Pew Findings on LGBT Americans Bode Ill for Trump/Christofascists

While Donald Trump, a/k/a Der Trumpenführer, has largely declared war on LGBT Americans as part of his self-prostitution to Christofascists and evangelical Christians, new Pew Research Center findings suggest that long term, the Christofascists are losing the culture wars.   More and more Americans are openly identifying as LGBT (especially younger people) and 63% of the public now believes that homosexuality should be accepted by the public.  This as hate merchant and white supremacist Tony Perkins - an author of the GOP's anti-gay 2016 party platform - rants that all governmental recognition of pride month and LGBT events should cease immediately.  The overall findings are encouraging, but that does not mean that life for LGBT individuals is easy in red states and the Bible Belt.  Here are highlights from the Pew findings:

Americans’ views toward those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) have changed substantially in recent years, and a majority of U.S. adults now say homosexuality should be accepted by society. The legal landscape for LGBT people has also shifted, including through a Supreme Court decision two years ago this month that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

Here are five key findings about LGBT Americans:

1. Americans are becoming more accepting in their views of LGBT people and homosexuality in general, and the number of people identifying as LGBT has grown in recent years. For example, 63% of Americans said in 2016 that homosexuality should be accepted by society . . .

Perhaps as a result of this growing acceptance, the number of people who identify as LGBT in surveys is also rising. About 10 million people, or 4.1% of the U.S. adult population, identified as LGBT in 2016, according to the latest estimates from Gallup. This represents a modest but significant increase from 8.3 million people (3.5% of adults) who said they were LGBT in 2012.

Survey researchers face a number of challenges in measuring LGBT identity, and there is no consensus about how best to measure sexual orientation. Some rely on respondents self-identifying as LGBT (the technique used in surveys such as the Gallup and Pew Research Center polls), while others base their estimates on reports of sexual behavior or sexual attraction, which usually result in higher estimates.

2. Bisexuals make up the largest share of LGBT Americans. An analysis by UCLA’s Williams Institute in 2011 found that bisexuals accounted for about 1.8% of the total U.S. adult population at the time. A slightly smaller share (1.7%) were gay or lesbian. And the latest Williams Institute estimates, from 2016, find that 0.6% of U.S. adults, or 1.4 million people, identify as transgender.

In Pew Research Center’s 2013 survey of LGBT Americans, 40% of respondents said they were bisexual, while 36% identified as gay men, 19% as lesbians and 5% as transgender.

3. Gay men and lesbians are more likely than bisexuals to be “out,” according to the 2013 Pew Research Center survey. Overall, only 28% of bisexuals say that all or most of the important people in their lives are aware that they are LGBT. Meanwhile, 77% of gay men and 71% of lesbians say the same.

The overwhelming majority of bisexuals who are married or in a committed relationship have an opposite-sex partner, which may contribute to the fact that bisexuals are less likely to be “out” than other LGBT Americans.

4. Most LGBT Americans say they have never lived somewhere that is known as an LGBT neighborhood. . . . 72% say they have never lived in one of these neighborhoods, while 14% say they have lived in one in the past and 12% say they currently do. While 56% say it is important to maintain places like LGBT neighborhoods and bars, 41% say these venues will become less important over time as LGBT people are more accepted into society.

5. There are demographic differences in who identifies as LGBT. The most notable is by age. Young adults, ages 18 to 36, are by far the most likely to identify as LGBT (7.3%). By contrast, much smaller shares of those ages 37 to 51 (3.2%), 52 to 70 (2.4%) and 71 and older (1.4%) say they are LGBT, according to Gallup.

Whites are somewhat less likely (3.6%) than blacks (4.6%), Hispanics (5.4%) and Asians (4.9%) to say they are LGBT.

There are some modest differences by household income as well, with those making less than $36,000 annually more likely to say they are LGBT (5.5%) than those with higher incomes. These differences may be driven in part by age. There are virtually no differences by education level.

Growing numbers and growing acceptance.  Christofascists are swimming against the tide.   Hopefully, their hate and bigotry based beliefs will continue to be increasingly swept away.  

