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.

Phyllis Schlafly has died. I know what song is playing in your head, and that's not nice.

Courtesy of NBC News:  

Cultural conservative activist and icon Phyllis Schlafly died Monday at her home in St. Louis, according to a spokesman for the Eagle Forum political group she founded. 

She was 92. 

Schlafly rose to prominence and influence among conservative Republicans beginning in the early 1960s through her focus on promoting conservative family values, namely her opposition to feminism and abortion rights.

In fact Schlafly was opposed not only to equal rights for women and their right to choose, she was also against marriage equality and immigration reform.

She believed that a woman's primary role in life was as a wife and mother, and that all other things such as employment, education, and self actualization were secondary.

Essentially Schlafly opposed every human rights advance in the last four decades, and of course she used Christianity and the Bible as her excuse for doing so. 

That might lead one to ask, in this age of enlightenment who could possibly still respect this repellent human being?

Funny you should ask.

Courtesy of the Facebook page for the president of the Wasilla chapter of the self loathing club for women:

She Went Down Swinging! - Phyllis Schlafly. 

May she rest in peace. 

Iconic. Heroic. No one can fill her sensible high heeled shoes. She opened my eyes to the rights and wrongs in worldly government back in my college days as she spoke about the Reagan era and all that Reagan's pro-America efforts were doing for our great country. Many of us owe our political awakening to Phyllis Schlafly. 

Our friend is now in the arms of her Lord, rooting for all of us - and expecting us! - to do the right thing.

- Sarah Palin

Of course Palin was a huge fan, how could she not be?

Ted Cruz and Judeo Christian values.

And you know that Ted Cruz is just the kind of Christian to not only defend these practices, but even suggest bringing some of them back.

UN sends three women to assess gender equality in America. They don't find any.

Courtesy of HuffPo:  

A delegation of human rights experts from Poland, the United Kingdom and Costa Rica spent 10 days this month touring the United States so they can prepare a report on the nation's overall treatment of women. The three women, who lead a United Nations working group on discrimination against women, visited Alabama, Texas and Oregon to evaluate a wide range of U.S. policies and attitudes, as well as school, health and prison systems. 

The delegates were appalled by the lack of gender equality in America. They found the U.S. to be lagging far behind international human rights standards in a number of areas, including its 23 percent gender pay gap, maternity leave, affordable child care and the treatment of female migrants in detention centers. 

The most telling moment of the trip, the women told reporters on Friday, was when they visited an abortion clinic in Alabama and experienced the hostile political climate around women's reproductive rights. 

"We were harassed. There were two vigilante men waiting to insult us," said Frances Raday, the delegate from the U.K. The men repeatedly shouted, "You're murdering children!" at them as soon as they neared the clinic, even though Raday said they are clearly past childbearing age. 

"It's a kind of terrorism," added Eleonora Zielinska, the delegate from Poland. "To us, it was shocking."

This is an older article, but it was new to me so I thought it might be new to most of you as well. 

Besides the attacks on reproductive rights the three women were appalled to learn that America does not guarantee maternity leave, and that a woman was eleven times more likely to be killed by gun violence than in other high income countries.

In short they did not find "American exceptionalism," but instead found a country that treats its women like second class citizens. If they're lucky.

If there is no "war on women" that would only be because women felt they had lost and were no longer fighting back.

But somehow I doubt that is true.

Just in case you thought Alaska was going to start treating every one equally without somebody trying to stop it. Nope.

"That didn’t take long, did it? Less than two months after the Assembly passed a ground breaking civil rights ordinance, a group of 10 women are leading the effort to repeal it."
Posted by KTVA 11 News on Thursday, December 17, 2015

This bullshit about transgender folks haunting restrooms for the opportunity to assault our children is such a weak argument.

First off as we have said before gay or transgender is NOT the same as being a pedophile. THAT is the shit that certain Baptist Temples in Anchorage try to shove down the throats of their congregants.

We have no more to fear from a transgender person using the same bathroom as our child than we do from ANY OTHER PERSON using the same bathroom as our child.

By the way let me just mention how nice it is to see John Tracy back reporting the news.

He was my go to local anchor back when he was at KTUU, and I really miss his reporting skills.

Mike Huckabee: Gay rights advocates will not stop until there are "no more churches," no more "people spreading the gospel."

Courtesy of TPM:  

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) said on Wednesday that gay-rights activists wouldn't be satisfied until there are no more churches or Christians in America. 

“It won’t stop until there are no more churches, until there are no more people who are spreading the Gospel,” Huckabee said on a right-wing radio program while discussing the backlash against anti-gay religious-freedom legislation in Arkansas and Indiana. 

