#youth dissent

[youthdissent]

[ID: A light red square post with a centered, black, bold, all-caps heading at the top that reads "Take action against the Supreme Court with queer and trans youth at a protest near you!" in all caps. In the bottom left corner is a pink text bubble with black body text inside that reads "Swipe to learn about four upcoming We, the Youth, Dissent protests!". To the right are two people. One is tan with brown and blue short curly hair, and the other is pale with a blue curly mullet. They are holding a sign that says "Stand against racism" in all-caps black lettering. End ID.]

[ID: A light red square post with a black, bold, all-caps heading at the top that reads "Join us in San Diego, CA and Colombia, SC". Below this in a centered pink rounded rectangle is smaller black body text that reads "San Diego, CA Waterfront Park/City Hall, 8/5 @ 12-2PM, connorl@queeryouthassemble.org". After a space there is more black body text that reads "Columbia, SC State Capitol - North Grounds, 8/5 @ 1-2:30PM, faithc@queeryouthassemble.org". End ID.]

[ID: A light red square post with a black, bold, all-caps heading at the top that reads "Join us in Atlanta, GA and Austin, TX". Below this in a centered pink rounded rectangle is smaller black body text that reads "Atlanta, GA - State Capitol - 8/26 @ 10:00 AM - faithc@queeryouthassemble.org". After a space there is more black body text that reads "Austin, TX - State Capitol - 9/23@ 6:00 PM - faithc@queeryouthassemble.org". End ID.]

[queeryouthassemble]

[ID: Blue square, with wavy-edged sea foam green rectangle in the center-top. Small black text at the top of the box reads 'QYA's Guide to," with all-caps blue text with a black outline, below, reading "organizing a protest." At the bottom of the page are three illustrated people, with serious expressions, drawn from the waist-up. The person in the center is holding a sign that reads "stand against racism." The people are of diverse appearances and characteristics. End ID.]

[ID: Blue square, with wavy-edged sea foam green rectangle in the center-top. Inside the rectangle, all-caps blue text with a black outline reads "where do I start?" Below the box, smaller black text, oriented to the left of the page, reads "Want to get involved with Queer Youth Assemble's rapid response efforts? Looking to take action but don't know where to begin? You're in the right place! Check out our website for our full guide to "Organizing and Taking Action Against Political Injustice"- complete with our tips and tricks to planning a demonstration, contacting media, fundraising, and more! Please contact us at faithc@queeryouthassemble.org if you have any questions!" In the bottom right, an illustrated person with medium brown skin and dark curly hair smiles. They are wearing a green jacket over a pink shirt, with beige pants. End ID.]

[ID: Blue square, with wavy-edged sea foam green rectangle in the center-top. Inside the rectangle, all-caps blue text with a black outline reads "beginning checklist." Below that, text structured like a checklist reads " Get your team together, Decide on a location & consider accessibility concerns, Get necessary approvals & permits, Decide on a list of demands of your demonstration, Print 'Know Your Rights' business cards*, Look into getting legal observers if you're in a highly populated/hostile area, Create an outline of the event (that sets a flexible allotted time with plans of action in the event that you need to adapt)" At the bottom of the page, small text preceded by an asterisk reads "*These are available on our site alongside printable pages to cut and distribute at your demonstration!" End ID.]

[ID: Blue square, with wavy-edged sea foam green rectangle in the center-top. Inside the rectangle, all-caps blue text with a black outline reads "spread the word." Below that, small black text structured like a checklist reads "Create flyers & graphics (or reach out to organizations like QYA for help!), Push your event on social media platforms, Reach out to local influencers for support, Post flyers around town & with the permission of local businesses, Reach out to local government reps. & organizations for assistance" In the bottom left, an illustrated white person with blue hair and a worried expression writes a letter on a brown desk. End ID.]

[ID: Blue square, with wavy-edged sea foam green rectangle in the center-top. Inside the rectangle, all-caps blue text with a black outline reads "advice from QYA" Below that, smaller black text reads "Here's our top three tips for a successful demonstration! Don't be afraid to ask for help. It's okay to not be able to do everything on your own; don't overwork yourself or you could burnout! Expand your network & build connections- at your school, in your community, online. This will be a huge help in getting the community involved for future events. When doing outreach, stay consistent. Reach out people in waves and keep trying to connect. This can be tiring, but don't give up! An outreach team makes a huge difference." End ID.]

[immaculatasknight]

First Amendment criminalized

[zvaigzdelasas]

"We are joining millions of people across the US and around the world in demanding an end to Israel's brutal assault on Gaza and its decades-long occupation of Palestine," said Ellie Tang, an organiser with the anti-war youth organisation Dissenters.

"We urge Congress and Biden to hear the calls of millions of us living in this country and push for a ceasefire. Until Congress blocks the bombs, we will." [...]

The blockage was organised by Dissenters, St Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, Black Men Build St Louis, the Boeing Arms Genocide Campaign, and Resist St Louis. The activists are calling for two immediate actions: firstly, for Congress and Biden to demand an immediate halt to hostilities, and secondly, to halt arms sales to Israel. They are also urging communities to persistently partake in direct action aimed at Boeing and other firms benefiting from Israel's occupation. "We want Congress to know what it looks like to take brave action. And that we will not wait for their timelines to actualise demands of ceasefire," said Su Mac, an artist and organiser. "As taxpayers, we all have blood on our hands. Congress must act before they are etched into history books as complicit in a genocide the country called on them to stop. The whole world is watching."

6 Nov 23

[anexperimentallife]

The US far right has been working on their plan since AT LEAST the 1960s, when I was a kid listening to evangelicals talking about their plan to take over the US, and eventually the world. It's called "Christian Dominionism," and it's a fascist ideology which goes hand in glove with the GOP's plans.

Although it was not expressed so much to the world at large, this plan was OPENLY and FREQUENTLY discussed in far right circles. We kids, if we asked about it, were told that it was "God's Will." Ask any exvangelical about it, and they'll confirm. (Part of why I know so much about these dangerous and deluded folks is I WAS ONE OF THEM in my youth.)

And where has that plan gotten them? Well, the GOP recently released a hundreds of pages long document filled with their intentions if they win--including a nationwide abortion ban and a repeal of anti-discrimination laws, among other things.

Trump has already signaled his intent to create a military dictatorship if elected, by repealing laws against using the military against US citizens on US soil sp he can deploy them against dissenters, etc., and if the GOP pick up a few more congressional seats, he can do it. The GOP has already pushed to repeal presidential term limits, and Trump has indicated he'd like to be president for life.

So I'm amazed at all the people who think withholding their vote and letting the GOP win is going to somehow fix things and "push the Dems left."

You wanna know how to push US politics leftward? You're not gonna like it, because it takes actual work beyond stomping your foot and pouting and performatively showing everyone how "pure" you are by refusing to vote.

You have to start the same way the far right did (and again, they've been OPENLY talking about and pursuing this plan since I was a kid in the 1960s, AT LEAST)--they started by getting the most extreme right wingers they possibly could into any position they could. Positions like school board member, police chief, sherrif, city prosecuter, city council member, municipal judge, mayor, governor, hell, fucking dog catcher.

