For a smart woman ...

“…nothing poses a greater potential threat to the lives of dysphoric children than fanatical religious crackpots.”

Image: Amer. Principles Project

Jane Robbins is a graduate of Harvard Law. Given the competitiveness of admissions it seem reasonable to presume that Robbins is an intelligent person. Unfortunately for her, Ms. Robbins is a fundamentalist Catholic. The unyielding belief system turns religion into a cult whereby its adherents are incapable of independent critical thinking unless it conforms to the dogma which is not critical thinking at all.

Robbins is affiliated with the American Principles Project, an anti-LGBT organization co-founded by Robert George.

CBNer can't quite figure out a transgender kid

Steve Warren at CBN writes California Mother Defends Letting 4-Year-Old Son Transition to a Transgender Girl. Warren actually does a fairly good job outlining the issues:

A San Francisco, California, mother of a now 7-year-old boy is defending his transition to being a girl.

The child, now named "Gracie," began the transition process at age four.

The Kim Davis Case is Still Ongoing - #Ugh

“In a perfect world, Liberty Counsel would be on the hook for at least some of the legal fees. Staver told Davis not to obey a court order and Staver protracted the litigation.”

Kim Davis and hate group leader Mat Staver

Image: News Observer

Four years later, Mad Mat Staver cannot accept the simple fact that Kim Davis lost and the ACLU is owed nearly a quarter-million dollars in legal fees from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Thursday, the hate group leader (Liberty Counsel) is making oral arguments before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. According to Mad Mat:

The cases of Ermold v. Davis, Yates v. Davis, and Miller v. Davis center on whether the plaintiffs are entitled to attorney fees and/or damages, and, if so, whether the Commonwealth, Rowan County, or Kim Davis is liable for payment.
[…]

Magistrate Judge in Florida Sides With Conversion "Therapists"

Magistrate Judge Amanda Arnold Sansone of the Middle District of Florida has recommended that a preliminary injunction be issued in favor of conversion therapy practitioners challenging a Tampa ordinance banning juvenile conversion therapy. The decision rests with U.S. District Court Judge Charlene Vanessa Edwards Honeywell, an Obama appointee.

Sansone determined that the ban constituted a free speech violation in spite of the fact that conversion therapy is professional conduct. In 2012 there were two California cases similar to this; Pickup v. Brown and Welch v. Brown. David Pickup is also a plaintiff in the Tampa case along with Robert Vazzo.

Oh, the Dreaded "Swarm" of LGBT Activists

My interest in the Drag Queen Story Hour “controversy” is that it is a manufactured squabble centered on religious disapproval of LGBTQ people.

Image via Church Militant

Our “swarm” is depicted in a piece by one Rodney Pelletier at Church Militant: LGBT Activists Swarm in support of Drag Queen Story Hour.

In the way of background, Church Militant is a “brand” of St. Michael's Media in Ferndale, MI. It is run by ex-gay Michael Voris. 2017 revenues were about $2 million. Southern Poverty Law Center has described the operation as an ultra-orthodox Catholic propaganda ministry. Suffice it to say, the cult-like operation is long on religious fanatics and short on critical thinking. But I digress.

Ryan T. Anderson exposes his intellectual inadequacies

Predictably, the Christian right is exploiting an errant CDC survey to incorrectly claim an explosive growth in transgender kids.

Official Heritage Foundation misinformer and defender of the faith, Ryan T. Anderson.

Image: CBN News

Monday at Heritage Foundation's blog, Ryan T. Anderson authored The Left Is Shunning Liberals With Concerns About Transgender Agenda. Terrible grammar aside, Anderson's only concern is defending the catechism of the Catholic Church. Transgender people do not really exist for the Church.

According to the dogma, people with gender dysphoria do exist and they need talk therapy to correct a mental illness. The fact that such therapy does not exist does not deter Mr. Anderson.

Recently, I heard from a woman who has a teenage daughter four years into the process of transitioning.

Throughout that time, this mom has been trying to get left-leaning media and think tanks and professional associations to take seriously the concerns coming from the left.

Hate group dissembling for dollars over pronouns

“Why should people be ‘god-fearing’ when nonconformists demonstrate that there is nothing to fear?”

Tuesday, Alliance Defending Freedom, an anti-LGBT hate group, sent out an email to supporters titled: The wrong pronouns? ADF is attempting to raise money off of Nicholas Meriwether who is suing Shawnee State University in Ohio (Meriwether v. Hartop).

But this time was different. This time, that student approached Dr. Meriwether after class, informed him that he identified as transgender, and demanded that Dr. Meriwether refer to him as a woman, with feminine titles and pronouns. When Dr. Meriwether did not agree, the student became aggressive, circling around him, getting in his face, and even threatening to get Dr. Meriwether fired.

The student then filed a formal complaint with the university, which launched a formal investigation.

Now we know who is behind the anti-LGBTQ extremist Gone2Far

(L-R) Stephen Broden and Randy Short are the anti-LGBTQ bigots behind Gone2Far. Short is also a virulent anti-Semite.

Images: Broden via Wikipedia | Short via The Iran Project

The bigoted “proclamation” of Gone2Far popped up about two weeks ago (it is dated January 16). I did not pay much attention to it because it is anonymous. Promoters of the project seem to be obsessed with drag queens including Desmond Napoles (Desmond is Amazing) and, of course, Drag Queen Story Hour.

The proclamation is full of good stuff. It is an anti-LGBTQ compendium worthy of any hate group. Following the de rigueur stats on HIV among gay men:

Mindless Mollie

“…the more one watches Fox News, the stupider one becomes.”

Image via YouTube

Mollie Hemingway has been carrying polluted water for Trump for a couple of years now. Monday she claims a monopoly on wisdom with: What Pundits Get Wrong About The Border Security Fight. Hemingway doesn't get much right.

Some Mindless Mollie prose:

It is absolutely true that the shutdown ended without Trump being able to deliver increased border security. The failure to end the shutdown with increased border security is a victory for Pelosi, who said she’d refuse to even think about the topic until the government was re-opened. She won that standoff.

Another Conversion "Therapy" Lawsuit

Embed from Getty Images

Filed last Wednesday, Alliance Defending Freedom is representing Dr. David Schwartz, an Orthodox Jewish psychologist (a guilt specialist?) who is suing the City of New York over its conversion therapy ban. It appears to be Dr. Dovid Schwartz in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. (There is no address for the plaintiff on either the complaint or the civil cover sheet.)

Schwartz is a member of Israel-based Nefesh, the International Network of Orthodox Mental Health Professionals. I am going to try to find out how he got in contact with ADF. Did ADF troll by email or letter? Adding to the confusion is the identity of Schwartz's lawyer. The docket lists him (Roger G. Brooks) with ADF in Washington, DC with a North Carolina telephone number. I believe that he is a retiree from Cravath Swaine and Moore. In addition to a JD from U.VA he has an MDiv from Regent.

CDC botches important trans youth study - badly

“We are probably mere hours away from the Christian-Right establishment echoing this inaccurate nonsense.”

Transgender adolescents are at risk of violence victimization

Friday, the Center for Disease Control published a paper titled: Transgender Identity and Experiences of Violence Victimization, Substance Use, Suicide Risk, and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among High School Students — 19 States and Large Urban School Districts, 2017. An error has already generated confusion, perhaps intentional confusion.

Jana J. Pruet at The Blaze offers: CDC: Percentage of teens who identify as transgender has more than doubled since 2014. Defender of the Faith and trans obsessed Dr. Michael K. Laidlaw chimes in to explain the crackpot theory of rapid onset gender dysphoria offered by Dr. Lisa Littman. I am pretty sure that gender dysphoria is not contagious.

Christian nationalist defines hypocrisy

While denigrating LGBT people David Lane (left) lays hands on then North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory.

Image via YouTube

David Lane writes: How the Left Wants to Harvest Your Vote and Take Over the Country. Mr. Lane is a Christian nationalist and tax cheat. Mr. Lane is also a shady Republican operative whose aim is to take over the country by effecting a Christian theocracy. Needless to say, Mr. Lane is rabidly anti-LGBT.

Lane offers the usual Christian nation mythology:

Trump admin officially approves anti-Semitic discrimination

Don't even think about the plight of gay couples.

Steven Wagner is a senior
official at HHS | Photo: HHS

HHS has waived nondiscrimination requirements allowing a “Christian” adoption and foster agency to restrict parents to practicing Christians who are heterosexual and cisgender. Beth Lesser and her husband have been foster parents in Florida for more than a decade. Then they moved to South Carolina.

After completing training and background checks, Miracle Hill ministries in Greenville, SC turned Lesser away. They did so because Ms. Lester is Jewish. Adoption and foster care agencies do the work of the state. They are paid for doing so with taxpayer funds. The state, in turn, is partially reimbursed by Health and Human Services providing that the agency conforms to nondiscrimination requirements.

Mad Mat on the lawsuit - CIS v. SPLC Executives

Hate group leader Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel

Image via YouTube/Fox News

Hate group leader Mad Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel is delighted that Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) has filed a lawsuit against two executives of the Southern Poverty Law Center. I'll get back to Staver's commentary but first the background:

On January 16, 2019 CIS filed a lawsuit in the District of Columbia against Richard Cohen and Heidi Beirich. Mr. Cohen is the president of the SPLC. Ms. Beirich is the director of SPLC's Intelligence Project. Cohen is an attorney (University of Virginia Law); Beirich has a PhD in political science from Purdue.

Chris Doyle challenging Mayland conversion therapy ban through Liberty Counsel

Christopher Doyle, represented by Liberty Counsel is the plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging Maryland ban on conversion therapy for minors.

Image via Voice of the Voiceless

American Family Association (an anti-LGBT hate group) informs us that Liberty Counsel (another anti-LGBT hate group) is suing Maryland over its 2018 law banning conversion therapy for minors. The plaintiff, according to the Washington Post is none other than Christopher Doyle.

According to Liberty Counsel's news release:

These professionals provide life-saving counsel to minors who desperately desire to conform their attractions, behaviors, and identity to their sincerely held religious beliefs. The sacred trust between counselors and clients is a unique alliance that permits clients to inform the counselors of their own goals and receive counseling consistent with those goals.

Katy Faust is a victim opposing marriage equality - Oh, the poor thing

Image via YouTube

Katy Faust has authored one of her usual anti-gay polemics for Witherspoon Institute's pseudo-intellectual blog. It is laden with bigotry, self-victimization, self-pity and non sequiturs. The post is self-righteously titled: It’s Time to Put #ThemBeforeUs: The Global Movement for Children’s Rights. Behold the very first paragraph:

I started writing about why marriage is a children’s rights issue in 2012 following President Obama’s “evolution” on the subject of gay marriage when it seemed that everybody, especially the media, finally felt free to play the “bigot” card. Like many supporters of traditional marriage, I have friends and family that I love who are gay and lesbian, so the accusation of bigotry stung. But even worse was the media’s complete disregard for the reality that, historically, marriage has been the most child-friendly institution the world has ever known.

Abuse of process: PragerU sues Google - again

Screen capture from one of PragerU's anti-Muslim videos

Image via YouTube

In October, 2017, Prager University sued Google and YouTube:

PragerU brings this lawsuit to stop Google/YouTube from unlawfully censoring its educational videos and discriminating against its right to freedom of speech solely because of PragerU’s political identity and viewpoint as a non-profit that espouses conservative views on current and historical events.

[LARGE drivelectomy]

This is a civil action arising under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, as subsequently set forth, and this court has jurisdiction…

Prominent mormon reparative therapist guru is now ex-ex-gay and not apologetic

David Matheson co-wrote the Journey into Manhood Program and published the notorious ‘ex-gay’ book, Becoming a Whole Man.

David Matheson | via Facebook

David Matheson now admits to being gay. His lack of contrition for the harm he has done means that he is still a schmuck.

This from Wayne Besen at Truth Wins Out:

The nation’s most notorious conversion therapist, David Matheson, has reportedly quit the “ex-gay” movement and has announced he is seeking to date men. Matheson is the author and creator of several infamous “ex-gay” programs and bogus studies, as well as the director for the Center for Gender Wholeness. Matheson has been featured in ABC News and The New York Times.

Answering an unnecessary question on gender

July 9, 1978, Washington, DC: Supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment march. L-R: Gloria Steinem, Dick Gregory, Betty Friedan; Reps. Elizabeth Holtzman, Barbara Mikulski, and Margaret Heckler. 

AP Photo/Dennis Cook

John M. Grondelski writes: ERA: A Sex or Gender Amendment? Grondelski is a smart enough guy. He has a PhD from Fordham and was once associate dean of the School of Theology at Seton Hall University.

But this essay is not about the constitutional technicalities raised by the ERA. My question is more fundamental. What is the ERA about? Is it about “sex” or “gender”?

We Jews are particularly fond of answering a question with a question. It can be frustrating, even infuriating; I know. Nevertheless, suppose that it is about sex and gender. So what? Later on, Grondelski explains:

Chris Sevier's little helpers

“Cynthia B. Burris is a former South Carolina beauty queen. She was admitted to the South Carolina bar in May, 2017. It is an option when one stops beauty queening.”

Pretty is as pretty does. Former South Carolina beauty queen, now professional anti-LGBT bigot, Brooke Mosteller Burris aka Cynthia Burris.

Image via Palmetto Family Council

As “Mark Christopher Sevier” and as “Chris Sevier” the disbarred attorney has filed at least 63 federal lawsuits since the Supreme Court's ruling in United States v. Windsor. That is in addition to a multitude of attempts to intervene in cases filed by others. In addition to attempts to undermine marriage equality, Sevier has engaged in a campaign against Drag Queen Story Hour.

U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martinez (Colorado) had enough of lawyers associated with Sevier. In Sevier v. Hickenlooper:

ORDER DISMISSING ALL CLAIMS WITH PREJUDICE. ORDER: 1.All of Plaintiffs' claims and both Case No. 17-cv-1666-WJM-NYW and Case No. 17-cv-1750-WJM-NYW are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE as a sanction for Plaintiffs' violation of Court Orders, in particular of their continued ad hominem attacks, and for non-compliance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, … other litigation misconduct, and for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure … Defendants shall have their costs upon compliance with D.C.COLO.LCivR 54.1; and, 6. The Court will entertain requests for an award of attorneys' fees upon motion of any Defendant … by Judge William J. Martinez on 1/18/2018. (dhans, ) (Entered: 01/18/2018)

Breaking: Supreme Court allows Trump to enforce transgender troop ban

The Supreme Court has ruled that Trump can enforce the trans troop ban while the case progresses through the lower courts. The matter is also before the Supreme Court which has not yet determined whether or not it will hear the case. More details to follow.

State Sen. Zach Wahls is just getting started

Campaign photo

A post at GayCityNews reminded me that Zach Wahls is now a state senator representing Iowa's 37th district. Many of you will remember Wahls' 2011 testimony, at the age of 19, before the Iowa House Judiciary Committee. Wahls, the son of two lesbians, demonstrated immense poise. His eloquence on same-sex parenting and marriage equality made Wahls a household name. The video of his testimony now has 19,090,417 views.

National Organization for Marriage was not pleased:

To raise money Brian S. Brown returns to Prop 8 and fear mongering

The latest missive from Brian S. Brown, on behalf of National Organization for Marriage, is titled: It's Much Worse Than We Feared.

Eleven years ago …

During the course of the Prop. 8 campaign, campaign manager Frank Schubert (now NOM's national political director) produced a commercial showing a young girl coming home from elementary school to inform her mother that she learned in class that "boys can marry other boys and I can marry a princess." The commercial was extremely impactful and represented an absolutely correct portrayal of the law, but was roundly criticized by the left as "false," "fear-mongering," and "homophobic." Opponents of Prop 8, including the state's top education official, took to the airwaves to promise that gay 'marriage' would never be taught to California elementary students. Voters did not believe them and destroyed conventional wisdom by passing Prop 8 by 600,000 votes.

Were Harvey Milk still alive he might sue AFA for libel

Harvey Milk and Jack Galen McKinley

LGBT History Archive

The story on the blog of American Family Association reads: Calif. kids to celebrate child molester at school? The hate group is referring to Harvey Milk. All of Milk's boyfriends were younger than him. That is not a crime nor something that gay men have a monopoly on. (Older men in South Beach seem to have a disproportionate number of nieces.)

Allegations of child abuse stem from Milk's romantic relationship with Jack Galen McKinley. When the relationship started, McKinley was 16 (according to Randy Shilts) which just happens to be the age of consent in Mississippi where AFA is based. The age of consent in New York is (and was at the time) 17. However, until 2017 a 14-year-old could enter into marriage.

Polemicist: If trans people are protected from workplace discrimination more disabled women will be raped

Natasha Chart | Image: The Federalist

Nothing is too stupid for The Federalist. On Thursday Natasha Chart writes: How Do We Reconcile Gender Self-Identification With Protecting The Disabled? The answer to her rhetorical question is: “Doing so is unnecessary.” I'll get there but first:

The Insider headline on a story about the unsolved rape of a San Carlos Apache woman in a long-term care facility in Arizona read, “Police to take DNA from every male carer who had access to the woman who gave birth after 14 years in a vegetative state.”

"The Devil is Using the Democratic Party to Destroy America"

Larry Tomczak circa 2015

Image via YouTube

Well, at least Larry Tomczak used “Democratic” in lieu of the customary “Democrat Party.” Ordinarily I write about Tomczak due to his spectacular bigotry towards LGBT people. Most recently I wrote about his tantrum in reaction to the film Boy Erased (Tomczak is a promoter of pray-away-the-gay practitioners). The current headline was too good to pass up.

Qualifications:

I lived in the DC area for 24 years, worked directly across from the White House and taught the Bible weekly to 2000 young people 10 minutes away. Positioned in the heart of the Capital, we prayed for the government each meeting …

Michael Brown should follow his own advice

Image via YouTube

Michael Brown has yet another anti-LGBT screed. This jeremiad is titled: The Self-Destruction of LGBT Activism. According to Brown:

Sometimes, in a debate or a court of law, the best way to let your opponent lose is simply to let him (or her) continue to speak. Soon enough, they sink their own ship. It's the same with LGBT activism. The more "victories" it gains, the more it exposes (and destroys) itself.

The way in which we allow others to speak is to shut the hell up. Michael Brown is both a flamethrower and a consistent source of fuel for those of us who follow the religious right. Brown is utterly obsessed with LGBT people. Often that is a measure of someone's insecurities.

Another amicus brief - another anti-science crackpot physician

The rabidly anti-LGBT Dr. Miriam Grossman is an adolescent and child psychiatrist in Los Angeles.

Image via YouTube

Dr. Miriam Grossman of Los Angeles emerges as a relatively new name in transphobic, intellectually dishonest rhetoric. (This is the first time she has come to my attention.) Grossman has signed onto an amicus brief in Drew Adams v. School Board of St. Johns County, Florida generated by the hate group Alliance Defending Freedom.

This case is before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Drew Adams is a transgender boy. In July, 2018 a federal district court ruled that Drew must be permitted to use the boys' restroom at school. Since then I doubt that anyone has died. The sky has not fallen and Earth is still spinning on its axis.

Known Christian grifter has not filed a tax return since 2012 and is still tax-exempt

And, some mind numbing statistics on IRS compliance.

Via Ken Gaub Ministries

Kenneth Gaub of Yakima, WA claims that he has raised a baby from the dead and healed crippled people. He also has the chutzpah to claim that he has received telephone calls intended for him from payphones as he walked by. (Has anyone seen a payphone lately?) But his background is even murkier.

Ken Gaub had two sons; Dan and Nathan. Dan took his own life in 2012, allegedly to avoid prosecution for a Ponzi scheme that netted about $40 million from hundreds of victims. It is alleged that Ken Gaub was the recipient of assets from Dan's scam including large sums of cash and numerous luxury vehicles. It has been reported that Nathan Gaub is still scamming people with a phony commodities trading program. The Gaub family has denied those accusations.

AFA survey reveals much about its constituency and its immorality

“Support for Trump has become transactional insanity. People are willing to discard their fundamental moral beliefs.”

Immigration graphic via IVN

American Family Association — an anti-LGBT hate group — did some sort of “survey” regarding immigration. According to AFA they had 34,514. They also claim:

In the first three and a half hours the survey was live, over 18,000 responded. By the time the survey closed, some important findings were uncovered.

I have no idea what “live” means in this context. Nor do I know how the other 16,000 respondents answered the questions. Nevertheless:

Heritage staffer compares trans people to people who think they are animals

Ken McIntyre has a pretentious academic title at Heritage Foundation. He is also the senior editor of the organization's blog, Daily Signal. Monday, McIntyre is airing emails or letters that Heritage supposedly received about the woes of Peter Vlaming, a Virginia teacher who was dismissed for refusing to conform to school district policy.

Vlaming was an effective and popular teacher. Unfortunately he is enslaved by Christian belief which he felt required him to misgender a transgender student. Vlaming was subjected to progressive discipline due process and refused to agree to obey school district policies. Eventually the school board terminated Vlaming with a unanimous 5-0 vote. What Vlaming wanted amounted to Christian Privilege. He wanted a special exception to established policy.

Hampered by religious belief, Glenn T. Stanton is hopelessly confused

Glenn T. Stanton attempts to merge fundamentalist religion with law and medical science. The result is predictable.

Image via YouTube

Glenn T. Stanton, a conservative Catholic and a Focus on the Family motormouth, has found a new way to ridicule LGBT people: NYC’s New Nonbinary Birth Certificates Are A Self-Contradictory, Harmful Mistake. According to Stanton:

Transgender activists imply that if something that merely exists in the mind can be put into a legal document that follows you for life, it becomes ‘real.’

Peter LaBarbera's dip in the racist pool - along with the requisite homophobia

Peter LaBarbera does not like this AT&T ad portraying gay parenting.

According to hate group leader Peter LaBarbera: AT&T ‘Just OK Is Not OK’ Babysitter Commercial Promotes Homosexual Parenting. This rhetorical theme, which includes claims like “[fill in the blank] promotes homosexuality,” has been around since  Anita Bryant's misadventures. It should dawn on Mr. LaBarbera that this meme does not work.

Chechnya: 40 detained 2 killed in gay purge

This charming fellow is Ramzan Kadyrov, the thug who is president of Chechnya. Kadyrov continues to deny that his country systematically detains, tortures and kills gay men.

Image via Caucasian Knot

President Donald Trump is unlikely to comment on human rights abuses in Chechnya, a federal republic of Russia. However activists claim that a new crackdown has caused at least two deaths and left dozens detained in the predominantly Muslim country.

You will recall that, in 2017 about 100 men were imprisoned and tortured resulting in some being killed. Authorities in Chechnya denied that it ever happened.

Mad Mat enraged - I, for one, stand by what I wrote

Mad Mat Staver

Image via YouTube/Fox News

Friday, Mad Mat Staver, leader of the hate group Liberty Counsel, is trying to clean up his act.

On Tuesday I noted that Staver was enraged that an anti-lynching bill included specific protections from lynching based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Apparently freedom from lynching based on sexuality is (what Staver called) a “special right.”

Adding bullshit to the bullshit Liberty Counsel released the following statement:

Walled in

The only certainty is that, in all things, Trump's only real interest is Trump.

Embed from Getty Images

President Donald Trump is an unstable, erratic sociopath and a pathological liar which makes him impossible to figure out. I am not even sure that Trump understands Trump because he is so impulsive. Trump is also immune to details. He still has the understanding of a third-grader when it comes to how government works. Trump doesn't care that he doesn't know because he seems to think that he is smarter than everyone else. Why get mired in specifics, analysis and planning?

Yet another ignoramus promoting transgender mythology

Via Wisconsin Group Insurance Board

My day began with Walt Heyer. Now I shift to Julaine Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Council. She is upset that the Wisconsin Group Insurance Board is covering some gender-affirming surgeries under Medicaid. According to an August, 27 2018 newsletter of Board approved actions:

To remove the exclusion of transgender services and benefits in Uniform Benefits, effective January 1, and defer to medical necessity of treatment as authorized by the health plan.

Walt Heyer penned a pointless work of fiction

Professional ex-trans crackpot Walt Heyer

Via YouTube

Crystal Woodall (formerly employed by Pat Robertson's CBN) has written: Transgender Regret: The Truth About Gender Reassignment Surgery. Do tell, o wise one.

As the transgender movement becomes all the rage in popular culture, those who once lived that lifestyle—and are now plagued with regret—are coming forward to share their stories.

Author Walt Heyer chronicles their various journeys in his new book, Trans Life Survivors.

Religious conservative gay men and their neuroses

Image via WikiHow

Tuesday, there is an interesting post at First Things (a conservative Catholic outlet) by Sebastian Alvarez, a conservative Catholic gay man. The title of the polemic is False Counsel at Fordham. The short circuit is that Jesuit priests and the faculty are telling this guy to live his life. Mr. Alvarez is so strangled by guilt and self-loathing that he is lashing out.

I find the whole thing sad and bewildering. After all, one can change their religious beliefs but changing sexual orientation is impossible.

Mad Mat Staver: "LGBT 'rights' sneakily added to anti-lynching bill"

Mad Mat Staver

Image via YouTube/Fox News

Hate group leader Mad Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel has been relatively quiet lately. It is very easy to make Mad Mat noisy again. The mere possibility that LGBT Americans might be subjected to less discrimination and oppression is enough to make the maniac rambunctious. The damned sky is falling.

S.3178 - Justice for Victims of Lynching Act of 2018 was introduced by Kamala Harris last June. On December 19 it passed the Senate by a voice vote. According to Charlie Butts at American Family Association:

Transgender is not a noun

If one desires to look like a religious blowhard, refer to a transgender person as “a transgender.” Indeed, only religious blowhards do so. Monday, Bill Bumpas writes at the blog of the hate group American Family Association: Jury says transgender has legal right to huddle with women. Bumpas (I swear they all do have porn names) follows with:

The leader of a sports ministry says it's troubling that a court ruling in Minnesota is allowing a biological male to play in a women's football league.

Another win for the ACLU in Louisiana

Katie Schwartzmann,
Legal Director - ACLU of
Louisiana

In an out-of-court settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, the Lafayette library has — once again — agreed to allow the library to be used for Drag Queen Story Hour.

Meanwhile, there is still an open federal case in the Western District of Louisiana choreographed by Chris Sevier (who is disbarred) against the library. It is utterly frivolous and, frankly, insane. The last docket entry, from Friday, was: AMICI BRIEF Defending Reparative Therapy by Coalition of Doctors Defending Reparative Therapy. 

"Sexual brokenness" requires praying away the LGBTQ

David Kyle Foster has produced a theatrical presentation. The script is designed to falsely portray LGBTQ people as diseased and broken.

Image via YouTube

According to Steven Strang (owner of Charisma Media): Ex-Gay Man: Keys to Spirit-Empowered Deliverance From Sexual Brokenness. That supposedly ex-gay man is David Kyle Foster.

David Kyle Foster is entitled to call himself anything that suits him including “ex-gay.” Indeed, David Kyle Foster is a professional Christian ex-gay. What Foster does not seem to care about is the fact that he is promoting hate and ignorance.

Some background:

Trans Troop Ban: Appeals Court Ruling Has Limited Effect

Friday, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned a ruling by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., that blocked Trump's policy banning certain transgender people from serving in the military.

However, other federal courts (outside of DC) have issued rulings that apply nationally. The issue is now before the Supreme Court which must first decide whether or not it will hear the case. The case has been distributed for the January 11 conference which doesn't necessarily mean that it will be reviewed at that time (cases are often re-distributed).

That was fast - And Rich has been a busy boy

Yesterday, I wrote about Rich Penkoski who is homophobic and transphobic to the point of insanity. That is not hyperbole. We have the evidence of his personality disorder.

I mentioned that, according to his LinkedIn profile, he was a contract recruiter for Mars Chocolate. That raised some concerns because Mars (which is a subsidiary of Wrigley) has an EEO policy that includes sexual orientation and gender identity. There is simply no way that Penkoski could comply.

Okay AFA - Drag queens are grooming kids to be what exactly?

Via Rich Penkoski's WFC "Church"

According to American Family Association, an anti-LGBT hate group, Drag Queen Story Hour has a sinister purpose: ACLU fights for right to 'groom' our most innocent.

A pastor who helped defeat perversion says it's no secret anymore why homosexual men are going to court to demand the right to read to children.

Last December, family advocates in Louisiana convinced Lafayette leaders to shut down Drag Queen Story Hour, where drag queens read perversion-affirming stories to young children.

If Linda Harvey had even average intelligence ...

Image via YouTube

Hate group leader Linda Harvey (Mission America) displays her usual lack of curiosity. Conservative Christians create many of their problems themselves. Their misadventures are often the result of a staggering lack of intellectual curiosity. Wednesday, Harvey, a rabid anti-LGBT bigot, writes: Here are the top 10 times liberals endorsed child abuse in 2018, and they’re horrifying.

It is the first item in her list which demonstrates my point perfectly:

Upon further review ...

I looked more thoroughly into comments and zapped two individuals for extreme offensiveness. Disqus allows moderators to delete the last 30 days of comments which I have done. I promise to be more vigilant in the future.

Oh my - They are fighting back and Robert Gagnon has a new gig

Franklin Graham, a walking hate group, has two tracks: Being LGBTQ is profoundly evil and the schmuck to his right is a superbly moral man; an example for children everywhere.

Image: Christian Headlines

According to a Tyler O'Neil (whatever that is): Christians Are Mobilizing to Fight Back After Facebook Blocked Franklin Graham on Christmas. The last time I checked Facebook is a private company. As such, according to Republican core values, it is free to establish whatever Acceptable Use Policy it deems necessary.

I don't know. One post about my bar mitzvah on Stormfront and they banished me forever. But I digress.

AFA and Chai Feldblum, sexual deviant that she is

Hate Group Leader Tim Wildmon - American Family Association

Image via YouTube

The thought of having a lesbian continue to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Council is too much for American Family Association to bear. According to the hate group:

In December 2017, President Trump re-nominated Chai Feldlbum [sic] to serve as Commissioner of the EEOC. Feldblum is the same anti-religious liberty and pro-LGBT zealot whom President Barack Obama nominated in 2010. Her previous term ended July 1, 2018. It is time that President Trump withdraw Feldblums [sic] nomination and replace her with a Constitutional conservative who will protect the First Amendment.

Comment civility

I am loathe to ban someone from the comments section. I prefer not to because I because I value opposing points of view. I value opposing points of view because I have learned the most from people with whom I disagree. Nevertheless, I am close to terminating the access of some commenters.

Everyone is welcome here.

What I ask for is good judgment. Please keep in mind that every LGBTQ person has suffered, in some way, from discrimination and prejudice. Counterpoint in comments ordinarily comes from people who are defending a religious perspective and that's fine. I can be very hard on religion at times.