Category: Courts / Laws / legal

Montana judge temporarily lifts ban on drag performances ahead of major Pride event

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/29/montana-lifts-drag-ban-pride-00108877

These laws are being blocked by the courts because it clearly is an attempt to stop people from dressing in a way that fundamentalist conservatives don’t like.  It is a way to attack trans people without saying trans.  Drag is their word for men dressing as women, or women wearing the fabric of men.  Notice they outlaw reading to kids or being in public wearing flamboyant clothing.  Quote below.    Glamorous or exaggerated costumes.   So what are they protecting kids from, color?  Are we all to wear drab Amish type clothing?  There goes any dress up and make beleive.   It is basically the Christian Taliban enforcing the dress code conservatives hope to push back to the stereotypes of the 1950s.  What it comes down to is making laws to outlaw things that displease the most uptight right wing religious aunt in a family.  Hugs

The law also made Montana the first state to specifically ban drag kings and drag queens — which it defined as performers who adopt a flamboyant or parodic male or female persona with glamorous or exaggerated costumes and makeup — from reading books to children in public schools or libraries, even though the performances do not have a sexual element.

The ruling will allow Montana Pride to advertise and hold some of its events in public places.

A drag performer stands with arms outstretched outside the Montana Capitol building.

Scenes from a drag show at the Montana Capitol held in protest against a slate of bills aimed at how trans Montanans live, April 13, 2023, in Helena, Mont. | Thom Bridge/Independent Record/AP Photo

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

07/29/2023 01:08 PM EDT

HELENA, Mont. — A federal judge in Montana temporarily blocked a new law that restricts drag performances just days before thousands of people are expected to attend Montana Pride’s 30th anniversary celebration in Helena.

The way the law is written “will disproportionally harm not only drag performers, but any person who falls outside traditional gender and identity norms,” including transgender people, U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris said Friday.

The law seeks to ban minors from attending what it calls “sexually oriented” performances, and bans such performances in public places where minors might be present. However, it does not adequately define many of the terms used in the law, causing people to self-censor out of fear of prosecution, plaintiff’s attorney Constance Van Kley with Upper Seven Law argued Wednesday.

“Plaintiffs, along with the approximately 15,000 Montanans who wish to attend the (Montana Pride) events, cannot avoid chilled speech or exposure to potential civil or criminal liability,” without the temporary restraining order, Morris wrote.

The ruling will allow Montana Pride to advertise and hold some of its events in public places, said Kevin Hamm, president of Montana Pride. The annual LGBTQ+ celebration — which includes a parade, street dance and drag brunch — begins on Sunday and runs through Aug. 6.

“The language used in the (temporary restraining order) is both impressive and should serve as a warning to discriminatory actions by legislators in the future,” Hamm said.

A lawsuit filed on July 6 challenges its constitutionality, and seeks a preliminary injunction to block it. The complaint was later amended to add the city of Helena as a defendant and Montana Pride as a plaintiff in order to request the more urgent move for a temporary restraining order. Montana Pride worked with the city to get permits to hold its public events.

The city of Helena supported the restraining order, saying the law put the city in the position of infringing on Montana Pride’s constitutional rights of free expression by denying the permit, or subjecting city employees to civil and criminal liability included in the law if it granted the permit. The lawsuit allows a minor who attends a drag performance that violates the law to file a civil lawsuit against organizers or participants at any time over the following 10 years.

The complaint — whose initial plaintiffs include a transgender woman, two small theaters and a bookstore that holds drag queen reading events — calls the Montana law “a breathtakingly ambiguous and overbroad bill, motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ animus.”

Judge Morris found that the law did not adequately define actions that might be illegal and appears likely to “encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.”

Montana’s law is flawed — like similar laws in Florida and Tennessee that have been blocked by courts — because it regulates speech based on its content and viewpoint, without taking into account its potential literary, artistic, political or scientific value, Morris found.

“Drag is definitionally political and artistic speech,” said Diana Bourgeois, president of the Imperial Sovereign Court of the State of Montana, an organization that puts on drag reading events and one of the plaintiffs. “The court’s order today protects our right to be commentators and artists and to create a safe, joyful and welcoming environment through our expression.”

Like many Republican-led states, Montana’s conservative lawmakers have passed other laws targeting transgender people. The state is among those to ban gender-affirming care for minors — which is also being challenged in court. It also passed a bill to define sex as only “male” or “female” in state law.

