Category: Religion / Religious / Theocracy

Wedding rescued by stranger after baker refuses to make cake for lesbian couple

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/08/wedding-rescued-stranger-baker-refuses-make-cake-lesbian-couple/

I am getting really tired of the open bigotry and the willingness of some to go along with it.    I try to be understanding so that if it is a misunderstanding or an issue of wrong education, I can correct these things.    But the times have reverted to where bigots and haters are taking open pride in their cruelty and their ability to slam doors in other people’s face in the name of their god, their bible, or their political party.   It is not only hurting the people involved but the ones causing the harm are then taking a victory lap celebrating the pissing on another person’s happiness, while in some cases celebrating doing all they can to ruin joyous occasions for LGBTQ+ people.   What kind of person does that?   I am getting angrier and more bitter about it.   It used to be a fringe thing, until our government got taken over by a fascist religious movement and now the highest court in the land is openly pushing religion and removing the rights of the LGBTQ+ people along with women.    50 years of progress wiped out by religious bigots.   This reminds me of the dark ages when Europe went from enlightenment to regressive religious control.   They call it the dark ages for a reason.   Please note this was the only baker int the area of what kind of cake they needed.    This answers the question of just go to a different company / place to get what you need.   There is often not another provider for what you need without a lot of trouble and travel.  

 Personal note.    I made a joke with my doctor today and mentioned my spouse.  He said she must be …   I replied “Yes Ron and I have been together …”   He immediately apologized for assuming it was a woman and using the pronoun her.   He clearly was not trying to be offensive, and the things he said showed me he was accepting of my relationship and gave it value.   I told him it was not a problem, and we continued to talk.   The reason I mention this is this doctor had the right now in Florida to end our medical relationship, to stop being my medical provider and all he would have to do is say his religious beliefs said so.  I like this doctor, I trust him, he has done a lot for me that other doctors missed, and I am following him to his new practice.   But by mentioning that my spouse was male he could have legally dropped me, refusing to provide me service in Florida.  He has the right now in the red bigoted kingdom of DeathSantis to leave me with no medical assistance in his field of practice.    That is the world we now live in as LGBTQ+, something that we once had secured wouldn’t be allowed.   How chilling it must be for younger or less secure people to be open about their relationships or being different when it can cost them their jobs, their housing, their medical providers, all the things in their lives that used to be secure.   This is what the republican maga cult Christian nationalist thugs want, to drive the LGBTQ+ back into the closet too scared to let it be known who they are.     That is what the republicans / maga cult have brought us. If you support the hate / bigotry, then this is the world you support for people like me.    Hugs

A New York baker stepped in when another cake-maker backed out at the last minute.
 
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Wedding rescued by stranger after baker refuses to make cake for lesbian couple
Photo: Shutterstock
 

“We don’t know how to begin to wrap our heads around this and voice our gratitude.”

So said engaged couple Desirie White and Jess Dowd after a New York baker stepped in to save their wedding day with a free vegan cake.

In June, the pair were planning their nuptials and contracted for a cake over the phone with local vegan bakery O Taste and See Delight in Effort, PA.

After the bakery owner received the signed contract back indicating the cake would be for a same-sex couple, she denied them service.

The owner wrote: “I want to thank you again for reaching out to me and asking me to create your wedding cake. However, I will not be able to do this for you. Please accept my deepest apologies.”

“I believe that the LGBT + community has the right to live as other civilians and be protected. Yet, my refusal to make your cake is based on my fidelity to the God of Scripture, and my religious beliefs are combined with my business practices. I have refunded you the full amount of $275.00. The contract is no longer binding.”

White posted the about-face on Facebook.

“I don’t know what to make of this. I am extremely upset. I’m extremely upset that she has waited a month to the date to wait and tell us no, when I reached out to her in June.”

“Jess and I agreed we wanted to invest in her small, black owned business. I reached out to her because she specializes in cakes that I need for a medical issue. It has taken us awhile to find that type of bakery so it felt like a blessing to have found a small business that bakes vegan goodies and is about 15 minutes away from our venue.”

“I believe in God, but I know that MY GOD would not condemn or deny me because of who I am and who I love. My conscience and my decisions are made from unconditional love, respect, and understanding which I know in my heart are God’s values, too. Not fear of punishment. I’m not going to lie, this hurts really deep.”

That’s when Rebecca Riley, the owner of Peace, Love, Cupcakes in Syracuse, NY reached out online to offer the couple her own wedding day dessert, free of charge.

White told Syracuse.com of the offer: “I immediately started crying, like something hit me in the gut. Some people in my family wouldn’t go this far for us.”

Riley posted she was “furious” with the baker’s denial of service, and since she’s “only two hours and 52 minutes away,” she would provide the couple’s vegan lemon cake for free.

White added in a follow-up post: “Rebecca extended her hand without a second thought to offer her services in making us a beautiful cake at no cost with the support of her followers.”

“One person turned their back on us and a whole community stepped up to stand beside us and the feeling I get from that is just so overwhelming… from the bottom of our gay hearts, thank you.”

While Riley got pushback on Facebook for ”patting ourselves on the back” and “shoving our liberal agendas down everyone’s throats,” she wanted her followers to know:

“Our hearts are just bursting. Thank you for all of the love and beautiful words but please know, this is about so much more than us. This is about the incredible community surrounding us and how they chose to step up just as quickly as I did, no questions asked. That’s the real feel-good story here.”

One follower commented: “You just keep kicking butt and frosting cupcakes. We know where your heart is. And we appreciate it.”

The name of the bakery that denied service is likely a reference to the Bible’s Psalm 34:8: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

 
 

Straight congressman’s impassioned speech for marriage equality nails what is at stake

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/08/straight-congressmans-impassioned-speech-marriage-equality-nails-stake/

 

Donald Norcross, a fourth-term Congressman, is a blue collar workhorse. That’s precisely why his impassioned stemwinder before a marriage equality vote in Congress stands out.
 
By      
 
Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ)
Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ)Photo: House of Representatives
 

There’s no shortage of media-hungry bigmouths in Congress rights now.  Sadly it’s a feature of American politics and not a bug at this point.

By contrast, Donald Norcross, a fourth-term Congressman, is a blue collar workhorse from Philly’s South Jersey ‘burbs. And that’s precisely why his impassioned stemwinder before a marriage equality vote in Congress stands out. With the Supreme Count poised to reverse their 2015 gay marriage decision, the Democratic-controlled Congress is keen to codify marriage equality into Federal law.

Congressman Norcross:

“I woke up this morning, got ready to come over to the Capitol, and as I often do, I glanced over to pictures of my family. And I glanced to a picture of my nine-month-old grandson. Couldn’t be happier about the newest addition to my family. I couldn’t be prouder of the two people who brought him into the world: my daughter Corey and her wife, Hedya. When my daughter told me she wanted to get married, I told her what every good parent should tell her: that if this is the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, I couldn’t be happier for you.”

His voice filled with emotion, he explained how his daughter-in-law’s cancer diagnosis brought a life-and-death urgency to their wedding plans.

“And as I stood at their wedding… I knew it was only made possible because of a recent Supreme Court decision. And today… that same court has opened the door to dismantling families like mine. Splitting this little guy’s family apart, potentially. We can’t let that happen…. I don’t speak about the religious beliefs of my colleagues, but I have to ask: What God would fault in this baby and his two mommies? There is nothing wrong with this. This is pure love. It’s what we all should aspire to. And with that, I encourage my colleagues to vote ‘yes’ so we are equal in all states.”

The legislation passed 267-157, a tally that includes most of the Democratic caucus plus 47 republicans. The bill’s prospects are unclear in the upper house where at least 10 GOP votes are needed to break a Senate filibuster and get the legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk.

And if supporters meet the 60 vote threshold in the Senate, it’ll be thanks to anecdotes like the one Donald Norcross shared on the House floor.

“I’m a rather private person when it comes to the family,” Congressman Norcross told LGBTQ Nation. “But the idea of having some of the statements from the other side of the aisle, what they were saying was just no middle ground. I think it’s incredibly important that people can be who they are.”

Norcross beamed when he mentioned his grandson. 

“And he came into this world because of an absolutely wonderful marriage between my daughter and her wife and I spoke from a very real perspective of who they are, and how their life has just grown and blossomed,” Mr. Norcross added. 

According to Brielle Winslow-Majette, Deputy Director, Garden State Equality, support for marriage equality is at an all time high because of personal anecdotes like this one. 

“Congressman Norcross’s story about his daughter, her wife, and their 9-month-old son is a story millions of Americans across the country share,” Ms. Winslow-Majette told LGBTQ Nation. “Simply put, it is a story about a loving family. Loving someone and building a family with them is all we’re talking about here. I was touched by the Congressman’s story and I hope the commonality of a story that is shared by so many will resonate in the halls of Congress.”

It’s a high bar in the Senator where supporters must flip ten (or more) Republicans to clear the next hurdle.

Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (AK), Susan Collins (ME), Rob Portman (OH), Thom Tillis (NC), and Ron Johnson (WI) have previously expressed support for marriage equality legislation. That takes the whip count to 55 if all Democrats vote yes as expected.

The list of on-the-fence GOP Senators includes Mitt Romney (UT), Pat Toomey (PA), Tommy Tuberville (AL), Dan Sullivan (AK), Ben Sasse (NB), and Indiana’s Mike Braun and Todd Young, among others.

Congressman Norcross noted that Utah’s entire Congressional delegation, all Republicans, voted for marriage equality, perhaps portending Senator Romney as a pivotal 56th YES vote in the Senate.

For his part, Congressman Norcross is already discreetly lobbying members of the Senate to vote YES on marriage equality.

“This is one of those times that I’m going to keep that a little bit quiet,” Mr. Norcross told LGBTQ Nation when queried about who he’s lobbying. “They, depending on what Senator we’re talking about, face different pressures from outside, in addition to their own personal views. And I don’t want to give anybody a reason to go and torque him up or her up, I think we’re going to try to do this just a little bit more quietly, and see where we can go with it and I think it stands a chance.”

Gay realtor launches website to help LGBTQ Texans flee the state

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/08/gay-realtor-launches-website-help-lgbtq-texans-flee-state/

Saying the state has transformed “into a juggernaut of right-wing conservatism,” Bob McCranie is helping LGBTQ people get out.
 
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Rainbow and Texas flags
Photo: Shutterstock
 

As Texas becomes a hotbed of anti-LGBTQ laws targeting transgender youth and their families, Bob McCranie, a gay realtor in Dallas, has launched Flee Texas, a website that helps families find homes in more accepting states.

“As LGBTQIA+ citizens of Texas, many of us feel at risk,” the website says. “If you feel the need to leave the jurisdiction of Texas, let us help you sell your property here and connect you with an LGBTQIA or ally agent in a better location of your choice.”

The website helps poeple sell their homes and connects them with LGBTQ  and supportive realtors in other states.

McCranie, the founder of Texas Pride Realty, has been a resident of Texas since 1987. Since then, he said he has seen the state “transform into a juggernaut of right-wing conservatism,” particularly noting its recent crusade to prosecute the families of transgender children who get access to gender-affirming medical care for “child abuse.” McCranie said he knows of many queer Texans who have since moved to blue states and even Mexico to escape the state’s ultra-conservative politics.

While some people have accused him of capitalizing on the state’s anti-LGBTQ climate to make money, he said that it’s not about that. He pointed to realtors in other anti-LGBTQ red states who have started offering similar relocation services.

“A lot of people don’t remember what it’s like to be an illegal person,” McCranie said. “Families with trans kids need to get out of this jurisdiction now.”

In February, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordered the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate parents of trans kids for child abuse. Though the order has since been blocked by a state court, some parents of trans youth began fundraising to leave the state. Others formed “Mothers Against Greg Abbott” to challenge other anti-LGBTQ policies taking hold in the state.

“Mothers across Texas are so mad at Greg Abbott and the GOP’s policies, that every single time he opens up his mouth, he alienates a new group of parents,” Mothers Against Greg Abbott founder Nancy Thompson told Newsweek.

Thompson pointed to Texas school districts banning LGBTQ books as proof of the state’s queerphobic shift. The state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) also recently referred to LGBTQ people as “predators” and said he’d be willing to spearhead a Supreme Court case to re-criminalize sodomy.

The state Republican Party’s 2022 platform refers to LGBTQ people as “groomers” (pedophiles) and supports so-called conversion therapy, a discredited form of psychological torture that purports to change the sexual orientations and gender identities of queer people. Some conservative lawyers have also filed lawsuits that would allow government officials to deny same-sex marriage certificates and healthcare insurance providers to stop covering PrEP and contraceptives.

“What is happening right now in Texas isn’t even Republican… it’s the extremes of the party,” Thompson said. “They’re trying to totally gain control over our personal rights and freedoms and the safety that we need in Texas for our families to be able to thrive.”

Community rallies & raises over $133K for library that got defunded over LGBTQ books

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/08/community-rallies-raises-133k-library-got-defunded-lgbtq-books/

The maga cult thugs like to pretend they represent the majority of the country and local communities.   They don’t.   Far more people are tolerant and accepting than are against the LGBTQ+.   Notice the haters prayed for a safe place for children as if even being in a room where there were books with LGBTQ+ characters was harmful somehow.  Far more parents wanted masks in school than the maga brownshirt thugs who attacked school boards at their meetings.  But the maga cult thugs use threats and intimidation to get their way.    So much for democracy.    Hugs

Conservatives defunded their local library because it carried several LGBTQ books. People from all over the world are now picking up the slack.
 
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Patmos Library
Patmos LibraryPhoto: Google Maps
 

A library that lost most of its funding in a ballot measure earlier this month because it refused to remove LGBTQ books has managed to raise over $100,000.

Voters in Jameson Township, Michigan voted earlier this month to end the property tax that funds the local Patmos Library, gutting its $245,000 yearly budget. The move came after months of conflict between extremist residents who wanted the library to remove books with references to same-sex love and the library, which refused to do so.

A group called Jamestown Conservatives started to campaign against the library around Memorial Day, saying that its Pride Month display “promoted the LGBTQ ideology.”

“Pray that we can make changes and make the Patmos Library a safe and neutral place for our children,” one of the group’s flyers said.

“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 word “millage” to refer to the property tax, in the days leading up to the vote.

Without any funding, the Patmos Library was expected to deplete its reserves and run out of money next year. But two days after the vote, resident Jesse Dillman, set up a GoFundMe for the library that has generated $133,332 so far.

“I am very passionate about this, and I have people that are behind me to do this,” the father of two told NBC News. “I think I have to do it now, because the iron is hot. If this is going to happen, it’s going to happen now.”

Donors cited the need for LGBTQ books in libraries and their support for libraries in general in the comments.

“Australian citizen here, proud to be helping gay kids in small-town western Michigan read books that actually help them,” one donor wrote. “Keep up the good work, and be proud of whomever and whatever you are.”

“As a former Michigander… I can’t stomach seeing a library defunded because they dared to have LGBTQ books on their shelves,” wrote another. “I wish those resources had been available to me when I was a child. Shameful that so much hatred still exists today.”

“I can’t imagine that it was easy to come to work in the morning driving past all of the ‘Vote No to the Library’ signs,” a donor wrote. “But it never seemed to deter your spirits! We’d walk our daughter down to Patmos and we’ve always felt comfortable and welcomed.”

The controversy began earlier in the year when a parent complained about Gender Queer: A Memoir, Maia Kobabe’s graphic novel about coming to terms with eir identity as nonbinary and asexual. The book was in the adult section, but the parent thought that it shouldn’t be in the library at all.

This led to dozens of residents attending library board meetings in the spring, demanding Gender Queer and other books be pulled from the shelves entirely. Some of the other books include Spinning and Kiss Number 8. Both books discuss teen girls who have 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 move Gender Queer behind the counter so that people would have to ask a librarian for it if they wanted to read it, but it wasn’t enough. The complaints turned into alleged harassment, and library Director Amber McLain resigned.

“I had to change my name on Facebook for a time to prevent messages that were starting to come in,” McLain said. “I never read any of them fully, but it was the typical fare — that I’m evil, that I’m indoctrinating kids. In March, a woman came into the library filming on her cell phone. She said she was looking for ‘that pedophile librarian’ and ‘the freak with the pink hair.’”

McLain was replaced by interim director Matthew Lawrence, who resigned soon after.

“I love my country, and I believe what is happening is going against the First Amendment,” Lawrence said of the defund movement. “The people who need the library the most can’t vote because they are children.”

Bizarrely, many of the people who voted to cut most of the funding to the library said they don’t believe it should close. Amanda Ensing, who helped organize opposition to the library saying that “it’s not a political issue, it’s a Biblical issue,” even said that she wanted the vote to be a “wake up call” to the library to get rid of the few LGBTQ books that it has.

“A wake-up call to what? To take LGBTQ books off the shelf and then they will give us money? What do you call that? Ransom?” library board director Walton said. “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.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked for saying teachers are “monsters” turning kids transgender

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/08/marjorie-taylor-greene-mocked-saying-teachers-monsters-turning-kids-transgender/

Again let me go over the facts for those that have the mistaken idea that this is happening.   Boys know their gender and their sexual orientation in their preteen middle school years clearly.   Teen boys know their gender and sexual orientation, ever hear the phrase “girl crazy” and teen boys trying desperately to get a girl to have sex with them.    Their hormones are on over drive.   Now also remember kids are desperate to fit into the majority, and the majority are straight cis kids.   Trans, gay, and lesbian are really the minority.   One that is frequently the victim of bullying, malicious or vicious attacks by the bigot straight cis kids.   Yes more tolerance in some schools / places were happening but it is not roses and sunshine to be a kids who is different from others.   It is not fun to be the odd one out.   Why do you think it is so important for schools to push a message of tolerance and acceptance, to have supportive groups like the gay / straight alliances.   But in many red states that is all gone now.  
 
Now take that situation and tell a boy that he must dress as a girl, live as a girl, go by a girl’s name, wear his hair as a girl, act as a girl does, use female pronouns all the time.   Not just for a day but a whole school year.    Tell him he will have to struggle to get to the bathroom and will often be screamed at by adults or other kids when in public if he uses a public women’s toilet.   Tell him that he will be forced to change his clothes in a separate bathroom that may be a long way from the locker rooms or in the coach’s office, then dressed as a girl do girls’ PE.    That boy will freak.   He will beg you not to make him.   I bet they would beg for extra schoolwork instead or be willing to work after school doing your yard work for free.    Anything but making them live a girl.   So this idea that it a fad or lark, or kids are doing it for fun makes no sense.   Hugs
 
 
“This evil idiot is what you get when you ban books.”
 
By     
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
Marjorie Taylor GreenePhoto: Screenshot

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is getting mocked online for suggesting that teachers are lying to boys to turn them into transgender women.

“Parents raise your boys to be men and protect them from teachers who try to deceive them to become women,” Greene wrote. “Guard your children from such monsters in these evil days.”

Her post doesn’t seem to be a reference to any specific story, since this isn’t something that happens in the real world. Several of her supporters responded with stories about teachers using their transgender students’ pronouns, which is not what Greene was discussing.

Greene’s critics, on the other hand, mocked her for her latest conspiracy theory.

https://twitter.com/Kim79661484/status/1558784951897694208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1558784951897694208%7Ctwgr%5E743b0487a19a21b39ea6d46d2133a54b21e30acd%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lgbtqnation.com%2F2022%2F08%2Fmarjorie-taylor-greene-mocked-saying-teachers-monsters-turning-kids-transgender%2F

https://twitter.com/Roxann_Jane_Doe/status/1558787077235417089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1558787077235417089%7Ctwgr%5E743b0487a19a21b39ea6d46d2133a54b21e30acd%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lgbtqnation.com%2F2022%2F08%2Fmarjorie-taylor-greene-mocked-saying-teachers-monsters-turning-kids-transgender%2F

https://twitter.com/MIGIRLINVA1/status/1558988461113229312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1558988461113229312%7Ctwgr%5E743b0487a19a21b39ea6d46d2133a54b21e30acd%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lgbtqnation.com%2F2022%2F08%2Fmarjorie-taylor-greene-mocked-saying-teachers-monsters-turning-kids-transgender%2F

 

Saudi academic sentenced to 34 years in prison after expressing support for women’s rights

https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/saudi-rights-activist-sentenced-34-year-imprisonment

*** Personal note not related to the post.    I have another doctors visit this morning early (9:15) and then home to catch up on five days or more of comments.    Since last Thursday I have been suffering through waves of nausea, upset stomach, and fuzzy head making it hard to concentrate.   Like I had taken too much pain medication or something.   Ron had one day of it, he vomited and slept the day and was pretty much over it in a day and 1/2.   I have had it a lot longer and I have spent most of the days laying down.   Today I feel much better.     Yesterdays visit did not find a definitive cause.   Most of my labs are better this time than the last blood draw.   There is an issue with my thyroid, which is one thing to be addressed today.    Also my kidneys are showing signs of stress, which is understandable.   My weight is down.     I found out yesterday that after years of looking for a good endocrinologist that understands my complex medical history I learned my doctor I will be seeing today is leaving the current practice to move to another facility quite a way from here.    I cannot justify that much travel to keep him.   So I start again.  Hugs   ****

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

To the post.   Does this sound familiar?   Someone pushing for women to have rights and equality to men is attacked by the fundie religious government, fined, and imprisoned.    This is what the Christian nationalist maga Taliban wants for the US.   trump just held a money making (for him) golf tournament paid for by the Saudi government.  The golfers for that tournament were paid a lot of money by the Saudi’s just to show up and play with more money if they won.    All paid for by the Saudi government.   What did they want from trump and the maga cult he owns?      Hugs

Salma al-Shehab, a mother of two and a PhD candidate at the University of Leeds, was detained by Saudi authorities when visiting the kingdom for a holiday in early 2021.

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Salma al-Shahab’s sentence is reportedly the longest given to any women’s rights defender in the country [Getty]

A Saudi academic and women’s rights activist was sentenced to 34 years in prison in what observers say is the longest such sentence given to a women’s rights defender in the kingdom. 

Salma al-Shehab is a mother of two boys and a PhD candidate at the University of Leeds. She was detained in Saudi Arabia in January 2021 days before she was meant to return to the United Kingdom for tweets expressing solidarity with other women’s rights activists in the country, according to a press release by the Freedom Initiative, a Washington DC-based rights group. 

Al-Shehab is a Shia Muslim, a minority in Saudi Arabia who have long faced discrimination in the hardline Sunni kingdom. 

Most recently, she expressed her support for fellow women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul on social media, who was released from prison in February last year shortly after Al-Shehab was detained. 

“Saudi Arabia has boasted to the world that they are improving women’s rights and creating legal reform, but there is no question with this abhorrent sentence that the situation is only getting worse,” said Dr Bethany Al-Haidari, the Saudi case manager at the Freedom Initiative.

“It is ironic that while Loujain’s release was celebrated, Salma remained behind bars on the ground that she called for that very release. It’s a pattern for Saudi authorities to ensure that women activists can’t celebrate or take credit for any of their hard-won victories,” she added. 

Dozens of people have expressed their outrage at Al-Shehab’s sentence over social media. 

“This is irrational, heartbreaking, and disastrous for the hundreds of women detained or to be detained in similar charges of supporting rights or freedom” tweeted Hala al-Dosari, a Saudi Arabian scholar and women’s rights activist. 

“This is also reflective of an increased regime insecurity, both domestically and abroad,” she added in another tweet. 

Other users pointed out the hypocrisy of major sports brands and personalities for receiving sponsorship from Saudi Arabia, downplaying the kingdom’s claims that it is becoming a freer place as a facade. 

Yashar Ali of New York Magazine tweeted “Here’s your LIV golf tournament!” in reference to the Saudi-backed golf tournament meant to rival the PGA, while Hazel Southwell added that “the Saudi state can’t claim to be making any progress while doing this.”

Saudi Arabia has detained dozens of dissidents and activists for calling for basic rights in the kingdom, including the now-released Loujain al-Hathloul and Raif Badawi – a Saudi blogger and activist who was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 50 lashes a week for twenty weeks in 2014. 

The New Arab has contacted the Saudi embassy in London for comment but has yet to receive a response.

 

 

“Religious Freedom” is Neither

A NC high school football coach is converting kids to Christianity

https://onlysky.media/hemant-mehta/a-nc-high-school-football-coach-is-converting-kids-to-christianity/

Swain High School’s Sherman Holt has “transformed his football program into a religious ministry,” says a watchdog group
by HEMANT MEHTA
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A NC high school football coach is focused on converting kids to Christianity | A baptism on the field of Swain's Memorial Stadium
A baptism on the field of Swain’s Memorial Stadium (via FFRF)
Reading Time: 3 MINUTES
 
 

When the Supreme Court ruled that a public high school football coach was allowed to pray silently after games (even though he was actually showboating at midfield for effect), the question in the minds of many church/state separation advocates was how far other coaches would stretch that decision. How would they subvert the new rules so that they could keep converting kids to Christianity?

In the case of Sherman Holt, the new head football coach at Swain High School in Bryson City, North Carolina, the answer isn’t even subtle. He’s just doing it right out in the open, practically daring people to stop him. According to the Freedom From Religion Foundation, there’s ample evidence that Holt is coercively pushing Jesus on his players.

For example, there’s his tweet bragging about kids who converted to Christianity:

That says the group prayer took place at a camp hosted by “FCA,” or Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and if this was indeed a private Christian camp the kids attended on their own, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But FFRF says Holt “organized an official team trip” to that FCA camp.

It’s the sort of thing Christians can get away with but non-Christians never could. It’s blatantly coercive, in part because Holt is a new coach. That means there’s even more pressure on the players to get on his good side because they can’t rely on past relationships or bonding experiences.

There’s more: Holt is currently running a football camp that includes church services and baptisms in the stadium. We know that because it’s all literally listed in the itinerary. (That’s how ignorant or confident they are when it comes to breaking the law to promote Christianity.) There’s also video of the baptisms.

Comparing Holt’s actions to those in the Bremerton case, FFRF says this is far beyond the legal limit, even with this ultra-conservative Supreme Court:

… Here, rather than praying privately after games, Coach Holt has transformed his football program into a religious ministry, including a “team chaplain,” religious team events, team church services, and team baptisms on school property. The religious coercion occurring within the district’s football program is particularly troubling for those parents and students who are not Christians or do not subscribe to any religion, FFRF stresses. 

…

“Coaches cannot be permitted to engage in such blatantly sectarian religious behavior,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “It’s highly discriminatory toward all those members of the school district who don’t share that particular belief system.”

FFRF is asking the district to investigate the matter and put an immediate stop to it. They’ve also requested records relating to any communications to or from Holt “regarding prayer, religion, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a team chaplain or religious leaders meeting with the team, team baptisms, or church services.”

None of this should be happening—and it wouldn’t if the district hired a coach who was more interested in helping students than building up his own religious résumé. Instead, Holt is more focused on pushing his faith on kids than building up their football skills.

There’s no place for that in any public high school. 

Kindergartner kicked out of Baptist school after adoption by lesbian couple

https://onlysky.media/hemant-mehta/kindergartner-kicked-out-of-baptist-school-after-getting-adopted-by-lesbians/

“They didn’t think this was a good fit,” said one of the parents
 
by HEMANT MEHTA
 
Kindergartner kicked out of Baptist school after getting adopted by lesbians | Bible Baptist Academy wanted nothing to do with Zoey because her new parents are both women
Bible Baptist Academy wanted nothing to do with Zoey because her new parents are both women (Screenshot via KPLC)
Reading Time: 4 MINUTES
 
 

ABaptist school in Louisiana kicked out a child who was about to enter kindergarten because she was recently adopted by lesbians.

It’s the latest example of Christian love in action.

The story is even more tragic when you realize what the child has been through. Five-year-old Zoey already lost both of her biological parents, with her father dying in an industrial accident in 2020. Thankfully, her aunt, Jennifer Parker, took her in, and the adoption became official earlier this month. Zoey had already taken pre-K classes at Bible Baptist Academy in DeQuincy, Louisiana, so the plan was to continue there for kindergarten.

But last week, just days before the school year began, and after the family attended open house and Zoey got her uniform, Jennifer and her partner Emily were told their new daughter was being kicked out… because the two of them are lesbians.

BIBLE BABTIST ACADEMY is a disappointment. Calling me and Jennie Parker in for a meeting TWO days before school starts to tell us that they can not educate our child due to the fact that we are a married same sex couple.

Even though this isn’t her first year to attend…

You know what you just taught my daughter? How truly judgmental your church is. How unforgiving and unrelenting you are. I was angry, hurt, embarrassed but I am not anymore. Now, I am thankful. Thankful you will not mold my tiny human’s brain to be anything like you. I will teach my child to love EVERYONE just like you say your God is supposed to.

My child has lost so much. Her mother, her father, her whole life has been wrenched away before her 5th birthday. And now… her education, her friends, and her teachings of the God that she loves and I support. Look at this girl and tell me you would judge her Bc of her parents choices….

Such a disappointment but can I say I’m surprised? This southern world disgusts me.

Emily Parker spoke with news station KPLC about what the school told her, and their response only makes things worse:

“The pastor met us in the meeting room and started talking about gender identification and that they teach the words of the Lord and marriage was between a man and a women,” Emily Parker said. “They didn’t think this was a good fit.”

Bible Baptist Academy said in a statement that the school is “committed to instructing and living in accordance with the teachings of Scripture.”

They say that’s what they strive to teach students who attend.

“This should not be interpreted that we have any hatred or malice toward them. We are just as committed to loving all people as we are to holding to Bible principles that people may not agree with or may not understand.”

I have no clue what “gender identification” has to do with a same-sex couple… but it’s not like Christian bigotry is supposed to make sense. To punish a child who’s been through so much for the imaginary “sins” of her parents is beyond cruel. It’s absolutely hatred and malice, and that doesn’t change just because the school claims it’s all biblically mandated. It’s very predictably Baptist. That’s the religion for you.

The school’s entire statement wasn’t any better, saying “The Bible also teaches us to love everyone with the love of God despite their personal choices. We strive to teach this to the students who attend. We encourage them to show love and compassion to everyone.” That’s seriously their defense for why they kicked out a child who hadn’t done anything wrong, even by their own bottom-of-the-barrel standards. You can’t expect leaders of a Christian school to do the right thing when their entire moral code requires them to go down a path of cruelty.

There’s an argument to be made that none of this should be news at all. A private Christian school has every right to enforce its own rules, no matter how despicable the rest of us might find them. We’re not anti-gay, they argue. We’re anti-sin. So any sinners would not be allowed in the school unless they’ve repented for it. The problem with that argument is that this isn’t really about all sins. Does this school kick out children whose parents smoke, or drink, or take the Lord’s name in vain, or cheat on their taxes, or pay for abortions, or any of the other sins Christians commit all the time? Of course they don’t. They probably don’t know, or don’t care, or don’t bother to look into any of those situations.

You’ll never see a news story about a Christian school kicking out a child because her parents spent a weekend gambling in Vegas. But if that child has loving same-sex parents, it’s a five-alarm fire. It’s the selective bigotry by these Christian schools that’s so infuriating. That’s why the school’s excuses ring so hollow.

The silver lining here is that other Christian schools in the community reached out to the family and Zoey has a new school already lined up. The family will be fine. The school has a well-deserved stain on its reputation.

The obvious question is why anyone, especially a same-sex couple, would want to send a child to a private bigoted religious school in the first place. I posed that exact question to Emily Parker, who told me last night that she knew what kind of school this was, but she felt it was important to send Zoey there so she could have some stability and continuity:

We were completely aware BBA is a Christian Baptist school. [Zoey’s] father died in 2020. She learned that God was taking care of her daddy. That anytime she needed to talk to daddy she could pray. God was her connection to her daddy and we completely supported her.

We were eager for BBA to help teach her about the God she already loved. Being a private school, we knew what BBA was and were willing to pay the monthly fees to ensure her education and faith. They were so accepting the previous year. We had no idea there would be a problem.

I am nothing more than a supportive parent.

That’s a valid point, no matter how much I disagree with the school’s beliefs. Zoey being with her classmates, especially while everything else around her is changing, has its benefits, even if it’s at this school. It also raises an interesting question about why none of this came up last year. The Parkers were Zoey’s legal guardians when she was in pre-K; it was the legal adoption, then, that invoked the Baptist school’s cruelty.

(Thanks to @GodlessEngineer for the link)

SD Gov Intros Christianist Social Studies Standards

SD Gov Intros Christianist Social Studies Standards

Please note some more information from the artical.

“Her approach in this curriculum further perpetuates ignorance, further perpetuates racism and white supremacy,” he said, adding “These priority areas are dominated by nationalism.”

The Republican governor claimed the new proposed standards are free from “political agendas” and include an increased focus on Native American history. But they received swift criticism from some educators as a thinly-veiled political document. They emphasize the qualities of America’s founders and mimic language Noem has used as she jumped on the conservative cause of weeding certain “divisive” teachings on race from public schools.

Despite the academic framework being one of her favorite targets, her administration has provided scant evidence that teaching associated with critical race theory — an academic framework that centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions and that those institutions maintain the dominance of white people — exists in South Dakota schools. The state Department of Education spent hundreds of hours combing through its policies, guidance materials and websites, but its report released Monday found “a very small number” of instances where its material didn’t line up with Noem’s order to get rid of anything that contained “divisive concepts” on race.

The governor in a statement cast the report as “proactively removing” critical race theory as she promotes “America’s true and honest history.”

Nick Tilsen, the president of an Indigenous advocacy organization called NDN Collective, said that when the standards start out with goals like that, they are bound to further a narrative that continues to treat minority groups unjustly.

“Her approach in this curriculum further perpetuates ignorance, further perpetuates racism and white supremacy,” he said, adding “These priority areas are dominated by nationalism.”

But Native American educators, who protested after the Department of Education last year cut references to Indigenous culture and history from a draft the workgroup submitted for final approval, said the new standards continued to push Indigenous history and culture to the periphery.

“They are not inclusive to say the least. The goal was to get away from inclusivity to push an agenda that the governor deems important,” said Sarah White, who directs the South Dakota Education Equity Coalition. “It’s definitely going to further disenfranchise our students when it’s missing that Indigenous lens.”

 

The Associated Press reports:

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Monday released a revised proposal for social studies standards in public schools that lays out a mostly shining vision of American history, after an initial draft of the standards came under heavy criticism last year from conservatives.

The 15-member standards workgroup included Noem’s chief of staff, two Republican lawmakers and the director of the South Dakota Catholic Conference, but just three educators certified by the Department of Education.

The new 128-page document more than doubles the length of the proposed standards the Department of Education released last year. They are also peppered with Christian history and explore the religion’s influence on the nation’s leading figures and on Western civilization.

Read the full article.

Seventh graders, for example, are expected to parrot the notions that most of the Founding Fathers opposed slavery and that all Americans are “endowed with rights by the God that created them.”

 

PickyPecker • 35 minutes ago

if i had school aged kids, i would sue. if i wanted to brainwash them with christianist crap i’d send them to perochial.

Radori • 31 minutes ago

This is how grooming looks like

Rebecca Gardner • 29 minutes ago

We all know how awesome Christianist education is. This is an actual ChristStain skool science book. This is just so absurd I have no words.

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Karl Dubhe IV • 34 minutes ago

Setup for another Supreme Court fight. They want to force Jesus down the throats of children.

Judas Peckerwood • 31 minutes ago

Seventh graders, for example, are expected to parrot the notion that most of the Founding Fathers opposed slavery

Of course they did — even their slaves knew that!

Bob’s Your Uncle – BYU • 28 minutes ago

South Dakota was colonized by hateful white supremacist genocidal Christians who broke treaties and stole land that didn’t belong to them.. I am okay with that history being taught. Not the fake lying sugar coated version this stupid bitch is selling.

Why the Sioux Are Refusing $1.3 Billion
https://www.pbs.org/newshou…

The Sentinel • 30 minutes ago

“Once upon a time, long before demonrat homosexuals roamed the earth, everyone was white and happy…”

Halou • 31 minutes ago • edited

Seventh graders, for example, are expected to parrot the notion that most of the Founding Fathers opposed slavery….

But don’t you dare ask how slavery was not abolished until a century later, and after 600,000 people had to die violently.
Either The Founders(TM) fucked up in not bothering to address the issue at the time, like they didn’t care about the inalienable rights. Or they fucked up by not making the political institutions of the United States resilient against traitors and human rights abusers.

Rocco • 27 minutes ago

Sometimes it is hard to believe I am living through this. They’re doing it out in the open also. SMH.

The Diabolical Hoodwink • 29 minutes ago

History is written by the victors, sadly. And soon there will not be a child in America that will know anything about slavery, the wholesale slaughter of Native Americans, and…. homosexuals.

xzargo • 32 minutes ago

How did God create rights for Americans?