February 12-13, 2016::End of the day round-up (pg 2)

LGBT Students Have a Right to Know What Schools Discriminate Against Them

While it would take new legislation from Congress to narrow the kinds of carte blanche discrimination (e.g. denying campus housing to transgender students that is consistent with their gender identity) that Title IX’s religious exemption permits, the ACLU has urged the U.S. Department of Education to act where it can. As a bare minimum, LGBT students and their families should have a right to know about the kinds of taxpayer-funded discrimination they can be subjected to by their school.

Last week, the head of the Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Education — in response to a letter from several senators, led by Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) — stated that the department would provide greater transparency about requests for religious exemptions by publishing them online for the public to view for themselves. Up to this point, it has often taken FOIA requests and investigative journalism for this information to come to light.

FL anti-abortion hearing turns racist: ‘White culture’ dies if women are ‘outside the home not having babies’

A Florida state House subcommittee heard testimony on Monday that the “white culture” would be destroyed if white women were “outside the home not having babies” while other ethnicities had a higher birthrate.

During a House Criminal Justice Subcommittee meeting on Monday, lawmakers discussed HB 865, a bill that would ban all abortions except in cases where the health of the mother was at risk.

Republican Rep. Charles Van Zant, who sponsored the bill, argued that life began at conception, and that even zygotes were “citizens of Florida.”

While testifying about the bill, an anti-abortion activist named Paul injected race into the discussion.

“We see the destruction we’re bringing upon ourself as a nation,” Paul opined. “The Muslims, they don’t kill the babies.”

February 26 – Avijit Roy Day Honouring Murdered Atheist Writers in Bangladesh

Please come to this special event in Toronto on Feb. 26th:

February 26th, 2016, marks the passing of one year since the brutal extremist attacks that left Avijit Roy dead and his wife, Rafida Ahmed, seriously injured. CFIC members, friends, and supporters are encouraged to join us as we present the first Avijit Roy Day in honour of murdered atheist writers, publishers, and activists. CFI Canada is proud to work with Mukto Mona (Bangladeshi Freethinking) for this special event. 

Time: 7-9 PM

Venue: Albert Campbell Auditorium (Toronto Public Library)

Address: 496 Birchmount Road, Toronto, ON, M1K 1N8

Bradlee Dean: Gay People Have Never Once Been Victims Of Hate

“Those radicals need to be lawfully dealt with because they are radical, they mean to divide and conquer, they mean to make war against real Christianity.”

“I’ve yet to find a situation where a homosexual could actually verify the fact that they were the victim of someone actually hating on them,” he said. “I have yet to see it.”

Naturopath put breastfeeding mum on water only diet: court

From February to April last year Bodnar, 59, treated the mother, who came to her to help cure her newborn son of eczema.

She allegedly convinced the mother, who cannot be identified, that the only way to help the baby was to adopt a diet of raw vegetables, fruit and seeds.

The court heard the mother was "intimidated by the accused" and made to feel guilty for using steroid creams to treat the eczema "as it was best to use nothing to allow the skin to breathe".

Bodnar allegedly told the mother "Are you 100 per cent raw? You have to be 100 per cent raw if you want to see your son heal."

Police allege that when the baby developed a fever Bodnar told the mother to adopt a water only diet, telling her that her baby would not get better if she ate.

When the child was six months old his mother asked Bodnar if she could feed him vegetable puree but the naturopath allegedly advised her to put raw food in a net and let the infant suck it.

Bodnar is also accused of telling the mother to feed the child goat milk.

City Officials: Evansville property owner possibly blurs the line of free speech

"I personally had not received any complaints on that property, and after I went and looked at it, I was a little surprised that I hadn't."

According to the assessor's office, the property has been owned by Michael J. Williams for 10 years.

We knocked on his door twice today, but no one answered.

But plenty of surveillance camera systems equipped with microphones, were watching us.

" I personally wouldn't like it, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's illegal."

Building Commissioner Ron Beane says the city's legal team is examining this case closely.

Do these phrases violate city ordinances to property maintenance, or is this the owner's right to use his house as a canvas for social issues?

"I think it might be offensive to some people but I think it might be a freedom of speech. We're used to it, we've laughed about it and made comments about it," explains a woman who lives nearby.

You mustn’t ‘engage in sodomy with the sewage system of another’s anatomy’

Staunchly right-wing pundit Larry Tomczak recently unveiled a little challenge he presented to himself: The “30 Day Bullseye Challenge,” to be exact.

The project consists of producing 30 short, blippy videos that demonstrate the proper etiquette and desired worldview of a practicing Christian.

The series touches upon all the hot-button issues one might expect, particularly homosexuality, which Tomczak suggests leads to a lifetime of disease and abject misery should one venture down that shadowy left-hand path:

“With all the hoopla about this one and that one, hey, they’re coming out and it being a time to celebrate gay marriage and gay lifestyles as normal, natural, beautiful. People need to awaken … to the reality that this so-called love story doesn’t have a happy ending.”

Senator seeks protections for same-sex marriage objectors

A Georgia lawmaker says religious adoption agencies, schools and other nonprofits should be able to refuse service to same-sex couples; months after the U.S. Supreme Court effectively legalized gay marriage nationwide.
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Gay rights and civil rights organizations already have bashed the proposal, calling it anti-LGBT and broader than a federal version. Those groups warn Kirk’s bill would let religious nonprofits or organizations deny same-sex couples even if receiving taxpayer money.