DeSantis Administration loses another court case to transgender community (and there may be damages awarded this time)

Florida Gov Ron DeSantis lost another court case to trans community.

Just like his sad presidential campaign did, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis's "war on woke" continues to crumble. And he deserves every bit of the public humiliation.

From The Advocate (on Friday of last week):

A federal judge ruled Florida’s transgender health care ban violates state employees’ rights. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in a court order wrote Florida has wronged public workers for decades by only carrying insurance plans that exclude gender affirmation care. He said the refusal to provide appropriate health care violated transgender plaintiff’s rights as defined under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. “The undisputed facts demonstrate that the challenged exclusions apply only to transgender members, as only transgender individuals would seek the gender-affirming treatment that is excluded from coverage,” Walker ruled.

The Advocate also pointed out that this is the second time the DeSantis Administration lost in court with regards to its attempt ban gender-affirming healthcare:

In recent years, Florida has stepped up efforts to limit access to transgender health care for adults and children, but frequently run into skepticism in the courts. Another federal judge in the state in June blocked the state from enforcing its ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors and restrictions on the care for trans adults.

But this case dates back to 2020. It was brought by three transgender women, including Jami Claire, a University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine worker, Kathryn Lane, an appellate public defender, and Ahmir Murphy, a Florida Department of Corrections Sergeant. The state denied each plaintiff coverage of gender affirmation surgery.

LGBTQ Nation added:

“We are so grateful that the court is holding the state accountable for its facially discriminatory policy that carves out transgender state employees for unequal treatment,” said Simone Chriss, director of the Transgender Rights Initiative at Southern Legal Counsel, in a statement. 

“As the court made clear, ‘Title VII prohibits all forms of discrimination because of sex, however they manifest themselves,’ and we are thrilled that this antiquated relic of state-sanctioned discrimination has been left in the past where it belongs.”

 This court will be holding a separate trial to determine the amount of damages that will be awarded to plaintiffs. The plaintiffs were represented by the Florida chapter of the ACLU, Southern Legal Counsel, and Legal Services of Greater Miami.

Luther Vandross and George Michael amongst icons announced for upcoming LGBT History Month 2024 observance

Take a brief moment to reflect and acknowledge those whose hard work got the community to this point:

LGBT History Month celebrates the achievements of 31 lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender icons. Each day in October, a new LGBT Icon is featured with a video, bio, bibliography, downloadable images, and other resources.

   

Funny ad about 'creepy MAGA Republicans ' goes viral and triggers certain people

This is probably the creepiest (and the funniest) ad of the 2024 political season by far and it has intensely triggered MAGA Republicans online, especially on Twitter. Their anger could be seen as a perfect example of how the truth hurts.  But they only have themselves to blame. When you are obsessed with passing legislation designed to control people's bodies, what do you expect people to think of you?

But I'll let you, dear readers, decide.

From the group Won't Pac Down:

Inspired by Project 2025 and the bizarre beliefs of JD Vance, the weirdos are organizing. They’re voting. Are you?

'Detransitioner' Chloe Cole testifies to making up to $200,00 via her anti-trans activism

Chloe Cole

Via trans activists Erin Reed and Alejandra Caraballo comes interesting (and not altogether shocking) news about alleged detransitioner Chole Cole. Her national and international trarvel while weaving her (unverified) story of being "deceived into being transgender" is a very financially lucrative endeavor.

According to new and explosive reporting by the Los Angeles Times, advocating against transgender people has become a lucrative business for prominent political detransitioner Chloe Cole. A newly released audio recording reveals that Cole earns upwards of $200,000 for opposing transgender care, primarily through speaking engagements, donations via Donorbox, and her employment with the far-right organization Do No Harm, which facilitates her access to opportunities to testify.

The recording, which comes from Chloe Cole’s testimony during a court hearing in Ohio regarding the state's gender-affirming care ban, features Cole discussing her income and funding (with cleaner, trimmed audio also provided by Civil Rights Attorney Alejandra Caraballo: 

 Attorney: “You don’t have any first-hand knowledge of how gender affirming care is provided in Ohio, is that right?” 

 Cole: “No, not from personal experience.” 

 Attorney: “I understand you’re employed as a senior fellow at Do No Harm?” 

 Cole: “Yes” 

 Attorney: “And Do No Harm’s mission is to fight against the current model of care in place for gender dysphoria, is that right?” 

 Cole: “Yes…” 

 Attorney: “And you submitted testimony in support of HB68 as part of your job in Do No Harm, is that right?” 

 Cole: “Yes” 

 Attorney: “And Do No Harm has helped you find other opportunities to testify in state legislatures, is that right?” 

 Cole: “Yes” 

 Attorney: “Do No Harm paid you $2,000 a month for that work, is that right?” 

 Cole: “Yes” 

 Attorney: “And you make between $50-$100,000 in speaking fees in [unclear] is that right?” 

 Cole: “Yes” 

 Cole later added that she additionally makes up to $100,000 in donations through her Donorbox, separate from the income she earns from speaking engagements.

It looks like Cole refutes the adage of "when money talks, bullsh!t" walks. Apparently "bullsh!t stays specifically where the money is.

'FL school district employee who let trans daughter play school sports won't lose her job' & other Sun/Mon news briefs

Editor's note - while our eyes are on the national scene (and for now, it is looking good) let's not forget the local fronts. 

Mom who let her daughter play volleyball in Ron DeSantis’s Florida won’t lose her job - A convoluted mess of a situation which should have never happened to begin with. It goes to show the full harm these anti-trans athlete laws can fully cause. 

