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Buttigieg Says He’d Like to See Pence ‘Evolve’ on LGBTQ Rights – and Not Use Religion ‘To Harm People’

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Pete Buttigieg, the Democratic Party’s first openly gay presidential candidate, has been pushing back against Vice President Pence’s anti-gay agenda throughout his campaign.

2020 Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg is responding to attacks from Vice President Mike Pence, who says the South Bend, Indiana mayor’s belief that God makes people gay infringes on his First Amendment right to freedom of religion.

The Vice President is “entitled to his religious beliefs,” says Buttigieg, who has been mayor since 2012, which includes Pence’s tenure as Governor of Indiana. “My problem is when those religious beliefs are used as an excuse to harm other people,” Buttigieg explained on CNN Tuesday.

Buttigieg reminded viewers that Pence “advanced a discriminatory bill in 2015, under the guise of religious freedom, that said it was lawful to discriminate, provided you invoked religion as your excuse.”

“This isn’t about him as a human being,” Buttigieg added, apparently pushing back against Pence’s false claim that Buttigieg has attacked him personally.

“This is about policies that hurt people, policies that hurt children,” says the South Bend mayor, who would turn 39 the day before being sworn in to office should he win the Democratic nomination and beat Donald Trump.

Buttigieg charges that “to this day” the Vice President “hasn’t brought himself to say that it shouldn’t be legal to discriminate against people in this country because they’re LGBT.”

He notes that Pence “seems to be OK” with allowing LGBTQ people to be denied housing and services, and to be fired because they are LGBTQ.

“I would love to see him evolve on that issue,” Buttigieg said, noting that it’s “part of faith, that all of us can evolve and can grow better.”

Buttigieg, who served in the U.S. Navy as a Lieutenant in Afghanistan, also accused Pence of being against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” because “he felt it was too pro-gay. He wanted to make sure that even closeted members couldn’t serve.”

He also called on Vice President Pence to “clear up” his positions against LGBTQ equality and civil rights.

Ohio Hockey Fans Fight The Good Fight Against Chick-Fil-A

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Even though it gets less publicity now, Chick-Fil-A still gives lots of money to anti-gay groups. These hockey fans found a very public way to voice their displeasure.

Between periods at a hockey game isn’t the most likely place to find heartwarming events taking place; usually there’s just a Zamboni ice-resurfacing machine uneventfully passing back and forth across the ice for 15 or so minutes, most of which you spend in line for the bathroom. However, on Sunday night at a minor-league hockey game in Cincinnati, some protesters snatched an opportunity to make their voices heard — using a Zamboni machine.

The Cincinnati Cyclones, a minor-league hockey affiliate of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, were playing a game against the Kalamazoo Wings — one they’d ultimately lose — when the incident took place. The Cyclones offer access to a special Zamboni they call the “Fan Zam,” which allows Cyclones fans the opportunity to ride around the ice between periods for a $10 fee.

Now, the Cincinnati Cyclones’ Fan Zam isn’t just any old Zamboni — it’s sponsored by Chick-Fil-A. And while it’s been quite a few years since the Jim Henson Company severed ties with Chick-Fil-A in 2012 over their donations to anti-gay groups around the world, the idea held by some that Chick-Fil-A has ceased donating to anti-LGBTQ groups is quite mistaken. A ThinkProgress investigation (https://www.scribd.com/document/353081106/Chick-fil-A-Foundation-2015-Form-990) discovered over $1 million in donations made by Chick-Fil-A in 2015 to anti-LGBTQ groups like the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Indeed, as recently as last month, yet more donations to anti-gay groups by Chick-Fil-A are still coming to light. (https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/3/21/18275850/chick-fil-a-anti-lgbtq-donations)

This is what the Cyclones fans who took that fateful Zamboni ride were protesting. Hitting the ice with what appeared to be signs celebrating a friend’s birthday, they soon unfolded their signs to reveal the message “Chick-Fil-A is anti-gay.” The fans were quickly evicted from the Zamboni, and the arena in which the Cyclones game was taking place.

