Monday, August 28, 2023

Listen to trans kids and their families instead of Matt Walsh, Ne-Yo, or Alice Cooper


Transphobia is some insidious shit. 

There is a 55 second clip from 2012 going around on Twitter featuring a trans child and her mother supposedly implying some pretty negative stuff about the child being confused and such. Granted, the folks pushing this mess don't know this family and don't care. Nor have they provided any recent footage.  It simply underscores just how much these culture zombies who chant "leave the kids alone" really don't give a damn about these kids or any other child.

It also underscores how the voices of trans kids and their families are being muffled or ignored.  Instead, most of the attention seems to be paid to bottom feeding bloodsuckers like Matt Walsh and Chaya Raichik, astroturfed right-groups, or celebrities such as rapper NeYo and Alice Cooper.  

And that last group just drives me insane.

What do NeYo and Alice Cooper know about gender-affirming care for trans kids?  How does being a simple rapper or rock star who sang about necrophilia while having a snake wrapped about his body qualify one to be an expert on gender-affirming care for trans kids? We need to hear more from these kids and their families instead of outsiders exploiting the issue for money and fame or celebrities who simply don't know what the hell they are talking about. 

Below are several videos featuring trans kids and their families. These video detail their journeys and talk about the difficulties they have getting the support and care they need.

Sorry if these videos aren't clipped and distorted. Sorry if they don't include some right-wing talking head from a fake medical group distorting statistics. Sorry if these videos don't include shocking pictures of medical procedures or lurid testimony from "former-trans" people with unvetted stories.  Sorry if these videos don't include statements from athletes who claim to want to talk about fairness but end up talking about naked people in locker rooms. Sorry if these videos don't include social media influencers hiding their perverted mindsets behind phony concern for kids.

Instead, these videos feature the folks who should be listened to first when it comes to trans kids and their needs.

Friday, August 25, 2023

'Court rejects motion for 'opt-out' policy regarding LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum' & other Fri midday news briefs



Court strikes down motion for ‘opt-out’ policy regarding LGBTQ literature in Montgomery County Public Schools- Good. I mean could I opt-out of math class if I played the "religious freedom" card. Or how about using a religious exemption to opt-out of black history lessons? Learning about LGBTQ people is not the similar to a sex-ed class. And to treat it as such puts stigmatization on LGBTQ people.

Fox anchor Shannon Bream pushes the hoax that schools put out litter boxes for students who identify as cats - Bream has always had a bias against trans people from day one. I guess her religious views include lying if it's about people she dislikes. 

 Evidence Undermines ‘Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria’ Claims - A big justification for anti-trans legislation has just been refuted. Keeping this for later. 

Thursday, August 24, 2023

Matt Walsh, Chaya Raichik from Libs of TikTok furious at being linked to Pride flag shooter Travis Ikeguchi

It's been a week since the murder of Laura Ann Carleton. Carleton was a business owner in California who was murdered by a man, Travis Ikeguchi, after a dispute about a Pride flag hanging in her shop. Ikeguchi, who was later killed by the police that same day, was discovered to have had a history of posting of disgusting and violent anti-LGBTQ messages on social media.

A Thursday article on NBC Out delved deeper into Ikeguchi's history of posting this ugliness on social media and how it ties into far-right conservatives smearing the Pride flag itself and the LGBTQ community as pedophiles:

The far right has repeatedly linked the flag to the decades-old trope that links gay and transgender people to child abusers who want to “groom” or sexualize children, a trope that has recently had a resurgence.

 “The pride flag does not deserve our respect or deference,” right-wing provocateur Matt Walsh declared in March to his 2.4 million followers on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Nearly all of the most depraved attacks on children, tradition, and common sense in modern society happen under the hideous banner of the pride flag.” A day later, Walsh dedicated an over hourlong episode of his podcast, “The Matt Walsh Show,” which is produced by the media company The Daily Wire, to the Pride flag. The episode was titled “The Pride Flag Deserves Our Disrespect.” 

