On This Date In ISBL History: Let Bobby Montoya Be A Girl Scout

As I am in Oregon helping my Dad recuperate from knee surgery, I thought I’d do something I’ll call “On This Date In ISBL History” and repost some things from back when the blog was new, and newish … this was originally published October 31, 2011:

Bobby Montoya was born a boy, but has long indentified as a girl. And Bobby loves all "girl stuff" from Barbie to The Bratz, and now, the Girl Scouts. And even though classmates pick on Bobby for being different, Bobby wants to be a Girl Scout, only they won't let Bobby join.

When Bobby's mother, Felisha Archuleta asked what the big deal was after Bobby was denied, a local troop leader told her, “He has boy parts. He can’t be a Girl Scout. Girl Scouts don’t allow that. I don’t want to get in trouble by parents or my supervisor.”

Ouch. But, see, the thing is, the Girl Scouts of Colorado do allow that after all, and, in fact, the organization released following statement:

“Girl Scouts is an inclusive organization. If a child identifies as a girl and the child’s family presents her as a girl, Girl Scouts of Colorado welcomes her as a Girl Scout. Our requests for support of transgender kids have grown, and Girl Scouts of Colorado is working to best support these children, their families, and the volunteers that serve them.”

Great news, but now someone needs to tell Bobby’s local Girl Scout leader. And I hope they do it soon because Bobby says that being picked on and made to feel different "hurts my heart."

And that's no way to treat a child.

In early 2012, Bobby Montoya joined the Girl Scouts. No one was harmed, and the cookies taste the same.

The Funny Papers

Bob Gorrell, Glen McCoy, Darrin Bell, David Fitzsimmons, John Cole, Matt Davies, RJ Matson, Nick Anderson, Mike Luckovich, Mike Smith

It's Snarkurday!

Shortly after Kim Kardastrophe was robbed at gunpoint in her Paris apartment, people were saying that she was blaming herself for being such a social media whore … ya think? … by flaunting her jewelry online. And since there is no such thing as a smart Kardastrophe, or even a Kardastrophe who learns a lesson, it now appears that Khloe Kardastrophe is being stupid … or more stupid.

She has also started flaunting her jewels online now, in a Look-What-I’ve-Got-Come-And-Get-Them-Rob-Me-At-Gunpoint-So-I-Can-Get-Free-Press kind of way. Khloe is ALLEGEDLY dating Cleveland Cavaliers player Tristan Thompson and decided to brag about it by posting pictures of them both wearing Cavaliers rings; his is a 2016 NBA Finals championship ring and is6.5 karats and has 400 diamonds while hers was a Cavaliers ring with several diamond bands that she displayed on that finger.

Many of Khloe’s followers called her out for her idiocy:

“Didn’t Kim get robbed the last time yall posted up bougie?”

“Who tf posts a diamond when her sister’s diamond was just robbed at gunpoint”

“Girl you gonna get robbed too!”

Khloe getting robbed! She wishes! That Woman would adore the media attention.

It looks like Golddiggers sometimes lose … Mariah Carey has ALLEGEDLY been dumped by her billionaire boyfriend, James Packer.

The couple got engaged last January despite the fact that they were — and still are — married to other people and now newspapers Down under are saying it over and apparently because Packer wasn’t a fan of Mimi’s new reality show and the fact she spends his money likes it’s hers and spews from a  gold-plated faucet in Bathroom Number 37.

He did, though, let her keep the ALLEGEDLY $10m diamond engagement ring he gave her in January.

How long until she starts posting pictures of that online so she can get onboard the Rob Me Train under Kaptain Kardastrophe?

Meanwhile, back at that Kardastrophe Heist …. shortly after that story broke, lotsa folks were giving the side-eye to the story since the Kardastrophe’s manipulate each and every little thing about their lives for media consumption, but one site, MediaTakeOut.com, was especially vocal about the idea that it was all a publicity stunt, suggesting she staged the whole thing and filed a false insurance claim.

