I like How Hemant Mehta put it. This was always about people using Christianity as an excuse to prevent others from receiving health care. It’s religious cruelty. Hugs
The anti-abortion church spent years interfering with the health and safety of Planned Parenthood’s clients
The Planned Parenthood in Spokane, Washington (screenshot via YouTube)
Reading Time: 3MINUTES
Ajudge in Spokane County, Washington ruled on Friday that “The Church at Planned Parenthood” (TCAPP) violated the law when it blocked patient care outside a clinic, and the Christian group will now have to pay $110,000 in damages to the abortion providers.
So that plan backfired on the right-wing extremists.
For years now, members of Covenant Church in Spokane protested outside Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho. While protests are legal, this one was intended to block people from using the clinic’s services through intimidation. They used speakers to loudly denounce abortion even though state law prohibits excessive noise and intrusion at health care facilities. They got right up outside the doors of the clinic.
This wasn’t a constitutionally protected form of debating ideological differences; this was harassment, plain and simple.
In September of 2020, Spokane Superior Court Judge Raymond Clary put a temporary stop to it. His preliminary injunction required TCAPP to stand at least 35 feet from the building and begin their “gatherings” at least an hour after 6:00 p.m. when the clinic stopped accepting new patients for the day. Clary added that TCAPP couldn’t block the entrance, trespass on the clinic’s property, or “unreasonably [disturb] the peace” with their noise.
One problem with that injunction? It only applied to the people named in the lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood: the leaders of TCAPP. That meant members of the “church” were allowed to continue their harassment as before, since cops “were hesitant to enforce the injunction against anybody not named in the lawsuit.”
A year later, thankfully, that preliminary injunction was made permanent—and broadened. Superior Court Judge Timothy B. Fennessy permanently banned TCAPP from harassing patients and included TCAPP members as well as its leaders. Fennessy plugged up those loopholes.
Not surprisingly, not being allowed to invade a health care facility infuriated TCAPP leaders like founder and director Ken Peters, who described the ruling—and the judge—as “leftist”, “typical” of the state, and “unconstitutional.” (He didn’t bother explaining what in the ruling was illegal). In fact, Peters responded to the ban by resorting to threats:
“That’s going to stir up Christians, patriots, constitutionalists, Trump supporters. We’re already getting super-backed into a corner and ticked off,” Peters said. “It’s only going to stir us up more, and it’s only going to make us more aggressive and make us grow our movement.”
Nothing screams “We’re true patriots” like hearing people who violate the Constitution insisting that it won’t stop them from getting even worse…
At the time, Peters said he’d “get some more legal advice” and “pray about it” before pursuing a course of action. He also said he didn’t plan on defying the order. But the question remained: How much would the Christian extremists have to pay for violating the law all those times they protested outside the facility?
Now we have an answer: The Church at Planned Parenthood will have to pay $110,000 in damages for interfering with patient care.
The judge said TCAPP’s actions created an increased risk of hypertension, increased pain, and a variety of psychiatric symptoms for Planned Parenthood patients.
TCAPP repeatedly violated Washington state law by “willfully or recklessly disrupt[ing] the normal functioning of a health care facility” by, among other things, “making noise that unreasonably disturbs the peace within the facility.”
Ken Peters admitted the loss but acted like his group hadn’t done anything wrong:
They didn’t obey the law. This wasn’t peaceful assembly. And he clearly has no remorse because he says he’d “do it again.” All I’m taking away from his reaction is that the penalty wasn’t substantial enough.
You can bet the group will just resort to the typical “persecution” playbook. But this was never about their faith. This was always about people using Christianity as an excuse to prevent others from receiving health care. It’s religious cruelty. The group deserves every bit of that fine and then some.
well I can understand his frustration, had a democrat done this they would have been called a groomer. But the truth is any group that really needs to know about butt plugs and where to get them is young republicans. If they were not so repressed and just enjoy their *** bedroom solo activities*** then they wouldn’t be so angry or so insistant on demanding no one else enjoy that also. Hugs
MeidasTouch Contributor Texas Paul reacts to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s unprovoked comments about adult toys in front of the NY Young Republicans over the weekend, and the lack of media coverage surrounding the bizarre event.
