11-13-20
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
Been a long, hard fight for LGBTQ equality in law enforcement. NBC News reports:
"She says the sheriff fired her for being gay. Now, she'll be the sheriff. After losing her job at Ohio’s Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Charmaine McGuffey decided to run against her former boss. Charmaine McGuffey, an out lesbian, has been elected sheriff of Hamilton County, Ohio. McGuffey, 63, made headlines in the primary where she challenged the incumbent, Jim Neil, who fired her from the sheriff’s department three years ago."
Cost the homophobic bigot his job. Tough, isn't it? LOL.
"Neil insists he terminated McGuffey for creating a hostile work environment."
Sounds like 'the pot calling the kettle black,' doesn't it? LOL.
"In a pending lawsuit against the department she will soon lead, McGuffey says she was the one subjected to a toxic workplace. She maintains it was because she spoke out against excessive force — and because she is an openly gay woman."
Stood tall. Hat's off, Sheriff-elect.
"Born and raised in Cincinnati, McGuffey said she knew she wanted to be a police officer by the time she was 14. But when she enrolled at the University of Cincinnati in the late 1970s, women weren’t allowed to be uniformed patrol officers."
Outrageous, wasn't it?
"That changed by the time McGuffey graduated, and she joined the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in 1983. Rising through the ranks, she received glowing reviews and numerous accolades over more than three decades of service."
Usually, women make far better officers. For a number of different reasons, including for the most part, carefully thinking before acting, -- thus avoiding doing something stupid.
"In 2013, McGuffey was promoted to major in command of jail and court services, making her the highest-ranking woman in department history. Under her watch, the Hamilton County Justice Center moved from being Ohio’s worst-ranked large jail to its best in only three years, according to audits by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Corrections. In 2014, McGuffey was named regional Law Enforcement Officer of the Year, according to her bio, and two years later, the Ohio Chapter of the National Social Workers honored her as Citizen of the Year."
Consider the following. It's why she was successful, indeed, stood tall despite all circumstances, obstacles:
"But even during her rise, McGuffey said, she felt singled out in “one of the harshest male-dominated environments you can imagine.” When she spoke up about the mistreatment of inmates, “I was told to sit down and be quiet,” she told LGBTQ Nation. “I was the major of that jail, so my name’s on that if you guys are going to shove the use of force under the rug …”
Example of Uncommon Valor. Courageously took it even further:
"Her gender and her sexual orientation were also issues, she said. In one alleged incident, a staffer waved a Trump hat at McGuffey while she was attempting to lead a meeting. “Everybody burst out laughing,” she told LGBTQ Nation. “It made me feel targeted, made me feel alone. I didn’t like it, but I was getting things done, and I just continued to work.”
Stood tall despite the following:
"After a deputy filed an official complaint alleging she screamed at and belittled subordinates, Neil launched an internal investigation. The chief investigator determined McGuffey “used her position to retaliate against employees, as well as engaged in favoritism,” according to department records. To McGuffey, though, the real goal of the investigation was to discredit her. After more than 30 years, Neil demoted her to a lower-paying civilian job, according to McGuffey’s lawsuit. She refused the lesser role and was fired by the same man who promoted her to head the Hamilton County jail."
Jesus Christ. What a piece of shit. One of the reasons law enforcement is failing all across our formerly great country.
"She filed a discrimination suit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2018. In February of this year, a district court advanced her case to trial, ruling that similar investigations of male, heterosexual officers had resulted in much lesser penalties, or none at all."
How about that? Couldn't be, could it?
This is certainly one tough woman who takes no shit:
"It wasn’t the first time McGuffey faced disciplinary action, though. In April 2010, she was brought up on criminal charges stemming from a confrontation with police outside a gay bar in Covington, Kentucky. McGuffey had been watching a college basketball game with some friends. When the group left around 11 p.m., they were confronted by two patrolmen. According to her, one of them threatened to arrest her friend for leaving the bar with a beer. The officers maintained they only asked the friend to discard her beverage, which she did. But, according to a departmental report obtained by the Cincinnati Enquirer, which NBC News has not seen, McGuffey then became “loud and belligerent,” cursing and shouting that the male officers had “problems with gay women.” She was cited for public intoxication, menacing and disorderly conduct. According to McGuffey, who denied she was acting menacingly, she and her friends were targeted because of their sexual orientation. “They were horrible. When they found out I was a captain, it became this thing, like, ‘What are we going to do about her?’” she told NBC News. “They pushed me to the ground and handcuffed me. It was absolutely unlawful what they did, and they knew it.” Ultimately, the charges, all misdemeanors, were dropped. But the sheriff’s office disciplined her for “conduct unbecoming” and suspended her for five days without pay."
Outrageous, isn't it?
"Until then, McGuffey had been closeted at work. “I was always terrified that the sheriff would find out and I would lose my job,” she said, alleging that the decision to discipline her was also fueled by homophobia. “Being outed — it was such a harsh, awful experience,” she said. “But being able to be out? That was tremendous. As the highest ranking woman in the sheriff’s office, marching with my wife at Pride was one of the best days of my life.” After being fired in 2017, McGuffey nursed her pride for a year and a half. Then she decided she could do Neil’s job better herself. She declared her candidacy in May 2019, promising her election would mean “our country is moving forward.” Endorsed by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., and countless civil rights groups, McGuffey won the April Democratic primary against Neil handily with 70 percent of the vote."
How about that?
"Neil crossed party lines to endorse her general election opponent, Republican Bruce Hoffbauer. In an op-ed for the Cincinnati Enquirer declaring his support for Hoffbauer, Neil said McGuffey “would use the office of sheriff to be a political activist, pushing an anti-law enforcement agenda,” while he referred to Hoffbauer as a “tried and true law enforcement leader dedicated to public safety.” On Tuesday, McGuffey defeated Hoffbauer 52 percent to 48 percent. “I’ve lived here my whole life — people know me,” she said. “I have been out in the community in uniform, helping people. I’ve never strayed from those core values. It served me through his attacks.”
A good officer. Credit to her profession.
"Neil declined NBC News’ request for comment."
What the f--k could the asshole say?
"Her victory isn’t just a vindication, she said. It represents hope. “Not just for the LGBTQ community, but for the Black and brown communities, for people of color. It means we can achieve.”
The entire community benefits from a non-abusive officer who properly does the job lawfully and under the United States Constitution.
"McGuffey will be the first LGBTQ sheriff in Hamilton County, as well as the first woman to serve in that role. And in a nation so divided, she said, that’s “a ray of sunshine through the clouds.” “I’ve been hearing from so many people, not just in Hamilton County, but across the nation. They’re glad to have some hope.” When she takes office in January, she said her first priority will be making sure everyone she’s sworn to protect believes the justice system works for them. “I know what it feels like to be targeted,” she said at a press conference Wednesday morning. “I know what it feels like to be the only woman in the room. I’ve seen a system that does not allow diversity in the upper echelons of law enforcement.” And she wants to close the door on the divisiveness of the past. “I’ve ordered a bunch of wood, because I plan on building a lot of bridges,” she said."
No one better qualified to do so. Hat's off, Sheriff-elect.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve. Forfeiture of liberty. At the hands of outrageously corrupt and abusive government.
6-19-20
Another move backwards by our fuhrer, the Trump nazi. The Associated Press reports:
"In a move applauded by President Donald Trump’s conservative religious base, his administration on Friday finalized a rule that overturns Obama-era protections for transgender people against sex discrimination in health care."
Who the hell are the Trump nazi and his henchmen to force their perverse ideological and religious views on all in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, that is, freedom from religion?
"The Department of Health and Human Services said it will enforce sex discrimination protections “according to the plain meaning of the word ‘sex’ as male or female and as determined by biology.” This rewrites an Obama-era regulation that sought a broader understanding shaped by a person’s internal sense of being male, female, neither or a combination. LGBTQ groups say explicit protections are needed for people seeking sex-reassignment treatment, and even for transgender people who need care for common illnesses such as diabetes or heart problems. But conservatives say the Obama administration exceeded its legal authority in broadly interpreting gender."
They're not 'conservatives.' The late Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater was a conservative. These bastards are national socialist, fascist nazis traitorously, treasonously determined to force their perverse religious views on all.
"The reversal comes in the middle of LGBTQ Pride Month. Activists and Democratic lawmakers noted that Friday was also the four-year anniversary of the mass shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in which 49 people were killed. Behind the dispute over legal rights is a medically recognized condition called “gender dysphoria” — discomfort or distress caused by a discrepancy between the gender that a person identifies as and the gender at birth. Consequences can include severe depression. Treatment can range from sex-reassignment surgery and hormones to people changing their outward appearance by adopting a different hairstyle or clothing.
"The American Medical Association strongly criticized the Trump administration’s action. “The federal government should never make it more difficult for individuals to access health care — during a pandemic or any other time,” said Dr. Susan Bailey, the group’s president. Under the Obama-era rule, a hospital could be required to perform gender-transition procedures such as hysterectomies if the facility provided that kind of treatment for other medical conditions. The rule was meant to carry out the anti-discrimination section of the Affordable Care Act, which bars sex discrimination in health care but does not use the term “gender identity.” Women’s groups say the new regulations also undermine access to abortion, which is a legal medical procedure. “No one should fear being turned away by a medical provider because of who they are or the personal health decisions they have made,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center. The ACLU says it has already moved to try to prevent the rollback of protections for transgender people. The LGBTQ civil rights group Lambda Legal said it will sue."
Needs to. Nazism must be strongly challenged before too late. ... Hear the rumble? An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms.
"More than 1.5 million Americans identify as transgender, according to the Williams Institute, a think tank focusing on LGBT policy at the UCLA School of Law. A bigger number — 4.5% of the population— identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to Gallup. Roger Severino, head of the HHS unit that enforces civil rights laws, said transgender people continue to be protected by other statutes that bar discrimination in health care on account of race, color, national origin, age, disability and other factors. “Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and according to the law,” said Severino. “Our dedication to our civil rights laws is as strong as ever.” He cited recent actions to safeguard access to treatment for disabled people in the coronavirus pandemic."
The mark of an insane, treasonous, treacherous, nazi traitor in the Oval Office:
"For the Trump administration it’s the latest in a series of steps to revoke newly won protections for LGBTQ people in areas ranging from the military to housing and education. The administration also has moved to restrict military service by transgender men and women, proposed allowing certain homeless shelters to take gender identity into account in offering someone a bed for the night, and concluded in a 2017 Justice Department memo that federal civil rights law does not protect transgender people from discrimination at work. The new rule would also affect the notices that millions of patients get in multiple languages about their rights to translation services. Such notices often come with insurer “explanation of benefits” forms. The Trump administration says the notice requirement has become a needless burden on health care providers, requiring billions of paper notices to be mailed annually at an estimated five-year cost of $2.9 billion."
There is no greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties than the current incumbent of the Oval Office.
The following may ultimately wind up changing and/or canceling at least some of Trump's anti-LGBTQ tactics exposed in the above article. Think all the unrest in the country may be having an effect on the U.S. Supreme Court? The Associated Press reports:
"The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a landmark civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment, a resounding victory for LGBT rights from a conservative court. The court decided by a 6-3 vote that a key provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 known as Title VII that bars job discrimination because of sex, among other reasons, encompasses bias against LGBT workers. “An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the court. “Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids.” Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas dissented."
Surprised?
“The Court tries to convince readers that it is merely enforcing the terms of the statute, but that is preposterous,” Alito wrote in the dissent. “Even as understood today, the concept of discrimination because of ‘sex’ is different from discrimination because of ‘sexual orientation’ or ‘gender identity.’” Kavanaugh wrote in a separate dissent that the court was rewriting the law to include gender identity and sexual orientation, a job that belongs to Congress. Still, Kavanaugh said the decision represents an “important victory achieved today by gay and lesbian Americans.”
Certainly, does. About time.
Here's why:
"The outcome is expected to have a big impact for the estimated 8.1 million LGBT workers across the country because most states don’t protect them from workplace discrimination. An estimated 11.3 million LGBT people live in the U.S., according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA law school. But Monday’s decision is not likely to be the court’s last word on a host of issues revolving around LGBT rights, Gorsuch noted. Lawsuits are pending over transgender athletes’ participation in school sporting events, and courts also are dealing with cases about sex-segregated bathrooms and locker rooms, a subject that the justices seemed concerned about during arguments in October. Employers who have religious objections to employing LGBT people also might be able to raise those claims in a different case, Gorsuch said. “But none of these other laws are before us; we have not had the benefit of adversarial testing about the meaning of their terms, and we do not prejudge any such question today,” he wrote. The cases were the court’s first on LGBT rights since Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement and replacement by Kavanaugh. Kennedy was a voice for gay rights and the author of the landmark ruling in 2015 that made same-sex marriage legal throughout the United States. Kavanaugh generally is regarded as more conservative. The Trump administration had changed course from the Obama administration, which supported LGBT workers in their discrimination claims under Title VII."
United Press International reports:
"The Trump administration had asked the high court to rule that Title VII does not cover LGBT Americans, and doing so was not the original intent of lawmakers. Gorsuch joined Chief Justice John Roberts and associate justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan in voting for the majority. Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh voted in dissent."
A step forward. A step back. A Republican-nazi owned Court trying to find its way? The Associated Press reports:
"The Supreme Court is for now declining to get involved in an ongoing debate by citizens and in Congress over policing, rejecting cases Monday that would have allowed the justices to revisit when police can be held financially responsible for wrongdoing."
Unless and until that happens, nothing will change in law enforcement. Certainly, remains outrageously unconstitutional the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue are not held to the same legal standard of justice the rest of us are subject to. ... Hear the rumble?
The Court still doesn't get it:
"With protests over racism and police brutality continuing nationwide, the justices turned away more than half a dozen cases involving the legal doctrine known as qualified immunity, which the high court created more than 50 years ago. It shields officials, including police, from lawsuits for money as a result for things they do in the course of their job. As is usual the court didn’t comment in turning away the cases, but Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a 6-page dissent saying he would have agreed to hear one of the cases. “I have previously expressed my doubts about our qualified immunity jurisprudence,” he wrote, explaining he believes the court’s “qualified immunity doctrine appears to stray from the statutory text.”
Here's the problem:
"As a result of qualified immunity, even when a court finds that an official or officer has violated someone’s constitutional rights, they can still be protected from civil lawsuits seeking money. The Supreme Court has said qualified immunity protects officials as long as their actions don’t violate clearly established law or constitutional rights which they should have known about."
Jesus Christ. That's called bullshit. A nazi re-write of the United States Constitution in favor of the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue. Unless and until law enforcement receives equal treatment, hear the rumble? An unwanted. dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms. Victims of these criminal bastards in law enforcement deserve financial compensation for their losses. Moreover, when will prosecutors finally start holding the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue criminally accountable for their crimes? When? ... Too deaf to hear the rumble?
Clearly, Republican nazis on the Court are not quite sure how to deal with all the unrest that seems headed to a radical change in the established order. Status quo, clearly unsustainable as the shit continues to hit the fan:
"The Supreme Court’s decision not to wade into the qualified immunity debate follows nationwide protests against racism and police brutality sparked by the death in Minnesota of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died May 25 while being restrained by a white officer. In Congress, a bill introduced by House Democrats in the wake of Floyd’s death would make it easier for injured individuals to claim damages in civil suits against police officers. The White House, however, has said that provision is a nonstarter and not likely to be part of a Senate Republican bill that’s in the works."
Republican nazis are clearly, insanely unable to understand the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue must receive equal treatment, not special treatment courtesy of an outrageously corrupt and abusive 'justice' system. Are Republicans stupidly doing all they can to spark an unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming?
The push for the court to reexamine qualified immunity has come both from the left and right, including Thomas, a conservative, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a liberal. In 2018, when the court said that an Arizona police officer who shot a knife-wielding woman four times was immune from being sued, Sotomayor said the decision “sends an alarming signal to law enforcement officers and the public.”
It tells the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue they can do as they please with impunity. ... Hear the rumble?
"Since then, the court has been asked to take a number of different cases involving qualified immunity. Some of the cases the court rejected Monday were filed at the court more than a year ago and many others had been pending for months, before Floyd’s death and the protests it prompted. The incidents themselves that sparked the lawsuits go back years and in some cases almost a decade."
Unless this issue is resolved, expect far more violence as our formerly great country continues to deteriorate. Hopefully, Republican nazis on the Supreme Court will wake up before too late.
NPR reports:
"Amid the tumult over police brutality allegations across the country, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to reexamine the much-criticized, modern-day legal doctrine created by judges that has shielded police and other government officials from lawsuits over their conduct."
Outrageous injustice that contributed to turning a supposedly democratic republic into a goddamned de facto fascist police-state. The treasonous 'Justices' responsible all those years ago are traitors. Treacherously betrayed their falsely sworn oaths of office to uphold The United States Constitution.
"In an unsigned order, the court declined to hear cases seeking reexamination of the doctrine of "qualified immunity." Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, saying the "qualified immunity doctrine appears to stray from the statutory text."
Indeed, a surprising semblance of liberalism coming from this otherwise Republican nazi.
"It takes the votes of four justices to grant review of a case. Developed in recent decades by the high court, the qualified immunity doctrine, as applied to police, initially asks two questions: Did police use excessive force, and if they did, should they have known that their conduct was illegal because it violated a "clearly established" prior court ruling that barred such conduct?"
Blatant unadulterated bullshit cleverly designed to protect the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue from financial accountability for their crimes.
More insane bullshit the criminals in law enforcement have used to escape financial accountability for the financial losses these pieces of shit have inflicted on their victims:
"The idea behind the doctrine was to protect police from frivolous lawsuits and allow some "breathing room" for police mistakes that involve split-second judgments in tense and dangerous situations. But in practice, because of recent Supreme Court decisions, lower courts have most often dismissed police misconduct lawsuits on grounds that there is no prior court decision with nearly identical facts. Several recent studies, including one conducted by Reuters, have found that dozens of cases involving horrific acts, some just as bad as those involving George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky., were thrown out of court on the grounds that there was no "clearly established" court precedent forbidding the conduct. That's why critics of the qualified immunity doctrine have called it a Catch-22 that says to victims, in effect, "Heads, the police win. Tails, you lose."
This doctrine guaranties the criminals in law enforcement often elude any accountability for their crimes since prosecutors remain in bed with corrupt and abusive law enforcement, that is, usually fail to criminally prosecute these bastards.
"Two Supreme Court justices have repeatedly urged the court to reexamine qualified immunity doctrine: Sonia Sotomayor, arguably the court's most liberal justice, and Thomas, arguably its most conservative. In one previous dissent, Sotomayor said the court "displays an unflinching willingness" in allowing the lower courts to grant qualified immunity to police officers but "rarely intervenes" when lower courts go too far. This "one-sided approach" transforms qualified immunity into "an absolute shield for law enforcement officers," she wrote."
Exactly as intended by a nazi U.S. Supreme Court all those years ago, -- to protect their criminal jackbooted bastards in blue.
"Similar unusual ideological alliances have been formed by organizations that file briefs regularly at the court — from the conservative/libertarian Cato Institute and the Institute for Justice to the liberal American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, all of which have urged the court to revisit the qualified immunity doctrine."
To date? To no avail. ... Hear the rumble?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve. Forfeiture of liberty. At the hands of outrageously corrupt and abusive government.
4-17-20
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
Homophobic Chief of Police. CBS News reports:
"A Florida town has placed its police chief on administrative leave after he was accused by officers of saying a sheriff's deputy died of COVID-19 because he was a "homosexual who attended homosexual sexual events." The Fort Lauderdale suburb of Davie announced late Saturday that Chief Dale Engle will be on leave while the allegations made by the Fraternal Order of Police union are investigated."
Encouraging, isn't it?
"CBS Miami reports Engle met with officers during their Tuesday patrol briefing, four days after the coronavirus death of Broward County Sheriff's Deputy Shannon Bennett, 39. The officers expressed their concerns about catching the disease as Bennett had done. The union said in a letter, which was obtained by CBS Miami, that Engle "allegedly yelled about a 'backstory' which proclaimed that Deputy Bennett contracted and died from the virus because he was a 'homosexual who attended homosexual sexual events.'" "He intimated that it was because of the homosexual lifestyle that Deputy Bennett first contracted a serious underlying disease which aggravated the Covid-19 virus and led to his death," the letter continued. Engle later sent an email to the staff saying, "My intent was to provide as much information to personnel as possible. If my comments were taken out of context, they were not intended to be derogatory." Fraternal Order of Police chief of staff Mike Tucker told CBS Miami that some officers felt "intimidated" by Engle's comments. "We had several that came forward and several who were afraid to come forward as well. That is our job at that point for our officers and the members we represent when they feel intimidated," Tucker said. A working phone number for Engle could not be found Sunday and he did not immediately respond to an email sent to a personal account. Engle, 56, has been chief for a year. Richard Lemack, administrator for the town of 100,000 residents, said in a statement he would have no further comment. Tommy Reyes, the president of Miami's Fraternal Order of Police, told the Miami Herald that Bennett was his friend and called Engle's alleged comments "disrespectful" to the deputy's family, friends and fiancé. Engle was engaged to marry in December. "It was disrespectful to the entire LGBTQ community and his own officers," Reyes said. "He should be ashamed of himself for his lack of professionalism and compassion for others." Bennett's death has already roiled the Broward Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Gregory Tony on Friday suspended the president of the deputies union, Jeff Bell, after Bell accused the sheriff in a newspaper column of not providing enough protective equipment. Tony accused Bell of making false statements, having corrupt practices, exhibiting conduct that is unbecoming and not using proper discretion. Bell's attorney said Bell was suspended "for doing his job" by standing up for his members."
No justice. Precisely, why there is desperate need for a new federal agency whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, and prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court that would adjudicate only these cases. Total independence. The only way to rein in these criminals, particularly the murderers in blue.
Sadly, the achingly clueless bastards in law enforcement don't need a legitimate reason to kill. Enjoy carte blanche to murder on the job. Nearly always, with impunity. ... Right, Sheriff? Sue the living shit out of the jackbooted motherf--kers, the department, and the city. Any officer engaged in, or threatening this kind of unnecessary violence needs to be criminally prosecuted. Not protected and coddled. Not put on paid leave, -- no more than a paid vacation. Not sent home without pay to catch up on his beauty sleep.
Firing is egregiously insufficient. How can the law enforcement community be trusted? No foreign power, no terrorist organization, not even the criminal element presents a greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties than the criminal jackbooted bastards in law enforcement. ... Right, Sheriff? Madam County Attorney? "Sonny Boy?"
These are extremely dangerous times for our formerly great country. ... Hear the rumble? An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming. -- As our legislators and other government officials figuratively 'fiddle while Rome burns.'
Not good enough. Nowhere near. Short of an unwanted dreaded second American revolution, only one way for these atrocities to end. Again, time for a new federal agency whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court whose sole function would be to adjudicate such cases. Total independence.
Local and state authorities are egregiously incapable of handling these cases. Tend to protect their own. ... Right, Sheriff? Goes with the territory, doesn't it, Bill? Precisely, why there is no faith or trust in your criminal jackbooted bastards. Local authorities here in Nazi Llano County have their heads figuratively, securely lodged so far up their clueless ass their eyeballs are turning inside out. Protect and coddle your clueless, out of control officers. Imagine that.
Unadulterated, blatant ongoing horse shit. ... Right, Bill? F--k these jackbooted bastards. Aren't worth a crap. Continually abrogate their oaths of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution. ... Right, Sheriff? Includes not only deputies, but the brass as well. No principles. No honor. Lying, conniving, abusive, murderous jackbooted thieving thugs. The American Civil Liberties Union needs to step up and represent the victims of abusive law enforcement.
To say nothing of innocent civilians all across our formerly great country who are victimized by abusive police. Need far better representation than a public defender. Forget? It's how the bastards in government line government coffers. All too often, looting the innocent. Those on the bottom of the food chain. ... Right, Sheriff?
No justice. The American Way. Nazi America. When is this shit finally going to end? All of it. Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? Two hundred eight weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace.
Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting. Who the hell are they?
When will the goddamned 'law' 'enforcement' community finally stop making excuses for engaging in outrageous criminal activity including blatant murder, violent assault, sexual assault, theft, drug trafficking, etc.? List can go on and on. Protecting its own no matter what it does or doesn't do? Convenient, isn't it, Sheriff? Again, no foreign power, no terrorist organization, not even the criminal element presents a greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties than all branches and levels of government, -- including law enforcement.
Corruption within law enforcement remains an existential threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. So what else is new? ... Right, Bill? Same old duplicitous, aggressively stupid shit occurs right here in Nazi Llano County. ... Doesn't it, Sheriff?
Think it'll change any time soon? Don't hold your breath, readers. Not how things work in Nazi America, right, Sheriff? Highly reminiscent of how your goons operate though, isn't it, Bill? Forget? 'Stupid is as stupid does.' F--ked up is f--ked up no matter where, no matter how. Problem throughout all law enforcement.
Including right here in Nazi Llano County, right, Sheriff? Too many officers clearly have their heads securely lodged where the sun seldom shines. Egregious insanity continues to be perpetrated by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue. Ongoing issue. All over our formerly great country.
Not just in Dallas as in the Guyger case, but all over the nation. No end to it. Surprised? Why? In today's increasingly national socialist climate anything goes, right, Bill? Live in a de facto fascist police-state, quickly transitioning to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich. Certainly, a problem here in Nazi Llano County, isn't it, Sheriff? Your goons, however, aren't held accountable when they egregiously f--k up. Ever.
Precisely why you refuse to release information on your deputies to the long-suffering public? That is, employment history, criminal background, results of drug testing, etc.. ... Got to protect your criminal jackbooted thugs preying on the citizenry with virtual impunity, right, sir?
Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to a Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property. Why are you protecting this clueless son of a bitch, Sheriff?
Why hasn't he been prosecuted for official oppression? Where is financial compensation for the damage this jackbooted piece of human excrement is responsible for? Ferociously pointedly, why are the District Attorney and the County Attorney continuing to protect this jackbooted piece of shit? He and others like him present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
Equally to the point, why are your jackbooted pieces of human excrement refusing to enforce Berardi's property rights? Your goons have failed to take action against Theresa Ahrens when she tore down a no trespassing sign and barrier on Berardi's property. Have you, your goons, and/or Madam County Attorney been bribed by Johnny Greene?
Ahrens frequently drives all the way through Berardi's property. Coup de grace? When Berardi complained to Llano County Deputy Idle about the trespassing, the officer's response was insane. Said the Sheriff told him to tell Berardi since Ahrens believes she owns his property she can't be charged with trespassing. Perfect Catch-22, right, Sheriff? You're not fit for office, Bill. Bribed by Johnny Greene?
Why is Theresa Ahrens allowed by your goons to dictate what vehicles can and cannot be parked on Berardi's property? Ahrens claims she has proof the property belongs to her where the vehicle was parked. Has failed to produce it. Surveyors say otherwise. Back up Berardi. Yet, your jackbooted bastards refuse to enforce Berardi's property rights. Why? Somebody lining somebody's pockets, Sheriff?
Ms. Ahrens micro-mini portable 'house' is parked on an unused unmarked Llano County road. Imagine that. Madam County Attorney well-aware. Has done nothing. Shit squat. Egregiously ignored her oath of office. Someone bribing you, Becky? Lining your pockets, Counselor? Paying you not to sell the unused unmarked County road to Berardi? Doesn't the County want and need the sale money, to say nothing of the resultant tax income?
No question, County and State agencies remain determinedly, concertedly, achingly incapable of criminal investigation of their own. Precisely, why a new federal agency desperately needs to be created whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court whose sole function would be to adjudicate only such cases. Total independence. Certainly, go a long, long way to cleaning up this cess pool County. Rein in the outrageously corrupt, abusive, achingly inept, self-serving assholes who run and own this hell hole.
Sheriff, you falsely claim the Kingsland County Commissioner has the authority to resolve this ongoing property rights issue. Clearly, doesn't. You, Madam County Attorney, and "Sonny Boy" are certainly an egregious impediment, continue to determinedly stonewall. Someone's pockets are being lined. Again, where's financial compensation for the damage Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 is directly responsible for to the Pace Arrow? Why hasn't he been prosecuted for this damage, to say nothing of infringement of Berardi's property rights? -- Just getting started, Sheriff. Far more to come.
-- You're not doing your jobs, Sheriff. You've got a loose vicious dog problem in Kingsland, Bill. When will you and the troops finally do something about this ongoing issue? Certainly, a recurring problem on Skyline, particularly on occasion at the intersection of Odessa. Pedestrians, runners, and cyclists are at risk. Too busy lining County coffers with bogus tickets?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve. Forfeiture of liberty. At the hands of outrageously corrupt and abusive government.
11-22-19
Both major political parties? Out to lunch. NBC News reports:
"A White House lawyer won Senate confirmation as a federal appeals court judge Thursday despite complaints by lawmakers from both parties about his record on immigration, race, women’s equality and LGBTQ rights."
How does that happen? How?
"Steven Menashi, an associate White House counsel, was confirmed by a 51-41 vote for a seat on the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Maine Sen. Susan Collins was the sole Republican to oppose Menashi, a 40-year-old New Yorker who has never tried a case or argued an appeal."
How is he qualified?
"Sasha J. Buchert, senior attorney at Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ legal advocacy group, called Menashi "one of President Trump’s most dangerous and alarming judicial nominees to date." "Mr. Menashi’s disqualifying record is not only plagued with bias against LGBT rights, but he also has actively undermined the rights of immigrants, women, students, and other vulnerable groups throughout his career," Buchert wrote. "This record clearly demonstrates that he would be unable to administer fair and impartial justice."
How could Democrats, in effect, support this guy by not walking out the Senate in protest before the vote? For decades, they've fought against nominations of bigoted, biased, narrow-minded candidates. Why the change? Why roll over? Why not make a public spectacle by walking out in protest?
"Lambda Legal pointed to a letter the group signed along with 20 other LGBTQ advocacy organizations opposing Menashi's confirmation. Among the groups' concerns was how Menashi “unambiguously asserted his opposition” to same-sex marriage ahead of the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, a landmark Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage across the U.S. Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David said Menashi is "yet another extremist" appointee and said he has "used whatever platform he’s handed — from his college newspaper, to legal publications, to a seat at the table at the White House — to undermine our community’s fight for equality."
Sad, isn't it? Why undermine equality? To what end? For what purpose? To force one's beliefs on another? As long as its two consenting adults, who cares?
"Republicans and Democrats complained that Menashi failed to answer questions at his nomination hearing, and Collins joined Democrats in criticizing Menashi’s record on a range of issues, including immigration, race, women’s equality and LGBTQ rights."
Then why confirm him? Why add to the misery already suffered by the LGBTQ community? To what end?
"Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York called Menashi a “disgrace” and ''one of the most contemptible nominees to come before the Senate” in more than 20 years. As a lawyer for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Menashi “helped cook up an illegal scheme to use the Social Security data of students swindled by for-profit colleges in order to deny them debt relief,’’ Schumer said, noting that a federal judge ruled the plan violated federal privacy laws."
If so, why wasn't he criminally prosecuted? Why no equal justice? Ferociously pointedly, why two systems of justice? That is, one for the top of the food chain, the other for the rest of us.
There are no truly effective privacy laws in our formerly great country. While far from perfect, Europe does a far better job.
"Schumer, who has railed against many judicial appointments by President Donald Trump, said Menashi stands out as extreme, unqualified and “almost craven. If there was ever anyone who was too far, it’s Menashi.’’
So what else is new? Why didn't Democrats walk out the Senate in protest before the vote? Do so every time a poorly-qualified candidate is up for a vote.
"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Menashi an “impressive nominee,’’ citing his degrees from Dartmouth College and Stanford Law School, clerkships for federal judges including Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, and experience teaching and practicing law."
He's a goddamned homophobic nazi, Senator. How does that qualify him to sit in judgment of anyone or anything else? Wake up, Mitch, your ignorance is appalling, achingly pathetic. Worse? Heartrending. Where did you lose yourself, sir?
"Other Republicans were more skeptical. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Menashi “has written some really weird stuff” and is “different than I would have chosen,” but is qualified for the federal bench."
How so, Senator? Because you say so, sir? Because he's a Republican national socialist, a fascist, Mr. Graham?
"Graham was one of several senators who expressed frustration at Menashi’s refusal to answer questions about his record at the White House and the Education Department during his confirmation hearing in September."
Surprised? Why?
"Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the committee’s top Democrat, said Menashi’s silence made it difficult for senators to fulfill their constitutional role to provide advice and consent on presidential nominees."
Then, again, why didn't you and others walk out the Senate in protest? All talk. No action. Pitiful.
"She and other Democrats were especially unhappy about Menashi’s role in denying debt relief to thousands of students swindled by for-profit colleges. “Mr. Menashi should not be rewarded for providing such bad legal advice with a lifetime appointment to the federal bench,’’ Feinstein said."
No kidding. Yet, Democrats gutlessly failed to walk out in protest. Failed to be as royal a pain in the ass as possible.
"Menashi’s “troubling record of undermining critical rights and questions surrounding his involvement in Secretary DeVos’s shameful efforts to ignore the law” disqualify him from a lifetime judgeship, added Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash."
Then, why didn't you walk out the Senate in protest just before the vote?
"Collins said Menashi’s past writings, particularly about women, LGBTQ advocates and racial diversity, raise questions about whether he has the appropriate judicial temperament."
All the more reason you and others should have walked out the Senate in protest at the time of the vote.
Gets worse. Get this:
"Collins, one of the most vulnerable GOP incumbents next year, said it was inappropriate for Menashi to refuse to answer questions about his work in the Trump administration during his confirmation hearing."
Jesus Christ. Unbelievable. All the more reason to have walked out the Senate in protest just before the vote. Sent a clear message. Drawn public attention to the abject f--king about to happen.
“His reluctance to answer questions about the family separation policy made it difficult for me to assess his record and impeded my constitutional duty to evaluate his fitness to serve as a judge,’’ she said in a statement. “After careful consideration ... I do not believe he is well-suited to serve on the federal bench.”
All the more reason you should have walked out in protest. Been as big a pain in the ass as possible. Heroically, sent a message to your fellow Republicans.
"Menashi is among more than 150 federal judges nominated by Trump and confirmed by the Senate, including at least 46 appeals court judges. About one-quarter of federal appeals court judges were nominated by Trump."
The damage done by the Trump nazi vis a vis this issue will last a lifetime. Could wind up in the unthinkable, unwanted, -- a second American revolution.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
11-15-19
Another example of Uncommon Valor. Dan Simon of CNN reports:
"Even with an economics degree from Yale and job experience on Wall Street and in Hollywood, the future for Shawn Pleasants looked increasingly glum. Homeless for 10 years in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles, Pleasants had done little to extricate himself from a cycle of depression and methamphetamine use that began before he landed on the street. He depended on churches and other charities for free meals."
A Yale graduate. With a degree in economics. Stunning, isn't it?
"I wrote about Pleasants, 52, in September, as part of CNN's coverage of the homeless crisis plaguing California. The notion of a high school valedictorian and Ivy Leaguer who'd built a successful career, then fallen precipitously, garnered a lot of attention. Millions clicked on the story and shared it on social media. "I started reading it -- and just tears," said Kim Hershman, who'd studied a year ahead of Pleasants at Yale. Though they were barely acquaintances back then, Hershman immediately felt obligated to help, especially after she learned Pleasants' encampment was mere miles from her home. "When we were at Yale in the '80s, there were very few black students there," Hershman recalled. "Things are very different now. But I know that for whatever he achieved, something changed, and he didn't have the support that, maybe, I had."
So she stood up, stood tall. How many attorneys would do the following?
"A Hollywood business affairs consultant, Hershman is also an attorney who graduated from Yale Law School as well. She drew upon her alumni network for guidance and encouragement, and a flood of postings soon appeared on a Facebook page for black Yale alums. "If Kim wants to get something done, I'd better not stand in the way," one member wrote. "Would he be willing to accept the offer of help?" queried another. There was only one way to find out. The day after my CNN story appeared online, Hershman made her way to Koreatown to try to find Pleasants amid the tent encampments."
How many attorneys in Llano County would do the same?
"I was a little nervous because I was, like, 'Where am I going? I'm a 5-foot-1 female,'" she recalled, fearing that it may not be safe. Hershman -- escorted by two Yale alums, including her significant other -- began asking homeless people in the area if they knew where Pleasants camped out. "Yeah," someone eventually told her. "He's around the corner." Almost everyone in Shawn Pleasants' orbit was homeless, like him. Some people walking by were friendly ("When people say, 'Good morning,' it really makes a difference," he'd like others to know.) Others were indifferent or rude. So, when the woman wearing a Yale hat took a seat next to him on the sidewalk and grabbed his hand, Pleasants knew this was no ordinary visitor. Seeing the hat's "Y" logo, his mind raced back to the magical setting of Yale's campus in New Haven, Connecticut. "I had seen her, maybe, seven or eight times at school," he recalled. Though they'd never been formally introduced, Pleasants knew who she was. But why had she come to see him today? he wondered."
Again, how many shyster attorneys would do the same here in Nazi Llano County? LOL. Modus operandi? Cover your sorry, achingly clueless ass. Cowardly, don't walk, run the other way. LOL. Greed rules. Forget? Moreover, these achingly gutless barrister bastards rightfully fear loss of all business should they challenge the established order.
Blackballed. Consequently, refuse to stand up to the bullshit. Won't stand tall. Principle? Means squat. Way things work in a de facto fascist police-state. Forget? Precisely, why nothing changes. Shit happens. -- Just the way the handful of 'elite' who run and own this hell hole want it. Shysters compliantly aid and abet. Go along. To get along. LOL.
The American Way.
"After a few minutes of small talk, Hershman had a simple yet extraordinarily complicated question for a man who'd been living on the streets for a decade. "My big thing was: 'What do you want? And based on what you want, I'm going to do whatever I can to help you,'" she told CNN, recalling that initial conversation. "I want to make a difference," Pleasants replied. "I'm in this situation, and there has to be a reason for it all, and I want to help others."
Most attorneys quickly forget where they came from once in practice. Not this one. Imagine that. ... Puts you shyster bastards here in Nazi Llano County to shame, doesn't it? LOL. After all, challenge the human excrement who run and own this County, guess what?
Usual end result. Precisely, why you gutlessly fear end of your truly worthless careers when the corrupt and abusive f--kers who run and own this hell hole blackball you pieces of shit. Abject cowardice. Driven by bottomless greed. Again, precisely why nothing changes. Shit happens. -- The goddamned unvarnished truth.
"They talked about the possibilities. Pleasants explained his vision for a homeless resource center, where people living on the streets could take showers, receive mail, charge a phone or iron a shirt. A sort of one-stop shop to address some critical needs, he told her, was desperately needed. Hershman made no promises. But she did assure Pleasants that if he would accept her help, she would get him off the streets and help him regain his footing in life. But there was one catch, and it was nonnegotiable: He must agree to drug rehabilitation."
No question.
"Over the years, Pleasants had turned down similar offers from family."
Surprised?
"This time he said yes -- but with a caveat of his own: "I have to bring my husband with me," he told Hershman, referring to his longtime partner, David, who had been living with Pleasants for years, even before they both became homeless. Hershman agreed. "She's quite charismatic and a persuasive leader," Pleasants said. "And when she wants to do something, she does it, by golly. She's an angel." They set a moving date for a few weeks later. Still, Pleasants wasn't sure. After a week, Hershman returned to check on Pleasants and to share a trove of supportive, encouraging messages that their Yale classmates had sent. He'd been "quite terrified that he had shamed his Yale family and biological family in doing the story," she said, referring to CNN's reporting. "To know that he had not, and had inspired people and touched people's hearts, meant the world to him," Hershman said via text. "The messages are really what made Shawn decide to move off the street."
How about that? His fellow Ivy League graduates, just like Hershman, had not forgotten where they came from. Imagine that. Imagine the change that could trigger across the nation if it caught on? That is, if greed was no longer prime mover.
"Pleasants' belongings consisted of a series of grocery carts overtopped with clothes, blankets and other disheveled items. Tarps connected to the carts formed a roof. A laundry basket held unopened boxes of cereal that he had gotten from a food pantry. His things seemed to take up half a block. But he left everything behind, aside from some clothes that he packed in garbage bags and luggage he had acquired on the street. Pleasants also kept a battery-operated candle that "would mentally warm" him up and a baseball bat he kept for protection. "Sometimes I had to clutch that bat because I didn't know what was going to happen," he said. "I had been stabbed in the back by someone I didn't even know. And my husband had been slashed with a machete by a total stranger in the night."
-- Sadly, precisely how those on the bottom of the food chain live in the richest country in the world.
"As he prepared to say goodbye, Pleasants, his partner and Hershman, along with some other homeless residents, formed a circle to say a prayer. "Let us not forget where we come from, what we've been through and where we're hopefully going," he said somberly to the group. Riding away, tears welling in his eyes, Pleasants said he was "nervous and happy." They had planned to stop at a McDonald's drive-thru but at the last minute decided to skip it, anxious to see what awaited them."
Imagine what the other homeless residents were thinking as they watched him leave:
"Hershman had arranged for Pleasants and his partner to stay in a guest house in the back of a posh LA estate. It has a pool and a basketball court. It sits behind a gate and is entirely private. The guest house, more than big enough to accommodate two people, has its own kitchen that Hershman had stocked with all their favorite foods. Entering their new digs, the men went straight for the bathroom and spent several minutes hovering over a sink, washing their hands. Even weeks after leaving the streets, Pleasants was still acclimating. At the guest house, Pleasants still keeps the baseball bat he used for protection at the homeless encampment near him at night. "At some point, someone is going to say, 'April Fools,' and it's over," he said. Pleasants has been addressing lingering medical problems, including with his vision. A congenital condition left him blind in one eye, and advanced glaucoma threatens the other. Meantime, David has been recuperating from heart surgery to address a genetic abnormality. Pleasants is also coming to terms with some earlier emotional trauma, including the death of his mother in 2010, which he said contributed to his downward spiral. "You gotta show a strong face out there," he said, referring to his life on the streets. "But here, I can sit here and cry, and we can hug and just sort it out in 30 minutes."
The problems, far from over:
"His drug abuse, however, remains a work in progress. Pleasants and David have left their compound a few times, and Hershman believes they may have been getting drugs. It's easy to tell, Hershman said, when he hasn't been using. "He seems flatter, more depressed," she said, adding that his addiction "is real -- a crutch -- and masks a lot of pain." "I've never been good at doing anything cold turkey. Life's in the middle," Pleasants said, adding that getting drug-free is "tantamount to my credibility." Pleasants plans to check in Friday to a rehab facility in Los Angeles' Tarzana neighborhood, he told CNN. Hershman identified the facility and deemed it to be a good fit. Pleasants' partner will enter a few weeks later, after fully recuperating from heart surgery."
Extremely important both men not be enabled in continued drug use.
"I'm ready," Pleasants said Thursday by phone, adding that he "felt somewhat anxious" but that "it feels like the responsible thing to do." Hershman is fronting the cost for 30 days of Pleasants' treatment, which she said amounts to just over $10,000. Fellow Yale alums have offered to contribute, she said, though no reimbursements or financial arrangements have been made. The price tag could also rise because "they may recommend that he stay longer than 30 days," she said. She's also helping Pleasants get settled into more permanent housing using a federally subsidized Section 8 voucher, which he recently obtained. A mother to twin teenage boys who works as an independent consultant, Hershman said she has been a 'round-the-clock presence for Pleasants. Through it all, she's has been chronicling the experience with the help of a videographer. They have visions for a TV docuseries "that takes viewers through this journey of everything they're going through," she said. Pleasants believes it could change people's perceptions of homelessness."
... Hard to believe, however, with the country as divided and preoccupied as it is now with the ongoing catastrophe in the Oval Office. Hopefully, that will change. -- Both the profound division in the nation and the disaster in the Oval Office.
"Policy experts point to the lack of affordable housing in California as the primary reason for endemic homelessness. Pleasants doesn't disagree. "Not everyone can pay $2,000 a month for a studio," he said. People who used to help homeless residents, he said, ended up sitting beside "us" on the streets. Pleasants also wants to call attention to the lack of facilities just to "clean your clothes." "In order to get a job and get out, you need somewhere to shower. We need to get a computer to do a resume. Where are we supposed to do those things?" he said, adding that he and Hershman are brainstorming ways to advance his ideas for a resource center. Meantime, he's written a note to be included in the next installment of Yale's alumni magazine. Hershman shared it with CNN, reading, in part: "I want to thank all alumni for their support, understanding and compassion...and their critical eye as to what is going on in my situation. I don't just want charity. I do need critical and constructive help (in terms of advice or real goods and services); not just someone throwing money at me. ... I need more than a helping hand. I need a map as to where I'm going. Thank you for providing that - at a level that 'another Yalie' appreciates."
Unlike most homeless, this guy had access to resources most on the streets would never have had the opportunity to avail themselves of:
"In the short term, Pleasants said he wants to be worthy of his new lease on life -- made possible by a single news story -- and a woman who felt inspired to act. He also knows there are people out there wondering if he'll blow it, he said, and wind up back on the streets. "I hope the hell not," he said. "And I hope for their sake that they don't lose their footing because they'll experience some of the worst times that I experienced. And it doesn't matter who you are, it's a possibility."
No question.
As footnote to the above, I recently spoke to a a former Kingsland resident who had moved to New Mexico with her significant other a while back. -- He's a veteran with recent serious health issues. Her son had remained behind in the Kingsland area. Recently, killed himself.
She returned to Kingsland to retrieve his ashes and return them to New Mexico. She had no vehicle and canvassed local churches for assistance to return home. The response of these churches was less than generous. Clearly, things need to change.
11-1-19
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
ICE can't get its act together. The Washington Post reports:
"Roxsana Hernandez’s family wants to know what happened in her final days in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, before she died in the hospital. But the surveillance footage that could help answer that question, captured by a privately run detention center, has been deleted, ICE officials indicated in emails released in response to a lawsuit. Lawyers say it‘s a disturbing development as they look for justice for Hernandez, a transgender asylum seeker from Honduras who died weeks after surrendering at a port of entry to the United States. The woman’s death in May 2018 has fueled scrutiny of ICE’s treatment of LGBTQ detainees as critics say the agency fails to provide adequate medical care for conditions such as HIV. A private autopsy also found evidence that Hernandez was physically abused, an allegation at odds with government findings."
Imagine that.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
8-30-19
More nazi justice courtesy of our fuhrer, the Trump nazi, and his henchmen. NBC News reports:
"The Trump administration Friday filed a brief with the Supreme Court arguing that gay workers are not protected by federal civil rights law. The filing came exactly one week after the administration argued the same for transgender workers. The brief was submitted in combined cases concerning Gerald Bostock, a gay man fired from his job as a child welfare services worker by Clayton County, Georgia, and the late Donald Zarda, a gay man fired from his job as a skydiving instructor by New York company Altitude Express. The Bostock and Zarda cases are two of three cases concerning LGBTQ workers’ rights that the Supreme Court is expected to hear this fall. This latest brief, submitted by Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco and other Department of Justice attorneys, argues that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin, “does not bar discrimination because of sexual orientation.” “The ordinary meaning of ‘sex’ is biologically male or female; it does not include sexual orientation,” the brief states. “An employer thus discriminates ‘because of * * * sex’ under Title VII if it treats members of one sex worse than similarly situated members of the other sex. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, standing alone, does not satisfy that standard.”
Nazi justice. Legalized discrimination. In a goddamned de facto fascist police-state, quickly transitioning to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.
"The issue of whether “sex” discrimination in Title VII includes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity has caused a split in lower courts over the past several years, with some backing gay workers and others the employers who have fired them. In addition to the Zarda and Bostock cases, the Supreme Court is set to hear R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, et al. That case concerns Aimee Stephens, a transgender woman who was fired from a Detroit funeral home after she informed her employer that she was beginning her gender transition. The Trump administration filed an amicus brief in the Stephens case Aug. 16, siding with the employer."
Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini reincarnated. No greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
"Prior to its amicus briefs in the Bostock, Zarda and Stephens cases, the Trump administration had already made its position clear on the scope of sex discrimination in Title VII. In July 2017, the Department of Justice submitted an amicus brief with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the Zarda case opposing the extension of Title VII discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation. And in October 2018 — prior to the Supreme Court decision to hear the Stephens case — the Justice Department filed a brief with the high court siding with the funeral home. In the Stephens case, the federal government is pitted against itself, since the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is a defendant in the case. The Supreme Court will hear the cases next term, which begins in October."
Our formerly great country remains under dire threat. No longer a democratic republic. In name only.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
8-23-19
More bigotry. This time against the LGBTQ community. NBC News reports:
"The Trump administration on Friday filed a brief with the Supreme Court arguing that transgender workers are not protected by federal civil rights law and can be fired because of their gender identity."
