FL 'don't say gay' bill sends message of erasure to LGBTQ kids and same-sex families

Under the guise of parental rights, some Florida legislators are attempting to ban discussions of LGBTQ issues in classrooms.  

From the site Florida Politics:

A bill giving parents more information about their children’s school experience and installing more strict regulation of LGBTQ instruction for younger students received its first committee nod Thursday. The meeting featured strenuous objections from those who worry it will make teachers fearful of some topics and chill schoolhouse conversations, especially those regarding LGBTQ issues. 

 The House Education and Employment Committee approved Republican Rep. Joe Harding’s Parental Rights in Education bill (HB 1557) largely along party lines, with Democrats opposed. It is legislation some see as part of the culture wars shaping this Session’s priorities. “This bill is about defending the most awesome responsibility a person can have: being a parent,” Harding said. “That job can only be given to you by above.” .

 . . The bill prohibits schools from encouraging classroom discussions about sexual orientation or gender identity that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate. That clause drew particular concern Thursday. Critics noted some students may have parents who are hostile to the news their child is a member of the LBGTQ community and might want to confide in a teacher.

 Children from LBGTQ families might also innocently discuss their families in a way other parents would find objectionable, critics of the bill said. Harding said he understood conversations would happen, but he wanted to make sure there was no policy encouraging it. Todd Delmay, who is running for a House seat, said the way the bill is written could prevent his 11-year-old son from discussing his family at school. Delmay and his husband, Jeff, were the first gay men ever married in Florida.

According to the article, the bill is conveniently vague on the definition of what constitutes an 'age appropriate' or 'developmental appropriate' discussion.  No doubt this lack of clarification would most likely encourage confusion and discourage any discussion at all.

A bill like this is dangerous on so many levels, but most specifically, the narrative it spews should be noted. By its very nature, it pinpoints LGBTQ people as outsiders to the concept of families. It has nothing to do with parental rights. Instead it sends of message to LGBTQ parents and kids that they are to be erased and to children in same-sex households that their families are something to be ashamed of.

And no one should be fooled by anyone claiming that these bills weren't intended to send that message because they are lying to you. Telling LGBTQ families and people that they are unacceptable is exactly the message Florida's bill is meant to send.

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'Gays recruit children' - The intricate networking behind a simple but ugly lie

Bigotry will never go away. It's probably as old as the Earth itself and will remain here even when those of us reading this blog have long since passed away. The key is not eradicating bigotry, but recognizing it in all of its forms. And also the fact that those who push bigotry have innocuous ways of going about their nefarious business.

When it comes to opposition to the LGBTQ community, said bigotry seems to be always wrapped up in deceitful phrases and soundbites which designate us as a people seeking to cause harm. Especially to children. 

“Gaining access to children has been a long-term goal of the homosexual movement.” — Robert Knight, Family Research Council director of cultural studies, and Frank York, 1999 

 One of the primary goals of the homosexual rights movement is to abolish all age of consent laws and to eventually recognize pedophiles as the 'prophets' of a new sexual order." — Family Research Council publication, "Homosexual Behavior and Pedophilia," Robert Knight and Frank York, 1999 

 “While activists like to claim that pedophilia is a completely distinct orientation from homosexuality, evidence shows a disproportionate overlap between the two. … It is a homosexual problem.” —  Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, FRC website, 2010

Back in the day when they had more power and we had less visibility, there was no second guessing what groups like the Family Research Council and their spokespeople were saying about LGBTQ people. They could just outright say that we want children for sexual activity and then leave it to the fear and ignorance of their audience to paint the disgusting picture.

 However as things have shifted in our favor in terms of visibility and education, they use more skillful ways of pushing that false argument. At times, they rely on an intricate network of dark money and media slick spokespeople fronting astroturfed groups and amplified by biased media entities. The ugly connotation remains the same, but the pattern it pushes is more intricate.

 Check out the following excerpt from a recent Family Research Council post:

 . . . In Saint Paul, Minnesota, moms and dads are furious about the district's "Office of Equity" foisting transgenderism on pre-schoolers. Thanks to a quiet partnership with radical groups like OutFront Minnesota, even toddlers are being exposed to messages that the American College of Pediatricians calls "child abuse." Books like When Aidan Became a Brother and I Love My Colorful Nails started trickling into local districts, aimed at children as young as three. One handout tells teachers to "Ask Students for Name and Pronouns" and to "Refer students to the Name/Gender Change Request Form."

Sounds scary, doesn't it? Except for the fact that this claim by FRC about 'transgenderism being forced on toddlers' comes from an article pushed by The Daily Signal,  an extension of  The Heritage Foundation which a conservative think tank. The purpose of The Daily Signal is to amplify conservative claims and causes under the guise of objective journalism.

And the specific claim in the article comes from a group called Parents Defending Education which, according to the National Education Association, claims to be a grassroots group but isn't:

An investigation conducted by NBC News in June identified at least 165 local and national groups across the U.S. working to turn disagreements over COVID mandates and lessons on race and gender into divisive wedge issues that can be manipulated for political purposes. Many of these groups are directly or indirectly supported by larger conservative think tanks, media outlets, and organizations that amplify cultural grievances around education to galvanize voters. The outrage machine surrounding CRT, public schools, and local school boards has already led to legislative responses. Education news outlet Chalkbeat identified 28 states that have attempted to “restrict education on racism, bias, the contributions of specific racial or ethnic groups to U.S. history, or related topics.”

