Hello, fierce and fabulous Internet friends! I’ve worked from home so much this week that I don’t know what the weather’s like outside. What I’m saying is, I’m bringing you the stories we missed this week from bed and I’m wearing a sundress in February.
SURPRISE: Marc Rubio Listens to Bad Music
Marco Rubio, who incidentally voted against VAWA Tuesday, also has really dated and bad taste in what he thinks is ‘trendy’ music. In a piece by the National Journal, the GOP Senator and 2016 hopeful is posited as a “fresh” presence in the dying Republican party, with reason number one that he likes rap.
someone on the planet finds this man cool. is america dead?
But here’s the interview with GQ they’re using for backup, in which he backs up that claim with, erm, an Eminem reference…
GQ: Your three favorite rap songs?
Marco Rubio: “Straight Outta Compton” by N.W.A. “Killuminati” by Tupac. Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.”…The only guy that speaks at any sort of depth is, in my mind, Eminem. He’s a guy that does music that talks about the struggles of addiction and before that violence, with growing up in a broken family, not being a good enough father. So, you know that’s what I enjoy about it. It’s harder to listen to than ever before because I have a bunch of kids and you just can’t put it on.
Yeah, okay. Your favorite rapper is the only famous white dude rapper who also happens to rap about beating and killing women? Two words, dude: More Drake.
Jennifer Lopez Gets The Go-Ahead on Gay Show
JLo’s Lesbo Show finally has a home at ABC Family:
The Fosters, about a multi-ethnic family with foster and biological kids being raised by two moms, is being executive produced by the pop star. In addition to the LGBT-inclusive storyline, we’re super excited about the stunning Sherri Saum as a leading (lesbian) lady!
“ABC Family is synonymous with ground-breaking storytelling and iconic characters,” Michael Riley, president of ABC Family, said in a statement. “[The Fosters] will bring the same depth, heart, close relationships that our viewers have come to expect and will pair nicely with our already established pop culture hits.”
I Just Need A Place to Discuss Frank Ocean
Frank Ocean came, sang, and conquered the Grammys on Sunday in a blue suit that made me wish we were friends.
He also closed the show with a performance of “Forrest Gump,” which I found pretty expectedly flawless. The six-time nominee and two-time winner will never stop filling my heart with happy gay rainbows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=981AYa-i1rU
Big Tobacco Owns the Tea Party, Most American Souls
If the douchebags in the Tea Party think they invented irritable country dudes or racism, they’ve got some bad news on the way. Turns out the cat’s out of the bag, and the Tea Party is just a side project for a bunch of corrupt tobacco giants and the billionaire Koch brothers:
A new academic study confirms that front groups with longstanding ties to the tobacco industry and the billionaire Koch brothers planned the formation of the Tea Party movement more than a decade before it exploded onto the U.S. political scene.
Far from a genuine grassroots uprising, this astroturf effort was curated by wealthy industrialists years in advance. Many of the anti-science operatives who defended cigarettes are currently deploying their tobacco-inspired playbook internationally to evade accountability for the fossil fuel industry’s role in driving climate disruption.
One nation, under Marlboro.
This Week In Homophobia
+ A mayor in Ohio resigned after calling a gay man “a queer.”
+ In Indiana, crazy uncool kids at a local high school are fighting for a “straight-only” prom.
+ In Orange County, LGBTQ Vietnamese groups were banned from marching in the annual Tet Parade. Or so everyone thought – since a bunch of protests and press conferences later, they showed up to protest. Notable figures from the local community were absent, as well as some LGBT-related and -supportive groups which were either barred entry or chose to step down from participating:
What we witnessed today, was a respectful demonstration of political courage and principle. The elected officials who chose to not participate in the Tet parade this year, did so on the principle of equality for all. When Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides told me on Friday that he was withdrawing his entry in the parade he said; “I canceled my participation in the Tet Parade and sent a message to the Chairman of the organizing committee that my decision was due to their discrimination against the LGBT community. It was the right thing to do.”
[Special thanks to Alice Motes, resident supershero for this tip and sending along the photography!]
photo by laura kanter
photo by laura kanter
+ Republican Tennessee state Sen. Stacey has made horrible changes to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which is already horrible in that it stops teachers from being able to acknowledge homosexuality at all and permisses the outing of gay students from K-8 grade. In an interview with TMZ, he bolstered his reputation as jerkface by comparing being gay to being on heroin:
TMZ: If they’re going to engage in homosexual acts anyway, why not teach them how to protect themselves from [HIV]?
