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oraxx's avatar

Anyone who has studied history honestly knows that this behavior is entirely consistent with Christianity. What Christians acting in the name of Christianity have done to their fellow humans doesn't leave them standing on the moral high ground. A great many vocal Christians value the authoritarianism of the institutional church far more than anything Jesus supposedly taught. I say supposedly, because no one has any idea what he actually taught because there is no independent corroboration for any of it.

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ericc's avatar

Everything from the Spanish Inquisition to pacificst vegan Copts fit under the "Christianity" label. So both Senator Bisignano *and* his targets represent forms of Christianity. For sure though, religious authoritarianism has been on the rise in the US in the last decade or two, which makes it *especially* valuable to see RCCs and other Christians like Bisignano fight it. Their opinion likely carries a lot more weight with your person-on-the-street evangelical than our lowly nones does.

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oraxx's avatar

Don't leave out the Thirty Years War. Some historians estimate as many as eight million people perished in it, and it was mostly about trying to sort out who was, or was not, a TRUE Christian.

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Maltnothops's avatar

While the death toll in the Philadelphia Bible Riots was very low, I like bringing it up. Protestants and Catholics rioting and killing over the proper way to read from the bible in public schools.

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Stephen Brady's avatar

Yeah - how come this great Rabbi known from Damascus to the Decapolis and beyond didn’t leave behind written teachings? The absence of a Book of Jesus is, I think, remarkable. As for modern-day Christians, they don’t seem to be familiar with their Christ’s teachings or want to have anything to do with all that woke stuff…

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oraxx's avatar

How is it no contemporary historian noticed him? Not even a Jewish historian who you would think would have spoken out against someone so upsetting to the status quo. Richard Carrier is a bona fide expert on that era, and he points out the region was awash with itinerant preachers. It's unlikely he would have stood out, if he even existed. What we read in the Bible is almost certainly written by people trying to make a case for their new religion.

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Stephen Brady's avatar

There are still Talmudic writings attributed to Gamaliel who is mentioned in Luke and Acts - a famous Rabbi on the Sanhedrin… he ought to have been the best witness the Christians could have. And Paul was supposed to have been working for the High Priest about that time… yet he is silent.

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phelpsmediation's avatar

How far back do the MAGA folks want to push protections for “others”? Before the civil rights acts of the 1960s, Brown v Board of Education, women’s right to vote, end of child labor, etc. ???

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oraxx's avatar

The1890s appear to be their ideal time frame. The peak of the Gilded Age when business had no rules, workers had no rights, while women and people of color were little more than property.

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XJC's avatar
Mar 4Edited

And in the 1990s, the Central Park Five were guilty because Donald Trump said so in a full page New York Times ad.

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oraxx's avatar

Yup.

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Stephen Brady's avatar

Maybe the christo-fascists should start building First Church of MAGA franchises?

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XJC's avatar
Mar 5Edited

From Jesus Was Born January 6 © in the off-Broadway hit, Dictator for a Day, coming very soon to streaming:

"To hell with other countries

America’s the best.

That is why I took a dump

On Nancy Pelosi’s desk.

I believe that Donald Trump

Is the king the Lord has picked,

And I believe that Jesus

Was born on January sixth."

DictatorForADayShow.com

https://www.youtube.com/@DictatorForADayShow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Ins4JSkRs

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Ethereal fairy Natalie's avatar

1860, before the civil war, they want their slavery back.

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RegularJoe's avatar

All the way.

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

Before 1776.

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John Smith's avatar

The Christian fascist rednecks want to go back to the 11th century.

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Joe King's avatar

1184, when the first inquisitions started.

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Kiwiwriter47's avatar

I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition....

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Joe King's avatar

No one does.

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RegularJoe's avatar

Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... I'll come in again.

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Kiwiwriter47's avatar

It’s chief weapon is fear and surprise…

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ericc's avatar

THAT one was 1492. Easy to remember the date since Isabella and Ferdinand completed their reconquista and immediately afterwards turned their power to the task of exploration...and wiping out Spanish Jews.

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Kiwiwriter47's avatar

Who were helping to keep Spain financially stable, of course.

Always kill the Golden Goose.

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Straw's avatar

No one with a drop of sanity in them does, but here we are. TYG must have promised them they would get everything the wanted if they supported him.

