Thursday, April 06, 2017

Anti-lgbt congressman tells religious right pastors that America is their 'turf'

Any other time, some you would probably take the following video and write up with comical annoyance. However, in this age of Trump and in light of today's news of the nuclear option being pulled in the Senate voting of Supreme Court justices, comical annoyance (and especially predictions about right-wingers being caught in gay trysts) are distractions from the actual trouble we are seeing.

From People for the American Ways's Right Wing Watch:
Republican Rep. Jody Hice of Georgia spoke yesterday at a “Congressional Pastors Briefing” in Washington, D.C., organized by Religious Right pseudo-historian David Barton, where he told the gathering of conservative Christian pastors that “this is our country.” After celebrating Republican plans to repeal the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits tax-exempt nonprofit organizations, including houses of worship, from explicitly endorsing or opposing candidates for elected office, Hice told the pastors that God has given this country to Christians. “If there is anything I want to leave you [with] today, it is a genuine, heartfelt thank you for just the deep awareness that we are in this thing together,” Hice said. “This is our country, it’s our turf and God has placed us here to be stewards at such a time as this and to stand in the gap.”

 Hice, by the way, doesn't believe that there should be a line of separation between church and state.  He once said that the separation of church and state was a false belief and another time, he blamed Satan for it. And for all of his talk about God, he sees nothing wrong with eliminating The Johnson Amendment; an elimination which has the potential of making churches into conduits of political dark money and more political corruption.

Just in case you are wondering, Hice isn't necessarily fond of lgbts, either. In 2014 when he was a candidate for public office, Buzzfeed called him out for a 2012 book he published, It’s Now or Never: A Call to Reclaim America.

 Buzzfeed said that Hice represented a point of view based upon "pseudoscience" and "outdated views of the lgbt community"  His book ran the gamut from "gays want to recruit children" to "gays want to destroy society," making it practically a storehouse for all of the anti-lgbt propaganda and talking points this blog has repeatedly refuted.

Hice has no business being a dogcatcher, much less a Congressman. But he is in Congress and he is publicly advocating for making America a Christian theocracy; a place in which lgbts will no doubt be denied equality.

Spooky, isn't it?

'Johns Hopkins moving past shadow of transphobic psychiatrist' & other Thur midday news briefs

McHugh
Long shadow cast by psychiatrist on transgender issues finally recedes at Johns Hopkins - An issue which a lot of us aren't familiar with but is still important. It demonstrates how one physician with a personal anti-lgbt bias can cause problems and how the medical community needs to recognize and take action. Paul McHugh has more credibility than infamous junk scientist Paul Cameron. But he is OR WAS just as dangerous to the lives of lgbts. 

Young LGBTI People Are Invisible In Australia's Homelessness Crisis - Reminder that our fight for equality and safety is international.  

Trans Teen Gavin Grimm Slams Trump Policy at Congressional Meeting - "Out of the mouths of babes" indeed. 

 Federal Judge Rules Fair Housing Law Protects Colorado LGBT Couple - Hot damn! Another federal court victory!

  E.W. Jackson: LGBTQ Activists Are ‘Not Satisfied To Go To Hell, They Want To Take The Whole Country With ‘Em’ - Lawd, hammercy!!