'11 states considering bills to restrict transgender health care' & other Mon midday news briefs

11 states considering bills to restrict transgender health care​ - It's unbelievable how these idiots are still playing this game when it continues to be unsuccessful for them.

DeSantis appoints anti-civil rights activist Chris Rufo to New College of Florida Board of Trustees - DeSantis doesn't seem to understand that if you are going to pursue national office, you can't turn to red meat activism. It makes you look spooky.

 BTW -THIS Chris Rufo - Far-right personality encourages supporters to deceive people into talking about 'trans strippers in school'

11-year-old girl loses federal court challenge against state’s trans sports ban - Simply nonsense. The ruling makes no sense.

Florida Theater Students Believe ‘Indecent’ Production Shut Down Over Anti-LGBTQ Law - Ugh!

'How it started' vs. 'How it's going' featuring Matt and Mercedes Schlapp

 How it started:

 How it's going

This story is rock solid. Matt Schlapp accused of groping a male staffer on Herschel Walker's campaign -- and the campaign offered "nothing but support" for the staffer at the time.

Schlapp has allowed the most horrific anti-LGBTQ bile at CPAC. Another GOP hypocrite. https://t.co/LNQE5aAWtF

— Michelangelo Signorile (@MSignorile) January 6, 2023

Folks may find this scandal either amusing or boring because of it being another case of Republican hypocrisy when it comes to matters of sex and LGBTQ people. But I don't think it's either..

For one thing, if the story turns out to be true, it is a case of sexual assault. And sexual assault is not funny. And for another thing, no matter how it is seemingly another case of Republicans not practicing what they preach, LGBTQ people need not be so jaded that we waste the opportunity to get rightfully pissed.

As illustrated by the tweets put out by Schlapp's wife from 2022, Republicans have been exploiting the lie that LGBTQ people are "grooming" kids. And that companies, such as Disney, have been helping in this effort. The LGBTQ community have had to endure stuff like this all last year. 

Our people have been physically threatened and murdered,

Drag shows have been disrupted by white supremacists,

People have lost their jobs because distorted videos and lies amplified in far-right circles, 

Legislation has been pushed and passed undermining trans people - especially trans kids - getting their basic healthcare and even existing in accordance to their truths,

Children's hospitals have been besieged with bomb threats simply for providing trans kids with basic health care

Last but not least, there is now an entire cottage industry of phony children's advocates, detransitioners, fake citizen journalists, distorted videographers, and assorted grifters spinning lie after lie about us in a craven attempt to get on Fox News, elevate their brand, or sell their dime-store swag.

And it turns out that we aren't the bad guys at all. We aren't the ones attempting to "lure" children and we aren't the ones placing our hands where they aren't wanted or "pummeling" private parts. 

How many of those righteous crusaders in the Republican party are out there doing what Schlapp has been accused of doing?  How long will America accept grubby, no-talent opportunists like the Schlapps or any other right-wing pundits  repeating empty talking points and pointing fingers at marginalized people while hoping that people ignore the three other fingers pointing back at them?

 Why are we silently justifying their possible hypocrisy and attempts to turn gaslight the situation, like the tweet below sent out by Schlapps's group, CPAC:

Sorry guys, but you simply can't blame the "left" for this one. This is a scandal which came from a young man from Herschel Walker's senatorial campaign. The campaign was informed of the situation the day after it happened and confirmed that it took steps to keep the young man away from Schlapp.

Of course I guess that means that Republicans will now be claiming that the Herschel Walker campaign is from the "left."

DeSantis Administration encouraging broad interpretation of 'Don't Say Gay' law to purge books with LGBTQ characters from school libraries

DeSantis and his supporters claimed that his 'Don't Say Gay' bill was only designed to keep young kids from being exposed to "sexual instruction" in classes. A lot of us knew that was a lie. Thanks to what seems to be a deliberately broad interpretation of the bill, now a law, books with LGBTQ characters in general are being purged from school libraries in Florida.

From Judd Legum's Popular Information:

In March 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed into law the Parental Rights in Education Act, which critics dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill. DeSantis angrily accused the media of promoting a "false narrative," insisting the bill does not prohibit mentioning LGBTQ people in Florida schools. According to DeSantis, the scope of the bill is limited and only prohibits "sexual instruction" directed at young students. 

"When you actually look at the bill and it says 'no sexual instruction to kids pre-K through three,' how many parents want their kids to have transgenderism or something injected into classroom instruction?" DeSantis said. "It's basically saying for our younger students, do you really want them being taught about sex? And this is any sexual stuff."

. . . Florida schools are using the law to justify the erasure of LGBTQ people. Public records obtained by Popular Information through the Florida Freedom to Read Project reveal that several Florida schools have already removed books with LGBTQ characters from their libraries, citing the Parental Rights in Education Act. Further, training materials produced by the Florida Department of Education for librarians reveal that the DeSantis administration is encouraging this expansive interpretation of the law.

