It Has Begun! Two More Years Of Oppression.

It didn’t take too long for the House to start their anti-LGBTQ+ legislation! The Republicans were bragging that they passed a bill on spending the very first day of the new Speaker... but the devil is in the details. On their first day the House Equality Caucus reported…

“License to Discriminate” Riders – Sec. 607

This rider creates a license for people and organizations—including those receiving taxpayer funds—to discriminate against LGBTQI+ people under the guise of religious liberty, and it prevents the federal government from adequately responding. For example, it prohibits the federal government from reducing or terminating a federal contract or grant with an organization that discriminates against LGBTQI+ people if the organization justifies their discrimination based on the belief that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. For example:

If a regional economic development commission, like the Appalachian Regional Commission, funded an organization that discriminates against same-sex couples, the regional commission would not be able to terminate the grant.

DEI EO Riders – Sec. 606

This rider prohibits funds appropriated by the bill from being made available to implement, administer, apply, enforce, or carry out:

• Executive Order No. 13985, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government”
• Executive Order No. 14035, “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce;” and
• Executive Order No. 14091, “Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through The Federal Government”

All these Executive Orders are LGBTQI-inclusive.

This is only the first day of a two year battle until election day.

New GOP speaker defends extreme anti-LGBTQ views: ‘Go pick up a Bible’

Johnson did not become more moderate in Congress

Washington Blade

By Christopher Kane

October 27, 2023

Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) defended his extremist anti-LGBTQ views on Thursday, telling Fox News, ‘I am a Bible believing Christian,” adding, “go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it — that’s my worldview.”

The Washington Post, in an article published on Thursday that chronicles the congressman’s “campaign against gay rights” throughout his career, reported that one of his aides directed the paper to a Facebook post written by Johnson last year in which he “argued that ‘biblical beliefs’ were inseparable from ‘public affairs.'”

After the little-known evangelical Southern Baptist Republican politician was elevated on Wednesday to become his party’s highest-ranking elected official, second in line to the presidency, details about his far-right, socially conservative views began to emerge.

CNN uncovered editorials written by Johnson from 2003 to 2005 in which he argued for the criminalization of gay sex, called homosexuality an “inherently unnatural” and “dangerous lifestyle,” and said marriage equality poses a threat to “our entire democratic system” — warning that “polyg-amists, polyamorists, pedophiles and others will be next in line to claim equal protection.”

And he is only two people away from the presidency!!!

The Los Angles Times:

The older I get, the more reminders I see that Maya Angelou was right: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

Take the new House speaker, Mike Johnson, for instance.

He’s been showing who he is since 1998, when he graduated from law school and started going after the LGBTQ+ community every chance he could. And I’m not just talking about trying to stop same-sex marriage, because let’s face it, many progressives were against it back then as well. But Johnson was extreme by comparison — advocating for laws that banned two adults from having consensual sex in their own home.

So, to anyone who considers themselves an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, know this: Same-sex marriage and other protections are not safe.

We have two more years of hell to go through!

Not only do we have states passing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation but now we have a House that is going to be trying to sneak in every anti-LGBTQ bills that they can tying them to must pass legislation.

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Now get a load of where the new Speaker is going to speak!

Newly-elected House Speaker Mike Johnson is scheduled to give a talk at a Christian anti-transgender event held at a full-scale recreation of Noah's Ark

Inside

By Madison Hall

October 26, 2023

Newly-elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is scheduled to speak next year at a Christian anti-transgender conference held at a life-size recreation of Noah's Ark.

On Wednesday, Republicans in the House voted as a bloc to promote Johnson to the speakership role after several weeks of the chamber attempting to function without a speaker following former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's surprising ouster.

[...]

According to the website of Answers for Genesis, a Christian apologetics ministry that runs a Creation Museum and a full-scale version of Noah's Ark from the biblical story, the organization currently plans for Johnson and his wife, Kelly, to speak at its "Reclaim: Answers for Women 2024 Weekday Conference" on April 3rd. 

[...]

The event's online page says that the central theme of the event is to fight back against the "cultural war on women" and the growing acceptance of transgender women in the US. Only women are allowed to attend the event, where they will "learn how to reclaim God's good design for women and overcome the war on women that threatens to overtake us," according to the event's page.

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Do you remember the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade? The court said that it was up to the states to determine is they want to ban abortion, and the Republicans hailed it as a major decision of "State's Right" well...

Anti-abortion groups confident Johnson will deliver despite Fox interview

Some influential conservative groups interpreted those remarks as a call to action, while others said it reflects a basic political reality in Washington.

Politico

By Alice Ollstein and Meredith Lee 

October 27, 2023

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s anti-abortion bona fides are undisputed, but Thursday night he downplayed the chance of action on a federal abortion ban during an interview with Sean Hannity, asserting there are more pressing issues facing his caucus.

“There is no national consensus” on abortion, he said in his first prime-time interview.

It was a stark turn for a congressman who has pushed several bills to restrict abortion nationwide and indicative of the competing pressures of his new role — including keeping control of the House.

Still, abortion opponents’ hopes for Johnson remain high.

Hey wait a minute! What ever happened to “States Rights”? And “There is no national consensus” however every time it was put on a ballot a women's right to choose won!

“He’s the speaker now, he’s not a dictator, and he has to work with a very diverse Republican caucus,” said Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council, who said he’s been in close touch with Johnson in the leadup to his election and since he won the gavel. “But I can assure you that he’s going to work with the Congress to continue to advance the sanctity of human life. I have no question on that whatsoever.”

[…]

“Abortion is a federal issue. He knows that as well as anybody,” said Kristi Hamrick, the chief policy strategist for Students for Life, who noted that Johnson has an “A+” rating on the group’s legislative scorecard. “So I would not interpret [the interview] as meaning there’s nothing coming. I would interpret that as meaning we need to get to work.”

The two faced Republicans are all for states rights until they are in control then all of a sudden they are trying to pass a national law! They lie through their teeth! So one thing to get elected and then do another.