CBS News investigation finds Kim Davis’ lawyer behind anti-LGBT bills in 20 states

[dixiegrrrrl]

The lawyer who represented Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis after she refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses told CBS News that his group was also behind anti-LGBT legislation being pushed in at least 20 states.

After governors in North Carolina and Mississippi recently signed laws limiting the rights of LGBT people, CBS News began investigating why so many anti-LGBT bills were cropping up in state legislatures around the country.

The network found that the conservative group Liberty Counsel had placed lawyers in all 50 states to draft legislation and advise lawmakers on how to rein in the rights of LGBT people in response to a Supreme Court ruling which legalized same-sex marriage in 2015.

CBS determined that bills tied to Liberty Counsel have been filed in at least 20 states so far.

https://www.rawstory.com/2016/04/cbs-news-investigation-finds-kim-davis-lawyer-behind-anti-lgbt-bills-in-20-states/#.VxAelaS9ATo.facebook

[haikugal]

1. Liberty University in action...

[Bluenorthwest]

11. Nope, this is Liberty Counsel of Florida, founded by Matt Staver who is from Universtity of Kentucky

law school. Southern Poverty Law Center calls them a hate group. Know you enemy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Counsel

[haikugal]

13. Close but no cigar.

by conservative activists Mathew (“Mat”) Staver – an attorney and former dean at Liberty University School of Law – and his wife Anita. The Counsel bills itself as a non-profit litigation, education and policy organization that provides legal counsel and pro bono assistance in cases dealing with religious liberty, “the sanctity of human life" and the family. Mat Staver chairs the Counsel; his wife Anita is the president. The Liberty Counsel shares a close affiliation with Liberty University (founded by the late Jerry Falwell in Lynchburg, Va.) , especially the university’s school of law. The partnership includes the Washington, D.C.-based Liberty Center for Law and Policy, which conducts legal research and writes about current legislation and policies.

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/liberty-counsel

Know your enemy...

[Jackie Wilson Said]

2. The same people who hate you if you are black or Jewish or whatever.

[joeybee12]

3. Shocking!

Not

[Volaris]

4. Paid lobbying should be banned at every level of government

Minus travel expenses to state capitals/DC.
If I believe strongly enough that xyz needs to happen and that lawmakers need to be convinced that I'm right, I'll step up and do that job for free.
If I DONT believe it (like most lobbyists now) and I'm not being paid for my prior connections, guess what? I'm not getting out of bed and the rich assholes who think they need shit to be MORE better for themselves can all go get bent.

Paid lobbying of government should be a BANNED practice in America.

[melm00se]

6. Lobbying database

https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?indexType=s

Top 10 lobbyist spending
US Chamber of Commerce......$84,730,000
National Assn of Realtors........$37,788,407
Blue Cross/Blue Shield............$23,292,049
American Medical Assn...........$21,930,000
Boeing Co.............................$21,921,000
General Electric......................$20,920,000
American Hospital Assn............$20,687,935
Business Roundtable................$19,250,000
Pharmaceutical Rsrch & Mfrs of America............$18,920,000
National Assn of Broadcasters..........................$17,360,000

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Excellent info........thanks. n/t

[mnhtnbb]

5. This is not a surprise to see that a right wing hate group has been coordinating the effort

to deny equal rights to LGBT people.

They are just a hateful group of a$$holes.

[mnhtnbb]

7. The Southern Poverty Law Center lists Liberty Counsel as a hate group

for their anti-LGBT actions.

https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map

[kairos12]

9. These clowns are like a virus in the bloodstream of America. True sickness.

[yardwork]

10. The only way to fight this is to make it cost votes.

Here's why anti-LGBTQ legislation is so readily adopted by Republican state legislatures: they think it helps them get reelected. We have to turn that math around.

In NC, there is a huge backlash by businesses underway. If it is enough to cost the governor his reelection - and maybe even toss out a few state legislators - we will see this hate legislation stop.

So far, hate legislation has been an "inexpensive" way for right wing politicians to turn out their base voters. The only way to stop this trend is to make it too expensive - through lost business revenue and eventually lost votes.

Thank you Bruce Springsteen and the others whose boycott of my state might be a wake up call.

[Bluenorthwest]

12. Five NC Democrats voted for that bill. That's not cool. I have a few dear friends in NC and I worry

daily. I've known many people from NC, most of them LGBT but even the straight ones were liberals and one was perhaps the best activist Democrat I have known. Our hearts and wallets are with you all. A few changes and I'd live in NC. Not too north, not too south, affordable, beautiful, and shockingly cultural. A State worth fighting for, yardwork.

[yardwork]

15. Thanks. I wasn't born here but I've been in NC a long time. It is my home.

NC is better than this.

Yes, some Democrats who represent conservative, mostly rural districts voted for it because they are ignorant and their constituents are ignorant.

But this bill would never have existed if Democrats still controlled the NC legislature, as they did for 100 years until 2010. The teabillies who seized control are destroying this state.

[Sheepshank]

14. Match made in Hell

dirty, filthy, bigoted, low-lifes.