A bill proposed to the Arizona State Legislature seeks to ban ‘sexually explicit materials’ from school classrooms, but LGBTQ advocates believe the bill is taking it a step further by targeting their community.
“There is nothing more sacred than the innocence of a child,” said Rep. Jake Hoffman, the bill’s sponsor. The bill would ban the depiction of some things that are taught in health classes. Meanwhile, the bill’s definition of ‘sexual conduct’ has drawn controversy, as it defines acts of homosexuality as sexual conduct.
Democratic State Rep. Daniel Hernandez said the bill would revert Arizona to a time period under a law known as ‘no promo homo,’ where schools were prohibited from promoting a ‘homosexual lifestyle.’
“No one advocates teaching pornography,” Hernandez said. “What this bill does is once again try and erase the LGBTQ community from Arizona public schools under the guise of protecting children,” he said. “Children keep getting used as footballs for politics.”
He said Hoffman could accomplish his goal by simply prohibiting depictions of sexual conduct without making a specific reference to homosexuality. Hoffman, however, refused to remove the reference to homosexuality.
“I’m here, once again, having to stand up and say, ‘This is something that is wrong.’ Homosexuality is not inherently wrong.” Hernandez said.
Hoffman has been in the national news this week as he is one of Arizona’s fake electors. In 2020 he was banned by Twitter for running a paid teenage pro-Trump troll farm with Charlie Kirk.
Proposed ban on 'sexually explicit materials' in Arizona schools criticized as return to 'no promo homo' era https://t.co/a22CsOqImv
I was told recently that no one cares about gays and lesbians, that we are now accepted by society. I have three more stories in my news feed about attempts to make the LGBTQ+ go away by banning books, ban teaching about gay people in history, or forbid mentioning gay role models. The fact is the Republicans / right wing loves culture wars as they enrage their base, upset people, and distracts from the real crimes being done by Republicans. Republicans have no polices to help people, so they need to distract people. The religious right is not going to stop trying to create a theocracy of their version of Christianity and they won’t stop trying to make everyone else live by their church doctrines. It is hard to accept that in 2022 I am still dealing with this bigotry and hate that I faced all my life.
Learning and exposure make you more Democratic. Conversely, no one who banned books was ever the good guy.
BREAKING: Over the last three weeks, 71 educational gag orders (aka "anti-CRT bills") have been introduced or prefiled. That's more than half of 122 proposed since January 2021. And they're getting worse.https://t.co/j9lYuvk69xpic.twitter.com/RRqKiyXA2F
Some parents don’t see the actual stress they allow/put on their kids.
They would rather try to score political points with book bans and vaccine disinformation.
A Tennessee school board voted to drop the Pulitzer prize-winning graphic novel MAUS, which tells the story of the Holocaust with cartoon mice, because it contained inappropriate words and imagery. I wish them luck in their quest for wholesome, family-friendly Holocaust content. https://t.co/cNcz6ocmJB
I will match this. DMs are temporarily open, send me your McMinn County mailing address and I’ll have a copy of THE COMPLETE MAUS shipped to you. Trolls = block. Please RT. https://t.co/DexfURBVWU
re both sides and partisanship around the pandemic. yes, pandemic measures have become markers of partisan identity on both sides. but one side is saying the pandemic is killing thousands a week and that's bad, and the other is saying we shouldn't care. one side is right!
Equating masks with the holocaust shows you how white people [who have never suffered] have no similar experience. They steal and try to pass themselves off as victims. It’s disgusting.
Hey, look: there it is, reverse racism. The worst take of the day.
Not today, satan. We’re too busy celebrating the fact that SCOTUS is going to look a little bit more like America soon. https://t.co/QXalTSid0w
Imagine telling your grandfather that the communists we fought in the Cold War for fifty years are now your best friends because they are equally corrupt and equally hateful of non-white citizens.
