Family Research Council spins resentment & racism as positives after election

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council gives a deceptive spin of last night's election

In its attempt to spin the Democrat's election night victory, which saw several transgender Americans become elected officials as well as a wide repudiation of Trumpism, the Family Research Council went to an extreme.

In it's latest Washington Update, FRC president Tony Perkins attempted to distract by pushing the same spin that conservatives have been spinning all day, i.e. claiming that since Virginia was a blue state and therefore governor's race which served as a bellwether in the media of this year's election, really didn't mean much.

We all know that had the Virginia election gone to the Republican candidate Ed Gillespie rather than Democrat Ralph Northam, FRC would have elbowed its way to the head of the line of crows proclaiming how "Americans are embracing Trump."

But what caught my attention was this last part of the Washington Update:

The takeaway from Tuesday's results is this: these two states are an extremely small sample size of mainly blue voters. The real test will come in Alabama, the heart of Trump country, where the special election for Jeff Session's old Senate seat will give us a much better indication of what Americans are thinking. Even now, though, in swing states like Pennsylvania, the support for the president runs deep. Virtually unscathed by the congressional drama, the president still polls well in purple states. In a fascinating article, Politico tries to explain why Trump's base is still rallying around the president, supplying the bulk of his rocky approval ratings. 

"Over the course of three rainy, dreary days last week," Michael Kruse writes, "I revisited and shook hands with the president's base -- that thirty-something percent of the electorate who resolutely approve of the job he is doing, the segment of voters who share his view that the Russia investigation is a 'witch hunt' that 'has nothing to do with him,' and who applaud his judicial nominees and his determination to gut the federal regulatory apparatus... In spite of unprecedented unpopularity -- nearly all people who voted for Trump would do it again."

As we saw with Clinton, who was abandoned by blue collar voters for her extreme social stance ("the Democratic Party cared more about where someone else went to the restroom than whether they had a good-paying job"), Middle America still embraces Trump's agenda. But they also understand his limitations without a cooperative Congress. "I asked [voter Pam] Schilling what would happen if the next three years go the way the last one has," Kruse shares. "'I'm not going to blame him,'" Schilling said. "'Absolutely not.'"

Aside from the fact that Alabama is a deep red state and a victory by Moore has been predicted for weeks,  there are two things worth mentioning about FRC's spin here.

'LGBTQ wins part of a historical electoral wave against Trumpism' & other Wed. midday news briefs

Here’s A List Of Historic Victories Democrats Had On Election Day - Last night was monumental for so many reasons. Danica Roem made history last night but apparently she wasn't the only transgender American who made history by winning an election. Andrea Jenkins was elected to the Minneapolis City Council, becoming the first openly transgender African-American woman elected to the city council of a major U.S. city. Lisa Middleton became the first openly transgender person to be elected to a non-judicial office in California. There's more. Jenny Durkan became Seattle’s first lesbian mayor. And it wasn't just the LGBTQ community who saw victories last night. The Latino community, the African-American community, the Asian community, the Sikh community, former refugees, immigrants. There was a potpourri of wins last night which should remind us all what America is truly about. Now the "fun" starts. As we learned after Obama was elected, winning is only part of the battle. Maintaining and creating a positive legacy is the truly hard work. But we are on the march. Let's not lose the momentum. 

10 candidates that made history on November 7, 2017 - More information about last night. 

One Year Later, The Trump Nightmare Is As Horrific As Many Of Us Imagined - Damn skippy!

Paris Is Still Burning: What if We Loved Black Queers as Much as We Love/Steal from Black Queer Culture? - Two snaps up and REWIND! 

Christians, including evangelicals, are leading the movement against Liberty University - It's about time other Christians object to the high-jacking of their religion by the so-called privileged few.

Danica Roem becomes VA's first transgender state legislator

Danica Roem will be Virginia's first transgender legislator.

In what's shaping up to be a wonderful election night for the Democrat party, a transgender candidate for the Virginia state legislature has made history:

Democrat Danica Roem ousted longtime incumbent Del. Robert G. Marshall (R) Tuesday, according to preliminary returns, becoming the first openly transgender elected official in Virginia — and one of very few in the nation. 

The race between Roem, 33, and Marshall, 73, focused on traffic and other local issues in Prince William County but also exposed the nation’s fault lines over gender identity. It pitted a local journalist who began her physical gender transition four years ago against an outspoken social conservative who earlier this year introduced a “bathroom bill” that died in committee. 

The contest was one of dozens of state legislative races where Democrats were pushing to gain ground in the Republican-majority General Assembly, buoyed by a surge of anti-Trump sentiment among Democrats and independents and hoping to provide an example for the nation of how to run in opposition to the unpopular Republican president.

The article goes on to credit a VERY aggressive ground game for Roem's well-deserved victory. And with it, a door has been opened just a little. Roem is the first of what I hope to be many LGBTQs who run for public office and win. She has proven that in spite of all of the slander, lies, and horror stories, transgender men and women are not outsiders and can appeal to the American voter. And why shouldn't they? They are too Americans who care about this country. They are raising children, defending our freedoms, and basically having productive lives. And they are doing this under the long shadow of liars spinning false images of "bathroom predators" and "exhibitionists."

Roem didn't hide who she was, but faced the nonsense head on. I hope that she feels the sweetness of this victory because she deserves every bit of it. And Roem's victory is not just for her but for an entire community who shouldn't have to prove that they are worthy of dignity and respect, but are doing so with flying colors.

'Five elections the LGBTQ community need to be following today' & other Tue midday news briefs

Will Danica Roem make electoral history today? I certainly hope so.

5 Elections You Need To Be Following Today - Thank goodness for this. We need more eyes watching all elections so that our interests are being spotlit and protected. 

GSA latest agency to omit LGBT people from non-discrimination rules - Seriously, what the hell? The Trump Administration seem to be doing it slowly but they aren't slick.

Student sues Frederick County schools over transgender policy - More like a student whose parents are allowing them to be a patsy for the anti-LGBTQ industry in order to harm trans kids.

Here’s Why Twitter Is Blocking ‘Bisexual’ From Its Search Results - This explanation had BETTER be legendary. 

How Does Your State Rank In Trans Equality? - Well . . .

Hate group leader Brian Brown gets all 'hot and bothered' over homophobic speech

In the unsuccessful fight against marriage equality, former National Organization for Marriage president Brian Brown liked to portray himself and his organization as defenders of freedom who merely wanted a conversation about the issue. We all knew it was a lie. I guess the loss he suffered has made Brown abandon that fake posturing.


From Right Wing Watch:

 In late October, Brian Brown, who heads the National Organization for Marriage and the International Organization for the Family, sent out a gushing email about his “good friend” and “close ally” of IOF Bosko Obradovic, whom Brown described as “a Member of Parliament in Serbia, and leader of the pro-family Dveri Party.”  

 You wouldn’t know it from Brown’s description of Dveri as a “pro-family” party, but the Dveri Party is a fringe far-right nationalist movement that just barely won representation in parliament in 2016 by joining forces with another party to narrowly overcome the threshold of 5 percent of the vote. 

 . . . Brown’s email about Obradovic was practically a love note:  

 Bosko is much more than a committed and outspoken supporter of the family, he’s a true champion and courageous leader. The other day, he gave an incredible speech before the Serbian Parliament that was a true tour-de-force, an incredibly powerful rebuke of the LGBT movement. He spoke truth to power, and passionately took on the majority’s insistence on imposing pro-“homosexualism” on society.

The rest of Brown's email is nauseating hero-worship so sappy that it would make you develop a case of diabetes.

In reality,the speech is horrid. To to call it a "hot mess" is an insult to all hot messes in the world. This speech is so nasty there needs to be a new term to properly describe just how ugly it is. You can see it below but here are the quick points about it: Obradovit calls for all pride parades to be outlawed. He calls the LGBTQ community a totalitarian cult, which (wait for it because you know it's coming) is attempting to recruit children into our supposed lifestyle. He even pulls the "I don't have a problem with anyone's lifestyle" nonsense.

No wonder Brown loves this speech so much. It's the same mess he tried to peddle to America. The conundrum is amusing, though. It figures that the only time Brian Brown gets all "hot and bothered" over a man is because he gives a speech claiming that gays want to recruit children.

'How Trump Administration has impacted the LGBTQ community since election' & other Mon midday news briefs

Easily the most oxymoronic image in election history (emphasis on the word 'moron.')

How the Trump Administration Impacted the LGBTQ Community Since the 2016 Election - Here's a hint. It's been a stinking pool of nastiness. And of course the worse is yet to come, but that doesn't mean we are going to lose. Let's rock, biiitaches!!

14-year-old shot dead by his father because he didn't want a gay son - Oh God in Heaven!

Two People Crashed A Church Service To Campaign Against Same-Sex Marriage - This happened in Australia, but still deserves a "oh no you didn't!!!!" 

Same-sex marriage conference to take place in Costa Rica - It's nice to see folks on our side of the spectrum not fall for the "it's over! we've won!" lie. 

10 Companies Leading the Way on Global LGBTI Rights - This is good know. The fight continues but we have some good allies.

Repost - Your Religious Liberty Doesn’t Give You The Right To Steal My Queer Tax Dollars

Editor's note - A repost from earlier this year.

With Trump in the White House, religious right groups such as the Family Research Council and figures like Franklin Graham and Fox News personality Todd Starnes are eager to get certain goals accomplished.

High on their list is a dehumanization of the lgbt community under the seemingly innocent courtesy of “religious liberty,” or allowing entities and people to discriminate against queers under the guise of “personally held religious beliefs.” It’s been a goal they have been working on for a long time and with Trump as president, they hope to reap benefits for all of the stories and hype they have spun about bakeries and florists “forced” to accept money from queer customers for their services, government employees like Kim Davis “forced” to do their jobs, and religious groups such as Catholic Charities with its adoption services which are “forced” to say no to government money because they refuse to not discriminate against lgbts.

They imply that it’s all about preserving the integrity of the “faith” of groups and people supposedly targeted by lgbts with a huge phone book, an obscene amount of Facebook friends, a pipeline to a secret worldwide organization not unlike the one James Bond has fought against, and long list of IOUs to cash in for being denied the right to supposedly “flaunt” their lifestyle or “pervert” marriage all of these years.

Okay, I am exaggerating a little bit, but the gist of what I said is true. And so is my next statement. Like so many times before, the entire truth about “religious liberty” is a world of difference from what is fed to us by the religious right. Unfortunately, the terms of this debate are usually dictated by them because they appear to have the loudest megaphone and the most access to the media, even if what they say isn’t necessarily true.

Here is a fact about the “religious liberty” argument which is generally not talked about but needs to be moved in the midst of the discussion. The argument as it is presented now is degrading, embarrassing, and simply hurtful. It’s yet another attempt by the religious right to put us on the defensive and make us have to justify our existence and our right to respect and dignity.