Don't fall for the anti-lgbtq right's 'tolerance trap'

Linda Harvey

Hate group leader and columnist Linda Harvey is what I like to call an "old school hardcore homophobe." Forget the deceptive and flowery language, because Harvey has no problem smearing, in very blunt language, the lgbtq community as pedophile sinners out to cause havoc and mayhem .

While her candor is nauseating, I consider Harvey a "useful idiot" in helping me to expose the true face of the religious right. Today, she is going to assist me demonstrating the hypocritical talking point about "gays not showing tolerance."

I'm sure you've heard of the talking point so many times that you can repeat it from memory. It goes like this "gays are always asking for tolerance for their lifestyle but won't show any for people who disagree agree with it." It's cute and very widely used semantic trick. Harvey uses it in a recent column, Jesus Rose To Save Homosexual Sinners:

People often comment on how vicious and intolerant the homosexual movement has become. “Where’s the ‘respect’ they said they wanted for everyone?”

Don't get out the weeping towel just yet. Harvey answers her own question in a way which demonstrates the hypocrisy of herself and the anti-lgbtq right in general

 . . . it’s easier to understand – and even scarier – once we see what is going on at a deeper level in the anti-God orientation that produces same-sex attraction in the first place. They repudiate heterosexuality. They resent marriage, motherhood and fatherhood as designed by God. Newly legalized homosexual couples sometimes want a family, but it will be of their own crafting, eliminating either a father or mother in the process. It moves beyond sexual sin into a rejection of the design of God.

Seems to me that if you are whining about a group of people's intolerance to your viewpoint, the viewpoint in question shouldn't be one which smears them. But that's what we are talking about with Harvey and the religious right's viewpoint about the lgbtq community.  When they whine that the lgbtq community isn't "tolerating their viewpoint," what they are actually upset at is that we aren't acting like the docile half of an abusive relationship.  They cry foul because we aren't acting like the self-hating oversexed creatures they conjure up then hide behind their religious beliefs. They seem to think that we should take their demonizing language, lies, and attempts to deny us equality with good nature aplomb because they are supposedly "only expressing their religious beliefs" and we are nasty, dirty people who know that what we are doing is supposedly wrong.

Please.

No one can honestly say that any group, while being attacked and smeared, will just take the abuse in the name of "tolerance." Why should we?

Eliminate Hate campaign's goal is to call out & expose anti-lgbt hate groups

To paraphrase Addison DeWitt in  'All About Eve,' I am now available for dancing on rooftoops and singing in the streets. The reason? The war against anti-lgbt propaganda just got a bit more serious:

On April 13, Media Matters For America, in coalition other organizations including the National Center for Transgender Equality, The National LGBTQ Task Force, SoulForce, The Equality Federation, and The Matthew Shepard Foundation, launched the Eliminate Hate campaign — a new effort aiming to expose, undermine, and mitigate the increasing influence and harmful impact of anti-LGBTQ hate groups while empowering and supporting local leaders and community members confronting extremism in their daily lives. The Eliminate Hate Campaign is a broad-based nationwide coalition of organizations, faith leaders, and local community members who are united in our commitment to increase media accountability and public awareness of the growing influence and extremism of anti-LGBTQ hate groups; provide resources to empower grassroots actions to combat hate and extremism; and mitigating the harm caused by discrimination and bigotry. 

The Eliminate Hate campaign features wonderful site with resources which our community and allies need to support. And it makes the point about how we need to stop being so cavalier about anti-lgbt groups, spokespeople and their propaganda. If we ignore them, they aren't going away. While we make fun of them, they are working behind the scenes to make us second-class citizens. And if we march in the streets against them, they will simply plead victimhood while kissing up to legislative bodies to pass more laws against us. We are talking about groups and individuals with budgets in the millions who are dedicated to eradicating our equality, right to self-determination, and dignity. Defeating these groups will take discipline and focus, not silly and vulgar comments and definitely not attacks on religion as a whole.

No more pussyfooting around. This battle is bigger than single entities. This battle is about us, our future, and most of all, the future of our lgbt kids. The big question is are you "down?"

