All Things LGBTQ+ (1 Viewer)

[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]

For many trans and non-binary people, top surgery – the process of removing breast tissue to get a flatter or masculinized chest – is not an elective procedure. It’s essential to them feeling at home in their bodies.

Top surgery is a form of gender-affirming healthcare that can be used to treat dysphoria, the sense of deep unease one feels when their identity or appearance doesn’t match up with the gender they were assigned at birth. It’s also a complicated, intense and invasive process that requires navigating a maze of insurance paperwork, and from which it can take years to heal. This means that the road to achieving one’s “dream” chest can be a long, complex and fluid journey.

The number of gender-affirming surgeries rose steeply in the US between 2016 and 2019. Since then, more trans and non-binary people have publicly documented how their bodies – and their relationships to their bodies – have changed, even as anti-trans legislation has ramped up across the country.


“Everybody’s skin is different, and healing can look so different,” says Dulcinea Pitagora, a psychotherapist and founder of the LGBTQ+-affirmative practice Manhattan Alternative.

Pitagora has worked with some clients who are anxious about their scars showing because they are “worried about being outed, or someone hurting them for being trans”. That fear is exacerbated by the fact that Donald Trump, who has threatened to roll back LGBTQ+ rights, has won a second term. “We see increases in mental health symptoms caused by even hearing about [anti-trans] legislation in other states,” Pitagora says. “It creates more risk for clients, and it could affect whether a provider is willing to give gender-affirming care.”

Despite the baggage that can come with one’s scars, they can also become symbols of pride and resilience. The Guardian spoke with three trans and non-binary people across the US about their top surgeries.……

‘My scars aren’t a finish line’: three trans and non-binary people on how top surgery changed their lives

The number of gender-affirming procedures rose in the US, followed by an onslaught of anti-trans laws. For many, the scars can be a symbol of pride and resilience

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

 

[Optimus Prime]

WASHINGTON ― House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) summoned reporters on Tuesday afternoon just to make sure they’re clear that he’s against transgender rights.

Earlier on in the day Johnson had ducked a question at a press conference about whether Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, a Delaware Democrat who will be the first transgender member of Congress, is a man or a woman.

Johnson apparently got enough backlash from right-wingers that his office assembled reporters so he could make another statement.

“I want to make a statement and be very clear,” Johnson said during his brief second press gaggle in the Capitol. “I was asked a question and I rejected the premise because the answer is so obvious. For anybody who doesn’t know my well-established record on this issue let me be unequivocally clear: A man is a man and a woman is a woman, and a man cannot become a woman.”

Anti-trans sentiment is running high among Republicans on Capitol Hill thanks in part to Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign, which spent millions on TV ads accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of being for “they/them.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Tuesday even reportedly said in a closed-door meeting she would “fight” any trans woman who tried to use the women’s restroom near the House floor, in what was likely a reference to McBride.............

Mike Johnson Calls Extra Press Conference Just To Make Anti-Trans Statement

The House Speaker previously ducked a question about whether Sarah McBride, soon to be the first transgender member of Congress, is a man or a woman.

www.huffpost.com

 

[coldseat]

WASHINGTON ― House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) summoned reporters on Tuesday afternoon just to make sure they’re clear that he’s against transgender rights.

Earlier on in the day Johnson had ducked a question at a press conference about whether Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, a Delaware Democrat who will be the first transgender member of Congress, is a man or a woman.

Johnson apparently got enough backlash from right-wingers that his office assembled reporters so he could make another statement.

“I want to make a statement and be very clear,” Johnson said during his brief second press gaggle in the Capitol. “I was asked a question and I rejected the premise because the answer is so obvious. For anybody who doesn’t know my well-established record on this issue let me be unequivocally clear: A man is a man and a woman is a woman, and a man cannot become a woman.”

Anti-trans sentiment is running high among Republicans on Capitol Hill thanks in part to Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign, which spent millions on TV ads accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of being for “they/them.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Tuesday even reportedly said in a closed-door meeting she would “fight” any trans woman who tried to use the women’s restroom near the House floor, in what was likely a reference to McBride.............

Mike Johnson Calls Extra Press Conference Just To Make Anti-Trans Statement

The House Speaker previously ducked a question about whether Sarah McBride, soon to be the first transgender member of Congress, is a man or a woman.

www.huffpost.com

Can't take one step out of line with the MAGAioso cult or else they come for you, lol. These peoples reality are so fragile they can't accept something that's been so (i.e. transgender people) since the beginning of human history.

 

[Optimus Prime]

To which the school officials said "See, Goad get's the point" - bolding at end mine
==============================================


A private California Christian school forfeited a girl’s volleyball state playoff game because a transgender student athlete was on the opposing team.

Stone Ridge Christian High School in Merced forfeited the game against the private San Francisco Waldorf School on Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reports. In a message to parents, Stone Ridge Christian’s Academic Dean Julie Fagundes said the school “believes that God’s Word is authoritative and infallible.”

“And as Genesis makes clear, God wonderfully and immutably created each person as male or female,” Fagundes said in a statement. “We do not believe sex is changeable and we do not intend to participate in events that send a different message.”

While conceding it was a “heartbreaking end” to the season, Fagundes said “standing for Biblical truth means more than the outcome of a game.”

The California Interscholastic Federation, which governs high school sports for both public and private schools, states in their bylaws that all students should have the opportunity to participate in sports teams that are consistent with their gender identity, the Times reports. The same goes for the California Educational Code.

Meanwhile, 25 states across the US have laws banning trans athletes from participating in teams that align with their identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project.

“Transgender athletes want to participate in school sports for the same reasons as anybody else: to find a sense of belonging and social engagement, to be a part of a team, to boost fitness, and to challenge themselves,” Amanda Goad, director of the LGBTQ, Gender & Reproductive Justice Project at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said in a statement to the Times.

“Excluding them from sports sends a terrible message that they are not worthy of being treated the same as cisgender teammates and classmates,” Goad added..........

Christian school backs out of game against team with trans athlete over ‘God’s word’

The California Educational Code allows students to participate in sports teams that align with their gender identity

www.the-independent.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

 

[Optimus Prime]

Nancy Mace thinks she has found her issue. Has anyone checked to make sure she doesn’t have a penis?

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said she received death threats Tuesday amid backlash to her proposed legislation to bar transgender women from women’s facilities on Capitol Hill.

“They are threatening to kill me over this. Men that want to use women’s restrooms are threatening to kill me over this issue,” Mace told NewsNation’s “On Balance” late Tuesday.…..

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4999600-nancy-mace-transgender-bill-threats/

 

[Optimus Prime]

 

[Optimus Prime]

Nancy Mace thinks she has found her issue. Has anyone checked to make sure she doesn’t have a penis?

she's certainly going all in on this

 

[cuddlemonkey]

she's certainly going all in on this

Ten bucks says she staged the whole thing.

 

[coldseat]

she's certainly going all in on this

I hope they put that up every day, lol. Watching her get mad about it is funny.

 

[t_rav_82]

Ten bucks says she staged the whole thing.

Absolutely. I’d be willing to bet half my 401 that it was staged.

 

[cuddlemonkey]

Absolutely. I’d be willing to bet half my 401 that it was staged.

I'll take it a step further and say I am willing to bet all of your 401. lol

 

[Optimus Prime]

The politicization of transgender children in the US is one of the most astounding coups of propaganda and organized animus in recent history.

Rarely has so much attention and rage been directed at such a minuscule number of people, and more rarely, still, have those people been the most vulnerable and blameless among us: kids and teens.

The first state to pass a ban on transition-related care for minors was Arkansas, in April 2021; less than four years later, more than half of states have such a ban on the books.

In 2016, North Carolina lost an estimated $3.76bn in revenue following boycotts after they passed a law banning trans people, including transgender students, from using appropriate restrooms in public facilities; now, 14 states have such bathroom bans on the books, and the boycotts have receded.

These changes in public attitudes towards trans youth – from a broad if imperfect sentiment of tolerance to a widespread and politically weaponized attitude of hostility toward a small minority of kids – did not emerge by accident.

It was the product of a deliberate, conscious effort to radicalize large swaths of the United States, and significant chunks of state policy, into a hostility towards a few children………

How did transgender children in the US become so politicized? | Moira Donegan

The US supreme court seems poised to uphold a flimsy and bad-faith Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for minors

www.theguardian.com

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

The politicization of transgender children in the US is one of the most astounding coups of propaganda and organized animus in recent history.

Rarely has so much attention and rage been directed at such a minuscule number of people, and more rarely, still, have those people been the most vulnerable and blameless among us: kids and teens.

The first state to pass a ban on transition-related care for minors was Arkansas, in April 2021; less than four years later, more than half of states have such a ban on the books.

In 2016, North Carolina lost an estimated $3.76bn in revenue following boycotts after they passed a law banning trans people, including transgender students, from using appropriate restrooms in public facilities; now, 14 states have such bathroom bans on the books, and the boycotts have receded.

These changes in public attitudes towards trans youth – from a broad if imperfect sentiment of tolerance to a widespread and politically weaponized attitude of hostility toward a small minority of kids – did not emerge by accident.

It was the product of a deliberate, conscious effort to radicalize large swaths of the United States, and significant chunks of state policy, into a hostility towards a few children………

How did transgender children in the US become so politicized? | Moira Donegan

The US supreme court seems poised to uphold a flimsy and bad-faith Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for minors

www.theguardian.com

Yes, and it is terrifying.

 

[Scoutster]

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.

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.

I support gay couples adopting. Plenty of kids out there with worthless heterosexual parents. Also plenty of kids that need good homes.I agree with the court though, religious organizations shouldn’t be forced to go against their core beliefs.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Carolyn Fisher will never forget the moment her son told her he wanted to die.

It was November 3, two days before the presidential election. Fisher’s 16-year-old non-binary son, who uses he/they pronouns, was part of an online suicide pact with three other transgender and non-binary teens in Florida, Alabama and Tennessee.

The friends who’d met on Discord had agreed to die by suicide if former president Donald Trump won the 2024 election.

The plan had been set since September. The teens hoped their deaths would send a message to conservative lawmakers and stop them from enacting restrictive policies targeting trans youth.

But as the election approached, her son called a crisis hotline for help. He told the case manager on the other line about the plan, and the case manager helped them tell his parents.

Gathered around their kitchen table, Fisher asked her child what was going on.

“He started crying, and he said, ‘Mama, I want to die,’” Fisher told The Independent. Her son pulled out a notebook and listed all of the reasons he had jotted down explaining why his life would be miserable under a second Trump presidency.

“I lost it,” said Fisher. “I could not believe my child had been online planning to take his life with other kids.”

Fisher and her husband did not realize howTrump’s win could greatly impact their child’s life.

The couple were ardent Trump supporters. They had a Trump/Vance sign on their front lawn, a Trump bumper sticker on their car and attended most of the GOP meetings in Hoover, Alabama, where they live. They’d tried to take their son with them but they wouldn’t go…….

When she and her husband found out about the pact, they immediately helped contact the other parents involved, removed all the firearms from their house, pulled their son out of his school and enrolled him in online classes. Fisher started going into her son’s room every 30 to 45 minutes to make sure he was still breathing.

She and her husband ultimately voted for Vice President Kamala Harris in solidarity with their son.

“My son said, ‘You can’t tell me you love me and support somebody who’s going to hurt me,’” Fisher recalled.

Upon learning that Trump had been re-elected, her son told her: “The majority of this country just agreed with him that I should not exist.”…….

For one Alabama family, Trump’s anti-trans rhetoric nearly cost them their son’s life

Once news outlets called the election for Trump in the early hours of November 6, panic ripped through the LGBTQIA+ community and hotlines saw a dramatic surge in calls. Michelle Del Rey reports

www.independent.co.uk

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

Carolyn Fisher will never forget the moment her son told her he wanted to die.

It was November 3, two days before the presidential election. Fisher’s 16-year-old non-binary son, who uses he/they pronouns, was part of an online suicide pact with three other transgender and non-binary teens in Florida, Alabama and Tennessee.

The friends who’d met on Discord had agreed to die by suicide if former president Donald Trump won the 2024 election.

The plan had been set since September. The teens hoped their deaths would send a message to conservative lawmakers and stop them from enacting restrictive policies targeting trans youth.

But as the election approached, her son called a crisis hotline for help. He told the case manager on the other line about the plan, and the case manager helped them tell his parents.

Gathered around their kitchen table, Fisher asked her child what was going on.

“He started crying, and he said, ‘Mama, I want to die,’” Fisher told The Independent. Her son pulled out a notebook and listed all of the reasons he had jotted down explaining why his life would be miserable under a second Trump presidency.

“I lost it,” said Fisher. “I could not believe my child had been online planning to take his life with other kids.”

Fisher and her husband did not realize howTrump’s win could greatly impact their child’s life.

The couple were ardent Trump supporters. They had a Trump/Vance sign on their front lawn, a Trump bumper sticker on their car and attended most of the GOP meetings in Hoover, Alabama, where they live. They’d tried to take their son with them but they wouldn’t go…….

When she and her husband found out about the pact, they immediately helped contact the other parents involved, removed all the firearms from their house, pulled their son out of his school and enrolled him in online classes. Fisher started going into her son’s room every 30 to 45 minutes to make sure he was still breathing.

She and her husband ultimately voted for Vice President Kamala Harris in solidarity with their son.

“My son said, ‘You can’t tell me you love me and support somebody who’s going to hurt me,’” Fisher recalled.

Upon learning that Trump had been re-elected, her son told her: “The majority of this country just agreed with him that I should not exist.”…….

For one Alabama family, Trump’s anti-trans rhetoric nearly cost them their son’s life

Once news outlets called the election for Trump in the early hours of November 6, panic ripped through the LGBTQIA+ community and hotlines saw a dramatic surge in calls. Michelle Del Rey reports

www.independent.co.uk

It's been pretty stressful for trans kids the past couple of years. They know they're a target, and the election result was really scary for them. They are living in a state of fear, and of course, teenagers, especially ones online, can talk themselves into very rash permanent decisions. I'm really glad that this kid reached out to his parents who reacted with love and care. I do find parents like this interesting/frustrating though -- did they not know their child was trans? Did they know and just not think about the impact?

But ultimately they did the right thing - what kids need the most is knowing their parents will love and support them. All children, including trans kids, do much, much better knowing their parents have their back.