GOP national 'Don't Say Gay' bill is a brazen attack on LGBTQ existence

I don't think anyone can honestly say when right-wing attack on drag queens and other facets of our community via Libs of TikTok and other sources began. But I am going to go off on a limb and make two observations. 

1. That this was planned.

2. It was leading to something. 

And that something is an attempt to push a national version of Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' law. I've blogged about it before, but it's very crucial that the LGBTQ community learn more about it and prepare ourselves to fight it because it's coming in one form or another. Folks have pointed out that even if the bill can get out of Congress, Biden would veto it.

That may be, but Biden can't veto statewide forms of the bill. In the meantime, these videos courtesy of MSNBC gives a good breakdown of what LGBTQ Americans will probably be facing in the future

   

'Sen Marsha Blackburn targeting trans woman online' & other Wed midday news briefs

GOP senator targets TikTok influencer with anti-transgender taunt​ - So damn immature. So damn trashy. 

Ron DeSantis Calls Gender-Affirming Care 'Castration' in Debate - What a liar. If DeSantis becomes president, I fear for the LGBTQ community.

Peruvian capital’s mayor-elect raises eyebrows among LGBTQ activists - Hooo boy!

Proud Boys aim to disrupt South Bend drag event but are outnumbered by LGBTQ advocates - Ha! Ha! Their threats backfired.

Kari Lake's homophobic pandering is warning to LGBTQ community - be careful of phonies and false allies

AZ GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake with a former drag queen friend when she 'liked' drag queens.

Has anyone made a complete pandering fool of themselves in this midterm election more than Arizona GOP governor candidate Kari Lake? And before you answer that question, look at the evidence:

Lake has been attacking the LGBTQ community in her campaign:

That was before it came out that  she was once good friends with a drag queen:

Richard Stevens, who has been performing as Barbra Seville for more than 25 years, wrote on social media that Lake is a friend who has attended many drag shows over the years and even hired him to perform at a family event in her home. "I've performed for Kari's birthday, I've performed in her home (with children present,) and I've performed for her at some of the seediest bars in Phoenix," Stevens wrote on Facebook.

Now Lake seems to be  bending over backwards as a way of establishing  her "bonafides" when it comes to attacking the LGBTQ community and undermining our rights. She has been doubling down with some outrageously homophobic claims and rhetoric:

Recently, Lake accused President Joe Biden of promoting “grooming,” claiming that he is “withholding National School Lunch Program Funds from schools that don’t adopt his perverted sexual agenda.” In reality, what happened is that the Department of Agriculture released guidance that would prohibit anti-LGBTQ discrimination in any program that receives federal nutrition money, including many school lunch programs. Notably, the guidance only applies to those specific programs; schools that follow the guidance in those programs while discriminating against LGBTQ students in other ways would continue to receive funding. Lake has frequently stated her opposition to LGBTQ inclusion in schools. In a March interview on KNST radio, she blasted schools that teach students about gender identity, claiming that they are promoting “confusion.” 

All of this pales to her latest endeavor. According to Mother Jones, Lake is airing an ad featuring an extremely homophobic pastor:

The spot was paid for by the Yuma County Republican Central Committee and authorized by Kari Lake, the Trump-endorsed election denialist who is the GOP candidate for governor. It covers the Republican basics: A seemingly conscientious and decent owner of a small business—and his family—is dealing with economic hardship and feels endangered by those liberal Democrats. But the ad leaves out important information: Erickson is not merely a local business owner concerned with inflation; he is a homophobic and Islamophobic pastor.

How homophobic? Very. Erickson pulls out anti-LGBTQ propaganda from way back in the day. We're talking the Paul Cameronesque type lies:

In a 2014 sermon on homosexuality, Erickson proclaimed that “fifty percent of the homosexual LGBT-Now-Q community, 50 percent have AIDS. One in twenty are child molesters, on the sex offender registry.” These numbers were way off. In 2014, Gallup found that about 9 million Americans self-identified as LGBT, and a different study concluded that about 700,000 gay and bisexual men were living with HIV, far fewer than half the gay and lesbian population. 

Moreover, Erickson’s stats about LGBT child molesters were dangerously false. Under his math, about half of the 800,000 or so people on sex offender registries would have to be gay, yet according to one study, heterosexual pedophiles outnumbers homosexual pedophiles by 11-to-1. He was recklessly and inaccurately depicting LGBT people as threats to children.

It gets worse:

 In that sermon, Erickson also claimed, “80 percent of homosexuals have STDs, and—how sad is this?—2 percent, 2 percent of homosexuals in the LGBT community make it to the age of 65. The average lifespan for an average person in our world is 75. Those is the LGBT community, most of them don’t make it to 39.” There seems to be no scientific basis for these claims. Though HIV still presented a health risk for gay men, the American Journal of Public Health in 2016 noted, “no general population-based survey, to the best of our knowledge, has examined whether self-identified lesbians, bisexuals, or gay men are more likely than are heterosexuals to experience early mortality.”

 Erickson claimed that the “average homosexual has had in a lifetime over 500 sexual partners. Eighty percent admit that half of them are absolute total strangers. Thirty percent of those who commit homosexuality, 30 percent, have had over 1000 partners. Three hundred different people a year.” A 2013 study found that the mean number of male sexual partners for gay and bisexual in the preceding year men was 2.3—which indicates the “average” gay man does not have hundreds of sexual partners.

I'm just surprised (and relieved) that Erickson didn't pull the "gays stuff gerbils up their rectums" lie.

Lake's two-faced pandering may actually take her to the governor's mansion in Arizona. At the very least, it should serve as a warning to the LGBTQ community. Some people who smile in our faces or claim to be our allies will turn on us when it is most convenient for them. When they hug you, they are looking for the right place  in your back to jam the knife.