Check out just a few the site's resources:

How The Media Covers Hate Groups: Six Years of Studies

Reuters Foundation Exposes An Anti-LGBTQ Hate Group Representing America At UN Women’s Rights Event
 
List of Active Anti-LGBTQ Hate Groups  

10 Facts About The Nation’s Largest Anti-LGBTQ Hate Group 

 LGBTQ Groups To Journalists: Stop Conflating Bigotry With Religious Faith

Alliance Defending Freedom attacking lgbt community with more than just 'bathroom bills'

The Alliance Defending Freedom is also behind nationwide 'religious liberty' bills

A few days ago, NBC published a wonderful article which exposed the Alliance Defending Freedom as the anti-lgbt hate group behind the crop of anti-transgender bathroom bills bubbling up across the nation. It should be required reading:

Bills have been introduced in 15 states nationwide this year that aim to restrict transgender people's access to sex-segregated facilities. From Minnesota to New York, many of the legislative bills awaiting votes focus specifically on schools as kids and teens find themselves at the center of a battle over bathrooms. 

But many of the so-called "bathroom bills" filed across multiple states closely resemble each other. That's because many used language strongly similar to the model legislation called the Student Physical Privacy Act drafted by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a powerful conservative Christian law firm with a decades-long track record of litigating against LGBT rights. It's also been labeled a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

. . . The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the Alliance Defending Freedom mission differently: "Making life as difficult as possible for LGBT communities in the U.S. and internationally" by fighting against same-sex marriage and transgender people's access to private facilities. In 2016, the Southern Poverty Law Center designated ADF an "active hate group" in a list that includes Westboro Baptist Church, KKK chapters, and Neo-Nazi groups. In a report, SPLC cited ADF's briefs in the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas case in which the firm argued for criminalizing gay sex through sodomy laws, and claimed ADF was behind efforts to keep sodomy laws on the books in Belize.

The article primarily focuses on ADF's attack on the transgender community via "bathroom bills." However  we should remember SPLC's words about how the group is doing what it can to make life difficult for the lgbt community.

 Remember the SB1062 fight in Arizona in 2014? SB1062 was the so-called "religious liberty" bill which was so extreme in allowing anti-lgbt discrimination on the grounds of "religious beliefs" that it caused huge protests and then-governor Jan Brewer to cast a veto.

I'm sure you remember the controversy:



The fight over SB1062 was so brutal that it is still being felt today by the Arizona legislature.

Guess who was behind SB1062?

Using the same tactics back then it now uses to push "bathroom bills," the Alliance Defending Freedom was behind it, as well as other "religious liberty" bills.  ADF even had a hand in "advising" Indiana lawmakers during that state's disastrous attempt to create a "religious liberty" law.

I would venture to say that the Alliance Defending Freedom has become one of the most, if not the most dangerous anti-lgbt organization in the nation. It's one thing to utilize petitions, junk science, and homophobic rhetoric. It's quite another to gather together and plan a behind-the-scenes physical strategy to actively create discriminatory laws and keep groups in second-class status.


Photo courtesy of Media Matters.

'Is Trump's anti-lgbt Army Secretary nominee also a birther?' & other Wed. midday news briefs

Mark Green

Army Secretary Nominee Mark Green’s Anti-LGBTQ Bigotry Is Only the Start of His Disqualifications - Continuing the articles on Trump's secretary of the Army pick, Mark Green. Turns out not only is he homophobic, but he is also transphobic, Islamophobic, and has a problem with the Latino community. And all of that may pale when one reads this passage about him speaking in front of a tea party group last year. Is he also a birther:

Green agreed with a questioner that President Obama is not a citizen and he refused to answer whether the former president is really a Muslim. 

Nevada Gov. Signs Law for Transgender ID in Foster, Court Case - Damn right he had better sign it.

 Beyond the bathroom: Report shows laws' harm for transgender students - Like so many other times, the religious right spins horror stories about the lgbt community to distract how their actions actually harm us.

 New Reporting Exposes Anti-LGBTQ Hate Group Suing This Pennsylvania School District - Some journalists are pointing out the fact that the Alliance Defending Freedom is an anti-lgbt hate group. Good.

