This is the terrifying person the maga right conservatives want to erase and claim is a threat to society. This is a really informative video by a young man who describes the steps it took to get what he needed to be the person he really was. This person’s lived experience put to lie all the myths the anti-trans people claim are happening, like mass pushing kids to be trans, no medical checks, and just rushing kids to sex changes. It amazes me that in 2023 we still have throwbacks to dark ages in understandings of biology and social development. Notice this boy knew his gender was wrong most of his early childhood and even at 9 years old he knew he was not a girl but should grow up to be a guy, but it became a serious issue for him at 12 years old. Puberty time. This is the same period of time the maga religious right wants to claim kids don’t know anything about gender or sexual attraction. And even though this boy did not have teachers telling him about pronouns or gender expression, he still realized he was not his assigned sex / gender. He talks about gender conversion, gender dysphoria, and the misinformation about trans kids / people. His story is interesting. It also is very informative and destroys a lot of the trans haters talking points, even to the point of no harm and many benefits of letting kids socially transition. Well worth watching. Hugs
In a calm and rational manner, Vaush explains the truth of trans people to a guy questioning if trans is even a thing. Vaush explains where the guy’s misinformation is wrong and guides him to seeing the where his assumptions are wrong about gender VR sex. If your hang up on trans people is the issue / question of sex / gender, Vaush explains that wonderfully. He really does it in a way easy for even Dildeb could understand. Hugs
This should be played in every church and every school across America. Shame on those Christian Americans who have taught their children how to hate in the name of Jesus.
Too often the context of Leviticus is omitted…either due to intent or ignorance. Leviticus was written during a time when Israel was besieged on all sides by larger, more populace nations; when there was a fear of the Jewish people & culture being subsumed by the other groups & their neighbors. That’s why it insists upon harsh punishments for anything outside of Jewish traditions & laws, and punishments for anything that does not increase the population. (It’s almost like the “culture war” going on in the US, when white, hetero, “Christian” people are finding themselves becoming a minority.)
The fundamentalists drool and dream of accomplishing this here and worldwide. They are going after trans people and LGBTQ+ media first, then outlaw the LGBTQ+. They may keep lesbians, as the male fundamentalist love watching girl on girl porn. These religious groups spent over 20 million in Uganda alone over the last few years to get these hateful anti-gay bills passed. This is the enemy we face here in the US. They are driven, they will sacrifice any money time and time again for the cause of their god. Hugs
The legislation comes after years of lobbying from American Christian groups.
This article was originally published by Vanity Fair.
After more than a decade of anti-LGBTQ lobbying from American evangelical groups, Uganda has finally enacted what’s among the harshest antigay laws in the world. On Monday, Yoweri Museveni, the president of the East African nation, signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023, a bill that makes homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment and “aggravated homosexuality”—a vague phrase that applies to both predators and those who use “misrepresentation” or “undue influence” to engage in gay sex—punishable by death. Even attempting “to commit the offense of homosexuality” could lead to a seven-year prison sentence. Moreover, anyone found guilty of “promoting” homosexuality in the country could face up to 20 years in prison, while so-called “serial offenders” and those who transmit HIV/AIDS through gay sex could be subject to capital punishment.
The law has faced widespread condemnation abroad. In a Monday statement, Joe Biden condemned it as “a tragic violation” of human rights and said the White House was “considering additional steps, including the application of sanctions and restriction of entry into the United States against anyone involved in serious human rights abuses or corruption.” (For his part, Museveni previously praised Uganda’s parliament members for defying “imperialist” pressure campaigns against the law, which is also being challenged in court by in-country activists.)
Antigay sentiment in Uganda has climbed in recent years due in no small part toAmerican evangelicals, who spent more than $20 million fighting LGBTQ rights in the country between 2007–2020, according toThe Washington Post. Scott Lively, an American pastor, spearheaded this effort in the early 2000s, participating in a series of popular antigay lectures in Uganda and describing homosexuality as a “disease” propagated by the West. Several years later, Uganda’s parliament proposed initial legislation, known as the “Kill the Gays” bill, that was supported by a number of American Christian groups and eventually signed into law. While that measure ultimately buckled under court scrutiny, its draconian vision has now been revived and etched into law by Museveni’s pen.
In a strange twist, one of the leading evangelical politicians in the US has joined the White House, the UN Human Rights Office, and a corporate coalition in condemning the law. “This Uganda law is horrific & wrong,” tweeted Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican. “Any law criminalizing homosexuality or imposing the death penalty for ‘aggravated homosexuality’ is grotesque & an abomination. ALL civilized nations should join together in condemning this human rights abuse. #LGBTQ.” In his own country, Cruz has consistently advocated against the civil rights of gay Americans. As recently as last year, he calledObergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, “clearly wrong” and an act of judicial overreach. (Those remarks were mild compared to his initial reaction to the 2015 decision, which he described at the time as “the very definition of tyranny” and “among the darkest hours of our nation.”)
Anita Among, Uganda’s parliamentary speaker, responded to criticisms of the law by stating that Museveni had “answered the cries of our people.” In a separate statement, Among urged the “duty bearers under the law to execute the mandate bestowed upon them in the Anti-Homosexuality Act.”
Talk about pushing your religious views on to people so poor as to need government assistance. This is more of the fundamentalist rights war on women. Look at the things the republicans have pushed, removing a woman’s right to her own reproductive care via abortion, removing a woman’s right to contraception, in 7 states the republicans are trying to outlaw no-fault divorce thinking it will force people to stay married, and of course outlawing anything but straight relations by overturning the right of marriage equality. This guy wants to force low income women to marry a guy, any guy, to be able to have a place to live. Plus the guy is a white supremacists racist. Hugs
“For whatever reason, the people who put together this bill, knew we needed work requirements for SNAP but they said we shouldn’t have them for Medicaid, which kind of, I predicted. But they left low-income housing untouched.
“I think as far as discouraging work and discouraging marriage, I think low-income housing is even a more dangerous program than the food stamps.
“So, I’m including low-income housing in the mix of having work requirements. The amendment is drafted to include Section 8 housing, which is an error on my part because there are other low-income housings as well.
“But that’s what we have before us.” – GOP Rep. Glenn Grothman, during last night’s House Rules Committee debate on the debt ceiling bill.
Grothman appeared here last week when he complained that Biden won’t nominate “straight white guys” to the federal judiciary.
He also appeared here in January 2023 when he posted a flag associated with the Christian nationalist movement outside his Capitol office.
Months earlier he gave a floor speech condemning the US Census for collecting data on LGBTQ Americans, which he found “horrifying.”
Before that he appeared here in June 2021 when he authored a bill that would ban teaching the history of racism in Washington DC public schools.
His first appearance here came in September 2011 when as a Wisconsin state senator he authored a successful bill that banned mentioning contraception in sex ed classes.
Grothman opposes recognizing Kwanzaa and Martin Luther King Jr. Day as state holidays. In 2015, he authored a bill to place a ban on same-sex marriage in the US Constitution.
Grothman: They left low income housing untouched. I think as far as discouraging work and marriage, I think low income housing is a more dangerous program than food stamps. pic.twitter.com/XpgiREMlAy
And they’re also horrified that poor people have decent smartphones – which might be their only connection to email and the rest of the internet, for school, finding jobs, keeping jobs, as well as being informed, entertained, and socially connected like more well-off folks.
They are complete monsters! Anyone who thinks of food stamps and low-income housing as “horrifying” is a heartless POS in my book. God forbid we should try to help the poor without making them jump through a bunch of hoops first. I hate these right-wing ghouls with a passion!
Not everyone can or WANTS to get married and have children. I know it sure as hell wasn’t for me. I still have to eat and pay rent. These assholes want to control every aspect of our lives. Next up, rules for how poor people brush their teeth and get dressed in the morning?
You know what discourages marriage and having children? The cost of living which has been too high for a long time, but has now soared through the roof. And what is the QAnonGOP’s plan to bring down the cost of living? Ban drag shows and investigate Hunter Biden.
You know what also dissuades younger people from getting married? Crushing college debt. A lot of those kids can’t afford a house, and put off marriage, until they’re in better financial shape, but this chud doesn’t want to actually do anything to fix that problem…does he? Guess what? He really doesn’t care about people getting married. He’s just looking for any reason to be a dick.
Not everyone needs to go to college, but those in the trades who went from apprentice to journeyman to master and other skill paths are also being crushed by energy sector price gouging, food price gouging and many other factors that dissuade them from getting married and starting a family.
TRANSLATION – ‘We need to manage the poors like we do a commercial livestock operation, ensuring that we get sufficient return on our investment of feed and shelter’.
Move comes as rightwing groups increase pressure to remove books, most written by or about members of the LGBTQ+ community and people of colour
Nate Coulter, executive director of the Central Arkansas Library System said the law would be ‘totally impractical to enforce.’ Photograph: Katie Adkins/AP
The American Library Association and the Authors Guild are among a group of organisations bringing a lawsuit against the state of Arkansas over a law which makes it a crime for librarians to give children books with “obscene” content.
The lawsuit involves 17 plaintiffs, including the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS), the Association of American Publishers and the American Booksellers Association.
The groups are aiming to challenge Senate bill 81, which exposes librarians who provide “obscene materials” to children to criminal liability. The law, part of Act 372 of 2023, is due go to come into force on 1 August.
It says that anyone will be allowed to “challenge the appropriateness” of a book, but it does not define exactly what is meant by “obscene” or “appropriateness”. Under the law, a group of people chosen by head librarians would review material that had been challenged, and vote in a public meeting about whether it should be kept on public display or moved to an area of the library inaccessible to those under 18.
CALS executive director Nate Coulter said this part of the law would be “totally impractical to enforce”, reported the Arkansas Advocate.
The board of CALS voted this month to file the lawsuit challenging parts of Act 372 of 2023. John Adams, a lawyer from Fuqua Campbell, the law firm representing CALS, said that librarians needed clarity on the law to ensure they could do their jobs without risking arrest.
American Library Association president Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada told Publishers Weekly that the lawsuit was “to vindicate Arkansas residents’ freedom to read”.
The lawsuit is expected to be filed in the coming days. It is the second high-profile lawsuit this year concerning the restriction of books available in libraries. Earlier in the month, PEN America, Penguin Random House, and a group of authors and parents, filed a lawsuit against a Florida school district for implementing book bans. The suit argues the removal and restriction of access to books discussing race, racism and LGBTQ+ identities violates the first amendment.
It comes after increased activity by rightwing groups to remove books from libraries and schools in the US. In 2022, calls to ban books hit the highest level ever recorded in the US, according to the American Library Association (ALA), which tracks requests for removal.
Last year, there were requests to ban 2,571 titles; up 38% from 1,858 titles in 2021. Most of the books for which removal requests were made, said the ALA, were written by or about members of the LGBTQ+ community and people of colour.
We’re proud to put up 6 “In Florida … We Say Gay!” billboards across Florida to celebrate Pride Month with a message of support and solidarity, funded by over 1,000 Cedar Key Progress donors.
The stakes have never been higher than they are right now for the trans and queer community
Florida Republicans are trying to make it so that our state is unsafe for anyone who isn’t a Christian, straight, white man, and we won’t stand for being known for all of this bigotry and hate. We say gay because the Florida we know welcomes everyone, whether you’re trans or cis, gay or straight, Black, brown or white.
Cedar Key Progress Poll: Floridians Oppose Book Bans, Support DEI
A recent Cedar Key Progress poll of 400 Floridians, conducted May 18-22, 2023 by Civiqs, found that Floridians oppose LGBTQ+ book bans and Ron DeSantis’s attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Do you support or oppose laws removing books mentioning gay and transgender people and history from public school libraries? Support 42% Oppose 48% Neither support nor oppose 7% Unsure 3%
Do you support or oppose laws banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs from colleges and universities? Support 39% Oppose 50% Neither support nor oppose 7% Unsure 4%
Nobody said Gay when I was a kid, there were no Drag Queen Story Hours, no Pride events, no representation of any kind, and I still turned out Gay. These clowns have no idea what they’re doing, they’ll end up hurting kids in the long run. For awhile, I thought we’d made some progress in this country, now I realize the hate, fear and ignorance was just festering, waiting until it was lauded by the Republican Party. The billboards are nice, but they aren’t likely to change anyone’s mind.
My hope is that all this poison can be treated like an infection in the body like an abscess. Now that it has come to the surface, it can be lanced and dealt with. But I am at a loss as to what will be the cure.
Just read yesterday that a whole lot of LGBTQ folks are trying to move away from Florida now. Including parents of gay and trans kids who are terrified the state will seize their children from them.
Valid fear. My friend and his husband left just last month. As my friend put it, the medical scare his husband had is in the past but if one arises again, they didn’t want to risk being in FL and being denied care.
I wonder what will happen, when school comes back into session, and High School Students, consistently ask questions about being Gay in their classes??? What will the schools do to them???
Nate Coulter, executive director of the Central Arkansas Library System said the law would be ‘totally impractical to enforce.’ Photograph: Katie Adkins/AP
Scottie's Playtime 