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Franklin Graham Launches ‘Religious Freedom’ Attack on ‘Godless, Secular Agenda’ of ‘Sinful’ LGBTQ Voters

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A lot of shrill voices on the right can’t handle the fact that Donald Trump lost the presidential election; if you ask anti-LGBTQ preacher Franklin Graham, Trump’s loss should be blamed on the LGBTQ community.

Franklin Graham unleashed a vitriolic attack against “sinful,” and “extremely dangerous” LGBTQ Democratic voters over the weekend, striking out in apparent rage after it became quite clear that Joe Biden will be the next President of the United States. Graham, who is an unofficial advisor to President Donald Trump and wholly supports him, vented his anger at his favorite target.

“LGBTQ activists within the Democratic Party are pushing their godless, secular agenda with a potential Biden Administration,” Graham declared on Facebook, pointing to a Christian Post article Saturday night.

“If you don’t conform to their ideology, agree with their sinful beliefs, teach what they say is right, they want to close you down,” he said of LGBTQ people, ignoring that the religious right literally created “cancel culture.”

“They will pressure and bully politicians to get their way. It is extremely dangerous if they are permitted to proceed unchecked. If they are allowed free reign, they will go after the accreditation of Christian colleges, then Christian ministries and churches next, to strip them of tax-exempt status and try to force them to operate under policies that go against biblical teaching.”

Graham runs a Christian “ministry,” and any rescission of tax breaks for religious institutions would greatly hurt Graham’s bottom line.

“This is not only an attack on free speech and expression, but also an attack on our religious liberty. The presidential election isn’t finalized yet,” he says, feeding Trump’s lies about the election, “but this shows why who we vote for is so important. We’ve had four years of an administration under President Donald J. Trump that staunchly defends religious freedom, freedom of speech, and the church. We can see that the one who holds the office of President of the United States has tremendous ramifications on our day-to-day lives and for the future of this nation.”

Graham seems to have been set off by the Human Right Campaign’s “Blueprint 2020,” which, in part calls for a Biden Dept. of Education to ensure religious institutions are not allowed to discriminate against LGBTQ people.

The Trump Dept.of Education, under Secretary Betsy DeVos, became a tool to attack LGBTQ students, students of color, the handicapped, and other minority children.

Graham is literally arguing for the “right” of government-accredited schools to discriminate against LGBTQ students and faculty.

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

Sparking Conversations: 1708 Gallery’s Billboards Spotlight Social Issues, Civic Participation

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Two new exhibitions from 1708 Gallery invite guests outside with billboard installations around the city. Artists Wilmer Wilson IV, Earl Mack, and Nikko Dennis hope to spread positivity and start important conversations.

Under the auspices of 1708 Gallery, public art installations by Wilmer Wilson IV and Chilalay founders Nikko Dennis and Earl Mack are currently on display around Richmond, hoping to invoke conversation on themes such as racial injustice, activism, policing, politics, and civil participation.

’til bronze flows through the streets, a billboard series by Richmond-born artist Wilmer Wilson IV, intends to disrupt billboards’ typical role of advertising by using the platforms to display texts and imagery that will initiate discussion about the anti-police brutality protests and other local activism happening around Richmond over the past few months.  

“I hope people will spend time re-imagining our shared institutions from the ground up,” Wilson said via email, “and catching glimpses of the beauty that awaits there, amidst all of the hard work that it will take to truly change how we relate to one another.”

Richmond has been and still is one of the pivotal sites of movements against systemic racism and police brutality. The removal of Confederate monuments, just a few of the many buildings and architectural structures around the city that are rooted in Richmond’s past, has been a discussion over the past summer.

To Wilson, the removal of such monuments falls short of establishing meaningful structural change, and allows systemic racism to silently continue. He wants his billboards to be a starting point for more conversations about this idea.

“Virginia history is one of terror in so many different ways. It’s visible in the very infrastructure of the city of Richmond,” he said. “Intervening onto the infrastructure and the landscape, however small or temporary, felt meaningful, hopefully not just to me but to all whom this place subjugated, and continues to subjugate, to constitute itself.”

