LGBTQ Rights and Right-wing Gay Bashing

[goldenvalley]

Nov 20, 2022 17:22:24 GMT LFC said:

My sincerest hope is that this isn't one of Dreher's god warriors ("I don't agree with mowing them down with a highpowered firearm but...") but I'm not optimistic.

5 people are dead and 18 people are injured after a shooting at a Colorado Springs gay nightclub Saturday night.

At 11:56 p.m. Saturday, the Colorado Springs Police Department said that they received a call for an active shooter at Club Q, a known LGBTQ+ nightclub, on 3430 North Academy Boulevard. The first officer arrived at at 12 a.m. The suspect was detained at 12:02 a.m.

Police say the suspect, 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, immediately started shooting as he entered, but was stopped by two people inside the bar. Police have not released a picture of the suspect as of Sunday morning.

Police do not know yet how many people were in the building, and the victims have not yet been identified.

I'm shocked to learn that there is a gay nightclub in Colo Sprgs.  My brother lived there 25+ years ago when the Focus on Family folks and general right wing religion folks were moving in in droves.  He was happy to move out while his son was only 2 so he didn't have to deal with classmates parents who were "religious nuts", as my brother put it, trying to proselytize his kid while on a school field trip to Garden of the Gods.  Apparently a coworker of his experienced that with his kid.

[AnBr]

As obsessed with LGBTQ people that Dreher is, it really makes you suspect the kinds of inner "demons" he is struggling with.

[LFC]

Nov 21, 2022 12:39:12 GMT AnBr said:

As obsessed with LGBTQ people that Dreher is, it really makes you suspect the kinds of inner "demons" he is struggling with.

I've wondered that for years. He's been going more and more full metal Ted Haggard.

[LFC]

Texass Republicans sure do hate LGBTQ people. Let's not forget that they are the ones who attempted to illegalize same sex sodomy but failed in SCOTUS despite Scalia's pushing for them.

A Texas state lawmaker introduced a bill on Monday that would allow criminal charges to be levied against any venue that hosts transgender performers or drag shows and also allows minors to enter at any time to criminal charges. The proposed law was among a slew of legislative bills targeting LGBTQ Texans filed by conservative Texas lawmakers on Monday ahead of the upcoming House session.

Brought forward by Rep. Jared Patterson of the 106th District outside of Dallas, House Bill 643 seeks to redefine drag performances as "a performance in which a performer exhibits a gender identity that is different than the performer's gender assigned at birth using clothing, makeup, or other physical markers and sings, lip syncs, dances or otherwise performs before an audience for entertainment."

Under Texas' existing criminal statutes, businesses that host transgender performers and also admit minors in any capacity—even if minors are not attending a performance that features transgender people or drag—can be charged with a Class A misdemeanor. Drag shows are not exclusively performed by transgender people and often feature cisgender performers portraying characters of differing or ambiguous sexes.

Texans found guilty of a Class A misdemeanor can be hit with a maximum $4,000 fine and up to one year in jail. 

Oh, and it's sicker than you may realize.

"The bill defines drag as essentially any trans person performing at all," Caraballo tweeted. "They define drag as anyone with a differing gender identity than their gender assigned at birth performing. That's the literal definition of trans people."

As a side note that means that the roles played by Robin Williams (Mrs. Doubtfire), Dustin Hoffman (Tootsie), Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis (Some Like it Hot), and even Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye (White Christmas) would all be illegal if they were performed in Texass. I wonder if it would now be illegal for a movie theater to play White Christmas without blocking anybody under the age of 18.

[goldenvalley]

Nov 21, 2022 16:03:15 GMT LFC said:

Texass Republicans sure do hate LGBTQ people. Let's not forget that they are the ones who attempted to illegalize same sex sodomy but failed in SCOTUS despite Scalia's pushing for them.

A Texas state lawmaker introduced a bill on Monday that would allow criminal charges to be levied against any venue that hosts transgender performers or drag shows and also allows minors to enter at any time to criminal charges. The proposed law was among a slew of legislative bills targeting LGBTQ Texans filed by conservative Texas lawmakers on Monday ahead of the upcoming House session.

