'Members of anti-LGBTQ right oppose Trump's 'plan' to decriminalize homosexuality across the globe' & other Fri midday news briefs

Scott Lively was a main force behind  Uganda's 'Kill the Gays' bill.

Scott Lively Warns Trump: God Will Withdraw His “Hand Of Favor” Over Push To Decriminalize Homosexuality - Trump's bogus desire to decriminalize homosexuality is already getting religious right opposition.  Of course Scott Lively is upset over it. If it was on the up-and-up, it would ruin all of his "work" in Uganda.

Lance Wallnau Prays Against Trump Administration Push to Decriminalize Homosexuality - Second verse. Same as the first. 

 Post from last night. Not necessarily opposition from the Family Research Council. But an extremely weaselly worded approval - Family Research Council tries to squeeze out a little support for Trump's 'plan' to decriminalize homosexuality across the globe

Number of hate groups reaches all time high under Trump presidency - All of your talk about Jussie Smollett can't obscure this.

Should the state now apologize for targeting gay people as a threat in the 1950s? - Two words - HELL YEAH.

Judge grants US citizenship to twin son of same-sex couple - The struggle goes on as do the victories.

Family Research Council tries to squeeze out a little support for Trump's 'plan' to decriminalize homosexuality across the globe

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council

Sometimes, some folks need to keep their mouths shut.

Recently, the Trump Administration announced a goal of attempting to decriminalize homosexuality in countries where LGBTQs face persecution. Many in the LGBTQ community looked at this announcement with extreme trepidation because of how the administration has undermined our equality here in America.

And with Trump's showing that he was basically clueless about this policy on Wednesday, it turns out that we were right to be skeptical.

But what really takes the cake is how hate group - and Trump ally - the Family Research Council attempts to show support for Trump's policy.  I should remind folks that the reason why FRC is considered a hate group is how it has continuously smeared the LGBTQ community via junk science and horror stories of us doing awful things, particularly "recruiting" children.

And it has also gone on record supporting other countries criminalizing homosexuality, i.e. the Uganda "Kill the Gays" bill. So it's interesting to read the following from FRC president Tony Perkins:

On February 1, the U.S. Ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, wrote in an opinion piece in the German newspaper Bild that “government officials must . . . demand that U.N. members decriminalize homosexuality.” The piece got little attention until this week, when an “exclusive report” from NBC News said, “The Trump administration is launching a global campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality.” There’s just one problem – besides the ambassador, it doesn’t seem that President Trump – or anyone else in the administration – authorized this “campaign.”. 

Our own criminal laws against homosexual conduct were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003 in the case of Lawrence v. Texas. Despite what some on the Left claim, we are not advocating for their return. But that does not mean we should engage in “cultural imperialism” by imposing policies that were imposed upon us by our Court on other countries with different cultures, traditions, and values.. 

For the last eight years, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton bludgeoned foreign capitals with “diplomacy” designed to advance an LGBT agenda around the world and in the United Nations—doing damage to our relations with many countries as a result. The Trump administration should be ending such efforts, not making them a priority.. 

Now the tide has turned. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo articulated the proper way to think about all this at his confirmation hearing last year. When asked by Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) whether he thinks “LGBTQ rights are human rights,” Pompeo responded: “I deeply believe LGBTQ persons have every right that every other person has.”. 

As our own Travis Weber points out, some may try to argue that protecting LGBT rights is a way of protecting human rights. Yet this misleadingly implies “that same-sex-attracted and transgendered persons do not currently enjoy human rights protections…” As Travis observes, “The [Universal Declaration of Human Rights] and [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights] protect every individual from arbitrary arrest, torture, and extrajudicial killing by the State, because all humans have human dignity, regardless of their sexual attraction or gender preference.”. 

Family Research Council vigorously opposes acts of violence against anyone because of their sexuality. According to NBC, there are eight countries which permit the death penalty for homosexuality—most of them also known as abusers of religious freedom and other rights, and supporters of terrorism. An end to those laws, and other physical punishments such as flogging, is a legitimate goal.. 

Let’s find common ground in calling for an end to all forms of physical violence against homosexuals -- but refrain from imposing the values of the sexual revolution on the rest of the world..

This is long-winded crap which shouldn't have been written. It only demonstrates the ignorant audacity of FRC to even think that it could get away with such a fractured piece of bipolar garbage.

New election in NC. Anti-LGBTQ pastor will not be seated in Congress

Mark Harris

Meanwhile, in the non-Jussie Smollett world, i.e. the real world,  anti-LGBTQ pastor,  Mark Harris, who Karen Pence campaigned for in a successful election to Congress, will not be seated just yet after all. The North Carolina state board of elections voted unanimously to hold a new election. This took place a day after explosive testimony from Harris's own son in which he told of warning his father not to hire the shady character who ended up being the center of this scandal of what appears to be severe absentee ballot fraud.

From Right Wing Watch:

North Carolina’s state board of elections has spent the week hearing testimony in an investigation of suspected absentee ballot fraud that prevented the board from certifying what had appeared to be a narrow 2018 election victory for Religious Right candidate Mark Harris in North Carolina’s ninth congressional district. Late on Thursday the board voted to hold a new election to fill the seat. 

