By Ann Rostow–

What’s in a Name?

To what extent may a school require faculty and staff to use preferred names and pronouns for transgender students? Some might attack such a regulation based on “free speech,” but schools may police speech in many contexts, including antigay speech, racism, Nazi propaganda, and hate speech in general. When transgender kids are being denied access to bathrooms and healthcare itself, this feels like a lesser violation of rights, particularly if a school allows the anti-trans teacher to use surnames instead of first names. But if allowed to persist and expand, it infects the entire school community.

The practice of misnaming students veers into hate speech when it’s used to denigrate, insult, and single out trans kids for hostility from a person in power. That cannot be allowed in a healthy school system and that’s what the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit found earlier this year in the case of a “Christian” music teacher out of Indiana. The teacher, John Kluge, was fired in 2018 after his anti-trans behavior drew complaints and stigmatized the few transgender students in his classes. He sued on religious freedom grounds and lost both at the lower court and the appellate court levels. 

Subsequently last June, the unanimous Supreme Court ruled that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an employer must demonstrate a “substantial” hardship if they must violate the religious freedom of a staff member. The case, a Christian postal worker who refused to work on Sundays, was more or less your typical religious freedom case, and the standard of substantial hardship was only one step up from the unmodified “undue hardship” that previously governed the courts. After this ruling (in Groff v. DeJoy), the Seventh Circuit vacated its ruling in favor of the Indiana school, and sent John Kluge’s case back to lower court for a review that takes the latest High Court decision into account. Kluge has just asked the lower court for a summary judgment.

I hadn’t realized that Kluge was back in action until his latest court filing, but it’s disturbing to see the ripple effects of this High Court’s conservative jurisprudence, even in this instance where the Court ruled 9–0. I can’t help but feel that our side of the Court is picking its battles in the ongoing war over so-called “religious freedom,” deciding here perhaps that Mr. Groff’s desire to save Sunday for services was basically not a big deal and the post office should have accommodated his faith. Fine, okay. But will that mean that the federal court in Indiana and the Seventh Circuit will be obliged to give the green light to Kluge and his mean-spirited “religious” impulses? 

We all understand that devout Christians might want to spend Sundays doing some religious things, just as Jews won’t want to work on Friday night or Saturday and what have you. But since when does someone’s faith mandate public animosity and disrespect towards a group of people that they don’t like or understand? Surely it would be a substantial hardship for a school to tolerate such a person in a position of authority. I hope so at least.  

High Court Agenda Undetermined for Now

In other legal news, the ACLU has taken the plunge and asked the Supreme Court to decide whether a state may ban medical care for transgender youth, appealing a Tennessee law that was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. At the same time, the Sixth Circuit upheld a similar ban out of Kentucky, where activists also reportedly plan to petition the High Court.

We figured this issue would arrive at the Court’s doorstep sooner rather than later, as might the question of whether states can forbid transgender girls from playing on public school sports teams. It wasn’t necessarily clear that our side would be the first to petition the Court, but the Tennessee law may be one of the more vulnerable of the 21 such statutes enacted around the country. 

According to the ACLU of Tennessee, the law limits its ban to kids diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a “targeted restriction” that “discriminates based on both sex and the fact that a person is transgender and violates the Equal Protection Clause.” Tennessee also tramples on the rights of the parents of transgender minors, who are stripped of their ability to make medical decisions for their children despite clear constitutional ground rules.

I really should check but I think there are several GLBT-related petitions hanging around the Court at this point. For example, I know one of our foes filed an appeal on a state ban on conversion therapy, arguing that restricting a professional’s right to pursue this damaging practice was tantamount to a block on free speech. I think there are some others but, like Billie Eilish, I’m gay and tired so I’ll move on. (The singer posted a selfie with those words written on her cheek on X or Insta or somewhere the other day, much to everyone’s excitement. Whatever. She seems nice.) At any rate, the Court decides whether or not to take cases during the weekly or biweekly conferences, and they often make us wait around months for a thumbs up or thumbs down.

Holiday Time

I’m actually a little behind today, because a) our coffee pot died and I had to wait for my wife to come home with takeout coffee, and b) I was doing some research and discovered you can apply to earn $2,500 for watching 25 holiday movies in 25 days. I stopped everything to fill out the forms and will be eagerly waiting to see if I’m chosen. I always watch two or three every year. What’s another 22 or 23? 

There’s usually a new one from Netflix about the prince and the princess in the tiny Alpine country with the disabled sister and the friendly king and queen. I think they’ve had a baby by now, and I’m not sure, but maybe the king died and the prince is king? Must check this! 

There are also gay holiday pictures, and it feels as if there are more every season. Last year we had the one where the guy and his “best friend” go back to his home town, realize they were meant to be together and abandon LA to open a flower shop in the little town. Really, guys? That only happened at the end, because our guy was dating the cute hottie handyman or something during most of the movie. And when I say “dating,” I mean they went for coffee, bought a Christmas tree, and went to the kids’ Christmas pageant. No wonder that relationship went nowhere. 

Anyway, I’ll let you know if I make the cut.

