LGBT issues thread (was Supreme Court to hear same-sex marriage cases)

[LawBeefaroni]

This is unruly-high-school-student-trying-to-get-one-over on-a-teacher level of pedantry and sophistication.

"Im gonna kick your ass" just means "I am confident I will be victorious if we sit down to a game of backgammon."

Etc.

[Smoove_B]

And here's the official White House page on the anti-trans executive order:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 7301 of title 5, United States Code, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Purpose. Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from women’s domestic abuse shelters to women’s workplace showers. This is wrong. Efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being. The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system. Basing Federal policy on truth is critical to scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government itself.

...

Sec. 2. Policy and Definitions. It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality, and the following definitions shall govern all Executive interpretation of and application of Federal law and administration policy:

...

Sec. 3. Recognizing Women Are Biologically Distinct From Men. (a) Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall provide to the U.S. Government, external partners, and the public clear guidance expanding on the sex-based definitions set forth in this order.

...

Sec. 4. Privacy in Intimate Spaces. (a) The Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure that males are not detained in women’s prisons or housed in women’s detention centers, including through amendment, as necessary, of Part 115.41 of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations and interpretation guidance regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act.

...

Sec. 5. Protecting Rights. The Attorney General shall issue guidance to ensure the freedom to express the binary nature of sex and the right to single-sex spaces in workplaces and federally funded entities covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In accordance with that guidance, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor, the General Counsel and Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and each other agency head with enforcement responsibilities under the Civil Rights Act shall prioritize investigations and litigation to enforce the rights and freedoms identified.

[Punisher]

I wonder if section 4 has a mistake or it was deliberate.

It specifically says no males/trans females in female prisons.
What females/trans males in male prisons?

[Max Peck]

I wonder if section 4 has a mistake or it was deliberate.

It specifically says no males/trans females in female prisons.
What females/trans males in male prisons?

The magat trans panic is all about transwomen, and they never even talk about transmen. I don't believe that they consider transmen to be anything other than really butch dykes, and lesbians clearly belong in lady jails, at least until they get around to building some concentration camps.

[Smoove_B]

I wonder if section 4 has a mistake or it was deliberate.

It specifically says no males/trans females in female prisons.
What females/trans males in male prisons?

Deliberate. Remember the title of the EO:

DEFENDING WOMEN FROM GENDER IDEOLOGY EXTREMISM AND RESTORING BIOLOGICAL TRUTH TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

It's also pretty sneaky that they are trying to establish fetal personhood by declaring male or female is determined at conception (Sec 2, (D) and (E), respectively).

[hepcat]

When I'm watching porn, I know all I hear from the actors is "THIS ONE IS GONNA BE MALE!".

[Punisher]

If this is true then I guess we are all female now...

https://www.iflscience.com/trumps-execu ... male-77710

[Smoove_B]

If you ever get cornered by a MAGA disciple and need a way to throw a verbal smoke bomb and escape, ask them why men have nipples.

[Punisher]

If you ever get cornered by a MAGA disciple and need a way to throw a verbal smoke bomb and escape, ask them why men have nipples.

I mean, where else are they gonna put their nipple rings?

[Smoove_B]

Here's a line by line breakdown of the anti-trans executive order issued last night:

On Sunday, reports emerged that President Trump would unleash a series of sweeping executive orders upon taking office, with one of the most significant targeting transgender people. By Monday evening, that prediction became reality. President Trump signed an executive order titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” a comprehensive directive aimed squarely at dismantling legal and social recognition of transgender people across the United States.

This far-reaching order impacts nearly every aspect of transgender lives, from federal identification to education, healthcare, and workplace protections. Its scope and implications demand immediate attention—not just from transgender individuals, but also their allies, journalists covering LGBTQ+ issues, and policymakers representing vulnerable communities. Understanding the full extent of this order, its potential limitations, and how it fits into the broader anti-trans strategy sweeping the nation is essential.

This analysis will go section by section to make clearer what the order does and does not do.

End of analysis commentary (for those that don't want to read through):

Ultimately, while the executive order is undeniably sweeping in scope and potential impact, many of its provisions will not take immediate effect. Implementation will require time, navigating complex rulemaking processes, and will almost certainly face legal challenges that could delay enforcement for months or even years. However, the executive order package provides a clear blueprint for where the Trump administration intends to target transgender rights. Its ultimate effectiveness—or lack thereof—will hinge on the resistance it encounters, both in courts and from broader societal opposition.

