Take Your Pick…

This morning’s battling headlines:
Sources: Trump executive order allowing anti-LGBTQ discrimination is coming soon
Obama’s Protections for L.G.B.T. Workers Will Remain Under Trump

LGBTQ Nation reports,

An executive order from President Donald Trump opening up discrimination against the LGBTQ community on the basis of religious belief is expected sometime this week, possibly as soon as today.

Several sources spoke with LGBTQ Nation on the condition of anonymity who have told us that the order will allow for discrimination in a number of areas, including employment, social services, business, and adoption.

From what we’ve heard, the executive order could be far-reaching, and could include: making taxpayer funds available for discrimination against LGBTQ people in social services; allow federally funded adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ parents; eliminate non-discrimination protections in order to make it possible to fire federal employers and contractors based on their sexual orientation or gender identity; and allow federal employees to refuse to serve people based on the belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman, and that gender is an immutable characteristic set at birth, which would impact a broad range of federal benefits.

Meanwhile the New York Times reports,

WASHINGTON — The White House said on Monday that President Trump would leave in place a 2014 Obama administration order that created new workplace protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

In a statement issued in response to growing questions about whether Mr. Trump would reverse the Obama order, the White House said the president was proud to embrace gay rights.

“President Trump continues to be respectful and supportive of L.G.B.T.Q. rights, just as he was throughout the election,” the statement said. “The president is proud to have been the first ever G.O.P. nominee to mention the L.G.B.T.Q. community in his nomination acceptance speech, pledging then to protect the community from violence and oppression.”

The decision to keep the order, the statement added, was Mr. Trump’s. It uses stronger language than any Republican president has before in favor of equal legal protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, though that is not likely to quiet Mr. Trump’s critics on the left.

My guess is that he will keep the order but add a giant loophole for “religious freedom” that will allow a company to discriminate against us.

But who really knows? With Trump as president anything is possible, what he says today might not be true tomorrow.

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You all have probably heard about this already, it is all over Facebook and the news,

Boy Scouts Will Admit Transgender Boys
NPR
By Richard Gonzales
January 31, 2017

In a surprise announcement, the Boy Scouts of America said that it will begin accepting transgender boys who want to join its scouting programs.

The Scouts' policy change came in a written and video statement released by Chief Scout Executive Michael Surbaugh. He said that for more than a hundred years the Scouts used the information on an individual's birth certificate to determine a boy's eligibility to join its single gender programs.

"Communities and state laws are now interpreting gender identity differently than society did in the past," Surbaugh said, "and these new laws vary widely from state to state.

"Starting today we will accept registration in our Scouting programs based on the gender identity provided on an individual's application," said Surbaugh.