Random Musings

Last week Ryan Lochte apologized on social media—and did a round of The Mea Culpa on every news channel—for not being “more careful and candid” in the way he described events to Brazilian police about that “robbery” that never happened.

Careful and candid? Howsabout saying:

“I’m sorry I’m a drunken ass who vandalized a bathroom then lied to police about then fled the country while my friends were detained.”

Say that, then go away … and that very well may happen because in the wake of lying and being just a general douchebag, Lochte has lost 4 sponsorship deals, including Speedo:

“While we have enjoyed a winning relationship with Ryan for over a decade and he has been an important member of the Speedo team, we cannot condone the behavior that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for.”

And then Ralph Lauren, which outfitted Team USA for the opening and closing ceremonies, announced they would not renew their contract with Lochte either.

Good. Now go.

It seems like it was just a couple of years ago that we — the LGBT community, that is — were boycotting Target for donating to anti-LGBT political campaigns.

Cut to 2016 and there’s a new Target in town … Last week Target announced that it will spend $20 million to install gender-neutral restrooms in every single one of its stores, saying the change is part of an ongoing effort to make all customers and employees feel welcome. Most Target bathrooms are expected to be completed by the end of 2016.

Good on Target.

Last Saturday night was Trash Movie Night at Casa Bob y Carlos so we enjoyed — and I use that word loosely — a disaster epic, in every sense of the word, called San Andreas.

The film starred Dwayne Johnson, AKA The Rock and I will say, he’s a horrible actor. But worse than is acting is that I couldn’t decide if he looked like a talking elbow or a taking penis.

Just sayin’.

In South Carolina LGBT News … Crystal Moore is the chief of police in Latta, South Carolina—population 1,400. Yup, a woman — in that small town — and a gay woman to boot. But Crystal Moore isn’t just content with being the chief of police, she’s set her sights on becoming the female sheriff in South Carolina and the first gay one, too.

South Carolina. Gay sheriff; female sheriff. Who knew?

Carlos and I make a trek to CostCo about every six weeks for supplies; we used to travel up to Charlotte, North Carolina, because that was the closest one and it was about a 90-minute drive up and a ninety-minute drive back.

But two weeks ago, they finally opened a CostCo in Columbia and so the drive is down to thirty minutes each way, but this story isn’t about CostCo. It’s about Dumbass South Carolina drivers.

On the way up I-20 we ran into stopped traffic; there was, most likely, an accident up ahead. We stopped very near a freeway off-ramp and so many cars were pushing to the right to get off the freeway and avoid the mess. As the driver, I noticed that up ahead the traffic was still moving, albeit slowly, so I chose to stay in my lane and get through.

As I also looked up ahead, I noticed that some drivers were doing u-turns and getting off the freeway via a freeway on-ramp and driving the wrong way up the on-ramp.

Stupid ass people. But then, just when you think people cannot be dumber, some of those using the ­on-ramp to get off, were backing up the on-ramp so as to look less conspicuous.

Seriously. I lived six years in  Miami where I saw crazy drivers every single day and I never saw anything like this is my life; South Carolina; it’s not the heat, it’s the stupidity.

I was watching CBS Sunday Morning and they were doing a piece on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show bandleader, Jon Batiste.

Talented musician, great fun, fabulous style, and oh so easy on the eyes … I may have to stay up late some time.

RuPaul’s Drag Race: All-Stars starts tonight, with returning queens, Adore Delano, Alaska, Alyssa Edwards,  Coco Montrese, Detox,  Ginger Minj, Katya, Phi Phi O’Hara,  Roxxxy Andrews, and Tatiana.

I hope Ginger takes it all the way; I hope Adore isn’t allowed to speak because she has a voice only a non-hearing person could love; I hope someone pushes Roxxxy off the stage; I hope someone tapes Phi Phi’s catty mouth shut.

But that’s just me …

In news that is not surprising, it seems that Weston Imer, a twelve-year-old boy, is running Donald [t]Rump’s campaign office in Jefferson County, Colorado.

Imer’s mother Laurel is listed as the office’s official field coordinator but she says she’s allowed her son to organize volunteers as co-chair of the county office.

Makes sense, the candidate has the temperament of a self-indulgent twelve-year-old so …

I originally posted about Martin Blackwell  back in March — see post HERE — after he was arrested for pouring boiling water on a same-sex couple sleeping in an apartment, leaving them with severe burns that required surgery.

This week Blackwell was found guilty of eight counts of aggravated battery and two counts of aggravated assault in the attack on Anthony Gooden and Marquez Tolbert; the defense called no witnesses and presented no evidence. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

The jury refused to accept Blackwell’s defense attorney, Monique Walker’s statement that this wasn’t about hate, but about “old-school culture, old-school thinking.”

