A Report From the Front Lines of the War
My friend wrote a moving essay about how his job as a journalist has turned him into a war correspondent. People like Travis Ikeguchi are the reason why. Read on to learn about "stochastic terrorism."
Good afternoon and good morning to our friends out west on this Tuesday, August 22, 2023. Thanks for rising up with me, and my gratitude is real: By reading this newsletter, you’re expressing support for people like me who are LGBTQ+ and other marginalized identities. We need allies, and better yet: In the inspiring words of Karleigh Chardonnay Webb: WE NEED ACCOMPLICES!
On This Day:
1950: ALTHEA GIBSON IS 1ST AFRICAN AMERICAN ON U.S. TENNIS TOUR
1922: IRISH REBEL MICHAEL COLLINS IS ASSASSINATED
1864: INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS IS FOUNDED (Click here to donate blood!)
Here Now the News:
TRUMP CO-DEFENDANTS BEGIN SURRENDERING: The four-times indicted, twice-impeached former president will surrender to be arrested, fingerprinted and have his mug shot taken at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia on Thursday. —CBS News
TROPICAL STORM HAROLD HITS TEXAS: KIII-TV
HOW MUCH HAS BURNED IN MAUI? CBS News
ALL PASSENGERS RESCUED FROM DANGLING CABLE CAR IN PAKISTAN: The New York Times
TOO MANY CLOSE CALLS ON RUNWAYS PROMPT FAA EMERGENCY MEETING: Reuters
CONNECTICUT SYNAGOGUE GOES AHEAD WITH DEMOLITION OF HISTORIC BUILDING OVER OBJECTIONS: WVIT-TV
WHAT WE’VE LEARNED ABOUT THE MURDER OF LAURA ANN CARLETON, MOM OF 9 KILLED FOR FLYING A PRIDE FLAG: ABC7 Los Angeles
TRAVIS IKEGUCHI’S SOCIAL MEDIA WAS FILLED WITH HATE FOR LGBTQ+: Newsweek
EDITOR OF THE LOS ANGELES BLADE: “I AM A WAR CORRESPONDENT”
I’ve gone from being a political journalist to being a war correspondent reporting on the casualties of this war as good people, decent people, are killed or die by suicide because they have lost all hope.
This past Friday night, a beloved member of a small tight-knit community in the San Bernardino Mountains adjacent to Lake Arrowhead lost her life to the hate that has consumed the cultural and political landscape of the United States.
Laura Ann Carleton was murdered by a 27-year-old man, who had been exposed to a steady diet of homophobic and transphobic hatred, lies, and propaganda that culminated in his anger taking the life of Carleton, a mother of nine children in a blended family, a loving wife of nearly three decades, and a beloved business owner who was an integral part of the community of Cedar Lake.
His hatred of the LGBTQ+ community was documented by Sheriff’s investigators and journalists reviewing his social media history and posts.
The reason Carleton was cut down you ask? Because she was an important and steadfast ally of the LGBTQ+ community who proudly displayed her commitment to this besieged minority community by flying the symbol of its spirit, a Pride flag, publicly, outside at her place of business.
She was murdered for flying a Pride Flag- let that sink in for a moment.
Canadian writer, journalist, novelist and anthologist Michael Rowe reflecting on this heinous crime wrote in a Facebook Post on August 21st:
“Quick exercise: take the phrase, “these are good, decent people who simply take issue with the LGBTQIA lifestyle,” and substitute literally any other minority group for “LGBTQIA.” What happens then? When you do that, are they still “good decent people?” Maybe ask Ms. Carleton’s annihilated husband and her now-motherless children.
“As for me, I’m tired of the “thoughts and prayers” sop, and I’m tired of bigoted straight people’s primitive religious superstitions—pardon me, “religious freedoms”—taking precedence over the safety and freedom of queer people and their allies. And I’m especially bone-tired of the people who hate us being accorded the “good, decent people” designation in “debates” about our humanity, just because, apparently, in the general consensus, “alphabet people” still don’t really rate.”
I’m in complete agreement with my journalist colleague and likely more so than bone-tired as I have literally like many in the LGBTQ+ movement and community been on the front lines waging this warfare against a segment of society who actually don’t possess a shred of humanity.
Recently, the war has been focused on “parental rights,” directed at the LGBTQ+ community, most especially transgender and queer youth, in a campaign of terrorism designed to erase trans youth from existence. The right wants to forcibly inflict pain and suffering all in the name of “their” rights as parents to raise their children but the consideration for other people’s children be damned.
These campaigns are at a local level, school boards, state legislative bodies, all in what arguably is clearly defined as stochastic terrorism. Let me quickly trot out the definition of that term for those unaware:
“Stochastic terrorism is the public demonization of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot be predicted.”
Translation: Lone wolf attacks such as the murder of Laura Ann Carleton, fomented by the hate, lies, and propaganda from anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups.
Click here to read the entire essay by Brody Levesque, Editor of the Los Angeles Blade
Star Trek Corner
TURNS OUT GENE RODDENBERRY WASN’T AT ALL INTERESTED IN A KLINGON CHARACTER ON STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION: SlashFilm
LET’S TALK ABOUT WHAT STAR TREK: DISCOVERY DID FOR THE FRANCHISE: CBR
HOW TO VIEW EVERY SEASON OF EVERY STAR TREK SERIES: Click here to subscribe to Paramount+
That’s all for today! I’ll be back tomorrow with more stories to help you rise up and start your day. Until then… Stay safe, and may your news be good news!
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