Federal judge declares Texas anti-drag law unconstitutional. Various bigots have online meltdowns.

From The Texas Tribune:

Texas cannot enforce a new law that restricts some public drag shows, a federal judge said Tuesday in declaring the legislation unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge David Hittner found Senate Bill 12 “impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment and chills free speech.” The struck-down law prohibited any performers from dancing suggestively or wearing certain prosthetics in front of children. Hittner ruled that language discriminated based on viewpoint and is unconstitutionally overbroad and vague. 

 . . . Critics of the bill, though, say that Republican lawmakers and officials this year have incorrectly — and unfairly — portrayed all drag performances as inherently sexual or obscene. While SB 12 was originally billed as legislation that would prevent children from seeing drag shows, the final version did not directly reference people dressing as the opposite gender. 

 However, Republican leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott, made it clear that drag shows were the bill’s target — comments and history that Hittner wrote “the court cannot ignore.” Last month, Hittner temporarily blocked SB 12 from taking effect on Sept. 1 after a two-day hearing for a lawsuit filed against the state by a drag queen and LGBTQ+ groups.

LGBTQ+ Texans, advocates, artists and business groups who sued the state, argued that the law discriminates against the content of performances and restricts equally protected free expression that is protected under the First and 14th Amendments. In Tuesday's 56-page ruling, Hittner noted a survey of court decisions "reveals little divergence from the opinion that drag performances are expressive content that is afforded First Amendment protection." 

 "Drag shows express a litany of emotions and purposes, from humor and pure entertainment to social commentary on gender roles," the ruling reads. "There is no doubt that at the bare minimum these performances are meant to be a form of art that is meant to entertain, alone this would warrant some level of First Amendment protection." Other states have passed similar legislation restricting drag performance, which have also been struck down by federal courts.

Basically, supporters of the bill claimed that they were merely trying to keep children from seeing sexually explicit performances.  However the bill defined drag performances as being sexually explicit, even if the drag queen is doing something as innocuous as reading to kids. 

Therein lies the rub so to speak. 

Texas will probably attempt to appeal the ruling, but this is still a tremendous victory. It sends a strong message to those who are constantly trying to undermine our lives in an effort to force us to live in accordance to their lurid prejudices. And speaking of those folks, they aren't happy. In fact, several of them have been busy raging on Twitter, accusing us (yet again) of "sexualizing children."

Poor babies. It's all they have.

 I actually like this one below. It's always good when the opposition gets so defeated that they put no effort in their lies. These are merely drag queens with kids. Nothing sexually explicit.

'Visibility matters! Bisexual elected officials and celebrities take centerstage' & other Mon midday news briefs

Celebrating Bisexual Elected Officials​ - A very informative list of folks

Bi visibility has been increasing in Hollywood — and beyond — in 2023! - Again, visibility matters.

Laura Ingraham, who thinks gay people are dangerous, runs to Russell Brand’s defense amid rape accusations - No comment to what I really think about Laura Ingraham. 

Conservatives are enraged at this adorable hotel ad featuring a lesbian couple - They like to stay mad, don't they?

Anti-LGBTQ, 'pro-family' Congressman Jeff Duncan's wife files for divorce while accusing him of multiple affairs

Anti-LGBTQ SC Congressman Jeff Duncan's wife has filed for a divorce while accusing him of multiple affairs.

Last year, South Carolina Congressman Jeff Duncan publicly accused the Democratic Party of trying to destroy families by "going after children." This year, Duncan's wife is filing for divorce while accusing him of having multiple affairs. It's a story as old as the hills and remade more times than the motion picture A Star is Born.

 From Business Insider:

A politician who promotes the importance of family has abandoned them. This time, it appears to be US Rep. Jeff Duncan, a Republican in South Carolina. Duncan's wife, Melody Duncan, filed for divorce last week, citing her husband's multiple affairs. Melody Duncan, his wife of more than 30 years and mother to his three sons, accused her husband of at least two affairs in the divorce filing, which was first obtained and published by the Index-Journal, a local newspaper in Greenwood.

 Duncan has been in office for 13 years and has long advocated for conservative Christian values. "As a life-long social conservative, I am a strong advocate for life and traditional family values," Duncan writes on his website. Accompanying the post is a stock image of the Holy Bible, a book famous for its views on infidelity. He then pledges himself to the anti-abortion cause: "The most basic component of our society is the family." 

 The family, plus a few mistresses, it would seem. 

 The divorce filing described Melody Duncan as a "dutiful wife" who "wholeheartedly supported" Duncan in his career. It cites a political event last month where Duncan echoed his wife's sentiment. At a "Faith and Freedom BBQ" on August 28, Duncan described his wife as "supportive and loving" while portraying himself as a "dedicated, dutiful husband," according to the divorce filing. Duncan then "left the next day and went directly" to the home of his mistress, it says. 

 Melody Duncan also says that her husband admitted his affair to their sons and congressional staffers, adding that she believes he has had at least one other affair.

This is the same Jeff Duncan who published a piece last year accusing Democrats of trying to destroy families and marriages:

Conservative policies are pro-child, pro-family, pro-parent, and most importantly, pro-life. Democrats, however, promote policies and ideologies that ultimately impair children in the long run, vilify concerned parents as “domestic terrorists,” and attack the most vulnerable. Conservatives believe that parents, not the government, should have the primary say in their child’s life and that a child’s rights must be protected first and foremost. For conservatives, when it comes to protecting children, that is the hill to die on.

The following is what he reportedly said about marriage equality in 2010:

I BELIEVE in family. I believe that children develop best when they have loving parents. I believe that marriage is sacred, and should only be defined as a union between one man and one woman I believe in protecting family values, and that is part of the reason why I am running for United States Congress.

And in 2015, he cosponsored a resolution to amend the Constitution to ban marriage equality.

So here we go again.  A 'pro-family' Congressman who makes a big deal about his morality and opposition to marriage equality has shown himself to be a huge hypocrite.  It happens so often that there simply is no shock value anymore. Worse than that, not only have we come to expect it, but we all have come to accept it. And with that acceptance comes the ability of hypocrites like Duncan to get away with it. 

'Right-wing try and fail to stir outrage over trans teen homecoming queen' & other Thur midday news briefs

Missouri Transgender Girl Wins Homecoming Queen and the Right Loses It​ - And leading the horde is Chaya Raichik of Libs of TikTok. Just so ugly to attack a trans girl who fairly won homecoming queen. Her peers voted for her so that should be the end of it. Raichik can't help herself though. She's a sad bully. 

Right-wingers tried to stir outrage over trans teen winning homecoming queen. They failed miserably. - And it's wonderful to see people standing up for the young lady. 

Many Workers Leaving States That Pass Anti-LGBTQ Laws - Sometimes you gotta let bigots hurt themselves for them to get the message. 

Global anti-LGBTQ rights backlash overshadows UN General Assembly - The struggle is real, and it is worldwide.

Senate confirms federal judge who fought for marriage equality as a lawyer - Good news!

Settlement of drag show complaint is loss for DeSantis, highlights how attack on drag shows isn't helping his campaign

Fl Gov Ron DeSantis

While DeSantis's campaign is "going through some things," a drag show he targeted has just settled some mess which he helped to cause.

From The Miami Herald:

A Miami restaurant has settled a legal dispute over a drag queen show with the state of Florida, ending a yearlong case that became tinged with partisan politics as Gov. Ron DeSantis accused the venue of trying to sexualize children. The owners of the restaurant, R House, agreed to pay a $10,000 fine to end the dispute. In a statement Tuesday, the owners said the payment of the fine “did not result from the finding of any violation of any administrative or criminal laws. 

 . . . Those cases — against the Hyatt Regency Miami and the historic Plaza Live theater in Orlando — are ongoing. But records show that in the Orlando case, state regulators filed their complaint even though they had found no evidence of lewd acts at the drag show. 

 In the case of R House, the dispute stemmed from a video on social media that showed a drag performer leading a young girl during a brunch performance. The performer said the parent had asked her to take the girl’s hand and walk with her because it was her birthday. The performer accepted, walked with the child briefly and then returned her to her parents.