The GOP's Insidious Calls for "Religious Freedom"

As noted previously, yesterday was the one month anniversary of the horrific massacre of 49 LGBT individuals and their friends and/or family members in Orlando.  These victims all died because of the hate-filled religious beliefs of the shooter who proclaimed that he supported the toxic religious agenda of ISIS.  Despite this reality, yesterday Congressional Republicans held hearings on a bill that would grant special rights to Christian extremists who hold anti-LGBT beliefs not all that different that those of the Orlando shooter.  Short of authorizing the murder of gays, the bill would place toxic anti-LGBT religious beliefs above the law.   A piece in The Advocate looks at this deadly and unconstitutional effort by Republicans.  It's a reminder of why no LGBT person should ever vote Republican until this anti-gay jihad of the GOP ceases. Here are article excerpts:

Though the bill's authors — anti-gay Republican Rep. Raúl Labrador of Idaho and GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah — refer to the bill as a "defense" of the First Amendment, the name is misleading. As ThinkProgress points out, the First Amendment does not allow religious people to arbitrarily discriminate against those they don't like, at least according to the Supreme Court. When right-wing Christians attempted to turn away mixed-race couples from their businesses, the high court intervened by ruling that religious beliefs don't trump the rights of others.

“The abuse of religious exemptions as a tactic for undermining civil rights advances is a classic pattern of civil rights progress in America,” Evan Wolfson, the founder of Freedom to Marry and a key architect of the legal and cultural strategy that won marriage equality, told The Advocate. “In the '50s and the '60s and the '70s and the '80s, whether it was with racial minorities or women or other steps forward — including now gay and transgender people — when the opponents of civil rights progress fail to stop an advance, they then try to circumvent it.”

FADA is an endgame to the state strategy of "religious freedom" bills; one that will likely fail. Take Mississippi, for example. The Magnolia State passed a "religious freedom" bill in April that legalized discrimination, but a federal judge struck it down just before it went into effect.

This is how District Court Judge Carlton Reeves put it in his ruling: “The United States Supreme Court has spoken clearly on the constitutional principles at stake. Under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, a state ‘may not aid, foster, or promote one religion or religious theory against another.’” 

Reeves said the Mississippi law “grants special rights to citizens who hold one of three ‘sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions’ reflecting disapproval of lesbian, gay, transgender, and unmarried persons. That violates both the guarantee of religious neutrality and the promise of equal protection of the laws.”

[T]he White House said in a statement, "It's disturbing that Congressional Republicans plan to hold a hearing tomorrow on discriminatory, anti-LGBT legislation. President Obama remains firmly committed to promoting and defending the equal rights of all Americans, including the rights of LGBT Americans."

Regardless of whether FADA passes, the timing of the hearing is a clear expression of the animus that still exists toward LGBT people in the Republican-controlled Congress.

House GOP Holds Hearing to Legalize Discrimination on One Month Anniversary of Pulse Massacre

Anti-LGBT bigot, GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz

One thing about today's Republican Party is that it never passes on an opportunity to make it perfectly clear to LGBT Americans that they hate us and will do all in their power to grant special rights to Christofascists to mistreat us under the ruse of "protecting religious liberty."  Their idea of religious loberty, of course only favors Christofascists and all those of other faiths and beliefs are basically told to go to Hell.   Particularly foul are today's hearings before Congressional Republicans on the falsely named "First Amendment Defense Act," a pet project of leading anti-gay hate groups.  Blogger friend Bil Browning looks at this foul exercise in bigotry.  Here are excepts:

One month after the mass shooting in Orlando at a gay nightclub, congressionalRepublicans are holding a committee hearing to discuss legalizing discriminationagainst LGBT people. Despite repeated calls from fellow lawmakers, activists, and civil rights organizations, chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) refused to cancel or postpone the hearing.

The hearing will focus on the so-called “First Amendment Defense Act” which would allow businesses and individuals to discriminate against LGBT people if they cite their religious beliefs. Conservative Christian organizations and activists have been clamboring for special exemptions from civil rights laws since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

“This hearing is nothing more than an election-year stunt to rally conservatives at the expense of LGBT Americans,” said Equality Act sponsor and LGBT Equality Caucus Co-Chair Rep. David Cicilline (RI-1). “Let’s be clear – there is no religious basis to deny basic rights and liberties to someone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Period.”

“The Orlando tragedy on June 12 was a time of heartbreak for millions around the world and the worst attack on the LGBT community in our nation’s history,” said Obergefell. “Today, exactly one month after this horrifying event, this hearing is deeply hurtful to a still-grieving LGBT community.

Jim Obergefell, lead plaintiff in the 2015 same sex marriage ruling will testify.  His pre-written testimony can be found here at the ACLU website.

The GOP’s Cynical Gay Ploy

As noted in a post yesterday, Donald Trump is claiming that he'd best protect the LGBT community from those who hate us even as he panders and cuddles up the leading Christofascists groups and pastors who are on record that they favor the government executing gays.  While such batshitery may easily pass with Trump's low education, low intelligence base of support, few sane and rational members of the LGBT community are falling for such rubbish.  So what's Trump and the GOP's strategy?  A column in the New York Times in my view correctly surmises that this false message isn't for the LGBT community but rather for uninformed moderates who Trump and the GOP want to dupe into voting for the principal political enemies of the LGBT community.  The piece also runs down the most recent efforts of the GOP to strip LGBT Americans of their civil rights and/or to keep us second class citizens.  Here are column excerpts:

One of the most brazen — craven even — ploys by Republicans in the wake of the Orlando massacre has been to suggest, incredibly, that they would be better for the L.G.B.T. community than the Democrats.

At a rally on Thursday, Donald Trump said “L.G.B.T is starting to like Donald Trump very much lately, I will tell you, starting to like Donald Trump very, very much lately.”

As Tierney Sneed of Talking Points Memo put it last week:

“The same Republicans who have argued that gay couples should not be allowed to marry, that L.G.B.T. Americans don’t need federal anti-discrimination protections and that trans people should not use the bathroom that matches their identity are now claiming that they — not Democrats — are the party on the L.G.B.T. community’s side.”

But the L.G.B.T community is not deceived by this treachery, in which the mouth speaks of protections while the hands and heart toil away at subjugation, if not destruction.

An analysis this month by The Washington Post of state efforts to limit L.G.B.T. rights found that:

“Since 2013, legislatures have introduced 254 bills, 20 of which became law. According to data collected by the American Civil Liberties Union and analyzed by The Washington Post, the number of bills introduced has increased steadily each year. In the first half of 2016 alone, 87 bills that could limit L.G.B.T. rights have been introduced, a steep increase from previous years.”

It is no wonder then that in a May opinion piece, Gallup’s Frank Newport pointed out that just 18 percent of those who identify as L.G.B.T. held a favorable opinion of Trump.

These vacuous appeals fly in the face of facts and are simultaneously laughable and infuriating.

Then it occurred to me that these weren’t appeals to the L.G.B.T. community at all. This wasn’t a way of peeling off the rainbow contingent from liberals’ rainbow coalition, but instead a way of making Republicans and amenable independents feel good about supporting the party’s schismatic policies. This was a way to salvage nobility for the homophobic, to say that there are factional benefits for tribalism, that liberalism itself is flawed because you can’t house the wolves with the rabbits.

But this too shall fail.

Republicans want us to forget that, according to the former George W. Bush campaign manager and Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman (who has since come out himself as gay), Republicans like Karl Rove have used anti-gay marriage amendments in crucial states to help draw homophobes to the polls and benefit Republicans.

Maybe Republicans want us to forget that, as ThinkProgress reported in December:

“Six of the Republican candidates vying for the presidency have signed a pledge promising to support legislation during their first 100 days in the White House that would use the guise of “religious liberty” to give individuals and businesses the right to openly discriminate against L.G.B.T. people.”

They want us to forget that although people of all political stripes have evolved on the issue of gay equality — including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton —Republicans are the trailing edge of that evolution.

No amount of the exploitation of fear and the revising of history is going to change what we know about the Republican Party and their continued abysmal record on gay rights.

Some Republicans "Leave the Dark Side"; Meanwhile House Republicans Block LGBT Protections

Anti-LGBT Republican, Paul Ryan

Remember all of the feigned messages of condolences from assorted Republicans in the wake of the Orlando massacre of gays on Sunday morning.  While few allowed the words' "gay " or "LGBT" to cross their lips, they claimed to have the victims and their families in their thoughts and prayers. Today we saw just how insincere those words to the wounded and the families of those killed really were as Republicans in the House of Representatives blocked LGBT non-discrimination protections. These individuals truly are heinous.  Here are excerpts from The Advocate on this effort to kick the LGBT community yet again as it morns its dead:

House Republicans blocked a vote on LGBT nondiscrimination protections just days after the deadliest shooting in mass history claimed the lives of 49 people at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub.

Following the horrific attack on the Florida gay bar, Democratic congressman Sean Maloney reintroduced an amendment to a defense spending bill that would prohibit the federal government from contracting with companies that discriminate against LGBT workers. Only 18 states have laws on the books that ban discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, and Maloney believes that this legislation would show the government’s support for the LGBT community at a crucial moment.

This is now the third time that Maloney’s LGBT amendment has been stonewalled by [Republicans in]Congress. On May 19, the GOP killed the legislation after it already had the votes to pass. In a last-minute maneuver, House Republicans coerced colleagues into switching their votes in order to ensure its failure. As the bill was voted down, Democrats chanted, “Shame! Shame! Shame!” on the House floor.

The legislation was reintroduced the following day. While the previous version was attached to a Veterans Affairs appropriations bill, this one was tied to a bill on energy and water spending. It again died.

Former GOP Senator Larry Pressler

Since I left the GOP many years ago, I hate to say it, but the party has become the personification of evil, especially in terms of pushing the hate and bigotry agenda of the Christofascists.   Thankfully, some in the GOP seem to be belatedly waking up.   One is former GOP U. S, Senator, Larry Pressler, a Mormon, who is endorsing Hillary Clinton as reported by Daily Kos:

After a weekend that forced us to confront the worst in humanity.  After a night that brought us to grips with a personal crisis in our own DKos family.  We see that one good man can stand up against the “Dark forces” that he sees griping the Senate in which he served for 18 years.  Larry Pressler is a Mormon sunday school teacher who tried to buck the insanity in his party a few years ago as a third party alternative but this is harsh reality speaking (via TheHIll.com):

“We need to go the route of more gun control as a result of Orlando and all the other shootings that have occurred,” Pressler said. “But it’s almost as though Republicans are saying gun control shouldn’t be part of the conversation at all."

But gun control isn’t the only reason why Pressler is ready to join “Republicans for Clinton” — he’s also concerned about Trump’s rhetoric on Muslims.

“This election is starting to sound like the German elections in [the late 1920s],” Pressler said. “This is a very dangerous national conversation we’re slipping into.”

“I can’t believe I’m endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, but I am,” said Pressler, who spoke with The Hill on Monday after endorsing Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, in a statement issued over the weekend.
“
“If someone had told me 10 years ago I would do this, I wouldn’t have believed them."

Pressler, a moderate Republican who served three terms in the Senate before losing his seat to Democrat Tim Johnson in 1997, said he believes voting for Clinton is the “responsible thing to do.”

Utah Lt. Governor Spencer Cox

Perhaps more moving and more focused on the LGBT community are the remarks - and apology - of GOP Lt. Governor of Utah, Spencer Cox who spoke at a vigil for the victims of the Orlando massacre.  KLS.com has the transcript of his full remarks (read the entire thing).  Here are highlights:

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Lt. Governor Spencer Cox addressed a vigil held Monday night to honor the victims and survivors of the mass shooting in Orlando. Here is a transcript of his remarks:
---
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for being here tonight on this very solemn and somber occasion. I begin with an admission and an apology. First, I recognize fully that I am a balding, youngish, middle-aged straight, white, male, Republican, politician... with all of the expectations and privileges that come with those labels. I am probably not who you expected to hear from today.

I’m here because, yesterday morning, 49 Americans were brutally murdered. And it made me sad. And it made me angry. And it made me confused. I’m here because those 49 people were gay. I’m here because it shouldn’t matter. But I’m here because it does. I am not here to tell you that I know exactly what you are going through. I am not here to tell you that I feel your pain. I don’t pretend to know the depths of what you are feeling right now. But I do know what it feels like to be scared. And I do know what it feels like to be sad. And I do know what it feels like to be rejected. And, more importantly, I know what it feels like to be loved.

I grew up in a small town and went to a small rural high school. There were some kids in my class that were different. Sometimes I wasn’t kind to them. I didn’t know it at the time, but I know now that they were gay. I will forever regret not treating them with the kindness, dignity and respect — the love — that they deserved. For that, I sincerely and humbly apologize.

We are here because 49 beautiful, amazing people are gone. These are not just statistics. These were individuals. These are human beings. They each have a story. They each had dreams, goals, talents, friends, family. They are you and they are me. And one night they went out to relax, to laugh, to connect, to forget, to remember. And in a few minutes of chaos and terror, they were gone.

I believe that we can all agree we have come a long way as a society when it comes to our acceptance and understanding of the LGBTQ community (did I get that right?). However, there has been something about this tragedy that has very much troubled me. I believe that there is a question, two questions actually, that each of us needs to ask ourselves in our heart of hearts. And I am speaking now to the straight community. How did you feel when you heard that 49 people had been gunned down by a self-proclaimed terrorist? That’s the easy question. Here is the hard one: Did that feeling change when you found out the shooting was at a gay bar at 2 a.m. in the morning? If that feeling changed, then we are doing something wrong.

So now we find ourselves at a crossroads. A crossroads of hate and terror. How do we respond? How do you respond? Do we lash out with anger, hate and mistrust. Or do we, as Lincoln begged, appeal to the “better angels of our nature?”

I truly believe that this is the defining issue of our generation. Can we be brave? Can we be strong? Can we be kind and, perhaps, even happy, in the face of atrocious acts of hate and terrorism? Do we find a way to unite? Or do these atrocities further corrode and divide our torn nation? Can we, the citizens of the great state of Utah, lead the nation with love in the face of adversity? Can WE become a greatest generation?

On behalf of the 3 million people of the state of Utah, We Are Orlando. We love you. And I love you.

.

Quotes of the Day - Done with Republicans

UPDATED: For those inclined to boycott North Carolina and companies based in that state, in the wake of what happened yesterday, a list of North Carolina based companies can be found here.

As promised, Pat McCrory, the Republican governor of North Carolina, signed the Republican anti-LGBT bill last night that his fellow party members had rammed through a special session of the North Carolina legislature yesterday.  The result is that LGBT citizens of that state now have no non-discrimination protections in employment, housing or being served at businesses in the state.  All because of the desire of Republicans to prostitute themselves to Christofascists in the worse tradition of that state - and the South's - history of bigotry and discrimination.  Blogger friend Matthew Morrell Comer sums up the situation and the decision that decent people need to make:

Done with Republicans. Was once friendly with the moderates among you. No more. Take your Trump-led, homophobic, transphobic, anti-woman, anti-worker stances some place else. Your party of hatred and bigotry will be judged with the same distaste and disgust as every other form of bigotry in history. Especially to LGBT people who identify as Republicans: time to choose sides; your own people or those who hate us? Your choice. No more waffling. No more excuses. Change parties now; silence and complacency isn't an option.

A reader also provided this quote from Romer v. Evans which struck down a similar attack on LGBT citizens in Colorado in the 1990's:

Finding that "laws of the kind now before us raise the inevitable inference that the disadvantage imposed is born of animosity toward the class of persons affected," the Court inferred that the passage of Amendment 2 was born of a "bare...desire to harm a politically unpopular group".[2] The Court added: "[I]f the constitutional conception of 'equal protection of the laws' means anything, it must at the very least mean that a bare ... desire to harm a politically unpopular group cannot constitute a legitimate governmental interest."

I truly long for the day when Christians are a minority in America and, if there is any justice, they find themselves treated as they have treated others.  Meanwhile, we have a family wedding scheduled in the Outer Banks.  If it is not relocated, I guess we will drive down for the day and return rather than spend the night in such a horrible state - thankfully, my car gets good enough mileage that we wouldn't even need to buy gas if we have to go. 

I hope LGBT travelers will adjust their travel plans so as to avoid flying through Charlotte and avoid the state entirely.  I also hope that a federal court challenge is commenced immediately. 

North Carolina Passes Sweepingly Bill Voiding All LGBT Nondiscrimination Ordinances

GOP House Speaker Tim Moore and GOP bill sponsor Rep. Dan Bishop 

Confirming fears I noted yesterday, the Republican controlled North Carolina legislature has passed a sweeping anti-LGBT bill that will rescind all LGBT non-discrimination ordinances across the state. Is suspect that tonight LGBT North Carolinians must feel like German Jews did in the early stages of Hitler's rise to power when the first anti-Jewish laws began to be promulgated.   Equally disgusting is GOP Governor Pat McCrory promise this evening that he will sign "immediately."  One can only hope that Virginia will immediately reach out to businesses appalled by North Carolina's lurch toward hate and bigotry and assure them that Virginia is business friendly and will not persecute their LGBT employees.   As for the Democrats in the North Carolina House, these foul individuals need to be subjected to primary challenges as soon as possible.  I for one will boycott North Carolina and avoid spending a single penny in North Carolina or with a North Carolina based business. Here are highlights on this animus based legislation from the Charlotte Observer:

The N.C. General Assembly on Wednesday approved a bill that invalidates Charlotte’s new legal protections for LGBT individuals, doing far more than striking down a controversial provision that allowed transgender people to use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify.

The vote in the House was 84-25 after three hours of debate, with all Republicans voting for it and 11 Democrats breaking ranks with their party to support the bill.

In the Senate, the vote was 32-0 after the Democrats walked out in protest, saying they had not been allowed to participate in the process.

“We witnessed an affront to democracy,” said Democratic Sen. Dan Blue of Raleigh, the minority leader. “We will not be silent.”

Dana Fenton, the city of Charlotte’s lobbyist, said the bill would invalidate the city’s newly expanded nondiscrimination ordinance, passed in a 7-4 City Council vote in February. He said he believes the state’s largest employers will lobby the governor to veto it.

“I think you will see corporations, not just those in N.C., weighing in on this,” he said. “I think they will put pressure on the governor.”

But Raleigh station WRAL reported that McCrory would sign the bill into law late Wednesday.

The full bill wasn’t made public until Wednesday morning. Until then, it was unclear whether the legislators would target only the bathroom provision, or whether they would go further and strike down the rest of the ordinance.

The impetus of the special session was a provision in Charlotte’s expanded nondiscrimination ordinance that would allow transgender individuals to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender with which they identify.

But it also would keep Charlotte and any other municipality from adding new protections for gays, lesbians or transgender individuals.

In North Carolina today, there are no legal protections for gays and lesbians. That means a private business in Charlotte or anywhere else in the state can refuse to serve someone who is gay, and a bakery could refuse to make a cake for a wedding of a gay couple.

In Charlotte, that would have changed as of April 1, when the expanded ordinance is scheduled to go into effect. The protected classes recognized by the state would be race, color, national origin and biological sex.

The bill also prohibits K-12 public schools, and publicly funded universities and colleges from having multistall transgender bathrooms. Critics said that could jeopardize federal funding for education.  The only transgender people who would be exempt would be those who had the sex on their birth certificate legally changed.

One opponent of the bill told senators that the legislation would have unintended consequences. The speaker asked them to consider the case of someone born as a female, but who now identifies as a man, with a beard made possible through hormones. That person will be required to use a women’s bathroom.

Personally, I hope the U.S. Department of Education notifies all North Carolina school divisions that their federal funding will be withdrawn if they comply with this hate based legislation.  Meanwhile, I can't wait for a lawsuit challenging the bill which is unconstitutional under the United States Supreme Court holding in Romer v. Evans.  As for self-styled evangelical Christians, I have nothing for disgust for them and their decision to embrace ignorance and bigotry. I want nothing to do with them and I long for the day when they become the social pariahs that they deserve to be.  In their own way, they are no better than members of ISIS.

Joy Behar: ‘Transgenders for Cruz is Like Jews for Hitler’

I have often said that gay Republicans are as insane as 1930's Jews who supported the Nazi regime. It's even more insane for transgender individuals to support the Republican Party given the party's and the party base's utter contempt for transgender.  Hence, Joy Behar's comparison of Caitlyn Jenner to a Jew supporting Hitler.  While I applaud Caitlyn Jenner's courage in coming out and transitioning, I continue to be shocked and appalled by her cluelessness on social and political issues that never affected her as a privileged white male up until her transition.   Is she blind and/or deaf to what the GOP continues to say about LGBT individuals?  Towleroad looks at Behar's apt comments.  Here are highlights:

The women on The View had a conversation about Caitlyn Jenner today, reacting to a photo she tweeted last night in response to outrage from the LGBT community over her support for Ted Cruz (she has said she wants to be Cruz’s “trans ambassador”).

Jenner’s tweet was a photo of her and some friends, including Candis Cayne, with Hillary Clinton and read “#learningfrommygirls #willingtolisten.”

Raven Symone commented that she thought Jenner should have taken a hiatus after stepping into the public eye and feels Jenner could have benefited from the perspective:

“I knew that I liked girls at 12 years old, but when I came out at 28 I didn’t go ‘I’m an advocate! I’m an advocate!’ I didn’t know the struggle cause I didn’t live in that world, and now she’s backtracking. I think she just needs to step back a little bit.”

Added Sunny Hostin: “She lived the majority of her life as a white male athlete star…privileged, right? So (now) she’s part of the minority. I think it’s fascinating to watch her struggle with those issues. She’s experiencing things that people of color, that women experience all the time.”

Michelle Collins felt a bit more cynical about it, adding that Jenner’s just trying to “put out a fire” with the Hillary photo.

“Transgenders for Cruz is like Jews for Hitler,” interjected Behar. “She’s not paying attention. She is transgender and she should be reading about it and understanding politics. Or watching and thinking.”

