'NC bill would force school staffers to out trans kids' & other Thur midday news briefs

 

North Carolina Bill Would Force School Staffers to Out Trans Kids - What is with these folks

Mike Pence & Kellyanne Conway join forces to launch new group that will promote “traditional values” - You just can't get rid of some people. 

Sterilization, irreversible surgeries and chemical castrations - How religious right lies corrupts the conversation about trans children - My post from last night. I really wish this was a topic of many conversations. Not my post, but the subject of my post. 

‘Pose’ Final Season Trailer Promises Tears, Triumph And Billy Porter - Maybe it will get that Emmy for 'Outstanding Drama Series.'

Sterilization, irreversible surgeries and chemical castrations - How religious right lies corrupts the conversation about trans children

This week,  Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson vetoed the bill which would outlaw transgender healthcare for minors. And then by a simple majority, the state legislature overrode the veto, making Arkansas the first state to outlaw affirming healthcare for transgender children.

The Family Research Council sent out a press release celebrating what the Arkansas legislature did:

Today, Arkansas became the first state in the nation to enact legislation that prohibits gender transition procedures on minors, prevents taxpayer funds or medical insurance mandates to pay for them, and provides legal remedies for minors who have been permanently disfigured and/or sterilized by them.

 On Tuesday afternoon, in quick succession the Arkansas House (72-25) and Senate (25-8) overrode the governor's veto of the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act. Family Research Council praised the state legislature for its effort to protect minors. 

 Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement: "The SAFE Act's successful passage into law is a victory for children and their health and safety. The state of Arkansas has taken the lead in the race to protect children from a political movement that advocates for using off-label drugs and experimental procedures on minors. 

 "As the name implies, the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act protects minors from unscientific, experimental, and destructive gender transition procedures that interrupt their natural development and irreversibly alter their bodies. As a growing number of individuals come forward to share their stories of being permanently disfigured and/or sterilized, there is a growing and urgent need for other states to follow Arkansas' lead by protecting minors from life-altering procedures such as puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, and irreversible surgeries. 

The  consistent repetition  of phrases like "life altering procedures" and "irreversible surgeries" and words like "disfigurement" and "sterilization" in FRC's press release isn't happenstance. It has been part of a deliberate attempt to "nauseate" instead of "educate" and exploit unfounded fears for a cynical purpose. By conjuring up false images of minors being forced to undergo surgeries altering their gender and given drugs which would permanently damage their health, those who have been pushing these anti-trans bills - like FRC - have been deliberately appealing to hysteria in a somewhat successful attempt to drown out the voices of the medical professionals who know better and the transgender youth who they falsely claim that they want to protect.

It's an old but highly successful tactic. 

'Middle-grade trans novel most challenged book for third consecutive year ' & other Wed midday news briefs

Middle-Grade Trans Novel Most Challenged Book for Third Year in a Row - For Pete's sake, folks.

Rapper wishes God would make Lil Nas X overdose instead of DMX - Well that's tacky. 

Putin formally bans same-sex marriages in Russia - Don't you wish someone would ban Putin.

Senate OKs bill allowing opt-out of LGBT curriculum - Cause if children learn that LGBTQ people exist, they may want to become one . . . or something like that. . .

Former Congressional candidate launches into profanity-filled transphobic tirade after Dr. Phil taping

Angela Stanton-King 

Former Congressional candidate and Trump supporter Angela Stanton-King recently taped an episode of Dr. Phil and apparently it got ugly. Whatever happened led her to storm out of the taping and film the following vulgar, profanity-filled, transphobic tirade attacking Dr. Phil, his wife, and several other people.  Rumor control says that it had something do with her alleged transgender child.

 

Angela Stanton King, a Republican candidate for Congress in Georgia in 2020, has a transgender child. They taped an episode of "Dr. Phil" yesterday and judging by the vile rant she unleashed after, it did not go well. pic.twitter.com/1f7MXgo9hN

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) April 6, 2021

Some - very few - have taken her side while attempting to portray her as a mother defending her child. However, based upon King's history of targeting LGBTQ people (such as labeling us as pedophiles which led to a blow-up between her and me last year), I doubt that she was defending her child.

