Month: August 2022

Florida just stripped countless trans people of life-saving healthcare with ‘shameful’ Medicaid ban

Florida just stripped countless trans people of life-saving healthcare with ‘shameful’ Medicaid ban

Republicans have long made being poor a reason to be denied medical care or having any quality of life.  Some states make being homeless a crime now.    This country has become one of well off upper incomes / the wealthy and the lower incomes / desperate workers / the poor.   This is driven by anti-trans hate and bigotry.   This goes against the best medical practices accepted by the majority of medical associations.   Trans gender affirmative medical care is the treatment  backed up by medical science and data.   That is a fact.  Gender-affirming care, as defined by the World Health Organization, encompasses a range of social, psychological, behavioral, and medical interventions “designed to support and affirm an individual’s gender identity” when it conflicts with the gender they were assigned at birth.

Florida to ban gender-affirming healthcare from Medicaid coverage

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. (Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Florida will ban transgender residents from using Medicaid to obtain gender-affirming healthcare, including hormone medications and surgery.

According to ABC News, the new law will come into effect on Sunday (21 August).

Florida will join several other states – including Arizona, Missouri and Texas – in explicitly banning residents from using the medical expenses assistance programme to cover transgender healthcare, disproportionately affecting lower-income trans people.

 

The state’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) laid out the legislation in June, recommending limitations on puberty blockers, hormones, gender-affirming surgeries, and “any other procedures that alter primary or secondary sexual characteristics”.

The state’s surgeon general Joseph Ladapo previously said that providing trans healthcare to minors is “about injecting political ideology into the health of our children”.

LGBTQ+ civil rights organisations including Lamda Legal said in a statement they would “fight this rule and defend the rights of transgender people in Florida in whatever forum necessary to protect their rights to access health care coverage”.

Sarah Warbelow, Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) legal director, said it was the “latest example of the DeSantis administration shamefully targeting transgender Floridians”.

 

“The governor’s administration thinks it knows better than the residents and medical providers of Florida,” Warbelow said.

“The purported rationale behind these latest moves to deny medical care to transgender people has been thoroughly debunked time and time again since this effort first surfaced publicly in April.

“Rather than following the science, the data or the experts, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration instead chose to misinterpret studies, ignore evidence, and lend credence to prejudice – yet again putting the state between patients and doctors for no reason other than political grandstanding.

“This rule will harm thousands of Floridians when it goes into effect, and it should be reevaluated immediately.”

The HRC added that the move will affect the care of approximately 9,000 transgender Floridians who rely on Medicaid.

 

The move follows Florida’s widely-criticised “Don’t Say Gay” legislation which passed in March, and prohibits classroom discussion of LGBTQ+ topics.

Following the signing of the bill, Amit Paley, CEO and executive director of LGBT+ mental health and suicide prevention charity The Trevor Project, said in a statement: “LGBTQ youth in Florida deserve better. They deserve to see their history, their families, and themselves reflected in the classroom.

“Social support is vital for suicide prevention, and I want to remind LGBTQ youth in Florida and across the country that you are not alone.”

Serbian bishop calls for armed attack on LGBTQ+ people: ‘If I had a weapon, I would use it’

Serbian bishop calls for armed attack on LGBTQ+ people: ‘If I had a weapon, I would use it’

 

Bishop Nikanor speaks

Serbian Orthodox Church bishop Nikanor Bogunović of Bana. (Screen capture via YouTube)

A senior bishop in Serbia has been condemned for encouraging armed attacks against an LGBTQ+ Pride event in Belgrade.

In September, the Serbian capital will host EuroPride, which celebrates LGBTQ+ rights across the continent, in a first for a southeastern European country.

But Serbian Orthodox Church bishop Nikanor Bogunović of Banat, a region that covers parts of Serbia, Romania and Hungary, has vowed to “curse” all those who attend the week-long festival.

 

“I will curse all those who organize and participate in something like that,” Nikanor said in remarks made on 11 August, according to Balkan Insight.

“I can do that much. If I had a weapon, I would use it, I would use that force if only I had it, but I do not.”

He added that EuroPride participants “will come to Belgrade and flaunt and desecrate the city of Belgrade, the holy Serbian city,” and that “we raise our voice against such [people]”.

https://twitter.com/reznikWSWS/status/1558369966965276673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1558369966965276673%7Ctwgr%5E04909180f9001b26ca17f9de52008ab97a3de1b7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinknews.co.uk%2F2022%2F08%2F15%2Fserbia-orthodox-church-bishop-nikanor-bogunovic%2F

Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić said Nicanor’s sermon had another clear target – the country’s lesbian prime minister, Ana Brnabić, elected in 2017.

