Kansas GOP Steps Backwards Into Hate

We knew it wasn’t over, so this really isn’t that much of a surprise, but the level of childishness and stupidity is boundless.

Out in Kansas, lawmakers of the Republican variety  are backing a bill that labels same-sex marriages “parody marriages” and seeks to stop the state from recognizing them, while another bill would create an “elevated marriage” status for straight couples and make divorce more difficult.

Yes, straight marriages are waaaay up there, while same-sex marriages are a joke.

Oddly enough, this renewed disapproval of same-sex marriages from some GOP lawmakers comes on the heels of Kansas voters electing the state’s first out gay lawmakers and just two weeks after the introduction of a bill that would prohibit discrimination against LGBT individuals statewide.

So, let me get this queer, the people of Kansas, for whom these Republicans work, voted in some gay congresspeople, and the state is working toward banning LGBTQ discrimination, but a handful of Republicans wanna take the state back a decade or so … or even further?

And before I get in any more of a snit, the good news is that Kansas has a Democrat, Laura Kelly, left, in the governor’s office and one of her first official acts after being elected by the people was to restore non-discrimination protections for LGBT state workers. So, it doesn’t seem likely that she’d sign any anti-LGBT marriage bills.

Still, the bills mark the reemergence of same-sex marriage as a political wedge issue by some in the Kansas Statehouse, like Congressman Randy Garber, middle, a Republican because, of course:

“Their marriage probably doesn’t affect me—their union or whatever you want to call it. But in my opinion, they’re trying to force their beliefs on society.”

Two of the most offensive and discriminatory words: their and they. Their marriage … they try to force their beliefs. And he doesn’t even notice how he says a same-sex marriage doesn’t affect him, but he still wants them stopped. That’s the basic stupidity of the GOP; this doesn’t affect them at all, but they don’t like it, so it has to end.

But then there’s Congresswoman Susan Ruiz, right, Democrat who is the first lesbian to serve openly in the Kansas Legislature:

“I am very disappointed. I see who the co-sponsors are and I sit with a couple of them in committee and I’m certainly going to talk to them about that and say, ‘hey, I don’t know if you know about it or not, but I’m not a myth… Am I a unicorn?’”

No, but you scare Republicans because they don’t want to focus on the real issues, and if they make same-sex marriage a wedge issue again maybe they won’t have to talk about guns and the environment and infrastructure and their racist president.

Again, this probably won’t happen in Kansas because cooler, smarter, more openminded heads, will prevail, but it is something to look out for, and to fight against. Our marriages are not jokes, and our marriages are not less than those of straight couples, and if the Kansas GOP wants to make marriage an issue, we’ll fight back.

I mean, we won once already, this second attack should be a cake walk.

The march goes on …

Kansas City Star

Random Musings

Milo Yiannopoulos was an internet troll who made a name for himself attacking actress Leslie Jones so unmercifully on Twitter that Twitter banned him. He parlayed that into being one of those talking heads—albeit a flamboyantly gay conservative alt-right Breitbart white supremacist _____-supporting talking head—who would say things just to get attention until one day he went too far and seemed to condone pedophilia—joking that he learned to give good head thanks to Father Joe, or somebody. Now Milo is out of a job and off our TVs and hopefully will go back to being an internet troll without a Twitter account.

#ByeFelicia.

Sinking like a stone, _____’s poll numbers are.

This week voters gave President-For-Now _____ his lowest approval rating since he took office ... now 53% of voters disapprove of him.

Of course, where were they on Election Day might be a good question.

A majority of respondents said _____ is not honest [55%] doesn’t have good leadership skills [55%] or care about everyday Americans [53%], isn’t level-headed [63%], doesn’t share their values [60%] and is doing more to divide the country than unite it [58%].

Don’t be fooled when he calls these polls wrong; they aren’t. Keep up the resistance.

Remember when folks said marriage equality was a sign of the End of Days?

