'George H.W. Bush wasn't much of a hero to the LGBTQ community during his presidency' & other Mon midday news briefs

George H.W. Bush wasn't much a hero to the LGBTQ community during his presidency.

George H. W. Bush blew GOP’s last chance to abandon anti-LGBTQ extremism - President George H.W. Bush died last weekend and while I said be nice, I didn't say lie about his history in regards to LGBTQ equality. You can be nice and truthful at the same time. He was a good man to many people and his family loved him. But he wasn't as much of a hero as he COULD have been to the LGBTQ community.  

The Media Is Erasing George H.W. Bush’s Catastrophic Harm To LGBTQ People - Michelangelo Signorile breaks it down. 

 The HIV Epidemic Won’t End Until We Address Health Disparities In Communities Of Color - Point blank, amen.

 Anti-LGBTQ pediatrician was called out in 2017 for error-filled post on transgender community - Post from last night. The targets of the anti-LGBTQ industry may change, but the tactics and lies don't. Neither do the condemnations when they are caught lying.
 

Lesbian couple made to quit jobs for being ‘too gay’ - So much mess the LGBTQ community continues to fight against. 
 

 Pope Francis says gay life has become ‘fashionable’ and is hurting the Catholic Church - Really? Don't blame us for fallacies in the Catholic church.

Anti-LGBTQ pediatrician was called out in 2017 for error-filled post on transgender community

Dr. Michell Cretella was called out in 2017 for an error-filled attack on the transgender community

Just in case folks haven't noticed, there has been certain shift of attacks from the anti-LGBTQ industry. Seeing that they lost the marriage equality, they have taken on two new directions. One is to portray themselves as defenders of "religious liberty."

The other is to make the transgender community the scapegoat of their attacks. Just about every argument the anti-LGBTQ industry have used to demonize gay men as harmful to children and unhealthy have been slightly altered to focus on the trans community.

But with the shift comes the same thing which plagued them when they were making gay men scapegoats - they distort scientific information and get called out on it. The following incident from July 2017 (I apologize extremely for the lateness of me documenting the situation) proves my point. It involves Dr. Michelle Cretella. Cretella is the president of the American College of Pediatricians, an organization recently deemed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for how it attempts to legitimatize anti-LGBTQ lies under the veneer of science.

Cretella attacked the transgender community in a piece entitled “I’m a Pediatrician. How Transgender Ideology Has Infiltrated My Field and Produced Large-Scale Child Abuse”. But she was quickly called out by the The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine  (SAHM).

'Video catches school officials harassing trans student while she was using the restroom' & other Fri midday news briefs

This is result of anti-trans hysteria promoted by groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom - Minnesota school staff breaking open a bathroom stall door simply because a trans student  is occupying it.

Trans student films being harassed while in school bathroom stall - I had to calm myself down so I can write this without swearing. I will say this - at press time, this is the situation (the facts may or may not change) in the same time period the anti-LGBTQ hate group the Alliance Defending Freedom is publishing bullshyte op-eds in the USA Today pushing false assertions about transgender students using school restrooms (claiming that they violate privacy of other students), we got a real incident in Minnesota about an underage transgender girl being humiliated simply because she was using the restroom at school. The stall door was shut and locked. But they jimmied it open. I am willing to bet you that all of this hysteria over trans students using public school restrooms was NOT started because they were using restrooms, but because groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Family Research Council spooked people with their lies about "transgender predators."

School officials caught on video busting into bathroom stall with trans girl inside - LGBTQNation covers the situation WITH the tweet.

 Fox News continues to provide a safe space for extreme anti-LGBTQ group ADF - on the risk of sounding hysterical, ADF knows exactly that situations like the above can happen because of them. It's additional chaos which their nonsense causes. And according to Media Matters, this is how they do it. Go on Fox News, which is a safe space for them, and humanize their bigotry, i.e. present fake victims of the supposed LGBTQ agenda. The op-ed I mentioned in the first post was supposedly written by one of their clients. And in this post, the Fox News interview is with a representative of ADF and their latest clients - two owners of a calligraphy studio in Arizona.  The owners are claiming that non-discrimination laws themselves are wrong because these laws would violate their "religious liberty." Media Matters puts it like this:

ADF’s case is a “pre-enforcement” challenge, a common ADF legal tactic in which people sue over a law that has not yet been enforced against them. This case is one of at least half a dozen license-to-discriminate cases that ADF and its allies are pushing through the courts.

Anthony Kennedy says he ‘struggled’ with marriage equality ruling - I bet he did. 

