Civil Wrongs

Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

The Advocate reports that a far-right federal judge in Texas has determined that LGBTQ people are no longer protected from workplace discrimination.

The ruling of Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk flies in the face of the Supreme Court's 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County. In that landmark case, the justices ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

If you felt a weird twinge at a staff meeting recently, that was Judge Kacsmaryk telling you your job is on the line. And you thought it was just the lousy office coffee.

May 17

 

Staying the Course

Image:  Facebook

The first evidence is in.

Today the shiny new pope affirmed that the family is founded on the "stable union between a man and a woman." Pope Leo XIV allayed fears among conservative Catholics that he might expand his predecessor's outreach to LGBTQ Catholics. He also affirmed traditional Catholic teaching on abortion.

I assume he got all that out of the way early so he can concentrate on advocating for peace and the rights of, well, other people.

Apparently we're several pontiffs away from seeing the Catholic Church embrace queer folks. But when that pope arrives, she'll be terrific.

This Week's Quote

Image by Robin Higgins from Pixabay

President Donald Trump’s new pick for surgeon general wrote in a recent book that people should consider using unproven psychedelic drugs as therapy and in a newsletter suggested her use of mushrooms helped her find a romantic partner.

Michelle R. Smith

Source:  The Associated Press

Question of the Moment

 

Rally Round

Image:  Facebook

Under the guise of encouraging political neutrality, the states of Utah and Idaho banned all but a handful of flags at schools and government buildings. But everyone knew the main objective was to put the kibosh on Pride flags.

Last week, Salt Lake City and Boise announced a helluva workaround.

Both adopted new city flags. Salt Lake stuck the city's emblem, a sego lily, atop the rainbow flag and the transgender flag. Boise declared the rainbow flag an official city flag.

Making the situation even more touchy is the fact that Salt Lake and Boise are the capital cities of their states. So conservative lawmakers will regularly eyeball these flapping symbols of urban defiance.

Somewhere Betsy Ross is placing monstrously large bets.

Ach Ja