[Unagi]

It's true. Can't let them 'fly for free' with just lift and thrust to define their vector. We need to act as the drag and weight to their designs and hope they can't clear the trees.

[Enough]

Moving female trans prisoners to male prisons was bad enough, but apparently they have also ordered to remove anti-rape protections as well. So we take trans women, get their hair shorn, cold turkey on meds and then stick them in the general male population with express order to remove anti-rape protections. People will clearly die. I almost think this might go further than FL does.

[Holman]

Moving female trans prisoners to male prisons was bad enough, but apparently they have also ordered to remove anti-rape protections as well. So we take trans women, get their hair shorn, cold turkey on meds and then stick them in the general male population with express order to remove anti-rape protections. People will clearly die. I almost think this might go further than FL does.

And the culture of some prisons is such that all of this means rape will be *encouraged*.

[Smoove_B]

Trans military ban via EO now available on White House site:

Recently, however, the Armed Forces have been afflicted with radical gender ideology to appease activists unconcerned with the requirements of military service like physical and mental health, selflessness, and unit cohesion. Longstanding Department of Defense (DoD) policy (DoD Instruction (DoDI) 6130.03) provides that it is the policy of the DoD to ensure that service members are “[f]ree of medical conditions or physical defects that may reasonably be expected to require excessive time lost from duty for necessary treatment or hospitalization.” As a result, many mental and physical health conditions are incompatible with active duty, from conditions that require substantial medication or medical treatment to bipolar and related disorders, eating disorders, suicidality, and prior psychiatric hospitalization.

Consistent with the military mission and longstanding DoD policy, expressing a false “gender identity” divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service. Beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life. A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.

...

Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States Government to establish high standards for troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity. This policy is inconsistent with the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria. This policy is also inconsistent with shifting pronoun usage or use of pronouns that inaccurately reflect an individual’s sex.

[Blackhawk]

That second paragraph had nothing to do with the order, and was 100% just a chance for the President to officially insult people. I just hope that in a century, that paragraph will be used in schools as an example of how far we've come since the 'dark ages' of the early 21st century.

[Smoove_B]

Not surprisingly, it continues today:

Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions. This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.

Countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding. Moreover, these vulnerable youths’ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes, as they are often trapped with lifelong medical complications, a losing war with their own bodies, and, tragically, sterilization.

Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called “transition” of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.

There's just so much to process here (and the rest of the document) ,but this:

or nurture their children through breastfeeding

As they actively attempt to cut funding to WIC and women's health services.

[Blackhawk]

All those doctors doing sex change operations on 12-year-olds are about to go out of business!

[Enough]

MO not wanting to be left out of the hate fest, Missouri State Representative Jamie Gragg filed HB 1085, which creates a class E felony for teachers or other school personnel who are "contributing to social transition" and must register as a sex offenders. So if a teacher uses the preferred pronoun that's not only a felony but registering on the sex offender list. These people are depraved with cruelty.

[hepcat]

JFC, a felony and registering as a sex offender for a friggin’ pronoun?

[Unagi]

So when do I need to know if my family is breaking the law, and when do I turn us in?

[Smoove_B]

There seems to be a pattern forming:

Section 1. Purpose and Policy. Parents trust America’s schools to provide their children with a rigorous education and to instill a patriotic admiration for our incredible Nation and the values for which we stand. In recent years, however, parents have witnessed schools indoctrinate their children in radical, anti-American ideologies while deliberately blocking parental oversight. Such an environment operates as an echo chamber, in which students are forced to accept these ideologies without question or critical examination. In many cases, innocent children are compelled to adopt identities as either victims or oppressors solely based on their skin color and other immutable characteristics. In other instances, young men and women are made to question whether they were born in the wrong body and whether to view their parents and their reality as enemies to be blamed. These practices not only erode critical thinking but also sow division, confusion, and distrust, which undermine the very foundations of personal identity and family unity.

Imprinting anti-American, subversive, harmful, and false ideologies on our Nation’s children not only violates longstanding anti-discrimination civil rights law in many cases, but usurps basic parental authority. For example, steering students toward surgical and chemical mutilation without parental consent or involvement or allowing males access to private spaces designated for females may contravene Federal laws that protect parental rights, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), and sex-based equality and opportunity, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX). Similarly, demanding acquiescence to “White Privilege” or “unconscious bias,” actually promotes racial discrimination and undermines national unity.

