Vermont becomes fifth state to ban 'gay conversion therapy' for minors

Vermont Governor. Peter Shumlin

While our minds have been concentrating on other things, something positive happened in Vermont Wednesday.

From the office of Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin:

 At a time when some states are working to erode hard-fought advances in civil rights for the LGBT community, Gov. Peter Shumlin today signed a law to advance them in Vermont by banning the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion therapy. The new law bans the practice of seeking to change a minor's sexual orientation or gender identity in the State of Vermont.

"It's absurd to think that being gay or transgender is something to be cured of," Gov. Shumlin said. "Our country has come a long way in a short period of time in recognizing the civil rights of members of the LGBT community, and I am so proud that Vermont has taken a leadership role at every step of the way. At a time when the rights of LGBT individuals are under attack in other parts of the country, Vermont will continue to stand up to hatred and bigotry and show the rest of the country what tolerance, understanding, and common humanity look like."

Conversion therapy has been widely discredited by the scientific community. A 2015 report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) "found that variations in sexual orientation and gender identity are normal, and that conversion therapies or other efforts to change sexual orientation or gender identity are not effective, are harmful, and are not appropriate therapeutic practices."

Vermont joins California, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. in enacting a law to ban conversion therapy. Earlier this year, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced regulations to ban public and private insurers from covering the practice.

The ban on conversion therapy takes effect July 1, 2016.

Five states down. Forty-five more to go. And we will make it a reality.

Related article - QUACKS: 'Conversion Therapists,' the Anti-LGBT Right, and the Demonization of Homosexuality

'Silly, pathetic black pastors grandstand for HB2' & other Thur. midday news briefs

Black pastors rally support for HB2, saying LGBT rights are not civil rights - As a black gay man, i always find it funny and sad when some of my own people deny their own. They seem to think that HB2 affects white gays. Black lgbts will also be affected. Of course they know this but will ignore it, just as they ignore the presence of black lgbts in the civil rights movement. It wasn't just heterosexual African-Americans being lynched, forced to live under segregation and having their dignity degraded. Nor was it solely heterosexual African-Americans who fought against such treatment. Bayard Rustin, James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, and so many black gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people stood up and fought for equality. 


 Also, I find it very hypocritical for some of these black pastor to try and take the mantle of holiness. The group of pastors featured in the video (included in the link above) includes Patrick Wooden, a man who once said that gay men are forced to wear diapers because we have too much sex and won't wait for our "surgeries" to heal:



THIS is the caliber of the black "pastors" who support HB2. 

In other news: 
 

Gawker Didn’t ‘Out’ Peter Thiel — Nor Did It Wrong Him in Any Way - Paypal may not support HB2, but what its owner is doing could have NASTY consequences for the lgbt community. A man who stands to hurt his own people is not a man.  

The False Premise Texas Is Using To Challenge Transgender Protections - Lies told to scare voters NEVER do well in court. 

 How The Story Of A 17-Year-Old Bisexual Schoolgirl Is Being Misrepresented By The Government - Apparently other countries have religious right figures who are skilled at smearing lgbts.  

How Did You Build Your Family As An LGBT Couple? - This story is a wonderful purge from all of the negativity.

The time a transgender woman TOTALLY SHUT DOWN a Family Research Council spokesperson

How in the heck did I miss THIS clip?

No doubt the Family Research Council will be happy as a pig in mud over the news that 11 states filed a lawsuit against the Obama Administration over the president's trans-inclusive directive.

Allow me to poke some holes in their sails courtesy of a clip from an episode earlier this year (March) of the Dr. Drew talk show. The host and his guests were discussing HB2 and transgender pilot Jessica Taylor did what a lot of us need to do. Seeing her chance, she called out Peter Sprigg of the anti-lgbt hate group the Family Research Council about the lies people like him tell about the transgender community, especially when it comes to public restrooms.

What you are about to see is what happens when members of anti-lgbt groups face the people they demonize. To put it lightly, "Jessica handed Sprigg his ass"

'KKK exploiting anti-transgender fear to recruit' & other Wed. midday news briefs'

Nyle DiMarco

 KKK Is Using Trans Bathroom Controversy To Recruit New Members - To those who claim that you cannot compare even the basics of the transgender movement (or the lgbt movement in gender) for equality to the African-American civil rights movement, isn't it a SHAME that the enemies of equality don't share that same point of view . . .

Nyle DiMarco makes history as Dancing With The Stars' first LGBTI winner - In matters of positive visibility, this is a a serious achievement. 

