Donatella Versace: “We must all fight for freedom, in a time… when minority voices are attacked by new laws.”
KICK IN THE JACKASS
According to LGBTQNation, a 14-year-old boy named “Rylan,” decided to troll a lesbian TikTok commentator, Michele, who tiks and toks at @local_lezbian.
“Your family is going to be in a drive-by shooting on oct 28 2023,” wrote Rylan, “tread lightly scum of the earth. (in Minecraft)” It appeared that Rylan erroneously believed the addition of “(in Minecraft)” was a clever legal trick that transforms death threats into harmless banter.
Michele promptly reported Rylan to the authorities at his school, and to law enforcement. It helped that our would-be domestic terrorist left his identifying information on his profile, perhaps lulled by the protection of his “in Minecraft” tactic.
“You are not the brightest crayon, little fella,” Michele pointed out, as she described his post to her 1.5 million followers. “I kind of have some sympathy for you, because again, you’re only 14 years old. You’re not born feeling and viewing people in that way. You are taught that. So I hope when I contact your local authorities that not only you learn a lesson, but your parents, as well. Your parents don’t want to teach you right from wrong? Allow me to teach you a little something: that’s f**king unacceptable. You do not do shit like that.”
I’m dying to know what happened. I can only hope that LGBTQNation follows up on its reporting. Michele says that she spoke to Rylan’s school principal who “assured me they do not agree with the message that you sent.”
But, but, he said it was in Minecraft!
BRIT BOX
I was all set to rant about British Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who told the crowd at the American Enterprise Institute that the UK needs tougher refugee policies and that being gay or lesbian should not be grounds for asylum. Or at least that’s what I thought she was saying based on the headlines and the outrage erupting from my side of the proverbial aisle.
But although I also shrank from her attack on “uncontrolled migration” and the rest of her heartless polemic, the sexual orientation part of it appears to be a straw man. “Let me be clear, there are vast swathes of the world where it is extremely difficult to be gay, or to be a woman,” advance copies of the speech said. “Where individuals are being persecuted, it is right that we offer sanctuary, but we will not be able to sustain an asylum system if in effect, simply being gay, or a woman, and fearful of discrimination in your country of origin, is sufficient to qualify for protection.”
In point of fact, simply being gay or being a woman has never been sufficient grounds for asylum in the United States, and I assume it’s not in Britain either. You can’t just say that you’re gay and face anti-gay bias. You have to demonstrate a physical threat or live under a dangerous regime.
Technically, perhaps Braverman was not saying anything new. However, the undercurrent of her speech was just the type of rhetoric that would appeal to the rightwing blowhards at the American Enterprise Institute. And the part about gay refugees was a pretty obvious signal to the far right in both countries. Sexual orientation claims represent one percent of all UK refugee claims in 2021 according to Home Office statistics cited in the Independent. So why bring them up at all?
FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM
What else? There’s Sunny Hostin on “The View,” who says gay men can smell whether or not some other guy is gay. Did you know that? She saw it on TV so it must be true. There was a trans prom queen in Missouri, a zillion bomb threats and Donatella Versace told the audience at a fashion show in Milan that the far-right government of Giorgio Meloni was a danger to Italian civil rights.
“We must all fight for freedom, in a time that still sees trans people suffering terrible violence, a time when children of same-sex couples are not considered their children, a time when minority voices are attacked by new laws,” she said. “I was 11 years old when my brother Gianni told me he was gay. For me it changed nothing. I loved him and I didn’t care who he loved.’’
