Bullying Is So Gay.
Or so the radical Right would have you believe. Specifically, “Focus On The Family” and the “American Family Association” would like you to think that part of the gay agenda, in addition to marriage equality (or, “homosexual marriage,” as the hate-mongers like to call it,) is instituting anti-bullying policies in schools. And they are outraged because they “think” that LGBT advocacy groups are now the schoolyard bully.
“Focus On The Family” and the “American Family Association” exist to inject their particular breed of religious bigotry and hate into the American mainstream. Focus On The Family’s latest endeavor, a website called “True Tolerance,” claims to offer “New Resources on Bullying Issues,” yet right up front asks, “Concerned about homosexual advocacy in your child’s school?”
Evidently, “New Resources on Bullying Issues” means, “Here’s how to help your kids bully other kids and get away with it.”
Now, I don’t know any parent who woke up today and said, “Gosh, I wonder if the reason Johnny can’t read is because of homosexual advocacy?” Do you? When did “homosexual advocacy” become a problem in our schools? I think hate and hate-mongering is the problem, don’t you?
Of course “True Tolerance,” offers “tips on communicating with your school officials.” Because I’m sure there are a ton of principals who — amidst budget cuts, a renewed focus on education (thanks to the Obama administration) and a brand new school year — are dying to hear from parents who just woke up and imagined a “homosexual agenda” that is creeping into their children’s classrooms.
Talk about creating fear and hysteria where none should exist.
What Focus on the Family should be concerned about is tolerance of bullies, instead of lying to parents by asking, “Why is one-sided promotion of homosexuality happening in your child’s school?”
Take this little tidbit from FOF’s “True Tolerance” agenda of hate:
“Our nation’s K-12 public schools are coming under increasing amounts of political pressure from national homosexual-advocacy groups. This pressure often comes in the form of demands to create a “safe environment†for gay and lesbian students. Schools are told that if they do not ban “homophobic†and “anti- LGBT†(lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) messages—as well as include positive statements about homosexuality in their policies, curriculum, books and during special events like the Day of Silence—they will face legal liability.”
The obvious question is this: Does FOF want more children to be bullied for possibly being different? Does FOF want more children who are merely perceived as gay, or lesbian, or just a little less “stereotypical,” to be beaten, or killed in school, or to come home and commit suicide?
Here’s a reminder for FOF, via The Trevor Project:
Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15 to 24-year-olds, accounting for over 12% of deaths in this age group; only accidents and homicide occur more frequently.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death on college campuses.
For every completed suicide by a young person, it is estimated that 100 to 200 attempts are made.
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.
More than 1/3 of LGB youth report having made a suicide attempt.
Nearly half of young transgender people have seriously thought about taking their lives and one quarter report having made a suicide attempt.
Questioning youth who are less certain of their sexual orientation report even higher levels of substance abuse and depressed thoughts than their heterosexual or openly LGBT-identified peers.
LGB youth who come from highly rejecting families are more than 8 times as likely to have attempted suicide than LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection.
Focus on the Family, by creating “True Tolerance,” — a disgustingly bigoted idea, that “true tolerance” is allowing bullying, which leads to increased child deaths — is saying “Bullying is A- OK!”
Blogger Joe.My.God. quotes the “True Tolerance” site, which says, “The emphasis should be on the wrong actions of the bully — not on the bully’s perceived thoughts or motivations.” Then he says, “They should ask Carl Walker-Hoover‘s mother what she thinks about that.”
Michael A. Jones at Change.org asks a related question in, “Why Is the Anoka-Hennepin School Board Doing Nothing About LGBT Suicide?”
He writes,
“[T]hree gay students in the span of one year who have taken their lives, all the while the school district has done nothing to open discussions about LGBT bullying or creating safe spaces for LGBT students in Anoka-Hennepin schools.
“Why would the school district do nothing amidst three suicides by LGBT youth? Because they’re worried about offending some socially conservative religious leaders in the area, who want to keep any mention of homosexuality, even if it relates to anti-bullying, verboten on high school campuses.”
Pam’s House Blend examines another facet of this latest right-wing religious hate-mongering. In “AFA Highlights/Recycles FOTF Campaign Against Perceived Gay Public School Agenda,” Autumn Sandeen dissects an American Family Association/OneNewsNow piece (of garbage) titled, “Combating Homosexual Promotion In Schools.”
Like I said, I don’t know any parent who woke up today and said, “Gosh, I wonder if the reason Johnny can’t read is because of homosexual advocacy?” Or, “homosexual promotion,” (whatever that is!) for that matter.
Karoli at Crooks And Liars, in “A Perfect Example of Focus on the Family’s Evil,” adds this:
“This is what happens when the fires of homophobia are stirred. Children are assassinated in cold blood by classmates, threatened by the sexuality and the messages they get from organizations like Focus on the Family. When those fires are stoked up too high, 14-year old boys take guns to school, walk up to classmates, and put two bullets in the back of their heads.
“Tell me again. Who is the bully here?”
I don’t care your political or religious affiliation. If you think it’s OK to bully a child, if you think it’s OK for other children to bully kids, there is something wrong with you.
(Remember, “Anti-Gay Bullying Leads To Suicide, Murder, Hate Crimes, Violence.“)
As I wrote last year, “I’ve written about child suicides here, here, and here. Half of all school bullying is anti-gay, and ‘schools are ignoring it.’ It’s a national emergency, and not enough is being done.”
Focus on the Family is the icon of the Religious Right.
When will they ever learn?
When will we stop them from teaching hate and putting our children in danger?
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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?”
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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.
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“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.
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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
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