They encouraged far right extremists to become police officers and military personnel and work their way up the ranks to the point at which even the famously-racist FBI reported that major city police departments across the nation were pretty much taken over by members of white supremacist organizations.

In formerly reasonable churches, right wingers pushed for the hiring and training of more and more right wing pastors and mire right-wing theology.

More affluent right-wingers bought local papers and broadcasters, and as their political power grew, they changed laws to make it easier for a single entity to control the news--until now a mere handful of entities own nearly every major media outlet in the US.

And then they used every victory as leverage for the next one, and worked their way up. I mean, there's more, like the capitalization on economic and social anxiety and their inentional exacerbation of same so they could take advantage of it, but that's intertwined with the rest.

Essentially, they got this far because they put the work in.

If the US left is going to turn things around (and if it's not already too late), we've got to do the same, but it takes RESEARCHING and PROMOTING your local and state candidates, attending city council and school board meetings, and shit like that. It's actual fucking work to fix a country.

And then, after you've done all that--and after you've shown up to primaries to try to get any non-authoritarian leftist candidate you can nominated--then you vote for the leftest folks you're able to in the general. If there are no remotely leftist candidates, you vote for the centrist or right winger who will do the least damage.

Again, that's what the US far right has been doing for decades. Taking action. Wherever possible, taking new ground, but when they couldn't do that, ceding as little ground as possible. If they couldn't win, they made damn sure to do everything in their power to try to keep actual decent human beings from winning.

Actually doing the work doesn't have the emotional satisfaction of a grand gesture, but it definitely shows who is serious about making a difference and who would rather let everything burn than sully their imagined purity by voting for anything less than perfection.

Listen, Trump is not going to end the genocide in Gaza--in fact he increased tensions between the Israeli occupation and Palestine. And the GOP will never be persuaded. Hell, they want to let Russia take Ukraine and declare open season on asylum seekers.

The Dems suck. But the GOP is far, far worse, and will do MORE damage, and kill FAR MORE innocents. And if allowed to do so, will make it even harder to change the system than it is now. They've already PUBLICLY ADMITTED that their only chance of victory is keeping people from voting. Don't play into their hands.

Under current circumstances, you know what the Dems are going to do if Biden and a bunch of other Dems lose for not being pure enough? You think they'll be all like, "Oh, no! The left sure taught us a lesson by handing the country to the GOP! We'd better shift to the left!"

No. They're going to sip champagne in their multi-million dollar mansions and have meetings about how they need to move FURTHER RIGHT to win elections, because the left doesn't vote.

And if the US becomes a military dictatorship, most of the high ranking ones will simply take their fortunes and leave.

Yup, it'd sure teach ol' Joe a lesson to force him to spend the rest of his days sipping cocktails on the Riviera.

Look beyond the single battle and think strategically. That's how the GOP keeps gaining power. And refusing to act strategically is why the left is losing. We cannot take the hill we want right now. But if we lose the hills we've already taken, we risk losing the entire goddamn war.

So fucking vote. Work to get every leftist you can in any office you can. And if you can't do that, support the one who will do the least harm.

And if it takes voting for that shitbag Biden to keep Trump and the GOP out, hold your fucking nose and pull the goddamn lever.

[qqueenofhades]

I’m almost scared to ask. What happened with Bush v Al Gore?

If you're interested in the full and sordid details, you can read the Bush v. Gore Wikipedia page, but here are the major points:

The 2000 presidential election was the closest in American history and the outcome was not known for over a month, thanks to election administration and ballot-issues fuckery in, you guessed it, Florida!

Al Gore won the popular vote by 0.5% (48.4% to George W. Bush's 47.9%), but third-party candidate Ralph Nader ran again and got almost 3 million votes, which took those critical numbers away from Gore;

Both candidates launched extended legal battles centered around the disputed election in Florida, where Republican Secretary of State Katherine Harris had hurried to formally certify Bush as the winner before all counties could be recounted or the lawsuits completed;

The case eventually reached SCOTUS, where they had to rule on whether the Florida Supreme Court could order the results recounted in either a few select counties or statewide;

Justice Antonin Scalia urged his conservative colleagues (as SCOTUS was then a 5-4 conservative majority) to immediately order the recount stopped, which would have the effect of preserving Bush's 537-vote lead, giving him Florida's 25 electoral votes and thus the presidency;

Said conservative SCOTUS then granted the halt, 5-4, in a decision where every single liberal justice wrote separate dissents;

The recount was stopped, Bush's lead was preserved, and he won the presidency despite losing the popular vote;

Later analysis found that a full statewide recount would have almost surely revealed that Gore was the real winner of Florida and thus the presidency;

SCOTUS ordering the recount halt thus directly (and illegitimately) handed the election to Bush, as Scalia and his conservative colleagues deliberately intended to do;

Bush then mishandled 9/11, started the War on Terror, invaded Iraq, nominated Roberts and Alito to the Supreme Court, crashed the economy, let Dick Fucking Cheney run things, etc etc

Good thing a conservative SCOTUS intervening to totally fuck us over and put their thumbs on the scale to electorally benefit Republicans never happened again!

(Wow, I feel old now. So yes. This is me sitting on a rocking chair on the porch, yelling at passing youths to LEARN SOME HISTORY.)

[coolaboutlucy]

Not they tryna reenact KOSA… anyway yall, here’s why KOSA is bad!!

If you don’t already know, KOSA, or Kids Online Safety Act is a bill that was proposed to keep children safe on the internet. You might ask ‘why is this bill bad if it’s in favor of supporting the safety of children online’? Well, according to stopkosa.com, it puts pressure on platforms to add even MORE filters on anything they think is inappropriate for children. This is especially harmful for LBGTQIA+ youth because the knowledge about this topic would be censored, as well as knowledge on suicide prevention and LGBTQIA+ support groups. Do you see how this an issue? For those children who are wanting to learn more about these topics they’d be turned away because of this bill. It would also be likely that it’ll allow the shutdown of websites that allow them to learn about race, sexuality and gender.

This bill would also add more internet surveillance for all users across all social media platforms. It would expand the use of age verification and parental monitoring controls. These things in itself are already very invasive, but doesn’t take into consideration the children who live in unsafe environments where they are domestically abused and/or are trying to escape these situations. To add my two cents onto this, I strongly believe that the KOSA bill is an unnecessary violation of our first amendment rights (if you’re American), and doesn’t really make the internet any more safer. It actually makes it more unusable for youth. Hypothetically, if this bill were to be passed, then this would make social media unusable for literally anybody. To censor content from the youth about wanting to learn about their identity is extremely harmful. Blocking them from accessing resources that may prove as helpful in their scenarios is outlandish and unneeded. We try to shelter our youth so much to the point where we try to boil them down to only being with their parents want them to be and also not being able to let them learn and explore about other things that they may want to identify themselves with. This is very harmful.

This is a list of companies who are saying no to KOSA ..