'President Biden takes a swing at trans health care bans' & other Tue midday news briefs

President Biden

Joe Biden takes a swing at trans health care bans: “No state should be able to do that” - Of course the opposition tries to make it sound like President Biden is for harming kids, but that ain't gonna work. 

Heritage Foundation’s New Model Legislation Combines Attacks on Trans Youth and Public Education​ - And we continue to fight the battles. 

LGBT+ Center Orlando cancels drag queen story hour after Nazi threats, director says - I understand the need for safety but the more we give in, the more homophobes are empowered. 

30 Football Players Who Came Out of the Closet - I did not know there were that many.

Video tribute to Leslie Jordan and how he made us laugh

Longtime actor Leslie Jordan died today after an auto accident. A lot of folks, particularly in the LGBTQ community, are saddened because he was an icon of comedy as well as being unashamedly gay. If anything, while he made us laugh, he also showed that here was nothing wrong with being gay and honest about who you are. And not letting negativity bring you down.  Life to him was always a parade and that's what we should remember as we mourn his passing.

The video above is from where he will be most remembered - as a cast member of the hit show 'Will and Grace.' He had been in many movies, television shows, and even made a gospel album. But his Emmy award-winning portrayal as Beverly Leslie, nemesis of Karen Walker (Megan Mullally) made him a household name. 

'Latest study destroys transphobic lie about gender-affirming care' & other Mon midday news briefs

An overwhelming majority of trans youth continue gender-affirming care as adults​ - Another anti-trans trope bites the dust. 

These 10 LGBTQ candidates could make political history in November - This would be so SWEET!

Va. Department of Education holds hearing on proposed revision of trans, nonbinary student protections - LGBTQ folks made a good showing here. 

Moving Beyond the ‘Bury Your Gays’ Trope: Reclaiming Queerness in Horror Films - Nice! I love this!

1966 video shows where conservatives and Republicans want to drag LGBTQ people back to

Boys in this 1966 video listens to a police officer telling them that if they are "involved" with homosexuality, they will be caught.

"Don't kid yourselves about it. They can be anywhere. They can be judges, lawyers. We ought to know. We've arrested all of them. So if anyone of you have allowed yourselves to be involved with an adult homosexual or with another boy, and you're doing this on a regular basis, you'd better stop quick because one out of three of you will turn queer. And if we catch you involved with a homosexual, your parents are going to know about it first."

A 1966 video of a policeman 'warning' kids about the so-called dangers of homosexuality is where some folks want to drag us back to. It is a desired result of all of the legislative and social media attacks against  the LGBTQ community. It's one thing for conservatives, Republicans, and various right-wing personalities to see LGBTQ people as a criminal threats, but they want to take it further. They want that vision to be reality. So much so that they are willing to disrupt our lives, our families, and kids to make it so.  They want to mold us into the monsters of their imagination because they feel entitled to edit out parts of our lives which contradicts prejudices.

'In a football first, HBCU player comes out as gay' & other Fri midday news briefs

In a college football first, HBCU player comes out as gay​ - I commend him.

'Changed my life': Trans teen testifies against nation's first ban on gender-affirming care - Our future is in good hands.

Fla. OK's Sweeping Anti-LGBTQ+ Rules in Schools After 'Don't Say Gay' - Because they are in DeSantis's back pocket. 

National 'don't say gay' bill would force LGBTQ community to live by Republican lies - My post from last night. I really want folks to read this because the bill is dangerous on so many levels. 

How the conservative parents’ rights movement — fueled by LGBTQ backlash — is shaping Heidi Ganahl’s campaign - Messy and trashy. This woman is the type of person I talked about in the above post.

National 'don't say gay' bill would force LGBTQ community to live by Republican lies

Earlier this week, I posted about a bill pushed by Republicans which can be called a national 'Don't Say Gay' bill. Granted, I know our community has a habit of being aware of coming danger, but  not doing anything about it until it pops up on our front stoop (and then talking about "raising hell like in they did at  Stonewall," as if  a few hours or marching and shouting will fix everything) but this is something which cannot wait. 

I don't think a lot of us get the implications of this bill Republicans are pushing. And we're being a bit nonchalant about what it could lead to. And especially what it means.

From People magazine:

A new Republican-led House bill is being described as the national equivalent of Florida's controversial Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, which was passed into law earlier this year. On Tuesday, Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana and 32 other congressional Republicans introduced what they're calling the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act of 2022, which would prevent the use of federal funds from developing or funding "any sexually-oriented program, event, or literature for children under the age of 10, and for other purposes." The bill, if passed, would prevent schools from providing books about LGBTQ topics to children under 10. And beyond that, it would impact federally funded facilities like public libraries, schools, hospitals and more.

 The big kicker is the following: 

 As NBC News points out, the bill defines "sexually-oriented material" as "any depiction, description, or simulation of sexual activity, any lewd or lascivious depiction or description of human genitals, or any topic involving gender identity, gender dysphoria, transgenderism, sexual orientation, or related subjects."

This is what that above paragraph means:

The bill is the first introduced at the federal level that characterizes LGBTQ people and concepts as inherently sexual, and follows some Republicans calling LGBTQ-inclusive curricula, or drag events, "grooming," which NBC reports as false moral panic about LGBTQ people. Framing sexual orientation and gender identity as "sexually explicit" in all contexts is deceiving and harmful.

"A new NATIONAL bill by Republicans would ban 'any exposure to transgenderism to children under the age of 10,'" activist Erin Reed wrote on Twitter. "This would fire all trans teachers, Trans workers in hospitals that serve children, counselors, social workers. It defines being trans as 'sexual.'" Alejandra Caraballo, a clinical instructor at Harvard Law School, also spoke out about the proposed bill on Twitter, writing that "equating LGBTQ people to sexually explicit material is dehumanizing and disgusting."

