All Things LGBTQ+ (3 Viewers)

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    Farb

    Farb

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    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.
     
    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Maryland parents who have religious objections can pull their children from public school lessons using LGBTQ storybooks.

    The justices reversed lower-court rulings in favor of the Montgomery County school system in suburban Washington. The high court ruled that the schools likely could not require elementary school children to sit through lessons involving the books if parents expressed religious objections to the material.

    The decision was not a final ruling in the case, but the justices strongly suggested that the parents will win in the end.

    The court ruled that policies like the one at issue in the case are subjected to the strictest level of review, nearly always dooming them.

    The school district introduced the storybooks, including “Prince & Knight” and “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,” in 2022 as part of an effort to better reflect the district’s diversity. In “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,” a niece worries that her uncle won’t have as much time for her after he gets married to another man.

    The justices have repeatedly endorsed claims of religious discrimination in recent years and the case is among several religious-rights cases at the court this term. The decision also comes amid increases in recent years in books being banned from public school and public libraries.……

    apnews.com

    Supreme Court says Maryland parents can pull their kids from public school lessons using LGBTQ books

    The Supreme Court has ruled that Maryland parents who have religious objections can pull their children from public school lessons using LGBTQ storybooks.
    apnews.com apnews.com
     
    Tens of thousands of LGBTQ+ rights supporters are expected to converge on Budapest this Saturday, poised to defy a police ban on their annual Pride march.

    The event has become a potent symbol of the escalating struggle between Hungary's nationalist government and its civil society, highlighting a decade of tightening restrictions on fundamental freedoms.

    Under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Hungary has systematically curtailed the rights of its LGBTQ+ community.

    A controversial law passed in March further empowered authorities to ban Pride events, ostensibly to "protect children" – a justification widely seen by critics as a pretext for a broader assault on democratic liberties…….

    www.independent.co.uk

    Tens of thousands to march in Hungarian capital in defiance of Pride ban

    Those organising and attending could face a criminal sentence
    www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
     
    Isabella remembers the moment she knew she needed to leave the U.S. It was March 2023, when Daily Wire host Michael Knowles gave a chilling speech to one of the most influential conservative gatherings in the country.

    "There can be no middle way in dealing with transgenderism. It is all or nothing," Knowles told the Conservative Political Action Conference.

    "For the good of society, and especially for the good of the poor people who have fallen victim to this confusion, transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely: the whole preposterous ideology, at every level."

    To Isabella, who is trans, this declaration was a clear sign of the Republican Party's increasing embrace of hardcore anti-trans politics — and a potential harbinger of "genocidal action." This spring, after years of preparation, she moved to Chile.

    She is not alone. In the wake of the Supreme Court's recent decision in US v Skrmetti, which upheld Tennessee and other red states' rights to ban transition healthcare for minors, four trans people told The Independent that the case had solidified their plans to escape the USA.…….


    www.independent.co.uk

    ‘No one is coming to save us’: Why some trans Americans are scrambling to emigrate

    Conservatives’ increasingly frenzied attacks on trans rights have made many people feel the USA is no longer safe for them — and the Court’s ruling in US v Skrmetti is just the latest ‘domino’, Io Dodds reports
    www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
     
    A week into his second presidency, Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender Americans from enlisting or serving in the U.S. military. And in early June, the U.S. Department of Defense — under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — notified transgender Americans already serving in the military that they can either voluntarily or involuntarily leave.

    But U.S. Army Major Anthony Guerrero, in a scathing op-ed published by the New York Times early Monday morning, June 30, lays out some reasons why he is vehemently opposed to the Trump Administration's anti-transgender policy.

    "The president issued the order in January, and the Supreme Court last month allowed the (Trump) Administration to start enforcing it," Guerrero explains. "The order may be legally sound, but it is neither moral nor ethical. I believe that it is my duty as an officer to dissent when faced with such an order."

    The U.S. Army major continues, "I may not be the sort of person you would expect to oppose a ban on transgender troops. I am a conservative evangelical Christian and a Republican. Though I have deep compassion for people who feel they are in the wrong body, I do not think that transitioning — as opposed to learning to love and accept the body God gave you — is the right thing to do in that predicament. But my views are irrelevant to the issue of transgender troops."

    Guerrero denounces Trump's policy as "blatantly discriminatory," arguing that it does "nothing" to increase "military readiness."

    "The executive order barring transgender troops is a legal command that provides cover for bigotry," Guerrero laments. "It delivers hate in the guise of a national security issue, dressed up in medicalized language. The meek compliance of military leadership with the ban sends a chilling message to all service members — namely, that our ranks are open only to those who fit a specific ideological mold, regardless of their ability to serve."

    In a disclaimer at the end of Guerrero's op-ed, the Times notes that it was "written in his personal capacity and does not represent the official views of the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Army or the Department of Defense."

    "Disobeying an order from a superior officer is punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice by dismissal, loss of pay and confinement," Guerrero explains. "But this issue is too important to me. I cannot remain quiet while the Army that I love ignores lessons that it should have learned long ago."..................

    www.alternet.org

    'I cannot remain quiet': Army officer defies orders to denounce Trump policy in scathing op-ed

    A week into his second presidency, Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender Americans from enlisting or serving in the U.S. military. And in early June, the U.S. Department of Defense — under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — notified transgender Americans already serving in the...
    www.alternet.org www.alternet.org

     
    Kiernan, a 24-year-old transgender person from Colorado, feels drained from dealing with legislation that consistently limits the spaces and freedoms of people like him. Since he transitioned in 2016, it’s been the same – first bathroom bills, then censorship in the education system – routine attacks on LGBTQ+ rights that Kiernan feels have now just become part of living in the US.

    Now, in the wake of the Mahmoud v Taylor supreme court ruling, the stigmatization of these communities is likely to worsen.

    The highest court in the US ruled that parents in Maryland’s Montgomery county school district can opt their children out of lessons that include books with LGBTQ+ themes and characters if they feel that it violates their religious rights.


    The move angered LGBTQ+ groups and civil rights advocates who also say that the lengthy and judicial process of these opt-outs could have chaotic implications for the US education system nationwide.

    “LGBTQ-relevant books are just the beginning in accelerated censorship,” Sabrina Baêta, a senior member of PEN America, told the Guardian. “What’s to stop schools from backing away from any books that may be offensive? We have already seen other topics like Black history disappear as districts try to avoid anything potentially controversial.”

    PEN America highlighted in a recent report that teachers may be more likely to overlook topics that require parental consent, thereby brushing over crucial books and subjects in classrooms that promote diverse identities and learning.

    In administrative terms, the court’s ruling also poses problems for teachers and educators. Rather than focusing on lessons at hand, they will have to grapple with what is or isn’t appropriate on religious grounds. And while anything with LGBTQ+ themes will constitute a student being able to leave the classroom, it creates a grey zone for topics like science and history, where certain lessons – such as about reproduction – could be seen as now potentially inappropriate.

    Opt-outs are believed by experts to have a pernicious effect on educational environments, but their implementation is not a new phenomenon. For a short period between the 2022-2023 school year, the Montgomery county board of education allowed them after introducing several “LGBTQ+ inclusive” texts into the curriculum.

    Less than a year after the books were introduced, however, the board rescinded this option, saying it “could not accommodate the growing number of opt-out requests without causing significant disruptions to the classroom environment”. Moreover, a school board official stated that permitting some students to opt out while stories were being told would expose others to “social stigma and isolation”.


    “It’s really frustrating and a burden on my psyche,” Kiernan said, speaking on the mounting number of bills and legislation that have recently targeted LGBTQ+ youth.

    “These bills aren’t doing anything positive for children; it’s a political agenda that’s trying to veil itself in support for religious people,” he said. “I wish it would go away. Let people be people and stop using us as a political scapegoat.”…….

    www.theguardian.com

    ‘Accelerated censorship’: advocates criticize US supreme court ruling on LGBTQ+ books

    Opponents say the decision allowing parents to let their kids opt out of lessons featuring LGBTQ+ themes will hurt the US education system
    www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
     

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