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Matilda's avatar

When I was beginning my deconversion ten years ago - after 50 years of devout fundy-ism - a passage from the Acts of the Apostles was read in my church. A lightbulb moment for me. It's where Paul claims his preaching, his gospel is the only right one, only he has purity of doctrine. I saw that, from earliest times, there were quite bitter factions and arguments....leading to centuries of dispute and an untold number of wars and atrocities in the name of jesus.

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Boreal's avatar

They want to be able to own other humans.

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Ethereal fairy Natalie's avatar

👆🎯

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

“Wiser people know this bill won’t help anybody. Women and children won’t be protected because of this assault on the trans community, despite what Reynolds said when signing the bill.”

It is clear that women and girls are actually more threatened by this kind of bill, the Olympics, the little girl at the track meet a few years ago, hell, I’ve seen it play out in front of me while using a public restroom. That is part of the intent. Yeah they want to hurt LGBTQ people, but they also are trying to force women back into the very strict and restrictive gender roles. If you don’t fit their version of feminine they will attack you as a transgender person. Being cis is not a shield if your hair is too short, you have too many muscles, you have interests more associated with men, h even if you just have a frog in your throat and your voice is too deep. While there is nothing wrong with being transgender, I will stand by anyone who is, the right isn’t using it as an insult, they’re using it as an excuse to commit violence and therein lies the rub.

LGBTQ rights are human rights and as they lose their rights you can see where others lose rights as well. I would argue that women have lost civil rights before this when Roe was overturned. That was the precedent, but this is just as devastating and we ought to fight just as hard to fix it.

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PollyProletariat's avatar

Ironic that trans rights protect women's rights. Never used to be the case that cis women were confronted in bathrooms simply for having short hair or for not wearing make-up. When MAGA Nazis say: 'What is a woman?', what they really mean is: 'Dress like a Steford Wife, have babies - serve your husband and get in the kitchen.'

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

Not to be pedantic but it isn’t ironic at all, that’s how rights work, specifically human rights. Once you take away a right from one group, you lose rights from your own.

The right knows this, they pretend they’re defending women to gain support from the gullible women on the right and the pick mes. “Think of the children” has always rung hollow. And we know damned well that “protect women” is not about protecting women because it is never used to prosecute the actual rapists, cis-het men, who are often white, pillars of the community, Christian men. In fact, “protect women and children” has only ever been used to protect and excuse their abusers, while hurting other vulnerable populations.

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PollyProletariat's avatar

Imagine if all this political energy was directed towards solving homelessness instead.

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Straw's avatar

Hard to imagine this when there still are a big R-sided population in US. (In Norway there are few homeless people compared to most other countries, but too many that are unable to bye what they need).

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Joe King's avatar

I have seen video of two male cops going into a women's restroom to eject a cis woman that someone reported because she didn't look feminine enough.

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Claudia's avatar

Bl**dy Hell!

I am trying to think this through: For this to have happened, the cops must have been nearby. So that a woman, using the bathroom could rush out, find a couple of cops, rush back and harass another person using the loo? And to what end? Given that they were hardly going to break down the cubicle door (??) to cause an interruption in 'mid-stream', they could only really do something when the lady came out to wash her hands. And then it would surely be far simpler to just let her do that then create a fracas?

What was that person calling the cops trying to achieve? Other than being beastly to another person? But maybe that was the point. The cruelty is the point.

(Apologies, Joe, I can't 'like' this.)

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Joe King's avatar

It was at a Walmart. The cops were likely close, and it was a cashier who called. The woman was (thankfully) done with her business when they went in.

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Claudia's avatar

Thankyou.

That makes it - a bit - better. But what business of the cashier is it to police the people going into the toilets? Haven’t they got a proper job to do, i.e. cashier-ing?

I’ve posted some of my ‘in case of need use any bathroom available’ stories in a few places. There’s a real dearth of public loos, we actually need more loos in public places. Supermarkets, train stations, public squares - it would really help a lot of people take part in public life.

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑖𝑠 ...𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡 𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒.

↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑

THIS!!!!!

The Right, both religious and political, have let their inner bullies out, with (NO) thanks to Donnie Dumb-ass, who still wants to shoot someone on 5th Avenue and get away with it. How far away from actual fisticuffs on the House or Senate floor we are, I'm not certain.