 Chaya Raichik, who runs the far-right X account LibsOfTikTok, has repeatedly prompted conversations among her nearly 2.5 million followers that appear to take aim at the Pride flag. “Imagine walking into your kid’s elementary school and this is what greets you,” she wrote on X in June, along with an image of what appear to be teachers wearing rainbow Pride clothing and a person dressed in drag. “What do you do?” 

You will notice that the article mentioned two prominent anti-LGBT activists - Matt Walsh and Chaya Raichik of the infamous Libs of TikTok. Needless to say, neither was happy it. Both took to Twitter to voice their disapproval:



Apparently, Matt and Chaya are upset at being compared to a psycho killer.  That's ironic seeing that the tone of their objections mimic Ikeguchi's social media posts:






A little advice, Matt and Chaya - if you don't want to be compared to a homophobic psycho killer, then stop sounding like one.


'New York Times gets called out for pushing aside key source's lies in latest anti-trans article' & other Thur midday news briefs



NYT Treats Key Source’s Many Lies as an Aside in Latest Anti-Trans Smear - So-called 'whistleblower' Jamie Reed strikes again. And gets burned again. This time though, she brought the New York Times down with her. 

 Related posts about Jamie Reed: 




 In other news:


Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Far-right podcaster Tim Pool blames drag queens for Hurricane Hilary, earthquake in California

The question here isn't would the LGBTQ community be blamed for Hurricane Hilary and the recent earthquake in California. It was rather who would do it now that Pat Robertson is dead.

It looks like far-right podcaster Tim Pool takes that spot. But he doesn't blame the entire community. Just drag queens.


For the record, a decade ago I performed twice in drag as part of charity events. If drag queens can cause natural disasters, I may have to go back to performing. I do love having power.

Also as long as we're pushing insane conspiracy theories, let me say that there is reason why Pool is almost never seen without his little black cap. Supposedly it hides the hole in his head where his brain would be if he had one. Or another face which is grosser looking than the one he shows off in public.

But that's just a theory.

Hat tip to LGBTQ Nation and @PimToolNews  

'Laura Ann Carleton's murderer was a fan of Matt Walsh and a far-right conspiracy theorist' & other Wed midday news briefs

Laura Ann Carleton

Man Who Shot Store Owner for Flying Pride Flag Was a Far-Right Conspiracist​ - No surprise here.

Rainbow Flag Killer Was Fan Of Extremist Matt Walsh - And it gets worse. Questions need to be asked of Walsh. Answers need to be demanded. 


Tuesday, August 22, 2023

Parenting With Pride: Florida support group for LGBTQ+ families created to keep far-right groups from dominating debate about parents & children

 


All of these groups (Moms for Liberty especially) constantly yammering "leave our kids alone" are deliberately obscuring the issue when it comes to families in America. If you ask them about LGBTQ families, they either ignore you or try to change the subject. They see our families and our kids as non-existent or unimportant since we don't fit into their so-called perfect, but ignorantly narrow image.

Enough is enough.

LGBTQ parents and their allies are stepping up in Florida to demand that their voices be added to the conversation.



From Axios

 As many Florida children went back to school last week, a group of parents came together to announce a new support group for LGBTQ+ families. 

 Driving the news: Equality Florida formed Parenting With Pride to teach guardians about new laws affecting queer students via free webinars, track how those rules are implemented in schools, and provide them with resources and support.

Why it matters: LGBTQ+ youth have been the target of laws and regulations championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies over the last few years. The approach not only hurts a population of children at higher risk of depression and suicide because of how they're treated in society, advocates say, but also creates a confusing landscape for parents to navigate. 

  What they're saying: "There is a need for answers in Florida right now," Equality Florida press secretary Brandon Wolf said at a news conference announcing the group, "answers to what rights families have and can continue exercising in schools, answers to how the raft of legislation that's targeting those families will be implemented in classrooms, answers to how the system will impact their kids."

By the numbers: More than 1,000 families from Pensacola to Key West had joined the program as of last week, Wolf said. An estimated 114,000 LGBTQ+ youth ages 13-17 live in Florida, according to the Williams Institute, a think tank that conducts research on policies and laws pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity.

