Thursday, January 30, 2020

'Transgender student gets huge settlement from Penn school district' & other Fri midday news briefs

British people are 'cancelling' Franklin Graham and the Charlotte Observer is here for it

The British are giving Franklin Graham exactly what he deserves.

If it weren't for Trump's impeachment trial, this situation would be getting more attention. The British are up in arms about Franklin Graham visiting their country and they are also a bit more successful in showing their disdain

From Pink News:
The Trump-supporting preacher, who is known for praising Vladimir Putin’s anti-gay laws and blaming gay people for a “moral 9/11”, is set to visit the UK at the start of Pride Month in June as part of an evangelist tour.  
 Venues hosting the tour have faced complaints from LGBT+ activists – with a Liverpool conference venue dropping him on Monday. Following the pressure, two further venues have followed suit Glasgow’s SEC Arena confirmed on Wednesday that his May 30 rally at the venue will not go ahead.

A spokesperson told PinkNews: “The booking for this event was processed in the same way we would for any religious concert of this nature and as a business we remain impartial to the individual beliefs of both our clients and visitors. “However, we are aware of the recent adverse publicity surrounding this tour and have reviewed this with our partners and stakeholders. Following a request from our principal shareholder the matter has been considered and a decision made that we should not host this event.” His planned June 6 rally at Sheffield Arena has also been scrapped, after a decision by Sheffield City Council.

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

'Bank takes a stand against homophobic Christian schools' & other Thur midday news briefs

Lil Nas X snaps back at homophobic rapper jealous of his success and Grammys

I just caught up with this, but apparently I'm a bit behind everyone else because its the number one trending item on Twitter:



Here is the really offensive part:


I know what you are thinking. Pretty much everyone else is thinking it. We all know who Lil Nas X is. He is the openly gay rapper who burst on the scene with the number one smash hit "Old Town Road." The song was number one for 19 weeks, making it the longest a song remained at the top spot since the charts began in 1958.

Lil Nas X is also the recipient of a multitude of awards including two Grammys on Sunday evening. By contrast, hardly anyone knows who the heck Pastor Troy is. 

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

'Brits to Franklin Graham: We don't want you or your homophobia coming here' & other Wed midday news briefs


Brits are furious Franklin Graham is coming to England to spread anti-LGBTQ “love” - Oh yeah! This is awesome! One city, Liverpool, has already canceled his tour and others don't seem very welcoming.

Lesbians more accepted than gay men around the world, study finds - This is interesting. 

Arizona Bill Would Ban Transgender Girls, Women From Sports Teams - Based totally on assumptions. God forbid any of these "concerned" people attempt a real conversation including actual medical experts on the issue. And you can tell it's bigoted. It would only apply to female teams. 

Anti-LGBTQ adoption bill puts law over morality - Amen.

State lawmakers working with anti-LGBTQ groups on bills targeting transgender children


Media Matters has just come out with a wonderful article which exposes who is behind the large number of state legislative bills targeting transgender children:

On January 22, a South Dakota legislative committee moved forward HB 1057, a dangerous bill that would make it a misdemeanor for medical professionals to provide trans youth with affirming medical care, such as prescribing lifesaving hormones or puberty blockers. While drafting the measure, the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Fred Deutsch (R), reportedly consulted with an anti-trans group called the Kelsey Coalition that has ascended with the help of right-wing media. 
Anti-LGBTQ groups the Heritage Foundation, Alliance Defending Freedom, and Liberty Counsel also reportedly influenced the measure, which is expected to be voted on by the full South Dakota state House on January 29.

The Kelsey Coalition is a group of medical professionals, parents, and others who reject the identities of trans youth and advocate against affirming care. The Heritage Foundation gave the Kelsey Coalition its first major platform by featuring a member at a panel advocating against affirming the gender identities of trans youth.

According to The Washington Post, Deutsch attended a separate anti-trans event at the Heritage Foundation, at which organizations involved -- including the Kelsey Coalition -- released a co-branded parent resource guide on how to reject transgender children and advance policies to attack the trans community. Deutsch is also reported to have worked with extreme anti-LGBTQ groups Alliance Defending Freedom and Liberty Counsel on the bill.

Monday, January 27, 2020

'Drag queens will appear in a Super Bowl ad for the first time ever' & other Tue midday news briefs



Drag queens will appear in a Super Bowl ad for the first time ever - And I am HERE for it.

Bowen Yang Opens Up About His Experience In ‘Gay Conversion’ Therapy - Wow! An SNL cast member gets real about that awful "therapy." 

Darrell Issa slammed by fellow Republicans for running “gay-baiting” political attack ad - You know it's serious when other members of the GOP are bothered by it. 