Missouri Democrats Engage in Inspiring Filibuster of Anti-Gay "Religious Freedom" Law

At times it seems as if self-prostituting Republicans are in a contest across the country to see who can most debase themselves to Christian extremists and undermine non-discrimination protections for LGBT citizens.  Here in Virginia we have seen the Republicans in the House of Delegates introduce a plethora of anti-gay bills, most of which have thankfully been tabled and/or face a veto by Democrat Governor Terry McAuliffe.  In Missouri, similar efforts are embodied by a GOP effort to write discrimination into the state constitution and grant special rights to Christian extremists.  Thankfully,  the Democrat minority in the state Senate have launched a filibuster (it's gone for over 26 hours so far) to block a vote on the foul effort.  The Democrat effort has prompted many Twitter posts that can be viewed here.  Here are highlights from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on other aspects of the filibuster effort:

Missouri is grabbing national headlines as word of Senate Democrats' day-long filibuster spreads.

A proposal by Sen. Bob Onder, R-Lake Saint Louis [Senate Joint Resolution 39], is designed to protect wedding vendors and clergy from legal liability and government penalties if they decline to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies.

Proponents say churches in other states have had their tax-exempt statuses threatened. They've also used an example from Oregon, where a baker was ordered to pay damages for declining to bake for a same-sex wedding, as a reason for why the amendment is needed.

But Democrats charge that clergy are already protected under the First Amendment, and that the proposal does little more than codify discrimination against gays in the state constitution.

So shortly after 4 p.m. Monday, the Democratic minority launched a filibuster to stall the bill. As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, the bill had yet to come to a vote. Meanwhile, the debate has drawn nationwide attention from news outlets and social media.

Companies and at least one business group have also voiced opposition. Last week, PROMO, an LGBT advocacy group, published a letter with 185 Missouri businesses, churches and other groups voicing opposition.

Dow Chemical and the St. Louis Regional Chamber of Commerce have also recently voiced opposition.

Creve Coeur-based Monsanto also came out against the measure Tuesday.  "Monsanto has a long history of employing a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive environment for our employees," its statement reads, in part. "Monsanto is calling on other businesses and the agricultural community to join the company in speaking out against discrimination here in our home state of Missouri and around the world."

Once again, I ask myself "why would any LBGT individual support GOP candidates?"  

 

Republican House of Delegates Member Caught on Grindr

Apparently, at least one Republican members of the Virginia House of Delegates have forgotten about what happened to former Virginia 2nd District Congressman Ed Schrock who chose to end his re-election campaign after being caught using a gay hookup site back in 2003.   It seems that a Southwestern Virginia GOP lawmaker was cruising on Grindr this past weekend in Richmond.  For those unfamiliar with Grindr, it is a gay dating and hookup app that one uses via their smart phone to connect with other gay men.  The hypocrisy of someone in the Virginia GOP which is vitriolically anti-gay - Senator Carrico (R-40) recently compared being gay to a form of cancer - using Grindr for gay sex hook ups is off the charts.  Fortunately, since this particular member of the House of Delegates has not been stridently anti-gay in his voting record (at least in relative terms), the folks at GayRVA chose not to "out" him and reveal his identity - at least for now.  Instead, an open letter was published addressed to this legislator.  Here are excerpts from that letter:

 First- welcome to RVA – I’ve visited your part of the state before and imagine the number of available dudes here in the Richmond area v. the part of Virginia where you call home is exciting! As a gay man, I’d never shame someone for wanting to explore their sexuality as long as it is done in a safe and healthy way, so I hope you’re getting the chance to enjoy it!

[L]ets also talk about your role as a legislator and how it impacts and affects LGBTQ people in the rest of the Commonwealth. I’ve looked up your voting record and there’s a number of things you voted against which makes me wonder;

Do you ever want to have kids? You voted to make it harder for same-sex couples to adopt by allowing state funded adoption agencies to deny adoptions to people that violate their moral “conscience.”

What college did you go to? (I actually know, I googled you!) Well, other folks still in college, like the young man you hit up on Grindr who alerted me, are now living in a state university & college system which allows select official school clubs to discriminate pretty much at will. Those clubs can also gather to rally around causes which could harm LGBTQ folks.

Speaking of age, you totally lied on your profile – also tacky! (Google is an editor’s best friend.)
I know you’re obviously not out at work here at the General Assembly, but I have to ask why you would vote against a law which would have protected LGBTQ Virginian’s for being fired for who they love.

[Y]ou managed to take the opportunity to put your own people down.

Speaking of self loathing behaviors, why did you vote against the appointment of an openly gay Judge? That vote was less-than-subtle on why and how it was targeted – with several conservative Senate members walking out rather than voting him in – but again, you sat there quietly and let the broader anti-gay sentiment at the GA take the driver’s seat.  Thankfully the honorable Judge Thorn-Begland was appointed, but no thanks to you.

I’m sure the personal crisis you go through every time you cruise has got to be pretty intense. I came out at 15, it wasn’t stellar, but I survived. Now you, much older then that, will have to someday deal with these feelings and you can be the man you are right now or you can take the opportunity so few of us have and stand up for what is right.

I hope you make the right choice… and if you decide otherwise, stay off of Grindr cause we’ll be watching.

Personally, I would have "outed"  this delegate (which is probably why the editor of GayRVA did not give me his name when we spoke today).  This delegate posted a face photo - which GayRVA obscured - and his identity was confirmed.  In my view, one's right to personal privacy ends when you use your elected position to vote for anti-gay legislation or take anti-gay actions.  When I learned about Ed Schrock's hypocrisy, I worked with blogger Mike Rogers to get the truth out despite threats from Schrock's chief of staff.  This member of the House of Delegates is keeping alive a toxic atmosphere where gay youth continue to take their own lives because of the bullying and discrimination they experience.  This delegate deserves to be exposed and experience the toxicity that he is working to maintain.  In all my years as a GOP activist, I never, ever supported anti-gay bigotry.  This delegate could have abstained from votes if he was too much of a coward to do the right thing.

RNC Set to Vote on Anti-Gay Resolutions This Week

This week will be another test as to whether or not the Republican Party is ready to move into the 21st century.  Previous Party Platforms on social issues have been largely authored by Christofascists and hate group extremists.  This week the Republican National Committee ("RNC") will vote on anti-gay resolutions opposing same sex marriage and opposition to sex education that includes LGBT individuals.  Many in the RNC seemingly wish gays would either disappear or be struck dead in a single stroke.     The odds are that the anti-gay resolutions will pass and the GOP will further signal younger voters that it remains the party of the hate filled past.  Here are highlights on the coming vote from the Washington Blade (note the assumption that being gay is synonymous with being HIV positive and, therefore, diseased):

In the same week Republican presidential candidates are scheduled to slug it out in their first official debate, the Republican National Committee is set to vote during its summer meeting on resolutions against same-sex marriage and in favor of anti-gay sex education in schools, the Washington Blade has learned.

The Blade obtained text of two proposed anti-gay resolutions . . .  on the table for discussion during the upcoming meeting in Cleveland, Ohio.

If the RNC were to adopt any of the non-binding resolutions next week, it would be the first official act of the Republican Party on the marriage issue following the historic U.S. Supreme Court decision last month in favor of marriage rights for same-sex couples. The initial vote could take place during the executive committee meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, where a successful vote would lead to consideration at the full committee meeting on Friday.

One resolution, titled “Resolution for Balanced Sex-Ed in Schools,” was introduced by former Michigan State House lawmaker and RNC member Dave Agema. It encourages schools “teaching the homosexual lifestyle in their sexual education class” to “also include the harmful physical aspects of the lifestyle.”

The resolution is based on the belief the Republican Party “supports the institution of traditional marriage,” which is considered code for opposition to same-sex marriage. The proposal is also based on questionable assertions that American culture “is portraying the homosexual lifestyle as an attractive option for school-aged children” and the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes says being gay take up to 21 years off a person’s life. 

The resolution sponsor Agema is the same RNC member who has repeatedly landed in hot water for making anti-gay, racist and anti-Muslim posts on Facebook, such as an endorsement of Russia’s anti-gay propaganda law and an article saying gay people are “filthy,” frequently pedophiles and responsible for 50 percent of U.S. murders. Republican National Committee Chair Reince Preibus and Michigan Republican Party Chair Bobby Schostok have called on Agema to step down and the RNC has censured him, but no explicit mechanism exists to expel him from the RNC and he has remained in his post.

Another resolution, titled “To Reserve, Strip and Pursue,” was introduced by Republican National Committee member Ross Little of Louisiana directly.

The proposal calls on Congress to defy the Supreme Court by passing, in accordance with the Tenth Amendment, legislation saying marriage laws and recognition of marriages is the exclusive province of the states, although states shouldn’t be able to legalize polygamy or prohibit interracial marriage. Further, in accordance with Article III of the U.S. Constitution, the resolution seeks legislation stripping federal courts of jurisdiction of marriage issues.

The RNC didn’t respond to multiple requests to comment on any of the resolutions, although multiple sources have confirmed they’re on the table. 

To read the full text of the anti-gay resolutions, go to the Blade story.   Hate and bigotry remain among the hallmarks of today's GOP.  Frankly, I am surprised that the resolutions did not call for the reintroduction of bans on interracial marriage give the rampant racism in the GOP base.