categorizing people into one of two binary genders at birth—and with erasing or ignoring anything that complicates the clean (over)simplicity of that binary—means many people with intersex traits grow up with the notion that there is supposedly something wrong with them, but they shouldn’t talk about it. Often, they’re also pressured or forced into “normalizing” themselves to match typical male or female anatomy: Across the world, kids with visible intersex traits are regularly subjected to objectively unnecessary and often harmful surgeries to reshape or remove their genitals, expressly to make them look “normal” and supposedly help them fit into society. Being Intersex Backlash For Beyoncé Beyoncé has been criticized by Western LGBTQ people after she performed an exclusive concert in Dubai, part of the Gulf nation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where homosexuality is illegal. People claimed she should have boycotted the UAE over its laws but LGBTQ people there are not sure what all the fuss is about, describing it as a "non-issue." The singer was reportedly paid $24 million to perform at the grand reveal of Dubai's latest luxury hotel, Atlantis the Royal on January 21. While she performed 19 songs during the invite-only event, none were from her most recent album, Renaissance, which has been hailed as a tribute to Black LGBTQ culture. Following her performance Beyoncé came under fire for performing in Dubai where consensual same-sex male sex is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, according to Article 117 of the UAE's penal code. "Sorry, Bey. Love ya and all but Dubai ain't it. It's not like you need the money. You've just made a pretty f***** gay album and you repay your LGBT fans by performing in a city that outlaws our existence. Not cute.@Beyonce," tweeted one fan. Backlash For Beyoncé Your Laugh For The Day! Contributors: CellarDweller115 The Daily Sheet is a production of The Ultimate Brokeback Forum at http://www.ultimatebrokebackforum.com. 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