It amazes me how left Twitter gets more exercised by rightist intellectuals voicing support for Orbán than it is by the American government's routine transfer of arms to repressive regimes across the world. One more example of the left's indifference to the materiality of power. https://t.co/1LGbgPvPBp
South Africa’s Caster Semenya can run 800 meters faster than any woman on the planet. But the two-time Olympic gold medalist won’t defend her title in Tokyo because her testosterone levels exceed a 2018 limit imposed by track’s governing body on female athletes competing in distances between 400 meters and 1500 meters.
It is an article of faith among the radical right that young men are lining up to get their testicles removed and taking hormone shots for the sole reason of competing with women athletes.
Of all the insane things I’ve ever heard, that’s pretty much a topper.
I was just reading the right wing media about the swimmer Thomas who competed as a male and then transitioned and after waiting for her testosterone to be at the accepted levels again joined the university team. The right likes to mention how she is beating the times of other women. Oh the horror. Except they fail to mention she has been beaten by women also.
Three things: There isn’t a sport I am aware of that utilizes the Penis.Using Kelly’s transphobic logic, if strength and endurance is a determining factor, athletes like the Williams sisters would have been required to play as men.If people (like Kelly) who attempt to argue against Transgender accept that man came from a handful of dust and woman from a rib, they have no valid opinion on Transgender.
I find it very disturbing that for decades conservatives have ignored and underfunded women’s sports…even mocked them openly. And now all of the sudden they claim the role of protector from a threat that they made up solely for the purpose of uniting hateful ignorant people under their banner and get their votes.
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Misleading right wing media cartoons / memes
This cartoonist is not normally in the misleading right wing group. How ever in this case he is. Biden has stated that there will be no active fighting troops from the US in the Ukraine. I think that is because the Ukrainian military will do the Afghanistan model of warfare. Hit and run, hard to spot enemy that wears the attacking army out trying to conquer the territory. It wouldn’t make sense for the US to add unformed troops to that situation. There will more likely be special forces trainers and CIA agents. Along with mercenaries of course. The US will need to use a lot of non-traditional methods to fight the Russians if they invade Ukraine. In this case we are not forcing our will on the Ukrainians, we are standing beside them as best we can to protect their democracy.
Same as above except this cartoonist is a proud member of the misleading right wing media.
And again same as above notes.
Bull. Breyer is retiring on his own recognizance, though he has already said that one of the considerations was to give Biden time to replace him before midterm elections. Breyer has been talking about retirement for a while. He merely chose the best time so that Moscow-Mitch would have a hard time tanking the nomination of his replacement like he did with Obama’s nomination of Garland. here was no problem when Kennedy resigned to give McConnell the same opportunity. I know Trump claimed he was the one to appoint the new one, but all he did was sign where McConnell told him to.
The CDC has the expertise to evaluate the medical data and make the needed public health guidance. Something their critics lack with abundance.
There is a huge difference between muttering something under your breath that is picked up by a hot mic and have staff members shout insults at those they did not think properly honor their cult leader like the staff of the former guy. One is excusable and understandable, the other should be grounds for HR involvement and evaluating if the person should have that job. You do not hear the regular staff harassment and mistreatment in Biden’s administration that we did in tRump’s.
Doocy tries to frame questions that can be used on Fox news as a sound bite, normally with out the answer given to the question because that shows how stupid the question was. So Doocy asked a really dumb question and the president noted that out loud. He did not go on a personal attack to Doocy like the former guy did, Biden did not call Doocy the enemy of the people like the former guy kept calling the press. Seems to me a lot of hype over nothing. But then again the right has very little to attack Biden over so they cling to anything they can.
The US southern border is secure despite the misleading right wing media trying to hype that the border is wide open and there are hoard of marauding brown people storming over it. There is no storming force coming over the southern border but there is an armed military threatening to cross the border between Ukraine and Russia. The Russian army is poised to invade and wipe out the new democracy in that country. The US was once known for defending democracy, are we still? I do not understand why so many on the right want to defend Putin and Russia when the St. Ronnie the Reagan called evil and Republicans had the slogan “Better dead than red”. Besides the cartoon is misleading because Biden has ruled out combat troops fighting in Ukraine.
This is cute, but sanctions beat tanks over the medium and long term. IF they can be deployed in sufficient number and on time. Keep in mind New York City has a larger economy than all of Russia.