Kim called up her Flying Monkey, AKA That Woman, and threatened to sue the dot.com off MediaTakeOut if they didn’t retract their story.

And, apparently they did … this week MTO quietly retracted their story and Kim loudly proclaimed to the world that she isn’t a social media whore by going on social media to tell us that.

Uh huh.

I’d like to see Justin Bieber’s career end, but it would be all the more satisfying if the person who sabotages it is none other than Just Bieber himself.

He started off by dissing his fans on social media, and then added fuel to his flame-out-fire by snapping at them on the streets, trying to punch them in bars and now, by telling them to shut their pile holes while he was performing his music in Birmingham, England last week.

According to the BBC, Biebs stomped offstage during a concert in Manchester because his fans — and that still makes me giggle — would not stop screaming. So he dropped the mic and skulked off to his dressing room to pout until his people, knowing that their coins would be affected if Biebs alienates everyone, convinced him to return; and he did, and he said:

“I feel like I wanna connect with you. The point of the no screaming thing is that when I’m looking at you in the eyes you know that we’re actually having a moment and having a connection.”

Um, Justin, you just wanna connect to their wallets. But since they refused to stop screaming he continued with the scolding:

“I’m just going to quit the talking alright. I’m not going to talk the rest of the night. We’re just going to do the music. Obviously Manchester just can’t handle it so let’s do the music.”

Quit talking? Quit singing you spoiled little bitch. These people loony as they might be, actually like you, and pay your way through life, so, yeah, shut up and sing or just shut up altogether.

Used to be people thought Ivanka Trump was the smart one but, um, yeah, after PussyGate, people, women, are taking a second to rethink.

Sure, she’s been trying to distance herself from her asshat blowhard of a father by switching the conversation away from his and his campaign to her businesses and her views on women in the workplace and more.

But, yeah, she cannot distance herself from Daddy because he’s also her boss and she is his favorite child — I mean you never hear Donald saying he’d date Eric or Junior if they weren’t his sons, right? So now some Ivanka-haters are coming down on this Poor Little Rich Girl by starting to boycott all things Ivanka.

Unhappy with Ivanka’s continued support of Daddy’s brand of crazy, one Shannon Coulter started a #GrabYourWallet campaign to hit Ivanka where it hurts — her own businesses and her Made In China clothing line and says:

“If Ivanka Trump had distanced herself from the campaign I would not be boycotting her. But something changed for me when that tape was released.”

The #GrabYourWallet movement on Twitter has been viewed over a million times and received 50,000 responses from women who say they will no longer buy Ivanka.

Too bad, but when you align with the Devil you’re apt to get burned.

Back to Kim Kardastrophe, well, to Kanye … since she’s banned herself from social media — and bless her heart for that — it’s up to her lunatic-of-a-husband to snatch some headlines and he’s only too happy to help and so, during the Seattle stop on his Saint Pablo tour Kanye dished on his fellow Tidal shareholder Jay-Z over dumb political crap between Apple and Tidal. But the riff ALLEGEDLY started because, after Kim was robbed in Paris, Jay-Z didn’t fly to her side and offer to help, he just made a phone call and that didn’t sit well with Krazy.

And when Jay-Z and Kanye did verses for Drake’s song Pop Style, but later found they were both cut from the album version, Knaye pointed a pudgy digit at "Hov" — a nickname Kanye has for Jay-Z, because he believes Jay-Z thinks he’s the new messiah, or J-Hova … get it — because Drake’s album was released on Tidal rival Apple Music and Jay-Z wouldn’t allow his verse on Views, and so Kanye’s also got the cut.

In a twit-Rant Kanye begged Apple to buy Tidal so his verse could be heard and then ranted about Jay-Z and said that Watch The Throne #2 will never EVER be released:

“There will never be a Watch The Throne 2. You know why? Because that’s the reason why I wasn’t on the song. I wasn’t on this song ’cause of Hov. Cause of this Apple/Tidal bullshit. And this shit be getting me tight every time I perform this motherfucker. Y’all didn’t get, what y’all were supposed to get with me and Drake on this song because of some Tidal/Apple bullshit. This shit got me tight, yo! Every time I perform this song I think about this shit. I think about the politics and the bullshit. I think about how hard I go for music, for art, for y’all, for the fans — how hard we go.”

