'Uber driver accused of kicking out lesbian couple for kissing' & other Mon midday news briefs

This footage of an Uber driver kicking out a lesbian couple is jaw-dropping - We will see what Uber does next.

UPDATE - She got fired.

Religious Liberty and LGBTQ Families - It's deliberate how when some talk about "religious liberty," they omit talking about how it harms LGBTQ families. 

World’s first openly gay prince endured shock therapy to ‘cure’ his sexuality - The struggle is real, y'all. 

Unqualified And Ideological: A Guide To Trump’s Worst Judges - They won't beat us, regardless.

Trump Administration accused of inflating number of complaints to justify anti-LGBTQ religious exemption policy

You mean the Trump Administration may have lied again? Color me not shocked.

Sometimes when Trump acts like a colossal jackass, he takes attention away from issues which need media coverage. In this particular case, the week-long embarrassing controversy he initiated involving Hurricane Dorian and Alabama sucked up all of the air while a serious charge about one of his policies went unnoticed.

From Bloomberg:

President Donald Trump’s plan to let doctors and hospitals refuse services based on their religious beliefs or moral convictions should be scrapped without a trial or put on hold until litigation over the policy is resolved, a federal judge was told by states and cities that sued. 

Evidence produced since the lawsuit was filed in May shows that the administration, in seeking to justify the rule, vastly inflated the number of complaints filed by religious health-care providers who claimed they were discriminated against or forced to provide services that violate their personal beliefs, the almost two dozen states and cities said Thursday in a court filing. 

The government “falsely cites to evidence that it does not actually have,“ according to the group, which includes New York, Pennsylvania, Hawaii and Chicago. 

The clash over the so-called conscience rule is emerging as a major test of Trump’s ability to broadly expand protections for religious businesses and employees who might be accused of discriminating against women, religious minorities and the LGBTQ community for refusing to provide services. 

In May of this year, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a new policy which would allow healthcare workers to refuse to treat patients or provide services if they voiced a religious objection.

According to LGBTQNation:

The rule would allow workers to refuse to provide basic health care like birth control, refuse to treat women who have had abortions, and discriminate against gay or lesbian individuals and their families, including their children. The change is part of the Trump administration’s push to give Christians a license to discriminate under the guise of “religious freedom.”

Conservative and religious right groups praised this new policy, which was supposed to be implemented in July.  But lawsuits filed by 16 healthcare groups and physicians, organizations such as the Center for Reproductive Rights, Lambda Legal, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State,  and several states forced the Trump Administration to delay implementation of the policy until November.

We will see what happens next, that is if Trump doesn't decide to pull another stunt to grab all of the media's attention.

'Holy Bullies & Headless Monsters celebrates 13 years, Drew Brees clarifies, & other Friday midday news briefs

It's that time again!!!!!

Thirteen years ago, I began this blog to expose how the anti-LGBTQ industry distorts and lies in order to demonize my brothers and sisters. It's been a wild ride which includes mentions in publications like The Daily Beast, the Advocate, The Washington Blade and a host of awards including a GLAAD Media Award (and four nominations). And the ride ain't over yet. It's not even close to being over. Thank you all of my friends and supporters for guiding me along the way, keeping me sane, and lifting me up.


Drew Brees: I Was Unaware of Focus on the Family's Views When I Shot Promo Video - New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees teamed up with anti-LGBTQ group Focus on the Family for a "Bring Your Bible to School Day" event but claims not to know the group's history of lobbying against our rights and safety. I tend to believe him because, let's face it, a lot of folks aren't aware of how insidious some religious right groups are. You know how this country is about its football heroes, so some folks aren't going to be happy at us for pressing the issue. Let them. Our rights, community, and families are at stake. It's good that Brees clarified the situation.

Kristen Stewart’s experience is emblematic of LGBTQ people’s struggles in Hollywood - So true, unfortunately. 

These 48 Lawmakers Want to Legalize LGBTQ+ Discrimination - Don't forget. 

The rise of anti-trans “radical” feminists, explained - Wonderful article explaining the exploits of a bunch of awful individuals. I have ZERO respect for members of our community who will work with the anti-LGBTQ industry to destroy their own people. What makes these shortsighted folks think that the target won't be on them, next? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Religious right wants to steal LGBTQ tax dollars but are too cowardly to say so

The religious right wants our tax dollars while reminding us that we are not fit to raise children.