 On Tuesday, R House owners said their drag show performances were “never specifically intended for minors,” but that a few parents in the past had “felt they were uniquely qualified to evaluate what was appropriate entertainment for their children and brought their family to our shows.” 

 “Be that as it may, in January 2023, we did introduce a mandatory age limit of 18+ and will continue that moving forward,” they said. “We are a small independently-owned business and never wanted to become a lightning rod for divisive political or cultural issues but unfortunately that is exactly what happened.” 

 Don't let neither DeSantis nor his supporters try to claim this as a victory. In reality, it underscores just how DeSantis is willing to waste time and taxpayer monies to further his presidential ambitions. In the end, this situation has been resolved like it probably should have been before DeSantis sniffed an opportunity to appeal to a bigoted conservative base and decided to create a phony war on drag shows. He claimed to be protecting the children, but what he was only interested in protecting was his so-called place in the Oval Office.

And how it is going for him?

For all of the threatening and appeals to fear, the attack on drag shows have been a colossal flop for his presidential ambitions. DeSantis is still far behind in his quest for the GOP presidential nomination. He's been steadily losing ground and it has been enjoyable to watch.

 It comes down to the fact that in spite of all of his bluster and choreographed moments, DeSantis is simply not a likable person. His attempts at being cordial makes me miss his sneers. His attempts at being friendly comes across as distasteful as a python strangling a baby rabbit.  And don't even get me started about when he attempts to laugh.

Perhaps it would help DeSantis to campaign with drag queens instead of against them.

'GOP candidate facing multiple child cruelty charges promises to protect kids from LGBTQ+ people' & other Tue midday news briefs

GOP candidate facing multiple child cruelty charges promises to protect kids from LGBTQ+ people - Hypocrisy is one thing. Shameless hypocrisy is just repulsive.

2 Arkansas school districts deny claims that they broke a law on teaching race and sexuality​ - Simple madness. They shouldn't have been put in that silly position in the first place. 

Deja Vu - Anti-gay tactics are now being used to harm the trans community - Sharing my post from last night. 

Americans Don’t Want Politicians Focusing on Transgender Issues, Survey Finds - But certain people won't listen to this. So let them learn the hard way.

Deja Vu - Anti-gay tactics are now being used to harm the trans community

Over a decade ago, I wrote about six tactics of distortions used by the anti-LGBTQ industry to inhibit pro-gay laws and demonize gays in general. Bear in mind all of this was before my knowledge of the LGBTQ community's diversity, hence me using "gay" as a general term when I meant all of us

These tactics haven't changed. They've simply been applied specifically to trans people.

Below is the list with examples:

1. Using nonrepresentative or out of date studies to make generalizations or distorting legitimate studies to give misleading conclusions.

In 2020 conservative author Abigail Shrier published Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters. Shrier claimed that being transgender is a "social contagion." but her book was called out for numerous errors, including:

Shrier claims that “in most cases—nearly 70 percent—gender dysphoria resolves," and thus youth should not be provided gender-affirming medical care. That statistic is false. 

 Shrier incorrectly uses this statistic to claim that trans youth shouldn't be offered gender-affirming medical interventions because most will change their minds and later regret their decision. The studies Shrier refers to used an old diagnosis of “gender identity disorder,” not the DSM-5 diagnosis of gender dysphoria. 

 The reason this is a problem is that one could meet this diagnosis without being transgender. The old criteria largely focused on gender expression (think a tomboy or a cisgender boy who likes “feminine” toys). Those kids aren’t transgender, so it’s not surprising that most of them weren’t transgender at follow-up. This problem with the “gender identity disorder” diagnosis from the DSM-IV was fixed for the DSM-5. 

 Furthermore, those studies were of very young prepubertal children. Under the current medical consensus, gender-affirming medical interventions are not offered to prepubertal youth. They are only offered after youth have reached adolescence. Once youth reach adolescence, it’s rare for transgender youth to later decide they are cisgender.