This Is How U.K. LGBTQ Rights Change After Brexit This Week - The struggle is real and worldwide.

Dear conservative evangelicals leaders, when Trump goes down, you need to go with him (and here are just a few of the receipts to pay your ticket)


Conservative evangelical leaders embraced Trump because he was giving them power, access, laws and the judges they wanted. Let's not allow America to forget how they went knee deep with full knowledge in his corrupt administration.  And let's not allow America to forget how they either ignored or made excuses for his behavior. 

As we watch Trump's impeachment trial with all of its twists and turns, one thing is clear. Even if he does get away with what he has done, there is enough proof to show that Trump has tarnished himself the presidency, the GOP and especially folks who claim to have a mindset which should have elevated them to know better.

I'm talking about Franklin Graham, Robert Jeffress, Jerry Falwell, Jr. and the rest of the evangelical right/anti-LGBTQ industry who freely and wantonly sacrificed all of the values they claimed to uphold for a little political power. They got a president who gave them access to policy, gave them some judges and laws which attacked the LGBTQ community and women's health while giving their religious beliefs an unfair advantage and an elevated status.

 In return, conservative evangelical leaders sacrificed the integrity they claimed to have, the values they claimed to uphold, and the mask they wore when they claimed to uphold that integrity and those values.

And no one should forget their real faces - that of hypocritical, self-righteous, power-hungry bloodsuckers who would find a Biblical verse to defend the devil if it meant more power and more access to White House policy.

To hopefully make sure that people don't, I've been saving a few receipts to serve as reminders of how low conservative evangelical leaders stooped. To their supporters, these receipts don't mean anything. But to the rest of America, especially those who aren't aware of them, don't exactly care for them, and will be here after we are all gone, they are a perfect representation of  the true face of America's evangelical right.

Here are just demonstrating how they drolled and fawned over Trump while in full knowledge of his incompetence and corruption.

Sunday, January 26, 2020

'Statewide anti-LGBTQ measures part of religious right playbook' & other Mon midday news briefs


State legislatures are filled with anti-LGBTQ measures, thanks to a religious right playbook - FINALLY, some recognizes it and calls it out.

Project Blitz Is Producing Model Legislation For Christian Nationalists - The name of the group in the article above is Project Blitz and they have something especially nasty in store for us. It's an old anti-LGBTQ lie that we buried in our pursuits of marriage equality. But homophobic lies never die. That's why they are headless monsters. They are dead beliefs propped up by living hatred. 

Sanders campaign defends accepting Joe Rogan support amid LGBTQ backlash - Joe Rogan is a homophobic jerk and we shouldn't . . . well end of story. 

Who's the 'Q' in LGBTQ? Study shines light on 'queer' identities. - Definitely a needed discussion.


Graphic courtesy of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. The organization has extensive information on Project Blitz

How some gay conservatives attempt to exploit the LGBTQ community for personal gain.

Rob Smith
The guy on the right is Rob Smith. He was one of the activists who chained themselves to the White House fence almost 10 years ago in protest of the 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' policy. These days, he considers himself an openly gay conservative Trump supporter.  He is even affiliated with the group Turning Point USA  in spite of its racist history.

If you ask me, he's in it partly (probably mostly) for how the novelty of being a contrarian gay man (i.e. one who is openly gay and claims to have been once a liberal, but now sets up straw man arguments to attack the community) can reap lots of press and acclaim.  Just ask Brandon Straka or Chadwick Moore.

For the purpose of this post, I want to show how some gay conservatives attempt to work our community for their own benefit. See the tweet below by Smith:



It's both rude and seemingly innocuous, but let me add my perspective:


In other words, the purpose of  the tweet was to inflame emotions and push up a vicious war with the LGBTQ community. And if it's big enough, guess who gets articles in right-wing publications (such as The Federalist or The Daily Caller) and invites on Fox News (because the only LGBTQ people invited on that network are the ones who attack their own community)?

Rob Smith.

And the end is basically this - Smith's profile is raised in the conservative world and he is lauded as being "brave" and a "hero" for supposedly speaking against the "radical gay community" (that's us). He is anointed as a "free thinker" while we are portrayed as "intolerant of others in our community with different points of view."

Worst of all, some members of our community, who are either too egotistical or gullible to realize  how they are being manipulated, will take his side and attempt to generate a wrong-minded debate which will do nothing but divide and inflame us further while making Smith's profile grow and grow.

And that, brothers and sisters, is how the game is played on us. Our community may have differences, but we should all come together to recognize when someone is exploiting us to gain fame. Even if that person is "family."

