Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
#SCOTUS rules that federal employment discrimination laws protect LGBT employees
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 15, 2020
6-3 decision Gorusch writing joined by Roberts, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayer, and Kagan.
The new HHS rule that rolled back quite a few protections for LBTG-Q folks that got finalized last Friday will be under significant legal pressure now.
Open thread.
Rush Limbaugh asked how parents would explain to their kids @PeteButtigieg kissing his husband @Chas10Buttigieg.
Easy. They’re in love and married.
That’s a whole lot easier than explaining why a misogynistic, racist, homophobe has a damn Presidential Medal of Frredom.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) February 12, 2020
There's a healthy dollop of pathos in Rush, an old man in full, halfheartedly taking feeble baby-swipes at Buttigieg being gay, no longer having the sack to go all in on being fully homophobic as in his glory days, sensing the world has left him behind like a tween's retainer.
— TooHarshHat (@Popehat) February 13, 2020
Ana Navarro responds to Rush Limbaugh…
“Pete and Chasten are giving America an example of what a loving, committed gay couple looks like. And they are breaking glass ceilings and I hope it makes it easier for the LGTBQ kids who get bullied all over America”#ThePeteEffect pic.twitter.com/DJ3PYwChQK
— THE PETE EFFECT (@ThePeteEffect) February 13, 2020
Good thing this guy got a Medal of Freedom https://t.co/udfctcfC9L
— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) February 12, 2020
Only halfway joking when I say some folks on the edgelord left are mad because it turned out the reactionary right was lying when they said gay rights would destroy the conventional bourgeois morality and family structure. https://t.co/7fJgXOlvuY
— Starfish Who Should Be Told To Get Back To Work (@IRHotTakes) February 13, 2020
(Mildly NSFW)
Valentine Eve Open Thread: War’s Over, the Bigots Lost, Get Over ItPost + Comments (70)
…and refugees, the sick, the elderly, the homeless… but only if they’re LGBT or the wrong kind of Christian, of course. These people aren’t complete monsters.
Daniel Reynolds at The Advocate writes:
The Department of Health and Human Services announced a new rule Friday that would allow adoption agencies and other programs that receive HHS grants to reject same-sex couples and rainbow families on the basis of religious freedom, reports the Washington Blade. Other programs that stand to be affected include elder services, Head Start, refugee resettlement, HIV services, and programs for runaway and homeless youth.
The proposed regulation would nullify an Obama-era policy that prohibited federally funded agencies from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity…
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council — deemed an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center — praised the new regulation.
“Thanks to President Trump, charities will be free to care for needy children and operate according to their religious beliefs and [lies about LGBT parents redacted],” Perkins said.
[…] “The Trump-Pence White House has proposed a horrific federal regulation that would permit discrimination across the entire spectrum of HHS programs receiving federal funding,” added Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David.
We knew this was coming. These dipshits are convinced that this country, in which a supermajority of the population and elected officials shares their religion, is coming for their faith. And they hated that Obama policy. What liberals are really coming for, of course, is their ‘right’ to take government money while discriminating against people for the circumstances of their birth. They’re more than welcome to hang up a “no fags allowed” sign on their church. Nobody’s trying to take that away.
Now, even for a fairly privileged fellow like me, this is going to affect my behavior. I try not to travel to deeply conservative areas as a matter of conscience and personal safety, and this policy makes such places even more dangerous for me. What if I get hit by a bus and the only hospital won’t treat me? Or more likely, what if they won’t let my husband visit or make decisions? But for the more marginalized members of the community, this is going to be much more significant. Catholic hospitals are already denying procedures to trans folks that they’ll happily perform on cis folks. This policy makes it official.
Anyway, this will probably become another “Mexico City policy” that Republican and Democratic administrations keep reversing each other on, until the culture warriors die out, so forever. That’ll be fun.
Pence Administration Declares War on OrphansPost + Comments (52)
…which is all well and good, but it still rankles just a bit.
I can usually make it through days ending in ‘y’ without having to come out to somebody, but it definitely happens more than once a year. As a cis white man with no behaviors that scream ‘gay!’ to the uninitiated, I’m not as likely to experience anti-LGBT prejudice as most community members, but I do have to tell people I’m gay an awful lot.
I’m not saying that this is an actual burden, relatively speaking. But I’m definitely not alone in being a little annoyed by the official annual reminder that it’s not my world, I just live in it. It can be so stressful that, when I was in college, the observance was delayed by two weeks, so that people could get settled into the semester before having to deal with it.
National Coming Out Day began in 1988, on the premise that visibility is good, which is true. Many did not know that they knew an LGBT person. This is the case for fewer people nowadays, but still too many. So, in the spirit of the holiday, I will get the ball rolling: Hi! I’m a gay man! (More of a Kinsey five, but who’s counting.)
(h/t Sister Golden Bear, who reminded me to write something!)
In other gay news, bonus Elizabeth Warren below the fold.
It’s Pride Saturday night here. What this means for me is that I’m home alone making fussy green tea and reading Iain M. Banks. Fortunately, I’ve got the company of Nature’s Perfect Killing Machine.
It’s been a smidge hot lately; that’s how much energy Samwise could muster for greeting me after brunch. We keep the AC on in the bedroom, but I guess he decided the muggy living room was more his speed.
Happy Pride! How are you all? Got any Netflix/Hulu/Prime recommendations? I’ve been watching Neon Genesis Evangelion, which holds up surprisingly well.
Parting observation: Marianne Williamson has suddenly taken on a huge memetic presence in my Twitter feed. One of my Very Online friends even bought her shirt. You know, ironically.
When Gay Twitter finds out that Laura Dern was once Marianne Williamson’s roommate…. it’s over…
— Bedder (@itgetsbedder) June 28, 2019
Serving in Congress on the 50th anniversary of Stonewall does blow my mind, but it also helps me see how much further we can go.
I sat down with @NBCNews to discuss the fight for LGBTQ equality, my path to Congress, and how mixed martial arts has shaped the person I am today. pic.twitter.com/XNENjnaezM
— Rep. Sharice Davids (@RepDavids) June 17, 2019
Gotta admit, I’m really glad I contributed what I could to Rep. Davids’ campaign last year!
Thursday Morning Open Thread: It Gets BetterPost + Comments (179)
Pete Buttigieg has officially announced:
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg officially launched his presidential campaign on Sunday, formally vaulting the Midwestern Democrat who was largely unknown over a month ago into the large — and growing — field of Democrats vying to take on President Donald Trump in 2020.
Buttigieg cast his candidacy as a direct rebuttal to Trump’s campaign — including his slogan “Make America Great Again” — and highlighted his belief that the country needs both a generational change and an entirely different political figure to lead the country past Trump. Buttigieg’s argument is that he, a gay, veteran mayor from the Midwest, is just that kind of different politician.
“My name is Pete Buttigieg. They call me Mayor Pete,” Buttigieg said to cheers. “I am a proud son of South Bend, Indiana. And I am running for President of the United States.”
He said: “I recognize the audacity of doing this as a Midwestern millennial mayor. More than a little bold—at age 37—to seek the highest office in the land. … But we live in a moment that compels us each to act.”
It almost seems like no big deal that a gay man has a real chance at one day becoming a major party’s Presidential or VP nominee, but it kind of is a big deal. It was only 25 years ago that my then roommate and best friend, who was closeted, spent so much time and energy making sure the mirage of his heterosexuality remained in place. I mean, I feel like I just blinked it happened so fast, but it really didn’t- it took a long time and a lot of hard work and there are still are swaths of the country who are just as bigoted as they were decades ago. It’s just such a big deal.