Category: Anger

TX Judge: Insurance Coverage For HIV PrEP Pill Violates Religious Rights And “Enables Homosexual Behavior”

TX Judge: Insurance Coverage For HIV PrEP Pill Violates Religious Rights And “Enables Homosexual Behavior”

These religious nationalist won’t be happy until the LGBTQ+ are driven from society.   First we must be returned to a state of no rights or protection, then made illegal all over the land.   This kind of hate is weird.   People need to defend the rights of the LGBTQ+ or next it will be you they come for.    These people think the Handmaids Tale is a guidebook.    Hugs

The Advocate reports:

A federal judge in Texas has ruled partially in favor of plaintiffs that argued that requiring insurance companies to cover medications for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, violates their rights on religious grounds.

Jonathan Mitchell, who founded a one-person law firm in 2018 intending to challenge decades-old Supreme Court rulings, brought the case Braidwood Management Inc., vs. Xavier Becerra, in the Northern District of Texas.

There, United States district judge Reed O’Conner ruled in favor of plaintiffs who argued that paying for insurance that covers PrEP violates their religious beliefs because PrEP “enable[s and encourages] homosexual behavior.”

Read the full article.

The Dallas Morning News reported in July:

Right now, a half dozen cases on everything from insurance coverage for HIV prevention to employment discrimination and same-sex marriage are wending their way through state and federal courts here. Their outcomes could radically alter rights for LGBTQ people in Texas and across the country.

The lawsuits all have one thing in common: former Texas solicitor general Jonathan Mitchell. Best known as the man behind the state law that allows Texans to file civil lawsuits against people who help pregnant people get abortions, Mitchell opened up a law firm in Austin four years ago with the goal of systematically dismantling decades of court rulings he believes depart from the U.S. Constitution.

 

weshlovrcm • 26 minutes ago

Again, the faith and sincerely held religious beliefs of the people using these drugs is trampled and ignored. If we’re going to become a country where the only thing that matters is “religious beliefs,” then WHOSE religious beliefs will take precedence?

What, me worry? weshlovrcm • 25 minutes ago

Well here’s where we’re going. The checker at your local grocery or drug store can now refuse to sell you condoms because of their religious fantasies.

clay • 25 minutes ago

Over half the people living with HIV contracted the virus through non-homosexual activities.

Nemerah S. clay • 24 minutes ago

“Sorry sir, we can’t condone homosexual behavior.”
“But I’m straight.”
“Sorry, you’re gay by osmosis.”

Liberal Canadian • 33 minutes ago

I didn’t realize an insurance company could have religious beliefs.

Raising_Rlyeh Liberal Canadian • 2 minutes ago

In this case it’s not the insurance company. This fuckface found a bunch of backwards fucking hicks that didn’t want to pay for an insurance plan that covers PREP or birth control and found an insanely conservative judge. They’re are suing to deny people life saving medications

amy cuscuriae The_Wretched • 34 minutes ago

Legislating from the bench is all right if you are a MAGA Federalist Society judge.

Bob’s Your Uncle – BYU • 29 minutes ago

“enabling homosexual behavior”.

Why Straight People Need to Talk More About PrEP
https://www.healthline.com/…

The CDC also recommends taking PrEP if you’re heterosexual and you don’t regularly use condoms during sex with people whose HIV status is unknown. You can also talk to your doctor to find out if you should take PrEP.

Because The virus that supposedly carries god’s judgment can’t infect heterosexuals?

2patricius2 • 29 minutes ago

“United States district judge Reed O’Conner ruled in favor of plaintiffs who argued that paying for insurance that covers PrEP violates their religious beliefs because PrEP ‘enable[s and encourages] homosexual behavior.’”

I would say that this judge’s ruling violates my religious beliefs of treating others as we would want to be treated. His ruling violates my religious belief that one should not use the excuse of religious belief to impose their beliefs on everyone else.

Victor • 37 minutes ago

Jonathan doesn’t seem to realize that HIV drugs are not only used by those people he hates.

What, me worry? • 29 minutes ago

For one thing, homosexual behavior is no longer illegal.

clay What, me worry? • 23 minutes ago

Those two are working on changing that, as well.

Tim H Patter • 35 minutes ago

Yes, our khristian nationalists would prefer that anyone with HIV just die, because they don’t want the 1 cent of their annual insurance coverage to give you medications.

clay Tim H Patter • 29 minutes ago

Oh, it goes beyond anyone with HIV. They include anyone who might be on the receiving end of body fluids from someone with detectable HIV to die, as well. For instance, they want prison medical staff to just die (or quit).

