Conventioneers listen to speeches during the Texas GOP Convention Friday, May 24, 2024 in San Antonio. Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
Republican Party of Texas delegates voted Saturday on a platform that called for new laws to require the Bible to be taught in public schools and a constitutional amendment that would require statewide elected leaders to win the popular vote in a majority of Texas counties.
Other proposed planks of the 50-page platform included proclamations that “abortion is not healthcare it is homicide”; that gender-transition treatment for children is “child abuse”; calls to reverse recent name changes to military bases and “publicly honor the southern heroes”; support for declaring gold and silver as legal tender; and demands that the U.S. government disclose “all pertinent information and knowledge” of UFOs.
The party hopes to finalize its platform on Wednesday, after Saturday’s votes on each proposal are tabulated.
Passed by delegates at the party’s biennial convention, the platform has traditionally been seen not as a definitive list of Republican stances, but a compromise document that represents the interests of the party’s various business, activist and social conservative factions. But in recent years — and amid a party civil war that’s pushed it further right — the platform has been increasingly used as a basis for censuring Republican officeholders who the party’s far right has attacked as insufficiently conservative, including Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, and U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzalez, R-San Antonio.
As the party has drifted further right, its platform has done the same. In 2022, it called for a referendum on Texas secession; resistance to the “Great Reset,” a conspiracy theory that claims global elites are using environmental and social policies to enslave the world’s population; proclamations that homosexuality is an “abnormal lifestyle choice”; and a declaration that President Joe Biden was not legitimately elected.
Many of those planks were also included in this year’s platform, which was debated late into Friday night and presented for a vote Saturday afternoon.
One proposal asserts that illegal immigration is the “greatest threat to American security and sovereignty” and calls for the state and federal governments to devote all available resources to deporting undocumented immigrants.
Perhaps the most consequential plank calls for a constitutional amendment to require that candidates for statewide office carry a majority of Texas’ 254 counties to win an election, a model similar to the U.S. electoral college.
Under current voting patterns, in which Republicans routinely win in the state’s rural counties, such a requirement would effectively end Democrats’ chances of winning statewide office. In 2022, Gov. Greg Abbott carried 235 counties, while Democrat Beto O’Rourke carried most of the urban, more populous counties and South Texas counties. Statewide, Abbott won 55% of the popular vote while O’Rourke carried 44%.
However, some attorneys question whether such a proposal would be constitutional and conform with the Voting Rights Act because it would most likely limit the voting power of racial minorities, who are concentrated in a relatively small number of counties. (The party’s platform also reiterates its previous calls for the repeal of the Voting Rights Act).
The platform also takes a step further some of the party’s previous calls for more Christianity in public life. The 2022 platform proclaimed that the United States was “founded on Judeo-Christian principles,” for instance, and demanded the repeal of federal prohibitions on political activity by churches.
The 2024 platform goes significantly further: It urges lawmakers and the State Board of Education to “require instruction on the Bible, servant leadership and Christian self-governance,” and supports the use of religious chaplains in schools — which was made legal under a law passed by the state Legislature last year.
Though more subtle, another proposed plank could also aid Republicans’ ongoing attempts to further infuse Christianity into public education. This year’s platform also calls for Thomas Jefferson’s “Letter to the Danbury Baptists” to be included in the list of “original founding documents” to be taught in history classes, along with the U.S. Constitution or The Federalist Papers. Jefferson’s Danbury letter is often cited by activists such as David Barton, a Texas pastor and self-described “amateur historian” who has spent decades arguing that church-state separation is a “myth” that has been used to shroud America’s true Christian roots — a claim that has been thoroughly debunked by actual historians and experts, many of them also conservative Christians.
The new platform comes as Republicans increasingly embrace once-fringe theories such as Christian nationalism, which argues that the United States’ founding was God-ordained, and therefore its institutions and laws should reflect conservative, Christian views. Barton’s ideas have been a key driver of that movement, and were repeatedly cited by lawmakers last year during debates over the chaplains bill and in legislation that would have required the Ten Commandments to be posted in public school classrooms. Barton’s group, WallBuilders, was also an exhibitor at this year’s Texas GOP convention, and the party has increasingly aligned with two far-right, fundamentalist Christian billionaires, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks.
