fred deutch rep
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">{{ </font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/missouri-gop-dont-say-gay/">https://www.alternet.org/missouri-gop-dont-say-gay/</a>
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">35yrs rip off covid $ 150K landscape biz?</font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 3 23</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">joe
Harding, the now-former Florida Republican lawmaker who authored the
extremist "Don't Say Gay" bill could face up to 35 years in prison after
pleading guilty Tuesday afternoon to federal felony fraud charges in a
scheme to obtain $150,000 in COVID-19 relief funds, according to Florida
Politics‘ publisher Peter Scorsch.
Harding, 35, was a
construction project manager who started his own lawn care company. He
quickly became a right-wing darling after his anti-LGBTQ legislation,
officially the Parental Rights in Education Act, was embraced by Florida
GOP Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed it into law.
Harding was
charged in a December federal indictment with six counts of wire fraud,
money laundering, and making false statements in his plot to obtain
$150,000 in COVID funds. He resigned from the legislature the following
day. He originally pled not guilty.
READ MORE: 'Chilling': Law
Enforcement 'Seriously' Investigating Threats Ahead of Possible Trump
Indictment Says Top WaPo Reporter
After Harding was charged and
resigned, Nadine Smith, the executive director of Equality Florida,
responded via social media, saying: "So much harm to students, parents
and teachers because of his raw political ambitions. He slandered entire
communities and trafficked in lie after lie that has emboldened violent
bigotry. He will have his day in court but his legacy is already a
despicable one."
Harding is not the only family member accused of criminal acts.
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"Harding's
indictment follows a September guilty plea from his brother-in-law,
Patrick Walsh," Florida Politics reported in December. "As reported by
Fresh Take Florida, Walsh pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money
laundering charges connected to his receipt of nearly $8 million in
disaster relief loans.</span>"
Unrepentant to the harm many feel
he has done to children and the LGBTQ community, in a statement Tuesday
Harding said: "During the past legislative session I have felt the
support of millions of Americans while fighting for our shared concerns
and for the rights of parents. I will never forget the support I
received from every corner of this great country."
READ MORE: 18 Attorneys General Blast Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' Law as Unconstitutional
Harding will be sentenced in July.
Florida's Voice also reported Harding's guilty plea Tuesday.
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<b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">a trove of leaked emails between South Dakota legislators and anti-trans lobbyists read like excerpts from "The Handmaid's Tale,</span></b>" according to a new report.
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>The
communications between lobbyists, state Rep. Fred Deutsch</b> and other
South Dakota legislators use deeply religious language that shows
Christian nationalists are pushing restrictions on LGBTQ rights as part
of what they believe is a holy war, reported Vice News.</span>
“Know
that many have prayed and are praying for you this day," wrote
Vernadette Broyles, a lawyer and president of the Georgia-based Children
and Parental Rights Campaign in a 2020 email. "Do not back down, nor
should you be afraid. Know that the Lord is with you. The children of
South Dakota belong to him. He is jealous over them. Let his jealousies
be spoken forth in the House of Representatives of South Dakota today so
that his children would be made safe. Know you are HIS representative
today. Do not be afraid. Stand firm in what is right."
The emails
were shared with Vice by Elisa Rae Shupe, a trans woman who had
de-transitioned and become an anti-trans advocate before
re-transitioning and renouncing her ties to Christianity.
“I fell
prey to the belief that if I did what they suggested that I would be
cured of my gender dysphoria," Shupe said. "I was encouraged to confess
my sins, ask for forgiveness by Jesus, and turn my plight over to the
Lord Jesus Christ. I was also asked to accept that my transgender status
was a sexually motivated sin and to cure myself by attending a
religious 12-step program, which I did for approximately a year."
The messages are peppered with references to blessings, prayers and apocalyptic warfare.
“It
is the language of Christian nationalism,” said Thomas Lecaque, an
associate professor of history at Grand View University. “It is the
language of people who very much believe they are doing God’s will, and
it is the language of people who very much believe that they are engaged
in a holy war.”
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lecaque
said South Dakota Republicans, who've gotten three anti-trans bills
signed into law by<b> Gov. Kristi Noem</b>, and GOP legislatures around the
country are trying to eradicate the trans community while presenting
themselves as underdogs.
“They are not trying to protect children," Lecaque said. "They are trying to murder the transgender community,”</span>
“Stopping
the existence of transgender people and the acceptance of trans people
in the public sphere is to them some sort of religious imperative,”
Lecaque added. “It’s particularly fascinating that this group that has
all this money, control in state legislatures, control of the house,
they had a presidency, is acting like somehow they are David in the
struggle.”
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