Rep. Steve Russell is still licking his wounds after his sweeping religious freedom amendment was snipped out of a federal defense-spending bill passed in the House on Friday.
But he may be getting the last cartoon villain cackle. As Buzzfeed reports, the almost-upon-us Trump administration has given him “very good assurances” that it will be addressing the issue once all of his hobgoblins are in place.
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“These issues will be resolved,” he said at the Capital, “and we have gotten some very good assurances moving forward.”
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Suggesting President-Elect Trump could take executive action without bothering to wait for Congress, Russell said, “I am certainly encouraged by the signs that I am getting from the administration that is inbound.”
He again intones that he has “gotten very positive signals” that Trump’s cabinet will be taking strides to implement the blocked amendment, cautiously adding that he wasn’t going to “talk strategy or predispose what the executive branch may do.”
If passed, the Russell Amendment would effectively allow federal contractors to discriminate against the LGBTQ community on supposed religious grounds.
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Democrats argued the measure was created solely to undermine President Obama’s 2014 executive order banning LGBTQ discrimination by federal contractors.
Senator John McCain declined to comment when asked by Buzzfeed News why the Russell Amendment was torn out of the National Defense Authorization Act, but it sounds like he’d be quite happy to consider the legislation again in the future.
“As a general outlook,” he says, “I think those religious-based organizations should be allowed to make decisions that are in keeping with their religious beliefs.”
Activists are intensely concerned that Trump will start reversing LGBTQ rights upon sidling into office, perhaps scrapping Obama’s 2014 order or further elaborating George W. Bush’s 2002 order that protests religious rights of social service groups.
On January 20, 2017, Trump will be sitting beside Barack Obama in a sleek stretch limousine, which will be driving the two men towards the Capitol for the Inauguration, which will take place at noon. It’s anyone’s bet what happens next.
Xzamilloh
“As Buzzfeed reports”–
….and that’s where I stopped reading.
Terrycloth
Supreme court may have it hands full…but again..buzzfeed…that says a lot right there
Alistair Wiseman
I haven’t heard anything recently, but have the S o d o m i t e I n t e r n m e n t C a m p s been implemented by the Trump Administration yet?
Let them know I packed my suitcase and will be waiting at the curb for the Making America Great Again shuttle van.
This is so reminiscent of 2000, but the Dubya shuttle van never did show up – for all eight years.
White_Bear77
I just want to say thank you to the 1 in 7 gay men that voted for Trump so the rest of your “Brothers” could be more easily discriminated against. Special thanks to the very very so very tremendously large gay populations in the state of Florida and in the so, so – add more adverbs – large metro area of Philadelphia. If Pennsylvania and Florida had gone blue, this article would have never been written.
Pence is on the record multiple times trying to outlaw homosexuality based on his disgust of such. Well, I am also, but for different reasons, equally disgusted in the Gay Pride Coalition that has allowed 1 in 7 to be selfish, short sighted and deplorable.
Jaroslaw
White Bear – Pence is so insane, he wanted a law in Indiana making it a jailable offense just to APPLY for a marriage license.
I sincerely hope Trump takes the attitude that he did with SSM, that it is a done deal. Even for those who dislike LGBT people, some of the rational ones realize that we don’t want every issue contorted and being divisive with allowances for “religious objections.” That opens a Pandora’s box that no one can close.
blackout_boycott
First off, you voted for Trump and all LGBT will pay the price of losers all their freedom.
The LGBT that betrayed us all, followed and voed for Trump has no idea that Trump doesn’t know how to run this country. It’s Pence that will and is having all control.
It’s already been proven by the Trump administration already having many antigay personnel.
Religion will control the States, and all right for LGBT will disappear.
My organization caught very hard to stop this from happening, and warned many of which was going to happen.
LGBT that voted for Trump/Pence just gave up on us all. They can only blame them self.
We on the other hand has not given up, and never do.
I’m ashamed of my own people giving up on us all!
OzJosh
Draining the swamp… into the Oval Office .
Maude
He cannot change the fact that being gay and having gay sex is no longer against the law. We won. Period.
