Video: Evicted for being LGBTQ. Without the Equality Act, it could happen to any of us.

With so much off-the-wall stuff going on, it is easy for LGBTQ Americans to get distracted. But that's one thing we cannot afford to be. We are still faced with situations which can undermine or eliminate our rights, equality, and families. The above video merely points that out. Queen Hatcher-Johnson tells her story about being evicted for being transgender. And I doubt that she is the only LGBTQ American who has faced this. 

''Hallowed Ground' looks at the Civil Rights Movement through LGBTQ+ lens' & other Wed midday news briefs

Bayard Rustin, openly gay Civil Rights Movement activist who was the head organizer of the 1963 March on Washington.

'Hallowed Ground' Looks at Civil Rights Movement Through LGBTQ+ Lens - And it's about time, too. LGBTQ people of color have been omitted from the history of the Civil Rights Movement for too long. 

Indya Moore Is Co-Starring in the New Aquaman Sequel - And it better be a good role. Just saying.

Transgender, intersex activists participate in White House listening session - I'm going to say it again - this would have never happened under Trump or any other GOP administration. 

Chesapeake School Board adds revisions for LGBTQ students in nondiscrimination policy; updates COVID protocols - At the very least, a step in the right direction. 

Liz Cheney just apologized to LGBTQ Americans. Is it too little, too late? - That's a good question.

Religious conservatives are now embracing racist voter suppression laws in bid to undermine abortion and LGBTQ rights

Religious right leaders such as Family Research Council president Tony Perkins are embracing and pushing racist voter suppression laws in a bid to undermine abortion and LGBTQ rights.

The religious right gained a lot of power during the Trump years and apparently they are willing to stoop to voter suppression in order to keep that power and gain more. Via a passive aggressive support of Donald Trump's big lie of voter fraud (because they aren't going to come out and openly support the lie), religious right groups and figures such as the Family Research Council and its president Tony Perkins and the Alliance Defending Freedom are exploiting the phrase "election integrity" with as much deceptive skill as they exploited other phrases such as "religious liberty" or "save women's sports."

I noticed this a while back so I am glad that someone with more writing talent, resources, and reach is taking this on. Historically, African-American and LGBTQ people have had the same enemies trying to undermine our rights. This merely adds an explanation point to that fact.

In the Vox article,  How the Christian right embraced voter suppression, Sarah Posner breaks it all down:

For decades, the Christian-right foot soldiers who form the backbone of the Republican Party have regularly and enthusiastically showed up for legislative battles over religious freedom and reproductive and LGBTQ rights. On September 1, they scored one of their biggest victories yet: the Texas Heartbeat Act, which bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy and deputizes private citizens to report anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion. 

 Six days later, religious conservatives celebrated another critical legislative victory, one that signaled a new frontier in their movement. In the east Texas city of Tyler, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the Election Integrity Protection Act of 2021, passed in late August after Democrats fled the state in a futile effort to stop it. The new law severely restricts voting access in Texas, with the biggest impact on voters of color; Abbott hailed it as a “good paradigm for other states to follow.”

 . . . The Christian right’s ability to mobilize its own voters has long made it one of the most potent forces in American politics. But this year, evangelical leaders have embraced a new strategy, one with direct roots in the outcome of the 2020 election: Religious activists have taken up the cause of “election integrity,” pushing bills to crack down on voter fraud, even though no evidence of widespread fraud in US elections exists. In the process, they’ve helped restrict ballot access for millions of Americans — the most regressive wave of voting measures since the Jim Crow era — and drawn a direct connection between their new cause and their core religious beliefs. 

 The goal is to protect the gains made by the Christian right during Donald Trump’s presidency, especially in the federal courts, and to restore the White House and Congress to Republican control. The biggest prize, of course, is the US Supreme Court, where — not coincidentally — all three of Trump’s appointees declined to block the Texas abortion bill from taking effect, signaling their willingness to overturn Roe v. Wade.

You can read the entire article here. It's definitely worth a read and share.