The right needs to keep the rage going against the people they have made the enemy and to do that they now need to make up even more wild accusations. They have to feed the rage machine to keep them in power and attention. So they made up a lie, doctored a video to back it up, and students got targeted by a right wing hater thug who feels entitled to force his views on others by violence. Hugs
Libs of TikTok posted a video to make it seem like drag queens were getting naked in front of kids. But that’s not what happened at all.
An LGBTQ+ student group in South Dakota received a bomb threat after they hosted a drag show on campus.
“I didn’t find out from [the University Police Department],” Lindsay Tull told The Daily Beast. She’s a member of the Gender and Sexualities Alliance (GSA) at South Dakota State University (SDSU) that was threatened with a bomb. “I found out from the Discord that we have for our board members.”
“I was freaking out because I didn’t know how serious it was and if we were in danger. I was afraid for my friends and if something was going to happen to them.”
The show occurred on November 16 and was advertised as “kid-friendly,” drawing the ire of right-wing activists. The performers said that they made sure that the show was appropriate for all ages – they even bleeped out words from the pop songs they lip synced to – but that didn’t stop anti-LGBTQ+ activist Chaya Raichik from doctoring a video to make the event seem like performers were naked in front of children.
Raichik – who goes by “Libs of TikTok” online – posted video from last year’s event to Twitter on November 18. She used video of a drag queen last year dressed in a nude illusion – layers of clothing designed to look like a naked person – even though last year’s show wasn’t advertised as family-friendly. The drag queen she used in her video didn’t even perform at this year’s show.
“What they did was they spliced together some content from this year with last year’s drag show, which was not advertised in any way as family-friendly,” said another GSA member. “They tried to pass it off as it being part of the same show.”
Then she claimed that the video was from this year’s show to anger her anti-LGBTQ+ followers. Raichik is known for calling out targets on social media so that her followers can send death and bomb threats or call them slurs.
A week later, the school said on its website that it received an email that said, “An explosive device or devices were placed on the campus of South Dakota State University.”
“The email also threatened harm to potential survivors of the detonation,” the site said. “At the time of this warning, no devices have been located. The department will continue investigating the threat and pursing [sic] all leads.”
Faculty advisors for the GSA were told by university officials that their group was the target of the threat, but GSA members say that it took university police two weeks to say something to LGBTQ+ students about the threat.
The GSA had already been facing harassment since they announced the drag show in November. Several conservative Christian organizations – including the Concerned Women of America (CWA) and the Family Heritage Alliance (FHA) – drew attention to the drag event. The CWA called it an “outright assault on our children.”
“Children’s innocence is under attack like never before in our country,” the FHA’s website said. “They are constantly being bombarded with sexually explicit material and radical gender ideology, even through so-called ‘family-friendly’ events like an upcoming drag show in South Dakota.”
The controversy attracted the attention of conservative elected officials. State Rep. Scott Odenbach (R) called it “unbelievable and unacceptable.” State Rep. Chris Karr (R) wrote to SDSU asking them “not to allow children to attend this event.” State Rep. John Hansen (D) said, “Use of taxpayer funds or resources for this event is not appropriate.”
The drag show was not funded by the university.
This led to death threats against the performers in the show, and security was increased. One performer said that everyone just “wanted out” by the end of the show.
The GSA said that around 300 people attended the drag event, more than had ever attended in the past.
This isn’t the first time the right has used this tactic – manipulating images of drag shows to make them seem inappropriate for children. Earlier this year, another rightwing blogger posted a blurred picture of a drag queen’s groin to make it seem like she had exposed herself to children. The drag performer later sued.
Survivors of the Club Q nightclub shooting in Colorado Springs testified about LGBT violence before the House Oversight Committee. Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur discuss on The Young Turks.
“It’s been less than a month since an armed attacker shot up an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing five people and wounding 17.
Two of the survivors of that mass shooting, as well as a co-owner of Club Q, testified on Capitol Hill on Wednesday about that night and the rise of hate aimed at their community.