If anything, her language makes another point about how dangerous it is for transgender children to thrive in a climate in which so many are willing to spout basic ignorance about transgender people in general  while targeting them with ugly legislation. 

Ms. King talks about common sense, but she obviously lacks it. Pick up a book, consult a medical expert when it comes to transgender people, especially transgender children. It's not difficult. Stop clinging to such rudimentary nonsense about body parts and such. There is so much accurate information out there.

Her tirade is humorous in its immaturity, but don't let the comical aspect of it blind you to the reality of how many people would rather immerse themselves in sad stupidity instead of getting facts about transgender people. 

Related posts:

Through my eyes: Living as a woman of transgender experience

GOP Uses Trans Girls in Sports as Their New Wedge Issue

Health care access for transgender youth: Dozens of states propose or enact legislation to make it tougher 

Transgender Children & Youth: Understanding the Basics

'NY legislator resigns after ugly remark about putting gays on an island' & other Tue midday news briefs

NY Legislator Resigns After Furor Over Remarks About Gay People - The "put gays on an island and they will be gone in 40 years" guy resigned. I guess he will claim to be a "victim of cancel culture." 

Lil Nas X's 'Song About Gay Sex' Hits #1 on Billboard Hot 100 - Ben Shapiro is going to lose his mind.

DOJ tells agencies gay and transgender students are protected by anti-discrimination laws - Just in case y'all didn't hear.

Australian Parliament in uproar after leak of gay staffer sex tape - Oh?

Video - Randy Rainbow wrecks Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham over their 'sudden' concern about our border

To paraphrase a comment under this video, just because Trump is no longer in office doesn't mean Randy Rainbow has no more material to use. Thanks the GOP members of Congress, that is. In this particular video, Randy brutally calls out Senators Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham for their sudden concern about the situation at the border.  

Deliciously and unapologetically brutal, particularly to Graham.

'Anti-LGBTQ activists now funding voter suppression & anti-vaccine conspiracies' & other Mon midday news briefs

 

The Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver

Anti-LGBTQ activists are now funding voter suppression & anti-vaccine conspiracies - Grifters gotta grift. Not surprising at all. 

Former NFL coach on why she opposes Idaho law targeting transgender athletes - Katie Sowers, the first woman to coach a Superbowl game, has something to say about these awful bills and laws targeting transgender athletes. 

U.S. Pride organizers debate in-person vs. virtual events for 2021 - We'll see what happens. 

Proposal introduced to create study of the discrimination that LGBTQ vets faced for years - I'm all for it.

Donnie McClurkin's struggles with his sexual orientation should earn no sympathy

Gospel singer Donnie McClurkin

Supposed ex-gay gospel singer Donnie McClurkin is in the news again.  He said that his personal struggles against homosexuality will lead him to be alone for the rest of his life.

 McClurkin, 61, had previously opened up years ago about his past struggles with homosexuality, which he called a “perversion,” and claimed that he was able to suppress his sexual orientation, citing his and many Christian churches’ stance on homosexuality as a sin. He admitted that he still had urges to be with men but chose not to. Comparing homosexuality to diabetes he said, “I don’t eat sugar, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t want sugar.”  

 . . . .“I didn’t know really what a woman wanted,” McClurkin said on Uncensored. “I’ve messed up more than I’ve had good. My past relationships were a sprinkling of everything – men and women.”

 “When things get rough I go back into my safe place – my music and my ministry,” he added. “Never having a long-term relationship in my life and never being married, I chalked that up. I will probably be alone for the rest of my life as far as a mate is concerned.”

I've never been a fan of his "testimony" about his so-called deliverance from homosexuality. But this new angle, this public mourning he is engaging in about his life has gotten me more perturbed at him.

McClurkin is a grown man. His sexual orientation is not a choice, but how he chooses to express it is a choice. He is alone because he chooses to be. And that is his personal decision, which I have no problem with.