Elected officials, police chiefs on leaked Oath Keepers list

https://apnews.com/article/oath-keepers-leaked-membership-rolls-2ca4195ed3a10e45dd189bf98f3e5a26

Do not think the police will be standing up to protect your civil rights, your rights as a woman, your rights if you are black or a person of color, or your rights as an LGBTQ+ person.   Most police are on the right, and many law enforcement at all levels are trump maga cult members.   Large numbers of the police are part of the gang of thugs used as enforcers by the white Christian nationalists.   I posted before how many white supremacist gangs tried to join and run police forces across the country.    Hugs

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN today
 
 
FILE - Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, center, speaks during a rally outside the White House in Washington, June 25, 2017. A new report says that the names of hundreds of U.S. law enforcement officers, elected officials and military members appear on the leaked membership rolls of a far-right extremist group that's accused of playing a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism pored over more than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists to find more than 370 people it believes are currently working in law enforcement agencies.(AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
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FILE – Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, center, speaks during a rally outside the White House in Washington, June 25, 2017. A new report says that the names of hundreds of U.S. law enforcement officers, elected officials and military members appear on the leaked membership rolls of a far-right extremist group that’s accused of playing a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism pored over more than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists to find more than 370 people it believes are currently working in law enforcement agencies. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
 
FILE - A man wearing an Oath Keepers shirt stands outside the Kenosha County Courthouse, Nov. 19, 2021 in Kenosha, Wis. A new report says that the names of hundreds of U.S. law enforcement officers, elected officials and military members appear on the leaked membership rolls of a far-right extremist group that's accused of playing a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism pored over more than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists to find more than 370 people it believes are currently working in law enforcement agencies. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
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FILE – A man wearing an Oath Keepers shirt stands outside the Kenosha County Courthouse, Nov. 19, 2021 in Kenosha, Wis. A new report says that the names of hundreds of U.S. law enforcement officers, elected officials and military members appear on the leaked membership rolls of a far-right extremist group that’s accused of playing a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism pored over more than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists to find more than 370 people it believes are currently working in law enforcement agencies. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

The names of hundreds of U.S. law enforcement officers, elected officials and military members appear on the leaked membership rolls of a far-right extremist group that’s accused of playing a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to a report released Wednesday.

The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism pored over more than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists and identified more than 370 people it believes currently work in law enforcement agencies — including as police chiefs and sheriffs — and more than 100 people who are currently members of the military.

It also identified more than 80 people who were running for or served in public office as of early August. The membership information was compiled into a database published by the transparency collective Distributed Denial of Secrets.

The data raises fresh concerns about the presence of extremists in law enforcement and the military who are tasked with enforcing laws and protecting the U.S. It’s especially problematic for public servants to be associated with extremists at a time when lies about the 2020 election are fueling threats of violence against lawmakers and institutions.

“Even for those who claimed to have left the organization when it began to employ more aggressive tactics in 2014, it is important to remember that the Oath Keepers have espoused extremism since their founding, and this fact was not enough to deter these individuals from signing up,” the report says.

Appearing in the Oath Keepers’ database doesn’t prove that a person was ever an active member of the group or shares its ideology. Some people on the list contacted by The Associated Press said they were briefly members years ago and are no longer affiliated with the group. Some said they were never dues-paying members.

“Their views are far too extreme for me,” said Shawn Mobley, sheriff of Otero County, Colorado. Mobley told the AP in an email that he distanced himself from the Oath Keepers years ago over concerns about its involvement in the standoff against the federal government at Bundy Ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada, among other things.

The Oath Keepers, founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes, is a loosely organized conspiracy theory-fueled group that recruits current and former military, police and first responders. It asks its members to vow to defend the Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” promotes the belief that the federal government is out to strip citizens of their civil liberties and paints its followers as defenders against tyranny.

More than two dozen people associated with the Oath Keepers — including Rhodes — have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. Rhodes and four other Oath Keeper members or associates are heading to trial this month on seditious conspiracy charges for what prosecutors have described as a weekslong plot to keep then-President Donald Trump in power. Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers say that they are innocent and that there was no plan to attack the Capitol.