How A Conservative Law Firm Convinced A School System To Gamble On An Anti-Transgender Policy - Like a Twilight Zone episode I once saw "He's Alive," the anti-lgbt hate group Alliance Defending Freedom plays on the fears and desires of gullible school districts, causing them to damage themselves in court and then repeat the cycle in other places. Or if that example is too intense, then just think of the Shakespeare play "Othello" and guess who is Othello and who is Iago.  

Ed board to 'follow state lead' on transgender policy - And Mississippi takes back a positive step it made. Stupid. 

 San Francisco 49ers Slam North Carolina’s Anti-Queer Law - And THEN donated 75,000 to Equality North Carolina, something which I think should be the headline.

Anti-gay groups create false sense of Christian entitlement

There are times that we concentrate so much on how anti-lgbt groups exploit fear that we fail to mention how they play on their followers' sense of entitlement. As seen by a passage from a fundraising letter by American Family Association president Tim Wildmon, anti-lgbt groups, playing on religious egos is a huge part of their unfortunate appeal:

Certainly, we have had our national problems, as human institutions always have had and always will have. But America, for most of her history, has held to the Judeo-Christian value system to guide our path of understanding and govern our social morals. We used to teach our children love of country, respect for authority, and the Ten Commandments in school, at home, and in church. Not too long ago, we had reverence for the things of God. Today open sacrilege is the norm, especially in popular culture. We think we can make up our own truth instead of submitting to the truth of Scripture. 

If Wildmon was an African-American, I doubt he would be pushing such a false idea of how America was. But this false notion that folks like him worship a "true faith" and that America was built for folks like them while  the rest of us are who don't believe as they do are only here at Wildmon and company's will and pleasure does wonders to sway folks. And it especially hinders their common sense when others affiliated with the American Family Association begin to act not so Christ-like:

'Boycott Target = Street preacher madness' & other Tue midday news briefs

Here is something American Family Association's "Boycott Target" movement did accomplish - a hilarious video compilation of folks screaming in Target stores while being booed by customers and generally wrecking the positive ideas of Christianity. I wonder will this video become as popular as the "Farting Preacher" video (As seen below. You know I simply have to include it): 



In other news: 

 Pedia-trick-cians - Just in case you didn't hear, Snopes.com nails the fraudulent American College of Pediatricians for astroturfing anti-lgbt lies.* (see addendum below) 

DJ Takes Blame for Padres' National Anthem 'Unfortunate Mistake,' Apologizes to Gay Men's Chorus - Far be it from me to pull a deeper meaning out of this, but what the hell. I actually believe this guy and feel kinda sorry for him. I have read that many of my lgbt colleagues aren't buying his apology and that makes me wonder. I recognize their right to disbelieve because we have faced so much nonsense in our lives that we are very guarded when someone seemingly attacks us. But sometimes there are explanations to things like this and as a community, we should be able to sometimes accept someone's apology. 

Why the conservative war against transgender rights is doomed to fail - This article makes wonderful points.  

Church of Scotland votes to allow ministers to be in same-sex marriages - Sweet! 

Addendum - While I am happy that the American College of Pediatricians is being called out in a public way, I am also going to point out that I called them out in 2009 and 2010. Sue me already. It's the "Truman Capote" in me: 

 The American College of Pediatricians and the Laundering of Junk Science

American College of Pediatricians, NARTH pushes new site featuring old anti-gay lies

'Morality' hypocrites defend Roy Moore's attempt to sidestep SCOTUS marriage equality ruling

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore probably feels like he's always standing alone. But on Saturday, he was anything but, as crowds of people poured out by the judicial building in Montgomery to rally for the popular judge. Three weeks after being suspended from the bench without pay, Roy Moore is fighting the politically motivated charges against him. It all started several months ago, when far-Left extremists filed a complaint with the state's Judicial Inquiry Commission. Why? Because Justice Moore didn't roll over and fall in line after five members of the U.S. Supreme Court forced their definition of marriage on the rest of the country.

That paragraph of  nonsensical jargon is the beginning of the Family Research Council''s defense of disgraced Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore. Moore was suspended for attempting to defy the SCOTUS ruling legalizing marriage equality.

Moore is no martyr just as the Family Research Council is not a Christian organization. Unlike a certain backwoods Kentucky clerk, Moore cannot plead ignorance of our laws. He was fully aware that a SCOTUS decision meant that marriage equality. It's rather pitiful how he attempts to play the victim, aided by groups like the Family Research Council and a recent rally, seen on video below:



Call us demonic all you want. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that lgbts fought and won marriage equality the right way. We went through the proper channels, defended our case, and ultimately proved to SCOTUS that we deserve the right to marry.

As a judge, Moore know of the process but choose to ignore it because of his own desires. Pretty it up all you want to. The fact of the matter is that Moore deserved to be suspended. If he receives worse, he deserves that too.