A Sweet & Tender Hooligan

Last week in Ireland, Senator Fintan Warfield proposed a bill that would ban the harmful, ineffective practice of conversion therapy nationwide. Only three nations have completely banned the practice: Brazil, Ecuador and Malta. 

Warfield’s bill would ban conversion therapy for youth and adults and also explicitly includes therapy attempting to change gender identity. It calls conversion therapy a “deceptive and harmful act or practice against a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity and, or gender expression.”

Such therapies could have a “negative impact on people’s mental health, as they can lead to lower self-esteem, depression and suicidal ideation,” Evelyne Paradis, ILGA’s executive director in Europe, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“Legislation sends out a powerful message that stigma masquerading as ‘therapy’ will not be tolerated by modern societies … and we encourage Irish parliamentarians to quickly pick up this really important issue,” she said by email.

Under the bill, individuals found guilty of performing conversion therapy on another person could be fined up to 10,000 euros ($12,351) and face up to a year in prison.

Becky’s FAQ 

Q: What is LOVE, SIMON?

A: It’s a major motion picture based on the book SIMON VS THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA. The film is directed by Greg Berlanti, and is produced by Temple Hill Entertainment, New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc., and Fox2000. It will release in the USA on March 16th, 2018. 

Q: What is SIMON VS THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA?

A: It’s a young adult novel written by Becky Albertalli (me!), published in the US in 2015 by HarperCollins, and available in over 20 languages. It’s about a gay teen boy named Simon Spier, and his experiences navigating high school, coming out, and falling in love with his anonymous email penpal. 

Q: What actors star in LOVE, SIMON?

A: Nick Robinson (Simon Spier), Keiynan Lonsdale (Bram Greenfeld), Alexandra Shipp (Abby Suso), Logan Miller (Martin Addison), Katherine Langford (Leah Burke), Jorge Lendeborg Jr.  (Nick Eisner), Jennifer Garner (Emily Spier/Simon’s mom), Josh Duhamel (Jack Spier/Simon’s dad), Talitha Bateman (Nora Spier), Natasha Rothwell (Ms. Albright), Tony Hale (Mr. Worth), Miles Heizer (Cal Price), Mackenzie Lintz (Taylor Metternich), Drew Starkey (Garrett Laughlin), Bryson Pitts (10-year-old Simon), and more! 

Q: When will the film release in the USA?

A: March 16, 2018

Q: How do I know if/when the film will release in my country? 

A: I don’t have information about international releases, but it might be helpful to keep an eye on this page of IMDB. 

Q: The summary on IMDB describes the film as: “A young gay teen takes a novel approach to coming out to his classmates.” Does this description (which seems different from the book) accurately reflect the film? 

A: This description on IMDB does not accurately reflect the content of the film. The plot of the film is the same as the plot of the book. 

Q: Is LOVE, SIMON a faithful adaptation of SIMON VS THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA? 

A: It really is. I had the opportunity to see an early version of the film, and it blew me away. It’s not a scene-by-scene adaptation of the book (nor would we want it to be), but it’s very similar, and it perfectly captures the heart of Simon’s story. I’m completely in love with this adaptation, and I know my readers will be thrilled with it. 

Q: Will the movie include <insert specific scene or line from the book>? 

A: When watching the film, try to let go of the expectation that this will be a scene-by-scene adaptation. Movies and novels are very different forms of media, so you may find that specific details are changed in the adaptation. Angie Thomas (THE HATE U GIVE) brilliantly refers to her movie adaptation as the fraternal twin of her book, and I think that’s the perfect way to look at it. Big picture: I consider LOVE, SIMON to be a very faithful adaptation of my book. 

Q: Why did you change the title? 

A: The title, like most aspects of the film, is chosen by the studio and production team, not the author. The studio spent months researching the best possible title for this film, and they landed on LOVE, SIMON for many reasons. It captures the heart of the story, it’s easy to say and remember, it has mainstream appeal, and early test audiences responded really well to it. Basically, the studio is REALLY excited about this film, and they want to give it the best chance they can to reach a broad audience. Personally, I’m thrilled with this new title. My book title will remain the same, but this one suits the movie so well.

TL;DR: I didn’t pick it (the studio did), but I’m happy with it! 

Q: What are some of the differences between the book and the film that I should prepare for? 

