Florida Bill Would Expand “Don’t Say Gay” To State Workplaces, Ban LGBTQ Nonprofits From State Grants

While I don’t think this will go anywhere soon, this is more than grand standing for attention.  He is a true believer in removing those non-cis non-straight people from society.  He believes in making the US a Christian theocracy.  Again remember how this started, both here and in Russia.  Save the little kids, you know babies to 3rd grade which in the US is normally until kids would be 9 years old going into 4th grade.  Don’t confuse kids who were not confused at all by gender or that there were LGBTQIA people, they were not confused by gay people who loved each other.  They made the law so vague teachers had to hide being gay and their families, and remove rainbow stickers along with anti-bullying posters.  Then it worked, people bought it so they moved it to up to grade 12 because we wouldn’t want to confuse 18 year olds about gender or sexual orientation, would we?   After all, young adults don’t need to see or hear that stuff in the brave new world of only straight cis people with strict gender rules of the 1950s and forced Christian bible slogans in every classroom.  Do they, after all no mention of the gays or trans equals no gays or trans people right?   Oh shit, they still exist in work places, adults have to be exposed to that confusion as well.  Oh shit, we should not confuse adults about sexual orientation or gender just like we don’t want to confuse kids were not confused, especially little kids who openly accepted their peers once until adults told them that it was wrong to accept people who were different.   So let’s do what we did with companies that encouraged diversity which really is just mixing the races, letting black / brown people have equal work / schooling opportunities.   We will make it illegal!  Nope, no LGBTQIA and no diversity allowed in private or state businesses.  There now we have a nice white straight cis state with nice white straight cis businesses and majority white straight cis schools.   Oops, forgot one detail.  Got to keep forcing that good old Jesus on everyone.  So now not just schools will have to display in god we trust and the then commandments, stores, business, state agencies, everywhere will.   And we will have a local church tax for every district to support the Christian churches only.   The rest you can donate if you want on your own time, Christianity is the state religion now in Florida, and soon other red states.

This is the world these people want, that they are driven to create for their god.  Right or wrong they really believe the lies they were told about the US being founded as a special place for Christians and only Christians, that god will be angry until it is “again” a Christian nation that follows the “bible” way of life?  I guess that means slaves and the right of a man to fuck everything while owning his wives, concubines … whatever.   Sorry but they won’t accept half measures as you see, they take that offering of meeting half way and then demand the rest.   For those that say the fight for trans stuff is too much, just give them that, do you see how wrong you are now?  They took it, ran with it, then went after the rest of the people who are different.  They simply do not want to live in a world with others not like them in it.  Period.  If you want to live in the modern age with acceptance and tolerance for all, we must defeat these people.    Hugs.   Scottie


The Washington Blade reports:

A new bill just introduced in Florida aims to expand “Don’t Say Gay Or Trans” provisions to a broad range of workplaces. Targeting government employees, contractors, and nonprofits, the bill sets forth restrictions and bans on policies relating to pronouns, gender identity, and sexuality.

Specifically, it would prohibit state and local government employees as well as any contractors engaged with the government from changing their pronouns or honorifics if they do not match their assigned sex at birth.

It would also bar them from instructing on gender identity or sexuality, similar to “Don’t Say Gay Or Trans” laws already active in the state education system. The legislation would establish “biological” pronouns as official state policy.

Florida Politics reports:

What raised the loudest alarms among critics was a provision that appears to restrict any organization specifically serving LGBTQ individuals from receiving any state dollars. “It is an unlawful employment practice for a nonprofit organization or an employer who receives funding from the state to require, as a condition of employment, any training, instruction, or other activity on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression,” the bill reads.

The legislation is the second bill filed by Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, who was elected to the House in a Special Election in May. The House District 24 seat notably opened after former state Rep. Joe Harding, an Ocala Republican, resigned facing federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering. Harding authored a parental rights in education bill passed in 2022, the bill originally derided as the “don’t say gay bill.”

Chamberlin belongs to a Pentecostal church and launched a failed bid for the US House in 2020, finishing sixth in the GOP primary. His predecessor, Joe “Don’t Say Gay” Harding, is expected to begin on five month federal prison sentence on COVID fraud charges in January.

 

 

They hate us.
They really, really hate us.

In March 1997, he filed King’s Chamberlin Ministries, Inc., which was dissolved in September 2001 for failure to file an annual report. He didn’t recall the business but thought it was related to his brother who lives in Israel.

In October 1997, he filed Ryan Marketing Group, Inc., which was administratively dissolved for failure to file an annual report in September 1999.

In February of 1998, he filed a corporation called Professional Credit Services Acceptance Corporation, Inc. that was administratively dissolved for failure to file an annual report in September 1999.

In January 1999, he filed Freedom Investments, Inc. that was dissolved in October 2002 for failure to file an annual report.

In September 1999, he filed Freedom Team, Inc. which was administratively dissolved in September 2011.

In May 2010, he started a company called Prosperity Team Leaders, LLC, which was dissolved in September 2011 for failure to file an annual report.

In April 2011, he started a company called Empowered Companies, LLC, which was dissolved in September 2012 for failure to file an annual report.

In March 2013, he was on the board of EJ Kids, Inc. in Hollywood, Florida. That company administratively dissolved the following year for failure to file an annual report.

In February 2015, there was The Kids Movement, Inc., also created in Hollywood. That company was voluntarily dissolved in March 2019.

In January 2010, he started RJ Chamberlin, LLC, which he said he continues to operate for the consulting/training work he does for companies.

In April 2011, he started a company called Empowered Companies, LLC, which was dissolved in September 2012 for failure to file an annual report.

It seems as if fraud is either endemic to Florida or understood to be the traditional way to do things.

You mean this wasn’t going to stop with schools?
Who would have thunk it?

FunFact: Mr. & Mrs. are honorifics not assigned at birth.

Mrs. is actually a change from Miss … So no women can ever acknowledge their marriage through title. Ms. or Miss for all women all the time.

So being mean is a “huge victory” in a state that has the highest inflation in the nation, uninsurable homes and can’t find teachers.

Yup, applaud the important stuff.

Not to mention, OB-GYN’s are fleeing in droves.

Faster even than insurance companies.

 

The only victories they try for are those that harm people they don’t like.

 

“It is an unlawful employment practice for a nonprofit organization or an employer who receives funding from the state to require, as a condition of employment, any training, instruction, or other activity on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression”

 

Note: If they were even remotely principled, they would have to admit that this would require refusing funding for any group that teaches that marriage is a heterosexual monopoly.

I think a lot of Floridians (gay and otherwise) are trying to figure out the best ways to fight this insane government. Voting is important for sure. But we need more and stronger resistance, more challenges in court, more protests. This is not an easy fight. I think a lot of people are just complacent in their comfy lifestyles. They really need to think otherwise. Danger, danger Will Robinson!

I thought all this ‘don’t say gay’ shit was to ‘protect the children’. Yeah, we saw through that a long time ago…you are just now proving it.

Boiling frogs people, boiling frogs.

Well, it’s a GOP goal to reopen workhouses for the poor and lower the employment age to seven.

But children may be taken to a “workplace” so must be safe from those grooming LGBTQ+ people!!!

/s

The pogrom has begun, folks.

FLORIDA: We have zero solutions to your problems, so we’re going to attack gay kids and their families instead.

 

VA School Board Rejects Safe Space For LGBTQ Kids

No safe space, no quiet room to decompress for every kid who needs one, because a minority thinks some kids are evil and they might feel safe and welcome there.   WTF!   Seriously!  Adults need quiet places to decompress, and yet these old grandparent fucks think kids have it so easy they now all they need is Christ and the 10 commandments in school to be happy.   This wouldn’t have cost the district.  It was free money.  But again religious people have the self entitled idea that somehow they get the right to force their religious convictions on other people’s children.   I hate it, kids crying for safety, begging adults to help them.   But all they got from some was hate, anger, judgement, and disdain.   

I included a few more comments than I normally do because I want everyone to note how many people said hate, distrust, non-accptance and intolerance kept them in the closet, kept them denying who they were and stopping them from living openly as gay people.  It kept them from dating and having fullfilling relationship.  That is what the religous right wants to return to, the right to opress the LGBTQIA and keep them out of society.  That is the world they love, where only people like them are seen in public, and on social media.   

Last thing.  At the very end someone who was able to see the entire meeting (* I was not able to read the article as it required me to regester and log in. *) reported that the board did agree to the need for a safe space.  What they couldn’t accept was the money from “those people”  again because the goal is to keep anyone different from being able to show it.  To make sure the only accepted way to be is cis straight with strict gender roles from the 1950s.   So they do see the need, they just refused free money because queer people were donating it.  Again it makes it quite clear the goal they have.   And I say together we have to stop them.   Hugs.  Scottie


The Lynchburg News reports:

The Lynchburg City School Board has voted not to accept a $10,000 grant from an LGBTQ-focused nonprofit, a possible temperature gauge for the board’s upcoming consideration of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s model policies on the treatment of transgender students. At its meeting Tuesday, the board voted 7-2 against accepting the grant from the nonprofit It Gets Better Project, with board members Anthony Andrews and Sharon Carter the only votes in favor.

Students with the E.C. Glass High School Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) club applied for and were recently awarded a grant from the nonprofit to develop a safe-space or “quiet room” at the school, intended for all students’ use. One grandparent of a student spoke in opposition: “Let me be very clear, the LBGTQ agenda in schools is about indoctrination and grooming our children into an evil and wicked lifestyle, all while circumventing the rights and responsibilities of parents.”

Read the full article. In the screenshot seen above and in the cued-up video below, tearful students begged the school board in vain for the safe space.

 

 

 

A quiet room where students can read or do homework or just sit without being bullied. Imagine being against that. Now you understand the religious right. They want to be free to abuse anyone they want and when they are not allowed to do that they think they are being persecuted.

Very pro-children and pro-family of them.

Poor kids.

They’re neither pro children, nor pro family

They aren’t even pro fetus

 

That’s shitty.
When I taught in Texas, the LGBT+ “safe place” for students (and some faculty) was just known as my office.

Thank you from all those students.

Yep. My classroom, too.

Republicans want corpses, and they are perfectly fine if those corpses are their own children.

Guns and Hate are the toys of American evangelicals

Nothing like that style of Christian love…

And the corpses that aren’t dead are dead on the inside after being literally and figuratively beaten every day during their adolescence.

Just despicable.

It reminds me of when I was in college, and an LGBT group was created, only to face a backlash from a counter group preaching “Society needs a home!” Rumor had it that this counter group sent plants into the LGBT group to potentially publicly out those attending…basically what Laura Ingraham did in college.

That threat kept me in the closet for a few more years, until I was out on my own and 1000 miles from my family. It should never have to be like that!

I started hitting the clubs at around 16 (back then in 1980’s NOLA I was just one face in a sea of gays and got away with it!) but didn’t come out until 1989 when I got out of the Army. It really was just too much trouble to be a double agent all the time.
The idea of a “safe space” was unthinkable! Besides, I knew I was an ugly, twisted, perverted abomination that couldn’t be trusted around children.
It took decades to partially heal from all that garbage. The kids deserve better than that, but that’s the message they get when they are denied these spaces.
Oh, and I fucking HATE people like that Grandparent. I do not wish them well.

 

I ‘m sorry you had a moment when you viewed yourself as a “twisted abomination.” I understand it. I was raised a good Catholic boy. My parents even strong-armed me into going to their Catholic college, instead of the state college I wanted to attend, but I never saw myself as an abomination as I wanted so much more than just sex. I wanted love and a relationship…so how could that be wrong?

Of course it also helped that at the same time, Oprah, Geraldo, and other talk shows started featuring LGBT guests, who looked like “regular people,” acted like regular people, some were even ex-military & cops and this all flew in the face of what I was told what queer people were.

AIDS was devastating. I lost so many dear friends. The worst when when I would talk to my dad, and he deemed AIDS as “gawd’s judgement.” He eventually came around, when my parents met my gay friends and really liked them A LOT more than my sisters’ straight, boring, unfunny, uncultured friends. At one point, it was a bit unsettling when I had a bf my dad wanted to hang out with all the time, as they had way too many interests in common.

 

I’m a cis gendered white guy, and I’m ashamed that I had similar attitudes growing up. To be fair, I learned sex ed through ’60’s TV. I’m so glad I got past it. Even though I used to get hit on by gay guys all the time. 😉

 

My dad told me that all gay men acted & like to dress like women. “I couldn’t be gay. I’m not drawn to crossdressing nor attracted to effeminate men.”

Nothing’s worse than that time when I was closeted & neurotic 17-22 year old…desperately wanting some gay man to come onto me, only to be offended and terrified of being detected as gay.

When I was in an internship in college, there was this very cute, 30-ish mailman who delivered to the office all the time. One time he walked by my desk and flirted with me. I reacted rudely at the thought of being discovered. I thought about it later, and thought I should apologize the next time I saw him, and see where things go from there (never having been with another man yet.) Sadly, I never saw him again, as he had gotten sick shortly thereafter & died of AIDS.

 

I’m REALLY glad you had that experience. We each process what it means to be gay differently and I’m glad for your happy outcome. 🙂

My own self-loathing kept me away from friendly gay spaces and in my fraternity. Never mind that we would sometimes go to the big gay bar on $5 all you can drink Tuesdays. When I was finally outed and literally chased out of the house my biggest fear was that one of my ‘brothers’ would tell my parents. It’s not like the contact information wasn’t on file. But they didn’t.

I was booted from my frat when the fraternity president decided to come clean and tell his girlfriend that the two of us were having sex. After she ratted us out I was blackballed and the president stayed claiming I had “influenced” him. I guess the others I was having regular sex with as well felt it best to vote me out as to not appear to also having been “influenced”.

 

I never slept with any of my brothers but I did fuck my way through about a quarter of the PiKappaAlpha house. One bit of unfortunately blowback from my own outing was the guilt by association. Because I was treasurer and the assumptive president for the coming fall term, the whole thing created a bit of a scandal. I became toxic overnight and some of that stuck to others that I cared deeply for. In some cases I was the first person that they had spoken the words out loud to.

 

Frat guys having sex with each other. That NEVER happens! /s

That is about as disgusting as it gets. What a pile of steaming shit that woman is.

Oh man, I am so sorry to hear that happened to you.

My college’s GSU (1975) was the first place I felt comfortable coming out, and the first time I met people who felt the same way I did. It’s also where I met my first bf.

I’m glad you made it through.

We all had/have our journeys. I survived and thrived, despite the delay & one-two punch in my journey of self-discovery & coming out.

1. Just before attending college and anticipating the exploration of my adulthood, I was reading about the sudden explosion of this ARC disease afflicting the gay community.

2. Was my college’s threat to this new gay safe space organization.

Moving 1000 miles away, 5 years later I found love (for 4-5 years), my happy gay self and tons of gay & lesbian friends.

 

Joining the Army saved my life. I was so afraid of getting kicked out for being gay (this was PRE-“Don’t ask, don’t tell) that I basically went celibate for 4 years, which coincided with the height of the plague.
I remember going home on leave my first year. When I say that literally EVERY single person I’d slept with (and there were a lot) was dead, I’m not kidding.
All those beautiful young men. It’s no wonder I’m filled with rage at the right.

“It gets better”
GQP: “We’ll see about that!”

Or, “Not if we can help it.”

I don’t get it. The school got the grant. It wouldn’t take any money and very little effort on the school’s part to make this happen. I don’t know of any school that would refuse free money. I guess I do now. 😦

“Wicked”
Now thats a word seldom used anymore as a descriptive. Very telling of this god-botherer’s religious sect

I tried to make this as brief as I can:

True, the board voted 7-2 against accepting the $10,000 grant from the nonprofit It Gets Better Project. The negative majority objected to the It Gets Better Project “branding,” and what they percieved are implications of “indoctrination.”

However, in discussion beginning at hour 2:05 through 2:58 the board recognized the need for such a safe space, without objection. Eventually, the board voted 6-3 to direct the school system to find the funding for the safe space.

School Board Chair Dr. Gupta, a “No” voter on the It Gets Better Project grant, then offered to personally fund the project with $10,000. Accordingly, the Board then voted 9-0 to reconsider the 6-3 vote at their next meeting, pending investigation of any legal matters that might arise around Dr. Gupta’s donation.

I’m as disgusted as anyone here that in early discussion some board members wanted to accept the grant but were not willing recognize the grantor with a sign on the safe room’s door. But by the end of the meeting the glass was half-full — a safe room will be established, and a prominent local individual has offered to fund it.

Retiring after 17 years in my own city’s government, a place not unlike Lynchburg VA, I swore I’d never again watch another local government meeting. But watching the Lynchburg meeting I was encouraged. Especially that the needs of LGBT children were discussed (in Lynchburg, home of Liberty University!)

The meeting was calm and deliberate, without any Moms-for-Liberty stunts. I was especially struck by the diversity of the school board members, politically and ethnically. (Again in Lynchburg!) Another long, boring meeting, but I was surprised to find this one fascinating.

So, if I am reading this right, the school board recognized the need for a safe space for LGBTQ students, and approved the creation of such a space – they just couldn’t bear to take those queer dollars to fund it.

 

 

Watch This Dad’s Glorious & Brutal Takedown Of A School Board For Its Anti-LGBTQ+ Policies

https://www.pride.com/gay-news/cody-conner#toggle-gdpr

Cody Conner at the podium at a Virginia Beach school board meeting
VBSchools/YouTube

PRIDE spoke with Cody Conner who is going viral after speaking out during a Virginia Beach school board meeting.

 

 

 

In the face of anti-LGBTQ+ policies being implemented in schools across the country, some parents are speaking out and it’s glorious to watch. Especially when it’s done like this.

A video of Cody Conner, a Virginia Beach dad, is going viral on social media after he spoke at a school board meeting on October 10. The father of three gave an impassioned speech about the state’s “discriminatory policies” and called out anyone who stands in favor of them.

“You are never going to find a right way to do the wrong thing and Governor Youngkin’s policies are wrong,” he began his speech.

Conner is referring to the Virginia governor’s “model policies” for public schools that require students to use the bathroom and sports team that matches their assigned sex. It also requires written instruction from parents for a student to use names or gender pronouns that differ from the official record, meaning that teacher can deadname students—refer to them by their prior name—if paperwork isn’t filled out by the parents and it requires the school to inform parents if a student is questioning their identity, according to 13 News Now. These policies will be especially detrimental to LGBTQ+ students who come from conservative homes.

Conner started speaking out at school board meetings (he’ll be speaking for the 17th time on November 15) because he moved his family to Virginia Beach right before Youngkin’s policies passed and he worries about the future of his 13-year-old trans daughter who is now in the 8th grade. The family moved from rural Virginia to Virginia Beach so that their kid, who came out as trans a year ago, would be in a school system that would be supportive, but that all changed because of Youngkin.

“I think at that point, I just wasn’t going to run,” he tells PRIDE. “I couldn’t anymore.”

The 42-year-old father said that he’s a quiet person and might not have made the choice to speak up if not for his kids. “I just knew I couldn’t standby and do nothing, just let it happen and hope everything worked out ok and I also wanted to make sure my kid knew that I would stand up for them,” Conner explains as he begins to tear up. “My big job as a parent is not to tell my children who they are, it’s not to make the decisions for them, it’s not to live their life or decide what their life is going to be, but to show them the best way I know how to walk through this world.”

Watching a father stick up for his trans kid and the queer community and rail against conservatives is a cathartic experience and likely why the video has gone viral online.

In his speech that already has nearly 90,000 likes on TikTok, Conner pointed out that the fact that the Proud Boys and the “parental rights” group Moms for Liberty—both considered hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center—support these discriminatory and draconian policies is further proof that the policies are wrong.

“Never in history have the good guys been the segregationist group pushing to legislate identity,” he said. “Never in history have the good guys been closely connected with and supported by hate groups like the Proud Boys. And the good guys don’t put Hitler quotes for inspiration on the front of their newsletters. News flash: they’re the bad guys. They’re the bad guys supporting bad policy. And if you support the same bad policy, guess what? You’re one of the bad guys too.”

After nearly a year of delays, Youngkin’s policies are finally being implemented in the Virginia Beach school system, with a few minor alterations, which is why Conner has no plans to stop speaking out. He finished his dynamic speech by reminding the school board members to “be the good guys while you still can.”

Conner explains to PRIDE that for him speaking at school board meetings is about more than just trying to sway board members. “It was just about a lot more than just trying to change the minds of those 11 people up there,” he says. “It was about trying to bolster the hearts of the thousands and thousands of people out there that those 11 people’s decisions are threatening.”

With anti-LGBTQ+ laws sweeping the country it’s easy to become disillusioned, but watching Conner call out bigotry and homophobia is the kind of catharsis the queer community needs right now. But speaking truth to power isn’t the only way Conner is trying to change the world for the LGBTQ+ community. He’s also an organizer with the trans rights nonprofit the Calos Coalition. When speaking with PRIDE Conner was gearing up to cook a trans-Thanksgiving dinner put on by the group. It’s only the second “trans family dinner” they’ve put on—they plan to do it every month—but they are already expecting 70 guests.

“In a very real way the LGBTQ+ community gets treated by a lot of people as if they’re unwholesome in some way, with zero acknowledgment that so many members of the community have been isolated and ostracized from these presumed wholesome places and traumatized in places like the family dinner table,” he explains. “And I just wanted to take that back, create a safe space to sit down and break bread with people [who are] welcome and wanted.”

This is what allyship looks like. This is what parenting looks like. And this is hopefully what the future looks like — which if Conner gets his way, it will.

VIRAL VIDEO: Virginia Dad Calls Out “Bad Guys” Moms For Liberty In Blistering Speech Before VA School Board

My great feeling now that I am clearing some of the backlog.   Yes I have gone from 68 tabs to 3 open tabs.   Don’t cheer, I have been at this since a little after 1 am, and I am getting exhausted now at nearly 10 am.   Ron is trying to make a great Sunday breakfast meal, So we will see.   But this is such a needed and grand post, I really wanted to get it out to the public that don’t go to Joe My God!  But as always do go to the places I post from.   Hugs.  


November 15, 2023 LGBT NewsViral Video

“You are never going to find a right way to do the wrong thing and Governor Youngkin’s policies are wrong. Never in history have the good guys been the segregationist group pushing to legislate identity.

“Never in history have the good guys been closely connected with and supported by hate groups like the Proud Boys. And the good guys don’t put Hitler quotes for inspiration on the front of their newsletters.

“News flash: they’re the bad guys. They’re the bad guys supporting bad policy. And if you support the same bad policy, guess what? You’re one of the bad guys too. When you look around and see only the wrong people supporting what you’re doing, you’re doing the wrong thing.

“Now you’ve heard some speakers come up here and say how they love these kids but won’t accept them. I’m here to tell you that if your love makes somebody not want to be alive, it’s not love. That’s not love.

“Some of you are going to get up here and say ‘it’s the law.’ Well, I remind you that slavery and segregation used to be the law here in Virginia.” – Virginia Beach father of three Cody Conner, in a speech going viral today on TikTok.

 
 

That was powerful.
I like the “There is never a right way to do the wrong thing!”

Well put and well rehearsed. Just puts it right out there, matter of fact, like pointing out the elephant or the nazi in the room.

His speech is simple and direct, cutting through the fascist bullshit. Be The Good Guy is a good campaign slogan.

 

I love the simplicity of “There is no right way to do the wrong thing”

A good article on this:

https://www.pride.com/gay-n…

It starts with a recap, but they’ve talked to him, and included that. He seems like a good guy.

Conner started speaking out at school board meetings (he’ll be speaking for the 17th time on November 15) because he moved his family to Virginia Beach right before Youngkin’s policies passed and he worries about the future of his 13-year-old trans daughter who is now in the 8th grade.

Thanks! The article mentions Youngkin’s transphobic “model policies” that are apparently up to each school board to decide on adopting, adapting, or rejecting.

This Washington Blade article is much less detailed, but short and sweet:

Virginia Beach schools adopt new policy for transgender, nonbinary students
9-1 vote took place after impassioned debate
https://www.washingtonblade…

❝… This decision was made following more than a year of student walkouts protesting Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s new guidelines for trans and nonbinary students and the formation of Students4Trans. Several parents before the vote came out in support of the policies and voiced their opinions as well to the board.

Board member Jessica Owens is the only one who voted against the policy.

“My sticking point being the issue of not being able to address students in the manner that they would like to be addressed,” she said.

Arlington County Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools and Prince William County Schools are among the Virginia school districts that have refused to implement them.❞

 

The headline was incomplete:

Virginia Beach schools adopt hateful new policy for transgender, nonbinary students

His words deserve to be shared widely! I used what you transcribed and filled in the rest:
 

“I wasn’t surprised by another delay at the last school board meeting, ’cause no matter how hard you try to implement these discriminatory policies in the ‘right way’, you are never going to find a right way to do the wrong thing. And Governor Youngkin’s policies are wrong.

One of the ways you can tell is because you have speakers from groups like Moms for Liberty here to support them, and I’ll be real simple in case you aren’t paying attention: they’re not the good guys.

How can you tell? I can help: the good guys don’t get declared extremist groups by human rights organizations. Never in history have the good guys been the ones trying to ban books. Never in history have the good guys been the segregationist group pushing to legislate identity. Never in history have the good guys been closely connected with and supported by hate groups like the Proud Boys. And the good guys don’t put Hitler quotes for inspiration on the front of their newsletters.

News flash: they’re the bad guys. They’re the bad guys, here supporting bad policy. And if you support the same bad policy, guess what? You’re one of the bad guys too. When you look around and see only the wrong people support what you’re doing, you’re doing the wrong thing.

Now you’ve heard some speakers come up here and say how they love these kids but won’t accept them. I’m here telling you that if your love makes somebody not want to be alive, it’s not love. That’s not love.

Some speakers are going to get up here and talk about ‘parental rights’. The only right a parent has is the right to responsibility. And if you need somebody else to tell you who your kid is, you’re probably not that good a parent.

And some are going to get up here and tell you how ‘it’s the law.’ Well, I remind you that slavery and segregation also used to be the law here in Virginia, and that there is no right way to do the wrong thing.

So do the right thing. Reject these policies that harm and endanger our LGBTQ students. Be the good guys, while you still can.”

– Virginia Beach father of three Cody Conner, in a speech going viral on TikTok. (11/15/2023, via JoeMyGod)
https://www.tiktok.com/@bee…

Cody Conner

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Great to see. This is the boldness we need on our side to call out the dangerous policies bigots are pushing to their face. Well done, SIR!!

“Be the good guy while you still can” (emphasis mine). I hope they do, but I bet most of them are moral cowards who won’t do the right thing.

They know god is on their side.

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Johnson: America Deserves God’s Wrath For Permitting “Dark And Depraved” Things Like Young LGBTQ People

Again because people were not paying attention, the religious fanatics moved into positions of power.  Now they want to enforce their own personal way of life on everyone and are willing to destroy democracy to do it.  The public should take these people as a warning of how they want to erase our personal liberties to eased their religious fears.   Think of it, if you read both this post and the article you see that he is claiming that his god will not give good things to our country, which to be honest has really been so far his god giving good things to white people, but will now be mean to … again white people because the very people Mike Johnson thinks are bad have gained more equality in the cis hetero world.  He really thinks we are inventing new ways to be “evil”.   Hell’s bells and my dogs that love gravy how weird is this guy to think that people only started to do bad stuff now that gays have the right to marry and kids can come out at school?  Really what about slavery, what about the atrocities all through history including the Holocaust and the dark ages, Spanish Inquisition, and the horrible things Columbus and his people did.   But gay kids are where his god draws the line????  Think of the things being done in Gaza, but his god is more upset that a boy finds another boy sexually attractive so that is why he will destroy the country?   Think about where and why these people focus on.   Worth the read for both.   Hugs


Rolling Stone reports:

Talking to pastor Jim Garlow on a broadcast of the World Prayer Network, Johnson spoke ominously of America facing a “civilizational moment.” He said, “The only question is: Is God going to allow our nation to enter a time of judgment for our collective sins? Or is he going to give us one more chance to restore the foundations and return to Him?”

The segment was filmed Oct. 3, just weeks before Johnson’s unexpected rise to become speaker of the House. Garlow pressed the clean-cut Louisiana congressman to say “more about this ‘time of judgment’ for America.” Johnson replied: “The culture is so dark and depraved that it almost seems irredeemable.” He cited, as supposed evidence, the decline of national church attendance and the rise of LGBTQ youth — the fact, Johnson lamented, that “one-in-four high school students identifies as something other than straight.”

Discussing the risk of divine retribution, Johnson invoked Sodom, the Old Testament city destroyed by God for its wickedness with a rain of burning sulfur. Johnson is a polished orator, but in a closing prayer with Garlow he grew tearful. Johnson intoned, “We repent for our sins individually and collectively. And we ask that You not give us the judgment that we clearly deserve.”

Read the full article. Longtime JMG readers may recall that Jim Garlow appeared here many times starting around 15 years ago, usually for “gays are satanic” type rants.

In 2010, Garlow declared that God passed Proposition 8 in California because Christians nationwide had fasted against same-sex marriage.

In 2017, we heard from Garlow when he called for a national tax to be given to churches for them to provide healthcare to congregants, as “health is God’s issue.”

In 2021, Garlow led a group of evangelicals in marching around the Georgia Capitol building seven times to prevent Democrats from winning.

Garlow is the co-author of the so-called Manhattan Declaration, which calls on Christians to disobey all pro-LGBTQ ordinances and laws.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: Pastor Jim Garlow calls for an armed uprising against the nation’s LGBTQ people. Pastor Jim Garlow claims that Christians who hate homosexuals will be rewarded with an eternal celestial orgy when they reach heaven. Pastor Jim Garlow says Satan is a gay activist. Pastor Jim Garlow says God has forgiven Newt Gingrich for his serial adultery.

 

Horrifying, really

I cannot emphasize enough that that man is dangerous. He believes that he has been placed there by God to claim the united states government for his narrow radical view of Christianity. Him + Trump represent an existential threat to the republic.

Imagine that the person with these horrifying views is two heartbeats away from being president of the U.S.!!

That is so frightening!

Two heartbeats away? He already is the beating heart of the Speaker of the House!

In its early days, our “Christian” nation wiped out most of the indigenous people and brutally enslaved millions of Africans. More recently, it fabricated excuses to start two bloody and futile wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, in which untold innocent civilians and children died.

If those and other atrocities didn’t piss off the Christian god, then he either doesn’t exist or has very warped priorities.

These people are gleefully watching whats happening in Israel because, to them, it means Baby Jesus is returning any day now so he’s trying to “save” as many Americans as possible before the end.

Its horrifying, absolutely.

Absolutely. Their doctrine says the Jerusalem Temple must be rebuilt before Jesus can return. And when he does, all Jews who have not accepted him as Savior will be obliterated. Which is all of them.

What’s appallingly cynical is that while most Jews probably don’t know this, the Israeli government certainly does, and is happy to accept evangelicals’ support even knowing what’s supposed to happen to them.

And no, they do NOT want peace, because then Jesus won’t be coming. War is a necessary precursor.

Yeah, what is this obsession with us queer-folk?

 

Jealous of the great blow jobs he’ll never get nor welcoming tight holes.

Religious fanaticism is really the biggest danger to civilization.

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I wonder if it will be that, or the devastating effects of climate change that will finally be the end of us humans.

I think we deserve it, either way, for doing so very little to counter either extreme danger.

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This guy’s really dangerous. They really managed to sneak the guy in there without any proper due diligence, didn’t they? I recall that screaming shrew shouting down the reporter who asked the question about election denial. “How *dare* you apply scrutiny to us?!!”

Every Republican supported him, and none of those Republicans are facing angry constituents calling for their removal from office any time soon… so this is apparently what Republican voters want from DC.

I fully expect the dark money’d interests already knew how twisted and perverted this miserable piece of shit is before they insisted on his installation.

It’s right there in the book of Ezekiel: Sodom and Gomorrah were not destroyed due to gay people living in them. They were destroyed because violent residents violated their cultural guest laws, harassing and robbing visitors and migrants asking for help.

You can always tell what kind of Xtian you’re dealing with depending whether they actually understand the lesson in their own book or if they simply apply whatever interpretations they want in order to justify their own appalling, hateful behavior.

They ignore the part where Lot offers his daughters to the angry crowd, then later the part where Lot has sex with his daughters.

Lot offered his own four daughters to appease the soldiers to prevent them from killing the two angels he was saving in his house. For his protection from the angry mob and the soldiers, the angles made everyone who protest to become blind. This made the soldiers angry, and they raped Lot as punishment for protecting those angels, which was commonly done to control their victims.
Angels then told Lot to run away with his daughters because they were going to destroy those two mythical cities for their inhospitality and cruelty.
For one thing, there is no ancient archeological evidence that Sodom and Gomorrah ever existed. They are not on any ancient maps. As typical with most Biblical stories, they are parables to learn from except for those Christian apologists who take everything out of context to justify their bigotry and ignorance.

Christians ignore what the Bible actually says about Sodom and Gomorrah. We weren’t the cause, we were the punishment, at least the first level of punishment.

Frankly, it’s pretty insulting, but the way THEY act is what’s raising the threat level…

Christians ignore a lot of the bible. They sure focus on the hate, some of them

Looking back, if I had a safe and supportive environment when first realized I was Trans at age 15 I believe my life would have been much easier. Not perfect but easier.

This religious fanatic needs to mind his own freaking business.

Minding their own freaking business is something that christian republicans (is that an oxymoron?) are totally incapable of doing.

But, just try to get into their business, and they’ll shriek and claim persecution!

And that is why it is so important that all trans and non-binary come out. To find each other so they can comfort and support each other and show that this is ok and part of normal life. That’s the reason christStains are so against any kind of equality and normalization of all genders. Because it goes against their hate and deludes opportunities to grift money. The only reason growing up trans was hard for you and growing up gay was hard for me is because of hateful religion.

Young Americans are running screaming from Christianity because of creeps like YOU, shithead. Now go share some porn links with your son

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Ethics, reason, conscience? These are all counterbalances against religion, superstition, and bigotry.

Teabagger’s or MAGAt’s, still the same haters.

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I am to the point that I want to snap and throw any cross I see. It’s just a fucking swastika straightened out to me. Symbol of hate.

And, if you think about it, the cross was essentially used as a torture device.

It says a lot about a religion that chose that as its representative symbol.

Johnson is quite delusional and hiding a deep dark secret about himself, as we’re all quite aware. NO ONE ever goes that deep into how to ‘eliminate’ our clan than those who are deep DEEEEPPPP in a violent and sad closet.

Johnson and his son share a porno filter. That’s pretty fucking weird. And the wife speaks in baby talk. Fucking creepy.

Yeah, there’s seriously something off about this guy, beyond the usual bigotry. The prissy zealotry is extremely creepy. (Along with those other signs like the weird youthful adoption and the porn monitoring with his son.)

Some of them just seem ignorant, blind cultists. But this guy is full-on creepster culty since he’s clearly intelligent enough, or should be, to have some grounding in the real world. If I had children, I wouldn’t let him anywhere near them. He gives off serious pervy vibes.

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👇

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America Deserves God’s Wrath For Permitting “Dark And Depraved” Things Like Young LGBTQ People Republicans.

Why is one of the default babble verses against LGBTQI+ always include the story of Sodom and Gomorrah? Interesting that the post script to those verses was the daughters of Lot getting him drunk and having sex with him to supposedly make sure the world didn’t die with no survivors.

And I ALWAYS have the counterweight babble verses to this. Why was sodom and gomorrah destroyed? Because they did things that was against the traditions of the peoples in those lands at that time. And these traditions are timeless so it also applies to us in this time an place.

Ezekiel 16:48-50

•As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done. “‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. (NIV)

They’ll never except the truth of what it says.

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Interesting that the post script to those verses was the daughters of Lot getting him drunk and having sex with him to supposedly make sure the world didn’t die with no survivors.

And likely what really happened was Daddy got loopy, knocking up the daughters, then blaiming them. Imagine the two boys that were birthed. He was their father AND grandfather their mom’s were their half-sisters, and each mom was the aunt to the other’s kid. And it, apparently, was all A-OK with the big sky fairy.

Sounds a lot like the arrogant, overfed and unconcerned congress critters not helping the poor, the sick etc better reread that part of the Bible quickly.

Gurrrrl, you in trouble.

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I am not threatened by the existence of LGBTQ people. Certain groups of church-going Christians, however…

Hey Maggot — your god CREATED Young LGBTQ People.

Paaaahraise Jaaaaysus !!

I have long said that if God hates gay people, then He fucked up royally when He had a hand in our creation. He is supposed to know all the past, the present, and the future. So how did we slip through? The answer we always get from the “religious ones” is that we “choose” to be gay. Stop choosing and you’ll be OK. See?

Homosexuality is a natural and a normal expression of human sexuality. It always has been, it always will be, and after all of us, here, are dead – and our existence forgotten – there will still be gay-oriented babies being born on every continent, in every country, and in every culture

Same as it ever was

That’s a little piece of truth they left out of both the Old and the New Testicles.

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First, they never think deeply about that and they became str8 the first time they got excited when they caught a glimpse of her panties or her bra straps or big tits, etc.I actually asked a coworker that once, and that is the paraphrased answer he gave me. He became str8 when he first got hot over a girl. It’s so easy. I realized that the thinking was so shallow that further discussion was useless.

So God sat back as gave a 👍🏼 to more than years of slavery and lynchings but he’s super pissed and losing his shit over young LGBTQ kids living their lives? M’kay.

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If Mike’s god stood around while 8 million Jews were killed, I don’t think he’s too worried about the gays. Stay in your lane, Mike.

And another thing to say to this…person:

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Valerie Strauss: Voters Give “Moms for Liberty” a Well-Deserved Whupping

“‘Parental rights’ is an appealing term, but voters have caught on to the reality that it is fueling book bans, anti-LGBT efforts, pressure on teachers not to discuss race and gender, whitewashing history, and so on,” said political analyst Larry Sabato, a politics professor at the University of Virginia and founder and director of the Center for Politics. “Parents may want more input in the schools, but as a group they certainly aren’t as extreme as many in the Moms for Liberty.”

Great short read.   Really puts it in words most people can understand.   Hugs.  Scottie

Behind the Curtain: Trump allies pre-screen loyalists for unprecedented power grab

https://www.axios.com/2023/11/13/trump-loyalists-2024-presidential-election

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Illustration of Donald Trump's silhouette within a spotlight flanked by two empty spotlights.

Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios

Former President Trump’s allies are pre-screening the ideologies of thousands of potential foot soldiers, as part of an unprecedented operation to centralize and expand his power at every level of the U.S. government if he wins in 2024, officials involved in the effort tell Axios.

Why it matters: Hundreds of people are spending tens of millions of dollars to install a pre-vetted, pro-Trump army of up to 54,000 loyalists across government to rip off the restraints imposed on the previous 46 presidents.

  • The screening for ready-to-serve loyalists has already begun, driven in part by artificial intelligence from tech giant Oracle, contracted for the project.
  • Social media histories are already being plumbed.

What’s happening: When Trump took office in 2017, he included many conventional Republicans in his Cabinet and key positions. Those officials often curtailed his behavior and power.

  • Trump himself spends little time plotting governing plans. But he is well aware of a highly coordinated campaign to be ready to jam government offices with loyalists willing to stretch traditional boundaries.

If Trump were to win, thousands of Trump-first loyalists would be ready for legal, judicial, defense, regulatory and domestic policy jobs. His inner circle plans to purge anyone viewed as hostile to the hard-edged, authoritarian-sounding plans he calls “Agenda 47.”

  • The people leading these efforts aren’t figures like Rudy Giuliani. They’re smart, experienced people, many with very unconventional and elastic views of presidential power and traditional rule of law.

Behind the scenes: The government-in-waiting is being orchestrated by the Heritage Foundation’s well-funded Project 2025, which already has published a 920-page policy book from 400+ contributors. Think of it as a transition team set in motion years in advance.

  • Heritage president Kevin Roberts tells us his apparatus is “orders of magnitude” bigger than anything ever assembled for a party out of power.
 
  • The policy series, “Mandate for Leadership,” dates back to the 1980s. But Paul Dans, director of Project 2025, told us: “Never before has the entire movement … banded together to construct a comprehensive plan to deconstruct the out-of-touch and weaponized administrative state.”

Project 2025 gets muscle from 80 partners, including Turning Point USA, led by MAGA star Charlie Kirk; the Center for Renewing America, headed by former Trump budget director Russ Vought; and American Moment, focused on young believers for junior positions.

Trump insiders relish rebuilding the team with purists. But the truth is, they have no choice: Many more-traditional Republicans quit the first administration in frustration or were fired by tweet. And some former advisers are talking to prosecutors or are charged with crimes.

  • The Trump campaign tells us no outside group speaks for him: “The campaign’s Agenda47 is the only official comprehensive and detailed look at what President Trump will do when he returns to the White House. … While the campaign is appreciative of any effort to provide suggestions about a second term, the campaign is not collaborating with them.”
Questions for Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 applicants. Screenshot via Project 2025 website

How it works: The most elaborate part of the pre-transition machine is a résumé-collection project that drills down more on political philosophy than on experience, education or other credentials.

  • Applicants are asked to “name one person, past or present, who has most influenced the development of your political philosophy” — and to do the same with a book.
  • Another query: “Name one living public policy figure whom you greatly admire and why.”

Details: Heritage’s Presidential Personnel Database already has 4,000+ entries, we’re told.

  • We’re told immense, intense attention will be given to the social-media histories of anyone being considered for top jobs. Those queasy about testing the limits of Trump’s power will get flagged and rejected.
  • The massive headhunting quest aims to recruit 20,000 people to serve in the next administration, as a down payment on 4,000 presidential appointments + potential replacements for as many as 50,000 federal workers who are “policy-adjacent,” as Trumpers put it.

Reality check: Technically, this apparatus will be inherited by any Republican nominee — Heritage officials tell us they’ve briefed the campaigns of Trump, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.

  • But this is undeniably a Trump-driven operation. The biggest tell: Johnny McEntee — one of Trump’s closest White House aides, and his most fervent internal loyalty enforcer — is a senior adviser to Project 2025.
  • One of the most powerful architects is Stephen Miller, a top West Wing adviser for the Trump administration. Miller is charting an even harder line on legal and immigration policy than last time. While he maps a White House return, he’s president of America First Legal, which vows to fight “lawless executive actions and the Radical Left.”
 

Between the lines: Trump doesn’t hide his intentions. It’s important to tune out the theatrical language that drives social media and cable TV, and focus intently on the directional guidance of his second term.

  • He’s telling us exactly what he intends to do — like it or loathe it. And this time, he’ll have prefabbed institutional muscle to turn pugilistic words into policies and action from the get-go.

Here’s what the early days of a second Trump presidency would look like, based on his words and our conversations with Trump insiders:

  1. His top obsession will be the Justice Department, the FBI and the intelligence community — all of which he thinks conspired to investigate him, thwart him, screw him. He’s been very clear that he’s willing to unleash these agencies against political enemies.
  2. The next priority will be the Department of Homeland Security and the border, with plans to erect sprawling detention camps, “scour the country for unauthorized immigrants,” and “deport people by the millions per year,” The New York Times reports. We’re told Trump’s top criterion for immigration officials will be whoever promises to be most aggressive. Trump has told allies he’s confident the Supreme Court will back his most draconian moves.
  3. As first reported by Jonathan Swan for Axios last year, a key tool for Trump’s “revenge term” would be the use of Schedule F personnel powers to wipe out employment protections for tens of thousands of civil servants across the federal government. Trump allies want a deep and wide purge of the professional staff that often serves across new administrations.
  4. Officials close to the Pentagon tell us they’re worried about a plan, articulated by former Trump official Russ Vought in the Heritage document, to direct the National Security Council to “rigorously review all general and flag officer promotions to prioritize the core roles and responsibilities of the military over social engineering and non-defense related matters, including climate change, critical race theory [and] manufactured extremism.” Indeed, the Trump allies see obstacles to remove at every level of every agency.

The bottom line: This Trump-allied machine has the most power over the formation of a potential future government of any group in U.S. history. Trump, if elected, will leverage it to do things with government that none of us has seen in our lifetime.

“Behind the Curtain” is a column by Axios CEO Jim VandeHei and co-founder Mike Allen, based on regular conversations with White House and congressional leaders, CEOs and top technologists.

City Ordinance Banning Public Homosexuality Reaches Rutherford County Libraries

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/city-ordinance-banning-public-homosexuality

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
     Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

by the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)

First it was trans and drag queens.   Then it was books / media in schools with LGBTQIA characters or plots.   Then it was any symbol related to the LGBTQIA such as the rainbow flag.   All along I have said this was the following of Putin’s Russia in simply making being LGBTQIA illegal.  No mention in any media that is not horrific, no representation in public, and no private practice in your home if others might find out.   This is what the fundamentalist religious right wants and are trying to get.   They also want to outlaw sodomy, even though it is not limited to gays and lesbians.  It is control over how you can use your body and what you can enjoy, to please their weird view of Jesus.  We better stomp this shit hard.  Hugs.  Scottie

Ps.  This is a great sub-stack to follow for up todate factual information on trans or other LGTBQIA issues.   Please go see what else she has written.   Hugs.  Scottie


In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, a new city ordinance targeting public homosexuality is hitting libraries. “When in History have the ones banning books been the good guys,” says local activist.

 

 

 

republicans go FULLY mask off, ban LGBT books

Some Trans Kids Are Being Forced To Flee America For Their Safety

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trans-kids-flee-united-states-safety_n_654c44c7e4b088d9a74d2028

Is this the place we have become.   A place where thugs representing a Christian Taliban moral vice police can simply threaten the safety of the public to enforce a specific religion’s church ideals on all the public?  Hugs.   Scottie


Many people in conservative states are having to make a difficult choice after facing harassment and anti-trans laws.
 
 
Grey Wilson now lives in Auckland, New Zealand. He and his mother were targeted after he testified against an anti-trans bill in his home state of Texas.
 
Grey Wilson now lives in Auckland, New Zealand. He and his mother were targeted after he testified against an anti-trans bill in his home state of Texas. 
BECKI MOSS FOR HUFFPOST
 

Until a few years ago, Grey Wilson’s journey as a trans person had largely been a peaceful one.

A week before his 13th birthday, he came out to his mother, Lauren, in a PowerPoint presentation that laid out why he should be allowed to transition. It had previously proven to be a successful method of getting what he wanted: Every time he yearned to adopt a dog or a bunny, he would create a slideshow detailing the costs of pet ownership, appropriate feeding schedules, and where to obtain the animal in question. (Grey only got turned down when he asked Lauren for a snake.)

Lauren, a self-described data nerd, found herself convinced by the research Grey had compiled on the psychological benefits of gender affirmation. When the presentation concluded, she thought to herself, “Yep, that’s my son.”

But Grey’s happy existence ended seemingly overnight when he testified in the Texas Legislature against a 2021 bill seeking to ban gender-affirming care for minors. Anti-trans activists showed up at the family’s door after their home address was shared online, and Lauren said men with assault rifles tailed her when she was driving and tried to follow her to work. Grey was suddenly troubled by a new guilt, the fear he had brought all this down upon him. “The thing they hate about her is me,” he thought to himself. “They’re going after her because of me.”

“I felt a lot of responsibility for what was happening,” said Grey, now 19. “I know logically it isn’t, but a part of me thought, ‘Well, if I wasn’t trans, she wouldn’t be getting harassed.’”

 

The bill banning gender-affirming care for Texas youth — which threatens doctors who offer transition care to minors with loss of licensure — became a law two years after Grey’s testimony, and many families left the state in response. But the Wilsons, who aren’t being identified with their real last name due to safety concerns, were worried that simply going to a blue state like California or Colorado wouldn’t be enough. What if their new state started passing the same policies as their old one? Lauren knew that selling their house would only generate enough revenue to finance one move, and she worried they would be stuck if they chose the wrong state.

Instead of risking their only chance at escape, Grey and Lauren decided to flee the United States altogether and start over in New Zealand — a country where they had few friends or connections. They chose New Zealand for pragmatic reasons: It’s considered among the world’s most LGBTQ+ friendly nations, ranked 10th in a 2020 survey from UCLA think tank the Williams Institute — and the climate is more mild than Canada, ranked fifth. They wouldn’t have to learn a new language, unlike third-place Norway ― and 11th-place Australia has the most reptile species of any country, a major deal breaker for Lauren. (New Zealand, in contrast, is the only country on earth with no snakes.)

 
Grey and his mother, Lauren Wilson, in an Auckland park. After a monthslong process of applying to schools and filling out student visa paperwork, they were both able to move to New Zealand.
 
 
Grey and his mother, Lauren Wilson, in an Auckland park. After a monthslong process of applying to schools and filling out student visa paperwork, they were both able to move to New Zealand.
BECKI MOSS FOR HUFFPOST
 
Lauren wearing a "Trans Texas Proud" T-shirt.
 
 
Lauren wearing a “Trans Texas Proud” T-shirt.
BECKI MOSS FOR HUFFPOST

After a monthslong process of applying to schools and filling out student visa paperwork, Grey enrolled in a nursing program at a college in Auckland and Lauren was accepted to a master’s program in social work. Grey finally boarded a plane in February by himself, ready to start a new life in a country he had never even visited. His mother would follow him a few months later after she had settled their affairs, including her divorce. Her former partner, who has rarely left Texas outside of being deployed to Iraq, told her shortly before the move that he couldn’t bring himself to leave.

When he stepped off the plane earlier this year, Grey expected to feel the rush of being in a new place where no one knew him, and he could finally be free. Instead, the sudden realization that the worst was finally over was actually unexpectedly overwhelming, the fact of his survival bringing back all the emotions he spent months suppressing. He then remembered something that Lauren had told him back when the harassment was at its apex: If anything should happen to her, Grey needed to leave America anyway and follow through with their plan.

“This thing that we came up with a year before was happening, and I didn’t know what I was going to do,” he said. “I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to get on the plane because something was up. I was worried when I got off it, they were going to say no. I was worried everything was going to go wrong.”

Some trans youth and their parents are making the same choice — to escape America — as lawmakers across the U.S. impose increasingly draconian restrictions upon gender-affirming health care. To date, 20 states have passed laws restricting doctors from prescribing puberty blockers, providing hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and performing surgery to minor patients, and Arizona has a law that pertains solely to gender-affirming surgery (which is only administered in rare cases of extreme medical need). Florida’s gender-affirming care ban goes so far as allowing courts to remove children from their homes if authorities learn that a child is transitioning, a provision that opponents said amounted to legal kidnapping.

 

“A part of me thought, ‘Well, if I wasn’t trans, she wouldn’t be getting harassed.’”

– Grey Wilson

Families that spoke to HuffPost felt that getting out was their only option, particularly as the 2024 presidential election looms. Several candidates for the GOP nomination, including former U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, have vocally opposed allowing trans kids to access gender-affirming care before the age of 18. At least three candidates have called for a federal ban on transition treatments for minors — among them former President Donald Trump, the current Republican front-runner, who has likened trans youth health care to “child abuse” and “child sexual mutilation.”

Grey knows that his family is privileged to be able to pick up everything and move, and that nagging guilt comes back when he thinks of the friends and community they left behind in Texas. But over a Zoom call from his new apartment, he says there’s no future in a state that denies his basic rights, in a country where his opportunities to live as himself are narrowing.

“We don’t really have a lot of hope that things will get better before they get significantly worse,” he said. “We’d rather not have to deal with the significantly worse part.”

The Costs Of Migration

It’s unclear how many other families across the U.S. have made the choice to move abroad in response to discriminatory policies because they are largely doing so without any resources or infrastructure to support them. Nonprofit organizations focused on advocating for LGBTQ+ immigrants — such as Immigration Equality in the U.S. and Rainbow Railroad in Canada — have long been focused on the migration of refugees to North America, often from the global South. The issue of trans people and their loved ones heading the opposite direction is a relatively new phenomenon.

Among the few organizations offering dedicated resources to trans Americans seeking to leave the country with their families is TRANSport, a North Dakota-based group founded by Rynn Azerial Willgohs. The organization, which is applying for formal nonprofit status, is geared toward resettlement from the Dakotas and neighboring Minnesota. When she spoke to VICE News in January, Willgohs reported that 30 people had already reached out for help moving abroad. Willgohs did not respond to several requests for comment on this story, but the number of requests has likely increased significantly in the months since: More than 700 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in 2023, by far the largest number in history, according to data provided by the LGBTQ+ think tank Movement Advancement Project.

Families of trans youth leaving the U.S. are likely to need as much help as they can get: Relocating abroad is a time-consuming, emotionally taxing process that typically costs tens of thousands of dollars. Sirelo, an independent online platform that allows customers to review moving companies, estimates that the cost of moving to New Zealand ranges from $15,000 and $20,000. Workers relocating to New Zealand for a job offer, for instance, will need to apply for a notoriously pricey work-to-residence visa, which costs nearly $2,000 in U.S. dollars. Lauren and Grey found that obtaining residences that would allow them to house four cats and three dogs was extremely difficult in New Zealand; many landlords required them to submit a “dog resume” detailing their breeds and respective temperaments.

And without established networks in place, trans children and their loved ones have largely been left to fend for themselves, whether it’s researching friendly countries or financing their move. When Marie Ponce’s family decided to move to Uruguay after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) was reelected in November 2021, they knew they couldn’t afford to take the entire contents of their four-bedroom home with them — which an online calculator for an international storage service estimates would cost up to $17,000.

When Marie, her husband and two children leave the U.S. next month, they will take just four suitcases with them. A friend has agreed to hold onto their car and some family photo albums to make sure there’s some record left of their previous life, the one they had spent years building in Texas.

 

“If you knew her, the least interesting thing about her is that she’s trans. I just wanted to go to a place where people wouldn’t care.”

– Marie Ponce

The Ponces, who are being identified by pseudonyms out of concern for their safety, chose to move to Uruguay despite the expense, Marie said, because it’s one of the most welcoming countries in South America to foreign workers, and they would be able to obtain residency after three years. Uruguay also has some of the world’s most progressive laws mandating equality for the trans community. After passing a law in 2009 allowing trans people to correct their name and gender identity in government documents, the country went even further in 2018, enacting sweeping policies intended to guarantee “a life free from discrimination and stigmatization.” The “Trans Law,” as it’s known colloquially, established a constitutional right to gender-affirming care and set aside 1% of all government jobs for trans workers.

What they are hoping to find in Uruguay is a place where Marie’s 9-year-old daughter, Chloe, will no longer be a political football. Before Texas passed its gender-affirming care ban, Abbott issued an executive order in February 2022 directing the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate parents who allow their children to transition. The directive achieved what Texas Republicans had been trying to do for an entire year: In April 2021, lawmakers advanced legislation seeking to classify the provision of gender-affirming care to minors as “child abuse,” which is a potential first-degree felony in Texas, punishable by up to 99 years in prison.

In the following months, child welfare agents opened cases against dozens of families across the state, and the Ponces compiled a “safe folder” with letters from family members, psychologists, and even local faith leaders stating that Chloe is happy and healthy, in case they got a knock at their door. Marie knew that this was no way for her child to live, that Chloe needed to live in a place where the fear of persecution wouldn’t be part of her daily life.

“It’s been really important to me to let my child have a childhood,” Marie said. “I’ve tried to keep her insulated, so that she can grow up and be who she is. If you knew her, the least interesting thing about her is that she’s trans. I just wanted to go to a place where people wouldn’t care.”

 
Lauren and Grey are applying for asylum. If their petition is approved, they would be the first Americans to be granted refugee status abroad on the basis of trans identity.
 
 
Lauren and Grey are applying for asylum. If their petition is approved, they would be the first Americans to be granted refugee status abroad on the basis of trans identity.
BECKI MOSS FOR HUFFPOST

There is little data currently on trans migration out of the U.S., but the modicum of research that does exist indicates that dozens, if not hundreds, more families may follow the Ponces and the Wilsons in the coming months and years. In a June report from the liberal think tank Data for Progress, 41% of trans adults and 43% of young people between the ages of 18 to 24 said they have considered moving as a result of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, whether that’s relocating to another state or leaving the country altogether. The national survey of 1,036 respondents found that 8% of trans adults had already left their home as a result of policies making it more difficult to live their lives freely.

Just because trans people and their families can move, however, doesn’t mean it’s an easy choice. Marie has tried to sell the move to her children as an adventure, a chance for them to see the world, but deep down she knows this isn’t what she wanted for them. Since her kids were very young, Marie dreamt that they would be nurtured by what she calls “lifelong community,” that they would grow up surrounded by uncles, aunts, neighbors and fellow churchgoers who had held them when they were still babies.

“I had that growing up in a small town,” Marie said over a staticky line that cut in and out as she spoke. “The church that they were dedicated in — where they lit the chalice and know all the little old ladies — they’re gonna lose that. It’s going to be really hard to rebuild that and in a way impossible because you’re not born again. You’re not going to be a baby growing all the way up again. That is definitely gone.”