What bothers me is how McClurkin has been vocal over the years about how homosexuality is a sin and how he is trying to help LGBTQ children and adults by supposedly steering them away it. He has made statements attesting this on television shows and in the pulpits. He sounded so sure of himself, so determined to "protect the children."

Now here he comes with this sob story about how he is having trouble with relationships and how he will probably be alone for the rest of his life.

That's a terrible message he is sending to LGBTQ people, particularly black LGBTQ youth -  Homosexuality is a sin. God doesn't you to be an LGBTQ person. And you should fight it even if it means you  are sentencing yourself to a lonely life.

To me, it all comes down to the fact that perhaps McClurkin should have settled his own life situation before he took it upon himself to be a crusader in other people's lives.  He's not that much of a credible messenger if his message embraces loneliness.  I feel very little sympathy for him, but my heart goes out to those who bought into his negative message about their God-given LGBTQ sexual orientation. His revelation of being a flawed messenger has to be devastating. Where do they turn now? Do they embrace the idea that homosexuality is a sin, but fighting against it will lead to a lonely life?

Do they question God's love and credibility if they accept McClurkin's message? Would a loving God lead them to have a life with no one to love? Or will they just say to hell with it all and just embrace melancholy in the face of choice McClurkin has presented to them? 

McClurkin seems to have forgotten the first rule of declaring yourself a leader and a public face of a movement - you don't have a personal life. Everything is public and the feelings you express are transcribed by those who follow you as directions of where they should go.

And with that in mind, McClurkin is sending his followers into a deep hole of despair.

Personally, I think McClurkin should find himself a good man with some good dick and have a good life. At the very least, he should take into account the messages he sends before the next time he opens his mouth.

27 celebrities to remind you that religious right claims about the 'gay lifespan' is yet another lie

Readers of this blog know that one anti-gay myth I have combatted on many times is the idea that gay men generally have shorter life spans than heterosexual men. In the past, it was a popular and much repeated notion by religious right groups and personalities that "homosexuality takes years off of your life."  The ages in which we supposedly died varied, but it always before we were 50. This notion became less popular when folks like myself revealed that the notion sprung from junk science and cherry-picked studies. 

Still, you know how the religious right is. They never let go of what they consider a good homophobic lie. Outright claims about "shortened gay lives" have given way to vague inferences that it is impossible to have a long and fruitful life if you are a gay man.

The video above should be a reminder that such claim, like so many other claims of the religious right, is a big fat lie.

'Proposed law would make businesses post signs saying they allow trans people to use the bathroom' & other Thur midday news briefs

Proposed law would make businesses post signs saying they allow trans people to use the bathroom - I'm undecided about this.

North Carolina Democrats call for state to pass LGBTQ package - It would be interesting if this became a reality. 

Trans Troops Can Now Serve Freely And Get Gender-Affirming Medical Care - Just in case you missed the announcement. 

YouTube allowing discredited anti-trans author and Prager U to fundraise off encouraging parents to reject their transgender children - My post from last night. Who else but Abigail Shrier? 

'It is bleak': How the pandemic economy has affected LGBTQ people - It has NOT been pretty.

YouTube allowing discredited anti-trans author and Prager U to fundraise off encouraging parents to reject their transgender children

Discredited author Abigail Shrier continues to declare war on transgender children

According to Media Matters, YouTube is doing the transgender community a huge disservice by allowing groups and individuals to fundraise on the message that parents should reject their transgender children. And in doing so, YouTube is ignoring its own community guidelines:

YouTube is helping right-wing propaganda network PragerU to fundraise off of a March 29 video titled “Why Girls Become Boys,” which spreads disinformation about trans youth and health care -- despite YouTube’s Community Guidelines that include protections for trans people. 

The video features anti-trans author Abigail Shrier suggesting that young trans people are not actually trans and that parents should reject their trans kids’ gender identities. Shrier is a major player in the crusade against the rights of trans youth and wrote a book misinforming about trans youth called Irreversible Damage. She also recently testified before the Senate against the Equality Act and has made multiple appearances on Fox News to lie about trans people. 

