524 Comments
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Joe King's avatar

"In a brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, the right-wing lawyers say their expulsion amounts to religious discrimination."

That's the whole story in a nutshell. "You're discriminating against us if we aren't allowed to break the law and discriminate against you." So predictable how quickly they cry persecution when they are only losing privilege.

Matri's avatar

I keep saying, we’re denying their religious right to deny other people basic human rights.

Ethereal Fairy's avatar

🎯Same as it ever was, this is their only tool in their box.

Troublesh00ter's avatar

First, a Christian school gets all bent out of shape because an opposing team has a trans person as a participating and competing member. THEN that same Christian school goes to court to try to justify their bigoted point of view and gets their asses handed to them for their trouble.

Sounds like justice to me! 😁

NOGODZ20's avatar

To the MVCS...

Your own book tells you to obey all earthly laws and authorities. Why do you constantly struggle to do that? Not only that, you use "Man's Law," which you openly disobey and claim is not superior to "God's Law" (which you also openly disobey), to file frivolous lawsuits. You appear to have not just a double standard, but a triple/quadruple standard

Bottom line? You don't get to point fingers at others in this matter. You did this to yourselves.

(Edited to add content)

Joe King's avatar

Cherry, meet picker.

Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

"miss out on middle school and high school sports, LOSE VALUABLE TUITION REIMBURSEMENS, and inevitably lose students necessary to keep its doors open."

This is what irk them more, the sweet scent of tax-payer money ending in their coffers instead of public schools.

As for the third point, I am sure Vermont doesn't lack of religious/private schools who accept to follow the same rules as public schools. It's how it works here, and not a squeak from fundies.

mechtheist's avatar

It's profoundly dishonest to claim you're religious freedom is under attack because you're being stopped from attempts to force your religion on everyone else. Sickening too.

Julie Duggan's avatar

Religious hypochondriacs

Troublesh00ter's avatar

Wow, a backwards weirdo! Doesn't get a lot worse than that! 🤣

NOGODZ20's avatar

He claims he left South Africa because he opposed the then-apartheid regime.

Uh, sure Jan. You left SA to come to Canada and America to make money.

Troublesh00ter's avatar

I could wish he'd go back there, but I doubt South Africa would have him!

NOGODZ20's avatar

When you're too corrupt for South Africa after Mandela stepped down, you know you've reached a whole new level.

Joan the Dork's avatar

Now that it's a practical option, we 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 load him on one of his own rockets and fire him into the Sun. I'm not saying we 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 do that, but I'm not... 𝘯𝘰𝘵 saying that.

NOGODZ20's avatar

We could even tie him to the outside of the rocket.

Oops, did I say that out loud?

Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

Venus. The climate there will prepare him for the ever after.

Ethereal Fairy's avatar

As you probably know, his mom is Canadian, which let him get his foot in the continent. Canada is much easier to emmigrate to. (I happen to married to one, he tells me things)

Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

? noitartsnomed a tnaw uoy oD .retteb od nac I

Troublesh00ter's avatar

I think I just got one! 👍

Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

I just saw a meme with a photo of him at a sportsball game with other tech-bros while someone was gushing about how he runs all these companies, has all these kids, does all this work and still has time to catch a sportsball game. The response was that he doesn’t raise his children, do any work at the companies he owns or participate in any of the other activities, so of course he has time to watch sports.

And, since when has Taylor asked to be given a child? Where is her request for protection? Another man just inserting himself into an uninterested woman’s life. The man she is interested in is far superior to Musk in every way despite not having billions of dollars. (I don’t even know much about Kelce just that he looks to be super supportive of Swift and not afraid of being called effeminate for it)

Lynn Veit's avatar

"And, since when has Taylor asked to be given a child?"

Which is why his gross and condescending "offer" is so infuriating and so gag-inducing at the same time.

How many times have we heard variations on this crap in movies, on TV, and in real life? "Baby, what you need in your life is a man...a real man who can straighten you out and take care of you, etc., etc."

