Friday, March 24, 2017

Family Research Council fails to clean up sleaze of its attack on transgender children

Yesterday, the anti-lgbt hate group Family Research Council exploited the alleged rape of a Maryland high school student in order to smear transgender children. Now the organization is attempting to play a pathetic form of defense for the offending post:


In a follow-up to yesterday's Update story on the Rockville High School tragedy, a handful of critics have accused FRC on social media of somehow exploiting the rape to advance our privacy agenda. In their opinion, if anyone saw the 14-year-old girl go into the boys' bathroom, they would have reported it. However, one of the defense attorneys told Fox News's Bret Baier last night, "This is a bathroom in the middle of the day, where it doesn't appear that she was screaming or that anybody heard anything going on. And there were other kids that apparently saw her going in..." We may never know what role the district's transgender bathroom policy played in this horrible incident. But we do know one thing: it's just one more obstacle to ensuring the safety of students like this one.

On the risk of sounding egotistical, the "handful of critics" FRC alluded to may have been just little ole me. For one thing,  I published a post last night calling out the group for the same reason it cites in the above supposed clarification.  For another thing, a quick investigation by myself failed to find any other blog or news source who called out FRC.

The organization's attempt to clarify its post is simply pathetic. Notice how  FRC alters its description of the incident.

FRC yesterday:

Headlines about school bathrooms have become pretty commonplace over the last year, but there was nothing common about what happened in Rockville, Maryland. In a horrifying story that's rocking the nation, a young 14-year-old girl was walking down the hallway when two older students in her class allegedly grabbed her, dragged her into the boys' bathroom, and took turns raping her.

FRC today:

In a follow-up to yesterday's Update story on the Rockville High School tragedy, a handful of critics have accused FRC on social media of somehow exploiting the rape to advance our privacy agenda. In their opinion, if anyone saw the 14-year-old girl go into the boys' bathroom, they would have reported it.


What happened to the "grabbing" and "dragging?"

But the central point I was making is that FRC was extremely sleazy in not only exploiting the incident, but how it exploited the incident. And I stand by my point because of FRC's  ridiculous statement today:

We may never know what role the district's transgender bathroom policy played in this horrible incident. But we do know one thing: it's just one more obstacle to ensuring the safety of students like this one.

That's not true because we do know.  The district's trans-inclusive policy played NO PART in the incident.  Furthermore, there was no reason to introduce the policy into debates about the incident until the Family Research Council attempted to slip it in.

But exploitation, fear, and scapegoating never needs a reason, right FRC?

'Trump picks anti-lgbt activist to lead civil rights office' & other Fri. midday news briefs

Severino
Trump taps anti-LGBTQ activist Roger Severino to lead HHS Civil Rights Office - And the award in the category of 'ARE YOU #!@^ KIDDING ME!' goes to . . .

Adoption bill stalls in Georgia after anti-LGBT amendment added - Poison pill poisons a bill (yeah, I know. It's a corny rhyme.)

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal opposes anti-LGBT provisions to adoption bill - And IF that bill gets un-stalled, it continues to face problems. 

Social Conservatives’ ‘Free Speech Bus’ Vandalized in NYC - THIS is depressing. Not defending any type of vandalism here, but that's really the reason WHY this project was formed - to get a reaction and to get those reacting to act foolish, publicize the foolishness to generate press and funds by playing the victims. The organization behind this, the National Organization for Marriage, have used this tactic on so many occasions and unfortunately it always works.

Rick Perry Is Challenging Texas A&M’s Election Of Its First Gay Student Body President - Go ahead, Rick. Make people remember THE COMMERCIAL.