Unpacking the Fulton case - The anti-LGBTQ right fails again in attempt to enshrine homophobic religious bigotry into law

 

The Human Rights Campaign should be credited with how quickly it came out with its statement after SCOTUS's ruling.

By now, we are all aware that the Supreme Court ruled for a Philadelphia Catholic adoption agency  in the latest attempt by the religious right to enshrine homophobic religious bigotry into law.  But just in case some of us aren't, here is a recap from The Huffington Post:

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of faith-based foster agency Catholic Social Services in a case that has significant implications for LGBTQ foster parents as well as taxpayer-funded groups’ ability to discriminate against queer people or other faiths based on “religious freedom.” The case centers around two local foster agencies that the city of Philadelphia found would not work with same-sex couples as foster parents in 2018. The city deemed this a violation of their anti-discrimination policies, and stopped referring foster kids to those agencies. One agency, Catholic Social Services, sued the city, saying it was violating its First Amendment rights and demanding the city continue working with it even as it turned away gay couples as foster parents. In a decision released Thursday, the court held that Philadelphia’s refusal to contract with CSS violates the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, which protects a person’s right to freely exercise their religion. The ruling requires the city of Philadelphia to renew its contract with CSS. 

But don't grab your weeping towels just yet. You see there were broader implications in this case. Via this case, the religious right was hoping for a broader ruling which would prevent the enforcing of non-discrimination laws. But the SCOTUS ruling was extremely narrow, which means they failed in their goal. 

According to SCOTUSBlog:

Thursday’s ruling was a victory for Catholic Social Services, an organization associated with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and two foster parents, who alleged that Philadelphia’s refusal to make foster-care referrals to CSS discriminated against the group because of its religious beliefs about traditional marriage. But the decision fell short of the broad endorsement of religious freedom that the challengers had sought. While the justices unanimously agreed with CSS and the foster parents that the city’s action was unconstitutional, a six-justice majority left intact the Supreme Court’s 1990 decision in Employment Division v. Smith, which held that government actions do not violate the Constitution’s free exercise clause as long as they are neutral and apply to everyone.

Let me put in layman's terms:

The religious right wanted SCOTUS to overturn a 1990 precedent it had set in another case.  And this would have allowed anti-gay discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs, which also enshrines the right of entities to receive LGBTQ tax dollars while practicing anti-LGBTQ discrimination.  But SCOTUS said that governments can enforce non discrimination laws and the like as long as they are applied fairly and neutrally. SCOTUS ruled that in this case, the city of Philadelphia did not. It was a narrow ruling which only applied to that specific case.

Thursday's SCOTUS ruling is not unlike the Masterpiece ruling in 2018. The court ruled pretty much the same way as in this case - that the business in question,  a bakery in Colorado, was the victim of anti-religious bias by a civil rights commission because the owner's refused to make a cake for a gay couple in accordance to his his religious beliefs. The ruling then was also narrow and did not create an enshrinement of discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs.

While I am not an attorney by any means, allow me to unpack some thoughts how the LGBTQ community lost and won via this case. It's simply my opinion.

Losses - Of course the unanimous ruling against the city of Philadelphia is the big loss here. While the religious right didn't get what it wanted, the victory gives them incentive to press forward in their attempts to undermine LGBTQ rights and enshrine into law a right to discriminate on religious grounds. They've failed twice but if I know anti-LGBTQ groups (the Beckett Fund, the Alliance Defending Freedom, and others), they've already began planning their next step.  We have not seen the last of this.

Wins - The simple fact that the religious right did not get what they wanted here is a big win for the LGBTQ community. My guess is that with a conservative majority on the court, they were expecting a big win. But they only succeeded in getting a narrow win, which they can't do much with even though they will try.

