LGBTQ Issues (Part 3)

[92tide]

The way the Court is leaning, I'm suspecting it will be overturned.

Under his eye.

the eye of mauron

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

SF bookstore no longer selling 'Harry Potter' due to author J.K. Rowling's anti-transgender politics

A San Francisco bookstore will no longer carry the "Harry Potter" series due to author J.K. Rowling's political actions toward excluding transgender women from gendered spaces.

abc7news.com

I’m old enough to remember when book bans were a bad thing…..oh yeah, because it was literally 5 minutes ago.

It's still a bad thing? But at least in this case it is a private business.

 

[Huckleberry]

/

SF bookstore no longer selling 'Harry Potter' due to author J.K. Rowling's anti-transgender politics

A San Francisco bookstore will no longer carry the "Harry Potter" series due to author J.K. Rowling's political actions toward excluding transgender women from gendered spaces.

abc7news.com

I’m old enough to remember when book bans were a bad thing…..oh yeah, because it was literally 5 minutes ago.

That's ok! Unless some witchcraft-believing religious whacko raises a stink, the Potter books should be available in every school library, so kids can access them for free!

BTW, I disagree with the bookstore removing them from its shelves.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

/

That's ok! Unless some witchcraft-believing religious whacko raises a stink, the Potter books should be available in every school library, so kids can access them for free!

BTW, I disagree with the bookstore removing them from its shelves.

I do too but I at least understand the where the store owner is coming from. They don't want to help finance her cause and she is using funds from her book sales to fund it apparently. And they are a private business and have the right to make that choice IMO. I don't expect Christian book stores to start selling a book series that financially benefits planned parenthood or something.

I would feel differently if they were trying to get the books removed from public libraries or schools.

 

[75thru79]

That's ok! Unless some witchcraft-believing religious whacko raises a stink, the Potter books should be available in every school library, so kids can access them for free!

Well, we all know the issue with Harry Potter is not the witchcraft, it's the ant-trans stance of the author. The original poster was highlighting the hypocrisy of the left.

 

[Huckleberry]

Well, we all know the issue with Harry Potter is not the witchcraft, it's the ant-trans stance of the author. The original poster was highlighting the hypocrisy of the left.

OK, and as you chose to omit from my response, I disagree with the bookstore's actions as well.

And the issue for many has been the "witchcraft." I remember this case from a few years ago:

Harry Potter Books Banned In US School For Having "Real Curses, Spells"

Before the new school year began, the Rev. Dan Reehil turned to several exorcists for advice.

www.ndtv.com

And a little more:

'Expelliarmus!' Move to ban Harry Potter from Florida school sign of DeSantis' overreach

Thanks to Florida's book ban law, a Jupiter elementary school may remove Harry Potter. Imagination-expanding stories are dangerous to young minds.

www.palmbeachpost.com

 

[CrimsonJazz]

BTW, I disagree with the bookstore removing them from its shelves.

Someone should tell them to just bake the damn cake.......oh, wait.

Truth be told, I honestly don't mind a private business making a business decision like this. I don't mind if a bakery doesn't want to make a gay cake. This is what is great about free markets. I'm happy to give my money to the businesses who want it. And those that don't? Welp, hope it all works out for ya.

Remember the cafe that charged an extra 18% tax on men? It was meant to bring awareness to the (mythical) pay gap, but all it really did was wind up closing down the business. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. This is especially true in a Capitalist society.

 

[Huckleberry]

Someone should tell them to just bake the damn cake.......oh, wait.

Truth be told, I honestly don't mind a private business making a business decision like this. I don't mind if a bakery doesn't want to make a gay cake. This is what is great about free markets. I'm happy to give my money to the businesses who want it. And those that don't? Welp, hope it all works out for ya.

Remember the cafe that charged an extra 18% tax on men? It was meant to bring awareness to the (mythical) pay gap, but all it really did was wind up closing down the business. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. This is especially true in a Capitalist society.

