Monday, December 12, 2016

'Anti-lgbt activists, Congressional leaders planning mischief nationally & internationally' & other Mon. midday news briefs

Sen. Cruz is planning to push an national anti-lgbt 'religious liberty' bill next year.

Republicans Will Re-File Religious Freedom Bill Protecting Anti-Gay Beliefs - And the gauntlet slowly comes off with regards to a post I talked about before. The usual cast of Congressional anti-lgbt leaders are here - Mike Lee and Ted Cruz. While the idea is vile, we can use this to our advantage by asking several crucial questions (such as how far should such a noxious bill go) and spotlighting the folks and families its passage will hurt. But the important thing to remember we win when we put up an intelligent, relentless, and vigorous opposition to this mess. 

Brian Brown Launches New Global Anti-LGBT Group & Manifesto - Meanwhile, Brian Brown of NOM is pushing a new international lgbt group. DO NOT take this lightly for any reason. As I said in the first post, use it to spotlight what nastiness they are defending and who will be harmed. The cast of anti-lgbt characters here are numerous. Good for us. Bad for them (if we push it to our advantage.)

 Fake news also hurts the lgbt community - The post I published this morning regarding how fake news (specifically that pushed by Fox News personality Todd Starnes) serves to harm the lgbt community has gotten popular. So let's give it more attention.  

Trump’s Antigay Cabinet and LGBTQ Rights - If you don't know, now you know. And you better get educated even more.

Fake news also hurts the lgbt community

Todd Starnes constantly pushes fake news against lgbts.

With attention on the dangers of fake news and how much damage it causes, it wouldn't be fair for the lgbt community to be left behind.

Over the years, this blog has pointed out incidents of the religious right groups and figures using junk science or cherry-picked to denigrate lgbts. This blog has also pointed out how the same entities have either created phony controversies or slanted  articles to cast lgbts as child-recruiting, Christian attacking monsters.

A perfect example of my point is Fox News personality Todd Starnes. He has made a career out of publishing articles which claim that "Christians are under attack" (usually from lgbts). Generally, his articles are sloppily written and often (deliberately?) omit crucial details. Such the following:

April 2014:

Starnes spin - As part of a lgbt-inclusive anti-bullying workshop at Linden Avenue Middle School in New York, two female students were forced to kiss each other.and male students were told to carry condoms in their pockets

Truth - The school district investigated and issued a statement that neither of these incidents took place

From the Huffington Post (Full disclosure. I wrote this Huffington Post article.) 

Starnes is a willful puppet in a legitimate news group (if one actually thinks of Fox News as legitimate)  who spews crappy articles  designed to generate false ideas and beliefs about lgbts. But I am sure there are others. I've compiled a list of false ideas and beliefs about the lgbt community which fake news articles generally put out about us  How many do you recognize:

  • 1. Homosexuality is a lifestyle more harmful than cigarette smoking. 
  •  2. Gay men have a short life span. 
  •  3. The gay and lesbian community have a high rate of domestic violence. 
  •  4. Unhealthy behaviors (i.e. substance abuse, promiscuous sexual behavior) is indicative of the gay or lesbian orientation. 
  •  5. Gay men molest children at a high rate. 
  • 6. Gays and lesbians want to silence Christians.
  • 7. Gays and lesbians recruit people, particularly children, to their "lifestyle."
  • 8. Gays and lesbians are following a six-point plan to take over America.
  • 9. Any judge who rules in favor of the gay and lesbian community in a case is an "activist judge."
  • 10. Anal sex is "homosexual behavior."
  • 11. Robert Spitzer’s study confirms that gays and lesbians can change their orientation.
  • 12. Gays and lesbians want to force acceptance.
  • 13. Gay bowel syndrome is a legitimate medical term.
  • 14. A man who molests a boy or a woman who molests a girl is automatically homosexual.
  • 15. A convenience sample or out-of-date study can be used to generalize about an entire community.
  • 16. The average gay man has many sexual partners. 
  •  17. Laws created to protect transgenders from discrimination will make it easier for sexual predators to come into womens' bathrooms and locker rooms

Related post:  Ten controversies caused by Todd Starnes and his sloppy, homophobic journalism