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Today Is International Transgender Day of Visibility – Let’s Celebrate #TransVisibility and Fight Discrimination

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My trans brothers and sisters are first and forever human beings. Period. Today I honor them and recommit to fighting the fight that needs to be fought. #Translivesmatter.

After Thursday’s stunning deceit and political gamesmanship by Democratic North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, with what my journalistic colleague Kerry Eleveld correctly labeled as, “Cooper sells out LGBTQ Tar Heels with ‘fake’ repeal of state’s bathroom bill,” today and frankly every day takes on such critical importance to the transgender community. They are human beings, not political talking points or targets for state sponsored discriminatory laws and practices.  

I have been a long time ally and I have very dear friends who are trans who have taught me so much over the years about the true meaning of what it is to be a fully empowered human being. Non-trans persons who bully, or degenerate trans folk, are ignorant and oft times I have found, unwilling to accept – actually accede the fact, that there exists such a rich diversity in the human species.

Trans is first and foremost not about human sexuality. Being trans is the essence of one’s true self. It is in fact the deeply personal introspective view of one’s gender and one’s human spirit. I tire of the incessant rubbish spewed by the American Christian right that belittles the very humanity of the trans community, of my friends who I care deeply for. A physical shell, whether it posses a penis or a vagina is not relative to a person’s state of being. Which brings me to the adversaries who rail and literally preach that there are no such things as transgender human beings. 

Currently on the road in the Northeastern United States is a brightly painted bus that carries an ignorant and frankly hate filled anti-trans message. The bus is sponsored by “CitizenGo” a Spanish group financed by the ultra right-wing “Family Watch International” and the Washington, D.C. based National Organization for Marriage or “NOM.” The bus was literally banned from operating in Spain, as after its initial appearance, operated by the Catholic group “Hazte Oír,” it was impounded by Spanish police authorities after being observed driving around in the streets of Madrid with a message that officers identified as hate speech. 

1_Anti_Trans_bus_courtesy_of_Madrid_Police.jpg
Image courtesy of Policía Municipal de Madrid.

The slogan emblazoned on the side of the bus (pictured) translates as “Boys have penises, girls have vulvas. Do not be fooled. If you are born, you are a man. If you are a woman you will continue to be.”

I spoke earlier today with an official from the Policía Municipal de Madrid, who conveyed to me that the authorities were extremely concerned that the message conveyed on the bus would incite hate crimes against the vulnerable trans community in Madrid. The Hazte Oír bus was immediately impounded by the authorities. According to the trans publication and advocacy website, Planet Transgender, the group returned with a motor home and a slightly altered message: “Do boys have penises? Do girls have vulvas?” after a Madrid judge said that the bus would not be allowed on the city’s streets as long as it continued to bear the original wording.

Sadly however, the bus then crossed the Atlantic and arrived in New York. The bus was then re-branded to target its American “audience” by NOM, who labeled it a “Free Speech Bus.” However, not long after a picture provided by NOM showed the bus in front of the United Nations Headquarters complex in New York City, the bus was apparently vandalized, according to NOM, a fact that I was able to verify with a source at the New York Police Department.

Possibly although not certainly the message displayed on the side of the bus, “It’s biology. Boys are boys…and always will be. Girls are girls…and always will be. You can’t change sex. Respect all,” most likely played a role in its vandalism.

Of course, the President of NOM, Brian Brown, a long time detractor of the trans and the LGBTQI community, immediately launched a fundraiser to ‘repair the damage’ and support the cause. My only question to Mr. Brown would be, allowing that by law the bus must be insured to operate as a licensed vehicle on American highways and streets, surely the insurance company would have covered the damages? But I digress. My friend and fellow journalist Michael Lavers reported a couple of days ago that the bus is due back in my old stomping grounds of Washington, D.C. today and Saturday.

noM_bus.jpg

I hope that folks show up and protest this onerous mechanical billboard of hate. This is not about free speech as Brown alleges. He sent me this statement:

It’s biology, not bigotry. Men and women were created equally, each given a gender that is fixed, immutable and complementary. Rather than perpetuate a lie that gender can be changed based on emotions and feelings, we should encourage people to embrace and love who they were made to be.