Shameful Lusts

Speaking of holiday things, One Million Moms is up in arms over the lineup for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the yawn fest that takes over the airwaves for interminable hours every Thanksgiving Day. We were always “allowed” to watch the tedious procession when I was a kid as if this was a big treat. Thanks for nothing, parents. 

Anyway, this year’s parade includes some performers from two Broadway shows, Shucked and & Juliet, both of which feature non-binary actors (and neither of which I’ve ever heard of). Some 17,000 people signed a petition from the Moms condemning the “liberal nonsense” as the Moms put it. “Shame on Macy’s for promoting and sponsoring this type of entertainment,” they tsked. “It is clear that Macy’s does not have our children’s best interests in mind. Macy’s needs to know that trust must be earned, and once trust is lost, it is difficult to get back.” 

In other Million Mom complaints, we hear that Vitaminwater is using Lil Nas X as a spokesperson, “pushing an agenda of sexual confusion instead of promoting its product.” The ads, Moms say, attempt “to blur the biological distinctions between males and females. Thanks, Vitaminwater. Now, parents have to explain these disturbing ads to their confused children!”

Who are these children the Moms continually write about? Poor creatures; they are disturbed, perplexed, and shaken to the core by routine TV commercials and innocuous cartoon characters. Could that fragility possibly be the fault of, um, the Moms? Nah. It’s us and our insidious propaganda.

“These gay-inclusive commercials are attempting to desensitize and brainwash viewers by convincing them that homosexuality is natural,” the Moms say. “In reality, it is an unnatural love that is forbidden by Scripture. Romans 1:26-27 makes this very clear.”

I just looked that one up: “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” Spicy!

And the Land We Belong to Is Grand!

Let’s see what else. Have you heard that Kellyanne Conway’s rebellious daughter, Claudia, is gay? I didn’t know that. I vaguely remember this girl posting some family spats on Instagram, much to her mother’s chagrin. But lately, Kellyanne was given the “Spirit of Lincoln” award by the ridiculous Log Cabin (gay) Republicans based on her supposedly tolerant embrace of Claudia’s sexual orientation. “I don’t care if you’re with a girl or Mickey Mouse, as long as you get your ass up for school,” Kellyanne reportedly told her daughter. Get that woman a PFLAG membership card!

In other mildly pro-GLBT news, our friend the Pope has fired a virulently anti-gay bishop, Texas-based Joseph Strickland, a man who refused to resign on his own. I guess he did this after an “apostolic visitation” last summer, whatever that is, when it seems Bishop Strickland did not impress. The dismissal was announced November 4.

And while we’re in Texas, a school principal in Sherman along with some conservative administrators generated some negative national news headlines when they delayed the school production of Oklahoma! because a trans boy was cast in one of the male roles as were a few girls (since there were not enough boys in the drama group). According to their new policy, all actors would be required to play characters that matched their genders at birth, a theatrical dictate that would have come as a shock to Shakespeare companies and many other stage producers. 

The group also decided that the musical would be replaced by a shorter kids’ version, designed for younger audiences, telling the press in a statement that the regular show “contained mature adult themes, profane language, and sexual content.” That’s not the Oklahoma! that I remember, but who the hell knows what these people see when they look at the world around them. 

The fiasco was rectified after a unanimous vote by the full school board, which restored the original cast and production at a public meeting November 13. Dozens of people showed up at the meeting to protest the censorship, and Board President Brad Morgan apologized to the school community for the entire brouhaha. 

“We want to apologize to our students, parents and our community regarding the circumstances that they have had to go through,” Morgan wrote. “We do embrace all of our Board goals, to include addressing the diverse needs of our students and empowering them for success in a diverse and complex world.”

The Bell Tolls

Finally, there was a sad story out of Smiths Station, Alabama, where the small-town mayor killed himself after a local paper published photos of him dressed in women’s lingerie and quoted some erotic fiction he had written. F.L. “Bubba” Copeland, who had been mayor for seven years, apologized on a church website where he served as a pastor, and friends say he was profoundly upset by the exposure. 

A couple of days after the news report, sheriff’s deputies conducting a wellness check followed his car down the road, but could not prevent Copeland from shooting himself. By all accounts, he was a hard-working mayor and a nice guy; a father of three in a happy marriage. 

The news outlet, 1819 News, was a rightwing offshoot of Breitbart, but our own news outlets are often the ones to take hypocrites to account. This time, however, there was no evidence that Copeland was ever anti-GLBT, and his story gives me pause as I look back on the many times I gleefully reported on the secret lives of various hapless men with wives and families. I don’t promise never to do so again, but I may think twice.

arostow@aol.com

GLBT Fortnight in Review
Published on November 16, 2023

The post Ann Rostow: What’s in a Title? – San Francisco Bay Instances appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

By Ann Rostow–

Alright GenZ!

I am having a hard time getting the ball rolling this morning, so I figured I would begin with that admission. Why is this, you wonder? It’s because I am still inundated with news about how Alito’s draft abortion opinion undercuts our major gay rights victories, speculation that I think is understandable but wrong. And I also have numerous depressing stories about transgender rights under attack in state legislatures around the country. It’s like stories about climate change, endangered animals, or massive suffering in remote parts of the world. It makes me want to look at photos of cats stuck in small boxes or read about Johnny Depp.

