'Mayor campaigns against LGBTQ curriculum in schools' & other Thur midday news briefs

Ocean County mayor campaigns against LGBTQ curriculum in schools - Ridiculous. Always thinking that the LGBTQ community is solely about sexual intercourse.

National, Local Democratic LGBTQ and Allied Leaders Convene at Detroit Forum - I didn't know this happened.

Gay Republican Carl DeMaio running for anti-LGBTQ Rep. Duncan Hunter’s seat - This would be a wonderful change. 

Murder, 'gay-hunters' strike terror in Russia's LGBT community - This is awful.

And now a word about homophobia, 'acceptance,' and 'tolerance'

I ran across an image on Twitter today which caught me a bit:

This is what some homophobes are claiming today - that they are merely pushing back against the LGBTQ community because we want too much and that we are attempting to force them to supposedly accept us and give us access to their children.

It's a cute lie because that has always been the argument of the religious right and their supporters - that somehow we are outsiders who are overstepping our bounds.  And that any lies told about us (such as how we are supposedly trying to "recruit children") is acceptable because Christians who practice the faith like them (note the cross in the image) are the real victims.

This is nothing more than sad tripe which enshrines ignorant presumption and false privilege. It's ridiculous to think that our goal is to seek "tolerance" or "acceptance" from heterosexuals, as if they are some higher power.  It deliberately casts the LGBTQ community as outsiders and erases not only our humanity but also our families.

We don't need "tolerance" or "acceptance" from heterosexuals. Nor do we need their respect. What we want and will get is merely the thing which belongs to us - the ability to live our lives by our rights of self-determination. And not in accordance to the whims and prejudices of others.

'VP Mike Pence gives hypocritical advice to anti-LGBTQ group' & other Wed midday news briefs

Mike Pence Advises Antigay Group to 'Spend More Time on Your Knees'- Hypocritical as hell to talk about praying when your goal is to stigmatize a group of God's children.

Hundreds of LGBTQ families came together & OMG would you look at these photos of cute kids?! - Wonderful! We need more of this! 

Victoria’s Secret Hires First Openly Transgender Model, Agent Says - Congratulations to Valentina Sampaio! 

Michigan doctors reach out to LGBTQ community to narrow health disparities - THANK YOU! We need more of THIS, too.

14 year old vlogger banned from Youtube after viciously homophobic video

Fourteen years old and a raging homophobe. It's truly sad.

Some people are upset because some awful 14-year-old child spewing homophobia and Islamophobia got banned from Youtube.

From Buzzfeed:

YouTube has removed the account of Soph, a 14-year-old girl who accumulated nearly a million followers through racist and anti-Muslim videos, after she uploaded an anti-LGBTQ video on July 31. 

In the video, a 12-minute anti-gay rant titled “Pride and Prejudice,” Soph encourages her followers to “make sure to blame me in your manifestos” — a direct reference to the kind of document posted to 8chan by the Christchurch shooter who killed 51 people in March. On Saturday, the El Paso shooting suspect would also publish a manifesto to 8chan before killing 22 people. 

According to YouTube, the channel was removed in accordance with its strike system, under which YouTube terminates accounts that violate its Community Guidelines three times in 90 days; in the case of Soph’s channel, the final strike violated the site’s Community Guidelines on hate speech.

The video in question is a doozy. From Queerty:

'LGBTQ Trump judicial nominee confirmed by Senate' & other Tue midday news briefs

Mary Rowland

Mary Rowland is first LGBT Trump judicial nominee confirmed by Senate - I'm as shocked as you. HOWEVER, this doesn't change my mind about that Orange menace in the Oval Office. You can thank Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), for this victory.

New Kansas governor brings sharp shift on LGBTQ foster kids - THANK you!

Microsoft agrees to rethink anti-LGBTQ PAC donations after pressure from activists - Works for me.

Men Don’t Recycle to Avoid Looking Gay, New Study Says - What kind of hookey mess is this?

Lawmaker blaming drag queens, Obama, trans people, and marriage equality for latest mass shooting urged to resign

Candice Keller

In the wake of two awful mass shootings over the weekend, I doubt that GOP Ohio state lawmaker Candice Keller was deliberately channeling the theatre of the absurd to lift folks' spirits, but she was certainly channeling something, if you catch my drift.

How else can one explain her actions, leading to a full round of condemnation even from members of her own party.

From Raw Story:

A Republican state lawmaker from Ohio over the weekend sparked outrage after she blamed mass shootings on former President Barack Obama, gay marriage and “drag queen advocates.” The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Ohio state Rep. Candice Keller posted an unhinged Facebook rant shortly after the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio that sought to blame everything but easy access to firearms for the latest massacre of American citizens.

Any way to describe what she wrote defies description. Just read it yourself:

Yes, she forgot Antifa, socialism, Hollywood, ACORN, and the dish that ran away with spoon.  Ms. Keller's wacky ranting has gone global, with her trending on Twitter and getting ripped apart by celebrities such as country singer Kacey Musgraves.

And she is being called to resign:

Ohio GOP Chairwoman Jane Timken called Republican Rep. Candice Keller’s Facebook screed “shocking and utterly unjustifiable,” while observing that the nation is in “utter shock over the acts of violence in El Paso and Dayton.” Timken’s spokesperson says she “is calling for Candice Keller to resign,” WHIO reports.

I doubt she will. But I also doubt that religious right groups and personalities will be bending over backwards to defend her. Goodness knows that they've already blamed the LGBTQ community for almost everything from natural disasters to 9/11.

She'll probably make it on Fox News, though. 

'How the El Paso shooting connects with the LGBTQ community' & other Mon midday news briefs

If you think the El Paso shooting wasn’t about LGBTQ people, think again. -

 At the heart of it all is what the El Paso manifesto made clear: the threat to “our way of life.” That’s the same fear that animates the religious right in its endless quest to diminish LGBTQ rights and that Trump plays to with his rants. It’s the threat posed by everyone who represents all the changes happening in American society — immigrants, people of color, empowered women, and, yes, LGBTQ people.

Utah high court throws out ban on valid surrogacy contracts for gay couples - Good for Utah!

Couple Takes Engagement Photos At Target Because Why Not - This is wonderful! 

Trump plan would hamper LGBTQ health care access. This is cruel and dangerous. - Don't forget. We still have this mess to deal with.