We call on all Americans to respect the free speech rights of citizens to debate these issues without fear of being demeaned, harassed, or threatened with retaliation.

Again – nope, Brian you’re wrong. By the way, are you a board certified Doctor of Medicine, a psychiatrist, or an expert on human sexuality? Oh that’s right, no you are not.

I am over people like Brown and organizations like his whose only existence seems to be to justify their salaries while pushing pseudo science/biology based on bronze age thinking and mythology.

As a journalist I am tired of reporting stories about trans-women or trans-men who have been murdered, bullied, and maimed, after they have been deeply wounded emotionally by the rubbish spewed by NOM and other organizations that are ignorant and non-accepting. I am tired of seeing large percentages of trans youth tossed out on the street by their families who are flat out intolerant. I am also very tired of anti-trans sentiments that I have seen within the gay, lesbian, bi, and queer community. In fact, it has been my experience that some of the most deeply held prejudices have been from within the LGBTQI tribe itself. 

My trans brothers and sisters are first and forever human beings. Period. Today I honor them and recommit to fighting the fight that needs to be fought. #Translivesmatter. As a community and as a society we need to move past this incorrect and damaging biological myth that gender is determined at birth and by appearances. #It.Is.Not.

One last thing, this is again not about sexuality and quite frankly as a whole when it comes down to intimate and physical expression of personal affairs of the heart – we need to stay the hell out of other folks bedrooms. If you know trans folks or are like me fortunate enough to have numerous friends who are, come join with me in celebrating them.

Brody Levesque is the Chief Political Correspondent for The New Civil Rights Movement.
You may contact Brody at Brody.Levesque@thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page. 

Image of NOM bus via Facebook 

 

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‘Repercussions’: Democrats and Republicans Stand Against ‘Pro-Putin’ House GOP Faction

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April 18, 2024

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Some House Democrats and House Republicans are coming together toward a common opponent: far-right “pro-Putin” hardliners in the House Republican conference, who appear to be led by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

Congresswoman Greene has been threatening to oust the Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. Last month she filed a “motion to vacate the chair.” If she chooses to call it up she could force a vote on the House floor to try to remove Speaker Johnson.

House Democrats say they are willing to vote against ousting Johnson, as long as the Speaker puts on the floor desperately needed and long-awaited legislation to fund aid to Ukraine and Israel. Johnson has refused to put the Ukraine aid bill on the floor for months, but after Iran attacked Israel Johnson switched gears. Almost all Democrats and a seemingly large number of Republicans want to pass the Ukraine and Israel aid packages.

RELATED: Marjorie Taylor Greene, ‘Putin’s Envoy’? Democrat’s Bills Mock Republican’s Actions

Forgoing the possibility of installing Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker, which is conceivable given Johnson’s now one-vote majority, Democrats say if Johnson does the right thing, they will throw him their support.

“I think he’ll be in good shape,” to get Democrats to support him, if he puts the Ukraine aid bill on the floor, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) told CNN Thursday. “I would say that there’s a lot of support for the underlying bills. I think those are vital.”

“If these bills were delivered favorably, and the aid was favorably voted upon, and Marjorie Taylor Greene went up there with a motion to remove him, for instance, I think there’s gonna be a lot of Democrats that move to kill that motion,” Congressman Krishnamoorthi said. “They don’t want to see him getting punished for doing the right thing.”

“I think it is a very bad policy of the House to allow one individual such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is an arsonist to this House of Representatives,” U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) told CBS News’ Scott MacFarlane, when asked about intervening to save Johnson. He added he doesn’t want her “to have so much influence.”

U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, one of several Republicans who won their New York districts in 2022, districts that were previously held by Democrats, opposes Greene’s motion to vacate – although he praised the Georgia GOP congresswoman.

CNN’s Manu Raju reports Republicans “say it’s time to marginalize hardliners blocking [their] agenda.”