I doubt very much he can strike down gay marriage….But he can grant the religious right the right to follow the laws of their religon(s) and not force them to bake a wedding cake….and why is that so fucking awful?!
I’d rather see the gays doing the business “for the gays, by the gays and of the gays.”….rather than the straights anyday.
sangsue
And water is wet. It was never IF our rights would be reversed. It’s when. Any LGBT who voted fork Trump and the Republican party hates themselves, they WANT to go back to those days where just being LGBT is a jailable offense,
sangsue
@Maude:
You do realize that when they pack the Supreme Court with a Alt-right judge all our rights are gone right?
Rimminit
I lost a good (gay) friend because he supported trump. Amongst the rhetoric he vomited was his belief there were more important issues than marriage equality. I said, “what could be more important than your constitutional rights of life liberty and the persuit of happiness?” Ultimately, We risk everything gained in the past 30 years. If these people have their way we will all be back in the closet or risk conversion therapy. impossible? Thats We thought about the chance trump would win the presidency. Never say never.
He BGB
Our rights and everything else will all depend who flatters Trump the most. This is proving to be such a transparent way people get their way with Trump. Pence is kissing Trump ass left and right. Have you seen him in interviews? Like Kelly Anne, he comes up with the most outrageous defenses for trump’s actions and words. Waiting in the corner, LIKE A SPIDER.PENCE says Trump is refreshing even though Trump lies and says crazy mentally ill things.
He BGB
Don’t you get the feeling Trump thinks like a dictator? He wants to control the media, who gets to say what and when. Pretty scary considering that’s the way a dictator acts. We middle class get a 2 percent decrease in taxes but the rich 15 percent. I hope all those poor (literally) supporters will be happy watching him take care of his cronies and walk away from you.
Brian
Isn’t Buzzfeed full of fake news?
In any case, the Democrats had a chance to legislate for homosexual protections back in 2010 when they obtained a supermajority. They refused. Nuff said.
Arconcyyon
My good the TRUMP Trump my .
BriBri
@White_Bear77: Pardon me, but apathy was the cause of this loss and it’s directly the fault of the Democratic voters. Less than 50% turnout, so stop whining.
Kangol
@Alistair Wiseman: Nope, but Al Qaeda & 9/11, anthrax, Bush’s pals’ Enron collapse, warrantless wiretapping, the Iraq War, the US Attorney scandal, Jack Abramoff scandal, the near war with China, the horrific aftermath to Hurricane Katrina (Heckuva job!), the Bush administration’s anti-gay policies & anti-gay marriage bills & constitutional changes in GOP led states, massive deficits & debt, and the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression all occurred under W Bush! Good times, right, Alistair?
Kangol
@White_Bear77: Thank Alistair or Mo Bro, both are at the front of the receiving line for Trump and the GOP. They won’t discuss their anti-gay policies or homophobic history over the last 50 years, but they will mention Bill Clinton and the mean “liberals” and everything but the anti-gay disaster the GOP continues to be.
beachcomberT
First of all, let’s calm down. The anti-gay religious-freedom amendment was taken out of the defense authorization, so right now Obama’s executive order is still in effect full force. Congressman Russell can speculate, but no one can truly predict what Trump will do next year. Also, how many gay workers has Obama’s executive order actually protected? It applied only to workforces of large defense contractors –I doubt that is any more than 5 or 10 percent of the entire GLBT workforce, and many of those contractors already have gay-respectful work policies in place. Secondly, Democrats had many years when they controlled both Congress and the White House. They could have passed a version of ENDA years ago, which would have protected all gay workers. How hard did Sen. Clinton and then-Sen. Obama actually work for such change? Certain gay advocacy groups will continue to scream “The sky is falling,” mainly to keep the contributions rolling in. Secretly, they may welcome Trump’s election — they need an enemy to stay relevant.
s
Bob LaBlah
@BriBri: “Pardon me, but apathy was the cause of this loss and it’s directly the fault of the Democratic voters.”