 

“Bishop Nicanor insulted himself and our church, humiliated our church, much more than Ana Brnabić or anyone else ever did,” he told TV network Prva TV on 12 August.

Only three days after Nikanor’s comments, chants of “Hands off our children” and “Stop the parade of shame” boomed through the streets of Belgrade as part of a protest against EuroPride.

Tens of thousands of people gathered outside Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarchate offices before ending at the Sain Marko Church. The demonstration was backed by the Serbian Orthodox Church, according to local media reports.

Serbia, a deeply conservative country in the Balkans, has a spotty track record with LGBTQ+ rights at best. Something seemingly at odds with it being one of the few nations to have an openly gay leader.

Queer Serbs do enjoy some protections in the eyes of the law, but same-gender couples are not legally recognised and marriage equality remains firmly banned by the constitution.

 

Though the days when nearly half of Serbs considered being gay an illness are long gone, officials remain sluggish to tackle homophobia while religious leaders consider LGBTQ+ rights a degenerate Western plot.

Serbia’s prime minister Ana Brnabić (2-R) at Belgrade Pride in 2017. (ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty Images)

The knock-on effect of this is easy to see. Almost 60 per cent of LGBTQ+ Serbs have reported physical or emotional abuse in the course of a year, according to a 2020 report by the human rights group Center for Research and Development of Society IDEAS.

So for a high-ranking religious figure like Nikanor to call congregants for arms wasn’t exactly unexpected to some activists.

“It’s deeply disturbing to see a bishop incite armed violence against the LGBTQ+ community, however, it’s not surprising,” Nik Jovčić-Sas, a British-Serbian LGBTQ+ activist, told PinkNews.

“The Serbian Orthodox Church’s response to the queer and trans community for the past 20 years has been one of implicit and explicit violence.”

Jovčić-Sas said the first Belgrade Pride ever held in 2001 has come to be known as “Крви Прајд, ‘the bloody Pride’, for its extreme violence”.

Football hooligans joined right-wing nationalists to beat up and stone Pride-goers wishing to celebrate who they are. The violence only ended when police fired in the air to disperse the seething crowds.

The haunting scene was repeated nearly a decade later in 2010 when the second Belgrade Pride was held. Thugs tore through the march, lobbing Molotov cocktails, bricks, stones, glass bottles and firecrackers at Pride-goers and police in a protest egged on by religious leaders.

More than 100 people were arrested after the office of the ruling Democratic Party was set on fire and at least one shot was fired in clashes with the police.

“The church has always allowed itself to be the heart of the country’s most virulent anti-queer campaigns,” Jovčić-Sas added.

Patriarch Porfirije offered LGBTQ+ Serbs hope for a more inclusive and tolerant Serbian Orthodox Church when he expressed sympathy for queer couples fighting for legal recognition.

“However considering that he has not condemned Bishop Nikanor for his comments and allowed the church to be the rallying point for this weekend’s anti-Pride march,” Jovčić-Sas said, “I am not optimistic we will see any change from this Patriarch.”

A Children’s Hospital Providing Gender-Affirming Care is Being Targeted with Death Threats. Guess Who’s Behind It.

https://www.intomore.com/the-internet/childrens-hospital-providing-gender-affirming-care-targeted-death-threats-guess-whos-behind/

 

Back in June, Harvard Law clinical instructor and trans activist Alejandra Caraballo tweeted about the troll account Libs of TikTok harassing a Nebraska children’s hospital for providing access to information about gender-affirming care at a Pride event.

Now, the account has taken on a bigger target: Boston Children’s Hospital.

As Caraballo has pointed out, Libs of TikTok has been publicly harassing the hospital on Twitter for the past week due to its policy of providing gender-affirming care to trans teens and adults. Now, employees and providers at BCH have been receiving death threats and harassment.

The Libs of TikTok account claims, like so many other right-wing propaganda accounts, that providing access to gender-affirming care for minors is tantamount to child abuse and “grooming.” The truth is much less sensational: the hospital provides care to children and adults who are seeking transition-related care. Libs of TikTok, however, seems to believe that because the Wayback Machine shows a time when BCH didn’t specify a specific age cutoff for gender-affirming surgeries, the hospital is responsible for encouraging teens to seek medical care without their parents’ knowledge or approval.

Which, even if it were true, wouldn’t actually be a bad thing, especially if your parents are rampant transphobes.

