Wednesday, March 02, 2022

'Firefighters clap back at homophobic comments in viral TikTok' & other Wed midday news briefs



Firefighters Clap Back at Homophobic Comments in Viral TikTok - Hilarious! Sometimes it's the seemingly small acts of pro-LGBTQ defiance which makes it all better. 



Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, March 01, 2022

ACLU, Lambda Legal steps in with lawsuit for family feeling the brunt of Texas investigation of trans children and their parents

This right here is some HEAVY bullsh!t and I am too angry to be scared. Those who are scared, please know that I am not calling you cowards. You have a right to your fear. Don't lose hope because this will not stand. Meanwhile, I've got enough rage right now for everybody. Just call me the Santa Claus of rage.

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing Texas governor Greg Abbott over his directive to investigate supportive parents of trans children for child abuse.


The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department for Family and Protective Services and Governor Greg Abbott for implementing a directive to investigate parents that provide gender-affirming care to transgender children. 

 In a Feb. 22 letter, Abbott ordered the DFPS to investigate gender-affirming care among youths in the state following an official declaration from state Attorney General Ken Paxton who also called it "child abuse." The DFPS promptly announced that it would comply with Paxton and Abbott's directive. The department told ABC affiliate KVUE there were no investigations into such alleged "child abuse" before Abbott's directive. DFPS Commissioner Jaime Masters is also listed as a defendant in the complaint.

 

The lawsuit, announced by the ACLU and LGBTQ group Lambda Legal, is on behalf of a parent (who is named Jane Doe) of a trans child (who is named Mary Doe) and an employee the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services(dig the irony) . Her statement in the petition (pgs 20-24) is downright chilling.

Read more »
Posted by at 2 comments:

Monday, February 28, 2022

Over 150+ companies announce their opposition to Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill as it pass Senate committee

 


Even though Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill may still become law, there is no question that it has galvanized the state's LGBTQ community.

Not to mention over 150 companies


The bill made it out of a Senate committee meeting.

But it got righteously wrecked during the meeting by people speaking against it. 

So while Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill is a travesty and may still become law, it has motivated many in the state to speak out, publicly defending themselves and their LGBTQ family members and friends. 

And the LGBTQ kids standing up for themselves is icing on the cake. 
Posted by at No comments:

'Right-wing media blaming LGBTQ equality for Russia's invasion of Ukraine' & other Mon midday news briefs



Right-wing media blame LGBTQ equality, “pride flags” for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - They blame us for everything else. Why not this. 

Conservatives freak out because teachers won’t be able to look up students’ sexes anymore - 'Conservatives freak out' is turning out to be a very consistent headline.

How Texas' war on trans youth feels when you have a trans child - This war on trans kids and their affirming parents must end. 

SCOTUS Nom Ketanji Brown Jackson Has Nearly Flaw-Free LGBTQ+ Record - Just when I thought I couldn't get any more pumped up and happy about Justice Jackson's nomination.
Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, February 27, 2022

Rinse and repeat cycle - Right-wing entities create another false panic about trans women and little girls

 

To coin an overused phrase, "it's a story as old as the hills."

  • An alleged incident (usually involving kids) takes place which seemingly puts the LGBTQ community in a negative light. 
  • There is a overinflated media controversy instigated and exploited by right-wing entities and 'concerned parents'  which dominates the airwaves. But when it's all said and done, the controversy generally turns out to be nothing. But the damage is done. 
  • There are no apologies, right-wing entities slink away whistling nonchalantly with their hands in their pockets, suddenly the concerned parents  aren't so concerned, and the LGBTQ community and their allies are left to pick up the pieces after being attacked, insulted, and lied on with no apology or recompensement  of any type forthcoming.

And then the cycle repeats itself. 

Case in point, a a recent situation at a school in California. 

According to a Feb 19th issue of  The Los Angeles Blade:

A three-day overnight science camp for fifth-grade girls in the San Bernardino Mountains near Running Springs has erupted in controversy after a group of parents found out that non-binary counselors slept in the same cabins. A group of parents of students at Weaver Elementary School in Los Alamitos are upset with the Los Alamitos Unified School District after their children informed them that “biologically male counselors,” who use they/them pronouns, were sleeping in the same cabins as the girls.KTLA 5 reported that one parent Rachel Sandoval, said: 

“I contacted the school and asked them if they were able to confirm that there was not a man actually sleeping in the same cabin as the girls. They were not able to confirm that.” The parents told the station that they weren’t alleging that a crime was committed just that the omission of the policy of the camp was not disclosed. Speaking with KTLA, Emmi Teige, the assistant director of Camp Pali said, “Per California law, we place staff in cabins they identify with.”

Notice the statement Sandoval claimed she put to the school - “I contacted the school and asked them if they were able to confirm that there was not a man actually sleeping in the same cabin as the girls. They were not able to confirm that.”

 The manner in which she phrased her concern to KTLA makes it automatically sound as if  school officials were hiding something or were inept. The truth is probably based upon policy, the school couldn't give her a definitive answer at the time she reportedly asked. With a situation that serious, I'm guessing that school officials would have had to investigate before giving anyone any definitive answer.