• Access Now

• ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)

• Black and Pink National

• Center for Democracy & Technology

• COLAGE

• Defending Rights & Dissent

• Don’t Delete Art

• EducateUS: SIECUS In Action

• Electronic Frontier Foundation

• Equality Arizona

• Equality California

• Equality Michigan

• Equality New Mexico

• Equality Texas

• Fair Wisconsin

• Fairness Campaign

• Fight for the Future

• Free Speech Coalition

• Freedom Network USA

• Indivisible Eastside

• Indivisible Plus Washington

• Internet Society

• Kairos

• Lexington Pride Center

• LGBT Technology Partnership

• Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition

• Media Justice

• National Coalition Against Censorship

• Open Technology Institute

• OutNebraska

• PDX Privacy

• Presente.org

• Reframe Health and Justice

• Restore The Fourth

• SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change

• SWOP Behind Bars 

• TAKE

• TechFreedom

• The 6:52 Project Foundation, Inc.

• The Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center

• Transgender Education Network of Texas

• TransOhio

• University of Michigan Dearborn – Muslim Student Association 

• URGE

• WA People’s Privacy

• Woodhull Freedom Foundation

There is something you can do to stop the KOSA bill from being passed! On the website I linked, there is a petition. All you have to do is fill out the information and it’ll send off an email for you. The email reads as follows:

I’m writing to urge you to reject the Kids Online Safety Act, a misguided bill that would put vulnerable young people at risk. KOSA would fail to address the root issues related to kid’s safety online. Instead, it would endanger some of the most vulnerable people in our society while undermining human rights and children’s privacy. The bill would result in widespread internet censorship by pressuring platforms to use incredibly broad “content filters” and giving state Attorneys General the power to decide what content kids should and shouldn’t have access to online. This power could be abused in a number of ways and be politicized to censor information and resources. KOSA would also likely lead to the greater surveillance of children online by requiring platforms to gather data to verify user identity. There is a way to protect kids and all people online from egregious data abuse and harmful content targeting: passing a strong Federal data privacy law that prevents tech companies from collecting so much sensitive data about all of us in the first place, and gives individuals the ability to sue companies that misuse their data. KOSA, although well-meaning, must not move forward. Please protect privacy and stop the spread of censorship online by opposing KOSA.

The website also gives you like a format of what you can say if you chose to call your representatives. If after reading this post, you feel inclined to do something then I would say just go ahead and do it. My first time learning about KOSA was today immediately after seeing the post I felt inclined to send my lawmakers an email. Please try to help when you can and this will only take a few minutes so I think this is something that you can consider. This post is getting a little long now, so I’ll stop here. There are more resources online if you would like to learn more about the cons of this KOSA bill, thank you for reading.

[novafire-is-thinking]

Cybertronian Color Psychology

I wasn’t planning to write an essay on Cybertronians and color psychology just yet, but here I am doing just that, thanks to a recent discussion with @onewingedsparrow.

Basically, my thinking revolves around what kinds of meanings Cybertronians might have assigned to certain colors and how they differ from human color associations. We already know that colors can mean entirely different things to different human cultures (e.g. black and white can both be associated with death depending on where you come from).

My best speculative example for Cybertronians is purple. Before I continue, keep in mind that I’m ignoring the fact that purple is a common color used for villains in fiction because that’s boring and doesn’t leave much room for deeper implications.

Megatron’s Favorite Color

When looking at human color psychology, purple is often associated with things like Imagination, Mystery, Royalty, and Spirituality. Darker shades are closely tied to different emotions and traits than are lighter shades, but as a general rule, purple is more “mystical” and abstract than a color such as green, which is more grounded and earthy.

Now, I point to the trend of Megatron and his Decepticons choosing to adorn themselves and/or their spaces with purple.

I agree 100%, Megatron.

Despite Megatron’s reputation of ruthlessness and using force and power of will to make progress, he’s often also portrayed as a charismatic individual with an affinity for wielding words in beautiful ways that capture and hold a listener’s attention—a poet in his own way. Megatron may be loud and threatening, but he’s also strategically minded; words and actions carry weight and intentionality.

What does this have to do with color? Well, I like to think that Megatron chose purple as the chief color of the Decepticon cause for a reason. I’ll present two likely possibilities.

Possibility #1:

Perhaps he chose purple because on Cybertron, or at least in his region of origin, purple was/is associated with things like Vision, Change, Power, and Rebirth—things the Decepticon movement was originally meant to embody. Both he and Soundwave—his most loyal ally and companion—have been shown to bear the color purple in multiple continuities, even if only on the Decepticon insignia.

Possibility #2:

Purple could have been a color often associated with the highest castes (similar to it’s association with earth royalty). This would mean that Megatron’s choice of color was more an act of defiance, knowing that those in Cybertron’s higher castes would be livid, or at least shocked at the sight of him and his “lowly” Decepticon dissenters flaunting the color so boldly. Of course, by the end of the war, Megatron would have effectively changed Cybertron’s deeply rooted cultural perception of the color purple forever. But even if this were the case, the color would still end up associated with Vision, Change, Power, and Rebirth.

Other Possible Cybertronian Color Associations:

(and several bots who don the colors and happen to embody some or all of the characteristics—all of which are positive since I don’t have the patience to identify and list the negative ones even though they absolutely would exist)

Red: Grandeur, Swiftness of mind and/or body, Discovery, Fearlessness

Optimus (multiple continuities)

Starscream (multiple continuities)

Rodimus/Hot Rod (IDW & Cyberverse)

Drift (IDW)

Perceptor (IDW)

Windblade (IDW & RiD 2015)

Knockout (TFP)

Blue: Knowledge/Intellect, Wisdom, Sacrifice, Honor, Creativity

Optimus (multiple continuities)

Dreadwing (TFP)

Arcee (TFP)

Ultra Magnus (TFP & IDW)

Kup (IDW)

Skids (IDW)

Brainstorm (IDW)

Green: Endurance, Steadfastness, Brotherhood, Youthfulness

Bulkhead (TFP & TFA)

Skyquake (TFP)

Boulder (Rescue Bots)

Springer (IDW*)

Hoist (IDW*)

Cosmos (IDW* & Cyberverse)

Constructicons (multiple continuities)

*I haven’t read all of IDW 1 yet and have only seen these characters a handful of times, so these correlations may be off.

Of course, not all Cybertronians of a certain color fit the listed traits or would even bother to wear a color because of any cultural associations. I’m just looking at overarching patterns and generalizing.

TL;DR It’s reasonable to believe that Cybertronian color psychology differs at least somewhat from human color psychology. Also, Decepticon purple is a thing, most likely due to Megatron and his not-so-secret poetic side.

[EDIT] Still thinking about this 4+ hours later, and I JUST realized that I totally forgot about Spectralism:

I beg thy forgiveness, Drift. I promise Spectralism holds a special place in my inner archive of beautiful and intriguing ideas to ponder. My tired brain just had a memory lapse.

^ [context: Rodimus chose purple and blue as his new colors.] Yes, Megatron is a warlord with a long history of violence. No, he’s not and never has been a Spectralist. These meanings are most likely coincidental. However, it would definitely be extra interesting if Megatron were a practicing Spectralist.

Drift’s explanation above is an excellent example of color association in a religious context, separate from mainstream culture’s assigned meanings.

My knowledge of world religions and the significance each places on certain colors is limited, but those details are secondary to the main point—that color associations vary widely between earth cultures and religions and the same is certainly true for Cybertron, as Drift’s revelation implies.