A: Alice (Simon’s older sister) isn’t present in the film; Simon wears glasses only in the flashbacks; Bieber is a little pupper instead of a Golden Retriever; a few characters who are white in the book are played by POC actors (this is a really wonderful improvement, IMO); there are a handful of original characters (and you’ll LOVE them). 

Q: When should I expect the trailer/movie poster/soundtrack/movie stills to release?

A: I don’t have that information, nor would I be allowed to leak it if I did. Sorry! 

Q: Will there be a movie tie-in edition of SIMON VS THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA? 

A: Yup! It releases January 30th, 2018, and you can preorder it here.

Q: How am I going to make the time pass until March, 2018?

A: Here are some ideas!

-Read my other published book, THE UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED. It’s set in the same universe as SIMON, and it stars Abby Suso’s cousin from Maryland. A few Simon characters make cameos!

-Preorder my next book, LEAH ON THE OFFBEAT. It’s a sequel from Leah’s point-of-view, and it follows Leah, Simon, and the gang as they grapple with senior year, messy crushes, and impending goodbyes. It releases on April 24, 2018.

-Keep an eye on my social media accounts - I post updates when I can! I’m @beckyalbertalli on Twitter and Instagram. 

-Preorder the SHORES SIMON VS/UPSIDE fanzine! This zine was created by and for Simon and Upside readers, and it features 56 pages of original fanfiction and fanart. The cost of the zine goes toward production costs, and all profits will be donated to GLSEN and The Hispanic Federation. Check out their Tumblr page here for some amazing sneak previews, and follow the organizers (Dee and Mariana) on Twitter!

-Head over to Ao3 for some absolutely incredible SIMON VS THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA fanfiction. 

-Follow @lovesimonfilm on Twitter, @homosapiensagenda on Instagram, and Creeksecrets on Tumblr - they’re all run by readers, and they do an awesome job staying on top of updates.

Apparently I’m going to spend every morning from now on introducing you to the newest member of the Cabinet From Hell. Sorry. 

Tom Price was confirmed early this morning as Secretary of Health and Human Services. That means he’ll be the one in charge of one of Trump’s top political priorities: dismantling the Affordable Care Act. Oh, and he’s also vehemently anti-LGBT, but I’m sure you could have guessed that. Highlights:

He co-sponsored a constitutional amendment to ban marriage equality

He voted against a bill to ban hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity

He voted against a bill to protect LGBT people from workplace discrimination 

He called Obama’s guidelines supporting transgender students using gender-affirming bathrooms “absurd”

He supported the re-hiring of an Atlanta fire chief who lost his job after “employees received copies of his self-published book, which equated homosexuality with pedophilia and bestiality”

He appeared on a conference call with a rabbi who claims Hurricane Sandy was “divine punishment” for marriage equality and seemed to empathize with (or at least entertain) that position

He opposed LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying legislation 

He has said that LGBT rights are harmful to the medical and economic world

He’s also anti-choice, because of course he is. And let’s not forget that by nature of opposing the Affordable Care Act, he’s also working to overturn the part of the law that protects LGBT people from discrimination in healthcare. Those protections include trans people no longer being legally turned away from insurance coverage for the “pre-existing condition” of being trans. 

Yeah, okay, I’m gonna do one more of these.

Because it’s an ugly sexist myth that Hillary Clinton has never gotten anything done, and Donald keeps saying it anyway, because he knows his supporters will never bother to look it up. (Also to distract from his own record of bankruptcies and lawsuits and not getting an Emmy.)

And even on the left, you get people saying “how can we trust Clinton, even if her positions sound good, how can we know if she’ll follow through?”

Gee, I dunno, maybe we can look at her forty-year track record and extrapolate from there.

(Buckle up, this one’s gonna get long.)

In fact, let’s go back farther, let’s look at Hillary Rodham the Wellesley undergrad, 1965-1969:

This kid pushed for everything from “increasing the number of black students and faculty members” to “a better system for returning library books

Seriously, Hillary did more to advance racial justice while she was in college than Trump has done in his entire life

…and one friend remembers her as the only white person who called with sympathy when MLK was shot

And then let’s talk about Hillary the law student, lawyer, and professor, with some First Lady of Arkansas thrown in:

1972: went undercover to expose secret illegal segregation in Arkansas private schools

1973: went door-to-door for the Children’s Defense Fund, looking for people whose kids weren’t getting to school, and asking why

Turns out the reason was usually “the school can’t handle my kid’s disability”

In fact, pre-1975: “U.S. public schools accommodated only 1 out of 5 children with disabilities. Until that time, many states had laws that explicitly excluded children with certain types of disabilities from attending public school.”