 In Lake County, for example, the school district has removed three books with LGBTQ themes from libraries. The school district claimed the removal of these books was required "due to content regarding sexual orientation/gender identification prohibited in HB 1557," the Parental Rights in Education Act. These books do not involve "sexual instruction." 

One book that was removed, And Tango Makes Three, is the true story of two male Penguins, Roy and Silo, who lived in the Central Park Zoo. The pair build a nest together, and — after the zookeeper provides them with an egg — they raise an adopted child, Tango. There is no sexual content in the book. 

'AZ Gov Katie Hobbs signs executive order protecting state LGBTQ employees' & other Thur midday news briefs

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signs executive order to protect state LGBTQ employees as first official act - Another reason why LGBTQ Americans must never take voting for granted. Getting people elected who support us is very important. 

10 of the Most Ridiculous Anti-LGBTQ+ Things Conservatives Said This Year - Just 10? 

Couple Sentenced After Scamming Over $400k Mostly From Gay Men​ - Put them UNDER the jail.

Irish government to seek conversion therapy ban in 2023 - Go for it!

Conservative hotline created to 'report' drag shows flooded with messages about predator pastors

 It's always wonderful when attempts to target LGBTQ people backfires. The above video is from The Humanist Report, leftist political news show on YouTube, Facebook & Twitch hosted by Mike Figueredo:

A conservative hotline in Texas was created for concerned citizens to "report" any and all drag shows happening in the state. Once LGBTQ allies learned about it, well, this hotline got a little bit more than it bargained for.

'DeSantis' 'culture wars' has cost FL taxpayers nearly $17 million' & other Wed midday news briefs

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis

DeSantis’ culture war isn’t just divisive, it’s also expensive​ - Anything to be president, right DeSantis.

DeSantis’ culture wars grabbed headlines — and legal challenges that cost $17 million - More on this issue, which should be garnering more attention. A war on LGBTQ people - amongst other things - does tend to get expensive. 

Tennis star Martina Navratilova is diagnosed with throat and breast cancer - Prognosis is good. I do not agree with her on some things, but still am praying for her.

George Santos to Face Reopened Fraud Case in Brazil - Good.

Newly Named LGBTQ+ Commission Chair Congratulated on Grindr, Goes Viral -  I ain't mad at him.

Gay journalist - George Santos' serial lying undercuts GOP attack on LGBTQ people

George Santos

For those who aren't paying attention, the GOP was supposed to officially take control of the House of Representatives on Tuesday. I say "supposed to" because they are presently sidetracked with a delightful internal fight which at present leaves them with no Speaker of the House.

Poor Kevin McCarthy. He bent over backwards, stooped lower than most, and handed off pieces of whatever little integrity he had for the job of Speaker and it still isn't enough to satisfy some of his own people.

Mind you though, this is simply one of the many problems the GOP has had stemming from last year's mid-terms. They were supposed to take over both Houses of Congress in what was called a "red wave." The "red wave" turned out to be a pink trickle which saw them barely taking over the House while actually losing a seat in the Senate.

However, lost in the story of the GOP in disarray is another one which we should pay close attention to.

 According to long-time LGBTQ journalist and good friend of mine (yes, I am name-dropping and clout- chasing) Michelangelo Signorile, this story has to do with recently elected and proven "liar-on-steroids" George Santos. 

To hear Signorile tell it, the LGBTQ community "dodged a bullet" in terms of the damage Santos could have done to the community as an openly gay Republican because his history of telling outrageous lies nukes his effectiveness as a possible mouthpiece for anti-LGBTQ legislation.

Signorile's column deserves a read and a share.

Excerpt:

None of us knows exactly what will happen next regarding fabulist grifter George Santos. But one thing is clear: As a House representative, he’s severely damaged goods, exposed beyond anyone’s wildest imagination as a less-than-talented Mr. Ripley. 

That is a great development for LGBTQ Americans as Republicans are set to push a federal “don’t say gay” bill through the House with the help of gay Republicans who psychotically believe they’ll be accepted by MAGA extremists immersed in QAnon conspiracies if they just throw some of their own under the bus. 

 Santos, who supported Ron DeSantis’s odious “don’t say gay” law, would have been front and center in this effort as the first non-incumbent gay Republican elected to the House. He’d surely have been the poster boy of self-hate, giving speeches on the floor and sitting on TV talk shows, pushing smears about gay teachers as “groomers,” and attacking drag queens and transgender people as dangerous to children.

 But now Santos will be too preoccupied with keeping his seat in Congress, let alone keeping himself out of an American, or perhaps Brazilian, prison. He’ll have to keep his head down as GOP leaders do everything they can to hide this deranged fabricator from the press. Nothing he says will have even a shred of credibility. 

 Only weeks ago the tiny band of gay MAGA in politics was exhilarated over having one of its own in the House. But after the scandal broke the joyous squealing fell more silent than a herd of feral pigs that suddenly keeled over.