Editor's note - working on a personal project so just news briefs tonight
Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills in 2023 Already Surpassed Amount Proposed in Entirety of 2022 - It's been war these past two years. But we know HOW to win wars.
At first I didn't want to post this but I decided otherwise because I felt it was necessary.
I think a lot of us don't understand the plight of transgender Americans as they are hit with an onslaught of bills attempting to erase their basic gender-affirming care and their very lives. This onslaught are attacks on their dignity and person. Republican and their cohorts behind these efforts aren't even attempting their basic hatred anymore.
Decorum flew entirely out the window Monday, as Arkansas senators insulted, attacked and silenced transgender people and their supporters who’d shown up at the Capitol in hopes of stopping yet another bill targeting LGBTQ+ youth. Republican lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee, all of them white men, compared gender-affirming care to frontal lobotomies and child abuse. They dismissed testimony from doctors and therapists, and suggested lawmakers are the ones who know best when it comes to medical decisions. Freshman Sen. Matt McKee (R-Pearcy) made it all quite personal when he asked a transgender pharmacist who came to testify against the bill if she has a penis.
I would have some very choice words to say. To her credit though, the pharmacist refused allow this humiliating question to throw her off. She handled herself rather well in spite of the circumstances.
Arkansas State Senator Matt McKee is a disgusting horrible man who does not deserve to be a state senator and this question he asks proves he has poor judgement on top of being #transphobic #arkansas #senmattmckee #TransRightsAreHumanRights #Equality pic.twitter.com/8D4pkyP3Ya
— Lance J. Gosnell (@lancejgosnell) February 13, 2023
Unfortunately but not surprisingly, the bill made it out of the hearing:
The bill being discussed (and eventually passed Monday morning, with only the one Democrat at the meeting voting against it) is Senate Bill 199 to open up doctors who provide gender-affirming care to youth to significant new loopholes and additional malpractice liabilities far beyond the standard for doctors in other fields.
It's ironic that these people who claim that they are "protecting children" won't treat their adult constituents with basic dignity and respect.
Some words are worth repeating and some videos are worth reposting. We are unfortunately living in a time in which certain attempting to erase the intersection between Black and LGBTQ history. They will not succeed.
Walsh claims that his actions are all about saving children from "mutilation." In reality, he has created a successful business model built upon fear and scientific distortions hiding behind a flimsy veneer of "common sense."
People like Walsh are always troublesome but eventually amusing to watch. You get angry watching the havoc they create and the lives they disrupt. Sooner or later, though, they always get some sort of comeuppance because their egos blind them to their limitations. For Walsh, this took place on Thursday during a legislative hearing on an anti-trans bill in Tennessee.
🏳️⚧️ WATCH: “YOU HAVE NO MEDICAL BACKGROUND, CORRECT?”
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) February 9, 2023
Using his own words, TN Dems @VoteBo @JRClemmons @CalebHemmer grill Matt Walsh about the #TransYouthHealthCareBan his fearmongering pushed @WilliamLamberth @SenJohnson @GovBillLee to prioritize this session (over kids’ lives) pic.twitter.com/4DYEKZsQMV
This video was highly embarrassing for Walsh's brand and he knows it. Subsequently, he has been posting tweets of other parts of the hearing in an attempt to claim that he actually got the best of the Democrats. One tweet features a video of Walsh supposedly creating awkward silence from the panel by asking an inane question. In reality, the silence was because Walsh broke the protocol by interjecting that nonsense when they were asking him questions. Perhaps he was channeling Mellissa Carone, the woman who became a comical meme sensation after the 2020 election hearing in Michigan.
Like I said before, people like Matt Walsh are always amusing to watch as they climb a peak of relevancy to the point in which their egos cause the bottom to drop from under them. Unfortunately, while Matt's present humiliation underscores his dishonesty, people are still being led to believe the worst about trans Americans and the healthcare they need to survive. They are still seen by people like Walsh as a commodity for wealth and influence. Trans Americans, particularly our trans kids, continue to be bombarded by messages that people hate them and want them dead simply for attempting to be their authentic selves.