Debunking anti-lgbt myths - a refresher video

Editor's post - I ran this video two years ago, but with a certain orange encrusted you-know-who in office causing religious right groups to grow eager, anxious, and hungry to cause all sorts of anti-lgbt havoc, a refresher Debunking of LGBT Myths is way overdue. It serves to remind us to not get taken in when religious right groups and their spokespeople seek to control the narrative of this so-called culture war.

'Official involved in Bush-era purge of gay employees now in Trump Administration' & other Tue midday news briefs

Official Involved in Bush-Era Purge of Gay Employees Now in Trump Administration - What's scarier? An official involved in the Bush-era purge of gay employees is now in the Trump Administration? Or the fact that probably very few of us remember the Bush-era purge of gay employees? 

LGBT advocates launch effort to block Trump’s ‘appalling’ Army secretary nominee - This is about another wannabe Trump appointee and you better believe we are going to fight against him.  

Fake “Radical Feminist” group actually paid political front for anti-LGBT James Dobson organization - Simply disgusting!  

Trey Pearson Sends Hopeful Message To Gay Christians In New Video - With the religious right bogarting all talks about the lgbtq community and religion, this video is DEFINITELY needed.  

Bigoted Christians Are the Most Special Snowflakes - As of now, the lgbt community needs to send a message to the Trump Administration: "We did not come to play with you #@%!"

Hate group demonstrates how its anti-lgbt propaganda undermines fight against HIV/AIDS

Hate group American Family Association undermines fight against HIV/AIDS

For National Youth HIV and AIDS Awareness Day, anti-lgbt hate group the American Family Association decided to push some old, but reliable semantic garbage about gay men and AIDS. What the group actually achieved was to demonstrate a textbook case of the anti-lgbt propaganda which has been used to undermine the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Via an article in its fake news site, One News Now, AFA accused the lgbt community of ignoring what it claims is the root cause for HIV/AIDS:

Today is "National Youth HIV and AIDS Awareness Day," and the message should be going out that sexual behavior is spreading the disease, says a conservative activist.
"I hope that they will point out that it is the behavior that causes AIDS," observes attorney and writer Matt Barber. "That it's aberrant sexual behavior - male on male homosexual behavior - that is the catalyst for this horrible disease, that it is something that can be prevented simply by not engaging in the behavior that causes it."
Homosexual activists say the purpose of the day is to help young people make "informed and responsible decisions" about their "sexual health," and planned activities include a visit to Capitol Hill, a Facebook Live chat, and various programs and events. But a message of self-control is unlikely to get far, however, since homosexual activists downplay their own role and point to heterosexuals and drug users, and blame Ronald Reagan for failing to address the disease early on.

Yet the statistics are hard to ignore. Citing sobering statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, the website for the Human Rights Campaign story about "Awareness Day" acknowledges that HIV rates increased 87 percent among black and Latino homosexuals and bisexuals from 2005 to 2014. The rate increased 56 percent among white men during that same period.

The story blames a lack of "comprehensive sex education," "stigma" about HIV infection, and "feelings of isolation" as barriers to preventing HIV/AIDS.

The truth is that AIDS is a "gay disease" because it has disproportionately devastated the homosexual community, columnist David Benkof, who is homosexual, wrote in a February column at The Daily Caller.

Homosexual activists, he explains, claimed that "AIDS is not a gay disease" at a time when they were fighting "haters" who misunderstood the virus. He writes:

But of course AIDS is linked with homosexuality. Even today, gay men receive more than two-thirds of HIV diagnoses, and earlier in the epidemic that number was even higher. Gay men are maybe 2 percent of the American population, but 55 percent of Americans living with HIV.

Benkof goes on to admit that HIV has spread so quickly because homosexual men have multiple sexual partners.

Notice the deception here. The One News Now article cites CDC data with regards to statistics about HIV/AIDS. However, the article's author chooses to then discard the reason for the CDC statistics (lack of comprehensive sex education, "stigma about HIV infection, feelings of isolation), even though the reasons themselves come from the CDC.

It used to be back in the day when religious right groups cited negative gay statistics, they would omit the reason for these statistics if it didn't fit their ugly narrative about lgbts. Thanks to intrepid bloggers like myself, they now acknowledge the reasons, but then verbally undermine them.