The law also made Montana the first state to specifically ban drag kings and drag queens — which it defined as performers who adopt a flamboyant or parodic male or female persona with glamorous or exaggerated costumes and makeup — from reading books to children in public schools or libraries, even though the performances do not have a sexual element.

The judge said the law does not define “flamboyant,” “parodic” or “glamorous,” among other terms.

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Morris has scheduled an Aug. 26 hearing on the lawsuit’s request for a preliminary injunction, which could continue to block the law while the case moves through the courts.

“We look forward to presenting our written response and full argument at the upcoming preliminary injunction hearing to defend the law and protect minors from sexually oriented performances,” Emily Flower, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice, said in a statement.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Braxton Mitchell, has said that to him and his constituents, “keeping hyper sexualized events out of taxpayer funded schools and libraries” does not violate the First Amendment.

How The Religious Right Ruined Everything

Wow, oh wow.  This is so informative and full of information I had to go over some spots several times.   The host talks rather quickly, more than I am used to and I did not check the CC as I was listening only as I was doing something else.  But my dogs that love gravy she has this stuff down.   Hugs

Hunter Biden Plea Deal

Know the facts around the #HunterBiden plea deal so we can, once and for all, put it to bed…

For Those Who Think Their Vote Doesn’t Count

I hope people will join & support the work and effort of those who feel like blue dots in red states and help pick up the mantle.

Dear White Women

This has great CC for the hearing impaired. Hugs

So many of the horrible things happening in America right now, like teaching our children slaves were lucky to learn skills, or allowing women to bleed out in hospital parking lots, or pushing migrants into rivers to drown, could be stopped by the women who look exactly like me.

Michigan bans use of conversion therapy on LGBTQ youth under measure signed by governor

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/michigan-bans-conversion-therapy-lgbtq-youth-measure-signed-101680267

Being gay, lesbian, trans, or any other thing non-cis straight is not a sickness that needs to be cured.  There is so much evidence, medical science, peer reviewed studies that show that being LGBTQ+ is normal and that conversion therapy is extremely harmful.   Dismissing all that evidence and data simply based on a belief in a book written over a century 2,500 years ago by people who did not even know about germ therapy and whose prophet preached it was not needed to wash your hands doesn’t make any sense.  How does that make any rational sense to ignore all the medical  / scientific advancements over this time span.  These people that wrote those scriptures only knew what was understood at the time.  Hell they thought the color of reeds seen by breeding livestock would determine the color of the offspring .  There is no way in the modern age we should allow those ideas to harm the children of today, or use those writings to harm whole segments of society.  This is 2023 and we know how damaging it is to try to convert a person’s inborn attributes.  If you are straight, imagine going through a program to make you attracted to the same sex.  What would it take for you to accept you were wrong and you now love the body parts that are the same as yours?  I wish all states took this approach and actually cared about the kids instead of the hate rage. Hugs

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation Wednesday that prohibits mental health professionals from using so-called conversion therapy on LGBTQ minors

ByJOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press
July 26, 2023, 3:45 PM
 
 
Michigan Conversion Therapy
FILE – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks at the SelectUSA Investment Summit, May 4, 2023, in Oxon Hill, Md. The scientifically discredited practice of so-called conversion therapy, which aims to “convert” LGBTQ+ people to h…Show more
The Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. — The scientifically discredited practice of so-called conversion therapy, which aims to “convert” LGBTQ+ people to heterosexuality or traditional gender expectations, is now banned for minors in Michigan under legislation signed Wednesday by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Michigan becomes the 22nd state to outlaw conversion therapy, which state lawmakers defined as any practice or treatment by a mental health professional that seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. That does not include counseling that provides assistance to people undergoing a gender transition.

Whitmer, who is the mother of a member of the LGBTQ community, said in a statement that banning the “horrific practice,” of conversion therapy was necessary to making Michigan a place “where you can be who you are.” She signed an executive directive in 2021 prohibiting the use of state and federal funds for conversion therapy on minors.

An estimated 15% of LGBTQ minors in Michigan have reported that they have been threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy as of 2022, according to the advocacy group The Trevor Project.

LGBTQ rights advocates have decried the practice for years, citing research suggesting the practice can increase the risk of suicide and depression.

The ban was approved by the Michigan Senate last month in a 21-15 vote — with one Republican siding with Democrats — after previously being passed by the state House. Republicans in opposition said the legislation could interfere with the work of mental health professionals.

Protecting the rights of Michigan’s LGBTQ community has been a priority for Democrats since they took control of the state government earlier this year. In March, lawmakers amended the state’s civil rights act to codify LGBTQ+ protections and permanently outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in the state.