The Oath Keepers has grown quickly along with the wider anti-government movement and used the tools of the internet to spread their message during Barack Obama’s presidency, said Rachel Carroll Rivas, interim deputy director of research with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project. But since Jan. 6 and Rhodes’ arrest, the group has struggled to keep members, she said.

That’s partly because Oath Keepers had been associated so strongly with Rhodes that the removal of the central figure had an outsized impact, and partly because many associated with the group were often those who wanted to be considered respectable in their communities, she said.

“The image of being associated with Jan. 6 was too much for many of those folks,” she said.

Among the elected officials whose name appears on the membership lists is South Dakota state Rep. Phil Jensen, who won a June Republican primary in his bid for reelection. Jensen told the AP he paid for a one-year membership in 2014 but never received any Oath Keepers’ literature, attended any meetings or renewed his membership.

Jensen said he felt compelled to join because he “believed in the oath that we took to support the US Constitution and to defend it against enemies foreign and domestic.” He wouldn’t say whether he now disavows the Oath Keepers, saying he doesn’t have enough information about the group today.

“Back in 2014, they appeared to be a pretty solid conservative group, I can’t speak to them now,” he said.

ADL said it found the names of at least 10 people who now work as police chiefs and 11 sheriffs. All of the police chiefs and sheriffs who responded to the AP said they no longer have any ties to the group.

“I don’t even know what they’re posting. I never get any updates,” said Mike Hollinshead, sheriff of Idaho’s Elmore County. “I’m not paying dues or membership fees or anything.”

Hollinshead, a Republican, said he was campaigning for sheriff several years ago when voters asked him if he was familiar with the Oath Keepers. Hollinshead said he wanted to learn about the group and recalls paying for access to content on the Oath Keepers’ website, but that was the extent of his involvement.

Benjamin Boeke, police chief in Oskaloosa, Iowa, recalled getting emails from the group years ago and said he believes a friend may have signed him up. But he said he never paid to become a member and doesn’t know anything about the group.

Eric Williams, police chief in Idalou, Texas, also said in an email that he hasn’t been a member or had any interaction with the Oath Keepers in over 10 years. He called the storming of the Capitol “terrible in every way.”

“I pray this country finds its way back to civility and peace in discourse with one another,” he said.

Two Florida Covid stories from Joe My God, see if you can spot the difference. Hugs

Florida #1 In COVID Deaths For Third Straight Summer
DeSantis Trots Out Covidiots In New Campaign Ad

Real-life angels protect queer students from ‘armed’ anti-LGBTQ+ protesters

Real-life angels protect queer students from ‘armed’ anti-LGBTQ+ protesters

BYU students and others dressed as angels.

BYU students and others dressed as angels. (YouTube/Latter Gay Stories)

A group of “angel” defenders protected LGBTQ+ Brigham Young University students from protesters who targeted a Pride event.

Utah’s Brigham Young University (BYU) students were confronted by protesters on Saturday (3 September) during a scheduled “Back to School Pride Night” that included an all-ages drag show.

The hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ protesters reportedly screamed homophobic slurs and some had even brought handguns, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

 

But things took a turn after a group of counter-protesters appeared in white cloaks and wings made of sheets.

They formed a protective barrier around the group of rainbow-wearing students.

BYU student and “angel” Sabrina Wong told the Tribune: “I’m doing this because I want our LGBTQ community to feel like they can be themselves and know we have their backs.”

The religious university, which is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormon church, disallows LGBTQ+ students from meeting on campus in organised groups.

 

It forbids same-sex dating on campus (despite removing the official policy in 2020), potentially violating several civil rights clauses according to Associated Press.

The group of protesters included former and current BYU students ,who described gender dysphoria as a “social contagion“. Others screamed various slurs at the group, including saying they were “going against God”.

“This shouldn’t be at a public park,” co-founder of the informal BYU conservative group Thomas Stevenson said.

The “Back to School Pride Night” was organised by the RaYnbow Collective, a local group focused on creating safe spaces for LGBTQ+ BYU students and staff.

It was a spin-off of the usual annual Pride event for new students of BYU, this time also featuring a family-friendly drag show that included BYU students as performers.

 

RaYnbow Collective’s founder Maddison Tenney was told by police to expect large anti-LGBTQ+ crowds ahead of the event.

“Religion has been weaponised against the queer community for a long time,” she said. “But that needs to end. I believe there’s nothing more divine than who I am as a queer child of God.”

Tenney initially thought of the angel costumes after seeing them being used by friends of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in 1999.

