MONDAY: Equality MD to Protest Anti-Gay Band at Fillmore Silver Spring // Molotov Says "Go F*ck Your Whore Mother"

Maryland Juice writer Dan Furmansky previously reported on a controversial music act coming to The Fillmore Silver Spring this coming Monday. Indeed, news that the Mexico City rock-rap band Molotov was coming to Montgomery County prompted criticism of their famous anti-gay lyrics from LGBT activists and County Executive Ike Leggett. Below Dan Furmansky provides us on an update to the story, including a response from the band and news of an "education" protest outside the Fillmore (8656 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD at 6:30 pm on Monday, August 26, 2013):

DAN FURMANSKY: This coming Monday, a band called Molotov that specializes in anti-gay epithets will play at the Fillmore Silver Spring as part of its North American tour. The ruckus here in Montgomery County against this band was, for a hot minute, seemingly successful at modifying the band’s anti-gay ways. In response to our expressions of upset and concern locally, which included a strong letter of concern from County Executive Leggett, combined with similar protestations across the country and in Latin America, along with pressure from national LGBT media watchdog GLAAD and Molotov’s sponsor for its North American tour — Jagermeister — Molotov committed publicly to ratcheting down the homophobia in a few different ways. Sadly, their commitments were hot air — unsurprising coming from a clearly emotionally stunted group of gutter-talkers who likely wrote their lyrics in a 7th grade boys’ locker room.

PROTEST & ONLINE PETITION DETAILS: So…it appears the while the show at the Fillmore will go on, they will not be met unchecked. I received an email from Equality Maryland Board Chair Evan Glass (in both English and Espanol) that the group will be holding an educational rally this Monday. Here’s the gist:

Dear Friends,

Please join Equality Maryland, Casa Ruby and others from around the area to educate fans going to the Molotov concert at the Filmore on Monday, August 26th.

Molotov is a Latin Grammy Award winning Mexican rock band. They are on a U.S. tour right now. One of their songs, “Puto” contains the phrase “matarile al maricon,” which translates to “kill the faggot.” This phrase was recently used by a group of people who attacked Esteban Navarro in Chile and is too frequently used all around Spanish speaking communities.

We appreciate that Molotov released a statement saying, “no one should be a target of violence because they are LGBT.”  They also said they would refrain from using this hurtful phrase during their US tour. However, they should stop using this word in any country and should encourage their fans to not use it. Words matter. Words may hurt or heal. We must stand united against hatred and violence.

We will talk to fans as they enter the concert and share why words matter and encourage them to sign a petition urging Molotov to stop using this phrase at all their concerts and to encourage their fans from using it as well.  We will also have a postcard for fans that they can take and read later.  People can also go online and sign a petition at www.equalitymaryland.org/words-matter.

We will meet in front of the Filmore, 8656 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910 at 6:30 on Monday, August 26, 2013. Please feel free to bring signs. We will provide petitions and postcards.

A FEW THOUGHTS: First, major kudos go to County Executive Leggett for expressing strong concerns about the violent nature of some of this band’s lyrics. Unfortunately, Mr. Leggett’s communication with the Fillmore was met with criticism that he was “bullying” the Fillmore and “suppressing free speech.” Council Member Hans Riemer was one of those who took to social media to lay criticism at the feet of the County Executive. Mind you, Mr. Leggett has zero leverage to dictate what shows the Fillmore books, so I’m not sure how exactly he was suppressing free speech. But I, as one among many, thank Mr. Leggett for his forceful words in the name of his own free speech.

When the leader of a jurisdiction as large as Montgomery County singles out a band for bullying language and it appears in the Washington Post and beyond, that is the sort of action that leads a band like Molotov to make some tangible commitments of change, which they did. Sadly, some of those commitments were short-lived. Here’s more from the Huffington Post (excerpt below):

HUFFINGTON POST: Molotov is dropping the word “maricón.” The Mexican rock band issued a statement via Twitter Monday night saying it would drop the anti-gay slur in light of a vicious attack against Chilean teen Esteban Navarro. Assailants allegedly attacked the 19-year-old Navarro last month with a machete, knives and iron bars while yelling anti-gay insults at him. The attack resulted in the amputation of Navarro's leg. 

“As an act of solidarity with Esteban Navarro and the LGBT community, we are choosing to refrain from using the word “maricon” in our song lyrics during our upcoming U.S. tour,” Molotov's statement says. “This word was used by Esteban’s assailants in this pointless attack, and therefore, has no place in our set.” 

Molotov's statement comes amid pressure from LGBT activists to drop "Puto," one of their most popular songs, from their set-list ahead of a U.S. tour beginning Tuesday in Orlando.

Hate crime victim Esteban Navarro

GLAAD also reported that along with removing "maricón," from the "matarile al maricón" lyric, the band will introduce the song “Puto” during the tour with a message of support for LGBT people. The band will be donating some of the tour's proceeds to LGBT organizations and to help Esteban Navarro, the young victim of a recent anti-gay attack in Chile, which required Navarro's leg to be amputated. His attackers repeatedly used the word "maricón."

