Monday, April 18, 2016

There Is No Wiggle Room

The Supreme Court has been emphatic you cannot discrimination against LGBT families. But states are trying to wiggle around it by passing “religious freedom” laws and by trying to block adoptions.

Now Florida is taking it vengeance on LGBT youth.
Florida takes gay fight to foster youth
Orlando Sentinel
By Scott Maxwell
April 15, 2016
  You'd be hard-pressed to find a state more obsessed with battling gay folks than Florida.
 OK, maybe North Carolina. But Florida is right up there.
 We were the last state in America to openly ban gay adoptions.
 We were one of the final states fighting gay marriage.
 Once, Republican House members tried to deny movie-making incentives to any films that even featured gay people.
 And just last month, a federal judge penned a scathing decision, chastising Gov. Rick Scott's administration for continuing to fight equal rights that have already been clearly established in this country.
 Now, Florida has taken its obsession with fighting all things gay to some of our most vulnerable citizens … foster youth.
 Specifically, the state wants to change the proposed guidelines for group homes to allow bullying and discrimination against gay and transgender youth.
 They say that's not what they're doing. But read it for yourself.
 A few months ago, the proposed rules banned group homes from allowing "harassment or bullying of children by staff or other youth based on their race, national origin, religion, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, or any other characteristic."
So who is behind the removal of gender expression, sexual orientation?
So the anti-bullying rules were included. But somewhere along the way — after some faith-based groups complained and Gov. Rick Scott may or may not have gotten involved (neither Scott nor DCF will say) —DCF decided to strike all the LGBT protections.
Surprise, surprise! Who would have ever thought that “faith-based groups” were behind this?

Let’s allow to foster parents beat the gay or trans out of a child, let’s look the other way when the kids bullying and assault the trans and gay kids.

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