Surely, I tell myself, there’s a story out there about determined gay penguins trying to hatch a rock, or some crazed lesbian slashing her ex-girlfriend’s underwear with a razor. Then again, we’ve already been there and done that many times, have we not? We hunger for some new, but equally madcap, anecdotes involving our vibrant GLBTLMNOP community.

Oh, but here’s something, compliments of a December article in The New York Times. It seems that a group of innovative GenZ types have started a satirical group called “Birds Aren’t Real,” which aims to showcase the absurdity of modern conspiracy theories. Maybe I’m the only person that has never heard of this effort, but I have to say that I love it. Initiated by Peter McIndoe, 23, in 2017, the “Bird Brigade” now has “hundreds of thousands” of amused adherents, the Times reports, all insisting that birds are actually drones sent to spy on us.

The Bird Brigade promotes its patently outrageous premise with billboards and a YouTube video featuring a faux ex-CIA agent (which has been viewed 20 million times) who explains the nefarious plot to replace all our feathered friends with insidious government-spawned surveillance technology. They have posted a complicated origin story online, and have attracted some seemingly serious press coverage from the more credulous members of the media.

Brigade leaders are not too worried that some will actually believe the charade. As organizer Connor Gaydos observed: “If anyone believes birds aren’t real, we’re the last of their concerns, because then there’s probably no conspiracy they don’t believe.” Meanwhile, McIndoe is ready to propel the movement further. “I have a lot of excitement for what the future of this could be as an actual force for good,” he told the Times. “Yes, we have been intentionally spreading misinformation for the past four years, but it’s with a purpose. It’s about holding up a mirror to America in the internet age.”

For some reason, this effort gives me hope. I’m becoming very fond of GenZ in my advancing age.

Pervasive and Virulent Anti-Trans Legislation

I can’t pretend to grasp the full spectrum of the anti-trans legislation now pending in our various state capitals. We have bills to bar transwomen and girls from sports teams. We have bills to ban various levels of treatment for gender identity and transition. We have bans on books. We have bans on discussing gender and sexual orientation in schools. We have some bills that die in committee, some that are vetoed, some that breeze into law under the signature of a conservative governor. It’s pervasive and virulent. One Mississippi politician tweeted last March: “Some of y’all want to try and find political compromise with those who want to groom our school age children and pretend men are women etc. I think they need to be lined up against wall (sic) before a firing squad and sent to an early judgment.”

After Twitter deleted that post, former state rep Robert Foster then explained: “Transgendered people are merely victims, it’s their pedo groomers that are consumed by evil.” When subsequently asked for an interview by the Mississippi Free Press, Foster declined, but wrote: “The law should be changed so that anyone trying to sexually groom children and/or advocating to put men pretending to be women in locker rooms and bathrooms with young women should receive the death penalty by firing squad.”

This doesn’t even make sense from an anti-GLBT perspective. Is he saying that evil child molesters are victimizing adult transgender men and women? Or are they victimizing children in general? If so, what would that have to do with men in the ladies’ room? Check out the photo of this ridiculous man in the LA Blade if you want a laugh. Or a wry smirk.

rock chalk

Moving along, since I had not intended to sidetrack our discussion with Mr. Foster, one positive development emerged from Kansas, where the Democratic governor, Laura Kelly, vetoed a transgender sports ban along with a “Parents Bill of Rights” last month. The hard right lawmakers tried to override her vetoes, but recently failed by three votes. Good job Jayhawk democrats!

Before they managed that, however, one of the meaner GOP representatives, Cheryl Helmer, wrote a diatribe that targeted the state’s one and only transgender representative, Stephanie Byers of Wichita.

“Now, personally I do not appreciate the huge transgender female who is now in our restrooms in the Capitol,” Helmer wrote. “It is quite uncomfortable (sic.) I have asked the men if they would like a woman in their restroom and they freaked out. Just to make my point—I went into their restroom one day. They were all standing in a circle talking but they all in unison started screaming like girls, ‘Cheryl—you’re in the men’s restroom!’ It was quite apparent by their bright red faces that they were extremely embarrassed that I had entered ‘their territory.’”

“But now we have a very unfair situation. We as women have humans that are much larger, stronger, more adrenaline and testosterone and therefore possibly more dangerous and we have to share our restrooms. Not only that but our wee little girls in elementary and middle and high school are having to be exposed and many have been raped, sodomized and beaten in the restrooms by these supposedly transgenders who may or may not be for real.”

What the … ? Many “wee little girls” have been “raped, sodomized and beaten” by transgender women? Why can’t we manage to confront these lunatics with their senseless violent blather? And what would Helmer do if a large, strong, testosterone-filled transman cruised into her precious women’s room as required by law? Why do none of these people understand that many “supposedly transgenders” were born female and are now bearded, muscular males who according to Helmer logic should be hanging in the ladies’ lounge?

