Shame

Back in January, we decided to stop providing the local Southern Nevada "newspaper" the attention it clearly does not deserve. When was the last time the "newspaper" had a good reputation for actually reporting the news? So why treat it as such?

We've been doing our part here to actually pay attention to the real news. Yet yesterday, the "newspaper" published an editorial so heinous and disgusting that we can't let it get away with this. And fortunately for us, Sin City Siren managed to catch the racism and sexism on display yesterday.

I’m also irritated that in both of these op-eds, Sherm gives what he thinks is a clever indictment on Assemblywoman Lucy Flores’ testimony about having an abortion. He wonders allowed at whether or not Sen. Ruben Kihuen’s characterization of Flores’ testimony as courageous is actually courageous. You know why Lucy is courageous? She didn’t retract the truth about her life after she faced threats of violence just for sharing it. That is the culture we live in. You don’t like abortion —then you can just threaten and bully a person into silence. But I guess you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you Sherm?

And, Sherm, for all your back-handed compliments to teen moms, do you support any programs or services that actually help teen mothers, who face a higher rate of poverty and less opportunities in the work force due to a higher rate of dropping out of school? (Only about 50 percent of teen mothers graduate from high, according to the CDC.) Where is your support for those brave teen moms, Sherm? Where’s your op-ed extolling their courageous decision to have their babies? And furthermore, where’s your reality check that growing up the child of teen mom isn’t all its cracked up to be? I should know. But I guess there’s no room in your world-view for the reality that, yes, white teens have babies, too. [...]

And by the way, comprehensive sex education has been proven more effective than abstinence-only programs and is endorsed by a large number of agencies that work to better the lives of children including the American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association, the Society for Adolescent Medicine and the American College Health Association.

So the "newspaper" struck (out) yet again. Is anyone truly surprised? Here's the short response to this latest "newspaper" turdblossom.



And here's the longer answer: Clearly, the "newspaper" publisher/former editor doesn't know what's in AB 230, why comprehensive sex education matters, and who's ultimately hurt by the status quo (hint: everyone). And on top of that, he decided to engage in the time (dis)honored tradition of "slut-shaming". He must have learned nothing from Rush Limbaugh's EPIC FAIL in this department.



It's a shame that we've become accustomed to seeing this kind of garbage in the state's largest "newspaper". It's a shame that Nevada women continue to suffer this kind of degradation. And it's truly a shame that many in the media implicitly and/or explicitly condone what should be shameful behavior.

Oh, and it's not as if "slut-shaming" works in reducing teen pregancies and/or preventing the spread of sexually transmitted infections. If anything, the opposite may actually be true. Threatening young women won't stop the above from happening. Knowledge, on the other hand, will. After all, knowledge is power.

So we should know better. And the powers that be at the "newspaper" should have known better. What a shame.

Another, Um, "Advancement" for Women's & LGBTQ Equality in Nevada: Brothels Can Now Hire Guys, Too!

Figures. Only in Nevada can we see this!

Men may now join the ranks of Nevada’s brothel prostitutes, after a unanimous decision today that added language to health codes so male sex workers could be tested for infectious diseases. [...]

Men were previously barred in Nevada from the oldest profession because codes specified that prostitutes must undergo “cervical” testing for sexually transmitted diseases, which ruled out men.

Bobbi Davis, owner of the Shady Lady Ranch, a small brothel near Beatty, wanted to add male prostitutes to her stable of sex workers.

And while there have been plans for brothels to hire men in the past, Davis made the first-ever request to have the Nevada State Board of Health add urethral exams to the guidelines. That allows male sex workers to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

Davis has said the men could start working at her five-bed brothel starting in the New Year. The male prostitutes will decide for themselves whether to accept male or female clients, she said, just as the female prostitutes do now.

Ironically George Flint, the former Assemblies of God minister who's now the chief lobbyist for the Nevada Brothel Owners Association, is kicking and screaming about it. He had threatened to derail this whole health code change to allow for male sex workers in the brothels, mainly because he didn't want his industry associated with "TEH GAYZ!!!!" But ultimately, Flint stood down and the Nevada State Board of Health unanimously approved the rule changes... Even though he was still whining about how this will somehow be a "Pearl Harbor" for Nevada's legal sex industry.

You know what I think about that?

Give me a break!

Nevada's sex industry is already looked upon with horror by all the other 49 states and DC. That's why we're still the only state with any kind of legal prostitution. So why should any one freak out over allowing the brothels to extend their "services" to both gay men and straight women? If we are to allow legal "sex for cash", why not open this to everyone regardless of gender/gender identity and sexual orientation?

By the way, "teh gay" has already been a part of Nevada brothels ever since the ladies started offering their "services" to other ladies several years ago.

Anyway, this day marks another step forward for LGBTQ equality in Nevada... Even if many in our community would rather not talk about it. The days of openly hostile misogyny and homophobia in our state's brothels are finally over, and the Shady Lady Ranch in Beatty and ACLU of Nevada are to be thanked for helping make this happen.

Honestly, it wasn't until very recently (basically, when I moved here) that I opened my mind and questioned my knee-jerk opposition to legal prostitution. As long as no one is hurt, no one is forced against one's will, and the health & well-being of both the customers and the workers is looked after, why not let it be? And fortunately starting in the new year, we'll see less discrimination in the brothels.

I can toast to that... Even if I'm not planning to be a "customer" at the brothels any time soon. ;-)

Wherein The Washington Post Jumps the Shark

Seriously, have you seen this? How is this funny?



OK, so my favorite HOTlanta housewives are always funny! However, Dana Milbank & Chris Cilizza are not. I don't even want to embed the YouTube video here, as it's a racist, sexist, and all around disgusting. Come on, it makes VH1 & Bravo look classy! But if you must click, downrate while you're watching it to let The Washington Post know that misogyny is never "cool".