Texas sidestep

For the last few months the Texas legislature has been loudly trumpeting a collection of 23 bills to hinder gay marriage, stop gay rights, or insult gay people. This was a really big show put on for the anti-gay rabble. Out of that basket of conservative goodies only one passed, and that one allows clergy to refuse to officiate at the weddings of gay couples (something already handled by the First Amendment). Somehow the clock ran out before any of the other bills could be passed. So what happened?

Timothy Kincaid of Box Turtle Bulletin has a delightfully snarky explanation, based on reporting by Mark McKinnon of Politico. The Texas Association for Business quietly said we saw what happened in Indiana. Bluster all you want for the masses. But don't do that here.

Alas, the anti-gay rabble is pissed that the legislative session ended and they have so little to show for their efforts. So they've delivered letters to Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session of the legislature to defend marriage.



A new study by the Pew Research Center found that 48% of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people in America identify as Christian, 11% identify with non-Christian faiths, and 41% identify with no religion. In contrast, 72% of straight people identify as Christian, 6% identify with non-christian faiths, and 22% identify with no religion.

The reason: a 2013 survey found large majorities of sexual minorities perceive the major religions and denominations to be unfriendly and 29% were personally made to feel unwelcome.



George Pataki has announced his run for prez. I only mention it because Terrence Heath's commentary about how much Pataki is not a progressive comes with a cool chart from FiveThirtyEight showing how conservative various GOP leaders and hopefuls are. Pataki's problem is that he rates about 14 on a 100 point scale and is at the top of the list while Ted Cruz, at the bottom, rates a 71. Ronald Reagan, the guiding light of the party is rated only about 46.



Memorial Day was originally Decoration Day first celebrated by the black residents of Charleston in 1865. It was to celebrate the end of the war and the end of slavery. The day soon included marking the ongoing racial struggles. But white Supremacists couldn't let that meaning go unchallenged. The meaning of the holiday was shifted to a day to honor those who died in all wars. If you want to properly mark Memorial Day do some protesting on behalf of civil rights.



Several months ago JONAH, the Jewish organization promoting gay conversion therapy, was sued for false advertising. That trial has now begun. The four men who are the plaintiffs are beginning to tell their stories. It ain't pretty.



After record storms and floods in Texas and record heat (pushing 120F) in India, Bernie Sanders, Democratic candidate for president. said:

According to the scientific community, uh, climate change is the great planetary crisis we now face. Do you think we might want to be discussing that issue?