When it comes to issues involving the trans community, it is important that those of us who support them demand parity. One thing that the religious right has done well is to hone in on incidents involving trans people and create a narrative which is beneficial to them. Often times, the narrative is altogether wrong or slightly distorted. And by the time the truth comes out, no one listens or cares because the religious right narrative has dominated the conversation.
Take, for example, this article one the Family Research Council's webpage entitled ‘My Blood Still Boils’: Father Recalls School’s Secret Attempt to Transition Daughter. In it, the father of a trans child says that the school is responsible for making his child trans and for the child's suicide attempts:
At the beginning of this year, Wendell Perez got a call that no father ever wants to receive — his elementary-aged daughter had attempted to hang herself in the school bathroom. Perez and his wife rushed to the school, where their daughter was whisked away by a police car to stay in a mental institution for a week. Searching for answers, the couple found out from school administrators that their “son” had been struggling with “his” gender identity.On top of that, the school had remained quiet about the issue as the student was concerned that “he” would not be accepted at home because of the family’s faith. It was only until the child’s second suicide attempt in a matter of two days that Perez and his wife were informed of the situation. The school was secretly transitioning the young girl into a male identity, without the parents’ knowledge or consent.
The parents claim that the administration of the Clay County elementary school their child attends overstepped its authority in discussing and supporting their child’s request to be referred to by a different name and gender and, in doing so, that the district violated the parents’ rights to direct the education of their child. After the child told the school counselor about two separate suicide attempts in early January, the parents were notified and later filed the lawsuit that month. The parents told News4JAX that the concept of changing one’s gender identity is inconsistent with the family’s catholic Christian beliefs and referred to the scenario as “a mental health problem.”
Many parents across the country have found themselves as plaintiffs fighting school administrations that have helped their children begin quietly transitioning, such as a mother in California and a couple in Tallahassee, Florida, with similar situations. Other instances across the country have included the emergence of “gender transition closets” in communities and schools.
A mother is suing the small Spreckels Union School District in California for allegedly convincing her 11-year-old child to change their gender identity. In the lawsuit, the mother, Jessica Konen, accuses two teachers, Lori Caldeira and Kelly Baraki, of engaging in “extreme and outrageous conduct with malice and the intention of causing, or reckless disregard for the probability of causing, emotional distress.”It claims Caldeira and Baraki, who ran the school’s LGBTQ equality club, “would coach” students on how to embody certain identities and as such “planted the seed” in Konen’s child’s mind that they are bisexual and transgender. The complaint says the teachers subsequently concealed the student’s changed gender identity from Konen and “attempted to deceive” her by using the child’s birth name and she/her pronouns when speaking with her.It also claims the teachers instructed the student to keep their identity a secret from their mother. According to the complaint, the meetings of the LGBTQ group, known as the UBU (You Be You) club, led Konen’s child to explore their gender identity and begin using a new name and pronouns – though the mother claims that the child is back to using their birth name and she/her pronouns. Eventually, the teachers had a meeting with Konen and her child to discuss their gender identity, and in response, Konen said she did her best to support her child.
“I literally was caught off guard. I was blindsided,” Konen said. “I didn’t even know what to feel like because I didn’t even know where it came from.” Konen said she began to cry. She said her daughter was also caught by surprise.
When schools went to remote learning during the pandemic in March 2020, Konen said her daughter began returning to her “old self” and now uses her given name. But it wasn’t until this fall that Konen began to question how her daughter got on the path to a different identity after the article by Abigail Shrier circulated around town.
The tone of Shrier's article was that teachers were 'recruiting' kids to become transgender. Shrier, who wrote a discredited attack on the trans community entitled Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughter, has made a career out of spinning nonsense against the transgender community. Her article consisted of a leaked recording of the teachers talking about how they created a group for LGBTQ students.
In a leaked recording from a California Teachers Association conference, Caldeira and Kelly Baraki were quoted discussing how they kept meetings private and “stalked” students online for recruits. “When we were doing our virtual learning — we totally stalked what they were doing on Google, when they weren’t doing school work,” Baraki said.“One of them was googling ‘Trans Day of Visibility.’ And we’re like, ‘Check.’ We’re going to invite that kid when we get back on campus.” Neither Caldeira nor Baraki could be reached by The Associated Press for comment. Caldeira told the San Francisco Chronicle the quotes were accurate but taken out of context or misrepresented. The stalking comment was a joke, she said.
