Limbaugh to GOP: Don't Accept Caitlyn Jenner

The attacks on Caitlyn Jenner from the far right continue as gas bag Rush Limbaugh - the four time married defender of the "sanctity of marriage" - unleashed a rant against Caitlyn Jenner.  Limbaugh is beyond despicable not to mention a complete hypocrite given his own past scrapes with the law over his illegal prescription drug use.  If Limbaugh had any sense of shame, he shut his big mouth.  That, of course, will never happen since Limbaugh and his sheep like followers have no shame and no moral decency.  Politico looks at Limbaugh's foul attacks.  Here are excerpts:

Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh thinks Republicans should reject Caitlyn Jenner, even if she agrees with them politically.

Limbaugh said on his radio show Tuesday that liberals are trying to “redefine normalcy” in an effort to stigmatize conservatives and that conservatives shouldn’t agree to their terms by accepting Caitlyn Jenner as a woman.

He likewise dismissed a conservative blog that wrote that Republicans should embrace Jenner as one of their own to seem more humane, saying that doing so would constitute falling into a liberal trap.

Under this system, “conservatives and Republicans are the new weirdos, the new kooks,” the pundit said, “and that is part of the political objective here in normalizing all of this really marginal behavior. I mean, if less than 1 percent of the population is engaging in it, it’s marginalized behavior. It isn’t normal, no matter how you define it.

Limbaugh had previously discussed Jenner’s transition after the former Olympian, then known as Bruce Jenner, told ABC’s Diane Sawyer that he identified both as a woman and a Republican, despite the party’s history of tension with the LGBT community.

“Maybe this is why God put me on this earth,” Jenner told ABC. “To deal with this issue.”

After the interview, Limbaugh said that liberals were pleased because they support “anything to upset these damn conservatives and Republicans that believe in their precious social issues.”

During the segment, Limbaugh expressed his belief that being transgender is “a mental illness,” citing the research of a Johns Hopkins professor.

Lionizing Jenner, Limbaugh said at the time and reiterated Tuesday, was a media tactic in a political battle between liberals and conservatives on social issues.

“This fits everything the media wants to do in terms of turning the culture upside down, redefining what ‘normal’ is, getting revenge against the majority for all of these decades of discrimination and mockery and disapproval and all these religious fanatics judging other people simply because of, quote, ‘who they love,’ unquote.”

 I guess Limbaugh justifies his multiple marriage and serial monogamy based on the fact that divorce and multiple remarriages are so prevalent among "godly Christians" in the Bible Belt. 

Attacks on Caitlyn Jenner Underscore the Ugliness of Today's "Christians'

I will be candid and admit that I cannot get my head around what it must be like to be transgender.  For me, coming to terms with being gay was a huge trial and it took me 37 years to finally face the reality about myself.  Thus, I can understand completely why it took Caitlyn Jenner so long to finally gain the courage to transition.  It is not something that one does on a whim or spur of the moment, especially given the amount of therapy and and psychoanalysis one must under go in order to progress to reassignment surgery.  Yet the voices of the far right "godly Christians" are revealing just what foul human beings they are in fact.  Among the ugliest attackers are would be Republican presidential nominee Mike Huckabee and the always foul Bryan Fischer.  Huckabee made light of transgender transition and quipped to his fellow bigots and scam flam artists at at the 2015 National Religious Broadcasters Convention that he wished he'd said he felt like a woman in high school so that he could have showered with the girls.  To say that Huckabee is a nasty pig doesn't begin to tell the story.  Here are highlights from Towleroad:

Speaking at the 2015 National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, Tennessee earlier this year, GOP Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said he wishes he could have pretended to be transgender in high school so he could have "showered with the girls" after PE, BuzzFeed reports. The comments came to light over the weekend when a video of Huckabee's speech was posted online by World Net Daily. In the speech Huckabee also sounds the dog whistle of religious liberty (yet again), and conflates providing civil rights to transgender persons with pedophilia and sexual impropriety.

Said Huckabee:

“For those who do not think that we are under threat, simply recognize that the fact that we are now in city after city watching ordinances say that your seven-year-old daughter, if she goes into the restroom cannot be offended and you can’t be offended if she’s greeted there by a 42-year-old man who feels more like a woman than he does a man.”

Not to be out done, Bryan Fischer went on one of his typical rants denigration Jenner and said Jenner was controlled by Satan.  The Advocate looks at Fischer's horrific statements and those of the "family values" crowd.  Here are excerpts:

While the introduction of Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce, was met with mostly positive comments, some negativity has come from the right, including ostensibly “fair and balanced” Fox journalists and the clearly unbalanced commentator Bryan Fischer.

Religious right commentator Fischer, on his American Family Association-affiliated Focal Point show, asserted that Jenner is being controlled by Satan. He prayed that God would “clear up Bruce Jenner's sexual confusion” and “expose the lies of Satan and break their power over his mind.”

Fischer also said, “I’m not going to call him Caitlyn Jenner because that’s not his name and I’m not going to refer to him as a she. He’s a he. He’s a he in every single solitary cell of his body; he will be until the day that God calls him home.” Jenner’s Vanity Fair cover, Fischer contended, shows “how corrupt, how morally corrupt, how morally bent, how morally twisted, how morally confused, how morally bankrupt we have become.”

Other right-wingers making negative comments, reports Media Matters, included Ben Shapiro, Dan Gainor, and the staff of The Daily Caller. Shapiro, who works for Breitbart.com, tweeted such remarks as “A man can never understand a woman’s perspective on abortion, but can magically become a woman” and “Your biological sex is completely mutable, but your sexual orientation is completely immutable” with the hashtag #ThingsILearnedFromTheLeft.

Gainor, of the Media Research Center, tweeted, “If Bruce Jenner can have 4,000 surgeries and say he’s a woman, why can’t he do same and say he’s black?” and invoked the idea of a dachshund calling itself a Great Dane and people saying they’re elves or dwarves.

My contempt for "godly Christians" truly grows with every passing day.   What's noteworthy is that nowhere do these individuals show a shred of compassion for Jenner or by extension anyone who doesn't conform to their hate and fear based religious beliefs.  However, despite these horrible comments, I find encouragement most of all by the fact that the younger generations are leaving religion in droves.  

Bruce Jenner Comes Out As Transgender

As anticipated by many, last night during a one-on-one interview with Diane Sawyer, former Olympian Bruce Jenner came out as transgender.  I have a lot of respect for him being brave enough to go on national television to share his story.  Coming out as gay was terribly difficult for me - as two suicide attempts underscored - so I cannot imagine the how difficult it must be to come out as transgender.  Unfortunately, being gay in today's society is a cake walk compared to what transgendered individuals face - particularly given the foul, hateful campaigns the Christofascists love to launch about men in dresses in women's restrooms.  One can only hope that Jenner's coming out will open minds and change hearts.  Each of us is born with a given sexuality and internalized gender.  We do not pick and choose, yet far too many individuals - myself included for many years - feel compelled to try to conform to family and societal expectations.  The internal, psychological cost is horrific.  Jenner conceded that he was unfair to the women he married, yet the sad truth is he likely felt that he had no option but to conform.  In addition, even though wives of gays who later don't often grasp it, we do/did love them when we married them.  Just not in the y way they deserved.  Also, let's not forget that even homosexuality was classified as a mental illness until 1973.  Would anyone happily have admitted they were transgendered?  Of course not.  Here are highlights from The Advocate:

For decades we knew this person as Bruce Jenner, as a man, an Olympian, the guy on the Wheaties box, the man who married into the Kardashian clan and became a reality TV celebrity. Now we also know Jenner is a woman, and that his transition began 30 years ago.

The interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer started with Jenner explaining having "always been confused with my gender identity, since I was this big." Jenner imagines God creating "a smart kid" with "all these qualities." But, "wait a second, got to give him something to deal with. Let's give him the soul of a female."

Sawyer asked, "Are you a woman?"  "For all intents and purposes," said Jenner, "I'm a woman."

Jenner, who Sawyer said prefers male pronouns at this time, even though he also referred to himself as "Bruce" and "her," said his transition actually began 30 years ago.

Sawyer's interview was the culmination of more than a year of rumor, speculation, mockery and tabloid sensationalism. Some of that is due to the nature of Jenner’s participation in Keeping Up With The Kardashians on E!, and being a part of a family that lives in the public eye, open to nearly 24/7 scrutiiny by paparazzi. But it's also a reflection of the state of society when it comes to acceptance of trans people and understanding of gender identity.


"Were you fair to these women you married?" Sawyer asked.

"No, I was not as fair as I should have been," Jenner says.

"Do you look back and say, I apologize for that?"

"Yeah, and I have apologized to everyone. Everybody. I’ve apologized for my entire life."

Jenner brushed off the suggestion the coming out interview is all a publicity stunt by promising to turn this moment into a chance to help others. "What I am doing is going to do some good," Jenner promised, "we’re gonna make a difference in the world."

Even before the interview ended, activist groups such as GLAAD were already praising the example set to the world and the potential impact it will have on its own.

"Today, millions of people learned that someone they know is transgender," said GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis in a statement. "By sharing this story, Bruce Jenner has shined a light on what it means to be transgender and live authentically in the face of unimaginable public scrutiny. Though Jenner's journey is one that is deeply personal, it is also one that will impact and inspire countless people around the world."

I wish Jenner luck as he moves forward and hope that his family will be supportive.  I expect that he will face many vile attacks, especially from the foul "godly Christian" folk.

Kris Jenner Threatens To Sue Over Bruce Jenner Diane Sawyer Interview

There is a great deal of media hype about former Olympian Bruce Jenner's upcoming interview with Diane Sawyer during which some anticipate that Jenner may confirm that he is transgender and is contemplating transitioning to a new gender.  It goes without saying that the usual suspects  - i.e., the "godly Christians" and the professional Christian crowd - will attack Jenner and spread all of the lies and hate that they love to lavish on the transgendered.  However, the story may also shine a spotlight on  how (i) individuals find themselves forced to live up to societal and family expectations to their own emotional and psychological detriment, and (ii) family members can turn on someone in the family coming out as either gay or transgender out of embarrassment or self-consciousness.  The International Business Times is reporting that Kris Jenner is threatening to sue former husband Bruce Jenner over the Diane Sawyer interview set to air tomorrow.  Here are highlights:

Kris Jenner has reportedly threatened Bruce Jenner with a defamation lawsuit over his upcoming interview with Diane Sawyer. The former wife of the 65-year-old is reportedly "beyond concerned" that Bruce could reveal details about their relationship in the television special set to air on ABC on Friday.

The 59-year-old “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” star, who was not present during the shoot of “Bruce Jenner: The Interview,” and has not seen the footage, is “worried what he’s going to say about her,” a source close to the family told Radar Online.

“Kris snapped this weekend and is now threatening him with a defamation suit, demanding that he let her see the Diane Sawyer interview and what is filmed so far of the documentary,” the source reportedly said. “Kris told Bruce that if he defames her in any way, or their brand, she is going to sue him for everything that he is worth.”

The star’s daughter, Kourtney Kardashian, recently made efforts to ease tensions between Bruce and Kris by setting up a meeting between the two, according to media reports. However, tensions escalated after Kris visited Bruce following the latter's breast implant surgery.

Kris is also reportedly worried that Bruce might embarrass the family, especially their teenage daughters Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner.

“The older ones can handle it,” a source said, according to New York Daily News. “She said that it could damage (Kendall and Kylie’s) careers. She said he was being selfish. At first she told him, ‘You better not do it.’”

However, the highly anticipated sit-down between Bruce and Sawyer will reportedly reveal about the former Olympian’s transition into a woman. TMZ previously reported that Bruce will likely discuss the hormone therapy and the plastic surgery he has undergone so far.

 When I came out after years of marriage to a woman, I was accused of being "selfish."  The real issue was that my coming out was going to upset a lifestyle that some had come to enjoy.  The fact that I was full of self-hate and leaning towards suicide did not factor into the equation.  Thus, I ask, who is being selfish?  Kris Jenner or Bruce Jenner?  My vote is that Kris Jenner is the selfish one.