Category: Gay rights

Disgusting political attempts

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Somehow i got a political ad that was sent to a neighbor. But it landed in our mailbox. It was paid for by America First legal foundation. They are a Republican front. Supposedly they consider themselves the conservative answer to the ACLU.

On one side they have stories of lament like poor Garret who got his testicles removed and buff says he feels worse. Then then a 17 year old flat chested girl says “i destroyed my life”

They go on to describe phalloplasty and the last sentence in red text says “the vagina may also be removed at this time.” Yeah and….

The front is just as bad they talk about puberty blockers, cutting off healthy breasts and genitals, sterilization, giving girls testosterone and more.

It’s like the anti trans bigots found a medical text and ran with it. Try to sound more like alleged experts.

The bigots don’t stop just like a certain battery bunny

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So this time it’s in Kansas where they’re trying to say the the LGBT community is a religion so that they can discriminate against the LGBT community.

First let me say I have to lookup that Bill and pick it apart here. But I knew that the religious bigots would never stop. Oh the more overt bigots have faded into the woodwork but they won’t stop. If the Bill passes it’s sure to be brought up on challenge before the courts. Thereby costing the State of Kansas money to defend bigotry. Interesting when you think of it like that.

This little whereas clause grabbed my attention:

WHEREAS, All religion amounts to is a set of unproven answers to the
greater questions like “Why are we here?” and “What should we be doing
as humans?

I can answer the first and second – why are we here? Simple it started just after the event called the big bang, you know when the whole universe was a hot, dense soup. Then anti-matter and matter started forming. Eventually some of those gases gathered together, compressed and ignited forming stars. And those ancient stars spewed their guts providing carbon, oxygen, hyrdrogen etc. to spawn new stars and the leftover matter that didn’t ignite becomes rocky planets, and gas that didn’t have enough mass the gas giant planets. You’re getting the idea here right? We’re here just because. Isn’t that enough?

As to what we should be doing as humans – that’s a good one – we should be caring for our brothers and sisters, should be sponsoring legislation that isn’t hateful or disgusting, and shouldn’t be posting bills like the above. In fact if you want to get technical, what was Jebus all about? Love one another – that was the key message that you missed when you got stuck in the Old Testament when God was an asshole. How do you like it?

WHEREAS, The sworn testimonies of ex-gays, medical experts,
persecuted Christians and licensed ministers demonstrate that there is no
real proof that a gay gene exists, that the idea that sexual orientation is
predicated on immutability is not proven and that sexual orientation is a
mythology, dogma, doctrine or orthodoxy that is inseparably linked to the
religion of secular humanism; and
WHEREAS, The United States supreme court found that secular
humanism is a religion for the purpose of the establishment clause of the
1st amendment of the constitution of the United States in Torcaso v.
Watkins, 367 U.S. 488 (1961), stating “among religions in this country
which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the
existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular
Humanism and others”; and

 

See that little block of text tips their hand. They’re trying to conflate being gay with secular humanism aka agnostics, or atheists like me.

Know what I say about the Bible – the KJV by the way if you didn’t learn that and you learned it through some other version you’re doing it wrong. :) And I have it on good authority that King James was a fellow homosexual. Interesting.

The whole bill spends a good portion of the WHEREAS clauses trying to tie the LGBT community to Secular Humanism but has no fucking clue what Secular Humanism is. It’s laughable. Go read the whole thing here and you’ll see what I mean.

In a nutshell as I alluded to earlier – this Bill doesn’t stand a chance. I’m assuming cooler heads in the legislature of Kansas will quash it sooner than later – or tie it up in some committee in perpetuity. And with a Democratic governor it’s sure to be vetoed which I believe requires a 2/3 majority in most state constitutions to override. But if by chance they do succeed in the override, be ready for court challenges out the wazoo. Seriously.

The bigots will be dragged kicking and screaming into the future.

Oklahoma and Kansas wants to ban gay adoptions!

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The legislatures in Kansas and Oklahoma are looking to ban adoption to LGBT citizens.

First of all I follow a channel on YouTube called Hoovie’s Garage – he’s pretty funny and based in the Wichita area. I suppose I’ll ping him and let him know I’m not happy about this.

But this type of thing has been occurring all over the United States – predominantly in the south or mid-western flyover states. And let’s not get into the debate whether or not flyover isn’t a pejorative. If you don’t live on the east or west coasts you’re in flyover country. But the religious bigots are pushing to limit adoption, or religious liberty bills that say they can discriminate against LGBT people etc. This all started after the Obergefell v. U.S. case found for plaintiff and legalized same sex marriage across the United States. So the bigoted assholes are trying to claim their religious beliefs trump civil society and in the process chipping away at the protections marriage provides.

