FL Senate Passes Bill Outlawing Minors At Drag Shows

I am stunned at how fast and how forceful some religious groups are pushing their demand that everyone live by their church dictates instead of civil law.   In One state the pride parade is barely going to be allowed to have a permit after 20 people showed up to push religious reasons to deny the parade permit.   They claimed their bible / religious views took priority to any other considerations because of their god / Satan.   These people a decade ago wouldn’t have been listened to yet now seem to be calling the shots.   In Florida Christian religious views trump all other considerations at town council / legislative meetings.   I know in the south a lot of Christian privilege is assumed and there is little you can do right now against it, but it used to never take over the state legislatures.  It is terrifying to see how entitled these Christians Taliban are in regulating other people’s personal lives, what other people’s kids can read, what other people’s kids can watch.   These religious Taliban are not about keeping their freedoms they are about taking away other people’s freedoms, they are not about being to worship as they believe but about forcing others to follow their churches dictates in what is right or wrong.    Hugs

Florida Politics reports:

Blistering Democratic opposition couldn’t stop legislation that criminalizes allowing minors into adult shows with “lewd” content from winning Senate approval. The Senate legislation, advancing on a 28-12 party-line vote, doesn’t mention “drag shows.” But (SB 1438) that Clay Yarborough, sponsored, is largely aimed at stopping children from attending those shows.

It authorizes state government officials within the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) to suspend or revoke the liquor license of any establishment that admits minors to a live, adult performance. A person who admits a child to such a show would face a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to $1,000 in fines and up to a year in prison.

Read the full article.

Democrats believe that the bill could also criminalize public drag shows such as those at outdoor Pride events.

Sen. Clay Yarborough [photo above] first appeared on JMG in 2010, when as a member of the Jacksonville City Council he declared that gays, Muslims, and atheists should not be permitted to hold public office, otherwise God will smite the fuck out of the country. Or something.

“I would say that when I read Romans Chapter 1, I see striking resemblances between where Rome was just prior to its fall in comparison to where America is today. There are striking similarities in what we allow in our societies. Rome did not fall from an outside attack, whether it was military or otherwise. It fell from within because it was morally bankrupt. And I believe we have been treading in that area for a while and the more that we do not embrace that which honors the Lord, we shouldn’t be surprised if the blessings do not continue on our land.”

 

“Adult shows with lewd content”?????

Every public beach in Florida has Adult shows with lewd content everyday.

You should see the parade of young women at the LA Fitness locations here in the Fort Lauderdale area. The women are dressed like something out of Mad Max, strips of clothing barely covering their tits, hanging out all over the place. I don’t object to what they are doing. I’m objecting to the application of one standard at LA Fitness (nothing…kids can go) and drag shows (aunties in drag are being banned).

So vague…how will the law hold in court?

 

It may take years for the law to be ruled unconstitutional but before that happens, many people lives and careers will be ruined.

 

It may take years for the law to be ruled unconstitutional but before that happens, many people lives and careers will be ruined.

 

Which is the point, to drive LGBT people into the closet and out of society.

GOP: We must protect the children!!!!!!!!!!!

Note:

Since November 1, 2022:

Church leaders arrested for sexually abusing children or owning child porn: 124.

Drag queens arrested for sexually abusing children or owning child porn: 0.

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And the leading cause of kids dying is guns.

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You’re confused, Caitlin. It’s only embryos/fetuses (esp White ones in ‘merka) that are sacred. After they’re born, fuhgettabout ’em! AR-15 target practice the lot of the lil’ rugrats!

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The party of individual responsibility and parents’ rights proves yet again that it is neither. The nannyfascist state strikes again.

Catholic mass is basically a drag show, so it is outlawed too, right?

LOL! I am (was) a WASP, but I went to a Catholic college. First time I had (yes, mandated due to course work) to go to mass, I kept thinking, these men are in dresses. With filigree, embroidery, and really ornate hats.

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They allow parents to determine what is taught in schools, but don’t trust parents to determine what shows their own children can attend.

