As everyone knows I love science and learning. I also really enjoy watching this YouTube channel. I should have posted this before. It is very informative and it is broken into segments you can use the timeline bar at the bottom to find the segments you most want to learn about. Hugs
Again gang thugs. Funny white supremacy and Nazis do not bother the republicans and churches but peaceful creative dress up does. But I see that these thugs are not getting the big crowds and backing they used to get, I think the good people are pushing back against this rule by gang violence. Hugs
Some demonstrators reportedly carried Patriot Front flags and shouted “white power.”
Anti-LGBTQ protesters in Chattanooga, TN Photo: Screenshot
A drag brunch in Chattanooga, Tennessee drew protest Sunday, in a scene that has become all too common over the past year.
The crowd of about 30 people outside the Seed Theater was reportedly organized by Chattanooga-based right-wing group Tennessee Neighbors for Liberty. But, as the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports, in photos and videos posted to social media, several protesters can be seen carrying flags bearing the logo of white supremacist group Patriot Front.
In one video, a protester appears to throw a Nazi salute and shout “white power.”
Protesters chanted slogans like “strong families, strong nation,” and “reclaim America,” and held signs saying “stop the abuse of children,” “groom dogs not children,” “cross-dressing is an abomination to the Lord,” and “You do not know what love is.”
They were met, however, by a group of counter-protesters, which was reportedly slightly larger, holding Pride flags and chanting “love will win.”
Police were present at the protest, but no incidents were reported, according to a Chattanooga Police Department spokesperson.
Elizabeth and Brenton Haley started the Seed Theater earlier this year to give LGBTQ people like their 15-year-old transgender son a place to feel safe.
“That’s what we hear more than anything from parents, especially for teachers and young people in those important formative years, they don’t have places their kids can go to,” Elizabeth Haley explained. “Having a safe space their children can come and experience community is really important.”
Sunday’s drag brunch, which was billed as an all-ages event, was the second show at the Seed Theater to draw protests. But Haley said that the backlash has actually led to an increase in support and donations to the theater.
“It’s been really great for our community, as difficult as it is,” she said. “It’s very clear that we have a strong and healthy presence of LGBTQ people and allies here in Chattanooga.”
Haley said that Sunday’s drag brunch sold out all 80 tickets.
Earlier this month, Tennessee Republicans introduced a bill that would ban any “adult cabaret performance” — including “topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest” — on public property within view of anyone who is not an adult.
They want a Christian country forcing everyone to follow her churches dictates and morality. She is not even interested in thinking for herself, nor what the opinions or how others want to live their lives. She wants the authority over them, she feels entitled to do it. I get so sick of these people. She wants to live by her church rules great, she may go for it. But I don’t belong to her church and should be forced to live by her demands. Nor should the schools, libraries, and kids have to regress to have society fit in with her religion. Plus the usual equating positive LGBTQ+ messages with sexual grooming of kids. Do these people even understand what grooming is? Hugs
The town voted against a property tax to fund the library after conservatives claimed it was “grooming” children.
A town in western Michigan voted again to defund its local library after claims that it was “grooming” children by making LGBTQ books available.
Last Tuesday, 56% of Jamestown Township voters voted against a small property tax used to provide 80% of the funding to keep the local Patmos Library open.
“They are trying to groom our children to believe that it’s OK to have these sinful desires,” said Amanda Ensing, one of the people who campaigned against the library. “It’s not a political issue, it’s a Biblical issue.”
The library has been targeted by local conservatives all year for having LGBTQ books in its collection, including books like Spinning and Kiss Number 8. Both books have teen girl characters who discuss their feelings for other girls. Library officials said that the library has about 90 books with LGBTQ themes in its 67,000-book collection.
The library agreed to keep the most controversial book – asexual and nonbinary author Maia Kobabe’s memoir Gender Queer – behind the main desk so that people would have to ask a librarian to read it, but that wasn’t enough to satisfy the conservatives.
