Anti-LGBT Lawmaker Says ‘Confused’ Trans People Should ‘Look In Mirror After A Shower’
Republicans Outraged That Trans Prisoners Now Have Access to Medically Necessary Care
Anti-LGBT Republicans in Texas are up in arms about state prison officials’ decision to treat transgender prisoners more humanely — and potentially avoid lawsuits — by offering them easier access to hormone therapy.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice recently updated its policy on trans healthcare, according to a report from The Texas Observer. Under the previous policy, hormone therapy was available only to prisoners who were already undergoing it before being incarcerated. Now, trans prisoners who are diagnosed with gender dysphoria while in Texas prisons are also eligible for hormone therapy, which consists of estrogen for trans women and testosterone for trans men.Â
In recent years, federal courts have ruled that denying trans inmates medically necessary care, including hormone therapy, represents cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. Moreover, studies have shown that the cost of offering trans healthcare is insignificant, and that those who receive it are at a much lower risk for suicide.Â
But GOP state Rep. Debbie Riddle, the author of anti-trans “bathroom” legislation in last year’s legislative session who later became the recipient of a glitter bomb, told Breitbart Texas that taxpayers should never pay to provide hormone therapy “or anything of that nature to prisoners with confusion regarding their gender identity.”Â
RELATED:Â Anti-LGBT Texas Officials Claim They’re Being Bullied By Pro-Civil Rights Group
“I suggest the confusion could be ended with a quick look in the mirror after a shower. Then, what they see, is what they are. End of story,” Riddle said. “Taxpayers are the folks getting taken to the cleaners and they are sick of the stupid stuff. This gender identity confusion is over the top. One group that is not confused is the hardworking taxpaying citizens that are trying to just pay their bills, rear their families, and put food on the table. The whole thing makes me furious.â€
Former Texas state Rep. Steve Toth, who’s now running for Congress, told Breitbart the department’s new policy is an example of “political correctness running wild.”Â
“This is Texas, not New York or California, and for the state of Texas to be paying for a felon to receive hormone treatment for a sex change is commensurate with the lack of spine by our elected leaders,” Toth said. “Thousands of veterans will go hungry and homeless tonight and the State of Texas is paying for a sex change.â€
No Texas prisoner has ever undergone gender reassignment surgery, which the Department of Criminal Justice considers to be an elective procedure.
Schell Carpenter, an Austin trans activist who heads the Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity, responded to Riddle’s statements in a column published by the Observer.Â
“It seems that any change in policy regarding the needs of people who are incarcerated is seen, by those who object to it, as providing comfort or even luxury to people whose actions have not earned any such benevolence,” Carpenter wrote. “But protection from cruel and unusual punishment is one of the oldest founding principles of our nation. Lawmakers like Riddle, who bloviate incessantly about patriotism and tradition, are taking a clearly un-American stance when they try to deny people access to medical care during incarceration.”
Despite the updated healthcare policy, Texas remains behind most states when it comes to its treatment of trans prisoners. LGBT advocates say they still routinely receive inquiries from trans prisoners in Texas who’ve been denied psychiatric evaluations that are needed to access hormone therapy.
Nell Gaither, president of Trans Pride Initiative, told the Observer that one prisoner who’s undergoing hormone therapy was denied a doctor-prescribed bra after she began developing breast tissue. According to Gaither, when the prisoner complained, she was sent to solitary confinement, where she attempted self-harm.
In 2014, Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit against Texas on behalf of a trans inmate, accusing state prison officials of deliberate indifference to threats of sexual assault and violence against her in male facilities. The lawsuit alleged that the inmate, Passion Star, had lodged dozens of grievances, complaints and requests to be placed in safekeeping, but instead of taking measures to protect her, prison officials told her to “suck dick,†“fight†or to stop “acting gay†if she didn’t want to be assaulted.
On one occasion, when Star appealed to prison officials to protect her from a gang member who said he owned her, they responded by moving her even closer to the inmate, according to Lambda Legal. The next morning, the gang member attacked Star, calling her a “snitching faggot†and slashing her face eight times with a razor.Â
Â
Image: Screenshot via Debbie Riddle/YouTube
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U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, Republican of Georgia, is under fire after praising University of Mississippi students, some wearing American flag outfits, mocking a Black woman protester by making monkey sounds and shouting, “lock her up.”
“Counter-protestors at the University of Mississippi made racist remarks — including monkey noises and comparisons to Lizzo — towards a Black woman who was part of a planned protest against the war in Gaza,” Los Angeles Magazine reported Friday.
Collins, who tried to defund Vice President Kamala Harris’ Office in November, declared his support for the counter-protesters at “Ole Miss,” as the University is called.
“Ole Miss taking care of business,” he wrote on social media, atop the video (below).
The counter-protesters, as evidenced in the video, appear to be mostly white.
A large number of users on the social media platform X responded, accusing the Congressman and the counter-protesters of racism.
“When is the inevitable ‘I don’t have a racist bone in my body’ tweet coming,” wondered Rewire News Group editor-at-large Imani Gandy.
“Which part is your favorite, Mike?” asked Fred Wellman, the former executive director of The Lincoln Project. “Is it the white kid acting like a monkey at the black woman or the white security guy acting like she’s a threat? I’m trying to figure out which flavor of racism has you all excited the most?”
READ MORE: MAGA State Superintendent Supports Chaplains in Public Schools – But Not From All Religions
Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic clinical instructor Alejandra Caraballo responded to the Georgia GOP congressman, “Thanks for confirming you’re a massive racist piece of sh*t.”
Mississippi Free Press news editor Ashton Pittman wrote: “Rep. Mike Collins, R-Georgia, praises a video showing a University of Mississippi frat boy dancing like a monkey and making monkey noises near a Black woman student who was protesting for Palestine while other frat boys chant ‘lock her up.'”
In a separate post describing a separate video taken of the same group Pittman wrote: “Frat bros at @OleMiss chant, ‘Lizzo! Lizzo!’ and shout, ‘F**k you fatass, f**k you b*tch’ at a Black woman who was protesting for Palestine. Do people really think these counterprotestors are doing it to support Jews?”
Journalist John Harwood did not mince words, writing, “Congressman proud of the racism.”
“Okay, Mike. We get it,” wrote podcast host, documentary director, and author W. Kamau Bell. “You want to be famous for being a racist. Fine. I’ll help you become a famous racist. You’re welcome.”
The original video is here.
See Rep. Collins’ post and the video below or at this link.
Caution: the video is disturbing.
Ole Miss taking care of business. pic.twitter.com/JiL9hs2pHz
— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) May 3, 2024
READ MORE: Noem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’
Amid more damning revelations from her soon-to-be released book, embattled South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem will head to Mar-a-Lago this weekend as ex-president Donald Trump auditions potential vice presidential picks in front of high-dollar donors. Noem was also slated to attend a Republican fundraiser in Colorado this weekend but it was canceled over alleged safety concerns after news broke she had bragged about shooting her 14-month old dog.
While Noem’s shooting to death of her wirehaired pointer, Cricket, which she detailed in the book, is still making headlines overnight a new revelation made news: Noem falsely claims in her book she met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
A spokesperson for Noem “seemed to concede that the Kim story was false Thursday night,” and notified her publisher, Politico’s Ryan Lizza reported in his exclusive.
But less noticed appears to be the actual text of Noem’s false story, in which she brands children she ministered in church “little tyrants,” and compared them to the murderous North Korean dictator.
READ MORE: RFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties
“Through my tenure on the House Armed Services Committee,” Noem wrote, according to Politico, “I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders. I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all).”
CNBC reported this week Trump “will mingle with potential vice presidential running mates and wealthy Republican donors at the Republican National Committee’s spring donor retreat. The meetings are likely to act as informal tryouts for a short list of politicos in the running to join the Trump ticket.”
The list of Republican “special guests” includes U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, and J.D. Vance, Rep. Elise Stefanik, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.
