Bobservations

Carlos has the uncanny [read: annoying] ability to sleep through anything and to fall asleep instantly. He literally slept through Hurricane Katrina while it took a tree down in the yard and ripped up all the fencing around our house and sent debris flying everywhere; yes, he slept.

And when we go to bed, his head grazes the pillow and he’s snoring. One morning last week, at about 6:25AM, he gets out of bed and goes into the bathroom. His alarm normally goes off at 6:30, so I thought he just woke up and got going. No; he comes out of the bathroom and gets back into bed, falls asleep, for two more minutes until the alarm.

Then this morning. I wake up and look at my phone and it’s 6:30. I assume he’s forgotten the alarm, though it’s not a  big deal, and I say:

“Time to get up.”

He rolls over, looks at his clock, and says:

“I have one more minute.”

And goes back to sleep. I mean, does that minute help? Is that the minute he needs to awake fully rested? I can’t with  this … I can’t ….

And to be fair, you couldn’t get a more honest, straightforward, law-abiding person than Barack Obama.

PS The Obamas were back in the White House yesterday finally unveiling their official portraits, and both spoke, lovingly and eloquently of one another and this country.

LoveLoveLove them

Over the weekend, at Brigham Young University a group of “angels” stood quietly while protesters yelled “pedophile” and “groomer” and pushed signs quoting the Book of Mormon toward their faces.

While one man spat on them, and others shrieked to “stop protecting the homos” the dozen people holding hands, dressed in white, didn’t flinch as they created a shield between the 100 people protesting and the LGBTQ+ students, alumni and friends from BYU who gathered off campus to show support for each other.

And yes, this happened in 2022.

A few weeks ago, we brought you the idea of beer brewed with Hot Dog water as the new It Drink, and if that wasn’t enough for you, Oscar Meyer has introduced a pupsicle, er, popsicle called the Cold Dog, which has all the flavor of a barbeque-grilled hot dog in one creamy stick.

Oscar Mayer partnered with PopBar, pairing a creamy gelato with the smokey, umami notes of an Oscar Mayer wiener and topped off the pop with a drizzle of mustard-colored white chocolate.

I think I threw up a little in my mouth, and don’t get me started on sucking a wiener. This ain’t that.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that, even though the state’s abortion ban makes no exception for rape or incest, victims of these crimes can take emergency contraception and call the police.

Uh huh. Then why have a law that says they cannot have an abortion in the case of rape, Greg?

And then down in Florida we have learned that 51% of the state’s 10th graders failed the statewide English Language Arts [ELA] assessment … which students must pass to get a diploma.

Like you’re asshatted counterpart, you’re doing a bang-up job DeSantis, but, hey, at least you can rest assured that they all passed the Don’t Say Gay test cuz that’ll serve them well in life.

A couple in Indiana has the perfect deterrent for those pesky Mormon missionaries, and other religious folks, who like to come a’calling: a doormat that reads:

“Gayest Place In Town.” 

Jamie Foust and her wife Melissa bought the $10 doormat from Target last June because they thought it funny, but then their doorbell camera caught two clean-cut Latter-day Saint boys approaching their home, and one read the word “gayest” out loud and then said, “Nope,” and turned and left.

The same thing can be done if you open the door and ask if they wanna suck a cold wiener with mustard-colored white chocolate.

I’m kinda liking this look, which I have dubbed Space Alien Coming Through Ellis Island. I guess that’s an alien handbag in one hand and his entry number in the other??

Isaac Churchill. Model. With beautiful baby blue eyes and a mop of curly hair you just wanna gr—but this isn’t about that: Would You Hit It?

You Need To Calm Down, Reid Arthur Is Gay

Reid Arthur is a senior theater major at Christian college George Fox University in Portland, Oregon. He has participated in the school’s annual lip-sync battle, but this year Reid chose a couple of Taylor Swift tunes; first was ‘…Ready for It?’ and then it morphed into ‘You Need to Calm Down.’

When the lyrics, ”Cause shade never made anybody less gay’ play, Arthur’s backup dancers rip off his coat to reveal a white T-shirt with rainbow strings hanging from its sleeves.

