It’s Tuesday! Here’s (some of) the news that’s fit to print.
Ugh, This Guy
+ There are numerous things I love about Texas, but motherf*cking Sen. Ted Cruz is not on that list. He’s in the God, why do I love this state so much again? list. Cruz announced he’s running for President on Monday, making him the first major party candidate to formally declare his candidacy.
“I believe in you, I believe in the power of millions of courageous conservatives rising up to reignite the promise of America,” Cruz said to students at Liberty University in central Virginia. “And that is why today I am announcing that I am running for president of the United States.”
What a troll
Blargh!
His run for presidential candidacy should be on your radar because this dude and his Tea Party friends holding government offices should scare the living daylights out of you! Just take a gander at what he’s said in the past and what he believes: he doesn’t believe in climate change, he refers to emergency contraception as “abortifacients,” he’s worried Sharia Law will be imposed on America, and he hates us gays!
Let’s take a look at a few policy proposals he’s outlined in his announcement speech to get another look, if you’re not already convinced.
1. Repealing Obamacare
“Instead of the joblessness, instead of the millions forced into part-time work, instead of the millions who’ve lost their health insurance, lost their doctors, have faced skyrocketing health insurance premiums, imagine in 2017 a new president signing legislation repealing every word of Obamacare,” Cruz said.
2. Immigration Reform
“Instead of the lawlessness and the president’s unconstitutional executive amnesty, imagine a president that finally, finally, finally secures the borders. And imagine a legal immigration system that welcomes and celebrates those who come to achieve the American dream,” Cruz said.
3. Here’s a double whammy for you: no abortions or same-sex marriage.
“Instead of a federal government that works to undermine our values, imagine a federal government that works to defend the sanctity of human life and uphold the sacrament of marriage,” Cruz said.
4. He believes in “school choice.”
“Instead of a federal government that seek to dictate school curriculum through Common Core. Imagine repealing every word of common core. Imagine embracing school choice as the civil rights issue of the next generation. That every single child, regardless of race, ethnicity, wealth or zip code, every child in america has the right to a quality education. And that’s true from all of the above whether public schools or charter schools or christian schools or parochial schools or — every child,” he said.
Let’s Just Banish College DudeBros Once and For All
+ North Carolina State University’s Pi Kappa Phi has been suspended after a notebook filled with rape and lynching references was discovered in a restaurant after it was left behind by fraternity members.
+ Last week, the men’s rugby team at the University of Mary Washington was disbanded and all 46 members are required to attend sexual assault training classes after audio of some team members chanting a song about rape and violence against women was leaked last November.
ROB CARR/GETTY IMAGES
+ Mo’ne Davis has been making waves lately. Last week, the Disney Channel announced they were making a movie about the Little League star. The good news came with some hate from a Bloomsburg University baseball player named Joey Casselberry. He tweeted “Disney is making a movie about Mo’ne Davis? WHAT A JOKE. That slut got rocked by Nevada.” The university dismissed the junior first baseman for the offensive tweet and then the player made an apology. Davis, clearly a better human, said:
“Everyone makes mistakes and everyone deserves a second chance. I know he didn’t mean it in that type of way, and I know a lot of people get tired of like seeing me on TV but just think about what you’re doing before you actually do it. I know right now he’s really hurt and I know how hard he worked just to get where he is right now.”
This is a Safe Space
+ Math teacher Christian Zsilavetz hopes to open Pride School Atlanta, the first school in the Southeast to be dedicated to LGBT students. He says he hopes the school can also be a welcoming oasis for LGBT parents and teachers.
+ A Oklahoma City man is fighting back after the state denied his request for a customized license plate with the letters LGBTALY citing it was “sexual in nature.” The man’s sister is gay and wanted to spread a message of acceptance to fellow Oklahomans.
+ Los Tigres del Norte (ahh sounds from my childhood) made history last weekend when they received a Special Recognition (Spanish Language) award from GLAAD for “Era Diferente,” a song about a young lesbian who falls in love with her best friend. This is the first time a norteño group has created a gay love song in the entire history of the genre. Y’all have no idea how important this is to me. I’m so so happy to see this kind of progress in a such a male-dominated, machista music genre that is so influential in the Mexican community.