Matri's avatar

She put out a post voicing her support for Harris/Walz, and signed it “Childless Cat Lady”

https://media.mas.to/cache/media_attachments/files/113/116/803/348/444/083/original/67c40a49fc5d6618.png

cdbunch's avatar

Like I said upthread. Class.

Troublesh00ter's avatar

Taylor would probably tell him to take a long walk off a short pier!

Troublesh00ter's avatar

Ohhhhh, WITH ... Please! 😁

NOGODZ20's avatar

I'm all for locking him in one of his capsules sending him into space with just enough fuel to strand him in orbit.

The Russians might come to his rescue...maybe.

Joan the Dork's avatar

Nah, Earth orbit isn't far enough away. Too much chance he'd be able to come back down somehow.

cdbunch's avatar

Send him to Hillary's place on Mars.

Troublesh00ter's avatar

Totally with that, though I don't think the Russians would waste a Soyuz on him!

xenubarb's avatar

"I will give you a child."

Well, he could, he can spare a few. Personally, I think he should be ticketed for littering.

cdbunch's avatar

How about a disgusting man-child who thinks because he has money his opinion matters?

Lynn Veit's avatar

ICK....the thought of that...creature...giving anyone a child makes my skin crawl.

Joan the Dork's avatar

At least one of his children turned out okay... and disowned his loathsome ass.

Imagine having a parent so irredeemably awful that you'd throw away your shot at a multi-𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 dollar inheritance to be rid of them. That's Elon Musk. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 that parent.

Straw's avatar

And he seems to believe it is a sign of intelligence.

Lynn Veit's avatar

Still, the thought of THAT ... whatever he is ... procreating, propogating, reproducing, whatever the hell it does ... it just is not a concept that invites contemplation. It's just too gross for words.

Ethereal Fairy's avatar

Yes, even asexual reproduction is too horrible to contemplate.

Lynn Veit's avatar

Musk himself resembles some sort of product of asexual reproduction. Almost every picture I see of him makes him look like some artificially grown organism that was pulled out of the cloning vat before his skin congealed...or maybe a wax museum exhibit where the AC isn't working correctly.

Stacey's avatar

He reminds me of a carp. Or a large mouth bass

cdbunch's avatar

If I wanted an account on the Godawful Bird App, I'd tweet him my Crazy Cat Lady Coalition artwork.

Len Koz's avatar

If Muskie was as funny as he THINKS he is, he'd be a great comedian.

Alas for Elon, we don't live on Bizarro World.

NOGODZ20's avatar

Righties suck at being funny. They always have. The concept of genuine humor is completely lost on them.

Lynn Veit's avatar

That's because humor, to them, is something that causes pain and humiliation to anyone who is "different."

Ethereal Fairy's avatar

🎯Bang on! They always punch down, humor is about punching UP.

Matri's avatar

According to Trump, his name is Leon. Not Elon.

NOGODZ20's avatar

He got all the letters, didn't he? 😉

Straw's avatar

It must have been by accident.

James Clark's avatar

I can't help but to relate this to all white schools refusing to play basketball against schools with black players. It was never about the athletes. It was always about the leadership of the schools and their racist beliefs, which were often supported by the Southern Baptist Church. I can only applaud the leadership in Vermont that will not cave in to the discriminatory demands of a discriminatory religion.

Ethereal Fairy's avatar

Ah yes, the "segregation academies."

xenubarb's avatar

This is the exact same tale I read about when I lived in San Francisco in the late 80s. A secular college there had facilities it allowed student clubs to use. But, there were rules. No discriminating against gay students and others. Simple rule, right?

So along comes a 'christian students club,' a little nest of homophobic bigots. One excluded gay student complained, and the club was told it had a choice; inclusion or lose access to facilities.

Of course, they whined about persecution, and the story made the paper. Since they felt it was their right to be assholes, and that their religion demanded same, obviously they were being persecuted for following their religion. Their beliefs were under attack!

They didn't get any sympathy from the college or the community at large, and they were banned from school property because of their bigotry.

I remember this story because I really liked the outcome!

Jane in NC's avatar

Nobody has a constitutional right to play high school sports. The christian school's religious beliefs were not affected by the Vermont Principals' Association but by their own actions in deciding not to play against a team with a trans member. It's vile, but it was their right not to participate, and no one tried to force them to.

What they're trying to do here is have it both ways: refuse to play against schools with trans athletes, in violation of the league rules, AND not be penalized for it. Which is just another way of using the courts to get some christian privilege.

Bananies's avatar

So glad they had their as*** handed to them. Anybody else wondering if we’re in a major evolutionary upheaval? Since I am lgbtq+, I say it’s about time.

Elena Christian's avatar

Traditionally, "standing up for your beliefs" meant YOU made the sacrifice, and not that you forced your beliefs on others. If trans girls and women in sports upsets you so much, don't play. There, problem solved.

Joe King's avatar

They did that, at first. They didn’t like the fact that their "stand" didn't have the result they wanted: the government to bow down to their beliefs and force them on everyone. Their stand had the proper result: a loss of privilege and being told to follow the same rules everyone else must.

Allyson Ballou (she/her)'s avatar

Thank you for writing this!! So few people are reporting on what's happening to trans kids in the country every day!!

cdbunch's avatar

I worry about them too.

I post this list every once in a while to help any LGBTQ2SIA kids who might be reading and to give those who can, some ideas for places to donate money.

Suicide Prevention:

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/ - The Trevor Project - 1-866-488-7386 - SMS 678-678

Assistance for Homeless LGBT Youth

https://www.dallashopecharities.org/programs/dallas-hope-center/ - Dallas Hope Center - Dallas, TX

https://www.thriveyouthcenter.org/ - Thrive Youth Center - San Antonio, TX

http://duneslgbtfoundation.org/ - Dune LGBT Foundation - Ft. Worth, TX

https://www.aliforneycenter.org/ - Ali Forney Center - New York City, NY

https://lalgbtcenter.org/social-service-and-housing/youth/homelessness - LA LGBT Center - Los Angeles, CA

https://www.ruthelliscenter.org/ - Ruth Ellis Center - Detroit, MI

https://larkinstreetyouth.org/ - Larkin Street Youth - San Francisco, CA

https://www.sfcenter.org/lgbt-san-francisco/homeless-lgbtq-youth/ - SF LGBT Center - San Francisco, CA

https://www.outyouth.org/ - Out Youth - Austin, TX

https://www.facebook.com/Thetransitionalcenter/ - The Transitional Support Center - El Paso, TX

https://truecolorsunited.org/ - True Colors United - U.S. National Advocacy organization

https://homelessgaykidshouston.org/ - Homeless Gay Kids Houston - Houston, TX

https://www.angelfire.com/folk/isis - ISIS from Youthcare - Seattle, WA

https://le-refuge.org/ - Le refuge - Major metropolitan areas throughout France

https://www.covenanthouse.org/homeless-issues/lgbtq-homeless-youth - several major metropolitan areas throughout the U.S.

cdbunch's avatar

BTW, the Trevor Project is having a double your donation matching thing right now.

Ethereal Fairy's avatar

Hermant is well worth subscribing to for that alone.

oraxx's avatar

It is both amazing and disgusting that certain Christians can claim religious persecution because they're not allowed to discriminate against people they disapprove of. If parents are sending their children to a school like this in hopes it will make them better people, that effort is doomed to failure. My grand kids went to a high-end Christian school that routinely sends graduates to the Ivy League, as well as turning out some massively screwed up kids at the same time.

cdbunch's avatar

They're mostly sending their kids there so they aren't exposed to diverse people and grow up to be just as bigoted as their parents.