Thursday, January 23, 2020

'Virginia could become 20th state to ban 'ex-gay therapy' for minors' & other Fri midday news briefs

Latest attack on Target's trans inclusive policy means the American Family Association is getting mighty desperate


For the past few years, hate group the American Family Association has been trying to initiate a boycott of  Target because of its policy of allowing customers to use dressing rooms and restrooms which match their gender identities. AFA claims (without proof) that this policy allows predators to harm women while they are in dressing rooms and restrooms. The boycott began with a petition and it got lots of traction. It even encouraged some people to march into Target and make complete asses of themselves.

As the years passed, attention and support for AFA's fight have petered down because basically people saw that the group was doing nothing more than lying and causing hysteria. Of course that doesn't stop AFA from attempting to "stir up the troops," so the speak.

Even if it has to be creative when attacking Target and the transgender community, such as this recent article in its affiliate "news site" One News Now demonstrates.

The American Family Association continues to sound the alarm about Target's policy that allows men in women's restrooms and changing areas. 
Target says the policy is meant to be inclusive and benefit transgender customers and employees, but the American Family Association (AFA) has long warned it will result in sexual predators taking advantage of the policy, thereby putting women and children at risk. 
In an Action Alert this week, AFA points to an incident at a Target store in Harris County, Texas, where a woman told law enforcement that a man was taking pictures of her in a fitting room while she was changing clothes. 
"It's an invasion of privacy," she told news station KTRK. "No one should go through that. It was horrifying." "Because nobody will stop a man from entering these areas, what these sexual predators do is they watch for a woman or girl to go into a fitting room, for example, and they go into the one next to it and then put their phone camera either up above the partition or below it," Ed Vitagliano, AFA executive vice president, told on American Family Radio's "Today's Issues" program. "That is what happened in this case in Harris County, Texas."

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

'New bills in over 12 states are targeting our transgender children' & other Thur midday news briefs

Anti-LGBTQ activist doesn't realize that she made a spectacle of herself

Anti-LGBTQ activist 'Lorena' of the group MassResistance thinks it was unfair that a councilman tried to kick her out of his office even though she outright accused him of working to legalize pedophilia.

I'm often asked why do I give attention to anti-LGBTQ groups and individuals. One reason is that when some of them are given the spotlight, they make colossal fools of themselves and thereby prove our point about them and their tactics.

A recent incident underscores this fact. MassResistance, a Massachusetts anti-LGBTQ hate group have been on a tear for months about Drag Queen Story Hour. An affiliate of the California chapter recently told the story about meeting with Chula Vista city openly gay councilman, Stephen Padilla. She wanted the city council to pass an ordinance against Drag Queen Story Hour.

The woman, Lorena, and MassResistance would have you to believe that she bravely stood up against a rude bully to the point that he got angry and called the police on her:

One MassResistance mother in Chula Vista, Lorena, a calm but strong-willed woman, has been really taking action. She has testified at just about every City Council meeting, often bringing up the fact that the library has cut reading and literacy programs, yet had the money for Drag Queen Story Hour. She has passed out flyers across town.

. . . this past week Stephen Padilla, who had refused to meet with anyone, agreed to meet with Lorena in his City Hall office. She came, and calmly told him the truth about the Drag Queen Story event. His behavior toward her was disgraceful. He ultimately threw her out of his office and tried to have her removed from City Hall.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

'Trump's impeachment lawyer has long history of homophobic, religious-based shysterism' & other Wed midday new briefs

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins continues the game plan of lies about Tenn anti-LGBTQ adoption bill

FRC president Tony Perkins follows the evangelical game plan of lying about Tenn's anti-LGBTQ adoption bill.

Last week, Tennessee passed a bill which allowed tax dollars to go to religious and faith-based adoption agencies even if they refuse to work with members of the LGBTQ community. On the heels of this, conservative evangelical group the American Family Association proceeded to lie about the bill. AFA portrayed it as a way of keeping religious and faith-based groups from being "punished." The group also omitted the part about taxpayer funds (which includes LGBTQ tax dollars) going to groups which would discriminate against the LGBTQ community.

Monday, January 20, 2020

'VP Pence attended a vile homophobic sermon ahead of MLK day' & other Tue midday news briefs


Mike Pence attended a vile homophobic sermon and the White House streamed the whole thing - Who else put Mike Pence AND on MLK Day. If this were any other group which was viciously attacked, it would be front page news.

Meet the lesbian attorney & environmentalist running for Congress in Indiana - More LGBTQs in Congress is never a bad thing. 

10 LGBTQ books to watch out for in 2020 - Write them down, folks. 

Katie Sowers Is The First Female And Openly Gay Person To Coach In A Super Bowl- 49ers assistant coach makes history.

