ScottinSoCal 🇺🇦 🕊 🏳‍🌈 @ScottSoCal@computerfairi.es

45’s Rape Trial Goes From One Disaster to Another https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trumps-rape-trial-goes-from-one-disaster-to-another?via=ios

My first poll will be a real-world ethics question, posed because of a disagreement between the spouse and I. We were walking and came upon a homeless guy holding a sign asking for money. I gave him some money as we walked by. Spouse said he'd seen drug paraphernalia in HG's backpack, and I shouldn't have given money - it would just go for drugs. I don't think it's my business where it goes, once it leaves my hands. What say you all?
Boost, please, I really am curious to see what people think.

My coworker wants me to stop being on Zooms.

My coworker (and their bad breath) needs to stop getting all in my business before I report them to HR.

Police say they have apprehended the alleged gunman of a shooting at an #Atlanta hospital that killed one person and injured four others, all women between the ages of 25 and 71, in the latest #shooting to disrupt every day life in America

https://breaking.iavian.net/article/335821

Several months ago, a number of the LGBTQIA+ community here in the Fediverse, shared coming out stories.
I've always felt sharing our story is important. We feel less alone when we learn others had a similar experience.
Recently I went looking for that thread, and sadly it is gone, victim to a number of instance migrations.
I am going to share mine again, using the hashtag #ComingOutStories. If you are able, consider sharing whatever parts of your experience you can. I find it very therapeutic to put it all in words.

My Coming Out Story

Up until a few months ago, I had only told a few people my coming out story. I now understand how important it is to share our experiences. Anyone reading these will realize they aren’t alone.

I’ve always been smaller than others my age. Add red hair, freckles and glasses, I was a bully’s favorite target.

My bullying was extreme, often physical and much more than unkind teasing or simply being stuffed in a locker.

My home life was equally troubled. My father was abusive to my mother and us kids. There was no support system for me at such a young age. Seeking help from adults always made retaliation even worse.

Early on, I sensed I was different. Clearly my classmates did as well. And so it continued.

My freshman year of high school, some football players grabbed me, took me into a bathroom and beat me to the point an ambulance was needed.

Their excuse was “he’s a faggot.”

My family home was on a hill, in front of our High School. (See attached photographs). The weekend after I was hospitalized, someone burned the word “FAG” into the grass on the back of the hill behind our house - facing directly into the front of the high school.

The humiliation I endured from the entire community, seeing that word burnt onto our property every day, was worse than the broken bones, stitches and bruises.

And so I was outed.

My father never spoke to me again, which wasn’t a big deal, given how physically abusive he was.

Sadly my mother is one of the worst bigots I know. MAGA-style bigotry. To this day, she does not understand why it is racist to have a "plantation" motif in her kitchen, complete with "lawn jockey" and Aunt Jemima style figurines everywhere.
She thinks "religion can fix the sin of homosexuality."

I frequently considered running away over the years. But I had three younger siblings who relied on me, especially when our father went into a rage.

I left that town after graduation, joined the Navy and rarely go back.

My support and love now come from friends and found family met along the way in the years since. And my life is all the better for it.

Deep breath... I missed the #ComingOutStories yesterday but "enjoyed" reading them this evening (some of it was hard to read and I will never entirely understand the world we live in). Some of it feels familiar.

I turned 51 last year and I'm just beginning to come to terms with a lot about myself. I wrote a longish blog post about a week ago that was the culmination of realizing that I probably fall on the #Asexual spectrum.

https://prezactly.com/understanding-who-i-am-asexual-spectrum/

For those curious, there's a lot more that I unpack with more space to think/write, including an unhealthy dose of #InternalizedHomophobia that certainly didn't help anything.

I've slowly started sharing, starting with old friends, many who I'm only connected to online these days. The one thing about "waiting" this long is there's no close family left to worry might reject me.