CAMPFIELD: You know, you could say the same thing about kids who are shooting heroin. We need to show them the best ways to shoot up. No, we don’t. Why do we have to hypersexualize little children? Why can’t we just let little kids be little kids for a while? Why do we have to have little kids be…?
TMZ: Do you believe in sex education period?
CAMPFIELD: …If you can show me where it works, great.
LGBT Health Matters
In Chicago, uptown queers are gaining a new resource: a gender identity clinic launching in Lurie. For those of us who live elsewhere, there’s an LGBT Health journal on the way this fall.
The Pope Quitting Brings Out Topless Chicks
Ukrainian feminists are so overwhelmingly excited about the Pope leaving the Vatican that they took their clothes off.
The STUD Magazine
They don’t call it “STUD” for nothin’.
STUD is “an online based magazine founded in Toronto with an aim to redefine the term stud and introduce non-gender conforming people to mainstream media.”
Sports: Not Just for Straight People Anymore
Curt Schilling, former pitcher for the Phillies, Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Orioles and Astros, posted his thoughts to Twitter this week on the 49er’s big thing about gay players during the Superbowl last week:
I’ve never understood this ‘issue’ with gay players? Who cares? I know I played with some, their sexual orientation never had much to…To do with how they hit with RISP, or pitched in late and close situations, why the hell would what they do in the bedroom ever matter?
Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant Monday used Twitter to directly combat homophobia:
Just letting you know@PacSmoove @pookeo9 that using “your gay” as a way to put someone down ain’t ok! #notcool delete that out ur vocab
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) February 11, 2013
Workplace Discrimination Is A Bigger Thing If You’re A Woman, Duh
Gay men and women alike are out at work in higher numbers than ever. But only some of us are feeling like it’s been a good idea to come out at all:
Among the study’s findings:
* A significant gender gap persists between gay men and women with respect to how their sexuality benefits them: Gay men are nearly twice as likely to consider their sexuality an asset in the workplace.
* Lesbians are more likely to face discrimination because of the “double jeopardy” of gender and sexual orientation or gender identity – 74% say they encounter bias compared to 51% of gay men.
* Bias and discrimination are an issue within the gay community. Gay and bisexual men are 114% more likely than women to report anti-gay discrimination. Bisexual men and women are 59% less likely than lesbians and gay men to feel a part of the community.
Ellen Takes on The BSA
In which Ellen hits the nail right on the head and prompts the Boy Scouts of America to just give it up, already.
If you’d like to submit a tip for the AAA, send it to carmen [at] autostraddle [dot] com each week by 12 PM Tuesday EST. Tips for LGBTQ-related events, job postings, calls for submissions, and news from around the globe are encouraged.
I really think you shouldn’t commented on Marc Rubio’s appreciation of Eminem’s music because all the rappers you listen to aren’t exactly shining examples of feminism. Their lyrics are just as misogynistic.
carmen’s rolling her eyes over the fact that this guy is using his love of eminem as a way to present himself as “hip” and “fresh.” are people who enjoy rap music not allowed to comment when the republican party looks silly for trying to “get down with the kids these days”? i think we’re all also rolling our eyes at the idea that a politician is trying to court the public with a “cool” image. i don’t care how cool my politicians are, i want them to care about human rights and women and gay people and not fucking us all over with their scary conservative agendas.
finally, people are allowed to like certain aspects of pop culture and still critique them. carmen loves rap and hip hop but that doesn’t make her critical approach toward the medium any less valid. if anything it makes it MORE interesting because she’s coming from a place of good faith. liking something doesn’t diminish one’s ability to think critically about it.
i just think it’s so weird that out of this whole article with so much interesting news you’d zero in on that and like…defend marc rubio? call carmen out for liking rap? if i had written this exact same piece would it have been okay because i don’t like rap in general? i dunno man.
eminem is culturally irrelevant. do not let bonnarroo 2012 change your mind about his career: it’s over, he’s dead. the last time he got called up for a vid was when rihanna needed a public figure with a history of abuse to star in a song about abusing women. yawn.
also, i embrace hip-hop as a vehicle of expression and that means accepting that it has flaws. that being said, i’d like to think most of my tastes in the genre range away from homophobic / misogynistic / violent artists. if you think the entire genre of hip-hop is able to be likened to eminem – and, more specifically, the artists i’ve mentioned previously on the site (drake / kanye / frank ocean / nicki minaj) then, with all due respect, i don’t think you’re listening to enough hip-hop.
furthermore, TRIGGER WARNING: a case study in the rap i listen to, boiled down to the two points i levied against one mister eminem in my above article:
….on mothers / women who raised them:
EMINEM: “You selfish bitch; I hope you fucking burn in hell for this shit”
KANYE: “I said, mommy I’mma love you till you don’t hurt no more”
….on girlfriends / wives / partners:
EMINEM: “NOW BLEED! BITCH BLEED! BLEED! BITCH BLEED! BLEED!”
