#hypocrity

Credit where credit is due: Trump broke with tradition--his own--and finally recognized Pride Month after ignoring it for the past two years.

Blame where blame is due: Trump still heads the most anti-LGBTQ+ administration in decades, and actions speak a lot louder than words. Trump picked virulently anti-LGBTQ+ Mike Pence as his running mate (and Trump knew it full well). He then appointed consistently anti-LGBTQ+ Jeff Sessions as his Attorney General--who, as expected, promptly directed the Department of Justice to adopt consistently anti-LGBTQ+ positions, both in its own policies and before the courts. The rest of Trump’s cabinet has followed suit:

“The Department of Health and Human Services released a proposal last week rolling back health care protections for transgender people. The regulation would scrap ObamaCare’s definition of ‘sex discrimination’ to remove protections for gender identity. In addition, the Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed a rule earlier this month that would roll back protections for homeless transgender people by allowing federally funded shelters to turn away transgender people for religious reasons. The administration also finalized rules earlier this month giving more leeway to health workers to deny people treatment if doing so would violate their religious or moral beliefs. The Pentagon’s policy barring most transgender people from serving in the military unless they serve under their biological sex took effect last month following a series of court battles.”

Trump has taken numerous other steps to curtail LGBTQ+ rights, “from nominating judges aligned with anti-gay hate groups to banning transgender people from the military.” He opposes marriage equality, champions anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination under the guise of religious freedom, and openly supports anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups. In just the past few months alone, Trump “rolled back healthcare rules aimed at helping LGBTQ people and also opposed the passage of the Equality Act.”

So yeah. Good for Trump for not ignoring Pride Month again and paying it lip service, because that’s better than nothing.

The Green Family, owners of the Hobby Lobby chain of craft stores, has asked the US Supreme Court to grant them ‘conscience protection,’ exempting them from their obligations under the Affordable Care Act. They claim that their religious convictions don’t allow them to cover employees’ birth control.

As it happens, I know a little something about conscience protection. I’m a Quaker–one of the groups for whom the first conscience protection laws were created.

Which one of the Conservative Party of Canada’s founding principles is the biggest joke?

A balance between fiscal accountability, progressive social policy and individual rights and responsibilities;

Build a national coalition of people who share these beliefs and who reflect the regional, cultural and socio-economic diversity of Canada;

Develop this coalition, embracing our differences and respecting our traditions, yet honoring a concept of Canada as the greater sum of strong parts;

The Conservative Party will operate in a manner accountable and responsive to its members;

A belief in loyalty to a sovereign and united Canada governed in accordance with the Constitution of Canada, the supremacy of democratic parliamentary institutions and the rule of law;

A belief in the equality of all Canadians;

A belief in the freedom of the individual, including freedom of speech, worship and assembly;

A belief in our constitutional monarchy, the institutions of Parliament and the democratic process;

A belief in the federal system of government as the best expression of the diversity of our country, and in the desirability of strong provincial and territorial governments;

A belief that English and French have equality of status, and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada;

A belief that the best guarantors of the prosperity and well-being of the people of Canada are:

The freedom of individual Canadians to pursue their enlightened and legitimate self-interest within a competitive economy;

The freedom of individual Canadians to enjoy the fruits of their labour to the greatest possible extent; and

The right to own property;

A belief that a responsible government must be fiscally prudent and should be limited to those responsibilities which cannot be discharged reasonably by the individual or others;

A belief that it is the responsibility of individuals to provide for themselves, their families and their dependents, while recognizing that government must respond to those who require assistance and compassion;

A belief that the purpose of Canada as a nation state and its government, guided by reflective and prudent leadership, is to create a climate wherein individual initiative is rewarded, excellence is pursued, security and privacy of the individual is provided and prosperity is guaranteed by a free competitive market economy;

A belief that the quality of the environment is a vital part of our heritage to be protected by each generation for the next;

A belief that Canada should accept its obligations among the nations of the world;

A belief that good and responsible government is attentive to the people it represents and has representatives who at all times conduct themselves in an ethical manner and display integrity, honesty and concern for the best interest of all;

A belief that all Canadians should have reasonable access to quality health care regardless of their ability to pay; and

A belief that the greatest potential for achieving social and economic objectives is under a global trading regime that is free and fair.

BE WARNED. I feel this will be very controversial etc... but feel free to broadcast your own views etc... but just one of my views...

I'll start off by stating my viewpoint. I fully support LGBT views and their rights etc... I support them fully and the idea they should be allowed to be married.

But here's the controversial point. WHY ARE WE VICTIMISING THOSE WHO DON'T BELIEVE IN THIS VIEWPOINT? Could just be my way of seeing it and i'd like to express that these views are just mine but it does feel like we on tumblr do have a tendency to victimise those who don't share this view.

I personally feel it's a narrowminded view to have and would love to educate those who have that view (I recently wrote a poem about it etc...) but if people have those views... then they have those views. The same way we don't.

If they were brought up to think like that and have that view on humanity then that's their view. (unfortunately the same goes for racism etc...) All of which are horrible things (again in my opinion) to believe in and stand for but if that's genuinely how someone see's the world and has been brought up then, as horrible as it may seem, are we right to victimise them for their views and hurl abuse at them because they don't share our ideals?

In a better world views like that wouldn't exist and more people would like/respect humanity, all of it and everyone but thanks to free will we will never live in a world like that. There will be those who believe homosexuality is a sin, is wrong. Those who look down on other races etc... and as wrong as there views may seem who are we to throw abuse at them? What makes our views so high and mighty?

I remember when a few tumblr blogs came up with some girls apparently being very racist, homophobic etc... and they were reblogged to death with people sending them countless messages and, as much as I agree their views were very small and seemed uneducated they were there views (if those blogs were real, I still question them). They were people and at the end of the day we were abusing them for their way of life.