Federal judge- military must move forward with plans to allow trans recruits

Transgender men and women who want to fight valiantly for our freedoms shouldn't have to go through all of this mess. And if it weren't for a certain incompetent, mistake of an obtuse-minded, error of space residing in the White House right now, they wouldn't be.

Hopefully this obnoxious journey will end soon.

From Buzzfeed:

A federal judge ruled on Monday that the military must move forward with plans for allowing transgender military recruits starting on Jan. 1, 2018. The ruling clarifies an earlier injunction against President Trump's memorandum halting Obama-era policies allowing for transgender service — the first of two injunctions against Trump's order. The Trump administration already has said it is appealing the injunction from US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in DC, which was issued in October.

Check back at Buzzfeed for more details as this is a developing story.

'GOP tax package has potential to give evangelical, anti-LGBTQ right more political power' & other Mon midday news briefs

The GOP tax package contains an insidious provision that would ruin the separation of church and state - Imagine anti-LGBTQ pastors such as Franklin Graham and Robert Jeffress having the power to mobilize their followers by actively endorsing candidates with tweets and on their Facebook pages. Imagine their churches - and other right-wing churches - becoming become bastions of dark money by entities like the Kochs and Mercers. It would be legal in the House version of the GOP tax package. Besides other disasters the tax package has for the American public, it also includes a provision which would make such things as I've described as legal. And don't even count on the followers of people like Franklin and Jeffress to show any disagreement. As we have seen in the case of Roy Moore, they are sheep willing to follow these leaders over a cliff.

The many ways Alliance Defending Freedom is fighting against transgender student equality - Naturally groups like this one are for that tax package. It would tremendously help them in their war against out LGBTQ kids. This brief is spooky because someone actually sat down and thought up these methods to harm trans children. Ignoring them or simply calling them bigoted on Facbook isn't enough here. 

Chechnya's Leader Says He's Ready to Resign - What's the matter? Too many LGBTQs in Chechnya for you to persecute? 

Successful Aging Among LGBT Older Adults: Physical and Mental Health-Related Quality of Life by Age Group - Wonderful common sense study which talks about the importance of social networks.

Australian conservatives hope to corrupt marriage equality with ‘religious freedom’ exceptions - Ah yes. We are so familiar with this.

How to hide anti-LGBTQ discrimination in 'religious freedom'

I run with this video accompanied with a serious lecture to my LGBTQ brothers and sisters. On December 5, the Supreme Court will be hearing a case which could potentially codify anti-LGBTQ discrimination as lie. The anti-LGBTQ industry has disguised this mess as "religious liberty" and subsequently has also filled the airwaves, news media, and youtube with videos and the like making it seem that they are merely "protecting Christians."

In reality, "religious liberty" is a code word for homophobic discrimination.  Our side hasn't been so eager to seize the narrative. The most I could find which is remotely on the level to what the other side has been doing is this video from two years ago. It speaks wonderfully, but is rather dated.

I'm hoping that the Supreme Court will not rule for LGBTQ discrimination.  But should they, I intend to join the community in anger and fighting against it. However, forgive me for rolling my eyes every now and then at yet another time we aren't weren't proactive and have to catch up on just how potentially dangerous things happening around us are:

'Other evangelical right members knew of Wes Goodman's secret gay life' & other Wed midday news briefs

Evangelical right leaders knew Wes Goodman had a secret gay life.

Conservatives knew 'family values' pol had secret gay life - Under the noses of America, the Wes Goodman sex scandal is shaping up to be the incident which shows the so-called evangelical (and anti-LGBTQ right) as they actually are. Let's bring things up to date - Goodman, a Ohio legislator and a religious right favorite who opposed marriage equality was secretly going buck-wild by having a secret gay life in which he is alleged to have sexually harassed over 30 young men. Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council knew of one incident which had to do with the alleged sexual assault of an 18-year-old, but did not alert authorities. And now this - Perkins wasn't the only evangelical right leader who knew about Goodman's secret dalliances: 

 The nation's leading anti-gay marriage organization, Cincinnati-based Citizens for Community Values, was among the Christian conservative groups that knew of Goodman's extramarital sexual contact with other men before his election last year, The Associated Press has learned. 

Board member Seth Morgan said the group discovered — after it had endorsed him in last year's legislative primary — that Goodman had engaged in consensual gay activity. Goodman faced no general election opposition and was said to be "dealing with it," Morgan said, so the issue was set aside by CCV and another group that was briefed, Ohio's Conservative Republican Leadership Committee. 

Morgan said he sees no hypocrisy in the values movement's support of Goodman, adding "we're not perfect people." 

"From our perspective, we look at this and say, this hits close to home, but it's another example of why we stand for the things we stand for," Morgan said. "It's not something that causes us to shrink back. It causes us to, sadly, move forward with a greater sense of determination."

What a load of "cover your ass" bullshit. Goodman wasn't "dealing with it." He was still getting some on the side and they knew about it. AND they still let him get away with pushing himself off as a "champion of morality and values." It's never been about preserving morality and "traditional values" with Perkins and that bunch. It was and still is all about power and control. But still, why should we be surprised. For decades, the evangelical right cited research they knew was discredited & fake to smear the LGBTQ community. With Roy Moore, we see that they have no problem supporting a suspected child molester. With Goodman, we see that they have no problem supporting a man whom they know is having secret gay affairs. Just as long as he tows the line and votes their way.


Related post - ‘Christian values’ leader helped cover up alleged assault committed by closeted anti-gay lawmaker

11 lives were lost in 11 days. For the LGBTQ community in Utah, enough was enough. - It shouldn't have taken 11 suicides for this Utah community to get it together, but thank God they are working to get it together.

Trump’s ban on transgender military service just took another blow - Another well-deserved "pimp slap" for Trump's supposed ban on transgender military service.

Republican lawmakers abolish gender so they don’t have to call trans politician Danica Roem a woman - Just petty.

Conservative writer calls out FRC head Tony Perkins for role in Wes Goodman scandal

FRC head Tony Perkins

Well at least we have one religious conservative in America with a shred of integrity.

Rod Dreher in yesterdays edition of American Conservative diidn't play favorites as he scolded Family Research Council president Tony Perkins for his "judgement" in the Wes Goodman sex scandal.

Goodman, a former Ohio state legislator and a religious right favorite, recently resigned from office after getting caught while "dallying" with a young man in his office. After his resignation, over 30 men have come out accusing him of harassing them for sex. In addition, it also came out that in 2015, Goodman allegedly sexually assaulted an 18-year-old as he slept and that FRC president Tony Perkins knew of the incident but didn't alert authorities.

Perkins and FRC have refused to comment on the situation.

And Dreher took Perkins to task:

I spoke this afternoon to a Christian source well-placed in DC conservative political circles. He told me that it’s emerging in conversations among Washington conservatives today that a lot of young conservative men knew about Goodman’s proclivities — he was rather indiscreet — but none of them said anything. 

Again, neither did Tony Perkins, so why should they have? Remember, it was only two years ago that Perkins, in his capacity as head of the Family Research Council, got sandbagged by the Josh Duggar scandal. What, if anything, did he know about Duggar’s sex life before he signed Duggar up to be an FRC national leader? Maybe nothing, but the Goodman fiasco is the second prominent example of Perkins’s bad judgment — and in the Goodman case, we have documentation (in the form of a letter from Perkins) that Perkins knew about Goodman’s homosexuality and habit of coming on to young men, and let him go into politics as a conservative, pro-family Christian anyway. 

To be clear, Perkins did say in that private letter to Goodman that he (Perkins) cannot endorse his entering politics, given that he had not shown that he (Goodman) had dealt with his sexual disorder. But why did Perkins remain silent when Goodman entered an Ohio statehouse GOP primary — and won?  . . . As an Evangelical pastor friend texted today, in deep frustration, “This is what people think Christianity is.” Yes, that is what people think of it: overlooking or excusing serious personal sin for the sake of advancing power. . . .

Huge hat tip to Joe Jervis. 

'Family Research Council head Tony Perkins refuses to address alleged role in Wes Goodman sex scandal' & other Tue midday news briefs

Why so quiet, Tony Perkins?

‘Christian values’ leader helped cover up alleged assault committed by closeted anti-gay lawmaker - Wes Goodman is a former state lawmaker who claimed to espouse "family values" and "natural marriage." Recently, we learned that over 30 men has accused him of sexual misconduct. We also learned that Family Research Council president Tony Perkins possibly knew of an incident involving an alleged assault on an 18-year-old but helped to cover it up. And the biggest thing we've learned based thus far? Perkins and FRC refuses to comment about the situation.

The Christian Post reached out to FRC and Perkins for comment, but was told the organization will not be releasing a statement on the issue.

This means Perkins and FRC will probably get away with not addressing the situation and all the while standing on the mantle of "Christianity, family values, morality, and Jesus." 

Violence Against Transgender People Has Gotten Worse - This means we have to do better to protect our own.

Delaware schools anti-bias proposal under fire - Particularly our trans children. Here we go again with THIS particular fight. 

Anti-LGBTQ hate group kicked off its conference with an amazing interpretive rainbow flag dance - Hate groups are so stupid. It's the same group which pushed that "Hazards of Homosexuality" crap at the Values Voter Summit 

The FCC has unveiled its plan to repeal its net neutrality rules - This is an LGBTQ issue. It could potentially devastate our power to get the news and facts out as well and our ability to unite the community.

Roy Moore supporter tries to move conversation away from underage girls

Left to her own devices, religious right talking head Janet Porter (yet another person affiliated with the the anti-LGBTQ industry whom I really don't care for) tends to go haywire.

However, she is rather savvy in media interviews, as shown by this recent one on MSNBC with hosts Ali Velshi and Stephanie Ruhle. Watch how she bogarts the conversation about the controversy by attacking Gloria Allred, the attorney of one of the women accusing Moore of impropriety.

The hosts generally let her go on her tangent, but then when they break to ask questions about Leigh Corfman, the woman who claimed Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 14 (or Moore and underage girls in general), Folger isn't so quick to speak all that confident.

And the confidence she does display in talking about Moore's supposed Christian stance should scare you. Particularly when you take a gander at the video below taken from 2010. If anything should make you aware of what Folger and folks like her want via supporting Moore, it would be this video.

This is the real face of Moore; the one she didn't show in the above interview: