Secretary Pete Buttigieg $1.2 trillion dollar gift, British Airways drops binary greeting, Lil Nas X is on Maury tomorrow & Waylon Smithers finds love – Tuesday, November 16, 2021

President Biden signed bipartisan legislation yesterday & now all eyes are on Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttgieg. British Airways has left ladies & gentlemen behind for more inclusive language. Lil Nas X has done it again and Maury is his recent co-conspirator and finally the long time gay icon Waylon Smithers of the Simpsons finds love but that’s not the whole story.

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Transcript

Yesterday President Biden signed the 1.2 trillion dollar infrastructure bill into law. Trillion ya’ll. It was bipartisan, can you believe that? I can’t especially given everything still happening with the capitol riot investigation right now. Nonetheless, it happened and it’s been a long time coming. Something not many people thought would actually happen. Talk about rebuilding America, wow. The Queers will be back on the construction sites and in the boardrooms ready to solve some of the nation’s biggest issues around transportation, clean water & broadband Internet accessibility. Argueably, the powerful Queer in this scenario is Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Usually this isn’t a key role in the cabinet but he just got handed the largest infrastructure budget in history. All eyes on Secretary Pete. We will see how he manages the roll out of these funds to states around the country. Secretary Pete is clear that it isn’t just about the short term projects but the long term investment that is the real game changer. Now, VP Kamala Harris had this to say during the bill signing, “This bill is as significant as it is, as historic as it is, is part one of two. To lower costs and cut taxes for working families, to tackle the climate crisis at its core. Congress must also pass the Build Back Better Act. The work of building a more perfect union did not end with the railroad or interstate and it will not end now.” I don’t disagree with VP Harris and we will see if Democrats & Republicans can come together again to get that done. Politics is one big compromise and far too often poor and working folks get left behind. This one though feels like it has great potential to get working people back working for a long time to come. 

Next up, we cannot forget that it’s Transgender Awareness Week. The week is observed from November 13th to November 19th, and its a one-week celebration leading up to Transgender Day of Remembrance, which memorializes victims of transphobic violence. Well today I’m sharing some positive news and that’s something we all need. British Airways has joined a long list of other airlines and dropped the binary greeting of ladies & gentlemen on their flights. They are choosing to be more inclusive and welcoming to ALL. Greetings such as welcome “people”, “travellers”, “passengers” or “guests” will be used. There are so many options that don’t have to include the binary. British Airways joins the UK airports that dropped gendered greetings a while back and EasyJet, Air Malta, Japan Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, United and American Airlines who have done the same as well. These moments of progress cannot be overlooked because they matter. They make a tangible difference  for Queer folks and their everyday lived experience. I’m here for it. 

In other news, Lil Nas X has done it again. This time Maury is his co-conspirator and it’s a complete take from his song & video “That’s What I Want” off the Montero album. If you haven’t seen it, go watch the video before watching Maury tomorrow okay. You’ll notice the actors are the same and the Maury storyline is a continuation of the video. It’s freaking genius. I don’t know how his team come up with this stuff? It tickles me so much because someone is going to actually believe this is true. Keep taking it to another level Lil Nas X. I love it. 

Finally, for my Simpsons fans out there, a historic episode is on the way. The ever so gay Waylon Smithers is finally finding love. Now I wasn’t allowed to watch the Simpsons growing up but even I knew Smithers was gay, so to see this happening now is pretty dope. But this isn’t even the dopest part of this story. It’s the father son story of long time writer Rob & his son Johnny. Smithers coming out episode back in 2016 was inspired by Johnny’s coming out story and they’ve combined forces to cement Smithers leap into his first gay relationship. Johnny says, “What I think I was really excited about, with this episode, we get to see – without spoiling too much – the beginning, middle and who knows how it ends of a gay relationship, of really getting into the nitty-gritty of how gay people date, how they meet, what it’s like,” he said. Johnny goes on to say, “That was really special to me to get to highlight characters who are not punchlines, who are fully formed.” Now if that’s not enough ya’ll Smithers love is being voiced by Victor Garber who tapped into his own journey of coming out in Hollywood. This episode is going to be epic & it’s set to drop on November 21st so set your calendars. 

This is our top Queer news for today and ya’ll know I always have a word. The word today is dreams don’t work unless you do. Are you just sitting around receiving all of these amazing visions from the divine and not doing anything with them? Do you have a dope idea and all you do is talk about it? Come on. Get to work. Time isn’t waiting on anyone and if COVID has taught us anything is that today isn’t promised. Get to it because those dreams. Those ideas. Don’t work unless you do. Till tomorrow family. Peace.

Sources: 

LGBTQ Nation

Pete Buttigieg is ready to get America fixed back up after Biden signs major infrastructure bill
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/11/pete-buttigieg-ready-get-america-fixed-back-biden-signs-major-infrastructure-bill/

Lil Nas X fights his lover’s secret wife on “Maury” next week
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/11/lil-nas-x-fights-lovers-secret-wife-maury-next-week/ 

Pink News

British Airways drops ‘ladies and gentleman’ in favour of gender-neutral greetings
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/10/12/british-airways-gender-neutral-greeting 

The Simpsons’ resident gay icon Waylon Smithers finally finds love in momentous new episode
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/11/12/the-simpsons-waylon-smithers-boyfriend-gay/

MSNBC

Sec. Pete Buttigieg: The Pressure Is On To Deliver With Infrastructure Bill Being Signed Into Law