DRAKE: “I’m lucky that you picked up / Lucky that you stayed on”
with that i urge you to listen to more drake.
i try not to respond to generally negative comments that are going nowhere but i couldn’t refrain from this discussion because it felt like there was something deeper going on. i am just a big ol’ stereotype and pretty much only listen to ani difranco on repeat, but i’m glad carmen could provide some solid evidence for kanye/drake. i think it’s obviously funniest that eminem is no longer relevant and this guy is trying to use him as a way to say, “look at me! i’m culturally relevant!” but i also think there is something bigger going on here, like this white man who voted against women’s safety going on record bragging how he loves this white man who raps about hurting and killing women…i don’t know i feel like i’m not verbalizing all the dots that my brain is connecting but i do think it’s A. laughable and B. fucked up and i really was frustrated by the implication that carmen can’t mock this and bring it to our attention because she enjoys rap and hip hop.
He played 2011…
hahaha thank you. that’s how good i was at forgetting it happened!
oh believe me I only remember because 2011 was the year I took my ex to Bonnaroo and she waited until we were standing at Mumford to tell me she hates concerts, so I got drunk and she tried to wake me from my angry booze nap to go see Marshall Mathers…I’m clearly letting it burn.
Frank Ocean
I had never heard of him till the grammys. I’m so happy I stayed up to watch it and I found an awesome new artist to listen to! His recording of forest gump is a tad better than the live version, but that could have been that he couldnt hear himself over the noise?
Also yeah that suit was classy!
god i fucking love frank ocean so much that it’s almost unbelievable we haven’t been pulled together by mystic forces by now. i’ve been listening to his mixtapes and i totally recommend you do, too, just because every human should be listening to them at all times.
im on it!!
STRAWBERRY SWING Y’ALL STRAWBERRY SWING
THIS.
STRAWBERRY SWING MAKES ME CRY EVERY TIME, BRO.
I KNOW HOW THAT FEELS
NOSTALGIA ULTRA GIVES ME ALL THE FEELS
there will be tears~
I’ve no doubt.
HEY CARMEN YOU SO FINE YOU FINE YOU BLOW MY MIND HEY CARMEN
p.s. this is a very valuable source of news that realllly probably have missed during the week. Sometimes it gets overwhelming and I don’t know what to say which happens to me in a lot of life situations. also those little kids are really cute and omg what that campfield guy said was HEINOUS I SAY HEINOUS
what’s heinous is you not being here
IN FACT IT’S LIKE HEROINNNNNNN
“CAMPFIELD: You know, you could say the same thing about kids who are shooting heroin.”
Ergh. Even if that weren’t an offensive, flawed, and awful metaphor, it’d *still* be wrong. Needle exchange programs are things that apparently work (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9269214) and are also humane.
i like the part where he thinks sex ed doesn’t work even though data proves time and time again that it does.
Yep, that part too.
As a die hard Yankee fan, I’ve never wanted to say anything nice about Curt Schilling, but man, it’s so nice to see professional athletes taking a stand in support of gay players.
If you ever need another place to discuss Frank Ocean it would be totally ok to use me as that place. just saying.
you guys are all the best. #teamoceanforever
for the record i am also here for all of you when it comes to Frank Ocean, feelings, feelings about Frank Ocean, oceans of frank feelings, etc.
let us all begin our lives in the church of frank ocean
amen
FUCK YES FRANK OCEAN!!!!
I’m not excited to express my love or anything….
fully support all of this
AlSO, also, also,
Tegan and Sara performed on Ellen. It blew my mind.
HEY CAMPFIELD, COME TO MANITOBA. Asshole.
STUD. @_@
Lord jesus, it’s a fire (in my pants)
On today’s episode of Ellen’s existence making the world a better place…
I only listen to “Lose Yourself” on the elliptical because being angry makes me burn more calories. Fortunately I’ve not been on an elliptical in like a year.
Nazi Youth Pope? I’m definitely not a fan of the Pope or the Catholic Church. But why do you call him that? Because he was a member of Hitler Youth? Everyone had to be. There was a law for that, at the age of 14 you had to become a member. It wasn’t exactly his choice.
He represents many negative things, there is a lot you could call him. But calling him a Nazi because he was unlucky to be born around that time in Nazi-Germany? That’s kind of offending to Germans.
yeah i edited it. sorry!