Federal judge overturns Arkansas ban on gender-affirming care for trans kids

From Yahoo News:

A federal judge in Arkansas has permanently struck down the state’s first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, finding that the law violates the constitutional rights of trans patients, their families and health providers. The law – the first-such ban on affirming healthcare for trans youth in the US – is permanently enjoined following a weeks-long trial, marking the first such ruling in the country.

 A decision from US District Judge Jay Moody, who was appointed to the federal judiciary by Barack Obama, joins a wave of legal victories in federal courts for transgender rights and the rights of trans youth to access medically recommended and potentially life-saving care. 

 The law prohibited doctors from providing hormone therapies, puberty blockers or affirming surgeries to anyone under 18 years old. It also barred state funds or insurance coverage for affirming care for people under 18 and allowed insurance companies to refuse to cover affirming treatment for people of any age. Judge Moody had temporarily blocked the law in 2021 as a legal challenge from a group of families with trans children played out.

In his ruling on 20 June, Judge Moody determined that the law discriminates against transgender people and that attorneys for the state of Arkansas failed to contest the “extensive clinical experience” from doctors who testified in the case and the “decades of clinical experience demonstrating the efficacy of gender-affirming medical care.” 

 The judge also debunked the state’s medical claims by pointing to testimony from its own witness and ruled that the state failed to prove any of its claims that affirming treatment is “ineffective or riskier than other medical care provided to minors,” among other statements.

The story is still developing but some folks on Twitter were quick to point out just how the state was unable to prove its case.

It gets better: the court pointed out, after actually examining expertise and evidence, that 3 of 4 expert witnesses the state provided had no expertise, were frequently misleading, and were ideologues, not experts. https://t.co/wkpjxUOH5e

— Q. McLamore (@GhawinRiver) June 20, 2023

Specifically, Judge Moody gave Arkansas an opportunity to justify the trans health care ban in court; it failed spectacularly—whereas the plaintiffs' experts provided hour after hour of compelling testimony about the medical benefits of such treatment. https://t.co/62n3YC6cky pic.twitter.com/2XIx06y4qv

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) June 20, 2023

This will probably be appealed to a higher court but for now, it is a huge victory for trans kids on so many levels. For one, it could be a preview of rulings to come involving other anti-trans laws passed in other states.

 For another, it replicates a cycle we saw in the marriage equality fight - far right conservatives using their money and resources to gain legislative and referendum victories which are eventually dismantled in our courts because said victories were built on faulty foundations.  In other words, it's easy to scare or persuade people into voting the way you want but in a court of law you have to provide facts proving your point. And far right conservatives simply can't do it. 

'Newsroom staff revolt against managers who told them to cover fewer pride events' & other Tue midday news briefs

Newsroom staff revolts against managers who told them to cover fewer pride events​ - Yep and the managers backed down. That's how you do it. 

13 Black LGBTQ+ Icons Who Helped Change the World - Damn right. 

Penguin Random House Launches LGBTQ+ Zine and Website to Support Queer Voices - This I like. 

‘A sense of betrayal’: liberal dismay as Muslim-led US city bans Pride flags - It is highly problematic seeing how many LGBTQ people defended Muslims when they were the victims of Islamophobia.

Don't let the bigots rebrand LGBTQ history

 I ran into this ball of bullshyte today online:

Who is this woman? In the grand scheme of things, a huge nobody. She is simply one of many on Twitter attempting to monetize themselves or grab social media clout for their "substack" or "podcast." Since buying Twitter, Elon Musk has been breeding that type like the xenemorph queen in the Aliens franchise.

What she represents though, is an attempt by conservatives on the far right to remake LGBTQ history to make their transphobia more palpable to the masses. The narrative is that gays and lesbians were pretty much accepted but are now facing a backlash because the community has been "hijacked" by transgender and queer activists. In the case above, the tweet blames Joe Biden for it all.

It is a ludicrous narrative but it is also fairly popular amongst some on Twitter including, I hate to say, some gays and lesbians. It's a woeful mixture of young gays and lesbian ignorant of their history, older gays and lesbians who can't deal with how more other voices in the community (bisexuals, transgender people, and LGBTQ people of color) are demanding to be heard, and far-right outsiders looking to divide and conquer.

