'GOP Senators reintroduce national anti-LGBTQ religious liberty bill in Congress' & other Fri midday news briefs

Republicans return the anti-gay First Amendment Defense Act to Congress - Twenty-one Republican Senators are co-sponsoring a national bill which would make anti-LGBTQ discrimination allowable on the grounds of "religious liberty." They are either anticipating an anti-LGBTQ SCOTUS ruling or not wanting to wait that far ahead. And Trump has said he would sign the bill if it is passed by Congress. If they knew what I knew, they wouldn't even try it. A nation of furious queer folks (which I will be one of) is what they will have to face. And I wouldn't bet on Godzilla or King Kong if they had to face the same prospect.

RuPaul’s Version Of LGBT History Erases Decades Of Trans Drag Queens - RuPaul has caused a firestorm with recent negative comments about transgender women and the art of drag. He is wrong. You don't attempt to solely own a history which also belongs to others in our community. (Editor's note - I hope that people pay as much attention to the article above as I anticipate they will pay to this one. BOTH are important but we need to be very cognizant of Congress because they make the laws which affect our lives for better or worse).

Bill to ban ‘conversion therapy’ moves forward in Maine Legislature - Meanwhile, other fights go on. . .

More U.S. Schools Are Offering Safe Spaces For LGBTQ Youth - And on . . .

LGBTI students demand UK Government make 'gay cure' therapy illegal - And on . . .

Conversion therapy is discredited torture, but media outlets are letting its advocates spread lies about the practice - And the media in America needs to do a better job educating folks about the issue.

Religious right defense of 'ex-gay' therapy is doomed to fail

I've noticed that more states are attempting to outlaw the fraudulent and dangerous practice of reparative,  conversion, or "ex-gay" therapy for children. And religious right groups, such as the Family Research Council, are attempting to portray this therapy as either "religious liberty" or credible practices.

I personally think this is a battle which they are way behind and will lose big time. One reason is that people are becoming hip to the fact that you can't change your sexual orientation as easily as a light bulb. Another reason is featured in the videos below. The LGBTQ community has the "receipts" on how "ex-gay" therapy has endangered many lives. And we don't mind showing them off.

Pastor upset that Facebook shut down his homosexuality = pedophilia lie

The American Family Association's phony news source, One News Now is taking up the cause of a West Virginia pastor who claims he was unfairly blocked on Facebook:

A West Virginia pastor is finding his ministry's Facebook page continually disabled by the social media giant and he wants to know why – and for one of the first times, Facebook has agreed to explain its action. 

Facebook claims to have two billion users, meaning that at any given time roughly a third of all humanity is using the social media platform. Neil Potts, who is among the team that sets policy for Facebook, agreed to talk with OneNewsNow about Pastor Rich Penkoski's "Warriors for Christ" page, which has been taken down several times for what Facebook calls "hate speech." 

"In this case," says Potts, "we felt that the attacks upon the people were actually doing more harm by silencing people within the larger Facebook community – and we removed the page." 

In an earlier report, Penkoski told OneNewsNow that he "get[s] banned all the time .... If I post anything with the acronym LGBT in it, regardless of what it's about, it gets reported and I get banned for 30 days." He also said he personally knows what constitutes "hate speech" because he receives it constantly.

So what finally got Penkoski blocked? Allegedly the following:

'HUD secretary Ben Carson removes anti-discrimination language from agency's mission statement' & other Wed midday news briefs

Ben Carson disgraces himself.

Ben Carson Removes Anti-Discrimination Language From HUD Mission Statement - In the middle of attempting to bilk taxpayers of $31,000 to pay for office furniture and allegedly conducting a witch hunt against the person who told, HUD head Ben Carson makes a subtle and unnecessary strike against the LGBTQ community. NO ONE in my house plans to ever recognize this man during Black History Month ever again.

This converted London Bus is giving homeless LGBT people a place to sleep at night - This like this remind us that there is always good in the world. 

Australia Reveals First Gay Marriage Ended In Heartbreak - No they did not break up. And the story illustrates how important marriage equality is to our community.

‘We’ve seen an incredible sea change’: Trans author Sarah McBride reflects on progress of equality - And if we want to KEEP that sea change, we can't sit on our asses thinking that the battle is over. It's just getting interesting. 

