You might remember the intolerant Oklahoma State Representative, Sally Kern, who claimed that homosexuals are a bigger threat to our nation than terrorists. Well, she’s up for reelection this year and what has to be one of her biggest nightmares is happening – she is being challenged for her seat by a transgendered person. [more inside]
posted by thatothrgirl on Jun 10, 2010 - 65 comments

In 1955, at least twelve men in Boise, Idaho were arrested for "infamous crimes against nature.". In the resulting dragnet, the vice president of the Idaho First National Bank was sentenced to seven years in prison, while national magazines fomented a McCarthyite Lavender Scare with headlines such as Male Pervert Ring Seduces 1,000 Boys. This dark chapter in Idaho gay history was documented in both John Gerassi's 1966 book, The Boys of Boise and the recent film, The Fall of '55, by documentarian Seth Randal, but neither Gerassi nor Randal could identify The Queen, a closeted but politically connected homosexual who allegedly used his massive clout to stop the witch hunt.
posted by jonp72 on Aug 28, 2007 - 45 comments

Wages of hate - anti-gay attitudes damage the economy - conversely, Gay-tolerant societies prosper. Will GOP anti-elitism and the US religious right make the U.S. a 3rd world country? Paul Craig Roberts argues that we're on the fast track, and a Carnegie Mellon study (title link) shows that culturally repressive attitudes in America are driving away the "Creative" class. Virginia Postrel defines this class differently (manicurists and stone cutters) but in Richard Florida's "Creative Class War" (recently on Metafilter), "America is no long attracting creative workers from abroad because it is seen as an intolerant society". More than artists and programmers are shunning the US - scientists are staying away too. In the US, meanwhile, a bifurcation - Americans are geographically self-segregating, choosing to live with those who hold similar beliefs and values.
posted by troutfishing on Feb 27, 2004 - 61 comments

I am happy to see that the GOP is expanding their reach to the more eclectic fringes of society. Although it may freak some other people out.
posted by EmoChild on Apr 30, 2003 - 7 comments