The Commonwealth hates sex workers

The president of William & Mary has been fired/asked to resign/something over his latest in a series of progressive acts: allowing the college to host the Sex Workers Art Show.

Here is what I have to say about this: c'mooooooooon, Virginia. I mean it. Honestly.

Punk Rock Femme and I attended the Richmond leg of the Sex Workers Art Show, which was held at an alternate location because Virginia Commonwealth University got squicked out by Teh Evil Sex Workers. Controversy! Protesters at the door yelling things about Jesus and "sins of the flesh"! Extremely large turnout! Standing room only!

I expected sauciness and filthy, filthy things. What we got was kind of tame. A queer dude escort did a really, really long and boring monologue about daddies and jury duty. A burlesque dancer did some things with her insanely large hooters. A porn star read a really beautiful short story. A domme rocked it performance art style, and she maybe got a (strap on) blow job on stage. Someone else sang a piece from a musical.

At intermission, the venue sold hot dogs, french fries, and Pepsi. It was like a high school football game, only with less violence and more of a sense of community.

Firing offense? Protestors? Honestly, Virginia ... I don't know what I'm gonna do with you.

[Via Jezebel]

The Commonwealth says nay to gay plates

The state of Virginia would like David Phillips to return his license plate NOW (it reads "POOFTER"). Ahh, humorless Virginia: I loves ya.

I'm kind of hoping he goes with his old vanity plate slogan. Snarky queer guy for the win!:

Merriam-Webster says "poofter" is "usually disparaging," and the Oxford English Dictionary calls the word "derogatory slang," but it's routinely aired on broadcast television, and Phillips says it's less disparaging than "nancy boy," which happens to have been his previous license tag message ("NANCBOY," for four years, with no complaint from the state). "Poofter," Phillips contends, "is a pretty neutral word. It gets past any e-mail filter."

Ok, so I've been thinking about buying a new car for the last 4 or 5 months or so (Dear Tres Bien: I take a long time to make decisions. Quiet over there!), and the whole Virginia-as-vanity-plate-heaven thing has made me think a little about whether or not to get vanity plates. Now that I've read the WaPo piece, I'm guessing that "HOMOGAY" or "GOHOMO1" or the like would probably be out of the question?