VP Mike Pence doesn't want Biden or Harris to cut America's meat (that's what he said)

Yes, Mike Pence. That was a dumb comment you made.

Dear Mike Pence, I know you were actually trying to attack Biden and Harris in terms of the US Dietary Guidelines when you said the following. I also know that in lieu of a doing a speech with substantial content,  you were trying to repeat the attacks the GOP made against former First Lady Michelle Obama when she was attempting to improve the health of our children

But, if you don't mind a little criticism, this line of attack backfired, especially when one takes into account your history of homophobia.

WTF? Are these fools even trying at this point?

"We're not gonna let @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris cut America's meat." --@Mike_Pence pic.twitter.com/dIOusQRAmf

— Chris D. Jackson (@ChrisDJackson) August 13, 2020

You definitely didn't mean this to have come out the way it did, but consider it as a metaphor for your aiding Trump's pathetic presidency.  I mean come on. You're talking about meat in the middle of a huge pandemic in which over five million Americans have been infected and over 170,00 have already died.

I am curious, though. Who would you let cut America's meat?

Or your meat . . .

I won't tell "Mother."

LGBTQ characters in 'Star Wars' & black women in James Bond movies has former Trump official in silly outrage

The possibility of LGBTQ characters in the upcoming 'Star Wars' movie has former Trump official Seb Gorka upset. 

I've never been a fan of Star Wars movies (shut up), but the upcoming chapter of the series, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, has people excited by a number of reasons including the following from the New York Daily News:

J.J. Abrams’ latest “Star Wars” offering may have finally adapted to modern times. During an interview promoting the upcoming film, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” on Tuesday, the filmmaker teased that there will be LGBT+ representation. While some fans have hoped for a gay romance between Finn and Poe (played by John Boyega and Oscar Isaac) , nothing has quite materialized as of yet. But Abrams, who said that he’s always tried to find a cast that “looked more the way the world looks than not,” isn’t ruling out the possibilities. “In the case of the LGBTQ community, it was important to me that people who go to see this movie feel that they’re being represented in the film,” he said.

Knowing how conservatives and the anti-LGBTQ industry are, I'm sure that they will be milking the fake outrage teat for all its worth. Remember how they flipped out over a gay character in Beauty and the Beast?

And apparently one has started early with this probably soon-to-be overblown drama.

Gaslighting by gay conservatives can't wipe away the homophobic slime from VP Pence's political career

In an act which really puts the "gas" into the word "gaslighting" conservatives are attempting to claim that VP Mike Pence is not homophobic. It's bad enough that this is happening, but as Media Matters for America points out, the fact that gay conservatives are participating in this fraud makes it worse:

Gregory T. Angelo is the former president of the Log Cabin Republicans and a vocal defender of Pence. And if an April article in The Daily Beast is to be believed, his defense of Pence is less about personal belief and more about personal desire for a career advancement in the Trump Administration:

“Log Cabin Republicans didn’t endorse Trump when [Angelo] was head of that organization, and now he’s trying to be relevant after a completely ineffective attempt at leading an organization to support LGBTQ issues and candidates,” a gay Republican former candidate for office told The Daily Beast. “With an administration, and a vice president, wanting to add some window-dressing of LGBTQ support while they advance policies that harm LGBTQ Americans, Gregory sees his chance to gain real access—for business or a job—not for making a difference in people’s lives. This is about him.”

It's rather sad, if you ask me. It's even sadder that the Log Cabin Republicans as a group has followed Angelo's lead via its unbelievable endorsement of Trump for the 2020 elections in spite of all of the chaos and hell his Administration has attempted to reap upon the LGBTQ community.

Religious right wants to steal LGBTQ tax dollars but are too cowardly to say so

The religious right wants our tax dollars while reminding us that we are not fit to raise children.

Read this article courtesy of the American Family Association's propaganda news source One News Now. See if you can point out the gaping hole of omission. It should be relatively easy:

Ten states and more than 40 members of Congress are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of Fulton et al v City of Philadelphia, a case pitting religious beliefs against homosexual rights.