What they want to do is codify by law the false belief that the LGBTQ orientation is about sexual intercourse and everything having to do with us, including our families, kids, even mundane parts of our lives is all about having sex. And therefore is dangerous to children

Think of it as being just like how Donald Trump and his cohorts have been whining about a stolen election. They can't handle the fact that Trump lost in 2020 so they have been trying (unsuccessfully) to craft a new reality in which he won by a landslide but was cheated out of his victory

That's what we have here with this vile bill. 

Certain people have an ugly opinion of us. Whether it be religious beliefs or just plain bigotry, some folks can only see us with biased vision.  They see us as personifications of  the worst form of vulgarity - flippant, irresponsible, mentally messed-up and unable to function like mature adults, selfish, and completely by driven our sex drives. To them that makes us  highly toxic and especially a danger to the well-being of children. 

They have every right to feel the way they do about us, after all people have a right their opinion. The problem is when certain people attempt to make their opinion a reality based upon their personal feelings instead of facts.  LGBTQ people not indicative of  negative characteristics. We are not vile or toxic. Our lives aren't filled with scores of sexual activity.  And we certainly aren't a danger to kids. We've proven that point continuously over the years via court cases, telling our life stories, or simply living our lives in accordance to who we want to be, not what someone decided what we should be.

LGBTQ reality don't suit certain people, so they want to create, by rule of law, a reality where we are a danger to children because they feel entitled to make it so. That is ironic because their entire narrative is how LGBTQ people are "forcing" people to accept us. They say we are "forcing" people to sanction our supposed "lifestyle."  None of that is true. 

We aren't the ones attempting to create laws designating an entire group of people as toxic simply because we want it to be that way. 

'The growing religious alliance to ban LGBTQ books' & other Thur midday news briefs.

Genderqueer has been the subject of several school and library book bans.

The Growing Religious Alliance to Ban LGBTQ Books - Ain't this a trip? The only thing which can get conservative Christians and conservative Muslims united is an attack on LGBTQ people. 

A high school artist was chosen to paint a mural. Then came the outrage - Some people have too much time on their hands in this country. 

Schools will now call parents if students want to check out this LGBTQ book​ - I wonder if this madness will continue after the mid term elections. 

LGBTQ+ Topics Rarely Discussed in Schools, New Study Finds - Not surprising, unfortunately.

Bigoted pastor can't help going on and on about 'gay sex,' vomit, and intestines

 

No matter what they say, how they present themselves, or method they use to make what they are doing seem good, hiding behind the mask of every homophobe (and that includes Franklin Graham),  every so-called 'pro-family' group, every effort to ban LGBTQ books, and every effort to shut us down and undermine our right is this guy going on and on about "gay sex," vomiting and intestines. If you ask me, he has too much stuff on his mind and it is funny. It would be funnier if one doesn't think of the type of damage people like him do.

In a sermon now removed from YouTube, Christian hate-preacher Jonathan Shelley asked "Why is someone a homosexual?"

His response was a litany of bigotry and lies, including the statement that "their intestines will sometimes just fall out because of the actions that they do." pic.twitter.com/r4738F2yBS

— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) October 18, 2022

'Conservative arrested for death threats against superintendent after district put on 'watch list'' & other Wed midday news briefs

Conservative arrested for death threat against superintendent after district put on “watch list” - Social media can be a dangerous thing in the hands of the naive.

Trans Woman Accused of Murder; She Says It Was Self-Defense​ - This is what trans women have to deal with. 

Jaelene Daniels cut by the Courage after her continued anti-LGBT actions - If this is the last that we will be hearing from this, color me surprised The anti-LGBTQ industry is always looking for new martyrs. 

Hochul signs bill expanding resources for LGBTQ seniors - A lot of times, the seniors in our community are forgotten. We need to do better.

From banning drag shows to copying Russia's anti-LGBTQ law: Conservatives have 'plans' for LGBTQ Americans

Two situations happened on Tuesday and they both point to the havoc conservatives want to wreak against LGBTQ Americans on both a state and federal level regardless of the results of mid-term elections.

In Idaho, legislators are talking about banning public drag shows. According to the Idaho Capital Sun:

A bill that would ban drag performances in all public venues will be introduced in the first days of the next session of the Idaho Legislature in January, Idaho Family Policy Center President Blaine Conzatti told the Idaho Capital Sun. Conzatti and other conservative activists around Idaho and across the country have protested against events in public spaces that feature drag queens, including drag queen story hour events at public libraries. In September, Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon called for people to pressure corporate sponsors of Boise Pride to pull their names from sponsorship at the event over a scheduled “Drag Kids” performance for ages 11 to 18, which was ultimately postponed over safety concerns. 

Conzatti said the draft bill is ready to be introduced as soon as the session gets underway but declined to share the text of the bill with the Sun and wouldn’t name the legislators who worked on it with him. “No child should ever be exposed to sexual exhibitions like drag shows in public places, whether that’s at a public library or a public park,” he said. 

As proof that drag shows are too adult for kids, Conzatti pointed out an incident in Coeur d’Alene in June. when during a Pride event, a drag performer exposed himself to attendees. However, the article was quick to point out the truth of the incident: 

 After complaints, the local prosecutor’s office determined the video was edited to look like the performer had exposed himself when he had not. The performer has since filed a defamation lawsuit against North Idaho blogger Summer Bushnell over the incident, according to reporting from the Coeur d’Alene Press.

So based upon false idea that drag shows in general are adult-oriented and a lie about a drag queen exposing himself,  some Idaho legislators are trying to ban public drag shows.  

