Analyzing and refuting the inaccuracies lodged against the lgbt community by religious conservative organizations. Lies in the name of God are still lies.
ID laws may ‘disenfranchise’ 34,000 trans voters - A population of voters not generally thought of in the controversy involving those dreaded ID laws. But a population who can be harmed tremendously.
The American Family Association's fake news site One News Nowis kicking at the transgender community yet again. But this time, they have chosen a particularly vulnerable segment:
Christian-based
homeless ministries are expressing concern over the latest mandate from
the Obama administration that allows men to be housed with women.
Housing and Urban Development has finalized and issued a rule
that homeless shelters that receive federal funds must allow
transgender men to be housed with women in homeless shelters on an equal
basis. Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America
tells OneNewsNow that her friends in Christian homeless ministries are
concerned about the obvious issues of privacy and safety, but there's
more.
“Shelters need the freedom to make
decisions independently on a case-by-case basis,” she explains. “And any
time the federal government takes that ability away from them, they
create hazards for everyone involved. At bottom, these are Christian
ministries that must stay true to their core values.”
First of all, in spite of the claim that Christian-based homeless ministries are up in arms about this new rule, the article interviews not even one representative from these ministries. The article is nothing more than an interview with Nance.
In addition, there is no genuine information in this so-called article about homelessness in the transgender community. So allow me to provide some.
One in five transgender people in the United States has been discriminated when seeking a home, and more than one in ten have been evicted from their homes, because of their gender identity.
Homelessness is also a critical issue for transgender people; one in five transgender individuals have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives.
. . . Family rejection and discrimination and violence have contributed to a large number of transgender and other LGBQ-identified youth who are homeless in the United States – an estimated 20-40% of the more than 1.6 million homeless youth. Unfortunately, social service and homeless shelters that work with this population often fail to culturally and appropriately serve transgender homeless people, including denying them shelter based on their gender identity; inappropriately housing them in a gendered space they do not identify with; and failing to address co-occurring issues facing transgender homeless adults and youth.
It would seem to me that a core value of a Christian homeless ministry would be taking care of the homeless, no matter who they may be. And I am betting that this is the case. It's just too bad that One News Now and Nance are too busy exploiting the false "transgender predatory" meme to genuinely talk about the issue.
‘Modern Family’ Makes History By Casting TV’s First Transgender Child Actor - This is wonderful because it sends a positive message to our transgender kids. The importance of seeing someone like yourself on television and portrayed in a positive manner does so much good to your self-esteem. I know this from experience.
Whoever wins the upcoming election will have a huge voice in deciding the direction in which lgbt equality will go in this country for the next four years. Therefore, it is imperative that our community make the correct decision in terms of who we will be voting for.
And let's be real. Clinton slaughtered Trump at last night's debate. This fact needs to be seen and repeated continuously so that folks know what's at stake and who is the best choice for the Oval Office.
With that in mind, I am posting last night's debate just in case you missed it. Don't worry about watching it all if you are unable to. Start at any point and you still won't miss Trump's total decimation. Clinton figuratively punched at will:
In light of the news that GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has selected the extremely homophobic Rick Santorum to be one of his advisors, I want to repost this list of Trump's other "advisors." They are to be his "Evangelical Advisory Board," but I call them the "Legion of Homophobia." You can see why:
Trump seems to be calling out almost every "big-name" anti-lgbt activist to help him create policy, should he become president. That should alarm every lgbt in America.
LGBT media condemns Out Magazine for Milo Yiannopoulos puff piece - Picture a young man working for a venomously anti-lgbt publication. He delights in being a so-called provocateur, i.e. making transphobic comments, Islamophobic comments instigating troll attacks, sometimes racial, against celebrities, and being an all-around vicious proud "alt-right" member. One more thing. He is openly gay. It still doesn't take away from the fact that this young man (Milo Yiannopoulos) is a waste of space. But him being gay caused Out magazine to give him a "superficial puff piece" in its magazine. Naturally a lot of folks are angry. And with good reason.(Full disclosure note - I signed the open letter condemning Out for running the puff piece. My decision was for a number of reasons. It's gay men like Milo who once called me a "tar baby.")
Milo Yiannopolous - More information on this young man courtesy of Media Matters.
Here’s How You Can Explain What ‘Queer’ Means To Kids - It's easier than you think. Heck, I'm surprised some kids won't sit their parents down and explain it. This mess from the religious right about the supposed corrupted innocence of children is a crock.
According to the above graphics from a defunct Facebook page, the argument over lgbt equality is relatively simple. One one side is a clean cut young man innocently stating his beliefs against the lgbt community and on the other is an angry person calling him names because of it.
Taking all of that into account, how could anyone not agree with the anger of the guy on the right rather than fall for the subterfuge of the guy on the left.
Because there are times when even yours truly gets tired of the struggle. And with the election this year, we ALL need a break.
