Category: society

Target Responds…

**This is a long one today folks. If you don’t care to hear it, skip on down. **

So I finally got a response from Target today. (I ranted about Target allowing pharmacist’s to refuse filling prescriptions if it conflicted w/their “religious beliefs”.) While I still don’t quite agree w/their approach, I am heartened to know there are some limitations to this so called allowance. Here is the email I got to today in it’s entirety.

Dear Target Guest

In our ongoing effort to provide great service to our guests, Target consistently ensures that prescriptions for the emergency contraceptive Plan B are filled. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 also requires us to accommodate our team members’ sincerely held religious beliefs.

In the rare event that a pharmacist’s beliefs conflict with filling a guest’s prescription for the emergency contraceptive Plan B, our policy requires our pharmacists to take responsibility for ensuring that the guest’s prescription is filled in a timely and respectful manner, either by another Target pharmacist or a different pharmacy.

The emergency contraceptive Plan B is the only medication for which this policy applies.
Under no circumstances can the pharmacist prevent the prescription from being filled, make discourteous or judgmental remarks, or discuss his or her religious beliefs with the guest.

Target abides by all state and local laws and, in the event that other laws conflict with our policy, we follow the law.

We’re surprised and disappointed by Planned Parenthood’s negative campaign. We’ve been talking with Planned Parenthood to clarify our policy and reinforce our commitment to ensuring that our guests’ prescriptions for the emergency contraceptive Plan B are filled. Our policy is similar to that of many other retailers and follows the recommendations of the American Pharmacists Association. That’s why it’s unclear why Target is being singled out.

We’re committed to meeting the needs of our female guests and will continue to deliver upon that commitment.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Hanson
Target Executive Offices

I always like to get both sides to a story before I go off on a rampage. It is disappointing to see they do in fact allow it to happen. They try to make nicey nicey w/the part about making sure the prescription gets filled by someone. Well, it just ain’t right in my book. Supposedly, it only applies to contraceptives of a certain type but I have a sneaky suspicion in rural areas this rule takes on a whole new meaning.

I rarely get to Target (tar-zshay) anymore as we don’t have one here in SF. However, I often buy things from their website. I can’t say if that will continue knowing that they allow such despicable behavior. Even if it is only having to due w/contraceptives.

Gay & Not So Gay

In the spirit of Halloween and costumes, I ask you….how do you describe your gayness? Is it just about the fact that you like to suck cock or is it more? Do you define gayness by the clothes you wear, the places you go, the people you know, and/or how butch you act (or don’t)? Better yet, how do you define masculinity? Do you use any of the previous mentioned criteria?

I just don’t understand sometimes how we can be so blind to our shortcomings when they are so obvious. The attitude I see most often is the clothing makes the man. Doesn’t matter how fem or masculine you are as long as you dress butch it’s ok…your butch.

Here’s a clue!

I don’t care how butch you dress, if you open your mouth and Barbie rolls out spouting her newest shoe purchase you ain’t butch. And while I’m answering the clue hotline here’s another tip. Its ok! Be yourself. It doesn’t matter if you dress in a dress or leather, it’s all drag if it’s not you.

Then there’s the straight-acting group. You can suck cock at Blowbuddy’s but you can’t get your nails done in the Castro. Oh no, that would be just appear to be too gay! Whatever. Again, get over it!

A simple observation is you can enhance or create an appearance either direction. But at the end of the day, is this who you really are?

I often refer to myself as “post gay”. I forget who coined the term but I took to it immediately. Such a simple word combination sums up so much. A sort of “been there, did that” type of thing. I’m probably not explaining it well. I’m just annoyed w/current gays. Our culture seems obsessed w/”gayness” and almost always masculinity is tied into it, directly or indirectly. We internalize our homophobia and dish each other creating even more separation.

I wonder when will it end. Will we continue down the current path where androgyny is the new butch or will we just grow up a bit and be more accepting? (The latter option is looking pretty grim I’m afraid.)

Death

Boy the shit is really rolling this week. I just discovered roblog‘s ex passed away this week as well. If you don’t read roblog, his ex has been battling advanced HIV infections for some time now. It looked like he was on the mend as of late. I guess things must have taken a turn for the worse. If you can, take a moment to pass on good thoughts to rob. Nothing can take away the anguish but I believe love and the human spirit can endure the pain of death.

Death, itself, has been everpresent in my own life. I lost my mother at 7, my first love at 18, my grandmother at 26, a dear friend at 30, and most recently my father at 34. These are by no means the only losses in my life but the most significant. Even as a kid I saw death differently. I wondered why people were so sad if they really believed the dead were in a better place. When my mom died, I kept asking everyone when we could go visit her. Oh don’t get me wrong, I know if I lost Bobby or Trevan I’d be a mess. I’d bawl like a baby for awhile, you betcha. But afterwoods, I’d know they were still out there. I wouldn’t see them anymore but I’d carry the knowledge of their continued existence w/me thru my own life along w/my memories of them.

And as cheesy as it sounds, this song by Celine Dion always seems to cheer me up. So, listen if you want and take a moment to reflect on all the people you’ve lost in your life. Be thankful for what they brought you in this life and that you are blessed enough to still be here.

Mr. Bush, Your Reality Check Bounced!

Already, our leader-in-bullshit is spinning the “positive” message that things are “ok”. Not to mention, Mommie Dearest going on TV speaking out her ass w/things like “…this might be a good thing for the people of NO”. What a stupid C*NT!