 2. Repetition 

This is the easiest technique to note. Anti-trans spokespeople and organizations have a wonderful resource in the conservative ecosystem. On networks such as Fox News and places like the Daily Wire, they tend to get interviewed and amplified continuously without anyone speaking for the trans community to debate them. A good example would be Fox News's Shannon Bream who, before she replaced Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, weaponized her segments as an attack on LGBTQ people at large and specifically against trans people.

3. Conspiracy Theory 

How often have we've heard nonsense about plots to "make kids believe that they are transgender." Or a plot to "erase women."  They are no different than claims that LGBTQ people are attempting to "jail Christians" or "destroy marriage." Claiming that groups of people are trying to do harm dehumanizes them. They are not seen as individuals with simple goals of trying to better their lives. Instead, they become mindless, faceless hordes i.e an invading army. Like locusts.

4. Dire Consequences 

This when the anti-LGBTQ industry spin lies about children being "castrated" or "men trying to take over women's sports." This is where the right-wing ecosystem plays in. When they are able to repeat these lies without challenge, they become commonly heard and easily repeated. The truth - trans athletes are not stealing awards and victories from cis females and gender-affirming healthcare for kids has nothing to do with mutilation or castration - gets drown out. 

5. Phony Experts 

As seen recently with an excellent article in the Huffington Post, the anti-LGBTQ industry create their own experts on gender-affirming care. It is similar to how they did the same in the past to hinder pro-gay laws and ordinances. Back then, they used such (now discredited) people as George Rekers (who got caught coming from a European trip with a male escort) and Paul Cameron (who once claimed that gays stuff gerbils up their rectums.)

Now there are new people such as Paul Hruz, Patrick Lappert, and several others. Very few - if any - have ever dealt with gender-affirming care (Lappert for example is a former plastic surgeon) and all have personal biases against the trans community.

Also, there is the use of destransitioners, or folks who claim they are no longer transgender. This mimics the past (and ultimately disastrous) technique of relying on so-called ex-gay spokespeople to claim that being homosexuality was a choice and that laws protecting gays from discrimination is needless. 

 For present purposes, the anti-LGBTQ industry relies particularly on one person - Chloe Cole. Cole claims that she was tricked by physicians to transition, and it harmed her physically. Subsequently, she travels throughout the country speaking for anti-trans laws. Cole provides confirmation bias for those who think that gender-affirming care is harmful even though there are several unanswered questions to her claims.

 6. Dehumanizing Semantics

 

This is a matter of phraseology. And it also relies on repetition. We refer to transgender healthcare as "gender-affirming" care. The opposition always refers to it as "castration" or "mutilation." Or they falsely imply that gender-affirming care for kids is something rushed through when in fact it is a slow, monitored process by physicians and parents alike. 

Take for example the recent incident involving former VP Mike Pence when he was asked what he would do to protect the trans community from violence.

Instead of answering the question, Pence said this:

"For me, what adults do in their lives, decisions that they make, including transgender adults, is one thing, but for kids under the age of 18— there’s a reason why we don’t let you drive ’til you’re 16. In the state of Indiana, you can’t get a tattoo until after you’re 18, you can’t drink until after you’re 21, that’s because we understand that kids don’t fully understand the consequences of their actions … When it comes to surgical or chemical procedures, I just— I really believe that we’ve got to protect our kids from decisions that will affect them, the balance of their lives, while at the same time saying adults can make decisions according to the dictates of their own conscience."

In using dehumanizing semantics, the point is to scare and distract - 

Scare people into thinking that gender-affirming healthcare is being rushed on kids and they may later regret it as adults and 

Distract from the fact that gender-affirming care is a complicated process or, in the case of Pence, the question of what he would do to protect trans Americans from violence.

The general point is that these tactics belie any claim that anti-trans laws are being created to save women's sports, protect kids, or anything else the anti-LGBTQ industry says. Just as when they used these tactics in the past specifically to target gays, the anti-LGBTQ industry's goal remains the same - to undermine the rights, health, and safety of a group of people who they deem as "unworthy."

Related post -  Opinion: What the anti-trans movement is all about