The draft platform also leans into the Texas GOP’s open hostility toward Texas House leadership and Phelan, with positions that would weaken the power of the House speaker and distribute power to the GOP caucus in the House as a whole. One plank advocates for limiting the speaker to two consecutive terms. Another calls for a discharge petition process, which would allow members to send bills to the House floor for a vote even if they haven’t passed the House committee process.
On Friday night, the convention elected former Collin County GOP Chair Abraham George as the next party chair, a vote that is expected to continue the party’s trajectory. During his candidate speech on Thursday, George called for the party to fight Democrats, radicals and “RINO” Republicans who go against “everything we stand for.”
During a speech on the convention stage on Saturday, former gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Don Huffines carried a printed version of the platform with him. He noted that Republicans have controlled the Legislature and the governor’s mansion for two decades, but the party still struggles to secure its priorities.
“We could get any piece of legislation done anytime we want, but, every session, we struggle to get our platform into law,” Huffines said.
I thought Jon’s part was incredibly spot on and correct. Plus very funny. The man has the touch of comedy for sure. That part ended about 14:13 when the other guy came on. Him I did not find funny even though he had a couple good lines. Hugs. Scottie
Jon Stewart discusses conservative cancel culture following Harrison Butker’s controversial commencement speech, and Michael Kosta weighs in on Nikki Haley reluctantly endorsing Trump, Trump’s bogus assassination claims, and the close of the hush money trial…with no testimony from Trump. #DailyShow#Comedy
I did not understand how a simple flag once flown by George Washington became such a symbol of dominance and hate, until I read this article. Hugs. Scottie
At the Save America Rally on Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C., a white flag printed with a bright green pine tree, reading the words, “An Appeal to Heaven,” flew alongside popular right-wing flags. In the crowds of thousands, flags such the yellow Gadsden (“Don’t Tread on Me”) and the Revolutionary War-era Betsy Ross flag (a symbol that has been used in racist contexts) stood out amidst scores of Trump 2020 and traditional American flags.
Trump supporters near the U.S. Capitol on January 06, 2021 in…
Trump supporters near the U.S. Capitol on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. The protesters stormed the historic…
But the Pine Tree flag had particular significance at the Capitol riots. According to the book, “The American Flag: An Encyclopedia of the Stars and Stripes in U.S. History, Culture, and Law,” it was an early Revolutionary War era battle flag that took the phrase, “An Appeal to Heaven,” from John Locke’s arguments against the divine right of kings. Back then, the flag was meant to symbolize the right of armed revolution in the face of tyranny. The book, “Standards and Colors of the American Revolution” reports that it was flown by a small squadron of warships under George Washington’s command.
As of 2013, though, the flag was adopted as the emblem of South Carolina-based preacher Dutch Sheets’ Christian initiative aimed at “gathering a network of fellow believers serving Christ in public office” across the U.S. The initiative is aptly named, “An Appeal to Heaven.” Sheets also published a book with the same title and travels all over the country promoting his movement, posting daily prayer sessions to his more than two hundred thousand followers on YouTube. According to Baylor University communications professor, Leslie Hahner, the “Appeal to Heaven” movement’s tenets contain overtones of both Christian Nationalism and Christian Dominionism.
“Christian Nationalism,” she explained, “is a set of ideological beliefs expressed by [some] white, evangelical Christians. Their beliefs champion the U.S. as a Christian nation, as one that is ordained by God. It’s often connected to, if not an outright embodiment of, ideologies of white supremacy.”
Sheets and his supporters are concerned with spreading their ideology among elected representatives across the country. In October 2020, Sheets tweeted a picture of himself with the Pine Tree flag at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, where he was “decreeing America’s reset.”
Source: Twitter
Hahner notes that, “Christian Dominionism is a set of beliefs and practices [that] often manifest through a smaller sect of white, evangelical Christians and some sections of Catholicism.” According to Hahner, followers of Christian Dominionism, many of whom are supporters of former Pres. Trump, believe that “God gave [them] the [United States]…and that God’s battle with Satan is currently playing out in the arena of politics and elsewhere.” In that way, she says, “Dominionism suggests that white supremacy manifests through God’s hand.”