Brought forward by Rep. Jared Patterson of the 106th District outside of Dallas, House Bill 643 seeks to redefine drag performances as "a performance in which a performer exhibits a gender identity that is different than the performer's gender assigned at birth using clothing, makeup, or other physical markers and sings, lip syncs, dances or otherwise performs before an audience for entertainment."

Under Texas' existing criminal statutes, businesses that host transgender performers and also admit minors in any capacity—even if minors are not attending a performance that features transgender people or drag—can be charged with a Class A misdemeanor. Drag shows are not exclusively performed by transgender people and often feature cisgender performers portraying characters of differing or ambiguous sexes.

Texans found guilty of a Class A misdemeanor can be hit with a maximum $4,000 fine and up to one year in jail. 

Oh, and it's sicker than you may realize.

"The bill defines drag as essentially any trans person performing at all," Caraballo tweeted. "They define drag as anyone with a differing gender identity than their gender assigned at birth performing. That's the literal definition of trans people."

As a side note that means that the roles played by Robin Williams (Mrs. Doubtfire), Dustin Hoffman (Tootsie), Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis (Some Like it Hot), and even Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye (White Christmas) would all be illegal if they were performed in Texass. I wonder if it would now be illegal for a movie theater to play White Christmas without blocking anybody under the age of 18.

Do people really think that only trans people perform drag???  The men in drag may be gay or they may be straight, but they are not uniformly trans.  

[LFC]

Nov 21, 2022 18:29:23 GMT goldenvalley said:

Do people really think that only trans people perform drag???  The men in drag may be gay or they may be straight, but they are not uniformly trans.  

It's much broader than that. It's anybody not constantly signalling the gender Texass assigns to them. But they particularly like to beat up on trans people.

[LFC]

FIFA stands up for what it most believes in. I'm referring, of course, to money.

OneLove Is Too Much For FIFA

Seven European national teams are bending to pressure from FIFA and won’t wear rainbow armbands for LGBTQ rights during the World Cup. Organizers were threatening violators with on-the-field penalties if they wore the OneLove armbands.

[LFC]

Dan Savage opens up on the assaults on LGBTQ people.

It's not just that gay bars are supposed to be a safe space.

People who hate queer people want us to keep it private. Behind closed doors. Someplace they don't have to see it. And the doors of a gay bar are doors we keep it behind. A place we can go and be together and not bother *them* with the fact of our existence.

And behind those doors... is a place we can forget *they* exist. Not straight people. There are straight people in gay bars and clubs. Our friends. But behind those doors we can forget — we can suspend our disbelief — and pretend the haters don't exist. Just for a few hours.

An attack like this says "not even here." Behind closed doors isn't good enough for *them.* It's not that they want us to exist out of sight. They don't want us to exist at all.

So, if we're not safe in there... behind closed doors... where they say they want us... we have no choice but to fight to make it safe everywhere, for all LGBT people.
"Out of the bars and into the streets!"

That was a chant heard during the Stonewall Riots. The modern LGBT civil rights movement began with an attack on a bunch of queer people—gay men, drag queens, trans women, butch dykes—being themselves behind closed doors.

I agree. All the vast majority of LGBTQ people are asking for is equal treatment and to be left alone. The right is advocated attacks and the Christian nationalists have openly dubbed them their enemies. It's time to fight ... again.

[LFC]

Qatar's hatred of gays is popping up all over the World Cup area. The purchased officials of FIFA should be ashamed of themselves but, of course, they aren't. They cashed in bigly and they're ready and willing to earn their pay.

[LFC]

THIS is a goddamned American hero. THIS is a decent human being. THIS is a role model for children. THIS is the antithesis of the hatred pouring out of orthodox religions today. Bold mine.

A remarkable account of the heroics of Richard M. Fierro, a retired Army major who was watching a drag show at a Colorado Springs gay club with his wife and daughter and her boyfriend, when he heard the sound of small arms fire.

• “I don’t know exactly what I did, I just went into combat mode. I just know I have to kill this guy before he kills us.”

• “These kids want to live that way, want to have a good time, have at it. I’m happy about it because that is what I fought for, so they can do whatever they hell they want.”

• “I grabbed the gun out of his hand and just started hitting him in the head, over and over.”

• “In combat, most of the time nothing happens, but it’s that mad minute, that mad minute, and you are tested in that minute. It becomes habit. I don’t know how I got the weapon away from that guy, no idea. I’m just a dude, I’m a fat old vet, but I knew I had to do something.”