'Suspect named in fatal shooting of California store owner over a Pride flag' & other Tue midday news briefs

Laura Carleton

Suspect named in fatal shooting of California store owner over a Pride flag - This is what all of this hatred breeds. This was a hate crime:
 Travis Ikeguchi, 27, was responsible for shooting Laura Ann Carleton, 66, to death after "yelling many homophobic slurs" about her clothing store's Pride flag on Friday, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said at a press conference on Monday. Ikeguchi fled Carleton's store, Mag Pi, by foot and was later killed in “a lethal force encounter" with deputies on Friday. Officials said that Ikeguchi — a resident of Cedar Glen, California — had a history of making posts that were critical of the LGBTQ community on multiple social media platforms, including X, formerly known as Twitter.



What Is Gender-Affirming Care, and Which States Have Restricted it in 2023? - So many people have false ideas about gender-affirming care (especially for trans kids) but won't even try to adequately educate themselves on the topic.

Monday, August 21, 2023

VA Republican claims he's protesting the 'grooming' of children by having them hold up 16-foot penis sign with Biden's picture


Definition of hypocrisy - Virgina Republican Ron Hedlund protesting the supposed 'grooming' of kids by the LGBTQ (most specifically the transgender community) by posting a sign of a penis with Biden's face near a group of kids. As you can see by the photos and video below, he thought it was very funny to film a video featuring two boys holding the sign. See unedited picture further down the post.

Brought to you by the Department of What Da F@k, made possible by Republican hypocrisy.

Virginia GOP Central Committee Representative Ron Hedlund recently wanted to take a stand against the so-called grooming of children by those of us in the LGBTQ community (particularly the transgender community). But his way of doing this says a lot more about Republican hypocrisy when it comes to the hysteria about 'grooming.'

 From LGBTQ Nation:

Conservative activist and Virginia GOP Central Committee Representative Ron Hedlund of Virginia got attention online over the weekend for his 16-foot penis sign with President Joe Biden’s face, which he displayed in front of a group of children. He had to be told by police to put the sign away.

 On social media, Hedlund – who goes by “The Benghazi Rabbit” – said that the point of the protest was to fight “transgenderism” in schools, a term conservatives use to refer to equal rights for transgender students and anti-bullying initiatives. Hedlund’s sign – which he calls the “Porter Penis” – read “S**T IS F**KED UP AND STUFF/BIDEN SUCKS” and had Biden’s face on a 16-foot penis with semen shooting out that was labeled “My kids.” It was displayed at the RF&P Park in Henrico County, Virginia this past Friday just outside where some children were playing a baseball game. He also had a giant “air dancer” with the words “F**K BIDEN” written on it and another sign that read “STOP GROOMING OUR CHILDREN.”

When challenged by a few people, Hedlund filmed himself making fun of them.  And as you can see by the pictures (and the video below), he actually had two boys posing with his sign while laughing it off as a joke.


If you ask me, the big joke in all of this is Hedlund and it's a bad one. I know he did it for attention and I can hear some of you maneuvering your lips to tell me that I shouldn't be giving him the attention. 

But I disagree. 

This is an awful climate we are in now with calculating social media influencers and Congressional leaders gaining attention and clout by resurrecting the lie that we are "recruiting" and "grooming" kids. These horror stories are breeding ugly repercussions either through anti-LGBTQ legislation or people losing their livelihoods. Or worse yet, violence like the murder of California business owner Laura Ann Carleton on Friday. Carleton was reportedly shot by someone who objected to a Pride flag she displayed outside of her shop.

But folks like Hedlund don't care. My guess is that they are enjoying the attention and the chaos they are causing. It's never been about protecting the children. It's been about the ability to showcase their hatred, bigotry, and embarrassingly poor taste. And as you can see by the pictures and the video, they have no problem with exploiting the children they claim to be protecting.

Editor's note - And here is the video:

'Virginia school districts are rejecting Youngkin's anti-trans policies' & other Mon midday news briefs



Prince William County latest Northern VA school district to reject Youngkin's transgender model policies - These districts are choosing the safety of kids instead of a bad policy.