Sharonell Fulton and Toni Simms-Bush are Philadelphia foster moms standing up for Catholic Social Services, a faith-based agency that's been operating for over 100 years.
In 2018, the City of Philadelphia barred Catholic Social Services from placing children in homes due to the agency's policy against placing children with same-sex couples.
"The city is currently in a foster care crisis," said attorney Nick Reaves of Becket, the law firm representing Fulton and Simms-Busch, in an interview on the "Washington Watch" radio program. 

"In about March 2018," he advised, "the city said they needed 300 new foster families to care for kids in need, but just a few days later the city turned around and said that they were going to close Catholic Social Services -- one of the most effective agencies in the city -- just because they disagree with their religious beliefs about marriage." 

Reaves added there are services in Philadelphia that serve LGBTQ households. 

"The city has supported those agencies but yet they're trying to close down agencies like Catholic Social Services," Reaves continued. "I think the reason you see so many lawmakers and states getting behind the Fulton petition is because it's a national issue."
Becket alone has multiple cases on this issue. 

"We have another case in Michigan on this issue," said Reaves. "There's also a case in South Carolina, (and) there is a case in Texas."

While lying about the LGBTQ community attempting to "punish" Christians (and children), One News Now left out the main issue of the controversy - the simple fact that these adoption agencies were receiving a large amount of tax dollars while practicing discrimination against the LGBTQ community.

According to Philly News in March 2018:

The city announced Thursday that it had stopped two faith-based agencies from placing foster children after learning the organizations discriminate against LGBTQ people. The Philadelphia Department of Human Services has ceased foster-care intake with Bethany Christian Services and Catholic Social Services, pending an investigation by the Commission on Human Relations.

. . . A same-sex couple who approached Bethany Christian Services about becoming foster parents were turned away in October. Catholic Social Services told the Inquirer and Daily News it also does not work with LGBTQ people interested in being foster parents, though it knew of no inquiries from same-sex couples. Together the agencies have received about $3 million in foster care reimbursement funds from the city each year.

The Huffington Post was more specific about the reimbursement amounts. In 2017:

 . . . Philadelphia reimbursed Bethany to the tune of $1,314,562 in city, state and federal funds to operate foster homes and gave Catholic Social Services $1,667,745.

Also, in the One News Now article, cases in Michigan and South Carolina were mentioned. According to the same Huffington Post article:

Miracle Hill Ministries, a South Carolina Christian organization, stipulates on its website that foster parents must “have a lifestyle that is free of sexual sin” ― listing “pornographic materials, homosexuality, and extramarital relationships” as specific examples. The organization has already received more than $4.6 million in federal and state funding in the 2018 fiscal year, according to a South Carolina Department of Social Services spokeswoman . . .

Michigan paid St. Vincent Catholic Charities, a nonprofit in Lansing, Michigan, at least $10.6 million in federal and state funds for foster care payments alone over a two-year period that ended in September 2017, according to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services data. But St. Vincent “cannot provide written recommendations and endorsements of unmarried or same-sex couples,” Melinda Skea, a spokeswoman for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is handling the organization’s media inquiries, told HuffPost in an email.

It's not by accident that One News Now conveniently omitted mentioning these facts in its article. And it's not the only religious right entity which will sidestep the issue of LGBTQ tax dollars going to entities which practice anti-LGBTQ discrimination.

Last year, I had a discussion on Twitter with Kellie Fiedorek, an employee of the Alliance Defending Freedom.  For those not familiar, ADF has taken a lead position in pushing court cases seeking to undermine LGBTQ protections and safety. Its goal seems to be legalizing anti-LGBTQ discrimination.

During the discussion, Fiedorek defended an Oklahoma law which allows adoption agencies to discriminate against the LGBTQ community while receiving tax dollars.  Her answers to my question sounded rehearsed. But she couldn't answer whenever I asked about entities discriminating against the LGBTQ community receiving our tax dollars.

You see, folks like Fiedorek and groups like AFA and the Becket Fund don't want to have that discussion because it would steer away from the false picture they are painting. This issue of religious foster care and adoption agencies versus the LGBTQ community isn't about punishing folks for religious beliefs. At its heart, the issue is about religious entitlement and homophobia.  They want our hard earned money, but they don't want to acknowledge us as people capable of raising children. They want our tax dollars, but don't want to respect us as taxpayers who should be treated fairly.  They want the results of our labor, but want to also keep the rewards away from us.