Nebraska Supreme Court upholds gender affirming care ban & abortion restrictions - Meanwhile while we take one step forwards, certain entities try to pull us two steps back. 

Thrice-divorced Kim Davis is back with a court case to try & get SCOTUS to overturn marriage equality - Meanwhile, Kim Davis is trying to use her case as a means to get SCOTUS to overturn marriage equality. Will she succeed? Let's hope not in spite of the court's make up. 

Kim Davis wants to overturn gay marriage ruling. Legal scholars weigh in on her chances - Legal scholars aren't in her favor. They say there are no grounds in the case to overturn marriage equality. 

More than 20,000 people show up for Kamala Harris's LGBTQ+ community call - We have to keep pushing. 

LGBTQ Americans coming out earlier in life: Gallup - That's right and I am SO here for it.]

1992 Flashback - Houston police go undercover as gay men to bust gay bashers

 

I saw this video Monday night and it moved me so much that I simply had to share it with folks, particularly the younger LGBTQ generation.

From Wikipedia: 

 Paul Broussard, a 27-year-old Houston-area banker and Texas A&M alumnus, died after a gay bashing incident outside a Houston nightclub in the early hours of July 4, 1991. Nine teenaged youths, ages 15–17, and one 22-year-old were intoxicated on drugs and alcohol when they left a high school party in the suburb of The Woodlands and headed for Houston's heavily gay Montrose area in an attempt to gain admittance to dance clubs located in the vicinity. After being refused entry to several establishments, they pulled into a parking lot where they encountered Broussard and two friends, who were also intoxicated. 

They then attacked Broussard and his friends. Broussard was beaten and stabbed twice with a pocket knife belonging to 17-year-old Jon Buice. He died several hours later as a result of both internal injuries as well as what an expert medical examiner termed "a delay in treatment" (in the early days of the AIDS crisis, police and medical personnel were slow to respond to calls from the Montrose area for fear of AIDS contamination). 

 When Houston gay rights leader Ray Hill confronted police about solving the murder, he was told that they had no intention of doing so. Gay rights advocates, frustrated about being ignored and persecuted by city officials, marched through the streets and in front of the Mayor Kathy Whitmire's home for several days in what became Houston's largest and long-lasting gay rights demonstration in history. Ultimately, the juveniles – labeled "The Woodlands Ten" – were apprehended and plea bargained into prison without a trial for the murder of Broussard. 

The video above is what happened after the murder. The outcry after Broussard's murder was so loud that police went undercover in a sting operation to stop groups of teenagers who went looking to bash gays. It sounds like a corny television comedy episode, but it's anything but that. These policemen found out the hard way what gay men go through when several of them got injured. 

 This video is not for everyone, and I strongly advise folks with triggers to be careful in watching it. There is no physical violence, but plenty of ugly moments which reflect a scary summation of how things were for us back in the day.  Probably the most chilling portion of the video starts at 7:32 when an unnamed teenager nonchalantly compares beating gay men with the "joke" of smashing pumpkins during Halloween because he and his friends never thought of us as human beings.

Editor's note - I know how some in the community feel about the police in general, but this post isn't about them. It's about remembering our history, both good and bad.

Pastor publicly blasts Franklin Graham, calling him a 'liar' and 'poster child for Christian nationalism'

With everything going on lately (Biden dropping out of the presidential election and Harris taking up the mantle to run), I've got bogged down and behind on my blogging. I almost missed this incredible moment of basic truth. 

Recently Mark Wingfield, executive director and publisher of Baptist News Global, verbally ripped into Franklin Graham, calling him a " the poster child for Christian nationalism" and " "liar" for his speech during the recent Republican National Convention in support of Donald Trump.

The basic point of Wingfield's piece, underscored by the passage below, is that when it comes to Graham, it's all about earthly power and he's willing to exploit his faith to shield any liar who will give it to him.

 To understand the insidious nature of Christian nationalism, look no further than Franklin Graham’s appearance at the Republican National Convention last night. Graham already has demonstrated he knows no shame in endorsing, blessing and lionizing the most corrupt president in American history, yet people continue to send his nonprofits millions of dollars, enriching him as one of our most highly paid partisan preachers.

 . . . Graham started telling flat-out lies. 

“For as long as I’ve known President Trump, I’ve found him to be a man of his word,” he declared. 

Apparently, Graham hasn’t listened to any of the small-business owners who have been jilted by Trump through the years, hasn’t listened to any of the women who say Trump assaulted them, hasn’t paid attention to the hundreds of documented lies Trump spews between breakfast and dinner each day. 

 No, it turns out Graham has some other measure in mind: “When he told me and our country in 2016 that he was going to appoint conservative justices, guess what, he did. In 2016, he said he would defend religious liberty and, guess what, he did.”

 By “religious liberty,” of course, Graham means the liberty of evangelicals like him, not the liberty of all people. 

 And then Graham threw out this whopper: “In 2019, I was with him at the United Nations when the first president in the history of this country stood there to advocate for religious liberty worldwide.” 

 So no other U.S. president in history has advocated for global religious liberty? That is patently false and insulting. It makes Trump out to be a hero he is not. Not only have other presidents advocated for worldwide religious liberty, Trump has not. He doesn’t want religious liberty for Palestinians. He doesn’t want religious liberty for Muslims. He doesn’t want religious liberty for Democrats. 

 Like Graham, Trump has only shown interest in advocating for religious liberty for his political base. All others be damned.