But there’s a bigger question to be asked in the midst of all this: why is Libs of TikTok still allowed to be active on Twitter? Once again, Alejandra Caraballo has the answer:

With or without the Musk drama, it’s pretty interesting to see accounts like Libs of TikTok flourish on Twitter while other accounts end up banned for “hate speech” when they are, in fact, trying to counteract hate speech.

Meanwhile, in France, Libs of TikTok has already been banned thanks to laws in place that prevent bigots and white nationalists from being platformed:

What would it be like to live in a world where bigots aren’t platformed? Sadly, here in the U.S., we wouldn’t know anything about that!

 

Louisiana Denies Abortion Of Fetus With Fatal Condition

Louisiana Denies Abortion Of Fetus With Fatal Condition

Baton Rouge’s CBS affiliate reports:

A Baton Rouge mother has a week to make an unthinkable decision – carry her baby to term even though she says doctors tell her it will not survive or find another state where she can have an abortion. “It’s hard knowing that I’m carrying it to bury it,” said Nancy Davis, who is 13 weeks pregnant with her second child.

Davis says her baby was diagnosed with acrania, a rare and fatal condition where the baby’s skull fails to form in the womb.

According to health experts, babies with this condition only survive minutes to hours after birth. But because Davis’s life was not in danger and the baby’s condition does not fall under Louisiana Department of Health’s list of qualifying conditions, she was denied an abortion.

Read the full article. Davis says she now has to decide whether to cross state lines to get an abortion or give birth to a doomed baby.

 

Elagabalus • 2 hours ago

This is on the “pro-life” party and anyone else who calls themselves that. Sick.

Glenn Elagabalus • 2 hours ago

It’s the pro-suffering party.

JCF Glenn • an hour ago

Pro-Suffering WOMEN Party. (“Eve brought it on you all!”)

TallyDink • 2 hours ago

Cruelty is the point with these fucking anti-choice, pro-fetus politicians.

Makoto • 2 hours ago

And down in Florida, they’ve declared that a 16-year-old isn’t mature enough to get an abortion. Which makes all sorts of sense to some deranged forced birthers, I’m sure, but I’ll admit it seems insane to me.

TallyDink Makoto • 2 hours ago

I know, right? She’s not mature enough to get an abortion but is (by their standards) mature enough to raise a child.

Ščŏŧŧ Ċ – 🇺🇦 🕊 TallyDink • 2 hours ago

But where will her punishment come from if she isn’t forced to give birth? That’s what it’s about, after all – punishing women for sex. These laws never mention the man involved in the pregnancy.

PickyPecker Ninja0980 • 2 hours ago

Thumbnail

William Ninja0980 • 2 hours ago

She’s supposed to marry the father and move into a trailer.

Paula William • 2 hours ago

Right. So she can begin getting the beating so needs.
Why you make me hit you like that?
Do I really need to add the /S?

CPT_Doom • 2 hours ago

That ain’t a baby and never will be. We need to stop using the forced birthers’ ignorant language.

DaddyRay • 2 hours ago

These are the stories that happen every day across the US and until now they have been able to remain silent and private but has now thrust this horrific situation that the family has to deal with into the public eye and add legal consequences to what would have been a personal decision

Skeptical_Inquirer • 2 hours ago

The forced birthers will blink at you stupidly and just fall back on their “babies, babies, babies” chant.

TallyDink Skeptical_Inquirer • 2 hours ago

When it comes down to it, they don’t care about babies, only fetuses.

MichaelJ TallyDink • an hour ago

In general they care about asserting power over people’s personal lives in general and, in the instance, over women’s sexuality.

HomerTh • 2 hours ago

The cowards at the Louisiana Department of Health have blocked people from commenting on their Facebook page.

thatotherjean • 2 hours ago • edited

It’s SICK that a woman with a doomed pregnancy could be forced to carry a child who will not survive much past birth for nine months, and then to endure giving birth, when it’s a foregone conclusion that her child will not live. It’s equally sick that she should have to travel to another state, away from her support network, in order to abort that pregnancy. As is so often true with Republican legislatures, the cruelty is the point.

clay thatotherjean • an hour ago

I’m also wondering who’s going to pay for all of her unnecessary medical expenses, as well as maternity wear and lost wages?

