All Things LGBTQ+ (3 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]

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Statehouse elevator lifted, and Carey Callahan practiced what she’d say. Hi. I live in your district. I’m a detransitioner.

A decade ago, when Callahan stopped taking testosterone, few Americans knew a transgender person, let alone someone who had transitioned and then returned to their sex assigned at birth, and when Callahan went looking for other people who’d changed their minds, all she could find was a defunct email group that had topped out at a dozen members.


But much had changed since then. Detransitioners now headlined conservative rallies. They spoke on Capitol Hill and on Tucker Carlson’s show, and billionaires flew them across the country to beg legislators to ban gender-affirming care. Earlier this spring, detransitioned women had come to Ohio from California and Michigan to describe themselves as mutilated.

As far as Callahan could tell, she was the only detransitioner who actually lived in Ohio. She knew Republican legislators believed a ban would help people like her, but she’d lived in the detransition community longer than almost anyone, and her experiences had taught her that the only way to protect detransitioners was to improve health care, not take it away.

And so, this spring, as the state legislature considered a ban on transition care for minors, Callahan thought her representatives might like to hear from her.

Callahan stepped into the hallway and caught a glimpse of her reflection in the elevator’s closing doors. She was 41, a well-off mom from the suburbs, wearing a chic black blazer, a vintage A-line skirt and bright yellow cloud slides.

If Callahan wanted to pass as someone without a complicated gender history, she could. But she didn’t think she’d be able to forgive herself if she stayed quiet, so she made her way down the hallway.

Dozens of parents and their gender-fluid children stood with signs and homemade chocolate-chip cookies. Others had packed the chamber where an Ohio House committee would hold its fourth and final hearing on the proposed health-care ban.

All the seats were taken, so Callahan waited in the hallway until she spotted her representative, a young Army veteran with slicked black hair and an American flag pinned to his lapel. Callahan waved to get his attention.


“Hi, Representative!” she called. “My name is Carey. I live in your district. Do you have a moment to talk about detransitioners?”


The legislator scanned Callahan’s upper body. She had on a bright yellow T-shirt that said “gender-affirming healthcare saves lives.”

Maybe he was looking at the shirt, Callahan thought, or maybe he was looking at her chest. She’d come to the Statehouse once before, and she’d thought then that policymakers were eyeing her body as if trying to discern the ways testosterone remade her. One had even suggested Callahan had had it “easier” because she still had breasts.


The representative mumbled something, then pointed to a young aide trailing a few feet behind. Callahan turned to look, and as she did, the legislator slipped through a door that led to the committee chambers.


Callahan slumped onto a wooden bench next to Cam Ogden, a 23-year-old transgender woman who runs the advocacy group Trans Allies of Ohio.
The two had become friends on TikTok. Ogden was still in college but was already becoming a political insider.

When Callahan first showed up in Ogden’s feed, the young woman was surprised. Callahan had worked with some of the country’s most prominent anti-trans researchers and personalities. She’d disappeared for a while, but now she was on TikTok, denouncing health-care bans. Ogden was intrigued. Legislators tended to ignore trans people, but maybe, Ogden thought, they would listen to Callahan………

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/12/27/ohio-transgender-carey-callahan-detransitioner/

 

[GrandAdmiral]

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Statehouse elevator lifted, and Carey Callahan practiced what she’d say. Hi. I live in your district. I’m a detransitioner.

A decade ago, when Callahan stopped taking testosterone, few Americans knew a transgender person, let alone someone who had transitioned and then returned to their sex assigned at birth, and when Callahan went looking for other people who’d changed their minds, all she could find was a defunct email group that had topped out at a dozen members.


But much had changed since then. Detransitioners now headlined conservative rallies. They spoke on Capitol Hill and on Tucker Carlson’s show, and billionaires flew them across the country to beg legislators to ban gender-affirming care. Earlier this spring, detransitioned women had come to Ohio from California and Michigan to describe themselves as mutilated.

As far as Callahan could tell, she was the only detransitioner who actually lived in Ohio. She knew Republican legislators believed a ban would help people like her, but she’d lived in the detransition community longer than almost anyone, and her experiences had taught her that the only way to protect detransitioners was to improve health care, not take it away.

And so, this spring, as the state legislature considered a ban on transition care for minors, Callahan thought her representatives might like to hear from her.

Callahan stepped into the hallway and caught a glimpse of her reflection in the elevator’s closing doors. She was 41, a well-off mom from the suburbs, wearing a chic black blazer, a vintage A-line skirt and bright yellow cloud slides.

If Callahan wanted to pass as someone without a complicated gender history, she could. But she didn’t think she’d be able to forgive herself if she stayed quiet, so she made her way down the hallway.

