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The Amazon Trail: All I Want For Christmas Is A Left Earbud

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In this month’s Amazon Trail, Lee Lynch tries to focus on the big issues confronting the world, but can’t help getting frustrated about how difficult it is to make her earbuds work properly.

Not really. My greatest wishes would be for world peace, a year of pain-free good health for all my family, friends, and neighbors, and a brand-new president and Senate Majority Leader.

It would, however, be nice if I could figure out how to make my left wireless earbud work consistently. They were free and all, so I know I can’t expect perfection. A little technical expertise on my part would go a long way to making the new year bright, as they say in the songs. Songs I can only listen to with my right ear.

Speaking of technical prowess, I have a hint for those buying grandma or an older friend a special gift this, or any, season. Whatever you do, do NOT give someone you love a cordless water flosser, no matter how excited you are about yours. Of course, if you get excited about items like water flossers, you’ve probably already given tutorials to any friend or relation who’d sit still. 

I had lunch the other day with my friend the Handydyke, who is in her mid-eighties. I’m a dozen years younger, but we experience life in many similar ways. We were at a Japanese restaurant avoiding all things sushi, which may be another characteristic of aging Americans: stir-fry yes, raw fish and seaweed, emphatically no. Nor is wasabi, however delicious, compatible with elder guts. It’s so spicy it reminds me how getting high used to feel.  

We were well into slurping up our safe bowls of yakisoba when the Handydyke mentioned her acquisition of a cordless water flosser. “Water ends up everywhere!” she said. “It makes a mess of the whole bathroom!”

“Me too!” I agreed. “I can’t control mine. Last night I sprayed the ceiling.”

This is true. The cat’s afraid to be in the room with me. Where are the industrial designers when we need them? The power buttons on these things are impossible to find by feel, and my glasses are so quickly coated with a mix of water and mouthwash I can’t see the controls that were conveniently placed on the side facing away from the user. I don’t want to spew the foamy stuff all over myself, so I avoid swallowing while I fumble for the kill switch, certain I’m going to drown. The Handydyke and I choked on our noodles we laughed so hard at our ineptitude. 

water flossers

But getting back to the earbud, I should mention that the set didn’t come with a manual. I shouted into the void of the internet for help with this. A few kind people responded that their earbuds had come with manuals. I feel kinda bad that I didn’t thank them or congratulate them or ask them if they were the reason Trump is president. 

In the great scheme of things, I know my left earbud isn’t essential or important to some people. There are things even I want more. Like, I want our democracy back. I want to spend an enormous chunk of defense funds to halt global warming and make decent paying jobs available to all Americans, young to old. I want guns restricted at least at a slightly higher level than water flossers. I want to possess the loving graciousness to say yes when my sweetheart invites me to accompany her to the Tom Hanks movie about Mr. Rogers. Without gagging. 

But I just listened to my first podcasts and it would be terrific to enjoy them in stereo. Podcasts were scary for me. My first problem was: why podcasts? My second was, if you ever figure out their use, how do you listen to them? There was some sort of electronic trickery involved, obviously, and if I can’t operate a water flosser, what hope was there for me to conquer podcasts?

Then my sweetheart presented me with wireless earbuds. I was relieved she didn’t hold my dislike of Tom Hanks and disinterest in Mr. Rogers against me, but it took quite a while for me to tackle the cute little gadgets. Once I did, though, it was full speed ahead. I now have all sorts of knowledge about the former mob in Providence, Rhode Island. About the theft of a rare water lily from an exhibit in the U.K. Why fruit flies aren’t always fruit flies. How senators are able to cite laws and such as if they actually know them.  

I can’t wait to go for a long walk so I can learn how nail polishes are named and whether or not I’m living with a psychopath. Someday, I think I’ll be able to listen to the “Women and Words” podcasts by lesbian writers and readers, but right now, I’m sticking with what Google has on offer, because I learned by trial and error how to use it. 

In my right ear. And never when I’m gagging while immersed in a fracas with my unruly water flosser.