Read this article courtesy of the American Family Association's propaganda news source One News Now. See if you can point out the gaping hole of omission. It should be relatively easy:

Ten states and more than 40 members of Congress are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of Fulton et al v City of Philadelphia, a case pitting religious beliefs against homosexual rights.

Sharonell Fulton and Toni Simms-Bush are Philadelphia foster moms standing up for Catholic Social Services, a faith-based agency that's been operating for over 100 years.
In 2018, the City of Philadelphia barred Catholic Social Services from placing children in homes due to the agency's policy against placing children with same-sex couples.
"The city is currently in a foster care crisis," said attorney Nick Reaves of Becket, the law firm representing Fulton and Simms-Busch, in an interview on the "Washington Watch" radio program. 

"In about March 2018," he advised, "the city said they needed 300 new foster families to care for kids in need, but just a few days later the city turned around and said that they were going to close Catholic Social Services -- one of the most effective agencies in the city -- just because they disagree with their religious beliefs about marriage." 

Reaves added there are services in Philadelphia that serve LGBTQ households. 

"The city has supported those agencies but yet they're trying to close down agencies like Catholic Social Services," Reaves continued. "I think the reason you see so many lawmakers and states getting behind the Fulton petition is because it's a national issue."
Becket alone has multiple cases on this issue. 

"We have another case in Michigan on this issue," said Reaves. "There's also a case in South Carolina, (and) there is a case in Texas."

While lying about the LGBTQ community attempting to "punish" Christians (and children), One News Now left out the main issue of the controversy - the simple fact that these adoption agencies were receiving a large amount of tax dollars while practicing discrimination against the LGBTQ community.

According to Philly News in March 2018:

The city announced Thursday that it had stopped two faith-based agencies from placing foster children after learning the organizations discriminate against LGBTQ people. The Philadelphia Department of Human Services has ceased foster-care intake with Bethany Christian Services and Catholic Social Services, pending an investigation by the Commission on Human Relations.

. . . A same-sex couple who approached Bethany Christian Services about becoming foster parents were turned away in October. Catholic Social Services told the Inquirer and Daily News it also does not work with LGBTQ people interested in being foster parents, though it knew of no inquiries from same-sex couples. Together the agencies have received about $3 million in foster care reimbursement funds from the city each year.

The Huffington Post was more specific about the reimbursement amounts. In 2017:

 . . . Philadelphia reimbursed Bethany to the tune of $1,314,562 in city, state and federal funds to operate foster homes and gave Catholic Social Services $1,667,745.

Also, in the One News Now article, cases in Michigan and South Carolina were mentioned. According to the same Huffington Post article:

Miracle Hill Ministries, a South Carolina Christian organization, stipulates on its website that foster parents must “have a lifestyle that is free of sexual sin” ― listing “pornographic materials, homosexuality, and extramarital relationships” as specific examples. The organization has already received more than $4.6 million in federal and state funding in the 2018 fiscal year, according to a South Carolina Department of Social Services spokeswoman . . .

Michigan paid St. Vincent Catholic Charities, a nonprofit in Lansing, Michigan, at least $10.6 million in federal and state funds for foster care payments alone over a two-year period that ended in September 2017, according to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services data. But St. Vincent “cannot provide written recommendations and endorsements of unmarried or same-sex couples,” Melinda Skea, a spokeswoman for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is handling the organization’s media inquiries, told HuffPost in an email.

It's not by accident that One News Now conveniently omitted mentioning these facts in its article. And it's not the only religious right entity which will sidestep the issue of LGBTQ tax dollars going to entities which practice anti-LGBTQ discrimination.

Last year, I had a discussion on Twitter with Kellie Fiedorek, an employee of the Alliance Defending Freedom.  For those not familiar, ADF has taken a lead position in pushing court cases seeking to undermine LGBTQ protections and safety. Its goal seems to be legalizing anti-LGBTQ discrimination.

During the discussion, Fiedorek defended an Oklahoma law which allows adoption agencies to discriminate against the LGBTQ community while receiving tax dollars.  Her answers to my question sounded rehearsed. But she couldn't answer whenever I asked about entities discriminating against the LGBTQ community receiving our tax dollars.