Dozens of parents and their gender-fluid children stood with signs and homemade chocolate-chip cookies. Others had packed the chamber where an Ohio House committee would hold its fourth and final hearing on the proposed health-care ban.

All the seats were taken, so Callahan waited in the hallway until she spotted her representative, a young Army veteran with slicked black hair and an American flag pinned to his lapel. Callahan waved to get his attention.


“Hi, Representative!” she called. “My name is Carey. I live in your district. Do you have a moment to talk about detransitioners?”


The legislator scanned Callahan’s upper body. She had on a bright yellow T-shirt that said “gender-affirming healthcare saves lives.”

Maybe he was looking at the shirt, Callahan thought, or maybe he was looking at her chest. She’d come to the Statehouse once before, and she’d thought then that policymakers were eyeing her body as if trying to discern the ways testosterone remade her. One had even suggested Callahan had had it “easier” because she still had breasts.


The representative mumbled something, then pointed to a young aide trailing a few feet behind. Callahan turned to look, and as she did, the legislator slipped through a door that led to the committee chambers.


Callahan slumped onto a wooden bench next to Cam Ogden, a 23-year-old transgender woman who runs the advocacy group Trans Allies of Ohio.
The two had become friends on TikTok. Ogden was still in college but was already becoming a political insider.

When Callahan first showed up in Ogden’s feed, the young woman was surprised. Callahan had worked with some of the country’s most prominent anti-trans researchers and personalities. She’d disappeared for a while, but now she was on TikTok, denouncing health-care bans. Ogden was intrigued. Legislators tended to ignore trans people, but maybe, Ogden thought, they would listen to Callahan………

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/12/27/ohio-transgender-carey-callahan-detransitioner/

DeWine has vetoed the billing banning gender-affirming care.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoes bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors | CNN Politics

Ohio’s Republican governor has vetoed legislation that would have barred transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming care, he said Friday.

www.cnn.com

 

[MT15]

He gets credit for that. I don’t like him in general, but he is right about this.

 

[billm]

Indeed, a mental illness is running rampant in our country.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Parents at a Long Island Catholic school have rallied behind an LGBT+ teacher who says he was fired from his job for not living a "Catholic lifestyle".

Michael Califano, who teaches third grade at Maria Regina Catholic School in Seaford, New York, told local media that he was dismissed on Wednesday after someone sent pictures of him with his boyfriend to the church authorities.

But on Friday more than 100 parents, students, and faculty members rallied outside St Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre calling for Mr Califano to be reinstated, while more than 5,000 people signed a petition to that effect.

The petition's author Karen Greenwood described him as "an immensely beloved, committed and diligent educator" who had been "unjustly dismissed" due to his sexuality.…….

LGBT+ teacher alleges he was fired ‘for not living a Catholic lifestyle’

More than 100 people attended a rally to reinstate Michael Califano as a teacher at Maria Regina Catholic School

www.independent.co.uk

 

[zztop]

Anyone remember this lady?

Ex-Kentucky clerk who denied marriage licenses to gay couples faces $360,000 payment

Former Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, known for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples back in 2015, now faces a payment of more than $360,000, according to a ruling by a federal judge.

www.lex18.com

U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning of the Eastern District of Kentucky ruled that Davis must pay $260.084.70 in fees and expenses to attorneys who represented a same-sex couple. The judgment also includes $100,000 in damages a jury said she should pay to a gay couple ($50,000 for each individual) after a federal judge ruled their constitutional rights were violated.

 

[Bigdaddysaints]

where are all these people who applauded her for "standing up"? I'm sure they are in line right now to donate money to her fund..

 

[Farb]

where are all these people who applauded her for "standing up"? I'm sure they are in line right now to donate money to her fund..

What service is up and running for her donations? I doubt gofundme will allow it.

 

[Optimus Prime]

A legislative showdown is brewing in Ohio after Governor Mike DeWine split from his party to veto a bill that would impose substantial new restrictions on the lives of trans children.

The bill, HB 68, prohibits doctors from providing gender-affirming care to trans youths. It also blocks transgender female student athletes from participating in girls’ sports.

On Friday, DeWine said signing HB 68 into law would signal that “the government knows better what is medically best for a child than the two people who love that child the most: the parents.”

Ohio hospitals do not offer gender-affirming care to young patients without the consent of a parent or guardian.

“Parents are making decisions about the most precious thing in their life, their child, and none of us should underestimate the gravity and the difficulty of those decisions,” the governor said. “Many parents have told me that their child would be dead today if they had not received the treatment they received from an Ohio children’s hospital.”

The veto by DeWine, a Republican, marked a rare victory for LGBTQ+ advocates, who spent the past year battling a historic rise in anti-trans legislation and rhetoric across the United States.

