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19-Year Old Gay Teen’s Suicide: Part 2 – “The love that dare not speak its name now never shuts up.”

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Yesterday we began our five-part series, “19-Year Old Gay Teen’s Suicide” with Part 1: “Watch The Bigots Who Pushed Him Over The Edge.” (See part three: 19-Year Old Gay Teen’s Suicide: Part 3 – “Gay” Same As “Fornicator, Adulterer, Bigamist, Prostitute”) In it, we showed you a video of a so-called concerned citizen whom I dubbed “Mr. Slippery Slope,” who had the gall to stand in front of his town’s mayor, city council and fellow citizens to protest a proclamation to name October “Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History Month.”

You’ll remember Mr. Slippery Slope predicted with certainty, should the proclamation be adopted, that homosexuality will be “infiltrated” into the schools, schools will be forced to teach about how people came out, there will be pictures of gay sex shown to children in school, “recruiting children into these lifestyles will be very easy,” hate crimes laws will be passed to discriminate against anyone who speaks out about homophobia, the bible will be banned, the bible will be called a hate book, clergy will be put in jail…

Sick.

Sadly, it is words like this, and the words you’ll hear below, that pushed nineteen-year old Zach Harrington into suicide. Yes, Zach’s parents believe their son’s death came as a result of hearing three hours of “debate” on the merits of something as innocuous as a proclamation honoring LGBT history.

The Norman, Oklahoma newspaper reports Harrington’s father, Van, while blaming the comments from the debate for his son’s suicide, doesn’t hold them solely responsible. “Van Harrington said he feels a lack of acceptance from society and what he calls a “toxic meeting” last month is what finally pushed Zach over the edge.”

I also believe we have the professional bullies to blame for this ignorance, ignorance that caused this young man’s death, and that caused the death of ten other teens in September alone.

Today, watch this Norman citizen say, “The love that dare not speak its name has become the love that never shuts up.” He then compares a proclamation for “Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History Month” to a proclamation for “wife-swapping.” Classy. “In conclusion,” he says, “If you choose to vote this down, no one will be physically harmed.” Think again.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=dqVTe_7L1Ss%3Ffs%3D1%26hl%3Den_US

Our thoughts are with the families of all teens who succumbed to suicide after enduring anti-gay hate. It is my hope that all the people who had a hand in spreading that hate, homophobia, and ignorance, turn their lives around and embrace people’s differences as much as their similarities.

I invite anyone from Norman to contact me to share their thoughts on the proclamation, and on the life and death of Zach Harrington.

Thanks to NGBlog‘s YouTube channel for providing these very important videos.

(See the next installment: 19-Year Old Gay Teen’s Suicide: Part 3 – “Gay” Same As “Fornicator, Adulterer, Bigamist, Prostitute”)

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News

Trump Says Judge’s Daughter He Attacked Is Not Protected by Gag Order – DA Disagrees

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The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is asking New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to clarify if the gag order he placed on Donald Trump protects the judge’s own daughter, who Trump has repeatedly attacked this week. District Attorney Alvin Bragg says the  gag order does cover the judge’s daughter, while Trump’s attorneys say not only does it not, but it should not.

“Following a request for clarification about the scope of Trump’s gag order from the Manhattan DA’s office, Trump’s lawyers now argue that not only is Judge Merchan’s daughter not covered by the gag order, but also that she should not be covered,” reports MSNBC executive producer Kyle Griffin.

Courthouse News’ Erik Uebelacker reports that District Attorney Alvin Bragg “believes Trump’s tirade against Judge Merchan’s daughter violates his gag order.”

He cites this line from Manhattan District Attorney’s Alvin Bragg’s pre-motion letter (below): “The People believe that the March 26 Order is properly read to protect family members of the court.”

READ MORE: Trump Brags NYPD Showed Him ‘Love’ at Slain Officer’s Wake

Uebelacker notes, “Trump’s lawyers say the order does ‘not apply in the manner claimed by the People.'”

He also points to the language in the gag order that bars Trump from: “Making or directing others to make public statements about (1) counsel in the case other than the District Attorney, (2) members of the court’s staff and the District Attorney’s staff, or (3) the family members of any counsel or staff member…”

Katie Phang, MSNBC host and legal contributor, posted the pre-motion letter:

MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin on-air reported Trump’s attorneys “say in the event that Judge Merchan is considering making his daughter subjected to this gag order a full briefing is necessary because the implications are over President Trump’s First Amendment rights, and then they take a swipe at Judge Merchan’s daughter.”

READ MORE: Comer Refuses to Investigate Trump Family Member Over ‘Influence Peddling’ Allegation

Rubin continued, adding that Trump’s attorneys also “say because she [Merchan’s daughter] is engaged and providing support to the enemies of former President Trump it’s totally appropriate for him to talk about her.”