The diplomats have warned Putin that the added pending sanctions will be heavier and the oligarchs including Putin will feel it. Putin either believes it’s a U.S./NATO bluff or he wants an escalation so the tail can wag the dog and distract the common Russian.
Some believe that P’s strategy will backfire if the Ukrainian resistance can send enough body bags back. The Ukrainians have already lost territory and thousands of lives so they may decide to go “all medieval (Afghanistan) on their ass”.
We will not send in troops but surreptitiously probably “advisors”. The profiting war machine will love the commitment to increased armaments.
The propaganda Putin / Russia is pushing. That they have overwhelming force and the will to use it. Truth is their economy is not able to handle a war over 6 weeks. They need to roll in and have it over quickly so they can take money out of Ukraine. It will be much worse if Biden is able to force really tough sanctions on the Russian oligarchs themselves.
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson argued against government efforts to make child care cheaper for parents during a visit on Tuesday to Kwik Trip’s headquarters in La Crosse.
“People decide to have families and become parents. That’s something they need to consider when they make that choice,” Johnson told local Wisconsin TV station WKBT. “I’ve never really felt it was society’s responsibility to take care of other people’s children.”
Speaking to WKBT, Johnson said that he did not support moves by the government to help families find child care options. Instead, Johnson told the news station that he would support slashing unemployment benefits to get more people back to work and alleviate the ongoing labor shortage.
He told WKBT that he would back more efforts to help people get jobs that would allow them to support their own families.
Johnson has historically not been a supporter of childcare-related legislation.
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told a local news channel this week that he “never really felt it was society’s responsibility to take care of other people’s children.”Samuel Corum/Getty Images
In May 2021, Johnson remarked on WKOW-TV that he supported slashing Wisconsin’s $300 per week federal unemployment subsidy. During the interview, Johnson pushed back on a suggestion from WKOW-TV host A. J. Bayatpour that many women cannot re-enter the workforce because their wages do not cover the cost of childcare.
“Unemployment benefits are not meant to provide replacement wages. That was provided during COVID when it was nobody’s fault that they were losing their job or they were being encouraged to stay home so they wouldn’t spread the disease,” Johnson said.
“Wages are set in the marketplace. Businesses pay what wages they can afford based on the competitive situation, whether it’s in a restaurant, whether it’s in manufacturing, where they’re competing against foreign manufacturers versus domestic suppliers,” Johnson added. “I just have greater faith in the marketplace setting appropriate wage rates.”
Johnson also admitted he was “not a real fan” of the child tax credit which offers parents up to $3,600 per child.
“In general, I don’t like to use the tax code for either economic or social engineering. I think we do a terrible job. I prefer a tax code that was simple, that was rational, that treated all income equally,” Johnson said in response to a question about the child tax credit.
Build Back Better is now stalled while Democratic lawmakers try to negotiate with Manchin, one of the lone holdouts against the plan, whose support is essential for them to get the bill over the finish line in the 50-50 Senate.
Remember in the Republican universe the people decide to have children doesn’t include abortion, sexual education, masturbation to reduce need to marry for sex, female control over their own sexual / reproductive parts because she is subservient to her husband or other adult male in charge of her.
On the wage front remember that Johnson is a millionaire who is / was the CEO of the plastics company that was started by his wife’s brother with money from their father. Think of that. They were wealthy enough to start a company because dad gave them the money. But this wealthy man wants to cut all assistance and government help to force people to do shit jobs at a shit wage so he and his friends make more profit. To hell with the people’s needs, they can suffer and starve to be made to work so wealthy people make more money, more profit.
Johnson does not want the government providing assistance for child care, yet had no qualms about voting for tax cuts for himself and his fellow multimillionaires. 🙃https://t.co/y8VTdRWtEl
Elected leaders should be advocating to set our children up for success, not against it. This is shameful behavior from Senator Ron Johnson.https://t.co/WKQIa92Ivc
Not only does Ron Johnson want to cut unemployment benefits, but he wants to make it harder for working people to get child care so they CAN work. Your RT and small donation will help us defeat him. https://t.co/Olk5ISfdzP
Sen. Ron Johnson asked about reducing child care costs: "Well, people decide to have families and become parents. That's something they need to consider when they make that choice. I've never really felt it was society's responsibility to take care of other people's children." pic.twitter.com/HyJr4iTwUG
None of these abortion laws are written by people who become pregnant. They have no medical background. They have no family planning background.
