Biblical excuse for homophobia shut down in one simple tweet

Twitter user @RussInChesire — who describes himself as an “INTJ, feminist, centre-left/green” designer, data analyst, and portrait painter — tweeted the perfect retort for anyone who leans on the Bible to support their homophobia.

Russ tweeted the clapback in June 2018, but the post recently found new life online.

Related: Dear Religious Right: Stop using The Bible as a weapon of homophobia

Christian opponents to homosexuality often cite Leviticus 18:22, which reads, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”

But David Lose, Senior Pastor at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, observed in a 2011 HuffPost article that there’s “considerable debate” about that verse and similar passages — e.g. whether they refer to “consensual homosexual practice” and whether they were born out of, say, the importance of procreation to the nomadic Israelites.

Related: Gay teen eviscerates every religious argument against homosexuality

FYI, the Bible also forbids eating pork or shrimp, getting tattoos, gossiping, and — checks notes — getting rounded haircuts.

www.queerty.com/biblical-excuse-homophobia-shut-one-simple-tweet-20200126?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

My 5 resolutions for keeping my sanity and finding my joy this decade

Just before we entered the new decade, I reflected on my dumpster fire of a dating life from 2010 to 2019 which included most of my 20s. And while I encountered an unusual cast of characters, the only person in each and every equation I can control is myself. How can I expect anything in my life to change, if I don’t change?

So hold on to your wig Jennifer Holiday and Hudson because I am changing—and this time Effie White is going to win.

1. No More Dick Pics

I’m not a prude, I just want some respect. So please don’t share nudes away if you want me to respond. In the 2020s, I’m getting like Ciara and leveling up and leaving my goodies in the jar. The boys are just going to have to deal. How and when did it become standard operating procedure to share a photo of your naked body within moments of interfacing with a perfect stranger and if you don’t, the other person loses interest? I’m done auditioning for dates and hookups and being left thinking something is wrong with me if I don’t get a callback. Is this what growth looks like?

2. Bye, Grindr

It’s deleted. Gone. Erased. For real this time. Forever this time. According to the U.S. Foreign Service Institute, it takes 480 hours to reach basic fluency in languages close to English like Spanish. Studies show it takes 10,000 hours to master a new skill. Basically, if I took all the time I spent on Grindr over the last decade looking for cheap thrills, I could have been a renowned, Spanish-speaking chef with Moonlight‘s Trevante Rhodes’ body instead of drowning in the toxic pit of despair that is online dating and hook up apps. How many books could I have read? How many young gays could I have mentored? How many more hours of sleep could I have gotten? I’m going to find out.

3. New Phone, Who This?

This decade I’m giving you my landline phone number that my cable company bundled with my internet and forced me to get. You can call me the old fashioned way like its the 90s. I have so many numbers in my cell phone with a first name followed by a last name describing a trait or where we met—Trevor Jack’d, Jorge Harlem, Diego Gym, Michael LGA Gate 3. Vince Peach. And when I look at the chat histories, it’s just me putting in all the work to keep the flame alive. I let that stuff fly in my 20s, but not in the 2020s.

4. My Therapist Says

I recently read a study that found black gay and bisexual men are twice as likely to be depressed and five times more likely to have attempted suicide than their white counterparts—and I’m not surprised. Racism is rife in the gay community. And then you deal with it at work. And it’s all over the news. I’m embracing my black boy joy in my 30s and I’m finally getting a therapist to unpack and unburden myself from decades of dealing with trauma.

5. Can We Talk About Something Else?

This decade, I’m giving Oprah and Gayle realness. I am opening up to my friends more about things other than opening our legs. I remember thinking Miranda was such a weirdo for wanting to talk about her palm pilot instead of penis with her friends on Sex & The City, but now that I’m older I get her. I recently experienced a traumatic moment, and couldn’t think of a single friend I could call and share it with who would understand or know what to say. But if I had a noteworthy sexual experience, I know exactly who I’d share it with and I know I’d get the validation I needed. That has to change.

www.queerty.com/5-resolutions-keeping-sanity-decade-20200126?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

SNL’s Weekend Update Reviews the Sham Impeachment Trial: ‘Republicans Laid Out Their Defense, the Shrug Emoji’ — WATCH

SNL’s Weekend Update got into Trump’s impeachment trial last week.

Jost led off the segment, noting that Rep. Adam Schiff was on his television for so long, when he turned the TV off “there was still an outline of him burned into the screen.”

Jost then summed up the proceedings: “What happened was, Democrats spent three days laying out in great detail how they believe President Trump has been the most egregious abuser of power in American history. And then Republicans laid out their defense, the shrug emoji.”

Jost then brought up a photo of Mitch McConnell, “seen here calmly watching an orphanage burn.”

McConnell defended his plan for the trial, saying, “The country is waiting to see if we can rise to the occasion,” added Jost, quipping, “I would maybe say you’re not rising to the occasion, considering one senator fell asleep, Rand Paul was doing a crossword puzzle and some Republican senators even brought fidget spinners to play with. I assume this symbolized how the Founding Fathers are spinning in their graves.”

Michael Che had another take on the trial: “It was like a four-day long PowerPoint. This is supposed to be Trump’s punishment, not mine. This whole impeachment is like a bad episode of ‘Maury.’ There’s all this evidence that Trump clearly cheated and Republicans are still like, ‘But Maury, he loves me.’ Trump is so confident he’s going to win, he’s using Jeffrey Epstein’s lawyer to represent him. Talk about credibility — who’s his character witness, R. Kelly?”

Jost then looked at Trump’s media appearances during the week, in which he expressed the need to protect American geniuses like Elon Musk … and Thomas Edison.

Said Jost: “We have to protect Thomas Edison? I think that’s a line Nic Cage yells in National Treasure.”

Weekend Update also looked at the audio of Trump telling Lev Parnas to “take out” Marie Yovanovitch, and Rudy Giuliani’s podcast, ‘Common Sense’.

“It’s the first podcast ever recorded and uploaded accidentally from a pants pocket.”

In another segment, Melissa Villaseñor sang about the Oscar nominees and the snub of female directors, and the preponderance of “white male rage.”

Weekend Update also covered Derek Jeter, the first aircraft carrier named after an African-American sailor, equal pay, Mr. Peanut’s death, a Gritty assault, and a goat with a human face.

Finally, travel expert Carrie Krum (Aidy Bryant) had some insider tips on winter getaways.

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SNL’s Weekend Update Reviews the Sham Impeachment Trial: ‘Republicans Laid Out Their Defense, the Shrug Emoji’ — WATCH