Introduction:
For those of you who recently attended public schools, here's what this issue is all about:
The uproar over same-sex marriage, criticism of homosexual behavior being treated as hate speech, and
transgender people (real or imaginary) using the restroom of their choice, is not primarily about the
rights and privileges of homosexuals. It is about the incremental and systematic destruction of
all traditions and moral guidelines. This in turn will lead to the abolition of our freedom of
religion. If you stand in the way, you will be destroyed. Politicians won't help you.
The Left won't, because this is their idea, and the Right won't because they're afraid of what the Left
might say about them.
The most recent controversy in this category is the dispute about whether or not to allow anyone
at all to enter the public restroom of his or her choice. Normal people are usually too
polite to object when a misguided freak makes a statement by going to a restroom where he or she
is not expected to go. But the tiny minority of activists who specialize in this cause are not subtle,
and they're not concerned with politeness, because (as mentioned above) simple courtesy and common sense are
two of the things they are attempting to break down. Personally, I don't think there are but
a few individuals nationwide who have had themselves surgically altered to function as the opposite
sex. There are thousands more who, for whatever demonic reason, pretend to be that which they
are not. The bathroom flap is about whether or not a man can "identify" as a woman, even temporarily,
and then go where he wants, and stay there all day if he likes.
Since this page was initiated in September, 2015, the issues at hand have expanded. Now we
see not only men in women's restrooms, but merchants being compelled to participate in homosexual
weddings, teachers being forced to use bizarre pronouns when addressing mentally-ill students,
homosexuals and transvestites demanding to be treated like normal people, and innumerable
contortions of the English language to accomodate perverse thinking. And all this weirdness
increasingly carries the endorsement of the federal government.
Related topic: Target boycott
Trans-logical?
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) recently derided a new policy banning men from women's
restrooms on U.S. Capitol grounds, claiming that those who support the policy are "endangering
girls of all kinds." This is not true. In fact, it is the opposite of true. First
of all, there is no such thing as "girls of all kinds" in the sense that she meant it, meaning
girls of the boy kind, or 'trans women.' Secondly, the new policy does not "endanger"
anyone, but protects the vast majority of actual females from being uncomfortable or feeling
unsafe. If I identify as a Dallas Cowboy, it doesn't "endanger" me if I can't use the team's
bathroom or locker-room. Period. The same holds true were I to identify as a New York
Yankee, Boston Celtic, or Chicago Blackhawk. The difference is, it wouldn't potentially
endanger them if I did. Similarly, if I identify as a flathead catfish it doesn't
"endanger" me if I can't swim in the river with them. If I identify as a Radio City Music
Hall Rockette, it doesn't "endanger" me if I'm not allowed to dance across the stage with them.
Neither physically nor mentally. If I believe it will "endanger" me mentally to be
unable to do so, it simply shows I am already in desperate need of help. Period.
$10k
fines (and other penalties) for failing to fly the 'Pride' flag. Emo, Ontario is a
tiny Canadian town on the Minnesota border, so small in fact that it doesn't even have a municipal
flag pole — but now the town finds itself on the hook for a $10,000 fine (among other
penalties) for declining to fly the pervert banner ("Pride" flag) in violation of the province's
"human rights" codes. According to a report by Allan Stratton at Canada's National Post, the
whole debacle began when a platoon of LGBTQ++ nutjobs organized as "Borderland Pride" petitioned
Emo "to proclaim Pride Month and fly the Pride flag." The city council voted down the request, so
the queers ran off and tattled to the Ontario Human Rights Commission; the tribunal process began,
and just two weeks back, committee arbiter Karen Dawson made her ruling: [...]
Ontario
town fined $10,000 for refusing to celebrate pride month. An Ontario town has been
fined $10,000 and its officials ordered to complete mandatory "human rights" training after it
refused to celebrate Pride Month. Emo is a township of about 1,300 people located in the
far west of Ontario, along the border with Minnesota. In a decision handed down last week,
the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ruled that Emo, its mayor and two of its councillors had
violated the Ontario Human Rights Code by refusing to proclaim June as "Pride Month." The town
was also cited for failing to fly "an LGBTQ2 rainbow flag," despite the fact that they don't have
an official flag pole. The dispute began in 2020 when the township was approached by the
group Borderland Pride with a written request to proclaim June as Pride Month.
Ohio
Governor Signs Law Barring Students from Using Bathrooms Reserved for Opposite Sex.
Ohio governor Mike DeWine signed a law on Wednesday that bars public-school students in the state
from using bathrooms that don't align with their sex. The "Protect All Students Act" (SB 104)
will bar transgender students from kindergarten through college at state public schools from using
multi-person bathrooms reserved for the opposite sex. The bill's co-sponsor, Republican state
senator Jerry Cirino, defended the legislation on the grounds that it would protect vulnerable
children. "It revolves around safety, security, and, I think, common sense. It protects our
children and grandchildren in private spaces where they are most vulnerable." DeWine has tried
to carve a middle path on the trans issue. In 2023, he vetoed a bill that would have banned
"gender-affirming care" for minors and blocked males from competing in women's athletics. He
then tried to moderate by announcing plans to ban transgender surgeries for minors alongside
additional provisions to monitor the transgender "treatments." The Ohio state legislature later
overrode the governor's veto of the original bill, and the law took effect in August.
Dem
Tim "Sarah" McBride and the Trans Taliban. While Democrats are still engaged in
finger-pointing over their Nov 5th loss, certain factions are doubling down with their pet
causes. Congresscritter-elect McBride, trans-identified male, is attempting to be the
reasonable face of a movement dedicated to the eradication of women's sex-based rights. [...]
Americans have been facing a ideological cult that has put men in women's prisons, shelters, locker
rooms, and restrooms, in addition to a billion dollar empire of mutilating and sterilizing kids and
making them lifelong, chronic medical patients. Enough Americans had enough of being told to
grovel for "misgendering" a dude in a wig and bad makeup to vote the party hosting the TQ+ radicals
out. But the Trans Taliban is not giving up. McBride refers to "dangerous Trump
policies" and I'm sure he had this in mind. ["]Donald Trump is expected to sign an
executive order that would remove transgender service members from the military as soon as his
first day in office.["]
Canadian
town forced to pay $10,000 to LGBT group, send mayor to reeducation course because they didn't
declare June "Pride Month". The LGBTQ rainbow mafia just wants to be left
alone. They just want to get married like everyone else. All they're looking for is a
little tolerance. And if you don't declare an entire month to celebrate their sexual
lifestyle, well then you have to pay. [...] The Ontario's Human Rights Tribunal (an Orwellian
sounding group if there ever was one) believes that LGBT people have the human right to a whole
month celebrating their sex lives, and if a tiny town doesn't agree they have to pay a fine to an
LGBT rights group and extort their mayor to pay half. And if that group sounds familiar, the
Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, they're the same folks who helped bring Jordan Peterson to
prominence. They love to make people famous.
Colorado
to pay out $1.5 million settlement after 303 Creative v. Elenis ruling.
The State of Colorado is set to cover the attorney fees for Alliance Defending Freedom in a
settlement amounting to more than $1.5 million after an agreement was finally reached
following the United States Supreme Court ruling in favor of 303 Creative on June 30, 2023,
according to public court documents filed by the law firm. Lorie Smith, a Christian graphic
and web designer, declined an inquiry by a same-sex couple considering using her services to create
a wedding website due to her religious beliefs. Smith's decision to decline the service and
state her business stance on inquiries on designs for same-sex marriages was in violation of
anti-discriminatory laws in place in Colorado. Smith turned to the services of faith-based
law firm Alliance Defending Freedom which sued the state on her behalf in 2016.
Man
charged with hate crime after identified in video tearing down pride flag from shop.
A Naval Academy graduate has been charged with a hate crime after he was allegedly seen on camera
ripping down a pride flag outside of an Annapolis, Maryland tattoo shop. According to
charging documents, the co-owner of the Dapper Dog Tattoo Shop, Charlie Garrett, contacted police
on Nov. 15 to report that the store had been vandalized. Garrett told police that
closed-circuit security camera footage had captured a man tearing down a pride flag with the phrase
"ABIDE NO HATRED" emblazoned on it from the storefront at around 1 a.m. that day and placing
it in a nearby trash can.
Speaker
Mike Johnson's Response To The Trans Bathroom Fracas In Congress Was Cowardly. House
Speaker Mike Johnson failed to answer a very easy question lobbed at him Tuesday morning. He
was asked whether Rep. Sarah McBride, an incoming freshman lawmaker from Delaware who
identifies as transgender, is a man or a woman. McBride is a man who presents as a woman, so
Johnson's answer should have been easy: McBride is a man. But he couldn't do it.
Instead, he smirked and deflected. "I'm not gonna get into this," he said. "We treat all
persons with dignity and respect. And we will. And I'm not going to engage in silly
debates about this." Johnson did, however, acknowledge that "there's a concern about the uses
of restroom facilities and locker room and all that." Oh is there? The background here is
that Rep. Nancy Mace, who understandably doesn't want to share a bathroom or a locker room
with McBride, or any other man, introduced a bill stipulating that on Capitol Hill women must use
the women's facilities and men must use the men's.
Female
Law Students Punished for Saying Men Don't Belong in Women's Bathrooms. Alliance
Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit Friday on behalf of two female law students who expressed
concerns about men accessing women's restrooms at George Mason University's law school.
Third-year law students Selene Cerankosky and Maria Arcara expressed concerns after a male
classmate informed the Antonin Scalia Law School Class of 2025 GroupMe chat of his proposal to add
feminine hygiene products to male restrooms. After the male student asked for comments on his
proposal, Cerankosky responded to the post saying that, if women accessed men's restrooms, she
feared men would try to use private female spaces, which would violate her safety and privacy, as
well as her religious convictions about human sexuality. Arcara said she agreed. The
male student accused them of bigotry and complained to the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
The
One Overlooked Reason Christians Should Vote in 2024. The Biden-Harris administration
started its rule using COVID as the excuse to shut businesses and churches and use social media to
shut up anyone who disagreed with their mandates or questioned the science. That was how they
started. Throughout their administration they used to FBI and DoJ to spy on school board
meetings and arrest Christians who didn't like woke teachers pushing pornography and transgenderism
on their children. By the end, they went even further. Just months ago, they rewrote
Title IX to remove protections for women and girls in favor of biological males pretending to be
women or girls. Whatever and wherever a female could go and do the Biden-Harris
administration opened to biological males. Participation in sports, locker rooms, bathrooms,
showers, dormitories... they were not only open to males, but women also no longer have the right
to say no. And it isn't just in education, but those rules will roll over into the business
environment. Do you honestly think they won't try to force that on churches as well?
Biden-Harris
Admin Paves Way For Bureaucrats To Take Gender-Confused Kids From 'Non-Affirming' Parents.
"Transphobia is child abuse," Alex Roque, who runs the Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBTQ youth
in New York City, asserted on a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) webinar last
fall. In less than three minutes, he cast a vision for completely transforming child
protective systems nationwide. Family rejection of a child's gender identity cannot be
dismissed as a personal view, he argued. Non-affirmation must be treated as abuse. "If
they were denying them food or denying them access to school or denying other things, there would
be headlines," Roque continued. "There would be prosecution." Among gender activists the
Biden-Harris administration has enlisted to shape its policies, Roque's definition of abuse is not
fringe, and his vision for reshaping the system is not hypothetical.
Colorado
Supreme Court Dismisses Transgender-Cake Lawsuit against Christian Baker Jack Phillips.
The Colorado supreme court on Tuesday dismissed the latest lawsuit against Masterpiece Cakeshop
owner Jack Phillips, who was accused in the most recent suit of discriminating against a
transgender attorney by refusing to bake a gender-transition cake. [Unrelated video clip]
[Advertisement] While ruling in favor of the Christian baker, the state supreme court did not
weigh in on Phillips's free-speech rights. Rather, it dismissed the case on a technicality:
Plaintiff Autumn Scardina, a man identifying as a woman, did not file the lawsuit correctly in Colorado.
"We granted certiorari to determine, among other issues, whether Scardina properly filed her case," the
Colorado supreme court wrote in its 64-page opinion in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Scardina.
"We conclude that she did not."
The
Long Road to Freedom for Jack Phillips. Few living Americans have stood longer
against government persecution for their freedoms than Colorado baker Jack Phillips. He has
been repeatedly targeted under Colorado anti-discrimination law for adhering to his Christian
faith. At long last, his third legal saga is over after the Colorado supreme court on Tuesday
rejected the latest lawsuit against him on procedural grounds. After twelve years, Phillips
is free of the courts. We can only hope he stays free — and that his fellow
citizens will, too. The end of the current round of persecution of Phillips is cause for
celebration but not for unbridled joy. This is America. It is a scandal that any of the
lawsuits against Phillips were brought, and it is a scandal that the courts have not rejected them
squarely on the merits, in terms that made plain that this must not happen here again.
Colorado
Supreme Court Finally Dismisses Case Against Christian Cake Baker After Over 12 Years Of Legal
Battles. Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips' over 12-year legal battle to
defend his free speech rights ended Tuesday. The Colorado Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit
against Phillips after finding the attorney who challenged him in 2017 for declining to create a
cake celebrating a male-to-female gender transition did not properly file the case. "Enough is
enough. Jack has been dragged through courts for over a decade. It's time to leave him
alone," ADF senior counsel Jake Warner said in a statement. "Free speech is for everyone."
The attorney, Autumn Scardina, called Masterpiece Cakeshop to request a "a pink birthday cake with
blue frosting" symbolizing gender transition on the same day the Supreme Court announced it would
hear Phillips first case in June 2017. Scardina initially filed a complaint with the
Colorado Civil Rights Commission. After the state and Phillips reached a settlement and the
case was closed, Scardina filed a new lawsuit in state court in 2019.
Psychology
professor fired for opposing trans surgery for children wins free speech lawsuit against University
of Louisville. A leading child psychiatrist has won a lawsuit after he was abruptly
fired for comments about gender dysphoria. Dr. Allan Josephson, 72, was tapped to head
the University of Louisville's Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry more than 20 years
ago. In 2017, Josephson expressed caution about gender treatments for children[,] leading to
his termination in 2019. After being hit with a federal free speech lawsuit, the Kentucky
school argued it was within its rights to fire Josephson for the criticism, aired at a Heritage
Foundation panel. Attorneys for the university claimed his personal comments related to his
professional role at the medical school and thus overcame his First Amendment claim. Now that
he's been vindicated, his message for academia is 'tolerance is a two-way street.'
School
Bans Parents Wearing XX Wristbands From Girls' Sports Event. Sometimes people can
take the entire idea of complying with ridiculous government mandates several bridges too
far. That appears to have been the case during a recent sporting event held in New
Hampshire. A girls' soccer game was scheduled between Plymouth Regional High School and their
rival Bow High School. Bow High School was fielding a boy who "identifies" as a girl to
compete, but when the Plymouth Regional parents heard about this, they asked the Bow High athletic
director to withdraw the boy from the roster. He refused, saying that "his hands were tied"
by a federal ruling allowing anyone who "identifies as female" to compete. Having run out of
other options, the parents decided to wear red wristbands to the match that were marked with two
letter "X" symbols, signifying the women's chromosomes shared by all females as a silent
protest. That wasn't good enough for the Bow High School team who insisted that the
wristbands be removed. The parents refused. That's when they called the police and had
the offending parents removed from the venue.
Australian
woman fired, dragged before tribunal for saying only women can breastfeed. In yet
another blow to free speech in Australia, Jasmine Sussex, a Victorian breastfeeding expert, is
being taken to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal for saying that only females can
breastfeed their babies. Sussex argued that males who take drugs to lactate should not be
experimenting on children, describing it is a "dangerous fetish." Her tweets about an
Australian male breastfeeding his infant with a cocktail of lactose-inducing drugs was removed by X
(formerly Twitter) for Australian users, although it remained visible to overseas users. The move
came after requests from a "government entity or law enforcement agency", according to Twitter.
Sussex was told she had "broken the law" although it was not made clear what law that was.
In
Scotland, You Can Be Thrown In Prison For 7 Years If You Misgender Someone. The
Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 creates a new crime of "stirring up hatred"
relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being
intersex. The maximum penalty is a prison sentence of seven years. A person commits an
offence if they communicate material, or behave in a manner, "that a reasonable person would
consider to be threatening or abusive," with the intention of stirring up hatred based on the
protected characteristics. [Video clip]
Teacher
Who Refused to Refer to Students by 'Preferred Pronouns' Jailed for the Third Time. A
teacher in Ireland who refused to refer to his students by their "preferred pronouns" was jailed
for the third time. To recap, two years ago, Townhall covered how Enoch Burke, a history and
German teacher in Ireland, was arrested for violating a court order prohibiting him from teaching
or being present at Wilson's Hospital School, the school where he taught. This all started
when he refused to address a "transgender" student as "they" instead of "he." As a result, the
school placed him on administrative leave "pending the outcome of a disciplinary process."
However, Burke refused to stay away from the school, leading to his arrest.
Editor
resigns as publisher blocks criticism of decision to retract paper on gender dysphoria.
Springer Nature has halted an accepted paper criticizing the publishing giant's controversial
retraction last year of an article that surveyed parents of children with gender dysphoria, leading
an associate editor to resign, Retraction Watch has learned. According to emails we obtained,
the blocked paper was slated to appear as a commentary in a special issue of Springer Nature's
Current Psychology that aimed "to stimulate discussion of all aspects of the 'unpublication'
of scientific articles." "This is the only time I've had an accepted paper overruled in
4 years" as an associate editor at this journal, Christopher Ferguson of Stetson University in
Florida, one of two guest editors of the special issue, told us by email.
Vermont
Department of Health urges public to avoid gendered words like 'son' or 'daughter'.
As the back-to-school school season kicks off, the Vermont Department of Health is encouraging
school employees and others to refrain from referring to children as a "son" or "daughter" and
instead embrace gender-neutral terminology. In a Facebook post Wednesday, the department
declared, "The language we use matters." "When talking about family, it's important to use
terms that cover the many versions of what family can look like," the department stated. A
picture accompanying the Facebook post featured a few examples of what constituted "inclusive
language for families."
Our
rights are being wronged, starting from the First Amendment. The government has
effectively established leftism, meaning itself, as the official religion of the United States of
America. And that government [surely] prohibits the free exercise of Christianity. As
some who have prayed next to an abortion mill well know. Government tells religious
organizations what they can and can't do, tells the private owner of a small bakery that he or she
must make a pro-LGBTQ (or transgender) cake or be run out of business, threatens priests and
pastors who read "anti-gay" passages from the Bible, typically refuses to allow benign and
nominally Christian-themed flags, such as "An Appeal To Heaven," to fly over public buildings ...
but has no such compunctions regarding LGBTQ — or often even Palestinian —
banners. Freedom of speech? Say or write something — anything —
that goes against The Agenda, and prepare to be shamed, counseled, cancelled, or worse.
Increasingly, anything that doesn't completely comport with leftist dogma is simply branded
"misinformation" and/or "hate speech."
Appeals
Court Revives Christian Case Against Washington State Law. A Christian group in
Washington state has shown it's being injured by a state bias law, a federal appeals court ruled on
Aug. 12, reversing a lower court decision and reviving the group's case against state
officials. The Union Gospel Mission of Yakima, Washington, sued over the Washington Law
Against Discrimination, which bars employers from discriminating based on sexual orientation.
The group said the law is unconstitutional and that it is being affected by the law because it
distributes a form for employees to sign that agrees to adherence to a Christian lifestyle and
beliefs, including only engaging in sexual conduct in a marriage between a man and a woman.
Due to the threat of prosecution, the group stopped listing job openings, paused hiring, and
decided not to publish requirements for its employees online, the group said in its suit.
Richard
Dawkins's Facebook Account [has been] Deleted After he Posted that Genetically Male Boxers Should Not Fight
Women. Richard Dawkins's Facebook account has been deleted after he posted that
genetically male boxers should not fight women. The famous evolutionary biologist posted on X
this morning about the shocking censorship, writing that while no reason was given for the sudden
removal of the account, it seems to be linked to a post in which he'd written that "genetically
male boxers such as Imane Khalif (XY undisputed) should not fight women in Olympics". Dawkins's
tweet has so far been viewed over 10 million times.
Pride
Month Recap: What, Exactly, Are You Proud Of? Another Pride Month has come and
gone. I'll admit that it was more subdued than it has been in recent years. The specter
of Israeli neo-Nazi homophobes throwing Gazan gays off rooftops undoubtedly dampened the
festivities. But I'm old enough to remember when Pride was just a parade in the big
cities. Then it became a day. Then a week. Now it's a month. Now
it's in schools, department stores, fast food chains, and library reading rooms. And if you
think it's all going just a tad overboard, you're worse than Hitler. If aliens
observed Pride Month from space, one could forgive them for assuming that gays in contemporary
America must be the most oppressed group in the history of mankind, hence the necessity of an
ever-increasing display of awareness and recognition. But an unfortunate and entirely
predictable, phenomenon has occurred in the years since Obergefell and the advent of gays in
the military. The oppressed has become the oppressor and gleefully so.
Florida
teen charged with felony for leaving 'donut burnout' skid marks on LGBT pride mural.
A Florida teenager was arrested and charged with a felony on Monday after leaving skid marks with
his car on a street pride mural. Christian Maier, 18, was charged with felony mischief and
racing on a street after surveillance footage caught him doing "donut burnouts" with his car on
St. Petersburg's "Progressive Pride Street Mural" at 3:45 a.m. on May 22, according
to the St. Petersburg Police Department. Police said the video showed Maier "recklessly
maneuvering his car in a way to leave several tire marks across the mural and causing significant damage."
The Editor says...
If you paint a mural in the street, you should expect "significant damage" sooner or later. If you
don't want your sacred symbols desecrated, don't paint them in the street!
Woman
And Her Toddler Are Booted Off A United Airlines Flight For Using The Wrong Pronouns Of A Flight
Attendant. A mom has claimed she was booted off a United Airlines flight with her
distressed 16-month-old son over using the wrong pronoun for a flight attendant. Jenna
Longoria was expecting to fly to Austin from San Francisco on Wednesday with her mom and son when
United stopped them from traveling. She alleges she was denied boarding after an 'accidental'
mix-up when addressing a United staff member, who she says refused to accept her apology.
[Video clip]
The Editor says...
This is what civil litigation is for.
The
trans superiority narrative. There is no right to ogle females in locker room and
showers, nor is there a right for males to use the same bathrooms as females. There is no
right to pretend to be the opposite sex, nor is there a right to force others to share in and
praise trans delusions, yet these are among the "trans rights" demanded by the narrative.
Anyone identifying as trans has no fewer constitutional rights than anyone else, but because they
and their enablers think them somehow more evolved, intellectually and morally superior over those
of normal sex, their whims, their "trans rights," must take precedence over the rights of
others. Their superiority demands society cater to their whims, further trapping them in
their delusions, making it more difficult for them, and their enablers, to recognize reality.
We
Can't Do the Work For You. Well, it's better late than never, I suppose. After
nearly 60 years of allowing the homosexual agenda to move forward, claiming they just wanted
"equal rights," claiming this was a legitimate civil rights issue, people are just now starting to
wake up to what's really happening, and I've been getting phone calls, emails and letters from
people who are outraged and panicked. You see, "pride" parades and festivals, and "transgender"
"drag" events — which not so long ago only happened in the big cities — are now
invading small town America, like waves of locusts. The outrage is justifiable, especially
considering the targets of all this stuff are our children, and they're no longer even trying to hide
that fact. But my question is, "where have you been all this time?"
Behold
the Monster You Created. [Scroll down] Well, my friends. You
miscalculated. You supported the LBGTQ agenda without question when it was being shoved in
the noses of uppity Christians. But you have since discovered that what "love is love" really
means is that mediocre males are allowed to dominate women's sports (and invade their locker rooms)
and that you are expected to applaud along.
VIDEO:
You can burn an American flag, but if you deface the gay flag, the regime will put you in
prison. In America, you can spit on Vietnam veterans, defecate on the US flag,
threaten the lives of US Supreme Court Justices, mock Christianity, and burn entire cities to the
ground in the name of a career felon. But if you dare to trample on the rainbow flag, oh,
there will be serious hell to pay, mister. That's what three teenagers in Washington are
finding out the unjust, immoral, and hard way, as they face felony charges for disrespecting the
national homo religion. [Advertisement] On Wednesday night, just a few hours after Spokane
had given its LGBTQ+++ Pride Mural a fresh coat of paint, three teens made their mark —
literally. Ruslan Turko, 19, along with two other underage teenagers, left scooter marks on
it. For this most heinous crime against humanity, they were arrested and charged with 1st
degree "malicious mischief," a felony that could land them up to 10 years in jail.
16-Year-Old
Girl Speaks Out About Having to Share School Restrooms, Locker Rooms With Males. A
16-year-old Minnesota girl forced to share private spaces with males under a public school
transgender policy says that girls deserve privacy in their restrooms and locker rooms. "It's
really uncomfortable, because I was in gym class, and I was just about to change, but then I heard
this voice, and I was, like, 'That does not sound right.' So, I look, and it's a male," said the
rising junior at Stewartville High School, who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely on the
controversial issue. In 2017, the Minnesota Department of Education issued a toolkit telling
school districts to provide transgender students facilities, including bathrooms, locker rooms, and
hotel rooms on overnight trips, that are "consistent with their gender identity."
Every single conservative
fear about gay marriage came true. [Thread reader] [#1] Gay marriage is a
slippery slope. For years, when conservatives worried that gay marriage could lead to things
like polyamory or polygamy, the Left scoffed. [...] [#2] Religious liberty will be harmed. In
2015, Marco Rubio warned that "we are at the water's edge of the argument that mainstream Christian
teaching is hate speech." He was roundly mocked by liberals. [...] The Daily Beast accused him
of a "pathetic persecution complex." But Rubio was obviously correct. Almost immediately
after the Left won on gay marriage, they launched a coordinated campaign to persecute religious
Americans who still believed in the traditional definition of marriage. And in many cases,
the courts... just let them do it. The victims of this campaign are real people, with real
names and faces. Jack Phillips, a Christian baker in Colorado, politely refused to
custom-bake a cake endorsing gay marriage. As a result, he's been in court for more than a
decade, and has lost 40% of his business. [#3] Christian institutions will be persecuted for
their beliefs. [...]
Federal
court rules conservative kids have no free speech rights. In a ruling that completely
contradicts long standing court rulings that had insisted the first amendment allowed students to
wear T-shirts and armbands with whatever political statements they wished, the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the First Circuit on June 9, 2024 ruled that a Massachusetts middle school had the
right to censor and ban a 12-year-old boy wearing a shirt that said "There are only two genders."
This story is a follow-up of a blacklist story from May 2023. At that time 12-year-old
Liam Morrison was forced to leave Nichols Middle School when he refused to remove his T-shirt that
said "There are only two genders." He later came to class with the T-shirt shown in the picture to
the right, with the words "only two" covered with the word "censored." He was once again
sent home, and subsequently his parents sued.
Don't
Paint Your Religious Symbols on the Street. We live in the weirdest times.
Times when you can get arrested for driving in the street but not for trashing schools, libraries,
national monuments, or even attacking the police. [Tweet] Over the past few years, cities
across America have been painting flags, slogans, symbols, and suchlike on their streets in order
to declare their allegiance to various causes, declaring them sacred spaces that cannot be
defiled. These sacred spaces have nothing to do with the history of our country, our shared
heritage, or anything so tied to America or our culture. In fact, they are usually intended
to be in-your-face rejections of the majority culture and to enforce leftist pieties. [Tweet]
Painting the streets seems to be an odd flex. On the one hand, streets are very public and
thus perfect for offending anybody who disagrees; on the other, streets are streets, which
naturally get beat us by multi-ton vehicles with rubber tires and are subject to abuse.
Trans
athletes dehumanised by term 'biological male', says Olympics. The International
Olympic Committee has been accused by Martina Navratilova of waging a "1984 version of war on
women" after asking journalists attending this summer's Paris Games not to use terms such as "born
male" or "biologically male" to describe transgender athletes. It argued that such labels
were "dehumanising" and constituted "problematic language". In a 33-page "Portrayal
Guidelines" document, the IOC have told the 20,000-strong media contingent that "a person's sex
category is not assigned based on genetics alone" and "it is always preferable to emphasise a
person's actual gender rather than potentially calling their identity into question by referring to
the sex category that was registered on their original birth certificate". Navratilova, the
nine-time Wimbledon champion and a consistent voice in upholding the integrity of women's sport,
responded witheringly to these statements, saying: "The IOC has been captured. This is
1984 version of war on women. Total erasure."
Biden's
Justice Dept prosecutes doctor who blew the whistle on child mutilation at hospital.
They're coming for you next: This story provides possibly the best illustratration of the
barbarism of the Democratic Party and the Biden administration. Rather than celebrate the
courage of Ethan Haim, the doctor who in 2023 blew the whistle on the continuing secret sex change
operations being performed on children as young as 11 at Texas Children's Hospital, the Biden
Justice Department this week indicted that doctor on four felony charges.
Indictment
Of Texas Doctor Who Exposed Kids' [Sex Change Operations] Proves No One Is Safe From Biden's
Weaponized DOJ. A Texas-based general surgeon who exposed his Houston children's
hospital for secretly continuing a child transgender mutilation program faces four felony counts
from President Joe Biden's Department of Justice for speaking out. Shortly after Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott ordered his state's Department of Family and Protective Services to
investigate the transing of children as abuse in 2022, Texas Children's Hospital — the
largest children's hospital in the U.S. — claimed that it would no longer offer chemical
castration and other body-butchering services to pediatric patients. As 33-year-old
whistleblower Dr. Eithan Haim soon discovered, however, at least three Texas Children's
physicians continued to castrate children as young as 11 years old after the program was
allegedly halted. The hospital also promoted procedures to cut off the breasts and genitals
of physically healthy people. A report, which Haim claims to have sourced, from the City
Journal's Christopher Rufo detailed these findings. Around that same time in May 2023,
the Texas legislature passed a law banning gender experimentation on minors.
A
Dude Has Just Been Crowned Miss Maryland USA. A man has been crowned Miss Maryland
USA. Transgender male Bailey Anne has beaten dozens of women to win the prestigious women's
pageant title. [Video clip]
The Editor says...
Nobody dares to object.
NHS
chiefs face legal action after 26 female nurses protested being forced to share women's changing
room with a transgender colleague. NHS chiefs are facing landmark legal action after
26 female hospital nurses protested about being forced to share a women's changing room with a
transgender colleague who is biologically male. The women complained that the transgender
nurse — who has not had gender reassignment surgery — had taken a 'keen
interest' in female staff when they were getting undressed. They say they have found the
situation 'intimidating and upsetting'. In a formal complaint, the nurses say they were
stunned after the 'sexually active' trans nurse admitted to trying for a baby with a female partner
and had stopped taking female hormones. But a human resources manager at the hospital trust
allegedly said that the female nurses need to 'be more inclusive', 'broaden their mindset' and 'be
educated and attend training'.
Nurses
Suing NHS Trust After Being Forced to Share Women's Changing Room With Biological Male.
NHS chiefs are facing landmark legal action after 26 female hospital nurses protested about being forced
to share a women's changing room with a transgender colleague who is biologically male.
Scottish
Green Party expels members for stating biological truth. The Scottish Green Party
recently expelled 13 members for asserting that "sex is a biological reality." The 13
now ex-greenies had the temerity, the gall, shall we say the chutzpah, to sign a declaration
stating that biological women were entitled to sex-based rights and protections, and expressing
concern that gender critical views were being "silenced." Well, I never! They are
lucky they didn't receive the death penalty! The unlucky 13 were ejected because their fellow
party members decided that they somehow posed a risk to the "safety of all trans and non-binary
members." What about the risk trans and non-binary members demonstrably pose to non-trans and
binary members, especially females?
Red
State Gov Signs Bill Banning Men From Women's Bathrooms. Men are now barred from
using women's public restrooms in Mississippi, the state's governor announced Monday.
Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced on social media he signed the SAFER Act into
law on Monday morning. The law prohibits people in Mississippi from entering restrooms and
other sex-exclusive areas in public buildings that do not align with their biological sex,
according to the legislative text. "Today is a win for girls and women across our state, and I
was proud to sign SB2753 into law," Reeves said. "You have my word that as long as I'm governor,
our state will do everything in its power to keep Mississippi's daughters safe." Individuals
who enter a bathroom or other sex-exclusive area that does not align with their sex and refuse to
leave will be charged with misdemeanor trespassing, according to the law.
Mayo
Clinic Apologizes For Allowing Professor to Say There Are Only 2 Sexes. It doesn't
get much more absurd than this. No, scratch that. It is 2024. We live in a simulation
scripted by the Babylon Bee, and those guys are geniuses. It will get more absurd every day.
[Advertisement] Dr. Mary O'Connor is so respected by her colleagues that they
invited her to speak as the keynote speaker at a Mayo event on the Florida campus. [Tweet]
Her work as an orthopedic surgeon and limb reconstructionist helps people every day, and one of her
research foci is identifying the differences between male and female responses to disease and
treatment. We have been assured for years, and I believe this to be true, that sex
differences have been understudied in medicine. For instance, we now know that the
presentations of heart disease in men and women can be very different. Apparently this can
also be true in orthopedic matters. Who knew?
What
has Biden accomplished in his presidency? Devastation. Biden and his sycophants
in the media sing his praises on a daily basis, pretending he has been an effective
president. In fact, all he has accomplished is desecration on every level. [...] The Biden
regime also, for reasons that defy understanding, has relentlessly pushed transgenderism and all
that that particularly pathetic form of mental illness entails — the mutilation of
humans, many of them children. They promulgate this illness as actively as possible,
subjecting the majority of traditional Americans, especially female students, to biological males
in gyms, bathrooms and competitive sports. These "mandates," which few states are fighting,
have destroyed women's sports programs; they have virtually erased female athletes. Women
cannot beat biological males in any athletic endeavor. Soon, there will be no girls' sports,
only teams of trans men pretending to be female.
Scottish
Green Party Expels 13 Members for Saying 'Sex Is a Biological Reality'. This is
what comes when you close down insane asylums, I suppose. The former inhabitants become world
leaders, like Joe Biden, Klaus Schwab, the United Nations, the Scottish Greens, and the Scottish
National Party. Oh, and the Democrats. I can't forget them. [...] In today's world,
you are on the wrong side of the civil rights issue of our time. A segregationist. A
hater. A transphobe. Even a promoter of the genocide of an entire people, bigot!
We now live in a world where doctors will give men hormones for the purpose of helping them
"chestfeed" infants, and write papers seriously arguing that this is right and healthy.
People of supposedly sound mind will piously declare that it is medically necessary to surgically
remove healthy breasts and castrate children in the name of civil rights. In other words, we
are surrounded by criminally insane people, and they are running the asylum. Except there are
no asylums anymore, so they run the world instead.
Scottish
Greens expel 13 members over 'biological sex' declaration. The Scottish Greens
have expelled 13 members for signing a declaration which said "sex is a biological reality"
and called for trans women to be banned from women's changing rooms. The party said those who
signed the Scottish Green Women's Declaration were in breach of the party's code of conduct.
The declaration states: "Sex should not be confused with gender. Sex is a biological reality
and is both the site of and the excuse for women's oppression." It also said that women had
the right to "female-only spaces such as changing rooms, hospital wards, sanitary and sleeping
accommodation, refuges, hostels and prisons".
18 States
Fight Federal Trans Agenda on Pronouns, Bathrooms. In response to new federal rules
on pronouns and bathrooms based on gender identity, 18 state attorneys general are suing the
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The lawsuit, led by Tennessee Attorney General
Jonathan Skrmetti, a Republican, was filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District
of Tennessee. "This end-run around our constitutional institutions misuses federal power to
eliminate women's private spaces and punish the use of biologically accurate pronouns, all at the
expense of Tennessee employers," Skrmetti said in a public statement. The Daily Signal first
reported last month that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published guidance determining
that an employer would be guilty of harassment for requiring someone to use a restroom that
comports with his or her biological sex, or for referring to someone by a personal pronoun that the
person doesn't want used.
The Editor says...
The poorly-educated millenial snowflakes don't want specific pronouns used in their presence, but
they don't mind hurling the F-bombs and other profanity in your direction.
Education
Secretary Falls Apart When Asked Whether He Would Force His Daughter to Undress in Front of
Men. The Biden administration last month announced a revamping of Title IX rules
ostensibly intended to protect transgender college students. The move was met with
condemnation and lawsuits challenging the new rules. Now, White House officials are in the
hot seat, being forced to explain and defend this decision. Education Secretary Miguel
Cardona recently gave testimony before the Senate. Sen. Burgess Owens (R-UT) grilled
Cardona, asking him whether he would allow his daughter to be forced to deal with biological men in
women's space. Naturally, the secretary had trouble answering.
Education
secretary defends policy allowing biological males to use women's bathrooms, locker rooms.
Insisting that transgender students have been "under attack in our country," Education Secretary Miguel
Cardona defended the newly instituted Team Biden policy which allows biological males to the use women's
bathrooms and locker rooms. During a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing on Tuesday to
review the FY2025 budget request for the Department of Education, Cardona presented no evidence that
transgender students are actually under attack, but accused those critical of the Biden team's
re-writing of Title IX as "trying to create division." The Title IX change, which
could take effect Aug. 1, redefines the word "sex" to include gender identity. Mississippi
Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith said that curtailing girls' safe spaces could push many of them
to give up on athletics. "Do you agree that they're eliminating those safe spaces when they allow
transgenders to choose the bathroom and the locker room that they want to go in?" Hyde-Smith asked
Cardona. "Senator, we cannot pick and choose which students we want to protect," Cardona replied.
The Editor says...
The school most certainly DOES "pick and choose which students [it] want[s] to protect."
If some kid comes to school with a gun, the school protects every student except the one with the gun.
Likewise if a teenager brings a rattlesnake to school, or a bottle of LSD. The school, and the
government as a whole, has the duty to protect students from disgusting transvestite perverts.
Until about ten years ago, we all agreed on this as a fact.
Feds
Demand Employers Use Workers' Preferred Pronouns or Face Punishment. The federal
government warned employers that if they don't use workers' preferred pronouns or stop them from
using bathrooms that align with their 'gender identity' they will face punishment. The Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on Monday updated its guidance on workplace harassment to
cover transgender, non-binary and other LGBTQ workers. The Democrat-led EEOC voted 2-3 on
Friday to update its guidance. Employers can find themselves in court if they do not follow
the new anti-bias laws and fail to adhere to the EEOC guidelines.
We
Won't Live By Your Wokeness. A young woman who came to the pregnancy center where I
work shared this story with me. She had a pediatrician appointment for her baby girl last
week. She brought her infant, dressed all in pink, into the doctor's office. After
stating the baby's female name, the doctor asked, "So, have you decided what gender you're
assigning to this child?" She was stunned. She said she just stood there until the word
"female" came out of her mouth. This wasn't the first time I've heard this line of questioning
in a pediatrician's office. A friend told me her daughter was asked the same thing on her
first visit to the doctor's office with their infant son. The question, "gender assigned at
birth" is now on many medical forms. A man I know was at a new doctors' office and the
paperwork included an entire page on "gender identity."
Germany
will now fine you $10,000 for "misgendering" and allow parents to pick their children's sex at
birth. They're really writing it into law that you can choose your baby's sex at
birth. And of course this has nothing to do with normal sane people who assign their children
the correct sex at birth. It's the crazies who want to immediately throw their boy in a
dress, or their girl in a "chick magnet" shirt as some sort of sick and twisted science
experiment. This law is literally written to protect insane people who are hell bent on
creating sociopath children.
Planet
Fitness Founder Admits the Truth: Company Has Pretty Much Been Destroyed. You
let perverts go into any locker room they want, and it will destroy your company. The Alaska
Planet Fitness isn't the only one that's been having problems with mentally ill individuals going
into the locker room of their choice, regardless of their biological gender. North Carolina and
other states are seeing the same shit. Now, the founder of Planet Fitness is admitting
defeat. [...] You pander to the communist "woke" left, and this is what happens. They will
happen to any company that bends their knee to the communist Democrat agenda.
Colorado's
Civil Rights Commission gets schooled on the First Amendment in the wedding website
case. Remember the wedding website case that came out of Colorado and went all the
way to the Supreme Court? It's finally over, and it ended beautifully. [...] The Colorado
Civil Rights Commission decided that Smith's exercise of her First Amendment right to decline to
perform services in violation of her religious beliefs, and that her words so stating, were,
ironically, in violation of the First Amendment. The Commission said (1) Smith was required
to design websites celebrating marriages other than between a man and a woman, and (2) she was
prohibited from stating that she wouldn't. Smith sued the Commission in Federal Court.
It was a smart move to go to Federal Court because state court would have ensnarled her for years
in the swamp of the Democrat-controlled Colorado state judiciary — the one where the
state supreme court tossed Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot only to be unanimously overturned by
the Supreme Court last winter. The district court dismissed her case on procedural
grounds. She appealed to the federal appellate court. They overturned the dismissal on
procedural grounds, but, worse, dismissed her case on substantive grounds.
Christian
woman says Starbucks fired her for refusing to use transgender people's pronouns: 'It is against my
faith to lie'. A Christian woman has come forward to say Starbucks fired her for
refusing to use transgender people's pronouns. The woman in question — Taylor
Marie Trice of North Carolina — spoke to Sarah Fields of the Publica about her ordeal,
which occurred in 2022. Earlier this week, Trice uploaded a video to TikTok discussing what
happened: "June came around, and as we all know, June is the month of 'tasting the rainbow.' And I
had been working at Starbucks for about two years at that point. So I was used to Starbucks
putting up their [Pride] decorations and stuff during the month of June. And throughout that
time, no one had ever made a complaint about me being homophobic, transphobic, whatever."
Trice added in the clip that she's "not judging" her fellow employees but that her stance was, "I'm
just not about to go along with everything you want to do if it doesn't go along with God's word."
Joe
Biden's winners. The radical wing of the LGBT and pro-abortion communities has
seen its deviant ideas forced upon the American public. It is not enough that some
(the vast majority of) Americans don't support abortion — up to birth — or
children being coerced into gender transition surgeries, or sexual deviancy being presented to
children through books advanced in our, ahem, education institutions. These groups are
marching forward with their agendas. You and I don't have an opposing view. We're
hateful bigots, who must be silenced, fired, or jailed.
The
FBI's Otherwise Illegal Activity. How deeply is law enforcement interfering in the
daily lives of American citizens? For example, it was recently reported that the FBI labeled
Americans who "support the biological basis for sex and gender distinction as potential domestic
terrorists." Then what? What does the FBI, and those who cooperate with the FBI, do to
such Americans? Does the FBI label FBI employees who support biology as potential
terrorists? Or, is the FBI saying that no FBI employees support the biological basis for sex
and gender distinction? The FBI and local police keep their specific actions, methods, and
technologies mostly secret; thus, one cannot say with certainty what occurs after the FBI labels a
person as a potential domestic terrorist. Americans might study the history of the FBI and
local police cooperating with the FBI for hints about what might occur after being labeled as a
potential domestic terrorist.
Planet
Fitness stands by decision to allow men in women's locker rooms and warns. Planet
Fitness has refused to walk back its decision to ban a member who exposed a 'trans woman' shaving
in the female locker room. The statement, which was shared by the Libs of TikTok Twitter
account, said although some members may feel uncomfortable sharing facilities, 'This discomfort is
not a reason to deny access to the transgender member.' The comments come after Patricia
Silva detailed at incident at her Alaska gym where she saw a transgender woman shaving in her
locker room.
I
won't sacrifice my safety just so a trans woman feels validated. A few years ago I
used to go to a small women-only gym. It had a pool, a sauna and a steam room in which all
kinds of women used to huddle and chat. Sometimes we would sit in silence, but very often the
Jewish Haredi women would like to socialise, asking everyone lots of questions. There were
Muslim women too. This was a place they were allowed to come because it was women only.
I live in a part of London where mosques are literally next door to synagogues. It is not all
perfect and now, of course, social cohesion is currently being tested but there — in the
steam, a bunch of us half-naked women, some of whom for reasons of faith meant they could not have
gone to the local swimming pool, would have a natter. I often think of that time when
wondering how so-called 'progressives', who are intent on ending single-sex spaces, can square that
with their valorisation of multiculturalism. If you take away single-sex spaces, you stop
some women from some communities being able to participate. It's that simple. All of
this is ignored in the arguments about whether trans women — men who identify as women
whether they have medically or surgically transitioned or not — can enter women's
spaces. This argument grows ever more ludicrous. There is no women's space or activity,
from bathrooms to prisons to rape refuges to sports, that some male-bodied people are not lobbying
to enter.
Teacher
Reportedly Forced To Resign For Not Letting Boy Use Girls' Bathroom. A New York
teacher was reportedly forced into early retirement after not allowing a boy to use the girls'
bathroom. The beloved educator, known as Mr. C, had been a gym teacher and tennis coach
for 37 years. But he resigned from the Elmira Heights Central School District last week
after receiving backlash for not allowing a trans-identifying male kindergartner to use the girls'
restroom, according to WENY News. When asked if the school board could confirm or deny the
incident, Superintendent Michael F. Gill said, "We do not make comments about any students or
staff circumstances." However, at a school board meeting Wednesday, Feb. 28, Mr. C
was the main topic of conversation. During the meeting, more than a dozen people signed up to
speak during the comment portion — some defending Mr. C and others condemning him.
MS
Society defends staff who sacked 90-year-old volunteer because she 'asked what pronouns meant'
despite furious backlash. The National MS Society has defended firing a 90-year-old
volunteer for breaching its diversity and inclusion policy after she asked what pronouns
were. Fran Itkoff had served the non-profit for multiple sclerosis patients for
60 years, with her late husband running the Long Beach Lakewood chapter prior to his
death. She was left stunned when her bosses forced her to step down on January 19
following an exchange with a colleague who asked her to use her pronouns in an email signatures.
The Editor says...
Here's how to fix this problem: Never give the National MS Society another dime.
Name one charity that was established for the purpose of eradicating a specific disease, that
successfully eliminated that disease and then disbanded.
Privacy
Is a Fundamental Value. The administrative class delights in imposing its views on
the rest of us, especially when it involves our private lives. Small businesses are made to
prepare wedding cakes for gays; young children are forced to study sexual practices from which they
ought to be shielded; workers are made to attend classes on DIE in which, if they are white, they
are accused of racism and exploitation, even as they are the ones being exploited by racism.
We live in a world turned upside-down, and it can only end in chaos. For the woke class that
now governs our country, it's not enough that gays and transgenders, now treated as minorities and
thus victims, are granted complete equality and full human rights. What they seem to want,
and what the administrative class imposes on the rest of us, is superiority and oppression of
others who are straight. Everything gays and transgenders demand is granted by administrators,
judges, corporate leaders, and politicians who are afraid to refuse them because of the stigma of
seeming to be "anti"-minority. Even when it imposes harm on the rest of society, the wishes
of gays and transgenders come first.
North
Carolina Republicans Attack Republican Lt. Governor For Defending Women's
Bathrooms. For vowing to defend women in North Carolina from men who infiltrate
female-designated spaces, something a majority of voters support, North Carolina
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson was criticized by two Republican gubernatorial candidates in his
state. Robinson is also campaigning for governor. Robinson told attendees at a campaign
event in the beginning of February that he is committed to keeping men out of women's sports and
bathrooms. "We've already passed a law," Robinson said, alluding to the Republican General
Assembly's overrides of several vetoes in 2023, "and if we need to pass another one, we will.
We're going to defend women's sports in this state, period." The 55-year-old Republican said
his commitment to "defend women in this state" extends to protecting their bathrooms from anyone of
the opposite sex who tries to use them. "That means if you're a man on Friday night and all of
the sudden on Saturday, you feel like a woman and you want to go in the women's bathroom in the
mall, you will be arrested — or whatever we got to do to you," Robinson said. His
pledge was met with a round of cheers.
Former
Kentucky Clerk Ordered to Pay $260,000 in Legal Fees after Refusing to Issue Marriage License to
Same-Sex Couples. A former county clerk in Kentucky, Kim Davis, must pay a total of
$260,104 in legal fees and expenses to a same-sex couple whom Davis denied a marriage license
because of her religious beliefs. The new sum is in addition to the $100,000 in damages a
jury ruled Davis must pay to the couple who sued, David Ermold and David Moore. The Davis
case gained international notoriety in 2015 when she was jailed for refusing to issue a marriage
license to a same-sex couple. Davis maintained that she had been faced with a "seemingly
impossible choice" between following her conscience and losing her freedom. A Democrat and a
Christian who was elected to the post of Rowan county clerk in 2014, Davis surged into the
spotlight when she refused to issue licenses after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex
marriage. After defying a federal court order and losing a string of appeals, she was jailed
for five days in 2015.
East
Lansing to pay 6-figure settlement in Country Mill farmers market lawsuit. The city
will pay about $42,000 in damages and another $783,800 to cover the legal costs of a vendor who
sued the city for excluding him from the city's farmers market because of his religious
beliefs. The terms of the settlement in favor of Country Mill Farms and its owner, Stephen
Tennes, were disclosed in a final judgement entered Friday in U.S. District Court. The order,
signed by Judge Paul Maloney, includes a permanent injunction preventing the city from finding
Tennes in violation of its vendor guidelines for declining to host same-sex weddings.
VA
Supreme Court Revives Lawsuit by Teacher Fired for Not Using Trans Student's Pronouns.
Virginia's Supreme Court has revived a lawsuit filed by a high school teacher who was fired for
refusing to use a transgender student's preferred pronouns. The court's action happened on
Thursday [12/14/2023], according to the Washington Post. [...] In a social media post on
Thursday evening, the Babylon Bee's Seth Dillon shared his thoughts on the issue, writing, "Cases
like these prove that they aren't just 'preferred' pronouns. They're mandatory."
The
Obnoxiously Gay Come for Abilene Christian University. [T]his is precisely the same
play we've seen run again and again by the obnoxiously gay. This is the same pressure
campaign they bring against the Christian bakers, florists, wedding planners, and others who refuse
to service gay weddings and trans "gender reveals" out of allegiance to their faith. Finding
a florist willing to decorate a gay wedding is painfully easy to do, and yet the obnoxiously gay
will seek out those conscientious objectors in the culture war and demand they be conscripted for
frontline action. With a penalty of millions of dollars in legal defense fees for those who
stand against the obnoxiously gay. We can all agree this is obnoxiously gay, can we not?
Globalists
Fear the Unconquerable. State-controlled news media blare continuous warnings that
citizens should fear racism, "white supremacy," misogyny, imperialism, colonialism, paternalism,
Christianity, Israel, hydrocarbon energy, heterosexuality, capitalism, exercise, Karens, Chads,
Western civilization, personal liberty, country music, Southern states, suburban moms, political
speech, scientific debate, masculinity, democratic elections that don't elect Democrats, Donald
Trump, limited government, nuclear families, gun-toting Americans, psychologically healthy adults,
Christmas decorations, assimilation, accurate history, cultural appropriation, national borders,
due process for conservatives, misinformation, malinformation, disinformation, and stable
marriages. On the flip-side, the atheistic priests of the "woke" church insist that
opposition to either gay pseudo-marriage or the new fad of "transgenderism" represents some kind of
irrational "phobia" that must be overcome immediately. In other words, the new world order
demands that Westerners fear almost everything except bearded men crushing women half their size in
competitive sports. Talk about lunacy!
We
must be free to call this man a man. Even if someone looks like a man, talks like a
man and actually is a man, you can now get yourself in trouble if you refer to him as a man.
That's the take-home message of last week's social-media bust-up over Melissa Poulton, previously
known as Matthew Viner. Poulton is a transwoman who has been selected as the Green Party's
candidate for Bromsgrove in the next UK General Election. He describes himself as a 'proud
lesbian'. Last week, Rachel Maclean, the MP for Redditch and deputy chair of the Conservative
Party, shared a post on X that referred to Poulton as a 'man who wears a wig'. 'While the
Greens don't know what a woman is, my Worcestershire neighbours, the people of Bromsgrove,
certainly do', Maclean added. Poulton was then invited on to BBC News Midlands to respond to
Maclean's comments. He called them 'transphobic', 'dog-whistling' and 'gaslighting'. During
the interview, Poulton insisted on describing himself as a 'queer woman... with transgender experience'.
California
Will Soon Fine Stores That Don't Have A 'Gender Neutral' Kids Toy Section. A new
California law slated to go into effect on January 1, 2024, will mandate stores that sell
children's items to have a gender neutral section, according to a state government website.
The law applies to stores that sell "childcare items" or toys and employs a minimum of 500
employees across store locations, and it requires that they offer a section where "a reasonable
selection of the items and toys for children that it sells shall be displayed, regardless of
whether they have been traditionally marketed for either girls or for boys," according to its
text. Stores that do not comply with the law could face a civil penalty and charged $250
after the first offense or $500 for later offenses.
Ontario
Museum Scrubs Female Powerlifter From Exhibit Following Her Calls For Fairness In Women's
Sports. A museum in London, Ontario, has removed a female powerlifter from an exhibit
on resilience in apparent retaliation for her vocal opposition to males participating in women's
sports. April Hutchinson said the move quickly followed her suspension from the Canadian
Powerlifting Union. Launched in October at the Museum London, the exhibition, titled
"Resilient London: Meet Your Neighbours," was intended to be an inspiration for the community
and featured a diverse panel of locals alongside obstacles they had overcome. Hutchinson was
featured not just as a local athlete, but also as a survivor of addiction.
My
Journey from Frustration to Outrage to Seething Anger. I have seething anger about
the takeover of K-12 education by leftist teacher unions and school boards that indoctrinate
children during their formative years in racism, victimhood, and LGBTQ++ matters, denounce
mainstream culture and religion, and tear down the family structure, all while blocking parents
from knowing. I have moved from frustration to outrage about so-called "trans" movement's
overtaking society (although fewer than 3 in 1,000 even meet the traditional psychiatric definition
for gender dysphoria) under the LGBTQ++ rainbow banner, requiring us to pretend along with the lie
under penalty of social ostracism. I am outraged at forcing women to open their private
spaces to men and the unequal physical competition in women's sports that occurs, all while
everyone is expected to act as if it is normal. This is kangaroo court territory, where we
are forced to repeat, under penalty of punishment, an obvious lie that there are more than two
genders and that a man who announces he is a woman is, in fact, a woman.
Maternity
hospital downgraded over use of term 'mother'. A maternity hospital received a low
grade on a diversity assessment because staff only use the term "mother" when discussing maternity
leave, The Telegraph can disclose. The Cambridge University Hospital Trust, which manages a
maternity hospital called the Rosie, lost points because staff use the term "mother" when referring
to the policies it had in place regarding paid leave, instead of broadening it to include
gender-neutral alternatives. The report was carried out by the NHS' "Rainbow Badge" scheme,
which assesses hospitals based on how they treat LGBT patients. The trust also lost points
for not providing staff with guidance on what trans and non-binary employees should wear, pointing
out how the trust's "trans inclusion policy" did not provide "guidance on the dress code for trans
employees, including non-binary employees."
The
Supreme Court won't allow Florida to enforce its new law targeting drag shows during
appeal. The Supreme Court said Thursday it will not allow Florida to enforce its new
law targeting drag shows, while a court case proceeds. The justices refused to narrow a
lower-court order that has prohibited the law from being enforced statewide. Florida had
asked the court to allow its anti-drag show law to be enforced everywhere except at the Hamburger
Mary's restaurant in Orlando, which challenged the law's constitutionality. Three justices,
Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas, said they would have granted the state's
request. Last month, a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's
order stopping the law from being enforced. The district court found that the law likely
restricted free speech and couldn't be enforced anywhere in the state.
New
'Orwellian' HHS pronoun mandate forces employees to 'deny reality,' violate law: legal
expert. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has rolled out a new gender
pronoun policy that one Heritage Foundation expert and former HHS official says violates employee
rights and will result in firings for "misgendering." "HHS and the federal government is
requiring its employees to speak falsehoods," Roger Severino, the Heritage Foundation's vice
president for domestic policy and the former head of civil rights at HHS during the Trump
administration, told Fox News Digital. Severino first broke the story on X, formerly Twitter,
last week. He wrote that HHS "imposed a transgender pronoun mandate on its employees who will
now be forced to deny biological realities with their own words or face firing" and he included a
screenshot of an email sent to employees at the department.
It
is a miracle: Hawaiian court has determined that boys and girls are different.
...and it has absolutely nothing to do with idiotically forcing girls to compete with boys in
sports and forcing them to be exposed to penises in the locker room. [...] So females were forced
to train for water polo in the dangerous ocean instead of a pool. Somehow, it appears they
recognized girls aren't as strong as boys. And they also forced girls to go to a Burger King
to change clothes or go to the bathroom, or go under the bleachers to change while boys had their
own locker room. Why didn't they just share the space since we are told that essentially
there is no difference? After all, your sex, according to Democrats, is determined by how you
feel and not by your body parts. Now, when will all states in the country stop forcing women
and girls to compete with biological males? Democrats claim they are the party for women but
every day they show it is not true by forcing them to compete and share spaces with men who only
pretend they are women. Democrats claim they believe women should be able to do whatever they
want with their bodies but they forced them to take a vaccine or get fired, too. Now maybe
the nonsense of all these positions will be clearer in public minds with this court ruling.
Trump-Appointed
Federal Judge Rules Colorado Can't Exclude Preschool From Funding Program Over Religious
Stances. A federal judge ruled Saturday [10/21/2023] that Colorado can't exclude a
Christian school from the state's universal preschool program based on its religious beliefs.
Darren Patterson Christian Academy filed a lawsuit in June after state officials said participation
in the universal preschool program required hiring employees who are not Christians and changing a
school policy requiring the use of bathrooms and pronouns that correspond with biological
sex. U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico issued a preliminary injunction Saturday blocking
the state from excluding the school from the program, which provides four-year-olds and some other
children in the state with a minimum of 15 free hours of free preschool a week, based on "protected
beliefs." "Indeed, exclusion of a preschool is inherently anti-universal, and denying
participation based on one's protected beliefs or speech is not equitable," Domenico, a Trump
appointee, wrote.
HHS
employees who resist Biden's transgender pronoun mandate will be fired. After
alerting the public last week to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) newly
issued transgender pronoun mandate, Roger Severino, the former director of the HHS Office for Civil
Rights during the Trump administration, has published the document online after HHS failed to make
it public, refusing even to disclose the policy to Congress. The "Gender Identity
Non-Discrimination and Inclusion Policy for Employees and Applicants" requires HHS' 80,000
employees to affirm transgender and non-binary coworkers' self-proclaimed "identity," no matter
what his or her conscience might dictate.
School
Directs Trans-Averse Teens to Private Restroom, Charges Them With 'Harassment' When They Line
Up. These days, harassment isn't hard to commit. One quick ticket to Tormenter
Town may await in a lavatory line. Such is illustrated by a story out of Illinois. The
Waterloo Community Unit School District Five (WCUSD5) doesn't deal in sexual absolutes; penises and
vaginas may belong to women and men, respectively. Therefore, on May 15th, the system invited
enrollees to the restroom of their choice. Per the "Use of Restroom Facilities and Other
Gender Identities" policy, students can use the opposite-sex facility if they meet a crop of
criteria: [...] Why is a school district involving itself in such issues? The answer, it
would seem, is that education has evolved. Government schools aim toward social goals in lieu
of merely academic ones. But make no mistake — WCUSD5 has made space for those so
old-fashioned as to prefer sex-specific latrines. Or, at least, it had.
Loudoun
County sexual assault victim files $30 million lawsuit against school board. The
Loudoun County student who was sexually assaulted in a high school restroom filed a $30 million
federal lawsuit against the school district. The girl, who is a minor and used a pseudonym in
the filing, was 15 years old when a male student in a skirt sexually abused her in a bathroom
at Stone Bridge High School on May 28, 2021. Loudoun County Public Schools is accused of
failing to take the warnings about the male student seriously and covering up the assault.
The lawsuit is filed as a breach of Title IX. "It's been a very long two and a half years for
my family to get here. We have put together a very strong Title IX lawsuit that we hope sets
precedence across the nation to protect children and hold school districts accountable," Scott
Smith, the girl's father who is also a plaintiff in the case, told WJLA.
Anglican
Deacon Calvin Robinson Wins Legal Settlement After Getting Fired For Opposing Drag Queen Story Hour
Session. Calvin Robinson, an Anglican deacon and British political commentator, won a
legal settlement against the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) after they removed him from their
education sub-committee over his opposition to a drag queen story hour session, according to the
Daily Mail. Robinson filed a lawsuit that alleged harassment and discrimination by RAD over
his Christian beliefs, the Daily Mail reported. "I am pleased that the bullies did not win and
that they have learnt you cannot push people out for holding traditional views —
Christian views," Robinson told the outlet Sunday.
Pennsylvania
high school students organize walkout to protest trans bathroom rule. Hundreds of
students from Pennsylvania's Perkiomen Valley School District walked out of class Friday after the
local school board failed to enact a policy requiring transgender students to use the restroom
corresponding with their biological sex. "Kids were upset. Girls... we wanted to
protect them. They were upset. They didn't want men in their bathroom," John Ott, who
organized the walkout, told FOX News on Monday. His mother Stephanie accused the district of
only protecting transgender students and not looking at the "whole picture."
What
the Left Did to Our Country. Suddenly, there are three genders, not two.
Women's sports have been wrecked by biological men competing as women, destroying a half-century of
female athletic achievement. Young girls in locker rooms, co-eds in sororities, and women in
prison must dress and shower with biological men transitioning to women by assertion.
Retired
social worker, 73, is quizzed in her own home by hate-crime police for taking a photo of a
STICKER. Police officers quizzed a pensioner in her home on suspicion of a hate crime
after she stopped in the street to take a photo of a sticker which said: 'Keep males out of
women-only spaces.' The sticker had been placed on to a LGBT+ pride poster which had the
slogan Stand By Your Trans. Officers told the 73-year-old retired social worker that she had
been identified from CCTV footage. The woman told The Mail on Sunday she was 'in a state of
shock' when officers arrived at her door. The incident [...] comes after fury over police
forces failing to send officers to investigate burglaries and other serious crimes.
Judge
Refuses to Define 'Woman,' Dismisses Lawsuit by Sorority Sisters Who Sought to Block Man from
Joining. A judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by six University of Wyoming Kappa Kappa
Gamma sorority sisters seeking to block a trans-identifying male from joining. The sorority
sisters will now be forced to accommodate Artemis Langford (whose given name is Dallin), a 6'2",
260-pound man who believes he is a woman. Wyoming U.S. District Court Judge Alan Johnson,
after hearing allegations of sexual deviancy on Langford's part, ultimately dismissed the case on
Friday and stated that redefining "woman" to include males was "Kappa Kappa Gamma's bedrock right
as a private, voluntary organization — and one this Court may not invade." Johnson
notably used Langford's preferred she/her pronouns in his decision and repeatedly referred to
Langford as a "transgender woman."
