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Mary Griggs

~ The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

Mary Griggs

Monthly Archives: July 2016

Let’s Get To Work

30 Saturday Jul 2016

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Elections, Mary Griggs, Politics, Voting

I wish I could say I’m surprised at the number of people who have a hate on for Hillary Clinton but, after an an almost thirty year, very well-funded campaign against her, I can’t. While the crowd’s heckling during the Republican National Convention was (unfortunately) what passes as partisan politics these days, Chris Christie’s mock witch trial was pretty low even for the new normal.

I admit I do find it surprising when the same sort of vitriol is repeated by those on the progressive side of the political spectrum. Especially by folks like Jill Stein, who has actually argued Trump and Clinton would be equally harmful to the causes she as a Green holds dear.

cartoon cave after electionFrankly, I just can’t understand those who claim there is no difference between the two presidential candidates; who assert that choosing between them is like deciding between cholera and gonorrhea.

There are miles and miles of differences between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Those who say otherwise are exhibiting a very selfish kind of privilege, the kind which lets them overlook mountains of evidence to the contrary because they think they would be safe from the negative repercussions of their support for Trump or a third party candidate.

Those of us lined up in the cross hairs, know we are targets. We know there are lives on the line this election.

  • We’ve heard his rhetoric against undocumented workers, refugees and asylum seekers. He has been plain as day with his talk of walls and banning Muslims even traveling to the United States. In contrast, Hillary speaks of a path to full and equal citizenship and how American has always built our economy with the efforts of immigrants.
  • The LGBTQ community has every reason to be concerned about how fairly we will be treated if Trump becomes president. Besides running on his party’s tremendously anti-LGBTQ platform, Trump has vowed to appoint judges to overturn marriage equality and has expressed support for the so-called First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) which would lead to more discrimination. Clinton vows to fight for full equality (including transgender equality) both here and abroad.
  • And it is of vital importance for the health of the nation and the lives of our African American brothers and sisters that we confront racial injustice and enact police reform. Can you even envision addressing systemic racism in a world where Trump is president? After Trump has encouraged his supporters to attack protestors of color and after he said Black Lives Matter activists instigated the recent killings of police officers? Clinton has had missteps but she has started a dialogue and stated she would seek to overhaul of drug sentencing laws, prohibit racial profiling, end private prisons and detention centers and “ban the box.”
  • Just think about those of the most vulnerable among us like those with impairments or disabilities – how many vital social programs will he work to cut? Remember, Trump openly mocked the differently abled while Clinton fights for expanding Medicare, protecting Social Security and disability rights.
  • Equal pay and reproductive justice are two of the many issues facing women and families in the upcoming election. While Trump may be wishy washy on abortion access, his running mate is clearly not. Hillary Clinton has been an advocate for women and families her entire career and makes such issues a cornerstone of her campaign.
  • Even the Pentagon recognizes that environmental issues impact national security. Trump, on the other hand, calls global warming a “hoax” and claims climate science is “bullshit,” while Clinton has a ten year plan to address climate change and advance clean energy.

I could go on but I’d rather have you seriously consider that even if you are personally protected from the consequences of a Trump presidency if you would be willing to risk the actual lives of your fellow Americans?

Hillary Clinton might not be the candidate you want, but she’s the most qualified candidate we have and is definitely the most prepared to work for best for the country.

As Senator Bernie Sanders said:

Hillary Clinton will nominate justices to the Supreme Court who are prepared to overturn Citizens United. Her Supreme Court appointments will also defend a woman’s right to choose, workers’ rights, the rights of the LGBT community, the needs of minorities and immigrants and the government’s ability to protect the environment.

If you don’t believe this election is important, if you think you can sit it out, take a moment to think about the Supreme Court justices that Donald Trump would nominate and what that would mean to civil liberties, equal rights and the future of our country.

Exactly.

