Some Thoughts On The Election: Stop Targeting Trans People

While TVs everywhere are tuned into the final innings of tonight's World Series Game, I'm sitting here giving trigger warnings to our kid who is trying to sit in the room while we are force-fed the bigoted, fear-mongering ads that are absolutely full of lies from TFG. 

So let me tell you just a little bit of what being the parent of a trans teen has been like for the past year and a half that our kid had the COURAGE to come out to us. For the greater part of two years, Toby has had a weekly therapy session with a LICENSED THERAPIST (not some fake "church counselor" or "advisor"). Toby has had to see his primary care doctor and his gender counselor and his gender-affirming doctor too many times to count ---just to see if this is real, true, connecting all the gender-dysphoria and depression together. Toby has also had to go through extensive legal legwork, to figure out how to legally change his name, get a proper ID and passport, all while trying to assure his uber-Christian biomom is on board and going to support all steps of this process without backing out at any moment.  He also goes nearly daily to youth centers and peer groups to find support and to just be a kid instead of wearing his gender-identity on his forehead. They do group activities, have a band that marched in Pride, and offer full support services. 

I could literally go on an on about how many clinics, blood draws, psychiatrists, testing centers, etc this kid has had to endure.. We WISH we knew sooner and could've gotten on board with puberty blockers. We wish we knew so he could've been in counseling before things got dark and he was silently suffering alone, trying to find any reason to stay alive one more day.

We are finally at the stage where Toby can actually start hormone therapy, and even that has been a hassle; we have the script but have to have the prescribing doctor administer the first dose, with weeks to wait for that appointment. 

I have shared all of this with his permission, because this election is personal. We are overjoyed every day that Toby is finding joy in his life, has hope in his life, and is actually thinking about a future, Seeing these insane ads from a misogynistic bigoted CONVICTED FELON who nearly killed us all the first time around compelled me to write during the final two innings of this game. Your life may not depend on this election, but the life of MY FAMILY certainly does.

There is no choice except Harris-Walz this election. None. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, July 13-Wednesday, July 19, 2023: San Diego Pride | They Might Be Giants | Local Natives | Bumbklaatt | Allie Crow Buckley | Heartless Bastards | Fools & Fables | Comic-Con 2023 |

I am so exhausted. Listings during Pride and Comic-Con take so long to put together and I'm sure I still missed some stuff but It's 5am and I need to get some sleep if I expect to actually live a life on Thursday, so I'm going to sleep. There's a ton going on over the next couple weeks, so I'll do my best to pace myself and you should, too. I'll try to put together my Comic-Con stuff this weekend so next week can be chill, but we'll see how that goes being that its Pride. There are a lot of peripheral events for that, too, so check here for all the pool parties, club stuff, and more. 

I'll try and update if anything worthy comes to my attention. 

Listings after the jump. 

Stay safe out there. 

CoViD-19: Masks Are Only Controversial If You're An Asshole | County Adds IB Test Site | LGBTQIA+ Pride | SD County Sets Record Death Count

Fiesta Island (Taken 7.14.2020)

I know that we are exceptionally privileged to be able to be home during this time as much as we're privileged that we can jump in the car or van anytime we need to get out of the house, and I hope I don't take it for granted, but days like today, where I haven't even left the house, make it feel so easy to just chill at home. I know not everyone has this luxury but I think for those of us that do and can just need to make room and space for those who can't. Like when I need to run to a store, I try to find the least crowded hours, and do my best to run in and run out. When we do get out of the house, we try to maximize errands to get them all done in one go rather than daily trips. I say this because all day I've been stalling to go to Old Navy to see if they have face masks in stock, but now I think I've lost motivation to go at all. I've got disposable ones on hand, and I'm not really going anywhere, so maybe I should just put on my pajamas and stop acting like I have anywhere to be. Who am I kidding, we all know I'm already in my "day pajamas" anyway. Today's links and articles after the jump. 