How they are probably feeling now is best summed up by Justice Alito (who has not been neutral with regards to his belief that religious beliefs trumps LGBTQ rights). He wasn't happy that the ruling didn't overturn the 1990 precedent set by the Smith case:

In his 77-page concurring opinion, Alito argued that the court’s decision in Smith is a “severe holding” that is “ripe for reexamination.” He complained that, after all of the time and attention devoted to the case, the Supreme Court had issued only “a wisp of a decision that leaves religious liberty in a confused and vulnerable state. Those who count on this Court to stand up for the First Amendment have every right to be disappointed,” Alito concluded. He added, “as am I.”

Also, usually with a victory, however minor, comes bragging rights or an ability to set the narrative. I get the impression that religious right groups were caught off guard with just how narrow their victory was. Perhaps they expected a complete victory with a conservative majority on SCOTUS. Whatever the case may be, their usual ability to control the narrative was lacking here. The decision was scarcely announced on twitter before the Human Rights Campaign  sent the following online. 

BREAKING: #SCOTUS has ruled non-discrimination laws apply to taxpayer-funded child services so long as they are enforced neutrally but that Philadelphia’s law was not neutral. pic.twitter.com/COfLsBfghM

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) June 17, 2021

Other LGBTQ groups and allied groups were quick to send out their own tweets and statements. By comparison, anti-LGBTQ groups were a bit slow. Gradually the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, and other religious groups sent out tweets and statements, but the narrative, that the case was decided on very narrow grounds and did not establish a religious right to discriminate, had already been established.

So basically, this ends another chapter in the so-called culture war with regards to LGBTQ rights and safety. And it is a definitive one. Based on its two rulings in the cases involving LGBTQ rights vs. religious beliefs, SCOTUS seems to know what the religious right is attempting to accomplish, but also seems to reluctant to give these groups what they want. Not yet at least. 

Meanwhile this ruling underscores just how much of a intricate war this is. I constantly hear many of my LGBTQ brothers and sisters talking about "taking to the streets" and protesting. That is not going to do. At least not by itself.  Taking to the streets in loud protests won't help that much against opponents with deep pockets, powerful connections in government, and the patience for long planning - all of which those groups who oppose us have and then some.

The first thing we need to do as a community is stop ignoring these groups. Stop believing the inane idea that if we ignore these groups, they will go away. They aren't going away no matter what we do. We need to talk about these groups, make them the topic of conversations in not only our media but the media in general. Stop allowing them to put us on the defensive. Put them on the defensive for a change. Make them the topic of conversation instead of us. We shouldn't have to explain why we are deserving of our rights.

They should be made to explain why they want to take our rights away..

'The protest before Stonewall' & other Thur midday news briefs

Before Stonewall, LGBTQ history was made at Bucks County Community College — and then forgotten. Until now. - Not putting down Stonewall by no means, but there seems to be a laziness with implying that Stonewall began it all for LGBTQ people in America. If there were protests before Stonewall, then what else are we minimizing in LGBTQ history?

For the Christian Right Manufactured Enemies Put Money in the Coffers - Grifters gotta grift. 

Biden administration extends Title IX protections to LGBTQ students - Another victory.

Companies celebrating LGBTQ Pride Month are also advertising on Fox - Going where the money is. 

Schoharie judge resigns amid probe into Facebook posts - Bye. No trust, no peace.

Gay couple endured five years of creepy harassment from guess who?

 This situation is enough to make one paranoid:

 

 From LGBTQNation:

Lee Michael McLean and Bryan Furze endured years of anonymous anti-gay harassment at their home in Milton, Massachusetts, but a remarkable turn of events has freed them from the abuse . . . 

The men are upstanding members of their community, proud parents, and served in local government. But that’s when things turned ugly, they say. They started receiving dozens of magazine subscriptions with homophobic names on them. The men were confounded and police were unable to help since most magazines don’t require pre-payment. The perpetrator didn’t use a credit card that could be traced. For five years the couple got magazines, newspapers, and solicitations under the offensive fake names. It stopped during the pandemic, but when the neighbor tried to resume the harassment, he made a major mistake.

