I want to say I’ve seen this bird, but I don’t know how I could have, other than maybe when I was younger on one of dad’s business trips through the South, as a combo summer vacation. Over 50 years ago, but the bird looks familiar. I bet there are readers here who get to see them often! Click through for facts and to hear their song.
Author: ali redford
I love dogs and people. I want living creatures to thrive. I love to cook, and share the food, but ya gotta get in line in front of the dog, and greatest good luck with that!
Satanic Mass In Kansas
Yeah, this happened and has been happening here. I’m not Satanist, but we all have the same rights, including all who showed up, as long as there is no violence and no one takes away anyone else’s rights to freedom of speech and assembly. Many here know I’m a Christian believer, so of course when one side says “We’re here so that God can be in control, not Satan,” I smile, since God handled that with Satan centuries ago (so it is written. I’m not proselytizing, or even testifying, though my point is either people believe or they don’t; if they do, they know or should know that God doesn’t need human protection. Anyway.) I don’t know how far out from Kansas this story has gone, but Friday was the day, and here is the local story as of 10 PM Friday. Enjoy. There is a video on the page I can’t embed, but Kate Devine is a fine reporter on camera. There is also a text story below.
Satanic leader arrested during Black Mass protest at Kansas Statehouse
Mar 28, 2025 Updated 3 hrs ago Kate Devine
TOPEKA, Kan. (KAKE) — The leader of a Satanic group was arrested Friday after entering the Kansas Statehouse and performing a ritual, despite warnings from law enforcement.
Michael Stewart, president of the Kansas Satanic Grotto, attempted to enter the building during the group’s Black Mass event outside the Statehouse. Authorities allowed him inside as a private citizen but told him he could not hold a demonstration.
Once inside the rotunda, Stewart raised his arms in dedication to Satan, prompting a confrontation with Christian protesters. Capitol Police intervened and took him into custody.
“Our governor, Laura Kelly, after forcing us out of the building, said basically if we come back in, we are going to get arrested,” Stewart said. “So we feel like this is a violation of our First Amendment rights.”
Outside, Christian protesters held prayers and recited hymns in opposition to the event.
“We heard that Satanists were here to claim Kansas, and we said no way,” said Susan Jones, a Christian protester from Baxter Springs. “God is in control here, not Satan.”
The event, which had been planned for weeks, was originally approved to take place inside the Statehouse but was later restricted to the outside grounds. A petition opposing the event gathered nearly 100,000 signatures.
Christian groups say they gathered to pray and stand in opposition, while Satanic organizers argue their right to religious expression was violated.
It is unclear if Stewart will face charges. (end)
Peace & Justice History for 3/29
| March 29, 1925 Black leaders in Charleston, West Virginia, protested the showing of D. W. Griffith’s movie, Birth of a Nation, scheduled to open at the Rialto Theatre on April 1. They said it violated a 1919 state law prohibiting any entertainment which demeaned another race. Mayor W.W. Wertz and the West Virginia Supreme Court supported their argument and prevented the showing of the film; efforts to ban the film met with mixed results around the country.  Ku Klux Klan “justice” as portrayed in Birth of a Nation. The efforts to censor the film What made this movie (after a book called The Clansmen) exceptional in cinema history |
March 29, 1971 U.S. Army Lieutenant William Calley was found guilty at a court martial for his part in the My Lai massacre which claimed the lives of hundreds of South Vietnamese civilians. Convicted for the premeditated murder of at least 22 Vietnamese civilians, he was sentenced to three years under house arrest. Resources and links about My Lai |
| March 29, 1973 The last American combat troops left South Vietnam, ending direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. Military advisors to the South Vietnamese Army remained, as did Marines protecting U.S. installations, and thousands of Defense Department civilians.Of the more than 3 million Americans who served in the war, almost 58,000 had died, and more than 1,000 were missing in action. Some 150,000 Americans had been seriously wounded. The loss of Vietnamese killed and wounded was in the millions and damage to the countryside persists to this day.  The 615th MP Company was inactivated in Vietnam on the last day of American military combat presence. Timeline on the war in Vietnam Learn about the persisting problem of Agent Orange |
| March 29, 1987 Members of Vietnam Veterans For Peace arrived in Wicuili at the end of a march from Jinotega, Nicaragua. The veterans were actively monitoring the U.S. attempts to destabilize the country by providing aid to the insurgent contras.  More than weapons may have been involved in the Contra supply operation Visit Veterans for Peace |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymarch.htm#march29
Peace & Justice History for 3/28
