Supreme Court declines to hear case of anti-LGBTQ Catholic foster care agency

The Supreme Court just sent a Catholic agency in Philadelphia a message about its desire to have access to tax dollars while discriminating against gay taxpayers.

Nope, Uh uh. Forget it. It ain't gonna happen.

From Reuters:

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday declined to force the City of Philadelphia to resume the placement of children in need of foster care with a Catholic agency that refuses to accept gay couples as foster parents. In a decision that Catholic Social Services had said would force its foster care program to close, the justices refused the religious agency's request for an injunction compelling the city to allow it to place children in foster homes while litigation over the dispute continues in lower courts.  

 A spokeswoman for the agency could not immediately be reached for comment.
 In the brief order that did not include any reasoning for the decision, three conservative members of the court, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, said they would have granted the agency's request. Five of the nine Supreme Court justices are needed to grant an injunction, but the court is currently one member short since Justice Anthony Kennedy retired at the end of July. The court is split 4-4 between liberal and conservative justices. President Donald Trump has nominated conservative federal appeals court Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Kennedy.

Conservative and religious right groups have been steadily attempting to justify why religious foster care and adoption agencies should be allow to discriminate against gays and still have access to tax dollars.  They've emphasized how supposedly children are best served by allowing this to happen. And they've implied that gay are being selfish for wanting to be treated fairly.

But one thing they couldn't do is make the argument as to how it is fair for gay tax dollars to go to entities which discriminate against gays. And that has been their Achilles heel.

Still, as ThinkProgress points out, the fact that three SCOTUS judges were willing to hear this case isn't necessarily a good thing.

Related posts:

Philly stops two agencies from placing foster children because they discriminate against gays

Philly Christian foster care agency agrees to work with gay couples, city stops suspension of its contract 

Federal judge sides with Philadelphia against anti-gay adoption agency

' Is Mike Pence hoping for Trump's collapse' & other Thur midday news briefs

According to a new book, VP Mike Pence thinks God is calling him to be president. Naturally that means hell for the LGBTQ community.

Biographer: Pence thinks God ‘calling him’ to be president- A reminder to those who want the smash and bang approach of impeachment to remove Trump from office. If you don't think Mike Pence isn't waiting for this to happen in wanton anticipation, think again. And what Trump has done to the LGBTQ community is nothing compared to what Pence probably has planned. We have to remember that Trump's removal from office is only part of the solution, particularly for the LGBTQ community.  

Simply a reminder:

Mike Pence’s top seven most homophobic moments (out of many)

A Timeline of Mike Pence’s Discrimination Against the LGBT Community 

Here's What Mike Pence Said on LGBT Issues Over the Years

Illinois Woman Claims She Was Assaulted Inside Retirement Home For Being Gay - Posting on this again because we need to protect all of our people who most vulnerable to homophobic ignorance. If someone has pushed over or spit on this woman in my presence, I would have gotten highly ugly.

Christian Theologian Warns Evangelicals: Trump Will Turn On You ‘In A Moment’ - And I am waiting on that day.

After cheering obstruction of Obama's judicial picks, Heritage Foundation whines about process being 'blood sport'

The right is simply chomping at the bit when thinking about what mayhem they can cause should Trump nominee Brettt Kavanaugh get appointed to SCOTUS.

And yes that includes the damage he could possibly do to LGBTQ equality. A group of progressive and LGBTQ groups have united to stand against Kavanaugh. And the Democrats have raised the alarm that much information regarding Kavanaugh is being kept from them.

Sensing panic, many right-wing and evangelical groups are whining that the Democrats are being needless obstructionists against Kavanaugh. One group in general is the *anti-LGBTQ Heritage Foundation. The organization sent out the following tweet:

With all due respect, the Heritage Foundation is full of shit. The organization seems to forget its behavior when Senate Republicans blocked Merrick Garland, Obama's pick for SCOTUS and other judges Obama wanted to appoint. Allow me to throw out some reminders via commentaries published on the Heritage Foundation's webpage:

Why Republicans Should Not Fold On Garland's Nomination

Behold the Left's Manufactured Hysteria About GOP Obstruction of Judicial Nominees

No More Obama Judges

In other words, after being the "Amen Corner" for GOP obstruction of Obama's Supreme Court pick and justices in general, the Heritage Foundation thinks it can pull the wool over everyone's eyes with the fake call for civility.

Who does that organization think it's kidding?

The Heritage Foundation could care less about wanting a fair process or fair judges. The organization simply wants judges it knows will rule in its favor even before cases come to court. The Heritage Foundation and the conservative right - especially the anti-LGBTQ right - have no justifiable arguments so they work on "gaming the referees." And unfortunately, they have been very successful thus far.


* The Heritage Foundation also employs anti-LGBTQ spokesperson and all-around charlatan Ryan T. Anderson. It also once employ Roger Severino, Trump's present Director of Office of Civil Rights (at Dept. of HHS). While with the Heritage Foundation, Severino had a long history of opposing LGBTQ equality, even defending the discredited "ex-gay" therapy.

'Trump attempting to persuade conservative evangelicals to exploit their pulpits for the GOP' & other Wed midday news briefs

Instead of campaigning on good policies (because he has NONE), Trump is counting on evangelical right-wing pastors to 'persuade' their congregations to get the GOP over in the midterms.

Secret recording catches Trump instructing pastors to campaign for Republicans from the pulpit - And of course the anti-LGBTQ sect will. Folks, there ain't no use in crying about "why isn't this is illegal" because it doesn't matter. Nothing will be done by the law. WE are the ones who must take this mess on and defeat it by voting, getting people to vote, and speaking out on how Trump and conservative evangelicals are weaponizing religion as a tool for grubby materialistic power. Seriously. It's not up to the law to stop this. It's up to us.

MSNBC’s Morning Joe scalds evangelicals for selling out to Trump: ‘They certainly were self-righteous’ about Bill Clinton - And other than our vote, our biggest strength is our mouths. Don't take it for granted that people see right-wing evangelicals as hypocrites. HAMMER THAT POINT repeatedly.

Kathy Griffin burned Milo Yiannopoulos so bad it could’ve scorched his eyebrows - Frivolous, yes. But this is too good. And it's a lesson. Don't let someone make you out for less than you are worth. Always 'handle yo' bizness." 

16 More Iconic Same-Sex Couples Through History - This bullshyte notion that the LGBTQ community knows nothing about love and loyalty is gonna stop, if we have to grab it by the neck, sling it down, and stomp all over it. A reminder for us all, particularly our kids, that it is all about love and that love is never diminished by ignorance. 

California Passes New Bill to Support LGBTQ Seniors - Thank you California!

Trump lies to the anti-LGBTQ evangelical right and they slurp it up like ice cream

Trump can tell the anti-LGBTQ evangelical right anything and they will treat it like 'The Sermon on the Mount.'

In reporting about Trump and the religious right's lovefest at the White House last night, NBC demonstrated just how happy evangelical leaders are with the power being associated with Trump gives them.

He will straight up lie to their faces and they will lap it up like ice cream:

In a closed-door meeting with evangelical leaders Monday night, President Donald Trump repeated his debunked claim that he had gotten "rid of" a law forbidding churches and charitable organizations from endorsing political candidates, according to recorded excerpts reviewed by NBC News. 

In fact, the law remains on the books, after efforts to kill it in Congress last year failed. 

 . . . The law that Trump says he got rid of is the so-called Johnson Amendment, a provision inserted into law in 1954 by then-senator and future President Lyndon Johnson of Texas, who was miffed that a conservative nonprofit group was helping his opponent. The law says churches and charities "are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office."

"Now one of the things I'm most proud of is getting rid of the Johnson Amendment," the president said. "That was a disaster for you."  

 The president doesn't have the power to repeal a law — only Congress can do that. The Supreme Court can also rule a law unconstitutional, but that has not happened in this case. In May 2017, Trump signed an executive order that purported to ease enforcement of the Johnson Amendment. But experts — and the American Civil Liberties Union, which opposes repeal of the provision — say the Trump order was basically toothless.

In addition, Trump predicted to them all sorts of violent outcomes if the Democrats win big in the midterms. It's a language they should understand, seeing that many of these evangelical leaders have made similar predictions, continuously claiming mayhem and destruction from on high if LGBTQs got the right to marry, adopt children, be legally free from discrimination, be allowed to serve openly in the Armed Forces, etc. etc.:

At stake in the November midterms, Trump told the audience, are all the gains he has made for conservative Christians. 

"The level of hatred, the level of anger is unbelievable," he said. "Part of it is because of some of the things I've done for you and for me and for my family, but I've done them. … This Nov. 6 election is very much a referendum on not only me, it's a referendum on your religion, it's a referendum on free speech and the First Amendment." 

If the GOP loses, he said, "they will overturn everything that we've done and they'll do it quickly and violently, and violently. There's violence. When you look at Antifa and you look at some of these groups — these are violent people."

Nothing to see here. Simply more receipts to collect. While the anti-LGBTQ evangelical right wallow in their power like rutted pigs, those days will end.  And then they will have to assess the costs of how they freely gave away their integrity.

It will be the LGBTQ community holding the bill that they will have to sign.

Trump, anti-LGBTQ evangelical right gather at the White House for ceremony of repulsive mutual buttkissing

Last night, Donald Trump and the religious right desecrated the White House got together at a White House function to celebrate their mutual relationship. At the most, many of us were wishing for a recreation of that scene in The Ten Commandments when Charlton Heston nailed Edgar G. Robinson with the stone tablets, causing hole tin the Earth to open up and swallow him and his followers.

At the very least, we got yet another receipt to cash in with regards to the hypocrisy of the anti-LGBTQ right and how their actions when they have actual power conflict with their virtue signaling words

‘History Will Record The Greatness That You Have Brought For Generations,’ Religious Right Leaders Tell Trump - Apparently the anti-LGBTQ right kissed Trump's butt so hard that they left permanent scars.

‘Spiritual Warfare’: First Family Honors Dozens of Top Anti-Gay Activists at White House ‘State Dinner’ - And they were all there. From those who accused gays of "recruiting" children to those who accused gays of trying to "bankrupt Christians" to those who have made recent and awful remarks about transgender men and women. 

Ivanka Trump Smiles With Pastor Who Thinks Marriage Equality Is Satan’s Work - And the mainstream media noticed. 

In the end, let's not grumble mutually among ourselves. We should be reminding everyone just how vile these people are:

Randy Rainbow enlists 'The Wizard of Oz' to lay the smack down on Donald Trump

And because of this blistering video"If You Ever Got Impeached" (sung to the tune of "If I Only Had a Brain" from The Wizard of Oz), I hereby nominated Randy Rainbow as one of the unsung heroes of the Trump years. Then again maybe Randy deserves some type of punishment for branding the image of journalist Jim Acosta twerking into our collective brains.