I know that you're chuckling to yourself while thinking "good luck with that." But let's not be so quick to be amused by the effort that we fail to note its vile intent. It's something to keep in mind with regards to the next situation. 

What Idaho legislators want to do is nothing compared to what some Republican members of Congress have in mind. From Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson:

BREAKING

Republicans are introducing the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act—the first bill to ensure that none of your tax dollars go to federal programs, state or local government agencies, or private orgs that expose children under 10 to sexually explicit material.

🧵

— Rep. Mike Johnson (@RepMikeJohnson) October 18, 2022

Is sounds like a good idea, but based upon Johnson's further comments in the thread, the bill does nothing really to protect children from sexual abuse. What it actually does is codify the false idea that anything involving LGBTQ is sexually explicit and should be banned from kids. 

Some folks have rightfully called it a national 'Don't Say Gay' bill. Others are more accurate when they call it an Americanized version of Russia's anti-gay bill. That bill, signed in 2013 by Russian president Vladmir Putin, takes the same deceptive position as Johnson's bill. It supposedly protects kids from sexually explicit conversations while implying that any mention of LGBTQ people is a sexually explicit conversation.

Critics have pointed out that the law has been an excuse for the the country to viciously crackdown on LGBTQ Russians. Even worse than that, Russia is now talking about expanding the law so that any event or act that would supposedly "promote homosexuality" to anyone whether minor or adult would be illegal.

It doesn't take a palm reader to point out that some people in America want  to mimic Russia's extreme homophobia.. Just like Putin,, Rep. Johnson and other conservatives claim that what they are doing is protecting children for sexually explicit material. But they are also pushing  the idea that any material which mentions LGBTQ people is sexuality explicit. 

As it is now, Johnson's bill can wreck the lives of LGBTQ Americans. Alejandra Caraballo, clinical instructor at the Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic, breaks down the damage Johnson's bill  can do in a Twitter thread. According to her, should Johnson's bill become law:

Universities, public schools, hospitals, medical clinics, etc. could all be defunded if they host any event discussing LGBTQ people and children could be present. The way they define "sexually oriented material" simply includes anything about LGBTQ people.

She also said

I can't overstate how radical the private right of action portion is. The bill is so broadly defined that a pediatric hospital could be sued for having a pride flag or a medical pamphlet about gender dysphoria. It deputizes anti-LGBTQ bigots to engage in bounty lawsuits.

Her entire thread is here and deserves a serious read:

Hello, the unroll you asked for: https://t.co/lxDPHuDSP1 Enjoy :) 🤖

— Thread Reader App (@threadreaderapp) October 18, 2022

It's relatively easy to laugh this stuff off or be nonchalant about it.  After all it is no secret that opposition to LGBTQ rights and equality is a standard conservative "value" in this country.  I have no doubt that we will start seeing versions of both bills on a state and national level whether or not the GOP is able to take control of both or even one legislative house after the midterms. But this times goes beyond "business as usual" in this ugly dance our community have had with conservatives time and time again. There is a certain desire for finality emanating from them which I find extremely unsettling.

Alejandra Caraballo tweets it much better than I can elucidate:

These headlines are 4 years apart. Russia passed a "Gay Propaganda" law and within 4 years, gay men in Chechnya were being rounded up, put in concentration camps and killed. This is what I'm thinking about when Republican House Members introduced the American version of it today. pic.twitter.com/d45EOeo7lS

— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) October 18, 2022

'Michigan bill seeks to define gender-affirming care for minors as first-degree child abuse' & other Tue midday news briefs

Michigan bill seeks to define gender-affirming care for minors as first-degree child abuse​ - Here we go again. 

This Republican Ex-President Will Be Honored on World AIDS Day - Uh oh. 

Comedian John Oliver brutally tears apart transphobic narratives and the conservatives who repeat them - Post from last night. John Oliver kicked major ass.

The U.S. has never had a lesbian governor. These two women could change that. - THIS would be sweet. 

LGBTQ Groups Launch Ad Campaign Warning GOP Will Target Gay Rights Next - Yep.

Comedian John Oliver brutally tears apart transphobic narratives and the conservatives who repeat them

On the one hand, this is awesome how comedian John Oliver goes after transphobic narratives and those who spew them with a 'take no prisoners' attitude. But on the other hand, it is rather sad that we have to count on comedians (,Jon Stewart recently took a transphobic attorney general to school) to do the things that people who get paid to be journalist aren't doing. 

Oliver takes care of business superbly. The entire segment is wonderful viewing. But if you want some snippets, check out below. And while watching one (the one with the bigoted author Abigail Shrier), I want you to do something. Replace the word "transgender" in her comments with the phrase "radical homosexuals." For me it was like being transported via a time machine a few years in the past. It's like I've said before - the tactics and lies never change. Only the targets.

Abigail Shrier "sometimes dresses her arguments up by using the term 'rapid-onset gender dysphoria,' which is total horseshit." - John Oliver pic.twitter.com/PTYlz9hNn6

— Ari Drennen (@AriDrennen) October 17, 2022

A society that is forcing children to beg legislators for their lives is a society that is failing its children pic.twitter.com/cdqegAnykG

— Ari Drennen (@AriDrennen) October 17, 2022

I know John Oliver is right about this because when I was in middle school a girl pooped in a dixie cup and all the way through graduation that's what she was known for. pic.twitter.com/VwLHnkLyGa

— Ari Drennen (@AriDrennen) October 17, 2022

John Oliver DESTROYS the GOP campaign against trans girls in sports with facts and logic: pic.twitter.com/9qNcHPogQB

— Ari Drennen (@AriDrennen) October 17, 2022

This clip of trans kid Kai Shappley from John Oliver's show last night is genuinely heartbreaking pic.twitter.com/V7nXXliszK

— Ari Drennen (@AriDrennen) October 17, 2022

Holy shit pic.twitter.com/jAxYqytO8M

— Ari Drennen (@AriDrennen) October 17, 2022

'Animal rescue gets death threats after drag queen reads to dogs' & other

Animal rescue gets death threats after drag queen reads to dogs - Yep. We are now in a twilight zone.