I mind if a business chooses not to serve a protected class, but others might feel differently.

As far as Rowling goes, if a bookstore chooses not to stock her work, that's its choice. Without discussing my stance on Rowling's comments, I still express my disagreement with the decision. However, as you say, people have the right to take their money elsewhere.

 

[CrimsonJazz]

I mind if a business chooses not to serve a protected class, but others might feel differently.

I feel differently only because the notion of a "protected class" is utterly outrageous to me. The point of equality is to level the playing field for all. Just my opinion....

 

[Huckleberry]

I feel differently only because the notion of a "protected class" is utterly outrageous to me. The point of equality is to level the playing field for all. Just my opinion....

It would be wonderful if the playing field was level for everyone and I wish we lived in a country where protected class status was unnecessary, but I don't think that's the case yet. For now, let's agree to disagree.

 

[jthomas666]

SF bookstore no longer selling 'Harry Potter' due to author J.K. Rowling's anti-transgender politics

A San Francisco bookstore will no longer carry the "Harry Potter" series due to author J.K. Rowling's political actions toward excluding transgender women from gendered spaces.

abc7news.com

I’m old enough to remember when book bans were a bad thing…..oh yeah, because it was literally 5 minutes ago.

There's a slight difference between the state removing a book from the shelves and a private business deciding not to carry a particular product--book or otherwise.

 

[CrimsonJazz]

There's a slight difference between the state removing a book from the shelves and a private business deciding not to carry a particular product--book or otherwise.

Correct, but the question remains: if a bookstore banned all LGB materials from its inventory, would there be much wailing and gnashing of teeth? Yes. Yes, there would. Would hysterical leftists label it a book ban, even though that is technically incorrect? Yes. Yes, they would. I'm reasonably certain the nazis would be invoked and accusations of fascism would be flying from every direction.

I know Americans will never agree on anything, but is it too much to ask for a single standard for stuff like this? Apparently so. And don't you hate it when people answer their own questions like this? Yes, yes I do.

 

[Huckleberry]

Correct, but the question remains: if a bookstore banned all LGB materials from its inventory, would there be much wailing and gnashing of teeth? Yes. Yes, there would. Would hysterical leftists label it a book ban, even though that is technically incorrect? Yes. Yes, they would. I'm reasonably certain the nazis would be invoked and accusations of fascism would be flying from every direction.

I know Americans will never agree on anything, but is it too much to ask for a single standard for stuff like this? Apparently so. And don't you hate it when people answer their own questions like this? Yes, yes I do.

To be fair, I'm sure there are many Christian bookstores that don't carry LGBTQ materials. And there are likely independent bookstores owned by conservatives that don't have those books on their shelves. The big difference is that they don't find it necessary to issue press releases about their decision.

 

[jthomas666]

I'm reasonably certain the nazis would be invoked and accusations of fascism would be flying from every direction.

Probably, particularly when taken in the context of the administration seeking to strip people of constitutional rights, and the Supreme Court's gleeful willingness to enable it.

 

[jthomas666]

Catholic school in Metairie fires popular gay music teacher

Mark Richards had taught music and was band director at a Metairie Catholic school since 2023. He was fired this week after a parent found an obituary for his late husband.

www.nola.com

1. If he signed a contract with the morals clause, then the school was within its rights to fire him. It sucks, but them's the breaks. Actually, they might still be within their rights had there not been a morals clause. It's not like the Church's attitude towards LGTBQ is a guarded secret.

2. IF the administration had known about his marriage for some time, then it's a particularly douchey move, but again, contract. If the morals clause wasn't there and he could prove that the school knew about his marriage when he was hired, he might have a legal leg to stand on, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Full disclosure: My mom was fired as the principle of a Catholic school because she got divorced. She was fired by the same priest who had counseled her in the months leading up to the divorce. Which is one reason I'm particularly leery of organized religion.

