Conversion therapy is dying across the country, and oddly enough this is happening on Trump's watch.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:

It’s hard to imagine the Trump presidency going down in history as a fantastic time for LGBT rights. And yet LGBT people have been scoring several successive victories on the state and local level on a particularly critical issue: making conversion therapy a crime. 

Since Donald Trump and Mike Pence took office, five states—New Mexico, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Nevada, Washington—have banned the medically condemned practice of trying to change a minor’s sexual orientation and gender identity, bringing the total number of U.S. states with such bans up to 10. 

Several Florida municipalities, major cities like Philadelphia and New York, and other smaller cities have also now banned conversion therapy during the Trump-Pence administration. 

These bans on conversion or “reparative,” therapy are still coming with seemingly accelerated momentum: As Amber Phillips noted in her recent Washington Post appraisal of state-level LGBT victories, it seems “likely” that over a dozen states and D.C. will have made it illegal to subject a minor to this ostensibly therapeutic but demonstrably cruel practice by the end of the legislative session.

To be clear this is happening DESPITE the fact that Trump and Mike Pence are in office, not BECAUSE they are in office.

I think it is far more appropriate to give President Obama the credit for moving things forward for the LGBTQ community, than to assign credit to Trump/Pence.

Still good news is good news, and this is indeed good news.

Washington has now banned conversion therapy.

Courtesy of the Seattle Times:  

A measure banning licensed therapists from trying to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity was signed into law Wednesday by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. 

Inslee signed the bill joined by lawmakers and other LGTB supporters, including Democratic Sen. Marko Liias, the bill’s sponsor, and Chad Griffin, the president of the D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign.

Inslee called conversion therapy abuse, and said that “we are today prohibiting the abuse of our children.” 

“We have always believed in civil rights in our state,” he said. “We believe in tolerance for all.” 

The new law, which takes effect in June, will deem it “unprofessional conduct” for a licensed health-care provider to perform conversion therapy on a patient under the age of 18. Under the measure, if the provider violates the law, he or she faces sanctions ranging from fines to license revocation or suspension. The measure does not apply to nonlicensed counselors operating as part of a religious organization, religious denomination or church.

While this is very good news I have to admit that I kind of assumed that Washington state, which I consider relatively progressive had banned this practice years ago. 

That led me to check to see just how many states or jurisdictions do indeed have these conversion bans in place.

That is a little disheartening.

This is the 21st Century. We know better. Or at least we should know better.

Donald Trump issues memorandum to ban most transgender soldiers.

Courtesy of Politico:  

President Donald Trump on Friday issued orders to ban transgender troops who require surgery or significant medical treatment from serving in the military except in select cases — following through on a controversial pledge last year that has been under review by the Pentagon and is being fought out in the courts. 

The memorandum, which drew swift condemnation from gender rights groups, states that while the secretary of defense and other executive branch officials will have some latitude in implementing the policy, “persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria — including individuals who the policies state may require substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery — are disqualified from military service except under limited circumstances.” 

The memo also said that Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, “in the exercise of his independent judgment, has concluded [the policies] should be adopted by the Department of Defense.” It added that “the Secretary of Homeland Security concurs with these policies with respect to the U.S. Coast Guard,” which would also be affected by the policy. 

The decision comes after a number of top military officials over the past year-- including most members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- have gone out of their way to defend the thousands of transgender troops who are believed to be serving in the military.

Remember there is a tweet for everything. 

I somehow doubt that too many LGBTQ folks were fooled by this, but if there were some, don't you feel silly now?

Personally I think that Trump is simply using this as another diversion to keep us from talking about that huge omnibus bill he signed yesterday and that Stormy Daniels 60 Minutes interview tomorrow.

Trump is the kind of guy who would poison the family dog to keep his parents from finding out that he stayed out past curfew.

I seriously doubt that this memo will have any real impact, and fully intend to pay attention to all of the things that it was designed to distract me from.