And according to Media Matters:

A recently released IRS filing for the right-wing activist group Parents Defending Education (PDE), which was founded to promote the ongoing scare campaign against the supposed teaching of “critical race theory” in schools, reveals the symbiotic relationship between the right-wing media echo chamber and conservative political activists stoking a cultural panic. 

 The group’s president, Nicki Neily, has appeared on Fox News as part of the network’s dishonest coverage of efforts by school board officials and the FBI to respond to threats and harassment. But Neily is not just a parent defending education, as she has a long history of managing right-wing organizations funded by the Koch brothers and Bradley Foundation networks. .

 . . Another director of PDE is Edward Blum who has a long association with right-wing funding networks that have backed his challenges to civil rights laws. These challenges include a successful case in 2013 in which the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court struck down key protections of the Voting Rights Act. 

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Hate group whines that Biden isn't using religion as a weapon against LGBTQ people

On Sunday, this country celebrated Religious Freedom Day. Apparently this is to commemorate the freedom to worship as you feel - and even not at all - in America. President Biden even issued a proclamation, which reads in part:

From the earliest days of our Nation, courageous people from every part of the world have come to the United States in search of religious liberty, risking everything to flee oppression, persecution, and discrimination because of their beliefs. Our Founders enshrined the principle of religious freedom in the First Amendment to our Constitution, establishing it as a cornerstone of who we are as a Nation. Today, America remains a religiously diverse Nation — a land uniquely strengthened by the routine and extraordinary commingling of faiths and belief systems. On Religious Freedom Day, we recommit ourselves to the protection and advancement of this vital aspect of our American character — and to protecting the freedom of people of all faiths and none, both across our Nation and around the world. 

 All in all, President Biden's statement was congenial. However, the Family Research Council and its president, Tony Perkins was not happy with it. In fact, they made the argument that Biden was being hypocritical. 

And why? 

Because apparently their version of 'religious freedom involves using the concept as a weapon to foster anti-LGBTQ discrimination. And President Biden doesn't see it that way.

FRC and Perkins gave a list of reasons why they felt Biden's proclamation was hypocritical. However, in doing so, they made the argument that the President has a high commitment to the safety and equality of LGBTQ Americans. 

 . . . even though the president's comments rightly place religious freedom as essential to the American way of life, his administration has unfortunately failed to meaningfully protect the rights of the faithful. 

For example, following his inauguration on January 20, 2021, the new president issued an executive order that requires federal agencies to interpret federal laws that prohibit sex discrimination as also prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. In doing so, Biden expanded the holding of the problematic Bostock v. Clayton County U.S. Supreme Court decision far beyond its intended scope of employment discrimination. 

 On February 4, 2021, President Biden issued a memorandum on "Advancing the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Persons Around the World." This memorandum "reaffirms and supplements" an Obama administration executive order that sought to ensure "United States diplomacy and foreign assistance promote[s] and protect[s] the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons everywhere." 

What this really means is imposing the far Left's human sexuality agenda onto other countries, including U.S. allies with laws upholding natural marriage and human sexuality. This is just one example of how instead of prioritizing religious freedom overseas, the Biden administration has given preference to radical LGBT policies.

  . . .On March 26, 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memorandum on the application of Bostock to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, paving the way for schools' mandatory acceptance of gender identity ideology. In addition, President Biden issued a statement on May 17 recognizing "International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia," which celebrates the anniversary of the World Health Organization's declassifying homosexuality as a mental disorder.

It's rather clever how Perkins and FRC attempt to cloud their prejudices as legitimate concerns with regards to religious freedom. But let's not be fooled. Their complaints simply aren't legitimate.  They are angry because President Biden won't adhere to their version of religious freedom in which the concept is used as a cudgel to keep LGBTQ people underfoot. Perkins and FRC have on so many occasions stolen ownership of the words 'Christianity' and 'religion'  while full knowing that they aren't the only or final voices on both matters. Whether they like it or not, some religions don't consider homosexuality as a sin and that includes some denominations of the Christian faith they claim to uphold. 

Perkins and FRC have very right to believe that LGBTQ equality and religion are two diametrically opposite beliefs never to overlap and that the freedom of one must be sacrificed for freedom of the other to endure. But the point is that they have no right to impose that belief on America for any reason, especially under the false guise of  'religious freedom.'

What they want is the weaponization of religion to foster an environment of discrimination against LGBTQ people. That's not religious freedom. That's bigotry. And bigotry is bigotry even when it comes in the name of God and draped around a cross.

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Video: Why Do Gay Men Love The Golden Girls?

On Tuesday, I turn 51 (shut up) so in honor of this, I'm going to post something entertaining and edifying with the help of my friend Matt Baume. He does so many wonderful videos on gay culture, but I think this one probably ranks as one of his best. There is no need for a description because the title says it all.