When defending Kavanaugh fails, attack Obama and his alleged girlfriends (and boyfriends)

While defending Trump's SCOTUS pick and accused assaulter of women Brett Kavanaugh, high and low profile Trump supporters are doing what they do best:

Pointing the finger at Obama.

Wayne Allyn Root, conservative radio and television personality and extreme Trump supporter who was recently the opening speaker for one of his rallies, sent out the following tweet today:

The vast majority of those who tweeted back rightfully poked fun at Allyn's silly whataboutism and attempt to drag Obama into this mess.  Generally, folks pointed out that the situation had nothing to do with Obama and that the former president is a decent person who respects women.

Then there were those who agreed with Root's tweet.

'Bigotry is causing our LGBTQ kids to harm themselves' & other Mon midday news briefs

LGB Youth at ‘Increased Risk’ of Substance Abuse. Blame Homophobia. - We keep telling folks this and the religious right & conservative groups keep pushing this aside.

We could have used a trans survival guide growing up: By writing one we hope to make today’s teens feel proud of who they are - And we will not forget out transgender children either. ALL of our LGBTQ kids must be protected and lifted up.

Thousands of students walked out of school to protest sex ed classes that don’t include gays - A step in the right direction of alleviating the problem in the above news brief.

Bisexual People Aren’t Confused Or Closeted. We’re Tired Of Being Invisible. - Amen.

Sandy Rios: Marriage Equality Is A ‘Fist Of Defiance’ In God’s Face - Can't these folks think of a more original insult?

The LGBTQ community doesn't need Dean Cain's weak tea support

The LGBTQ community don't need Dean Cain's weak tea support.

As with every year, the LGBTQ community has to deal with the anti-gay hate group Family Research Council's 'Values Voter Summit.' The event never ceases to shine a huge spotlight on the hypocrisy of FRC and other conservative groups who claim to be fighting for morality, while having no problems using underhanded tactics to do so.

This year involved a controversy of a different sort. Dean Cain, who portrayed Superman on the series Lois and Clark (1993-1997)  made an appearance to promote his film, Gosnell.

According to The Advocate:

 Prior to Cain’s appearance at the event, where he was promoting his film Gosnell, in which he plays the detective who put abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell behind bars, GLAAD and other LGBTQ activists and allies called him out for appearing at the event along with the likes of anti-LGBTQ people including Mike Pence, Michele Bachmann, Tony Perkins, Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips, and so many more.

Since Cain has in the past been vocal about his support of LGBTQ rights, he was called to the carpet for appearing at a conference sponsored by the Family Research Council, whose has worked steadily to undermine LGBTQ rights since its founding. In fact the Southern Poverty Law Center designated FRC to be a hate group due to the inaccurate claims it has made about gays, including how we supposedly recruit children.

However, nothing said to Cain could convince him that his appearance at this summit was wrong. Not even when GLAAD  and LGBTQ activists engaged him in Twitter. And to top it off, while he was at the summit, he labeled those calling him out as intolerant.

When the moderator of his Cain’s panel asked him if he’d “taken pressure” on social media for appearing with the hate group, Cain replied: “Yes. Certainly. I take that sort of heat and abuse every single day but it doesn’t bother me in the least…it doesn’t make me mad, it just shows people’s intolerance towards listening to another opinion. Just the fact that I’m here, just the fact that I’m here people were blowing me up all day long with the most ridiculous things that you could ever here. Talk about intolerance. It’s ridiculous. I take heat. It doesn’t bother me, I welcome it because I sleep well at night. I know I’m doing something that matches my convictions and my heart and I’ll happily defend the things I say and I stand for.”

To put it nicely, that pissed me off to the "highest levels of pissivity" and led me to challenge Cain on Twitter. What you are about to read is our exchange (errors included). To be fair, I started the engage by referencing FRC's past citation of the junk science of discredited researcher Paul Cameron.

When he tweeted me back, it was on:

'Lie told by Mike Pence about Indiana 'religious freedom' bill in 2015 highlights hypocrisy of 'Values Voter' Summit'

Ah yes. Today is the beginning of the annual Family Research Council 'Values Voter' Summit in which right-wing evangelicals throw off all pretenses of humility (the little they have) and show themselves to be power-hungry, self-righteous hypocrites  And it's a lovely day for those of us who decry their lies and basic homophobia to pull out all of the receipts we have collected over the years of their true faces. 

Since this year, Vice President Mike Pence will be a guest speaker, here is one of my favorites, i.e. when he lied in 2015 about the intent of a bill he signed while governor of Indiana, but was done in by a photo of him signing it.  It not only demonstrates just how low Pence has gone to lie (for his "religious beliefs" of course) but also epitomizes what a lot of us find so darn distasteful about these phony gatherings. FRC and its supporters claim that this "summit" is all about values and bringing the nation back to God, but if this is the case, why do they have to stoop to lies, grubby power grabs, and cynical alliances to do it?

In 2015, when Pence was governor of Indiana, he signed a "Religious Freedom Restoration Act," which he insisted had absolutely nothing to do with discriminating against the LGBTQ community. However, the photo above sunk that lie. If the bill had nothing to do with discriminating against the LGBTQ community, then why did Pence pose with  three of the leading anti-LGBTQ activists in the state?

For more on Pence's blatant lie, see this article via GLAAD.

In other news:

Conservative journalist tries to humiliate 11-year-old drag kid, but it blows up in his face - Our kids are awesome.