This leads me to ask why should groups like the AFA even bother citing the CDC in the first place? It shows blatant dishonesty to use statistics to craft a narrative, then discard reasons behind said statistics because they refute the case you are making.

And what makes AFA's blatant lying even worse is who the organization chooses to refute the research it doesn't like. David Benkof is columnist who, as far as I know, has no background in medicine or research. A columnist whose big "add" to the article is that he is gay and published a piece in a  right-wing publication.

Matt Barber is even worse. Many, myself included, have written extensively  about the various ways he has attacked the lgbt community, including his vile fascination with talking about the so-called mechanics of gay sex (or as Barber puts it - "one man violently cramming his penis into another man’s lower intestine and calling it ‘love'").

Barber is a veritable treasure trove of homophobia,  including when he:

 called marriage equality "Satanic,"

said that marriage equality is about "persecuting Christians,"

implied that he was sent by God to tell gays that HIV was a punishment for sinning.

So that's who the American Family Association has to refute the Center for Disease Control information which doesn't comport with the narrative it is trying to create about gay men and HIV/AIDS - a gay columnist with no medical background and a religious right spokesman who seems to have an obsession with gay sex on the level that some like to claim that gay men have for Barbara Streisand.

It's important to realize that what the AFA spewed by way of One News Now isn't information designed to educate or spread truth. The article was created to justify prejudice and homophobia. It was created to demonize, stigmatize, and isolate, i.e. creating and exploiting conditions which the CDC has clearly said contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS.

If we are to have an honest debate about HIV/AIDS, how the AFA and other religious right groups distort information and spread propaganda  must be included as one of the topics.

'How Wonder Woman saved a gay boy's life' & other Mon midday news briefs

How Wonder Woman Saved A Gay Boy’s Life - WONDERFUL story which resonated with me because I played Wonder Woman as a child. Sue me already, but the male superheroes were so boring.

Chechnya has opened concentration camps for gay men - We've got a problem in Russia. A SERIOUS problem.

Hawaii LGBT couples seek equal access to fertility treatments - I agree with this and fortunately the religious right haven't gotten their grubby mitts of opposition on this . . . yet.

Marriage Equality May Provide “False Sense of Security” About Parental Rights - Unfortunately, it isn't just parental rights which receive the false sense of security.

Irrelevant anti-lgbt group takes credit for Gorsuch being confirmed

From the Department of "I Didn't Know They Were Still Around" comes an old adversary of the lgbt community taking credit for Neil Gorsuch becoming the latest Supreme Court justice:

While I've always been one to advise folks to never discount anything, I feel safe in saying that a refrigerator containing cobwebs and a bottle of gin  has more credibility AND relevancy than NOM right now. The organization really didn't do anything to get Gorsuch confirmed. NOM's gloating is merely a thinly disguised ask for donations:

Our push for the confirmation of Justice Gorsuch made a real difference, but has depleted our funds. Please make a financial contribution today to help us replenish our coffers. Thank You.

Pathetic.

'Gorsuch confirmed to SCOTUS' & other Fri midday news briefs

Gorsuch confirmed to SCOTUS

Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the Supreme Court - The end of this tale was already predetermined, but still expect some religious right gloating over this. They got their wish with the help of a stubborn GOP Senate majority and strange electorate. However, please spare me the handwringing. Now is not the time to throw up hands in defeat and whine. What's our next move? Every victory - and in this case - every loss yields a new battle. It's always about the next move. 

 OutFront: Medical Student Brings Health of LGBTQ Youth to Forefront - Gorsuch or no Gorsuch, this is why we cannot give up. Our kids need us.

Losing Employer Won’t Ask Supreme Court To Overturn Landmark Gay Rights Ruling - Sweet!

Finally, A Definition Of ‘Complicit’ Ivanka Trump Can Agree With - Vicious, but accurate. Now may be the time for more of us gay men to pull out our inner Truman Capotes.

Bryan Fischer Really, Really Wants The LGBTQ Community To Give The Rainbow Back To God - I've got something I can give him. Fischer, that is.

