Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants his office to help defend Llano County officials being sued for restricting and banning books from their public library system. In a court filing, Paxton asked Austin-based federal district court Judge Robert Pitman to let the state intervene in the lawsuit, which was filed by seven Llano County residents.
If Pitman grants the motion, Paxton’s office could aid the county judge, county commissioners and library director in fighting the lawsuit. Books removed from the library include Maurice Sendak’s “In the Night Kitchen” and Susan Campbell Bartoletti’s “They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants his office to help defend Llano County officials being sued for restricting and banning books from their public library system. #TXlegehttps://t.co/cNukzBOs92
When given a choice, Republicans show repeatedly, consistently they have no true principles. “Principles” are just a shield or a weapon to achieve the goal of power. They abandon those very same principles the very second it’s useful to do so. Do they care about the First Amendment now? No. Have they ever. Only when it’s ever been convenient to them.
But Republicans fight to the death over defending books that depict racist stereotypes and caricatures. They lost their collective little mind over Dr. Seuss books with clear racist overtones being taken off school shelves. Something anti-racist and educational, though? Suddenly banning books is fine. Patriotic, even.
Books removed from the library include Maurice Sendak’s “In the Night Kitchen” and Susan Campbell Bartoletti’s “They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group”
In a society run by Texan GQPers, all public libraries will have the identical offerings as your local Christian bookstore and church waiting room, as well as the same propaganda as Stormfront.
I’m so tired of the cranky contrarians in the center and left who only see “cancel culture” as happening on college campuses or in civil rights movements. Will they call this out, but will the likes of Bill Maher continue to obsessively condemn trans folks who speak out against Dave Chappelle?
Ethan Schmidt, a friend of Arizona MAGA candidate Kari “KKKari” Lake, was arrested on an outstanding warrant on Sunday in Mesa.
Schmidt showed up at a March For Our Lives rally with an assault weapon. Then, he found out what happens when you show up at an anti-gun rally with an assault weapon.
This is the same fine person who said he’d be “hunting LGBT supporters” at Target stores during Pride Month and also has been filmed harassing Black Lives Matter protesters.
Schmidt previously appeared on JMG when he harassed cancer patients at a wig store for wearing masks.
In January, he was banned from the Arizona Capitol after harassing a black lawmaker, saying that his mask was a “slave muzzle.”
In February, he earned national headlines when he berated store employees for selling Black History Month items.
Earlier this month he was detained after his group harassed abortion rights protesters and his accomplice was arrested for assault.
According to the Tucson Sentinel, Schmidt is currently awaiting trial for DUI. In a video posted to Reddit, Schmidt can be seen flaunting his ankle monitor.
Ethan Schmidt was arrested after harassing people at the March For Our Lives rally in Phoenix. pic.twitter.com/SofYObVcBi
Ethan Schmidt, a right wing provocateur who has made videos with Kari Lake, Wendy Rogers, and Paul Gosar, warned Target he will “hunt LGBT supporters” in their stores and across Phoenix in June, stating they “are not safe” and they “can’t hide.” pic.twitter.com/O3ReHVN3qY
Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers made a video promoting Ethan Schmidt, who is now stating he will “hunt LGBT supporters” at Target and across Phoenix. pic.twitter.com/1CBmJGHYvN
Kari Lake appeared in a video promoting Ethan Schmidt’s account.
Kari Lake refuses to publicly denounce Ethan who is now stating he will “hunt LGBT supporters” at Target and across Phoenix. pic.twitter.com/FB9Ue831G9
My question as well. In my opinion, just threatening to hunt people down and shoot them should be a crime. I thought it was. Silly me. I guess they’ll be giving him a $300 bail and give his gun back when they release him.
What is most pathetic about people like him and people of his ilk is that he has no ideology except hate. Anything he disagrees with is all about the 2nd amendment and using weapons to take back their lives. They really don’t understand what they are hating. They just threaten against anything they disagree with. Very sad and very republican.