GOP candidates join Dearborn residents in protest over LGBTQ books in schools​ - This was simply awful. The Muslim community teaming with the far right. Once upon a time - and still in some areas - the far right treats the Muslim community like it does LGBTQ people. It's relatively easy to trick folks with the "they're trying to groom our kids" card.

'I'm sick of being silent': Gay teen catches bullies on camera in viral TikTok video - Good for him for fighting back.

21 Twitter confessions about being gay in high school that are way too relatable - Yes lawd!!!

Comedian trolls a school board meeting. It's spooky how some folks clearly didn't get the joke

This hysteria about schools supposedly grooming kids into being LGBTQ is exhausting. It's a lie instigated by calculating people wanting to make money, get clout, or undermine LGBTQ people and our families.  But sometimes something comes along in it all which makes me chuckle. 

From LGBTQNation:

For many progressives, local school board meetings have been the site of some pretty tragi-comic scenes recently, as right-wing activists have pushed their absurd agenda. But this week, one New York-based comedian mined the right’s anti-LGBTQ rhetoric for laughs. Walter Masterson attended a meeting of the Connetquot School District board on Tuesday night. During the public comment period, Masterson, dressed in a stars-and-stripes shirt, got up and delivered a speech satirizing conservative talking points on everything from inclusive pronouns to gun control and school choice.

As amusing as it was, some folks correctly pointed out how scary it was that some folks who applauded did so because they thought he was serious.

I trolled the school board meeting at Connetquot after they had a teacher remove the Progress Pride flag. pic.twitter.com/2gleJ73ThX

— Walter Masterson (@waltermasterson) October 13, 2022

'Ohio activists beat back anti-trans resolution' & other Fri midday news briefs

Ohio activists quash an anti-trans resolution in major victory for trans rights​ - So many heroes in this situation. Apparently the anti-trans group was stunned. 

 Grindr Faces Boycott After Gay CEO's Right-Wing Tweets Are Revealed - Was never a fan of Grindr anyway. Really not surprised. Anti-LGBTQ policies are beneficial for him. Eliminating our rights would reduce us to sad creatures looking for one-night stands. He benefits financially.

Every ‘Halloween’ movie ranked from least to most gay - Well. This is interesting. 

Report projects major growth in LGBTQ voters in coming decades - Oh hell yeah!!

Vermont station working to correct story of bullied trans teen. Family Research Council isn't happy about that.

Those who read this blog know that I am not a fan of hate group the Family Research Council. But this one time, I will give the organization props for pointing out - in its own way - a positive development on an incident I earlier wrote about:

LGBT activists bullied a local news station into deleting a news-breaking story and reporting their version of events instead. On September 28, 2022, WCAX-TV interviewed a high school volleyball player at a high school in Randolph, Vermont, who along with her teammates was barred from using their own locker room because they felt uncomfortable changing in front of their male teammate, a boy who identifies as a girl. 

That was FRC's rendition of the situation in question but like so many other times, the group plays fast and loose with the the truth. From the Vermont news source Seven Days: 

 WCAX-TV has quietly erased from its website and social media accounts a September 28 news report about a transgender volleyball player at Randolph Union High School. The story went viral among conservative media outlets and was condemned by LGBTQ groups and allies. But on Tuesday, links to the controversial story and a recording of the newscast from that night went instead to a page that read "404/Not Found." When Seven Days asked about the missing content, WCAX news director Roger Garrity said the station took it down last week "to prevent others from using our reporting to attack people in the transgender community.

The original article was poorly written and didn't even include information from the trans student or her family. Because of this, the narrative was that cisgender girls were barred from using the locker room because they said they felt uncomfortable with changing around the trans student. This rendition was shared on several right-wing websites. Even Franklin Graham gave his un-asked-for two cents:

WCAX's initial story reported that the Randolph Union High School girls' volleyball team had been banned from its locker room while school officials investigated a conflict involving a transgender athlete on the team. But the piece featured just one interview with a first-year volleyball player, who said a transgender teammate made "an inappropriate comment" and that "biological boys" should never be allowed in a girls' locker room.

 The story quickly went viral on right-wing websites such as Fox News, Daily Signal, the New York Post, the Daily Wire and the Epoch Times. Shortly after, the Randolph school district was forced to disable its website after it was hacked and inundated with hate speech targeting transgender people.

The trans girl's mother went to Seven Days and complained that the WCAX article was wrong. She said her daughter was the one who was being bullied. 

The mother said her daughter was actually the one targeted, by several girls on the team, and that the school closed the locker room while investigating the incident in order to keep everyone safe. Orange Southwest School District superintendent Layne Millington, who said he was unable to comment about the details of the investigation because of federal law protecting student information, confirmed part of the mother's account in an email to Seven Days. The locker room was shut down "to ensure student safety while the investigation is conducted, and the shutdown applies equally to the entire team," Millington wrote.

According to the initial Seven Days article:

One week before the WCAX report aired, she said, her daughter was changing in the girls' locker room before volleyball practice when three teammates started yelling at her to get out and to stop looking at them. Her daughter hadn't encountered that kind of open negativity about being transgender since moving to Randolph in eighth grade, the mother said, so the aggressive comments came as a surprise. The girl had also previously changed in the same room as her teammates. 