He’s out, he’s proud, and he did so at a school that has denounced LGBTQ+ issues and stood up against same-sex marriage.

The crowd gave Arthur a standing ovation and he won first place, which was $500 he says he plans to donate to an LGBTQ organization.

Congratulations Reid, and welcome out in spectacular fashion. And please accept as our gift the Official Coming Out Toaster Oven and a copy of The Gay Agenda.

Welcome out.

Jacob Anderson Another White Rapist Walks Free

And folks, mostly white folks, mostly white male folks, say there’s no such thing as white privilege.

Jacob Anderson, the former president of Baylor University’s Phi Delta Theta fraternity, was accused of raping a woman at an off-campus party in 2015. The victim, then a sophomore at Baylor, says she was given a drink at an off-campus frat party and “became very disoriented.” She says she was taken “to a secluded part of the grounds behind a tent in order to get some air, however once away from everyone else attending the party” Jacob Anderson sexually assaulted the woman. She lost consciousness during the rape but awoke all alone a short time later; she returned to the house, found a friend, and went to the hospital.

This past fall, the district attorney’s office offered Anderson, who was originally indicted on four charges of sexual assault, a plea deal for a lesser charge of unlawful restraint, which is a third-degree felony. Anderson pled no contest.

Jacob Anderson will not serve any prison time.

Jacob Anderson will not be required to register as a sex offender.

Jacob Anderson will pay a $400 fine and receive counseling.

If he completes three years on deferred probation, he won’t even have a criminal record.

For rape.

The victim’s family learned of the plea deal via an email from Hillary Laborde, the assistant district attorney:

“I’ve accepted an offer on Jacob Anderson. It’s for probation on the charge of felony unlawful restraint, not sexual assault—therefore, he will not have to register as a sex offender. I realize this is not the outcome we had hoped for or that I had originally offered, but I tried a very similar case to this one last month, and lost. In light of the similarities between the cases, it’s my opinion it would be worse to try Anderson and lose and have the entire matter wiped from his criminal history than to accept this plea offer.”

It appears that because she lost one case,  Hillary Laborde won’t bother with rape cases that are hard; sad, because even if she lost the case Jacob Anderson would have to go to court and defend his indefensible actions, but, because of Laborde, he gets a pass.

Vic Feazell, the former McLennan County District Attorney, who represents the victim’s family:

“As a former DA, I never, ever have seen such a sweetheart deal for a defendant like this. It pays to be rich and white in McLennan County when you’re charged with a crime.”

Well, if you’re a white man charged with a crime, because, as much as it pains me to say this, had Jacob Anderson been black or Hispanic, there would have been a trial; there would have been a guilty verdict; there would have been jail.

But being white, Jacob Anderson, rapist, walks free.

Jezebel

Kicked Out Of His House For Being Gay, Seth Owen Gets the Last [Best] Laugh

Seth Owen’s parents kicked him out of their house because he’s gay. It didn’t matter that he was his class Valedictorian at First Coast High School in Jacksonville; it didn’t matter that he had a 4.16 GPA and seemed like he had a bright future.

But Seth had one problem: the church he attended was virulently anti-LGBTQ. And so he asked his mother and father if he could stop attending the church over those teachings and they gave him the choice to stay in the church or leave home … after sending him to “gay conversion” therapy.

He was gay and that was against their god. Seth Owens decided to leave home, knowing that he would not be able to attend the college of his choice—Georgetown—because, even with financial aid, he couldn’t afford the tuition.

Luckily, Seth is getting the last laugh. His story went viral last year when one of his teachers, knowing what Seth’s parents had done, set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for his first tuition at Georgetown; the page set a goal of $20,000 yet donations topped $129,000. But upon hearing his story, Georgetown offered Seth Own a full scholarship:

“While the campaign has been ongoing, the professionals at the Office of Student Financial Services have continued to work with me to make my dream a reality. Due to their efforts and attention, they were able to adjust my aid package even further, my expected contribution is now $0. With these new adjustments, I will be able to attend Georgetown University this fall.”

