I was raised as a Christian fundamentalist and used to write - in full belief - in support of basing society on the laws of the Torah (first five books) of the Bible.

I was taught that the Confederacy (the pro-slavery rebels of the southern US) were the “right” side. I remember my paternal grandfather (who was later convicted as a child molester) praising me for articles arguing as much. I remember my family flying a Confederate flag.
I once wrote supremacist, homophobic, Islamophobic, and even anti-Semitic blogs, arguing a religious nationalist ideology that was patriarchal, discriminatory, and outright offensive.
I was 17. 18. Early 20s. Back then, I wanted to join the US military. I thought every opinion I regurgitated was Gospel. I missed the part about “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
I once confused hatred for love.
I was taught that women have “their place” - by my mother, no less - and given detailed rules. Skirts or dresses, never pants. No college. No working “outside the home.” Authority passes from the father to the husband. The father must give permission to marry.
I was instructed, and regurgitated, that there is only one way for the Christian. One must check every box. The “reformation” meant only those “elect” who held the “right” beliefs - including endorsing a theocracy - had any reason for hope.
I was left hopeless. I fled my family.
Then they changed. Slowly. Very painfully. Parents divorced and remarried. Staunch Republicans turned disestablishmentarians turned liberals.
Long before that, I turned agnostic.
Then I found faith again. Faith that a wretch from a wretched family might still find redemption and try to stand for something true.
Faith for a future where I don’t have to discriminate, can reject supremacy, can try to speak for the broken, can empathize with those who embrace evil while attempting to stand against it, and may speak freely and forcefully against the forces of fundamentalism.
As an outcome, I still have very little contact with my family - although they have all, from parents to 9 siblings, overtly rejected fundamentalism. And I am left with a deep and abiding sense of guilt.
Guilt for my evil words. Guilt for obeying misguided and fundamentalist parents. Guilt for the harm and offense I caused by lies I perpetuated. Guilt for not waking up sooner.
And haunted by a commission, a mission, a drive that I must love more than myself those who are nothing like me. That I must prioritize that which does not affect me.
Tormented - and redeemed - with a conviction that the only way to turn a curse into a blessing is to do whatever I can to place my life on the line alongside those who truly face persecution and death for daring to be true to the equality of all humanity.
I’m sorry.

More from Law

This issue was repeatedly highlighted bu Judge Totenberg:

Dominion’s system “does not produce a voter-verifiable paper ballot or a paper ballot marked with the voter’s choices in a format readable by the voter because the votes are tabulated solely from the unreadable QR code.”


Judge also found that Dominion's QR codes are NOT encrypted:

“Evidence plainly contradicts any contention that the QR codes or digital signatures are encrypted,”

This was “ultimately conceded by Mr. Cobb and expressly acknowledged later by Dr. Coomer during his testimony.”

Judge Totenberg said there was “demonstrable evidence” that the implementation of Dominion’s systems by Georgia placed voters at an “imminent risk of deprivation of their fundamental right to cast an effective vote,” which she defined as a “vote that is accurately counted.”

Judge Totenberg found that Dominion Systems inherently could not be audited.

She noted that auditors are severely limited and “can only determine whether the BMD printout was tabulated accurately, not whether the election outcome is correct.“

Totenberg stated in her ruling that a BMD printout “is not trustworthy” and the application of an Risk-Limiting audit (RLA) to an election that used BMD printouts “does not yield a true risk-limiting audit.”

Georgia used RLAs to claim no fraud...
We are live tweeting from the preliminary hearing of the Employment Tribunal case in which #AllisonBailey is suing Stonewall and Garden Court chambers.


The judge has ruled that for this hearing only, the names should remain redacted.

It is a Rule 50 Order. These particular individuals are members of Stonewall’s Trans Advisory Group and their names may well be known elsewhere. What is relevant is the messages from the group to Garden Court.

The judge states she would not make the same decision at the full hearing. This is only for the preliminary hearing.

Having dealt with the anonymity issue we now move to the main submissions in the case.

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