They demand that parents have the right to make medical decisions for their kids, like not vaccinating them, then make it a serious crime to get their child gender affirming care.

GOP: “Parents know best what’s right for their children so government should back off!”

Also GOP: “Our (Republican) government knows better than parents what’s right for children when it comes to drag shows, CRT, education, gender affirming care, rape and pregnancy.”

“When are the sane Floridians going to wake up and do something?“

Probably about the same time that all the sane women in America finally organize to protect reproductive rights….. I’m frankly amazed it hasn’t happened.

 

Christians Seek To Ban Tennessee Pride Festival

 

One mother claimed that the festival was part of a coordinated national movement to groom children.

 

No, you’re thinking of churches, lady.

It’s horrifying how quickly we’re backsliding. Decades of work by the LGBT+ community is at risk of being undone.

The one thing that keeps me hopeful is that, socially, we have not backslid. One could make an argument that social progress is still moving forward. What’s critical is that our straight Allie’s be very awake and stand by us as we beat back these laws. If they “sit this one out” politically, we’re in (deeper) trouble.

Already is undone. Im just shocked at how quickly they are being allowed to take over. Before the feds wake up and realize it, its going to be to late to cut out this cancer

How about this…

Don’t take *your* kids or your fucking self to this and other events if you’re against them.

Don’t fucking force your religious beliefs and views on other people.

People that want these events also pay taxes.

Many years ago (about 30) I was out with my friends at Houston’s pride parade. In addition to the gay and lesbian people you’d expect to see there, there were also a good number of Hispanic families with their kids. I found that odd until a friend told me that this is what Carnaval is like where they are from (including drag queens) so this is just good fun for the whole family to them. They didn’t think they had to shield children from adults in elaborate costumes. They were just putting on a show to entertain the crowd. They got it. I think most Republican leaders get it too. They just need a minority group to bash to distract their base from how sucky their lives are under GQP policies.

The people who habitually groom children into their stupid fucking cult feel they have the right to control others’ freedom of expression, and without any sense of irony, seek to enforce that control by labeling all expression they don’t approve of as “grooming”.

If you REALLY are concerned about children, why not protect them from Ministers and Priests? I mean, if you consider EVERY GAY PERSON a groomer, shouldn’t you consider EVERY Priest and Minister a child diddling monster? Close, or at least tax, the chucrhes.

A man read a passage from the Bible about resisting “sexual immorality.” “You think you are doing things based on laws,” a crying woman said, “but … you are letting Satan in.”

 

1) We don’t govern based on the Bible.

2) Actually, this is more like letting Satan *out.* :p

OT, but relevant;
Back in the day when segregation laws were repealed, white people would just close down all the public pools and fill them in with concrete in order to spite black people. They literally made their own lives joyless in order to prevent other people from having fun as well.

And now that the children of those bigots are being told that reading is not a crime and they have to put all the hidden books back…. they’re doing the same thing and making new rules to just get rid of public libraries altogether.

 

It’s always the same shit with the Christians. They could quite easily change the channel, not check the book out, not go to the movie, not marry someone of the same sex, not have an abortion, but that isn’t enough. They have to prevent other people from doing things they object to. Newsflash, Christians: your god is losing ground and followers BECAUSE of your annoying and destructive nonsense.

They have their tax-exempt Churches, their schools, home schools, their colleges, their businesses, their radio/TV stations, their internet sites, their Christmas national holiday since 1870, and their cult is protected by the constitution…but that’s not enough, they want to force everyone to join their cult.

Festival organizers have already agreed that there won’t be any drag performances.

 

Just goes to show it doesn’t matter how may times you make concessions to these maniacs they will not stop until the entire LGBT+ community is erased. I’d go so far as to say that banning drag for fear of being called “groomers” merely encouraged them, and they clearly did not shy away from alleging child sexual abuse, “drag performances” or not.

This infuriates me.

It’s been said many times, but there’s no hate like christain love.