Creating Pathways To Safety

As trans migration out of the U.S. becomes more common, the fact remains that it’s an imperfect solution to the problems currently facing America’s LGBTQ+ community. There has never been a known case of a trans American claiming asylum abroad on the basis of political persecution, and those who do move may be severely restricted in terms of where and how they are permitted to work. Some countries, for instance, don’t allow immigrants to hold employment while they apply for citizenship. Even those who obtain student visas, like the Wilsons, or rely on remote work, like the Ponces, could be extremely vulnerable if sudden job loss occurs.

A third parent who spoke for this story, Vanessa Nichols, was forced to move her 14-year-old son back to the U.S. from Costa Rica after she was unexpectedly terminated from her position working in the country’s tourism sector. She and her son had originally fled Florida in November 2020 after they started getting death threats sent to their home, including a handwritten note telling her that she would be hunted by local mobs if she didn’t “repent” for her son’s identity.

“It felt scary. It felt lonely. It just felt impossible to stay in that state because it wasn’t safe,” Nichols said over a Zoom call a few days before learning she had been let go. “I’m originally from Chicago, but my parents moved me down to Florida when I was 10 so I spent most of my life there. All of a sudden, it felt so foreign to me.”

For families who can’t afford to immigrate or don’t want to risk relocating to countries where they may lack support networks in case of emergency, upstart groups are helping trans people and their relatives find safe havens within the U.S. and other resources they need — including suggesting LGBTQ+ affirming schools and helping families find health care. Such groups include Elevated Access, a door-to-door helicopter service that helps trans passengers fly out of state to relocate or seek gender-affirming care; Transitional Justice, which provides housing for trans people seeking to leave hostile states; and A Place for Marsha, which focuses on finding safe shelter for those seeking specifically to move to Las Vegas.

A coalition of advocacy groups has formed in Minnesota to meet the needs of trans migrants who move to the state, which is one of about a dozen in the U.S. to formally declare itself a refuge for trans health care. But community organizations are scrambling to meet the needs of a population facing an unprecedented crisis: At least 60 families have either moved to the state or confirmed they intend to do so, according to the LGBTQ+ nonprofit Transforming Families Minnesota. Its executive director, Hannah Edwards, said the organization gets “two to three” emails every week from parents looking for help in getting to safety.

Because this small assortment of groups is severely limited as to the number of clients they can help — especially since many organizations are still in their pilot stage — trans migrants are often forced to create their underground passageways to get to safety, both in the U.S. or abroad.

Roberto Che Espinoza and his partner fled Tennessee this year following a yearslong campaign of targeted harassment from far-right groups, which Espinoza said included unmarked packages being sent to their home. Following his move, Espinoza’s nonprofit, Our Collective Becoming, has pivoted to providing mutual aid funds for trans people and families moving to the greater Rochester area, where he is currently living in a safe house. He estimates their sector of upstate New York has been seeing “100 to 200 trans and queer refugees a month.”

Espinoza is working to get local churches to donate food, clothing, and even money to trans refugees and their loved ones as they resettle. “Housing is a big need,” he said. “There’s no rent control in Rochester, and people are in definite need of affordable housing. There are not enough mental health care providers, period, and with this influx of people, I don’t know what we do.”

 
Grey and Lauren are both acclimating to life in their new country.
 
 
Grey and Lauren are both acclimating to life in their new country.
BECKI MOSS FOR HUFFPOST

In their new home in New Zealand, the Wilsons also hope to create a safe passage for trans people and families who aren’t sure whether they should stay in the U.S. or leave as soon as possible — and might not be sure where they would even go. They are currently applying for asylum, and if their petition is approved, they would be the first Americans to be granted refugee status abroad on the basis of trans identity. It’s unclear when their case might be decided.

While they await news on their legal fight, Grey is acclimating to life in New Zealand, whether it’s the grammatical nuances in its dialectical English or learning the meaning of common Maori words employed in everyday life. He’s also adjusting to the local food: The only place to get sour pickles in Auckland is a single grocery store that sells American food, and he says that pizzas, which didn’t become popularized in New Zealand until the 1970s, often include “all kinds of random things just shoved onto them.” There’s also the matter of New Zealand’s polarizing flavored milks, which include banana, mint and lime, the latter of which he refuses to try. “That’s a combination I’m not testing,” he said confidently.

The adjustment process has been more difficult for Lauren because of everything they sacrificed to get to where they are now. The home that she sold to pay for the move was her dream house, the one that she was supposed to grow old in, and she misses its antique wood floors. She had a great job that she loved, and after she finally left the U.S. in June, it took her months to find employment as a foreign worker seeking part-time work on a student visa.

Lauren knows they made the right choice, but as she sleeps on a mattress on the floor of their new apartment, she can’t help but mourn what they’ve lost.

“My son is happy,” she said. “He is thriving. It’s not that I’m not happy, but I gave up a big chunk of my life, and I can’t go back to it. We’re really lucky that we were able to afford to do this and that we got to safety, but it’s a lot harder than I was expecting it to be.”

Kansas mayor who tried to rid city library of LGBTQ books loses school board race

People have woken up to the fundamentalist Christian right take over.  When these people first stormed the school boards and town councils they claimed they represented the people, the community and everyone was fed up with the liberal woke modern age.  They claimed everyone wanted to return to 1950 strict gender roles and stereotypes.  Now their lies are being exposed.  Only they wanted that, and they are a small minority that do not represent their communities or the will of the people.   Still, it looks like one of the hyper religious sleeper candidates did get elected, but not enough of them to take over the board.  Keep up the good work of keeping fundamentalist from taking over the country as a Christian Taliban.   Hugs.  Scottie


Preliminary results from Tuesday’s election shows Childs’ ‘traditional side’ platform failed to sway enough voters to his cause

BY:  – NOVEMBER 10, 2023 3:53 PM
Childs says he wants the library's books to meet his moral standard. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)

 Matthew Childs, who campaigned on a conservative stance, lost his bid for a school board seat. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA  — St. Marys Mayor Matthew Childs, who previously attempted to ban LGBTQ books from the city’s public library, lost on his school board bid. 

Tuesday’s election saw several candidates from the religion-dominated area attempt to win school board seats on the USD 321 Kaw Valley School Board. 

The district, which oversees Rossville and St. Marys public schools, spreads across several counties. Election officials in Shawnee, Pottawatomie and Jackson counties worked together to calculate the final results for the board’s open seats, leading to some initial confusion over the final results. 

Elias Espinoza and Jodi Porter were elected to the board. Porter, up against Childs, won the position with 53% of the vote to Childs’ 47%, garnering 1,425 votes to Childs’ 1,281 votes. Childs did not immediately respond to Reflector inquiries.

All of the November election results are unofficial until a final canvass on Nov. 14.

“We are in a culture war which is increasingly threatening the welfare of children especially,” Childs said in a September candidate profile by the Times of Pottawatomie County. “I am unapologetically on the ‘conservative’ or traditional side of this war. Along with many like-minded parents, I am morally obligated to defend our children from physical and moral harm insofar as I can.”

Childs is part of the St. Marys’ governing body, a five-person city commission, and a heavily religious group that attends the Society of St. Pius X, or SSPX. SSPX is a strict religious sect that broke away from the Catholic church. Commissioners have previously said their views  and governing decisions are influenced by their religious affiliation.

Childs is perhaps best known for formulating a “morals clause” for the city’s public library lease. The clause asked that the library not carry, encourage or accept any sexual, racial or “socially divisive” material that supported critical race theory or LGBTQ people. 

Though the library was allowed to continue operating in their location following massive public outcry, Childs has continued to speak against LGBTQ material in the library.  

“We don’t want transgender books in the library. … The elephant in the room is that we don’t want the library to be promoting certain types of material,” Childs said in a July commission meeting

Porter campaigned on teacher recruitment and keeping cell phones out of the classroom setting. 

“I want all those looking for teaching positions to have a desire to come here,” Porter said in her candidate profile. 

Preliminary results show Espinoza won against his opponent school board member Adrienne Olejnik, with 1,258 to 1,153 votes respectively. Reflector attempts to contact Espinoza were unsuccessful, but Espinoza is thought to have SSPX connections. A flyer for the St. Marys Academy and College lists him as a point of contact. Olejnik declined to comment publicly on the race. 

Espinoza and Childs were endorsed by the Kansans for Life PAC, which sent out mailers in favor of the two ahead of the election. The mailers alleged Olejnik had donated to “leftist causes” and that Olejnik would not “take a stand against drag queen story hours.” 

Incumbent candidates Michelle Martin and Kimberly Gillum returned to their board seats unopposed.