This guy is proving correct what I said all along during this election: no matter what side won, we are ALL going to realize that we ALL lost. An obnoxious reality-star host and a woman who simply could not get it thru her head she was just as big a turn-off as he was does not inspire people to be optimistic about the future. One had to win regardless of how many millions were going to slowly realize they voted for the wrong one.
heath0043
@Jaroslaw: What Trump said is that SSM is a done deal … for now. He never said it was totally off the table. Even if he leaves it alone you can bet the Republican congress and others won’t.
highestbidder
Did the Democrats pass ENDA? No. It never did make sense to me to go after marriage rights first. Yay I can get married but oops I just got fired and kicked out of my apartment for being gay. The gay rights movement is dominated by the elite that think all gays are wealthy theater goers.
highestbidder
@Rimminit: and yes, there are more important things than marriage equality. I voted for Clinton but I’m not sobbing that Trump got in. I’m loving his jabbing China in the eye. I’m loving that he’s talking about our jobs disappearing over the borde. As a blue collar military veteran I want the loss of manufacturing jobs addressed. I want the Chinese spying and theft of our industrial secrets addressed. And let’s be real, the man’s not even served a day in office yet. I don’t think we need to be getting hysterical about a buzz feed article just yet.
heartlikemine
These “news articles” only perpetuate my fears and anxieties, and makes me feel more and more like suicide is the only answer for me.
porque_loco
@heartlikemine: Please, don’t EVER feel like that! Life is still worth living no matter what the hypocrite Christians (hypoChristes?) like this try to do.
porque_loco
@Alistair Wiseman: Yeah, but W did lead a crusade against marriage equality, engineered by your fellow Vichy gay Ken Mehlman who later openly disavowed it.
Now that it’s here (for now) these so-called Christians are trying to nibble away at any gains we’ve made by using their so-called “faith” as an excuse for bigotry. Just like Jesus (“Love your neighbor as yourself”) would do. Except not.
BTW, Russell is clean-shaven… doesn’t his precious Leviticus have something to say about that? Let’s see…
Leviticus 19:37 “‘You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard”
Hypocrite!
Kim K Kute Kuchie
To the gays who voted “my conscience” and went with 3rd party candidate or to the gays who didn’t vote : YOU HELPED THIS
To the Tramp’s supporters: ENJOY YOUR MISTAKE
TomChicago
For years now, there has been a toxic element to the Great Church that is once again making the ugly noises they call love. I didn’t fall for it when Falwell and Robertson were doing the quacking, and I don’t intend to fall for it now.
cabe
@highestbidder:
–“there are more important things than marriage equality.” — Politics is personal and if I am told my relationship and my whole being is not equal to my straight counterparts than I don’t give a s$it about China or steel jobs going away.
dwes09
@Maude: “He cannot change the fact that being gay and having gay sex is no longer against the law. We won. Period.”
There are many, many precedents for the SCOTUS reversing earlier decisions. If Trump was so sure marriage equality was a done deal, why is he so sure he can reverse Roe V. Wade (which he has repeatedly expressed the intention to do)? Are you really that naive? All he needs do is appoint 2 justices of the political bent he has said he intends to and those “pro family” organizations who have been quite vocally preparing legal challenges to BOTH decisions will be waiting in line.
When Trump said marriage equality was a done deal he was most likely pandering to the few gay right wingers. Pandering is something he does well and often.
dwes09
@beachcomberT: ” Congressman Russell can speculate, but no one can truly predict what Trump will do next year.”
Keep dreaming log cabin boy. Trump’s choice of VP and cabinet members and advisers make it quite clear that we can predict Trump’s agenda.
The notion that LGBT advocacy groups want trump so as to keep their coffers full is just the kind of cynical crap one expects from right wing heterosexual like you, here to disparage gay folks.
GET LOST! Gay folks don’t need those who hate us coming here to give us shit. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!? Go back to the “Family Research Council” where you are wanted and appreciated.
Tête Carrée
@Maude:
“I’d rather see the gays doing the business “for the gays, by the gays and of the gays.”….rather than the straights anyday.”
That’s fine if you live somewhere where you can find a gay “butcher,(wedding cake)baker and candlestick maker”. Where would that be? The Castro? Maybe even not even there. The roofer, mechanic, plumber? Segregation would be great but not very realistic. With Trump as your president, you might be better off on that deserted island they always talked about. Oh yeah, how does that joke end? “Who would we get to do our hair and decorate our living rooms?” That’s about the extent of it.