If you want to know the real hard truth of whats going on in NO, check out Bent Collective’s Blog. He is an emergency worker, like myself, who is down in the thick of it. Our leader may not know the meaning of honor and compassion but it’s nice to know there are still plenty of us left that do.

Oh – I See Now.

Wired News: They Knew What to Expect

I’m not going to say “I told you so” because I didn’t. However, reading this article, working for an emergency agency, and training to be a medic, makes me feel ashamed of my country. There are not many places I’d rather live but there are times, like now, where I almost wish I did. I find small tidbits of news from friends, family, blogs, etc on a daily basis now that brings me to tears. I’m doing what I can from here but it does nothing to quell the shame. It is not my fault however, I can’t help it. After the crisis is over, there needs to be some accountability. This is not an issue of race, sex, or religion. It’s about politics and neglect of responsibility. And once again, it is the poor and indigent that suffer.

Mark my words, there will be lots of grandstanding, finger-pointing, and shoulda/coulda/woulda’s. After everything is said in done, our government will put a “patch job” on this problem until the “next one”.

If you haven’t contributed cash or can’t afford too, there are plenty of other ways to contribute. Please contact any of the agencies listed here to offer anything you can spare. Cash, clothes, furniture, vehicles, toys, bedding/linen, etc. Thousands have lost everything. You’d be surprised that a lot of your “junk” could really help someone else. I’m not asking you, I’m begging. If you were in the same situation, wouldn’t you want some help?

Red Cross
Montrose Clinic – supports Gays/Lesbians victims.
The Rainbow Fund
Louisiana Homeland Security

If I wasn’t such a hoe, I’d run for office. . .

Honey, where’s the trailer

As most are aware, New Orleans is facing a huge tragedy in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. I don’t think I need to go into the horrid details as plenty of other more worthy news outlets are doing an excellent job of that. Being originally from Lousiana, I’m angered and frustrated that part of this tragedy, including an increase in loss of life, could have been avoided.

What a lot of folks don’t know is the money New Orleans raised to reinforce and upgrade their levy system was diverted to the war effort. (Louisiana is most definitely a red state in relation to politics.) Not to mention, our National Guard is deployed for extended service w/the war effort so there are very few resources locally to draw from. Our so called leaders are too busy being on vacation to be bothered and we have the gall to refuse international assistance. Yet, we are left with a situation quickly deteriorating. On top of all that, we have a group of “holier-than-thou” fanatics claiming god did this as punishment for Southern Decandence. Stupid is as stupid does I guess.

We, as a society, consider ourselves so advanced and so civilized. Yet at the first opportunity we revert to our base animalistic selves. I’m doing what little I can to contribute to the relief effort but I’m just flat disgusted. Why do we always wait for something to bite us in the ass before we do the right thing?

Straight-Acting?

I’m going on a rant today.

Does anyone get annoyed when you see those “straight-acting” logo’s that are numbered to represent how “straight-acting” you are? I absolutely detest those things. When I encounter them online, my respect for said person drops significantly. Probably not fair on my part but I can’t help it.

I’m loathe to admit it but when the site (no, I won’t link to it) first came out years (and I do mean years) ago, I took the test. I have an excuse as I was barely out of my teens and still ignorant. Even then, I was immediately disappointed w/the questions. Questions that are completely biased. Not to mention, it perpetuates the negative backward view our society has developed of what it means to be a “masculine” man. For example, if you enjoy gardening, that drops your point scale significantly. I know some pretty hot fucking landscapers who sweat more masculinity than some of these queens who wear their logo’s like a badge of honor.

I’m not bitter, nope, uh-huh, not me. (I just think we have enough battles to fight w/o fostering internalized homophobia amongst ourselves.)

Now Here’s Using Your Head

I don’t buy music cd’s anymore. Primarily due to the greed of the industry and their strong arm approach to file sharing. I’d be a liar if I said I never ripped music. What is the difference from copying it off the radio or copying a file? Same quality, same music? Never understood that one. I also see the need for the artists’ to make a buck. What I don’t get is the flat grab for cash that the RIAA has made to prevent online sharing. Their tactics are shameful at best. Beating up your consumer base does nothing to encourage them to buy your product. Duh! To date, illegal file sharing has only made the smallest dent in the music industry’s sales. All their fake studies have fallen by the wayside.

Being a huge movie fan, I’ve been fearful the movie industry would go the same route. This article from Wired mag gives me hope that maybe, just maybe the movie industry isn’t as anxious to squash their only source of income.

“We’re going to bypass what the music industry had to come up with, and that’s to get ahead of the whole piracy thing,” Freeman told reporters at Sun Valley. (full story)

Apparently, Morgan Freeman has joined forces w/some big logos in attempt to make online movie sharing easy. Time will tell I guess but w/more forward thinking and less backward thinking, I think we’ll find a middle ground that is acceptable to all involved.

Murder Death Kill

I got mandatoried today at work. I’m doing a 12er from 11 to 11. We had a double homicide today already. Apparently, a domestic violence case gone horribly awry. The guy shoots his ex girlfriend/wife, whatever. Then later kills himself. The only good thing is that the infant wasn’t harmed. Very sad.

Maybe in his next life he’ll come back as a petite female who gets beat up constantly by her boyfriend. I wonder if Karma has a sense of humor?