Report finds that LGBTQ community is losing ground under Trump presidency.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

This is GLAAD’s fourth annual Accelerating Acceptance report and the first to find that fewer Americans say they are comfortable with LGBTQ people in public, in schools, and in places of worship. 

“Less than half of non-LGBTQ adults (49 percent) reported being ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ comfortable with LGBTQ people across seven situations. This is a significant decline from 53 percent last year and the first time the Accelerating Acceptance report has shown a drop in acceptance for LGBTQ people,” GLAAD notes. 

According to the poll, taken in November of 2017, three in ten Americans (30%) now say they are very or somewhat uncomfortable with learning a family member is LGBT, up from 27% over the prior two years.

......

Reports of anti-LGBT discrimination have increased significantly.

55% of those surveyed say they experienced sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination. That’s an increase of 11 points, up from 44% over 2016. 

“In the past year, there has been a swift and alarming erosion of acceptance which can only be fought by being visible and vocal,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. “This report puts numbers to the bias that too many LGBTQ Americans have recently experienced. GLAAD is fighting the rollback by enlisting philanthropic leaders like the Ariadne Getty Foundation and global changemakers attending the World Economic Forum to use their platforms and move our community forward.”

And that is only in one year.

So now we know that it is not simply women, minorities, and non-Christians that are suffering under Donald Trump.

Which is kind of a shame because a lot of LGBTQ folks thought that since Trump was from New York and came from a show biz background that they would be largely unaffected by his presidency.

And then right out of the blue, halfway through his first term, he tries to ban transgender folks from joining the military.

Fortunately the courts have blocked that so far. but the message is clear, unless you are a white heterosexual male Christian, this  administration has no interest in protecting your rights.

Illinois will no longer allow the "gay panic" defense, when an attacker claims the victim's orientation provoked them, to be used in court. Wait, that's a thing?

Courtesy of Yahoo News:  

Illinois has made history by banning the “gay panic defense,” which allows a violent offender to blame his or her crimes on a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity. But it’s still applicable in 48 states. 

On Monday, three years after California banned the defense, the bill signed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner went into effect, spurring hope among activists that similar measures will be taken nationwide. 

Here’s how the defense is used: A person commits a violent act toward a gay or transgender person, then claims the victim’s sexual or gender identity provoked them to either self-defend, commit a crime of passion, or enter a state of temporary insanity. 

The defense has never been written into law, but according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, since the 1960s gay panic and transgender panic defenses have been used in approximately 25 states in the hopes of having defendants receive reduced sentences.

What a stupid fucking excuse for hurting or killing somebody. 

"They're sexuality forced me to beat them unconscious." Seriously?

To me this seems along the same lines as claiming that you raped a woman because she turned you on.

I have to say that if seeing somebody who seems gay to you makes you feel angry or violent towards them, you probably ought to have a long hard talk with yourself about your own sexuality.

The Trump Administration is now restricting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using words like "science-based" and "evidenced-based."

Courtesy of WaPo: 

The Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the nation’s top public health agency from using a list of seven words or phrases — including “fetus” and “transgender” — in any official documents being prepared for next year’s budget. 

Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden words at a meeting Thursday with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget, according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing. The forbidden words are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.” 

In some instances, the analysts were given alternative phrases. Instead of “science-based” or ­“evidence-based,” the suggested phrase is “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes,” the person said. In other cases, no replacement words were immediately offered. 

The question of how to address such issues as sexual orientation, gender identity and abortion rights — all of which received significant visibility under the Obama administration — has surfaced repeatedly in federal agencies since President Trump took office. Several key departments — including Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, as well as Justice, Education, and Housing and Urban Development — have changed some federal policies and how they collect government information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

Does your country feel any dumber yet? 

Well if not, just wait, it's about to.

Gay man who was refused a marriage license by Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis will run against her in 2018.