The bigots can go and fuck themselves.

What makes someone an expert in a particular field

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I was reading today on how Pastor Rick Warren was on some MSNBC show talking about the economy. What exactly qualifies a religious man to talk about economic issues?

So I’d like to ask the leadership of MSNBC, what qualifications do you look for in your guests on your shows?

Because so far all the media has made some pretty poor choices. For example, on other programs the likes of Tony Perkins, and others are deferred to as experts in the matter of marriage. The reality is, they aren’t.

They are pundits, nothing more, nothing less. But why do news channels still continue to defer to them?

It’s because some networks, with the exception of Fox, want to appear to be fair and balanced.

But there’s no balance since the alleged experts with regard to gay related issues always use the same canard, the children. They actually have the gall to say that it’s wrong for children to find out there are LGBT people out there.

But all of it, every last bit of it is inspired by religious bigotry. All religions are full of bigotry if you really study them.

But religion is dying out. I see the Catholic church as having lost ALL credibility not just in the matter of the sexual abuse of children that was covered up, but in the gospel too. If they lied of committed the sin of omission regarding abuse, you can just imagine what other elements of a religion are made up.

It’s funny, every time I attend marriage equality hearings I always see the same cast of characters from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence defending the churches ‘rights’. But what they conveniently won’t tell you is that the state of Rhode Island isn’t 60% Catholic anymore. In fact it’s under 50% s why is it churches want to impose their will on the remainder of society?

It’s the same with the bigots like Tony Perkins, they want to see THEIR world view imprinted upon the rest of us.

My estimate of when Rhode Island will get true marriage equality

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Over the last few years you know I was active with the Marriage Equality movement here in RI. I ended that affiliation when they ousted their Director and several board members resigned.

I think I’ve said before, I worked to transform MERI into a political organization. Because that was the only way we could get the politicians in the state of Rhode Island to direct their attention to us. You see, in order to be taken seriously in this state you have to be a political threat.

So today I saw the video about Ken Fish over on the CAUTION CHURCH AHEAD blog. I’ve met Ken on a few occasions but this video is interesting. He’s been all over the place and the story telling, it’s what I really miss. He talks about the friends he lost to the AIDS epidemic. I too lost some friends, not as many as Ken but lost friends who really mattered to me.

He also mentioned he’s active with the marriage equality. Ken touches down on the Corvese amendment and how the RI Civil Unions bill actually reduces the rights we have because of the religious exceptions in the law.

I think I’ve made it abundantly clear why I walked away from MERI so I won’t rehash it here. Suffice to say, I’m done.

Here is how I see the marriage equality fight playing out in RI. MERI will continue to spin its wheels for awhile, I say anywhere from six to eighteen months.

But on the federal level, I see the repeal of DOMA in 2012 or early 2013. By that point the number of people who have obtained civil unions will try to attempt to claim some of the benefits available under federal marriage law. And they will be pushed away because what they have is not a marriage but a civil union.

That’s when the court cases will start. You know, in Federal court again using the 14th amendment, and in RI under Article 1 Section 2 of our Constitution.

So 2013 – that is when I estimate we will have marriage equlity. But it will not be via the Rhode Island Legislature. So long as Gordon Fox is speaker and M. Theresa Paiva-Weed is President of the senate, it isn’t going to happen.

Instead the courts will grant us relief from the religious tyranny that is evident in Rhode Isalnd.

So come back in 2013 and see if I was right.

Post 2001: One Town’s War on Gay Teens

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You may well have heard about the Anoka-Hennepin school district. It’s where Michele Bachmann went to school. It’s also where the school board is comprised of clods who have no business being on that board.

Nine suicides in two years. Of the nine, four were LGBT.

I’m sick and tired of the religious bigots out there. You have no right to impose your morality on the rest of a community. And be careful where you tread because I for one want to make sure you all lose your tax exempt status. As I said on a facebook post, tax the churches, if they want to play in the political sphere, it’s their price of admittance.

We’re being beset with religious bigotry lately. Don’t they realize that they are putting the lives of the children at risk with their idiocy? That’s right, at risk. Whether it be a student who is LGBT, or a student who is an atheist, neither group, neigh no student deserves the abuse of bullying and name calling.

But as recent events here in the blue state of RI demonstrate, even the adults are guilty. For example, we have Rep. Peter Palumbo (D) Cranston calling Jessica Ahlquist an “evil little thing”. He said this when she’d won the case to remove a prayer banner in Cranston West High School. I’d expect better from a state representative but then I know who they are and I can tell you, we could do a lot better.

So lets stop the bullying at all levels, including from our elected representatives. There are reps out there who get it. As much as I dislike my state rep, he’s been fairly polite with me so he gets some slack there.