Bigotry. Raw nazism.
"The brief was submitted in a case concerning Aimee Stephens, a transgender woman who was fired from a Detroit funeral home after she informed her employer that she was beginning her gender transition. The case, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, et al., is one of three cases concerning LGBTQ workers’ rights that the Supreme Court is expected to hear this fall. The brief, submitted by Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco and other Department of Justice attorneys, argues that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin, “does not bar discrimination because of transgender status.” “In 1964, the ordinary public meaning of ‘sex’ was biological sex. It did not encompass transgender status,” the brief states. “In the particular context of Title VII — legislation originally designed to eliminate employment discrimination against racial and other minorities — it was especially clear that the prohibition on discrimination because of ‘sex’ referred to unequal treatment of men and women in the workplace.” If the Supreme Court sides with the Trump administration, it will be overturning a decision by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with Stephens in March 2018. “Discrimination against employees, either because of their failure to conform to sex stereotypes or their transgender and transitioning status, is illegal under Title VII,” Judge Karen Nelson Moore wrote in the 6th Circuit’s decision. “The unrefuted facts show that the Funeral Home fired Stephens because she refused to abide by her employer’s stereotypical conception of her sex." Moore added that requiring the Christian business owner, Thomas Rost, "to comply with Title VII's proscriptions on discrimination does not substantially burden his religious practice."
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
8-9-19
Not only are Trump and his henchmen bigoted against people of color, but the LGBTQ community as well. NBC News reports:
"Nearly three dozen members of Congress sent a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday morning expressing their concern over the agency’s treatment of transgender detainees and demanding the agency take transgender migrants’ asylum claims more seriously. The letter, sent by 34 lawmakers and spearheaded by Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., was signed by Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Joe Kennedy, D-Mass., Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Deb Haaland, D-N.M., and Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., among others and comes after the deaths of two transgender women who were held in detention. In their message, the lawmakers said, “We urge ICE to seriously consider the asylum claims of transgender migrants who demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution based on their ‘membership in a particular social group’ and adhere to its own policies regulating the treatment of transgender detainees.” The letter stressed ICE should especially consider asylum claims coming from the “Northern Triangle” countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, where “violence against the transgender community occurs at alarming rates.” In one study conducted by the UN Refugee Agency, 88 percent of LGBTQ asylum seekers fleeing the Northern Triangle reported experiencing sexual and gender-based violence in their countries of origin. The letter comes at the time when ICE’s treatment of transgender asylum seekers has come under continued and increased scrutiny."
For damned good reason:
"On June 1, Johana Medina Leon, a transgender nurse from El Salvador seeking asylum in the U.S, died in Texas after spending six weeks in ICE custody. Her family is mounting a wrongful death suit against ICE, saying Leon, 25, was discriminated against and mistreated, and ICE is responsible for her premature death. Leon’s passing came a year after Roxsana Hernandez, a transgender woman from Honduras, died in ICE custody in New Mexico. In March, the American Civil Liberties Union, along with the Santa Fe Dreamers Project and other groups, alleged “rampant” abuse and "unconscionable conditions" for LGBTQ immigrants at a New Mexico ICE facility, and an NBC News investigation found that transgender migrants often are placed in solitary confinement and face mistreatment while in detention."
American gulags.
"In their letter, lawmakers cited the violence and structural challenges transgender migrants seeking asylum face in their home countries. “Transgender women have been murdered after they were deported once their asylum claims were denied,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter, highlighting the case of Camila Díaz Córdova, who died in a hospital in El Salvador after she was kidnapped and beaten. Díaz Córdova had sought asylum in the U.S., documenting years of constant death threats, but was nonetheless deported. The lawmakers also brought up the treatment of Alejandra Barrera, a 44-year-old transgender woman from El Salvador who they say requested asylum in November 2017 and has been held in detention by ICE since. Barrera, the lawmakers wrote, has been denied humanitarian parole five times, despite the fact that she requires specialized medical care. The letter asks for Barrera’s request for humanitarian parole and asylum to be seriously considered."
The abuse runs rampant:
"ICE did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment, but in previous statements noted that asylum seekers often enter the U.S. with "untreated" medical conditions. ICE has also touted its unit for transgender women in the Cibola County Correctional Center in New Mexico as an example of their fair treatment of transgender migrants, despite documented concerns about the conditions there."
But lawmakers are rightfully not satisfied:
“We ask that you honor the longstanding reputation of the United States as a safe refuge for individuals who face persecution and violence,” the lawmakers said. “Specifically, we ask that you bring ICE into compliance with its stated policy for the treatment of transgender detainees.” Pallone condemned the "inhumane" and "illegal" treatment of vulnerable immigrant communities in a statement to NBC News, saying the U.S. "is turning its back on those who desperately need our help and who should be protected under U.S. law.” "For a long time, it’s been evident that ICE isn't prepared to manage the health care needs of people seeking their right to asylum," Haaland said in an interview with NBC News Tuesday morning, adding that "ICE's record of mistreatment of trans individuals took Johana Medina's life" and she is worried about other transgender migrants currently at-risk. "As an indigenous woman, our history shows that we supported and accepted LGBTQ people into our communities for centuries and centuries," the congresswoman said. "We want every human being to be valued. We need to stop this horrible treatment." Closing their letter, the lawmakers demanded ICE “take tangible steps to protect the legal rights of transgender individuals who meet the necessary criteria to be considered for asylum.”
Yet, Democrats remain too gutless to formally vote for an impeachment investigation of the Trump nazi. Abject cowardice.
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7-26-19
Think Texas Gov. Greg Abbott upholds the United States Constitution, particularly, the First Amendment Establishment Clause, that is, freedom from religion? NBC News reports:
"Sitting amid several plastic fast-food cups, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the so-called Save Chick-fil-A bill into law on Thursday. “Today I signed the @ChickfilA law in Texas. And, had a great lunch,” Abbott wrote on Twitter. “No business should be discriminated against simply because its owners gave to a church or to the Salvation Army or to any other religious organization.”
Goes far beyond a charitable donation. Blatant discrimination directed against the LGBTQ community. The Governor is outrageously disingenuous. Knew precisely what he was doing.
"The legislation, known as Senate Bill 1978, prohibits government entities from taking "adverse actions" against businesses or individuals because of their religious beliefs or moral convictions. But while proponents view the bill as a necessary measure ensuring religious freedom, critics say it's a thinly veiled attempt to undermine LGBTQ rights."
Expect anything less of a Republican national socialist, fascist, nazi?
Here's the issue:
"The bill — which has no official connection to Chick-fil-A — received its nickname after the San Antonio City Council banned the fast-food franchise from opening a location in the city's airport because of the company's "legacy of anti-LGBT behavior." Chick-fil-A has been under fire for its LGBTQ track record since 2012, when it was revealed that the company, through the charity of its founder, S. Truett Cathy, who died in 2014, donated nearly $2 million to groups that oppose same-sex marriage."
Not only is our governor a national socialist, he's clearly anti-LGBTQ.
"The Save Chick-fil-A law makes it clear in Texas: You don’t mess with Chick-fil-A, and you don’t mess with religious freedom,” Jonathan Saenz, president of the socially conservative Texas Values Action, said in a statement."
Take your head out of your ass. What it clearly indicates is the fact the Governor and his supporters are more than willing to force their perverse religious views on the public via outrageously unconstitutional statutes cleverly designed to discriminate.
"Opponents of the bill, however, say the legislation could harm the state’s LGBTQ community and propel discrimination."
Clearly, the intention of the nazi element in our formerly great country.
"Senate Bill 1978 has one aim only: to undermine LGBTQ equality and promote anti-LGBTQ messages. This bill is nothing more than an anti-LGBTQ dog whistle,” Samantha Smoot, interim executive director of statewide LGBTQ group Equality Texas, said in a statement."
The unvarnished truth. Determined abrogation of all civil and constitutional rights and liberties courtesy of nazis in the Republican Party.
... A raucous boot clicking, goose stepping, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Seig Heil!, Governor?
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7-26-19
LGBTQ community wins one. NPR reports:
"A federal judge in North Carolina has approved a consent decree that enshrines the right of transgender individuals to use bathrooms that match their gender identities in North Carolina public buildings. The agreement was reached between senior state officials and the plaintiffs, led by a transgender man named Joaquin Carcaño. The judge said the parties agree that nothing in a controversial state law "can be construed by the Executive Branch Defendants to prevent transgender people from lawfully using public facilities in accordance with their gender identity." "After so many years of managing the anxiety of HB 2 and fighting so hard, I am relieved that we finally have a court order to protect transgender people from being punished under these laws," said Carcaño. The settlement also states that any outstanding legal claims against the state officials by the plaintiffs, including the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, are now dismissed."
This is also quite a victory for the Bill of Rights and those who believe in all civil and constitutional rights and liberties under vicious attack by the Aryan arrogant nazi element in our formerly great country.
"We are thrilled to obtain some clarity and relief for transgender North Carolinians who have been suffering under HB 2 and HB 142 for years. While this part of the court fight may be ending, so much urgent work remains as long as people who are LGBTQ are denied basic protections from violence and discrimination simply because of who they are," said Irena Como, acting legal director of the ACLU of North Carolina. Lawmakers passed the original "bathroom bill," HB 2, in 2016 under Republican Gov. Pat McCrory. It required that public agencies clearly indicate that multiple occupancy restrooms, showers and changing areas in their buildings must be used according to the sex listed on a person's birth certificate. The bill drew intense backlash. That included pullouts from major businesses that, according to an estimate from The Associated Press, could have cost the state some $3.76 billion over the course of 12 years."
The potential loss of business certainly was a factor in this ruling. Forget? Greed rules in Nazi America.
"In 2017, the newly elected Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper repealed major portions of it with a new bill, HB 142. However, as NPR has reported, the updated law remained controversial with rights advocates because it left state legislators in charge of policy on public restrooms. And like the preceding bill, it also blocked "local jurisdictions from passing anti-discrimination measures protecting LGBT people — but only until 2020, instead of indefinitely." Carcaño, the case's lead plaintiff, said it "remains devastating" that local jurisdictions can't implement such measures yet. "The fight for full justice will continue." The North Carolina General Assembly, which passed these bills, opposed the consent decree, according to a court filing. Cooper and several other senior state officials were in favor of the settlement, while the University of North Carolina and its president didn't take a position."
Be interesting to see where this all goes. Stay tuned.
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The following is indeed quite a novel approach to criminal justice. NPR reports:
"A teenager's life is on the line — but he is nowhere to be found."
Surprised? Why?
"People have gathered inside a D.C. government building on a rainy holiday morning to help decide what happens to the young man, but he hasn't shown up."
An ongoing problem across the country.
"After several phone calls and nearly an hour of waiting, the 16-year-old boy finally arrives. NPR, which was permitted to attend the meeting for this story, is not identifying him because he is a minor. Facilitator Roman Haferd is eager to get started. "It's been a bit of a morning — a bit of a scramble this morning — but the good news is that everybody's here," he says."
Here's where things get interesting:
"The boy was involved with an assault. But what plays out over the next three hours is a restorative justice conference — a guided conversation between a juvenile who broke the law and the person whom the juvenile hurt. If the program works, the victim and the offender discuss what happened and agree on a way to move ahead so that criminal charges are dismissed. To supporters, the message is clear: Achieving justice doesn't always involve punishment or retribution — and young people have the capacity for change. No one said it would be easy, least of all Karl Racine, the elected official who launched the effort. "Our objective in our prosecutions, particularly since we're dealing with young people, is to put them in a position to learn from their mistakes," says Racine, the attorney general of the District of Columbia."
What do you think? Snowball's chance? Or, could it work under certain circumstances with some individuals?
"Racine's special counsel, Seema Gajwani, first presented the concept to him nearly three years ago. While the roots of restorative justice can be traced to indigenous peoples in the U.S. and Canada, no elected prosecutor had created such a unit inside their own office — until now. At first, Racine says, he was skeptical. But the process has eroded his misgivings, in part because the sessions help juveniles understand the harm they've caused their victims, their communities and even their own family members. What's more, Racine says, the concept also promotes public safety. Early data are showing signs that the program is a success, he says. The restorative justice program is not available for offenses involving guns or serious sexual assault."
Have to be extremely careful under what circumstances and with whom such approaches are attempted.
"Prosecutor Erika Clark says she worried that restorative justice would let people off the hook. Her first reaction? "Oh, OK, so we're not going to prosecute you? We're going to sit around in a circle with, like, the hippies down the hallway, and we're going to have a talk and then you don't have any punishment?" Things have changed. Clark is now referring some of the most serious cases on her docket into the program, including one involving a transit police officer who tore his rotator cuff and strained his knee trying to apprehend a teenager fighting on a subway platform."
This is an extremely interesting case. Consider the following:
"Metro Transit Police officer Jason Dixon says some kids are "a little past saving, but [for] the ones that you can save, this program should definitely be on the table."
How about that? Enlightenment from an officer who had himself been injured by one of the little 'darlings.'
"Dixon shrugged off objections from his wife, a detective and some of his transit police force colleagues to participate in restorative justice. After the restorative justice conference, the 16-year-old who hurt him called on the phone once a week for six months — even getting parenting advice from Dixon, since the teen had recently become a new dad himself."
Stunning, isn't it? Portend of better things to come? We'll see.
"I really feel like this program opens up doors for kids where they have a lot of doors shut in their face," Dixon says."
Truly stunning coming from a cop who had been seriously injured.
"The restorative justice program is underway in a city where police interactions with juveniles have become very public and very controversial. Local law enforcement officers handcuffed a 10-year-old boy this year, stirring vocal protests in the neighborhood. Other incidents with young children followed, often captured by neighbors on cell phone videos. Racine's office is reviewing police policies on encounters with children."
Not sustainable. Things must change. Is this the way? An approach that might work in at least some of the cases?
"Back in the drab D.C. conference room on Good Friday, the process is taking a while. People have stopped picking at breakfast — chocolate chip muffins and orange juice — and have started dishing out slices of cheese pizza from a cardboard takeout box. The 16-year-old boy's foster mom and two older male mentors insist they want to support him, but he has had a tough life and he doesn't want to grab the hands that are reaching out to help him. "Y'all keep screaming, 'Team,' " the boy says. "At the end of the day, when I go to sleep by myself, I got me. Any clothes, shoes, anything, support — I get it because I believed in me. ... And I got 16 years of life without a team, and I'm going to make it 55 more. I don't believe in friendship. I don't believe in trust. I don't even trust my own mother. I don't trust my own brothers."
Stark reality. Think this kid has a chance? How about society that has to deal with this?
"The conversation turns to the event that brought them all here. A few months earlier, this boy and his crowd ran into trouble on public transportation. Some people in the group made hostile remarks to a transgender woman. The incident escalated, and she was assaulted. That woman is sitting across the circle from him, looking through her long eyelashes and waiting for him to talk. The boy slumps in a chair and mumbles while his foster mom pushes him to continue. He begins to explain: He didn't want to look like a sucker that day, or for the rest of the school year. So he spat on the victim. The woman he spat on says everyone has struggles in life — but he has time and support to change."
Stunning, isn't it, coming from the victim?
"I'm always going to have to deal with getting beat up because this is how people feel all the time," she says. "How many more times am I going to go through this?" But, she also says, she agreed to come to this session because she saw something more in this teenager during that bad day on the subway: fear or regret, unlike the other young people involved with the assault. The woman has one request: She wants this boy to promise to stand up for other LGBTQ people getting harassed like she did. "This was a hate crime," she says."
Indeed.
"The boy asks everyone else to leave the room. Later, they say, he apologized — and she accepted. A clean sheet. A second chance. Back in the conference room, Haferd, the facilitator, asks how everyone is feeling. It has been an exhausting day. One hour in a restorative justice circle, he says, feels like five hours anyplace else. The woman who was hurt says she's happy with the process — she feels like it was "completely successful."
Time will tell.
"They agree that the teenager will go to school more often and that she'll even recommend possible clients for haircuts, because he wants to start a barbering business. "When you make good on these agreements, we're going to make sure your case gets dismissed," Haferd says. A few months later, authorities told NPR, the teenager is sticking to the agreement. He has found some barbershops willing to take him, he's going to a better school in the fall and he has reunited with his biological mother. She reports they're now on "good terms" — one more relationship in the early stages of restoration."
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6-28-19
As product of a Jesuit education, the following comes as no surprise. The Jesuits (Soldiers of Christ) are indeed the intellectuals of the Catholic Church. Figuratively speaking, certainly take no prisoners. ... Much to the chagrin of the Church hierarchy. CNN reports:
"A Jesuit high school in Indiana can no longer call itself "Catholic" because it employs a teacher engaged in a same-sex marriage, the Archbishop of Indianapolis says. Archbishop Charles Thompson's decree, dated June 21, means that Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis will no longer be recognized or identified as a Catholic institution within the archdiocese."
Hard to believe St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the the order, isn't spinning in his grave.
"Thompson said the church considers Catholic school teachers to be "ministers" of the faith. "To effectively bear witness to Christ, whether they teach religion or not, all ministers in their professional and private lives must convey and be supportive of Catholic Church teaching," the Archdiocese of Indiana said in a statement on Thursday."
Jesuits don't goose step along with anyone, -- other than the Head Honcho of their religion, Christ himself.
"The Archdiocese said they tried but failed to reach an agreement with the Jesuit school. The conflict pits the Jesuits, an order of priests known for educating generations of Catholics, against the church's powerful hierarchy. It's also the latest battle between Catholic schools who want to employ gay and lesbian teachers against bishops who insist that all employees toe the line on Catholic doctrine. What makes this conflict unusual is that Jesuits and their schools enjoy a degree of independence from the church hierarchy. In contrast to other Catholic schools forced to fire gay teachers, the Jesuits rejected Thompson's request to remove the teacher."
Stood tall.
"It is rare for a Catholic institution not only to side with its LGBT faculty members, but also do so in the face of such fierce opposition from a bishop," said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author of "Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity." "In this case, it is also rare that a bishop would go so far as to publicly remove the designation 'Catholic' from the school," continued Martin, who is based in New York and not affiliated with the school."
Jesuits are educators. Takes 15 years to become a Jesuit priest. Vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Don't goose step along, however, with the Church hierarchy.
"The Catholic catechism teaches that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered" but also that LGBT people "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided." In a statement, leaders from Brebeuf Jesuit Prep School said it has "respectfully declined the Archdiocese's insistence and directive that we dismiss a highly capable and qualified teacher due to the teacher being a spouse within a civilly recognized same-sex marriage."
Can still remember a lay faculty member being fired approximately a half century ago for not teaching a senior English Shakespearean drama class to strict school standards. Creatively, brought in some far more relevant, far more interesting, contrasting contemporary issues to class before promptly getting fired after word got out. LOL. Pissed the living shit out of quite a few of us when he got the boot. A most creative, truly gifted teacher. Apparently, things changed since then. -- His brother, a Jesuit Scholastic at the time studying for the priesthood and a fellow faculty member, remained on faculty. -- Never got to hear what he thought of the firing. LOL.
"The Rev. Brian Paulson, who heads the Midwest Province of Jesuits, said that the teacher does not teach religion and "is a longtime valued employee of the school." The teacher is not named in any of the statements. "To our knowledge, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis' direct insertion into an employment matter of a school governed by a religious order is unprecedented," said the letter from the school's president, the Rev. William Verbryke, and two members of the board of trustees. "This is a unique action among the more than 80 Jesuit secondary/pre-secondary schools which operate in dioceses throughout North America." In 2014 the Archdiocese of Cincinnati ordered teachers at the city's Catholic schools to sign detailed morality clauses if they wanted to stay on the job. The revised contracts forbid teachers from -- among other things -- exhibiting a gay "lifestyle." Paulson said the Jesuits will appeal this new decision, first through Archbishop Thompson, and then, if necessary, at the Vatican."
Good luck.
"Leaders of Brebeuf, founded in 1962 as an independent Catholic school, said they have always had control over their personnel decisions. "Whereas the Archdiocese of Indianapolis may choose to no longer attend or participate in the school's Masses and formal functions, Brebeuf Jesuit is, and will always be, a Catholic Jesuit school," the school's leaders said. In a tweet on Thursday, the school used the hashtag #BeBrave to announce its decision.
An
important message for the Brebeuf Jesuit community. #BeBrave https://t.co/5sCCr1ZST3
—
Brebeuf Jesuit (@BrebeufJesuit) June 20, 2019
"Please be assured, the Archdiocese's decision will not change the mission or operations of Brebeuf Jesuit."
Stand tall. The Church is out of line. Way out of line. Egregiously out of touch vis a vis pedophile priests it won't hold accountable. Would come as no surprise, at some point, should the Jesuits choose to leave the Church.
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6-21-19
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
Nothing quite like the 'best' in law enforcement, is there? CNN reports:
"Authorities in Tennessee are reviewing all pending cases involving a Knox County Sheriff's Office detective after he gave a sermon at his church that called for the government to execute members of the LGBTQ community. "They are worthy of death," Grayson Fritts said in a June 2 sermon at All Scripture Baptist Church, a small church in Knoxville that he leads. The church posted the sermon online and then removed it, according to The Washington Post. The video was picked up by the Tennessee Holler, an independent liberal news outlet, and edited into a six-minute clip. "God has instilled the power of civil government to send the police in 2019 out to the LGBT freaks and arrest them and have a trial for them, and if they are convicted, then they are to be put to death," he said in the clip. Fritts said it would be easy to find people to arrest at events such as gay pride parades. "We have a bunch of them we're going to get convicted because they have all their pride junk on, and they're professing what they are, that they're a filthy animal," he said.
"Charme Allen, the Knox County district attorney general, issued a statement calling Fritts' comments "personally offensive and reprehensible. Allen said she would review all of Fritts' pending cases and an assistant district attorney will review any complaints about closed cases involving Fritts. "When any potential witness in a criminal proceeding expresses an opinion of hatred and/or bias towards a class of citizens, I am ethically bound to explore that witness' credibility," Allen said. "Accordingly, I am reviewing all pending cases involving Mr. Fritts to scrutinize them for any potential bias. Although my office has never received a complaint regarding Mr. Fritts prior to this incident, I have assigned an assistant district attorney to receive complaints regarding closed cases, and I will act on those complaints as justice dictates."
Sick religion. Nazi America. This shit doesn't go on in a vacuum. Someone had to have known.
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6-14-19
Bigotry against the LGBTQ community remains alive and well in Washington state. NBC News reports:
"Washington state’s top court ruled for a second time on Thursday that a Christian florist discriminated against a same-sex couple by refusing to sell them flowers for their wedding, setting up a potential clash over gay and religious rights at the U.S. Supreme Court. In a unanimous decision, the Washington Supreme Court’s nine justices said that Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, Washington, violated a state anti-discrimination law by refusing service to Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed, for their marriage in 2013. Stutzman, a member of the Southern Baptist denomination, believes that marriage should be exclusively between a man and a woman. Her lawyers vowed an immediate appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The state court previously ruled against Stutzman in 2017, but was ordered to reconsider the case after the nation’s highest court last year sided with a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for two men, citing religious beliefs. That ruling was narrow and did not resolve the constitutional issues raised, instead finding that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission did not handle the case appropriately. On Thursday, Washington high court said it reviewed Stutzman’s case and found it was handled neutrally and “avoided animus toward religion.” It again rejected Stutzman’s argument that arranging flowers for a same-sex wedding would violate her free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and would be tantamount to endorsing same-sex marriage. John Bursch, an attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group that represented Stutzman, said the state has been hostile toward her religious beliefs. “We look forward to taking Barronelle’s case back to the U.S. Supreme Court,” he said. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said he will continue to uphold the state’s anti-discrimination laws."
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6-7-19
Think exceptions for rape or incest vis a vis access to abortion are the answer? Wake up. The following quotes are from an editorial written by Cazembe Murphy Jackson. CBS News reports:
"Louisiana on Thursday became the most recent addition to a dishonorable list of states imposing abortion restrictions so draconian that they don’t include an exemption in cases of rape or incest. The laws trample on the beliefs of most Americans, who overwhelmingly support exceptions in abortion restrictions, including a sizable 45 percent of Republicans who think abortion should be legal in cases of medical necessity, rape and incest. These extreme abortion bans have caused outrage among even some anti-abortion leaders and politicians. But if Americans really want to ensure that those who have suffered rape or incest, as I did, are able to terminate the pregnancies that result from these crimes, they need to realize that adding a few words for exceptions to laws otherwise prohibiting abortions doesn’t actually protect these victims. If the state has dramatically limited access to other abortions, they will face dramatically limited access as well."
The above is beside the point. Who the hell are Republican nazis to dictate to a woman what she can and cannot do with HER uterus? Direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion. Why does the GOP nazi element in our formerly great country insist on forcing its national socialist, fascist ideology and religious views on the rest of us by statute? It's un-American. Traitorous. Treasonous. Outrageously unconstitutional.
"The process to get an exemption is completely unrealistic for most individuals who have been raped and found out they’re pregnant; it can be confusing, bureaucratic, onerous and challenging to find information, and policies vary in each state. Perhaps worst of all, rape exceptions do additional harm to survivors like me by placing the burden of proof on us and implicitly questioning whether our version of events can be believed. It imposes a time-consuming, emotional ordeal at a juncture when we just need to get to the nearest clinic."
The above is true, currently, for ANY woman pregnant and desperately seeking an abortion. Why should ANY woman seeking an abortion have to put up with this shit? Why? Republican fascists and anyone else who support a ban on the right to an abortion present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Our formerly great country is a democratic republic in name only.
... No more than a de facto fascist police-state since at least 9/11, dating back in reality to January 20, 1969 when Richard Nixon took office. When the fascist son of a bitch began dismantling all gains made during the Sixties vis a vis civil and constitutional rights and liberties. With rare exception, was all downhill from that point. Greed trumped principle. Precisely, why we've fought undeclared war after undeclared war to line the pockets of the unbridled corporate management suite.
We see the fruits of this now, as our formerly great country remains frighteningly divided. As unbridled, ineffectively regulated, essentially laissez-faire capitalism has turned into a zero-sum, winner-take-all achingly cruel, increasingly vicious game. Where the top of the food chain owns its bought and paid for shills in government, all branches, all levels. As the middle class becomes an endangered species. As both major political parties place partisanship ahead of principle. As an unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms on an increasing number of issues.
The following is some pretty rough stuff. Seatbelts on.
"I say this as someone who did everything society instructed me to do after my rape nearly two decades ago, when I was a 20-year-old college junior in small-town Texas. I was on financial aid, going to class diligently and working hard so I could graduate. One evening during finals, while walking home from the library, I was raped by four men. At the time, I identified as a lesbian (now, I identify as a transgender man). I was wearing masculine clothes, and the men decided to violate me because of my gender expression and sexual orientation. “Corrective rape,” as it’s sometimes called, is sexual violence perpetrated against queer-identifying people as punishment for living as our most authentic selves. More than 60 percent of transgender people are estimated to have experienced sexual assault, while another one in eight lesbians have. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics, sexual assault among queer people is as high or higher than the rate among heterosexual people. This is one of the many reasons why abortion is a queer-health issue. Following the rape, I told my mom and I reported it to the police. I thought the police would support me, but instead I felt dismissed. It comes as no surprise to me that, given the degree of skepticism rape claims receive from the police, it’s estimated only four in 10 rapes are reported and, of those, two-thirds go unsolved."
Equally to the point, why is there no follow-up vis a vis unprocessed rape kits all across our formerly great country? Why has law enforcement dropped the ball on this problem?
"About six weeks after the rape, I found out I was pregnant. I immediately knew I should get an abortion; all I wanted was to finish school, and the thought of continuing the pregnancy instead made me want to die. Thankfully, it was legal for me to get the procedure done in Texas at that time. I was forced to take out a payday loan with a high interest rate to cover the $300 cost, but that made my abortion possible. A few days later, I underwent the procedure. I was “lucky” in that I was able to legally get an abortion, scrape together the funds to do so and — had I needed to prove that I was a victim of rape to receive the procedure — was able to go to the police. But rape exemptions don’t take into account those of us who don’t want to call the police because the police are often not helpful, particularly to survivors from communities of color. And what happens when the police are the rapists?"
The above is a problem all across our formerly great country. Not only to the LGBTQ community and people of color, however. Across the board.
"Exemption laws that make it the survivors’ responsibility to prove that a rape has occurred by filing a police report, among other reporting requirements that vary by state, place tremendous added pressure on someone already dealing with the emotions from the rape and the subsequent pregnancy. And to have to handle all of this within days of a missed period, often at a very young age? It’s a violation all over again to have to prove what happened and why we need an abortion. No one should be violated while exercising their rights."
Again, this is true across the board. All women. The nazi element in our formerly great country delusionally believes it owns your uterus, ladies. Does it? Don't want an abortion? Don't have one. Don't force your views on others by statute.
"As Michelle Alexander asked in her moving New York Times column, how would a survivor who doesn’t have evidence or didn’t want to report it access an abortion if they were required to prove they’d been raped to get one? And what about others who want to end the cycle of violence created by the prison industrial complex by not engaging with the police? I have come to embrace this approach, since as a Black trans man, going to the police is rarely an option — I simply don’t feel safe. I expect to be treated as a perpetrator rather than a survivor. How does everyone like this get an abortion after a rape?"
This remains an exigent issue for all in this country, not just people of color. Not just the LGBTQ community. Law enforcement cannot be trusted to do the right thing. Not only vis a vis sexual assault, but across the board.
"Exemptions also create a hierarchy of reasons for an abortion, making rape-qualifying abortions the “good abortions” and relegating those who don’t meet that standard to pursuing less safe or even criminalized methods while the stigma on them increases."
That's right. If the nazi element in our formerly great country has its way, there'll be a return to back alley abortions, coat hangers, unsafe, botched abortions, -- and dead women. Wake up.
"The truth is, abortion bans harm all those who need to end pregnancies, even those who theoretically are protected by exemptions. Exceptions are nothing but an empty idea; they’re not a practical way to ensure survivors receive health care. If Americans want survivors like me to be able to terminate their pregnancies — and the vast majority of the population does — abortion needs to be available to everyone."
... Hear the rumble? An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming on this, and many, many other issues. Wake up.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
5-31-19
Once again, the Trump nazi and his henchmen are determinedly sticking it to the LGBTQ community. Surprised? Why? The Washington Post reports:
"The Department of Health and Human Services on Friday proposed a new rule that civil rights groups worry may be used to deny care to transgender patients."
The American Way, isn't it?
"HHS director of the Office for Civil Rights Roger Severino said the change will bring the regulations in line with what lawmakers originally intended, before the definition of gender was broadened under the Obama administration. “When Congress prohibited sex discrimination, it did so according to the plain meaning of the term, and we are making our regulations conform,” Severino said."
Convenient, isn't it? Enables you to impose your achingly perverse religious views on all in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
"The National Center for Transgender Equality vowed to fight the proposed regulation. “It’s about the right of every American to be treated with dignity when they walk into an emergency room, meet a new doctor, or find the right insurance plan. If permitted, this rule will promote ignorance and hate that no American should have to face while seeking care,” said Mara Keisling, NCTE executive director."
Precisely, why our fuhrer, the Trump nazi, and his henchmen are proposing it.
"Diana Flynn, the litigation director for Lambda Legal, a group supporting LGBTQ rights, said “HHS should be in the business of ensuring that people get the health care they need, not providing excuses for providers and insurers to turn people away.” The proposal is part of a broader effort by religious conservatives in the Trump administration to define gender restrictively. The result has been a weakening of protections for transgender people."
Precisely, the intention of the nazi element in the Republican Party.
"The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday proposed a new rule that would allow federally funded shelters to turn away transgender people for religious reasons or force them to use bathrooms and sleeping areas that do not conform to their gender identity. A March 12 memo from the Defense Department outlined a new policy that bans individuals with a gender dysphoria diagnosis who are taking hormones or who have transitioned to another gender to enlist. In addition, troops already in the military would have to serve according to their sex assigned at birth."
Blatant discrimination. Who's next?
"Laura Durso, vice president of the LGBT Research and Communications Project at the Center for American Progress, called the new rule “dangerous” and said it would threaten people’s health and well-being, citing surveys and other data suggesting that some transgender patients are denied treatment on the basis of their gender identity. “Make no mistake about it: this policy would provide hospitals and insurers with a sweeping license to discriminate and then allow the federal government to turn a blind eye to that discrimination,” Durso said."
Certainly the intention of the nazi element in our formerly great country. Here's how these fascist bastards 'justify' the unjustifiable:
"The Heritage Foundation’s Emilie Kao, director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society, however, said the rule change undoes federal “overreach.” Kao said that without the update physicians could be forced to provide sex reassignment procedures and abortions."
A license to practice medicine or other healthcare services is not a right, only a privilege. No one is forced to do anything against their will. If a given procedure is against your principles, do the right thing. Walk away from the profession. Do something else that more closely aligns with your religious and/or ideological views.
“No American should be forced to violate deeply held beliefs, especially in hotly debated issues in health care. All Americans should be able to choose health care and health insurance that best fits their needs and beliefs,” she said in a statement."
Her last two statements above are grossly incompatible with one another. Can't have it both ways. The only way the public is well-served is if those practicing professionals that oppose such procedures simply do the right thing. That is, leave the profession. Make way for other professionals who will provide such desperately needed services.
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5-17-19
The following is a glaring example of sick religion. Raw nazism. Deliberate encouragement of the violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion by the Vice President of the United States. The Washington Times reports:
"Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday elevated President Trump as a defender of religious freedom and told Liberty University graduates to muscle through criticism from the “secular left” as they live out their Christian faith, saying they’ll “be blessed” for it."
What he is apparently encouraging them to do is force their perverse religious views on others through evisceration of abortion rights, bigotry against the LGBTQ community, etc..
"Speaking to a friendly commencement crowd in Lynchburg, Virginia, Mr. Pence criticized the Obama administration for forcing nuns who care for the elderly to fight birth-control rules in court. And he slammed the “bevy of Hollywood liberals” who’ve promised to boycott Georgia as the state passes strict pro-life legislation."
Tough shit. A healthcare license is clearly, without question, not a right. Remains a privilege. Can't do your job due to religious objections? Do what's honorable and leave the profession. Who the hell are you, Mr. Vice President, to force your perverse religious views on the rest of us? Think you, and others who think like you, own a woman's uterus? You don't. Don't want to abort? Don't. Don't force your perverse views on those who don't agree. Any state who denies a woman the right to do as she pleases with HER uterus, needs to be boycotted. Deserves it.
"He got personal, too, pointing to those who criticized his wife, Karen, for returning to teach at a Christian elementary school that’s been criticized for its stance on homosexuality."
It's homophobic bigotry, Mr. Pence. Ignorantly, Aryan arrogantly, egregiously, hypocritically most un-Christlike. Then again, what does a nazi truly know about Christianity, Mr. Pence?
“Some of the loudest voices for tolerance today have little tolerance for traditional Christian beliefs. So as you go about your daily life, just be ready,” he said."
Jesus Christ. What a crock of shit. Has nothing to do with traditional Christian beliefs. Nothing at all. Where in the Four Gospels did the Head Honcho of your bastardized religion instruct His followers to shit on the LGBTQ community? On women? Where?
"The Trump White House has a close connection to Liberty University. The school’s president, Jerry Falwell Jr., is an evangelical leader who strongly supported Mr. Trump on the campaign trail."
Supported the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler. That Christlike? Christian? Think so? Delusionally believe so?
"Mr. Trump gave his first commencement speech as president to Liberty students in 2017."
Glaring hypocrisy. Especially, in light of the following and much, much more:
"Critics say it’s rich for Mr. Trump, who’s been married three times and accused of paying hush money to a porn star and a Playboy model to cover up affairs — allegations the president denies —to cast himself as a defender of Christian values. Yet his administration has thrilled conservative evangelicals with his policies."
Called sick religion.
"He’s rolled back Obama-era rules that compelled faith-based nonprofits to insure birth control, drafted policies that support pro-life initiatives — including conscience protections for health workers — and appointed conservative judges."
All in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion. Did so to advance his national socialist, fascist, nazi political agenda. Yet, his sick sycophants bought his bullshit hook, line, and sinker. What does that make them?
"Mr. Pence touted those judges at Liberty, and reminded the crowd that “America stands with Israel.”
Those 'judges' are not 'conservative.' They're fascists. A conservative wants as little government as possible. Conversely, a fascist thrives on it. Not all of us stand with the Israeli aggressor, Mr. Pence. The aggressor continues to murder innocent Palestinians protesting its Nazi tactics, continues to steal Palestinian land the Israelites rightfully lost generations ago. This matter has been extensively covered in this publication. Click on the Israeli Aggressor 1 icon for more.
"He also said students are graduating at a great time, citing the robust jobs market under Mr. Trump’s tenure. “The American economy is soaring,” he said."
For the top of the food chain. Not the long-sufferiing middle class, -- and certainly not the bottom of the food chain.
"Most of his remarks focused on shifting attitudes in the U.S. “Throughout most of American history, it’s been pretty easy to call yourself a Christian. It didn’t even occur to people that you might be shunned or ridiculed for defending the teachings of the Bible,” he said."
You're not following the teachings of the Bible, Mr. Pence. You and others who think like you bastardize the Bible to advance your political agenda. That's precisely why the Nazi Right is increasingly, ferociously opposed.
"He said it’s far harder now, and that students will [be] asked to “bow down to the idols of the popular culture.”
You mean to figures like you and your fuhrer, the Trump nazi?
"Mr. Pence told students to fight, because the administration has their back."
That's frightening, Mr. Pence. Your fuhrer is a congenital liar, engages in highly questionable business practices to be exceptionally kind, is doing all he can to eviscerate all civil and constitutional rights and liberties in direct violation of his oath of office. To impose his national socialist, fascist, achingly nazi agenda. List can go on and on.
“As President Trump said at this very podium two years ago, on our watch, 'No one is ever going to stop you from practicing your faith or from preaching what is in your heart.’ That’s a promise,” he said. “And we will always stand up for the right of Americans to live, to work, and to worship God according to the dictates of their conscience.”
That's not, and never has been an issue, -- or in contention. It's your Aryan arrogant practice of forcing your perverse religious views on the rest of us by statute, in the courts, etc., that is, and will continue to be, ferociously resisted.
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5-17-19
Like Vice President Pence, think our fuhrer, the Trump nazi, isn't a homophobic bigot? NBC News reports:
"President Donald Trump opposes the passage of the Equality Act, a proposed bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal civil rights law to prevent discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. In a statement shared with NBC News, a senior administration official confirmed the president's opposition, which was first reported by the Washington Blade. “The Trump administration absolutely opposes discrimination of any kind and supports the equal treatment of all," the official stated."
Another boldfaced lie. Simply untrue. The opposite is the case. The following double talk confirms it:
"However, this bill in its current form is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights.”
Translation? The 'right' to discriminate with impunity as long as it is in 'good conscience.' Double talk. Abject bullshit. Disingenuously promulgated by our fuhrer, the Trump nazi and his henchmen.
"Democrats reintroduced the Equality Act in March, championing the bill as a necessary step to creating a national standard for LGBTQ nondiscrimination. Currently, the legal situation for the LGBTQ community changes dramatically at state borders. In the absence of a national law, at least 20 states have enacted LGBTQ discrimination protections. Residents of those states enjoy many of the Equality Act's protections, but those stop at state borders. An openly LGBTQ person driving from Colorado into Nebraska would find that their right to keep their job, to keep their home and to freely engage in commerce evaporates as soon as they cross the state line. The Equality Act would nationalize the protections enjoyed by LGBTQ people in states such as California and Massachusetts and extend them across the country."
The Republican nazi element in our formerly great country is opposed. Wants carte blanche to discriminate with impunity. Diabolically bastardizes religion to 'justify' the unjustifiable.
"Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., a co-sponsor of the legislation and one of only two openly LGBTQ members of the U.S. Senate, expressed disappointment in the president's opposition to the bill."
Would you expect anything less of our nazi fuhrer, Senator?
“No American should be at risk of being fired, evicted from their home or denied services because of who they are or whom they love," Baldwin told NBC News. 'The bipartisan Equality Act will move our country forward and the Trump administration’s opposition to it highlights how important it is to take back the White House in 2020.”
The problem, Senator, is Democrats are all talk, no action. Lost themselves somewhere along the way.
"Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and CEO of the national LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD, said Trump's opposition to the Equality Act "further cements his administration’s legacy of being the most anti-LGBTQ government in recent memory."
Expect anything less of an up and coming nazi fuhrer highly reminiscent of Adolf Hitler?
“LGBTQ Americans will not forget the President’s politically craven flip-flop on this fair and just legislation," Ellis said in a statement shared with NBC News. In addition to Trump’s campaign promise to support the LGBTQ community, the "flip-flop" Ellis refers to is Trump’s on-record support for a very similar measure in 2000. That year, in an interview with LGBTQ magazine The Advocate, Trump said he liked "the idea of amending the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include a ban of discrimination based on sexual orientation." "It would be simple. It would be straightforward," he said at the time. "Amending the Civil Rights Act would grant the same protection to gay people that we give to other Americans — it’s only fair."
Again, expect anything less of a disingenuous congenital liar?
"However, since the legalization of same-sex marriage and the end of "don’t ask, don’t tell," many Republicans now publicly oppose the Equality Act not because it bans discrimination based on sexual orientation, but because of its provisions banning discrimination based on gender identity."
Raw nazism. Republican hypocrisy. Today? The LGBTQ community, non-whites, liberals, etc.. Tomorrow? Who's next?
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5-10-19
Egregious violation of The First Amendment Establishment Clause. NPR reports:
"Health care workers may now refuse to be involved with providing services that offend their religious beliefs. The new rule, issued by the HHS Office for Civil Rights, affirms existing conscience protections established by Congress, director Roger Severino says. The Trump administration issued a new rule Thursday that gives health care workers leeway to refuse to provide services like abortion, sterilization or assisted suicide, if they cite a religious or conscientious objection.
"This rule allows anyone from a doctor to a receptionist to entities like hospitals and pharmacies to deny a patient critical — and sometimes lifesaving — care," said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women's Law Center, in a statement. Louise Melling, deputy legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union, says the rule offers health care providers broad leeway to refuse women reproductive care, such as an emergency abortion to protect the life or health of the mother, if they claim the procedure offends their conscience. The rule protects health care workers who have indirect involvement in such procedures, as long as their roles have an "articulable connection" to a procedure such as abortion, sterilization or even administration of birth control. "If I am the person who checks you into the hospital, that's an articulable connection. If I'm the person who would take your blood pressure, that would be an articulable connection," she says."
Raw Republican nazism. Forcing their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on all. The nazi element clearly believes being a healthcare provider is a right, not a privilege.
The business community is indeed beginning to fully understand these laws will not be good for business. NPR reports:
"Mike Hollinger of IBM joined a group of business leaders at a news conference on the steps of the capitol in Austin, Texas. The business leaders oppose the so-called religious refusal laws currently under consideration in the Texas legislature."
For damned good reason.
"In Austin, Texas, a new raft of anti-LGBT legislation is working its way through the state legislature. One of the bills would allow state licensed professionals of all stripes — from doctors and pharmacists to plumbers and electricians — to deny services on religious grounds. Supporters say the legislation is needed to protect religious freedoms. But opponents call them "religious refusal bills" or "bigot bills."
Exactly, what they are. Desperate attempt by Republican national socialists, fascists, nazis to impose their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on the rest of the community.
"Last week, on the steps of the capital in Austin, business leaders gathered to announce their opposition to the series of bills which they say would sanction discrimination against their LGBT employees. This license to discriminate will damage the state's reputation and prevent people ... from wanting to live and work here."
That's right. Raw nazism.
"Mike Hollinger, an executive at IBM, tried to warn the legislature against the legislative efforts. "I'm proud to speak on behalf of IBM, a company with an 80-plus year legacy in Texas and a workforce of around 10,000 here in the Lone Star State. This license to discriminate will damage the state's reputation and prevent people, including IBMers from wanting to live and work here."
No question. Will certainly happen. Shortsighted of the Nazi Right in our formerly great country.
"A coalition of more than 1,000 Texas and national businesses called Texas Competes are also lobbying against the bills. It includes many of the nation's biggest tech companies including Facebook, Google and Amazon."
These businesses know this outrageous bigotry will hurt business. Do great damage.
"One of the bills, Senate Bill 17, specifically allows licensed professionals to discriminate based on sincerely held religious beliefs. Dale Carpenter, a constitutional law professor at the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University, says the bill would allow licensed service providers to discriminate without worrying that their state occupational license might be threatened by their actions."
The nazi element in our formerly great country does not understand a professional license is indeed a privilege, not a right. These goddamned bigoted fascists are determined to reverse this. No more than legalization of bigotry.
"Carpenter says the list of professionals included is prodigious: "There are literally hundreds of them in Texas ... They include athletic trainers, doctors, nurses, surgeons, dentists, orthodontists, physical therapists, counselors of all kinds, accountants, engineers, landscape architects, real estate agents, tax consultants, air conditioning repair personnel, electricians, on and on and on it goes." While the legislation might be designed mainly for Texas Christians to withhold their services from LGBT people, Carpenter says it would allow discrimination against anyone as long as the motive is a sincerely held religious belief. Supporters of the legislation say this is about safeguarding religious freedoms and ensuring that those who wish to exercise these freedoms aren't discriminated against as a consequence. Jonathan Saenz is the president of Texas Values, a religious liberty organization which is lobbying in favor of passage. He says the legislation has broad support."
... Only from the nazi element.
"Texans are very concerned about the attacks on religious freedom and people of faith, particularly people that believe in marriage and sexuality as it's defined in the bible," Saenz says."
Direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
"Senate Bill 17 just makes it clear that you can't force someone to choose between their work and their faith. You can't use the government to punish people that have to get a certain license or authorization just because of some of the personal religious beliefs that they have."
You nazis delusionally seem to think a professional license is a right, not a privilege. Worse? Insist that license entitles you fascist bastards to discriminate against those who don't share your perverse religious beliefs. If the requirements of your profession contradict your religious and/or ideological views, it's time to do the honorable thing. Leave the profession. Walk away. What you propose is in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
"For Republican legislators, this type of legislation puts them in a tough spot. Two years ago a bathroom bill, which singled out transgender public school students and other transgender Texans, tore the Texas GOP in two. The business community and chambers of commerce hated it. San Antonio was about to host the NCAA Men's Final Four Basketball Tournament and the city was terrified the NCAA would pull out if the bathroom bill became law. It passed the Senate but then Speaker of the House, San Antonio Republican Joe Straus, killed it. A hero to business but loathed by his party's powerful evangelical wing, Straus retired from politics not long after."
Did the right thing killing the bill. Should have remained in office.
"The convention and travel industries in particular tend to be the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to these types of bills. Phillip Jones, president and CEO of VisitDallas, says they'd be the first to keel over if the controversial 'religious refusal' legislation passes. "One in ten trade shows held in America are held in Texas. I've got a hundred million dollar's worth of business that's currently at risk, if this legislation were to pass," says Jones. "Based on our experience with the bathroom bill they have a provision in their contracts that spells out that, should Texas pass any form of discriminatory legislation, then they can cancel their meeting in Texas or in Dallas without any penalties."
The price of Republican nazism. Wake up.
"Rural communities are most vulnerable if doctors or pharmacists refuse service because alternatives are usually scarce or non-existent. Moreover, opponents of the legislation worry that municipal non-discrimination ordinances in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, El Paso and San Antonio could be rendered unenforceable if the bill were to pass. SMU's Carpenter says that other than the city ordinances, state law provides no safeguards. "It is already perfectly legal to decline service and to do so on a discriminatory basis in the state of Texas," he says. "In fact the law in the state of Texas is that rights of conscience are already protected against state regulation for private citizens and professionals and businesses."
Amazing how on some issues Texas is indeed ahead of the rest of the nation. On others, back in the cave.
"Carpenter says that federal civil rights laws passed in the 1960s provide less protection from discrimination than many might imagine. Race, religion and national origin are protected from discrimination in public accommodations only, such as restaurants, hotels and theaters."
In many, many ways, our formerly great country is well behind the rest of the world. Worse? Moving backwards.
"Carpenter believes that, given the already generous legal right to discriminate in Texas, the latest round of bills are merely a way for the Republican-dominated legislature to demonstrate to its evangelical base that they're on the ball."
... Hear the rumble? An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming.
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5-10-19
Madonna has stood tall for decades. NBC News reports:
"While she’s best known for her legendary entertainment career, Madonna was celebrated on Saturday not for her musical accomplishments, but for her decades of activism on behalf of the LGBTQ community — from the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis to present-day anti-gay political policies. “No single ally has been a better friend or had a bigger impact on acceptance for the LGBTQ community than Madonna,” CNN anchor Anderson Cooper said in his introductory remarks at the 30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, where the pop icon was honored with the Advocate for Change Award."