I wonder if Monique would offer that same defense on a racist white man who poured boiling water on a black man. Hate is hate, Monique; stop trying to justify it as “old school” thinking.

Speaking of asshats … the price of life-saving EpiPens has jumped from an average price of $56.64 in 2007 to $317.82 today.

And conveniently enough, Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, the pharmaceutical executive who oversaw the increase was given a raise from $2,453,456 in 2007 to $18,931,068 today.

Mylan purchased the EpiPen from Merck in 2007; each pen contains about $1 worth of epinephrine. Now you pay $300 for the dollar’s worth of medicine … oh, and you get the pen, too!

Heather Bresch; she’s the new Martin Shkreli. I hope she gets what he got.

I recently posted this to Facebook with the caption: Oh who am I kidding ... I don't shop! #ConsiderYourselvesWarned

Update Central: Crsytal Moore, Frank Schaefer, Kristene Chapa

Earlier this week the people of Latta, South Carolina finally had their say about Mayor Earl Bullard’s firing of openly gay police chief, Crystal Moore, and they spoke loudly and clearly.

Moore was reinstated to her position and Earl Bullard, the mayor who fired her because she was gay — and because she questioned his ethics — was stripped of some of his powers. See my original post HERE.

The voters passed a referendum changing the governing structure of Latta from “mayor-strong” to “council-strong," which gives the town council the ability to rehire Moore, and while the ballots still must be certified by this Friday, the council plans to make the rehiring of Moore its first order of business.

Bullard, who has been mayor since December, started this whole mess back in April when he fired Moore after giving her seven reprimands. Moore maintained that she had done nothing wrong, and that the reprimands were the first she had received in 20 years. 

Shortly afterwards, though, a council member released a recorded phone call in which Bullard went on a homophobic tirade saying he preferred to leave his children with a raging alcoholic than with someone whose "lifestyle is questionable."

And the town, who long felt Moore was the best person, male or female, gay or straight, for the job, fought back, with hundreds of townspeople rallying for her reinstatement. Bullard denied that he fired Moore because of her sexual orientation, and there was no concrete proof — even though there was that damning phone call — that that was his motivation, but many people in Latta felt Moore's firing was personal.

Now she’s back, and the mayor is a little less powerful, all in a tiny town in, of all places, South Carolina.

UPDATE UPDATE ... via Bilerico ... 

In a desperate bid to thwart the will of the town council, Mayor Hubbard scrambled announced this morning that he's hired a new police chief before the council's vote could be certified. Stay tuned.

h/t to BloggerJoe.

via: HuffPost Gay Voices

Late last year, Frank Schaefer, a former Pennsylvania pastor was convicted of breaking church law when he officiated at the 2007 same-sex wedding ceremony of his son and his son’s partner. Schaefer’s son had asked him to perform the wedding — held not in a Methodist church but at a restaurant — and Schaefer did not publicize the wedding. The story came out in April 2013, when a member of the congregation learned of the ceremony and filed a complaint. See my original post HERE.

Now, however, a United Methodist Church appeals panel has overturned a decision to defrock Schaefer and the church has been ordered to restore his pastoral credentials. The panel called the jury’s punishment illegal under church law and said that “revoking his credentials cannot be squared with the well-established principle that our clergy can only be punished for what they have been convicted of doing in the past, not for what they may or may not do in the future.”

“I’ve devoted my life to this church, to serving this church, and to be restored and to be able to call myself a reverend again and to speak with this voice means so much to me.”—Frank Schaefer, who says he will continue to work for LGBT rights “with an even stronger voice from within the United Methodist Church.”

The ruling can be appealed to the Methodist church’s highest court, and the pastor who prosecuted Schaefer, the Reverend Christopher Fisher, said he has not made a decision about an appeal.

Hopefully Fisher has seen that the times are changing, and that the church, even the Methodist Church, needs to change as well. Otherwise, when the change does come, he’ll be seen as the pastor who stood on the wrong side of equality.

via: LGBTQ Nation

One night in 2012, girlfriends Mollie Olgin [right] and Kristene Chapa [left] went to Violet Andrews Park in Portland, Texas so Olgin could show Chapa were she’d been baptized. See my original post HERE.

They encountered someone who allegedly forced them down a steep incline, tied them up, and then shot each girl in the head. It wasn’t until morning that a couple out for a walk found the two girls; Mollie Olgin had died during the night but Kristene Chapa was alive.