Anti-lgbt congressman tells religious right pastors that America is their 'turf'

Any other time, some you would probably take the following video and write up with comical annoyance. However, in this age of Trump and in light of today's news of the nuclear option being pulled in the Senate voting of Supreme Court justices, comical annoyance (and especially predictions about right-wingers being caught in gay trysts) are distractions from the actual trouble we are seeing.

From People for the American Ways's Right Wing Watch:

Republican Rep. Jody Hice of Georgia spoke yesterday at a “Congressional Pastors Briefing” in Washington, D.C., organized by Religious Right pseudo-historian David Barton, where he told the gathering of conservative Christian pastors that “this is our country.” After celebrating Republican plans to repeal the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits tax-exempt nonprofit organizations, including houses of worship, from explicitly endorsing or opposing candidates for elected office, Hice told the pastors that God has given this country to Christians. “If there is anything I want to leave you [with] today, it is a genuine, heartfelt thank you for just the deep awareness that we are in this thing together,” Hice said. “This is our country, it’s our turf and God has placed us here to be stewards at such a time as this and to stand in the gap.”

 Hice, by the way, doesn't believe that there should be a line of separation between church and state.  He once said that the separation of church and state was a false belief and another time, he blamed Satan for it. And for all of his talk about God, he sees nothing wrong with eliminating The Johnson Amendment; an elimination which has the potential of making churches into conduits of political dark money and more political corruption.

Just in case you are wondering, Hice isn't necessarily fond of lgbts, either. In 2014 when he was a candidate for public office, Buzzfeed called him out for a 2012 book he published, It’s Now or Never: A Call to Reclaim America.

 Buzzfeed said that Hice represented a point of view based upon "pseudoscience" and "outdated views of the lgbt community"  His book ran the gamut from "gays want to recruit children" to "gays want to destroy society," making it practically a storehouse for all of the anti-lgbt propaganda and talking points this blog has repeatedly refuted.

Hice has no business being a dogcatcher, much less a Congressman. But he is in Congress and he is publicly advocating for making America a Christian theocracy; a place in which lgbts will no doubt be denied equality.

Spooky, isn't it?

'Johns Hopkins moving past shadow of transphobic psychiatrist' & other Thur midday news briefs

McHugh

Long shadow cast by psychiatrist on transgender issues finally recedes at Johns Hopkins - An issue which a lot of us aren't familiar with but is still important. It demonstrates how one physician with a personal anti-lgbt bias can cause problems and how the medical community needs to recognize and take action. Paul McHugh has more credibility than infamous junk scientist Paul Cameron. But he is OR WAS just as dangerous to the lives of lgbts. 

Young LGBTI People Are Invisible In Australia's Homelessness Crisis - Reminder that our fight for equality and safety is international.  

Trans Teen Gavin Grimm Slams Trump Policy at Congressional Meeting - "Out of the mouths of babes" indeed. 

 Federal Judge Rules Fair Housing Law Protects Colorado LGBT Couple - Hot damn! Another federal court victory!

  E.W. Jackson: LGBTQ Activists Are ‘Not Satisfied To Go To Hell, They Want To Take The Whole Country With ‘Em’ - Lawd, hammercy!!

Hate group furious that court says civil rights laws protect gays from job discrimination

The Family Research Council is furious at a recent court ruling.

Recently, the United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964:

Existing civil rights laws protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation, a federal appeals court ruled in a historic nationwide first on Tuesday. It is a "common-sense reality," the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held, "that it is actually impossible to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation without discriminating on the basis of sex." Specifically, the court held that the sex discrimination ban in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes a bar on discriminating against gay, lesbian, or bisexual people. 

 The 8-3 ruling represented a reversal of the court's past decisions on the topic, and makes it the first federal appeals court to rule in favor of protection for sexual orientation-based discrimination under existing federal law. "[A] person who alleges that she experienced employment discrimination on the basis of her sexual orientation has put forth a case of sex discrimination for Title VII purposes," Chief Judge Diane Wood wrote for the full court. The Seventh Circuit covers federal lawsuits out of Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The ruling comes on the heels of two other federal appeals court rulings, in which three-judge panels held that prior rulings of the courts made clear that sexual orientation discrimination is not covered under Title VII. Tuesday's ruling, however, was the first time a court had sat en banc — meaning the full court — in hearing such a case. When an appeals court sits en banc, it can review — and reverse — its prior rulings.