Stood tall. Fought for the defenseless.
"At the height of the evening, amid a packed, cheering midtown Manhattan ballroom, Madonna took the stage to and delivered an emotional acceptance speech. "Fighting for all marginalized people is a duty and an honor I could not turn my back on nor will I ever,” she told the primarily LGBTQ audience. She dedicated a significant portion of her heartfelt speech to the early days of HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s, which marked a time of painful loss for her personally and the beginning of her LGBTQ advocacy. “The AIDS epidemic, the plague that moved in like a black cloud in New York City, and in the blink of an eye,” she snapped her fingers, “took out all of my friends.” “I remember the pandemonium and the fear, and people trying all kinds of drugs that didn’t work,” she continued. “And doing my own drug runs to Mexico for my friends to buy experimental medicines that were supposed [to] help cure, but ended up only killing them faster.” She recalled visits to sick friends in the ‘80s at St. Vincent’s Hospital, ground zero for New York City’s AIDs epidemic. “It felt like I had entered a concentration camp,” she said. “Emaciated bodies in every bed, and all these people who had been abandoned by their families and their friends and their loved ones. I decided to defy the universe and get into every bed and put my arms around as many humans as I could and make them feel loved — and human.”
Uncommon Valor.
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4-26-19
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
Think the following the 'best' in law enforcement? NBC News reports:
"Madison County Deputy Jeff Graves wrote that he is “seriously offended” by the LGBTQ movement in response to a WZDX-TV Facebook post about the death of 15-year-old Nigel Shelby, according to Al.com. The family of Shelby, who was a freshman at Huntsville High School in Alabama, reportedly said the teen had been bullied over his sexuality. Graves also mocked the LGBTQ community by redefining its commonly used acronym, stating, “Liberty Guns Bible Trump BBQ That’s my kind of LGBTQ movement,” according to local NBC affiliate WAFF."
Goddamned f--king homophobic bigot. What a piece of shit. This was a 15 year-old-kid. What planet does this 'officer' live on?
"The deputy’s comments echo those of Belle’s Smokin’ BBQ, a Kentucky restaurant that came under fire over the weekend for selling T-shirts with the same redefinition of “LGBTQ.”
Jesus Christ. We've lost our country.
"A Kentucky barbecue food truck is getting a lot of heat after advertising its T-shirts on social media. Belle's Smokin' BBQ took a play on the acronym LGBTQ and changed it to Liberty, Guns, Bible, Trump and BBQ.
"What do you think? https://t.co/pQ1YkaEO0z
— WNDU (@WNDU) April 19, 2019"
Think you're a homophobic clueless idiot. National socialism, fascism, nazism has nothing to do with liberty. Nothing at all. Quite the opposite. The Trump nazi is precisely where Nazi Germany was in 1933 when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor. The worst was yet to come. ... Too stupid, hopelessly ignorant to understand that?
"Sheriff Kevin Turner said an internal investigation will be conducted. Graves did not immediately respond to a request for comment."
What the f--k could the idiot say? This was a 15-year-old kid. This deputy is unfit to be in law enforcement.
"Young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer are five times as likely to have attempted suicide compared to their straight peers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
Wouldn't want to confuse these idiots with the truth, would we? Think these jackasses aren't aware of the following? Get this:
"Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among young people, research shows. Black youth, like Shelby, are especially vulnerable and take their lives at nearly twice the rate of their white counterparts, according to a 2018 CDC study."
Equally horrendous? Get this:
"Nearly 74 percent of LGBTQ youth nationwide report not feeling safe at school, according to the Center for Social Equity. And in Alabama, there are no nondiscrimination laws and policies covering LGBTQ students."
Wake up. These are kids.
"Nadia M. Richardson, a Huntsville High School alumna and the founder of the mental health advocacy organization No More Martyrs, said that Shelby’s death underscores that suicide among black youth is on the rise. “We have so much to understand and so much work to do,” Richardson said in a recent Facebook post. “Racism, sexism, homophobia, classism; all of that plays a part. Bullying is a byproduct of a world ill-equipped to include that which is deemed different.”
Equally to the point:
"Advocacy groups, including the Trevor Project, which provides crisis intervention services to LGBTQ youth, has said that just one supportive person can decrease an LGBTQ youth’s risk of suicide by 30 percent."
Think the deputy and those who think like him are supportive? Wake up. These are kids.
"Amit Paley, the executive director of the Trevor Project, noted that his organization often hears from “LGBTQ young people who have thoughts of suicide, or feel unsafe or unloved at school or home — just for being who they are.” “We know how challenging coming out can be at any age, especially in environments that may include risk factors for increased rates of discrimination, rejection and bullying,” Paley said in a statement shared with NBC News. “We encourage adults who interact with youth to learn more about LGBTQ competent suicide prevention and risk detection, and to remind LGBTQ youth that they are never alone, that their lives have value, and are loved,” Paley said."
The LGBTQ community has a right to live in peace. When will you idiots finally smarten up?
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The nazi element in our formerly great country continues to talk out both sides the ass. Think not? Wake up. To the point, bigotry against the LGBTQ community remains alive and well in the Trump regime. NBC News reports:
"Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and upstart presidential hopeful, had criticized his positions on gay marriage and LGBTQ equality to stand out among a crowded Democratic primary field. “Well, look, I worked very closely with Mayor Pete when I was governor of the state of Indiana," Pence said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” "We had a great working relationship, and he said some things that are critical of my Christian faith and about me personally, and he knows better, he knows me.” “I get it, you know, it's like, you have 19 people running for president on that side, and part of it is sliding off to the left,“ he added. “They're all competing with one another for how much more liberal they can be. I get that.”
The fact is you don't, Mr. Pence. Remain achingly out to lunch, incomprehensibly disingenuous.
"Pence was asked in the CNBC interview about the landmark Supreme Court decision in 2015 that legalized gay marriage nationwide and whether he had “accepted it’s law.” The vice president replied that he “fully implemented that decision in the law” as governor, “but … I have my Christian values.” “My family and I have a view of marriage that's informed by our faith, and we stand by that," he said. "But that doesn't mean that we're critical of anyone else who has a different point of view. One of the great things about this country is our freedom of religion and the freedom of conscience, and we'll continue to cherish our values, cherish our views.”
While concertedly forcing those views on others who don't share them. Doing so by law, and/or administrative fiat:
"Pence has opposed gay rights policies such as legalizing same-sex marriage, and in 2015, as Indiana governor, he signed the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which critics have said gives businesses the right to refuse service to gay people."
Blatant bigotry, Mr. Pence. Unbecoming any official who has sworn an oath to uphold the United States Constitution. Cluelessly, forget? You don't get to force your perverse ideological and religious views on others in what is supposed to be a democratic republic. Yet, you have and continue to do so. So does your fuhrer, the Trump nazi.
"As governor, Pence praised Buttigieg after he came out publicly in 2015."
Empty, hollow, meaningless, politically correct bullshit. 'Symbolism over substance,' to quote the Limbaugh nazi.
"But Buttigeig, who is in a same-sex marriage, has criticized the vice president in recent weeks as attention on his long-shot presidential bid has escalated. In a speech before an audience of LGBTQ rights supporters on Sunday, Buttigieg said, “If being gay was a choice, it was a choice that was made far, far above my pay grade.” “And that’s the thing I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand. That if you have a problem with who I am, your quarrel is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator,” Buttigieg said. He added that his marriage to his husband “has made me a better man, and yes, Mr. Vice President, it has moved me closer to God.”
Here's the bottom line no matter your spiritual or ideological view:
“Just because you are LGBTQ doesn't mean it's OK to discriminate against you,” he told reporters in Las Vegas. “I think most people get that, I think most Christians get that, and it's time for us to move on toward a more inclusive and more humane vision of faith than what this vice president represents."
The Nazi Right has no capability of understanding this. Zero. Will continue to force their bigoted views on others no matter what. By law. By administrative fiat. That's a problem. Called nazism. Fascism, nazism, national socialism defined as the pernicious blend of government, business, and religion. 'Justified' by perversion and bastardization of the latter.
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4-5-19
Certainly, a step backwards. CBS News reports:
"New Islamic criminal laws took effect in Brunei on Wednesday that make gay sex and adultery punishable by stoning offenders to death. The laws have triggered an outcry from countries, rights groups and celebrities far beyond the tiny Southeast Asian nation's shores. The penalties were provided for under new sections of Brunei's Shariah Penal Code. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah instituted the code in 2014 to bolster the influence of Islam in the oil-rich monarchy of around 430,000 people, two-thirds of whom are Muslim. Even before 2014, homosexuality was already punishable in Brunei by a jail term of up to 10 years. But under the new laws - which apply to children and foreigners, even if they are not Muslim - those found guilty of gay sex can be stoned to death or whipped. Adulterers risk death by stoning too, while thieves face amputation of a right hand on their first offense and a left foot on their second."
Barbarians.
"On Tuesday, the United States joined the United Kingdom, Germany and France in urging Brunei to halt its plans. "The United States strongly opposes violence, criminalization and discrimination targeting vulnerable groups, including women at risk of violence, religious and ethnic minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons," State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement. Celebrities including George Clooney, Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres have voiced opposition to the new laws, and have rallied a boycott of nine hotels in the U.S. and Europe with ties to Hassanal, who is still sultan. "Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens?" Clooney wrote Thursday on Deadline Hollywood. Clooney said that while you can't shame "murderous regimes," you can shame "the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them." Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged Brunei's government to "stop the entry into force of this Draconian new penal code." Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, called on the sultan to "immediately suspend amputations, stoning, and all other rights-abusing provisions and punishments." Brunei's Southeast Asian neighbors, some of whom also have laws banning sex between men, have remained silent, however."
Barbarians.
"According to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association's 2019 roundup, consensual same-sex sex acts are still officially or unofficially criminalized in 70 U.N. member nations. The same report said the death penalty could be implemented for consensual same-sex sexual acts in at least 10 nations. That did not include Brunei, as the law has not yet come into effect. In neighboring Indonesia, Shariah law is officially implemented in the predominantly Muslim Aceh province, but not nationally. People have been caned for homosexual acts, and even attempted acts, in Aceh. Under increasing pressure from Amnesty International and other rights groups, Aceh decided last year to move the canings out of the public eye and conduct them behind closed doors. For years large crowds had gathered in public to witness the spectacle."
Barbarians.
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3-29-19
LGBTQ community catches a break. NPR reports:
"Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, pictured earlier this month, has settled a lawsuit by same-sex couples who argued their rights were violated by faith-based adoption agencies that don't want to work with gays and lesbians. Faith-based adoption agencies in Michigan that benefit from taxpayer funding will no longer be allowed to legally turn away same-sex couples or LGBTQ individuals based on religious objection, under the terms of a settlement in a lawsuit alleging the practice constituted discrimination. Attorney General Dana Nessel reached the settlement with the ACLU on Friday, recognizing that a 2015 law that permitted state-contracted child welfare agencies to refuse to provide foster care or adoption services that conflicted with their religious beliefs violates federal anti-discrimination laws."
Not only that, it is clear violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
"Discrimination in the provision of foster care case management and adoption services is illegal, no matter the rationale," Nessel said in a statement. "Limiting the opportunity for a child to be adopted or fostered by a loving home not only goes against the state's goal of finding a home for every child, it is a direct violation of the contract every child placing agency enters into with the state."
"The state of Michigan
will require all state-contracted child welfare agencies to accept ALL
qualified families. This is a win for children in foster care and for all
families, including same-sex couples, who want to adopt.
https://t.co/p12VgF53qs
pic.twitter.com/hkg54Sdx54
— ACLU of Michigan (@ACLUofMichigan) March 22, 2019"
What took so long?
"Under the agreement, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is obligated to abide by federally mandated nondiscriminatory provisions in its foster care and adoption agency contracts. It is also required to terminate contracts with agencies that fail to comply. The ACLU sued the state in 2017 on behalf of two lesbian couples who claimed they had been rejected as adoptive parents by St. Vincent Catholic Charities and Bethany Christian Services because they are gay. "This is a victory for our clients, other same-sex couples in Michigan, and most importantly, the children in Michigan's child welfare system, who will now have access to more loving and qualified families," the ACLU said in a statement following the announcement. The organization estimates there are 13,000 children in the state welfare system. Since 2015 Catholic Charities and Bethany Christian Services have been responsible for about 12 percent of the state's foster care adoptions, the Associated Press reported."
Amazing how the Nazi Right can bastardize the truth, to say nothing of reality:
"Lori Windham, senior counsel at Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represented St.Vincent Catholic Charities, said the settlement violates the state law protecting religious adoption agencies."
That law is unconstitutional. Violates the First Amendment Establishment Clause.
"The Michigan Attorney General and the ACLU are trying to stop the state from working with faith-based adoption agencies," Windham said in a statement. "The result of that will be tragic. Thousands of children will be kept from finding the loving homes they deserve."
Your client is directly responsible for this by discriminating against the LGBTQ community. In an effort to impose its perverse ideological and religious views on the LGBTQ community and others.
"This harms children and families waiting for forever homes and limits access for couples who chose to partner with those agencies," she added."
Again, it's your client that is directly responsible for this by insisting on imposing its perverse ideological and religious views on the LGBTQ community and others.
"The state law says "to the fullest extent permitted by state and federal law," an agency should not be required to work with prospective parents if it violates the agency's religious beliefs."
Again, that law is egregiously unconstitutional. Violates the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion. Ferociously pointedly, providing adoption services is not a right, it's a privilege.
"The Michigan Catholic Conference, an advocacy group representing the Catholic Church in Michigan, reacted to the settlement in a tweet, saying, "It is highly unlikely this is the last chapter of the story."
How is it Christian to discriminate against the LGBTQ community? How? Who the hell is the Catholic community to discriminate against anyone?
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2-1-19
At least, New York is finally getting something right. LOL. NBC News reports:
"Islan Nettles never met James Dixon before the night he murdered her. It was a warm August evening in 2013 — she and some friends were walking in Harlem when Dixon approached and started flirting with Nettles. They continued to chat until one of Dixon’s buddies told him Nettles was transgender. That revelation, he later testified, sent Dixon into “a blind fury.” He threw Nettles to the ground and brutally beat her. She was rushed to Harlem Hospital with a fractured eye, nose, jaw and skull. By the time she arrived, Nettles, 21, was brain dead. Soon after, she was taken off life support."
Murder.
"At trial Dixon didn’t deny he murdered her, but insisted he was provoked: “I just don't wanna be fooled,” he said in a taped confession. “My pride is at stake.” An indictment didn’t come for more than a year. After initially pleading not guilty to first- and second-degree manslaughter and first-degree assault, Dixon eventually accepted a deal and was convicted of first-degree manslaughter. He could have faced a 25-year prison sentence. Instead, he was given just 12."
Nazi justice. Achingly, kangaroo.
"It's not enough. It's a slap in the face," Islan Nettles' mother, Delores Nettles, told DNA Info at the time. "He can go home after those 12 years and see his family… He'll still be a young man in his 30s when he gets out. Islan is gone forever." The case, and others like it, has prompted New York lawmakers to push for legislation banning the so-called gay and trans panic defenses. Using the strategy, a defense attorney will suggest her client wasn’t to blame for his actions — the victim is the real culprit, because of her actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. While the gay or trans panic isn’t really used on its own, it’s been employed in about half of all U.S. states as part of claims of self-defense, of insanity or that the defendant was “reasonably” provoked to violence — and it’s resulted in lesser charges and sentences for perpetrators of violent hate crimes. “The reality is LGBT people are in the fabric of our society, but we’re at risk of being demonized,” New York Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell, who authored the bill in the Assembly, told NBC News."
Allowing such defense is unconscionable. Encourages more such murders.
“Transgender and gender-nonconforming people already face astronomical rates of violence, [but] they are doubly victimized by courts that allow these unconscionable excuses for assault,” Andy Marra of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund explained. “It is time to ban these defenses in New York once and for all.” There are also efforts to get the panic defense prohibited in federal court: Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., sponsored the Gay and Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2018, claiming these strategies, “seek to partially or completely excuse crimes such as murder and assault.” “Murdering or assaulting anyone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity is not a defense — it is a hate crime,” said Rep. Joe Kennedy, D-Mass., a co-sponsor of the bill. “Legal loopholes written into our laws that seek to justify violent attacks against our gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender neighbors should never have existed in the first place.”
Ferociously pointedly, if truly comfortable in your sexuality, why would you care what someone else's happens to be?
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2-1-19
Religious Right receiving some opposition from fellow Christians. NPR reports:
"Dozens of clergy members, immigration activists and others participate in a protest against the imprisonment and potential deportation of an immigration activist. Religious liberals are becoming increasingly outspoken in their opposition to many Trump administration policies. Religious conservatives have rarely faced much competition in the political realm from faith-based groups on the left. The provocations of President Trump may finally be changing that. Nearly 40 years after some prominent evangelical Christians organized a Moral Majority movement to promote a conservative political agenda, a comparable effort by liberal religious leaders is coalescing in support of immigrant rights, universal health care, LGBTQ rights and racial justice. "We believe that faith has a critical role to play in shaping public policies and influencing decision-makers," says the Rev. Jennifer Butler, an ordained Presbyterian minister and founder of the group Faith in Public Life. "Our moral values speak to the kinds of just laws that we ought to have." Her group, part of what could be considered a religious left, says it has mobilized nearly 50,000 local clergy and faith leaders, with on-the-ground operations in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio. Butler founded the organization in 2005 with a precedent in mind: It was religious leaders who drove the abolitionist movement in the 19th century and the civil rights movement in the 20th century. "I think religion helps people understand who they should be," Butler says."
About time the Nazi Right got some resistance from the Center and Left. What took so long?
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1-25-19
More insanity from the Pence nazi. NBC News reports:
"Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday addressed news coverage and criticism regarding his wife’s decision to return to teaching at a Virginia elementary school that explicitly bars LGBTQ employees and students. “My wife and I have been in the public eye for quite a while, we're used to the criticism,” Pence said in an interview with EWTN, a cable network that offers “news from a Catholic perspective." But, he added, “to see major news organizations attacking Christian education is deeply offensive to us.” “We have a rich tradition in America of Christian education, and frankly religious education broadly defined,” he continued. “We'll let the other critics roll off our back, but this criticism of Christian education in America should stop.”
Who the hell are you religious nazis to force your perverse ideological and religious views on all through outrageously unconstitutional laws and determined, concerted, bastardization of the United States Constitution?
"The school’s employment application asks applicants to initial a passage stating that they will "live a personal life of moral purity.” The “moral misconduct” that disqualifies potential employees includes “heterosexual activity outside of marriage (e.g., premarital sex, cohabitation, extramarital sex), homosexual or lesbian sexual activity, polygamy, transgender identity, any other violation of the unique roles of male and female, sexual harassment, use or viewing of pornographic material or websites, and sexual abuse or improprieties toward minors as defined by Scripture and federal or state law.” Virginia, like most states, has no statewide legislation explicitly prohibiting private employers from discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity."
Legalized discrimination by the nazi element determined to force its perverse ideological and religious views on all. Raw nazism.
"A parent agreement posted on the school’s website states that Immanuel Christian School reserves the right to “refuse admission” or “discontinue enrollment” of a student if “the atmosphere or conduct within a particular home, the activities of a parent or guardian, or the activities of the student are counter to, or are in opposition to, the biblical lifestyle the school teaches.” The prohibited conduct and activities include “sexual immorality,” “homosexual activity or bi-sexual activity.”
Raw nazism. Unabashed.
"The parent agreement cites Leviticus 20:13, a Bible passage that states, "If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."
Justification of murder. Un-American. Right Wing Nazi.
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1-25-19
More homophobic bigotry rubber stamped by the courts. NBC News reports:
"A federal court on Wednesday ruled against a lesbian couple who brought a lawsuit against a Missouri retirement home that rejected the women's apartment application because their marriage is not "understood in the Bible.” Bev Nance, 68, and Mary Walsh, 72, married a decade ago in Massachusetts and have been in a committed relationship for roughly 40 years. When they applied to move into the Friendship Village senior living facility, they did so “because it is in their community, they have friends there, and it offers services that would allow them to stay together there for the rest of their lives,” said Julie Wilensky, an attorney representing the couple. But once Friendship Village staff found that Nance and Walsh are married, they told the couple that they were not allowed to move in, because the home did not condone homosexuality. The letter they received said that the only married couples they accepted were those in unions between "one man and one woman." The couple sued, alleging “discrimination on the basis of sex,” and their case was finally decided this week by a federal court in Missouri, which found “sexual orientation rather than sex lies at the heart of Plaintiffs’ claims.” LGBTQ groups decried the outcome, and the couple’s lawyers said “we disagree with the court’s decision, and our clients are considering next steps.”
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1-25-19
Trump's newly-seated Brett Kavanaugh Republican Nazi Supreme Court begins to determinedly rubber stamp it's nazi fuhrer. NBC News reports:
"The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to go ahead, for now, with its plan to ban transgender military service."
Clearly, the LGBTQ community, -- in the eyes of our national socialist, fascist, nazi Supreme Court, is now no more than a community of second class citizens. -- Legalized homophobia by the nazi element on the Republican-owned U.S. Supreme Court.
"The court, without comment, granted a request from the Justice Department to allow the government to enforce the ban while challenges to the policy play out in the lower courts. The earliest the Supreme Court could act on the issue would be during its next term, which begins in October."
The Supreme Court, with its GOP nazi national socialist majority, clearly now represents only the fascist element in our formerly great country.
"In a July 2017 tweet, President Donald Trump announced that he would end a policy, begun during the Obama administration, that allows transgender men and women to serve openly and to have the government pay for sex-reassignment surgery.
"After consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity," he said. "Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail."
Raw nazism now rubber stamped by his national socialist, Republican-owned Supreme Court in favor of the nazi now occupying the Oval Office.
"Six months later, then-Defense Secretary James Mattis announced a revised policy that would allow transgender individuals in the military, provided that they served "in their biological sex" and did not seek gender-transition surgery."
Jesus Christ. Homophobia run wild.
"Federal district court judges in California, Washington, D.C., and Washington state issued orders blocking the policy nationwide. They said it most likely amounted to unconstitutional discrimination and rejected the administration's claims that military readiness was at issue. "There is absolutely no support for the claim that the ongoing service of transgender people would have any negative effect on the military at all. In fact, there is considerable evidence that it is the discharge and banning of such individuals that would have such effects," wrote Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the court in Washington, D.C."
She's right. No question. All Trump is doing is imposing the perverse ideology and religious views of his sick sycophant base on the rest of the country. Raw nazism.
"The Justice Department went to the Supreme Court in November to urge that the justices take up the issue even before the cases had gone through the federal appeals courts — a request the Supreme Court grants very rarely. A month later, the government as a fallback asked the court to narrow the effect of the lower court rulings so that they applied only to the individuals who sued and not to the entire country."
Clearly, this nazi-owned Supreme Court no longer serves the needs of the entire country, -- only the national socialist, fascist, nazi element.
"The cases involve "a matter of imperative public importance: the authority of the U.S. military to determine who may serve in the nation's armed forces," Solicitor General Noel Francisco told the court."
Absolute horse shit. It's not up to the military to determine who serves and who doesn't. The military does not run itself. The Constitution specifies civilian oversight centered in the President. We now have a national socialist, fascist, nazi piece of human excrement in the Oval Office. The Supreme Court is supposed to, along with Congress, exercise a check and balance to a lunatic Chief Executive. Clearly, both branches are not doing so. They're letting the nazi run wild.
"The secretary of defense determined that individuals with a history of the medical condition gender dysphoria should be presumptively disqualified from military service, particularly if they have undergone the treatment of gender transition or seek to do so."
The question is why? There is no legitimate medical or psychiatric reason to do so. What we have here is the Nazi Right desperately trying to force its perverse ideological and religious views on the rest of the country. This is of great concern to those of us who are not members of the LGBTQ community. Question must be asked who's next? ... Those of us unwilling to goose step along with their goddamned perverse ideological and religious views? Slippery slope to say nothing of the egregious injustice done to the LGBTQ community. No more than raw nazism.
"Opponents of the ban urged the court to leave the lower court orders in place that prevent enforcement of the Trump administration's proposed policy change. The Supreme Court on Tuesday also opted to stay out of several other high-profile legal battles, which included taking no action Tuesday on the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a move that requires the government to keep the program going for at least 10 more months. The justices also took no action on whether federal laws prohibiting sex discrimination on the job also apply to sexual orientation. Federal appeals courts are divided on the question."
None of this is surprising now that the Kavanaugh nazi gives the Supreme Court a solid 5-4 majority.
"Some have ruled that in passing the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Congress did not intend to include same-sex bias when it prohibited job discrimination on the basis of race, sex and other characteristics. But other courts have said discriminating against someone because of sexual orientation is a form of sex discrimination. Civil rights groups say there's no need to change the law, arguing that it already bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation."
No question. Yet, Republican nazis are doing all they can to bastardize the law for ideological and religious reasons. The following is equally chilling:
"In other action Tuesday, the justices said they would not hear Indiana's effort to revive a state law intended to restrict access to abortion. Passed in 2016 and signed by then-Gov. Mike Pence, the law prohibited what the state called discriminatory abortions — those sought because of characteristics of the fetus, including gender, race or a diagnosis of Down syndrome or other defect."
Not their uterus. None of their goddamned business.
"Supporters of the measure said the law responded to medical developments that allow women to choose which child to bear, an option the state said was not contemplated at the time of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. But Planned Parenthood said it was an unconstitutional restriction on abortion rights, and lower courts agreed, preventing the law from taking effect."
The assault on liberty, all civil and constitutional rights by nazis in the Republican Party, is far more than chilling. A direct assault on our democratic republic. ... Hear the rumble? An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming.
NPR reports:
"The Supreme Court has reinstated President Trump's ban on transgender service members in the military, granting a stay on two lower courts' injunctions that had blocked the president's policy. The court voted 5-4 margin, reflecting the conservative majority."
Nazi majority.
"The court's decision allows the Pentagon to bar transgender people from joining or, in some circumstances, remaining in the military while the lower-court rulings that had blocked the policy are appealed. The justices did not allow the Trump administration to leapfrog the appeals court, as it had requested. The two cases — Trump v. Karnoski and Trump v. Stockman — are currently working their way through the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. In both of those cases, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan would have maintained a stay on the ban, the Supreme Court order reads. The transgender ban is being revived more than a year after a U.S. district judge in Washington, D.C., ruled that trans members of the military had "a strong case that the president's ban would violate their Fifth Amendment rights," as NPR reported in October of 2017."
Matters not to the Republican nazis on the Court. The national socialist, fascist bastards do as they please.
"The Human Rights Campaign, which is involved in the Karnoski case, condemned the Supreme Court's decision, saying it "thrusts this administration's discriminatory agenda onto a military that clearly doesn't want it, and does so at the expense of transgender people's careers and service."
Republican nazis on the Court couldn't care less. -- Only legislating their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views from the bench.
"Trump announced his ban abruptly in the summer of 2017, saying in a series of tweets that "the United States Government will not accept or allow...... ....Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military." The ban seemed to take Defense Department officials by surprise, sparking confusion despite Trump's assertion that he had consulted with "with my Generals and military experts."
Apparently, because the nazi bastard in the Oval Office had consulted with no one other than himself and his sick sycophant base.
"Trump's ban was a sharp reversal of a Pentagon policy that was announced in June of 2016, when former Defense Secretary Ash Carter said, "Effective immediately, transgender Americans may serve openly, and they can no longer be discharged or otherwise separated from the military just for being transgender." At the time, researchers at RAND estimated there were as many as 7,000 active-duty transgender servicemembers, with up to 4,000 more in the reserves. That Obama-era policy was hailed as ending an era of legal and professional limbo for trans people in the U.S. armed service; Carter said the decision was made out of a desire to attract "all talent possible" to serve in the military. Because of that policy and the lower court's injunction, the first openly trans people were able to join the U.S. military on Jan. 1, 2018. But their status is once again in jeopardy. Tuesday's order states that if the 9th Circuit court rules against the ban, the prohibition on trans members of the military would remain in effect until the Supreme Court justices either deny an application to hear the case (if such an application is made) or rules against the Trump administration's position."
Nazi justice by a failed United States Supreme Court on behalf of its fuhrer, the Trump nazi. A raucous boot clicking, goose stepping, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Sieg Heil!, Mr. 'President?'
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1-25-19
About time the Christian community stood up to this nazi nonsense. NBC News reports:
"In front of an audience of more than 5,000 fans, Lady Gaga interrupted her Las Vegas performance on Saturday to call out Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen. “To Mike Pence, who thinks it's acceptable that his wife work at school that bans LGBTQ, you are wrong," Gaga said in the middle of her hit song "Million Reasons." The gay icon and Grammy-winning performer was responding to recent news that Karen Pence returned to teaching art at an evangelical Christian school in northern Virginia that explicitly bans LGBTQ employees and students. "You say we should not discriminate against Christianity. You are the worst representation of what it means to be a Christian," Lady Gaga, a longtime supporter of LGBTQ rights, said while seated at a piano at MGM's Park Theater. "I am a Christian woman, and what I do know about Christianity is that we bear no prejudice, and everybody is welcome," she continued. "So you can take all that disgrace, Mr. Pence, and you can look yourself in the mirror, and you'll find it right there."
Let it rip, madam. Let it rip.
"Vice President Pence responded last week to the backlash following news reports of his wife's new job, telling Catholic cable network EWTN that he finds it "deeply offensive" to see "major news organizations attacking Christian education." “We have a rich tradition in America of Christian education, and frankly religious education broadly defined,” Mike Pence said in the interview. “We'll let the other critics roll off our back, but this criticism of Christian education in America should stop.”
The criticism does not have its basis in Christian education, you clueless piece of crap. It's the national socialism, fascism, nazism, fool.
"While opposition to gay rights is still relatively strong among evangelical Christians, a 2017 report by the Public Religion Research Institute found most religious groups in the U.S. are supportive of LGBTQ rights, including same-sex marriage."
Forget? The nazi element can't, won't be confused by the truth.
This musical icon was far from through:
"Lady Gaga, a vocal critic of the current administration, also slammed President Trump during Saturday’s "Enigma" show."
Rightfully, heroically so.
“If the f---ing president of the United States could please put our government back,” she said, “there are people who live paycheck to paycheck and need their money.”
Here, here. Let it rip. Indeed, let it rip.
"Lady Gaga, who already has six Grammy awards, two Golden Globes and one Critics' Choice award, was on Tuesday nominated for two Oscars for her role and music in “A Star is Born."
Hat's off, madam. You did the right thing. About time someone did.
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11-16-18
Although the results are not yet final, the LGBTQ community did extremely well in the election. NPR reports:
"As the electoral landscape took shape earlier this year, at least one thing became clear: 2018 was set to become a year of firsts. Election Day promised to usher in a group of barrier-breaking candidates, blazing trails for diverse communities that have long gone unrepresented in Congress and other halls of power — and nowhere was that promise more evident than in its record-smashing class of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer nominees. More than 400 such candidates were on the ballot Tuesday, according to the Victory Fund, an advocacy group that supports viable LGBTQ politicians. The sizable crop of candidates had some people even speaking of a "rainbow wave." So, now that Election Day has drawn to a close, how has that record class actually fared at the ballot box? The final answer to that question will need to wait until all of the races are called, of course, but already some candidates have made history."
NBC News reports:
"As the sun set on Washington on Tuesday evening, a rainbow appeared over the Capitol. LGBTQ candidates and advocates hoped it was an early sign that a figurative “rainbow wave” would sweep a historic number of lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer candidates into office. Their hopes were arguably fulfilled. With many races still too close to call, more than 100 LGBTQ candidates emerged victorious in the midterms as of Wednesday afternoon. For perspective, there are currently less than 600 openly LGBTQ elected officials in the U.S. — just 0.1 percent of elected officials nationwide, according to the Victory Institute. “This election is shaping up to be truly historic for LGBTQ candidates," Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of the national LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD, said in a statement shared with NBC News."
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10-26-18
Trump and his henchmen intend to define 'sex.' NPR reports:
"A memo that has reportedly been circulating at the Department of Health and Human Services aims to narrow the federal government's definition of "sex" under Title IX — a change that could leave transgender people without a number of the legal protections that have become standard in recent years."
The nazi way. Adolf and Benito would have been most approving.
"The memo reported on by The New York Times has not been released publicly. NPR has not seen it, and HHS says it does not comment on "alleged leaked documents." But the potential impact of the policies described in the memo, and the headline under which the Times ran its story – " 'Transgender' Could Be Defined Out of Existence Under Trump Administration" — inspired grave fears and fervent protest. People gathered in New York City's Washington Square Park on Sunday evening to rally for trans rights, and on Monday, protesters rallied in front of the White House holding signs that declared, "We will not be erased."
The Nazi Right intends to do all it can to do precisely that.
"The Times reports that the document was written in the spring and proposes that different government agencies adopt a unified definition of sex — specifically one that defines it as determined "on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable."
Think so? Wake up:
"The agency's proposed definition would define sex as either male or female, unchangeable, and determined by the genitals that a person is born with," the Times reports, based on the draft seen by its reporters. "Any dispute about one's sex would have to be clarified using genetic testing."
Goddamned f--king nazis. Determined to impose their outrageously perverse religious and ideological views on all. In direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, that is, freedom from religion.
"Title IX is the federal law passed as part of the Education Amendments of 1972 that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex "under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." The term "sex" refers to gender, which has since been expanded under the law to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
"The Trump administration has already taken steps to try to disqualify most transgender people from serving in the military. Earlier this month, the State Department implemented a policy denying visas to same-sex partners of foreign diplomats and the staff of U.S.-based international organizations if they're not legally married. Many of the affected couples are from countries where same-sex marriage is illegal."
Raw nazism.
The Washington Post reports:
"Jordan Evans, 27, is a town constable and an elected library trustee in Charlton, Mass. She’s a Republican, as are most of the people in her hometown, a rural community where about 54 percent of voters cast their ballots for Donald Trump in 2016. Evans is also transgender, as are about 1 million other adult Americans, according to rough estimates. Few combine the two identities. Evans is believed to be the lone openly transgender elected Republican — “my cross to bear,” as she puts it.
“I am afraid,” the Republican politician said in an interview. “I’m absolutely distraught.” “Not so much afraid for me," clarified Evans, who has been embraced by those closest to her since she first came out as transgender in 2013 and began to medically transition in 2015. "I’m afraid for people who are younger than me — people who don’t have the kind of experiences in the world that I’ve had. They see this, and they’re rightfully terrified.”
Courtesy of Republican nazis determined to impose their perverse religious and ideological views on all. While Democrats do squat shit.
"The new policy, she observed, would be in line with the president’s attempt to ban transgender troops — an order repeatedly blocked by the courts. The administration has also prohibited officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using the word “transgender” in official budget documents, as The Washington Post reported in December, and the Department of Health and Human Services has archived a page that outlined services available for LGBT people. In February, the government revoked Obama administration protections for transgender students that allowed them to use bathrooms, locker rooms and other facilities that matched their gender identity rather than their sex assigned at birth."
Raw nazism. Sick religion.
"Evans said the new move would be “shortsighted of the administration.” The country is growing more accepting of transgender people, she said, as the president is moving the government in the opposite direction. “As a Republican, it’s disgusting to see my party continue to push these types of things through in a world that’s changing. If we don’t change with the world, we are ultimately going to lose.”
No question. Bloom is more than off the rose.
"She said she has been encouraged by the swift response from the transgender community. “Trans people have been under attack by this administration from day 1 and in state legislatures for years now,” Laverne Cox, the transgender “Orange Is the New Black” actress, wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “Let’s join together America and assert #TransRightsAreHumanRights.” She added, “#TransIsBeautiful.” Both rallying cries were trending on social media over the weekend. Politicians joined the chorus against defining sex as immutably male or female and requiring genetic testing to settle any disputes. By and large, however, those who have spoken out differ from Evans in a notable way. They don’t share her partisan affiliation."
Yet, Democrats remain all talk. No action.
“We will always protect our transgender brothers and sisters,” Democratic Sen. Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts wrote on Twitter. “We must transcend hate every day. And we must transfer power on Election Day.” The Democratic attorney general of New York said her office would “do everything in our power to protect transgender New Yorkers.” Transgender politicians who have gained a measure of national prominence also weighed in. Christine Hallquist, a Democrat of Vermont and the first openly transgender major party nominee for governor, used colorful language to describe how she would respond if elected. The Virginia House Democrats tweeted its support for Danica Roem, the first openly transgender lawmaker in a U.S. statehouse.
"Wow.
Sure as hell hope I win this election! The Trump administration is going
to get a can of whoop-ass from me! https://t.co/fv8xZLgEAL
—
Christine Hallquist (@christineforvt) October 21, 2018"
When will support transition to something more than empty talk?
CBS News reports:
"Anatomy at birth may prompt a check in the "male" or "female" box on the birth certificate — but to doctors and scientists, sex and gender aren't always the same thing. The Trump administration reportedly is considering defining gender as determined by sex organs at birth, which if adopted could deny certain civil rights protections to an estimated 1.4 million transgender Americans. But variation in gender identity is a normal part of human diversity, the American Academy of Pediatrics, or AAP, stresses in a new policy that outlines how to provide supportive medical care for transgender youth."
Trump and his henchmen are determined to please their base on the Nazi Right. What better way than impose their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on all?
"Sex typically refers to anatomy while "gender goes beyond biology," says Dr. Jason Rafferty, a pediatrician and child psychiatrist at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Rhode Island, and lead author of the AAP's transgender policy. Gender identity is more an inner sense of being male, female or somewhere in between — regardless of physical anatomy, he explained. It may be influenced by genetics and other factors, but it's more about the brain than the sex organs. And transgender is a term accepted across science and medical groups to mean people whose gender identity doesn't match what Rafferty calls their "sex assigned at birth."
Forget? Nazi Right remains utterly incapable of being confused by the truth.
Here's the insanity of the Trump nazi in all its 'glory.' Get this. NBC News reports:
"U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that transgender issues were in flux and he aims to protect the country after a report that his administration was considering defining gender as male or female based on genitalia at birth drew widespread condemnation. “We have a lot of different concepts right now. They have a lot of different things happening with respect to transgender right now,” Trump said amid a protest outside the White House and outpouring of criticism on social media about the proposal. Asked about a campaign promise to protect the LGBTQ community, Trump said: “I’m protecting everybody. I want to protect our country.”
This man is dangerous. An idiot. A lunatic. A direct, exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
"Under a proposal first reported by the New York Times on Sunday, the Trump administration would narrow the definition of gender to male or female at birth and it would be unchangeable later in life."
Who knows better than the Trump nazi and his fellow idiots? Forget? Has to satisfy, appease his fellow lunatics on the 'Religious' Right.
"The move would remove recognition of and protections for transgender people under U.S. civil rights laws promoted by the prior administration of President Barack Obama in health care, schools and the military."
Raw nazism.
"About 1.4 million U.S. adults identify as transgender, according to a 2016 estimate by the Williams Institute, a research center at UCLA Law School focused on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. Medical experts said on Monday that defining gender based on genitalia at birth is scientifically inaccurate and may harm patients’ health. Dr. Joshua Safer, executive director of Mount Sinai Hospital’s Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, said the Trump administration’s definition is “not consistent with current western medicine or science in terms of how we actually operate or define sex of individuals.”
To the achingly ignorant Nazi Right, sick 'religion' trumps reality, science, medicine, to say nothing of the United States Constitution.
“Sex of individuals is not correlated always with their genitals at birth, or with their chromosomes,” said Safer, who also serves as president of the United States Professional Association for Transgender Health. Most transgender people live with a profound sense that the gender assigned to them at birth was wrong and transition to the opposite sex, while others live a non-binary or gender-fluid life. “We urge the administration to ensure all public health policy is firmly rooted in science, and to keep discrimination and political interference out of our nation’s health,” said Dr. Lisa Hollier, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists."
Clearly impossible for a national socialist, fascist, nazi dictator masquerading as president of the United States.
"Beyond the broader issues raised by the administration memo, doctors said the new policy would be impossible to apply to “intersex” babies who are born with ambiguous genitalia or reproductive organs."
What then?
“Trump’s definition does not even take this entire group of patients into consideration,” said Dr. Natasha Bhuyan, a family medicine and LGBTQ care specialist in Phoenix. If the administration’s recommended definition is adopted, these patients will likely be assigned a male or female sex at birth, which can have devastating long-term psychological and health consequences, she said."
A national socialist fascist nazi, -- and his henchmen, couldn't care less.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
10-19-18
Hard to believe it's been twenty years. The Washington Post reports:
"His family didn’t bury his remains after Shepard was beaten and left to die near Laramie, Wyo., out of concern that the site would be desecrated.
"When Matthew Shepard died on a cold night 20 years ago, after being beaten with a pistol butt and tied to a split-rail wood fence, his parents cremated the 21-year-old and kept his ashes, for fear of drawing attention to a resting place of a person who was a victim of one of the nation’s worst anti-gay hate crimes. But now with the anniversary of their son’s murder approaching on Friday, the Shepards have decided to inter his remains inside the crypt at Washington National Cathedral, where gay-equality activists say they can be a prominent symbol and even a pilgrimage destination for the movement. Although the cause of LGBT equality has made historic advancements since Shepherd was killed, it remains divisive in many parts of a country reembracing tribalism of all kinds.
"Savagely beaten and left to die, Shepard was found almost 18 hours later by a bicyclist who thought his limp body was a scarecrow. Shepard died a few days later, on Oct. 12. On Oct. 26, his ashes will be placed in a niche in the crypt columbarium, a private, off-limits area on the lower level of the massive Gothic cathedral, which is the seat of the Episcopal Church and a popular spot for high-profile national spiritual events. Shepard, who had been active in the Episcopal Church, will be one of about 200 people interred at the cathedral in the past century. Others include President Woodrow Wilson; Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan; and Navy Adm. George Dewey, said cathedral spokesman Kevin Eckstrom. Although visitors will not be able to access the crypt, cathedral officials are considering installing a plaque that they can view and touch, similar to one in Braille installed for Keller."
Above quotes courtesy of a most gifted, insightful writer, Michelle Boorstein.
NPR reports:
"The remains of Matthew Shepard, whose death became an important symbol in the fight against homophobia — and whose name is on a key U.S. hate-crime law — will be interred at Washington National Cathedral later this month. Shepard's parents say they're "proud and relieved to have a final resting place for Matthew's ashes." "This is incredibly meaningful for our family and for everyone who has known him," Judy and Dennis Shepard said in a statement emailed to NPR. "We'd been looking for just the right place to finally put Matt to rest, and we think this is the perfect fit and the perfect time."
"The Washington National Cathedral says it is "honored and humbled to receive the earthly remains of Matthew Shepard and entrust them to God." "While Matthew died too young," the cathedral said, "his death nonetheless gave life to a new generation of activists and allies who are committed to proclaiming God's love for all of God's children — no exceptions or exclusions."
Indeed.
"His parents say they hope his spot inside the cathedral will become a place where people can visit and "reflect on creating a safer, kinder world." The Washington National Cathedral, which has served for decades as the place where the U.S. mourns and remembers presidents and other influential Americans, will honor Shepard on Oct. 26 in a public service that will be streamed online at 10 a.m. Eastern time. Shepard's ashes will then be placed in the cathedral crypt, in a private ceremony. For the Shepards, the decision to entrust their son's remains to the cathedral ends decades of uncertainty. It was a complicated process, they said, citing both their personal wishes and their son's role as a symbol in the fight for gay rights."
Imagine the anguish of his parents:
"In a statement shared by the foundation that bears their son's name, the Shepards said: "When Matt was taken from us, we hadn't had any death or plot plans. We were living overseas at the time, and from a practical standpoint, we did not want our son to be put to rest on the other side of the world. We didn't want to leave him in Wyoming to be a point of pilgrimage that may be a nuisance to other families in a cemetery. We didn't want to open up the option for vandalism. So we had him cremated and held onto the urn until we figured out the proper thing to do. "We're comforted to know he will be among other Americans who have done so much for our country."
Indeed, he will be.
"Judy and Dennis Shepard concluded their note by thanking people who have supported their family and fought to celebrate diversity and compassion over the past two decades. And in a nod to the upcoming midterm elections, they added, "Vote for Matt in November." Here's how Judy Shepard remembered her son in a 2010 interview with NPR: "Well, he was a 21-year-old college student who, like most college students I remember in my past, drank too much and didn't study enough. He was gay and out and proud of who he was and who he was becoming. He had a smile, like all mothers say, that would light up a room, great sense of humor, very empathetic and kind, really cared about humanity."
"Shepard will join some 200 people whose remains have been interred in the cathedral over the past 100 years. Others include President Woodrow Wilson, Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan, and Adm. George Dewey."
Think as a country we'll ever be able to get past homophobic hatred?
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8-31-18
Bullying needs to end. So does bigotry against the LGBTQ community. If not, who's next? NBC reports:
"The mother of a 9-year-old boy said bullying he endured after coming out as gay led him to kill himself last week. Jamel Myles was a fourth-grade student at the Joe Shoemaker Elementary School in Denver. His mother, Leia Pierce, told The Denver Post that he came out as gay this summer and began wearing fake fingernails on Aug. 20, the first day of school. Pierce found her son’s body on Thursday, just three days after school had started, and tried to revive him. He was pronounced dead at the Swedish Medical Center, according to a report from the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner. The manner of death, according to the report, was suicide and did not involve a firearm."
None of this happens in a vacuum. None of it. Someone had to have known the bullying was going on.
"Pierce, who told both the Denver Post and NBC's local Denver affiliate that her son was bullied for being gay, took to Facebook to express her pain and plead for an end to bullying. “I lost a reason to breathe ... my heart, my sunshine, my son... he was being bullied and i didnt know. Not till it was to late.. i wish i knew everything so i could've stopped this... i shouldn't be having to bury my son he is only 9,” Pierce wrote in a public Facebook post on Aug. 24, a day after her son’s death. “I want justice for my son and the only way to get that is to touch people’s hearts and tell them if we love more it will be harder to hate,” Pierce wrote in another Facebook post. “I taught all my kids we are all the same and he treated people as equals because he was taught love.. so teach your kids love please.. stop bullying.”
School's response? Hollow, empty, meaningless rhetoric:
"A day after Jamel’s death, Christine Fleming, the school principal, sent a letter to parents expressing "extreme sadness" over this "unexpected loss for our school community." "Our thoughts are with the student’s family at this time," Fleming said. "We will continue to process this sad news as a school community.” Then on Monday, the district sent out a statement saying it is "deeply committed to ensuring that all members of the school community are treated with dignity and respect, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or transgender status." "It is critical that our students receive all the supports they need to learn and thrive in a safe and welcoming environment. Our formal policies and practices reflect this commitment to ensuring that our LGBTQ+ students can pursue their education with dignity — from policies and training to prevent and stop bullying to formal policies and guidance materials that fully respect gender identity (including use of preferred pronouns and restrooms)," the statement continued."
Jesus Christ. Empty, clueless rhetoric. Where's adult supervision, monitoring? On the playground, in the halls, in the classroom, in the restroom, lunchroom, library, throughout the campus, etc.?
"Jane Clementi, co-founder of the Tyler Clement Foundation, which works to end bullying in schools, workplaces and faith communities, spoke out against the pervasiveness and dangers of bullying and harassment. It is named after her son, Tyler, who was gay and killed himself in 2010 after enduring online bullying. “Over and over again we see that vicious harassment can and does result in death,” Clementi told NBC News. “It should not take the death of a child for us to do the right thing and treat every human being with respect, kindness and the dignity they deserve.”
Nowhere near good enough. The following is absolutely essential:
“All adults, but especially, teachers, coaches and school administrators, must take action to protect the safety of its students,” Clementi said. “The Tyler Clementi Foundation encourages all school districts to develop a plan to prevent bullying and stop this cruelty before it starts.”
Equally important? When discovered, offenders must be immediately removed from campus. Such offenses need to become a police matter.
"Clementi also said it is important for parents to “create a safe, encouraging and loving home environment for their children,” a space where they know they have “their parents' support to be who they were born to be, able to love who they were created to love.”
Should be able to go without saying, but clearly doesn't. Time to wake up. End the bigotry created by sick religion.
"Kristina Furia, the founder and executive director of both Emerge Wellness and Philadelphia LGBTQ Counseling, echoed Clementi’s advice to parents. “Children are most likely to thrive when they have the physical and emotional space to learn about who they are and when they are empowered by supportive adults to embrace their various, unique attributes and identities,” Furia said."
Sick, judgmental, fundamentalist religion stands in the way.
