Thump, Thump

That is the sound of us getting run over down in South Carolina when they dropped us and lesbians and gays from their hate crime bill.

Sexual orientation axed from South Carolina hate crime bill
AP
By Jeffrey Collins
March 11, 2021


COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A hate crimes bill in South Carolina no longer protects gay or transgender people after a Republican leader said including them would likely lead members of his party to withdraw their support.

A House subcommittee on Thursday passed an amendment removing sexual orientation, creed, gender, age and ancestry from the bill. The measure now includes just six protected groups, all of which have long been included in federal law: race, color, religion, sex, national origin and physical or mental disability.

Supporters of the bill as originally written questioned the worth of a hate crimes law that doesn’t include gay and transgender people, who they say are among those most in need of protection.

Thump, thump.

“The mere fact in 2021 there is any disagreement on whether gays should be included in a hate crime bill is indicative of why we need the bill,” said Democratic Rep. Justin Bamberg from the city of Bamberg.

Thump, thump.

Conservatives worried the hate crimes bill might be used against religious groups who oppose homosexuality or abortion.

There we go… the conservatives want to hide their discrimination behind “religious freedom”

Nationally we have the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and here in Connecticut we have a hate crime law that covers us and the Connecticut law has criminal penalties. And a little known fact about Connecticut’s non-discrimination law is that it also includes criminal penalties…

Any person who, with the intent to subject, or cause to be subjected, any other person to the deprivation of any rights, privileges or immunities, secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of this state or of the United States, on account of religion, national origin, alienage, color, race, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, blindness or physical disability, violates the provisions of section 46a-58, as amended by this act, while wearing a mask, hood or other device designed to conceal the identity of such person shall be guilty of a class D felony.

And in Connecticut a class D felony is punishable by a state prison term of one to five years and a fine of up to $5,000.

Trans In Politics

Another trans candidate threw her hat in the ring, a Black trans woman ran for Minneapolis city council’s Eighth ward and won.

Andrea Jenkins: the first Black openly transgender woman to hold US public office
As the George Floyd murder trial opens in Minneapolis, the city councillor talks about coming out as trans, the prejudices she has had to overcome – and how policing must change
The Guardian
By Oliver Laughland
March 11, 2021


Andrea Jenkins lives just a few blocks away from 38th and Chicago, the crossroads in Minneapolis where George Floyd was killed on 25 May last year. She spent two decades of her life working to revitalise the community there, and kicked off her 2017 campaign for the city council’s Eighth ward in an arts centre a few yards away.

After Floyd’s death, when the crossroads became a space for collective mourning, Jenkins visited every day. But in the midst of a bitter Minneapolis winter and with the neighbourhood reeling from the long-term effects of Floyd’s death, Jenkins hasn’t been in months.
[…]
Jenkins, the first Black, openly transgender woman elected to public office in the US, became one of the most forceful voices to emanate from Minneapolis. She is not only a politician but also a poet, oral historian and an activist. She sang gospel in front of the nation’s media at a press conference in the days after Floyd’s death and played a central role in re-examining how the city’s long-criticised police force was funded. She insisted that racism be treated as a national public health emergency. And this month, with the murder trial of former officer Derek Chauvin, she is trying to prepare the city for the potential fallout.

She has backed legislation to reform the police department and also how calls are handled by 911 operators.

In Minneapolis, where Jenkins holds her formal political power, she has played a pivotal role in the city’s reimagining of its public safety and policing. The city council had initially considered disbanding its entire police department, a drastic move that was eventually reconsidered, leading instead to a swathe of budget transparency measures, oversight and reallocation of resources. The most striking of which was reallocating nearly $8m into launching new mental health teams that will respond to certain 911 calls.

Jenkins is positive about the reforms, but honest. “To be quite frank with you, I am not sure if anything has really changed or if anything really will change. Because it’s in people’s hearts,” she says. “When those cops are out there on the streets, it doesn’t matter how many fucking rules I make. When they killed Jamar Clark [an unarmed African American man killed by Minneapolis police in 2015] that took 61 seconds – from the second the police arrived until Jamar Clark had a bullet in his brain. So I can make them have a body camera, I can give them de-escalation training, and all of these things, and he still fucking shoots the kid in 61 seconds.”

I think that is where changes need to be made, sometime you don’t need the police when EMTs are what is really needed along with a mental heath specialist.

Who would have expected ten years ago that we would have trans people elected to office and making a difference.

---

Then in the “You Aught To Be In Movies”

Disney just had their first trans actress for an animated movie.

Patti Harrison Is the First Known Trans Actor Cast in a Disney Animated Movie

She plays the Tail Chief in Raya and the Last Dragon.

Them

By Michelle Kim

March 8, 2021

Disney’s new animated film Raya and the Last Dragon has sparked debates about whether the two main characters, Raya and her enemy Namaari, are queer or not. Yet even as the major studio has decided to leave the sexuality of their main characters ambiguous, there’s one instance of explicit queer representation in the film: Patti Harrison’s appearance in the small role of Tail Chief. It makes Harrison the first known transgender actor to appear in a Disney animated film, as pointed out by Out.

The movie is set in the fictional world of Kumandra, which is divided into five lands: Heart, Talon, Spine, Fang, and Tail. Thus, Harrison’s character is the leader of the Tail land.

[…]

Though the Raya role is small, it’s notable that Harrison, a trans actor, has been cast as a character who is not explicitly trans or queer, as writer Mey Rude notes for Out. “While there’s been a lot of progress in TV shows and movies casting trans actors in trans roles, there are still very few of those trans roles,” Rude writes. “As long as trans actors can only get trans roles, their job opportunities will be limited. The praise here lies with Harrison for breaking that barrier.” Rude then went on to point out that Disney could do better to give said trans actor a bigger role in the film.

One small step...

Equality!

It is nothing new. Something like 22 states have non-discrimination laws covering trans, and also gays and lesbian but we do not have federal protections and that is what the Equality Act will change.

So when I see people says it will violate their “religious freedom” but so far the laws haven’t been overturned by the courts. I say so far because there are court cases that are trying to do that… cancel our protections.

Some Faith Leaders Call Equality Act Devastating; For Others, It's God's Will
NPR
By Tom Gjelten
March 10, 2021


A potential revision of federal civil rights law to extend protection to LGBTQ people could soon get a long-delayed vote in the U.S. Senate, but concerns about its implications for religious freedom cloud its prospects for final passage.

The Equality Act, which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, has twice passed the House. Republicans in the Senate have until now blocked its consideration, but Democratic control there should finally ensure at least a hearing.
[…]
Faith groups are deeply split over the proposal. Despite large majorities of the U.S. population favoring expanded LGBTQ rights, many faith groups still hold conservative ideas about marriage and sexuality and fear the Equality Act would punish them for adhering to those beliefs. Mainline Protestant denominations and other progressive faith groups have lined up in support of the legislation.

Back in 2011 when Connecticut passed our non-discrimination law was passed the Catholic church stayed quiet on the bill. They were satisfied with the exemptions in the bill but times have changed the Bishops now are following in their evangelical Christians in opposing protections for us.

Among those in opposition are the National Association of Evangelicals, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Coalition for Jewish Values, representing Orthodox rabbis. Together, the groups represent a broad swath of U.S. religious denominations.

So what changed in ten years?

Ten years ago “Religious Freedom” meant being able to worship without government interference in churches synagogues and mosques and their schools but now they say it means not just in places of worship but also in daily life.

They want the “right” to discriminate against others.

Critics of the Equality Act also fear it could open the door to lawsuits based on perceived employment discrimination based on religious beliefs.

In other words they want the right not to hire a person because their holy book (or they think that it does) says they can. An example is Hobby Lobby, the Supreme Court said that the company doesn’t have to cover birth control pills even though state law requires it and doing so it will violate the owners religious beliefs.

That was about birth control pills but stop and think about the whole implications of the ruling.