Sunday, August 20, 2023

Repost - Anti-LGBTQ bigotry and propaganda never changes. It simply gets sanitized.

Editor's note - Let's ease into Monday with a repost from May. It's a reminder (particularly for those "LGB without the TQ folks) that the rhetoric we see thrown at the transgender community is simply repackaged anti-gay bigotry. It was a lie then and it's a lie now.  Those who are not in our community need to be reminded of this. Those of us in the community who ignore this should really be ashamed of themselves. 

This from 1985



has turned into this in 2023. 


In reality, it never actually changes. It simply gets repeated after some minor sanitization.

But it's still lies motivated by hate, created to instill fear, and pushed to justify bigotry. 

 And violence.

 1985 graphic taken from Comics With Problems webpage. WARNING - it's not NSFW and will probably get you angry (as it should.)

Thursday, August 17, 2023

Federal appeals court say no to Idaho's ban on trans female athletes

From NBC News:

 A federal appeals court on Thursday refused to allow Idaho to enforce a first-in-the-nation ban on transgender women and girls from participating in female sports leagues, saying the measure likely was unconstitutional. A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel delivered a victory to LGBTQ rights advocates by upholding an injunction blocking Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, the first of many such laws to be enacted by Republican-led states.

 “This is an important victory for common sense, equality, and the rights of transgender youth under the law,” said Chase Strangio, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which pursued the court challenge. The Idaho measure, which Republican Gov. Brad Little signed into law in March 2020, bars transgender women and girls of all ages from participating in female sports teams at public schools in the state, from primary school through college. Twenty-two other states have adopted similar laws governing sports, most recently in North Carolina, according to the conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, which had argued in favor of reviving Idaho’s law. 

This victory underscores the fact that in spite of all of the false narrative and bad hype (mostly perpetrated by TERFs and second-rate cis female athletes), the idea that trans females have an advantage in sports is difficult to prove in court. Those pushing the idea generally rely on preconceived notions and basic lies. This was already covered in 2021 by the USA Today in a blockbuster article, Conservatives want to ban transgender athletes from girls sports. Their evidence is shaky. 

The article's main point continues to be a reality:

Across the nation, state lawmakers supporting transgender athlete bans have painted a picture that girls sports teams will be overrun by athletes with insurmountable physical advantages. But a USA TODAY investigation of the lobbying effort shows that narrative has been built on vague examples that have been overstated or are untrue, and lawmakers have accepted them as fact with little effort to verify their accuracy.

'Calls for LGBTQ book ban in Rio Rancho seemingly backfire' & other Thur midday news briefs




After my daughter's gender transition, I just wanted her to be happy. To best support her, I had to stop caring what other people thought​ - Amen.


Ron DeSantis won’t say how he’d handle his own kid coming out as LGBTQ+ - Coward. He is so transparent. And not in a good way. 

Target acknowledges the Pride backlash hurt sales in June and says it will rethink its approach to 'heritage moments' going forward - Get ready to handle the gloating. Personally I think it's all in the way Target handled the situation. The chain should have never backed down to the bullying. Not even an inch. 

Denver Archdiocese sues Colorado over right to deny preschool to LGBTQ families - If the archdioese receives any tax dollars then it should not have the right to discriminate. 

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Jenna Ellis is the latest anti-LGBTQ activist engulfed in Trump indictments

Jenna Ellis

It's interesting - to say the least - to watch Donald Trump's troubles and indictments engulf those who attached themselves to him. Particularly when some of these folks have been very vocal about the so-called sin of homosexuality.

I've already written about the anti-LGBTQ activism of Trump crony John Eastman when he was called an unindicted co-conspirator in Trump's last crop of indictments. Well now he has been officially indicted in this latest round. But he's not the only anti-LGBTQ activist involved now. 

According to People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch:

Former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis was charged with violating the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and with solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer regarding efforts to convince state legislators to name phony pro-Trump electors in states he lost. 