Living In An Unparalleled Golden Time’ Under Trump - If you ignore the corruption, the attacks on women's health and the LGBTQ community, the investigations, and the caging of immigrant children, sure. Love the Christianity some people like to practice.

Anti-transgender bigots sink to new low with latest ad - Old religious right tactic of exploiting ignorance and fear shifted from gay men to transgender women. Depresses the hell out of me. 

Here’s what is at stake for transgender people in the midterm election - Speaking of which, take notes folks.

Family Research Council, Breitbart exploit hysteria to warp legitimate study about transgender children

One of the reasons why I began this blog and my work calling out anti-LGBTQ propaganda was because of how groups like the Family Research Council would cherry-pick legitimate science or cite junk science to create a false and negative narrative about the LGBTQ community.

Today, FRC, with the help of extreme right-wing crap sheet Breitbart, is taking a different path. The group is calling out legitimate science:

For progressive activists, nothing can stand in the way of their agenda -- not even the health and well-being of children. 

In a disturbing report from Breitbart, it was revealed that liberal activists embedded within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are currently carrying out a taxpayer-funded study to the tune of $5.7 million that is designed to result in a pre-determined conclusion: that children with gender dysphoria should be "affirmed" in their chosen gender identity through the use of puberty-blocking drugs and sterilizations. 

A source with detailed knowledge of the as yet unreleased study which began in the Obama era said that it is: 

...affirming gender change with family and environmental support in children as young as five years, and using puberty blockers and cross sex hormone treatment in children at the initial onset of puberty which could be as young age 8-9 years, and then following them for only five years. 

In a blatantly obvious example of conflict of interest, the four researchers who are conducting the NIH study each run their own private practices that encourage "affirmation therapy" for children who are experiencing gender dysphoria. What's more, the children who are participating in the study are the same ones who are receiving "therapy" from the four researchers! 

The dangers of undergoing a "gender transition" have already been well documented by FRC and many other organizations. For children in particular, the physical effects of hormone blockers are heartbreaking, as confirmed by doctors at Johns Hopkins University.

Neither Breitbart nor the Family Research Council have a reputation for honesty and accuracy, particularly when it comes to both science and the LGBTQ community. Neither employs anyone with an iota of expertise in this issue they are screeching about. And this lack of credibility shows. The supposed documentation by FRC is nothing more than ridiculous talking points from staff members.

'Trump Administration wants to cut HIV/AIDS, cancer, & mental health programs to put more immigrant children in detention' & other Thur midday news briefs

Trump stabs the LGBTQ community in the back again

Trump Defunding HIV/AIDS, Cancer, Mental Health Programs – Using Money to Pay for Migrant Kids in Cages - And we are going to all suffer for it. Hatred and resentment is a fire which consumes all and nothing is exempt.

Exclusive: With more immigrant children in detention, HHS cuts funds for other programs — like cancer research - More on the situation from the original source. 

Forget wedding cakes. ADF now wants to keep transgender women out of homeless shelters.- This is a travesty. Simply this cannot happen. 

Australian senator says LGBT people are sexual deviants, perverts and child abusers - What. The. Hell!! 

Grindr Announces ‘Zero Tolerance’ Of Racism, Fat Shaming And Transphobia - Never been on Grindr and have no desire to but this conversation needs to happen, regardless. There is a fine line between "just a preference" and establishing a baseline which tells others who supposedly don't measure up that they don't matter in the LGBTQ community. And that line is crossed too many times.

What the Family Research Council doesn't want you to know about its hate summit.

In spite of what the Family Research Council and its president Tony Perkins may claim, we all know that the demonization of the LGBTQ community will take the spotlight at its upcoming 'Values Voter Summit.'

Just like other members of the conservative right-wing propaganda machine, the Family Research Council and its president, Tony Perkins, is take offense at a Politico article questioning the appearance of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at its upcoming 'Values Voter Summit:'

Yesterday afternoon, Politico ran the headline "Pompeo raises eyebrows with appearance at politically charged event." Yes, you guessed it -- that event is this weekend's Values Voter Summit, which Politico reports is sponsored by the "deeply conservative Family Research Council." The 1,257 word article goes on to cite various past State Department officials who express concern about Secretary Mike Pompeo addressing a "partisan affair." Politico said it couldn't find evidence of past secretaries of state speaking at similar events. However, a quick Google search reveals that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at a Planned Parenthood gala in 2009 and the Center for American Progress in 2011. 

As I noted on my radio show last night, Secretary Clinton's speech praised Planned Parenthood and promised to make international family planning (including abortion) a top global policy goal. "I want to assure you that reproductive rights...will be a key to the foreign policy of this administration." She described a new age of integrating "family planning" and diplomacy. "At the end of the next four years, I hope we'll be able to look around the world and see that... organizations like Planned Parenthood will be our partners." Over the last three election cycles, Planned Parenthood entities have spent $ 38 million on elections -- making the group even more political than Family Research Council. 

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert responded in a statement to the Daily Signal, "If speaking about protecting human rights and liberty, including highlighting the persecution of Christians, Jews, Uighurs Muslims and other religious minorities around the world is considered wrong or offensive, then we as a nation have truly lost our way. Secretary Pompeo will continue to advance US foreign policy interests as he continues to advocate on behalf of the oppressed."

Aw, that's sweet. And a load of bull.