Caldeira and Baraki, said that their school principal – who is a named defendant in Konen’s lawsuit – knew about the UBU club and its purpose and even attended some of the meetings. California law doesn’t prevent teachers from approaching students about joining LGBTQ clubs, and state law bars teachers from discussing students’ LGBTQ identities with parents without the child’s permission. Though monitoring students’ search terms is controversial, it’s a technical feature widely available to teachers, especially as virtual and online learning increased during the pandemic. Nevertheless, all of this information inspired Konen to take legal action against the school.
CNN obtained emails that show Littlejohn wrote the school in 2020 and notified a teacher that her child wanted to change pronouns. . . . Littlejohn also wrote that she would not stop her child from using preferred pronouns or name of choice at school. Littlejohn references these emails in her lawsuit against the school and they were reported by the Tallahassee Democrat in November.. . In an August 27, 2020, email to a teacher, Littlejohn stated, in part, "This has been an incredibly difficult situation for our family and her father and I are trying to be as supportive as we can. She is currently identifying as non-binary. She would like to go by the new name [redacted] and prefers the pronouns they/them. We have not changed her name at home yet, but I told her if she wants to go by the name [redacted] with her teachers, I won't stop her."The teacher thanked Littlejohn and asked if she should share with other teachers. Littlejohn explained it was difficult and confusing, and went on to write, "Whatever you think is best or [redacted] can handle it herself." In another email the same day, Littlejohn told the teacher, "This gender situation has thrown us for a loop. I sincerely appreciate your support. I'm going to let her take the lead on this."
"From the moment Mrs. Littlejohn first emailed her child's teacher to inform our staff of the situation, this has been handled together in partnership with clear communication. We understand that outside entities have now become involved, but the family clearly instructed the school staff via email to allow their child to 'take the lead on this' and to do 'whatever you think is the best,' " Chris Petley, Leon County Schools communications coordinator, said in a statement to CNN.
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| Anthony Edwards |
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| How odd is it that the Proud Boys are a homophobic group seeing that its founder, Gavin McInnes, stuck a dildo up his rear on live television. |
A recent story in Mediaite says that McInnes came up with the 'Proud Boys' name as sort of an anti-gay dig:
Huffington Post reporter Andy Campbell’s new book on the Proud Boys opens with the story of how the group got its name. Campbell reported that founder Gavin McInnes was once so appalled by a young boy singing a song from the musical Aladdin at a school recital he attended that he decided to mock the boy and name the group after a lyric in the song.“The Proud Boys name first came to Gavin McInnes while he watched, with disgust, as a twelve-year-old boy with brown skin sang a musical number onstage at a school recital,” Campbell writes in his book titled: We Are Proud Boys: How a Right-Wing Street Gang Ushered in a New Era of American Extremism.. . .“Fuckin’ musicals, man. My wife’s a fag hag so I had to sit there and just not laugh. I couldn’t say to my boys, ‘Don’t ever fucking do that or I will be the opposite of proud,” Campbell quotes McInnes saying on an early episode of his podcast The Gavin McInnes Show. “This little Puerto Rican kid comes out, and he goes, ‘I’ll make you proud boy! It was the gayest fucking song,'” McInnes added. “When I was watching I was like, this is obviously the Hispanic son of a single mom. He did high-five a grown man afterward, but it couldn’t have been the real dad.”
We've already seen bomb threats against children's hospitals, and far-right groups attacking drag shows. What else are we going to see when idiots like Carlson are openly demanding that people act outside the law. He's not saying the words per se, but his intent is definitely cleared. How many people are going to get hurt before someone gives a damn?
Tucker Carlson is openly calling for violence against teachers and LGBTQ+ people:
— Kat Abu (@abughazalehkat) September 20, 2022
"No parent should put up with this for one second, no matter what the law says. Your moral duty is to defend your children. This is an attack on your children and you should fight back." pic.twitter.com/dwMkO057Ne
The state of Montana was recently dealt a double loss in its attempts to undermine transgender rights. The first was announced on Friday and it is a big one.