 "She never really felt unwelcome or like she didn't belong," her mother said. After being yelled at, the girl went into a locker room bathroom stall to change. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to put on her team jersey, so she popped her head around the corner at one point to check with her teammates. The girls started yelling at her again. When the transgender student walked into the gym after getting changed, she encountered the volleyball coach, who told the girl that she had overheard what had happened and was planning to report the incident to the school administration.

 Two days later, an administrator called the mother to tell her that three people reported that her daughter had been bullied and harassed.  As a result, the school was launching an investigation. The administrator also told the mother that the girls' volleyball team could not be unsupervised in the locker room until the investigation was completed.

In spite the truth being known, FRC continues to make it seem as if the LGBTQ community bullied WCAX into changing its story:

It’s clear who’s bullying whom here. The political power in Vermont is all on the side of the transgender lobby. National heavyweights came in and pummeled a local TV station, which is probably operating with a shoestring budget and a skeleton crew to remain profitable. They not only forced them to delete the offending story but insisted on crafting the apology that the local station would be forced to recite. This is the grown-up equivalent of sitting on a smaller kid before locking him in the janitor’s closet. The LGBT lobby has lots of power, but, somehow, they insist on always being the victim. 

“Why are you bullying me?” they cry, as they punch another kid with his own fist. Note how men are victimizing women (again), but the transgender narrative twists the facts into the opposite interpretation. Note how swiftly and ruthlessly they suppressed this story from the single news outlet brave enough to report the girl’s side of the story. Note that what offended the powerful transgender lobby was not a right-wing smear campaign, but the simple, honest reporting of the facts.

It's ironic how the Family Research Council is accusing others of playing the victim while hogging up centerstage in the arena of self-pity. What happened was that a news organization published a badly-written article which presented an inaccurate view of a controversy. This article went viral after being shared by entities exploiting the incident for their own twisted purposes. The news organization recognized its error.

Specifically:

A trans student sharing a locker room with other female students (as she had done before with no issues) was this time being bullied.

A school official - her volleyball coach - saw what happened and reported it to school administrators.

The school launched an investigation and because of the investigation, the volleyball team could not be in the locker room unsupervised.

Again, according to the initial Seven Days article, school officials tried to keep the locker room open by having adults supervise the students, but they were unable to because the story had gone viral and things got really ugly. The school district's site was hacked and defaced with profanity and awful comments about trans people.

It's mind-boggling to read FRC's deliberate twisting of the incident and the concern it claims to have for what the group deems are the victims here. 

 It's gaslighting to the highest degree. 

'Watch: A man said LGBTQ people 'deserve death' at a school board meeting' & other Thur midday news briefs

Watch: A man said LGBTQ people ‘deserve death’ at a school board meeting – no one stopped him - The old "disguise the violent comment as a biblical verse" dodge. 

Let’s not forget what Angela Lansbury did during the worst years of the AIDS epidemic - Rest in Peace, Nelly, Rose, Jessica, Mame, Mrs. Claus, etc. etc. You made many a gay man happy. Heck, I still imitate your version of 'Rose's Turn' from "Gypsy." 

Hate preacher says he’d rather eat his own vomit than be gay in unhinged sermon - Such a loser.

Protesters shut down Dearborn school board meeting over LGBTQ books - Just make folks irrationally fear something and watch the madness. It works every time. 

Book bans spreading across Michigan: What's driving them - A very good and extensive article about this mania: 

 "Schools are political punching bags these days, and everybody thinks it's a great sport to attack schools, superintendents, teachers and school boards," Seebeck said. "And oftentimes, they do that without any real knowledge, or any real reason ... without first asking if any of those books are even in their school library, they show up at a school board meeting and they read excerpts from these books that are pre-printed, the parents never read the book, and probably wouldn't even know the book existed  . . . 

In his 17 years as superintendent, Seebeck said this is the first time he's seen so many objections to literary content. He's also noticed a new mantra of parents wanting to "take back their schools." "I ask them, take it back from who? Who has it? Because your school, your school district is run by people who live in your community. I grew up in the town that I'm the school superintendent. ... Your school board is made up of people who have kids in the school district. Why would you take it from them?

Shut your mouths and listen to trans kids and their families

I'm going to be accused of "preaching to the choir" with this post but hearing an "amen" every now and then is good for the soul. Especially after some of the things I've read on Twitter.

This post is dedicated to the nutheads and junk spewers who slide into threads and go off on wild tangents about about trans kids, surgeries, mutilations, body parts, and the like under the guise of concern. Oh they have to save the children from gender evil, trans-something, or some other annoying nickname which they use when they are deceiving themselves into thinking that they are being profound.

They are the same type who get conveniently quiet when asked do they know any trans kids or families with trans kids? These people are idiots.  They are deranged. They are annoying and unfortunately, when they are in the height of their madness, they drown out the voices we should be hearing.

 If some of these folks actually listened to their kids and these families with as much enthusiasm as they spin and feed off of  lies and anecdotes, they would learn something for a change.

'Inside the right-wing press factory that pumped out Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill' & other Wed midday news briefs.

EXCLUSIVE: Inside the right-wing press factory that pumped Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill​ - News sources claiming to simply be covering the law were actually involved in its rollout. And a gay man was involved too. Stabbing his own in the back.

How Dwyane Wade is protecting his trans daughter’s mental health from nasty Instagram comments - This is how a supportive parent is supposed to act. 

15 celebrities who came out in 2022 (so far) - Heavy on the 'so far.' 

Anti-LGBTQ+ Politician Tulsi Gabbard Is Leaving Democratic Party - Gurl, bye. You wasn't fooling anyone.

Here’s how hundreds of Chinese same-sex couples are getting married in Utah - Loophole!