Another dumb fuck who has had stupid hammered into him He has no clue what the second amendment mean but can only parrot ‘second amendment second amendment. These people have always been around but have achieved a high degree legitimacy under X#45 . Lethal confrontation has become an accepted norm
It has been revealed that Kevin Ranaghan, the founder of the Christian fundamentalist group the People of Praise, of who Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is a powerful member, controlled almost the entire life of a female member of the group. Kevin and his wife Dorothy allegedly had multiple inappropriate instances with the woman’s children in addition to controlling financial decisions and dating relationships. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian discuss on The Young Turks.
“The founder of the People of Praise, a secretive charismatic Christian group that counts the supreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett as a member, was described in a sworn affidavit filed in the 1990s as exerting almost total control over one of the group’s female members, including making all decisions about her finances and dating relationships.
The court documents also described alleged instances of a sexualized atmosphere in the home of the founder, Kevin Ranaghan, and his wife, Dorothy Ranaghan.
The description of the Ranaghans and accusations involving their intimate behavior were contained in a 1993 proceeding in which a woman, Cynthia Carnick, said that she did not want her five minor children to have visitations with their father, John Roger Carnick, who was then a member of the People of Praise, in the Ranaghan household or in their presence, because she believed it was not in her children’s “best interest”. Cynthia Carnick also described inappropriate incidents involving the couple and the Ranaghan children. The matter was eventually settled between the parties.””
I want to thank Ali for sending me the link for this article. I find it to be well written and informative. Ali also has a comment in the comment section which I will try to post but if you go to the link remember where this newspaper is located and be prepared for the hateful things said in the comment sections. Some people are very proud of their ignorance and bigotry. Hugs
Commentary by Devin McCue, Sumner Newscow — Happy Friday. On Monday, Louisiana became the 18th state to target children who just want to play sports without someone looking at their genitals.
The legislation is ironically named the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” despite the fact it does just the opposite. It expressly bans transgender students from participating on the correct sports teams because Republicans believe it gives them an unfair advantage.
Actually, the belief is that trans girls have that advantage because of their testosterone injections. Trans boys will still be allowed to play, but I imagine they’ll change their minds as soon as a trans boy starts winning enough matches/games.
Before going further, here are a few quick facts:
Talent in sports varies as widely in the trans community as in the cis community and a person’s genetic makeup and internal and external reproductive anatomy are not useful indicators of athletic performance;
Since it’s Pride month and these bills aren’t likely to go away until they’re declared unconstitutional, CultureCow is here to direct you to a Hulu original documentary called Changing the Game.
Changing the Game follows three high school athletes who happen to be trans and all the vitriol they have to endure from raving adults. The kids come from Texas, Connecticut, and New Hampshire and have wildly different upbringings, but one thing is consistent: they just want to compete.
Mack is from Texas and is forced to compete in the girls’ wrestling division despite transitioning far before that. This actually isn’t as uncommon as you’d believe, but Mack is a special case because he’s dominating. People complain that he has an unfair advantage and Mack agrees, but Texas’ shameful policies force him to compete in the competitions “aligned with his birth certificate.”
Andraya runs track in Connecticut under the appropriate girls’ division but suffers the same transphobia as Mack. Her state allows her to compete with her gender identity, but can’t force parents (whose kids are never concerned as they are) from making asses out of themselves.
Sarah Rose races in Nordic skiing in New Hampshire and receives some of the hate that her costars do, but to a lesser extent. Because she isn’t winning every race. Despite what conservatives would call “her competitive advantage,” Sarah Rose is a middling athlete like the vast majority of trans kids.
Changing the Game is an important documentary because it’s the first one that actually takes the issue from the kids’ point of view. Most people who support these draconian policies say they do so “to protect their children,” but never seem to care what the kids actually go through.
These athletes just want to compete like all the other kids, but they have to put up with fear-mongers and professional liars like Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan who are shameful enough to politicize their existence. What makes this film special though isn’t just the bravery these kids exhibit, but the human experiences they go through like every other teenager, whether that be love, parental relationships, or just growing up in general.
If you find yourself sympathetic to the idea that this is a left vs. right issue, you’ll also want to watch to observe Mack’s grandma. A gun-toting, Christian, Republican, police officer who hasn’t changed her mind on any issue, but still supports her grandson entirely. Be like her, and let kids play.
Unfortunately, Louisiana’s transphobic bill isn’t the only state legislation making the news.