 Any idea that gays and lesbians were accepted before trans and queer people came along is a lie. And so many of us know it too well. We have the physical and psychological marks to prove it. We remember how the right denigrated us in the past with the same audacity they use to openly denigrate trans people. The false narratives about unhealthy lives, despotic desires for control, and sexualizing kids were hallmarks of anti-gay propaganda:

Gays are sick people:

 Their [gay] minds are perverted, they’re frankly sick people psychologically, mentally, and emotionally.” – Bishop EW Jackson 

 Yet almost all gays make lots of money:

 “You know, I saw yesterday how much -- how much money the homosexual community has. I mean, good gracious, the average homosexual makes four times more than I do . . . I mean, they're not -- these people are not in poverty or hurting or denied or anything else.” – Donald Wildmon, American Family Association 

Gays are only a small part of the population: 

“Relying on three large data sets: the General Social Survey, the National Health and Social Life Survey, and the U.S. census, a recent study in Demography estimates the number of exclusive male homosexuals in the general population at 2.5 percent and exclusive lesbians at 1.4 percent.” – Family Research Council in its inaccurate brief “Homosexuality and Child Abuse” 

 Yet gays “control” the culture: 

“Homosexual activists in many ways, drive our culture, they decide what’s going to be in a movie, we see all the portrayals, homosexuals are the most positively portrayed in the movies and on television.” – Peter LaBarbera, Americans for Truth 

 Gays “bully” all of those who oppose them: 

“Instead, what we have is the gay Gestapo who go out and try to intimidate morally, economically, professionally, and personally anyone who speaks out against the homosexual agenda.” – Jeffrey Kuhner, The Washington Times 

Gays “Recruit” children:

 “. . . Folks who cannot reproduce want to recruit your children. What we are facing is a radical force of people who want to change what America looks for the next twenty years . . .” – Bishop Harry Jackson 

And are plotting to either destroy or change America and “silence” Christians:

 “Those special gay rights would require Christians not to speak against –would require us Christians not to speak against homosexual rights . . . because if we did, we could be charged with bullying or censored for it.” – Buster Wilson, American Family Association 

“Through a carefully crafted, decades-old propaganda campaign, homosexuals have successful cast homosexuals - many of whom enjoy positions of influence and affluence - as a disadvantage minority” – Matt Barber, Unmasking the “Gay” Agenda 

And while generating all of this mayhem, gays still manage to find time to have all sorts of mind-boggling wild sex with multiple partners:

“One study determined that homosexual males have from between 20 to 106 sexual partners per year. It’s no wonder that homosexual men account for over 50% of all hepatitis cases, and still account for over 50% of all AIDS cases despite the fact that they only make up 1-3% of the population.” – Matt Barber, The Gay Agenda vs. Family Values, December 12, 2004 

“Homosexual activists claim their lifestyle, which in some cases includes thousands of sexual partners, should be sanctioned, protected, and granted special rights by society. Would you critique this stance?“ – a question on Dr. James Dobson's web page. Dobson is the former head of Focus on the Family.

What happening now is that trans people are the new target because, like gays in the past, people are ignorant about what their lives entail. And with ignorance comes the power to exploit fears of the unknown.

But that will change. Until then, the lies won't change. They never change. 

Only the scapegoats change. The new unknowns.

'GOP presidential candidates using trans people as political stepping stones' & other Mon midday news briefs

GOP presidential candidates use trans bodies as political stepping stones - Yep. We got a huge problem possibly coming in 2024.

A Pride event protester who took a selfie with a terminally ill patient has been charged with criminal harassment, police say - Morbid. If this had happened to me, the police would be coming not to arrest him. They would be coming to arrest me (if you get where I'm coming from)

Pride organizers describe timid sponsors and tighter security but no mass corporate retreat - You can't stop our Pride. Deal with it. 

Alice Oseman is helping author a brighter future for LGBTQ+ youth - Kudos to Alice Oseman.

For brands facing transphobic backlash, walking back inclusive campaigns may be “shortsighted” - Extremely short sighted.

'Neo-Nazis humiliated after trying to disrupt Pride celebration' & other Fri midday news briefs

Neo-Nazis tried to disrupt a Pride festival. They got humiliated & fled.​- A feel good story for the ages. 