'Experts' used to defend Arkansas anti-trans law have serious credibility problems

During the now legendary interview with Jon Stewart, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge couldn't name any of the 'experts' she was relying on to defend the state's law banning gender-affirming healthcare.  There may have been a reason for her convenient amnesia. Several of her 'experts' have serious credibility problems. 

Alejandra Caballero, a clinical instructor at Harvard Law School's Cyberlaw Clinic, investigated just who these experts were and what she found shouldn't surprise those of us who keep up with the anti-LGBTQ industry.  She posted what she found in a Twitter thread and she brought the 'receipts.'

Hi, please find the unroll here: https://t.co/psXhkEFSJm See you soon. 🤖

— Thread Reader App (@threadreaderapp) October 11, 2022

Allow me to summarize:

Caballero looked at the four experts Rutledge relied on and she found:

One of them is plastic surgeon who runs botox clinic in a strip mall in Alabama. He has never worked with trans patients. 

Another one is affiliated with the anti-LGBTQ hate group Alliance Defending Freedom and opposes gender-affirming care on religious grounds. 

Caballero said the following about the third 'expert':

 Dr. Levine almost entirely subsists on being an anti-trans "expert." He's in his 80's, rarely sees patients, and does not publish any peer-reviewed research. Levine gets paid more than $20k by earning $400+/hr per case he's involved in as an expert. It's about the money for him. 

And the last is someone I am very familiar with: 

 Dr. Mark Regnerus wrote the infamous "New Family Structures" paper in 2012 on same-sex couples and the effects on children with a terrible methodology. The paper was ideologically driven by animus and it attracted significant controversy for being flawed. Regnerus was thoroughly discredited by this study and he has no expertise in the care of gender dysphoria in trans youth. He went to significant lengths to undermine LGBTQ families with a severely flawed paper that was driven by his animus.

Caballero goes on to say:

These are the experts that Leslie Rutledge relies on in pushing back against Jon Stewart. It's no wonder she couldn't answer the question. The experts she relies on are bigots and quacks with no expertise on treating gender dysphoria. This is why they consistently lose in court. They have no experts. Gender affirming care is the standard set by every major medical organization in the US. They have to rely on these hacks because they are driven by hate and animus, not a genuine concern for trans youth.

Caballero's revelation underscores the fact that the anti-LGBTQ industry have recycled their attacks on gays to demonize trans people. Using fake experts  in court is an old tactics.  Over a decade ago, to vilify gays and lesbians, they relied on the usage of 'ex-gays,' spokespeople like Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council, and discredited researchers like Regenerus or Paul "gay stuff gerbils up their rectums" Cameron.

It only goes to prove that their deceptive tactics never change. Only the targets do.

'School district's ban on pride flag sparks outrage, may cause legal action' & other Tue midday news briefs

LI School District's Ban On Pride Flags In Classrooms Sparks Outrage​ - Lawsuit! I'm all for it. 

25 Times Libs Of TikTok Was Absolutely Its Anti-LGBTQ+ Worst - Trash is trash. 

Nearly 6 in 10 LGBTQ youth who came out before age 13 ‘seriously considered suicide’ in past year, researchers say - We've got work to do. 

Activist Urvashi Vaid’s immeasurable impact on the LGBTQ rights movement - She was a wonderful leader. I had the fortune to meet her once.

National Coming Out Day brings HRC's messages of love and support to LGBTQ youth

 

Tuesday is National Coming Out Day and this year is a one in which we need a reminder of just how significant and empowering it is to come out. We've been having to deal with an onslaught of anti-LGBTQ hysteria fueling discriminatory legislation and attacks on our very existence.

 And our kids have been taking the brunt of it. 

 The Human Rights Campaign asked older members of the community to record messages of love and support to our kids about coming out. These recorded messages, though meant for our kids, is nourishment for all of our souls. They serve to remind us that no matter how they try, haters can't ever take away our pride, dignity, and love.

'Anti-LGBTQ group threatened to sue writers for defamation. The ACLU is standing up for them' & other Mon midday news briefs

An anti-LGBTQ group threatened to sue writers for defamation. The ACLU is standing up for them.​ - Thank you, ACLU! 

Pennsylvania ACLU files federal complaint against school district after LGBTQ students are ‘severely’ harassed - Again, THANK YOU ACLU! 

Lawmaker complaint forces Tennessee pride festival indoors - Simply ridiculous to make the Pride event have to do that. 

LGBTQ kid refuses to let ‘Moms for Liberty’ snatch liberty - Good for her. Keep fighting.

Jon Stewart wrecks Arkansas's rationale for its anti-trans legislation with one interview

 

You simply HAVE to see this interview that comedian Jon Stewart had with Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas Attorney General, about why her state banned gender-affirming care for minors - ignoring the guidelines of major medical organizations and taking the decision out of parents’ hands. This is monumental because it's probably the first time someone from one of those states trying to prevent gender-affirming care for trans kids was directly and specifically questioned about their motives.

In this six-minute exchange, Stewart (who has apologized for past anti-trans comments) demonstrates how the media has really dropped the ball when it comes to presenting the issue of gender-affirming care for trans kids. It should be embarrassing to Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, etc. that a comedian does a better job than all of them put together in educating  how attacks on gender-affirming care are without reason. And don't just take my word for it. The interview has been hailed by many and has already gone mega viral with over seven million hits. 

Jon interviewed Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas Attorney General, about why her state banned gender-affirming care for minors - ignoring the guidelines of major medical organizations and taking the decision out of parents’ hands. Watch the full interview on @AppleTVPlus pic.twitter.com/4SoH3orWa6

— The Problem With Jon Stewart (@TheProblem) October 7, 2022

Editor's note - You can also access the youtube video of the interview here. 