"I’m talking now about the unabridged, unapologetic Gospel that is really God’s truth," he said. 

Huckabee made the remarks during an appearance on the conservative Family Research Council radio program “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins." 

Since when are people asking for equal rights trying to get rid of churches?

Were blacks trying to close churches when they marched in Washington?

Were women trying to stop people from spreading the gospel when they became suffragettes and protested for their rights?

In both of those cases the argument against their access to the same rights as white men, was also biblical in nature, yet Christianity managed to survive just fine.

However I will say this to Mike Huckabee and his followers, if you are concerned that you might be on the losing side of a conflict, and that continuing to fight might signal your destruction, then stop fighting.

If there IS a war the first volley was certainly not fired by the LGBT community, and in fact many of them would very much like to reach a peace agreement with those fighting against their right to live, love, and marry who they choose.

There are plenty of religious people who have no problem now, or have ever had a problem in the past, with the LGBT community, or their right to be married, so one can certainly accept them into their lives without it hurting a person's faith or making them any less of a Christian.

And the sooner people like Mike Huckabee get that through their thick skull the better off we will be as a country.

I knew there was something I liked about Satan. He is pro-equal rights.

So does this mean that Satan was gay?

Or black?

Hey, maybe he was a woman.

Well gee if the devil wanted equal rights, then I guess that MUST mean that anybody else demanding them is clearly an agent of Lucifer. You know, because that makes all kinds of sense.

And these people wonder why they are so often mocked, and why so many are leaving the church in droves.

Newly elected Washington state Republican party chair finds that she makes $20,000 less than predecessor. Cites "War on Women" in effort to achieve parity.

Courtesy of the Seattle Times:

 Susan Hutchison, the new chair of the state Republican party, gets a salary of about $75,000 a year — substantially less than the $95,000 earned by her predecessor, Kirby Wilbur. 

But when Hutchison tried last weekend to convince the GOP executive committee to boost her pay to Wilbur’s level, the conversation turned ugly and Hutchison’s request was rebuffed. 

Hutchison bemoaned the decision in an internal party memo obtained by The Seattle Times. 

In the memo, sent Monday to the state GOP executive board, Hutchison wrote the “positive spirit” of the GOP meeting had “soured late in the day” when her salary request came up. 

The pay for the Republican chairman’s position had been cut by GOP leaders — citing budget issues — at a meeting just prior to Hutchison’s election in August. 

But Hutchison argued that vote had violated the party’s bylaws and could be viewed as “discriminatory and vindictive” — and even play into the hands of Democrats who have talked up the GOP’s problems among female voters. 

“The pay cut defies the concept of equal pay for equal work, playing into the ‘war on women’ narrative against Republicans,” Hutchison wrote. She added she’d personally raised $22,000 from 18 non-Republican Party donors from her personal list of contacts — “which more than covers” the $20,000 pay raise. 

“I left the meeting demoralized, and so did my hardworking staff. I heard that some of you felt beat up and angry, while others were very pleased. This kind of division over something so minor is not what will move us forward,” Hutchison wrote.

Of course after this kerfuffle Republican sources are claiming that they were planning to cut this salary all along and it had nothing to with the fact that Hitchison is a chick, and for her part Hutchison is trying to minimize the fact that she just ran head long into the GOP "War on Women," but I think we know what's really going on here.

Let's face it in the Republican world having ovaries is a preexisting condition, and the men believe that the doors of opportunity are pried open with their Viagra engorged penises.  (Or a gun, same thing really.)

Should I even bother to ask, yet again, WHY women bother to join the Republican party?

Supreme Court agrees to take on issue of gay marriage.

Courtesy of The New York Times:  

The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it would enter the national debate over same-sex marriage, agreeing to hear a pair of cases challenging state and federal laws that define marriage to include only unions of a man and a woman. 

One of the cases, from California, could establish or reject a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Another case, from New York, challenges a federal law that requires the federal government to deny benefits to gay and lesbian couples married in states that allow such unions. 

The court’s move comes against the backdrop of a rapid shift in public attitudes about same-sex marriage, with recent polls indicating that a majority of Americans support allowing such unions. After last month’s elections, the number of states authorizing same-sex marriage increased by half, to nine. 

The court’s docket is now crowded with cases about the meaning of equality, with the new cases joining ones on affirmative action in higher education and the future of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Decisions in all of those cases are expected by June.