[The]
Colorado Supreme Court [has been] Asked To Find for Christian Baker After SCOTUS
Ruling. The Alliance Defending Freedom has asked the Colorado Supreme Court to find
in favor of a Christian baker who refused to make "a custom-designed cake, pink on the inside and
blue on the outside, to reflect and celebrate a gender transition." The dispute before the
Colorado Supreme Court is whether the state can, under the guise of combatting discrimination,
compel the baker to create custom artistic messages with which he disagrees. Legal
Insurrection has extensively covered this dispute, which recently saw the baker lose an appeal over
his refusal to bake the gender transition celebration cake. The bakery, Masterpiece Cakeshop,
has been embroiled in a decade-long dispute with Colorado officials who accuse baker Jack Phillips
of violating the state's anti-discrimination law by refusing to make custom cakes celebrating LGBT activity.
Why
Jordan Peterson matters. Unwavering free speech heroes are hard to come by when the
Left is silencing their messages on social media, in entertainment, in the news, on campuses and
even on the streets. But Dr. Jordan Peterson is willing to go to jail before he will
allow his speech to be interfered with, especially as it pertains to pronoun use and trans
"misgendering." He will not refer to a man in drag as "she" and he refuses to use the "proper"
pronouns for a woman who claims to be a man. [...] Peterson lost his tenured job at the University
of Toronto because he dared to swim across the deadly current of political correctness regarding
pronouns. It is to his credit that he is now reaching millions more people online with his
cultural, political, theological, and environmental opinions than he could ever have hoped to reach
in the classroom.
Courage
Is A Christian's Only Path Forward From The Legal Hell The 'Winsome' Gospel Wrought.
303 Creative has finally been decided, and Christians — and all
Americans — won. In a 6-3 landmark decision on Friday, the Supreme Court ruled
that graphic designer Lorie Smith can't be compelled to affirm values that conflict with her deeply
held religious beliefs about marriage by designing wedding websites for same-sex couples. As
we celebrate this victory — and we all should because, as the majority rightly stated,
"The First Amendment's protections belong to all, not just to speakers whose motives the government
finds worthy" — it's worth reflecting on how we got here. Smith isn't the only one
to have fought this battle, and she won't be the last. Life-destroying left-wing lawfare came
for cake artist Jack Phillips and florist Barronelle Stutzman all the same.
Four
Ways the Deep State Betrays Americans. A federal judge ruled that a student's First
and Fourteenth Amendment rights were not violated when school administrators ordered him to
remove a shirt with printed text saying, "There are only two genders." The Obama judge
concluded that "the shirt invades the rights of others." The freethinking boy was later ordered
to remove another t-shirt that read, "There are censored genders." [...] While the (in)justice
system punished the young rebel for possessing a working brain, the seventh-grader pointed out that
his school allows posters covered in rainbow flags and encouraging students to "rise up to protect"
the trans agenda — messages that target his personal beliefs. Sorry, son, free
speech protections in America exist only for special people.
Catholic
employee fired after putting 'assigned by God' as his 'pronouns' in company profile.
A Catholic software engineer was fired by his former employer for putting "Assigned by God" as his
"preferred pronouns," an act which was precedented by pressure from the company to display "gender
identity" in the name of "inclusion." Chad Scharf, who used to work as the Vice President for
Software Engineering at the password management company Bitwarden, lost his job for refusing to violate
his religious beliefs by endorsing gender ideology, according to a lawsuit filed at the end of May.
Supreme
Court rejects appeal from religious college disputing transgender dorm rooms. The
Supreme Court rejected an appeal on Tuesday from a Christian college in Missouri that sued the
Biden administration over a requirement to open dorm rooms and shared shower spaces to members of
the opposite sex. The College of the Ozarks asked the justices to block the Department of
Housing and Urban Development directive that added "gender identity" to the definition of "sex" in
the 1968 Fair Housing Act.
Female-Only
Spa With Compulsory Nudity Must Admit 'Transgender Women' With Penises: Judge. A spa
that for years has only served women must admit men with penises if they claim to be women, a judge
has ruled. The constitutional rights of the owners, employees, and patrons of the Olympus Spa
in Washington state were not infringed when officials in the state ordered the facility to provide
services to "transgender women" with male genitalia, Washington District Court Judge Barbara Jacobs
Rothstein said in a June 5 ruling. The spa was described by its owners, who are Christian,
as being designed based on the belief that "a male and a female should not ordinarily be in each
other's presence while in the nude unless married to each other," according to a complaint filed by
the owners. Many services provided by the spa require patrons to be fully naked, and the
employees who work on-site are all female.
Reporter
Confronts KJP On Men In Women's Locker Rooms Possibly Driving Up Suicide Rates. A
White House reporter confronted White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about suicide rates
increasing among young girls as school administrators allow males in women's locker rooms.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley suggested school administrators allowing males into
women's locker rooms drives up suicide rates during a Sunday CNN town hall with Jake Tapper.
Haley said, "My daughter ran track in high school. I don't even know how I would have that
conversation with her. How are we supposed to get our girls used to the fact that biological
boys are in their locker rooms? And then we wonder why a third of our teenage girls seriously
contemplated suicide last year. We should be growing strong girls, confident girls."
[An]
Oklahoma Mother Files [a] Lawsuit Against [a] School District After [her] Daughter [was] "Severely
Beaten" by [a] Transgender Student. A mother in Oklahoma has filed a lawsuit against
Edmond Public Schools after her teenage daughter was allegedly severely beaten by a transgender
student in the girls' bathroom. The incident, which took place at Edmond Memorial High School
on October 26, 2022, allegedly involved a 15-year-old girl, referred to as "E.G.," being severely
beaten by a 17-year-old transgender student. The lawsuit, filed last Thursday by Theresa
Gooden, claims that the accused attacker, assigned male at birth, used the girls' restroom in
violation of a state law signed in May 2022. The law stipulates that public school students must
use restrooms corresponding to the sex stated on their birth certificates.
Kansas
Legislature Passes Sex-Segregated Bathroom Bill, Overriding Democratic Governor's Veto.
Republicans in the Kansas Legislature obtained the necessary two-thirds supermajority needed to
overturn Democratic Governor Laura Kelly's veto of a bill that requires Kansans to use public
restrooms that correspond to their sex. The law will reinforce that "distinctions between the
sexes" in such spaces advances "the important governmental objectives of protecting the health,
safety and privacy," the bill reads. "We want to have safety," Republican state
representative Brenda Landwehr, told the Associated Press. Last Thursday, Governor Kelly
vetoed a raft of bills passed by the Republican-controlled legislature concerning the transgender
community, including legislation requiring that people use locker rooms and public facilities that
correspond to their sex.
Judge
Forces Sorority Girls To Disclose Identities To Stop Disturbing 'Trans' Male From Moving Into Their
House. A U.S. district court judge ordered University of Wyoming sorority sister
plaintiffs to reveal their names in a lawsuit against Kappa Kappa Gamma's University of Wyoming
chapter for allowing a transgender-identifying man to be inducted. According to local news,
"The six sorority sisters sued the Kappa Kappa Gamma's parent organization, its president and the
school's first transgender sorority member late last month in a closely watched case. They
alleged that the sorority did not follow its bylaws and rules, failed to uphold its mission,
breached its housing contract with members, and misled them by admitting a transgender student."
The plaintiffs filed the suit anonymously as "Jane Does" and assigned the pseudonym "Terry Smith"
to the trans-identifying sorority member.
Street
preacher threatened with jail time after citing Bible verses against local Oklahoma LGBTQ
organization. An outspoken street preacher is appealing to the Oklahoma Supreme Court
after he was slapped with a five-year restraining order that threatened him with jail time if he
speaks out in opposition against a local LGBTQ advocacy group. Rich Penkoski, a pastor who
heads up the online organization Warriors for Christ and has protested drag shows for children
nationwide, told Fox News Digital that he believes the restraining order is unconstitutional and
could herald a legal precedent that could chill the speech of Christians and others. "I've been
preaching against this kind of stuff for years when it first started in libraries," he said of drag
queen story time for children. "We've been telling people it's going to get worse if we don't do
anything, and that's where we are." Penkoski said he was invited by a church in Bartlesville,
Oklahoma, to preach outside a local Pride event last fall after other local churches failed to
speak out against it.
Canadian
Bill Seeks to Criminalize Protests of LGBTQ+ Activities, Impose $25K Fine. A bill
introduced in the Ontario, Canada, legislature this week would ban protests and criticism of LGBT
activities within a designated 100-meter "safety zone." Bill 94, titled the "Keeping 2SLGBTQI+
Communities Safe Act," indicates it would establish "community safety zones" designated by the
Attorney General prohibiting "persons from performing an act of intimidation" within 100 meters of
said zone. According to the bill, such "acts of intimidation" include "causing a disturbance,"
"distributing hate propaganda," "uttering threats or making offensive remarks, either verbally or in
writing with respect to matters of social orientation or gender roles," and "engaging in a protest or
demonstration for the purpose of furthering the objectives of homophobia and transphobia."
Chaplain
awarded £10k after NHS Trust said diversity 'takes precedence' over religious belief.
A Catholic chaplain who lost his job has been awarded £10,000 after the NHS Trust he worked for
claimed that equality and diversity "take precedence over religious belief". Rev. Dr
Patrick Pullicino, 73, launched legal action against an NHS trust after claiming that he was ousted
for answering a hospital patient's questions about the Church's teaching on marriage. Rev
Pullicino was pursuing a claim against the Trust for harassment, religious discrimination and
victimisation. A trial was set to take place in July at Croydon Employment Tribunal.
However, the London NHS Trust, which denies that it has discriminated against him, settled the case
by awarding him £10,000 in compensation "for perceived injury to feelings". The figure falls
within the middle band of guidelines for "serious" cases of discrimination.
Goalie
declines to wear jersey celebrating LGBTQ community on Pride Night, takes heat. The
San Jose Sharks recently hosted a Pride Night celebration, as nearly all professional sports teams
have done. Moreover, they tweeted pride-themed information throughout the game. Yet
this was not enough to please the ungrateful mob that constitutes the hard-core activists in the
LGBTQ community. You see, one player, Sharks goalie James Reimer, declined to don a
rainbow-colored jersey, citing his "religious beliefs." [...] Why should a professional athlete be
mandated to wear a jersey celebrating any group other than the team for which he or she
plays? Yet, Reimer — and a handful of other NHL players who have chosen not to wear
pride-themed jerseys this season — have been the victims of vitriolic attacks from many of those
who otherwise routinely plead for "acceptance," "tolerance," and "inclusion." Transgender
activists, in particular, can be brutal to those who have the audacity to believe in the existence
or primacy of just two sexes or genders.
Hotel
sexual assaults skyrocket as predators given access to women's rooms in horrifying trend: law
firm. Horrifying cases of women being raped in their rooms at top hotel chains are
taking place because staff are allegedly handing over keys to sexual predators unchecked, The [New
York] Post can reveal. Two separate cases in Texas claim men broke into women's rooms after
lying to staff to obtain keycards. In an even more shocking incident, one man was allegedly
able to convince police and hotel staff to deliver his victim to his own room at a Hilton-owned
property. One alleged unwanted entry was only foiled when a quick thinking woman slammed a
door on an intruder's hand — severing his finger clean off in the process.
Jiggery-Pokery
Wokery. The woke love to destroy whatever they touch — culture, infrastructure, social
cohesion, rational thought. To be woke is to embrace chaos and injury as a philosophy. From an
anthropological perspective, wokeism is fascinating because its practitioners believe they are creative freethinkers
while they act as lobotomized sheep. Whatever the woke wizards posing as priests tell their needy followers, the
woke herds accept as truth. [...] If deception, violence, and obedience are all part of the woke creed, then
contradiction is its life-force. [...] We must believe all women unless those women are speaking out against men
pretending to be women — in which case, we must first believe all men pretending to be women, no
matter how much they do not appear to be women at all. Biological sex is nothing more than a social construct, yet
a man who wears a dress and wig and demands society treat him as he desires is somehow a demonstration of objective
reality. Women's and men's sports divisions and the separation of their locker rooms recognize the reality that
women and men are physically different, yet physically different men who mentally pretend to be women are miraculously
physically indistinguishable from women and should be allowed to compete against them. Furthermore, any woman who
objects to the imposition of men competing in her sport or undressing in her locker room is bigoted for acknowledging a
fact out loud that can no longer be acknowledged as politically correct. Science demands that
reality be based on emotion.
Christian
cop, 19, says he was pressured into resigning from Georgia PD after writing on Facebook that 'there's no such thing as
homosexual marriage'. A now former police officer in Georgia believes he was pressured into quitting his
job because of warnings from his superiors over his views on gay marriage. Jacob Kersey, 19, resigned from the
department in Port Wentworth, just a few miles outside Savannah, after refusing to remove a post on Facebook regarding
gay marriage and his Christian faith. Kersey - who joined the department at a young age in part because he was
inspired by how they would 'bring peace' to his 'broken home' growing up - wrote in the post: 'God designed marriage.
Marriage refers to Christ and the church. That's why there's no such thing as homosexual marriage.'
Georgia
Police Officer Put on Leave Over Social Media Post Defending Natural Marriage. [Scroll down] [A]
lot of women today are backing constraints and controls on conservative men like Kersey. They wave around
rainbow-colored signs and chant about tolerance and diversity. I want to say something to these women. Do
you understand that marriage-minded men are not liberal men? Liberal men support abortion, which means they think
that killing babies is a good way to keep the good times rolling for the selfish adults. This attitude is not
marriage-ready. Liberal men want to redefine marriage and support surrogacy, which means they don't understand
that children need their mom AND their Dad. You can't marry someone who thinks that children are just accessories
for adult happiness. So, if young women want to persecute and intimidate men with character, they should not be
surprised when they find themselves single and alone in their old age. Liberal men are filth. And you can't
marry them.
Flashers,
Peeping Toms, and the Men Invading Women's Locker Rooms. In 2020, 54-year-old Michigander Steven Pastoor
was finally nabbed. He had been dubbed the "Cascade Flasher," confessing to having exposed his genitals to unsuspecting
victims for decades. He eventually targeted one woman in particular, who set up a camera to catch him in the
act. The police made a hasty arrest. "We take this crime very seriously," the police said. Indeed,
the law certainly allowed a serious penalty for the extent of his crimes, which could range from one day in
prison to life in prison, the Detroit News reported. But in the end, a seemingly repentant Pastoor pleaded guilty
to just three counts of aggravated indecent exposure, which is a "two-year high court misdemeanor." He claimed to
have been sexually abused as a teenager by an older family friend (suffering that went curiously undisclosed until he
faced the prospect of a long prison stint), and that this was the root of his sexual deviancy.
Appeals
Court Upholds Florida High School "Separating School Bathrooms Based on Biological Sex". The 11th Circuit
Court of Appeals, sitting en banc (all judges on the court) has upheld Florida's St. John'a County school
policy of separating bathrooms based on biological sex, rejecting a challenge by a "transgender male" who was denied the
opportunity to use the boy's bathroom. The district provided sex-based (boys and girls) bathrooms as well as
single-user gender neutral bathrooms. While the headlines about the decision refer to a "transgender bathroom
policy," in fact it's much simpler than that, what the court referred to as the "nearly universal practice of separating
school bathrooms based on biological sex."
This
Is What's Following Your Daughters Into The Women's Bathroom. Thanks to the satanic trans laws whacko
liberal states like Washinton and California, freaks like this guy who claim to be a woman can use the lady's room and
there is nothing anyone can do about it. You'll even be deemed a hater and transphobe if you try to protect your
wife or daughter from this creep. [Video clip]
Biden's
New Authoritarians Prioritize Gender Transition over Religious Liberty. Refusing to respect the
Constitution; the Church Amendment, which protects the conscience rights of doctors; or a 2016 court case brought by a
religious hospital and more than 20,000 health care professionals, the Biden administration maintains it has sufficient
authority to punish groups that don't perform gender "transition" surgery and abortions. Following a pathway
blazed by President Obama's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2016, rejecting conscience objections, the
Biden administration breathed new life into the left's open season on religious hospitals and physicians. Open
season was initially closed because the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty stepped in to swiftly secure a preliminary
injunction against the original rule in 2016. After all, the original HHS rule violated the Administrative
Procedures Act and likely violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Confirming this analysis, on
January 21, 2021, a district court ruled in favor of Catholic groups contesting the HHS rule. Hence, the
transgender rule was blocked from taking effect. This decision was upheld on appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of
Appeals on December 10, 2022. Additional litigation is possible because HHS refuses to take no for an answer.
Gay-friendly
restaurant refuses to serve Christians — What happened to "bake the cake, bigot"? In the recent
oral arguments of 303 Creative v. Elenis, our newest Supreme Court justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson,
concocted a hypothetical situation as she grilled lawyers representing a Christian website owner that doesn't build
websites for same-sex marriages. In Jackson's make-believe scenario, an old Christian lady named Helen started a
business called "Grandma Helen's Protestant Provisions" and, as the name implies, catered only to Protestant
Christians. Jackson pressed attorney Kristen Waggoner whether Helen could deny non-Protestants her food.
Waggoner did an honorable job explaining to the esteemed justice that she was comparing apples and oranges. In
Jackson's scenario, Helen isn't engaging in speech, and compelling her to serve everyone isn't government-compelled
speech. In the case of the website company, it is clearly an example of compelled speech if the government forces
a Christian to create something that celebrates a sinful act.
Federal
Court Blocks Biden Rule That Forces Christian Doctors To Perform Sex Change Surgeries. A federal appeals
court has permanently blocked a rule coming from the Biden administration's Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) which demanded that religious doctors perform sex change surgeries in violation of their beliefs. The eighth
circuit's decision comes months after the fifth circuit issued an opinion in August 2022 in Texas that struck down a
reading of the Affordable Care Act which would require every doctor to provide sex change surgeries regardless of
religious conviction. Friday's decision affirmed this August opinion.
Tom
Cotton Confronts Kroger CEO Over Employees Fired For Refusing To Wear LGBT Pride Symbols. Republican
Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton confronted Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen on Nov. 29 after he suggested Republicans help
save businesses while Democrats impose heavy regulations. Cotton spoke during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
on the proposed merger between the Kroger and Albertsons grocery chains, and said companies shouldn't inject themselves
into cultural issues only to ask conservatives for help later on. "I've cautioned [Big Tech companies] for years,
that if they silence conservatives and center-right voters ... if they discriminate against them in their company, they
probably shouldn't come and ask Republican senators to carry the water for them whenever our Democratic friends want to
regulate them or block their mergers," Cotton said during the hearing.
Justice
Gorsuch Accuses Colorado of Forcing Christian Baker to Undergo 'Reeducation Program'. Justice Gorsuch
slammed the State of Colorado on Monday for forcing a Christian baker to undergo a "reeducation program" after he
refused to create a custom cake celebrating a same-sex marriage on the grounds that it violated his religious
convictions. The comment came during opening arguments before the Supreme Court on a case involving a Christian
web designer who said she would refuse to produce a personalized website advertising a same-sex wedding if a client came
to her seeking such a site. In 2018, the Court handed a narrow victory to cake artist Jack Phillips in
Masterpiece Cakeshop, ruling that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission acted with unusual religious animus in
2012 when it ordered Phillips and his staff to receive anti-discrimination training. However, the decision did not
make a major judgment on the compelled speech issue at the heart of the case, which the Court is finally expected to
address in the 303 Creative case currently before it.
Supreme
Court weighs web designer's refusal to work on same-sex weddings. Conservative Supreme Court justices on
Monday appeared sympathetic toward an evangelical Christian web designer's bid to avoid working on same-sex weddings as
they weighed the latest clash between religious conservatives and LGBTQ rights. But after two-and-a-half hours of
arguments that included a broad array of tough hypothetical questions directed at both sides, involving far-fetched
scenarios like a "Black Santa" at a shopping mall refusing to serve children dressed in Ku Klux Klan outfits, it is
unclear how exactly the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, will rule. Lorie Smith, who opposes same-sex
marriage on religious grounds and runs a business in Colorado designing websites, is seeking an exemption from a state
law that outlaws discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public accommodations.
Catholic
Bishops Gave Biden A Pass In 2020 And Now Christians Are Paying For It. The U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops (USCCB) meets this week to elect a new president. Relations with Washington top the agenda. Stalking
those relations is the reality that the USCCB compromised itself two years ago to facilitate the presidential candidacy
of Joe Biden. Now it is caught in the repercussions of its own priorities in 2020. Biden's appointees in the
Department of Health and Human Services would eliminate freedom of conscience in the name of health care. They
propose to revise Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act to add mandates about abortion, "gender identity," and sexual
orientation to existing protections against "discrimination on the basis of sex." Revision will subvert the right of
hospitals and medical practitioners to claim exemption from participating in procedures that violate their religious convictions.
NBC
News: Strict Voter ID Laws Disproportionately Impact Trans Voters. Wednesday, NBC reporters Joe Fryer,
Savannah Sellers and Jo Yurcaba discussed the impact of voter ID laws on transgender people on NBC News' free streaming
service show "Morning News Now." Fryer said, "As Gen Z gears up to hit the polls, transgender voters are concerned
they might be blocked from casting their ballots." Sellers said, "That is because a growing number of states are
enforcing stricter voter identification laws that disproportionally impact the community."
The Editor says...
If you habitually pretend to be something you're not, you should not be surprised if your identification is challenged. If you live your
life as a transvestite, you shouldn't be surprised if you encounter self-imposed obstacles that normal people don't encounter.
Student
suspended, coach father fired after complaining 'a man shouldn't be in the women's locker room'. A
14-year-old high school student has been suspended from her Vermont school and her father, the coach of the girls soccer
team, was fired without pay after the duo complained about biological males being allowed into the girls' locker
room — and now, the father-daughter duo is suing the school district, alleging they are being punished for
expressing their discomfort. [Video clip] Blake Allen made headlines recently after officials at
Randolph Union High School (RUHS) banned the entire girls volleyball team from using its own locker room because they
dared to voice their discomfort with a transgender student — a biological male — who was allegedly
making inappropriate comments as the young women were changing.
Christian
baker WINS in California over gay wedding cake lawsuit. In a surprising ruling, a Christian baker has won
in the state of California after being sued by the state for discrimination against a gay couple. Cathy Miller,
owner of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, refused to make a cake for a gay couple's wedding and a judge in California's
Superior has ruled that the Constitution protects Miller's freedom of religion.
Court
Rules on Rights of Christian Baker in Same-Sex Wedding Case. A Christian baker has won a legal victory in
her battle for religious freedom in California. This week, attorneys from the Thomas More Society secured a First
Amendment win in their defense of Cathy Miller, owner of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, CA. Miller was exonerated
on charges that followed her religious objection to creating a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, Eileen and Mireya
Rodriguez-Del Rio, due to her Christian beliefs. Judge J. Eric Bradshaw of the Superior Court of California ruled,
"The evidence affirmatively showed that Miller's only intent, her only motivation, was fidelity to her sincere Christian beliefs."
Florida
schools ordered to provide bathrooms separated by biological sex. The Florida Board of Education
unanimously passed new rules requiring all public and charter schools to provide bathrooms and locker rooms separated by
biological sex after a divided public hearing Wednesday. The move comes months after the passing of a
Gov. Ron DeSantis backed bill spearheading legislation that banned discussion of sexual orientation and gender
identity for kids in kindergarten through the third grade in the state. The new bathroom regulations also mandate
schools notify parents if they offer bathrooms and locker rooms that are not sorted by biological sex and outline their
supervision procedures for them. Backers contended Wednesday that the measures ensure parental transparency while
allowing schools to provide a variety of bathroom options for kids.
Vermont
School District Retaliates Against Father Who Spoke out Against Allowing Biological Male to Use Girl's Locker
Room. Remember earlier this month when the news broke about a Vermont high school allowing a biologically
male student to use the girl's locker room? Well, there has been a new and disturbing development in this
saga. A father who works at the school was suspended for speaking out against the policy after his daughter was
made uncomfortable by the male student. The situation began when the Daily Signal reported that two girls who are
members of the Randolph High School's volleyball team asked the boy, who identifies as a girl, to leave the locker room
after he made an inappropriate comment. The school responded by essentially banning girls from the girl's locker
room to cater to the male student's delusion about his gender identity as it launched an investigation into the
matter. But they were not investigating the conflict. Instead, they are "launching a harassment
investigation" into the girls who complained rather than the 14-year-old boy who chose to use their locker room.
Virginia
Lawmaker Introduces Bill That Would Allow The State To Remove Children From Parents If They Don't Affirm Their Pretend
Gender. As the battle over parental rights and protections for LGBT students heats up in Virginia, one
state delegate said she will introduce a bill in the legislature's next session that would make it a crime for a parent
or guardian not to affirm their child's sexual orientation or gender identity. The move is in response to
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's updated "model policies" on transgender students, which require students
to use bathrooms and join sports teams based on their sex at birth, as opposed to their gender identity.
Democratic Virginia Delegate Elizabeth Guzman told WJLA on Thursday she will introduce a bill that will expand the
state's definition of child abuse and neglect to include parents and guardian [sic] who do not affirm their LGBT children.
The Editor says...
Little kids have stupid ideas and they are almost always wrong when their ideas are non-conformist in
any way. "Affirming" their stupidity is just plain nuts.
Students
Want Professor Removed for Saying There Are Only Two Sexes. The University of Southern Maine's Christy
Hammer, who could fairly be described as a "woke" professor herself, is the target of an effort by students to remove
her from teaching a class because she answered a student's question honestly. Hammer, an associate professor of
Teacher Education at the public (taxpayer-supported) university, was teaching a graduate course last month, entitled
"Creating a Positive Learning Environment," when a student asked her how many sexes there were. Hammer responded,
"Two." That upset the student who asked the question, Elizabeth Leibiger, who identifies herself as "nonbinary," or
neither male nor female. Leibiger told the media, "I felt under personal attack." "I let her know," Leibiger
said, "I didn't think she was qualified to teach a class about positive learning environments. It's the ultimate
irony." Actually, the "ultimate irony" is that Dr. Hammer's response is somehow considered "controversial."
Throughout human history, it has been widely understood that human beings are either male or female.
Federal
Judge Declares Mandated Workplace Pronouns, Unisex Bathrooms Unlawful. A federal judge in Texas has issued
a ruling that prevents federal mandates from imposing pronouns and unisex bathrooms on employers. [...] "Title VII as
interpreted in Bostock does not require such accommodations," wrote Judge Kacsmaryk in his Oct. 1 decision. "The
same is true of the March 2nd guidance. It exceeds Section 1557's requirement and is not justified by Bostock and
contrary to Defendant's claims, the guidance binds agency staff failing to genuinely leave the agencies and their
decision makers free to exercise discretion." Bostock v Clayton County is a 2020 Supreme Court of the United
States (SCOTUS) ruling that protects gay or transgender employees from workplace discrimination under Title VII of the
1964 Civil Rights Act, which was initially enacted to end racial discrimination and segregation against blacks in public
accommodations, public education, and federally assisted programs.
The
Never-Ending Persecution Of Jack Phillips. By the time I visited Masterpiece Cakeshop in 2016, Jack
Phillips, the man who had famously refused to bake a specialty cake celebrating the wedding of a gay couple, had been
the victim of a four-year campaign of harassment by the authoritarians at the Colorado Civil Rights Commission intent on
punishing him for a thought crime. Now Phillips is back in the news, as his lawyers attempt to get new charges
against him dismissed on appeal from a Colorado judge's decision last year. For the past decade, the media and
lawyers and judges and leftists have misrepresented Phillips' position. No, the baker never turned a gay couple
away from his shop. Or a transgender person. Or anyone else. No, he never refused to sell anyone a
wedding cake (ceremonial, in the case that made him famous, as the request predated both Obergefell and
Colorado's recognition of gay marriage). Philips refuses to create any specialty item from scratch that
features any message that conflicts with his long-held religious beliefs. He will refuse to create such cakes for
any customer, gay or straight or black or white.
Persecuting
Christians who refuse to do work for same-sex weddings is nothing less than bigotry. Emilee Carpenter is a
gifted photographer whose lavish images celebrate all kinds of people — Christian, Jewish, black, white,
straight, gay and everything in between. She aims her lens at clients without fear or prejudice — with
one notable exception. She refuses to take pictures of same-sex weddings. That's non-negotiable. And
it could cost her — big time. [...] Carpenter has declined requests by same-sex couples to document their
weddings. So she researched potential penalties — hefty fines, revocation of her business license, even
up to a year behind bars — and freaked out. In April 2021, she sued New York, claiming its human-rights
law forcing her to shoot same-sex marriages ran afoul of her First Amendment rights to free speech, free association and
free religious expression, and violated the establishment clause and her right to due process.
Vermont
girls' high school volleyball team are barred from their OWN locker room after complaining about transgender
student. Members of a Vermont girls high school volleyball team have been banned from using their own
locker room and now have to change in a single bathroom stall after they complained about a transgender teammate.
Some teammates allege that the transgender player at Randolph Union High School made an 'inappropriate remark' to some
of them while they were changing in the locker room. They now want the school to relocate the transgender player,
who hasn't been named.
Is
Montana's Defiance of 'Illegal' Court Order a Model That Other Conservative States Should Follow? As
radical federal judges across America continue to undo conservative programs and initiatives, including much of the work
of the Trump administration, the state of Montana has defied a court order on transgender birth certificates.
Could this be a model for other conservative states? Maybe so. The left is fond of its "Resist" slogan.
It's past time for conservatives to resist, as well — in earnest. Just hours after a Montana judge
blocked health officials from enforcing a state rule that would prevent transgender people from changing the gender on
their birth certificate, as reported by AP, the Republican-run state on Thursday said it would defy the order.
Judge
Removes Democratic Prosecutor from Case of Loudoun Father Whose Daughter Was Raped in School. A Circuit
Court judge removed a Loudoun County prosecutor from a case citing "concerns" about "impartiality" after an appeal from
father Scott Smith, whose daughter was raped at Stone Bridge High School in Virginia by a teen who went on to grope a
student at a different school. Last year, Smith went to a school board meeting to get answers about his daughter's
assault in the girls' bathroom at the hands of a male student, and was "arrested and convicted in District Court of two
misdemeanors — disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice," according to WTOP news. He has since
appealed the charges, and Circuit Court Judge James Plowman has dismissed the count of obstruction of justice after
determining that a lower court judge filled out the requisite charging paperwork incorrectly[.]
Christian
bakers fined for gay 'wedding' cake refusal take case back to US Supreme Court. The Christian bakers who
were slammed with fines and ultimately lost their business after they refused to bake a cake for a gay "wedding" are
once more bringing their case before the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing the state violated their due process and First
Amendment rights. The Supreme Court had previously reviewed the case in 2019 before remanding it to a lower
court. Attorneys with the public interest law firm First Liberty Institute announced Wednesday that they submitted
a petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the petition, the attorneys asked the Court to
review Melissa and Aaron Klein's case stemming from a 2013 discrimination lawsuit.
Dismantling
the Transgender Establishment. The kids may be back in school, but this year parents are more fearful
thanks in part to the courageous parents in Loudoun County Virginia who nearly two years ago brought to national
attention the transgender policy, pro-LGBT Sex Ed, and divisive CRT indoctrination in public schools. Although
their exercise of free speech earned them threats from Biden's increasingly militarized DoJ, more parents nationwide
learned that their kids, from K-12 and college, are likely to be indoctrinated with radical leftist woke ideology,
including the absurd idea that sexual identity is a personal choice. In Virginia, the top issue remains
transgender bathroom policy. A clear majority of parents showing up at school board meetings the last two years
don't want biological males who identify as female in girl's private areas and vice-versa. All legislators should
take heed of the lesson learned by Clinton crony Terry McAuliffe (D Va.) who lost a seemingly shoo-in governor's race to
novice politician Glenn Youngkin (R) after telling concerned parents they have no say in their kid's education!
Christian
baker in Oregon returns to Supreme Court over refusal to bake same-sex wedding cake. A Christian baker is
back at the Supreme Court, asking the justices once again to take up her challenge to Oregon's public accommodations law
after the state put her out of business for refusing to create a custom wedding cake for a same-sex couple.
Melissa Klein and her husband Aaron owned "Sweet Cakes by Melissa." They served all customers without discrimination
until 2013 when they were approached by repeat customers for a custom cake — but this time it was to
celebrate the same-sex marriage of a lesbian couple. They refused to participate, citing the Bible's teaching against
homosexuality and their faith. As a result, the couple filed a complaint with the state, which fined them $135,000.
Can
the United States Stop the March to Self-Destruction? Then, the radical left, again using the Civil Rights
Movement as the backdrop, decided to create the latest incarnation of a so-called civil rights crusade: the
mainstreaming of a phenomenon hitherto regarded as a mental disorder, gender dysphoria. And sticking with the
overwhelmingly effective blueprint, another intimidation epithet to go along with racism and homophobia was devised:
transphobia. There was no initial redeeming aspect of the transgender movement, as it was concocted to draw in
another gullible generation seeking relevance and meaning in their vapid lives. Beyond producing another group of
credulous halfwits, it further advances the destruction of the family and the Judeo-Christian underpinning of the nation
while dismantling what was once a cohesive American society. Its adherents promulgate the mutilation of willfully
confused children on the altar of Marxism. If the United States is to stop the march to self-destruction, then the
vast majority of Americans who do not identify with the left need to wake up and understand that the American left is
not an unstoppable monolithic leviathan crushing everyone in its path.
Biden's
DOJ embraces bias and anti-religious bigotry. Do you believe a baker has the right not to bake cakes for
same-sex weddings? Do you believe church daycare programs have just as much of a right as other such programs to
apply for state grants? Do you think pregnancy centers should not be forced by the government to tell pregnant
women where to get an abortion? If you support the First Amendment rights of any of these entities, then President
Joe Biden's Department of Justice believes you're a bigot unworthy of associating with — or at least that is
the message the department sends by protecting a senior DOJ official who attacked the nation's leading legal advocate of
religious liberty. The DOJ Civil Division's assistant director of commercial litigation is Eric Bruskin.
Last week, Bruskin labeled a reputable organization, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a "hate group" and told a former
colleague online, "Are these beliefs you hold? If so then it's time we end our professional association."
Title
IX Comes for Christian Schools. Sometimes, scrolling through the news, you come
across a story so ludicrous, so extreme, it seems like someone must have made it up to prove a
point. Take, for example, the recent situation at Grant Park Christian Academy in Tampa,
where the federal government was threatening to take away school lunches for underprivileged
children unless the school allowed, among other things, male students to share lockers, showers,
and bathrooms with female students. For Grant Park and other Christian schools and
universities that have chosen to uphold their deeply held beliefs, reality is proving crazier than
fiction. The Biden administration has proposed changes to the language of Title IX, a civil
rights law designed to prevent sex-based discrimination. The administration is trying to
change the meaning of the word "sex" to include "gender identity and sexual orientation." This
seemingly small change would set off a cascade of problems, as it would compel all
Americans — regardless of their deeply held beliefs about the nature of sex and
gender — to assent to the current radical view that maleness and femaleness are just a
matter of individual expression.
Federal
Court Blocks Biden Admin from Forcing Doctors to Perform Gender Transitions. A
federal appeals court blocked a Biden administration plan Friday that would coerce doctors to
perform gender-transition medical procedures and abortions that violate their conscience or medical
judgment. The plaintiffs, a religious hospital and group of over 20,000 health-care
professionals, launched the lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services in August
2016 after the federal government mandated that most health-care providers perform and provide
insurance coverage for such procedures.
'I
was sacked for suggesting that drag acts were a gross caricature of femininity'. A
lecturer at a prominent music academy says she has been forced out of her job after she suggested
drag acts could be viewed as sexist. Cathy Boardman, a lecturer in cultural studies, had
asked her class to reflect on 'womanface' — a critical term for female
impersonation — and whether or not it was demeaning. But bosses at the BIMM
Institute, which has outposts around the country and links with Sussex University, told her this
was a 'deeply sensitive' subject and that transgender students had been left upset.
Christian college loses plea to keep men out
of women's dorms. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled against the College of the
Ozarks's (CofO) lawsuit against the Biden administration's directive that universities permit student housing based on gender
identity. The court ruled against the Christian college in Point Lookout, Missouri, on July 27. CofO filed the
suit in 2021. CofO challenged the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) after a memo was issued in Feb. 2021
that prohibited discrimination of "gender identity or sexual orientation" under the Fair Housing Act. Alliance Defending
Freedom (ADF), which represented the college, alleged that the order violated religious liberty by forcing religious schools to
open "their dormitories, including dorm rooms and shared shower spaces, to members of the opposite sex." The appellate
court, however, upheld a lower ruling to toss the case on the basis that the college lacked sufficient standing to sue.
Trans
Child, Parents Sue Over Tennessee School Bathroom Law. A transgender child, along with their parents, sued the
Tennessee Department of Education this week over a law that prohibits transgender students and staff from using school
bathrooms aligning with their gender identity rather than their biological sex. The lawsuit was filed in a federal
court in Nashville by a student identified as "D.H," according to the Associated Press. The complaint states that D.H. was
"assigned" male at birth but identifies as a female. D.H. began "living as a girl" at age 6 and is now 8 years old.
The Editor says...
One's gender is not assigned at birth. It is assigned at the moment of conception, when your first unique DNA has either
XX or XY chromosomes. There are only two kinds. You're one or the other, male or female, like it or not.
80-Year-Old
Woman Banned From Community Pool After Complaining Man Watching Little Girls Undress In Shower Room:
Report. An 80-year-old woman was banned from using a community pool run by the YMCA in Washington state after
she expressed her anger because she said that a man dressed in a woman's swimsuit was watching little girls undress and also
saw her naked in the women's showers, according to local media reports. Julie Jaman, 80, had been swimming at the
Mountain View pool, a Port Townsend facility, for 35 years, but on July 26, the Y's aquatics manager, Rowen DeLuna, allegedly
informed her that some children needed the lane she was swimming in. Jaman said she headed to the women's showers,
where she soaped up before hearing a man's voice, then turned to see a biological male named Clementine Adams, allegedly an
employee at the pool, "looking at the little girls as they were taking off their suits," the Port Townsend Free Press reported.
Parent
discovers unpublished 4-H policy bunking by gender identity at overnight camps. A parent that was considering
sending their child to an overnight 4-H camp run by the N.C. State 4-H Cooperative Extension discovered that campers can be
assigned to sleeping accommodations by their preferred gender identity. The policy was not given to parents prior to
enrolling their children at 4-H camps. Parent Van Brinson tells North State Journal he had signed his 11-year-old
daughter up for a weeklong "Fur, Fish and Game" 4-H overnight camp this summer. The camp was held in the Richmond
County town of Ellerbe. "I find this exceptionally deceptive," Brinson said. "If this is going to be their
policy, then parents need to be informed. I am not anti-trans, or anything else. I am, however, staunchly
pro-information." Brinson said he only found out about it after a phone call to make sure he had all of his paperwork
in order at which time he inquired about cabin assignments and was told they were set up by age and gender.
Loudoun
County School District Fails to Halt AG's Probe into Bathroom Sex Assault. An attorney representing Loudoun
County Public Schools (LCPS) appeared before the court Monday in an effort to shut down Virginia Attorney General Jason
Miyares' grand jury investigation into the Virginia school district. Within hours after appearing in court, the motion
for an injunction failed and the investigation will continue, 7News reporter Nick Minock tweeted Monday afternoon. The
hearing was closed to the public and the transcript was sealed.
Republicans
Introduce a Bill That Defines What a Woman Is. Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko is doing something for women, and
not the kind no one can define. The Republican has sponsored a "Women's Bill of Rights" to provide ladies legal
protection against gender ideology. "[T]here are important reasons," H.Res.1136 asserts, "to distinguish between the sexes
with respect to athletes, prisons, domestic violence shelters, restrooms, and other areas, particularly where biology,
safety, and privacy are implicated." The initiative goes so far as to claim it knows what a woman is.
If
Schools Don't Let Boys Into Girls' Bathrooms, Biden Will Take Their Lunch Money. The Biden administration will
require schools that receive federal funding for lunches to enforce its ban on discrimination on the basis of gender identity
and let biological males into girls' bathrooms. All state and local agencies that receive Food and Nutrition Service
(FNS) funding, including schools, will have to update their non-discrimination policies to include protections for gender
identity and must investigate any allegations of discrimination on the basis of gender identity, according to a May 5 U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) announcement. Obama-era guidance interpreting Title IX to prohibit gender-identity
discrimination stated that transgender students must be allowed to use the restroom, locker room and shower facility that
matches their gender identity.
Massachusetts
Department of Education says kids can use whatever bathrooms they want. Libs of TikTok is still at it, exposing
the insanity of the left and specifically their gender ideology and how it affects children. A recent post by the
account contains screenshots from the Massachusetts Department of Education's official website outlining their policy on
transgender students and their access to bathrooms in schools. The official ruling? Any kid can use any bathroom
they want as long as they claim it validates their gender identity.
Protecting
Kids from Bathroom Bullies. Perhaps because I was bullied as a child, I made sure to enroll my kids in a "Bully
Proof" Jiu Jitsu class. The first rule of dealing with bullies is to "avoid the fight at all costs." That's the second
rule too. But, at some point, you have to defend yourself to avoid becoming a victim. One of the hardest parts of
standing up to a bully is that they're often loud and aggressive, narcissistic and angry. Some bullies are even skilled
at making it appear they're the victim. To defend against a bully, you must set good boundaries. That kind of
boundary setting is exactly what the Alabama Legislature did in passing HB 322, a bill that requires boys to use the boys'
bathroom and girls to use the girls' bathroom. The bill was signed into law by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey on April 8, 2022.
'Groomer-gate' —
How Democrats Transitioned into the Party of Trans-Extremists. On April 8, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed
two bills into law that caught the attention of the Biden White House. The first bill she signed requires students to
use bathrooms appropriate for their biological sex, and the second bill makes it a felony for doctors to perform "gender
reassignment" therapy or surgery on minors. [...] The vast majority of Alabamans obviously agree. That's why the bills
passed the legislature by overwhelming margins: more than 2:1 in the state house and more than 4:1 in the state senate.
Transgender Confusions.
[Scroll down] A handful of federal circuit and district courts have ruled that schools must defer to the gender
identity of their students or risk being found guilty of sex discrimination. Most of these cases have dealt with access
to restrooms, and courts have consistently held that schools may not require transgender boys — most plaintiffs
have been natal females who identify as male — to use the girls' restrooms or some alternative unisex
facilities. Additional lawsuits have raised questions about who may participate in girls' sports, whether schools may
facilitate gender transitions for students without notice or consent from their parents, and clashes between religious
liberty and transgender "inclusive" policies. If the litigation campaign over restrooms is any indication, we should
expect most or all of these cases to be resolved in favor of transgender students.
Feminist
Tells Transgender Activist Who Identifies As 'Mother' Not To Use Women's Spaces In Heated Confrontation. A
British feminist told a transgender activist, who is a biological male but identifies as female, not to use women's spaces,
video from the NCAA swimming finals shows. "At the NCAA swim finals Kellie Jay Keen takes on transgender activist who
lived nearly 50 years as a man, fathered three children, and now says 'I'm a mother,'" Madeleine Kearns of National Review
reported. Keen is the founder of Standing for Women. "This campaign is to focus specifically on the word woman
and other female language that clearly defines women and our rights," the group's website reads. "The purpose of this
campaign is to raise funds for promoting the fight back to this global assault of women."
Judge
rules that Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage license to same sex-couples in 2015 violated their constitutional
rights. A federal judge has ruled that a former Kentucky clerk violated the constitutional rights of two
same-sex couples who were among those to whom she wouldn't issue marriage licenses — a refusal that sparked international
attention and briefly landed her in jail in 2015. US District Judge David Bunning in Ashland issued the ruling Friday in
two longstanding lawsuits involving Kim Davis, the former clerk of Rowan County, and two same-sex couples who sued her.
With the decision, a jury trial will still need to take place to decide on any damages the couples could be owed.
Bunning reasoned that Davis 'cannot use her own constitutional rights as a shield to violate the constitutional rights of
others while performing her duties as an elected official.'
LAUSD
Gender Bias Contractor Embellishes Training With Materials That Encourage Hostile Work Environments for
Teachers. RedState recently ran across this training course that teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School
District are being put through that seems to encourage teachers to challenge other teachers in their work environments to
push what seems to be a more militant form of agenda than the actual LAUSD policy has codified. This particular course
is called "Identity Working Terms", a contracted course purchased by LAUSD from the California Conference for Equality and
Justice, a 501(c3) non-profit activist organization. The course claims authority to train teachers to comply with a
formal policy by the LAUSD known as Bulletin 6224 "Gender Identity and Students — Ensuring Equity and
Nondiscrimination". [...] But if you look at the CCEJ course material itself, what stands out is not the official policies of
the bulletin but added material that focuses on teachers confronting each other.
Supreme
Court to decide whether the state can override your freedom to choose what you say. In New Mexico, Jonathan and
Elaine Huguenin had to close their photography studio. In Washington, florist Barronelle Stutzman was forced to
retire. In New York, photographer and blogger Emilee Carpenter is risking jail time. And in Colorado, cake artist
Jack Phillips is back in court, enduring his 10th year of litigation. What connects these individuals? Each is
trying to earn a living and stay true to their values. Because of their faith, each treats their clients with the
utmost respect and dignity and serves clients of all different backgrounds regardless of who they are. For them, there
is no distinction between professing their faith on Sunday and earning a living on Monday. And for that, they each have
a target on their back. The government is trying to force them to affirm messages contrary to their faith and to back
state-approved views about marriage.
Supreme
Court to weigh whether webpage designer can deny services to same-sex couples. The Supreme Court agreed on
Tuesday [2/22/2022] to hear a case over whether a wedding website designer can decline to provide services to same-sex
couples under Colorado's anti-discrimination law. Lori Smith, a Christian graphic artist and webpage designer, is
seeking to expand her services to create webpages for weddings but argues her religious convictions prevent her from making
websites for same-sex couples. Her standpoint conflicts with Colorado's civil rights laws requiring businesses to be
accessible to all clients regardless of sexual orientation.
Oregon
Court of Appeals Overturns $135K Fine For Bakery That Refused to Make Same-Sex Wedding Cake. The Oregon Court
of Appeals has overturned a $135,000 fine imposed on a bakery that refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in
2013. The court upheld the 2017 ruling against Aaron and Melissa Klein, who owned a bakery called Sweetcakes by Melissa,
but scrapped the fine. [...] The Klein's had argued that they refused to bake cakes for same-sex weddings due to their
religious beliefs. They ended up closing their business in 2016 amid the legal battle.
N.Y.
wedding photographer to appeal court ruling compelling gay-wedding photoshoots. Wedding photographer Emilee
Carpenter is appealing a New York federal judge's ruling that her attorneys say compels the evangelical Christian to create
photo displays for same-sex weddings. "This is a free speech issue. And I believe that all artists should be free
to choose the messages they promote," Ms. Carpenter, 27, told The Washington Times. Attorneys for the public
interest law firm Alliance Defending Freedom told the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York on Wednesday
that they will appeal a December ruling issued by Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr., an Obama appointee.
Chicago
Public Schools eliminating sex-specific restrooms to 'increase gender equity'. Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is
requiring all schools in the district to adopt new signage in an effort to make restrooms gender-neutral. The
initiative, which CPS is referring to as a "big step forward for gender equity," requires the schools to display language
outside of restrooms informing students, whether they are male or female, that they may use the restroom that aligns with
their gender identity. "We're requiring all schools to adopt new signage to make our restrooms more inclusive," CPS
wrote in a tweet announcing the change. "This is a big step forward for gender equity for our students and staff."
Loudoun
sheriff slams school superintendent, says he knew of alleged sexual assault the day it occurred. The sheriff of
Loudoun County blasted the county superintendent for allowing a student accused of a highly publicized sexual assault at a
local high school to transfer schools despite knowing about the assault the day it occurred. Loudoun Sheriff Mike
Chapman accused superintendent Scott Ziegler in a letter last month of knowing about the "alleged sexual offense the day it
occurred" but nevertheless allowing the student accused of the assault to transfer to another school "despite knowing the
serious nature of the offense."
Mother
of Loudoun County Bathroom Rapist Blames Victim. The mother of the skirt-wearing boy, who was convicted of
raping a ninth-grade girl in a Loudoun County school restroom, said Monday that the victim was to blame for being assaulted
because she did not make stronger attempts to defend herself. The boy's mother said in an interview that her son, who
last week was found guilty on two counts of rape, was not transgender despite reports alleging that he was. She said he
just likes to wear skirts sometimes. But she also defended her son's actions pertaining to the sexual assault, falsely
alleging that, at the time of the May 28 assault, he "wanted to have sex in the bathroom, with somebody that was willing."
The mother then proceeded to blame the victim for not doing more to fight off her rapist.
Virginia
Must Clean House at Its Dept. of Education. There's been much talk about the lunacy of school policies
supporting so-called "transgender" or "gender fluid" students. What happened in the girls' restroom at a Loudoun
County, Virginia high school — a girl raped by a "transgender" male student and the later public abuse of the
girl's father — rightly became a flashpoint in the recent election. Will anything really be done under the
new Republican administration to curb the dangerous policies that enabled this tragedy? What can the newly elected
governor and Legislature do to end this insanity? It will be difficult. The radicals are well entrenched in the
state bureaucracy and schools.
The Editor says...
It's safe to say that each of the 50 states has its own Department of Education. There is no need for a federal Department
of Education, with an annual budget of $57 billion (last time I checked).
Supreme
Court won't hear Catholic hospital challenge to transgender surgery. The Supreme Court announced Monday
[11/1/2021] it would not hear a challenge over a Catholic hospital declining to provide transgender surgery, leaving in place
the lower court's ruling in favor of the transgender man. A transgender man, Evan Minton, sued Dignity Health after the
hospital declined to perform his hysterectomy. He received the surgery three days later at a non-religious hospital but
filed a lawsuit in California claiming he was discriminated against.
Scandal-hit
Loudoun County rocked by another sexual assault case. The embattled school district in Virginia's Loudoun
County has another problem on its hands to add to the notorious 'boy in a skirt' rape case. Cops in the county are now
investigating 'multiple' incidents of a middle school boy groping other boys, the county's sheriff's office confirmed
exclusively to DailyMail.com. The alleged assaults all happened at Harmony Middle School in Hamilton, Virginia,
sheriff's spokesman Kraig Troxell revealed.
Loudoun
County Sheriff Investigating Multiple Incidents of 'Inappropriate Touching' in Middle School. An investigation
is underway in Loudoun County by the sheriff's office after multiple reported incidents of a male student touching other
students inappropriately at a district middle school. The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) reported Thursday its
school resource office learned from school personnel that on Wednesday a male student had been inappropriately touched over
his clothing by another male student in a hallway of Harmony Middle School.
Loudoun
County Parent On Explosive School Board Meeting: 'This Is An Ideology War'. Parents are banding together in
Loudoun County, Virginia, demanding resignations from Superintendent Scott Ziegler and the entire school board over
accusations it covered up a sexual assault report, which took place in May. Loudoun County parents Dimis Christophy and
Cheryl Onderchain joined "Fox & Friends First" on Wednesday to discuss the outrage after an explosive school board meeting
Tuesday night, and a walkout dozens of students participated in earlier in the day over recent sexual assault reports.
Loudoun
County Father Who Was Slandered, Beaten, and Arrested Speaks Out. The horror that has occurred in Loudoun County, VA
has gone mainstream over the last several months, and the area is now ground zero in the nation's fight against far-left, degenerate
school boards. Multiple scandals have transpired, with the biggest being the attempted cover-up of multiple sexual assaults,
one of which appears to have happened as a result of the school board's "transgender bathroom" policy.
Another
man in dress and wig arrested filming young girls in bathrooms. Are we seeing more of this type of horrific
behavior these days, or was it always out there but the press didn't pay as much attention to it? The subject is once
again the periodic arrests of perverse pedophiles who violate the privacy of women and young girls in public spaces and even
in their homes. The alleged cretin in today's story allegedly managed to pull off both types of activity over a lengthy
period of time before finally being apprehended. Jacob M. Guerrero of Woonsocket, Rhode Island was arrested on Tuesday
for activities he allegedly undertook in the women's restrooms at a mall in Wrentham, Massachusetts. Guerrero was seen
(and photographed) by the mother of a young girl who became suspicious when she saw him dressed in a dress and a wig and
hanging around outside the ladies' room at the mall, following a group of girls inside.
That which was so easily predictable has come to pass.
The
Loudoun bathroom teen rape situation just keeps getting worse. I've been following Ed Morrissey's coverage of
the ongoing horror show in the Loudoun County, Virginia school district where multiple rapes of children inside school
buildings were covered up by the school board. That lasted until the father of one of the victims who had been raped in
a school bathroom by a boy wearing a skirt went public. There's been a different sort of coverup taking place since
then in the form of a near-total mainstream media blackout of the story, with a few incomplete exceptions. Despite the
fact that the school board clearly appears to have violated state laws regarding sexual assaults, it still seemed as if
nobody in the school system was going to be held accountable. That situation may have started to change on
Friday. There have been multiple calls from the parents of students in the district for school superintendent Scott
Ziegler and the entire school board to resign. And as of yesterday, someone has indeed resigned. But it was only
one member of the school board and not even the president.
Loudoun County
prosecutor who sought to jail father of girl allegedly raped at school tied to Soros, McAuliffe. The Loudoun
County prosecutor who sought jail time against a father who was arrested at a school board meeting after his daughter was
allegedly sexually assaulted in a school bathroom has ties to progressive megadonor George Soros and Democratic Virginia
gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe. Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney Buta Biberaj was described in the
explosive report by The Daily Wire as the "progressive" elected county prosecutor who ran on a platform of ending "mass
incarceration," but yet she sought jail time for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, both misdemeanor charges, against
Scott Smith.
Father
is suing woke Loudoun County after his 15-year-old daughter was 'raped' in 'gender-fluid' girls' bathroom. The
furious parents of a 15-year-old high schooler are suing Loudon County in Virginia after their daughter was allegedly raped
by a 'skirt-wearing male student' in a 'gender fluid' school bathroom. Jess and Scott Smith allege that the district
attempted to cover up the alleged assault. They claim that Superintendent Scott Ziegler alleged there was no record of
the May 28 incident at Stonebridge High School in Leesburg, Virginia, despite Loudoun County Sheriff's office conducting a
two-month long investigation into the allegations. On June 22, Scott Smith was filmed exploding with anger about
the assault at a school board meeting, and was later convicted over the disturbance. He only revealed the alleged sex
attack that had sparked his fury earlier this week.
Loudoun
County schools are worse even than you imagined. We've written before about the madness in the Loudoun County
Public Schools (LCPS), most recently when it comes to parents protesting LGBTQ pornography in the school system's
libraries. There've also been newsworthy moments when parents spoke out about Critical Race Theory in the school
district. One of the most explosive moments occurred when the school board, tired of having angry parents (i.e.,
voters) yell at them, called the cops, with several arrests, including that of one man getting physically dragged out.
It now turns out that the man was protesting the fact that the school's policies led to a boy in a skirt sexually assaulting
his daughter in a girl's bathroom. [...] On June 22, Scott Smith, a White plumber was filmed as the police arrested him and
dragged him out of an LCPS board meeting. It was his arrest, writes Rosiak, that the National School Boards Association cited
when it sought the federal help that AG Merrick Garland so willingly gave, referred to as a possible form of "domestic terrorism."
Republican
Senators Slam Biden Court Pick for 'Hostility' to Religious Liberty. Several Republican senators sharply
criticized federal court nominee Beth Robinson this week for her alleged hostility toward religious liberty. On August
5, President Joe Biden announced his appointment of Robinson as a judge on the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals and the
White House underscored that she would be the first openly lesbian woman to serve on any federal circuit court. During
Robinson's confirmation hearings this week, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned Robinson's use of bigoted
language toward pro-life Catholics sued by a client of hers in the 1990s. Robinson had represented a woman in a suit
against a Vermont print shop for not printing a pro-abortion group's business cards because of the owners' Catholic faith.
Federal
judge sides with gay teacher suing Catholic school over firing. A federal judge has ruled in favor of a gay
substitute teacher this month in a lawsuit over his being fired from a Catholic school because of his marriage to another
man. U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr., an Obama appointee, sided with Lonnie Billard, who sued Charlotte Catholic
High School in North Carolina after he was removed from substitute teaching because he chose to marry a man. According
to the federal lawsuit, Mr. Billard argued that the school discriminated against him in violation of the Civil Rights
Act and removed him from its substitute teaching list after he announced on social media that he would be marrying his partner.
Judge
Blocks Obamacare Requirement for Doctors to Perform Transgender Surgeries. A federal judge in Texas has
permanently blocked the federal government from penalizing healthcare providers and insurance companies who refuse to perform
gender reassignment surgeries. The judge, Reed O'Connor of the United States District Court for the Northern District
of Texas, ruled in favor of the Obama-era initiative in 2019, but cited the "substantial burden" on the providers' freedom of
religion in his ruling on Monday, Aug. 9. "Plaintiffs identified the substantial burden on their religious exercise as
resulting from HHS's attempt to 'force them to choose between federal funding and their livelihood as healthcare providers
and their exercise of religion,'" O'Connor wrote in his opinion.
Religious
Victory: Judge Blocks Mandate Requiring Doctors to Perform Gender Reassignment Surgery. A federal court
in Texas blocked a transgender mandate from President Joe Biden that would require doctors to go against their religious
beliefs and perform gender transition surgeries. Judge Reed O'Connor granted a permanent injunction and said that the
doctors are "to be exempt from the government's requirement to perform abortions and gender-transition procedures." In a
win for religious liberty, Monday's [8/9/2021] ruling prohibits Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra from
requiring the Christian plaintiffs to "perform or provide insurance coverage for gender-transition procedures or abortions,
including by denying Federal financial assistance because of their failure to perform or provide insurance coverage for such
procedures or by otherwise pursuing, charging, or assessing any penalties, fines, assessments, investigations, or other
enforcement actions."
Christian
member of Finnish Parliament faces prison for questioning support of gay pride parade. A member of Finland's
Parliament is facing two years in prison for tweeting a message questioning the alignment of her church with a gay pride
parade and for other statements expressing what she said is the Bible's view on homosexuality. Dr. Päivi
Räsänen, a physician and the country's former interior minister, faces a potential November trial for "incitement
against [an] ethnic group," as Finnish Prosecutor General Raija Toiviainen stated in an April announcement.
Ms. Toiviainen said Dr. Räsänen "violate[d] homosexuals' equality and human dignity" by posting verses
online from the New Testament book of Romans; publishing a 2004 pamphlet calling homosexuality "a scientifically proven
psychosexual developmental disorder"; and speaking about homosexuality on a Finnish radio program.
Family
Farmers Refused To Hold Same-Sex Weddings, Were Banned From A Local Farmer's Market. Now They Await A Judge's
Ruling. A family farm is waiting to receive a ruling in their lawsuit against the city of East Lansing,
Michigan after they were banned from a city-run market for refusing to allow same-sex weddings on their property. Fox
News reported that Country Mill Farms — operated by Stephen and Bridget Tennes — began their legal
battle in 2016, when the couple said on Facebook that they opposed same-sex weddings for religious reasons. They
temporarily stopped hosting weddings on their property after a backlash to the post. In December 2016, the family
announced on Facebook that it would start holding weddings again — but not for same-sex couples. "The
Country Mill engages in expressing its purpose and beliefs through the operation of its business and it intentionally
communicates messages that promote its owners' beliefs and declines to communicate messages that violate those beliefs," the
farm said at the time. "For this reason, Country Mill reserves the right to deny a request for services that would
require it to communicate, engage in, or host expression that violates the owners' sincerely held religious beliefs and
conscience."
Tenth
Circuit Rules Web Designer Must Create Site For Same-Sex Marriage. There is a new ruling out of the United
States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit that could be headed for a major showdown in the Supreme Court. The
decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis could force a hitherto evasive Court to rule directly on the conflict
between anti-discrimination laws and the religious clauses. I have previously written that I view these controversies
as best addressed as free speech rather than free exercise cases. The Tenth Circuit decision reaffirms a growing conflict
among the circuits and offers an especially strong case for the Court to consider such a major reframing of such conflicts.
County
Refuses to Comply With DOE's Transgender Locker Room Rules. [Scroll down] Brass tacks, concerning
access: ["]All students are entitled to have access to restrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities that are
sanitary, safe, and adequate, so that they can comfortably and fully engage in their school programs and activities.
Schools frequently maintain separate restrooms, locker rooms or other facilities for males and females. Students should
be allowed to use the facility that corresponds to their consistently asserted gender identity.["] And under
"Student Identification": ["]School divisions should accept a student's assertion of their gender identity
without requiring any particular substantiating evidence, including diagnosis, treatment, or legal documents.["]
Judge
says churches haven't shown Virginia will punish them for violating new LGBTQ law. Christian ministries failed
to convince a Virginia judge last week that they are suffering ongoing harm from a new state law banning employment
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. "Is there an actual controversy here?" Loudoun County
Circuit Judge James Plowman asked the lawyer for Calvary Road Baptist Church, Community Fellowship Church, Community
Christian Academy and pro-life ministry Care Net at the Friday hearing. They had made "speculative claims" about how
the Virginia Values Act (SB 868), which took effect about a year ago, would be enforced, the judge said. "There
are not reasonably foreseeable actions to be taken against these [religious] institutions" from the language of the law
itself. The ministries had engaged in "undisputed" self-censorship and chilled speech, past and ongoing, in response to
the crippling financial penalties available under the law, argued Denise Harle, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom.
Virginia
School Board Held Hearings On New Policies That Would Allow Boys Who Identify As Girls To Use Girls' Changing Rooms And
Bathroom, This Was The People's Response. A passionate crowd was in Russell County Thursday evening, where a
public hearing was held over a new policy in Virginia that addresses transgender students. A packed school board
meeting was held where people on both sides of the issue were able to share their thoughts on the policy. The vast
majority of people in attendance were against the Virginia Department of Education's model policy for treatment of
transgender students. Under the new policy, transgender students are allowed to use a name or gender that reflects
their gender identity. They are also allowed access to restrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender
identity. [Video clip]
Right,
wrong and a flower shop. Is there anyone who can say what is always right and always wrong and present an
unchanging standard by which all behavior can be judged? I raise the question in light of last week's non-ruling by the
U.S. Supreme Court, which declined for a second time to hear an appeal from a flower shop owner in Washington State.
Barronelle Stutzman, the owner, refused to provide flowers for a same-sex couple because her religious beliefs instruct her
that marriage was created by God for opposite sexes. The U.S. Supreme Court had sent her case back to the state supreme
court for further consideration. That court upheld its original ruling, forcing Ms. Stutzman to provide the
flowers, or face penalties under the state's anti-discrimination laws. Three conservative members of the U.S. Supreme
Court wanted to hear the case. It takes four. What confuses many people is that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in
favor of a Colorado baker who refused on the same religious grounds as Ms. Stutzman to bake a wedding cake for a
same-sex couple. Why is religious belief a sufficient reason to uphold the Colorado baker's right not to bake a cake
for a same-sex wedding and a violation of another state's law in the flower shop case? News reports say Ms. Stutzman
has provided flowers in the past to gay individuals, but not for their weddings. How far are the courts willing to go
with this?
I
Could Lose Everything After 'Devastating' End to 8-Year Court Battle Over Same-Sex Wedding, Florist Says. When
the Supreme Court announced July 2 that it had declined to take up florist Barronelle Stutzman's case, it left her on the
losing side of an eight-year court battle. In 2013, one of Stutzman's longtime customers asked her to design floral
arrangements for his same-sex wedding. She told him that because of her religious beliefs, she could not design an
arrangement for the wedding, but she referred him to several other florists. A few weeks later, she learned she was
being sued. The Washington state "attorney general, without any complaint from Rob [Ingersoll] and Curt [Freed], sued
me personally and corporately, and the ACLU got ahold of Rob and Curt and also sued me personally and corporately," Stutzman
told The Daily Signal. Now, the Washington state Supreme Court ruling against the Christian florist stands because the
U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up Stutzman's appeal. The Supreme Court's move could cost Stutzman everything.