HRC researched and helped prepare the CDF report that was a major catalyst for the US finally making that illegal

1975: you may have heard that this was the year when Hillary was the (court-appointed) defense attorney for a rapist (who pled guilty)

but you probably haven’t heard what she did next:

She founded the first rape-crisis counseling hotline in Arkansas

And this was not a symbolic gesture

This was not something she halfassed for the sake of looking good

Hillary made herself a nationally-renowned expert in the field

Listen: “In 1975, I helped start the first rape crisis center in Atlanta. I was trying to navigate the legal issues related to child assault victims, but the law was so new, I was lost, so I asked for help. Everywhere I called, the experts would say, ‘Do you know Hillary Rodham? She’s who you need to talk to.‘”

1977: co-founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, a nonprofit that’s still going strong

And worked for the Legal Services Corporation – a government service that makes sure low-income people can get attorneys – under Jimmy Carter

Note that conservatives hate the LSC, in part because it was openly serving gay clients in the ‘70s

Seriously, open this Heritage Foundation screed and skip to the bit about “homosexual activists”

(or just read the whole thing, it’s great)

With HRC’s chairmanship, that agency tripled its budget

1979: chair of a committee that expanded healthcare access into rural Arkansas! and helped establish the state’s first neonatal nursery! and a program to help parents of preschool-age at-risk children!

Let’s talk about First Lady Clinton, 1993-2001:

1994: (movie trailer voice) In A World where gay sex was literally illegal … where gay people were thrown out of the military, to laughter and applause on the Senate floor … One Political Couple had a politically radioactive idea: what if we stopped doing that?

1995: Hillary fought for mental health care for Gulf War veterans, back when the Defense Department hadn’t even worked out that Gulf War PTSD and chemical-warfare-related health issues were a thing

1997: long before Obamacare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program

More than 8 million children got health insurance

HRC wasn’t even in Congress yet, and her efforts were pivotal in getting the law passed – and then translating it into action

Same with the Adoption and Safe Families Act, “the most significant change in federal child-protection policy in almost two decades”

Note: “it expands both adoptions and federal assistance in general to a wider population of Americans — single adults, including lesbians and gay men, even single elderly people — people usually left out of family focused agenda”

1999: Followed that up with the Foster Care Independence Act, making sure kids who have aged out of the foster care system could get things like healthcare, housing assistance, and counseling

HRC followed that by immediately getting elected Senator from New York, and then re-elected by an even wider margin, so she served from 2001-2009.

I’m just gonna focus on the 77 bills Senator Clinton sponsored or cosponsored that that became law (although she introduced more than 2000, so imagine what could’ve happened with a Democratic majority):

Of the 70 GOP senators she worked alongside, a whopping 56 of them co-sponsored at least one bill with her.

That’s 80%

That’s the “4 out of 5 dentists recommend…!” tier of approval

(and STILL you get people trying to spin that as proof that she’s not bipartisan!)

2001: Clinton was “instrumental” in getting federal aid for NYC after 9/11

Then in getting medical treatment for first responders

And it’s not just the people close to home she works for: check out the Afghan Women and Children Relief Act, to “provide urgent funds for immunisation, basic education and other assistance to vulnerable women and children, including refugees.”

You like research and care for leukemia and other blood cancers, right? So does HRC

You like research and care for breast/cervical cancer, right? And you think Native American women should be covered by the treatment options? So does HRC

2002: Requiring pharmaceutical companies to do specific research on the effects their drugs have on children, and label accordingly

Pediatricians talk about how this has led to real, substantial improvements in their ability to treat kids

2003: You like research and care for West Nile and other mosquito-borne viruses, right? So does HRC

Congress’ very first nanotech bill, authorizing R&D funds

2004: Creating a State Department envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism

Try to look this one up and most of what you’ll get is furious articles from Stormfront

2006: You like research and care for babies born prematurely, right? So does HRC – and the March of Dimes loves it

Protecting people in the armed forces from predatory insurance schemes

Improving our preparedness for public health emergencies, including funding for NHS workers, more consideration for at-risk individuals, and uniform coordination of electronic response systems across states