Sheesh, it’s hard to figure out who is the bigger egotistical douchebag baby, Justin or Kanye. Can we call it a tie?

And now, lastly, some words about Donald and how much he hates Salma Hayek because she refused to let him grab her pussy. Hayek tells it like this:

“When I met that man, I had a boyfriend, and he tried to become his friend to get my home telephone number. He got my number and he would call me to invite me out. When I told him I wouldn’t go out with him even if I didn’t have a boyfriend, [which he took as disrespectful], he called — well, he wouldn’t say he called, but someone told the National Enquirer … that he wouldn’t go out with me because I was too short.”

And it appears to be true, because in 2008 Donald bought a $120,000 luxury trip with Trump Foundation money at a charity auction that included a dinner with Hayek.

Seriously. He begged … she said bugger off … he planted a story that he’d never date her because she was too short? He wouldn’t stoop down to grab her pussy?

Salma at least got the last laugh because she married a real billionaire.

PR 15 Ep 7: Bungle In The Jungle

The PR is always about product placement, with Sally Beauty and Mary Kay and JustFab this season, and booze and cars and Broadway in seasons past, but this week really jumped the shark.

The designers are told by Heidi that they seem tired so she sends them on vacation — presumably a three-hour vacation — Universal Orlando Resort where they will meet Tim and Mike West, Director/Executive Producer of Universal Creative, and then ride Skull Island: Reign of Kong.

Why Skull island? Death-wear? Autospy avant-garde? King Kong? Clothes for apes.

Nope, they’re at Universal because Universal produces Project Runway and they need some free ad dollars for the Skull Island ride and the upcoming Volcano Bay water-park and so, yeah, fashion it is! Luckily, they have Tim Gunn who makes these cheesy challenges seem legit: he says that the jungle surrounding Skull Island reminds him of another jungle – the urban jungle — and so the designtestants will, in one day and with $200, take some of Skull Island and turn it into urban street wear.

Yeah, even for Tim that was a stretch so let’s rip …

THE SAFES

Clockwise from top left

JENNI Meh; a stringy crop top and stringy pants.

MAH-JING Um, Mah? May I call you Mah? This is a cocktail dress worn under a jacket stolen from Lost and Found.

RIK Loved the punk edge to it, though it wasn’t very jungle-inspired.

ROBERI This was more Jungle Loungewear … like what Kong would don after a hard day of terrorizing the natives and he’d gone back to his suite at the Days Inn.

THE BOTTOMS

CORNELIUS

I don’t “get” him’ he didn’t channel one bit of Skull Island or King Kong into his look, which was basically an urban hip-hop-hot-mess: blue-and-black-denim-drop-crotch-patchwork-pants — and yes, even typing all that is proof as to how overworked this was — topped off by a last-minute-made-boob-baring-halter-top.

But hey, Corny thought the pop of yellow as a safe bet because, while Tim was  worried that Cornelius’ ‘street’ was a little too Broadway, he pushed him to use yellow because, he says, the judges like yellow … and they do, but not in some two-minute sewn hodgepodge looking mess.

WHAT HE SAID

I’m loving my pants.

WHAT I SAID

It’s awful. The pants are a mess and the top is about the worst thing I’ve ever seen a designer make.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Heidi said it looked like a school project from someone who can’t sew; the top was too big, the pants too baggy, the patches too bad … it was an eyesore. Guest Judge, actress Carly Mr. Robot Chaikin agreed that the top was bad and said the whole look was not her style; she added that, even with more time, say, a week, this still would have been a miss. Fellow Guest Judge, designer and Project Runway: Fashion Start-up investor, Rebecca Minkoff said she liked it … from the knees down! Zac Posen —not so adorable any more — called it sloppy, ill-fitting, uninspired and the less said about the top, the better. Nina gave him credit for having an idea but kicked him in the teeth for his horrid execution.

BRIK

Brik went stripes because, well, something about 4-D, 3-D and zebras, and then paired it with a slab of vinyl tribal fabric. It screamed mess, but at least Brik went for it.

Tim sees the inspiration, but worries that the top print might be too much and that Brik should reconsider his design lest it become too busy … wackadoo Twilight Zone Zebra prints and stained glass tribal vinyl too busy? Go on!

WHAT HE SAID

I’ve created something that is very different.

WHAT I SAID

I must have awful taste because I quite liked the mix of prints and it was very urban jungle.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Rebecca said it looked like the model got dressed in the dark and that it was all too much, but she gave Brik points for execution. Heidi, however, said the hard work didn’t pay off because the fabric choices were bad. When Carly asked the model if she felt good in the look, the model giggled—which I think sealed the deal—and Carly added that she liked the pants but paired with the top it was all too much. Zac shrugged, sighed and winced a little and called it annoying. Nina pointed out the zebra-esque print gave the model a wide ass and that’s never good. She then says she’d wished he was more considerate of his ideas and that it all felt unplanned … Brik said it was and, well, maybe that helped seal the deal too.

ERIN

After being in the bottom last week Erin goes back to embellishments and embroidery this time because that’s what will secure her a win … not design or style or execution, but some little raffia-looking splotches on a pair of shorts she took nine hours to make.

And that caused concern for Tim because, again, Erin admitted she’d have nothing for her model to try on until runway day, and then only the shorts because the shirt was patched together in the last couple of seconds.

WHAT SHE SAID

It doesn’t look terrible.

WHAT I SAID

Uh, yeah; it does. And then Carlos asked, ‘Who puked up the pasta?’

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Zac appreciated the ‘thought’ that went into the design, but added that the model must have gotten sick on the ride. He called the badly sewn shoulders a miss. Rebecca noted the bad construction and the wee bales of hay on the shorts, while Carly said the top was a cool idea even if it didn’t fit. Heidi also said the top was ‘okay,’ but was stunned that the shorts took the entire day to make because, well, moss and throw-up. Nina said, “I’m disappointed,” and the security rushed out to surround Erin before Nina could get out of her chair: Rule One of PR: Don’t disappoint or bore Nina! She said there were a lot of ideas but that Erin got lost and maybe that’s why the model was wearing the top backwards? She finished by calling it immature, saying embroidery was Erin’s crutch and, finally, security left the building.

THE TOPS

LAURENCE

While at Mood Laurence lamented that people call her the “leather designer” and so this week she’ll avoid cow hide … and then scoops up some red leather.

But this is Laurence, who doesn’t say much, with her voice; she lets her ideas and skills speak for her. And so she makes a bomber jacket in a Michael Jackson red and then some not-so-dropped-crotch khakis. Tim loves the jacket — though he worried Heidi would say it was already out there, until Laurence mentioned it would have more details — and liked the use of the khaki fabric.

WHAT SHE SAID

I’m loving it, except I am bothered by the crotch.

WHAT I SAID

It was kinda masculine down there.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Nina gave it a ‘wow,’ and said she loved Laurence’s intelligent POV; she wanted the jacket, then she wanted the pants. Zac called it ‘Kong-tastic’ — kill him now — and polished and precise and poised and fierce and chic and safari; but he wasn’t a fan of the boy crotch. Carly said the jacket was unbelievable and Heidi loved all of it, saying she wanted to be that girl.  

DEXTER

Dexter is tired of being safe and wants to show the judges his ‘real’ side and so he’s creating a jacket with an exaggerated round shoulder detail that looks a little familiar. And he’s going literal with some gorilla buttons and some green safari fabrics.

During Tim’s crit, Dexter wonders what the judges will say if he steps way out of the box and Tim suggests he run with it, but be prepared for the dreaded ‘costume’ comeback.