“Pray that we can make changes and make the Patmos Library a safe and neutral place for our children,” said a flyer from one of the local organizations, Jamestown Conservative, this summer.
Two library directors resigned as a result of the hateful messages they received from conservative residents.
The Patmos Library’s funding was on the ballot in the August primary elections, and voters rejected the tax used to pay for the library in that election.
“50% Millage INCREASE to GROOM our kids? Vote NO on Library!” one sign that was directly across the street from the library said, using the regional term “millage” to refer to the property tax.
The story made national headlines. The attention raised over $100,000 for the library in donations, which could cover part of its $245,000 yearly budget. But the library hoped to still get local citizens to pay for their library and put the tax question back on the ballot to ensure the library’s funding over the next decade.
“However, we know very clearly that what this library needs to remain open over the long term is to pass the 10-year levy renewal in November,” the library board wrote in a statement thanking donors for the outpouring of funding. “We cannot run the Patmos Public Library for the next decade without stable taxpayer support.”
“If the levy passes, we will remain a public library and use the donations to add to our capacities. If the levy fails, we will put these donations to work in the best way we can for as long as we can.”
Ensing, who called the issue “Biblical,” said that she didn’t even want the library to close. She just wanted the votes to be a “wake-up call” for the library’s directors.
“A wake-up call to what?” library board director Larry Walton asked. “To take LGBTQ books off the shelf and then they will give us money? What do you call that? Ransom? We stand behind the fact that our community is made up of a very diverse group of individuals, and we as a library cater to the diversity of our community.”
He added that the library provides many services to the community, including free wireless access to people who can’t afford internet access otherwise. Even the community room that was used for voting will have to be closed if the library is closed.
The tax in question is about $24 on houses with a market value of over $250,000.
This story has a good ending even though it starts with bigotry. For those that claim they shouldn’t have used a Catholic cemetery the surviving spouse asked if it would be a problem and was told no it was acceptable and fine, it would be no problem. First the cemetery tried to ignore and avoid the spouse after they defaced his memorial stone. But a law suit where they were looking at having to pay a big damage award brought them right around to not only apologizing to offering to replace the stone with the wording the spouse wishes.
“Somebody just decided that [our marriage] doesn’t count,” the surviving husband said.
The headstone, before it was changed Photo: Screenshot
Darrell Frye of Dayton, Ohio is speaking out after he says a Christian cemetery “purposefully” removed the date of their marriage from his late husband’s headstone, which originally had both of their names and the date they were married.
“Somebody just decided that that doesn’t count,” Frye said about his marriage with Jason Neto, who passed away in 2020.
Frye and Neto met in 2006 and got married in 2016, about a year after marriage equality was legalized in Ohio.
In 2020, tragedy struck when Neto died of a heart attack. Frye purchased a plot in the Catholic Calvary Cemetery because Neto was raised Catholic.
“I chose the St. Kateri preserve because that was very much in the spirit of what Jason was as a person,” he told WHIO. “I knew this was a Catholic cemetery, and I point-blank asked, ‘Is this going to be a problem that we’re a gay couple and buying a plot here?’”
He said that he was told that it wasn’t a problem, so he bought an engraved memorial boulder to honor Neto. He decided to “keep it simple” when deciding what to write on the boulder because of a 30-character limit, and he chose to include the line “Married 23 July 2016.”
The boulder was installed a year later and it said what it was supposed to at first. But then Frye went to visit the plot in mid-October and he didn’t see the boulder.
“I came out here and it was gone, just gone,” he said.
He went to ask Cavalry Cemetery about what happened and he was told that it was taken in for maintenance. But when it was brought back, the text had been altered.
“The line about our marriage was just erased. They dug into rock to erase our relationship.”
Frye tried to talk to the cemetery staff about it, but he couldn’t get ahold of anyone. So he hired a lawyer and now he’s coming forward with his story.
“It’s just part of life as a gay man in America in 2022,” he said.
