Don’t Be Dumb at Brunch: Let’s Queer the Vote, Pee in Paris and Laugh at Milo

Happy Sunday! It’s brunch time. Don’t be Dumb. This week we bring you stories about “driving” the vote turnout in November, Milo Yiannopoulos causing more problems (but being brought down to size), plus stories we didn’t think we’d ever report on, like public sex and a new way to pee in Paris. Of course we have our Whack Job of the Week as well. See who it is below.

Here are the week’s 5 news stories that’ll keep you looking well-informed at brunch:

1. Thinking Outside the Booth

If you’re a member of the LGBTQ community, you can’t be happy with the consistent attempts by President Trump and his administration to strip our rights away. Showing up to the polls in November is extremely important as Democrats attempt to take back both the House and Senate.

Well, a Tennessee-based group called the Chattanooga Queer Community Forum created a ride-sharing app called Queer the Vote 2018: Hamilton County which helps get LGBTQ people to the polls — especially trans people who sometimes face difficulty voting because of gender markers on their government-issued ID.

2. Oui for Pee

The city of Paris has installed a handful of red boxes (no, not the ones with DVD rentals) that look like trash bins or mailboxes but they’re neither. They’re actually uritrottoirs, or open-air Paris urinals. Unfortunately, these “urinals” are causing controversy over their lack of privacy. Plus, they really are only for men and their penises — there are no options for females yet. But, they’re eco-friendly (using straw to eliminate odor) and the pee easily converts into compost. They also help cut down on public urination. For those of us with small bladders, these “pee stations” would be a welcome sight all around America’s big cities during Pride parades!

3. Hey, Look at Us!

Let’s just put this out there… you can now have sex in public in Guadalajara, Mexico unless, of course, someone complains. Officials say this new public sex law will allow local police to focus on actual crime rather than seeking out and punishing people who are simply too poor to afford a hotel room.

Of course, some locals are concerned that the new law represents erosion in public morals, worrying the law could potentially create an uptick in pedophilia and rape cases. We will keep a close eye on this new law… and maybe our surroundings if we’re ever in Mexico.

4. No Go for Milo

Perennial gay jerk, Milo Yiannopoulos has been disinvited to speak at Politicon, a bipartisan political conference that kicks off in Los Angeles this October. Fellow speaker Symone Sanders, a black cultural critic, opposed Yiannopoulos’ inclusion, publicly calling him a “white supremacist” and posting an email reply from Yiannopoulos in which he called Sanders “dumb fucking cunt.” Nevertheless, notable racists and provocateurs Tucker Carlson and Ann Coulter will still be in attendance.

5. Whack Job of the Week: Utah’s Dave Robinson

Dave Robinson, an openly gay Utahn and the Salt Lake County Republican Party’s communication director, recently said the high rate of suicide among young LGBTQ people is because they get laid too often. You heard that right. LGBTQ youth, who are five times more likely to commit suicide than their straight peers, are struggling even more in Utah where the rate for young adults (ages 10 to 17) more than doubled from 2011 to 2015, a rate four times faster than the national average.

Mental health experts agree that the rates are higher most likely due to familial rejection. But Robinson says, “You talk to some of these people that have had grundles of sex partners and the self-loathing and basically the unhappiness and the self-hatred level is tremendously high.”

The openly gay Robinson, who seems to be missing an opportunity to help move his party forward, might be suffering from some of that self-hatred himself. He seems to fit in perfectly with the majority of his party in making life more challenging for LGBTQ youth — and blaming their sex life and not the lack of love and acceptance from those they need most.

Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo were one of two plaintiff couples in California’s 2013 challenge of Proposition 8, which brought marriage equality back to the state after being ruled on by the U.S. Supreme Court. These activists also host the weekly podcast The Husbands. Catch them there, or follow them on Instagram @JeffZandPaulK.