But I'm not encouraged, either.

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Len Koz's avatar

If it was up to Markwayne Mullin, we'd already have had fisticuffs in the Senate.

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

I know it's come close a couple times, and I've seen fights in legislatures outside of the United States and (I THINK) in some state legislatures, but not in the Capitol.

At least not YET.

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

France, in the 90's. Sigh...

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Ethereal fairy Natalie's avatar

Ah the 1/132 part guy who claims to be native-American. He joined the Cherokee who have no quotient to join.

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ericc's avatar

I agree. One small add; opposition to trans women being in bathrooms and other women's spaces is also about putting (cis) women in a traditional role. As in: don't give that boy access to the places where I keep my property.

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User's avatar
Comment removed
Mar 6
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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

And what is feminism to you?

Because I don’t see how accepting transgender people exist and need to participate in life affects feminism.

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

The governor should remember that she belongs to a class that was deprived of rights not so long ago.

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RegularJoe's avatar

Iowa's governor is a drunk. She can't remember squat.

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Len Koz's avatar

I didn't know Jeanine Pirro was the governor of Iowa!

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Kiwiwriter47's avatar

I wonder how many of these "Christian" Iowa lawmakers commit adultery, hire hookers (of both sexes), take bribes, and mistreat their wives and kids?

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

Biblical, except maybe adultery but how many men were killed for this reason ?

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Kiwiwriter47's avatar

None, I’m sure.

Male adultery is a mark of power and achievement.

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Joe King's avatar

If the woman wasn't already married to someone else, then the adultery didn't count. She just became another wife or concubine.

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Kiwiwriter47's avatar

What a surprise.

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XJC's avatar

Two words: Larry Craig.

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Ethereal fairy Natalie's avatar

"Wide Stance!"🤣😂🤣

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Meg Allen's avatar

Probably most of them.

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Ethereal fairy Natalie's avatar

To quote Sarah Palin when asked what newspapers she read: "All of them, Katie."

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Kiwiwriter47's avatar

Does that include the “Weekly World News?”

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Ethereal fairy Natalie's avatar

Haha as if La Palin reads!

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Kiwiwriter47's avatar

Well, in “Game Change,” we saw her reading the Alaskan newspapers on her Blackberry.

The whole cast in that picture was brilliant.

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Joe King's avatar

Iowa has just begun Jim Crow Mark II. What's next, pink triangles?

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Sue Voegtlin's avatar

I’m from Iowa. Iowa was first in the nation to pass a disgusting bill like this. And I’m sure the “first nation” is being enjoyed by many folks. Shameful! But I’m so very proud of Tony for his response to this. HE made me proud to be an Iowan for a few minutes. Christianity is a far cry from what I understood it to be when I was younger. Once again, it seems to be a new story, reinvented, rewritten, to fit the needs of the day. And this is what we get…in the name of god.

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RegularJoe's avatar

Virtually every Iowa Democrat Senator & Representative gave heartfelt testimony. The Trumpublican Nazis laughed - literally laughed! - at hearing the real stories of the real harm they're inflicting. They even made up bingo cards, the fucking scum.

https://bsky.app/profile/iowastartingline.com/post/3ljbfts4w5s2x

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Joe King's avatar

If that isn't evidence that the cruelty is the point, what is?

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XJC's avatar

'Christianity is a far cry from what I understood it to be when I was younger."

It hasn't changed. Still a giant scam based on a fake deity and man made book of fables and parables, designed to control the masses and rake in lots of money. I'd say it's been very effective and consistent.

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Sue Voegtlin's avatar

I tried to be “religious” for a short period of time but it didn’t work for me. After lots of reading and thoughtful consideration, I couldn’t agree with you more.

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Jane in NC's avatar

If you listen to the arguments being used in support of trans bigotry, you'll notice they're the same arguments that have been used throughout this country's history in support of segregation, against civil rights for LGBT Americans, against equal rights for women. The scapegoating remains the same, repurposed and repackaged for use against a new scapegoat.

It's vile. But hate and bigotry are all the republicans have left.

