Here is a general snapshot of the news I look at every day. I looked at all this yesterday within three hours of waking up. I don’t do it to be depressed. I just happen to read a lot of news, and queer orientated news in particular. Shall we take a look at what I see in an average day?

Headline: Top Trump Cabinet candidate claimed trans individuals ‘suffer from mental disorders,’ live a ‘freakish lifestyle’

http://uk.businessinsider.com/david-clarke-transgender-comments-trump-dhs-2016-11?r=US&IR=T

This is about the appointment of David Clarke. He’s a Sheriff from Wisconsin that hates transgender people being appointed to the Department of Homeland Security. He thinks we are freaks, and by legitimizing the fact that we are alive and human, we are somehow damaging American life.

Headline: Three schools turned away these kids because they have married lesbian parents

http://www.allgaynetwork.net/three-schools-turned-away-these-kids-because-they-have-married-lesbian-parents/

This is an article about a lesbian couple trying to get their child into a school in Mexico. Their child was denied an education by three schools because they are in a same sex relationship. There is a lot of concern trolling about it, but in the end, a child is being denied an education because their parents are lesbians.

Headline:

Trump backers celebrated death of this loving trans mother

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/11/30/trump-backers-celebrated-death-of-this-loving-trans-mother/

A young transgender woman committed suicide, and before her wife could memorialize her Facebook page, hate groups flocked to it celebrating her suicide in some of the worst most hurtful shit you’ve ever seen.

Headline: The most homophobic places in America and Britain have been revealed

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/11/30/the-most-homophobic-places-in-america-and-britain-have-been-revealed/

This is about how the top homophobic places in the US are identified by using social media to rank the states by homophobic statements. As it turns out, Michigan, Ohio, Nevada, Arizona and Texas the worst offenders. So if you are queer in any form, being there probably sucks.

Headline: UNC Professor Pens Racist, Homophobic Facebook Posts and Articles About Students

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/college/a8376102/uncw-professor-mike-adams-accused-of-racist-posts-against-students/

This is how a racist, homophobic professor gets to be a shitbag and keep his job. Sidenote: Yes it is from Cosmopolitan Magazine, and they have been doing some really decent articles these days to my eternal shock.

This is all in the first three hours of waking up. This is everyday of my life. I don’t seek it out, but the hate, and abuse that LGBTQ folks suffer from is ever-present. I’ve described it as background radiation, and I still feel that way.

To be fair, I don’t think this is new, or worse. I think we just get to see it more. The media did not cover this before the internet became a thing and everyone could record things on their phones.

It does act as a reminder every day that I am not a full member of my country to many, and to others I am a target for their aggression.