My Administration will enforce the law to ensure that recipients of Federal funds providing K-12 education comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination in various contexts and protecting parental rights, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.; Title IX, 20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.; FERPA, 20 U.S.C. 1232g; and the PPRA, 20 U.S.C. 1232h.

LGBTQ+ part:

e) “Social transition” means the process of adopting a “gender identity” or “gender marker” that differs from a person’s sex. This process can include psychological or psychiatric counseling or treatment by a school counselor or other provider; modifying a person’s name (e.g., “Jane” to “James”) or pronouns (e.g., “him” to “her”); calling a child “nonbinary”; use of intimate facilities and accommodations such as bathrooms or locker rooms specifically designated for persons of the opposite sex; and participating in school athletic competitions or other extracurricular activities specifically designated for persons of the opposite sex. “Social transition” does not include chemical or surgical mutilation.

Sec. 3. Ending Indoctrination Strategy. (a) Within 90 days of the date of this order, to advise the President in formulating future policy, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall provide an Ending Indoctrination Strategy to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, containing recommendations and a plan for:

...

iii) Each agency’s process to prevent or rescind Federal funds, to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, from being used by an ESA, SEA, LEA, elementary school, or secondary school to directly or indirectly support or subsidize the social transition of a minor student, including through school staff or teachers or through deliberately concealing the minor’s social transition from the minor’s parents.

EDIT: I'm still reading it but there's a section about how schools will lose funding by supporting trans youth and another part about targeting teachers (though a state AG) that help trans students in any way. This is pretty bleak.

[Isgrimnur]

US judge blocks Trump administration from transferring transgender inmate

A U.S. judge has temporarily blocked federal prison officials from transferring a transgender woman to a men's facility and denying her access to gender-affirming care in accordance with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump, her lawyers said on Thursday.

The temporary restraining order was issued by U.S. District Judge George O'Toole in Boston on Sunday while the inmate's case was sealed in what appeared to be the first lawsuit challenging an order Trump signed on his first day back in office on Jan. 20, targeting what he called "gender ideology extremism."
...
The lawsuit was filed on Sunday and was soon after sealed. The judge, an appointee of Democratic President Bill Clinton, lifted the seal on Thursday as a hearing was underway on whether he should grant the inmate, known by the pseudonym Maria Moe, further relief.

Her case was filed by lawyers at two LGBTQ rights groups including GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, or GLAD, which after the case was unsealed confirmed that O'Toole had on Sunday issued a temporary restraining order that will remain in place while he considers whether to issue a longer-lasting injunction.

[Smoove_B]

Absolutely tragic when the government threatens to withhold money and weaponizes health care:

A leading New York City hospital system has begun canceling appointments for transgender children following President Trump’s executive order threatening to withhold federal funding to hospitals that provide gender-affirming treatments, according to the children’s parents.

The hospital system, NYU Langone Health, has not made any public announcements. But word spread among parents of trans children after the hospital canceled appointments for two 12-year-olds who had been scheduled to receive implants that dispense puberty-blocking medication.

...

The executive order at issue is one of a flurry that President Trump has issued regarding gender and trans issues in his first two weeks in office. It takes aim at doctors and hospitals who provide trans youth under the age of 19 with gender-affirming medical treatment, which can include puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery.

“It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another,” the executive order states, “and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”

I guess there's no other way to prescribe puberty blockers to a 12 year old in some other scenario where it's medically required.

[Zarathud]

Executive Orders need to be limited. Those funds were lawfully appropriated without conditions.

[Blackhawk]

Executive Orders need to be limited.

Feller, that ship done sailed.

[Smoove_B]

And now, Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports, the Executive Order:

Section 1. Policy and Purpose. In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports. This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.

...

Therefore, it is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy. It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.

...

Sec. 4. Preserving Fairness and Safety in Women’s Sports. Many sport-specific governing bodies have no official position or requirements regarding trans-identifying athletes. Others allow men to compete in women’s categories if these men reduce the testosterone in their bodies below certain levels or provide documentation of “sincerely held” gender identity. These policies are unfair to female athletes and do not protect female safety.

DOJ to enforce.

[Smoove_B]

NCAA already has indicated they will obey

[Smoove_B]

The National Park Service (at the direction of the Trump administration) has removed all references to trans people from the Stonewall National Monument website. Erasing history in real-time; I cannot believe it.