AZ Sec Of State Nominee Kept “Treason Watch List”

AZ Sec Of State Nominee Kept “Treason Watch List”

This is what we face in future elections.    No republican candidate will admit they lost even to other republicans.  No republican candidate will accept reality and will use threats and intimidation to get what they want.   Power before truth.   But worse there is now a bunch of these maga cult members in charge of the elections going forward.  They believe in the ability to simply deny the votes of the public to put their preferred candidate in office.    Scary.   Hugs

CNN reports:

The Republican nominee for secretary of state in Arizona is a self-proclaimed member of the far-right extremist group the Oath Keepers who repeatedly shared anti-government conspiracies and posts about stockpiling ammunition on social media. CNN’s KFile team uncovered previously unreported posts from Mark Finchem, an Arizona state representative who won his party’s nomination with the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, on several social media websites linked from his since-deleted former Twitter account.

The posts included a Pinterest account with a “Treason Watch List,” and pins of photos of Barack Obama alongside imagery of a man clad in Nazi attire making a Nazi salute; Finchem also shared photos of the Holocaust claiming it could happen in the United States. On Twitter, he shared conspiracies that multiple ships docked at a Virginia naval station might be a target for a second Pearl Harbor-type attack. He said Satan ruled the United States and said gun ownership should be mandatory.

Read the full article.

Finchem first appeared on JMG when he declared that COVID does not exist and that everybody who got the “poisonous” vaccine will be dead within two years. The January 6th committee has subpoenaed him for his role as a fake Arizona elector.

 

BeccaM • an hour ago

We’re about to end up with large portions of the country being run by those with no interest, experience or qualifications whatsoever in actually doing the jobs they will have been elected to do. And who are mentally unhinged enough to do great damage to everything as they flail about in destructive rampages.

This is what happens when a major political party decides that being loyal to the party matters more than absolutely anything else.

AyJayDee BeccaM • 34 minutes ago

It’s what happens when fascism rises. In my readings about the rise of fascism in Italy, Germany and Spain, I keep seeing these kinds of scenarios again and again. It’s all about taking power, looting the state and persecuting minorities.

another_steve BeccaM • an hour ago

Political commentators have observed this: Today’s Republican Party is rudderless. It has no “policy agenda,” no long-range goals for the future. It merely exists to serve tyrants like Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis.

Another_steve shoos away the cat and reaches clumsily for his glass of chardonnay…

another_steve • 2 hours ago

Joe Walsh — a former Republican congressman who’s seen the light and is now a Biden supporter — said something on cable the other day that’s stuck with me. He seems to have good “radar” when it comes to this stuff. Has a good sense of what the Republican electorate is like today.

He estimates that something like 85% of all Republican voters believe everything that Donald Trump says. You name it. Everything. However outlandish.

These treasonous criminals — like Finchem — who have Trump’s support may very well win in November.

DeSantis Waives Teaching Requirements As He Moves To Hire Retired Cops, Enlisted Military Veterans [VIDEO]

DeSantis Waives Teaching Requirements As He Moves To Hire Retired Cops, Enlisted Military Veterans [VIDEO]

Rather than raising wages, stopping personal attacks on teachers and their families, and feeding hungry kids, or even putting more money into the school systems, instead let’s just removed all teaching standards by hiring any warm body preferably from the most conservative sectors we can find.   This follows the attacks on the education curriculums that are created by well trained highly educated people that have now been trashed in red states by maga republican office holders supported by the maga cult base.   Sickening.   The open destruction of public education and the institution of a Christian maga conservative lie taught to kids so they have no idea of the reality of the country, its history, or of their rights.   Remember what DeathSantis and most republicans think schools are, daycare for kids so the parents are free to go earn profit for the employers!   That was why DeathSantis insisted that schools stay open so the parents could go back to work, and the state could go back to normal.   So they state could get tax dollars and take in tourist revenue.   This has nothing about the full education and needs of students, the students are there to be warehoused and indoctrinated while their parents’ slave to make the profit of the business owners.    Hugs

Florida Politics reports:

Gov. Ron DeSantis is rolling out new proposals intended to bring teachers to Florida, with shortages affecting districts throughout the state. One such proposal may take first responders, including former police officers, firefighters and EMTs, from those high-pressure environments and move them to K-12 classrooms.

DeSantis said his proposed Governor’s Recruitment Program was “focusing on our heroes,” seeking to bring former first responders in in the way that former members of the military are now eligible for hire.

“We will waive the exam fees for the state teachers certification,” DeSantis vowed, floating a $4,000 bonus for all recruits and an additional $1,000 incentive for those teachers who are addressing “acute shortages” in the classroom.

Read the full article.