Taking all of that into account, the situation becomes less amusing and instead, increasingly infuriating.
Hat tip to The Tennessee Holler
Two disastrous anti-LGBTQ bills pass in NC and VA state houses. However, all may not be lost. Both have a very good chance of being ultimately defeated. However, they are still an indication of what we are facing this year in state legislatures:
North Carolina senate passes “Don’t Say Gay” bill that would out trans kids to their families |
| Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez |
She even had a little bit of "reading" left for the Republican Party for its part in the smearing of LGBTQ Americans.
Thank you @AOC for calling out @Twitter for supporting Chaya Raichik / Libs of TikTok even after incitement of threats against Boston Children’s Hospital by wielding misinformation — & calling the GOP “the party that cannot pick on anybody their own size”. pic.twitter.com/YBLyCARwmz
— Michael O’Brien, MD (@DrOBrienMD) February 8, 2023
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| Jaimee Mitchell, 'founder' of Gays Against Groomers |
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| The 2024 Republican primary has officially begun. In the mud. |
I don't like Donald Trump or Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, so I am enjoying this.
Political pundits and the like all agree that Trump and DeSantis may be the top two vying for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and it looks like the competition is already starting.
In the mud, that is.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump sent out the following message on Truth Social implying that DeSantis groomed underaged girls in the past:
The accusation of sexually grooming kids is bad enough but DeSantis being accused of it is rather stark, seeing that the Florida governor has exploited the narrative of "child grooming" to make several legislatives moves against the state's LGBTQ community. Specifically was last year's "Don't Say Gay" law. To me it's comical that a distortion tactic which served DeSantis well in the past is now being used against him.Trump going heavy on the "DeSantis is a pedophile" stuff today. pic.twitter.com/LS2zRpke3z
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) February 7, 2023
The "don't call each other pedophiles" truce is breaking pic.twitter.com/0VRwzMiAQo
— steven monacelli (@stevanzetti) February 7, 2023
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| Fl Gov Ron DeSantis |
It's been like this all day Monday.
Recording artists Sam Smith and Petras performed their hit song 'Unholy' at the Grammy Awards Sunday night and conservative activists and provocateurs have been almost literally stepping over each other to get their moment in the spotlight condemning the performance.
But hate group the American Family Association gets to the gist of the outrage - rage posting for clout and attention. And forget Sam Smith and Petras because AFA has its eye on a goose more golden than either singer:
On Sunday, many Americans gather to worship God as a family of believers.But to Pfizer, CBS and the Grammys, Sunday is a time to bring debauchery and Satanic worship to the world. During the annual Grammy Awards ceremony on Feb.5, originally designed to recognize outstanding artists in the music industry, Pfizer pharmaceutical company felt it fitting to sponsor performers Sam Smith, who claims to be non-binary, and Kim Petras, who claims to be transgender. These two gave the nation a Satan-themed performance of their song "Unholy," in which Petras performed inside a cage with drag queens dressed in devil costumes, while Smith gyrated in a costume with devil horns sticking out from a top hat.The entire "performance" depicted a hellish scene with lots of darkness, blood red colors and flames.
Pfizer's sponsorship and ads suggest the company wants your body to be healthy but has no concern about souls celebrating hell.TAKE ACTIONSign our petition to Pfizer, urging the company to distance itself from controversial programs that have a history of offending decency and disrespecting people of faith. You might consider using alternative health products and medicines to those made by Pfizer. Some of Pfizer's most recognizable products include Advil, Celebrex, Robitussin, Chapstick, Preparation-H, Sensodyne toothpaste, Centrum vitamins and Nexium for heartburn.
But why Pfizer?
For those who don't know, Pfizer has been a huge target of rage of the religious right and other conservatives because of the COVID vaccine it helped to develop. There are a vast number of conspiracy theories accusing Pfizer of helping to create COVID to supposedly exaggerating the impact of COVID to lastly undermining the alleged harm of vaccines.
AFA's dragging of Pfizer into the Sam Smith pseudo-outrage is simply a dog whistle to conspiracy theorist on the far right and others who have taken a similar narrative.
And it gets more confusing the deeper one gets into that world. All together, those on the right are weaving a jumbled up, highly confused narrative that Pfizer, COVID and the Sam Smith's performance at Grammy Awards is tied together in some sort of plot to usher in a "globalist world of Satanic worship, pedophiliac elites trafficking children."
Or something like that.
Basically what we are talking about here is a calculating, cynical attempt to exploit a music performance in order to gain some attention and make some money. Truth be told, I am willing to bet that someone from the AFA not only watched the Grammy performance but also had the petition drawn up before it was over.
In the long run, it's about making money and when your business is outrage, you can't make the money if you don't exploit the outrage.
Happy Black History Month 2023!
This year is a big more poignant than most because some folks out there (Ron DeSantis) are trying to undermine how Black History and LGBTQ history intersect. DeSantis and those like him try to eliminate learning how African-American and LGBTQ history intersect because they want to keep both communities divided and at each other's throats about hierarchy and access. When we learn about things like the LGBTQ impact of the Harlem Renaissance, we realize just how similar both communities are in terms of culture and equality struggles. We also remember the people who are a part of both communities and celebrate their existence instead of aiding and abetting in their erasure.
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| Matt Walsh |
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| Jason Rapert |
I personally think drag queens running America would be a welcome change. But that's just me.
Former Arkansas state senator and founder of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers Jason Rapert declares that Christians "must take authority" over government: "Do you think that America is gonna be free with a bunch of drag queens running this place?" pic.twitter.com/cUp6pyr4XF
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) February 2, 2023
"Wokeism" is the latest word used by conservatives and those on the right to voice to smear anything modern or progressive in the world, particularly all things involving the LGBTQ community and people of color. The above video from The Daily Show demonstrates how Fox News exploits the bigotry behind usage of the word to generate constant fear and rage from its viewers. The way the network goes on and on about the 'woke mind virus' as if it's a contagion from that sci-fi show The Last of Us would be amusing if not for the real world consequences it produces for those of us the network targets.
In reality, it's the newest way certain people can employ racist or homophobic tropes. Or in other words, the word "woke" is now the conservative way of relaying the connotation of such slurs as 'ni@@er' and "fa@@ot" without actually saying the words.
A coarser way of saying "reverse racism" or "homosexual lifestyle," if you will.
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| Tenn lawmaker Paul Sherrell don't like trans kids or drag queens |
Tennessee's Republican-dominant Legislature on Tuesday advanced a handful of proposals that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth and severely limit where drag shows can take place.
. . . If enacted, doctors would be prohibited from providing gender-affirming care to anyone under the age of 18, including prescribing puberty blockers and hormones. However, the legislation includes exceptions that would allow doctors to perform these medical services if they're treating an abnormality or if the patient's care had begun prior to July 1, 2023 — which is when the ban is proposed to go into effect — and the doctor believes ending the care would harm the patient.
. . . On Tuesday, the bill advanced out of a subcommittee. It still needs to clear additional committees and the GOP-controlled House and Senate chambers before it can be reviewed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who supports the legislation.
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers also advanced legislation designed to limit where drag shows can take place by classifying them as an “adult cabaret performance.” The legislation doesn't explicitly include the words “drag show,” but instead the definition of adult cabaret in Tennessee's law would be expanded to include “male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest, or similar entertainers.” Prurient interest is not defined in the bill.
The religious right and its far-right allies claim that these bills are necessary to "protect the children." Of course that's a lie which LGBTQ people have heard so many times just about every time the religious right and their allies in various legislatures try to pass bills curtailing our rights.
This time you don't have to take my word for it this time. Thanks to a legislator, Paul Sherrell, being honest for a change, we can see the hatred behind the fake concern:
Republican rep Paul Sherrell says “if you don’t know what you are go into the bathroom and take your clothes off”
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) January 31, 2023
He also said the drag performers “made him sick to his stomach”
"Maybe there is children listening ... Our preacher would say, 'If you don't know what you are, a boy or girl ... just go in the bathroom, take your clothes off and look in the mirror.'"
