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A dad is sharing his first encounter with a transgender woman in his small Texas town, and the simple lesson he taught his son is inspiring hope in others.

James Eric Barlow (oddragon226 on TikTok) shared a video from his car describing how he and his son saw a trans woman in real life for the first time. “We all know that there’s people that are disgusted whenever they see a trans person,” Barlow begins. “And we all know of the people who don’t care if they see a trans person.

“But apparently, we’re a third type of person (or at least I am, I can’t speak for him),” he says, indicating his son in the backseat who chimes in with “I am, too!”

Barlow then goes on to explain how they had just had their first experience with a trans woman. It wasn’t anything major—she just walked through a door behind them and Barlow held the door for her, just as he would any other person. He didn’t even notice she was trans at first, but once he did, his immediate reaction was one we can all learn from.

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“When I tell you how happy it made me,” he says, beginning to tear up, “to be able to see somebody be out and open to the world here in small town Texas. You just gotta know how much bravery that takes. Right, Mikey?”

“Hell yeah!” the son agrees.

Barlow wanted to say something to her, but he didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable, either.

“But if you’re a trans woman and you came here to the Landmark truck stop in Clyde, Texas, just know we’re proud of you,” he concludes.

@oddragon226

our first trans woman experience #trans #transwoman #transpeoplearepeople #transrights #translivesnatter

Barlow’s video was shared on Reddit, where it’s received 37,000 upvotes and a slew of comments that prove parents set the tone for their kids’ sense of acceptance.

“Indoctrinate your children with kindness, compassion, consideration and respect for others.” – Toddthmpsn

“When I was younger I would get my hair cut by a woman named Liz. She spoke Spanish so it was hard for to understand her English sometimes. My dad spoke Spanish so would translate for her and me. I noticed Liz looked a little different then other women. But I never said anything, I never felt any differently about her. She never scared me, or made me question anything. She was just Liz. As I got older I realized she was a trans woman. And it literally changed nothing. She was still just Liz. Liz was always kind and treated everyone warmly. I havnt seen her in years but I hope she is doing well. I really liked her.” – PerplexedPoppy

“This literally happened to me as a child in the 80s. A cashier at a store we visited suddenly started dressing in a feminine style and it appeared that they were transitioning. My mom explained to me in an age appropriate way that sometimes people decide they want to be a man instead of a woman, or a woman instead of a man. She told me that people would probably be mean to the cashier and it was important for us to remember that and always be polite to her, as we would anyway. This was way before trans issues were as mainstream as they are now, but my mom had seen an episode of Phil Donahue where transwoman discussed their stories, and she recognized it as a medical issue. Core memory for me.” – ZipCity262

“As a trans woman, im deathly afraid whenever I have to go to rural areas. I can instantly feel physical tension when I walk into a gas station or a restaurant in these areas. Thank you for being supportive. Trans people need you now more than ever.” – rainbow_lenses

It really is a simple matter to accept people as they are and treat all humans with dignity, kindness and respect, even if we don’t fully understand them. And as this dad and son show, it’s a simple matter to demonstrate non-judgmental acceptance in front of our kids so they hopefully will grow up without being bound by chains of bigotry they’ll later have to learn to unload.

This article originally appeared on 7.7.23

Move over Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck: You two aren’t the only celebrities who love Dunkin. Rapper Ice Spice and the company have announced an curated collaboration that will hit stores nationwide this fall. The culinary link-up is set to take over locations on Wednesday, September 13.

Last November, after becoming a fixture in rap, Ice Spice took to X (formerly Twitter) to ask supporters to vote for their fan name. Of the three options presented, Munchkins, tied back to her first viral hit, “Munch (Feelin’ U),” won in a landslide. So, her partnership with Dunkin, seemingly centered around the bite-size item, is apropos.

To announce the joint venture, Ice Spice went on X to share the promotional image of a Dunkin’ munchkin sporting her signature iced-out diamond necklace with the caption, “America runs on MUNCHKINS.”

The company’s Instagram post shared a bit more insight into their collaboration, writing, “Putting the ice in pumpkin spice.” Based on both posts, the collaboration could incorporate more than one of the restaurant’s beloved offerings.

In a post uploaded to his Instagram, Dunkin will roll out an Ice Spice Munkins Drink that blends their frozen coffee with a pumpkin munchkin donut hole treat while infusing caramel drizzle, then topped with whipped cream.

As followers cheered in excitement in the comment section, a representative via Dunkin’s official profile chimed in to shut down the rumor. “Couldn’t be us,” wrote the rep.

It looks like Ice Spice’s super fans and avid Dunkin’ lovers will have to wait for more information to be released.

The first Sunday of the 2023 NFL season brought with it the glory of NFL RedZone being back in our lives, with an opening kickoff Octobox welcoming us to another year filled with seven hours of commercial free football every Sunday.

However, for all the brilliance of the folks in the RedZone production room, they didn’t notice the wildest thing to happen on an opening kickoff in the 1 p.m. window, as they cut away from Titans-Saints despite a crazy defensive play from Tennessee’s Amani Hooker. It wasn’t until 10 minutes later (after a lengthy review in New Orleans) that we got to go back and see how the Titans offense actually ended up with the football to start the game despite the Saints receiving the opening kickoff, as Hooker somehow ripped the ball away from return man Rashid Shaheed and got control of it before he bounced out of bounds.

It really is a crazy play to get your hands in there, rip the ball away, and gain control all while keeping your body in bounds long enough before bounding out of bounds. Unfortunately for Hooker, his heroics could only yield a field goal for the Titans, as they actually went backwards on their opening drive, scoring three points on -8 yards of offense due to penalties.

On Saturday, September 9, Coco Gauff made tennis history after she beat Aryna Sabalenka to win the 2023 US Open title. According to CBS, the 19-year-old player became the youngest American woman to win the tournament since Serena Williams. After the landmark victory, Gauff took to TikTok to bask in the moment with a very fitting soundtrack.

In a video captioned “This Barbie is the US Open Champion ,” Gauff is seen lipsynching along to Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s song “Barbie World.” The track, which appears on the Barbie movie’s official soundtrack, is all about confidence, of which Gauff has plenty.

During Gauff’s victory speech, she let her confidence shine bright as she clapped back at those who doubted she would come out on top.

Honestly, thank you to the people who didn’t believe in me. Like a month ago, I won a 500 title, and people said I would stop at that. Two weeks ago, I won a 1,000 title, and people were saying that was the biggest I was going to get. So three weeks later, I’m here with this trophy right now. I tried my best to carry this with grace, and I’ve been doing my best. So honestly, to those who thought [they] were putting water on my fire, you’re really adding gas to it. And now I’m really burning so bright right now.

Sports stars such as Angel Reese have appeared alongside their favorite musical acts. For Reese, that was Cardi B and Latto, when she made a cameo in their video for “Put It On Da Floor Again.” Maybe Coco Gauff will link up with Nicki Minaj or Ice Spice in the future.
Barbie: The Album is out now via Atlantic. Find more information here.

The Barbie soundtrack is a Warner Music release. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Is the frontrunner for the GOP’s 2024 presidential ticket going to jail? Maybe. Maybe not. Donald Trump is facing a whopping 91 charges, which, if he’s convicted, add up to a staggering 713 years in the slammer. But what if instead of spending the rest of his life in some white-collar prison he could just chill in Mar-a-Lago, ranting to strangers about his misfortunes? That could happen.

As per Raw Story, longtime Washington insider Jonathan Alter went on MSNBC, where he argued that Trump is “not looking at jail time.” He addressed his chaotic dealings with Judge Tanya Chutkan, who’s overseeing his Jan. 6 case, saying, “In a normal case, yes, he would be jailed for contempt of court, but as a practical matter, he can’t be.” He pointed out that they “can’t house the Secret Service in jail and all the rest of it.”

That doesn’t mean Trump will escape his comeuppance. Alter said that he’s convicted, “it’s likely to be house arrest.”

Alter added, “It’s conceivable that Judge Chutkan, if he continues to violate the terms of his bail, [he] could be subjected to house arrest — that’s still possible.”

Honestly that doesn’t sound too bad. Trump won’t have to spend his energy being president. Being a straight-up dictator, which is what it sounds like Trump wants to be if re-elected, sounds exhausting anyway. Instead he could spend what time he has left on this mortal coil probably cheating at golf.

You can watch Alter’s MSNBC appearance in the video below.

