LGBT News Wrap-Up (Update)

With thanks to Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, who did most of the work for me.

Now, about that carefully thought out and fully studied trans ban: It seems that there are a lot of unanswered questions:

The top congressional Democrats on defense issues are seeking answers from Defense Secretary James Mattis on his recommendations to President Trump against allowing transgender people in the military, which seemed to be based on junk science and were used by the administration to reaffirm its ban on their service.

In a joint letter to Mattis dated April 11, the quartet of Democrats say they were “surprised and disappointed” by Mattis’ conclusions against transgender service, which the White House made public late last month in an announcement renewing Trump’s ban.

“In our view, these recommendations contradict previous findings from the Department of Defense and the professional medical community,” the letter says. “As the president has empowered you to implement appropriate policies governing service by transgender individuals, we feel it imperative that we explore the factual bases behind your recommendations.”

The letter is signed by Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee; Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee; Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). Both Speier and Gillibrand introduced bills in their respective chambers of Congress against Trump’s transgender military ban, but those measures also sought to codify Mattis’ review before it was completed.

There's more, including the questions that no one seems to be able to answer.

It's especially weird considering that the top officials in the Army aren't aware of any problems:

During congressional testimony Thursday, the Army’s top officials explained that they have no knowledge of the unit cohesion concerns expressed in a report justifying President Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military.

Army Secretary Mark Esper and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley both said as much under questioning from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). Esper, who said back in February that soldiers aren’t concerned about transgender service, reiterated, “Nothing has percolated up to my level.” When Gillibrand asked Milley if transgender troops have caused any issues with unit cohesion, he confirmed, “No. Not at all.”

Update: I almost forgot this choice bit of news:

A federal judge ruled that the trans military ban cannot be implemented and that transgender people are a “protected class.”

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman of the Western District of Washington in Karnoski v. Trump refused to lift the injunction against implementing the trans military ban, which means that while the court examines it, the Trump Administration cannot implement it. . . .

While the Trump Administration attempted to argue that its March 2018 memo “revoked” the 2017 trans military ban, Perchman wrote that it was just a set of more detailed guidelines about how to implement the same ban that Trump tweeted about last year.

This is important because the Trump Administration had to prove that there was a real government interest in banning transgender people from the military, something that there obviously wasn’t because Trump didn’t even hold any hearings or read any research about trans people in the military before he tweeted the ban.

The gossip is that the "panel of experts" consulted were Mike Pence and Tony Perkins. OK, it's really that Perkins wrote the ban.

Do we really want this as our top diplomat?

On Thursday, Mike Pompeo, Trump's nominee for Secretary of State, answered questions in front of a Senate committee. Pompeo has a lot to answer for regarding his past Islamophobic statements and alliances as well as his anti-LGBTQ record. Naturally, this means that those on the right, particularly the religious right, support him. They claim that he will stand up for "religious liberty."

Pompeo's record is in direct contradiction of American policy regarding LGBT issues -- which the Trump regime has started dismantling. Needless to say, Tony Perkins adores him. And it's not just Perkins who's coming down on the side of "religious freedom" [sic].

Corporate America seems to get it when our government (at least under the present regime) can't.

I guess it's time for One Million Moms (minus 960,000 -- um, that's their mailing list, not their active membership) to start rending garments and clutching pearls.

And this is going viral. Thought-provoking.

Maybe I live in a different world, but where I live -- the North Side of Chicago -- no one thinks twice about two guys or two gals holding hands. And it's not just in "our" neighborhoods -- it's places like Uptown and Lincoln Park Zoo, as well.