Promising stuff. But at the outset, activists questioned the sincerity behind standing with a Chilean hate crime victim, not in Latin America, but in the States, and only in English. The band was also unmoved by concerns about usage of the word “Puto,” which is chanted about five gazillion times in the namesake song. “Puto” is also clearly an anti-gay epithet in many countries, including Mexico.

MOLOTOV SAYS "YOU CAN GO F*CK YOUR WHORE MOTHER" - In any case, it doesn’t appear the band has followed through on making any sort of comments about not targeting gay people when they encourage their arena of largely teenage, male fans to shout “Puto” at the top of their lungs. A few concert-goers have actually managed to gather video from their tour and it hasn’t been promising.

At one concert, in the middle of the performing “Puto,” the band shouts: "Esta cancion va dedicada a todos aquellos que se quieren meter con nuestra libertad de expresion. Pueden chingar a su puta madre." The translation from local activist Gabriel Rodriguez-Rico is this: This song is for all those who want to mess with our freedom of speech. You can go f*ck your whore mother.

Charming.

Welcome to Silver Spring, Molotov! We’re all so glad that the Fillmore Silver Spring, aka the Walmart of music venues, has rolled out the red carpet for you. Molotov is a vile group. But I reserve the lion’s share of my disgust for the Fillmore Silver Spring for booking gutter acts in the name of their almighty bottom dollar.

See you Monday…

- Dan Furmansky

VIDEO: Transgender Marylanders Describe Hate Crimes & Discrimination // WAKE UP TO YOUR ROLE IN THE PROBLEM

Yesterday Maryland Juice noted that over twenty State Senators introduced a bill to prohibit discrimination against transgender individuals. To bolster the effort today, a number of transgender Maryland residents released a video describing the shameful, violent and inhumane treatment they are prone to receiving from members of our community.

But before I present their courageous statements, I wanted to pause and lament once again that we are even having a debate over this non-discrimination law. I admit that I should be excited to see that this common-sense bill may finally be signed into law, but I can't help but feel sad and angry that we are having to cyclically prove the worth of some group of humans to the rest of society. Indeed, I won't hold my breath for State Senator Norm Stone to get behind this effort, given that he represents the worst example of the kind of hateful policymaking I am talking about -- and he's a Democrat! As you are likely aware by now, Sen. Norm Stone previously voted against interracial marriage in Maryland and has since then continued voting against individual liberty and human rights. What a POS.


GET OVER YOURSELF: I get very tired of humanity's hateful impulses sometimes. Too many people seem to think they have some right to not be offended by the sight or lifestyles of other people -- even if they are not actually being affected by the people they are seemingly obsessed with. The law should not exist to give rise to personal discrimination or to protect people from the unrealized paranoia of their own views.  To be fair, the history of the United States (including today) is rife with examples where we have allowed our laws to become instruments of illogic. But over time members of the advocacy community often succeed in pointing out and correcting the injustices we as a society often create. The question I have is why the other members of society constantly force us to wage decades-long struggles in order to achieve policy results that are simply humane? Get over yourself.


LEAVE THE HOUSE MORE OFTEN: In particular, the resistance to anti-discrimination laws protecting transgender individuals makes me wish people in the United States would travel more. Every time I leave the country, I'm struck by the simple observation that ordinary people in every nation appear to want the same things we do (eg: good health, employment, security for their loved ones, etc), and they laugh, cry and fear things just as we in the U.S. do. But every once in a while when I leave the country, I am also struck by how the things that pass as "normal" in other societies can be so wildly different than at home. In particular, after a couple recent swings through Southeast Asia, I was astonished to see a decent number of transgender individuals going out about their lives and working without drama in various retail establishments. Guess what? The sky is not falling in those countries. I'm also tempted to point out that at least some of the victims of discrimination in the United States may have biological factors pushing their gender identity -- but that really seems besides the point.


FAIRNESS FOR ALL ACT OF 2013: The summary for the transgender anti-discrimination law currently moving in the Maryland Senate states the following goals:

BILL SUMMARY: Prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity with regard to public accommodations, housing, and employment and by specified licensed or regulated persons; prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity with regard to commercial leasing; altering an exception for employers relating to standards concerning dress and grooming; providing specified immunity; requiring State personnel actions to be made without regard to gender identity or sexual orientation; defining the term "gender identity"; etc.