What was perhaps the most fascinating part of this whole story occurred afterward, when the Cyclones released an official statement condemning the protest. “The Cincinnati Cyclones & U.S. Bank Arena do not condone this type of behavior or the messaging expressed,” they wrote in a press release. The message they are referring to here, that Chick-Fil-A is anti-gay, is provably true, making the decision of the Cyclones to speak of it as something that one either does or does not condone a bit incoherent. The truth is the truth, regardless of how anyone feels about it.

“These actions do not align with the family friendly atmosphere that we aim to provide,” the team went on to state. “Chick-fil-A has been a wonderful partner and we are thankful for their on-going support.” Clearly, if they are forced to choose between a random fast-food place and the entire LGBTQ community, the Cyclones will choose the fast-food franchise. Gotta keep that corporate synergy going, right?

It’s a shame, because hockey is a great sport. However, like many great sports, being both a fan and a member of the LGBTQ community often forces you to make tough choices. We applaud the fans who made the tough choice to get kicked out of a hockey game in order to speak an uncomfortable truth to the corporate powers that be. Hopefully the Cincinnati Cyclones will eventually see that the LGBTQ community is more deserving of respect than some chicken joint that, come to think of it, wouldn’t even have been open during that Sunday game anyway.

Photo via Reddit

Historic Pennsylvania Venue Bans Same-Sex Weddings, Because Jesus

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The owners of the beautiful and historic Star Barn, a popular wedding venue in Pennsylvania, have banned same-sex couples from marrying in the restored 1872 building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. David and Tierney Abel cite their Christian religious beliefs for discriminating against same-sex couples.

“Stone Gables, which runs both the Star Barn and Ironstone Ranch, has a policy barring reservations to same-gender weddings. Owner David Abel says they go against his religious convictions, which hold that marriage is between a man and a woman,” PennLive reports.

The Abels enlisted the support of their local government and residents, and even used interns from a local college to complete the massive project of buying, disassembling, moving, rebuilding, and restoring the historic Star Barn. An earlier project estimated the cost at $8 million.

It does not appear the Abels ever said they would discriminate against same-sex couples.

Retired Lancaster educator Steven Dinnocenti highlighted the discriminatory policy in a Facebook post that’s received a lot of attention.

“Discrimination is discrimination,” Dinnocenti tells PennLive in the video below. “It’s like hate is hate. Anybody should be allowed to walk in anywhere to purchase anything. That is what a capitalistic society is. When you get the door slammed in your face it’s offensive. It’s wrong. You are saying our money is not as good as the next person’s.”

Meanwhile, David Abel says he does not tolerate discrimination, despite being accused of it.

“No persons will be discriminated against,” Abel told PennLive, “however, we ask people to respect that we have core tenets in our faith and our beliefs, and we cannot participate in any event that would be in contradiction to those core tenets — one of them being marriage, which has been biblically based for thousands of years as being between a man and a woman.”

The Star Barn’s Mission Statement includes this passage: “We provide marriage-related services as ordained by God’s Word, the Holy Bible, that are consistent with the written truth that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.”

Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Image via Facebook

Watch: Betsy DeVos Squirms, Doesn’t Actually Answer When Gay Congressman Asks if Anti-LGBTQ Discrimination Is OK

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“We follow the law as this body has defined,” DeVos claims – despite having tossed out hundreds of discrimination complaints without investigating them.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is in hot water after being grilled on Wednesday for her budget that totally eliminates funding for the Special Olympics. But there’s another issue that was yet another point of controversy for the far right wing billionaire member of President Trump’s cabinet.

“Do you think it’s all right for a school to discriminate based on someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity?” U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) asked the Education Secretary, as The Hill and Vox’s Aaron Rupar reported. Pocan happens to be gay.

A nervous DeVos seemed to squirm as she paused, struggling to find the words to deliver an answer to the “yes” or “no” question.

“We have laws that cover discriminatory efforts and our office for civil rights has continued to be very diligent in investigating any allegation of discrimination and will continue to do so,” she claimed, falsely, with intermittent nervous smiles.

“So is that a yes or is that a no?” Rep. Pocan again asked. “I’m trying to get a yes or no, I guess, on that.”

“We follow the law as this body has defined,” DeVos replied.

In fact, under Secretary DeVos, the Dept. of Education slammed the covers shut on hundreds of anti-LGBTQ – especially anti-transgender – cases, without actually or fully investigating.

“The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has begun dismissing hundreds of civil rights complaints under a new protocol that allows investigators to disregard cases that are part of serial filings or that they consider burdensome to the office,” The New York Times reported last April.

Also under DeVos, the Dept. of Education has reversed, rescinded, or gutted guidance and directives that protect the civil rights of transgender students, minority students including students of color, and students with special needs. She has also changed guidance to protect students accused of rape or sexual misconduct.

Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Photo via NCRM

Gloucester Quietly Tries to Clean Up Their Mess

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Amid their ongoing legal battle with Gavin Grimm, Gloucester County’s School Board is considering changing their policies about transgender students using the bathroom. But they haven’t taken any actual action as yet.

It’s hard to ignore the fact that Virginia is swirling back and forth in the toilet that is our government these days. From Governor Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring’s blackface past to Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax’s sexual assault allegations, now is really not the best time to be involved with Virginia politics. That is, unless you are in Gloucester County.

Well, kind of. Sort of.

Gloucester County Schools are currently quietly reconsidering their rules about bathroom access for transgender students. The latest hearing in transgender teen Gavin Grimm’s ongoing fight against the school district over his ability to use the bathroom in his now-former high school is scheduled to take place in a few months, but the school board has quietly been negotiating outside the courtroom recently, reconsidering how it approaches its bathroom rules for its transgender students.

Previously, transgender students were given an “alternate facility” to use instead of the standard multi-occupant restrooms offered for students. The new proposal that the Gloucester County School Board has been considering will allow transgender students to use the correct bathrooms for their gender alongside other students. However, it does include some requirements, among other things that the student in question has “consistently asserted” their gender identity for at least six months.

This sure seems like a lot of severely unnecessary red tape just to poop, but okay. I sincerely doubt anyone is asking the cisgender children to assert their gender, which only adds to the absurdity… but hey, what do I know?

It’s hardly perfect, but I suppose it is a step. However, after a public hearing relating to the new policy on February 19, even this step has become more of a stumble.

All of this started about four years ago, when Gavin Grimm, then still a student at Gloucester High School, filed a discrimination lawsuit due to the school’s refusal to let him use the boy’s restroom. The case then went all the way to the Supreme Court, then was bounced back down to lower courts again after the Trump administration’s Education Department changed their interpretation of the Civil Rights Act statute that Grimm’s case was based on.

He finally won his case last year in a lower court… only to have Gloucester County Public Schools appeal again. It’s that appeal that is scheduled to be heard later this year.

Despite the fact that Grimm graduated in 2017 and is now living his best college life in Berkeley, CA, this is still following him — now the school board won’t change the gender on his transcripts. Having the incorrect gender on his paperwork will unfairly out him to potential future colleges and employers.

“I’m still tethered to 2017 by this document,” Grimm said in an interview with PBS. “It’s unfair that a high school that put me through so much is able to wield that much negative influence over my adult life.”

After the public hearing the Gloucester County School Board held on Feb. 19, they met for another hour behind closed doors. In the end, no changes were announced, and no votes on the new policy proposal were scheduled.

“The board is weighing all the information that we obtained from our constituents,” board member Brenda Mack told The Daily Press on February 20. “We had a very large group last night, and more than likely we will hear some more from concerned parents. We will definitely let them have their say and input.”

