The Associated Press Defines "Alt-Right" - "Conservatives" Will Not be Happy

One of the tools that Republicans and other anti-equality advocates have used is euphemisms and deliberately misleading terms and definitions.  Through this exercise, racism, homophobia, religious based discrimination become on their face acceptable - at least until one looks at the ugliness under the carefully manufactured veneer.  Sadly, too many so-called journalist, usually out of laziness but sometimes out of complicity (think Fox News), allow the subterfuge to go unchallenged.  The result is that the public is mislead and that which is ugly and abhorrent is slowly normalized.   Now, the Associated Press has set out reporting standards that at least in terms of the "alt-right" will go to expose this movement for what it truly is: groups that are racists, white supremacists and misogynists.  Here are highlights from a blog post:

The “alt-right” or “alternative right” is a name currently embraced by some white supremacists and white nationalists to refer to themselves and their ideology, which emphasizes preserving and protecting the white race in the United States in addition to, or over, other traditional conservative positions such as limited government, low taxes and strict law-and-order.

The movement has been described as a mix of racism, white nationalism and populism.
The movement criticizes “multiculturalism” and more rights for non-whites, women, Jews, Muslims, gays, immigrants and other minorities. Its members reject the American democratic ideal that all should have equality under the law regardless of creed, gender, ethnic origin or race.

“Alt-right” (quotation marks, hyphen and lower case) may be used in quotes or modified as in the “self-described” or “so-called alt-right” in stories discussing what the movement says about itself.

Avoid using the term generically and without definition, however, because it is not well known and the term may exist primarily as a public-relations device to make its supporters’ actual beliefs less clear and more acceptable to a broader audience. In the past we have called such beliefs racist, neo-Nazi or white supremacist.

Again, whenever “alt-right” is used in a story, be sure to include a definition: “an offshoot of conservatism mixing racism, white nationalism and populism,” or, more simply, “a white nationalist movement.”

Finally, when writing on extreme groups, be precise and provide evidence to support the characterization.

We should not limit ourselves to letting such groups define themselves, and instead should report their actions, associations, history and positions to reveal their actual beliefs and philosophy, as well as how others see them. 

Would that all news outlets and reporters would adopt this practise, both when dealing with the spokesmen of alt-right and the Republican Party. 

Has the Marriage Equality Backlash Just Begun?

Here in Virginia homophobe extraordinaire Del. Bob Marshal has introduced a bill which, if passed would give wholesale license to Christofascists to discriminate against gays based on religious convictions against same sex marriage or homosexuality in general.  Thankfully, Gov. Terry McAuliffe has vowed to veto the bill if it manages to pass the General Assembly.   Meanwhile, formerly far right conservative clubs such as the James River Country Club in nearby Newport News are accepting married same sex couples (the husband and I are now members of an old line yacht club).  Thus, the reaction to marriage equality in Virgina is divergent at best.  The same phenomenon is being witnessed across America, with anti-gay efforts wrapped in the smoke screen of protecting "religious freedom."  A piece in The Advocate looks at the situation.  Here are article excerpts:

Scott and Daniel Wall-DeSousa are now free to drive anywhere they like in the state of Florida. Previously, the state had refused to issue the couple accurate drivers' licenses after they married in New York and hyphenated their name, but state officials have since relented.

This is a victory for gay and lesbian couples in Florida, but we certainly haven't seen the last of bureaucrats and legislators creating roadblocks to same-sex couples who seek to wed.

Sometimes, those roadblocks will take the form of a minor headache and expense, like when clerks in several northern Florida counties stopped offering courthouse marriages for all couples rather than solemnize the unions of same-sex partners, or when a wedding planner informed a lesbian couple that she couldn't plan their wedding because she was overbooked — and also because she didn't "feel comfortable" with their sexual orientation. But in Virginia, where a proposed bill would let hospitals turn away LGBT patients, the consequences could be far more dire.

Around the country, other antigay legislation would rescind local nondiscrimination ordinances or force clerks to disobey pro-equality court rulings. Some lawmakers are pushing bills that would make it harder for LGBT people to do business, and others laws could facilitate evictions and firings.

With their marriage bans overturned after nearly 20 years, the only recourse available to antigay legislators consists of laws that make it easier to discriminate — often couched in language claiming to protect "religious freedom."

The take away?  Get ready for all kinds of batshitery under the guise of "protecting religious freedom."