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Utah governor slammed for removing mention of LGBTQ people from Pride Month proclamation
June 02, 2023
Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) is facing criticism after issuing a Pride Month proclamation that appeared to have all references to LGBTQ people removed from it, Axios reported on Friday.
"The omission quickly gained notice as Cox posted the proclamation on social media, calling for 'inclusion, belonging and kindness' and praising 'numerous organizations' for 'cultivating love for all,'" reported Erin Alberty.
"Cox's 2022 and 2021 proclamations referred to LGBTQ+ Utahns multiple times. This year's declaration also removes an acknowledgement that appeared in previous versions, that 'members of the LGBTQ+ community who do not feel loved and accepted experience higher rates of mental health challenges.' It also eliminates a call 'to be more inclusive and accepting of the LGBTQ+ members of our community.'"
Gay rights organizations slammed the move, with the Utah Pride Center saying, "Not including the letters and words that identify the Pride Community — LGBTQIA+ — is an irresponsible … act of erasure."
At the same time, the report noted, "Conservatives accused Cox of pandering to the left by celebrating 'sin,' called him a RINO and urged a primary challenge from the right" for even giving a proclamation at all.
Cox has for years styled himself as sympathetic to LGBTQ rights; in 2016, Cox, then lieutenant governor, confessed to having bullied people over sexual orientation when he was younger, saying that "my heart has changed" since then, and offered the community his "heartfelt apology." And in 2022, he vetoed a bill that would restrict athletics for transgender youth, emotionally explaining that he didn't want to be responsible for driving young children to suicide.
In recent months however, Cox has increasingly caved to the rising faction in his party demanding a crackdown on LGBTQ rights. In January, Cox signed a bill prohibiting several types of gender-affirming care for minors, over the objections of medical organizations.
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The FBI will bring an "internal law enforcement document" to Capitol Hill next week for House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) and ranking Democratic member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) to review, CNN reported.
Some Republicans claim the document will contain allegations made by an unnamed whistleblower about an alleged criminal scheme between Joe Biden when he was vice president and a foreign national. But, according to CNN, sources that have reviewed the document say it contains no incriminating evidence against Biden.
"The allegations of wrongdoing by the then-vice president, many originating from sources in Ukraine, were dubious enough that former Attorney General William Barr in early 2020 directed they be investigated by a US attorney in Pittsburgh," CNN's report stated.
Read the full report over at CNN.
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A coalition of Arkansas book enthusiasts is suing the state and its Republican governor over a restrictive new law that threatens librarians with jail time for making banned books available to minors, The Daily Beast reports.
The law would “subject librarians and booksellers to criminal charges if they provide 'harmful' materials to minors,” according to The Associated Press.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in March signed Arkansas Act 372 into law. The measure is expected to go into effect Aug. 1.
The Arkansas Library Association and the Central Arkansas Library System are among the groups who filed the lawsuit jointly on Friday.
Critics say the law is extreme and unenforceable.
Arkansas Library Association President Carol Coffey is among those who have assailed the controversial measure.
“Library workers across Arkansas are rightly concerned that the overly broad edicts of Act 372 will prevent them from serving their patrons as they have always done, by providing a wide variety of materials to fill their information needs, and perhaps more importantly, materials that allow each child to see themselves in the books in their library,” Coffey said in a statement.
“The primary mission of the Arkansas Library Association is to support libraries and library workers and to defend intellectual freedom. We join in this lawsuit because it is the best way for us to fulfill our mission.”
The lawsuit alleges the new law violates the state’s constitution’s 1st and 14th amendment protections.
The Arkansas law follows a national trend.
Attempts to ban or restrict access to books at public libraries set a record in 2022 with more than 1,200 such challenges, according to the American Library Association, more than double of what was seen the previous year.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.
“The last two years have been exhausting, frightening, outrage inducing.”
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