Quickies: David Bowie Dies, Singular They, Jaden Smith
By Updated at 10:00 AM PST and 12:40 PM PST
- Singular “They” American Dialect Society’s Word of the Year – “‘We know about singular they already — we use it everyday without thinking about it, so this is bringing it to the fore in a more conscious way, and also playing into emerging ideas about gender identity,’ said linguist Ben Zimmer, language columnist for the Wall Street Journal, who presided over the voting this Friday afternoon.”
- “China to Join the West — in Denying the Obvious Sexuality of Former Leaders” – “In The Secret Emotional Life of Zhou Enlai, Hong Kong author Tsoi Wing-mui reportedly posits that Zhou, mainland China’s first Premier and a fellow revolutionary alongside Mao Zedong, was secretly gay.”
- Janet Mock on Jaden Smith in Louis Vuitton – Much has been made of Smith modeling womenswear for Louis Vuitton. Mock takes an intersectional approach to her analysis, considering not only gender roles, but also how race and privilege come into play.
- Hospital Delays Treatment of Gunshot Victim Because She’s Trans – A transgender woman in Pakistan was shot, the victim of an apparent hate crime. The hospital allegedly delayed treating her for thee hours over fears that other patients wouldn’t want to share the space with a trans person. She was eventually treated in the men’s ward.
- “Transgender passenger ‘humiliated’ as airline staff ‘forcibly removed his prosthetic penis’” – “A transgender passenger has said he was humiliated and demeaned when he was forced to remove his prosthetic penis by airline staff. Subjected to a full body scan, an Australian airport staff member donned two pairs of gloves to handle the penis, saying: ‘You want me to touch that thing with my bare hands?’”
- The Battle for Marriage Equality Drags on in Alabama – AL’s Chief Justice Roy Moore has ordered judges not to grant same-sex marriage licences, claiming the Supreme Court’s ruling doesn’t apply to AL since it wasn’t listed in the case. Of course, Moore is wrong, everyone knows it, or at least almost everyone: only 3 of 67 probate courts are following Moore’s order.
- OK Cupid Makes Dating Site More Poly-Friendly – Polyamours partners can now link their accounts on OK Cupid.
- David Bowie Dead at Age 69 – He shattered our ideas about gender and sexuality, becoming an inspiration to many LGBTs. And here’s Heina Dadabhoy on mourning someone who was neither all hero nor all monster.
Featured image: David Bowie
Jac,
Roy Moore and Kim Davis should just give up already. Hopefully we’ll get another court order that will finally force Kim Davis to either issue valid marriage licenses to everyone or resign and Roy Moore will be permanently disbarred. I really want those two losers to understand that they can’t get away with acting like their above the law. In the meantime, they’ve already lost, and they’re just at worst delaying the inevitable now.
The whole security theatre is so outraging. If it were effective, then you could understand some of what happens more, but it doesn’t. And what the FUCK, way to be complete asses to that poor passenger.
I actually got flagged on a hand swab on Wednesday night, flying out to Boston with my wife and 19 month old son (who I was carrying). Ok, so you think I have explosives, despite travelling with my tiny child, ok, but then you ought to be doing due diligence. They asked which stuff was mine of my and my wife (they didn’t swab her even), so I said “all of it. We’re married, I helped pack all of this.” They only checked half our stuff, and gave me the pat down. It wasn’t embarrassing, because I’m a white cis-male, so I’m pretty privileged, but it was just a waste of everyone’s time. If they actually thought I might have explosives, they should’ve swabbed all our stuff, and my wife and son; if they thought I didn’t, then why even bother? I told you I touched all this stuff, but you are being lazy and don’t want to deal with it all? Great.
Meanwhile this bullshit theatre contributes to dehumanizing other peoples. It’s such a waste, so infuriating.