Just two repulsive men pushing the stereotype of the unattractive lesbian . . .

Granted, we are talking about two backbench conspiracy theorists here in the video with Gavin McInnes and Alex Jones, but the things they say about lesbians in this video are simply vulgar. Especially when one sees that neither one are exactly prom night dates themselves. While they both exploit one stereotype, they definitely prove another one to be true. What's the deal with ugly, nasty men attacking lesbians for supposedly being unattractive?

Editor's note - I would say a couple of more things about the two, but I'm trying to be progressive and polite.

Hat tip to Right Wing Watch

Trump evangelical Tony Perkins practically giddy that Pompeo may turn blind eye to anti-LGBTQ persecution

Editor's note - There will be no Wednesday mid-day news briefs.

"Those Trump evangelicals!"

When I heard that Trump's pick for Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has a long record of opposing LGBTQ equality, I practically predicted the following Washington Update by Family Research Council head Tony Perkins praising him:

When Rex Tillerson was first announced as the president's pick for Secretary of State, I communicated my concern privately and publicly. I said that the State Department needed a strong change agent like Trump, and there was no way based upon Tillerson's record that he would do enough to roll back the harmful cultural imperialism which had been pushed in the State Department during the Obama administration, and to restore our promotion of international religious freedom to where it should be. And under Tillerson's leadership, not much did change in these areas. Religious freedom and human rights for all continues to take a backseat to the LGBT agenda as LGBT-promoting acting ambassadors remain in place around the world and our tax dollars still go to non-government organizations (NGOs) aligned with groups like George Soros' Open Society and the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

Now that Tillerson is on his way out, and CIA Director Mike Pompeo has been tapped to take the helm, there is hope for the United States to once again lead the world toward the promotion of religious freedom and the protection of human rights. I believe Mike Pompeo is the agent of change the State Department needs, and he has the president's ear. He cares about religious freedom, and about restoring the United States to its historically-esteemed role of human rights defender -- not cultural imperialist. And with Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Brownback also in place, the United States is perhaps better poised than any other time in recent memory to significantly make inroads in promoting religious freedom worldwide.

As usual, Perkins lying. There was no prioritizing of LGBTQ rights over anything else in the Obama Administration. Those of us who are aware of the history of Perkins and FRC know that his definition of giving LGBTQ rights priority means acknowledging that these rights exist in the first place.

Trump pick Mike Pompeo has a long history opposing LGBTQ equality' & other Tue midday news briefs

Mike Pompeo

In case you have been living under a rock, Trump just fired his present Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson and appointed former CIA head Mike Pompeo. Everyone is talking about how much of an idiotic bonehead move this is, except for the Trump evangelicals (such as the Family Research Council), who, let's face it, would find a positive thing to say about Trump if he had an intestinal distress in the middle of a speech. Missing in firestorm is the simple, and very unfortunate fact, that Pompeo is extremely anti-LGBTQ.

GLAAD has compiled a list of his homophobic statements and actions. It's not pretty and it will definitely play against our community on the international stage. Whereas the Obama Administration stood up for LGBTQ equality in the world, I somehow doubt Pompeo will be as engaging. 

According to GLAAD, Pompeo has:

Opposed repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, suggesting that "when you enter the army you give up a few of your rights." Also said of DADT repeal, "we cannot use military to promote social ideas that do not reflect the values of our nation." 

Decried the US Supreme Court's 2015 ruling granting marriage equality to all fifty states as "a shocking abuse of power" that "flies in the face of centuries of shared understanding of our Constitution." 

Has vowed to continue his fight abortion, marriage equality, and related matters "each and every day": "As a Kansan, I hold a deep reverence for the sanctity of life, the solidarity of family, and the solemnity of marriage. I will continue the fight to uphold these fundamental ideals each and every day. I am, and always will be, pro-life and will defend life from conception to natural death. I will continue to oppose any taxpayer funding for abortion. I also fully support the traditional institution of marriage. Strong families are the most important building block of our Republic, and we must preserve them for the sake of our community and our culture." 

Co-sponsored two bills, the State Marriage Defense Act and the Marriage and Religious Freedom Act, both designed to undermine the effects of court rulings on marriage equality. 

Denounced the Supreme Court rulings that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California's Proposition 8 as "both sad and counter to the most profound tradition of our great nation."

In other news:

The ‘Gays for Trump’ guy is running for office &  he’s dangerous to trans people - It is possible for someone to be repulsive and a joke at the same time.

Vietnamese Singer Wins International Transgender Beauty Pageant - Good for her!

Linda Harvey Prays That Gay Conservative Commentator Guy Benson ‘Loses [His] Platform To Mislead People’ - I'm rooting against both. Linda Harvey is so homophobic, I bet she doesn't like to say the word "gay" in the song "Deck the Halls." On the other hand, Guy Benson is an entitled creep. He works against his own people and has done nothing to earn the position he has except be a novelty.

Trump evangelicals like to dish out moral criticisms, but can't take any.

Trump evangelicals moved their loyalty from the man on the right to the man on the left and are getting angry for being dragged about it. They had better get used to it because the dragging will be going on for a long time.

The Family Research Council, a group which supports Donald Trump in spite of his incompetence and immense moral failings, is angry at  a writer at The Atlantic for calling out their hypocrisy.