Twitter is 'the most dangerous platform for LGBTQ people,' GLAAD says - Thanks in part to Elon Musk, it is an ugly mess. 

Student sues middle school over his right to wear anti-trans t-shirts - The child is being manipulated by the Alliance Defending Freedom. If he loses - and he probably will - expect an appeal and a serious media blitz. 

Column: L.A. vandals are targeting Pride flags. And it's not having the effect they hoped for - Whoops! Look what's backfiring.

Washington Post exposes conservative fake medical group I already exposed 14 years ago

Earlier on Thursday, the Washington Post ran a huge article exposing a right-wing organization masquerading as legitimate medical group. 

According to The Daily Beast:

Internal documents from a conservative group of doctors shows how the organization has lobbied to limit transgender rights and restrict access to abortion, according to a report. A review of the American College of Pediatricians’ records from The Washington Post showed how the organization has lobbied in at least eight states to ban puberty blockers and and hormone therapies for transgender minors, and sought new recruits with mailers targeting Christian MDs and pediatricians in “red states.” The group has also successfully pushed its message in conservative media, with the American College of Pediatricians being mentioned in more than 200 articles on right-wing news sites since 2016. Jill Simons, the organization’s executive director, told the Post that the group’s “recommendations are based on the medical research and what is best for children.”

I'm happy that the American College of Pediatricians is finally getting some mainstream scrutiny even if it is long time coming. The Southern Poverty Law Center had already listed the organization as a hate group. 

But even before then in 2009, I called the group out in a blog post.

 Back then, the American College of Pediatricians was targeting gays.  Below is the published post. If anything, it should serve as a reminder that all of the LGBTQ community are in this together because we are targets of the same haters:

The American College of Pediatricians and the Laundering of Junk Science, July 6, 2009

Two weekends ago, I was embroiled in an intense discussion about gay parenting on the webpage Truthwinsout.org

Comments had gone back and forth, spurred by someone who spouted what he thought was credible information proving that gay marriage was not a good idea.

The subject drifted to gay parenting. Naturally the person did not agree with the idea and he cited information by a group called the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) that supposedly proved his point.

I took a look at this group's webpage and from what I saw, it looked like a group masquerading as a legtimate medical organization while spouting religious right dogma about the lgbt community.

Mike Airhart, a writer employed by Truth Wins Out and a very good friend of mine, broke it down like this:

The “American College of Pediatricians” screens its membership according to a pro-life philosophy spelled out on its “Core Values” page and an anti-gay philosophy spelled out here. The organization’s Bible Belt charter members are listed here.

According to Concerned Women for America, ACP formed in retaliation against the American Academy of Pediatrics after AAP released scientific studies finding no significant harm to children in same-sex parenting. ACP accuses the AAP of “bad science” but does not say how AAP’s studies were flawed.

The ACP’s family resources page links primarily to religious-right organizations. In contrast to the scientific approach of the AAP, ACP employs what it considers a predetermined “moral” filter to pediatrics.

Translation: The American College of Pediatricians is a group masquerading as a legtimate medical organization while spouting religious right dogma about the lgbt community.

I pretty much said the same thing already, but didn't Mike say it much better than me?

Seriously though, I took a look at the work ACP put out about the lgbt community, particularly a piece called Homosexual Parenting: Is it Time for Change?

What I found was a hot mess of the usual lies put out by the religious right. I'm sure those who keep up with this blog have heard these before but I'm a stickler for consistency when it comes to religious right distortions, so bear with me.

The distortions of the ACP piece can be broken down in three brackets:

1. Outdated data

The paper says:

Homosexual partnerships are significantly more prone to dissolution than heterosexual marriages with the average homosexual relationship lasting only two to three years

As proof of this, the ACP paper cites sources from over 15 years ago:

David P. McWhirter and Andrew M. Mattison, The male couple: how relationships develop (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1984), pp. 252-253.

M. Saghir and E. Robins, Male and female homosexuality (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1973), p. 225; L.A. Peplau and H. Amaro, "Understanding lesbian relationships," in homosexuality: social, psychological, and biological issues, ed. J. Weinrich and W. Paul (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1982).