I have to add that my Kansan stepson, who lives in Topeka, noted that he has been going into men’s bathrooms for over four decades and has never once encountered other men standing in a circle and talking. That’s not quite true for the ladies’ rooms, in my experience, where I’d often find my high school classmates or work colleagues smoking cigarettes and exchanging personal information about whomever wasn’t around at the moment. Vive la difference, as we cis and trans women like to say.

United States Sues Alabama Over Nasty Trans Law

For those who think Merrick Garland and company proceed too cautiously in their prosecutorial decisions, I was pleased to see that the Justice Department has sued the state of Alabama over a new law that criminalizes medical professionals and others who treat transgender minors.

Why did they sue Alabama, I wondered, when it seems as if every other red state has one or more of these horrible bills on the books? Well, it turns out that Alabama is unique in actually making it a felony to treat transgender teens, subject to up to ten years behind bars. A Trump-appointed judge, Liles Burke, ruled that the core elements of the law could not be enforced pending a legal challenge. He left in place a ban on transition surgery, which is not performed on minors in Alabama. He also retained a feature that requires public school staff to inform parents if their child thinks he or she is transgender.

Those exceptions aside, in a well-reasoned 32-page opinion, Judge Burke ruled the state was usurping the fundamental rights of parents, and that the statute discriminated against transgender minors in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. Interestingly, Judge Burke approvingly cited Bostock v Clayton County, the 2020 gay rights victory that defined gay and transgender discrimination as a form of illegal sex discrimination under federal law. “Here, the Act prohibits transgender minors—and only transgender minors—from taking transitioning medications due to their gender nonconformity,” Burke wrote. “The Act therefore constitutes a sex-based classification for purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

Burke noted that Alabama’s main argument—that gender therapy was “experimental” and that the state was therefore within its rights to “protect children”—was not backed by the slightest evidence. Nor did the judge buy the state’s insistence that medical professionals were trying to strong-poor patients into having gender treatments. On the contrary, he noted that standard therapies were accepted around the world, and that the medical community had safeguards in place to make sure therapies were not used inappropriately. All in all, he did not sound much like a Trump judge, so that was, um, interesting. I have a tendency to think the worst of Trump’s nominees, so I was pleasantly surprised.

Last year, the ACLU filed suit against a transgender medical ban out of Arkansas, in a case that is now pending before the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. A federal judge issued an injunction against the Arkansas law while that suit is pending, and the Justice Department weighed in on the side of the transgender plaintiffs in an amicus brief.

I’m assuming that the Arkansas law did not involve felony criminal penalties for the doctors, which would explain why the Alabama case is considered unusual. Now, I can feel myself starting to grope through the vast “fog of anti-transgender state legislation coverage,” for further information. Are there other similar suits? Maybe, maybe not! What’s the specific difference between the Arkansas law and the Alabama law? What’s the status of other states in this area? I think I’m lost. lassie Go get help, girl.

The Final Frontier

Speaking of nothing, I see that a House panel just heard testimony on the latest UFO reports, which are referred to as “UAPs” (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) by the powers that be in the Pentagon. Is there some reason we have to substitute pompous language for straightforward English words?

The military has logged nearly 400 cases, up from 144 in a previous report released last year, but it’s thought that the increase reflects the fact that people are more comfortable discussing their unusual sightings. Of course, the experts all agree that just because these “UAPs” are unidentified doesn’t mean that they are from outer space. And, of course, I would agree. They could just as easily be time travelers from Earth’s future or ghost ships from a parallel universe.

I’m always sad when I read respected scientists and astronomers who assure us that it would be impossible for us to contact intelligent life from elsewhere. Advanced civilizations are unlikely to survive long enough to develop the technology to travel faster than the speed of light. They will probably destroy their planet or get hit by a meteor or something before that happens. And that makes perfect sense. Do we honestly expect human life to survive and evolve for another thousand years here? two thousand?

Then there are the downers like this from the late theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who insisted that any aliens who manage to find us are going to either be predators or profiteers. Oh, and they’ll be so advanced they can eradicate us in two seconds in order to mine the Earth for rare metals or whatever. Maybe they’ll put a few of us into a little habitat and use us for research projects. Or pets, if we’re lucky.

It’s a little depressing that most of us probably won’t live long enough to unravel the mystery of dark energy, or figure out a Standard Model of Everything, let alone meet friendly aliens driving spaceships shaped like tic tacs and carving giant runways in the desert . Instead, we’re stuck with aerial phenomena that turn out to be drones or weather balloons, and every now and then we discover a stupid boson or see a nova. Big whoop.

arostow@aol.com

Published on May 19, 2022

The post Ann Rostow: Okay, GenZ! – San Francisco Bay Instances appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

By Ann Rostow–

What Color Is Your Pill?

Do you know those theories about the universe that suggest we may all be part of a simulation, like in The Matrix? The odd thing is that while the idea seems absurd on its face, the rationales for being in a simulation make about as much sense as any of the other harebrained scenarios being bandied about by our astronomy friends. Multiverses, mysterious dark energy, string theory; we have no idea where we are.