Shepard died six days after being beaten, tortured, and left hanging from a fence by two homophobic men, who were eventually sentenced to two consecutive life terms without parole.

The tactic was used to block signs by members of the Westboro Baptist Church that read “God hates f*gs” from public view using the wings as a cover. It has become a common tactic by pro-LGBTQ+ religious groups, including at the funerals for the victims of the Orlando LGBTQ+ nightclub shooting in 2016.

Gay paramedic files lawsuit over harassment and “culture of discrimination” at Denver Health

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/09/gay-paramedic-files-lawsuit-harassment-culture-discrimination-denver-health/

Notice the main antagonist against the gay man was a white supremacist.   The same people who support the republicans and the many of the elected republicans also are.   Hugs

One superior mocked him asking, “Do they make those pants in a man’s size?”
 
By      
Ambulance
Photo: Shutterstock
 

According to a gay, former paramedic for Denver Health, the city’s largest health services provider has been corrupted by a “culture of discrimination, retaliation, sexism, [and] racism, and it “needs to stop.”

The paramedic, Jordan Christensen, filed a lawsuit alleging he faced serial harassment and discrimination from his superiors in Denver Health’s Paramedic Division due to his sexual orientation.

The suit follows a string of others filed by employees since 2017, including a whistleblower complaint and one alleging retaliation for calling out racial discrimination.

Christensen, who worked at Denver Health since 2012, was fired in January. His complaint details a litany of abuse.

Christensen was the object of harassment by one superior in particular. Lt. Christopher Pattinson, since fired for stealing fentanyl, would disparage the paramedic’s appearance with comments like, “Do they make those pants in a man’s size?”

Another mocked Christensen by saying, “Oh that’s right, you wouldn’t have kids.” According to Christensen, the same superior flashed a white power sign in a photo taken during an awards ceremony for a Black paramedic.

Christensen said the abuse started in earnest after he came out on social media.

“I always felt nervous for my job, and I always felt like I was doing something wrong,” he told Denver7 News. “I felt humiliated in front of my coworkers many times. It was embarrassing to be singled out.”

According to the suit, Denver Health brought in outside investigators to address growing complaints among staff in 2019. One investigator “encouraged Mr. Christensen to complain to the Defendant’s HR department and retain counsel due to the ongoing harassment.” Christensen claims his reports were ignored and the harassment only got worse. He also alleges he was singled out for disciplinary action while co-workers escaped scrutiny for the same actions.

Spencer Kontnik, Christensen’s attorney, said the hospital turned a “blind eye” to the paramedic’s complaints in violation of its own anti-discrimination policies.

“It was so egregious to the extent that Mr. Christensen started waiting in his car and hiding in his car before he went into work so he didn’t have to deal with that type of harassment,” the attorney said.

According to the suit, the abuse only ended with Christensen’s termination, when the paramedic was accused of mistreating a patient.

“I was treating a patient with superiors, including Lt. Chris Pattinson,” Christensen recounted. “I was brought up to discuss that call by myself without them, and I was terminated. We were all three actively treating the exact same patient who ultimately walked out of the hospital, gave us a hug and actually thanked us for the treatment that we provided her.”

“We want Denver Health to be held accountable for what it did,” said Christensen’s attorney. “He lost his career. He lost his profession.”

Violence erupts between anti-LGBTQ extremists and anti-fascist counter protestors at Pride event

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/09/violence-erupts-anti-lgbtq-extremists-anti-fascist-counter-protestors-pride-event/

And the republican’s in office and the republican candidates for office keep stoking the anger of their rabid gang enforcer brownshirt thugs, knowing those thugs will attack the legal events of the LGBTQ+.  This result is the point, this violence against the LGBTQ+ is what they want.   When they did not want women to use their legal rights to abortion they tried to use violence and threats made in anger stoked by the republicans in office.   Now they got their way in the Supreme Court on taking away that civil right, so they are coming after the LGBTQ+ to take away their civil rights.   Notice the police released the thugs who attacked the event with the goal of shutting it down.   I posted a few weeks ago where the police attacked the counter protestors who were LGBTQ+ at a white pride event when the Proud Boys started to attack the LGBTQ+ counter protestors.    The police have members that are part of these militia gang thug groups.    It is likely they wont protect the LGBTQ+ community no matter what.     Hugs

Anti-LGBTQ protesters clashed with anti-fascist counter protesters at the first Pride event in Riverside, CA, since 2009.
 
