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]

Twenty years ago, Beth Stroud was defrocked as a United Methodist Church pastor after telling her Philadelphia congregation that she was in a committed same-sex relationship. On Tuesday night, less than three weeks after the UMC repealed its anti-LGBTQ bans, she was reinstated.

In a closed meeting of clergy from the UMC’s Eastern Pennsylvania region, Stroud exceeded the two-thirds vote requirement to be readmitted as a full member and pastor in the UMC.

Bishop John Schol of Eastern Pennsylvania welcomed the outcome, stating, “I’m grateful that the church has opened up to LGBTQ persons.”

Stroud was brought into the meeting room after the vote, overcome with emotion.

I was completely disoriented,” she told The Associated Press via email. “For what felt like several minutes I couldn’t tell where the front of the room was, where I was, where I needed to go. Everyone was clapping and then they started singing. The bishop asked me quietly if I wanted to say anything and I said I couldn’t.”

She was handed the red stole that designates a fully ordained member of the clergy, and joined her colleagues in a procession into a worship service…..

Defrocked in 2004 for same-sex relationship, a faithful Methodist is reinstated as pastor

Twenty years ago, Beth Stroud was defrocked as a United Methodist Church pastor after telling her Philadelphia congregation that she was in a committed same-sex relationship.

apnews.com

 

[Taurus]

Twenty years ago, Beth Stroud was defrocked as a United Methodist Church pastor after telling her Philadelphia congregation that she was in a committed same-sex relationship. On Tuesday night, less than three weeks after the UMC repealed its anti-LGBTQ bans, she was reinstated.

In a closed meeting of clergy from the UMC’s Eastern Pennsylvania region, Stroud exceeded the two-thirds vote requirement to be readmitted as a full member and pastor in the UMC.

Bishop John Schol of Eastern Pennsylvania welcomed the outcome, stating, “I’m grateful that the church has opened up to LGBTQ persons.”

Stroud was brought into the meeting room after the vote, overcome with emotion.

I was completely disoriented,” she told The Associated Press via email. “For what felt like several minutes I couldn’t tell where the front of the room was, where I was, where I needed to go. Everyone was clapping and then they started singing. The bishop asked me quietly if I wanted to say anything and I said I couldn’t.”

She was handed the red stole that designates a fully ordained member of the clergy, and joined her colleagues in a procession into a worship service…..

Defrocked in 2004 for same-sex relationship, a faithful Methodist is reinstated as pastor

Twenty years ago, Beth Stroud was defrocked as a United Methodist Church pastor after telling her Philadelphia congregation that she was in a committed same-sex relationship.

apnews.com

Now, will the UMC fight the Baptists for equal rights? If they don't, they're cowards. Both sects are equally valid, equally sacred. So why do the Evangelicals get to dictate the secular laws we *all* live under?

Mostly it's because other denominations won't stand up for themselves.

 

[bird]

Now, will the UMC fight the Baptists for equal rights? If they don't, they're cowards. Both sects are equally valid, equally sacred. So why do the Evangelicals get to dictate the secular laws we *all* live under?

Mostly it's because other denominations won't stand up for themselves.

Evangelicals are “Real Christians” (trademark pending). Which also underscores that, imo, RW Catholics would not be invited to the party should religionists gain power.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis doesn’t want the Sunshine Skyway Bridge lit up in rainbow colors for Pride Month – and instead it will be illuminated in red, white and blue.

The 429ft, four mile-long bridge spans Lower Tampa Bay to connect Pinellas County to Manatee County.

With June marking Pride Month, LGBTQ communities are set to be celebrated around the world. Sunshine Skyway Bridge’s 1,800 LED lights are typically lit up in rainbow colours that month.

But plans to shine a light on the event using the Sunshine State’s flagship bridge have been stymied by Mr DeSantis and the Florida Department of Transportation.

Instead, the Republican wants all bridges to be lit up in line with the Star Spangled Banner between Memorial Day and Labor Day – 27 May to 2 September – as the state marks the start of the governor’s latest policy, “Freedom Summer”……

“Thanks to the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida continues to be the freest state in the nation,” he added.

Mr DeSantis’ display will wipe out several scheduled lightings, including for Mental Health Awareness (28-31 May); Juneteenth (19 June); and Ovarian Cancer Awareness (1-7 September). Sickle Cell Awareness Day (18 June ) and World Fragile X Day for autism (22 July) were said to be close to getting approval.………

DeSantis bans rainbow colors on Florida bridges ahead of Pride Month

Sunshine Skyway Bridge will instead be lit up in red, white and blue to mark governor’s latest policy – ‘Freedom Summer’

www.independent.co.uk

 

[MT15]

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis doesn’t want the Sunshine Skyway Bridge lit up in rainbow colors for Pride Month – and instead it will be illuminated in red, white and blue.

The 429ft, four mile-long bridge spans Lower Tampa Bay to connect Pinellas County to Manatee County.

With June marking Pride Month, LGBTQ communities are set to be celebrated around the world. Sunshine Skyway Bridge’s 1,800 LED lights are typically lit up in rainbow colours that month.

But plans to shine a light on the event using the Sunshine State’s flagship bridge have been stymied by Mr DeSantis and the Florida Department of Transportation.

Instead, the Republican wants all bridges to be lit up in line with the Star Spangled Banner between Memorial Day and Labor Day – 27 May to 2 September – as the state marks the start of the governor’s latest policy, “Freedom Summer”……

“Thanks to the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida continues to be the freest state in the nation,” he added.

Mr DeSantis’ display will wipe out several scheduled lightings, including for Mental Health Awareness (28-31 May); Juneteenth (19 June); and Ovarian Cancer Awareness (1-7 September). Sickle Cell Awareness Day (18 June ) and World Fragile X Day for autism (22 July) were said to be close to getting approval.………

DeSantis bans rainbow colors on Florida bridges ahead of Pride Month

Sunshine Skyway Bridge will instead be lit up in red, white and blue to mark governor’s latest policy – ‘Freedom Summer’

www.independent.co.uk

The irony is so thick, I would hope it suffocates him.

The “freest” state? Where the government controls what colors are used to light up a bridge.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Dwyane Wade has recalled how his daughter Zaya Wade being “scared” to tell him about her identity made him examine his role as a father.

The former NBA star, 41, detailed the “landmark moment” his daughter Zaya came out to him as transgender during a conversation with Chris Paul and Lisa Metelus at a Creative Artists Agency event in California.

Wade explained that he was prepared for the coming out discussion years prior, after Zaya previously described herself as gay in a school assignment when she was just eight years old.

“So I came home and I just remember my child being scared to talk to me, like hiding in my wife’s arm in a chair,” he said, referring to his wife and Zaya’s stepmother, Gabrielle Union. “I think I’m this dad that’s like: ‘Hey, come and tell me anything! I’m a cool dad.’”

The retired Miami Heat player shared that he saw “fear in [his] child’s face” as she came out to him, which told him he needed “to check [himself]”.

“I had to go look myself in the mirror and ask myself: ‘Why was my child scared? Scared to tell me something about herself?’” he recalled asking.

Wade then explained how the moment made him self-reflect on how his “masculinity” has negatively impacted his children. “In a lot of work as parents – and as people – what we do is we put our fears and everything on our kids. And I guess I was doing that,” he said. “So I had to go look myself in the mirror and ask myself…What is it about my masculinity that has my child afraid?”

Dwyane Wade and his wife Gabrielle Union have been vocal advocates for the LGBT+ community ever since their daughter Zaya Wade first came out publicly as transgenderwhen she was 12 years old. The couple previously thanked their now 16-year-old daughter “for leading them on their journey” as proud parents of a transgender child and teaching them about the LGBT+ community.…….

Dwyane Wade recalls daughter Zaya being ‘scared’ and hiding from him after coming out

Retired NBA star’s daughter Zaya Wade publicly came out as transgender in 2020

www.independent.co.uk

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — NBA Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade was back in South Florida on Thursday to do battle again.

He spent more than 14 seasons as a guard for the Miami Heat, winning three championships, having Miami-Dade County nicknamed “Wade County,” and he still leads the franchise in everything from points and rebounds to personal fouls. But the fight he outlined Thursday at The Elevate Prize Foundation’s Make Good Famous Summit, after receiving the nonprofit’s Elevate Prize Catalyst Award, may be the most personal of all.

“We’ve done so many great things here so it wasn’t easy to leave,” Wade told The Associated Press in an interview before the award ceremony. “But the community wasn’t here for Zaya, so the community wasn’t here for us.”

Wade’s daughter, Zaya, who turns 17 next week, came out as transgender in 2020 in the midst of anti-trans legislation in Florida and other states that prompted many trans adults to flee the state. The Wade family sold their Florida home last year and moved to California.

In accepting the award, Wade shared it with Zaya and credited her with inspiring the creation of Translatable, a new online community designed to support transgender children and their families.

“The question was presented to her as, ‘If you have one thing that you want to see change in this community, what would it be?’,” Wade recalled. “And, for her, it goes right to parents. It goes right to the adults. It goes right to us. It’s not the kids. It’s us. And so she wanted to create a space that felt safe for parents and their kids. That’s what Translatable is, and it’s her baby.”


Wade hopes Translatable, which is funded by the Wade Family Foundation, will provide a community to “support growth, mental health, and well-being, and that this space ignites more conversations leading to greater understanding and acceptance.” He said he will use the $250,000 in unrestricted funding that comes with The Elevate Prize Catalyst Award for Translatable…….

NBA great Dwyane Wade launches Translatable, an online community supporting transgender youth

NBA Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade has launched Translatable, a nonprofit online community dedicated to supporting transgender youth.

apnews.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

A jury has awarded more than $1.1 million to an Idaho drag performer who accused a far-right blogger of defaming him when she falsely claimed that he exposed himself to a crowd, including children, during a Pride event in June 2022.

The Kootenai County District Court jury unanimously found Friday that Summer Bushnell defamed Post Falls resident Eric Posey when she posted a doctored video of his performance with a blurred spot that she claimed covered his “fully exposed genitals,” the Coeur D'Alene Press reported.

In reality the unedited video showed no indecent exposure, and prosecutors declined to file charges.

“The judicial system did what needed to be done,” Posey said after the verdict.

Jurors awarded Posey $926,000 in compensatory damages for defamation. Because Posey proved that Bushnell knew her allegations were false when she made them or that she made the accusations with reckless disregard for the truth, the jury awarded $250,000 in additional punitive damages.……

Idaho drag performer awarded $1.1 million in defamation case against far-right blogger

A jury has awarded more than $1.1 million to an Idaho drag performer who accused a far-right blogger of defaming him when she falsely claimed that he exposed himself to a crowd, including children, in 2022

www.independent.co.uk

 

[MT15]

This type of defamation has been going on far too long with zero repercussions. I hope every other drag performers who have been defamed sue their defamers as well.

 

[MT15]

 

[Optimus Prime]

“Drag is joy, but it’s under attack. Our very existence, our self-expression, our art — all of it is being threatened. And we’ve had enough.”

That’s the opening salvo of Qommittee, a group of drag performers banding together to protect and promote their art form, as it announced its formation ahead of June’s LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

“We’ve always had to fight tooth and nail for our place in this world,” the group said in a news release Wednesday. “But now, we’re also battling a tidal wave of hate — doxxing, harassment, death threats, armed protests, bombings, and even shootings.”

Qommittee consists of about 10 drag performers nationwide who have experienced, directly or indirectly, threats, harassment or violence related to their art form. One had a venue firebombed in Ohio; one performed at Club Q in Colorado Springs and helped victims the night of the shooting there that killed five people; and one worked at Club Q and at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, where a gunman killed 49 people in 2016.



Qommittee says it hopes, among other things, to connect drag performers and communities lacking in local support to resources including legal aid and therapy. It may also help performers and venues navigate the business.

The group is already working to create dialogue between its members and local law enforcement agencies, organizers said.…….

The art of drag is a target. With Pride Month near, performers are organizing to fight back

About 10 drag artists from around the United States are banding together to protect and promote their art form.

apnews.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Like many seven-year-olds, Gregory’s daughter discovered her love for soccer on the playground at recess. She started coming home talking about the sport and asked to join her friends’ recreational team. Gregory, an attorney in Portland, Oregon, whose name we’ve changed to protect his family’s safety and privacy, signed her up. But his daughter ended up getting assigned to a different team than the one her friends were on.

Gregory was concerned about his daughter not being on a team with a coach and players she knew – she’s transgender and he wanted her to be in a supportive environment. Gregory’s wife called the league’s coordinator to see if they could get their daughter on the original team and to explain the reasoning for their request, but he said she shouldn’t be playing on a girls’ team if she’s trans. “We were told that she would have to play on a boys’ team if she wanted to play in games,” Gregory told the Guardian. He immediately withdrew his daughter from the league.

Later, they found out that the league’s official policy for transgender athletes was to allow them to register for a team that matches their gender identity, but it was too late. Gregory had already been nervous about signing up his daughter for soccer and didn’t plan on continuing with a league that might be unsupportive in practice. “Sports has become such a flashpoint for bias,” he said. “Almost every new environment is scary and nervous for us as parents and sports was definitely one of those.”


Within days, however, Gregory and his family discovered Portland Community Football Club (PCFC), an organization where his daughter could play on a mixed-gender team, and even wear a Pride flag on her official jersey. “During her first soccer game she couldn’t even really run normally because she was squealing and skipping with joy down the field. It’s the happiest I’ve ever seen her.”

Currently, 23 states have laws barring transgender student athletes from participating in some sports in the name of competitive fairness. In response, advocates for sports equity often point to researchthat shows that there are no sex advantages in prepubescent children when it comes to sport, and that there’s a need for far more data on possible advantages or disadvantages after a person undergoes hormone therapy and other gender-affirming care.

These discriminatory laws have often led to lower sports participation rates among young transgender athletes. And in states where laws don’t exist, harassment and intimidation of trans kids, or those suspected of being transgender,have become more commonplace. The combination of legal and rhetorical antagonism against young transgender athletes has made it more difficult for them to take part in sports, even while they make up a minority of youth athletes – only 1.4% of youth ages 13 to 17 in the United States identify as transgender.

But across the country, parents of transgender and nonbinary children are relying on small, inclusive sports clubs to give their children access to the games that many parents consider an important and fun part of childhood. These groups provide a supportive and low-stakes environment for LGBTQ+ children and families to explore sports amid growing antagonism toward transgender inclusion in athletics.……

‘Happiest I’ve ever seen her’: the sports teams giving trans kids a safe place to play

Inclusive clubs provide a supportive environment for LGBTQ+ children amid growing antagonism toward transgender inclusion in athletics

www.theguardian.com

 

[MT15]

Yes, we really have to stop those drag queens….

 

[Bigdaddysaints]

Yes, we really have to stop those drag queens….

its a good diversion for these creeps who are the real pedo's. But i am sure the anti-drag peeps would rather this guy go in the bathroom with their child rather than a drag queen, EVEN after they know the guy is a pedo...

 

[Optimus Prime]

A long-standing US anti-pornography campaigning group has advised, promoted and endorsed anti-LGBTQ+ activists and politicians in Uganda, including a governing party member who endorsed anti-LGBTQ+ laws by saying gays “should be castrated”, and a virulently homophobic founder of a “militaristic” Christian boys camp.

The revelations about Washington DC-based National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) and its spin-offs and affiliates – based on documents, audio and video recordings and open-source materials – raise questions about its recent disavowals of its history of anti-LGBTQ+ positions, and its role in Uganda’s passage last year of laws on homosexuality which are among the most punitive and restrictive in the world.

It also complicates NCOSE’s efforts to play down its religious associations and its history on the Christian right in order to exercise a more authoritative influence on policymakers in the US and around the world.


The Guardian contacted NCOSE for comment. A spokesperson responded with a link to a December 2023 statement in which the organization admitted to “moments in our organization’s history prior to our leadership change in 2011, when remarks were made that were indeed anti-LGBTQ+” but spoke of a “commitment to serve, uplift, and respect all persons, including members of the LGBTQ+ community”.…….

Revealed: how a US far-right group is influencing anti-gay policies in Africa

US anti-pornography campaigning group has advised, promoted and endorsed anti-LGBTQ+ activists and politicians in Uganda

www.theguardian.com

 

[MT15]

Citizens in Florida have taken matters into their own hands, striking a blow for freedom in authoritarian FL

 

[Optimus Prime]

Police are investigating the theft of more than 200 Pride flags in Carlisle, Massachusetts, that occurred just before Pride month – and amid a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ measures from US legislatures.

In a statement released on Friday, the Carlisle police department announced that it is investigating the theft of the flags, which were taken out of a prominent local traffic circle earlier in the week.

The police said that on 27 May they were notified that the flags, which had been placed in the traffic circle, had been stolen overnight. The flags were last seen on Sunday evening.


“We are taking this very seriously,” the Carlisle police chief, Andrew Amendola, said. He added: “It is unfortunate, as Carlisle is an inclusive community, and we want everyone to feel safe and welcomed here.”

In a statement on Facebook, Travis Snell, chair of the Carlisle select board, which acts as the community’s governing board, said: “Such action and behavior have no place in Carlisle, and our police department is working to identify whoever is responsible and they will be held accountable.”

“On behalf of the town of Carlisle, the Select Board would like to reiterate that Carlisle is an inclusive community that respects its freedoms and the rights of individuals,” Snell added, according to the local news station NBC10.

According to NBC10, people replaced the flags within hours of them being stolen.……

Police investigate theft of more than 200 Pride flags in Massachusetts

Flags were stolen overnight from prominent local traffic circle in Carlisle amid wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in US

www.theguardian.com

 

[boy_of_wonder75]

The first annual Northshore Pride Parade was a resounding success yesterday! About 500 participants in the parade and lots more along the lakefront route had a joyful celebration! It was great to see so many families there.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Ms Rachel faces another boycott over Pride statement

Conservatives accused the popular online kids’ entertainer of supporting ‘child mutilation’ by celebrating LGBTQ Pride

www.independent.co.uk