Maria Bruno, policy director for Equality Ohio, said the governor’s veto was “a relief for Ohio’s transgender youth, parents, healthcare professionals and educators who can finally take a breath and get back to their lives.”

But that relief could be short-lived. Top Ohio Republicans, including the secretary of state, Frank LaRose, are now urging the state legislature to reverse the governor’s decision by overriding his veto.

“We have a duty to protect safety and fair competition for female athletes and to protect children from being subjected to permanent, life-altering medical procedures before the age of 18,” LaRose said.

The Republican speaker, Jason Stephens, announced this week that the Ohio house would reconvene on 10 January, weeks earlier than scheduled, in an attempt to revive the bill before the official start of the 2024 legislative session. Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers of the Ohio legislature, meaning Stephens’ push to sidestep the governor is likely to succeed.

“It is disappointing that the governor vetoed House Bill 68,” Stephens said. “The bill sponsors, and the house, have dedicated nearly three years to get the bill right.”

Despite Stephens’ insistence that HB 68 is a tool to “empower parents and protect children,”hundreds of Ohio families, including the parents of transgender children, have spoken out in fierce opposition to the GOP-backed proposal.

Last year, the Ohio house received more than 600written testimonies from people who oppose the ban on gender-affirming care, compared with just 56 in support of the legislation.…….

Republicans seek to override Ohio governor’s veto of trans rights bill

Mike DeWine defied his party on gender-affirming care for youths and now legislature is set to reconvene early to push law through

www.theguardian.com

 

[MT15]

In Ohio, a local election board has kicked a candidate off the ballot using an obscure law from the 70s that requires people to list all name changes within five years on their petitions. A trans woman had legally changed her name, but within that 5 year period. Nowhere in the 33 page state guide for prospective candidates is that requirement mentioned, nor is it mentioned on any of the paper forms candidates must file. It hasn’t been used for years, evidently, and 4 other trans candidates in other areas of the state were allowed to be on the ballot. Having the law is fine, but if they are going to enforce it they need to make it a known part of the process.

Ohio transgender candidate disqualified for only including legal name, not former name, on petitions

A transgender candidate for the Ohio House has been disqualified because she only circulated petitions with her legal name, instead of her former name.

www.news5cleveland.com

 

[BullSheetBuddha]

Is she or isn't she? I say it's none of the NY Times business.

Opinion | Look What We Made Taylor Swift Do

Whether she is conscious of it or not, Ms. Swift signals to queer people — in our language — that she has some affinity for queer identity.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, struggling to retain his number-two ranking in the 2024 GOP presidential primary race, framed supporters of same-sex marriage as a threat to America’s religious institutions, and to the sacraments of Christian churches.

“You have previously said that the definition of marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman. I’m curious, is that still how you feel today?” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Gov. DeSantis at the network’s town hall in Iowa Thursday night.

“So that’s just what marriage is with the church,” responded DeSantis, who is known for his anti-LGBTQ “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.

“And I respect the Supreme Court’s decision,” he continued, referring to the 2015 ruling that found the U.S. Constitution provides the same rights and responsibilities to marriage for same-sex couples as for different-sex couples. “We’ve abided by that in Florida even though our constitution defines it as between a man and a woman.”

But the Florida governor quickly pivoted to suggesting that somehow the seven out of ten Americans (71%) who support same-sex marriage, according to Gallup, are somehow a threat to religion.

“I think what we need to recognize is you are going to have people try to wield power against our religious institutions, and try to marginalize them simply by upholding the biblical definition of marriage,” DeSantis declared, echoing far-right extremists who for decades have predicted that same-sex couples marrying would somehow destroy “traditional” marriages and societal institutions, none of which have happened in the more than eight years since that Supreme Court ruling...........

MSN

www.msn.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Florida’s legislative session started only this week, and Republican lawmakers have already introduced more bills targeting LGBTQ people than there have been days in the new year.

Some of the bills — including one that would change the state’s definition of sex and another that would criminalize “lewd or lascivious grooming” — are among the most extreme of the hundreds filed in state Legislatures so far this year. Another bill proposes prohibiting government employees from being required to use their colleagues’ requested pronouns and yet another aims to protect children from “harmful material” online, though harmful material is so vague that advocates worry it could include LGBTQ content.

Additionally a measure proposed by the Republican state Sen. Jason Brodeur would declare nearly all published accusations of anti-LGBTQ bias to be “defamation per se.” The bill would bar journalists from defending such accusations by citing their subject’s “constitutionally protected religious expression or beliefs” or scientific beliefs, and those successfully sued would be liable for damages of at least $35,000.

“Florida has, for years, been an innovator of new assaults on freedom and equality, and this year’s slate of bills is no different,” said Brandon Wolf, a spokesperson for LGBTQ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign who survived the Orlando, Florida, Pulse nightclub mass shooting. This session, we’ll see escalating attacks on education, medical freedom, and the fundamental right of transgender people to exist as their authentic selves.”

Among the most extreme bills is a sweeping measure, introduced by Republican Rep. Dean Black, that would require Floridians to sign an affidavit certifying that their driver’s license or other state ID reflects the sex listed on their original birth certificate. As a result, transgender Floridians would have to turn in any existing ID that shows their gender identity and would not be able to receive such identification in the future.

Black’s bill would also require any health insurance policy in the state that covers transition-related “prescriptions or procedures’’ to also cover “treatment to detransition” from such procedures. It would also require coverage of so-called conversion therapy by requiring health insurance policies to cover mental health services “to treat a person’s perception that his or her sex is inconsistent with the person’s sex at birth” by affirming their birth sex.

The bill would also require any school district or state agency “that collects vital statistics for the purpose of complying with anti-discrimination laws or for the purpose of gathering accurate public health, crime, economic, or other data” to identify the birth sex of people in the data set, potentially restricting data collection on trans people.

Black said the bill aims to answer “the defining question of this decade, ‘What is a woman?’”

“Indeed, this bill only serves to codify that which is already indisputable, but has sadly been weaponized by a radical political movement intent on rewriting the laws of nature to fit their own twisted agenda,” Black said in a news release.

Gillian Branstetter, a communications strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union, said Florida isn’t the first state to consider a measure that would prohibit trans people from having driver’s licenses that reflect their gender identity. Montana, North Dakota, Kansas and Tennessee have enacted similar laws, and the ACLU is currently suing over Kansas’ restriction. Two other states — Nebraska and Oklahoma — have enacted executive orders that similarly define sex in state law................

Florida GOP proposes sex affidavits and ‘grooming’ bans in slate of anti-LGBTQ bills

Republicans in the state have already filed at least a dozen bills that LGBTQ advocates say would have a negative effect on the community.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Farb]

https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-do...inic-now-the-feds-are-trying-to-ruin-his-life

‘They show me their badges, and they say they were investigating a case regarding medical records,” Haim told The Daily Wire during an extended interview. “It was one of those moments where time stands still.”

Though Haim maintains he did nothing to warrant the probe, he immediately knew what it was about. A month earlier, Haim was the anonymous whistleblower for a bombshell story about secretive transgender surgeries for minors at one of the most prominent hospitals in the country.

I guess the theory about keeping government out of it and let the 'professionals' and parents determine if a child should be through experimental physical procedures to attempt to treat a mental disorder went out the window. Those that are for it use the government.

 

[LA - L.A.]

“So that’s just what marriage is with the church,” responded DeSantis, who is known for his anti-LGBTQ “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.

MSN

www.msn.com

This is the argument that keeps not getting addressed and it's the most important. Which church exactly is "the" church that gets to define what marriage legally is?

Several churches, otherwise known as religions, don't limit their definition of marriage to just between men and women. Since some religions/churches do allow same sex marriages, any laws forbidding same sex marriages is a violation of religious freedom, even if doesn't violate the religious freedoms of whichever church is supposed to be "the" church that gets to make the laws that govern all of the other churches.

 

[coldseat]

https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-do...inic-now-the-feds-are-trying-to-ruin-his-life

‘They show me their badges, and they say they were investigating a case regarding medical records,” Haim told The Daily Wire during an extended interview. “It was one of those moments where time stands still.”

Though Haim maintains he did nothing to warrant the probe, he immediately knew what it was about. A month earlier, Haim was the anonymous whistleblower for a bombshell story about secretive transgender surgeries for minors at one of the most prominent hospitals in the country.

I guess the theory about keeping government out of it and let the 'professionals' and parents determine if a child should be through experimental physical procedures to attempt to treat a mental disorder went out the window. Those that are for it use the government.

Hopefully he'll lose his medical license for violating those families HIPPA rights to privacy.

 

[MT15]

Indeed, a mental illness is running rampant in our country.

Yes I agree. And it’s coming from MAGA. Hate-filled and vindictive lowlifes.

 

[Farb]

This is the argument that keeps not getting addressed and it's the most important. Which church exactly is "the" church that gets to define what marriage legally is?

Several churches, otherwise known as religions, don't limit their definition of marriage to just between men and women. Since some religions/churches do allow same sex marriages, any laws forbidding same sex marriages is a violation of religious freedom, even if doesn't violate the religious freedoms of whichever church is supposed to be "the" church that gets to make the laws that govern all of the other churches.

I wasn't aware that churches, whether 'The' church or any other church made laws. Can you show me where a church has made same sex marriage illegal?