• “Driving home from the hospital I told them, ‘Look, I’ve gone through this before, and down range, when this happens, you just get out on the next patrol. You need to get it out of your mind.’ That is how you cured it. You cured it by doing more. Eventually you get home safe. But here I worry there is no next patrol. It is harder to cure. You are already home.”

The boyfriend was killed in the shooting.

[LFC]

Mayor Pete!

[goldenvalley]

Nov 22, 2022 15:35:38 GMT LFC said:

THIS is a goddamned American hero. THIS is a decent human being. THIS is a role model for children. THIS is the antithesis of the hatred pouring out of orthodox religions today. Bold mine.

...‘Look, I’ve gone through this before, and down range, when this happens, you just get out on the next patrol. You need to get it out of your mind.’ That is how you cured it. You cured it by doing more. Eventually you get home safe. But here I worry there is no next patrol. It is harder to cure. You are already home.”

That last sentence is devastating.  The killer is in the home, there is nowhere to escape to.

[LFC]

Mere days after the brand of hatred he spews resulted in 5 dead, Dreher is right back at it with a classic "the enemy of my enemy" defense of Qatar's utter hatred and abuse of gay people.

Through Gritted Teeth, A Good Word For Qatar World Cup Censors
Cultural imperialism on full display as Western progressives attempt to insult Qataris into celebrating LGBT

You saw this, maybe:

Under normal circumstances, I would oppose attempts to silence free expression in a public place, like a soccer stadium. In this case, I side with the Qataris, despite their awful human rights record. I would be far more sympathetic to Grant Wahl if he had worn a t-shirt expressing solidarity with the plight of the migrant workers exploited by the Qataris. But there's no audience back home for that kind of action. This is 100 percent Western virtue signaling, something that Western liberals only seem to care about when it has to do with LGBT matters.

It doesn't take long, living outside the Western liberal bubble, to discern how much hatred the United States is drawing to itself for its cultural imperialism having to do with LGBT. In summer of 2021, I spoke with two women who are Catholic members of parliament in Uganda, who told me that the US is pushing Africa into the arms of Communist China over its insistence that the Africans affirm LGBT as a condition for aid. We are religious people, the Ugandans said, and this is against our culture. This is a form of imperialism.

Got that? Standing for gay people not being beaten, imprisoned, or murdered for being gay is "100 percent Western virtue signaling." Why? Because obviously the abuse of LGBTQ people isn't real or doesn't matter. Those queers are just getting what they ask for by not acting as God(tm) demands.

As for it being "something that Western liberals only seem to care about when it has to do with LGBT matters" he seems to have gone total derp on women's equal pay, the fight against domestic abuse of women and children, the "Me Too!" movement, Black Lives Matter, and a host of other movements that have fought for equal rights and protections for various groups, an area where his beloved orthodox Christianity seems to have fallen flat on its face for a long, long time.

This is how these people think. They simply can't say loud that their real belief is that gays are evil so instead they obfuscate their attacks on them and any decent people who stand with them. I'm sure they find a lot they admire in the brand of Islam Qatar (and that other paragon of human rights, Saudi Arabia) practice and practically touch themselves over the thought of religious police enforcing God(tm)'s laws.

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit support and defend atrocities."

[LFC]

Here’s How Rep. Lauren Boebert Smeared LGBTQ People On Social Media Before Offering Prayers For The Victims Of The Colorado Springs Gay Club Shooting

Blood on your hands, shitbag. Blood ... on ... your ... hands.

[LFC]

The Christian nationalists are tying themselves in knots in their attempts to attack the Respect for Marriage Act without screeching "F*** those faggots!" at the top of their bigoted, self-righteous lungs. Dreher, of course, provides links to the "thinkers" in this religious pageantry of hate. First Dreher's fatalism, which I rather like.

That's Sen. Mike Lee above, speaking out here against the Respect For Marriage Act. I have put off writing about the proposed Respect For Marriage Act, only because I needed to study its provisions. David French is for it, saying that it is a fair compromise between the rights of gays and lesbians, and the religious liberties of people who do not recognize same-sex marriage in a religious sense. I dissent from French's views on some issues, but he's usually a solid defender of religious liberty, so if he says the RFMA is legitimate, I take it seriously.

What's more, I recognize that our side -- social and religious conservatives -- have lost this battle in the culture war. There is no realistic chance that Obergefell will be overturned in the foreseeable future, and if it were, it would take the states about five minutes to legislatively create same-sex marriage. Why? Because same-sex marriage is quite popular, even among many conservative voters. If Obergefell were overturned, all that would do is send the issue to state legislatures. The reason SSM is so popular is the reason I identified as far back as 2005, when the Federal Marriage Amendment failed to get out of the GOP-controlled Senate: gay marriage fits well within what most Americans today think marriage is. That is, most Americans, religious and otherwise, think that marriage is essentially the formalization of the emotional commitment two people (well, two people for now) have for each other. It is not rooted in anything transcendent, at least not objectively; if a couple wishes to involve God in it, that's their choice, but it's not what marriage essentially is. Mind you, I don't believe that, and neither do many traditional Christians, Jews, and Muslims. But that's what most Americans believe. It was not hard to marriage-rights activists to point out to a meaningful number of Americans in those pre-Obergefell days that their opposition to gay marriage was based in irrational prejudice, because so many Americans had forgotten what marriage is.

Given that this battle is over, and given that younger Americans are not only far less religious, and far less tolerant of religious liberty, it is at least plausible to think that religious and social conservatives should take the best deal they can now, because it's only going to get worse for us. That's why I don't dismiss French's argument out of hand: for reasons of political prudence, not because I accept same-sex marriage morally.

Here's the first religious bigot, one Gregory S. Baylor, that he quotes. As you can imagine Rod and I didn't choose all the same quotes. This outright lie is breathtaking in its audacity.

As soon as the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, activists went to work mischaracterizing the ruling.

Many used the decision—and particularly Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurrence—to claim that the Court could revisit other rulings, including the one in Obergefell v. Hodges, which created a constitutional “right” to same-sex marriage.

Using this feigned outrage as a cover, these activists pushed for a federal law called the Respect for Marriage Act.

For those of us who aren't factually challenged we remember Thomas's actual quote concerning Obergefell and other rulings which he called “were demonstrably erroneous decisions.” I'm sorry, Mr. Baylor. What exactly did we misinterpret about that explicitly clear statement by "Justice" Thomas? What exactly was mischaracterized? Oh, you don't say. What a shock.

Let's visit some of his other lies. I'm going to fisk this in italics because it's so bad.

While proponents of the bill claim that it simply codifies the 2015 Obergefell decision, in reality it is an intentional attack on the religious freedom of millions of Americans with sincerely held beliefs about marriage.
[Victim much?]

The Respect for Marriage Act threatens religious freedom and the institution of marriage in multiple ways:

• It further embeds a false definition of marriage in the American legal fabric.
[False definition? Whose definition? Oh, that's right. Only you and your ilk get to define marriage.]

• It opens the door to federal recognition of polygamous relationships.
[That argument is positively dripping in Santorum. It's been refuted so many times it's not even worth bothering with.]

• It jeopardizes the tax-exempt status of nonprofits that exercise their belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.
[That's a flat out lie unless by "exercise" you mean discriminate against people through activities outside of their organization.]

• It endangers faith-based social-service organizations by threatening litigation and liability risk if they follow their views on marriage when working with the government.
[Aaaaah, now we have the core of it. They want to discriminate and suckle at the government teat.]

The truth is the Respect for Marriage Act does nothing to change the status of same-sex marriage or the benefits afforded to same-sex couples following Obergefell. [You're hiding behind your earlier lie about SCOTUS.] It does much, however, to endanger religious freedom. [That's also a lie unless you define a demand for public money as a right.]

Looking at Kristen Waggoner we find somebody who starts with piles of fluff about how religion isn't being protected by this bill before hitting the meat of the meltdown.

Right now, government officials across the country—including the Biden administration—argue in court that individuals and religious organizations who love and work with people from all walks of life should face civil and criminal penalties if they don’t abandon their beliefs on this issue. Faith-based adoption and foster placement agencies are denied the opportunity to serve needy children. States deny parents equal support if they choose religious schools with the “wrong” views on marriage. Governments force gospel rescue missions to hire people who deny the gospel.

The RFMA addresses none of this. It instead fuels hostility towards Americans who hold beliefs about marriage rooted in honorable or philosophical premises.

