Just like they spew lies about gays 'recruiting/grooming' children to justify censoring LGBTQ-oriented books and mentioning LGBTQ folks in classrooms, the religious right is following the same blueprint to justify their war against transgender kids. Such as what Texas Governor Gregg Abbott did on Wednesday in attempting to take steps to remove trans children from supportive parents.
According to The American Independent:
As part of their broader campaign attacking transgender rights, conservative lawmakers are now pushing inaccurate and misleading information about transgender youth whose families want them to be able to seek the potentially life-saving care they deserve. With a slate of bills that would outlaw gender-affirming care for minors, Republican governors and state lawmakers are targeting health care professionals who provide their patients with gender-affirming care such as hormone treatments, puberty blockers, and in some cases, gender-affirming surgery.
. . . Republican lawmakers have continued to insist that it is inappropriate for health care providers to treat gender dysphoria in children, which can lead to higher levels of depression and anxiety if left untreated. To make their argument, these lawmakers often rely on one of the following three misleading claims that medical experts have repeatedly debunked.
Misleading Claim No. 1: Health care providers are casually giving gender-affirming care to minors.
Misleading Claim No. 2: 'Rapid-onset gender dysphoria' is responsible for kids' gender identity
Misleading Claim No. 3: Transition regret is prevalent.
The American Independent goes into much details with regards to why these claims are misleading. I hope folks will read the article and then share it. The first weapon against this mess is education and I have news for members of the LGBTQ community who aren't transgender.
The religious right and their allies are coming for your rights, too. They are coming for all of us.
President Biden and his administration are frazzled by state efforts that directly oppose the left's agenda to keep parents out of the loop while they sexualize young public school students.Cultural issues writer Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute (IFI) finds Biden's strong opposition to House Bill 1557, which discourages classroom discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in the primary grade levels, very revealing. "They're saying, 'We want to use our youngest grades to [have] teachers lead discussions on homosexuality or cross-dressing;' that's in effect what they're saying," Higgins notes. "People need to listen to that and take them seriously."
Another important part of the bill would allow parents to have access to their children's student records. "I think that this is aimed directly at the many school districts now who are affirming kids' trans identities and concealing what they're doing from their parents," Higgins submits.
An amendment to Florida's controversial "Don't Say Gay" bill that would have forced teachers to out LGBTQ students to their parents has been dropped. Local news station WFLA reports that Florida State Rep. Joe Harding has withdrawn his amendment, which came under heavy criticism from Florida teachers, students, and parents. "The bill would have forced schools to out their LGBTQ+ students to parents within six weeks of a student disclosing their sexual orientation to school personnel," WFLA reports. "The amendment had set up what it called a protocol to encourage a safe discussion between parents and students, but removed protections for students who would have potentially been subject to abuse, abandonment or neglect by their families."
Harding's latest amendment acted as virtual gasoline on an online fire, stoking outrage from members of the LGBTQ community, including openly gay Democratic state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith. The amendment "make(s) it even more dangerous for vulnerable kids with a STATE-MANDATED outing of LGBTQ students to parents, specifically in cases of abuse, abandonment + neglect. This will have devastating consequences for our youth," he tweeted. Smith also cited research that LGBTQ youth are four times "more likely to seriously consider, make a plan for, or attempt suicide than their peers AND that at least one LGBTQ youth aged 13–24 attempts suicide every 45 seconds in the U.S." "#DontSayGay makes this worse," he added.
Jon Harris Mauer, public policy director for Equality Florida, said he's heard concerns about the amendment from legislators on both sides of the aisle. "They have withdrawn this amendment but have made clear they are willing to take a disgusting, unfettered attack on LGBTQ youth. In response to public pressure, this particular amendment was withdrawn, but there are many steps left in this process and we have to stay vigilant," Mauer said.