The locations of Wilson’s three billboards are no accident either. Wilson said that two of the billboards, which are displayed together on the 200 block of West Grace St and are entirely text, are located across from the Richmond Police Department as an “annotation to or interjection into its existence there.”

The third billboard, located at 21st St and East Broad in Church Hill, is image-based, which Wilson said allows a “more grounded entry point” for conversations surrounding activism and political activity in that residential area, which he notes has recently undergone “fraught social changes.”

Wilmer Wilson IV, ’til bronze flows through the streets, 2020. Billboard, dimensions variable. Photograph by David Hale, courtesy of the Artist and 1708 Gallery.

Bronze and brass are at the core of Wilson’s pieces, two metals that, he said, are historically known for their durability, corrosion resistance, and spark-striking resistance. These copper alloys are used for cultural and utilitarian purposes, and Wilson suggested that in the same way, existing public structures that call to mind, and thereby reinforce, institutional racism can be “melted down” for a better use — perhaps rebuilding our institutions.

The second billboard project 1708 Gallery is currently presenting in Richmond is called SMILE… It was created by Nikko Dennis and Earl Mack, founders of the local design and apparel brand Chilalay.

Driving down Chamberlayne Parkway, drivers and passengers are greeted by a yellow-pink gradient billboard with a reminder to smile. The billboard suggests that a brighter future can be achieved through collective positivity and civil participation, such as voting. Part of the billboard stresses Richmonders to vote for “justice” and “peace” on Nov. 3.

Since the billboard is located in Jackson Ward, it was important for the gallery to make sure the space was occupied by voices within that area, explained 1708 Gallery’s curator, Park Myers. 

“Beyond the incredible importance of the neighborhood, it was important in working with and inviting Chilalay, because of that,” said Myers. “Their entire creative endeavor, their business, where they cultivate their ideas, happens in Jackson Ward.”

Dubbed “Black Wall Street” and “the Harlem of the South,” Jackson Ward has been a historic center for Black entertainment and businesses since the nineteenth century. To this day, the neighborhood remains a cultural hub for Richmond’s Black community.

Both Dennis and Mack are Virginia Commonwealth University alumni. Having launched their Black-owned small business in 2012, their presence in the Jackson Ward neighborhood has been well-established. 

When drivers or pedestrians pass by the billboard, Mack said he wants it to serve a reminder that some things are beyond our control, no matter how hard we try to fix them. “No matter what you’re going through, a smile will last forever,” Mack said.

While planned since before the pandemic began, the billboard installations are part of 1708’s continuous effort during the coronavirus pandemic to hold socially-distanced onsite and offsite exhibitions.

“We’re thinking about how our ambitions to support emerging artists continues in a time when we might not be able to be viewing exhibitions within the gallery space,” Myers said.

‘til bronze flows through the streets is now on view through Dec. 4 on 211 W. Grace St. and at the intersection of North 21st St. and East Broad St. SMILE… can be viewed until Nov. 29 at the intersection of West Jackson St and Chamberlayne Avenue.

Photos by David Tran unless otherwise noted

Five Election Comedies To Watch While You Wait For Results

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We’re not going to learn who won anytime soon, so instead of making yourself crazy watching the returns slowly trickle in, why not amuse yourself with some topically appropriate comedies? Trust us, you’ll have time.

Tonight’s the night — and I definitely mean that in the Neil Young rather than the Rod Stewart sense. It’s going to be a real nail-biter for all of us, no doubt. If you’re the sort of person to pop popcorn and put on your fave 24-hour news network to watch the results roll in throughout election night and beyond, you better have some antacids next to the pretzel bowl.

Really, though, we might all be better off if we find something else to watch tonight. Virginia’s early and absentee votes aren’t supposed to show up in our state’s count until 11 PM when the registrars report, so things might be totally up in the air for the Commonwealth until then. And considering the differing rules for receiving and tabulating the millions of early and absentee ballots cast around the nation, chances are we won’t really know who our next president will be until tomorrow morning — and then only if we’re lucky.

