All Things LGBTQ+ (4 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.

 

[Complex Kid]

I expect you do. No surprise there since they agree with you.

No it's mostly because your sources have no basis in reality.

 

[Farb]

No it's mostly because your sources have no basis in reality.

Can you tell me what a woman is?

 

[SaulGoodmanEsq]

I will hold your hand through this brave new world if you would like.

Sounds like grooming to me!

 

[MT15]

Can you tell me what a woman is?

You first. But here’s the kicker - you don’t get to inspect the genitalia.

 

[SystemShock]

He's an American citizen.

But not born in the U.S., fast-tracked through naturalization 3 years ago, who lives in NYC, and has a very distinctive accent that says Birmingham, the original one.

Of course, you don't need to be born in a place to know about it. Just live there long enough you'll learn many things about a place... not all, maybe not even the majority, but many.

And for the record, I like John Oliver.

 

[Farb]

Sounds like grooming to me!

Not if he asks nicely and buys me dinner.

 

[Farb]

You first. But here’s the kicker - you don’t get to inspect the genitalia.

An adult female human being.

Your turn

 

[Farb]

But not born in the U.S., fast-tracked through naturalization 3 years ago, who lives in NYC, and has a very distinctive accent that says Birmingham, the original one.

Of course, you don't need to be born in a place to know about it. Just live there long enough you'll learn many things about a place... not all, maybe not even the majority, but many.

And for the record, I like John Oliver.

Am I incorrect that as a Brit, you are always a British citizen unless you specifically file to have your citizenship terminated?
My Brother-in-law is a US citizen now and is still a British citizen

 

[SystemShock]

Am I incorrect that as a Brit, you are always a British citizen unless you specifically file to have your citizenship terminated?
My Brother-in-law is a US citizen now and is still a British citizen

You are not incorrect. I myself have dual citizenship, U.S. and MX. and carry 2 passports, so I am covered depending on who hijacks the plane

 

[RobF]

But not born in the U.S., fast-tracked through naturalization 3 years ago, who lives in NYC, and has a very distinctive accent that says Birmingham, the original one.

Of course, you don't need to be born in a place to know about it. Just live there long enough you'll learn many things about a place... not all, maybe not even the majority, but many.

And for the record, I like John Oliver.

Oh, I know. I've been watching him since his Daily Show days, and we get Last Week Tonight over here. I wasn't suggesting he's faking the accent. Just making the point that he is an American citizen, so the implication that he isn't in a position to comment due to his solely British nationality doesn't really hold.

In as much as it ever would in the first place. I mean, I feel like I've made the occasional reasonable comment on American politics here and there, despite being British myself.

 

[coldseat]

Oh, I know. I've been watching him since his Daily Show days, and we get Last Week Tonight over here. I wasn't suggesting he's faking the accent. Just making the point that he is an American citizen, so the implication that he isn't in a position to comment due to his solely British nationality doesn't really hold.

In as much as it ever would in the first place. I mean, I feel like I've made the occasional reasonable comment on American politics here and there, despite being British myself.

So when he's done segments making fun of the British parliament, do you all really get Gilbert Gottfried (RIP)?

 

[RobF]

So when he's done segments making fun of the British parliament, do you all really get Gilbert Gottfried (RIP)?

Yep, I can confirm that. The first time it happened, I think we got several minutes of him reading restaurant reviews. Brilliant way to handle the UK having such a dumb law!

 

[Optimus Prime]

It would be funny if this happened
======================


…..Although this and similar legislation have been nicknamed “don’t say gay” laws, the Florida law does not, in fact, say “gay” or “transgender” or anything like that.

It cloaks its discriminatory intent in studiously neutral language: “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3.”

So how does everybody from gay rights groupsto Disney know that these laws are anti-LGBTQ?

Because they know what supporters of these bills mean by “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” To them, these aren’t neutral terms that encompass an entire spectrum of human experience, including heterosexuality. They are “woke gender ideology” that smacks of “indoctrination.”

Some proponents of this legislation act as if they don’t even understand the terms it includes. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) says the law protects against “sexualizing kids in kindergarten.” Nope.

Republican Rep. Mike Loychik, co-sponsor of Ohio’s copycat bill, tweeted, “We send our kindergartners to school to learn about ABCs, not the birds and the bees.”

Nice rhyme, Mr. Loychik, but I believe “the birds and the bees” is a euphemism for sex education, an entirely different thing that you’re probably against.

The truth is they don’t bother to use the words correctly because they don’t believe the words apply to them. They seem to think that only gay people have a sexual orientation and only trans people have a gender identity. Which is sort of like thinking that only foreign people have an accent. Or that “ethnic” means any food you didn’t grow up eating.

Opponents of these bills understand their true intent not because we are equally narrow-minded but because the culture we live in still sees “straight” as “normal” and gender as “boy,” “girl” or “made up.” We’re trying to change that culture, but we know it well. We know whom these laws mean to silence or shame. We get it.

But what if we pretended we didn’t?

What if we took these laws at their word and treated every lesson that endorsed any sexual orientation or gender schema as an actionable offense?

What if we filed a complaint every time a teacher instructed our children to use certain bathrooms solely on the basis of their gender identity?

What if we called a lawyer when we discovered our children were learning that the “mommies on the bus” said “shush, shush, shush”?

DeSantis has tweeted that the Florida law “ensures parents can send their kids to kindergarten without gender ideology being injected into instruction.” But he signed that law at Classical Preparatory School in Spring Hill, Fla., where students wear uniforms designed specifically for “girls” or “boys.”

That seems like a serious injection of gender ideology to me!

Alabama’s H.B. 322 declares that teachers “shall not engage in classroom discussion … regarding sexual orientation or gender identity in a manner that is not age appropriate.”

I don’t know what’s appropriate for what age — it’s not like I’m a trained educator or anything — so to avoid offending similarly inexpert parents, Alabama teachers should probably refrain from any allusion to heterosexuality, including references to their husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, upcoming weddings or — heaven forbid — expected babies……..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/15/florida-dont-say-gay-says-dont-say-straight-too/

 

[SystemShock]

Speaking of the definition of woman...

There is a lot of back and forth about this definition, mostly because one side talks biology and the other behaviors/feelings/mentality/self-identification.

To me, a woman is the female of the species, no matter the behavior, feelings, mentality, or self identification. And even when the person has chromosomes other than just XX, still, the female of the species has ovaries that produce eggs, a womb, and pelvic bones adapted for gestation.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Sad story and sadly I’m sure we’ll see more of in the future
==================

On Tuesday morning, Robbie Pierce and his family boarded a train in Los Angeles and rode it up the coast of California — their favorite way to travel.
It was the start of spring break for Pierce, a substitute teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District, and he was excited to spend it in the San Francisco Bay area with his husband and their 6-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter.


Along the 10-hour journey, the kids watched as they zoomed pass the ocean and farmlands, marveling at the sun setting on the Pacific Ocean.
“It was such a peaceful experience,” said Pierce, 41. “Everything was just picturesque.”
But their evening was soon derailed, he said, when his family was accosted by another passenger on the train.
“

All of a sudden, there was a man standing right next to me talking to my son,” Pierce said. “The very first thing he said is, ‘Marriage is between a man and a woman.’ ”


Pierce was stunned, he said, as the unidentified man proceeded to shout homophobic attacks, accusing the couple of stealing their children and calling them “pedophiles” and “rapists.”

As his kids began to cry, Pierce said he grabbed them and moved them to another car while his husband, Neal Broverman, shouted the harasser away.
The incident occurred on an Amtrak train around 8 p.m. on Tuesday as it made a stop in Diridon Station in San Jose, according to Pierce.

Eventually, Amtrak workers arrived and ordered the man to exit the train. When he refused, Pierce said, the workers called the police, who arrived after about 45 minutes and removed the man from the train.

In a statement to The Washington Post, Amtrak condemned the incident as an “act of hate.”…..

“We’ve dealt with this brand of terrifying homophobic stranger before with our son,” Pierce wrote. “But ‘pedophiles’ and ‘rapists’ were new in the mix, at least out loud.”


Pierce said he believes that rhetoric is trickling down from conservatives. As Republicans have introduced a wave of anti-LGBTQ bills across the United States, some have attached specific messaging to justify the legislation — including by suggesting that discussion of LGBTQ topics constitutes “grooming” children for sexual abuse.

“It was just clear that he had picked up these ideas from somewhere else, and now these things were bleeding over,” Pierce said. “Not just from the news and from social media, but into our real life and into my child’s bubble.”……..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/04/15/two-dads-california-amtrak-pedophile-language/

 

[MT15]

Speaking of the definition of woman...

There is a lot of back and forth about this definition, mostly because one side talks biology and the other behaviors/feelings/mentality/self-identification.

To me, a woman is the female of the species, no matter the behavior, feelings, mentality, or self identification. And even when the person has chromosomes other than just XX, still, the female of the species has ovaries that produce eggs, a womb, and pelvic bones adapted for gestation.

So, not all women have ovaries. Some have pelvic bones suited for gestation and some, not so much. Women are so much more than their biology. Any animal can be female. It’s much more than that to be a woman.

 

[SystemShock]

So, not all women have ovaries. Some have pelvic bones suited for gestation and some, not so much. Women are so much more than their biology. Any animal can be female. It’s much more than that to be a woman.

I have to ask, what do you mean by "not all women have ovaries"?

We may be the most advanced animals on this planet, but animals we are nonetheless; hominids, to be exact. But anyway, can you elaborate in this "much more"?

 

[MT15]

So, before going any further, I have to ask, what do you mean by "not all women have ovaries"?

We may be the most advanced animals on this planet, but animals we are nonetheless; hominids, to be exact. But anyway, can you elaborate in this "much more"?

Some women have them removed for medical reasons, sometimes the ovaries fail to form in utero, my friend’s daughter had a non-malignant tumor as a toddler and they were removed at the age of two. Stuff happens.

What I meant by “much more” was that humans may be animals, but that they are somehow also more than animals. Whether you consider the presence of a soul, or the ability to reason for the non-religious, we are not merely animals. To define a human woman only by her reproductive organs is leaving out her human-ness, for lack of a better word.