Sheets’s supporters photographing themselves with the flag outside the Missouri State Capitol. Source: Twitter
Sheets’ “Appeal to Heaven” movement is but one example of a marked rise in Christian Nationalism in the U.S., according to both experts in the field and my research for the Tow Center’s VizPol tool. The tool helps journalists identify unfamiliar political symbols, their contexts and their associations, particularly at protests. I co-wrote an article about the symbols and flags present at the U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6 — and their meanings — using the VizPol tool. In the analysis of the day, we found that several other symbols, including those with secessionist, Norse, and neo-Confederate connotations, evoked the sentiment that participants saw themselves as waging an all-out war. In their storming of the Capitol, rioters seemed to believe that they were preserving their white supremacist version of the United States. Similarly, bearers of the Pine Tree flag at the “Save America” rally seemed to be attempting to further their own Christian Nationalist agenda. Taken in this light, the Pine Tree flag can be seen as a symbol of the fight to elevate the influence of biblical law in American society.
According to Hahner, the Pine Tree flag is also flown by eco-fascists and tech accelerationists, but in a different context than that of Christian Nationalists and Christian Dominionists. Further, the Pine Tree flag associated with Christian Nationalism shouldn’t be confused with the Revolutionary War Era Bunker Hill flag. This flag also contains a pine tree and was flown at the Capitol insurrection, but its meaning differs from that of the “Appeal to Heaven” iteration.
In an article about violent Christian Nationalism on display at the storming of the Capitol, Jack Jenkins wrote that the Pine Tree flag “has become a banner for Christian Nationalism.” Quoting Andrew Whitehead, a sociology professor at Indiana University, Jenkins said that the sentiment represented by the flag (a call to revolution) is common in evangelical circles:
“‘Christian Nationalism really tends to draw on kind of an Old Testament narrative, a kind of blood purity and violence where the Christian nation needs to be defended against the outsiders,’” Whitehead said. “‘It really is identity-based and tribal, where there’s an us-versus-them.’”
While Sheets’ movement and its appropriation of the Pine Tree flag are tied to both extreme political arms of Christianity, Christian Nationalism differs from Christian Dominionism in a few key ways. For one, according to Prof. Hahner of Baylor, the dominionist movement in its current form only became popular recently. “Nationalism is more mainstream, while Dominionism is the deeper belief.Some aspects of Dominionism hold that demons are literally embodying the U.S. left, and that there is a holy war that the right must engage. So, Dominionism and Nationalism have become an à la carte menu that circulates and props up oppressive and genocidal beliefs,” Hahner said..Hell
In an article the day before the Capitol riots, Bellingcat argued that the lines between various far-right movements, including QAnon, the Proud Boys, general Trump supporters, and explicitly neo-Nazi groups were blurring. They reported that the movements were coalescing together into a united front by examining the increasing incidence of neo-Nazi symbols among political demonstrations in D.C. leading up to Jan 6th. The events were organized by far-right groups who have historically been less associated with neo-Nazism. In a similar vein, it is worth examining where else the Pine Tree flag has been used.
Flags and symbols like the Pine Tree flag aren’t always used in uniform or straightforward ways. And as Christian Nationalism is more mainstream than Christian Dominionism, some might use the flag that is associated with the dominionist movement without knowingly subscribing to deeper dominionist beliefs. But before its appearance at the riots and storming of the Capitol in January, the flag has been known to be used by religious conservatives in the Republican Party.
After attending the “Save America” rally on Jan. 6, a Republican state senator from Pennsylvania, Doug Mastriano, released a Facebook Live video speaking in front of the Pine Tree flag. It appears behind him in an interview with conservative television network Newsmax (Newsmax repeatedly promoted baseless claims about voter fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election). The cover photo of his self-described personal Facebook page is also the Pine Tree flag.
Source: Facebook
Source: Facebook
Masitrano has a history of pushing legislation with ties to religious beliefs.He co-introduced a “heartbeat bill” in Pennsylvania (which would make abortion upon detection of a fetal heartbeak illegal) along with a fellow Republican in the state legislature, Rep. Stephanie Borowicz. Her Facebook cover photo is a picture of the same flag flying in the Pennsylvania state capitol.
Source: Facebook
The flag was flown over the Illinois State Capitol in March 2019 to promote an upcoming “National Day of Prayer,” a seemingly government-sponsored religious activity (first signed into law by Ronald Reagan in 1988). Illinois Republican state representative Chris Miller was photographed alongside it at the same event. Miller is the husband of Mary Miller, a recently elected Illinois congresswoman who courted controversy this year for making a speech in which she invoked Adolf Hitler.
