South Carolina legislators ignore parents, trans kids, and medical professionals to pass anti-trans bill out of committee

 

 An anti-trans bill in South Carolina sailed through a house committee in spite of the fact that over 40 South Carolinians (parents, children, and medical professionals) present at the hearing spoke against it and only one person, an out-of-state lawyer affiliated with an anti-LGBTQ group appearing on video, spoke in favor of it.

From The Associated Press: 

 Pleas from transgender children’s pediatricians and parents to keep allowing such kids to receive hormone therapies failed to stop Republican lawmakers from advancing a ban on those treatments to the South Carolina House floor on Wednesday. The GOP-led Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee voted to advance the bill within the first two days of the 2024 legislative session. 

At least 22 states have enacted similar restrictions amid recent Republican-led crackdowns on transgender medical care, bathroom usage and sports participation. The expediency underscores South Carolina House Republicans' prioritization of the conservative issue at the outset of an election year that will pit incumbents against primary challengers from the right. 

The bill would bar health professionals from performing gender transition surgery, prescribing puberty-blocking drugs and overseeing hormone therapy for anyone under 18 years old. It also prevents Medicaid from covering such care for anyone under the age of 26.

The committee hearing was held on Tuesday and demonstrated just how much coordinated nonsense the process was. For one thing, out of 50 speaking people testifying about the bill, 49 spoke against it. And they came with "receipts." 

According to journalist Erin Reed:

 Phillip Ford, who spoke in opposition to the bill, was representing multiple groups. He stated in his speech that the mere hearing of anti-trans bills would result in a negative mental health impact to 94% of queer youth in the state, and 42% of queer youth considering suicide, citing a Trevor project study. “I was one of those youths,” he said, “several years ago when they passed the amendment banning marriage equality.” 

 After Ford pointed out that that studies show that transgender care is medically necessary and lifesaving, he was questioned by Republican Representative Heath Sessions, who asked incredulously, “Can we ask when we have speakers citing studies, can we get that turned into the committee?” He responded, “I’ve got them all right here,” pulling out a comically large binder of studies with a smirk. 

Below are some of the others who spoke against the bill. The moment with Ford shows that SC Republicans are willing to ignore accurate medical information in pursuit of their transphobic agenda.

And the fact that they chose to pass the bill out of committee in spite of parents, medical professionals and trans kids imploring them not to proves that they don't give a damn about parental rights or protecting kids; except for when they can weaponize the concepts.

Now speaking is Jessika Spearman, mother of 4 (including one child who is trans), mental health professional, and wife of a combat veteran. "My child is alive and thriving because he receives this necessary care. Please vote no on #H4624." pic.twitter.com/OQHhvtmzQ6

— SC United for Justice & Equality (@SCUnited_LGBTQ) January 9, 2024

Speaking now is Emily Foster, who is the sister of a transgender boy who grew up in #SouthCarolina. She shared that when her brother Knox finally got the trans-related care he needed, he was so much more joyful, kinder, and comfortable with himself. #SupportTransYouthSC #H4624 pic.twitter.com/R3JbktRQxX

— SC United for Justice & Equality (@SCUnited_LGBTQ) January 9, 2024

"We have glaring problems for kids in South Carolina. Why are we spending the first day of the legislative session going after a couple of thousand kids and their medically necessary care?" asks Dr. Michael O'Brien @DrOBrienMD. #SupportTransYouthSC #H4624 pic.twitter.com/9uNzjFfU4Y

— SC United for Justice & Equality (@SCUnited_LGBTQ) January 9, 2024

Thank you, Lynn Teague of @LWV, for taking the time today to testify against #H4624. This bill is a shameful example of government overreach in #SouthCarolina for the sole purpose of harming transgender youth. pic.twitter.com/TUZm2MVHbQ

— SC United for Justice & Equality (@SCUnited_LGBTQ) January 9, 2024

Veteran, father of 4, and husband Eric Childs speaks out against #H4624: "I want each of you in favor of this bill to examine your credentials and think about it you have any experience treating patients like these. If the answer is no, you should vote no." #SupportTransYouthSC pic.twitter.com/u8lACehgl6

— SC United for Justice & Equality (@SCUnited_LGBTQ) January 9, 2024

"I'm here today because my granddaughter is transgender, and there is nothing in this bill that is good for her or for the other youth in our state. When you take away the one positive option that these kids have in our state, you leave them with some awful options." #H4624 pic.twitter.com/fhC9nkUx6S