Sitting behind an imposing oak desk, facing members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, 25-year-old Michael Anderson recalled working behind the bar at Club Q when he heard the sound of gunfire.
“I can still hear the rapid firing of bullets today,” he said. “It’s a sound I may never forget. It’s a sound I hope no one here or anywhere else in this country has to hear.”
“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday asked his state’s Supreme Court to green-light an investigation of “any and all wrongdoing in Florida with respect to Covid-19 vaccines,” his latest move to cast doubt on the vaccines’ effectiveness and amplify fears about side effects.
In the petition filed with the Florida Supreme Court, the Republican governor requests the empaneling of a grand jury to investigate a broad group of entities associated with the development, distribution and promotion of the vaccines, including pharmaceutical manufacturers and their executive officers, as well as medical associations.
DeSantis also said Tuesday he was launching a public health integrity committee – a panel that would counter the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which DeSantis said “is not serving a useful function; it’s really serving to advance narratives rather than do evidence-based medicine.”
The panel would assess guidance and actions from federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, US Food and Drug Administration and the CDC.”*
The Biden White House and congressional Democrats are willing to heavily compromise on making the Child Tax Credit permanent, but Republicans are refusing to come to the table. Ana Kasparian discusses on The Young Turks.
“Democrats haven’t gotten any traction so far in their efforts to expand a cash subsidy for parents, a move that would dramatically reduce child poverty.
Adding child tax credit benefits to a year-end spending bill would require significant GOP support, and Republicans seem unenthusiastic.
“The country frankly doesn’t have the time or the money for the partisan, expensive provisions such as child tax credit,” said Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), the top Republican on the House committee that oversees taxes.”
This is the traditionalist, the maybe not really deeply religious but just seeped into it, trying hard to promote / give into the people pushing Christianity over reason. “Dang it has always been the way for the local church to have ways into the school, why do these others have to interfere with our god given right to preach / push / tell the children in the public schools all about the good lord their god so they will come to our church and tithe … oh save their souls”. Read that back in your idea of a southern Christian voice and I tell you I have heard it in Florida. Normally around Christmas when the signs saying put Christ back into Christmas, when I explain how all of the traditions came from other pagan beliefs and older established religions.
Plus as Nan told me the name Satan is triggering to Christians because in their misunderstood understanding of their holy book Satan was the bad guy. But if you read the book especially the book of Job, you see Satan asking God for permission to do everything that was done. In most of the bible Satan / lucifer worked for god as one of his top people. Of course if you are serious about the history of bible there is history shows the Christian god is one of many gods and the angels under his command (that he created told in the later parts of the bible) were other gods with powers. Maybe the fight in heaven was not between a god and his created but between one power among many that managed to prevail over the rest. Think US politics or think of it talking of how a warlord would demand a scribe in that distant past would demand that his preferred god / religion be described. But that doesn’t matter last I looked the US is not a theocracy and public schools are by definition not sacred but secular so all of the public feels comfortable and equal. I did not color this one because the format Mehta used has things I want noticed and when I changed the colors / format that was lost. Hugs
The Chesapeake School Board postponed approval of an After School Satan Club after Christians complained about it
Aproposed After School Satan Club at B M Williams Primary (part of Virginia’s Chesapeake Public Schools) has had its first meeting delayed through January after the school board cited safety concerns.
As I’ve written about before, ASS Clubs do not promote Satan, Satanic beliefs, Satanism, or anything else like it. The Satanic Temple, which sponsors these groups, doesn’t even believe in a literal Satan. After School Satanclubs aren’t about indoctrination. Rather, the Satanists “focus on free inquiry and rationalism, the scientific basis for which we know what we know about the world around us.” It’s like a science club with a devilish twist.
After an evangelical “Good News Club” launched at the same school earlier this year, The Satanic Temple, with the help of a parent whose child attended the school, began the paperwork to begin their own group. They received a green light from administrators since they did everything by the book; the district sent out a letter making it clear that they legally could not discriminate against the club. Once they opened their doors to religious clubs, they couldn’t say no to one just because they don’t like what’s being taught. They also issued a disclaimer: “ASSC is not a School District-approved club, and no District employee is acting as a club sponsor.”