From the Associated Press:
A Montana state judge has determined three laws passed by Montana’s Republican-controlled legislature to regulate activities on university campuses are unconstitutional, including one that sought to ban transgender women from participating on female collegiate sports teams. Montana’s Constitution gives the state board of regents full authority to govern public college campuses and precludes state lawmakers from imposing their own rules, District Court Judge Rienne McElyea said in a ruling issued Wednesday that was emailed to attorneys in the case on Friday. Her ruling noted that the Montana Supreme Court recently affirmed the same conclusion in a challenge to a bill that sought to allow more people to carry guns on campuses.
After months of defiance, Montana’s health department says it will follow a judge’s ruling and temporarily allow transgender people to change the gender on their birth certificates. In a written order Monday morning, the judge said state health officials had made “calculated violations” of his order earlier this year to temporarily stop enforcing a state law that would prevent transgender people from changing the gender on their birth certificate. The health department passed a rule saying no one could change the sex on their birth certificate unless there was a clerical error. Under the order, transgender residents can obtain a corrected birth certificate by submitting a sworn affidavit to the health department.
Yes this is a shameless plug for Matt Baume's video channel. And that's only because his work is so good when it comes to exploring the cultural history of the LGBTQ community, particularly trendsetters who go unnoticed. One complaint I have about my LGBTQ brothers and sisters has to do with our lack of desire to learn all facets of our history. And I mean all facets, such as this one about Charles Nelson Reilly, a gay actor who, according to Matt Baume, went from being forced to sell his own blood to becoming one of the most in-demand actor on television. And without compromising who he was even after told by an executive that "they don't let queers on television."
First Libs of Tik Tok, Tucker Carlson, Matt Walsh, and the rest of that bunch spread a false story that Boston Children's Hospital was performing hysterectomies on trans kids.
Then when their lies generated bomb threats against the hospital, they claimed that it was all a hoax.
I wonder what they are going to say now that it turns out that the bomb threat turned out to be real? In fact, I insist that we demand they say something
Federal authorities arrested a Westfield, Massachusetts, woman on a charge of making a fake bomb threat that was called into the Boston Children's Hospital on August 30. Catherine Leavy was arrested at her home on Thursday morning, US attorney Rachael Rollins said during a press conference. Her age was not disclosed during the announcement.Authorities allege that the suspect was the caller on August 30 who made a false bomb threat to the Boston hospital. "There is a bomb on the way to the hospital, you better evacuate everybody, you sickos," the caller said, according to Rollins. The threat prompted an immediate lockdown of the hospital and the surrounding area, and a bomb squad was sent in to investigate the facility, an FBI agent said during the conference. No explosives were found, Rollins said.Through a court-approved search warrant, authorities were able to track the phone call to the suspect's phone, the attorney said. She is being charged with one count of a false telephonic bomb threat. Rollins could not speak on possible motives.
The misinformation about trans health care for kids and threats against the hospital led Facebook to suspend “LibsofTikTok” from its platform, MassLive.com reports. “LibsofTikTok” is run by Chaya Raichik, a Brooklyn-based real estate agent who has amassed more than 1.3 million followers and appeared on Fox News with Tucker Carlson. Raichik and her page have quickly risen in prominence among right-wing media. Facebook reversed its decision to permanently suspended the account 24 hours after doing so.LibsofTikTok shared a video on August 11 of a Boston Children’s Hospital doctor talking about “gender-affirming hysterectomies.” The children’s hospital said they do not perform gender-affirming hysterectomies or removal of sex organs on patients under the age of 18. The hospital said in a statement a patient with “persistent, well-documented, gender dysphoria” must be at least 18 and have a letter from a doctor recommending the surgery, according to The Boston Globe.Right-wing commentator Matt Walsh tweeted to his 1 million followers on August 11, “There needs to be an organized effort to fight back against the drugging and mutilating of children. There should be rallies outside of hospitals that butcher children. There should be marches on Washington with hundreds of thousands of people. I will try to get this ball rolling.”
Matt Walsh of the Daily Wire: "No critic of gender ideology gains anything or has any incentive to make a threat. The Left does gain and does have incentive" pic.twitter.com/4vmtDC1BRM
— Ari Drennen (@AriDrennen) September 15, 2022
Billboard Chris, a Canadian anti-trans activist who had announced a protest of the hospital for this weekend, also said that "it was a false flag" pic.twitter.com/JswxMj9wDr
— Ari Drennen (@AriDrennen) September 15, 2022
Thirty-seven years ago today, a legendary comedy show, "The Golden Girls," premiered on NBC. Looking back, it's impossible to see how this show wasn't going to be a monster hit.