You see, folks like Fiedorek and groups like AFA and the Becket Fund don't want to have that discussion because it would steer away from the false picture they are painting. This issue of religious foster care and adoption agencies versus the LGBTQ community isn't about punishing folks for religious beliefs. At its heart, the issue is about religious entitlement and homophobia.  They want our hard earned money, but they don't want to acknowledge us as people capable of raising children. They want our tax dollars, but don't want to respect us as taxpayers who should be treated fairly.  They want the results of our labor, but want to also keep the rewards away from us.

And they think that "their faith" should give them that right.

'Kevin Hart tries and fails to gaslight Lil Nas X for coming out' & other Thur midday news briefs

Lil Nas X

Kevin Hart got upset that Lil Nas X came out & pretended like homophobia doesn’t exist - THIS mess right here is the reason for the blog post before this one.

Lil Nas X Gave a Masterclass on Dealing With the Gaslighting LGBTQ People Face Every Day - A more positive view of the incident. In case you can't tell, Kevin Hart had me snatching off my earrings.

3,000 expected to attend AIDS conference in D.C. this week - Wonderful!

Here’s How ‘Relish’ Could Raise The Bar For Transgender Teens In Film - Okay, this is interesting. 

African-American LGBTQ people exist. We made America great. Deal with it. - Speaking of the blog post I mentioned in the first news brief . . .

African-American LGBTQ people exist. We made America great. Deal with it.

I'm not here for any discussion or any debate. I don't give a damn right now about the differences between being black and LGBTQ. I don't want to discussion the minutia of similarities or differences.  I just have one thing to say.

 LGBTQ African-Americans are here. We exist. We will not make allowances for your disrespect, we will not remain in the background,  nor will we edit out portions of our lives to fit naive ideas of a homogeneous community or Ho-Tep fantasies of how black people should act. We're not here as your tokens or to amuse you. We aren't here to be pulled from one side to another. We are not here for you to make us supposedly choose which side of the aisle we stand on. Where we stand is where we have stood from the beginning and will always stand until the end of time. On our side.

Enjoy the videos:

Two things about this video. Every name is accurate, except possibly for George Washington Carver. His sexual orientation was never verified. People talked about his high pitched voice but there is a sad rumor about that which I won't go into.

The second thing is why the second video is necessary. This above video, made in 2013, failed to include our transgender brothers and sisters. The video below is a wonderful spotlight of transgender African-American historical figures, including my buddy from Transgriot, Monica Roberts:

'Tea party politician may go to jail for lie about gay sex scandal' & other Wed midday news briefs

This Tea Party politician made up a wild gay sex scandal about himself. He might go to jail for it. - Put his ass under the jail!

Kristen Stewart says she was advised to hide her sexuality for her career - Ooo, girl! I know how that is!

Inside the Supreme Court Discrimination Cases That Could Change LGBTQ Rights - Win or lose, we aren't going back to the way things were. We will push ahead, regardless.

Conversion therapy group founder comes out as gay, apologizes - Good for him!

12-year-old reminds us all that same-sex families will not be erased by the religious right

The question asked by Jak Guimbellot, the son of lesbian couple during a city council meeting in Olathe, Kansas highlights a huge portion of the American community which the anti-LGBTQ industry is trying to make invisible:

“I just don’t understand why if I’m with my mothers and we decide to go to a restaurant to eat, that we can be denied access and have to eat somewhere else,” Jak said. It’s a question his mother Kate Guimbellot said she’s never been able to answer. And it’s a question at the heart of a years-long debate throughout Johnson County and the Kansas City area, as the LGBTQ community pleads for cities to adopt ordinances protecting them against discrimination.

'Majority of young people think trans people should use whichever bathroom they choose' & other Tue midday news briefs

An overwhelming majority of young people think trans people should use whichever bathroom they want - And by wide majority, too.

The Trump administration started by going after LGBT families. Now it’s some military families. - It always starts with us. 

The Boston Straight Pride Parade Actually Happened And People Were Not Happy - But on the positive side, it sucked. 

LGBT forum for 2020 hopefuls gets boost from GLAAD, Cory Booker - Stay tuned.

Fourteen times the religious right have been caught lying about science to denigrate the LGBTQ community

On Thursday, this blog reported about a study which said there is no one  single 'gay gene,' "but that a complex mix of genetics and environment affects whether a person has same-sex sexual partners."