And they think that "their faith" should give them that right.

African-American LGBTQ people exist. We made America great. Deal with it.

I'm not here for any discussion or any debate. I don't give a damn right now about the differences between being black and LGBTQ. I don't want to discussion the minutia of similarities or differences.  I just have one thing to say.

 LGBTQ African-Americans are here. We exist. We will not make allowances for your disrespect, we will not remain in the background,  nor will we edit out portions of our lives to fit naive ideas of a homogeneous community or Ho-Tep fantasies of how black people should act. We're not here as your tokens or to amuse you. We aren't here to be pulled from one side to another. We are not here for you to make us supposedly choose which side of the aisle we stand on. Where we stand is where we have stood from the beginning and will always stand until the end of time. On our side.

Enjoy the videos:

Two things about this video. Every name is accurate, except possibly for George Washington Carver. His sexual orientation was never verified. People talked about his high pitched voice but there is a sad rumor about that which I won't go into.

The second thing is why the second video is necessary. This above video, made in 2013, failed to include our transgender brothers and sisters. The video below is a wonderful spotlight of transgender African-American historical figures, including my buddy from Transgriot, Monica Roberts:

Religious author says evangelical silence about Trump's racism proves they made 'a deal with the devil'

Franklin Graham (top), Robert Jeffress (middle), and Tony Perkins (bottom) have been called out for enabling and then being silent about Trump's recent racist comments against four members of Congress.

The House of Representatives just voted 240-187 to condemn Trump's racist attacks on four of its members. Only four Republicans joined the Democrats in that vote.

Meanwhile, conservative evangelicals have been mostly silent throughout the entire thing. Franklin Graham, who seems to be never at a loss for words when tweeting attacks on the LGBTQ community, has been especially evasive.

And don't think that it hasn't been noticed. John Fea, religious author and professor of American history at Messiah College, posted about this on Tuesday:

Trump is simply calling upon an old tradition in American history. Sadly, we have been telling people to “go back to your country” since the birth of the republic. None of this is new. Trump appeals to the darkest parts of our past. This is what demagogues do. Today he refused to rescind his comments because apparently a lot of people like them. 

But America has always had its better angels. We have always had men and women who have tried to consistently apply our country’s ideals to matters of race, immigration, and injustice. Robert Jeffress, Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell Jr. Jack Graham, Tony Perkins, Paula White, Ralph Reed, Gary Bauer, David Barton, Jim Bakker, Lance Wallnau, Steven Strang and the rest of the court evangelicals do not fall into this category. 

Sadly, the court evangelicals have chosen to side with darkness over light. They are sycophants, incapable of speaking truth to power because they have made a deal with the devil (who apparently has come in the guise of a new King Cyrus). They have enabled Donald Trump. The silence speaks volumes.

The entire piece is short but on point and deserves your full attention.

 

William Dannemeyer was a vile bigot whose legacy of hate must never be forgotten

William Dannemeyer

An absolutely vulgar enemy of the LGBTQ community has passed away:

Seven-term Congressman William Dannemeyer, one of the leading homophobes of the 1980s and ’90s, has died at age 86. The California Republican, who once read a description of sexual acts into the Congressional Record, said he’d like to wipe out all HIV-positive people, and spread false claims about how HIV was spread, died Tuesday after suffering from dementia, The Orange County Register reports. In addition to his antigay activism, he promoted conspiracy theories about Bill and Hillary Clinton and claimed that Jews were seeking to eliminate Christians. 

. . . “In the mid-1980s, Dannemeyer endorsed a plan to quarantine people with HIV or AIDS,” the Register’s obituary notes. “He also spoke against allowing nurses with HIV to work with children, saying (incorrectly) that people with the virus emitted a ‘spore’ that caused birth defects.” 