D’Esposito, speaking to Raju, called for “repercussions for those who completely alienate the will of the conference. The people gave us the majority because they wanted Republicans to govern.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, like D’Esposito is another New York Republican who won a previously Democratic seat in 2022. Lawler spoke out against the co-sponsor of Greene’s motion to vacate, U.S. Rep. Tim Massie (R-KY), along with two other House Republicans who are working to block the Ukraine aid bill via their powerful seats on the Rules Committee.

U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), a former Navy pilot, blasted Congresswoman Greene.

RELATED: ‘They Want Russia to Win So Badly’: GOP Congressman Blasts Far-Right House Republicans

“Time is of the essence” for Ukraine, Rep. Sherrill told CNN Wednesday night. “The least we can do is support our Democratic allies, especially given what we know Putin to do. To watch a report and to think there are people like Marjorie Taylor Greene on the right that are pro-Putin? That are pro-Russia? It is really shocking.”

U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), as NCRM reported Thursday, had denounced Greene.

“I guess their reasoning is they want Russia to win so badly that they want to oust the Speaker over it,” he said, referring to the Ukraine aid bill Greene and her cohorts want to tank. “I mean that’s a strange position to take.”

The far-right hardliners are also causing chaos in the House.

“Things just got very heated on the House floor,” NBC News’ Julie Tsirkin reported earlier Thursday. “Group of hardliners were trying to pressure Johnson to only put Israel aid on the floor and hold Ukraine aid until the Senate passed HR2.”

HR2 is the House Republicans’ extremist anti-immigrant legislation that has n o chance of passage in the Senate nor would it be signed into law by President Biden.

“Johnson said he couldn’t do it, and [U.S. Rep. Derrick] Van Orden,” a far-right Republican from Wisconsin “called him ‘tubby’ and vowed to bring on the MTV [Motion to Vacate.]”

“No one in the group (Gaetz, Boebert, Burchett, Higgins, Donalds et al.) were threatening Johnson with an MTV,” Tsirkin added. “Van Orden seemed to escalate things dramatically…”

Despite Greene’s pro-Putin and anti-Ukraine positions, her falsehoods about “Ukrainian Nazis,” and Russians not slaughtering Ukrainian clergy, reporters continue to “swarm”:

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Afraid and Intimidated’: Trump Trial Juror Targeted by Fox News Dismissed

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‘They Want Russia to Win So Badly’: GOP Congressman Blasts Far-Right House Republicans

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15 hours ago

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April 18, 2024

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A sitting Republican Congressman is harshly criticizing far-right House Republicans over their apparent support of Russia.

“I guess their reasoning is they want Russia to win so badly that they want to oust the Speaker over it. I mean that’s a strange position to take,” U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a three-term Texas Republican rated a hard-core conservative told CNN’s Manu Raju, in video posted Thursday. “I think they want to be in the minority too. I think that’s an obvious reality.”

Congressman Crenshaw was referring to the movement led by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), now joined by U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), over the Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s decision to finally put legislation on the floor to provide funding to Ukraine to support that sovereign nation in its fight against Russia.

“I’m still trying to process all the b*llsh*t,” Crenshaw added.

Crenshaw on Thursday also commented on Speaker Johnson’s remarks, stating he will hold the Ukraine funding vote regardless of attempts to oust him over it.

“To be clear, he’s being threatened for even allowing a vote to come to the floor. For allowing the constitutional process to play out as intended by our Founders. That’s a wild thing to consider, especially when his enemies consider themselves ‘conservative.’ Not conserving the painstaking constitutional process our Founders created, that’s for sure. Conserving Putin’s gains on the battlefield, more like it.”

Journalist Brian Beutler, a former editor-in-chief at Crooked Media, called it, “darkly funny to me that a pincer movement of MAGAns and leftists mock liberals for claiming the GOP works hand in glove with Russia, and then multiple conservative Republican dissenters are like ‘no it’s true, we’re lousy with Russian influence.'”

Watch Crenshaw’s remarks below or at this link.

READ MORE: Marjorie Taylor Greene, ‘Putin’s Envoy’? Democrat’s Bills Mock Republican’s Actions

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OPINION

Marjorie Taylor Greene, ‘Putin’s Envoy’? Democrat’s Bills Mock Republican’s Actions

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17 hours ago

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April 18, 2024

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For years U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has been called “Pro-Putin.” As far back as 2021, her first year as a member of Congress, the question had been raised on social media: “Is Marjorie Taylor Greene a Russian asset?”

In 2022 The Annenberg Public Policy Center’s FactCheck.org reported: “Marjorie Taylor Greene Parrots Russian Talking Point on Ukraine.”

Back then, as the article highlighted, Greene had said, “there is no doubt that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s actions in Ukraine are despicable and evil.”

Now, she promotes a far more favorable view of President Vladimir Putin and his illegal war against Ukraine, a sovereign nation which the Russian autocrat wants to incorporate – at least partly – into Russia.

Just last week Greene spread demonstrably false pro-Russia talking points about a “war on Christianity” while defending and promoting President Vladimir Putin.

READ MORE: ‘Afraid and Intimidated’: Trump Trial Juror Targeted by Fox News Dismissed

“This is a war on Christianity,” Greene told far-right propagandist Steve Bannon. “The Ukrainian government is attacking Christians, the Ukrainian government is executing priests. Russia is not doing that.”

That’s just plain false, as NCRM reported.

Largely in response to her strong opposition to the U.S. supporting Ukraine, and her spreading Russian disinformation and flat-out pro-Putin falsehoods, Greene’s fondness for Putin and Russia has been making headlines.

“Republicans Who Like Putin,” was the headline last month at The New York Times, which observed: “A few Republicans have gone so far as [to] speak about Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in ways that mimic Russian propaganda. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has accused Ukraine of having ‘a Nazi army,’ echoing language Putin used to justify the invasion.”

“The Putin Republicans Have the Upper Hand” warned Washington Monthly‘s David Atkins on Wednesday, reporting on “conservative extremists led by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.”

“They admire the strongman as a Christian nationalist leader, and won’t support Ukraine. The global consequences of their besotted love affair with the Russian strongman could be cataclysmic.”

“Russia Is Buying Politicians in Europe. Is It Happening Here Too?” The New Republic‘s Alex Finley wrote last week. The photo at the top of the page? Marjorie Taylor Greene.

READ MORE: ‘Used by the Russians’: Moskowitz Mocks Comer’s Biden Impeachment Failure

Finley pointed to Greene’s interview with Bannon, “about Ukraine’s persecution of Christians, which is a Kremlin talking point aimed at boosting the pro-Moscow wing of Ukraine’s Orthodox Church. The U.S. should be spending money on the border with Mexico, not on Ukraine aid? That’s a Kremlin talking point. Russia invaded Ukraine to defend itself against an expanding NATO? That’s a Kremlin talking point. Call for a cease-fire, and give Russia Crimea and eastern Ukraine? That’s a Kremlin talking point.”

Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post last week ran this headline: “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says she ‘seriously hates’ people who support sending more aid to Ukraine: ‘Most repulsive, disgusting thing happening’.”

Then there is Greene’s obsession with Nazis. Specifically, equating Ukrainians with Nazis, which she did several times over the past week, including on Wednesday. That earned her the condemnation and wrath of U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), who demanded: “Stop bringing up Nazis and Hitler.”

Wednesday night, Congressman Moskowitz, known for his use of humor and sarcasm to make his points, declared: “Just submitted an amendment to Bill drafting appointing MTG [Marjorie Taylor Greene] as Putin’s Special Envoy to the United States Congress.”

Moskowitz’s amendment was in response to Congresswoman Greene’s amendments requiring members to “conscript in the Ukrainian military” if they vote for the Ukraine military funding bill, as Juliegrace Brufke reported.

READ MORE: ‘Big Journalism Fail’: Mainstream Media Blasted Over Coverage of Historic Trump Trial

The Florida Democrat wasn’t joking, as Axios’ Andrew Solender pointed out Thursday morning.

Moskowitz did not stop there.

He drafted legislation on Thursday to name the Capitol Hill offices occupied by Congresswoman Greene after the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, infamous for promoting appeasement in dealing with Adolf Hitler.

Chamberlain also signed the Munich Agreement, which allowed Hitler to annex part of Czechoslovakia.

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