It didn't take long after that before the anti-lgbt hate group Family Research Council issued a hysterical disagreement with the ruling, with the usual hurtling of wild accusations without any shred of proof.:

If Congress won't rewrite the law, liberals will find a court who will! That's been the M.O. of the Left for decades: packing the bench with wannabe legislators who'll impose the agendas they could never pass democratically. It worked on school prayer, abortion, and marriage, as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) bragged last year. Now, the Left is using the same playbook on the gender debate -- knowing full well that it's the only way they can force their vision on an unwilling America. Fortunately, there are some judges who agree with us that if the Left wants to change the definition of discrimination, it's asking the wrong branch of government. Unfortunately, those judges aren't in the majority on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. In a mind-boggling decision yesterday, the judges not only stole Congress's job -- they admitted they were doing it! 

For years, liberals have tried to pass legislation making "sexual orientation" a protected category under the Civil Rights Act -- first with ENDA (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act) and then with the "Equality Act." The House and Senate rejected them every time. They recognized, as we do, that sexual orientation wasn't on the minds of legislators 53 years ago when it was trying to weed out prejudice -- and more importantly, it wasn't in the text of the law that passed! No bother, liberals said. We'll just rewrite the policy through our activist courts. 

And Tuesday, the 7th Circuit was more than willing to comply. "For many years," Chief Judge Diane Wood admitted, "the courts of appeals of this country understood the prohibition against sex discrimination to exclude discrimination on the basis of a person's sexual orientation." So by her own admission, there's absolutely no justification for rewriting the law. Still, she goes on, it's the court's responsibility to take a "fresh look" at its position. And in doing so, she writes, "we conclude today that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a form of sex discrimination."

FRC is attempting to argue that it disagrees with the court making this decision rather than leaving it up to legislators and Congress. The organization probably is angry over this fact. The rule has the potential to circumvent legislative bodies - places where religious right groups like FRC have success in hindering pro-lgbt laws.

And to me, that's what makes this victory even sweeter. It proves what I said yesterday about why anti-lgbt laws generally fail to get sanction by the courts. Courts are all about fairness and logic, not lies, horror stories, junk science or religious entitlement.

If you can't use logic to sway courts, you generally fail.

'Can childcare welfare system handle trans kids?' & other Wed midday news briefs

Can the Child Welfare System Handle Trans Children? - The first part in a series by Windy City Times and it illustrates that we have enough issues to deal with in our community without interjections from the religious right. Some transgender children may be getting removed from their homes by child welfare agencies simply because their parents are supporting their identities.

North Carolina’s Debacle Reveals How Easily LGBTQ People Can Be Abandoned By Everyone - A cautionary tale for the lgbt community. Don't assume that folks are joining your side simply because they believe in fairness. A little cynicism never hurts and it steels your mind for possible negative futures outcomes.

 STUDY: LGBT Youth Are Disproportionately in Jail - Our kids have a problem, folks.

 LGBT Job Discrimination Is Prohibited by Civil Rights Law, Federal Appeals Court Rules - Sweet! And as an added degree of happiness - IN YOUR FACE, RELIGIOUS RIGHT!!!! 

 Bryan Fischer: ‘The Worst Example Of Cultural Appropriation In History Is The LGBT Community Stealing The Rainbow From God’ - What Bryan Fischer is reduced to . . .

Mississippi attorneys discover difficulty of defending anti-lgbt law

Miss. Gov Phil Bryant

From one of my favorite journalists, Mark Joseph Stern of The Slate, comes an article which accentuates how difficult it is to defend an anti-lgbt law. Stern's article, Mississippi’s Anti-LGBTQ Lawyers Are Gaslighting Their Opponents in Court, looks at the difficulties the attorneys are having defending that state's anti-lgbt 'religious liberty' law in front of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals:

Have the lawyers defending Mississippi’s anti-LGBTQ bill actually read their own statute? 