The bible has been used to justify slavery, but more to the point, it has also been used justify segregation, to block interracial marriage, unwed mothers, and it has been used to justify banning other religions.

The renewed drive to challenge the Equality Act on religion-based grounds has prompted some faith groups to ramp up support for the legislation. Among them are the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, with nearly 4 million members, the U.S. Episcopal Church, other mainline Protestant denominations and most Jewish congregations. All have moved in recent years toward more tolerant positions in areas related to marriage and sexuality.

So what will happen if a conservative Christian is fired by a progressive Christian because of the conservative Christian beliefs. Say the conservative employee refuses wait on a table of a trans person and the progressive Christian fires the employee.

The conservative Christian sues for religious discrimination and the progressive Christian says that not waiting on the trans person violated their religion beliefs. Now the courts will have to rule on whose religious beliefs override the other person’s religious beliefs.

What a slippery slope!

Retired Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, likes to quote a story from the biblical account of the Last Supper.
[…]
"And the question I always ask my brothers and sisters in the conservative denominations," Robinson says, "is, 'Could it be that God is leading us into a deeper truth about gay and lesbian, bisexual, transgender people?' "

Given that religious beliefs do change over time, that evolution may be more important than new legislation for the promotion of LGBTQ rights.

I have always thought that we are a test.

If I remember correctly from Catholicism class, doesn’t the Bible say something like… “'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." Well do the conservatives pass the test?

---

In other news a Republican state lawmaker in Alabama who voted for a bill that would criminalize doctors who providing healthcare to young trans children.

Alabama Republican busted looking at trans adult pics online after voting against trans rights

State Sen. Tom Whatley used his work account to show his appreciation of a "faerie princess."

LGBTQ Nation

By Alex Bollinger 

March 9, 2021

A Republican state lawmaker in Alabama was caught looking at transgender porn online, just a week after he voted in favor of a bill that attacks transgender minors’ access to lifesaving health care.

Alabama State Sen. Tom Whatley (R) liked an explicit tweet by the account “Bambi Hardcore TG 18+,” who describes themself as an “enbi trans girl faerie princess.”

“I love my new, fat, G-cup tiddies,” their tweet said, with a picture of their breasts. The tweet was posted on February 15, 2021, it appears in Whatley’s “Likes” feed, and his work-associated account is listed in the tweets’ likes.

A Knight In Shinning Armor?

With all these anti-trans laws being passed in Republican states have we found a champion for our rights?

White House warns states that their anti-transgender bills are illegal
"Not only is this the law of the land, it’s his own deeply held view."
LGBTQ Nation
By Alex Bollinger
March 8, 2021


The White House warned states that are considering anti-transgender bills this year that those bills are illegal under federal law.

“The president believes that trans rights are human rights and that no one should be discriminated on the basis of sex. Not only is this the law of the land, it’s his own deeply held view,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki during a press briefing.

Psaki was asked about President Joe Biden’s views on the dozens of states that are considering anti-transgender laws. According to HRC’s latest count, 37 bills have been proposed in state legislatures that would ban transgender girls and women from playing school sports.

The White House based their beliefs on…

She then brought up Biden’s executive order that he signed on his first day in office that said that federal civil rights legislation that bans discrimination on the basis of sex also bans anti-LGBTQ discrimination.

Now the question is will the Republican States follow the Civil Rights Act or will they thumb their nose at it. That is the question.

Can you say... "Supreme Court?"

Religious Freedom & The Equality Act

Yesterday I wrote of how the Republicans are focusing on the religious freedom for their opposition to the Equality Act, NPR’s WGBH said…

The Equality Act is not likely to pass in the Senate due to the lack of support from Republican senator, Monroe said.

"The GOP will argue for this Fairness For All Act under the guise of religious freedom to discriminate against LGBT people," she said. "When you compromise on all civil rights, then what other rights can we compromise on? It's just a slippery slope that invites us to regress rather than move forward."

So why now is all this talk about “Religious Freedom?”

It's time to fix an important religious freedom law
The Hill
By Rob Boston, Opinion Contributor
March 6, 2021

Nov. 16, 1993, was an unusually warm and sunny late fall day in Washington, D.C. I remember it well because I was standing on the grounds of the White House watching President Bill Clinton sign into law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

It was a euphoric moment for those of us who advocate for religious freedom. RFRA had been drafted in response to a 1990 decision by the Supreme Court that many felt took an unnecessarily rigid, confining view of the First Amendment’s religious freedom protections — a view that would be particularly harmful to religious minorities.

In response, an unprecedented coalition formed to pass RFRA to protect the free exercise of religion. It consisted of groups on the right and left and every place in between. Some were religious organizations, others secular. They disagreed on a lot, but they came together to pass this legislation.

The law came about because of a cactus, peyote. Which is used in religious ceremonies by the First People for over 3 millenniums. A tribal religious leader used peyote during a ceremony and was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and was convicted. The case went all the way up to the Supreme Court where the court ruled that he was guilty of possession.

Out of that conviction came the Religious Freedom Restoration Act but since then the interpretation of the law has been expanded by conservative courts to included allowing discrimination to hide behind the law.

Had the bill been intended as a vehicle for using religion to take away rights or subjecting people to harm in the name of religious belief, the coalition backing it would have quickly collapsed.

Our goals were simple, yet noble: We wanted to protect Native Americans whose traditional practices were all too often pushed aside by the government. We wanted to ensure people in federal prisons and immigration detention centers could attend worship services or keep religious texts. We wanted to enable Sikhs and Muslims serving in the military or working as emergency responders to be able to wear beards or articles of their faith.

For several years, RFRA did what it was supposed to. But now, 28 years later, we’ve gone far off course, and RFRA has been interpreted in ways that many of its original backers would never have supported.

It is now time for the law to be changed back to it intended purpose.

This perversion of RFRA cannot continue — countless people are being harmed. The law was never meant to confer second-class status on anyone or allow religion to be used as a license to discriminate. And it’s particularly dangerous because it is now being interpreted as a “super-law” that outweighs other laws intended to respect and protect people’s rights. It’s time to get RFRA back to its original intent. A bill pending in Congress, the Do No Harm Act, would do just that.

The Do No Harm Act will preserve protections for religious freedom while making it clear that RFRA can’t be used to trump laws that protect us, like those prohibiting discrimination, requiring equal treatment and safeguarding health care. The Do No Harm Act would also ensure that government officials and employees, and government-funded social-service providers, can’t use RFRA to refuse to provide services to anyone. This is just simple common sense. After all, everyone deserves to be treated equally by our government.

It will not be an easy task… the Republicans have embraced the law and twisted to their cornerstone of their persecution of the LGBTQ+ community.

It’s time to recapture the spirit of hope that birthed RFRA by getting the law back to its original purpose. RFRA must once again become a shield that protects religious freedom, not a sword that lashes out and causes harm.

There is an easy way to do that: Pass the Do No Harm Act.

One of the prongs pf the legal attack on trans athletes is “religious freedom” of the Christian students being “forced” to compete against trans athletes. They will fight the Do No Harm Act tooth and nail, they will fight it in Congress and in the Trump Courts.

A Monkey Wrench

The Republican tried to derail the COVID-19 relief package by trying to pass a poison pill amendment. So called moderate Republican Susan Collins from Maine was one of the cosponsors of the amendment.

Collins, Manchin vote to defund schools allowing trans kids in sports
Washington Blade
By Chris Johnson
March 6, 2021


The U.S. Senate narrowly rejected Saturday morning a Republican amendment to the coronavirus relief package that would have defunded schools allowing transgender kids to participate in sports.

The amendment, introduced by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), was proposed as part of the American Rescue Plan and defeated by a vote of 49-50 largely along party lines. The measure needed 60 votes to pass as part of the $1.9 trillion package.

However, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) broke with Democrats to vote in favor of the amendment and Sen. Lisa Murkowksi (R-Alaska) broke with Republicans to vote against it.
[…]
Notably, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) voted in favor of the amendment to defund schools allowing transgender kids in sports, even though she has a reputation of being the most pro-LGBTQ Republican in the Senate. Previously, Collins has co-sponsored legislation seeking to reverse former President Trump’s transgender military ban and spoke out against a Trump administration regulation that would have allowed anti-trans discrimination in health care.

Meanwhile the National Transgender State Legislators Caucus is in favor of the act, no surprise there.

Transgender lawmakers condemn Tuberville Amendment, urge passage of Equality Act
National Transgender State Legislators Caucus speaks out amid continued political attacks on transgender community
Washington Blade
By John Riley
March 6, 2021


Seven of the eight out transgender people currently serving as state lawmakers have released a joint statement condemning Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) failed attempt to force school districts to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, while also urging lawmakers to pass the Equality Act.

The Tuberville Amendment, which was defeated on a 50-49 vote on Saturday during a “Vote-a-rama” on a White House-backed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, would have withheld federal funding from states, school districts, or universities that allow transgender females to compete in their gender identity.
[…]
In addition to praising the 49 Democrats and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) who voted against the amendment, the legislators also called out those who voted for it, notably calling out Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) for bucking his own party to “single out and stigmatize” transgender student-athletes.
In addition to praising the 49 Democrats and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) who voted against the amendment, the legislators also called out those who voted for it, notably calling out Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) for bucking his own party to “single out and stigmatize” transgender student-athletes.

You might remember last week the rallying cry of the Republicans was that the Democrats loaded the COVID-19 relief bill up with non-COVID-19 items like the 15 dollar minimum wage package, but somehow by the way of Republican thinking adding an amendment blocking funding for trans students athletes isn’t doing the same thing.

Up in Maine some are not happy with Sen. Collins vote.

Maine Voices: Sen. Collins’ reversal on the Equality Act is a betrayal of our community
Confirming anti-LGBTQ+ judges, embracing a hate group’s support and flip-flopping on federal anti-bias protections aren’t the actions of an ally.
Portland Herald
By Seth Nelson
Mach 6, 2021


[…]
For many of us in the LGBTQ+ community, learning to forgive can be difficult, if not downright impossible. We’ve endured long-festering open wounds with our families. We’ve been misunderstood by our friends. We’ve been told by our churches that we’re sinners. And on top of all that pain, we’ve been discriminated against – legally – because of our sexual orientation or gender identity.
[…]
That’s why it was particularly gut-wrenching this week when Sen. Susan Collins pulled her support for the Equality Act, comprehensive federal legislation that would provide basic legal protections for all LGBTQ+ Americans, regardless of where they live or work. After years of claiming to be an ally, pulling her support now is just the peak of Sen. Collins’ betrayal of Maine’s LGBTQ+ community – a betrayal that started by pandering to the far right for votes.

We had real reason to celebrate when Sen. Collins signed on as a co-sponsor of the Equality Act in 2019. With attacks on LGBTQ+ Americans coming from all corners of the Republican Party, she stood out for her willingness to buck her party’s hateful rhetoric and support legislation that would take away the uncertainty LGBTQ+ Americans face from potential discrimination in our day-to-day lives. Now, it feels her support was just an election year ploy.

Contrary to popular thinking the Equality Act is not a shoe in, right now it is short of the votes needed to pass in the Senate.

WGBH wrote this about the Act…

The Equality Act is not likely to pass in the Senate due to the lack of support from Republican senator, Monroe said.

"The GOP will argue for this Fairness For All Act under the guise of religious freedom to discriminate against LGBT people," she said. "When you compromise on all civil rights, then what other rights can we compromise on? It's just a slippery slope that invites us to regress rather than move forward."

While the Blue Mountain Eagle reported that,

The Senate now has a tenuous Democratic majority — Vice President Kamala Harris holds the tie-breaker in a chamber split 50-50 — but it is uncertain at best whether advocates can muster at least 10 Republicans for a 60-vote majority to avert a filibuster.

So don’t hold your breath but the bill has a lot of hurdles to get over, first the Democrats will have to do away with the filibuster because no way will they get the 60 votes.

Saturday 9: BIRTHDAY

Sam’s Saturday 9: BIRTHDAY (2014)

On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…

I will be away all day, so I will not answer your questions.

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Katy Perry sings that she wants to give her lover something good to celebrate every day. What is making you happy this fine Saturday?
The weather since I am driving up and back to cottage this morning (8 hours on the road).

2) The video is all about baking a birthday cake. When did you most recently enjoy something home baked? Were you the baker?
Baked chicken and yes I cooked it. If I don’t cook it I don’t eat.

3) Tell us a memory from one of your birthdays.
I don’t remember this birthday but it looks like I am enjoying my birthday with the my classmates and neighbor.

4) This week's song shares nothing but the title with a Beatles song. (Here's a video of Paul McCartney performing it live.) Can you think of another title that's been used by more than one song?
Nope.

5) Similarly, this week's featured artist was born Kathryn Hudson and called Katy Hudson until she changed her name to Katy Perry to avoid confusion with the actress Kate Hudson. Have you ever met anyone else with your same name?
Yes, many, many people.

6) Katy and actor Orlando Bloom became parents to a baby girl in 2020. Bloom is best known for his work in the Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Are you a fan of either of those film series?
Lord of the Rings. I watched part of a Pirates of the Caribbean and I never connected with it.

7) In 2014, the year this song was popular, Prince William toured the United States and attended his first NBA game (Nets vs. Cavaliers). What's the most recent sporting event that you watched?
Downhill ski racing, it was last Saturday as I was making dinner.

8) Also in 2014, Joan Rivers died. While best-known for making us laugh, she was a very successful entrepreneur, selling jewelry on QVC. Have you ever ordered anything from TV?
Nope, and I never will.
I take it back, if I remember I got a “Davy Crockett” raccoon hat.

9) Random question -- Have you ever been told you talk too much?
Probably, if not I should have been told.


Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

One Step Forward, Three Steps Backward

In the last couple of weeks I have been focusing on trans athletes and anti-trans legislation because of the growing attacks on us. We need to start planning on ways to counter their hate now before it becomes too late.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