So instead of sitting on your couch sweating bullets all night, why not try to watch something else on the subject of elections — something a bit more amusing? I know, I know, that joke isn’t funny anymore. But it used to be, and maybe remembering those times for one brief evening won’t be so bad. At least it’ll keep us from panicking every time CBS updates the numbers in the 7th district race or anything.

Here are five amusing films involving elections that all have decidedly lower stakes than the current real-life election. Yes, even the one about a presidential election. Tune in, turn off your brain for a couple hours, and enjoy.

Election

If you haven’t seen this one before, it’s a wild ride featuring a political race just as tense as the 2020 presidential race — only it’s a race for student body president in a small suburb somewhere, one in which the school’s number one overachiever is all but guaranteed to win, until a teacher who can’t stand her decides to throw a monkeywrench into things. Reese Witherspoon is note-perfect in the role of the ultimate Type-A high school overachiever, Tracy Flick, and Matthew Broderick kills it as social studies teacher Jim McAlister, whose shaky personal life and dislike for Flick leads him to overstep personal and professional lines to put his thumb on the scales. This movie is pitch dark and funny as hell, which means it’s either perfect for this time in all our lives or absolutely the worst thing for you to watch right now — you’ve got to decide what’s right for you. Choose wisely, but make no mistake, this movie’s a classic.

The Campaign

How much ridiculous fun you’re in for with this one should be obvious as soon as I tell you that it involves Will Farrell and Zach Galifianakis playing rival candidates for a Congressional seat in rural North Carolina. Farrell’s character has never faced an opponent in his four previous elections, and has grown cocky and complacent. However, a couple of corrupt businessmen (Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow, clearly having a blast) have decided to buy the district in order to pull off a shady trade deal with a Chinese company. They get Galifianakis, playing a certain highly recognizable type of Southern dumb guy, to run against Farrell, and the race immediately goes off the rails. From Farrell getting bitten by a poisonous snake while trying to gain the evangelical vote to a memorable scene in which Galifianakis’s sons admit to some truly appalling shenanigans over the dinner table, this one is full of hilarious moments. Like Anchorman and other classic Farrell comedies, it is completely unrealistic, but considering that the world is way too real right now, maybe that’s what we need.

Napoleon Dynamite

It’s become such an iconic cultural reference that this one is if anything sort of played out by now. But if you haven’t gone back and watched it in a while, it’s worth checking out one more time just to remember how truly weird it is. The plot centers on another high school election, which gave birth to that early-00s fashion fad of wearing t-shirts that read “Vote For Pedro” in iron-on letters. That trend is, in hindsight, more than a little unfortunate, but there are a lot of great bits in this movie, many of which have nothing to do with the overarching plot. From Napoleon’s terrible liger illustrations and Uncle Rico’s NFL audition tape to Napoleon biking pulling Kip on rollerblades and the unforgettable Jamiroquai dance sequence, you just might be shocked at how well this one holds up — even if it doesn’t have any curse words in it.

Long Shot

If you’re looking for a rom-com on this list, here’s what we’ve got — a classic “man dates up” plot in which Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen), a somewhat shlubby journalist, runs back into his old babysitter, Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron). Now the Secretary of State, she runs into Rogen just as she’s seriously considering a run for president. After checking out some of Fred’s work, Charlotte decides to hire him as a speechwriter, and their interactions quickly turn into the most unlikely of flings — one that everyone around Charlotte feels can only hurt her chances to actually get elected. There are twists and turns aplenty from there. The time-honored will-they-or-won’t-they rom-com plotline makes this all a bit predictable, but it remains fun nonetheless. In particular, there’s a pretty great scene in which Charlotte has to engage in some high-stakes politicking while also high on ecstasy (do the kids still call it “molly”?). If worrying about whether Fred and Charlotte get together keeps you from thinking about whether the United States and Joe Biden will get together for two hours, it’s worth it.