Straw's avatar

You are correct. The parents of course, don't see it like that. Because a book mostly written some thousand years ago and then rewritten so many times that the believers had to split and make new groups of followers again and again is the only answer. Yepp.

Maltnothops's avatar

I often wonder just how "Christian" any given belief actually is when a contrary belief is adhered to by other Christians. I grant that both beliefs are religious but who decides which one, if either, is Christian.

Some Christians believe God abhors homosexuality. Some Christians believe God sanctifies same sex marriages. These can't both be Christian beliefs.

cdbunch's avatar

You'd have to ask Henry VIII and Clement VII. Apparently they disagreed on the Christian definition of adultery.

Joan the Dork's avatar

The power of boners has, historically, had far greater influence over the conduct of kings than religious scripture has.

Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

"who decides which one, if either, is Christian."*

The one still alive after their amicable theological discussion.

Die Anyway's avatar

........I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over. 😇

Anri's avatar

They can so long as one stops believing Christianity is internally consistent or based on the dictates of anything other than human expressing their own baseless opinions.

Holytape's avatar

It's amazing that this school emphasizes "biological" when, my guess, is that actually biology is treated as if it flowed from the tits of Satan himself.

Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz's avatar

That explains the age old question of why men have nipples. They come from the tits of Satan.

Maltnothops's avatar

Who knew Satan had so many tits!

I'm titillated.

Which reminds me: How do you titillate an ocelot?

Oscillate it's tits a lot!

Lynn Veit's avatar

That one brings back memories ... First time I heard this joke -- football game with friends, most of them chugging beer (which I found shocking, but fortunately not enough to say anything), one of them telling this joke, me being glad it was dark so nobody could see my face turning red.

I was so unprepared for the world outside my bubble....

cdbunch's avatar

I didn't cuss all through high school, by the end of my freshman year of college, I sounded like a character out of a Stephen King novel.

I still have moments of Prudish shock, and I've been out of it for nearly 40 years.

Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

I learned my first ribald song in second or third grade at my first boardschool 🤣

Straw's avatar

Both my parents came from nothern Norway. To learn how to cuss properly was part of my upbringing.

Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

As Saint Atheist Juliette Noureddine says in one of her songs "The Devil is a woman"

NOGODZ20's avatar

As Saint George Carlin said:

"If this is the best that God can do, I am not impressed. Results like these do not belong on the resume of a Supreme Being, This is the kind of shit you'd expect from an office temp with a bad attitude. And just between you and me, in any decently-run universe, this guy would have been out on his all-powerul ass a long time ago. And by the way, I say "this guy," because I firmly believe, looking at these results, that if there is a God it has to be a man. No woman could or would ever fuck things up like this."

- Carlin, from a much longer routine, June 22nd, 2008

Die Anyway's avatar

> "No woman could or would ever fuck things up like this."

I used to give women credit like this, then along came Michelle Bachmann, Sara Palin, Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Trailer Queen, et al, and I had to rethink.

Straw's avatar

You forgot Margareth Thatcher and "Mother" Theresa. Luckily they didn't live forever.

Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

A part bien sûr madame tatcher (Miss Maggie, Renaud).

English version

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=COsa6vvCSN0

Guerillasurgeon's avatar

One upvote for the mention of Margaret Thatcher – although as Die has already said there are a lot more in the US.

Troublesh00ter's avatar

Thanks for quote! [cut - paste!]

NOGODZ20's avatar

Thanks. Had to do an edit on it to fix a teeny typo, though.

NOGODZ20's avatar

Never mess with a cat lady.

larry parker's avatar

Shake it off (that's the only Swift song I know).

NOGODZ20's avatar

She took one look at Trump and said I Knew You Were Trouble to him.

cdbunch's avatar

You need to Calm Down.

cdbunch's avatar

Adorable redhead in that video.

Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

You've never seen 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴?

https://youtu.be/21Ki96Lsxhc

Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz's avatar

Were they bringing gold, frankincense, and myrrh?

Troublesh00ter's avatar

Well, how about THEM apples!