So, instead of a serious post, I present some of the best videos from one of my favorite shows growing up, The Electric Company. And for those asking about certain people - yes, that is Rita Moreno, Morgan Freeman, Denise Nickerson (Violet Buearegarde from the original Willie Wonka movie), and Todd Graff:
When The Alt-Right Attacks- Ah yes. Cowards target what they think is your vulnerabilities. It doesn't matter who you are (in this case though, we are talking about a same-sex family)
What's worse than religious right groups lying about the lgbt community? It's when they get patronizing:
Minnesotans are the face of a new campaign by a national network of
anti-LGBTQ organizations. The campaign, #askmefirst, features Christians
imploring schools, businesses, and “transgender activists” to ask them
for permission before allowing transgender people to use the bathroom.
A video released with the campaign’s launch last week features Emily
and Jamie. The video doesn’t say where the duo are from. Their story is
about a school that didn’t “ask them first” before making steps to be
inclusive of transgender and gender nonconforming youth. The two parents
formerly had children at Nova Classical Academy in St. Paul and were
outspoken critics of what they call “gender confusion.” Both appeared at a press conference earlier this year with Republican Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen and spoke in support of barring transgender people from using the bathroom.
In the video released last week, they spoke of a “gender confused
student.” Emily said, “This is a battle for our children’s innocence…
It’s a battle that I think is worth fighting and I will continue it for
other people’s children.”
The Ask Me First campaign was developed by the Family Policy Alliance
— formerly called Citizenlink — which provides a network of financial
and political assistance for Family Policy Councils throughout the
United States including the Minnesota Family Council.
No, their children's "innocence" is not threatened by transgender boys and girls using bathrooms. That is a lie which has been refuted continuously. And unfortunately refutations mean nothing to these groups and their supporters because they repeat the lie, as if they believe that constant repetition is the same as truth.
And what's worse is how these ladies claim to be fighting for children. That is the crux when it comes to the absolute moral obscenity of this campaign.
What about transgender children? Don't they have rights? Who is fighting for them? Or do these women, in spite of their perky smiles, June Cleaver personas, and precise talking points, even care about transgender children?
Or could it be that they and the organization behind this monstrosity of a video simply don't care about our transgender kids?
To celebrate the fifth year anniversary of the official ending of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' Right Wing Watch took a look at the top five failed predictions the anti-lgbt right made about what would happen should DADT be repealed.
Just two years ago, Gordon Klingenschmitt, a former Navy chaplain who is
now a Colorado Republican state lawmaker, approvingly read a quote from
Chaplain John R. Kauffman, who said that gay service members will be “taking breaks on the combat field to change diapers all because their treacherous sin causes them to lose control of their bowels.”
Yeah, I don't think that is happening anywhere . . .
On September 9, three of the country’s most notorious white nationalists held a press conference in Washington, D.C., titled “What Is The Alt-Right?”
The event, organized by the white nationalist “think tank” the National
Policy Institute (NPI), came in response to growing media interest in
the “alt-right” movement. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump
has helped mainstream
the racist movement, including by hiring Breitbart News executive
chairman Stephen Bannon as his campaign CEO. As the Southern Poverty Law
Center has noted, under Bannon’s leadership, Breitbart has “has been
openly promoting the core issues of the Alt-Right, introducing these
racist ideas to its readership.”
NC Gov. Pat McCrory is in the middle of a firestorm over HB2. Businesses are boycotting the state and they are now joined by the NBA, NCAA, and the ACC. Of course this is getting many folks in the state, including legislators who voted for HB2 talking about a repeal.
McCrory seems to be remaining firm in support of that ridiculous law. And backing him up is the Rev. Franklin Graham via twitter and Facebook, where he continues to push inaccuracies about HB2 and the transgender community:
The momentum of public opinion seems to no longer embrace these lies. McCrory would do himself a favor if he stopped listening to this lessening minority of fear. But apparently he wants to do things the hard way.
While everyone ruminates over the election, let's not forget that the fight for full lgbt equality goes on. And on that front, same-sex couples and their children just won a major victory in Wisconsin:
A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that Wisconsin officials discriminated against a married lesbian couple by refusing to list the name of the non-biological mother on their child’s birth certificate.
The couple, Chelsea Torres and Jessamy Torres, had married in New
York in 2013 and conceived through artificial insemination in 2014 ― the
same year same-sex marriage became legal in Wisconsin.
But when their son was born in 2015, the Wisconsin Department of
Health Services denied them a birth certificate listing both of their
names ― as the birth mother, only Chelsea was listed in the document.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb said on Wednesday that this practice ― which Wisconsin enforced by law
against same-sex couples but not different-sex couples ― is
unconstitutional, and ordered the state to read its artificial
insemination rules in “gender-neutral terms.”
Editor's note - If I said it once, I will say it again. I'm going to have to buy a tablet. Today the computers in the public library were offline so that meant no midday news brief. In all honest, this hasn't been a good week in general. Yesterday, I was sick as a dog so I couldn't post but one item. And tomorrow may continue the light posting as I prepare for my blog's 10th anniversary party to be held Saturday. Just bear with me, folks. You have stood with me for 10 years (and I haven't thanked you all enough for that) so I hope that you can stand with me through this week. Anyway, enjoy the following news items:
