'Largest Protestant adoption agency in US opens to LGBTQ parents' & other Tue midday news briefs

Largest Protestant adoption agency in US opens to LGBTQ parents - This is huge news.

“Cancel culture” is just a Republican ploy to justify oppression & racism - Yep and people are so lazy that they mimic the labeling.

Exclusive: Rep. Ritchie Torres to introduce bill to collect LGBTQ small-business loan data - Sweet! Representation matters. 

Diverse group of cities have highest rates of gay households - Even though the religious right wants to erase us.

Family Research Council omits facts in child assault case to falsely deem Equality Act as dangerous

The Equality Act, passed last week by the House and awaiting a Senate vote, is a comprehensive LGBTQ rights bill.  The religious right is attacking the bill in the same manner it attacks all things pro-LGBTQ - via bad science, horror stories, and out-and-out lies.

The Family Research Council has just come out with a booklet denouncing the Equality Act. Calling it a booklet is being nice on my part because it's actually a mess. FRC throws so many arguments against the Equality Act that the booklet gives an impression of sad desperation.

I am not going to link it because one of the claims turned my stomach:

The Equality Act would also virtually do away with sex-segregated spaces, meaning women and girls would no longer have privacy when in publicly accessible bathrooms, locker rooms, and other such spaces. Similar laws mandating SOGI in public accommodations at the local and sate level have already resulted in litigation. In one case, a kindergartener was assaulted by a boy classmate in her school's bathroom. 

Any type of assault is nothing to make light of, particularly that of children. We must always be careful to guard against it. We should also be careful to get all of the facts before making claims of assault

But in this case, it would appear that FRC didn't bother to.

'Ban on so-called gay and trans 'panic' defenses will become law in Virginia' & other Mon midday news briefs

 

Ban on so-called gay & trans “panic” defenses will become law in Virginia - Good for Virginia. 

Different fight, 'same goal': How the Black freedom movement inspired early gay activists - All legitimate movements for equality tend to share similarities. 

My Sister Became My Brother 50 Years Ago, Before Many Knew What ‘Transgender’ Meant - Endearing personal article.

Sir Ian McKellen has a wish for the gay community: stand with transpeople - Preach! Cause we're all in this together.

Marjorie Taylor Greene lambasted on Saturday Night Live for her attack on the trans child of a fellow congresswoman

 

 

Congresswoman and all around pain in the butt Marjorie Taylor Greene as taken to task last weekend by Saturday Night Live for her recent transphobic action regarding a child of a fellow Congressional leader.. SNL member Cecily Strong played a brutal and deserved parody of her. But how much of the performance was a parody?

Rand Paul's attack on HHS nominee Rachel Levine exposes how the religious right needs anti-LGBTQ junk science

Attacks on HHS nominee Rachel Levine reveal how the religious right distorts science against LGBTQ people.

Senator Rand Paul thought he was being cute during a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday. 

From Media Matters:

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) promoted right-wing media lies about medical care for trans youth during the Senate confirmation hearing for Dr. Rachel Levine, who has been nominated to be the assistant secretary of health at the Department of Health and Human Services. Paul lied that Levine supports the “genital mutilation” of trans kids, who do not undergo gender affirmation surgeries. 

 In reality, affirming the gender identity of trans youth is best practice health care and widely supported by medical professionals and research, and it yields long-term mental health benefits and can be lifesaving for young trans people. Furthermore, young trans and gender-diverse children are not undergoing surgery or irreversible treatments; rather, as social work professor Katherine Kuvalanka told The Washington Post, “The only interventions for young children is affirmation and acceptance for who they are.”

Despite these facts, Paul repeatedly and falsely suggested during Levine’s February 25 hearing that trans kids were undergoing “genital mutilation” and lied that Levine supports “surgical destruction of a minor’s genitalia.” As PinkNews has noted, these false claims are based on right-wing media lies attacking Levine’s nomination.

Media Matters pointed out that during his questioning, Paul cited bad sources and basic lies to compare confirming gender identity to genital mutilation. You can read the rest of the article here. 

