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loveerran · 1 year

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YSA Relief Society Planning

This past Sunday, I attended, of all things, a Young Single Adult (YSA) ward in California (the building location and meeting time just happened to work out for me). I confess I took an Uber to church. There are probably some folks who think my buying an Uber on Sunday isn’t nearly as big a ‘sin’ as my attending church in a dress. But I have to say, my experiences attending church as a trans woman continue to touch my life, so I keep coming back for more.

Relief Society ended up being a planning session for proposed activities and lessons. My Queerward friends on Discord recommended a very-Mormon-sounding game of human foosball (<3 Queerward!), and I added that to the list. Lessons were planned around General Conference talks. These women spoke of their hunger to hear talks from women leaders, past and present. Like so many of us, they want to see themselves represented and to hear voices and experiences that reflect their own. General Conference this spring was wonderful, and I heard only positive comments about the talks delivered. However, only 2 of 33 talks were delivered by women, even though the Saturday evening session ended well short of the potential 2-hour time-frame.

At this point in the planning, several sisters shared difficulties they faced growing up in the church, including how they were taught modesty and the Law of Chastity. My overall impression is that they sense the good in the gospel message, and they are looking for reasons to stay and be part of a community that connects them with spiritual growth and transformation. But their experiences haven’t always been positive. It was touching to be present when the discussion covered cultural forcing of stereotypical gender roles and personal trauma and even shame from church teachings. I admit I felt particularly included, and I imagined some of the glances in my direction were concluding I might have some stake in this conversation also.

A church comprised of human beings can never be as perfect as the gospel message. So how can we avoid harming people? Perhaps the answer is in the message. If we want to fulfill the Lord’s mandate of ministering to the one and feeding His sheep in positive ways, we will have to focus on individual journeys with unfailing, unflinching charity. One of my friends likes to point out that all those who interacted with the Savior, even the marginalized and sinners, were uplifted and encouraged by their experience with Him. Our temple training videos are like that. Personal experience tells me God wants me to succeed, to be part of this church family. My interactions with the women of the church have been universally uplifting and reinforced that message of love and inclusion.

One dear sister commented that we would need to make sure our lessons were grounded in the gospel rather than centering negative experiences. Others acknowledged the validity of the intent, but pointed out that we couldn’t just gloss over the negative parts of church history or personal traumatic experiences. There is legitimate baggage to be unpacked. The discussion gave me my first ever opportunity to offer a comment in a Relief Society lesson (I usually defer because I dislike my voice and don’t want to distract from the spirit in a place I am privileged to be in). It went something like this:

“I had an opportunity to attend a Relief Society lesson at a family ward in Utah. The lesson was on Elder Holland’s talk, Fear Not, Only Believe. The environment was touching as sisters shared their experiences with depression, abuse, thoughts of suicide, and love for family members who have experienced those things. The line between trauma dumping and a spiritually centered discussion about trauma-informed healing may be a fine one, but it is also a beautiful one when walked appropriately.”

I spoke with a young sister afterwards who thanked me for my comment. I was glad she approached me and spoke with me as a friend. I felt uplifted and encouraged by my experience with her and the other women of that ward.

#lgbt folks need church to #suffer the little children and forbid them not #queerstake #tumblrstake #relief society #erran goes to church #lds'#mormon #lgbt #lgbtqia+#religion #trans #transge #transgender spirituality

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latestnews2018-blog · 6 years

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Rep. Jason Spencer Screams N-Word, Brandishes Bare Butt On 'Who Is America'

New Post has been published on https://latestnews2018.com/rep-jason-spencer-screams-n-word-brandishes-bare-butt-on-who-is-america/

Rep. Jason Spencer Screams N-Word, Brandishes Bare Butt On 'Who Is America'

Rep. Jason Spencer (R-Woodbine), a state representative from Georgia, was featured on Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Who Is America?” Sunday night shouting the N-word, flashing his naked buttocks, and making fun of Chinese people.

Cohen, “disguised” as Israeli terrorism expert Col. Erran Morad, convinced Spencer to participate in an anti-terrorism training video meant for elected officials to learn how to protect themselves from terrorists.

“All you damn sand-niggers over in the Middle East, we are tired of you coming to America and we are tired of you trying to threaten us,” Spencer says in a post-credits video titled, “A Message to Terrorists from Rep. Jason Spencer.”

In addition to brandishing a knife, Spencer continues his rampage: “We will cut off your dick, you understand? We will take your dick and we will shove it in your mouth. How are you going to rape children and women without a dick?”