From Itech Post:
"The Golden Girls" managed to break the stereotype that women aged 50 and older led boring lives at home, knitting and spending time with their cats. The show found its leads in Bea Arthur, who played Dorothy Zbornak, Betty White who brought life to Rose Nylund, Rue McClanahan who played Blanche Devereaux, and Estelle Getty who portrayed Sophia Petrillo.
Together, these four women shared a Miami home and showed viewers the vibrant, exciting lives that women 50 and above continue to lead despite the issues brought about by that specific stage in life. The show also tackled sensitive issues such as sexual harassment, illnesses, sexually transmitted diseases, and the LGBT community, topics that are easily still relevant today.
"We were four active, vibrant, funny women, three of whom were still working and all who dared to still have an active sex life," White, who passed away on December 31, 2021 from a stroke, said during an interview with the media publication. "We were all widows, but not lonely. And we were women to be valued and cared about, not cast aside, and an important part of society," the actress said. "The Golden Girls" was well-received by viewers, so much so that it had 25 million viewers during its debut and went on to receive 11 Emmy Awards, including one each for all of the four main leads. The NBC series also received four Golden Globe Awards.
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| Jerrod Carmichael stole the Emmys with his outfit and his win for 'Best Writing for a Variety Special.' In his variety special, Carmichael talked about coming out as a gay man. |
Yesterday, I posted that the Family Research Council had gotten called out for tweeting misinformation about abortion. The tweet below in fact:
But even this backfired because FRC's article admits that abortion is necessary in some cases when the mother's life is in danger. The group attempts to cover its tracks in the article with this confusing statement:
The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) helpfully explains, “There are times when separating the mother and her unborn child is necessary to save the life of the mother, even if the unborn child is too premature to live. … In contrast, the purpose of an induced abortion is to produce a dead baby.” Though it is true that in some tragic cases, the baby will not be able to survive after being delivered too prematurely, as abortionists admit, there is never a need for a medical professional to intentionally kill the unborn baby in the process of saving the mother’s life.
The Family Research is infamous for deliberately spreading lies about LGBTQ people.. But our equality is not the only issue the group likes to spew distortions about, as the following tweet demonstrates:
This is a lie. Not a difference of opinion. Not a thought coming out of religious beliefs. It is an LIE. It's a lie which has been shut down several times, including by Reuters in 2021.
Apparently the Family Research Council seems to have conveniently forgotten the recent story of the 10-year-old child who was raped and needed an abortion simply because the procedure of childbirth would have devastated her body. And then there are cases of ectopic pregnancies, a pregnancy complication which does in fact place the mother's life at risk
An ectopic pregnancy most often occurs in a fallopian tube, which carries eggs from the ovaries to the uterus. This type of ectopic pregnancy is called a tubal pregnancy. Sometimes, an ectopic pregnancy occurs in other areas of the body, such as the ovary, abdominal cavity or the lower part of the uterus (cervix), which connects to the vagina. An ectopic pregnancy can't proceed normally. The fertilized egg can't survive, and the growing tissue may cause life-threatening bleeding, if left untreated.
According to the Associated Press, pregnancy complications are rare but they still affect thousands of women each year. Besides an ectopic pregnancy, they include:
Preeclampsia - A serious high blood pressure condition that can develop suddenly in pregnancy, typically during the second half of pregnancyPremature Rupture of the Membranes - Membranes in the fluid-filled amniotic sac that surrounds the fetus often rupture or break at the start of childbirth — commonly called water breaking. In at least 3% of pregnancies, the sac ruptures too early, often leading to preterm birth. The condition increases chances for a uterine infection. Doctors may recommend ending the pregnancy, especially if water breaks before 24 weeks, when infant survival chances are slim.Placenta abruption - The placenta is a crucial structure that develops in pregnancy and attaches to the uterine wall, connecting with the umbilical cord to help nourish the fetus. In about 1 in 100 pregnancies, the placenta separates prematurely from the womb, after about 20 weeks of pregnancy. That can pose a life-threatening risk to the fetus and can cause dangerous maternal bleeding.
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| Dr. Demetre Daskalakis is bringing out all sorts of 'feelings' from the conservative outrage industry. |
Dr. Demetre Daskalakis is President Biden's National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator. Conservatives have been driving themselves crazy with attempts to smear him.
