Category Archives: Trans

Trans & The Bible: Is God On Their Side? I Say —

 

Transphobia: The Bible Is Better Than That

2025 is becoming a crucible year for trans people and those who would be their allies: the Pete Hegseth-Trump Defense Department is after them; Iowa’s legislature just deleted them from its anti-discrimination statutes; other states may follow. And don’t even get me started on the Supreme Court.

But this post is not aiming for a comprehensive summary of ongoing transphobic crusades. Instead, I want to retrace my search for what’s at the root of the support for them. I have some idea of the politics, and a few of the major personalities; but what’s the nub, the “bottom line”?

It isn’t the “science” cited on behalf of anti-trans laws — much of it a curdled combination of cant and charlatanry. Or the panic over predators stalking “little girls” in public restrooms, which is almost all trumped up, and such assaults have long been illegal anyway.

Then there’s the huge public panic over a vanishingly few trans women competing (and not always) winning in girls’ sports. From all this and more we already know the cultural right has big issues over a gender binary (and male dominance), and that riling up its base about sex reliably works to boost its voter turnout.

But what is its basic justification? Continue reading Trans & The Bible: Is God On Their Side? I Say —

Military Schoolkids: Kiss These Books Goodbye! – Hegseth /Trump Censorship Starts

The DOD “guidance” memo was blunt:

”Identity Months Dead at DOD.” 

Besides banning Black History Month observances in the military, Hegseth/Trump is now pressing their anti-DEI extermination mission by purging the shelves of Defense Department schools, which  67, 000 elementary & secondary students attend at 160 locations worldwide. (One of them was me, a long time ago.) The goal is, in the words of a presidential executive order (EO): “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling.” Continue reading Military Schoolkids: Kiss These Books Goodbye! – Hegseth /Trump Censorship Starts

William Penn Died This Week; Just When We Needed Him Most

Three hundred and six years ago, on July 30, 1718, William Penn died, in England. Aged 73, he had been in very poor health for almost six years, after a massive stroke in 1712.

This is not exactly news. And in recent years, Penn has been out of fashion in many Quaker quarters — disowned and erased for having owned slaves, who labored at his estate Pennsbury in his proprietary colony of Pennsylvania.

The slaveowning was bad, and should not be forgotten. But if we cancel and further erase Penn, it is Friends, and friends of Friends, who are in my judgment the big losers.  Especially now. Continue reading William Penn Died This Week; Just When We Needed Him Most

NC Governor’s Race: It’s a Black & White Choice

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Democratic attorney general and the Republican lieutenant governor won North Carolina’s primaries for governor on Tuesday, setting the stage for what will be an expensive and highstakes November contest in a state that the two parties see as a pivotal battleground in 2024.

Josh Stein and Mark Robinson, each of whom turned back multiple party rivals, will present a stark contrast for voters in the ninthlargest state’s fall elections.

Stein is a longtime member of North Carolina’s political scene, a lawyer with the endorsement of termlimited Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and a long history of consumer advocacy before and during his time as AG. He’d be the state’s first Jewish governor if elected.

Robinson, meanwhile, is a former factory worker who splashed into conservative circles after a 2018 viral speech to his hometown city council — catapulting him to lieutenant governor in 2020 and the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. He’s North Carolina’s first Black lieutenant governor and would become the state’s first Black governor as well.

Continue reading NC Governor’s Race: It’s a Black & White Choice

Ghana Anti-Gay Bill almost Enacted

AP News: Ghana’s anti-LGBTQ+ bill draws international condemnation after it is passed by parliament

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — A bill which criminalizes LGBTQ+ people in Ghana and their supporters drew international condemnation Thursday after it was passed by parliament, with the United Nations calling it “profoundly disturbing” and urging for it not to become law.

In a statement, Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner, said the bill broadens the scope of criminal sanctions against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people simply for being who they are, and threatens criminal penalties against those perceived as their allies.

“Consensual samesex conduct should never be criminalized … The bill, if it becomes law, will be corrosive, and will have a negative impact on society as a whole, she said.

Continue reading Ghana Anti-Gay Bill almost Enacted