WHIO tried contacting Cavalry Cemetery by email, phone, and with a visit to their office, and they finally got a statement: “In consideration of the family we will communicate directly with them, and release a statement at the appropriate time.”
Frye said that he met with them in early November.
“I have met with the leadership team at Calvary,” he said on November 3. “They have offered a full and unconditional apology for their mistake and expressed a sincere interest in making amends and in restoring the memorial boulder to its original state or an acceptable equivalent.”
Cavalry then told WHIO that Frye’s statement was “accurate and much appreciated.”
“We will be working with the engraver to restore the memorial immediately,” they said.
They are doing the same thing with the don’t say gay bills. Linking being gay or trans with child sex abuse. And it works on the uninformed or those that don’t care about the truth. Teachers are groomers, acceptance by others and tolerance programs are pushing kids in to being gay or forcing them to transition to a different gender. And people buy into it because the truth is harder to accept, that there have always been gay and trans kids they just feel more comfortable being open and themselves now. Hugs
They’re using their favorite trick: linking LGBTQ equality to child sex abuse.
Mat Staver, chair of the anti-LGBTQ hate group Liberty Counsel, is warning his organization’s followers that the bill to codify same-sex and interracial marriage will lead to “pedophilic marriages.”
“Because this bill also forces same-sex marriage on every state, Senate Majority Leader [Chuck] Schumer is bowing to the powerful LGBTQ lobby to pass this bill by THIS WEEK—no matter the consequences, or the pedophilic marriages that will result,” Staver wrote in an email.
“Texas law protecting minor children from pedophilic ‘marriages’ will not matter if Chuck Schumer passes H.R. 8404,” he continued. Texas allows child marriage. “This bill would require every state to honor and obey the marriage laws of any other state—no matter how crazy. California, for instance, has no age limit for marriage.”
The Respect for Marriage Act (or H.R. 8404) would require every state and the federal government to recognize marriages performed in other states. Proponents of the law argue that it’s necessary in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, which shared some of the same legal reasoning as the Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage in 2015. Justice Clarence Thomas also urged the Supreme Court to reconsider Obergefell now that Roe has been overturned, a sign that the Court may be coming for same-sex marriage rights as well.
Staver is referring to the many states that allow minors to marry, usually with parental consent, consent of a judge, or if the minor is pregnant or emancipated. Texas, for example, allows emancipated 16- and 17-year-olds to get married. California allows minors to get married with parental consent and if a judge rules out abuse or coercion.
Democrats in several states have tried to change these laws in recent years, but it’s usually conservative Republicans who block raising the marriage age to 18 for everyone.
Staver – who used to be the dean of the evangelical Liberty University’s law school – implied in his email that 16-year-olds being told to marry 40-year-olds doesn’t count as child marriage – even though 16-year-olds are minors – showing the lenient attitude many Christian conservatives have toward child marriage.
In Idaho in 2019, for example, Democrats tried to pass a law to ban marrying someone under the age of 16, but the bill ultimately failed to pass the state house. One Republican lawmaker said that banning child marriage would endanger the “sanctity of family.”
Conservative activists have been using this fact to point out that other states will be required to recognize child marriages performed out of state, even though many already do now. Meanwhile, the threat of states not recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states is very real; many states were refusing to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states less than a decade ago.
The point, though, is to link LGBTQ people to child sex abuse, one of the most common tactics hate groups use to turn people against LGBTQ equality.
In a tweet, Liberty Counsel Action wrote, “U.S. senators are working to pass HR 8404, which will force all states to recognize and honor horrific, abusive child ‘marriages’ with zero age limits! Radicals are ‘OK’ pushing it because some homosexuals could then wed, including child-brides!”
U.S. senators are working to pass HR 8404, which will force all states to recognize and honor horrific, abusive child “marriages” with zero age limits! Radicals are "OK" pushing it because some homosexuals could then wed, including child-brides! More@ https://t.co/iZKBAuVMyb
Despite the organization’s newfound concern with child marriage, it is not listed as one of the issues Liberty Counsel supports on their website. They do not appear to have any active lobbying campaigns to end child marriage at the state level.