They claim moral superiority and at the same time overwhelmingly support the most immoral leaders the world has known. They screech about obscenity and at the same time are the most vociferous consumers of porn. They harp on “family values” and at the same time their kids are getting impregnated in middle school, are being beaten by their fathers and are being sexually abused by their clergy. They label us as sexual deviants and at the same time there’s no sexual act that we enjoy that they don’t also engage in. They lie and lie and lie and lie again–claim “gay friends” that they clearly do not have, claim knowledge about us, our lives, our intentions and our activities that they clearly do not hold, and the biggest lie of all–claim that their oppression and marginalization is an expression of love. The glee and schadenfreude that can clearly be seen on their faces every time they succeed at fucking over our community exposes their hypocrisy and treachery.

They may claim to love people like me despite my being an evil sodomite, but I don’t mirror their lie. So I feel free to say that I hate these assholes with the burning heat of a thousand suns. Every time one of these brain-dead morons opens their mouth to mewl about protecting their drooling simpleton brats from people like me, I want to smash their face with a bat. Every obstacle that our community has ever faced can be traced back to the hands of these religious freaks. They cannot die off soon enough for me.

Fuck your god, fuck your families, fuck your values, fuck your churches, fuck your morals and fuck you!

 

Right winger religous republicans misunderstand what choice is being made

Governor Newsom SHUTS UP Ron DeSantis in takedown of the year

Spain’s new ‘transgender’ law breaks new ground on LGBTIQ+ rights

https://www.euronews.com/2023/04/06/how-spains-transgender-law-is-changing-the-lives-of-those-affected

Hello everyone.   Again I want to thank Ali for sending another trans positive article.  The sea change is happening on trans rights as they did in the US a decade ago.  Yes we are seeing a backlash against acceptance and tolerance by the right as they try to force intolerance and bigotry on everyone.  But in the arch of history the progressive acceptance of equality wins.    If we keep fighting for it.   We know the right will fight for intolerance and enforced removal from society of those the right thinks shouldn’t get equality.    Hugs

By Valérie Gauriat  & Davide Rafaelle Lobina
 

A new national law for “real and effective equality for trans people” came into force in Spain on 2 March 2023, allowing a person to change their gender identity in the civil register without undergoing a two-year hormonal treatment or obtaining a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, as required by previous legislation.

Euronews reporters Valerie Gauriat and Davide Rafaelle Lobina travelled to Madrid to hear the testimonies of those who are affected by the law.

Ezekiel: Gender transition ‘not a decision you take lightly’

Ezekiel is a 23-year-old sports coach whose dream is to become a firefighter. But behind his athletic figure lie years of inner struggle, as Ezekiel was born a woman. 

 

He started his physical transformation after years of feeling like he didn’t belong in his own skin. 

“I looked in the mirror and thought to myself that I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to talk to people about it, to be recognized for who I was, and that I had to start my transition to feel comfortable with myself”.

Ezekiel started hormone therapy two and a half years ago, and underwent a mastectomy.

“It’s a big change. It’s like jumping into the void, hoping there is some water below,” Ezekiel told Euronews. “It is a very difficult process. It is not a decision you take lightly.”

Thanks to the new law, Ezekiel is glad that he will be officially recognised as a man. Spain is one of the few European countries that allow citizens to determine their official gender through a simple administrative declaration. 

We followed Ezekiel to the Madrid Civil Register Office, where he submitted his gender change request; he will have a new identity card in three months, after ratifying his demand.

“I’m happier than ever!”, he exclaimed, coming out of the Register office.”This will make a lot of things easier. I won’t have to give all sorts of explanations when applying for a job for instance. It will also help with my courses to become a fireman; my diploma will be consistent with my gender,” he explains.

Euronews
Ezekiel Latorre Fernandez, 23, sports coach: “Happy as ever”Euronews

The new law for broke all the locks remaining the previous legislation.

Like the World Health Organization, it depathologizes transsexuality.

And allows self-determination of gender on simple request from the age of 16, and with parental consent from the age of 12.

A first in the European Union. And one of the most controversial points of the law.