M. Pollak, "Male homosexuality," in western sexuality: practice and precept in past and present times, ed. P. Aries and A. Bejin, translated by Anthony Forster (New York, NY: B. Blackwell, 1985), pp. 40-61, cited by Joseph Nicolosi in Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality (Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson Inc., 1991), pp. 124, 125.

To make matters worse, the ACP is inaccurately using the data to generalize about all lgbt couples.

The authors of The Male Couple said their book could not be used to generalize about the lgbt community:

“We always have been very careful to explain that the very nature of our research sample, its size (156 couples), its narrow geographic location, and the natural selectiveness of the participants prevents the findings from being applicable and generalizable to the entire gay male community.”

Another outdated source the ACP piece uses is:

A. P. Bell and M. S. Weinberg, Homosexualities: a study of diversity among men and women (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978), pp. 308, 309

Homosexualities was published in 1978. And with it, the APC paper continues to inaccurately generalize about lgbt couples.

A passage in Homosexualities clearly says:

“. . . given the variety of circumstances which discourage homosexuals from participating in research studies, it is unlikely that any investigator will ever be in a position to say that this or that is true of a given percentage of all homosexuals.”

Generally speaking, if you looked at all of the sources in the ACP paper, you see that the majority of them are over 10 years old. And many of the ones that can be construed as current are misused.

But that is the next section.

2. Misusage of studies

Many of the studies the ACP uses to claim that children will suffer adverse effects in lgbt households in fact did not have anything to do with looking at children in lgbt homes at all. They include:

A. Marie Xiridoui, et al., "The contribution of steady and casual partnerships to the incidence of HIV infection among homosexual men in Amsterdam," AIDS 17 (2003): 1029-1038. [Note: one of the findings of this recent study is that those classified as being in "steady relationships" reported an average of 8 casual partners a year in addition to their partner (p. 1032)]

As pointed out in a post two weeks ago , this study only looked at casual relationships between gay men. It had nothing to do with the lesbian population and certainly nothing to do with children in lgbt households. The ironic thing is that this study has been used to also claim that lgbts have no concept of monogamy in marriage even though the data was compiled before marriage was even legalized in the Netherlands.

B. Joanne Hall, "Lesbians recovering from alcoholic problems: an ethnographic study of health care expectations," Nursing Research 43 (1994): 238-244.

In my 2007 book, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, I talk about how this article in Nursing Research was distorted. The author of the article, Joanne Hall, Ph.D. of the University of Tennessee’s College of Nursing, wrote me a letter outlining how it was being misused. She said that not only did the study have nothing to do with gay parenting but also:

“My study was an investigation of experiences of lesbians who ALREADY have self-identified as having ‘had an alcohol problem.’

They were not recruited as ‘alcoholics,’ ‘addicts’ or such terms, because I realized people have different understandings and preferences about ‘labels.’ These women were not necessarily under treatment at all, but living in the community. I did not ‘verify’ either their sexual orientation (that was also self-identification), nor a ‘diagnosis’ of substance abuse. They responded to a flyer. They all lived in the Bay Area. There were 35 women in the study. ONLY 35. They do not REPRESENT a population. My point was to try to get a handle on what they were experiencing—to UNDERSTAND their patterns . . . . "

C. Gwat Yong Lie and Sabrina Gentlewarrier, "Intimate violence in lesbian relationships: discussion of survey findings and practice implications," Journal of Social Service Research 15 (1991): 41-59.

Again a study having nothing to do with children in same sex households. The original study was conducted in 1985 at a Michigan Women’s Music Festival. It included only 1099 participants and all were lesbian.

According to a reviewer of the study, Suzana Rose, Ph.D., of the 1099 lesbians participants, most were white and between the ages of 20-45. - Intimate Violence in Lesbian Relationships: Discussion of Survey Findings and Practice Implications, Journal of Social Science Research, 1991

D. "Sex survey results," Genre (October 1996), quoted in "Survey finds 40 percent of gay men have had more than 40 sex partners," Lambda Report, January 1998, p. 20.

Not only did this Genre article have nothing to do with children in same sex households but check out the entire citation. The Lambda Report was an anti-gay publication put out by an old friend of ours - Peter LaBarbera - before he began Americans for Truth.