Earlier this month, the anti-LGBTQ organization NOM made similar statements about the Respect for Marriage Act. Since the Respect for Marriage Act will not immediately change anything – marriage equality is currently legal in all 50 states – NOM also accused the bill of “forcing every state to accept polygamous marriages, men marrying child brides and every other perverse type of ‘marriage.’”
The bill was delayed, in part, to address Republican senators’ concerns and to give them the freedom to vote in favor of it without having to worry about upsetting their base of Republican voters before the November 8 midterm elections.
What have I been trying to tell everyone? This has nothing to do with school kids or with parent’s rights, it is about making the LGBTQ+ / gay / trans kids / people disappear from society so these asshole religious and conservative types can feel comfortable and happy
One advocate said the bill wants “to force trans people out of public life and restrict gender-affirming care access for all trans people, regardless of age.”
Transgender Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider will testify Wednesday morning in the Ohio legislature against a bill that would block transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming medical care and require teachers to out trans kids to their unaccepting parents.
“It’s so important that LGBTQ+ Ohioans and those who love them fight to protect the children whose health and safety would be endangered by this misguided legislation,” Schneider, said in a statement released by Equality Ohio, the state’s LGBTQ advocacy organization.
The bill — H.B. 454 or the “Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act” — would outlaw the use of puberty blockers, hormones, and gender-reassignment surgical procedures on children under 18. It would forbid government funds or health insurance coverage from going toward individuals or organizations facilitating such care. It would also allow medical providers to be sued or face professional discipline for providing such care.
Additionally, the bill forbids teachers from withholding “from a minor’s parent or legal guardian information related to [a] minor’s perception that his or her gender is inconsistent with his or her sex,” forcing teachers to out students they suspect of being trans or non-binary.
Like most similar legislation, the bill’s actual text contains falsehoods, misrepresentations, and claims not backed up by any supporting evidence.
It claims that the “vast majority” of trans kids “identify with their biological sex in adolescence or adulthood” but provides no evidence for this claim. It says trans kids should pursue mental health care services before getting “extreme” hormonal and surgical interventions. (Most do. Genital surgeries aren’t performed on trans minors, and most hormone treatments are reversible.)
The legislation says doctors don’t understand the long-term effects of puberty blockers, even though such medications have been used for decades for kids with certain types of cancer. The legislation also lists the risks and side effects of gender-affirming medications and surgeries, even though all medical treatments and procedures have risks and side effects.
The bill is based on the idea that medical professionals are pushing transitional treatments upon gender non-conforming kids who’ve been peer-pressured into so-called “rapid onset gender dysphoria.” But no studies indicate that this is happening, and there’s a big difference between gender non-conforming kids and trans ones. Namely, trans kids consistently and persistently insist that they are trans.
“The risks of gender transition procedures far outweigh any benefit,” the legislation claims, even though numerous studies have shown that gender-affirming care reduces suicides and mental distress among trans youth.
Transgender young people who spoke with The Columbus Dispatch reported feeling frustrated over waiting for puberty blockers while their bodies change in undesirable ways. Even if a trans teen sees a mental health professional and is diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and gender dysphoria, this proposed law would force them to wait before receiving any gender-affirming treatment.
All major American medical associations recommend gender-affirming care for trans youth.
If Ohio passes its ban, it’ll be the third state to pass such a law. At least 15 other states have introduced similar legislation. Only Arkansas and Alabama have passed a ban so far, and a federal judge quickly blocked Arkansas’s from going into effect, and another judge blocked part of Alabama’s. Other states have blocked various insurers from funding such care, and Florida passed a ban through two state medical boards but not the legislature.
Olivia Hunt, policy director at the National Center for Transgender Equality, told The 19th the real goal of these bills is “to force trans people out of public life and restrict gender-affirming care access for all trans people, regardless of age.”
