‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Sponsors Compare Gay Marriage To Bestiality
The Missouri Republican author of a new “Don’t Say Gay” bill feels misunderstood, and doesn’t understand why people are upset after GOP lawmakers supporting his bill compared same-sex marriage to bestiality (yes, bestiality). Republican state Rep. Steve Cookson (image, right, with wife Joy,) says he’s only trying to take evil topics like homosexuality and same-sex marriage and bestiality (yes, bestiality,) out of schools entirely and put them In the hands of parents, where they belong.
Perhaps Rep. Cookson can call Tennessee state Senator Stacey Campfield and they can compare notes on their respective “Don’t Say Gay” bills and start a fraternity for misunderstood and victimized lawmakers.
But Cookson’s bill, HB 2051, deals with “sexual orientation,” not just homosexuality, he brags — while the 20 members of his cadre of Republican state representatives co-sponsoring Cookson’s bill include talk of bestiality along with homosexuality.
“House Small Business Committee Chairman Dwight Scharnhorst (R-St. Louis), a co-sponsor, said he believes sexual orientation issues should be taught by parents, clergy and physicians. Parents have been passing along responsibility for children to the public schools, partly because of the writings of the late pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, Scharnhorst said, according to a report in the Huffington Post:
Scharnhorst told HuffPost that teaching about LGBT issues would lead to other discussions. “There is no need to talk about Billy wanting to marry a goat,” he said.
The Huffington Post adds:
“When it comes to sexual orientation, that is a discussion that should be left for the most part up to the parents,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Andrew Koenig (R-Winchester) told HuffPost. “It is a pretty political subject. I know there are a lot of parents that do not want the homosexual agenda taught in the schools.”
Koenig said he has heard of what he called a “homosexual agenda” being taught in elementary school, but when questioned, said he did not know of specific incidents “off the top of my head.”
Igor Volsky at Think Progress notes Rep. Cookson is upset his “Don’t Say Gay” bill “is being misconstrued as an attack on gay people and insists that he is merely seeking to shift the discussion of sexuality from the classroom to the family.”
COOKSON: I just think those are better left outside of the curriculum…I want to bring families back into education, and for those that don’t have that support, we’ll deal with those…. We need to keep the focus on [math and science] for the student body, and not on other things that can be distracting.
While we applaud Cookson’s feelings that the issue of same-sex marriage is all about families, he is dead wrong in his approach.
Cookson defends his “Don’t Say Gay” bill by saying:
Many of the recent articles on HB 2051 have shifted focus away from the true intent of my legislation, which is meant to protect the moral values that are most important to Missouri families. In a time when our public schools continue to struggle financially, we want their focus to be solely on core education issues such as math, science and reading; and not on topics that are better left for discussion in the home at the discretion of parents.
It’s also important to point out that my bill does not target a particular sexual orientation but instead says instruction or materials related to any sexual orientation should not take place in our public schools. This would not prohibit a student struggling with his or her sexual identity from talking to a school counselor or cause any of the other issues that have been misreported by the media. Instead it would simply ensure the focus of our public schools is on the curriculum parents expect their children to learn when they send them to school each day.
Yes, same-sex marriage is so distracting we should make laws not only prohibiting gay people from accesing the institution itself but we should then make laws prohibiting the very discussion of those people you have disenfranchised.
You know who does this? Totalitarian regimes.
Make something illegal then make the discussion of it illegal too.
What does that sound like to you?
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Appearing late Saturday night on MSNBC after it was announced that President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had reached an agreement “in principle’ on a budget deal, former GOP strategist Rick Wilson claimed this could be the beginning of the end for McCathy’s speakership.
Sitting in on a panel with guest host Michael Steele, Wilson suggested that McCarthy’s decision to compromise with the president to avoid a default that would spin the economy into chaos will not go over well with far-right members of his House caucus who could make a motion to “vacate the chair” to express their displeasure.
Asked by host Steel about what comes next, Wilson stated it was a win for the White House which will not make conservatives happy.
RELATED: ‘Crazy cuckoo MAGA people’ could sink debt ceiling deal: Dem strategist
“Great night for Joe Biden, great night for the White House even though I think their messaging has been kind of tentative the past few weeks” the Lincoln Project founder began. “I think though we are now going to start the Kevin McCarthy death-clock. He has certainly got a very angry part of his caucus tonight who probably burning up his phone no matter how good it is for the country not to default.”
“It’s not going to please the chaos caucus in the GOP,” he added.
Watch below or at the link:
News
Debt Ceiling: McCarthy Faces ‘Lingering Anger’ and a Possible Revolt as Far-Right House Members Start Issuing Threats
As House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) continues to negotiate a deal to avoid a debt crisis, members of the far-right Freedom Caucus are growing furious with him over broken promises he made to them.
According to MSNBC political analyst Steve Benen, with a slim GOP majority in the House, McCarthy is walking a tightrope to get a budget deal passed and may need help from House Democrats if members of his caucus refuse to go along with him.
As Benen points out, in order to win the speakership McCarthy agreed to an easier path for a motion to “vacate the chair” which could end his tenure as Speaker. That could come into play if the Freedom Caucus stages a revolt.
“… as the negotiations approach an apparent finish line, the House Republicans’ most radical faction is learning that it isn’t likely to get everything its members demanded — and for the Freedom Caucus, that’s not going to work,” he wrote in his MSNBC column.
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Citing a Washington Times report that stated, “[Freedom Caucus members] want everything from the debt limit bill passed by the House last month plus several new concessions from the White House,” Benen suggested far-right House Republicans are now issuing veiled threats.
In an interview, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) stated, “I am going to have to go have some blunt conversations with my colleagues and the leadership team. I don’t like the direction they are headed.”
With Politico reporting, “The [House Freedom Caucus] was already unlikely to support a final bipartisan deal, but lingering anger with Kevin McCarthy could have lasting implications on his speakership,” Benen added, “If this is simply a matter of lingering ill-will from members who come to believe that GOP leaders ‘caved,’ the practical consequences might be limited. But let’s also not forget that McCarthy, while begging his own members for their support during his protracted fight for the speaker’s gavel, agreed to tweak the motion-to-vacate-the-chair rules, which at least in theory, would make it easier for angry House Republicans to try to oust McCarthy from his leadership position.”
Adding the caveat that he is not predicting an imminent McCarthy ouster he added, “But if the scope of the Freedom Caucus’ discontent reaches a fever pitch, a hypothetical deal clears thanks to significant Democratic support, don’t be surprised if we all start hearing the phrase ‘vacate the chair” a lot more frequently.”
Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial have notified the ex-president’s attorneys they have a recording of him and a witness. The notification comes in the form of an automatic discovery form, CBS News reports, which “describes the nature of the charges against a defendant and a broad overview of the evidence that prosecutors will present at Trump’s preliminary hearing or at trial.”
CBS reports prosecutors have handed the recording over to Trump’s legal team.
It’s not known who the witness is, nor are any details known publicly about what the conversation entails, or even if it is just audio or if it includes video.
READ MORE: ‘Likely to Be Indicted Soon’: Trump Might Face Seven Different Felonies, Government Watchdog Says
According to the article’s author, CBS News’ Graham Kates, via Twitter, prosecutors say they also have recordings between two witnesses, a recording between a witness and a third party, and various recordings saved on a witness’s cell phones.
Manhattan prosecutors disclosed to Trump a recording of him and a witness in his criminal case. pic.twitter.com/EIz3bvpEkj
— Graham Kates (@GrahamKates) May 26, 2023
Trump is facing 34 felony counts in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case related to his allegedly unlawful attempt to hide hush money payoffs to a well-known porn star by falsifying business records to protect his 2016 presidential campaign.
See the discovery form above or at this link.
Image via Shutterstock
‘Start the Kevin McCarthy Death-Clock’ After Biden Wins Debt Ceiling Battle: Rick Wilson
Debt Ceiling: McCarthy Faces ‘Lingering Anger’ and a Possible Revolt as Far-Right House Members Start Issuing Threats
Prosecutors Tell Trump They Have a Recording of Him and a Witness: Report
‘Likely to Be Indicted Soon’: Trump Might Face Seven Different Felonies, Government Watchdog Says
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BREAKING NEWS3 days agoProsecutors Tell Trump They Have a Recording of Him and a Witness: Report
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‘Start the Kevin McCarthy Death-Clock’ After Biden Wins Debt Ceiling Battle: Rick Wilson