A Texas GOP lawmaker plans to file legislation next session that would ban any event that includes drag-performers that minors could attend. This comes after years of conservative backlash to the immensely popular drag queen story hours and likely won’t pass.
Like in the above story, however, in these people’s quest to “protect the children,” no one seems to care what those children actually think.
Kids love drag story time and every queen and school or library that’s done it has raved about how fun and successful it was. The American Library Association even released an explicit statement in support of the practice, which included a list of resources for anyone hoping to bring it to their library.
Getting kids to read is the actual best way to protect them, but I guess if we did that, there’d stop being conservatives in a few decades…
People (*cough* homophobes *cough*) like to complain that drag shows are inappropriate because they can “corrupt” the children’s minds, but that doesn’t make any sense. Firstly, if your sexuality is so flimsy that it can waver after watching a grown man lip-sync to a Britney song, you probably just aren’t straight in the first place. And secondly, even if drag shows and story hours somehow turned kids gay (which they can’t because that’s stupid), so what?
Being gay is fun and nothing to be ashamed of. Maybe care less about who other people love and focus inward on why you’re so afraid that someone is more honest with themselves than you are.
And lastly, I can’t emphasize enough how small a deal drag is.
Personally, I don’t like drag that much. I love going if one of my friends is in the show, but other than that, it’s just not for me. And there are thousands and thousands of straight people who love drag yet somehow don’t come out gay. A straight drag queen even competed in RuPaul’s Drag Race recently.
This Texas lawmaker and anyone else getting so worked up over drag, should take a lesson from their kids: calm down, have some milk, and take a nap because you’re throwing an embarrassing hissy fit.
Meme of the week
I, unfortunately, can’t look at every meme that dominates the internet every week, so if you see a meme and think it should be the meme of the week please send it to: SumnerCultureCow@gmail.com
If you disagree with my analysis, have a grievance or any other complaint please visit here
If, on the other hand, you’d like to read more from me head over to my blog, MouthfulofTeeth.com where you’ll find my favorite CultureCow articles and my other writing on politics, fiction, and anything else you’d like to read.
The Sumner Newscow continues to be the sports news and news asset that it’s always been. Everybody doesn’t like the same thing all the time, so since Culture Cow began, I’ve really appreciated it as a resource. Plus, it’s very well written, and I appreciate that.
I also appreciate the courage you and the Newscow show in posting features about issues that shouldn’t be contentious, but somehow are. I’m a Free Mom Hug giver and an ally, and I can’t wait to watch “Changing The Game.”
A five year old was told often enough that his family was wrong and that the HAD to have a mommy, by adults, that he started to lie saying his mom died. Is this the correct message to send to little kids, your loving two dads are so wrong you need to start lying to fit in? These two men who have a five year old son are now faced with having to move out of Florida. They are lucky if they can afford to do so, even though it shouldn’t be this way. The state of Florida has been taking over by Republican thugs on a religious culture war to incite their base to attack anyone different than them. Including a five year old. Sick. But the Republican party and their gang of thugs will do this everywhere they can get away with it, and they will do it in places they were not in before to show they can. As I posted earlier. We need to understand what is happening in the US right now, we are losing the country to a gang of thugs. Hugs
THERE IS NO CC AND WITH CNN The CC is useless anyway. Please try to listen anyway. It is about a five year old boy being told his family is not real enough for the haters. Hugs
Jordan Letschert and Robby Price are teaching their son Kellan how to talk about their family. But recent anti-LGBTQ legislation has led them to reconsider if this is a good place to raise him.
The violence by these right wing groups is getting worse. It started with hate preachers, and now is a normal tool of intimation and fear caused by gang thugs who are the brownshirts of the Republican party. We know how deep these groups were in the insurrection. I have a fear that this is what is going to be the normal for the right to any they disagree with. I also want to point out as I have before how traumatized these little kids must have been. These were little kids. As has happened before at other libraries and bookstores these little kids are being terrified by these angry men coming and screaming, yelling, angry, making threats and saying bad things. Yet these gang thugs claim there are there to protect the children, the very kids they are scaring to death. We had better take this seriously because this is a prelude to what will be happening at any event that displease the right, as we seen with school board meetings during Covid. Right now red states are passing bills to have their armed, yes in some cases armed, supporters as poll workers to challenge voters of color or those they know are democrats. This is not democracy. History has shown us what happens if this is not stopped. Hugs
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a group of men who disrupted a drag queen storytelling event at the San Lorenzo Library Saturday with homophobic slurs.
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office said the incident occurred Saturday afternoon at around 1:30 p.m. at the San Lorenzo Library located on Paseo Grande.
Authorities said a group of men entered the library its “Drag Queen Story Time” event and made “homophobic and transphobic remarks against a member of the LGTBQ+ community who was hosting the event.”
From the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office:
When deputies arrived they learned a LGBTQ community member was hosting a reading event at the library called, “Drag Queen Story Hour.” Present at the event were children, parents and other community members.
A group of men entered the library and disrupted the reading event. The men were described as members of the Proud Boys organization, known to be a right wing hate group with anti-LGBTQ affiliations.
The men began to shout homophobic and transphobic slurs at the event organizer. The men were described as extremely aggressive with a threatening violent demeanor causing people to fear for their safety.
Deputies responded to the scene and were able to de-escalate the situation. An active hate crime investigation is underway as is an investigation into the annoying and harassing of children.
ACSO will dedicate all resources to ensure the safety of members of our LGBTQ community. We will make sure any future events at the library are safe against hate speech and threats of violence.
As we celebrate Pride Month, we will be swift in our response to any incidents where there are threats to harm members of this community.
Image above via Google Street View. The Proud Boys may have been alerted to the event thanks to a tweet from the anti-LGBTQ account, LibsOfTikTok.
Yesterday:
Proud Boys stormed Drag Queen Story Hour at San Lorenzo Public Library, wearing AK-47 shirts & calling the drag queen “pedophile” & “it.”
A right-wing militia was arrested for planning to attack Pride in Idaho.
Direct results of political attacks on LGBTQ people.
— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) June 12, 2022
NEW: San Francisco drag queen Panda Dulce says their Drag Queen Story Hour for kids at San Lorenzo Library today was stormed by people shouting homophobic slurs and hate speech.
— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez (@FitzTheReporter) June 12, 2022
I'm transcribing Dulce's post: "They were wearing AK 47 shirts. they recorded me on their phones, yelled, called me a 'tranny', a 'pedophile' and an 'it', and totally freaked out all of the kids. they got right in our faces. they jeered. they attempted to escalate to violence."
— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez (@FitzTheReporter) June 12, 2022
"I left the room with the security guard. we hid in the back office while the other librarians called the sheriff.
when the sheriff arrived with backup, they escorted the protesters out. the protestors formed a line, tried to block the library exits and waited."
— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez (@FitzTheReporter) June 12, 2022
Hate-crime investigation underway after 5 men who are members of the far-right Proud Boys interrupted a “Drag Queen Story Hour” at @aclib San Lorenzo Library w/kids, parents & community members & shouted homophobic & transphobic comments at event organizer, per @ACSOSheriffspic.twitter.com/6x5Uwaxc1B
These guys aren’t patriots: their self-description is as National Socialists. That’s NAZIS — literally. They actually promote the murder of all Blacks and Jews. They’re in favor of Genocide. The FBI needs to trail them relentlessly. https://t.co/VaO1Gzadt8
They also apparently object to the fact that the library’s activities are, gasp, funded by local property taxes. Presumably most people who pay property taxes have no particular problem with this activity or we would hear more from them. Question: what is the “libs” in this handle supposed to mean?
Generation that grew up laughing uproariously and without any sense of embarrassment at Flip Wilson in drag on prime time as Geraldine…
…now worried what will happen if kids see a drag show.
DeSantis now wants any parent who takes a child to a drag show to be investigated by DCF, charged with child abuse, and have their parental rights taken away.
The Proud Boys, the Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers, among other neo-fascist groups, have been a big problem for quite a while now, and it’s only getting worse, rapidly.
Canada has wisely designated the Three Percenters and the Proud Boys, at least, as “organizations designated as terrorists.” We have not been so wise in the US.
“Investigating?” What exactly needs to be “investigated?” The Proud(ly Idiotic) Boys clearly engaged in trespassing and disturbing the peace. Why aren’t they being arrested?