One dramatic high point of the hearings came on Wednesday, when Harris’s son John testified that he had warned his father against hiring the campaign operative at the center of the fraud allegations. Another came on Thursday, when Harris eventually reversed his previous efforts to be seated in Congress and said he believed a new election should be held. WBTV’s Nick Ochsner live-tweeted the proceedings. 

Harris is a pastor and a Religious Right favorite who was supported by Karen Pence, “historian” David Barton, Christian nationalist David Lane, and Trump-promoting “prophet” Lance Wallnau, among others. 

John Harris testified that he had repeatedly warned his parents that Bladen County political operative McCrae Dowless was a “shady character.” When Mark Harris took the stand on Thursday, and was asked how to reconcile his son’s testimony with his previous public statements that no one warned him about Dowless, Harris said “I did not believe John’s emails to be a warning.” Responded one board member, “It’s painfully clear your son meant, ‘Daddy, don’t mess with this guy.’”

Harris has a long history of anti-LGBTQ actions and rhetoric.

What Smollett did was wrong, but MAGA Trump supporters aren't innocent. They helped to sow this ground.

I interrupt today's news briefs to talk about the Jussie Smollett situation. Now that it is looking like he faked the incident because he wasn't happy about his salary on 'Empire,' I am of course saddened and angry.

I am saddened because of how difficult this makes it for actual victims of hate crimes (homophobic, racist, or otherwise) to come forward. Those not inclined to believe have further ammunition not to. Hate crimes are real. The vast majority of them aren't hoaxes. This incident involving Smollett doesn't diminish that.

 And of course, if this pans out the way it is looking, I am furious at Jussie Smollett.

You dumbass!!

And now (putting on Vaseline on my face, putting my tennis shoes on my feet, sharpening my claws, and making sure I have my razor) let's get real.

Video - Trump doesn't know anything about his Administration's goal to decriminalize homosexuality across the world

Trump not aware of Administration goal to decriminalize homosexuality on a worldwide scale.

Yesterday, it was announced that the Trump Administration starting a campaign to decriminalize homosexuality on a worldwide scale. Many in the LGBTQ community met that announcement with a great deal of suspicion  Subsequently, we were called out by some in and out of the community as being so hateful of Trump that we wouldn't give him credit for doing something beneficial to LGBTQs.

That wasn't true. Based upon the Trump's Administration past anti-LGBTQ actions and homophobic allies,  we felt that we couldn't trust it to act in our best interest in this matter.  And it turns out that we may have been right:

Trump has no idea about his administration’s push to decriminalize homosexuality around the world, per WH transcript from today’s pool spray: pic.twitter.com/fkzzE8OMFb

— Eli Stokols (@EliStokols) February 20, 2019

Let's go to video on this:

Don't be fooled by Trump's Administration sudden concern over criminalization of homosexuality

The Trump Administration just announced what I call a fast con using the LGBTQ community:

The Trump administration is reportedly launching a campaign to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. According to NBC News, Iran is one of the primary targets of the effort, drawing attention to President Donald Trump’s history of conflating support for the LGBTQ community with Islamophobic messaging. 

The catalyst for the decision appears to have been Iran’s hanging of a gay man in January. Iran has long been one of Trump’s biggest international foes, and the president has repeatedly threatened the nation against pushing back on the administration’s decision to reimpose sanctions that were rolled back under the Iran nuclear deal. Leading the new campaign is Richard Grenell, U.S. ambassador to Germany. Grenell, an openly gay man and ultra-conservative, lashed out after the hanging, calling it “a wake-up call for anyone who supports basic human rights.”

 . . . On Twitter, the ambassador has posted dozens of tweets decrying “radical Islam,” a term often used to demonize all of Islam as being responsible for terrorism. He has also implied that Islam categorically rejects homosexuality, even though a growing majority of U.S. Muslims believe society should accept homosexuality. (Far fewer white evangelical Christians agree with that statement, however Grenell has claimed LGBTQ activists are “intolerant” towards Christians for opposing exemptions that would allow Christians to discriminate against LGBTQ people.)

Forgive the vulgarity of my candor but just who the fuck does the Trump Administration think it's kidding?

I appreciate any call to stop the criminalization of homosexuality but I resent the LGBTQ community being used as a wedge issue against Islam.

And especially coming from this Administration.

'Catholic mom sues after Trump-backed foster care agency calls her the wrong kind of Christian' & other Tue midday news briefs

Catholic mom sues after Trump-backed foster care agency calls her the wrong kind of Christian - This should be getting all sorts of headlines. Think Progress says it best:

 Last month, the Trump administration issued a waiver allowing a South Carolina foster care agency to discriminate in accordance with its Protestant religious beliefs. Now, a Catholic foster care parent is challenging the exemption after the agency discriminated against her because of her faith. In a lawsuit filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State last week, Aimee Maddonna argues that this license to discriminate violates the Establishment Clause and denies her equal protection under the law. 

Watch: Out Presidential Hopeful Buttigieg Slams Mike Pence Over Anti-LGBTQ Views - His chances aren't that good but I do love the noise he is making.

NM Student, 11, Suffers Vicious Playground Attack, Social Media Trolling - The media in part is the blame for this. They have a wonderful opportunity to talk about trans issues and include the trans community in the discussion. They - especially Fox News - opt to scare and spook rather than present factual information.

Here are 300 of extreme anti-LGBTQ group Alliance Defending Freedom's reported 3,300 allied attorneys - Meanwhile, an anti-LGBTQ hate group continues to infiltrate.