To find out the rest of the story, watch the video. But to clue you in - the entire situation simply shows how covert homophobia can be and how some of the most dangerous bigots are the ones who won't say stuff to your face.

It all sounds like something from one of those cable crime channels, minus the physical violence. And thank goodness the situation was taken care of before it came to that. I wouldn't be surprised if it would have. If you can spend five years surreptitiously harassing someone, whose to say that you won't take that last deadly step of violence?

'Virginia school district to appeal judge's decision reinstating anti-trans teacher' & other Wed midday news briefs

Virginia school district to appeal judge’s decision reinstating teacher who refused to use trans students’ pronouns - And I hope that the school district wins. 

Hungary's parliament passes anti-LGBTQ law ahead of 2022 election - Hungary is an awful place to be.

31 Unexpected Things That Made People Realize They Are Absolutely, Positively, Undeniably Not Straight - A little comedy never hurts. 

Opinion | Pride offers LGBTQ youth opportunities for community - Amen. 

Charles M. Blow on Bi Visibility and the Debt We Owe as Queer People - One of my favorite columnists. Does he have a Pulitzer yet?

Companies claiming to support Pride Month also support network which labels LGBTQ people as mentally ill and pedophiles

 

Thanks to Media Matters comes a video which should be required viewing, particularly during Pride Month. I love my LGBTQ brothers and sisters, but sometimes we have a tendency of thinking that if we ignore homophobes, they can't harm us. That's like saying if you ignore someone who is breaking into your house, he will go away. That doesn't happen, particularly when there is a revenue stream involved. And in this case, that stream has to do with companies which claim to celebrate Pride.

The right-wing conspiracy theory channel One America News regularly uses extreme anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, combating what it has called “militant LGBTQ recruitment” strategies. OAN’s baseless fearmongering about Drag Queen Story Hour, Demi Lovato’s gender identity, and transgender athletes, however, is being financially supported by cable companies and streaming services that claim to be celebrating LGBTQ people and Pride month. 

 Rather than relying on “advertising as a prime revenue source,” OAN reportedly relies on subscriber fees, also known as carriage fees, as its primary funding source. Verizon and DirecTV (and its parent company, AT&T) pay OAN subscriber fees in exchange for the network being available to their customers, whose subscription costs pay for OAN. While it’s difficult to quantify exactly how much revenue these cable contracts generate, Bloomberg previously reported that OAN “gets paid about 15 cents per subscriber by the companies.”

 OAN also generates revenue through subscriber fees via its streaming app, which charges its subscribers $4.99 per month and is available to download on Roku, Amazon Fire, Google Play, and Apple TV. In exchange for hosting OAN in their channel libraries, these companies reportedly take a percentage of that subscription fee. For example, according to Yahoo Finance and The Motley Fool, Roku takes 20% of subscription fees, and Apple TV takes 30% during the first year and 15% in subsequent years. 

These companies have all celebrated Pride month through statements and social media support, including Verizon, Amazon, Google, Apple, Roku, and DirecTv and its parent company AT&T. However, these companies also enable OAN to maintain a steady income, even though the network is in direct opposition to their corporate commitments to the LGBTQ community. What’s more, OAN’s hateful rhetoric adds fuel to the rising attacks on LGBTQ people, particularly trans people: Anti-trans violence in the U.S. has reached record high levels, hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people are on the rise, and state legislatures have proposed over 100 bills to restrict trans rights so far in 2021 alone.

You can read the full article at Media Matters here.

Seems to me that if these companies are serious about supporting Pride and LGBTQ people, they would correct this hypocrisy. One could easily play the "it's just this network's opinion" card. But subsidizing opinions seen in the video above - that LGBTQ people are mentally ill, sinners, pedophiles, etc  - shouldn't be the thing to do for companies who claim to support us. 

 

'Lesbian couple crowned prom queens after surprise win' & other Tue midday news briefs

Lesbian couple crowned prom queens after surprise win - Good for them! 

Dwyane Wade says daughter Zaya helped him become a better parent: 'It opened my eyes' - So many black fathers are out there supporting their LGBTQ children, but you hardly ever see it.

Nearly 1 in 5 young adults say they're not straight, global survey finds - Which spooks the religious right.

Wichita’s proposed nondiscrimination ordinance is so awful that no one wants it to pass - Well damn.

Michele Rayner-Goolsby Aims to Be Florida's 1st Out Person in Congress - Go on, gurl!

Hate group leader Tony Perkins gives tips for 'surviving' Pride Month. Please make fun of him.

 

Tony Perkins, head of the hate group Family Research Council has gall. That I will give him. According to Right-Wing Watch: 

“You can’t turn on the television, shop for cereal, or scroll through Facebook without being hit over the head with LGBT pride,” griped FRC President Tony Perkins. “Thanks to ‘woke’ corporate America and the most radical administration in history, there’s no escaping the left’s forced sexual revolution.”

 “How did we get to the point where celebrating sex and transgenderism became a 30-day event that rivals Christmas?” he continued. “We have a president who’s flying the rainbow flag above the U.S. flag at our embassies, a Democratic Congress that thinks the military should salute pride on base, and a White House that brags [that] almost 1 percent of its 1,500 appointees are LGBT. You can’t blame people for wondering: When did we become identified by our sexual proclivities? The world is upside down when American pride is something we should apologize, for but sexual perversion is the stuff of parades. Just a few decades ago, these activists said all they wanted was recognition, autonomy, coexistence. Now, a handful of years after Obergefell, it’s not enough to leave them alone with their choices; they demand validation, affirmation, celebration. Pride is the new religion, and everyone must bow a knee to their sexual gods or face the left’s fiery furnace.” 

If you have a strong stomach and a macabre sense of humor, you can see Perkins making this statement in the above video. You'll notice how he hits all of the talking points his side usually pushes when attacking LGBTQ people. Of course he attempts to link the LGBTQ orientation to sexual behavior. That pretty much falls flat in the first few seconds of the video, which merely shows people innocently enjoying Pride. In spite of Perkins's comments about about 'sexual proclivities, the most risque thing seen is probably a t-shirt of Bea Arthur.  It makes one wonder less about the Pride celebration and more about what lurid thoughts have parked themselves so deep into Perkins's mind that he only sees sexual acts when people are merely marching and waving flags. Maybe it was Bea Arthur which got him all hot and bothered.

Also, his nonsense about  'woke politics,' however is new. It's the latest talking point conservatives are using to make folks who support them believe that they are yet again under attack. They have been steadily repeating the word "woke" with a negative connotation in hopes that it will galvanize their voters by the time the 2022 mid-term elections roll around.

Then there is this part:

 Just a few decades ago, these activists said all they wanted was recognition, autonomy, coexistence. Now, a handful of years after Obergefell, it’s not enough to leave them alone with their choices; they demand validation, affirmation, celebration.

There is just one problem with Perkins' claim. His side has been saying that for years. It's a lie they've been pushing since before the internet, since before dancers began wearing jheri curls on Soul Train. It's a centerpiece of their "radical homosexual" narrative and goes like this:

Supposedly at first,  LGBTQ people said that we want 'tolerance' and 'acceptance' but what we are really trying to do is  "drive our lifestyle down people's throats" because we demand approval and sanction.

Please bear in mind that Perkins and company (and their supporters) spin that narrative every time LGBTQ people go out publicly on dates, talk about our families, demand respect for ourselves, or do anything else (no matter how significant or insignificant) which ruins the false notion that we are sad, lonely, oversexed, diseased, bitter people who cannot have decent lives so all we do is have sex, sex, sex (in between the recruiting of children and the attempts to harm Christians. How DO we find the time?)

Now that we've heard from the peanut gallery about Pride Month, here is my advice. Enjoy it. Have fun. Make new friends, Educate yourself. And above all, love yourself.

I also had some advice for Perkins.  But telling him where he can kiss me sounds more like a treat and less like a rebuke.