Paul was widely condemned for his questioning, which is part of an obvious attempt by right-wing and the religious right to derail Dr. Levine's nomination. If she is confirmed, Dr. Levine would become the first openly confirmed transgender official confirmed by the Senate. Anti-LGBTQ groups such as the Family Research Council have already tweeted out the exchange between Paul and Levine, claiming that she dodged his questions. What Levine actually did was not take Paul's bait. She offered to have discussions with him about transgender issues.

As I said before, Paul was heavily condemned by a wide variety of individuals. Many took him to task for his harsh tone against Dr. Levine, while others called out his blatant lies about trans youth. But Paul's behavior spotlights a reality which is rarely mentioned. 

Behind the claims of wanting to adhere to morality or religious tradition,  many groups and personalities opposing LGBTQ rights rely heavily on false information about LGBTQ people.  No matter how tightly groups like the Family Research Council, people like Franklin Graham, or their allies like Sen Paul cling to the Bible and their interpretation of Scripture, they know that religious verses alone aren't enough to create  or pass laws.  So they have worked to demonize  and dehumanize LGBTQ people through a body of work comprised of cherry-picked studies, research taken out of context, junk science and basic lies. In doing so, they are able to control the narrative of this so-called culture war. Also, whenever their veneer is exposed, they are quick to claim that they are victims of religious persecution.

It doesn't matter who in the LGBTQ community is the target because the techniques are always the same. Paul's use of bad scientific sources to denigrate Dr, Levine and the trans community is no different than how the Family Research Council would take scientific information out of context or delete passages from pro-LGBTQ work it cited to give a false impression that homosexuality was somehow dangerous or that homosexuality and pedophilia are connected. No matter how many times it is are called out, FRC continues to repeat its distortions time and time again.

And that group is hardly alone. Since running this blog, I have kept a record of at least 14 times in which religious right groups and figures have passed along bad or cherry-picked science against LGBTQ people.

This is the reality of the opposition to LGBTQ rights and very few people are talking about it. Perhaps it's time to pierce that silence.

'Biden Administration withdraws Fed's support for anti-transgender lawsuit' & other Thur midday news briefs

Biden Admin Withdraws Feds' Support for Anti-Trans Lawsuit - Like I said before, voting matters.

Man sues city after he was attacked by anti-LGBTQ street preacher - We'll see how this turns out. 

AOC smacks down QAnon Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene over LGBTQ Equality Act - Oop! 

Southern Baptist Convention Expels Two Churches for Welcoming LGBTQ People - Now this right here is a sad shame.

FRC's Tony Perkins explained why religious right & its allies opposes the Equality Act in 2011

On Thursday, the House of Representatives will be voting on the Equality Act and it looks good. If it passes the House, it will go to the Senate where I'm sure things will be a bit more, shall we say, boisterous.

The religious right, right-wing groups, and the anti-LGBTQ industry have been working overtime with their government allies dreaming up excuses and other assorted lies to derail the Equality Act. But at least for this one time, I'm not going to waste time refuting their nonsense.

 I think I've haven't been cutting to the chase. 

None of them oppose the Equality Act for the reasons they've mentioned. The Equality Act will not endanger women or girls, it won't ruin women's sports, it won't make females more susceptible to "predators" attempting to sneak into women's dressing rooms and locker rooms.  Whatever other reasons these folks dream up to oppose the Equality Act are also lies.  .

Truth be told, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins already told us in 2011 why his side opposes the Equality Act. It's relatively simple and we've all known the reason. We simply don't point it out enough:

 

 Did you get all of that? If not, allow me to paraphrase. 

According to Perkins, LGBTQ people are evil, sick sinners who pawns of the devil. And as such, we don't even deserve to get cheese on ham sandwiches, to say nothing of equal rights. 

 The problem is not so much that Perkins and company believe this. It's also about their reluctance to say it out in the open. They know that if they did, more folks would see that their opposition to our rights and safety is less about general concern and more about homophobic animus.