Yeah, not so much. As a matter of fact it appears now that it was a sign of a decrease in LGBTQ youth suicide.

Research has found that suicide attempts by high school students decreased by 7% in states that had passed marriage equality, before the Supreme Court legalized it nationwide in 2015. But, among LGBTQ students the decrease in suicides was 14% in those same states.

I guess when young people can see a future for themselves they tend to want to reach that future.

Marriage equality is good.

The New Mexico Senate has approved a gay conversion therapy ban by a vote of 32-6.

Several republicans, all of whom voted ‘No,’ questioned whether it would target religious teachings, but Democratic Senator Jacob Candelaria, the sponsor of the bill and the first openly gay man to be elected to New Mexico’s senate, said it would merely make it illegal to be paid for providing conversion therapy to someone under 18 years old.

Score a win for our side.

Carlos and I have a very cute dentist ... that's not him, though, yum ... and we always joke with one another about Dr. Will and how gentle he is.

Well, last week I had a scheduled cleaning and after the hygienist was through, Dr. Will came in and checked my teeth and chatted for a bit. Then he grabbed my tongue and gave me an oral cancer exam, by sight, which came up all good. But that was the first time I’d had that done and so when I told Carlos about it later he said Dr. Will had done that to him as well.

But, I said, did he have to put his hands down my pants?

Wishful thinking, perhaps.

Grey’s Anatomy actress Sara Ramirez, who has been on the show 10 years, now says she’s through with ABC after a joke on The Real O’Neals aimed at bisexual people.

The joke? Noah Galvin’s character Kenny utters the line, “Oh, God. Here we go. Webbed toes? Money problems? Or worse… bisexual?!”

Ramirez, who is bisexual, Tweeted:

“WORDS MATTER.PLEASE SIGN this petition 2 @ABCNetwork protesting biphobia in @TheRealONeals  … And as someone who worked 4 them 4 10 years+,am truly disheartened &  disappointed quite frankly. I will invest my brand where I’m respected.”

I dunno; sometimes a joke is a joke is a joke, but to throw away your career might be a bit too much. Perhaps, rather than suggesting she’ll leave ABC because of the joke, maybe she should demand less biphobic humor?

Just sayin’.

We had a free HBO weekend last weekend, so I DVRd some movies we hadn’t seen yet, as well as ten episodes of The Young Pope that Carlos was interested in seeing. But there was another new HBO show, a limited series, called Big Little Lies starring Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley and my BFF Nicki Kidman. So I DVRd the first episode and it was good but...

The men ... clockwise from top left ... Alexander Skarsgård, David Monahan, James Tupper and Larry Sullivan.

Now I have to wait a few more months for another free weekend to get a look at these hunks.

:::sigh:::

This is my new motto. Motto? What’s a motto? I don’t know ... what’s a motto with you? Sorry, I love a little Lion King humor as much as I love my new motto.

Remember when Tennessee Republican asshats Mae Beavers and Mark Pody filed a new bill to outlaw same-sex marriage in the state?

Well, this past week, the two buffoons were booed out of a Tennessee press conference, speaking for just two minutes before being confronted by the angry audience.

And Pody, especially, was unnerved to be confronted by a real live homosexual and apparently clutched his pearls before running out.

In fact, both lawmakers were chased down the hall by those demonstrators.

The resistance continues.

And good news here in South Carolina where state House of Representatives members Todd Rutherford, Gilda Cobb-Hunter and James Smith co-sponsored and filed the Uniform Antidiscrimination Act, a bill that, if passed, would make it illegal to discriminate against individuals based on gender identity or sexual orientation for the following reasons: 

Employment law

Real estate and rental law

Home health agencies law

Public accommodation law involving the enjoyment of goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation.

The march goes on ... and ... a U.S. District Court in South Carolina ruled that the state violates the Constitution by denying accurate birth certificates for children of married same-sex couples. As stated in the ruling:  

“The Court declares Defendant’s failure to treat same-sex spouses in the same manner she treats opposite-sex spouses in the issuance of birth certificates violates Plaintiffs’ rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.  More specifically, this Court refuses to countenance Defendant’s refusal to name both Plaintiffs on their twins’ birth certificates.  Defendant’s present practice is violative of Plaintiffs’ fundamental right to marriage and other protected liberties.”

An inaccurate birth certificate causes real trouble in a family’s day-to-day life—everything from a parent not being able to enroll a child in school to not being able to authorize basic medical care, but that discrimination is now coming to an end in South Carolina.

We are coming into the 21st century, y’all, bit by bit.

The Australian Christian Lobby [ACL], an anti-LGBT group in that country, was forced to hire three security officers to stand guard at a Baptist church in East Melbourne after an online ACL campaign was sabotaged when 54,000 fake attendees registered as attendees using fake name, obscene names and insulting language.

The hate campaign was organized by LGBTI activist Simon Hunt who, using his alter-ego ‘Pauline Pantsdown’ encouraged his nearly 23,000 fans to spam ACL’s RSVP page with fake registrations and “be creative with your name” ...

...like  Anita Feltersnatch, Harry Balzac, and the eternal Mike Hunt.

The other names were, apparently, too obscene to be reprinted. Damn.

One city in California has had enough of _____. This week, Richmond, California officially became the first city in America to support impeachment hearings for Trump.

The City Council did acknowledge how unusual it was to support a president’s impeachment after less than 100 days in office, but despite this, the vote was unanimously in favor of impeachment.

The justification the council used to call for impeachment was Hair Furor’s business dealings, because many believe _____’s continued business interests put him in violation of the Constitution.

The Richmond City Council hopes this move will inspire other towns and cities to do the same and have begun a grassroots movement against _____.

#StandWithRichmond

America Under Siege: Anti-Trans Battles Heat Up Around The US

We all know how North Carolina’s HB2—the so-called Bathroom Bill—affected that state; it discriminated LGBT Americans in so many way; it cost the state millions in lost revenue from canceled sporting events, concerts, and businesses who decided to move elsewhere. On the upside, it did flush the state’s bigoted, homophobic governor, Pat McCrory, out of office.

But the times are changing, back toward hate and intolerance; even though the Obama administration had issued guidance to public schools encouraging them to respect the rights of transgender students, it was deemed unenforceable and challenged in court. And with this new administration in power, one that believes only rich white men are worthy of protections, there are several new anti-trans bill floating around the country now ...

Anti-transgender bills have been filed across several states targeting transgender people using public restrooms. These despicable “bathroom bills” target transgender people by forcing them to use the restroom associated with either the gender on their birth certificate or their assigned sex at birth, such as:

Alabama’s Senate Bill 1 which requires businesses, schools, and other public places to either segregate restrooms by gender (which is not defined in the bill) or place attendants at each restroom to monitor people’s restroom use; that’s right, y’all, there will be genital police in bathroom.

Arizona’s House Bill 2293 prohibits people in state prisons from getting medically necessary surgeries related to gender transition, and ...

House Bill 2294 prohibits people on Medicaid from getting medically necessary surgeries related to gender transition

Indiana’s House Bill 1361 bars transgender people from changing the gender on their birth certificates

Kentucky's House Bill 106 which requires transgender people to use restrooms in schools and government buildings according to gender on their birth certificates, while...

House Bill 141 requires transgender students to use school restrooms according to their chromosomes and anatomy at birth, and lets other students sue schools if they encounter a transgender person in a restroom.

Minnesota’s House File 41 requires transgender students to use school restrooms according to their chromosomes and anatomy at birth, while ...

House File 43 allows people to use religion to deny people access to facilities

Missouri’s House Bill 202 requires  restrooms to be “gender-divided” and prohibits different local rules or ordinances, while ...

Senate Bill 98 requires transgender students to use school restrooms according to their chromosomes and anatomy at birth

New Jersey’s Assembly Bill 3976 requires the state Attorney General to defend schools in certain circumstances if they violate the federal guidance on respecting transgender students

South Carolina’s House Bill 3012 prohibits local governments from adopting transgender-inclusive policies that allow people to use restrooms according to their gender identity

Texas’ Senate Bill 6 requires transgender people to use restrooms in schools and government buildings according to their birth certificates, and prohibits local governments from adopting any policies related to restroom use. Increases the mandatory sentences for crimes if they happen in a restroom

Virginia’s House Bill 1612 would have required transgender people to use restrooms in schools and other government buildings according to their original birth certificates, and allowed people to sue schools and government agencies if they encountered a transgender person in a restroom. It also would have required schools to notify parents within 24 hours if a student asked to be recognized as a gender different than the one on their original birth certificate, like by asking to use a different name or pronouns. Thankfully the General Laws Committee voted to not let it go forward to a full House vote, and ...

House Bill 2011 would have excluded transgender people from the state's nondiscrimination law, and prohibited local governments and schools from adopting policies that respect transgender people. The General Laws Committee also voted to not let this bill go forward to a full House vote, but ...

House Bill 1667 provides immunity to businesses and nonprofit organizations that discriminate based on gender identity or sexual orientation. Prohibits the government from requiring contractors to not discriminate based on gender identity or sexual orientation, and ...

Washington’s House Bill 1011 created  a carve-out in the state nondiscrimination law allowing businesses to bar transgender people from restrooms matching their gender identity, and ...

House Bill 1178 creates sweeping exemptions allowing people and businesses to discriminate against transgender people and same-sex couples based on their religious or moral beliefs

Wyoming’s House Bill 135 creates sweeping exemptions allowing people and businesses to discriminate against transgender people and same-sex couples based on their religious or moral beliefs

If you live in any one of these states, go to the National Center for Transgender Equality, HERE, and then go to Open States, HERE,  to find your state representatives to let them know you don’t stand with inequality ... write them, call them, Tweet thrm, Facebook them.

Resist. Raise your voice. Defy the administration and buck the hate.

Fuck the hate.

NCRM

It Isn't God, But The GOP Who Hates Fags

Last week, while the Democrats stood and shouted “Shame! Shame!,” seven Republicans switched their votes under pressure from House leaders and defeated a measure to protect LGBT rights once aging making it quite queer that it isn’t God who hates fags, it’s the GOP.

“They literally snatched discrimination from the jaws of equality.” — Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, New York’s first openly gay congressman

The final vote was 213-212 after the chaos on the House floor, but it was just enough to defeat an amendment by Rep. Maloney, a Democrat of course, aimed at upholding an executive order that bars discrimination against LGBT employees by federal contractors.

Maloney says he tried to reach out to members of the GOP to stop this hate; he approached House Majority Leader, and Republican, Kevin McCarthy, as McCarthy worked on those seven GOP colleagues to get them to change their votes. McCarthy told Maloney to get back on his side of the aisle.

Get back on your side?

“I told him, ‘What side am I supposed to stand on in support of equality?'” — Sean Patrick Maloney

Maloney’s amendment would have prohibited the use of taxpayer dollars to violate President Obama’s executive order barring LGBT discrimination. He was trying to include it in a spending bill following passage of a defense policy bill that included a provision Democrats believed would overturn Obama’s executive order.

Republicans, of course, said their hate was simply a restatement of religious liberties from the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and they bristled at Democratic criticism. And got their panties into a twist when the Democrats finally said what many of us already know: that the GOP is party of hate.

“There are some people who are emotional … that’s beyond the pale. They can say whatever they want to but that’s beyond the pale. This country has a First Amendment that protects religious liberties, and that’s all we were doing is protecting that.” — hate-filled Republican Rep. Bill Flores, of Texas

At a news conference after the vote, House Speaker Paul Ryan denied knowledge about the vote-switching. Funny, he is the party leader but even he doesn’t know what’s going on within his own party? Or maybe he‘s just another hate-filled GOP liar using religion as a weapon against equality because,. You know, that’s how God, er, the GOP rolls.

The original vote for Maloney’s amendment peaked at 217, beyond the majority needed for passage, but then the GOP began working the room and the votes started to shift. Republican leadership members, whose job is to round up needed votes, literally prowled the chamber trying to get Republicans to shift their vote.

And this naturally outraged the Democrats, who began shouting “Shame,” as the GOP worked the room. And, in the end, while 29 Republicans joined 183 Democrats backing the gay rights amendment, but it was not enough.

These seven congressmen and women — Reps. Darrell Issa, Jeff Denham, David Valadao and Mimi Walters of California; Greg Walden of Oregon; Bruce Poliquin of Maine; and David Young of Iowa — who switched sides allowed hate to rule the day.

And this makes it all the more clear why we need to vote blue, for the party who seeks to protect the LGBT community and the party that seeks to deny us equality.

PBS

West Virginia Says 'No' To Hate Bill

I saw this and I had to rub my eyes to make sure I wasn’t seeing thing and I wasn’t …

Earlier this week the West Virginia Senate effectively put the brakes on one of those so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Acts [RFRA] — HB4012 — by making significant language changes that supporters of the hate bill renders it useless.

To which I say, “Good.”

By a vote of 23-11 on Tuesday the Senate approved an amendment by Senators — both Democrats, of course — Corey Palumbo and Ron Stollings that said this new RFRA law, if passed, could not be used to invalidate anti-discrimination laws or ordinances.  

And in a rare case of a Republican doing the right thing, Senate Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael, [right], tearfully argued in favor of the amendment, saying he feared this new RFRA would be used to discriminate against the LGBT community:

“I don’t want us to go down this path. I just don’t.”

Bravo to you, sir, bravo. Not so open-minded was Senate President, and Republican dontcha know, Bill Cole, who is running for governor and voted against the Palumbo amendment.

While the West Virginia House passed the measure by a whopping 72-26 vote, this new move by the Senate might just spell the end of this RFRA … this time … or maybe for a long time because, just yesterday, the West Virginia Senate firmly rejected the bill by a vote of 27-7.

So, for now, West Virginia is spared Hate Legislation. But the fight isn’t over, because, according to the HRC, West Virginians still remain at risk for being fired or denied a job because of who they are, or whom they love.

And yet there is good news there, too, because the people of West Virginia, the people not the politicians, when asked if they opposed any kind of RFRA legislation, a majority of 54% said they did; and 60% of West Virginians support protecting LGBT people against discrimination in employment, housing and access to public places.

Now, if we could just get the politicians to listen to the people …

WV Metro News

Meet 11 People Who Stood Up To Bigots In 2015

While we’ve had a great year as a community, yes, we still have miles to go before we’re all equal, especially when faced with bigotry, intolerance, homophobia, and just plain hatred.

But, over the last year many people have stepped up for the LGBT community and, courtesy of the Huffington Post, I’m here to say ‘Thanks’:

#1 Zea, The Ohio Girl Who Stood Up To A Homophobic Preacher

Following the Supreme Court's ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, supporters gathered in celebration all over the country — but, of course, so did some haters. Seven-year-old in Zea, however, stood firm in the face of hate by waving her rainbow flag at a homophobic street preacher ranting at her through a microphone.

Three cheers for Zea for never backing down.

#2 The Equality House

2015 proved to be another remarkable year for The Equality House — the rainbow structure that sits right across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church compound. 

Throughout the past year, The Equality House held a virtual pizza fundraiser for homeless youth in response to an anti-gay pizza shop, staged a gay "Wizard Wedding" between Gandalf and Dumbledore and erected a billboard calling out the ignorance of Kim Davis in her own hometown — just to name a few. 

#3 Omar Currie

Currie, a third grade teacher made a bold move last spring after he heard a number of his students calling another classmate "gay." He sat his kids down and read a book called King & King, a children's book that features a same-sex romance. 

"One student said that it made them uncomfortable, saying, ‘Well, I’ve never seen two men marry each other.’ I said, 'Well, it’s normal to feel uncomfortable when you feel something new, but what is the moral? The moral is to treat people well, no matter who they are.'"

#4 Kelly Lauren

A transgender woman in Chicago made a bold and powerful statement in November in response to Houston, Texas, voters striking down HERO, that proposed legislation to extend nondiscrimination protections to the LGBT community, including enabling trans people to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. 

Kelly Lauren, a transgender woman and drag entertainer, posted the photo to her Facebook account as a tongue-in-cheek response asking:

"Houston, do you REALLY want me in the same restroom as your husband or boyfriend?"

#5 Paul Henson & Ashley Ramage

The parents of a three-year-old boy in Virginia gained viral fame this year when they posted a photo of their son, Caiden, wearing a princess Halloween costume from the popular movie "Frozen."  The pair told Caiden that he could be whatever he wanted for Halloween—it didn't matter if the outfit was marketed for a boy or girl. 

"As children get older, they distance themselves from their parents. Why start that split sooner than they need to? It's important for children to know that their parents will stand by them no matter what. Ashley and I will do whatever it takes to keep our son happy and not take his innocence and imagination from him." — Paul Henson

#6 Digital Activist Mike Melgaard

One of the breakout heroes of 2015 proved to be Mike Melgaard — an activist who brilliantly trolled anti-LGBT bigots on various businesses’ Facebook pages throughout the year. 

Melgaard created fake support accounts for different businesses after they made pro-queer moves and experienced anti-LGBT backlash from the public. 

#7 Carla Lewis 

Carla Lewis, a transgender veteran, made waves across the Internet this year when she posted a photo of herself wearing a polarizing t-shirt:

"Transgender Veteran: I fought for your right to hate me." 

The shirt commented on an often-overlooked reality: a number of the men and women who have or are currently serving in the United States military identify as transgender. 

#8 Russell Hughes

A hair salon owner made a public declaration against discrimination in June after a customer refused to let an employee cut his son's hair because he perceived the man to be gay.

Russell Hughes installed this sign on the front of his hair salon after the incident, proudly letting customers know that they can expect a haircut free of any form of discrimination when they enter his establishment.

#9 The Red Raven Espresso Parlor

The Red Raven Espresso Parlor in Fargo, North Dakota, took a stand against legislators in April who struck down a bill that would have provided discrimination protections for the queer community. 

The owners posted a sign in the window banning the legislators who struck down the bill from the establishment, and claimed they could only enter the shop if accompanied by a member of the LGBT community. The owner later clarified in a Facebook post that the ban was meant to "satirize the environment that the legislators created for the LGBTQ+ community by voting against" the bill.

#10 'Willy Wonka' Subway Rider

An unidentified subway rider in New York City shut down a homophobic preacher in January by drowning out his hate with a beautiful rendition of "I've Got A Golden Ticket" from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." 

The subway hero's actions were applauded by his fellow mass transit passengers.

#11 Jesse Mount

In June, Australian Nick Jensen wrote an op-ed for the Canberra City News in which he claimed that he and his wife Sarah would “as a matter of conscience, refuse to recognize the government’s regulation of marriage if its definition includes the solemnization of same-sex couples" — effectively saying they would divorce if Australia legalized same-sex marriage. 

In response, Jesse Mount organized a Facebook group for people who agreed they would celebrate the couple's divorce if and when same-sex marriage came Down Under. The massive Facebook group became a place where same-sex couples shared photos and stories about their own lives and relationships in an effort to show the faces of healthy queer love.

So, we have our heroes and our allies, and they’re little girls, and stylists and veterans and baristas and Moms and Dads. With their help, the march goes on ….