The gunshot initially left Chapa unable to sit or stand, with the bullet piercing the part of her brain controlling movements on her left side. Thankfully, today, she has recovered those abilities though she is still undergoing physical rehabilitation.

Better news, though, is that a suspect in the case — David Malcolm Strickland [right] — was arrested last week by US Marshals and Texas Rangers in San Antonio; his wife, Laura Kimberly, was also arrested. Strickland faces charges of capital murder, aggravated assault, and aggravated sexual assault; his wife faces charges of tampering with evidence.

“I hope that it gives them some closure knowing that this person is taken off the street. It is one day before the two-year anniversary. We've been working very hard to make sure we get him as soon as possible. A series of fortunate events has led us to this point and I'm just very happy that we could help in — at least at this point — in bringing him to justice.”— Portland Police Chief Gary Giles

Nothing will bring back Ollie Olgin, and nothing will erase the memory of what happened that night to Kristene Chapa, but now, at least, the person responsible appears to have been arrested and will stand trial.

via: NBC News

South Carolina Mayor Fires Police Chief Because She's Gay

You know, it’s funny about South Carolina. Some things happen here that make me think the tide will change and the state will come barreling into the 21st century, like last weekend’s Peace Lilies for Guns event, where South Carolinians turned in their weapons for flowers; it was quite a success and made me proud of my tiny state.

Until ... the nastiness and bigotry and homophobia of the South reared its ugly head.

The new mayor of Latta, South Carolina, population 1,410, Earl Bullard, has just fired Police Chief Crystal Moore, a twenty-year of the tiny town’s police department. Moore was terminated after Bullard gave her a list of seven reprimands—the first Moore has ever received in her two decades on the job—ranging from:

• Running background checks without properly signed authorization
• Failure to report to supervisor about problems in other departments
• Using office/position to seek revenge against another for personal affront
• Questioning authority of supervisor
• Questioning authority of mayor to look at job applications for potential employees
• Failure to maintain order, contributing to disorder at council meetings
• Contacting news media to help bring about disorder and disruption to the town of Latta

But most folks in the town don’t believe it was these seven infractions that lead to Moore’s dismissal, they believe she was fired because she is openly gay, and members of the city council have come out, so to speak, and offered support for Moore while condemning Bullard’s decision to fire Moore as an act of retribution.

See, earlier this year, Chief Moore opened an investigation into whether city vehicles were being used improperly by another city official, and then discovered that the mayor had failed to conduct a proper background check on the employee, Parks and Recreations Director Vontray Sellers. It appears that, with the approval of the mayor, Vontray Sellers was allowed to drive a Latta town vehicle even though his license had been suspended in February; two things that would not have been allowed to happen had Mayor Bullard conducted a background check on Sellers.

And that was when Bullard issued his seven reprimands and subsequently fired Moore.

Now, I half expected the townspeople to go along with Bullard; I mean, the Police Chief, the town’s first female police chief, is gay, and, you know, South Carolina and all, but the townspeople weren’t having it.

One city Councilman, Jared Taylor, stepped forward with an audio recording of a phone call between himself and Bullard in which the mayor clearly says he wants Moore off the job because she’s a lesbian:

“I would much rather have someone who drank and drank too much taking care of my child than I had somebody whose lifestyle is questionable around children, because that ain’t the damn way that they’re supposed to be. I don’t agree with some of the lifestyles that I see portrayed and I don’t say anything because that’s the way they want to live. But I’m not going to let my child be around. I’m not going to let two women stand up there and hold hands and let my child be aware of it, and I’m not going to see them do it with two men neither. I’m not going to do it, because that ain’t the way the world works.”

And once the news of that phone call came out, hundreds of citizens of Latta rallied around Police Chief Moore, demanding that the mayor reinstate her immediately. Councilwoman Lutherine Williams led the push for answers, appearing before that crowd of supporters, but at the town council meeting that same night, Bullard refused to discuss the matter at all.

"We have codes, but this Mayor refuses to obey anything in that book he don't [sic] want to ... If an employee does something, you don't wait three or four days or two or three weeks to do something about it."—Lutherine Williams

Williams says Mayor Bullard should have first given Chief Moore a verbal warning, then a written one; and then he should have discussed the issue with the town council before firing Moore. He did none of that.

Moore says that she is overwhelmed at the support, but the sad thing is South Carolina is one of those states where you can be fired for being gay, even if the person who fired you did so because you questioned his ethics.

But maybe, just maybe, the next time Earl Bullard is up for election in Latta the people of the town will give him the boot for being a bigot and a homophobe and a crooked politician.

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