'Public outcry gets Publix to change its bad policy on HIV prevention medication' & other Tue midday news briefs

Following outcry, Publix announces it will begin covering HIV prevention medication - In spite of today's climate, we still win when we band together and raise necessary hell the right way.

Why Are Murders Of Gay And Bi Men Up A Staggering 400 Percent? - One guess why:

 The great majority of these homicides, which include killers who lured their queer male victims using social media apps, weren’t committed by men involved with neo-Nazis or white supremacist groups. But those hate groups and their allies may feel emboldened by a president who talked about the neo-Nazi rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year as having “very fine people” on “both sides.” And according to another ADL report, white supremacists hate groups are organizing on campuses, targeting college students. Those factors, in turn, have added to the culture of fear in which rising violence against LGBTQ individuals has taken place.

 Be careful. People are being really stupid out there. Don't be lured. De-escalate the situation if you can, fight like hell with anything you can if you have to. No need to be polite.

Anti-Gay Pastor Leads Ex-Minister in Run-Off to be Costa Rica President - Lawd hammercy!

Mat Staver: Labeling Liberty Counsel An Anti-Gay Hate Group Is Akin To What The Nazis Did To The Jews - I think it's safe to say "that's not how any of that works."

Transgender bathroom policy debate returns to S.D. Legislature - And we are here again.

American Family Association wants credit for release of disastrous Nunes memo

Anti-LGBTQ hate group wants partial credit for the release of the Nunes FISA memo. I say it's all yours.

And the winner of the "You Really Should Keep Your Mouth Shut Because You Sound A Damn Fool" award this evening goes to anti-LGBTQ and Trump supporting evangelical hate group the American Family Association.

When I read the email from AFA president Tim Wildmon, I nearly choked from laughter. It definitely made my day:

Recently, we sent you an AFA Action Alert, asking you to contact President Donald Trump, your representative, and senators and urge them to take the necessary steps to declassify and publicly release a four-page FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) memo to the American public. 

High ranking government officials reported that a classified, four-page memo, dubbed the "FISA memo," had been made available to every member of the U.S. House of Representatives. 

The memo highlights extensive and abusive and likely illegal surveillance of private American citizens by federal government agencies. The classified memo contains details of a coordinated effort between government agencies, including the DOJ and FBI, and the Hillary Clinton political campaign against President Donald Trump, both prior to and following the presidential election. 

Your actions helped get the controversial four-page FISA memo written by the majority staff of the House Intelligence Committee has been released by President Trump.

For those who don't know, the FISA memo has been all of the talk since last week. It was a memo written at the direction of House Intelligence chairman Devin Nunes of CA and it claims that there is a conspiracy to unseat Donald Trump as president via the FBI. Before it's release, conservatives and the right-wing media had been hyping it up as "worse than Watergate" (i.e. the scandal which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the mid-1970s.). Self-avowed Trumpaholic Sean Hannity of Fox News was especially hyping it it to death.

'Illinois gubernatorial candidate demeans trans community, teachers, and others with ugly commercial' & other Mon midday news briefs

Illinois gubernatorial candidate unleashes hateful ad attacking trans people - Nothing says "election year"  better than a commercial demeaning transgender men and women, teachers, and feminists (see above video).

Illinois GOP Rep. Under Fire For Ad Mocking Transgender Community, Feminists - More details about the situation. And thank goodness Republicans are also calling her out.

Faces of Change: 30 amazing people looking to create change in the #LGBTQ community - WONDERFUL look at the diversity in our LGBTQ community. 

Sen. Gillibrand: Defeat Trump in 2020 to pass Equality Act - THIS I like. A long range goal which needs lots of action and preparation. I'm not being sarcastic here. Our community does need to stop wildcatting and in-fighting to gain a sense of discipline. With discipline comes the accomplishing of our goals. 

Man found guilty of plotting terrorist attack on LGBT pride event - Ew! Thank God he was stopped before he could carry it out.

Coca-Cola's Super Bowl commercial is unapologetically pro-LGBTQ

You can either chalk it to age or weariness at seeing the New England Patriots featured, but I don't intend to watch the Super Bowl this year. BUT this upcoming commercial during the Super Bowl by Coca-Cola is awesome.

According to The Advocate:

Coca-Cola's upcoming Super Bowl commercial, "The Wonder of Us," is breaking new ground with its LGBT inclusivity. With Pride symbols and a diverse cast, the 60-second spot explicitly targets and supports LGBT consumers. The voice-over states, “We all have different looks … and loves" while displaying a female couple onscreen. It also proclaims "There’s a Coke for he — and she — and her — and me — and them." while showing a presumed genderqueer-identifying individual wearing a rainbow collar.