Are
We Seeing a Cultural Realignment? Equity for people with gender confusion sounds compassionate in theory.
In reality, it facilitates naked men bathing with our six-year-old daughters — which inspires a different emotion
than compassion. "Perfectly normal women with penises" competing in women's sports is all over the news too. The
left has been telling us that we need to accept each person's perception of reality — even if that person is
somewhat gender-confused. But "perfectly normal women with penises" competing in women's sports has illustrated the
absurd destination this path leads to. Why don't we go ahead and let heavyweight boxers identify as lightweights and
let them beat [up] somebody half their size? After a year of this nonsense, we're beginning to see that there may be
many perceptions of reality, but there is only one actual reality. Are feminists starting to see that their movement
sold them into servitude to liberalism and they've become the handmaidens of leftism?
Let's
stop pretending men are women just because they say they are. Last week, a viral video showed a woman
confronting the staff at Wi Spa in Los Angeles because there was a naked man in the women-only steam room, which had girls as
well as women present. On Saturday, Antifa showed up and tried to beat the snot out of anyone who dared to say that a
man is not a woman. On Sunday, though, another woman published a video regarding a similar, deeply disturbing
experience she had at the same spa over a year ago. Here's the almost ten-minute video in which the woman tells about
her and her six-year-old daughter's experience when they went for a mom-daughter date at Wi Spa, a family-run Korean spa that
caters to families. And because it is a traditional Korean spa, people strip down to the buff when they enter the
sex-segregated spa area. A lot of the people in the women's area are Korean grandmothers there with their daughters and
granddaughters.
Supreme
Court rejects florist's case against participating in same-sex wedding. The U.S. Supreme Court announced Friday
[7/2/2021] it would not take up a case over LGBT rights and religious liberty when it comes to same-sex weddings in a dispute
brought by a florist. The high court declined to hear Barronelle Stutzman's case after she lost at the Washington
Supreme Court when the state attorney general sued her for not providing flowers from her flower shop, Arlene's Flowers, for
a same-sex wedding. The American Civil Liberties Union also filed a lawsuit against the florist on behalf of the
couple. Washington's highest court concluded she could be forced to participate in the event despite her First
Amendment claim that it ran afoul of her beliefs.
By
Dodging School Bathrooms Case, Supreme Court Cements Earlier Win for Transgender Rights. In a heartbreaking
move for conservative court watchers, on Monday [6/28/2021] the Supreme Court denied a petition to review the case of Gavin
Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board — an appeal from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals over a
biological girl's access to the boy's bathroom in one Virginia school district. In so doing, it hands a victory to the
former student, Gavin Grimm; establishes a bad precedent on the ability of students in federally funded schools to use the
bathroom of their choosing; and misses a chance to clarify Title IX. The denial was a bit of déjà vu
for the Supreme Court. Grimm's campaign for bathroom access began in 2015. After a win at the 4th Circuit Court of
Appeals, the justices in 2017 remanded the same student's case to the 4th Circuit to interpret Title IX in light of the Trump
administration's withdrawal of a federal guidance that had previously permitted mixed-sex bathroom use in schools receiving
federal funds.
ACLU
challenges Tennessee law over transgender bathroom warning signs. Tennessee is facing a lawsuit from local
business owners challenging a law requiring public places to post warning signs outside of restrooms about both sexes using
the facilities, claiming the requirement stigmatizes transgender people. Business owners, including restaurants, coffee
shops and an entertainment venue, filed a federal lawsuit on Friday arguing the recently enacted state law violates the First
Amendment. "Forcing plaintiffs to display a government-mandated warning notice with which they disagree ... violates
the plaintiff's First Amendment right against compelled speech," reads the 19-page complaint.
Supreme
Court Lets Trans Students Using Opposite Sex Bathrooms Ruling Stand. On Monday, the Supreme Court turned down
an opportunity to reverse a ruling that permitted students identifying as the opposite sex to use the opposite sex's
bathrooms. The Court declined to hear the case of Gavin Grimm, a Virginia female student who identifies as a boy who
had sued the Gloucester County school board for stating that restrooms were "limited to the corresponding biological
genders." "The case initially reached the Supreme Court in 2017, but the argument was canceled after President Trump
reversed an Obama administration rule that had directed schools to allow students to use restrooms that correspond with their
gender identity," The Washington Post noted.
Jack
Phillips to appeal Colorado judge's decision over gender transition cake. The conservative group representing
Colorado baker Jack Phillips vowed to appeal after a judge sided with the plaintiff, a transgender woman, on Tuesday [6/15/2021]
following Phillips' refusal to make a cake celebrating a gender transition. "In this case, an activist attorney demanded
Jack create custom cakes in order to 'test' Jack and 'correct the errors' of his thinking, and the activist even threatened to
sue Jack again if the case is dismissed for any reason," Alliance Defending Freedom General Counsel Kristen Waggoner said in a
statement. "Radical activists and government officials are targeting artists like Jack because they won't promote messages
on marriage and sexuality that violate their core convictions."
Colorado
court: Masterpiece Cakeshop has to bake the cake after all. No it doesn't, but once again Jack Phillips will have to resort to
federal court to make this point. For some reason, Colorado courts can't read Supreme Court precedent, and ruled that a trolling effort to
force Masterpiece Cakeshop to bake a cake celebrating a gender transition actually should be upheld. The judge fined Phillips $500 for
violating the state's anti-discrimination law: [...] This case popped up a few months ago, a bad-faith effort by attorney Autumn Scardina, who
first attempted it on the same day that the Supreme Court took the previous Masterpiece Cakeshop appeal in 2017. Scardina admitted
that this was essentially trolling.
VA
School District to Appeal Ruling Reinstating Gym Coach Who Refused to Use Trans Pronouns. The Loudoun County
Public Schools (LCPS) plans to appeal a judge's reinstatement of a high school gym coach who refused to address trans
students by their preferred pronouns. The Virginia school district put gym teacher Byron "Tanner" Cross on leave after
he cited his Christian faith in opposition to the proposed Policy 8040, which would require educators to address trans
students by the pronouns they prefer.
14
Year-Old Girl Blasts School Board's Trans Bathroom Policy: 'Everyone Know What a Boy Is — Even You'.
"Boys are reading erotica in the classroom next to girls and you want to give them access to girls' locker rooms and you want
to force girls to call those boys 'she,'" 14 year-old Jolene Grover told the Loudon County, Va. School Board (LCSB)
Tuesday [6/8/2021]. Grover was commenting on the board's new proposed policy allowing biological boys to use girls'
facilities. A draft of Policy 8350 decrees that "students should be allowed to use the facility that corresponds to
their gender identity."
Eighth-grade
girl blasts school board for policy that would allow 'boys into girls' locker rooms'. A 14-year-old in Virginia
is speaking out about what she says is a sexist move by Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) to allow "boys into girls'
locker rooms." The policy followed a previous one, 1040, that committed the county to providing an equitable, safe and
inclusive working environment regardless of "sexual orientation, gender identity" and other individual characteristics.
The more recent proposed policy — 8350 — states in a draft that "students should be allowed to use the
facility that corresponds to their gender identity." At Tuesday's [6/8/2021] school board meeting, Jolene Grover, who was
wearing a shirt that read "Woman is female" argued: "Two years ago, I was told policy 1040 was just an umbrella
philosophy and you weren't going to allow boys into the girls' locker rooms. But here you are doing just that."
Federal
Judge Sides With Biden, Rules Christian College Must Allow Biological Men To Share Showers With Women. A
federal judge ruled Wednesday [5/19/2021] that students of the opposite biological sex must be allowed to share shower spaces
and dorms at a Christian college in Missouri. Judge Roseann Ketchmark of the District Court of Western Missouri ruled
against the College of the Ozarks, a Christian college which had sued President Joe Biden's administration over its
transgender discrimination policies, lawyers representing the school said Wednesday evening. The college had challenged
Biden over his Jan. 20 executive order, which prevented schools from denying children access to bathrooms of their
choosing. "Women shouldn't be forced to share private spaces, including showers and dorm rooms with males, and
religious schools shouldn't be punished simply because of their beliefs about biological sex," Julie Marie Blake, senior
counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), told reporters following the ruling Wednesday evening.
The
Only Man to End Up Before the US Supreme Court for Not Baking a Cake Tells His Story. As the "woke" crowd has
insisted everyone accept the new politically correct morality, it has sometimes run roughshod over Christians insisting they
have to stick with biblical morality. Colorado baker Jack Phillips was doing that when he told two gay men he couldn't
bake a cake to celebrate their same-sex marriage because his conscience wouldn't allow it. The fight over that cake
went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Phillips won, but his legal battles are still not over. Now he has
a new book out — The Cost of My Faith: How a Decision in My Cake Shop Took Me to the Supreme Court.
It calls on people of faith to stand up for their beliefs, even when the government says that's a crime. Phillips explained
to CBN News in a little more depth why he couldn't design and bake a cake for two men celebrating their marriage.
Professor
punished for stating there are only two sexes. The American Psychological Association (APA) recently removed
John Staddon, an emeritus professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, from the Society for Behavioral
Neuroscience and Comparative Psychology (SBNCP) Division 6 listserv, an email discussion group. What prompted his
ouster? Staddon was notified of his removal from the list in an email from the presidential trio of the APA
division. He believes he was expunged for stating his belief that there are only two sexes, in particular this
post: "Hmm... Binary view of sex false? What is the evidence? Is there a Z chromosome?"
The
Democratic Party finds a new but shaky faith in corporate free speech. Of course, Democrats insist they are not
attacking free speech, just combating "disinformation." After all, they say, private companies have every right to control
speech — unless you are, say, a bakery opposed to preparing a cake for a same-sex wedding, or a company
contributing to political causes. The current mantra defending Facebook's corporate speech rights seems strikingly out
of sync with years of Democrats and political activists demanding the curtailment of such rights. When Masterpiece
Cakeshop in Colorado refused on religious grounds to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
denounced the bakery's claim of free speech: "It was never about a cake — it's about making sure no one has
a license to discriminate against LGBTQ+ Americans." [...] Notably, Warren felt that one company (Masterpiece Cakeshop) can
be forced to speak while another corporation (Facebook) should be able to stop others from speaking. When Facebook
barred Trump, Warren declared: "I'm glad that Donald Trump is not going to be on Facebook. Suits me." House
Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) also celebrated and added: "Facebook must ban him. Which is
to say, forever."
Children's
Harry Potter book festival event is cancelled over JK Rowling transphobia row. J. K. Rowling has again fallen
victim to 'cancel culture' after a literary festival in New Zealand scrapped plans for a Harry Potter-themed event over her
comments on gender issues. Peter Biggs, chairman of the Wairarapa book festival, reportedly decided to drop the annual
children's quiz that is usually held on the boy wizard following consultations with the LGBTQ community. It is not the
first time that Ms Rowling has been 'cancelled' as a result of expressing her views on whether men who identify as women are
the same as biological females. The 55-year-old author has faced ongoing accusations of transphobia after publishing a
blog post in which she argued that biological sex is real.
NJ
school vice principal tosses beer at diners for filming wife's transphobic rant. A New Jersey middle school
vice principal was caught on camera tossing his beer at a group of restaurant-goers who had filmed his wife ranting about a
transgender woman using the women's bathroom. The hate-filled clip shows Michael Smurro, vice principal of Neptune
Middle School, arguing with patrons on Saturday at Ethel's Lantern Light Restaurant and Tavern in Smithville, where his wife,
Lisa, took issue with a person she said was a transgender female in the women's restroom. "She's a man, she was in the
woman's bathroom," Lisa Smurro is captured in the footage telling an employee. "She's a man." A woman sitting
outside then asks Smurro to take her "hate" elsewhere, claiming she was being inappropriate in front of other customers,
including children. "She's a man," Lisa Smurro continues while holding a beer in her right hand. "How are you OK
with this? What is wrong with everybody?"
The Editor says...
Phobia is not the right word. Phobia is fear. This lady is obviously not afraid — at least she's not afraid to state the obvious —
which, in this case, includes the immutable fact that one's sex is determined by genetics at the moment of conception, and a man doesn't become a woman just by wearing
women's clothes.
London
Has Fallen: Pastor Is Arrested By Police For Quoting Bible Verses Stating Marriage Is Only Between A Man And
Woman. A Christian pastor who was arrested after he preached from the Bible said yesterday he had been treated
'shamefully'. John Sherwood, 71, was led away in handcuffs and questioned at a police station overnight. After
being accused of making homophobic comments outside Uxbridge Station in west London Thursday evening (April 7), deputies
pulled him off his mini-stepladder where he used it to preach on the street corner while handcuffed behind his back —
leaving bruises all over this body. [Video clip]
Colorado
baker who won Supreme Court battle calls gender transition cake case 'a trap'. The Colorado baker who won a
case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 after refusing to make a custom wedding cake for a same-sex couple spent the week
in court again — this time for denying a request to create a cake to celebrate a gender transition —
telling Fox News that the request was "a trap" and in violation of his religious beliefs. In an exclusive interview
with Fox News, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Jack Phillips described his experience at trial this week, after spending
nearly a decade fending off lawsuits over requests for cakes that went against his conscience.
It's
time for Red States to start nullifying federal law. Here are some of the issues that could be affected by the
concept of nullification: [#1] Nullify all 1st Amendment Restrictions. States should refuse to enforce all
federal edicts and Supreme Court rulings that impinge upon the 1st Amendment protections of our religious freedom, such as
efforts by radical gays to force churches, faith based adopting agencies, religious schools, colleges, and businesses to
carry out a radical gay and transexual agenda.
My
Democrat Friends are Getting Very Embarrassed. Since lunch-bucket Joe's inauguration, the government has moved
beyond its charter to ensure the rights, security, and safety of the citizens. Now it's engaged in social
engineering. Transsexuals will now be welcomed into the military. Given that these folks require ongoing hormone
therapy, a few minor changes to the DoD logistics infrastructure will be needed. It's a small price to pay to check our
"wokeness" box. Should any of our transsexual soldiers be captured, I'm sure our enemies will continue their
therapy. They need their "wokeness" boxes checked too. President Asterisk has also signed an executive order
ensuring that transgender people may use whatever facilities they prefer. We'll need to be on the alert for
gender-fluid pedophiles seeking to spend quality time in bathrooms with young girls. But, that's a very small societal
cost to show the necessary respect to a perfectly normal woman-with-a-penis, who wishes to shower with women-with-vaginas at
the gym.
Psaki
When Asked About Biden's EO Forcing Girls to Compete Against Biological Males: Transgenders are More Important Than
Your Daughters. What about the rights of young girls? When asked about the White House's message to young
girls being forced to compete against biological males, Psaki said Biden's belief is trans rights are human rights. In
other words, Joe Biden believes biological males who identify as transgender, are more important than your daughters.
Psaki then deferred the reporter to the schools that are forced to allow biological males to compete with biological
females — because of Joe Biden's executive order.
Girls
will be Boys, and Boys will be Girls. [Biden's] January 20 executive order, "Preventing and combating
discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation" means that women's sports are now open to males who
"identify" as females, [...] Not only sports, but also restrooms, locker rooms, and any school sports. If members of
the boys' high school soccer team decide to identify as girls, they can join the girls' soccer team and shower with them
too. What could go wrong? Joe Biden instinctively knows there are biologic differences between boys and
girls. There are multiple photos and videos of Biden inappropriately touching and sniffing girls and women, but not
boys or men. He is disregarding his own executive order by discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
So much
for Joe Biden, moderate. [For example,] allowing men in women's sports. My guess is that Biden's day-one
executive order that vastly expands the Supreme Court's 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County decision will come back to haunt
both him and Democratic political candidates. The order's language with respect to public schools says, "All persons
should receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation." Schools will likely
interpret that as saying boys who simply identify as girls must be allowed to compete in girls' sports. Ironically, the
Supreme Court's 6-3 Bostock decision specifically excluded the Biden approach. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the
majority, "we do not purport to address bathrooms, locker rooms, or anything else of the kind." — which is exactly
what Biden's order does. Given the undeniable additional strength, speed, size and stamina of most male athletes when
compared to their female counterparts, it means that male athletes who identify as females will dominate their respective
sport. There are perks to being the top athletes in a class, including college scholarships and high-paying
professional opportunities.
Virginia
Values Act Makes Everyone Who Disagrees a Bigot. A federal court in Virginia last week held a hearing on a
wedding photographer's lawsuit challenging a state law that he says requires him to participate in same-sex weddings against
his personal Christian beliefs. Lawyers representing photographer Bob Updegrove asked the court Friday to stop
enforcing the law while his lawsuit against Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring proceeds. In a public statement,
Jonathan Scruggs, one of Updegrove's lawyers with Alliance Defending Freedom who argued on his behalf, said: ["]Photographers,
like all other Americans, should be free to peacefully live, work, and create art that's consistent with their deeply held
beliefs — without the fear of government punishment. Because of the state's interpretation of its law,
photographers like Bob face an impossible choice: Violate the law and risk bankruptcy, promote views against their
faith, or close down. Virginia has a long and important history of protecting constitutional freedoms, and this kind
of government hostility toward people of faith has no place in a free society.["]
Sen.
Graham: Biden Doesn't Have the Power to Force Public Schools to Let Transgenders Use Girls' Locker Rooms.
When asked about Joe Biden's intent to order public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms, locker rooms,
and sports teams of their choice, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that he does not think Biden "has the power" to
force such a unilateral change and that he would "like to hear from the schools." Graham also said he did not know if it
was a good idea or not to allow transgender "women" (biological males) to play on real women's sports teams and use their
locker rooms.
Schumer:
'I Agree' with Biden Planning to Give Trans Students Access to Sports, Bathrooms, Locker Rooms Based on Identity. During a press conference
on Tuesday [12/1/2020], Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he agrees with Joe Biden's plan to grant transgender children access to sports,
bathrooms, and locker rooms according to their gender identity.
Wikipedia
bans editors from expressing support for traditional marriage. Wikipedia has decided to restrict its editors
from expressing opposition to same-sex marriage on its platform — a decision that comes months after co-founder
Larry Sanger said the site's neutrality policy was "dead." Volunteers who write and edit Wikipedia's articles can no
longer include on their profile page any "userbox" — a badge expressing their beliefs — that is against
gay marriage. For example, one such userbox states, "This user believes marriage is between one man and one woman."
The decision was made after a recent discussion where "predominantly left-wing editors" argued such a stance was
"discriminatory" and against site policy, according to Breitbart.
California
will begin housing male inmates in women's prisons to 'respect' gender identities. Biological males who find
themselves on the wrong side of the California justice system will now be given the choice to serve their sentence in either
a men's or a women's prison. Under a new law, a prisoner's claimed gender identity will determine what type of facility
they end up at. Prison officials will be forced to address inmates by their chosen pronoun and "honorific" title.
Worse yet, authorities will seemingly be stripped of any real power to stop these transfers.
Biden's
Authoritarian America. [Presidential candidate Joe] Biden has promised to sign the Equality Act into law if it
is passed by the Senate. This legislation limits religious freedoms by elevating LGBT rights, which, for Progressives,
take precedence over other rights. The Equality Act amends the 1964 Civil Rights Act to "prohibit discrimination on the
basis of the sex, sexual orientation, gender identity." Section 1107 specifically denies exemptions for religious freedom
granted under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. The Equality Act would force churches to open their sex-specific
facilities, such as bathrooms, to members of the opposite sex. It would threaten creative professionals, like Christian
bakers, wedding photographers, and florists, who would be forced, against their deeply held religious beliefs, to use their
artistic skills in support of same-sex couples attempting to marry. In short, the Equality Act would force religious
individuals and organizations to speak messages and act in ways that violate their beliefs, under the threat of punishment.
Kroger
sued for allegedly firing workers who refused to wear rainbow symbol. Kroger, one of the country's largest
supermarket chains, is being sued in federal court after two former employees claimed they were wrongfully terminated for
refusing to wear an apron with a rainbow symbol. The ex-employees, who identify as Christian, cited religious
objections in their refusal to wear what they believed was an "endorsement of the LGBTQ community," according to the
lawsuit. The complaint was filed Monday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Brenda Lawson, 72,
and Trudy Rickerd, 57, who both worked at a Kroger store in Conway, Arkansas, for several years before being fired last
spring The two women were allegedly disciplined and eventually terminated after they refused to wear new aprons issued last
April that featured an embroidered rainbow heart on the top left portion of the bib.
In
Foreboding Ruling, Appeals Court Says Transgender Students May Use Restroom of Choice. A federal court decided
last week that schools can't ban students from using the restroom that matches their desired gender identity, in what
Buzzfeed News called "a significant legal win for transgender rights." The 2-1 decision from the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 4th Circuit comes five years after Gavin Grimm sued the Gloucester County School Board for refusing to allow
Grimm, then a high school student, to use the boys' bathroom despite being a biological female.
Cancel
culture warriors still trying to cancel Masterpiece Cakeshop. It's now been eight years since liberal activists
began their campaign to attempt to drive Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips out of business for the sin of refusing to
decorate cakes with messages that conflicted with his religious values. Thus far, his antagonists have managed to tie
him up in court endlessly, but after the Supreme Court sided with him it sounded as if the brouhaha might be over. No
such luck, sadly. One of the usual suspects immediately tried to order a cake from Jack to celebrate his "transition"
from male to female. Phillips declined and was promptly sued again. This week, a court in Colorado refused to
throw the suit out and ruled that the plaintiff could move forward.
The
sad, intolerant legal campaign against Christian baker Jack Phillips continues. [I]t was only a few years ago
that the Supreme Court case pitting Christian baker Jack Phillips against the Colorado Civil Rights Commission captured the
national imagination and sparked a debate over religious liberty and gay rights. Phillips won that case due to the
overt "religious animus" in the Colorado government's actions against him. Yet, due to the narrow scope of its ruling,
Phillips was in court once again last week. On Thursday [4/9/2020], Phillips and his attorneys at the Alliance
Defending Freedom asked a state court to dismiss a case brought against them not by the state of Colorado, which after years
has seemingly given up on persecuting the Christian baker, but by an angry transgender lawyer and activist now pursuing him
for declining to make a cake explicitly celebrating gender transition. This whole affair is deeply disturbing.
More importantly, it shows once again that many in the activist Left, particularly, self-described gay and transgender
advocates, no longer seek the noble goals of equality or dignity but rather punishment and humiliation for religious holdouts
who do not fully embrace their dogma.
Virginia
Governor Signs Law Ordering 'All Places' Open to Public to Let Transgenders Use Ladies' Rooms. Gov. Ralph
Northam of Virginia, a Democrat, signed a law on Good Friday [4/10/2020] prohibiting "all places or businesses offering or
holding out to the general public goods, services, privileges, facilities, advantages, or accommodations" from denying access
to those things to people 18 years and older based on what the law calls "gender identity." The law goes on to define
"gender identity" as follows: "The term 'gender identity,' when used in reference to discrimination in the Code and acts of
the General Assembly, means the gender-related identity, appearance, or other gender-related characteristics of an individual
with or without regard to the individual's designated sex at birth." In effect, the new law that Northam signed prohibits
businesses and other private organizations from denying the use of their ladies' rooms — or locker rooms, or
dressing rooms — to adult biological males.
DOJ
Backs Photographer Over Free Speech Claim. The Justice Department (DOJ) has filed a brief in a federal court
defending a photographer who is challenging a law that would force her to work at same-sex weddings in violation of her
religion. The department filed a statement of interest at a district court in Kentucky on Feb. 27, saying that the
photographer, Chelsey Nelson, is likely to succeed in her lawsuit against Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government and
its officials over a law that requires her to photograph same-sex weddings against her conscience. The department said
the law violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment, as the clause prohibits the government from compelling people
to engage in speech that supports or promotes another person’s expressive event, such as a wedding ceremony.
Canada:
A Totalitarian State-in-Progress. [Scroll down] Bill C-16 prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender
identity and gender expression, which sounds unexceptionable except for the obvious fact that "discrimination" is in the eye
of the offended beholder and the government enforcer. The bill effectively mandates that citizens must address others
by their preferred pronouns and transgender fantasies — or else! It's "zir," "ze," "zem" or "zeir" or you're
done for. It's Emily, not Brian, or your job's in peril. The Ontario Human Rights Code stipulates that "refusing
to refer to a trans person by their chosen name and a personal pronoun that matches their gender identity... will likely be
discrimination" in social areas like employment, housing, education and so on. As Queen's University law professor Bruce
Pardy writes, "human rights have become a weapon to normalize social justice values and delegitimize competing beliefs."
UK:
Mother Spared Jail for Misgendering Trans Woman, Ordered To Pay £1,000 Fine. A mother was spared jail for
maliciously misgendering a trans woman, after being accused of knowing full well that the online "assault" could trigger
anxiety. The mother was also accused of referring to the trans woman as a "pig in a wig" along with other insults in a
lengthy exchange involving more than one sock account. [...] She was found guilty of using a "public communications network
to cause annoyance, inconvenience, and anxiety to her target," according to Metro.
Public
homophobic comments could land you in prison in Switzerland under amended law. An amendment to an anti-discrimination law
in Switzerland means public comments deemed to be homophobic could land violators in prison for up to three years, according to the New
York Times. A majority of voters supported a referendum to add sexual orientation to the list of protected categories under the law,
which already protected race, ethnicity, and religion. Opponents of the change fear that it infringes on the right to free expression.
Medical
Journal: CPS Should Take Kids From Parents if They Oppose Transgender 'Treatment'. At the tail end of
last year, the Journal of Medical Ethics published a paper advocating for government intrusion into the family if
parents disagree with their kids about dangerous experimental transgender drugs. Among other things, the paper
suggested that Child Protective Services should remove children from their parents if the children identify with the gender
opposite their biological sex and the parents do not wish for them to take dangerous experimental "treatments." According
to the abstract, the paper focuses on "how to proceed if a minor and their parents have disagreements concerning their
gender-affirming medical care." After studying "ethical, paediatric, adolescent and transgender health research," the authors
"discuss three potential avenues for providing gender-affirming care over parental disagreement: legal carve-outs to parental
consent, the mature minor doctrine and state intervention for neglect."
Mike
Bloomberg: Those Uneducated Midwest Rubes Are Just Too Stupid for Trans Bathrooms. Back in 2016, former
New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg made elitist and demeaning comments about Midwestern rubes who are too uneducated to
support transgender bathroom access. The remarks, which resurfaced on Friday, illustrate the patronizing attitude many
pro-transgender activists have toward those who dare to disagree with the view that gender identity overrides biological
sex. Ironically, transgender activists were triggered by how the former mayor insulted the Midwesterners who disagree
with them. Speaking to an audience at Oxford University and addressing the Brexit vote, Bloomberg said, "We, the
intelligentsia, the people who could make it into this room, we believe a lot of things in terms of equality and protecting
individual rights that make no sense to the vast bulk of people."
Pete
Buttigieg Is No Friend Of Religious Liberty. After taking a surprising lead in the faith-focused Iowa caucuses,
presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg is now being discussed as a Democratic Party presidential frontrunner. But despite
being a self-proclaimed Christian, Buttigieg's rhetoric and policies undermine rather than support religious liberty.
Buttigieg has unabashedly embraced House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) Equality Act legislation that would strike a massive
blow to our nation's religious institutions. Specifically, the Equality Act would create a federally protected status
for gender identity, defined as the "gender-related identity, appearance, mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics
of an individual, regardless of the individual's designated sex at birth." Any faith-based establishment —
including churches, schools, and hospitals — with theological beliefs in conflict with this definition would
likely face expensive legal battles, lawsuits, and public scrutiny.
How
Did Gay 'Wedding' Flowers Lead to a Supreme Court Battle Over Creativity? We think we know the story: florist
Barronelle Stutzman declined a request to design the floral artwork for a gay so-called wedding. Her position, grounded
on the First Amendment, landed her in hot water with the Washington State Supreme Court. She appealed to the U.S.
Supreme Court, which remanded the case back to Washington. The state Supreme Court sustained the ruling that Stutzman
broke the law. The unfortunate game of hot potato between the courts has left Stutzman no option but to re-appeal to
the highest court in the land, as she contends that no creative professional should be required or coerced to create art that
violates his core convictions. The broader principle at stake is whether the courts can coerce creative expression
under the guise of protecting LGBT civil rights.
Gender-neutral
toilets banned at all Australian schools after parents backlash. Plans for secondary school students to share
gender neutral toilets at Brisbane's newest secondary school have been scrapped following severe public backlash. The
Australian Department of Education confirmed last month that all toilets the £42 million secondary school would be
unisex, with the exception of two male and female toilets in change room facilities.
7
Years Later, Christian Bakers Still Fighting to Reverse $135K Fine Over Same-Sex Wedding Cake. In January 2013,
Christian bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein refused to bake a custom wedding cake to celebrate a lesbian ceremony. Two
years later, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) slapped a $135,000 fine on the Kleins, citing one of the women
who requested the cake saying she had felt "mentally raped" by the refusal. The fine wiped out the Kleins' life savings
and forced their bakery, Sweet Cakes by Melissa, out of business. They appealed, but the OCA ruled against them in
2017. The Oregon Supreme Court refused to hear the case, but the U.S. Supreme Court reopened it last year.
Not
Pushing Back Fuels LGBT Tyranny. It blows my mind that people worldwide are having their lives destroyed and
are even thrown in jail for asserting that marriage is between one man and one woman or for stating the scientific fact that
a man cannot change into a woman. British tax expert Maya Forstarter was fired for tweeting, "Men cannot change into
women." A campaign has been launched to destroy the life of famed author J.K. Rowling for simply agreeing with
Forstarter. In Iowa, 30-year-old Adolfo Martinez was sentenced to over 16 years in prison for tearing down a LGBT flag
from a church and burning it. Fake news media would celebrate Martinez as a hero had he burned a U.S. Flag. In
their disdain for Christianity, LGBT minions at Netflix have a comedy depicting Jesus as a homosexual. 2.3 million
signed a petition protesting the comedy. I guarantee Netflix would never dare portray Mohammad as a homosexual.
Good
Public-school Teachers Under Siege. [Scroll down] One of the children prefers the plural pronoun "they,"
while the other, who claims not to be a boy or a girl, prefers "zee." Seriously. After that, the two children discuss
the alleged need to "educate" their own teachers, especially substitutes, on the supposed importance of using the newly
invented pronouns that students choose for themselves. If that all sounds crazy, that's because it is. Teachers
are already finding themselves in hot water for refusing to play along with the madness. Indeed, teachers such as Peter
Vlaming at West Point High School in Virginia have already been fired from their jobs for refusing to refer to girls using
male pronouns, and vice-versa. In California, teachers say they are required to submit to the gender madness or be
fired, too.
U.K.
Case Shows 'Equality Act' Would Help U.S. Trans Bullies Get More People Fired. Is it transphobic to say
biological sex is binary and immutable? Can you support transgender people while criticizing modern transgender
activism? Would you imagine losing your job or being suspended from social media for merely stating factual human
biology? The answers might shock you and affirm growing fears on both the left and the right regarding the freedom to
discuss gender, sex, and sexuality honestly in the public square. Alarming developments in the U.K. and Canada show where
the United States is headed if it passes the Equality Act and continues bowing to the increasingly powerful transgender bullies.
Brooklyn
parents upset by second-graders' naked locker room encounters. Parents at the Sunset Park School are aghast the
tots are taking lessons at a Manhattan fitness center where the children gather in a locker room with the club's
sometimes-naked members, school insiders told The [New York] Post. "Kids were seeing naked adults in the locker
room. They don't close the access to the public. Any member could come in. Adults could come in, change in
the locker room while these kids are in the locker room at the same time," one source said. "Teachers are in the locker
room as well. They see the kids naked. The kids see each other naked." But principal EuJin Tang —
who once made headlines for canceling Christmas at the school — told parents they could not opt out, the insider said.
Texas
Judge 'Publicly Warned' by Ethics Commission for Performing Only Opposite-Sex Marriage Ceremonies. Waco, Texas
Justice of the Peace Dianne Hensley was given a "public warning" recently by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for her
practice of performing only opposite-sex weddings but not same-sex ceremonies. In the words of the Commission's order,
Judge Hensley's religiously motivated policy was ethically wrong for "casting doubt on her capacity to act impartially" as a
judge. That's a serious ethics finding and could lead to even further actions from the Commission if Hensley continues
the practice.
Utah
Teacher Fired After Telling Boy Who Gave Thanks For His Adoptive Dads That 'Homosexuality is Wrong'. A Utah
substitute teacher was fired this month after allegedly criticizing a fifth grade boy who told the class he was thankful for
his two adoptive dads. The incident occurred last Friday at the Deerfield Elementary School in Cedar Hills after the
sub asked students about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. When the 11-year-old child remarked about his two fathers,
she allegedly described two men living together as a sin.
Girl
Fights Back Tears While Trans Student Gloats as School Board Allows Him Into Her Locker Room. The left sure is
about sticking up for women and defending their rights, that is, until a man wants to claim he's a woman and demand entry
into women's private spaces. According to LifeSite, a school board in Palatine, Illinois voted 5 to 2 to allow students
who identify as female to use the girl's locker room following a four-year-long debate and two federal lawsuits: [...] Video of the
moment the board voted in favor of allowing transgender students to trespass into the private spaces of the opposite gender was
taken, and two students were interviewed. One was a transgender student, and the other was a girl.
T-Mobile
Forces its Employees to Use 'Transgender Language'. he cell phone brand T-Mobile is implementing workplace
policies that force its employees, as well as customers, to use language addressing so-called "transgender" individuals,
according to Breitbart. In a press statement issued on November 6th, the company declared that it would be
"launching new optional name badges for all retail employees that can include employees' personal pronouns." The statement
also said that "employees are encouraged to add pronouns to email addresses and kick off meetings by sharing pronouns."
Kentucky
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Christian T-Shirt Shop, Rejects LGBT Claim. On Nov. 1, the Kentucky Supreme
Court ruled in favor of Christian print-shop owner Blaine Adamson, who was sued for refusing to print "gay-pride" T-shirts
for the Lexington Pride Festival. According to the opinion of the court, written by Justice Laurance B. VanMeter,
"[T]his matter must be dismissed because the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization (GLSO,) the original party to bring this
action before the Lexington Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission, lacked statutory standing to assert a claim against
Hands On Originals under the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government."
7-year-old
at center of transgender custody battle opts to attend school as a boy. James Younger, the 7-year-old at the
center of the transgender custody battle, has decided to attend school as a boy. Younger's father, Jeffrey Younger, was
blocked by a Texas judge after refusing to cooperate with the child's mother, Anne Georgulas, as she allowed the child to
transition from male to female. Georgulas claimed James Younger identified as a woman and wanted to be called Luna,
something Jeffery Younger refused to do.
Kentucky
Supreme Court Tosses Suit against Designer that Refused to Print Gay Pride T-Shirts. Kentucky's Supreme Court
on Thursday threw out a lawsuit against a print shop owner who refused to make an LGBT Pride T-shirt because doing so would
violate his conscience. The high court ruled that the plaintiff, Lexington's Gay and Lesbian Services Organization,
lacked standing in the case since the city's gay rights law is meant to protect individuals rather than activist
groups. "While this result is no doubt disappointing to many interested in this case and its potential outcome, the
fact that the wrong party filed the complaint makes the discrimination analysis almost impossible to conduct, including
issues related to freedom of expression and religion," the court's decision read.
Moral
Relativism Taking Over Everything: Sports, Politics, Libraries. Since so many of us pay little to no attention to the
NBA, you may have forgotten their "principled" stand on the North Carolina "bathroom bill." In late February of 2016, ignoring science
and sound morality, liberals on the Charlotte City Council passed an ordinance that would allow men into women's restrooms, locker rooms,
and so on. As is typical with the Left, the ordinance applied not only to city-owned property, but to private businesses as
well. In other words, Charlotte liberals "legislated morality," and they did so to the point of forcing all of the city's citizens
to adhere to perverse liberal dogma. To correct this gross injustice, the North Carolina Legislature passed a commonsense law (H.B. 2)
that reversed the foolish Charlotte city ordinance. In opposition to H.B. 2, later in 2016, ignoring the long understood truths
on sex and sexuality, and goose-stepping along with the rest of the liberal elite, the NBA decided to pull its all-star game from the city
of Charlotte.
Minnesota
persecutes Christian couple. [Scroll down] They want to expand into making wedding videos and movies. In
keeping with their mission statement, they want to glorify God by focusing only on God pleasing marriages. Since God defines
homosexual acts as sinful in the Bible, these relationships cannot be God pleasing. The Larsens should have the freedom
to choose their clients in a way that fulfills their business plan. (Note: The Larsens are making no attempts to get
homosexual relationships banned, or force their religious views on others.) Minnesota disagrees and is using the power of the
state to persecute the Larsens and other Christians.
U.K.
Court Decision Affirms Transgenderism Is A Religion Of Complete Self-Worship. Britain has a new state
religion. In theory, Christianity, in the form of the Church of England, is the established faith of old Blighty.
In practice, a new creed has taken its place, and it is eager to punish nonbelievers. Consider the case of David
Mackereth, an English doctor whose Christian faith has been officially declared impermissible. Mackereth was fired for
refusing to "'refer to a man six foot tall with a beard' as 'she.'" A judge upheld his firing, declaring that "belief in
Genesis 1:27, lack of belief in transgenderism, and conscientious objection to transgenderism in our judgment are
incompatible with human dignity and conflict with the fundamental rights of others, specifically here, transgender individuals."
This ruling is part of a new religious establishment, complete with penal laws.
UK
Court Rules Biblical Belief in Two Sexes 'Incompatible with Human Dignity'. A British employment tribunal has
ruled that a Christian doctor's biblical understanding of sexuality and lack of belief in transgenderism is "incompatible
with human dignity." After being fired from his job in 2018 for refusing to use pronouns that do not correspond to a
person's biological sex, disability assessor Dr David Mackereth filed a complaint against the Department of Work and
Pensions (DWP) for harassment and discrimination under the Equality Act.
Fired
Doctor Who Said He Wouldn't Call a '6ft-tall Bearded Man' A 'She' Loses Tribunal. Christian doctor, David
Mackareth, who made headlines for his refusal to use transgender pronouns, as they went against his faith, lost his tribunal
arguing the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) breached his right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
The panel had ruled that Dr Mackareth's religiously-inspired views on what constituted male and female were "incompatible
with human dignity." Dr Mackereth had told the hearing that he refused to address a "6ft-tall bearded man" by their
preferred pronouns.
LGBT
Activists Drag Ben Carson For His Concern About Trans Men In Women's Shelters. The latest dust-up involving
transgenderism has ensnared Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson in its tentacles, which now seem to reach into
every aspect of American life. In comments last week, Carson had the audacity to suggest that some women in shelters,
many of whom have faced abuse from men, are not comfortable with "big, hairy men" being in the facilities. In a
department-wide email on Friday [9/20/2019] Carson sought to tamp down the controversy, pointing out that it was women's
groups who were raising these concerns with him[.]
Has
the Absurdity of Transgenderism Started to Awaken the West? On an ordinary day I would have regarded what
Indiana State Attorney General Curtis Hill did as an aberration, a stroke of common sense in a society waging war against
it. Hill refused to enact a policy change made by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles that would have created a new "Gender X"
option for state drivers' licenses. It seems to be Hill's view that not requiring the official government license to hold
official, factual information rather than the desires or wishes of the carrier is a bad idea. He has a point, of
course. As others have pointed out, should the carrier be allowed to decide what eye color, hair color, weight and
height they wish they had and list that? If so, what's the point of the document in the first place? But that's
not the way we think anymore in the West. That's why I would have been tempted to regard Hill's refusal to bow the knee
to the mob of inmates that now runs our cultural asylum as an isolated act of courage. But signs continue to emerge
that perhaps the transgender madness has pushed a bit too far and society is starting to push back.
Store
owners cannot be jailed for refusing to make wedding invitations for same-sex couples: Arizona Supreme Court.
The city of Phoenix cannot compel an art studio owned by two Christians to design wedding invitations for same-sex couples, the
Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday [9/16/2019] in a 4-3 decision. Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, who run Brush & Nib Studio,
potentially faced $2,500 in fines and six months in jail for violating Phoenix's 2013 ordinance that prohibited discrimination based
on "sexual orientation, gender identity or expression." "Duka and Koski's beliefs about same-sex marriage may seem old-fashioned,
or even offensive to some," wrote Justice Andrew Gould in the opinion of the court. "But the guarantees of free speech and
freedom of religion are not only for those who are deemed sufficiently enlightened, advanced, or progressive."
Also posted
under Liberals think you're stupid.
Why
a Supreme Court case about dress codes matters for our kids. Does a girl's privacy matter? I know of one
dad who thinks so. When his daughter's school district notified parents that bathrooms would be opened to students of
the opposite sex, based on their gender identity, this dad immediately got on the phone and he stayed on the line for 30 minutes
until the superintendent eventually took his call. A military veteran, this dad said he didn't fight for our country overseas
to come home and worry about his daughter's safety while at school in America. If the superintendent wouldn't reverse the
decision, he warned he would bring 100 dads and stand in front of every bathroom in the district. The superintendent
eventually relented and changed course.
Kim Davis wins in appeals
court. Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for not issuing marriage licenses after the Supreme
Court created same-sex marriage, has won an appeals court decision. She was sued by a same-sex couple that targeted her
office after she stopped issuing licenses in 2015. Judge David Bunning ordered her to jail after she requested a
religious accommodation from the state, which she eventually obtained from the state legislature.
Kentucky
Supreme Court to decide: Can gays force Christian print shops to promote their politics? Today
[8/23/2019], the Kentucky Supreme Court will hear the latest First Amendment case pitting gay activism against the rights of
Christian business owners. Oral arguments will be presented in Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights
Commission v. Hands On Originals, a case revolving around Blaine Adamson's Kentucky-based print shop, Hands On
Originals, and his refusal to print shirts promoting a pro-gay rights message with which he disagreed.
Trump
administration incurs LGBTQ wrath in bid to expand religious protections for contractors. The Trump
administration moved Wednesday [8/14/2019] to expand faith protections for federal contractors, the latest front in the
ongoing battle between LGBTQ groups fighting discrimination and employers seeking to operate in accordance with their
religious principles. The proposed rule by the Labor Department Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs would
make clear that "religious organizations may make employment decisions consistent with their sincerely held religious tenets
and beliefs without fear of sanction by the federal government."
Virginia
Federal Judge Rules For Transgender Students In Bathroom Case — Says Ban Was Discriminatory. On
Friday [8/9/2019], a federal judge in Virginia rejected a school's policy regarding transgender students and bathroom
use. The ruling was seen as a victory for transgender students seeking access to the bathrooms of their choosing.
According to Fox News, U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen's opinion was: "There is no question that the board's
policy discriminates against transgender students on the basis of their gender nonconformity."
This
Lawsuit Over 'Sex' and 'Gender Identity' Will Have Sweeping Implications. Immediately, Tom and Nancy knew that
the contents of the letter had the potential to devastate R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, which Tom's grandfather had
established in 1910 to serve grieving families throughout Detroit. As it stands now, Tom's five-generation family
business is in the hands of the Supreme Court, with oral arguments scheduled for Oct. 8. No doubt, his case will have
sweeping implications across American life. So, what was in the letter? Anthony Stephens, a biological male
employee who had agreed to and followed the funeral home's sex-specific dress code for more than six years, intended to show
up to work — as well as to the homes of grieving families — dressed as a woman.
Illinois
officially passes bill requiring all single bathrooms be designated gender neutral. Illinois Gov. JB
Pritzker (D) signed legislation requiring every single-occupancy bathroom in public buildings in the state to be labeled
gender neutral. Under Senate Bill 556, also dubbed the "The Equitable Restrooms Act," all single-occupancy restrooms
"in a place of public accommodation or public building shall be identified as all-gender and designated for use by no more
than one person at a time or for family or assisted use," the law states.
Christian
Cake Baker Jack Phillips Under Attack Again by LGBT Activist. Jack Phillips, the Masterpiece Cake Shop owner,
is being attacked by LGBT activists in the courts for the 3rd time because of his Christian faith. Jack's business was
first sued when two gay men wanted Jack to bake a cake to affirm a "same sex wedding" in violation of Jack's sincerely held
religious belief that marriage is the union of a man and a woman. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jack Phillips
in the Masterpiece case, and rebuked the state of Colorado for its "hostility" to his faith. After Jack won at the Supreme
Court, a different activist visited Jack Phillips cake shop to ask for a cake celebrating a "gender transition." LGBT
activist Autumn Scardina brought suit against Jack Phillips claiming that Jack's refusal to make a cake celebrating a "gender
transition" was discriminatory.
20th-Century
Progressive Politics Continues to Unfold. [T]he politicization of American life is no laughing matter.
Failing to adhere strictly to the Nazi party line in the Third Reich or the Communist party line in the USSR could cost you
your life. In America today, failing to adhere strictly to the dictates of political correctness can cost you your
livelihood, as we have seen in far too many instances already. Basic, common sense terms such as "he" and "she" have
become politically radioactive, and in coercively many-gendered New York City, you can be fined for using the wrong pronoun.
University
investigates feminist grad student for saying men can't become women. University of California-Santa Barbara
doctoral students, alumni and "allies" are demanding the administration take action against Laura Tanner, an outspoken critic
of transgender ideology and doctoral candidate in its Department of Feminist Studies. Tanner's Twitter feed is
dominated by discussion of transgender ideology's threat to women, including young lesbians. She believes that
transgender women — biological males — are wrongly appropriating a female identity.
Woman
Forced To Close Business After Refusing To Wax Male Genitals Of Transgender Person. A Brazilian immigrant
living in Canada was forced to close up her small business after refusing to wax the male genitals of transgender LGBT
activist Jessica Yaniv, formerly known as Jonathan Yaniv.
Politician
Pushing 'Gender Neutral' Toilets Charged with Child Sex Crimes. A politician who pushed for the introduction of
"gender neutral" toilets shortly after his election has been charged with nine counts of sexual touching of a child.
David Smith successfully petitioned the Mayor of Middlesborough to trial gender neutral toilets at Middlesbrough Council
shortly after his election to the local authority in Teeside, Yorkshire, as a politician representing the Conservative Party,
according to the BBC.
Christian
Doctor Refuses To Call 6-Foot-Tall Bearded Man "Madam." Instantly Loses His Job. Dr. David Mackareth, a
Christian doctor residing in the U.K. has lost his job after he stood on his principles and refused to call a 6-foot-tall
bearded man "madam," stating he couldn't do so in good conscience due to his beliefs. This is the kind of insanity the
world is embracing right now. Sooner or later the bubble is going to burst and we'll all wake up from this nightmare
and sanity will be restored.
Doctor
loses government job after refusing to 'call any 6-foot-tall bearded man "madam"'. The 56-year-old physician,
who was working as a disability benefits assessor for the Department of Work and Pensions, reports that a superior asked him,
"If you have a man 6 foot tall with a beard who says he wants to be addressed as 'she' and 'Mrs.,' would you do that?"
According to the outlet, Mackereth — a 30-year veteran of the health care industry — said that he would
not use transgender pronouns and insisted that the concept of transgenderism is a "delusional belief" that he "disbelieve[s]
and detest[s]." Mackereth — who now works as an emergency doctor in Shropshire — said that he
was previously warned that he was discriminating against people by invalidating their preferred gender pronouns and that he
could eventually lose his job as a result if he did not call transgender people by their preferred names.
U.S.
Women's Soccer Team Cut Star Player For Christian Views. Christian views may have kept star player Jaelene
Hinkle off the US women's soccer team. Back in 2015, Hinkle had objected publicly to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling
that legalized same-sex marriage.
U.S.
Women's Soccer Team Accused Of Snubbing Star Player For Christian Views. The absence of one of the best women's
soccer players in the nation from the national squad that just won the World Cup has prompted questions as to whether she
didn't make the team because of her openly professed Christian faith.
Doctor
'Dismissed' After Saying He Wouldn't Call 'Any 6ft Bearded Man Madam'. A Christian doctor has said that he was
allegedly dismissed from his job at a government office because he refused to call "any six-foot-tall bearded man 'madam',"
an employment tribunal has heard. Dr David Mackereth, 56, told a hearing in Birmingham on Wednesday that he had been
dismissed from his role as a health and disability assessor at Birmingham Fiveways assessment centre, part of the Department
for Work and Pensions, after refusing in theory to use a transgender person's preferred personal pronoun, the BBC reports.
Our
Free Speech Crisis. Christian Americans have been hounded for their refusal to cater same-sex weddings.
For those who support such attacks, we might ask them whether they would seek prosecution of the owner of a Jewish
delicatessen who refused to provide services for a neo-Nazi affair. Should a black catering company be forced to cater
a Ku Klux Klan affair? Should the NAACP be forced to open its membership to racist skinheads? Should the
Congressional Black Caucus be forced to open its membership to white members of Congress?
Who
Are the Rich, White Men Institutionalizing Transgender Ideology? As an environmental activist who was
deplatformed from a speaking venue by transactivists, in 2013 I developed curiosity about the power of this group to force
this development. A year later, when Time magazine announced a transgender tipping point on its cover, I had
already begun to examine the money behind the transgender project. I have watched as all-women's safe spaces,
universities, and sports opened their doors to any man who chose to identify as a woman. Whereas men who identify as
transwomen are at the forefront of this project, women who identify as transmen seem silent and invisible. I was
astonished that such a huge cultural change as the opening of sex-protected spaces was happening at such a meteoric pace and
without consideration for women and girls' safety, deliberation, or public debate.
Spokane
Pastor Arrested After Reminding Police of Free Speech Rights at Drag Queen Library Event. A Spokane, Washington
pastor was arrested for obstruction and taken to jail for a few hours on Saturday after refusing to move across the street
from the Spokane Public Library while trying to protest a "Drag Queen Story Hour" event held at the library. Pastor
Afhsin Yaghtin of New Covenant Baptist Church was arrested after speaking with police officers, telling them the library is
public property and that he should be able to protest next to the building rather than across the street, according to
ChristianNews.net.
Pastor
Jailed During 'Drag Queen Story Hour,' SWAT Team Snipers Positioned Atop Library Roof. A Baptist pastor was arrested
and jailed on Saturday [6/15/2019] after refusing to move across the street from the Spokane, Washington Public Library while
exercising his free speech against a "Drag Queen Story Hour." The event had a significant militaristic police presence,
including camouflaged snipers positioned atop the roof to oversee the large crowd that stood both for and against the men dressed
like women reading stories to children. Afhsin Yaghtin of New Covenant Baptist Church was arrested for obstructing an
officer as he contended with police that the South Hill Library is public property and that he should be able to speak adjacent
to the facility instead of being required to stand across the street.
For Bakers,
a Measured Response at SCOTUS. Aaron and Melissa Klein have spent the last six years praying for a positive
ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. Yesterday, they got the next best thing — an order that throws out the
devastating ruling against them. Thanks to SCOTUS, the parents of five, who've wrenched plenty of hearts with their
emotional story, will have another chance at vindication — in front of the same court that tried to bankrupt the
bakers in the first place. "Try again," the justices seemed to say in their short order to the Oregon Court of
Appeals. It's the second time in a year that SCOTUS has sent a wedding vendor case back to the states for another round
of hearings. And the Kleins are hoping their verdict turns out better than Barronelle Stutzman's.
Democrats:
The 'Post-Truth' Party. [Scroll down] Likewise, biology-denying Joe Biden, more than once, has recently
called "transgender equality" the "civil rights issue of our time." Recall that because of his efforts and the efforts
of other post-truthers in the Obama administration, among other perverse, "creepy," and ignorant things, boys started using
girls' restrooms and locker rooms, and military women were declared "at least as strong as men" and officially marked for
combat. Soon afterward, boys started — and continue — to take trophies from girls, and military
physical standards were lowered.
Brown and Out in Beverly
Hills. Leftists advance incrementally. Their template is as simple as it is predictable: Ask for a
little, and swear that the demands will end there. Most regular folks will give in because decent people generally seek
compromise. But to leftists, compromise is merely a temporary step, a strategy. [...] "Gender discrimination laws will
not lead to the government forcing women to let men use their bathrooms." No less than Ruth Bader Ginsburg promised this
in the 1970s ("Separate places to disrobe, sleep, perform personal bodily functions are permitted, in some situations required,
by regard for individual privacy").
Masterpiece
Cakeshop is Sued for the Third Time. Something here for everyone to hate. If you're on Jack Phillips's
side you're outraged that the campaign of harassing him with lawsuits is now in its seventh year, undeterred by a Supreme
Court decision that sided with him over Colorado's antidiscrimination tribunal on grounds that the panel showed
anti-religious bias in evaluating the claim against him. If you're in the gay-rights camp, you should be pissed that
SCOTUS may get a second crack at Phillips's case with new facts that make him appear even more sympathetic than he did
before. The Court's conservatives will not only have to decide next time whether free speech and free exercise require
exemptions to public accommodations laws in the case of gay weddings, they'll need to do so knowing that ruling against
Phillips would effectively reward the decision to hound him with new bouts of litigation for the better part of a
decade. The process has been the punishment; SCOTUS would be asked to validate that by requiring Phillips, after
everything that's happened, to bake the cake after all.
Masterpiece
Cake Shop sued for discrimination a THIRD time: What are the limits of lawfare? As noted by The Daily
Wire, Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cake Shop in Denver, is being sued for refusing to make a cake for a customer
for an unspecified event. In the past, Phillips was unsuccessfully sued for refusing to make a special cake for a gay
wedding, saying such unions are against his Christian beliefs. The Supreme Court did not agree or disagree; rather than
ruling for Phillips under the First Amendment's freedom of religion clause, the high court merely took issue with the
Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the entity that brought the suit, for its 'harassing' and 'discriminatory' actions.
That suit was brought by the Colorado 'Human Rights' Commission, staffed by Leftist zealots who don't believe Christians in
the state deserve any protections at all.
Muslims
vs. LGBT: The 'Coalition of the Minorities' Collapses. In the current drive to normalize transgenderism and same-sex
parenting to the youngest of children, those who dissent are aggressively smeared by the politically correct establishment as bigots,
homophobes, and transphobes. This is resulting in unintended consequences for the liberal metropolitan elite. The
'coalition of the minorities,' beloved of 'progressive' politicians and media pundits, is collapsing.
Third
Discrimination Suit Filed Against Masterpiece Cakeshop. Attorneys for a Denver woman greased the pan for yet
another legal battle against a Lakewood bakery already burned around the edges from a series of heated civil rights
fights. Jack Phillips, owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, refused in 2012 to bake a wedding cake for Charlie Craig and
David Mullins, a same-sex couple from Denver, on the basis of his religious beliefs.
Transgenderism
vs. Free Speech in BC. The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (BCHRT) recently decided a case
involving a flyer distributed by a street preacher, William Whatcott, challenging the candidacy for provincial office of a
man who identified publicly as a woman. Whatcott apparently handed out 1500 flyers on street corners, stuffed them in
mailboxes, taped them to doors and even put a copy on the internet, things that many political campaigners do today.
Whatcott's target was Morgane Oger, a trans-woman running for the leftist New Democratic Party (NDP) in the 2017 British
Columbia election. His flyer ("Transgenderism vs. Truth in Vancouver-False Creek") exposed Oger's claim to be "a
woman born into a male body" as fraudulent. "The truth" he said, "is there are only two genders, male and female and
they are God-given and unchangeable. Morgan's DNA will always be male, he will never have a uterus and no amount of
cosmetic surgery, fake hormones, or media propaganda is going to be able to change these facts." He concluded by
calling on people not to vote for the Oger or the NDP. Oger lost the election. Oger then filed a complaint with
the BCHRT, alleging the flyer violated section 7 of the Provincial Human Rights Code which, among other things, prohibited
publication of any statement that "indicates discrimination or an intention to discriminate."
U.S.
Supreme Court rejects appeal over transgender bathrooms in Boyertown School District. The U.S. Supreme Court
announced Tuesday that it will not take up a challenge to the Boyertown School District's policy of allowing transgender
students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity. The justices rejected an appeal
from students who argued that allowing transgender students to use the same facilities violated their right to privacy.
The court's order leaves in a place a May 2018 federal appeals court ruling that held that the school district could continue
to allow transgender students the choice of what facilities to use.
The
Equality Act would turn America upside down. Democrats in the House are celebrating Friday's [5/17/2019]
passage of the Equality Act, a misnamed legal jackhammer that would add "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to federal
civil rights law. It goes far beyond allowing men into women's sports and locker rooms, as bad as that is. It
provides the state with the power to persecute anyone who won't celebrate any aspect of the LGBTQ agenda. Far from
merely expanding civil rights categories, it turns any recognition of the differences between the sexes or any preference for
traditional sexual morality into actionable "hate," creating fertile grounds for lawsuits.
Orwellian:
Father Could Now Be JAILED If He Calls His Daughter A Girl. One father has been told that his precious daughter
is no longer to be called his little girl, by court order. [...] Not only is he forbidden to discuss his daughter, her
condition, treatments, gender etc, etc, by the courts, but neither is he permitted to discuss the ruling against him with
anyone other than his lawyer.
8
Times Barack Obama Abused His Power To Appease His Base. [#4] Illegally reinterpreting Title IX: As I've
mentioned before, when Obama unilaterally redefined Title IX to include "gender identity" he grossly abused his power in order
to appease a tiny fraction of the population (.58 percent) at the expense of the rights and privacy of women and girls
nationwide, and threatening educational institutions at all levels with the loss of Title IX funding if they didn't comply
and allow boys to share bathrooms, locker rooms, and dorm rooms with girls, as well as allow boys to play on girls sports
teams. This was an egregious abuse of power, according to Mario Loyola, a senior fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for
Law. "In order to 'change the law,' the Obama administration simply pretends that a 1972 act of Congress means whatever
the latest progressive fashion trend requires it to mean — even though not a single member of Congress in 1972
would have supported the new 'interpretation,' much less voted for a law expressly stating what the Obama administration now
claims the law says."
Man
Is Gagged By Court, Condemned For 'Family Violence' For Refusing To Call His Daughter A Boy. At the end of
February, the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled that a 14-year-old girl — "Maxine" — didn't
require her parents' consent in order to receive her desired hormone treatment. Maxine wants to become a guy. Her
father, "Clark," claimed that, for months, she'd exhibited signs of depression and emotional disturbance. Furthermore,
she'd been wilding out in a sex way, for a time becoming a lesbian. Since his and his wife's divorce, Clark insisted,
Maxine's mental health had plummeted. He believed it was the cause of her desire for a change of identity. But
the teen's school — as well as a hospital — supported her decision to go from girl to boy. When
Clark tried to intervene, they refused to let him.
The
So-Called Equality Act: Making Some Americans More Equal than Others. Allan Josephson, M.D., is one of
the nation's top child and adolescent psychiatrists. So why was he just fired by the University of Louisville? It
started when Dr. Josephson spoke at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., where he expressed his concern as a
medical professional over what is becoming common treatment for children with gender dysphoria — puberty blockers,
hormones, multiple surgeries. He disputed the notion that gender identity "should trump chromosomes, hormones, internal
reproductive organs, external genitalia, and secondary sex characteristics," calling it "counter to medical science." In
today's political climate, however, it is considered unacceptable to offer anything other than complete affirmation of a
child's claimed transgender identity. To ideologues, it does not matter that for nearly fifteen years Dr. Josephson
headed up the University of Louisville's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology Division, leading it to national
prominence. It does not matter that he provided such outstanding leadership that he was awarded perfect marks in his 2014,
2015, and 2016 annual reviews. All that matters is that he committed a sin against the dictates of political correctness.
Philly Catholic
Social Services Censored For Refusing to Work With Same-Sex Couples Based On Religious Principle. A federal
court ruled Monday [4/22/2019] against reinstating a Philadelphia Catholic Social Services' foster care contract unless the
Catholic agency agrees to work with same-sex couples. A 2018 investigation into Catholic and Christian organizations
revealed that Catholic Social Services also chose not to work with same-sex couples for faith-based reasons, after Bethany
Christian Services refused to work with a same-sex couple on the basis of their religious beliefs, according to the
Inquirer. Though Bethany Christian Services capitulated to pressure from the city to change their policy, Catholic
Social Services refused — causing the city of Philadelphia to end the Catholic company's foster care contract.
Mayor Pete Will
Make You Bake the Cake. Democratic presidential contender Pete Buttigieg's public calls for pluralism do not
apply to religious small business owners. South Bend Mayor Buttigieg has made his Episcopalian faith and tolerance a
centerpiece of his campaign, but the policies he champions would force religious small business owners to participate in
ceremonies they find objectionable under penalty of law. Buttigieg, who is married to a man, will keynote the Human
Rights Campaign's annual dinner. The nation's largest LGBT lobbying group credited his support for the Equality Act for
the invitation. "Buttigieg is an outspoken advocate of the Equality Act — critically important, bipartisan
legislation that would finally provide clear protections against discrimination for LGBTQ people across the country," HRC
said in a Tuesday [4/16/2019] release.
Catholic
farm family fights Michigan city to stay OUT of gay-wedding business. A city in Michigan is punishing a Catholic
farm family because they refuse to allow gay weddings. The short of it is that this Catholic family was denied entry into
the farmers market in East Lansing back in 2016 after the city found out that the Tenneses don't allow gay marriages on their
farm. They had previously been a part of the farmers market for the past 7 years. Now they are fighting it out
in court and hope that the recent victory by Colorado baker Jack Phillips will help them.
Catholic
farm family fights to stay out of gay-wedding business with help from Colorado baker. All Steve and Bridget
Tennes want is to sell their apples, peaches and blueberries at a Michigan farmers market without being required to get into
the same-sex wedding business, and they are hoping for an assist from Colorado baker Jack Phillips. The Tenneses, who
make their home on the Country Mill Farm with their six children, contend that their Catholic faith has been maligned by East
Lansing officials who have sought to bar them from the city's farmers market over their refusal to host same-sex ceremonies
on their property.
Lesbians
Demanding Wedding Cake [are] 'Trespassing,' Lawyers Say. Lawyers representing a Christian cake artist in
California contend in response to a lawsuit by the state that a same-sex couple demanding that she prepare a cake for their
wedding against her will were trespassing. The state now has sued Cathy Miller twice over the claim. A judge
ruled in the first case that Miller's refusal to make the cake was protected by the First Amendment. The brief by the
Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund makes the same argument but also asserts the same-sex couple "fraudulently" presented
themselves as customers to provoke a lawsuit and, therefore, were "unlawful trespassers."
Transgender
Rights: Judge Warns Girls Have No Right to 'Visual Bodily Privacy'. A federal judge is allowing a lawsuit
against transgender facilities in a school district to proceed, but warned the student-plaintiffs that, if the government
allows boys who claim to be female to use the girls' bathrooms and locker rooms, then the girls have no right to "visual
bodily privacy." Judge Jorge Alonso of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division is
allowing a lawsuit to proceed against the school district that adopted the Obama-era transgender policy permitting boys
claiming to be female to use the girls' bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms.
Critics
See 'Equality Act' as [an] 'Endless Lawsuit Machine'. New civil rights legislation introduced in the U.S. House
of Representatives that would extend protection to LGBTQ individuals would also undermine First Amendment free speech rights
while opening the door to religious-based discrimination, according to conservative critics. The proposed "Equality Act,"
known as H.R. 5, was introduced March 13 by Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.). The measure would add "gender
identity" and "sexual orientation" to the classes protected against discrimination by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, outlawing
discrimination against all protected classes in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, jury service, banking
and credit, and retail stores.
School
district that forced girls to shower with boys can't get out of Title IX lawsuit. A federal court permitted a
lawsuit to proceed against an Illinois school district that allows high school boys to use girls' locker rooms, restrooms and
showers in order to accommodate transgender students. But girls who don't want to be seen naked by boys got bad
news: The judge ruled that they have no right to "visual bodily privacy" if the government says so.
California
bans state-funded travel to South Carolina, bringing total to 10 states. The day may be coming when California
public employees are permitted to travel on business only to blue states. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on
Tuesday added South Carolina to the growing list of states banned from state-sponsored travel, citing the Palmetto State's
2018 budget bill allowing faith-based adoption and foster-care services to operate according to their religious
beliefs. "The State of South Carolina recently enacted a measure that sanctions discrimination against families in the
placement of children in need of homes," said Mr. Becerra in a statement. "The State of California stands strongly
against any form of discrimination."
Our Queer Decline.
In California, healthcare workers risk a fine or jail time, or both, for failing to use a transgender patient's "preferred
name or pronouns." The politics of transgenderism are protected, then, while the politics of heteronormativity are not.
Remember, the First Amendment applies to all equally, but some are more equal than others. A high school teacher in
Virginia was fired for refusing to use a transgender student's preferred pronouns. This was the first case of the kind
in the state, but it will not be the last. Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, two female bakers in Arizona, face potential
jail time for refusing to ply their trade for same-sex weddings on the grounds that it violates their Christian faith.
A lesbian couple in Oregon a sued Aaron and Melissa Klein for the same reason.
7 Reasons Why the
Equality Act Is Anything But. [#7] It would enable sexual assault. A complaint under investigation by federal education
officials alleges that a boy who identifies as "gender fluid" at Oakhurst Elementary School in Decatur, Georgia, sexually assaulted Pascha
Thomas' 5-year-old daughter in a girls' restroom. The boy had access to the girls' restroom because of Decatur City Schools'
transgender restroom policy. School authorities refused to change the policy even after Thomas reported the assault. Eventually,
she decided to remove her daughter from school for the girl's emotional well-being and physical safety. A federal sexual orientation
and gender identity law would give male sexual predators who self-identify as females access to private facilities, increasing the likelihood
of these tragic incidents. It could also make victims less likely to report sexual misconduct and police less likely to get involved,
for fear of being accused of discrimination. The proposed Equality Act could impose a nationwide bathroom policy that would leave
women and children in particular vulnerable to predators.
David
Horowitz Exposes the Left's Dark Agenda. The Supreme Court has been the giant secular lever employed by
leftists to fundamentally transform "Christian America" into a state hostile even to a school-girl who joined hands with
classmates to give thanks for her food. These politically-motivated "lawyers," as Horowitz contemptuously labels the
high court, began their anti-Christian, anti-Constitutional mission with the expulsion of prayer from public schools in 1962
(Engel v. Vitale). That assault on the free exercise of religion now extends beyond commencement
ceremonies and football fields to a bakery that was embroiled in legal battles for years for refusing to provide a celebratory
cake for a gay ceremony billed as a wedding — a "crime" made possible by Court rulings against the Defense of
Marriage Act and in favor of redefining marriage.
Masterpiece
Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips, state of Colorado announce truce. The state of Colorado and Masterpiece Cakeshop
owner Jack Phillips have mutually agreed to end ongoing state and federal court litigation, the Colorado Attorney General's
Office said Tuesday [3/5/2019]. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission will dismiss administrative action against Phillips,
and Phillips will withdraw his federal court case against the case. "After careful consideration of the facts, both
sides agreed it was not in anyone's best interest to move forward with these cases, Attorney General Phil Weiser said.
Court
Rules Father Cannot Halt Daughter's Transgender Hormones, or Even Call Her a Girl. Last Wednesday [2/27/2019],
the Supreme Court of British Columbia (B.C.) ruled that a 14-year-old girl may undergo transgender hormone "treatments" to
support her transgender identity as a boy — without her father's consent. The court went so far as to
threaten to penalize the father's speech. If he calls his daughter a girl, that would constitute "family violence,"
which would be punishable by law. The B.C. Supreme Court ruled that the girl (referred to as A.B.) "is exclusively
entitled to consent to medical treatment for gender dysphoria and to take any necessary legal proceedings in relation to such
medical treatment," and that "attempting to persuade A.B. to abandon treatment for gender dysphoria; addressing A.B. by his
birth name; referring to A.B. as a girl or with female pronouns whether to him directly or to third parties; shall be
considered to be family violence under s. 38 of the Family Law Act."
Colorado
Drops Second Case Against Christian Baker. Colorado baker Jack Phillips is 2-0 now after state officials
dropped their second attempt to coerce him into baking products that violate his beliefs. [...] On the same day Phillips won
in a 7-2 decision in the U.S. Supreme Court, June 26, a lawyer asked Masterpiece Cakeshop to bake a gender transition cake
that was pink on the inside and blue on the outside. The Supreme Court had overturned the Colorado Civil Rights
Commission's decision against Phillips, which involved Phillips' decision to not bake a cake for a same-sex ceremony.
The Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which had previously targeted Phillips for fines regarding the same-sex wedding cake,
again found probable cause that state law required him to bake and design the gender-transition cake.
Male
Christian Wrestler Forfeits State Championship Spot Rather Than Wrestle Girls. An 18-year-old high school
wrestler in Colorado has given up a potential spot in the Colorado high school state championships because he chooses not to
wrestle two young ladies saying it violates how he was raised to treat women. Brendan Johnston of The Classical Academy
in Colorado says those values — despite some light complaints from at least one of the young ladies he would have
faced — are informed by his Christianity and, after a discussion with his coach and some deep thought on the
subject, he's decided to stand behind his principles despite knowing it would mean a shortened competition.
'Natural
marriage' bill could put state in jeopardy of losing $9.4 billion in federal funds. A controversial bill aimed
at ignoring the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage could once again place Tennessee in jeopardy of
losing $9.4 billion in federal funds, according to a financial analysis of the legislation. The bill, dubbed the
"Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act," would prohibit government officials from recognizing any court ruling, including
the landmark Supreme Court decision, that affirms same-sex unions.
U.
Minnesota Backs Off Plan to Punish People for Not Using Preferred Pronouns. It's amazing that they thought this
would fly in the first place. That's how far we've drifted.
Feminists
Screaming about 'Transgenderism,' Their Own Demon Child. Say, "Be careful what you wish for" or call it the law
of unintended consequences. For decades, feminists screamed, "I am woman, hear me roar" — now it's "Hear me
squeal — a man just walked through our door!" The issue? Men claiming womanhood (MCW, AKA
"transgenders") are invading women's spaces — such as bathrooms, locker rooms, and prisons — and are
entering female competitions, taking away gold and glory. Examples are MCW who in recent years won "women's" titles in
weightlifting, cycling, sprinting, golf long driving, and even a beauty pageant. This is no pretty picture to
feminists. Wizened old Germaine Greer took heat in 2016 for saying men getting a medical procedure "doesn't make them a
woman." Ex-tennis star Martina Navratilova is currently being ostracized for writing that having MCW in women's sports
is "insane" and is "cheating." Feminist writer Meghan Murphy just sued Twitter for banning her for tweeting "men aren't
women" (my, my — employing white male linear logic!). And feminist Julia Beck was kicked off a Baltimore
LGBT committee for using masculine pronouns when referencing, the nerve of her, a man.
Trump-Hating
Lesbian Tennis Champ Destroyed for Saying Men and Women Are Different. Navratilova defected from communist
Czechoslovakia in 1975 and became a U.S. citizen in 1981. That same year, when there was still a price to be paid for doing
so, she came out as a lesbian and has since engaged in a long career of LGBT activism. She lent her name and support to
ballot initiatives, spoke at LGBT marches, and in 2000 was the recipient of the National Equality Award from the Human Rights
Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT lobbying group. She is active on Twitter and firmly in the Orange Man Bad
camp. No one could ever accuse Martina of not being down for the cause. All this was not enough to protect
Navratilova from ostracization and accusations of bigotry last week when she questioned the wisdom of allowing men pretending
to be women to compete in women's sports.
Martina
Navratiola Removed From Board of LGBTQ Organization. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova was officially removed
Wednesday from the advisory board of a prominent LBGTQ organization after making comments about transgender athletes.
Navratilova released an op-ed in The Sunday Times on Feb. 17 discussing her opinion on why transgender athletes should not be able
to compete against female athletes. She wrote that having men compete as women is unfair because of the physical advantage.
LGBT
Activists Teaching Judges To Yank Kids From Parents Who Won't Transgender Them. On Thursday [2/7/2019], the Health and
Human Services committee of the South Dakota House killed a bill that would have protected the right of parents to refuse to consent
to medical or psychological treatment for a child suffering from gender dysphoria if the treatment "would induce, confirm, or promote
the child's belief that the child's sex or gender identity is different from the child's sex presented at birth." Proposed House
Bill 1205 also provided that "no public authority or official of this state may take any adverse action against a parent for exercising
this right." That such a simple affirmation of parental rights could not clear a committee in this solidly red state should
terrify parents, as it lays bare transgender activists' plan: use the government to force parents to affirm a false sex for
their child, agree to hormone blockers, and accept a transition to their son or daughter's preferred gender. If parents
refuse? Removal of the child from the family, due to alleged medical neglect.
A
Court Case in Iowa Shows the Reality of Religious Discrimination in America. If you get the lion's share of
your news from America's prestige media outlets, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the principal religious-freedom issue in
America is whether a few Christian business owners can discriminate against their gay customers. Whether the
controversy is a media-created fiction (think of Indiana's Memories Pizza — a store that never denied anyone
service) or an actual court case, like Masterpiece Cakeshop, the narrative is the same. The battle over
"religious liberty" — yes, the scare quotes are often all too real — is the battle over the right of
business owners to recreate their own, small-scale version of Jim Crow.
Texas
transgender bills to 'ban Christianity' in Texas? While LGBTQ activists across the Lone Star State are
confident that the upcoming state bills will enhance the so-called "gay rights" of Texans, many conservative pastors in the
state are fearful that the proposed laws, that would add gender identity and sexual orientation to Texas discrimination laws,
will diminish their right to express their faith.
Wedding
invitation designers say they'll go to jail over LGBT case. The owners of a wedding invitation design business
said Wednesday they're prepared to go to jail if the Arizona Supreme Court rules against them in a case to determine if a
city ordinance meant to protect LGBT couples from discrimination violates their free speech and religious rights. In a
radio exclusive with the "Todd Starnes Show," Brush & Nib co-owners Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski and their attorney,
Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Jonathan Scruggs, spoke about the opening arguments of their lawsuit against Phoenix.
DC restaurant
fined $7k for questioning transgender activist who used women's restroom. Washington, D.C., restaurant Cuba
Libre has been hit with a $7,000 fine after questioning a transgender activist who used its women's restroom and a manager
tried to insist the patron show identification proving to be female. On June 22, Charlotte Clymer went to the
restaurant to attend a bachelorette party for a friend. Clymer identifies as a woman and made the transition from being
a man in November 2017.
California
church draws backlash for calling Caitlyn Jenner a man. A Northern California church sparked outrage over a
sign that read: "Bruce Jenner is still a man. Homosexuality is still sin. The culture may change. The
Bible does not." Caitlyn Jenner is formerly known as Bruce and revealed in 2015 that she is transgender and has become a
woman. The church, Trinity Bible Presbyterian Church, is located in Lake Shastina, Calif., which is about an hours' drive
from the Oregon border.
Court
allows Christian baker to sue Colorado for anti-religious hostility. The owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop can
proceed with his lawsuit against the state of Colorado after a judge refused to dismiss the case. Jack Phillips has
accused the Colorado Civil Rights Commission of anti-religious bias because it punished him for refusing to bake a cake
celebrating gender transition. Phillips, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, filed suit when the state chose to
prosecute him even after he won his case at the U.S. Supreme Court in June.
Federal
Judge Orders Male Inmate Transferred To Women's Prison Because He Identifies As Female. A man presenting as a
woman is being sent to a previously all-female prison. Deon Strawberry Hampton is serving a 10-year-sentence for
burglary. A federal judge has approved the Illinois inmate's transfer to a women's penitentiary. 27-year-old
Strawberry claims he's endured years of sexual assault, taunting, and beatings at the male Big House. He was moved this
past week from his old prison bars in Dixon to all-new prison bars at the women's Logan Correctional Center.
Biologically
Male Transgender Inmate Moved To Women's Facility After Yearlong Legal Battle. On Thursday, attorneys for
27-year-old Deon "Strawberry" Hampton announced that their client, a biological male who identifies as a female and is
serving a ten-year prison sentence for residential burglary, would be transferred from a men's correctional facility to a
women's correctional facility. Hampton filed a lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) in
late-November 2017, demanding to be moved to a women's prison following 16 months of hormone therapy. The lawsuit
alleged that Hampton was the target of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of correctional officers at multiple
facilities — first at Pinckneyville Correctional Center, then at Menard Correctional Center.
Franklin Graham
Claims He Was Banned From Facebook. Reverend Franklin Graham says that he was banned from Facebook pursuant to
a more than two-year-old post in support of North Carolina's House Bill 2, which mandated that citizens use the bathroom that
corresponds with their biological sex. The bill was signed into law in 2016 and was considered by many to be bigoted —
and it provoked a wave of corporate boycotts targeting the state. It's not clear which specific post got Graham banned, but
the evangelist has been outspoken in support of that bill and of other similar pieces of legislation.
Colorado
can't stop trying to shut Jack Phillips down for gay marriage views. Over the past few years, Colorado has been
on a crusade to destroy Jack Phillips' business over a thought crime. The state's Civil Rights Commission had bored
into Phillips' soul and established that his refusal to create a specialty cake for a same-sex couple was driven by his
personal animosity toward gay customers rather than by his Christian faith. Unelected officials began fining Phillips
in an effort to put him out of business for being a Christian. I wrote about the case numerous times, and every time, I
was assured that his actions had nothing to do with "religious liberty" — a term almost always placed within
quotation marks to intimate that it's a bogus concern. I was assured that it's constitutionally acceptable for a gay
couple to force a man to create art that undermines his faith. I was assured the case against him would be a slam-dunk
for Colorado.
Judge
'inclined' to let latest cake case against Christian baker proceed. He won his six-year legal battle over his
refusal to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, but Christian baker Jack Phillips is now facing what could be a
lengthy courtroom sequel on the issue of a transgender birthday cake. Any hope of a speedy resolution was dashed
Tuesday when a federal judge indicated he plans to reject the effort to dismiss the Colorado Civil Rights Commission's latest
complaint against Masterpiece Cakeshop involving a birthday cake for a gender transition.
That
Giant Liberty-Sucking Sound From the Tolerant Left. Do you remember Jack Phillips, the poor Christian owner of
Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado, the baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple because it would have
violated his religious convictions? He didn't deny them service, mind you, but would not bow to their demand that he
prepare a cake to celebrate their wedding. The complaining couple weren't being harmed. They could have gone
anywhere else to purchase a custom-made wedding cake. But they refused to allow this baker to exercise his religious
liberty. This surely was a deliberate targeting of a Christian baker to force him to conform to their values and
thought edicts. Though the Supreme Court held that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had violated Phillips' First
Amendment liberties, he is being harassed again — this time by Denver attorney Autumn Scardina, for refusing to
bake a custom-ordered cake to celebrate her transition from male to female.
The Editor says...
I will continue to say this until I am forcibly silenced: There is no such thing as a "transition from male to female," or
vice versa. One is born with gender-specific XX or XY chromosomes. One or the other. They do not fluctuate
or "transition" based on the clothes one wears or the surgery one undergoes. If you are a man who elects to dress and act like
a woman, you are a transvestite and a pervert, but you do not become a woman just because you want to. These views
are rapidly becoming unfashionable, yet I persist, for the same reason that if everyone in town began to proclaim that 2+2=3,
I would continue to insist that 2+2=4. If you disagree with my statements, visit some other web site.
Virginia
teacher fired for refusing to use new pronouns for transgender student. "You will be made to care," wrote Eric
Erickson in RedState back in 2013. He was referring to a court case in Colorado of a Christian baker who refused to make a
wedding cake for a gay couple and was fined for it. Today, we are being threatened, intimidated, and bullied into caring
about people who believe they are trapped in the wrong body — that their biological gender is incorrect and that they
are actually someone of the opposite gender — or some other gender created out of whole cloth. A Virginia French
teacher found out the consequences of trying to balance his religious beliefs with the new paradigm of "transitioning" to
another gender.
The Editor says...
The people who say they believe in science (above all else) are willing to say that biology is sometimes incorrect.
Americans
Can Now be Jailed for Not Servicing Same-sex "Weddings". It's not yet like the Romans throwing Christians to
the lions for practicing their faith, but the Phoenix government may be throwing them in jail — for refusing to
service same-sex "weddings." It's a shocking reality that inspired two Arizona Christian artists to sue the city in 2016, and
now their case will be taken up by their state's supreme court. Breanna Koski and Joanna Duka are the owners of Brush &
Nib Studio, a business born of the goal to recreate "the beauty God placed all around us and to share that beauty with
others. And this goal made it natural for Joanna and Breanna to focus on artwork for weddings, one of the most
beautiful days in someone's life," relates the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is representing the artists.
For
the West to Live, 'Equality' Must Die. Equality is the chief faux virtue of our time. Our obsession with
it brings to mind the great G.K. Chesterton's observation, "The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes.
The business of Conservatives is to prevent mistakes from being corrected." Long ago the West erred by exalting "equality"
at, ultimately, quality's — and sanity's — expense. In fact, it's at a point where boys claiming
girlhood are allowed in girls' bathrooms and locker areas based on equality dogma. How do we correct this mistake?
First, stop being connedservative and realize that few people have pondered equality deeply and that, of those who have, few
actually believe in it.
Eternal
Darkness of the Leftist Mind. From kindergartners to adults, allowing men into women restrooms has led to
numerous sexual assaults. Why do Perry and his fellow leftists ignore this commonsense reality? What kind of
bizarre thinking causes leftists to conclude that accommodating a handful of disturbed men trumps protecting little girls and
women? Meanwhile, leftists claim to be our superiors in regard to advocating for and protecting women.
Should Grieving Families Be Forced to Deal
With a Cross-Dressing Funeral Home Employee? May I ask a simple question: What is the legal definition of "sex"?
And no, I'm not asking about the verb, but about what it means to be a man or a woman, a boy or a girl. Until very recently, to ask
the question was to answer it. Living things reproduce after their own kind, after all, and a brief primer on the birds and the bees
would have cleared up any confusion. That was certainly the understanding of the U.S. legislators who passed Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, and sex.
25 Reasons I'm Not a Democrat. [#9]
There are two genders and you can't change the one you are born with no matter how many surgeries, hormones, and weird pronouns that you apply
to yourself. Also, those genders should use different bathrooms and shouldn't be competing against each other in athletic endeavors.
Obama's
Social Experiments Are Wreaking Havoc on America Today. [Example #2] Transgender ideology: In 2016, Obama's
Department of Justice (DOJ) redefined the Civil Rights Act of 1964, arguing that North Carolina's House Bill 2 engaged in illegal
sex discrimination against transgender people. The bill merely stipulated that school restrooms and locker rooms that are not
single-occupancy must be single-sex, and that students can only use the facility that matches their biological sex on their birth
certificate. The DOJ's move here (and with a similar change in 2014) was monumental. The Obama administration redefined
"sex" — which has always referred to a human being's biological sex as male or female — to include "gender identity," a much
more amorphous concept that could not have been further from the minds of Congress when it passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
With the stroke of a pen, the Obama administration made transgender ideology the law of the land, undermining North Carolina's state
law and emboldening transgender activists to push their agenda even harder.
Christian
Baker [is the] Victim of Sexual Activists — Again!. The day of persecution is upon us. We need
only look to brave, beleaguered baker Jack Phillips to see this. You probably already know his name. The U.S.
Supreme Court vindicated him earlier this summer in his struggle against the Colorado Civil Rights Commission and a gay
couple that sought to force him to bake a cake celebrating their same-sex union. But despite the Court's ruling that
Colorado's handling of the case had demonstrated blatant hostility toward Jack's religious beliefs in violation of the First
Amendment, Jack continues to face hateful attacks from sexual activists and a state bureaucracy bent upon serving their cause.
The
Compulsory Society. Vox may still be keeping up its risible just-the-facts posturing, but it is tendentious
to the point of dishonesty: "Colorado baker who refused to serve gay couple now wants to refuse to serve transgender person,"
it says. That is not true, of course. (But everybody knows that.) Phillips serves customers of all sorts,
including homosexual customers. What he declines to do is to make cakes for certain events, participation in which, even
as a vendor, would violate his conscience. As he put it: "I serve everybody. It's just that I don't create
cakes for every occasion." Phillips has been prosecuted under a civil-rights law, but this is not really a case about
civil rights: It is a case about compulsion.
'Bake
the cake or else' is back. Liberals and gay activists remain obsessed with forcing Christians to bake their
cakes. And the answer, in the name of individual, religious and even gay civil rights, must still be no. If you
doubt the intensity of the left's fixation on punishing people of faith, I submit to you the Colorado's so-called Civil
Rights Commission. Despite Masterpiece Cakeshop winning a 7-2 U.S. Supreme Court victory condemning the state for
punishing Jack Phillips for his religious beliefs, they're going after him again. This time, the set-up involves a
request for a variety of cakes that would violate his religious belief, including a cake celebrating a gender transition.
Christian
Baker Jack Phillips [is] In the Crosshairs Again. You would think winning a case in front of the U.S. Supreme
Court would be enough, but unfortunately for Christian baker Jack Phillips, it wasn't. He is under attack again by the
State of Colorado for holding to his sincerely held religious beliefs. This time the government is attacking Jack
because he politely refused to design a cake requested by an attorney who said he was celebrating his "gender transition."
Despite the fact the Supreme Court just ruled 7-2 in Jack's favor (Masterpiece) and condemned Colorado's attempt to
punish Jack for his beliefs in traditional marriage, the Colorado government has doubled down and taken new action to punish
Jack for his belief that God created us male and female.
Colorado
goes after Masterpiece Cakeshop again — this time over "gender transition" cake. When Masterpiece
Cakeshop won its case on June 4, 2018, in the U.S. Supreme Court over refusal to bake a cake celebrating a gay wedding, many
people assumed it was a win for religious freedom and free speech (the right not to have government compel your speech).
The cake shop did not refuse to sell cakes to gays, it simply didn't want to prepare a custom cake with a specific message on
it which it believed was contrary to the owner's religious beliefs. But as we covered at the time, the Supreme Court
decision was tailored to bias against the cake shop in the Colorado administrative process.
Christian
Baker Again Under Fire for Refusing Transgender Cake Despite Supreme Court Win. In June, the Supreme Court
decided the case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, issuing a powerful rebuke to the
Colorado Civil Rights Commission for its "religious hostility" toward Christian baker Jack Phillips. Phillips had
refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, and the commission had compared his decision to religious arguments in favor
of the Ku Klux Klan and Nazism. Now, the commission is again going after Phillips for declining to create a custom
cake — this time a cake celebrating transgenderism. On Tuesday night [8/14/2018], Alliance Defending Freedom
(ADF), the Christian law firm that represented Phillips before the Supreme Court and helped him gain an important 7-2
victory, filed a federal lawsuit against the commission to forestall action against Phillips. "The state of Colorado is
ignoring the message of the U.S. Supreme Court by continuing to single out Jack for punishment and to exhibit hostility
toward his religious beliefs," ADF Senior Vice President of U.S. Legal Division Kristen Waggoner declared in a statement.
Colorado Is Going After
Jack Phillips Of Masterpiece Cakeshop Again. Jack Phillips, the Christian baker who prevailed at the U.S.
Supreme Court after declining to create a custom wedding cake for a gay couple, filed a lawsuit in federal court late Tuesday
[8/14/2018] suing the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Phillips and his attorneys at the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)
say the Commission has revived its campaign against him following June's high court decision, singling Masterpiece Cakeshop out
for disparate treatment on the basis of their religious beliefs.
Another
locker room 'encounter' for Planet Fitness. The motto at Planet Fitness is "The Judgement Free Zone" — but
its liberal stance is close to landing the business in court after a woman who calls herself "Mrs. H" was kicked off the rolls
because she complained that a man was in her locker room. In an interview with OneNewsNow, Mrs. H explained what happened
at the Leesburg, Florida, outlet: [...]
Oregon
High Schools to Mix Genders in Showers and Bathrooms in New Transgender Ruling. A U.S. District Court Judge in
Oregon recently ruled that boys must be allowed to use the girls locker room, showers and bathrooms, and vice versa in public
schools throughout the state. According to Judge Marco Hernandez, for children to "see or be seen by someone of the
opposite biological sex while either are undressing or performing bodily functions in a restroom, shower, or locker room does
not give rise to a constitutional violation." Perhaps not, but it does violate normal standards of decency. The
Judge offered an alternative to parents who disagreed with the policy, telling them to send their kids to private school,
according to WND. That way, not only do they get to have their conservative beliefs trampled on, but they also get
to pay taxes to support the public school trampling on their conservative beliefs, and private school tuition.
Study
Confirms: Target's Bathroom Policy is Dangerous. File this under "Who didn't see this coming?" According
to a new study by Woman Means Something, reported sexual offenses have spiked since Target announced their "gender
inclusive" policy of giving men access to women's and girls' bathrooms and changing rooms[.] [...] The Woman Means
Something study looked at Target's new bathroom policy which began in April 2016 and allowed men who said they were women
to use the women's restrooms (and vice versa) then compared that to media reported sexual offenses. The actual count of
incidents could be higher due to the media not covering it.
Gender-Inclusion
Policies and Sexual Violence: A Longitudinal Analysis of Media Reports at Target Stores. While media-loss
remains a limitation in the analysis, the present study supports the theory that sex predators may take opportunities
afforded by gender-inclusion policies to perpetrate sexual violence against women in public spaces. No other theory
seems to account for the significant and precisely-timed increase seen in the Target reports. Further study would be
helpful to compare police reports to media-reported crime and to geographically match Target with similar stores to
investigate whether sexual offenses have increased elsewhere.
7
Reasons Why the Transgender Revolution Will Fail. [#5] The transgender revolution is dangerous. When you
insist that a biological male who identifies as a female has the "right" to use a women's bathroom, locker room, and dressing
room, you are asking for trouble. A headline from England stated, "Transgender prisoner who was put in a female jail
despite not having sex-change surgery 'sexually assaulted four women inmates before being moved to a male prison'." So, a
biological male with male organs intact (and obviously, still attracted to women) was put in a women's prison. Should
we be surprised by what happened? In the States, Planet Fitness sided against a female, former sexual assault
victim who protested against the presence of a man (identified here as "Mr. Rice") in the locker room. As
explained in the case being brought by Liberty Counsel, "This is not the only incident with Mr. Rice known to Planet
Fitness. Another woman reported that he exposed his naked body to her in the women's locker room at this
location. In another instance, he was involved in an argument with another woman over use of the tanning room.
Misogynist, anti-woman harassment should have no place in Planet Fitness locations, and violates Florida law."
California
town official faces calls for resignation after proclaiming July 'straight pride' month. A California
vice-mayor's declaration that July should be "straight pride" month has resulted in calls for his resignation or recall and
threats of a demonstration at the next city council meeting. Ted Hickman, the vice mayor of Dixon, California, noted in
his "That's Life" column in Dixon's Independent Voice at the end of June that "last Sunday ended LGBTQF-WTF month ... with
tens of thousands of folks dancing and prancing all over American celebrating the fact they are different than most of the
rest of us and showing their 'pride' in being so."
It's Dangerous
to Disagree in America. Private citizens are a soft target. Papa John's Pizza founder and CEO John
Schnatter was forced out of his own company for making an innocuous statement during a call with analysts about the NFL
kneelers hurting their sales. Exemplary Google employee James Damore made one politically incorrect statement and was
thrown out on his ear. Apple's diversity chief, a black woman, thought she could praise the importance of diverse
viewpoints instead of diversity based on race — and found herself the target of outrage and controversy that led
to her termination. [...] The threat of losing your job extends beyond your behavior at work. If you express right of
center opinions outside of work, progressive activists can get you fired, as happened to Dr. Frank Turek. He lost
jobs with Cisco and Bank of America for writing a book in defense of traditional marriage. A homosexual manager didn't
like Turek's beliefs, and that was that.
AAPS News July 2016 —
Discrimination. [Scroll down] The issue is not bathrooms, but metaphysics, writes Robert Reilly.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch told a group of transgendered people that "you are still wondering how you can possibly live
the lives you were born to lead." But the way they were born is precisely what they are trying to change, he notes.
The prominence of the bathroom issue makes no sense if we do not understand the underlying "denial of nature and the substitution
of pure will as the means for unshackling us from what we are."
Washington
state florist: My life has been turned upside down because of my religious beliefs. We each have our
beliefs, and we want to live our lives in ways that reflect them. We care about finding work that not only provides a
good living, but also gives us a sense of joy. We want to love what we do. Five years ago, I felt like I had all
of that. But because I tried to do my work as an artist in ways that honored my religious beliefs, my home state of
Washington turned my life upside down. Since then, my state has been prosecuting me because I declined, for religious
reasons, one request to celebrate one event for one gay customer — a friend of mine named Rob, whom I'd been
delighted to serve for nearly a decade.
Leftist Justices
Don't Like the Law. The left doesn't like the rule of law much. If they legally lose an election, they
take to the streets as if some injustice had been done to them. If we enforce our border laws, they become hysterical
and try to intimidate and bully public officials. If they can't get a law passed by constitutional means, they are
perfectly happy to use regulation to exert extra-legal control over the citizenry. All of which is bad enough in
leftist media, leftist mobs and leftist officials. But in leftist Supreme Court justices, it's even worse. In an
interview on my podcast this week, constitutional law attorney Jenna Ellis — the director of public policy at the
James Dobson Family Institute — put several recent Supreme Court decisions in context as "compelled speech
cases." Whether it was allowing a Christian cake designer to refuse to use his art to celebrate gay marriage in
Masterpiece Cakeshop, preventing the state of California from forcing abortion advertising on anti-abortion pregnancy
centers in NIFLA v Becerra, or allowing public employees to work without funding leftist unions in Janus, the
court, Ellis explained, has declared "the government cannot compel you as an individual to participate in or subsidize speech
that you fundamentally disagree with."
Not
I, said the discriminatory Red Hen. When Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson decided to persecute
Baronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene's Flowers, he said, "If Ms. Stutzman sells flowers to heterosexual couples, she must
sell them to same-sex couples." Stutzman did sell flowers to same-sex couples. The plaintiffs were regular
customers. What she wouldn't do was participate in a wedding ceremony celebrating something she saw as a nonmarriage
claiming to be a marriage. The Supreme Court ordered Washington's Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling against
Stutzman in the light of the Masterpiece Cakeshop ruling. Similarly, Masterpiece Cakeshop didn't turn away gay
customers. It neither made nor practiced any no-cake-for-gays policy. Instead, it refused to make specialty
products celebrating a same-sex union.
We
Will Not Worship the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. A born-again Christian named Jack Phillips ran a
bakery. Aware of Phillips' heartfelt religious beliefs, a gay couple demanded that he violate those beliefs by
designing and creating an artistic cake to celebrate their marriage. This was even before Colorado had legalized gay
marriage. Phillips politely told the couple that they were welcome in his bakery and that he would be happy to sell
them anything off-the-shelf. But he could not violate his faith. He even offered to find them an alternative
bakery for their cake (which is easy). But the couple weren't satisfied. They didn't really come to Phillips
for a cake; they came for his scalp.
Oregon
Forced Us to Close Our Cake Shop. Here's What the Masterpiece Decision Means for Us. We are thrilled for
our friend, Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop who recently won his case at the Supreme Court. Like Jack,
we know what it is like to be treated unfairly by a state agency and mocked, threatened, and abused by critics. We can
only imagine the relief Jack is experiencing. At the same time, we wonder what the future holds for our case, our lost
business, and our family. Ours may be, as Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, the case that allows "further elaboration in
the courts." And we are encouraged to know that seven justices of the Supreme Court agree that a state's hostility to
the religious beliefs of its citizens will not be tolerated under the First Amendment.
Students blast Supreme Court ruling on gay wedding
cake. Students at George Washington University were quick to denounce the recent Supreme Court decision ruling
that a Christian baker is not obliged to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple, but struggled to apply the same principle in
other contexts. What would they say if the case were about a black baker being asked to cater a KKK rally, or a Jewish
baker being asked to provide a cake for a Palestinian wedding? [Video clip]
Colorado
baker slammed with hostile reviews, protests after Supreme Court victory. Colorado baker Jack Phillips received
a standing ovation Saturday at the Western Conservative Summit, which came as a change of pace after a week of protests and
negative reviews following his Supreme Court victory. Since the high court ruled Monday in his favor, the owner of the
Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood has been faced with protesters and a deluge of one-star reviews on Yelp, but he's not
complaining.
CrossFit
fires employee who supported Indiana gym's decision to cancel LGBTQ event, calling pride celebration 'a sin'.
CrossFit fired an employee Wednesday after he posted a series of tweets supporting a now-closed Indiana gym for canceling an
LGBT pride workout, calling the idea for the event "a sin." Russell Berger, who was described by CrossFit as a legal
researcher, posted the since-deleted tweets thanking CrossFit Infiltrate "for standing by [their] convictions and refusing to
celebrate sin by hosting an @IndyPride workout, FOX 59 reported.
CrossFit
fires a high-level executive after he posted series of tweets saying that he believes celebrating LGBT pride is a
'sin'. A high-level CrossFit executive has been fired for saying that celebrating LGBT pride is a 'sin'.
Russell Berger, who worked as CrossFit's chief knowledge officer, was terminated by the company on Wednesday [6/6/2018] over
a stream of now-deleted tweets. Berger, of Huntsville, Alabama, posted the comments as he tried to defend the owner of
an Indianapolis CrossFit gym who canceled a special workout in honor of Pride Month. 'As someone who personally believes
celebrating 'pride' is a sin, I'd like to personally encourage #CrossFitInfiltrate for standing by their convictions and
refusing to host an @indypride workout. The intolerance of the LGBTQ ideology toward any alternative views is
mind-blowing,' Berger tweeted.
Supreme
Court sides with Colorado baker who refused to make wedding cake for same-sex couple. The Supreme Court ruled
Monday [6/4/2018] in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, in one of the most
closely watched cases of the term. In a 7-2 decision, the justices set aside a Colorado court ruling against the
baker — while stopping short of deciding the broader issue of whether a business can refuse to serve gay and
lesbian people. The opinion was penned by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is often the swing justice in tight cases.
Supreme
Court rules narrowly for Colorado baker who wouldn't make same-sex wedding cake. The U.S. Supreme Court on
Monday [6/4/2018] handed a victory on narrow grounds to a Colorado Christian baker who refused for religious reasons to make
a wedding cake for a gay couple, stopping short of setting a major precedent allowing people to claim exemptions from
anti-discrimination laws based on religious beliefs. The justices, in a 7-2 decision, said the Colorado Civil Rights
Commission showed an impermissible hostility toward religion when it found that baker Jack Phillips violated the state's
anti-discrimination law by rebuffing gay couple David Mullins and Charlie Craig in 2012. The state law bars businesses
from refusing service based on race, sex, marital status or sexual orientation.
Nancy
Pelosi Releases Statement on SCOTUS Gay Cake Ruling: Christians Should Bake Gay Cakes. On Monday [6/4/2018] the
Supreme Court ruled in a 7-2 vote in favor of Christian baker Jack Phillips. The Supremes ruled Phillips had the right to
refuse to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple. [...] Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi weighed in on the decision on Monday [6/4/2018].
Pelosi says Masterpiece Cakeshop needs to bake the [...] cake.
U.S.
Supreme Court backs Christian baker who rebuffed gay couple. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory
on narrow grounds to a Colorado baker who refused based on his Christian beliefs to make a wedding cake for a gay couple,
stopping short of setting a major precedent allowing people to claim religious exemptions from anti-discrimination laws.
Supreme
Court Decision On Rights Was Correct, But Half-Baked. The 7-to-2 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of a
Christian baker who refused to make a custom wedding cake for a same-sex wedding ceremony was a minor victory for religious
rights, freedom of speech and freedom of commerce. But it didn't go far enough.
A
closer look at SCOTUS's gay cake decision. The Supreme Court decided 7-2 that cake-maker Jack Phillips apparently
did not have to make a cake for a homosexual ceremony. I say "apparently" because the court's reasoning was convoluted.
Instead of saying outright that custom cake-makers don't have an obligation to produce custom made cakes for homosexual cermonies,
the court simply said the local human rights commission didn't consider his right to follow his religious belief when he refused
to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.
The
Vindictive Gay Couple In The Masterpiece Cakeshop Case Richly Deserved To Lose. Today [6/4/2018] the Supreme
Court ruled in favor of Jack Phillips, the Colorado baker who refused to make a cake for a gay wedding. I wish I could
say the ruling was a huge win for the First Amendment. All I can say is that it was not necessarily a loss for the
First Amendment. A win would have been a decision affirming an individual's right to operate his business, and create
art, in accordance with his sincerely held religious beliefs.
Why
Did Elena Kagan Vote for the Masterpiece Cakeshop Supreme Court Ruling? Observers of Monday's Supreme Court
ruling in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple in 2012 may have been surprised to
find that two of the court's liberal justices, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer, joined with the conservative majority for the
opinion. But a legal expert told Newsweek this was the result of the very specific nature of this case. "The
reason and motive for the baker's refusal were based on his sincere religious beliefs and convictions," Justice Anthony
Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented while Breyer and
Kagan, considered to be liberal-leaning, joined the more conservative justices in a majority ruling.
Nancy
Pelosi on Supreme Court Ruling: Bake That Cake, Christians!. Would-be Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
(D-CA) slammed Monday's 7-2 Supreme Court ruling in the Masterpiece Bakeshop case, attacking "discriminatory practices behind
the guise of religious liberty." The Court found in favor of a Colorado baker who was sued when he declined to bake a
wedding cake for a same-sex marriage because of his Christian beliefs. The baker asserted his religious liberty under
the First Amendment. The decision avoided ruling on the broader question of whether religious liberty trumps
non-discrimination on the basis of sexuality, and held only that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had not given the
baker a fair hearing.
Ruling
reveals left's bias. The Supreme Court's ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights
Commission has predictably caused those on all sides to man their battle stations. Some celebrate a victory for
religious freedom while others lament a step back for LGBT rights. At the end of the day, though, the Supreme Court
ruled that there is no right to discriminate based on the identity of the customers. It basically determined the
Colorado Civil Rights Commission was biased against the bakery because of the bakery's religious views.
In
Cake Case, SCOTUS Basically Shows States How to Get Around the Ruling. As a right-leaning person, I don't blame
conservatives for cheering reports that the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor (sort of, as I'll address) of Masterpiece
Cakeshop. I thought the decision could have gone 5-4 in either direction, so a ruling this decisive surprised me.
In the case, the side of the baker argued that a person shouldn't have to participate in a ceremony (e.g. a wedding for two
gay men) that his or her religion condemns. The baker did not want to provide a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage
because doing so would mean he was using his artistic talents to participate in a ceremony against his religious
beliefs. When the Supreme Court accepted the case, many on both the Left and the Right thought it could lead to a
decision about the First Amendment and religious freedom. The final decision, however, advanced neither.
Food
Network's Sandra Lee Argues that Christians should be Second Class Citizens. Sandra Lee, Food Network star and
live-in girlfriend of New York Governor Chris Cuomo used to social media to declare her displeasure with the 7-2 Supreme
Court ruling on the controversial Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission decision. Her
support for same-sex marriage is curious since she's not married to the man she's living with. I've always said that
liberal support for same-sex sexuality is used to justify other immoral and socially denigrating sexual relationships
Legal
Fight Continues for Farmer Banned from Market Over Objecting to Gay Weddings at His Orchard. Once again, the
subject of religious freedom is in the news. This time, it's because a Catholic farmer in Michigan has been prohibited
from participating in the East Lansing farmers market. When Stephen Tennes was asked to host a lesbian wedding in his
orchard at Country Mills Farms, he declined, stating on Facebook that it is his "Catholic belief that marriage is a
sacramental union between one man and one woman." Now Mr. Tennes claims he had been selling fruit at the local
farmers market for the six years leading up to the wedding request. But when his Facebook post came to the attention of
East Lansing city officials, they asked him not to return for the 2017 season. The city explained in a statement that
Tennes was in violation of a "long-standing ordinance that protects sexual orientation as well as the Supreme Court's ruling
that grants the right for same-sex couples to be married."
School Board
Fights To Preserve Bathroom Policy After Judge OKs Trans Student's Lawsuit. A Virginia public school district
will pursue an appeal after a federal judge ruled that a transgender student can challenge the district's bathroom access
policies under federal civil rights law and the Constitution. The Gloucester County Public Schools asked U.S. District
Court Judge Arenda Wright Allen to allow their appeal on Friday [6/1/2018].
LGBT
Alarm as President Trump Signs 'Religious Liberty' Executive Order. In a Thursday morning Rose Garden ceremony
marking the National Day of Prayer, President Trump signed an executive order creating a new "faith initiative" that will be
tasked with working on "religious liberty" issues across federal agencies. "As president, I will always protect
religious liberty," Trump said in his remarks. The order — first reported Wednesday night by Religion News
Service — will "help ensure that faith-based organizations have equal access to government funding and equal right
to exercise their deeply held beliefs," Trump said.
Judge:
You Have To Bake That Cake, But Not Serve A Beer To Someone In A MAGA Hat. A strange story out of Philadelphia
which has been brewing since shortly after President Trump was inaugurated and has now culminated in a court decision. [...]
Considering all of the activities which the courts believe they can force business owners to participate in (or the customers
they must serve) this no doubt sounds like something of a discontinuity to some of you. But unfortunately for Greg, the
judge is probably right. In terms of who you can deny service to, the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits
discrimination in any privately owned "places of public accommodation" (which includes bars and restaurants), but only on the
basis of race, color, religion or national origin. These are considered "protected groups" who can't be denied service
on that basis.There is no assured protection against denial of service based on political beliefs.
They Keep Telling Us Who
They Are. The California legislature is processing a bill to ban and criminalize all speech, all writing, that
goes against "LGBTQ priorities". Assembly Bill 2943, which has already sailed through two committees, would criminalize
"efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions." It seems to be aimed at practicing psychologists, psychiatrists,
or counselors whose clients ask them to help them get rid of unwanted sexual attractions; but the bill is so vaguely written
that it could be used against virtually anybody — commentators who dissent from the agenda of Organized Sodomy,
parents who teach their children that there are only two "genders," and Biblically orthodox churches where homosexual
acting-out is presented as a sin.
Rev.
Graham to Trump: Please Help Army Chaplain Being Persecuted by LGBT Enforcers. Evangelical Christian
Rev. Franklin Graham called upon President Donald Trump "to do something about" an Army chaplain, who is a Baptist, and
who faces "serious punishment" because he refused to allow a lesbian couple to partisipate in one of his marriage retreats.
"Mr. President, I hope you will be able to do something about this," said Rev. Graham in an April 18 post on
Facebook. "You are the commander in chief of the U.S. Armed Forces." "Army Chaplain Scott Squires is being punished
for doing his job," said Graham. "He's facing serious punishment for explaining to a soldier that he couldn't conduct a
marriage retreat that would include same-sex couples — because of his belief in the biblical definition of marriage."
Anchorage:
Still OK For Anyone To Use Any Bathroom They Feel Good In. Voters in Alaska's capital city have settled —
for the moment anyway — who can use which public bathroom. The answer: Anyone can use whichever one they
feel most comfortable in.
Anchorage
voters first in the nation to reject bathroom bill. Voters in Alaska's largest city are on track to becoming
the first in the U.S. to defeat a so-called bathroom bill in a referendum that asked them to require people using public
bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender at birth. The initiative asked Anchorage's voters to repeal an
ordinance passed in 2015 that prevented discrimination based on sexual orientation and added a clause that would have
prevented transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding to their gender identities. Voting by
mail and in person ended on April 3 and the repeal effort was losing 53-47 percent as of Monday [4/9/2018], with
nearly 78,000 votes counted and only several hundred to be counted when tallying ends on Friday. Supporters of the
referendum have conceded defeat and opponents are claiming victory.
Let's flush the culture
wars. The North Carolina bathroom brouhaha is a classic case study, almost a solution in search of a
problem. It began in 2016 when Charlotte's city council passed an ordinance adding transgender people to the list of
those who cannot be discriminated against. Alarmed about the precedent this might set in other North Carolina cities
and what it meant for bathrooms in the public schools and other facilities, conservatives sought redress in the state
legislature, which enacted a statute specifically assigning boys and girls (and men and women) in the Tar Heel State to the
bathroom corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate. This legislative victory proved short-lived. It
prompted a broad boycott from out-of-state interests and individuals, ranging from the National Basketball Association, which
pulled its all-star game from Charlotte, and Bruce Springsteen, who canceled a concert.
Perv
Exposes Himself to Little Girl in Target Restroom in Chicago. According to Chicago police, a mother entered the
bathroom with her young daughter. A man, insisting that he needed to use the restroom too, went into the women's room
soon afterward. The sicko pushed into the stall where the little girl was, exposed his genitals, used the facility, and
then fled the scene, police said. He was able to do this because of Target's "inclusive" policy of allowing biological
men to enter the women's restroom if they self-identify as a woman, and vice versa.
Man
Exposes Himself to Girl in Target Restroom. Remember a couple of years ago how the left overflowed with rage
when conservatives wanted to keep men in men's potties, women in women's potties? The newest forefront in civil rights
in 2016 was where one did their number twos. I called it "the flush heard round the world." Anyway, those of us who
wanted to keep bathroom assignments the way they were, got called bigoted jackasses and the like, for daring to suggest some
creepy guys might peep on little girls. Because some creepy guys like peeping on little girls. That was then.
Last week a creepy guy burst into a women's restroom in Target, and whipped out his mini-me for a little show and tell.
To a little girl.
How
much more bad PR can you stand, Target? Yet another dangerous I-told-you-so moment has occurred in another Target
store, this time in Chicago. Police say a man exposed himself to a little girl in the women's restroom on March 31,
when he entered a stall and told her to leave. A spokesman for Target said the man, who has not been identified, was
intoxicated. Target's corporate headquarters has been in a two-year battle with the Mississippi-based American Family
Association after Target publicized its "inclusive" pro-transgender policy that allows men who identify as women to use the
women-only facilities in stores.
Scammed
by a Black, a Woman, and Now a 17-Year-Old. The tactic is called incrementalism. [...] Incrementally, we went from leftists
claiming that homosexuals wanted only tolerance to preachers being jailed, Christians forced out of business, and public schools teaching
kids to try homosexuality. Parents are not allowed to opt out their children from LGBT indoctrination.
On
Easter Sunday, here's why Christians are giving thanks that Obama's out of the White House. The Obama Department of
Education used a progressive interpretation of Title IX to justify its attempt to coerce public schools into adopting radical
transgender policies, including requiring them to allow men into female restrooms and locker rooms.
Who Would Demand Someone
Bake a Cake, Anyway? The Supreme Court is now considering the infamous gay wedding cake case. A gay
couple sought out a certain baker to bake a cake for their wedding, knowing the baker in question is a Christian. He
politely refused service, saying he couldn't give sanction to a practice that is against his faith. Now the case is
before the highest court in the land, and the controversy surrounding it hasn't died down in the least. The case is
about religious liberty, and liberty in general: people have the right to not participate in something that opposes
their faith. But to people like Salon writer Nick Lingerfelt, who likely wouldn't appreciate being forced to write
a column praising Jesus, it's discrimination.
Student
Kicked Out of Class for Saying There Are Only Two Genders. A religious studies major was barred from
Christianity class at Indiana University of Pennsylvania for saying during class that there are only two genders. Lake
Ingle, a senior at the university, said he was silenced and punished by IUP Professor Alison Downie for questioning her
during a Feb. 28 "Christianity 481: Self, Sin, and Salvation" lecture. After showing a 15-minute TED Talk by
transgender ex-pastor Paula Stone Williams discussing the "reality" of "mansplaining," "sexism from men," and "male
privilege," the professor asked the women in the class to share their thoughts. When no women in the class said
anything, Ingle spoke up, challenging the professor on biology and the gender wage gap. He told the class
that the official view of biologists is that there are only two genders.
Department
Of Education: We're Done Being Involved With Transgender Students And Bathrooms. The Department of
Education has decided it will not investigate or interfere if transgender students complain they are barred from bathrooms
that match their chosen gender, according to Buzzfeed News. On Thursday [2/8/2018], Buzzfeed asked Liz Hill, a
spokesperson for the Department of Education, if restroom complaints from transgender students are not covered by a 1972
federal civil rights law called Title IX. Hill answered, "Yes, that's what the law says," adding on Friday,
"Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, not gender identity." Hill made it clear that some
complaints by transgenders students will indeed be investigated, but bathroom complaints will not be among them.
Walgreens
succumbs to tranny restroom tyranny. The Walgreens drug-store chain is going the route of Target, allowing men
into women's restrooms, under the pretext of being "transgenders" — a psychological fantasy with no basis in biology.
Jimmy
Kimmel Compares Christian Baker Not Participating In Same-Sex Wedding to Anti-Semitism. Late night talk show
host Jimmy Kimmel responded to a court ruling last week in favor of a Christian baker not being forced to participate in a
same-sex wedding by likening it to refusing to serve Jewish people. Last Wednesday, a California judge held that Cathy
Miller, owner of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, has a First Amendment right not to create a wedding cake for the same-sex
ceremony, the Associated Press reported.
Judge Rules
Bakeshop Owner Doesn't Have To Bake Wedding Cake For Gay Couple. A California judge ruled Monday [2/5/2018] the state
couldn't force a cake shop owner to bake a cake for a gay couple's wedding, ruling that doing so would constitute a violation
of free speech. Superior Court Judge David Lampe denied the State of California's request for a preliminary injunction
that sought to force bakeshop owner Cathy Miller to design a wedding cake for a gay couple. "For this court to force
such compliance would do violence to the essentials of Free Speech guaranteed under the First Amendment," Lampe ruled,
according to a press release sent to The Daily Caller News Foundation. The injunction also posited that if Miller
refused to design the cake, the state would force her to close her Tastries Bakery shop altogether.
Walgreens
will now let customers use bathrooms based on gender identity. Walgreens has decided to change its bathroom
policies following an incident at one of their Los Angeles locations — in which a woman was denied access to the
ladies room because she "looked like a man." The drugstore chain will now allow customers to "use restroom facilities that
correspond to the individual's gender identity, regardless of the individual's sex assigned at birth," according to officials.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California announced the policy change in a statement on Monday [2/5/2018].
"Everyone needs safe restroom access, and California law protects every person's right to access restrooms based on their gender
identity in workplaces, schools, and business establishments," explained ACLU SoCal Staff Attorney Amanda Goad.
Judge Rules
Bakeshop Owner Doesn't Have To Bake Wedding Cake For Gay Couple. A California judge ruled Monday the state
couldn't force a cake shop owner to bake a cake for a gay couple's wedding, ruling that doing so would constitute a violation
of free speech. Superior Court Judge David Lampe denied the State of California's request for a preliminary injunction
that sought to force bakeshop owner Cathy Miller to design a wedding cake for a gay couple. "For this court to force
such compliance would do violence to the essentials of Free Speech guaranteed under the First Amendment," Lampe ruled,
according to a press release sent to The Daily Caller News Foundation. The injunction also posited that if Miller
refused to design the cake, the state would force her to close her Tastries Bakery shop altogether.
Transgender
Mafia Puts Disabled Vet on Unemployment. Will Caligan, a Desert Shield and Desert Storm veteran suffering Gulf
War Syndrome, is out of a job. What caused him to lose it is one more weight on the scale that is tipping America
toward total insanity. Caligan is a talented comics artist who contracted with Short Fuse Media Group to produce comic
books. If you have followed any of my investigations into #Comicsgate you would know that the comics industry has been
completely taken over by rabid alt-left types who spent their days devising ways to destroy beloved characters by
"diversifying" them into an approved SJW mold. Caligan, a conservative Christian, had little chance of survival in that
environment. One hint of wrongthink could spell curtains for any artist, writer or producer in today's comics climate.
HHS
Unveils Conscience and Religious Freedom Division: 'We're Open for Business'. For eight years, the Barack Obama
administration's Health and Human Services (HHS) tried to force nuns and others of faith to act against their moral
convictions by complying with mandates put forth in the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, including contraceptives, abortion,
and assisted suicide. But on Thursday [1/18/2018], the agency announced a new division in its Office of Civil Rights
(OCR) established to protect Americans from discrimination based on their religious beliefs. Roger Severino, director
of HHS's OCR, announced the new conscience and religious freedom division and spoke about how the development was set in
motion by an executive order issued by President Donald Trump.
HHS
launches office to enforce religious-freedom laws. The Trump administration launched a division at the Health
and Human Services Department on Thursday to protect doctors and medical providers who object to participating in abortions
and assisted suicide on religious or moral grounds. Officials said the division, part of the HHS' Office of Civil
Rights, will stand ready to assist health care workers who say they're being coerced into participating in procedures that
violate their beliefs. Democrats strenuously objected, saying it will restrict health care access to women or
transgender patients.
The Editor says...
Whaaaat? [T]hey're being coerced into participating in procedures that violate their beliefs." Like
baking a cake for a homosexual wedding?
Iowa
lawsuit pits gay rights against religious freedom. The case pits a university policy barring discrimination
based on sexual orientation against the religious beliefs of a 10-member group called Business Leaders in Christ.
Supreme
Court's Refusal To Hear Two "Discrimination" Cases Means WIN For Religious Freedom. In April 2016, Mississippi
Governor Phil Bryant signed HB 1523. The law, known as the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination
Act officially protects religious and moral convictions within the state from action by the government. The convictions
specific to the bill regard the definition of marriage, sexual relations within a marriage, and "an individual's immutable
biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at time of birth." [...] Naturally, this law does not mean
members of the LGBT community are barred from buying a cake, scheduling a photographer, booking a clergyman for their wedding,
getting a marriage license, or using a spa. What it does mean is that should one of the above-mentioned individuals have
a religious or moral conviction that prevents them from providing services to an interested party, they will be free to live
by their convictions and will not face government interference.
Gay
Cakes Are Not a Constitutional Right. One wonders what would have happened if the Sweet Cakes by Melissa case
involved not the owners refusing to be coerced to violate their religious conscience by providing a cake not to two same-sex
people celebrating their union and calling it a marriage, but rather a Muslim bakery being forced to bake a cake decorated
with a cartoon picture of the prophet Muhammad covered with bacon sprinkles. Would the bakery in that scenario be
forced to pay a heavy business-killing fine for actually believing that the Founding Fathers meant freedom of religion when
they enshrined it in the First Amendment? Probably not, even if the ruling was made by a liberal Oregon judge who forget
that this country was founded by people fleeing religious persecution and governmental war on their religious conscience.
Line
Drawing in the Masterpiece Cakeshop Case. During the Masterpiece Cakeshop oral arguments at the
U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday [12/5/2017], the two attorneys opposing cake artist Jack Phillips argued that the justices
should not protect Phillips's freedom to abstain from creating expression he disagrees with. Their primary argument was
that, in their opinion, it is too difficult to draw lines protecting people's First Amendment right against compelled speech,
so the high court should not protect Jack's rights. But the correct answer cannot be "it is too difficult to draw a
line, so no line will be drawn." That would mean the government could force businesses to create messages, including words
and symbols, that they oppose. The Supreme Court has never ruled that way. Both attorneys arguing against
Phillips admit that their theories would empower governments to compel their citizens to speak unwanted messages.
Masterpiece
Cakeshop: The Slope Is, in Fact, Slippery. [Scroll down] The rhetoric of the time was often heated
and at times indefensible. But no one, not the most wild-eyed critic of the principles underlying the civil-rights
legislation of the 1960s, ever suggested that, if such laws were passed, they would lead to obscure Christian bakers' being
forced at the point of government bayonets to produce cakes for the celebration of homosexual weddings. [...] Telling a black
man that he may not work in your bank because he is black is in reality a very different thing from telling a gay couple that
you'd be happy to sell them cupcakes or cookies or pecan pies but you do not bake cakes for same-sex weddings —
however much the principle of the thing may seem superficially similar. If the public sphere is infinite, then the
private sphere does not exist, and neither does private life. Having a bakery with doors open to the public does not
make your business, contra Justice Harlan, an agent of the state. A bakery is not the Commerce Department or the local
public high school.
Court
rules Oregon bakers who refused to make lesbian couple a wedding cake WILL have to pay them $135,000 in damages. The owners of
the since-closed Gresham bakery — Aaron and Melissa Klein — argued that state Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian violated state and federal laws
by forcing them to pay emotional-distress damages of $135,000 to the lesbian couple Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer.
Court
decides for homosexuals in Oregon bakers case. An appellate court Thursday [12/28/2017] upheld a penalty
against Oregon bakery owners who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding almost five years ago.
A
court upheld a $135,000 fine for bakery owners who refused to make a cake for a gay couple. The Court of
Appeals announced its decision Thursday to uphold a $135,000 fine issued to bakery owners who refused to make a cake for a
lesbian couple, our affiliate KATU reported. Melissa and Aaron Klein had refused to bake a cake for Rachel Bowman-Cryer
and her wife, Laurel back in February 2013. They ended up closing the store, Sweet Cakes by Melissa, several months later
due to backlash, but continued the business from home with the help of online donations. Melissa Klein ended her online
business as well.
No,
the government can't restrict employees' free, non-governmental speech. In a major win for protecting
individual freedom of speech against government infringement, a federal district court ruled Wednesday that government
workers cannot be restricted from engaging in free speech during their personal time and that policies requiring government
officials to "pre-clear" messages are unconstitutional. The case is Cochran v. City of Atlanta. Kelvin
Cochran, Atlanta's fire chief from 2010 to 2015, wrote a short Christian devotional book for men on his personal time while
in office. Originally published in 2013, the book is titled "Who Told You That You Were Naked?" referencing God's
question to Adam in Genesis 3 and the fall of man. In the book, Cochran writes orthodox Christian views on marriage
and sex.
Why
Masterpiece Cakeshop case could bring a major Supreme Court ruling on free expression. The Supreme Court will
hear oral arguments Tuesday in a landmark case that could determine if the First Amendment to the Constitution will continue
to protect the freedom of artists who wish to act in a manner consistent with their sincerely held beliefs. The case
before our nation's highest court is called Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The
organization that I lead, Alliance Defending Freedom, is representing the cake shop and its owner, cake artist Jack
Phillips. Phillips said he couldn't design a custom wedding cake for two men who requested it. He declined because
using his artistic talents to celebrate a same-sex marriage would violate his Christian faith and his artistic freedom.
Gay
Wedding Cakes [are] Not a Constitutional Right. One wonders if the case currently before the Supreme Court did
not involve the owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop refusing to be coerced to violate his religious conscience by providing a
wedding cake for a gay wedding that celebrates gay marriage, but rather a Muslim bakery being forced to bake a cake decorated
with a cartoon picture of the prophet Muhammed covered with bacon sprinkles. Creative expression in any form is free
speech which, along with freedom of religion, is supposedly protected in the First Amendment. People should not be
compelled to write or say things they do not believe or agree with, whether it be in the form of ink on paper or frosting on
wedding cakes.
The
Baker and the Empire. Liberalism won the same-sex marriage battle. Religious conservatism isn't going
away. We all have to find a way to live together. That goal requires some compromise and magnanimity. Here
is an opportunity: Please, for the sake of the country, leave the baker alone.
Change my mind
that there are more than 2 genders. As you've probably realized we are at a critical hinge point for the First
Amendment. If the Supreme Court rules that a baker must show respect for someone's sexual choices by jettisoning faith
and engaging in coerced speech, it's not going to stop there. The inevitable next step is to mandate that speech
predicated on the idea that there are only two genders is an act of violence subject to criminal prosecution.
[Indeed], those laws are already in place in New York City and the whole state of California.
SCOTUS
and Wedding Cakes: Don't Celebrate Yet. A few days' passing and thorough reading of the oral argument
transcript for Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission leave me less optimistic than
commentators such as Amy Howe at Scotusblog and David French at National Review.
The
Case for the Baker in the Gay-Wedding Culture War. [Scroll down] Live and let live would have been a far
better response. The baker's religious convictions are not trivial or obviously in bad faith, which means to say he is
not just suddenly citing them solely when it comes to catering to gays. His fundamentalism makes him refuse to make
even Halloween cakes, for Pete's sake. More to the point, he has said he would provide any form of custom-designed
cakes for gay couples — a birthday cake, for example — except for one designed for a specific
celebration that he has religious objections to. And those religious convictions cannot be dismissed as arbitrary (even
if you find them absurd). Opposition to same-sex marriage has been an uncontested pillar of every major world religion
for aeons.
Ohio
demands Christian parents provide gender reassignment for daughter. In the state of Ohio, social workers are
asking a court to side with a teenage girl who is asking for gender reassignment treatment at a hospital instead of the
counseling desired by her parents. Filed in Hamilton County Juvenile Court, the complaint is petitioning Judge Sylvia
Hendon to order Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center to provide treatment for the girl against her parent's
wishes. Documents filed with the court indicate that the parents do not acknowledge their daughter's desire to
transition to a male persona. The parents are seeking counseling consonant with their Christian beliefs, while they
have not approved of her change in appearance to resemble a male.
A piece of
cake for the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court on Tuesday [12/5/2017] heard oral arguments in a case about a cake
artist in Colorado. Jack Phillips is being persecuted for harboring private beliefs insufficiently enthusiastic about
gay marriage. Phillips made custom cakes to order and served any customer, regardless of race, religion, or sexual
orientation. But there were some things he wouldn't do. One was to subscribe to the cause of same-sex marriage,
to spread a message about that newfangled institution that he believed to be false. He would not say gay marriage is
equal to sacramental matrimony between a man and a woman.
Bake
the cake: Where's Congress in the war on religious liberty? Congress must pass federal legislation
barring any state or federal branch of government from punishing individuals who refuse to service with their private
property acts that violate their conscience. While the federal government has no right to concoct new rights for
protected classes and impose it upon the states — as the Supreme Court did with gay marriage and the growing
spectrum of abortion jurisprudence — the elected branch of the federal government has a sacred responsibility to
protect the people against states that blatantly infringe on the most fundamental rights. If a federal court can create
a right to unregulated abortion clinics and funding for Planned Parenthood, and force them upon states, then Congress has the
power to arrest states from infringing upon conscience and property rights.
Day
one of oral arguments for Masterpiece Cakeshop. [Scroll down] Justice Roberts asked the attorney
representing the Colorado Civil Rights Commission a hypothetical about whether Catholic Legal Services should be compelled to
represent same-sex couples against their religious beliefs or if the legal group should be forced to close its doors.
