Brian Sims Responds To Facebook Ban After Being Called The F-Word and Sharing It: EXCLUSIVE
Towleroad caught up with gay Pennsylvania lawmaker Brian Sims after he made headlines for being banned from the social media platform after sharing a hateful message he had received.
As many media outlets reported last week, Sims was banned from Facebook for sharing a screenshot of a comment wherein a woman named Jill Freb said, “You get out f——.”
Sims said the worst thing about being blocked on social media and then seeing a story like this explode everywhere was not being able to respond directly on Facebook, although he could still express his views on Twitter.
After discovering he’d been banned from Facebook, Sims shared the message on Twitter, writing: “Facebook just banned ME for this.”
Sims noted that the homophobic message came from a user who had prominently advertised their religion on their profile, and said on Twitter: “The Venn Diagram of people who call me a f—–, and people who self identify as ‘Christian,’ is just a single circle. Christians, why is that?”
His Facebook account was subsequently reinstated although Sims still hasn’t heard why he was banned in the first place.
So I guess the advantage of knowing a few people at Facebook, some journalists who saw this post, and a whole lot of organizations that interact with Facebook is that my account was reactivated. THANKS! No explanation. No response yet from @facebook. What. About. Everyone. Else? pic.twitter.com/mZd3YwrBL1
For Sims it was a frustrating but teachable experience.
He told Towleroad that he he was particularly moved to hear comments from women of color who expressed frustration over the algorithm to determine what gets you banned or blocked and the in ability to get a response from the company, “The important take away here has clearly been that what happened to me is happening not just to other LGBTQ people but to women and people of color especially. Targeted harassment and pointed slurs seem to be surviving whatever review process Facebook says they are using, while the recipients and reporters of the harassment seem to be systematically experiencing either no responses or negative reactions.”
Sims’ experience has led him to conclude that, “Ultimately, what I think we all want is for Facebook to be transparent and proactive, to step up their game. It feels too much like we’re getting an “aww shucks” response from a dot.com startup than a substantive response from a multi-billion dollar, multi-national tech/comms behemoth.”
Kamala Harris, senadora californiana e ex-procuradora geral do Estado, lançou oficialmente sua campanha presidencial para 2020, entrando em um campo democrático diversificado, cada vez mais dominado por uma nova geração de mulheres e candidatos a minorias.
Dear white guys: Here are 10 things you shouldn’t be afraid to say to a black guy
Just because something can be misconstrued as racist or tone deaf doesn’t mean I object.
The Diocese who issued an apology to Mr. Phillips said of Bales back in May that, “School officials and representatives of the Diocese of Covington reserve the right to review and approve all student speeches to be presented in public at high school graduations.”
“I have been on their radar as a rather non-gender conforming individual,” Bale, who is openly gay, told the Cincinnati Inquirer. “I have worn makeup and bobby pins in my hair to school before. So it seems too much of a coincidence for my critical thinking to think this was just about the speech itself. But I wasn’t going to go up there and give my speech in full drag.”
Bales made headlines for reading his speech via a bullhorn his father bought him after his speech was banned. Mr. Bales delivered his speech after the ceremony.
Bales speech concluded with a call-to-action to his fellow classmates, “We must take what we’ve learned in this community and apply it to the world we are about to encounter.”
USA Todayreported that “Bales’ speech did not refer to his sexuality but instead referenced the ongoing gun-control protests by the students of Parkland High School in Florida, the scene of a school shooting earlier this year.”
Of Britney & tank tops: Philadelphia trainer Peter Danzig reveals his secrets to looking good
The model/dancer spills on how stretching and some fun outdoors can be fun and help you look great.
Nichelle Nichols: How Martin Luther King Jr. Saved ‘Star Trek’
Star Trek: Discovery is a hit and one of the most representative shows on TV. Representation is part of the rich legacy of Trek . But it almost all fell apart—until it was saved by MLK Jr. Nichols—who played Lt. Uhura on the original series—reveals a little known piece of Star Trek lore.
I hope you will get the story right this time, because for some reason, no one has ever gotten this story right (laughs).
After the first season [of Trek], because my heart was still on Broadway and the performing arts part of me, the musical performing arts of me was yearning to leave. I never intended to be an actress other than in the theater. So for me, TV and movies, that was something to help me get from here to there. And so it was a shock for me to be cast in Star Trek.
A shock and a joy.
I was performing in England at the time of the inception of the show and my agent tracked me down in Paris and told me that they were doing a show called Star Trek, assuming that I’d know what that was.
Now I’d known Gene Rodenberry since he’d given me my first TV starring role in a show that he’d done called the The Lieutenant. And he was one of the first people of that stature that gave me encouragement.
He called my agent and said can you find Nichelle, because I need her for a role in this show and wherever she is, get her back here because I want a woman to be the head of a department on the bridge.
He changed the role from a man heading communications on the bridge and he wanted a woman of color. He wanted me and I came back and got the role. So the first year went by, and I enjoyed doing the role, to me at that time it was very challenging [laughs] but I played my role to the hilt, being the head of communications and all that and by this time the show had aired and I was starting to get notice, and on the side I’m singing at places and people are hearing me and calling and I’m thinking, “Oh this is my big break! I have to leave this little show and go do it! I was thinking Broadway here I come!’