And I too should tone it down a little. I mean after all, my open criticism of people and my occasional use of ad hominem could be construed as bullying. But then, if you deserve a ration of shit, you’re going to get a ratio of it.

In memorial of the students who have taken their own lives due to the stupity of their school board:

Rest in peace. All of you. And know that you have many of we adults out there fighting for you to enjoy an education free of bullying.

The True Meaning of Family

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I had seen this a little while ago but the part that grabbed me was the bit towards the end of his letter:

When it is dark they are the light,
When I feel frightened and chill’s,
They are the warmth I feel.
When I am hungry they cook my meals.

Every bigot out there who abhors gay parents should have to read that and the whole letter.

Because it gives lie to their biggest fib. The one where we will try to recruit the kids to be gay, or that kids won’t be as well adjusted without a mother and a father, or a host of other ludicrous reasons that the religious bigots come up with.

A friend who is a psychologist summed it up nicely. He told me that what kids really need is love and consistency. And the letter by Zac demonstrates that without fail. Here was a kid from a broken home, who stole from his adoptive parents. But they were CONSISTENT about their love of Zac and as a result the young man actually has a better shot at life than if he’d remained with his mother or in the foster system.

And that’s the other thing, Zac alludes to the fact that he’d been in twelve different homes in three years. Those were probably straight families and they couldn’t demonstrate the love and consistency necessary to break the bad habits that Zac had and to get him on a better path for life.

But a gay couple had the right motives and now Zac is a normal, healthy teenager who seems to be thriving. The one difference between gay couple who adopt and the allegedly normal mother and father is that the former actually WANT to have kids.

From that simple fact we know the religious bigots are full of shit.

NOM is losing and they know it

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I’m always interested to see how far down the path the National Organization for Marriage is going. There is the obvious oxymoron; if they were for marriage would they be saying such patently false, hurtful and ludicrous things to repress and dismantle LGBT marriage rights.

And now NOM is showing their true colors. Their President, Brian Brown (I left out Pumpkin Face for the moment) is now linking homosexuality to pedophilia. I hate to link to their site and if you want to read the whole stinking mess follow this link.

Here’s his attempt to link the acceptance of gay marriage to the acceptance of pedophilia. He’s using the slippery slope argument here:

NORMALIZING PEDOPHILIA

When you knock over a core pillar of society like marriage, and then try to redefine Biblical views of marriage as bigotry, there will be consequences. Will one of the consequences be a serious push to normalize pedophilia?

The Daily Caller raised the question by pointing us all to a high-level academic conference in Baltimore this week, “Pedophilia: Minor-Attracted Persons and the DSM: Issues and Controversies.”

The DSM is the diagnostic manual that defines mental illness. You probably recall that a key moment in the gay rights campaign was the 1973 decision by the American Psychiatric Association, the organization that produces the DSM, to remove homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.

How do I explain this, we’re not asking to knock down a core pillar of society, but trying to enhance and improve it, to make it stronger not weaken it by creating a second class of citizens.

Brown tips his hand when he mentions the Biblical views. Hate to tell him but marriage even pre-dates the Bible, and I’m talking the Old Testament or Pentateuch. What of the Babylonians before them, or the Pagans? As usual, Brown commits the sin of omission when he says things like this.

Interesting that he now enumerates one of the feared ‘consequences’ of marriage equality as being an increased acceptance for other stigmatized practices that society frowns upon. But greater society is coming to the realization that they an no longer frown upon the LGBT community.

The words of Brian Brown only serve one purpose, to fan the flames of anti LGBT sentiments. Hate to break it to you Pumpkin Face, but somewhere out there is a mentally unbalanced moron who will hear your words and act upon them, either seriously wounding a member of the LGBT community, or killing them all because they read your disgusting twaddle on your ‘blog’.

The point is, the bigotry of NOM is becoming plainly evident as time progresses and they realize that they are on the losing side of history. So they’ll start showing their true motivation. If for example Mr. Brown wants us to adhere to Biblical standards, I say he should read the damned book first.

Because like it or not, NOM is losing.

This week in LGBT News

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First and foremost, we have the final certification of the abolishing of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. About damned time if you ask me since most of the military groups of the Western world have started allowing openly gay soldiers, airmen, etc. to no detriment.

But what befuddles me is the 60 day wait until the act becomes official. What’s up with that? The military branches have already done all the training, etc. Is this just a move to allow the Christian Fascists time to re-enact the ban? What gives?

In other news it has been found that there is a strong correlation between gay marriage bans and an increase in rates of HIV infection.

The bigots out there would have us all believe that their words and actions aren’t in any way detrimental to LGBT people. But I’m happy to see science proving once again that the bigots are dead wrong.