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Ethereal fairy Natalie's avatar

The hate is all they have, they don't have facts, or science, on their side.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

In news on the national front:

"Bill to ban trans athletes from girls' and women's sports teams fails to advance in Senate"

apnews.com/article/transgender-athlete-congress-dfd81b15ebc09409f1bf6c8642f130f3

Thank you, Democrats. Thank you for standing up for trans people and standing up against Republican intolerance.

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

Sometimes, cloture has its uses and advantages.

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Ethereal fairy Natalie's avatar

❤️

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

Right off the top, BRAVO, Tony Bisignano!!! While your Republican colleagues were punching DOWN (as they are too often wont to do), you didn't just sit back or just defend, you went on offense. And yeah, those guys are pretty offensive! It's doubtful that what you said registered much with them.

But maybe SOME of them, and maybe some in the audience ... and that is where the difference is made.

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Meg Allen's avatar

Kim Reynolds is a shit stain on my state. We hate her. We hate her with a passion. But the incompetent and mentally declining aging population love that fuckin R. And they'll check any box with an R next to it because R automatically means Christian and they don't think any further than that. This is disgusting and abhorrent and I am ashamed to call myself an Iowan.

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Donrox's avatar

I remember when Iowa could boast the highest literacy rate in the nation. We all took Iowa Assessment tests when we were in school. I had an Iowan tell me that if the southern two tiers of counties left Iowa and joined Missouri, it would improve the literacy rates of both states. We are not talking about Alabama here. What happened to all those literate people in Iowa?

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Maltnothops's avatar

A lot of the brighter high school grads left the state. That’s what my sibs and I did.

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Ethereal fairy Natalie's avatar

You are not alone, I live in FL. My Gov is a poor replicant of a human.

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Iowa Blues's avatar

Not all of the aging population in the larger cities at least. Most of the people I know over 60 hate her as well (except for my boss who owns his own business). Now my male nephews in Iowa and their spouses, all in their 40’s are all R and Trump lovers. I had to disengage from that part of the family because they are hurting MY family.

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Boreal's avatar

"Nothing gets conservatives more excited or frothing at the mouth quicker than what's going on in other folks' bedrooms.” - Ann Richards

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NOGODZ20's avatar

How I miss Annie.

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Maltnothops's avatar

Me too.

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Joan the Dork's avatar

It should go without saying, but... you don't rescind civil rights protections unless you intend to violate somebody's civil rights. This is only the opening move. Worse will follow.

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

I wish I had the means to get you, and as many of minorities threatened as possible, out of this country.

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Matri's avatar

Except the ones who voted for the turd.

They wanted the face-eating leopards, they can continue waiting for their turn.

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cdbunch's avatar

I'm not trans, so my stepfather can't understand why, as a gay man, I might be worried about staying in the country.

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Boreal's avatar

Yup, I'm very worried about staying here. When they are done purging transfolk, they are coming after us gayfolk.

Nothing is more hateful than "christian love."

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cdbunch's avatar

They’re already laying the ground work. Drag queens are “groomer”, teachers can’t discuss gay with students, so the gay kids won’t even have the vocabulary for what they’re feeling or any idea that they aren’t alone. The Trevor Project is already noticing the effects and even if you count from the election, it’s only been 4 months.

Edit: The Trevor Project (LGBT Youth Suicide Prevention) https://chat.trvr.org/ - chat,678678 - text,1-866-488-7386 - call

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ericc's avatar

Good lord, does he not remember the '70s? Not even his lifetime ago, gays were being rounded up and beaten oops I mean 'arrested' by the police.

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RegularJoe's avatar

See Representative Aime Wichtendahl's speech in the Iowa House on that same bill. Aime is the first trans person elected in Iowa, so this is very personal for her.

https://youtu.be/e5BmebxmA2w?si=LZHNMkZ9LUR_qCaj

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Joe King's avatar

The NSGOP voted to take rights away from one of their colleagues, telling her 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 that she does not count as a full citizen. Fucking disgraceful.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Waiting with bated breath to hear from our man in Iowa (larry parker) on this.

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larry parker's avatar

Too embarrassed to comment.

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

Larry or Regular Joe ?

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RegularJoe's avatar

You can find my comments scattered through this post, as well as comments from other Iowans... there're more of us than it would seem.

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

Either or both of 'em, and as always, I welcome their input.

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