I know someone will probably cry foul about "how Coca-Cola is exploiting the community for profit." And will probably ask questions about "what is Coca-Cola giving back to the LGBTQ community. Both are valid statements and questions.

 But for now, just let us have this. Seeing a commerical like this does wonders for the self-esteem of our LGBTQ kids.

'Same-sex promposal creates ridiculous drama at AL high school' & other Friday midday news briefs

Same-sex promposal leads to suspensions and walkout at Alabama high school - A young girl asked her girlfriend to the prom and the school freaked out, thereby causing a bunch of unnecessary mess. Seems to me the attempts to supposedly "protect" the children is worse than the thing folks claim they need protection from. 

Black History is LGBTQ History - You damn right!

Honoring Black LGBTQ Icons - And on that same note . . . 

FRC's Tony Perkins furious at article spotlighting religious right takeover of HHS - My post from last night because of article below:

The religious activists on the rise inside Trump's health department - THIS is the article Tony Perkins doesn't want you to read. Especially the part about how his folks are attempting to gak the courts.

'Bathroom bill' author gets a Republican primary challenger in North Carolina -Yes! "Primary" that fool!

FRC's Tony Perkins furious at article spotlighting religious right takeover of HHS

FRC's Tony Perkins is furious at article spotlighting religious right takeover of HHS.

Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council sounded off a hysterical alarm on Thursday regarding an article published last month in Politico. Perkins goes on as such:

The president laid out a compelling plan for the year in his State of the Union address, but it's important to remember that the key to good policy is good personnel. So, it's no surprise that anti-faith liberals are attacking some of the appointees in this administration, especially in one of the largest and most powerful departments, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which has been the nemesis of conservatives, especially under Barack Obama. 

HHS under the previous administration promoted blatant anti-faith policies, including forcing faith-based employers like the Little Sisters of the Poor to violate their faith in the healthcare plans they provide. HHS also in 2009 had rescinded President Bush's 2008 conscience regulation which merely enforced federal laws prohibiting government discrimination against pro-life healthcare entities. They did nothing to enforce conscience protections for the likes of Cathy DeCarlo, a nurse who was forced to participate in an abortion at a federally funded hospital, or churches in California that have lost their healthcare coverage because the state mandated abortion coverage in violation of federal law preventing such discrimination. The attack on life and faith under the prior administration may have been at its most egregious at HHS in the Obama era. 

So when competent pro-life conservatives were appointed to oversee HHS, of course anti-life liberals pitched a fit. As we wrote before, Valerie Huber is an excellent choice for the team over at HHS, due to her experience in social sciences and practical public health programs encouraging risk avoidance in the context of sexual behavior. Last week, the liberal media went after two other solid conservatives working to implement the president's agenda. The left's effort to demonize qualified people over policy differences sinks lower and lower. Roger Severino, for instance heads up the Office of Civil Rights, the office at HHS that oversees helping defend civil rights laws. After HHS announced a new division to protect the conscience rights of healthcare providers who object to being forced to participate in abortion or assisted suicide -- the protections of which are in existing law -- and after HHS issued a new proposed rule to enforce 25 conscience laws on the books, Roger was slammed as a conservative evangelical along with Shannon Royce, who heads up the office of faith-based initiatives.

FRC's piece goes on like this, making sure to appropriate the word "faith" to mean only the very narrow definition the organization has.

In reality, the Politico article has nothing to do with any "purge." Instead, it spells out legitimate concerns regarding some members of HHS who seem to be sacrificing the mission of the agency in pursuit of their personal religious agendas:

Franklin Graham's fawning praise of Trump is simply embarrassing

The speed from which Franklin Graham pivoted from "Stop picking on Donald Trump. We never said he was perfect." to "Oh my God! Isn't Donald Trump so dreamy! We need to pray for him!" is embarrassing. Especially when one considers that had not the media pressed him and other evangelicals on the matter, they probably wouldn't have mentioned Trump's many moral lapses. As the investigations into how Russia helped the Trump campaign continues, I have a feeling that Graham will be regretting his kiss-ass behavior in support of Trump.

And I bet that Graham never asked that Obama be prayed while HE was president. Yet more proof that Trump's relationship with Graham and company is merely about acquisition.

(Editor's note - I offer a pre-apology just in case it is proven that Graham did in fact ask for Obama to be prayed for.)