| March 28, 1799 The New York state legislature enacted a law mandating the gradual end of slavery. Children of slaves would not be emancipated until they had served their parent’s “holder” and reached their mid-twenties. It was not until 1827 that a subsequent law declared, “every person born within this state, whether white or colored, is free.” ========================================= March 28, 1918 2,000 in the city and province of Quebec, Canada, demonstrated at the culmination of the conscription crisis during the “Great War” (World War I). High casualty rates in Europe forced the Ottawa, Ontario, national government to institute a draft. The Canadiens resisted military service in support of Great Britain’s foreign policy. The protests continued for five days over the Easter weekend.  Anti-Conscription Parade in Victoria Square, Montreal, Quebec, May 24, 1917.The gathering in this photo looks calm. Riots nearly a year later resulted in the death of four demonstrators in Quebec City. Read more ========================================= March 28, 1964 Three hundred were arrested during a sit-down protest at U.S. Air Force headquarters in Ruislip, England. The protest was organized by the Committee of 100, a group using nonviolent direct action to campaign for British unilateral nuclear disarmament. Conceived by the president of the Committee for Nuclear Disarmament, Bertrand Russell (he resigned this post soon after), and a young American academic named Ralph Schoenman, they proposed mass civil disobedience in resisting nuclear weapons, challenging the authorities to “fill the jails” with the intention of causing prison overload and large-scale disorder .  Police in Ruislip arrested men and women demonstrators indiscriminately. photo: John ‘Hoppy’ Hopkins. They were committed to nonviolence, and on arrest would go limp so as to create maximum disruption without conflict. ========================================== March 28, 1968 Martin Luther King, Jr., led a march in support of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Shortly after its start, violence broke out followed by looting; one 16-year-old black boy was killed, 60 people were injured, and over 150 arrested. Police dispersed the rioters with mace, batons and teargas. National Guard troops are called in and sealed off black neighborhoods; martial law was declared by nightfall. Despite the violence, King insisted on returning to the city and the sanitation workers’ side the following week. Two alternative views of what happened that day in Memphis, and what followed ========================================== March 28, 1979 In the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history, a cooling system on the Unit Two reactor failed at Three Mile Island (TMI) in Middletown, Pennsylvania.  This led to a partial meltdown that uncovered the reactor’s core. Radioactive steam leaked into the atmosphere, prompting fears for the safety of the plant’s 500 workers and the surrounding community. More from nearby Dickinson College  Three Mile Island accident timeline with photos ========================================= March 28, 2001 After being delayed by massive anti-nuclear protests en route, 60 tons of nuclear waste arrived by train at Dannenberg, Germany. Though the government has agreed to phase out German reliance on nuclear power, some plants will continue to operate until 2021. The waste fuel rods sent to France for reprocessing had to return to Germany for permanent long-term storage. Transported through Germany by train, and then by truck to their permanent site in Gorleben, movement of the 28 glass casks was considered an unacceptable safety risk to residents. Protesters blocked the tracks, sometimes chaining themselves in place, to stop the shipment. 20,000 police were required to allow the train’s passage. Protester Jürgen Sattari said he considered the operation a success. “We want to stop the convoy,” he said. “Of course we know we can’t halt it indefinitely, but we can drive up the political price.” More on the broad-based struggle against nuclear waste in Germany |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymarch.htm#march28
The Resistance Is Real, &
we can all do something, along with blogging.
Get a load of all these stickers by Garrett Bucks
Collective action, even on the tiniest scale, is still pretty damn terrific Read on Substack
Many of you know the backstory here, but stick with me. It’s unremarkable on its face, but that’s how metaphors work.
For the last couple weeks, I’ve been the joyful recipient of a steady stream of pictures. They’re all of the same sticker, one that I designed and ordered and likely should have made bigger than I did (I’ve received feedback). The sticker says “Trump and Musk don’t care about you.” There are a couple QR codes— links to learn more and take action— but not much else. It was an extremely simple project, just one of thousands that have been launched across the country since Trump was inaugurated. It will, I’m sure, not bring down a government or prevent a deportation or stop a bomb from falling.
I adore these stickers. They are tiny, on more than one level, but that’s how all impactful things start. Designing them wasn’t hard, nor was tossing off a few messages asking others if they wanted one as well. I said, in essence, “hey you all, this is a thing that I’m doing” And then, when hundreds of people across the country indicated that they would, in fact, like a sticker, they added their voice to mine. “This is a thing I can do as well,” they said, a chorus of beating hearts and frayed nerves. They shouted their reply from tiny towns and large cities, from places where they struggled to find a location that wouldn’t just preach to the choir, as well as places where Trump is worshipped like a God.
They answered, and I felt less alone in hearing their reply.
And then, because this is how trust is built, we kept our promises to one another. I sent out the stickers and they put them up and snapped a picture and then… well, we’ll see. I have no proof whatsoever if the chain will continue, if a teenager playing baseball or a mom returning her cart at Target or a trucker taking a rest break after a long day on the road will see them and be reminded that they too can do something, but if we limited our political imagination to actions whose ripples we could foresee without a shadow of the doubt, we would do so very little.
I have made a number of challenges to myself since Trump’s inauguration. I have challenged myself to counter the false faith of isolation and inhumanity with one of connection and care. I have challenged myself to remember every day how in love I am, how grateful I am, how much I believe in the beautiful counterpoints we have already shouted and the even more beautiful world we will build.
I don’t think I’ve answered any of those challenges in profound ways, but I am trying. And since I am trying, if my heart beams every time I receive another picture of a sticker out in the world, then the least I can do is to share that feeling with you as well.