'THAT DON' - Randy Rainbow again brutally rips the Trump Administration via song parody




 On the eve of Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate, who better to listen to than Randy Rainbow. Randy, who has consistently been doing the job of media via his clever use of song and satire, again spotlights the corruption and incompetence of the Trump Administration. This time he does it via a parody of the song 'Gaston' from Beauty and the Beast.

Trump is known for striking back at public figures who call him out. It's probably not an accident that he hasn't done the same to Randy Rainbow. I doubt he could win if he started a verbal war with Randy. 

Thursday, January 16, 2020

'Pastor loses court case over his 'right' to share anti-gay propaganda online' & other Fri midday news briefs


Pastor loses court case over his “right” to share anti-gay propaganda online - Awww poor baby. He tried and failed. Too bad, so sad (not.)

House Democrats call for ICE to release all transgender detainees - I wish.

Trump Thrills Base With Moves To Protect School Prayer, Funding For Religious Groups -If you discriminate against the LGBTQ community, then you hae no right to tax dollars. Keep it up, folks. You are working hard to create a backlash. 

LGBTQ+ history could be taught in public schools under proposed bill - Come on, Missouri!

Conservative evangelicals already lying about Tenn anti-LGBTQ adoption bill


The state of Tennessee recently passed a bill which undermines the ability of LGBTQs and same-sex couples to adopt children. And its governor, Bill Lee, said he will sign the bill into law.

From MSNBC:

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday that he’ll sign into law a measure that would assure continued taxpayer funding of faith-based foster care and adoption agencies even if they exclude LGBT families and others based on religious beliefs. The GOP-controlled Senate gave the bill final passage on the first day of the 2020 legislative session after it was initially approved by the House last April. The bill was sent to the Republican governor amid warnings by critics of possible negative consequences for Tennessee’s reputation.

According to MSNBC, some have said the bill wasn't necessary due to Trump's proposal to rescind a rule made by Obama which kept foster care agencies from receiving federal funds (tax dollars) if they discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. But the sponsor of the bill, Sen Paul Rose, said the bill was still necessary just in case Trump wasn't re-elected.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

'Kentucky bills seek to ban 'ex-gay therapy' for minors' & other Thur midday news briefs

22 openly LGBTQ Oscar winners, those who came out after winning, and actors winning/nominated portraying LGBTQ characters

Let's  bring it down this week with some history. Oscar season is in full swing and in tribute of that, I found some historical videos about LGBTQ Oscar winners and actors who either won or were nominated for the coveted award portraying LGBTQ characters.

No doubt, some folks will most likely point out the people missing - if any - from these videos. I expect (and hope) that they will generate lots of discussion.





This last video is inaccurately titled because only some of the characters were lesbian. Others were bisexual and transgender. But other than that, the video is still a delight to watch. Some of the nominees (Cher, Whoopi Goldberg) received their first Oscar nominations portraying these characters.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

'Tennessee passes bill undermining same-sex adoption rights' & other Wed midday news briefs

Student's blunt, but accurate answer to anti-trans question goes viral


(Editor's note - Unfortunately the tweet seems to have been deleted. I apologize for that. Please click on the 'Courier Journal'  link below to read the conversation between Haase and Bennett.)

We all know that conservatives and the anti-LGBTQ industry have targeted the transgender community as their new moral panic. From spinning false claims about trans athletes to pushing "bathroom bills" designed to exploit fears about safety in restrooms and locker rooms, they have been working overtime.

And so enters Michael Hawse, a student at the University of Kentucky.
A University of Kentucky student gained some notoriety after a video went viral of him discussing the transgender bathroom issue with conservative personality Kaitlin Bennett, aka the Kent State "gun girl." 
. . . In the video, Bennett, the media director for libertarian outlet Liberty Hangout, who is best known for posing with an AR-10 on Kent State University's campus for graduation photos, asks (Michael) Hawse what he thinks of putting urinals in women's restrooms "for women who have penises and they just want to stand and pee?" "I think people (are) just making too big of a f—king deal about it," Hawse responded, with the curse word bleeped out by a sound effect. "I don't really care." 
 And as Bennett asked him for more details, Hawse continued to be succinct:


Hawse's bluntness in the face of such a pathetic attempt to stoke controversy should be applauded. It's not an issue and wouldn't be if conservatives and the anti-LGBTQ industry had not have spooked people with horror stories appealing to the lowest common denominator of fear . . . just like they did in the case of marriage equality, anti-discrimination ordinances, LGBTQs serving openly in the military, etc. etc.