TRANSGENDER MARYLAND RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT: A handful of brave transgender Marylanders produced the video below to explain their circumstances and support this bill:



SHOCKING REMINDERS: Lest you think the claims from these residents are exaggerated, let me provide you with some recent video exhibits to make the case.  WARNING: these videos are unpleasant:

APRIL 2011: Rosedale, Maryland Transgender Attack at McDonald's

FEBRUARY 2008: Memphis Cop Beats Up Transsexual Under Custody

AN INDIGNANT RESPONSE: The Memphis police beating led a number of people to post response videos on YouTube, and I appreciate the indignation expressed by this gentleman (Note: the video contains cursing, if that sort of thing bothers you):



One relieving aspect to these hate crimes is that communities tend to rally around the victims. Even still, the common nature of violent hate crimes against transgender residents leads me to wonder to what extent our collective (unwarranted) fears lay the groundwork for these assaults. Here's to hoping that Maryland passes the "Fairness for All Act."

This Is Why We Must Keep Fighting

Politicians, your words have real-world consequences. Below, see two reasons why we must keep fighting. How many reasons do you need? No more waiting for Superman. He's not coming. It is up to us.


Reason #1:




Reason #2 

Source: Rolling Stone, Feb. 2012

ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE: Every morning, Brittany Geldert stepped off the bus and bolted through the double doors of Fred Moore Middle School, her nerves already on high alert, bracing for the inevitable.

"Dyke."

Pretending not to hear, Brittany would walk briskly to her locker, past the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders who loitered in menacing packs.

"Whore."

Like many 13-year-olds, Brittany knew seventh grade was a living hell. But what she didn't know was that she was caught in the crossfire of a culture war being waged by local evangelicals inspired by their high-profile congressional representative Michele Bachmann, who graduated from Anoka High School and, until recently, was a member of one of the most conservative churches in the area. When Christian activists who considered gays an abomination forced a measure through the school board forbidding the discussion of homosexuality in the district's public schools, kids like Brittany were unknowingly thrust into the heart of a clash that was about to become intertwined with tragedy.

Michele Bachmann's Holy War

Brittany didn't look like most girls in blue-collar Anoka, Minnesota, a former logging town on the Rum River, a conventional place that takes pride in its annual Halloween parade – it bills itself the "Halloween Capital of the World." Brittany was a low-voiced, stocky girl who dressed in baggy jeans and her dad's Marine Corps sweatshirts. By age 13, she'd been taunted as a "cunt" and "cock muncher" long before such words had made much sense. When she told administrators about the abuse, they were strangely unresponsive, even though bullying was a subject often discussed in school-board meetings....

So maybe she was a fat dyke, Brittany thought morosely; maybe she deserved the teasing....

Like Brittany, eighth-grader Samantha Johnson was a husky tomboy too, outgoing with a big smile and a silly streak to match Brittany's own. Sam was also bullied for her look – short hair, dark clothing, lack of girly affect – but she merrily shrugged off the abuse....

Brittany admired Sam's courage, and tried to mimic her insouciance and stoicism. So Brittany was bewildered when one day in November 2009, on the school bus home, a sixth-grade boy slid in next to her and asked quaveringly, "Did you hear Sam said she's going to kill herself?"

Brittany considered the question. No way. How many times had she seen Sam roll her eyes and announce, "Ugh, I'm gonna kill myself" over some insignificant thing? "Don't worry, you'll see Sam tomorrow," Brittany reassured her friend as they got off the bus. But as she trudged toward her house, she couldn't stop turning it over in her mind. A boy in the district had already committed suicide just days into the school year – TJ Hayes, a 16-year-old at Blaine High School – so she knew such things were possible. But Sam Johnson? Brittany tried to keep the thought at bay. Finally, she confided in her mother.

"This isn't something you kid about, Brittany," her mom scolded, snatching the kitchen cordless and taking it down the hall to call the Johnsons. A minute later she returned, her face a mask of shock and terror. "Honey, I'm so sorry. We're too late," she said tonelessly as Brittany's knees buckled; 13-year-old Sam had climbed into the bathtub after school and shot herself in the mouth with her own hunting rifle. No one at school had seen her suicide coming.

No one saw the rest of them coming, either.

I can see it coming. End it now.

Read the full article at: Rolling Stone

A Shocking Case for Marriage Equality in MD // Plus, RIP Don't Ask Don't Tell

Killed by 7 teens who wanted to “go f*ck with some niggers.”

For those who are still opposed to marriage equality, I have one final plea. It comes by a way of a hate crime story from the racial justice news website ColorLines. If this doesn't help you see the light, I fear nothing will. Notably, this man was not killed because he was gay. He was killed because he was black. But as this story demonstrates, marriage equality is all about families. Here goes:

[James] Anderson was violently attacked and then run over by a group of white teens on June 26, 2011. Deryl Dedmon 19, of Brandon, Mississippi is accused of intentionally running over Anderson with his green Ford-250 and is now facing capital murder charges because of evidence that he assaulted and robbed Anderson, according to Hinds County District Attorney

The civil suit accuses the seven white teenagers of deliberately setting out in the early morning hours of June 26 to go to Jackson to “go f*ck with some niggers.”