Also expected to attend are House Speaker Mike Johnson, U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Wesley Hunt of Texas, former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and other elected Republicans along with RNC co-chair Lara Trump.
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NBC News, which says Rep. Donalds is also under consideration, on Friday added there will be “a fundraising retreat that could serve as a screening session” for potential vice presidential running mates.
Meanwhile, the Jefferson County, Colorado Republican Party chair announced a fundraising dinner Noem was slated to attend was canceled after threats were made, The Denver Post reports.
“We understood there was a planned organized protest outside of the hotel, led by Progress Now,” Nancy Pallozzi said. “I felt that our event would be negatively impacted, and we could not take the risk that those who made threats would cause physical harm.”
Over the weekend independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. spoke at a fundraiser for a far-right anti-government group in Erie County, New York – a slice of the country that had a large proportion of residents arrested and charged for crimes related to the January 6 insurrection. Kennedy, a conspiracy theorist and vaccine denialist, increasingly is embracing the far-right.
“That group, Constitutional Coalition of New York State, has founders who not only have ties to Donald Trump but are also connected to the stop-the-steal movement through their activist network, which includes groups that had a presence at the Capitol on Jan. 6,” The Daily Beast reported Friday. “It’s yet another instance of Kennedy—who is mounting one of the most well-funded third-party presidential threats in decades—serving as a peculiar bridge between his own anti-establishment movement and Trump’s.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center includes the Constitutional Coalition of New York State (CCNYS) on its page of anti-government groups. Political Research Associates, which detailed the high proportion of January 6 residents arrested and charged, included the Constitutional Coalition of New York State in its February report on “The Rise of the Far Right in Western New York.”
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“If you don’t think the government is lying to you, you’re not paying attention,” Kennedy told attendees at the CCNYS fundraiser, The Buffalo News reports.
“CCNYS founders Nick and Nancie Orticelli are also affiliated with the Watchmen, a nearby militia who Nick has encouraged his social media followers to join. The Watchmen had several members at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and one member, Pete Harding, is still facing charges for violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds,” The Daily Beast noted. “Nancie Orticelli has also hosted the Watchmen’s founder, Charles Pellien, on her weekly radio show on several occasions.”
One of Kennedy’s goals in traveling to New York was to get on the ballot for the November presidential election. Various polls show him taking votes from both President Joe Biden and ex-president Donald Trump, but Kennedy currently has only qualified to be on the ballot in three states, Utah, Michigan and Hawaii, the newspaper reported.
But The Washington Post on Thursday reported The American Independent Party of California, which has a history of “far-right ties,” and “backed segregationist and former Alabama governor George Wallace in 1968, nominated Kennedy for president.”
Kennedy “said this week that he has qualified to be on the ballot in California and will accept the nomination of the American Independent Party, which has a history of associating itself with far-right figures and individuals who have expressed racist views.”
Some news reports and RFK Jr. himself say the Trump campaign was actively courting Kennedy, attempting to convince him to consider being the ex-president’s 2024 vice presidential running mate.
“That MAGA dalliance with Kennedy could be coming back to bite the Trump campaign, some Republicans close to the former president worry,” The Daily Beast also reported.
“’They can only blame themselves,’ a Trump-aligned strategist told The Daily Beast, requesting anonymity to speak candidly about private conversations about the risk Kennedy poses, ‘because they cozied up to him and thought it was funny.’”
Watch WIVBTV’s report on Kennedy’s trip to New York below or at this link.
READ MORE: Trump Won’t Commit to Accepting Election Results if He Doesn’t Win State He Falsely Claims He Won
Congressman Pummeled for Praising Students Mocking Black Protester With Monkey Sounds
Noem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’
RFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties
Election Denialism Embraced by ‘Large Proportion’ of Trump’s Followers: Report
Trump Won’t Commit to Accepting Election Results if He Doesn’t Win State He Falsely Claims He Won
News3 days agoCongressman Pummeled for Praising Students Mocking Black Protester With Monkey Sounds
News3 days agoNoem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’
News3 days agoRFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties