Student Told To "Prove" He Was A Boy

Last year, right after Thanksgiving, members of the Liberty High School band from Clarksburg, West Virginia, were told to go use the restroom before departing on a bus trip. When Michael Critchfield, a sophomore, went to use the boy’s restroom, he was followed into the room by the assistant principal, Lee Livengood.

Livengood stood and waited for Michael to exit the restroom stall, asking what he was doing in there. Critchfield, who is transgender, says the assistant principal told him he “shouldn’t be in there because I am not a guy, and I told him I am a boy, I identify with this bathroom, and it is my legal right to use this restroom."

As if that were not shocking enough, what happened next is chilling. Critchfield said Livengood continued to harass and intimidate him, ultimately challenging him to use a urinal to prove that he was a boy

“Come out here and use the urinal. If you can’t use this urinal, then you shouldn’t be in here. What if [another] student said you were checking them out in here?’ ”

According to Michael, Livengood then blocked the doorway so he couldn’t leave the bathroom:

“If I tried to get out through the doorway he was in front of, he could’ve said that I hit him or something and got me in more trouble. I was barricaded in the bathroom for three or four minutes, and then a band mom was coming down complaining that they could hear Mr. Livengood yelling at me in the bathroom from the cafeteria, from the hallways, and some could hear it from the band room so she came down to see what was wrong.”

Livengood then told Michael:

“Not going to lie. You freak me out.”

This was said in front of students, and a trip chaperone, gathering outside the bathroom because of the shouting.

Three weeks … three weeks … after Livengood harassed and intimidated the student, he was suspended …for four days … because as Harrison County Superintendent Dr. Mark Manchin said:

“I don’t think more needs to be done.”

Manchin said that, "right now I do not believe the necessity of any additional policies or any protections for any students that we do not already have." He also claimed that since only Michael Critchfield and Lee Livengood were in the bathroom it was a case of he said/he said; apparently Manchin forgot about the crowd who heard Livengood tell Critchfield that he was freaked out by a transgender student.

I’m guessing Dr. Mark Manchin  doesn’t want to protect students from being barricaded and harassed in bathrooms by members of the faculty; and if that’s the case, I wonder how he’d react if it was a group of students holding Michael Critchfield hostage?

No need for extra protections there, eh?

Luckily, the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] got involved and …

Last week the county school board voted to not renew Lee Livengood's contract.

Bye Felicia.

NCRM

Random Musings

Last year, when _____ was campaigning for the presidency he called for a Muslim ban because, you know, Muslims are terrorists—when, in reality, it’s orange ego-maniacal ALLEGED billionaires who are terrorists.

And, at that time Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, said:

"I do not think it is reflective of our principles, not just as a party, but as a country. And I think the smarter way to go in all respects is to have a security test, not a religious test. I do not think a Muslim ban is in our country's interest.”

Cut to this week, when Hair Furor in office, and suddenly Paul Ryan is goose-stepping to a different tune and telling us that he backed the decision to stop the U.S. refugee program and ban all entries from seven Muslim-majority nations for 90 days.

What happened Paul? Whatever it was that made you do a 180 on a Muslim ban and now stand for hate, it spawned one of my new favorite Twitter hashtags:

#TheCowardlyRyan.

Use it when you Tweet him, it’s fun.

The racist co-worker—for those who don’t remember, she said to me one time that the reason more white people are not shot by police during routine traffic stops or because they’re just walking down a street is because, and I quote, “White people don’t act like that.”—has quit the job.

And, on her last day, she made a point to come tell me she was leaving, and, because I cannot help myself, I said:

“I didn’t really care for you because I thought you were just another racist, bigoted, homophobic, anti-immigrant, white supremacist gun-loving Black Lives Matter hating, conspiracy theorist loon. ..... That’s all.”

Bye Felicia.

Another sign of the End Times?

This fall, Oprah will step away from her WeightWatchers commercials and begin a  new job as a special correspondent on 60 Minutes:

“I’ve been a big admirer of 60 Minutes since my days as a young reporter. I’m so excited and proud to join forces with this historic news program, which for me represents the bastion of journalistic storytelling.”

Uh huh. Oprah? Reporter? Journalist?

I didn’t watch her “tribute” to the late Mary Tyler Moore last week but I did hear that the show was less Mary and more how Mary made Oprah feel, so, Sixty Minutes? Shame on you for inflicting this blubbering ego on us.

Oprah? I say Noprah.

In response to the Muslim ban, which _____ and Sean Spicer aren’t saying is a ban though they’ve both called it a ban, Starbucks announced that will hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years.

Howard Schultz, Starbuck’s chairman and CEO:

“We have a long history of hiring young people looking for opportunities and a pathway to a new life around the world. This is why we are doubling down on this commitment by working with our equity market employees as well as joint venture and licensed market partners in a concerted effort to welcome and seek opportunities for those fleeing war, violence, persecution and discrimination.”

I need a Caramel Macchiato now.

I’ve been watching the show Timeless because I love stories about time travel and because co-star Matt Lanter is delicious. But last week they did a show about the Old West and Jesse James and one Daniel Lissing played Jesse.

Seriously, a little scruff on the chin and he was scorching my TV.

HotHotHot.

More about the fallout from the Muslim non-ban-ban?

The American Civil Liberties Union reported an astounding $24,164,691 in donations—from 356,306 online donors—following Hair Furor’s hate-filled executive order.

The ACLU usually raises $4 million a year from online donations.

The Resistance is working.

The ride company Lyft said it would donate $1 million to the group after it was revealed that its competitor Uber broke a solidarity strike at JFK airport and a #DeleteUber campaign was born.

Resist.

Want more?

In response to hate, Google has launched a $2 million crisis fund that can be matched with up to $2 million in donations from employees, for four organizations: the American Civil Liberties Union, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, International Rescue Committee and UNHCR. It is Google’s largest crisis campaign ever.

The campaign was disclosed in a memo sent by Google CEO Sundar Pichai and the company’s logo for that day celebrated the birth of Fred Korematsu, an American civil rights activist who objected to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

The resistance grows.

I love court shows. I love Judge Judy because I love bitchy, snarky common sense.

But I saw a show the other day about a man who lost his glasses at a hair salon and was suing the salon for $5,000 because the glasses cost $300. The rest was because he had to drive without his glasses, putting his life at risk.

Seriously? Forty-seven hundred dollars because he had to drive home? Where does he live? The Moon?

And what about _____’s suggestion that he would investigate voter fraud because he’s all pissy that he lost the popular vote by three million to Hillary? And, remember, if you add in all votes against him, he lost the popular vote by over 11 million votes?

Well, it turns out that Gregg Phillips, the man _____ touted as a voter fraud expert was registered to vote in Alabama, Texas, and Mississippi during the 2016 election.

Uh huh. Now, he only voted in Alabama but doesn’t it seem odd that the man investigating fraud was registered in so many places?

I know most of these musings are all about _____, but I cannot help it.

Anyone else bothered by the fact that President _____ didn’t offer condolences to the victims of the mosque shooting in Canada?

Is it because the shooter was white and an anti-immigrant fool and a _____ supporter?

On This Date In ISBL History: Miss Lesbian Prom

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 November 1, 2010:

It looks like it might finally be over. 

A federal judge has ordered the Itawamba County School District in Mississippi to pay $81,000 in legal fees and expenses in a lawsuit filed by Contsance McMillen, whose prom was cancelled, reinstated, then faked, all because she wanted to bring her girlfriend. 
US District Judge Glen Davidson, who ruled in March that McMillen's rights were violated, signed the order on Monday. 

Constance McMillen and the ACLU sued Itawamba County School District to challenge the district's "ban" on same-sex prom dates. Once the suit was filed, the school canceled prom. Angry parents sponsored another dance, but tricked McMillen into going to a "sham prom" while other students partied elsewhere.  

All of this because a girl wanted to bring her girlfriend to a dance.

Sidenote: the headline of the New York Times article was entitled "Judge Awards Legal Fees in Miss. Lesbian Prom Case".

I thought, There's a Miss Lesbian Prom somewhere?

Then I saw the period.

After the settlement, in a groundbreaking move for Mississippi, the school district agreed to implement policies that would prevent future discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for extracurricular and educational activities.

McMillen’s story received national attention and Glamour magazine named her Woman of the Year Award in 2010.

She appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and received a $30,000 scholarship — in 2012 enrolled at Northeast Mississippi Community College to study psychology.

She was invited to the White House and served as Grand Marshal of the New York Gay Pride Parade.

Julia Frost Was Fired For Being Gay?

For two years Julia Frost taught English at Sultana High School in the Hesperia Unified School District in San Bernardino and then she was fired. She says it’s because she’s openly gay and that the school is a “hostile environment” for her and gay students.

Maybe so …

The trouble seems to have begun when Front, along with a fellow teacher who isn’t gay, co-sponsored a GSA [Gay/Straight Alliance] at the school and began working with students, teaching them how to make formal complaints regarding "criticism and open-hostility" directed at them by other students and teachers.

In other words, she was trying to help bullied students stand up for themselves.

Frost says when students told her of being bullied because of their sexual orientation, school administrators tried to discourage them from filing formal complaints, and she was told administrators also threatened to out those students to their parents.

Shortly after Julia Frost helped a student file a about another teacher who told a classmate to "take the gay headband off" in class and then commented "that's so gay" in a disparaging manner, she was told her contract would not be renewed.

“Today I’m sitting here, and I’m not in a classroom, and that’s just really, really devastating to me” -- Julia Frost

And so she filed a lawsuit against Hesperia Unified School District that alleges unlawful discrimination, harassment and retaliation because of her sexual orientation.  The suit alleges that administrators created a hostile environment for Frost and LGBTQ students, and investigated Frost for "teaching homosexuality."

“I heard things from teachers like, ‘Which one is the man and which one is the woman in your relationship?’” -- Julia Frost

Odd though, that while allegedly “teaching homosexuality” Julia Frost also received an outstanding performance review.

The lawsuit also alleges that the Gay/Straight Alliance’s club's activities and announcements were censored and blatantly left out of the student handbook listing school organizations.

David McLaughlin, the district’s superintendent, said:

“While the district may not discuss personnel matters, Ms. Frost’s allegations that the district dismissed her because she ‘blew the whistle’ with the ACLU about students’ equal rights, specifically the rights of our LGBT students, is absolutely false. Sadly, her efforts serve only to fuel the argument that public education cannot dismiss teachers who do not meet district expectations without controversy and, potentially costly, legal battles.”

McLaughlin is referring to an incident last March, when some students went to the ACLU for help, alleging that the school tried to censor the Gay/Straight Alliance and tried to impose unfair gender-specific dress codes. Frost said the complaints were made independent of her.

Since then, the ACLU has praised the school for making adjustments:

“They are implementing concrete changes to improve the climate for LGBT students in the district. We are very pleased the district took our allegations very seriously.”

Whether or not those students contacted the ACXLU with the help of Frost or not, is irrelevant. It seems to me she was, as I said earlier, teaching these students to stand up for themselves, to ask to be respected for their sexual orientation; to ask, simply, for respect. And for that this teacher who received positive performance reviews during her two-years at the school was fired.

Frost is suing for unspecified damages and demanding to be rehired.

source

Good News Friday: Pennsylvania Attorney General Won't Defend State’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban

I usually end posts like this with the line ‘The march goes on ….’ But I think it best to start that way, today.

Up there, round Pennsylvania way, state Attorney general, Kathleen Kane, has announced that she will not defend Pennsylvania in a federal lawsuit filed this week that challenges the constitutionality of the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. In fact, Kane called the ban “wholly unconstitutional.”

Holy unconstitutionality, Batman!

It all began when the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] filed suit on behalf of twenty-three Pennsylvania residents naming Kane and the state’s Republican Governor Tom Corbett—who supports a ban on same-sex marriage—as defendants. But, with Kane’s move, the onus of defending the law falls on the governor’s general counsel.

Kane—who endorsed the idea of gay marriage while running for her post last year—said she was obligated to drop the case “because I endorse equality and anti-discrimination laws” and if “there is a law that I feel that does not conform with the Pennsylvania state constitution and the U.S. Constitution, then I ethically cannot do that as a lawyer.”

Kane also says the Pennsylvania General Counsel, James Schultz, was fully capable of defending the governor: “I’m not leaving them high and dry,” she said. “They have their own team.”

Thomas Peters, spokesman for the National Organization for Marriage, said Kane’s refusal to defend the ban represented a sort of “pocket veto” of the law: “This is just one more example of how the Supreme Court set a bad precedent [last month] in allowing elected officials to not represent the will of the people when they find it expedient.”

Actually, Thomas, it allows elected officials to enforce the Constitution of their state, and of the country. And this could work out like it did in California back in 2008, when then Governor Arnold  Schwarzenegger and current Governor Jerry Brown—who, at the time, was California’s attorney general—declined to defend the proposition.

It may go the the Supreme Court, but we already know how that story ends.

James Schultz, the Pennsylvania General, expressed his surprise that Kane “contrary to her constitutional duty…has decided not to defend a Pennsylvania statute lawfully enacted by the General Assembly, merely because of her personal beliefs.”

Actually, what she has said is that she finds the ban runs against the state Constitution, and therefore she finds it indefensible. And, for her part, Kane has said, time and again, that she made her decision because, in a choice between defending the law and serving the public, “I choose you.”

Mary Catherine Roper, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, calls Kane’s announcement a big step forward: “To have the highest law enforcement official of the Commonwealth come out and say, ‘I agree with you, this law is unjust, that’s huge for us.’”

Of course, the state GOP chairman Rob Gleason called it “unacceptable for Attorney General Kathleen Kane to put her personal politics ahead of her taxpayer-funded job by abdicating her responsibilities.”

She.Is.Upholding.The.Constitution. The GOP—like Corbett, Schultz and Gleason—are the ones putting their personal beliefs before the law.

And then there's this Tweet from hottie, openly gay Pennsylvania lawmaker Brian Sims:

Finally, yes, you guessed it, the march goes on ….

source

Random Musings

Long ago ... okay, thirteen years ago .... in a state far, far away .... California .... I came across a man in an AOL chatroom. We began talking and joking and learning about one another.

Four months later, July 11th, 2000, I flew from California to Ft Lauderdale and met the man who would change my life forever, and for the better. We spent over a week together, and then the next month he flew to California to see me, and four months later I moved to Miami.

But this ride started thirteen years ago, today.

Happy Anniversary Of The Day We Met In Person, Carlos. Whoosh, that's a mouthful.

From the Good News File: Texas Governor Not-Gay Rick Perry has announced that he will not seek reelection: “The time has come to pass on the mantle of leadership. Today, I’m announcing I will not seek reelection as governor of Texas.”

The Bad News File: Perry will probably run for President in 2016.

The Good News File: He’ll quit the race soon after.

The Bad News File: The main contender to succeed Perry is virulently anti-gay Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who declared in April that any Texas municipality that offers domestic partners insurance to its employees is in violation of the state constitution. 

So, I loves me some Daniel Craig. As James Bond; as anyone. Talk about oozing sex appeal. Talk about a delicious hot body. Talk about looking good in a blue square-cut.

But then I read that Craig was starring in a film called Dream House which seemed like your standard ooh-scary-wannabe-horror film and I thought, “Why Danny, why?”

Then I saw it and it was pretty good, with a nice little twist a la The Others.

Another high pint? Though the film was directed by a man, there are many tight close-ups of Craig Rear Rend—though it’s sadly clothed. But there are plenty of shirtless Craig and plenty of tight T-shirt Craig.

All in all, a win-win for this Daniel Craig obsessed stalker fan.

So, this week Pat Robertson—who never uttered a rational thought in his entire life—said he wishes Facebook had a 'Vomit Button' he could use when he sees photos of Gay Couples.

This from a man who looks like a cartoon alien from the Flintstones? Really?

Paula Deen may do Dancing With The Stars. As if I needed another reason never to watch.

Speaking of Deen, I am trying to create a new language based on celebrity misdeeds: 

Last night we went to dinner and our server was black, so I Paula Deen’d the manager.

I got into a Twitter war yesterday and I Alec Baldwin’d the guy.

I don’t know what the big deal is? I was sitting with someone in my car and I got Eddie Murphy’d.

I have one request of the Tea Party: Spell-f&%$ing-check your signs before you head out of your trailers!

You go, ACLU!

The ACLU has filed suit in Pennsylvania, Virginia, llanos and North Carolina, claiming their anti-marriage equality bans are against the law in light of the SCOTUS ruling on DOMA.

The march is on …..

Hot Man Alert!

Steve Grand, former extremely hot underwear model has released a new song called 'All American Boy' which is the tale of one gay man's unrequieted--up to a point--love for his best friend.

He can sing … and he’s openly gay!

Hot. Gay. Sings. Hot.

A few months back it was announced Joy Behar was leaving The View. I was sad because I like Behar’s sense of humor and her politics. Then the rumor mills swirled that Barbara Walters would be retiring, and I thought, Yay! I mean, if I wanted to see a dotty old lady on TV, I’d NetFlix old episodes of Bewitched for the one with Aunt Clara. Amirite?

Walters declared she wasn’t retiring and then a month, later announced her retirement.

Then the story was that Republican Rightwingnut Elizabeth Hasselbeck was being ‘let go’ and again Walters said it wasn’t true, and that Hasselbeck was welcome there as long as she wanted.

Which proved to be true this week when it was announced that Hasselbeck was called home to the Mother Ship, AKA FauxNews, for their sadly named Fox & Friends show.

So, was Hasselbeck fired? Let go? Not renewed? Well, her last day on The View was the very day she made her announcement so it looks like the whole ‘letting go’ idea was right and that she was given time to find a new gig, or make a reasonable excuse as to why she was gone.

That leaves Whoopi—Thank the goddess for Whoopi—and Sherri Shepard, whom I think of as The Urkel of The View.

The Mama Grizzly Bore™, AKA MGB™, is rumored to be considering a run for the Senate from Alaska.

May I remind you, good people of Alaska, that when you elected her governor she quit halfway through?

So, elect her to the Senate and you’ll have her for just three of the six years before she declares it too hard and walks away.

Think twice, Alaska, think twice. 

Kentucky Legislators Want To Use Religion As An Excuse For Hate

Ah Kentuckians, how it must feel waking up this morning to the fact that your elected officials are trying to make discrimination legal, and fun, if you do it based on your religious beliefs.

Yesterday, the Today Kentucky House passed House Bill 279—AKA the Religious Freedom Bill—which is ostensibly designed to protect individuals' religious liberty from undue governmental interference. But, as it is currently written, the bill undermines existing civil rights protections in the State.

It moves on to the Senate where, I hope, smarter heads prevail. But, if the Senate chooses to keep the bill's current language, and not amend it to include specific protections for civil rights laws, a religious individual could claim an exemption from any law or policy that prohibits discrimination—leaving racial minorities, women, LGBT people and others without adequate protections.

See, in Kentucky you’d be able to legally discriminate against Blacks, and Latinos, and woman or any race or color, and LGBT people, if you say something like ‘God made me do it.’ And, if this bill passes, with the current language intact, it could undermine existing LGBT Fairness protections in local statutes in places Louisville, Lexington, Covington and Vicco, Kentucky.

And if you don’t think folks will use their so-called religion as an excuse to discriminate, well, they have in the past, and here’s how and where:

Against African-Americans: In 1966, three African-American customers brought a suit against Piggie Park restaurants, and their owner, Maurice Bessinger, for refusal to serve them. Bessinger argued that enforcement of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits that type of discrimination, violated his religious freedom "since his religious beliefs compel[ed] him to oppose any integration of the races whatever."

Against women: In 1976, Roanoke Valley Christian Schools added a "head of household" supplement to their teachers' salaries – which according to their beliefs meant married men, and not women.When sued under the Equal Pay Act, Roanoke Valley claimed a right to an exemption. According to the church pastor affiliated with the school, "[w]hen we turned to the Scriptures to determine head of household, by scriptural basis, we found that the Bible clearly teaches that the husband is the head of the house, head of the wife, head of the family."

Against interracial marriages: In the 1980's, Bob Jones University, a religiously-affiliated school in South Carolina, wanted an exemption from a rule denying tax-exempt status to schools that practice racial discrimination. The "sponsors of the University genuinely believe[d] that the Bible forbids interracial dating and marriage," and it was school policy that students engaged in interracial relationships, or advocacy thereof, would be expelled.

As I said, hopefully the Kentucky Senate has more active brain cells in it than does the House. If not, any religion, and we all know they are some legitimate ones out there, but there are also some crazy ones, too, would be able to legally discriminate against minorities, women and the LGBT community.

In the 21^st century.

via the ACLU