— SC United for Justice & Equality (@SCUnited_LGBTQ) January 9, 2024

Speaking now is David Bell and his wife Rebecca, who share their story of supporting their transgender child – a story of joy and progress, and a story of how challenging it has already been to navigate anti-trans hostility & how #H4624 would make it worse. #SupportTransYouthSC pic.twitter.com/XDpojep3HC

— SC United for Justice & Equality (@SCUnited_LGBTQ) January 9, 2024

In spite of all of witnesses - parents, kids and medical professionals and all residents of South Carolina - the committee chose to take the word of this one witness from the Alliance Defending Freedom who isn't a resident of SC and didn't even bother to show up in person:

Surprise! The first (and so far only) person to testify in favor of #H4624 is a representative from @AllianceDefends, a far-right, extreme organization certified as a hate group by @splcenter. They tour the country pushing these bans against the will of actual South Carolinians. pic.twitter.com/cnifgkkO88

— SC United for Justice & Equality (@SCUnited_LGBTQ) January 9, 2024

According to WLTX News 19:

If the bill passes in the House, it will move to the Senate, which may be less eager to advance the issue. The bill is sponsored by House Majority Leader Davey Hiott and House Speaker Murrell Smith, joined by 27 other GOP co-sponsors. This collective sponsorship sends a clear signal that the legislation is a top priority for House Republicans.

 

Why 'Don't Say Gay' laws may not be such a bad idea after all . . . or something like that

 Based on this comic strip courtesy of Lefty Cartoons (which you can support with your dollars - a pledge of $1 or $2 or more), maybe the push for 'Don't Say Gay' laws isn't a bad idea. After all, won't someone PLEASE think of the children. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 

Video - Don't let Donald Trump lie to you about his disastrous response to the COVID pandemic

For now, there is a very strong chance that the upcoming 2024 presidential election will be a rematch of the 2020 election. Some people are bellyaching over it because they don't like either candidate. 

I say get over it. 

There is no surprise about who I'm supporting. President Biden has done a wonderful job as far as I' concerned, particularly in this ultra petty political climate where everyone - including pundits - care more enriching themselves than serving and educating the public.

Most specifically, Trump has always been a disaster. There aren't enough words in the English language which I can use to properly articulate how much I despise that man. As to why, there are so many reasons to choose from. If I had to pick one, it would be how he botched the COVID pandemic response and thus is responsible for the deaths of countless Americans. That's bad enough in itself but to make it even worse, Trump and his supporters are going to gaslight us about what he did.

I've already posted videos on how Trump botched the COVID pandemic response and how Fox News pundits tried to cover up for him. Consider the videos below as a continuation. 

The first video below features a timeline of Trump downplaying COVID even though he knew from the start how serious it was. The second video underscores that point because it is a timeline showing how the pandemic was growing and it includes Trump telling journalist Bob Woodward that he knew how serious COVID was from the beginning.

   

   

This video below shows how Trump denies the things he said about the pandemic with the footage of him making the statements that he claimed he didn't.  

 

Brought to you by Elon Musk's definition of 'free speech' - accusations that Hilary Clinton is a lesbian connected with Jeff Epstein

 This is indicative of the bull we have to deal with now that Elon Musk is running Twitter. Musk has a serious objection to trans people (including his trans daughter) but obviously has no problem with the platform amplifying ridiculous 'Hilary Clinton is secretly a lesbian and it's all connected to Jeffrey Epstein somehow' accusations.

For the benefit of those not knowledgeable about the purveyor of this nonsense (and I apologize for making you aware of him), this is Dom Lucre, a far-right Twitter personality with over 900,000 followers. As you can tell, he is very popular because of tweets like the one above.  And very inaccurate.

According to Forbes

Dom Lucre is the internet personality of Dominick McGee, according to a New York Times feature which profiled him as one of several right-wing social media users who became famous for sharing 2020 election denial posts. Lucre is known for his active Twitter presence, where he frequently posts misinformation.

 

In June, when Madonna suffered a bacterial infection, he suggested vaccines were the reason she was hospitalized, and he previously claimed “following the science oftentimes leads to a graveyard.” In June, he tweeted: “Adrenochrome is real and I can prove it,” referencing a conspiracy theory embraced by QAnon that promotes the idea the wealthy, Hollywood elite and Democrats harvest the blood of children for a chemical called adrenochrome that they ingest to stay young. The theory has been debunked by members of the scientific community who note the chemical does not have rejuvenating properties.

 Lucre also still posts claims that the 2020 election was stolen, alleging former President Donald Trump was the rightful winner. 