So in all honesty, it can be said that the ACP paper does not misuse Genre article because it does not cite the article at all, but what LaBarbera (a man with an anti-gay bias) claims the Genre article says.

3. Researcher complaints

A consistent factor of religious right studies is how they inaccurately use studies even after complaints by the work's original author. There are two in the ACP paper:

A. It cites the infamous 1997 study Canadian study as proof that lgbts have a short life span even though the study's authors complained in 2001 of its misusage by the religious right. (This is getting to be a favorite citation of mine. In almost every religious right paper I've talked about on this site, the distortion of the Canadian study is included.)

B. Judith Stacey and Timothy J. Biblarz, "(How) Does the sexual orientation of parents matter," American Sociological Review 66 (2001): 174, 179.

Judith Stacey has said repeatedly that nothing in her work says that same sex parenting is a bad idea.

Finally, the most interesting thing about the ACP paper is that it is not original. Some of the citations and passages in the paper are identical to a Family Research Council paper, The Negative Effects of Homosexuality.

This is the same paper is considered "outdated" by the Family Research Council.

So basically, the American College of Pediatricians is a puppet organization that can do damage if no one researches its background.

The folks who founded this organization are clearly sacrificing the integrity of their profession by laundering religious right propaganda as credible medical research.

And it makes one wonder as to how many other "groups" like ACP are out there. And also what can we do to bring attention to these groups.

'Fox News welcomes swastika-wielding gay teacher as anti -trans martyr ' & other Thur midday news briefs

Fox News welcomes swastika-wielding gay teacher as anti-trans martyr - Because it's Fox News.

Twitter’s Elon Musk spent the first week of Pride Month promoting bigoted anti-LGBTQ rhetoric​ - Elon Musk is a shining example of how money does not mean intelligence. 

Democrats Push for Mental Health Support for LGBTQ+ Youth in Republican-Led House - Good luck. 

Six in 10 say prejudice against LGBTQ people a serious problem: poll - I could have told you that. 

These historical pictures of Pride celebrations in 1993 remind us how strong we've always been! - I think that was the first year I attended a Pride celebration. I wasn't ready.

Fox News busted and dragged on Twitter for implying that the Pride flag 'promotes pedophilia and grooming'

One would think that Fox News learned a lesson about lying after the $787 million settlement it was forced to pay Dominion.

The network clearly didn't. 

.@FoxNews continues to celebrate pride month by pushing bigoted lies that are the driving force of increasing violence and GOP political attacks against the LGBTQ+ community. The flag in question is not controversial nor does it “promote grooming or pedophilia.” pic.twitter.com/Pw7ceUF74R

— Andrew Wortman 🟧 (@AmoneyResists) June 14, 2023

Of course, that's a lie and LGBTQ organization GLAAD made sure to let Fox News know about it.

FACTS: Don't listen to this untrue, vile lie from Fox News. The Progress Pride flag adds communities of color (Black and Brown stripes), as well as pink, white, and light blue for trans and nonbinary people.

The White House is the People's House, LGBTQ people included! pic.twitter.com/BKayrZZgN2

— GLAAD (@glaad) June 14, 2023

Later Fox News changed it

UPDATE: Fox News deleted the tweet and changed the article headline and url. It was archived though. They are trying to pinkwash the hate by saying it "troubles some in the gay community."https://t.co/LxIOOtEFIH https://t.co/3a8CefIbfB https://t.co/Urm4e566LY pic.twitter.com/cOjJ4yBlo0

— Alejandra Caraballo 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇵🇷 (@Esqueer_) June 14, 2023

But not before other folks - aside from GLAAD - proceeded to drag the network all over Twitter

grooming and pedophilia🤔https://t.co/tFEbZYkYCf

— PARODY - JEWISH SPACE LASER Captain Count De Monet (@johnaddams2022) June 14, 2023

"Promotes grooming and pedophilia..." I would say it promotes inclusion and love. And for the record, here are the GOP perpetrators of grooming and pedophilia... #FoxHates pic.twitter.com/bH3qzv4afT

— Beyurself66 (@beyurself66) June 14, 2023

How does a flag with nothing but colors on it promote grooming and pedophilia? Explain the process.