It looks like Florida isn't the only state pushing a 'Don't Say Gay' bill. According to a recent article in The Hill, there are 15 other bills popping up around the nation:
Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill is just one part of a nationwide trend. There are 15 similar bills moving through state legislatures that restrict how textbooks and curriculums teach LGBTQ+ topics, who can be hired and what teachers are allowed to say when it comes to gender identity and sexual orientation.A House bill in Tennessee would ban textbook and instructional materials that “promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) lifestyles” in K-12 schools. Another, in Kansas, seeks to amend the state’s obscenity law to make using classroom materials depicting “homosexuality” a Class B misdemeanor. Legislators in Indiana are working to bar educators from discussing in any context “sexual orientation,” “transgenderism” or “gender identity” without permission from parents.. . . Oklahoma legislators have put five measures before its Congress that regulate how schools from K-12 to higher education teach LGBTQ+ issues. Two bills, SB 1142 and SB 1654, would prohibit librarians and teachers from distributing materials on or outright discussing “any form of non-procreative sex,” gender identity and “lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender issues.”Another Oklahoma Senate bill would ban public schools from employing anyone who “promotes positions in the classroom or at any function of the public school that is in opposition to closely held religious beliefs of students.” And SB 1141 would bar requiring public university courses on “gender, sexual, or racial diversity, equality, or inclusion,” supplementing an already-passed House bill that is currently part of a federal lawsuit brought by the ACLU.
As it was originally written, Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill is a nightmare to the state's LGBTQ community. But a recent change may make the bill more dangerous to LGBTQ kids.
A portion of the bill originally said that school officials must out LGBTQ students to their parents unless "a reasonably prudent person would believe that such a disclosure would lead to abuse, abandonment, or neglect . . ."
In a change suggested by the bill's sponsor, Rep Joe Harding, school officials would be required to out LGBTQ kids to their parents regardless of whether or not it would lead to abuse, abandonment, or neglect.
An amendment was just filed by the sponsor of #DontSayGay to make it even more dangerous for vulnerable kids with a STATE-MANDATED outing of LGBTQ students to parents, specifically in cases of abuse, abandonment + neglect.
— Rep. Carlos G Smith (@CarlosGSmith) February 20, 2022
This will have devastating consequences for our youth.😢 pic.twitter.com/3s89rcMrMN
 |
| If Gov. Kristi Noem actually cared about depression and anxiety in LGBTQ youth, she wouldn't have signed a bill harming LGBTQ youth. |
What's worse than a bigoted person? A dense bigoted person. I give you Exhibit A - South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem:
Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD), who just signed the first anti-trans bill of 2022 into law, is asked why she thinks 90% of LGBTQ+ youth in South Dakota are diagnosed with anxiety or depression:
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) February 17, 2022
“I don’t know. That makes me sad, and we should figure it out.” pic.twitter.com/WbKr2Tlujs
More than two-thirds of LGBTQ+ youth say recent efforts by states to limit the rights of transgender and nonbinary people have negatively impacted their mental health, according to a poll released . . . by the Trevor Project.. . .In the Trevor Project’s survey of 820 LGBTQ+ youth aged 13 to 24 years old, 70 percent said they were closely following recent news about issues impacting the transgender community, and two-thirds of LGBTQ+ youth said debates about state laws restricting the rights of transgender people have negatively impacted their mental health. That impact has been more dramatic among transgender and nonbinary youth, with more than 85 percent of that group reporting that their mental health has taken a hit, according to the survey."These results underscore how recent politics and ongoing crises facing the globe can have a real, negative impact on LGBTQ young people, a group consistently found to be at significantly increased risk for depression, anxiety and attempting suicide because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society," Amit Paley, CEO of The Trevor Project, said in a statement.
Looks like extremely bigoted Scott Lively has got me dead to rights.
Transgenderism did not become the "cause celeb" until homosexuality had been normalized, and the campaign to normalize homosexuality did not take center stage until heterosexual promiscuity had been normalized. This is a long-term agenda we're watching unfold, being pushed by people, principalities and powers with a very long view and the patience to allow each stage to settle in slowly until enough of the public accepts it to ensure nothing will be successfully reversed. Don't believe that? Tell me what you think are the prospects for re-criminalizing adultery in America and what's actually changed to make that idea seem ridiculous. Adultery isn't any less immoral or harmful today than it was when its criminalization was considered a no-brainer by virtually everyone. We've simply been the victims of incremental desensitization.Recognizing that truth should lead any honest person to admit that, unless something changes in our approach, we conservatives are going to lose the transgender battle just like we lost the homosexual battle, and later on we're going to lose the transhumanism battle after they've crushed us on transgenderism. And some of the very same people fighting hard against transgenderism today are going to simply shrug their shoulders at it tomorrow, just like today many "conservatives" have decided homosexuality is no big deal anymore.The left wins because they have a vision for the future that drives their movement and excites their activists. They envision a perfect socialist utopia built upon the ashes of Judeo-Christian civilization, and they constantly work proactively to achieve it.
Editor's note - This has been on my mind for a while. I wish more would begin questioning the narrative of this so-called culture war.
When the religious right and their legislatives allies tried to ban gay marriage, they claimed they were trying to protect marriage.