“At 16 people can work, have sexual relations, abort; they should also be able to chose their gender”

Spain’s Ministry of Equality claims it’s Europe’s most progressive law LGBTIQ+ rights

“In Spain, at 16 people can work, they can have sexual relations, women can have an abortion if they want”, said  Secretary of State for Equality, Ángela Rodríguez Martínez. “It is reasonable that people should also be able to declare their own gender. In addition, this law dissociates the change of sex in the civil register from the need to take hormones or undergo any type of surgical intervention. In the event of a change of mind, it would just be a matter of canceling the change at the register with all the legal guarantees needed.”

Arguments which do not convince those who feel the new law is too lax.

Vicenta Esteve Biot is  a member of the working group on transsexuality at the General Council of Psychology of Spain. For this psychologist, the abolition of medico-psychological diagnoses for sex change in the civil register could encourage too hasty transitions.

“The problem with this law is that it does not leave time to reflect.It’s not the same thing to follow a process accompanied by a professional who can help you make your own decisions when you need to make them, and not before or in a rush. People need to make well-considered decisions.And not just trans people, but also families.There are parents who take the initiative to avoid the suffering of their children. And it’s just as bad to be ahead of your kids as it is to be behind and holding them back. »

Encarni Bonilla Huete: ‘The problem is society, not gender identity’

Encarni Bonilla Huete is the president of the Chrysallis Association, which brings together families with transgender children who are fighting against stigmatisation. 

“Our youths are increasingly diverse and demand diversity. Either we adapt to it or we move further apart from them,” she said.

Born a girl, Encarni’s 12-year-old son, Marc, chose to become a boy a year and a half ago. Encarni and her husband decided to support his transition, after he verbalised it and asked them for help.

 “I knew I was out of place somehow, but I didn’t know how to express myself. When I started to develop, I felt very bad.I didn’t want to see my body.” explains Marc. And then when I realized I was a boy, I felt much better. My relationship with my parents, with my friends, with myself is now much better. » Asked whether he thinks about the future, Marc briefly ponders and smiles:

“Sometimes I think about what it will be like to take hormones, what people will think of me when I go to school, or what it will be like to work as a trans person. The world may be very different tomorrow. Anything can happen. I try to focus on the present. »

His mother is adamant that the family’s life has changed for the better. 

“He had an inner rage that prevented him from being happy. All that has disappeared, and he’s a very happy child now.” says Encarni. “It’s not gender identity that’s the problem, it is society, which doesn’t accept diversity and doesn’t accept difference. And that’s why it must evolve,” she added.

Euronews
Encarni Bonilla Huete, supportive of Marc’s transitionEuronews

“I’m asking those who are against my transition to let me live my life. They shouldn’t speak about it as they don’t know what it’s like, and I’m asking them to let me be happy,” concludes Marc.

 

Utah Republican SHOCKED the Bible Might be Banned in Schools Due to His Book Ban Law

Even most Republican voters think the GOP is attacking transgender kids too much

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/04/even-most-republican-voters-think-the-gop-is-attacking-transgender-kids-too-much/

We all have seen drag.   We all grew up with it.   From Red Skeleton to Bob Hope, and so many more up to the 1970s Flip Wilson’s Geraldine who was amazingly popular.   People love drag as it is simply dress up.  It is Halloween at anytime.  Drag is not a threat to society nor to anyone, not even children.    What the right wants to make it is a boogieman they can use as a cudgel against others and something to rally up their base because their voting base works only on anger and rage.   The right wants everyone to forget their fun drag memories and now think of any guy in a dress acting in drag as a “drag queen story hour reading to kids making them gay and trans” and also they want to make “all drag is trans people” so to spread the hate their base has for trans people to people playing dress up.   Heck in their minds trans people are people playing dress up.  Wow, how fucked up is that they will deny all medical science to keep their bigotry.       Hugs
 
 
Transgender flag being waved in a crowd
Photo: Shutterstock

A new poll found that a majority of Democratic, independent, and even Republican likely voters believe that there is “too much legislation” aimed at reducing LGBTQ+ rights at the state level.

The progressive polling firm and think tank Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1220 participants and asked about the 429 bills presented at state legislatures attacking LGBTQ+ rights. Most of the bills are aimed at transgender youth, and 17 have already become law this year.