They have have one goal: force women into submission.
Employers prefer to have everyone on a gig economy. They want workers to work any hours they provide gratefully so the workers have to have multiple jobs and no social lives. Scottie
Geee I don’t know, have we..?
“They [the press] are truly THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!” -Donald J. Trump https://t.co/F612DfZOp3
At a time where even Trump is trying to get people vaccinated, they keep letting these idiots on television to cast doubt on the vaccines.
There’s literally no question about vaccine efficacy anymore. They do exactly what they’re supposed to do: keep you alive and out of the ER. https://t.co/0mUzLQeZir
How interesting that this comes to light after I receive a survey concerning workplace gender relations. As someone who has short hair and never wears makeup, I thankfully have never had this issue, but I hope she's able to sue the pants off them https://t.co/iLNMqiKF6L
Regarding that Florida teen who petitioned for an abortion:
The legal question is if the girl has sufficient maturity to make this decision. If anything, she seems significantly *more* mature and responsible than many her age. https://t.co/gYUeBJiLUQpic.twitter.com/TBy2RGonGy
It's also obvious that the no doubt pro-life judges who turned her down (and were later overturned) were reaching desperately, and dishonestly, for excuses to turn down her petition. pic.twitter.com/urDPPQb35Q
I love the reasoning that a teenager "lacks the maturity to have an abortion" but is apparently mature enough to raise a human child. https://t.co/SNV3v1fsbS
So far Biden is doing as well as possible on Ukraine. The problem is right wing media hosts like Tucker Carlson are openly pushing for the US to let Putin do what ever he wants. Just let Russia take Ukraine, who cares, why should we, just let it be they say. Really it stuns me the better dead than red party is now openly Russian supporters. I guess tRump was a great asset for Putin. Well here is why we need to defend Ukraine, it is a democracy, a real one, trying to hold off an authoritarian strongman near dictatorship government run by Putin for his own enrichment. Maybe that is why the Republicans love him. Scottie
Afghanistan was not Biden’s fault, the military did the best they could with what tRump negotiated. Inflation is world wide from a pandemic and the world being shut down. Immigration is fine, we need more not less so no problem. Covid is not Biden’s fault, tRump was president when it hit, Biden got vaccines out to the people, he got the economy going in record time. The US is the only nation to have bounced back so far with a positive growth GDP. The only ones you can lay at Biden’s feet is Voting rights and Build Back Better. Scottie
Are there actually any cities doing this, or is it just another Republican terror meme because there is space that needs to be filled?
What white right wingers miss, and I think it might be so ingrained that they simply CANNOT see it, is that in some places the cops are more dangerous to regular (black) people than any other gang, Thus making “defund the police” a perfectly apt catch-phrase… IN THOSE PLACES.
The other thing they miss, and I’m a little less sure it’s not on purpose, is that we are asking cops, who are trained at confrontation, to do all kinds of things that they’re not trained for, and in fact may be trained against. In cities where there are social/medical teams who are available to the community WHO ARE NOT COPS, the outcomes are BOTH less expensive AND better than they are in “copy primary” locations.
Police budgets have actually been going up nationwide, even as crime rates have also been going up, and there are numerous bi-partisan bills further increasing police budgets and tactics. So WTF is Lisa doing? Oh yeah. Injecting partisan politics into it, and blaming “progressives”, as usual.
Ukraine is a democracy and there was a time when the US proudly stood up to help and protect democracies. That was back when Republicans also felt it was better to be dead than Russian red. I do not want US military to die uselessly in battle that is not for the safety of the US, but also I do not want the US to ignore a Russian take over of other sovereign countries. If the US wants to be a world leader we need to act like we are one and do the hard work. However for those demanding that the US make the first moves that would be the US attacking a country that has not done an illegal action yet. Can not punish a country that has not done the action they need to be punished for. If Putin orders military action on Ukraine then it will be time for the US to respond.
