Sunday, March 11, 2018
Friday, March 9, 2018
Republican Senators Introduce Bill To Allow Christians To Legally Persecute Gay People
Utah Senator Mike Lee has reintroduced
a controversial bill that seeks to protect opponents of same-sex
marriage.
Twenty-one Republican senators,
including Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and Orrin Hatch
of Utah., have co-sponsored the measure.
The First Amendment Defense Act (FADA)
seeks to bar federal “discriminatory action” against people and
corporations who oppose marriage equality based on a “religious
belief or moral conviction.” The bill would also protect those who
discriminate against people who engage in sex outside of marriage.
Lee and Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador, a
Republican, first introduced FADA in 2015, but the bill stalled in
the House and Senate.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the
nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, called FADA “harmful
legislation that would legalize state-sanctioned discrimination and
undermine key civil rights protections for LGBTQ people.”
“Supporters of this legislation are
using religious liberty as a sword to hurt LGBTQ families rather than
staying true to our long tradition of it serving as a shield to
protect religious expression from government overreach,” David
Stacey, government affairs director at HRC, said in a statement.
Lee told BuzzFeed
News in November 2016 that he planned to reintroduce FADA. On
the campaign trail, President Donald Trump pledged to sign the bill,
saying it was needed to protect “the deeply held religious beliefs
of Catholics and the beliefs of Americans of all faiths.”
Doorman Stops Gun Wielding Homophobe From Entering Gay Club In North Carolina
A North Carolina man was arrested for shouting homophobic insults and threatening staff with a handgun outside of a gay-friendly nightclub.
Grayson Pittman was stopped by doorman at gay friendly nightclub Ruby Deluxe in Raleigh, NC.
Pittman, 27, allegedly pulled out a handgun and launched into a tirade of homophobic abuse.
Ruby Deluxe owner Tim Lemuel told ABC 11: ‘I am so grateful that he didn’t get into the club.
‘In the future we’re actually putting in a “no backpacks” policy.
‘I own three clubs in Raleigh and we’re gonna put in a ’no backpacks’ policy in all of those,’ he continued.
The incident on Monday (5 March) is Pittman’s 12th arrest since 2010
Previous charges include disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon. He was carrying a taser and a knife in a backpack during Monday’s incident.
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Trump Administration Continues Eroding Gay Rights Behind The Scenes
President Donald Trump’s housing department is seeking to erase anti-discrimination language from its mission statement.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development previously pledged to “build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination”.
According to a memo revealed by The Washington Post, the proposed new version will emphasize “fair, affordable housing and opportunities to achieve self-sufficiency”.
Amy Thompson, the department’s assistant secretary for public affairs, said the update was proposed “in an effort to align HUD’s mission with the Secretary’s priorities and that of the Administration.”
It seems that HUD’s purpose now does not include an effort to tackle discrimination.
Thompson added: “An organisation’s mission is never static.
“A mission statement describes an organization’s purpose, what it intends to do, and whom it intends to serve. Most importantly, an organisation’s activities must be embodied in its mission.”
She said that the potential new mission statement had been developed with input from the department’s secretary, Dr Ben Carson.
HUD spokesman Raffi Williams told HuffPost that these were “modest changes” which, he said, would “make it a more clear and concise expression of the historic work this agency performs on behalf of the American people.”
Carson has a long history of homophobic remarks.
He has previously compared gay people to pedophiles and insisted that prisons ‘prove’ being gay is a choice.
HUD and the Justice Department are both being sued after failing to disclose their allegedly anti-LGBTQ policies.
HUD reportedly pulled information relating to LGBT homelessness from its website, and dropped involvement in projects relating to LGBT housing discrimination and homelessness.
During his confirmation hearing, Carson doubled down on his past comments, attacking “extra rights” for gay people.
The Republican previously insisted that same-sex marriage is a Marxist plot from the New World Order, claiming in a speech to a listed anti-LGBT hate group that gay weddings are part of a plan “to destroy unity and bring America down.”
He has also claimed that gay people were responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire, warned that “there will be mass killings once again” over same-sex marriage, and insisted that gay weddings were like car seats for conjoined twins.
Massive Crowd Of 25 March In Support At Gays For Trump Rally Last Weekend In DC
“Gays For Trump” President Peter Boykin called the march a triumph... you be the judge.
Monday, March 5, 2018
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Friday, March 2, 2018
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Conversion Therapy Banned In Washington State
A bill to ban gay ‘cure’ therapy on minors has been approved by lawmakers in Washington state.
The US state could become the latest to outlaw the use of so-called ‘conversion therapy’ to attempt to change the sexuality of minors.
Performing gay cure therapy on minors is already illegal in nine US states and counting, as well as Switzerland, Malta, Taiwan, two Canadian provinces, and the Australian state of Victoria.
The practice is still technically legal in the UK.
Experts overwhelmingly agree that attempts to cure sexuality are futile, misguided, and often extremely harmful. Attempts to force teens to repress their sexuality has been linked to depression, self-harm and even suicide.
Washington state has this week become the latest to give the green light to a bill to outlaw the treatment.
Lawmakers in the state’s House of Representatives approved the bill by a vote of 66-32, after it cleared the Senate earlier this month.
Although the vote was broadly along party lines, more than a dozen Republicans joined the state’s Democratic majority in voting for the ban.
The bill will now go back to the Senate for concurrence heading to the desk of the state’s Governor, Democrat Jay Inslee, who has previously vowed to sign the bill into law.
Human Rights Campaign National Field Director Marty Rouse said: “No child should be put through the abusive practice of so-called conversion therapy.
“This outdated and dangerous practice has been rejected by medical professionals and has resulted in life-threatening consequences for countless LGBTQ youth.
“We thank the state legislators who voted to protect young Washingtonians from this inhumane practice.”
A bill was introduced in California last month which would see practitioners of debunked gay ‘cure’ therapies prosecuted for consumer fraud.
Out lawmaker Evan Low, who sits on the state’s Legislative Assembly, drew up AB-2943, known as the Unlawful business practices: sexual orientation change efforts bill.
The bill would build on the existing consumer protection law to introduce a possible conviction under state law for gay ‘cure’ practitioners.
The UK government recently said it would consider banning gay ‘cure’ therapy.
British health minister Jackie Doyle-Price said: “This is an issue the Government is keeping under review and we are constantly working towards improving the evidence base.”
She added: “The Government rejects utterly the notion that sexuality is something to be cured, and condemns gay conversion therapy.
“The evidence base is clear that conversion therapy is not only ineffective but is potentially harmful to participants.
“That is why officials have worked with the main registration and accreditation bodies for psychotherapy and counselling practitioners, including the UK Council for Psychotherapy, to develop a Memorandum of Understanding to help put a stop to this bogus treatment.”
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