Copyright Lee Lynch 2019. Top Photo by rupixen.com on Unsplash

Pence Brags About Trump Allowing Adoption Agencies ‘Right’ to Ban LGBTQ Parents

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“We will stand for the freedom of religion,” Vice President Mike Pence said, defending the Trump administration move to allow adoption agencies to discriminate against same-sex couples.

Vice President Mike Pence this week attended a federal government event during which he bragged about the Trump administration’s latest attack on LGBTQ people. The vice president (video below) heralded a fast-tracked proposed policy from the Dept. of Health and Human Services that would reverse an Obama-era rule barring discrimination by adoption and foster care agencies against LGBTQ people and same-sex couples.

The proposed rollback of that rule is expected to go into effect in just a few weeks, granting government protection to religious, faith-based, or any other adoption organization that wishes to claim a moral opposition to LGBTQ people from facing a loss of federal funding.

“We will stand for the freedom of religion and we will stand with faith-based organizations to support adoption,” Vice President Pence told supporters at an HHS event Tuesday, as he pounded his fists on the podium, to cheers.

“I couldn’t be more proud that at President Trump’s direction and with the strong support of leaders across foster care, adoption, and our faith communities, we’ve taken decisive action,” Pence bragged.

That “decisive action” literally reduces the pool of prospective parents for large numbers of children who don’t have parents or homes.

“More than 100,000 foster children are awaiting adoption, according to government data, but a constellation of religious agencies refuse to consider same-sex parents when placing these children,” NBC News reports. “Shortly before the end of his second term, President Barack Obama changed nondiscrimination rules governing adoption agencies to expand the definition of groups protected against discrimination to include LGBTQ people. Trump’s proposed rule change will undo that.”

In fact, same-sex couples have far higher rates of adopting and fostering children than their different-sex couple peers.

“A 2018 report from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law found that 1 in 5 of the estimated 114,000 same-sex couples raising children in the United States are raising adopted or foster children — significantly higher than the 3 percent of heterosexual couples doing so,” reported NBC News.

The latest discriminatory HHS rule Vice President Pence bragged about comes from Roger Severino, HHS’s Director of the Office of Civil Rights. Severino is known as a “radical” anti-LGBTQ religious right activist who previously served as CEO and counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a religious right non-profit that opposes separation of church and state. He also once served as the Director of the DeVos family’s Center for Religion and Civil Society in the Institute for Family, Community, and Opportunity.

Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Photo via NCRM. Video via Washington Blade/Facebook. Hat tip: Towleroad

New Regulation Would Strip Federal Protections for LGBTQ People from All HHS Programs in Favor of ‘Religious Freedom’

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The rule is specifically designed to focus on adoption and foster care, but will affect all federally-funded programs under Department of Health and Human Services control, including those dealing with HIV prevention and youth homelessness.

A proposed new regulation would strip all protections for LGBTQ people from all programs administered by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, and give special rights to entities or programs that are religious or “faith-based.” HHS, under the direction of Secretary Alex Azar, has a budget of $1.2 trillion affecting the health and well-being, directly or indirectly, of nearly every person in the country.

Lambda Legal says the proposed rule “would invite HHS grantees receiving taxpayer funds to discriminate based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion.”

While reportedly drafted to focus on adoption and foster care organizations, the Human Rights Campaign also says the proposed rule would extend far beyond those entities to all programs that receive funding from HHS.

“The Trump-Pence White House has proposed a horrific federal regulation that would permit discrimination across the entire spectrum of HHS programs receiving federal funding,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “This would permit discrimination against LGBTQ people, religious minorities, and women in programs related to foster care, adoption, HIV and STI prevention, youth homelessness, refugee resettlement, elder care programs and more. It is unconscionable that the Trump-Pence administration would prioritize advancing discrimination over the wellbeing of vulnerable people and expect taxpayers to foot the bill for their discriminatory policies. The Trump-Pence White House is relying on the same flawed legal reasoning they’ve used in the past to justify discrimination against LGBTQ people and other communities.”

The Washington Blade, noting the  proposed regulation “will have far-reaching implications,” reports the proposal would “undo an Obama-era policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation among federal grantees.”

According to  the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) the Blade says “the rule will allow anti-trans discrimination in HIV and STI prevention programs, opioid programs, youth homelessness services, health professional training, substance-use recovery programs and other life-saving services.”

“The proposal seeks to gut an Obama-era rule that barred entities receiving money under federal contracts, including adoption agencies, from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.”

HHS is reportedly granting only 30 days for public comment and review.

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

Trump Judicial Nominee Cries Over ABA Report Calling Him Biased & Unqualified

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The American Bar Association’s report said that Lawrence J.C. VanDyke, a Trump nominee for federal court, is “arrogant, lazy,” and potentially unfair to LGBTQ people.

Lawrence J.C. VanDyke openly wept on Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee as he was confronted with a blistering review from the American Bar Association, which found that he was not qualified to serve on the federal courts after having been nominated by President Donald Trump.

The ABA, which can’t officially block nominees but whose recommendations are seen as carrying substantial weight, wrote of VanDyke:

Mr. VanDyke’s accomplishments are offset by the assessments of interviewees that Mr. VanDyke is arrogant, lazy, an ideologue, and lacking in knowledge of the day-to-day practice including procedural rules. There was a theme that the nominee lacks humility, has an “entitlement” temperament, does not have an open mind, and does not always have a commitment to being candid and truthful.

It also said some people interviewed in the assessment of VanDyke worried that he would not be “fair to persons who are gay, lesbian, or otherwise part of the LGBTQ community.”

When confronted with these findings, which had been made public the previous night, VanDyke became emotional in the middle of the hearing and began crying. His face turned red.

“I do not believe that,” VanDyke said, referring to criticism of his views of LGBTQ people, according to CNN. “It is a fundamental belief of mine that all people are created in the image of God.” He added that he thinks “they should all be treated with dignity and respect.”

VanDyke isn’t the first of Trump’s nominees to get strong pushback from the ABA. Law.com reported that nine of Trump’s nominees have been rated as “not qualified” for the federal bench by the organization. At least four of these nominees have been successfully confirmed nevertheless, while others have been blocked. The ABA’s rating process has been criticized by conservatives, who say the organization is biased against nominees who aren’t liberals.

Writing for the conservative National Review, Thomas Jipping wrote that of the ABA: “[It’s] reasonable to ask whether this consistently liberal organization can really be objective and non-political in its ratings of judicial nominees.” He called the devastating letter about VanDyke “another self-inflicted wound” for the organization.

Orin Kerr, a University of California law professor, noted on Twitter: “I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this before, which I say realizing that some will say it shows how unqualified the [nominee] is, while others will say it shows how biased the ABA is. I don’t know which is true. But either way, it’s a remarkable letter.”

In the hearing, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) noted Wednesday that there have been many criticisms of the ABA review process, some of which he agrees with. In particular, he acknowledged that the ABA’s conclusions are opaque, and it doesn’t provide the background documentation of its investigations.

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chair of the committee, said he agreed with these criticisms.

“We actually have something we can do about that,” Whitehouse said. “I’ve been on this committee awhile. ABA letters are always this way. They don’t give you the underlying backup. But what we do have here is some pretty darned serious concerns. And to just laugh them off, I don’t think is appropriate. I think we have a responsibility here. … We can resolve this by bringing in the ABA folks and letting them explain what the basis was for these charges.”

Written by Cody Fenwick of Alternet, via The New Civil Rights Movement. Image via NCRM

HUD Employees ‘Shell-Shocked’ After Ben Carson Makes Transphobic Remarks

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Trump’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development has been making anti-LGBTQ remarks to HUD staff on a regular basis, according to a Washington Post report.

Secretary Ben Carson has been making vile, unprompted, transphobic remarks to Housing and Urban Development employees, some of whom were “shell-shocked” by the brain surgeon’s bigotry, according to a report published last Thursday in the Washington Post. Agency officials also say Carson repeatedly mocks transgender people.

Carson, who frequently presents himself as a deeply Christian man of faith, called transgender women “big, hairy men,” and claimed they are trying to access women’s homeless shelters to cause occupants harm.

“While visiting HUD’s San Francisco office this week, Carson also lamented that society no longer seemed to know the difference between men and women, two of the agency staffers said,” according to an extensive report in Thursday night’s Washington Post. “Carson’s remarks visibly shocked and upset many of the roughly 50 HUD staffers who attended Tuesday’s meeting, and prompted at least one woman to walk out in protest, the staffers said.”

Carson, during the San Francisco meeting, addressed HUD employees in “a rambling hour-long speech about HUD initiatives that they described as ‘stream of consciousness.’”

During that speech Carson said  “transgender people should get the same rights as everyone else, but they don’t get to change things for everybody else.” Those remarks echo ones he has made before.

He also told San Francisco HUD employees women’s shelters should turn away transgender women. One staffer told the Post, “this sounded like a slur to me.”

Carson’s talk became even more disturbing, two of the staffers said, when he started waxing nostalgic about the past when, in the words of one staffer, there were “just women and just men.” The HUD staffers said he sounded incredulous when he mentioned that people no longer know the difference between genders.

“His tone was kind of like ‘how crazy is that?’” another staffer said.

“For him to come to San Francisco and say this, it was unbelievable. People were just shell-shocked,” one staffer added.

One HUD official described Secretary Carson’s comments about transgender people as “dismissive and joking,” and called it “disrespectful of the people we are trying to serve.”

The Post’s lengthy report includes actions Carson has taken against transgender people during his tenure at HUD, and transphobic comments he has made in the past as well.

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

Log Cabin Republicans Lose Top Officials Over Trump Endorsement

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Log Cabin Republicans endorsed Trump for re-election last week. Since the endorsement was announced, their executive director and multiple board members have resigned.

After less than a year at the helm, the Executive Director of the Log Cabin Republicans has resigned over the organization’s widely-condemned re-election endorsement of President Donald Trump. Two of the gay GOP group’s board members penned a highly-controversial and frequently false Washington Post op-ed, claiming the president has “met his commitments to LGBTQ Americans.”

LCR executive director Jerri Ann Henry resigned Friday, The Washington Blade’s Chris Johnson reported in an exclusive on Tuesday.

Henry’s “voice had been effectively sidelined for about two months,” the Blade reports in another revelation. “Sources say disagreements about the direction of Log Cabin — with some wanting to pursue pro-LGBT policy goals, while others wanted to support Trump — led to a decision to prohibit Henry from speaking publicly for the group.”

The Blade also reports that LCR board member Rachel Hoff also had resigned after the Washington Post op-ed/endorsement was published, news not previously reported.

Board member Jennifer Horn also submitted her resignation after the op-ed.

Log Cabin spokesperson Charles Moran says the organization chose to endorse Trump’s re-election after surveying chapters and finding “almost unanimous” support for the organization to back the president’s re-election.

Log Cabin’s Washington Post op-ed supporting the president came in the same week the Trump administration led a blistering attack on the civil rights of LGBTQ people.

Just days earlier Trump’s Dept. of Justice was caught attempting to strong-arm the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) into reversing years of findings and rulings, and declare before the U.S. Supreme Court that discrimination against LGBTQ workers is legal.

That same week Trump’s Dept. of Labor announced a new rule to make it easier for what it now calls “religion-exercising organizations” that are also federal contractors to discriminate against LGBTQ workers. Not only would the Dept. of Labor make it easier, it would offer them a roadmap on how to avoid being charged with discrimination.

And just hours after the op-ed was published the Trump administration’s DOJ formally asked the U.S. Supreme Court to declare discrimination against transgender workers totally legal. One week later the Trump administration petitioned the nation’s top court to declare discrimination against gay, lesbian, and bisexual workers also totally legal, claiming none are protected under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Photo: Jerri Ann Henry, via NCRM