#virginia convention

[chaoticdesertdweller]

David Howard Thornton getting into Art makeup at this weekend's Nightmare Weekend in Richmond, Virginia.

[joansiesbeloved]

Jack, Eunice, Joan, and Ted at the Democratic National Convention. Circa, 1960.

[tomorrowusa]

David Tennant recently used language not often heard on Doctor Who and Good Omens which he aimed at transphobes.

David Tennant has once again made an impassioned declaration of support for the transgender community. In recent history, the Doctor Who actor has repeatedly made headlines thanks to his allyship towards trans and gender non-conforming people – most notably with a subtle gesture during a TV interview that wound up helping to raise £18,000 for the LGBTQ+ youth charity AKT. Over the weekend, David made an appearance at the Proud Nerd convention in Germany, where he was asked by a fan about his own “relationship with gender expression”, in light of his past support for trans people. As recorded in a viral TikTok that has already accrued more than half a million views, the former Broadchurch star said: “When I was a kid, the idea of being non-binary wasn’t something that existed. It wasn’t a concept. I’ve seen that emerge, and people are able to express themselves through that. It only ever seems positive as far as I can see.” Elaborating on the “weaponisation of trans rights”, he continued: “I remember, when I was a teenager, I remember gay rights being weaponised politically. And that always felt ugly and nasty, and now, we look back on that, 30 years later, and those people are clearly on the wrong side of history. “And now, there is a similar weaponisation of these topics being taken by mostly the right-wing, or certain sections of society, trying to create friction and conflict and division where it needn’t be. It’s just about people being themselves, you don’t need to be bothered about it.” “Fuck off and let people be,” he concluded, which was met with a round of applause from the room.

Another expression of support for the trans community has come from a more unusual source – Pope Francis.

How Pope Francis opened the Vatican to transgender sex workers

The outreach reflected an unconventional pope in the most radical stage of his papacy. From his early days in 2013, when he famously declared, “Who am I to judge,” Francis has urged the Catholic Church to embrace all comers, including those living in conflict with its teachings. Now, his unprecedented opening to the LGBTQ+ community has reached its zenith — and ballooned into the most explosive issue of his tenure, fueling a bitter clash with senior conservative clerics, who have denounced him in remarkably harsh terms. In recent months, Francis has given explicit approval for transgender godparents and blessings of same-sex couples. He penned a defense of secular civil unions — once described by his predecessor as “contrary to the common good.”

The pope has sometimes contradicted himself in this area. But his more recent actions apparently take precedence over his past words.

Pope Francis and David Tennant (who portrays a devil on Good Omens) find themselves on the opposite side of MAGA Republicans. In West Virginia, for example, candidates for the GOP nomination for governor are competing with each other to see who can be the most anti-trans.

West Virginia Governor’s Race Is a Battle of Who Can Be the Most Anti-Trans

The MAGA Republican Party finds itself on the wrong side of history in this area – as well as many other areas.

@neil-gaiman

[lestrodamus]

Why is Conventional Weapons so Yes Virginia

[booksandteaandstuff]

"The only advice, indeed, that one person can give another about reading is to take no advice, to follow your own instincts, to use your own reason, to come to your own conclusions. If this is agreed between us, then I feel at liberty to put forward a few ideas and suggestions because you will not allow them to fetter that independence which is the most important quality that a reader can possess. After all, what laws can be laid down about books? The battle of Waterloo was certainly fought on a certain day; but is Hamlet a better play than Lear? Nobody can say. Each must decide that question for himself. To admit authorities, however heavily furred and gowned, into our libraries and let them tell us how to read, what to read, what value to place upon what we read, is to destroy the spirit of freedom which is the breath of those sanctuaries. Everywhere else we may be bound by laws and conventions—there we have none." - Virginia Woolf, How Should One Read a Book? https://bookshop.org/a/12010/9781786277527

[libraryofva]

Recent Acquisition - Ephemera Collection

42nd Annual Convention. Tri-State Boosters Assoc., United Transportation Union and Ladies Auxiliary of Virginia, North and South Carolina. Golden Triangle Motor Hotel (Norfolk), July 30-31, Aug. 1, 1970.

[rabbitcruiser]

The state of Virginia's secession convention voted to secede from the United States, later becoming the eighth state to join the Confederate States of America, on April 17, 1861.

[deadpresidents]

Here's the phone call between Lady Bird Johnson and LBJ from March 7, 1964 where Lady Bird is reviewing President Johnson's performance at a televised press conference, showing a very different side of both Lady Bird and LBJ, as mentioned in my last post.

This is from the LBJ Library's awesome LBJ Tapes website, created in conjunction with the University of Virginia's Miller Center, which specializes in Presidential history. The LBJ Tapes website features an archive of audio and transcripts of LBJ's taped phone calls that you can search or browse through depending on details such as the topic of conversation, date of the phone call, or names of the participants of the calls (which include people like Lady Bird, Martin Luther King Jr., Jacqueline Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Robert F. Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry S. Truman, Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, and scores of other important historical figures).

You can really spend days exploring the LBJ Tapes website, and some of the more fascinating topics like LBJ's calls in the hours and days following JFK's assassination where he's becoming more comfortable in the Presidency and begins asking (and, in some cases, ordering) people to serve on the Warren Commission, or LBJ's behind-the-scenes machinations during the 1968 Presidential campaign, as MLK and then RFK are assassinated, the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention spins out of control and Richard Nixon's campaign makes some shady moves with the Vietnamese to help ensure their own victory. On all of these calls, you hear the real Lyndon B. Johnson and they give an eye-opening definition to the "Johnson Treatment".

[0bfvscate]

VOIDCON is coming to Huntington, WV on the 13th of October. It's the first year of this con from indie publishers Castaigne Publishing, which you can read more about here.

To help raise some of the funds they invested into the con, all their books are 50% off, including my illustrated short story collection Lockdown Laureate if you use the code VOID

[kadanandco]

We'll be at booth 11 in Artist Alley during Cosplay World Richmond!

[missgreenkitty]

👀 What's this?  It's where you can find me at #Fairfaxcomicconjr !!!  March 4th at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, VA!!!  Table 612 👀❤  Genshin buttons WILL BE IN!

[macgyverphotography]

The Grumman A-6E Intruder attack aircraft was used from Vietnam to Bosnia. This particular aircraft flew missions in Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm.

[joansiesbeloved]

Ethel and Joan at a dinner party at the National Democratic Convention. Circa, 1960.

[catleaftree]

Leaf Tree at the Virginia Cat Festival!

Leaf Tree will be exhibiting on Sunday, November 10th, from 12:00-7:00 PM at the Williamsburg Lodge in Williamsburg Virginia. We would love to see you if you’re in town! You can get more details on the event and get Sunday tickets for $20 ($15 for kids) at https://vacatfestival.com/info. Saturday tickets are already sold out, and Sunday sales end Saturday night, so get them while you still…

[a2zsportsnews]

Tony Bennett defied roster makeup, play style conventions while turning Virginia into a national power

When Tony Bennett arrived at Virginia for the 2009-10 season, 26 years had elapsed since the Cavaliers’ halcyon days of three straight No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament under Terry Holland in the early 1980s. Those Holland teams are forever synonymous with the playing career of all-time college basketball great Ralph Sampson, who is still the only player to win three straight Naismith…

[2old2swiftie]

The message from Appalachia is clear: no more handouts for corporations.