Of course, even if school board were to go through with changing the bathroom policy, that does not necessarily mean that they would be willing to change Grimm’s transcript. Changing the policy may be a step forward, but it’s still half a step back for Grimm. He has said he is dedicated to seeing this battle through to the end for other transgender children in Gloucester County.

He even mentioned in a recent Facebook post that, while returning to Gloucester County himself to speak on the recent proposal, he’d met another trans boy who is currently attending Gloucester High School. In the Facebook post, Grimm called the student “so brave and well spoken,” and wrote that “He and other students like him are the reason I decided to keep this fight going after I graduated.” And yet he’s still unable to attain the barest measure of personal success in his continued struggles with his former school district.

I say a lot of what I have to say about this with the weight of my cisgender privilege. I don’t think I will ever understand why other cisgender folks have this backwards philosophy on bathrooms, of all places. And when we do come up with “policies” on how trans people use them it’s just disgraceful.

“Present as your chosen gender for six months minimum.”

We are not doing this to cisgender children, because deep down, we know damn well how ridiculous and degrading that is. Instead, we’re consciously choosing to reward the children who play the game the way we want it to be played.

These are our children. They are human beings. We should treat them as such.

While we’re on the subject, if we could stop with this shit about how we’re policing bathrooms against our trans brothers and sisters because we want to “protect our girls and women,” it would be great. Tennessee legislator John Ragan used that exact defense for a bill he introduced in that state that would expand the definition of “indecent exposure” to go after trans people in bathrooms and locker rooms.

But we all know that’s a lie. The people who use these “defenses” for their persecution of trans people tend to be the same ones who instinctively doubt any accusation of rape or sexual assault that a woman makes against a man.

So don’t play that game, honey.

Cis friends, can we just hurry up and stop being trash to the trans community? I mean, it’s already bad enough when we make the adults feel othered, but to do this to children? That’s an entirely different line that we’ve not only crossed but jumped gleefully over. It’s time to stop.

Top photo: From Gavin Grimm’s Facebook page

General Assembly Again Fails To Protect LGBTQ People From Housing & Employment Discrimination

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Once again, legislators introduced bills to protect LGBTQ Virginians from discrimination. And once again, the House Of Delegates never even voted on them.

In Virginia, it is still legal to discriminate against LGBTQ persons in the workplace and in housing, after two bills addressing these issues were killed in this year’s General Assembly session without even making it to a full committee hearing.

Presently, LGBTQ persons can be denied jobs and fair treatment in a public workplace. They can also be denied housing. But in the 2019 General Assembly session, which just ended, State Senator Adam Ebbin (D-30) introduced SB 998, and State Senator Jennifer McClellan (D-9) introduced SB 1109, to protect gay and transgender Virginians from discrimination in employment and housing, respectively.

Despite a recent poll released by Equality Virginia showing widespread bipartisan support across the state for these bills, as well as their passage in the Virginia Senate, they both failed to pass the House of Delegates.

“The overwhelming majority of voters, Senate Republicans, and members of his own caucus gave Speaker Cox a clear path to support legislation that would protect LGBT Virginians from discrimination, and he chose not to take it,” said James Parrish, executive director of Equality Virginia. “It’s clear that Speaker Cox does not share the vision and values of the majority of Virginians, including Republican primary voters. What we need in the General Assembly now is new leadership that does.”

Similar bills were introduced in previous General Assembly sessions as well. However, they have yet to make it to a floor hearing, in any session.

“Last year, when Speaker Cox killed LGBT nondiscrimination bills, I felt disappointed and betrayed,” Parrish said. “This year, I feel disappointed and dumbfounded,”

The General Assembly has adjourned for this year, but Parrish said they will not give up fighting until it is illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ persons.

“Over the next year we’ll be working hard to make sure our leaders reflect the will of the voters and are prepared to move equality forward in the Commonwealth,” Parrish said.