In a just published Washington Update, FRC president Tony Perkins verbally went after Michael Gerson for his recently published, and very astute, criticism of white evangelical support of Trump. In his piece, The Last Temptation,  Gerson doesn't pull any punches in dragging Robert Jeffress, Franklin Graham, Tony Perkins and other conservative evangelical figures and groups.

And Perkins is "ever so pissed" about it:

CBS's "Face the Nation," which, like most liberal outlets, is quite content beating this dead horse, invited Gerson on the show yesterday to elaborate, without, I should add, a countering perspective. Like other partisans masquerading as "journalists," he insists evangelicals are hypocrites for not demanding a national recall of the president over 10-year-old allegations of infidelity. The host reminds Gerson that evangelicals' support isn't without cause. After all, the president has spent the year delivering on a long list of promises to his base. No matter, Gerson waves her off. "They are acting like, you know, slimy political operatives, not moral leaders. They are essentially saying, in order to get these benefits... they are willing to wink at Stormy Daniels and wink at misogyny and wink at nativism." 

Evangelicals, he goes on, "have not provided that moral judgment that I think leavens our politics or should leaven our politics." I'm curious what kind of "moral judgment" Gerson thinks Christian leaders should be offering. This is, after all, behavior that happened in the past. Does Gerson think that Christians should continue piling on judgment for actions that, to our knowledge, no longer continue? No one is rationalizing or excusing his failings. But Americans -- evangelicals included -- elected Donald Trump with almost full knowledge of Trump's past. As I've explained numerous times, it came down to him or Hillary Clinton, so Americans gave him a chance despite his past. Now that he's earned their support with his actions as president, it's our job to hold Donald Trump accountable for what he does in office. We can't do anything about the past. If any immoral behavior were taking place on the president's part today, Michael Gerson would be writing a very different story about the estrangement of Trump and his evangelical base. 

For now, our support for the policies of this president is hardly the great mystery that liberal lackeys like Gerson claim it to be. This isn't blind allegiance on the part of evangelicals or "slimy" opportunism. This is reasoned support for a political leader who has made and kept his campaign promises. If you want to know the real reason Gerson's crowd is unhappy with evangelicals, it's not because we're hypocrites. It's because we stand in the way of the Left's designs, with the same ability to affect government that they've had for almost a decade. Their goal is to try and shame evangelicals into disengaging from the policies and elections that govern our lives and our ability to live according to our Christian faith.

Damn, what exactly did Gerson say Perkins riled up?

'Psychiatrist found guilty of trying to 'cure' his gay clients with gay sex' & other Mon midday news briefs

Psychiatrist found guilty of trying to 'cure' his gay clients with gay sex - A situation from Canada for us to keep in mind when we fight against forcing kids to go through "conversion therapy."

Texas Teacher Suspended After Seeking to Add LGBT Protections to School District’s Policy -THIS is a mess!

What Trump’s Judicial Nominees Have in Common: They Really Don’t Want LGBTQ People to Have Rights - Yep, yep, a million times yep!

Anti-gay pageant answer comes back to haunt attorney general candidate - We got you, girlfriend. The queer community doesn't forget a thing. 

 Amid a sea of voices, Vox’s Carlos Maza breaks through - A gay journalist is breaking through the mad cacophony of voices and is making a definite mark.

Anti-LGBTQ 'religious freedom' bill will resurrect America's ugly past

With Trump in office, the religious right and their supporters are hungry to push bills which would allow them to discriminate specifically against the LGBTQ community on the grounds of religious freedom. No matter how they sugarcoat their aspirations, we are staring at the following as a potential future:

The sad thing is that we've see this sort of thing so many times in the past:

'GOP Senators reintroduce national anti-LGBTQ religious liberty bill in Congress' & other Fri midday news briefs

Republicans return the anti-gay First Amendment Defense Act to Congress - Twenty-one Republican Senators are co-sponsoring a national bill which would make anti-LGBTQ discrimination allowable on the grounds of "religious liberty." They are either anticipating an anti-LGBTQ SCOTUS ruling or not wanting to wait that far ahead. And Trump has said he would sign the bill if it is passed by Congress. If they knew what I knew, they wouldn't even try it. A nation of furious queer folks (which I will be one of) is what they will have to face. And I wouldn't bet on Godzilla or King Kong if they had to face the same prospect.

RuPaul’s Version Of LGBT History Erases Decades Of Trans Drag Queens - RuPaul has caused a firestorm with recent negative comments about transgender women and the art of drag. He is wrong. You don't attempt to solely own a history which also belongs to others in our community. (Editor's note - I hope that people pay as much attention to the article above as I anticipate they will pay to this one. BOTH are important but we need to be very cognizant of Congress because they make the laws which affect our lives for better or worse).

Bill to ban ‘conversion therapy’ moves forward in Maine Legislature - Meanwhile, other fights go on. . .

More U.S. Schools Are Offering Safe Spaces For LGBTQ Youth - And on . . .

LGBTI students demand UK Government make 'gay cure' therapy illegal - And on . . .

Conversion therapy is discredited torture, but media outlets are letting its advocates spread lies about the practice - And the media in America needs to do a better job educating folks about the issue.