Arkansas Republican state senator Jason Rapert is also frequentlyphotographed with the flag. Rapert is the founder and president of the Christian ministry, Holy Ghost Ministries, and of the conservative group, National Association of Christian Lawmakers, whose stated aims are to, “bring lawmakers together in support of clear biblical principles.” He often adds the hashtag #AppealToHeaven to his social media posts, like in this homophobic tweet aimed at Pete Buttigieg. In 2019, Rapert was a guest speaker at one of Dutch Sheets’ “Appeal to Heaven” conferences.
Source: Holy Ghost Ministries Website
Former Pres. Trump has been associated with the flag, too. At the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in 2017, it was seen flying behind him during a speech. Sheets noticed and celebrated this on Twitter. In October 2020, Trump attended a service at the International Church of Las Vegas, where pastor Marc Goulet unveiled the flag while making a speech praising Trump and his policies. Trump later tweeted the moment.
Source: Internet Archive
Goulet’s gesture was then trumpeted by Joey Gibson, founder of the far-right group, Patriot Prayer, which often collaborates with the Proud Boys in the Pacific Northwest. In the post, Gibson dissects the political significance of the Pine Tree flag being presented at a Christian pro-Trump event.
Source: Twitter
But the use of the flag as a political symbol of Christianity isn’t limited to elected officials. In 2015, it was flown outside the U.S. Supreme Court at a rally organized by conservative groups attempting to stop the court from legalizing same-sex marriage.
Source: Tweet by Steven Holtze, president of the Conservative Republicans of Texas PAC
In 2016, it appeared during a deadly standoff in Oregon, when armed militias and other anti-government activists occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge for weeks. When one of the group’s leaders, Ammon Bundy, was charged with felonies related to the standoff, his supporters gathered outside the federal courthouse in Portland, Pine Tree flags in tow. Portland-based Photographer David Krug tweeted at least twoinstances of the flag at the Bundy trial protest. (Bundy was later acquitted.)
Source: David Krug, Twitter
Last year, at least one person carried it at a Jan. 20 Richmond gun rights rally at the Virginia State Capitol building, which an estimated twenty-two thousand people attended. It was also present at the very first anti-lockdown protest on April 15 in Lansing, Michigan, where about a dozen heavily armed members of the Michigan Liberty Militia also showed up. The flag was spotted at subsequent anti-lockdown protests throughout the country.
People drive toward the Capitol building to express their unhappiness…
People drive toward the Capitol building to express their unhappiness with Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Stay Safe, Stay…
The flag has also cropped up at neo-fascist events.In October of last year, extremism researcher JJ MacNab noted that it was flown by a member of the Proud Boys at a Proud Boys rally in Ohio.
Source: JJ MacNab, Twitter
The flag crops up in Christian circles other than Sheets’ “Appeal to Heaven” movement, too. It was seen flying at the National Mall at an October anti-lockdown “Worship Protest,” which called for the reopening of churches.
In 2021, four days before the events at the Capitol, the flag was prominently featured at an “Appeal to Heaven” rally in Greenville, South Carolina. Speakers and protestors had gathered to advance Christian interests and representation in politics. The tone was openly Christian Nationalist, with one speaker declaring that “we have designed [the United States] after [God]”.
Source: Fox Carolina News, Facebook
On Jan. 5 at Freedom Plaza, the day before the deadly events at the Capitol, it was flown conspicuously behind the stage where various speakers had gathered for a pro-Trump rally and set of speeches.
Source: Aaron Rupar, Twitter
The flag continued to show up even after the Capitol riots. On Jan. 15, Barrett Gay, an independent journalist who reports on fascism, tweeted photos of members of the neo-Nazi group, NSC-131, showing off a stolen riot helmet decorated with two flags: a parody of an antifascist flag and the Pine Tree flag.