'Anti-LGBTQ 'influencer' Matt Walsh under fire for comments he made about teen pregnancy' & other Fri midday news briefs

Matt Walsh

After accusing the LGBTQ community of grooming kids, conservative pundit Matt Walsh is under fire for past comments he made regarding underaged pregnant girls and adolescence in general:

Recording sounds like Matt Walsh 'advocating for teen pregnancy 

MSNBC's Joy Reid: Matt Walsh's defense of teenage pregnancy shows that the anti-abortion movement is about power and control 

Deleted Matt Walsh blog post calls the concept of adolescence “a modern plague” 

 In other news:

This free-speech case could help the Supreme Court wreck LGBTQ rights for decades - Pay attention, folks. 

Tom Brady has treated gay men well while never talking publicly about LGBT rights or offering any support - Oh really?

Media laziness gets story about bullied trans teen wrong - My post from last night because I think it's highly important to show how lazy reporting and the right-wing media created a false narrative about a bullied trans teen.

Media laziness gets story about bullied trans teen wrong

 Recently, there was a controversy in a Vermont high school. Allegedly, some girls got barred from the women's locker room because they objected to a trans student being there. How the narrative of this situation was perceived is best described by a tweet sent out about it by far-right pastor Franklin Graham:

As you can see, Fox News covered the story and they had a field day with it, even inviting Caitlyn Jenner to rail against the school and the trans teen. Other members of the right-wing media joined in with  the narrative being that these cisgendered girls were being discriminated against because they felt uncomfortable around a trans female.

According to LGBTQNation:

Last week, WCAX-3, a CBS affiliate in the state, reported in a post since removed that the Randolph High School girls’ volleyball team had been “banned from its own locker room,” under a banner headline reading “Gender locker room dispute.” Right-wing media jumped on the trans-hate catnip. 

 The original story quoted cisgender student Blake Allen, who claimed she and her teammates in the locker room were the targets of an inappropriate comment by a trans girl, triggering an incident between students. As a result, the school shut the locker room down while the dispute was being investigated. 

 In an interview, Allen told WCAX: “They want all the girls who feel uncomfortable, so pretty much 10 girls, to get changed in a single-stall bathroom, which would take over 30 minutes. Where if one person got changed separately, it would take a minute, like no extra time.” She added: “My mom wants me to do this interview to try to make a change.” 

 As it turns out, there was more to the story. And the members of the media would have probably gotten it right . . . if they had talked to the trans student and her mother with as much eagerness they took in allowing Ms. Allen to define the situation.

 LGBTQNation points out that the trans teen and her mother was not asked by WCAX to give their side of the story. However an independent Vermont newspaper, Seven Days, interviewed them and also pointed out how much of a sad job WCAX did in reporting the story:

The news report featured an interview with just one person — a girl on the team who said that a transgender teammate made an "inappropriate comment" while other girls were getting changed for practice. The girl told the WCAX reporter that "biological boys" should never be allowed in a girls' locker room and that other teammates and parents had similar concerns.

 The story cited a Vermont Agency of Education memo, titled "Continuing Best Practices for Schools Regarding Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students," that says a student should not be made to use a locker room that conflicts with their gender identity. The news report made the Randolph mother feel sick, she said, because it flew in the face of what her daughter told her had actually happened: that other players had harassed her. 

According to the mother of the trans teen, this the story no one bothered to get:

One week before the WCAX report aired, she said, her daughter was changing in the girls' locker room before volleyball practice when three teammates started yelling at her to get out and to stop looking at them. Her daughter hadn't encountered that kind of open negativity about being transgender since moving to Randolph in eighth grade, the mother said, so the aggressive comments came as a surprise. The girl had also previously changed in the same room as her teammates.

 "She never really felt unwelcome or like she didn't belong," her mother said. After being yelled at, the girl went into a locker room bathroom stall to change. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to put on her team jersey, so she popped her head around the corner at one point to check with her teammates. The girls started yelling at her again. When the transgender student walked into the gym after getting changed, she encountered the volleyball coach, who told the girl that she had overheard what had happened and was planning to report the incident to the school administration.

Two days later, an administrator called the mother to tell her that three people reported that her daughter had been bullied and harassed. As a result, the school was launching an investigation. The administrator also told the mother that the girls' volleyball team could not be unsupervised in the locker room until the investigation was completed.

According to Seven Days, school officials tried to keep the locker room open by having adults supervise the students, but they were unable to because the story had gone viral and things got really ugly. The school district's site was hacked and defaced with profanity and awful comments about trans people. The trans teen herself has faced an onslaught of verbal abuse:

In the aftermath of the false reporting, the trans student has been the victim of bullying from other students and parents, who’ve labelled her a “voyeur,” “pervert,” and “freak” online.

In its article, Seven Days points out how the incident became viral, from WCAX's one-sided article to going through the right-wing media (i.e. Fox News, The New York Post, The Daily Signal) to Caitlyn Jenner's punditry to Franklin Graham who sent the above tweet out to his over one million followers. And throughout it all, no one bothered to get the trans teen side of the controversy. 

They simply took a narrative and ran with it. 

'GOP candidate accused 30 schools of accommodating 'furries.' The schools are calling her out.' & other Thur midday news briefs

GOP candidate accused 30 schools of accommodating furries. The schools are calling her out.​ - Good. Make her prove it (and she can't.) 

Oklahoma bans gender-affirming care for minors at state-funded hospital - Guess who is up for re-election. Another lawsuit to file. Our side has won thus far when it comes to nonsensical laws like this one.

Former Cop Reveals Horrific Gay Bashings by Police - We should never forget our history.

DOJ urged to investigate threats against providers of transition-related care - I don't know if I posted this in another news briefs. If so, repeating it doesn't do any harm.

GR cites wedding venue that won’t serve LGBTQ couples - Here we go again. But it needs to happen.