All of that was true. There were bound to be complaints, but the District had the law on its side.
Last week, there was a slight snag after the parent who agreed to sponsor the club backed out, but June Everett, the Campaign Director for ASSC, told me they had another parent agree to do it, and they were resubmitting paperwork. It was merely a formality. Everett added that 13 kids had already signed up to attend the first meeting, scheduled for today (December 15).
Not all parents were happy with the decision to allow the club though. News outlets quoted a string of ignorant Christian parents who believe they’re above the law and a Satanic group has no right to meet the same way Christian groups can.
“I think there’s a lot of controversy with that, just because you don’t really want that kind of stuff pushed on your child,” said parent Tyler Hambleton. “I have a 3-month-old daughter and I can tell you now that when she grows up, she will not be in any Satan club.”
“I could not believe that our schools would allow something like this,” said Elaine Garrett, another Chesapeake resident. “Satan. I just don’t think that’s the word kids need to hear.”
I guess Elaine Garrett is going to stop attending church, then. And what “stuff” is Tyler Hambleton afraid of? Is it the “crafts” or the “compassion”? It’s amazing how many conservative Christians with no understanding of the situation have no problem sharing their misguided opinions with the media. Just baring their entire ass for the world to see.
On Monday, during a regularly scheduled board meeting, the existence of the club became a major topic of discussion. A lot of that came from more ignorant Christian parents—one resident said using Satan as a symbol was basically “hate speech”—but there were plenty of sensible people, too.
“My religion does not need your approval to exist. My beliefs are not subject to your approval,” said Rose Bastet, a Satanic Temple volunteer.
Bastet voiced the teachings she values in her religion.
“Empathy, reason, compassion for your fellow human beings. Satan is a rebel against tyranny and the ultimate questioner of authority,” she said.
At the end of the day, the school board didn’t reject the After School Satan Club (which could provoke a lawsuit), but said it would conduct a “safety assessment.”
Chesapeake Public Schools (CPS) Superintendent Dr. Jared Cotton indicated that further review and a safety assessment are needed before making a decision on whether to approve the ASSC’s resubmitted application.
What exactly are they worried about? The Satanists are coming in peace and they’re bringing art supplies. The Christians who claim this is evil, and may choose to take measures into their own hands, are far more of a threat to this community than the Satanists trying to teach compassion without Christ.
One answer to that question came up during the public comments at the school board meeting. Last month, in Chesapeake, a man working at a Walmart store shot and killed six people. In a note that was found on his phone, he said “I promise things just fell in place like I was led by the Satan.” While he referenced God multiple times, and his religious delusions may have played a role in his actions, some speakers at the board meeting suggested he was Satanic in the same way as the people behind the ASSC.
That’s obviously a lie. The shooter apparently believed in a literal Satan, as many Christians do. The Satanic Temple does not. There’s literally no connection between what the shooter referenced and what the ASSC plans to teach students.
But because Christian ignorance has run amok in this community, the board referenced the shooting before saying they wanted to evaluate safety concerns, both for the people running the group (since at least one openly feared retaliation) and Chesapeake community members (who wrongly think the After School Satan Club is promoting evil).
Lucien Greaves, The Satanic Temple’s spokesperson, told me the board’s response was self-inflicted, suggesting, “We’re not denying you equal access to a public forum. We are protecting you from what we’ll do to you if you if you use the public forum by preventing you from using it.”
If that’s an exaggeration, it’s not by much. The board hasn’t taken that step of preventing the Satanists from using the facilities, even telling the public the group appeared to meet all the legal criteria and that they had no right to reject the application. But it’s not hard to believe they could create an “out” for themselves by saying the Satanic group cannot meet because there are safety concerns, not because of the beliefs themselves. The board could also say the ASSC group needs to hire security officers at their own expense, possibly pricing them out of the rental.
