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

Tennessee Passes Bill Rolling Back Same-Sex Adoption Rights - Incredible bullshyte. Lawsuit!!

Fox News host questions whether Pete Buttigieg is actually gay - Well now I've heard everything.

11K Christians protest Franklin Graham's Florida tour - give that jive turkey HELL! 

Boise lawmaker reintroduces ‘Add the Words’ bill on LGBTQ rights to Idaho Legislature - The march continues state by state for our equality.

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.

From The Courier Journal:

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:

Kaitlin Bennett (aka Kent State gun girl) vs. An absolute KING pic.twitter.com/CVm6CpvOwN

— ☠️ Lilith Lovett ☠️ (@LilithLovett) January 11, 2020

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.

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

Transgender employees sue Florida over state's trans health care ban - And I hope they win, too.

Trump adviser and Fox host Robert Jeffress told LGBTQ teenager who “seriously contemplated suicide” to change her sexual orientation - Thank God she didn't listen.

Israel’s education minister says he thanks God his kids aren’t gay - Oh really . . .

Gay Marriage Is Now Legal In Northern Ireland - Sweet!!

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.

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

Billy Porter makes history again

Billy Porter Makes History As First Man Featured On Allure’s Cover - Go Billy!!!

Employee fired for publishing man’s name & HIV status in misleading report - Ugh to the creation of stigma.

Anti-LGBTQ Rep. Duncan Hunter formally resigns - Hunter thinks that homosexuality is a sin. He also has a bunch of mistresses. 

Religious freedom does not justify discrimination against LGBTQ community: Readers - PREACH!!

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.

'Arizona Republican drops plan to ban the word 'homosexuality' from public schools' & other Fri midday news briefs

Arizona Republican introduces bill to ban the word “homosexuality” from public schools - Yeah, that ought to keep the kids from talking about being gay. NOT.

UPDATE - This just came in - Arizona senator drops plans to ban the word “homosexuality” from schools 

Parents Raise Voices as BOE Tackles Teaching LGBTQ History in School - We knew this would happen, but I love the way the article brings perspective to the issue.

Judge orders US to return illegally deported gay asylum seeker before he’s killed - I hope they can reach him in time. 

Tenn. clerks told not to marry gay couples in letter from anti-LGBTQ lawyer - The homophobes are trying so hard in Tennessee.