At the time, I  said that the religious right (or as I like to call them - the anti-LGBTQ industry) will cherry-pick and distort the study to make  negative accusations about our community. And it turns out that I was right:

From LGBTQNation:

The right wing, especially the religious right, have struggled with the science around sexual orientation, especially genetics. Faced with the argument that people are born gay, the right has argued that the science was questionable, and in any case, it didn’t matter. 

“Studies have suggested a genetic link to alcoholism, to violence, and even to adultery,” Pastor Robert Jeffress, one of President Trump’s biggest boosters, has said. “But are we willing to excuse those behaviors on the basis of ‘my genes made me do it’? I don’t think so." 

But in light of a massive new study finding that the genetics behind orientation are complex and not defined by a single gene, the right is turning cartwheels. The study found that many genes play a role in determining someone’s orientation, as did social and environmental factors. Moreover, the study authors made a point of saying that being gay is “natural.” 

What the religious right heard was that genetics are a minor consideration, at best, and that they were right all along.

Aside from spinning horror stories  and anecdotes about gays wanting to "recruit" children or "imprison" Christians, groups such as the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family and other affiliated organizations and individuals have relied on either distorted or cherry-picked science over the decades to make the case that supposedly homosexuality is an "unhealthy lifestyle."

While the junk science generally comes from discredited groups groups, such as the American College of Pediatricians or Christian Medical and Dental Associations,  or discredited researchers and physicians (Paul McHugh or Paul Cameron), cherry-picked science comes from legitimate research. Inappropriately anointed "policy analysts" such as Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council, take out portions of studies and skewer them to denigrate the LGBTQ community, regardless of the fact that in its original context the portions didn't speak negatively about the community.

This generally gets these religious right and "morality" groups in trouble because legitimate researchers and Ph.Ds (usually the authors of the studies in question) publicly complain that their work has been misused. The irony is when this happens, the groups either quietly cease citing the research or ignores the complaints while continuing to distort the work.

On at least 14 occasions, religious right groups and personalities have been called out for distorting science to denigrate the LGBTQ community.

Study says there is no one 'gay gene,' but thousands of genetic variants linked to homosexuality

Before the anti-LGBTQ industry has the opportunity to twist this study, we should get abreast of all the facts.

From Reuters:

A large scientific study into the biological basis of sexual behaviour has confirmed there is no single “gay gene” but that a complex mix of genetics and environment affects whether a person has same-sex sexual partners. 

The research, which analysed data on DNA and sexual experiences from almost half a million people, found there are thousands of genetic variants linked to same-sex sexual behaviour, most with very small effects. 

Five of the genetic markers were “significantly” associated with same-sex behaviour, the researchers said, but even these are far from being predictive of a person’s sexual preferences. 

“We scanned the entire human genome and found a handful - five to be precise - of locations that are clearly associated with whether a person reports in engaging in same-sex sexual behaviour,” said Andrea Ganna, a biologist at the Institute of Molecular Medicine in Finland who co-led the research. 

He said these have “a very small effect” and, combined, explain “considerably less than 1% of the variance in the self-reported same-sex sexual behaviour.” 

This means that non-genetic factors - such as environment, upbringing, personality, nurture - are far more significant in influencing a person’s choice of sexual partner, just as with most other personality, behavioural and physical human traits, the researchers said.

The study is significant because it helps to prove that homosexuality is not simply a "behavior" you can switch on and off like a light bulb. But if I know fake experts like the Family Research Council's Peter Sprigg (and I've tracked them enough over years to have some knowledge of their tactics), their talking point will comprise of cherry-picking the study like so:

The study says there is no gay gene, ergo homosexuality is a "learned behavior" which can be "treated."

Of course this is not what the study said, but folks like Sprigg generally don't care.  It's not like this would be the first time Sprigg has cherry-picked science to denigrate us.  So now that you know about the possible deception of this study beforehand, you are prepared for when it comes.

'Former NFL player: There are gay, bisexual players on every team' & other Thur midday news briefs

Former NFL Player: There Are Gay, Bisexual Players On Every Pro Football Team - Yep. So true.

Franklin Graham goes berserk over Taylor Swift and the Equality Act: ‘Pushing LGBTQ agenda down the throats of the American people’ - The hypocrite speaks. 

'These parents’ brilliant plan to protect their kids from fascist protestors should spread nationwide - This was awesome. 

How LGBTQ Wedding Planners Make Big Gay Wedding Dreams Come True- This is so sweet. I love this.

