The John Mason Talk-Walk, May 14, 2022

I speak about the need to protect the rights of LGBT kids, the need for intelligent sex education, and the need to defend abortion rights. 

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Hello, hello, hello John Mason. How is everybody? Hope you're all well. LGBT kids are are the latest target or one of the latest targets in a so-called culture war. And I hate that phrase. Discussions about sexuality, gay, straight, whatever, are in danger of being totally repressed by genius state legislatures and governors. And trans and gay kids are constantly being bullied. Like recently, there's reports out of Central Bucks School District in Bucks County, which is one of the suburban counties in Philadelphia, that the school district is not doing enough to protect the LGBT kids. Many of them have done it. Because there's nobody there to reassure them and protect them. But in the meantime, they need protection from bullying and from lies and intimidation. And now, like I said, state legislatures are uh and state governments are going to be the enemy of uh LGBT kids. Like in Texas, the idiot governor has signed a law bill that would authorize uh state uh child welfare agencies to uh intervene intervene when parents allow their their transgender kids to go through the transition, treating it like it's a form of child abuse. What if the parents are okay with the kid being transgender? While they understand this is how their kid is, the kid's not gonna be a cone of theirs and be their own independent per instead be their own independent person. But uh so many state uh legislatures dominated by Republicans, you know, the small government get government off our backs, personal liberty, etc. Party they're trying to appease this very small sliver of the American electorate that evangelic people call themselves evangelical Christians, though I don't see how the term Christian applies to them, are the political uh base of the Republican Party and the base of support for the former president, former president, ex-president, a guy who cheats on his wives, who cheats on his business dealings, who cheats on his taxes, and who cheats on his golf. A man who enjoys treating women like sex toys, like they're nothing. That is the idol of evangelical voters. And the slogan of the anti-sex education crowd is leave that all up to the parents. I'm sure parents are there are a lot of parents are very well-meaning, but they don't but I'm sorry to say they don't know everything. The kid looks up to them for guidance, but sometimes the parents are full of misinformation themselves. And it's just a way to uh not deal with the issue. See, they don't see Republicans and conservatives don't want to deal with uh serious issues like sexual intelligence discussions about sex or LGBT issues or issues of race or class or poverty or whatever. They so they try to make up some lame reason thing to as a solution. In this case, leave it to the parents, but like I said, the parents don't know everything, and of course, I have no choice but to mention abortion. Yes, if uh if the draft decision by Alito goes through and and Roe v. Wade is uh is repealed finally, supposedly the idea is to pass this issue on to the state legislatures, who, as I have said, are full of who are gerrymandered so that uh right wing uh uh non-entities are uh are there I have a better idea. Leave the issue of abortion to the individual woman Is that really such a radical idea? I don't think so. And besides, the whole debate about uh about abortion is around when does the fetus become a person? We always think it becomes a person inside the womb. Rather instead of a bunch of cells coming together. Like when does brain function start? When does the heartbeat start? A Jewish tradition states that uh a fetus becomes a person the moment the head peeps out of the mother's womb. By that gauge, a woman can have an abortion at any point during her pregnancy. And of course we have to uh talk about how romanticized fetuses are by uh by evangelical voters. That life is such a beautiful thing. We must preserve it in the womb. And we just gotta set a place at the table for her for the for the baby. Sounds so whole mark hard doesn't it? But in reality it's a very expensive proposition to raise a child. There's the feedings at uh all hours of the night. There is uh diapers to purchase and uh baby beds and and clothing, always clothing, or new set of clothes for each year and birthday coming up, each for each phase of the child's development, and education, finding a good school for the child, and trying to guide the uh the child uh like I through the various phases of life, like adolescence, uh how soon do you date, uh, what what career you want to go to and go into after you graduate, all that raising children is serious business, can't be left to every not everybody can handle that. It's a direct it's expen all things is expensive, it's time consuming, and anybody who thinks it's worth the worth uh the effort, God bless you. God bless you. Do your job well but not everybody has the stuff right or the finances so and what gets me is that the right-wing Republicans uh think that we're just gonna sit back and take it. We're being bullied by them, and we're just gonna have to put up with it. No way in hell. We have to stand up for the right of a woman to control her own uh reproductive system, whether it means contraception or or uh abortion and safe abortion. See, all these bans on abortion won't stop abortion. Just as uh prohibition in the twenties didn't stop people from finding a spot to have a drink at, which run by organized crime cartels, so too will abortions be underground in rather unsafe conditions, and don't doubt the mob won't won't get a piece of that. We must insist on protecting and supporting LGBT kids. Let them know that there are people who love them and stand by them and want the best for them. They grow up to be functionally adults, contributing to society. And let's and let us insist on quality sex education that is scientifically based and age appropriate. No myths, no fables, no fairy tales, accurate sex education. And that is not the same as calling somebody a groomer, grooming them for a pedophilia. That's their fate that's their favorite slander anymore. Just as back in the 50s, uh communist sympathizer was the cuss word to repress all dissent. Now they're using groomer to say that any anybody calling for intelligent, age-appropriate sex education is grooming kids for sex abuse. Let's stand up to that. And while we're at it, this like I said, this is what's called the culture war. And I'm sick of hearing that. Uphrases automatically bandied about in the news media. It kind of uh limits thought. That's very Orwellian. Instead of a culture war, we should be dealing with the class war, and yes, a class war is very real in our uh society. Billionaires have been getting ri have gotten over a trillion dollars. I don't know how much, over a trillion, uh, during the pandemic. And petroleum companies have been making record, record profits, but still they raise the price of gasoline at the pump. And are using the war in Ukraine to um as an excuse to jack up prices. Baldur fucking dash. They don't have to raise prices at the pump, they're wealthy enough already. Let's stop that, let's resist that. It warms my heart that workers in in traditional low low wage uh occupations are are organizing as Starbucks and Amazon. Let's support them. Let's be with them. And now advertisements, always the fun part. Got paper this stuff somehow. Hipporific LLC is a lovely little uh lovely little uh CBD store located at 15th Street and Snyder Avenue in South Philadelphia. There you'll find the fun some of the finest cannabis infused products like flour, gummies, sodas, waters, lip balm, hand sanitizer, and dog treats. Please look them up at Porificlc.com. And also I talk up my wonderful beloved career and business coach, Michelle Snow. Michelle will guide you like any other coach as you develop your professional career or a small business, let you know what you're doing right, where you need work, and help you network with other up-and-coming professionals of small businesses. Please look her up. Grow with snow.com. Okay. Okay, we got our work cut out for us. Let's get down for the fight. We're not giving up. We'll stand up to these guys and we will win. Thank you. Have a good day. Bye.