(Via Raw Story)

Besides being businessmen, Elon Musk and Nick Cannon have something else in common: Both share the desire to expand their already large family. Cannon has a full baker’s dozen. Thanks to the release of his self-titled biography, we now know that Musk is just two shy of that number.

According to The New York Times, Walter Isaacson’s Elon Musk confirmed rumors that Musk and musician Grimes have a secret third child together. Musk has bragged about being an “autumn chicken,” in the sense that he could quite easily crank out more kids. Based on the birth of his latest baby, named Techno Mechanicus, he proved his point.

Grimes and Elon Musk welcomed their first child, X Æ A-12, or X, in 2020. Last year, Grimes reluctantly confirmed that the couple had a second baby, named Exa Dark Sideræl Musk. Grimes has expressed her need to keep her family life private. Howevrer, during an interview with Vanity Fair, journalist Devin Gordon could hear the young child in the background.

“I hear what sounds vaguely like a lone cry from an infant upstairs. I think I notice Grimes wince… I hear it again. This time, it’s multiple cries, and it’s unmistakable… That’s a baby,” wrote Gordon.

Isaacson’s Elon Musk will hit bookstores and e-distributors on September 12. Find more information here.

Last week actor Danny Masterson was sentenced to 30 years in prison on two counts of rape by force or fear. Afterwards it emerged that some of his fellow That ‘70s Show alumni, including Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, had written “letters of support” for their former castmate, in which they called him “exceptional” and an “extraordinarily honest and intentional human being.” Many were horrified that they would throw their weight behind someone charged with multiple cases of sexual assault. On Saturday the two went into damage control.

In a video posted on Instagram, Kunis and Kutcher said they were “aware of the pain” the letters had caused people.

“We support victims,” Kunis said. “We have done this historically through our work and will continue to do so in the future.”

“A couple months ago, Danny’s family reached out to us and they asked us to write character letters to represent the person that we knew for 25 years, so that the judge could take that into full consideration, relative to the sentencing,” Kutcher explained.

“The letters were not written to question the legitimacy of the judicial system or the validity of the jury’s ruling,” Kunis continued.

“They were intended for the judge to read and not to undermine the testimony of the victims or re-traumatize them in any way. We would never want to do that, and we are sorry if that has taken place,” Kutcher said.

Kunis concluded by saying, “Our hearts go out to every single person who’s ever been a victim of sexual assault, sexual abuse or rape.”

Their response, however, to some did not mollify the situation. Some criticized what they called the “heavily lawyered language” they deployed.

One of the women Masterson was convicted of raping allegedly called it “insulting and hurtful.”

Others thought it played like a hostage video.

Some argued that the two only apologized because they got caught for something they didn’t know would go public.

Some found it cynical.

And others called them actors.

Christina Ricci seemed to acknowledge the video in an Instagram post, writing, “Unfortunately I’ve known lots of ‘awesome guys’ who were lovely to me but have been proven to be abusers privately. I’ve also had personal experience with this. Believe victims. It’s not easy to come forward. It’s not easy to get a conviction.”

After Masterson’s sentencing, Leah Remini, a former Scientologist (as Masterson is) who’s become a critic of the religion, said she was “relieved” he was “off the streets.”

(Via NBC News)

Prior to a slugfest in the gold medal game that saw Dennis Schröder drop 28 points to lead Germany to an 83-77 win over Serbia for the country’s first World Cup gold, Canada and Team USA met in a highly anticipated showdown for the bronze medal.

The game lost some of its luster (and some of its stars to rest) after both teams lost their semifinals, but it was still a meaningful game for both sides as there was a bronze medal and plenty of pride on the line in a matchup of two teams loaded with NBA stars. For Team USA, Anthony Edwards and Austin Reaves continued to shine with 24 and 23 points respectively, while Mikal Bridges had a nice night with 19 points and nine rebounds, but as has been the case against top teams in this World Cup, they simply didn’t have enough defensive answers for Canada. While they were playing without Jaren Jackson Jr., Team USA allowed Canada to do just about anything they wanted on the offensive end, with the Canadians shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 45.9 percent from three, creating good looks consistently.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had yet another monster game with 31 points, 12 assists, and six rebounds, but his performance came secondary to Dillon Brooks dropping 39 on the Americans, as he delighted in the opportunity to take down Team USA. Brooks caught fire from deep, knocking down 7-of-8 from beyond the arc, and simply bludgeoned the USA defense with a barrage of threes.