“It’s very difficult to say that parents or teachers should do X to ensure that more tragedies like this one don’t keep happening, because it isn’t about one thing that can be done or said when a child comes out to an adult,” Furia added. “Instead, it is about an ongoing environment of support and acceptance for the identity of every individual by both peers and adults.”
Last quote is empty rhetoric. Takes and requires the entire community to put an end to bullying and bigotry whenever and wherever it's found.
“I would also encourage faith communities to stop perpetuating the misguided teachings and traditions of basis, dogma and discrimination that devalues the human spirit and causes so much pain and despair,” Clementi said. “I believe that love does not harm, and it should not be used to make someone feel broken, less than or separated from God because of who God created them to love. This would have a huge impact on our LGBTQ+ youth.”
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
8-31-18
Think the GOP hasn't gone nazi? The following? Appalling. NBC reports:
"Republican officials from 16 states are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that a transgender woman who was fired after coming out to her boss was unlawfully discriminated against, and rule that federal civil rights law does not provide protections on the basis of gender identity."
In the tradition of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini.
"In March, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 in favor of Aimee Stephens, who was fired from a Detroit funeral home in 2013 after informing her employer that she was transgender and beginning her transition. The court ruled that Title VII protects transgender workers and that an employer’s religious beliefs cannot be used to justify discrimination. “The unrefuted facts show that the Funeral Home fired Stephens because she refused to abide by her employer’s stereotypical conception of her sex," Judge Karen Nelson Moore wrote for the court. Moore added that requiring the business owner, Thomas Rost, "to comply with Title VII's proscriptions on discrimination does not substantially burden his religious practice."
Republican nazis won't be confused with the facts:
"The 13 attorneys general and three governors, led by Nebraska Attorney General Douglas Peterson, said in an amicus brief filed late last week that Congress did not intend for workplace sex discrimination protections to extend to gender identity when it passed Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. “‘Sex’ under the plain terms of Title VII does not mean anything other than biological status,” the brief states, adding that unless Congress acts, the Constitution leaves it to the states "to determine which protections, or not, should flow to individuals based on gender identity.” “In rewriting Title VII to its own liking, rather than interpreting the statute based on its text, history, and purpose, the Sixth Circuit not only ignored the will of Congress, but bestowed upon itself (an unelected legislature of three) the power to rewrite congressional enactments in violation of the separation of powers,” the brief continues. “The role of the courts is to interpret the law, not to rewrite the law by adding a new, unintended meaning.”
Nazis in the Republican Party cannot seem to understand the United States Constitution was deliberately written by the Founders in a most ambiguous, inexplicit way to allow for future interpretation as time passes and circumstances change. A living, breathing document. Not so for national socialist Republicans who perceive reality in terms of black or white, no shades of gray, no brilliant hues of color.
"Harper Jean Tobin, director of policy for the National Center for Transgender Equality, called the states' brief "a political attack on the humanity of transgender people."
No question. The brief is written and backed by religious nazis who remain unsure of their own gender identity, and/or sexual preference.
"It ignores decades of law and the realities faced by transgender workers across this country,” Tobin said in a statement. “Ms. Stephens’ case is the textbook definition of sex discrimination, and court after court has already shown this to be true. All Americans deserve a fair shot at their jobs, and the desperation of officials from these 16 states to legalize discrimination is despicable.”
It's called nazism. Readers are reminded Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini falsely claimed to be Christians. They weren't. Neither are the Republican nazis, national socialists, fascists backing the above brief. The Head Honcho of their religion, had he walked the earth today, would have condemned the self-righteous hypocrisy of these nazi bastards. Today, the LGBTQ community. Tomorrow, who's next? Wake up. No more than raw nazism.
"A recent report from the Williams Institute, a think tank at UCLA School of Law, estimates the 16 states represented in the brief have a combined population of more than 331,000 transgender adults — a quarter of the estimated 1.4 million transgender adults across the U.S. Twenty states and the District of Columbia currently have laws explicitly prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, according to Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank. These states include Maine and Utah, which are represented in last week’s brief. The Supreme Court is expected to decide in the coming months whether to take on a case involving whether Title VII’s sex discrimination protections extend to LGBTQ employees. The issue has already come before several federal appeals courts in the past two years, with most ruling in favor of LGBTQ employees, and has divided government agencies — notably the Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission."
With a Republican nazi U.S. Supreme Court, the future is not bright. Life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties remain in jeopardy. Dire jeopardy. The worst is yet to come. Wake up.
"In addition to Nebraska, the brief was signed by Republican officials from Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming."
Texas has again disgraced itself. Nazism rules.
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8-24-18
Homophobic bigotry is indeed alive and well in Nazi America. NPR reports:
"The Colorado baker who won a Supreme Court case over his refusal to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple is suing state officials, alleging religious discrimination over his refusal to make a cake celebrating a gender transition. Attorneys for Jack Phillips, who owns Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colo., said Wednesday that the state is "continuing to single out Jack for punishment and to exhibit hostility toward his religious beliefs." The case involves an incident from June 2017, when lawyer Autumn Scardina said she asked for a cake with a pink interior and blue exterior to celebrate the anniversary of transitioning from male to female. "The woman on the phone told me they do not make cakes celebrating gender changes," Scardina wrote in a complaint to Colorado's Division of Civil Rights. "That's a cake I can't create for anybody," Phillips told Colorado Public Radio."
Unsure of your gender identity, and/or sexuality, Mr. Phillips?
"Phillips prevailed in the Supreme Court earlier this year in a case that began in 2012 when a same-sex couple asked him to create a cake for their wedding."
Forget? A national socialist Supreme Court intent on imposing its achingly perverse ideological and religious views on all.
"But the 7-to-2 decision was on the narrowest of grounds," NPR's Nina Totenberg reported, "and left unresolved whether business owners have a free speech right to refuse to sell goods and services to same-sex couples." Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who is named as a defendant in the new lawsuit, said he expects the issue to return to the Supreme Court, according to The Denver Post."
The following is the principle fought for:
"Daniel Ramos of the LGBTQ advocacy group One Colorado responded to the news in a statement: "All people – including LGBTQ people – deserve to be served equally in public spaces, & no religious belief gives anyone the right to pick & choose whom they serve & what laws they want to follow."
That's right. Blatant discrimination by a nazi desperate to impose his perverse religious views on all. Not a matter of freedom of religion, but freedom from religion. If discrimination against the LGBTQ community is not stood up against, who's next?
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8-10-18
LGBTQ issues again in the news. CBS News reports:
"Former Vice President Joe Biden is launching an awareness campaign to promote the importance of family acceptance of LGBTQ youth. The vice president's Biden Foundation kicked off the "As You Are" initiative on Tuesday with a video campaign, featuring Biden, pop singer Cyndi Lauper, former NFL player Wade Davis and numerous LGBTQ advocates and activists. "We'll use our resources to highlight the harms of family rejection and lift up research, best practices and personal stories to show the importance of family acceptance," said Biden in the video campaign. The foundation notes that while the progress for LGBTQ equality has made leaps and bounds in the past decade, many members of the community, particularly individuals under the age of 25, continue to face rejection at home and throughout their daily lives."
Biden's views have certainly changed:
"In the early days of the Obama administration, Biden one of the most prominent political figures to share that his views on marriage equality had evolved. In 2012, Biden, who had previously supported civil unions but stopped short of explicitly endorsing same-sex marriage, said [in] an interview that he was "absolutely comfortable with" the idea of same-sex unions, a message he made before President Barack Obama. Celebrating the Supreme Court's final ruling on same-sex marriage in 2015, Biden said that the federal government would continue to fight for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. He called the equal right to marry as "consequential as Brown vs. the Board."
Has gone even further:
"Since leaving office, Biden has become a key political advocate for LGBTQ issues. He's lent his support to the transgender community as they continue to face rollbacks in equal rights under the Trump administration, most notably openly transgender soldiers right to serve in the U.S. military. Biden also wrote the forward to transgender advocate and Human Rights campaign national press secretary Sarah McBride's memoir, calling transgender equality "the civil rights issue of our time."
If anyone is denied equality, civil and constitutional rights and liberties, who's next?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
8-3-18
More raw nazism. NBC reports:
"Civil rights groups and LGBTQ advocates on Tuesday tore into the Department of Justice's newly formed "Religious Liberty Task Force," slamming the move as a discriminatory affront to civil liberties masquerading as protections for people of faith. "This task force's agenda isn’t consistent with religious freedom. Religious freedom protects our right to our beliefs, not a right to discriminate or harm others," American Civil Liberties Union Deputy Legal Director Louise Melling told NBC News in a statement. "Jeff Sessions' Department of Justice is again turning that understanding of religious freedom on its head."
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6-8-18
If LGBTQ business owners are not willing to courageously stand up for their rights, support those who are fighting for these rights, all advances to date will ultimately be lost. The following is appalling. Certainly, not the last word, however, on what is no more than egregious discrimination targeting the LGBTQ community. CBS News reports:
"The Supreme Court is setting aside a Colorado court ruling against a baker who wouldn't make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. But the court is not deciding the big issue in the case, whether a business can refuse to serve gay and lesbian people. The justices' limited ruling Monday turns on what the court described as anti-religious bias on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission when it ruled against baker Jack Phillips. The justices voted 7-2 that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission violated Phillips' rights under the First Amendment. The clash at the high court pitted Phillips' First Amendment claims of artistic freedom against the anti-discrimination arguments of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, and the two men Phillips turned away in 2012. The Denver-area baker cited his Christian faith in refusing to make a cake for their wedding celebration."
As our formerly great country continues to nazify, the above is only a portend of worse to come. Not only against the LGBTQ community, women seeking abortion, but to all who determinedly, stridently exercise civil and constitutional rights and liberties in what has become a de facto fascist police-state, quickly transitioning to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich. The Nazi Right is determined to impose its perverse ideological and religious views on all. A nazi Supreme Court is certainly aiding and abetting.
"LGBTQ advocates, including Lambda Legal, quickly condemned the court's ruling, citing critical setbacks in equal rights. Lambda Legal CEO Rachel B. Tiven said in a statement on Monday, "The Court today has offered dangerous encouragement to those who would deny civil rights to LGBT people and people living with HIV. " Tiven added, "This is a deeply disappointing day in American jurisprudence. Today's decision should have been a firm, direct affirmance of longstanding equality law. Instead, the Supreme Court has become an accomplice in the right's strategy to hollow out one of its finest achievements, the right to equal marriage, and create what Justice Ginsberg memorably termed 'skim milk marriages.' We will continue to fight in every arena and in every court until LGBT people and people living with HIV have full equality under the law in every aspect of our lives. We deserve no less."
The ACLU is but a small shell of what it was decades ago. The following is proof positive:
"The ACLU, however argued that Monday's ruling "reaffirmed the core principle that businesses open to the public must be open to all in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The court did not accept arguments that would have turned back the clock on equality by making our basic civil rights protections unenforceable, but reversed this case based on concerns specific to the facts here."
"The American Civil Liberties Union argued the case on behalf of Charlie Craig and David Mullins, who were refused service at the Colorado bakery."
Question to be asked, today, the LGBTQ community, -- tomorrow, who's next?
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6-1-18
If LGBTQ business people are not willing to courageously stand up for their rights, support those who are fighting for these rights, all advances to date will ultimately be lost. CBS News reports:
"Christian Bales, the valedictorian of Holy Cross High School in Crestview Hills, Kentucky, was barred from delivering his graduation speech on Friday. Instead, he delivered it after the graduation ceremony, outside of the school on a megaphone."
Denied free speech due to the fact he embraced, espoused LGBTQ views. Silenced because he challenged Catholic dogma.
"After reading a copy of Bales' speech, the school determined it was "political and inconsistent with the teachings of the Catholic church." Bales said he found out the day of graduation that the Diocese of Covington cut his speech from the ceremony."
Don't goose step in unison, get the boot. What's the Church so afraid of? Divergent views?
"The diocese took ours and said they were too confrontational, too angry, too personal, and that they weren't appropriate for the setting," Bales said, after both he and his friend's speeches were cut."
Classic early indication, mark of tyranny is denial of free speech. Readers are reminded the Church remained gutlessly silent during the era of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler.
"Bales repeated the phrase "the young people will win" in his speech, a phrase coined by Parkland, Florida, students who survived a mass shooting earlier this year. In a statement, a diocese spokesperson said: "School officials and representatives of the Diocese of Covington reserve the right to review and approve all student speeches to be presented in public at high school graduations. The student speeches for the Holy Cross High School graduation were not submitted for review before the deadline. They were found to contain elements that were political and inconsistent with the teachings of the Catholic church."
Tough shit. Called free speech. Why were you cowardly bastards in the Church hierarchy gutlessly silent during the era of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy? Why?
"I know they pointed out that the Parkland teens teach ideologies that apparently go against the Catholic faith, which I don't agree with in my experience," Bales said, according to WKRC."
Can't reasonably defend Church ideology and religious views, do the next best thing, that is, silence those opposed?
"Bales' mother, Gillian Marksberry, believes there was another reason the school did not want her son to speak. Marksberry said she received a call from the school's principal last week. She said he wanted her help to ensure Bales wore men's clothing to graduation and did not wear makeup or bobby pins in his hair. "That was disturbing because in four years, I had never received a phone call from the principal," Marksberry said. "No one ever reached out to me to help learn about my child." Bales is openly gay. He says to date, the school had been supportive."
Think so? As long as he didn't express it publicly, to a massive audience? Gutless. Question to be asked is who's next? Hypocrisy? Stunning. True diversity? Non-existent. Inclusiveness? What's that?
"This incident won't silence him, he says. "I think I'm going to keep fighting for what I believe in," Bales said. "I'm going to keep using my megaphone and intensifying my voice." Bales' mother planned to send his 9-year-old sister to Holy Cross in the future, but said after Friday night, that is not happening."
The Church stupidly, figuratively shot itself again in the ass.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
6-1-18
If LGBTQ business people are not willing to courageously stand up for their rights, support those who are fighting for these rights, all advances to date will ultimately be lost. NBC reports:
"Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., ignited controversy this past week after suggesting that homeowners should be free to refuse to sell homes to LGBTQ people."
Homophobic bigotry. Sick religion.
"Rohrabacher initially made the remarks last week while speaking to a group of National Association of Realtors members who had congregated in his office. Members of the group were there to ask Rohrabacher to support HR 1447, a bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of classes protected against discrimination in the Fair Housing Act (FHA) under the Civil Rights Act of 1968. “I presented the Fair Housing Act to him along with [information on HR 1447],” Wayne Woodyard, one of the NAR members in the room, told NBC News. “Almost before I could finish, he let out, ‘I will not support it.’”
Aryan arrogance of a clueless Republican nazi.
“There were about 10 people in his office, and we were all kind of shocked,” he added. Woodyard said after Rohrabacher’s initial response, one of his former staffers interceded and said, “Well, Dana, I don’t think you understand,” to which the Congressman said, according to Woodyard, “No, I do understand.”
Raw nazism. Think Benito and Adolf aren't 'high-fiving' on their fiery perches?
"Woodyard said he and other NAR members “tried to change his opinion” the following evening at a private lobbying dinner, but the Congressman “wouldn’t have it.”
A Republican nazi can't, won't be confused with the truth.
"In an email to NBC News, a spokesperson for Rohrabacher confirmed the lawmaker’s stance on the issue. "Congressman Rohrabacher does not believe the federal government should force those with strong religious convictions into a personal or business relationship that is contrary to their religion,” the spokesperson stated. The NAR has since withdrawn its endorsement of Rohrabacher, who is up for re-election in November."
Think he doesn't embrace similar views regarding racial discrimination? Nazi bastards who think like this piece of shit present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
“This is blatantly, explicitly illegal in the state of California,” explained Karen Loewy, senior counsel at Lambda Legal, noting California is among the 20 states.“It is really beyond the pale for an elected official to actively encourage illegal discrimination against LGBT people.” While nothing could prevent an individual from privately choosing not to sell their home to someone else for personal reasons, California’s housing laws make it illegal to explicitly discriminate against someone due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. For example, a home seller in California wouldn’t legally be able to include “Same-sex couples need not apply” on their housing ad. A home seller in Alabama, however, may be able to do so."
Amazing how the Nazi Right remains so willing and able to deny rights to those opposed to its fascist ideology. Yet, screams bloody murder when ferociously criticized.
"Loewy, however, said even in some states that do not explicitly protect LGBTQ people from housing discrimination, a number of courts have ruled discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is illegal “sex” discrimination under the Fair Housing Act, which protects against “discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.” Woodyard added that the Realtor code of ethics also prohibits agents from discriminating against LGBTQ people in home sales. “A realtor can be sanctioned or lose their license for discriminating,” he said."
If the civil and constitutional rights and liberties of all are not vigorously supported and defended, who's next?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
5-25-18
If LGBTQ business people are not willing to stand up for their rights, support those that are fighting for these rights, all advances to date will ultimately be lost. NBC reports:
"Pope Francis’ reported comments to a gay man that “God made you like this” have been embraced by the LGBTQ community as another sign of Francis’ desire to make gay people feel welcomed and loved in the Catholic Church."
Remarkable, isn't it? Under the Trump nazi and his henchmen, the clock is indeed being concertedly, determinedly turned back.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
5-25-18
The homophobic bigotry of the Republican Nazi Right clearly knows no bounds. NBC reports:
"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appointed Family Research Council President Tony Perkins — a longtime opponent of LGBTQ rights — to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). “From my post at USCIRF, I look forward to doing all that I can to ensure that our government is the single biggest defender of religious freedom internationally,” Perkins said in a statement released Tuesday. “It is my hope that through the work of USCIRF, the world will become one step closer to recognizing the vital role religious freedom and the defense of religious minorities play in peace, security and human flourishing.”
Raw nazism. Egregious distortion of reality. In the world of the fascist, day is night, night is day, and shit smells perversely sweet. All ass backwards from reality. Sen. Mitch "The Bitch" McConnell and his fellow Republican nazis determinedly, concertedly, intentionally abrogate their falsely sworn oaths of office to uphold the United States Constitution.
Particularly, the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion. Democrats? Out to lunch. Absent without leave since November 22, 1963. The nazi element seems to have conveniently forgotten ours is a country of many different religions, and in some cases, none. Freedom? Liberty? Meaningless to a Republican nazi.
Precisely, why these bastards determinedly impose by statute their perverse religious views on all. Dictate to a woman what she can and cannot do with HER uterus. Engage in homophobic, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. Desperately attempt to impose these views by law, denying the LGBTQ community same rights and privileges the rest of us take for granted.
"The appointment of Perkins, an ordained minister and former law enforcement officer and Louisiana state legislator, is the latest Republican appointment since Trump took office to attract swift condemnation from LGBTQ and civil rights advocates. “Tony Perkins is the most recognizable anti-LGBTQ activist in America. He has espoused the most extreme views of LGBTQ people and other vulnerable communities,” Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD, said in a statement. “The idea that Perkins would be making policy recommendations to an administration that is already anti-LGBTQ is dangerous and puts LGBTQ people directly in harm’s way.”
Forget? Raw nazism. Question to be asked? Who's next?
"GLAAD compiled a long list of examples on its website demonstrating Perkins’ and FRC’s opposition to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the U.S. and abroad. Among the more than 30 examples listed are a comparison of same-sex marriage to a marriage between “a man and his horse”; the labeling of the “It Gets Better” project, a popular initiative designed to help LGBTQ young people cope with bullying and marginalization, “disgusting” and a “concerted effort” to recruit kids into the gay “lifestyle”; and claiming the “blood” of “young marines” would be on the hands of lawmakers who vote repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy."
Perkins and his ilk present an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
"Heidi Beirich, the director of SPLC’s Intelligence Project, called Perkins appointment to the USCIRF “deeply disturbing.” “Perkins specializes in spreading false propaganda that demonizes the LGBT community and Muslims,” Beirich said. “Perkins’ idea of ‘religious freedom’ is having the freedom to discriminate against entire groups of people he doesn’t like. His well-documented bigotry has no place in any government entity.”
Certainly does in the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.
"Like GLAAD, SPLC has kept a lengthy file on Perkins and the FRC. Perkins, according to the SPLC’s file, was quoted linking homosexuality to pedophilia on the FRC website in 2010. “While activists like to claim that pedophilia is a completely distinct orientation from homosexuality, evidence shows a disproportionate overlap between the two,” Perkins wrote at the time, according to the SPLC. “It is a homosexual problem.”
Perkins doesn't know what he's talking about. Psychiatric and psychological communities strongly state otherwise.
"Currently on its website, FRC has a page dedicated to “Homosexuality,” where the organization is very explicit about its views toward gay people and their rights. “Homosexual conduct is harmful to the persons who engage in it and to society at large, and can never be affirmed. It is by definition unnatural, and as such is associated with negative physical and psychological health effects,” the site’s “Homosexuality” page states. “We oppose the vigorous efforts of homosexual activists to demand that homosexuality be accepted as equivalent to heterosexuality in law, in the media, and in schools.”
Think the civil and constitutional rights and liberties of those of you in the LGBTQ community are not in serious jeopardy?
"On that same page, FRC appears to support the widely discredited practice of “gay conversion therapy”: “Sympathy must be extended to those who struggle with unwanted same-sex attractions, and every effort should be made to assist such persons to overcome those attractions, as many already have.”
Discredited by both the psychiatric and psychological communities. No more than snake oil.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
5-18-18
Think the LGBTQ community isn't under vicious attack by the Trump Regime? NBC reports:
"Shortly after President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January 2017, LGBTQ resources were removed from a number of government websites, including that of the Small Business Administration. At the time, SBA officials said that its LGBT Outreach page was “under construction and review” and assured lawmakers it would be reactivated in the near future."
They lied.
"More than a year later, the page is still devoid of content, while other pages that were also under construction —like one for veteran-owned businesses and another for women-owned businesses —have been reactivated. This prompted two Democratic members of the House Small Business Committee to send SBA Administrator Linda McMahon, a Trump appointee, a letter Wednesday inquiring about the page's removal and prolonged absence. “This is deeply troubling and renews our concern that this page’s removal may have been politically or ideologically motivated, rather than simply administrative,” Reps. Nydia M. Velazquez and Yvette D. Clarke, both New York Democrats, wrote in the letter. The letter touted the “nearly $2 trillion in economic contributions” made by America’s estimated 1.4 million LGBT-owned businesses and noted these companies “are a critical segment of the nation’s small business community and a powerful force for the economy.”
Matters not to nazis determined to impose their religious and ideological views in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
“Erasing these resources from SBA’s website shortchanges gay, lesbian and transgender Americans who happen to be among our nation’s most successful small business owners,” Velázquez, the ranking member of the House Small Business Committee, said in a statement to NBC News. “The fact that this move took place shortly after Donald Trump came into office raises troubling concerns and, as the committee of jurisdiction, we intend to get to the bottom of how this happened and see the situation rectified, quickly,” she added."
Think the achingly homophobic bastards won't continue to drag their feet?
"Velazquez and Clarke listed six questions at the end of their letter to be answered by the SBA by May 22. The questions inquire about the agency’s motive in removing the contents from the SBA's LGBT Outreach page, whether the resources that were on the page will be replaced and whether the agency will commit to engaging with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender business owners."
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
5-11-18
Think Trump isn't using 'religious liberty' to stick it to the LGBTQ community? NBC News reports:
“This administration has continually promoted the troubling notion that religious freedom is a blank check to discriminate and harm others,” Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, told NBC News. “This new initiative creates a bureaucratic regime and adopts policy preferences that will worsen that disturbing trend.”Both Mach and Camilla B. Taylor, director of constitutional litigation at Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ advocacy group, citied concerns about the new order’s revocation of protections granted in prior executive orders that required service providers receiving government funds to refer beneficiaries to alternative service providers if the initial provider refused to perform certain services for religious reasons."
Called bigotry.
"Taylor noted even if a faith-based service provider is open to referring someone to an alternative provider, it can be difficult if the initial provider is the only one in the area. This was the case for a lesbian couple in Texas, who were denied the opportunity to foster a refugee child because they did not “mirror the holy family.” Taylor said “there is no other agency in that state that performs those services for refugee children.” Lambda Legal is currently suing the Health Department on behalf of the couple. Taylor called Thursday’s executive order “worrying” and described it as “just the latest assault in a long-term battle that this administration is waging on the members of the LGBTQ community and women in need of reproductive health."
The Nazi Right is determinedly, concertedly, shamelessly bastardizing Christianity to impose its perverse agenda.
"She said the order constitutes an “invitation” for faith-based groups to apply for public funding, when they have no intention of serving all members of the public. It’s an “unmistakable signal to religious organizations who take government money that they can discriminate without any repercussions whatsoever. It’s open season,” she added."
NBC reports:
"State lawmakers in Oklahoma and Kansas have approved legislation to grant legal protections to faith-based adoption agencies that cite their religious beliefs for not placing children in LGBTQ homes."
What this is remains no more than legalization of homophobic bigotry. In Nazi America.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
March 30, 2018
Trump's attack on the LGBTQ community continues. NPR reports:
"The Trump administration released an order on Friday night that would disqualify most transgender people from serving in the military."
Notice the gutless timing, -- when media coverage would be at a minimum. Clearly, by design. Cowards.
"The new rules follow President Trump's calls last year for a complete ban on transgender military service. The White House said persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria — the medical diagnosis for those who receive treatment, often during their transition — are disqualified from serving except under "certain limited circumstances." A statement issued from the White House said the president rescinded his previous memo on transgender military service and allowed Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to implement a new policy. But the somewhat contradictory plan has left many experts and transgender advocates confused over who would be allowed in and who would be kicked out."
Can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullshit.
"They could really discharge anyone who is transgender in the military. This is a categorical ban," said Matthew Thorn, president of the LGBT military association OutServe."
Another blatant attempt by the Trump nazi and his henchmen to impose their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion. Readers are reminded this new latest directive comes at a time when the earlier one is still under court injunction. Readers are also reminded when civil and constitutional rights and liberties of some of us are abrogated, those of the rest of us remain in jeopardy. Who's next?
Once again, the Trump nazi's spokeswoman has disgraced herself:
"This new policy will enable the military to apply well-established mental and physical health standards — including those regarding the use of medical drugs — equally to all individuals who want to join and fight for the best military force the world has ever seen," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday."
This woman lies, -- for a congenital liar, the Trump nazi.
Practical effect of this change? Nothing, for the moment. Get this:
"A Pentagon spokesman said early Friday that the new rules would have no immediate impact on recruiting policies because the military is still required to accept transgender individuals under the current law, the AP reported."
How about that?
"In a statement issued Friday, the Justice Department vowed to support the Pentagon's "lawful authority to create and implement personnel policies they have determined are necessary to best defend our nation," according the AP. But at the same time, the agency urged the courts to "lift all related preliminary injunctions" imposed after Trump tried to implement a complete ban last year."
Jesus Christ. Nothing ever changes. Same old bullshit. Desperation clearly in display by the failing Trump nazi and his henchmen. Raw nazism. The following will be immediately challenged in court:
"Mattis outlined the new policy in a filing Friday in U.S. District Court in Maryland in a motion to dissolve a preliminary injunction blocking Trump's initial order banning transgender service.
"Transgender persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria are disqualified from military service with three exceptions:
1) those stable in their biological sex for 36 months prior to accession
2) those in service diagnosed with gender dysphoria who do not require a change of gender and remain deployable
3) those in service who received a diagnosis before this policy took effect may continue in service in their preferred gender and receive appropriate medical treatment
"Transgender persons who require or have undergone gender transition are disqualified from service.
"Transgender persons without a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria may serve in their biological sex."
Will not be taken lying down by opponents:
"In a statement, Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Peter Renn said administration's new plan "solves nothing."
"The 'plan' unveiled today is nothing more than a transparent ruse cobbled together with spittle and duct tape designed solely to try to mask discrimination. A plan to implement an unconstitutional decree is an unconstitutional plan.
"In 2016, after careful and deliberate study, the Pentagon determined that the prohibition on open service by transgender people lacked any foundation and lifted the ban. Since then, transgender troops had been serving openly and successfully — until President Trump unleashed his incendiary barrage of uninformed tweets.
"We, along with our sibling organizations, moved quickly to block implementation of the plan, and every single federal court to look at this policy – six to date – has found that it reeks of undisguised and unlawful discrimination against qualified transgender people willing and able to serve our country, and blocked its implementation. That block remains in effect, notwithstanding the release of the plan today."
"Renn said that his group and another, Out-Serve-SLDN, will be in court early next week seeking a permanent injunction to block implementation of the plan."
When the rights of any of us are abrogated, those of the rest of us remain in dire jeopardy. Who's next?
CBS News reports:
"The new policy was promptly assailed by congressional Democrats and civil rights groups. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted, "No one with the strength & bravery to serve in the U.S. military should be turned away because of who they are. This hateful ban is purpose-built to humiliate our brave transgender members of the military who serve with honor & dignity."
"Rep. Ted Lieu, D-California, tweeted about the "stupid bigotry from @realDonaldTrump," writing, "As a veteran who served on active duty, we focused on the mission. We didn't care if you were transgender, bald, gay, or had freckles. No evidence a trans sniper is less accurate or a trans pilot is less effective."
Goddamned right. When wounded in combat, their blood is just as red as that of the rest of us. When killed in action, remain as dead as any other service personnel killed in action.
"Democrats on the House Armed Service Committee said that the president's decision is "vicious, inhumane and utterly wrong," and they pointed out, "There are scores of transgender men and women serving in the military right now, under a policy that had already been established & vetted by DOD and validated by the courts."
What will you do about it, -- other than utter empty rhetoric?
"The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT civil rights organization, accused the Trump administration of pushing "anti-transgender prejudices onto the military." "There is simply no way to spin it, the Trump-Pence Administration is going all in on its discriminatory, unconstitutional and despicable ban on transgender troops," said HRC President Chad Griffin."
That's right. Who's next?
"Joshua Block, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union LGBT & HIV Project, said the policy "effectively coerces transgender people who wish to serve into choosing between their humanity and their country, and makes it clear that transgender service members are not welcome."
Expect anything less from a nazi demigod following in the steps of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini?
"The issue has become mired in a complicated string of political statements, court decisions and policy reviews since Trump first stunned his administration with his tweets last July. It's unclear how much impact the court decisions will have on Trump's decision. Activist groups had worried the administration could enact such strict enlistment and health care restrictions that it would become all but impossible for transgender troops to join or continue serving. Under guidelines presented in December, the Pentagon could disqualify potential recruits with gender dysphoria, those with a history of medical treatments associated with gender transition and those who underwent reconstruction. Such recruits could be allowed in if a medical provider certified they've been clinically stable in the preferred sex for 18 months and are free of significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas."
Needs to continue to be vigorously challenged in court. Be interesting to see the reaction of non-transgender troops. After all, many transgenders have heroically served in combat. Came through for their fellow troops under horrendous conditions. Saved lives, died honorably in service of their country.
This latest action by the Trump nazi and his henchmen is no more than yet another egregious example of outrageously gutless, homophobic, anti-LGBTQ bigotry. Must not be forgotten there are an unknown number of transgenders who have received no treatment, surgery, etc., who have not come out of the closet. Yet, have served honorably, heroically.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-23-18
Carefully consider the following. When the rights of any of us are abrogated, the rights of all of us remain in jeopardy. NBC News reports:
"In picking Mike Pompeo for his new secretary of state, President Donald Trump asserted that Pompeo would "do a fantastic job," and social conservatives quickly praised the announcement. LGBTQ advocates, however, were just as quick to point to Pompeo's extensive record — mostly as a congressman from Kansas, before becoming CIA director last year — opposing the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans and the potential negative impact he could have on them if confirmed."
Goddamned homophobic bigot.
"His nomination “could have serious consequences for the United States and LGBTQ people around the globe," Chad Griffin, president of the national LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement. “Mike Pompeo’s longstanding opposition to LGBTQ equality makes him a reckless choice to lead our nation’s diplomatic efforts,” Griffin said, adding that "the State Department has a crucial role to play in advancing human rights" — a role that he said was already rapidly declining under Rex Tillerson, who was fired this week as secretary of state."
Raw nazism.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-23-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
Abuse never ends. Get this. Texas Standard reports:
"The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has settled a lawsuit with Passion Star, a black transgender woman who was repeatedly raped and beaten while incarcerated in male prisons. Demoya Gordon is a staff and Transgender Rights Project Attorney with the LGBT advocacy group, Lambda Legal, who represented Star. She says, while in prison, Star was tenacious and resilient. “And despite filing dozens of complaints and grievances with Texas prison officials, they refused to do anything to help her other than move her from one general population unit to the next though it became clear pretty quickly that would not solve the problem,” Gordon says."
Couldn't be, could it? Never happen here in Texas, would it?
"Lambda Legal sued on behalf of Star in 2014, claiming prison official did not take steps to protect Star from abuse. That includes an attack in which a fellow inmate slacked [slapped? struck?] Star in the face eight times. Gordon describes how officials treated Star when she filed complaints about the abuse she was enduring. “They would call her derogatory slurs, they would tell her to stop acting gay. They would tell her to either fight or just have sex with people, so it was pretty egregious,” says Gordon. Star, who was in prison for 14 years, was moved to safekeeping in 2015. That’s a form of protective housing for vulnerable inmates. She was granted parole in December 2016 and released last June. Lambda Legal says the terms of the settlement are agreeable to all parties. And Gordon explains part of that settlement includes improving the agency’s policies for protecting LGBT inmates."
Should go without saying, shouldn't it?
“They’ve agreed to include improvements in the policies to the intake process to ensure that vulnerable people, like LGBT people, are identified and steps can be taken early in the process to protect them with respect to decisions around housing, and things like that,” Gordon says. A spokesperson for the TDCJ says the agency was already working to update LGBT policies before the settlement. However, the settlement specifically requires the state agency to train staff on the new policies."
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-9-18
At least some in the LGBTQ community are fighting back against nazis in the Republican Party bound and determined to eviscerate hard-won rights. NPR reports:
"Change happens notoriously slow in Nashville, a town known to prize convention and tradition. But yesterday, it occurred at lightning speed: In less than 24 hours, presidential candidate, conservative radio host and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was announced as a new board member of the Country Music Association Foundation, the organization's philanthropic arm, before being swiftly forced to resign after a chorus of dissent over the appointment erupted in Music City and beyond."
Fascinating, isn't it? Amazing how quickly desperately needed change can occur when people courageously stand up en masse to blatant nazism.
"I genuinely regret that some in the industry were so outraged by my appointment that they bullied the CMA and the Foundation with economic threats and vowed to withhold support for the programs for students if I remained," Huckabee's letter of resignation read, which was accepted in a statement by the CMA. The organization, which produces a huge festival in Nashville each summer as well as the televised CMA Awards, has yet to offer further comment on its motivation for appointing him."
Wake up, Mikey. Whining remains achingly unbecoming, -- even a nazi determined to impose his phony religious and ideological views. In direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
"The CMA Foundation, which invests in music education programs all across the country, made the announcement about Huckabee's appointment late afternoon on Wednesday. Soon after, artists, CMA members and fans began voicing their outrage, most notably Jason Owen, co-president of Monument Records and owner of Sandbox Entertainment, who represents well-known clients like Little Big Town and Kacey Musgraves. Owen, who is openly gay, sent a letter to CMA CEO Sarah Trahern and the director of community outreach, Tiffany Kerns, expressing how the decision to appoint Huckabee meant he would "no longer support the CMA Foundation in any way" and would advise his clients to follow suit."
"[Huckabee] has made it clear that my family is not welcome in his America," Owen wrote. "And the CMA has opened their arms to him, making him feel welcome and relevant. Huckabee speaks of the sort of things that would suggest my family is morally beneath his and uses language that has a profoundly negative impact upon young people all across this country. Not to mention how harmful and damaging his deep involvement with the NRA is. What a shameful choice."
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Owen certainly expressed his.
"Whitney Pastorek, who manages Kristian Bush of the band Sugarland and is also a CMA member, was among those who addressed the organization directly. "What a terrible disappointment to see [the CMA Foundation's] mission clouded by the decision to align with someone who so frequently engages in the language of racism, sexism, and bigotry," Pastorek wrote, as reported by the Tennessean. Pastorek now takes some solace in the outcome, and hopes that the industry can move forward in the wake of such controversy. "What Jason Owen and his team did was brave and inspiring, and I am grateful for every colleague and fan who spoke out alongside them to help set this right," Pastorek tells NPR Music. The development was likewise met with nods of approval from progressive leaders, including Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin."
If the civil and constitutional rights and liberties of any segment of society are threatened, the rights of all of us remain in jeopardy.
"Mike Huckabee has staked his entire political career on undermining the rights of LGBTQ people and our families," Griffin tells NPR Music. "His cynical political attacks and discriminatory views do not represent the diversity of country music, and we thank all of the musicians, industry leaders, and fans who spoke out against his appointment to this important role."
This remains a problem throughout much, if not most of the GOP. With rare exception, -- such as in libertarian circles.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-2-18
Trump, his henchmen, and the Republican Party have done tremendous damage to the LGBTQ community. Homophobic bigotry is certainly alive and well in our formerly great country. NBC News reports:
"Support for LGBTQ people across the country has fallen, according to a national survey indexing attitudes toward the community. It is the first time in the survey's four-year history to register a decline. The Harris Poll, which has been tracking public opinion and social sentiment since 1963, was commissioned by LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD four years ago to annually survey attitudes toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. This year's online survey included 2,160 adult participants, 1,897 of which identified as "non-LGBTQ."
We're moving backwards:
"The survey's results indicated a significant decrease in comfort among heterosexual people in personal situations relating to LGBTQ identity. These situations included "learning a family member is LGBTQ," "learning my child's teacher is LGBTQ" and "learning my doctor is LGBTQ." Thirty percent of non-LGBTQ respondents reported they would be either "very uncomfortable" or "somewhat uncomfortable" if they learned a family member was LGBTQ. This is up from both 2015 and 2016's findings, when 27 percent of non-LGBTQ respondents reported they would be uncomfortable on some level."
Comes as no surprise, as our country transforms from a de facto fascist police-state to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich. Think the same didn't happen after Hitler assumed power in 1933? Today, it's the LGBTQ community. Tomorrow, who's next?
"Thirty-one percent of non-LGBTQ respondents said they would be uncomfortable with their child having an LGBTQ teacher. This is the highest level of discomfort reported in the Harris Poll's history, with 30 percent expressing discomfort in 2014, 29 percent in 2015 and 28 percent in 2016."
Pathetic. Worse? Get this:
"Anti-LGBTQ homicides nearly doubled in 2017, report finds."
Appalling. All over sexual preference, identity, etc.. Sick, intolerant religion to blame.
"Perhaps most disturbing is the noted uptick in the number of LGBTQ respondents reporting having experienced discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. In this latest survey, the number jumped to 55 percent — an 11-point jump from last year."
Rights concertedly determinedly abrogated the rest of us take for granted.
“In the past year, there has been a swift and alarming erosion of acceptance which can only be fought by being visible and vocal,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement sent to NBC News. “This report puts numbers to the bias that too many LGBTQ Americans have recently experienced."
If you cowardly remain silent, expect discrimination to worsen:
"In a statement included within the report, Ellis said the decline in LGBTQ support "can be seen as a dangerous repercussion in the tenor of discourse and experience over the last year." "2017 brought heightened rhetoric toward marginalized communities to the forefront of American culture. Policies and headlines ran that were anti-LGBTQ including the President’s proposed ban on transgender people entering the U.S. military, confirmation of a Supreme Court justice opposed to marriage equality, and the passage of a state law in Mississippi which allows businesses to legally deny service to LGBTQ families,” Ellis wrote."
The president and his henchmen present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. No foreign power, no terrorist organization, not even the criminal element present a greater threat to our democratic republic.
Another egregious example of injustice. NPR reports:
"Aiden and Ethan Dvash-Banks share pretty much everything. The 16-month-old twins were born four minutes apart, from the same womb, to the same fathers and now they share the same toys in the living room of their Southern California home. But there is one thing they don't share — Aiden was granted U.S. citizenship and Ethan is living in California on an expired tourist visa. Why? The State Department says only one is the child of an American. One of the kids has the genetic material of his U.S. citizen father; the other, the genetic material from his other father, an Israeli citizen with a green card. Both boys were born in Canada."
Egregious example of homophobic bigotry. Republican nazis falsely claim to be the party of the family. They're not.
"The couple is now suing the State Department with the help of Immigration Equality, an LGBTQ-immigrant-rights organization. It's one of two lawsuits filed this week by married, same-sex couples who had children abroad. In each case one of the children was refused citizenship because he was genetically related to only the foreign parent."
Outrageous. Any excuse by Trump and his henchmen to deny equal rights to married same sex couples.
"Immigration Equality says it goes against the Immigration and Nationality Act that says children born abroad to at least one U.S. parent get citizenship. But the State Department's interpretation says the child must be biologically related to the U.S. citizen to get the passport."
Any excuse to force their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on others in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
"Andrew Dvash-Banks had made his life with his Israeli husband, Elad, in Canada because before 2013 same-sex marriages weren't legal in the United States and Andrew couldn't sponsor his husband. Andrew describes applying for his newborns' passports at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto. The Dvash-Bankses had their marriage license and the kids' birth certificates. Everything was in order. They heard their number called; they walked up to the window and greeted the consular officer, who looked a little surprised, they said. "She started off with, 'Obviously the two of you had to use assisted reproduction in order to have your family,' " Andrew said. " 'Tell me more about that. Tell me about who is genetically related to who.' " The questions were invasive, probing, embarrassing, he said. He cried; Elad got quiet."
Nazi America.
"They didn't expect this. As the children of an American citizen, the twins should both inherit citizenship. But the couple used a surrogate abroad. Each child has genes from one of his fathers. And while Andrew and Elad never planned to tell anyone which child had Andrew's DNA and which child had Elad's, the State Department asked for DNA tests. Two months later, Andrew says, letters came. "One addressed to Aiden, with a U.S. passport saying congratulations, here is your U.S. passport," he said. "And one addressed to my son Ethan saying we regret to inform you that your application for citizenship has been rejected." Despite both men being listed on the boys' birth certificates, Elad says, the government made a distinction."
In the mold of Hitler's Third Reich.
"It was literally black and white, on paper, your kids are different," he said. "That was something that any parent would have a hard time seeing, that the government is discriminating against their kids and treating them differently. It's terrible."
Jackbooted nazi.
"The discrimination happens in the application, said Aaron Morris, executive director of Immigration Equality. Under the manual's guidance, every single same-sex couple with children would be flagged at a U.S. Embassy. "Treating same-sex couples differently in this way is illegal and unconstitutional," Morris said. "It is possible that an opposite-sex couple, if they disclose that they had used surrogacy, might have the same problem. But the difference is, in every same-sex couple's case the government is asking deeply invasive questions about the makeup and the creation of the children of same-sex couples. To create a blanket rule in this way that targets only one small population of people and every single member of that class of people is discrimination."
No question. Nazi.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
1-19-18
The LGBTQ community continues to come under vicious attack. NBC reports:
"At least 129 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced across 30 states during the 2017 state legislative season, according to a new report published by LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Twelve of these bills — which range from adoption laws to “religious freedom” legislation — became law, the report noted. “If an LGBTQ couple drove from Maine to California today, their legal rights and civil rights protections could change more than 20 times at state borders and city lines,” HRC President Chad Griffin said in a statement."
Sad, isn't it? Egregious violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
1-5-18
The 'Justice' Department, at least for now, is caving in to reality. CBS News reports:
"The Justice Department is putting its attempt to ban transgender military recruits on hold. The decision means enlistment of transgender people can start Jan. 1. But their future in the armed forces remains murky. The Justice Department isn't dropping its court fight to uphold its proposed ban on transgender enlistment. Instead it says it will wait for a Pentagon study on the issue in coming weeks before deciding what to do. A federal appeals court recently refused the Trump administration's request to let the ban start Jan. 1. Other federal judges have also refused to side with the administration."
There are many transgenders already in the military. This will add to the population, making it much more difficult to discharge them in the future. Think the 'Justice' Department doesn't see the handwriting on the wall? It's 2018, not 1958.
The LGBTQ community has made progress in the last year. All that remains at risk with the Trump nazi and his henchmen in power, in Congress, and the courts. Think the nazi element won't do all it can to turn back the clock?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
1-5-18
Another positive move for the LGBTQ community. Hopefully, this change will not be reversed by the nazi element. CBS News reports:
"Starting in January, Illinois will bar a rare criminal defense allowing the use of a victim's sexual orientation as justification for violent crime, a ban gay rights advocates say they will attempt to replicate in about half a dozen states next year. Defense attorneys will no longer be able to mount the so-called "gay panic defense" in Illinois, the second state after California to prohibit the tactic. There are variations, but the defense argument generally goes like this: A person doesn't realize someone is gay or transgender and engages in a flirtation, then discovers that person's sexual orientation and that discovery triggers a passionate involuntary response such as murder."
All this progress remains at risk courtesy of the Trump nazi and his henchmen in power, in Congress, and the courts.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
1-5-18
Homophobic nazis lost yet another LGBTQ case. The Washington Times reports:
"An appeals court ruled Thursday against the Oregon bakers who were fined $135,000 for declining to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple. In its decision, the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld an administrative law judge’s ruling that Melissa and Aaron Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, violated a public accommodations law barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation."
Good day for the Bill of Rights.
"Kelly Shackelford, president of the First Liberty Institute, a religious liberty law firm representing the Kleins, said he was “disappointed” by Thursday’s decision. “Freedom of expression for ourselves should require freedom of expression for others,” Mr. Shackelford said in a statement. “Today, the Oregon Court of Appeals decided that Aaron and Melissa Klein are not entitled to the Constitution’s promises of religious liberty and free speech. In a diverse and pluralistic society, people of good will should be able to peacefully coexist with different beliefs.”
That's not the issue. Your clients have every right to believe as they wish. Don't, however, have the right to discriminate against others who do not share their religious views.
"The panel of appellate judges concluded that baking wedding cakes does not constitute “speech, art or other expression” protected by the First Amendment. Even if the Kleins “imbue each wedding cake with their own aesthetic choices,” the court said, other people will not necessarily “experience any wedding cake that the Kleins create predominantly as ‘expression’ rather than as food.”
Wouldn't want to confuse a religious nazi with the truth, would we? The Supreme Court recently heard a similar case. Be interesting to see the upcoming ruling.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
12-22-17
An achingly egregious 'apologist' for pedophile priests has died. NPR reports:
"Cardinal Bernard Law, the former archbishop of Boston — once widely seen as America's most influential prelate before resigning in disgrace amid the growing clergy sexual abuse scandal — has died in Rome. The Holy See's press office confirmed Law's death "after a long illness." He was 86. In a carefully worded statement, reflecting the ongoing anger at the longtime prelate for his role helping to cover up the sins of pedophile priests, his successor, Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley said, "I recognize that Cardinal Law's passing brings forth a wide range of emotions ...particularly ... all who experienced the trauma of sexual abuse by clergy." He offered "sincere apologies [and] continued prayers and ... support."
The Church still fails to get it:
"O'Malley went on to say, "It is a sad reality that for many, Cardinal Law's life and ministry is identified with one overwhelming reality, the crisis of sexual abuse by priests ... because his pastoral legacy has many other dimensions," from civil rights and ecumenical work, to his care for the poor and immigrants."
Refuses to finally wake up:
"Law was at ground zero of the crisis when it exploded in Boston in 2002. He remained the face of the scandal, as it swelled to the tsunami that engulfed the Catholic Church worldwide. Law's response to the growing crisis only fueled the rage. For example, shortly after the scandal broke, he showed little compunction, issuing a carefully worded, Nixonian concession. "Judgments were made ... which in retrospect were tragically incorrect," he said. Even as allegations and protests continued to mount, parishioners seethed that Law "still didn't get it." "These are not easy days to serve in the pastoral role that is mine," he allowed at a special Mass in Boston in April 2002. It was only after almost a year, when even his own priests were publicly calling on him to quit, that Law did so after 19 years as head of the Boston Archdiocese. Pope John Paul II accepted his resignation."
Too little, much too late. All the damage done to these kids lasts a lifetime. Think whatever good the Cardinal did makes up for all that?
With all the problems remaining in the Church, at least some progress seems to be made regarding the LGBTQ community. The Pope earlier opining who is he to judgecertainly seems to show some willingness for tolerance. The following, remarkable. Step in the right direction. CBS News reports:
"A Roman Catholic priest in Milwaukee has come out as gay, writing that he will no longer live in the shadows of secrecy and plans to be authentic to his gay self. The Rev. Gregory Greiten disclosed his sexual orientation on Sunday to the St. Bernadette Parish and he says he was greeted with a standing ovation from his parishioners, CBS affiliate WDJT reports. "I feel freer in my life today than I certainly have felt in the many years prior. If we can bring that kind of honesty and integrity into the lives of others, my coming out story was well worth it," Greiten told WDJT."