I've heard there's going to be a a protest in NY tomorrow because of it.

Here's the news story, for those curious:

During his first day in the White House, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring that there are only "two sexes, male and female," with the effects of that order being seen from passports to the U.S. military.

"The decision to change 'LGBTQ' to 'LGB' on the Stonewall National Monument's National Parks page is yet another example of the Trump administration's blatant attempts to discriminate against and erase the legacies of transgender and queer Americans," the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) said in a statement on Thursday.

"You can try to erase our history, but we will never forget those who came before us and we will continue to fight for all those who will come after us," the GLAAD statement added.

The National Parks Conservation Association -- an independent, nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to national park advocacy -- released a statement on the decision Thursday.

"Erasing letters or webpages does not change the history or the contributions of our transgender community members at Stonewall or anywhere else," program manager Timothy Leonard said. "Stonewall inspires and our parks must continue to include diverse stories that welcome and represent the people that shaped our nation."

[hepcat]

Jesus H. Christ, the entire point of that goddamn monument is to memorialize an historic moment in rights for the LGBTQ community.

This is just full on homophobia.

Once again I say, come on cheeseburgers and fried chicken. Do god's work for us.

[Zenn7]

Once again I say, come on cheeseburgers and fried chicken. Do god's work for us.

While I see lots of benefits to that happening, LGBT issues do not seem like one of those areas. Wouldn't Vance be just as strong (if not more so) on this subject?

To be clear, I hate Trump, am opposed to pretty much the entire republican party (except the handful that voted to impeach Trump) and still a bit stunned how dems lost not just the election, but the popular vote, the house and the senate.

[hepcat]

Once again I say, come on cheeseburgers and fried chicken. Do god's work for us.

While I see lots of benefits to that happening, LGBT issues do not seem like one of those areas. Wouldn't Vance be just as strong (if not more so) on this subject?

He looks like he loves a little fried food himself. So I'm holding out hope his cholesterol is just as high.

To be clear, I hate Trump, am opposed to pretty much the entire republican party (except the handful that voted to impeach Trump) and still a bit stunned how dems lost not just the election, but the popular vote, the house and the senate.

No kidding. For a while there it really seemed like the support for Harris was high enough to take it all. But the reality was far more grim. Deplorables outnumber rational people who aren't terrified of minorities or homosexuals apparently.

[Enough]

Once again I say, come on cheeseburgers and fried chicken. Do god's work for us.

While I see lots of benefits to that happening, LGBT issues do not seem like one of those areas. Wouldn't Vance be just as strong (if not more so) on this subject?

He looks like he loves a little fried food himself. So I'm holding out hope his cholesterol is just as high.

To be clear, I hate Trump, am opposed to pretty much the entire republican party (except the handful that voted to impeach Trump) and still a bit stunned how dems lost not just the election, but the popular vote, the house and the senate.

No kidding. For a while there it really seemed like the support for Harris was high enough to take it all. But the reality was far more grim. Deplorables outnumber rational people who aren't terrified of minorities or homosexuals apparently.

It seems most successful political movements in America provide permission to hate. Was FDR so powerful partially due to that (see interment)? Is it possible to move this country without activating the racists and homophobes?

[Holman]

It seems most successful political movements in America provide permission to hate. Was FDR so powerful partially due to that (see interment)? Is it possible to move this country without activating the racists and homophobes?

I disagree. FDR won his first term in response to the GOP ushering in the Great Depression. He won his second because his programs actually helped an economically suffering nation.

Japanese internment didn't come up until he had already been elected for a third term. He won his fourth term because he was a wartime leader very clearly on the cusp of victory in WW2.

The story is the same: Americans en masse really only care about the economy and are too blinkered to see much else. In 2024 they weren't voting for Project 2025; they were reacting to rising prices under Biden.

[Enough]

It seems most successful political movements in America provide permission to hate. Was FDR so powerful partially due to that (see interment)? Is it possible to move this country without activating the racists and homophobes?

I disagree. FDR won his first term in response to the GOP ushering in the Great Depression. He won his second because his programs actually helped an economically suffering nation.

Japanese internment didn't come up until he had already been elected for a third term. He won his fourth term because he was a wartime leader very clearly on the cusp of victory in WW2.