 Before the 2020 election, Ellis was a strident campaign advocate for Trump, claiming that “the progressive left” was a “domestically grown enemy that was trying to destroy “ordered society” and “create chaos.” After Trump lost, she energetically promoted his stolen election claims alongside Rudy Giuliani and, for a while, Sidney Powell—and pressed those claims on religious-right media outlets like Eric Metaxas’ radio show. Ellis served as Giuliani’s sidekick during a hearing in Gettysburg organized by state Sen. Doug Mastriano in late November 2020. In late December 2020, she denounced the “failures” of the judicial branch and state legislatures and called for members of Congress to challenge Electoral College votes.

 She was also busy behind the scenes. Like fellow accused racketeer John Eastman, Ellis wrote legal memos offering justifications for Vice President Mike Pence to stop congressional certification of Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. 

 Journalist Jonathan Karl wrote about Ellis’s memo in his book “Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show.” Here’s the plan her memo laid out: Pence would halt the constitutionally mandated congressional counting of Electoral College votes on Jan. 6 and give the battleground states until Jan. 15 to send a new set of votes. If no set of votes arrived by that time, the state’s Electoral College votes would not be counted. Ellis figured that would throw the election to the House of Representatives, where she believed Trump would be declared the winner. 

 She promoted a similar-sounding plan during a Jan. 4, 2021, interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody. Ellis said Pence should refuse to accept electors from states being challenged by Trump and throw the question of the electors’ legitimacy back to the state legislatures—something for which there is no legal or constitutional authority. With a straight face, Ellis said such an act “wouldn’t be political” and would create a “clean outcome” for the election. Brody endorsed Ellis’s scheme, tweeting, “Good idea!”

Ellis has also been vocal when it comes to smearing and denigrating LGBTQ people. According to The Advocate, last year she posted the following on her Instagram page with the caption "Where is the lie?"

That's not all:

Ellis took to Twitter to attack a lesbian whose success has catapulted her from an obscure radio personality to a household name -- MSNBC host and author Rachel Maddow. "Conservative women look so good that the left (who only have women like Rachel Maddow) assumes we've had surgeries to look this hot ... nah dawg, not a one. That would be your side. On kids," Ellis tweeted. 

The Advocate said she then doubled down her attack on Maddow by tweeting: 

 "The left is *still* big mad that conservative women are hotter than Rachel Maddow If you're so mad about it, try embracing your femininity instead of looking 'gender neutral' or like dudes."

In 2016, she has also claimed that legalizing gay marriage opens the door to pedophilia and bestiality. 

In addition, according to CNN:

Ellis has also repeatedly said the Supreme Court “ignored the immorality of homosexuality” in its decision to strike down laws that criminalized same-sex sexual activity. 

 “So then we get to Lawrence v. Texas, which was a Texas law criminalizing sodomy,” Ellis said at the Constitutional Literacy for Christians conference in February of 2016. “And judicial activism ignored the immorality of homosexuality and created this fabricated right to privacy that was in the penumbra of the Constitution and determined that homosexuality is within that right to privacy in the penumbra of the Constitution. And the Supreme Court with judicial activist motivations overturn that law.”

 In her 2015 book, “The Legal Basis for a Moral Constitution,” Ellis said the Lawrence ruling “set the groundwork for open celebration of homosexuality and all kinds of deviant sexual behavior with any coupling or grouping.”

Ellis presently having trouble raising money for her defense because Trump and his allies seems to have turned their backs on her. I'm certainly not celebrating her misfortune, but perhaps none of this would have happened to Ellis if she had followed the Biblical tenets about lying with as much eagerness as she used to stigmatize LGBTQ people.

I'm just saying.

'Georgia panel rejects recommendation to fire teacher for reading book about gender identity' & other Wed midday news briefs



Georgia panel rejects recommendation to fire teacher for reading book about gender identity​ - Score one for the good guys. 



Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Anti-LGBTQ activist Chaya Raichik sets herself up for ridicule, gets mocked all over Twitter.

Usually, I turn my head at such vicious snipes, but I'll make an exception in this case because Libs of TikTok founder Chaya Raichik deserves as much ridicule as humanly possible in light of all of the ugly things she has done to the LGBTQ community. Please spare me that "don't stoop to that level" talk.  Sometimes it's good to be petty. Pettiness can be a psychological cleanser.  And when it comes to Raichik, we are in need of a cleanser.

Raichik took time out of her "busy schedule" of cheerfully denigrating LGBTQ people (accusing us of sexualizing kids, spreading lies about trans healthcare for kids - lies which have led to bomb threats against various children's hospitals, and basically soaking up praise from social media losers who crowd her twitter address looking for LGBTQ people to target) in order to accuse pundit Keith Olbermann of stalking her.

This led to someone on Twitter to question her age. And she decided to clap back at him:


That was a mistake. 

First of all, you know that our community (including our allies) is infamous with vicious one-liners, particularly about things like such as age and looks (i.e. reading). That coupled with the fact that Raichik has an eternal ranking near the top of our community's sh!t list meant that girlfriend was about to get dragged.

And dragged Chaya was. Here is a small sample of a very long dragging, which by the way, is still going on while you're reading this post.


'Right-wingers now accusing Pop Tarts and Skittles of 'sexualizing' children' & other Tue midday news briefs




At this rate, accusing people and companies of 'sexualizing' kids is becoming boring and stale. Yet they persist:

Monday, August 14, 2023

Federal appeals court rules for Maryland school district policy preventing the outing of trans, gender nonconforming children


On Monday, trans kids got another court victory. 

From NBC Out:

A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that a group of parents could not challenge a Maryland school district’s policy against telling parents if their children identify as transgender or gender nonconforming.

 A 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled 2-1 that three parents in Montgomery County, Maryland, lacked standing to challenge the policy because they had not alleged their children were transgender in the first place. The policy, which the Montgomery County Board of Education adopted for the 2020-2021 school year, permitted schools to develop gender support plans for students to ensure they “feel comfortable expressing their gender identity.” 

 The policy directs school personnel to help transgender and gender-nonconforming students create a plan that addresses their preferred pronouns, names and bathrooms, and bars staff from informing parents of those plans without a student’s consent. Lawsuits are pending challenging similar policies in other states. 

The Maryland case was the first to be argued before a federal appeals court. Three parents backed by the National Legal Foundation, a Christian conservative group, argued the parental notification policy infringed their due process rights under the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment to direct the care of their children. But U.S. Circuit Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum said the parents lacked standing to pursue their “compelling arguments” because they had not alleged their children had gender support plans or were transgender. That rendered their opposition a mere “policy disagreement,” he said.

This marks - by my count - the fourth court victory for trans kids in August. Earlier this month, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against an Ohio school district's gender-inclusive bathroom policy. In addition, courts in Indiana and Ohio awarded victories to trans kids in cases involving anti-bullying policies and bathroom usage.

'Far right attacks 'It Gets Better' after group donates $600,000 to students' & other Mon midday news briefs


Far Right Attacks It Gets Better After Group Donates $600k to Students - Blah, blah, blah 'groomers' blah, blah, blah "indoctrination and sexualization" "leave the kids alone." The far right can go to hell. LGBTQ kids attend schools and anything helping them (particularly in this climate) to be successful and safe is a good thing. 

Court blocks Idaho law restricting trans students’ restroom use​ - Laws like this one have no logical foundation. They only appeal to prejudices and fears. Glad to see that courts are recognizing this. 

Ron DeSantis’s “anti-woke” policies have led to a serious brain drain in Florida - Florida will continue to suffer until Floridians stop getting taken in by people like DeSantis. 

Friday, August 11, 2023

'You should have died in the f@king closet' & other Fri midday news briefs

 

Parents’ rights protestor tells LGBTQ+ advocates to go hang themselves - Ugly but the video above and this article needs to be seen. Folks need to see these folks when their "concern for the children" masks drop. 

Maryland Families Sue Over LGBTQ Public School Readings - This is ridiculous because it has nothing to do with sex at all. These parents don't want their kids to hear about any LGBTQ people. No doubt the forces behind this is hoping for a big lawsuit but if they get one, even a victory will hurt them. Religion is being weaponized.