If they take any of those drastic steps, though, it would be a victory for Christian extremists who treat neutrality as oppression.
As it stands, though, after a safety assessment is completed, the After School Satan Club should get the go-ahead in Chesapeake. If and when they do, the club’s first meeting would be scheduled for January 26.
Incidentally, at the 3:44:15 mark of the meeting, after some members of the school board suggested the Satanists were in the wrong, Everett questioned the so-called security concerns. Another ally said the threat wasn’t coming from Satanists; it was coming from “Christian Nationalists.” (She had a point.) But because they didn’t have the floor to speak, a board member asked for them to be removed from the building.
So the law accomplished what they wanted, the LGBTQI+ students are not protected, they are free to be targeted for being preyed on, and they will now be afraid to be out or themselves but instead will stay in the closet hidden from the rest of the kids. Is this the society of an entire state in 2022, the default position of 1950? How did we in Florida regress so far so fast. The entire LGBTQI+ population of Florida just lost legal standing in schools. The students with two same sex parents are the same as bastard child had out of wedlock in the 1950. They are not allowed to mention their families or do family events. How is this protecting the children? I am worried that this drive my sweep the country in the red states. DeathSantis is so driven to become president he will hurt anyone and everyone to get there. Ron and I disagree if DeathSantis is a true Christian Nationalist of just pandering to them, but either way the result is the same. Hugs
OT: Tomorrow I will write a post about what happened this week starting with Wednesday. But today my pain levels will barely let me sit at my desk. I have spent most of my day on the bed trying to get my spine to stop sending pain signals to my brain that something is tearring my body apart. Hugs
Ten county school districts were put on notice last month that some of their policies and procedures “may not comport with Florida law.”
On Wednesday, Florida’s State Board of Education got an update on progress among school district’s flagged for noncompliance with the state’s Don’t Say Gay law.
Ten county school districts were put on notice last month that some of their policies and procedures “may not comport with Florida law” and were directed to bring their districts into compliance.
The board learned several districts among the ten pulled LGBTQ+ support guides, two passed new regulations banning trans kids from using the restrooms and locker rooms of their gender, and one threw out half of its equity statement addressing racism.
With those rollbacks, board members — all appointed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis — were satisfied.
“Ultimately we found that these districts are in compliance with the law,” said board chair Tom Grady.
The Parental Rights in Education Act, passed in March, went into effect in September. The law prohibits instruction and discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade and restricts those discussions in higher grades.
It’s had a chilling effect on LGBTQ+ teachers, students, and speech of all kinds.
The school districts flagged for non-compliance were Alachua, Broward, Brevard, Duval, Hillsborough, Indian River, Leon, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach, plus the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.
In the hearing, Grady warned superintendents they could still be subject to lawsuits by parents as they instituted changes. Broward County reported it would take until March 31, 2023 to roll back policies to bring the district into compliance.
“I think it’s clear to me that not only Broward, but other districts have a pretty significant incentive to move as quickly as possible, certainly prior to March 31, in order to revise those procedures to avoid that type of a challenge,” Grady said.
Chairman Grady also took the opportunity at Wednesday’s meeting to congratulate the DeSantis-appointed board for an award by the right-leaning Center for Education Reform, which endorsed and lobbied for the Don’t Say Gay legislation at the center of their agenda.
“I think this is a good time to just very quickly note, Florida has ranked Number 1 in the nation for parents’ involvement in education,” Grady said, “and that’s really what this item is about.”
Last week, the author of the Don’t Say Gay law, Republican state Rep. Joseph Harding, was indicted on charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements, and resigned his seat in the Florida legislature.
An atheist group wants the Greenville Public Schools to stop giving pastors veto power over books (screenshot via YouTube)
Reading Time: 4MINUTES
The Board of Trustees for the Greenville County Schools in South Carolina wants clergy members to be able to review what books are appropriate for public school students, and they may face a legal challenge if they go through with it.
Recently, there’s been a push by conservative school boards to ban books deemed inappropriate for kids; their idea of what’s inappropriate boils down to books that mention LGBTQ people or sex unless fire and brimstone are included as a consequence.