Earlier Friday, Rubin noted, “Trump’s attack on Judge Merchan’s daughter last night represents the fourth time in three days that he has singled her out—and exposed her to potential harm. And she’s sadly not alone.”

“Last year, during the New York Attorney General’s civil fraud trial, Trump similarly went after the wife of Judge Arthur Engoron, who publicly said her purported social media account was not, in fact, her own,” Rubin noted.

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OPINION

Biden Should Have Attended Slain NYPD Officer’s Wake ‘For Optics’ Says Tomi Lahren

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Fox News contributor Tomi Lahren blasted President Joe Biden for not attending the wake of a slain NYPD officer on Thursday, saying because Donald Trump did, the President should have changed his plans even if it was just “for optics.”

“The fact that Joe Biden didn’t change his plans to make an appearance, knowing that Donald Trump was going to be there, to me, that’s pretty brazen. You have the opportunity to show up, even if you are just doing it for optics, and he chose not to,” Lahren said on Fox News Friday afternoon (video below).

Trump was invited to the wake by Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, while one of the NYPD unions warned NYC Democratic leaders to not show up. Over the past decade about 100 police officers are killed in the line of duty annually, including 118 in 2022, according to data from USAFacts.

After attacking the Biden campaign for doing “a horrible job, optically,” Lahren, who purchased a 2000 square foot house in Nashville after she “fled” Los Angeles, explained to Fox News viewers how Trump “cares about the forgotten Americans.”

READ MORE: USA Bible Founder Says Trump Endorsement Means He Believes ‘Same Thing’ As Every American

“I come from South Dakota, I come from Middle America,” Lahren said. “He doesn’t have to pretend to understand the plight of the smaller folks out there, but he can still resonate with them, because he cares about them.”

“The thing that people in middle America love about Donald Trump and always have, is that he comes as he is. He doesn’t try to wear blue jeans and cowboy boots and try to ‘be’ one of us,” she said, “but he still is one of us in that he cares about us. He cares about the forgotten Americans.”

Speaking to reporters at the wake on Thursday, Trump, who is facing 88 criminal felony charges, said, “we have to get back to law and order. We have to do a lot of things differently because this is not working. This is happening too often.”

Watch below or at this link.

RELATED: Trump Brags NYPD Showed Him ‘Love’ at Slain Officer’s Wake

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OPINION

USA Bible Founder Says Trump Endorsement Means He Believes ‘Same Thing’ As Every American

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Amid the controversy of Donald Trump endorsing, promoting, and reportedly earning royalties from the “God Bless the USA Bible,” Lee Greenwood, the creator of the book, is speaking out to defend the ex-president.

He says there’s no difference between when Trump took the presidential oath of office by placing his hand on a bible, and now endorsing Greenwood’s version of the book, which sells for $59.99.

“You have to remember that when President Trump took his oath of office, he put his hand on a Bible to swear that he would defend the country and the Constitution,” says Greenwood, a singer-songwriter whose “God Bless the U.S.A.” has been used by many Republicans over the past few decades, with Trump playing it at his rallies.

Greenwood, speaking on the far-right media outlet Real America’s Voice, also says that Trump’s endorsement merely telegraphs that he believes the “same thing” that every other American believes.

READ MORE: Trump Brags NYPD Showed Him ‘Love’ at Slain Officer’s Wake

“This is just more of the same except for now, he’s actually telling the world and telling our country and all of its citizens, I will protect you and I will make sure that you know that I believe in the same thing you believe in, that this country was founded on faith.”

Not all Americans are Christian. A survey last month found seven out of 10 Americans oppose or are skeptical of Christian nationalism. And experts – not to mention founding father John Adams – have said America was not founded as a Christian nation.

In 2022 religious liberty expert Amanda Tyler, the executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC), told the Center for American Progress, “I believe that the single biggest threat to religious freedom in the United States today is Christian nationalism.”

Nor do all Christians support Trump’s endorsement of the “God Bless the USA Bible.”

READ MORE: ‘Hunger Games at NBC News’: New McDaniel Revelations Have ‘Enraged’ Staffers, Report Says

“Catholics on social media criticized Trump for using the Bible to make a buck, with some saying that if the real estate mogul thought it was so important for every American to have a Bible, then he should give it away for free — instead of selling it for $59.99,” The National Catholic Register reports. “For others, the most egregious offense was that the God Bless The USA Bible packaged the divinely inspired Word of God together with political documents, mixing the sacred and the profane.”

Watch Greenwood’s remarks below or at this link.

 

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