Tag Archives: Protest

New Concealed Carry Law Has Students in an Uproar

There’s a new law being passed in Texas that would allow students to carry concealed weapons onto campus – as long as that concealed weapon didn’t look like a penis.

Texas University music student Jessica Jin is facing a great deal of publicity lately as she has spoken of her intention to start bringing a dildo to her classes with her, starting August 1st, 2016, and her invitations for others to do so as well.

Jessica Jin 01

This decision was made in protest of a new “concealed carry” law that will allow licensed gun owners to bring their guns onto the school property, including public hallways and even classrooms. This law is being touted as an effort to discourage school shootings, but Jin’s supporters think that this is a grievous mistake.

Especially, when you consider the fact that Jessica could face serious consequences for her protest. According to Texas University’s code of conduct:

“Subchapter 13–200. Prohibited Expression

Sec. 13–201. Obscenity

No person or organization will distribute or display on the campus any writing or visual image, or engage in any public performance, that is obscene. A writing, image, or performance is “obscene” if it is obscene as defined in Texas Penal Code, Section 43.21 or successor provisions, and is within the constitutional definition of obscenity as set forth in decisions of the United States Supreme Court.”

This would, in theory, cover any type of sexual expression – which, while potentially distracting, doesn’t carry the dangerous risks that would be associated with allowing the guns to enter the campus as the law entails.

Originally, Jin was unaware that this stipulation existed – she was simply planning the dildos to make a statement about how those involved with the new law were “a bunch of dildos” because they couldn’t see how their well-intending “safety measure” was nothing more than Texas’s long-standing opinions on gun ownership.

Gun owners especially are giving Jin a great amount of backlash, with some making accusations that if she were less inclined to make “pointless statements” that she might be able to get an actual human penis – which is a thinly veiled attack at her person, rather than her views. This friction has strengthened Jin’s resolve, and her following – which stands at almost 11,000 supporters on the event’s Facebook page alone.

Jessica Jin 02

This preference of gun ownership versus sexual freedoms isn’t a new thing for Texas, however. In 2008, the Supreme Court was involved in a decision that would end a 35-year-long ban against the sale or use of sex toys within the state. The Supreme Court decided that it was not Constitutional to regulate the sexual activities of a consenting adult, and therefore the states had no powers to impose or enforce laws that would limit their sexual expression.

Jin and her followers feel that it’s ridiculous that the school could impose laws that would, essentially, be limiting that guaranteed sexual freedom, while also passing a bill that put their personal safety at risk. After all, there should never be a situation where it is appropriate for a student to have a weapon in a classroom – and many feel that allowing this activity would only be inviting more trouble than it could possibly hope to prevent.

Our society as a whole has taken to criminalizing our sexual lives in whatever ways they feel they can. In the gay community, we certainly feel the most pressure from these laws, but certainly there are a number of other groups speaking out about it as well.

Jessica, we at KitschMix wish you the best in your protest – it’s time to fight back against slut shaming and senseless bans on our private lives!

Foo Fighters ‘Rick Roll’ Westboro Baptist Church (VIDEO)

The Westboro Baptist Church were publicly trolled by the Foo Fighters last week and it was fantastic.

Foo Fighters ‘Rick Roll’

Blasting out Rick Astley’s classic tune, ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, the band amid they’re counter-protest at one of the anti gay groups infamous protests outside Sprint Centre, Kansas City.

For those unfamiliar with the term, ‘Rick Rolling’ involves surprising someone with Astley’s epically cheesy hit – which the Foo Fighters did, surrounded by hordes of cheering fans.

This isn’t the first time Dave Grohl and his bandmates have tackled Westboro Baptist Church head on – they also upstaged the anti-gay group back in 2011.

Watch the full ‘Rick Rolling’ below.

Ugandan Lesbian Asylum Seeker is Finally Released

Margret Nazziwa, a lesbian activist and asylum seeker who was due to be deported to Uganda from the UK, was released yesterday.

Nazziwa, who fled Uganda in 2012 after experiencing persecution because of her sexual orientation, had been detained in Yarls Wood Detention Centre in Bedfordshire, and told she would be deported on last Sunday.

Today the Home Office told campaigners that her deportation would be ‘deferred’.

“I feel great and I am so happy. I am grateful and I would like to thank all the people who have been supporting me. I’m so happy that UKBA are releasing me, and that they have agreed to hear my case again.”

Margret Nazziwa

A Home Office spokesperson said it does not routinely discuss individual cases, but said:

“The UK has a proud history of granting asylum to those who need our protection and we consider every claim for asylum on its individual merits. When someone is found not to need our protection, we expect them to leave the country voluntarily. Where they do not we will seek to enforce their departure.”

Home Office spokesperson

The Home Office has come under renewed criticism over its policy on processing LGBT asylum claims. Last week, the High Court ruled that fast track detention, a system used to process the vast majority of LGBT asylum cases, was ‘unlawful’.

A review of UK LGBT asylum policy by Sir John Vine, the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, will be published this month.

Protest in London for Ugandan Lesbian Asylum Seeker due to be Deported Sunday

A protest will take place outside the Home Office on Friday in support of Margret Nazziwa – a lesbian asylum seeker who is due to be deported to Uganda on Sunday.

Ms Nazziwais, an LGBT activist, is currently being held at the Yarls Wood Detention Centre in Bedfordshire. Her reason for being in the UK is due to being forced to flee Uganda in 2012 after experiencing persecution because of her sexual orientation. It’s claimed she was forced into a heterosexual marriage, was a victim of rape, and tortured by her community and the Ugandan authorities.

She is due to be deported to Uganda on Sunday 13 July at 8pm.

“Margret’s safety is paramount and she is highly needed in the gay rights movement. She has fought hard to defend the voiceless and now she needs us to defend her.”

The African LGBTI Out & Proud Diamond Group

The Home Office has come under renewed criticism over its policy on processing LGBT asylum claims. This week, the High Court ruled that fast track detention, a system used to process the vast majority of LGBT asylum cases, was “unlawful”.

Decisions to deport are often made before a claimant’s legal appeal has been fully exhausted. Mr Justice Ouseley said the system carries an “unacceptably high risk of unfairness.”

The Home Office has again rejected claims of deporting LGBT asylum seekers. Conservative minister Baroness Susan Williams recently admitted that the UK Government did not know how many asylum claims from Uganda were made on the basis of sexual orientation.

A review of UK LGBT asylum policy by Sir John Vine, the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, will be published this month.