Wow. My good brother I met when I really needed a brother is like 6’6″ or maybe 6’8″ and he seems huge to me. His hands go completely around cups or glasses and do not fit in finger handles. The type of great wonderfully natured guy you could cuddle with disappearing into him. My brother has to duck going into most places and even my own home. I used the ring tone Big John.
He stood six-foot-six and weighed two-forty-five Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip And everybody knew ya didn’t give no lip to big John
I cannot imagine a guy even taller than that. 6’11” how does he even fit in a car, or a normal table seat. Imagine him at your table for dinner, his knees would hit the bottom of the table and to eat he would have to bend down very far to eat every bit or lift the plate. How uncomfortable. But think of everything else in your home. Imagine if everything in your home was at the level of an elementary student, of say a 5th grader. I have gone into bathrooms at theme parks and seen all these urinals at like half height, like if I was to use them my crotch would be at the top or over the fixture. So if you think how it is to stand at your counter or sit on your toilet, now expand yourself to 6’6″ or 6’11”. My god how do you sit on a normal toilet and not have your knees in your chin. Ok I will stop now and get to the article. I watched the video and remember this is a macho man sport and it made my eyes leak. Hugs
Australian basketball pro and former NBA player Isaac Humphries has come out as gay, becoming the only openly gay player currently in a top-tier men’s basketball league.
Humphries, who is 24-years-old and stands at 6’11”, had previously told himself that when he joined a new team, he would publicly come out. So when signed on to play for Melbourne United in the 2022-23 season, he bravely kept his word, and then some.
In a video shared on social media that instantly went viral, the starting center not only revealed he’s gay to his teammates, he also spoke from the heart about his past struggles and offered a hopeful message to closeted athletes. He also penned an emotional op-ed on CNN.
His new team’s reaction was also filmed, and it’s truly inspiring to see them embrace him so fully:
“A few years ago, I fell into a very dark place, a very lonely place,” Humphries said to his United teammates, coaches, and executives.
“I couldn’t be who I am, and I attempted to take my life. The main reason behind me becoming so low and being in that point is because I was very much struggling with my sexuality and coming to terms with the fact that I’m gay.
“I hated it about myself. I was disgusted at myself. I thought that I could not be that person within our environment, within a basketball environment. It wasn’t until I was in a community that’s full of pride and happiness and joy; it was a big wake up call for me.
“But then came the big question mark of how do I be a basketball player, and how do I join a new team when I’ve finally come to terms with this about myself and I don’t wanna hide who I am anymore. I decided that, if I’m gonna join a team, that I’m gonna come out publicly, and just make sure people know that you can live. And you don’t have to hide, just because you’re an athlete.”
Humphries is just the second male basketball player to come out as gay while playing in a top-tier league, after former NBA player Jason Collins came out while playing for the Washington Wizards in 2013.
“We, as athletes, as professional athletes, have a responsibility to set examples for people,” Humphries said.
“The truth is there are so many people in other worlds that are struggling every single day and don’t know how to get up, don’t know how to exist. I know how that feels, and I want to represent those people.
“That’s my goal behind this: make sure people know you can be whatever you want, no matter who you are or what you do. You can be big Ice and be gay, and you can still be a great basketball player and be gay. You can do whatever you want. It has nothing to do with your sexuality, or who you are, or who you’re meant to be, or who you’re expected to be. I just want to be myself. I discovered this is my purpose in life, and I’m gonna give it my best go.”
“Our whole organization is just so proud of Isaac,” United’s CEO, Nick Truelson, added.
Here’s some more from this instant icon’s Instagram:
The courage it took for you to have this conversation and openness it amazing. Much respect to you. I’ve followed you while at #BBN UK and still do. Continue to do great things and being an inspiration. #BBN 💙
The courage it took for you to have this conversation and openness it amazing. Much respect to you. I’ve followed you while at #BBN UK and still do. Continue to do great things and being an inspiration. #BBN 💙
Thank you, Isaac. It’s time the sports world takes this step forward and welcomes people to be more honest about who they really are. You’re one of the leaders and you’re helping to create more by sharing these words.
One of the things the anti-trans people like to push is the myth that many kids who identify as a different gender than the one assigned at birth simply grow out of it. Their idea is these kids are brainwashed or conned into thinking they are a different gender. That is wrong. I had that idea pushed by an anti-trans person here on my blog and it did manage to create confusion and misinform some of my viewers. I have made every effort to point out the truth of the situation, that what the right wing is pushing is a lie. Science and real research show that about 98% of kids who have a different gender identification from birth assigned gender maintain that and are happy they transitioned. That shoots down one of the biggest talking points of the TERFs and other anti-trans bigots. If you are on the fence about trans issues because you doubt that gender identification can be different than assigned at birth gender, then you are part of the ones that claim that sexual orientation / attraction is a choice and a phase kids go through. Just as time and medical studies have shown how completely wrong that is and that sexual attraction is a spectrum, the same is true with gender identification being separate from birth gender. If you think it is being over blown because you are a cis straight person who did not have an issue with your gender or sexual orientation, think about how that is like a white person saying they think racism towards black people is over blown because you never felt it directed towards you in your life. Hugs
In a large patient pool, 98% of trans youth who took puberty blockers ended up choosing hormone therapy.
The study, published October 20 in The Lancet, a prestigious and long-running medical journal, reviewed information from the Amsterdam Cohort of Gender Dysphoria about trans patients who took puberty blockers before turning 18. Researchers examined the medical records of 720 patients at Amsterdam UMC’s Center for Expertise on Gender Dysphoria who had historically received at least three months of puberty blockers as minors, and attempted to determine how many of those patients had an active prescription for hormone replacement therapy on file as of December 31, 2018.
Of the entire cohort, 704 were found to have active HRT prescriptions at the end of the data collection period — a massive 98% of the patients analyzed.
As for the remaining 2%, researchers cautioned that the absence of data doesn’t mean they necessarily returned to identifying with their gender assigned at birth; most of those 16 had undergone some form of gonadectomy as part of their transition-related care, researchers noted, and may not realize they still need hormone treatment to avoid osteoporosis or other conditions. Others could be nonbinary and not desire further hormonal treatment, or may have been pressured into halting treatment by outside stressors, such as unaccepting family members.
“I think it’s an important finding because we see that most of these people continue to use gender-affirming hormones,” said Marianne van der Loos, the paper’s lead author and a physician at Amsterdam UMC’s gender identity clinic, in an interview with NPR.
Her clinic emphasizes mental health care as a part of transitioning, van der Loos explained, so due to that support, “it’s not really surprising that so many people continue to [receive] treatment later on.” (Conversely, an American Medical Association report in February confirmed that lack of access to puberty blockers or hormone therapy was strongly correlated with poor mental health and suicidal ideation among trans youth.)
The Amsterdam study’s findings affirm previous research into the persistence of gender identity among trans youth, and illustrate some of the challenges in identifying why a small number of people halt or reverse their medical transitions. Another study of over 300 young people from the Princeton Trans Youth Project published in May indicated that around 97.5% persisted in identifying as trans and/or nonbinary at the end of a five-year study period.
These studies increasingly demonstrate that the ongoing conservative freakout over gender identity and trans “desistance” is, at best, a massive overreaction. In an interview on liberal comedian Jon Stewart’s show The Problem earlier this month, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge claimed that 98% of gender-dysphoric youth will eventually identify as cisgender — not only an “incredibly made-up” statistic, as Stewart noted, but per the Amsterdam and Princeton studies, precisely the inverse of what is true.
As trans youth around the world face opposition to their medical needs due to cisgender politicians’ ignorance and bigotry, it’s important to have as much information about our lived experiences as possible. The reality is that trans kids aren’t a “social contagion,” nor are they sad, deluded teenagers; they’re just young people who deserve care and support, like everyone else.