Lawmakers in Minnesota, where Democrats also seized control earlier this year, passed a similar ban on conversion therapy in April. In Arizona, Gov. Katie Hobbs issued an executive order last month that prohibits state agencies from using funds to promote or facilitate conversion therapy.

The Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for the LGBTQ+ community in May in response to what it called an “unprecedented and dangerous” spike in discriminatory legislation sweeping statehouses this year. The emergency declaration is the first in the 43-year history of the HRC.

 

Sadistic Conservatives Celebrate Family Fleeing Florida to Protect Trans Child

CNN shared a segment about a family from Florida forced to leave due to anti-trans laws passed by Governor Ron DeSantis that impact their trans teenager. Sick, sadistic conservatives celebrated the family’s suffering and claimed it was funny and good.

Male anti-abortion religious leaders mull murder charges for pregnant people at national event

Male anti-abortion religious leaders mull murder charges for pregnant people at national event

These white men won’t quit until the US is a Christian theocracy policed by Christian Taliban moral police thugs.  Some important quotes that show their mindset.  Regardless of the legislative strategy, the panelists agreed changing the culture of America to take on a Christian biblical worldview, which will require all pastors to take the same position on abortion as their own.  Also week-long series of events hosted by Operation Save America, an anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ and anti-Muslim religious group that wants all Americans to follow “God’s law” and their interpretation of the Christian gospel.  The panel was part of a week-long series of events hosted by Operation Save America, an anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ and anti-Muslim religious group that wants all Americans to follow “God’s law” and their interpretation of the Christian gospel. The moderator of the panel, Derin Stidd, opened by asking, “Why do you all hate women?” to which the men laughed.  Hugs

Christian Groups To Press For Abortion Death Penalty



🚨 BREAKING: SHAPIRO DICK PIC

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Raging Bee6 days ago

Um, no, if you’re STILL A SLAVE, then you really can’t do ANYTHING for your “personal benefit.”

Floriduh’s “history” books are being written by people who don’t even want to know about their history.

Fire & Smoke Crown Raging Bee6 days ago

^ That captures it in a nutshell. The education of slaves was to benefit the people holding them in bondage as property.

Some of his fans are disappointed they don’t get to see him in action.

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Texas University President Forced Out Over Diversity
Texas A&M University said on Friday that its president would retire “immediately” after fallout surrounding political pushback of a new director of its journalism program because of her work promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.

DoctorDJ7 days ago

Anyone see a problem with hiring Dr. McElroy? Anyone?

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ohbear1957 DoctorDJ7 days ago edited

It sounds so familiar.

Germany’s 1933 civil service law applied to university professors as well as elementary and secondary-school teachers. … Scholars who were Jewish or supported left-leaning parties struggled to find research and teaching positions in public, government-supported German universities and often worked in private ones instead. With the passage of the new law, the Nazis attempted to root out any dissent to their policies and ideology that remained in German higher education.

https://www.facinghistory.o…

amandagirl15701 kaydenpat7 days ago

They call it other things, like “Protecting Children” or “Academic Freedom”. None of which is their actual goal, but it’s just bigotry and racism repackaged to make it more palatable.

Honestly, who would be against diversity? Racists… that’s who.

Serene Pumpkin7 days ago

Their idea of “diversity” is a mix of white Protestant men and white Catholic men.

Genitals… Genitals, Everywhere…

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Fox Host: Slavery Was Basically Mandatory Trade School

Project 2025 …

Project 2025 …

Ten Bears post is really good and seriously important.   This is something that everyone needs to understand.  The big money and fossil fuel industry desperately wants to rake every last dollar they can, no matter the cost to the world, before their deep investments in a vanishing substance is worthless.   It is another example of the way the wealthy have been forcing the US government using greedy politicians to fuck over the public, the people, the environment, other public needs, basically the entire country to gain more wealth.  Please go to Ten Bears post and read it.  

Not to distract from that but again WordPress decided to fuck up something that worked really well.  When reblogging someone’s content you got a comment box to add your thoughts.  That would post your comment to the person’s blog and sent the comment plus a snippet of the other post with their title to your blog, so your readers would know what it was about and click on it to read the person’s post on their site.  It worked so well!  It was so simple.  It did so many functions automatically.  