The Republicans have already come for the socialist, the Jews and Muslims, the foreigners, the trade unions, and now they are coming for us and next marriage equality. 

~~~~~~~~~~

First the step forward, one state legislature has seen the light!

Transgender sports bill called bureaucratic and possibly unconstitutional, defeated by South Dakota Senate committee
South Dakota's Senate State Affairs Committee on Wednesday, March 3 voted to defeat a measure seeking to "promote continued fairness in women's sports." Opponents said the bill, which passed the House last month, was discriminatory under federal law and would've unduly opened up the state to lawsuits.
Grand Forks Herald
By: Christopher Vondracek
March 3, 2021


Led by a Senate leader's rebuke of a bill as a "big-government, liberal" action, a South Dakota legislative committee voted 6-3 to send a bill critics said would effectively ban transgender children from sports to the 41st day, parlance in Pierre for defeating the measure.

Rep. Rhonda Milstead, a Hartford Republican, who appeared only days ago on a Florida stage at CPAC, tried galvanizing the wary Senate State Affairs Committee on Wednesday, March 3 to look past the objections raised over her "fairness in women's sports" bill, noting every opponent who spoke was male.
[…]
But her bill's undoing, said Senate Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck (R-Watertown), was not in the language of social identities, but rather in its proviso requiring every student athlete in the state to send a document to a bureaucratic building in Pierre documenting everything from sex type to drug test results.

"I would describe (this bill) as a liberal, big government approach," said Schoenbeck, noting the measure wasn't appropriate for "a state like ours."

So my guess is that you will see this bill back again in another form since they were against the reporting part of the bill.

Then we have other states moving forward with their anti-trans bills and some of them want to criminalize us.

Sadly Mississippi has no such qualms about their bill.

Mississippi passes bill banning transgender student-athletes from female sports teams
The bill now heads to the governor's desk.
ABC
ByMeredith Deliso
March 3, 2021


Mississippi legislators have passed a bill that would ban transgender athletes from competing on female sports teams in schools and universities -- one of over two dozen similar measures proposed by state lawmakers nationwide this year.

The state House voted 81-28 Wednesday to pass the so-called Mississippi Fairness Act. It passed the state Senate last month, 34-9. The bill now heads to Gov. Tate Reeves for approval.
[…]
Idaho became the first state to pass a law banning transgender women from competing in women's sports last year. A federal district court suspended the law and it has yet to be enacted.

I see a challenge of these laws or similar laws going all the way to the Supreme Court.

Missouri House committee hears emotional testimony for legislation regarding transgender high school athletes
Fox 2
By Emily Manley
March 3, 2021


Lawmakers in Missouri’s capitol are discussing if voters should decide if transgender students should be required to play sports on the team that reflects the sex on their birth certificate.

The representative sponsoring the bill said he filed it to protect girls from losing the chance to go play sports at the next level, but those testifying against the bill Wednesday night asked for transgender people to not be discriminated against.

“I’m sorry, I’m just really emotional over this,” Columbia resident Kelsey Thurman said during a committee hearing Wednesday night. “This is a waste of everyone’s time, it’s transphobic, it’s hurtful and it serves no purpose in the state legislature.”

Then over in Minnesota they are playing one-upmanship with our lives.

Transgender student-athletes could face criminal penalties in new proposed bill
KSTP
By Jessica Miles
March 3, 2021


As captain of her cheer and tennis teams at her Minneapolis high school, N.G. has always felt supported by her teammates.

"Something that always gave me comfort and hope was the safe space of tennis and cheer," she said. "To be able to walk into my high school proudly wearing my uniform, that made me feel safe that really made me feel like I belong."


But as a transgender female high school athlete, she's also had to do things most others have not, like defend her identity.

"For us to sit here and criminalize those who are trying to figure out who they are, it's ridiculous," she added.

A new bill introduced at the State Capitol has advocates questioning what comes next for transgender athletes.

"It’s just really despicable that politicians would play games with children’s lives like this," said Jess Braverman, with Gender Justice.

The bill would restrict male student participation in female athletics, and restrict male access to female changing facilities.
[…]
The bill would also impose criminal penalties against students who don't abide by them.

The question to ask if why this multi-prong attack on us now?

It is no coincident that all these bills were introduced on their own in different state. The Republican is making an orchestrated attack on us, they think that they can use us against the Democrats in the next elections.

Transgender rights emerge as a growing political flash point
The Washington Post
By Matt Viser, Marianna Sotomayor and Samantha Schmidt
March 3, 2021


President Biden on his first day in office signed an executive order expanding protections for transgender students. On his sixth day, he repealed the ban on transgender members of the military. On his 16th day, he threatened sanctions against countries that suppress transgender rights.

And on his 37th day, his nominee for assistant secretary of health sat for a confirmation hearing to become the first openly transgender federal official confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Biden is pursuing a little-noticed but sweeping effort to remake transgender rights in America, which in turn has sparked a conservative backlash and fed into Republicans’ efforts to portray Democrats as extreme on social issues. Among other arguments, conservatives are increasingly seizing on the much-disputed notion that embracing transgender rights threatens women’s sports.
[…]
“It is not news that in 2021, transgender people are participating in sports consistent with their identity — this has been happening for decades,” David said. “Ask yourself, why is this only now a problem? It’s a problem because anti-equality forces understand their flawed rhetoric doesn’t work anymore. They need a target, and they need an enemy to mobilize their base.”

Yup, and we are its punching bag.

The intensifying battle over transgender rights reflects the tension over a range of issues that have little to do with Biden’s specific policies but reflect a belief that his presidency represents broader forces in American life.

The Republicans don’t care how many lives rune. They don’t care how trans children die at their own hands. For the Republicans it is winning at any cost.

Just look at how the Republicans handled the Senate confirmation hearing for Dr. Rachel Levine…

Senate Republicans have raised the topic repeatedly during confirmation hearings, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) questioning Biden’s nominee for assistant health secretary, Rachel Levine, on transgender medical treatments while falsely asserting that puberty blockers can cause irrevocable changes.

Puberty blockers are life savers!

Then look at CPAC last week where Trump attacked President Biden's trans policies. We were one of the major themes of conference picking on us.

The Republicans are doing focus groups on us to see how they can do the damage.
Terry Schilling, executive director of the American Principles Project, has long been trying to shape a message on transgender policy for Republican political candidates. The group’s polling last year, he said, suggests that many voters — including Biden supporters and those who otherwise back LGBTQ rights — oppose letting athletes who were assigned male at birth compete in women’s sports.

“We found that the women’s sports issue was not only exceptionally powerful, but it also had the benefit of not being exclusive,” Schilling said. “It was something that our organization could convince politicians to champion.”

Mark my words… we will see us brought up in future elections. We need to work on a strategy now to counter this hate because it is not going away.

Tell Me That They Are Not Doing It For Spite.

Something like 41 states have anti-trans bills before their legislature including Connecticut with three bills.

The question is why? Why all of sudden this rush of bills?

Lawmakers can’t cite local examples of trans girls in sports
AP
By David Crary and Lindsay Whitehurst
March 3, 2021


Legislators in more than 20 states have introduced bills this year that would ban transgender girls from competing on girls’ sports teams in public high schools. Yet in almost every case, sponsors cannot cite a single instance in their own state or region where such participation has caused problems.

The Associated Press reached out to two dozen state lawmakers sponsoring such measures around the country as well as the conservative groups supporting them and found only a few times it’s been an issue among the hundreds of thousands of American teenagers who play high school sports.

So there are no trans athletes in most of the states, then why the bills?

In South Carolina, for example, Rep. Ashley Trantham said she knew of no transgender athletes competing in the state and was proposing a ban to prevent possible problems in the future. Otherwise, she said during a recent hearing, “the next generation of female athletes in South Carolina may not have a chance to excel.”

In Tennessee, House Speaker Cameron Sexton conceded there may not actually be transgender students now participating in middle and high school sports; he said a bill was necessary so the state could be “proactive.”

Many of them cited Connecticut and the two trans athletes.

Supporters of transgender rights say the Connecticut case gets so much attention from conservatives because it’s the only example of its kind.

“It’s their Exhibit A, and there’s no Exhibit B -- absolutely none,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and a prominent trans-rights attorney.

What about the Connecticut case?

Well right now it is in the judge’s court and judging news reports.

Inclusive Policy for Trans Athletes Spurs Tense Arguments in Connecticut
The hearing came two days after the Biden administration dropped support of a Title IX suit from female athletes who say it’s unfair to make them compete against transgender girls.
Court House News
By Nina Pullano
February 26, 2021


[…]
The hearing came days after the Biden administration withdrew government support from the Title IX suit, brought by three athletes who say they are at a biological disadvantage if forced to compete in races, including home state championships, against trans girls.

Arguing on their behalf, attorney Roger Brooks with Alliance Defending Freedom focused largely on the differences between gender identity and the sex someone is assigned at birth.
[…]
ACLU attorney Joshua Block pointed out that Title IX does not specifically require separate sports. The statute says girls must be allowed to participate in boys’ sports, or else be provided with a comparable alternative.

In the same Connecticut schools that are being sued, there is one co-ed team for ice hockey, which Block noted is a contact sport.

Block said that no court has ever defined equal access to sports as “winning an equal number of trophies.”

Which brings us to North Carolina where a girl won the Boy’s State Wrestling Championship! She played on the boy’s team because there are no girls wrestling teams in the state. Gee… the boys have been quite about wrestling a girl.

The AP article pointed out that…

One of those girls, Chelsea Mitchell, defeated Terry Miller -- the faster of the two trans sprinters -- in their final two races in February 2020.

Not only that but both of the plaintiffs received a full sport’s scholarships and the ACLU lawyer for the defendants pointed out there was no harm done by the defendants… both girls got scholarships and one of them won a track meet against the defendants.

So that brings us back to the original question, why have all these states have introduced anti-trans legislation? There maybe a clue in the AP article.

The ADF and others like it are the behind-the-scenes backers of the campaign, offering model legislation and a playbook to promote the bills most of them with common features and even titles, like the Save Women’s Sports Act.

Another clue, the Southern Poverty Law Center list the Alliance Defending Freedom as a hate organization.

The SPLC lists ADF as a hate group because it has supported the idea that being LGBTQ+ should be a crime in the U.S. and abroad and believes that is OK to put LGBTQ+ people in prison for engaging in consensual sex. It has also supported laws that required the forced sterilization of transgender Europeans.

ADF has spread lies about the LGBTQ+ community. It has, for example, linked being LGBTQ+ to pedophilia and claimed that a “homosexual agenda” will destroy society. ADF tries to couch its rhetoric in benign-sounding phrases, but the truth is that it works to dehumanize LGBTQ+ people and restrict their rights for being who they are.
[…]
Anti-LGBTQ hate groups, like ADF, often try to justify their opposition to LGBTQ+ rights with rhetoric and harmful pseudoscience that demonizes LGBTQ+ people as threats to children, society and, often, public health.

Hmm…

The Alliance Defending Freedom fits right in the Republican anti-LGBTQ+ ideology.

Here She Comes…

This is a tale of two countries and beauty contests. The first one is a beauty contest in Panama.

Panama allows transgender women to compete in beauty pageant
The organizers said that transgender women who "have completed all their legal and medical procedures" can take part in the pageant from this year. The winner will represent Panama at the Miss Universe pageant.
DW
March 3, 2021


The organizers of Panama's national beauty contest announced this week that transgender women who "have completed all their legal and medical procedures" can take part in its competition from this year.

"Miss Panama will permit women officially legally recognized in the country," said Señorita Panama. "Guaranteed to be an inclusive organization, we approved this decision based on strict legal guidelines and according to previous international agreements," the organization added.

The Señorita Panama pageant sends a contestant from Panama each year to the international Miss Universe competition.

Meanwhile here in the states, bigotry rules…

Conservative Judge Allows Beauty Pageant to Ban Trans Contestants
The Advocate
By Neal Broverman
March 1, 2021


A federal judge in Oregon has quashed a suit brought by Anita Noelle Green that challenged the Miss United States of America's policy of excluding transgender contestants.
[...]
Green, Oregon's first trans delegate at a Democratic National Convention, sued the organization for gender discrimination; Oregon law bans discrimination based on gender identity. What appeared like a cut-and-dried case of bias — numerous pageants, including the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants (separate entities from Miss United States of America) pageants allow trans women to compete — was rejected by Judge Michael W. Mosman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. Mosman, a member of the anti-LGBTQ+ Mormon Church and appointed to the federal bench of President George W. Bush — ruled Miss United States of America had a right to ban trans contestants on First Amendment grounds that protect free speech.

In the Court House News they reported that she had a long history of competing in pageants,

She started participating in pageants in 2017, becoming the third transgender woman to compete since Miss Universe, the umbrella organization for the Miss Montana pageant Green competed in, ended its ban on the participation of transgender women in 2012. Green went on to participate in other pageants, and in 2018 became Miss Earth USA Elite Oregon.

Then Green applied to compete in Miss United States of America’s 2019 Oregon pageant, even though she knew it refused to allow transgender women to participate. The organization is separate and distinct from the Miss America pageant.
[…]
But U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman sided with the pageant organization on Thursday, based on First Amendment concerns. Ruling from the bench, Mosman found that the pageant is an “expressive” organization, rather than a commercial one. Therefore, Mosman found, Miss United States of America has a First Amendment right to its “message” and can’t be required to change it.

Okay I have a question for the judge…

You said that “Therefore, Mosman found, Miss United States of America has a First Amendment right to its “message” and can’t be required to change it.” does that mean that they have First Amendment protection if they refused to allow blacks to compete? What about if they said that they didn’t want any Jews or Muslims to compete, would they still be protected by the First Amendment right to free speech? What about lesbians will they be blocked from participating in the pageant? Or does it just apply to us? And it that discriminatory and a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment?

I wonder if the judge let his religious beliefs interfere with the law?

Notice How He Talked About Trans People

Those that want to oppress us use dehumanizing language to describe us, such as calling Gender Confirming Surgery (GCS) mutilation or using our birth gender or by using derogatory terms to call us by. They also lie about the medical procedures in order to draw ire against use and to degrade us.

Sen. Rand Paul misunderstands transgender medicine. Here’s the truth
Stat
By Sai Shanthanand Rajagopal and Henna Hundal
February 26, 2021


In a tense exchange on Thursday during the Senate confirmation hearing of Dr. Rachel Levine, President Biden’s nominee for assistant secretary of health, Sen. Rand Paul exposed his lack of understanding about — or perhaps prejudice against — transgender youth.

After misrepresenting transgender health care as genital mutilation, Paul (R-Ky.), an ophthalmologist, asked Levine, an openly transgender pediatrician, whether minors should be able to request hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery.

Now remember, Sen. Paul is a doctor so he understands what puberty blockers really do but he continues to tell false information about the medication, in reality the blockers have been used to block puberty since the early eighties and the drug was first identified in the early seventies.

Paul’s line of questioning reflects a wider set of misconceptions around transgender medicine — namely, that there is an epidemic of youth hastily undergoing sex changes that they later come to regret. Levine aptly responded that transgender medicine has “robust research and standards of care” — peer-reviewed standards of care designed to prevent Paul’s doomsday scenario.

But he should know better, he’s a doctor. He took an oath to do no harm.

Paul’s primary argument, which centers around regretting gender transition, references “dozens and dozens of people who’ve been through this [gender affirming surgery] who regret that this happened and a permanent change happened to them.”
[…]
Paul’s characterization of transgender health care for minors — a characterization unfortunately commonplace in political circles — is factually inaccurate, rhetorically dangerous, and medically unsound. Levine’s historic confirmation would offer a welcome departure from the deluge of misinformation that some U.S. leaders continue to propagate around gender-affirming care.

Creating fear, creating hate, creating harm for young children for political gain is wrong. Make no mistakes about it, this is all for political gain… for votes. This is to dehumanize us.

---

The Tennessee Senate has continued to their effort to block dehumanize us by preventing us from playing sports in our true gender.

Tennessee Senate passes bill barring transgender students from playing high school sports under their gender identity
Nashville Tennessean
By Yue Stella Yu
March 1, 2021


The Tennessee Senate voted 27-6 Monday night to approve a bill that would effectively ban transgender student athletes from participating in middle and high school sports under their gender identity.

The House has not yet scheduled a final vote on the bill.

SB228/HB3, filed by Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, and Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, would require transgender athletes in middle and high schools to compete under their sex at birth. The bill includes no exception for transgender athletes receiving gender-affirming care, such as hormone blockers.

Bill advocates argue barring transgender female athletes from participating in sports promotes fairness, but LGBTQ rights scholars and activists deem the science behind the bill misplaced and the legislation discriminatory toward transgender teens.

In Tennessee, there is also no evidence of transgender athlete participation in school sports. But supportive lawmakers say the bill addresses a potential problem.

Ask yourself why the attack on us around the country? Why in something like 41 states anti-trans bills have been introduced this year, including three anti-trans bills here in Connecticut. Ask yourself in the middle of this plague, in the middle of budget crises around the nation that we have become the number one issue around the nation?

It is because they think that they can rally their base around us. They don’t care about our lives.

Take a look at the CPAC conference what did the conference focus on?

Hate.

Hate for us, hate for lesbians and gays, hate for immigrants, hate for blacks… hate for people who are difference.

The Republican party is the party of hate.

Intersections

When you are trans life is hard when you are trans and a minority life can be deadly.

Most transgender murder cases remain unsolved as police struggle to connect in LGBTQ+ communities
Miami Herald
By Brooke Baitinger South Florida Sun Sentinel (TNS)
March 1, 2021


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — In the nearly eight months since a transgender woman was shot dead in the middle of a crowded South Florida street, Bree Black’s case has all but gone cold.

No one has come forward with any leads, police say. It’s a phenomenon that experts and advocates who study violence against transgender people know all too well.

They say the problem stems from the lack of protections for transgender victims in state hate crime laws and is exacerbated by law enforcement mistreating, misgendering, or misnaming the victims. A potential salve for the problem is on the horizon in Broward County, where a league of first responders recently formed an LGBTQ+ liaison coalition.
[...]
The rate of transgender murder cases that are solved nationally is well below the national clearance rate for murders in which the victims are cisgender, meaning their gender is the same as the one they were assigned at birth. Nationally, the murder clearance rate is about 62%, according to the FBI’s 2020 uniform crime report.

I have to wonder if the police really take our murders seriously or if they just give us lip service.

When the victims are transgender, the rate drops down to about 44%, according to preliminary data compiled by Brendan Lantz, an assistant professor in the college of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University.

“That’s an alarming drop-off,” he said. And it’s even lower in Florida, where the rate is about 40%, according to Lantz’ research.

The intersection is deadly.

Spotlighting the Intersection of Black and Transgender Identities
HRC
By Tori Cooper
February 23, 2021


In 2020, HRC tracked a record number of violent fatal incidents against transgender and gender non-conforming people, the majority of them Black trans women. This is the result of misogyny, racism and transphobia that is deeply rooted in society; we must work to end the stigma of being Black and trans and combat this epidemic of fatal violence.

Where is all this new hate coming from?

Well I don't think that you have to look that far.

---

Last night the Republican worshiped their golden idol and they used us as their whipping boy.

Trump mocks transgender athletes in first speech since leaving office
Ex-president called transgender women athletes ‘biological males’
The Independent
By Graeme Massie
March 1, 2021


Donald Trump mocked transgender athletes in his first major speech since leaving office.

The ex-president called transgender women athletes “biological males” and complained that records in women’s sports were being “smashed” by transgender competitors.
[…]
Mr Trump received a huge round of applause and audible laughs from the CPAC audience during that section of his speech.

Let’s face it.

The Republican party has become the party of hate.

They are for everything people hate and they use the hate for vote and donations.

They talk about closing the borders… why? Because they hate foreigner.

They talk about law and order… why? Because they hate blacks and they look the other way when blacks are killed by the police.

They talk about the sanctity of marriage… why? Because they hate lesbians and gays.