Hate group accidentally makes the case for teaching concepts of sexuality, gender, and same-sex families to children

In an attempt to paint the LGBTQ community as negative and dangerous to children, One News Now, the propaganda site of hate group the American Family Association, showcased a video by Queerly Elementary.

From its webpage:

Queerly Elementary provides professional development, consulting, and classroom lessons to help school communities embrace and celebrate people of all genders and sexualities. Complex, dynamic, and occasionally heated topics are presented in a way that is accessible for all participants, regardless of their previous knowledge or personal views. Services are available for all levels from preschool through university. The founder of Queerly Elementary, Olivia Higgins, leads all workshops, class lessons and consulting. She will take the necessary time to learn about your particular questions, concerns, skills, and challenges, so she may tailor all services to best meet your unique needs.

One News Now showcased the video to accompany a ridiculous article which implies that teachers are being "coerced" to push the alleged "gay agenda" on elementary school children. However, all the video does is simply make a good case as to how the concepts of gender and sexuality - and especially the fact that same-sex families exist - can be taught to elementary school children.

I don't think AFA meant for this to happen, so I doubt anyone will hold it against me for not saying "thank you."

'Couple pushing lawsuit seems to be mostly interested in overturning pro-LGBTQ law' & other Wed midday news breifs

This couple is suing to overturn a civil rights law because they want to discriminate against gays - A "religious liberty" case explained and demonstrates why it's not just about a cake. The couple in question didn't do weddings. They only said they wanted to do weddings to put them in a position to overturn an anti-discrimination law.

Texas group advocates for LGBTI migrants - Wonderful because immigration is an LGBTQ issue.

High school students forced to change out of LGBTQ pride shirts: 'We don't promote that here' - Excuse me? I beg your pardon. 

Poland’s Populist Government Has Declared War on the LGBTQ Community - This is scary.

Fighting in Drag with LGBTQ Pro Wrestlers

Due to how the raging nonsense of the Trump Administration and its attack on the LGBTQ community sometimes renders us drained, from time to time, I like to take a break from calling out the anti-LGBTQ industry and feature videos which focus on comedic or unusually educational aspects of our community. I usually do this on Sunday, but today I found this incredible video, courtesy of the Youtube channel VICE Identity  and I had to share it.

Simultaneously, pro wrestling has a history of homoeroticism and homophobia. Images of muscular men in tights staging theatrical fights mixed with angles featuring extremely flaming villains (Gorgeous George, Exotic Adrian Street, Adorable Adrian Adonis) designed to inflame audiences have been a hallmark of  the industry for as long as I can remember. However, a new troupe of pro wrestlers have decided to turn this dynamic on its head and I rather like it.

 From the video:

For these drag wrestlers, there’s more at stake in the ring than a championship belt. Many LGBTQ wrestlers such as Rick Cataldo (aka “The Boy Diva”) and Jason Dewhurst (“The Samoan Wrestling Diva”) faced bullying and ridicule early on, but at their drag wrestling shows, they get to bring queer visibility to the ring in a friendly showdown.

Vice Identity also has a impressive web page of videos focusing on crucial issues such as race, gender, and sexual orientation. You should check it out. 

'Gay man's neighbors show their support after he receives death threats' & other Mon midday news briefs

A gay man got a death threat when he flew a rainbow flag. His neighbors’ reaction is amazing. - Wonderful story of having someone's back.

When Transgender Travelers Walk Into Scanners, Invasive Searches Sometimes Wait on the Other Side - What happened to Olivia is a damn shame. It shouldn't happen to ANYONE at all.

Liberty Counsel Issues Money Beg To Defend Kim Davis - Forget it! 

The treachery of gay Republicans - Preach!!

Hate group doubles down on falsely blaming trans community for heterosexual man's crime

The anti-LGBTQ industry tries so hard to make our community the villains in American society that they will blame us for crimes we had nothing to do with.

Hate group the American Family Association has been attacking Target for a number of years because of its policy of allowing customers to use bathrooms and restrooms which match their gender identity. By exploiting the "transgender bathroom predator" lie, AFA gained a lot of media attention, lots of signatures on a petition seeking to shame Target, and probably lots of donations.

But it would seem that all of those things are running dry for the group. Why else would it be sending folks the following email:

It happened again. Target's dangerous policy of allowing men to enter women's dressing rooms has resulted in possible sexual crimes against female customers – both women and underage girls. 

