Thursday, May 25, 2017

'Four facts should be included in articles about anti-transgender bills/laws' & other Thur midday news briefs

Four facts reporters should include in stories about Texas’ pending attack on the transgender community - And not just in Texas. These four facts SHOULD be included in every article about legislative attacks on the transgender community. Thorough and totally on point.

First Chechnya, now Indonesia: Police have been told to target LGBT+ citizens - Well this is huge problem.

 Betsy DeVos Is An Enemy Of LGBTQ People. Always Has Been. Always Will Be. - Hell, I KNEW that. I didn't fall for the early nonsense implying that she was a friend of the lgbtq community.  

NBA betrays LGBTQ community by awarding Charlotte the 2019 All-Star Game - But we will still fight against HB2 and bills/laws like it.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

DeVos has no problem funding schools which discriminate against lgbtq families & children




Trump's Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, just showed that she has no problem giving tax dollars to schools who discriminate against same-sex families and lgbtg youth. She uses a weasel word, "flexibility" to cover up the bias.

 From The Huffington Post:

 Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Wednesday that states should have the flexibility to decide whether schools can discriminate against LGBTQ students ― even if those schools get federal money. During a testy exchange in a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) told DeVos about Lighthouse Christian Academy, a private school in Indiana that receives state voucher money but denies admission to students from families where there is “homosexual or bisexual activity” or someone “practicing alternate gender identity.” Clark asked DeVos, whose budget seeks a $250 million increase for projects that include vouchers for private schools, if she would step in if that Indiana school applied for such federal funding. DeVos replied by saying she supports giving flexibility to states. “For states who have programs that allow for parents to make choices, they set up the rules around that,” she said. 

You can see the entire exchange in the video above. To me, however, this issue doesn't deserve any type of flexibility. Tax dollars have no business going to any schools which discriminate, especially against same-sex families or our lgbtq children.

'Why straight men kill the trans women they love' & other Wed midday news briefs

Jen Richards
Why Straight Men Kill The Trans Women They Love - A brutally honest piece from Jen Richards, a transgender woman and one which everyone should read.  It's not exploitative. Forget the stereotypes of transgender women trying to "trick" men because the truth is always more complex and powerful. It enthralled me from the beginning and I knew I had to put it in the news briefs. 

Taiwan Makes History As Court Rules In Favor Of Same-Sex Marriage - Hell yeah!!!

 Gay Dads Say Southwest Discriminated Against Them During ‘Family Boarding’ - Just a hot mess.

 Queer Prom A Safe Alternative For LGBT Teens - Queer Proms are a wonderful idea for our kids to be safe and have while being themselves.

 Harris, Carper seek answers on LGBT omission from 2020 Census - Nice to see that Congressional leaders aren't forgetting about us.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Anti-lgbtq hate group continues to target exonerated high school teacher

Mat Staver  and his group, the Liberty Counsel, continues to target an openly gay Florida teacher.

Last month, I posted about how conservative groups and anti-lgbtq hate groups targeted a Florida teacher, Lora Jane Riedas of Riverview High School, claiming that she was forcing her pro-lgbtq beliefs on students and discriminating against Christian students by making them take off their cross necklaces in her class.

After anti-lgtq hate group the Liberty Counsel sent a letter to the school district and the right-wing echo chamber tarnished Riedas's name (making sure to emphasize that she is openly gay), there was an investigation by the school district.

The investigation exonerated Riedas.

However, the Liberty Counsel doesn't want to let the situation end. The group is now claiming that the school district conducted a poor investigation and it is now representing four students. This new claim by the Liberty Counsel about the four students is an interesting twist to the situation seeing that students were interviewed during the  school district's investigation.

I'm going to post various parts of the Riedas exoneration letter sent by the district and compare them to the supposed refutations of the Liberty Counsel:

Monday, May 22, 2017

'Evangelical' Trump supporters are gutting, destroying Christianity

 Tony Perkins is abandoning Christian integrity to shill for Trump. He's not the only one.

At least once a week, I can find an item on the Family Research Council's Washington Update worth using to demonstrate the group's distortions and hypocrisy.

Today, I have two and they speak to a larger problem regarding the evangelical right's support of Trump and how this support is debasing the Christian religion in general.

The first item has to do with Trump's Saudi Arabia speech. It's not so much of how FRC praised Trump,  but how the group lies about Obama's Middle East outreach:

The best part of President Trump's speech in Saudi Arabia may have been what was missing: an apology. After eight years of Obama-sponsored groveling, Americans probably forgot what leading from a position of strength looks like. And while a 34-minute speech can't undo almost a decade of servility, it was a good start to reasserting our place as the unapologetic leader of the free world.

Unlike President Obama, who offered reparations for every American act since the Revolutionary War, Donald Trump made it clear that the only thing he's sorry about is that the legacy of political correctness has gotten in the way of true problem-solving.

As it has been pointed out consistently, Obama never groveled in any of his speeches. Of course the truth never stopped FRC from repeating a juicy lie.

 The second item has to do with the recent walkout of Notre Dame students from their own graduation in protest of commencement speaker VP Mike Pence. Notice how FRC proceeds to smear the students, who had every right to protest Pence's past actions and support of anti-lgbtq policies

The Class of 2017's choice of a commencement speaker wasn't without its share of controversy, but Mike handled the situation with the kind of poise people have come to expect from the Hoosier. In fact, he used the opportunity to point people back to the problem -- political correctness on college campuses. That much was evidence when a few dozen LGBT activists walked out of the auditorium in protest. (Once again we see that all the talk about "tolerance" is just that. Talk.) "This university is a vanguard of freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas at a time, sadly, when free speech and civility are waning on campuses across America," the vice president argued. "I would submit that the increasing intolerance and suppression of the time-honored tradition of free expression on our campuses jeopardizes the liberty of every American," he warned. 
Unfortunately, it was a message some students never heard. A group of liberal graduates and their families stood up and left at the beginning of Pence's remarks, giving the media a juicy distraction that was fanned by far-Left groups like GLAAD, who applauded the students' supposed "leadership." To many Notre Dame alums, it was a sad commentary on the church's compromise on the cultural issues of the day. After all, this is a religious institution that was once rooted in biblical morality. Like a number of faith-based institutions, they've surrendered important ground on the question of sexuality, which history tells us is just a harbinger of further moral compromise.

FRC's items, coupled with a few things I saw on twitter last weekend, has come to make me realize that Christianity in America is changing. But not for the better.

'Texas begins legislative assault on same-sex families, lgbtq community' & other Mon midday news briefs

TX governor Greg Abbott, legislators declaring war on lgbtq community.

With All Eyes On Trump, Texas May Soon Pass Horrific Anti-LGBTQ Laws - And old story we know very well and fear. With all of their money, planning, and discipline, the religious right and their allies always manage to go too far. Such as the case in Texas: 

Amendments to bills would allow nurses, lawyers and pharmacists to discriminate on religious grounds and restrict bathroom use for trans students. 
Texas Senate Approves ‘Religious Refusal’ Adoption Measure - This awful bill is about to become law. Hopefully it will be stricken down but why sit on our asses and wait? Make no mistake that this is an assault on our families. And I don't expect for it to stop in Texas. 

 On Harvey Milk Day, Here’s How to Honor the LGBT Visionary and Rabble-Rouser - Happy Harvey Milk Day and it is so apropo.

 Police Detained More Than 140 Men After A Raid On A Gay Sauna In Indonesia - Our fight for fairness and dignity continues around the world.  

Trans people are being blocked from registering to vote in the UK - I reiterate the point.

Notre Dame graduates walk out own commencement ceremony in protest of VP Pence

On Sunday, several Notre Dame students walked out of their own graduation ceremony during VP Mike Pence's commencement speech.

 According to CNN:

 A group of Notre Dame graduates walked out of their graduation ceremony Sunday in protest against Vice President Mike Pence and his policies. Pence was delivering the commencement speech after receiving an honorary degree from the Catholic university, located in his home state of Indiana. Videos showed some students standing as Pence took the podium, then walking out of the ceremony and gathering outside Notre Dame Stadium, where they held a short alternative "graduation ceremony." The protest action was planned ahead of the ceremony, with activist group We Stand For saying Pence's policies as vice president and as former Indiana governor targeted marginalized people on the basis of their religion, skin color or sexual orientation. 

All I can say is "Good for them!"