This is an end run to enforcing anti-trans ideology. Think on it, first banning cross dressing in a business as sex, then doing it for any place in public. How is that different from the Taliban forcing women to wear a set type of clothing. Will the Texas moral police then arrest women who are wearing pants. This shit has to stop. How is this not against the much cried about “freedom”? Also since when is cross dressing a sex act? Really if I wear a skirt / dress I am now having sex and so it should be done only in private? What will they try to classify as sex next? I was going to add a list of actors that performed in drag on TV or in movies but after googling it the lists got so long it would take the entire post. It is endless from serious performers, to comedians, including famous stars from the past to big stars of today. Google it yourself. As this post says what about Broadway shows? This is about pushing a religious moral standard from 2,500 years ago where the prohibitions against wearing the other sex clothing was implemented due to women being basically property at the time. The culture has changed endless time since then. Think on it, we don’t wear the same clothing they did then do we? We wear mixed fabrics now don’t we, even the fundie religious do. But these hyper right wing conservatives want to return to a time when they were more comfortable because everyone was just like them or so they thought. Hugs.
A filed Monday would classify any business that decides to host a drag show under the state’s statutory definition of “sexually oriented businesses.” The bill, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Jared Patterson, defines a drag performer as anyone who “exhibits a gender identity that is different than the performer’s gender assigned at birth “by using “clothing, makeup, or other physical markers” and “sings, lip syncs, dances, or otherwise performs” in front of an audience.
The current definition of “sexually oriented businesses” includes any venue where two or more people perform nude and alcohol is served. Those businesses are bound by special limitations, including a misdemeanor charge on par with vehicle burglary for the business owner if anyone under age 18 is let in. Patrons must be charged entrance fees of at least $5 at such venues, according to Texas statutes.
This is a literal ban on trans people performing in any capacity. A trans actor in a musical singing would suddenly make it "drag" and thus result in the play venue being labeled a "sexually oriented business."
— Alejandra Caraballo is on Threads/Bluesky (@Esqueer_) November 15, 2022
Any venue that hosts "drag" events would be considered a "sexually oriented business" and must never allow a minor to enter at all, not just during the event. Not only that, it imposes a $5 fee per person on any business that hosts a drag event.
— Alejandra Caraballo is on Threads/Bluesky (@Esqueer_) November 15, 2022
It also incorporates the ability of the Attorney General to sue and enjoin any business that violates this law. Thus, Ken Paxton would have the legal authority to sue any venue that hosts a drag performance and potentially close it down.
— Alejandra Caraballo is on Threads/Bluesky (@Esqueer_) November 15, 2022
— Alejandra Caraballo is on Threads/Bluesky (@Esqueer_) November 15, 2022
Shows that will no longer be performed in Texas: Victor/Victoria, Chicago, La Cage Au Folles, Some Like It Hot, Hairspray, Rent, Kinky Boots, Peter Pan, M. Butterfly, Matilda, Hegwig and the Angry Inch, Spamalot…. pic.twitter.com/XUZPzWv7IN
Under this newly proposed Texas law, @Harry_Styles would effectively be banned from performing in Texas. It's not just a law against trans or drag, it polices anyone who violates gender norms with clothing. It creates huge liabilities for businesses that allow "them" to perform. https://t.co/1NpSthFhB2pic.twitter.com/b1OZQjt8zq
Russia today…any gay public display of any kind is banned! From holding hands to trans people to pride flags, gay businesses…everything! Gay people are now essentially invisible again in Russia.
I haven’t been to a drag show in 40 years. They are almost a rarity around here now that so many gay bars have closed. You have to search them out. But Abbott and his crew need a culture war to start since they have no way to improve the lives of Americans, and no way to stay in power other than by inciting division, fear and prejudice.
All the world’s a stage, we are all merely players.