'LGBTQ -themed books removed from Fairfax County high school libraries' & other Tue midday news briefs

 

LGBTQ-Themed Books Removed From Fairfax County HS Libraries - And then they lied about the content of the books. Why am I not surprised? 

Three Polish regions repeal 'LGBT-free zone' declarations- Money talks. Always. 

13 Celebrities Who Came Out As Bisexual in 2021 - Bi-visibility!

Lauren Patten’s Tony Win For ‘Jagged Little Pill’ Slammed Amid Backstage Controversy - The more we know . . .

Homophobic anti-vaxxer catches COVID. Profanity-laced meltdown seems to be his side-effect.

Homophobic anti-vaxxer Josh Bernstein 

I do not rejoice when an anti-vaxxer is suddenly stricken with COVID and I generally don't spotlight such a thing because it's kinda morbid. But you will understand why the following is an exception to my rule.

Josh Bernstein (not the explorer) is an extreme conservative commentator far to the right of the genocidal Atilla the Hun crossed with serial killer Delphine LaLarue. He is an extreme homophobe (once referring to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as "Pickle Pete, the sodomite from South Bend") and an anti-vaxxer to the point of threatening to shoot anyone who tries to vaccinate him.

You know where I'm going with this. He now has COVID. But that's not the subject of this post. Stories of anti-vaxxers catching COVID is as old and tired as those family reunion episodes talks shows used to inundate us with.  The real story is that, according to Right Wing Watch, Bernstein has been in quarantine from last week and he may be going "stir crazy." So much profanity.  Such an ugly imagination

 You've been warned.

Anti-vax right-wing commentator Josh Bernstein has been sick with COVID and stuck in quarantine for the last week and he *is not* handling it well. (Fun fact: We can't recall having been sworn at this much before.) pic.twitter.com/EwfMpg0Nyc

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) September 27, 2021

'Culprits identified in viral video of attack on Gay-Straight Alliance' & other Mon midday news briefs

Culprits identified in viral video of Florida high schoolers attacking Gay-Straight Alliance - Good. Pluck all of those turkeys. 

Playwright Matthew López makes history as first Latino to win Tony for best play - Gay folks rule at the Tony Awards. What is an example of an evergreen headline. 

Police departments across U.S. are mandating LGBTQ training - And it's about time, too. 

Kenya bans tender gay film for being ‘demeaning to Christianity’ and ‘unsuitable for children’ - Give me a break, Kenya. 

Caitlyn Jenner has work to do after betraying trans athletes during California governor campaign - But will she?

Liz Cheney denounces her past opposition to gay marriage

Rep. Liz Cheney

Let me be clear about something.

 I am not a fan of Rep. Liz Cheney. I don't like her general positions, her past attacks on Obama nor am I posting this to somehow forget that she opposes gun control, a woman's right to chose an abortion, Obamacare, or other positions I favor. But I will give her props on what she said during a recent 60 Minutes interview with regards to her past opposition to marriage equality. No jumping through hoops. No long-winded explanation. Her statement was refreshingly simple.

The daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney was an ascendant Republican leader before the Jan. 6 riot, yet she is increasingly defined by her public opposition to Trump and his hold on the GOP. Cheney, 55, noted that she still talks with her father every night and that they share the same views on rejecting Trump.  

 Liz Cheney famously broke with her family in 2013 by opposing gay marriage ahead of a failed Senate bid. Her objections caused a rift with her sister, Mary, a married lesbian. Mary’s spouse, Heather Poe, posted on Facebook that year that Cheney’s position was offensive and that I always thought freedom meant freedom for EVERYONE. 

 In the interview, Cheney said her opposition to gay marriage was misguided and she channeled her sister-in-law’s Facebook post in explaining why she changed her position. I was wrong. I was wrong,” she said. Its a very personal issue and very personal for my family. I believe that my dad was right. And my sister and I have had that conversation … Freedom means freedom for everybody.

On that one thing, I don't mind saying that I agree with her.