Meet Ssion, the gender bending electro-punk dance band from Kansas City, led by front person Cody Critcheloe. Is Cody a man or a woman? I’m not completely sure, but it’s not important - s/he can be whatever you want hir to be. And as with other current queer artists like JD Samson, Cody likes to play with people’s traditional perceptions of style and beauty - witness the trademark combo monobrow and mustache, a pretty risqué fashion move in these anti-hair-biased times

Ssion (pronounced “shun”) are a full on audio/visual/performance-troupe well known for their live shows and support slots for the likes of Gossip and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Critcheloe has been making a respectable career as a video director on the side, working with Peaches, Liars and Scream Club. Ssion formed in Kansas in 1996 and released their first material in 2003. The band released their last album Fools Gold in 2007 and with it the full length feature film Boy which compiled all their music videos and has been described as a “gay, punk rock equivalent of Forest Gump.” Ssion have taken the step of releasing their new album Bent as a free download for a limited time, and it’s definitely worth downloading. As with Tyler the Creator’s first album Bastard, it’s surprising to hear music released for free that is of this high quality.

Make no mistake though - Bent is pop music. It’s party music, it’s designed for dancing - for those moments at a friend’s house when the sun is coming up, you’ve had a ball, but you’ve got that melancholic feeling that to quit now as it’s can’t get any better. There are shades of very early Madonna here, coupled with the classic mid-80s synth driven sound of the Pet Shop Boys and Eurodisco, all refracted through early 90s NY dance pop like Deee-Lite. Bent is basically the album the Scissor Sisters should have made by now, classy dance music stripped of the chintz (and Elton bloody John references) and honed to a sharp electro-pop point. It’s pretty damn good. So my advice to you dear readers is to let a little bit of Ssion into your life - get Bent.

Ssion - “Clown”
 

 
Ssion - “Psy-Chic”
 

 
Ssion - “Luvvbazaar”
 

 
Ssion - “Credit In The Straight World” Excellent cover of

Hole

Young Marble Giants.
 

 
That “no mincing” policy might put a bit of a damper on tickets sales, m’fren…

Via World of Wonder

 
Originally posted 04/06/11.

(via BuzzFeed and with thanks to Gavon Laessig for the awesome title)

 
At the National Education Leadership Conference in 2004, Michele Bachmann, then Minnesota State Senator, gave a lecture on the effects of same-sex marriage on education. It’s as stupid you you might imagine.

There is not a whole lot of nuance in her words describing homosexuality and LGBT people, is there?

“I am not here bashing people who are homosexuals, who are lesbians, who are bisexual, who are transgendered. We need to have profound compassion for the people who are dealing with the very real issue of sexual dysfunction in their life, and sexual identity disorders. This is a very real issue. It’s not funny, it’s sad. Any of you who have members of your family that are in the lifestyle—we have a member of our family that is. This is not funny. It’s a very sad life. It’s part of Satan, I think, to say this is gay. It’s anything but gay.”

Funny, but her brand of “profound compassion” sounds just like Christianist bigotry to me. Exactly like it, in fact. Is there ANY discernable difference?

Here’s another winner. Bachmann on hate-monger Fred Phelps:

“I almost think that the gay community has hired this guy, or created this guy, to do what he does. He is their best friend.”

Noted and quoted.
 

 
Via Dump Bachmann

 
For the Bible tells me so…

(via reddit)

 
Glamorous Romy Haag is one of the most famous transsexuals in Europe and a cabaret performer of some renown. She is also well-known as a former lover and muse of David Bowie during his Berlin years (and indeed was the apparent reason for his move to the city in 1976). Her influence on his work is clearly evident in his “Boys Keep Swinging” video, where Bowie appears in triplicate as a chorus of drag queens.

Haag was born in 1951 and early in her life, the issue of gender reassignment was discussed. She developed breasts naturally. Haag left her home at the age of 13, working as a clown, then a trapeze artist with the Circus Strassburger before becoming a female impersonator in Paris. At this time, Haag began living as a woman.

In 1974, she opened what would become Germany’s most popular nightclub during the disco-era at the age of 23, “Chez Romy Haag.” Celebrity guests included Bowie and Iggy Pop, who were regulars, Bryan Ferry, Freddie Mercury and Lou Reed. Mick Jagger was another patron and had a brief affair with Haag.

Haag began her musical career in 1977. In 1983, when she was in her 30s she had a sex change and in 1999, published an autobiography with the great title, A Woman And Then Some. She’s still an honored performer and going strong at the age of 60. Follow Romy Haag on Twitter.

Below, Romy Haag discusses her relationship with David Bowie.
 

 
Romy Haag in 1978 performing her disco single “Superparadise” on the Musikladen TV show. Compare this to “Boys Keep Swinging.” He was basically just copping her act!
 