In May, Sean Anderson was allegedly arrested for taking pictures of undressed females after drilling holes in women's dressing rooms in several Target stores in Pennsylvania.
After his arrest, police searched through Anderson's phone and found 56 images of women, 12 of whom were without tops and one who was completely unclothed. They also found six images of young girls who were either partially or totally undressed, investigators said. 

Here's the rub. Anderson allegedly drilled the holes on a prior visit. Target knew the holes were in the dressing rooms and knew that these holes allowed for "Peeping Toms" to spy on women undressing. Rather than protecting female customers by prohibiting men from the area, Target merely plugged the holes and continued to let men enter without restriction. 

With something as simple as a ballpoint pen, Anderson returned and pushed the plugs out of the holes and used his phone’s camera to continue his disgusting crime of violating the privacy of Target's female customers over and over again. 

Target had the ability to completely prevent this type of crime, yet it didn't. Target still has the ability to prevent this type of crime 100% of the time, yet it won't. 

The bottom line is this: People who shop at Target and use its restrooms or dressing rooms are at risk for sexual exploitation.

AFA's rendition of the situation is mostly accurate, except for one huge and easily recognizable flaw. The situation had absolutely nothing to do with Target's policy or the transgender community at all.  The incident took place last week and almost instantaneously, AFA began exploiting it. LGBTQNation caught wind of the nonsense and said the following:

Most Target dressing rooms aren’t gendered already since they’re normally only for one person and Anderson did not enter a “women’s” dressing room by pretending to be a transgender person. What Anderson did is a crime and is being treated as such. But that crime had nothing to do with transgender people.  

 “As AFA has stated many times, our worries do not stem from fear of the transgender community, but rather from both the real and potential threat that predators and voyeurs would take advantage of the Target restroom policy to harm women and children — and there are plenty of incidents to show that they have,” Tim Wildmon, the group’s president, said in a statement sent to LGBTQ Nation.

Wildmon's statement is an inane cop-out because as LGBTQNation pointed out, Anderson didn't take advantage of Target's policy to commit his crime. He entered the dressing room as a heterosexual man and drilled holes. When Target employees noticed the holes in the changing room, they caulked them over. My guess is that no one from the store knew who created the holes but in caulking them, they recognized the danger they presented. It's rather shady that AFA tries to accuse the store of wrongdoing even about the detail regarding the holes.

But the main problem seems to be that when being called out for the ridiculous attack on the transgender community by LGBTQNation (and The Advocate), AFA chose to double down with its deception regarding Target's policy.

It's rather embarrassing enough to be proven a liar, but to double down on the lie after being shown to be wrong is simply tacky.  But if any group has rightfully earned this embarrassment, it's the American Family Association.

Hate group of attorneys plotting to wreck LGBTQ equality under guise of defending 'religious liberty'

The Alliance Defending Freedom is a supposed Christian law firm which claims to protect the religious liberty of all Americans. However, others see it as a hate group plotting to overturn laws protecting LGBTQ Americans from discrimination.  I am in the latter category.

ADF has been working behind the scenes to undermine the rights and safety of LGBTQ Americans for a number of years. The organization has been the architect behind several anti-LGBTQ cases  (such as the Masterpiece bakery case and the Baronnelle Stutzman case) which it has skillfully painted as innocent Christian businesses vs. the onslaught of radical gay activists. Or even worse, children and women fearing for their safety in bathrooms and locker rooms against so-called transgender predators.

But it has a carefully cultivated image in the media of legitimacy.

How does ADF get away with it? Part of the reason is that a lot of people aren't aware of its existence or the extreme positions it takes.  Also,  it has high profile connections in the Trump Administration, a budget of $50 million and a global network of over 3,200 attorneys.  And all of that is devoted to creating a carefully crafted image of purity and discipline in the public eye and the media (some of which are very accommodating, i.e. Fox News) while it slowly picks away at LGBTQ rights and safety.

But let's do a visual. The following video is how ADF portrays itself to the public. On Youtube, the organization pumps out incredibly polished videos like so:

That's the image ADF wants you to see. The reality is uglier:

 

This should serve as a lesson to the community. The threats to our equality and safety don't necessarily come from off-the-wall street protesters. They don't necessarily come from bakeries or florists who won't treat us like regular customers. They come from groups with huge budgets planning behind the scenes to play long games and weave narratives which will cost us our freedoms. It's not paranoid to say that there are people and groups with huge budgets conjuring up plots against us in expensively laid board rooms because that's what happening. It sounds like a silly spy movie, but unfortunately it's reality.