This is Not a Safe Space
+ An anti-gay “religious freedom” bill that would allow businesses the legal right to discriminate against customers who offend their religious beliefs passed the Indiana House Committee last week and is now on it’s way to the governor’s desk. GOP Gov. Mike Pence is expected to sign it into law despite opposition from numerous business leaders, including the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce.
+ Michigan state Rep. Gary Glenn warned his constituencies of a local gay journalist’s “agenda” via Facebook and Twitter. The journalist was recently promoted to a managing news editor at the local paper and in the news announcement said he lived in Midland with his husband.
+ A federal court in Minnesota issued a preliminary ruling in a case saying that discrimination against an individual based on their gender identity is prohibited under Obamacare. The case centers around the mistreatment of trans man Jakob Tiarnan Rumble at Fairview Southdale Hospital. He states he was misgendered numerous times by doctors and staff and endured an “assaultive exam.” This ruling merely rejected the hospital’s request to dismiss the case, so further court time is needed before a final decision is reached.
Indiana what are you doing? Ugh this fills me with rage (and makes me more than a little sad), even though I haven’t lived there in 13 years. I think it’s because one of my friends still lives there and will have to live with the result(s).
Is the Tea Party really gonna get behind Calgary-born Ted Cruz?
It’s possibly. Then again they did go after McCain for being born in Panama(father serving the navy there), and agree with the war or not he served in prison camp in Vietnam.
Fun story about Cruz: my brother goes to Liberty, where Cruz announced his intention to run. Liberty students (of which there are 13,000+) were REQUIRED to be there, lest they be hit with a hefty fine. So Cruz’s audience was literally forced to be there. I think that says a lot about someone if your audience didn’t have a choice about whether or not they had to attend.
Anyway, I also think it’s telling that people aren’t flipping shit about Cruz’s Canadian birth like they are/have the Obama birth certificate situation. Like…there is no doubt that Cruz was, in fact, born somewhere other than the US. Not on a military base, but on Canadian soil. It’s sort of like that 30 Rock situation, where Jack’s baby mama goes into labor in Canada and he freaks out thinking his child might not qualify to run for President. It’s literally that situation, and for the most part, people are chill about it. Relatively, anyway. UGH. Fuck you, Cruz.
Also also, before anyone starts in on how he’s a person of color, no, he is not. He’s a white Cuban. A white person. A privileged af white man.
I don’t know how Cruz identifies himself, but, as a person of Latino descent, I don’t call myself white. I’m Latina, no mexican (some people do enjoy that little thing about putting us in a big mexican tag). I don’t know many latinos who call themselves white. Maybe I’m lucky and the people I know respects their heritage.
What I’ve found quite ironic is that a cuban-american, born in Canada, has those ideas about inmigration.
Latinx =/= not-white. There are PLENTY of white latinxs (Cameron Diaz, Alexis Bledel, Ricky Martin), as well as asian latinxs (Harry Shum, Jr., Ana Gabriel), afrolatinxs (Zoe Saldana, Rosie Perez, Goddess Lupita), and indigenous peoples in Latin America. And, you know, mixes of all of them. If you’re descended from only Spaniards, Portuguese, and other Europeans, aka colonists, you’re white. Saying otherwise COMPLETELY erases history and privilege. My grandfather is Mexican; his mother is purely indigenous, his father is mestizo (WHITE and indigenous). Just because you identify as not-white, doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re anything but white. For example, I know a lot of white Americans who like to claim they’re not white because there’s a family story that their great-great-great grandma was half-Cherokee. And that means shit to me.
Sorry not sorry, Ted Cruz is hella white.
My grandmother was spanish, she came from Spain in 1913. So this means, following your reasoning, that I’m white. That may be right, but only applies if I choose to forget my father’s side of the family. In this side, my grandmother is Diaguita (let me help you there, purely indigenous people from northwestern Argentina and part of Chile, although the name was imposed by the Incas and then reported by the spanish conquistadors. The not-so-known actual name is Pazioca). Now, what am I?