 The new video with Shrier uses the YouTube Giving program and has earned more than 285,000 views in one day and -- alongside other videos in PragerU’s fundraising campaign on the platform -- has raised more than $51,000. The YouTube Giving Program’s rules say that nonprofits must follow the platform’s Community Guidelines, which supposedly protect trans people. In fact, YouTube has previously removed videos from PragerU and other channels that spread harmful disinformation about trans people, including suggestions that they have a mental illness. 

Shrier, whose book was called out for several distortions (including presenting false anti-trans statistics) has absolutely no expertise in transgender healthcare.

'LGBTQ students file class-action lawsuit against Department of Education' & other Wed midday news briefs.

 

LGBTQ students file class-action lawsuit against Department of Education - Well alright! Sock it to them! Sorry but no taxpayer funding for religious schools who discriminate against LGBTQ people.

Biden administration scraps Trump's anti-LGBTQ agenda abroad - Hell yeah I'm happy I voted for Joe Biden. 

A middle school teacher reportedly told students that LGBTQ people are “sinful” - And the mother is not having it. 

  Atlanta billboard campaign to stop violence against Black trans people expands - Excellent idea.

Unverified horror stories about trans youth helping to pass anti-transgender legislation

In 1981, a now discredited homophobic researcher by the name of Paul Cameron made up a story about a child being dragged into a bathroom, raped and then mutilated by gay man.  He told this story while speaking against a pro-gay ordinance in Omaha, NB. Police investigated but couldn't find any assault. But Cameron repeated the story and subsequently, the ordinance was defeated by a large margin.

Fast forward to 2021 in Arkansas where the state legislature just passed a bill preventing trans children from receiving affirming healthcare. The state did this based upon the lie that transgender children are receiving gender-transitioning surgeries and taking dangerous hormones. 

In bragging about this, anti-LGBTQ hate group the Family Research Council sent out the following tweet detailing how a legislator told the story of a trans boy allegedly receiving a double mastectomy and then regretting it:

You'll notice that FRC did not include any details nor did the legislator in question, Alan Clark. Though if you read Clark's twitter feed, you would see that he is a fan of sending out paranoid tweets about President Biden's son Hunter, conspiracies about COVID, and arguments claiming that global warming isn't real.

In other words, a basic far-right smorgabord of hysteria and paranoia. Of course though FRC has never been one for caring about the veracity of its sources or said sources' claims if the group can exploit them both.

And this particular story is a doozy. I had to google but I think I found what FRC and Clark was alluding to - an article called Double Mastectomy at 15, Detrans 16-Year-Old Now Seeks Reversal. 

It's the alleged story of a 16-year-old transgender boy, Penny Cunningham, who is detransitioning. Penny supposedly got a double mastectomy in Pennsylvania at 15 and was seeking funds via gofundme for a breast reconstruction. The article was published on July 10, 2020 in an online publication called The Velvet Chronicle. 

The Velvet Chronicle seems to have a very serious problem with the transgender community.  It pushes the idea that transgender youth are actually  "nonconforming youth" bullied into being labeled as transgender. It also embraces the strange notion that lesbian voices are being replaced, particularly by transgender voices. In its attempts to prove  these beliefs, the publication freely throws out phrases like "gay eugenics," "gender vultures,"  or "medicalized gay conversion therapy."  In other words, the same type who likes to use phrases like "women's space" as if  disguising their prejudices in intellectually esoteric terms makes them more palpable.  A polite way to refer to  The Velvet Chronicle would be to call it a "maddening mess of unbridled and ignorant TERFdom," but that's another matter entirely.

In this particularly case, the story of this alleged detransitioner should raise a lot of eyebrows. I broke down several problems with it.

1. From Penny's claim, the medical professionals in question may have acted illegally  or unethically but Penny doesn't give any information to further an investigation. 