In 1989 he placed a detailed description of sex acts in the Congressional Record; he characterized them as gay sex acts, even though heterosexuals were known to engage in some of them as well. The same year, he sent a letter to President George H.W. Bush expressing concern about the influence of gay people in the administration. Dannemeyer was a fan and ally of President Ronald Reagan, less so of fellow Republican Bush. He also published a book that year, Shadow in the Land: Homosexuality in America, about what he considered the threat posed by gay people. 

In 1990 he voted against a bill authorizing the federal government to collect data on crimes motivated by a victim’s race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. He was one of only 18 House members to oppose it; he said he did so because it put sexual orientation on a par with those other characteristics.

Dannemeyer was before my time, but he is a reason why this blog exists. I could say a lot about him, but I would prefer to leave an item which accentuates his legacy of hatred:

This 1986 comic was created by a man named Dick Hafer and it is a representation of some of the most evil anti-gay lies out there.  Check out the images it contained:

All of the times the LGBTQ community tried to destroy America before the Equality Act (sarcasm intended)

It is an attack on parental rights, women's sports, but to the millions of people of faith in this country, it is an egregious attack on the freedom to believe and live according to those beliefs. It would position the government to lord over churches and other faith-based institutions, dictating potentially who they hire, how their facilities are used and even punishing them for not falling in step with a view of human sexuality that directly contradicts orthodox biblical teaching. 

 No institution or person of faith, be it school, church, synagogues, mosque, business, or nonprofit will escape the Orwellian reach of the Equality Act. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act will be committed to the "memory hole," and we will then experience a catastrophic loss of religious freedom in America. - Hate group leader Tony Perkins (Family Research Council) lying about the Equality  Act.

On Friday, the House of Representatives will vote on the Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to existing civil rights legislation which already prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, or natural origin. Interestingly enough, no one says that there should be a religious exemption for discrimination with regards to these latter categories. They feel differently about sexual orientation and gender. Tony Perkins and his group the Family Research Council (whose brand has encompassed attacking and demonizing the LGBTQ community since its founding) and other anti-LGBTQ groups and supporters have been sounding the alarm like they always do when pro-LGBTQ laws or actions are considered.

Its their consistent modus operandi to attempt to scare other Americans that we are coming for them, their rights, their freedom, their religion, or their children.  Even though they know that if the House passes the Equality Act, it has very little chance even getting a vote in the Senate, Perkins and company still won't miss an opportunity to fundraise and scare people about the "dreaded homosexual horde." They've done it so many times in the past.

Whether it was about allowing the gays to serve openly in the Boy Scouts:

Hate crimes legislation (which they claimed would cause pastors to be arrested in the pulpit and the Bible to be declared "hate speech):

Anti-LGBTQ leader says she isn't homophobic because she has a gay son

Kay Coles James

Kay Coles James is the president of the Heritage Foundation. According to Media Matters, this organization has a long history of anti-LGBTQ lobbying:

The group has railed against LGBTQ equality for decades, including by supporting discrimination against LGBTQ people under religious exemptions, supporting the Boy Scouts of America’s ban on LGBTQ scoutmasters, and opposing marriage equality. Just this year, the group has hosted five anti-trans panels that pushed misinformation about trans people in an attempt to sway public discourse about trans-inclusive policies like the Equality Act. Furthermore, Heritage employs several extreme anti-LGBTQ figures, including Ryan T. Anderson.

Media Matters also pointed out that James also served as vice president of the Family Research Council, an SPLC-designated hate group due to its constant attempt to undermine and denigrate the LGBTQ community via junk science, cherry-picked science, and out-and-out lies. Recently FRC accused PBS of attempting to targeting children simply because a children's show on the network, Arthur, showed a same-sex wedding. Days before that, the organization falsely implied that transgender children are predators out to harm other children in school bathrooms.

James was recently embroiled in a controversy involving Google. The company invited her to be a member of its Artificial Intelligence ethics board. However, her inclusion was protested so venomously by Google employees and other people that the company ended up disbanding the board. James was interviewed earlier this month by Shannon Bream of Fox News because of the Google controversy. She claimed that she wasn't homophobic because she has a gay son.

Homophobe? I don't think so. You know, I, I, I've never talked about it publicly, but I have a gay son whom I love beyond all measure. And he and his community have welcomed me, have helped me grow, have helped me to understand. There’s no hatred there. That’s my child you are talking about.

One has to ask what growth and understanding is she talking about, particularly when viewing tweets she has sent against the Equality Act.

The page James links to spins all sorts of lies and horror stories about what could happen (but of course won't) if the Equality Act becomes law. The prediction of mayhem if a pro-LGBTQ law is passed is an old, but effective talking point of the anti-LGBTQ industry. But as it pertains to James, for someone who claims to have been welcomed and embraced by the LGBTQ community, she seems to be tone deaf as to the problems we face when it comes to discrimination. It's even worse when one sees how she is passing along information designed to undermine efforts to combat this discrimination.

Discredited physician claims the Equality Act will end Christianity

Michelle Cretella

The hyperbole and false horror stories doesn't stop with the anti-LGBTQ industry when it comes to the upcoming Equality Act vote.

From Right Wing Watch:

Michelle Cretella, the executive director of an anti-LGBTQ pseudo-science organization, said that the Equality Act should actually be called the “Death to Christianity Act.” 

May 10 episode of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, guest host Sarah Perry, FRC Action’s Director of Partnerships, and Cretella, executive director of the American College of Pediatricians (a right-wing group not to be confused with the professional organization, American Academy of Pediatrics), shared their opposition to the Equality Act, which would seek to add protections for sexual orientation and gender identity into existing anti-discrimination laws. The duo claimed that the proposed legislation would take children who believe they may be transgender and force doctors to “do harm to these kids.” 

“I think it’s really super important for all listeners to realize this law, if it passes, if this bill becomes law, it impacts everyone. And a better name for it is the ‘Death to Christianity Act.’ OK? That’s going to be the umbrella. … Christianity, it will cease to be publicly practiced. It’ll become against the law,” Cretella said.

Right Wing Watch goes to point out that Cretella's group, the American College of Pediatricians, is a SPLC-designated hate group due to how it pushes homophobic cherry-picked and junk science as legitimate research.

'Pat Robertson claims Equality Act will bring God's judgment on America' & other Tue midday news briefs

Poor Pat Robertson has been around for a long time and it shows. He comes across so sad and decrepit here. My comments are not mean to be snarky, but simply observing both right-wing evangelicalism and Pat Robertson seem to be hurtling headfirst down the road to irrelevancy and public shame simply due to a lack of honesty and integrity.

Pat Robertson goes full apocalyptic about the Equality Act: It will "bring the judgment of God on this nation," "the land will vomit you out," and God will "get rid of you as a nation" pic.twitter.com/xsBUFLPCnp

— Brennan Suen (@brennansuen) May 14, 2019

Family Research Council smears transgender children as predators - Post from last night. Someone should ask Robertson will God bring judgment on America for trying to be fair to all citizens or for doing things like falsely painting certain children as predators?

Chips Ahoy Cookies Brutally Mocks Snowflakes Triggered By Their Mother’s Day Video Featuring Drag Queen - Snowflakes.

Donald Trump comes out against LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections law - Surprise! Surprise! Donald Trump stabbed the LGBTQ community in the back again.

Texas House killed ‘Save Chick-fil-A’ bill, but the Senate just revived it - Well that sucks. 

This Bisexual Man Gave His Mom The Surprise Of Her Life On His Wedding Day - Awwww! This is sweet.

Family Research Council smears transgender children as predators

With the vote for the Equality Act coming in the House of Representatives possibly this week, it's no wonder that conservatives and members of the anti-LGBTQ industry have been firing up the propaganda cylinders to spin all sorts of horror stories about what would happen if it were passed.

And leave it to the hate group Family Research Council to really spin a most vile horror story via this tweet:

This is  vulgar lie on so many levels, particularly how it smears transgender children. As a matter of fact, a recent study has shown that it is  transgender children who are in danger of sexual assault when attending schools which attempt to force them to use bathrooms not aligned with their sexual identities.

Family Research Council tries to protect Trump by lying about Mueller investigation

FRC head Tony Perkins 

I was wondering when hate group the Family Research Council would dip itself into the drama of Robert Mueller's report on the Russian interference in the 2016 election. For those not aware,  Mueller was investigating whether or not Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia  and did Trump attempt to obstruct the investigation

Using the same cherry-picking, sins of omission, and basic distortions it has over the years to denigrate the LGBTQ community, the Family Research Council is attempting to twist the outcome of Mueller's investigation in order to protect its cash cow of "access," Donald Trump. Apparently this requires more than a simple "mulligan."

FRC's distortions of Mueller's investigation is best shown in three paragraphs of a piece its president, Tony Perkins, wrote:

The spectacle at Wednesday's hearing wasn't lost on the liberal media either. While the rest of the country pleads with Democrats to move on from this humiliating ordeal, even commentators are saying they don't have the public's support to continue this charade. "The most straightforward procedural suggestion for addressing executive branch noncooperation is to subpoena documents and testimony and, if they aren't produced, hold the responsible individuals in contempt of Congress. This, it turns out, is not such a great idea," warns Suzanne Garment at NBC News. 

 For starters, Americans are tired of watching Democrats beat this dead horse of Russian collusion. Most of them want to know: when will this political circus end? Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) understands -- because he's one of them. I guess it ends, he told me on Wednesday's "Washington Watch," "when the Democrats a suffer at the ballot box because it doesn't look like anything short of that is gone to deter them. The Mueller report is out there for everybody to read. It's 448 pages. It finds that there was no conspiracy, there was no coordination, there was no collusion and there was no obstruction. And, and now Attorney General Barr has testified before multiple committees... And that's the end of it. And it's time now that the Democrats and moved on and we actually get to work with the business with the country." 

 But there's also the legal side of this, which is that Attorney General Barr cannot release grand jury material without being held personally responsible. There's intelligence information in that report, and there are matters of national security that prevent him from complying with the Democrats' request. House liberals know that -- and yet, they're trying to punish Barr for following the law (which, I might point out, is not why Eric Holder was held in contempt). And ironically, they don't need him to publicly release the unredacted report to read it. As members of Congress, they can go to a private, classified setting and access every word. Of course, there wouldn't be any television cameras in that room for Democrats to continue their theatrics.

There are so many lies in just these three paragraphs.

1. While the rest of the country pleads with Democrats to move on from this humiliating ordeal, even commentators are saying they don't have the public's support to continue this charade.

 Truth - Actually the view of the investigation is bit more split. According to a May 1 NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, 48 percent of Americans want more investigations while 46 percent thinks they should end. In all honesty, impeachment hearings still remains to be an unpopular idea.

2. FRC cites a piece by Suzanne Garment to enhance the claim that the public doesn't support more investigations.

Truth - But her piece had nothing to do with public sentiment. It was about the different ways the Democratic party can obtain testimony and documents for the investigation which Trump refuses to release.

3. For starters, Americans are tired of watching Democrats beat this dead horse of Russian collusion.

Truth - FRC cites a February 15 poll from right-wing leaning Rasmussen which says only 29 percent of Americans favor investigation and only IF Mueller doesn't find anything.  This was before the Mueller report was even released. Again, a more recent poll found that 48 percent of Americans want investigations to continue.

4. FRC quotes GOP Senator Josh Hawley: "when the Democrats a suffer at the ballot box because it doesn't look like anything short of that is gone to deter them. The Mueller report is out there for everybody to read. It's 448 pages. It finds that there was no conspiracy, there was no coordination, there was no collusion and there was no obstruction. And, and now Attorney General Barr has testified before multiple committees... And that's the end of it. And it's time now that the Democrats and moved on and we actually get to work with the business with the country."

Truth -  The investigation did not find any conspiracy between Trump campaign and Russia. However Mueller  found 10 instances of possible obstruction by Trump.  He said he couldn't fully exonerate Trump of obstruction. Over 800 former federal prosecutors and Department of Justice attorneys who worked for Democratic and Republican administrations signed a letter saying that if Trump wasn't president, he would face charges of obstruction.  Lastly, it has been reported that Trump himself is walking back from the claim of "no obstruction."

Truth - Attorney General Barr has testified only once about Mueller's report and that was to Senate Judiciary Committee on May 1. He refused to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee.