72% of Democratic voters agreed with the statement that there is “too much legislation. Politicians are playing political theater and using these bills as a wedge issue,” and only 20% agreed that it’s “the right amount of legislation. Politicians are dealing with a real danger that needs to be addressed.” 65% of independent voters agreed that there is too much anti-LGBTQ+ legislation this year.

The more surprising result – considering how the vast majority of lawmakers voting for these bills are Republicans – was that 55% of Republican voters agreed that there is too much anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Only 33% said that there is the “right amount” of such bills.

Chart from Data for Progress showing percentages of people who believe that there is too much or just enough anti-LGBTQ legislation

The survey also asked if people believed that being transgender is a “natural phenomenon that has occurred throughout history” that’s “normal” or if they believed that being trans is a “new phenomenon created by our modern woke culture” that will “harm our children.” Most Democrats (78%) and most independents (58%) agreed that being trans is natural. Only 34% of Republicans agreed that being trans is natural, while a majority (55%) said that it’s a new phenomenon.

Chart from Data for Progress showing percentages of people who believe that being trans is natural or not

While Republicans lag on that issue, Data for Progress noted that a majority of all likely voters (57%) said that being trans is natural, which could indicate that attacks on trans youth might not be the potent electoral winner that many Republican strategists believe it is.

While state Republican lawmakers have been introducing anti-transgender legislation for over a decade, there was an explosion of such legislation in 2021, just several weeks after Donald Trump’s loss in the general election. Democrats accused Republicans – many of whom had never shown any concern for the state of girls’ and women’s sports – of using transgender kids to distract from the GOP’s less popular positions on the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy.

Part of the reason that such a strategy could work is that transgender people make up a small percentage of the population and many people don’t think they know anyone who is transgender. Only 36% of Democrats, 39% of independents, and 25% of Republicans said that they know someone who is trans or nonbinary, and a majority of each group said that they didn’t.

Chart from Data for Progress showing percentages of people who know someone who is trans or nonbinary

And knowing a trans or nonbinary person decreases the chance that someone will see them as a threat. Among likely voters who know someone trans or nonbinary, 78% said that trans people are not a threat to straight families and 66% said that they’re not a threat to children. Among people who don’t know anyone who is trans, though, those numbers dropped to 52% and 41%, respectively.

Chart from Data for Progress showing percentages of people who believe that trans people are a threat to straight families or children

Most Democratic voters (54%) and independent voters (63%) believe that Democratic elected officials should be doing more to fight anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. The survey didn’t ask what they believe Democrats should be doing.

When it comes to drag bans, a majority of Democrats (68%) and independents (55%) said that they had seen a drag performance either live or on TV. 53% of Republicans, though, said that they have never seen a drag performance at all.

Brave teen publicly calls out their mother for telling their story wrong in rightwing media

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/04/gender-fluid-teen-rebukes-mom-who-claimed-doctors-pressured-her-into-approving-puberty-blockers/

I just watched a break-down of this on the Sam Seder’s The Majority Report.   The mother was anti-trans to begin with and did not want their child to transition.   The article written by a report from an organization created by well known transphobic Bari Weiss, who is a right wing hack who first came to fame trying to get professors who supported Palestinians fired, is complete wrong and filled with anti-trans bias.   When the teen the article was based on tried to correct the lies written, the writer Emily Yoffe told them they had no say in it and published the misinformation, including dead naming the teen.    Lies, myths, and fringe unscientific conspiracy theories are what these anti-trans haters use to influence the public.   The saddest part of this is they are hurting the very people they pretend to be helping, just like crisis pregnancy centers claim to be helping pregnant people while they are really just pushing a right wing ideology to deny others the right to live their lives as they wish, but instead force all others to live by their right wing ideology based in some idea of 1950s social myths of morality.    Hugs

 
Close up of a closed eye against a trans flag

 

Photo: Shutterstock

A Missouri teen has refuted their mother’s account of being “bullied” into allowing her child to go on puberty blockers.

On Monday, The Free Press, a conservative outlet founded by former New York Times columnist Bari Weiss, published a story based on Caroline Miller’s claims that she was pressured by doctors at the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital to allow her then-14-year-old child to receive a pharmaceutical implant that would deliver the puberty blocker Supprelin for two years. According to the Free Press piece, Miller and the child’s father were both informed of potential side effects, and after some initial resistance on Miller’s part, both parents signed off on the implant.


But Miller claims that within months of receiving the implant, her child’s mental health declined, their grades dropped from “all As and Bs to a report card dotted with Ds and Fs,” and they expressed “suicidal thoughts.” Blaming all of this on the puberty blocker, Miller revoked her consent and demanded that the implant be removed. Doctors declined, saying that they needed both parents to sign off on the removal.

In an April 4 tweet, Miller said she was contacted by The Free Press after reaching out to a lawyer. She gave the outlet permission to report on her child’s treatment. The resulting story, by writer Emily Yoffe, identified Miller’s child as “Casey” and misgendered them throughout.  

On Tuesday, the now 16-year-old “Casey,” whose real name is Alex, took to Twitter to refute the Free Press story. In a long tweet thread, Alex, who uses they/she pronouns, said that their mother’s account is based on “false perceptions that my mom has about the doctors and clinic.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
Alex says that Miller informed them of the story only after speaking with Yoffe. “When I read the draft I was disgusted with what the reporter and my mom had made my experience out to be,” they wrote.

After speaking with Yoffe, Alex says they were told they had no say in whether the story was published.

Miller claimed that she felt pressured to agree to the puberty blocker implant after doctors implied that Alex was at high risk of suicide if they didn’t receive the treatment. Alex says that while doctors did quote statistics around suicide in transgender adolescents, they never said that Alex was at substantial risk.

They also say that Millers claims about their grades and mental health were exaggerated. “My grades were on a steady decline since 2020 due to unrelated mental health concerns,” they wrote. “The article claims that my mental health issues can be attributed to the Supprelin implant, however, my personal experience shows that this is not the case. Since Covid-19, my mental health has been declining, and it was already an issue.”

Alex also praised their counselor at Washington University Transgender Center, but says that they were denied access to counseling after Miller retroactively objected to the Supprelin implant.  

In a tweet responding to Alex’s thread, Miller identified herself as Alex’s mother (the Free Press story omitted her last name) and asked that users not “harass my child.” She also defended her decision to speak to The Free Press. “This is actually my story about how I was treated as a parent at this center,” she wrote. “Alex has a story too, but this article wasn’t it. Don’t confuse the two.”

 

Below I have unrolled the entire twitter thread.   Hugs

I have reinstalled Twitter to respond to this story and make sure my voice is fully heard. I am Casey.

My real name is Alex but my mom decided it would be best to hide it for anonymity. But this is my story, not hers. This is not the free press’s story.

About a week ago my mom contacted @EmilyYoffe without my knowledge and told her what was supposed to be our story. She expressed her frustration with the transgender clinic at Washington University, many of which are false perceptions that my mom has about the doctors and clinic.

I learned of this article through my mom over the phone when she asked if it was okay that @TheFP published the article. I said that I wanted to read it first. When I read the draft I was disgusted with what the reporter and my mom had made my experience out to be.

Upon interviewing Emily Yoffe myself I was told that I had no say in whether or not the article was published. I asked if my consent was required to publish the article and the reporter told me, “that’s not how these things work.”

After she had edited the article and published it (I had not found this out until 20 hours later) I was extremely frustrated. The article makes it out that my mother had no say in the implant of the Supprelin. This is completely false.

My mother claims that she was pressured into saying yes by the doctors. A big issue they point out is that the doctors quoted suicide statistics in transgender adolescents. I do not deny that these statistics were quoted, but I also sustain that the doctors didn’t say (continued)

(continued) that I was at substantial risk of this.
The article mentions that my grades dropped from A’s and B’s to D’s and F’s in a semester. This is a completely exaggerated statement. My grades were on a steady decline since 2020 due to unrelated mental health concerns.

