MUST WATCH – Republican Delegate Blasts Party for Homophobic Platform: ‘Stop Repelling Gays’

MUST WATCH – Republican Delegate Blasts Party for Homophobic Platform: ‘Stop Repelling Gays’

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A Republican delegate on the GOP platform committee blasted her committee and her party for adopting virulently homophobic positions in the 2016 platform.

In a video posted on Facebook by California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, Republican New York delegate Anne Dickerson delivers a blistering and emotional rebuke of what she called the “outrageous” anti-LGBT planks in the party’s platform.

Dickerson is “an adviser to billionaire GOP donor Paul Singer, who is a proponent of same-sex marriage and other issues championed by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community,” according to The Hill. 

Referring to language that says children are better off with a married mother and father, Dickerson said, “This is another poke in the eye to the gay community.” Facing off against homophobes such as hate group leader Tony Perkins, who was also on the platform committee, Dickerson excoriated the so-called “research” used to back up claims made my committee members that children of same-sex parents fare worse than children of opposite sex-parents.

She added,

“Continuing to suggest that a gay married couple, which is legal in our country, and was legal in 32 states prior to the recent Obergefell decision, this is outrageous to suggest that children of a gay couple are more likely to be completely imbalanced, and use drugs…and be criminals…I mean this is so provocative. And I completely disagree with this language. And I would hope that some fellow members would not want to continue to do harm, and would want to have a party of addition and not subtraction. And stop repelling gays, for God’s sake.”

RELATED: 2016 GOP Platform Lays It Bare: Today’s Republican Party is an Anti-LGBT Hate Group

More of Dickerson’s uphill fight against GOP homophobes via The Hill: 

At one point, Dickerson, who has adopted children, accused others on the committee of “blatant discrimination” over an amendment that would keep publicly funded adoption agencies from giving custody of children to gay couples.

“We need children to be adopted, so hooray to the gay community for trying to raise children in a happy and stable home,” Dickerson said. “I object to allowing patent discrimination against gays over the right to adopt. … This is blatant discrimination and should not be in our platform.”

Dickerson lost that battle and essentially every other battle she waged. At times she stared down Perkins and expressed exasperation after votes went against her.

“Unbelievable,” she said after the adoption measure passed.

Wrote Newsom of Dickerson’s emotional plea,

“This is awesome. This year’s GOP platform is the most anti-LGBT in the history of the Republican party. But one member of the platform committee, Annie Dickerson, decided to speak out and tell the members of the committee that she had enough of their bigotry.”

Watch, below.

The post MUST WATCH – Republican Delegate Blasts Party for Homophobic Platform: ‘Stop Repelling Gays’ appeared first on Towleroad.



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Ben Carson’s Latest: Transgender ‘Doesn’t Make Any Sense’ and Hillary Clinton Has Links to Lucifer

Ben Carson’s Latest: Transgender ‘Doesn’t Make Any Sense’ and Hillary Clinton Has Links to Lucifer

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It’s no secret that Dr. Ben Carson had some of the most ignorant and radical anti-LGBT ideas among the 17 GOP candidates during primary season (which is not saying much), but the retired neurosurgeon seems to want the title of most-antigay-ever all to himself.

The Tea-Party favorite has compared homosexuality with bestiality and pedophilia; he thinks that being gay is “absolutely” a choice, because “a lot of people who go into prison straight, and when they come out they’re gay;” he believes the that LGBT community gets more legal protection than the Christians under the U.S. Constitution; he said that Indiana’s anti-lgbt “religious freedom law” was “absolutely vital.”

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Jay Pharoah

The list is long, and Dr. Carson’s ignorance is borderline hilarious.

Luckily for comedy (Saturday Night Live’s Jay Pharoah has his work cut out for him), but sadly for the entire nation, the list of Carson’s outrageous anti-gay ideas is still growing.

In the last 48 hours, the former Republican presidential candidate has linked Hillary Clinton to Lucifer (as in Satan), and proclaimed that being transgender didn’t “make any sense.”

“For someone to wake up and think that they belong to a different sex because they feel different that day is the same as if you woke up and said, ‘I’m Afghani today because I saw a movie about that last night, and even though my genetics might not indicate that, that’s the way I feel, and if you say that I’m not, then you’re a racist,’ ” Dr. Carson told The Hill Monday.

Getting a little more philosophical, the Yale graduate compared being transgender to a leopard not comfortable in its own skin: “[Being transgender] is not based on your feelings, it’s based on what you are,” Carson said. “Can a leopard change its spots? No. It can’t because it feels like maybe it’s a different creature. No. It’s still a leopard. Sorry.”

