'Hate group trying to gross America out with book about gay sex' & other Fri midday news briefs

This propaganda book is nothing new. It presents the same old lies about gays wrapped in a new package.

MassResistance Wants To Gross America Out With Book About Gay Sex - It's an old but popular propaganda tactic of the anti-LGBTQ industry. Exploit preconceived notions and underlying curiosity about gay sex by establishing false talking points and relying on junk science and cherry-picked legitimate science to prove said points. It's as old as the "gay men want to recruit children" lie. I should write a book on it. Wait a minute. I did. 

There’s a rising global tide of crackdowns on LGBT communities - They are trying to test us but they won't defeat us. 

How two female playwrights are risking their lives to fight homophobia in Africa - Fight on, my sisters!

Jeff Sessions never thought ‘religious freedom’ would allow anti-LGBTQ discrimination - Yeah right. And I'm Scarlett O'Hara from 'Gone with the Wind.' 

Flier At Cleveland State University Encourages LGBTQ Students To Kill Themselves - Then the university claimed that the flier was "free speech." Then folks got really pissed ... 

Parents infuriated after football coach directs players to mock student with gay parents - This here is some mess. But it does show that more people care about doing the right thing. Other parents and students prevented this junk from happening.

Jeff Sessions won't answer question about his 'religious liberty' guidance and anti-LGBTQ discrimination

Durbin: Does religious liberty guidance let fed workers & contractors refuse LGBT people?

Sessions: [4 second pause] I'll get back to you. pic.twitter.com/E67XzDxh9e

— Dominic Holden (@dominicholden) October 18, 2017

There is so much nonsense, chaos, and confusion ala Trump that we are in danger of missing things happening which are important to the future of our equality. On Wednesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions faced a Senate committee and was asked questions about his "religious liberty" guidance memo.

The anti-LGBTQ industry trumpeted Sessions's guidance memo, claiming that it "protects" Christians from having to choose between their faith and their jobs. Those of us who know better says that it is the latest in the war on LGBTQ equality by the religious right and their supporters. In the committee hearing, we finally got to the meat of our problems with the idea of so-called religious liberty. The exchange above between Sessions and Sen. Dick Durbin is the reality of the dangers of Sessions's guidance memo and the idea of "religious liberty" as it is being pushed by the anti-LGBTQ industry.

It's not by accident that groups like the Family Research Council and the Alliance Defending Freedom, as well as people like FRC president Tony Perkins tend to shy away from a thorough debate about "religious liberty." And it's not by accident that Durbin's question left Sessions stymied and tongue-tied.

'Anti-LGBT industry hoping to play 'divide & conquer' plan to defeat pro-trans policies' & other Thur midday news briefs

Remember this mess? Expect the anti-LGBTQ industry to exploit something like it to divide our community.

Values Voter Summit Panelist: ‘Divide & Conquer’ To Defeat ‘Totalitarian’ Trans Inclusion Policies - Remember that "drop the T" crap some gay folks were pushing (as in abandon the transgender community while pursuing equality.) The anti-LGBTQ industry thinks that it's a wonderful strategy. So much so that they will be pushing something along the same lines along with other plans to denigrate the entire community. So folks deal with the fact that there should be and will be NO abandoning in this so-called culture war. If one of us goes down in flames, we all go down in flames. We are in this TOGETHER.

Two states brace for public campaigns against transgender equality - Speaking of which . . . 

White Nationalism and Christian Right Unite at Values Voter Summit - The sad thing is that there was no internal struggle with so-called Christians. They just want power. 

The U.N. Wants American Businesses to End Anti-LGBT Discrimination - Money always talks.

Settlement Proposed In North Carolina Transgender Bathroom Lawsuit - Could be good news for the transgender community. We'll see. 

HuffPost: Roy Moore’s Charity Accepted Donation From Nazi-Founded Group - The next time the LGBTQ and African-American communities start fighting over legacies, they both need to be reminded that they have a lot of the same enemies.

Trump's judicial nominee continues to show why he shouldn't be appointed to the federal bench

Trump judicial nominee Jeff Mateer

According to Vice, in a 2015 speech to the National Religious Liberties Conference, Trump's judicial nominee to the federal bench in Texas, Jeff Mateer, admitted that he discriminates against gays:

“Guess what? I attend a conservative Baptist church. We discriminate, alright. On the basis of sexual orientation, we discriminate.” 

 . . . That remark is just one of many that Mateer — who’s currently the first assistant attorney general in Austin, Texas — made during a pair of speeches at the conference. In them, Mateer provided a roadmap for businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ people without legal repercussions. In the two speeches — titled “Seven Things Every Christian Employee Should Know” and “Are You Ready? Protecting Your Church or 501(c)(3) Ministry” — Mateer also said the Constitution doesn’t mandate the separation of church and state and that diversity training “brainwashes” people into accepting the LGBTQ lifestyle.   Citing both speeches, 36 LGBTQ advocacy organizations sent a letter to the Senate on Tuesday demanding that its members vote down Mateer’s nomination. His comments, the letter states, “disqualify” him from public service.

Comments taken from the speeches are a veritable cornucopia of reasons as to why Mateer has no business on the federal bench.

Among them, Mateer said the separation of church and state is nowhere in the Constitution, diversity training is reprogramming, churches should be able to endorse candidates, marriage equality is illegal in spite of the SCOTUS decision legalizing it, and "honest conviction" allows employers to discriminate.

During the time of the speech, Mateer as employed as general counsel for First Liberty Institute, a religious right organization. He is already under fire for other past statements, including claiming that transgender children are a part of "Satan's plan." This latest development only adds to his troubles.