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Violence erupts between anti-LGBTQ extremists and anti-fascist counter protestors at Pride event
Chris Reyes Photo: Screenshot/News to Share
 

Protests outside an LGBTQ Pride event in Riverside, California erupted into violence on Sunday, leading to the arrest of at least one local far-right extremist.

The Inland Empire Pride Festival, held inside the Riverside Municipal Auditorium, was organized by local group Riverside LGBTQ+ Pride and was reportedly the first local Pride event since 2009. Inside the venue, the event featured live music, entertainment, dancing, panel discussions, information on the history of the LGBTQ community, and a youth program, according to The Press-Enterprise.

Outside, however, anti-LGBTQ protesters, led by local extremist Chris Reyes, clashed with local anti-fascist counter protesters. Video posted on YouTube by News2Share shows protesters, including Reyes, brawling on the street in front of the auditorium. The anti-LGBTQ protesters can be seen holding signs and banners with messages like, “No disgusting pedos/groomers” and “Pedophilia is not a sexual orientation.”

One particularly bellicose protester even seems to identify himself as gay while hurling profanity and slurs at festival attendees.

Reyes, who was reportedly an organizer of July’s far-right “Freedom Fest” in Phoenix, Arizona, and attended the “Stop the Steal” rally leading to the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, was arrested following the fight. According to News2Share’s Ford Fischer, Reyes was later released.

Opposition on social media prior to Riverside’s Inland Empire Pride Festival led local police to increase security around the event.

The Riverside festival was just the latest Pride event to attract far-right protesters in recent months. Family friendly events like drag story hours at local libraries have been a particular target for groups like the Proud Boys.

In June, dozens of members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front were arrested on their way to disrupt an Idaho Pride event. According to a study by The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), incidents of political violence targeting the LGBTQ community this year have already exceeded the total number of attacks reported in 2021.

 

Iran to execute two prominent LGBTQ activists for “promoting homosexuality”

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/09/iran-execute-two-prominent-lgbtq-activists-promoting-homosexuality/

This is what the theocratic right wing religious republicans want for the US.   They have already passed laws that say this for schools, but instead of death is loss of job and large sums of money.   However I have posted enough hate preachers that want gay people stoned to death and the laws of the country to match the moral precepts of their holy book written with the understandings of humans 2,500 years ago.    Hugs

Zahra Sediqi Hamedani and Elham Chubdar received the death penalty for “spreading corruption”
 
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Iran to execute two prominent LGBTQ activists for “promoting homosexuality”
Zahra Sediqi HamedaniPhoto: Screenshot
 

Iran’s Revolutionary Court of Urmia has sentenced two prominent LGBTQ activists to death.

According to the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, which reports on human rights violations in the Kurdistan region, 31-year-old Zahra Sediqi Hamedani and 24-year-old Elham Chubdar, were accused by the Urmia Public Prosecutor’s Office in January of “Corruption on Earth” through “promoting homosexuality,” “promoting Christianity,” and “communicating with the media opposing the Islamic Republic.”

Hamdani, who goes by “Sareh” and is a member of the LGBTQ community, was arrested in October 2021 by intelligence forces from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp while attempting to flee to Turkey. “I am journeying toward freedom now,” she said in a video recorded before she tried to leave Iran. “If I don’t make it, I will have given my life for this cause.”

Hamdani was held in solitary confinement for two months at the intelligence detention center of the IRGC in Urmia before being transferred to the women’s ward of the Urmia Central Prison.

Both women have been informed of their sentences. According to Gay Times, Iran’s judiciary claims Hamdani and Chubdar were charged with “human trafficking offenses.”

Following Hamdani’s arrest and imprisonment, Amnesty Iran tweeted that “The criminalization of LGBTI people perpetuates violence & discrimination against them.”

The organization also renewed its call on Iran to decriminalize same-sex sexual conduct, release all those detained on the basis of their identity or for defending LGBTQ rights, and adopt legislation to respect and protect the human rights of LGBTQ people.

