Liberty Counsel Behind Anti-LGBT Bills in 20 States

Mike Huckabee, Kim Davis and Mat Staver (Fox News)

Mike Huckabee, Kim Davis and Mat Staver (Fox News)

The lawyer who represented Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis after she refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses told CBS News that his group was also behind anti-LGBT legislation being pushed in at least 20 states.

After governors in North Carolina and Mississippi recently signed laws limiting the rights of LGBT people, CBS News began investigating why so many anti-LGBT bills were cropping up in state legislatures around the country.

The network found that the conservative group Liberty Counsel had placed lawyers in all 50 states to draft legislation and advise lawmakers on how to rein in the rights of LGBT people in response to a Supreme Court ruling which legalized same-sex marriage in 2015.

CBS determined that bills tied to Liberty Counsel have been filed in at least 20 states so far.

“Well I certainly want to push back against that [same-sex marriage] ruling,” Liberty Counsel founder Matt Staver told CBS News. “It was a wrong ruling. It has no basis in the constitution.”

Full Story Here.

Judo Jesus and The Spitter

I’ve often written about the Red River Clinic  in the comments at Pharyngula. It’s the last clinic standing in ND, and they always have anti-choicers hanging about. (Any and all pennies you might have to contribute to keep the clinic open would be more than appreciated). Then there’s Jesus, but for a change, he’s on the right side…

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Nik Severson

In this Forum file photo, Fargo police responded to a disturbance between Tyson Kuznia, left, and Nikolaus Severson, right, outside the Red River Women’s Clinic in downtown Fargo, N.D. on Sunday, October 25, 2015.

FARGO – A judge has ordered a Fargo man to pay a $400 fine for fighting someone outside the downtown Red River Women’s Clinic last year.

In October, Nikolaus Severson was goading anti-abortion protesters picketing outside the only clinic that performs abortions in North Dakota when a passer-by spit in his face.

Severson “grabbed the victim, threw him to the ground and sat on him,” prosecutor Ian R. McLean said in Municipal Court on Thursday, April 14.

[…]

Tyson Kuznia, who spit on Severson before being tackled, was also ordered to pay $400 and granted a deferred imposition of sentence when a Municipal Court judge found him guilty Jan. 14 of a misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

Kuznia said he felt compelled to spit on Severson because Severson was harassing anti-abortion protesters.

[Gosh, those anti-choice protesters, not harassing anyone, no, not at all, nope.]

Severson irritated the anti-abortion protesters for several days, holding up signs like “F— these haters.” In an interview late last year, Severson said he has no stance on abortion because he is not a woman. But he said, “I just don’t like people using God to shame women.”

Full Story Here.

Goodbye, South Carolina

CEO Anthony Watson (Photo via Uphold.com)

CEO Anthony Watson (Photo via Uphold.com)

Now just the proposal of a so-called “bathroom bill” in South Carolina has sent one gay chief executive officer is packing his jobs for California.

Anthony Watson, CEO of Uphold, describes himself as an “openly gay, British CEO,” according to The State. He’s decided to take his financial services company, which has handled $830 million in transactions since 2014, to Los Angeles instead of sticking it out.

“I have watched in shock and dismay as legislation has been abruptly proposed or enacted in several states across the union seeking to invalidate the basic protections and rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) U.S. citizens,” he wrote on the company’s website Tuesday.

Watson specifically called out South Carolina senator Lee Bright who dimly announced his bill last week which would require people to use the bathroom of the gender assigned to them at birth.

[…]

“I mean, years ago we kept talking about tolerance, tolerance, and tolerance, and now they want men who claim to be women to be able to go into bathrooms with children. And you got corporations who say this is okay,” Bright said on the senate floor.

Yesterday, I said in comments that I didn’t think the people proposing and passing these bills were stupid. I do believe I’ve had a change of mind about that. This is a special kind of dim. Full Story Here.

Today’s LGBT roundup, and there’s some good news for a change!

Louisiana Gov. Bans Anti-LGBT Bias in State Employment, Services.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has come through on a promise to issue a pro-LGBT executive order — the first in the state to offer transgender people some legal protections against discrimination — and to repeal an anti–marriage equality one issued by his predecessor, Bobby Jindal. Full Story Here.

Breweries Are Fighting Bigotry With Beer.

Bummed by anti-LGBT legislation in North Carolina? Here’s a novel way to fight it: Drink beer.