Seth plans to use the funds raised by the GoFundMe page to cover additional expenses he may have while attending the prestigious Washington, D.C., school, but also plans to use the rest of the money to start a scholarship fund for other students.

Sounds like he’s far more Christian, and accepting and tolerant and old church, including his parents.

And he got the last laugh.

The Hill

On This Date In ISBL History: Kasey Landrum Wears Makeup......So What?

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 8, 2011:

Up in Tennessee, which seems to be turning into the land of LGBT discrimination, sixteen-year-old Lexington High School student Kasey Landrum was suspended from school for wearing makeup. Oh, yeah, Kasey's a young man, a young gay man, which, I guess, is the reason for the suspension.

He says, of the suspension, "The principal walked into the school and immediately started yelling at me and told me to get outside."

Kasey did just what Principal Steve Lindsey instructed without a reply. But another student, who witnessed the incident, told Lindsey that Kasey was just expressing himself by wearing the makeup. Lindsey and that student exchanged words, and that student was given a one-day suspension. The next day Kasey was issued a three day in-school suspension. For wearing makeup.

Shelly Maness, Kasey's mother, said her son was suspended on the basis that he violated school dress code which states: "When a student is attired in a manner, which is likely to cause disruption or interference with normal operation of the school, the administration will take the appropriate action. In matters of opinion, the judgment of the teachers and administrators will prevail."

In discussing the matter, Henderson County Superintendent Steve Wilkinson said, "I don't know what kind of disruption it may have cause or may not have caused." He did say, however, that the principal has the authority to determine what is deemed a distraction.

Kasey Landrum was also asked to leave a school football game because he wore makeup, but says there are students, male students, who wear what he calls a "punk rock" style makeup, but are never punished.

When asked if he knew of any students he had distracted with his makeup, Kasey said there were no incidents which were caused as a result of him wearing makeup and said overall the students and teachers have been very supportive of him.

"I'm proud of myself for being as comfortable as I am, but sometimes I wish I was straight."

What are we doing to these kids? How is it ever acceptable to make them feel so ashamed of who they are that they wish to be something else? We try, and more often than not fail, to protect them from being bullied, but then we have school officials who use their own prejudices, or sexual uncertainties, to punish gay students. Principal Lindsey may not know it, but by his continually calling attention to Kasey Landrum, and calling him a distraction, and sending him home from school, he's setting up the chance for Kasey to be bullied by students.

I mean, if the principal can do it..........

Shortly after the story became news, the school reversed Kasey Landrum’s suspension and updated its school dress code policy to allow all students to wear makeup regardless of gender.

Good News Friday: Another Athlete Sits Down

Last week the big sports news was about a football player sitting down when Colin Kaepernick chose to sit out the playing of the National Anthem in protest of racial inequality in America. But there was another football player who sat down recently, for an altogether different reason.

Travis Rudolph, a wide receiver for Florida State University, was visiting Montford Middle School in Tallahassee with several of his teammates and, while walking through the cafeteria, he saw a young boy, Bo Paske, sitting alone. Rudolph grabbed a slice of pizza and asked Bo if he could join him.

Bo said, “Sure, why not.”

And so Rudolph sat with Bo, and talked with Bo, and learned that Bo loves Florida State and football; he also learned that Bo suffers from autism, which is why, most days, he eats alone since the other kids won’t share a lunch table with him.

After school that day, Bo told his mother, Leah, that he’d met Travis Rudolph and that Travis ate lunch with him. Leah nearly cried, realizing for that one day she hadn’t needed to worry about Bo eating alone, and she took to Facebook to share Bo’s story and thank Rudolph:

"I'm not sure what exactly made this incredibly kind man share a lunch table with my son, but I'm happy to say it will not soon be forgotten. This is one day I didn't have to worry if my sweet boy ate lunch alone, because he sat across from someone who is a hero in many eyes."

