Thursday, August 28, 2025

Attempts to blame trans community for mass shootings foiled by buzzsaw of truth


 On Wednesday, this country yet again experienced the tragedy of a mass shooting, 

Two children were killed and 17 others were wounded when a lone gunman opened fire at a Catholic school in Minnesota.

The shooting in itself is an awful incident which is becoming more common in this country and I could go into detail about that. However, there is something especially vile about this particular mass shooting. 

The late shooter, Robin Westman, identified as transgender. Because of this, far-right groups and social media influencers are tying this shooting to other recent mass shootings in an effort to create a false narrative that is there is a growing pattern of mass shootings perpetrated by trans people 

Twitter has been filled with posts resembling the following.


 The anti-LGBTQ hate group the American Family Association chose to gaslight its attack on trans Americans under the veneer of "compassion."


AFA is full of it. It is all about stigmatizing and denigrating trans people. It's an old tactic by the anti-LGBTQ industry, In the past, groups like AFA tried to claim that gay men were more likely to sexually molest kids. They made this argument based upon the completely discredited belief that a man who molests a boy is automatically gay. 

 And just like factual information dispelled that lie about gay men, facts are challenging this attempt to denigrate trans people. Twitter has a fact-checking mechanism called grok. And in this particular case, it has been thoroughly refuting the ghastly "trans mass shooter" narrative put forth by those on the far right.



 In fact, grok has been knocking down anti-trans lies all day.

 

As to be expected, some folks are unhappy with grok's fact checking.

 

Normally, I enjoy seeing bigots, homophobes, and members of the anti-LGBTQ industry get called out and dragged for their lies, but I can barely muster a smile here. It's bad enough that when these shootings happen, those with power (Congress) won't do anything to prevent them from reoccurring. Now it seems that others are treating these mass shootings as opportunities like they are sudden windfalls.
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Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Trump - "I have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the president of the United States."

SOME folks will probably claim that this comment by Trump from a recent cabinet meeting is being taken out of context. 

Uh no. 

He may be talking specifically about deploying troops to Chicago (which is by itself a bone headedly stupid thing to do) but based upon his action since he regained office (thanks again to all you simpleminded dumbasses who helped), he's definitely got the Il Duce mentality going strong. 

Trump may be the president, but he doesn't have the right to do anything he wants. Years ago, that comment alone would have caused all sorts of havoc, but in today's society which has been desensitized to unconsciousness by an overload of information from a far-right ecosystem led by Fox News, right-wing social media influencers and access-ambitious pundits, it will probably go over like a thin breeze. 

Regardless though, it is something to remember not only for the 2026 midterm elections but also all future elections, particularly presidential ones. Pay attention folks and above all, vote wisely. I hope we get through this madness, first.


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Sunday, August 24, 2025

Nancy Mace suffers embarrassment when only eight people show up for her campaign speech

Nancy Mace

This embarrassment couldn't have happened to a more deserving person. I can only hope that this is a sign of how things are going to be not only for Mace, but for other candidates scapegoating our community for power.


 Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) canceled a speech in South Carolina on Thursday after just eight people showed up to an event that was billed to have 100-plus people in attendance, local news site MyHorryNews.com has reported. Mace — who is running for South Carolina governor — was expected to lead a “parental rights” rally in Myrtle Beach hosted by the Horry County chapter of the far-right, anti-trans Moms for Liberty group. 

But, as MyHorryNews put it, “plans seemingly changed” once she walked into a room of mostly empty chairs. The speech was scrapped, with a member of her team telling reporters that Mace would take questions from the media before she met individually with the attendees. 

 . . .The speech cancellation arrives just weeks after Mace —who has used her time in the House, in part, to obsess over trans women using the women’s bathroom — kicked off what she called the “Mother of All Town Halls” tour in Myrtle Beach, an event that reportedly packed the Veterans Café and Grill. In her remarks, she claimed that she would “debate anyone” although those who arrived at the event with shirts “reflecting their opposition” to her were asked to leave before she started her speech, NBC News reported.
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Thursday, August 21, 2025

We Come to Bury James Dobson, Not Praise Him

James Dobson

Infamous religious leader James Dobson died today. 

Dobson was a prominent and influential figure of the religious right because he not only started Focus on the Family but also had a hand in creating the Family Research Council and the Alliance Defending Freedom. He also, according to The Advocate, help to push the Republican Party further to the right. 

Those who have kept up with my blog over the years know how I feel about the religious right, or as I call them, the anti-LGBTQ industry.  And how I also feel about the Family Research Council and the Alliance Defending Freedom.  It shouldn't take a palm reader to guess how I feel about Dobson in general and the specific news of his passing.

To put it politely, James Dobson was an odious, self-righteous, evil man who weaponized Christianity to hurt LGBTQ people. It was never about love or God with him. It was always about power and control. He thought that Christians who believed as he did should control this country, our laws, and general culture.

And he didn't mind overlooking certain passages of the Bible in his quest for political power.  How else could anyone explain his embracing of Donald Trump. In exchange for White House access, Dobson made excuses for Trump, at one time even calling him a baby Christian. Other times, Dobson would not only ignore Trump's behavior, but he also praised him in spite of it all. 

Then again, praise is too weak of a word to describe what was going on. Dobson not only kissed Donald Trump's ass. He wiped and polished it:




 In the coming days, you're going to hear a lot of nice comments about Dobson. Folks are going to talk about his so-called strong character and devotion to God. His so-called commitment to preserving purity and American culture.

It's all a lie. 

The comments you are welcome to read below tell us just who James Dobson actually was. These are voices of the people he hurt and those who were tasked to pick up the pieces of broken spirit which came from his "teachings." 

" When I read that James Dobson is being remembered as a man who cared about families, I think instead about the families torn apart by his message. Parents taught to fear their own children. Spouses trapped in marriages built on self-denial. Young people who looked at me — the smiling “success story” on the magazine cover — and walked away believing they were broken beyond repair because they couldn’t replicate my lie. Dobson’s empire baptized cruelty and called it love. That is his true legacy. But those of us who lived through it are writing a different ending. Our story is one of survival. It looks like telling the truth, even when it costs. It looks like acknowledging our complicity while naming the coercion. It looks like building lives where we no longer need to prove our worth." - John Paulk, former chairman of Exodus and former Focus on the Family's point person for "ex-gay" therapy

“James Dobson cynically used faith as a cudgel to bludgeon vulnerable communities, spread disinformation, and inject toxic bigotry into the bloodstream of American culture. His legacy is one of cruelty disguised as Christianity, and our nation is worse off because of the relentless campaigns of intolerance he orchestrated. 

 Dobson’s obsession with changing LGBTQ people was a moral abomination that caused immeasurable harm. Parents were misled, children were traumatized, and lives were destroyed because he refused to accept people for who they are. His pseudoscientific crusade for conversion therapy will be remembered as one of the darkest chapters of modern religious extremism.”- Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen  

(Editor's note - Truth Wins Out created a wonderful project, Respect My Research, which exposed Dobson for deliberately distorting scientific research against LGBTQ people.) 


" James Dobson helped me in my career by providing therapy clients who were harmed by religious, spiritual, emotional, and physical abuse. He gave me clients who were traumatized and self-loathing because they had the great misfortune to be born to parents who believed that being LGBT is "not God's plan" and that they could be "cured."

 He provided clients who were physically abused by parents who hit them with objects - "paddles" - "rather than your loving hands." He helped create clients who believed they were innately evil, undeserving of kindness, unworthy of love, and hated by God. Yes, I've been told that in the therapy room. 

 Because of him, I sought specialized training in treating traumatic injuries, which has helped me to help others. He was ignorant about human development, a religious extremist, and someone who is personally responsible for uncountable incidents of child abuse as well as suicide. He caused incalculable harm to be inflicted on countless innocent children. Good riddance." - Alice Clearman, psychologist


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Wednesday, August 20, 2025

'Nancy Mace battles nonexistent 'transgender mice research' after Trump's false claim' & other Wed/Thur news briefs



Nancy Mace introduces ludicrous ‘Trans Mice Act’ after false Trump claims​ - Long story short - Trump made up a ridiculous story about research turning mice transgender. Nancy Mace, the desperately attention-seeking Congressional leader, jumps on the story to spearhead some type of "legislation." In other words, a stupid man makes up a stupid story, causing a incredibly attention-hungry but nonetheless stupid woman to piggyback on it for the sake of publicity. 


Trump quietly bans federal health insurance from covering gender-affirming care - Trump's ugly war against the transgender community continues. A president, or any elected leader, having such vitriol against an innocent group of people is simply vile. And it's worse how so many folks are desensitized to it because it doesn't affect them. 


Hillary Clinton: Supreme Court ‘will do to gay marriage what they did to abortion’ - We will see, Mrs. Clinton. Still, your advice is something our community should follow. 

LGBTQ groups denounce takeover of D.C. police – except for one - Who else but the Log Cabin Republicans? 

And finally:

The Trains of Dusk and Dawn (The Astraeus Journey) - Queer author - and a good friend of mine - Erica Lieberman presents something for you LGBTQ science fiction fans:
 Anna Alla is a young, gifted woman with a mouth to match. Unfortunately, her attitude leaves her vulnerable in the society she lives in. Her home, Astraios, is a tidally locked planet with one side always facing the sun, and one side always facing the night; the same way our moon faces the earth. Both extremes are uninhabitable, leaving only the narrow space between dusk and dawn for the people of Astraios to live. The society built around this unique world demands austerity. With a caste system designed to remind the inhabitants of their place in the world, there is no moving up, and every chance to be moved down (Downgraded). 
There is no home. Members of the higher castes travel on trains from one city to the next, working a week at a time assigned to jobs based on their caste. The lowest cast, Walkers, walk the tracks in a perpetual loop, clearing the tracks of debris. No one owns more than the clothes they wear, the most basic essentials, and the food they eat. Anna Alla fit neatly into the lowest level of the middle caste (Specialists) as a child. To satisfy her love of history, she hoped to be assigned to maintenance of the oldest equipment on Astraios.

 Instead, she finds herself downgraded and living a life she doesn’t understand. Anna has to find a way to overcome her situation and her tendency to make her situation worse in ways she can’t fully appreciate. With her newly found friends, the nerdy outcast ekes out a place for herself and shares a new way of thinking that is a threat to the leaders of her society. Anna Alla’s life is hard, but one of her own making, for better or for worse.
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Monday, August 18, 2025

Drag show ban blocked at West Texas A&M University. Major parts of Florida book ban struck down by federal judge.


A federal appeals court blocked a drag show ban at West Texas A&M University on Monday. A few days before, a federal judge in Florida struck down major parts of Florida's book ban law.


 As we deal with the second term of the jackass better known as Donald Trump, vestiges of old culture wars are disintegrating under our noses.

From The Texas Tribune:

A federal appeals court Monday blocked West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler from enforcing a campus drag show ban, ruling that the performances are likely protected under the First Amendment. 

The 2-1 ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a lower court’s decision upholding Wendler’s 2023 cancellation of a drag show, which he argued was demeaning to women and compared to blackface. The decision means Spectrum WT, the student group that brought the lawsuit, can produce drag shows on campus while its lawsuit continues in a lower court. 

 Judge Leslie H. Southwick, who wrote for the majority, said the context of the students’ event made its message of supporting the queer community clear. 

 “The viewers of the drag show would have been ticketed audience members attending a performance sponsored by LGBT+ student organizations and designed to raise funds for LGBT+ suicide-prevention charity, “ wrote Southwick, who was appointed by George W. Bush. “Against this backdrop, the message sent by parading on a theater stage in attire of the opposite sex would have been unmistakable.” 

 The court concluded that Legacy Hall, where the drag show was scheduled to take place, was a designated public forum open to a variety of groups, including churches and political candidates. That meant banning drag shows targeted the content of the event, something the Constitution allows only in the rarest cases.

 Finally, the court found that students faced ongoing irreparable harm to their speech rights, noting Wendler had canceled another drag show planned for 2024 and declared that no drag shows would ever be allowed on campus.

 

And a few days earlier in Florida, according to LGBTQNation:

A federal judge in Florida has struck down major parts of the state’s book ban law, ruling that it violates the First Amendment by sweeping protected literature off school library shelves. 

 In 2023, Florida enacted H.B. 1069, expanding the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law to prohibit classroom discussions of LGBTQ+ identities through the end of high school. The measure also required schools to remove books flagged for “sexual content,” a vague standard most often applied to works addressing race, gender, and sexuality. 

 Six major book publishers, the Authors Guild, and parents from Escambia County sued after dozens of books were removed. They argued that H.B. 1069 gave parents and residents unchecked power to demand removals of any book considered “pornographic” or “describes sexual conduct,” without clear legal definitions. Under this sweeping standard, students lost access to award-winning books including The Color Purple, Cloud Atlas, The Freedom Writers Diary, Looking for Alaska, Slaughterhouse-Five, Shout, The Handmaid’s Tale, Beloved, and The Bluest Eye.

 In a broad order, federal Judge Carlos Mendoza of the U.S. Middle District Court of Florida found the state’s book ban unconstitutionally overbroad, calling it an “I know it when I see it” test that chilled free speech. “None of these books are obscene,” Mendoza wrote in his order. “The restrictions placed on these books are thus unreasonable.” 

. . .Rejecting the state’s claim that removals were simply government “curation,” Judge Mendoza held that delegating an unchecked “license to object to materials under an ‘I know it when I see it’ approach” to parents, “regardless of the holistic value of the book individually or as part of a larger collection,” amounted to outright censorship.

 

We probably won't hear the opposition make noise about these decisions because they've moved on to new rage-baits campaigns involving male cheerleaders and Sydney Sweeney (and I don't even KNOW who that little white girl is.)

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Wednesday, August 13, 2025

'Lara Loomer repeats claim about Lindsey Graham being gay in deposition' & other Wed/Thur news briefs

Sen. Lindsey Graham. Is he or isn't he? Lara Loomer says he is.


'It's well-known!' MAGA activist repeats salacious claims about GOP senator in deposition​ - It IS Lara Loomer and she has made this claim about Lindsey Graham before, so maybe it should be taken with a grain of salt. Then again, we are talking about Lindsey Graham here, so . . .




New Orleans Saints have 12 male cheerleaders, sending some NFL fans into hysterical meltdowns - Some on the right find the dumbest things to fake outrage about.
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