Speaking of mental health, the article claims that my mental health issues can be attributed to the Supprelin implant, however, my personal experience shows that this is not the case. Since Covid-19, my mental health has been declining, and it was already an issue.

I was in counseling with the Washington University transgender care center in which I was treated amazingly by my counselor. She was a friend to me and offered a great amount of support. This was taken away when my mom revoked consent for the Supprelin.

After she revoked consent, my father and I, along with the university, attempted to set up a meeting with my mom. She did not attend this meeting, claiming that she was not contacted. Later, she admitted that she was.

Originally tweeted by Alex 🏳️‍⚧️ (@SleepyOktobur) on April 4, 2023.

Why it matters 3, by Randy

Why it Matters III

WIM3 pic 1Perhaps it was a poor choice. Some would certainly say so, while others, me included, found it a fantastic and hilarious romp into the absurd. Nonetheless, wisdom be damned, there he was. Dressed as a woman. He said he felt there was no choice. He said it didn’t change who he was, only allowed what made him distinctive and what he found to be imperative the opportunity to exist rather than be closeted and slowly dying in the darkness, the loneliness, the loss of all that was dear. The person he was, the identity that he felt in his heart wouldn’t change with the dress, it wasn’t the dress or the men’s clothing that made him who he was, it was only the outward appearance shown to a world that rarely gave a damn.

WIM3 pic 2For a while, as he navigated this new life as a woman, he felt mostly complete. The children loved him as he watched over them, cared for them.

The stuffed bra was something to get used to, something he had to learn to reach around. The make-up was daunting, but convincing. The wigs, the garters and hose, and the dresses. They were new, different, and they allowed his genuine being to be there. In the mirror held his alter-ego, staring at him soul to soul, questioning his motives, his beliefs, his methods to obtain that which he realized was his greatest calling. We all have those moments; I do as I look into the mirror in the mornings as I prepare for my day. What will today bring? Who will I be when incidents and consequence calls? Do I even believe what I say I believe? Do I live what I believe?

WIM3 pic 3Perhaps you have already seen through my deception as I bring my most favorite and troubled actor’s great film into this debate. Robin Williams was the great storyteller, the comedian who made the world laugh. Who knew his pain?

Who knew, despite how he was loved, that he felt so alone and lost. Behind the makeup, behind the laughter, behind the scenes of all that drama he brought to us beat the heart of a man who would leave us all too soon. It became all too obvious that we never knew him at all. We never knew what worried him, what he feared, what demons chased his dreams. We laughed at his characters as he made it all right with the world and brought about a happy ending in just a couple hours. If only it would.

To all those struggling to be free, I pray you may be one day. Never give up. Never surrender.

Florida Moves Closer To Criminalizing Drag Shows

I would like everyone to notice Joe’s tweet at the end.  Pro-life pretenders in Florida legislators passed this b ill along with the anti-trans, don’t say gay bills, anti-woke bills, anti books with LGBTQ+ or race history all in the name of protecting the children, but they approve open carry with no training.   The amount of gun violence is already high here in Florida and will now go up.  How is this pro-life?   I don’t get it.    Hugs

 

Judge orders books removed from Texas public libraries due to LGBTQ and racial content must be returned within 24 hours

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/01/us/texas-book-ban-removed-library-replaced-judge/index.html

 
 
 
 
US District Judge Robert Pitman ruled that at least 12 books removed from public libraries must be placed back onto shelves within 24 hours.
CNN — 

A federal judge in Texas ruled that at least 12 books removed from public libraries by Llano County officials, many because of their LGBTQ and racial content, must be placed back onto shelves within 24 hours, according to an order filed Thursday.

Seven residents sued county officials in April 2022, claiming their First and 14th Amendment rights were violated when books deemed inappropriate by some people in the community and Republican lawmakers were removed from public libraries or access was restricted.

The lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio claimed county officials removed books from the shelves of the three-branch public library system “because they disagree with the ideas within them” and terminated access to thousands of digital books because they could not ban two specific titles.

Books ordered to return to shelves include “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson, “They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group” by Susan Campbell Bartoletti and “Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen” by Jazz Jennings.