These days, the notion that we might be in a simulation doesn’t seem that outlandish. What else explains the email headline: “Five reasons we should not just ‘move on’ from the Hunter Biden laptop story?” What else explains the people waiting for JFK Junior to come back to life and run for Vice President with Donald Trump? (And why are they waiting in Dallas rather than on a boat off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard?) What else explains our nihilistic indifference to pollution and climate change? Our inability to legislate beyond next week? Our narrowing minds and hardening hearts? The comic book-level craziness of world leaders like Trump, Putin, and Kim Jong-un? Someone must have programmed this descent into lunacy.

Moving right along, I have a number of dismal stories this week, so instead let me begin with a snippet from North Carolina, where a man turned his four-year-old dog, Fezco, over to the animal shelter because the dog humped another male and the owner thought the dog was gay. I thought I was the one to discover this little gem but I see from Google that it is all over the news, and may have gone viral by the time you read this.

And we don’t have to worry about Fezco’s future. He is a medium-sized brown dog who looks like your idea of ​​how a generic “dog” should look. He is clearly very sweet and it seems as if everyone wants to adopt him.

Oh, and because I was on a gay dog ​​Google page, I encountered a white dachshund named “Whitney Chewston,” who is often pictured online near a brandy glass full of red wine captioned: “not too fond of gays.” Instagram gradually filled with variations on Chewston’s strangely adorable homophobia and his general snooty affect. Eventually, it became clear that Chewston’s owners are two gay guys, and in one scene he is pictured with them, thinking to himself: “tired of the gays.”

Cute!

Please Spare Us

Would you be astonished if I told you I agreed with one of One Million Moms’ recent press releases? The Moms are annoyed with a women’s intimate deodorant called “Lume” that apparently has an over-the-top TV commercial that I haven’t seen personally. That said, I have seen—and been increasingly grossed out by—other ads that focus in on private bodily functions. I have already called out the disgusting toilet paper bears in these pages more than once. Then we have the repellent tooth brushing ads that show icky stuff caught in teeth or corn cobs (just as bad). Don’t get me started on ear wax ads or acne products. And I actually saw one the other day that featured a woman defecating on the toilet and making a joke about it. Close the bathroom door and remove those cameras! If you must hawk these items, do so with a little discretion.

As for Lume, the Moms tell me that the ad “specifically mentions lady bits, testicles, chesticles, buttcracks, and sweaty backs.” Chesticles? What the hell are chesticles? And why do we want to deodorize these areas? Wash them for God’s sake. You know what? I don’t want to even discuss this any further. One Million Moms plus at least one lesbian agree. And it’s not even a matter of family values. It’s civil.

Before we leave the world of the Moms, otherwise known as the American Family Association, I was reading yet another poll that showed support for GLBTs continues to rise across all faith categories in the United States. White evangelical protestants, however, remain at the bottom of a long list of religious denominations, and indeed are part of the only group that continues to oppose same-sex marriage.

I was going to skip the poll story, from the Public Religion Research Institute, because, well, it’s a poll story. But then I learned that our adversaries in the white evangelical protestant group represent only 14 percent of Americans. How do they get all the attention?

And why are the lawsuits that pit gay clients against Christian business owners considered a third rail? According to this poll, sizable majorities of most religious groups believe faith should not trump civil rights in the public square. The exceptions are the evangelical protestants (38 percent support civil rights) and Mormons (44 percent). Everyone else (16 other categories) agrees that GLBT rights laws should protect market participants even when a business owner doesn’t like us, just as racist business owners are nonetheless required to serve all comers. Overall, 66 percent of citizens oppose letting faith dictate customer service when it conflicts with anti-discrimination laws.

GayGayGay!

It’s hard to say which is worse: the “don’t say gay” bill in Florida, or the executive decision by the Texas government to criminalize parents who seek gender identity care for their kids.

Last issue, I wrote about the backlash against Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who voiced a tepid objection to what’s actually titled the Parental Rights In Education bill. As our issue went to press, Chapek reversed himself and apologized for the half-hearted reaction, pleading to stand with Disney’s GLBT employees in opposing the bill, which bans discussion or depiction of anything gay or trans to third graders and younger. The bill also effectively requires public school staff to report students of any age to parents if they seem to be questioning their sexual orientation or gender.

And while we all agree that third graders don’t need to be taught the graphic ins and outs of gay sex—or any sex, for that matter—what this bill does is scrap any and all representation of gay families, no matter how anodyne . As for sexual orientation, it’s implicit in every story about a King and Queen or Prince and Princess. With this bill, however, sexual orientation means heterosexuality. Discussing the bill, Governor Ron DeSantis’ spokeswoman Christina Pushaw said that anyone who opposed it was presumably okay with “the grooming of 4–8 year-old children,” as if the recognition that gay families exist was tantamount to pederasty.

Disney’s worldwide staff went out on a one-day strike Tuesday, March 22, to protest the bill and provoke the company out of its complacency. As GLBT Pixar staff wrote in an open letter: “We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were.” Indeed, as a result of the reaction from Disney staff and observers, the company has reportedly restored a same-sex kiss that had been edited out of the upcoming animated film Lightyear.

DeSantis, meanwhile, claims not to care what his state’s major employers think of his policies. Disney, he said, “is in far too deep with the Communist Party of China and has lost any moral authority to tell you what to do.” OK then!