Hawse's encounter with Bennett went viral, so he decided to use it to spotlight a good cause:

The video of Hawse’s comments had been viewed more than 19.6 million times on Twitter as of Monday afternoon. Hawse responded to his new fame via Twitter on Monday. “I don’t make a habit of paying attention to what others are doing in the bathroom.” He later tweeted a Venmo account to raise money for DanceBlue Golden Matrix Fund, which raises money for pediatric cancer research.

Monday, January 13, 2020

'Transgender employees sue Florida over state's trans health ban' & other Tue midday news briefs

Trump supporting evangelical Tony Perkins was less cavalier about morality and values when Obama was president

FRC's Tony Perkins
Last week, an organization known as The Lincoln Project came out with a brutal ad spotlighting the hypocrisy that white conservative evangelicals have immersed themselves in with their support of Trump.

On Friday, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins (a prominent Trump supporter) addressed the ad. In doing so, he opened the door for folks to continue to point out the hypocrisy he tried to make excuses for:

. . . what the media and the president's opposition doesn't seem to understand is that evangelicals have never looked at Donald Trump as a role model. They're looking at his record as president. And no one in the modern history of this country has a better one. Whether it's the sanctity of human life or the promotion of religious freedom -- here and around the world -- or the appointment of judges bound to the Constitution, there's absolutely no comparison. What this president has done in the last three years matters. So shouldn't it be relevant to Christians as they vote?

What makes Perkins a hypocrite? Simply the fact that in 2012, his tone was less cavalier about President Obama.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

'Billy Porter makes history as first man featured on Allure's cover' & other Mon midday news briefs

Bryan Fischer spins a lie about gays & rape and his supporters couldn't back him up

Bryan Fischer spins a lie no one will back him up on.

An incident took place over a number of days involving me, arch-homophobe Bryan Fischer and conservative rag One News Now. In the great scheme of things, particularly what's going on now, it's probably highly irrelevant. Still, it's a nice victory that I want to brag about.

First of all, a little background for those who aren't aware about Bryan Fischer - he is an extremely homophobic person who has written and said some of the most vulgar things about the LGBTQ community such as:

we began the Nazi party in Germany,

our children ought to be taken away from us via kidnapping,

and we should be criminalized and treated like drug addicts.

His rhetoric is so ugly that the American Family Association (itself a vile anti-LGBTQ hate group) made a huge show out of dismissing him as a spokesperson in 2015. However, he still retains use of the group's name and its resources to pump out his bigotry. One News Now (affiliated with AFA) generally posts his pieces

In his latest piece, Eye-opening rape report exposes stomach-twisting stats, Fischer attempts to make the case that allowing gays to openly serve in the military has increased the rate of male-on-male rapes in the Armed Forces. Part of it reads as follows:

 Homosexuals have been allowed to serve openly in the U.S. military since the disastrously misguided repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in late 2010. President Obama was able to ram the repeal through just under the wire because the Democrats temporarily held both houses of Congress, a situation that would change with the election in the fall of 2010. Elections have consequences, and open homosexuality in the military was one of the unfortunate consequences of naïve voters placing regressives in office.

Thursday, January 09, 2020

MAGA Church video 'celebrates' anti-LGBTQ evangelicals' abandonment of Jesus for Donald Trump




Since conservative (and anti-LGBTQ) evangelicals have decided to embrace Donald Trump as their "Lord and Savior," what could be a better way of showcasing their "new direction" other than this video by the Lincoln Project.

The video is brutal in how it highlights the schism conservative evangelicals have created in the American body of faith with their power-hungry support of Trump; a schism that the LGBTQ community would be clueless to not draw attention to and help along its way

Wednesday, January 08, 2020

'Trump's Legion of Homophobia takes 'class photo'' & other Thur midday news briefs

Donald Trump's 'Legion of Homophobia.' How many bigots do you recognize?

[Hypocritical Anti-LGBTQ Opportunists] For Trump - A huge who's who of homophobia.

GLAAD Media Awards: 'Booksmart,' 'Bombshell,' 'Rocketman' Among Nominees - Congratulations to all of my friends on their GLAAD Media Award nominations. As far as I'm concerned, you should all win.

LGBTQ heroes don’t need to be perfect (or even perfectly respectable) - Amen. 

Gay Trump supporter trying to gaslight the LGBTQ community into supporting our own destruction - I like my post from last night so much that I am encouraging more folks to read (and share) it.

Commentary: LGBTQ characters on TV used to keep family at arm’s length. Not anymore - It's about time, too.

Gay Trump supporter trying to gaslight the LGBTQ community into supporting our own destruction

A gay Trump supporter claims that Trump is working for supposed 'true equality.'

I've already had one negative run-in with gay conservative writer Chad Felix Greene after he falsely labeled my blog as "anti-Christian" and I am simply itching for another opportunity.

