Boston News Today - DEAR READER: 6/1/2016

DEAR READER

June is Boston Pride Month, a 30-day celebration of solidarity for and among the LGBT community. However, the theme this year is, Solidarity Through Pride, and the idea behind it, was to tie together the many identities and issues that face not only this community but all communities that are denied basic equality and
face discrimination, be it race, gender, or any other number of identities facing the same injustice. This bridge among the LGBT communities and beyond is significant as marginalization everywhere is on the rise.

The most glaring example of this right now is among the transgender community. You can’t turn on the TV or scroll through Facebook without encountering yet another proposed legislative screw being turned against transgender people. Despite the fact that transgender individuals have been pissing next to you in public restrooms since forever, the conservative lobby has convinced many Americans that we have a problem and that our children are in jeopardy. This kind of absurdity is exactly why we need solidarity now and more than ever.

Only this week has Gov. Baker finally come out in support of Bill H.4253—which would protect the rights of transgender people against discrimination—despite the idiotic opposition from MassResistance and the Massachusetts Family Institute, two pro-bigot organizations that lobbied against it. This kind of support is why Massachusetts continues to be a progressive haven against discrimination, but there’s still more work to be done. There always is.

Jeff Lawrence, DigBoston Publisher + Editor

OH, CRUEL WORLD

Dear Celebrity Selfie Takers,

Let’s take the dumbest celebrity in Greater Boston, Rob Gronkowski, for example. He’s a giant with a tiny brain who likes to party hardy. But when you ask him to wrap his meat hook around you in order to snap a pic for your Instagram profile, you suddenly become even stupider than he is, and are now just a pathetic turd suffocating in the armpit grip of a barbarian for the whole world to ogle. You won’t realize this from the reaction; since the other stuff you do is wholly unimportant, this tweet with said footballer (or whichever other inane jackass you worship) will probably get more likes than anything else you’ve ever done in your life. But don’t be fooled—the only thing sorrier than the brainless celeb whose crotch secretions you desperately hope to swallow is the schmuck standing next to them in that selfie on your Facebook page.