Courtesy of Pink News:  

Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis is set to re-run for election in 2018, despite her extreme opposition to LGBT rights and being put behind bars for contempt of court. 

Davis refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples when she operated as a county clerk in 2015, but says she intends to retain her seat as Rowan County Clerk in next year’s elections. 

The task might have just got much tougher, however, after one of the men she denied a license to, David Ermold, considers standing against her in the race.

After she was sent to jail for six days for refusing a federal order to issue same-sex marriage certificates, Davis became a staunch anti-gay marriage campaigner. 

The Apostolic Christian has said that she refused to issue the licenses because same-sex marriage goes against her beliefs. 

Now Ermold wants to stop her. 

No Democrat has yet put their name forward to oppose the Republican right-winger. 

“If Kim Davis was reelected in that position without an appropriate fight, I’d probably regret it for the rest of my life,” Ermold, an English professor, told WKU Public Radio.

I love everything about this, and after Virginia elected a transgender woman during Tuesday's election, I think that the time is right for this kind of a challenge.

And would it not be perfect for Kim Davis to lose her reelection bid to the very people who she discriminated against?

Now THAT would be schadenfreude.

Nevada father kills teen son for being gay.

Courtesy of Yahoo News:  

A Nevada father shot and killed his 14-year-old son because he couldn’t accept his son's sexual orientation, according to the son's former foster mom. 

On Thursday afternoon, 53-year-old Wendell Melton shot his son, Giovanni Melton, in the apartment where Giovanni lived alone. 

According to Sonja Jones, Giovanni’s former foster mom, Wendell caught Giovanni with his boyfriend before he pulled out a gun.According to the Henderson Police Department, Giovanni was initially transported to St. Rose Dominican Hospital—Siena Campus in critical condition. 

“As a result of their investigation, Henderson Police detectives determined that Melton discharged a firearm that fatally struck his son,” the police department said in a statement on Facebook. He was arrested at the scene on felony charges of open murder, child abuse, firearms possession and other various charges, and was booked into the Henderson Detention Center. 

"Giovanni was abused physically and mentally and spiritually for many, many years," Jones told News 3 Las Vegas.

Is it any wonder that so many gay teens are still so afraid to tell the world who they are?

It just breaks my heart that this pour kid never got a chance to learn that it gets better. 

Lt. General lowers the boom on Air Force Academy's preparatory school over racist messages.

Courtesy of NPR:

After racial slurs were scrawled outside black students' doors at the U.S. Air Force Academy's preparatory school, Superintendent Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria gathered all 4,000 cadets in a hall Thursday so they could hear one message: Treat people with dignity and respect — or get out. 

"That kind of behavior has no place at the prep school, it has no place at USAFA, and it has no place in the United States Air Force," Silveria said, in a speech that has found an enthusiastic reception after it was recorded and published online. "You should be outraged not only as an airman, but as a human being." 

Speaking to a crowd of some 5,500 people that included faculty, coaches, airstrip personnel, and senior officers and staff of the 10th Air Base Wing that includes the academy, Silveria urged them not to let their institution be taken away from them. 

"The appropriate response for horrible language and horrible ideas — the appropriate response is a better idea," Silveria said. "So that's why I'm here. That's why all these people are here."

Did you notice he vaguely referenced Donald Trump while talking about what's going on in this country?

Because I noticed he vaguely referenced Donald Trump while talking about what's going on in this country?

I really like the fact that they addressed what happened in Charlottesville and Ferguson, that is good leadership.

And I would hate to the be the asshole who scrawled those racist messages on the white board, because clearly this man is looking for an ass to kick. 

(Perhaps that was the guy who opened fire on campus yesterday.)

Megyn Kelly's new show is already starting to bomb.

Why does everybody hate me?

Courtesy of Politico:  

Megyn Kelly’s new NBC hour following the “Today” show, in which the former Fox News star shuns political interviews for a softer, more lifestyle-driven focus, premiered on Monday to jeers from many critics. 