All Hat and No Cattle

Now, we come face to face with a couple of guys who make Ron DeSantis look like a moderate democrat, namely Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his partner in a special combination of stupidity and evil, Governor Greg Abbot. As you may recall, Paxton recently issued a non-binding “legal” opinion stating that providing any kind of treatment to help transgender kids was a form of illegal child abuse under existing Texas law. Within a few days of digesting this nonsense, Abbot ordered state agencies to investigate parents who might be guilty of “breaking the law” in this fashion.

This latest attack on trans kids comes after the state has already banned transgender student athletes from playing for their own gender, relegating transmen and boys to the female teams and transwomen and girls to the male teams. Some families are already making plans to move out of the state, and major cities are starting to lose convention business and tourism.

The good news is that Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union have put a quick stop to any investigations, let alone any criminal legal procedures against Lone Star parents. The lawyers won an injunction against the state, forbidding Texas from launching any probes into parenting while the underlying policy is reviewed in court. (That injunction was briefly frozen after Paxton filed an appeal, but the freeze was released and the injunction was restored on March 21.)

The bad news is that no one knows what could happen down the road if this case or another gets out of the state courts and arrives in courtrooms possibly run by Trumpian fools. Texas, after all, is the state that banned abortion after six weeks under a bizarre system where the law would be enforced by vigilantes who can file civil suits. And the federal courts are where that law somehow survived review and was allowed to remain on the books during lengthy litigation. Why not let the vigilantes in Texas enforce the newly interpreted child abuse laws and sue parents of transgender kids for damages? They can sue the therapists too, why not?

The really bad news is that some 15 states have now shifted from anti-trans sports bills to focus on preventing or preventing transgender kids and adults under 21 from accessing health care, whether it be hormone treatments, psychological evaluation, puberty blockers, or other transition strategies. Transgender kids aren’t just political targets; they are targets of an inexplicable surge of venom that is difficult to understand or explain.

That said, I should note that the Republican governor of Indiana, Eric Holcomb, just vetoed a transgender sports ban, calling it too broad and saying that it “leaves too many unanswered questions.” Thanks for that one, Eric.

Bulldogs, Bulldogs, Bow Wow Wow

What else is new, you may ask. I see that our old nemesis, antigay ex-Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, is back in the headlines, now that the two gay couples who filed a civil suit against her have won their case. I know! I’m surprised as well to see that a lawsuit filed in July 2015 is being adjudicated nearly seven years down the road. I know the wheels of justice can turn slowly, but that is ridiculous. Davis, you remember what the county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples even after the Supreme Court had ruled and she was ordered by a judge to comply or step down.

I understand from the Lexington Herald Leader that the case was sidetracked by several appeals during the course of the litigation. Davis argued that she was a public servant, protected against lawsuits. (Cue: error buzzer.) You are not covered if you deliberately violate the constitution. Davis then argued that she was protected against lawsuits by her religious freedom. (Cue: error buzzer.) Government officials cannot use faith as an excuse to deny services to this person or that one.

Back on schedule, the men won a summary judgment against Davis, who will have to face a jury for punitive damages and attorney fees. It doesn’t sound as if the woman has any money, so I’m guessing that bankruptcy court is the next legal venue on her list. She lost reelection back in 2018.

I could also tell you about yet another drama going on at the Yale Law School, where students protested an antigay conservative lawyer who was invited to speak by the Federalist Society. At issue was whether or not the students themselves interfered with the free speech of the lawyer, or whether the university interfered with the students by sending armed campus cops to patrol the scene.

After the incident, whatever it was, appellate court judge Laurence Silberman of the DC Circuit sent the following unbelievable email to colleagues:

“The latest events at Yale Law School in which students attempted to shout down speakers participating in a panel discussion on free speech prompts me to suggest that students who are identified as those willing to disrupt any such panel discussion should be noted. All federal judges—and all federal judges are presumably committed to free speech—should carefully consider whether any student so identified should be disqualified for potential clerkships.”

I’d say Judge Silberman needs a refresher course on the First Amendment.

arostow@aol.com

Published on March 24, 2022

The post Ann Rostow: What Coloration Is Your Tablet? – San Francisco Bay Occasions appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Ann Sacks San Francisco Showroom

The showroom is the place where we have the most intensive contact with our customers, ”said DeeDee Gundberg, Director, Product Development and Design.

PORTLAND, Ore. (PRWEB)
November 03, 2021

ANN SACKS, an industry leader in luxury tile and stone, is pleased to announce the reopening of ANN SACKS San Francisco at 2 Henry Adams Street, Suite 125, San Francisco, CA 94103, phone (415) 252-5889. The redesigned showroom, located in the San Francisco Design Center, is the first in a series of ANN SACKS showroom renovations that will extend over the next few years and offer customers a new way of seeing the full range of products in a service-oriented, interactive environment. In addition to ANN SACKS San Francisco, renovations are currently underway in the showrooms of ANN SACKS Los Angeles and Orange County, California.