Source: Barrett Gay, Twitter
It’s impossible to know whether all of the above uses of this flag were explicitly intended to be in support of Christian Nationalism or Christian Dominionism. But given its association with Sheets’ overtly Christian Nationalist and Christian Dominionist “Appeal to Heaven” movement, its presence at the Christian Nationalist “Appeal to Heaven” rally in Greenville, and its abundance at the Capitol insurrection amidst many believers of Christian Nationalism, clearly the flag has some association with these movements. And instances of elected officials who pursue a conservative religious agenda such as Pennsylvania state senator Doug Mastriano peddling the flag bolsters this association.
With this in mind, it is particularly illuminating to see the Christian-associated Pine Tree flag at events across the far-right and neo-fascist political spectrums. The presence of this flag at far-right demonstrations, as well as alongside certain members of the Republican Party (at least one of whom, Arkansas state senator Jason Rapert, openly associates with the “Appeal to Heaven” preacher Dutch Sheets) is a sign that Christian Nationalists and Christian Dominionists might have allies across the gamut of far-right-wing politics. This idea has been proposed by severaloutlets in the aftermath of the Capitol riots. And though in these contexts it could be less of a symbol of Christian Nationalism and more of an expression of the fight to preserve these movements’ conception of America (like other Revolutionary War era symbols were), the prevalence of the Pine Tree flag could be viewed as a dog-whistle signaling kinship between these far-right and white supremacist movements and the Christian Nationalist and Christian Dominionist movements.
The Louisiana Senate passed legislation Thursday afternoon to forbid school staffers from talking to students in grades K-12 about sexual orientation or gender identity. House Bill 122 passed 28-7, with all Senate Republicans and two Democrats in support. It now heads to Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican who has claimed without citing evidence that some teachers aim to indoctrinate students with “radical” ideas. Landry is expected to sign the measure into law.
Sen. Beth Mizell, R Franklinton, said the bill’s intent was not to harm LGBTQ+ students but to make schools a “safe space” where parents know that staff won’t discuss sensitive topics with their children. The lawmaker behind HB 122, Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton, also authored a bill to require all public schools and universities in the state to post the Ten Commandments. The Senate overwhelmingly approved that measure last week.
Last year Democratic former Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed Mizell’s anti-trans bill and Horton’s first attempt at a “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Mizell is an occasional guest on hate group leader Tony Perkins’ podcast. Horton has said she tried again on her “Don’t Say Gay” bill upon the encouragement of her pastor.
Louisiana lawmakers pass 'Don't Say Gay' bill banning classroom talk about sexuality, gender https://t.co/MEh80h9RkP
All this is going to do is fuck up queer kids more than they already are by society, and maybe that’s what they want. Cruelty is always the point. They want to punish queer kids if they dare to come out.
They were very upset when LGBT kids started thriving and everyone around being all functional and stuff, they are ddesperate to traumatize and invest in bullying a whole other generation for them to use to claim America needs complete Christonazi rule.
So I live in Louisiana and I work in a public university. The Ten Commandments will really go over well on my campus, which has a very high student population of Muslims, and, as far as I can tell, almost no Jews. I should post the three versions of the Ten Commandments on my office wall. In Hebrew. Which, yes, I can read.
Don’t say gay. We really are going backwards. I graduated from high school in 1979, and no one ever said anything about gay, except when taunting the faggots and calling them, well, faggots. Like me. I hate this state and have already told my husband that I am leaving upon my retirement in two years.
Similar to you, homophobia was strong in my remote town in northern Alberta. I graduated in 1977, when nothing positive was ever said about gay except ‘faggot’ and ‘homo’ and the french versions fifi’ and ‘tapette’. No wonder I came out at 33, who would want to admit to anyone, or themselves, they were gay in that environment? That’s why is so depressing to see this anti-gay movement today.
I attended the third largest high school in the country, with 6000 students. And it was still a horrible place to be gay. I didn’t come out until I was 27 after a heterosexual marriage and divorce.
Yup, I tried hard to be straight, I had many girlfriends and at least three of them would have married me. Living a lie for so long just destroyed me psychologically. Straight people just don’t understand what we’ve been through. Hugs madknits!
Apparently the “compromise” is allowing things to exist, as long as the people upset by them never have to confront them. Of course, that won’t last very long, since the only way to be certain they’ll never encounter anything upsetting is to eliminate it entirely (which in the case of LGBTQ+ existence requires ignoring the reality that it will always exist, no matter how hard they try to stamp it out.)