Batman Returns

I know, I know, I said “comedies,” and this three-decade-old superhero film is not anyone’s idea of a comedy — at least, not on the surface. But what none of us remember from our childhood viewings of those early-90s Tim Burton Batman movies is that they are pretty goofy in a deadpan sort of way. Michael Keaton is an outstanding actor, and while he doesn’t have Jack Nicholson for a foil in this film, Danny DeVito as Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman are double trouble in the best possible way. For those who don’t remember the plot of this one, aka everyone, the election in this film is the Gotham City mayoral election in which Oswald Cobblepot — the Penguin, that is — is at first attempting to manipulate the results, and ultimately running for mayor himself. What the Penguin really wants is for his gang to take over the city and wreak havoc. The plot is much more convoluted than that, in fact, but my recommendation is to avoid getting caught up in it, and instead sit back and watch Keaton, DeVito, and Pfeiffer at their scenery-chewing best.

Virginia Voters, Legislators Split on Redistricting Amendment

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No one in Virginia likes gerrymandering, but there’s a significant difference of opinion in how to fix it. The amendment Virginians vote on tomorrow offers one plan, but some progressive voices in the Commonwealth feel it’s not the best move.

Before Kelly Herring voted in the presidential election, she was undecided on a key vote, and it wasn’t who she was going to elect for president. 

Herring wasn’t sure how to vote on a Virginia constitutional amendment that will change the process of redrawing congressional and state legislative districts. 

After every 10-year census, the General Assembly is responsible for drawing new congressional and state legislature districts, over which the governor has veto power. The majority of congressional and state legislative districts in Virginia were redrawn after the 2010 U.S. Census, when Republicans controlled both chambers of the General Assembly and the executive branch. The maps will be redrawn again next year with final census counts.

The proposed amendment would put the mapmaking power into the hands of a bipartisan commission. It’s the final step needed to amend the state constitution after state legislators passed the redistricting amendment for two consecutive years.

Kelly Herring, a Norfolk resident, was unsure how she was going to vote on a proposed redistricting amendment in the November presidential election. Photo by Melissa Blue.

Herring is one of millions of Virginians who will weigh in on the amendment — one of two on the current ballot. 

“There was one local issue that I went back and forth on too, but the amendment was a big one,” Herring said. 

The commission would be composed of eight state legislators and eight citizens. An equal number of Democratic and Republican legislators from each chamber of the Virginia General Assembly would be appointed by the political party leadership. Legislative leaders also would recommend people for the citizen positions, which would be selected by retired circuit court judges. 

New legislative district maps approved by the commission would go to the General Assembly for a vote. If any are rejected, the commission would be required to produce new maps. If rejected again, the Virginia Supreme Court would establish the new districts.

The amendment requires maps to be drawn in accordance with federal and state law requirements that address racial and ethnic fairness, including the 14th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act. Maps also need to “provide, where practicable, opportunities for racial and ethnic communities to elect candidates of their choice.”

Some Virginia lawmakers oppose the amendment. They believe it gives legislators more power to choose voters as opposed to voters choosing legislators.

“You have four party leaders that not only control the process, but control the appointment and representation on this commission,” said Del. Lashrecse D. Aird, D-Petersburg. “Ultimately what you get, is legislators actually compounding their party and hanging on to control in the process of map-drawing.”

Delegate Lashrecse Aird. Photo from virginiageneralassembly.gov

Legislators passed a measure in the spring that establishes standards for redistricting. The bill, introduced by Del. Marcia Price, D-Newport News, is intended to prohibit racial gerrymandering, or the manipulation of boundaries that ultimately favors one political party. The measure sets criteria for drawing legislative districts, which includes abiding by equal population requirements, following laws related to racial and ethnic fairness, and creating contiguous districts.

“The Voting Rights Act has been under attack since the day it was signed in 1965,” Price said. “There is nothing that prevents it from being further gutted, so our argument is; don’t just mention it, actually put the protections in there so even if it fails on the federal level, we have the state level that’s protecting us.”

Opponents of the amendment argue that the recently passed redistricting law deals with the effects of racial gerrymandering better than the proposed amendment. Opponents say that passing the amendment could potentially prevent further progress by the General Assembly since it’s difficult to overturn the constitution.