They talk about bathrooms and locker rooms… why? Because they hate us.

They are talking to their base. They are talking to their white supremacist base.

Don’t believe me?

Take a look at their stage.

Hyatt calls hate symbols 'abhorrent' after CPAC stage compared to sign used by Nazis
Reuters
By Reuters Staff
February 28, 2021


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hyatt Hotels Corp called symbols of hate “abhorrent” on Sunday after the design of a stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference at one of its hotels drew comparisons to a Norse rune used by Nazis during World War Two.

A photo of the CPAC stage went viral on social media on Saturday, with thousands of Twitter users sharing posts comparing its distinctive design to an othala rune, one of many ancient European symbols that Nazis adopted to “reconstruct a mythic ‘Aryan’ past,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The ceiling of the conference room featured a lighting display in the same shape as the stage, according to Reuters photographs.

Hyatt said all aspects of conference logistics, including the stage design, were managed by the American Conservative Union, which organized the conference.

Tell me that this was accidental.

And I will point to the fact that during the insurrection and the storming of the Capitol many of the people wore othala rune patches or carried othala rune flags.

They Like Lying.

The opposition like to create fear and they will do it by any means possible include lying, and they have gotten very good at lying with fake facts.

Even though this is several years old it is worth bring up again as we face a new assault on our existence.

Stop Using Phony Science to Justify Transphobia
Actual research shows that sex is anything but binary
American Scientific
By Simón(e) D Sun
June 13, 2019


Antiscientific sentiment bombards our politics, or so says the Intellectual Dark Web (IDW). Chief among these antiscientific sentiments, the IDW cites the rising visibility of transgender civil rights demands. To the IDW, trans people and their advocates are destroying the pillars of our society with such free-speech–suppressing, postmodern concepts as: “trans women are women,” “gender-neutral pronouns,” or “there are more than two genders.” Asserting “basic biology” will not be ignored, the IDW proclaims. “Facts don’t care about your feelings.”

The irony in all this is that these “protectors of enlightenment” are guilty of the very behavior this phrase derides. Though often dismissed as just a fringe internet movement, they espouse unscientific claims that have infected our politics and culture. Especially alarming is that these “intellectual” assertions are used by nonscientists to claim a scientific basis for the dehumanization of trans people. The real world consequences are stacking up: the trans military ban, bathroom bills, and removal of workplace and medical discrimination protections, a 41-51 percent suicide attempt rate and targeted fatal violence . It’s not just internet trolling anymore.

How many times have you heard Republicans and right-wing conservatives say… “God made Adam and Eve” or “if you have XX chromosomes, you’re a female; if you’ve got XY, you’re a male” of course almost no one ever has a chromosomes test done of them so I doubt very many people know what their chromosomes are.

Contrary to popular belief, scientific research helps us better understand the unique and real transgender experience. Specifically, through three subjects: (1) genetics, (2) neurobiology and (3) endocrinology. So, hold onto your parts, whatever they may be. It’s time for “the talk.”

I always like to say, “Mother Nature loves to experiment and that experimentation is what makes every person on earth unique.

Why? Because biological sex is far more complicated than XX or XY (or XXY, or just X). XX individuals could present with male gonads. XY individuals can have ovaries. How? Through a set of complex genetic signals that, in the course of a human’s development, begins with a small group of cells called the bipotential primordium and a gene called SRY.

And there there is the brain… the largest sex organ in your body and they are really complicated.

When the biology gets too complicated, some point to differences between brains of males and females as proof of the sexual binary. But a half century of empirical research has repeatedly challenged the idea that brain biology is simply XY = male brain or XX = female brain. In other words, there is no such thing as “the male brain” or “the female brain.” This is not to say that there are no observable differences. Certain brain characteristics can be sexually dimorphic: observable average differences across males and females. But like biological sex, pointing to “brain sex” as the explanation for these differences is wrong and hinders scientific research.

We are all unique.

Would it be a very boring world if we all thought and looked the same?

While this is a small overview, the science is clear and conclusive: sex is not binary, transgender people are real. It is time that we acknowledge this. Defining a person’s sex identity using decontextualized “facts” is unscientific and dehumanizing. The trans experience provides essential insights into the science of sex and scientifically demonstrates that uncommon and atypical phenomena are vital for a successful living system. Even the scientific endeavor itself is quantifiably better when it is more inclusive and diverse. So, no matter what a pundit, politician or internet troll may say, trans people are an indispensable part of our living reality.

Transgender humans represent the complexity and diversity that are fundamental features of life, evolution and nature itself. That is a fact.

We are all struggling to get though this current plague and (yes it is a plague, go and look up the definition of a plague) you all have heard about COVID-19 variants emerging around the world, the South African variant, the Great Britain variant, and there is a new variant found here in the U.S. And these are excellent examples of how nature is always experimenting to survive. Genetic diversity is for the survival of the species.

Did you know that we will not have any bananas in about a decade?

Why?

Because bananas do not have any genetic diversity. They are all clones!

Natural selection means that one version of COVID-19 might survive while others might die out (Hence it is why we have COVID-19 because the other strains of COVID virus have died out and it mutated to another variant. And the cycle will just keep trying different variants,).

So when we look around nature we see gay animals, we see trans animals, we see intersex animals… we are a fact of life. We see nature adjusting to the environment in order to survie.

But conservatives don’t like diversity, they don’t like change, and they don’t like differences it makes them feel nervous, up tight, uncomfortable. And that should not be grounds to discriminate.

Good News

I normally only have one post today but there is court action that happened yesterday that could turn out to be good news for us.

Yesterday the court heard the trans athlete case here in Connecticut,

Judge Hears Arguments In Lawsuit Over Connecticut Transgender Athletes

WNPR

By Pat Eaton-Robb // Associated Press

February 26, 2021

Lawyers for several school districts and the organization that oversees high school sports in Connecticut went before a federal judge Friday seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit that would prevent transgender girls in the state from competing in girls’ sports.

The lawsuit was filed a year ago by several cisgender runners who argue they have been deprived of wins, state titles and athletic opportunities by a state policy that allowed two transgender sprinters to compete against them.

[…]

Defense attorney Joshua Block argued the CIAC policy doesn’t deny any girl a meaningful opportunity to participate in sports, but that overturning it would violate the Title IX rights of transgender girls.

“No court, no agency has ever defined a participation opportunity as winning an equal number of trophies,” he argued. “The plaintiffs in this case are accomplished athletes who have gained a great deal from the athletic opportunities offered them and they’ve won national acclaim from that, but there’s room enough on the podium for everyone. And accommodating the interests of these particular athletes doesn’t require schools to shove aside girls who are transgender and deny them participation opportunities too.”

So one of the questions that the lawyers asked is what damage has been done to the plaintiffs? They both took part in the girls sport programs and they both got athletic scholarships. As far as I can see the plaintiffs only problem is they don’t like trans people.

But the best part is,

Biden Administration Withdraws Support For Suit Over Connecticut Transgender Athletes

WNPR

By Associated Press

February 24, 2021

The Biden administration has withdrawn government support for a federal lawsuit in Connecticut that seeks to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls' high school sports. Connecticut allows high school athletes to compete in sports according to their gender identity. The lawsuit was filed a year ago by several cisgender runners who argue they have been deprived of wins, state titles and athletic opportunities by being forced to compete against two transgender sprinters. The Justice Department and the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights withdrew their support for the case ahead of a hearing scheduled for Friday on a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

However… You know that this case is going all the way to the Supreme Court no matter who wins. The defendants will appeal naturally if they lose and the plaintiffs will appeal so not to set precedent nationally. I believe that the plaintiffs’ attorney who is from the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom, they are not in it for the plaintiffs but rather they are handling the case to set precedent, they want to block all trans athletes from participating in sports and I believe that there might be another motive behind the case, supporting the Republican’s anti-trans legislation across the country. Here in Connecticut there have been three bills introduced blocking trans athletes form high school sports.

Saturday 9: BILLS, BILLS, BILLS

Sam’s Saturday 9: BILLS, BILLS, BILLS (1999)

On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song is about a cheating boyfriend. Unlike most songs, where the lover deceives by seeing another, this one squanders his girl's financial resources. She sings that he's ruined her credit. Do you know your credit score?
Yes, my credit card company sends me my numbers ever so often.

2) How often do you pay your bills? Do you handle them as they come in, or do you pay weekly, bi-weekly or monthly? Or are you lucky enough to have someone else handle your bills?
Bi-weekly.
Around the middle of the month and at the end of the month… so that means doing them today.

3) Destiny's Child had a hit with "Bills, Bills, Bills." This girl group got their start in Houston, TX. During the recent, bruising storm, lead singer Beyonce sent food, money and water to her home state. Have you spent much time in the Lone Star State?
I have never set foot in Texas and have no desire to do so.

4) Beyonce is the breakout star of the group and went on to have a highly successful solo career. Can you think of another star who began his/her career as the member of a group?
Phil Collins… Genesis and then he went his own way.

5) "Bills, Bills, Bills" was performed a cappella by the kids on Glee. That Fox show ran for six seasons. Were you a fan?
I never watched it.

6) In 1999, when this song was on the charts, SpongeBob SquarePants premiered. The show remains popular among the younger set. Have you ever seen it?
Nope never...

7) SpongeBob has become an industry, spawning movies, a Broadway musical, video games and both coloring and comic books. Once considered children's amusements, today coloring and comic books enjoy a following among adults. Have you recently enjoyed coloring or reading a comic book?
Before the plague I did coloring books at the senior center.

8) Also in 1999, Walmart expanded to the United Kingdom. Do you shop at Walmart?
Nope… only when I have to.
I stopped going when a number of Walmart stores got cited for chaining the emergency doors closed after hours to kept the cleaning crew from sneaking out at night.

9) Random question -- We've all met people who aren't exactly as they present themselves. Are you good at spotting a phony?
No, I’m a sucker for a hard luck story.

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

~~~~~~~~

P.S. Last weekend I had my laptop cleaned, it is running much cooler, I can actually use it as a laptop and not burn my stomach, and the keys don't stick.

Equality Act

Well it is finally came up for a vote in House and it passed, next it moves on to the Senate

Historic LGBTQ rights bill passes — after exposing GOP divisions

Some Republicans worry that this week's controversial antics from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) have stomped on their attempts to sensitively communicate why they are opposed.

Politico

By Olivia Beavers and Melanie Zanona

February 25, 2021

The House passed sweeping legislation on Thursday to ban discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity, delivering a major victory to the LGBTQ community — while exposing an ugly rift in the GOP.

The Equality Act, which would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to provide protections for LGBTQ individuals, garnered unanimous support from House Democrats on its way to approval on a 224-206 vote. Three Republicans crossed party lines to join Democrats to endorse the bill, less than half of the number of GOP votes the measure got the last time it came to the floor.

[…]

“When you tell people that in a majority of states in this country, you can either be kicked out of your apartment, fired from your job, or denied service in a restaurant because you're gay or in the LGBTQ community, people think that can't be true,” Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), the lead House co-sponsor of the bill, told POLITICO in an interview.

The bill is an expansion on the 2007 Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)

As Congress prepares to vote on Equality Act, the share of Americans identifying as LGBT rises
22% of LGBT adults experienced poverty vs. 16% for non-LGBT adults, according the Williams Institute
Market Watch
By Meera Jagannathan
February 24, 2021


An increasing share of Americans self-identify as LGBT, according to a new report released as the House was set to vote on legislation that would bar discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.
[…]
The bill’s expanded definition of “public accommodations” includes “places or establishments that provide (1) exhibitions, recreation, exercise, amusement, gatherings, or displays (2) goods, services, or programs and (3) transportation services.”

In 2007 I went down to lobby for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that was before Congress but was stripped of protections for trans people when it was voted on in the House and there is still a chance of that happening now.

Here are some of the hurdles we have to get by…

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene hangs sign mocking congressional neighbor's transgender pride flag in Twitter spat
Greene hung a sign facing Rep. Marie Newman's office that says, "There are TWO genders: MALE &amp FEMALE. 'Trust The Science.'”
NBC News
By Rebecca Shabad
February 25, 2021


WASHINGTON — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., placed a sign outside her office Wednesday mocking Democratic Rep. Marie Newman, whose office sits across the hall, after Newman hung a transgender pride flag next to her door in protest over Greene's opposition to a LGBTQ rights bill.

Newman, who has a transgender daughter, tweeted a video of herself putting up the flag Wednesday after she said Greene tried to block the Equality Act on the House floor "because she believes prohibiting discrimination against trans Americans is ‘disgusting, immoral, and evil.’”

“Thought we’d put up our Transgender flag so she can look at it every time she opens her door,” Newman, of Illinois, wrote in the tweet.

In response, Greene tweeted her own video showing her putting up a large sign that says, “There are TWO genders: MALE &amp FEMALE. “Trust The Science.””