This question loomed large over hearings here on Monday at the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Civil rights attorneys challenging the Mississippi statute, HB 1523, argue that it promotes certain religious beliefs over others and legalizes discrimination against LGBTQ people. That reading would seem to be reasonable, since the bill explicitly states that anti-gay and anti-trans beliefs receive special legal protection, and allows anti-LGBTQ discrimination in employment, housing, medical treatment, public accommodations, adoption, and marriage licensing. But when Roberta Kaplan, a Paul, Weiss attorney arguing against the law, raised this point in court, her opponent, Jonathan Mitchell, contested it. 

“This statute has been mischaracterized so many times,” Mitchell told the court with a weary sigh. He insisted that a public school teacher who promotes anti-gay beliefs in a second-grade classroom could be re-assigned under HB 1523. Judge Catharina Haynes, one of the 5th Circuit’s sharpest judges, looked puzzled. 

“Why?” she asked. After all, the law bars the government from taking any “adverse employment action” against state employees for promoting anti-LGBTQ beliefs. Mitchell responded that the school could create a “neutral policy” barring schoolteachers from espousing political views in school. But that would not solve the problem at all. Even if a school passed such a policy, it would be barred under HB 1523 for punishing a teacher who violated it so long as they did so by endorsing anti-LGBTQ views. The text of the law is absolute: There are no exceptions and no balancing of interests.

Here is a more interesting exchange:

Haynes raised another concern: that HB 1523 allows restaurants to eject same-sex couples. Mitchell responded that serving these couples wouldn’t constitute a “recognition” of their marriage under the law. “What about a rehearsal dinner for a same-sex couple?” Haynes asked. Mitchell scoffed. 

A rehearsal dinner? At a restaurant?” he responded incredulously. Yes, Haynes said, informing Mitchell, perhaps for the first time in his life, that not all couples conduct rehearsal dinners in swanky hotel ballrooms. Mitchell hedged, equivocated, and dodged, informing Haynes that the court had to “defer to the state’s reasonable construction.” 

Before we continue, a brief word about this line of argument. Federal courts are, indeed, required to defer to a state’s interpretation of its statutes. But the state’s attorneys aren’t the ones who do the interpreting. It’s the state’s courts. If a state court rules that HB 1523 doesn’t allow discrimination, the federal courts must rely upon that interpretation. But if a state’s lawyer says so on the fly with absolutely no evidence or legal authority, the federal courts owe him no deference. Haynes pointed this out to Mitchell, reminding him, “Your interpretation of the law is not binding on a judge. A judge isn’t bound by what you told me.” Mitchell responded with the most jarring line of the day, telling Haynes that if a state judge interprets HB 1523 incorrectly, he should be “impeached.” Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod leaned forward with a shocked expression. “If a judge interprets something incorrectly,” she asked with evident alarm, “we should impeach them?” 

Mitchell broke into a laugh, realizing how badly he had erred. “No!” he said. “Not you!” Then he reiterated his main point: HB 1523 is not “a license to discriminate.”

The religious right, while being successful in getting the public to vote the way they want or getting lawmakers to create certain bills,  have failed time and time again to get the courts to ratify their mess with a favorable ruling.

And why is that? Simply because, to paraphrase the words of David Boies, the attorney who successfully argued against Prop 8, the courts are places of logic. You can't sway judges with lies, junk science, or anecdotal horror stories like you can with the public. You can't work with judges like you can with politicians. Judges aren't your friends or allies. You can't make public appearances with them or give them cheesy awards praising their "values."

Judges are supposed to uphold the Constitution and impartially rule for fairness. And in cases such as with sodomy laws, gay adoption, and even marriage equality, the best lies of the religious right fell because they didn't pass the muster of truth.

And in the end, that line, however seemingly thin, may continue to be strong enough to hold the religious right at bay.

'Trump ally has homophobic meltdown at Congressman focusing on Russia connection' & other Tue. midday news briefs

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How Mike Pence mistreats the lgbt community more important conversation than relationship with wife

Last week, it was revealed that Mike Pence won't dine alone with a woman other than his wife. Naturally this led to a lot of speculation in the mainstream press or praise from the religious right about either Pence's supposed extreme ideas about marriage and women or his "piety" and "fidelity."

I simply don't care. Maybe there can be some type of discussion pulled from  Pence's relationship with his wife, However, I think people should be talking about his  mistreatment of the lgbt community throughout his political career -  from supporting a constitutional amendment which would bar us from marrying to opposing a law which would keep us from being discriminated against in the workplace.