The redesign of ANN SACKS San Francisco is based on a new merchandising and sales model that represents months of planning and development by ANN SACKS, culminating in an innovative design that is intended to improve the customer experience in all showrooms. “The showroom is the place where we come into most intensive contact with our customers,” said DeeDee Gundberg, Director, Product Development and Design. “We wanted to strengthen this connection by offering our customers the opportunity to experience our products and brands in a way that they will not experience anywhere else. The entire concept was built on this basis. “

Customers enjoy a full range of products from ANN SACKS and the sister brands Robern and KALLISTA. In addition to the existing collections, new washbasins, linen cupboards and decorative mirrors by Robern, exclusive designs by KALLISTA Sanitary and selected KOHLER Lighting exclusively for the showroom channel will be on display, stimulating creativity at every turn.

ANN SACKS San Francisco presents itself in a gallery-like setting in the heart of the San Francisco Design District, a renowned destination for retailers and design-conscious consumers for over a century. With window sills at the front of the building that offer plenty of natural light and an open floor plan that allows for a smooth flow of traffic and an unobstructed view of the designs, ANN SACKS San Francisco presents an active, engaging environment with all the tools and an experienced sales representative, in order to seamlessly implement a project from concept to the smallest detail into reality.

The exterior of the red brick showroom with its towering 18-foot lattice windows leads across the street-level entrance of ANN SACKS San Francisco and offers a first glimpse of the redesign, which begins with an open, lobby-style retail lounge. From floor to ceiling, pillars wrapped in marble are overlaid with smaller tile slabs, which give dimensions and a structural effect, while at the same time offering visitors a unique opportunity to present the impressive selection of natural stones. The reception area also includes comfortable seating, two bistro tables with chairs, and a full display of the latest branded materials and collection information.

Opening up the larger showroom was important to the redesign, with a floor plan that encourages exploration and a smooth flow of traffic for visitors to easily access and engage with the products spread across the space. The linchpin within the showroom is the new ANN SACKS Design Studio, a fully equipped activity center from a single source that is well organized to bring all the tools you need together in one central location. Spacious Calcatta Zebrino marble work tables with plenty of seating are surrounded by walls of white shelves that approx. Better imagine what the tile will look like in a room. The sample shop that was outside the showroom is now part of the design studio to keep creativity flowing without interruption. Magnetic mood boards designed to inspire are constantly updated to showcase the latest market trends. The design studio will also offer basic color, furniture and surface samples to better realize the potential of a project from a more holistic point of view.

In addition to the smaller vignettes, there will also be larger, self-designed suites, including a fully functional bathroom, two kitchens, two fireplaces and the first reveal of the seven inspiration suites behind ANN SACKS ‘new immersive merchandising program, which will be launched in September 2021 Level introduced. Most of the products selected for the program’s traditional and contemporary bathrooms are new to the market. Created by a talented team of designers

ANN SACKS, Robern and KALLISTA remind the interiors of crucial epochs that influenced or changed the design of the 19th and 20th centuries and influential, emerging trends on the world market.

To keep the showroom au courant, a clip wall system was chosen to make room and vignette redesigns easier and to reduce the disruption, hassle and cost involved in seasonal renovations. Other well thought-out details for the consumer include a combination of the latest 90 percent energy-saving LED track, recessed and linear downlight lighting to complement the abundant natural light, and cozy chairs, conversation seats and other work tables distributed practically anywhere in the room are.

Download images

About ANN SACKS

ANN SACKS was founded in 1981 and has made a name for itself by offering the best in tiles and stones. The Portland, Oregon-based company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kohler Co., along with sister luxury brands Kallista Sanitary and Robern mirror cabinets and vanities.

About KOHLER CO.

Founded in 1873 and headquartered in Kohler, Wisconsin, Kohler Co. is one of America’s oldest and largest privately owned companies with more than 38,000 employees. With more than 50 production sites worldwide, Kohler is a global leader in the design, innovation and manufacture of kitchen and bathroom products; Luxury furniture, tiles and lighting; Motors, generators and clean energy solutions; and owner / operator of two five star hotel and golf resort destinations in Kohler, Wisconsin and St. Andrews, Scotland. Kohler’s Whistling Straits Golf Course recently hosted the 43rd Ryder Cup. The company also develops solutions to pressing issues like clean water and sanitation for underserved communities around the world to improve the quality of life for present and future generations. Further information is available at www.kohlercompany.com.

More information about the opening of the ANN SACKS San Francisco showroom or the

ANN SACKS and the product offerings of its sister brands, consumers can call the toll-free 1-800-278-TILE or the

ANN SACKS website at http://www.annsacks.com.

The post Ann Sacks San Francisco Showroom Opens Its Doorways To a Inventive New Method In Lavatory and Kitchen Design appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

A creative new approach to bathroom and kitchen design

PORTLAND, Ore., November 3, 2021 / PRNewswire-PRWeb / – ANN SACKS, an industry leader in luxury tile and stone, is pleased to announce the reopening of ANN SACKS San Francisco at 2 Henry Adams Street, Suite 125, San Francisco, California 94103, phone (415) 252-5889. The redesigned showroom, located in the San Francisco Design Center, is the first in a series of ANN SACKS showroom renovations that will extend over the next few years and offer customers a new way of seeing the full range of products in a service-oriented, interactive environment. Next to ANN SACKS San Francisco, renovations at ANN SACKS Los Angeles and Orange County, California. Showrooms are now underway.