5.  But there's also the legal side of this, which is that Attorney General Barr cannot release grand jury material without being held personally responsible. There's intelligence information in that report, and there are matters of national security that prevent him from complying with the Democrats' request. House liberals know that -- and yet, they're trying to punish Barr for following the law (which, I might point out, is not why Eric Holder was held in contempt).

Truth - Zack Ford of watchdog group ThinkProgress said this:

The Mueller report redacted four kinds of content: grand jury material, classified intelligence, matters related to ongoing investigations, and private information about “peripheral third parties.” It’s true that members of Congress cannot see the grand jury material, but they have every right to see the content redacted in the other three categories, as well as all of the underlying evidence that accompanies the report’s claims. And that’s what the subpoena asks for. 

As for the grand jury material, Nadler explained that Democrats had asked Barr to work alongside them to petition a judge to turn over those documents to Congress in a closed setting, the only way the material can be released. The request therefore does not compel Barr to break the law.

Former 'ex-gay' counselor denounces the fraudulent ministries

 Twenty-one years after launching a disastrous million-dollar “ex-gay” ad campaign, where virtually every leader featured has since come out of the closet, the extreme right wing is unveiling a new effort to rebrand these failed “pray away the gay” programs. The new glitzy campaign to recycle these mentally abusive ministries is called the Changed Movement with the hash tag #OnceGay. 

In response, Truth Wins Out released a new online ad  . . .  featuring former Love in Action Director John Smid. He was the real life “ex-gay” counselor in the movie Boy Erased, played by Joel Edgerton as therapist Victor Sykes. Smid had counseled hundreds of men to rid them of their homosexuality. Now out of the closet and living with a his partner, Smid says in TWO’s ad, “If you are strongly attracted to someone of the same gender that will not change. I’ve never seen a real success story of anyone who has changed from homosexual to heterosexual.” 

“The ‘ex-gay’ myth is an experiment that has unequivocally failed and it takes a lot of chutzpah to try to rebrand the snake oil,” said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. “The right wing must think that Americans have amnesia and no longer recall that one ‘ex-gay’ leader after another, who loudly proclaimed change, are now living happily as openly LGBT people. These programs are dangerous and cause lasting psychological scars.”

More at TruthWinsOut.org

'Lesbian teacher wins Hesperia lawsuit' & other Wed midday news briefs

Lesbian teacher wins Hesperia lawsuit, says she was fired for helping gay students - Give it up, turn it loose. You were wrong so now you gonna pay.

Jane Castor Is Elected First Lesbian Mayor of Tampa - This just happens and should get more attention.

After Smearing of Obama, Democrats Should Know How to Defend Ilhan Omar - One would think . . . 

 ‘To Wong Foo’ is being rereleased with new footage. Will it be a hit in 2019 like it was in 1995? - If you didn't get at least a little teary at the end, then you have no soul.

Mueller Report responses prove Trump evangelicals replacing Jesus with 'p-**y-grabbing messiah'

The anti-LGBTQ and evangelical right distort Mueller Report findings to praise Trump.

To the anti-LGBTQ and evangelical right, Trump represents the power to force their agenda on America. That's why so many of them discarded or recalibrated their tirades about values and morality to feature him in the center. And in many cases, replacing Jesus.

Their responses to the recent Mueller Report sadly cements this fact.

From American history professor John Fea:

Donald Trump is a liar who clearly obstructed justice. He has forced others to lie to the American people on his behalf. Some, like Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a self-professed evangelical Christian, lied for the president on multiple occasions. (That is a lot of slips of the tongue). Others refused to lie for him. The Mueller report reveals that Trump’s presidency lacks a moral center. He should be impeached. 