Aaaaand we're right back to the demand for the right to public money.

I love this one. She's demanding that we accept the word of the very same people who lied under oath about Roe.

The bill provides no protection or benefits that same-sex couples don’t already have. The Supreme Court assured the country in the Dobbs decision (overruling Roe v. Wade) that it has no intention of overruling the Obergefell decision establishing a right to same-sex marriage.

I'm glad that Rod put this all in one place. It really does allow us to cut through a lot of bullshit and see exactly what the Christian religious zealots are demanding.

a) They, and only they, get to define exactly what the word "marriage" means. If a different definition of a word they'd like to define wins then that attacks "religious freedom?" Personally I find their hangup on a single English word that has had a predominantly civil definition for years to show a real weakness of faith.

b) They want government money. We've always known this. It's why Republicans are trying to undermine the public school system and fund Christian madrassas with taxpayer dollars.

[LFC]

I'd like to note on the Christian meltdown over the definition of marriage should be viewed through the lens of many nations which means many cultures. Here's a map showing each nation's view on marriage equality. It's interesting to see some of the nations they're aligning themselves with and some of the ones they're in opposition to.

[My approximation of the legend]
Dark Blue: Marriage open to same-sex couples (rings: individual cases)
Bright Blue: Civil unions or domestic partnerships
Dark Green: Legislation or binding domestic court ruling establishing same-sex marriage, but marriage is not yet provided for
Dark Purple: Same-sex marriage recognized with full rights when performed in certain other jurisdictions
Pale Blue: Limited legal recognition (unregistered cohabitation, legal guardianship)
Blue/Gray Stripe: Nonbinding certification
Light Purple: Limited recognition of marriage performed in certain other jurisdictions (residency rights for spouses)
Pale Green: Country subject to an international court ruling to recognize same-sex marriage
Gray: Same-sex unions not legally recognized

[LFC]

TDB has multiple articles on the right's increasingly shrill, strident, and violent attack on LGBTQ people.

Don’t Act Surprised, We Knew the Right Was Stoking Violence. The one bone I have to pick is that this has been going on for a lot longer than two years. It's just amped up even further lately.

The right has excelled at violence and intimidation against marginalized communities and democratic institutions for the past two years. There’s a phrase for what’s happening: stochastic terrorism.

Dictionary.com did its part to educate the public by tweeting a definition after an attacker shot and killed five people and injured 17 others over the weekend at Club Q, which has been described as “the heart of the LGBT community” in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Stochastic terrorism is “the public demonization of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot be predicted.” Basically, it’s daily programming on Fox News and the ugly garbage that fuels the podcasts and posts at right-wing websites like The Daily Wire, which pursue a relentless, vindictive agenda that falsely accuses LGBTQ+ communities and liberal allies of “grooming” and “indoctrinating” young children.

While the shooter’s motives and connections are still being investigated, LGBTQ+ communities remain under assault from false accusations and venomous conspiracy theories. Even as bodies are buried, Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire and his right-wing circus of hate had no moment of soul-searching, restraint, or even grace. Instead, they resorted to the usual strategy of fake victimhood, grievance politics, projection, and gaslighting.

Walsh mocked liberals and critics who correctly called him out for placing a giant target on the backs of the LGBTQ+ communities and their allies, which includes doctors, politicians, and educators.

“Yes! We can use this as ammo against conservatives who don’t think children should be exposed to drag shows!”, he tweeted sarcastically. Walsh also accused leftists of “using a mass shooting to try and blackmail us into accepting the castration and sexualization of children.”

No, we just want Walsh and his coterie of right-wing extremists to acknowledge that their cottage industry of hate has helped create a toxic environment, that has radicalized unhinged individuals to use violence against targeted groups.

You know, stochastic terrorism.

Unfortunately, the right wing has learned to just double down on hate, lies, and deflection.

Tucker Guest: Expect More Attacks Like Club Q ‘Until We End This Evil Agenda’. You could predict that he'd bring on this brand of blame deflecting shitbag.

The shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs over the weekend that left five dead and more than two dozen injured was “predictable” and won’t be the last of its kind, said a guest on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show Tuesday night.