Leah also shared her anxieties in her Facebook post about middle schools and kids with autism, and how she worried for Bo:

"Sometimes I'm grateful for his autism. That may sound like a terrible thing to say, but in some ways I think, I hope, it shields him. He doesn't seem to notice when people stare at him when he flaps his hands. He doesn't seem to notice that he doesn't get invited to birthday parties anymore. And he doesn't seem to mind if he eats lunch alone. It's one of my daily questions for him. Was there a time today you felt sad? Who did you eat lunch with today? Sometimes the answer is a classmate, but most days it's nobody."

But not that day; that day Travis Rudolph decided to sit down, and he made a silent statement, and he made a new friend.

Once the story went viral, as often happens when someone does something kind — which is a whole other story about why we’re shocked by kindness — Travis kept up his friendship with Bo and last week he gave Bo an honorary jersey — one with Travis’s number on it, but with Bo Paske’s name, too — and a pair of tickets to a Florida State game, where Bo and his mother watched Florida State beat Mississippi from the sidelines.

It wasn’t much … a chat over lunch … a free shirt … a football game … but it meant the world to a sixth-grader who often eats alone.

And all it took was for Travis Rudolph to sit down.

6ABC

Time

UPDATE: Pam Bondi Asked For [t]Rump Money Before Dropping Investigation Into [t]Rump U

It seems like it was just a couple of hours ago — Hint: it was — that I mentioned how Florida’s Attorney General, Republican, Pam Bondi was thinking of joining in with New York’s Attorney general, Democrat Eric Schneiderman, to sue [t]Rump U for being nothing but a big scam. I posted that Pam ultimately decided there wasn’t any merit to the case and so she let the matter drop, which was when Donald J. [t]Rump gave $25,000 to her campaign.

Seems all kinds of fishy, no? Then try this on for size …

It wasn’t Donald [t]Rump coming for Pam Bondi with a check, it was the other way round. Bondi personally asked for a [t]Rump contribution at the same time she was thinking about joining in with New York’s investigation of ALLEGED fraud at [t]Rump University and as soon as the check cleared, Pam’s office decided not to p[pursue the matter.

Well, isn’t that convenient? And, a political group backing Bondi's re-election — idiotically calling themselves And Justice for All — received the check Sept. 17, 2013, days before Bondi PUBLICLY  announced she was considering joining a New York state probe of Trump University's activities. In addition, the money came from a Trump family foundation in an apparent violation of rules surrounding political activities by charities.

Who saw that coming? [t]Rump lying cheating stealing bribing? A Florida politician taking money in exchange for not pursuing a fraud investigation?

Marc Reichelderfer, a political consultant who worked for Bondi's re-election effort, says Bondi spoke with Trump "several weeks" before her office announced it was considering joining a multi-state lawsuit proposed by New York's attorney general and that Pam Bondi was unaware of the dozens and dozens of consumer complaints received by her office about [t]Rump University.

Uh huh. Anyone wanna buy a bridge?

And while this all makes perfect sense — [t]Rump buying his way out of a scandal and a republican taking a bribe — let’s end with Donald J. [t]Rump’s own words about the favors he expects and receives from politicians to whom he gave money.

"When I want something I get it. When I call, they kiss my ass. It's true."

And he gets even more favors when he bribes them upfront.

Did [t]Rump Buy His Way Out Of Another ... And Another ... Trump U Investigation?

Back in 2010, when Texas Governor, and Republican, Greg Abbott was serving as Texas’ Attorney General he opened a civil investigation into the "possibly deceptive trade practices" into [t]Rump University and guess what he found?

Oh, we’ll never know because Abbott dropped the investigation when [t]Rump U agreed to end its operations in Texas.

And that’s when Greg Abbott received a $35,000 donation to his gubernatorial campaign from … wait for it … Donald [t]Rump. And naturally, now, Greg Abbott is not talking.

This all comes to light right after a federal judge in California labeled [t]Rump's portrayal of his real estate seminar course as an uncontroversial operation. Instead, the manuals reflect boiler-room sales tactics with the proceeds going mostly to … wait for it … Donald [t]Rump.

In fact, many of those who bought into [t]Rump Scam, er, University ended up paying as much as $34,995 for what was purported to be private mentoring with supposed real estate experts.