Last May, for example, the Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees voted to ban a book called Melissa, about a trans girl, from all elementary schools in the district. Middle school students would need parental permission to check it out.
The people who make those kinds of suggestions to the board sit on a “Materials Review Committee.” The group judges the appropriateness of material across the curriculum, but the books are where all the action is at these days.
In August, the Board announced that it was accepting applications from anyone interested in joining that committee for a three-year term. But their announcement raised eyebrows because they specifically said clergy members would be included in the mix:
At the elementary school level, the committee will be comprised of three parents with children enrolled in Greenville county elementary schools, four district elementary school teachers from different grade levels, one district elementary school media specialist, one member of the clergy and two non-employees of the school district.
At the middle school level, the committee will be comprised of three parents with children enrolled in Greenville County middle schools, three district middle school teachers from different subject areas, one district middle school media specialist, one member of the clergy, and two non-employees of the school district.
At the high school level, the committee will be comprised of three parents with children enrolled in Greenville County high schools, three district high school teachers from different subject areas; one high school media specialist, one member of the clergy, and two non-employees of the school district.
What the hell would a clergy member add to the discussion? Who cares what pastors think about a particular book? Why is leading a church a prerequisite for a seat on this committee but not leading a non-profit that helps kids struggling with mental health?
“It’s a very clear violation of the establishment clause,” said Marcus Corder, parent of a student at Lake Forest Elementary. “It makes me wonder what type of clergy have had the power over the decision of taxpayers’ money over the years.”
Corder, who said he also attended Lake Forest as a child, wants clergy removed from the committees.
“It’s a further erosion of the separation of church and state,” Corder said.
According to the Greenville News, though, the inclusion of clergy members for these committees is mandated by the state:
Requirement of clergy on the advisory committees comes from the state’s Comprehensive Health Education Act of 1988, which was passed to assist in selecting curriculum components and materials, according to [executive director of academic innovation and technology Charlotte] McDavid. Every school district in South Carolina uses such a committee, McDavid said.
If that’s the case, then this isn’t a problem with the school board. It would be a problem with state law. But it turns out that’s not actually true.
In a letter the Freedom From Religion Foundation just sent to the Greenville County Schools, their decision to put clergy members on the Materials Review Committee is their choice, not a state law, because the law restricts the inclusion of clergy members to committees reviewing “reproductive health education, family life education, and pregnancy prevention education.”
So… not books. Certainly not books by or about LGBTQ people. To be clear, clergy members should not have a say in health education either. It’s an awful, potentially illegal, law as well. But it’s a separate issue that’s not currently up for debate.
The bottom line is that FFRF says this is the school board’s problem to fix if they want to avoid a lawsuit.
According to a local news source, the District claims the inclusion of clergy on the committees is required by South Carolina’s Comprehensive Health Education Act of 1988 (“CHEA”). However, the CHEA provides that material review committees “assist in the selection of components and curriculum materials” for “instructional materials addressing the subjects of reproductive health education, family life education, and pregnancy prevention education.” In contrast, the District’s committees are not assisting in the initial selection of curriculum materials nor are the committees focused on subjects related to reproductive health education, family life education, or pregnancy prevention education. Instead, the District’s Materials Review Committees address complaints, and these complaints may be about any and all District materials, not just materials regarding health education.
Since the law is specific regarding what materials they can cover, FFRF says the clergy members have to go in this particular case.
The District must eliminate the clergy member positions from each Materials Review Committee. It is inappropriate and unconstitutional for a public school district to create special positions for religious leaders.
The Greenville County Schools should take this seriously given that this isn’t their first run-in with the church/state separation crowd. In 2020, after a six-year legal battle over Christian prayers at their graduation ceremonies, the same school district lost the case and had to pay the American Humanist Association $187,000 in legal fees.
That’s going to be the outcome here as well. Clergy members, in and of themselves, have nothing of value to offer public schools when it comes to what books should be available to kids. If they have some kind of special knowledge in that arena, then that should be what they emphasize. That’s all that matters.
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Scottie's Playtime 