“The tragedy that happened in Colorado Springs the other night—it was expected and predictable. We all within Gays Against Groomers saw this coming from a mile away,” said Jaimee Mitchell, whose group describes itself as “a coalition of gays against the sexualization, indoctrination, and medicalization of children.”

NBC Reporter: Club Q Massacre Is ‘Come-to-Jesus Moment’ for Journalists

NBC News senior reporter Ben Collins on Tuesday called on his fellow journalists to have a “come-to-Jesus moment” following the brutal massacre at a Colorado LGBTQ club, urging them to stand up to right-wing media mockery and take a moral responsibility while reporting on anti-trans hate.

He and his associate have it right. This, of course, set of Tuckums.

“So these horrifying murders in Colorado over the weekend quickly became a pretext for yet more censorship of your speech. You are responsible for this, they told you, because you said the wrong things,” Carlson sneered. “Every time you object to drag time story hour for fifth graders or point out that genital mutilation is being committed on minors—which it is—every time you say that, you are putting people’s lives at risk.”

Just as he’s done numerous times in the past, the influential Fox News host took aim at Collins’ colleague Brandy Zadrozny—who, like Collins, is a former Daily Beast reporter—for her reporting on right-wing hate speech and transphobic targeting of hospitals that provide gender-affirming care.

“When you point out the truth, indisputably, and the truth is that some adults in this country, apparently a growing number, have a deeply unhealthy fixation on the sexuality of children—when you say that out loud, you get people killed,” Carlson declared. “That is what Brandy Zadrozny is saying. And by saying that, Brandy Zadrozny and the many people like her are effectively defending that same deeply unhealthy fixation on the sexuality of children.”

For once Carlson accidentally told the truth. There is most definitely "some adults in this country, apparently a growing number, have a deeply unhealthy fixation on the sexuality of children." They include Tuckums himself as well as many other figures on the right. This obsession is clearly coming from one or more unhealthy places and drive them into places completely untethered to reality.

[LFC]

Kudos to the German World Cup team!

Germany’s international soccer players covered their mouths and wore rainbow stripes on their cleats before their World Cup game against Japan in Qatar on Wednesday, defying FIFA’s efforts to stop athletes from displaying messages supporting LGBTQ people. Germany was one of seven countries that had planned for their players to wear “OneLove” armbands at the tournament but dropped the bold statement of solidarity after soccer’s international governing body threatened teams with sporting sanctions. “Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice,” the German Football Association said in a statement shortly after the game started. “We stand by our position.” The German interior minister, Nancy Faeser, doubled down on the players’ protest by wearing a OneLove armband as she watched the game. She was seated at the stadium next to Gianni Infantino, the President of FIFA.

[LFC]

Yes, to them LGBTQ people aren't really human and they just got what they deserve for their sinful ways.

[goldenvalley]

Nov 23, 2022 21:37:59 GMT LFC said:

Yes, to them LGBTQ people aren't really human and they just got what they deserve for their sinful ways.

Will be interesting to see if the complainers will complain about the coverage of the shooting in the Walmart last night.

[AnBr]

Need to start slapping the likes of Faux with incitement to violence.

[LFC]

The Respect for Marriage Act was officially passed by the Senate. 36 Republicans declared they are homophobic pieces of shit.

The Senate passed the Respect for Marriage Act Tuesday, which will enshrine some elements of the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision into law. 

The final vote was 61 to 36, with Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Ben Sasse (R-NE) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) not voting.

The same 12 Republicans voted for final passage as did to advance the bill through the first filibuster: Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Richard Burr (R-NC), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Susan Collins (R-ME), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Rob Portman (R-OH), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Todd Young (R-IN).

The bill will now bounce back to the House, but is on a glide path to passage.

The bill requires that people be considered married in any state as long as the marriage is valid in the state it was performed. 

That’s a step down from the protections in Obergefell, which also require all states to grant same-sex marriages. Should the Supreme Court overturn Obergefell, which Justice Clarence Thomas openly rooted for in the Dobbs decision, states would be able to reinstate bans on same-sex marriage. Similar to the current abortion landscape, couples living in states hostile to same-sex marriage would have to travel elsewhere to be legally wed.  

But the legislation also repeals the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and gives states the right not to recognize same-sex marriages performed in others. The law is still on the books, though considered unconstitutional for now. 