As it was, neither Sandoval nor any of the other parents had to allege that any crime was committed. That detail was conveniently left up to various members of  the right-wing media. The allegations caused a firestorm with many on the right extrapolating and manipulating parental fears with false allegations complete with lurid headlines (Editor's note - the headlines below are accurate but I will not provide a link to any of it):

Parents Enraged After School Allows Biological Male “Transgender” Counselors to Share Cabins with Young Girls at Science Camp 

 WATCH: PARENTS OUTRAGED TO LEARN BIOLOGICAL MALE CAMP COUNSELORS SLEEPING IN SAME CABIN AS FIFTH GRADE GIRLS

Non-binary biological male counselors allowed to sleep in fifth-grade girls' cabins at science camp 

Parents are furious after biological male, non-binary counselors slept in rooms with little girls

With school officials not being able to give an answer before a complete investigation but the parents and the right-wing media free to do interview after interview or twist the situation, false stories were bound to fly wide and far before truth even came out.

And now comes the hook. According to KTLA, the school district investigated and found the following:

. . . on Monday, a spokesperson sent KTLA a statement indicating there had been no biologically male counselors in shared cabins with female students at the camp that they are aware of. 

 “While counselors may have used the pronouns, they/them, the use of these pronouns is not restricted to biological males. Biological females also use those term,” the statement read. “Pali Institute is an equal opportunity employer and always has been, with diversity and inclusion among its core values. Its commitment to diversity and inclusion applies equally to its students. Pali Institute’s priority is and always has been to ensure the health, welfare, and safety of its students, with strict rules and guidelines that govern staff interaction with students.”

It's convenient that the complaining parents said that they weren't alleging that a crime was committed but have a problem with camp policy. That "cover your ass" statement allows them to continue to attack school officials and the camp for its policy. As if the policy was the problem instead of their ignorance and hysteria.

And it also allows the far right to continue to rile up rage about schools and LGBTQ people.


The Los Alamitos Unified School District has had LGBTQ+ issues escalate previous to this incident. Tensions ran high in the Los Alamitos Unified School District after parents learned that a teacher at Oak Middle School at the start of the school year asked his students to let him know what their preferred pronouns are during classes. 

 . . . The battle over the use of pronouns in the Los Alamitos Unified School District is reflective of controversies in thousands of school districts across the United States over the past 14 months, driven in part by severe disagreements over requirements for face masks and vaccinations to battles over the rights of Transgender students.
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, February 24, 2022

Five TX district attorneys are refusing to follow Abbott's directive targeting trans kids and their parents


While the vast majority of attention is focused on Putin's invasion of the Ukraine, LGBTQ Americans are reminded that there are forces in the country intent on giving us hell. 

On Thursday, the Florida House passed that awful 'Don't Say Gay' bill. It will now go to the Senate where it is unfortunately expected to pass. And Gov. DeSantis will most likely sign it into law. But that battle is still far from over. 

Meanwhile in Texas, an awful directive by Gov Gregg Abbott targeting trans kids and their parents is meeting a resistance. 

 According to The USA Today:

District attorneys representing five of Texas' largest counties on Wednesday said they will not treat gender-affirming procedures for transgender youth as "child abuse," defying a push by the state's attorney general and governor to target the medical treatments. 

 The news comes a day after an order from Gov. Greg Abbott mandated the state's child welfare agency treat gender-affirming procedures as "child abuse," a move with potential legal consequences for both parents of transgender youth and any teacher or other authority figure who interacts with a trans child. The district attorneys said they believe Gov. Abbott's order — and the legal opinion by Attorney General Ken Paxton on which the order is based — constitute "an egregious invasion of privacy."

Abbott's order has generated chaos around the state with parents of trans kids. Some fear that they will be prosecuted and have their children taken away.  According to Time magazine, some parents are already receiving messages claiming that they have been reported. 

Such as Lisa Stanton:

When Lisa Stanton looked at her phone on Wednesday morning, she felt like she’d been “physically punched.” The day before, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a letter directing the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to conduct “prompt and thorough” investigations into the families of trans and gender expansive youth who’ve received gender-affirming care, asserting that the care can “legally constitute child abuse.” 

 Stanton and her family have long been public about their 11-year-old daughter, Maya, being trans. Maya testified in the state capital in 2021 against proposed legislation that would have criminalized gender-affirming care. And when Stanton opened her phone Wednesday morning, she saw a wall of social media messages from strangers saying they’d already reported her to Protective Services. 
“I know I’m a good parent,” says Stanton, who lives in Houston. “My child is happy and healthy and thriving, and I know that what I’m doing is right for her.” Yet the messages still terrified her.

And celebrities are beginning to weigh in. Celebrities such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Elliot Page, Kerry Washington and Gabrielle Union criticized Abbott for his order..

“This is where we are,” Union tweeted Tuesday. “We shot past dangerous and horrific a long time ago. The rubber has hit the road so who is standing shoulder to shoulder in this fight?” Trans inclusivity is a cause close to Union's heart. The "Bring It On" star's 14-year-old stepdaughter, Zaya, came out as transgender in February 2020.
Posted by at No comments:

'GOP candidate tried to get Russia to help him unseat openly gay Congressman' & other Thur midday news briefs



GOP Candidate Sought Russian Help to Unseat Gay Rep. David Cicilline​ - He failed.



Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)