Thirty-six breweries in the Southern state have banded together to brew Don’t Be Mean to People: A Golden Rule Saison.

[Read more…]

And the transphobia goes on

tennessee-anti-lgbt-counseling-bill-is-seriously-dangerous-x750

Nashville’s first female mayor is speaking out against pending legislation that would require transgender students statewide to use the bathroom and locker room that does not match their gender identity.

In addition to a bill awaiting the governor’s signature that would allow mental health professionals to turn away LGBT clients, state lawmakers on Wednesday resurrected a transphobic “bathroom bill” that had been effectively killed by being sent to a summer session just weeks earlier. […]

Barry, a Democrat elected last September, addressed the spate of anti-LGBT bills in a statement Thursday.

“This legislation doesn’t reflect Nashville’s values and doesn’t do anything to improve the quality of life for citizens of our city or state,” Barry said. “If some lawmakers don’t see the value in recognizing people’s dignity and privacy, I hope they can at least see the negative economic impact and potential loss of revenue to Nashville and the State of Tennessee.”

“We’ve seen the negative effects that similar laws in North Carolina have had on their economy, and we’ve already received indications that conventions might pull out of Nashville or eliminate our city from consideration should HB2414/SB2387 become law — resulting in a potential loss of over $10 million in state and local tax revenue and nearly $58 million in direct visitor spending removed from our economy.

“That is the loss of economic activity in just one sector of our city’s economy. Our future ability to attract film and television production will also be impacted, and we could expect to see other industry sectors impacted, as well. That’s quite a price to pay for legislation that would seem to hurt people — including some of our youngest and our most vulnerable — without actually benefitting anyone in the process. Instead of creating complex and confusing regulations for restrooms, or becoming the only state in the nation to allow discrimination by counseling professionals, the state should work with local governments to continue our economic growth, address traffic problems, and give our schools the resources and support they need to be successful.”

Full Story Here.

Tennessee’s Hate Bill has to do with supposedly protecting counselors from having to deal with *gasp* LGBT clients.

Last week the Tennessee legislature passed House Bill 1840/Senate Bill 1556. The bill, which has come to be known as Hate Bill 1840, will head to the governor’s desk any day now. As introduced, HB 1840 declared that no counselors “shall be required to counsel or serve a client as to goals, outcomes, or behaviors that conflict with a sincerely held religious belief.” As amended, the bill that will go to the governor declares no counselor is required to serve a client who conflicts with a “sincerely held belief.”

[Read more…]

#PeeingForPat

Since North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill that regulates with who uses what bathrooms, LGBT activists are calling his office to check where they should go when they have to relieve themselves.

Since North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill that regulates with who uses what bathrooms, LGBT activists are calling his office to check where they should go when they have to relieve themselves.

In the wake of North Carolina’s new anti-LGBT law, which requires transgender people to use public bathrooms that do not match their gender identity, LGBT activists have launched a social media campaign highlighting the absurd, unenforceable nature of the law. […]

Raw Story reports the latest campaign began in earnest on Monday, when activist Sam Moore encouraged frustrated citizens in and visitors to North Carolina to contact the governor every time they used a public bathroom “to confirm your adherence or disregard of #HB2.” On Facebook, Moore shared a graphic of a toilet in a private stall, with text indicating the phone number for the governor’s office, accompanied by the hashtags #PeeingForPat and #HB2.

Full Story Here.

Springsteen cancels NC concert

springsteenx750

Springsteen posted the following to his website, Facebook, and Instagram today:

As you, my fans, know I’m scheduled to play in Greensboro, North Carolina this Sunday. As we also know, North Carolina has just passed HB2, which the media are referring to as the “bathroom” law. HB2 — known officially as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act — dictates which bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use. Just as important, the law also attacks the rights of LGBT citizens to sue when their human rights are violated in the workplace. No other group of North Carolinians faces such a burden. To my mind, it’s an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress. Right now, there are many groups, businesses, and individuals in North Carolina working to oppose and overcome these negative developments. Taking all of this into account, I feel that this is a time for me and the band to show solidarity for those freedom fighters. As a result, and with deepest apologies to our dedicated fans in Greensboro, we have canceled our show scheduled for Sunday, April 10th. Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them. It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards.

Face Time Works

Teenager Taylor Alesana in a video about Transgender Day Of Remembrance (YouTube)

Teenager Taylor Alesana in a video about Transgender Day Of Remembrance (YouTube)

Transgender people are at 25 times greater risk of abuse, assault and suicide than the general population, the study authors note. And as transgender rights come increasingly into the public eye, advocates fear that this could prompt a backlash against an already marginalized community.

During the south Florida effort, Broockman and Kalla set up an experiment in which 56 canvassers went door-to-door and encouraged active perspective-taking with 501 voters. They were asked to think of a time when they had felt mistreated for being different. The scientists also canvassed a control group of respondents about recycling. The researchers followed up with online surveys at three days, three weeks, six weeks and three months.

The scientists found that those who were asked to do analogic perspective-taking were significantly more likely to exhibit a higher tolerance toward transgender people than those who were in the control group. The effect, the researchers said, represented an even greater attitude change than the shift in American attitudes between 1998 and 2012 toward gays and lesbians.

“They’ve made their entire process enormously transparent,” Paluck said in an interview, “so that’s one reason to trust in the results. They’re part of a growing number of social scientists who have been responding to concerns about psychology, social science and economics and how untransparent their results are.”

Full Story Here. The Advocate has also covered this story. I don’t find this surprising in the least. The governor of South Dakota ended up vetoing their transgender hate legislation after meeting with transgender representatives and allies. I expect most people have a nebulous, fearsome image in their heads which is based on absolute ignorance. Being faced with regular people is probably enough of a shock to get people thinking.

Unfortunately, bigotry is still going like a world on fire, and Kansas, Tennessee, and SC are all jumping on board.

[Read more…]

The Gay Agenda Agenda

NOTE: There is new content, but The Gay Agenda will be sticky for a week.

This is an art project I’ll be backing as much as possible. All the snide and bigoted comments over the years, all the fear-filled rhetoric about the Evil Gay Agenda™ coming to get you, Barbara. Now, we can all have a real Gay Agenda. The Queer Pop Mafia has a kickstarter to fund The Gay Agenda, A witty, beautifully illustrated, totally serious, and just as ridiculous, weekly planner full of LGBTQ history, people, & ideas.

14f918d6fea55e81e99bd21bc4ad8745_original

example of an “ABC page”… S is for Stonewall

THE FINAL CREATION 

An elegant, thoughtful, and practical personal planner spanning a full calendar year; 52 weeks minimum, maybe more. In addition to standard features, the distinguishing aspect with this annual agenda is a beautiful presentation of people, events, and ideas that we find appropriate for the first-ever, official Gay Agenda.

Important ideas, vocabulary, and history will be highlighted, figures we admire and respect will be introduced, and relevant issues will be mapped out in ways that motivate a critical mass towards a society with equal rights for all. Nothing less. And perhaps a whole lot more.

As you can imagine, publishing is very expensive. The vast majority of our fundraising goal is dedicated to the production, printing, binding, and distribution of The Gay Agenda.

26 original ink drawings of LGBTQ figures and allies from present and past, each accompanied with a biographical narrative. We call these the “People pages.” Here is an example…

[…]

Please help us make this a participatory project. When making your pledge, be sure to include a suggestion as to who we should include as one of the 26 LGBTQ heroines or allies. We also welcome your suggestions for vocabulary, events, theories, and other ideas that fit the “ABC of the Gay Agenda” format. And honestly, there is very little format, if any. Here are some examples of what we’re thinking of for letters “A”, “S”, and “P”.

There’s a video and more of the featured art work at the site, have a visit, and if you can, become a backer and you can say you had a hand in creating The Gay Agenda.

ETA: I was asked for my suggestion for a LGBTQ person for Terry to draw, and my pick was George Takei, but I was sure he had already been suggested, but it turns out I was first, and Terry had been hoping someone would suggest him. I have a warm and fuzzy.

Bigotry & Backlash Roundup

Clockwise from upper left: Walter Robb; Tony West; Chip Bergh; Alex Dimitrief; Andrew Liveris; Brian Tippens; Steve Joyce

Clockwise from upper left: Walter Robb; Tony West; Chip Bergh; Alex Dimitrief; Andrew Liveris; Brian Tippens; Steve Joyce

Business Backlash Descends on Mississippi.

Major tech, hospitality, and automotive companies are speaking out about Mississippi’s new anti-LGBT law, which Gov. Phil Bryant signed Tuesday.