“We have always said that we wanted to prohibit gerrymandering, which is ultimately the main problem that we’ve experienced with map-drawing in Virginia,” Aird said. “There is no language in this amendment that would prevent gerrymandering.”

Nicholas Goedert, an assistant professor of political science at Virginia Tech supports the amendment. Other states have changed the criteria for redistricting but it proved ineffective, he said.

“I think changing the process is much more important as a general rule than changing the criteria,” Goedert said. “Because there are a lot of ways that legislatures can get around the wording of the criteria and still implement a map that suits their interests.”

Goedert said the amendment isn’t perfect, but sees Virginia passing both the amendment and redistricting bill as a step in the right direction to creating more demographically balanced districts.

“We’ve seen, throughout the states that have adopted commissions, that the commissioners take their jobs seriously, and for the most part succeed in drawing acceptable maps,” Goedert said. “There’s always been a couple of exceptions, but I would be optimistic on that point.”

Nicholas Goedert. Photo courtesy of Virginia Tech.

The redistricting amendment is endorsed by several democratic groups, including the ACLU of Virginia and the League of Women Voters of Virginia. Herring, who identifies as progressive, decided to do more research after seeing there were progressive groups on both sides, and ultimately decided to vote no on the amendment.

“The Black Legislative Caucus and the NAACP both spoke out against it, and ultimately gerrymandering is an issue that affects minority voters more,” Herring said. “So, I figured this is probably an issue where I should listen.”

Written by Will Gonzalez, Capital News Service. Top Images of gerrymandered VA maps from VPAP.

Op-Ed: The Trouble With Reva’s Receipts

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In the face of allegations of impropriety from both the mayor’s office and her 2020 election opponent, David Dominique writes that Councilmember Reva Trammell may be taking desperate measures to save her political career.

Last week, Richmond City Councilmember Reva Trammell’s campaign allegedly weaponized information extracted from one of my Instagram posts. While I continue to call for transparency in campaign financing, I disavow Councilmember Trammell’s deceptive attack on her opponent, Amy Wentz.

As a sitting Councilmember who has herself allegedly engaged in ethical improprieties in 2020, Ms. Trammell is sitting inside the most fragile of glass houses; she might avoid throwing stones.

During this election cycle alone, Ms. Trammell has accepted multiple eyebrow-raising donations, in addition to allegedly distributing cash-equivalent gift cards to political supporters and surrogates, in what her opponent considers thinly-veiled bribes.

According to Wentz, Trammell justifies these unregulated, unsupervised distributions of gift cards by labelling them “constituent services.” While Wentz points out that distribution of resources is not inherently suspicious, the issues raised by these activities are many.

A review of Virginia Public Access Project records showed that Trammell has not reported these gift cards as cash or in-kind donations, nor has she reported their distribution. If the cards are political gifts, the law requires Ms. Trammell disclose the donors and ultimate recipients. If they are public distributions being made by an elected official, how are they funded, who else in city hall is privy to the details, what accounting is being done, and what oversight has occurred? If the cards are private gifts, why are they being sent with a note on Richmond City Council letterhead, a municipal resource intended for communication of official government business?

In images obtained by the author, Trammell’s selective gift-giving explicitly invoked her position on Council, and seemed to imply her wish for professional collaboration with the recipient. In a note printed on Richmond City Council letterhead, and sent with a gift card, Trammell wrote “I look forward to working with you in the future…,” an implicit acknowledgment of her political position and activities. 

Photo via David Dominique

Trammell appears to be using civic resources — City Council letterhead as well as printing services — to distribute a personal gift that primarily serves her relationship interests and has no connection to government business. According to Wentz, there is no process for constituents in the 8th District to apply for such gifts, and many constituents are not aware of them. How is Trammell deciding which constituents receive these gifts? Equally important, who is funding the gift cards? 

Though Wentz does not have access to records, through conversations with those privy to the practice, Wentz estimates that Trammell may be distributing $10,000 to $16,000 in gift cards per year to approximately six hundred constituents who serve as Trammell’s political “surrogates.” 

For Ms. Trammell, leveraging the power of her elected office to serve her political interests may be a pattern. 