 

Marjorie Taylor Greene spreads false story of students using litter boxes during anti-trans crusade

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/09/marjorie-taylor-greene-spreads-false-story-students-using-litter-boxes-anti-trans-crusade/

This is a flat out lie that has been repeatedly debunked.   In fact back in the beginning of this year a republican candidate for office used that as a campaign point and had to admit after the campaign event that it was all a lie.    It was started by an anti-trans activist, surprise surprise.  Marge Greene knows that it is a lie, but she wants to stoke anti-trans anger and is making a point about how dangerous the left is for kids.   She knows what she is doing, that what she is doing could get a rabid right wing maga thug to go hurt / assault a trans person.  Not to mention she also is stoking hate for a government civil servant, Dr. Fauci whom the right doesn’t like because he speaks the truth.   Hugs 

“We have to reject them,” said Greene of children pretending to be cats. “It’s not about people’s feelings. It’s about the truth.”
 
By      
Marjorie Taylor Greene spreads false story of students using litter boxes during anti-trans crusade

Marjorie Taylor Greene scratched up a litter box of lies on Saturday in cameo appearances at Donald Trump’s latest “Save America” rally in Pennsylvania.

The MAGA meet-up, which took place in Wilkes-Barre in the northeast part of the state near Scranton, filled the 10,000 seat arena with superfans of the former president and his picks for senate and governor in the Keystone State, Mehmet Oz and Doug Mastriano.

In a pre-show interview outside the Mohegan Sun Arena, Greene perpetuated at least two long-debunked myths.

In an interview with the Right Side Broadcasting Network, Greene ran with the correspondent’s story of a school in Texas, where officials purportedly added a litter box option in a restroom to accommodate children identifying as furries. While the interviewer laughed and said “I thought it was from the Onion,” he nevertheless described the thinly-veiled attempt at anti-trans rhetoric as “Absolutely true.” Greene was all-in.

“If some student wants to pretend like a cat and use a litter box after school, that’s their prerogative, but the school and school resources and the other students and teachers should not have to be put through that because it’s a lie.”

“We have to reject them,” said Greene of the children pretending to be cats. “It’s not about people’s feelings. It’s about the truth and rejecting the lies and we have to stand up.”

The litter box story was introduced in January in Michigan, not Texas, by GOP co-chair Meshawn Maddock, who was in the news at the time for her role in the fake electors scandal in the state. A school superintendent swatted down the false rumor, but by that time right-wing “Libs of TikTok” scowl Chaya Raichik had launched the lie into infamy.

Outside, Greene whipped up the crowd with more anti-trans rhetoric directed at the Biden administration’s assistant secretary for health and the nation’s highest ranking trans official.

“How do you guys feel about Dr. Rachel Levine?” Greene shouted to rally-goers.

“That’s a man, not a woman,” one attendee said. “We know the difference,” another added.

Greene continued: “He supports children having sex change surgeries. This is what Fetterman supports,” Greene said of the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania governor. “I don’t think that’s mainstream, do you? It’s child abuse.”

Levine does not support gender-affirming surgeries for minors.

Inside, Greene also perpetuated the lie that Biden stole the 2020 election.

“President Trump won the 2020 election,” she shouted to gleeful screams of approval. “That’s right. We know President Trump won.”

Greene added variously: Wind turbines “will plunge us into darkness,” “Biden has “ripped open the border,” and, “You better bet we are going to fire Nancy Pelosi. I’ve never liked her anyways.”

Still obsessed with fading pandemic lockdowns and mandates, Greene also had a warning for Dr. Anthony Fauci, should Republicans retake the House: “He thinks he’s gonna retire. Let me tell you something. I think that man belongs in jail.”

The crowd roared in approval.

Country star raises over $100,000 for trans youth after denouncing influencer’s transphobia

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/09/country-star-raises-100000-trans-youth-denouncing-influencers-transphobia/

Country musician Maren Morris is totally our hero of the day.
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marren-morris-country-music-lunatic-country-music-person-t-shirt-aldean-transphobia-transgender
Marren MorrisPhoto: YouTube screenshot

Country music star Maren Morris has raised over $100,000 for transgender support organizations after white supremacist Tucker Carlson mocked her on his Fox News show last Thursday.

Carlson called Morris a “lunatic,” and a “fake country music singer” after mentioning Morris’ public statements against transphobic comments made by Brittany Kerr Aldean. Aldean is a beauty lifestyle influencer married to Grammy-nominated country music artist Jason Aldean.

Morris immediately mocked Carlson’s insult by publishing a fake image of herself with a chyron from Carlson’s show declaring her as a “lunatic country music person.”

 
 
 

Morris then published a tweet announcing the sale of a t-shirt with the words, “Marren Morris: Lunatic Country Music Person” on it. The shirt also had the phone number of the Trans Lifeline, a peer support phone service run by trans people for trans and questioning peers.