 
This is going to be the greatest presidential election cycle in American history, I just know it:

In light of Marcus Bachmann’s spike in popularity on gay and gay-friendly blogs across the U.S., internet dating megasite Gaydar.net is offering the the husband of Tea Party presidential candidate Michele Bachmann (R-MN) a complimentary lifetime membership. As a rep at Gaydar HQ explains, “Marcus Bachmann is popping up on everyone else’s gaydar, we figure he might want to be on the real Gaydar! With over six million members, we like to think Gaydar is the picture of inclusivity–from swarthy barbarians to piggy politicos–all are welcome!”

Niiiiice.

 
This is not a parody, even though it’s kind of, sort of… (not really) funny. I guess it’s laugh at it funny.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s also vile and pure evil, but this puppy is also so patently ridiculous that it’s very, very close to being a self-parody. Crank up the volume on the absurdities therein about 5%—not even—and it could be an Onion video.

But it’s not.

Note that the name to send the money to is that of loathsome bigot, Sid Roth, a Jew for Jesus-type who is the host of his own idiotic Christianist pukefest called It’s Supernatural! The book was written by his frequent guest and crony, Dr. Michael Brown.

For quite reasonable, uh, reasons, I normally strongly suspect all anti-gay Christianists of being closet cases themselves. The more they are against gay rights, I say the more likely they’re smoking “Tina” with rent boys. It seems to be a natural law or something, doesn’t it? For the record, though, I don’t feel this way about Sid Roth. I don’t think Roth is a closeted gay man at all. I just think Sid Roth is a fucking idiot.

In the end, it’s assholes like Sid Roth, his buddy Michael Brown and the likes of Bryan Fischer and Tony Perkins who are their cause’s own worst enemies. They themselves are actually hastening the day when homosexual men and women across America will have the same civil rights that the rest of us enjoy. By consistently turning out hateful, idiotic nonsense like this, they are performing the same task for today’s younger people—who will want NOTHING to do with Christianity if this is how it defines itself—as those hateful little Chick Christian comics did for my generation. I’ll say it again: It’s guys like this, who by virtue of being so repulsive and bigoted, simply turn young people off Christianity altogether.

No matter what these guys come up with, our side always wins in the end: Because they are wrong.
 

 
Bonus moronic Sid Roth clip: “Man Proves Hell is Real (Includes Live Action Hell)”
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds
The Supernatural Evil Spell of Homosexuality
 
Via On Knees for Jesus

 

 

 
These images are from photographer Hal Fischer’s helpful 1977 guide Gay Semiotics.

(via WOW Report)

 
Tea Party Nation brainiac Rich Swier (also an activist with the anti-Muslim group ACT! For America) thinks bullying is actually GOOD for gay kids.

After a Florida group, Gulf Coast Gives, announced that they were intending to raise funds to bring wrestler Hudson Taylor—a brave and outspoken heterosexual advocate for gay rights, somewhat of a rarity in the sports world—to the state, Swier sent a poorly-thought out missive to Tea Party Nation members comparing homosexuality to drug addiction and calling concerns over LGBT bullying a “sham.” Via Right Wing Watch:

Gulf Coast Gives is working to raise funds to bring homosexual activist Hudson Taylor to Sarasota, FL. According to their website:

“77% of all bullying victims are picked on due to sexual orientation, gender identity, or the perception of either. LGBT youth are up to five times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight counterparts. ALSO Out Youth is the only LGBT youth organization serving both Sarasota and Manatee Counties, providing advocacy, leadership, support, and outreach since 1992. Please support ALSO in bringing Hudson Taylor to Sarasota. Hudson, an outstanding athlete, is a committed LGBT advocate and founder of Athlete Ally.”

The problem is the entire bullying campaign is a sham created by radical gay activist Kevin Jennings. Jennings is the founder of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN). As MassResistance.org reports, “The homosexual movement in the public schools has always been based on lies and deception. But until the mid-1990s, they were still having difficulty getting into the schools. Then they found the key to their huge success—what they call ‘re-framing the issue’”.
…

This is not bullying. It is peer pressure and is healthy. There are many bad behaviors such as smoking, under age drinking and drug abuse that are behaviors that cannot be condoned. Homosexuality falls into this category. Homosexuality is simply bad behavior that youth see as such and rightly pressure their peers to stop it. In Sarasota County over 70% of all HIV/AIDS cases are due to male sex with males.

I agree with Gulf Coast Gives that “LGBT youth are up to five times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight counterparts”. Homosexuality, like drugs, harms young people if they experement [sic] with it. That is the greatest tragedy.

It would be pointless to add anything snarky to a statement this lacking in sophistication and intelligence. Rich Swier is obviously a goddamned buffoon, but I must say, I do eagerly await news of his dalliances with rent boys to come to light, don’t you?

Looks to me like yet another case of a lady who doth protest too much.As with all the most outspoken “Christianist” homophobes, with Rich Swier, probably all we have to do is wait…

Swier is such a low-life that he even posted his essay on the Gulf Coast Gives fundraising page! If you want to donate to a good cause—and annoy this flaming asshole in the process—you can visit the Gulf Coast Gives website here and contribute to the fund to bring Hudson Taylor to Sarasota.