Last week DeSantis declared that he was also seeking to hire enlisted military veterans because, he claims, they’d be better teachers than any of the highly-educated but “woke” teachers now heading for the hills in droves due to his fascist policies.

https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/1558873454228766721?s=20&t=D7WmjWpUB2Ys2NUhWUm-SQ

Gebildet • an hour ago

MathGeekRob • 5 minutes ago

They want to put in fascist groomers to teach our kids.

teeveedub • 15 minutes ago

This is the “Get ‘Em While They’re Young” plank in the Florida GOP’s “Make Florida Even Dumber” party platform.

JackFknTwist • 18 minutes ago

Next they’ll be recruiting prisoners nd giving them parole if they sign on to ‘teach’ for a year.

JackFknTwist • 19 minutes ago

Destruction of education.
Destruction of any standards.
Disrespect for professional teachers and their qualifications.
Another example of US America’s anti-intellectual bias.
And Trump/Desantis are both products to the macho-culture which despises learning. education and real qualifications.
Shame on Desantis.
Shame on any one who takes a teaching job unqualified to do so.

John • 21 minutes ago

What the heck is wrong with the voters in FLORIDA???

Ann Kah John • 20 minutes ago

Just wait a few years, and you can ask what the heck is wrong with all the people in Florida who were schoolkids in 2022.

Ann Kah John • 20 minutes ago

Just wait a few years, and you can ask what the heck is wrong with all the people in Florida who were schoolkids in 2022.

Happy_Housewife • 25 minutes ago

He wants to make a jobs program for the damaged people who can’t cope with real life.

What could possibly go wrong?

andrew • 26 minutes ago

You have no BA and no teaching certificate. No problem. We need a physics teacher. You’ve taken a physical in the military. You’re hired.

BobSF_94117 • 28 minutes ago

In other words, he has so badly managed the education system in Florida, that emergency measures are necessary just to keep bodies in the classrooms.

Flamingo dads adopt chick abandoned by biological parents

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/08/flamingo-dads-adopt-chick-abandoned-biological-parents/

This post is for all those who claim homosexuality is not natural.   Same sex relationships / sex in the animal kingdom is very well documented.   Which means that the bigots must now admit that OK it is inborn and happens in some people but god meant you cannot act on it.    Yet his other animal creations are allowed to do so?   Why would he be OK with them doing that but not the human animal?   Plus notice that the gays are always loving enough to accept and care for those kids that the straights want to ignore or throw away.    Hugs

Pink-feathered fathers Hudson and Blaze were chosen by zoo keeps to take responsibility for hatching an egg.
By      
Flamingo dads adopt chick abandoned by biological parents
Photo: Whipsnade Zoo

An abandoned baby flamingo has found new life with a couple of longtime flamingo dads.

At ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, northwest of London, pink-feathered fathers Hudson and Blaze were chosen by zoo keeps to take responsibility for hatching an egg abandoned by the soon-to-be chick’s bio parents.

The American flamingo egg (Phoenicopterus ruber) was popped in an incubator while the bird team at the zoo, the UK’s largest, searched for adoptive parents.

They didn’t have to look far.

Team leader Tim Savage said: “Flamingos usually work together, as a monogamous pair, to care for their eggs and subsequent chicks. Hudson and Blaze were the clear choices for the incubated egg, as they have always proved to be ideal parents.”

Among the zoo’s whole “flamboyance”, or group of flamingos, the same-sex couple was known by staff for taking exceptional care of their shared bird crib. After the egg was handed over, the pair sat tight until it hatched.

“After the chick hatched in their nest, they sat with it for two weeks, keeping it warm and protecting it from other flamingos, who often squabble and shove around different nest sites,” Savage said.

As parents, male flamingos share some of the same traits found in females, making a same-sex upbringing a natural choice. The bright red “crop milk” that sustains chicks after hatching is produced by both males and females of the species.

“The same hormone that regulates milk production in mammals, regulates the production of crop milk,” said Savage. “It’s stimulated by the mother or father’s experience of sitting on an egg and watching the chick hatch.”

“The milk is made in the linings of their digestive tract and contains fat, protein and blood cells. You can often spot the new parents in a group because they give so much of their own pigment to their chicks that they almost turn white!”

Same-sex flamingo pairs have been observed at the Zoo before, as have thruples, with a mix of male and female birds in one nest. Penguins are also known to form same-sex pairings during the breeding season.

The dad couple’s adopted kiddo, still covered in a downy coat of grey feathers, is out of the nest, but they’re keeping a pair of pink birds’ eyes on it.