“All proceeds will be split between @TransLifeline & the @GLAAD Transgender Media Program,” Morris wrote in the tweet.

By Labor Day, Morris announced on Twitter, “Over $100K raised. Have a great Labor Day weekend, lunatics.”

During his rant against Morris, Carlson said that in 2022, “You’re required to believe that minors should be castrated by their parents.”

Brittany Kerr Aldean told Carlson, “For some reason, people are thinking that we can let a child choose their gender so young. It’s very baffling to me. Especially when that process is irreparable. I mean, you wind up castrating children removing their sex organs, making them sterile for life. I mean, these are huge consequences.”

In reality, genital surgeries for trans minors are rare, but cisgender parents regularly conduct such surgeries on intersex children without the child’s informed consent. Other forms of gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth — such as puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy — are reversible and do not cause permanent sterility.

Carlson has repeatedly used his show, Fox News’ most popular program, to push an anti-Semitic and white supremacist “replacement theory,” the idea that immigrants and people of color seek to replace white Americans to fundamentally change the nation’s racial makeup and political culture. The theory has been cited by white supremacists as a justification for political and physical violence against Jews and non-white people.

The feud between Morris and Brittany Kerr Aldean began on August 24 when Aldean wrote on an Instagram video caption, “I’d really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase. I love this girly life.” Her comment ignorantly parroted several right-wing claims about trans youth and highlighted her and her husband’s recent outspoken conservative activism.

On Twitter, Morris responded to the video by writing, “You know, I’m glad she didn’t become a boy either because we really don’t need another as***le dude in the world. Sucks when Karens try to hide their homophobia/transphobia behind their ‘protectiveness of the children.’”

Morris also published tweets referring to Aldean as “a scumbag human” and “Insurrection Barbie.”

Aldean has since marketed clothing with the phrase “Don’t Tread On Our Kids.” Profits from the clothing will go to Operation Light Shine, a Nashville-based organization that combats human trafficking and child exploitation.

Aldean’s donation furthers the right-wing claim that LGBTQ activists and allies of trans-youth want to “groom” children for sexual exploitation.

 
 

Liz Truss’ likely cabinet: The good, the bad and the terrifying for LGBTQ+ rights

https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2022/09/05/liz-truss-cabinet-lgbtq-rights/

Collage of Kemi, Nadine, Liz, Steve and Suella

Liz Truss’ likely cabinet. (Getty)

After Liz Truss’ victory in the Tory leadership race, we look at her likely new cabinet and their stances on LGBTQ+ rights.

Truss was confirmed as Britain’s next prime minister on Monday (5 September), and will take office after visiting the Queen in Balmoral on Tuesday (6 September).

Immediately, she will set about installing a team of allies around her, who collectively will shape Britain’s path on everything from education and finances to equality and human rights.

 

It’s been widely predicted that Liz Truss’ cabinet will include current business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor and former leadership rival Suella Braverman as home secretary.

The current ministers in those roles – Nadhim Zahawi and Priti Patel, could offered lesser offices – whether they would accept demotions remains unclear.

There won’t be a job for Rishi Sunak, it’s thought. However Kemi Badenoch, who also vied for the leadership and was an equalities minister under Truss, is tipped for a big promotion, with work and pensions secretary Thérèse Coffey also being eyed for a key role.

Ahead of the official announcement, we take a look at the likely candidates for Liz Truss’ cabinet and scrutinise their LGBTQ+ records.

Suella Braverman

 
Suella Braverman wants schools to be able to misgender trans kids
Suella Braverman wants schools to be able to misgender trans kids. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Attorney general Suella Braverman made a short-lived bid for the Tory leadership, with a campaign rooted firmly in “war on woke” rhetoric.

She announced her bid with an anti-trans dogwhistle, claiming: “We need to get rid of all of this woke rubbish and get back to a country where describing a man and a woman in terms of biology does not mean that you’re going to lose your job.”

While anti-trans talking points became a defining part of the Tory leadership race, Braverman didn’t simply pick up this rhetoric to win votes. Even before Johnson’s downfall, she was making headlines for suggesting Westminster could block Scotland’s vital and long-promised reform of the Gender Recognition Act, which would make it easier for trans people to get a Gender Recognition Certificate. 