WHAT HE SAID

Ooh, I’m so excited; it’s so extreme and fun.

WHAT I SAID

And a little bit Minnie Mouse Goes To Kenya.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Nina loved the idea and the attitude, and the hair and the jewelry and the shoes and the buttons; she called it strong and disruptive and editorial. Zac, though, said it wasn’t disruptive — and I thought security would be brought out again to save Zac from The Wrath of Nina — and said it was a look from the wrong theme park ::: cough Disney cough ::: and hated the fit of the shorts. Heidi also didn’t like it, but said it was memorable though kinda ‘try hard’; she did not want to be that girl. Carly called it interesting and she loved the shorts and the gloves that Dexter made, while Rebecca noticed the uneven shoulder-ears and said it bordered on an avant-garde costume.

NATHALIA

She went bats this week, but in a good way. She left the jungle and the apes and the 3-D for everyone else and found that the bats on the ride were inspiring enough to create a jacket with oversized dolman sleeves, a crop top and some slouchy pants.

But, she also missed big time when she grabbed some King Kong faux fur to line the jacket; luckily Tim snatched that idea from her hands and head and suggested the jacket would look more modern if it was shorter and less heavy.

WHAT SHE SAID

I’m so happy that it looks like my vision.

WHAT I SAID

I’m so happy that she listened to Tim because faux-fur gets you Auf’d more often than not.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Heidi loved it, wanted it, wanted to be that girl—that may be Heidi’s new tagline since she used it, or a more negative variation, at least three times last night—and loved the cool easy vibe of it all. Carly also wanted the look and called the jacket amazing and effortlessly chic. Zac called it impeccable and perfect and loved the more muted safari colors. Nina praised the volume of the coat though she worried the pants might be too long and Rebecca called it fashion forward and accessible.

It was clear that since Nathalia really stepped it up this week she would be the winner … until Heidi gave the top spot to Laurence.

It was also clear that Cornelius would be going home for his badly executed, badly designed, piece of sh— … until Heidi said Brik was Auf’d.

Cornelius should have gone home because when does a badly sewn school project that doesn’t fit beat out something that, while the judges didn’t like the fabric choices, was at least well-made? And since when don’t the judges like mixing patterns and textiles; in seasons past we’ve seen people take the top prize because they mix patterns. Maybe I’m just pissed that Man Bun and Sweetheart Brik is gone and Back-bashing Cornelius is still there.

Yeah that could be it.

Line of the Night belonged to Jenni, who bragged about her style and then realized something:

“Street wear is the epitome of my existence so hopefully I’m going to crush this … I don’t know … either way I’m gonna be here next week, guys. I have immunity.”

Second Place Line of the Night goes to Dexter who, while shopping at Mood said:

“I hope there’s not one designer who gets fake gorilla fur because that would just be too literal.”

Cut to Nathalia:

“I want to line my jacket with fur to give it a little King Kong.”

I loved Laurence’s pronunciation of ‘bomber jacket’ because, for her, the second ‘b’ isn’t silent! I love Laurence’ silence in the workroom; she’s head down and get it done; and I love her simple acceptance when she wins … no falling to the ground, no tears, no shade.

And so, Laurence should be at The Tents, along with Rik — mostly because of the Adorability Factor™ — along with maybe Dexter and Erin, if she quits with the one-trick-pony-ness of embellishments and embroidery. I don’t see Mah-Jing or Jenni or Roberi getting to the end; Roberi started strong but he’s Middle of the Pack now and Jenni only won the week she kinda borrowed another designer’s idea. Cornelius will stay a bit longer for the Bitch Edit and Nathalia will stay a while because she redeemed herself this week, but a show at The Tents for these two seems like a long shot.

Next week, more teamwork and, apparently Dexter and Erin go mean Girl on Cornelius?

What did YOU think?

I Didn't Say It ...