Earlier this year, Mayor Stoney’s Press Secretary, James Nolan, called Ms. Trammell’s advocacy in support of at least one group of her political donors “wholly inappropriate.” 

In a story widely reported in local media, on February 24, 2020 Ms. Trammell used her City Council seat to call for the FBI to investigate multiple departments in City Hall on behalf of one of her top donors, Coalson Enterprises. In comments presented to Council, Trammell alleged that Coalson was receiving unfair treatment in its application for a permit in the 8th District. However, according to Wentz and a neighbor whose property abuts the Coalson project in question, Coalson’s issues were self-inflicted by their failure to obtain proper permitting and the damage they caused to the neighbor’s property. 

Photo via David Dominique

More troublingly, Coalson’s issues with the city were solved during a period when Ms.Trammell applied significant legal and political pressure to city departments on Coalson’s behalf, while Ms. Trammell simultaneously received thousands of dollars in donations from both Coalson Enterprises and an individual Coalson family member.

In 2019 and 2020, the Coalsons only donated to one politician, Reva Trammell, and became her top donors by a significant margin, making at least six donations totalling $13,000, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. For reference, Trammell’s next-largest donor has been the Homebuilders Association of Richmond, a well-funded construction industry bundler that has donated Trammell less than half the funds donated by the Coalsons.

According to Wentz, Trammell’s privileged handling of Coalson’s affairs has not resulted in a positive relationship between the developer and the community. In one 8th District meeting, owner Jackie Coalson allegedly threatened to turn the unpermitted property into a landfill if the community did not help him in his quest to obtain permits. Mr. Coalson also allegedly mentioned that he would be creating a park and naming it for Ms. Trammell, a not-so-subtle reciprocation for Ms. Trammell’s efforts in her role on Council, efforts which came amid Coalson’s significant donations to her campaign.

Reva Trammell’s hypocrisy in criticizing Amy Wentz’s fundraising is self-evident. Ms. Trammell’s behavior on City Council is cause for censure by that body, and perhaps cause for an investigation into whether she has improperly leveraged her Council position to make serious legal threats on behalf of her top donor. Similarly, her distribution of gift cards, funded by unknown sources, requires serious inquiry. 

This Tuesday, voters in the 8th District will have the opportunity to decide whether Reva Trammell’s priority is serving her constituents, or serving the interests of developers and other big donors who have funded her political career. 

Richmond deserves fairness and transparency in its politics. 

Richmond deserves a new council. 

Reva Trammell and Coalson Enterprises did not respond to requests for comment for this editorial.

Note: Op-Eds are contributions from guest writers and do not reflect editorial policy.

Top Photo via Reva Trammell/Facebook

Tiffany Trump Burned to the Ground Over Disastrous LGBTQ Pride Campaign Event

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Trump’s least famous offspring mangled the acronym and otherwise mismanaged a too-little-too-late Trump campaign event seeking LGBTQ support. The internet was not amused.

Tiffany Trump, the First Family’s youngest daughter, is being highly criticized after headlining a disastrous and offensive “LGBTQ pride” campaign event for her father, in which she left out the “T” – for the transgender community – upon hitting the stage and garbling what should have been a simple “LGBTQIA.”

Tiffany also immediately told the presumably LGBTQ Republicans at the sparsely-attended event her father used to support them, but stopped after entering politics.

“Prior to politics, he supported gays, lesbians, the LGBQI – IA plus community, OK?” Tiffany Trump admitted.

Unsurprisingly, the announcement didn’t even mention it was an LGBTQ event.

President Donald Trump is the most anti-LGBTQ president in modern American history. Directly and indirectly he has attacked the LGBTQ community, through rescinding President Barack Obama’s executive orders protecting LGBTQ people, by banning transgender Americans from serving in the U.S. Military, by attacking ObamaCare, by installing far right wing anti-LGBTQ judges at every level of the federal judiciary, by empowering the religious right, by creating anti-LGBTQ offices within federal agencies, by enabling and supporting white supremacists, white nationalists, and other domestic terrorists, and more.

On social media Tiffany Trump was roundly excoriated – take a look:

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