GOP Senators Re-Introduce Federal License to Discriminate Law

In an apparent desperate attempt to motivate their base now that (i) Der Trumpenführer likely trade war may wipe out whatever meager take home pay increases the working class elements of GOP  base might have experienced from the GOP/Trump tax cuts - a column in the Washington Post looks at this topic and others here - and (ii) the Stormy Daniels story seemingly gaining steam, 22 GOP U.S. Senators have re-introduced the falsely named "The First Amendment Defense Act" ("FADA") which would bar the federal government from taking any action against Christian extremists (and arguably other homophobes) who engage in discriminate against same-sex couples or others based on "a sincerely held religious belief."  With polls showing congressional Republicans down by double digits compared to a generic Democrat and Trump's polling still in the toilet, Republicans see pandering to still loyal evangelical Christians critical in the lead up to the 2018 midterm elections. The Hill looks at this disgusting effort at self-prostitution.  Here are excerpts: 

A group of 22 GOP senators is reintroducing a controversial measure that would protect opponents of same-sex marriage from federal actions intended to curb discrimination. 

The First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) would bar the federal government from taking any action against individuals who discriminate against same-sex couples or others based on "a sincerely held religious belief."

The bill would also protect those who discriminate against marriages not recognized under federal law or individuals who engage in sex outside of marriage.

The measure was introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and 21 Republican co-sponsors, including Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Orrin Hatch (Utah). 

FADA was introduced in both the House and the Senate in 2015, but only received a hearing in the House.  The bill never advanced to a full vote, however, amid protests from Democrats and concerns among Republicans that then-President Obama would veto the measure if it reached his desk. 

Supporters of the bill say that it is necessary to protect First Amendment guarantees, while opponents argue that it ultimately amounts to an attempt to legalize anti-LGBT discrimination. 

As a presidential candidate, Trump indicated that he would sign the measure if it were sent to his desk, saying that it would "protect the deeply held religious beliefs of Catholics and the beliefs of Americans of all faiths."

Note that Ted Cruz - a man with a long history of homophobia and self-prostitution to Christofascists  - is one of the bill's sponsors.  This bill would allow Christofascists - and arguably homophobic Muslims - to ignore non-discrimination laws while demanding protections for themselves under they very laws they seek to ignore.  As stated often, NO ONE is more selfish and self-centered - and more hypocrisy filled - than the "godly folk."

STUDY: Millennials Most Likely to Be LGBT or Accepting

Keeping his promises made to a who's who of Christian extremists in June, 2016, Der Trumpenführer is waging war on the LGBT community and has erased the LGBT community from the 2020 census, has rolled back discrimination protections put in place by President Obama, and has promised to sign the foul "First Amendment Defense Act" which would allow Christian extremists to discriminate at will against LGBT individuals, women who have had abortions, cohabitation unmarried couples, and potentially those who use contraception.  The good news is that many are not giving up the struggle for LGBT equality as exemplified by the Equality Virginia Commonwealth Dinner this past weekend. Even better news comes from a recent study (which can be found here) that found the Millennial s are the most pro-LGBT generation ever.  Indeed, 20% identified themselves as LGBTQ.  This contrasts sharply with aging white Christians who are anti-LGBT, but who are literally dying off.  The message?  Time is on the side of LGBT rights and, if the Republican Party continues its anti-LGBT jihad, the electoral consequences could be significant.  Here are highlights  from a piece in The Advocate:

Millennials are more likely to identify as LGBTQ and be accepting of LGBTQ people than older generations, yet overall lack of comfort with LGBTQ people remains substantial, according to a new GLAAD study.

The findings come in GLAAD’s third annual Accelerating Acceptance report, conducted for the organization by Harris Poll. Based on an online survey of 2,037 adults done in November, it was released Thursday.

It found 20 percent of Millennials — people age 18-34 — identify as LGBTQ, compared with 12 percent of Generation Xers (35-51), 7 percent of Baby Boomers (52-71), and 5 percent of Elders (72 and older). Millennials were more likely than others to use terms outside “gay/lesbian” or “man/woman” binaries, reporting they know people who identify as bisexual, queer, pansexual, or gender-fluid.

Among non-LGBTQ people, Millennials were the most likely to be allies. The study counted people as allies if they reported being very or somewhat comfortable with LGBTQ people in all situations. The figure was 63 percent for Millennials, 53 of Gen Xers, 51 percent of Baby Boomers, and 39 percent of Elders.

Thirty-four percent of respondents said they would be uncomfortable learning their child had a lesson on LGBTQ history in school, and 29 percent said they were uncomfortable seeing a same-sex couple holding hands. There was about the same level of discomfort with learning their doctor, their child’s teacher, or a family member was LGBTQ.

Still, there was much good news in the study, and acceptance among young people bodes well for the future, said GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “As the [Trump] administration begins to fulfill its pledges to move the country backwards, many are concerned about progress made in recent years for the LGBTQ community,” she said in a press release. “However, this report shows a remarkable new era of understanding and acceptance among young people — an inspiring indication of the future. Though laws can be unwritten, hearts and minds in America have been changed for the better — and that is a reality less easily unraveled.”

Christofascist Groups Pushing Trump for "Religious Liberty" Executive Order

As noted in previous post, in June, 2016, Donald Trump met with a who's who of Christian extremists and hate group leaders such as Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, in New York City.  The goal of the meeting? To win the support and, ideally endorsement, of these individuals in order to swing the fundamentalist and evangelical Christian vote to Trump.  Trump was successful and in the process reportedly promised to appoint anti-gay justices to the Supreme Court and to sign the dishonestly named "First Amendment Defense Act" which would allow Christian extremists to discriminate against gays and anyone else who did not conform to the Medieval sexual mores of the Christofascists.  Seemingly, Trump may have also promised to sign an executive order allowing open discrimination based on professed religious belief. Trump has honored part of his bargain by nominating Judge Neil Gorsuch who believes that religious belief should override civil rights of others as demonstrated in his opinions at the 10 Circuit Court of Appeals.  Now, the Christofascists are demanding that Trump give them the promised executive order.  Right Wing Watch looks at the situation:

More than the 150 members of the secretive right-wing network known as the Council for National Policy have signed a letter calling on President Trump to sign an executive order “protecting the practical exercise of religious freedom,” something Religious Right leaders have been clamoring for since Trump took office. 

On Wednesday, Fox News pundit and serial promoter of bogus religious persecution stories Todd Starnes outed himself as a member of the CNP in writing about the letter.

The Council for National Policy is a network of leaders from the religious and political right, whose membership includes both big names and lesser-known fringe figures. A 2014 membership list obtained by the Southern Poverty Law Center revealed that the CNP even has room for extremists like neo-confederate Christian Reconstructionist Michael Peroutka. According to Starnes, who says Trump’s election was the result of divine intervention, other signers include “CNP President Tony Perkins, former Attorney General Edwin Meese, Morton Blackwell, Bob McEwen, Kelly Shackelford, Becky Norton Dunlop, Chad Connelly, Dr. James Dobson and Penny Nance.”

A month ago, Sarah Posner reported in The Nation on a leaked draft of the executive order, which legal experts said was of “sweeping” and “staggering” scope. If signed it would create wholesale exemptions from a range of nondiscrimination laws and regulations “for people and organizations who claim religious objections to same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity.” The order could empower government employees to refuse to provide basic government services to gay people or couples or unmarried parents.

Posner’s article quotes a Lambda Legal attorney who says the draft order is similar to a law signed by the Mississippi governor last year, “which a federal district court ruled violated both the Establishment Clause and the Equal Protection Clause.” That case is on appeal.

The desire to get federal courts to embrace the right’s vision of religious liberty was one of the major reasons Religious Right leaders rallied around Trump after he promised them the Supreme Court of their dreams. In that regard, it is noteworthy that Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch ruled as an appeals court judge in the Hobby Lobby case, which for the first time gave for-profit corporations the right to claim exemption from laws protecting their employees based on the religious beliefs of the company and its owners. That’s a major reason that the Religious Right is thrilled about the Gorsuch nomination.

Those who believe in religious freedom for all should be very fearful of this effort to grant special rights to Christofascists via these efforts to grant a license to discriminate to right wing Christians.

Trump Official: "Religious Freedom" Order Is Still Coming

Previous post looked at a leaked draft of a foul executive order to be signed by Der Trumpenführer to grant the Christofascists - or American Taliban, if one prefers that label - special rights that would allow these hate drive and self-centered individuals and their businesses to ignore non-discrimination laws and protections and openly discriminate against same sex married couples, LGBT individuals in general, those who are divorced and remarried, those who use contraception, among others.  These special rights would allow both businesses and individual government officials to refuse to provide service to citizens against whom the bore prejudice based on real or feigned religious belief.  Worse yet, the targets of such discrimination would have no recourse.  When the draft executive was leaked, the hue and cry caused the Trump regime to disclaim that such an order would be forthcoming.  But, like so much that comes from Der Trumpenführer and his henchmen, it now appears that such disclaimers were lies.  As Michelangelo Signorile details in a piece at Huffington Post, such an order is "still coming" based on statements of a Trump official.  Here are highlights:

Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who has served as domestic policy chair of President Donald Trump’s transition team, told me in an interview on SiriusXM Progress that the controversial “religious freedom” order that leaked to the press a few weeks ago is very much on the way, even though White House officials had played it down. 

Earlier this month, The Nation’s Sarah Posner reported on the draft order, which would allow exemptions for those who oppose same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity, among many other things: 

The four-page draft order, . . . . . 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. 

At the time, Trump administration officials claimed the draft was among hundreds of draft orders circulating within the administration. ”We do not have plans to sign anything at this time but will let you know when we have any updates,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a White House spokesperson, told ABC News at the time.

But Blackwell, a senior fellow at the Family Research Council (deemed an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Policy Law Center), said in our interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) over the weekend that the order is far from dead. He also confirmed that the former director of Family Research Council’s Center for Religious Liberty, Ken Klukowski, had “actually structured” the draft order as a legal advisor to Trump’s transition team. Klukowski, who is now a senior attorney at the Liberty First Institute and a Breitbart contributor, is one of the lawyers “in the process of redrafting it,” Blackwell said. . . .

Blackwell envisions the “anchor concept” of the order as one that will allow people with devoutly religious beliefs to turn away LGBTQ people in the course of business.

In an interview with me at the Republican National Convention in 2008, Blackwell had explained that he doesn’t view LGBTQ people as a class of people who are discriminated against, but rather sees homosexuality as a “compulsion that can contained, repressed or changed.”

In terms of “administrative actions” such as an executive order, Kuklowski said there are “various types of actions” that Trump could take, and he referred to “federal law and federal programs” that the president could affect. (He acknowledged that state laws protecting LGBTQ people could only be overturned via the “federal judiciary,” again stressing the importance of putting originalists on the federal courts.)

“And I’m confident,” he continued, “that the president is showing ― much to the shock of many establishment people who said, ‘There’s no way this’ll happen’ ― that he keeps his promises, even when they’re things that an establishment player would never do. And I’m confident that he’s going to keep his promise when it comes to protection of religious liberty as well.” 

As for my "friends" who voted for Trump, will they be calling their members of Congress and opposing such an order and/or the First Amendment Defense Act?  I'm not holding my breath.

Is Trump Preparing for Mass Deportations?

Yesterday the shoe dropped on transgender students as Der Trumpenführer's regime withdrew support for the Obama administration' expansive reading of Title IX as his press secretary said that transgender rights were a state's right issue - just as was done with the Jim Crow laws for decades. For the rest of the LGBT community, we continue to wait for the GOP controlled Congress' passage of the First Amendment Defense Act that will legalize open anti-LGBT discrimination.  For Hispanics and immigrants, the shoe also dropped yesterday as Der Trumpenführer's regime seeming took first steps towards greatly ramped up deportations.  A piece in Politico looks at today's developments.  Here are are article highlights:

President Donald Trump pledged during his campaign to create a deportation force. Now, he’s equipped federal immigration agents with the tools to potentially remove millions of immigrants from the country.

The Department of Homeland Security issued a pair of guidance memos Tuesday that gives federal immigration agents wide latitude to arrest, detain and deport undocumented immigrants and legal immigrants with criminal records.

The memos create a blueprint for how to enact two Trump executive orders, one that deals with interior enforcement and another that deals with border security.

Serious criminals will still be a top target for federal immigration officers. But the priorities will be greatly expanded to include undocumented immigrants charged with crimes or those who have committed acts that could constitute a chargeable offense.

The Trump administration’s deportation push will not be limited to undocumented immigrants. The memo stresses that all “removable aliens” could be subject to immigration enforcement under the new guidelines.

The Migration Policy Institute, which bills itself as a non-partisan think tank, found that more than half of an estimated 1.9 million deportable immigrants with criminal records were in the country lawfully, either using green cards or some other type of visa.

The guidance issued Tuesday prioritizes the arrest of deportable immigrants who have "abused" public benefits, misrepresented themselves, or "in the judgment of an immigration officer, otherwise pose a risk to public safety or national security." The memo gives few specifics on how each of these criteria will be determined.

The guidance also makes clear that driving without a license, a frequent offense for undocumented immigrants, could make an individual "subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States."

[T]he guidance presents undocumented immigrants as a dire threat. "The surge of illegal immigration at the southern border has overwhelmed federal agencies and resources and has created a significant national security vulnerability to the United States," the administration said, explaining its rationale.

The memos also say DHS will hire 10,000 new immigration officers and reverse a number of Obama administration policies. Specifics on how the agency will hire so many officers remain scarce, with the administration saying they are working on a "hiring plan."

The memos also say the administration will limit parole into the United States, to only be used "sparingly and only in cases where, after careful consideration of the circumstances, parole is needed because of demonstrated urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit."  

Breaking up families, unleashing hate and discrimination - this is what evangelical "Christians" voted for when they voted for Der Trumpenführer.

Anti-Gay AG Sessions Drops Push for Transgender Protections

Anti-gay bigot, Jeff Sessions with Paul "Reverse Robin Hood" Ryan

As this blog and numerous others pointed out, new Attorney General Jeff Sessions has a documented history of being a racist and homophobe.  Once sworn in, Sessions has wasted no time in proving that he is a menace to the LGBT community.  Indeed, not even 24 hours passed before Sessions directed Justice Department attorneys seeking to narrow an injunction against the Obama administration's efforts to afford protections to transgender students.  Other minorities need to take note that they too will now be targets for Sessions' white supremacist Justice Department.  When added to Der Trumpenführer's promise to sign the foul "First Amendment Defense Act" which would grant special rights to Christofascists, it all equates to open war of LGBT Americans - something I warned "friends" who voted for Trump about repeatedly. Politico looks at this disturbing but expected development.  Here are highlights:

The Trump administration has found a nationwide injunction it can live with.

In the slew of lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump's travel ban executive order, Justice Department lawyers have repeatedly argued that — whatever the alleged legal defects in his order — nationwide injunctions on its enforcement are improper.

However, on Friday night, Justice Department attorneys handling a lawsuit over President Barack Obama's efforts to protect transgender individuals dropped an effort to temporarily rein in a nationwide injunction a Texas federal judge imposed last year. That injunction prohibited the feds from enforcing the Obama administration's view that existing civil rights laws cover discrimination against those who are transgender.

Last November, the Justice Department appealed U.S. District Court Judge Reed O'Connor's ruling to the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Justice Department attorneys urged the appeals court to limit the injunction so it only applied in the 13 states involved in filing the suit challenging the transgender policy.

That request to narrow O'Connor's injunction was set to be argued before a three-judge 5th Circuit panel on Tuesday in Austin, Texas, but on Friday evening the Justice Department withdrew the stay request.

No explanation for the change in position was given to the court. The move came one day after former Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) was sworn-in as attorney general.

Dropping the stay request avoids Justice Department lawyers having to appear before the 5th Circuit this week to argue for the stay while likely having little clarity to offer the court on how what stance the Trump administration plans to take on the transgender issues at the heart of the dispute.

The Justice Department has not completely abandoned the position that O'Connor's injunction was too broad. Federal government lawyers could pursue that claim as the appeal goes forward, but with their action Friday they have given up the effort to keep enforcing Obama's interpretation of transgender rights while the appeal proceeds.

The Supreme Court might give some guidance on that issue relatively soon. The justices are set to hear arguments next month on a case involving a transgender Virginia student who was born female but sought to use the boys' room at his public high school.

Normally, the justices would decide the case by June. However, it's possible the court might drop the case altogether, not rule squarely on the transgender rights issue, or even punt the case until they have a ninth colleague on the currently shorthanded high court bench.

Pence Dodges Question on Anti-LGBT "Religious Freedom" Order

Der Fuhrer is not the only one in his regime who is challenged when it comes to truth and veracity (indeed, the question would seem to be whether there is anyone who isn't a pathological lair).  Which brings me to homophobe and gay hater extraordinaire, Mike Pence.  It is commonly assumed that Trump tapped Pence as his VP choice in order to pander to Christofascists with whom Trump met in June, 2016.  During that meeting, Trump made promises to the leaders of a veritable who's who of anti-gay zealots and religious extremists, none of which bode well for LGBT Americans. High on that list was the passage of legislation and/or executive orders that would grant Christofascists of all walks, in and outside of governmental positions, the right to openly discriminate against LGBT citizens - and others who do not subscribe to their claimed religious beliefs.  On Sunday, Pence, a man with a decades long history of animus towards LGBT citizens (including support for conversion therapy) dissembled on This Week as to the regimes plans to legalize anti-LGBT discrimination.  The Advocate has highlights: 

In an interview aired Super Bowl Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence handed the ball off when asked if he expects President Donald Trump to issue an anti-LGBT so-called religious freedom executive order.

“I think that’ll be the purview of the president,” Pence said when George Stephanopoulos asked him about the possibility of such an order on ABC’s This Week.

Last week a draft of an order with anti-LGBT language circulated in the media; it was first obtained by The Nation. It would allow businesses, nonprofits, and even government employees to discriminate, without repercussions, against anyone who offends certain religious beliefs. The beliefs include opposition to same-sex marriage, any sex outside marriage, transgender identity, and abortion.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer has said there are no plans for such an order right now but has said a variety of orders are always under consideration, therefore leaving the door open. LGBT and civil liberties groups have been quick to decry it, and constitutional scholars have said it likely is beyond the scope of what a president is allowed to do via executive order. But religious right activists are pushing it. It is similar to a pending piece of federal legislation, the First Amendment Defense Act, which Trump has said he would sign if it is passed by Congress.

Pence’s words may ring rather hollow, considering his long record of opposing LGBT rights, both as Indiana governor and earlier as a congressman. And given Trump’s opposition to marriage equality and support for the First Amendment Defense Act, he is not exactly an LGBT ally either.

Eliel Cruz, an LGBT rights and faith activist, told the Washington Blade, “The Trump administration will always choose the beliefs of anti-LGBT evangelicals over the dignity and rights of LGBT people.”

How to Oppose Trump's Efforts To Eviscerate LGBT Equality

Trump with hate group leader, Tony Perkins

I continue to be shocked and dismayed by the number of Trump supporters with LGBT friends and family members who remain oblivious to the threat that Der Fuhrer and his regime pose to the LGBT community.  The standard cop outs one hears are (i) "I didn't know about this" - as if laziness and lack of educating one's self on all aspects of the candidate you voted for should excuse you from the justified anger on the part of LGBT individuals - - and (ii) "I don't feel that way towards gays" - even though they voted for someone who sold his soul to long standing gay haters.  Now, with a Vice President and a cabinet with in many cases decades long histories of attacking and demonizing LGBT individuals and advocating a form of "religious liberty" that preempts non-discrimination laws, only the intentionally blind can claim they know nothing about the anti-gay agenda backed by this regime.  With the continued talk of a "religious freedom" executive order and the pending "First Amendment Defense Act" that would accomplish the same thing would subvert non-discrimination protects across the nation, a post in Huffington Post reviews the threats and provides measures that the LGBT needs to put in place.  One of the most important is holding the media accountable.  Here are excerpts:

A leaked draft of a blood-curdling executive order from the Trump administration shows how far-reaching the discussion has been in the White House and among those surrounding Donald Trump to strip LGBTQ people of the meager federal rights we have, and to prevent us from attaining any further rights.

The order would allow for rampant discrimination – people thrown out of their jobs and their homes, and denied service. It would allow government employees to decline to interact with LGBT people, or anyone of whom they disapprove, all in the name of “religious liberty.”

Whether this order happens or not, now or in the future (White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters who inquired that it wasn’t happening “at this time”), it reveals the intentions of those in Trump’s inner circle and the will to get this done. And Trump just nominated a judge to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, who, by his own record on allowing for religion-based discrimination – including in the Hobby Lobby case ― will defend such an order.

[R]eligious conservatives are demanding big things from Trump in return for their votes, and Trump surely wants their votes again. We must stop them, and we can, if we all live by four simple rules.

Rule number 1: Dismiss anything said by the White House that is even remotely positive about LGBT rights.  That includes the deceptive, idiotic statement in recent days claiming that Trump is “supportive of LGBTQ rights,” and any of Trump’s claims during the campaign, or his photo-ops with rainbow flags or gay individuals or anything else similar. That was and is all staging ― and a reality show star knows all about staging ― on an issue that Trump realized is one he has had to deal with differently than issues such as immigration, because of a) the enormous success we’ve made getting much of the public behind us and; b) the fact that more and more people are out of the closet, and there are LGBTQ people in every family, including Republican families.

Trump needs to appear gay-friendly for those reasons, while still following through on promises quietly made to social conservatives to try roll back marriage equality and other rights.

Bottom line: Any expression of support for LGBT rights by Trump is in direct opposition to his stated positions (for example, his long-time position against marriage equality and his support for the First Amendment Defense Act) and, more importantly, is in opposition to the core beliefs of an important part of the base that elected him and which is demanding a payoff.

Rule number 2: Do not believe a media that has promoted Trump’s false claims. Take note that much of the media ― the same media that largely gave Trump a pass on many issues, offered enormous free coverage with little analysis and still wants access to the White House ― is clueless on the LGBTQ issue, or is willfully giving Trump a pass on it perhaps because many don’t care about it as much as other issues. And make it your goal to call out the media every time you see anything promoting Trump as somehow “pro-gay” or “better” on LGBTQ rights than others in the GOP.

We can’t let the media ― itself feeling under brutal attack by Trump ― use us as the pawns by portraying Trump as pro-LGBTQ as a way for them to show him they’re giving him some positive coverage. Call it out, every time you see it.

Rule Number 3: Take attacks on any one group as an attack on all of us. Don’t let Trump divide us. Every harsh issue Trump ran on is a queer issue, an LGBTQ concern, and should be fought against vociferously. Immigration affects millions of LGBTQ people, whether they be Muslims, Mexican or from any other group. The administration’s omission of Jews in its Holocaust Remembrance Day declaration is a hideous affront to all Jews, including LGBTQ Jews. Any lifting of sanctions against Russia gives Vladimir Putin further license in his brutal crackdown on LGBTQ people. Attacks on women’s rights, from pay equity to abortion, are attacks on lesbian, bisexual and trans women. Trump’s racist birther lies and his stereotyping of African-Americans are an attack on all black LGBTQ people. More to the point, Trump’s authoritarian and narcissistic impulses, fascistic language and lack of empathy should be a warning that any group could be next on his list, falling out of favor at a moment’s notice.

Rule number 4: Realize that when it comes to LGBTQ equality, it’s not over. Despite successes, LGBTQ people are a vulnerable minority and a group with no federal protections in housing, employment or public accommodations, in the way that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects racial and religious minorities. . . . In most states, most companies can fire people, or landlords can throw them out of their homes, because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, and it happens all the time in ugly ways.The only federal protection that LGBTQ people have is a narrow order that prevents companies contracted with the federal government from engaging in employment discrimination. President Obama signed that order.

Mike Pence ― who led the transition team ― as a long-time social conservative political crusader, is hellbent on giving religious exemptions to anyone opposed to LGBTQ equality and making gay marriage into a kind of second class marriage. He and other religious zealots were already working on this days after the election, and they’ll do it in any way they can. 

Trump’s entire cabinet is in fact a who’s who of homophobia and transphobia. And, again, his first Supreme Court Justice nominee is primed to harm LGBTQ rights.

Protest, activism, calling legislators, and all the other ways the resistance is fighting back, are all enormously important. But for LGBTQ people in particular it’s vital to stop the American media from putting forth the deception that Trump is “gay-friendly” ― a lie that endangers us. 

Don't Be Fooled By Trump's Trick on LGBT Executive Orders

Perhaps it was the result of not wanting to ignite further street protests or an effort to be able to pretend that he wasn't targeting LGBT citizens, but for now Der Fuhrer has reversed course and indicated that he will not reverse President Obama's pro-LGBT executive orders.  While at first glance, many in the LGBT community are giving a shy of relief.  My advice: don't be fooled.  Trump has made it very clear that he intends on delivering on his promises to leading Christofascist groups and there is no conflict between leaving the executive orders in place for window dressing while forging ahead with broadened religious exemptions and/or the pending Firs Amendment Defense Act ("FADA") before Congress which Trump has promised to sign. Stated another way, Trump can leave the executive orders in place while indirectly wiping them with FADA that will give immense rights to discriminate against LGBT citizens.  A piece in LGBTQ Nation looks at this simple reality.  Here are excerpts: 

The White House said on Monday that they will keep in place former president Barack Obama‘s executive order banning anti-LGBTQ discrimination among federal contractors.

“President Trump continues to be respectful and supportive of L.G.B.T.Q. rights, just as he was throughout the election,” the statement reads. “The president is proud to have been the first ever G.O.P. nominee to mention the L.G.B.T.Q. community in his nomination acceptance speech, pledging then to protect the community from violence and oppression. The executive order signed in 2014, which protects employees from anti-LGBTQ workplace discrimination while working for federal contractors, will remain intact at the direction of President Donald J. Trump.”

The White House statement came in response to growing concerns after LGBTQ Nation reporting that sources close to the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, were declaring that an executive order allowing for discrimination against the LGBTQ community based on religious beliefs was coming soon, perhaps this week.

Yet there are still reasons to be concerned, as Trump could still sign an executive order carving out a religious exemption which would allow for discrimination, while still keeping Obama’s order in place.

There are also real fears over the First Amendment Defense Act, which would similarly allow for discrimination so long as those doing the discriminating cite a religious belief as the cause of their actions. It has been reported that it will soon be introduced to Congress and Trump has already pledged he would sign it if it were to pass. His pick for Attorney General, Sen. Jeff Sessions also recently defended the proposed legislation.

Advocacy groups, aware of this possibility, and citing concern of the travel ban on seven Muslim majority countries, remain unimpressed.

“Today’s statement says only that President Trump does not intend to take the extreme step of abolishing existing anti-discrimination protections for federal employees and contractors, some of which have been in place for nearly twenty years,” said Kate Kendell, Executive Director at The National Center for Lesbian Rights. “That is not a step forward. We remain concerned by reports that the President intends to issue an order creating new religious exemptions that will permit discrimination against LGBT people and others. This is also a distraction from the imminent announcement of a Supreme Court nominee, which is the most important issue for our community. The Senate must reject any nominee who will turn back the clock on our nation’s commitment to the equality and freedom of LGBT people, including the fundamental right to marry and to be treated equally to other married couples.”

The American Civil Liberties Union mirrored these concerns.   “Actions speak louder than words. President Trump has surrounded himself with a vice president and cabinet members who have repeatedly sought to sanction discrimination against LGBT people in the name of religion, and nothing in the White House’s statement makes clear that these efforts are behind us.

“Donald Trump is no friend to the LGBTQ community — regardless of what he or the White House leakers may be suggesting in the media,” said Rea Carey, Executive Director, National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund. “We need look no further than his extremist anti-LGBTQ Vice President Pence and Cabinet picks to see the real agenda at play.

There are rumors circulating that Vice President Mike Pence, who backed a religious freedom law in Indiana, has been pushing for the anti-LGBTQ executive order, while Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner is said to be pushing back against it.  A recent report by Vanity Fair suggests that Kushner is losing influence in a White House dominated by far-right voices, and that he is aware and upset by the situation.

 With the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and his special rights for Christofascists mentality, fears of what is to come are all to justified.  

Trump to Reverse LGBT Protections for Federal Workers This Week?

Trump with anti-gay "Christian" extremists in June, 2016

Those Republicans with LGBT friends and family members will prove themselves to be true backstabbing enemies if Donald Trump, a/k/a Der Fuhrer follows through on the promises he made to a veritable who's who of anti-LGBT hate merchants last June in New York City.  These foul individuals and their organizations, a number of which have been certified by SPLC to be hate groups, will not rest until every LGBT American be fired and discriminated against at will.  Some even what us criminalized if not executed in a few instances.  Yet these are the folks that Der Fuhrer sold his soul to - assuming, of course, that he even has one - and promised to appease by reversing President Obama's LGBT-friendly executive orders and signing the falsely "First Amendment Defense Act" which will allow open anti-LGBT discrimination by private citizens, business, government workers, and even medical providers.  The Washington Post looks at Trump's likely negation of Obama's executive order protecting LGBT federal workers.   Here are highlights:

The White House is embroiled in a debate over whether to reverse some key protections that the Obama administration extended to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers, according to several people briefed on the process.

A draft of a potential executive order began circulating in Washington over the weekend that would overturn President Barack Obama’s directive barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the federal workforce and by federal contractors.

That top officials are debating whether to wade into the issue of gay and transgender rights highlights the tension the new administration faces when it comes to social issues. Trump campaigned on an economic message, but he is under pressure from the social conservatives who propelled him into office to implement their top priorities.

The issue of gay rights is particularly fraught for Vice President Pence, who as governor of Indiana signed a controversial measure expanding religious liberties in a way that gay rights groups said opened the door to legalized discrimination. A national outcry over the bill led Pence and the state legislature to weaken the measure.

Speaking to reporters Monday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer declined to comment on whether an executive order affecting gay and transgender people was under consideration.

The executive order Obama signed in 2014 had two parts. It expanded protections in federal hiring, which already barred discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, to also include gender identity. And it required all companies doing business with the federal government to have explicit policies barring discrimination against gay and transgender workers. 

Any attempt by the Trump administration to rescind or weaken Obama’s order would essentially be an effort to “authorize discrimination” against gay and transgender people, said James Esseks, director of the LGBT program at the American Civil Liberties Union.

“The Trump administration has shown that it’s willing to go against core American values of freedom and equality, and it’s troubling to hear they may target LGBT people as well,” he said.

White heterosexuals should also know that these same religious zealots if allowed to do so would outlaw most forms of contraception.   They want to the police the bedrooms of everyone, not just LGBT individuals.  Oh, and the federal legislation Der Fuhrer promised to sign could also impact cohabiting heterosexual couples too. 

Frighteningly, LGBT Rights Are All Too Easily "Reversible"

Many "friends" who voted for Der Fuhrer and forever linked themselves to Hillary Clinton's aptly described "basket of deplorables" who made up Trump's core base continue to deliberately close their eyes to what they have done to their LGBT friends and family members.  Whether or not they can bring themselves to be honest about the consequences of their vote, LGBT rights are now very much at risk.  At least for a number of years until the aging angry white voters of the GOP base die off and are replaced by LGBT-friendly Millenials and the younger generations that follow them.  A piece in The Daily Beast looks at why I and many others are fearful of the future and have even had thoughts of emigrating (the husband and I have not ruled this option out).  Here are article highlights:

On Wednesday, Washington Blade reporter Chris Johnson asked President Obama a question that’s on many LGBT Americans’ minds: What’s going to happen to our rights under President Trump and his cabinet? . . . . In response, the outgoing president put a brave face on—but maybe too brave of a face.

“I don’t think it is something that will be reversible because American society has changed; the attitudes of young people, in particular, have changed,” Obama said.

He went on to predict that “there are still going to be some battles that need to take place,” particularly around transgender rights, but that pro-LGBT attitudes among “young people of Malia [and] Sasha’s generation” would ultimately carry the day.
 But how much has American society really “changed” during his tenure?  At the press conference, the president referred to a “transformation that’s taken place in our society” around LGBT rights. But was it an irreversible “transformation” after all? Not quite.

There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that anti-LGBT sentiment will be an enduring feature of the American cultural and political landscape. And there are no guarantees that the progress the Obama administration has made cannot be turned back.

According to Gallup, just under 30 percent of Americans still believe that same-sex sexual relationships—not even marriages, mind you—should be illegal. Over a third oppose same-sex marriage and 37 percent maintain that “gay or lesbian relations” are “morally wrong.”

Transgender bathroom rights nearly divide the country in half. Taken together, those statistics show a fairly stable cohort of homophobic and transphobic voters who will continue to shape electoral politics for decades to come, even with a rising generation of more tolerant young people entering public life.

[P]olitical advances in LGBT equality don’t necessarily translate into social acceptance.  As The Daily Beast has previously reported, several key measures of anti-LGBT bullying in U.S. high schools only fell by about 2 percent per year between 2005 and 2015, per data from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

According to annual polling commissioned by GLAAD, nearly 37 percent of non-LGBT respondents said in 2015 that they would be uncomfortable with their child having an LGBT history lesson in school.

When a shockingly large percentage of Americans still can’t even handle a same-sex couple kissing on the cheek, it’s hard to buy into the notion that there’s been a radical “transformation” of our society since 2008. And although certain of Obama’s pro-LGBT changes would be easier to retract than others, none of them are written in stone.

Undoing marriage equality would be an ordeal—and it would be hugely unpopular—but it’s still possible if President Trump follows through on his Supreme Court picks and the right cases come along.

By contrast, pro-LGBT protections enacted through executive orders—like anti-discrimination protections for federal contractors—could be quickly and easily eliminated.

Correspondingly, attacks on LGBT rights—such as the ratification of the First Amendment Defense Act—could be easily initiated as The Daily Beast’s Tim Teeman and Jay Michaelson have reported.

Military milestones could crumble as well. Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pick General James Mattis notably did not send any signals that he would undo the Obama administration’s reversal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which banned lesbian, gay, and bisexual people from serving openly in the military.

But in response to a question about the recent advances in transgender military service, Mattis’ future Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump said last October that the military is getting “politically correct” and it’s “ridiculous.

With Mike Pence as Vice President, Republicans in control of both houses of Congress, and several more Supreme Court vacancies on the horizon, a Trump administration will only be limited by its own restraint when it comes to LGBT issues.

But even though LGBT advances are all too “reversible,” President Obama was spot-on about one thing: the vast majority of young people support full equality. Last April, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found that Americans aged 18 to 29 support transgender rights by a two-to-one margin, with Americans over 60 opposing them by the same margin. And according to Pew, over 70 percent of millennials support same-sex marriage.

The only catch is that millenials aren’t voting where it counts and older voters are. . . . . that means that LGBT progress might only be inevitable because death is also inevitable. But unlike death, LGBT advances are definitely reversible.

Let's hope many of the anti-LGBT whites who voted for Trump and Republicans find themselves without healthcare coverage and they will have unwittingly hastened their own demise and indirectly assisted in protecting LGBT rights.  That would be ironic justice.