Last Call For All My Exes Live In Texas

If you consider LGBTQ folks to be in need of "therapy" to make them ex-gays, why not give the Texas GOP a try?  It's right there in the state party platform these days.

Earlier this week, the Dallas Voice reported that the Texas Republican Party had stripped language from its platform that claimed that “homosexuality tears at the fabric of society and contributes to the breakdown of the family,” but the Houston Chronicle now reports that the language has been replaced with a different kind of condemnation.

See, Republican minority outreach in action.  Here's the new plank:

"Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable alternative lifestyle, in public policy, nor should family be redefined to include homosexual couples. We believe there should be no granting of special legal entitlements or creation of special status for homosexual behavior, regardless of state of origin.

Additionally, we oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.We recognize the legitimacy and value of counseling which offers reparative therapy and treatment to patients who are seeking escape from the homosexual lifestyle. No laws or executive orders shall be imposed to limit or restrict access to this type of therapy."

Gosh, I can't imagine with party outreach like that in the most populous red state in the country why national conservative LGBTQ groups like GOProud would call it quits.

After five years in the often precarious space of being a gay conservative group, LGBT Republican organization GOProud is ceasing operations, according to a series of reports at Bilerico.

Bilerico reporter Andrew Markleinitially reported that GOProud was shuttering on Sunday, and following initial denials on social media from members of the group, key organizers confirmed to Bilerico founder Bil Browning Monday that the group is indeed planning to close up shop.

But you guys, minority outreach.  Republicans care.  Big tent.  Inclusive future.

Right?

Ohio GOP Continues The War On Women

Ohio Republicans have recently unveiled House Bill 351, which among other things, would eliminate abortion coverage from medical insurance plans (public and private), as well as eliminate all birth control coverage from public and private insurance plans.

The Ohio legislature is currently considering a measure that would institute a sweeping ban on insurance coverage for abortion in state residents’ public and private health plans. Restricting women’s ability to use their insurance plans to pay for abortion is becoming anincreasingly popular anti-choice strategy — and Ohio’s proposed legislation may actually go even further. The measure would also make it harder for low-income women to afford the most effective form of birth control.

House Bill 351, which was the subject of a committee hearing on Tuesday, seeks to prohibit insurance plans from covering “drugs or devices used to prevent the implantation of a fertilized ovum.” That definition effectively bans several types of contraception, like the birth control pill and the IUD.

Residents with public insurance — which includes state government employees as well as low-income individuals who rely on Medicaid — are already prevented from using their coverage for most abortions. But since HB 351 stipulates they also can’t use it for any drugs that inhibit implantation, the legislation could end up functioning as a birth control ban for public insurance plans.

Rep. John Becker (R), who sponsored the bill, said during Tuesday’s hearing that birth control pills should not be banned under HB 351. But he still wants IUDs, which are long-acting forms of birth control that are inserted in the uterus, to fall under the ban because he considers IUDs to be a form of abortion. “This is just a personal view. I’m not a medical doctor,” he said.

So yeah, John Becker has decided that you dirty, slutty women who have sex and use birth control and/or medical services like abortion, well, you're going to have to pay a lot more for your sluttiness, because of his "personal opinion" about birth control.

Good luck preventing this from becoming law, too:  Republicans control the Ohio House 60-39, and have an ever larger margin in the Senate, 23-10.  If this ends up passing (and given Ohio's strict anti-choice laws there's no reason to think it won't pass) then it'll be up to GOP Gov. John Kasich to sign or veto it.

So yes ladies, Ohio Republicans are about to make your Pill and IUD unaffordable (not to mention medical stuff like abortion) because John Becker thinks you're a slattern who needs to keep her legs closed.

But there's no War on Women, it's a myth, yadda yadda.

Open Carrying On

So remember last week, when the NRA mentioned that open carry groups in Texas were really, really making gun owners look bad and that maybe they should, you know, chill out a bit?  Turns out it was all "a mistake" and that the NRA is blaming a "staffer" and their "personal opinion" for the statement, and that everyone whould have guns everywhere because guns.

The National Rifle Association's appeal to Texas groups to dial back their practices of wielding assault weapons in local businesses was "a mistake," a top official in the powerhouse's lobbying arm said Tuesday, turning an about-face from what some saw as a politically savvy step toward the middle in the hot-button debate over gun rights.

"An alert went out that referred to this type of behavior as 'weird' or somehow not normal," Chris Cox, executive director of NRA policy, said during an interview on the organization's website. "It shouldn't have happened, and I've had a discussion with the staffer who wrote that piece and expressed his personal opinion. And our job isn't to criticize the lawful behavior of fellow gun owners.

"...This is a distraction," he went on. "And certainly the media has had a field day with it."

So yes, you were a complete sucker if you thought the NRA was going to be reasonable for even a second about open carry.   It's not their job, and never is.  Open carry all the time everywhere is the only solution.

"...Ultimately what this comes down to is a tactics discussion," Cox went on. "Some people believe that the best way to effectuate that sort of policy change is in protest. And what they did in Texas is some people decided to protest the absurdity of the ban on concealed carry or on open carry of handguns by carrying their long guns openly - and legally."

Not being able to carry around your AK-47 in public is "absurd" because America.

StupidiNews!

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