Arizona’s new state House Speaker doesn’t believe LGBTQ people are equal under the law - Oh he doesn't? He will learn.

There is NO justifiable reason to keep LGBTQ people from adopting children

My dream for the LGBTQ community is simple - that we have the right to live our lives by our rights of self-determination instead of having other people - based on their ignorance and/or religious beliefs - decide what we can or cannot do.

And that includes the dream of raising a family if we so desire. A wonderful post by Ellen Kahn of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation accentuates this:

In the last year, Oklahoma and Kansas have enshrined anti-LGBT+ adoption measures into law, allowing child welfare organisations to turn away qualified parents, including same-sex and transgender couples, interfaith couples, and single parents. And politicians in the U.S. Congress last session unconscionably tried to pass a similar amendment that would allow this kind of “licence to discriminate” nationwide.

Meanwhile, experts across the country resoundingly agree – children in care need a larger pool of qualified prospective parents – not a smaller one.

We know that 2 million LGBT+ people are interested in becoming parents. We also know that children need families – and also succeed in families. It is ridiculous and inhumane to put up blatantly discriminatory hurdles for qualified adopters and to put prejudice over the wellbeing of the children we are all trying so hard to serve.

As a lesbian mother, I know that my ability to be a loving, supportive parent is not at all compromised by my identity. And as a social worker, who has counselled so many LGBT+ families through this process, I’ve seen the amazing, transformational results for both the children and parents. We bring wisdom, commitment, and compassion to our role as parents – we are good at this.

The entire post deserves a read and share. It's that good.

'FL school psychologist under fire for helping transgender kids' & other Thur midday news briefs

Pasco schools psychologist comes under fire in transgender flap - Anti-LGBTQ groups stand up for folks who won't do their jobs when it comes to the LGBTQ community because of the supposed grounds of "religious liberty." It's not surprising, but still ugly, how they are attacking a school psychologist in Florida  for going beyond the call of duty of her job in attempting to help transgender students. She doesn't deserve this attack

Faith Groups Call For Whitaker’s Resignation Over Apparent Preference For Christian Judges - Muslim, Christian, Jewish and secular groups issued a joint letter opposing acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker. 

How a small community in Texas came together to help local trans women - Wonderful story about community. 

New web series spotlights activism of queer youth of color - About time. 

40 Years After The Assassination Of Harvey Milk, LGBTQ Candidates Find Success - Yep!

How 'Murphy Brown' helped break gay stereotypes over 25 years ago

I haven't done a "let's take our minds off of the struggle for a little while" post in a long time. So, enjoy this bit of LGBTQ television history, courtesy of the Huffington Post and my friend, Matt Baume.



From The Huffington Post:

When “Murphy Brown” premiered in 1988, the CBS series broke new ground in its portrayal of women in the workforce. The show gently pushed the envelope with regard to gay characters, too, according to Seattle-based writer Matt Baume.

In the latest installment of his “Culture Cruise” video series, Baume breaks down a 1992 episode of “Murphy Brown” titled “Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are.” In it, the character of Miles Silverberg (played by Grant Shaud) recalls a dream he had about touring the Washington Monument with a new colleague, Rick (Brian McNamara). After co-workers point out that Rick is gay, Miles begins to contemplate the dream’s arguably homoerotic undertone and, in turn, question his own sexuality.

'Homophobic conspiracy theorist caught up in Mueller investigation' & other Wed midday news briefs

Jerome Corsi, who falsely claimed that Obama is gay and promiscuous, has been caught up in Mueller's investigation of Trump.

Robert Mueller’s latest target is a nutty anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theorist - Ain't it amazing how folks making their money partly by denigrating the LGBTQ community is caught up in the Trump/Russia investigation. Thanks to LGBTQnation, we can remember just how homophobic Jerome Corsi is. Particularly when a conspiracy of his is that Obama is actually gay and was "popular" around Chicago bathhouses. Then there was the time when Corsi, while attacking marriage equality at a tea party rally, said that sex is not supposed to be fun. None of THOSE jokes, please . . . (oh who am I kidding?)

Some Libraries Are Facing Backlash Against LGBT Programs — And Holding Their Ground - Damn right! The backlash is only a sign that you are doing something right. It's what you when in the backlash that determines loss or victory.

Administration Officials ‘Deputized’ by Dominionists at Election-Themed Prayer Event - Oh no you don't!!

‘Boy Erased’ Author Garrard Conley: ‘I’m Saying The Stuff No One Wants To Say’ - And it NEEDS to be said. 'Ex-gay' therapy is a huge fraud. 

No, No, No: European Court Rules Russia Can’t Ban LGBTQ Events - Well alright!