Uh, Bu-Bye

As if the already depressing news didn’t have you down in the dumps enough, Tennessee strikes again. This time, at Planned Parenthood. In both Shelby (Memphis) and Davidson (Nashville) counties, Planned Parenthood is contracted to provide women’s health services for the county, especially in low-income areas of the city. Thanks to…drumroll, please…Gov. Bill Haslam and the rest of the Tennessee GOP, they have decided that Planned Parenthood performs nothing but abortions. Even though it is thoroughly documented that no tax payer money goes toward abortion services, they want Planned Parenthood out. Davidson county seems to have pretty much gone along with it, but Shelby county seems to be being forced into this.

No one seems to care what services are going to be lost to the residents of the 2 most populated counties in the state. The respective counties are supposed to start receiving the money that was going to Planned Parenthood and start performing their own services, but how is that going to work. The new plan is to be implemented on July 1, giving just a couple weeks to completely reorganize the structure of an entire health care system.

I need to do some more research on the topic, but rest assured there will be more on this topic as it becomes available.

The Hits Just Keep Coming

Tennessee just keeps on coming with the ridiculous laws this year. Again, thanks to our wonderful governor Bill Haslam, what we can do has been limited. In an attempt to bring current laws into the 21st century, a new bill has been passed that limits what a person can post on the internet. That’s right, the internet censorship has begun.

The new law states that anyone that posts an image online that they “should reasonably know” could “cause emotional distress” to another person is subject to a fina and/or jail time. This law originally applied to someone sending material through the mail or a public venue targeted at a specific person. So, plastering the image of a man that had been decapitated all over the town that his mother lives in would have been illegal. I can follow that train of thought. But the new law applies to anyone. Anyone who sees something on the internet and is offended can site this law. I couldn’t make this up if I tried.

Tennessee, you need to get it on track. This is getting out of hand and if we don’t do something to stop it soon, the damage will be done and it will be too late to go back.

Paramore

From time to time, I like to talk about some of my favorite artists, musicians, etc., although I usually llke to promote smaller bands and help get their name out there, like my post on Cartel. But today I want to talk about Paramore. Today, they released a clip of their new single, Monster, which will appear on the upcoming soundtrack for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Take a listen!

I’m sure most people have at least heard of Paramore at this point, but in case you haven’t, they are a Nashville-based band (originally from Franklin, TN) fronted by Hayley Williams. Their first album All We Know Is Falling, was released in July 2005.  I think this is probably still my favorite album from the band, but I think a lot of that is sentimental.  I used to sneak out and drive from Memphis to Nashville, just to see them play.  I can’t for the life of me remember where I first heard of them, though…

After a long wait, Paramore’s second album, Riot, dropped in June of 2007. It was a smash hit.  Paramore was finally getting their much-deserved air time all over the South and eventually, everywhere. 

It would be another 2 years before the band’s third album, Brand New Eyes, was released and was instantly a best seller. But the band helped tide over fans with one single and one other track on the Twilight soundtrack.  The band’s sound has definitely changed and matured over the years, and this was blatantly evident on their latest release.

After some internal struggles and the loss of brothers Zac and Josh Farro, the band has taken some time to tour, making it to South America for the first time, and taken time to write new music.  I can only hope that these struggles will positively influence future releases. With their newest single, at least what has been released, it is obvious their sound continues to grow and evolve.  I can’t wait to see what comes next.

No Rest For The Weary

Our illustrious governor here in Tennessee, Bill Haslam, signed the bill legalizing the “Special Access to Discriminate bill, therefore overturning Nashville-Davidson County Metro’s non-discrimination ordinance. I wanted to wait until there was an official statement, not just spread rumor, and it seems that official confirmation has been released. This is a truly sad day for Tennessee. I really thought that as a conservative, in favor of small and locally run government, Haslam would veto this bill, but apparently equal treatment of Tennessee citizens isn’t part of his agenda as governor. There is much work to be done, but we will get this overturned. We have no choice.

Edited to Add: I just read that Nashville-based attorney Abby Rubenfeld is planning lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of this law. An unnamed NYC-based law firm is supposed to be aiding her.

You OFFICIALLY Can’t Say That Here

Well, it happened. Our wonderful state senate in Nashville passed SB049 today, or the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill brought forward by the hate-mongering Stacey Campfield (R – Knoxville). This is a sad day for Tennessee. I honestly think this is one of the only times, if not the only, that I have even been ashamed to be form Tennessee. And I know I’m not the only one.

But we won’t give up. We WILL fight this. I’ve had current and former teachers tell me that they’ll just have to go to jail because if a student comes to them and needs to talk about their sexual orientation ,their questions, their confusion, that these teachers will not turn a cold shoulder. As teachers, it is not only their responsibility to educate scholastically, but also to nurture and to educate socially in the concepts of peace, love, tolerance, and acceptance. How many more suicides does this country need to see before it realizes what it is doing to its children?

I would also like to point out that the Memphis media has yet to cover this in any detail, as far as I know. My home city is the progressive capitol of this red state, yet Knoxville, in the heart of the mountains, already has articles across multiple platforms. There’s just something odd about that.

Regional Dialects

Got this form Gaymerlag and thought I’d give it a try. Not 100% related to the South, but seeing as how it’s a dialect thing and I’m from the South, thought I’d go ahead and post it. It may end up on The Ramblings of an ADHD Gemini, too.