There are so many examples of how Pence has attacked or demonized the lgbt community in the past. Probably one of the most memorable incidents happened in 2015 when he, as governor of Indiana, wouldn't say if he opposed discrimination against the lgbt community. A simple "yes" or "no" shouldn't have been difficult.

But it was for Pence:



 I don't care how Pence treats his wife. But I do care that he doesn't treat the lgbt community like we are worthy of equality.  That should be where the concern lies. And what the conversation should be about.

''Moonlight' big winner, Trump big loser at GLAAD Media Awards' & other Mon. midday news briefs

The first half ceremony of the 28th annual GLAAD Media Awards was held Saturday in Los Angeles. The big winners included Oscar winning movie 'Moonlight,' while another Oscar winner, Patricia Arquette and singer-songwriter, actor, and Youtube sensation Troye Sivan received the Vanguard and Stephen F. Kolzak awards.  And Trump got properly "read." The second half ceremony of the GLAAD Media Awards will be held on May 6 in New York.  Will the third time be the charm for this blog as it vies for 'Outstanding Blog?' Hopefully so:

GLAAD Awards to Trump: 'Meryl Was Too Easy on You' - Don't act shocked. Lgbtqs and allies getting together for a huge awards ceremony. You know Trump was going to be in our sights. 

 In other news:  

Young People Are More Likely To Be Openly LGBT, But They're Leaving Traditional Labels Behind - I LOVE this!

 Beyond the bathroom bill, more legislation raises worries - Alright, Texas. Stop acting up. 

What You Need to Know About Mississippi’s HB1523, Considered by the 5th Circuit on April 3rd - Siiiigh! Keep your fingers crossed.

And now a word about 'Identity Politics'

Personally, I think "identity politics" is a phrase which demonstrates how too much of the American media is white, heterosexual, and male oriented.  If there is no diversity in the faces we see telling us the news, naturally the important issues affecting those who don't fit in the above categories are shuffled off into some box of "odds and ends," as if they are trifles instead of pertinent problems.

That's my take on it, but Boris Dittrich in The Advocate has an equally wonderful look on the difficulty of us so-called minorities (African-American, lgbtq, etc.) have in getting our concerns looked at seriously instead of sidebars. There is an excerpt from his piece, Identity Politics Forever:

LGBT activists advocate for equal rights and nondiscrimination. They do not claim special or extra rights. They aspire to a society where LGBT people are not bullied at work or in school and have the same relationship rights as others do. Equality and nondiscrimination are values that concern everyone in society. They require a robust defense. Because the values of human rights depend foremost on the ability to empathize with others — to recognize the importance of treating others the way we would want to be treated — they are especially vulnerable when the argument of the majority versus minorities is invoked.  

 Politics that stops talking about minority rights on the theory that upholding them is “divisive” or makes it harder to win over majority voting blocs, will only lead to a more fragmented society, not bring people together. Instead political leaders should make clear that rights are not a zero-sum game — protecting my rights does not undermine yours. On the contrary, it creates a framework we can all rely on if our rights come under threat.

'92 reasons to celebrate Trans Day of Visibility' & other Fri midday news briefs

92 Gorgeous Photos That Show What It Really Means To Be Trans - Ninety-two reasons to celebrate Trans Day of Visibility (with the proviso that there are so many more reasons.)  

"Never Give Up": Trans People Share Messages Of Love And Support For Trans Day Of Visibility - Never forget your value and never allow other people to reduce your worth.  

N.C. governor ‘threw the LGBT community under the bus’- Yes he did. No one is happy with that jacked up, screwed up HB2 "repeal." 

The decades-old anti-gay illogic used to demonize transgender people - What I have been saying consistently. The same crap used to demonize gay men is now being using to demonize transgender men and women. The same technique, the same reliance on easily debunked anecdotal stories, the same appeal to people's basic prejudicial ignorance. . .  

Arkansas 'bathroom bill' dead for session, to be studied - For now. Let's not celebrate yet.  

These Photos Posted By People Of Color In Love Make A Beautiful Point - Let's end today's news briefs on a positive note.