The Church, despite achingly rigid dogma, has repeatedly stated for quite some time sexual preference is not the issue, acting on it is. Fascinating, isn't it?
"Greiten came out to his mother when he was 24, but knowing he wanted to be a priest, he stayed in the closet, the station reported. "I literally was in a window and I wanted to jump out of the fifth floor of a building into the concrete below. That was the absolute low point," Greiten told WDJT."
No kid should ever have to go through this. No matter his or her sexual orientation.
"He also wrote a column that was published Monday in the National Catholic Reporter. It's rare for a priest to come out. Greiten said he revealed his sexual orientation because he wants to be a role model for others. He said he's helping to break the silence of gay men in the clergy so he could reclaim his own voice. "I will embrace the person that God created me to be," Greiten wrote. "In my priestly life and ministry, I, too, will help you, whether you are gay or straight, bisexual or transgendered, to be your authentic self - to be fully alive living in your image and likeness of God."
Think the Head Honcho wouldn't agree?
"Greiten wrote that [he] has decided to stand with the "few courageous priests who have taken the risk to come out of the shadows and have chosen to live in truth and authenticity." The church's silent stance on gay priests perpetuates toxic shaming and systematic secrecy, Greiten wrote. The church needs healthy role models for priests who are struggling to come to terms with their sexual orientation, he said."
Years ago, the following would not have happened:
"Greiten met with Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki before coming out, according to an archdiocese spokeswoman. "We support Father Greiten in his own personal journey and telling his story of coming to understand and live with his sexual orientation," Listecki said in a statement Monday. "As the Church teaches, those with same-sex attraction must be treated with understanding and compassion."
Imagine that. No question, the LGBTQ community is entitled to the very same rights the rest of us take for granted.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
12-15-17
Think Trump isn't nominating egregiously unfit candidates to the judiciary? The Washington Times reports:
"Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley advised President Trump on Tuesday to reconsider two of his federal district court nominees, saying they have made troubling comments that could taint their confirmations. He singled out Brett Talley, an Alabama district court nominee, and Jeff Mateer, a Texas district court nominee. "I’ve advised the White House they ought to reconsider,” Mr. Grassley told CNN. “I would advise the White House not to proceed.”
For damned good reason:
"Mr. Talley has faced criticism from Democratic and Republican senators for blogging in support of the Ku Klux Klan and withholding information about his wife’s position as chief of staff to White House counsel Don McGahn. Lawmakers said this presents a conflict of interest."
Think this candidate isn't a racist?
"Mr. Mateer allegedly compared the Nazi regime to the treatment of Christians in the United States and said transgender children are part of “Satan’s plan,” sparking backlash from liberal organizations."
Think this sick 'Christian' national socialist fit to sit on the bench?
"Mr. Talley was approved on a party-line vote in committee in November, but hasn’t received a floor vote. Mr. Mateer hasn’t had a confirmation hearing yet."
Think Trump is nominating candidates who have any respect, regard, and understanding of the Bill of Rights, that is, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties? Think these fascist bastards will uphold the rights of, provide due process to, the LGBTQ community, all racial and ethnic minorities?
In follow up to the above, NPR reports:
"The nomination of Brett Talley, the Justice Department official in line for a lifetime judicial appointment, "will not be moving forward," a Trump administration official told NPR Wednesday. Talley had been rated "unanimously unqualified" for the post by the American Bar Association this year after an evaluation that questioned his experience. Talley had never argued a case, or even a motion, in federal court, he testified."
What could the Trump nazi possibly been thinking? ... Almost forgot. He wasn't. Just wanted a bona fide nazi on the court.
"Even after Talley's nomination advanced through the Senate Judiciary Committee on an 11-to-9 party-line vote, media reports and good government groups cast doubt on his credentials for the spot on the U.S. District Court in Alabama, along with raising questions about his alleged failures to disclose blog posts and his wife's work in the Trump White House."
Republican nazis remain for the most part unwilling to be confused with the truth.
CBS/AP reports:
"The Senate on Tuesday narrowly confirmed one of President Trump's judicial nominees despite a rare "not qualified" rating from the American Bar Association. On a party-line vote of 50-48, the Republican-led Senate backed Leonard Steven Grasz to serve on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"Grasz served for more than 11 years as Nebraska's chief deputy attorney general and was general counsel to the Nebraska Republican Party. In one opinion he helped craft, he said the legacy of the landmark abortion rights ruling Roe v. Wade was its "moral bankruptcy." Another opinion he helped write warned of the "grave danger" of the Nebraska Supreme Court recognizing same-sex marriages from other states, and he advised that legislation refusing to recognize same-sex marriages could be defended against a constitutional challenge."
Think this Republican nazi will be impartial on the bench? Put aside his perverse ideological and religious bias when ruling on a case? Believe he'll uphold the constitutional right to abortion affirmed by Roe v. Wade? Laws protecting the LGBTQ community? Republican nazis on the bench continue to take a raucous hard dump on all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Present an exigent threat to liberty, moreover, our supposed democratic republic.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
12-15-17
The Trump nazi and his henchmen lost another big one in court. NPR reports:
"Following a federal court ruling, the Pentagon has confirmed it will allow openly transgender individuals to enlist in the military beginning Jan. 1. The Trump administration had resisted that deadline in court, seeking to have its ban on new transgender troops reinstated — but on Monday, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly upheld an earlier decision to temporarily block President Trump's ban.
"As NPR's Camila Domonoske explained then, Kollar-Kotelly found "that trans members of the military have a strong case that the president's ban would violate their Fifth Amendment rights." The administration appealed that ruling, seeking to implement its ban during the pending court cases, only to see the appeal denied by Kollar-Kotelly on Monday."
Amazing how the LGBTQ community has to fight so hard to retain rights the rest of us all too often take for granted.
"Later on Monday, a third judge issued a ruling blocking the president's ban on transgender recruits. U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman ruled in Seattle in the case of a soldier based in Washington state and two men who hope to enlist."
Indeed, a good day for civil and constitutional rights and liberties under siege by the Trump nazi and his henchmen.
"In her decision, she noted that she was "not convinced by the vague claims" that the Jan. 1 deadline needed to be delayed. At the same time, she reiterated her October argument that trans service members have a strong case and questioned the administration's "portrayal of their situation as an emergency," considering more than three weeks passed before it filed the appeal. "If complying with the military's previously established January 1, 2018 deadline to begin accession was as unmanageable as Defendants now suggest, one would have expected Defendants to act with more alacrity," she added in the final line of her decision."
Good to see the judiciary stand up to the nazi fuhrer in the Oval Office. DOD and the Oval Office are not happy campers:
"The Department of Defense has announced it will comply with the order to allow transgender recruits — but in a statement Monday, the department made clear that it is doing so reluctantly."
Tough, isn't it? ... Any day the Nazi Right gets a figurative hard kick to the ass desperately trying to force its perverse ideological and religious views on others is indeed a good day.
"This policy will be implemented while the Department of Justice appeals those court orders," a Pentagon spokesperson said in the statement, adding: "DoD and the Department of Justice are actively pursuing relief from those court orders in order to allow an ongoing policy review scheduled to be completed before the end of March." White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the Justice Department is also "reviewing legal options" to ensure that the president's directive can be implemented."
Constitution? Bill of Rights? All civil and constitutional rights and liberties? Mean shit squat to the national socialist enthroned in the Oval Office. Hopefully, the lawsuits will be successful, rein in the Trump nazi.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
11-24-17
Sadly, the war rages on against the LGBTQ community. NPR reports:
"More than half of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans say they have experienced violence, threats or harassment because of their sexuality or gender identity, according to new poll results being released Tuesday by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health."
No matter gender preference, if LGBTQ discrimination is allowed to stand unchallenged, the question to be asked remains achingly simple. Who's next?
"There are very few nationally representative polls of LGBTQ people, and even fewer that ask about LGBTQ people's personal experiences of discrimination," says Logan Casey, deputy director of the survey and research associate in public opinion at the Harvard Chan School. "This report confirms the extraordinarily high levels of violence and harassment in LGBTQ people's lives." Majorities also say they have personally experienced slurs or insensitive or offensive comments or negative assumptions about their sexual orientation. And 34 percent say they or an LGBTQ friend or family member has been verbally harassed in the bathroom when entering or while using a bathroom — or has been told or asked if they were using the wrong bathroom."
Interestingly, Trump just lost another military transgender case in court. The Washington Post reports:
"A second federal judge has halted the Trump administration’s proposed transgender military ban finding that active-duty service members are “already suffering harmful consequences” because of the president’s policy. The ruling Tuesday from U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis in the Maryland case comes just weeks after another judge in Washington blocked the administration’s proposal that would have stopped military recruitment of transgender men and women and possibly forced the dismissal of current service members starting in March. The preliminary injunction issued by the judge in Baltimore on Tuesday goes further than the earlier ruling by also preventing the administration from denying funding for sex-reassignment surgeries after the order takes effect."
Think the Trump nazi won't appeal this to the Supreme Court?
"In his 53-page order, Garbis said the transgender service members challenging the ban have “demonstrated that they are already suffering harmful consequences such as the cancellation and postponements of surgeries, the stigma of being set apart as inherently unfit, facing the prospect of discharge and inability to commission as an officer, the inability to move forward with long-term medical plans, and the threat to their prospects of obtaining long-term assignments.”
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
11-10-17
The LGBTQ community scored big. NPR reports:
"Tuesday's election not only brought Democratic wins in high-profile gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, but it also saw historic victories for women, minority and LGBTQ candidates in down-ballot races nationwide. In the northern Virginia suburb of Prince William County, Danica Roem became the first openly transgender candidate to win a statehouse seat anywhere in the country. She defeated the long-time Republican incumbent, social conservative Robert Marshall. Roem outraised Marshall, who called himself Virginia's "chief homophobe," 3 to 1. Marshall, who had served 13 terms, was the sponsor of a so-called "bathroom bill" that died in committee. But voters seemed more concerned about local issues like traffic congestion in electing the former journalist."
Immigrants, minorities, and women scored big as well:
"Also in Virginia, Kathy Tran, a refugee from Vietnam, became the first Asian-American woman elected to Virginia's House of Delegates. And Elizabeth Guzman and Hala Ayala both defeated Republican incumbents to become the first Latina women elected to the chamber. Andrea Jenkins won election to the Minneapolis City Council, becoming the first openly transgender person of color elected to office in the U.S. Jenkins was a policy aide on the city council and won more than 70 percent of the vote. Across the Mississippi River, Melvin Carter was elected the first African-American mayor of St. Paul. In Hoboken, N.J., Ravi Bhalla was elected mayor, making him the city's first Sikh American chief executive. Bhalla had served on the city council for eight years. His campaign was the subject of racist flyers, showing a picture of Bhalla in his turban and the message, "Don't let TERRORISM take over our town!"
Must have certainly sent a chill up the gutless spines of the Trump nazi, his henchmen, and the Republican Party. Hopefully, a portend of what's to come during midterms. We'll see.
Here are some more of the firsts:
"Wilmot
Collins, a refugee from Liberia, was elected mayor of Helena Mont., becoming
the state's first black mayor.
"Seattle
elected its first female mayor since 1926. Jenny Durkan will also be the
city's first lesbian mayor, winning the post vacated by Ed Murray, who
resigned after several men accused him of sexually abusing them.
"Charlotte,
N.C., elected its first female African American mayor, Democrat Vi Lyles.
"Manchester,
N.H., the state's largest city, elected its first female mayor in its 266-year
history, Joyce Craig. She defeated Republican incumbent Ted Gatsas."
Hopefully, all this is indication desperately needed change may indeed be in the air.
At the same time and sadly, homophobic anti-LGBTQ bigotry remains alive and well on the Nazi Right in this country. NPR in another article reports:
"It's the first time someone who's said they were transgender has been elected to a state legislature. Roem, a Democrat, decisively defeated Republican Del. Bob Marshall in a Northern Virginia district near Washington, D.C. Marshall had held the seat since 1992 and had been a prominent religious conservative in Virginia politics. The race was one of this year's most high profile, drawing national and international attention. Marshall refused to debate Roem and said in an interview earlier this year that "Danica clearly is out here doing this for making a marker in the national character that you can engage in this behavior — which clearly goes against the laws of nature and nature's God — and hold public office to make decisions on behalf of the common good. ... That is what is kind of at stake here." The Republican Party of Virginia also paid for a mailer referring to Roem as a man."
Pitiful, isn't it? Amazing how insecure the Nazi Right remains vis a vis gender identity.
"Before running for office, Roem worked as a newspaper reporter. That experience, she said in a recent interview with NPR, would make her a better lawmaker. "I've dedicated my professional career to vetting information ... and then reporting the truth as it is, not what other people hope it should be," she said."
Indeed. The Right fails to understand truth trumps ideology. Always has, always will.
11-3-17
The attempt of the Nazi Right to deny the LGBTQ community all civil and constitutional rights and liberties accorded the rest of us seemingly has no conclusion. ABC News reports:
"A Kentucky judge who raised moral objections to hearing adoption cases involving same-sex couples plans to resign from the bench in a move he hopes will end a disciplinary case against him, according to a document released Thursday. In his written response to charges that he violated judicial rules, Judge W. Mitchell Nance informed the state's judicial disciplinary commission of his resignation, effective in mid-December. Nance also sent a resignation letter to Gov. Matt Bevin, who will appoint his replacement."
If you can't or won't enforce all civil and constitutional rights and liberties, indeed, time to go, 'Judge.'
"Civil rights advocates had urged Nance's ouster after he declared that "under no circumstance" would a child's adoption by same-sex couples be in the youngster's best interest."
Unadulterated bullshit by a homophobic nazi bigot.
"The judge, citing religious objections, filed an order in April that signaled his unwillingness to handle adoption cases involving gay and lesbian adults. Nance hears family court cases in Barren and Metcalfe counties, a rural stretch in south-central Kentucky."
While this guy is entitled to his views, he's not entitled to force them on others.
"Gay-rights activist Chris Hartman said Thursday that Nance's impending resignation serves as a strong reminder for judges to "do their job or get off the bench."
Indeed. It's up to all of us, no matter our gender preference, to stand up for the civil and constitutional rights of all. If not, who's next?
11-3-17
NPR reports:
"President Trump's would-be ban on transgender service members in the military has been blocked from going into effect for the foreseeable future. A U.S. district judge in Washington, D.C., decided on Monday that trans members of the military have a strong case that the president's ban would violate their Fifth Amendment rights. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly granted a preliminary injunction to keep the policy from going into effect while the court case moves forward. As a result of her injunction, the military policy on transgender service members will "revert to the status quo," Kollar-Kotelly writes — that is, the policy that was in place before Trump's announcement. That policy allowed trans members currently in the military to serve openly and for openly trans people to be admitted to serve in the future."
10-20-17
The Trump nazi continues to bastardize religion to score political points. NPR reports:
"President Trump spoke to one of the most faithful blocs of his base on Friday, telling attendees at this year's Values Voter Summit that in America "we don't worship government, we worship God."
Non-sequitur. Who the hell worships government other than the Trump nazi and his fellow henchmen? Seem to have conveniently forgotten they've abused power, neglected to uphold the Constitution, their oaths of office. To say nothing of having bastardized the Constitution. For political, ideological, and religious purposes.
"Trump was the first sitting president to address the annual gathering of Christian conservatives, and while he's had trouble enacting some of his campaign promises legislatively so far in his term, he has ticked off many boxes with the evangelical voters that helped propel him to the Oval Office."
They're not conservatives. They're fascists with a diabolical nazi agenda. Determinedly denying all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Imposing their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views by unconstitutional statutes, and/or executive fiat.
"We know that it's the family and the church — not government officials — who know best how to create strong and loving communities," Trump said."
Crock of shit. What they know how to do is dictate, then force their outrageously perverse religious and ideological views on others in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause. Church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
"He got a standing ovation when he talked of appointing Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Trump noted he signed a religious liberty order on the National Day of Prayer that eased enforcement of the Johnson Amendment, which regulated political activity of churches. And he reminded the crowd that last week he also weakened the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act, which some religious groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor opposed."
In direct violation of his oath of office to uphold the Constitution, specifically, the First Amendment Establishment Clause. Trump is a delusional traitor.
"As long as we have pride in our country, confidence in our future and faith in our God, then America will prevail," Trump said."
Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini couldn't have said it better. A raucous boot clicking, goose stepping, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Sieg Heil!, Mr. 'President?'
Despite being laden with Republican nazis, the Supreme Court, on occasion, does get it right. The Washington Times reports:
"The Supreme Court declined Monday to take up a case on whether a statue of the Ten Commandments could be placed alongside other historical monuments on public property in New Mexico. Two residents in Bloomfield, in the state’s northwestern corner, successfully sued in 2012 to have the statue removed, but religious-rights advocates had been seeking to get it restored, arguing the city had created a public space for historical monuments on government and law. The Ten Commandments was erected by citizens as part of that display, along with the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address and the Bill of Rights. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the city, holding that even a “passive” religious display such as the Ten Commandments, posted among other memorials, could be seen by an observer to be an endorsement of religion. The Supreme Court’s refusal to take the case leaves that lower ruling in place."
The First Amendment Establishment Clause prescribes church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion. Precisely, why a religious display on public property is outrageously unconstitutional.
Here's what's so dangerous about imposition of religious dogma on the unwilling. The Washington Post reports:
"Cady Mansell has always had a strong sense of fashion. At 9 years old, she likes trying on makeup and painting her nails. She likes shopping trips to Chicago with her fashion-conscious mother. And since she asked for her first bow tie during one of those trips to the mall when she was just 4 years old, Cady has had a thing for snazzy suits. When it came time for her First Communion, a major event for Cady, she naturally started thinking early about what she wanted to wear on the big day. She settled on a brand-new all-white suit. “It kind of sparkles in the sunlight,” she enthused when she tried it on."
Can't have that, can we? Certainly, not if you're a nine-year-old girl. What might fellow parishioners think? You might be a lesbian, transgender?
"But then word got out at her Catholic school about Cady’s planned attire. School officials told Cady’s parents that she couldn’t participate in First Communion with the rest of her class unless she wore a skirt or dress. When the Mansells dug in their heels, insisting that their daughter should wear the outfit she had picked out for her special day, the argument escalated quickly — to the point that the Mansells pulled their daughters out of the school and the church altogether. “It made me sad and mad,” Cady said. “We should all be equal and wear what we would like.”
While the Catholic Church has indeed come a long way since Vatican II nearly sixty years ago, they've got a long, long way to go. Apparently, still demand kids mindlessly goose step in unison.
"The Rev. Sammie Maletta, the priest at St. John the Evangelist, told the Mansells that a deacon at the church could administer Cady’s First Communion privately, but that she couldn’t attend the ceremony with the rest of her classmates unless she wore a dress or skirt. Cady was upset by that; she wanted to sit with her friends. Maletta declined to comment on this story, according to a school official. “We couldn’t go to the real Communion Mass,” Cady’s mother, Chris Mansell, said. “We would have to wait until all the kids left the building, then come in like a secret. No picture, no anything, like we were ashamed of her. I said, ‘That’s not an option.’ ”
Surprising this crap still goes on. Especially, with a Jesuit Pope. While this attire issue has nothing to do with sexuality and/or gender identification, readers are reminded this Pope opined who was he to judge when asked a question regarding the LGBTQ community. Indeed. Think the Head Honcho would have denied Cady her First Communion with her classmates? Think so?
10-13-17
Equally ominous? ABC News reports:
"Attorney General Jeff Sessions consulted Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal advocacy group that champions conservative Christian causes, ahead of issuing controversial guidance to government agencies and departments on Friday about how to interpret federal religious liberty protections."
Unbelievable. Direct abrogation of the Sessions nazi's oath to protect and defend the United States Constitution. First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
"Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a group whose stated mission is to “keep the doors open for the Gospel by advocating for religious liberty, the sanctity of life, and marriage and family,” hailed Sessions’ announcement, while a number of leading LGBT advocacy groups condemned the move for effectively offering a religious exemption for sexual orientation discrimination."
Bet they did. No more than the Trump nazi's transition of the de facto fascist police-state we already live in to the Fourth Reich. All civil and constitutional rights and liberties are, and remain, in jeopardy. Legalized discrimination, courtesy of the Nazi Right.
"In a call with reporters, ADF CEO Michael Farris confirmed to ABC News that Sessions met with the group during a series of so-called “listening sessions” convened by the Attorney General, who says he was “seeking suggestions regarding the areas of federal protection for religious liberty most in need of clarification or guidance.”
Sessions betrayed his oath of office. Remains an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
“I commend the president for taking another step to honor his campaign promise to make religious liberty his ‘first priority’ by directing the Department of Justice to issue this guidance, which simply directs the federal government to adhere to its legal and constitutional obligation to respect existing religious freedom protections,” wrote Farris in a statement."
What this does is legalize discrimination against the LGBTQ community, women who seek to do as they please with their uterus, etc.. List can sadly go on and on. Dangerous times in our formerly great country.
"The Department of Justice did not respond to requests to release a list of the individuals and groups Sessions met with during his “listening sessions.”
Why not? If there's nothing to hide, why no transparency?
"ADF was founded in 1994 by a group of leading Christian evangelical leaders, including James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ and Larry Burkett of Crown Financial Ministries. Since then, ADF has established itself as a leading litigation and appellate advocacy group for Christian right causes, including opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, and social conservatives hail the group as champions of religious freedom."
Freedom to discriminate. What they're doing is imposing their perverse religious and ideological views on others. Through force of law, egregious bastardization of the U.S Constitution.
"ADF lawyers have argued several cases before the Supreme Court and are currently representing Colorado baker Jack Phillips, who is challenging the state’s nondiscrimination protections after he was found in violation of the law for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in 2012. The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to review the Phillips case. In a recent appearance on ABC’s “The View,” Phillips defended his actions: “I don’t believe that Jesus would have made a cake, if he would have been the baker,” he said."
This haughty nazi bastard truly believes he speaks for the Head Honcho of his religion. Seems to have conveniently forgotten his Head Honcho poignantly admonished assholes like him not to judge lest he be judged.
"The progressive Southern Poverty Law Center added ADF in 2016 to its “designated hate group” list, which includes a number of right-wing evangelical organizations, for what SPLC calls its “anti-LGBT ideology.” The SPLC said ADF “works to develop ‘religious liberty’ legislation and case law that will allow the denial of goods and services to LGBT people on the basis of religion” and “has supported the recriminalization of homosexuality in the U.S. and criminalization abroad.”
Raw nazism. This is whom the Sessions nazi seeks legal counsel from? Hear the rumble? An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming.
"On Friday, Sessions outlined 20 broad “principles” designed to ensure that “to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, religious observance and practice should be accommodated in all government activity,” including a decree that “a governmental action substantially burdens an exercise of religion … if it compels an act inconsistent with that observance or practice, or substantially pressures the adherent to modify such observance or practice.”
This man is dangerous. A traitor. An exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
"For several leading LGBT advocates, the new guidance was an alarming effort to undermine sexual orientation discrimination protections, under the guise of affirming religious liberty, that could have far-reaching implications."
Not only for the LGBTQ community, but the rest of us who refuse to goose step in unison with these goddamned nazis.
"According to Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin, the new guidance makes millions of Americans vulnerable to discrimination. “Today the Trump-Pence administration launched an all-out assault on LGBTQ people, women and other minority communities by unleashing a sweeping license to discriminate,” said Griffin in a statement. “This blatant attempt to further Donald Trump’s cynical and hateful agenda will enable systematic, government-wide discrimination that will have a devastating impact on LGBTQ people and their families.”
Worse? Far worse? The revolution doomsday clock strikes ever closer to midnight. ... As the Nazi Right desperately attempts to transform the de facto fascist police-state we already live in to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.
"Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, argued that the new guidance rests on a misinterpretation of religious liberty. “Today’s guidance by Jeff Sessions proves this Administration will do anything possible to categorize LGBTQ Americans as second-class citizens who are not equal under the law,” said Ellis in a statement. “Freedom of religion is paramount to our nation’s success, but doesn't give people the right to impose their beliefs on others, to harm other, or to discriminate. Nothing could be more un-American and unholy than using religion to justify harm and discrimination to others.”
The nazi element couldn't care less. Goose step in unison with their forebears, Adolf and Benito.
"For David Dinielli, the deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s LGBT Rights Project, the ADF’s apparent relationship with Sessions is a troubling sign of the group’s growing influence in the new administration."
Raw nazism.
“The fact that the ADF has confirmed it has participated in a listening session is further proof that extremists have infiltrated the highest echelons of power in this administration, even the Attorney General who is tasked with protecting the civil rights of all Americans,” Dinielli told ABC News. “I’m not certain who came up with the invitation list to these listening sessions, but I can assure you it did not include groups who provide services to those who will be directly affected by this new guidance.”
Traitors. As the fascist police-state we already live in transforms to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.
Gets worse. Get this. The Washington Times reports:
"Attorney General Jeff Sessions has rolled back an Obama-era Justice Department policy that extended protections to transgender workers under a 1964 civil rights law banning sex discrimination. In a memo sent to federal prosecutors this week, Mr. Sessions said discrimination protections offered by Title VII do not extend to gender identity and that interpretations otherwise went beyond the scope of the laws adopted by Congress. “Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination encompasses discrimination between men and women but does not encompass discrimination based on gender identity per se, including transgender status,” Mr. Sessions wrote."
Spoken as the nazi he truly is.
"The decision roiled gay rights activists, who saw the memo as a direct attack on transgender individuals. “Today marks another low point for a Department of Justice, which has been cruelly consistent in its hostility towards the LGBT community and in particular its inability to treat transgender people with basic dignity and respect,” said James Esseks, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT and HIV Project. “This Department of Justice under Jeff Sessions has time and time again made it clear that its explicit agenda is to attack and undermine the civil rights of our most vulnerable communities, rather than standing up for them as they should be doing.”
This cancer is deeply entrenched. Systemic. CBS News reports:
"Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, introduced the "The Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act" to the Senate Thursday after its passage in the House Tuesday. "At the end of the day what we are trying to do is stop the practice of abortion on-demand at 20 weeks, and believe it or not, it is a problem," Graham said at a press conference Thursday. The House voted 237-189 to pass the measure. The proposed legislation would make performing or attempting to perform an abortion illegal after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for life-threatening circumstances for the mother as well as cases of rape, which Graham qualified as being "rare." Twenty states have similar bans in place. Under the measure, abortion providers would face penalties including a potential fine, up to five years in prison, or both."
Goddamned Republican nazis. Wouldn't know freedom, liberty if it figuratively bit them hard on their national socialist, achingly fascist asses.
Texas Rep. Mike Conaway opines in his latest newsletter:
"There is no life more vulnerable than the life of an unborn child. Medical professionals have reached a consensus that at 20 weeks, a child in utero can feel pain and physical suffering. This week, the House passed The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which ensures that no child capable of feeling pain will be subjected to the cruelty of an abortion."
It's nazis on the Right like you Congressman who dictate to doctors what they can and cannot do vis a vis how abortions are performed and what medications are used. Your claim is achingly disingenuous since doctors are not allowed to administer a lethal injection to the fetus which would eliminate any possibility of pain. Nazis like you dictate by statute medical procedures to impose your achingly perverse religious and ideological views on all.
"The majority of Americans support a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, yet the United States is one of just seven countries that allows elective abortions after 20 weeks- along with countries like North Korea and China who are known to dispose of babies with defects. It's time we stand as a country in support of the unborn children who are counting on our protection."
Outrageously haughty of you and other nazis who think like you to impose your outrageously perverse religious and ideological views by statute on those who strongly disagree with them. Achingly, un-American. Worse? Traitorous. Nazi.
Abortion care continues to be denied in our formerly great country. NPR reports:
"Dr. Graham Chilies has delivered hundreds of babies. But when a woman comes into his family medicine practice in Waive, Hawaii, seeking an abortion, he can only advise her to buy a plane ticket. "There are no abortion providers on our island," Chelius said, "so if one of my patients wants to end her pregnancy, she has to fly to a different island 150 miles away to get this care."
Nazi America. Determined abrogation of a constitutional right.
"Chelius is a plaintiff in a new lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union that's seeking to expand access to medication abortions, which can be used during the first 10 weeks of a pregnancy. The suit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Hawaii, challenges a longstanding U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation allowing the abortion pill, Mifeprex, to be dispensed only at a medical facility under the care of a certified provider. Among other requirements, those providers must pre-register with the drug manufacturer, keep the medication in stock, and be capable of providing a surgical abortion if complications arise. Chelius argues those rules are unnecessary and cumbersome. Hawaii has one of the nation's highest poverty rates, and the delays and expenses are sometimes insurmountable barriers, Chelius said. The case could have implications beyond Hawaii."
Hopefully.
"The FDA restrictions create delays that often push medication abortion out of reach of my patients," he said. "And some of my patients are simply unable to make this trip and instead have been forced to carry a pregnancy to term against their will."
Precisely, the will of the Nazi Right to deny women their constitutional right to abort.
"Julia Kaye, a staff attorney with ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project, argues that it's time for the FDA to allow women to fill those prescriptions at pharmacies – a move that could substantially expand access to medication abortions. She notes that the abortion pill is considered safe by most medical professionals, and many women prefer it. "It feels more natural to them, like a miscarriage. It allows them to pass the pregnancy in the privacy and comfort of their homes surrounded by their loved ones," Kaye said. "It allows a woman to end her pregnancy on her own terms."
Can't have that in a fascist police-state soon to be the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich:
"Anti-abortion groups have long opposed the abortion pill, along with other methods of ending pregnancy."
To impose their outrageously perverse religious and ideological views on all by statute.
9-29-17
The LGBTQ community remains under vicious attack by the Nazi Right 'religious' community. NBC News reports:
"Michigan is illegally allowing faith-based organizations to reject same-sex couples who want to adopt children or become foster parents, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said Wednesday in a lawsuit challenging the practice. The state pays groups such as Catholic Charities and Bethany Christian Services to place children from troubled families with new families. The ACLU said Michigan is violating the U.S. Constitution by allowing the groups to use a religious test to carry out public services."
Direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
"Allowing agencies to discriminate could be the difference "between a child finding a permanent loving home or staying in the system," ACLU attorney Jay Kaplan said."
Matters not to the Nazi Right. Perversely believe they have the God-given constitutional right to discriminate against the LGBTQ community. Force their perverse religious views on all. Bastardize the First Amendment attempting to do so.
"Kaplan said the lawsuit was filed after Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette's office declined to speak to the ACLU about possible discrimination. He said he wants to be clear, however, that the ACLU is not challenging the private agencies, but rather suing Michigan for allowing state-contracted organizations to sponsor discrimination against gay families."
Outrageously unconstitutional. The state clearly has a religious agenda.
“The idea that our state would be funding organizations who keep children in that situation rather than loving, stable, supportive families who just happen to have two parents of the same sex is harmful and offensive,” Stephanie White, executive director of LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality Michigan, told NBC News. "These are not just private institutions operating under private funds under their own private rules. These are institutions that have been given a government contract [which uses] our public tax dollars to support this discrimination,” she added. “The fact that I’m being asked to fund, through my own tax dollars, my own discrimination is outrageous.”
No question. As tax dollars are not used to fund elective abortions, so too they're not to be used to fund a religious agenda and/or institution.
NBC News reports:
"The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a lesbian woman who is divorcing her spouse is entitled to equal parental rights under the U.S. Constitution, even though a state law doesn't recognize those rights. The ruling from the state's highest court said U.S. Supreme Court precedent requires same-sex couples be afforded the same rights as straight couples. It goes much further, suggesting that a host of Arizona laws and rules need to be rewritten to avoid case-by-case litigation."
NBC News reports:
"A federal judge has dismissed a Minnesota couple's lawsuit challenging a state law for the right to refuse to shoot wedding videos for same-sex couples. Carl and Angel Larsen, who own a videography company, Telescope Media Group, sued the state's human rights commissioner and attorney general over a provision of the Minnesota Human Rights Act that bars discrimination by businesses, the Star Tribune reported. The St. Cloud couple argued that the law amounted to "a state effort to stamp out expression opposing same-sex marriage," and they sought to post a notice on their company's website that they won't shoot same-sex weddings, based on their religious beliefs."
Blatant discrimination.
"In his ruling, Chief U.S. District Judge John Tunheim described that as "conduct akin to a 'White Applicants Only' sign" that may be outlawed without infringing on First Amendment rights. "Posting language on a website telling potential customers that a business will discriminate based on sexual orientation is part of the act of sexual orientation discrimination itself," the judge wrote. "As conduct carried out through language, this act is not protected by the First Amendment."
Quite right. Won't, however, stop a nazi from engaging in continued litigation:
"Jeremy Tedseco, an attorney for a conservative Christian group representing the couple, the Alliance Defending Freedom, said the group will appeal."
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
9-22-17
Some sanity. Not much, some. CBS News reports:
"New guidance released Friday by the Pentagon makes it clear that any transgender troops currently in the military can re-enlist in the next several months, even as the department debates how broadly to enforce a ban on their service ordered by President Donald Trump. In a memo to top military leaders, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said a high-level panel will determine how to implement Mr. Trump's ban on transgender individuals in the military. Mr. Trump directed the military to indefinitely extend the ban on transgender individuals enlisting in the service, but he left it up to Mattis to decide if those currently serving should be allowed to stay."
All this is outrageously anti-LGBTQ. An appalling affront to the community that's served its country with distinction.
"Members of Congress have already sent a letter to Mr. Trump calling on him to reconsider the ban. Sen. John McCain, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Friday he backed legislation that would bar the Trump administration from forcing transgender troops out of the armed forces. McCain of Arizona said in a statement that any service member, including those who are transgender, who meets the standards for military readiness and medical fitness should be permitted to serve."
No question.
"When less than 1 percent of Americans are volunteering to join the military, we should welcome all those who are willing and able to serve our country," McCain said."
Indeed.
"The bill is an attempt to establish protections for transgender troops in law, cutting off Mr. Trump's efforts to kick service members out based on their gender identity."
Time both major political parties put aside partisanship, do the right thing.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
9-22-17
Republicans in the Senate continue to take a raucous hard dump on the LGBTQ community. NBC News reports:
"In a hearing that lasted only a few minutes, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced the nomination of Stephen S. Schwartz to the Senate floor for confirmation. Schwartz, nominated to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, is one of several of Trump’s judicial picks to garner harsh criticism from LGBTQ advocates."
For damned good reason.
"In fact, 28 LGBTQ organizations — including Lambda Legal, Human Rights Campaign and National Center for Transgender Equality — sent a letter to the Committee opposing his nomination and citing what they consider to be his lack of qualifications and a “niche” legal practice of defending anti-transgender policies."
Clearly, what nazis in the Republican Party not only demand, but crave in the judiciary. To force their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on all. Direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
“The combination of Mr. Schwartz’s approach to important legal issues affecting the LGBT community, his history of seeking out opportunities to oppose the civil rights of LGBT and other marginalized people, and his relative inexperience in areas of the law within the jurisdiction of the Court of Federal Claims, render him unqualified for this position,” the letter states."
If civil and constitutional rights and liberties are denied to any segment of the population, the rights of the rest of us remain in jeopardy. Question to be asked, who's next?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
9-15-17
The Trump nazi and his henchmen continue to take a raucous hard dump on the LGBTQ community. Carefully consider ramifications of the following. CNN reports:
"The Trump administration is backing a Colorado baker who refused to create a cake for the wedding of a same-sex couple. The case -- one of the most important to be heard this term -- pits advocates for religious liberty against supporters of LGBT rights."
Sadly, disingenuously, that's a poor assessment of what's at stake. Don't think so? Wake up. What it does is attempt to legalize discrimination against the LGBTQ community. The question must always be asked, who's next?
"In a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the Supreme Court, the Justice Department urged the court to side with Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips, who says making a cake for a same-sex couple violates his religious liberty."
The hell it does. He's free to believe what he wishes, worship where he chooses. He's not free, however, to force his perverse religious views on others by discriminating against them.
"Forcing Phillips to create expression for and participate in a ceremony that violates his sincerely held religious beliefs invades his First Amendment rights," Acting Solicitor General Jeff Wall wrote for the Justice Department."
How? Would this shyster bastard similarly defend a racist who claimed the same in refusing to serve someone of color?
"The government may not enact content-based laws commanding a speaker to engage in protected expression: An artist cannot be forced to paint, a musician cannot be forced to play, and a poet cannot be forced to write," the brief adds."
An egregious, achingly disingenuous non-sequitur. Providing a public service is not the same as artistic expression. Apples and oranges.
"It's not unusual for the federal government to file an amicus brief in such an important constitutional case," said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law. "What makes this brief unusual is its substance. It's practically unheard of for the Justice Department to argue in favor of a constitutional exemption to antidiscrimination laws -- a constitutional right to discriminate. But that's exactly what this brief is doing," Vladeck said."
What it also does is open the door to creation of a theocracy in direct violation of the The First Amendment Establishment Clause.
"The ACLU, which is representing the couple, responded with a statement blasting the administration. "This Justice Department has already made its hostility to the rights of LGBT people and so many others crystal clear," said Louise Melling, ACLU's deputy legal director. "But this brief was shocking, even for this administration. What the Trump Administration is advocating for is nothing short of a constitutional right to discriminate."
Who's next?
NPR reports:
"The Justice Department has already made its hostility to the rights of LGBT people and so many others crystal clear," said Louise Melling, deputy legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union. "But this brief was shocking, even for this administration. What the Trump administration is advocating for is nothing short of a constitutional right to discriminate."
That's precisely what it does.
"Sharon McGowan is a former official in the Obama Justice Department's civil rights division. Now, she works on strategy issues at Lambda Legal, a group that advocates for the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. "The brief filed yesterday is just the latest example of how Donald Trump, Mike Pence and Jeff Sessions have placed a target on the backs of LGBT people in order to score political points with a shrinking base of supporters, and, for Pence and Sessions in particular, to impose their religious views on the rest of the country," McGowan said."
The mark of a nazi dictator and his henchmen.
NBC News reports:
"For the second time in less than three months, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has submitted an amicus brief that puts it at odds with supporters of LGBTQ civil rights. This time, the department's brief was submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court. Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission involves Christian baker Jack Phillips, who refused — due to his religious beliefs — to make a wedding cake for same-sex couple David Mullins and Charlie Craig. Lower courts sided with the couple, stating that Philips' refusal violated Colorado’s non-discrimination law (Colorado is one of 21 states that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation). However, Phillips appealed these rulings to the Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear the case this fall."
Sadly, should never have gotten that far. A portend, however, of far worse to come as the Trump nazi transforms the de facto fascist police-state we already live in to the Fourth Reich. Indeed, the worst is yet to come.
"Last month, the DOJ submitted another amicus brief in the case of Zarda v. Altitude Express. There, the DOJ sided with the defendant to argue that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act does not entitle lesbians, gays and bisexuals to workplace non-discrimination protections. Some advocates are calling the DOJ’s position on Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission a “license to discriminate” and citing a pattern of anti-LGBTQ actions by the Trump administration."
Precisely, that. Again, raises the question, who's next?
"Once again, the Trump-Pence Administration has taken direct aim at our nation’s progress on LGBTQ equality, this time urging the Supreme Court to grant a potentially sweeping license to discriminate against same-sex couples," Sarah Warbelow, legal director for LGBTQ advocacy organization Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement."
When any segment of the population is deliberately denied civil and constitutional rights and liberties, the rest of us are placed in jeopardy. Again, who's next?
"Louise Melling, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, who is representing Mullins and Craig, agreed. “This Justice Department has already made its hostility to the rights of LGBT people and so many others crystal clear," Melling said. "But this brief was shocking, even for this administration. What the Trump Administration is advocating for is nothing short of a constitutional right to discriminate." Melling added, however, that she and her team are "confident that the Supreme Court will rule on the side of equal rights just as the lower courts have."
Wouldn't count on it. Especially, in light of the recent edition of the Gorsuch nazi to the court. Then again, hope the court carefully considers the dire ramifications should it rule in favor of the Trump nazi:
"According to Anthony Kreis, a law professor specializing in LGBTQ rights, the DOJ's brief argues “the right to free expression trumps the right to equal access in this particular public accommodation.” This, he explained, is what makes the submission particularly troublesome. “The thrust of the argument is that cakes — wedding cakes — are inherently expressive items,” he said. “Because they are so inextricably linked to the expressive rights of the baker as an artist, there is a First Amendment right to decline service.” “It’s tempting to fall for this as a very narrow, minor exception to the general rule ... but it doesn’t make sense," Kreis added. He said the idea that cakes are somehow special is not supported by any general principle. So by this logic, he noted, “a vendor could claim anything is expressive it they wanted to.” Therein lies the problem for LGBTQ advocates, Kreis continued: The DOJ’s position “opens up a hole in anti-discrimination law with no foreseeable end in sight."
The revolution doomsday clock indeed strikes ever closer to midnight, -- as our formerly great country continues to nazify. An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming. While there are some who believe the government would win due to overwhelming military superiority and weapons systems, it would be a mistake to underestimate the determination of a well-armed citizenry who would never accept the imposition of nazism in this country. The war would be extremely bloody, costly, long-term, and employ guerilla tactics to level the playing field. Precisely, why this issue must be resolved before too late. Well before the point of no return.
9-15-17
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties? Get what you truly deserve.
9-8-17
Sam Clovis has his head so far up his ass his eyeballs are turning inside out. NBC News reports:
"Last week, President Donald Trump tapped Sam Clovis as his pick to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Research, Education and Economics division. Pending Senate confirmation, Clovis would oversee scientific research at the agency."
Big mistake. Big, big mistake.
"Clovis is a former economics professor at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. His career in politics includes an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in 2014 and serving as an early adviser on Trump’s presidential campaign. He is perhaps best known, however, as the host of talk radio program “Impact with Sam Clovis” in the conservative stronghold of western Iowa."
This guy has more than a few screws loose.
"Clovis’ nomination immediately came under fire from both the scientific community and the LGBTQ community."
With good reason.
"Catherine Woteki, the former undersecretary for research, education and economics in the Obama administration, stated that Clovis’ lack of scientific credentials makes him unfit for the position, one that she said necessitates scientific understanding."
Matters not to the Trump nazi.
“This position is the chief scientist of the Department of Agriculture. It should be a person who evaluates the scientific body of evidence and moves appropriately from there,” Woteki told ProPublica."
Clearly, not what the Trump nazi is looking for. Equally outrageous?
"As a radio host and political aspirant, Clovis has also established himself as fervently anti-LGBTQ. In public forums, Clovis has rejected civil rights protections for gays and lesbians on the grounds that homosexuality is a “choice” or an alterable “behavior.” “We are being asked to provide Constitutional protections for a behavior — a choice of behavior as opposed to a primary characteristic,” such as age, race or disability, Clovis said in a video interview posted to YouTube."
Clovis is clearly a hopelessly ignorant homophobic bigot who has no clue. Gets worse:
"In the video, Clovis — nominated to oversee scientific research for the U.S. government — states, “I don’t know what the science is on this,” but “as far as we know that’s a choice that they make.” During the same interview, Clovis goes on to make a “slippery slope” argument, stating, “If we protect LGBT behavior, what other behaviors are we going to protect? Are we going to protect pedophilia?”
Non sequitur posed by a hopelessly ignorant homophobic bigot and nazi.
"In an op-ed for The Iowa Republican, Clovis fervently defends “traditional marriage” from attacks by the LGBTQ movement, the media and “hip” Republicans. His opposition rests on the claim that same-sex marriage undermines the 14th Amendment and exposes proponents of “religious freedom” — such as himself — to charges of “hate speech.”
Amazing how easily a nazi bastardizes the Constitution to fit his perverse ideology and religious views, isn't it?
“Dismantling marriage is one of the dual goals of this whole progressive effort. If the gay rights movement can get marriage redefined, then there will be further inroads made to undermine one of the pillars of American strength,” Clovis wrote in the op-ed. "The traditional family is about procreation, education, socialization and religious familiarization, that institution serves as a direct threat to the progressive movement’s aim of ridding society of God."
Not at all clear how Clovis arrives at his perverse conclusions all based on non-sequiturs.
"The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), one of the largest LGBTQ advocacy groups in the U.S., was among the organizations to denounce Clovis’ nomination. “Sam Clovis has opposed equality for LGBTQ people at practically every turn, including questioning the scientific consensus around what it means to be LGBTQ,” HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy told NBC News. “Despite his claims before the election, President Trump has proven to be no friend of the LGBTQ community,” Stacy added."
That's right. Determinedly not. All gains made in equality over the last few years remain in jeopardy. If you fail to support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties, you get what you truly deserve.
"Clovis is the latest in a growing list of Trump appointees criticized by LGBTQ advocates: Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Health Secretary Tom Price and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos are among the others. “Trump’s appointments are part of a worrying pattern of people who have made careers out of targeting LGBTQ people and specifically LGBTQ rights,” Ryan Thoreson, a fellow at Human Rights Watch, said. Thus far, Trump appointees have taken concrete steps against LGBTQ rights. Most notably, the Department of Justice, led by Jeff Sessions, withdrew Obama-era guidelines protecting transgender students from discrimination under Title IX and intervened in civil litigation to oppose LGBTQ employment protections."
When the rights of any segment of society are abrogated, the rights of all of us are in jeopardy. Question to be asked, who's next?
8-11-17
A lawsuit has been filed against Trump's ban on transgenders in the military. NBC News reports:
"Two LGBT-rights organizations filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday challenging President Donald Trump's tweets declaring he wants a ban on transgender people serving in the military. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington on behalf of five transgender service members with nearly 60 years of combined military service."
Sad, isn't it? Blatant bigotry by the Trump nazi.
"The lawsuit, filed by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, says such a ban is unconstitutional, denying transgender service members equal protection and due process. Lawyers handling the lawsuit said they hoped the court would move swiftly to prevent a ban from taking effect, given the uncertainty that transgender service members now face in regard to their livelihoods and retirement benefits. "The damage is happening now," said Jennifer Levi, Director of GLAD's Transgender Rights Project. "These service members were told in June 2016 they could come out and continue to openly serve."
Trump and his henchmen are out of control. Transgenders have served, and continue to serve, with distinction.
"The five plaintiffs — who were not identified in the lawsuit — serve in the Air Force, the Coast Guard and the Army. Their years of service range from three years to two decades, and include tours in Iraq and Afghanistan."
"Named in the suit, along with Trump, are Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other national security officials."
Just the beginning of the legal fight:
"The American Civil Liberties Union says it told the White House on Tuesday that it intends to sue, and requested that relevant documents be preserved in preparation for the lawsuit."
8-4-17
As always, when a cop does something heroic and/or of exceptional benefit to the community it leads. Always. Second week in a row, the cop happens to head a law enforcement agency. NBC News reports:
"The sheriff of Washington state's King County tweeted support for transgender service members on Thursday, one day after President Donald Trump stated on Twitter that transgender people will not be able to serve "in any capacity in the U.S. Military."
"If
any transgender former or active duty members of our armed forces want
a supportive boss, apply here https://t.co/fut5Vc9DL0
—
John Urquhart (@SheriffJohnU) July 27, 2017
"I respect anyone who steps up to serve our country and community, whether they’re a member of the armed forces or a first responder," Sheriff John Urquhart told NBC News. "I’m proud to have transgender individuals serving within our ranks, and they do an excellent job protecting our community day in and day out."
Hat's off, Sheriff. Must not be forgotten when civil and constitutional rights of any segment of society are compromised or denied, these very same rights are placed in jeopardy for all of us. The question to be asked is who's next?
"If they can do the job, they will always have a home here," Sheriff Urquhart said. "Any transgender person forced out of the military is invited to apply!"
8-4-17
The war against the LGBTQ community by the Trump nazi and his henchmen remains on. The Washington Post reports:
"The Justice Department, intervening in an important private employment case, urged a federal appeals court to rule that civil rights law does not bar job discrimination based on sexual orientation. The action came on the same day President Trump tweeted that he would ban transgender people from serving in the military, an abrupt reversal of an Obama administration decision. The amicus brief filed Wednesday with the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York also runs contrary to the position of the Obama administration’s Justice Department as well as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission."
A war against any segment of the population remains a war against all of it. Who's next?
NBC News reports:
"Last Wednesday, on what LGBTQ advocates have called the “administration’s anti-LGBT day,” President Donald Trump said he would nominate Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a vocal opponent of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, as Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. If confirmed, Brownback would lead the Office of International Religious Freedom, a section of the U.S. Department of State responsible for “promoting religious freedom as a core objective of U.S. foreign policy.”
Unbridled bigotry, discrimination.