— TaritaC Loves Jack Smith (@TaritaC) June 14, 2023

Yeah. So they were wrong. But lovely headline for clocks, fox. You know, as well as I, that is a pride flag for LGBTQ and yes, of course it includes transgender. But no, LGBTQ does not promote grooming or pedophilia. And it’s disgusting that you feed into this awful lie.

— Leanne 🇺🇸🌈 🇺🇦🏳️‍🌈🌎❤️ (@Lcmwriter100) June 14, 2023

Conservatives are crying wolf with their lies about grooming and pedophilia, while Christian pastors and priests are abusing kids all over the country every day.

The call is coming from inside the house, Fox. Check your own base before pointing fingers.

— Dan Smith (@helloimdansmith) June 14, 2023

https://t.co/0DSeCOzErv

Does this mean the sign of the cross promotes pedophilia then???

— bg (@bgilbert35) June 14, 2023

Then why is it always Republicans, often white “Christian”Nationalists, who are arrested for grooming and pedophilia? pic.twitter.com/hzSRQQGiY6

— 🟧 truthbetold 🟧 (@somapsycheyogi) June 14, 2023

"Up next, we examine grooming and pedophilia within the Southern Baptist Convention"?

• Southern Baptist Convention sexual abuse report details cover up • SUN May 22, 2022 •https://t.co/XjFtoCBrHN

— Celeste Kenney, NCC, MS (@celestial_bean_) June 14, 2023

As you can see, it was a good day.

Editor's note - The irony of it is that the same flag appears on Fox News' Annual Corporate Report. More proof that Fox News publishes this stuff for the sake of its rabid base.

'School district will ban man who accused nine-year-old girl of being trans during track meet' & other Wed midday news briefs

School district will ban man accused of verbally assaulting girl, 9, at Kelowna track meet​ - Good. Simply reprehensible to publicly attack the child. 

 Related post - Man accuses 9-year-old girl with short hair of being trans & leaves her sobbing 

 Meet 10 Queer High Schoolers Who Are Proud of Their Faith - Amen. I like this! 

Starbucks denies ban on Pride decor reported by employees at 2 Madison stores and the national union - This claim didn't seem right to me. It made no sense. 

PHOTOS: The queerest of the queer turned out for Queerty’s Pride50 celebration in NYC - Enjoy this.

Visual exercise - The simple evil behind the 'gays are grooming kids' narrative

 

An image from an old religious tract shows the 'gays groom kids' lie. 

In spite of claims to the contrary, the narrative that the LGBTQ community - particularly the trans community - are looking to "sexualize" or "groom" kids is not a new one. It's an old lie and it's been very successful throughout the years.  Unfortunately, nowadays it has been refurbished by social media influencers and believed by people who have no knowledge of or are willfully ignorant of the many avenues social conservatives employ to use it.

First of all, claiming that certain parties want to harm kids is an old canard used against so many other groups, including Jewish people.

From the handout, Echoes and Reflections:

Taken from the children’s book, The Poisonous Mushroom, the caption in this picture reads: “Here my little one, you get something very sweet, but as a reward you both must come with me.” This caricature portrays an elderly Jew trying to tempt small children with candy. It relies on one of the basic fears of all parents and the common instruction to little children not to take candy from a stranger. There are links made between “a stranger,” “danger,” “poison,” and “a Jew.” The Jew is portrayed as a dark, evil, threatening, manipulative stranger, as opposed to the innocent, pure, naïve Aryan children.

Exploiting parental fears while denigrating LGBTQ people as dangerous outsiders who are up to no good, much like is done in the graphic above, is a hallmark tactics in anti-LGBTQ propaganda. However, there are some differences. It can be blatant.

Hidden behind religious belief.

Or even behind the guise of statistics (which are usually lies or deliberately taken out of context).

But the most dangerous and possibly successful use of the "LGBTQ people are grooming children" narrative is when it's subtle. That's when social conservatives don't outright and accuse LGBTQ people of pedophilia or grooming. Instead, they imply that kids will be harmed by any law or action created to benefit the LGBTQ community. 

Such as marriage equality

Non-discrimination ordinances

Allowing trans kids to be able to safely use school restrooms

Any pro-LGBTQ action, even those which would benefit the safety of LGBTQ kids.

