Fogbow

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that he will filibuster “till I fall over” to prevent the Equality Act from becoming law on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show last night.

“I would talk until I fell over to make sure that the Equality Act doesn’t become law, destroying the difference between men and women,” Graham said with a look of determination.

The Equality Act, which would expand existing federal civil rights protections to include LGBTQ people, passed the House last month and the Senate is now considering it. While Democrats hold a slim majority – 50 senators plus the tie-breaking vice presidential vote – under current Senate rules 60 votes are required to end a filibuster so that the chamber can vote on a bill.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that he will filibuster “till I fall over” to prevent the Equality Act from becoming law on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show last night.

tek wrote: ↑Thu Mar 18, 2021 5:37 pm

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that he will filibuster “till I fall over” to prevent the Equality Act from becoming law on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show last night.

Sounds like a plan!

Inching forward
A Japanese court backs same-sex marriage
But its ruling leaves it to the government to fix things
Mar 20th 2021 edition TOKYO

On valentine’s day in 2019, 13 same-sex couples filed lawsuits in four cities across Japan. Their case was simple: they argued that their partnerships were no different from those of heterosexual couples, and that the government’s refusal to recognise gay marriage violated the constitution’s promise of equal treatment for all. This week a district court in Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s main islands, came down on the side of the three couples who sued there, the first such ruling by a Japanese court. It is, as a sign held by supporters outside the courtroom proclaimed, “a big step forward for marriage equality”. Yet it is also, for the time being, only a symbolic one. The three-judge panel declared that preventing the couples from marrying contradicted Article 14 of the constitution, which forbids discrimination on the basis of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin. Yet it also refused to award damages to the plaintiffs, arguing that public opinion was evolving quickly, and that the government should be given time to legislate on the matter.

Neither the constitution nor any laws explicitly ban same-sex marriages. Some local governments issue documents certifying same-sex partnerships, which can simplify hunts for flats and visits to partners in hospital. But the national government does not acknowledge these, depriving gay couples of certain benefits of marriage. That leaves Japan out of step not only with other rich countries—it is the only g7 member that does not recognise same-sex unions—but also with its former colony, Taiwan, which in 2019 became the first Asian country to legalise gay marriage. The plaintiffs say they will appeal against the refusal of compensation. In the meantime, campaigners plan to use the lower court’s finding to bolster suits in other cities. More favourable rulings could increase pressure on parliament to act.

Most voters would welcome that. A poll in 2018 found that nearly 80% of people aged between 20 and 59 approved of same-sex marriage; the share rose to nearly 90% among those in their 20s. Since two wards in Tokyo became the first local authorities to issue same-sex partnership certificates in 2015, 72 more have followed, home to a third of the population. Many business leaders see gay marriage as an economic as well as moral issue. As the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan noted last year, given the shrinking labour force, “Japanese companies cannot afford to lose in the global competition for the brightest talent.” Nearly 150 companies belong to a “Business for Marriage Equality” campaign, among them blue-chip firms such as Fujitsu and Panasonic.

But the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (ldp) remains opposed to gay marriage. Its old-fashioned views on matters of sexual equality extend to married couples, whom it continues to bar from retaining separate surnames. Just 9% of ldp candidates for the upper house of parliament in 2019 backed gay marriage. Last month the prime minister, Suga Yoshihide, defended the government for supporting “the foundations of the family in this country”. But banning people from forming families is a peculiar form of support.

orlylicious wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 3:59 pm Till he falls over or till he bends over? And he wonders why folks call him LadyG.

neonzx wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 8:34 pm I'm going to make a quick comment being LGBTQ.

Lindsey Graham is gay. We don't call him out because of that. We call him out because of his voting record against LGBTQ citizens.

For me, the coming-out didn't occur until my mid-30s (because I was scared). I drank an entire bottle of wine while making phone calls to family (in age order- up/down) and friends to announce, along with a lot of tears.

LadyG is still in the closet hurting LGBTQ people.'

Estiveo wrote: ↑Sun Mar 21, 2021 9:30 am S'truth, once Foggy hugs you, you stay hugged.

Foggy wrote: ↑Sun Mar 21, 2021 6:57 am I hereby officially award Neonzx a big ol' Foggy hug (ask Estiveo).

The Pope’s Lent-time letter proclaiming that in God’s eyes gay love is a sin will cost the lives of many young, decent, and just how God/Nature/the Universe made them LGBTQ+ members of the Catholic Church. In this case it’s absolutely the respect that kills. Anybody else saying God wants gay people to stay off heaven’s lawn is creepy but not deadly. But for those raised from the earliest of age in the Church, it’s believing the Pope actually speaks for God that will push so many over the edge.

To attempt to dampen that spell of that respect and reduce the deadliness of its impact we are using this Easter weekend to run our non-scientific Jerk vs Dill Weed challenge. The Pope and Church leadership know the Church has a LGBTQ+ suicide problem among those being raised in the Church. They know full well these kids are exactly who God made them to be, and wants them to be. They know evolution is the true way God works and the story of Adam and Eve is just a parable created by man. Still, they had to use Lent to send a letter stating the Church won’t bless gay unions because “God can’t bless sin.” Pope Francis approved the letter.

So we put the question to you, was his letter a Jerk thing to do or was it merely a Dill Weed (clueless, out of touch, naive) act? You make the call. Through Monday we’ve reduced by half the prices of our Jerk Pork and Jerk Chicken & Fish Seasonings and our Dill Weed. We’ve also dropped our seven regularly $2.49-$5.95 Rainbow Spices to just $2 each.

All the dollars, not just a percent or “the profit,” but all the dollars from all the Jerk, Dill Weed and Rainbow Spices sold will be donated to The Trevor Project who, through their website and 1-866-488-7386 lifeline, do such a compassionate job redirecting the suicidal thoughts caused by the extra pressures we needlessly put on young LGBTQ+ people.

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Sat Apr 03, 2021 10:30 am Link, please.

p0rtia wrote: ↑Sat Apr 03, 2021 11:05 am Sorry to hear Mr. Pope saying that. He's been so open-eyed in so much else. I realize he's not declaring a fatwah on LGBTQ, but still, it's massively destructive.

Oh well, a timely reminder that no one's infallible.

Mark Joseph Stern @mjs_DC 43m
Here is an article that National Review (@NRO) printed in 1984 titled "The Homosexual Assault," uncovered by
@cterbeek. It begins:

"Should homosexuals be keel-hauled? Should we pile up the faggots and let them burn?"

Mark Joseph Stern @mjs_DC 42m

Here is another National Review (@NRO) article from 1984 that includes this "joke":

Q: How many persons from the gay community does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: Unanswerable. They always try to screw it in the wrong way, as a matter of preference.

orlylicious wrote: ↑Tue Apr 06, 2021 3:12 pm This is what we grew up with.

Chilidog wrote: ↑Tue Apr 06, 2021 4:11 pm

orlylicious wrote: ↑Tue Apr 06, 2021 3:12 pm This is what we grew up with.

My sympathies.

As a proud polack from Chicago, the author of that crap can go to hell.