Virginia Del. Dave LaRock (Far-Far-Right “R” — parts of Loudoun, Frederick and Clarke Counties) yet again demonstrates what “family values” means for Republicans of his extremist ilk. LaRock also demonstrates what happens when districts are drawn to be safe Republican – in the case of the 33rd Virginia House of Delegates district, it’s so crazy that the entire “Extreme Team” – even including EW Jackson! – swept to victory there in the 2013 Virginia governor/LG/AG election.
In this case, LaRock is freaking out over a resolution which simply proclaims “June 2016 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month in Loudoun County and urges all residents to respect and honor our diverse community and celebrate and build a culture of inclusiveness and acceptance.” Check out what this bigoted, far-right Republican thinks of that below (bolding added by me for emphasis). Also note that almost every word LaRock says is (wildly) false, including that being LGBT is a “lifestyle,” that those “lifestyles” result in “real physical and psychological harms” (yeah, by LGBT-bashing bigots, perhaps), that equality and respect for others represent the “extreme views of a few,” that the “transgender lifestyle” constitutes a “psychological disorder,” etc., etc. Unfortunately, we’ll probably be stuck with this hate-filled cretin for a while, as there’s basically zero chance of a Democrat beating him in his cozy, gerrymandered-for-incumbent-protection district. Ugh.
Pride is an interesting concept.
Pride often reflects an attitude of arrogance, and while there may be instances where pride is a good thing (such as patriotism or support for those who have sacrificed in service to our country and community), having our Loudoun County government publically proclaim to be proud of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) movement is not such an instance.
All good people oppose hatred and senseless violence, but the official proclamation offered by Supervisor Kristen Umstattd last week went way beyond that. Her proposal amounted to an official Loudoun County prideful proclamation of solidarity with the homosexual and transgender lifestyles.
Supervisor Kristen Umstattd’s proclamation is a bad idea for several reasons.
First, Supervisor Kristen Umstattd’s proclamation promotes homosexuality and gender confusion to people of all ages but ignores the real physical and psychological harms associated with those lifestyles and the harm of the sexually explicit material used to promote, affirm and recruit young school-aged children to those lifestyles.
Supervisor Umstattd’s proposal to express pride for the transgender lifestyle, which experts classify as a psychological disorder, reflects very poor judgement. Paul McHugh, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical School and the former psychiatrist in chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital had this to say about gender impersonation, “Conditioning children into believing that a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful is child abuse.”
Second, Supervisor Kristen Umstattd’s proclamation is very likely just a first step toward public policy and school policy initiatives focused on affirming homosexual and gender confused behavior. Look to our neighbor Fairfax County and beyond and you see LGBT pride parades, fairs, and school events. The behavior and practices promoted at these events is often vulgar. The material distributed at Pride events includes sexually explicit printed material which would shock most.
Third, it is offensive to many (me included) for government to proclaim something which ignores and contradicts deeply held religious beliefs as this proclamation would do. Both the Umstattd proclamation and president Obama’s recent proclamation that public schools need to ignore biological sex and replace it with assumed gender are examples of government imposing the extreme views of a few on many. When government does this it also infringes on parent’s rights to impart their values to their children.
Supervisor Umstattd, please reserve the proclamations for real heroes and honorable events that elevate that which is good, wholesome and worthy of recognition.
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