By denigrating the LGBT community the bigots instill a sense of second class citizenship, a sense of severe limits on who we can profess our love of, and a sense of hopelessness that leads in some cases to promiscuity, the down low syndrome, etc. It’s no wonder that there is an uptick in HIV rates in states with marriage bans.

Brings up another thought. In states where their sex education was swapped with abstinence only education, they saw a sharp rise in all sexually transmitted diseases.

As one who believes that the next generation and those to come should be educated about sexuality at age appropriate levels. None of this pseudo-science, or religious claptrap. When you have a 13 year old with hormones running rampant, I’d much prefer to have them educated about sex than to be blindly ignorant and trying to adhere to a promise of abstinence.

But the education part, I’m glad that California law now requires acknowledging that some of our greatest thinkers, movers and politicians were LGBT people. Of course the bigots are foaming at the mouth over this because once again, it portrays LGBT people as a normal part of human existence. And the bigots simply cannot work this into their world view.

Finally we have President Obama himself coming on board for the Respect for Marriage bill. This would scrap that horribly unconstitutional law known as the Defense of Marriage Act. The Act should have never seen the light of day in 1996. It was a knee jerk reaction to the potential for marriage equality in Hawaii that propelled the Republicans to give us that awful law.

But I doubt the Act will get through the House. The Orange Goblin himself won’t let it happen. With letters to the editor like this one, is it any wonder? The letter accuses President Obama for violating his oath of office due to his support for the Respect for Marriage Act.

A letter to a Rep. Trillo written by my friend supporting marriage equality

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The following was sent to Representative Trillo but I will be sharing this with all the legislators. I think it lays out the case quite well. Hopefully Trillo will read through all of it. As has been demonstrated by legislator response thus far legislators do not appear to be the most erudite of the bunch.

I also this does a good job of debunking the claims of the religious bigots.

Dear Representative Trillo,

My name is {redacted} and I have been a registered Democrat that has voted in each state that I have resided in over the last twenty five years. For the last nine years I have called Rhode Island home. For all intents and purposes I plan to retire here. Before the House is one of the more important pieces of legislation for the past several years. It is a rare opportunity when a civil servant is given the opportunity to have an effect on history. In many ways civil rights have made advances for people of color, for the handicapped and in some minor ways for gays and lesbians. In this regard we have progressed as a people. My wife and I have enjoyed the opportunity to live in a state that in so many ways has shown an open view to various minorities and has taken for the most part a live and let live approach.

Presently Rhode Island once again has the opportunity to be in a position of leadership. Roger Williams one of the founders of this state formed what would eventually become Rhode Island on the basis of true religious freedom and tolerance. In many ways he was able to accomplish his goals. It is ironic that these same groups including Catholics are now at the forefront of trying to bar basic civil rights from another minority. Mr. Trillo I was raised Catholic and I know a little of American History. At one point Catholics were being considered as a group that should not be given voting rights very early in our nation’s history. At the time it was not popular to grant them the vote or to allow them to run for public office. A basic review of anti-papist literature in the early nineteenth century would attest to this fact. Our founding fathers did not have the vote or the good will of the people. However, they did have the strength of their convictions. In fact as we all know Catholics were given the right to vote, to hold property and to hold public office. Our country went to war rather than eventually wait for the votes to grant African Americans the full rights of citizenship. People that hold a bigoted or intolerant position never willingly surrender their views. It is often the act of brave legislators that move our society forward. If we consider how the world stands with full civil rights granted to African Americans and those who are handicapped do we not feel that these were positive outcomes?

It is often difficult to hold our religious beliefs and participate in a secular government. However, we do in fact live in just such an environment. We do this so that those of Muslim, Hindu or of the Ba’hai faith may worship in peace and security. Roger Williams would be proud of this development. So how do we answer the religious claims of our day that marriage is only between a man and a woman? How indeed do we answer the religious claim that abortion is a sin. The answer to these moral questions is individual responsibility. Although I was raised Catholic, my daughter has followed her mother and pursues the Jewish faith. No one tells her to stop using all electronic devices, or to walk instead of taking public transportation. No one tells her nor is their legislation on the books that bans all products using leavening during Passover. However, she does these things from her own personal conviction. The government neither sanctions nor prohibits her actions. In all things the civil government allows for civil unions and the ability of grown adults to govern their lives free from government intervention. To the person who is a good Catholic I say feed the poor, tend to the sick and raise your children as you see fit to serve God. No one will stop you from these pursuits. Mr. Trillo I say to you let adult men and women have the same choice to choose and celebrate the lives that they wish to live free from government prohibition. In this regard you will work in the true spirit of Roger Williams and will once again put Rhode Island where she belongs, in the position of leadership.

I thank you for hearing my concerns.

Sincerely,
{redacted}