Hat tip to The New Civil Rights Movement.

'Trump judicial nominee played 'Nazi Germany' card in attack on LGBTQs, Obama Admin.' & other Wed midday news briefs

It's LGBTQ Pride in SC! Check out articles in news briefs for more information.

Trump judicial nominee invoked Nazi Germany in describing treatment of Christians in US - See, I knew all of those claims comparing the Obama Administration to Nazis would come back to haunt some people. Just another notch as to why Jeff Mateer shouldn't have a lifetime appointment as a federal judge. His attacks on the LGBTQ community was bad enough.

Night Moves - With a move to a two-day festival, Famously Hot South Carolina Pride is courting a bigger audience. Can it do so without losing sight of itself? - It's LGBTQ Pride time in South Carolina. And guess what intrepid blogger has been asked to bring his 2017 GLAAD Media Award and to say a few words. What should I wear? How should I do my hair? 

As S.C. Celebrates Pride, Some Signs of Change in the Dominant Political Party? - And with this year's Pride comes the fact that slowly but sure, SC is changing for the better. It's still gonna take a little work but I'm always down for a fight. 

New York’s highest court’s first openly gay judge is sworn in - Quietly but steadily. 

Inside The Fight For Transgender Americans In The Mountains Of North Carolina - Meanwhile in NC, the transgender community aren't taking any slack. 

Tony Perkins Says LGBTQ People In The Military Create ‘Moral Confusion’ That Makes Men Harass Women - Dang, Tony. Sit your ass down!

Evangelical hate group tries & fails to justify support of Trump

Trump and conservative evangelicals have a predatory relationship.

Hate group the Family Research Council is furious about the criticism its recent Values Voter Summit and Trump, who gave a keynote address,  has received. In its latest  Washington Update, the group whined specifically about North Carolina pastor and activist William Barber

Barber had called the summit "heretical extremism" during an appearance on MSNBC and criticized Trump for addressing the group.

FRC head Perkins said the following about Barber's words:

Before the motorcade even arrived at the venue, liberals had fired their first shots. First, they took aim at Donald Trump for speaking to a "hate group." When that didn't work, they started in on Christians, shaming them for supporting a man they claim "contradict[s] Jesus directly." Conveniently (and selectively), they quote Scripture to make their point, desperate to prove that conservatives are betraying their faith by sharing an agenda with the president. "We have to stop pretending that these men and women are leaders in the Christian church," Rev. William Barber argued. Why? Because they appreciate a leader who will finally go to bat for that church? Say what you will about Trump's past or his fiery personality, he's done more for Christian conservatives than any president since Ronald Reagan -- and this is only his first year!

This isn't blind allegiance on the part of evangelicals. This is the earned respect of a man who's kept his promises. We wanted to move public policy, and this president has. Look at what he's done since taking office: defunding global abortion, protecting religious liberty, rolling back President Obama's social experimentation in the military, appointing originalist judges, overturning the HHS mandate, and fighting for mothers and their unborn children. As I've said before, our support isn't unconditional. But Donald Trump has done more to restore a pro-family, pro-faith culture in eight months than George W. Bush did in eight years! Were Christians foolish for supporting him?

Yet still, people like Rev. Barber fumed, "Last week, the men and women who crowded into that D.C. ballroom claimed to be attending a values conference. But instead, they proved yet again how morally bankrupt a vocal segment of Christians has become." Morally bankrupt for advocating for the unborn? Morally bankrupt for advocating for the freedom to live according to stated biblical values? Rev. Barber, who was a part of the Democratic National Convention, which called for forcing taxpayers to fund abortion and pushed religious freedom to the back of the bus so that sexual libertines could impose their values on the nation, is looking in the mirror of moral bankruptcy.

Even though he clearly didn't mean to, Perkins justified the criticism aimed at FRC and other so-called moral groups and evangelicals for supporting Trump. Since taking office, Trump has been a disaster who has thus far accomplished nothing. He is unfocused, immature, and has a tendency to either shamelessly lie or pick petty fights with members of his own party. He has taken the side of white supremacists, attacked the First Amendment right of individual Americans and the media, and whines about being treated unfairly when quoted specifically and directly.And I haven't even mentioned the sexual harassment accusations or the "grab them by the pu**y" comment.

It is this man, Perkins claims, who is restoring a pro-family, pro-faith culture. That, my friends is a big load of horse shit.  Perkins can talk about "restoring a pro-family, pro-faith culture" all he wants. Talk is cheap when everyone sees how quickly and eager you are to kiss the ass of the devil.

'Russian man first to go on record about anti-gay purge in Chechnya' & other Tue midday news briefs

They are 'purging' LGBTQs in Chechnya. We have on-record testimony from a victim.

Russian man is first to go on record as a victim of antigay purge in Chechnya - And what he has to say will put a chill in your bones. 

36 LGBT Groups Demand Withdrawal of Jeff Mateer Nomination - No Jeff Mateer, no one has forgotten about you. You have a special place on our sh!t list.

Me Too: The Difficult Truths About Gay Men And Sexual Assault - Goes without saying. 

Trump was asked to explain his support for an anti-LGBTQ extremist. It didn’t go well. - Does anything go well with this monstrosity polluting the Oval Office? 

Celebs, Rights Groups Appalled By Trump’s Reported Quip That Pence Wants To Hang Gays - Speak of the monstrosity, jokes like this is never funny. Direct your attention to the first item on today's news briefs.