Here’s all the actions taken so far by the Biden-Harris administration to advance equality - Thus far but no harm in wanting more.
‘Nobody should be denied.’ Blue Cross NC expands coverage for transgender people - Kudos to Blue Cross NC.
Senate confirms lesbian, trans nominees to high-profile defense roles - Awesome!
Half of states now restrict conversion therapy for LGBTQ kids - Not bad. Let's work on the other half.
Louisiana lawmakers fail to overturn veto of transgender ban - BOOM! Another well-deserved victory for the transgender community.
Hollywood heavyweights line up to mentor LGBTQ screenwriters - A wonderful idea courtesy of GLAAD.
Pence's 'Political Career Over' as '24 GOP Presidential Nom Slips Away - For now. But keep an eye on that rascal. Politics changes all of the time.
House resolution apologizes for treatment of LGBTQ troops, federal workers - It's a nice start but I would prefer passage of the Equality Act.
22 LGBTQ athletes to cheer at the Tokyo Olympics - Good luck to them.
In what hopefully will be a preview of what's to come, a federal judge temporarily blocked an Arkansas law banning gender-affirming care for trans youth.
From Time magazine:
A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked an Arkansas law that would have banned transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming health care while a lawsuit challenging the law’s constitutionality proceeds. The law would have gone into effect on July 28. In April, Arkansas became the first state in the U.S. to approve a ban that would prevent doctors from providing gender-affirming care—including hormone treatment and puberty blockers—to patients under 18. The law would also prevent doctors from referring patients to other physicians who provide gender-affirming treatment. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit in May on behalf of four transgender children, their families and two doctors challenging the ban, arguing it violates the Constitution and threatens the well-being of trans youth. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Kay Moody in Little Rock, Ark., placed a preliminary injunction on the law’s enforcement while the case moves through the legal system.
“This is who I am, and it’s frustrating to know that a place I’ve lived all my life is treating me like they don’t want me here,” said 15-year-old Dylan Brandt, one the plaintiffs, in a statement when the suit was filed in May. Should the law go into effect, Brandt will lose access to the gender-affirming treatment he’s received for nearly a year. “Having access to care means I’m able to be myself, and be healthier and more confident—physically and mentally,” Brandt said. “The thought of having that wrenched away and going back to how I was before is devastating.”
Brandt's mom, Joanna Brandt, spoke on behalf of the parents involved in the suit. "We have seen the benefits of this health care firsthand," she said during the news conference. "Our children were suffering, and with this care they have a level of hope and happiness we've never seen. We are no different than any other parent in Arkansas. We love our kids and we want them to grow up healthy, loved and safe." Joanna Brandt said the law "ignores" what medical professionals say about gender-affirming care. Major medical associations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association and the Endocrine Society, among others, support access to gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
During Wednesday's news conference, Chase Strangio, an attorney with the ACLU, noted that the group has recently had success in a number of states where measures targeting trans people were blocked by judges pending litigation. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Tennessee blocked a law that required businesses to post a notice if they allow transgender people to use bathrooms that match their gender identity. Last year, a federal judge in Idaho also blocked a law that would've banned transgender girls from playing on girls' sports teams in middle and high school and college.
Barriers exist for LGBTQ people as both foster parents and foster children - Yep.
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| Having watched Ben Shapiro and his publication, the Daily Wire, target LGBTQ people with lurid articles like the ones above, it should be no surprise to know that they only do it for the almighty dollar. |
The National Public Radio just busted conservative Ben Shapiro and his publication, The Daily Wire, on something which should already be common knowledge. They market outrage to make a quick buck.
From NPR
Daily Wire articles with headlines such as "BOOK REVIEW: Proof That Wokeness Is Projection By Nervous, Racist White Women Who Can't Talk To Minorities Without Elaborate Codes" regularly garner tens of thousands of shares for the site, and Shapiro is turning that Facebook reach into a rapidly expanding, cost-efficient media empire — one that experts worry may be furthering polarization in the United States. "There's a demand amongst certain subsets of the public for outrage politics," said Jaime Settle, director of the Social Networks and Political Psychology Lab at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. "This happens on both the left and the right. But the people who do this on the right have just found a lot more successful ways of doing it.". . . The articles The Daily Wire publishes don't normally include falsehoods (with some exceptions), and the site said it is committed to "truthful, accurate and ethical reporting." But as Settle explains, by only covering specific stories that bolster the conservative agenda (such as negative reports about socialist countries and polarizing ones about race and sexuality issues) and only including certain facts, readers still come away from The Daily Wire's content with the impression that Republican politicians can do little wrong and cancel culture is among the nation's greatest threats.An NPR review of stories on The Daily Wire about the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two months found numerous stories about potential side effects from COVID-19 vaccines, but none that portrayed the scientifically demonstrated efficacy of the vaccines or that focused explicitly on the hesitancy that has slowed the U.S. rollout. Often the site's headlines seem like a conglomeration of conservative buzzwords: "CNN Medical Expert Urges We Must Make Life 'Hard' For Unvaccinated, Test Them Twice-Weekly" and "DeSantis Team Offers 'Don't Fauci My Florida' T-Shirt, Triggers Leftists." NewsGuard, a company started by journalists that rates the credibility of news sites based on a number of factors, scores The Daily Wire a 57/100. "They tend to not provide very much context for the information that they are providing," Settle said. "If you've stripped enough context away, any piece of truth can become a piece of misinformation."