I suspect Warnock is campaigning. Sasse's wife is ill but past statements showed he's clearly against it. Toomey gave the mealy-mouthed "doesn't infer any rights that don't exist" excuse. Gawd, I'm so glad he'll no longer be representing PA.

The bill is actually a step back from the Obergefell ruling in that it doesn't prevent a state from outlawing marriage equality, though they would still be forced to recognize all same sex marriages performed elsewhere. I don't see that happening unless right-wing, partisan hack SCOTUS signals some shithole like Alabama or Tennessee that they were ready to overturn Obergefell and simultaneously rule this bill unconstitutional. Otherwise the reward would be too little for all the political hubbub.

[LFC]

The predictable and predicted meltdowns are here. First the ever hate filled Tony Perkins.

Tony Perkins Has The Marriage Sadz: This Bill Is A “Club That Leftists Will Use To Beat People Of Orthodox Faith”
Via email from hate group leader Tony Perkins:

On Tuesday night, the U.S. Senate passed the so-called “Respect for Marriage” Act which critics say invites “predatory lawsuits” against people of faith, stigmatizes biblical values, and drives Christians from the public square.

Although nearly all Senate Republicans voted for amendments demanding greater respect for religious liberty, 12 Republicans voted for the unamended bill — and against the interests of their own voters, according to pro-family organizations.

“These 12 senators are literally putting a target on their base and driving them out of political engagement,” said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins shortly after the vote. “This bill is a club, with which the Left will attempt to beat people of orthodox faith — who believe in marriage as God designed it and history has defined — into submission.”

“We know what is right. We know what is true. Whether by the Court or by the Congress, truth cannot be altered,” Perkins concluded. “We need to have the courage to stand for it, remembering the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6, ‘and having done all … stand firm.’”

[LFC]

Heritage's meltdown.

“Members of Congress who voted for this bill and claim to support religious liberty are either naïve or don’t understand the laws they are passing. Despite polling showing that their constituents oppose this legislation, they refused to adopt Utah Sen. Mike Lee’s amendment that would have protected the religious freedom of millions of Americans without taking away a single benefit or legal entitlement from same-sex couples.

“As a result, the tax-exempt status of religious schools and nonprofits is now up for debate. Additionally, the Left will try to use the bill to sue faith-based adoption agencies and contractors to drive them out of business as they have done in multiple states and localities already.

“This bill was never about ‘live and let live.’ It has always been about unleashing the power of the state against people of faith who hold to the truth about marriage.

“If there’s a silver lining, the Senate finally voted on Sen. Mike Lee’s First Amendment Defense Act and it received near unanimous Republican support and one Democrat vote. Every candidate running for president must pledge to pass it.

“People of faith will neither forget today’s vote nor despair. Rather, they will recommit to protecting our constitutional right to religious liberty and defending those who will face legal challenges and attacks in the wake of the Senate’s action.

Somebody pointed out that the asshat who penned this was Trump's director of the civil rights division at HHS. Irony is dead.

[LFC]

Marriage equality continues to be overwhelmingly popular.

New polling released today by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) — the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization — shows that about two-thirds (64%) of likely voters in 2022 battleground states – Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – support a law “protecting the national right to same-sex marriage.” The polling results are consistent with numbers seen throughout this year indicating that a strong majority of the public is in favor of allowing LGBTQ+ people to marry those they love.

“Majority support for marriage equality was also seen across subgroups in the polling, including among men (58%), women (69%) and Christians (55%). Marriage equality has been nothing but positive, both for the LGBTQ+ community and for our society as a whole – and that’s reflected in this polling,” said Joni Madison, Human Rights Campaign Interim President. “Same-sex marriage has been legal nationally since 2015, and in many states for years before that. The joy that has emanated from thousands of weddings of couples who were previously denied the right to marry has melted many hearts. And the supposed harms that opponents of marriage equality predicted simply have not come to pass. Despite this, in the aftermath of the Dobbs ruling, many couples fear for the future of marriage equality. That’s why it is more important than ever to pass the Respect for Marriage Act, and reflect the voice of the 71% of Americans nationwide who support marriage equality.”

The poll showed no significant difference in support for marriage equality based on race and ethnicity. Its results are in line with previous polls conducted by other organizations this year, including a Gallup poll in June that showed that 71% of Americans support same-sex marriage, a new high-water mark.