"As a congressman, Brownback actively opposed same-sex marriage. Once elected governor of Kansas, Brownback revoked a 2007 executive order signed by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius that provided non-discrimination protections to state employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Then in 2016, Brownback signed SB 175, a piece of state legislation that allows university groups to exclude LGBTQ students. Student groups can claim that LGBTQ membership violates their religious convictions and still be entitled to receive university funds. At the time, the Human Rights Campaign called it “part of an onslaught of anti-LGBT bills being pushed … by anti-equality activists around the country.” Equality Kansas, a group dedicated to ending LGBTQ discrimination in the state, said Brownback is "unsuited to represent American values of freedom, liberty, and justice" and urged Kansas senators, Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran, not to confirm him in the position."
"Since his inauguration in January of 2011, LGBT Kansans have faced near-annual assaults on our liberties and our dignity in the name of 'religious freedom,'" the organization said in a statement. "His goal is not to use religion as a way to expand freedom, but to use a narrow, bigoted interpretation of religion to deny freedom to his fellow citizens. He has caused enough damage here in Kansas. We do not wish him upon the world."
Who's next?
8-4-17
LGBTQ youth shelter set on fire. The following is horrendous. CBS News reports:
"A 26-year-old man was arrested after he allegedly set fire to an LGBTQ center in Phoenix, police announced Friday. Darren Beach Jr. was taken into custody without incident, and he was charged with one count of arson of an occupied structure, CBS affiliate KPHO-TV in Phoenix reports. Earlier this week, The Phoenix Fire Department released surveillance footage of a man dousing the one.n.ten building with gasoline before setting it on fire on July 12. Police said Beach received services at the nonprofit, which helps homeless and LGBTQ youth, from 2013 until 2016."
Could have killed someone.
"We were shocked and dismayed and hurt," said Linda Elliott, the center's executive director. Ray Bradford, a former volunteer, said he has known Beach for several years. "It was always clear to me that Darren had a good heart. He had a sense of right and wrong. He wanted people to be right with each other," Bradford said. He said things took a turn for the worse when Beach became ineligible for services when he turned 25."
Plenty of money for corporate war profiteers, though. No end to that. Never enough. Insatiable greed.
"If he could get the counseling, the medications and food, the shelter -- just get the basic things he needs, it would have changed him radically and this incident never would have happened," Bradford said. Nate Rhoton, the center's director of finance and operations, said the center lost everything in the fire, but she's been overwhelmed by the amount of support."
The arsonist still needs to be held criminally accountable.
8-4-17
The military has not yet received orders from the Trump nazi vis a vis his new policy on transgender service personnel. NPR reports:
"I know there are questions about yesterday's announcement on the transgender policy by the President," Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford said in a statement. "There will be no modifications to the current policy until the President's direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidance. "In the meantime, we will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect," he added. "As importantly, given the current fight and the challenges we face, we will all remain focused on accomplishing our assigned missions."
Sad, isn't, it? Trump lied. The generals were not consulted.
"The Department of Defense echoed that message, saying it was "awaiting formal guidance from the White House," according to a statement by chief Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White. "We will provide detailed guidance to the Department in the near future for how this policy change will be implemented."
"The statements come a day after the president tweeted what is apparently a new policy: no transgender people in the military."
7-28-17
The Trump nazi launched a vicious attack on the LGBTQ community. Fox News reports:
"President Trump touched off a firestorm Wednesday after tweeting that he wants to ban transgender people from serving in the U.S. military in any capacity -- citing advice from his "generals" and medical costs. In a series of tweets, he wrote:
"After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow...Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming..victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you."
By fiat. Time for lawsuits to be filed. En masse.
“This is worse than don’t ask don’t tell, this is don’t serve, don’t serve,” The National Center for Transgender Equality said in a written statement. “This is an appalling attack on our service members; it is about bigotry rather than military readiness, reason or science. It is indefensible and cannot stand.”
This is no more than yet another example of the Nazi Right in our formerly great country desperately imposing its outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on all. A direct determined deliberate attack by the Trump nazi on the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion:
"The Family Research Council praised Trump’s action. “I applaud President Trump for keeping his promise to return to military priorities – and not continue the social experimentation of the Obama era that has crippled our nation’s military,” FRC President Tony Perkins said in a statement. “The military can now focus its efforts on preparing to fight and win wars rather than being used to advance the Obama social agenda.”
Goddamned bullshit perpetrated by a religious nazi desperate to force his outrageously perverse religious views on all. Mr. Perkins, you have again disgraced yourself.
"But Trump himself tweeted during the campaign season that he would "fight" for the LGBTQ community while his opponent "Hillary (Clinton) brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs."
Guess what? The deceptive son of a bitch lied. You bought his bullshit:
"Thank
you to the LGBT community! I will fight for you while Hillary brings in
more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs.
—
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 14, 2016"
No question, Mr. Trump is a liar.
"The president’s tweets came only a few weeks after Defense Secretary James Mattis said he would give military chiefs another six months to conduct a review to determine if allowing transgender individuals to enlist in the armed services will affect the “readiness or lethality” of the force. The deadline for that review was Dec. 1, 2017.
"During his confirmation hearing in January, Mattis was asked whether he believed that allowing LGBT Americans to serve in the military or women in combat would undermine the military’s lethality."
“Frankly, senator, I’ve never cared much about two consenting adults and who they go to bed with,” Mattis testified."
Thousands and thousands already serve with distinction.
"Transgender expert Abbie Goldberg, professor of psychology at Clark University, told Fox News “no one wins under Trump’s plan.” “Some people will not serve, which is a loss to the military and the country,” Goldberg said. “Others will serve, but not openly, and thus they will be at risk for discharge or verbal, physical and sexual abuse.” The Pentagon has refused to release any data on the number of transgender troops currently serving. A RAND study found that there are between 2,500 and 7,000 transgender service members in the active-duty military, and another 1,500 to 4,000 in the reserves."
The nazi in the Oval Office has again disgraced himself and the country. Republican fascists here in Nazi Llano County are reminded the above is from Fox News. Imagine that. Couldn't be, could it? Here's some more:
“House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called Trump’s decision a “cruel and arbitrary decision designed to humiliate transgender Americans.” "On this very day in 1948, President Harry Truman signed the executive order desegregating the U.S. military. Sixty-nine years later, President Trump has chosen this day to unleash a vile and hateful agenda that will blindside thousands of patriotic Americans already serving with honor and bravery,” she said."
Even more:
"Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., slammed the sudden announcement and said anyone who is fit to serve in the military should be allowed to do so. “The president’s tweet this morning regarding transgender Americans in the military is yet another example of why major policy announcements should not be made via Twitter,” McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said."
Clearly, the Trump nazi and his henchmen are bigots.
NPR reports:
"Transgender people already serve in the military. It's not immediately clear how Trump intends to implement the ban, but the Pentagon announced Wednesday that it will defer enlistments by transgender applicants."
Incredibly, shortsighted.
"Secretary [James] Mattis today approved a recommendation by the services to defer accessing transgender applicants into the military until Jan. 1, 2018," Chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said in a statement. "The services will review their accession plans and provide input on the impact to the readiness and lethality of our forces."
A snappy salute to the nazi commander-in-chief?
"Republican Sen. John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that the president's tweets are "yet another example of why major policy announcements should not be made via Twitter."
Indeed. Again, yet another example of Trump's unfitness for office.
"The Department of Defense has already decided to allow currently-serving transgender individuals to stay in the military, and many are serving honorably today," McCain said. "Any American who meets current medical and readiness standards should be allowed to continue serving. There is no reason to force service members who are able to fight, train, and deploy to leave the military—regardless of their gender identity."
Goddamned right.
"The Human Rights Campaign immediately tweeted its disapproval of Trump's announcement. "Threatening 15K currently serving troops who put their lives at risk is unpatriotic and dangerous," the LGBTQ rights organization said."
The mark of a nazi dictator.
"The American Civil Liberties Union put out a call to transgender service members affected by the announcement. "This is an outrageous and desperate action," the civil liberties group said in a statement. "This has been studied extensively, and the consensus is clear: There are no cost or military readiness drawbacks associated with allowing trans people to fight for their country. The president is trying to score cheap political points on the backs of military personnel who have put their lives on the line for their country."
Indeed. Appalling. Bigotry. Raw nazism. In a goddamned fascist police-state, soon to be the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich. Wake up.
"Congressman Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, released a statement critical of the announcement. "The President's exclusion of Americans who happen to be transgender from serving in the military is not based on facts, it is based on naked bigotry. I know because I served on active duty. The military doesn't care what your sexual orientation or identity is, or who you love. It cares about whether you can shoot straight and complete the mission. The President's discriminatory decision harms our military readiness for our volunteer-based military."
We're losing our formerly great country to the Nazi Right. Wake up.
7-21-17
The bought and paid for Abbott nazi continues to get stiff resistance from his masters in the corporate management suite. Imagine that. But first, Texas Standard reports:
"The Legislature’s special session begins this Tuesday. It’s 30 days long with 20 items on the agenda and Gov. Greg Abbott is calling the shots. Yesterday, Abbott got a head start with a speech at a sold-out auditorium blocks from the state Capitol. There, he defended his decision to call lawmakers back to Austin, and took specific aim at the need to rein in what he considers over-regulation by local governments. He says local tree ordinances, which have been in the headlines statewide lately, are promoting “socialism” and “collectivism.” They’re promoting “California-like policies,” he says, and it’s hurting the Texas brand."
What brand's that, Greg? Republican nazism? That is, the fervent embrace of fascism, national socialism Hitler and Mussolini would have been proud of?
"Well, when it comes to the Texas brand, there might be a bigger problem."
You think? LOL. Get this:
"CEOs from some of the nation’s biggest companies are urgently calling for the governor’s attention to the prospect of the Texas brand taking a serious hit. In a letter to the governor on Monday, CEOs from 14 Dallas-area companies, including IBM, AT&T, Southwest Airlines and Texas Instruments said they were concerned about the so-called bathroom-bill legislation, and that its implementation would have an impact on their bottom line."
Our hopelessly myopic, anal-retentive Governor doesn't think so. Forget? 'Can fix ignorant, can't fix stupid.'
"Dallas Morning News State Politics Reporter Lauren McGaughy says the CEOs argue the bill hurts their chances of recruiting and retaining employees. “They specifically said they believe the bathroom bills are discriminatory against the LGBT community and that they don’t belong in the 21st century or in Texas values,” she says."
The Governor refuses to be confused by the truth:
"In his response to the companies, Abbott said he doesn’t foresee a bathroom bill having a negative impact on the Texas economy. “He’s rejecting that characterization for now, even in the face of all this business opposition,” McGaughy says. A crowd gathered at the Capitol yesterday to rally against the bathroom bills, while, concurrently, Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick spoke at a large meeting at a conservative think tank down the street."
Quite unusual for a hopelessly Aryan arrogant, bought and paid for, Republican nazi to go against the will of his corporate masters.
“It felt like the session had already started. …A lot of people are making known their feelings on some of the top issues that they are expected to take up in the next month,”McGaughy says. Abbott also said during his speech at the think tank that he’s going to pay attention to which legislators help him pass his 20-item agenda. “He said, ‘We need to call people out,’” McGaughy says. “He called for other conservative organizations to make their own lists, and said that he will be publishing his lists of, kind of, his naughty and nice lawmakers: those that support him and those that don’t,” she says."
How about that? Don't you love it? Hey, Greg? Creating an enemies list? Indeed, quite a red badge of courage to be on your shit list, you achingly fascist son of a bitch. You're out of uniform, Governor. Where is your swastika armband?
The following is the text of the letter sent the Governor by the CEOs:
July 17, 2017
The Honorable Greg Abbott
Governor, State of Texas
P.O. Box 12428 Austin,
Texas 78711-2428
Dear Governor Abbott,
For decades, Texas has been a magnet for business investment, job creation and a strong, diverse workforce because of the pro-growth environment created by state policy makers.
As CEOs of Dallas-based businesses, we’re writing to express our concern that the so-called “bathroom bill” that the Texas legislature is considering would seriously hurt the state’s ability to attract new businesses, investment and jobs. Our companies are competing every day to bring the best and brightest talent to Dallas. To that end, we strongly support diversity and inclusion. This legislation threatens our ability to attract and retain the best talent in Texas, as well as the greatest sporting and cultural attractions in the world.
We appreciate your leadership in ensuring that Texas continues to be a model for public policies that create a climate for economic growth and job creation that’s second to none.
Respectfully,
Randall Stephenson Chairman & CEO, AT&T Inc. Doug Parker Chairman & CEO, American Airlines Kim Cocklin CEO, Atmos Energy Corporation Fred Perpall CEO, The Beck Group Matthew K. Rose Executive Chairman, BNSF Railway Mark Rohr Chairman & CEO, Celanese Harlan Crow Chairman & CEO, Crow Holdings Sean Donohue CEO, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Emmitt Smith CEO, EJ Smith Enterprises
Republican nazis in Texas are desperately trying to force their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on all through egregiously unconstitutional statutes. In direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion. A raucous, boot clicking, goose stepping, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Sieg Heil!, Governor?
7-7-17
The insanity never ends. The AP reports:
"Gay spouses may not be entitled to government-subsidized workplace benefits, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday in a unanimous decision that was quickly condemned by gay-rights groups."
1957 revisited.
"The court overturned a lower court's decision that favored same-sex marriage benefits, ordering the issue back to trial. Social conservatives hope the case will help them chip away at the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling legalizing gay marriage."
Who the hell are these GOP nazis to force their outrageously perverse religious views on all through the courts?
"Gay rights groups denounced the ruling as an "absurd distortion" of established law regarding marriage equality. "Marriage is marriage and equal is equal. We will take steps to protect these families," said Kenneth Upton Jr., Dallas-based attorney for Lambda Legal."
The court caved into pressure:
"Friday's decision was a major reversal for the all-Republican Texas high court, which previously refused to even consider the benefits case after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution grants gay couples who want to marry "equal dignity in the eyes of the law." The Texas court only agreed to hear it after coming under intense pressure from Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton, as well as dozens of other conservative elected officials, church leaders and grassroots activists. They filed a flurry of briefs saying the case may help Texas limit the scope of the Supreme Court ruling - especially in how it's applied to states."
Raw nazism.
"The decision didn't block same-sex spousal benefits but said the U.S. Supreme Court decision did not decide the issue. The U.S. Supreme Court "did not hold that states must provide the same publicly funded benefits to all married persons," the Texas Supreme Court's wrote in its opinion."
Disingenuous bullshit. -- After being pressured by top GOP nazis in the state.
"The case came from Houston, where a coalition of religious and socially conservative groups sued America's fourth-largest city in 2013 to block a move to offer same-sex spousal benefits to municipal employees."
Raw homophobic nazism.
"The groups argued that the U.S. Supreme Court didn't declare spousal benefits a fundamental right of marriage, and that it should be up to states to decide."
Disingenuous bullshit. A ruse. A desperate attempt to force their outrageously perverse religious views on all.
"The city argued that the gay marriage ruling meant all marriages are equal, so anything offered to opposite-sex couples must be offered to same-sex ones."
Constitution demands it. Only a nazi would argue otherwise. Coup de grace? Get this:
"The groups suing also called the case a chance for Texas to defend religious liberty. Texas voters approved a gay marriage ban in 2005."
How is it religious 'liberty' to force your perverse homophobic religious views on all? How? Called nazism.
Here's the kicker:
"Gay rights groups noted that the Texas decision came just days after the U.S. Supreme Court narrowly ruled that states may not treat married same-sex couples differently when issuing birth certificates. That decision overturned an Arkansas court ruling that said married lesbian couples were not entitled to have both spouses listed on their children's birth certificates."
'Religious' nazis cannot, will not, be confused with the truth.
"Sarah Kate Ellis, president and chief executive of GLAAD, an LGBT rights group, called the Texas ruling a "warning shot to all LGBTQ Americans that the war on marriage equality is ever-evolving, and anti-LGBTQ activists will do anything possible to discriminate against our families."
The bottom line here is achingly simple. All civil and constitutional rights and liberties are under ferocious attack in our formerly great country. Don't financially support those fighting for these rights? Get what you deserve.
7-7-17
Think the Trump nazi and his henchmen are not taking a raucous hard dump on the LGBTQ community? Wake up. NBC News reports:
"Friday marks one year since former Defense Secretary Ash Carter lifted the ban on transgender military service, allowing active-duty troops to come out of the closet as trans. But while Carter set a July 1, 2017 deadline for the military to begin enlisting new transgender service members, the Department of Defense looks unlikely to meet its deadline."
By design?
"While currently enlisted trans troops can continue to serve, recent graduates and new recruits have to wait to serve their country openly."
Why? Anything more than renewed bigotry against the LGBTQ community under the Trump nazi and his henchmen?
"The Associated Press reported last week that the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps met with the Trump administration's Secretary of Defense James Mattis to negotiate an extension to the July 1 deadline set a year ago. Some joint chiefs reportedly want to take another six months to prepare for enlisting transgender service members. Others reportedly want up to two more years."
Encouraged by Trump and his henchmen? Again, the bottom line here is achingly simple. All civil and constitutional rights and liberties are under ferocious attack in our formerly great country. Don't financially support those fighting for these rights? Get what you deserve.
6-30-17
CBS News reports:
"A federal appeals court says Mississippi can start enforcing a law that will let merchants and government employees cite religious beliefs to deny services to same-sex couples."
Outrageously, unconstitutional. Will be appealed either to the full appeals court, or to the Supreme Court. Don't financially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties? Get what you deserve.
6-23-17
The 'President' has turned his back on HIV/AIDS. The Washington Post reports:
"The first hints of an uncertain future for the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS came last year, when Donald Trump's presidential campaign refused to meet with advocates for people living with HIV, said Scott Schoettes, a member of the council since 2014. That unease was magnified on Inauguration Day in January, when an official White House website for the Office of National AIDS Policy vanished, Schoettes said."
Stunning, isn't it?
“I started to think, was it going to be useful or wise or would it be possible to work with this administration?” Schoettes told The Washington Post. “Still, I made a decision to stick it out and see what we could do.” Less than six months later, Schoettes said those initial reservations had given way to full-blown frustration over a lack of dialogue with or caring from Trump administration officials about issues relating to HIV or AIDS."
Forget? Not Trump's problem.
"Last week, he and five others announced they were quitting the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, also known as PACHA. According to Schoettes, the last straw — or “more like a two-by-four than a straw” — had come in May, after the Republican-dominated House passed the American Health Care Act, which he said would have “devastating” effects on those living with HIV."
Trump remains clueless.
“The Trump Administration has no strategy to address the on-going HIV/AIDS epidemic, seeks zero input from experts to formulate HIV policy, and — most concerning — pushes legislation that will harm people living with HIV and halt or reverse important gains made in the fight against this disease,” Schoettes wrote in a blistering guest column for Newsweek announcing the resignations."
Don't financially support those fighting this growing nazism? Cowardly get what you deserve.
6-16-17
Pressure increases on Trump from the LGBTQ community. NPR reports:
"Crowds stretched for blocks across the parade route near the National Mall, and while Lewis said they anticipated more than 200,000 marchers, she said the number of people who showed up blew their expectations. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, straight, white, black, Latinx Americans and people from across the world all marched in solidarity Sunday to protest how they believe the Trump administration could negatively affect the LGBT community."
The Trump nazi and his henchmen are doing their best to reverse progress, gains made during the Obama Administration.
"And many participants feel as if this time in history is a turning point for the LGBT movement. They see it as an opportunity to note that while LGBT rights increased over the past decade, there's still a long way to go."
Trump and his henchmen continue to do their best to reverse this. Remain intent on turning back the clock.
6-9-17
The Abbott nazi intends to call a special legislative session. Among other issues? To ram through the outrageously anti-transgender 'bathroom' bill into law. To force achingly perverse Republican religious views on all by statute. In direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion. Corporations opposed are already warning it will cost Texas dearly financially.
6-9-17
The LGBT community continues to lose ground under the Trump nazi and his henchmen. NBC News reports:
"At the federal level, LGBTQ activists were dismayed when President Donald Trump's administration revoked federal guidelines advising public school districts to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice. Several of Trump's high-level appointees, as well as Vice President Mike Pence, are viewed by activists as long-term opponents of gay-rights advances. "He's taken our chief enemies and put them in charge of our government," said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign. "It's a devastating reversal of our progress over the last decade."
Fail to courageously stand up to this? Sadly, all gains made will be lost. Fail to financially support those fighting for these rights? Get what you richly deserve.
6-9-17
Sound like Christianity to you? CBS News reports:
"A North Carolina minister "directed and participated in" the beating of a congregant who says the assault was meant to expel his "homosexual demons," a prosecutor said Thursday. Prosecutor Garland Byers gave his opening statement in the trial of Brooke Covington, a 58-year-old minister at Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale, North Carolina."
Something the Head Honcho of your religion might engage in? Approve of? Warmly embrace? Think so?
"Covington is charged with kidnapping and assaulting former church member Matthew Fenner. If convicted, she faces up to two years in prison. She is the first of five church members to face trial in the case. Each of the other defendants -- Justin Covington, 20, Robert Walker Jr., 26, Adam Bartley, 25, Sarah Covington Anderson, 27 -- will be tried separately."
Gets worse:
"Fenner, 23, has said he was leaving a prayer service Jan. 27, 2013, when nearly two dozen people surrounded him in the sanctuary. He said they slapped, punched, choked and blasted him -- a church practice that involves intense screaming -- for two hours as they tried to expel his "homosexual demons."
Achingly, sick religion.
"During the assault, Fenner "thought he was going to pass out," Byers told the jury. "He was severely beaten."
Sound like 'Christian' 'charity' to you? Something the Creator smiles on? Fervently embraces?
"As part of an ongoing, two-year investigation into abuse of Word of Faith Fellowship congregants by church leaders, The Associated Press interviewed four former church members who say they witnessed Fenner being attacked. Based on interviews with 43 former members, documents and secretly made recordings, the AP reported in February that Word of Faith Fellowship congregants were regularly punched, smacked, choked, slammed to the floor or thrown through walls in a violent form of deliverance meant to "purify" sinners by beating out devils."
Doesn't end there. Appears to be collusion with authorities:
"The AP's investigation also revealed that congregants were ordered by church leaders to lie to authorities investigating reports of abuse and that two assistant district attorneys and a veteran social worker were among those who coached congregants and their children on what to say to investigators. After the AP report, the prosecutors, including one who is a son-in-law of a church founder, left their jobs, and the social worker resigned."
Who'd 'a 'thunk' it, no? Sick, insane, achingly psychotic religion.
6-2-17
This problem runs rampant throughout the entire nazi GOP mindset. Another glaring example is the DeVos nazi. NBC News reports:
"LGBTQ advocacy groups are sounding the alarm over Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' comments before a U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, where she defended the Trump administration's education budget proposal for the 2018 fiscal year. In an exchange with Democratic Representative Katherine M. Clark of Massachusetts over the proposed budget, which includes $250 million in public funds to send students to private schools, DeVos did not rule out giving federal funds to private schools that discriminate."
This is precisely how revolutions spawn. This woman took an oath to protect and defend the United States Constitution. Yet, she abrogates that very same oath. Ignores the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion. Has a nazi agenda. Intends to force her outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on all. Determinedly deaf to the rumble. An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming on the horizon.
5-26-17
Texas Governor Abbott and equally fascist Republicans in the Legislature are desperately trying to force their outrageously perverse religious and ideological views on the rest of us by statute. In direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
NPR reports:
"Late Sunday and early Monday, Texas legislators advanced a version of the divisive "bathroom bill" regulating transgender students' restroom access and passed a law that would allow publicly funded adoption agencies to refuse to work with would-be parents based on religious objections."
Raw nazism. Outrageously, unconstitutional. If signed into law, will certainly be challenged in court.
"... Democrats remained steadfast in their opposition, the Texas Tribune reports:
" 'Let's be honest and clear here: This amendment is the bathroom bill, and the bathroom bill is an attack on transgender people,' said state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso. 'Some people don't want to admit that. Maybe that's because they're ashamed, but make no mistake about it — this is shameful.' "
It is. Republicans have turned into nazis. Desperately force their perverse religious views on all.
"Meanwhile, the state Legislature has also approved a bill that would permit publicly funded adoption agencies to deny services to would-be parents based on religious objections."
Outrageously, unconstitutional. Will be challenged in court if signed into law.
"But critics of the bill say it would effectively enable state-funded adoption agencies to turn away single, gay or non-Christian people."
Precisely, why Republican nazis are doing all they can to force enactment.
5-12-17
More of the same. This time with consequences. CBS News reports:
"Mark Green -- President Donald Trump's pick for Army secretary -- withdrew his nomination Friday, amid anger from LGBT groups and Democrats over comments he has made about things including transgender issues, Islam and evolution."
Withdrew for damned good reason. Had disgraced himself.
"It is with deep regret today I am withdrawing my nomination to be the Secretary of the Army," Green, a GOP Tennessee state senator, said in a statement obtained by CBS News' Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett. "I am honored that President Trump nominated me for this position," Green continued. "I appreciate his support and confidence in me, as well as that of Secretary Mattis and many others, and their desire to Make America Great Again by preparing our military to face the many challenges in the world for the safety and security of our nation. But to meet these challenges, there should be no distractions. And unfortunately due to false and misleading attacks against me this nomination has become a distraction."
Abject bullshit. A lie:
"Green was under fire for comments on a radio program in which he called Syrian refugees -- in his words, "ISIS people" — and fights for transgender bathroom access, "evil." Green in a 2013 Facebook post also reportedly complained that President Barack Obama "supports transvestites in uniform." Green defended himself against backlash in a Facebook post last month, saying that "certain people are cutting and splicing my words to paint me as a hater."
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, guess what? It's a f--king duck.
5-12-17
Resistance in Congress is growing. NBC News reports:
"Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Patty Murray of Washington, along with Congressman Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, recently reintroduced the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act. The proposed legislation attempts to reduce harassment and bullying on college campuses by requiring colleges and universities to "establish policies to prohibit harassment based on actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion."
About time. Especially, as the Trump nazi, his henchmen, and Republican fascists continue to force their perverse ideological and religious views on all.
"The bill also includes within its ambit "cyberbullying," or harassment that occurs via digital communications, and sets up a competitive grant program for universities to establish preventive training programs and provide counseling to students that experience harassment. The bill was first introduced in 2010 and is named after Tyler Clementi, who took his own life shortly after fellow Rutgers University students secretly filmed him and posted video online of him and another man. The 18-year-old's death sparked public outcry and motivated the creation of Dan Savage's now global "It Gets Better" campaign and the Tyler Clementi Foundation."
Amazing, isn't it? That all this remains an issue in 2017:
"Nearly 7 years later, what is different is not the content of the 2017 bill, but the political climate, according to the bill's sponsors. A statement released by the offices of Murray, Baldwin and Pocan refers to a "Trump effect" and mentions both a "hateful" climate on campuses and the Trump administration's own actions on LGBTQ rights."
The Trump nazi, his henchmen, and the GOP continue to shit on these rights. If civil and constitutional rights and liberties are denied to anyone, guess who's next?
"Lawmakers are deeply concerned with the rise of hateful and intimidating incidents spreading throughout college campuses nationwide, including actions undertaken by President Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to withdraw guidance pertaining to discrimination against transgender students under Title IX of the education amendments of 1972," the statement reads."
Republican fascists are directly responsible for this ongoing atrocity. Remain intent on imposing their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on all by statute, executive order, regulation, etc.. In direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
Gutlessly refuse to stand up with those fighting for these rights? Get what you deserve. Too bad the rest of us suffer for your cowardice.
"The senators also cite Trump's personal demeanor and governing style as creating a permissive environment for anti-LGBTQ bullying and harassment. "Especially now, with a bully-in-chief in the White House, we need to make it clearer than ever that this kind of behavior simply should not be accepted," Murray stated."
Indeed. Keep shining the spotlight on the fascist bastard, his henchmen, and GOP nazis.
"When asked to respond to the proposed legislation and the "Trump effect" statement issued by the Democratic lawmakers, a White House official shot back."
Certainly, got the attention of the Trump flunky bastard:
"Instead of pointing fingers and placing blame, the Trump administration will continue to work with parents, students and educators to solve the longstanding problem of bullying which distracts students from excelling in schools," the official wrote in an email sent to NBC Out."
A crock of shit. Symbolism over substance. The Trump nazi, his henchmen, and GOP fascists are directly responsible for this ongoing problem. Refuse to take responsibility.
"President Trump is committed to protecting the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community, and continues to be respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights, just as he was throughout the election," the official added."
Abject bullshit. An outright lie. Distortion of reality. Re-write of recent history. Deception, unbridled, shameless.
"In the joint statement he issued along with Sens. Baldwin and Murray, Rep. Pocan said the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act is so important because "President Trump has not yet shown that his Administration will defend the rights of LGBTQ students."
In fact, quite the opposite. Despite disingenuous, false claims to the contrary by Trump's henchmen.
"Bullying is a real and persistent danger for many LGBTQ students at our colleges and universities, but there is no federal legislation that specifically protects students from being targeted based on sexual orientation or gender identity," Pocan stated."
Needs to be since the states have not stepped up:
"Only 19 states and the District of Columbia have anti-bullying laws that address sexual orientation and gender identity. Greytack said when these laws do not list protected characteristics, such as gender identity and and sexual orientation, "they really don't help LGBTQ students."
Sick religion rules. LGBTQ kids pay the price.
5-12-17
Homophobic bigotry and discrimination are alive and well in Nazi Alabama. NBC News reports:
"Alabama on Wednesday became the latest state to protect faith-based adoption organizations that refuse to place children with gay parents or other households on religious grounds. Under the legislation signed by Gov. Kay Ivey, state officials cannot withhold a license from faith-based adoption groups that refuse placements based on their religious beliefs."
Outrageously unconstitutional. Direct abrogation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion. Needs to be quickly challenged in court. Adoption agencies, like healthcare providers, simply don't understand providing services is a privilege, not a right. Can't do so in good conscience? Get out of the business.
5-5-17
Credit always must be given when credit's due. Once in awhile, the Supreme Court gets it right. NBC News reports:
"The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday left intact California's ban on "gay conversion" therapy aimed at turning youths under age 18 away from homosexuality, rejecting a Christian minister's challenge to the law asserting it violates religious rights."
This issue has been covered in this publication before. "Gay conversion" 'therapy' is voodoo 'psychology.' Sick religion. Absolute nonsense. Egregious bullshit that does great damage to whom it's inflicted on. Pastors, nor anyone else, have the religious right to do harm to anyone. The Court got this right, --again:
"The justices, turning away a challenge to the 2012 law for the second time in three years, let stand a lower court's ruling that it was constitutional and neither impinged upon free exercise of religion nor impacted the activities of clergy members."
Why is it this shit keeps coming back over and over and over again in the courts? ... Keeps perniciously rising from the dead.
"The law prohibits state-licensed mental health counselors, including psychologists and social workers, from offering therapy to change sexual orientation in minors. The Supreme Court in 2014 refused to review the law after an appeals court rejected claims that the ban infringed on free speech rights under U.S. Constitution's the First Amendment."
5-5-17
The nazis who warm their seats on the bench in our formerly great country don't seem to understand being a judge is not a right, rather, a privilege. If you can't in good conscience do your job, don't recuse yourself in protest and grandstand. Do the right thing. Resign in disgrace. CNN reports:
"A family court judge in Kentucky is refusing to hear adoption cases involving gay parents "as a matter of conscience" because he believes such households would not serve the best interests of the child. Judge W. Mitchell Nance filed an order recusing himself from any future adoption cases involving "a practicing homosexual." He cited a judicial ethics rule that states a judge must disqualify himself when he has a personal bias or prejudice."
Not good enough. Nowhere near. Why grandstand? Do the right thing. Resign.
"Kentucky state law permits gay couples to adopt children. "The undersigned judge believes as a matter of conscience that (although adoption of a child by a practicing homosexual is not expressly prohibited by law) under no circumstance would '...the best interest of the child ... be promoted by the adoption ...' by a practicing homosexual."
This nazi can't, won't be confused by the truth:
"A study in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics found that children of same-sex parents are just as healthy emotionally and physically as the children of different-sex parents. 'No differences' between children of same-sex and opposite-sex parents."
5-5-17
Sadly, the Trump nazi's misogyny and homophobia have emboldened the insane to boldly come out of the woodwork. Two heartbreaking examples. The first involves the Girl Scouts, the second a funeral home that denied services to a gay man and his dead husband. Both examples, horrendous. Worse, a portend of more to come as our formerly great country continues to nazify.
NPR reports:
"The Archdiocese of Kansas City says it is severing its years-long relationship with Girl Scouts in nearly two dozen Kansas counties because the organization promotes materials "reflective of many of the troubling trends in our secular culture." "The decision to end our relationship with Girl Scouting was not an easy one," Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann said in a statement released Monday. He asked pastors to "begin the process of transitioning away from the hosting of parish Girl Scout troops."
Reason?
"Naumann said he is troubled by materials that highlight the roles of women such as birth control activist Margaret Sanger and feminist writers and activists Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem. A local representative of the Girls Scouts told NPR that these women and many others have been celebrated because of their leadership qualities."
Can't have that, can we? Gets worse:
"The archbishop's letter also states that Girl Scouts of the USA "contributes more than a million dollars each year to the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGS), an organization tied to International Planned Parenthood." However, on its national website, the Girl Scouts says it "does not have a relationship or partnership with Planned Parenthood." The organization says it pays membership dues to WAGGS, and compares the relationship to the one between the U.S. and the U.N.: "The United States may not agree with every position the UN takes, but values having a seat at the table."
Clearly, the not-so-good Padre does not want girls to grow up to be women who think for themselves. Worse? Assert ownership of their uterus. Forget, ladies? The Nazi Right owns your bodies. Or, thinks it does. Knows what's best for the 'lil lady.' Believes you're too stupid to think for yourselves. They'll do your thinking for you. ... Right, TL?
Homophobic nazis are no smarter. NBC News reports:
"One Mississippi family's pain and grief after losing a loved one was compounded when the local funeral home suddenly refused to perform their relative's cremation because he was gay. Robert Huskey passed away in May 2016 after his heart condition worsened over the previous year. Knowing that his death was imminent, Huskey's nephew had made arrangements with the local funeral home the month before his passing."
Not to be.
"But according to a lawsuit announced Tuesday by Lambda Legal, the Picayune Funeral Home suddenly refused to pick up and cremate Huskey's body as planned on the day of his death. All because that day, the lawsuit alleges, the funeral home discovered Huskey was gay and married to Jack Zawadski, his partner of 52 years. "I felt as if all the air had been knocked out of me," Zawadski said in a statement released Tuesday. "Bob was my life, and we had always felt so welcome in this community. And then, at a moment of such personal pain and loss, to have someone do what they did to me, to us, to Bob, I just couldn't believe it. No one should be put through what we were put through."
Here is the issue:
"No federal or Mississippi state law protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination — in fact, Mississippi's controversial House Bill 1523 was signed to protect the rights of businesses that turn away LGBTQ customers because of moral or religious opposition. Lambda Legal is fighting H.B. 1523 in court, too, and a judge blocked the law from taking effect until a higher court gives a final ruling on whether it's unconstitutional. But in the meantime, there's still no law protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination. "The state of anti-discrimination laws in Mississippi is virtually nonexistent. Certainly not in Picayune," said Littrell, who called the funeral home's decision to refuse services to Huskey's family "profoundly wrong."
Gutlessly fail to stand up for civil and constitutional rights and liberties for all, guess who's next?
5-5-17
Another interesting twist in the fight against homophobic bigotry. NPR reports:
"Just half-a-year after a federal judge tossed out three lawsuits against Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who grabbed headlines in 2015 for denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples on religious grounds, a court of appeals ruled Tuesday that the men suing Davis can continue their case."
Finally, some semblance of justice:
"Last August, U.S. District Judge David Bunning dismissed a case brought by David Ermold and David Moore against the Rowan County clerk, citing an executive order by Kentucky Gov. Matthew Bevin. Under the order, marriage licenses no longer need to carry the name of the county clerk who issues them. This change, Bunning argued at the time, rendered moot the complaints brought by Ermold, Moore and several other people."
Not so:
"But in their opinion Tuesday, the three judges on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the story doesn't end there:
"We conclude that the district court's characterization of this case as simply contesting the 'no marriage licenses' policy is inaccurate because Ermold and Moore did not seek an injunction — they sought only damages. This action is not a general challenge to Davis's policy, but rather seeks damages for a particularized harm allegedly suffered by a specific set of plaintiffs."
Once in awhile, the courts get it right.
"The appeals court ruling revives the couple's lawsuit and sends the case back to Bunning."
Excellent. This woman needs to be held accountable. If she couldn't in good conscience issue a marriage license, should have done the right thing. Resigned in disgrace. As most GOP nazis, doesn't understand her job is not a right, but a privilege. Incredibly disgraceful she was invited by Republican nazis to attend Obama's State of the Union Address back in 2016.
4-28-17
The first hundred days of the Trump regime have not been good for the LGBTQ community. NBC News reports:
"For many LGBTQ Americans, the early days of Trump's Republican administration have been fear-inducing. A series of Cabinet appointments have been roundly criticized by LGBTQ advocacy groups. An early draft of a reported executive order legalizing broad discrimination against LGBTQ people threw the community into a panic. The dismantling of Obama-era protections through executive orders came with the simple stroke of a pen."
What did they expect? Did they truly believe a Republican nazi would stand up for their civil and constitutional rights and liberties?
"One hundred days of Trump translates into 100 days of erasure for the LGBTQ community," GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis told NBC News. "From the Census exclusion, to rescinding Obama's guidance for trans youth in schools, and lack of any LGBTQ mentions on the White House website, he has spent the early days of his administration trying to remove us from the very fabric of this country, and we must resist."
If you remain silent, get what you deserve. If you won't support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties, as the Trump nazi imposes the Fourth Reich, you're hopelessly clueless, achingly gutless.
4-7-17
The LGBTQ community has once again been raucously f--ked over. NBC News reports:
"With little fanfare on Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that LGBTQ advocates say rolls back lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights and breaks a promise to that community not to make such changes to existing policy."
The Trump nazi clearly too gutless to draw attention to the fact he broke a promise made so soon after he took office?
"The executive order revokes key components of the Obama administration's previous executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or identity, gay rights advocates say."
Further proof the Trump nazi remains a congenital liar.
"Organizations representing the LGBTQ community say the "Presidential Executive Order on the Revocation of Federal Contracting Executive Orders" hobbles several of Obama's previous orders including the "Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces" order by revoking the requirement that companies seeking federal contracts prove they've complied with federal laws banning discrimination based on sexual identity or orientation."
Can't have that, can we? Forget? Republican nazis remain hellbent on imposing their outrageously perverse religious and ideological views on all by statute, executive order, etc.. Any way they can. In direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
"The Obama-era regulations were set to take effect in 2016, but were stalled when a Texas association of builders and contractors filed a lawsuit. "It definitely sends a message that this administration does not prioritize these laws, or think that investigating compliance is important," said Claudia Center, a disability rights attorney at the ACLU."
That's right.
"The message being sent, say advocates, is that the federal government will look the other way if the companies it works with are hit with claims of racism, sexual harassment, unfair firings, and other forms of worker mistreatment."
Would anyone expect less from an insane, narcissistic, misogynist, racist, fascist Trump nazi? Trump's duplicity is quite striking:
"LGBTQ advocates say they were particularly rattled by Trump's Monday signing, since revoking the compliance requirement would appear to make existing protections against gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination meaningless. In January, the White House issued a statement in response to panic over a rumored executive order that would severely impact LGBTQ rights — specifically promising not to over turn Obama's protections for LGBTQ workers employed by federal contractors."
Worse and more duplicitous?
"Lambda Legal senior counsel Camilla Taylor said that while Trump did not overturn the specific order that added sexual orientation and gender identity to protected worker classes, he made it tough to actually enforce."
How can any politician, either party, be trusted? How?
4-7-17
The LGBT community has once again been raucously f--ked over in North Carolina. The Washington Times reports:
"North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday signed a repeal of the bathroom access law that had spawned a nearly yearlong boycott against the state, but LGBT rights advocates criticized the new measure as being just as discriminatory as the law it replaced."
Indeed, it is.
"Still, North Carolina Commerce Secretary Tony Copeland said he will begin calling companies and organizations that have avoided the state because of its “bathroom bill.”
Called hypocrisy. Egregious bullshit. Deception. Think companies and other organizations won't see through the ruse?
"House Bill 142 replaces HB2, which regulated intimate public facilities on the basis of biological sex, but leaves the regulation of public, multiple-occupancy restrooms, locker rooms and shower facilities to the state. The legislation also prohibits local governments from enacting nondiscrimination ordinances regulating private employment practices or public accommodations until 2020."
Think it will fly with the LGBT community?
"The gay rights movement vehemently opposes the compromise, saying it does not go far enough to repeal HB2. Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, which spearheaded the boycott in North Carolina over the bathroom bill, said the compromise legislation “does not repeal HB2.” “Instead, it institutes a statewide prohibition on equality by banning nondiscrimination protections across North Carolina and fuels the flames of anti-transgender hate,” Mr. Griffin said. “Each and every lawmaker who supported this bill has betrayed the LGBTQ community.”
Indeed. Sue. Work to get the bastards out of office. Expose them for whom and what they are, -- bigoted, homophobic fascists.
4-7-17
In follow up to the above, NPR reports:
"The NCAA is bringing sporting events back to North Carolina after state lawmakers repealed large portions of the controversial "Bathroom Bill" — although the collegiate sports organization isn't exactly enthused about the deal. In a statement on Monday, the group says its governors reached their decision "reluctantly."
Gutless. Further proof positive money trumps principle. Pressure needs to be brought to bear on NCAA. Don't attend their events. Boycott them. The repeal is meaningless. The LGBT community continues to be raucously f--ked over in North Carolina. The 'repeal ' of the law is no more than a sham. A ruse. Today, it's the LGBT community. Tomorrow? Guess who?
4-7-17
The war rages on against the LGBTQ community. ABC News reports:
"A federal appeals court is hearing arguments about a Mississippi law that would let merchants and government employees cite religious beliefs to deny services to same-sex couples."
Direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
"U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves halted the law before it could take effect last July 1, ruling it unconstitutionally establishes preferred beliefs and creates unequal treatment for LGBT people."
Certainly, does. Allows businesses and government to impose their perverse ideological and religious views on others by statute.
"The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — which handles cases from Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas — is hearing arguments Monday afternoon about the Mississippi law in Lubbock, Texas."
Good luck. Forget? This is Nazi Texas. Hopefully, we'll be pleasantly surprised by this usually nazi court. Don't count on it, however:
"The law championed and signed by Republican Gov. Phil Bryant sought to protect three beliefs: marriage is only between a man and a woman; sex should only take place in such a marriage; and a person's gender is determined at birth and cannot be altered."
This fascist bastard is desperately trying to impose a 'Christian' theocracy in direct violation of the First Amendment.
4-7-17
Good news for the LGBT community. NPR reports:
"Teacher Kimberly Hively alleged Ivy Tech Community College in South Bend, Ind., denied her a full-time job because she is a lesbian. On Tuesday, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals said such discrimination violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The 8-3 ruling is the first by a federal appeals court to recognize the law as protecting workplace rights of LGBT employees."
3-31-17
The Trump nazi is already taking a raucous hard dump on the LGBT community. NBC News reports:
"The State Department appointed two organizations with anti-LGBTQ track records — the Center for Family and Human Rights (C-FAM) and the Heritage Foundation — as the only two civil society organizations in its delegation to the United Nations' annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)."
Imagine that. The Trump nazi and his henchmen show their true colors. Gets worse:
"C-FAM has been listed as an anti-LGBTQ hate group by nonprofit civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for at least five years. And on C-FAM's website, the majority of its "Worst Moments of the Year for Life and Family at the United Nations" involve the global advancement of LGBTQ rights."
Couldn't be, could it? Then again, GOP nazis remain more than willing to impose their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on all by statute. In direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is freedom from religion.
"As for the Heritage Foundation, it has published a number of reports and commentary pieces on its website that are critical of same-sex marriage and the ability of transgender people to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity."
Why is it Republican fascists remain so goddamned willing to figuratively and stupidly shoot themselves in the ass?
"Jessica Stern, executive director of LGBTQ-rights group OutRight Action International, and Ryan Thoreson, a Human Rights Watch fellow focusing on LGBTQ issues, spoke to NBC Out about their deep concerns regarding the appointments of C-FAM and the Heritage Foundation to this key U.N. meeting."
Just the beginning. Likely to get far, far worse as our formerly great country continues to nazify. The above is clear indication the Trump nazi and his henchmen have no regard for human rights. Want to make sure their outrageously perverse ideology extends overseas via the United Nations.
3-31-17
Former Texas Gov. Rick "The Prick" Perry, now a member of the Trump nazi's Cabinet, has again shown his true colors regarding his gutless homophobic ideology. NBC News reports:
"After Texas A&M University elected its first openly gay student president, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry took a break from national politics on Wednesday to question if his alma mater's election process was rigged in the name of diversity."
Readers are caustically reminded "The Prick" now heads an agency he wished to see abolished when he unsuccessfully ran for president. Also, couldn't remember the agency's name during debate.
"In an editorial published Wednesday in the Houston Chronicle, the former Texas governor called the election victory of 21-year-old junior Bobby Brooks a "mockery of due process and transparency" and suggested the university's decision was based on a "quest for diversity."
Hey, Rick? Thatinsecure in your sexual preference? That why you're such a goddamned homophobic prick?
"At worst, the [student government association] allowed an election to be stolen outright," Perry wrote."
Give me a f--king break. Same old shit, now expected of clueless Republican national socialists. ... Right, TL?
3-31-17
The 'bathroom bill' pending in the Texas Legislature, if passed and signed into law by our national socialist Governor, will likely cost Texas dearly financially. NBC News reports:
"Despite Republican assurances that North Carolina's "bathroom bill" isn't hurting the economy, the law limiting LGBTQ protections will cost the state more than $3.76 billion in lost business over a dozen years, according to an Associated Press analysis."
Think the same won't happen here in Nazi Texas?
"Over the past year, North Carolina has suffered financial hits ranging from scuttled plans for a PayPal facility that would have added an estimated $2.66 billion to the state's economy to a canceled Ringo Starr concert that deprived a town's amphitheater of about $33,000 in revenue. The blows have landed in the state's biggest cities as well as towns surrounding its flagship university, and from the mountains to the coast."
Truly believe the same couldn't happen here?
"North Carolina could lose hundreds of millions more because the NCAA is avoiding the state, usually a favored host. The group is set to announce sites for various championships through 2022, and North Carolina won't be among them as long as the law is on the books. The NAACP also has initiated a national economic boycott."
Wouldn't want to confuse nazi Republicans here with the truth, would we?
"The AP analysis — compiled through interviews and public records requests — represents the largest reckoning yet of how much the law, passed one year ago, could cost the state. The law excludes gender identity and sexual orientation from statewide anti-discrimination protections, and requires transgender people to use restrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates in many public buildings."
Republican nazis remain achingly desperate to force their perverse religious views on others by statute.
"Still, AP's tally is likely an underestimation of the law's true costs. The count includes only data obtained from businesses and state or local officials regarding projects that canceled or relocated because of HB2. A business project was counted only if AP determined through public records or interviews that HB2 was why it pulled out."
3-10-17
Think the LGBT community isn't targeted, harassed, falsely accused? The Washington Timesreports:
"A new study claims that lesbian, gay or bisexual individuals are three times as likely than straight people to end up in prison. Published in the American Journal of Public Health, the study analyzed responses from more than 80,000 participants to gauge the percentage of sexual minorities who are incarcerated,” NBC News reported Friday. For the purposes of the study, “sexual minority” is defined as anyone who self-identifies as LGBT or reported same-sex sexual behavior prior to being incarcerated, NBC reported."
The following is pathetic:
"All told, some 9.3 percent of men in prison and 6.2 percent in jail fell into the sexual minority category while it was dramatically higher for women, “a staggering 42.1 percent of the female prison population and 35.7 percent of women in jails.” By comparison, the U.S. population at large, only 3.6 percent of men are gay or bisexual and only 3.4 percent of women are lesbian or bisexual."
Think they aren't targeted? Profiled? Think it won't get worse under the Trump nazi? ... And his fascist compadre as U.S. Attorney General, the Sessions nazi?
3-10-17
The U.S. Supreme Court has once again gutlessly dropped the ball. CBS News reports:
"The Supreme Court is returning a transgender teen’s case to a lower court without reaching a decision. The justices said Monday they have opted not to decide whether federal anti-discrimination law gives high school senior Gavin Grimm the right to use the boys’ bathroom in his Virginia school."
Abject cowardice.