I think literacy is a noble goal and should be a community effort. We need some of those Drag Queens to go into the teaching profession and teach numeracy too.
Kudos to all the Drag Queens who volunteer to further the effort of educating children. The Proud Boys only teach hatred, violence and idiocy. I see no purpose in being a Proud Boy, except to promote narcissistic Nihilism.
Wow he takes Greg Locke down so hard and in a funny manner. Wait until he talks about his panties. I burst out laughing and I never thought I would hear a man of the cloth have such a normal good take on humor. Hugs
I am not a believer in deities nor the supernatural. I am not religious, and I am an atheist. But I do post a lot of the very hateful asshole stuff Christian / religious people to do harm others. Today I thought I would give a religious leader a chance to speak for themselves on this subject. I have posted this gentleman before. While we do not agree on if there is a god, we do agree on other things especially that a personal faith is not a club to harm others you dislike with. He seems a rather smart man I would enjoy an afternoon with. Hugs
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I’m an Anglican Priest in the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and I get to serve in the Parish of St Margaret of Scotland, in the beautiful city of Halifax, NS, that sits on the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people.
My pronouns are he/him/his. My theology is primarily Christo-centric – Jesus is at the centre and it is against Him that all values are bounced off. I believe all people are created in the image of God and are children of God and are heirs to the throne of God – no conditions – therefore every single person we meet deserves our love, and respect.
Sexual attraction is a spectrum, and we know that where on the spectrum people fall is something we are born with. The environment may have some determination in how some facets of how we enjoy or act on what we were born being. But the fact where you fall on the straight / bi / gay spectrum is something you are born with, and it cannot be changed. What these ex-gay and conversion therapy do is effect behavior to a degree but don’t change the inborn attraction you started with. They pretend to be healed or changed but all they do is change their behavior, and now most of these groups admit the feelings are still there and will be forever. They just try their best to ignore them. They eventually give in, have same sex and go back to it, or they deny their basic needs to live in a way their bodies fight against. Hugs
Declaring their testimonies of how Jesus has transformed their lives, formerly LGBT-identified young men and women gathered in Washington, D.C., Saturday for the Freedom March. Gathered next to the Washington Monument for what has become an annual event in the nation’s capital, the hosts of the march continue to see the Holy Spirit doing remarkable work in the lives of people who reach out to them.
Jeffrey McCall, founder of the Freedom March, said he’s amazed by how the Lord is stirring among younger people. Since 2018, when the first march took place, their growing tribe of formerly LGBT-identified people has become especially close. “We call each other, do Bible studies together, encourage each other. It’s built a family. It’s a young family,” McCall told the Christian Post.
From the Metro Weekly article I excerpted in December:
Jeffrey McCall, the founder of “ex-gay” group Freedom March, has confessed to having multiple hookups with men since last year.
McCall claims to have lived as a gay male sex worker, and then as a transgender woman named Scarlett, before renouncing his sexuality and gender identity and founding Freedom March.
But in a post last month on his Facebook page, McCall told his supporters that he had engaged in “multiple” sexual encounters with men since 2020.
In 2020 I met someone that I was trying to help (I was helping in other ways he didn’t deal with SSA) which lead to me being unfaithful to Jesus and giving my heart away.
After denying what I wanted with him I then went on to fall sexually with a man when I felt wounded and lonely. This lead to multiple falls with men over time. (None of these men were Christians or people from ministry)
Every time I fell I would truly repent and turn away again. I would feel Gods love, mercy, and forgiveness sometimes before I could even finish the prayer. (I am not condoning this sin at all I’m just sharing what happened when I fell).
Last year McCall was featured in the Netflix “ex-gay” documentary “Pray Away” and his appearance in the film resulted in adulatory posts on Christian sites.
The only ones buying his lies are the ones whose bigotry run far and deep, to begin with. He’s not changing anyone’s mind with his nonsense babble and he very likely knows it.
Men living their lives of quiet desperation caused by religious guilt tripping. Been there, done that, don’t work. I am now out and have freedom that God wanted for me. Religion is evil.
Well, praying for forgiveness after is what the clergy who assault kids do, and it seems to go over well for the cult in general… but they still hate consenting gays more than child predators in the church. So they claim gays are the child predators and consider the job done.
Scottie's Playtime 