2. Penny is incredibly vague about everything in the story. There is no way anyone can verify if Penny is who he or she says they are or what hospital the alleged mastectomy took place

3. Where there are gaps in Penny's story, The Velvet Chronicle fills in with quite a bit anti-transgender propaganda.

4. Except for a few tweets and links on far-right or anti-transgender webpage (all echoing the article from The Velvet Chronicle and linking  Penny's now defunct gofundme page), there is no more information about Penny. As far as I have seen, there is no knowledge of whether or not Penny was successful with the fundraising or what they are doing in the present. The Velvet Chronicle did no follow-up.

Of course what I found thus far is not meant to be disrespectful.  The truth may be in fact that Penny does exist and that the story told is accurate, including the claim about the mastectomy. But as of now, it doesn't look that way.

It looks as if the religious right hasn't veered from fear tactics about LGBTQ people. What worked in 1982 seems to be working in 2021. And this time, they got help from folks within our community. And that is really scary.

Related posts:

An “Ex-Detransitioner” Disavows the Anti-Trans Movement She Helped Spark

'

It's Hurtful': Trans Youth Speaks Out As Alabama Debates Banning Medical Treatment

'Lil Nas X's trolling of religious right makes his shoes a huge seller' & other Tue midday news briefs

Lil Nas X

For years, the religious right used outrage against us to fundraise and sell their message. Turnabout, as they say . . . 

Lil Nas X Spent the Weekend Dunking on Conservatives — It Was Great 

Lil Nas X's unofficial 'Satan' Nikes containing human blood sell out in under a minute

In other news:

Judge who refused to let lesbian moms adopt for the silliest reason gets shut down by Supreme Court - This is a hot mess and I'm glad the state's supreme court knocked his ass down.

Megan Rapinoe Stands Up for Equal Pay and Trans Athletes - THANK YOU! 

Philly Christian agency’s move to allow LGBTQ adoption should be nation’s blueprint - Yes it should.

SD anti-trans athlete bill dies in embarrassing heap in front of Governor Noem

South Dakota Governor Krist Noem veoted an anti-trans bill she supported.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem went from eager to sign her state's anti-transgender athletes bill to reluctantly vetoing it, even though she refused to call what she did a veto. It was this turn which mostly likely stopped the bill's momentum as it died after the state legislature failed to override her veto.

From Outsports:

 The flaming runaway train that has been South Dakota Republicans’ effort to enact a ban on transgender student-athletes finally flew off the tracks today. 

 Changes proposed by Republican Gov. Kirsti Noem to HB1217, aka the Act to Promote Continued Fairness in Women’s Sports, were soundly defeated Monday by the Republican-controlled State House of Representatives, on what is colloquially known as “Veto Day.” The Grand Forks Herald reported the final tally was 67-2, with all but two Democrats crossing party lines to stand with the Republicans against the embattled governor. The bill is now dead. 

 One week ago today, Noem put all her eggs into the basket she called “Defend Title IX Now.” The governor who has been absolutely hammered by conservatives for refusing to sign HB1217, described it as a “coalition of legislators, leaders and athletes,” who will apply pressure in a “fill the jails”-style action to force the NCAA into a corner. The association would be forced to sue or sanction a number of schools nationwide, in order to uphold its trans-affirming policies in those states. “Once we have a coalition big enough to where the NCAA cannot possibly punish us all, then we can guarantee fairness at the collegiate level,” she said. 

 Nah, said the State House of Representatives.

According to the article, Noem said she stopped supporting the bill to prevent what she was a coming lawsuit from the NCAA, which of course should send a message to other states who either passed or looking to pass anti-trans athletes bills.

Unfortunately I doubt it will change their minds. And neither will Noem's next move.

 Outsports said that she is expected to call a special session of the legislature to push a new anti-trans bill. In reality, the session would be less about passing a bill and more about picking up the pieces of her reputation amongst right-wing conservatives.  They are extremely angry at how they think she botched up an easy win against the LGBTQ community.

Even if she is successful, one wonders just how much her support from religious conservatives has been damaged.