Everybody from the left that I have heard weigh in on this seems to be very confident that the courts will decide to strike down DOMA, and there is a rational part of me that agrees that they will, especially considering the fact that virtually NO issue has seen such a dramatic change in public opinion before.

Source

However the other, more paranoid, side of me remembers that this court STILL contains the likes of Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Chief Justice John Roberts.

THAT does not exactly fill me with confidence.

Anybody want to talk me down?

Picture of the day.

Courtesy of Maddow Blog:

One month after Washington State voters approved the state's marriage equality law in Ref. 74, same-sex couples get marriage licenses for the first time on December 6th, 2012. At around 1:30am, Larry Duncan, 56, left, and Randy Shepherd, 48, from North Bend, Wash. got their marriage license. The two plan to wed on December 9th, the first day it is possible for them to wed in a church in Washington State. They have been together for 11 years. Originally from Dallas, Texas, they moved here 7 years ago because it's more gay friendly. Randy is a computer programer and Larry is a retired psychology nurse.

Seriously who, WHO, would tell these two gentleman that they cannot get married?

I actually feel sorry for people who are on the wrong side of this issue, because for years to come as gay marriage and relationships become more and more mainstream, they will have to keep their prejudice hidden away more and more from a society that will no longer accept homophobic statements, until eventually the only person they will be able to share it with is the person looking back at them in the mirror.

Who, by the way, is most likely gay.

A final word tonight from Jon Stewart.

To watch video just click the pic.

Hungry for some chicken? Or perhaps some same sex kissing?

Yep today is the counter protest to the Wednesday's Chick-Fil-A "eat in" staged by who else, Mike "Are you finished with those fries?" Huckabee.

Here he is with his lovely family, demonstrating the result of a constant diet of Chick-Fil-A food.

Oh damn, I think I am cured of my fast food cravings for life!

By the way, might I just add, that kissing actually BURNS calories, which makes it a much better way to protest in my opinion.

Just so you know other restaurants that serve chicken have decided to use the Chick-Fil-A homophobic stance as a marketing tool

Though apparently not ALL Chick-Fil-A franchises are hatin' on the gays.

Take this guy for instance:  

New Hampshire’s only Chick-fil-A restaurant is going against the wishes of chicken chain founder Dan Cathy by pledging to co-sponsor an LGBT Pride Festival in the state. 

In a statement on the New Hampshire Pride Festival website, Nashua Chick-fil-A franchise manager Anthony Picolia said he was backing the the event, citing “positive relationships with family, friends, customers and employees in the LGBT community.” 

“It would make me sad if someone felt that they were not openly welcomed into my life or restaurant based on their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender,” Picolia explained. “Chick-fil-A at Pheasant Lane Mall has gay employees and serves gay customers with honor, dignity and respect. We also don’t discriminate in giving back to the Nashua community, donating to a wide variety of causes.” 

“I would challenge people to come have a conversation with me before they make assumptions or boycott my restaurant. Come to my restaurant and see for yourself that my team and I only have one mission: To serve exceptional experiences to all.”

Now THAT is chicken done right. I certainly hope that those involved in today's Chick-Fil-A kissing day buy a couple of sandwiches from this guy, and thank him for not being a douche.

Of course even those who think they are standing up against gay rights are not exactly doing it right.

You know I don't mind battling the Right on these issues, but I kind of wish they would come up with a few smarter folks on their side. It's just getting embarrassing.

Leave it to Fox News to define pro-equal rights as anti-heterosexual.

You know when I saw this I thought that Fox was just making words up, but it turns out I was wrong.

So I guess since I also stand up against racism that makes me anti-white. I also stand up for women's rights so clearly I must be anti-male. And I stand against animal cruelty so the "evidence" indicates that I must be anti-human.

Boy I'm just a self loathing mess!

Susan B. Anthony understood it back in 1872.

The question is, why do so many so-called "conservative" women not understand it today?

Chick-Fil-A tries to save face, by lying about WHY they no longer offer Jim Henson's toys.

Just in case you can't read it, here is what it says:

We apologize for any inconvenience but as of 7/19/2012 Chick-Fil-A has recalled all of Jim Henson's Creature Shop Puppets kid's Meal toys due to a possible safety issue. Please be advised that there have not been any cases in whihc a child has actually been injured, however there have been some reports of children getting their fingers stuck in the holes of the puppets. We are offering a substitution of a complimentary kids ice cream cone in its place until a replacement toy is available.

Thank you

Wow! There's a load of  chickenshit! Here let me translate:

We are incredibly embarrassed that our homophobic stance has now been publicized and in the hopes of fooling the few idiots that don't access the internet, or who have reading comprehension difficulties, we are writing up this lame, and totally transparent, excuse for why we no longer carry the very popular brand of toy.

Fucking cowards!  Hey if you are going to homophobic assholes, at least be homophobic assholes with balls!

By the way just in case you thought Chick-Fil-A were the only food outlet that supports an aggressive Right Wing agenda, you could not be more wrong:

Carl’s Jr. founder Carl Karcher, who died in 2008, had been a supporter of anti-abortion causes for decades. In particular, Karcher was fond of funding the anti-choice group Operation Rescue. He also had a mean anti-gay streak as well. 

Like Karcher, Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan is an unapologetic supporter of anti-choice groups, including Operation Rescue, Right to Life, Priests for Life, and the Committee to End State-Funded Abortion in Michigan. 

There are also a few others like White Castle and the Waffle House just to name two.

But hey, on the plus side just imagine how much healthier and skinnier we will all be by avoiding these places from now on?

Homophobia is becoming less and less acceptable to more and more people.

Muppets and discrimination don't mix.

Courtesy of the Jim Henson Company's Facebook page:

The Jim Henson Company has celebrated and embraced diversity and inclusiveness for over fifty years and we have notified Chick-Fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavors. Lisa Henson, our CEO is personally a strong supporter of gay marriage and has directed us to donate the payment we received from Chick-Fil-A to GLAAD. 

Oh you KNOW you have screwed up when even the Muppets won't play with you anymore.

And this is only one example of organizations breaking ties with groups promoting discrimination and homophobia.

This from Yahoo Sports:  

This January, Major League Soccer announced it was teaming up with the Boy Scouts of America to form a strategic partnership. It turns out that 2012 will be the only season this alliance will be in effect. 

Under the partnership, among other cross-promotions, teams held “Scout Nights” at their stadiums with discounted tickets, and players would visit local troops to discuss fitness and leadership. 

Earlier in the week, the Boy Scouts of America announced that following a two-year review, it would continue its long-standing policy of excluding gays.

MLS did not specify if the ruling affected its decision to end the partnership, but it should be noted the league has supported anti-discriminatory causes like You Can Play, an organization dedicated to ending homophobia in sports. 

Additionally, many teams, including the Chicago Fire, Chivas USA, D.C. United and the Columbus Crew have held game promotions for gay and lesbian groups. This May, the Fire announced a partnership with Equality Illinois, a LGBT-rights group.

It is really unfortunate when an organization's prejudice and antiquated thinking negatively affects the children that they claim they are dedicated to serve.

And let's face it, the writing is on the wall.  Homosexuality has been around as long as heterosexuality has been around, and we as a society are simply way behind in our ability to accept the fact that vilifying these people does nothing but diminish us and human beings.

As you can see our gay brothers and sisters, sons and daughters (I love you angel), fathers and mothers, are here to stay. And they are getting stronger every day.

Homophobic chicken sandwich maker Chick-fil-A may encounter a chilly reception in Boston.

Courtesy of the Advocate: 

If Mayor Thomas Menino has his way, Chick-fil-A may be banned in Boston. 

The fast-food chain, which has donated to antigay causes and whose executives this week admitted to antigay stances while saying the company doesn’t discriminate, is looking for locations in the city. One is near the famous Freedom Trail, a series of historic sites connected to the American Revolution. But Menino says that area, or any location in Boston, isn’t appropriate for a business with such policies. 

“Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston,” Menino told the Boston Herald yesterday. “You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population. We’re an open city, we’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion. … That’s the Freedom Trail. That’s where it all started right here. And we’re not going to have a company, Chick-fil-A or whatever the hell the name is, on our Freedom Trail.” 

Menino said Chick-fil-A will find it “very difficult” to get licenses in Boston unless it changes its policies, and he plans to send a letter to the company’s headquarters in Atlanta “telling them my feelings on the matter.”

Bravo for mayor Menino!

I hope that MORE politicians start standing up to these opponents of equal rights and let them know that  if they want to promote prejudice and intolerance they can find somewhere ELSE to sell their crappy fast food.

I understand there are places further South that would not only embrace this kind of thinking, but possibly even hold a parade in Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy's honor.

"Would you like a side of homophobia with your chickenburger?"

Courtesy of The Washington Post:

“Guilty as charged” is how Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy answered questions about his restaurant chain’s support of traditional marriage earlier this week. 

That’s according to an interview published Monday in the Baptist Press, in which Cathy says his Atlanta-based company is “very much supporting of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit.” 

Cathy also said on Ken Coleman’s radio show in June that people advocating for same-sex marriage are “inviting God’s judgment on our nation.” 

“As it relates to society in general I think we’re inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake out fist at him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,’” Cathy said. “And I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is about.”

Well unfortunately we do not have a Chick-fil-a up here in Alaska for me to boycott, but  if there were you can bet they would not get another red cent from THIS supporter marriage equality. And hopefully there are others that will do what I am geographically unable to do.

What is it with these people, that THEY think their "GOD" is actually about to rain fire and destruction down on this whole country simply because two dudes want the right to officially tell the world of their commitment and love for one another?

And how petty would it be for the entity who supposedly created these individuals in HIS image to then punish the heterosexual people living on the same continent because they allowed these two individuals to become legally bound in matrimony? And is THAT an entity worthy of worship?

The idea is so ridiculous that I simply cannot believe that an individual intelligent enough to start such a successful business still labors under such cruel and terrible delusions. Yet clearly he does.

This kind of thing actually makes me ashamed of the stupidity demonstrated by my species. And the fact that these people use their religion and Biblical references in an effort to deflect criticism is even more disgusting to me. Especially when it works.

We have come so far, only to discover how much further we have yet to go.

The Danish get marriage equality right. As does the majority of their religious leaders. Is anybody else jealous?

Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt

Courtesy of Pink News:  

Members of the sole house of the Folketing approved the gender-neutral marriage legislation today after an opposition amendment creating a separate system of marriage for gay couples under different terminology was rejected yesterday. 

The new law is due to come into effect on 15 June this year, b.dk reported. 

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark, to which 80 percent of the Danish population belongs, will be able to perform marriage ceremonies under the new laws. New rites were written up by ten of the Church’s eleven bishops in a spirit of “good cooperation”, Bishop Kjeld Holm said. 

Gay couples will be able to marry in churches of their choice but priests will not be obliged to perform weddings. They would, however, need to help the couple find a priest who would marry them at the church under the new laws. 

Did you get that part about the Evangelical Lutherans? The largest church in Denmark created new rites specifically to cover gay marriage, how progressive is that!

Now before you assume that everything in Denmark is sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns it should be pointed out that they DO face some religious opposition to the new legislation.

Kim Klaus Wyon-Sergeant, an editor living in Denmark told PinkNews.co.uk: “Members of the Christian Democrats (a party that is not represented in parliament) plan to sue the state, believing that the law infringes on their freedom of religion. However experts say they dont have much of a chance since the law specifically allows ministers of the church to abstain from presiding over same-sex marriages.”

So in Denmark THEIR religious homophobic dickheads are in the minority, unlike here in America where it seems that our most anti-love, anti-science, and anti-humanity homophobic religious dickheads are in the majority.

Well that's probably not exactly true.  However they ARE the loudest and most obnoxious when it comes to ramming their version of Christianity down everybody's throats.

Perhaps someday soon we can join Denmark and finally become the land of the free and home of the brave that we have been claiming to have already been for these last two hundred and thirty six years.

Wouldn't THAT be nice?

"Our First gay President." Upcoming Newsweek cover. Update!

This according to the Huffington Post:

Newsweek is celebrating President Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage on this week's cover, an image of which it released on Sunday. 

The cover features an image of Obama looking quite angelic with a rainbow-colored halo above his head (or as a HuffPost editor affectionately dubbed it—a "gaylo"). The image accompanies the issue's cover story, written by Andrew Sullivan, titled "The First Gay President." In his cover story, Sullivan argues that Obama's announcement has been years in the making. He also writes that the President has much in common with the gay community. 

“He had to discover his black identity and then reconcile it with his white family, just as gays discover their homosexual identity and then have to reconcile it with their heterosexual family," Sullivan writes.

While I can appreciate Andrew Sullivan's enthusiasm, I have to say I am put off by the declaration that Obama is the first gay president.

It is sort of reminiscent of calling President Clinton "the first black President" which resulted in a bit of awkwardness when Obama was elected, since that title had already been used.

Someday, it may not be anytime soon, but someday, there WILL be an actual "first gay President" and in my opinion this title should be reserved for that individual.

Besides it almost makes it sound, and I KNOW this is not Sullivan's intention, as if the ONLY way that Obama could truly empathize with the gay community is if he were gay himself.

The fact is that this is not so much an issue of gay rights as it is human rights. By saying that he believes that people of the same sex should be able to marry just like he and Michelle have done, he is essentially saying that he recognizes that the differences between himself and the gay community are far less important than are the similarities.

That does not require that a President share their sexuality, only that he shares their humanity.

Update:  Here is Sullivan's actual article which is now available online.