ACLU sues Montana over transgender ID law requiring proof of surgery - I am loving these lawsuits.
2 LGBTQ Books Pulled From Elmbrook Schools After Daily Wire Story - Oh good grief. What tripe.
A Christian teacher demanded a religious exemption to using trans students’ names. A judge said no. - Somebody thought they were being cute and got checked.
5 really queer reasons we love ‘American Horror Stories’ - Fascinating.
Louisiana GOP To Attempt Override Of Anti-Trans Bill Veto - Try it.
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| These three were put under arrest for beating a 12-year-old child and shaving the word 'gay' in is head on a video last month which went viral. |
A child's life has been turned upside down simply because of toxic masculinity and homophobia. And of course none of it was necessary.
From LGBTQNation:
Police in Atlanta have announced that they have arrested and charged three individuals for child abuse following their part in beating a 12-year-old boy and shaving the word “GAY” in the side of his head, all on video that went viral on social media. Brittney Monique Mills, 35, and Lorkeyla Jamia Spencer, 19, were both charged with cruelty to children. Jordan Jarrode Richards-Nwankwo, 18, was charged with “Battery – Family Violence” in addition to cruelty to children.. . . Last month, after a video of a family torturing a 12-year-old boy went viral, the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services stepped in. The boy’s mother filmed the abuse and broadcast it on Instagram Live. Footage of the attack was captured from the broadcast and reuploaded across the internet. The video shows the young man being repeatedly smacked and demeaned by adults, as they shave his head, embedding the word “GAY” in the design. The word was put in his head as punishment because, as one person said in the video, “You still doing gay shit.” The boy, identified only as “Tyler,” was subsequently removed from the home.
Right-wing media are harassing a trans couple for taking care of their newborn child - As they always do, the right deliberately distorts a situation and is now using it to harass this couple. Disgusting.
17 GOP states ask federal court for right to deny transgender kids medical care - Trashy bastards. Sorry but my patience continues to ebb for these folks with their constant attempts to foster discrimination.
EU begins legal action against Hungary over anti-LGBT law - Good. Sock it to 'em!
Cornell University study on impact of discrimination on LGBTQ of color - A very MUCH needed study.
A Gay Cheer Coach Was Fired Abruptly — Now His Students Are Fighting For Him - Good for them.
It's hard to believe but in the middle of the country's attempt to beat this COVID pandemic, the GOP and their conservative operatives have been undermining the need for vaccinations by both raising unfounded fears and making the absurd case that getting vaccinated is an affront to our "freedoms."
Luckily, a lot of people recognize this as a political attempt to in actuality undermine the Biden Administration's fight against COVID. You may think that it's too farfetched to contemplate that some elected officials and their cohorts are willing to sacrifice the public health for political power, but in today's world of politics, it's not as much of an off-the-wall theory as one would think. Nor is the fact that some of these same people comparing vaccination programs to 'Nazism' today would turn around and feign sadness while pointing the accusing finger at Biden should their fear tactics reap unfortunate success.
And in the middle of it all is, of course, the religious right. One organization, the Family Research Council, seems to be devoting a considerable amount of time and energy in exploiting fears about vaccines in the same manner it continues to push fears and ignorance about LGBTQ people. It's an easy blueprint the group is following. When your game plan is scapegoating, you can change targets but you never have to alter your methodology.
“When I’m governor you won’t have to deal with it, but we don’t teach gender ID and sexual orientation to kindergartens,” he said. “In the sixth grade, we don’t teach sodomy. And we’re going to push back on the LGBTQ curriculum. It goes too far.”
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| SNL's Bowen Yang is just one of the many LGBTQ stars nominated for an Emmy. |
The Emmy Nominations Are Out, and They Are Super Gay and Trans - Generally speaking, the LGBTQ community did rather well with Emmy nominations. Our folks made history.