And so I went on a Friday evening shortly before the end of the season to let Gene know that I wouldn’t be returning to the show, he looked at me like I was crazy, “You cannot leave,” but he realized how serious I was and he knew I was passionate about singing, and he said, “I know what your dream is and so forth but don’t you see what I’m trying to do?
He said to take the weekend and think about my decision and how important this show is and how it was a first, and if I leave, well he didn’t know what to say, but he said take the weekend and that way I could take the time to really think about what we just said and come back Monday and we would talk about it and if you really want to leave then, you’ll go with my blessings, but realize I want you to know that what we are doing here is really historic.
The next night was Saturday and I was due to be a celebrity guest on a dais at an NAACP fundraiser at UCLA.
One of the organizers came up to me and said that there was someone who wants to meet you; and he says that he’s you’re best, biggest fan and I’m thinking it’s a Trekkie! [laughs]
So I said certainly and I got up and turned around and maybe 10 or 15 feet coming towards me I see Dr. Martin Luther King and I remember thinking whoever that little fan is, he’s going to have to wait, because here’s Dr. King, who walks straight up to me with this big, magnificent smile on his face and says, “I’m the fan!” because I’m sort of looking around for someone else, and he says, “I am your best fan, I am your biggest fan!” and I… I was at a loss for words, and if you know me, I am never at a loss for words.
I just couldn’t say a thing and he began to tell me how important my role was, what an inspiration it was.
And you have to understand we were in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, people were regularly being attacked by dogs, and marchers were being hosed on the television every night, real life things, and here I am in this futuristic thing on TV and he was so complimentary, he told me “I was so important and the way you have created this role,” and I am just looking at him and looking at him and I remember I just kept hoping he’d never stop talking.
Because his voice is just… you know the voice. And I finally just start saying, thank you so much Dr. King and I am shaking his hand and still shaking from nervousness and I said thank you so much and I am really going to miss my co-stars.
And at this his face totally changed, and he said “What are you talking about?!” and so I told him I would be leaving the show, because; and that was as far as he let me go, and he said, “Stop! You cannot! You cannot leave this show! Do you not understand what you are doing?! You are the first non-stereotypical role in television! Of intelligence, and of a woman and a woman of color?! That you are playing a role that is not about your color! That this role could be played by anyone? This is not a black role. This is not a female role! A blue eyed blond or a pointed ear green person could take this role!”
And I am looking at him and looking at him and buzzing, and he said, “Nichelle, for the first time, not only our little children and people can look on and see themselves, but people who don’t look like us, people who don’t look like us, from all over the world, for the first time, the first time on television, they can see us, as we should be! As intelligent, brilliant, people! People in roles other than slick tap dancers, and maids, which are all wonderful in their own ways, but for the first time we have a woman, a woman, who represents us and not in menial jobs, and you prove it, this man [Gene Rodenberry] proves and establishes a precedent that validates what we are marching for because three hundred years from today there we are, and there you are, in all our glory and all your glory! And you cannot leave!”
And I did not leave.
So, I went back on Monday and told Gene that if he hadn’t replaced me and still wanted me to stay that I would, and I’ll never forget him sitting behind that big desk that he had and he said, “so that’s your decision?”
I said I’d like my letter of resignation back please and I told him what had happened while meeting Dr. King, and I don’t know if you know what Gene looked like, but he was a big guy and was like 6’3” with that hawk nose and a great sense of humor and this brilliant mind and a futurist and–whatever great things you heard about him are just a small part of what that man was.
I looked down at him sitting behind his desk when I told him the story and I finally shut up, and a huge tear is rolling down his cheek. And he said, “Thank God someone understands what I am trying to achieve.”
And he reached down into his drawer and pulled out my letter of resignation and handed it to me, it had already been [laughs] torn up.
#RepresentationMatters
As told to Savas Abadsidis.
This was originally published on Planet Waves dot net. Used with permission of the author.
Adam Lambert and James Corden Queen Out in a Musical Recap of the NFL Championship Games: WATCH
Late, Late Show host James Corden aired a special NFL championship show last night following a day of NFL games which sent the L.A. Rams and the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl over the New Orleans Saints and the Kansas City Chiefs, respectively.
Corden closed the show with a parody of Queen’s classic “Don’t Stop Me Now” called “The Show’s Ending Now”, and who better to join him in performance than current Queen frontman Adam Lambert.
For those of you who missed the games, get your musical recap here:
Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) entered the 2020 presidential race in an announcement on Good Morning America on Monday morning, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Harris also released a video to her social media accounts and launched a campaign website. Her official campaign launch is to take place on Sunday in Oakland, California.
Said Harris in the clip: “The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our American values. That’s why I’m running for president of the United States. I’m running to lift those voices. To bring our voices together.”
Politico reports: ‘Harris will base her campaign in Baltimore, with a second office in Oakland, according to her aides. The bi-coastal arrangement gives them a foothold in two diverse cities and will allow the campaign to be close to Washington where it can be on the Eastern time zone. Among her first decisions will be to reject corporate PAC money and super PAC activity, the aides said. The question has become an early litmus test for what’s expected to be a sprawling field with a record number of women. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York have opened exploratory committees, while Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is readying her run. Other women, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar, could also jump in.’