Huh, so let’s assume that at least one person paid roughly $35,000 for the course; isn’t that almost the exact amount [t]Rump gave Abbott as a campaign donation after Abbott stopped investigating [t]Rump U?

Nothing to see there, people, move along.

Except now, in addition to that judge in California, New York’s Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, is also suing [t]Rump over [t]Rump U in separate but similar case.  Schneiderman claims [t]Rump usually keeps his hands clean in some of his more dirty deals by noting that his only financial involvement was adding his name to the organization, but in the case of [t]Rump U, [t]Rump wanted the business — and profits — for himself.

[t]Rump has defended [t]Rump U by citing surveys in which 98% of students say they were pleased with the program, but, BUT, those surveys were taken before the students had experienced the full program. An even higher percentage demanded refunds from the “school,” complaining that [t]Rump U was a rip-off.

In 2010, when the Better Business Bureau gave the school a D-minus — its second-lowest grade — state regulators, like Greg Abbott, began to take notice. Until, you know, Abbott suddenly decided he’d just let [t]Rump U leave Texas, and all those people who lost thousands of dollars, in exchange, perhaps, for a substantial campaign donation.

And this isn’t an isolated incident; Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi had considered joining with New York in a multi-state suit against [t]Rump U but just three days after it was announced that Bondi was reviewing the New York lawsuit, the Donald J. Trump Foundation made a $25,000 contribution to Bondi's re-election campaign.

And then Pam Bondi, another Republican, dropped her investigation, citing insufficient grounds to proceed.

This is your GOP, and your GOP nominee for the presidency; stealing from hardworking people and then paying off folks to stop investigating him.

TWC News

Liberty University To Allow Guns In Dorms!

Virginia’s Liberty University President, Jerry Falwell Jr, has announced that from this day forward students will be allowed to carry concealed handgun — if they have a permit — in their dorm rooms.

Yeah, I see this working out really well.

Now, to be fair, and I am nothing if not fair here at ISBL, those students will not be allowed to arm themselves without permission from the school first and the guns would be kept in safes inside the residence halls.

Unless, you know, some lunatic with a gun permit decides he or she wants their gun and goes and gets it and then goes on a killing spree, but that could never happen in America, right?

The move comes on the heels of Falwell’s announcement last year, in the wake of the San Bernardino shootings, that eligible students could carry guns anywhere on campus:

"I've always thought if more good people had concealed carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in."

Um, Jerry? Asshat? Who gets to decide who the “good” people are? Asking for a friend.

See, all it takes is one not so good person with access to a gun and permission to carry it anywhere at all for something bad to happen, but don’t think about that Jerry.

After all, dead students don’t stay in our thoughts for long.

CBS News

What Could Possibly Go Wrong When Gun Nuts Hold A Fake Mass Shooting?

I don’t like guns; I don’t own a gun. I cannot think of a situation in my life that would make me buy a gun.

I have, however, once in my life, shot a gun; when I was a wee lad, we were visiting friends and went skeet shooting. I didn’t much care for it and haven’t picked up a gun since then, but …

If people choose to own a gun because they feel they need it for protection, I say that’s their right. If people own a gun because they like to hunt, I say that’s their right. But why, why, does anyone need an assault weapon? A machine gun? Any weapon that fires dozens and dozens of round per minute and was created solely for the purposes of killing someone?

That I don’t understand. And I don’t understand this either: gun rights groups are converging on the University of Texas campus to hold a “mock” mass shooting.

Yup; mock. Fake. Not real. Just for fun let’s pretend that someone went crazy and opened fire on a college campus; for kicks. What a great way to spend an afternoon: murder and mayhem.

And the reason given for this asinine display — mass shootings are fun, y’all—comes from one Matthew Short, spokesman for the gun rights groups Come and Take It Texas:

“We love freedom and we’re trying to make more freedom.”

More freedom; with guns.

Apparently Short and his ilk haven’t read the statistics that say that Americans have suffered more mass shootings this year than days have passed this year. But that’s not enough for gun-nuts; they need a mass shooting simulation because nothing says freedom like bloodshed.