#PanRomantic #BiRomantic #lgbtqia #LGBTQ #Ace #Asexuality

NPR is the only major journalism org to have shown a spine in dealing with Musk. So he's threatened to give the NPR username to someone else.

Yet even now -- despite Musk's growing contempt for and acts against journalism -- most media organizations and their employees STILL pour their work and some of their advertising money in to his rancid site.

What will it take for journalists to wake the hell up?

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/02/1173422311/elon-musk-npr-twitter-reassign

@StillIRise1963
I can't even imagine the shit you must go through on a daily basis, just because of your skin color.
As a Canadian, I am alarmed at the level of violence and hatred existing in America, and I won't be spending my tourist dollars anywhere in America for the forseeable future.

America has not earned my tourist dollars. I have no reason to risk my safety in an unsafe society.

@chai @actuallyautistic

I did some inner child work with a previous therapist, and it didn't work for me very well at all. Every time I was supposed to connect with my inner child I felt like it was a really remote, abstract concept. I was frustrated by the way I was asked to talk about my feelings during the exercise, and soothing the child did nothing for the me of today.

That being said, that particular therapist had some very NT expectations around how my feelings should work, so that of course affected all the work we did together. But I suspect it's just not the right method for me. I am so glad you're finding it helpful, though! 🙂

"I'm always listening and watching; my ear is like a boom mike. And judging, frankly. Constantly judging."
- Kathy Griffin

Hi! 👋🏻 Thanks for following! I'm a freelance software dev, building WordPress sites, iOS apps, and a little game dev.

In May, I'm doing site redesigns, spending time outdoors, and promoting tech people on Mastodon who are doing interesting things. What is your plan for the month?

Oftentimes trans folks are challenged to defend how we really know what our gender is and we’re held to a high standard of having deconstructed gender and in having an ability to articulate and defend it. So here’s a thought experiment for cis folks:

How do you know that you’re really the gender you say you are? Can you articulate why you are your assigned gender at birth? At what age did you know? How long did you have to spend identifying as your gender before you were sure it was right?

I found this and want to share.

I’ve watched the session in question several times and missed what Zephyr did that was worthy of being banned. But then again, I would be shocked if I read/heard actual solutions coming from any Republicans to any issues that concern most Americans.

Given the last few years or even weeks, what she said seems incredibly tame. Let’s just say something else is going on.

Montana judge denies Zooey Zephyr's request to return to House floor-
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/montana-judge-denies-zooey-zephyrs-request-return-house-floor-rcna82574

Beam me up, Scotty
#DogsOfMastodon
#dogsofmastodon
#StarTrek

@StillIRise1963 Two blocks west and two blocks south of my mom’s condo in Midtown Atlanta…my niece’s preschool is in lockdown.

This stuff is literally getting closer and closer to home: mom just happens to be out of town today.

I like these kinds of notifications... 😍Proud that the (ex) Galactic President himself has liked my post! 🤩
@garthderby

I had a follower on Twitter with about 100 followers who once replied to news of a celebrity losing a pet with the hashtag and "I cried a bit".
That cunt Ben Shapiro picked this out of the trending hashtags pile and dunked on him for his "lib tears". In the first hour he got 13 000 notifications. All from Shapiro's dogpile shitbros - and, by fuck, they are a cruel and vicious species.
He locked his account and then deleted it. Later, I heard he'd tried suicide.
I took this up with Trust & Safety. Suggested they should rein in people like Shapiro, by locking their accounts to get deletions, or put them on a warning list to be suspended if they didn't stop this type of behaviour.
You wouldn't believe the utter bullshit I heard in reply. The gist of it was: "Fuck the victim. Everyone here is nasty. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. And it's ridiculous to let 13k trolls an hour make you consider suicide. Other people - including TWITTER EMPLOYEES - get much worse."
All for an innocuous comment about a celeb's dog.
These are the people being quoted saying they hope BlueSky succeeds. Listen to them.