RNC 2016 liveblogTuesday on the second night of the GOP convention, an unusually energized Carson drew applause from the crowd when he attacked Hillary Clinton, saying that one of her “heroes” and “mentors” Saul Alinsky dedicated a book to Lucifer. “This was someone that she greatly admired and that affected all of her philosophies subsequently,” he said. “So are we willing to elect someone as president who has as their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer?”

Politifact.com reported that Alinsky’s book, entitled Rules for Radicals — A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals, “offers advice to activists seeking to influence public policy, covering topics such as class differences and tactics such as disrupting meetings and winning media attention,” and it doesn’t really include any satanist ideas. The mention to Lucifer “strikes us as more of a provocative literary comment rather than direct advocacy for satanism. Alinsky seems to be acknowledging Lucifer only in a figurative sense, rather than a religious or devotional sense.”

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Wednesday morning in an interview on CNN’s New Day Dr. Carson defended his position linking Clinton to Lucifer and told anchor Chris Cuomo his goal was to point out what type of president Clinton would be.

“When you look at the principles that are espoused by Christ, by Christianity, and you look at what’s espoused by evil,” Carson said. “And then you look at things like killing babies, you look at things like redefining marriage, away from what the biblical definition is, I think that there’s pretty good consistency there,” Politico reported. 

Interestingly, The Huffington Post noted that Dr. Carson’s comments were not a part of his prepared remarks, and that he was “winging it,” as some reporters tweeted:

The teleprompter is rolling as the operator tries to get Carson back on text. but he’s doing his own thing

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) July 20, 2016

Teleprompter guy is just scrolling aimlessly through the prepared text for Ben Carson, who’s winging it #RNCinCLE #GOPconvention

— Brandon Larrabee (@BylineBrandon) July 20, 2016

Teleprompter has sentences about Hillary Clinton, but Ben Carson is talking about Lucifer.

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) July 20, 2016

The teleprompter literally just says “musical interlude” as Carson keeps going. #rncincle

— Chris Cassidy (@ChrisCassidy_BH) July 20, 2016

Watch part of Carson’s interview with Chris Cuomo:

 

The post Ben Carson’s Latest: Transgender ‘Doesn’t Make Any Sense’ and Hillary Clinton Has Links to Lucifer appeared first on Towleroad.



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Mike Pence to Accept GOP Nomination at RNC, Speakers Include Ted Cruz, Pam Bondi and Newt Gingrich

Mike Pence to Accept GOP Nomination at RNC, Speakers Include Ted Cruz, Pam Bondi and Newt Gingrich

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who has made anti-LGBTQ animus a cornerstone of his political career, is poised to accept the nomination for vice president today, the third day of the Republican National Convention (RNC).  Featured as his opening acts are three politicians whose anti-equality bona fides mirror those of Pence, and presumptive GOP Presidential nominee Donald Trump: Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), former Congressman Newt Gingrich, and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Here’s a recap of the anti-equality speakers on deck for Wednesday night.

Senator Ted Cruz

Whether the issue is marriage equality or critical protections from discrimination, Texas Senator Ted Cruz has consistently opposed equality for LGBTQ Americans. During his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, he ran a smear campaign against transgender Americans, releasing despicable transphobic ads and suggesting transgender people should “only use restrooms at home and avoid public facilities.”

Like Donald Trump, Cruz has also pledged to fight against nationwide marriage equality, promising to introduce a constitutional amendment preventing the federal government from recognizing the Obergefell decision. Cruz also voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), stood behind discriminatory Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, and said he would “absolutely” push for enactment of the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) in his first 100 days in office.

Pam Bondi

Bondi fought marriage equality in Florida, arguing in court documents that recognizing marriages of same-sex couples performed in other states would disrupt existing marriage laws and  “impose significant public harm.”

Bondi was named “Loser of the Year” by the Tampa Bay Times in 2014 for her fight against marriage equality. “Bondi’s clumsy communication skills and relentless defense of Florida’s  ban on marriage equality have made her a modern-day Anita Bryant,” the newspaper wrote.

Two years later, nothing has changed. Bondi’s anti-LGBTQ record was on full display under questioning from CNN’s Anderson Cooper in the wake of the tragedy in Orlando. Watch the interview here.

Newt Gingrich

Gingrich opposed the Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling in Obergefell, asserting, “First, as [Chief Justice John] Roberts warns, there are now no limiting principles to the establishment of new legal relationships and rights across a wide range of behaviors. He specifically notes polygamy as the next opportunity.”

Gingrich has long opposed marriage equality. In 2011, he said, “I favor adoption being between a man and a woman. Traditional families is what I’m in favor of. Period.” Gingrich — whose own sister is lesbian — has also said that people choose to be LGBTQ, in the same way that people can “choose to be celibate.”

The Trump-Pence Ticket

Pence became a national disgrace in 2015, for his “license to discriminate” bill that could have allowed businesses to deny service to LGBTQ people — and subsequently defending the bill over an outcry from the business community and a majority of Hoosier voters. In a now notorious interview with ABC last year, Pence refused to answer eight separate times when asked whether businesses should be able to discriminate against LGBTQ people.

Pence’s discriminatory bill had enormous consequences for the business and economic health of Indiana after a flood of companies spoke out against his bill. Indianapolis’s nonprofit tourism agency estimated that, Pence’s anti-LGBTQ bill cost the city alone up to 12 conventions and $60 million in lost revenue. Polling conducted by HRC after the 2015 fight found that 75 percent of Hoosiers said the debate was bad for the state’s economy and 70 percent of those surveyed said they opposed to the law.

Trump has reaffirmed his opposition to transgender equality, appeared alongside Tony Perkins — leader of SPLC-designated hate group the Family Research Council — and delusionally bragged about fictional support from the LGBTQ community in the wake of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando. His false claims about his own support are belied by his own long record of opposing LGBTQ equality.

For more on Trump and Pence’s opposition to LGBTQ equality, click here.

www.hrc.org/blog/mike-pence-to-accept-gop-nomination-at-rnc-speakers-include-ted-cruz-pam-bo?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Powerful New HRC Foundation Video Features Proud Dads of Transgender Children Talking About Equality

Powerful New HRC Foundation Video Features Proud Dads of Transgender Children Talking About Equality

Today, HRC Foundation released a first-of-its-kind web video exclusively featuring fathers of transgender children describing their experiences. The video also highlights the fear and hurt their families face due to anti-transgender prejudice and policies.

The fathers highlighted in video include JR Ford of Washington, D.C.; Joe Ghartey of New York; Wayne Maines of Maine, whose family’s story was also featured in a recent best-selling book, “Becoming Nicole,” and Keith Thomas, of North Carolina, a state that lies at the center of the debate over transgender equality following passage of the discriminatory HB2. The dads discuss their families’ journeys and the hopes and fears they have for their transgender children.

“Supportive parents can make all the difference in the lives and wellbeing of transgender children,” said Jay Brown, HRC’s Communications Director. “As a transgender man blessed with loving parents, including an amazing father, I know first-hand the comfort and courage these fathers bring to their children. In a world that so often hurls insults and condones bullying, these dads exemplify love of family and a steadfast commitment to the health and safety of the children they cherish.”

“As more and more people realize the humanity and dignity of transgender people of all ages, the mean-spirited and dangerous attacks we have seen from anti-LGBTQ activists and some politicians will grow increasingly unpopular and unsustainable,” Brown continued.

In an upcoming op-ed published in conjunction with the Dads for Transgender Equality video, one of the fathers, Wayne Maines, says, “transgender children and adults are the strongest and most courageous people I have ever met, but I worry about my daughter’s future every day. I worry because, to this day, transgender people are denied the same rights as their peers. I worry because transgender people face significant fear and discrimination. […] I worry because some Republican politicians have decided that it’s good politics to target a vulnerable group of people that includes my daughter.”

The emotional video of four dads comes during the Republican National Convention, where, earlier this week, delegates adopted the most anti-LGBTQ platform in their party’s history, including a plank opposing the transgender equality. HRC has joined with several LGBTQ advocacy organizations to support a national ad campaign detailing the personal harm imposed by anti-transgender legislation. The ad will appear during both the Republican and Democratic conventions.

In 2015, the HRC Foundation released another moving video, Moms for Transgender Equality, featuring four mothers of transgender children sharing their stories and explaining how their transgender children have enriched their lives. The Moms for Transgender Equality video and companion videos were viewed more than 7.5 million times over various social media platforms.

Watch the Dads for Transgender Equality video below:
 

www.hrc.org/blog/powerful-new-hrc-foundation-video-features-proud-dads-of-transgender-childr?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

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Mike Pence’s Seven Most Vicious Homophobic Moments (There’s A Lot To Choose From)

Mike Pence’s Seven Most Vicious Homophobic Moments (There’s A Lot To Choose From)

U.S. Representative Pence looks at his notes before a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in WashingtonIndiana Gov. Mike Pence is a darling of the religious right, and with good reason. Over the course of his political career, he has been a crusader (in his white-bread way) for the right’s pet causes. Chief among these, of course, is stopping the “homosexual agenda.”

While Pence is best known for his bumbling attempt to rebrand antigay bigotry as religious liberty last year, that was hardly his first foray into the fields of homophobia. In fact, both as governor and as a Congressman, Pence took the lead in attacking legal equality. He is far and away the most antigay candidate to run on a national GOP ticket, which is saying a lot.

As he accepts the Republican nomination, here’s a roundup of some of his choicest moments. Unfortunately, there’s no shortage of them…

1. Supporting a constitutional amendment to ban marriage equality

In 2006, then-Rep. Pence told 100 of his fellow Republicans that he supported a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex weddings. Or as Pence put it, supported “God’s plan” in the face of the destruction of civilization. “Societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family,” Pence complained.

2. Signed a bill to jail same-sex couples for applying for a marriage license

In an effort to make a bad idea even worse, as governor Pence signed a bill in 2013 that would jail same-sex couples in Indiana who applied for a marriage license. To prove that he wasn’t singling gay people out, Pence was also willing to jail marriage clerks who supplied a license or clergy who performed the wedding.

3. Wanted to divert funding from HIV prevention to conversion therapy

This one’s a two-fer: as a Congressional candidate in 2000, Pence wrapped two awful ideas into a single dreadful proposal. He wanted to ensure that “federal dollars were no longer being given to organizations that celebrate and encourage the types of behaviors that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus.” So where should the money go? “Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.” In other words, conversion therapy.

4. Opposed repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Longing for the good old days of complete invisibility for gay people, Pence predictably ignored the preponderance of evidence in support of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Instead, Pence put himself out there as a leading opponent of the policy change. “There’s no question to mainstream homosexuality within active duty military would have an impact on unit cohesion,” Pence argued, dismissing the repeal as “some liberal domestic social agenda.”

5. Complained about the passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes bill

In Pence’s ideal world, there would be zero protections. So it’s no surprise that he groused when the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes bill was signed into law in 2009. Pence didn’t cite legal objections. Instead, he complained that it advanced a “radical social agenda” and would have “a chilling effect on religious expression, from the pulpits, in our temples, in our mosques and in our churches.”

6. Served on the board of an antigay group

Pence has had a close relationship with the antigay leadership in his state. He served on the board of the Indiana Family Institute, an affiliate of Focus on the Family, which has been in the forefront of attacks on LGBT rights in the state, including a state constitutional amendment banning marriage equality. Thanks to its connections to Pence and other Republicans, IFI has been the recipient of funding for the state’s “Health Marriage” program. The former head of IFI has served as an aide to Pence both in Congress and the state house and as a campaign consultant.

7. Argued that passing ENDA would ban Bibles from the workplace

Of course, in Congress Pence voted against federal workplace protections. What was unique was his reasoning, which was that ENDA would discriminate against Christians. To comply with the law, Pence claimed, “the employer has to ban employees from having a Bible at the workplace for their break time, or displaying Bible verses.” Foreshadowing the Indiana religious liberty law, he went on: “We must stand for the right of every American to practice their faith according to the dictates of their conscience, whether it be in the public square or in the workplace.”

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Ben Carson Has Some Thoughts About Being Transgender; Brace For Impact

Ben Carson Has Some Thoughts About Being Transgender; Brace For Impact

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We’re sure Ben Carson went to medical school? Because he really does not seem to understand how human bodies work. (As you’ll recall, this is the same guy who said that gay marriage leads to polygamy, as if straights have not been employing serial sexual escapades since time began.)

“For thousands of years, mankind has known what a man is and what a woman is,” he drowsily droned to yet another group of rotten Republicans. “And now all of a sudden we don’t know anymore. Now, is that the height of absurdity? Because today you feel like a woman, even though everything about you genetically says that you’re a man or vice versa?”

Ugh, God, stop it stop it stop it stop it. First of all, “mankind,” blerg; at this point, using that word is just a deliberate middle-finger, and signal that yes, more inclusive words exist and no I’m refusing to use them.

But on to the substance of his argument: for thousands of years, humanity has understood that gender is a fluid, nonbinary thing. It is not hard to Google for examples of cultures all over the world that have blurred the lines between male and female over the last thousands years. But apparently Ben just believes that whatever he learned what he was a child always has been true and always will be.

Oh, but it gets worse:

Wouldn’t that be the same as if you woke up tomorrow morning after seeing a movie about Afghanistan or reading some books and said, “You know what? I’m Afghanistan. I know I don’t look that way. My ancestors came from Sweden, or something, I don’t know. But I really am. And if you say I’m not, (then) you’re racist.”

No, Ben. You have fundamentally misunderstood, well, everything. Trans people do not see a movie and then decide the next day that they are trans. Just stop this “woke up tomorrow morning” garbage.

But there’s actually something ever-so-slightly (and accidentally) correct about his analogy. Changing your nationality is something that people can, in fact, do. If you move to a different country, and learn a whole new set of customs and behaviors, and learn about yourself, and fill out a ton of paperwork, and do a lot of soul-searching and difficult decision-making, and have a lot of conversations, then yes you can in fact become naturalized as a citizen of another country. So, yeah, that can change.

It’s not a perfect analogy — trans people generally consider themselves to have been trans their whole lives, and for their transition to have affirmed the gender that they always were. But this is a nuance probably much too deep for Ben Carson.

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