Anti-trans activists plan ‘mass resignation’ from Labour over trans-inclusive policy - Case in point.

Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran is retiring. Here’s why we won’t miss him. - We done outlasted another one, y'all.

Randy Rainbow torches the NRA and Dana Loesch through song

Randy Rainbow is a wonderful and constant reminder that you can fight the evil in America without allowing it to feed on you or succumbing to the depression it could invoke in you. And the way he absolutely torches the NRA and its spokesperson Dana Loesch in this video should be taught as a lesson in the accurate precision of wit.

'Hate groups working diligently under cloud of Trump chaos to undermine LGBTQ equality & safety' & other Tue midday news briefs

Emboldened By Trump, Georgia GOP Pushes Anti-LGBTQ Adoption Bill - This piece by Michelangelo Signorile isn't just about the adoption bill:

This anti-LGBTQ adoption bill is part of a wide-reaching plan by religious conservatives ― backed by President Donald Trump and his administration ― to turn same-sex marriage into second-class marriage with a longer-term goal of overturning federal marriage rights for gays and lesbians entirely. 

How are religious conservatives turning same-sex marriage into second-class marriage? By getting courts to rule that wedding-related businesses can turn away gay couples based on the business owners’ religious beliefs, by allowing governments to refuse to give the same benefits to spouses within same-sex marriages as they do to those within opposite-sex marriages, and by allowing adoption agencies to say no to LGBTQ parents. 

I’ve written before about their strategic plans. They date back to at least 2014 ― before the 2015 Obergefell marriage equality ruling ― when anti-LGBQ conservatives mapped out what they would do if they lost at the high court (which they did). I sat in on a panel at the Family Research Council’s 2014 Values Voter Summit, during which Frank Schubert (the mastermind behind California’s infamous Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in 2008), the National Organization for Marriage’s Brian Brown and others articulated a two-pronged strategy. This strategy, they said, would mirror their highly successful attacks on abortion rights and Roe v. Wade over the years. They would incrementally chip away at marriage rights for queer people in the short-term through the creation of new laws while, in the long-term, working to overturn any high court ruling that granted federal rights ― the goal being to send the issues back to individual states to decide.

Hate group shields hate group - Family Research Council defends Alliance Defending Freedom's war on gay adoption - That's my post from last night is important. Undermining gay adoption is only ONE part of a long-term strategy to cut down LGBTQ equality by ADF. In the midst of the distraction caused by Trump's chaos, this group is working steadily and diligently. Pay attention, LGBTQ community and get the word out. 

Evangelical leader shreds ‘corruption’ of Trump-backing Christians who ‘used to’ care about morals - That's why voices like this need to more very vocal. 

Gay Republican runs for U.S. Senate in Delaware - But he is tiptoeing. Although having him in Congress would be strategically advantageous for the community.

U.K. Celebrates LGBT Fostering and Adoption Week - How ironic that the UK is celebrating LGBTG fostering and adoption while groups in America are working to undermine both.

Hate group shields hate group - Family Research Council defends Alliance Defending Freedom's war on gay adoption

Media Matters has the goods on the Alliance Defending Freedom's plan to undermine gay adoption. But the Family Research Council doesn't want anyone to know about it.

Last week, the organization Media Matters ran a feature article looking at how anti-LGBTQ hate group the Alliance Defending Freedom is working to pass laws in several states to make it more difficult for gays to adopt children, including how it is pushing anti-gay adoption laws in five states.

Apparently the article did its work in raising eyebrows because another anti-LGBTQ hate group, the Family Research Council, attempted today to defend ADF:

At Media Matters, why don't kids matter? The Soros-funded group seems to be going out of its way to shame the organizations whose only concern is exactly that. Their latest target? Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). 

Like most conservatives, ADF has been doing everything it can to defend the freedom of adoption agencies to place children in the best possible home -- a freedom, unfortunately, that's been complicated by the recent efforts of the anti-faith and LGBT lobbies. Media Matters is not normally a direct player in this debate. After all, its mission is keeping watch on the media – not wading in to specific social issue culture battles, or at least that is what they've claimed.