Oh I bet! Its not the same, but I do cosplay and that drains my bank account dry. And I assume they also take classes for various things, be in singing or whatever talent they show (I saw one that did hoops -- that is HARD). > I know the media makes it seem like that isn't generally the case, but that community is as diverse as anything else out there, and the people in it may or may not view themselves as trans.

I confess that originally I thought they were all trans. Then I saw a documentary about drag and was educated. It's a lot like any performance career -- anyone can do it and have that stage persona. First examples that come to mind are Dolly Parton or any of the members of Kiss. I think all these folks who are against drag politically or involving kids should go see a good drag show. Dita Von Teese has a great one, but I know there are a lot on a smaller, local scale. [unrelated: i just googled her to make sure I spelled her name correctly; she is 50! Damn, she looks like she's 30]

So when talking about his death, since we're talking about the entire person, not just the drag persona, he is the appropriate pronoun?

Okay, that makes sense. Thank you for the clarification :)

That is fucking amazing, good on 'em. That said, genuine question, the article says they used female pronouns on stage but male pronouns off stage. In the case of talking to them like this, in a news context of an individual, which pronoun would be appropriate? I mean, Darcelle is a she, but they are still a person outside of drag, and the entire person, drag and all, passed away. The article uses he, but I want to make sure that is the appropriate one. I don't want to use the wrong pronouns.

Which is just stupid! Regardless, it is their fault for allowing her to have unsupervised access to it if she can't regulate the use appropriately, autistic or not. Instructions and warnings are there. If you choose to not read them, it's on you when something bad as warned would happen. It sucks, but that's the truth.

You let your kid, who even under the best neurotypical high intelligence cases is still a minor without a fully developed brain, do something they shouldn't, the guardian is at fault. If a toddler is left outside by a pool unsupervised, it's not the fault of the pool company when they fall in and drown; it's the parents'. If you let your kid have a bottle of tylenol and don't teach them the proper dosing and precautions and they accidentally OD, it's not Tylenol's fault, it's the parents'. It's unfortunate and it's unintentional, but it still falls on the parents when all the warnings and instructions are right there (or easily accessed). They could use this as a learning moment and spread that knowledge to more parents who are ignorant to it. Take a more active role, monitor your kids, teach them proper use of things, learn about the safety and safe use of things before handing them off to kids. Blaming the manufacturers doesn't solve anything.

Yes to both you and the person you responded to. They put the appropriate warning on there and you assume people are going to use a product even remotely close to how you're supposed to. If you drink an entire bag of coffee in one sitting, it's not the coffee maker's fault when you have a heart attack as a result.

It's a tragedy, but it's not the fault of the deodorant maker. Aerosols should not be inhaled in great amounts. At all. They knew she wasn't doing a quick spritz, it's their responsibility to keep her safe when she can't make that kind of decision on her own.

Not even a dude, but I VERY distinctly remember the cloud that emanated out. That side of the gym was avoided, even by the PE teachers.