Culture Warriors category archive

Via Raw Story.

Wisconsin brings back the switchblade.

Wingnuts and their weapons fetish continually amaze.

Facing South examines businesses’ reaction to Mississippi’s “It’s Okay To Hate the Gay” Law and finds that they brought onto themselves.

Businesses and trade groups have been vocal in opposing HB 1523. They include Toyota, AT&T, General Electric, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance, and the Mississippi Manufacturers Association, which said the law is “in direct opposition to many of our member industry’s policies and beliefs regarding diversity and inclusivity.”

But many of the companies objecting to the law had a hand in helping elect its sponsors and the governor who signed it.

In all, 24 companies publicly opposing HB 1523 either directly supported Bryant and state House sponsors via campaign donations, indirectly helped them by making donations to outside political spending groups that funneled money back into state elections, or both. In all, the anti-HB 1523 companies donated almost $14.6 million to help elect pro-HB 1523 politicians.

As you recall, Facing South found the same thing in North Carolina.

These businesses voted their pocketbooks with their pocketbooks and ended up sanctioning peep shows for pervy pols.

In related news, there is no truth to the rumor that North Carolina and Mississippi are considering mandates that all private residences henceforth have separate male and female restrooms.

Meanwhile, Bob Cesca leads us to wonder whether Republicans are looking in the bathroom mirror and seeing their own reflection.

Image via Juanita Jean.

The government of the United Kingdom warns LGBT persons to take care when visiting the United States. Here’s the story from The Independent:

The new Foreign Office advice states: “The US is an extremely diverse society and attitudes towards LGBT people differ hugely across the country. Laws vary from state to state. When you are physically present in a state, even temporarily, you are subject to that state’s laws. You must carry a passport showing that you have leave to enter or remain with you at all times.

“LGBT travellers may be affected by legislations passed recently in the states of North Carolina and Mississippi.”

“Before travelling please read our general travel advice for the LGBT community.

You can read the full warning at the UK government website.

This is the sort of stuff that, when I was a young ‘un back in the olden days, the United States Department of State would say about visiting, say, eastern Europe or Rhodesia.

Jesus.

Via JoeMyGod.

Via The Bob and Chez Show Blog.

Tony Norman looks into his spam folder and explores emails from those who exhort him to base his voted on “Christian values.” What he finds troubles him.

Here’s a bit:

On one hand, Christian religious leaders such as those in the PPN (Pennsylvania Pastors Network, whatever that is–ed.) urge their congregants to support candidates who stand diametrically opposed to biblical values as practiced by Christians for thousands of years.

On the other hand, American Christians have the unambiguous example of a penniless, itinerant rabbi who exalted the poor, denounced the rich, healed the sick, embraced society’s outcasts and modeled a new way of relating to women, tax collectors, children, foreigners, religious authorities, lepers and those in prison.

None of these biblical values, as far as I can tell, is supported in the rhetoric of either Mr. Cruz or Mr. Trump. Both candidates embrace the politics of fear, the demonization of undocumented immigrants, rabid suspicion of foreigners, the expansion of the military for the sake of national pride, an unregulated economy that allows market forces to determine what’s best, a society where being armed with as many guns as one’s pride allows is the norm, a denial of environmental responsibility and a social ethic that exalts the rich while brutalizing the poor.

It has been my experience that those who most loudly proclaim their “Christianity” are the least to be trusted with anything. Trust them, and you end up hoisted on their Elmer Gantry.

This is poetic justice writ large: internet porn site cuts off North Carolina and comments on Tarheels’ taste in porn in the press release in reaction to North Carolina’s “it’s okay to hate the gay” bill.

XHamster cut off Tar Heel State patrons at 12:30 EDT on Monday. Users with North Carolina IP addresses get to see a blank screen instead of the usual naked give and take.

The cutoff will continue until North Carolina repeals HB 2, which excludes LGBT citizens from civil rights protection and blocks cities and counties from passing civil rights guarantees. Charlotte had enacted such an ordinance.

(snip)

A spokesman told Huffington Post: “Back in March, we had 400,000 hits for the term ‘Transsexual’ from North Carolina alone. People from that state searched ‘Gay’ 319,907 times.”