UPDATE - This just in from the ACLU. I guess Govenor Noem didn't want to wait:

We won’t stop defending the right for everyone to live and thrive in South Dakota. pic.twitter.com/eNZe0DzrTl

— ACLU of South Dakota (@ACLUSouthDakota) March 29, 2021

'Four myths about trans athletes debunked' & other Mon midday news briefs

  

Four Myths About Trans Athletes, Debunked - What bothers me about this list is how folks who have the power to tell the real story - ie our mainstream media - failed and continue to fail the trans community. These are facts which should have been introduced a long time ago. 

This ad airing during the NCAA tournament names & shames lawmakers pushing anti-trans laws - Much props to the Human Rights Campaign for this ad.

Lil Nas X Claps Back at Conservatives Calling 'Montero' 'Evil' - Lil Nas X is having the time of his life trolling conservatives. 

Conservative Christians are driving more Americans away from religion altogether - Yes they are.

Revisiting 'The Ambiguously Gay Duo' - funny, offensive, or just plain corny?

Editor's note - a frivolous and funny post every now and then never hurts.

A long time ago - to be accurate, in 1996 - when the LGBTQ community was on the cusp of the visibility we have now, Saturday Night Live would run  funny cartoon shorts. Probably the most popular was The Ambiguously Gay Duo.

From Wikipedia:

The Ambiguously Gay Duo is a parody of the stereotypical comic book superhero duo done in the style of Saturday morning cartoons like Super Friends. The characters are clad in matching pastel turquoise tights, dark blue domino masks, and bright yellow coordinated gauntlets, boots and shorts. The shorts were intended to satirize suggestions that early Batman comics implied a homosexual relationship between the eponymous title character and his field partner and protégé Robin, a charge most infamously leveled by Fredric Wertham in his 1954 book, Seduction of the Innocent, the research methodology for which was later discredited. 

The typical episode usually begins with the duo's arch-nemesis Bighead, a criminal mastermind with an abnormally large cranium. Bighead is usually briefing his henchmen on a plot for some grandiose plan for world domination, interrupted by a debate as to whether or not Ace and Gary (The Ambiguously Gay Duo) are gay. Once the crime is in process, the police commissioner calls on the superheroes to save the day, often engaging in similar debates with the chief of police. Ace and Gary set out to foil the evil plan, but not before calling attention to themselves with outrageous antics and innuendo, and behaving in ways perceived by other characters to be stereotypically homosexual . . . 

I found the segments funny at the time they premiered. I still find them a bit hilarious, but less than I originally did. They are interesting to view for the sake of history. But now they strike me as a bit more corny.

I'm curious as to what you think. Please let me know in the comments section below.

The Family Research Council is obviously trying to 'bust hell wide open'

 Accusing someone of "busting hell wide open" is an action calling out a supposed religious person or group for a breathtakingly show of hypocrisy.

With that in mind, check out a Friday tweet from the Family Research Council:

Gender dysphoria is the scientific name which describes conditions of the transgender community. So basically FRC is saying that the transgender community should be treated with sympathy and compassion. This is the same Family Research Council whose president, Tony Perkins,  has targeted the transgender community with dehumanizing rhetoric and false accusations, worked with former VP Mike Pence to get them banned from serving in the military, and worst of all, portrayed transgender children as predators:

My suggestion would be for FRC to first follow its own advice. And stop thinking the rest of us are so stupid to take its tweet about "compassion" seriously.

Or at the very least, don't bother sending a postcard when y'all and Tony do in fact bust hell wide open. 

'Tenn bill seeks to ban LGBTQ content from school textbooks' & other Fri midday news briefs

 

Tennessee Bill Seeks to Ban LGBTQ+ Content from School Textbooks - This bill is simply ridiculous.

Youth activists lead the fight against anti-trans bills - And they're right, too. They are being ignored.

Equality Act Would Extend Civil Rights Laws To LGBTQ People Throughout U.S. - If we can ever get it passed by the Senate.