Hillary Clinton has put forth achievable policy prescriptions for a lot of issues I care about. Check here for her statement of positions. Despite the accusations to the contrary, she has one of the most progressive voting records in her time in the Senate, putting her to the left of Obama and 93% in line with Sanders. As she said during one of the debates, “I’m a progressive, but I’m a progressive that likes to get things done.”

And we can get it done if we get out the vote.

As First Lady Michelle Obama said in her speech at the DNC:

In this election, we cannot sit back and hope that everything works out for the best, we cannot afford to be tired or frustrated or cynical. Hear me: Between now and November, we need to do what we did eight years ago and four years ago. We need to knock on every door, we need to get out every vote, we need to pour every last ounce of passion into electing Hillary Clinton as president of the United States of America. Let’s get to work.

Agreed. Let’s get to work because Election Day is Tuesday, November 8th – just 100 days away!

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RNC to the World: “We are the Mendacious, My Friends”

19 Tuesday Jul 2016

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Elections, Politics, Voting

cnsbuxgwgaagzovThe first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland was a doozy. There was plenty of fodder for a myriad of blog posts, especially when they blasted “We are the Champions” by Queen as Donald Trump brought his plagiarizing wife to the stage.

On Monday, the Republican party adopted a platform which has been called one of the most extreme and anti-LGBT in recent history. It includes planks against marriage equality (three separate statements) and bathroom access and planks supporting businesses that seek to discriminate against LGBT customers and conversion therapy for LGBT kids. Later on the same day, they played an anthem that was written and performed by the proudly out musician Freddy Mercury, who died in 1991 of bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.

What did we learn from this?

That the GOP will capitalize on the creations and efforts of LGBT people while they unequivocally stand against recognizing the humanity of their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender brothers and sisters. To that end, they’ll wrap themselves in religion to justify ignoring the parts of the Constitution they disagree with and while supporting a candidate who makes a mockery of the Christian values they espouse. This same candidate who chose as his running mate a man whose signing of an extreme anti-LGBT law seriously damaged Indiana’s reputation and economy (in the aftermath, the state lost 12 large conventions and one study estimated that the total economic cost of Pence’s RFRA has been $250 million).

In this election, being a lesbian is going to make voting quite easy. There is a party actively trying to strip from me my dignity as a human being and there is another that isn’t. Even if I could have agreed with other parts of their platform, how can I possibly vote against my own status as an American citizen deserving of equal rights and equal protection under the law?

For most Republicans, I realize that it doesn’t matter what LGBT people think of the platform, their presumptive nominee or his running mate. They know we’re not going to vote for Trump anyway.

But anyone who understands how elections are won, knows it does matter what moderate Republicans and Independents think. For many of them, using religion as a pretext for discrimination is a bridge too far.

Just look at the response over the extremist RFRA’s (Georgia, Indiana, Arizona, Louisiana, etc) that were specifically designed to protect businesses which discriminate. Or the negative reaction against North Carolina’s HB2 or the backlash to Mississippi’s HB 1523. Residents and tourists alike realize being unwelcoming is a bad idea (check out Forum for Equality’s Louisiana’s Equality Means Business page for plenty of reasons why diversity and equality is good for businesses).

This election, you need look no further than the platforms of the parties (Democrat vs Republican) when making your decision. I urge you to read them. And I urge you to vote in November.

It is about more than just the presidency. There are a number of down ballot candidates who are seeking to win on a platform of “Take America Backward Again.” (ht to HRC)

We can’t let them.


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GCLS 12th Annual Goldie Awards

09 Saturday Jul 2016

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GCLS

It was a lovely evening in Washington, DC for the Golden Crown Literary Society 12th Annual Awards Ceremony. Here are this year’s winners:

Debut Author
Threads of the Heart – Jeannie Levig, Bold Strokes Books
The Diplomat – Sophia French, Bella Books
The Revelation of Beatrice Darby – Jean Copeland, Bold Strokes Books

Creative Non-Fiction
Girl Sex 101 – Allison Moon, Lunatic Ink
The Ghosts Who Travel with Me: A Literary Pilgrimage Through Brautigan’s America – Allison Green, Ooligan Press

Romantic Suspense/Intrigue/Adventure
One Last Thing – Kim Baldwin & Xenia Alexiou, Bold Strokes Books
T-Minus Two – KG MacGregor, Bella Books
Reasonable Doubt – Carsen Taite, Bold Strokes Books

Poetry
I Carry My Mother – Lesléa Newman, Headmistress Press
Furs Not Mine – Andrea Cohen, Four Way Books

Mystery/Thriller
Tarnished Gold – Ann Aptaker, Bold Strokes Books
The Red Files – Lee Winter, Ylva Publishing
Cold to the Touch – Cari Hunter, Bold Strokes Books

Young Adult
Missing Mary – Cricket Watson, Sapphire Books Publisher
The Coming of the Mojo – Barbara Treat Williams, Spinsters Ink
Finding Home – Shelia Powell and Liz McMullen, Sapphire Books Publisher

Anthology/Collections (Creative Non-Fiction)
Untangling the Knot: Queer Voices on Marriage, Relationships & Identity – Carter Sickels (ed), Ooligan Press

Paranormal/Horror
The Deadening: Book 3 of the Sisters of Spirits Triology – Yvonne Heidt, Bold Strokes Books
Good Enough to Eat – Alison Grey & Jae, Ylva Publishing
Twisted whispers – Sheri Lewis Wohl, Bold Strokes Books

Erotica
Don’t be Shy- Astrid Ohletz and Jae (eds), Ylva Publishing
The Muse – Meghan O’Brien, Bold Strokes Books
Summer Passion – MJ Williamsz, Bold Strokes Books

Dramatic General Fiction
A Small Country About to Vanish – Victoria Avilan, Shaggy Dog Stories
Wishbone – Elaine Burnes, Bedazzled Ink Publishing
Heyday – Marnie Woodrow, Tightrope Books

Anthology/Collections (Fiction)
Through the Hourglass: Lesbian Historical Romance – Sacchi Green and Patty G Henderson, The Liz McMullen Show Publications
Snake Memories and Other Stories – Diana Rivers, Hadra Books
Lesbians on the Loose: Crime Writers on the Lam – Lori Lake and Jessie Chandler (eds)

Historical Fiction
Golddigger – Hilary McCollum, Bella Books
The Witch of Stalingrad – Justine Saracen, Bold Strokes Books
In the Company of Women – Kate Christie, Bella Books

Traditional Contemporary Romance
The Right Time – Susan X Meager, Brisk Press
Locked Inside – Annette Mori, Affinity Ebook Press
Making a Comeback – Julie Blair, Bold Strokes Books

Science Fiction/Fantasy
Without a Front: The Warrior’s Challenge – Fletcher DeLancy, Ylva Publishing
Dragon War Horse – D. Jackson Leigh, Bold Strokes Books
Lady Dragon – D. Jordan Redhawk, Bella Books

Tee Corinne Award for Outstanding Cover Design
Cast Me Gently – artist Glendon Haddix, Ylva Publishing
All We Lack – artist Ann McMan, Treehouse Studio

Ann Bannon Popular Choice
All We Lack – Sandra Moran, Bedazzled Ink Publishing

Director’s Award – Mary Hettel

Lee Lynch Classic Award
Presented to Curious Wine by Katherine V. Forrest

Marie Castle, Katherine V Forrest and I

Marie Castle, Katherine V Forrest and I

Trailblazer Award
Presented to Jewelle Gomez

Congratulations to all the finalists and winners! If you want to know more about the Golden Crown Literary Society or next year’s annual conference in Chicago, click HERE.

We also celebrated the lives of those from the lesbian literary community who have passed since our last conference:

Lost Sisters
Nikki Rashan
Sheila Connolly
Denise Marshall
Honey Lee Cottrell
Nene Adams
Sandra Moran
Inez Rieder
Jeanne Cordova
Jen Wright

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