Employer suing for “religious freedom” to drop PrEP coverage complains about bad publicity

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/08/employer-suing-religious-freedom-drop-prep-coverage-complains-bad-publicity/

Oh my dogs that love gravy I should be able to hate and say hateful things about those I hate based on my religion, but damn it no one should be able to say anything harmful or negative about me!   These are evil sinner, my religion says my god hates them, so I should get to deny them anything and everything while abusing them.     If I get called out for doing it, then I am being persecuted and unfairly treated.    I was just being hurtful and cruel while not following the laws everyone else follows that I think should not apply to me because my god is special in the US.    Hugs

Dentist John Kelley says contraception and PrEP “encourage homosexual behavior and intravenous drug use.” But he doesn’t want his name on his case anymore.
 
By      
A blue PrEP pill
Photo: Shutterstock
 

One of the plaintiffs in what could be a landmark case denying health insurance coverage of PrEP and contraception is complaining he’s being harassed.

John Kelley, an orthodontist in Tarrant County, Texas is among four complainants in a class action lawsuit filed in the state challenging the federal government’s authority to mandate access to free vaccines, birth control, cancer screenings, and other preventative services with the Affordable Care Act (also sometimes called Obamacare).

Attorney for the plaintiffs Jonathan Mitchell claims that the name of the suit, Kelley v. Xavier Becerra et al, has resulted in Kelley being subjected to “threats and cyberbullying.”

Kelley is listed among complainants with Joel Starnes, Kelley’s dental practice Kelley Orthodontics, and consulting firm Braidwood Management Inc.

Mitchell writes in a motion to amend the name, “The plaintiffs are making this request because the media coverage of this case has triggered a wave of threats and cyberbullying directed at the current first-listed plaintiff and his family and business, which would be alleviated if Braidwood were designated as the first-listed plaintiff going forward.”

Attorneys representing the Biden administration didn’t object.

On Thursday, Judge Reed O’Connor ruled the case name would be changed, to Braidwood Management, Inc. v. Xavier Becerra et al

Braidwood Management, doing business in Katy, Texas is owned by Steven F. Hotze.

Mitchell, the former solicitor general of Texas and one of the principal architects of S.B. 8, the law putting a bounty on anyone in Texas believed to have aided in an abortion after six weeks, filed the suit targeting contraception, PrEP and other preventative services in March, 2020.

Access to those services and others could be imperiled following the Supreme Court overturn of Roe v. Wade in June.

Mitchell’s collection of plaintiffs represent objections to a variety of mandates.

Kelley was described in the suit as a Christian who is unwilling to support certain forms of contraception or PrEP on religious grounds because they “encourage homosexual behavior and intravenous drug use.”

Starnes, who represents individuals who object to the mandate on principle, says on Facebook, “As an adopted son of God, a husband, a father, Texas Native, and patriot of the USA, I am fighting for our Natural Rights – Life, Liberty, and Property.”

Braidwood owner Hotze objects to mandatory coverage of STI screenings and counseling for those engaged in non-marital sexual behavior.

In the suit, Mitchell writes, “The government cannot possibly show that forcing private insurers to provide PrEP drugs, the HPV vaccine, and screenings and behavioral counseling for STDs and drug use free of charge is a policy of such overriding importance that it can trump religious-freedom objections.”

During a hearing in late July, Mitchell claimed on behalf of his clients that the mandates make them complicit in “conduct that is contrary to their sincere religious beliefs.”

 
 

Wedding rescued by stranger after baker refuses to make cake for lesbian couple

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/08/wedding-rescued-stranger-baker-refuses-make-cake-lesbian-couple/

I am getting really tired of the open bigotry and the willingness of some to go along with it.    I try to be understanding so that if it is a misunderstanding or an issue of wrong education, I can correct these things.    But the times have reverted to where bigots and haters are taking open pride in their cruelty and their ability to slam doors in other people’s face in the name of their god, their bible, or their political party.   It is not only hurting the people involved but the ones causing the harm are then taking a victory lap celebrating the pissing on another person’s happiness, while in some cases celebrating doing all they can to ruin joyous occasions for LGBTQ+ people.   What kind of person does that?   I am getting angrier and more bitter about it.   It used to be a fringe thing, until our government got taken over by a fascist religious movement and now the highest court in the land is openly pushing religion and removing the rights of the LGBTQ+ people along with women.    50 years of progress wiped out by religious bigots.   This reminds me of the dark ages when Europe went from enlightenment to regressive religious control.   They call it the dark ages for a reason.   Please note this was the only baker int the area of what kind of cake they needed.    This answers the question of just go to a different company / place to get what you need.   There is often not another provider for what you need without a lot of trouble and travel.  