The library system also is required to reflect these books as available in their catalog and cannot remove any books for any reason while the case is ongoing, US District Judge Robert Pitman said in his order.

“Although libraries are afforded great discretion for their selection and acquisition decisions, the First Amendment prohibits the removal of books from libraries based on either viewpoint or content discrimination,” Pitman said.

The fight to protect access to books comes amid a book banning boom, with an alarming increase in attempts to censor books in K-12 schools, universities and public libraries. Many of these efforts seek to pull books with LGBTQ characters or themes and are part of a broader, conservative-led movement to chisel away at the rights and status of LGBTQ Americans.

Many of the book bans have also been aimed at authors of color exploring history, racism or their own experiences in America.

“This is a ringing victory for democracy,” said Ellen Leonida, an attorney representing the plaintiffs in the Texas case. “The government cannot tell citizens what they can or can’t read. Our nation was founded on the free exchange of ideas, and banning books you disagree with is a direct attack on our most basic liberties.”

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Llano County officials have complied with the judge’s order.

Llano County Judge Ron Cunningham, county commissioners Jerry Don Moss, Peter Jones, Mike Sandoval, and Linda Raschke; library system director Amber Milum and four members of the Llano County library board, Bonnie Wallace, Rochelle Wells, Rhonda Schneider, and Gay Baskin, are named as co-defendants in the case. They did not respond to CNN requests for comment.

The defendants argued the books were removed as part of a regular “weeding” process following the library’s existing policies, but Pitman said there was clear influence from outside sources.

“Whether or not the books in fact qualified for ‘weeding’ under the library’s existing policies, there is no real question that the targeted review was directly prompted by complaints from patrons and county officials over the contents of these titles,” the judge wrote in his order.

“And, notably, there is no evidence that any of the books were slated to be reviewed for weeding prior to the receipt of these complaints; to the contrary, many other books eligible for weeding based on the same factors appear to have remained on the shelves for many years,” he said.

Complaints from community groups targeted multiple books they labeled as “pornographic filth” because they promoted “acceptance of LGBTQ views,” according to the order. These books were removed from the libraries, according to the order, as well as other books listed as “pornographic” that were about ” ‘critical race theory’ and related racial themes.”

In one email from community member Bonnie Wallace, who was later elected to the library board, she suggested “all the pastors to get involved in this. Perhaps they can organize a weekly prayer vigil on this specific issue. … May God protect our children from this FILTH.”

County commissioners also voted to dissolve the library board and replace it with a new “Library Advisory Board” that appointed multiple Llano County residents, including Wallace, who advocated for the book removals, the order said.

The new board required all new books to “be presented to and approved” by them before purchase, and staff librarians were banned from attending the new board’s meetings, according to the order.

Book bans aim to ‘suppress the voices’ of LGBTQ and communities of color

Dozens of books have been pulled from shelves in Texas, new policies expanding oversight of books are being drafted or already passed in multiple states, a Florida school district halted library purchases and a teacher resigned in Oklahoma over the censorship of books in classroom libraries.

In 2022, the number of attempts to censor library books reached an unparalleled record high since the American Library Association (ALA) began documenting data about book censorship over 20 years ago, ALA said in a March press release.

ALA cataloged 1,269 attempts in 2022; nearly double the number of challenges in 2021.

“A book challenge is a demand to remove a book from a library’s collection so that no one else can read it,” Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said in a statement. “Their aim is to suppress the voices of those traditionally excluded from our nation’s conversations, such as people in the LGBTQIA+ community or people of color.”

Schools are among those where book bans have been especially targeted. In 2022, Texas led the country with the most book bans – 713 – affecting 16 school districts, followed by Pennsylvania and Florida with 456 and 204 bans, respectively, according to an analysis by PEN America, a literary and free expression advocacy organization.

“Each attempt to ban a book by one of these groups represents a direct attack on every person’s constitutionally protected right to freely choose what books to read and what ideas to explore,” Caldwell-Stone said. “The choice of what to read must be left to the reader or, in the case of children, to parents. That choice does not belong to self-appointed book police.”