"The case had been scheduled for argument in late March. Instead, a lower court in Virginia will be tasked with evaluating the federal law known as title IX and the extent to which it applies to transgender students."
These fascist bastards have once again abrogated their responsibility to settle this matter. Apparently, there likely was a 4-4 split.
"The high court action follows the Trump administration’s recent decision to withdraw a directive issued during Barack Obama’s presidency that advised schools to allow students to use the bathroom of their chosen gender, not biological birth."
Again, this is no more than a step backwards.
"The administration action triggered legal wrangling that ended with Monday’s order. In essence, the federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, had relied on the Obama administration’s interpretation of Title IX to side with Grimm. The appeals court accepted the administration’s reading of the law without deciding for itself what the law and a related regulation on same-sex bathrooms and locker rooms mean. No appeals court has yet undertaken that more independent analysis, and the Supreme Court typically is reluctant to do so without at least one appellate opinion to review, and usually more than one."
This is precisely the problem with the judiciary. Why justice delayed remains justice denied. By design.
"Both sides in Grimm’s case had asked for the high court to go ahead with the case, even after the administration withdrew the Obama-era directive, although the school board said the case should be delayed."
Abdication of judicial responsibility to provide relief.
"The justices did not comment on the case beyond their one-sentence order returning it to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals."
Further proof positive the Supreme Court is accountable to no one. Entire court system? No more than a regal judiciary in a supposedly democratic republic.
3-10-17
Resistance to the transgender bill in Texas continues. ABC News reports:
"A North Carolina-style "bathroom bill" is nearing a first vote in Texas despite opposition from big-name companies including Facebook and the NFL warning that the Super Bowl won't return to Dallas or Houston. The proposal would require transgender people to use public bathrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificates. Hundreds of people packed the Texas Capitol Tuesday to testify on the contentious measure that's expected to easily clear a Senate committee. But the bill faces a tough road ahead because the Republican House speaker has slammed the measure as bad for business."
You think?
In follow up to the above, CBS News reports:
"A North Carolina-style “bathroom bill” has cleared a first vote in Texas after 13 consecutive hours of public comment dominated by transgender-rights supporters who oppose the measure."
Can't confuse a Republican nazi with the truth, right, TL?
"The 7-1 vote came nearly 21 hours after the start of the hearing that packed the Texas Capitol. Parents of transgender schoolchildren were among more than 400 people who signed up to give often emotional testimony. Republicans pushing the bill say they’re trying to protect women’s privacy in bathrooms."
They're congenital liars. What they're desperately trying to do is impose their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on all by statute. In direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
"The proposal now goes to the full Senate but faces resistance in the House."
The bastards in the House seem to understand this bill, if enacted, will cost the State of Texas dearly financially.
3-10-17
Think the U.S. Supreme Court won't be ultimately forced to decide the following? After enormous damage done to the LGBT community? ABC News reports:
"Advocates of long-discredited gay conversion therapy programs say they are heartened by the election of Donald Trump, and are counting on Vice President Mike Pence and congressional Republicans to help fight-off efforts to make such programs illegal."
This is sick religion at its worst, -- and most damaging.
“I certainly hope that this administration will pull back from some of the aggressive activism that the Obama administration engaged in,” said Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council, a powerful conservative lobbying group in Washington, which actively supports sexual reorientation efforts."
You achingly clueless fascist son of a bitch. What you insanely promulgate is no more than voodoo non-science. Does enormous damage to its victims:
"The Surgeon General appointed by President Obama, Vivek Murthy, publicly stated that that “conversion therapy is not sound medical practice” and such programs “are harmful, and are not appropriate therapeutic practices.”
Indeed. That's right. Have been disavowed by both the psychiatric and psychological communities.
"Conversion therapy has been outlawed for licensed mental health providers in California, Oregon, New Jersey, Vermont, Illinois and the District of Colombia, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a LGBT advocacy group."
Needs to be outlawed in all 50 states.
"The Family Research Council and Sprigg have helped to fight legislative proposals in 20 other states that would similarly make gay conversion illegal."
Achingly sick, clueless religion desperately wishing to legalize what is no more than damaging voodoo non-science.
“They certainly should not be outlawed. They certainly should not be prohibited by law,” Sprigg said in an interview to be broadcast on the ABC News program 20/20 this Friday which investigates gay conversion therapy programs."
You're psychotic, Mr. Sprigg. Your 'thinking' remains an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. To say nothing of the damage you, and others who believe like you, inflict on the LGBT community. In the name of phony religion.
“As a Christian, I believe that the Bible teaches that to choose to engage in homosexual conduct is a sin,” he said, adding that he believes therapy can cause people to make different choices."
That's ignorant bullshit. Sexual preference is innate, not chosen. While you are certainly entitled to believe as you wish, you are not entitled to force those beliefs on others by statute. Called the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is freedom from religion. Too achingly ignorant to understand this? Or, is it a problem of profound aggressive stupidity?
3-3-17
The LGBT community needs to wake up. Under the Trump nazi, states have been emboldened to pass legislation threatening hard-won gains of the last several years. Already happening. Appeals courts, sadly, are in their pocket. Think not? Consider the following. CBS News reports:
"The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a city’s ordinance banning discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, but it stopped short of saying whether a state law aimed at prohibiting such local LGBT protections is constitutional."
Certainly, a move backwards.
"The justices reversed a judge’s decision that Fayetteville’s anti-discrimination ordinance didn’t violate a state law prohibiting cities from enacting protections not covered by state law. Fayetteville, a liberal enclave in northwestern Arkansas, is one of several cities that approved local protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in response to the 2015 law."
Media that's fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties needs to be supported financially and morally by the public it truly serves at great personal and financial risk. The public needs to wake up. Fully understand the Trump nazi and his henchmen remain an exigent threat to a democratic republic.
2-24-17
Apparently, the Trump nazi and his henchmen remain quite willing and able to shit on the LGBT community. The Washington Times reports:
"The Trump administration will rescind an Obama-era order compelling public schools nationwide to permit restroom and locker room access on the basis of gender identity, the Washington Blade reported. The Blade cites Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, who says she heard from “reliable sources” that President Trump has authorized the Education and Justice Departments to revoke the guidance. When asked about the report Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the president has long considered the matter a “states’ rights issue.”
Apparently the Trump nazi and his henchmen indeed believe the states have the right to shit on the LGBT community without any interference from their federal masters. Should the Trump nazi follow through, time again to sue the living shit out of the regime. Outrageous malfeasance. A continuing exigent threat to all remaining civil and constitutional rights and liberties. The Fourth Reich.
Subsequent to writing the above, the Trump nazi has indeed rescinded the Obama-era order. Clearly, the Trump nazi and his henchmen remain an exigent threat to the LGBT community, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. A raucous, boot clicking, goose stepping, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Sieg Heil!, Mr. 'President?'
NBC News reports:
"Legal advocates for transgender people say federal law and the civil rights of Americans are legally enforced by the federal government, as was born out during the civil rights movement of the 1960s that led to legal equality for African-Americans. "Enforcement of federal civil rights law is not a states' rights issue. Full stop," said Rachel Tiven, chief executive of Lambda Legal, which defends lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people."
Be interesting to see where this all goes.
"The federal law in question, known as Title IX, bans sex discrimination in education. But it remains unsettled whether Title IX protections extend to a person's gender identity. The U.S. Supreme Court could settle the issue in a case due to be argued in March."
May not be resolved any time soon since the Court will still likely be short a member for oral arguments. Not known how this will ultimately affect the outcome.
2-24-17
Another example of rampant bigotry against the LGBT community. This time against a long-term police officer. NBC News reports:
"A St. Louis County police sergeant alleges in a lawsuit against the department that he was told to "tone down" his gayness if he wanted a promotion."
This is 2017, not 1957.
"Sgt. Keith Wildhaber, a 22-year veteran of the department, also alleges he was passed over for promotions and reassigned after he filed a discrimination complaint in April 2016, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported."
Blatant retaliation.
"Wildhaber said in the lawsuit that nearly all of his peers were promoted even though he ranked third in promotions tests and received "superior" ratings in all categories in performance reviews."
Blatant discrimination.
"(The department) believes plaintiff's behavior, mannerisms, and/or appearance do not fit the stereotypical norms of what a 'male' should be," according to the lawsuit. The sergeant alleges that John Saracino, a member of the department's civilian police board in 2014, told him that his being gay was a problem. "The command staff has a problem with your sexuality. If you ever want to see a white shirt (get a promotion), you should tone down your gayness," Saracino allegedly told Wildhaber."
Outrageous. No more than homophobic bullshit.
"On Wednesday, Saracino denied that allegation. "I never had a conversation like that," Saracino said. "I would never say anything like that. That's not me."
Someone's lying. Guess who:
"Saracino later resigned from the board amid criticism for asking Police Chief Jon Belmar to write a letter of support to a federal judge who was sentencing Saracino's nephew in a marijuana ring."
Special treatment? Imagine that.
"A Justice Department report critical of the St. Louis County police response to protests of a police shooting in 2014 in Ferguson suggested that the department create a diversity council to advise commanders on issues regarding a variety of people — including ethnic, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and linguistic minorities. The department has not acted on the recommendation, said Sgt. Shawn McGuire, a spokesman for Belmar."
Interesting, isn't it? Think things will improve with the Sessions nazi now leading the 'Justice' Department?
2-24-17
NPR reports:
"The highest court in Washington state says a florist violated the state's anti-discrimination law when she refused to provide floral services to a gay couple. The unanimous decision cited a 2006 Washington state anti-discrimination law that makes it illegal to turn away customers because of their sexual orientation, adding that distinction to other protected factors such as gender, religion and race."
2-24-17
In follow up to the last edition, yet another sports league has stood up to Texas GOP fascists in the Legislature. Like the NFL, the NBA has also clearly, determinedly, definitively advised Republican nazis vis a vis the pending 'bathroom bill.' ABC News reports:
"The NBA has warned that Texas could be overlooked for future events because of a proposed "bathroom bill" targeting transgender people."
Great news for the LGBT community, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
"The Texas legislation is similar to a North Carolina law that prompted the league to move the All-Star Game out of that state. Texas' proposed law would require people to use bathrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificate. NBA spokesman Mike Bass says an environment where people are treated "fairly and equally" weighs heavily when the league chooses host locations. The NFL has made similar statements."
Think Abbott isn't a bit uncomfortable? After talking out his ass about the earlier warning from the NFL?
2-17-17
The LGBT community is unhappy with the DeVos' confirmation. NBC News reports:
"The top national LGBTQ organizations spoke out within minutes of the DeVos' confirmation, expressing disappointment and concerns for the future of LGBTQ youth and students. "We remain deeply concerned that the protections that are so critical for our children risk being cast aside," PFLAG Interim Executive Director Elizabeth Kohm said in a statement emailed to NBC News. "We are thoroughly disappointed that Ms. DeVos supports policies and procedures that fail to buoy the public education system," Kohm said. "We remain concerned about a family track record supporting policies of discrimination including their support of so-called 'reparative therapy.'"
If the latter is indeed true, quite concerning. No more than voodoo 'science.'
"Kohm said PFLAG's concerns were hardly assuaged by the fact that Pence cast the deciding vote. Pence has long had a reputation as an opponent of LGBTQ equality, having signed one of the nation's strictest "religious freedom" laws seen as enshrining anti-LGBTQ discrimination when he served as the governor of Indiana."
Indeed, this is quite true. Precisely, why the Trump nazi and Pence present an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Today, the LGBT community. Tomorrow? Who's next?
"While Pence's track record of anti-LGBTQ political plays is long, DeVos appears to be a somewhat unknown factor. During earlier confirmation hearings, she denied that she believes in therapy that aims to "convert" LGBTQ youth to force them to become straight or cisgender, saying she "never supported" the method."
Hopefully, that's true.
"But powerhouse LGBTQ law firm Lambda Legal isn't convinced that DeVos was uninvolved in her family's charitable funding of ultra-conservative causes. "She has supported Focus on the Family, which opposes marriage equality," Lambda Legal Chief Executive Rachel Tiven said in an email to NBC News. "And her family foundation has funded a group that advances the dangerous practice of so-called 'conversion therapy.' Her advocacy for privatizing public education could eject students — LGBT or not — from the protection of federal laws."
This is precisely why the Republican Nazi Right remains an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
Sessions is not the only nazi the LGBT community is deeply concerned about. In another article, NBC Reports:
"President Donald Trump has sent mixed signals to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans regarding where he stands on LGBTQ issues, but one area where he has consistently riled the community is his presidential cabinet picks. And Jeff sessions, who was confirmed Wednesday as Trump's attorney general, has struck a particularly negative chord. Shortly after he was confirmed -- by a slim margin of 52 to 47 -- a number of the country's leading LGBTQ-rights groups voiced their concern regarding someone they say has an abysmal track record on LGBTQ issues."
For damned good reason. Consider the following:
"It's deeply disturbing that Jeff Sessions, who has demonstrated a clear animus against so many Americans -- including the LGBTQ community, women and people of color -- could be charged with running the very system of justice designed to protect them," Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest LGBTQ-rights organization, said in a statement. "The man now in charge of enforcing hate crimes protections doesn't even think they should exist -- or that LGBTQ people need them," Griffin added."
This is precisely why there must be vigilance, ferocious but peaceful resistance. It's a gigantic step backwards.
"Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, called Sessions' confirmation a "deeply distressing day for civil rights." "When it comes to LGBT people, Sen. Sessions' track record is bleak. He has consistently opposed legal protections for or even recognition of LGBT people, voting against the 2009 Hate Crimes Prevention Act, protections for LGBT survivors of sexual violence under the Violence Against Women Act, and the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy," Keisling said in a statement sent to NBC Out. Keisling also noted Sessions was a leading proponent of the Federal Marriage amendment, which would have amended the U.S. Constitution to prevent same-sex couples from marrying."
Again, this is precisely why the Trump nazi, his henchmen, sick sycophants, and the Republican Nazi Right present an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Exactly why there must be ferocious, but peaceful resistance.
"Rachel B. Tiven, executive director of Lambda Legal, the country's oldest and largest national legal organization, called Sessions' confirmation "a travesty." "The chief lawyer of the United States is now someone who has devoted his whole life to obstructing civil rights. He is a lifelong opponent of the civil rights of LGBT people, people of color, women and immigrants," Tiven stated. "He is an opponent of marriage equality and a dogged foe of immigrants and refugees — even LGBT people fleeing persecution."
Our formerly great country has determinedly gone national socialist, fascist, nazi.
"Aside from their mutual opposition to Sessions, all three advocacy groups had a similar takeaway message for the new attorney general and his boss, Donald Trump: We'll be watching you, and we'll fight any attempt to roll back our rights."
Resistance. Peaceful, but ferocious resistance.
The Trump nazi is determined to force change vis a vis transgender rights. The Washington Postreports:
"The Trump administration signaled Friday that it was changing course on the previous administration’s efforts to expand transgender rights, submitting a legal brief withdrawing the government’s objections to an injunction that had blocked guidance requiring that transgender students be allowed to use restrooms that match their gender identity."
A portend of what's to come.
2-17-17
The NFL means business. CBS News reports:
"The NFL sharpened its warning to Texas on Friday about a “bathroom bill” targeting transgender people, suggesting for the first time that the football-crazed state could miss out on hosting another Super Bowl if the proposal is enacted. “If a proposal that is discriminatory or inconsistent with our values were to become law there, that would certainly be a factor considered when thinking about awarding future events,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said in response to an email question about the Texas bill."
Exactly, the right thing to do. The Republican fascist bastards in Texas certainly have no regard for principle, just money. Hit 'em figuratively where it truly hurts these nazi pieces of shit the most, -- the pocketbook. ... Right, TL?
ProFootballTalk reports:
“The NFL is walking on thin ice right here,” Abbott said, via the Texas Tribune. “The NFL needs to concentrate on playing football and get the heck out of politics.”
Wake up, Governor. It's not about politics, you clueless jackass. It's about you and your goddamned Republican henchmen imposing your outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on others. In direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is freedom from religion.
"Last week, league spokesman Brian McCarthy said proposed laws that are “discriminatory or inconsistent with our values” would “certainly be a factor” for considering future events in the state, such as Super Bowls like the one that just left Houston."
Indeed.
"But Abbott fired back when given the opportunity to discuss an issue he’s previously been very quiet on, after letting lieutenant governor Dan Patrick take the lead on the proposed legislation which would require transgender persons to use the bathrooms corresponding with their genetic identity rather than how they identify."
Behold the Aryan arrogance of our nazi Governor:
“For some low-level NFL adviser to come out and say that they are going to micromanage and try to dictate to the state of Texas what types of policies we’re going to pass in our state, that’s unacceptable,” Abbott told Beck. “We don’t care what the NFL thinks and certainly what their political policies are because they are not a political arm of the state of Texas or the United States of America. They need to learn their place in the United States, which is to govern football, not politics.”
The nazi has spoken. Listen to the nazi talk out his ass. This piece of shit clearly doesn't understand this is a democratic republic. The people ultimately run and own this government, not their elected officials. When the State of Texas loses revenue when and if the bill is passed and signed into law, this fascist son of a bitch will be singing quite a different tune.
"For one thing, McCarthy is a rather high-level adviser. For another, it’s not dissimilar to veiled threats by the league toward governments in the past. Georgia governor Nathan Deal vetoed a “religious liberty” bill which many considered discriminatory, and lo and behold, Atlanta was awarded a Super Bowl shortly thereafter."
Don't confuse our national socialist Governor with the truth, he and his nazi henchmen are too damned stupid to understand.
2-17-17
NPR reports:
"Following the introduction of two bills into the state legislature that would legally prohibit transgender Texans from using bathrooms that align with their gender identities, 142 artists — including Ewan McGregor, Amy Poehler, Lady Gaga, Janelle Monae, Talib Kweli, Wilco and Whoopi Goldberg — have co-signed a letter beseeching the state senators and representatives to prevent the bills' passage."
They need to do far more than that. Refuse to perform in Nazi Texas should this bill pass and be signed into law by our national socialist governor.
"Transgender and gender non-conforming young people are already subjected to bullying and harassment," the letter reads. "Can you imagine the message these bills send to children — the message of 'that child is unwelcome, that child is dangerous?'"
Nazi Republicans in Texas couldn't care less about this. Remain too goddamned determined to unconstitutionally impose their outrageously perverse religious and ideological views on all by statute.
"In an interview with Billboard, producer and musician Jack Antonoff, who helped draft the letter, said that he wants the state "to know that me and all of my friends — all of these wonderful artists and actors and writers and designers — are watching Texas and are not OK with this happening."
Again, that's simply not good enough. No more than trite lip service. Refuse to perform here if it becomes law. Donate to groups litigating against these goddamned Republican nazis and their unconstitutional, achingly repressive laws.
"Texas' Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has made the legislation a priority. In a note on the initiatives, he wrote that: ""Legislation to protect women's privacy and business is essential to assure that sexual predators ... will not be able to freely enter women's restrooms, locker rooms or showers ... "
The Lt.Gov. has lost his mind. ... Or, is lying out his ass. Has nothing to do with protection of privacy for women and business interests. Nor protection against sexual predators. Rather, his intent, and that of his fellow GOP nazis in the Legislature is to impose their perverse ideological and religious views on all by statute. In direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is freedom from religion.
The following is precisely what achingly perverse GOP nazis want in this state. The Washington Post reports:
"A policy manifesto from an influential conservative group with ties to the Trump administration, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, urges dismantling the Education Department and bringing God into American classrooms. The five-page document produced by the Council for National Policy calls for a “restoration of education in America” that would minimize the federal role, promote religious schools and homeschooling and enshrine “historic Judeo-Christian principles” as a basis for instruction. Names of the council’s members are closely held. But the Southern Poverty Law Center published a 2014 membership directory showing that Stephen K. Bannon — now chief White House strategist for President Trump — was a member and that Kellyanne Conway — now counselor to the president — served on the council’s executive committee."
All, in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is freedom from religion.
Here is what the Texas Legislature should be concerning itself about, and rectifying, -- among many other atrocities going on in our state. Couldn't care less, however. CBS News reports:
"A federal judge has ordered a civil trial of the Texas prison system and its leadership in a civil rights lawsuit arising from the heat-related death of an inmate, saying state prison officials refused to provide air conditioning that could have also kept 21 other inmates alive. Larry Gene McCollum, a 58-year-old Waco-area taxi driver, was among 22 inmates who have died from the heat in Texas prisons since 1998, including 10 during a 2011 heat wave alone, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison of Houston wrote. McCollum was serving a one-year sentence in the Hutchins State Jail near Dallas for writing a bad check when he died of a heat stroke on July 22, 2011, just seven days after he arrived at the jail."
... Hey, TL? Think the bastard got exactly what he deserved?
"Although the log represents that the heat index at 3:30 p.m. was 116 degrees, a chart provided by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and used by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice computes the heat index was about 150 degrees."
2-10-17
The Trump nazi and his henchmen are circulating an executive order draft on 'religious' 'liberty' that could profoundly affect the LGBT community. ABC News reports:
"A draft of an executive order on "religious freedom" is circulating in the Trump administration, outlining a possible weakening of protections designed to shield LGBT individuals from discrimination, according to a copy of the proposed order obtained by ABC News. The order — which may never become administration policy, depending on internal deliberations — would also free some private companies from being forced to provide contraceptive coverage as part of the health plans they offer employees. And it would open the door for tax-exempt entities to speak out "on moral or political issues from a religious perspective" without fear of losing favored tax status."
If this becomes reality, would be an exigent threat to the First Amendment Establishment Clause, that is church-state separation, freedom from religion. Would affect far more than just the LGBT community.
2-3-17
The Trump nazi is again engaging in highly deceptive symbolism over substance. CBS News reports:
"The White House says the new administration has no interest in rolling back protections of LGBTQ workers. “President Donald J. Trump is determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community,” said a White House statement released Tuesday morning. The statement goes on to say that a 2014 executive order prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ employees at federal contractors will remain in effect."
This involves only a relatively small portion of the LGBT community. What will certainly be far more important is how the Trump nazi approaches other pending LGBT issues. To say nothing of the effects of a homophobic U.S. Attorney General on the LGBT community should Sessions be confirmed.
1-27-17
Think the Trump nazi and his henchmen are sympathetic to the LGBT community? CBS News reports:
"During Barack Obama’s presidency, if you typed whitehouse.gov/lgbt into your browser, you reached a page highlighting the administration’s victories and policy changes regarding LGBT rights. It outlined historic court victories and even featured campaigns like the It Gets Better Project to help LGBT youth. Today, however -- just hours after President Donald J. Trump took the oath of office as the United States’ 45th president -- if you type in whitehouse.gov/lgbt, you are redirected to a new “transitionsplash” page. The new page simply invites people to “sign up for updates from President Donald J. Trump.” It makes no mention of LGBT rights. In fact, it appears the White House’s LGBT rights feed has disappeared completely."
A portend of what's to come under the Trump nazi and his henchmen. Think this piece of shit and his homophobic 'Vice President' won't take a hard dump on advances made by the LGBT community? Certainly, Trump and Pence appear to be following in the footsteps of Hitler and The Third Reich vis a vis homophobic bigotry:
"Vice President Mike Pence is, of course, a highly controversial figure among the LGBT community. He publicly opposed the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. He famously voted against The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would have prohibited discrimination against LGBT people in the workplace. And he spoke out against gay marriage; arguing in a 2006 speech that “societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family.”
History yet again repeating itself under our first national socialist, fascist 'President' and his henchmen.
"The question now becomes whether or not the absence of an official White House LGBT rights page is temporary or permanent."
The mark of a nazi.
1-27-17
NBC News reports:
"More than a dozen diverse LGBTQ high school students from across the country sent Donald Trump a defiant message shortly before his Inauguration as the 45th president of the United States. In a YouTube video titled "Dear Mr. President: LGBTQ Students Will Not Stop Now," which was posted by student advocacy group GLSEN, the high schoolers pleaded with Trump to be a "president for all" and advocate "equality" and "kindness."
That's not possible for a national socialist. Certainly, wasn't true for Hitler and Mussolini.
"We noticed that you like to use name-calling when people speak out against you, but just know that we are listening and watching as you take that oath today, to protect the Constitution, the one that says all people are equal, and that includes us," the students, all members of GLSEN's National Student Council, said in the montage video."
Sadly, not how a fascist 'thinks.'
"Before you call me any names," they continued, "let me tell you the names I want to be called: bold, resilient, strong, brave, truth-teller, go-getter, writer, dog lover and musician."
These kids certainly put the Trump nazi to shame. Certainly, run circles around him.
1-27-17
Think we're still not in the cave? NBC News reports:
"Conversion therapy survivor Samuel Brinton wants to cure the world of the controversial practice aimed at changing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. Brinton said different conversion therapists use different techniques. From purely psychological methods to less common but more extreme techniques like electroshock therapy, the practice can take many forms, according to Brinton."
This bullshit is directly a result of sick religion.
"[Conversion therapy] terrifies me, and it reminds me that the work never stops," said Brinton, who identifies as gender-fluid and prefers the non-binary pronouns they and them. In December, Brinton helped launch 50 Bills 50 States, a grassroots campaign that aims for 2017 to be a year in which "every single state in the country submits a bill to protect LGBT youth from conversion therapy," according to its website."
The psychological and psychiatric communities do not consider homosexuality a mental illness. Have not for decades.
"Conversion therapy for minors is already banned in California, New Jersey, Illinois, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, D.C. So far, Brinton's campaign has raised more than $11,000 from donors across the country to encourage lawmakers to submit bills in the 45 states where it remains legal. Brinton said their motivation is to spare others the pain they endured. "Conversion therapy for me was nothing short of hell on earth," Brinton told NBC Out."
It's no more than egregious abuse.
"The 29-year-old activist said they are the child of Southern Baptist missionary parents who believed homosexuality is a sin. "I came out without realizing I was coming out," Brinton said. "My friends had found a Playboy [magazine] ... and it didn't even really affect me. I told this to my dad, like, 'Wow, I'm so proud I'm not having these thoughts and feelings [about women], but sometimes I do have those feelings when I think about Dale,' [who] was a really good friend of mine … and I came out without realizing that I was doing it."
Sad, isn't it? No kid should have to deal with achingly clueless parents.
"Britton said they were 11 years old when their parents sent them to see a conversion therapist. "There were seven King James Bibles on a stack on the coffee table," Brinton said, recalling the conversion therapist's small office in an Orlando, Florida strip mall. Brinton said the so-called therapist used extreme and abusive techniques, including covering Brinton's hand in ice, wrapping it in conductive wires to apply heat, and even electroshock therapy, while forcing Brinton to look at images of men touching. Brinton said the therapist stopped the techniques when he showed Brinton images of men with women."
Egregious abuse and outrageous perversion of Skinner and operant conditioning.
"First you're supposed to learn that it's painful to touch men, then you're supposed to learn that it's not painful to touch women. Then you're supposed to learn that it's excruciating if you have sex with men," Brinton explained. But none of this did anything to change Brinton's attraction to men."
It wouldn't, couldn't. No way that it could. Someone's sexuality is innate. Think not? Think again. Think back to your childhood. While knowing absolutely nothing about sex at four or five, I knew I was straight. Amusingly, considered playmate Carol B. next door my 'wife.' Didn't choose to be straight, just was. Gay friends have told me they never chose to be gay, just were.
"My parents and my therapist would tell me the reason I wasn't changing was because I didn't try hard enough, I didn't want it hard enough," Brinton said."
Abject bullshit. A result of sick religion dictating what is and what isn't right or wrong. Often with catastrophic results. Think not? Wake up. Get this:
"After two years of trying to change with no results, Brinton said they climbed to the top of the apartment building where their family lived and looked over the edge. "I was going to jump off the roof, and my mom had found me, and I told her that God had changed me. That I was OK. I was going to be OK, because I basically just wanted the pain to stop," Brinton said. "I knew it was a sin to lie, but I knew it was a greater sin to commit suicide, and I had to make that decision," Brinton explained."
Again, this is a result of sick, perverse religion gone astray.
"Brinton stayed closeted until they went to Kansas State University, where Brinton made friends with a lesbian couple. "They took me in," Brinton said. "And I started realizing no, I'm not alone. It's OK to be who you are."
Sadly, not to a judgmental homophobic bigot.
"But coming out had a price: Brinton's parents forbid Brinton from coming home."
Often the case. Parents who do this aren't worth a shit. Weren't qualified to have children.
"I'm sure they did what they did because they loved me, and I'm hoping that in the end it will all be OK," Brinton explained, adding that the relationship is "slowly on the mend." Brinton forgives them but still suffers the side effects of conversion therapy."
To call that 'love' is distortion, perversion of the term. A result of sick religion.
1-27-17
Nazi Republicans in Austin are trying to do an end-run-around the U.S. Supreme Court. CBS News reports:
"The Texas Supreme Court has reversed its previous ruling and will hear a Houston case that top conservatives hope will let the state limit the impact of 2015’s federal legalization of gay marriage."
Convenient, isn't it? If any group, any group at all, is targeted by nazi government, who's next? We're all at risk.
"The state’s highest civil court announced Friday it was setting arguments for March in a lawsuit seeking to halt same-sex spousal benefits that America’s fourth-largest city offers municipal employees."
'Generous' of them, isn't it? It's called discrimination promulgated by GOP fascists. To force their outrageously perverse religious and ideological views on all.
"The all-Republican court ruled 8-1 in September not to hear the case after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruled the previous summer that gay marriage is constitutional. But Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and state Attorney General Ken Paxton, all Republicans, filed a subsequent motion saying that the case could help Texas limit the scope of the high court ruling -- and the justices reconsidered."
Clearly, Texas Republican fascists have long-since politicized the courts in Nazi Texas. ... Right, Governor? Mr. Attorney General?
1-20-17
In another Washington Times article, Ben Carson displays his anti-LGBT Nazi Right views:
"Ben Carson pushed back Thursday against being labeled anti-gay and anti-affirmative action at a confirmation hearing on his nomination to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development, saying he believed in equal rights not “extra rights.”
This is the two-faced non-sequitor ubiquitously embraced by the 'Religious' Nazi Right. No minority has ever sought “extra rights.” Not blacks, latinos, the LGBT community, etc.. The Nazi Right is certainly well aware of this fact. They use the qualifier to 'justify' continued discrimination against all groups they shamelessly target. It's called haughtily, hypocritically talking out both sides the ass. To have their cake and eat it. It's, indeed, shameless bullshit. Clueless, double talk.
"Sen. Sherrod Brown, the top Democrat on the committee, pressed Mr. Caron on whether he would protect the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in public housing."
Did the Senator truly expect an honest, forthright answer from this goddamned national socialist?
“Of course, I would enforce all the laws of the land. Of course, I think all Americans should be protected by the law,” Mr. Carson said. “What I have said before is I don’t think anyone should get ‘extra rights.’” That has been a common refrain from the conservative Christian which has drawn fire in the past from LGBT activists."
Carson may have been a great surgeon. As a Cabinet member, however, heading an agency he egregiously has no clue about, remains grossly unqualified and unfit for office.
“That act says that we want people who are receiving HUD grants to look around and see if they find anything that looks like discrimination and then we want them to come up with a solution,” Mr. Carson said. “They’re saying go and look for a problem and give us a solution. “We have people sitting around desks in Washington, D.C., deciding on how things should be done,” he said. “I don’t have any problem with affirmative action or integration, I have no problem with that at all. But I do have a problem with people on high dictating it when they have no idea what’s going on in an area.”
Aren't you talking precisely about yourself in the last quote, sir? Isn't that exactly what you're doing during confirmation testimony? Disingenuously, ludicrously feigning knowledge about an issue, a nation-wide problem you have absolutely no experience with? That is, pontificating about something you have absolutely no knowledge of?
Sadly, you have no clue about housing. No comprehension at all. When was the last time you were homeless, you haughty, achingly uninformed, Aryan arrogant son of a bitch? When was the last time you couldn't make a rent payment? Under threat of eviction? Coup de grace? Get this:
"The biggest issue in his confirmation is his complete lack of government experience, but committee members appeared satisfied with the abilities of the world-famous pediatric brain surgeon from Johns Hopkins Hospital."
That's insanity. Patronizing, condescending bullshit. What are they so afraid of? Being labeled a racist because they're criticizing someone who hasn't a clue about the office he's about to take and happens to be black? Give me a break. Wake up.
1-20-17
The LGBT community is taking preventative action prior to the Trump nazi inauguration. NPR reports:
"Many transgender people in the U.S. are rushing to change their designated gender on government documents before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. They worry the next administration may take that ability away."
Highly likely, that will happen.
"There's no indication so far that this is a priority for Trump. Mara Keisling with the National Center for Transgender Equality says Trump's positions on trans issues are not clear. But she's concerned about people he's nominated for key positions in his administration."
Likely, just about a matter of time before this happens. GOP nazis would certainly cheer this atrocity on. Raising the question, who's next?
"Virtually every — if not every — appointment he has announced so far has been an extremely anti-LGBT person," says Keisling. She says trans advocacy groups around the country have been fielding calls from concerned people ever since the election. And they are not alone."
Indeed, the Trump nazi and his henchmen remain an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
1-13-17
The hopelessly nazi State of Texas is at it again. Stupidly, so. About to take yet another raucous hard dump on the LGBT community. CBS News reports:
"Texas lawmakers will decide whether to embrace an issue that caused a national uproar in North Carolina: banning transgendered people from using the bathroom of their choice. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a top social conservative voice in the state, unveiled the proposed law Thursday at a news conference."
The Lt. Gov. is not a 'conservative.' He's a raging national socialist, a fascist desperate to force his outrageously perverse religious and ideological views on all through the force of law.
"Patrick says the “Privacy Protection Act” is a top priority for the GOP-controlled Legislature, which convenes next week."
The bill has absolutely nothing to do with 'privacy' or 'protection.' Rather, it's a desperate attempt to force his religious views on all in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, that is, church-state separation, freedom from religion.
"Lawmakers likely will support it, even though Texas’ largest business lobbying group says it and other anti-gay rights proposals could cost the state up to $8.5 billion and 100,000-plus jobs."
What nazi wouldn't? Readers, these GOP fascists are not conservatives. A conservative would never propose a bill that will deliberately stick it to the business community, cost jobs.
"The group pointed to a study on estimated losses that also said tourism would be greatly affected, CBS Austin affiliate KEYE reported in December. The study was partly based on the effect of a bathroom bill that passed in North Carolina."
Indeed, that's true. The nazis in the Texas Legislature are too damned aggressively stupid to be confused with the truth.
“Don’t North Carolina my Texas,” State Representative Celia Israel said, according to KEYE. North Carolina faced boycotts, and potentially billions of dollars in lost state revenue, after passing ts own version last year."
That's exactly what will happen here. Imagine the Super Bowl moved out of Texas. Think it can't, won't happen?
Here is another take on the matter from ABC News:
"The "Texas Privacy Act" requires all Texas residents to use the bathroom or locker room according to the gender on their birth certificates and prohibits local governments from passing ordinances designed to protect gay rights in public restrooms and other "intimate settings."
These nazis are shameless. Insist on taking a raucous hard dump on all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Force their achingly perverse religious and ideological views on all in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, that is, church-state separation, freedom from religion.
"It's the right thing to do," said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Houston Republican who oversees the state Senate and quoted Martin Luther King Jr. while promoting the proposal at the Texas Capitol. "The people of Texas elected us to stand up for common sense, common decency and public safety."
This blow hard nazi has his national socialist, achingly fascist head so far up his ass his eyeballs are turning inside out. Shitting on civil and constitutional rights and liberties "the right thing to do?" Truly believe that, Lt. Gov.? That insane? Clearly off your rocker? "Common sense, common decency and public safety," to whom, Mr. Patrick? A religious nazi desperate to force his perverse views on all through outrageously unconstitutional legislation? Once again, Lt. Gov., you've disgraced yourself, intentionally violated your oath of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution.
"Bill sponsor Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, a Republican from rural Brenham, said her "thoughtful and unique" bill won't create a "bathroom police" and will allow anyone to lodge complaints upon seeing something in public restrooms that makes them uncomfortable. She added the bill was written "not to start a controversy but to end one."
Sen. Kolkhorst is delusional. There is no controversy other than in the psychotic minds of religious nazis. This bill will lead to violence against the LGBT community. Will certainly damage the state as businesses elect not to do business here. Move their operations elsewhere. The only thing the Nazi Right understands is money.
Sue the living shit out of the bastards when civil and constitutional rights are abrogated. No matter who's responsible. When taxpayers grow tired of being looted, things will change. Whether it's murderous jackbooted bastards in blue, or businesses leaving the state in protest. Hit 'em where it hurts most, the pocket book.
1-6-17
Think national socialist 'judges' aren't owned by the Republican Party? Wake up. The Washington Times reports:
"Now the Department of Health and Human Services has taken Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits “sex” discrimination in the provision of health care, to mean that hospitals, insurance companies and other health care entities that receive federal funding must cover or perform abortions and sex-reassignment surgeries, even if doing so would violate their religious beliefs."
If a hospital or other care provider cannot in good conscience provide abortion or transgender services, it needs to relinquish its license to provide care and/or practice medicine. Providing care, practicing medicine, etc. is not a right, but a privilege. Nazis on the Right cannot seem to understand this.
"The rule was finalized in May and was to go into effect on Sunday. But the legal battle escalated over the weekend when a federal judge in Texas on Saturday blocked the Obama administration mandate one day before it was set to go into effect. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor is the same judge who, four months earlier, blocked President Obama’s order compelling public schools nationwide to permit bathroom and locker room access on the basis of gender identity."
This 'judge' is a goddamned anti-LGBT bigot. Presents an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Why? He's allowed his perverse ideological and religious views to interfere with his rulings and oath to protect and defend the United States Constitution.
"In issuing a temporary restraining order Saturday, Judge O’Connor said the Department of Health and Human Services lacked a basis for interpreting Obamacare’s prohibition against “sex” discrimination to apply to other characteristics, including “gender identity” and “termination of pregnancy.”
The last quote is unadulterated bullshit. Further evidence this piece of shit is allowing his perverse ideological and religious views to interfere with his rulings and oath of office.
"Lori Windham, senior counsel at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represented the Franciscan Alliance, said the medical judgment of doctors, not the decree of government officials, should determine the treatment a patient receives."
More distortion of reality and abject disingenuous bullshit perpetrated by a shyster. The government stepped in because physicians and their facilities denied treatment for religious and/or ideological reasons having absolutely nothing to do with medical issues. Windham assumes the doctor ultimately makes the decision as to what treatment will be executed. Not so. The care recipient makes this decision. Equally pointedly, also ultimately decides what treatment he or she will receive. Not the physician or facility.
"The LGBT movement condemned Saturday’s ruling, saying it will endanger transgender people seeking medical treatment."
Indeed, it will. Denial of care. 'Legalized' to satisfy the perverse ideological and religious views of doctors and their facilities.
“Judge O’Connor’s decision to prevent the Department of Health and Human Services from implementing crucial protections for transgender people seeking healthcare services puts thousands of people at risk of marginalization, harassment, and discrimination at a time they are most vulnerable and in need of inclusive, respectful care,” Sarah Warbelow, legal director for the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement."
This is precisely the intention of the Nazi Right, and their shills in the Republican Party.
1-6-17
In an interesting twist, NBC News reports:
"The firebrand lesbian rabbi of New York City's Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the country's largest LGBTQ synagogue, is bringing Jews and Muslims together to fight a rise in hate crime, which the F.B.I. reported has surged 6 percent in the U.S., particularly against Muslims. Kleinbaum said she is especially frightened over images of swastikas that have appeared on buildings and playgrounds throughout New York City, where she lives, since the presidential election in November."
This is a fascinating approach to a three-prong problem with achingly gutless bigotry. Vis a vis three classes that have suffered egregious discrimination: anti-Semitism, homophobia, Islamaphobia.
"It's absolutely horrifying, and that's why we need each other more than ever," Kleinbaum told NBC Out. "This is a global phenomenon we're facing and as a religious person I need to join with those other religious groups who share my basic values of justice and God's call to us to act in moral ways. And it goes across religious lines and it goes across countries."
Indeed, it does. Precisely, why protest must be ferocious, but peaceful.
"Under Kleinbaum's leadership, the synagogue is combating the rise in hate crimes by uniting with the Islamic Society of New York University. In November, Kleinbaum and her clergy staff showed up to the group's Friday prayer service to show their support."
How about that? Brilliant. A portend of what is to come as the Trump nazi takes office.
12-30-16
The LGBT community will certainly feel threatened under the Trump Regime. All gains made the last few years could very well be reversed. NBC News reports:
"Earlier this month, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Senator Mike Lee of Utah, through his spokesperson, told Buzzfeed they plan to reintroduce an embattled bill that barely gained a House hearing in 2015. But this time around, they said, the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) was likely to succeed due to a Republican-controlled House and the backing of President-elect Donald Trump."
The Republican Nazi Right is hell bent on forcing its perverse religious and ideological views on all in direct violation of The First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is freedom from religion.
"FADA would prohibit the federal government from taking "discriminatory action" against any business or person that discriminates against LGBTQ people. The act distinctly aims to protect the right of all entities to refuse service to LGBTQ people based on two sets of beliefs: "(1) marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or (2) sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage."
'Legalized,' grossly unconstitutional discrimination. Gets worse. It is deliberate, concerted, not-so-cleverly designed perversion of The First Amendment:
"Ironically, the language of the bill positions the right to discriminate against one class of Americans as a "first amendment" right, and bans the government from taking any form of action to curb such discrimination—including withholding federal funds from institutions that discriminate. FADA allows individuals and businesses to sue the federal government for interfering in their right to discriminate against LGBTQ people and would mandate the Attorney General defend the businesses."
All civil and constitutional rights and liberties are under exigent threat. When will you cowardly idiots out there financially support those of us fighting these nazis?
"Jennifer Pizer, Law and Policy Director at Lambda Legal, told NBC Out FADA "invites widespread, devastating discrimination against LGBT people" and is a deeply unconstitutional bill. "This proposed new law violates both Equal Protection and the Establishment Clause by elevating one set of religious beliefs above all others," Pizer said, "And by targeting LGBT Americans as a group, contrary to settled constitutional law."
Indeed. The LGBT community is not the only one to be threatened by loss of civil and constitutional rights and liberties. All of us on the bottom of the food chain, as well as those who remain in what is left of the middle class, certainly are. Yet, you cowards out there stand gutlessly willing to let the rest of us carry the load? Take the risk? While you sit on your ass and do nothing?
"Pizer warned that the bill's language also left room for individuals and businesses to discriminate against unwed heterosexual couples and single mothers, because of the clause stating that "sexual relations are properly reserved" to marriage between a man and a woman."
Shacked up? Better get married. Otherwise, the nazi bastards in the Republican Party will wind up f--king you out of all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
"There cannot be even one iota of doubt that this bill endorses one set of religious beliefs above others, and targets people in same-sex relationships, married or not, as well as unmarried heterosexual couples who live together," Pizer said. "It's an unconstitutional effort to turn the clock back to a time when unmarried mothers had to hide in shame, and LGBT people had to hide, period."
Courtesy of the nazis in the Republican Party.
"If Congress were to pass the federal FADA as currently written, and the next president were to sign it into law, I'm confident heads would spin at how fast the constitutional challenges would fly into court," Pizer said, adding "we're likely to have a great many allies because these attempts to misuse religion for discrimination offend enormous numbers of Americans who cherish both religious liberty and equality for all."
Think the courts, flush with Republican national socialist 'judges,' wouldn't be emboldened to raucously shit on whatever is left of civil and constitutional rights and liberties once the nazi is sworn into the Oval Office? Wake up. Stand up. Before too late. Where is the financial support for this publication and others standing up for your rights at great personal cost and risk? Where?
12-30-16
What continues in Nazi North Carolina is a portend of things to come. NBC News reports:
"North Carolina lawmakers on Wednesday failed to reach a deal to scrap House Bill 2 (HB2), the so-called "bathroom bill" that bans transgender people from using public restrooms that don't match the gender on their birth certificate. Since its passage earlier this year, the anti-LGBTQ law has helped oust the sitting governor; has triggered a boycott of the state by businesses, performers and sports leagues; and has cost North Carolina at least tens of millions—and by some estimates hundreds of millions—of dollars."
Clearly, the financial loss to date has been insufficient to force the issue. All the more reason for more businesses to refuse to do business in Nazi North Carolina.
"This harmful and discriminatory law has been a disaster for North Carolina, damaging both our economy and reputation on the national stage. Instead of showing that North Carolina is open for business, Republicans decided to play games and wasted our time and taxpayers' money," Brockman said. "
This is to be expected of Republican national socialists. Par for the course. These clueless bastards are not conservatives, they're nazis.
"The North Carolina General Assembly is a national disgrace," Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said in a statement sent to NBC Out."
Indeed, it is. Forget? The f--king is just beginning. Will certainly exponentially increase when Trump takes office, owns the GOP Congress, appoints nazis to the bench. Enjoy. You aggressively stupid, clueless, ignorant bastards elected this nazi scourge. You get what you richly deserve.
"North Carolina—particularly transgender North Carolinians—cannot have any faith in their shameless lawmakers," Keisling added. "We continue to stand with the people of North Carolina, particularly the transgender people who have been harmed by HB2 and their own lawmakers' actions, and we will continue to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with them until this shameful legislation is repealed in its entirety.
"Another
chance for #ncgop to repeal #HB2 and stop LGBT discrimination. They failed.
So we'll see them in court. https://t.co/tEKH0HnZJH
—
ACLU National (@ACLU) December 22, 2016"
The same is true all over our formerly great nation.
"Elizabeth Kohm, the interim executive director of PFLAG, the nation's largest LGBTQ family and ally organization, called Wednesday's failure to repeal HB2 "outrageous, unconscionable and unacceptable."
"We have waited months for fairness and dignity to prevail. Now, instead of doing what's right, North Carolina's legislators will retire to the comfort of their homes and families for the holidays, leaving our families living or visiting there still vulnerable and still unprotected," Kohm added."
All this, courtesy of Republican nazis. The party beholden to the top 1%, -- who run and own all levels of government. Including the idiots who voted for this nazi scourge about to commandeer the Oval Office, the U.S. Constitution including the Bill of Rights. ... Right, TL? Ben? Lou?
"GOP lawmakers have turned their backs on LGBTQ people, workers, veterans, women and people of faith," Rea Carey, executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, said in a statement. "Self-interested North Carolina politicians showed that they will stop at nothing as they resigned themselves to an even worse reputation and an economy that's continuing to plummet," Carey added. "If nothing else, these lawmakers not only need to repeal HB2 but also pass comprehensive nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people. If they do nothing, HB2 will go down in history as one of the most vindictive and damaging laws in the state's recent history."
All courtesy of a nazi Republican Party and gutless Democrats who failed to effectively fight this scourge.
12-16-16
Sadly, the LGBT community still faces incredible shortsightedness in the court system. ABC News reports:
"Arkansas' highest court on Thursday threw out a judge's ruling that could have allowed all married same-sex couples to get the names of both spouses on their children's birth certificates without a court order, saying it doesn't violate equal protection "to acknowledge basic biological truths."
Day is night, night is day, and shit smells perversely sweet in the world of a national socialist, fascist 'judge.' This nazi son of a bitch has his head so far up his ass his eyeballs have turned inside out. Has no vision. Just nazi ideology.
"The state Supreme Court also issued a rare admonishment to Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox, saying he made "inappropriate remarks" in his ruling that struck down the birth certificate law. Fox had cited the U.S. Supreme Court's decision legalizing gay marriage in his ruling last year that said married same-sex couples should have both names listed on their children's birth certificates, just as heterosexual married couples do, without requiring a court order."
Can't have that, can we? Hard to believe it's 2016, not 1956.
12-16-16
Think discrimination against the LGBT community won't increase after Trump takes office? NBC News reports:
"Students at the University of Chicago arrived at school on Monday to find Nazi imagery littering the campus. The flyers—featuring an image of Adolf Hitler on a background of swastikas—had been pasted to the doors of the university's Center for Identity + Inclusion, a building that houses both the LGBTQ Student Life Office and the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs. According to student Alex Shams, the Hitler posters were also plastered to the doors of the school's Center for Gender and Sexuality and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture."
These are Trump's supporters. The Alt Right.
"Along the bottom half of the flyers read the message "#Hitler Disapproves/No Degeneracy/No Tolerance/Hail Victory." A person or group called Atomwaffen Division took credit for the defacement on Twitter. On Wednesday, the Atomwaffen Division Twitter account was still active—with months of tweets featuring hate speech still up. One, from November 22, showed an image of a "disgusting f-g flag taken from Pulse being burned." Another tweet from December 3 said "You better get ready for the race war" with an image of a bomb factory."
This is a portend of what's coming. Sadly, it's likely to get much worse.
12-16-16
Yet, despite the above, there may be some bright spots. NBC News reports:
"North Carolina's incoming Democratic governor said Wednesday he's optimistic he'll be able to repeal the law limiting state and local LGBT protections, vowing to pull back the conservative agenda of a Republican-dominated legislature. Roy Cooper told The Associated Press in an interview - two days after Republican Gov. Pat McCrory conceded - that he wants to assemble issue-specific bipartisan coalitions on such matters as education, renewable energy, criminal justice reform and ending House Bill 2. That law known as H.B. 2, signed by McCrory, also directs transgender people to use restrooms in schools and government buildings corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate. Republicans still will command veto-proof majorities in the House and Senate in 2017, so Cooper will be hard-pressed to block Republican legislation. Just a few GOP lawmakers now say they want the bill repealed, but Cooper believes more would be willing as the fallout of a national outcry continues to impact the state."
When the nazi element in the GOP gets hit hard in the pocketbook, that's when things will change.
12-16-16
The LGBT community still faces discrimination, determined bigotry. NBC reports:
"A report from an international human rights organization concludes many public schools are still hostile environments for LGBT students."
Including here in Nazi Texas.
"The lengthy report from Human Rights Watch was released Wednesday in Sioux Falls and offered suggestions of ways for states to make policy changes. It was based on hundreds of interviews primarily with current and former high school students, parents, administrators and teachers in Alabama, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Utah. The report documented several challenges lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender students face — including in-person and online bullying, limits on LGBT student groups, exclusion of some topics from curricula and discrimination by classmates and school personnel."
Will certainly get worse when GOP nazis pass additional discriminatory legislation in the upcoming legislative session.
12-16-16
Anti-LGBT bigotry remains alive and well in the military. NBC News reports:
"A military doctor treating former U.S. intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning while she serves a prison sentence for espionage denied her request to have her female gender reflected in her military records, according to a court filing."
This woman is a hero for releasing information that should never have been classified in the first place.
12-16-16
Earlier this month, CNN reported:
"Walmart has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a suit that alleged the chain discriminated against gay employees. The class-action suit, which was announced Friday, claimed that Walmart denied spousal health insurance benefits to same-sex employees between 2011 and 2013. Jacqueline Cote filed the complaint in July 2015 on behalf of other Walmart employees whose same-sex spouses were also denied health insurance."
12-2-16
GOP nazis in Texas continue to shit on the LGBT community. Think not? Wake up. CBS News reports:
"A Texas state lawmaker has proposed a law that critics say would force schools to out gay students against their will to their parents. State Rep. Konni Burton filed Senate Bill 242 just days after Donald Trump was elected president, amid increasing reports of harassment and violence against minorities across the country."
Interesting, isn't it? Frightening as well. Then again, to be expected from the Nazi Right.
"The proposal has roused opposition from LGBTQ advocates."
Why wouldn't it?
“Until kids are not kicked out of their house for being gay or transgender, and until kids are not being beaten by parents for being gay or transgender, we owe it to kids to protect them,” Steven M. Rudman, chairman of Equality Texas, said in a statement. “We believe Sen. Burton’s legislation would essentially destroy protected communications between a student and an educator.”
Wouldn't want to confuse the self-righteous, supposedly 'Christian' Nazi Right with the truth, would we?
"The New Civil Rights Movement writes about the case: “If passed, SB 242 would place LGBT youth in the conservative state at risk for abuse, neglect or suicide if their parents aren’t accepting. It could even expose them to the dangerous, discredited practice of ‘reparative therapy,’ which happens to be endorsed in the Texas GOP platform.”
Indeed, we're going backwards in Nazi Texas. Ass backwards. ... Right, TL?
12-2-16
Change is coming to the Marines. The Washington Times reports:
"Lt. Gen. Mark Brilakis, deputy commandant for Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs, signed a six-page document on transgender issues on Nov. 22. The Corps was the last branch of service to fulfill the Pentagon’s policy request, which will allow transgender recruits to serve by July 2017."
As long as they do the job, what is the problem? As long as they meet all standards, about time.
"Transgender
Marines must meet all height, weight, physical fitness, uniform and grooming
standards of their preferred gender.
Transgender
Marines may be separated from the Corps if their transition process interferes
with training.
Transgender
Marines will adhere to the same drug testing rules as their peers.
Transgender
Marines whose ability to meet standards while transitioning may apply for
an exception to existing policies."
Got a problem with this? Wake up.
“Each case is really going to be unique and individual and it’s going to be case-by-case,” Maj. Garn told the defense website. The officer added that statistics on the number of Marines who have requested permission to begin the transition process will not be released at this time. “I have not heard from anywhere that Marines are pushing back against this,” the officer told Military.com. “The decision has been made and the Marines will execute.”
United States Marines always do. If for any reason this becomes unworkable, think the policy won't change? Think any Marine who can't do the job remains in the Corps?
11-25-16
As Trump's nominee for U.S. Attorney General, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) poses an existential threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. The Washington Post reports:
“From his time as U.S. attorney through his service on the Judiciary Committee, he has left serious doubts about whether he would faithfully enforce civil rights laws as attorney general,” said former Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller. “The civil rights division was gutted during the last Republican administration, and the burden of proof is on Senator Sessions to show that he would not follow that same path.”
The mark of a nazi is not only to shit on all civil and constitutional rights and liberties, but eviscerate them. Sessions clearly fits the bill for the Nazi Right.
"Obama’s Justice Department stopped defending the Defense of Marriage Act and successfully argued the historic same-sex-marriage case last year before the Supreme Court. Sessions has opposed same-sex marriage and has a zero rating from the nation’s largest LGBT advocacy group, the Human Rights Campaign."
This should be a wake up call to the LGBT community. All gains recently made could be reversed by the courts. Especially, as Trump fills all vacancies right up to and including the U.S. Supreme Court with national socialists.
“Senator Sessions brings experience, intelligence and passion to Justice,” said Robert Raben, an assistant attorney general under President Bill Clinton and now president of the lobbying and consulting firm the Raben Group. “Regrettably, it is likely to be exercised toward the attempted elimination of civil rights, environmental and antitrust enforcement."
Wake up. If you don't resist, The Fourth Reich will be imposed by Trump and his fascist henchmen. Sessions certainly has his problems:
"In 1986, Reagan nominated him to be a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, but at his Senate confirmation hearing, Justice Department lawyers who had worked with him testified that he had made racist statements. One of those lawyers, J. Gerald Hebert — now the director of the voting rights and redistricting program at the Campaign Legal Center — said that Sessions had called the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union “un-American” and “Communist-inspired.”
This, what you nazi bastards here in Llano County want as Attorney General? A racist? Misogynist? A nazi? This, now, The American Way? In yet another Washington Post article:
"Ryan J. Reilly at the Huffington Post wrote up Sessions’s greatest hits yesterday. They include allegedly calling a black attorney “boy” and agreeing with the description of a white attorney representing black clients as a “race traitor.” He was also accused of referring to organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP as “un-American.” And alleged racism is not the only worrisome thing on Sessions’s résumé."
Again, this what you racists here in Nazi Llano County want in a U.S. Attorney General?
"In 1986, he was denied a federal judgeship after former colleagues testified before a Senate committee that he joked about the Ku Klux Klan, saying he thought they were “okay, until he learned that they smoked marijuana.” “If you have nostalgia for the days when blacks kept quiet, gays were in the closet, immigrants were invisible and women stayed in the kitchen, Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions is your man,” Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said in a statement. “No senator has fought harder against the hopes and aspirations of Latinos, immigrants, and people of color than Sen. Sessions.”
Indeed. Then again, wouldn't want to confuse anyone with the truth.
CNN reports:
"Under Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions has been pushed from the fringe into the center of American politics," said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center. "As a result, women, immigrants, the Black community, the LGBTQ community and anyone who cares about justice and equality for all being are being pushed out."
Indeed, they are. This is precisely why all the communities mentioned in the above quote need to stand up. Stand tall. Resist. Help those of us who are fighting for your rights. To expose all this to the light of day.
"But Sen. Ted Cruz, who himself was under consideration for the post, struck back at Sessions' critics at an appearance at the conservative Federalist Society on Friday and said that Sessions is a necessary change of course from the Obama years."
Once again, "Screws Loose" Cruz has demonstrated his egregious unfitness for office, his growing insanity. As all remaining civil and constitutional rights and liberties remain under vicious, ferocious attack by the Nazi Right.
"We need all hands on deck," Cruz said, and noted that many of the lawyers in the room might land in the new administration. "Do not follow the example of the previous administration," he warned, speaking about the need for deregulation and a reining in of the power of administrative agencies. "We must rebuild our legal culture," Cruz said."
What culture is that, Ted? The Fourth Reich, you hopelessly fascist, achingly clueless son of a bitch?
11-18-16
Whenever an officer does something heroic or of exceptional value to the community, it always leads in this publication. Always. The following is indicative of some desperately needed change in at least one police department. NBC News reports:
"Detroit police officer Danielle Woods was responding to a domestic violence call involving a lesbian couple in 2006 when her partner made a comment that angered her. "I wonder which one of them is the man," Woods recalled the officer saying."
Amazing how achingly ignorant, not only officers, but the public can be.
"It was unprofessional, and it was offensive," Woods told NBC OUT. After they handled the conflict, Woods, who is a lesbian herself, confronted the officer about what he said. She also reported it to her supervisor."
Good for her. Good for the Department. Good for the public.
"The incident gave Woods the idea to create an LGBTQ liaison unit for the Detroit Police Department. She said law enforcement has had a historically troubled relationship with the LGBTQ community in the predominantly Black city, and that was something she wanted to change."
Indeed. Here, here. This will certainly improve police-community relations. -- For the achingly clueless out there, this is precisely why this is a good thing:
"Woods recalled an incident in which she helped a gay man who was the victim of a carjacking. The man had unwittingly set up a date with the perpetrator, who lured him through a fake online dating profile, Woods said. She called the victim several times and convinced him to make a report. She even drove him to the precinct to do so."
-- For the cowardly homophobic out there, the hopeless idiots who have absolutely no ability to reason, sympathize, empathize, wake up. Your homophobic bigotry is not only gutless, but achingly un-American, moreover, un-Christ-like. Yet, you clueless fascist bastards desperately wish to establish Christianity as state religion? In direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, that is, church-state separation. Freedom from religion.
"He was afraid even to come forward, because he just didn't know if his case was going to be taken seriously or be investigated due to the fact that he had set up to meet with a man online. After a couple conversations, I spoke with him and assured him that everything will be fine as far as him coming to make his statements," Woods added."
This officer provided a desperately needed public service. Has set one fine example for fellow officers. Hat's off, Officer Danielle Woods. Job well done, right, Sheriff? TL?
11-18-16
Despite election of a bigoted, misogynist national socialist to the Oval Office, the young seem to be willing to stand up to bigotry directed at the LGBT community. ABC News reports:
"More than half of the members of Alpha Omicron Pi's chapter at Tufts University left the group to protest what they said was a delay in admitting a transgender student. The student, who has asked to remain anonymous, was eventually admitted into the Delta chapter of the sorority -- although she ultimately left in protest as well. The 19-year-old computer science sophomore told ABC News that she had been considering joining the Delta chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi, which was founded in 1889 at Barnard College in New York City, "for quite some time because I had friends who joined last year and it seemed like a supporting and caring environment."
Remarkably, 47 sorority members walked out in support. While Trump himself does not seem to be the attack dog on LGBT issues, Vice 'President'-Elect Pence certainly has been. As Indiana governor, he gutlessly signed outrageously bigoted anti-LGBT legislation into law. If the LGBT community does not stand up against the tide of rising nazism in our formerly great country, all gains made recently will be lost.
11-18-16
The GOP remains on the warpath against the LGBT community. Think not? Wake up. NBC News reports:
"A key sticking point in the negotiations during the upcoming lame-duck session is a House-passed provision that Senate Democrats say would undercut protections against workplace discrimination based on sexual or gender orientation. They've called the measure dangerous and are demanding it be removed from the $602 billion measure." [Defense bill]
Be interesting to see how Trump reacts to this.
"Many House Republicans, however, view the provision as a bulwark for religious liberty and just as adamantly want it kept in the final package. Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election has strengthened their hand should the contentious debate begin anew next year."
Again, Pence is strongly biased against the LGBT community. Has a history of signing anti-LGBT legislation into law as Indiana governor. Be fascinating to see how Trump handles this issue. If he supports Pence, he can expect protest to exponentially expand across our increasingly fascist, national socialist, formerly great country.
"It's going to be a tough one for them to figure out," said Justin Johnson, a senior defense policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Drop the amendment and risk a backlash from rank-and-file Republicans, he said. Keep it in and Democrats could mobilize to block the defense bill, which authorizes spending for military programs that range from jet fighters to a pay raise for the troops."
Democrats need to rediscover backbone gutlessly lost since Bill Clinton was crowned President. Need to find themselves, stand up against the growing nazism, implementation of The Fourth Reich by determined Republican nazis.
11-11-16
Homophobia remains alive and well in Nazi America. NPR reports:
"For most of his career, Wall Street has been good to Rep. Scott Garrett (R, N.J.). Garrett is chairman of a powerful subcommittee that regulates banks, a job that traditionally comes with perks, including big political contributions from financial firms. But that was before Garrett made some controversial remarks about gays."
Lined his pockets courtesy of his corporate masters.
"In a closed-door meeting with the National Republican Congressional Committee in 2015, Garrett reportedly said he would withhold his dues unless the party stopped supporting gay candidates. After those comments leaked to the press, Garrett found himself doing damage control."
This homophobic bigot needs to retire. Remains unfit for office.
11-11-16
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has once again displayed profound homophobia in calling for a federal appeals court to reinstate a Mississippi law highly discriminatory of gays and transgenders. You read the above sentence correctly. A Mississippi law. The Statesman reports:
"Joined Thursday by Republican officials from eight other states, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton urged a federal appeals court to reinstate a Mississippi law that had been struck down as discriminatory against gay and transgender people."
How about that? The nazi is determined to impose his outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on all. -- Despite having falsely sworn to protect and defend The United States Constitution. Readers are reminded this peace of shit will likely go to trial soon on some unrelated criminal charges of his own.
"The Mississippi law, Paxton told the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a legal brief, was intended to protect citizens from being forced by the government into taking actions that violate their religious beliefs, particularly if they oppose same-sex marriage."
The same argument was made about abolition of slavery by those who opposed abolition.
"Americans have the right to peacefully live and work according to their deeply held beliefs, in accordance with the religious freedoms enshrined in our Constitution," Paxton said."
Indeed, they do, General. They don't, however, have the right to force those beliefs on others by law or the determined, callous bastardization of the Constitution, you and so many other national socialists, fascists like yourself seem so determined to do. What you and other nazis like you are attempting to force through the courts is un-American. Unacceptable in a democratic republic. You, and others who 'think' like you represent an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
"Although civil rights and gay rights advocates say the Mississippi law allowed for for government-sanctioned discrimination, socially conservative Republicans in Texas have vowed to pass similar laws when the Legislature convenes in January--a strategy that would be endangered if the appeals court ruled that the Mississippi law was unconstitutional. Precedents set by the 5th Circuit apply to Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi."
The Texas Attorney General and his fellow nazis in the Texas Legislature are hell bent in imposing their outrageously perverse religious and ideological views through egregiously unconstitutional legislation and a thorough determined bastardization of the United States Constitution. Particularly, The First Amendment Establishment Clause, that is, church-state separation. Freedom from religion.
11-11-16
Amazing how backward fascists in our formerly great country determinedly remain regarding LGBT issues, including transgenders. ABC News reports:
"Caitlyn Jenner will be required to use the men’s room at public facilities in North Carolina if she ever visits the Tar Heel State, Gov. Pat McCrory said."
Amazing how ignorant national socialists determinedly remain. Won't be confused with the truth under any circumstances. Including here in Nazi Llano County. Wouldn't believe the achingly ignorant remarks made by supposedly well-educated men in high end shops. Men so damned aggressively stupid they clearly, openly, ignorantly display their racism, misogyny, homophobia, as well as bigotry towards transgenders. Cluelessly, ludicrously fail to understand all this does is glaringly display and place in question not only their profound aching ignorance, but their seriously lacking, hopelessly lagging masculinity, -- as well as their insecure view of it.
11-11-16
Republican fascists are certainly unhappy with anything Obama does to support the LGBT community. So do their national socialist shills in media. The Washington Times reports:
"The Obama administration announced a rule last week that threatens to strip federal contracts from religious relief organizations and charities that adhere to traditional views of gender and sexuality, continuing a trend of governmental hostility toward religion."
That's abject bullshit. Deliberate distortion of reality by the Right to force its outrageously perverse religious and ideological views on all. Rather, it is the President standing up for church-state separation, that is, The First Amendment Establishment Clause, freedom from religion.
"National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice said the rule prohibits organizations that contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the administration of aid."
Indeed. That's precisely what it does. Rightfully, so.
“The United States also needs to do more to institutionalize efforts to promote LGBT rights,” Ms. Rice said in a speech at American University last week on the state of gay rights around the world."
Indeed. People are still dying across the globe due to gender preference. By goddamned bigots who insanely believe it's their God-given right to become judge, jury, and executioner.
“As part of that commitment, I’m pleased to note that just yesterday a new rule went into effect that explicitly prohibits discrimination by USAID contractors. This rule means that any organization that contracts with USAID must ensure that all people can benefit from its federally funded programs, regardless of race, religion, disability — or sexual orientation and gender identity,” she said."
Here, here.
“It’s a major step toward ensuring that American assistance is provided in a fair and equitable manner,” she said.
Hopefully. ... If not, who's next? ... Right, TL?
11-11-16
Again and as always, when a cop does something heroic and/or of extraordinary benefit to the community, it always leads in this publication. Always. This example is quite different than any previously presented in this spot. Is quite encouraging since at least some in the law enforcement community are finally showing some responsiveness to desperately needed change. NBC News reports:
"Sergeant Jessica Hawkins was a male cop for 20 years but it was not until her transition to a woman in 2014 that she understood the trepidation that transgender women feel across the United States."
Who better to know? Understand what transgenders endure?
"Transitioning has made me understand the fears of other communities that I did not have as white male," said Hawkins, 43, noting a difference in the way she is treated when off duty and away from her relatively tolerant city of Washington. "I don't feel as safe as I used to. It was never an issue before."
Not only does the law enforcement community gain with employment of a transgender officer, so does the public. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is acting despite and in spite of it. Breathtaking, however, to see an officer openly express vulnerability under any circumstances.
"Hawkins became head of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) liaison unit a year after her transition, at a time when transgender women, especially blacks and Latinas, are being assaulted and murdered at an alarming rate in America. At least 22 transgender people have been killed so far this year, matching the previous recorded high in all of 2015, according to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP). Eighteen of those killed this year have been black or Latina, up from 13 in all of last year."
This is precisely why a transgender officer is such a valuable asset to the community. As well as to her colleagues.
10-28-16
LGBT issues remain quite important to members of the LGBT community as well as to an exponentially increasing number of us throughout the country who believe in equal rights and treatment for all. Certainly know if the LGBT community is denied rights, the question always remains who's next? ABC News has elegantly and concisely reported:
"Hillary Clinton is a staunch supporter of LGBT rights; she has endorsed the Equality Act, a proposed federal law that would provide comprehensive protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
"Donald Trump says he would be a better president for gays than Clinton, yet major LGBT-rights groups strongly oppose him. Among the reasons: He has balked at endorsing same-sex marriage, his evangelical advisory board has included prominent opponents of advances in LGBT rights and running mate Mike Pence, Indiana's governor, last year signed a law that critics said would allow businesses to deny service to gay people for religious reasons."
At the same time, voters must remember the lesser of two evils is still evil. Precisely, why some may not vote at all, -- or vote third party. A landslide for Clinton would certainly give Madam President the false impression she has a mandate. She will not. If she indeed enjoys a landslide, it will occur because the electorate fears Trump exponentially more than Clinton herself.
Voters are reminded Clinton, if elected, will pose a continued exigent threat to the Second Amendment, that is, the last best defense against outrageously corrupt, abusive, inept government as intended by the Founders. Also, it is highly likely Clinton will turn out to be a better 'Republican' than Trump himself since she clearly remains in the pocket of Wall Street.
Clinton and her entourage have yet to claim emails released by WikiLeaks have been altered. If they are indeed original and untampered with, they certainly expose her as quite duplicitous. That is, she says one thing to voters, another to her Wall Street benefactors who have clearly handsomely lined her pockets. Her credibility, as it has been for decades, remains in question.
There will certainly be residual problems with Trump and his sick sycophants should he lose. Precisely, why some in media are beginning to voice serious concern. NPR reports:
"Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic's new editor, has had a long career as a reporter, covering Israel, Pakistan and Iran, and spending hours interviewing President Obama. And recently, Goldberg pressed for his magazine to endorse Hillary Clinton for president. He said it was right, even though it's only the third time in its history The Atlantic has endorsed a presidential candidate."
-- While other publications, some of whom had been staunchly Republican in the past, have also followed suit. What is different about The Atlantic is the following exchange it had with NPR:
NPR: "The election is about to happen, so it doesn't sound like you think this problem is going to end in November."
Goldberg: "I can't imagine that millions of Trump voters — having watched him lose and possibly having him come out and say the election was rigged — I can't imagine that all of these millions of disaffected angry people are going to say, "Oh, well. Hillary Clinton won. I guess I gotta get behind her." I wish that — and that's a nonpartisan wish. I can't imagine that this goes away. I have to imagine, and I don't mean to sound overly pessimistic, but I have to imagine that it actually gets worse."
This has become a growing fear as Trump and his supporters continue to become increasingly psychotic, desperate, and unwilling to accept reality. -- Trump lies and his supporters accept it as truth. Consider the following which clearly invokes memories of Hitler's Third Reich:
NPR: "On being one of the journalists named by the Anti-Defamation League who've been targeted the most with anti-Semitic tweets:"
Goldberg: "Well, I am glad that Nazis hate me. I consider that a compliment.
"These are Neo-Nazis. These are Neo-Nazis on Twitter. And I'm inured to it in a kind of way because I wake up in the morning, and I open up Twitter and some days I'll have 100 messages all with basically the same theme, which is that I should be gassed and that my family should be put in the ovens. I'm inured to it, but I also think this is a challenge for Twitter in a way. I don't want to be on Twitter as much because I find it a little bit dispiriting to start my day with that kind of discourse. It doesn't scare me, but it just is dispiriting."
This is certainly the most vexing, chilling problem with Trump and his supporters. They give vocal support to the rise of The Fourth Reich in our formerly great country. Remain an exigent threat to liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
10-14-16
Not all states are as backward as Republican-owned national socialist Texas. Get this. The Washington Times reports:
"Advocates for transgender people in Massachusetts say they can no longer be legally discriminated against in public places. A new law taking effect on Saturday bars discrimination on the basis of gender identity in public accommodations. Among other things, the statute allows transgender people to use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity."
Can't have that here in Nazi Texas, can we? Wouldn't want to do the right thing, would we?
"The Democratic-controlled Legislature approved the bill after several years of debate. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed it into law in July."
How about that? A Republican signed it into law. Clearly, they're not all goddamned nazis.
"Mason Dunn, co-chair of Freedom Massachusetts, a group that advocated for the new law, said Saturday that the protections represent a “shining moment” in Massachusetts’ legacy as an “inclusive, welcoming place.”
Clearly, not so here in Texas. Homophobic. Determinedly, ignorantly anti-trans. Anti-LGBT.
"The group says Massachusetts is the 18th state to provide similar protections for transgender people."
The supposedly 'Christian,' national socialist Republicans in Texas remain way too ignorant for any such enlightenment. Worse? Many are hopelessly aggressively stupid. -- As the adage goes, "you can fix ignorant, you can't fix stupid." ... Right, Governor?
9-23-16
Transgenders suffer stigma attempting to receive healthcare. Get this. NBC reports:
"Tanya Walker had lung cancer and was coughing up blood, but she says her emergency room doctor kept asking about her genitals.
"It seemed like they weren't going to treat me unless I told them what genitals I had," Walker, a 53-year-old transgender woman, activist and advocate, said about her 2013 experience in a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in New York. "I felt cornered."
"She experienced a stigma shared by many transgender people. The same rejection they confront at home and in society can often await them in the doctor's office, where many report being harassed, ridiculed or even assaulted."
Think this acceptable? Warranted? Just? The American Way?
9-2-16
The transgender fiasco continues unabated. At insistence of Republican nazis who have created a non issue. To impose their perverse religious and ideological views on all by statute. The amount of misinformation and disinformation continues to grow. The Washington Times reports:
"A Maryland school district is instructing teachers and administrators not to tell parents if their daughters are bunking with male students who identify as girls on overnight field trips."
Say what? Think the kids don't already know who is and is not transgender? This is nothing more than determinedly psychotic fear mongering by nazis on the Right. A non issue.
"The Justice Department has released a new training video meant to be used by law enforcement to demonstrate best practices for interactions with members of the transgender community — including a scenario that involves a complaint about public bathroom use."
Again, another non issue. Forget? ... All these decades where transgenders have in fact used restrooms with no problems reported. This video was produced due to the fact Republicans are indeed deliberately creating a non issue. Will make sure it becomes an issue. To further shit on the First Amendment Establishment Clause, that is, church-state separation. Again, no more complicated than that. Worse? These clueless idiots still continue to falsely assert there is no scientific evidence for gender identity and sexual orientation. They've lost their minds. Remain out to lunch.
8-26-16
Once again, a 'judge' has legislated his perverse religious and ideological views from the bench. Latest example? U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor. NPR reports:
"Months after the Obama administration advised school districts that transgender students should be given access to bathrooms based on their gender identity, a federal judge in Texas has blocked the guidance from going into effect — for now. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor has granted a preliminary, nationwide injunction in response to a lawsuit filed by Texas and a number of other states."
What we have here is a non-problem. Turned into a problem. Deliberately, intentionally, designedly. For years, transgenders have been using restrooms matching gender identity with no problems. No issues. No abuse. No untoward incidents. Nothing. Now, we have Republican national socialists grandstanding across the country. These hypocritical pieces of shit, falsely claiming to be Christians, are now in effect calling for discrimination against transgenders.
... While getting down on bended knee each Sunday praising the Lord for their good fortune. Hypocritical pieces of shit. Phony bastards who line their pockets by looting the middle class and bottom of the food chain. While supposedly embracing the love of Christ. Forgetting the man, they supposedly emulate, embraced the poor, downtrodden, persecuted, etc.. Not the bastards who ran the show, f--ked over the masses.
Worse? Far worse? These pieces of human excrement in the Republican Party couldn't care less if a transgender gets the shit beaten out of him or her while using the restroom indicated by the gender on a birth certificate. This bullshit indicates just how far the Republican Party has degenerated recently. They're unadulterated fascist hypocrites unworthy to be known as the Party of Lincoln. ... Old Abe must indeed be spinning in his grave.
7-8-16
It's amazing how Republican national socialists continue to shamelessly shit on the LGBT community. CBS reports:
"A federal judge has blocked a Mississippi law that would let merchants and government employees cite religious beliefs in denying or delaying services to same-sex couples."
Should this law go into effect, it would do no more than legalize discrimination against the LGBT community. Is egregiously unconstitutional regardless since the Supreme Court legalized same sex marriage approximately a year ago. This law certainly intentionally and deliberately abrogates equal treatment and due process.
"The law would protect three beliefs: that marriage is only between a man and a woman; that sex should only take place in such a marriage, and that a person's gender is determined at birth and cannot be altered."
Does the Right ever think with the brain in its head? Rather than its ass? Do these bastards still believe in Leviticus and its prescription of killing adulterers, fornicators, gays, misbehaving children?
"It would allow clerks to cite religious objections to recuse themselves from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and it could affect adoptions and foster care, business practices and school bathroom policies."
How 'thoughtful' of them, no? The Nazi Right remains an exigent threat to liberty, that is, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. What would these nazi bastards in Mississippi do to people having sex outside of marriage should this ruling be reversed on appeal? Jail them? Impose castration? Execute them as done in the Old Testament?
... "a person's gender is determined at birth and cannot be altered." Say what? These fascist bastards don't know hormone therapy and the skilled hands of a surgeon can change the plumbing? Does it truly matter they can't reproduce? There are many in this country with the original equipment they had at birth that suffer infertility. Turned into quite an industry (infertility) for the hopelessly greedy healthcare community.
How is infertility, however, relevant to gender classification? All these religious nazis, that is, shameless national socialists, are desperate to do is impose their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on others by unconstitutional statute. In clear violation of at least the First Amendment Establishment Clause, that is, freedom from religion, i.e. church-state separation.
7-1-16
The President is finally giving the LGBT community the recognition it deserves. NPR reports:
"President Obama is designating a new national monument around the Stonewall Inn, the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement.
"The Stonewall National Monument in New York City will be the first addition to the National Park System specifically highlighting the history of the LGBT community.
"The monument covers nearly 8 acres in New York's Greenwich Village including a landmark gay bar, the Stonewall Inn. In June of 1969, patrons at the bar fought back against police persecution — an event that's widely seen as a watershed in the campaign for LGBT rights."
Got a problem with that? Why? Homophobic? Fervently, sickeningly embrace achingly perverse, hopelessly intolerant, highly bigoted religion?
6-3-16
Insult to injury? The following is an excerpt from the latest newsletter received from Sen. Ted "Screws Loose" Cruz:
"On Wednesday, Sen. Cruz released the following statement, praising Texas’ decision to challenge the Obama administration’s unlawful transgender bathroom agenda for public schools:
“I applaud the State of Texas for taking a strong stand on this issue,” Sen. Cruz said. “Through executive fiat, President Obama has threatened to cut off millions of dollars in federal aid to states that don’t allow men and boys into girls’ private restrooms and showers. This has no basis in federal law, and it once again demonstrates that Obama is more devoted to radical social engineering than to the democratic process and the separation of powers. Moreover, Obama’s decree flies in the face of common sense. In my years in law enforcement, I’ve handled far too many cases of child molesters, pedophiles, and people who abused little kids. The threats of predators are serious, and we should not facilitate allowing grown men or boys to be in bathrooms with little girls. I firmly stand by Texas—and other states, such as North Carolina—that have stood up to this politically correct nonsense, and I hope that the courts can be trusted to enforce federal law, rather than Obama’s partisan preferences.”
This is proof positive Cruz has lost his mind. "Unlawful?" What's unlawful about the President's directive? It does not have the force of law. No one can or will be prosecuted if they don't comply. Yes, the President can and should deny Texas the millions it receives in education aid. Immediately. The President does have the authority to cut off that aid. We'll see if the courts agree.
One thing for sure. Cruz nor any of his equally national socialist, that is nazi Republican compadres, can come up with one incident where a transgender has done anything untoward in a rest room. In fact, have been using the very same restrooms decades without incident. The Senator is a sick, uninformed, ignorant, fear mongering son of a bitch. This piece of shit cares nothing for the LGBT community and the atrocities it's endured all these decades.
This egregious piece of human excrement is grandstanding. Has no credibility. He couldn't have read the directive. Nowhere in the directive does it "allow men and boys into girls’ private restrooms and showers." That's goddamned bullshit. The Senator is a liar. Deliberately distorts reality to bamboozle his sick sycophants who believe everything this goddamned liar falsely claims is true.
Moreover, the President's directive has nothing to do with political correctness, but the safety of transgenders. Cruz remains too ignorant and ill-informed to understand this. This piece of shit claims to be Christian. Bullshit. On the contrary, this clueless, psychotic, fascist bastard gives Christians a bad name. To their credit, not all of them have bought his deception. It's the outright deception, deceit, distortion of reality that's cost the Senator any traction in the race. His sycophants, sadly, don't seem to understand this at all. Remain hopelessly clueless.
The President's directive has nothing to do with "Obama's partisan preferences." This is rabid distortion of reality by our national socialist Senator who has once again disgraced himself by his profound ignorance. Aggressive stupidity. He likes to reference "my years in law enforcement." Why? If law enforcement has embraced any of his perverse religious and ideological views, it's indeed no wonder we live in a goddamned fascist police-state. ... Right, Sheriff? TL?
6-3-16
More of the same and insult to injury, CBS reports:
"A House Republican on Thursday accused a number of his own GOP colleagues of committing a sin because they voted in favor of an anti-discrimination LGBT proposal, according to The Hill newspaper.
"To begin a Republican policy meeting, Rep. Rick Allen, R-Georgia, read a Bible passage aloud that condemns homosexuality, the report said. People inside the meeting told The Hill that Allen suggested his colleagues violated Christian tenets because they backed an LGBT protection provision.
"It was f***ing ridiculous," one GOP lawmaker told The Hill.
"According to the report, several Republicans walked out of the room."
It's not only ludicrous, it's goddamned unconstitutional. These bastards took an oath of office to protect and defend The United States Constitution. Not the Bible.
5-27-16
Eleven states including Nazi Texas have sued the President's transgender directive in federal court in Texas. Be interesting to see how this suit is adjudicated. Much more to come as this case proceeds. This is not a states rights issue as falsely claimed by national socialist Republicans. It is no more than GOP fascists determined to impose their convoluted, perverse religious and ideological views on all by statute and/or court order.
Indeed, a frontal assault on church-state separation prescribed by the First Amendment Establishment Clause, that is, freedom from religion. Clearly, Republican nazis couldn't care less transgenders have been brutalized, attacked, injured, killed. Makes no difference to these fascist sons of bitches. None at all.
Ironically, hypocritically, cluelessly, GOP nazis in power in Texas admit they can provide no example of untoward behavior by transgenders in rest rooms. Not one goddamned example. These exceptionally repressive measures now sought by Republican national socialists are clearly, sadly, based on irrational fear, bigotry, psychotic sick religion, and achingly ignorant assumptions made by these fascist bastards that have no basis in fact.
Rather, sick, psychotic, bastardized religion. Where? Wake up. Where else? Nazi Texas. Nazi America. The Fourth Reich. A raucous Sieg Heil!?
Carefully consider the following. Think a transgender woman, dressed as a woman, walking into a men's room as required by the male gender on her birth certificate as directed by the Texas Attorney General and other equally psychotic authorities in government and the schools doesn't stand a good chance of being assaulted, and/or beaten, killed? Whether or not she's had surgery? Especially, at the junior or senior high school levels? Wake up.
5-27-16
Our national socialist Texas Gov. Greg Abbot is about as worthless as they come. This son of a bitch as Attorney General did nothing about a complaint filed against Wells Fargo for criminal deceptive trade practices. Did not even have the cajones to answer the complaint. Now, the bastard, on a 19-city tour to promote a book he has written is determinedly concertedly deliberately shitting on transgenders:
"JFK wanted to send a man to the moon. Obama wants to send a man to the women's restroom. We must get our country back on track."
What's that, Governor? What track? Right wing nazism? Are you declining your salary while on the book tour, Greg? Why are the goddamned taxpayers looted to finance your personal endeavors, you convoluted, perverse, sick, sorry ass, fascist son of a bitch? ... Hey, Greg? Wells Fargo line your pockets to ignore egregious criminal deceptive trade practices?
5-27-16
Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin is a Delta Force hero who was fired and then rehired by Hampden-Sydney College. Seems he was let go for allegedly 'joking' with 'conservatives.' Addressing the transgender issue, the General remarked:
“The first man who goes into the restroom with my daughter will not have to worry about surgery.”
While a level of machismo is expected of military personnel, this demonstrates exceptionally poor judgment on the part of the General. Would you really want someone with this mentality, that is, totally indifferent to the LGBT community, in a teaching position? Would you believe this guy taught young students leadership and ethics nine years? Where the hell is his head? Up his machismo sorry ass?
Apparently, the school had received withering criticism for his firing from the Nazi Right. Offered him a one year contract six hours after letting him go. He may certainly be qualified to lead on the battlefield, but is he qualified to teach leadership and ethics when he's clearly bigoted against the LGBT community? Some of whom would indeed be taking his class? Do we really want this in a college or university?
Worse, the bigoted son of a bitch has no clue transgenders are not pedophiles. Neither are gays and lesbians. Where have you been, General? Or, were you simply pandering to a group of ignorant bastards as uninformed as you? This guy has no business in a classroom. Is not qualified by temperament or trade. Why not stick to teaching military science, General? Isn't that what you are eminently qualified for? Especially, since you were a hero with Delta Force?
What has happened to us? That we would tolerate this bullshit? What happened to him? Where is his judgment? While entitled to his views, why didn't he wisely keep them to himself on such a hot topic? The LGBT community has long been discriminated against. Worse? Far worse? Been violently attacked, killed. It's time for us to wake up. Demand better of the leadership at all levels of government, the business community, the churches, as well as in the schools.
5-27-16
Apparently, bigotry against the LGBT community is alive and well in the House as well. On 5-19-16, it appeared a bill protecting the LGBT community was about to pass the lower house of Congress. Republican national socialists, however, seeing the bill was about to pass, held open the vote and twisted the arms of fellow members to defeat it. Nazi justice in Nazi America. Aren't we lucky?
5-20-16
Well, well, well. The true colors of Republican national socialists in Texas are now on full display. Amazing how these goddamned nazis have their shorts in a wad over the Obama Administration issuing guidelines on how transgenders are to be treated in the schools. Tough shit. About time the President displayed backbone.
Fascists in Texas seem to think this is a states rights issue. The hell it is. It's national socialists imposing their phony, convoluted, perverse religious and ideological views on all by force of law. In direct violation of The Establishment Clause First Amendment, as well as Titles 7 and 9. These fascist bastards don't seem to understand this. Be interesting to see how all this is finally adjudicated.
The President's directive does not have the force of law. It basically states: "a school must not treat a transgender student differently from the way it treats other students of the same gender identity." Republican national socialists, eager to force their perversely convoluted religious views on all by law, are couching their language in religious terms.
Since federal funding may and should be forfeited, Texas Lt.Gov. Dan Patrick responded to the directive:
"He says he's going to withhold funding if schools do not follow the policy. In Texas, he can keep his thirty pieces of silver. We will not yield to blackmail from the president of the United States."
Clearly, this son of a bitch fascist is talking out his ass. Interesting, isn't it, he appears to be comparing Obama to Judas? We'll see if he plays the same tune if Texas winds up losing billions in funding over the issue. A civil rights issue. The reaction from Republican national socialists sounds remarkably similar to the same old goddamned bigoted bullshit we heard from GOP partisans some fifty years ago upon passage of The Civil Rights Act. What the hell ever changes?
Earlier in the week, the Lt. Governor insanely called for the resignation of Superintendent Dr. Kent Paredes Scribner of the Fort Worth ISD stating the Superintendent:
"has lost his focus and thereby his ability to lead the Fort Worth ISD. ... He has placed his own personal political agenda ahead of the more than 86,000 students attending 146 schools in the district by unilaterally adopting 'Transgender Student Guidelines.' ...Campus safety should be of paramount concern for anyone in his position. Every parent, especially those of young girls, should be outraged."
The quotes came from NPR. Clearly, indicate the Lt.Governor is unfit for office. A goddamned clueless national socialist and hopelessly bigoted against the LGBT community. This fascist son of a bitch has no basis for his assertions. Transgenders have been using rest rooms for years with no untoward incidents. This piece of shit is fear mongering. Showing his true colors.
Certainly, embarrassing the State of Texas nationally through his profound ignorance. Giving Christians a bad name due to his fervent embrace of nazism. Certainly,clearly doesn't want transgenders protected against extreme bullying and violence. They are the victims, you clueless ignorant sad sack of shit and poor excuse for a legislator. No more than an ignorant, achingly ill-informed asshole.
... Certainly, wouldn't want to insult an asshole which forms a vital bodily function, however, unlike the Lt.Gov. who remains nothing more than a blowhard piece of shit. Sadly, Patrick is indeed now the 'best' our formerly great state has to offer. All the statesmen are long since gone. We have a Governor who as Attorney General gave Wells Fargo carte blanche to f--k consumers through deceptive trade practices when he not only failed to answer a complaint filed by this publication, but failed to take any action at all.
We have former Gov. Rick "The Prick" Perry who was exonerated by his compadres on the Texas Supreme Court. Two felony charges against this piece of national socialist shit were conveniently dropped. We have the current Attorney General who remains under criminal indictment. Yet, the voters keep sending and returning absolute pieces of criminal subhuman excrement to office. What does that make us?
5-20-16
The President nominated Eric Fanning to become Secretary of the Army. Eight months ago. Mr. Fanning will be the first openly gay man in the job. Is eminently qualified for the position. One Senator is blocking his nomination, however. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas. Interestingly, it's not because of Fanning's sexual orientation.
It's because the Senator wants a guaranty from the President that he will not move Gitmo prisoners to Ft. Leavenworth. Promises to lift the hold immediately if the President cowardly capitulates. Interesting, isn't it? Also, an egregious abuse of power. By one goddamned national socialist, fascist, nazi Republican Senator and bona fide son of a bitch.
Subsequent to writing the above, the Associated Press reported the Senate finally confirmed the nomination:
"The voice vote approval Tuesday came after Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., dropped his opposition to Fanning after a senior Pentagon official told him that no detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, would be sent to the Army prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, or other facilities in the United States."
Apparently, the President capitulated. ... 'Ain't' abject gutlessness 'grand?'
5-6-16
The American Family Association is a Right Wing national socialist organization that determinedly embraces sick religion. Hopelessly anti-LGBT, it has organized and executed a 550,000 signature drive to boycott Target over its LGBT-friendly dressing and rest room policies. What the hell is wrong with you perversely ill nazis? Most profess to be Christians.
Think the Head Honcho of your religion, you sick bastards, would approve of your exceptionally un-Christlike behavior and bigotry towards others who do not see things quite as narrow mindedly as you sick sons of bitches do? Why are you so motivated to force your perverse religious views on others? Whether it's women seeking an abortion or the LGBT community simply trying to live its life in peace.
You sick sons of bitches seem to have forgotten Christ's admonishment not to judge lest you be judged. Wake up. You've disgraced yourselves. You sickly remain an exigent threat to liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
5-6-16
Bad enough Sen. Ted "Screws Loose" Cruz is hopelessly misinformed on Voter ID, he's more than misinformed on transgender use of bathrooms. He's lost his mind. He ludicrously seems to equate transgenders with pedophiles. Falsely states it:
"opens the door for predators. This is not a matter of right or left, or Democrat or Republican. This is common sense. It doesn't make sense for grown adult men, strangers, to be alone in a restroom with a little girl. This is the height of political correctness. And frankly, the concern is not of the Caitlyn Jenners of the world, but if the law is such that any man, if he feels like it, can go in a woman's restroom and you can't ask him to leave, that opens the door for predators."
"Common sense" to whom, Ted? A 'Christian' nazi? A national socialist hell bound to impose his perverse ideological and religious views on others through force of law? Don't you understand the difference between transgenders and pedophiles? That hopelessly ignorant? Or, simply determinedly aggressively stupid. Could it be you have gender issues of your own, sir? The quotes came from CNN.
Cruz insanely couldn't leave well enough alone:
"I've spent a lot of years in law enforcement dealing with child predators that are sick individuals. That doesn't mean that that is the people who are transgendered. But there are predators in the world, and just saying that you're a man, you can go in the girls' restroom if you feel like it, opens the door for criminals."
"This is the height of political correctness for Donald Trump to say yes, let grown men in the bathroom with little girls."
Ted? You give Christianity a bad name. Far from all Christians think as psychotically as you do, sir.
4-29-16
Seems a North Carolina court has issued a ruling on trans gender bathroom use that reportedly threatens an outrageously bigoted anti-LGBT law recently passed. CBS reports:
"A federal appeals court ruling on transgender bathroom access in public schools threatens a key provision of a North Carolina law limiting protections for the LGBT community.
"The court decision has prompted swift condemnation from the state's Republican leadership.
"The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond sided Tuesday with a transgender teen's arguments that a Virginia school board violated Title IX by forbidding him from using the boys' restroom. The interpretation of the federal education law directly affects North Carolina.
"The court's ruling imperils a provision in the North Carolina law - called HB2 - that requires transgender students in public schools and universities to use bathrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate, said Maxine Eichner, a University of North Carolina law professor."
Hasn't there been more than enough bigotry in our formerly great country? Equally pointedly, who are Republican nazis to impose their outrageously perverse religious and ideological views on anyone? Most of them, sadly, are no more than goddamned homophobic bigots.
4-22-16
Fascists on the Right are blaming the Supreme Court for recently legalizing gay marriage. Tough shit. About time. They complain this ruling is emboldening the LGBT community to push the envelope. Hope so. Good for them. There has been more than enough injustice and goddamned bigotry in our formerly great nation.
If these nazis can't live with this desperately needed change, they can always leave the country. A good place for these fascist sons of bitches might certainly be, with utmost sarcasm, any Islamic country under Sharia. They'd fit right in. Quickly find their place. Under Sharia, they could and would experience their true selves. Fulfill their destiny. Force their perverse beliefs on others with the backing of Islamic 'officials.' ... Again, written with utmost sarcasm. Tongue in cheek.
Sadly, there is little to no difference between extremists on the Far Right in our formerly great country and Islamists. The end result of both ideologies remains nearly the same, -- death, destruction, loss of liberty, living under the boot heel of despots. No question, this is a problem with extremists on either the Far Left or Right in our formerly great country as well. The bottom line remains the same, however. Loss of liberty. Establishment of a jackbooted fascist police-state. Right, Sheriff?
4-15-16
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory continues to have his head so far up his national socialist, nazi ass his eyeballs are turning inside out. This fascist bastard dismisses criticism of the egregiously bigoted anti-LGBT bill he recently signed into law:
"I have come to the conclusion that there is a great deal of misinformation, misinterpretation, confusion, a lot of passion and frankly, selective outrage and hypocrisy, especially against the great state of North Carolina."
Is that right, Governor? What a crock of shit. You need to look up the definition of "bigotry" you hopelessly ignorant son of a bitch. Public and corporate reaction has been ferocious. Corporations are either leaving or threatening to leave the not-so-great State of North Carolina. The Governor, desperate to stop the bleeding, issued an executive order that will do little to nothing to end the discrimination. A Band Aid on an arterial wound.
You and your national socialist cronies figuratively shot yourselves in the ass, Governor. This nazi law needs to be repealed. Until that happens, North Carolina will continue to pay a steep price for its GOP nazis insisting on imposing their outrageously perverse, convoluted religious and ideological views on all through the force of law. As reported in an earlier edition, Attorney General Roy Cooper continues to refuse to defend the law, calls it unconstitutional.
4-8-16
National socialist State Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth plans to introduce legislation in the next Texas Legislature allowing businesses to in effect openly discriminate against the LGBT community. A so-called 'religious' 'liberty' bill. In reality, a license to not only discriminate, but impose his perversely fascist ideological and religious views on all. Gov. Abbott appears to be in support. A raucous Sieg Heil!, you goddamned fascist bastards.
... Governor? As previous Attorney General of our not-so-great state, did Wells Fargo bribe you to ignore an egregious deceptive trade practices complaint filed against them by this writer? Or, did you simply ignore your oath of office and do what your corporate masters ordered you to do? That is, protect the criminal sons of bitches at Wells Fargo? ... Too big to fail, you piece of shit?
4-8-16
Mississippi lawmakers passed a bill called The Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act. Nazis on the Right perversely believe it protects 'religious' 'freedom.' It doesn't. What it does is 'legalize' egregious open discrimination against the LGBT community. It awaits signature by the Governor of the not-so-great State of Mississippi.
Subsequent to writing the above, the national socialist Governor of Mississippi signed this nazi legislation into law. Hopefully, the financial consequences in Mississippi will be severe. Dire. To the max.
4-8-16
Sad how fast we're marching backwards. Indeed, a race back to the not-so-good old days of the cave. Los Angeles County prosecutors have charged a father with the murder of his son. Allege he did so because the son was gay. Sick religion. Sick sycophants who distort reality, commit horrendously psychotic crimes, bastardize religion. -- Think the Head Honcho 'ain't pissed off as hell?'
4-8-16
National socialist 'Christians' falsely claim they're victims of persecution. That's goddamned bullshit. What they call 'persecution' is no more than ferocious opposition to their pro-life, anti-contraception, anti-LGBT efforts to force their outrageously perverse and convoluted religious and ideological views on the rest of us.
It's those who do not agree with them that need protection. Our civil and constitutional rights and liberties are being abrogated unconstitutionally by them in the name of phony, ersatz 'religion.' Outrageously, through the force of law. In Nazi America. A goddamned fascist police-state.
To those on the nazi yellow bellied Right, don't wish to be ferociously criticized? Then, mind your own goddamned business, stop forcing your convoluted perverse religious and ideological views on the rest of us through the force of law and/or regulation.
Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
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