Hi, Toasties. I did most of this roundup on Saturday, and woke up Sunday to the horrible, heartbreaking news out of Orlando. Here’s what we currently know about the gay nightclub attack which is now the worst mass shooting in US history. It was an 18+ club. It was also Latin Night. This is a club started by a woman whose brother died of AIDS. What a fucking shitshow.
Toasties who want to help the queer community in Orlando, let’s give to the Orlando Youth Alliance and to The Center. And here’s a link to the Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence.
We’ve decided not to run any content today, so this post is an open thread. Please share what you’re reading about the events on Sunday (please do not link to people saying stupid shit about the events on Sunday.)
(I’m also leaving the pre-Orlando link roundup below, so you can read it if you need a break from tragedy.)
The LA Times talked to a bunch of trans people in North Carolina about what the mechanics of this stupid bathroom bill have resulted in for them:
McGarry, who is suing the state and the University of North Carolina system over the bathroom bill, wants to be a lawyer someday, so he wants to follow the law. But between going to the men’s room where he fits in or going to the women’s room where he sticks out, the choice is clear.
“This is a situation where I’m choosing between safety or breaking the law, and I’m going to choose my safety every time,” McGarry said. “So I go to the male restroom.”
North Carolina has become the epicenter of a national battle over transgender rights since the city of Charlotte passed an ordinance in February barring discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. State Republican lawmakers immediately recoiled — claiming Charlotte’s law allowed men and potential sexual predators into women’s bathrooms — and responded by passing House Bill 2, which also overrides local nondiscrimination packages like Charlotte’s.
Bathrooms have long been a source of anxiety for transgender men and women whose gender transitions are in progress. As their appearances change, it can be difficult to know when it’s best to stop using one gender’s bathroom and start using another.
OUR BELOVED TECH GOTH MARCO AND HIS GIRLFRIEND ARE GETTING MARRRRRRIED.
TIG. NOTARO. (also, this is the part of the interview everyone will share, but don’t miss all the non-Schumer parts bc Tig Notaro is incredible):
I tell her I was struck by something Amy Schumer once said to Vanity Fair about Notaro: “Looking masculine and being gay, the challenges of the road are 20 times harder for Tig than other female comedians. People fear what they don’t understand.” Has she found that to be true?
Anger sparks in Notaro’s normally calm eyes. “I don’t know what she was talking about. It sounds like offensive nonsense to me. I find that so offensive and weird,” she says, looking down, trying to control her very audible irritation. “If you knew me well, you would never say that.”
I thought the two of you were friends, I say, surprised. Schumer has spoken in the past about taking care of her “great friend Tig”.
“Ummm…” Notaro says, looking away. Did you just work with her? The atmosphere, previously relaxed, has palpably prickled.
“I’ve worked with her. I worked with her for the first season [of Inside Amy Schumer],” she replies curtly. Ironically, the episode in which Notaro appeared was about Schumer exaggerating their friendship and using Notaro’s cancer to look good in front of other people.
“Let’s leave it there,” Notaro says, closing down the subject.
bitches gotta eat (and leave):
1 park far away and keep forgetting stuff in your car. it’s a cloudless 82 degrees: birds are chirping, the hum of neighborhood lawnmowers drones in the distance, and mark and laura are hosting a party for their cat’s birthday at their house at 2pm sharp. you circle your sensible, fuel-efficient vehicle leisurely around their block a few times after your first driveby revealed that you indeed were the first person to arrive to a cat party, then park around the corner and pretend to be texting someone interesting until you see at least three other people arrive, arms heavily laden with scratching posts and catnip mice. get out, making a point to leave the shiny bags of meow mix party mix you got 2-for1 at target nestled safely in the back seat. as soon as they try to usher you out to the kiddie pool filled with melting ice and cans of coors light, bang the heel of your palm against your forehead the way people in the movies do when suddenly struck by a memory and conveniently excuse yourself to fetch the treats from the car. twenty minutes later, same goes for the boxes of wine. an hour after that: oh yeah, that jumbo tray of cheese cubes! you’ll either spend so much time rifling through your trunk that they’ll forget you were ever there to begin with or be so irritated that on your fourth trip out they’ll put you out of your misery and lock the door behind you. and, if all that doesn’t work, forget everything you offered to bring at the store, which will give you an excuse to actually get in your car and drive it away.