This is what passes for an editorial cartoon from right wing media cartoonist Mike Shelton. Need I even comment?
A misleading right wing attempt to convince people that the Democrats want to let votes be counted long after the election if it would help them. Not true at all. Several states say if the ballot is marked posted by the Postal Service on or before the election day then that ballot will count if received at the elections office after election day. That is common practice, especially with military ballots from over seas. Scottie
Republicans don’t fear injections; they fear the loss of power to ANY majority, as they will never have more than minorities ever again. For the last few decades Republican Party has been basing its appeal and power on The Four Horsemen: Ignorance, Fear, Anger, and Hatred. Just look. The one thing you won’t find is a positive vision for America.
Lots of jobs, lots of growth, companies making record profits. All the stuff Qubs brag about when they’re in office.
GOP congressmen standing in front of their voters and taking credit for the infrastructure plan that’s now starting even if they voted against it. So typical. Let the Dems do the work and wait and see how the public reacts. If the reaction is positive then stand up and take credit. Suddenly it’s we instead of them.
For the lower incomes and those on a fixed income the inflation problem has gotten quite severe. The wealthy members of congress decline to pass bills that Biden proposed that would have helped lower the effects of inflation and helped out the lower incomes. But some people, those well off see poor people as useless and not deserving of anything. They really hate poor people because they are poor. Found out one state was jailing poor people just for being poor until recently. I will post that later.
Yeah, what looks DOWN RIGHT stUPid to me is the unending spew of complaints from right wing cartoonists that this is all somehow Biden’s fault. Hello? Pandemic here… We also need to remember that all the ranting about inflation has more to do with Republigoons attacking ANYTHING the Biden Administration does (or can’t do) in furtherance of the Republican project to regain power and stay there permanently. They have no plans to govern, just take power and fleece the country until it collapses. Inflation in short, is too much money chasing too few goods (and that doesn’t mean YOU have too much money, but that in aggregate there are still plenty of people who want and are able to buy things vs. the supply of things). Note that I’m not saying that inflation is not real or is good — only that it is worldwide and will take some time to slow its rate. Those who vote for Republicans thinking they’ll manage inflation are in for some bad, and probably permanent surprises. Scottie
Here’s a harrowing fact for you: If the world’s ten richest men lost 99.999% of their wealth, they would still be richer than 99% of the global population.
Why should Biden apologize? First it was his opinion, second he was not being profane, and Doocy is always trying to trip Biden up while making him look bad. This question was designed to be a sound bite on Fox, and very one knows that Fox is the media arm of the Republicans. Scottie
With what is happening world wide I think we are all doing what this cartoon shows Biden doing. How ever I think it is super talented of Biden to do the above and create away forward making the path for the rest to follow. Scottie
Btw, the filibuster is not going to save us from a fascist takeover of democracy. Abolishing it will.
A former Speaker of the House is threatening jail time for members of Congress who are investigating the violent January 6 attack on our Capitol and our Constitution.
You know that era in the first two decades of the 20th century when all those confederate statues went up? We are in an analogous era… https://t.co/h7J9YU0RVV
A school board in North Carolina was threatened with $8 million withheld from schools unless they agreed to an anti-"CRT" policy which orders teachers to treat the founding fathers as flawless saints – or be fired.
This is also the same logic the Supreme Court used to overturn the Voting Rights Act. Black progress is often used as an excuse by those with power to ensure no more progress occurs.
And will be until the anti-mask / anti-vaxxers start practicing medical sound precautions. Until the hospitals are not flooded with seriously sick Covid virus patients and the death toll comes down we are stuck trying to mitigate the problem, not solving it. Scottie
The true number of deaths from the Covid pandemic in the US are likely being undercounted, due to the long-lasting and little-understood effects of Covid infection and other deadly complications that surged during the past two years.
“We are seeing right now the highest death rates we have ever seen in the history of this business,” J Scott Davison, CEO of insurance company OneAmerica, told journalists on 30 December.
“Death rates are up 40% over what they were pre-pandemic,” he said, among working-age people between 18 and 64. Deaths among older Americans have also increased, with one in 100 Americans over the age of 65 dying.
Republicans try to hide the facts. Covid, climate, criticisms of racism.
Policies that kill kids are the true mark of a bad faith pro-lifer.
Policies that adversely target teachers and K-12 education are the true mark of a bad faith pro-lifer.
‘How can we make people’s lives worse?’ is the true mark of a bad faith pro-lifer.
Right as hospitalizations are peaking too
And yet you’re still here…
Of course…Republicans work and are owned by Putin. It’s no surprise they want to support the expansion of the Russia into NATO Ukrainian Sovereignty
The right wing loves to portray the vaccine mandates as some sort of blocking the economy or stopping people from working. It is not. It is the people refusing to get the vaccine due to their political leanings and deliberate misinformation denying science that are blocking the advancement of the economy and getting back to some kind of normal. Get the damn shots, and act like grownups. Scottie
I recently had to send some documents less than 20 miles away. I was advised and did sent it registered so it was required to be signed for and traceable. A week went by and the tracking said it was in transit. Then another week, and the same thing. So on the start of the third week as Ron was going to deal with the postal office on this we received the documents back that we had sent. Plus the signed for slip. But the tracking system on USPS web site still said it was in transit. What has Dejoy done to our constitutionally mandated service for the people? Scottie
I have explained before how austerity is the wrong approach to solving inflation. The solution is target payments to the lower incomes, something the wealthy detests with a passion. But it works, we seen that with the child tax credit that lifted 50 % of US children out of poverty until the Republicans with Manchin / Sinema killed it. As Joe Manchin said he thinks poor people are just lazy bums. So does Jeff Bezos who told his top people to use and abuse workers until they were too broken to work and then replace them with what he thought was an inexhaustible supply of new workers. He would be correct about the supply if the wealthy had their way of keeping people poor, desperate, hungry, and with out any government assistance or help. Scottie
Rivers is a shill for the far right and his stuff is posted in that media. However this is asinine even as it is well believed on the right. The right really thinks Fox, OAN, Newsmax are all telling the honest truth and all other news media is lying and in the take of the Democrats. That is complete reversal of course, but you can not shake them of that. Show then studies or even videos of the lies and they simply deny it as fake and made up. Their belief is worth more to them than reality. It really is just like a religion in that respects. Because the main stream media debunks the lies and misinformation of the right wing media arm of the Republicans they have to demonize them by projecting what they are doing themselves on to the left. As they always do. Scottie
How do you figure this is all on Biden. How is Biden responsible for Putin’s moves on Ukraine? Short of threatening war with Russia, What are Biden’s options? What is he supposed to do about Manchin and Sinema? Or the Supreme court, for that matter? Covid was here before Biden. He is following the best medical advice he can get, but the right wing is rooting for the virus to win.
The entire world is struggling with inflation. It’s an international problem with no easy solutions but to wait it out. Lester, like the rest of the rest of the conservative projectionists who continue feeding their non-critical thinking followers trite sound bites that their brains can latch on to, is ignoring what Biden has been able to accomplish in his first year in office—passing a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package; passing a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill; getting Americans from less than 1% vaccinated to more than 63% vaccinated; getting the unemployment rate down to under 3.9% with jobless claims at their lowest levels since the 1960s (it was at 4.7% when his predecessor started his term and saw it go high as 14.8%); getting a record setting and diverse group of 40 federal judges confirmed (a number that even McConnell can be proud of); seeing the S&P 500 (the metric the last guy used to measure success) hit new record highs 70 times and finishing up 29%; and finally committing to ending the pointless war in Afghanistan that took the lives of many servicemen. Scottie
What is being removed from schools is not CRT but the real history of the US and any mention of how the US continues to be a very racist country. To deny the deeply racist history of the US and how that racism not only continues in many forms but also affects the situation of the descendants of slaves is racist. Because it denies reality to white wash history erasing the harsh reality with misinformation designed to ease the guilt of those that benefited from the past. No one is teaching that white kids are evil because they are white or that they are born oppressors due to skin tone. What is being taught is that these things happened and it is a truth we must face if we wish to keep such inequalities from continuing to happen today. Changing the word slaves in text books to immigrants as was done in Texas shows more current guilt and a wish for the present system of oppression to continue. CRT is a dog whistle that some white people are using to try to keep history from being taught to children so the current system can be allowed to continue. That is a disservice to the country, to our children, and to the future. Scottie
This article adds more information to the story I posted earlier. Notice the law signed was to prevent same sex couples from being able to adopt, it was designed to let Christian agencies to discriminate against same sex couples. Scottie
A Knoxville couple is suing the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, saying a state-sponsored Christian-based adoption agency refused to help them because they are Jewish.
