National 'don't say gay' bill would force LGBTQ community to live by Republican lies

Earlier this week, I posted about a bill pushed by Republicans which can be called a national 'Don't Say Gay' bill. Granted, I know our community has a habit of being aware of coming danger, but  not doing anything about it until it pops up on our front stoop (and then talking about "raising hell like in they did at  Stonewall," as if  a few hours or marching and shouting will fix everything) but this is something which cannot wait. 

I don't think a lot of us get the implications of this bill Republicans are pushing. And we're being a bit nonchalant about what it could lead to. And especially what it means.

From People magazine:

A new Republican-led House bill is being described as the national equivalent of Florida's controversial Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, which was passed into law earlier this year. On Tuesday, Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana and 32 other congressional Republicans introduced what they're calling the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act of 2022, which would prevent the use of federal funds from developing or funding "any sexually-oriented program, event, or literature for children under the age of 10, and for other purposes." The bill, if passed, would prevent schools from providing books about LGBTQ topics to children under 10. And beyond that, it would impact federally funded facilities like public libraries, schools, hospitals and more.

 The big kicker is the following: 

 As NBC News points out, the bill defines "sexually-oriented material" as "any depiction, description, or simulation of sexual activity, any lewd or lascivious depiction or description of human genitals, or any topic involving gender identity, gender dysphoria, transgenderism, sexual orientation, or related subjects."

This is what that above paragraph means:

The bill is the first introduced at the federal level that characterizes LGBTQ people and concepts as inherently sexual, and follows some Republicans calling LGBTQ-inclusive curricula, or drag events, "grooming," which NBC reports as false moral panic about LGBTQ people. Framing sexual orientation and gender identity as "sexually explicit" in all contexts is deceiving and harmful.

"A new NATIONAL bill by Republicans would ban 'any exposure to transgenderism to children under the age of 10,'" activist Erin Reed wrote on Twitter. "This would fire all trans teachers, Trans workers in hospitals that serve children, counselors, social workers. It defines being trans as 'sexual.'" Alejandra Caraballo, a clinical instructor at Harvard Law School, also spoke out about the proposed bill on Twitter, writing that "equating LGBTQ people to sexually explicit material is dehumanizing and disgusting."

What they want to do is codify by law the false belief that the LGBTQ orientation is about sexual intercourse and everything having to do with us, including our families, kids, even mundane parts of our lives is all about having sex. And therefore is dangerous to children

Think of it as being just like how Donald Trump and his cohorts have been whining about a stolen election. They can't handle the fact that Trump lost in 2020 so they have been trying (unsuccessfully) to craft a new reality in which he won by a landslide but was cheated out of his victory

That's what we have here with this vile bill. 

Certain people have an ugly opinion of us. Whether it be religious beliefs or just plain bigotry, some folks can only see us with biased vision.  They see us as personifications of  the worst form of vulgarity - flippant, irresponsible, mentally messed-up and unable to function like mature adults, selfish, and completely by driven our sex drives. To them that makes us  highly toxic and especially a danger to the well-being of children. 

They have every right to feel the way they do about us, after all people have a right their opinion. The problem is when certain people attempt to make their opinion a reality based upon their personal feelings instead of facts.  LGBTQ people not indicative of  negative characteristics. We are not vile or toxic. Our lives aren't filled with scores of sexual activity.  And we certainly aren't a danger to kids. We've proven that point continuously over the years via court cases, telling our life stories, or simply living our lives in accordance to who we want to be, not what someone decided what we should be.

LGBTQ reality don't suit certain people, so they want to create, by rule of law, a reality where we are a danger to children because they feel entitled to make it so. That is ironic because their entire narrative is how LGBTQ people are "forcing" people to accept us. They say we are "forcing" people to sanction our supposed "lifestyle."  None of that is true. 

We aren't the ones attempting to create laws designating an entire group of people as toxic simply because we want it to be that way.