Regional Dialects

24 year old man from Memphis, TN

Say These Words: Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting Image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

Now answer these questions:

What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

If You Don’t Say It, It Doesn’t Exist

My home state of Tennessee has 2 very important bills ahead of us this week, both directly impacting the LGBT community. The first, SB049 or the “Don’t Say Gay Bill”, I have written about before and has made national news in the past few weeks. As a gay an that grew up in in the Memphis City Schools system, I know exactly how this could effect students. While Tennessee in general is a much more LGBT friendly state than one might think, it still isn’t California. If it hadn’t been for some of the amazing friends and teachers I had going through school, I would have eventually succeeded in my adolescent attempts to end my life. While the climate towards the LGBT community has changed drastically even in just the 7 years since I graduated high school, there is still much work to be done. If SB049 passes, the repercussions are likely to be felt for years and years to come.

The second is HB600, the Special Access to Discriminate Bill. This bill came about after Nashville passed an ordinance “which bars the Nashville government from doing business with any entity that does not prohibit discrimination in employment against LGBT workers. Mayor Karl Dean signed it into law three days later. (The Bilerico Project)” Not only would this bill nullify the Nashville ordinance, it would prevent any other municipality from passing similar legislation.

Tennessee is a “Right to Work” state, meaning that an employer has no obligation to give a reason for firing an employee. While it is well established that a person can’t be fired for race, gender, or disability without serious legal and financial repercussions, but sexual orientation and gender identity protections are still lacking in most states, let alone at the federal level. If we want to attract larger Fortune 500 companies to Tennessee, we need to implement protections similar to the ones that their companies are already practicing.

As of late this afternoon, there have been addendums to the the bill to to allow for the defund Planned Parenthood in Tennessee as well as a severability clause, only adding to the fact that they know that even if this bill passes at the state level, legislators know that it will never last after challenges to its constitutionality.

April Showers

A while back, I wrote about the ineptitude Southerners and Southern cities have for dealing with inclement winter weather.  But something we are accustomed to are the massive spring and early summer storms that roll through, some years worse than others.  This year would be of the latter ilk. In the last few days, the majority of the southern US has been hammered mercilessly with storms, tornadoes, and hail.  We always bounce back, but not without significant loss. 

Alabama seems to have been hit the worst, so far this year.  Both downtown Birmingham and downtown Tuscaloosa, both in central Alabama, were hit by F5 tornadoes.  At the time of this post, 248 have been confirmed dead about 160 of which were in Alabama.  

Here in east Tennessee, we had several smaller tornadoes and a lot hail, much of it tennis ball sized.  Back home in Memphis, much of the city is flooded. Atlanta seems seems to have missed most of the storm, pretty much just getting a lot of rain and heavy winds.  As always, we’ll recover, I just hope this isn’t simply the beginning to a destructive summer.

You Can’t Say That Here

Today is a sad day in my home state of Tennessee. The Senate Education Committee approved SB49 with a vote of 6-3, banning any teacher in grades K-8 from saying the word “gay” or “homosexual” in the classroom.

Your first thought may be, “why would an elementary school teacher need to discuss these topics in the classroom?” But it’s not just about discussing the topic. The supposed reason for the bill, sponsored by Sen. Stacey Campfield (R – Knoxville), was to prevent homosexuality being discussed in a sex ed setting for young students. I don’t necessarily agree with that thought, but I can see someone’s point. One problem: no curriculum in the state has sex ed that mentions homosexuality. The spokesman for the State Board of Education and the State Department of Education both say that they have no knowledge of anything like this going on. But the language of the bill prohibits the words from being used at all.

What about all the kids who need to speak to a guidance counselor and can’t, but need someone to talk to about their thoughts on sexuality. Kids today seem to become aware of their sexual orientation at earlier and earlier ages. Even in the late 90’s and coming from a militantly conservative Christian family, I knew at 12 years old that I was gay, although I was too afraid to even admit it to myself. This can do nothing but exacerbate the issues that LGBTQ teens face today. I attempted suicide three times from 1998 until 2002 and I never felt I had anyone to talk to about it. But if a child is told that they’re not even allowed to use the word, what does that do to their self-esteem to not be allowed to use a word to describe themselves.

No good can come from this. And, unfortunately, in our currently Republican controlled house, it likely to pass when it comes in front of the full floor. I only pray that something can be done to stop it.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow…Somewhere Else

Southerners and snow; it’s a bit of an odd combination. A few parts of the South are accustomed to a few inches of snow every year or two, but the majority of us just see it with eyes of disdain and/or horror. When there’s even a chance of snow, people rush out, stock up on bread and milk, and drive in any lane they see, cowering in fear of the “giant blizzard” that’s on its way.

People also seem to lack the basics skills necessary for driving in the snow. It’s bad enough when it rains, but a few sightings of the fluffy white stuff and all common sense is lost to oblivion. Granted, because we so seldom get snow, there’s not a lot of chance for experience.

Thanks to our sudden weather changes down South, often times the ground isn’t cold enough for snow to stick for more than an hour or so. But one of the biggest problems I’ve encountered with Southern winters is the ice. We always get ice. It seems to almost always rain right before it snows, which leaves a nice wet layer for the snow to rest upon and freeze once the sun goes down. The next day, some of the snow melts, but usually not enough to do anything but make it more treacherous. That freezes again that night, leaving more ice.

All in all, Southerners just do better in warm weather. We have nice weather 9 months out of the year, even if it is a bit on the hot and muggy side sometimes, but that other 3 months just about does us in.