The story is the same: Americans en masse really only care about the economy and are too blinkered to see much else. In 2024 they weren't voting for Project 2025; they were reacting to rising prices under Biden.

Well that used to be my read, or that he was maybe evasive on the subject for political reasons, but reading between the lines and knowing my rural relatives that loved the hell out of the man I am not so sure. I do think he partially ran more on class warfare to get the middle, but likely also a good amount of hate. Don't forget Jesse Owens got snubbed and hated FDR for it. He also refused to support an anti-lynching law. Dude knew to keep his mouth shut to keep the southern dems voting for him.

And I think race and gender were also major issues in the last election, hard not to see that it was a marquee feature of the campaign. Eating the cats and dogs... Also, just one example, but many in her circle followed, the second-gen Mexican-American gal I took to homecoming in high school voted for him due to his stance on immigration. I also know quite a few who voted for him to just stick it to the annoying libs. World is already lost and there's no coming back to the good times they say, so why not have some fun pissing off the libs on our way out and burn the place down?

[Smoove_B]

These fucking people already:

A Texas state lawmaker filed a bill Wednesday that would make "gender identity fraud" a criminal offense.

Rep. Tom Oliverson, who represents part of Harris County, authored House Bill 3817. The proposed law, if passed, would make it illegal for a person who presents as an opposite gender than the one assigned to them at birth to identify as the opposite to their employer or a governmental agency. The bill defines this as gender identity fraud.

The bill also seeks to make this offense a state jail felony. This means if found guilty, the person could face 180 days to two years in a state jail facility and up to a $10,000 fine.

If approved by both the House and Senate and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, the bill would go into effect Sept. 1, 2025.

I understand it's likely performative, but the idea that anyone would formally propose it is beyond disgusting.

[Blackhawk]

My gay friends (married) who lived in Texas have already fled the state. I can't imagine why anyone would choose either Texas or Florida unless they're 100% MAGA.

[Kraken]

This is one big reason we moved to the Berkshires:

City Council declares Pittsfield a sanctuary city for transgender and gender-diverse people.

The City Council unanimously voted on Tuesday night to declare Pittsfield a sanctuary city for transgender and gender-diverse people. Introduced by Councilor Alisa Costa, the resolution affirms the city's commitment to protecting transgender rights and unwillingness to cooperate with federal policies targeting the community.

“Pittsfield is a place where all people deserve to live with dignity, safety and respect, no matter their gender identity or expression,” Costa said.

The move comes after the Pittsfield School Committee passed a resolution affirming its LGBTQ+ policy “supporting gender-diverse and transgender students.”

About 1/3 of the people in Berkshire County live in Pittsfield.

[gbasden]

My gay friends (married) who lived in Texas have already fled the state. I can't imagine why anyone would choose either Texas or Florida unless they're 100% MAGA.

There are a lot of states that fall into that category for me.

[LordMortis]

Stolen in its entirety from "fear and loathing: closer to the edge", an editorial page on FB for which I have friends in three different circles posting daily now, it seems. If I could link to the source, I would. If you have FB, this is a *very* popular scathing editorial page among a lot of my friends. Much better than mindlessly endlessly resharing an "occupy democrats" meme. It's also apparently available by substack, for which I am not registered.