Lo and behold, the opportunity comes knocking after an inane piece he recently posted in the right-wing propaganda sheet The Federalist.  Greene's piece, No, White House Website Updates Don’t Mean Trump Is Trying To ‘Erase’ LGBT People, is a full-throttled defense of Trump's record when it comes to the LGBTQ community. It's not what he says that's the issue. It's what he omits. Here are some snippets:

Unfortunately, LGBT advocacy seems fixated on public validation over quiet integration and insists on a segregated platform in which to display leftist social and legal achievements. President Trump failing to openly acknowledge LGBT politics supposedly signaled the beginning of hostility now that he was in power, despite no evidence to support such an assertion. 
Trump has appointed five openly LGBT ambassadors and U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Patrick Bumatay. Vice President Mike Pence met with the openly gay Irish prime minister and his partner and publicly praised openly gay Olympic athletes amid controversy over his perceived anti-LGBT views. Trump honored hero police officer and openly gay Crystal Griner with the Medal of Honor after her bravery in saving Rep. Steve Scalise and other Republican members of Congress during an attempted assassination. 
. . .If Trump were truly struggling to contain his hatred for gay and trans people, you could imagine he would have acted out in actual hostility toward them by now. LGBT media and advocacy certainly have given him plenty of reason to do so. 
One major distinction between President Barack Obama and Trump is that the latter does not seem to need the highly segmented approval of hundreds of grievance groups in order to feel he is doing a good job. For the right, this represents a more equal-opportunity leader who focuses on issues and not virtue signaling. For the left, it seems to indicate deep and intentional disregard for the well-being of groups they believe deserve special acknowledgement. 
As a gay person, I prefer the right’s view on this. If what Trump’s administration is doing is “erasing” LGBT people, then being erased must be the same thing as equality and assimilation — and that looks like progress to me.

Greene is extremely clueless and the only thing holding this piece together is how he dresses up his obliviousness as intelligence. He implies that Trump is doing more than "virtue signaling" to the LGBTQ community, but then provides examples which add up to nothing but tokenism.

Tuesday, January 07, 2020

'Hate group leader applauds Zambia for imprisoning gays' & other Wed midday news briefs

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins

Tony Perkins Applauds Zambia For Imprisoning Gays - A hate group leader acts accordingly.

LGBTQ Elders more likely to be socially isolated, suffer from dementia than straight peers - Homophobia owns this. We need to take our people back.

A surrogate blackmailed a gay couple for parental rights of their newborn twin daughters - Simply some evil sh!t on the part of the mother. 

Michigan LGBTQ bills have failed for decades — but this year could be different - Fingers crossed.

Right-wing evangelical leaders were already lying hypocrites before Donald Trump took the Oval Office

Gary Bauer, who allegedly undermine the fight against AIDS during the 80s, is just one of many conservative evangelical leaders eager for the power Trump gives them.

Unlike the rest of American society, I refuse to catch the vapors while watching right-wing evangelical leaders debase their "integrity" in support of Donald Trump. To me, they were always hypocritical bloodsucking bullies who saw Jesus as a commodity in their quest for political power to shape America into their definition of a bastardized version of  "The Promised Land."

And I say this as an LGBTQ,  a member of the community they spent years stigmatizing as the "dreaded other" before Trump opened the door of the Oval Office to their clutching claws.

Look at some the cast of characters in this group:

Gary Bauer who, when he worked in the Reagan Administration, deliberately kept Surgeon General C. Everett Koop from meeting with the president about the AIDS crisis because he felt it was "God's punishment."

James Dobson, who once claimed that gays have thousands of partners

Franklin Graham, who once praised Vladimir Putin for persecuting the Russian LGBTQ community.

And then there is Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - i.e. crumb snatcher extraordinaire who has used her famous uncle to designate herself as chief token black of the conservative right. That entails claiming that marriage equality is responsible for natural disasters or blaming the LGBTQ community in general for supposed "black genocide."

Monday, January 06, 2020

'2020 California laws that will help the LGBTQ community' & other Tue midday news briefs

Trump says Buttigieg is “trying to pretend” he’s a Christian & Mayor Pete’s having none of it - Cause Trump has cornered the market on pretending.

Town hall addressing violence against Kenai Peninsula LGBTQ community draws large crowd - An issue in Alaska which is, unfortunately, more common than people realize. 

‘Saved By The Bell’ Reboot To Feature Transgender Teen In Lead Role - Never been a fan of reboots, but this promises to be interesting.

On MSNBC, transgender activist Monica Roberts breaks down how transphobic rhetoric leads to violence



During a recent edition of MSNBC Live with Kendis Gibson, a good friend of mine and a wonderful transgender activist Monica Roberts, who runs the GLAAD Media Award-winning blog Transgriot, was interviewed about how transphobic rhetoric leads to violence against community.