Friend of The Toast Carvell Wallace has some good thoughts on why Meghan Trainor’s “blaccent” bothers him (and why Amy Winehouse’s style didn’t):
Part of Trainor’s appeal is her relatability. She’s a charismatic vocalist with a knack for catchy songs full of personal empowerment and a wholesome kind of self-love. She makes the kind of music that you can imagine a drunken bachelorette party having a transcendent sing-along to in the back of a rented stretch Hummer. We return to artists like Trainor because they act and sing in ways that we wish we could; they give us the voice we wish we had. But what does it mean that Meghan Trainor’s voice is, technically, an approximated black one that comes from a white body? “NO” has more than 250 million views on YouTube. Is a black voice coming from a white face what 250 million people want? Skimming the comments raises further questions. In them, one comes across the typical bullshit — men body-shaming Trainor as though that were somehow funny or original, earnest comments thanking her for her voice and inspiration — but virtually no mention of her stilted use of black English. It makes me wonder if no one notices this kind of thing anymore in pop music, or if people notice but have concluded that it doesn’t matter. Or maybe people literally don’t know the roots of this song’s style, cadence, or tone. Maybe they just think it came from the internet.
This piece is horrifying and Tasers are not freaking Supersoakers, they can kill you:
Matt imagined the stop every day. He and Stacy had been assured by the FBI that what Runnels did crossed the line. As a cop, though, he couldn’t escape the thought that Bryce had somehow provoked him. “You don’t just get tased,” Matt remembered thinking. “He had to have done something.”
Bryce dealt with the perception that he was somehow to blame on a daily basis. Trying to go back to normal meant putting himself back in the community. The only thing the public knew was what had been reported, and what had been reported was that he resisted a lawful arrest, and his car smelled like marijuana. In every interaction, whether at school or out in public, the question of what he did, what responsibility he must have for his own injury, hung over him.
I am a few days late to Doree on how celeb mags cover domestic violence, but it’s excellent:
An examination of stories from the last 30 years shows that domestic violence narratives have been depressingly consistent — and often make it seem like both parties were at fault. The caption on a headshot of Mia Farrow on a “Sinatra & Women” People cover from September 1986 said, “Her independence made him violent.” A December 1987 cover featuring Madonna and Sean Penn was accompanied by the headline “DIARY OF A MAD MARRIAGE: Jealousy, booze and brawling sink Hollywood’s most outrageous couple.” And a March 1989 cover of actress Sean Young featured the caption “Sean Young & James Woods FATAL ATTRACTION: Their razor’s edge romance turned to rage, two of Hollywood’s hottest stars play out a real-life tale of love gone mad.”
THIS IS HORSESHIT, WALK HARD IS THE BEST APATOW MOVIE (they liked it I’m just upset it’s only 7th on the list):
7. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (writer/producer)
An intriguing and essential entry in the Apatow canon because it, unlike so much of his other work, never once attempts to be “serious” or emotional. This is just a flat-out spoof, and it’s a terrific one. John C. Reilly plays the eponymous Dewey Cox, a country singer who breaks big and becomes a perfect clothesline for an impressive series of gags about music biopics, particularly Ray, Walk the Line, and even the Doors. This is as close to an old Zucker Brothers joke-fest as you’re going to find anymore, and though not all the gags score, most of them do. And every scene with Tim Meadows trying to stop Dewey Cox from doing drugs is perfect. This is a dark fucking period!
Love is all around:
Greg Dick, owner of rest and fuel stop the Aileron Roadhouse in the Northern Territory, told the BBC the two animals have “been in love for a while”. He said the kangaroo, which according to Northern Territory News is named “Fuck It” for his libido, has been sleeping with, cuddling and “carrying on too busy” with Apples the pig.
Guardian US today announced that Carrie Fisher will contribute a regular advice column to the site. Fisher, star of films including the Star Wars trilogy, Star Wars: the Force Awakens, and When Harry Met Sally, will address readers’ questions and dilemmas and offer her unique perspective on life. Her first column has been published today and readers can email questions for future columns to carrie.fisher.advice@theguardian.com.
Fisher, who has openly discussed her diagnosis of bipolar disorder and her battles with addiction, is also the author of a semi-autobiographical novel, Postcards from the Edge, and a play and non-fiction book, Wishful Drinking, which tackle some of the issues she has faced. Her new column will build on the honest and open approach she has taken to her own struggles, and will offer Guardian readers advice and guidance on how to navigate everything from heartbreak to addiction, to mental illness and gender equality.