 Personal note.    I made a joke with my doctor today and mentioned my spouse.  He said she must be …   I replied “Yes Ron and I have been together …”   He immediately apologized for assuming it was a woman and using the pronoun her.   He clearly was not trying to be offensive, and the things he said showed me he was accepting of my relationship and gave it value.   I told him it was not a problem, and we continued to talk.   The reason I mention this is this doctor had the right now in Florida to end our medical relationship, to stop being my medical provider and all he would have to do is say his religious beliefs said so.  I like this doctor, I trust him, he has done a lot for me that other doctors missed, and I am following him to his new practice.   But by mentioning that my spouse was male he could have legally dropped me, refusing to provide me service in Florida.  He has the right now in the red bigoted kingdom of DeathSantis to leave me with no medical assistance in his field of practice.    That is the world we now live in as LGBTQ+, something that we once had secured wouldn’t be allowed.   How chilling it must be for younger or less secure people to be open about their relationships or being different when it can cost them their jobs, their housing, their medical providers, all the things in their lives that used to be secure.   This is what the republican maga cult Christian nationalist thugs want, to drive the LGBTQ+ back into the closet too scared to let it be known who they are.     That is what the republicans / maga cult have brought us. If you support the hate / bigotry, then this is the world you support for people like me.    Hugs

A New York baker stepped in when another cake-maker backed out at the last minute.
 
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Wedding rescued by stranger after baker refuses to make cake for lesbian couple
Photo: Shutterstock
 

“We don’t know how to begin to wrap our heads around this and voice our gratitude.”

So said engaged couple Desirie White and Jess Dowd after a New York baker stepped in to save their wedding day with a free vegan cake.

In June, the pair were planning their nuptials and contracted for a cake over the phone with local vegan bakery O Taste and See Delight in Effort, PA.

After the bakery owner received the signed contract back indicating the cake would be for a same-sex couple, she denied them service.

The owner wrote: “I want to thank you again for reaching out to me and asking me to create your wedding cake. However, I will not be able to do this for you. Please accept my deepest apologies.”

“I believe that the LGBT + community has the right to live as other civilians and be protected. Yet, my refusal to make your cake is based on my fidelity to the God of Scripture, and my religious beliefs are combined with my business practices. I have refunded you the full amount of $275.00. The contract is no longer binding.”

White posted the about-face on Facebook.

“I don’t know what to make of this. I am extremely upset. I’m extremely upset that she has waited a month to the date to wait and tell us no, when I reached out to her in June.”

“Jess and I agreed we wanted to invest in her small, black owned business. I reached out to her because she specializes in cakes that I need for a medical issue. It has taken us awhile to find that type of bakery so it felt like a blessing to have found a small business that bakes vegan goodies and is about 15 minutes away from our venue.”

“I believe in God, but I know that MY GOD would not condemn or deny me because of who I am and who I love. My conscience and my decisions are made from unconditional love, respect, and understanding which I know in my heart are God’s values, too. Not fear of punishment. I’m not going to lie, this hurts really deep.”

That’s when Rebecca Riley, the owner of Peace, Love, Cupcakes in Syracuse, NY reached out online to offer the couple her own wedding day dessert, free of charge.

White told Syracuse.com of the offer: “I immediately started crying, like something hit me in the gut. Some people in my family wouldn’t go this far for us.”

Riley posted she was “furious” with the baker’s denial of service, and since she’s “only two hours and 52 minutes away,” she would provide the couple’s vegan lemon cake for free.

White added in a follow-up post: “Rebecca extended her hand without a second thought to offer her services in making us a beautiful cake at no cost with the support of her followers.”

“One person turned their back on us and a whole community stepped up to stand beside us and the feeling I get from that is just so overwhelming… from the bottom of our gay hearts, thank you.”

While Riley got pushback on Facebook for ”patting ourselves on the back” and “shoving our liberal agendas down everyone’s throats,” she wanted her followers to know:

“Our hearts are just bursting. Thank you for all of the love and beautiful words but please know, this is about so much more than us. This is about the incredible community surrounding us and how they chose to step up just as quickly as I did, no questions asked. That’s the real feel-good story here.”

One follower commented: “You just keep kicking butt and frosting cupcakes. We know where your heart is. And we appreciate it.”