Billed as a “crisis performance event”, the fake mass shooting will include an entire array of simulated effects, including guns, gunfire, blood, victims, and “good guys” with guns, and will be preceded by gun nuts walking though the city of Austin with loaded weapons.

Naturally, when asked if these events were in bad taste, Short said:

“Not at all. People were able to be murdered because no one was armed.”

Yes, he believes that the way to fight violence is with more violence; just like the way to stop the kid on the playground from throwing rocks at other kids is to give all the kids rocks.

And let’s not take too much time thinking about a lunatic who might think that a staged mass shooting is the perfect place to start shooting; or the lunatic who looks at this madness as a classroom, a how-to, on mass murder.

And if that happens, if just one person is shot at this event, or someone uses this event as a jump off for their own act of violence, then maybe people like Matthew Short should be held accountable.

Guns kill people; people with guns kill people. Giving more people more guns is not the solution.

If You Only News

Minute Rant: Tennessee University Wins The Right To Ban Gays And Pregnant Women

I’ve often joked about how backwards Tennessee is — and, in fact, some readers of this here bloggy thing who live in Tennessee have often confirmed how backwards the state appears — and here I am, doin’ it again …

Up there to Tennessee, Carson-Newman University has been granted the right by the federal government of this country to ban students who go against their interpretation of Christianity. The waiver allows the school to ban pregnant students, women who have had an abortion … I can’t imagine how they’ll prove that if the problem arises, single mothers, LGBT students and anyone else who does not fit their wacknut religious ideology.

I mean, seriously, did Jesus hang out with hookers and lowlifes, but The Gays, single moms and pregnant women aren’t good enough for this school?

But apparently university President Dr. Randall O’Brien wasn’t thinking about Jesus when he filed for a Title IX exemption from the federal government:

“This is who we are as a Christian university. These are our religious principles. And in a changing world, we would like to reaffirm that this is who we are and who we intend to be.”

Bigots. Homophobes. Judgmental asshats. That’s who they are; and I don’t think Jesus or God is too pleased with that.

source: Raw Story

This Man Wants To Be President: John Kasich Is Dismissive To Female Student's Question

Kayla Solsbak attends the University of Richmond and was excited to learn that GOP presidential candidate John Kasich would be holding a forum at the school. She wasn’t so happy after what he said to her … When she was given the chance to ask him a question, this is how he replied:

“I don’t have any tickets for Taylor Swift, or Linkin Park. Go ahead, yes, I know you’re just so excited.”

Well, of course he’d say something as ridiculously ignorant as he’s a member of that party, and a party that does not really seem to value women as anything other than chattel, or a vessel in which to carry babies. But Kayla Solsbak wasn’t having it, and took her story and her concerns to the university paper, The Collegian:

“The real issue was that Kasich chose not to listen to students in his forum. Kasich came to Richmond to pander to retired Republicans. He could gain points by belittling me and my peers, so that's what he did. … What continues to strike me is the hypocrisy of his condescension. He touted his ambitious energy as an 18-year-old man, but as soon as I, an 18-year-old woman, exhibited ambition, I became the target of his joke. The same passion that drove Kasich to speak with President Nixon drove me to ask the candidate a question I care deeply about. In a way, I was taking the governor's advice: 'Always ask'”

And this wasn’t an isolated incident; at the same even Kasich said to another female student:

“I’m sure you get invited to all of the parties.”

Of course, there are those who felt Kasich did nothing wrong by condescending to these two women, Dylan McAuley also wrote in The Collegian that Kasich "eloquently responded to her by joking, 'I don’t have Taylor Swift tickets' because the level of excitement [she exuded] was that of a teen Taylor Swift fan trying to get tickets to a concert." 

Though I’m guessing he made no similar jokes to any of the men in attendance? I don’t think he suggested to a male student that he head off to Hooters after asking his question.

And Kayla Solsbak isn’t buying anyone’s excuse:

“The president leads the country, not the VMAs, and it's insulting that the governor doesn't think we can distinguish between the two. I didn't go to a town hall forum for Taylor Swift tickets, Governor Kasich. I went because it's my civic duty to be an informed voter. Please start treating me like one.”