They take our important LGBTQ phrase ‘safe space’ and appropriate it for their homophobe parents. Plus, she has the audacity to say “the bill’s intent was not to harm LGBTQ+ students”!
If Trump reoccupies the White House, his religious right puppet masters will demand that he appoint a Secretary of Education who’ll enact these “don’t say gay” requirements nationwide and at all public school levels. Plus, “forced outings” by schools to parents.
Get out your “If Trump Wins” bingo card and be prepared to mark the square described above.
Aimee Dilger / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
Ninety percent of LGBTQ+ youth in the U.S. say politics have negatively impacted their lives in the past year, according to a new report from LGBTQ+ suicide prevention organization The Trevor Project.
On Wednesday, researchers at the nonprofit unveiled their sixth annual survey on mental health among LGBTQ+ young people. Drawing on responses from more than 18,000 LGBTQ+ people between the ages of 13 and 24, the survey correlated anti-LGBTQ+ political issues with negative mental health outcomes for youth.
Recent politics had a negative impact on 90% of LGBTQ+ youth, researchers found, and 39% said they or their families had considered moving to another state due to new anti-LGBTQ+ policies or laws. (That number rose to 45% of trans or nonbinary youth.) Nearly half of respondents aged 13-17 said they had been bullied for being LGBTQ+ in the past year.
In turn, the report found that 39% of all respondents had seriously considered suicide in the past year, a drop of just 2% since the Trevor Project’s 2023 survey. That rate was higher for trans youth, and significantly so for young people of color. Only 50% of respondents who wanted mental health care were able to access it last year, the report also found.
At the same time, researchers stressed that young people are not naturally disposed to poorer mental health — rather, LGBTQ+ youth are “placed at higher risk because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society.” Respondents whose family, school, and/or community supported their identity, and who did not experience anti-LGBTQ+ bullying or discrimination, reported significantly lower rates of suicidal attempts or ideation.
“Once again, this year’s survey shows that considering or attempting suicide is not uncommon among LGBTQ+ young people,” said Dr. Ronita Nath, Vice President of Research at The Trevor Project, in a statement accompanying the full report this week. “However, many of the contributing risk factors for suicide are preventable, and often rooted in victimizing behaviors of others. The results of this survey clearly identify a need for adults and allies to create more affirming environments for LGBTQ+ young people, and better support them in being their true selves.”
The new report also looked at the impact of having a supportive school environment, finding that youth who had access to LGBTQ+-affirming spaces — especially gender-affirming spaces for trans youth — generally reported better mental health and lower rates of suicidal thoughts. An analysis of hate crime data in the Washington Post in March found a spike in intimidation and assault against LGBTQ+ students in K-12 schools between 2021 and 2022. Analysts found that the increase was more pronounced in states where lawmakers had introduced new policies restricting LGBTQ+ speech in schools.
In a lengthy interview with The Atlantic, Radcliffe talked about his relationship — or lack thereof — with the Harry Potter author.
“With such striking numbers and families literally wanting to uproot their homes to seek safety, lawmakers must seriously reconsider the real and damaging impact that their anti-LGBTQ+ policies and rhetoric create,” said Janson Wu, Senior Director of State Advocacy and Government Affairs, in the Trevor Project’s statement this week. “No ‘political victory’ should be worth risking the lives of young people.”
Since last year, the Trevor Project’s leadership has faced criticism for alleged mismanagement and labor violations related to the national 988 suicide prevention hotline. Last summer, members of the Trevor Project employee bargaining unit said they were laid off in an act of alleged union busting, while outside workers contracted for the crisis line said they were abruptly let go despite the now-permanent program’s expansion. In April, the Trevor Project laid off another six percent of its staff, leading some to comment that the internal mood was increasingly “gloomy.”
“The crisis workers are the lowest paid people in the organization […] which just baffles me because, you know, they’re doing the literal work of the mission of the org,” one anonymous source told the Washington Blade last month.
If you are in crisis, please call, text, or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.
According to a new report, anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes in K-12 schools have quadrupled in U.S. states that have laws restricting the rights of LGBTQ+ students.