The name of the bakery that denied service is likely a reference to the Bible’s Psalm 34:8: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

 
 

Straight congressman’s impassioned speech for marriage equality nails what is at stake

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/08/straight-congressmans-impassioned-speech-marriage-equality-nails-stake/

 

Donald Norcross, a fourth-term Congressman, is a blue collar workhorse. That’s precisely why his impassioned stemwinder before a marriage equality vote in Congress stands out.
 
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Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ)
Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ)Photo: House of Representatives
 

There’s no shortage of media-hungry bigmouths in Congress rights now.  Sadly it’s a feature of American politics and not a bug at this point.

By contrast, Donald Norcross, a fourth-term Congressman, is a blue collar workhorse from Philly’s South Jersey ‘burbs. And that’s precisely why his impassioned stemwinder before a marriage equality vote in Congress stands out. With the Supreme Count poised to reverse their 2015 gay marriage decision, the Democratic-controlled Congress is keen to codify marriage equality into Federal law.

Congressman Norcross:

“I woke up this morning, got ready to come over to the Capitol, and as I often do, I glanced over to pictures of my family. And I glanced to a picture of my nine-month-old grandson. Couldn’t be happier about the newest addition to my family. I couldn’t be prouder of the two people who brought him into the world: my daughter Corey and her wife, Hedya. When my daughter told me she wanted to get married, I told her what every good parent should tell her: that if this is the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, I couldn’t be happier for you.”

His voice filled with emotion, he explained how his daughter-in-law’s cancer diagnosis brought a life-and-death urgency to their wedding plans.

“And as I stood at their wedding… I knew it was only made possible because of a recent Supreme Court decision. And today… that same court has opened the door to dismantling families like mine. Splitting this little guy’s family apart, potentially. We can’t let that happen…. I don’t speak about the religious beliefs of my colleagues, but I have to ask: What God would fault in this baby and his two mommies? There is nothing wrong with this. This is pure love. It’s what we all should aspire to. And with that, I encourage my colleagues to vote ‘yes’ so we are equal in all states.”

The legislation passed 267-157, a tally that includes most of the Democratic caucus plus 47 republicans. The bill’s prospects are unclear in the upper house where at least 10 GOP votes are needed to break a Senate filibuster and get the legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk.

And if supporters meet the 60 vote threshold in the Senate, it’ll be thanks to anecdotes like the one Donald Norcross shared on the House floor.

“I’m a rather private person when it comes to the family,” Congressman Norcross told LGBTQ Nation. “But the idea of having some of the statements from the other side of the aisle, what they were saying was just no middle ground. I think it’s incredibly important that people can be who they are.”

Norcross beamed when he mentioned his grandson. 

“And he came into this world because of an absolutely wonderful marriage between my daughter and her wife and I spoke from a very real perspective of who they are, and how their life has just grown and blossomed,” Mr. Norcross added. 

According to Brielle Winslow-Majette, Deputy Director, Garden State Equality, support for marriage equality is at an all time high because of personal anecdotes like this one. 

“Congressman Norcross’s story about his daughter, her wife, and their 9-month-old son is a story millions of Americans across the country share,” Ms. Winslow-Majette told LGBTQ Nation. “Simply put, it is a story about a loving family. Loving someone and building a family with them is all we’re talking about here. I was touched by the Congressman’s story and I hope the commonality of a story that is shared by so many will resonate in the halls of Congress.”

It’s a high bar in the Senator where supporters must flip ten (or more) Republicans to clear the next hurdle.

Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (AK), Susan Collins (ME), Rob Portman (OH), Thom Tillis (NC), and Ron Johnson (WI) have previously expressed support for marriage equality legislation. That takes the whip count to 55 if all Democrats vote yes as expected.

The list of on-the-fence GOP Senators includes Mitt Romney (UT), Pat Toomey (PA), Tommy Tuberville (AL), Dan Sullivan (AK), Ben Sasse (NB), and Indiana’s Mike Braun and Todd Young, among others.

Congressman Norcross noted that Utah’s entire Congressional delegation, all Republicans, voted for marriage equality, perhaps portending Senator Romney as a pivotal 56th YES vote in the Senate.

For his part, Congressman Norcross is already discreetly lobbying members of the Senate to vote YES on marriage equality.

“This is one of those times that I’m going to keep that a little bit quiet,” Mr. Norcross told LGBTQ Nation when queried about who he’s lobbying. “They, depending on what Senator we’re talking about, face different pressures from outside, in addition to their own personal views. And I don’t want to give anybody a reason to go and torque him up or her up, I think we’re going to try to do this just a little bit more quietly, and see where we can go with it and I think it stands a chance.”