Call the police on everyone who isn’t totally gender conforming. That man has long hair, lock him up! That woman isn’t wearing makeup, lock her up! That child is/isn;’t playing with a doll, lock them up111111
Do you see the new talking point at levels? Children! Protect the children, children make a marriage, indoctrinate the children with conservative dogma. Why are they focused on children when not all straight couples can produce children? Well I think in the Old Testament barren people cannot enter the temples. Plus that is how they are pushing the anti-gay / trans bills. Think of the children. It is how they get people to accept not following best medical practices is by invoking the children and the idea that kids don’t know their gender or sexual orientation until they are adults. Plus they managed to swing the abortion debate to their arguments based on the idea that it was murder of children, even though we all know a fetus is not a human child. They get people to ignore the pregnant person by claiming that it is a child, don’t you love the innocent child. Mean sexual woman wants to put her needs over the needs of a child. Boo, Boo, bad woman. That is why the right is focused and using the children. “Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man.” philosopher Aristotle
“If you vote in favor of the idea that society has an obligation to recognize male-male or female-female dyads, in the same way that society has an obligation to recognize male, female, you should not be in the Republican party.
“You shouldn’t, okay? The reason I say this is not because I wish to shrink the size of the Republican party — because if the fundamental basis of human society is male, female child and you think that by passing a law you can change to that reality, you do not belong in government.
“It’s a very simple proposition. Men and men are not the same as a man and a woman who are capable of becoming one flesh and producing a child.
“This is not difficult stuff. Many Republicans will be tempted to vote for this simply to avoid the conflict. So that people don’t yell at them. ‘Oh my gosh, you’re not respecting! Love is love! The love is love argument was always bull crap.” – Ben Shapiro, on today’s podcast.
Ben Shapiro tells any Republican senator voting for the codification of same-sex marriage: "You should not be in the Republican Party" pic.twitter.com/qmM4JJk4rJ
Not every male/female marriage produces children. Many gay marriages do have children whether by adoption, surrogate or previous relationships. Many babies are produced with no marriage at all. This man has his head way up his a$$.
If we were going to limit marriage to couples with children it should still include ALL couples with children. But what these bigots want is to restrict it to heterosexual couples with or without children and excluding all same sex couples, again whether or not they have children. His dishonest rationalization doesn’t support his policy.
Old people marriages don’t serve the societal function of producing children.
If you believe post-menopausal women should be allowed to get married, you do not belong in the Republican Party.
It’s not that we hate post-menopausal women. We just recognize that they are no longer capable of serving their function as incubators for Young Republicans™, and are therefore not as deserving of rights as fertile women, let alone men, particularly impressive specimens of masculinity like me, Ben Shapiro.
He’s just pissed off because a major part of his and many others’ grift operation is about to go away. So he’s doing what a good little conservative does, he’s crying like a little baby.
No, but we can f**king adopt. And with the state of the foster care system, you should be applauding those gay couples that adopt these children. You have no shame.
Well, we do have the ability to invoke earthquakes, we control the weather, and we’re totally capable of defying Biblegod’s every edict merely by thinking about it. We’re that powerful.
I’m reminded of Richard Posner’s 7th Circuit marriage ruling.
The] government thinks that straight couples tend to be sexually irresponsible, producing unwanted children by the carload, and so must be pressured (in the form of government encouragement of marriage through a combination of sticks and carrots) to marry, but that gay couples, unable as they are to produce children wanted or unwanted, are model parents—model citizens really—so have no need for marriage.
…
Heterosexuals get drunk and pregnant, producing unwanted children; their reward is to be allowed to marry. Homosexual couples do not produce unwanted children; their reward is to be denied the right to marry. Go figure.
No, Ben, despite all of your efforts for the last several thousand years to erase gay people at best, or to eradicate gay people at worse, you have continually failed because you continue to spout the nonsense you just did. Male and female making a child is not the only basis of society. But it just bothers you no end that other people are important, too. I’m sure if you were Jewish you would understand that your logic is exactly the same in Christinity that reached its culmination about 100 years ago.
Anti-LGBTQ protesters in Chattanooga, TN Photo: Screenshot
Photo: Shutterstock
The headstone, before it was changed Photo: Screenshot
Photo: Shutterstock
Amy Schneider Photo: YouTube screenshot
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