In the fall, the ADF will be arguing in front of SCOTUS again in cases which may decide whether or not companies and businesses can fire us simply for our sexual orientation. I have a hope that good will prevail.  But regardless, folks need to get educated and send the word out about ADF.

I look at the ADF like the infamous Koch Brothers. The group is very powerful when it can do its  business without notice. The most dangerous thing to the ADF is notoriety. You can steal when no one is watching.  When people are watching and know you as a thief, it's not so easy.  ADF's unearned sterling reputation partly comes from the fact that not too many people are aware that it exists. I think we as a community should change that.

Because no one can dish out the dirty like we can.

Related posts:

No Gays Allowed - A website devoted to all of the vulgar positions that the Alliance Defending Freedom is hiding from the public
.
SPLC profile of the Alliance Defending Freedom

The extremism of anti-LGBTQ powerhouse Alliance Defending Freedom - Media Matters has an exhaustive profile on ADF. Everything you need to know and then some.

GLAAD spotlights Alliance Defending Freedom’s decade long anti-LGBTQ legal strategy - GLAAD spotlight on ADF from 2017 but with a wonderful detailed look at the history of the cases it has brought against the LGBTQ community.

Conservative publication PJMedia digs a hole into the credibility of anti-LGBTQ hate groups - A piece I wrote last week. The conservative media network bends over backwards to sanitize ADF.

'Teen says he was attacked in school locker room for being openly gay' & other Fri midday news briefs

Alexandria teen says he was attacked in school locker room for being openly gay - This child is all of us. He is one of the reasons why we must always fight like hell for what belongs to us.

Republican congressman slams trans people in new campaign ad - Disgusting. I didn't make a blog post focused solely on this because I didn't want to give this pig too much attention. 

Meeting series aims to connect LGBTQ biz owners, allies - This is a wonderful idea. 

Munroe Bergdorf Reflects on the 'Toxic' LGBTQ Hierarchy - She makes a good point and it is a conversation which needs to happen.

Sorry, but you can't blame the LGBTQ community for any predators in the church

Courtesy of  Right-Wing Watch is an off-the-wall conversation about sexual abuse in the church featuring E.W. Jackson.

Jackson  is a Trump supporter who once accused presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg of attempting to turn America into a "homocracy." I have no idea what that is. In addition, Jackson has railed against gay parents, called us "servant of Satan," and apparently has more lurid ideas of gay sex than most of us. I guess you can say that he's not an ally of the community. To quote Barney Fife from The Andy Griffith Show, "he's a nut."

Now one homophobic nut is bad enough, but when more than one get together, you get a "nut synthesis"  This means you are going to hear all sorts of zany mess about the LGBTQ community. And with that, I give you a conversation Jackson had with Amy Cooper, the host of vague "Christian show." They are discussing gay men in the church, so you know the conversation is bound to be  . . . something:

Okay, none of that stuff is true. And you will note that neither Cooper nor Jackson offered any proof that gays have been coming into churches and molesting children.

The irony is that while the above conversation happened last week, on Thursday of this week an article came out revealing that a former prominent leader in the Southern Baptist Convention mentored and assisted a younger pastor even after learning of allegations of said pastor engaging in the sexual assault of several women.

Paige Patterson, the leader in question, isn't exactly an angel himself when it comes to the treatment of women:

Patterson’s infamy became clear in April of 2018 when we learned he once offered “advice” to women trapped in abusive marriages by telling them to stay and pray. In a separate sermon, he made creepy sexual remarks about an underage girl. As president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he once told an alleged rape victim to not talk to the police and forgive the rapist. Last September, he body-shamed a woman during a sermon while also condemning those who make false accusations against men (as if that routinely happens). And in June, a lawsuit alleged that a former seminary student told him that someone at the school had raped her at gunpoint and taken pictures of her for blackmail purposes… and Patterson responded by shaming and shunning her.

But go ahead and blame gay men in the church, Jackson and Cooper. Go ahead with your bad selves.


# apologies to the  tv show The Boondocks for pilfering its idea to create the notion of the "nut synthesis."