Even with Brooks’ outburst, the two teams were unable to separate themselves through four quarters, still being knotted up at 111-111 thanks to some incredible late game heroics from Mikal Bridges.

But as the game went to overtime the Canadian side took control. SGA and RJ Barrett (23 points) were the ones to deliver the biggest buckets of overtime to lead Canada to a 127-118 win, as Gilgeous-Alexander dropped Mikal Bridges with a stepback and Barrett put the dagger in with a three from the top of the key.

For the second straight World Cup, Team USA heads home without a medal to show for their efforts, and while they should have a much better player pool available to choose from for the Olympics next year, they were still a highly talented team this year and showed there’s lots of work to do to get them to become a cohesive unit, particularly defensively. For Canada, its the first World Cup medal for the men’s squad, and earning it with a win over the Americans is particularly sweet. They’ll still feel they left a gold medal opportunity on the table, but will be certainly buoyed by their performance and will have sky high expectations for the Olympics next year.

After defeating Team USA on Friday, there was some wonder as to whether Germany would have any letdown in the gold medal game of the 2023 FIBA World Cup against Serbia. You could tell how much beating the Americans meant in their postgame celebration, but it became apparent early on Sunday that Germany had been able to quickly refocus on the task at hand.

In the first half, the two teams went back and forth in a game that remained level at 47-47 at the break, with both teams following the lead of their top stars as expected. Dennis Schröder and Franz Wagner led the way early for Germany, while Bogdan Bogdanovic continued his sensational tournament for Serbia.

However, in the third quarter the Germans started to flash their lockdown defense, limiting Serbia to 10 points in the quarter, and followed that effort to pull away to a 12-point advantage. On the offensive end, Schröder left Serbia searching for answers for his pace in getting to the rim, collapsing the Serbia defense and, even when they did keep him from finishing himself, opening up Serbia in rotation for Germany’s crisp passing (that likewise killed the USA team) to pick them apart.

Serbia would battle back to close the deficit to one possession, with Bogdanovic (17 points) and Aleksa Avramovic (21 points to lead Serbia) pulling them back into the game.

With Serbia within a basket in the final minute, Schröder went to work, putting the dagger in with yet another drive and finish at the rim, as he authored an exceptional performance with 28 points to carry Germany to their first World Cup gold.

After some late free throws, the celebration was on for Germany after a 83-77 win, capping off a magical World Cup that saw them go undefeated through both group and knockout round play.

They were the most complete and consistent team at this year’s World Cup, able to win games that were low-scoring as well as shootouts, as evidenced by the vast difference in the scores of the semifinal and final. Their comfort in seemingly any kind of game or any situation was remarkable, led by veterans Schröder and Daniel Theis, with the Wagner brothers injecting some youth into the squad, and the likes of Andreas Obst and Johannes Voigtmann playing their roles to perfection around the stars.

If the GOP primary was held today, Donald Trump would easily win. It just happens that within the next year he might be going to jail, though that might not be enough to stop him from still running. Popular as he might be among Republican voters, it’s another story with the other half of the country, who largely find him to be a repellant autocrat and probable criminal. This weekend the former president paid another visit to Iowa, where he witnessed the violently mixed response he’s well-earned.

As per The New York Times, on Saturday Trump attended the Iowa-Iowa State college football game at Jack Trice Stadium. He got some cheers — and what sounded like an equivalent amount of loud boos. It’s yet another stark reminder that he’s not a unifier but a polarizing figure who only appeals to part of the country, while being equally loathed by the other.

Heckling Trump wasn’t the only way Iowans made their opinions known. Someone also flew a plane over the stadium bearing a banner with the words “Where’s Melania?” The ex-First Lady has barely been seen since leaving the White House, though reports claim she sometimes gets mad at her philandering husband.

where’s Melania

Others flipped Trump off as he watched the game from his private booth.

There were cheers, of course, including when he first entered the stadium.

Trump wasn’t the only GOP candidate in attendance that day. Ron DeSantis was also there. He, too, received some birds, just as he’d been jeered while visiting the state back in August.

Trump took Iowa back in 2020, by a whopping eight percentage points. That still wasn’t enough for him to win re-election.

(Via NYT)