It is the state’s first lawsuit to challenge a new law that allows religious adoption agencies to deny service to families whose religious or moral beliefs aren’t in sync with the provider’s, the family’s attorney told Knox News on Wednesday.
The adoption agency, the Holston United Methodist Home for Children based in Greeneville, Tennessee, denied Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram from acquiring Tennessee-mandated foster-parent training and a home-study certification as they attempted to adopt a child from Florida last year, the Rutan-Rams say.
The organization was previously but is no longer an arm of the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. A spokesperson for the conference directed questions to the home.
In December, the Greenville-based Holston sued the Biden administration for regulations that prohibit discrimination in programs funded by U.S. Health and Human Services grants “on the basis of religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and same-sex marriage status,” saying it violates its First Amendment rights.
In that lawsuit, the organization said it receives public money to provide foster care placement and training, among other services, for the state Department of Children’s Services.
The Home for Children’s president and CEO Bradley Williams could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Instead, a receptionist at Home for Children told Knox News to email the organization’s law firm, Alliance Defending Freedom, which bills itself as “the world’s largest legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, marriage and family, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.” Representatives of the firm did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by Americans United for Separation of Church and State on behalf of the Rutan-Rams in Davidson County Chancery Court. A spokesperson for DCS declined to comment on pending litigation, as did a spokesperson from the state Attorney General’s Office.
The lawsuit comes nearly two years to the date that Gov. Bill Lee signed into law a measure that allows religious adoption agencies to deny service to same-sex couples. The law allows adoption agencies to refuse to participate in a child placement if doing so would “violate the agency’s written religious or moral convictions or policies.”
“The Tennessee Constitution, like the U.S. Constitution, promises religious freedom and equality for everyone. Tennessee is reneging on that promise by allowing a taxpayer-funded agency to discriminate against Liz and Gabe Rutan-Ram because they are Jews,” Alex J. Luchenitser, associate vice president and associate legal director at Americans United, said in a news release.
“Public funds should never be used for religious discrimination,” Luchenitser told Knox News. “The law should never create obstacles that keep loving parents from taking care of children who need a home. That should certainly never occur because of religious discrimination.”
The couple is joined by six others in the suit against the state. They are:
The Rev Jeannie Alexander, an interfaith pastor from Davidson County
The Rev. Elaine Blanchard, a Disciples of Christ minister from Shelby County
The Rev. Alaina Cobb, a Christian minister from Davidson County
The Rev. Denise Gyauch, a Unitarian Universalist minister from Davidson County
Dr. Larry Blanz of Davidson County, a retired psychologist with more than 40 years of experience that includes working with foster parents and children
Mirabelle Stoedter, a Davidson County resident who serves as treasurer of the Tennessee chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Attempting to adopt
After realizing they could not have biological children of their own, in early 2021 the Rutan-Rams located a child in Florida they were excited about fostering with plans to adopt. They say they were initially told by Holston that the organization would help them with their out-of-state placement.
However, on the day they were to begin their training, the organization told them it only serves families who share their Christian belief system, the lawsuit says. The couple was not able to complete the process to become foster parents to the child.
“I felt like I’d been punched in the gut,” Elizabeth Rutan-Ram said in a news release. “It was the first time I felt discriminated against because I am Jewish. It was very shocking. And it was very hurtful that the agency seemed to think that a child would be better off in state custody than with a loving family like us.”
