Donald Trump took to Twitter to quote conservative radio host Wayne Allyn Root, who referred to him as the “King of Israel” and the “second coming of God.” The Donald not only thanked Root but quoted him in full. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1164138795475881986 https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1164138796205654016 https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1164138797220671488 This followed Trump telling reporters that Jewish people who vote for Democrats show “either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.” https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1163909975896416259 A few folks on Twitter had some thoughts on the “King of Israel” https://twitter.com/jchaltiwanger/status/1164162095681822720 https://twitter.com/eugenegu/status/1164171220859797504 https://twitter.com/battletested5/status/1164154880199733250 https://twitter.com/OhNoSheTwitnt/status/1164157414460891136
In the wake of the Log Cabin Republicans’ endorsement of Donald Trump for reelection, several prominent members of the organization have resigned, and they are not going quietly. The endorsement came in the form of an op-ed penned by LCR chair Robert Kabel and vice-chair Jill Homan for the Washington Post last Thursday. The duo cited Trump’s promise to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in ten years as well as an announced plan to end the criminalization of homosexuality around the world. Of course, they also touted his much-ballyhooed tax cuts and other economic initiatives like ‘opportunity zones’ they say have helped create new LGBTQ-owned businesses. But the Washington Postreports that former board member Jennifer Horn sent a letter to Kabel and Homan on Monday announcing her resignation. In the missive, she argued that Trump’s “regular verbal assaults against women, immigrants, elected members of Congress, party members who do not agree with him on policy or principle and his willingness to stoke racial anger and unrest in order to advance his own political ambitions all subvert the founding principles of our great nation.” She also made note of the Trump administration’s “efforts to roll back civil rights protections” through the Justice Department. Further demonstrating her opposition to Trump, Horn recently served as campaign manager for Bill Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts, who has announced he will challenge Trump in the Republican primaries. Additionally, Robert Turner, a former president of the DC chapter of Log Cabin Republicans, has also left the group. In a social media post, Turner called the endorsement “a step too far,” adding that it left him “sad.” Jordan Evans, the only openly transgender elected official in the GOP, wrote her own op-ed for The Advocatewhere she called out the Trump administration for “hollow words, fairweather friends and a seemingly endless number of cuts for us to endure.” Evans said in granting the endorsement, Log Cabin Republicans “turn a blinder to the plights and fears of our colleagues in the queer movement and embrace an administration that has consistently antagonized the LGBTQ+ community through an endless array of rollbacks and rule changes.” Evans listed numerous agencies where attacks on the LGBTQ community have occurred in the past two and a half years, including the Department of Defense, HUD, Health and Human Services, Education and more. Since taking office, Donald Trump and his administration have been disastrous for the LGBTQ community from initiating a ban on transgender military service members to allowing healthcare professionals to refuse to treat LGBTQ people and more. Trump was asked about his record on LGBTQ issues today, specifically in regard to his administration’s decision to file a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court that says transgender Americans could be fired from their jobs simply because of their gender identity. The Donald immediately pointed to the Log Cabin endorsement (although he struggled to remember the group’s name) saying he’s “done very well with that community.” GLAAD took note of the comment and clapped back via Twitter pointing to 123 times LGBTQ people have been targeted since he took office. https://twitter.com/glaad/status/1163901936854339586 (sources: Washington Post,HRC, Advocate)
Luis Javier Ruiz (image via Facebook) Two survivors of the Pulse Nightclub mass shooting who say they are no longer gay have been announced to headline an “ex-gay” rally in Orlando, Florida. Luis Javier Ruiz and Angel Colon will take part in the so-called “Freedom March” scheduled to take place September 14 at Orlando’s Lake Eloa Park, located just minutes from the site of Pulse Nightclub. As Newsweek reports, organizers of the event say the point of the rally is to celebrate “freedom from homosexual/transgender lifestyles by the grace and power of Jesus Christ.” The Freedom March organization has held similar events across the U.S. The most recent rally was held in St. Paul, Minnesota, in June 2019. Both Ruiz and Colon say they no longer identify as gay. At the Freedom March in Washington, D.C. in May, Ruiz told NBC News, “I don’t want to tell everyone it’s a ‘gay-to-straight’ thing because God is not calling me to that.” “I feel that I want to live in a life of purity,” he added. “I feel that through loving Christ, he will walk me out of any situation. I love the LGBTQ community, I love my family. There’s no hate here—there’s love.” During the Pulse massacre, Colon was reportedly shot six times and was trampled by club-goers trying to escape the shooter. It would be two months before he would be able to walk again. Colon recently appeared on a Christian podcast, The Roys Report, where he told the host the shooting was the impetus for him to renounce homosexuality. “A couple months before June, I started praying to God and I told him, ‘Lord, You know my situation, You know my heart, You know I want to worship you. But I cannot do it on my own will,” he told host Julie Roys. “Please help me come back to you.” And according to Colon, on June 12, at 2:02 a.m., “everything just changed in an instant.” The two men have also founded an organization called ‘Fearless Identity,’ which encourages people to “reject their LGBT identities.” According to Newsweek, forming the group was the mens’ response to backlash for identifying as ex-gay. Ruiz posted this video to YouTube where he explains being diagnosed as HIV-positive was what pushed him to ‘reject’ being gay.
This year in America, there have been 251 mass shootings as of day 215; three of them in the past week.
While the motive of the Dayton shooter is still TBD, the shooters in Gilroy, CA and El Paso, TX were both motivated by racist hate with the goal of slaughtering men, women, and children of color.
This is the sickening truth that Americans woke up to today and must live with.
How do any of us cope with the ceaseless crisis of gun violence and our leader’s complacency and willful inaction? How do we stem the growing tide of racism, xenophobia, and public displays of hate? How did we get here? What’s going on?
Nearly fifty years ago, the great Marvin Gaye asked the same question after an act of police brutality. His chart-topping, “What’s Going On?” is a ballad of grief, yearning, and most of all hope.
It became an instant classic and has brought people together in the darkest of times reminding us of common humanity when we are in most need of healing.
Playing For Change, an artist collective created to inspire and connect the world through music recently released a cover of Gaye’s hit that shines a special light of hope today.
“Playing For Change is a movement created to inspire and connect the world through music, born from the shared belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people.
“Our primary focus is to record and film musicians performing in their natural environments and combine their talents and cultural power in innovative videos we call Songs Around The World.
“Through these efforts, we aim to create hope and inspiration for the future of our planet.”
(screen capture)
Founded in 2002, Playing For Change released its first album in 2009, “Songs from Around the World,” featuring 100 musicians from 21 countries.
From its liner notes:
“For seven years our small film crew traveled the world with recording equipment and cameras in search of inspiration — we traveled from streets and subways to native Indian reservations, through African towns and villages, up to the Himalayan Mountains and beyond.
“Throughout the journey, we created a movement connecting the world through music. This album is a collective statement from over 100 musicians spanning five countries. Many of them have never met in person, but through their different cultures, these songs demonstrate a profound human connection and willingness to unite.
“Through music, we can understand our differences and create a better world.”
Playing For Change’s debut music video, a cover of the Ben E. King classic, “Stand By Me,” showcases their inspirational and remarkable journey.
Their latest music video of Imagine Dragon’s “Love” was recently released and its message could not be more relevant or important. Featuring musicians from across six continents, “Love” reminds us we are all one in the human choir inviting us to share in the song,
“All around the world, we are one …” and let’s share the love with everyone we meet.”
UPDATE – The bill that would have banned ‘conversion therapy’ in Utah has stalled and died for this legislative session. Republicans had tried to insert an amendment that would allow professional therapists to ‘talk’ about changing a teen’s sexuality, but not promising to ‘reverse’ it. Utah lawmakers have gutted legislation that would have banned so-called ‘conversion therapy’ in the state. With recent changes, the new bill allows therapists to continue using the same techniques, just not with a promise of a certain outcome. The new version also doesn’t ban therapy intended to change transgender youth. From The Salt Lake Tribune: Troy Williams, executive director of Equality Utah, left the morning hearing fuming about the committee’s decision. The majority of the committee, he said, sided with “quack therapists” and “snake oil salesmen” by approving a version of the bill that would be easily sidestepped by practitioners of conversion therapy. The substitute bill by Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, focuses on prohibiting practices that cause pain or physical distress to a minor patient. It also would ban claims that a therapy could fully and permanently reverse a child’s sexual orientation and assertions that such a change is necessary. All of the nation’s leading mental health and medical associations, including the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have rejected conversion therapy as dangerous and ineffective, and 15 states have banned certain counselors from trying to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of minors. The practice has been linked to suicide and depression, and supporters of Hall’s legislation have framed it as a potentially life-saving legal change. The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Craig Hall, told the committee, “This bill, substitute 4, just to make it clear, will not prevent conversion therapy.” Federal courts have upheld bans on ‘conversion therapy,’ and the U.S. Supreme Court has refused, thus far, to hear appeals on the subject.
UPDATE – The bill that would have banned ‘conversion therapy’ in Utah has stalled and died for this legislative session. Republicans had tried to insert an amendment that would allow professional therapists to ‘talk’ about changing a teen’s sexuality, but not promising to ‘reverse’ it. Utah lawmakers have gutted legislation that would have banned so-called ‘conversion therapy’ in the state. With recent changes, the new bill allows therapists to continue using the same techniques, just not with a promise of a certain outcome. The new version also doesn’t ban therapy intended to change transgender youth. From The Salt Lake Tribune: Troy Williams, executive director of Equality Utah, left the morning hearing fuming about the committee’s decision. The majority of the committee, he said, sided with “quack therapists” and “snake oil salesmen” by approving a version of the bill that would be easily sidestepped by practitioners of conversion therapy. The substitute bill by Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, focuses on prohibiting practices that cause pain or physical distress to a minor patient. It also would ban claims that a therapy could fully and permanently reverse a child’s sexual orientation and assertions that such a change is necessary. All of the nation’s leading mental health and medical associations, including the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have rejected conversion therapy as dangerous and ineffective, and 15 states have banned certain counselors from trying to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of minors. The practice has been linked to suicide and depression, and supporters of Hall’s legislation have framed it as a potentially life-saving legal change. The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Craig Hall, told the committee, “This bill, substitute 4, just to make it clear, will not prevent conversion therapy.” Federal courts have upheld bans on ‘conversion therapy,’ and the U.S. Supreme Court has refused, thus far, to hear appeals on the subject.
Donald Trump took to Twitter to quote conservative radio host Wayne Allyn Root, who referred to him as the “King of Israel” and the “second coming of God.” The Donald not only thanked Root but quoted him in full. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1164138795475881986 https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1164138796205654016 https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1164138797220671488 This followed Trump telling reporters that Jewish people who vote for Democrats show “either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.” https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1163909975896416259 A few folks on Twitter had some thoughts on the “King of Israel” https://twitter.com/jchaltiwanger/status/1164162095681822720 https://twitter.com/eugenegu/status/1164171220859797504 https://twitter.com/battletested5/status/1164154880199733250 https://twitter.com/OhNoSheTwitnt/status/1164157414460891136