A Washington Post analysis of FBI data on anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes taking place in K-12 schools and on college campuses, published on March 12 found that anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes “serious enough to be reported to local police” more than doubled across the country in recent years. The Post found that while an average of 108 anti-LGBTQ+ school hate crimes were reported between 2015 and 2019, that average rose to 232 between 2021 and 2022. According to FBI data, the most common hate crimes reported at schools were intimidation, simple assault (assault where no weapon was used), and vandalism.
However, this rise in school hate crimes was more pronounced in the 28 states that have enacted policies restricting LGBTQ+ students’ self-expression and/or limiting how teachers can talk about gender and sexuality in school. In these states, reported anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes on K-12 and college campuses more than tripled from an average of 28 per year between 2015 and 2019 to an average of 90 between 2021 and 2022.
As the Post points out, this increase is even more staggering when you remove college campuses and look at the anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes in K-12 schools only. In states that have enacted restrictive laws, there were more than four times the number of anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes across elementary, middle, and high schools, per year, from 2021 to 2022, compared with the years 2015 to 2019.
Although it’s only March, the American Civil Liberties Union is currently tracking a whopping 478 anti-LGBTQ+ bills across the U.S. this year, with 190 of those bills targeting student and educator rights.
Gerald Declan Radford, 65, initially claimed he shot Lay in self-defense. Prosecutors believe that Declan was the aggressor and was motivated by Lay’s sexual orientation.
Meanwhile, nonprofits that work with LGBTQ+ youth have reported an increase in crisis calls. According to the Post, The Trevor Project received over 500,000 crisis contacts during the fiscal year ending in July 2023 compared to the 230,000 the group received the previous year, while the Rainbow Youth Project received over 1,400 calls to its mental health crisis hotline per month in 2023 compared to 1,000 per month in 2022. According to the Rainbow Youth Project, calls from Oklahoma to the group’s hotline more than tripled after details about Nex Benedict, the trans Oklahoma teen of Choctaw ancestry who died the day after three older girls reportedly beat them in a school bathroom, became national news.
“Young people will say, ‘My government hates me,’ ‘My school hates me,’ ‘They don’t want me to exist,’” the Rainbow Youth Project’s founder and executive director, Lance Preston, told the Post. “That … is absolutely unacceptable. That is shocking.”
Again Rev. Ed Trevors has some great reasons that the church and state remain separate. He says he wouldn’t want the government coming into his church so he doesn’t want church in schools. He asks what if the government mandated some things be posted in church, like protections for LGBTQ+ people and he has quite a list including a post celebrating pride months. What about pictures of presidents being required. I can imagine these hate churches having to put up Biden and Obama’s official photos. Well worth the watch. I love that he says it is not the job of the church to force how to live on others. Hugs. Scottie
I want to thank Ali for the link. Below is what she wrote about the site. For those wondering what the 2S in the LGBTQIA2S is two spirit people, which is how the first people called same sex attracted people which I think is grand. Hugs Scottie
“Pastor Mark Burns is running for Congress in South Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District, and has been with me from the very beginning of our Movement to Make America Great Again. In Congress, Mark will help me Secure the Border, Stop Illegal Immigration, Uphold the Rule of Law, Grow the Economy, and Protect and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment. Pastor Mark Burns is an America First Fighter, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement – He is a Good Man, a Hard Worker, and will not let you down!” – Trump, posting to Truth Social.
Burns, an avowed Christian nationalist who regularly headlines QAnon events, first appeared here in 2016 when he jumped up and literally fled a CNN interview after being confronted for lying about his military service and education.
Burns later claimed that his website had been hacked to make the false claims and that he was being attacked for being a black Trump supporter. Trump first posted an endorsement of Burns last month.
In 2022, Burns laid out his plan for executing LGBTQs for “grooming” during an appearance on the show hosted by Holocaust denier Stew Peters.
Burns is seeking an open House seat currently held by GOP Rep. Jeff Duncan, who is not seeking reelection. In 2022 Burns finished second in the GOP primary in a failed attempt to unseat incumbent GOP Rep. William Timmons. The South Carolina primary is June 11th.