It goes without saying that she did a wonderful job. And it was definitely a refreshing thing to see a transgender American invited on a news program. Particularly in light of how the Fox News network  and the rest of the right-wing media will practically bend over backwards to exclude the trans community in debates, while giving transphobic people and groups a wide berth to spew their lies.

Hat tip to Media Matters.

Sunday, January 05, 2020

'Lawmaker wants to punish educators who allow trans athletes to compete as they identify' & other Mon midday news briefs


Lawmaker wants to punish educators that allow trans athletes to compete as they identify - Don't these people have anything better to do?

United Methodist Church Announces Proposal to Split Over Gay Marriage - If you gotta split, you gotta split.

Remembering the queer voices and allies we lost in 2019 - We honor their memory by carrying on their work. 

Illinois schools to start teaching LGBTQ history - And it has begun. Deal with it.

Weak video opposing marriage equality demonstrates a good example of why conservatives lost



Though some folks have criticized me for it, I like going through past written words and videos of groups who oppose LGBTQ equality. I do it for three reasons - 1. to educate myself on their arguments because they generally get recycled and repackaged  2. keep myself from becoming slack in refuting them. 3. marvel at how simplistically idiotic they are.

And the above video by the group TFP Student Action is a doozy. TFP Student Action is an offshoot of the American Society for the Defense Tradition, Family, and Property  - a far-right Catholic group . Naturally, this means that another activity of the group is pushing the lie that the LGBTQ community is unhealthy to society. It was small, but very vocal, part of the conservative right's ultimately unsuccessful fight against marriage equality. And with arguments made in the video above, it's no wonder they lost.

All it contains is a hashtag of bad talking points backed by wishful thinking, religious entitlement, and deceptions (i.e. using President Obama talking about single parents to denigrate same-sex households and spinning the lie about the Massachusetts father who was jailed for allegedly trying to keep his son from being "exposed" to homosexuality in his school.) 

Yet, this video contained the general arguments of those opposing our right to marry. And what the opposition ended up arguing in the courts. A special highlight comes at 4:28 when the only black guy in the video is some random person they filmed on the street going on about "Adam and Steve" as he and his facial piercings draw so close to the camera that you think he's going to lick it.

But I shouldn't be too harsh. What points the video loses on facts and logic, the participants make up for it by being vigorous. Extremely vigorous.

The most enjoyable thing about watching this video is knowing that a few short months after it was made, the Supreme Court legalized marriage equality, thereby telling TFP - and other religious right and conservative groups - to go play with themselves. And after watching this video, can anyone really blame SCOTUS?



Thursday, January 02, 2020

' 2019 LGBTQ pop culture countdown' & other Fri midday news briefs

Lil Nas X had a wonderful year.

2019 YEAR IN REVIEW: Pop culture countdown - Lil Nas X, the late Whitney Houston's friend Robyn Crawford, Jussie Smollett (ugh), and other LGBTQ moments of 2019. 

New Illinois law requires all public single-use restrooms be gender neutral - Good for Illinois!

A transgender character is joining the MCU, which hasn't had the best record for LGBTQ portrayals - I'm not impressed yet.

Theologian lists 10 ways conservative evangelicals have transformed Christianity to 'TRUMPianity'

No matter what they say, conservative white evangelicals prefer the guy on the left more than the guy on the right.

I read this last week and found it so on point that I decided to post it at a later date. Then I lost it. But lo and behold, it popped right back up again when I was considering what post I would publish today.

Much has been said and will be said about conservative white evangelicals shamelessly embracing of a Trump presidency in spite of the fact that they are supposed to stand against every quality he has brought into the White House - lying, hypocrisy, adultery, corruption. etc. To me, it all about power. As long as he freely gives them access and the power to influence public policy, conservative white evangelicals will contort themselves to justify or ignore all of his vile qualities.

How they contort hasn't been spotlighted as much as it should, except by theologian, speaker, and author Benjamin L. Corey. In an absolutely wonderful piece,10 Signs You’re Actually Following TRUMPianity Instead of CHRISTianity, he breaks down the 10 ways conservative white evangelicals have twisted themselves up in knots to justify their support of Trump and in essence, replaced Christianity for 'Trumpianity.'

The entire piece deserves your attention, but I am to going list Corey's 10 points. For more details on each,  read how Corey broke them down:

10. You spent 8 years criticizing every move of Obama, but the minute Trump was sworn in you started telling everyone that “Christians should respect the president” and that being “divisive” is a sin. 
9. You think, “but we’re a nation of laws” somehow trumps biblical teachings on how immigrants are to be treated. 
8. Your church is planning a “patriotic worship service” for the 4th of July. 
7. You instinctively applaud when Trump threatens to “bomb the shit” out of people, but quickly push back if someone quotes what Jesus taught about violence and enemy love. 
6. You think that having a filthy mouth and boasting about sexual immorality is a sign of being unsaved, but when it comes to Trump you all of a sudden have a “Who am I to judge?” attitude. 
5. You think it’s God-honoring to refuse to bow to a national statue, but that you should be fired from your job, kicked out of the country, or even charged with treason for refusing to stand for the flag. 
4. You want the nation to return to “biblical values”… except for all those socialist sounding biblical things like caring for the poor, welcoming the stranger, giving food to the hungry, etc. 
3. Your church spends one month a year celebrating the story of refugee family who fled their violent homeland and secretly crossed the border to safety, only to return home years later where their son became another unarmed person of color killed by the state’s violent security forces because they “felt threatened”… 
2. You claimed Barack Obama’s election was the result of evil forces, but the minute Trump was sworn into office you started quoting verses about how “God picks a nation’s kings and queens.” 
1. You spent the 90’s saying “character counts” but now say, “We don’t vote for a national pastor.”

Wednesday, January 01, 2020

'TERFs, right-wing media had a disgusting 'partnership' in 2019' & other Thur midday news briefs

TERFs are so desperate for attention that some engage in stupidly counteractive stunts,
such as kissing up to the right-wing media.

TERFs claimed they were being censored, but they found a safe space in right-wing media in 2019 - Any of my lesbian sisters who was involved in this madness, you need to wise up. Don't think for an instant that your "new allies" aren't going to plot to put your rights and safety into a grave next to the one you are helping them dig for our trans brothers and sisters. Knowing them, they are probably making measurements even now as they smile in your faces and direct your hands to jab the knives into the backs of your own people.

2019’s worst anti-LGBTQ meltdowns - And there was a lot. I should sue for battle pay when I covered that stuff. 

Here are New Year resolutions that all LGBTQ people can share - If I told you my resolution (s), people would get so shocked that they would put that wall back up in Germany. 

Here Are 20 LGBTQ Celebrity Coming-Out Stories That Moved Us In 2019 - Celebrity or not, people coming out is a good thing. And it will always matter. Particularly with our LGBTQ children. There is nothing wrong with someone publicly showing them to not be afraid to live their lives honestly.

Don't forget Donald Trump's lie to the LGBTQ community

Whether or not Trump is re-elected in 2020, the one thing the LGBTQ community simply has to do is demand more attention to how his Administration is undermining our equality and safety. Remember this 2016 tweet of his when he was running for president:



We now see that the above tweet is one of his biggest lies. Since taking office, his administration has been systematically eliminating any mention of our community from executive guidelines on discrimination

From NBC News:

With just over a year left in President Donald Trump's first term, another late-breaking news item barely made waves: The Interior Department — which manages the majority of the federal government's public lands — deleted "sexual orientation" from its anti-discrimination guidelines, as HuffPost first reported last week. The removal was just the latest in a nearly three-year-long effort to strip mention of LGBTQ people from the executive branch bureaucracy. 
Reports of such changes began the day Trump assumed office, when LGBTQ content was deleted from the White House, State Department and Labor Department websites within "minutes" of his having been sworn into office, according to GLAAD, a national LGBTQ advocacy group. 
Since then, drip by drip, other parts of the federal government have had their online content trimmed to omit mention of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people.  
 . . . Indeed, the government's own civil rights watchdog group, the Commission on Civil Rights, in November found a systematic approach to dismantling LGBTQ rights protections. Karen Narasaki, a member of the commission's board, called it "truly unprecedented."

While the removal of these guidelines has been given less attention than they should have been, they underscore a reality too bothersome to ignore.  This isn't simply a matter of Trump making a promise and then not taking any action.  It's a matter of him taking the opposite action of the promise he made.

The group GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) has pointed to 133 negative activities committed against the LGBTQ community by the Trump Administration.

From banning transgender men and women from serving in the military to appointing anti-LGBTQ leaders (some who have falsely linked gay men to pedophilia) to supporting anti-LGBTQ discrimination by religious entities while giving them access to gay tax dollars, Trump has freely run roughshod without the media even asking once about what he's doing.

What Trump has been doing to the LGBTQ community is the equivalent of promising someone that you will help him cross the street  but then push him in the middle of busy rush hour traffic. His attacks on the LGBTQ community may not be as high-profile or obviously prejudiced as his attacks on immigrants and undocumented people, but they are equally egregious.