Sean Hayes, Jack McFarland on Will & Grace, receiving  an Outfest Legacy Award, on how he wishes he'd come out as gay while the show was still airing:

“I was a young closeted actor having his first taste of a little success and unfortunately, in my mind, my lucky break was inextricably tied to me thinking that I had to stay in the closet in order to keep moving forward. When it comes to nights like tonight and honors like this, I’m consumed with what I didn’t do. I know I should’ve come out sooner and I’m sorry for that. Especially when I think about the possibility that I might have made a difference in someone’s life. I would probably be able to sleep a lot better than I do if I had acted sooner, but such is life. We learn our lessons only when we are ready.”

I was one of those who was annoyed at Hayes’ refusal to discuss his orientation—he kept playing the ‘I don’t talk about my private life’ card—but I have come to my senses a bit.

While it would have been nice that he’d come out while the show aired, we all come out when and how we choose and for me, or anyone, to judge Sean Hayes for his choices isn’t fair.

I apologize.

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Hillary Clinton, at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, to Rudy Giuliani, who said she had lied about being at the World Trade Center on 9/11, until a photo showed up of the two of them together on that day:

“We’ve got the honorable Chuck Schumer, the honorable Andrew Cuomo, the honorable Mike Bloomberg, the honorable Bill de Blasio, the honorable David Dinkins, and so many other elected officials — and we have Rudy Giuliani. Many don’t know this but Rudy actually got his start as a prosecutor going after wealthy New Yorkers who avoided paying taxes. But as the saying goes, ‘if you can’t beat ’em, go on FOX News and call ’em a genius.'”

Rudy was not amused.

Rudy is never amused, or amusing.

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Trevante Rhodes, star of the film Moonlight, on the impact the film is having and on his experience playing a gay man:

“[Moonlight] talks about a subject matter that is so prevalent today. Being a black man in American is relatively difficult right now, being a gay man in America is incredibly difficult and so being a black, gay man … can be perceived as the worst possible thing right now. So it is something that we need, that the world needs, and I’m thinking it’s a beautiful thing that people are receiving it. I didn’t think we were ready for something like that. And it’s really surprising and really refreshing to me to see that people are. ... I was born loving women but I easily could have been born loving men. It’s the exact same sensation… You don’t fall in love with someone [just] for their physical [traits], but for their mental. It was really just about me it was really just falling in love with the person that [my co-star] André Holland is. I respect him, I love him for the father figure he is. ... As actors and directors, I feel like our job, more so than anything else, is to shine a light on a subject and to let people know that they’re not alone.”

The march goes on, and with advocates like Trevante Rhodes on our side, it will get better.

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Gus Kenworthy, Olympic freeskier, about his first year as an out gay man:

“I am gay.  … I remember waking up that day, with the most overwhelming sense of emotions. I was excited for a future where I no longer had to mask myself with heteronormative posturing. But then, of course, I felt apprehensive because I didn’t know how people were going to react. I’d already told my immediate family and a few close friends and they all offered nothing but love and support and I decided that even if the rest of the world abandoned me, their support would be enough. … What I didn’t anticipate though, was all that I was about to gain. … I’ve started to love myself, a big step for someone who spent their adolescence in self-contempt. I’ve made lifelong friends, fallen in love and felt truer and happier than I ever imagined. I’ve witnessed myself swell with pride while holding my guy’s hand walking down the street; no longer dictated by fear to walk with my hands in my pockets acting like the person I loved was merely a friend, an acquaintance. I got to ski completely unencumbered and ended up having my best competitive season ever because of it. And while competing I got to, finally, acknowledge my boyfriend standing at the bottom of the half-pipe cheering me on; something I regrettably failed to do in my previous 5-year-long closeted relationship. Ultimately, for the first time in my life, I got to feel free — something everybody should feel every day! … I get messages every day from guys saying my story has helped them come to terms with themselves or given them the confidence to tell their friends or family that they’re gay. And that, I have to say, has been the highlight of my past year. Of course there will always be nay-sayers but if I’ve helped even one person feel better about themselves then this process, for me, has all been worth it.”

As I like to say, when one of us comes out it helps all of us living in the darkness to step closer to the light.

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