Last time he ran for Congress, MAGA pastor Mark Burns said that "LGBTQ indoctrination" represents "a national security threat" and vowed to re-establish HUAC to ensure that anyone engaged in it would be executed for treason. Well, he's running again and, of course, he's secured… pic.twitter.com/UgWlwJ54eD
Pastor Mark Burns, at Eric Trump and Michael Flynn’s event in Idaho: “I’m coming here to declare war on every demonic, demon-possessed Democrat that comes from the gates of Hell!” pic.twitter.com/URUcHo11V8
Pastor Mark Burns says “God has chosen Donald Trump” to change American culture, and Trump is using the same methodology to do it that Jesus used. pic.twitter.com/SdzMfQTZc7
Pastor Mark Burns is a Trump-endorsed candidate for SC’s 3rd District: “The laws that are contrary to the word of God, we need to push against it. And I don't care if they call it Christian nationalism.” pic.twitter.com/MjTbgYKwtA
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) May 9, 2024
MAGA pastor Mark Burns complains that the Department of Justice is "a Gestapo-like weapon" that is being used against Trump and flat-out says he doesn't care what crimes Trump may have committed because "he's God's anointed." pic.twitter.com/efdOXN0vc2
Far-right pastor Mark Burns is opening a military academy that will ensure that students "are not exposed to woke teachings or a sexually perverted lifestyle." Seems like a fitting move for a Trump cultist who falsified his own military & academic record. https://t.co/smRIbsRLnipic.twitter.com/vy1QwwW1NG
MAGA pastor Mark Burns praises televangelist Kenneth Copeland's Victory Channel network for being one of the only places where people like him can openly "talk about Jesus Christ and taking over government." pic.twitter.com/dePrexZ2CH
Christian nationalist MAGA pastor and GOP congressional candidate Mark Burns tells an audience filled with COVID, election, and QAnon conspiracy theorists that "we're here to take over." https://t.co/vCQN369yRxpic.twitter.com/gDx298dGuR
MAGA pastor/Trump cultist Mark Burns says that what is happening to Kanye West is "true, real Nazism in America" and "a form of racism": "They are ostracizing him. That's what real Nazism is." pic.twitter.com/9VtSwYrtIW
he was being attacked for being a black Trump supporter
No, Marky-diddums. You’re not being attacked for being a black Trump supporter. You’re being attacked for being absolutely batshit fucking insane. One of the symptoms is being a black Trump supporter.
Notice that Black Conservatives are bat guano crazy!! As a Black woman, I find them as scary as White Nationalists. I hope South Carolinians reject this joker.
Sorta like gay right-wingers, I think they are extra shitty because they have something to prove. They prove it alright, but not what they think they’re proving.
In Congress, Mark will help me Secure the Border, Stop Illegal Immigration
NBC, May 15th: Mexico is stopping nearly three times as many migrants now, helping keep U.S. border crossings down. Biden administration officials say the increased help from Mexico in slowing migration is proof their relationship with Mexico is more productive than Trump’s approach.
FunFact: Mexico never paid for Trump’s failed wall. PRESIDENT BIDEN got Mexico to spend 1.5 billion on improved border security.
The hypocrisy of all of them is dumbfounding. tRump as the law and order candidate. How can he keep a straight face? And this lying jackass and Robinson give the Black Evangelicals a bad name.
“The laws that are contrary to the word of God, we need to push against it.”
His bible has a lot of words against divorce, yet he’s still a fan of Trump. As the old saying goes, if they didn’t have double standards, they wouldn’t have any standards at all…
Adultery is another thing that the Bible says God objected to — so much so that under Old Testament law (which is the only one which people like Burns seem to care about even though they don’t follow it themselves), the Jewish community executed anyone who was found guilty of committing adultery. Trump has publicly cheated on at least two of his three wives, but Burns evidently has no problem with that (with the result that one is inclined to suspect Burns himself was unfaithful to at least one of his wives — he’s been married twice himself — and especially since there are several other examples of ethical lapses on his part).
It should be of absolutely no surprise to anyone that Burns is one of the “self-anointed/self-appointed” in the sense that he’s never formally studied theology and obviously never made an effort to discuss his beliefs with any other believers in order to check their validity under historic Protestant doctrine. The “churches” of self-anointed/self-appointed hucksters like Burns are nearly always (very conveniently) non-denominational so that the so-called pastor is not accountable to anyone — not even God, since the self-anointed typically recreate God in tbeir own image to suit themselves. No wonder Trump likes Burns. Burns is just like Trump…a charlatan, a control freak, an egomaniac, and a liar.
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Scottie's Playtime 