Spencer is currently serving his fourth term in the Georgia house.

Oh MY GOD…Jason Spencer #WhoIsAmerica pic.twitter.com/Y5auuuGkBn

— 🌷Deb 💫 (@Dee_NY45) July 23, 2018

Earlier in the show, the bonkers segment opens with Spencer being instructed to act like a Chinese tourist to take up-skirt photos under a suspected terrorist’s burka. The tear he goes on contains the words “sushi,” “red dragon,” and other racist, nonsensical words. Cohen’s character also asks that Spencer yell the “n-word” and Spencer screams it more than a dozen times.

Cohen’s Morad then looks at him and says: “Are you crazy? The ‘N-word’ is noony, not this word, this word is disgusting.”

The video continues to get even more insane with Spencer being directed to pretend to be “homo” to frighten terrorists because, as Cohen’s Morad informs him, terrorists are afraid of homosexuals. Spencer proceeds to bare his entire ass and run backward towards Cohen’s Morad ― all while yelling, “America!”

Earlier in the show, Spencer “pretended to be Chinese” so he could take an upskirt photo of a Muslim woman to see if it was actually a male terrorist. pic.twitter.com/ie3LAILb58

— Isaac Saul (@Ike_Saul) July 23, 2018

Here is he screaming “nigger” to get attention during practice for a terrorist kidnappping. pic.twitter.com/6WZp0DydZz

— Isaac Saul (@Ike_Saul) July 23, 2018

The reactions to the segment have been all over the map:

Whelp, looks like Georgia state rep. Jason Spencer is in a whole lot of trouble. #WhoIsAmerica

— Andrew Peng (@TheAPJournalist) July 23, 2018

Holy shit, Jason Spencer. Holy fucking shit.

— The Brian Duffield (@BrianDuffield) July 23, 2018

I’m like 2 minutes into the new episode of #WhoIsAmerica and my jaw is already on the floor at how racist Jason Spencer is.

— Saul (@ross_douthat) July 23, 2018

Jason Spencer is probably really unhappy right now. People may mention this tomorrow. #WhoIsAmerica pic.twitter.com/zHCEAcFGR8

— Sam Roberts (@notsam) July 23, 2018

I got to the segment in WHO IS AMERICA where state rep Jason Spencer (Republican-GA) starts speaking in a racist Chinese voice and I thought, “Wow, this is pretty offensive!”

But then I got to the segment where he started screaming the N-word repeatedly…

— David Chen (@davechensky) July 23, 2018

Seriously, fuck this guy… #JasonSpencer #WhoIsAmerica pic.twitter.com/OWUe95nYfq

— 94%er✌🏾❤️✊🏾 (@Mommy_Maven) July 23, 2018

Ok: Episode 2 is on, and I take that back. Crushingly brilliant. The opening take down of Georgia State Rep Jason Spencer is every bit as unforgiving as the bigotry he reveals deserves. #WhoIsAmerica

— TJ (@TJishsh) July 23, 2018

As for his explanation for why he participated in the show and acted in this way, Spencer told The New York Times that he believed the training video to be real and for “elected officials who may be targeted by terrorists.” He also said that he “repeatedly asked to shout provocative language.”

“It is clear the makers of this film intended to deceive me in an attempt to undermine the American conservative political movement,” said Spencer, who has now “sought legal counsel” and plans to “take action if and when any of this fraudulently obtained footage of me is used by these Hollywood liberals to line their own pockets.”

This is QUITE a statement from Jason Spencer, a state rep from Georgia, also duped by Sacha Baron Cohen. Says he took part in an anti-terrorism training video, including “a kidnapping scenario where I was repeatedly asked to shout provocative language….” pic.twitter.com/2OUR6GEHEN

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) July 16, 2018

While the 43-year-old physician assistant is in his fourth term, it’s also his last as he lost the primary election in May to Steven Sainz. The behavior seen in episode two of “Who Is America?” is not all too shocking when you consider Spencer’s history with minorities and the Catholic Church. Spencer once proposed a bill that would have banned Muslims from wearing veils and even warned a black Democrat that she may “go missing” if she tries to remove Confederate statues.

Spencer also referred to the Catholic Church as a “pro-child predator special interest group” and the “child sexual predator lobby.” According to The New York Times, this was amid “a heated debate over Georgia’s Hidden Predator Act,” which Spencer “wanted to toughen by giving victims of child sexual abuse more power to sue perpetrators and institutions that harbor them.”

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