The attorney skirted the question. Justice Kennedy then rattled off sections from the record showing the commission's
bias against Jack Phillips's sincerely held religious beliefs. Then, in the most important moment of the argument,
Justice Kennedy commented that Colorado has not been tolerant of Jack Phillips. And there it is, the crux of the case:
tolerance. Should a state be tolerant of its citizens' religious beliefs? May it disallow certain beliefs
with which it disagrees, demanding that its citizens express antithetical beliefs or face punishment?
The
Gay Marriage Ruling Supports the Baker. The Court has declared that the liberties protected by the Due Process
Clause include "intimate choices that define personal identity and belief." But saying that one is glad to serve gays but
not willing to support a gay "wedding" is precisely a choice that defines personal identity and belief. Hence the Court
now faces a quandary. They can either ignore what they wrote in Obergefell or they can refuse to impose the moral view
of the left on all Americans by upholding the First Amendment rights of those who don't wish to be forced to support
something that is in direct contradiction to their "...choices that define personal identity and belief." The reality is
that when leftists, including those on the Supreme Court, write about liberties they are actually thinking only of liberties
that they endorse. For example, the same leftists who scream that pornography is protected by the First Amendment tell
us that peacefully trying to change a woman's mind as she enters an abortion clinic is not protected by the First Amendment.
Justices
Sharply Divided in Wedding Cake Case. The case, which pits claims of religious freedom against the fight for
gay rights, has attracted extraordinary public attention and about 100 friend-of-the-court briefs. Mr. Phillips
says that he should not be forced to use his talents to convey a message of support for same-sex marriage. The couple,
Charlie Craig and David Mullins, say that businesses open to the public should not be allowed to discriminate against gay men
and lesbians. [...] Justice Sonia Sotomayor appeared unpersuaded. "When have we ever given protection to a food?" she asked.
Supreme Court
Today Mulls Whether Bakers Can Be Forced to Make Gay Wedding Cakes. This morning [12/5/2017] the Supreme Court
will be hearing arguments in a case that may determine whether businesses providing services for weddings — like
bakers, florists, photographers — may decline to provide goods and services for same-sex couples based on their
religious objections to gay marriage. In Masterpiece Bakeshop Ltd. vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission,
bakery owner Jake Phillips was ruled to have violated the state's anti-discrimination and public accommodation laws by
declining to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. Phillips has countered that his speech is being compelled and his
religious freedom is being violated by being forced by law to produce a cake for the couple.
After
Declining to Make a Wedding Cake, He's Going to the Supreme Court. "How did we end up at the Supreme
Court? It's a long story," Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, told The Daily Signal. The story began
in 2012, when two men walked into his family-run bakery, and asked Jack to create a custom cake for their same-sex wedding
ceremony. Because of his Christian faith, Jack declined, and instead offered to sell them something different.
The couple "stormed out," Jack said, then sued him under Colorado's anti-discrimination law. After losing his case
before the Colorado commission and the Colorado Court of Appeals, which both ruled that that Jack has no First Amendment
rights, Jack has one more chance before the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed to hear his case Tuesday [11/28/2017].
Parents
Repudiate Gender Indoctrination in Schools. Americans are fed up with public school curricula that incorporate
gender ideology in the name of civil rights and are fighting legal battles across the country to end the indoctrination.
Parents in Portland, Oregon, filed a federal lawsuit to reverse a Dallas School District policy allowing a biological female
to use the bathroom and locker room for males. Allowing the 16-year old "transgender male," Elliot Yoder, to use the boys'
facilities violates the civil rights of the majority of students who are not transgender, the lawsuit argues. Two years
ago, Yoder requested to change her clothes before gym class in the boys' locker room because other students noticed when she
left to change in the gender-neutral facility, which was inconveniently located two floors away. The Dallas district
accommodated her request, igniting parents to protest at a school board meeting.
What
These Conservative Black Clergy Have to Say to LGBT Activists. Conservative African-American clergy accused
LGBT activists of hijacking the civil rights movement and launched a campaign to support a Colorado baker who refused to
create a cake for a gay wedding. The Rev. William Avon Keen, president of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference of Virginia, told reporters on Monday, October 23, that the civil rights movement's efforts to gain equal
facilities for schooling and health care do not equate with a gay couple's wedding cake request.
Transgender
Person Convicted Of Sexually Abusing 10-Year-Old Girl In Bathroom. A biological man who identifies as a
transgender woman has been convicted of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old Wyoming girl in a bathroom. Miguel Martinez,
who goes by the name Michelle, was found guilty of first-degree and second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, the Casper Star
Tribune reported. Martinez faces up to 70 years in prison, according to the Tribune.
Transgender
Man Was Arrested for Sexually Assaulting a 10-Year-Old Girl in the Bathroom. A Wyoming man who identifies as a
transgender woman is on trial for allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in a bathroom. The trial for Miguel
Martinez, who goes by the name Michelle, began on Monday [10/16/2017], the Billings Gazette reported. Martinez allegedly
invited the young girl into the bathroom with him where he allegedly fondled the girl's breasts and genitalia, before penetrating
her. The girl told police that "it hurt inside" and she started to cry, the Casper Star Tribune reported.
Christian
printer refuses services to LGBTQ activist, says he doesn't want to 'make pressure worse'. A Christian printer
in Britain reportedly refused to print business cards for a transgender diversity expert, claiming taking up the order would
go against his religious views. Nigel Williams denied his printing services to Joanne Lockwood, a consultant at transgender
diversity firm SEE Change Happen, which is aimed at offering advice to businesses on inclusion of LGBTQ staff, The Sunday Times
reported. Lockwood tried to get her company's promotional materials printed at Williams' firm, but he refused, saying
taking up the contract would "make pressure worse" for other Christians.
AG
directive protects religious objectors to LGBT rights. In an order that undercuts protections for LGBT people,
Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a sweeping directive to agencies Friday to do as much as possible to accommodate those
who say their religious freedoms are being violated.
Gay
coffee shop owner refuses service to Christians, kicks them out. What happened to bake the cake? Civil
rights for these folks? Or does that not count in this situation?
Christian
activists booted from Seattle coffee shop: 'I'm gay. You have to leave'. A Christian pro-life group that
was recently ejected from a Seattle coffee shop over its local activism is attracting hundreds of thousands of Facebook views
after footage of the encounter was posted online. Members of Abolish Human Abortion recently decided to order drinks in
Seattle's Bedlam coffee shop after posting and distributing pro-life pamphlets in the local community. Activists who
joined Caleb Head and Caytie Davis on Oct. 1 were soon berated and told the leave when they were identified. "I'm
gay. You have to leave," owner Ben Borgman said in the video.
Gay
Coffee Shop Owner Forcibly Ejects Christian Customers For Their Beliefs. It turns out those who vehemently
demand Christians be tolerant of their views and lifestyles, and force Christians to perform services under threat of legal
retaliation are — and I can't believe I'm writing this — intolerant of Christians, and refuse to
provide services for them. In a recently released video from the group Abolish Human Abortion, a pro-life advocacy
group, a gay coffee shop owner can be seen berating, insulting, and forcing the removal of the Christian group because of
their beliefs. Caytie Davis and her fellows had been handing out pro-life pamphlets that targeted the homosexual
community for the spread of the Gospel. I won't pretend that the pamphlet's designs and words were fully geared for
opening up discussion with the gay community without agitation first — you can check out the pamphlet for
yourself at The Liberator — but the pamphlet's blunt message aside, the group did not bring it into the coffee
shop with them.
Gay
coffee shop owner kicks Christians out and goes on offensive rant. A gay coffee shop owner in Seattle decided
to kick out a group of Christian anti-abortion protesters, going on an expletive-laden, extremely offensive rant that was
recorded and posted on Facebook. The group, Abolish Human Abortion, appeared not to be bothering anyone. They
weren't in the shop to proselytize or hand out literature. They just wanted a cup of coffee. What they got was
an obscene, even blasphemous rant from an unbalanced store owner.
Spot the crazy president.
President Obama threatened to cut off education funds if schools didn't allow boys to go into girls' facilities if they felt like girls.
Anyone who not only thinks that it is OK for boys to expose their sex organs to girls, but thinks the government should force everyone to
allow it is off his rocker.
Court Stunner!
Girl Must Use Girls Locker Room. Rejecting eight years of "gender identity" politics under President Obama, a
Missouri appeals court ruled a biological girl must use a locker room for girls. The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western
District, this week affirmed the dismissal of a complaint by a female identified by the court only as R.M.A.
The
Southern Poverty Law Center Has Become a Dangerous Joke. [Scroll down] We heard from men and women who've long served gay customers and
formed lasting friendships with gay neighbors who now face death threats because they simply refused to lend their artistic talents to
celebrate a gay wedding. We heard one man's voice break as he told the story of how his father fought across Europe and helped liberate
a concentration camp from Nazi control — and now his son is called a "Nazi" in part because he wants all people to enjoy the same rights of
conscience and wants no man or woman to be coerced into supporting events they find immoral.
Masterpiece Cakeshop Is Fighting for the First Amendment. For
one thing, no matter how many times people repeat it, the case isn't about discrimination or challenging gay marriage. But when the news first
broke, USA Today, for example, tweeted, "The Supreme Court has agreed to reopen the national debate over same-sex marriage." The headline (and
story) on the website was worse; it read, "Supreme Court will hear religious liberty challenge to gay weddings." Others similarly framed the case.
(And, don't worry, "religious liberty" is almost always solidly ensconced inside quotation marks to indicate that social conservatives are just using it
as a facade.) There is an impulse to frame every issue as a clash between the tolerant and the closed-minded. But the Masterpiece case doesn't
challenge, undermine or relitigate the issue of same-sex marriage in America. Gay marriage wasn't even legal in Colorado when this incident occurred.
Christian
bakers free to live out faith in Mississippi. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals announced June 22 that it was overturning
a lower-court decision a year earlier that stopped the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act. HB 1523
was signed into law April 2016 by Gov. Phil Bryant but was challenged in the courts by homosexual activists. Last week's ruling
found that those activists lacked legal standing because the new law had not harmed them. "The court determined," says attorney Kevin
Theriot of Alliance Defending Freedom, "that the plaintiffs in this situation weren't even harmed enough to be able even to get into court,
much less to win on the merits of the case."
Why
Masterpiece Cakeshop case could rival Hobby Lobby decision. Two of the most precious rights Americans possess
are the right to express themselves freely and the right to practice their religion as they see fit. Both are enshrined
in the First Amendment. But these rights are not absolute, and sometimes may clash with a duty toward others.
Monday the Supreme Court decided to hear a case that may test these limits — Masterpiece Cakeshop v.
Colorado Civil Rights Commission. It started in July 2012. Charlie Craig and David Mullins asked Jack Phillips,
who owned the Masterpiece Cakeshop, to create a custom wedding cake to celebrate their same-sex marriage. Phillips
refused, saying he didn't want to promote a same-sex wedding due to his religious beliefs.
Rights
of Conscience Besieged by Sexual Activists. Mississippi's House Bill 1523 establishes badly needed protections
for those Americans whose faith forbids them to participate in same-sex wedding ceremonies or to treat a person's gender as a
matter of preference rather than an immutable, God-given characteristic. The law precludes the state from taking
discriminatory actions against those who reject the latest fruits of the sexual revolution — who choose instead to
live in light of the knowledge that God created people "male" or "female," and to abide by the timeless moral law reserving
sexual intimacy for the permanent, exclusive bond of marriage between a man and a woman. The statute also creates a
legal defense for citizens who refuse to violate these core beliefs. The plaintiffs who challenged the statute argued
that they are "stigmatized" by the very existence of these religious tenets. I wonder if they've stopped to consider
the "stigma" experienced by devout individuals who have, due to a sickening erosion of First Amendment principles, actually
been prosecuted for refusing to forfeit their faith to someone else's ideas about human sexuality.
Supreme
Court takes case on cake for same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court decided Monday to hear a case involving a
Colorado baker's refusal to design and make a cake for a same-sex marriage. The baker, Jake Phillips, declined to make
the custom cake and said it conflicted with his religious beliefs. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission decided that
Phillips' actions amounted to sexual orientation discrimination under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. The
Colorado Court of Appeals said the commission's ruling did not violate the First Amendment because Phillips' speech was "conduct
compelled by a neutral and generally applicable law," as attorneys for Phillips noted in their petition to the high court.
Why Democrats
keep losing. [#9] They advocate weird sexual public practices. Privately, anyone can be what he wants if his
choice harms no one else. Publicly, if a man who believes he is a woman walks into a public space historically reserved for
women, then this action endangers the women because he may be just a pervert. The Dems can't keep advocating obvious nonsense
and expect the larger public to like them.
The
Government Of Texas Just Made A New Law: Christian Adoption Agencies Will Have The Right To Not Give Children To
Homosexuals. The State of Texas is absolutely right for doing this! By passing this law, it is protecting
vulnerable orphans from being taken by perverts. The only reason why sodomites want to adopt children is to recruit
them into their homosexual cult; they also want children to molest them, both spiritually and physically, forcing them into
their depravities. The sodomites want to sexually assault children. Normal people produce; sodomites recruit.
This is the bottom line.
LGBT
group objects to Lance Berkman speaking at Cardinals 'Christian Day'. The St. Louis Cardinals' decision
to have Lance Berkman speak at its upcoming "Christian Day" has drawn ire from one local LGBT group. Pride Center of
St. Louis said it was "disappointed" the team would allow Berkman to speak at the event due to his "divisive and
demeaning" views. [...] Berkman spoke out against the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), a measure aimed at protecting
Houston's LGBT residents in 2015. He appeared in an ad denouncing the law, which allowed transgender individuals to use
public bathrooms consistent with their gender identity.
Michigan
Man Banned From Farmers' Market for Refusing Same-sex Weddings on His Farm. A farmer is suing the city of East
Lansing, Michigan, for banning him from its farmers' market because he refuses to host same-sex weddings on his farm far
outside the city. Steve Tennes, owner of Country Mill Farms in Charlotte, Michigan, a small town 22 miles southwest
of East Lansing, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on May 31 challenging East Lansing's decision to bar him from its
farmers' market, where he has sold produce every year since 2010. Tennes argues that the city is targeting him for his
religious beliefs in violation of both the U.S. Constitution and Michigan law. In 2014, Tennes, a Roman Catholic,
politely declined a request by two women to hold their marriage ceremony on his farm, which has hosted weddings for many
years. Tennes referred the women to another farm, which granted their request. One of the women later publicized
the disagreement on Facebook but took no legal action.
Just
a Reminder That Planet Fitness Lets Men Use the Women's Locker Room. Planet Fitness now has a Michigan court on
its side in its quest to let men into the women's locker room. When a woman who attended a Planet Fitness gym
complained about a man in the women's room, Planet Fitness told her she needed to deal with it. They were open to
letting men who identify as women use that bathroom. When the woman told others at the gym, the gym cancelled her gym
membership and she sued. A Michigan court has sided with Planet Fitness.
The
US Government Is Now Forcing Farmers To Have Homosexual Weddings On Their Lands. The government is now forcing
farmers to have homosexual weddings on their lands. This is already happening. A Catholic farmer has been just
recently prohibited from selling fruit because he refused to host a sodomite wedding on his land.
City:
You can't sell blueberries unless you affirm gay marriage. The Tennes family has been farming in Michigan for
generations. They grow all sorts of crops at the Country Mill Farm — organic apples, blueberries, pumpkins,
sweet corn. And for the past seven years, Steve Tennes and his family have sold their produce at the farmer's market
owned by the city of East Lansing. But this year — city officials told the devout Catholic family that their
blueberries and sweet corn were not welcome at the farmer's market — and neither were they.
Federal
Court Sides with Transgender Student in High School Bathroom Case. Ash Whitaker, a transgender high school
senior, sued his school district for not allowing him to use the boys' restroom at school because he was born female.
Whitaker claimed that the school violated Title IX regulations against gender discrimination, as well as the Equal Protection
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. On Tuesday [5/30/2017], the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Whitaker, upholding
a preliminary injunction that allowed him to keep using his preferred facilities. Whitaker, who according to court documents
first identified publicly as a boy going into his freshman year, claims that the school's bathroom policy, which was not written in
any codified guidelines or regulations, was harmful to him both physically, in the sense that he would get dehydrated (and faint) as
a result of limiting water in trying to avoid using the bathroom, and emotionally, to the extent that he had suicidal thoughts.
The Editor says...
Title IX regulations may guard against gender discrimination, but I doubt if the authors of Title IX gave any thought
to the prevention of discrimination based on "gender identity" issues or any other self-induced gender problems.
We may have reached the point at which any new law should now include a disclaimer exempting the enforcement of the law
from "rights" yet to be invented by activist judges.
Illinois
Purges Social Workers And Foster Families Who Don't 'Facilitate' Transgenderism. The science-deniers are
running the LGBTQ show over at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), and dissenters will not be
tolerated. The department's new "enhanced" policies promoting the "well-being of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender
and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) children and youth in the Department's care" ratchet in one direction only: encouraging
children towards LGBTQ identities. DCFS has drawn a rainbow-colored line in the sand, announcing it "will not tolerate
exposing LGBTQ children and youth to staff/providers who are not supportive of children and youths' right to self-determination
of sexual/gender identity."
The Editor says...
When did "self-determination of gender identity" become a right?
Christian
printer wins in court against gay persecutors. Good news for a Christian printer — a ruling in court
means he won't be forced to print stuff for a gay wedding. [Video clip]
Christian
Printer Who Was Punished by Gov't For Refusing to Make Gay Pride T-Shirts Wins Big in Court. A Kentucky appeals
court has ruled that the government cannot force a Christian printer to make T-shirts for a gay pride event after the
government previously stepped in and punished the businessowner for refusing to do so. The Kentucky Court of Appeals
ruled 2-to-1 that Blaine Adamson, owner of Hands on Originals, a print shop based in Lexington, Kentucky, is correct in his
argument that being forced to create the T-shirts was a violation of his religious beliefs, according to the Becket, a law
firm devoted to the defense of religious liberty.
Christian
Bakers Fined for 'Injury to Feelings' After Refusing to Make 'Support Gay Marriage' Cake Get BIG Surprise.
Something quite surprising has happened to Christian bakers in Northern Ireland who were found guilty of discrimination for
declining to make a cake that included the message "support gay marriage" on it: The bakery's profits have increased.
Justice
Department Quits Pro-Transgender Lawsuit. President Donald Trump's Department of Justice has dropped a 2016
pro-transgender lawsuit against the state of North Carolina, marking another success for mainstream advocates who wish to
preserve normal single-sex facilities and institutions. The lawsuit was filed in May 2016 by deputies working for
President Barack Obama, who was ideologically opposed to any civic or legal recognition that men and women are biologically
different as well as legally equal.
Obergefell's
Toxic Judicial Legacy. The cultural, legal, and political consequences of establishing a right to same-sex
marriage have dominated discussions regarding Justice Kennedy's Obergefell decision. Will religious institutions
that oppose same-sex marriage lose their tax-exempt status? What will happen to vendors whose consciences prohibit them
from participating in same-sex weddings? How and when will schools address same-sex marriage? Those consequences
are important and merit serious discussion. However, another aspect of the case — Justice Kennedy's
instructions regarding judges' authority to create new "rights" — will prove equally important in the long
run. In Obergefell, Justice Kennedy did far more than merely discover a constitutional right to same-sex
marriage. He wrote that judges have an ongoing "duty" to identify and protect new "fundamental rights." He
maintained that judges should institute new rights whenever their "reasoned judgment" suggests that it is appropriate
to do so.
Transgender
bathroom bill's hit to North Carolina economy amounts to scant 'rounding error'. It turns out that the economic
devastation to North Carolina wrought by the much-publicized boycott over House Bill 2 wasn't all that devastating —
and it wasn't all about HB2. Overlooked in the uproar leading up to last week's repeal of the disputed transgender bathroom bill
was its negligible impact on the state's economy: The loss of business, concerts and sporting events represented just
6/100ths of 1 percent of the state's nearly $500 billion annual economy.
Abused
women object to "trans" man in shelter: Guess who gets evicted? Would I be stating the obvious saying the
prime directive of a women's shelter is to provide refuge and support to women (and kids) fleeing abusive relationships, and
as such, those running shelters should be sensitive to the women's safety concerns? Probably. And then there's
the Kelowna Women's Shelter. Despite its name, the shelter seems to be a lot more concerned about not offending the
feelings of fake women as opposed to providing a safe haven for real women.
High
School Tries Shaming Boy, Demanding He 'Tolerate' Undressing with Girls to 'Make it Natural'. A teenage boy and
his parents have filed a lawsuit against a Pennsylvania high school saying that administrators tried to shame the boy for
being "intolerant" and demanded that he undress with girls in the school locker room to "make it seem natural." The
lawsuit, filed by Alliance Defending Freedom and Independence Law Center (ILC), is alleging that the Boyertown Area School
District in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, sexually harassed the plaintiff, CBS News reported. "No school should rob any
student of this legally protected personal privacy," said ILC attorney Randall Wenger. "We trust that our children
won't be forced into emotionally vulnerable situations like this when they are in the care of our schools because it's a
school's duty to protect and respect the bodily privacy and dignity of all students." "My client is standing up not only
for himself but for others who feel bullied," Wenger added.
This
Just In: Boycott of N.C. Over Bathroom Bill Dies With a Whimper. The economic boycott of North Carolina
over the state's controversial "bathroom law" that requires men and women to use their respective bathrooms in public
facilities is a failure.
NCAA
Mixes Sports and Politics. After a hiatus of more than 10 years, during which time the National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA) refused to hold championship events in South Carolina because the Confederate flag was not
removed from the statehouse grounds in Columbia, an NCAA-sponsored event was held in Greenville, South Carolina. The
state was finally taken off the NCAA's "bad list" when the "offending" Confederate flag was removed in from the grounds of
the South Carolina Capitol in July 2015. [...] Ironically, the NCAA games were originally slated to be held in neighboring
North Carolina, in Greensboro, but the NCAA has now blackballed that state for political reasons. In the North Carolina
case, the Confederate flag was not the issue, but rather a North Carolina law drew the ire of the NCAA. The law required
"transgender" people to use public restrooms corresponding to the sex found on their birth certificate.
Tourism
thriving, economy expanding in North Carolina despite bathroom bill desertions. North Carolina may have lost
out on the NCAA championships, the NBA All-Star Game and Bruce Springsteen thanks to its hotly contested transgender bathroom
law, but the state's economy didn't miss a beat. Economic indicators released for 2016 show that the boycott has failed
to derail North Carolina as a regional and national powerhouse, despite the loss of high-profile performances and sporting
events in response to House Bill 2, signed March 23 by then-Gov. Pat McCrory. Tourism has thrived:
Hotel occupancy, room rates and demand for rooms set records in 2016, according to the year-end hotel lodging report issued last
week by VisitNC, part of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.
A
New, Ideological Litmus Test for Christian Judges. On December 2014, a reporter at a local Wyoming paper, the
Pinedale Roundup, called the town's municipal judge, Ruth Neely, to ask if she was "excited" to be able to perform
same-sex marriages. (Two months earlier, the state had decided not to defend its same-sex marriage ban after it was struck
down by a federal judge.) In the ensuing conversation and later ones, Judge Neely explained that she'd never been asked to
perform a same-sex marriage and mentioned her religious belief that marriage is the union of a husband and wife. She also
made clear that her beliefs would not prevent any same-sex couple in the area from getting married. (They have not, in fact,
done so, either: To this day, no one has asked her to perform a same-sex wedding.) Ominously, the reporter later
called Judge Neely and offered not to run the story if she would "state a willingness to perform same-sex marriages." This
odd reaction to the judge's response to a hypothetical question was a portent of further trouble.
Losing
is Contagious: Inconsistent Conservatism Leads to Crushing Consistency on Courts. The U.S. Supreme Court
recently avoided deciding a closely followed transgender-rights lawsuit over public-school bathrooms, instead sending the
case back to the lower court. But another sexual-orientation lawsuit, State of Washington v. Arlene's
Flowers, may soon come before the high court. This case arose after Arlene's Flowers, a flower shop owned by
Barronelle Stutzman, refused to make a floral arrangement for a same-sex wedding. Stutzman is a devout Christian who
was willing to make such arrangements for same-sex couples but drew the line at weddings. Stutzman's policy led state
of Washington officials to team up with the ACLU and sue Arlene's Flowers for violating the state's anti-discrimination law.
Texas
lawmakers advance bathroom bill against transgender students. A Senate committee in Texas passed legislation Wednesday [3/8/2017] to require that
transgender students in public schools use restrooms that match their birth sex. The Senate State Affairs Committee passed Senate Bill 6, the so-called
"bathroom bill," by a vote of 7-1 to advance it to the full chamber for a vote.
U.S.
Supreme Court Cancels Transgender Bathroom Showdown. The U.S. Supreme Court canceled a scheduled showdown over
the bathroom rights of transgender students in public schools, sending the case back to a lower court after the Trump
administration changed a pivotal federal policy. The justices were planning to hear arguments March 28 in the case of
Gavin Grimm, a transgender Virginia high school student suing his school district to get access to restrooms that align with
his gender identity.
Bakers
Accused of Hate Get Emotional Day in Court. The ongoing battle between gay rights and religious liberty
escalated Thursday as husband-and-wife bakers in Oregon appealed their case after being ordered to pay $135,000 in damages
for declining to make a cake for a same-sex wedding. "Everything up to this point has been administrative hearings,"
Aaron Klein, co-owner with his wife Melissa of the since-closed bakery, told The Daily Signal afterward. "Every time we
tried to make a constitutional argument it was stomped on, because it was administrative law," he said. "But now we're
finally in a courtroom where the Constitution and due process can be argued on a level we haven't seen before. I'm
looking forward to seeing the outcome."
Our Hawkish
'World War T' Elites. It never seems to occur to these elites that the Obama administration badly overreached
by effectively federalizing bathroom and locker room policy. Do they really think that it's so obvious that people
should agree to let sexually mature teenage males into the bathroom and locker room with their daughters? Do they
really think that this is the proper role for the federal government?
Report:
Donald Trump Overrides Betsy DeVos' Support for Obama's Pro-Transgender Policy. Donald Trump's education
secretary opposed changing President Barack Obama's pro-transgender policy, according to a report in the New York
Times, even though Obama's rules would have exposed the nation's single-sex institutions and civic groups to crippling
lawsuits by gay advocacy groups. But Attorney General Jeff Sessions prevailed in the closed-door dispute, and with aid
from Trump, persuaded Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to support a reform of the Obama's pro-transgender policy.
Trump
administration revokes Obama-era transgender bathroom guidance for schools. The Trump administration Wednesday [2/22/2017]
revoked federal guidelines issued by former President Barack Obama that allowed public school students to use restrooms and other
facilities corresponding to their gender identity. A document submitted to the Supreme Court by the Solicitor General's office
said that the Obama-era directive issued this past May did not "undergo any formal public process" or explain how the directive was
"consistent with the express language of Title IX," the federal law outlawing sex discrimination in education and activities.
Trump
administration to rewrite Obama's transgender rule. The Supreme Court is slated to hear oral arguments late
next month on a case involving a transgender teen from Virginia who sued the local school board for the right to use the
men's bathroom on campus despite being born a female. The debate over transgender "bathroom bills" gained increasing
attention late last year after the Obama administration sent guidance to public schools saying they should allow transgender
students to use whichever bathroom matches their gender identity.
Trump
administration to repeal transgender school bathroom order: Report. The Trump administration will rescind
an Obama-era order compelling public schools nationwide to permit restroom and locker room access on the basis of gender
identity, the Washington Blade reported. The Blade cites Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for
Transgender Equality, who says she heard from "reliable sources" that President Trump has authorized the Education and
Justice Departments to revoke the guidance.
Freedom or Football? The
National Football League has officially put the State of Texas on notice: if that state persists in denying men with peculiar sexual proclivities
access to public rooms full of young girls with their pants down, then Texas may be denied the privilege of hosting any more Super Bowls. To
be precise, as you probably know, Texas lawmakers are proposing a law similar to North Carolina's, restricting access to public bathrooms and
changing rooms to people of the actual biological sex for which those facilities were designed. [...] Why is this controversial? Because
it is "inconsistent with [the NFL's] values." Really? And when was this great table of NFL values etched in stone? Would the
NFL have taken up this issue as a matter of principle at any time prior to, say, five years ago?
Washington's
Supreme Court Imposes Its Progressive Faith on a Christian Florist. If you care about the Bill of Rights, the
rights of conscience, or even the English language, there's a chance that this morning you felt a disturbance in the
Force — as if the Founders cried out in rage and were suddenly silenced. That disturbance was the Washington
Supreme Court's oppressive ruling in State of Washington v. Arlene's Flowers, a case holding that a florist was
bound by state law to use her artistic talents to design floral arrangements to celebrate what she viewed as an immoral
event: a gay wedding.
Oddly enough, media silent about
Muslim bakeries that all refused to bake cake for gay couple. Stephen Crowder (a Conservative humorist and commentator) went to
multiple bakeries in Dearborn Michigan and could find a single Muslim bakery that would bake him a wedding cake celebrating gay marriage.
[...] But this post is not about how Muslims are big fat bigots and homophobes for not wanting to bake a cake for a gay couple. We support
the Muslim bakers' rights to refuse service just as much as we support the Christians. As a matter of fact, I'll take it a step further
than Crowder does in his video and say that we believe any private establishment should have the liberty to refuse service to anyone for any reason.
[...] No, this is a story about media bias. You see, when the media baited a Christian pizzeria owner into saying that she probably wouldn't
cater a gay wedding, the media went ballistic!
Christian
florist who turned away same-sex couple broke anti-discrimination laws, Washington court says. Barronelle Stutzman, a florist in the
town of Richland, said she was exercising her First Amendment rights. Her lawyers promised that they would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to
overturn the decision. Stutzman had previously sold the couple flowers and knew they were gay. However, Stutzman told them that she
couldn't provide flowers for their wedding because same-sex marriage was incompatible with her Christian beliefs. Washington Attorney General
Bob Ferguson and the couple sued her, saying she broke state anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws, and the lower court agreed.
The state's nine high court justices upheld that verdict.
The court has now ruled that you must participate in a homosexual wedding, whether you want to or not.
Washington
Supreme Court rules against Christian florist in gay wedding case. The Washington Supreme Court says a
Christian florist broke state law by declining to participate in a same-sex wedding ceremony, setting the stage for the U.S.
Supreme Court to weigh in on the contentious legal conflict between gay rights and religious liberty. The state court
rejected the First Amendment arguments advanced by Barronelle Stutzman, the 72-year-old owner of Arlene's Flowers in
Richland, Washington. It ruled that protections against compelled speech do not apply to her case because her work
is not an "inherently expressive" act.
Yarn
shop won't sell to 'women's movement' supporters. A knitting shop in Tennessee is asking those who want yarn
for any project relating to the recent "women's movement" to go elsewhere. In a Facebook post Tuesday, The Joy of
Knitting asks that "if you want yarn for any project for the women's movement that you please shop for yarn elsewhere," and
said the "vulgarity, vile and evilness of this movement is absolutely despicable."
Trump
Should Dump Obama's Transgender Shower Decree. Obama's transgender bathroom, locker-room, and shower-stall
decree belongs high atop the list of edicts that President Donald J. Trump should obliterate. From priorities to
prematurity to procedure, this is public policy at its worst. Obama jointly used his departments of Justice and
Education to declare that all learning institutions that take federal funds — from kindergarten through graduate
school — must allow students to enjoy the lavatories, locker rooms, showers, other facilities, and sports teams
that correspond not to their objective genitalia but to their subjective "gender identity." According to the DOJ and the DOE:
"Gender identify refers to an individual's internal sense of gender. A person's gender identity may be different from
or the same as the person's sex defined at birth." This pronouncement emerged via a May 13 "guidance letter."
The
accused pedophile behind the 'bathroom bills'. Accused pedophile, "mega-Obama-bundler" and long-time prominent
fixture of the radical left, Terry Bean, is responsible for the bathroom bills sweeping America. If not for Bean's
"affluenza," it is quite likely that the 68-year-old would be in prison today for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old boy
in an Oregon hotel room in 2013 with his then-lover Kiah Lawson, who was 25 at the time. As reported at Oregonlive,
Bean "had offered the boy at least $200,000 to settle the case." Terry Bean is the co-founder of several radical groups
posing as civil rights organizations. One of these organizations, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), created the template
for the bathroom bill ordinances sweeping the nation.
Transgender
Bill Could Cost San Antonio $234 Million, Says Study of Final Four. A study for the city of San Antonio
predicted that the 2018 Final Four would bring nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in spending to the city, a talking point
sure to be raised as debate continues over a proposed Texas law seen by some as discriminatory to transgender people. A
similar law in North Carolina prompted the N.C.A.A. and the N.B.A. to pull events from that state. According to a memo
obtained Friday by The New York Times and verified by a spokeswoman for the local organizing committee, next year's Final Four
would lead to $135 million in direct spending and a total economic impact, accounting for money spent by tens of thousands
of visitors at other businesses, of $234 million.
The Editor says...
Obviously the people of San Antonio must decide if basketball is more important than morality and common sense.
The
transgender bathroom case arrives at the Supreme Court. Back in October I wrote about the announcement that the
Supreme Court would be hearing the case of G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board. This is the long awaited
"transgender bathroom law" challenge to the Obama administration's reinterpretation of Title IX law which sought to morph
the definition of "sex" to include the SJW concept of gender identity.
Texas
Transgender Bathroom Bill Triggers National Speculation. The transgender bathroom battle is being hit
straight-on in the Lone Star State. A state senator has pre-filed a bill which she says "seeks to put an end to a
controversy that began in Washington D.C." National media outlets are already speculating on whether the fight will be
similar to the one in North Carolina. Texas State Senator Lois W. Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) filed Senate Bill 6,
the "Texas Privacy Act" which she says is "a bid to address the personal privacy concerns of many Texans." Kolkhorst
called herself "a longtime privacy advocate" and added, "This bill is written not to begin a controversy, but to end one."
North
Carolina Republicans stall vote to repeal 'anti-LGBT' bathroom law. Republican legislators in North Carolina
declined to repeal the controversial bathroom bill after multiple delays and private meetings between GOP lawmakers.
The state House adjourned without voting to repeal the Public Facilities and Privacy Security act, or House Bill 2 (HB2),
during a special session called by outgoing Gov Pat McCrory. Shortly after, the Senate voted down the repeal, to chants
"shame" as lawmakers filed out of the chambers. Democrats introduced the bill to repeal HB2 Wednesday afternoon [12/21/2016],
which was met with an amendment from Republicans including a "cooling off period" — a proposal to would block
municipalities from approving ordinances affecting public accommodations and access to restrooms for more than six months.
North
Carolina fails to repeal 'bathroom wars' law. North Carolina lawmakers failed to scrap a law that served as a
spark in America's "bathroom wars" over transgender identity, and the broader cultural battle between conservatives and
liberals. The state assembly had convened a special session to do away with so-called House Bill 2, which required
transgender people to use restrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificates — not the one they
identify as — in schools and government buildings.
North
Carolina Limits on Transgender Rights Appear Headed for Repeal. The North Carolina legislature plans to hold a
special session Wednesday [12/21/2016] to consider fully repealing the contentious law curbing legal protections for lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender people. The move comes after the Charlotte City Council rescinded a local anti-discrimination
ordinance on Monday that had prompted passage of the statewide law in March. Governor-elect Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said
in a statement Monday morning that Republican legislative leaders had "assured" him that a special session would be called "to
repeal H.B. 2 in full." Mr. Cooper won the Nov. 8 election after arguing that the law, known as House Bill
2, H.B. 2 or "the bathroom bill," had embarrassed the state, cost it thousands of jobs and set off an exodus of high-profile
sporting events.
The
Ugly End To The Charlotte "Bathroom Bill" Debacle. After all of the hooting and hollering in North Carolina
over the Charlotte "transgender bathroom issue" and the state response with HB2, was it all for nothing? Was this just
a stunt by the Democrats which they were willing to abandon as soon as the election was over and their candidate had won the
governorship? They're saying it's not, but the evidence seems to be pointing in the other direction. While
everyone else was focused on the Electoral College, Charlotte turned around and repealed the ordinance with the state
legislature saying that they would, in turn, repeal HB2.
Transgender
Student Can Continue To Use Girls' Bathroom, Federal Appeals Court Rules. A transgender female student at an Ohio school
will be able to continue using the girls' restroom under a Thursday evening [12/15/2016] federal appeals court's ruling. An order
that the Highland Local School District allow the student to use the girls' restroom will remain in effect for now, the US Court of
Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled. The court denied the school district's request to halt enforcement of a preliminary injunction
issued against the school. The move is the latest in a series of lawsuits and other actions over the question of whether existing
civil rights laws — here, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 — protect against anti-transgender
discrimination through their bans on sex discrimination. The Obama administration has backed the view that transgender people
are protected by the current laws.
Judge
finds Gov. John Bel Edwards exceeded constitutional authority with LGBT order. Gov. John Bel Edwards
overstepped his authority in an order requiring state agencies and private companies contracting for state work to not
discriminate against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people in the workplace, a district judge in Baton Rouge ruled
Wednesday morning [12/14/2016]. 19th Judicial District Court Judge Todd Hernandez affirmed the constitutional
independence of the Attorney General's office and noted that a Governor cannot act outside the scope of his authority by
creating law with executive orders.
A
New Defense for Religious Liberty: Going on Offense against Bad Laws. It is no secret that religious
liberty is under attack. The wedding photographer, florist, and cake baker are no longer able to practice their faith
at work without fear of retribution for refusing to fall in line with the new government orthodoxy.
Hundreds
support Christian florist fined for refusing to work gay wedding. Hundreds of supporters cheered on the
Washington Christian grandmother and florist who was fined for declining to make floral arrangements for a same-sex wedding
as she appeared before the state's Supreme Court on Tuesday for oral arguments in her appeal of an unfavorable lower court
ruling. As previously reported by The Christian Post, Barronelle Stutzman, the owner of Arlene's Flowers in Richland,
Washington, was fined $1,001 by the Benton County Superior Court in 2015 because of her objection to making floral arrangements
for the same-sex wedding of her longtime customer Robert Ingersoll and his partner Curt Freed in 2013 because she felt it
would have violated her Christian beliefs on marriage to do so.
Oregon
official who bullied Christian bakery owners loses election. An Oregon bureaucrat who waged political jihad against the owners of a Christian
bakery was given the heave-ho by voters. Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian was defeated by Republican Dennis Richardson in his bid to be Secretary of
State. It's the first time a Republican has been elected to a statewide office in Oregon since 2002. So consider this — Avakian was too
liberal for what is arguably one of the most liberal states in the country. Avakian, a passionate advocate for the LGBTQIA crowd, was thrust into
the national spotlight when he declared war on a Christian bakery in 2013.
ACLU Seeks Damages Against Kim
Davis. We all remember the battle over marriage license in Kentucky. I wrote several articles following
the goings-on of the court battle, arrest and final release of Davis. She was finally able to prevail when the State of
Kentucky removed the County and County Clerks name from the licenses. This, in almost every way, was seen as a victory
for Kim. She was no longer regarded as defying the law or the court, and the contempt charges were dropped. So,
that would have seemed to be the end of the controversy for Kim. That would be wrong.
More
Power, Less Principle in the Culture Wars. [Scroll down] The school lavatory imbroglio about transgender students makes the matter clearer
still. Had Washington really cared about the transgendered, it could have played a sympathy card with the public and invited solutions,
a third or fourth lavatory perhaps. Instead, it settled on the one way most likely to arouse opposition from the church and adherents to
traditional mores. It insisted that the schools allow biologically male teens to enter the locker rooms and lavatories of teenaged girls
at will. Picking a fight intentionally seems a strange way to help the transgendered, but it fits perfectly with the elite's needs by
creating yet another way to denigrate any who adhere to alternative views. The transgendered, along with the teenage girls, simply became
props to help the ruling class establish its credentials.
Supreme
Court to rule in Virginia transgender case. The Supreme Court will take up transgender rights for the first
time in the case of a Virginia school board that wants to prevent a transgender teenager from using the boys' bathroom at his
high school. The justices said Friday they will hear the appeal from the Gloucester County school board sometime next
year. The high court's order means that student Gavin Grimm will not be able to use the boys' bathroom in the meantime.
A lower court had ordered the school board to accommodate Grimm, but the justices in August put that order on hold while they
considered whether to hear the appeal.
Supreme
Court becomes hall monitors. Chief Justice John Roberts is an embarrassment to the nation who should resign
immediately because he just allowed the court to beclown itself by taking up a school bathroom case.
Supreme
Court to hear Virginia transgender restroom case. After months of speculation, the U.S. Supreme Court decided
Friday that it will hear a Virginia case involving the fight over restroom access between a school district and a transgender teenager.
Court:
Hey, you Christians, it's just a witch. A bakery owner in Northern Ireland, who refused to provide a cake that
promotes homosexuality, must now decide whether to make a final appeal. Daniel McArthur, owner of Ashers Bakery,
learned Oct. 24 that the Court of Appeals ruled he illegally discriminated against homosexuals. Ashers refused to
create a cake (pictured above) with a "Support Gay Marriage" slogan, and an image of Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie.
The request was made by a homosexual rights activist identified by BBC News as Gareth Lee. The bakery has served Lee in the
past, Arthur told the court, but he turned Lee down because of the cake's message.
Illinois
judge cites "cisgender" subjects in transgender bathroom ruling. A judge in Illinois has dealt another blow to
parents seeking to protect the privacy of students in bathrooms, locker rooms and showers. This is a case which dates
back to last winter when the families of girls in Illinois school District 211 went to court asking for an injunction against
a new federal mandate saying that boys who "identify" as girls should be allowed in their toilet and changing facilities.
That case has bounced back and forth a few times now, but the most recent ruling just came down and it went against the
parents. A federal judge has ruled that there is no constitutional right not to share restrooms or locker rooms
with transgender students and the wording of his ruling is rather jaw dropping.
16
Times Democrats Tried To Prosecute Their Opponents. [#9] Advocates for Sex-Protected Bathrooms: The Obama
administration threatened to defund schools that didn't want to allow transgender students to share bathrooms, locker rooms,
and overnight sleeping quarters with children of the opposite biological sex. The edict was aimed at crushing dissent
from Republican lawmakers who have pushed back against new regulations to force schools, private businesses, and churches
into following the trans agenda with little public discussion or allowance for multiple ways to accommodate all parties.
Sweet
Cakes by Melissa closed for good by Gay Mafia. In 2013, years before the Obergefell v .Hodges Supreme Court
decision that made same-sex marriage the so-called "law of the land," a small family owned and operated bakery in Oregon
refused to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian wedding because it was a violation of their Constitutional right to exercise
their freedom of religion. Even though the Oregon law they allegedly violated — Oregon Equality Act of
2007 — contained exemptions for religious organizations and schools when it came to sexual orientation issues, the
state does not consider religion to be relevant when it comes to Christian-owned businesses. After being fined $135,000
by the state of Oregon, and receiving numerous protests and death threats, Sweet Cakes by Melissa is now officially
closed — for good!
Gay
Mafia snuffs out Constitution and Chief Justice Roy Moore. As Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton continue to
demonstrate how far America has fallen morally and Constitutionally, forces outside of government continue to take advantage
of our decline using activist judges to do what they've been unsuccessful in doing under the law. On Friday
[9/30/2016], Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Roy Moore, was suspended without pay for the remainder of his term
for alleged ethics violations under the Canons of Judicial Ethics for Alabama Judges. And what was his abhorrent
ethical breach? He enforced the law under the Alabama Constitution as it relates to same-sex marriage, specifically
the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment, voted into law by 81% of the citizens in the state in 2006.
The
Media Won't Pressure Charlotte To Solve The Trans Bathrooms Squabble, But You Can. Things haven't been the same
in North Carolina since Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, in her selfish desire to be a progressive icon at her city's
expense, decided to legislate against uncomfortable looks in the locker room. That's how this whole thing
started. A sex offender who once fondled a 15-year-old boy as he slept wanted the rest of society to normalize
transgender bathroom trips through legislation, even though transgender people say they were already using whatever bathrooms
they wanted. He was the president of Charlotte's LGBT Chamber of Commerce (as opposed to the straight one) which
conducted a survey about discrimination in the city. Spoiler alert: they said they found discrimination!
In bathrooms!
What
Follows the Bathroom Boycott? The state of North Carolina is being tarred and feathered in the sports world
because it passed a bill in March stating that the state's public schools would abide by boy-girl divisions dating back to
the advent of man. The bill said, "Local boards of education shall require every multiple occupancy bathroom or
changing facility that is designated for student use to be designated for and used only by students based on their biological
sex." This, according to the gender-deconstructing left, is the "new Jim Crow," a cruel and usual punishment of students
who reject the gender they were "assigned at birth." Obama's Department of Justice used the media-created hubbub, replete
with a phantom victimology, to mandate bathroom "inclusion" on every public school in America.
Minnesota
parents sue after transgender student twerks in girls' locker room. Nearly a dozen Minnesota families are suing
their school district for failing to take action after their daughters were exposed to a transgender male student allegedly
twerking and engaging in other sexual behavior in the girls' locker room. The lawsuit concerns Minnesota's Virginia
Public Schools, which changed its restroom and locker room policy in response to the Obama administration order in May
compelling public schools nationwide to regulate intimate sex-segregated facilities on the basis of gender identity.
The transgender student, only identified as "Student X" in the complaint, would allegedly dance to lewd music while in the
locker room, including by "twerking, grinding, and lifting up his skirt to reveal his underwear" in front of high school girls.
The Editor says...
A so-called transgender person's entire existence is all about sex. That's all they know. Perverse behavior of this sort is to be expected.
Massachusetts
Government Can Force Transgender Bathroom Policies On Churches, Guidance Says. Under a Massachusetts civil
rights agency's interpretation of new anti-discrimination law, churches can be forced to let biological males who identify as
transgender women use the women's bathroom. Recently passed legislation amending the state's anti-discrimination law to
include protections for "gender identity" will take effect Oct. 1. The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination,
which enforces the state's anti-discrimination laws, recently published a "Gender identity guidance" that lays out what will
be legally required of employers and "agents of places of public accommodation."
Judge
blocks transgender bathroom law for 3 plaintiffs. A federal judge has temporarily ruled that the University of
North Carolina can't block two transgender students and an employee from using bathrooms that match their gender identity.
Obama's
LGBT Agenda Suffers Loss in Case of Transgender Funeral Director. When families lose loved ones, they often
seek out funeral homes for solace and comfort and, for people of faith, spiritual consolation as well. At such a
delicate time, the last thing grieving families expect is a debate over whether male funeral home employees should be allowed
to dress like women at their loved one's funeral. But that is exactly the conflict President Barack Obama's Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission set in motion when it sued Thomas Rost. As a matter of faith, Rost, the owner of
three funeral homes in Michigan, required his male and female employees to dress in keeping with the solemnity and sensitivity
of funerals and burials. Thankfully, a federal district court has vindicated Rost's religious liberty in a well-reasoned
decision under the nation's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Revolt:
Judge Blocks Obama's Insane Bathroom Directive. There's a sane federal judge in the Lone Star state that has
blocked Obama's insane edict on transgenders and bathrooms in public schools. He took a solid stance in opposition to
the president's mandate that a student should be able to choose the bathroom they wish to use based on their chosen gender
preference rather than reality.
U.S.
Judge's Order Stops Obama's Bathroom Guidance in Its Tracks. A United States District Judge ordered a halt to
the Obama administration's recent actions requiring transgender access to showers, bathrooms, and lockers in our nation's
schools and in other public contexts.
Judge
blocks Obama administration directive on transgender bathroom use. A federal judge on Sunday [8/21/2016]
blocked the Obama administration's directive that school children be allowed to use bathrooms and other facilities that align
with their gender identity regardless of biological gender — siding, for now, with 13 states and agencies
challenging the controversial order. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor did not rule on the underlying challenge
itself. The order means that the administration's directive will be blocked while the case itself plays out.
Obama's
Transgender Bathroom Policy Blocked by Federal Judge. A federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday sided
with Texas and 12 other states that argued the administration's policy usurps local control and threatens students' safety
and privacy. The use of public bathrooms and locker rooms by transgender people has become the latest front in civil
rights struggles between social conservatives and the administration following battles over same-sex marriage and military
service by openly gay members of the armed forces in which President Barack Obama has sided with gay-rights advocates.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor came after the U.S. Supreme Court on Aug. 3 temporarily blocked an order
that would let a transgender student use the boys' bathrooms during his senior year at a Virginia high school.
Transgender:
Obama To End Single-Sex Bathrooms on Federal Property. President Barack Obama's deputies will insert a rule in
federal regulations on Friday [8/19/2016] to prevent federal facilities from operating single-sex bathrooms. The rule
in the "Federal Register" of regulations will open up thousands of bathrooms in federally operated buildings to employees
and visitors who claim on any given day to be "transgender" members of the opposite sex.
University to females: Transgenders can use
your bathroom, don't 'gender police' if a man comes in. The University of South Alabama today [8/15/2016]
debuts a wide-sweeping new policy that allows men who identify as female to use girls' bathrooms. In announcing the new
policy, it also admonished students not to "gender police" if someone of another biological sex saunters into the
restroom. "There is no rule that a person must look a certain way to use a certain restroom. This kind of 'gender
policing' is harmful. Individuals should not have to dress or groom in a way that conforms to someone else's gender
standards," the university stated in its FAQ section announcing the new policy.
Obama
to issue transgender bathroom order for federal facilities: Report. The Obama administration will
announce this week a new directive granting access to intimate federal facilities on the basis of gender identity.
BuzzFeed News reported Monday [8/15/2016] that the regulation will be posted in the Federal Register at some point this week,
opening up thousands of federally operated restrooms to transgender people who wish to use the facilities corresponding with
their gender identity rather than biological sex.
51
Illinois Families Ask Court to Suspend School's Bathroom, Locker Room Policy. Adding to the handful of lawsuits
involving transgender students across the country, lawyers representing a group of 51 families in a Chicago suburb asked a
federal judge to temporarily suspend a school policy that grants a transgender student access to the girls' restrooms and
locker rooms. "Every parent sends their kids to school expecting that the school is going to protect them at the most
basic level — their safety, their privacy, their dignity," Jeremy Tedesco, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs in
the case, said after the hearing wrapped on Monday afternoon [8/15/2016]. "What we're asking for is a temporary injunction
that will allow the girls to continue to have single-sex facilities to themselves, free from the presence of the male students
while the case is pending."
Standing up to bathroom
bullies in Charlotte. The N.C. Values Coalition says the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board should walk away
from its controversial new anti-bullying policy. We say the school board members should stand firm. Religious
conservatives upbraided the school board Tuesday over the policy, which allows transgender students to use school bathrooms
and locker rooms based on their gender identity. That puts other students' "privacy, safety and dignity" at risk, the
coalition contends. Nonsense. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has explicitly said that all students will have
access to increased privacy, such as a single-stall restroom or a screened area in the locker room. No girls will be
forced to see boys' private parts, or vice versa. It should go without saying, but no sane, moral adult would force
that on any child. And that's not what's happening here.
North
Carolina's Children: Friendly Fire Casualties In Transgender Culture War. Earlier this week I wrote about
the need for today's spiritual leaders to rise up and take a stand for righteousness in America by preaching from the pulpit
on the political issues of today affecting morality and Christianity, a form of civil disobedience, if you will. Little
did I realize at the time that some of the big issues over the past few days would make civil disobedience the theme of the
week. Today we learn of another situation near and dear to the hearts of the decrepit left ... transgenderism.
Already a battleground on the topic, North Carolina is once again ground zero as the Charlotte-Mecklenburg indoctrination and
brainwashing administration — a.k.a. the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System (CMS) — have joined hands
with the Gay Mafia by issuing a pending decision to cease in referring to students as boys or girls.
Texas,
12 states to ask judge to stall Obama transgender bathroom order. Some 13 states led by Texas will ask a
federal judge Friday [8/12/2016] to halt the Obama administration's order to allow transgender students in U.S. public schools
to use the restrooms of their choice. The hearing in Fort Worth is the latest in the battle between the federal government
and various states opposed to the policy change. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor will hear arguments over the states'
request for a preliminary injunction to halt the Obama directive just weeks before school re-opens for the fall. It is
not knowwn when the judge might issue a ruling.
Who
is Judge Ruth Neely from Pinedale, Wyoming? I respect the right of others to disagree with my religious or
moral beliefs. To decide not to associate with me because of my opinions. To stay away from me because of my
circle of friends. I have the same rights with regard to them. Our rights are equal, and they are fundamental to
our humanity. Let's not become another Iran. We can live tolerantly with each other. We need not harness
the fearsome power of government to bludgeon those who disagree with us on moral and religious matters.
Unprecedented: Small town
judge faces ban for religious beliefs. Ignoring the pleas of LGBT citizens in the small town of Pinedale,
Wyoming, a state agency is demanding that — after over 20 years of sterling service — Judge Ruth Neely
be banned for life from the judiciary and pay up to $40,000 in fines merely for stating that her faith prevents her from
personally performing same-sex weddings. Even though small-town magistrates like Judge Neely aren't required or even
paid by the state to perform weddings, the state agency concluded that Judge Neely "manifested a bias" and is therefore
permanently unfit to serve as a judge. This would be the first time in the country that a judge was removed from office
because of her religious beliefs about marriage.
Neely
case reaches fever pitch. Since 2014, Pinedale Municipal Judge and Circuit Court Magistrate Ruth Neely's case
has become increasingly more public and controversial — earning statewide, as well as national media attention.
What began as a quote for a local newspaper has grown into a constitutional debate, and Neely's position and reputation hangs
in the balance.
Protect Religious Liberty and Free Speech for
All! Stand with Judge Neely. In our work together as advocates for Life, Marriage and Religious Freedom
we are continually encountering a growing intolerance from elitists even for our right to speak. As Judge William Rehnquist
recently put it, we now live in a society "that bristles at all things religious." While these challenges to the first
amendment typically come in the context of the same-sex marriage debates, they have far reaching implications for the church's
entire ability to speak and act in the public square. To put it simply, if we lose our right to free speech, we will
lose our ability to advocate for marriage, life and family and ultimately for the gospel itself.
Supreme
Court blocks ruling on Virginia transgender bathroom case. The Supreme Court decided Wednesday [8/3/2016] to put a
hold on a ruling that would have required a Virginia school district to allow a transgender high school student to use the
boy's bathroom. The eight justices split 5-3, with Democrat-appointed Justice Stephen Breyer siding with the
Republican-appointed judges that the Gloucester County public school system does not have to accommodate student Gavin
Grimm's request to use the bathroom of his choice.
These
PC Stores Better Stop Insulting Families Because I'm Running Out of Places to Shop. Political correctness works
against organic families. This has been evident for years. Lately, it has gotten worse. Political
correctness, or propaganda compliance, has gone commercial. Now companies far beyond energy corporations feel the need
to bow to PC dictates. The left mastered the art of boycotts. Now the mere specter of a boycott or a hashtag
campaign keeps businesses compliant to leftist dictates. The right has not been as proactive about boycotts, but with
the trends in executive decrees and the implosion of basic words, organic families feel more pressure and, therefore, the
need to push back. A clever company even noticed the desire and designed an app that rates companies on things
conservatives care about. But the trouble is, PC pressures have been so effective that we are running out of
places to shop.
Bill
would prevent LGBT discrimination at religious schools. A bill moving through the [California] Legislature
would remove a longstanding exemption from anti-discrimination laws for religious institutions, potentially exposing the
schools to civil rights lawsuits from students and employees.
New
NCAA Rule: Championship Sites Must Allow Cross-Dressing Men To Use Women's Bathrooms, Showers. The
National Collegiate Athletic Association has announced that all cities and college campuses seeking to host future NCAA
championship events must fill out a lengthy, seven-page questionnaire about whether men can use women's bathrooms and waltz
into women's locker rooms to take showers. The NCAA Board of Governors announced its new bathroom-and-locker-room
survey on Friday [7/22/2016].
One more store to boycott:
Macy's
Fires Catholic Over Transgender Bathroom Incident. A senior store detective at Macy's has been fired from his
job after he intervened when a female customer reported that a man entered the women's bathroom. After he was asked to
leave the restroom, the man complained saying he believes he is really a female. The woman and her daughter were
frightened by the man's presence. The case is now before the New York State Division of Human Rights, reports the
ChurchMilitant.com. Javier Chavez says he was never told about any policy that would allow men to use women's facilities.
NBA
to move 2017 All Star game from Charlotte due to bathroom bill. The National Basketball Association announced
that it will not play the 2017 All Star game in Charlotte, N.C. because of the LGBT bill passed earlier this year. No
alternate site for the game has been announced. The NBA's action follows the decisions by several large corporations
and well known entertainers to boycott North Carolina because of the bathroom bill.
PGA
will not pull 2017 PGA Championship out of Charlotte despite HB2 controversy. The PGA of America has announced
that the 2017 PGA Championship will remain at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina despite the HB2 bathroom bill
that led the NBA to remove the 2017 All-Star Game from the city. The PGA of America released a written statement on
Thursday night explaining their decision to stay at Quail Hollow. "The PGA of America strongly opposes North Carolina
HB2. It contradicts our commitment to create an inclusive and welcoming environment at our events. We remain hopeful
that the law will be changed." read the statement, via ESPN.
Connecticut
State Government: Believing There Are Only Two Genders Is 'Genderism'. According the Connecticut Department of Children
and Families (DCF), which published an LGBT glossary of more than 250 terms, the belief that there are only two genders —
male and female — should be treated as "genderism." The guide, which was published as part of the DCF's Safe Harbors
Project and was last updated July 7, defines "genderism" as: "The system of belief that there are only two genders (men and
women) and that gender is inherently tied to one's sex assigned at birth. It holds cisgender people as superior to transgender
people, and punishes or excludes those who don't conform to society's expectations of gender."
A Florist
Caught Between Faith and Financial Ruin. When a florist was forced to choose between a beloved customer, who is gay, and
following her Christian convictions, she made a decision that changed lives and, perhaps, how the law will see such cases in the future.
Texarkana
Repeals Transgender Bathroom Ordinance. The issue of transgender access to bathrooms and locker rooms of the
opposite sex — which came to the forefront of the public mind in April when Target announced its new
policy — has been quietly incubating behind the scenes for longer than most Americans are aware. The battle
has been brewing for many months in places as diverse as Washington State and Texarkana, Arkansas, as the radical Left has
conspired to create this issue and introduce it by stealth and deception. And while communities all over the country
are waking up to find that this issue has moved into their cities, counties, and states, many are organizing efforts to
defeat it and return sanity to their communities.
Big
companies back DOJ suit against NC bathroom law. Leading airlines, hotel chains, retailers and tech companies
are backing the Department of Justice in its lawsuit against North Carolina over the state's controversial bathroom
law. American and United airlines, the Hilton and Marriott hotel chains, as well as Apple, Dropbox, eBay, IBM,
Microsoft, PayPal, and Ikea, are among 68 companies signing on to a "friend of the court" brief asking a federal
judge to issue an order that stops the law, known as HB2, from being enforced until a court has ruled on the discrimination
case. HB2 requires people to use the public bathroom matching their gender at birth. In the brief, the companies
said the law's effects reach far beyond North Carolina's boundaries.
Ten
states sue Obama administration over transgender bathroom policy. Ten states lodged a new legal challenge on
Friday against the Obama administration's requirement that public schools allow transgender students to use bathrooms and
locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Nebraska, comes after 11
other states sued to block the same policy in May. Barack Obama announced the new rules as his administration fought an
intensifying battle with North Carolina, which passed a law barring transgender people from using bathrooms and other
gendered facilities that don't match the gender listed on their birth certificates. The federal policy applies to every
public school district in the country, and districts that fail to comply risk forfeiting millions in federal funding.
With Friday's [7/8/2016] lawsuit, the number of states challenging the policy reaches almost two dozen. Many observers
predict that the battle will ultimately come before the supreme court.
Another
Governor Signs Transgender Bathroom Bill. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill into a law Friday
[7/8/2016] preventing discrimination and allowing transgender to use the bathroom of their choice. Massachusetts now
allows transgenders to use the bathroom corresponding to their "gender identity," rather than their biological sex, reports
The Boston Globe. The bill prevents discrimination against transgenders in certain public areas, such as restaurants,
museums and malls. It broadens a 2011 law that banned discrimination against transgenders in housing and the workplace.
Kim
Davis Is Being Sued For Denying a Man the License to Marry His Laptop. A man who wants to marry his laptop has
filed a federal lawsuit against Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis for denying the issue him a marriage license. According to the
Liberty Council, Mark "Chris" Sevier, the plaintiff, has also filed lawsuits against Gov. Matt Bevin and Kentucky
Attorney General Andy Beshear. Davis first made headlines last year when she denied to issue marriage licenses to
same-sex couples, and now Sevier is out to make a point about marriage.
Iowa:
'Some' churches must comply with transgender bathroom laws. Is a church a place of public accommodation and if
so — are congregations required to follow anti-discrimination laws regarding gender and sexual orientation?
That's the issue raised by a brochure published by the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. They contend that any church that
opens its doors to the public would be required to comply with sexual orientation and gender identity laws. [...] Chelsey
Youman, First Liberty's chief of staff, told me the ramifications of Iowa's policy cannot be overstated. "This is an
unprecedented move by a government agency to mandate that anytime a church opens its doors to the public that it automatically
qualifies as a place of public accommodation," Youman said. "And this is just the tip of the iceberg."
Christian
Mingle Ordered To Accept Gay Singles. Dating website ChristianMingle has settled a lawsuit and now will accept
same-sex searches. Previously, the site only allowed women to search for men and men to search for women. A
class-action suit was filed in 2013 by two gay men against Sparks Networks Inc., the owner of ChristianMingle and several
other dating sites. The suit alleged that the sites were in violation of California's anti-discrimination law.
Why
Mississippi's Law on Religious Rights and LGBT Discrimination Got Blocked. Why doesn't anyone care about
Mississippi? This spring, the state's legislature passed H.B. 1523, an extensive law written to protect people who
believe any of the following: that marriage is between a man and a woman; that sex should only happen in the context of
marriage; and that the words "male" and "female" refer to "an individual's immutable biological sex as objectively determined
by anatomy and genetics at time of birth." The law claim these protections are a form of religious freedom. It provides
that religious organizations can refuse to rent out their social halls for a same-sex wedding, for example, and that clergy can
refuse to perform a same-sex marriage ceremony. These groups can also fire a single mother who gets pregnant, or, in the
case of religious adoption agencies, decline to place a child with a same-sex couple. Doctors and psychologists can refuse
to get involved with gender-reassignment procedures or take cases that would violate their religious beliefs. Schools and
other public agencies can create "sex-specific standards" for dress code, bathrooms, and more. State employees can also refuse
to sign same-sex-marriage licenses, and they can't be fired for saying they believe homosexuality is wrong, for example.
It is, without a doubt, the most extensive legislation of its kind to be passed into law since the U.S. Supreme Court's
same-sex-marriage decision one year ago. And for the most part, the country has been silent. Now, a federal judge
has blocked the law from going into effect, which was set to happen on July 1.
Judge
blocks Mississippi religious objections law. A federal judge has blocked a Mississippi law that would let
merchants and government employees cite religious beliefs in denying or delaying services to same-sex couples.
Virginia
Governor Blasts Religious Freedom. Governor Terry McAuliffe of Virginia decried having to "veto a so-called 'religious
freedom' bill. It's such an oxymoron," on WTOP radio Wednesday [6/29/2016]. The bill that McAuliffe vetoed is a short one,
and simply states that religious organizations or clergy should not be required to participate in the solemnization of marriages and
should not be penalized for their refusal to do so. Its language specifically aimed to protect the actions of those "with a
sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one
woman." It is not uncommon for Democrats to question religious freedom legislation, saying that it goes beyond defending
religious freedom and into anti-LGBT discrimination.
New
move for Kim Davis' after being jailed in marriage fight. The Kentucky county clerk jailed by U.S. District
Judge David Bunning after she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in violation of her constitutionally
protected religious beliefs is asking an appeals court to vacate the judge's order. The request from Kim Davis to the
6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals explains that a subsequent change in state law is giving her the exact accommodation she
requested throughout the dispute. Bunning abruptly jailed her with no opportunity to argue her case and then threatened
her deputies with penalties if they also refused to issue the licenses.
The
American Left is Evil: Orlando Shooting. Leftists are the minority. However, they own the federal
government, social media, public education, Hollywood, and the Democratic party. They incite misdirected anger, hate
and guilt to bully the public into embracing their anti-American and anti-God agenda. Because the Left controls the
media, they get away with falsely portraying their opposition. The Left takes disapproval of them forcing their agenda
on us to absurd extremes. For example: If you say "no" to men using girl's restrooms, Leftists in the media brand
you an insane hatemonger who seeks the murder of all homosexuals. If you disagree with the Left's illogical obsession
with disarming Americans, repealing the second amendment, Leftist media brands you a racist toothless idiot redneck that
wants to shoot all people who do not look like you.
Employee
Accused of Sexually Assaulting Young Girl in Bathroom of Riverside Restaurant. A restaurant employee in
Riverside accused of sexually assaulting a young girl has been booked on suspicion of lewd acts on a child, police said
Wednesday. The assault occurred about noon Monday [6/6/2016] when the girl went to use a bathroom at the business located
in the 1700 block of University Avenue, the Riverside Police Department stated on Facebook. The girl's mother went
into the restroom a short time later and found the employee, identified by police as 34-year-old Avimael Lopez, inside the same
bathroom, according to the Police Department.
College dorms a new
front in U.S. battle over transgender rights. As lawmakers across the United States battle over whether to
allow transgender Americans to use public restrooms that match their gender identities, universities are scrambling to ensure
that dorms meet federal standards. At a time of year when the nation's 2,100 residential colleges and universities are
sorting out student housing assignments, they also are poring over a May letter from the Obama administration that thrusts
them into the national debate on transgender rights. Known as the "dear colleague" letter, it makes clear that federal
law protects transgender students' right to live in housing that reflects their gender identity. Schools that fail to
provide adequate housing to transgender students could face lawsuits or the loss of any federal funding they rely on.
Obama
Civil Rights Director: Against American Values To Keep Men Out Of Women's Bathroom. Legislation that
keeps men out of women's bathrooms is directly contrary to American values, according to assistant attorney general Vanita
Gupta, who heads up the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Civil Rights Division. Gupta made the claim at a forum held on
Tuesday [6/7/2016] by the Washington Council of Lawyers.
Transgender
Ideology Trumps Free Speech In Northern Virginia Schools. Youths in Fairfax County, Virginia, can now be
disciplined and even expelled from school for criticizing the intrusive and aggressive transgender ideology. The
transgender change in school regulations was imposed last night during a dramatic board meeting where only 12 pro-trans
witnesses were invited to testify. The board members met on Thursday night only after being informed the night before
that the discipline change would be considered. No opposing voices were allowed to be heard, parents were relegated
to shouting opposition from the seats and some were ejected from the meeting.
Alabama
top justice tells judges not to issue gay marriage licenses. Alabama's top justice said Wednesday [6/8/2016]
that state probate judges should not issue same-sex marriage licenses, despite the Supreme Court's landmark ruling legalizing
gay marriage last year. Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore cited conflicting rulings and said until they are
resolved, a prior directive from March telling judges to comply with the state's gay marriage ban would remain in
effect. He wrote: "Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the existing orders of the Alabama
Supreme Court that Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama
Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act remain in full force and effect."
Why
All The Hippies Morphed Into Campus Fascists. [Scroll down] Now clergy will be forced by law to perform
marriages for same-sex couples. While it's still perfectly legal for a Presbyterian minister to decline to marry a
couple of heterosexual Methodists simply because they aren't members of the congregation, he will be committing a crime if he
refuses to perform nuptials for two dudes who are shopping for a ceremonial backdrop.
Security
Guard Arrested For Removing Man From Women's Bathroom. A female security guard working at a Washington, D.C.
grocery store was arrested Monday afternoon for physically escorting a man out of the women's restroom after he refused to
leave because he identifies as a woman. The shopper — a young, African-American male who identified himself
as Ebony Belcher to local news outlets — reportedly passed the security guard on his way into the women's restroom
at a Giant grocery store in Northeast D.C.
Liberals
Enable Sexual Predators to Hunt Women. A recent Daily Signal article explained why a CNN poll about letting men
use women's restrooms was flawed: the reality is, most people oppose letting men use women's restrooms. While it's an
excellent article, it implicitly buys into the liberal framing of the whole issue. While "transgender" men who are
attracted to women — as Bruce Jenner is — are a valid concern, the biggest problem with this liberal
policy is that it allows any registered sex offender to use the women's bathroom with impunity. The vast majority of
the opposition to "gender-neutral" restrooms is based on the fact that liberals believe that since gender is fluid, a man
could consider himself a woman any time he wanted to molest women. Liberals don't require a man who uses a women's
restroom to have a doctor's note; his word that at that moment he's feeling like a woman is enough.
Transgender
Privilege and the Americans with Disabilities Act. There is a lot behind the Obama administration's diktat to
public schools requiring them to treat transgender students in accord with claimed gender identity. The administration
is pandering to radical LGBT activism, attempting to expand federal and especially executive power, continuing the left's
ongoing ideological war against American tradition, and cynically manipulating the Democratic base on behalf of Hillary
Clinton. The Administration has preposterously tried to defend its coercive "guidance" to local school districts as
analogous to federal enforcement operations during the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. In fact, the
rationales and means employed bear a closer resemblance to the use and misuse of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
since its passage in 1990, by disability activist groups and wealthy and influential plaintiffs' lawyers. It's a case
of the regulatory state simply picking and choosing rationales from smorgasbord of "rights" statutes to dictate to the people.
ACLU
leader quits after daughters encounter men in the women's restroom. Maya Dillard Smith, interim director of the
Georgia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, has resigned over the ACLU's position on who can use which public
restrooms. The resignation occurred after her two daughters were traumatized by encountering men in the women's restroom.
ACLU
state leader quits after daughters 'frightened' by biological males in restroom. Evidently, Maya Dillard Smith,
interim director of the Georgia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, has had an epiphany. [...] Dillard Smith is
responding to a biological imperative: the protection of her children. This is what pierced the veil of ideology that
had blinded her to the realities obscured by the fine rhetoric and shiny ideals the ACLU purports to uphold.
Who
will be using opposite sex bathrooms under cover of being 'transgender'? The political left says that the notion that men do not belong in the
same public bathrooms as girls and women proves the political right are full of hate towards the LGBT community because it stereotypes transgendered individuals
as dangerous. The transgendered, they argue, are mostly passive individuals who pose no threat. The political right argues the idea people have a legal
right to select a gender du jour would enable actual criminals to get in close proximity to their preferred targets. [...] Based on numbers provided
by the US Census Bureau, approximately six out of every 100,000 Americans identify as the opposite sex from which they were born. That is such a minute
percentage that the odds are that most Americans have never even seen a transgendered person except on television.
Group
Says Legal Expert Has Received Death Threats For Testifying Against Obama Transgender Guidance. A legal expert
has received death threats after she testified against the legality of the Obama administration's Transgender Guidance.
University of San Diego law professor Gail Heriot — a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights —
was invited to testify before a House hearing on "executive overreach" where she called the transgender guidance
"fundamentally anti-democratic."
Kentucky
Joins in Lawsuit to Battle Obama Administration Overreach. Matt Bevin, governor of Kentucky, announced today
[5/27/2016] that his state would join with Texas and eleven other states in a lawsuit that fights back against the Obama
administration's bathroom directive, which called for public schools to go gender neutral, erasing the lines of decency and
risking the comfort and safety of children. The directive also called for allowing boys and girls to share hotel rooms
on overnight class trips, should one decide they "felt like" the opposite sex.
Dear
LGBT Community, Resistance to Your Community Has Nothing To Do With Being "Phobic". The dictionary defines a
phobia is "an extreme, or irrational fear of something." A good visual example would be someone's fear of snakes, dogs, or
heights. The person, upon being introduced to the very sight of these things, is reduced to something like a cornered
animal with his or her primal fight-or-flight instinct hammering at the mind. You can see how the "phobe" accusation is
a ridiculous one. "Phobe" hardly fits those who disagree with homosexuality or transgenderism, or it's activist
community's agenda, but that's not the point. The point is to paint the opposition as irrational, and/or hateful.
This way the opposing person, or persons, is viewed with an initial level of contempt, and their words and points are
automatically worth less, or not even up for consideration.
Watch
as Democrat unable to deal with professor's challenge on 'transgender' bathroom rule loses it, starts calling names. During
a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the recent transgender bathroom mandate, Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) found herself unable to
rationally deal with a witness, a law school professor, who had submitted a 21-page written statement to be entered as testimony.
11
states sue Obama administration over transgender bathroom guidance. Eleven states filed a federal lawsuit
Wednesday against the Obama administration to challenge its federal guidance on how schools should accommodate transgender
students. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on behalf of Alabama,
Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The lawsuit argues
that the federal government has worked to turn workplaces and schools "into laboratories for a massive social experiment."
It also argues that the federal government is "flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies
protecting children."
New building
code: All single-user bathrooms should be gender neutral. A new building code is about to take some of
the steam out of the debate over gender-neutral bathrooms for transgender people. The newly adopted code by the
International Code Council calls for all new construction to have single-user, unisex bathrooms, where occupancy standards
apply. Specifically, the code outlines that for "assembly and mercantile facilities" where six or more water closets
(toilets) are required, at least one of the toilet rooms be provided with a single water closet and a single lavatory.
These gender-neutral toilet rooms would be intended for family/assisted-use but would also be available for single users.
The plumbing code — under the latest International Building Code — requires all single-user toilet facilities
to be labeled for use by either sex or gender-neutral. The change will not be entered into the organization's policy books
until 2018.
Rep.
Lofgren Calls Civil Rights Commissioner 'Ignorant Bigot' for Criticizing Bathroom Mandate. Rep. Zoe
Lofgren (D-Calif.) called U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner Gail Heriot, a law professor at the University of San Diego School
of Law, an "ignorant bigot" for Heriot's testimony Tuesday [5/24/2016] that the guidance issued by the Department of Education's
Office of Civil Rights, which says students may use bathrooms and locker rooms in accordance with their gender identity, was
"teaching young people a terrible lesson." The exchange occurred during a hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee's
Task Force on Executive Overreach.
A
Monstrous Moral Leviathan. Having grown up within a mile of the Beltway during the Cold War, the greatest fear
dominating my childhood and adolescence was that I might one day look up and see a brilliant mushroom cloud rising over DC.
At the time, it never occurred to me that the biggest threat to our nation would come not from a foreign enemy, but from
within the halls of power in our nation's capital. Our government Leviathan is very real and has grown to previously
unimaginable proportions. Its ever-increasing reach seems to know no bounds. And what was once perceived to be
Leviathan's mostly fiscal threat to the health and well-being of our nation is now a monstrous moral threat.
Leviathan's vast bureaucracies are now its foot soldiers, who have busied themselves with weaponizing executive edicts,
errant court rulings and out-of-control regulatory powers against all who disagree with our Ruling Elites never-ending
social/moral engineering experimentation.
11
states sue US government over transgender bathroom policy. Officials from 11 U.S. states sued the Obama
administration on Wednesday [5/25/2016], seeking to overturn a directive from the federal government that public schools should allow
transgender students to use the bathroom matching their gender identity. Ramping up the simmering battles over
contentious cultural issues in America, the states, led by Texas, accused the federal government of rewriting laws by
"administrative fiat."
These
Are the Radical DOJ Lawyers Suing North Carolina Over Transgender Bathroom Use. PJ Media published the Every
Single One series in 2011. The series documented the Obama administration's hiring of radical lawyers to fill the career
ranks in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. Every single one of the new attorney hires were radical
leftists or partisans. Since 2011, the situation has only gotten worse. Much worse. The Civil Rights
Division exercises enormous power over the everyday lives of Americans: they are involved in employment, education, housing,
religious liberty, abortion, prisons, policing, and much, much more. The radical beliefs of these radical lawyers have turned
into radical administration policies.
Time to Shut Down
the Department of Education. The Department of Education was created under President Carter in 1979 under the
same misguided pretense that has driven much of the growth of our massively bloated federal government — that if
there is something we really care about, we should give more money and power to Washington bureaucrats. It would be
good news if the Department of Education just wasted the money it gets from our hard-earned taxes. But it uses the money
to do real damage. Nothing could provide a better example than the newly issued guidance letter that the Department of
Education, jointly with the Justice Department, just sent to public school districts across the country, threatening to
cut of [sic] federal funds if public schools do not comply with guidelines for treatment of so-called transgender students.
Obama,
The Great Bathroom War of 2016, and The Cultural Revolution. The left is advancing a cultural revolution of
radical egalitarianism, creating a new cultural hegemony of which the Great Bathroom War of 2016 is but the most recent
element. [...] As reported by the New York Times, maybe only three out of a thousand people identify as
transgender. So why would Obama stir up a hornets nest to accommodate this tiny minority? Obama thereby has taken
a symbolic stand of strategic significance for the ongoing cultural revolution. It has profound political implications
both short and long term.
Ask
this 13-Year-Old Girl if Transgender Bathrooms Pose a Threat. In the midst of outcries from the transgender
community that women don't face threats in public bathrooms, police in England are looking for a man who allegedly took
photos of a 13-year-old girl while she used the bathroom at a McDonalds in Berkshire. [...] This incident has occurred at the
same time that transgender activists in America are saying there are no threats to women should transgendered women (i.e.,
men) be allowed in their bathrooms. The LGBT lobby has been releasing ads in North Carolina that voice opposition to
the state's law requiring people to use public restrooms that match their biological sex. HB2, as the law is known, was
designed to help protect the privacy and security of women.
Liberal
Mary Fallin Appointed Co-Chair of RNC Platform Committee. As soon as Obama promulgated his transgender mandate
earlier this month, the Oklahoma legislature jumped into action to block the illegal edict. The bathroom safety bill,
SB 1619, was originally sponsored by the Senate pro temp and the House speaker. Suddenly, the Chamber of (Crony)
Commerce came out against the bill, and Speaker Jeffrey Hickman took his name off it. According to local grassroots
activists, Gov. Mary Fallin, who has not uttered a word in defense of state's rights against Obama's absurd and immoral
decree, has ensured that state party leaders backed off the bill. With just three days left until the end of the session,
the bill is now stalled.
Senator
Tillis Throws North Carolina Under the Transgender Bus. If you want to know why the most extreme elements of the Left are winning
50-year culture wars overnight without facing a modicum of opposition, look no further than North Carolina's junior senator, Thom Tillis, and his
refusal to defend HB2. [...] More broadly, how can Tillis suggest that he will wash his hands of HB2 because it's a state issue? Yes, that's
the point. It was a state issue until the two unelected branches of the federal government (DOJ and Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals)
made it a federal issue. Why won't the representatives from North Carolina in the elected branch of the federal government help
return the issue to the states? Moreover, eradicating gender differences is neither a state nor a federal issue; it is reflective
of mental illness and de-civilization. It's also important to remember that once the Obama administration sent out the letter demanding
unisex accommodations in all 50 states, this is no longer "a state issue."
Our
'1984': An equal opportunity gender disaster. In the Oceania of "1984," it is standard practice for the
so-called Ministry of Truth to manufacture convenient fictions that are tailored to steer public opinion toward acceptance of
government-approved propaganda. The depth of the government's ability to manipulate the public is characterized by the
illogic of the ruling Party's slogans: War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. Boys
are girls. Oh wait, that last one came from Obama's Department of Justice, not Orwell's Ministry of Truth.
Across
America, State Officials Are Rebelling Against Obama's Transgender Bathroom Decree. Across America, local and
state officials are pushing back very strongly against the Obama administration's decree concerning transgender use of school
bathrooms and locker rooms. Pennsylvania lawmakers are the latest to criticize the Obama proclamation, which orders
that schools "may not require transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity or to use
individual-user facilities when other students are not required to do so."
GOP
files bill to block Obama's transgender rule. Rep. Luke Messer, R-Ind., proposed legislation on Wednesday
[5/18/2016] aimed at blocking President Obama's new guidelines that require schools to let transgender students use the
restrooms of their choice, or risk losing federal funding. Messer's bill would put into U.S. law that schools can't
lose their funding for failure to comply, and Messer said that step is needed to stop the federal government's overreach into
local issues. "Everyone on both sides of this debate should be treated with respect," Messer said. "And, through
public discourse, I believe we can come to a solution that protects the privacy and dignity of everyone involved."
Charlotte
Observer: Girls must overcome 'discomfort' at seeing male genitals in locker room. A shocking editorial
in the Charlotte Observer counseled young girls to get over the "discomfort" they feel at the sight of male genitalia when
transgender facilities are allowed in North Carolina. The newspaper assumes the law will eventually be repealed or
declared illegal. While that may or may not happen any time soon, it is the justification for this position used by the
Observer that reveals the true nature of this battle of the bathroom.
Security
Guard Arrested For Removing Man From Women's Bathroom. A female security guard working at a Washington, D.C.
grocery store was arrested Monday afternoon [5/16/2016] for physically escorting a man out of the women's restroom after he refused
to leave because he identifies as a woman. The shopper — a young, African-American male who identified himself
as Ebony Belcher to local news outlets — reportedly passed the security guard on his way into the women's restroom
at a Giant grocery store in Northeast D.C.
What
the restroom war is really about. So why have liberals chosen to force the issue of "transgender" rights down our
throats and trigger another (and possibly) losing fight over loo access? The answer is not only that liberals are drawn to
the issue like salmon to their home stream, but that they're afraid to leave it be. But not for the reason you think.
Indeed, they couldn't care less about the hurt feelings of the sexually confused. What they're targeting is the mindset of
those men who aren't at all confused. After all, you have to remember that their goal has always been a state of being that
doesn't admit any identity for oneself other than that provided by the government.
College
boots ex-Delta Force hero after complaint from LGBT activist. Jerry Boykin is the kind of man you'd want
teaching your sons — a good and decent man, an honorable man — a Christian man. For the past nine
years the retired lieutenant general has taught leadership and ethics at Hampden-Sydney College, a highly regarded, all-male
school based in Virginia. By many accounts — he is beloved and deeply respected by students. But
Gen. Boykin will not be returning to the classroom this fall. That's because he tells me he's been fired.
The man who was one of the original members of Delta Force and once commanded all of the U.S. Army's Green Berets —
the man who served his nation with honor and distinction for more than 36 years — was ousted because of political correctness.
Update:
Lt.
General Jerry Boykin Wins Back Job at College. Hampden-Sydney has reinstated retired Army Lt. Gen.
William "Jerry" Boykin as a visiting professor. He was let go after his comments on transgender bathrooms.
General Boykin is a devout Christian who was formerly one of the greatest warriors in the U.S. military. A founding
member in 1978 of America's most elite military counterinsurgency unit, Delta Force, he rose through the fighting ranks to
become the commanding general of Delta Force. He later was the head of the Army's Special Warfare Center, led the U.S.
Army Special Operations Command, and served at the Pentagon as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, retiring as
a three-star general and one of the world's foremost experts on national security and fighting terrorism.
College
reverses decision, rehires famed Delta Force hero. When given the choice of standing alongside a decorated
military hero or a bunch of militant LGBT activists[,] choose wisely. The leadership of Hampden-Sydney College learned
that lesson the hard way.
Three
Things Texas Is Doing to 'Defy' Obama's Transgender Directive. The Obama administration's directive that public
schools give transgender students access to the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice will not stand in Texas, Lt.
Gov. Dan Patrick said. "We are going to look at every pathway to resist the federal government," Patrick, a
Republican, said in a Wednesday [5/18/2016] interview with The Daily Signal. "At the end of the day, I believe, first we can get
the administration to back off." Shortly after a school superintendent in Forth Worth, Texas, unilaterally imposed rules
involving transgender students in his district, the U.S. Justice and Education departments rolled out a similar directive for
schools around the country. Patrick said his state will not be "blackmailed" by President Barack Obama, and the directive
is "a poke in the eye at the values of the American family."
Does
Obama's Troubled Childhood Explain His Bathroom Weirdness? It is not considered polite to mention it, but Obama observers have ignored a great
deal of evidence that the president of the United States was abused at approximately age ten and afterwards, in a way that would be criminal under American
and European law. [...] All this should be irrelevant, but it is not — certainly not when the president of the United States issues decrees to our school
systems that directly affect the psychological development of children. The Western world has seen major "revolutionary" movements based on assumed
or real sexual desires and behavior. [...] Obama's "Bathroom Edict" is an obvious abuse of presidential power. It should not be obeyed, even if
parents and teachers have to mount a major resistance campaign. The fact that it hasn't already stirred enormous public outrage shows how
desensitized we have become.
LTG Jerry Boykin: Toilette* Terrorists Claim Their
First Victim. Obama's campaign to normalize the abnormal by forcing the "acceptance" of men entering women's
restrooms, locker rooms and showers has claimed its first high profile victim in Lieutenant General William "Jerry" Boykin,
USA, Ret. General Boykin, the former commander of the Army's elite Delta Force, is Executive Vice President of the
Family Research Council, and also taught at Hampden College — one of America's last two all-male colleges.
Boykin has now been fired by the college in retaliation for comments he made regarding the effect of Obama's edict that
"gender fluid" men must be allowed — without question — to use the facilities of their choice.
College
Caves, Fires Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin For Condemning PC Gender Ideology. Hampden-Sydney College has
caved to radical gender ideologues who demanded the firing of Ret. Lt. Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin after
his criticism of transgender bathrooms. Boykin — once commander of the Army's elite Delta Force and
currently executive vice president of Family Research Council — has been teaching at the all-male college
located in Virginia.
Can
We Restore Local Control of Education? [Scroll down] But the Departments of Justice and Education (the
Civil Rights Division and the Office for Civil Rights, respectively) issued the directive, not Obama. The real power
behind the Obama administration's recent order on school bathrooms (and much else that this administration has done) is
likely to have been the Department of Justice, because the letter frames the new policy as a civil rights issue (sex
discrimination) under Title IX. Which brings us to an important influence this administration has had on the
DOJ: Obama has been conducting his own Gramscian march through that institution. As J. Christian Adams has
been chronicling for quite some time, this administration has been busy transforming the DOJ's Civil Rights Division into a
leftist activist group.
Funny
Definition of Democracy You've Got There, Mr. President. Where does the ex-constitutional law lecturer who
now serves as U.S. president get off with trying to remake moral policy for a nation of 330 million? Where does he get
the idea it's his business to instruct the 50 states that schools must henceforth allow the transgendered —
whatever that curiously concocted word may mean — to visit the school restroom of their choice? Most of all,
where does he suppose he gets the authority to do all this? Our modern-day Wizard of Oz is blowing and bloviating with
glee. It's time someone pulled back the curtains.
Homosexuality
still illegal in Lebanon, but North Carolina boycotters not boycotting. [Scroll down] This news comes
after businesses, celebrities, and musical acts decided to boycott North Carolina over their decision to not allow
transgender people to use any bathroom they want. But look what I found! Some of these businesses and people have
not boycotted Lebanon even though homosexuals can receive jail time. Apparently, the ability to not use the bathroom of
your choice is worse than police throwing you in prison. Bryan Adams boycotted North Carolina, but he performed in
Lebanon in 2010, 2011, and 2015.
Obama's
Threat to Defund Schools Over Trans Bathroom Issue Violates Federal Law. The Obama Administration has done it
again. In an effort to strip school children of their modesty and morals, Obama has issued new instructions governing
use of restrooms, locker rooms, and showers in every government-funded school in the country. And, in predictably
lawless fashion, Obama has violated not one, but two federal laws. First, he took a 1972 law, Title IX, which was
designed to prevent sex discrimination in education, and says that as of Friday, the word "sex" in the statute does not mean
the "sex" you were born with. It means whatever "gender" you feel like on a given day. And, if that was not bad
enough, the manner in which the Obama Administration acted was to legislate by letter, not just usurping legislative power,
but by violating another federal law — the Administrative Procedures Act.
Obama's
Dictatorial Transgender Proclamation. George Orwell would be impressed. On Friday [5/13/2016], the Obama
administration issued a proclamation with all the force of law, requiring all public-education institutions in the land to
allow boys to use girls' bathrooms and locker facilities. They need only feel very strongly, on any given day, that
they are really girls deep down inside. Of course, the president can't formally issue a law. This is still
a democracy — superficially at least. So whenever Obama "changes the law," as he likes to brag, the new law
usually takes the form of something else. In this case, the new law took the form of "guidance" in a "dear colleague"
letter issued jointly by the Department of Justice and Department of Education to school officials from sea to shining sea.
We
Must Defy Obama's Transgender Decree — No Matter the Cost. The Obama administration declared on May
9th that forcing people to use bathroom facilities based on their God-given plumbing was state-sponsored discrimination.
Four days later they dropped an even bigger cultural bombshell. The president issued a directive requiring every public
school in the nation to accommodate transgender students — under Title IX guidelines. Boys who identify as
girls and vice versa must be allowed to use the bathrooms and locker rooms and shower stalls of their choosing. They must
also be allowed to play on the sports teams of their choosing.
Resisting
Obama's Transgender Directive: A Hill to Die On. [Scroll down] Specifically, the administration's
directive last week requires every public school in the nation to provide transgender students access to all activities and
facilities consistent with their gender identity, at the risk of losing federal funds. The Framers are rolling over in
their graves, not just because of this inversion of moral standards but also because of the lawless manner in which this is
being forced down the throats of the states, the American people and the public schools. President Obama knows he
doesn't have the legal authority to issue such an order, but he is determined to create as much chaos as he can and to
unilaterally impose his iron will to the fullest extent before his term expires. No one will convince me that this
has anything to do with the rights of transgender people. Rather, Obama and his fellow leftist tyrants are seeing how
far they can push the envelope — how much they can fundamentally transform America against the people's will and
against the protections guaranteed by the federal and state constitutions.
Obama
says schools demanded advice on transgender bathrooms. President Obama said Monday his administration directed
schools to provide transgender bathrooms for students because school districts were imploring Washington for guidance to
protect "vulnerable" children. "Kids who are sometimes in the minority, kids who have a different sexual orientation or
are transgender are subject to a lot of bullying, potentially," Mr. Obama said in an interview with Buzzfeed.
"They are vulnerable. Schools were asking us, were asking the Department of Education, how should we handle this?"
Obama's
edict has nothing to do with transgenders. On Monday [5/9/2016] the governor of North Carolina was supposed to
respond to the president's threat to eliminate our new privacy law (HB2) — so we responded with a lawsuit against
the feds. Nice! But the administration swung back with a lawsuit of its own, threatening to withhold our own tax
dollars. On Tuesday the superintendent of the Fort Worth Independent School District signed new guidelines for boys to
use girls' bathrooms and play in girls' sports throughout the entire district. But he didn't stop there. He
expanded the guidelines to say, "Prior to notifying any parent ... regarding the student's gender identity or any potential
transition process, school personnel must work closely with the student to assess the degree to which, if any, the parent ...
has been or will be involved in the process." Wait! Hold up a second. If the parent should be
involved, or will the parent be involved?! To eliminate the parent in a sex-change transition process is
absolutely absurd. And all of this was done without the school board's approval! These guidelines were not
debated, discussed or disclosed to anyone. He just put them in place.
To
Obama, transgender lives matter more than black ones. The U.S. Justice Department and Department of Education,
based on a decree from Obama, released a joint letter online to school systems around the nation, threatening them to let
transgenders use the bathroom they "identify" with, or face the wrath of the federal government. Attorney General
Loretta Lynch has blasted North Carolina's HB2 law and accused backers of endorsing "state-sponsored discrimination" against
transgendered people. "This is about the dignity and the respect that we accord our fellow citizens," she said.
Lynch also equated the passing of HB2 with states enacting Jim Crow laws to stop civil-rights progress. She pointed out
that just a few decades ago, black people were also barred from using certain bathrooms. What about the "dignity and
respect" of black Americans and the civil rights pioneers who fought for real equality, Mrs. Lynch?
Head
of DOJ Civil Rights Division Explains Her Own Experience With Discrimination. The head of the Justice
Department's Civil Rights Division, where the new "guidance" on transgenders originated, says she has experienced racial
discrimination first-hand. Vanita Gupta spoke on Sunday [5/15/2016] to a legal advocacy group called Muslim Advocates,
which honored her with an award named after the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Homeschoolers:
Refuse Government Funding To Ensure Independence from Obama's Gender Identity 'Decree'. Following the Obama
administration's recent threat that school districts that prevent gender-confused students from using whichever sex bathroom
they prefer could have their federal funding withdrawn, some homeschoolers are pointing to the value of having independence
from government control. Tina Hollenbeck, a homeschooling parent in Wisconsin, tells Breitbart News, "If homeschoolers
take vouchers or any other form of government funding 'help' — even an 'educational expenses credit' on their
taxes — they are enslaving themselves to government mandates."
Obama's
Lawsuit Against North Carolina Isn't About Civil Rights. Some of us care little about the debate over public
bathrooms. We do, however, care about the ongoing destruction of federalism, individual choice and good-faith debate in
America. [...] U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced on Monday that the Department of Justice was filing a federal
civil rights lawsuit against the state of North Carolina, Gov. Pat McCrory, the North Carolina Department of Public
Safety and the University of North Carolina for passing the "controversial law" (this is the go-to characterization of
conservative bills that pass with healthy majorities) requiring transgender people to use public bathrooms matching their
birth certificate. She had this to say: [...]
Obama's
bathroom wars: Too familiar. On Friday, May 13, the Obama administration released guidelines stipulating
that American schools must allow males into changing rooms, showers, and bathrooms previously reserved for females, and vice
versa. Schools that do not comply will be subject to lawsuits and fines. [...] Men want to protect women. Women
want to be protected by men. The Obama administration's announcement that it will force males into females' private
space, where vulnerable, naked, not yet mature girls will be exposed to situations that frighten them, parallels other
spectacles where men are demoralized by being forced to surrender their role as protectors of women. I don't know
if Obama planned this. I do know that this is a minor parallel to major atrocities.
Obama's
Bathroom Decree Unburdens Us All From Reality. It's good to know the president has enough free time to worry
about such things as people's right to use whichever bathroom they want. I was afraid he'd be bogged down with the
fight against ISIS or his sputtering, failed economy. Nope. Since instructing the Justice Department, which also
finds itself unburdened by pesky job-related obligations such as investigating Fast and Furious, the IRS being sicced on
Americans because of their political beliefs, or the timely conclusion of looking into a former secretary of state treating
classified material like junk mail, is finally addressing the civil rights issue of our time.
Obama
has nationalized our bathrooms. On Friday night's [5/13/2016] radio program, Conservative Review Editor-in-Chief Mark Levin
played Donald Trump's response to the Obama administration's new directive to school districts about bathrooms. The Democrats and
the Left are on the move. And Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, was asked this morning whether or not boys and girls
should use the bathroom they identify with, rather than the bathroom assigned to their biological sex.
Sex
and State Power — What's Behind Obama's Transgender Push. The Obama administration has announced
that from this day forward, all public schools in America must let children choose their bathroom and locker room based upon
a child's feelings about his or her gender on any given day. This means that, if a male sexual predator (or simply a
sexually curious boy) feels that today is a good day to be a girl and watch the girls' volleyball team strip off in the
bathroom, that is his right and the school is obligated to comply[.]
WH
rips Texas official who criticized LGBT directive. The White House on Friday blasted Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R)
for his criticism of President Obama's new transgender bathroom guidance to public schools. [...] The debate over the Obama administration's
directive quickly intensified Friday, foreshadowing a fight over LGBT rights that could play a major role in the 2016 elections. Many Republicans
are pushing back on the measure. Patrick called the guidelines an example of executive overreach that interferes with family values.
States
dig in against directive on transgender bathroom use. Politicians in Texas, Arkansas and elsewhere vowed
defiance — and other conservative states could follow suit - after the Obama administration told public schools across the
U.S. on Friday to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.
CNN calls it "guidance."
Feds' transgender guidance
provokes fierce backlash. The Obama administration's directive on the use of school bathrooms by transgender students
has provoked a torrent of criticism. It also marks a new front in America's long-running culture wars. The latest battle
over transgender rights and sexual identity comes in response to a joint letter Friday [5/13/2016] from the Departments of Education
and Justice directing public schools to ensure that "transgender students enjoy a supportive and nondiscriminatory school environment."
'Bathroom Barry's' Real
Legacy. 'Bathroom Barry' is no longer just a figment of overworked imagination. Barack-aka-Barry-Soetoro-Obama
has gone into the school washroom and he's never coming out again. This latest invasion on the safety and privacy of innocent
school children, came hurtling at their parents in the middle of the night.
Texas
Governor Vows to Fight Obama Trans Bathroom Policy: 'He's Not a King'. Texas Governor Greg Abbott vowed Friday
[5/13/2016] to fight a recent letter from the Obama administration threatening to pull funding and seek legal action against
schools that block transgender students from using the facilities of their choice. Abbott took to Twitter to accuse
President Barack Obama of rewriting the Civil Rights Act to suit his own purposes.
Obama
in the girls' bathroom. The diktat comes in the form of a letter from the Justice Department's Office of Civil
Rights stating that "when a student or the student's parent or guardian ... notifies the school administration that the
student will assert a gender identity that differs from previous representations or records, the school will begin treating
the student consistent with the student's gender identity." Schools are forbidden from seeking to verify a student's "gender
assertion." In short, there will no longer be any single sex locker rooms or showers in America's public schools.
You could not have found a conservative fever swamp in 2008 in which anyone would have predicted a slide so far and fast into
such absurd relativism within the short (but seemingly endless) span of a single presidency.
It's Not About Bathrooms Anymore.
By now, most Americans have heard about North Carolina House Bill 2. The new law has dominated the media landscape for several weeks,
but only in the past few days has the real issue come into focus. In almost every article, news report, and blog post covering the new
law, the officially named "Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act" is referred to as North Carolina's "controversial bathroom bill."
Let me assure you that, among everyday North Carolinians, there is no controversy. Recent Civitas Institute polling indicates most people
are aware of the law (85 percent) and an overwhelming majority (69 percent) believe that the Charlotte City Council ordinance HB2
overturned was unreasonable and unsafe. The media have sparked a firestorm and fed the flames with stories about bathroom assaults against
transgendered individuals and about tearful students claiming oppression, but only a handful of politicians and public policy organizations
give the law even a second thought.
Loretta Lynch: North
Carolina on Her Mind. The same Obama administration that insists on giving billions to Pakistan after the
country harbored the architect of 9/11 seeks to defund North Carolina after its government excluded males from its ladies'
rooms. Some evils demand immediate, unforgiving eradication, and not allowing the sweet transvestite from Transsexual,
Transylvania, to use the stall next to your pre-teen daughter ranks as just such an offense. Attorney General Loretta
Lynch, in comparing North Carolina's law codifying common sense to Jim Crow, noted of her lawsuit against the Tar Heel State
that "we retain the option of curtailing federal funding to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University
of North Carolina as this case proceeds."
America's
Moral Dilemma Won't Be Solved in the Public Bathrooms. In the midst of perhaps the most baffling presidential
election America has faced in modern history, morality is caught in the crosshairs. Meanwhile, America seems to be
stuck in the toilet. The current public bathroom debacle is designed to stir emotions and steer the unsuspecting masses
away from reason into emotional la-la land. There is so much emotional spin around issues regarding the sanctity of
human life and human sexuality that America remains in constant emotional flux while the tirades replace prayer, wisdom and
healthy reasoning. While I commend the now millions of Americans who are joining the protests and signing petitions
against the government enforced efforts to use misplaced compassion to help transgender people, more is needed.
UNC
Students Fight Back Against Obama Administration Bathroom Lawsuit. A group of students at the University of
North Carolina are fighting back against the Obama administration's civil rights lawsuit against the state this week by
filing a lawsuit of their own, alleging that the federal government is forcing them to choose between their educational
pursuits and personal privacy. "Our clients, the students, are between the proverbial rock and a hard place," Jeremy
Tedesco, an attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the students in their case, told The Daily
Signal. "They could lose their funding, they could have neutral restrooms and locker rooms — there's really
only two ways this could go and both of them violate their rights."
Black
bishop: Transgender bathrooms 'not civil-rights issue'. Attorney General Loretta Lynch is not only suing
the state of North Carolina to force accommodation for transgenders to use the restrooms and locker rooms according to their
gender identity, the nation's top law enforcement officer suggested the debate is reminiscent of the segregation battles of
the 1960s, a contention firmly rejected by one of the nation's most prominent black ministers. On Monday, Lynch made
numerous direct comparisons between the North Carolina bathroom debate and laws that discriminated against black people just
over a half century ago. "It was not so very long ago that states, including North Carolina, had other signs above
restrooms, water fountains and on public accommodations, keeping people out based on a distinction without a difference,"
Lynch said.
The Editor says...
The difference, in case you attended public schools, is that one may be born black, but one is not born
transsexual. Electing to change from one sex to the other is a conscious act.
N.
Carolina's resistance to LGBT demands to inspire others? Is North Carolina at the forefront of a revolt?
Veteran journalist David Kupelian sure hopes so. "After watching almost every institution, from the Boy Scouts to even
some churches, cave under pressure to the increasingly deranged demands of the LGBT movement — and backed fully by
the Obama administration — it's more than refreshing to see the state of North Carolina sue the federal government
for its obvious overreach and bullying," said Kupelian, WND's managing editor and author of "The Snapping of the American
Mind." "Hopefully North Carolina's fortitude will encourage other individuals, organizations and government entities to
stop the trend of cravenly capitulating to what they all know, deep down, is wrong, immoral and pathological."
North Carolina's cojones.
For the past eight years, common sense has disappeared from the political spectrum with nonsensical executive orders and the
machinations of the closet fascists in office. The federal government interfering in states' rights has become routine
but there are signs that state resistance to the bullying will hopefully be a harbinger of welcome change. The great
state of North Carolina is flexing the might of principle against a hostile Department of Justice. It has filed a
lawsuit against the DOJ for threatening to withdraw funding to the state over its common sense law concerning privacy in
restrooms. The mere fact that North Carolina had to pass a law declaring that persons must only use the public bathrooms
for the gender they were born with is a testament to the tyranny of a very powerful minority aka the LGBT political bloc.
Transgender
Activism Has Produced a Legal Absurdity. In a 2-1 panel ruling in mid April, a federal appellate court decided
(or at least seemed to think that it decided) that G.G., a girl who identifies herself as male, has a legal right to use the
boys' restrooms at her high school in rural Gloucester County, Va. In so doing, the panel's majority, consisting of two
appointees of President Obama, kowtowed to the Obama administration's radical claim that federal law requires any college or
school that receives federal funding to make its single-sex restrooms, locker rooms, showers, housing, and sports teams
available to "transgender students consistent with their gender identity." Never has a more brazen and aggressive
bureaucratic misreading of federal law encountered a more craven and confused judicial reception.
N.C.
fires lawsuit back at feds over LGBT law. Officials in North Carolina filed a lawsuit Monday [5/9/2016] against the
Department of Justice over the feds' demand that the state not implement its controversial LGBT law or risk losing federal
funds. The Justice Department had set a deadline of Monday for Gov. Pat McCrory to report whether he would refuse
to enforce the last that took effect in March. McCrory's defiance could lead to a protracted legal battle.
McCrory's lawsuit, filed in federal court in North Carolina, asks a judge to block Justice Department action that could
threaten billions of dollars in federal money flowing to the state.
After
Firing Curt Schilling for Transgender Comments, ESPN Hires LGBT Activist Abby Wambach. Curt Schilling's
politics got him fired from ESPN. Abby Wambach's politics didn't prevent her from getting hired. And neither did her
recent DUI arrest, which resulted in a guilty plea less than a month ago and admissions of past marijuana and cocaine use.
ESPN hired Wambach to analyze soccer at the Olympics, and venture into more contentious matters with "Outside the Lines" and on
a planned podcast called "Fearless Conversation with Abby Wambach," a program the AP describes as one in "which she promises won't
shy away from controversy."
Activism masquerading as journalism:
Here's
Who's Controlling the Bathroom Debate. The bathroom wars raging in North Carolina, set off by House Bill 2
passed by the N.C. General Assembly, have attained international attention, partly from a febrile cadre of gay activists, but
largely due to the Charlotte Observer that covers the city where the donnybrook began — and N.C.'s capital city
daily, the Raleigh News & Observer. Without these papers, both owned by the McClatchy chain, the bathroom gender issue
would have come and gone in a few days. [...] For two straight weeks, the Raleigh paper published from four to seven pieces a
day on the subject — news articles, editorials, guest opinion, editorial cartoons, letters to the editor, and
blurbs in their political happenings column. The theme that emerges is to exhort readers to approve of transgender
lifestyles and special rights.
The
Obama Justice Department's Insane Attack on North Carolina. Of all Barack Obama's unforgivable sins, his
corruption and politicization of the Department of Justice ranks near the top. Under Eric Holder and now Loretta Lynch,
DOJ has become a lunatic enforcer of far-left fantasies. The latest instance is DOJ's letter to the Governor of North
Carolina, claiming that North Carolina's law requiring that bathrooms, locker rooms and so on be used by those of the proper
sex — male or female, based on physical organs — violates the federal civil rights laws.
Justice
Department says North Carolina's anti-LGBT bathroom law violates civil rights and can't be enforced. The Justice Department
has warned North Carolina's governor that the state's anti-LGBT 'bathroom bill' violates civil rights laws and cannot be enforced.
Cancellations
Over North Carolina's 'Discrimination' — Silence About Hypocrisy. North Carolina's new public facilities law simply
says that in all government-controlled locations, offices and facilities, any bathroom that accommodates more than one person at a time must
be assigned to a single gender. [...] To some, the North Carolina bathroom law is so offensive that it would be wrong to do business in this
state that unfairly "discriminates." But doing business in foreign locations, where if a male entered a female bathroom he'd be thrown
in jail or worse, and where being homosexual or transgender is a crime — not a problem.
North
Carolina defiant over 'bathroom bill' deadline: 'We will take no action'. North Carolina officials have said
they will defy a federal deadline to suspend their controversial "bathroom bill" by Monday [5/9/2016] or risk losing as much
$4.8 b[illio]n in government funding. "That deadline will come and go," said Tim Moore, the speaker of the state house of
representatives. "We will take no action." He continued: "Obviously, we don't ever want to lose any money, but
we're not going to get bullied by the Obama administration to take action prior to Monday's date. That's not how this works."
Widespread
Mental Illness Taking Over America, One Bathroom at a Time. I feel as if the world around me is suffering from
some undiagnosed, contagious mental illness, and the few of us trying not to contract it are being screamed at for not
wanting to suffer, too. Yes, I'm talking about the transgender bathroom hysteria. Let's get this out of the way
right now: This is NOT about transgendered people using the restroom of their choice. To my knowledge, they've
been doing just that for years and years with no problems. The number of transgendered people is so low that the
chances that I've actually been in the bathroom at the same time as one of them are astronomically low. But if I was,
I had no idea and it doesn't bother me to think that I may have, at some point, shared a bathroom with a transgendered
person. That's not why America's mothers and fathers are up in arms.
The Left's Thought-Fascism
Hits ESPN. [Scroll down] By inclusive, ESPN does not mean ideologically inclusive. They simply mean
that if you do not kowtow to politically correct idiocies about men magically becoming women, you will not be tolerated.
ESPN is the same channel that rewarded Caitlyn Jenner, nee Bruce, the Arthur Ashe Courage Award for getting a misguided boob
job, facial reconstruction surgeries and hormone treatments that will not solve his underlying mental illness. Pointing out
that Caitlyn is still a man, however, will get you fired from that same network. Not only that, but you will be memory-holed.
Seven
Sure Signs That America Has Declared War On Our Faith. [#2] The Colorado Supreme Court has chosen not to hear
the case of Christian baker Jack Phillips who was previously ordered by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission "to create cakes
for same-sex celebrations, re-educate his staff, and file quarterly 'compliance' reports for two years." [...] The Court
declined to hear the case, meaning that the state's Civil Rights Commission not only has the power to require a bakery to
make same-sex "wedding" cakes but also to require that baker to "reeducate" his staff and file regular reports proving that
he is baking those cakes. Chairman Mao would be proud of state-mandated "reeducation" like this.
Gender Chaos in an XX-XY
World. We live in a country where people think it's okay for has-been rock stars to cancel concerts because of
their beliefs but it's not okay for bakers, florists and photographers to do the same. We also live in a nation
controlled by very confused people who believe it's good to reinforce the abnormal behavior of a few by altering the normal
behavior of the majority. If you ever needed a definition of insanity, well, there you go. So how did we get
here? It's pretty simple. We no longer live in a society that filters the world through the Biblical prism of
"right and wrong" or "good and evil." In the absence of moral absolutes, people tend to make issues over non-issues
and create wars defending non-victims.
With Apologies to Nathan
Hale. [Scroll down] And let's think of Nathan Hale. Would the great Nathan, were he alive today,
be as regretful that he had only one life to give for this country? Would Hale die for bathroom freedom fighters, as
the grotesque Bruce Springsteen called those folks who were born one sex but like to spend time in the other sex's
bathrooms? Brucie baby has chosen not to make his noise in North Carolina, whose state legislature recently tried to
preserve the preposterous idea that "single-sex multiple-occupancy bathrooms should be entered based on a person's biological
gender, not what they imagine it to be."
What's Really
Driving the Bathroom Wars. [Scroll down] This war on embodiment is not precisely new. Liberals have
for decades been in need of a no-nonsense birds-and-bees talk. Still, the nuttiness is accelerating. In recent
years progressives have demanded that every imaginable form of human coupling (or throupling) be sanctioned and celebrated.
(Mere toleration, of course, is not sufficient.) Physically healthy people have declared themselves "trans-abled" and
destroyed their own eyes or limbs to conform to a subjective self-image. Nuns must now contribute to the suppression of
female fertility, even as we are all expected to ignore overwhelming evidence of men's superior fitness for military service.
Even the traditional practice of announcing a newborn's sex at birth has been unironically presented as barbaric and backwards.
You
Will Be Compelled to Agree. The rules of bigotry according to the left represent a constantly shifting
kaleidoscope of nonsense. This week, we learned that if you don't want your small daughter peeing next to a giant man
who thinks he is a woman, you are a bigot; if you are a woman who is uncomfortable with a man who thinks he is a woman
whipping out his male genitalia to urinate in front of you, you are a bigot; if you are a religious person who doesn't want
to participate in an activity you consider sinful, you are a bigot.
Why
Christians are losing the war over gay-wedding cakes. In today's Wedding Cake War, conservatives are
floundering on the battlefield of religious liberty. While this remains a central and legitimate combat zone, the Right
should fight on at least three other constitutional grounds: freedom of association, freedom of speech and involuntary
servitude. [...] Government bakeries, if any exist, must bake wedding cakes for anyone who asks. But the private sector
is another matter.
Believing in two genders is a 'hate crime'
under police investigation at Loyola Marymount University. [Scroll down] Both the police and the
university's Bias Incident Response Team are investigating the stated belief that only two genders exist, male and female, as
a hate crime. A Loyola alumni office employee discussed her views on sexual orientation, which align with the Roman Catholic
Church, with three students who were hanging up posters on the subject on April 14. Cosette Carleo, one of the students
involved, told The College Fix in a phone interview that the hate crime under investigation is "denying transgenderism."
Carleo's account agrees in part with an email by the husband of the employee with whom she tangled. The employee told Carleo,
who identifies as gender-neutral, that only two genders exist, male and female, according to the student. Carleo told
The Fix that statement was the hate crime.
NCAA
takes firmer stance against LGBT discrimination with new championship process. In an effort to protect its
teams and their respective fanbases from discrimination — particularly to those in the LGBT community —
in states such as North Carolina, the NCAA has implemented an anti-discrimination process for championship bids, the
organization announced on Wednesday following its quarterly meeting in Indianapolis. "Well, it's a step in the right
direction," Pat Griffin, professor emerita at the University of Massachusetts and a leading advocate for the LGBT movement told
USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday [4/27/2016] in response to the NCAA's updated process. "Their silence prior to this was
unacceptable. I'm happy to see that they have spoken. I think there's more that they could have done but it's a start."
Report:
North Carolina sites could lose tourney games over discrimination. A measure adopted by the NCAA Board of
Governors could reportedly lead to two North Carolina cities losing their hosting rights for NCAA Tournament games in 2017
and '18. The measure would require host sites or cities bidding to host games "to demonstrate how they will provide an
environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination," according to a statement from the NCAA. The NCAA said the
decision follows actions of legislatures in several states. While the NCAA didn't specify which states, Mississippi and
North Carolina have recently passed laws that critics say can allow discrimination against members of the LGBT community.
Big
Business Helps Squash Voters on Religious Liberty Debate. When it comes to religious liberty debates, big
businesses don't want the people to decide. Or at least they don't want the people of Missouri to decide. While
the more explosive battles in Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina about bills regarding religious liberty and LGBT
accommodations have gained national attention, Missouri has flown mostly under the radar. Perhaps it was because
Missouri was debating a bill that, if passed, would have gone to the people to vote on, not the governor's desk.
Transgender
Fender Bender. My friend's niece is a French teacher in a local high school and has a female transgender who
insists on being called by a male name. I guess she'll insist on using the men's room also. Now according to this
insane logic If a woman is woman but thinks she's a man she can use either bathroom. The same goes for a man who thinks
he's a woman, he can use the ladies room. All they have to do is just think it.
Oregon
Bakers Continue Legal Fight, Challenging 'Gag Order'. The Oregon bakers who were ordered to pay $135,000 for
refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding filed a brief with the Oregon Court of Appeals on Monday, arguing the ruling
against them was biased and violates both the Oregon and U.S. constitutions. "In America, you're innocent until proven
guilty," said Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of First Liberty Institute, the group representing Aaron and Melissa Klein
in their legal fight. "Commissioner Brad Avakian decided the Kleins were guilty before he even heard their case.
This is an egregious violation of the Kleins' rights to due process. We hope the Oregon Court of Appeals will remedy
this by dismissing the government's case against the Kleins."
Christians
furious about what Michelle Obama said during commencement speech. [Scroll down] These days, if you're a
Christian, the government has decided to bring its full weight against you. If Christians decline to provide services
to a particular event, i.e. a same-sex marriage, because it violates their faith beliefs and their First Amendment rights,
they should not be prosecuted. But that has occurred in several states in America. So instead of being honest
with people, Mrs. Obama just regurgitated inaccurate talking points. I suppose Mrs. Obama has no problem
with her husband's assault against the Little Sisters of the Poor, who had to go before the Supreme Court of the United
States. Or even the case affecting a private sector company, Hobby Lobby, where again, her husband's administration
legally assaulted that company for its Christian faith.
Silver:
NBA must move all-star game if no change to controversial North Carolina law. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said
Thursday [4/21/2016] that if the league is to keep the 2017 all-star game in Charlotte it will require a change in the
controversial North Carolina law passed last month that overturned protections for gay and transgender people. "We've
been, I think, crystal clear, that a change in the law is necessary to play in the kind of environment that we think is
appropriate for a celebratory NBA event, but that we did have some time and if the view of the people who were allied with
us, in terms of a change, the view of the people on the ground in North Carolina was that the situation would best be served
by us not setting a deadline, then we would not set a deadline at this time," Silver said during a meeting with the
Associated Press Sports Editors at the league's headquarters in midtown Manhattan.
The Rainbow Jihad. A Kentucky
county clerk thrown in jail. A New York state family fined thousands of dollars. An Oregon baker fined hundreds of
thousands of dollars. A decorated Iowa newspaper editor loses his job. A Washington State florist facing the loss of
her home and life savings. Soldiers court-martialed. These are but a few of the casualties of the Rainbow Jihad in
America, and there will be more. Because the endgame is not "tolerance" or "diversity" but "you will be made to care."
Rally
Held in Support of South L.A. LGBTQ Students After Fight Breaks Out Over Gender-Neutral Bathroom. After
anti-gay protesters descended on a South Los Angeles high school that recently touted its gender-neutral bathrooms, the
organizer of a rally in support of LGBTQ students declared the campus a "no-hate zone" on Wednesday afternoon.
The initial protests occurred after classes Tuesday [4/19/2016] at Santee Education Complex, just south of downtown, and
led to a fight that was caught on cellphone video.
Curt
Schilling: I'm not sorry, I'm still rich and 'I'm not transphobic'. Two days after ESPN terminated his
contract, Curt Schilling still won't apologize for his controversial anti-transgender remarks posted on his Facebook page and
personal website. But he will defend himself. "I'm not transphobic. I'm not homophobic," Schilling said in
an interview with Stephen K. Brannon of the Breitbart News Daily airing on SiriusXM. "If in my past I'd ever been
a racist or I had ever said something racist, or if I had ever been transphobic or homophobic, somebody somewhere would have
said something I'm sure given my status."
ESPN
Fired Curt Schilling for Telling the Truth. Curt Schilling tells blunt and uncomfortable truths, so there is no
place for him in progressive corporate America. Last summer, ESPN suspended him for a personal Facebook post that
rightly compared Muslim extremists to Nazis and rightly noted that even a minority of extremists can cause catastrophic
conflict. But in the world of progressive corporate politics, the truth is "Islamophobic" and must be punished.
Yesterday, ESPN fired Schilling. His offense? Posting a crude meme on his personal Facebook page that took direct
aim at allowing men access to women's restrooms. He also wrote, "A man is a man no matter what they call
themselves. I don't care what they are, who they sleep with, men's room was designed for the penis, women's
not so much. Now you need laws telling us differently? Pathetic."
The
Umbrage Factory. America is a country of strivers. Alas, having attained so much success, many Americans
now strive to be offended. Polite agreement to disagree is gone. Now people log on to social media where they
discover words that offend their delicate sensibilities. Then they make sure everyone knows they are aggrieved.
Sometimes the perennially offended even win a trophy for their troubles — such as the scalp of ESPN analyst and
former Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling.
ESPN
fires analyst and former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling over transgender comments. ESPN has announced that it
has fired network analyst and former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling following his comments on Facebook about
transgender people. In a statement released Wednesday, ESPN says "Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was
unacceptable. This week, Schilling reposted an image of an overweight man wearing a long blond wig and revealing
women's clothing. It included the phrase: "Let him in! To the restroom with your daughter or else you're a
narrow minded, judgmental, unloving, racist bigot who needs to die!!!"
ESPN
Has a Right to Fire Curt Schilling. What Rights Do People of Faith Have? ESPN has fired Curt
Schilling. The company said that his speech went against company values because ESPN is "an inclusive company.
What's at stake here? Curt Schilling has a right to say biological men don't belong in women's bathrooms in whatever
controversial way he wants. And ESPN has a right to give Caitlyn Jenner the "Arthur Ashe Courage Award" for being a
men's sports icon who now publicly identifies as a woman. And whether we agree or disagree with Schilling's message or
ESPN's isn't the point. The bigger issue is that ESPN, like any other company, has a right to control its message,
which means it should be generally free to make employment decisions based on its values, not Curt Schilling's, and
certainly not the government's.
Curt
Schilling, ESPN and your God-given plumbing. There's no question that Curt Schilling has uttered a good number
of politically incorrect statements during his career at ESPN. The former All-Star pitcher has compared radical Muslims to
Nazis and most recently suggested that Hillary Clinton "should be buried under a jail somewhere. But it was something he
shared on social media — about transgender bathrooms — that turned out to be the last straw for ESPN.
To be blunt — he was unceremoniously fired because he has a problem with men using the ladies room.
The Editor says...
I have worked in the broadcasting business since 1971, and I can tell you this: TV sports personalities
are expected to be bombastic, opinionated, and able to extemporaneously expound at great length about the tiniest
details of professional sports. The sports nut / couch potato will little note nor long remember anything
that even his favorite sportscaster says. Therefore, if he (or she) occasionally sheds some light on a
politically incorrect topic, that offense should be forgiven; for indeed, that's how live television goes
sometimes. Once in a while, the truth pops out.
Dr.
Richard Land: Gender Activists 'Practicing Psychological Child Abuse' On 'Our Nation's Children'. In
defending North Carolina's new "bathroom" law, author and theologian Dr. Richard Land said it is psychologically
harmful to expose young boys and girls to transgender sexuality, and that "conditioning children" to believe that "chemical
and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal" is nothing more than "child abuse. Dr. Land, president
of Southern Evangelical Seminary and former five-term member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, added
that the LGBT activists and lawmakers who push transgender and transsexual policies are abusing a "whole generation of our
nation's children" and it is up to "clear-thinking adults to stop them."
Britain
issues warning for LGBT travelers visiting North Carolina and Mississippi. The British Foreign Office has
released an advisory warning travelers to be aware of controversial new laws in North Carolina and Mississippi before
visiting the United States. The travel advisory update — directed to members of the country's lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender community — was posted on the Foreign Office's website Tuesday [4/19/2016]. "The U.S.
is an extremely diverse society and attitudes towards LGBT people differ hugely across the country," the advisory says.
"LGBT travelers may be affected by legislation passed recently in the states of North Carolina and Mississippi. Before
traveling please read our general travel advice for the LGBT community."
Vermont's LGBT-related travel ban to
cost Mississippi economy $559. Vermont is one of four states to have banned employee travel to Mississippi and
North Carolina, but expense reimbursement data show the Green Mountain State's bark is worse than its bite. According
to information from the Agency of Administration, Vermont's travel ban against Mississippi will cost that state's economy
about $559 annually. The hit to North Carolina will cost the state's economy about $14,265.
Gender
diverse bathrooms, locker rooms, sports, and more. One tactic of the proud, modern, American progressives today
is using federal grant monies to leverage state legislation in order to overturn the tradition of separate but equal bathroom
facilities (excepting a few anatomically relevant necessities) and move toward an inclusiveness that mirrors what
happened when Brown v. Board of Education (1954) overturned Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). North
Carolina is the current battleground in the toilet debate, with Tennessee lining up to be next. In both cases, the
Federal Government uses threats to withhold money to leverage state behavior, supplemented by its crony capitalist allies
who threaten to take their business elsewhere.
Boycotts,
Bathrooms, and the Boss. [B]oycotting an entire state, at least voluntarily — i.e. not through
sanctions — is the most ineffective boycott of all because it is near impossible to do in today's interconnected
world. You want to boycott North Carolina, Mr. Springsteen? Okay. Better make sure none of your
millions find their way through a Bank of America account. And no sleeping on a Sealy mattress tonight. That
Hanes undershirt you're wearing? Scrap it. Same with the Burt's Bees you just put on those talented lips of
yours. All those "evil corporations" are headquartered in North Carolina. And you'd better cancel that upcoming
tour stop in Italy as well. They still don't even recognize gay marriage!
Rep.
Mark Walker: Liberals Exploiting Bathroom Bill Controversy For Political Gain. A bathroom bill, a rock star,
and competing claims of privacy have catapulted North Carolina into the center of a national debate over transgender rights.
And Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., says he knows why. The freshman legislator argues that Democrats are manufacturing
outrage over the law for political gain in the Tar Heel state.
Liberals'
Double Standard on Bathrooms, Boycotts, and Religious Freedom. At issue are a Mississippi law that narrowly and
carefully protects the rights of religious charities, small businesses, and select public servants and a North Carolina law
that reasonably protects privacy and safety in public restrooms, while leaving private institutions free to set their own
bathroom policies. These laws, apparently, are now unacceptable to some voices on the left. But are they
really? The hypocrisy in their opposition suggests otherwise.
After
mayor refuses trip to Mississippi, Navy will bring USS Portland to PDX. After Portland Mayor Charlie Hales
announced he refuses to travel to Mississippi next month to commission the USS Portland over the state's anti-gay laws, the
Navy has announced the commissioning will take place in Portland. The law signed by the Mississippi governor earlier
this month allows churches, religious charities and privately held businesses to decline services to people whose lifestyles
violate their religious beliefs. Individual government employees may also opt out, although the measure says
governments must still provide services.
Halting
LGBT rules, North Carolina lawmakers again rebuff cities. The decision by the North Carolina legislature and
Gov. Pat McCrory to overturn Charlotte's anti-discrimination ordinance for LGBT citizens isn't simply another skirmish
in the decades-old culture war between conservatives and progressives. It's the latest muscle-flexing by leaders in
Republican-controlled states to rebuff local governments — often large cities run by Democrats —
implementing policies they disagree with or haven't sanctioned.
Disney's
Religious Liberty Hypocrisy Exposed. If Disney wants to throw its weight around in the political realm, it
ought to at least base its opinions on a true story. Instead, Disney embraced the "creative process," concocted a story
about the bill, and proceeded to bellow with outrage. [...] Disney claims to be concerned about discrimination toward LGBT
individuals — so much so that it was willing to pack up and leave Georgia once and for all if the Free Exercise
Protection Act became law. One would expect that its principled stand would extend to any location where Disney movies
are filmed. One would be wrong. In the last five years, Disney has produced or released several movies that were
filmed in countries that penalize homosexual acts, with penalties ranging from fines to life imprisonment and even death.
North
Carolina: We won't be bullied by big business hypocrites. PayPal, the website known for processing online
payments, believes grown men have a constitutional right to use the same bathrooms as little girls. [...] In Georgia,
Mississippi, Arkansas and Indiana[,] religious liberty bills have come under attack from a number of Fortune 500 companies[,]
from Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines to UPS and Marriott Hotels. But the American Family Association says what's shocking
is that all of those companies opposing religious liberty in the name of LGBT rights are operating in countries where gays
are facing fines and imprisonment.
Want
to Improve Your State? Pass an Anti-LGBT Law! [Scroll down] The truth is the only people wishing to impose their beliefs on others
are leftists. While a Christian business may choose to deny services for an event, they have no interest in denying service to an
individual. Transgender people have been using public restrooms without issue since the 1960s and there is no reason anyone should
expect their personal sense of gender to override the natural inclinations of others to use the correct bathroom in public.
Transgender people are simply not going to be discriminated against and those who feel they will be fall under the 'no shoes, no
service' concept of appropriate social behavior and expectations. No one involved on the right has even proposed criminalizing
or limiting transgender freedoms or liberty and certainly no one cares if a gay person buys from their shop. People simply
do not want to be bullied into participating in events or concepts they deeply oppose and no one wants their daughter in the
same bathroom with a man who believes wearing a dress and a wig makes him a woman.
Mississippi
Is on the Right Side of History. Lawmakers in Mississippi took a stand for the First Amendment this week, and
the usual suspects aren't happy. Liberal politicians, LGBT activists, and big business are all in a tizzy, claiming
discrimination where absolutely none exists and completely misrepresenting this commonsense law in hopes of bullying the
state to reverse its decision. Here's the scenario: Thanks to a Supreme Court ruling last summer, same-sex marriage
is now legal in all 50 states. The new Mississippi law does nothing to change that. As a matter of fact,
this new law does not take away any right from anyone.
If
Bakers Can be Forced to Service Faux Weddings, so Can Churches. As our Great Sexual Heresy continues its march
onwards and downwards, state governments have forced bakers, wedding planners, florists and other businesses to service faux
weddings. This is unprecedented, as never before were Americans governmentally compelled to participate in events
they found morally objectionable. Yet when some project out on our cultural trajectory and say churches one day will be
subject to the same coercion, they're met with laughter; this will never, ever happen, they're told. Yet this is an
illogical and inconsistent position.
Bruce
Springsteen cancels N.C. show over anti-LGBT law. The LBGT community in North Carolina just got a big show of
solidarity from none other than Bruce Springsteen. The rock icon announced Friday [4/8/2016] on his official website
that he is canceling Sunday's scheduled show in Greensboro to protest the state's newly passed House Bill 2 — dubbed
the "bathroom law" — which dictates which public restrooms may be used by transgender individuals and prevents LBGT
individuals to sue over human rights violations in the workplace.
Mississippi
has taken a bold step to defend religious liberty. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed a religious freedom
law Tuesday [4/5/2016] that will protect people who believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. The Religious Freedom
Law will "protect sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions of individuals, organizations and private associations
from discriminatory action by state government or its political subdivisions, which would include counties, cities, and institutions of
higher learning." In other words, every Christian who owns a business in the state of Mississippi owes the governor a thank-you.
North
Carolina: We won't be bullied by big business hypocrites. PayPal, the website known for processing online
payments, believes grown men have a constitutional right to use the same bathrooms as little girls. So when North
Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill that banned people from using bathrooms not assigned to their birth sex, PayPal
became enraged and retaliated. They canceled plans to open a new operations center in Charlotte — a facility
that would've employed more than 400 workers.
Vermont
bans official travel to Mississippi over LGBT law. The state of Vermont is banning, for now, official travel to Mississippi
because of that state's passage of a law that allows religious groups and some private businesses to refuse service to gay couples.
PayPal
[and] Apple lecture North Carolina [but they] do business in countries far more hostile to gays. PayPal drew a
line in the sand when North Carolina enacted a law prohibiting people from using the restrooms of the opposite sex, but
critics say that line got washed away on the shores of Malaysia, a nation that consistently ranks among the least LGBT-friendly
in the world. The company canceled its plan to build a global operations center in Charlotte after the passage of HB2,
which CEO Daniel Schulman called discrimination against the transgendered. He noted that the move would cost North
Carolina 400 well-paying jobs.
New
York State workers banned from non-essential visits to Mississippi because of anti-LGBT law. Gov. Cuomo
on Tuesday [4/5/2016] banned non-essential trips by state workers to Mississippi because of a new law in that state that
critics say sanctions discrimination against gays and lesbians. Cuomo signed the executive order banning travel to
Mississippi after Gov. Phil Bryant signed a law — dubbed the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from
Government Discrimination Act — that prevents the government from taking action against organizations that deny
service to people based on religious objections.
The Editor says...
When there is a ban on official travel from New York to Mississippi, who will notice?
8 Questions for PayPal on Its Decision to Boycott North
Carolina. [#1] North Carolina's new law would ensure that public multi-occupancy bathrooms — not
bathrooms controlled by private companies or individuals, such as the PayPal bathrooms — correspond to a person's
biological sex as listed on his birth certificates (which can be changed). Why does PayPal object to that? Does PayPal
believe that providing LGBT Americans "equal rights under the law" requires allowing people who are biologically male to use
women's bathrooms?
How The Media Attack Religious
Liberty. Most of the media won't acknowledge that Americans who refuse to participate in a gay wedding could have any sincerely
held beliefs or good faith arguments to make. [...] One way the news media signal their dismissiveness of religious liberty is by insinuating
that the entire debate is bogus. Editors do this by putting quotation marks around the term "religious freedom," as if this notion, when
practiced by Christians, is somehow ambiguous or manipulative or deceptive. Now, if those quotation marks exist because the topic itself
is up for debate, then why isn't there a similar journalistic standard for the usage of "inequality," "environmentalist," "civil rights,"
"investments," "loopholes" or any of the hundreds of other similarly contentious or loaded words in our political discourse? Another,
more overt way of misleading the public about religious freedom is framing the debate as a struggle between open-minded, civil-rights seeking gays
and a bunch of bigots frightened of progress — essentially the tone of every piece covering Mississippi's new religious liberty law.
North Carolina
loses 400 jobs as PayPal pulls facility. North Carolina's "bathroom bill" just cost the state 400 future
jobs. PayPal has canceled its plans to open a new global operations center in Charlotte, following passage of a North
Carolina law that prevents cities from creating non-discrimination policies based on gender identity. The measure also
mandates that students in state schools use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender when they were born.
PayPal
cancels North Carolina expansion over discrimination law. PayPal says it's canceling plans to bring 400 jobs to
North Carolina after lawmakers passed a law that restricts protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
Bathroom
Boycotts Flush Safety of Women and Girls. North Carolina enacted a law on March 23 that bans individuals from
using public bathrooms and changing facilities that do not correspond to their biological sex as stated on their birth
certificate. The law repealed Charlotte's "nondiscrimination" ordinance that allowed individuals to use public
bathrooms of the sex with which they identify. North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory's office issued a statement of
"myths and facts" to refute liberal media bias concerning what McCrory and other lucid people consider a "common sense"
law. Nonetheless, public officials, who identify as defenders of women's rights and privacy, have issued executive
orders discriminating against North Carolina in the name of ending discrimination. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee,
a Democrat, issued an order March 25, barring "any publicly-funded City employee travel to the State of North Carolina
that is not absolutely essential to public health and safety."
Mississippi
Moves to Protect Religious Freedom on Marriage. This morning [4/1/2016], the Mississippi House passed a bill,
HB 1523, protecting religious freedom. If the House disposes of a procedural maneuver that has delayed a final vote
until Monday, the bill will go to the governor's desk for his signature, as the Senate passed the bill earlier this
week. The bill is good policy and the governor should sign it. HB 1523, "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from
Government Discrimination Act," is based on the principle of protecting minority rights after major social change. In
other states where marriage had been redefined, citizens and religious organizations who continued believing that marriage
was a union of husband and wife have been penalized by the government. Bakers and florists have been fined, adoption
agencies shuttered. So the citizens of Mississippi have acted to make sure it never happens in their state. In
the aftermath of the Supreme Court's redefinition of marriage, they're working to protect their civil liberties.
It's
open season on people of faith in Georgia. Georgia's Republican governor stunned the state's religious community Monday [3/28/2016]
by vetoing legislation that would have protected preachers who refuse to perform LGBT marriages. "It's open season on people of faith in our
state," said State Sen. Josh McKoon, the author of the 2014 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. "It's a slap in the face to conservatives,
to evangelicals and to the broader faith community," he told me.
Disney
threatens to stop filming in Georgia if anti-gay bill becomes law. Delivering a potentially serious blow to one
of the fastest growing production hubs in the country, Walt Disney Co. is threatening to no longer film in the state of
Georgia if an anti-gay bill is signed into law there. The Free Exercise Protection Act is on the desk of Gov. Nathan
Deal, who has until May 3 to decide whether to veto it. Hollywood business totaling billions of dollars could hang
in the balance. The measure, passed by Georgia lawmakers March 16, would offer protections to faith-based entities that
refuse to provide services that they say violate their beliefs. If it becomes law, the proposed legislation would have
the effect of beefing up legal safeguards for opponents of same-sex marriage.
The Left Demands
Georgia Bow to Hollywood Values. They want total submission. Disney is threatening to pull is film business
out of Georgia if the Governor signs the legislation. Pay no attention to Disney operating in states that have even
broader religious freedom legislation. The NFL says Georgia may put its Super Bowl bid in jeopardy if the Governor signs
the legislation. Pay no attention to the NFL considering two other states for that Super Bowl, both of which have religious
freedom legislation already. What does Georgia's law do? [#1] It says no preacher can be forced to perform a religious
service in violation of his faith. [#2] It says no religious organization can be forced to hire people that disagree with
the religious tenets of the organization. [#3] It says the government cannot force a business to stay open on a Saturday
or Sunday. [#4] It specifically says the organizations cannot discriminate against protected classes of citizens.
The legislation also includes the federal RFRA language that Bill Clinton signed into law. That's it. It does not
apply to for profit businesses at all. It only applies to religious organizations.
Phoenix
Councilman Pilloried by Thought Police for Objecting to Same-Sex Marriage. LGBT activists are assailing Phoenix
City Councilman Michael Nowakowski for affirming traditional marriage after a video surfaced online Tuesday [3/8/2016]
showing him objecting to same-sex marriage and transgender people being allowed to use restrooms designated for the opposite
sex. Nowakowski, a Catholic Democrat, made his comments last month while speaking to a group of Christian pastors about
a controversy over public prayer at council meetings.
Transgender
man to sue barbershop that denied service for 'religious' reason. A California transgender man plans to take legal action against a barbershop
after the owner refused to give the customer a haircut, stating that he only serves "men" due to his religious beliefs. Kendall Oliver — a
US army sergeant who identifies as a transgender man and uses the gender-neutral pronoun "they" — said a business called The Barbershop in Rancho
Cucamonga in southern California refused to give them a haircut this week, saying the shop doesn't offer cuts to "women".
'Gay' case
against Christian bakery goes wobbly. The anti-discrimination laws intended to protect homosexual consumers in
Northern Ireland actually discriminate against Christians, the nation's most senior lawyer will be allowed to argue in a case
against a baker. Ashers Baking Co. is appealing a lower court ruling that found the company violated the anti-discrimination
protections by refusing to fulfill a customer's request for a cake celebrating "gay marriage."
Ashers:
Judges agree Attorney General's involvement in case. The Christian Institute is supporting Ashers Baking Company in their
stand for biblical marriage, after they were sued for not decorating a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan. Simon Calvert, Deputy
Director of The Christian Institute, described the court case as a "legal, political and theological saga" but noted that Ashers' owners
are hugely grateful for all the support they have received.
Texas
bakers face threats after declining to bake gay wedding cake. A small town bakery owned by a Christian family is under siege after they
declined to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple. Edie and David Delorme own the Kern's Bake Shop in Longview, Texas — known around
town for their petit fours and sugar cookies — and also their custom-made wedding cakes. The Delormes are also devout
Christians — faithful members of a nearby Baptist church — and they run their bakery according to the tenets of their religious
beliefs. That became a problem on Feb. 17th when Ben Valencia and Luis Marmolejo requested the bakers make a cake for their upcoming wedding.
Thousands rally against legalizing
same-sex civil unions in Italy. Thousands of people filled Rome's Circus Maximus on Saturday [1/30/2016] to protest a proposal to legally
recognize same-sex civil unions in Italy, the only county in Western Europe not to do so. Around 1,500 buses were chartered from across
Italy to bring the protesters, who filled the ancient Roman chariot racing arena. Parents pushed strollers, Roman Catholic priests were out in
force, and people waved balloons and banners, including one that read, "No to the Gaystapo," a reference to the Nazi Gestapo.
N.Y.
court upholds $13,000 fine against farm owners who refused to host gay wedding. A New York appellate court upheld
Thursday a $13,000 judgment against the owners of Liberty Ridge Farm for refusing to host a same-sex marriage on their
property. Cynthia and Robert Gifford, who own the 100-acre farm in Rensselaer County, violated the state's Human Rights
Law when they declined for religious reasons a September 2012 request by Melisa McCarthy and Jennifer McCarthy to rent the venue
for their wedding ceremony, the court ruled.
Anglican
Communion suspends the Episcopal Church after years of gay rights debates. For the first time, the global organizing body of Anglicans
has punished the Episcopal Church, following years of heated debate with the American church over homosexuality, same-sex marriage and the role of
women. The Anglican Communion's announcement Thursday [1/14/2016] that it would suspend its U.S. branch for three years from key voting positions
was seen as a blow to the Episcopal Church, which allows its clergy to perform same-sex marriages and this summer voted to include the rite in its church
laws. It was also seen as a victory for conservative Anglicans, especially those in Africa,, [sic] who for years have been pressing the Anglican
Communion to discipline the U.S. body.
UVA
Prof: 'Helping to Make a Religiously Prohibited Wedding the Best... Is To Assist a Sacrilege'. A University of
Virginia law professor who supports same-sex marriage says that for those who believe weddings are "an inherently religious
ceremony... helping to make a religiously prohibited wedding the best and most memorable it can be is to assist a sacrilege."
Prof. Douglas Laycock, who helped draft the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, told CNSNews.com that the Barronelle
Stutzman case is about "the religious context" of a wedding, not whether merchants can discriminate against gay couples.
Prominent
doc says LGBT opposition got him excised from hospital staff. Dr. Paul Church clashed with officials at Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center for years over the issue, bitterly opposing the hospital's policy of promoting such events as Gay Pride Week and "LGBT
Achievement" awards ceremonies. The hospital's stance ignored overwhelming evidence that practices common in the LGBT increase
the risk of disease and mental illness, according to Church, a Cornell-trained urologist who worked at the hospital for 28 years.
State
squeezes last penny from bakers who defied lesbian-wedding cake order. [Scroll down] In July, they were
ordered to pay more than $135,000 in damages to a lesbian couple after they refused to bake their wedding cake. The Kleins
objected because of their religious beliefs. The judgment was awarded to the lesbians for "emotional suffering." Just
a few weeks before Christmas, Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian wiped out the Klein family's bank accounts — taking
nearly $7,000. Faced with a state-mandated 9 percent interest penalty, the Kleins opted to pay the disputed amount in
full — turning over a $136,927.07 check to the government. That money, which was not in their bank account, was
acquired through donations the family.
Oregon
Seizes Bank Accounts of Christian Baker Who Refused Gay Wed Cake. Melissa Klein, the owner of the bakery that
refused to bake a cake for a homosexual wedding ceremony, has revealed that the state of Oregon seized all of her bank
accounts weeks before she planned to pay the settlement from the suit brought against her by the couple. According to Fox
News, Klein and her husband were hit with a penalty of over $135,000 in July payable to the lesbian couple who cited "emotional
suffering" for the mom-and-pop bakers holding to their Christian beliefs.
Mass. Court
Rules Catholic School Can't Necessarily Refuse to Hire Gays. Massachusetts, like all states, has its own
antidiscrimination laws for employment, housing, public accommodations, et cetera. Like many states, Massachusetts does
acknowledge the right of religious institutions to choose with whom to associate on the basis of its beliefs and provides some
exceptions to antidiscrimination laws. But these exemptions are not all-encompassing, as Catholic girls' school Fontbonne
Academy just discovered this week. The Catholic school retracted a job offer they extended to Matthew Barrett to be their
food services director when he put his husband's name as his emergency contact on employment forms, meaning he's gay and married.
That's not exactly in alignment with the Catholic Church's teachings. Barrett and the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders
(GLAD) fought the decision as antigay discrimination. The school defended itself, calling on the religious exemption, but the
judge ruled it didn't actually apply here.
Christian
Daycare Workers Fired Because They Didn't Call A Little Girl A Boy. The trans movement is all about inconveniencing
and making everyone else uncomfortable for the sake of .0004 percent of the population. In the latest madness trans story,
Christian daycare workers actually were fired because they called a child a 'girl' instead of a 'boy.'
Christian
Daycare Workers Fired for Refusing to Call a Little Girl a Boy. Two daycare workers have been fired for
refusing to go along with the center's transgender agenda. Madeline Kirksey, one of the workers who is an author of a
Christian book, says her religious liberty rights have been violated. The two were fired after refusing to call a little
girl a boy.
Christian
Daycare Workers Fighting Back After Being Fired For Refusing to Call a Girl a Boy. Two Christian daycare
workers fired for refusing to call a six-year-old girl a boy are fighting back. They have hired legal counsel and are going
to sue. One of the workers was fired from a Houston area school the day the Houston "bathroom ordinance" was soundly defeated
by voters. The other worker was fired the Thursday before.
Oregon
bakery owners refuse to pay damages in gay wedding cake case. The owners of an Oregon bakery are refusing to
pay $135,000 in state-ordered damages to a same-sex couple who were denied service. Melissa and Aaron Klein, owners of
Sweet Cakes by Melissa, cited religious beliefs when they refused to bake a wedding cake for Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer
more than two years ago.
Alabama
Supreme Court: We Don't Have To Recognize Lesbian Adoption. Alabama's Supreme Court refused to recognize a lesbian
woman's adoption Friday [9/18/2015], drawing criticism from gay rights activists and raising questions about the future of same-sex
adoptions. The case centered around a lesbian couple who shared custody of three children but later split up. One
of them gave birth to the children with the help of a sperm donor, and her partner later adopted the children while living in
Georgia, so they could both be the official, legal parents. The biological mother, who now lives in Alabama, tried to keep
the children from the adoptive mother after the couple parted ways, sparking the legal battle. The Alabama Supreme Court ruled
that Alabama did not have to recognize the adoption made in Georgia, stripping the adoptive mother of her rights to the children.
Tide
Commercial Mocks Christians Who Support 'Sanctity of Marriage'. Sincerely-held religious beliefs are now the
butt of a joke for one major brand. Tide laundry detergent recently released a commercial poking fun at Christians who still
hold to that "old-fashioned" belief that marriage should be between one man and one woman. You know, those "silly" families
who have lost their businesses, fought long legal battles or resigned from their jobs for refusing to endorse a same-sex wedding.
The commercial starts off showing two men in tuxedos, holding hands and walking up to a church. They are greeted by a Kim
Davis-esque churchgoer who stops talking to a minister to turn and give the men a glare.
Ellen
Page Ignores Christians Fired, Fined, and Banned for Not Obeying Homosexual Dogma. Headlines pretend Ellen Page
is speaking for the oppressed when she is actually the oppressor. [...] I've never heard Ted Cruz calling for LGBT people to
lose their First Amendment rights due to their sexual practices, so what is she talking about?
How
Does Gay 'Marriage' Hurt Us? Here's How. Christians are often asked by gay activists why they oppose same-sex
"marriage." "How does our marriage hurt you?" they ask. Well, I can think of one significant way it will hurt us:
It will destroy religious freedom and free speech rights. The handwriting is on the wall in Canada, which legalized same-sex
"marriage" in 2005, in effect completely changing its true meaning. Since then, as Michael Coren notes in National Review
Online, "there have been between 200 and 300 proceedings ... against critics and opponents of same-sex marriage." Of course
he means legal proceedings. [...] Those with religious objections to conducting such ceremonies now face the loss of their jobs.
Colorado
Baker Case Latest Defeat for Religious Liberty. The Colorado Court of Appeals has handed the concept of religious liberty for
individuals yet another defeat, with its August 13 ruling against suburban Denver baker Jack Phillips. The appellate court upheld
a lower court ruling that the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop had illegally discriminated against two homosexual men by refusing to bake a cake
to celebrate their "marriage." The two men, Charlie Craig and David Mullins, had filed a complaint with the aid of the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU), citing Colorado's anti-discrimination law. Phillips told them that to accede to their wishes would violate his
religious beliefs. When the two men ordered the cake in 2012, Colorado did not recognize same-sex marriage; however, the court held that
the refusal by Phillips to bake the cake ran afoul of the state's law which prohibits discrimination based upon "sexual orientation."
Hey Christians, Say Goodbye To Religious
Freedom. The owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Jack Phillips, declined to participate in Charlie Craig and David Mullins'
celebration, because such an event conflicted with his Christian faith. Here are a few things Phillips didn't do: He didn't
query consumers about their sexual preferences. He didn't bar same-sex couples from purchasing a cake at a place of public
accommodation. He didn't ask consumers traveling in same-sex pairs to leave his shop. He didn't hang a 'No Gays Allowed'
sign in his window. What he could never have known when he first opened his shop was that celebrating gay marriages would be
a precondition for making a living.
Christian
Baker Vows to Defy Court, LGBT Activists. A family bakery owned by a Christian cannot refuse to make wedding cakes for
homosexual couples, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday [8/13/2015]. The court affirmed the Colorado Civil Rights
Commission's order that Jack Phillips, the owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, violated the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act when
he refused to make a wedding cake for Charlie Craig and David Mullins.
Christian
baker who refused to make a gay wedding cake cannot use his religious beliefs as a defense, court rules. A
Christian baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay marriage ceremony cannot use his religious beliefs as a defense,
a court has ruled. Jack Phillips, who owns Masterpiece Cakeshop near Denver, Colorado, was accused of discrimination
after refusing to bake a wedding cake for David Mullins and Charlie Craig in 2012. Philips said forcing him to make cakes
for gay marriage ceremonies violated his right to freedom of speech and his religious freedoms, but today the Colorado Court
of Appeals rejected his argument.
Board:
Judges Can't Use Freedom of Religion to Avoid Performing Same-Sex Marriages. The Ohio Supreme Court Board of
Professional Conduct released a nonbinding, advisory ruling Monday [8/10/2015] that denies judges the right to cite their
religious beliefs in refusing to marry same-sex couples. Citing the judicial oath of office to "support the Constitution
of the United States and the Constitution of Ohio," the opinion states, "A judge who is willing to perform marriages of only
opposite-sex couples because of his or her personal, moral, or religious beliefs may be viewed as possessing a bias or
prejudice against a specific class or group of people based on sexual orientation."
Ohio Judges Can't Choose Not to
Marry Couples. This is the ruling of an advisory board, and so it's still unclear to what extent it will be enforced.
In 2012, an appeals court rejected a claim that federal judge Vaughn Walker was biased even though he refused to disclose he was gay and
in a long-term relationship with a man before overturning California's Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage. The 9th Circuit
Court of appeals held that just because he potentially had a personal stake in the outcome of the law, it was absurd to think he couldn't
independently and fairly perform his judicial functions, and "to hold otherwise would demonstrate a lack of respect for the integrity of
our federal courts."
Craig
James Sues Fox Sports for Religious Discrimination over Gay Marriage Firing. College
football analyst Craig James filed suit against Fox Sports in a Dallas court this morning [8/3/2015]
contending religious discrimination for his 2013 termination over his stance on gay marriage.
"Fox Sports fired James for one reason only: his religious beliefs about marriage," the 35-page suit
charges. "In so doing, Fox Sports violated the law. Specifically, Fox Sports violated the Texas
Commission on Human Rights Act ('TCHRA') and Texas contract law along with a myriad of equitable principles."
The
Gay Mafia Wants to Stop You From Doing This. There is an organized movement within the
gay rights community that is sometimess referred to as the "gay mafia." They want to harass those
who disagree with their agenda and silence any dissent from their agenda. They have worked overtime
in the past twenty-four hours because an AP poll shows that the number of Americans who now support gay
marriage has declined since the Supreme Court's ruling and a majority believe Christian businesses should
not be compelled to provide goods and services to gay weddings. They cannot have that. They
also cannot have books and data that dispute their claims. One such book is by my friend Ryan Anderson.
Sweet
Cakes by Melissa breaks record on crowdfunding site. The Gresham bakery that refused
to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple is breaking records with its crowdfunding campaign.
Sweet Cakes by Melissa was kicked off GoFundMe earlier this year, but has since raised more than
$350,000 on the crowdfunding site Continue to Give. The growing total, which far exceeds the
couple's $150,000 goal, is the largest individual campaign in the history of the three-year-old
site, the Washington Times reported. The couple previously netted more than $60,000 from Go Fund Me
before that campaign was taken down. The founder of Continue to Give, Jesse Wellhoefer, said he
refused to remove the Sweet Cakes campaign despite "lots and lots" of complaints, according to the Washington
Times. The bakery owners, Aaron and Melissa Klein, were ordered to pay the couple $135,000 in damages,
the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries ruled July 2.
Christians Must Brace Themselves for the
Coming Persecution in Obama's LGBT America. Rod Dreher, writing in an article in Time
Magazine, has this to say about the recent US Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage: "LGBT
activists and their fellow travelers will be coming after social conservatives. The Supreme Court
has now, in constitutional doctrine, said that homosexuality is equivalent to race. The next goal
of activists will be a long-term campaign to remove tax-exempt status from dissenting religious
institutions. The more immediate goal will be the shunning and persecution of dissenters within
civil society."
The Gay Lifestyle Fallacy.
The United States is sinking into the moral decay of tribal warfare. No longer can Christians state their case
without a torrent of hatred coming from both atheists and those in the gay rights cabal. Any opinion that does not
toe the progressive line will not be tolerated. This comes from the party of tolerance. Your identity, your
lifestyle, even you very dignity will be trashed if you do not comply. This way of thinking will soon be a
coercive force in every citizens life. Much of it starts with those who speak out from within the gay community,
or those who have been raised inside the gay community and have felt its corrosive way of thinking first hand.
Bakers
who refused to make lesbian wedding cake told to pay $135K by Monday — or
else. Two Christian bakers who refused to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding have been
ordered to pay $135,000 in damages by July 13 or else the state of Oregon could place a lien on
their home. Aaron and Melissa Klein, the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, were punished by
the state's Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI) for unlawfully discriminating against a same-sex
couple. The Kleins, who are devout evangelical Christians, argued that baking the cake would
be a violation of their religious beliefs.
Rusk
County clerk resigns over gay marriage ruling. Rusk County Clerk Joyce Lewis-Kugle has
resigned because of an unwillingness to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling on issuing same-sex
marriage licenses, County Judge Joel Hale said Friday [7/10/2015]. Hale said he received
Lewis-Kugle's resignation letter Thursday, effective Monday. "(She) felt like she couldn't
continue (at the position) after the (June 25) Supreme Court decision," he said, adding that her
departure is a tremendous loss to Rusk County. Lewis-Kugle was not available for comment Friday.
Now
Democrats Want to Ban the Words 'Husband' and 'Wife'. Now that compulsory gay marriage
is the law of the land thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, liberals are reaching out from that
decision to see where else they can force the gay lobby's agenda on the country. Next up
is a war against the words "husband" and "wife" because they are somehow "anti-gay." California
Congresscritter Lois Capps is now leading the charge to try to get the two words expunged from federal law.
Dems
declare war on words 'husband,' 'wife'. More than two dozen Democrats have proposed legislation
that would eliminate the words "husband" and "wife" from federal law. Those "gendered terms" would be
replaced by "gender-neutral" words like "spouse" or "married couple," according to the bill from Rep. Lois Capps,
D-Calif. "The Amend the Code for Marriage Equality Act recognizes that the words in our laws have meaning
and can continue to reflect prejudice and discrimination even when rendered null by our highest courts," Capps
said. "Our values as a country are reflected in our laws. I authored this bill because it is
imperative that our federal code reflect the equality of all marriages."
The Editor says...
When the liberals start deleting words from the dictionary, it will be impossible to teach future generations
the difference between right and wrong, or the difference between normal and perverse, because the words that
describe perversion will have been outlawed. The normalization of perversion is not only well underway,
it's gaining momentum.
Sen.
Lee: 'Religious Individuals... Could Lose Everything'. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) says
that if his First Amendment Defense Act fails to pass, "religious individuals and institutions could
lose everything from tax-exempt status to government contracts, government employment and things
like that." Lee and Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) introduced the bill in June that would bar the
federal government from imposing penalties on individuals, businesses, and religious organizations
acting "in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be
recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or that sexual relations are properly reserved
to such a marriage."
We
'refuse to comply': Christian bakers won't be bullied by gag order. It's going to take
more than a gag order from a state bureaucrat to shut up two Christian bakers under assault for
refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple in Oregon. As reported by Bizpac Review on
Saturday, Aaron and Melissa Klein were not only hit with a $135,000 fine for refusing to bake the
cake, but they were also ordered by Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian to stop speaking out
about the case. The Kleins, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, told Fox News' Todd Starnes they
have no intention of obeying what they see as a clear violation of their First Amendment rights.
Wasserman-Schultz
on Bakers Fined $135K Over Wedding Cake: 'You Shouldn't Be Able to Turn People Away'. Democratic National
Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz said the marriage debate is over. "The marriage equality decision is
settled. Love is love and now everyone in America enjoys the protection of the United States Constitution when it
comes to who they choose to marry legally," Wasserman-Schultz told The Daily Signal. She also weighed in on the
religious liberty debate. "That doesn't mean that churches and religious institutions have to conduct same-sex
marriages and it doesn't mean that religious institutions aren't able to practice their own values. But, in this
country, we do not allow people to discriminate."
Christian
Bakers Fined $135K Over Lesbian Wedding Cake Raise More Than $210K. A fundraising campaign that was launched to
help Aaron and Melissa Klein, the bakers fined $135,000 for refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, has raised more
than $210,000. The Kleins told The Daily Signal in an earlier interview that their income has virtually been cut in half
since they were forced to close their business as a result. Additionally, if the family is required to pay the fine,
their financial situation will become increasingly tighter. To make ends meet, Aaron Klein has picked up a job
as a garbage collector.
Do Christians
Even Have a Chance Against Oregon's Bureaucracy? On July 2, Brad Avakian, commissioner
of Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), ordered Aaron and Melissa Klein to pay $135,000
in damages for "emotional, mental and physical suffering" to a lesbian couple after the
Kleins — owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa — declined to bake a cake
celebrating their same-sex wedding. Avakian also ordered the Kleins to "cease and desist" from
"publishing, circulating, issuing or displaying, or causing to be published ... any communication
to the effect that any of the accommodations ... will be refused, withheld from or denied to, or
that any discrimination be made against, any person on account of their sexual orientation." This
gag order explicitly applied not just to formal business communications but also to the Klein's statements
to the press, such as, "This fight is not over. We will continue to stand strong."
Cultural aggression,
destructive policies, and ceaseless smearing are wearing out a great people. [Scroll
down] Ask Aaron and Melissa Klein what they think of the state of our civil liberties, after
an Oregon judge not only sanctioned the destruction of their wedding cake business but denied them
the freedom to discuss their plight. Ask Brendan Eich, the former Mozilla CEO who committed the
crime of writing a check to support organizations opposed to gay marriage. Ask any conservative
attempting to ply a trade in Hollywood or academia. The Left's cultural fascists have perfected
the ability to silence their opposition without the use of jackboots and truncheons as in the past,
though as we've seen an angry mob or a riot squad here and there is hardly out of the question.
Next up will be the forfeiting of tax exemptions by churches — unless the Left is
willing to make exceptions for those it deems "helpful" to the cause.
Colorado
court to hear baker's appeal over gay wedding cake. A Colorado appeals court is
scheduled Tuesday [7/7/2015] to hear the case of Jack Phillips, a baker who refused to bake a cake for a gay
wedding. Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips is appealing an order he received to cease his
anti-gay policy or face fines instead.
Sorry,
Slate: Oregon Did Put a 'Gag Order' on Those Christian Bakers. On Thursday [7/2/2015],
The Daily Signal published an article about Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) Commissioner
Brad Avakian ordering Aaron and Melissa Klein, Christian bakers who had refused to make a wedding cake
for a lesbian couple, to pay the couple $135,000 for "emotional" damages and issuing a gag order against
the Kleins. On Monday [7/6/2015], Slate published an article criticizing The Daily Signal's coverage
headlined "No, Oregon Did Not 'Gag' That Anti-Gay Bakery." While that's a great, provocative
headline, Slate's headline is simply not true.
Forcing
Churches to Perform Same-Sex Marriages Would End Separation of Church and State. I do
not believe churches, synagogues, mosques or other religious assemblies should be obligated to
perform same-sex weddings if such unions go against their teachings. That decision must be left to
the churches and their congregations to decide. If the federal government sees fit to either compel
churches to perform same-sex marriages or punish them for refusing to do so then it is interfering
in the internal affairs of religious congregations. Churches would cease to be autonomous
organizations and become functionaries of the whims of the government. This would be a violation
of the separation of church and state.
More
about the one-sided separation of church and state.
Oregon
Declares War On Christian Faith. In one of the most egregious anti-Christian acts
committed by a state official in recent memory, Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian not only
upheld the ridiculous $135,000 fine levied against Aaron and Melissa Klein for declining to bake a
cake for a lesbian commitment ceremony, but he ordered the Kleins to "cease and desist" from making
any public comments about their religious convictions relative to this case. This is an outrage
and a travesty, and it must be rebuked and resisted. Who does Mr. Avakian think he is?
Bakers
hit out after court rules that they must pay $135k to lesbian couple after they refused to make them
a wedding cake. The owners of a Portland-area bakery who refused to bake a wedding
cake for a gay couple and were ordered to pay them $135,000 in damages have hit back at the ruling.
Aaron and Melissa Klein, the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa bakery were ordered to pay $60,000 in
damages to Laurel Bowman-Cryer and $75,000 in damages to Rachel Bowman-Cryer for emotional
suffering. But they say that they're being discriminated against because their views
are being silenced by Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian.
Oregon
Issues Gag Order for Bakers Who Refused to Make Gay Wedding Cake. In April, an
administrative judge with the Oregon Department of Labor ordered Aaron and Melissa Klein, the owners
of the now shuttered bakery Sweet Cakes by Melissa, to pay a fine of $135,000 for refusing to bake a
cake for a lesbian couple's wedding. While there's a case the couple violated the state's public
accommodation laws, there's little doubt that the fine was excessive and the reasoning for it specious.
Entire
County Clerk Office Resigns Over Same-Sex Marriage. No same-sex marriage licenses are
being issued in Decatur County, Tennessee, because the entire county clerk's office has resigned
following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Decatur
County Clerk Gwen Pope explained her decision to quit her elected post. "It's for the glory of God.
He's going to get all the glory," she told WBIR.
U.S.
Kentucky Clerk Sued for Not Issuing Gay-Marriage Licenses. The American Civil
Liberties Union of Kentucky filed a federal lawsuit against Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis on Thursday
afternoon [7/2/2015] on behalf of two homosexual and two heterosexual couples, all of whom were
turned away when they tried to get marriage licenses from Davis' office this week.
Final
order: Sweet Cakes bakery must pay $135,000 to lesbian couple. The owners of a Gresham
bakery must pay $135,000 to a lesbian couple who were refused service more than two years ago, the
Bureau of Labor and Industries ruled Thursday [7/2/2015].
Family
Of Seven Impoverished By Activist Oregon Gov't Over Wedding Cake. A family of seven
behind the bakery Sweetcakes in Oregon was sued for $135,000 by a same sex couple after the couple
was politely declined a wedding cake due to the baker's Christian faith. I say the family was sued
and not just Aaron and Melissa Klein of Sweetcakes because the family is going to go broke to pay the
$135k to Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer who equated the polite decline of a wedding cake to "mental rape."
Obergefell's Threat to Religious
Liberty. Despite what the newspaper headlines say, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in
Obergefell v. Hodges did not "legalize" same-sex marriage. It mandated same-sex marriage,
something very different. States were previously free to recognize gay marriage, but now they are
compelled to do so. From now on, it is illegal — unconstitutional — for any
state not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Many tout Obergefell as a
victory for civil rights, but it is anything but.
No Truce With the Left. Republicans
are still trying to figure out a truce on gay marriage. They retreated to civil unions, then
accepted a full defeat on gay marriage and then acted baffled when Christian bakery owners were
dragged into court for refusing to participate in gay weddings. When the left insisted that gay
marriage was a civil rights issue, they refused to take them at their word. Now they're
wondering how an accommodation can be made with tranny rights. A brief look back at gay rights will
show that the only possible accommodation is one in which men in dresses have a legal right to use
the ladies room and every single closed female space and event. And yes, that means your business
will be shut down if you object to Steve using the female locker room.
It Was Always About The Christians.
After The Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council declared marriage, as we have known it for 10,000
years, to be null and void, most of the chattering skulls on what passes for the Right these days
went into predictable hysterics. Progressive lunatics decorated themselves in rainbows, celebrating
without fully understanding what it is they are celebrating. [...] The health care bill was mostly
changes in the law to interfere with the free exercise of religion. Forcing some Christians to pay
for abortions, for example, is forcing them to violate their faith. Do that enough and even the
faithful give up.
The Formal
End to Judeo-Christian America. The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the redefinition of
marriage seals the end of America as the Founders envisioned it. From well before 1776 until the
second half of the 20th century, the moral values of the United States were rooted in the Bible and
its God. [...] Beginning with the Supreme Court's ban on nondenominational school prayer in 1962, the
same-sex marriage decision has essentially completed the state's secularization of American society.
This is one thing about which both right and left, religious and secular, can agree. One side may
rejoice over the fact, and the other may weep, but it is a fact.
15
Reasons 'Marriage Equality' Is About Neither Marriage Nor Equality. Same-sex marriage
is a notion that contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction. I doubt many have thought
this through, with the ironic exception of the elites who have been pushing the agenda the hardest.
Most people are weary of it all and going along to get along, especially since dissent has become such a
socially expensive proposition, almost overnight. That in itself should deeply concern anyone who
values freedom of expression. [...] The same-sex marriage agenda is more like a magic bullet with a
trajectory that will abolish civil marriage for everyone, and in doing so, will embed central planning
into American life. And that, my friends, is the whole point of it. Along with Obamacare,
net neutrality, and Common Core, genderless marriage is a blueprint for regulating life, particularly
family life.
The
Next Culture War. More and more Christians feel estranged from mainstream culture.
They fear they will soon be treated as social pariahs, the moral equivalent of segregationists because
of their adherence to scriptural teaching on gay marriage. They fear their colleges will be
decertified, their religious institutions will lose their tax-exempt status, their religious liberty
will come under greater assault. The Supreme Court's gay marriage decision landed like some
sort of culminating body blow onto this beleaguered climate.
Quo
Vadis, America? "Natural law — God's law — will always trump
common law," said Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and a Christian leader in her
own right, "God will have the final word in this matter." But, for now, Justice Anthony Kennedy
has the final word. Same-sex marriage is the law of the land, as the right of gays and lesbians to
marry is right there in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1868. We just
didn't see it. Tony Kennedy spotted what no previous court had detected. The absurdity of the
decision aside, it represents another stride forward for the revolution preached by Antonio Gramsci.
Before we can capture the West, the Italian Marxist argued, we must capture the culture. For only
if we change the culture can we change how people think and believe. And then a new generation will
not only come to accept but to embrace what their fathers would have resisted to the death.
Here's
How Religious Business Owners Could Protect Themselves Against Gay Marriage Decision.
In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to legalize gay marriage, conservative lawmakers put
forth a plan they claim will protect "many of the millions of Americans who voted to define marriage
as an exclusively male-female institution." But will that plan protect the Washington florist
being sued by the state for acting on her beliefs about marriage? Or the New York farmers being
fined $13,000 for refusing to host a same-sex wedding in their backyard? The answer, quite simply,
is no.
The
Most Radical Decision Ever? Are you religious? Be afraid. The Court's opinion shows
the justices know their holding has grave implications for the free exercise of religion, but the paragraph in
the opinion that purports to reassure does not. Pointedly, it mentions only the freedom to dissent and
debate on matters of religion and morality, not the freedom to act on ones views. In the wake of this
decision, family businesses, non-profits and perhaps even religious congregations will be sued under state
and federal civil rights laws.
Arkansas
clerk will resign over marriage licenses for same-sex couples. A county clerk in
Arkansas plans to resign effective June 30 because of a moral objection to issuing marriage licenses
to same-sex couples.
Obergefell
v. Hodges and Tax Exemption for Churches. Following Obergefell v. Hodges, much
discussion now centers on the potential loss of tax-exempt status to churches that resist. Same-sex
marriage zealots will look for opportunities to cement the Court's decision by forcing churches, through
the lower courts, to perform same-sex marriages. Either they do it — the churches —
or lose it (their tax-exempt status). Meanwhile, denominational hierarchies will huddle behind closed doors
and examine options beyond compliance or non-compliance when their doctrine clearly forbids clergy to conduct
marriage ceremonies for any couple other than one man and one woman.
Churches
are the left's next target in the gay-marriage war. Everyone knows where the debate
over gay marriage is going next. Now that the Supreme Court has imposed its edict on the land,
the question is whether religious institutions and people of faith will still be permitted to act on
moral beliefs that the court has portrayed as bigoted and deeply wounding.
The
Church will survive gay marriage if it sticks to its guns. The Supreme Court's
same-sex marriage decision is only three days old and already there are calls to end the tax
exemption not just for religious schools, but for churches as well. [...] Even before the Supreme
Court concocted a constitutional right to gay marriage, American religious liberty was being
systematically undermined. There were widespread efforts to exclude orthodox Christian organizations
from American colleges and universities, occasional attempts to literally coerce Christians into
voicing support for homosexual conduct, and well-known efforts to destroy businesses that aren't
willing to participate in gay weddings.
As
Left Celebrates, Right Preps For All-Out Anti-Religious Assault. With Justice
Kennedy's opinion in one hand and a rainbow flag in the other, the secular left will now press its
advantage. Conservatives who pooh-pooh such notions should remember when the secular left insisted
that same-sex marriage was a conservative scare tactic. The left requires constant revolution.
And that revolution will not end with the declaration of "dignity" provided by Kennedy or a few vulgar
parades [...] or a rainbow light display at the White House. It will not end until the unbelievers
are destroyed.
Christian
farm family penalized in gay wedding refusal decries 'orchestrated set-up'. When Melisa Erwin called
the Giffords about using their upstate New York property for a same-sex wedding ceremony, she apparently knew in
advance that they would refuse. For one thing, she and her fiancee recorded the conversation. Even so,
an administrative judge with the New York State Division of Human Rights ordered the Giffords to pay $3,000 to
Ms. Erwin and Jennifer McCarthy for "mental pain and suffering," in addition to $10,000 for violating the state's
human rights ordinance. In a brief filed Thursday [6/25/2015], attorneys for Cynthia and Robert Gifford
argue that the state's ruling violates the First Amendment, but they also criticize the same-sex couple for what
they describe as an "orchestrated set-up."
Idaho
city's ordinance tells pastors to marry gays or go to jail. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, city
officials have laid down the law to Christian pastors within their community, telling them bluntly
via an ordinance that if they refuse to marry homosexuals, they will face jail time and fines.
The dictate comes on the heels of a legal battle with Donald and Evelyn Knapp, ordained ministers
who own the Hitching Post wedding chapel in the city, but who oppose gay marriage, The Daily Caller
reported. A federal judge recently ruled that the state's ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional,
while the city of Coeur d'Alene has an ordinance that prevents discrimination based on sexual preference.
Post-SCOTUS
Gay Marriage: Religious institution tax exemptions at risk. Forty-eight hours after
the Supreme Court's monumental gay marriage decision, and progressives are already calling for an
end to tax exemptions for churches. Anticipating the Supreme Court's eventual ruling on
Obergefell v. Hodges, Senator Mike Lee and Rep. Raul Labrador introduced the First Amendment
Defense Act. The bill would protect religious institutions who, for religious beliefs, do not
actively participate in gay wedding ceremonies.
Why
the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage could lead to civil war. Today the Supreme
Court ruled 5 to 4 in favor of same sex marriage in all 50 states. My friends,
we are witnessing the end of federalism in our nation. In a single vote, 5 folks basically
just told the states to "stick it." Furthermore, we are in effect nullifying the First
Amendment. Consider this: what happens when a gay couple goes into a church wanting to
plan a ceremony and the pastor says no? We now have a conflict between the First Amendment and
individual behavior.
The
Supreme Court Has Ruled. Principled People Will Not Obey. Following the Supreme
Court's illegal, immoral, and incredible "gay" rights decision, the White House (owned by the
American people, not the President) was flooded with rainbow-color lights in celebration of that
disgusting, dangerous, and decadent decision. Such impudence and defiance was an insult to America
and a goading of God. However, be assured that God sees the evil and the good and He is involved in
our world. Sometime His judgment seems slow, but it is always sure and severe. Judgment is on
the way! [...] However, the Supreme Court is not infallible (as only a fool would say) nor is it final
(as only a fanatic would say). I remind you that their decisions are called, "opinions" and do not
reach the level of the Ten Commandments — or even the Ten Recommendations. Same-sex
"marriages" will continue to be abnormal, abominable, and aberrational even as shallow people applaud them.
SCOTUS
Declares Itself God, Redefines Marriage and Rights. The day after declaring Obamacare
magically rewritten and that the lawsuits against discrimination in housing require no proof of
actual discrimination, the Supreme Court found a unicorn in the 14th Amendment. By a vote of
5-4, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to privacy under that aforementioned 14th Amendment
(adopted in 1868, when every state in America criminalized sodomy) requires that every state in
America grant marriage licenses to men who want to marry men and women who want to marry women,
and that every state recognize such licenses from every other state.
Troubling
fallout as gay marriage becomes the law of the land. [Scroll down] There are
other worries, too, now that same-sex marriage is the law of the land. Kennedy, for example,
included a grudging acceptance that people who oppose gay marriage on religious grounds can
"advocate" their dissenting views. But the ruling may throw into question issues like tax
exemptions for some religious groups that refuse to recognize same-sex marriage. And Justice
Samuel Alito was surely right to warn that people "determined to stamp out every vestige of dissent"
will use the ruling "to vilify" critics.
Is
This New 'Constitutional Right' Really Just A 'Right To Trample' Religious Liberty?
Before this decision, if you were gay, you were free to marry or not depending on the state in which
you lived. Now, a reluctant-to-commit gay person no longer can use legality as an excuse.
Instead of living your lives free from government infringement, you've just invited the government into
your bedroom, and your relationship. Who wants that? I guess the people who previously wanted
government to butt out, want them to butt back in. Now, if you split up, instead of simply going
your separate ways with whatever you brought to the relationship, now you have to go to the government
to get out of the tangled web you were so anxious to get into.
Same-Sex
Marriage Ruling Starts New Religious Freedom War. Navy chaplain Wes Modder, sportscaster Craig James and others have
lost jobs or are losing their jobs because they hold Christian beliefs on sex and marriage. Business owners face more than
losing their businesses, as Washington florist Barronelle Stutzman could lose her home and life's savings, and Colorado baker Jack
Phillips risks jail time if he continues refusing to bake cakes celebrating gay marriage. There are others, and the list grows
monthly. Their legal rights are no different from Hobby Lobby's to refuse to cover abortion under ObamaCare. Whether
from a state or federal RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act) or the Constitution's First Amendment, all Americans have the
right to believe what their faith teaches and live according to those beliefs.
Top
Clinton Advisor Dodges Question On Protecting Tax Status For Churches Opposed to Gay Marriage. Karen Finney, a
top advisor for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, declined to answer if she believes churches that refuse to perform
same sex marriages should lose their tax exempt status. Responding to a question from Breitbart News, Finney dodged
with, "honestly today just thinking about what this means for my LGBT friends."
Huckabee:
Gay Marriage Could Criminalize Christianity. The legalization of same-sex marriage
would be a "very dangerous place" for America to go and could lead to civil disobedience, former
Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee warns. [...] "I refuse to sit silently as politically driven
interest groups threaten the foundation of religious liberty, criminalize Christianity, and demand
that Americans abandon Biblical principles of natural marriage," Huckabee wrote.
A
Maryland DJ has refused to work a birthday party for a gay man. 'We ought to obey God rather than men.'
First there was the New Mexico wedding photographer. Then there was the Indiana pizza maker. Now there is
the Maryland disc jockey.
Emails
Raise Questions of Bias in Case Against Bakers Who Denied Service for Same-Sex Wedding. The
Daily Signal has exclusively learned that the government agency responsible for enforcing Oregon's
anti-discrimination law appears to be working closely with a powerful gay rights advocacy group in its
case against Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa. Communications between the
agency, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, and the LGBT organization, Basic Rights Oregon, raise
questions about potential bias in the state's decision to charge the Kleins with discrimination for
refusing to make a cake for a same-sex wedding. In April, a judge for the agency recommended the
Kleins be fined $135,000.
The Dictatorship
of Godless Perverts [...] cannot permit anyone to question the regime's absolute authority. The
commissars of the regime will tell you "what it means to be a man, and what it means to be a woman," and you
are not permitted to talk back to them. There can be no discussion or debate. If you do not endorse
the Official Truth, you must be silenced. You must be punished if you refuse to repudiate
your opposition, because everything you "consider natural and normal" — your "basic, deep-rooted
ideas" — "will need to change."
Gay
Marriage Goes Beyond 'Bake Me a Cake'. Over the last few years, the gay marriage
movement has transformed from "equality for all" to "bake me a cake." As it picks up steam, the
movement looks more and more totalitarian, both at home and abroad. Witness the latest news from
the Great White North: [...]
Jewelry
store sign prompts same-sex couple to ask for refund. A same-sex couple from St. John's is upset
after discovering the jewelry store that sold them their engagement rings has posted a sign that seems to oppose
same-sex marriage — but one of the store's owners says he's allowed to post his religious beliefs.
Give
the 'bigot' bomb a break. A lesbian couple purchased engagement rings from a Christian jeweler.
They were so pleased with the service, they referred a friend to the shop to purchase a ring for his girlfriend.
Said friend spied a sign that read: "The sanctity of marriage is under attack. Let's keep marriage between
a man and a woman." Offense was taken. Once upon a time, this would have led to, in ascending order:
an eye roll, daggered glares or an inquiry about the sentiment with perhaps a few words exchanged ending in an agreement
to disagree. That is no longer the world in which we live.
Louisiana
religious liberty bill goes down in defeat as Republicans side with LGBT activists.
Louisiana Republican lawmakers sided with Democrats, big business and LGBT activists to kill a bill
that would have protected individuals and religious institutions opposed to same-sex marriage.
In doing so, lawmakers defied the objections of an overwhelmingly majority of voters and handed Gov.
Bobby Jindal a significant defeat for his legislative agenda. A house legal committee voted 10-2
on Tuesday [5/19/2015] to shelve the Louisiana Marriage and Conscience Act — a measure
that critics said could sanction discrimination against same-sex couples.
You 'Must be Made' to Obey.
[Scroll down] Of course, if homosexual behavior, something denounced as both "vile affections"
and "an abomination" throughout both the Old and New Testaments, is no longer sexual sin, then there
can be no sexual sin whatsoever. To coerce, through the power of the police state, faithful
Christians to abandon the millennia-old biblical sexual ethic and embrace the sin of Sodom would
likewise require that Christians sign-off on fornication, adultery, incest and bestiality. Such
is the unnatural nature of government-mandated moral relativism. "But this isn't free speech, it's
hate speech!" come the mournful cries of the ill-informed and the ill-prepared, desperately afraid to
debate the issues on the merits.
LGBT
Undermining of the Constitution, Culture, and Conservatives. Conservative commentator
and legal analyst Matt Barber elaborated that most LGBT individuals are part of a "sexual anarchy
... [a] cultural Marxist movement." They seek "to burn down the white picket fence," not
traditional bourgeois committed relationships. Kincaid analyzed the Marxist backgrounds of various
LGBT movement founders and declared that "Communism is not dead," for Karl Marx called for family
abolition, "not just an economic theory." Kincaid focused on American Communist Party member Harry
Hay, whose FBI surveillance file is available at ASI's website. Hay wore a "NAMBLA walks with me"
sign at a San Francisco gay parade and later pursued the occult as a "radical fairie." Journalist
James Simpson explained in his presentation that actually, the "left does not care about gay rights."
As Communist regimes indicate with their criminalization of homosexuality throughout history, the "issue
is always the revolution."
The
Progressive Mask Comes Off. [Scroll down] We're now sadly familiar with the
shunning that surrounds the issue of gay marriage: Just last week, a judge suggested a mind-boggling
$135,000 fine for an Oregon family who refused to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding. But the net is
cast far wider than that. Last week, speaking at a Women in the World Summit in Manhattan, Hillary
Clinton declared that "deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs, and structural biases have to be
changed" when it comes to issues such as abortion. Really? That's kind of a big deal, is it
not? She sounds like she's on the Totalitarian Side of History!
New
GoFundMe rule makes it easy to kill Christian campaigns. GoFundMe's old policy on
crowdfunding may not have been enough to justify its decision last weekend to kill campaigns on
behalf of a Christian-owned florist and bakery — but its new policy is. The website
quietly expanded its list of banned crowdfunding activities this week shortly after The Washington
Times questioned GoFundMe's reliance on its policy against campaigns in defense of "formal charges
of heinous crimes" to pull fundraisers for Arlene's Flowers and for Sweet Cakes by Melissa.
Imagine
'Gay Marriage Reparations'. We hear conflicting numbers about how many children are
being raised in gay homes. Sometimes it's 40,000; sometimes it's 14 million. Those
things are hard to peg, since sexuality is a bit of a revolving door. Parents are coming out
and going back in the closet all the time. Over time, there is no doubt that there will be at
least 100,000 citizens, probably well over 500,000, placed into same-sex homes entirely or predominantly
because of the state's response to demands for expanded marriage rights from gay lobbying organizations.
Bake Me a Cake —
or Else. In January 2013, Rachel Cryer and her mother walked into Sweet Cakes By
Melissa, a bakery in Gresham, Oregon, and tried to order a wedding cake. Aaron Klein, the co-owner
(and Melissa's husband), was informed Cryer would be marrying another woman. He apologized and told
them that providing a cake for a same-sex wedding violated his Christian convictions. Cryer walked
out of the store. In a suburb adjacent to Portland, one of the most progressive cities in America,
Sweet Cakes By Melissa was living on borrowed time once the incident became public. (The city is so
famously tolerant that Sam Adams, the first openly gay mayor of a major city, survived two recall attempts
after it was revealed that he had lied about having a relationship with an underage teenage boy. His
supporters initially smeared those making the accusations as homophobic.) Protests started outside
the bakery soon after, and by September 2013 Sweet Cakes had closed its doors.
'We
Will Not Obey': Christian Leaders Threaten Civil Disobedience if Supreme Court Legalizes Gay Marriage.
"We respectfully warn the Supreme Court not to cross that line," read a document titled, Pledge in Solidarity to
Defend Marriage. "We stand united together in defense of marriage. Make no mistake about our
resolve." "While there are many things we can endure, redefining marriage is so fundamental to the natural order
and the common good that this is the line we must draw and one we cannot and will not cross," the pledge states.
Obama's
Lawyer Basically Tells SCOTUS That Religious Schools Are Toast. During oral arguments
made in the same-sex marriage case heard by the Supreme Court on Tuesday [4/28/2015] (Obergefell
v. Hodges), Justices Roberts and Alito questioned Solicitor General Donald Verrilli about the
rights of religious schools if the Court decides to impose same-sex marriage on the states.
Justice Roberts asked if religious schools that provide housing to married students would be required
to offer such housing to same-sex couples. Verrilli demurred, saying there is currently no
federal law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. "Those issues are going to
have to be worked out," he said.
Puffed-up
Leftist Tyranny Punishes Dissenters. Forget for a moment the ever-failing economy, the
implosion of our foreign policy coherence, and our virtually unilateral withdrawal in the war on
terror under Barack Obama's presidency. If liberty lovers don't start fighting back soon, we'll
forfeit our freedom of thought and religious expression under the assault of fascist leftist activists
in our culture. Let's just look at two of the many recent events that should have us very
concerned. As you may have guessed, they revolve around the controversial matter of same-sex
marriage. At the outset, let me say that this issue is no longer about same-sex marriage or gay
rights; it is about our basic liberties.
Exclusive:
Bakers Facing $135K Fine Over Wedding Cake for Same-Sex Couple Speak Out. It was the
first time seeing her bakery since the new owners moved in. "This is really hard," Melissa Klein
said, tears filling up her eyes. Almost two years ago, Melissa and her husband, Aaron, owners of
Sweet Cakes by Melissa, had to close the bakery they built from scratch after declining to bake a cake
for a same-sex wedding. "I did all the flooring in here — this was a collection agency
before we moved the bakery in," Aaron said, peering through the glass window.
The Show Trial of Ian Reisner.
From Go Fund Me to Wisconsin's John Doe law to the Quaker Friends School of Baltimore to Oregon
State University, from same-sex marriage to climate change, a wave of liberal fascism is sweeping
the country. Freedom of religion, not to mention free speech, is under assault. And in the style
of show trials from the days of the Nazis and the Stalin-era Soviet Union, Americans who have the nerve to
practice their religion or simply speak up are not merely being intimidated into silence —
they must now be forced publicly to admit their "errors."
Idaho
city's ordinance tells pastors to marry gays or go to jail. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, city
officials have laid down the law to Christian pastors within their community, telling them bluntly
via an ordinance that if they refuse to marry homosexuals, they will face jail time and fines.
The dictate comes on the heels of a legal battle with Donald and Evelyn Knapp, ordained ministers
who own the Hitching Post wedding chapel in the city, but who oppose gay marriage, The Daily Caller
reported. A federal judge recently ruled that the state's ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional,
while the city of Coeur d'Alene has an ordinance that prevents discrimination based on sexual preference.
Oregon
panel proposes $135K hit against bakers in gay-wedding cake dispute. An Oregon commission proposed
Friday [4/24/2015] levying a $135,000 hit against Aaron and Melissa Klein for refusing to provide a wedding cake
for a same-sex marriage ceremony based on their Christian beliefs. Aaron and Melissa Klein, who are struggling
to make ends meet after closing Sweet Cakes by Melissa in September 2013, received the 110-page proposed order Friday
[4/24/2015] from the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, which ruled against the couple in February.
Mr. Klein said Friday the figure was "shocking" but not entirely unexpected. The commission has the authority
to mete out awards for damages of up to $150,000.
Bakers
face $135,000 fine for refusing to make cake for gay wedding. The owners of an Oregon
bakery learned Friday [4/24/2015] that there is a severe price to pay for following their Christian
faith. A judge for the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) recommended a lesbian couple
should receive $135,000 in damages for their emotional suffering after Sweet Cakes by Melissa refused
to make them a wedding cake. As a result, Aaron and Melissa Klein could lose everything they
own — including their home.
Gay
Marriage: A Trojan Horse Movement. Consider that Annise Parker, the lesbian mayor of
Houston, Texas, demanded to review pastors' church sermons before public outrage forced her to back
off. We have already seen how small businesses have been singled out and attacked for refusing to
provide certain services to gays. What is less known is that these gay couples are frequently
part of the movement. They deliberately seek out businesses known for their Christian owners.
They deliberately demand a service they know in advance will be refused. When the inevitable happens
they use it as pretext to destroy the business and savage its owners. Doesn't it amaze you how quickly
legal groups immediately materialize to assist in the attack? The fact that they got unexpected push
back through a spontaneous crowd sourcing campaign to support one pizza shop will not dissuade them from
future efforts. If gay marriage is adopted, their current bullying behavior will look like child's
play compared to what's coming.
So much for live and let live.
Gay-rights
advocates torpedo GoFundMe campaign for Christian-owned bakery. A crowdfunding campaign that had
raised more than $109,000 for the Christian-owned bakery Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Oregon was removed Saturday
[4/25/2015] after complaints from gay-rights advocates. The website GoFundMe said in a statement Saturday [4/25/2015]
that it took down the page because the campaign violated the policy against raising money "in defense of formal
charges of heinous crimes, including violent, hateful, or sexual acts."
Bakers
face $135,000 fine for refusing to make cake for gay wedding. The owners of an Oregon
bakery learned Friday [4/22/2015] that there is a severe price to pay for following their Christian
faith. A judge for the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) recommended a lesbian
couple should receive $135,000 in damages for their emotional suffering after Sweet Cakes by Melissa
refused to make them a wedding cake. As a result[,] Aaron and Melissa Klein could lose
everything they own — including their home. The Oregonian reports the recommended
penalty is not final and could be raised or lowered by State Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian.
Pastors
Descend on Texas Capitol to Support Bill Protecting Them from Performing Gay Marriages. Pastors from
all over Texas are descending upon the Texas Capitol today [4/22/2015] to support a Texas House Bill that protects the rights of
certain religious organizations and individuals when refusing to perform or to recognize a gay marriage. The
Texas Pastor Council has issued a Call to Action for "Pastors At The Capitol" for Wednesday, April 22nd.
They will be attending the House State Affairs Committee hearing on H.B. 3567 to "begin challenging the false
narrative of the Texas Association of Business that Texas can't be both business friendly and protect the religious
freedom of the people."
The
Ugly Side of the Gay Marriage Campaign. The growing militance of the gay marriage
crusade finds its rough parallel, I think, with the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Having
achieved its long-sought goals of removing legal barriers to equal rights through the Civil Rights
Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Equal Housing Act, and other measures, what happened to the civil rights
movement? A radical new faction took center stage, with the rise of the "black power" movement.
Involuntary
Servitude Returns to America. Given that America no longer allows involuntary servitude, why do florists,
photographers, bakers or printers have to work for anyone who requests his services? Why are they not protected
by the Thirteenth Amendment?
Big
Law Thinks Gay Marriage Opponents Are Like Racist Bigots. That's a Problem. Sunday's
[4/12/2015] New York Times stated plainly what many of us have known for a while: Our nation's
elites are intolerant of ordinary Americans. The reporter for the Times revealed a startling
reality: "In dozens of interviews, lawyers and law professors said the imbalance in legal firepower
in the same-sex marriage cases resulted from a conviction among many lawyers that opposition to such
unions is bigotry akin to racism."
Pizza Shop That Backed
Indiana Religious Freedom Law Reopens. A northern Indiana pizzeria that closed after
its owner said his religious beliefs wouldn't allow him to cater a gay wedding opened Thursday
[4/9/2015] to a full house of friends, regulars and people wanting to show their support. "It's
a relief to get going again and try to get back to normal," said Kevin O'Connor, owner of Memories Pizza.
<1-- glue -->
Memories
Pizza Reopens To Packed House, Lib Protesters Fail To Show. A northern Indiana pizzeria that closed after
its owner said his religious beliefs wouldn't allow him to cater a gay wedding opened Thursday [4/9/2015] to a full
house of friends, regulars and people wanting to show their support.
NYT
Writer: Christians 'Must Be Made' to Embrace Gay Lifestyle. In the wake of the Indiana
donnybrook over religious liberty, which somehow was transformed overnight into a question of gay
rights, it couldn't be long before the New York Times weighed in against Christians. Yet
who could have expected the draconian measures the Times would propose? Either Christians
fully embrace the gay lifestyle, or you will be coerced into doing so.
The
Gay Marriage Wake-Up Call. I've been all around the world fighting for children's
rights to a mother and father, and I've seen the same tactics from Italy to Palo Alto. Children's
rights advocates bring up the U.N. Declaration of the Rights of the Child, Margaret Atwood and Aldous
Huxley, eugenics and Lebensraum, the problems of illegal adoption and child trafficking, or the history
of black baby markets and slavery — and bam! The gay-marriage advocates find a Christian
somewhere, anywhere, and start a fight about Leviticus. [...] Ligbitists want to debate religious liberty
rather than the effect of gay marriage on children. Why? If the debate centers on religious
liberty, the terms of discussion reinforce the false notion that all objections to gay marriage are
based on spiritual doctrine, particularly Christianity.
The Ongoing
War Against Christianity. Columnist George Will points out that Apple's openly gay
CEO, Tim Cook, "...thinks Indiana is a terrible place. (But) He opened marketing and retail
operations in Saudi Arabia two months before a man was sentenced to 450 lashes for being gay."
Will was commenting on Cook's recent Washington Post op-ed protesting Indiana's new, now amended,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act and similar initiatives around the country. World Magazine
reports that Cook has recently been in the United Arab Emirates negotiating on behalf of Apple,
where homosexuality is against the law and the penalty is death. Cook's duplicity is not
just in deeds, but also in words.
Memories Pizza Story Was Literally Fabricated Out
of Nothing. If you didn't know this — I assumed it, but it's good to have
it known, on the record — Memories Pizza didn't actually discriminate against anyone, nor
even publicly announce their desire to discriminate. What happened was that an axe-grinding,
social-justicing, attention-whoring reporterette for a local tv station decided to just start walking
into pizza places and asking them, preposterously, if they would sell pizza (?) to a gay wedding.
Memories Pizza Place May Never Re-Open, Due to
Death Threats. There will be no reportage on this. Death threats are only publicized
to the extent they can portray the left as sympathetic victims. When the left threatens to murder
political opponents, the media covers it up.
I
Got 21 Problems And A Gay Wedding Cake Ain't One. The RFRA does not give businesses a
"license to discriminate" against LGBT persons, but rather works within a narrow legal parameter to
give businesses defense against federal lawsuit. That is because the states can recognize individual
rights in a more assertive fashion than the federal government, under the 9th and 10th amendments to
the U.S. Constitution. In other words, not only can the Christian owners of a bakery refuse to
write an inscription on the wedding cake of a gay couple, but the black owners of a T-shirt business
don't have to print the KKK's burning crosses on shirts, and Jewish owners of a gift shop don't have
to put Nazi symbols on coffee cups. Everyone has equal rights, or no one does.
Precursor
to the Mark of the Beast? Traveling the country as a political activist, I am well
aware that the left's national initiative goes far beyond seeking tolerance. Their goal is to force
Christians to celebrate every item on the homosexual agenda. They deem anything less unacceptable,
bigoted, and hateful. Do not be deceived, folks. Christian businesses are not refusing service
to homosexuals. The Christians driven out of business by leftist activists routinely served
homosexuals, but in good conscience could not service a homosexual wedding. Rather than selecting
vendors eager to service same-sex weddings, leftists insidiously targeted Christian businesses in an
attempt to bully them into compromising their faith as they perceive it — in essence,
denying Christ. Meanwhile, the mainstream media is complicit in helping leftist hit-persons portray
themselves as passive victims and Christian business owners as hate-filled aggressors.
Video
on Muslim bakers points to double standard on gay weddings. It turns out some Muslim-owned bakeries
are no more willing to create wedding cakes for same-sex ceremonies than their Christian counterparts.
Conservative podcast host Steven Crowder posted hidden-camera video Thursday [4/2/2015] showing employees at
several Muslim-owned bakeries in Dearborn, Michigan, declining his business or referring him to other shops
when he asked for a wedding cake with the message "Ben and Steven forever."
If
I Knew You Were Coming for Me, I'd've Baked a Cake. In Africa, the Middle East and
South Asia, Christians are killed for their beliefs. In America, they're not (yet) being killed,
just having their businesses destroyed.
Answer
for Christian businesses: Use a 'Terms of Service Agreement'. Since the vast majority
of people today are very familiar with Terms of Service Agreements and how they work, Christian
companies can literally spell out, in no uncertain terms, that company policy is based on their
"Christian" beliefs, and that such companies will not render service that will in any way compromise
those beliefs. Since Terms of Service Agreements can be very specific, Christian companies can
list examples of behaviors that offend and/or go against their religious beliefs, and how those
beliefs would be compromised by providing their services related to a specific activity or legal
ceremony. The terms could also state that the consumer must "agree" to respect their company's
religious "rights" before service is rendered.
Professor:
Indiana RFRA 'Fix' Could Send Christians to Jail. The greatly anticipated "fix" to the
Indiana religious freedom law has been released by the Indiana legislative committee, and it is far
worse than conservatives feared. According to law professor Mark Rienzi, the new fix will allow
the state to prosecute Christians criminally for denying gay weddings their professional affirmation.
Indiana
Legislature Caves, Guts Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The amendment to the RFRA
actively states that service providers may not use the RFRA as a defense if they refuse to serve
people based on sexual orientation. Presumably, the Indiana legislators hope that the RFRA will
still protect service providers who refuse to serve same-sex weddings, since failure to serve same-sex
weddings is not the same as failure to serve gay clients. But that is a flimsy branch upon which
to build an argument for freedom.
Will
Muslim Bakeries Make a Gay Wedding Cake? Yes folks, I did this. I went there. [Video clip]
A
Guy Walked Into a Muslim Bakery and Ordered a Gay Wedding Cake. Is anyone surprised by
this? Steven Crowder went into a bunch of Muslim bakeries in Dearborn, Michigan, and tried to order
a "gay" wedding cake. Many of the bakers politely declined and sent him to other bakeries, including
one man who tried to send him up the street to Kroger. Oddly enough, we haven't seen any mainstream
media reporters ambushing unsuspecting Muslim bakers and demanding in McCarthyesque fashion, "Are you now,
or have you ever been a homosexual hater?" Could it be because, as Crowder notes in the video, "You're
still killed in virtually every Muslim country for being gay."
Indiana
Shows the Left Has No Concept of Freedom. What interests and concerns me about the fight over
Indiana's religious freedom law is not its implication for gay weddings and whether pizza will be served at
them. Much more important are the basic principles that are being invoked to argue against the Indiana
law. These arguments set out to define religious freedom out of existence, and they end up defining
all freedom out of existence.
Pizza
Shop Targeted for Refusing to Cater Gay Wedding Receives Over $250K in Donations. A
fundraising effort for the family-owned pizza restaurant at the center of a national controversy
over Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act raised over 250,000 dollars in less than 24 hours.
After telling a local media outlet their views on the state's religious freedom law — which has
since been amended to remove divisive parts — the O'Connor family of Walkerton, Ind. received a
barrage of threatening phone calls, Tweets and negative reviews on their Yelp page. Fearful of the
threats, the O'Connors closed their restaurant, Memories Pizza.
GoFundMe
campaign raises $842K for Memories Pizza. A business in Walkerton is getting national
attention and backlash following its statements and stance on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Memories Pizza is on the record saying it wouldn't cater gay weddings, and that stance has gone viral online.
"Before
God, this is something we couldn't make" Christian Baker Tells Court. The Ulster baker
who has been taken to court for refusing to make a cake celebrating gay marriage said that his
religion was too important to him to go against his beliefs, the Daily Express reports. [...]
The business refused to undertake an order by a gay activist who wanted it decorated with Sesame
Street characters Bert and Ernie, arm-in-arm under the words "Support Gay Marriage".
Should
Mom-and-Pops That Forgo Gay Weddings Be Destroyed? What do white evangelicals,
Muslims, Mormons, blacks, conservative Republicans, and immigrants from Africa, South America, and
Central America all have in common? They're less likely to support gay marriage than the average
Californian. Over the years, I've patronized restaurants owned by members of all those groups.
Today, if I went out into Greater Los Angeles and chatted up owners of mom-and-pop restaurants, I'd sooner
or later find one who would decline to cater a gay wedding. The owners might be members of Rick
Warren's church in Orange County. Or a family of immigrants in Little Ethiopia or on Olvera Street.
Or a single black man or woman in Carson or Inglewood or El Segundo. Should we destroy their livelihoods?
Stand
Up for Indiana! In what has been called the "Catholic moment" in America, in the late
1940s and 1950s, Catholics were admonished from pulpits to "live the faith" and "set an example" for
others. Public lives were to reflect moral beliefs. Christians were to avoid those "living in
sin." Christians who operated motels and hotels did not rent rooms to unmarried couples. Fast
forward to 21st-century America. Indiana just enacted a law, as have 19 other states, to protect
the rights of religious people to practice their beliefs in how they live their lives and conduct their
businesses. And the reaction? Nearly hysterical.
Networks
Pile on to Attack 'Controversial' Indiana Religious Freedom Law. On Saturday
[3/28/2015] and Sunday, the "big three" (ABC, CBS, and NBC) networks vigorously condemned a new
Indiana law that would protect private businesses from government infringement on their religious
freedom. Rather than provide balanced coverage of the Indiana bill, the networks eagerly trashed the
legislation as opening "the door to discrimination against gays and lesbians."
NCAA
Worried Gay Players Won't Be Able to Buy Wedding Cakes from Christian Bakeries in Indiana. How can they
possibly play without the assurance that they can violate the religious freedom of Christian bakers and florists in Indiana?
NCAA
'concerned' over Indiana law that allows biz to reject gays. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's
decision to sign into law a measure that could allow businesses to turn away gay and lesbian
customers in the name of "religious freedom" has left the NCAA fretting ahead of next week's men's
basketball Final Four in Indianapolis. "We are especially concerned about how this legislation
could affect our student-athletes and employees," NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a statement
Thursday afternoon [3/26/2015].
Gay
rights activists to Christians — surrender, or else. A few years ago I
hosted gay activist attorney Andrea Ritchie on my radio program and asked her whether she believed
the homosexual lobby could peacefully coexist with traditional Christian morality. After a very
pregnant pause, she responded pointedly: "Sure, if Christians will give up their resistance to our
cause." Today, in the midst of the inane opposition to the Indiana religious freedom bill, her
alarming words prove frighteningly prophetic.
Lawsuit:
Fire chief terminated because of Christian faith. The city of Atlanta fired its fire
chief solely because of his religious beliefs about same-sex marriage and homosexual conduct,
according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday [2/25/2015] in federal court. The lawsuit was filed by Alliance
Defending Freedom attorneys on behalf of former fire chief Kelvin Cochran, one of the nation's most
decorated firefighters and a devout Christian. Cochran was suspended for 30 days last November
and was subsequently fired over a men's devotional book he authored that included a section on biblical
sexual morality.
Christian
florist rejects attorney general's offer, won't betray her religious beliefs.
Barronelle Stutzman, a Washington State florist who declined to provide flowers for a gay wedding,
has rejected a deal by the attorney general's office that would've forced her to betray her religious
beliefs — much like Judas betrayed Jesus. "You are asking me to walk in the way of a
well-known betrayer, one who sold something of infinite worth for 30 pieces of silver," Stutzman
wrote in a letter to state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. "That is something I will not do."
Tyranny and America's moral
decline. [Scroll down] Take, for instance, the recent case of Baronelle Stutzman, the
70-year-old Washington state florist who declined to provide flowers for the "wedding" of two men because,
as a Christian, she held a fundamental belief that a wedding is to be a union of a man and woman, as God
established in Genesis 2:24 and His son Jesus affirmed in Matthew 19:5 and Mark 10:8.
One of the "aggrieved" parties, Robert Ingersoll, had been a customer of Stutzman's for more than a decade,
indicating she held no animus toward homosexuals. In fact, when she turned down Ingersoll's request
for a floral arrangement for the wedding, she referred him to other florists. The two men received the
flowers they wanted, and after the case became news they even received offers of free flowers from others.
In other words, they suffered no harm.
How
to Win the Christian Baker/Same-Sex Wedding Cake Debate. Usually missed in the
commentary on this subject is that the bakers in question are not refusing service to a type of
people — they are refusing to be party to a type of message. This is not
debatable. When you put writing on a same-sex "wedding" cake, you're crafting a message; if you
place figurines (of two men, for instance) on that cake, you're erecting symbols relating that message.
Note here that the Supreme Court has already ruled that "Symbolic Speech" — a legal term in U.S.
law — is protected under the First Amendment; examples of such rulings would be that pertaining
to flag-burning and the Tinker v. Des Moines case. And can we compel people to participate
in the creation of a message? Forced speech is not free speech.
State
Says 70-Year-Old Flower Shop Owner Discriminated Against Gay Couple. Here's How She Responded. In a phone interview
with The Daily Signal, Barronelle Stutzman said the decision — and its accompanying fines — will put her
flower shop out of business, or worse. After the fines and legal fees, "There won't be anything left," Stutzman said.
"They want my home, they want my business, they want my personal finances as an example for other people to be quiet."
Everything
Liberals Touch Turns to Injustice. In Oregon, Aaron and Melissa Klein and their five children are losing
their home due to bankruptcy. Their business, Sweet Cakes by Melissa, is going under. Why would that be?
Could they be part of the 30 million without health insurance? Not at all. The couple refused to bake a
cake for a lesbian couple's wedding and so Oregon ordered them to pay the lesbian couple $150,000.
Why
does the government consider this grandmother public enemy No. 1? Meet Barronelle
Stutzman — who is being treated as Washington State's Public Enemy No. 1.
Stutzman is a grandmother, a devout Southern Baptist and the owner of a small flower shop.
The 70-year-old Christian is also opposed to gay marriage — a religious belief that
could cost Stutzman her business, her life-savings and even her home. A Washington judge
ruled Feb. 18 that Stutzman, the owner of Arlene's Flowers, violated the law when she
refused to provide flowers to a same-sex couple for their wedding.
Judge
Rules Against Grandma Florist For Refusing To Service Gay Wedding. A Washington
grandmother and florist of 40 years who refused to service gay weddings because of her faith will
now be forced to arrange flowers for gay ceremonies, a judge ruled Wednesday [2/18/2015]. On
top of that, the woman, Barronelle Stutzman, will have to pay the legal penalties imposed by the judge
as well as attorney's fees. Benton County Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom ruled in a summary judgement
that Stutzman violated anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws.
The Editor says...
This serves as a warning: Democrats can and will use any legislation — even something as innocent as "consumer protection" or "voting
rights" or "clean air" laws — against us in the future. That's why it is important to oppose every plank in the Democrat platform:
There's always something rotten under the candy coating.
Great-Grandma
Florist Could Lose Livelihood for Saying No to This Wedding. A florist in Washington
state is being sued for adhering to her Christian beliefs in declining to make flower arrangements
for one couple's wedding. Before the lawsuit, Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene's Flowers in
Richland, Wash., had employed workers who identify as homosexual and sold floral arrangements to gay
and lesbian customers. One such customer turned out to be one of the men who would sue her for
not being willing to be hired for their same-sex wedding.
How
believing in the Bible can get you canned in today's America. If you want to get
fired, sued or lose your business in today's America, stand with Biblical convictions. In Oregon,
our friends Aaron and Melissa Klein were found guilty of discrimination by the state just this week,
and could face up to $150,000 in fines for not baking a cake for a same-sex wedding. In
Wisconsin, a 15-year-old boy was reprimanded and reportedly punished by his school for backing
traditional family in adoption cases. In New Jersey, a high school teacher was suspended for
stating her Biblical beliefs about homosexuality on her personal Facebook page (while at home, off
the clock). In Illinois, a university professor was fired for saying that homosexual acts are
"morally wrong."
Alabama
same-sex marriage resistance, federal law to collide in court. Estimates vary, but
judges in about 45 of the state's 67 counties refused to issue licenses for same-sex marriages,
while more than 20 judges complied with the federal courts. After listening to about 30 minutes
of arguments from each side, U.S. District Judge Callie Granade called a recess and then quickly issued her
ruling in support of four same-sex couples seeking action against Mobile Probate Judge Don Davis, who had
refused to issue them marriage licenses.
U.S. Judge
Orders Alabama Official to Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses. A federal judge here [in
Mobile, Alabama] on Thursday [2/12/2015] ordered that a county probate judge must comply with her
earlier ruling and cannot refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The federal judge,
Callie V. S. Granade of Federal District Court here, wrote that the county judge, Don Davis, of
Probate Court in Mobile County, cannot deny a marriage license "on the ground that plaintiffs
constitute same-sex couples or because it is prohibited by the sanctity of marriage."
Ben
Carson lands on Southern Poverty Law Center's 'extremist' list because he opposes gay
marriage. An iconic American civil rights group that was founded to fight the Ku Klux
Klan is now taking aim at the only African-American to hint he might run for president in
2016 — because he opposes gay marriage. Republican Ben Carson, a retired world-class
pediatric neurosurgeon, has found himself listed on the Southern Poverty Law Center's 'Extremist Watch'
website alongside neo-Nazis, skinheads, and Klansmen, in a peculiar example of the group's mission-creep.
Carson said Monday [2/9/2015] that the characterization is 'projectionist and ignorant.'
Update:
Southern
Poverty Law Center issues totally unconvincing apology to Dr. Ben Carson. The Southern
Poverty Law Center (SPLC) apparently realized its primary goal, fundraising, was in danger by its
placing of Dr. Ben Carson on its "Extremist File" list. But the apology it has issued is the least
convincing pretense of remorse that I have ever seen.
Southern
Poverty Law Center Apologizes To Ben Carson For Putting Him On Its 'Extremist' List.
Retired neurosurgeon and possible 2016 presidential candidate Ben Carson isn't an anti-gay extremist
after all, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Under intense scrutiny after it was
revealed that the civil rights organization had lumped Carson in with the likes of KKK members and
other zealots on its "extremist watch list," the SPLC announced on Wednesday [2/11/2015] that it was
scrubbing Carson's name.
Oregon
bakery will have to pay lesbian couple up to $150,000 for refusing to make wedding cake. A lesbian
couple filed a discrimination suit against the Sweet Cakes by Melissa bakery in Gresham when the owners refused
to make them a wedding cake, citing religious beliefs. The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries determined
on Monday [2/2/2015] that the bakers discriminated against the couple.
Cake
maker who refused to bake for gay wedding labeled a 'Nazi' by Colorado civil rights officials. Colorado baker
Jack Phillips was found guilty of discrimination for refusing to prepare a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, but his
attorneys said Monday that a state official who ruled against him is guilty of anti-religious bias. Alliance Defending
Freedom attorneys released an audio recording in which Diann Rice, a member of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, said
that Mr. Phillips' citing of his religious beliefs in his defense puts him on the same level as Nazis and slaveholders.
Some
clerks ax nuptials so they won't have to marry gays. Clerks in at least five Florida
counties say they'll end courthouse weddings for everyone so they won't have to marry same-sex
couples starting next week. They'll still be forced to issue marriage licenses to gay couples,
thanks to U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle's ruling on New Year's Day. His Thursday ruling clarifies
that all 67 Florida court clerks should begin issuing the licenses starting Tuesday, when a stay
expires on Hinkle's original decision invalidating the state's ban on same-sex marriage expires.
Catholic
Church Severs Ties with Agency over Gay Adoption Ruling. The Catholic Church in
Northern Ireland is pulling the plug on a long-standing relationship with the Family Care Society, a
Catholic adoption agency, after a judge ruled that all adoption services must be willing to place
children with same-sex couples and singles. In a statement released Thursday, the Catholic
Bishops of Northern Ireland said it was "with regret" that they were severing their relationship
with the Belfast-based Family Care Society, an agency that the church itself founded.
Benham
Brothers on Anti-Duggar Campaign: 'Truth Is Considered Hate to Those Who Hate The Truth'. Jason and David Benham, two
Christian entrepreneurs who have been targeted by gay activists for their belief in traditional marriage, are speaking out about the
campaign by those same activists who are seeking the cancellation of the popular TLC television series "19 Kids and Counting,"
accusing the Duggar family of "fear mongering." "Since when is it considered 'fear mongering' to say that God designed a
man to be with a woman, or that kids deserve to have a mom and a dad, or that the ladies room should be for biological females?"
David Benham told CNSNews.com. "Saying the Duggars are inciting people to hate is simply propaganda."
Gays
Force San Fran Wedding Photographers to Close Shop. A small photography business run
by a husband and wife has closed their business, due to intense media scrutiny, threats and pressure
from the gay community in their Bay Area home town.
Prominent
Protestant Pastors Vow To No Longer Perform Government Marriages. Two Protestant
pastors, concerned about rapidly-changing government definitions of marriage, have started a
movement encouraging priests and ministers to refuse to perform civil marriages.
It's Time to Save the American Family;
A Joyless Experiment Strained to the Limit. [Scroll down] Related to the demise
of the father is the astonishing, disfiguring and wholly curious rise of perversion in the arena of
personal identity. Individual identities which could not have been fathomed a generation ago are
beginning to flourish across the cultural wasteland. Societal standards appear, to our children,
as a seamless web of truths, metabolized by the young and taken into the mind as natural pillars of
the culture, simply accepted as "truth." So, for example, if polygamy is taught as a principle in a
nation, then the members naturally accept and adapt, regardless of any negative impact on individual
family members. Yet, learning false standards often causes lifelong havoc, as seen in the existence
of survivors of childhood sexual abuse, who often have no felt understanding of sexual mores, and
therefore struggle to adapt to stable relationships.
Couple
fined for refusing to host same-sex wedding on their farm. Cynthia and Robert Gifford
are caught in a same-sex nightmare. They've been forced to defend themselves against claims that
they're lesbian-hating homophobes. "We respect and care for everyone!" Cynthia Gifford told me.
"We had an openly gay man working for us this past season," she said. "We've had a woman who's
transitioning to be a man. We don't discriminate against anyone." But the government of
the state of New York sees things differently.
What
Do Gays Really Want From The Church? The question that is most puzzling to me is why
did the gay couple choose to do business with that particular wedding chapel? Were there not any
other places that they could have gone (such as the Justice of the Peace) to have their wedding
performed? Why did the gay couple in Colorado approach the Christian Bakery? Were there no
other bakeries in their city or town? It appears that the gay community is targeting Christians
and the Christian church. If that is indeed the case, what do they want from the church?
Coeur
d'Alene apparently changes stance, agrees that for-profit chapel need not perform same-sex
weddings. As I noted Wednesday, the Couer d'Alene City Attorney concluded that
for-profit chapels were covered by the city ban on sexual orientation discrimination: "if they are
providing services primarily or substantially for profit and they discriminate in providing those
services based on sexual orientation then they would likely be in violation of the ordinance." But
Boise State Public Radio (Jessica Robinson) reports that the city has apparently changed its position: [...]
Coeur
d'Alene Says Hitching Post Is Exempt From Gay Rights Law. The city of Coeur d'Alene,
Idaho, said a for-profit wedding chapel owned by two ministers doesn't have to perform same-sex
marriages. The city has been embroiled in controversy ever since the owners of the Hitching Post
sued the city. They say a city anti-discrimination law threatened to force them to marry same-sex
couples now that gay marriage is legal in Idaho. The story lit up conservative and gay-rights
blogs. Wedding chapel owners Donald and Evelyn Knapp said they feared jail time or fines if they
declined marriage services to a same-sex couple.
Can
ministers who make a living by conducting weddings be required to conduct same-sex weddings? Donald and
Evelyn Knapp are apparently ordained ministers who run The Hitching Post, a chapel in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, at which
they conduct weddings. (This strikes me as quite similar to many ministers' practice of charging to officiate
weddings when they are invited to do so at other venues.) Coeur d'Alene has an ordinance banning discrimination
based on, among other things, sexual orientation in places of public accommodation.
Idaho
pastors opposed to gay marriage sue city over law. Two pastors in Idaho, who fear they
could be penalized for refusing to perform newly legal gay marriages at their private wedding
chapel, have filed a lawsuit, saying an Idaho anti-discrimination law violates their right to free
speech and religious liberty.
Idaho
city's ordinance tells pastors to marry gays or go to jail. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, city
officials have laid down the law to Christian pastors within their community, telling them bluntly
via an ordinance that if they refuse to marry homosexuals, they will face jail time and fines. The
dictate comes on the heels of a legal battle with Donald and Evelyn Knapp, ordained ministers who own the
Hitching Post wedding chapel in the city, but who oppose gay marriage, The Daily Caller reported.
Government
to Ordained Ministers: Celebrate Same-Sex Wedding or Go to Jail. For years, those in
favor of same-sex marriage have argued that all Americans should be free to live as they choose. And
yet in countless cases, the government has coerced those who simply wish to be free to live in accordance
with their belief that marriage is the union of a man and a woman. Just this weekend, a case has
arisen in Idaho, where city officials have told ordained ministers they have to celebrate same-sex weddings
or face fines and jail time.
Criminalizing
Innocent Christian Behavior. Where are all the atheist freedom lovers we always hear about? It's time for them to start
standing up for religious liberty. The left and militant gay movement are getting bolder and bolder, and too many Christians are
stewing in their apathy. It seems that with each passing month, this senseless tyranny advances. The latest is that two
Christian ministers in Idaho, Donald and Evelyn Knapp, have allegedly been ordered to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies at their
chapel or face fines or jail sentences.
City
Threatens to Arrest Ministers Who Refuse to Perform Same-Sex Weddings. Two Christian
ministers who own an Idaho wedding chapel were told they had to either perform same-sex weddings or
face jail time and up to $1,000 in daily fines, according to a lawsuit filed Friday [10/17/2014] in federal
court. Alliance Defending Freedom is representing Donald and Evelyn Knapp, two ordained ministers
who own the Hitching Post Wedding Chapel in Coeur d'Alene. "Right now they are at risk of being
prosecuted," attorney Jeremy Tedesco told me. "The threat of enforcement is more than just credible."
Gaslighting America Out of Existence.
[An] excellent example of gaslighting is the top-down normalization of homosexuality, which has
been almost universally regarded as a repugnant aberration throughout human history. Now we are
told it is normal, and that it is not perverts who are sick, but you for thinking there is
something wrong with perversion. If you don't enjoy watching football players engage in
passionate kisses with their homosexual boyfriends on television, you are a defective person.
LGBT
Tyranny Can Take Your First Amendment Rights Away. We are too apathetic. We allow a
small minority of people to take our freedoms away because we care more about being politically
correct than we do about protecting our Bill of Rights. We are allowing a bank to discriminate
against Christians. While I support the rights of LGBTs, I don't believe Americans can be
comfortable with losing their First Amendment rights because not everyone agrees with everything
LGBTs do. We need to start fighting back. [...] LGBTs now have the power to get people fired
and ruin their businesses and careers. Americans should be outraged.
What's
The Only Job Left in America Where You Can Safely Oppose Same-Sex Marriage? It is now obvious
that in America, the left and the media will celebrate as you are shamed and paraded through the streets in stocks
if you do not approve same-sex marriage. They believe that the right to privacy somehow covers government approval
of same-sex marriage, but not writing a check to back a campaign against that approval. Engage in business in any
aspect of American society, and you may be subject not only to the dictates of government, but to the job-killing
hatred of the mob. So, is there any job left in America in which it is safe to abide by your religious views
against same-sex marriage?
Is
conservative free speech banned in America? If it's called "progress" and a sign of "freedom" that two men
can openly kiss on national TV, what is it called when someone offended by that same scene can be fined or suspended
from their job? Is that progress? Is that free speech? Ask Miami Dolphins safety Don Jones.
He tweeted about how disgusted and offended he was by that kiss. Jones was immediately fined and barred from
team activities until he finishes "training for his recent comments made on social media." Training?
You mean like a "reeducation camp?"
Human
Rights Commission Says the Freedom to Practice Religion Is not a Human Right. The
Human Rights Commission of Lexington KY justifies the gay fascist bullying campaign against
Christian businesses who don't wish to participate in gay weddings and other events by saying
Christians should only be allowed to practice religion within their homes and churches.
Commission
says Christian business owners should leave religion at home. The Human Rights Commission in Lexington, Kentucky has a
chilling message for Christian business owners who refuse service to LGBT organizations: leave your religion at home.
"It would be safe to do so, yes," Executive Director Raymond Sexton told me. "Or in this case you can find yourself two years
down the road and you're still involved in a legal battle because you did not do so." On Tuesday [10/7/2014], a Lexington Human
Rights Commission hearing examiner issued a recommended ruling that the owner of a T-shirt company violated a local ordinance against
sexual-orientation discrimination.
Judge
Wants To Force A Printer To Make Pro-Gay T-Shirts. An administrative law judge has ruled that a Kentucky
printer's refusal to print gay pride t-shirts "constitutes unlawful discrimination," and, by extension, that printers
cannot refuse to print materials promoting ideas they disagree with.
Liberty
Ridge Farm owners appeal ruling over lesbian wedding. In the bucolic town of Schaghticoke, NY, Liberty Ridge
Farm serves as a setting for family outings and events of all sorts on a family owned farm in the country. They are
open to the public for a portion of each year, featuring events ranging from day camps to field trips to a corn maze.
And until recently they hosted weddings. That all changed after the owners, Cynthia and Robert Gifford, encountered Melisa
Erwin and Jennifer McCarthy, a lesbian couple who approached the Giffords about holding their wedding there. Cynthia
Gifford declined, citing her religious beliefs.
Cardinal:
U.S. 'Creed' on Gay Marriage Means Christians Must Approve It or Be Punished, Like Sharia. Cardinal Francis George, head of the
Catholic archdiocese of Chicago, said the levers of power in government, education, entertainment, and media are enforcing a "public creed," a
"fake church" that requires all citizens to approve of gay marriage and related sexual anomalies or be punished by the State, just "as Christians
and Jews are fined for their religion in countries governed by Sharia law." Cardinal George, who was president of the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in 2007-10, made his remarks in his Sept. 7 column for the archdiocesean newspaper.
'Lesbian
Bridezillas' Town Considers Law To Punish Shop Owners' Refusal To Do Business. In the wake of a media firestorm raging against the
Christian owners of a bridal shop who refused to supply wedding dresses for lesbian brides, the town of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania is debating a
possible law on whether shop owners have a right to refuse business to customers.
NY
Farm Yanks Wedding Ceremonies After $13K Court Fine For Refusing Lesbian Wedding.
Cynthia and Robert Gifford, owners of Liberty Ridge Farm in New York, used to rent out their farm so
couples could get married on the grounds. They will no longer offer such services because the state
ruled they had to violate their Christian beliefs and allow same-sex weddings on their property.
The state had fined the Giffords $13,000 when they refused to allow a lesbian couple, Jennifer
McCarthy and Melisa Erwin, to be married on their farm in 2012. The Giffords were against
a wedding ceremony for the lesbian couple but said a wedding reception would be permissible.
Couple
Fined For Refusing To Host Gay Wedding Shuts Down Venue. A Christian couple fined $13,000 for refusing to host
a lesbian wedding on their New York farm has decided to close the venue rather than violate their religious beliefs.
Cynthia and Robert Gifford decided not to host ceremonies anymore, other than those already scheduled, Alliance Defending
Freedom attorney James Trainor told The Blaze.
The Editor says...
You can submit to the homosexuals, or close your business, or sell it, or burn it down, but in any case the homosexuals win.
Government
to Farmers: Host Same-Sex Wedding or Pay a $13,000 Fine. Should the government be able
to coerce a family farm into hosting a same-sex wedding? In a free society, the answer is no.
Family farms should be free to operate in accordance with the beliefs and values of their owners.
Government shouldn't be able to fine citizens for acting in the market according to their own —
rather than the government's — values, unless there is a compelling government interest being
pursued in the least restrictive way possible. But the New York State Division of Human Rights
doesn't see things this way.
LGBT
Movement forces Child Welfare Services, run by Churches, to Close. In recent years, some religious child welfare
providers who believe that children deserve to be placed with married mothers and fathers have lost government funding and have
shut down because of laws requiring them to serve the lesbian, gay, bi and transsexual (LGBT) communities, despite their contradicting
religious convictions. In Illinois, unmarried heterosexual couples and homosexuals may legally adopt children and become foster
parents, leading to the discontinuation of the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Rockford's adoption services. In
Washington D.C. a similar adoption program was shut down due to another law that requires religious organizations serving the
general public to provide services to homosexuals regardless of religious beliefs. Comparable cases are found in California,
Massachusetts, and all across the nation — cases which offer a choice between sincere religious beliefs and punishment under law,
or compliance and the forsaking of religious conscience.
Lesbian
Bridezillas Bully Bridal Shop Owner over Religious Beliefs. A Pennsylvania Christian
bridal shop owner who refused to provide wedding gowns to a lesbian couple because of her religious
beliefs was bullied by the lesbians on Facebook, where their post about the shop owner's refusal to
serve them went viral. The New York Daily News reports the lesbians, who tried to schedule an
appointment at W.W. Bridal Boutique in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, were "unidentified," but said the
owner — who was identified as Victoria Miller — told them she "[does] not
service same-sex couples." "We feel we have to answer to God for what we do," Miller told The Press
Enterprise. "And providing those two girls dresses for a sanctified marriage would break God's law."
Panel: Baker
must make cakes for gay weddings. Colorado's Civil Rights Commission on
Friday ordered a baker to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples, finding his religious objections
to the practice did not trump the state's anti-discrimination statutes.
Make Them Bake Cake!.
The Colorado's Civil Rights Commission has ordered a suburban Denver baker named Jack Phillips to
make wedding cakes for same-sex couples, finding that his religious objections do not supersede the
state's anti-discrimination statutes. Because if the Constitution should be subordinate to anything
it's the local thought police and nuptial pastries.
Bakery will no longer sell wedding cakes
after adverse discrimination ruling. Wedding cakes are no longer on the menu at
Lakewood, Colo.-based Masterpiece Cake Shop. Owner Jack Phillips will stop offering wedding cake
services in the wake of a ruling that his shop must sell cakes for same-sex wedding ceremonies,
despite his religious objections. The ordeal began in 2012 when Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig
solicited a cake for their wedding from Phillips' shop. They were turned down by Phillips, who has
been a Christian for 35 years and whose religious convictions do not permit him to endorse same-sex
weddings. At the time, Phillips told the men "I'll make you birthday cakes, shower cakes, sell you
cookies and brownies, I just don't make cake for same-sex weddings."
Baker
forced to make gay wedding cakes, undergo sensitivity training, after losing lawsuit.
A family owned bakery has been ordered to make wedding cakes for gay couples and guarantee that its
staff be given comprehensive training on Colorado's anti-discrimination laws after the state's
Civil Rights Commission determined the Christian baker violated the law by refusing to bake a
wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, in
Lakewood, Colorado was directed to change his store policies immediately and force his staff to
attend the training sessions.
Liberals'
Dark Ages. The touchstone of liberalism is tolerance of differing ideas. Yet this mob
exists to enforce conformity of thought and to delegitimize any dissent from its sanctioned worldview.
Intolerance is its calling card. Each week seems to bring another incident. Last week it was
David and Jason Benham, whose pending HGTV show was canceled after the mob unearthed old remarks the
brothers made about their Christian beliefs on homosexuality. People can't have a house-flipping
show unless they believe and say the "right" things in their life off the set?
Christian Journalist
'Can't Sleep, Lost 14 Lbs, And May Leave City' After Threats by Gay Marriage Advocates. Ireland, once a
rock-solid Christian country, has now become so intolerant of Christian beliefs that its leading opponent of gay marriage
may be forced to leave the country because of fears for his personal safety. After repeated threats and obscene
verbal attacks, John Waters, a nationally-known newspaper columnist, author and broadcaster who supports Christian
family traditions, says he is now unable to go into the centre of Dublin at night because he fears for his own safety.
Liberals'
mob rule. Last week brought a chilling reminder of how mercilessly some liberals will work to
silence and marginalize people who hold views with which they disagree. Even for those [...] who support
same-sex marriage, the virtual manhunt of Mozilla chief Brendan Eich was scary to watch. His heresy
was a private donation in support of an anti-gay marriage initiative six years ago. Mob rule enforcing
groupthink is as illiberal as it gets, and yet it was liberals demanding uniformity of thought —
or else.
Supreme
Court rejects appeal from New Mexico photographer who wouldn't shoot same-sex ceremony. The U.S. Supreme
Court rejected an appeal Monday from a studio that refused to photograph a lesbian couple's commitment ceremony, letting
stand a New Mexico high court ruling that helped spur a national debate over gay rights and religious freedom.
Corrosive
Conformity. The various tendencies that operate under the general heading of "gay rights"
have had an extraordinary run of it in the past several years, in both the political and the cultural
theaters. We now have a constitutional right to commit homosexual acts (Lawrence v. Texas),
while Facebook offers at last count 56 different gender options to its users (trans with or without
asterisk, genderqueer, neutrois, and two-spirit among them). Having won the battle in California,
the sore winners are roaming the battlefield with bayonets and taking no prisoners.
You Can't Spell "Progressive" without
an "S.S.". It's time to come right out and say it — the gay "rights" movement
is the biggest threat to American freedom in existence today. Bigger than Islamic terrorism.
Bigger than Russian revanchism. Bigger even than ObamaCare and our continuing out-of-control
spending. Yet, this is only one small part of the "progressive" movement in America which is
quickly taking on shades of 1933. Under Barack Obama, the radical Left has apparently felt
that its time has come, and its movement toward open totalitarianism has accelerated. The
recent displays of homofascism are but the tip of the iceberg in the Left's attempts to create
an all encompassing control of your lives, your words, and even your thoughts.
Support same-sex marriage or face the wrath of the
PC police.
CEO of Firefox maker
Mozilla steps down. Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich will step down following uproar over his apparent opposition
to gay marriage. In a statement released Thursday, Mozilla — which makes the Firefox Web browser —
apologized for not reacting more quickly to the controversy surrounding Eich, who made a 2008 donation supporting
California's ban on gay marriage, The Guardian reports.
Purge The 7 Million.
According to Wikipedia, 7,001,084 people voted for Prop 8. Why do any of those people still have jobs?
Shouldn't they all be forced to resign? And why should they have the privilege of living in California
at all?
Mozilla's Chief Felled
by View on Gay Unions. In Silicon Valley, where personal quirks and even antisocial personalities
are tolerated as long as you are building new products and making money, a socially conservative viewpoint may
be one trait you have to keep to yourself. On Thursday, Brendan Eich, who has helped develop some of the
web's most important technologies, resigned under pressure as chief executive of Mozilla, the maker of the popular
Firefox web browser, just two weeks after taking the job. The reason? In 2008, he donated $1,000 in
support of Proposition 8, a California measure that banned same-sex marriage.
ABC
Uses Footage of Hateful Westboro Baptist to Slime CEO Who Opposes Gay Marriage. According to Good
Morning America's Linzie Janis, a CEO who made a donation in opposition to gay marriage is the same as the hateful
members of the Westboro Baptist Church. On Friday, Janis reported on Brendan Eich, the former head of the tech
company Mozilla. Eich was ousted after liberal groups found out that in 2008 he made a $1000 donation to
support Proposition 8 in California.
Brendan
Eich and the New American Totalitarian State. Imagine going to work one day only to be, in effect,
fired — not because of anything you did or didn't do at your job, but because of something you did in
your personal life. Something religious. Or maybe, something political. Imagine if you were
denied a promotion at work because a co-worker found out you had made a personal donation to a conservative candidate.
Imagine if your environmentally-correct boss discovered that, in your free time at home, you supported an organization that
exposed the fallacies of man-made global warming and asked you for your resignation. Imagine if you were the successful
CEO of Widget Corp, lauded and respected for your accomplishments, but clients or customers found out you were a tea partier
and demanded you be forced out. That's exactly what happened to Brendan Eich, a highly-respected tech guru in Silicon
Valley and co-founder of Mozilla Corporation, after he was appointed CEO in late March.
How
did people find out that Mozilla's CEO donated to support Prop 8? Rumors are floating around
Twitter that proof of Brendan Eich's donation was illegally leaked by people in government sympathetic to
the cause of gay marriage. Not so. I'd forgotten about it, but friends reminded me that the
LA Times obtained a list of people who gave, for and against, to the fight over the Prop 8
referendum in 2008. They put the whole database online and made it searchable. [...] The Prop 8
donor list now functions essentially as a blacklist, and Eich isn't its first or only victim.
Today's Most
Ominous News Story... ... is the resignation of Brendan Eich as CEO of Mozilla, the company that
makes the Firefox browser. Eich is a superstar in the world of technology; among other things, he
invented Javascript and was one of the founders of Mozilla. But in 2008 he contributed $1,000 to
support Proposition 8, the California ballot proposition that defended traditional marriage.
For that, he was pilloried by left-wing activists. He lasted barely more than a week before being
forced to resign from the company he helped to create. So the liberals claim another scalp.
In
[the] Mozilla Case, The Left's Intolerance Is Out Of The Closet. The left hounded a
CEO from his job over a 2008 donation in favor of a California measure opposing gay marriage.
So much for free speech and job performance. This is a descent into mob tyranny and mediocrity.
The dirty work of the left was achieved after Brendan Eich, recently appointed CEO of Mozilla, a
software company based in Silicon Valley, was forced out of the company he helped found, all to
feed the maw of political correctness.
Does
Brendan Eich Have a Case Against Mozilla? Many of the comments at various blogs addressing the
forced resignation of Brendan Eich emphasize the fact that Mozilla is a private company and can hire
or fire whomever they want for any reason. This is partially true. In at-will states,
which California is, most employers have wide latitude in terminating the employer-employee
relationship. But they cannot wrongfully terminate an employee, violate the terms of an
existing contract, or discriminate against an employee.
The Rise Of
Totalitarian Liberalism. George Orwell gave us a look at the operation of a totalitarian one-party
state in 1984. This week Mozilla gave us a look at its nascent liberal variant. Recently appointed
CEO Brandon Eich was officially made a nonperson. He was dispatched down the memory hole as the company announced
that he has "step[ped] down from his role as CEO" as a result of his contribution of $1,000 to the passage of
California's Prop 8 six years ago.
Mozilla blowback: bursting the PC bubble? The people at
Mozilla may yet live to regret their decision in cooperating with the forcing out of Brendan Eich. Apparently the
internet giant has been getting a lot of negative reaction to its jettisoning of Eich for his contribution in support of
California's Proposition 8 back in 2008. Whether or not this will actually end up hurting Mozilla, one wonders
whether Mozilla even anticipated the possibility. The folks at Mozilla travel in a world in which PC thought dominates,
[...]
Mozilla
chief learns, if you don't support gay marriage, you don't deserve a job . As we enter this golden age of
tolerance and diversity, the nation's gay rights community is sending a warning message to Americans: If you don't
support gay marriage, you don't deserve a job. Apparently, Brendan Eich did not get that message. He's the former
chief executive officer at Mozilla, the technology group that gave us the Firefox Web browser. Eich resigned
under a firestorm of controversy after it was revealed he had donated $1,000 in support of California's Proposition 8,
a ballot initiative that protected traditional marriage.
Eich. Much of the shock following the
removal of Brendan Eich from the position of Mozilla CEO came from the realization that, in a manner of speaking, America
was now at war. True it's a culture war, not a physical conflict. But if you were waiting for the moment when
the Cold Civil War actually begins, this might be it.
If
they can hound out Brendan Eich for being anti-gay marriage, who will be next? Brendan Eich, the CEO of Mozilla,
has been forced to resign from his job because he once donated to an anti-gay marriage campaign. This is deeply unfair.
At the time that he made the donation (2008), Barack Obama was also opposed to gay marriage — as was Joe Biden,
Hillary Clinton and almost all the leadership of the Democratic Party. Eich always stressed that his personal views
were separate from his work and he pledged to abide by Mozilla's pro-equality policies.
More
on donor lists and the Mozilla oppression. I see Allahpundit at Hot Air took a thorough look at the
issue, and confirmed my recollection: California law requires donations above $100 for ballot measures
to identify themselves, and their employers. The L.A. Times published the Prop 8 list as a
searchable database. This became a key tool in the triumph of fascism over democracy (and that is
exactly what just happened) because, as Allah[pundit] observes, the Prop 8 donor list has
already been used as a blacklist to ruin other lives and careers. Vote the wrong way, and the
brownshirts come for you, simple as that.
Mozilla's
Gay-Marriage Litmus Test Violates Liberal Values. [Scroll down] Calls for his ouster were premised
on the notion that all support for Proposition 8 was hateful, and that a CEO should be judged not just by his or her
conduct in the professional realm, but also by political causes he or she supports as a private citizen. If that
attitude spreads, it will damage our society.
The Left
Isn't Pro-Gay — It's Pro-Power. Did the activists who claimed Eich's scalp care about
him or his $1,000 donation to defend marriage? They're already forgetting his name and moving on to the
next target. Eich just happened to make a good target. The Mozilla Foundation is shaky, its board
was insecure, and once an online dating company cynically came out with a publicity stunt to keep the news
cycle churning, the scalp of the man behind Javascript was claimed. If he had hung on for another few days,
the whole thing would have gone away.
What Mozilla Has Taught Us.
Last week, [Brendan] Eich could not grovel quite enough to keep his job as CEO of Mozilla, a software enterprise best known
for producing the Firefox web browser. He resigned under pressure after "marriage equality" activists revealed that
Eich had donated $1,000 to the 2008 Proposition 8 campaign in California. Proposition 8, which passed with
more than 52 percent of the vote, amended the California constitution to read, "Only marriage between a man and a woman
is valid or recognized in California." Distressingly few editorialists came to Eich's defense.
Some
gay activists fear same-sex supporters are becoming intolerant. The announcement by popular Web browser
Mozilla Firefox that co-founder and CEO Brendan Eich was stepping down after two weeks on the job for a 2008 contribution
has sparked furious debate over civil rights, privacy and corporate responsibility. A leading gay blogger has
accused the movement of displaying the same intolerance activists accuse their opponents of practicing, while the
website Slate.com published a satirical list of other California companies that should be purged of gay-marriage
skeptics, which presumably include the 52 percent of Californians who voted for Proposition 8 in 2008.
Cake WarsCake Wars. In December 2013, Judge Robert
Spencer ordered the owner of Masterpiece Cake Shop to start baking cakes for gay weddings. According to undercover footage obtained by
the ACLU the proprietor, Jack Phillips, agreed to bake a cake for a wedding between two dogs, but refused to bake a cake for a gay marriage.
Some saw the issue in terms of free speech; Jack Phillips was refusing to participate in something he disagreed with. Others saw it
as a question of discrimination; Jack Phillips was denying a service to gays that he granted to heterosexuals (including heterosexual dogs).
While both views have merit, if you value civil rights you have to side with Jack Philips.
Celebrate Gay Marriage — or
Else. Future historians will likely be flummoxed by the moment we're living in. In what amounts to less than a blink of an eye
in the history of Western civilization, homosexuality has gone from a diagnosed mental disorder to something to be celebrated — or
else. Indeed, the rush to mandatory celebration is so intense, refusal is now considered tantamount to a crime. And, in some rare
instances, an actual crime if the right constable or bureaucrat concludes that you have uttered "hate speech." Or, if you refuse to bake a
gay couple a cake for their wedding. That was the horror story that sparked much of this foofaraw.
Gov. Jan Brewer vetoes right to refuse
service bill SB 1062. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed Wednesday [2/26/2014] a controversial bill that would have allowed businesses
to deny services to gays and others based on religious beliefs. [...] Brewer said the bill "could divide Arizona in ways we could not even
imagine and no one would ever want." The bill was broadly worded and could result in unintended negative consequences, she added.
Religious-Liberty
Scholars Counter Egregious Distortions of Arizona Bill. There has been a blizzard of hysterical misinformation about Arizona's
SB 1062. As anyone who takes the trouble to consult the text of the legislation will readily discover, SB 1062 does not mention,
much less single out, gays or same-sex ceremonies.
If the Left knew
Christians were coming they'd've baked a cake. Brewer's decision to nix the measure in the current political and cultural
climate emboldens radicals to treat opposition to same-sex marriage as a thought crime. The legislation that Brewer fashioned
into an origami rainbow was aimed at discouraging activist thuggery. It is necessary because progressive activists have become
increasingly aggressive and even sadistic during the Obama administration. They taunt and abuse people by trying to force them
to do things that violate their sincerely held religious beliefs. They want to roll back the religious freedoms protected by the
Constitution. The vetoed bill would have given some much-needed protection against lawsuits to those who refuse on religious grounds
to provide services. In other words, it would have made it more difficult for activists to successfully sue service providers for
refusing to make cakes for gay weddings or to do photographic spreads of such ceremonies.
When 'leave us alone' became 'bake us a cake!'
Sexual orientation is not race — and permitting what would most definitely be a very small number of observant Christians to exercise their right
of conscience is vastly different from pervasive and state-sponsored racism. [...] We have reached a point in the gay rights debate where all the low-hanging
fruit has been picked. We are now entering into the zero-sum game phase of the debate, where gay rights and religious liberty must collide.
How freedom dies. "Religious Right Cheers a Bill Allowing Refusal
to Serve Gays." Thus did the New York Times' headline, leaving no doubt as to who the black hats are, describe the proposed Arizona law to
permit businesses, on religious grounds, to deny service to same-sex couples.
Kansas House passes bill allowing refusal of service to same-sex
couples. Denying services to same-sex couples may soon become legal in Kansas. House Bill 2453 explicitly protects religious
individuals, groups and businesses that refuse services to same-sex couples, particularly those looking to tie the knot. It passed the
state's Republican-dominated House on Wednesday [2/12/2014] with a vote of 72-49, and has gone to the Senate for a vote.
Oregon:
Christian Businesses Must Follow Demands of Gay Customers. The owners of a Christian bakery who refused to make a wedding cake for a
lesbian couple are facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines after they were found guilty of violating the couple's civil rights.
The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries said they found "substantial evidence" that Sweet Cakes by Melissa discriminated against the lesbian
couple and violated the Oregon Equality Act of 2007, a law that protects the rights of the LGBT community.
An Absolute
Right to Refuse Service. If I'm a business owner and someone comes in requesting goods or services that would
require me to violate my conscience — especially my biblically-based, sincerely held religious beliefs — I
will not, under any circumstances, provide those goods or services. This is my absolute, non-negotiable, constitutionally
guaranteed right.
Does the Constitution Force Bakers to
Bake? Several recent court cases have resulted in small business owners, who create the wares and services that they sell, being
ordered by a judge to sell their custom-made products (e.g., wedding cakes and floral arrangements) or services (e.g., wedding photography) to
gay couples despite the small business owners' refusal to do so based on their religious principles.
Gonorrhea, Syphilis Regain Traction in U.S., CDC
Reports. While all three diseases [gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia] are curable with antibiotics, many people don't get tested as recommended, said Gail
Bolan, the director of the CDC's STD prevention division. That's especially the case for syphilis, where the rise is entirely attributable to men, particularly
those who are gay or bisexual.
Penalizing Those Who Hold Biblical
Views of Marriage. In a series of instances we have seen the gatekeepers of civil society attack those who hold Biblical views about marriage and
sexuality — Chick-fil-A, Barilla Pasta, Craig James who was fired from ESPN, and now Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty. It is even worse, of
course, when it is the government that penalizes those who hold Biblical views. That should be anathema in America. While A&E exercised its rights,
in a growing number of incidents, government has not respected the free-contract and free-speech rights of Americans.
A&E declares war on 'Duck Dynasty's' Christian
values. Duck Dynasty has been sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. By now you probably know that A&E indefinitely suspended
Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the Duck Dynasty family, for following the teachings of the Holy Bible.
Homosexuals Get Duck Dy-Nasty. "Tolerance," as it
has been marketed, was always a con. [...] For one thing, tolerance always implies a negative, real or perceived; you wouldn't have to tolerate a beautiful car
or a delectable meal — you relish those things. But you might have to tolerate a cold or bad weather. Thus, tolerance is only noble in two
situations: One is when dealing with something objectively negative that cannot be eliminated, such as irremediable pain. The other is when
confronted with something you don't happen to like and could avoid, but that is objectively good or neutral; an example would be tolerating a food you detest
in order to avoid offending your hosts.
Christianity on trial in Duck Dynasty
controversy. Will cooler heads prevail in the gay community, realizing that Christians ought to be allowed to have their two millennia-old
beliefs respected in the public square? That would be the optimal outcome, but I don't really predict it will happen, as things now stand.
The Editor says...
The abhorrence of homosexuality is much older than "two millennia." Homosexuality has been abnormal since the creation of the earth.
(Genesis 5:2)
The Intolerant 'Gay Marriage' Movement. [T]olerance is the last thing
on the mind of the gay marriage movement. Once the laws were on the books (or via judicial fiat in many cases), tolerance was gone. Once gay
marriage was legal, the power of the state was brought down on anyone who had the temerity to disagree with gay marriage. In New Mexico, a photographer
did not want to photograph a gay wedding because of her Christian beliefs. There, tolerance went out the window. Instead of going to a photographer
who might be more sympathetic to gay marriage, the two individuals getting "married" called the thought police.
Judge Orders Colo. Cake-Maker to Serve
Gay Couples. A baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex ceremony must serve gay couples despite his religious beliefs
or face fines, a judge said Friday [12/6/2013].
Photographer
sued for refusing to take pictures at lesbian couple's ceremony goes to the Supreme Court. A photographer sued by a lesbian couple after
she refused to take pictures at their commitment ceremony is taking her fight for religious freedom to the Supreme Court. Elaine Huguenin, who
runs a photography business in Albuquerque, New Mexico, refused to take the snaps for the happy day of Vanessa Willock and Misti Collinsworth in 2006.
The women then filed a discrimination lawsuit again Ms Huguenin. New Mexico law prohibits businesses from discriminating against people based
on their sexuality.
80
Airmen Threatened, Harassed For Refusing To Support Gay Marriage. A military that's hostile to Christianity will fall to pieces over the long haul
because there simply aren't enough Muslims, atheists, homosexuals and liberals that want to join the military to keep it staffed. Since liberals detest the
military anyway, that's not going to trouble them, but the rest of us should be concerned.
Airmen say Air Force is punishing evangelical
Christians. Evangelical Christian airmen at Lackland Air Force Base are facing severe threats and retribution for their religious beliefs and some
personnel have been ordered to publicly express their position on gay marriage. "There is an atmosphere of intimidation at Lackland Air Force Base," said
Steve Branson, the pastor of Village Parkway Baptist Church in San Antonio. "Gay commanders and officers are pushing their agenda on the airmen.
There is a culture of fear in the military and it's gone to a new level with the issue of homosexuality."
Broadcaster Fired for Opposing Same-Sex
Marriage Blasts Fox Sports for Religious Discrimination. This is not just a blatant case of religious discrimination in violation
of law. It is not merely an example of yet another step in the media's attempt to silence those of a traditional perspective on same-sex
marriage. It is a story that traces up much higher in the national FOX Sports organization than the regional network.
Broadcaster Fired for Opposing Same-Sex
Marriage Blasts Fox Sports for Religious Discrimination. This is not just a blatant case of religious discrimination in violation
of law. It is not merely an example of yet another step in the media's attempt to silence those of a traditional perspective on same-sex
marriage. It is a story that traces up much higher in the national FOX Sports organization than the regional network.
The Editor says...
Activists on the left sometimes say, "Same-sex marriage doesn't harm you, so why are you opposed to it?" As more and more cases like that of
Craig James come to light, and people lose their jobs due to political correctness, the answer will be self-evident.
Catholic
College Rescinds Invitation to Speaker Defending Same-Sex Marriage. Providence College, a Roman Catholic school in Rhode Island, has
canceled a lecture in support of same-sex marriage on Thursday by a gay philosophy professor, citing a church document that says that "Catholic
institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles."
Christian baker hounded by gays to close shop:
My faith in God 'has grown'. An Oregon baker with Christian beliefs who was forced to shut down operations after refusing to make a cake for a planned
same-sex wedding says her faith in God has not wavered — and in fact, has grown stronger because of the ordeal. Aaron and Melissa Klein, who claim
a Christian faith, operated the Gresham, Ore., shop, Sweet Cakes by Melissa. In May, because of their religious beliefs, the Kleins turned down a request
from a lesbian couple, Rachel Cryer and Laurel Bowmann, to bake a cake for their upcoming wedding.
Air Force cracking down on Christians.
Senior Master Sgt. Phillip Monk found himself at odds with his Lackland Air Force Base commander after he objected to her plans to severely punish an
instructor who had expressed religious objections to homosexuality. During the conversation, his commander ordered him to share his personal views
on homosexuality. "I was relieved of my position because I don't agree with my commander's position on gay marriage," he told me. "We've been
told that if you publicly say that homosexuality is wrong, you are in violation of Air Force policy."
Christian bakery
closes after LGBT threats, protests. A family-owned Christian bakery, under investigation for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian
couple, has been forced to close its doors after a vicious boycott by militant homosexual activists. Sweet Cakes By Melissa posted a message on its
Facebook page alerting customers that their Gresham, Ore. retail store would be shut down after months of harassment from pro-gay marriage forces.
Texas Guard refuses to process same-sex
benefits. The Texas National Guard refused to process requests from same-sex couples for benefits on Tuesday [9/3/2013], citing the state
constitution's ban on gay marriage, despite a Pentagon directive to do so. Pentagon officials said Texas appeared to be the only state that
planned to turn gay and lesbian couples away on Tuesday, the first working day that gays in the military may apply for benefits.
The 'Human Rights' Juggernaut. On
August 22, the New Mexico supreme court unanimously ruled that a wedding photographer broke the law by refusing to photograph a same-sex
commitment ceremony. While gay rights advocates are celebrating this latest in a string of legal and political victories, the outcome
of Elane Photography v. Vanessa Willock has alarmed religious liberty advocates. And it could end up having a profound influence
on First Amendment jurisprudence.
New Mexico photographer loses gay marriage
case. A commercial photography business owned by opponents of same-sex marriage violated New Mexico's anti-discrimination law by refusing to take
pictures of a gay couple's commitment ceremony, the state's highest court ruled unanimously Thursday [8/22/2013].
NM Supreme Court Finds
Refusing to Photograph Gay Wedding Illegal. The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that, by refusing to photograph a gay wedding, a
photography studio violated the New Mexico Human Rights Act (NMHRA). The court found that Elane Photography's refusal to serve Vanessa Willock violated
the act, which "prohibits a public accommodation from refusing to offer its services to a person based on that person's sexual orientation," according to
the ruling.
Reserving the right to refuse service.
In yet another topic sure to enrage, Sterling Beard — writing at The Corner — catches up with the latest news on a strange
case coming to us from New Mexico. It's now gone all the way to the state Supreme Court, and the story may be at an end. In case you
hadn't heard, wedding photographers can't refuse to take pictures at a gay wedding or they have violated the New Mexico Human Rights Act.
The Editor says...
Notice if you will that the homosexuals have "human rights" but the rest of us don't.
New Mexico Takes a Stab at
Nullifying the Constitution. Given that a person exercises his religion by living his life in harmony with his beliefs, any
attempt by government to force people to commit sins is a clear and direct repudiation of the targeted individual's First Amendment rights.
Nonetheless, the New Mexico Supreme Court has found that a photographer who declined to photograph a gay "wedding" was at fault.
Tolerance, Health and Fascism.
Last week, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that an event photographer's refusal on religious grounds to shoot the commitment ceremony of a same-sex
couple amounted to illegal discrimination. The photographer had never objected to photographing gays. She did not, however, wish to be part
of a ceremony to which she religiously objected. In America today, thanks to myriad laws and progressive justices, people can go to prison for
refusing to participate in an event to which they object. This is what happened to a florist in Washington state who had always sold flowers to
gay customers but refused to be the florist for a gay wedding: sued and fined.
Judge:
Clerks must issue marriage licenses to gay couples. On Monday, Judge Alan Malott ruled it unconstitutional to ban same-sex couples from
getting married in Bernalillo County. Malott ruled that the Bernalillo and Santa Fe county clerks must grant marriage licenses to gay
couples who apply for them.
Airmen Punished for Objecting to Gay Marriage.
A 19-year veteran of the Air Force said he was relieved of his duties after he disagreed with his openly gay commander when she wanted to severely punish an instructor who had
expressed religious objections to homosexuality. "I was relieved of my position because I don't agree with my commander's position on gay marriage," Senior Master Sgt.
Phillip Monk told Fox News. "We've been told that if you publicly say that homosexuality is wrong, you are in violation of Air Force policy."
Airman opposed to gay
marriage files complaint after being transferred. A senior Air Force NCO who says he was punished because of his opposition to gay
marriage this week filed a formal complaint against his commander, claiming she violated his religious beliefs. Senior Master Sgt. Phillip
Monk, a 19-year airman serving at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, claims he was relieved of his duties and reassigned following a heated exchange
over the hot-button social issue.
Mock 'Marriage' Will Criminalize
Christianity. While poorly decided U.S. Supreme Court cases are a dime a dozen, prior to last Wednesday, two stood out
among the most wretched and constitutionally groundless in American History. First was the 1857 Dred Scott decision.
Among other things, it robbed African-Americans of both their U.S. citizenship and their dignity. Next came the 1973 ruling
in Roe v. Wade. It has robbed over 55 million U.S. citizens of their very lives. For the first time in
American history, the high court imagined a phantom constitutional right for women to dismember alive their own pre-born children.
Both of these cases are blights on American history.
Gay marriage fight
now becomes a religious liberty fight. The next offensive in this culture war will involve wielding government to force
individuals to accept the new definition of marriage, falsely invoking analogies to civil rights. As a prototype, consider the
assault on the liberty of Elaine Huguenin, the wedding photographer in New Mexico. In 2006, a couple asked her to photograph their
wedding. When she learned the couple were lesbians, she declined, explaining that pursuant to her faith, she only photographed
man-woman weddings. The couple got a different photographer, but they sued Huguenin.
IRS Could Revoke Non-Profit
Status for Religious Institutions Refusing to Perform Same-Sex Marriages. The DOMA decision makes clear that marriage is a state-to-state
issue, meaning that religious institutions that receive non-profit status on the federal level but do not perform or accept same-sex marriages in states
where it is legal could have non-profit status revoked. Furthermore, should the IRS move to revoke federal non-profit status for churches,
synagogues and mosques that do not perform same-sex marriage more generally, the Court could easily justify that decision on the basis of
"eradicating discrimination" in religious education.
Flour power isn't sweet on gay marriage;
bakeries snub same-sex couples' weddings. Supporters of same-sex marriage are taking their fight to new venues daily —
first to the courts, then to state legislatures, and now to bakeries. The owner of a Colorado bakery who refused to bake a wedding cake
for a gay couple is fighting a civil-rights complaint filed May 31 by the attorney general's office. A hearing is scheduled for
Sept. 23 before an administrative-law judge in Denver.
Washington state and the
ACLU sue florist for refusing to sell flowers for gay wedding because of Christian beliefs. The American Civil Liberties
Union joined the state of Washington by filing its own lawsuit on Thursday [5/30/2013] against Arlene's Flowers and its proprietor,
Barronelle Stutzman, over the woman's refusal to sell flowers for a same-sex wedding.
Proof that sexual preference carries more weight than religious freedom:
WA State Sues Florist for Refusing to Service
Gay Wedding. There is no question that rank-and-file gay couples of all political stripes are sincere in their desire to enjoy the benefits and status that
come with marriage. There is no sinister agenda at work in the issue of same-sex marriage among the masses. But the same cannot be said of the organized left
who have always intended to use the issue of gay marriage as a vehicle to destroy the Christian Church and marginalize Christians.
WA State Atty Gen Violates
Christian Florist's Constitutional Rights. A Christian florist in Washington State, who declined to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding because she
objects for religious reasons, is being taken to court by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson. This case could ultimately lead the U.S. Supreme Court to
revisit one of its past mistakes.
School Cancels Santorum Speech
over Marriage Views. A Michigan high school canceled a speech by former Sen. Rick Santorum after teachers became outraged over his
opposition to gay marriage and threatened to stage protests and a possible work stoppage. Santorum had been invited to deliver a upcoming
speech on leadership by the Young Americans for Freedom chapter at Gross Pointe South High School. But the speech was canceled on Monday [4/8/2013]
after the school district's superintendent heard from angry teachers.
Christian
Baker Faces Boycott For Refusing to Make Lesbian Cake. Pro-gay activists have launched a boycott
of an Iowa baker who declined to create a wedding cake for a lesbian couple based on her religious beliefs.
Victoria Childress, the owner of Victoria's Cake Cottage in Des Moines, has been accused of being anti-gay,
homophobic, and a bigot after she refused to make a cake for Trina Vodraska and Janelle Sievers.