Rep. Keith Self didn’t just misgender Rep. Sarah McBride — he put on a public display of cowardice so pathetic it should come with a warning label: "Caution: Contains fragile egos and weak spines."
Self’s decision to address McBride as “Mr. McBride” — not once, but twice — wasn’t some slip of the tongue. It was a calculated jab, a cheap attempt to flex his authority by degrading a colleague. But instead of commanding the room, Self ended up squirming like a worm on hot pavement.
Here’s how it started:
Self: "I now recognize the representative from Delaware, Mr. McBride."
Right out of the gate, Self didn’t waste a second on subtlety. No hesitation, no stumble — just a smug delivery meant to provoke. He wanted to get under McBride’s skin. What he didn’t expect was McBride’s instant and brilliant response.
McBride: "Thank you, Madam Chair."
With four words, McBride pulled the rug out from under Self. No anger. No flustered comeback. Just calm, deliberate mockery that flipped his pathetic insult right back at him. Self had walked into his own trap. The room shifted. The mood soured.
[Pause, murmuring in the room]
That silence? That wasn’t just awkwardness — that was the sound of Keith Self realizing, in real-time, that he was losing control.
Keating: "Chair, could you repeat your introduction again, please?"
Enter Rep. Bill Keating — and this is where things turned ugly for Self. Keating knew exactly what he was doing. He wasn’t confused. He wasn’t looking for clarification. He was giving Self a chance to fix his mistake — a chance to walk back his petty jab before it turned into a scene.
Self: "Uh... yes, it's a... it's a... we have set the standard on the floor of the House, and I'm simply—"
Everybody could see Self's confidence collapsing in real-time. That awkward pause, that fumbling attempt to sound authoritative — it’s the verbal equivalent of checking your pocket for a winning lottery ticket only to realize you’re holding a grocery receipt. He knew he'd screwed up, but instead of correcting himself, he tried to bluff his way out.
Keating: "What is that standard, Mr. Chairman? Would you repeat what you just said when you introduced a duly elected representative from the United States of America, please?"
Keating wasn’t letting go. He smelled blood. The slow, deliberate tone — "a duly elected representative from the United States of America" — wasn’t just about McBride anymore. Keating was making sure everyone in the room knew this wasn’t a minor disagreement — it was an insult to Congress itself.
Self: "I will — the representative from Delaware, Mr. McBride."
Twice. He said it twice. He had the out — Keating practically handed it to him — and he still chose to double down. This wasn’t some principled stance; this was a tantrum — an ego-driven flail designed to avoid the one thing Self couldn’t handle: admitting he was wrong.
Keating: "Mr. Chairman, you are out of order."
This is where Self’s act started to collapse. Keating’s voice hardened, and you can hear the disbelief behind his words — the frustration of a man realizing he’s dealing with someone too petty to correct himself.
Self: "We have set the standard—"
Keating: "Mr. Chairman, have you no decency? I mean, I’ve come to know you a little bit, but this is not decent."
Boom. The hammer dropped. Keating reached back into history and unleashed the most devastating insult in American politics — “Have you no decency?” — a callback to Joseph Welch’s legendary takedown of Joseph McCarthy in 1954. Those four words don’t just call out cruelty — they expose it as pathetic, weak, and beneath contempt.
Keating knew exactly what he was saying. He was calling Self a bully — a man too small to take responsibility for his own behavior. And Self’s reaction proved him right.
Self: "We will continue this—"
Keating: "You will not continue it with me unless you introduce a duly elected representative the right way."
Keating didn’t just call out Self — he shut him down. No wiggle room. No backpedal. He refused to let the hearing continue unless Self did the bare minimum: say McBride’s name correctly.
Self: "This hearing is adjourned."
And there it was — the final, pitiful act. Faced with a choice between behaving like a professional or throwing a tantrum, Self grabbed his gavel, slammed it down, and ran. He didn’t just fold — he fled. He didn’t have the courage to stand by his insult or the humility to admit he was wrong.
This wasn’t a debate. It wasn’t a disagreement about policy. It was a man-child losing his grip on a room full of adults and bailing before things got worse.
But this wasn’t just Self’s blunder. His meltdown was part of a larger pattern — a GOP crusade against McBride that’s as predictable as it is pathetic.
Nancy Mace tried the same stunt before McBride was even sworn in, pushing a bathroom ban that boiled down to “I don’t like her, so she can’t pee here.” When that didn’t rattle McBride, Mace started misgendering her at every opportunity — on social media, in interviews, anywhere she could grab a microphone. Not to be outdone, Rep. Mary Miller proudly called McBride “the gentleman from Delaware” in what can only be described as a proud display of ignorance.
These aren’t political statements — they’re cheap shots from people who know they can’t win on merit. They can’t outwork McBride. They can’t outthink her. They can’t keep up with her composure. So they’re left with this: a desperate smear campaign disguised as some warped defense of “biological truth.”
Misgendering McBride isn’t about belief or tradition — it’s about control. The GOP can’t erase her, so they’re trying to reduce her to a joke. They think if they say “Mr. McBride” enough times, she’ll vanish.
But McBride isn’t going anywhere. Every day she shows up to Congress — focused, prepared, and refusing to flinch — she’s winning. And these GOP cowards know it. That’s why they’re flailing. That’s why they’re stuttering their way through hearings. That’s why Keith Self, a man supposedly in charge, couldn’t even finish his own meeting without throwing down his gavel and stomping off like a spoiled child.
He thought he was humiliating McBride. Instead, he humiliated himself. And the whole world got to watch.

[Punisher]

That was a good read!