The Washington Post’s Hank Stuever was particularly cutting: “The debut was like watching a network try to assemble its own Bride of Frankenstein, using parts of Ellen DeGeneres, Kelly Ripa and whatever else it can find.”

CNN’s Brian Lowry allowed that, “It's absurdly early, of course, to draw any conclusions about the efficacy of the Kelly experiment.” Still, he continued, “After tepid marks for her prime time newsmagazine and now her addition to ‘Today,’ it's worth considering that NBC News brass leapt at the opportunity to snag a high-profile news star without having fully thought through how best to deploy her.” 

Jezebel also mocked the show, saying Kelly looked like “a HomeGoods catalog brought to life” and Newsweek was critical, as well.

This is how Time Magazine described Kelly's debut:

The host — a law school alum whose best-known skill has long been her prosecutorial zeal — served as her own defense attorney throughout the hour, pushing the case that she's not the person you remember from her years of political coverage. "The truth is, I'm kind of done with politics for now," Kelly said in a lengthy opening monologue that told her entire life story from childhood to TV stardom. "It's everywhere, everywhere, and I'm just like, it's over."

It's not just the sentiment that makes Kelly's case; it's the bearing. Kelly, a precise, crystalline wordsmith when in takedown mode, awkwardly sprinkled slang into her speech. She talked with her hands as though someone had said it was humanizing. When the cast of Today walked out with mimosas, Kelly declared, "O.M.G.!" A person who until as recently as last summer, during her Sunday-night newsmagazine show, sought to represent herself as deeply engaged in issues of the public interest now just thought it was over. Have a mimosa!

Can you say "disingenuous?"  Sure you can.

But done with politics or not, Kelly simply could not quite get that conservative stank off of her.

Courtesy of Yahoo News: 

The former FOX News correspondent welcomed the cast of "Will & Grace" onto her new morning show on Monday morning ahead of the hit NBC sitcom's revival, and a comment that she made while talking to a superfan of the show is garnering Kelly criticism on Twitter.

Kelly brought lawyer Russell Turner onto the stage to meet his idols saying, "Russell didn't know this was going to happen!" 

"Is it true that you became a lawyer -- and you became gay! -- because of Will?" she jokingly asked. 

After informing Turner that he would be getting tickets to a live "Will & Grace" taping and a behind-the-scenes tour of the set, Kelly turned to him and said her most head-turning statement of the morning. 

"I don't know about the lawyer thing, but I think the 'Will & Grace' thing and the gay thing is going to work out great," she said.

Well that "gay thing" may work out, but it very unlikely that this "new show thing" will.

How many attempts to repackage this Fox News turd does this make now?  

So now there's a gay Bible, where Rihanna is the Lord. Seems right.

Courtesy of Pride:  

Just weeks after becoming the Mayor of Hell, Michigan and banning all heterosexuals from entering the town, comedian Elijah Daniel has now rewritten the holy bible for the gays. 

The EDV (Elijah Daniel Version) translation has a few updates from previous editions; Rihanna is God, she made Adam and Steve, not Adam and Eve, and instead of wine, Jesus turns water into mimosas.

Well mimosas have vitamin C, so clearly that is a better choice.

off to a great start pic.twitter.com/yTWT9H5yI4

— fagdad elijah daniel (@elijahdaniel) September 15, 2017

I'm just confused as to when Rihanna became the gay icon.

I knew that Lady Gaga had replaced Madonna and Cher awhile back, but I am totally out of the loop concerning Rihanna's rise as a deity. 

But anything that irritates the snot out of the Fundamentalists works for me.

And clearly this does that.

Evangelical group releases document detailing "ethical" Christian sex practices. Spoiler alert: Gay sex is not on it.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

Evangelical Christians are up to something new. 

At least that’s the position of many criticizing the “Nashville Statement,” a controversial document championing “biblical” sexual ethics that was penned this past week and signed by roughly 150 prominent evangelical leaders. The document, divided into 14 articles and released by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW), mostly parrots denunciations of LGBTQ identities and relationships common among right-wing evangelicals. But it drew added attention for doing something unusual: extending their condemnation to Christians who affirm queer people. 

“We affirm that it is sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism and that such approval constitutes an essential departure from Christian faithfulness and witness,” Article 10 of the statement reads. “We deny that the approval of homosexual immortality or transgenderism is a matter of moral indifference about which otherwise faithful Christian should agree to disagree.” 

The statement triggered outrage almost immediately, especially among LGBTQ and LGBTQ-affirming Christians who saw it as a direct attack on their understanding of the faith. Within hours, several progressive Christian groups issued their own counter-statements refuting the evangelical document point-by-point, with some deriding it as “anti-LGBTQ bigotry.” Faithful America, an online advocacy organization for progressive Christians, already has thousands of signatures for a petition rejecting the statement.

Essentially this "Nashville Statement" is just an excuse to attack teh gays and attempt to shame Christians who are not interested in vilifying their lifestyle.

By the way despite what many Christians have been taught the Bible only makes mention of homosexuality about six times, and it is not so much condemned as simply misunderstood.

It is this kind of repressive mindset that is pushing people away from religion.

Young people simply do NOT want to be told how and who to love.

Personally I enjoy watching the church prove that they are a primitive superstitious entity dedicated to shaming and manipulating their congregations. That has been my position since I was about ten years old.

However if the Christians really want their faith to survive, they might want to do a little thing called "evolve."

I know, ironic right?

Donald Trump officially bans transgender folks from enlisting in the military.

Take that Obama!

Courtesy of The Hill: 

President Trump signed a presidential memo Friday instructing the Defense Department to stop accepting transgender people who want to enlist in the military. 

The memo details Trump's previous Twitter announcement last month that he would reinstate a ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military, and officially requests the Pentagon begin implementing the ban. 

Trump’s memo bars transgender people from enlisting, but instructs Secretary of Defense James Mattis to further explore how to handle transgender people currently serving in the armed forces. 

The memo also orders the Pentagon to stop paying for gender reassignment surgeries, except in cases that are already in progress to “protect the health of an individual.” 

It also requests that the Pentagon develop an implementation plan for the ban by Feb. 21 2018, to be put in place on March 23, 2018.

This was just another terrible thing that Trump did yesterday while most of the media was distracted by Hurricane Harvey.

Trump argued that his decision was based on "national security concerns" but we all know it is just another Obama era policy that he feels compelled to rollback.

Trump's entire presidency is just one giant FUCK YOU to President Obama, and I think it all goes back to that White House Corespondent's Dinner where Obama mocked Trump and had the whole room laughing at him.

Because other than that there is literally no reason that Trump would do something like this.

The Mormon Church is pulling out of the Boy Scouts.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

The Mormon Church announced on Thursday that it was partially ending its participation in the Boy Scouts in the United States and Canada as it realigns its youth programs with its own teachings. 

In a letter addressed to church authorities, the leaders of the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said that the decision to end its sponsorship would affect boys between 14 and 18 years old, starting on Jan. 1, 2018, for units in the Boy Scouts of America and in Scouts Canada. Cub Scout and Boy Scout programs for boys 8 through 13 would be allowed to continue for younger church members, it said. 

“In most congregations in the United States and Canada, young men ages 14–18 are not being served well by the Varsity or Venturing programs, which have historically been difficult to implement within the Church,” a separate church statement said. “This change will allow youth and leaders to implement a simplified program that meets local needs while providing activities that balance spiritual, social, physical and intellectual development goals for young men.”

The Mormons have been treating the Boy Scouts as their own little indoctrination and recruitment center for decades, what could have suddenly soured them on continuing to work with the older scouts?

In recent years, the Boy Scouts have changed policies that once prohibited gay and transgender children and leaders from taking part in their programs. Those changes, while at odds with church teachings, did not directly lead to the decision to end the program for the older boys, a spokesman said, but they did inform it.

Ahh, now I get it.

Besides isn't it much easier to trick younger kids into believing in your superstitious nonsense than older boys with access to the internet?

Personally I haven't been a fan of the Boy Scouts since I was asked to leave back in the 70's.

Back then it was more Hitler youth than Children of the Corn, but it was still very oppressive and militaristic.

Perhaps now the Scouts can find new sponsors, who won't make them pray every time they get lost in the woods or ask them to play that secret spanking game that they are not supposed to tell their parents about.

Oh the possibilities are endless.

Homophobic former governor of North Carolina has the sads because nobody will hire his bigoted ass.

Courtesy of Slate:  

Pat McCrory was supposed to have another job by now. After voters tossed the former Republican North Carolina governor out of office—thanks in large part to HB2, the deeply unpopular anti-LGBTQ bill he championed—McCrory groveled at Trump Tower, clearly expecting a consolation prize from the new president. But here we are in mid-March, and Donald Trump, who famously dislikes losers, has yet to offer him a role in the new administration.

Bereft of employment, McCrory has slid into the role of professional victim, blaming his humiliating downfall on LGBTQ advocates, corporations, protesters, nonprofits, athletic leagues, transgender children, “silent” conservatives, and pretty much everyone but himself. Recently, he took his tearful tirade to the podcast Listening In, whining to host Warren Cole Smith, who is best known for declaring that Mitt Romney’s Mormonism made him unfit for public office.

During the interview McCrory complained that is problems stem from a pro-LGBTQ group:

The Human Rights Campaign led the public opposition to HB2, criticizing the bill for barring transgender people from certain public bathrooms. In his interview, McCrory repeatedly blamed the HRC for his defeat, asserting that the group is “more powerful than NRA.” 

“I said that nine months ago and everyone laughed,” McCrory confided in Smith, “and now everyone’s going, ‘you know, maybe they are,’ because they put their pressure on corporations. The NRA puts pressure on politicians. The HRC puts public pressure, threatened boycotts on major corporations through the U.S. with a false narrative, and it worked.”

By "false narrative" I think he means the truth about his blatant homophobic tendencies. 

The one thing that I do hope is true is that this Human Rights Campaign is more powerful than the NRA. That just makes me feel good all over.

Almost as good as seeing this pathetic POS getting what's coming to him.

See? Even with all that is going on there is still some good news in the world.

Draft of new executive order seems designed to protect religious people from progress.

Courtesy of The Nation: 

A leaked copy of a draft executive order titled “Establishing a Government-Wide Initiative to Respect Religious Freedom,” obtained by The Investigative Fund and The Nation, reveals sweeping plans by the Trump administration to legalize discrimination. 

The four-page draft order, a copy of which is currently circulating among federal staff and advocacy organizations, construes religious organizations so broadly that it covers “any organization, including closely held for-profit corporations,” and protects “religious freedom” in every walk of life: “when providing social services, education, or healthcare; earning a living, seeking a job, or employing others; receiving government grants or contracts; or otherwise participating in the marketplace, the public square, or interfacing with Federal, State or local governments.” 

The draft order seeks to create wholesale exemptions for people and organizations who claim religious or moral objections to same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity, and it seeks to curtail women’s access to contraception and abortion through the Affordable Care Act.

Language in the draft document specifically protects the tax-exempt status of any organization that “believes, speaks, or acts (or declines to act) in accordance with the belief that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, sexual relations are properly reserved for such a marriage, male and female and their equivalents refer to an individual’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy, physiology, or genetics at or before birth, and that human life begins at conception and merits protection at all stages of life.”

In other words this order would repeal much of the progress made by the Obama administration, and once again allow Christian business owners to discriminate based on sexuality, gender, and lifestyle.

That would mean these fundamentalist Christians, Jews, and even Muslims, could use this order to deny adequate healthcare to women, kick gay students out of their private schools, and refuse to rent to any person, or persons, whose lifestyle they believed conflicted with their faith in some way.

It should be noted that this is still in a draft form, so it is by no means official. 

However based on everything that we have seen since Trump took office I have a high level of certainty that a lot of what is in this draft will find its way to the final executive order.

Rumors swirl that Donald Trump will soon sign executive order targeting the LGBTQ community. Update!

Actually only 14% voted for him.

Courtesy of the Human Rights Campaign: 

There are a number of rumors swirling that Donald Trump is planning to sign yet another discriminatory executive action – this time specifically targeting the LGBTQ community. While only the White House can speak to the veracity of the rumors, given the administration's track record of championing discrimination in just the last week, HRC is preparing to fight this to the fullest. 

“The rumors of an anti-LGBTQ executive action by President Trump are deeply troubling. We already know that he is willing to target and marginalize at-risk communities for his perceived political gain. As the President and his team plan their next steps, we want to make one thing clear: we won't give one inch when it comes to defending equality, whether it is a full-on frontal assault or an attack under the guise of religion. Mike Pence should know that better than anyone given his track record in Indiana," said JoDee Winterhof, the Human Rights Campaign's Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs. “The Human Rights Campaign will stand with those who have already been targeted by this Administration and are prepared to fight tooth and nail against every effort to discriminate.” 

Nearly two-thirds of LGBTQ people have reported experiencing discrimination, according to HRC polling. 

Then-Governor Mike Pence’s support for a bill in Indiana that was intended to allow businesses to discriminate and deny service to LGBTQ people did massive damage not just to the state’s economy, but his own political standing as well.

It should be noted that this is still just a rumor,

However we have already seen Trump throwing out red meat to satisfy his base of support, so going after "the queers" would certainly fit that pattern.

Besides with Pence as his number two you have to know that Trump is being pushed in this direction.

And then of course there is this:

Rumors are true. Expect by end of the week. https://t.co/Mx89ZaY4ND

— Rogue POTUS Staff (@RoguePOTUSStaff) January 30, 2017

Assuming this Twitter account is on the up and up, I think that suggests there is reason for concern.

Update: Thinks might be looking up.

After the enormous pressure from the past several days, POTUS repudiates VP, reverses course on LGBT EO. #resistwin https://t.co/F5T1QrIiEh

— Rogue POTUS Staff (@RoguePOTUSStaff) January 31, 2017

Immediately after Donald Trump assumed office the White House website scrubbed all mention of Climate change. And so it begins.

Courtesy of Motherboard:  

At 11:59 am eastern, the official White House website had a lengthy information page about the threat of climate change and the steps the federal government had taken to fight it. At noon, at the instant Donald Trump took office, the page was gone, as well as any mention of climate change or global warming. 

It’s customary for www.whitehouse.gov to flip over to the new administration exactly at noon, but the only mention of climate on President Trump’s new website is under his “America First Energy Plan” page, in which he vows to destroy President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, which is a government-wide plan to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change. To reiterate: It is normal that the site is completely new; it is notable that climate change is not mentioned on any one of Trump's new pages.

“President Trump is committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule,” the site says. A search of the website found no mention of "global warming," and the only mentions of "climate change" were archived pages that, after clicking on the links, led to scrubbed pages.

This is only the beginning.

The website also scrubbed any mention of LGBTQ protections, Women's rights, civil rights, and health care.  

The Republicans, with Trump's help, are determined to reverse every bit of progress President Obama achieved, and to scrub him from the pages of history.

It will be up to us to protect his legacy, fight against any attempts to take us back to pre-Obama times, and remind people of all that he accomplished during his time in office.

Remember what a great American President once said, "WE are the change we have been waiting for."

And if we want to defend that change, then our fight is far from over.

Son of homeschooling mom sees first male Covergirl model on TV, homeschooling mom kind of loses it.

Courtesy of Homeschool Base: 

Mommy, why doesn’t daddy wear makeup? This is the question my 6-year-old asked me on Friday afternoon. We were watching Countdown to Christmas on ABC, and a commercial came up in between watching Toy Story.

The first image is of a boy in a backwards hat with ink and black makeup. He narrates the commercial, but doesn’t reappear until the end. In the last few scenes, he is arching his back and holding his thighs next to six or so other girls. His appears to be the most feminine of all the poses. The tagline read, “Equal is beautiful.” The final image was branded with #LashEquality. 

My son watched this commercial while I wasn’t paying any attention. Because it was just a CoverGirl commercial, I didn’t think I would need to cover the screen. I was pre-occupied, speaking with David (my husband). 

Both of us were caught off guard, we didn’t know how to answer. I don’t know why, but the most logical thing we could think of at that moment was to say, “No, that’s a girl.” 

The commercial comes on a second time. It is undeniable, it’s a guy.

So what is a backward thinking, over protective parent to do when the Satanic world they are attempting to protect their little snowflake from comes bursting into their lives adorned in eye makeup?

Well misrepresent that world of course.

“Daddy doesn’t wear makeup because makeup is for girls.”

This of course is a ridiculous thing to say as her son JUST saw somebody who was NOT a girl on TV wearing makeup.

The mother then compounds her ignorance by responding with this; “That is how his parents chose to raise him...”

That of course is also ridiculous as parents cannot actually "choose" who their children will be. Nor should they try.

All we can do is love and support our children, and help them to make choices which empower them and allow them to be the best they can possibly be as adults.

And we cannot choose their sexuality, which seems to be the suggestion made by this mother, and her deepest fear.

In the end this sad creature decides that she will simply change her brand of makeup, and then makes this rather pathetic observation:

"Our world is headed in a direction where my 6-year-old son is having to grow up so much faster than I want him to."

Now remember her world was undone by a GUY WEARING MAKEUP. 

I mean this is not a video of somebody brutally killing another person on screen, or her son overhearing inappropriate language from an R rated movie, or the death of a beloved pet.

This is just some young guy wearing makeup.

Do you know how you handle that?

You say, "Well he must like to wear makeup, and that's his choice." and you move the hell on.

The fact that this woman sees this as some kind of existential crisis seems to indicate that perhaps SHE needs to start getting out of the house more herself.

Geez!

(H/T to The Friendly Atheist.)

New York introduces new legislation to ban conversion therapy, names it after Mike Pence. Seems appropriate.

Courtesy of the Daily Dot:  

Erie County in Western New York will start debating a new piece of legislation this December that aims to locally ban the harmful practices of "conversion therapy," which falsely claims to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity with a series of mostly discredited treatments, including psychological abuse and psychotropic medication. 

The law's name also has a message. It's called PENCE: Prevention of Emotional Neglect and Childhood Endangerment. 

Vice President-elect Mike Pence is well-known for his anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and advocacy for conversion therapy. As governor of Indiana, he has supported government funding to institutions "which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior." He has also discouraged government support of the Ryan White Care Act, a federally funded program for people living with HIV/AIDS, saying that supporting it would mean funding organizations that "celebrate and encourage the types of behaviors that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus." 

Of course conversion "therapy" is where a gay person is told they are a dirty sinner who will burn in a pool of fire if they don't start pretending to like the opposite sex.

Undoubtedly the same therapy that this guy went through so you can see it works like a charm.

This BS is already outlawed in Vermont, California, New Jersey, Illinois and Oregon, as well as the District of Columbia, and the is opposed by the American Psychiatric Association, but apparently there are still quite a number of states that have not yet received the memo.

I think naming it after Trump's VP choice Mike Pence is a brilliant move since it fairly clear this guy can barely tolerate people having regular sex much less gay sex.