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GOP State Rep. Sally Kern Announces Trifecta Of Anti-Gay Legislation

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Infamous anti-gay activist Sally Kern is back, now pushing three anti-gay bills that would make it all but impossible for LGBT people to exist in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Republican state Rep. Sally Kern has introduced three bills targeting gay people. Were all three to become law it would be nearly impossible for members of the LGBT community to safely exist in the Sooner State. 

HB1599, the Preservation and Sovereignty of Marriage Act, would literally defund same-sex marriage. 

“No employee of this state and no employee of any local governmental entity shall officially recognize, grant or enforce a same-sex marriage license and continue to receive a salary, pension or other employee benefit at the expense of taxpayers of this state,” the bill reads. “No taxes or public funds of this state shall be spent enforcing any court order requiring the issuance or recognition of a same-sex marriage license,” it adds. 

Kern, who invokes religion frequently and penned a book titled The Stoning of Sally Kern: The Liberal Attack on Christian Conservatism–and Why We Must Take a Stand, labels the need for her law an “emergency.”

“It being immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and be in full force from and after its passage and approval.”

Her second bill attacking gay people is the Freedom to Obtain Conversion Therapy Act. HB1598 is aimed at ensuring parents are legally enabled to force their children to undergo therapy based on junk science and religion that most major medical organizations have labeled harmful, dangerous, and ineffective. 

“The people of this state have the right to seek and obtain counseling or conversion therapy from a mental health provider in order to control or end any unwanted sexual attraction, and no state agency shall infringe upon that right,” it reads. “Parents may obtain such counseling or therapy for their children under eighteen (18) years of age without interference by the state.”

Ex-gay, reparative, or conversion therapy is known to cause depression and may increase the risk of suicide.

Kern’s third bill, HB1597, would allow broad discrimination encoded into the law. A take on the increasingly popular Religious Freedom Restoration Acts that are sweeping the country in the wake of legalized same-sex marriage, Kern’s legislation specificaly targets LGBT people for discrimination.

“No business entity shall be required to provide any services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods or privileges related to any lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender person, group or association,” it reads.

Under Kern’s bill, anyone can discriminate against LGBT people for any reason at all, or for no reason at all. 

An LGBT person could literally be shunned by their entire town, unable to purchase food, rent or buy a home, buy a car, gasoline, insurance, clothing, or even electricity. They could find no doctor in their town will provide medical attention. If an LGBT person were to have a heart attack, a private ambulance service or EMT could legally refuse to assist or take him or her to the hospital. That hospital, if private, could legally refuse them service under Kern’s law.

Kern has a long history of targeting and attacking the LGBT community. She has characterized gays as “dangerous,” “sinful,” and as “an enemy who wants to destroy us,” and said gays have hijacked freedom and equality “to destroy the future of America.” She has claimed that gays and homosexuality are “more dangerous” than terrorists and labeled same-sex marriage “debauchery.” Kern in 2011 was officially rebuked for racist and misogynistic comments he made on the House floor.

 

Image via Flickr
Hat tip: Tulsa World

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Trump: ‘We’re Bringing Back God’

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President Donald Trump delivered a forceful message to attendees at the March for Life rally in Washington, D.C.

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“We bringing back God,” Trump declared.

Having praised the end of the constitutional right to abortion, Trump said, “the work to rebuild a culture that supports life continues in every state, every community, and every part of our beautiful land.”

“This is a battle that must be fought, must be won, not only in the corridors of power, but, above all, in the hearts and souls of the people,” he continued, suggesting a desire to end all abortion in the United States.

“We have stopped forced taxpayer funding of abortion at home and abroad, we’re championing faith-based adoption and foster care, and supporting our parents by investing $1,000 into an account that will grow over time for every newborn baby.”

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Critics challenged Johnson’s claim.

Health care activist Melanie D’Arrigo remarked that Republicans offer no universal health care, paid family leave, universal childcare, a living wage as a minimum wage, affordable housing, or tuition-free public college, but, she said, they have rolled back labor laws, gutted food assistance, and deregulated food safety.

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Trump Promotes His Triumphal Arch as Millions Face Massive Storm

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About 1,300 flights have already been canceled ahead of the storm that is expected to hit 40 states across the nation.

Business Insider reported, “Americans strip store shelves bare as millions brace for a potentially historic storm.”

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“Vince is unbelievable on policy. And we have a policy thing that’s going to be unbelievable happening,” Trump said of the proposed arch, as The Daily Beast reported.

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“It’s something that is so special. Uh, it will be like the one in, in Paris, but to be honest with you, it blows it away. Blows it away in every way,” Trump said. “And Vince came in one day and his eyes were teeming. I mean, he couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. He saw it and he wanted to do that. That’s your primary thing.”

Critics slammed the president for focusing on his arch while ordinary Americans are struggling.

Patriot Takes, a social media account with nearly half a million followers, blasted the president, sarcastically saying he “is laser focused on things that matter to the American people.”

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‘Blitzkrieg Against Public Opinion’: Columnist Calls Trump’s Agenda a ‘Cry for Help’

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President Donald Trump’s coalition is “falling apart,” according to columnist Matt K. Lewis, who writes at The Hill that Trump’s list of accomplishments seems more like “a cry for help.”

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Lewis says that while somewhere there is a “constituency” for each of these individual actions, “taken together, they resemble a blitzkrieg against public opinion.”

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He summed up Trump’s low poll numbers and concluded, “America has seen this movie before, has been reminded of how it ends, and is already edging toward the exit.”

So, if the 2024 election held today, it’s “not at all clear” that Trump would win. he said, in part because “Trump’s winning coalition was so sprawling and incoherent that pleasing one group would automatically enrage another.”

So what’s happened in the past year?

“Trump is very good at campaigning and very bad at governing. This explains almost everything that has happened since he took office one year ago this week, including the nation’s rising consumption of Rolaids.”

Disappointment from the “newer members of his coalition” came from “the ultimate realization that Trump’s most electorally appealing promises — such as lowering grocery prices on day one — are never actually going to happen. Indeed, Trump’s policies — tariffs, for example — were almost custom-made to increase grocery prices, which is generally frowned upon by people who eat.”

As it turns out, “Trump’s true superpower … only works when he is not actually in charge.”

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