I would love to see a future TF writer expand upon Spectralism in canon for a future comic or other media. Fanart would be taken to a whole new level. ✨ Colors always have had and always will have meaning, people. And I’m over here going nuts over the potential implications those diverse and multi-layered associations could have for a species with colors embedded in their very bodies.

Now I’m chuckling at myself because I’m realizing how much I sound like Drift with this entire post. Speculating about color—yeah, Drift and I would get along just fine. *wistful sigh* I think I need to sleep.

[growingstories]

The greatest king

In a distant land far away, ruled King Eustace, beloved by his people and presiding over a prosperous and safe country. The king, once a handsome and muscular man in his youth, had now grown older and his girth had expanded to become a symbol of status. With his seemingly limitless wealth, he indulged in a lavish lifestyle filled with extravagant parties sumpt, rich food, and exquisite wines in his grand castle.

Having lost his wife during childbirth, King Eustace was left with only one heir, his son Reginald. The crown prince, now a handsome young man of eighteen, had spent his formative years exploring the outskirts of the kingdom, honing his physique and training with the armies. Like his father, Reginald possessed a kind and honest heart, endearing him to both the soldiers and the common folk.

By the time Reginald reached the age of twenty-five, news reached the castle of an invasion along the borders. A letter from a loyal servant urged the prince to take action, to defend their land against the impending threat. Concern filled the hearts of all, including the king who wished for his son to remain safe within the castle walls. However, heedless of his father's worries, Reginald left for the borders to face the enemy.

Miraculously, Reginald's skills on the battlefield brought about a victorious outcome. The enemy was vanquished, and the kingdom expanded as its borders grew. In order to maintain peace and prevent further conflict, Reginald pursued unconventional methods. He ensured that the soldiers were kept content with lavish parties, decadent foods, and plentiful wine. Reunions with their families were organized, and training was gradually abandoned. The soldiers grew sluggish and lazy, their once lean and agile bodies slowly succumbing to weight gain. Many opted to leave the army behind. They got a som of money if they would never return to the army.

The defeated king of the infiltrating country approached Reginald with an offer: to marry his daughter and rule alongside her as a united force. King Eustace, mulling over the proposal, ultimately agreed to ally through marriage, unaware of the brewing discontent among certain factions within the kingdom.

Those who opposed the union sought to eliminate the threat posed by the new queen and her influence over King Eustace. Poisoned by these dissenters, the beloved king met his untimely demise. The mantle of rulership fell upon Reginald, who found himself consumed by paranoia.

Fearful of falling victim to the same fate, he appointed one of his servants as a royal tester. This young man, burdened with the responsibility of ensuring the king's meals were safe, gradually gained from weight the excessive and constant feasting. Week after week, he required new clothes to accommodate his expanding size.

Reginald himself did not escape the consequences of his sedentary lifestyle. Lacking the time for physical exercise and consumed by the demands of ruling, he too, experienced a steady increase in weight. The court, reveling in the pleasures of extravagant feasts, encouraged this newfound heftiness. Above all, the new queen found solace and delight in the presence of a corpulent king.

As the years passed, Reginald indulged himself to the point of excess. The people adored him more with each passing day, praising his greatness as he continued to grow in size. His wife, ever attentive to his needs, surrounded him with devoted servants who urged him to consume his meals.

After years of uninhibited indulgence, Reginald truly became the greatest king the land had ever known, both in stature and in the love he received from his subjects. The kingdom prospered, its people relishing in the reign of a benevolent, albeit obese, ruler.

[morallyinept]

Shoot: The Rake Magazine, October 2016, Issue 48

Photographer: Anders Overgaard

Interviewer: Tom Chamberlin

Grooming: Jessica Ortiz

Full interview, behind the scenes, outtakes & shoot photographs below. 👇🏻

Jett's Pedro's Shoots Masterlist

• Cover shot and original images used in the magazine

• Outtakes and behind the scenes images.

• Full Interview

As a stickler for timing, it was a tad disconcerting for me that half an hour into an hour-long interview, Pedro Pascal was still barely a year old. The family history of this actor is a story in itself, one that Pedro intends to write one day.

Happily, Pedro was very generous with his time, and, as with our photoshoot at The Carlyle Hotel in New York, and with every role he has played, he understands the difference between a hash-job and a job well done. Perhaps this is why Pedro will be on screen pretty much non-stop for the next year and is fast building an enviable C.V.

His roles as a protagonist span big-budget Hollywood movies and the finer works of subscription television, namely Game of Thrones and Narcos, whose second series is currently available on Netflix. It turns out he is also the epitome of America: an immigrant who has taken his talent and ambition and made a success of himself in a country that takes people in and gives them a chance to succeed. And The Rake was given the opportunity of an in-depth discussion with this star player.

I should firstly elaborate on the extraordinary tale of his early life. His family name is Balmaceda, his father is a doctor, and his late mother (whose maiden name was Pascal) welcomed José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal into the world on April 2, 1975 in Santiago, Chile. Those of you familiar with the South American governments of the time will know that this was not a simple epoch in which to be born in Chile. It was less than two years since Augusto Pinochet had deposed Salvador Allende, the first democratically elected head of state in Chile, in a coup d’état. Allende killed himself in the coup but his supporters remained a thorn in the junta’s side. So, as any self-respecting dictator would, Pinochet found opposition members, rounded them up, and tortured them for information on other dissenters who could be found, rounded up, and so on.

One such occasion was some years later, when our cover star enters the fray. A cousin of Pascal’s mother was Andrés Pascal Allende, a powerful revolutionary and supporter of his uncle. One day, during a gunfight, this freedom fighter would be given medical aid and shelter chez Balmaceda, and it would be this gesture that put the family on the ‘list’. Pedro recalls (through no memory of his own but that of his father’s) that, “the Pascal family wasn’t particularly safe." He adds: “There was a priest who was brought [Andrés], who had been shot in the leg, to my mum and dad’s house. My father took him in, hid them for a few days, and patched up his leg. I was a baby, my sister was just three, and she says she has a vague memory of being really angry that our parents had put strangers’shit in her bedroom, including guns and stuff.”

The innocence of youth! But the story becomes more and more like a Bourne movie: “The priest was taken into custody and tortured; he gave names, and they went looking for my father at the hospital he worked at. By chance it got to him that they were downstairs, asking where to find Dr. José Balmaceda. My father sneaks out the back and gets my mum, his sister gets my sister and me. They work out that their only option is to go into hiding, which they do for about six months, and they end up sneaking into the Venezuelan embassy and sought asylum.”

You can see why we spent so long on the subject. His light-hearted approach to talking about this may be because he was too young (about nine months old when they came out of hiding) to have been affected by the process, but there is pride in his parents’ actions, the way in which they carried him and his sister to safety in a climate in which even children were not safe. The solution wasn’t ‘doing an Assange’ and locking themselves in the embassy - they had to leave.

Though they would ultimately settle in the United States, it was Denmark that took them in first. Pascal was still too young to recall a great deal; after a year his father was contacted by a Chilean professor in San Antonio, Texas, and was offered a job. San Antonio was a great place for South American immigrants. With a large Spanish-speaking population, it wasn’t as much of a departure, or culture shock, for the family as Denmark had been.

They lived there until 1986, and it was during this time that he developed a love of movies and the desire to become an actor. He says of that time: “Strangely it was my father’s fault, because he was a huge moviegoer and he would take us to the movies a few times a week throughout my childhood. Of course, we got cable television and HBO came into the fold. Uncensored, uninterrupted movies in your living room: it was some kind of fucking miracle. I remember sitting there and it feeling like absolute magic to me. I remember perfectly watching my first movie on HBO and thinking it was magic.”

While television was developing its appeal, cinema was the family craze, and his father was the most zealous disciple. Pascal adds: “I am telling you, we would go several times a week. And it wouldn’t matter, if my dad wanted to see a movie, and there wasn’t a babysitter, we would go with him or he’d just want to take us. It is my father and Steven Spielberg’s fault - Spielberg being the ruling aesthetic of Hollywood at that time. Throw MTV and Nickelodeon into the mix, and public school systems in San Antonio and very cool parents - these were socialising us and forming us. It is in such stark contrast to what it would be in Chile. In Chile I have 34 first cousins. And in Texas it was just us.”

Though he is a self-confessed “dork”, his hinting at loneliness, and his circumstances as an immigrant in a poor neighbourhood in San Antonio being a psychological burden, is an interesting passage through which he developed his sense of imagination, fantasy and the requisite skills as an actor. “I spent so much time alone and I wasn’t allowed to watch cable from morning into night, so my options were me and my imagination and it was all so completely ruled by the idea of being on these movie adventures,” he says. “I remember seeing Rambo and The Big Chill. I was fascinated by [The Big Chill], as JoBeth Williams was the mother in Poltergeist, which I had seen seven times already in the movie theatre, and I was shouting, ‘That’s the mum from Poltergeist, this movie is amazing!’ I was a big reader as well. I read Stephen King from a very young age.” He tellingly concludes that movies “ruled my imagination and to an extent my identity."

His isolation grew when his father moved the family to California when Pedro was 11. His father was part of a team of fertility experts that had pioneered an advanced form of I.V.F. called gamete intra-fallopian transfer, or GIFT. But this move took him away from a Spanish-speaking neighbourhood and into Newport Beach, Orange County, “which is about a 99.9 per cent white town." He found it hard to fit in, though not because of how he looked. “It was more a matter of me being a nerd and a movie geek and not a good surfer and interested in art,” he says. “I already knew I wanted to be an actor.” His determination had been made manifest by spending his free time reading plays and going to see Search and Destroy by Howard Korder at the South Coast Repertory, which left him “fucking floored."

This problematic period in his youth might explain why he decided to move to the other side of the country, to New York City, to study theatre, where his inclination to academia was compromised by metropolitan life. He says: “Once I made it to New York I wasn’t reading the things I was supposed to read. I was a terrible student.” The Tisch School of the Arts, a school with an impressive list of alumni, including Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin and Billy Crystal, nevertheless provided a stable platform for him to pursue his acting ambitions. He could break out from being the little child in a strange town and muck in with like-minded people in a city founded on immigration and pluralism.

This time in his life ushered in the beginning of a long-standing friendship with American Horror Story and (gravely underappreciated) Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip star Sarah Paulson. Pedro’s charisma made it very easy to become friends with him, Paulson tells The Rake, explaining that it was a “just-add-water friendship." What drew her to Pedro, she adds, was that “he had an enormous amount of gravitas and at the same time a great deal of levity. He would be the first person to fall on the floor laughing.”

After Tisch he found himself working plenty in theatre, too. One particular play, Beauty of the Father, at the Manhattan Theatre Club would begin another friendship with an acting luminary, Star Wars and Ex Machina star Oscar Isaac. Isaac told The Rake, in regards to both of them achieving recognition around the same time and at similar ages: “We started off-Broadway, so for both of us it has been a parallel path where we have been treading the boards together and facing a lot of uphill climbing and rejection and trying to make a living here in New York. To be able to go on that journey together and for me to be able to see him explode on to the scene, I couldn’t be prouder of him.” He says of Pedro: “He is someone who has a very profound depth to him. He wears his heart on his sleeve and he has a great mind and incredible empathy, and he is also incredibly sharp-witted and fun to be around.”

Pascal would find that achieving the kind of success he had imagined was to be parked while he worked solely to support himself. He did the rounds, doing irregular slots on long-running U.S. television shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Without a Trace and CSI. He says: “The idea of experiencing exposure or being on the cover of a magazine like The Rake was totally abandoned at a certain point well into my thirties, once I’d learnt how to live and support myself as an actor and be unknown outside a small community. I had come to terms with the idea of just hoping to work.” This is the fate of 90 per cent of actors who graduate from drama schools, and frankly the realisation and acceptance of living a life in which you support yourself with work speaks to a very grounded, grateful and pragmatic individual.

Fortunately for us, his prospects soon changed.

In 2014 he appeared in the world’s biggest T.V. show since Friends, Game of Thrones. It was the fourth series that saw the arrival of a new kind of Alpha male in a series with no shortage of them. Pascal played Oberyn Martell, the Prince of Dorne. However, where Charles Dance’s anti-hero ne plus ultra Tywin Lannister commanded the ‘patriarchy’ side of masculinity, and there was the brutish, drinking and farting muscle mass that was Rory McCann as The Hound, Pascal’s Oberyn was a more complex and interesting personification of masculinity and sexuality. Oberyn was affecting from the start, and even before we see Pascal’s incarnation he is described as “not a man for welcome parties” who is famous for “fucking half of Westeros."

His demeanour was a refreshing change to the grimy, armour-clad male leads that were a mainstay of the storyline: colourful, well-groomed, softly spoken yet threatening. You get an idea of the nature of the character from Tyrion Lannister’s face (threatened, anxious) when he discovers who had come from Dorne for the royal wedding. Then, when we meet Oberyn, in long, elegant robes of mustard and gold, there is a menace and intent; the audience salivates as it waits to find out what he is capable of. And we are kept waiting. What is most interesting about Oberyn is that his lust is not limited to the fairer sex. Oberyn is a sexual omnivore: he has what he describes as his paramour, Ellaria Sand (played by Indira Varma), who acts as both angel and devil on his shoulders, reminding him that he can take whatever he wants.

His fluid sexuality is culturally under-represented in film, television and certainly music. The co-creators of the show, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, have used the fantastical setting of Westeros to curate a fascinating experiment into what a ‘man’ really is and how audiences react to sexual behaviour. It is not controversial to say that even hinting at homosexual tendencies can put off a chunk of the male audience, sad as that may be. The fact that Oberyn is convincing as masculine, strong and fierce, without any suggestion that his sexuality will undermine his masculinity for the audience, is a real feat in developing cultural norms. It is a benchmark for progressive leading men, and considering the success of this one, we hope there is more to follow.

Not only is Oberyn bisexual, he is openly so. His arrogance and comfort with himself means that he needn’t hide it like many other characters in the series do. Pascal says: “It’s fucking hilarious because straight guys fucking love Oberyn. In talking to D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, I was really surprised to hear that through the audition process there were takes on Oberyn that, because in the audition scene it is revealed that he includes a man in the mix of his orgy and reveals himself to be bisexual, they would immediately interpret him as more effeminate and add that quality to the character. What had been so right for them was my not having done that. It is interesting because it never even occurred to me that he wouldn’t be so completely male and have the quality of something Alpha and archetypically masculine. It made complete sense that the world was his and every part of it was his, and everything he wanted to partake of, it is very much in the writing.”

Benioff took the time to speak to The Rake to lend some words of praise to Pascal. He says: “It was a very difficult part to cast because [Oberyn] encompasses so many contradictions: he is charismatic, he is ferocious, he is sexy, but also he can be quiet and intimate. It can be very hard to find someone who can do everything. He can be hard to pin down because he is so multi- faceted. A big problem was that no one felt quite sexy enough.”

And then along comes our cover star, who “did a very cheap video on his iPhone. It couldn’t have been more low-rent, but it was incredibly compelling. It’s interesting, as it’s not that we had a particular look at the time. We didn’t know what we wanted until we saw it, and with Pedro it was pretty clear.” He adds of Pedro’s interpretation: “He brought a sense of humour to the part. There’s something fun about someone with a sense of humour who is utterly fearless. There is also something a little insane about that.”

Pedro enjoyed the rakish side of his character; the costume designer Michele Clapton helped him tap into the character’s braggadocio. He says: “Stylistically, what Michele did, I’m never going to look that good again. I mean, that fucking mustard robe with the leather belt and sometimes a sash. These are all feminine garbs that could not have been more masculine. It made me feel so powerful and male.”

Pedro waxes lyrical about his employers on Game of Thrones: “To be honest with you, my take on the part had everything to do with what was on the page. I looked up Oberyn in the books and it’s all told through the perspective of Tyrion Lannister - it’s a very cool character, but the way David and Dan [Weiss] fleshed him out on the show was a pure set-up for success for me. I give all credit to them: it was their idea to create a progressive, radical badass that two straight married men have a crush on. You could tell they loved this guy. That was why it ended up being so good, and I understand that it could have gone in the wrong direction by being interpreted differently, but I didn’t see it in any other way.”

The demise of Oberyn was the first time in four years I wanted to pack in watching the series. There was a sense of having had enough with the show for not giving me enough of this character. They held back on how exciting Oberyn could be, with his athleticism and the insouciant cool of fighting a man wielding a sword that was, as Pedro puts it, “quite literally my height” - and, of course, the way in which he ‘dispatched’ him. Going from that high of poetic justice - from being everyone’s favourite spear-wielding hero - to the crushing low of the red-porridge mess of his head crushed on the floor in the space of five minutes was genius television making; never was an audience so crushed as well.

Even Pedro hated it.

When I shared with him my frustration, he related by saying: “Yes, because it feels terrible. Why should I go to bed with this horrific feeling in my heart? I love that people felt that way about Oberyn because I had felt that way about the Red Wedding (a shocking scene in which several major characters were killed off at a wedding feast). I almost stopped. I was in the process of auditioning for Oberyn and I had already had my heart crushed. I remember thinking very specifically, ‘Soon it’s time for bed and I’m in a place of such darkness because of watching television - this isn’t good for me’.”

Fortunately, Pascal’s particular brand of bravura masculinity returned in 2015 with Narcos, Netflix’s true events epic about Pablo Escobar and the rise of the Colombian drug trade. It is a show The Economist describes as “doing a better job than most narco-dramas in getting across the brutal seediness of the drugs business.” Pascal plays Javier Peña, a man who isn’t afraid to break a few eggs to make his omelette, a man very much part of the aforementioned brutal seediness.

In an era in which scrutiny of our institutions is critical, a show set in a time when there was plenty brushed under the carpet conducts an interesting moral waltz with the audience’s empathy. Pedro says: “I don’t see him as moral. I see him as pragmatic and work obsessed. It is all due credit to the creators of the show, who allow me to interpret the character in the most interesting way possible. I love that Peña and the writers of Narcos and Netflix are totally game for him being a character who exists more ambiguously and represents the greyer elements of this drugs war that the U.S. gets involved with. I think he, as a character, is definitely wanting to get the job done however he sees fit, and this is a guy who never got married, who never had attachments, who could easily disappear into this world with nothing to lose, and I think that’s what makes him good at it and helps him achieve some of his objectives - because he can assimilate, he can participate, he can get on the inside culturally and psychologically, and be totally badass, of course.”

He has plenty more to do in the second series, so the challenge for Pascal is to elevate the performance and not leave it still and stagnant, a challenge he revels in. He says: “I feel like, in a way, the first season is, in terms of the character, somewhat of an introduction and opens up the opportunity to see more in the second season. When you meet him he’s already on the inside, he’s having sex with a gorgeous prostitute who he has this strange relationship to: they are lovers, she’s his informant, they are friends, and we don’t get that many private adventures of Peña in the first season. I would say in the second series there is more opportunity to spend a little more time with that character, so it almost feels like season one and season two is a two-act play, and in the second act Peña has more to do.”

Now, as expected, momentum is very much in Pedro’s favour. Next year will be a big year for him. We have seen a trailer for his first feature film, The Great Wall, the first attempt by anyone at joining the forces of eastern and western cinema. He teams up with Matt Damon in this cross-cultural epic directed by Zhang Yimou. He says of the film that, “We shot it in China for five months. When I was just graduating from college, Matt Damon turned into a comet as an actor, and rightly so, so he has been very famous for most of my adult life. It was a big deal to go work alongside someone as famous and talented as he is. From my perspective he has always been much more an actor than a celebrity.”

When he began talking about Zhang Yimou, his unashamed inner nerd came to the fore: “When I expanded my curiosities as I got older, I was reading plays but I was also getting into independent and foreign cinema. I saw Raise the Red Lantern in 1991, and saw The Story of Qiu Ju by myself because I was that much of a fucking dork - I walked by myself to see the Chinese movie that was playing - and I saw Shanghai Triad four times at the Angelika [in New York] while I was at college. I saw it early and said to friends, ‘Have you seen this?’ I took two friends and I took my mom when she visited New York to go see Zhang Yimou’s films. I had a period in the nineties when I was really quite obsessed with his movies. He showed what he could do with Hero and House of Flying Daggers, which were very different from his arthouse films he made in the nineties, which are all brilliant, and now this is taking it a step further because it is a big Hollywood ‘creature-feature’ that meets epic Chinese cinema. So for me it was very surreal, because I had admired him as a filmmaker and one I never expected to meet or work with - and then in my first film. I was working with him alongside Matt Damon and Willem Dafoe and Andy Lau and an amazing Chinese crew and brilliant Chinese actors. I had no idea how it would turn out but it was a very surreal experience.”

Damon was able to talk to The Rake about having Pedro as a teammate on the movie. It may be obvious as to why Damon, one of the most respected and loved men in Hollywood, would have been picked for the part, but why the relative newcomer Pascal? Damon without hesitation answers: “He was picked because he was the best actor available for the part; he is a fantastic actor.” He cited Pedro’s time acting in the theatre in New York as the way in which he developed his craft. He says: “He came out of [Tisch] 20 years ago and just started doing theatre. If you can last into your forties doing that - he had his 10,000 hours a decade and a half ago. He’s really mastered his craft and you can see that with the level of technique and how agile he is as an actor, he can really do anything. I’d say he can dial up or dial down whatever the director needs. When you are that versatile, it is a real boon to a director because they can temper the piece exactly how they like. It’s really fun to play off him because he does different things, he has a lot of fun and there is a lot of joy in his work, and we laughed a lot. I have always said about great actors that they are good enough for both of you - they’re so overwhelming that they pull you right into the scene. Personally I end up not having to work because I am being taken, like you board a train and you go along for the ride. That’s what it is like working with Pedro, he is a really uniquely talented guy, but that comes from years of theatre in New York. It is not just the raw talent, he has honed his technique over the last couple of years.”

Pedro feels his rise to fame in his early forties comes as a double-edged sword. On the one hand fame at a young age “fucks you up. I don’t think that as a rule, but it can fuck you up.” On the other hand, “in my experience I feel quite naïve. I was doing plays and guest spots and some bullshit indie films that no one will ever see. It is interesting to be completely grown up and feel like a freshman.”

Kingsman: The Golden Circle, which is due out next year, was the same for him. He says: “I was just in some kind of strange candy shop doing Kingsman 2, finding myself in a scene with Jeff Bridges and Colin Firth and Halle Berry and Channing Tatum and getting to meet Julianne Moore. It was really kind of a movie experience on crack." And reveals that Jack Daniels, is the biggest badass of them all.

This is all to say that Pedro Pascal, the political refugee who employed all of his talent, all of his ambition and passion to create a success of the opportunity given to him in the land of the free, is very much Mr. America. His old friend Sarah Paulson says that, “It is a very sweet thing - watching him land where I always thought he should land. Proud doesn’t begin to cover it; it feels righteous.”

America is built on the type of tolerance, kindness, humility and skill that Pedro Pascal embodies. And his rise to prominence comes at a time when there is a narrative - one that is extremely close to executive power - suggesting walling off Central and South American immigrants, a suggestion Pedro says is “revealing some of the ugliest things of which we are capable as a nation”. Damon agrees with The Rake, saying, “I’ve often thought, especially listening to Donald Trump do his thing, that Pedro’s is the quintessential American story, and that’s why we don’t build walls.”

Perhaps it is the responsibility of magazines like ours to make clear that no one is more American than Pedro Pascal. And it is only fitting that, as America continues to seek progress - the repealing of ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’, its first black president, perhaps its first female president, a fairer medical system - Pedro embodies everything beautiful about a beautiful country, and it feels righteous.

Jett's Pedro's Shoots Masterlist

[bfpnola]

the full 4 hours worth of speeches and chants before the national march even actually began to march. being there in-person was truly another experience, so i wanted to share this here so y'all could get even just a sliver of that same amazement! speeches you can listen to include:

Opening Chant

Introduction with Manolo De Los Santos

Nadya Tannous from Palestinian Youth Movement

Ahlam from Maryland2Palestine

Arsema Kifle from Dissenters

Jasmin Nicole Williams from Artists Against Apartheid

Dr. Hatem Bazian from UC Berkeley

Lauren Pineiro from the Tampa 5

Mahdi Bray from the American Muslim Alliance

Black Alliance for Peace

Melanie Yazzie from The Red Nation

Marte White from Community Movement Builders

Omar Suleiman, an American imam

Mohammed Nabulsi from Palestinian Youth Movement

Brian Becker from ANSWER Coalition

Layan Fuleihan from The People's Forum

Macklemore (yes, the muisician)

Ya'oub from the National Students for Justice in Palestine

Maysoon Abu Gharbieh from Arab Women's Committee (Chicago)

Tara Alalami, Sarah Ihmoud, and Rasha Mubarak from Palestinian Feminist Collective and Susan Sarandon

Ahmad Abuznaid from US Campaign for Palestinian Rights

Nihad Awad from Council on American-Islamic Relations

Mohammed El-Kurd, a writer

Nazek Sankari from US Palestinian Community Network

Nour Jafghama and Medea Benjamin from CODEPINK

Meredith from Anti War Committee MN

Osama Abu Irshaid from American Muslims for Palestine

Noura Erakat, a human rights attorney

Majid Gadsen from December 12 Movement

Nina from Bayan USA

Rania Mustafa from Palestinian American Community Center NJ

Krystal Two Bulls from Honor the Earth

Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss from Neturei Karta

Jonel Edwards from Dream Defenders

Raja Abdulhag from Al Quds News

Ángel from Malcolm X Grassroots Movement

Nick Tilsen from NDN Collective

Lamis Deek from Al Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition

Ju-Hyun Park from Nodutdol

Eugene Puryear from Party for Socialism and Liberation

Vijay Prashad from Tricontinental Institute

Celine Qussiny from Palestinian Youth Movement

as well as several interviews towards the end of the video in front of the white house! go watch! go share!

[youthdissent]

[ID: A yellow square post with a light yellow rounded rectangle taking up the top two thirds, with large, black, bold, all-caps text that reads "California! join queer and trans youth in protesting the Supreme Court". In the bottom right corner there is smaller bold black text that reads "Join us in San Diego, CA." Non-bold black text below this reads "at the San Diego Waterfront Park/City Hall on August 9th from 12:00-2:00PM PST!". In the bottom left corner is a drawing of a person with light tan skin and mid-length green curly hair using a wheelchair and holding a progress flag. End ID.]

[ID: A yellow square post with a light yellow rounded square in the middle that takes up most of the post. Inside there is a heading in all-caps, bold, black text that reads "We, The Youth, Dissent". Below this is smaller black text which reads "The Supreme Court has recently targeted areas of our everyday lives that impact our finances, education, and our freedom of self-expression. With the rulings impacting student debt relief, lgbtqia+ rights, and affirmative action, we have had enough. Queer Youth Assemble has created Youth Dissent as a way to highlight the impact of these recent Supreme Court rulings especially on minority groups within the lgbtqia+ community. The intersectionality of these rulings is too large to ignore and we the youth, dissent." End ID.]

[ID: A yellow square post with a light yellow rounded square in the middle that takes up most of the post. Inside there is a heading in all-caps, bold, black text that reads "What should I bring?". Below this is smaller black text which reads "Here's a quick list of things you might want to bring with you to your upcoming demonstration. Keep an eye out for our resource guides on organizing and protesting coming out this week!" Below this there is a list of checkboxes in slightly smaller text whose items include, "Necessary medications, Water & Small snacks, State ID, cash & coins, Fully charged cell phone, Hand sanitizer & a mask, Hat & sunscreen, Our printable "Know Your Rights" & "In Case of Emergency" cards*, A sign". Below this is smaller text which reads "*These are available on our site alongside printable pages to cut and distribute at your demonstration!" End ID.]

[ID: A dark yellow square post with a light yellow rounded square in the middle that takes up most of the post. Inside there is a heading in all-caps, bold, black text that reads "Find a protest near you". Below this is smaller black text that reads "Please reach out to us at connorl@queeryouthassemble.org if you have any questions! Organizing and Protesting resource guides available in our bio now! Check out our page and website to stay up to date on our latest demonstration announcements.". Below this is smaller, centered text that reads "Currently featuring.... Atlanta, San Diego, Seattle, and much more!" End ID.]

[queeryouthassemble]

[ID: A dark orange square post, with a light orange rounded rectangle taking up the top half, with an all-caps heading that reads "Join Queer and Trans youth in protesting the Supreme Court". Below this is a group of four people standing side by side. The one on the far right has pale skin, blonde and blue short wavy hair, and is holding a brown sign that reads "Power to the people" in all-caps. To their left is a person with brown skin and brown curly short hair holding a beige sign that reads "defend LGBTQ civil rights" in all-caps. Beside them are two people with tan skin, one with orange curly hair, and the other with dark brown and blue curly hair and glasses. End ID.]

[ID: A dark orange square post with a light oval at the top that surrounds an all-caps heading which reads "We need your help!". Below this is smaller text that reads "We, the youth of the United States, have had enough of the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) and refuse to stand idly by. Queer Youth Assemble invites everyone, regardless of age & identity, to join us in protesting against recent SCOTUS decisions. We need YOUR help to make all of our voices heard! With the decisions on affirmative action, LGBTQIA+ rights, and student debt relief, the impact on youth across the country through our education, finance, and self-expression is inarguable. While things can feel hopeless, we want to remind youth that you hold more power than you realize and together, we can create a difference against injustice." End ID.]

[ID: A dark orange square post with a pale oval at the top that surrounds an all-caps heading which reads "Join our Youth Dissent protest". Below this is smaller text that reads "Take action with Queer Youth Assemble and help us organize nationwide Youth Dissent* protests against the Supreme Court! We are a nonprofit run by queer youth, for queer youth and we can use all the help we can get! Email us at youthdissent@queeryouthassemble.org to get involved or ask us any questions!" This text wraps around an image of a person with light skin, a blue mullet, and a shirt that has the genderqueer symbol in a heart on it, who is holding a white sign which reads "We the people means EVERYONE". In the bottom right corner in very small texts reads "*A dissent is a party's disagreement with majority opinion." End ID.]

[ID: A dark orange square post with a light oval at the top that surrounds an all-caps white heading which reads "Educate yourself and others". Below this is smaller black text that reads Check out QYA's posts about recent Supreme Court decisions regarding affirmative action and LGBTQ+ rights! Starting the conversation with loved ones and your local community is a great way to start! Folks often don't take action due to lack of awareness or simply feeling defenseless against a greater power. It's crucial to understand that community is what makes our voices powerful. That effort towards education is the first step." Beside this text is a white person with brown curly hair who is holding a white sign reading "Queer people will not be erased" in pink all-caps lettering. End ID.]

[ID: A dark orange square post with a light orange oval at the top that surrounds an all-caps white heading which reads "Get your community involved". Below this is smaller black text reading "Reach out to local organizations and LGBTQ+ centers to find out if they're taking any action. Encourage them to join QYA's rapid response efforts to help raise awareness for the cause!". Below this text are two people. The one on the left has white pale skin and a red mullet, and is holding a pamphlet with the trans flag and a binder on it. The person on the right has brown skin and dark brown and blue hair, and is holding a brown sign that reads "stand against racism" in all-caps black lettering. End ID.]

[ID: A dark orange square post, with a light orange rounded rectangle taking up the top half, with an all-caps heading that reads "join local QYA events." Below that smaller black text reads "Keep an eye out for more news about our upcoming rapid response efforts!" At the bottom of the page are three illustrated people, standing side-by-side, drawn from the waist up. Each holds a sign with one word, reading "protect trans kids" from left to rights. The people are of varying appearances and characteristics. End ID.]

[immaculatasknight]

Israel lobby made impotent

[harrisonarchive]

A telegram from George Harrison to President Nixon, dated August 16, 1973 (courtesy of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services via Kansas City Star).

“A handwritten note on top of the telegram asks, ‘Is this one of the former Beatles?’ Yes, it was. The telegram, a terse protest of the bombing of Cambodia, was addressed to then-President Richard Nixon and sent to the White House by George Harrison on August 16, 1973. […] Harrison’s records are noteworthy because they help complete a story of government paranoia, of Nixon’s exploitation of federal agents to undercut what was then growing youth dissent toward the Vietnam War. Not a small factor was Nixon’s own fear that he wouldn’t be re-elected in 1972. [...] He’d previously been granted entry, despite officials knowing about the 1969 conviction. Here is the text of the telegram, retaining the misspellings [of the transcriber] and garbled syntax: ‘Sir how can you bomb Cambonian [sic] citizens and worry about kicking me out of the country for smoking marijuana at the time. Your repressive emperaour [sic] war monger ways stop before too piece luv we will run the world Harry Krisher Hare Hara Krishne Hare Hara Hare Hara Krishner [sic]. George Harrison.’” - The Kansas City Star, August 11, 2017 (x)

[didalexiabreakupwitholgayet]

hi :) thanks for all your answers!

lingering question from a while back, but do you consider the players who made themselves available for selection after being part of las 15 to be scabs? the article that lucia garcia wrote sort of made it sound like that, and it's hard to read the situation differently.

it makes me respect Mapi and Patri so much, to stick to their guns even when everyone else went back.

I get all their careers have a lot on the line, but like.. collective bargaining only works if it's collective, right? Is there nuance i'm not seeing?

sigh...i have gone back and forth so many times throughout this entire saga. and in some ways, i'm still working out how to make sense and reconcile it all. it's complicated, and i think you have to factor in the prior history.

first, spain has the unique situation of having its draconian sports law in effect. according to this law, players who refuse a call-up risk sanctions and losing their license to play football.

second, there have been prior protests before that were unsuccessful and only helped to damage individual players. vero boquete essentially threw away her nt career because she decided to speak up after the 2015 world cup. that has to have been percolating in the back of some players' minds.

third, you are right. you can't have a successful revolution with partial participation. people kept comparing the uswnt lawsuit with las 15 and they are both completely different situations. however, what uswnt had going for them was unity. all the uswnt players signed on. that never happened with las 15 (there were only 15 of them!). and there was even pressure from liga f clubs to back out of any protest that prevented other spanish players from signing on. so it wasn't so easy to have every player in the spanish nt system just sign on. if there are so many divisions from the start, then there's no way that movement can be successful. (especially when you had players who went out of their to way to kiss vilda's/rfef ass, but that's a separate conversation!)

plus, there was so much media backlash and skewering of the players that made the divisions worse. rfef was talking to players individually and breaking down the lines of protest even further. it was a huge mess. and ultimately, some players felt that they could have better progress by working within the system. as alexia said in the oliva conclave, if they left, then they knew rfef would just call in the youth players who would have no voice or say in the matter. so no, i don't think they are scabs because there was no proper picket line in the first place. it was a fractured mess from day one.

and of course, i have the utmost respect for mapi, patri, and others who basically sacrificed a world cup to stand up for their ideals. that takes so much guts. but i also understand why others returned to the team to advocate for change from within because they saw how corrupt and messed up rfef was in quashing any dissent.

there is still so much left to go with improving conditions in spain, and some days it feels like spain never won the world cup because we never had the boom that england did after winning the euros. but vilda/rubiales would still be here had it not been for the spain winning the world cup. there never was that amount of world pressure and scrutiny and political will to actually get things improved. so that's something.