I don’t call myself white because, first, I’m not white, and second, that would totally disregard my heritage (and my grandma would kill me, she’s 98 years old but can still kick my ass).
After all this digress, let me tell one final thing.
The problem with this line “privileged white man” IS NOT the WHITE MAN part, the real problem is the PRIVILEGED part.
You completely missed my point. I said if all of your ancestors came from the colonists, you’re white. You don’t fall under that category (you’re mixed like me). Ted Cruz does, like I dare say most Cubans.
Addendum: I care very little if he has like a 6th great-grandparents who was indigenous (which he most likely does not, but I’m being lenient here). That doesn’t make him a person of color. That’d be akin to me, with my very distant black ancestry, claiming that I’m black and can speak about what it’s like to be black in America and get to decide what’s offensive for black people, etc etc etc. It doesn’t work like that.
Dont vote Ted Cruz. Autostradde for president.
I don’t really understand freedom of religion laws.
This laws gives you an individual right to violate the individual rights of others.
Because freedom of religion allows you to protect your beliefs by discriminating others. This can work for a church (as private intitution), but not in a public business.
But I think my view was really fu*** up by the Hobby Lobby ruling.
But I can see another way to go around this freedom of religion crap, because I also think that this laws violate the separation of church and State. This laws forces the State to support (not in a monetary kind of way) your individual religious belief.
I predict that ten minutes after the bill becomes law someone in Indiana will refuse service to a Muslim. The queers and the Jews won’t be far behind.
Yes, I think the same. This kind of nasty laws can easily be extrapolated and that is a huge risk.
It may be necessary to remind those who make the laws how far discrimination can go when protected by the State (several historic examples comes to mind).
Of course, then there will be a lawsuit and the law will thrown out.
Yes, of course, but how many years passed before DOMA was strike down? And strike down kind of, because some States are still fighting against equal marriage.
I didn’t know Los Tigres del Norte wrote a lesbian love song :). Pretty busy start to the week with all this crazy political nonsense
Ugh. Ted Cruz makes my skin crawl.
Mo’ne for President! But seriously, what an incredible role model.
Based on the way the Title VII ruling went I think it’s likely gender identity discrimination will be found prohibited under Obamacare. That is, if the 2016 elections don’t fuck everything up. But I’m skeptical that Ted Cruz will win the primary, his views are too extreme and the party really wants to win this year.
Got queasy just thinking about the possibility of ted cruz as president. Terrifying that he has any sort of political power, at all, really.
Texas, my beautiful home that I love so well, full of wonderful humans and gorgeous landscapes from north to south and east to west, sometimes you almost make me want to give up on life.
Yvonne, I live in Denton and work at Home Depot. Born in the panhandle of Texas. Translesbian.
First….half of the hispanic(Mexican) guys that shop in my store ask “permission” from their wives to buy something!
Second, many of the girls I grew up with were fierce hearted and independent! My best friend as a child was a girl…. She was a true “cowgirl” and I loved her so much as a friend.
Third, I used to be proud to “be” from Texas….but not anymore. And that disheartens me.
And last, Ted Cruz……born again faux Christian, slightly right of Attila the Hun !
Yvonne? How is it possible that you, and I, and all the Autostraddlers can know in our hearts that we are truly not queer at all in the universe……but have by chance “landed” on a world akin to a “ship of fools”, on that a person like Cruz has any sway in our lives..
I would honestly prefer all anti gay companies to put a sign on the door so that I know who NOT to give my money to.
love this
on the plus side re: ted cruz, apparently he completely failed at procuring a website and now tedcruz.com isn’t his. lolllll.
so good
Oh gosh, I don’t want to even think about Ted Cruz anymore, because I just get mad when I do. Reading those quotes just makes me want to vomit…
OOOOOO por DIOS!
“dicen que el vuelo ideal es palomo y paloma y les parece rara otra forma de amor”.
ahahahaha this is awesome!!vivan los tigres del norte
Ted Cruz!? How can one person get so much SO wrong?
Every time I worry about political life in my country, I read something about the Tea Party/the Republican, and I feel better. Thank you, USA.