The point is the stuff you hear about from social conservatives and wannabe social media influencers is general bullshit. It has less to do with protecting kids and more to do with exploiting ignorance and fears.

Some graphics taken from Chick Publications and Comics with Problems

'Indiana's 'don't say gay' bill will be challenged in court' & other Tue midday news briefs

Indianapolis Public Schools teacher, ACLU sue over "Don't Say Gay" - Good luck. I hope it's struck down. 

11 Republican Presidential Hopefuls and Their Awful Anti-LGBTQ+ Records - If any one of them gets into the White House, we are in trouble. 

‘I don’t want to talk to the gay one’: LGBTQ teachers say they are fighting erasure in their own classrooms - Trying to hard to erase us. 

Garth Brooks Refuses to Boycott Bud Light at His Nashville Bar​- This promises to be interesting.

Deja Vu: Today's attacks on trans people are repackaged homophobia from the 1990s

To a lot of older LGBTQ people, the recent legislative and other attacks on transgender people are very familiar. We've had seen it before. In April, Jack Turban, assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, published an opinion piece at CNN which spelled it all out.

 Turban's piece, What the anti-trans movement is all about, deserves a read and a share.  Here are some excerpts:

If some of these arguments around fairness and protecting children from LGBTQ people sound familiar, it’s because they’re the same ones used against gay people in the 1990s. These Republicans have simply repackaged old anti-gay rhetoric and scaremongering to target transgender people. 

 Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, some cities in Colorado began passing laws prohibiting anti-gay discrimination. Frustrated by this progress, social conservatives in the state created an organization called Colorado for Family Values. 

 Worried about more localities passing anti-discrimination laws, which it saw as endorsing non-Christian values, the group came up with a bold strategy: Start a ballot initiative to amend the Colorado Constitution to prohibit state and local government bodies from passing more. The question was: How would it convince voters, who were increasingly tolerant of gay people, to support it? The group developed two primary tactics it thought would appeal to different types of voters. The first was a more palatable “fairness” argument. It created the false narrative that anti-discrimination laws would give gay people preferential or “better” treatment than straight people. It ran with the catchy slogan “equal rights, not special rights.” 

Turban points out how one tactic has been recrafted to attack trans athletes by creating a false argument that they are somehow taking scholarships and victories from cis (mostly female) athletes. He talked about the second tactic.

 The second was a bit more grotesque — reverting to age-old accusations that gay people were sexual predators and “groomers” who posed a risk to children. The strategies worked, and what was known as Amendment 2 passed

Turban then accurately compares how social conservatives exploited the lie that LGBTQ people are a danger to kids in the 90s to how they are now claiming that transgender people are a danger to kids.

. . . . We’ve also seen a resurgence in social conservatives labeling LGBTQ people as dangerous to children. When advocating for Colorado’s Amendment 2 in the 1990s, Colorado for Family Values distributed 750,000 copies of a pamphlets saying that “sexual molestation of children is a large part of many homosexuals’ lifestyle.” Things are much the same today. US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted this month that “Democrats are the party of pedophiles,” a comment she doubled down on in a recent interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes.” 

 Some conservatives have turned this rhetoric into public policy, arguing that laws are needed to force transgender people to use bathrooms of their sex assigned at birth, suggesting that otherwise sexual assault rates in bathrooms will rise. Though research shows that such policies are linked to transgender youth facing higher rates of sexual assault, I worry that facts won’t win out.

 In the 1990s, Colorado for Family Values won in large part because it had carefully crafted, emotionally inflammatory rhetoric, and its opponents didn’t. It didn’t matter that facts weren’t on the group’s side. The same is true today.

 In recent years, this rhetoric has been most effectively applied to attacks on gender-affirming medical care. Some conservatives have labeled it “mutilation” and in some instances “child abuse” despite endorsements by major medical organizations.

The only thing different about what social conservatives are doing now as opposed to the 90s is a dwindling down of scapegoats. Instead of targeting the entire LGBTQ community, they are laser focused on denigrating a segment of the community. But the repercussions are still as deadly as they were back then.

Editor's note - claiming that LGBTQ people and our pursuit of certain rights will endanger kids is a social conservative tactic used in several fights against us, including marriage equality.