All Things LGBTQ+ (2 Viewers)

[Farb]

Didn't really see a place for this so I thought I would start a thread about all things LGBTQ since this is a pretty hot topic in our culture right now

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/17/sup...y-that-refuses-to-work-with-lgbt-couples.html

• The Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a unanimous defeat to LGBT couples in a high-profile case over whether Philadelphia could refuse to contract with a Roman Catholic adoption agency that says its religious beliefs prevent it from working with same-sex foster parents.
• Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in an opinion for a majority of the court that Philadelphia violated the First Amendment by refusing to contract with Catholic Social Services once it learned that the organization would not certify same-sex couples for adoption.

I will admit, I was hopeful for this decision by the SCOTUS but I was surprised by the unanimous decision.

While I don't think there is anything wrong, per se, with same sex couples adopting and raising children (I actually think it is a good thing as it not an abortion) but I also did not want to see the state force a religious institution to bend to a societal norm.

 

[Optimus Prime]

The Department of Defense under Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered military officials to “immediately” review medical records for transgender service members to begin removing them from service.

Service members will also be asked whether they experience gender dysphoria in their annual health exams, according to a newly released Pentagon memo.

The memo from the Pentagon’s acting head of personnel follows an order from a divided Supreme Court that allows Donald Trump’s administration to continue banning trans service members despite court rulings that found the measure plainly discriminatory.

Routine exams will be “the primary method” for identifying and removing trans service members — or “service members who have a current diagnosis or history of” or are “exhibiting symptoms” of gender dysphoria, according to the memo.

Commanders who are “aware” of service members “with gender dysphoria, a history of gender dysphoria or symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria” must perform “individualized medical record reviews,” the memo states.…….

New Pentagon memo reveals how US military will purge trans troops from service

Pete Hegseth’s Defense Department commands officials to ‘immediately’ begin removing trans service members

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Optimus Prime]

 

[coldseat]

fork the US Army and the whole of this government for trying to "disappear" transgendered people! And fork the US voting pubic for going along with this!

Like with immigrants, this is the second step in a four step process to the final solution. First they ridicule them, then they disappear them, then they outlaw them, then they eliminate them.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Another ‘freedom to force my religion on others’
==============================

Steven Hotze, a Republican donor from Texas, has spent decades fighting against LGBTQ+ rights, with campaigns seeking to roll back protections for people he has deemed “termites”, “morally degenerate” and “satanic”.

The Houston-area physician is not well-known in mainstream politics, and his efforts targeting queer and trans people have generally been local, with limited impact.

His latest cause could be different. Hotze, 74, has sued the federal government to roll back healthcare coverage for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the HIV prevention medication. The case is now before the US supreme court, which is expected to rule in the coming weeks. A decision in his favor could upend healthcare access for LGBTQ+ people across the country – and derail a wide array of preventive treatments for tens of millions in the process.


“People will die,” said Kae Greenberg, staff attorney with the Center for HIV Law and Policy, which filed a brief in the case. “Preventive healthcare saves lives, and this case is about whose lives we consider worth protecting. It’s about cutting off people’s care based on them being gay or substance users or living their lives in a way the plaintiffs do not approve of. It’s using the law to legitimize bigotry.”

The case, Kennedy v Braidwood, originated with Hotze’s Christian healthcare firm, Braidwood Management, which filed a lawsuit in 2020 objecting to the federal requirement that his company’s insurance plan cover PrEP. Braidwood, another Christian business and two individuals argued the daily PrEP medications “facilitate and encourage homosexual behavior”, saying the government violated their religious beliefs by making them support “sexual promiscuity”.

Braidwood challenged the requirement under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that insurers and group health plans coverpreventive services, a provision that includesdiabetes and cancer screenings, medications to reduce heart disease risks, contraception and vaccinations. Along with opposing PrEP, Hotze explicitly objected to STI screenings, counseling for alcohol use and childhood obesity interventions.

A Texas district court sided with Braidwood, saying the US violated the firm’s religious freedom. The ruling also found that a taskforce of medical experts that recommended the preventive services covered by the ACA was unconstitutional because the experts hadn’t been confirmed by the Senate, and therefore health plans should not be required to cover the care.……..

This doctor calls LGBTQ+ rights ‘satanic’. He could now undo healthcare for millions

Exclusive: A rightwing activist behind a current supreme court challenge has spent decades railing against ‘homosexual behavior’

www.theguardian.com