From The Advocate via Yahoo News:
In recent days the Biden administration’s monkeypox response deputy coordinator, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, has been attacked by right-wing figures and media. The reason? His thirst traps, his tattoos, and his sexuality. The conservative media outlet The Daily Caller specifically targeted Daskalakis and his history of being open about being gay as well as being directly involved on the front lines of health care. What’s ensued is a wave of homophobic attacks against Daskalakis. The reporter who wrote the Caller piece tweeted, “Meet Joe Biden's monkeypox czar: a ‘progressive, radical gay' doctor who performs HIV screenings in sex clubs and gives meningitis shots in drag. Now he's in the White House.”
“I am certainly not a satanist,” Daskalakis tells The Advocate. And why do people think he is? “It's because I wear high-fashion harnesses by Zana Bayne,” he cheekily replies. The harness has been making a splash in the fashion world for more than a year now. Also, the pentagram (or really a pentacle, since it has a circle around it) has been around for thousands of years, even predating Christianity. The HIV prevention specialist has tattoos including other iconography, including a more Christian-oriented one. Maybe it’s all about balance?
Demetre Dasalakis has a tattoo which symbolizes paganism. He is not a Satanist. A pentagram UPSIDE DOWN in a circle is Satanic. His pentagram is right side UP. https://t.co/o7OL3NlHbn
— Holy Bullies (@holybullies) September 9, 2022
As difficult as it is to believe, the accusation of Satanism against Daskalakis is nothing compared to the other attack on him via the writer of the original Daily Caller piece, Dylan Housman. Apparently Dylan went through Daskalakis's Instagram account and pointed out just how many shirtless pictures he found of the good doctor. It could be said that Housman was attempting to appeal to negative stereotypes about gay men. Maybe. Or maybe not. Unlike so many folks on Twitter, I am not going to pronounce myself an expert on psychological motives behind certain actions. If you catch my drift.
But I will say that aside from the fact that one should ask why does any of this matters when it comes to Dr. Daskalakis doing his job, another good question should be just who benefits from viewing all of those bare-chested pictures of the good doctor? And in what manner do the benefits manifest themselves?
Just asking questions, Mr. Housman.
The conservative outrage industry is annoying and infuriating at times. But then comes the golden moments in which it owns itself. This has to rank at the top tier of these moments.
It should be of no surprise to anyone that Fox News amplified the attacks against children's hospitals. Network pundits practically rolled out the red carpet for the folks spewing lies that these hospitals were giving trans children hysterectomies.
From Media Matters:
While children’s hospitals were facing a deluge of violent threats in August from an online campaign of intimidation and misinformation fueled by anti-LGBTQ trolls, Fox News repeatedly provided a platform for the individuals responsible for the harassment to amplify their attacks. Over the course of two weeks, Fox News — the most-watched cable network in the country — spent more time and ran more segments targeting three different children’s hospitals over false claims about gender-affirming care than CNN or MSNBC combined spent discussing the attacks.Led by conservative social media figures including Chaya Raichik and Matt Walsh, an online campaign began by targeting Boston Children’s Hospital and Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.,with false claims that they were providing hysterectomies for trans youth. The unsubstantiated claims were debunked by independent fact-checking websites and refuted by the hospitals, which did not stop right-wing media figures from taking up the attacks to malign all gender-affirming care for trans youth as “mutilation.”In reality, these hospitals do not provide genital surgery to trans youth. Rather, they follow the standards of care established by national medical organizations, offering medically necessary care that is supported by every major medical organization in America.. . . Amid the influx of threats against children’s hospitals, Fox News adopted the attacks as part of its ongoing effort to demonize trans health care for political points and at the expense of trans children.Between August 18, when the network’s first segment attacking Boston Children’s Hospital aired, and August 31, when Fox aired its most recent segment, attacking Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital, the network aired 7 segments and spent more than 20 minutes vilifying the hospitals. Notably, three of the Fox prime-time shows featuring the attacks are in the top 10 most-watched cable news programs in the country — Tucker Carlson Tonight, The Ingraham Angle, and Jesse Watters Primetime.And while other Fox News prime-time shows similarly repeated anti-trans attacks on the children’s hospitals, Tucker Carlson’s program has been the most responsible for amplifying the misinformation campaign and the figures behind it.