Since she was knocked out of the race, her profile heightened, she has continued this line of politics. In a speech in August, she attacked LGBTQ-inclusive education, saying schools should not be teaching kids “keywords” about the LGBTQ+ community or affirming trans identities. 

 

She also told The Times that teachers have no legal requirement to support trans and non-binary pupils by letting them use the toilets or wear school uniform that aligns with their gender. 

Kemi Badenoch

Equalities minster Kemi Badenoch
Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch. (Facebook/ Kemi Badenoch MP)

Truss confirmed in August that Kemi Badenoch was in line for a top cabinet role.

Badenoch served as junior equalities minister from 2020 until 6 July when she joined the mass exodus of officials from Johnson’s government. She was condemned for “utterly failing” LGBTQ+ people while in the role.

Kemi Badenoch faced repeated calls for her resignation over the Equalities Office’s delay on vital legislation banning conversion therapy.

In the background, she secretly met with anti-trans lobby group LGB Alliance and allegedly was instrumental in setting up a meeting between government officials and an organisation that advocates for conversion therapy. 

Badenoch reportedly skipped a key meeting on Gender Recognition Act reforms, described trans women as “men using women’s bathrooms” in leaked audio and defended anti-trans professor Kathleen Stock.

During her leadership bid, Badenoch positioned herself as “anti-woke”, winning an endorsement from far-right group Britain First.

Nadine Dorries

Culture secretary Nadine Dorries leaves 10 Downing Street
Culture secretary Nadine Dorries has increasingly taken aim at trans rights. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

There is speculation that Nadine Dorries could remain in her role as secretary for digital, culture, media and sport, primarily so that she can continue her work around reforming the BBC license fee and privatising Channel 4.

This is bad news for the LGBTQ+ community – in particular, trans athletes.

Dorries has been vocal in her support of banning trans athletes from women’s sports, telling British sports bosses that trans women competing alongside cis players is “inherently unfair”. 

In June, Dorries told representatives from football, cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics and other sports: “I have made my position absolutely clear: I expect sporting bodies to follow the policy that competitive women’s sport must be reserved for people born of the female sex.”

In 2013, Dorries voted against same-sex marriage and even compared it to incest, asking parliament: “If the gay marriage bill takes sex out of marriage could a sister marry a sister to avoid inheritance tax?”

She labelled the bill “political suicide” and argued that same-sex marriage could never be valid because queer couples couldn’t consummate the union with “ordinary and complete sex”.

In 2021, Dorries called the vote her “biggest regret”. “I will regret it all of my life but truly hope that all same-sex marriages live happily ever after,” she said.

Thérèse Coffey

Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey
Work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey

Thérèse Coffey has become known for her staunch opposition to same-sex marriage.

She voted against marriage equality in England and Wales 2013 and against in Northern Ireland in 2019.

Explaining her views in 2020, she said: “I took the view at the time, and I still hold to that, I have a strong faith background about what is a legal partnership and what is marriage.”

Kwasi Kwarteng

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng
Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng arrives at CCHQ ahead of the prime minister announcement. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Kwasi Kwarteng, who is expected to take the role of chancellor in the newly formed cabinet, twice voted against same-sex marriage in 2013, and has been absent from all other votes on the subject since.

In 2022 he was criticised for rejecting the idea of inherent sexism in Westminister, a day after Tory MP Neil Parish resigned for watching porn in the Commons.

Kwarteng told Sky News: “I don’t think there’s a culture of misogyny”. He later conceded that while there were some “bad apples”, “that doesn’t mean that the entire culture is extremely misogynistic or full of male entitlement”.

James Cleverly

James Cleverly smiling
James Cleverly, education secretary, arrives for a Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

James Cleverly, currently education secretary, could become the new foreign secretary after he backed Truss’ campaign.

Cleverly has never voted on LGBTQ+ rights in parliament but has made statements supporting same-sex marriage, LGBTQ-inclusive education and LGBTQ+ servicepeople.

“There were ‘no’ gay soldiers when I joined the army, yet some of my closest military friends were gay,” he said in 2019.

“Since homosexuality was legalised in the forces we discover that military discipline didn’t collapse and (surprise, surprise) we are still a world class fighting force.”

In a 2005 blog titled “I like marriage”, which he reposed in 2013, he described his views on equality.

“Gay ‘marriage’ takes nothing away from heterosexual marriage and while there will be some civil partnerships which are done for the wrong reasons the same can be said of straight marriage. Best of luck I say,” he wrote.