But, again, she’s a female and he’s a Republican, so he doesn’t know how to treat women as equals. Or, at least, he doesn’t show it.

NCRM

Jennifer Jin Will Protest Campus Open Carry Gun Law By Openly Carrying A Dildo

Students at the University of Texas in Austin are calling their protest a "strap in" although it’s also known as “Cocks, Not Glocks.” 

See, next year, on August 1st, a new bill in Texas — S.B. 11, AKA the “Campus Carry” law — goes into effect. It was, naturally, passed by the Republican state legislature and signed into law by Republican Governor Greg Abbott, and will allow people who are licensed to carry a concealed firearm to legally carry their weapon on college campuses.

Yes, it’s ridiculous; in the aftermath of that school shooting in Oregon, Texas will welcome guns onto college campuses. But, in an effort to highlight the stupidity of such a law, University of Texas at Austin student Jessica Jin [left] has started her own protest of sorts.

She wants like-minded students — those who believe guns have no place on a college campus — to take a stand against the proliferation of guns by openly carrying … wait for it … dildos on campus, even though, according to university rules and Texas law, it could get them expelled or even arrested. 

Yup. A dildo gets you arrested, but a gun is just fine and dandy.

From the University of Texas rules:

Subchapter 13–200. Prohibited Expression: Sec. 13–201. Obscenity

"No person or organization will distribute or display on the campus any writing or visual image, or engage in any public performance, that is obscene. A writing, image, or performance is “obscene” if it is obscene as defined in Texas Penal Code, Section 43.21 or successor provisions, and is within the constitutional definition of obscenity as set forth in decisions of the United States Supreme Court."

From the Texas Criminal Code:

Sec. 43.22. OBSCENE DISPLAY OR DISTRIBUTION.

(a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly displays or distributes an obscene photograph, drawing, or similar visual representation or other obscene material and is reckless about whether a person is present who will be offended or alarmed by the display or distribution.

(b) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor." (A Class C misdemeanor in punishable by up to a $500 fine)*

Jessica hopes her protest will make voters think — and, yes, I know it’s Texas, but even down there some folks have rational minds — about how insane it is to allow students, and teachers and administrators, to carry weapons onto a college campus, but the mere act of carrying a concealed dildo, or god forbid, openly carrying a dildo, can get you arrested.

"The State of Texas has decided that it is not at all obnoxious to allow deadly concealed weapons in classrooms, Jessica writes, "however it DOES have strict rules about free sexual expression, to protect your innocence. You would receive a citation for taking a DILDO to class before you would get in trouble for taking a gun to class." — Jennifer Jin

And there’s even a Facebook page readying for the Campus (Dildo) Carry protest, which has been given its own hashtag: #CocksNotGlocks, and so next year, as students return to campuses across the state and the new open carry law goes into effect, students and supporters are asked to “strap on” a dildo and head to class.

And Jessica knows that students can get arrested for this protest — as ludicrous as it sounds — and has warned people to participate at their own risk, though she also says:

“[Can] you imagine the gong show that would be [University of Texas Police Dept/Austin Police Dept.] trying to chase down thousands of students wielding harmless dildos around campus?"

And with interested in the event growing each day, Jessica is looking into securing the sponsorship of a major dildo manufacturer. 

"I know that quality dildos, especially super large ones, can be a little pricey. If we can gather enough willing participants, I will personally take it upon myself to put in the time and legwork to find a dildo supplier sponsorship."

The gun carry advocates, true to form, have taken to name calling and threats in the comment section of the event page, but Jessica won’t remove them, saying she thinks the comments would be instructive to show exactly what kind of people want guns in schools:

"You're carrying a gun to class? Yeah well I'm carrying a HUGE DILDO. Just about as effective at protecting us from sociopathic shooters, but much safer for recreational play." 

 I cannot wait for this protest; a sea of dildos, in backpacks and book bags and purses and briefcases and pockets everywhere.

#CocksNotGlocks. Loving it.

NCRM