The Rutan-Rams are currently fostering and hope to adopt a teenage girl through a separate agency, Luchenitser told Knox News, and they also would like to adopt another child in the future.
Wouldn’t it be a great world if people acted this way instead of acting only for themselves? Scottie
Remember when it was cool to help others, social welfare programs & orgs, & humanity? Everyone needs help in their lives. Now with unprecedented inequality, only the privileged get help.
He should know, his daughter helped raised the price of EpiPens
No one should be as rich as Elon Musk when millions of Americans still don’t have health care.
Tax the wealth created by capitalism. Fund the vulnerable exploited by capitalism.
Trying to bring back child labor for 2022 huh.
And then they pick a celebrity with zero political experience to be president?
I am the best. I have the best brain. Only I can do it. Only my son-in-law who can’t pass a security clearance can do this. No media allowed when I met with Putin.
Just say you enjoy the cult.
A former Speaker of the House is threatening jail time for members of Congress who are investigating the violent January 6 attack on our Capitol and our Constitution.
Increasingly strange to watch governors claim trans teenagers aren't old enough for gender-affirming care but a teenager is old enough to be forced into giving birth https://t.co/gHl8E3Hr7b
We have been arming the Ukraine lately, as have Britain and Germany. I suspect Ramirez wants the readers to think it would be okay to preemptively attack Russia. Folks, slow down and give it another millisecond of thought, does that sound like a GOOD idea? If so, please get immediate counseling. At the same time the right wing is hammering Biden on his Ukraine policy the Republicans in congress that are in the pay or under threat from Russia are demanding that Biden rule out sending any troops. So Biden did say he wouldn’t send any US military troops to fight Russia in Ukraine. What a set of foreign asset assholes. Scottie
Since life changes all the time, it must be terrible to be a conservative who practically wets their pants when anything changes. Such an absurd cartoon. Also, “woke” is an obsolescent term. How is a gay M&M any more or less stupid than a straight one? You know what is stupid? People who worry about this crap.
News headline: “M&M characters get new, more inclusive look”
No WONDER poor ol’ Payneful is having a snit. “My GOD, how is it POSSIBLE for important cultural icons such as the M&M characters to CHANGE when they were already PERFECT, just like God made them in the garden of Eden? What is this world COMING to?!! (etc)” Scottie
Tom Hanks narrates a new spot that marks year one of Joe Biden’s presidency, one that tries to reinforce a message that the country is on the right track. This scares the right because he is a prominent well liked person. So they have to attack him as much as they can. Rather than admit that Biden really has accomplished quite a bit in just one year and would have done a lot more if the right had not tried to block everything that would help the country jsut because they don’t want Biden to have a win. That is how radical the right has become, doesn’t matteer if the country really needs it they will block it to deny the Democrats a win. The Democrats don’t do that … yet. Scottie
What a misrepresentation. She was saying take care of your self over the weekend, do what you need to do that recharges yourself, and then come back at the issues / problems strong on Monday. What is controversial about that message? Unless the left fighting the right wing ongoing sabotage of the country is scary for the right? Scottie
The right is losing its collective mind over this. Just like they did the Potato head and Dr. Seuss stuff. Love seeing them scream about candies having sexual personalities. It is just candy, people. Scottie
on
What white right wingers miss, and I think it might be so ingrained that they simply CANNOT see it, is that in some places the cops are more dangerous to regular (black) people than any other gang, Thus making “defund the police” a perfectly apt catch-phrase… IN THOSE PLACES.
The other thing they miss, and I’m a little less sure it’s not on purpose, is that we are asking cops, who are trained at confrontation, to do all kinds of things that they’re not trained for, and in fact may be trained against. In cities where there are social/medical teams who are available to the community WHO ARE NOT COPS, the outcomes are BOTH less expensive AND better than they are in “copy primary” locations.
Police budgets have actually been going up nationwide, even as crime rates have also been going up, and there are numerous bi-partisan bills further increasing police budgets and tactics. So WTF is Lisa doing? Oh yeah. Injecting partisan politics into it, and blaming “progressives”, as usual.