When they try to ban transgender children from using a school restroom which matches their gender identities, they claim they are protecting women and girls from 'predators.'
When they try to pass laws making it legal for physicians to turn away LGBTQ potential patients, businesses to turn away LGBTQ potential customers, and foster care and adoption agencies to turn away LGBTQ potential clients (while still being able to access LGBTQ tax dollars), they claim they are protecting religious beliefs.
When they try to pass laws banning transgender girls and women from high school and collegiate sports (but not transgender boys and men), they claim they are protecting cis female athletes.
And now when they are trying to ban discussions of LGBTQ matters in school classrooms, preventing transgender children from receiving accurate healthcare, making it more difficult for closeted kids to confide in their teachers, and eliminating LGBTQ-oriented books from libraries, they claim they are protecting children.
How come every time the religious right and their legislative allies claim that they are protecting something, it is LGBTQ people who are the ones in need of protection from them?
Related webpage - Free to Say Gay
This from Raw Story doesn't put me in any state of shock. It's stupid and totally uncalled for, but say pour it on. When those who oppose your basic freedoms are empowered to show their true faces, let them. Let them show the entire world just how hateful they are.
But just don't let them get away with it:
As Florida's dangerous and possibly unconstitutional "Don't Say Gay" bill gathers nationwide attention and condemnation – making it more likely to be passed and signed into law by Republican governor and rumored 2024 presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis, another Republican is dusting off his own "Don't Say Gay" bill to push his "Christian values" agenda.Tennessee state Rep. Bruce Griffey says if schools are forcing him to teach Christian values at home because they won't teach them in the classroom, they should not be allowed to "promote" what his legislation calls "LGBT issues or lifestyles."“The state of Tennessee is not allowed to teach my daughters Christian values that I think are important and they should learn, so I teach those at home,” Rep. Griffey told Tennessee's WMC, as The Advocate reports. “So if those are not part of the school curriculum, I don’t see how LGBTQ and other issues and social lifestyles should be part of the curriculum.”
Tennessee lawmakers have tried several times to pass such a bill and have failed. Bills to this effect came up in 2011 and 2013 but didn’t pass, and Griffey’s bill was put on hold last year because of the pandemic. But now he’s out working on it, and it’s part of a spate of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation the state is considering, including one bill that would restrict gender-affirming care for minors and one that would allow teachers and other school staffers to disregard students’ preferred pronouns. The state saw five anti-LGBTQ+ bills become law last year, including a ban on transgender student athletes competing under their gender identity, and this year looks to be even worse,Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project, tells The Advocate. “The 2022 legislative session has brought the most discriminatory bills ever,” he says in a email. “Attacks on gender-affirming care, trans athletes, and LGBTQ materials in schools are themes that connect this year’s bills to previous sessions. We also face new attacks on student pronouns with a bill allowing school personnel to disregard them, which is nothing short of state-sanctioned bullying. Given the number of bills that passed last year, we have to treat them all as if they could advance. So we have steps that advocates can take each week of the session. An easy way to find them is on Twitter.”
Florida's highly bigoted 'Don't Say Gay' bill would be a disaster to LGBTQ kids and same-sex families. We already know this. Thursday provided more proof.
It's been vouched for by anti-LGBTQ hate group the Family Research Council. Notice how FRC president Tony Perkins frames the bill as while criticizing President Biden for condemning it
The bill doesn't protect children. Instead it renders LGBTQ children and same-sex families invisible. And it looks like FRC has already started pushing the message of erasure. No one with prior knowledge about the group should be surprised.
After all, the Family Research Council has been called a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center because its brand is about smearing LGBTQ people via junk science, cherry-picked science and general lies. The purpose is to undermine our rights by making us seem like boogeyman out to wreck Christianity, American society, and, of course 'recruit children.'
Like when Perkins said that LGBTQ people were 'pawns' of the 'evil one'
Accused the government of backing “the promotion of same-sex relations” as part of its “push for population control.”Said that “the human race would be extinct” if homosexuality were to become “normal.”Defended Uganda’s “kill-the-gays” bill as a “laudable” effort “to uphold moral conduct.”Claimed gay youth have a higher suicide rate because they intrinsically know their sexual orientation is “abnormal.”Asserted that there is “a correlation between homosexuality and pedophilia” and that pedophilia “is a homosexual problem.”Likened homosexuality to alcoholism and drug addiction.Said lawmakers who backed the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell have “the blood of innocent soldiers on their hands.”