So of course WordPress screwed with it, changed it, and made it harder.  They made it the same as their “press this” button.  Now you get a new window with a snippet in the body box, you need to add a title, add your comment, and more stuff.  Then add your comment to the original post!   Just how in the many layers of hell that WordPress inhabits makes this an improvement?   It is just making the reblog button the same as the press this button, which people were not using.  Hugs

School board meeting descends into chaos as people debate outing trans kids to their parents

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/07/school-board-meeting-descends-into-chaos-as-people-debate-outing-trans-kids-to-their-parents/

Some of the 300 attendees chanted “Kick him out” during the contentious four-hour meeting after a state official supported trans kids.

By Daniel Villarreal Friday, July 21, 2023

Parents and police at the Chino Valley Unified School District board meeting.

Parents and police at the Chino Valley Unified School District board meeting.Photo: KTLA screenshot

California State Superintendent of Schools Tony Thurmond was kicked out of a contentious four-hour meeting of the Chino Valley Unified School District board on Thursday evening after he allegedly spoke for more than his allotted one-minute time limit against a policy to out transgender students to their parents.

An estimated 300 people attended — many on both sides of the issue waving flags, T-shirts, and signs — and 83 people commented during the meeting. The board eventually voted 4-1 to approve the policy, which will require educators to notify parents within 72 hours if their child requests to use bathrooms, pronouns, or names that don’t match the gender and name listed on their birth certificate.

RELATED STORIES

Virginia adopts new policies that force trans students to use the wrong bathrooms & pronouns

The state once allowed trans students use bathrooms, pronouns, and play on sports teams matching their gender identities. Not anymore…

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“The policy you consider tonight may not only fall outside of privacy laws but may put our students at risk,” Thurmond said before being ejected. In response, school board President Sonja Shaw said, “Tony Thurmond, I appreciate you being here, but we are here because of people like you,” Shaw said. “You’re in Sacramento, proposing things that pervert children.” 

As security officers led Thurmond away, some attendees chanted, “Kick him out!” Officers also ejected several other attendees. While some of the other public commenters said that parents have a right to know if their child is questioning their gender, others said the policy will violate trans students’ privacy by outing them to their potentially unsupportive parents and will also burden teachers with additional stressful responsibilities that will diminish student-teacher trust.

In a statement issued via Twitter after the meeting, Thurmond wrote, “I don’t mind being thrown out of a board meeting by extremists. I can take the heat — it’s part of the job. What I can’t accept is the mistreatment of vulnerable students whose privacy is being taken away.” He also wrote that ejecting him from the meeting silences the voices of those he represents.

“Let me be clear,” he continued, “I will always stand with California students and will use every power of my office to protect them from politicians who seek to divide our communities instead of keeping our kids safe.”

In a letter to the Chino Valley Unified school board Thursday evening, state Attorney General Rob Bonta wrote, “By allowing for the disclosure of a student’s gender identity without their consent, Chino Valley Unified School District’s suggested Parental Notification policy would strip them of their freedom, violate their autonomy, and potentially put them in a harmful situation. Our schools should be protecting the rights of all students, especially those who are most vulnerable, and should be safeguarding students’ rights to fully participate in all educational and extracurricular opportunities.”

The policy is supported by several anti-LGBTQ+ groups, including the California Family Council, a group that considers gender-affirming care for trans youth a form of “medical abuse”; the Pacific Justice Institute, which opposes bans on conversion therapy; and Moms for Liberty, a so-called “anti-woke, parents’ rights” group that has recently been labeled as an extremist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Jorge Reyes Salinas, communications director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality California, called the district’s proposal “truly sick” and said it “directly, blatantly goes against state law.”

The California Department of Education’s (CDE) website states that “schools must consult with a transgender student to determine who can or will be informed of the student’s transgender status, if anyone, including the student’s family.”

The CDE states that “schools are required to respect the student’s wishes” and adds that in some “very rare circumstances where a school believes there is a specific and compelling ‘need to know,’ the school should inform the student that the school intends to disclose the student’s transgender status [to their parents or guardians], giving the student the opportunity to make that disclosure [themselves].”

School districts in New Jersey and Florida have similar policies requiring educators to out their LGBTQ+ students. Indiana recently signed a similar student-outing policy into law. Republican House members also passed a similar federal bill with no chance of passing the Democrat-led Senate.

Right-wing groups have said such policies are needed to prevent schools from “secretly” “encouraging” students to change genders without their parents’ knowledge. However, medical experts say that transgender and non-binary youth don’t transition just because their peers and adult figures pressure them to do so.

A 2022 Trevor Project survey revealed that only 32% of trans and nonbinary youths felt that their home was a supportive and gender-affirming environment.