Gay Marriage / LGBTQ Rights / Equality Act

[Estiveo]

San Francisco has had a neat light show going on for Pride, beaming up from the Ferry Building towards Twin Peaks over Market St. and up into the marine layer.

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[AndyinPA]

Nice!

[Volkonski]

North Fork's 1st Pride Parade. Our Unitarian Universalist Fellowship was represented.

[busterbunker]

Ever since I was a kid, I've watched popular opinion swing like a pendulum, back and forth and the other way again. Most of us are just stuck watching it swing. Whatever. If you want to push for change, good for you, but steer clear of the rebound. You know, the equal but opposite direction kinda thing.

There's something about the red-state anti-gay campaign that I don't understand. Its net result is making the blue states even gayer. Sorry to break it to you honey-buns, but we blue states control the media. Half the time I turn on my TV, the first thing I see is a drag queen. Banning books? How quaint. Like anyone reads them anyway.

Stay hopeful. Play the long game. Kids dictate the future and you can't control them.

[keith]

The fascist (let's call it what it is) rhetoric from the far right and their allies should scare the living crap out of all Americans, cishet and cisgendered alike. We're well along the way to nazi-err laws and villification. It's pretty much obvious that the transgendered community is the first up, seen by their attempts to try and separate out the T from the rest of the community first. Divide and weaken. And while drag kings and transmasc types get a pat on the head and "bless your heart", drag kings and transwomen are demons incarnate to them.

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Soaring To New Heights by Falling Sunrays

Among the desolate drying skies above
I am the wisps of shadow, only forgotten tears.
But yet I trace the universe by it's shoulders
no matter who declares my mediocrity instead.

Soaring to new heights among the virgin stars
I make my life worth living, a reason to find myself.
Hearts to hearts, a meaningful existence of sorts
I am my own story that erases all condemnation.

Soaring to new heights in veil of latent innocence
I will bridge the letters of our lives together at last.
No more reasons to explain why I am so worthless,
I fly with all the pictures that I've always held inside.

Soaring to new heights beyond the bounds of rejection
I reach this higher conscious of hope and inspiration.
Reaching the warm eyes of a distant maiden of light
I wander in my free will to believe once again.

In this cornucopia of forgiveness I pray all the same
that the unity to someone else can happen in my life.
Some place I'll be ready to trace all the blue-tinged sky
and wait to find all the extraordinary things of the world.

[neonzx]

Yep, "Proud Boys" again attempting to disrupt a Drag Queen story hour.

How proud are they really if they cover their faces with scarves and wear sunglasses?

[AndyinPA]

How 1930s German of them. Did the Germans cover up their faces?

[raison de arizona]

Drama, Hannity and friends are going to go all in on this tonight.

Jesus ‘Had Two Dads’—Church Recitation of ‘Sparkle Creed’ Draws Criticism

A clip of a progressive Lutheran church reciting the “Sparkle Creed,” a version of the Apostle’s Creed modified to emphasize LGBTQ+ inclusion, caused controversy online this week, with critics characterizing it as “idolatry,” “heresy,” and “absolute insanity.”

Edina Community Lutheran Church (ECLC) in St. Edina, Minnesota, recited the creed together on Sunday, June 25, which was the final Sunday to occur during LGBTQ+ Pride Month. The recitation was led by Anna Helgen, who serves as co-pastor of the congregation.

ECLC is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and has been a part of the denomination’s Reconciling in Christ initiative, which seeks to foster “the full welcome, inclusion, and equity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual/aromantic (LGBTQIA+) Lutherans,” since 1985.

“I invite you to rise in body or spirit, and let us confess our faith today in the words of the ‘Sparkle Creed,’” Helgen said to the congregation.

Some of the more provocative claims of the creed are that God is “non-binary,” that Jesus had “two dads,” and that “love is love is love.”

The full creed is as follows:

I believe in the non-binary God whose pronouns are plural.
I believe in Jesus Christ, their child, who wore a fabulous tunic and had two dads and saw everyone as a sibling-child of God.
I believe in the rainbow Spirit, who shatters our image of one white light and refracts it into a rainbow of gorgeous diversity.
I believe in the church of everyday saints as numerous, creative, and resilient as patches on the AIDS quilt, whose feet are grounded in mud and whose eyes gaze at the stars in wonder.
I believe in the calling to each of us that love is love is love, so beloved, let us love.
I believe, glorious God. Help my unbelief. Amen.

https://churchleaders.com/news/453937-c ... icism.html

CHURCH GOES WOKE: : A Lutheran church in Minnesota recited the “Sparkle Creed,” in a blatant attempt to push woke ideology through religion. TONIGHT on "Hannity," we'll show you the tape, and @GovMikeHuckabee and @LarryElder will react.

[MN-Skeptic]

Since Edina is just the next suburb over, I found that article interesting. By the way, for folks not from this area, Edina is a wealthy community. I remember one local cartoon with a mother saying to her child: "You don't live in Edina. You achieve Edina." Anyway, so I was not surprised by the article.

But I was surprised to get a phone call shortly after I read the article from my Republican sister who lives in the Milwaukee area. We have agreed, long ago, to not discuss politics. But her husband had showed her this story about the church in Edina and my sister had the Sparkle Creed up on her tablet and was starting to tell me how ridiculous this Creed was. Of course, first of all, I had to correct her misconception about Jesus having two fathers. For some reason she read that as the Creed declaring Mary as a father. Uh, no. God the Father and Joseph as the father. Ok, then she got it. So we ended up with a long discussion where I kept shooting down things. I'm sure I haven't changed her from being Republican, but maybe she'll realize that Fox News is not giving her the whole story.

We did talk about trans kids and when they may realize they're trans. We also talked about gay kids and when they might realize they are gay. My sister expressed disbelief in the idea that her 13-year old step granddaughter could know now that she was gay. I practically shouted at my sister that our gay sister knew she was different back in elementary school. Many gay children know that they are different. My sister then made the comment that she knew she was attracted to boys back in kindergarten. So maybe she's starting to put it together? Anyway, I gave my sister something to think about.

My Republican sister is definitely pro-choice when it comes to abortion so she's frustrated at her Wisconsin Republican party ignoring the subject and unwilling to back a law allowing abortions like was allowed under Roe v. Wade. Of course my sister has listened to all the stories about Democrats allowing abortions up to the point where an infant is killed by the doctor after an abortion produces a living child. (No, sister, that is a fable! It did not happen! Good grief.) I sure wish my Republican sister and her husband did not have Fox News in their lives. So many lies.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

It sounds like you are leading your sister out of the cult with your responses. Brava!

[MN-Skeptic]

It sounds like you are leading your sister out of the cult with your responses. Brava!

I grew up in a very Lutheran Republican family. My mom was the epitome of the loving New Testament Christian, my father was more of the Follow the Rules or be Damned Christian. Ironically, my parents were also pro-choice and I have wondered over the years whether or not Dad performed any abortions framed as a merely medically necessary D&C procedure. When my sister expressed disgust at the Sparkle Creed, that dissipated as I corrected her misconception about the two fathers remark and as I explained how the rest of the Creed was all about Christian Love which is exactly what the New Testament is all about. I know my sister has enough of Mom in her to recognize that.

I know I can't stop my sister from being Republican. Her husband is gung-ho Republican and listens to Fox News. I just want my sister to at least be skeptical at times about what Fox News is reporting.

[RTH10260]

Revealed: Christian ‘hate group’ funds US anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion organizations
Alliance Defending Freedom distributes hundreds of thousands of dollars to fringe groups attacking trans, gay and abortion rights

Adam Gabbatt
Fri 30 Jun 2023 10.00 BST

A rightwing Christian “hate group” which is behind a host of legal efforts to roll back abortion rights, remove anti-LGBTQ+ protections and demonize trans people has seen a huge increase in its funding and has funneled some of that money to a slew of smaller anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion groups across the US, the Guardian can reveal.

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a registered nonprofit behind the ongoing 303 Creative supreme court case which could chip away at LGBTQ+ rights, saw its revenue surge by more than $25m between 2020 and 2021, a period in which a rightwing obsession with transgender rights and sexual orientation saw almost 200 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in states around the US.

The surge in funding to the ADF, which has been termed an “anti-LGBTQ hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, saw it record revenue of $104.5m in 2021, according to filings with the Internal Revenue Service.

It has handed over hundreds of thousands of dollars of that newfound wealth to fringe organizations which have sought to diminish the rights of trans students in schools and the right for trans people to participate in sports, an investigation by the watchdog group Accountable.US has found.

The ADF, which was founded in 1994 by a group of “leaders in the Christian community”, according to its website, has also given money to groups involved in efforts to ban books which address LGBTQ+ topics, and to organizations which seek to ban abortion.

It comes as Republican politicians and commentators continue to wage a culture war in the US. In June the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the country’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group, declared a “state of emergency” for LGBTQ+ people in the US, citing “an unprecedented and dangerous spike in anti-LGBTQ+ legislative assaults sweeping state houses this year”.

An HRC report this month found that 75 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were signed into law in the first five months of 2023 – more than double the entire amount passed in 2022.




https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... anizations

[Shizzle Popped]

Supreme Court rules for web designer who refused to work on same-sex weddings

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of an evangelical Christian web designer from Colorado who refuses to work on same-sex weddings.

The justices, divided 6-3, said that Lorie Smith, as a creative professional, has a free speech right under the Constitution’s First Amendment to refuse to endorse messages she disagrees with. As a result, she cannot be punished under Colorado’s antidiscrimination law for refusing to design websites for gay couples, the court said.

The ruling could allow other similar business owners to evade punishment under laws in 29 states that protect LGBTQ rights in public accommodations in some form. The remaining 21 states do not have laws explicitly protecting LGBTQ rights in public accommodations, although some local municipalities do.

"The First Amendment envisions the United States as a rich and complex place, where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the court.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/suprem ... -rcna68629

[Ben-Prime]

Supreme Court rules for web designer who refused to work on same-sex weddings

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of an evangelical Christian web designer from Colorado who refuses to work on same-sex weddings.

The justices, divided 6-3, said that Lorie Smith, as a creative professional, has a free speech right under the Constitution’s First Amendment to refuse to endorse messages she disagrees with. As a result, she cannot be punished under Colorado’s antidiscrimination law for refusing to design websites for gay couples, the court said.

The ruling could allow other similar business owners to evade punishment under laws in 29 states that protect LGBTQ rights in public accommodations in some form. The remaining 21 states do not have laws explicitly protecting LGBTQ rights in public accommodations, although some local municipalities do.

"The First Amendment envisions the United States as a rich and complex place, where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the court.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/suprem ... -rcna68629

I wonder if there's a breakdown as to how proportionate religious beliefs are in certain sectors of labor and commerce. Like, are Wiccans and Muslims and Jews and Buddhists over-represented in certain areas? Might there be blowback on that?

[raison de arizona]

So what are we saying here? You can't discriminate by race (in college acceptance,) but you can discriminate by sexual preference (in general business)?

[Shizzle Popped]

Supreme Court rules for web designer who refused to work on same-sex weddings

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of an evangelical Christian web designer from Colorado who refuses to work on same-sex weddings.

The justices, divided 6-3, said that Lorie Smith, as a creative professional, has a free speech right under the Constitution’s First Amendment to refuse to endorse messages she disagrees with. As a result, she cannot be punished under Colorado’s antidiscrimination law for refusing to design websites for gay couples, the court said.

The ruling could allow other similar business owners to evade punishment under laws in 29 states that protect LGBTQ rights in public accommodations in some form. The remaining 21 states do not have laws explicitly protecting LGBTQ rights in public accommodations, although some local municipalities do.

"The First Amendment envisions the United States as a rich and complex place, where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the court.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/suprem ... -rcna68629

I wonder if there's a breakdown as to how proportionate religious beliefs are in certain sectors of labor and commerce. Like, are Wiccans and Muslims and Jews and Buddhists over-represented in certain areas? Might there be blowback on that?

I suspect there's no end to the groups of people that all the bigoted assholes out there will will find to discriminate against and claim a religious exemption.

[raison de arizona]

NASA had to lock down this tweet celebrating Pride because, well, of course they did.

We celebrate the contributions our LGBTQI+ colleagues have made to space exploration and aeronautics. See their stories in our #PrideMonth gallery: https://go.nasa.gov/3pt1Wqy

To protect our people, we've decided to limit comments on this tweet.

[MN-Skeptic]

Discrimination is always ok if it's you doing the discriminating and not the one being discriminated against.

Back in 2009 it was a real issue at the Minneapolis airport where a number of the taxi drivers were Muslims. Some of them refused to carry passengers who were carrying alcohol, or sometimes pets. It was because of sincerely held religious beliefs. I haven't heard of the issue lately, but I wonder if the cabbies will now try to re-assert that claim with the Supreme Court sanctioning discrimination.

An old article about the issue - Somali Taxi Drivers in Minnesota in Dispute Over Passengers with Pets, Alcohol

[Estiveo]

Gov. John Bel Edwards veto of the horrible LA anti-trans law is a beautiful bit of writing that absolutely eviscerates the legislature.

pdf here: https://t.co/FtxA63JZq9

[Ben-Prime]

Discrimination is always ok if it's you doing the discriminating and not the one being discriminated against.

Back in 2009 it was a real issue at the Minneapolis airport where a number of the taxi drivers were Muslims. Some of them refused to carry passengers who were carrying alcohol, or sometimes pets. It was because of sincerely held religious beliefs. I haven't heard of the issue lately, but I wonder if the cabbies will now try to re-assert that claim with the Supreme Court sanctioning discrimination.

An old article about the issue - Somali Taxi Drivers in Minnesota in Dispute Over Passengers with Pets, Alcohol

You will see the argument made that unlike a regular business permit, a Taxi license is in more government limited supply and comes with certain government blessings, therefore taxi drivers can't discriminate.

[RTH10260]

Alison Bechdel: ‘The Bechdel test was a joke... I didn’t intend for it to become a real gauge’
The US graphic novelist on having her landmark comic strip, Dykes to Watch Out For, turned into an audio series, ​growing up in a funeral home, ​and ​​her famous women-in-film test

Hephzibah Anderson
Sun 2 Jul 2023 09.30 BST

Cartoonist Alison Bechdel, 62, is the author of three graphic memoirs, including Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, but she’s most widely known for cinema’s Bechdel test. To pass, a film has to feature at least two women – preferably named characters – talking to each other about something other than a man. The test originated in Dykes to Watch Out For (DTWOF), her landmark comic strip that launched in 1983 and ran for 25 years. DTWOF followed the politics and news of the times, providing a weekly lifeline for queer readers across the US. Now, 40 years on, the trials and triumphs of Bechdel’s tight-knit lesbian ensemble have been given a fresh lease of life in a new audio series, with a cast including Jane Lynch, Carrie Brownstein and Roxane Gay.



https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/ ... -interview

[Slim Cognito]

Cool.

[neeneko]

Kinda funny how often jokes go from 'haha' to 'oh wait....'.. probably because one of the major classes of good humor pulls from the 'ha ha only serious pattern.

[RTH10260]

Jackson Bone: the Trump-linked US law firm engaged in anti-trans litigation
Former administration staffer Candice Jackson partnering with Lauren Adams Bone, legal director of ‘radical feminist’ group

Jason Wilson
Wed 5 Jul 2023 11.00 BST

A former senior Trump administration staffer with extremist connections and the legal director of “radical feminist” group the Women’s Liberation Front (Wolf) are now partners in a Wisconsin law firm exclusively focused on anti-transgender litigation.

The firm, Jackson Bone LLP, unites Candice Jackson, who rolled back Title IX protections for complainants in college sexual assault cases under Trump education secretary Betsy DeVos, and Lauren Adams Bone, co-author of a “Women’s Bill of Rights” that has shaped anti-trans bills currently before several state houses.

The partnership and the cases it is currently pursuing reveal the close collaboration between far-right and “gender-critical” anti-trans activists in waging legal warfare on transgender rights – through legislation and litigation.

Jackson Bone formed last September, according to Wisconsin company records. Current cases listed on Jackson Bone’s website are all aimed either at transgender rights, or those providing gender-affirming care to transgender people.

In Chandler v California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the complaint argues that California law SB 132, that allows transgender women and intersex and non-binary individuals to be transferred to women’s correctional facilities is unconstitutional. But the complaint also portrays transgender women prisoners as male rapists, and denies transgender identity.

LGBTQ+ rights legal nonprofit Lambda Legal is part of a legal team including the ACLU of Southern California that is representing a group of transgender women prisoners that is seeking to intervene in that case. “The Chandler complaint and the legal arguments made by WoLF and their attorneys are based entirely on anti-trans distortions and sensationalized ideas about incarcerated trans women,” said Nora Huppert, an attorney at Lambda working on the case.



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... ransgender

[shannon]

I'm not sure if anyone here is familar with "Erin in the Morning". It's a news blog ran by Erin Reed, discussing transgender issues and politics. Her coverage of the right-wing war on transgender people is pretty comprehensive.

Erin In The Morning

She also does a monthly map of what states are safe to be transgender in - and which ones are not. Here's the June 2023 map.

June Anti-Trans Legislative Risk Map

"The United States continues to split into what feels to transgender people like two separate countries. Several states have rolled out a slew of laws targeting every facet of transgender lives - from censoring books that address their existence, stifling associated art forms, to banning healthcare and policing their very movements with bathroom bans. In stark contrast, a band of states has forged ahead in the opposite direction, enacting laws that shield transgender individuals from these crushing measures. Take a moment to compare the anti-trans legislation map of 2022 with today's; the scale of anti-trans legislation and how it has moved is eye-opening."