The redesign of ANN SACKS San Francisco is based on a new merchandising and sales model, which represents months of planning and development by ANN SACKS, culminating in an innovative design that aims to improve the customer experience in all showrooms. “The showroom is the place where we connect most strongly with our customers,” said DeeDee Gundberg, Director, Product Development and Design. “We wanted to strengthen this connection by offering our customers the opportunity to experience our products and brands in a way they will not experience anywhere else. This was the basis on which the entire concept was built. “

Customers enjoy a full range of products from ANN SACKS and the sister brands Robern and KALLISTA. In addition to existing collections, new washbasins, linen cupboards and decorative mirrors from Robern, exclusive designs from KALLISTA Sanitary and selected CHARCOAL BURNER Lighting designed exclusively for the showroom channel will also be on view to stimulate creativity at every turn.

ANN SACKS San Francisco presents itself in a gallery-like setting in the heart of the San Francisco Design District, a renowned destination for retailers and design-conscious consumers for over a century. With window sills at the front of the building that offer plenty of natural light and an open floor plan that allows for a smooth flow of traffic and an unobstructed view of the designs, ANN SACKS San Francisco presents an active, engaging environment with all the tools and an experienced sales representative, in order to seamlessly implement a project from concept to the smallest detail into reality.

The story goes on

The exterior of the red brick showroom with its towering 18-foot lattice windows leads across the street-level entrance of ANN SACKS San Francisco and offers a first glimpse of the redesign, which begins with an open, lobby-style retail lounge. From the floor to the ceiling, pillars wrapped in marble are overlaid with smaller tile slabs, which give dimensions and structural effect, while at the same time offering visitors a unique opportunity to present the impressive selection of natural stones. The reception area also includes comfortable seating, two bistro tables with chairs, and a full display of the latest branded materials and collection information.

Opening up the larger showroom was important to the redesign, with a floor plan that encourages exploration and a smooth flow of traffic for visitors to easily access and engage with the products spread across the space. The linchpin within the showroom is the new ANN SACKS Design Studio, a fully equipped activity center from a single source that is well organized to bring all the tools you need together in one central location. Spacious Calcatta Zebrino marble work tables with plenty of seating are surrounded by walls of white shelves that approx. Better imagine what the tile will look like in a room. The sample shop that was outside the showroom is now part of the design studio to keep creativity flowing without interruption. Magnetic mood boards designed to inspire are constantly updated to showcase the latest market trends. The design studio will also offer basic color, furniture and surface samples to better realize the potential of a project from a more holistic point of view.

In addition to the smaller vignettes, there will also be larger, self-designed suites, including a fully functional bathroom, two kitchens, two fireplaces and the first reveal of the seven inspiration suites behind the new immersive merchandising program from ANN SACKS, launched at national level in September 2021. Most of the products selected for the program’s traditional and contemporary bathrooms are new to the market. Created by a talented team of designers

ANN SACKS, Robern and KALLISTA remind the interiors of crucial eras that influenced or changed the design of the 19th and 20th centuries and influential, emerging trends on the world market.

To keep the showroom au courant, a clip wall system was chosen to make room and vignette redesigns easier and to reduce the disruption, hassle and cost involved in seasonal renovations. Other well-thought-out details for the consumer include a combination of the most modern, 90 percent energy-saving LED track, recessed and linear downlight lighting to complement the abundant natural light, and cozy chairs, conversation seats and other work tables that are practically everywhere in the room.
Download images

About ANN SACKS
ANN SACKS was founded in 1981 and has made a name for itself by offering the best in tiles and stones. Based in Portland, Ore., the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kohler Co., along with sister luxury brands Kallista Sanitary and Robern mirror cabinets and vanities.

Above CHARCOAL BURNER CO.

Founded in 1873 and headquartered in Kohler, Wisconsin, Kohler Co. is one of America’s oldest and largest privately held companies with more than 38,000 employees. With more than 50 production sites worldwide, Charcoal burner is a world leader in the design, innovation and manufacture of kitchen and bathroom products; Luxury furniture, tiles and lighting; Motors, generators and clean energy solutions; and owner / operator of two 5-star hotel and golf resort destinations in Kohler, Wisconsin, and St. Andrews, Scotland. Kohlers The 43rd Ryder Cup recently took place at Whistling Straits Golf Course. The company also develops solutions to pressing issues like clean water and sanitation for underserved communities around the world to improve the quality of life for present and future generations. Further information is available at www.kohlercompany.com.

For more information on the opening of the ANN SACKS San Francisco showroom or the
ANN SACKS and the product offerings of its sister brands, consumers can call the toll-free 1-800-278-TILE or the
ANN SACKS website at http://www.annsacks.com.

Media contact

Robin Richter, Ann Sacks, (920) 457-4441 x.72340, robin.richter@kohler.com

SOURCE Ann Sacks

The post Ann Sacks San Francisco Showroom Opens Its Doorways To a Artistic New Strategy In Rest room and Kitchen Design appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.