New U.K. Currency Honors Alan Turing, Pioneering Computer Scientist And Code-Breaker - About time, too. There is no such thing as too many honors for Alan Turing.

Transphobic former HHS official's claims about Dr. Rachel Levine simply aren't credible

Former HHS official Roger Severino (top photo) makes alleged claims about new and openly transgender  HHS official Rachel Levine (bottom photo). But the claims cannot be verified as truth, particularly when one remembers that during his tenure, Severino made several attempts to undermine transgender health via policy changes. Severino even misled the public to create a 'conscience rule.' The 'conscience rule' was then struck down by three court rulings.

As I said Wednesday, even though Dr. Rachel Levine was successfully confirmed as the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, conservatives and the religious right will do their utmost to undermine her.

From the Family Research Council:

 The Biden administration made history Wednesday, but not the kind that most Americans will celebrate. In a tight, near party-line vote, the Senate confirmed the president's transgender pick for deputy secretary of HHS, Rachel Levine -- whose idea of "health care" is sterilizing and mutilating young children.

Implied by Sen. Rand Paul during her hearing that Dr. Levine supports sex change surgeries for children, this claim has been proven as a lie. What's sadder is that FRC provided links in an attempt to prove the claim's accuracy and the links boiled down to a conference booklet which proved absolutely nothing.

It gets more hilarious. 

Supposedly FRC interviewed an eyewitness who claimed that Dr. Levine does advocate sex change surgeries for children. And who is that witness? Former HHS official Roger Severino.

For those who have not kept up with HHS drama and therefore are wondering why is Severino attempting to channel Alexis Colby on Dynasty during Blake Carrington's murder trial at the end of the first season, allow me to explain.

In 2017, Severino was appointed by former president Donald Trump as Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Many in the LGBTQ community protested because he came from anti-LGBTQ right-wing groups. and we felt that his goal was to undermine our rights and health.

And that he did. Or at the very least, he tried:

 LGBTQ equality groups and several allies raised the alarm when he was picked due to his history of working against LGBTQ equality. And while at HHS, Severino did nothing to assuage their fears.  In 2018, The Advocate claimed that he was attempting to "erase trans people out of existence" by pushing a memo which would say that gender identity doesn't exist and that gender is set at birth and defined by genitalia. 

Severino was also responsible for an attempt to create a rule which would roll back protections for the trans community against discrimination through Obamacare, and  a "conscience rule" which said any healthcare worker could deny services to LGBTQ people based on "moral or religious" reasons. In November 2019, three different federal courts struck down the rule and one court found that HHS exaggerated a justification for the rule. Severino was pointed out in an NPR article to have contributed to that exaggeration. 

This is what Severino had to say to FRC about Dr. Levine:

During Roger's time at the agency where Levine is now second-in-command, he met the new deputy. Back then, he explains, Levine wasn't so coy about what he believed about young people. When the HHS team asked about minors and transgender treatment, "I heard it directly," Severino explained, "and the answer was: 'Yes, yes, minors should be given cross-sex hormones and surgery when they have gender dysphoria'..."

He even had the audacity to make this claim:

"The activism runs deep," he warns. "It was evasive to the point of being disingenuous, not to answer Senator Paul when asked directly when I knew what the answer was, because I've heard it when the shoe was on the other foot and those doctors wanted to keep the Obama transgender mandate in place. This is scary times when we're going to see this push, especially when it comes to minor children, 12 to 18, to have radical surgeries that will sterilize them. And you cannot turn back. And I'm afraid that's where HHS may be going if Levine gets confirmed."

There is no other way of putting this. Roger Severino is full of shit. Why should anyone believe this man? His entire tenure at HHS comprised of thinking of new ways to undermine LGBTQ,  particularly transgender health. He's also the same man who was caught lying in pursuit of changing HHS policy to endanger LGBTQ health.

The only thing we should take from this nonsense with FRC and Severino is the satisfaction of karma in seeing that Health and Human Services went from housing an undercover bigot like  Severino to being led in part by openly transgender Dr. Rachel Levine. 

That realization, my friends, is sweet.