Israeli court annuls parts of surrogacy law excluding gays - The Israeli court clears the way for us to have children via surrogacy.
News cameraman dies after being beaten by a bloodthirsty mob protesting a pride parade - I hate stuff like this and I hate posting about it. However it is necessary because the struggle is real and worldwide.
'Young People Are Taking Control Over Their Gender Identity.' New Research Examines Diversity of Nonbinary Youth - This is major news.
Of course a homophobe with a mugshot accused of sexual misconduct is a 2022 GOP frontrunner - Ugh. We have major work to do in America.
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| The Family Research Council is blaming a 2013 decision to allow gays to participate in the Boys Scouts for sexual abuse which began decades before the decision was made. |
The Boy Scouts of America believed more than 7,800 of its former leaders were involved in sexually abusing children over the course of 72 years, according to newly exposed court testimony – about 2,800 more leaders than previously known publicly. The Boy Scouts identified more than 12,000 alleged victims in that time period, from 1944 through 2016, according to the testimony, which was publicized Tuesday by attorney Jeff Anderson, who specializes in representing sexual abuse victims. The numbers, Anderson said, come from what the BSA calls its volunteer screening database – a list of volunteers and others that the Boy Scouts removed and banned from its organization over accusations of policy violations, including allegations of sexual abuse. That 7,800 includes scout leaders and masters across the country accused of sexually assaulting “children under their charge,” Anderson said Tuesday at a news conference in New York.
After 100 years of teaching future presidents, explorers, and civil rights leaders to follow their moral compass, it's been sobering to watch the Boy Scouts lose their own bearings. And yet, the unhappy ending for one of America's proudest traditions was easy to predict once the organization started chasing the approval of critics it could never win. Now, eight years into this experiment in moral compromise, the country is watching one of the saddest "I-told-you-so" moments of a generation. Disgraced, bankrupt, unpopular, and on the edge of extinction, the Scouts' leadership is showing the world where cowardly conformity leads -- and it isn't where the culture promised.For those who knew the Scouts in their heyday, the demise has been quick and painful. Since 2013, when the organization waved its first white flag on sexual orientation, the group that counted Martin Luther King, Jr., Buzz Aldrin, and George W. Bush as members has become barely recognizable. Ravaged by sexual abuse lawsuits and bleeding members, the road of moral surrender has not been kind to the 1910 institution. After years of successfully fighting to live by its moral code, BSA leaders gave into the lie that compromise would be their salvation. Nearly a decade later, the sad truth is: there's almost nothing left to save."It's a shell of what it once was," Regent University professor Rob Schwarzwalder said mournfully. "At its peak, scouting in the United States had more than seven million members. Today, it's about a tenth of that." It's a dramatic decline, the former FRC senior vice president admitted on "Washington Watch," but a predictable one. Once the scouts walked away from 100 years of values, it was only a matter of time until the capitulation caught up with them. "They no longer are even able to define what they mean by things like honor and morality," Rob pointed out. Once headquarters opened the tent flap to LGBT members and scout leaders, their fate was sealed.
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| Caitlyn Jenner |
Hecklers relentlessly deadname Caitlyn Jenner over an extremist-heavy CPAC weekend - Caitlyn, girlfriend. We all need a "meeting in the ladies room." Why are you trying blend in with these fools. They hate you for being trans. They will never like you. And the ones who aren't smiling in your face and pretending to like you are the honest ones. And that's the scary part.
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| Michael Farris could talk for a long time about how God supposedly opposes homosexuality. But I bet he's silent on where God stands on his attempts to help overturn last year's presidential election. |
I caught this item from LGBTQNation:
As the head of the hate group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Michael Farris spends most of his time fighting LGBTQ rights. The ADF has been at the forefront of legal battles aiming to diminish LGBTQ protections by mandating religious liberty exemptions that would skirt nondiscrimination laws. But Farris has been expanding his repertoire lately.A recent report from Talking Points Memo (TPM) finds that Farris was advising the attorney general of South Carolina in November and December 2020 on how they could try and invalidate Joe Biden’s election.
Farris offered his legal expertise to state Attorney General Alan Wilson (R) while Wilson was pondering how he could challenge the national results. For the record, Donald Trump carried South Carolina by about 12 percentage points. The strategy at the time was for Republican-led states to challenge the results in states that Trump lost, an unheard of — and ultimately unsuccessful — approach. Farris sent Wilson a brief, and the attorney general followed up with a conversation with Farris. “Mike was very accommodating and knowledgeable about the legal issues raised in the pleading,” Wilson wrote in an email obtained by TPM.