PRIDE 2010

This year's Pride Festival looks to be one of the most entertaining yet, with Eve set to headline the event on Saturday and DEVO headlining on Sunday. The event that gathers thousands of San Diegans kicks off with a parade starting at University and Normal Street, then heads west on University, and turns left at 6th Street toward Marston Point (the portion of Balboa Park on the south side of 6th and Laurel.)

You can find all of the information you need to know about Pride 2010 HERE.

As usual, parking and traffic will be pretty insane, so if you're not walking or riding a bike, consider SDMTS which has some rerouted busses for the weekend. It's only $5 for an all day bus pass.

You can also park at the North Park structure and use the Park2Park shuttle that will have a special extended route for the weekend. The P2P wristband also gets you some discounts at local bars and eateries.

This year's event theme is One World, One Heart, One Pride, so I thought I'd repost the photo that was the most visited page in sddialedin history. In one weekend, this blog post got over 60,000 clicks. (normal traffic to my site is usually in the hundreds, not thousands, unfortunately)

The billboard reads:

Mission Gathering Christian Church
Is Sorry
For The Narrow-Minded, Judgmental, Deceptive, Manipulative
Actions Of Those Who
Took Away The Rights And Equality
Of So Many
In The Name Of God.

For the record: why I will not attend Pride this weekend

It seems like everyone I've talked to this week has been raving about Pride and asking if I'll be attending. I just wanted to say, for the record, I will not be attending Pride this weekend. Full post when you click on 'keep on reading'.

The thing is, I love my gays, and I'm friends and/or a fan of most of the bands playing at Pride this weekend, but seriously, there seem to be a lot of people who think that all I do is blog. I would like to reiterate that this blog is purely a hobby, and I don't make any money doing this, save for the occasional ad I post that garners some donation. I have been out every night this week for various events and shows, which I would like to post about, and my weekend is my only real time to do so. My day job at the ad agency has been crazily insane lately, so while most people look forward to going out on the weekend, I look forward to doing absolutely nothing. Of course, "nothing" meaning doing laundry, cleaning, writing, uploading pictures and video, spending time with family, and sleeping. Oh, believe me, there will be a lot of sleeping. So, everyone, have fun at Pride, take some pictures and feel free to email them to me and even do a write-up if you feel inclined. I'd be happy to post about it. But for me, this weekend will be a lot of ass on chair.

Side note, I've recently invited several friends to contribute to this site. If you have input or would like to post on SD:Dialed In, please e-mail me with a sample post. I am completely open to having people contribute to making this site more comprehensive and more inclusive.

Exclusive!!! San Diego Pride 2007 Headliners: Erasure

As I mentioned before, San Diego Pride is July 21 and 22nd.

Finally, the headlining act has been revealed. This year's headliner is Erasure.

The festival will have over 70 acts, including Vinyl Radio, Vocoder, Pete Stewart and the Plastic Saviors, Dirty Sanchez, Rhythm and the Method, Married By Elvis, The Shambles, Blasphemous Guitarsm and Qu'est-ce Que C'est? among many others.

Pre-sale tickets are now available at the Pride office, Babette Schwartz, The Crypt, S.A.G.E and online www.sdpride.org.

Tickets are $15 for one day $21 for two days.
$10 for students and retired
Free admission for active military
Free admission for volunteers

San Diego Pride Presale Tickets Available Friday

San Diego Pride is a month away. July 21 and 22nd, the streets of Hillcrest will once again bring diversity and acceptance to the streets of San Diego. If you've waited in the long line behind the parade to get your tickets to the festival you know it can be a pain in the ass.

To ease the pain, for the first time ever, pre-sale tickets are being sold starting tomorrow at the Pride office, Babette Schwartz, The Crypt, S.A.G.E and online www.sdpride.org.

This year's festival will have over 70 acts, including Vinyl Radio, Vocoder, Pete Stewart and the Plastic Saviors, Dirty Sanchez, Rhythm and the Method, Married By Elvis, The Shambles, Blasphemous Guitarsm and Qu'est-ce Que C'est? among many others.

Tickets are $15 for one day $21 for two days.
$10 for students and retired
Free admission for active military
Free admission for volunteers