 Last year, he was suspended for posting a screenshot of a video depicting child sexual abuse supposedly connected to Peter Scully, an Australian man sentenced to life in prison for child sex abuse. After an outcry by many on the right, he was brought back:

 His suspension drew immediate outrage from his right-wing supporters, some of whom tweeted “Free Dom” to encourage his reinstatement. In a series of tweets Wednesday, Twitter owner Elon Musk said he was told the suspension was because Lucre posted child exploitation images connected to Scully, claiming only the people on Twitter’s child sexual exploitation team have seen the pictures and Twitter “will delete those posts and reinstate the account.”

Also, check out who demanded Lucre's reinstatement:

 

. . .Supporters of Lucre were quick to voice their outrage over his suspension on Twitter, including notable voices like Kari Lake, the 2022 Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee who embraced election fraud conspiracy theories. Lake tweeted a screenshot of Lucre’s suspended account, stating: “When will the censorship end, @elonmusk?”

 Chaya Raichik, known for running the right-wing Libs of TikTok social media accounts, tweeted: “FREE DOM LUCRE @elonmusk @lindayacc,” tagging both Musk and Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino. The right-wing account “End Wokeness,” which has more than 1.4 million followers, tweeted its anger over Lucre’s suspension and helped to try and trend “FREE DOM” on the platform. 

 The irony of Raichik defending someone who posted a video depicting child sex abuse while at the same time accusing the LGBTQ community of child sex abuse (which she often does) shouldn't escape anyone's notice.

'Southern Baptist Convention settles sex abuse lawsuit (and not a drag queen in sight)' & other Wed midday news briefs

Southern Baptist Convention settles sex abuse lawsuit against former judge Paul Pressler​ - Not a drag queen in sight. Hmmmm.

Nine Moments in 2023 That Made LGBTQ+ History - We ruled last year - like we always do - in spite of some people's plots and plans. 

USA Boxing updates rulebook to include strict transgender athlete policy - And watch how the haters will hate.

For LGBTQ Catholics, new declaration on blessings is welcome — but complicated - Always complicated.

Anti-LGBTQ activist Kim Davis ordered to pay another judgement. Now owes over $300,000.

Kim Davis

Remember some years ago when Kim Davis was the talk of the conservative world because of her fight against marriage equality. Remember when she was heralded as an American hero and folks like Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz swooped in to get their pictures taken with her?

Well, the bill for all her nonsense is due and one has to wonder where are all of her friends?

From Lexington WKYT:

Kim Davis now owes roughly $360,000 to two Rowan County men she denied a marriage license and their attorneys. In on order filed Thursday, U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning awarded $246,026.40 in attorneys’ fees and $14,058.30 in expenses to attorneys for David Ermold and David Moore. Those costs are in addition to the $100,000 total the former Rowan County clerk owes Ermold and Moore after a jury in September awarded damages to the men. Davis was previously found to have violated Ermold and Moore’s constitutional rights when she denied them a marriage license in 2015. 

 The plaintiffs’ attorneys are legally entitled to request reimbursement of their fees and expenses as the “prevailing party” in the suit. The judge granted the entire sum of fees and expenses they had requested. Davis’s legal team had objected to the total, saying it should be less than half of what the plaintiffs’ attorneys originally requested. 

 This was the final issue to be resolved in a more-than-eight-year-long legal battle that included “extensive discovery, multiple motions, dispositive and otherwise, four appeals to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, one petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court and a three-day jury trial,” Judge Bunning noted.

 

I'm sure Davis will appeal, but the point remains. Are her friends such as Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz going to help her pay the bill should she ultimately lose this case?

Libs of TikTok's Chaya Raichik says that George Floyd's murderer is a 'political prisoner.'

Can it be that aside from being a bloodcurdling homophobe, Libs of TikTok's Chaya Raichik is also a virulent racist? Based on her tweet below, what do you think?

Gee Chaya, maybe Chauvin being in prison has to do with the fact that he was found guilty of murdering George Floyd in 2020. Chauvin, a police officer at the time, kneeled on Floyd's neck for nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and laying face-down on the ground. He also ignored Floyd's cries that he couldn't breathe. It was a vicious case of police brutality, and the repercussions rocked the nation for months.

I'm sure Chaya is fully aware of this. But who knows? Maybe this is her way of pining for the days when white men freely lynched black people without any type of reprisal. I shudder to hear her thoughts about Emmett Till's murder.

Whatever the case may be, Chaya's tweet about Chauvin is yet another reminder to the African-American and LGBTQ community about our common enemies. Scratch a homophobic bigot hard enough and more often than not, you'll most likely find a racist. 

And vice versa.