Full Court Press

The attacks by Republicans have become vile and oppressive, they are going out of their way to criminalize us.

Why Republicans are suddenly in a rush to regulate every trans kid’s puberty
Proposals in eight states would ban puberty blockers and hormones for trans minors.
Vox
By Katelyn Burns
January 29, 2020

[…]
However, some conservative politicians want to take that decision out of the hands of doctors and parents who know these teens best — and put it in the hands of the state. In fact, in Greyson’s home state of Texas, lawmakers have promised to introduce legislation that would essentially ban, midway, his medical transitioning once their next legislative session begins in 2021.

Eight state legislatures — including Missouri, Florida, Illinois, Oklahoma, Colorado, South Carolina, Kentucky, and South Dakota — have already introduced bills this year that would criminally punish doctors who follow best practices for treating adolescents with gender dysphoria. In South Dakota, for example, doctors who prescribe puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones could face a $2,000 fine and a year in prison under the proposed law. South Dakota’s version of the bill was even prioritized and became the first bill of the decade to pass out of committee. A full floor vote on the bill is scheduled for Wednesday. Lawmakers in Texas, Utah, and Georgia have promised to introduce similar bills once their legislative sessions begin. And while a New Hampshire bill wouldn’t criminalize doctors, it would classify gender-affirming care for minors as child abuse.

In other words, should any of the bills become law, they would effectively cut off many adolescents from medically necessary and, often, lifesaving treatment for gender dysphoria. There are approximately 150,000 transgender youth between the ages of 13 and 17 in the United States, according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, and studies show that kids in Gen Z identify as more queer and trans than previous generations. A 2018 study found that the risk of developing a mental health condition was three to 13 times higher for transgender and gender-diverse youth than for their cisgender peers.

And if that was enough…

Iowa GOP files bill to remove transgender people from the state’s Civil Rights Act
Iowa would become the first state to give civil rights protections to transgender people - or any class at all - and then take them away.
LGBTQ Nation
By Alex Bollinger
January 29, 2020


Republican lawmakers in Iowa filed a bill that would remove transgender people from the state’s civil rights protections, which could make it the first state to give civil rights protections to transgender people – or any class at all – and then take them away.

A group of nine state representatives introduced HF 2164, which they describe as “an act removing gender identity as a protected class under the Iowa Civil Rights Act.”

In 2007, the state added both sexual orientation and gender identity to its anti-discrimination law, banning discrimination against LGBTQ people in housing, public accommodations, employment, education, and other areas.

Why?

Why are they doing this to us?

Do they hate us so much that they want us dead?

The Vox article goes to say,

The recent conservative push for an outright ban on transition care for minors grew directly from the social media disinformation campaign surrounding Luna Younger, a 7-year-old trans girl from Dallas caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between parents who disagree over her gender identity. A Texas judge overruled a jury decision to award full custody of Luna to her mother, Anne Georgulas, in late September. That means Luna’s father, Jeffrey Younger, who insists on dressing his child as a boy and forced her to cut her hair, has an equal say in future medical decisions for Luna.

Driving the conversation about the case were primarily conservative media outlets. In the week following the initial jury decision, 23 conservative news sites published 55 stories about Younger, and all opposed the child’s transition. According to data from Media Matters, those 55 stories earned 3.5 million Facebook interactions.

They smelled blood and like rabid animal they attacked mercilessly. They thought that they found a weak point and attacked.

The political fight has worried young trans people across the country who depend on their medication to keep their gender dysphoria at bay. According to data from the Trevor Project, 76 percent of LGBTQ youth felt that the recent political climate impacted their mental health or sense of self. Over the past year, the Trevor Project has supported more than 150 LGBTQ youth in crisis in South Dakota.

Are they so callus that they are doing it for votes and campaign contributions and don’t about the children lives they ruin?

And I try to think back to the referendum in Massachusetts in 2018 where over 70 percent of the people voted for our human rights.

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Then in Nebraska they are trying to pass a bill banning discrimination against us and the opposition is coming out in force, and being labeled as bigots.

Those who oppose sexual orientation discrimination bill have valid reasons for doing so
Norfolk Daily News
Daily News editorial
January 28, 2020

One of the most politically sensitive issues likely to come before Nebraska’s state senators this session will be Legislative Bill 627. As proposed, it would ensure that workers couldn’t be fired or discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
[…]
Good morning (or afternoon), Nebraskans. Our state's unique motto is 'Equality Before the Law.' So know that whoever you are, wherever you are on life's journey and whomever you love, we want you here. You are loved."

But it doesn’t seem like everyone in Nebraska wants to treat everyone equally, the editorial goes on to say,

"It's really important to let people know that they are loved. We want them here. ... I try to find the good in every single person," she [Sen. Pansing Brooks] has said.

But here’s our objection, which we believe is shared by many Nebraskans. This kind of an argument seems to imply that anyone who disagrees with LB627 supporters is somehow uncaring, cold-hearted and perhaps homophobic.

The reality is that now — as in the past — there are valid business-focused arguments for why there are those who believe such a law isn’t needed in Nebraska. A state senator who may ultimately vote against LB627 this session shouldn’t be stereotyped in this manner.

Gee… what are are valid business-focused arguments?

Maybe…
We don’t to serve those kind of people.
I should be allowed to discriminate because of my beliefs.
They make me feel yucky.
I can’t trust them around children.

Hmm… I really can’t think of a reason why that is not homophobic or transphobic can you?

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Updated 5:15 PM

I just came across this article about a bill signed into law in Tennessee…

These LGBTQ Parents Raised Happy Kids. Tennessee’s New Adoption Law Could Take It All Away.
The "license to discriminate" bill has pushed queer families to consider moving in order to stay together.
NewNowNext
By Nico Lang
January 31, 2020

[…]
“It’s about my children having the best life they can have,” he [Barry Myers] tells NewNowNext. “This life is my dream. My dream was to have kids.”

Unfortunately, that dream is in jeopardy for LGBTQ families across Tennessee. On Friday, Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed House Bill 836, which allows faith-based adoption and foster care agencies—including those that receive state government funding—to refuse to work with same-sex couples. The Volunteer State was the 11th to sign what LGBTQ advocates have called a “license to discriminate” law after similar measures were enacted in states like Alabama, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Virginia.
[…]
LGBTQ families in Tennessee tell NewNowNext the passage of its “license to discriminate” law has made them feel unsafe in their own state. Cynthia Deitle, who has a 9-year-old with her wife of 11 years, says her family has discussed moving every single day since the legislation became the law of the land.
[…]
Of particular concern for LGBTQ families in Tennessee is what they perceive to be the “vagueness” of HB 836, which passed both the state House and Senate with overwhelming majorities. For instance, the legislation states that adoption and foster care agencies are not “required to perform, assist, consent to, refer, or participate in any child placement” should doing so contravene their “religious or moral convictions.” However, it does not clarify whether that could be used to deny placement to other kinds of applicants—like single parents, interfaith couples, or Muslims.

This is nothing but the new expanded version of Jim Crow laws but instead of just for blacks the way that the law is written, “contravene their ‘religious or moral convictions,’” the law can be used to discriminate against anyone.

It is against my “religious or moral convictions” for adoption by _________________ (fill in the blank with one or more of the following,)

• Interracial parents.
• Jewish parents.
• Muslim parents.
• Black parents.
• LGBTQ parents.

It is just another way to hide bigotry behind the “Good Book.”