 

[Huckleberry]

NYT gift link

Budapest Pride Parade Was Bigger Than Ever, Despite Orban’s Ban
Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party enacted the ban, but Budapest’s mayor allowed the event to go on. The police sat on the sidelines.

A government ban on Hungary’s annual Pride parade backfired on Saturday when more than 100,000 people marched through the Hungarian capital, far more than have taken part in previous such events.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday warned people to stay away from the banned parade, threatening “clear legal consequences” for anyone taking part. Government warnings, however, only turned what is usually a low-key event attended by a few thousand L.G.B.T.Q. activists and their friends into a mass rally against Mr. Orban’s government.

 

[crimsonaudio]

“We often ask parents, ‘Would you rather have a dead son than a live daughter?’” Johanna Olson-Kennedy of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles once explained to ABC News. Variations on the phrase crop up in innumerable media articles and public statements by influencers, activists, and LGBTQ groups. The same idea—that the choice is transition or death—appeared in the arguments made by Elizabeth Prelogar, the Biden administration’s solicitor general, before the Supreme Court last year. Tennessee’s law prohibiting the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to treat minors with gender dysphoria would, she said, “increase the risk of suicide.”

But there is a huge problem with this emotive formulation: It isn’t true. When Justice Samuel Alito challenged the ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio on such claims during oral arguments, Strangio made a startling admission. He conceded that there is no evidence to support the idea that medical transition reduces adolescent suicide rates.

Progressives trapped in 'misinformation bubble' about transgender youth treatments, Atlantic writer admits

A new Atlantic article exposed "zombie facts" about youth gender medicine, arguing liberals have been misled about the scientific evidence and suicide risk reduction claims.

www.yahoo.com

Original Atlantic article:

The Liberal Misinformation Bubble About Youth Gender Medicine

How the left ended up disbelieving the science

www.theatlantic.com

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Progressives trapped in 'misinformation bubble' about transgender youth treatments, Atlantic writer admits

A new Atlantic article exposed "zombie facts" about youth gender medicine, arguing liberals have been misled about the scientific evidence and suicide risk reduction claims.

www.yahoo.com

Original Atlantic article:

The Liberal Misinformation Bubble About Youth Gender Medicine

How the left ended up disbelieving the science

www.theatlantic.com

I think the glaring and overly obvious conclusion to this situation is that there is a high suicide rate in minors with gender dysphoria, whether they have the surgery or not. There seems to be mental trauma or mental illness that comes along with having gender dysphoria, which results in high suicide rates.

Maybe some of it is prompted externally by a lack of social acceptance from loved ones, or possibly it is solely internally, that just comes with the condition, or possibly a mix of both.

 

[jthomas666]

I think the glaring and overly obvious conclusion to this situation is that there is a high suicide rate in minors with gender dysphoria, whether they have the surgery or not. There seems to be mental trauma or mental illness that comes along with having gender dysphoria, which results in high suicide rates.

Maybe some of it is prompted externally by a lack of social acceptance from loved ones, or possibly it is solely internally, that just comes with the condition, or possibly a mix of both.

The biggest driver is fear of parental and social rejection. That is true for all LGBTQ, not just trans. Even if the parents are accepting, LGBTQ adolescents are absolutely terrified that their parents will reject them. We have two good friends whose trans child killed himself for that very fear, even though the couple was as open and loving a couple as any kid could wish for.

My wife is currently at a Georgia Honors Program science camp at GaSouthern. They've got students from all over the state; several are LGBTQ. GaSouthern has a strong LGBTQ presence, and the students at the camp have found the experience liberating--it's been the first time that they have not had to worry about being judged or mocked.

That's one of the reasons I've got no problem banning transition surgery for minors (or at least raising the bar for approval); I suspect that in many cases, gender dysphoria masks some other issue(s). A change of environment such as going to college is likely to provide some clarity on this issue.