69 Nigerians released on bail after alleged gay wedding
Meanwhile, what on earth do Virginia Republicans believe is being taught in schools??
Nigeria has released 69 men on bail who were arrested for allegedly attending a same-sex wedding last month. The accused will still have to provide sureties and attend court next month.
A court in Saskatchewan, Canada has begun hearings seeking an injunction on the province’s new anti-trans policy requiring students to get parental consent before the use a different name or pronoun. Meanwhile, anti-LGBT protests and counter-protests are happening in cities across Canada today – I’ll have more on that tomorrow.
The US Census Bureau plans to test new questions about sexual orientation and gender identity for its annual survey.
I missed this while I was travelling, but last month Virginia passed a bill that removed “homosexuality” from its legal definition of “sexually conduct” in a sort of bipartisan compromise that also came with a new bill requiring age verification for pornographic web sites. The upshot of this is that a law passed last year that required schools to notify parents if books including “sexually conduct” were being taught will no longer include “homosexuality” as a subject requiring notice.
But, ok, that law now just requires notice if schools are teaching “sexually explicit content,” which is now defined in law as:
Sexually explicit content" means (i) any description of or (ii) any picture, photograph, drawing, motion picture film, digital image or similar visual representation depicting sexual bestiality, a lewd exhibition of nudity, as nudity is defined in § 18.2-390, sexual excitement, sexual conduct or sadomasochistic abuse, as also defined in § 18.2-390, coprophilia, urophilia, or fetishism.
And the corresponding sub-definitions:
(2) "Nudity" means a state of undress so as to expose the human male or female genitals, pubic area or buttocks with less than a full opaque covering, or the showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of the nipple, or the depiction of covered or uncovered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.
(3) "Sexual conduct" means actual or explicitly simulated acts of masturbation, sexual intercourse, or physical contact in an act of apparent sexual stimulation or gratification with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or, if such be female, breast.
(4) "Sexual excitement" means the condition of human male or female genitals when in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal.
(5) "Sadomasochistic abuse" means actual or explicitly simulated flagellation or torture by or upon a person who is nude or clad in undergarments, a mask or bizarre costume, or the condition of being fettered, bound or otherwise physically restrained on the part of one so clothed.
So, now I have to wonder, what Virginia public schools were showing explicit BDSM porn with heavy scat and bestiality themes? Because y’know what? If Virginia public schools are showing their students scat porn, I may have to side the with scolds and say that they should not do that. Call me old fashioned.
If Republicans truly believe schools are showing extreme fetish porn to children… shouldn’t the response be something larger than “get a permission slip”? Or are they just inventing something to get people upset?
Meanwhile, Massachusetts has adopted a new LGBTQ+-inclusive sex-ed curriculum – although it’s not mandatory for use in school districts.