AmishHomo
The way I see it is Trump chose Pence as his VP to court the “Conservative Christians”. I doubt that Trump has a thorough knowledge of their agenda and will stand back and allow Pence to run the “We Hate Homos” show. That way if anti LGBTQ legislation passes Trump will feign that he disagreed and couldn’t do anything to stop it.
@White_Bear77 the insinuation that Gays voting for Trump in PA & FL helped him win is absurd. The LGBTQ community here in PA was firmly behind Hillary (there were a handful who drank the “We Hate Hillary” kool-aid) PA & FL are hardcore Republican states except for certain metro areas, and “angry white men” (and women) voting in record numbers gave him the electoral votes.
robho3
Even though I can’t stand Trump and did not vote for him I don’t think he is going to do anything negative to us. He’s already said that the gay marriage issue was settled by the court and he would not challenge that. Now his VP is another story. But I think trump will be too busy tweeting about how bad SNL is or getting us in a war with chiiiiiiina.
1EqualityUSA
Florida, Clinton lost by 1.4% if Jill Stein’s and half of Gary John’s backers had voted Democratic, Trump would have lost the state.
Pennsylvania, 1.1%, If Jill Stein’s and Gary Johnson’s backers had voted Democratic, Trump would have lost the state.
Wisconsin 1% If Stein’s backers voted Democratic, Trump would have lost the state.
Michigan, 0.3%, but if Stein’s supporters had voted Democratic, Trump would have lost the state.
(Thanks, Rachel Maddow, for tweeting out these numbers post-election)
Mo Bro
@Rimminit:
Did you really “lose” a friend who voted for Trump . . . or did you simply choose the angry lib route and dump your friend because he holds differing political opinions? Must all your friends hold the same beliefs as you do? And if so, aren’t you the penultimate example of an ostrich living with its head in the sand (or in a liberal bubble)?
Hate to tell ya, but it’s your loss, not his.
GayEGO
Who knows what will happen during this Trump Comedy Show, Trump says Marriage Equality is the law, but earlier, he said he would overturn the law. I guess we will just have to wait and see.
GayEGO
@Maude: Good point! My lifetime partner of 54 years, married 12 years, could care less about these religious bigoted bakeries. We just had a gay wedding cake made for our gay friends at a local Italian bakery and then had a gay marriage dinner party at a local bed and breakfast inn. They live in Georgia, and were unable to get married at a local Episcopalian church in Lawrenceville, GA, but they got an Air Force Pastor to marry them. They have been together 52 years.
Aromaeus
Stop trying to blame third party voters for Hillary’s failure. The fact of the matter is that if she had been a better candidate and actually got people inspired enough to care about this election she would have had her blue wall and be the president-elect. She lost to one of the most unpopular candidates in american history. That can’t be put on Stein or Johnson voters. You are literally telling people who were never going to vote for her that if they had voted for her she would have won but she never had their vote so trying to blame them for not voting doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense. When the electorate becomes apathetic, democrats lose. That’s pretty much always been the case and nominating a candidate who inspired no one pretty much insured that.
ErikO
@Xzamilloh: haha exactly.@He BGB: The left comparing Donald Trump to Hitler, or a dictator, etc. is exactly why he won.
ErikO
@GayEGO: You’re one of those boring queens that revolves your entire life around nothing but being gay, and your “friends” are the same way. Nobody cares you narcissist.
Thad
I was looking to see where Congressman Russell was from, and had to Google it. Unfortunately, he represents Oklahoma’s 5th District. Although the district includes Oklahoma City, somehow I doubt there’ll be much groundswell to remove him from office when his term ends in two years. The district has been Republican since 1975.
White_Bear77
@Jaroslaw: I agree 100%. Doesn’t he look like a nazi officer? I live, er, rather, I am incarcerated in Indiana. I lost a bet with God and he banished me.
Mo Bro
@Aromaeus:
Spot-on assessment.
A thousand upvotes to your comment.