And what about the court evangelicals and all of those other white evangelicals who still support Trump? They will double down in their support for the president. He is God’s chosen instrument and his evangelical supporters will invoke biblical examples of how God’s anointed instruments will always suffer persecution. They will claim that the Mueller Report is biased (except, of course, the parts that say there was no collusion). They will continue to stoke the “witch hunt” metaphor. They will continue to take their marching orders from Fox News and claim that the report proves that Trump did not commit a crime. They will argue that the country should simply move forward as if nothing happened. They will ignore the parts of the report that show Trump’s immorality and lies. Court evangelicalism blinds one to the truth. For example 

Americans must demand that “no collusion, no obstruction” means NO MORE HARASSMENT of President @realDonaldTrump! — Dr. Robert Jeffress (@robertjeffress) April 18, 2019 

The attacks on @PressSec Sarah Sanders are disgraceful and pure politics. She does an outstanding job as WH Press Secretary and is a woman of character & integrity. — Ralph Reed (@ralphreed) April 19, 2019  

The #MuellerReport on whether President @realDonaldTrump colluded w/the Russians in the 2016 election is out. The answer is still NO. 1/2 https://t.co/JmoXvJjEKv — Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) April 18, 2019 

 . . .  AG Barr was masterful in his press conf. The lie of Russian collusion and obstruction of justice has been completely refuted. But the left won’t stop. They are addicted to the lie.#MullerReport #BarrPressConference #Barr #MAGA — Gary L Bauer (@GaryLBauer) April 18, 2019

The irony is these folks seem to forget that Trump isn't going to stay in office forever. How ever and whenever he goes,  if these Trump evangelicals think that they will be able to slide back into their unearned positions as self-designated arbiters of cultural morality, they need to make other plans.

No one is going to forget their behavior during the Trump years. Some of us are even taking notes.

Vice President Mike Pence is offended at controversy over wife's choice of teaching at anti-LGBTQ school

Remember that time that Mike Pence lied about an anti-LGBQ 'religious freedom' bill he signed when Indiana's governor?

Editor's note - In light of the new developments regarding the allegation that Trump told his former lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress, we are slowly moving to a reality which will no longer see Trump in the White House. With that in mind, this controversy about 2nd Lady Karen's Pence's decision to teach at an anti-LGBTQ school takes on new relevance. As does VP Mike Pence's defense of it. It would  serve the LGBTQ community well to pay attention to matters and make our voices be heard. The possibility of a Pence Administration would be disastrous for us.

Vice President Says Outrage Over Wife Karen Pence’s Discriminatory School Is ‘Offensive’ - Pence attempts to defend his wife's homophobia by turning the issue. Let's be clear about something if we have to say it repeatedly:

The 2nd Lady of the United States has no damn business associating herself with a restricted school. She can do it when she is a private citizen, not when she's Second Lady.

But just like the point I made last night in the post about the Family Research Council defending Pence - homophobes will defend homophobes.

And in the case of Pence, if he wants to talk offensive, how about

when he lied about an anti-LGBTQ religious liberty bill he signed when he was Indiana's governor (highlighted by the above picture)

or when he would not give a definite answer when asked about how he felt about anti-LGBTQ discrimination:


 
Or the repeated times he has attacked, denigrated, and smeared the LGBTQ community.

Behind Pence's fake smile and non-assuming "Christian" manner beats the heart of man who has made a career out of belittling the LGBTQ community and jeopardizing our rights and safety. So of course he is going to defend his wife when she does the same thing.The bright side in all of this is the spotlight we now have to showcase his dirty hands. And the worst thing a homophobe can do is give us LGBTQ folks even a little bit of spotlight because we know how it use it.

Related post:

Evangelical hate group: Stop picking on Karen Pence because she may think LGBTQs are second class citizens 
 

Karen Pence's homophobia is bad. The homophobia of her defenders is worse  

Don't expect any honest answer from Karen Pence. Homophobic evasion is a family trait with the Pences

Karen Pence's homophobia is bad. The homophobia of her defenders is worse

Karen Pence

As to be expected, 2nd Lady Karen Pence's decision to teach at an anti-LGBTQ private school has some defenders.

Personally, I and a lot of other folks feel that seeing that she is 2nd Lady of the United States, Mrs. Pence has a responsibility and duty to send an inclusive message to all Americans, especially LGBTQ Americans, our families, and our children. And aligning herself with a private school with a policy against LGBTQ employees, same-sex families, and LGBTQ children is not the way to do it,

However, some folks in the comments section of a One News Now article (which is the "news source" of anti-LGBTQ hate group the American Family Association) have a different take on the situation (click on the graphics to read):

And those comments are nothing compared to the comments on the extreme right-wing site Free Republic: