Gay Marriage / LGBTQ Rights / Equality Act

[MN-Skeptic]

In addition to everything else, I hope there are children wondering why God put an LGBTQ+ flag up as the symbol of His promise never to flood the world and kill everybody again.

I mean, they're kids, amirite? Trying to make everything fit.

Rainbow means gay/lesbian/so forth, everyone knows that.

And then they hear the Flood story in the Bible. Origin of the rainbow. How do you reconcile the two?

To true Christians, God is love, so it's easy.

For the Christian fascists, God never moved beyond the Old Testament and exists merely to smite your enemies. Love has no place in the universe of Christian fascists. It's all about following the rules and judging others.

[AndyinPA]

There is a movement in the Christianist evangelicals to take back the rainbow.

[Foggy]

To true Christians, God is love, so it's easy.

That's probably what my dad would say. And I believe it's the right answer, but ...

But five year old children are not necessarily true believers, unless they've been mercilessly brainwashed. If the parents are good Christians, they hope the kids will grow up to be Christian. But when you're five, as I said, you're still learning totally new things and trying to make everything fit.

Example: My son was five, in a Christian school on church grounds, when he asked me, "What's God's last name?" And he seemed to think it was a little suspicious, him not having one. He didn't know about Cher and Zendaya and people like that.

On another occasion he told me Jesus died on the Red Cross. But he knew that (at the time) I was a volunteer for the Red Cross. He was trying to figure out if I was possibly complicit in the crucifixion. I had to explain these things to him. And, as we now know, he was a genius kid and still is. At the time, I didn't know that.

But the point is, kids are not true Christians at the age of five. They're still working on it. They might get there.

I almost got there, but then I went to San Francisco to be a hippy for the rest of my life. That didn't last, but I shed the last of my Christianity.

[Slim Cognito]

Stop me if you've heard this, but the story of Noah's ark horrified me as a child in Sunday school and was my first step towards my eventual coming out as an atheist. The thought that God would drown all the kids, babies, puppies and bunnies because some grown-ups misbehaved terrified me.

And then there's the story of our SS teachers teaching us the old gospel song Fire Next Time that scared me so badly I walked around terrified that if I did something wrong, God would set me on fire. (I didn't realize "fire" actually meant hell. I was maybe eight. I was thinking, well, if he already drowned a bunch of babies, why wouldn't he set me on fire?)

So, yeah, kids can think for themselves and do it all the time. How many people here had kids who invented their own language? My oldest one did and I know he wasn't the only one.

[AndyinPA]

Yeah, I grew up feeling guilty for the downfall of mankind (!) because I was female. Kids internalize those messages, but they also question them.

[Ben-Prime]

In addition to everything else, I hope there are children wondering why God put an LGBTQ+ flag up as the symbol of His promise never to flood the world and kill everybody again.

I mean, they're kids, amirite? Trying to make everything fit.

Rainbow means gay/lesbian/so forth, everyone knows that.

And then they hear the Flood story in the Bible. Origin of the rainbow. How do you reconcile the two?

To true Christians, God is love, so it's easy.

For the Christian fascists, God never moved beyond the Old Testament and exists merely to smite your enemies. Love has no place in the universe of Christian fascists. It's all about following the rules and judging others.

Old Testament Anger with a thin New Testament Veneer.

[Foggy]

The kids I worry about are the ones being taught that the rainbow is a bad thing.

[raison de arizona]

The kids I worry about are the ones being taught that the rainbow is a bad thing.

This nationwide backlash we're experiencing against LGBTQ people is very troubling and sad to see.

[Slim Cognito]

They got rid of abortion. They needed a new boogie man.

[raison de arizona]

[sugar magnolia]

Any indication of whether Vandy even tried to push back? It doesn't sound like they were subpoenaed, just "requested" so does that mean it was a HIPAA violation? Why did they even have to release names with the records at all?

Fuck Vandy. And TN politicians in general. Hope they all get sued and lose.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://www.advocate.com/law/arkansas-g ... g-care-ban

Arkansas Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors Struck Down by Judge

The first state law banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors has become the first one struck down in court.

In 2021, Arkansas legislators overrode then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s veto to pass a law banning the provision of puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries for people under 18 for the purpose of gender transition. It banned referrals for the procedures as well. Families and doctors in the state sued, and a federal judge had issued an injunction temporarily blocking enforcement of the law, but Tuesday he ruled it unconstitutional and made the injunction permanent.

“The State has failed to prove that its interests in the safety of Arkansas adolescents from gender transitioning procedures or the medical community’s ethical decline are compelling, genuine, or even rational,” U.S. District Judge James M. Moody Jr. wrote in an 80-page opinion. The ban violates doctors’ right to free speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, he said, adding that it also violates the Constitution’s guarantees of due process and equal protection of the laws.

Substantial evidence” presented at the trial last fall demonstrated that the law, Act 626, “violates Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights,” Moody continued. “Testimony from the Minor Plaintiffs, their parents, Dr. [Kathryn] Stambough and the experts proved that they would suffer immediate and irreparable harm from Act 626 if it were to go into effect. This harm to Plaintiffs and the public interest is outweighed by any potential harm to the State of Arkansas caused by the entry of a permanent injunction.”

[raison de arizona]

Any indication of whether Vandy even tried to push back? It doesn't sound like they were subpoenaed, just "requested" so does that mean it was a HIPAA violation? Why did they even have to release names with the records at all?

Fuck Vandy. And TN politicians in general. Hope they all get sued and lose.

They did not push back, it would appear.

"VUMC received requests from the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General as part of its investigation seeking information about transgender care at VUMC. The Tennessee Attorney General has legal authority in an investigation to require that VUMC provide complete copies of patient medical records that are relevant to its investigation. VUMC was obligated to comply and did so," John Howser, VUMC's chief communications officer, said in a statement.

Sanders said many people are upset that Vanderbilt did not fight harder to prevent turning over patient information. He said others are concerned over the implications for other politically charged issues such as abortion, and whether the attorney general could obtain reproductive health care information.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/h ... 338356007/

[neeneko]

Part of me actually kinda hopes that the AG does violate the HIPAA requirements of the disclosure and we get to see if they law applies to him and his office or not.

Though really what will probably happen is they will make all sorts of public wild claims about what the data showed, but since no one else can see it no one can confirm, and they will quietly forget to actually bring any charges.

[Kendra]

https://www.advocate.com/law/arkansas-g ... g-care-ban

Arkansas Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors Struck Down by Judge

The first state law banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors has become the first one struck down in court.

In 2021, Arkansas legislators overrode then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s veto to pass a law banning the provision of puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries for people under 18 for the purpose of gender transition. It banned referrals for the procedures as well. Families and doctors in the state sued, and a federal judge had issued an injunction temporarily blocking enforcement of the law, but Tuesday he ruled it unconstitutional and made the injunction permanent.

“The State has failed to prove that its interests in the safety of Arkansas adolescents from gender transitioning procedures or the medical community’s ethical decline are compelling, genuine, or even rational,” U.S. District Judge James M. Moody Jr. wrote in an 80-page opinion. The ban violates doctors’ right to free speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, he said, adding that it also violates the Constitution’s guarantees of due process and equal protection of the laws.

Substantial evidence” presented at the trial last fall demonstrated that the law, Act 626, “violates Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights,” Moody continued. “Testimony from the Minor Plaintiffs, their parents, Dr. [Kathryn] Stambough and the experts proved that they would suffer immediate and irreparable harm from Act 626 if it were to go into effect. This harm to Plaintiffs and the public interest is outweighed by any potential harm to the State of Arkansas caused by the entry of a permanent injunction.”

Sarah Sucubus is not happy about this.

This is not “care” – it’s activists pushing a political agenda at the expense of our kids and subjecting them to permanent and harmful procedures.

Only in the far-Left’s woke vision of America is it not appropriate to protect children.

We will fight this and the Attorney General plans to appeal Judge Moody’s decision to the Eighth Circuit.

[Ben-Prime]

Part of me actually kinda hopes that the AG does violate the HIPAA requirements of the disclosure and we get to see if they law applies to him and his office or not.

Though really what will probably happen is they will make all sorts of public wild claims about what the data showed, but since no one else can see it no one can confirm, and they will quietly forget to actually bring any charges.

If TNAG does so, isn't it a federal case against TNAG?

[shannon]

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.

Because their focus groups say this is going to be the next wedge issue after abortion. And it's working, damn them to hell. Support overall in the population for LBGTQ+ people in the US is falling, and far right nutcases want to imitate Orban and Putin when it comes to bans on LBGTQ+ people. Not to mention calls to eliminate transgendered people altogether.

Florida and Texas HAD the second and third largest populations of transgendered people in the US, with a thriving medical tourism market in Miami. We're now seeing an exodus out of those and other blue states that, in any civilized country, would be seen as a human rights crisis. People are SCARED. For their family. For their friends. For themselves.

All for the crime of being transgendered.

I pretty much have to figure at this point that Florida (along with Texas, other red states, and the never to be sufficiently damned "American College of Pediatricians", have decided that the entire LBGTQ+ community is "Life Unworthy of Life" (Lebensunwertes Leben in the original), and are quite happy to have dead trans and other LBGTQ+ kids and adults. If they unalive themselves by their own hand, hey, less hassle. If they die because of neglect from some bigoted auxiliary anus, hey, it's the fault of that icky nasty trans queer for existing in the first place. If some LBGTQ+ person dies by the hands of another, it's "panic" and considered to be praiseworthy.

The fact that Florida, Texas, and now Tennessee has lists of people who sought medical care while transgendered should scare the hell out of anybody in the US. Because the entire goal is to make anyone not cishet and cisgendered either closeted by fear, imprisoned on bogus charges, or dead.

Hidden Content

This board requires you to be registered and logged-in to view hidden content.

[AndyinPA]

[Slim Cognito]

Yes, hugs to you. Lots of hugs.

[raison de arizona]

What's going on is horrifying. A co-worker who has children in preschool at a local church was talking just today about how their children made pride flags and hung them up, and they painted the jungle gym in a rainbow. The church made them take down the flags and repainted the jungle gym. What kind of message does that send to the impressionable children? It certainly doesn't promote inclusivity, which I guess is a bad word among some these days.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

SOAR, patgund, SOAR!

[jemcanada2]

[MN-Skeptic]

What's going on is horrifying. A co-worker who has children in preschool at a local church was talking just today about how their children made pride flags and hung them up, and they painted the jungle gym in a rainbow. The church made them take down the flags and repainted the jungle gym. What kind of message does that send to the impressionable children? It certainly doesn't promote inclusivity, which I guess is a bad word among some these days.

But those children already have older brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, whoever... who are gay and in loving, committed relationships. Those children see their church speaking out against the people in their lives whom they love. The church may wonder why it's losing younger members. This is exactly why.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Florida federal court joins Arkansas!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/ ... rh#image=1

U.S. court strikes down Florida transgender health rule

A U.S. judge on Wednesday struck down a Florida rule and a statute that banned state Medicaid payments for transgender healthcare, marking the second defeat in two weeks for anti-transgender legislation in the state.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle declared the state's practices invalid, saying they violated the constitutional right to equal protection under the 14th amendment in addition to violating the federal Medicaid statue and the Affordable Care Act's prohibition of sex discrimination.

The injunction was expected after Hinkle on June 6 partially blocked Florida from enforcing its recent ban on people under 18 receiving gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

U.S. district court judges elsewhere have blocked state laws banning gender-affirming care in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana and Oklahoma.

Republican lawmakers introduced more than 500 bills restricting LGBTQ rights this past legislative year, passing more than 70, according to Human Rights Campaign. Twenty states have passed laws banning gender-affirming care for minors.

Hinkle in his 54-page ruling said "many people with this view tend to disapprove all things transgender and so oppose medical care that supports a person's transgender existence."

"The elephant in the room should be noted at the outset. Gender identity is real. The record makes this clear," the judge wrote after a two-week trial.

The plaintiffs were two transgender adults, August Dekker and Brit Rothstein, and two transgender minors who filed under pseudonyms.

The defendants were the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and its secretary, Jason Weida, who did not respond to an after-hours request for comment.

The AHCA had approved Medicaid payments for the plaintiffs, but in 2022 the executive office of Governor Ron DeSantis ordered the AHCA to conduct a new analysis and reversed course. The AHCA "retained only consultants known in advance for their staunch opposition to gender-affirming care," the judge found.

"The new ... process was, from the outset, a biased effort to justify a predetermined outcome, not a fair analysis of the evidence," the judge said.

DeSantis is running for the Republican nomination for president and has promoted his record of aggressively fighting progressive policies, including LGBTQ rights.

[shannon]

Hidden Content

This board requires you to be registered and logged-in to view hidden content.