“Never A Right Way To Do The Wrong Thing!”

There were a couple of articles that caught my eye this afternoon, a mixture of articles about LGBTQ+ issues.

The first is about the Pope…

Vatican steps closer to allowing transgender people to be baptized as Catholics
AP News
By DAVID CRARY
November 9, 2023

In the United States, the national conference of Catholic bishops rejects the concept of gender transition, leaving many transgender Catholics feeling excluded. On Wednesday, the Vatican made public a sharply contrasting statement, saying it’s permissible, under certain circumstances, for trans people to be baptized as Catholics and serve as godparents.

“It is a major step for trans inclusion … it is big and good news,” said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of Maryland-based New Ways Ministry, which advocates for greater LGBTQ acceptance in the church.

The document was signed Oct. 21 by Pope Francis and Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, who heads the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. It was posted Wednesday on that office’s website.

If it did not cause scandal or “disorientation” among other Catholics, a transgender person “may receive baptism under the same conditions as other faithful,” the document said.

Has the leopard changed its spots?

The Pope also this fired a conservative Bishop…

Pope Francis removes US conservative critic as bishop of Texas town
The Hill
By Miranda Nazzaro
November 12, 2023

Pope Francis on Saturday ordered the removal of a bishop of a Texas town, who has become a staunch critic of the pontiff in recent months.

Francis removed Bishop Joseph Strickland from the pastoral governance of the diocese of Tyler, Texas, and appointed Bishop Joe Vásquez of Austin to serve as a temporary administrator, The Vatican News reported.

Strickland, 65, has been a vocal critic of Francis in recent months, writing earlier this year in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the pontiff is “undermining the deposit of faith.”

In 2020, Strickland called the church “weak” and “not clear” and dared the pontiff to fire him, The National Catholic Reporter (NCR) reported earlier this year.

Newsweek in a headline called the Pope a “Dictator” well yeah… he is the Pope.

Those in the Catholic community were outraged by Francis' decision to remove Strickland, with some calling the pope a "dictator."

I think some people in the Catholic church forget that the Pope was elected by “god” and sets the doctrine for the church and he is a dictator.

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In Tennessee another goes off the deep end in their anti-LGBTQ+ pogrom.

A City in Tennessee Banned Public Homosexuality—and We All Missed It
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is already beginning to implement the law.
The New Republic
By Tori Otten
November 14, 2023

A city in Tennessee is using a recently passed ordinance essentially prohibiting homosexuality in public to try to ban library books that might violate the new rules.

Murfreesboro passed an ordinance in June banning “indecent behavior,” including “indecent exposure, public indecency, lewd behavior, nudity or sexual conduct.” As journalist Erin Reed first reported, this ordinance specifically mentions Section 21-72 of the city code. The city code states that sexual conduct includes homosexuality.

[…]

An ACLU-backed challenge to the ordinance has already been launched, but that hasn’t stopped city officials from implementing the measure. Last Monday, the Rutherford County steering committee met to discuss removing all books that might potentially violate the ordinance from the public library. The resolution was met with widespread outcry from city residents.

“When have the people who ban books ever been the good guys?” local activist Keri Lambert demanded during the Monday county meeting.

Murfreesboro city officials have already used the ordinance to ban four books that discuss LGBTQ themes. In August, the county library board pulled the books Flamer, Let’s Talk About It, Queerfully and Wonderfully Made, and This Book Is Gay.

This is not the first the city had a run-in over the ordinance.

Murfreesboro sued over ordinance and BoroPride Festival permit denial
WKRN
By: Erin McCullough   
October 6, 2023


The Tennessee Equality Project has sued the City of Murfreesboro over an ordinance and a local policy that they say targets the BoroPride Festival.

According to the ACLU of Tennessee, the lawsuit was filed after the Murfreesboro mayor and city manager “engaged in a yearlong, concerted anti-LGBTQ+ campaign to chill TEP and Murfreesboro residents’ protected speech and expression” through an established official policy prohibiting the issuance of permits to TEP; discriminatorily and unconstitutionally denying TEP’s request for a permit for 2023 BoroPride; and implementing a “sweeping and vague ordinance designed to censor any LGBTQ+ speech or conduct” within Murfreesboro and by the TEP.

“BoroPride celebrates the growing and vibrant LGBTQ+ community in the Murfreesboro area,” said TEP Executive Director Chris Sanders. “Being able to hold our events in public spaces on the same terms as any other group is the basic fairness that we seek.”

[…]

The ordinance also contains language that includes any acts that may be construed as homosexual in nature in the definition of “indecent behavior,” putting any material or event that might even suggest at being related to the LGBTQ+ community at risk of facing civil or criminal penalties.

The Republicans seem to that that they can violate the Constitution with immunity. The First Amendment doesn’t apply when they are on a mission from god.

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Lastly. A dad stands up for his trans daughter….

Watch This Dad's Glorious & Brutal Takedown Of A School Board For Its Anti-LGBTQ+ Policies
Pride
By Ariel Messman-Rucker
November 14, 2023

In the face of anti-LGBTQ+ policies being implemented in schools across the country, some parents are speaking out and it’s glorious to watch. Especially when it's done like this.

A video of Cody Conner, a Virginia Beach dad, is going viral on social media after he spoke at a school board meeting on October 10. The father of three gave an impassioned speech about the state’s “discriminatory policies” and called out anyone who stands in favor of them.

“You are never going to find a right way to do the wrong thing and Governor Youngkin’s policies are wrong,” he began his speech.

“Never in history have the good guys been the segregationist group pushing to legislate identity,” he said. “Never in history have the good guys been closely connected with and supported by hate groups like the Proud Boys. And the good guys don’t put Hitler quotes for inspiration on the front of their newsletters. News flash: they're the bad guys. They're the bad guys supporting bad policy. And if you support the same bad policy, guess what? You’re one of the bad guys too.”

“Never A Right Way To Do The Wrong Thing!”