At press time, leaders of eight major corporations have signed on to a letter drafted by the Human Rights Campaign urging the state’s Republican leadership to repeal the law.

“Put simply, HB 1523 is not a bill that reflects the values of our companies,” reads the letter, noting that the business community has overwhelmingly rejected such discrimination, finding that a welcoming environment attracts the best and brightest employees. “We are disappointed to see the legislature and governor’s office pass discriminatory legislation… This is not a direction in which states move when they are seeking to provide successful, thriving hubs for business and economic development.”

In addition to impacting the ability of Mississippi companies to attract high-value workers, the new law “will also diminish the state’s draw as a destination for tourism, new businesses, and economic activity,” the letter states. “Discrimination is wrong, and we believe it has no place in Mississippi or anywhere in our country. As companies that pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming to all, we strongly urge you to repeal this bill.”

 

Tenn. Resurrects ‘Bathroom Bill’ Targeting Trans Students.

After effectively shelving a bill targeting transgender students last month, a Tennessee committee today advanced legislation that would bar transgender students statewide from using the restrooms or locker rooms that correspond with their identity.

[…]

The Tennessean newspaper reports that the committee’s willingness to reconsider HB 2414 after effectively scuttling it just a month before “came after Family Action Counsel of Tennessee sent emails to members of the community questioning their integrity.”

The Family Action Council of Tennessee bills itself as a conservative nonprofit “dedicated to protecting marriage and family, life, and religious liberty,” according to its website. The group’s mission, as stated on the site, “is to equip Tennesseans and their elected officials to effectively promote and defend a culture that values the traditional family, for the sake of the common good.”

“Our belief is that healthy families and communities come about when basic values from the Bible are embraced and upheld,” FACT’s “About Us” page explains.

At Least Four States Ban Official Travel to Mississippi.

Following the signing of the nation’s newest anti-LGBT law, signed Tuesday by Mississippi governor Phil Bryant, governors acted fast to ban official travel to the Magnolia State.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order on Wednesday banning all non-essential state travel to Mississippi, requiring all “agencies, departments, boards and commissions to immediately review all requests for state funded or state sponsored travel to the state of Mississippi, and bar any such publicly funded travel that is not essential to the enforcement of state law or public health and safety.”

[…]

While New York was the largest and most influential state to bar travel to Mississippi, Minnesota, Vermont, and Washington state took similar action, with Seattle’s out mayor, Ed Murray, also enacting a separate ban for his city’s employees.

Mississippi Could Lose Federal Funding for Passing Anti-LGBT Bill.

It was reported last week that North Carolina may lose federal funds for schools, highways, and education after passing an anti-LGBT law, and the Southern state might not be alone.

Mississippi could be the next state to face federal cuts, after passing an aggressive anti-LGBT law last week that allows businesses, individuals, and religiously-affiliated organizations to deny service to LGBT people, single mothers, and others who offend an individual’s “sincerely held religious belief.”

On Tuesday, Josh Earnest, the White House Press Secretary called the Mississippi law “outright mean-spirited.” The president and his administration have “long been on the side of justice and equality,” Earnest told The Washington Blade. When asked about “religious liberty” bills that have passed recently in North Carolina and Mississippi, he said, “some of the laws that we’ve seen passed that target LGBT Americans are not consistent with those values of fairness and equality.”

Time for a National Pee-in

Shutterstock

Shutterstock

An excellent commentary from Mischa Haider and Bruce Hay.

[…]

Collectively and openly, in their rainbow of appearances, they should enter gendered spaces in defiance of the segregationists. The movement needs a ground campaign, a peaceful series of “pee-ins” across the nation that will bring a face and an image to this struggle. Americans need to know that trans people exist and use facilities like any other person, and should not be intimidated or threatened for the way they look. The nation needs to see the diversity of transgender identities safely and peacefully using gendered facilities and standing up to threats to their humanity. They should understand that existence and acceptance of people born with nonconforming bodies is not what threatens the peace and safety of our society, but the violent threats and actions of those who cannot tolerate human difference.

Without such a public campaign that will raise awareness, even laws granting legal protections to trans individuals will do little to change the daily intimidation and violence that trans people face in gendered facilities. Organizations fighting to stem the tide of transphobic legislation should also work to inform the public about the rights of and the risks facing gender-nonconforming people using gendered facilities. Everyone would be well served if signs were posted explicitly stating that intimidation, violence, or threats will not be tolerated against any person in those facilities, regardless of how they look, and that anyone who experiences or witnesses such aggression should report it. Additionally, men who make murderous threats against trans individuals for entering bathrooms with their “wives and daughters” need to be held accountable.

Of course, we must all fight transphobic laws in the legislatures and in courts, tooth and nail. However, we will gain most by pushing hard for acceptance and equality at the same time as fighting off oppression. States like North Carolina are a lightning rod, for their blatant and outrageous legal segregation, but let us remember that even in Massachusetts, a bill granting trans individuals protections in public accommodations is languishing on the governor’s desk. Trans activists and advocates need to show our politicians that the cause for justice will not wait, and that we mean it when we say that the incitements to murder, assault, and suicide must stop now. A broad grassroots ground campaign bringing transgender Americans from across the spectrum openly and peacefully into the gendered spaces where they are comfortable, in front of the nation and the world, will show just that.

Let us resolve to be more visible. All of us, transgender and cisgender, in every shade and stripe of presentation. Transgender and gender-nonconforming people should determine for themselves who they are and which facility they use, and not be governed by the bigotries of the segregationist who, like the Walrus, conceals his violence with nonsense syllables.

[…]

I’m all for pee-ins. Everywhere. People having to pee while they are out an about should not be an issue, and it’s beyond absurd that it’s become such an issue here in uStates.

Mississippi Goddam

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant

Miss. Gov. Signs Sweeping Anti-LGBT ‘Religious Liberty’ Law

 

Mississippi now boasts the nation’s most aggressive anti-LGBT law, after Gov. Phil Bryant signed House Bill 1523 into law this morning.

The first-of-its-kind law will take effect in July, and allow businesses, individuals, and religiously affiliated organizations to deny service to LGBT people, single mothers, and others who somehow offend an individual’s “sincerely held religious belief.” It also directly targets transgender residents, effectively claiming that one’s sex assigned at birth is immutable, and will be the only gender recognized by the state.

The Republican governor announced that he had signed the bill in a tweet on Tuesday morning. It was accompanied by a statement contending that he signed HB 1523 “into law to protect sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions.”

“This bill merely reinforces the rights which currently exist to the exercise of religious freedom,” the governor’s statement continued. “This bill does not limit any constitutionally protected rights or actions of any citizen of this state under federal or state laws.”

[…]

“Gov. Phil Bryant’s decision to sign HB 1523 into law is unconscionable,” said Jody E. Owens, managing attorney in Mississippi at the progressive Southern Poverty Law Center in a statement. “This newly enacted law — like the draconian anti-LGBT laws in other states — uses the guise of ‘religious freedom’ to justify discrimination, mistreatment and bigotry. It’s the same sort of rationale used by white supremacists in earlier eras to justify slavery and Jim Crow. The estimated 60,000 LGBT people in Mississippi deserve better. We need to stand up for the rights of all people.”

I don’t know what can be said here. I don’t know how to express the grief I feel. I don’t understand how people can be so filled with hatred and fear, yet think they are good people.

https://youtu.be/fVQjGGJVSXc

UPDATE: ‘#1 in bigotry’: Twitter unleashes its wrath.

Punishing Planned Parenthood

Supporters of Planned Parenthood (EPG_EuroPhotoGraphics / Shutterstock.com)

Supporters of Planned Parenthood (EPG_EuroPhotoGraphics / Shutterstock.com)

Missouri, again. Anyone surprised? I am so sick of these sanctimonious idiots insisting on sticking their nose into every uterus on the planet, looking to punish women people for having the nerve to think they are full, autonomous human beings. Sanctity of life my arse.

Senators in Missouri are moving to hold the president of a St Louis-area Planned Parenthood affiliate in contempt of court – under threat of jail time – for refusing to submit private medical documents.

The move comes after the state general assembly’s committee on the sanctity of life subpoenaed documents from Mary Kogut, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, in an investigation into her organization.

[…]

A lawyer responded on behalf of Planned Parenthood that the committee did not have the authority to subpoena these documents, and that handing them over would violate federal privacy law.

Despite these legal objections, the Missouri senate will begin a hearing Tuesday to introduce a bill determining whether Kogut should be found in contempt.

Kogut now faces a potential indictment on contempt charges. If charged, she faces up to 10 days of jail time as well as a fine of $300 for, as the subpoena itself states, is the right of the general assembly to “punish”.

Full Story Here.