Look, I’m not saying there will be a zombie apocalypse

I’m just saying, HRC has taken into account the needs of children, people with disabilities, and people with limited English if there’s a zombie apocalypse

2008: You like research and care for traumatic brain injuries, right? So does HRC

You like early screening and care for congenital disorders that show up in newborns, right? So does HRC

There’s a whole package of amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act to make it apply more broadly, which, again, just go read the whole thing, it’s worth it

You like research and treatment for ALS, right? “A nationwide registry will help us learn what causes ALS, how it can be effectively diagnosed and treated, and ultimately how it can be cured. This is a tremendous victory.”

btw, this was 6 years before the Ice Bucket Challenge

Hillary Clinton: Cares About Stuff Before It Goes Viral

Mapping broadband access across the US, particularly in rural and native communities, so we can compare our progress to other countries and identify barriers for getting high-speed internet access everywhere

Hey, Tumblr, you care about keeping sexual predators from targeting children online, right? Here’s a bill with a ton of provisions going at that

2009: the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which is still having real-world effects as it lets women and minorities sue for equal paychecks

At this point she was also running for President, but in swept Barack Obama and charmed the hearts of America, so Clinton ended up serving as his Secretary of State from 2009-2013.

There’s no Big Flashy Showpiece you can point to from Secretary Clinton’s tenure. A lot of her diplomatic work was straight-up post-Bush-administration repair work and maintenance. A lot of it was, frankly, unsexy. No one writes breathless headlines about statistically-supported initiatives to distribute lifesaving low-pollution stoves.

Also, she didn’t singlehandedly bring peace to the Middle East. So, y’know, missed opportunity there.

But she was obviously doing something right, because Hillary Clinton had a 69% approval rating when she left the State Department in 2013.

A quick roundup of some things Secretary Clinton pulled off just fine:

Visited more countries than any Secretary of State in US history

Seriously, she spent the equivalent of 87 full days on airplanes

Do not talk to Clinton about stamina

2009: Policy nerd Hillary gave the State Department internal reviews and long-term planning on a level they had literally never done before

(I told you some of this was unsexy)

2010: Did you know we had a 25-year loss of military defense ties with New Zealand? Yeah, HRC fixed that

“Clinton enacted a new rule making it easier for transgender people to register their identities on their passports. […] At the time, this was the most pro-transgender action by the federal government ever, and—coming a full six years before the Pentagon announced transgender troops could serve openly—it stands as one of the most progressive things Clinton has ever done.”

2011: pledging disaster relief for Japan after the earthquake and tsunami

Oh, and the team behind the takedown of bin Laden

When surveyed a few months after that, a third of Americans believed Clinton would’ve been a better president than Obama

2012: Negotiated an unexpected ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas

and hey, you want to talk about business experience?

Clinton’s State Department helped clinch a bunch of business contracts between US companies with foreign governments

Notables: Boeing and Russia in 2009, Lockheed Martin and Japan in 2011, Space Systems/Loral and Australia in 2012

”…the State Department’s 2012 fiscal-year request includes $1.2 billion in programs specifically targeting women, $832 million of which will go toward global health initiatives. Tellingly, comparisons with past years can’t be made, since the department only started tracking women-focused dollars in 2010.“

People keep talking about how Clinton is, historically, one of the most unpopular presidential candidates. Those people usually don’t mention how, three years ago, she was the most popular politician in the United States.

And, look: no one is saying she’s only done good things. You can’t work this long in politics and expect to make only the right choices – follow only the strongest intelligence – back only the best policies. Reasonable people can find plenty to disagree with in her record. Plenty to criticize.

But when people try to claim she’s done nothing?

Or that she doesn’t have any consistent beliefs or principles – that her record doesn’t have constant themes that she’s been reliably standing for since the 1970s?

Hillary Clinton has made real, substantial progress for women’s rights.

Real, substantial progress for people with disabilities.

Real, substantial progress for the rights and protections of children.

We nominate Jeffrey Tambor for speech of the night. Give transgender people their story. 🙌

Gifs: Emmys on ABC

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Bi Week is Sept. 19-26, 2016! 

I’ll be highlighting new bi content throughout the week to celebrate this magical time, which rarely gets as much coverage or recognition as it deserves. In the meantime, though, here are a few past videos I’ve made about bisexuality: 

Why not have a little fun?