Earlier in the day, Greene attempted to block the legislation, which is set for consideration Thursday, with a motion to adjourn. She tweeted that the move was “to give every Member of Congress time to rethink destroying #WomensRights and #WomensSports and #ReligiousFreedom before voting for the #EqualityAct!”

But that is not all the opposition that we have for the Equality Act… the religious right is back to their usual cry of “Religious Freedom” to discriminate.

Bishops: If passed, Equality Act will 'discriminate against people of faith'
Catholic News Service
February 24, 2021


If the House of Representatives passes the Equality Act, its mandates will "discriminate against people of faith" by adversely affecting charities and their beneficiaries, conscience rights, women’s sports, "and sex-specific facilities," said the chairmen of five U.S. bishops' committees.

The bill, known as H.R. 5 and recently reintroduced in the House, also will provide for taxpayer funding of abortion and limit freedom of speech, the chairmen said in a Feb. 23 letter to all members of Congress.

H.R. 5 would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, public education, federal funding, the credit system and jury duty. The House was expected to vote on the measure before Feb. 26.

"Human dignity is central to what Catholics believe because every person is made in the image of God and should be treated accordingly, with respect and compassion," they said, "This commitment is reflected in the church’s charitable service to all people, without regard to race, religion or any other characteristic."

But… You know there is a but coming.

H.R. 5 "purports to protect people experiencing same-sex attraction or gender discordance from discrimination. But instead, the bill represents the imposition by Congress of novel and divisive viewpoints regarding 'gender' on individuals and organizations," they said.

"This includes dismissing sexual difference and falsely presenting 'gender' as only a social construct," they said. "As Pope Francis has reflected, however, 'biological sex and the sociocultural role of sex — gender — can be distinguished but not separated.'"

So that is a fancy way of saying that the want to be able to ignore the law and be allowed to discriminate against us.

There is a legal term that say if a law is neutral toward religion then it doesn’t violate the First Amendment.

...As long as the law was generally applicable to all religious and non-religious individuals alike, and neutral toward religion, meaning not intended to interfere with religious practice, the law met the requirements of the Free Exercise Clause...

But that is being tested in a Supreme Court case that the court heard last November and their verdict should be heard sometime before the end of June that could make all non-discrimination laws moot.

And if the court rules that you can discriminate against LGBTQ+ people does that apply to all protected classes? Could someone discriminate against a black person and claim “religious freedom?” or discriminate against a Muslim or a Jewish persons, wouldn’t that be a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of equal treatment under the law?

With a 50/50 split in the Senate this bill will have a hard time getting passed unamended and who what will get added or stripped. The last time a bill was on the floor of Congress we got thrown under the bus.

Well What Did You Expect?

From a church that backed slavery…

Southern Baptists oust 2 churches over LGBTQ inclusion
AP
By David Crary
February 23, 2021


The Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee voted Tuesday to oust four of its churches, two over policies deemed to be too inclusive of LGBTQ people and two more for employing pastors convicted of sex offenses.

The actions were announced at a meeting marked by warnings from two top leaders that the SBC, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, was damaging itself with divisions over several critical issues including race.

“We should mourn when closet racists and neo-Confederates feel more at home in our churches than do many of our people of color,” said the SBC’s president, J.D. Greear, in his opening speech.

The two churches expelled for LGBTQ inclusion were St. Matthews Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, and Towne View Baptist Church, in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Now this is from a church that supported slavery and segregation. The pastor of the Georgia church thumbed his nose at them, jumping ship to another Baptist association.

Towne View’s pastor, the Rev. Jim Conrad, told The Associated Press last week that he would not appeal the ouster and plans to affiliate his church, at least temporarily, with The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which lets churches set their own LGBTQ policies.

LGBTQ+ Needs Assessment for Connecticut

The Connecticut Department of Health is conducting a needs survey of the LGBTQ+ population here in Connecticut starting tomorrow. The survey is being done at the request of the state legislature.

Why is it important to take the survey?

When legislators are writing legislation they need to know what part of the Connecticut LGBTQ+ community needs help the most and the only way to do that is by surveying the community, so please take 10 minutes or so to complete the survey. We need every Connecticut trans person to take the survey.

The kickoff ceremony is tomorrow at 1PM.

The zoom link is…

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85783949001?pwd=aUlka3ljcFBOWEZVSURsb01PbWM2QT09

While Trans People Sizzled, Texan’s Shivered!

I don’t anyone doesn’t know what happened Texas last week, but do you know what issues the legislature felt was more important than getting the power and water back on.

Now get ready for this…

Hint it wasn’t about the power grid or boiling water but…

It was that the Star Spangle Banner must play at public events!

Texas Republicans Prioritized Nonsense Over Winterizing The Energy Grid
HuffPost
By Roque Planas
February 23, 2021


AUSTIN, Texas ― Days before a winter storm plunged Texas into a prolonged freeze, bursting water pipes and cutting off electricity, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) announced a new legislative priority: All publicly funded events in the state would have to play the national anthem.

Barring special sessions, the Texas legislature meets only once every two years for five months, so Patrick’s priorities can crowd out other goals. That the archconservative, who presides over the state Senate, thought this issue merited the legislature’s limited bandwidth in the midst of a pandemic and widespread unemployment tells you everything you need to know about him.

Over the last week, as state leaders like Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) called for investigations into the lapses behind the catastrophic failures that left millions without power, the Star-Spangled Banner Protection Act probably seemed a little less urgent, even to Patrick. But his inane choice of priorities wasn’t unusual. And it helps to understand how things went so wrong in Texas in the first place.
[…]
Instead, Republicans, who have controlled every statewide office and both houses of the legislature since 2003, have prioritized social battles like Patrick’s national anthem crusade. In their zeal, they’ve often neglected ho-hum tasks like winterizing the energy grid, against the advice they themselves commissioned. That lack of interest is the backdrop against which some 4 million Texans lost power at the height of the crisis, while many more were left without drinkable water and dozens died.

Okay so what does this has to do with trans people and issues. Well the last a disaster happened in Texas in 2017 they tried to pass an anti-trans bill.

In perhaps the most emblematic episode of Texas Republicans’ tendency to elevate phantom problems over real ones, legislators finished the 2017 session without taking action on a must-pass sunset bill to keep several state agencies from shutting down. (In Texas, the legislature must periodically vote to perpetuate most state agencies or they get abolished.) This happened not because legislators thought state agencies shouldn’t stay open, but because Patrick had a more urgent project: He wanted to pass a law forcing Texans to use the public restroom of the gender on their birth certificate.

Critics saw that measure as an attack on transgender people, many of whom don’t change their documents after transitioning because of the bureaucratic hurdles involved. Patrick contended that he was, in fact, targeting bathroom-switching sexual predators who, in his mind, could not be prosecuted hard enough under existing law.

Lets face it the Republicans hate us so much that they are will to let people die rather while they put the screws to us.

Back in the seventies and eighties the Republicans found that by attaching trans people, gays, lesbians, minorities, and to keep Christ in Christmas could get them vote and reining in polluters or regulating industry cost them campaign donations.

I Got Shot!

 I just got my second dose.

I got my shots in Middletown at CHC, I got there about 15 minutes early for my second vaccination and I was just sitting down and my butt didn’t even touch the chair when they called my name. I got my shot from a student nurse from UConn and then waited the15 minutes.

As I was sitting there waiting I looked around and everyone was staring at their smartphones as I was getting mine out to play solitaire. I was thinking that back in the old days we would be staring at the wall and twiddling our thumbs.

Right now I just have a sore arm and the sniffles.

My first shot back in January it was like "Old Home Week." There was a classmate UConn Social of Social Work, I medical student from Quinnipiac whose class where I did a guest lecture there a couple of years, and CHC employee who also attended a training I did at CHC for homeless people.

Today's shot there wasn't anyone there that I knew,