Do you want to see some of the stickers? I hope so, because if they are out there, that means that we are out there, even when it feels like we aren’t, even if we convince ourselves so frequently that being out there isn’t enough, even when we don’t yet understand why or how our being out there adds up to the world we want to live in together.
So, my friends, here are a few of them…
…on top of a carrot in Sacramento.
..preparing to play ball in a West Virginia County that gave 78% of its vote to Trump in November.
…remembering the Alamo.
…as well as another complicated American icon (in Iowa).
…welcoming visitors to a farm bureau in Illinois.
…and what I’m assured is a “surprisingly scenic” Costco parking lot in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia.
… in bathrooms (in South Carolina and Phoenix).
…and on signs that, if you read them the right way, also feature messages of opposition (in Des Moines, Iowa and Springfield, Illinois).
…on campus (at Cornell and the University of Tennessee).
…and rivers (the Fox, in Wisconsin).
…and rails (in Chicago).
…and roads (in rural Florida).
As of this writing, there are hundreds of stickers, but millions of American places. A drop in the bucket if ever there was one. But there they are, proclaiming that we’re still here. Connected to each other. Shouting out, “I am doing something. We are doing something. We are here today and we will be here tomorrow.”
I love them, because I love us.
End notes:
- I’m letting most of the siblinghood of stickering remain blessedly anonymous, but I hope you read this lovely reflection from Lyndsey Medford (esteemed stickerer of Costco parking lots and one hell of a writer to boot).
- It isn’t just stickering, of course. I truly believe that my inbox is one of the most hope-giving spaces on the planet, because it’s full of people telling me about how damn amazing it felt going to one of those (massive) Bernie-AOC rallies or how their Tesla protest tripled in size week to week or how they never expected to find such a powerful political home when they moved to East Tennessee. You all, get a load of us! Trying! Building!
- Yes, I have a few more stickers left (though please be patient, I’m away from home this week so will send them out when I get back).
- And yes, I don’t just send stickers. I also run trainings (free and virtual!) on how to organize and build community in your part of the world, and next week I’ll be announcing dates and times for the next round so if you’re not on the interest list please get there. (snip-More)
Some News Of The Day
In, I hope, more palatable form. -A
Another Student Disappeared Off Street. Tabs, Thurs., March 27, 2025 by Rebecca Schoenkopf
Morning news roundup and things to read! Read on Substack
Hi hi, what’s this about, with the hoodies and the masked thugs?
More on Rumeysa Ozturk. She seems to have been kidnapped to ICE prison in Louisiana, whether before or after a judge said NOT TO FUCKING MOVE HER is unknown. (Zeteo)
So fucking jealous of Brazil right now. (Guardian)
Sure yes good:
In Lubbock, Texas, public health officials have received orders to stop work supported by three grants that helped fund the response to the widening measles outbreak there, according to Katherine Wells, the city’s director of public health.
Billions in health funds for infectious diseases and drug treatment being clawed back after they were already given out, and “Some predicted the loss of as much as 90 percent of staff from some infectious disease teams.” (Gift link New York Times)
Vance and Usha backing down from Greenland visit (she was supposed to go with Mike Waltz, but he got real busy this week); instead of going and flaunting themselves around Greenland, they’re going only to a US base, and Greenland is stoked. (CNN)
Alito and Thomas on the wrong end of a 7-2 vote as Supreme Court says the JACKBOOTED THUGS can FORCE YOU to … put serial numbers on your ghost guns. THE HUMANITY!!!!!! (Decision) Don’t wanna read 63 pages? It was Gorsuch, in the library, with a coherent decision. (Lawyers Guns & Money)
This new US Attorney for upstate New York said Joe Biden should be tried for treason and Barack Obama should be deported, so that’s just a very stable kind of guy to be a top Trump prosecutor. (Syracuse)
Pam Bondi, the attorney general of the United States, is spending all her time going on TV to yell at Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who is supremely unperturbed by it. (Our Liz at Public Notice)
Oh thank god! Now the gay whales won’t get windmill cancer! (Heatmap, reg req)
“It’s like a Tea Party rally for people who believe the 14th Amendment is real.” With Bernie and AOC in Tempe and Tucson. (Mother Jones)
Oh huh, real wages (after accounting for inflation) were up 14 percent for the lowest-paid working people under Joe Biden? And 11 percent for the next decile? And still up but not as much for the richer people? I am sorry, I will NEVER get over how we kept having to apologize for Joe Biden’s economy every time it was mentioned.
Tesla only sold 7 or 8,000 Cybertrvcks last quarter. Is that bad? (Electrek)
When scientists and urban planners first started to realize Elon Musk is full of shit. (Union of Concerned Scientists)
“In year-to-year visits, Target saw a decline in nearly 5 million shoppers during a four-week period that ended Feb. 9. For Costco, the big-box store corporation saw an increase of 7.7 million visits.” And that’s why you don’t shit on “DEI” (Black and gay people existing). (Black Enterprise)
Hey it’s your right to make your 14-year-olds work past 11 p.m. on a school night. Florida says so! (Tallahassee Democrat)
Single women are driving the housing market. Couldn’t even get a mortgage until 1974. (Detroit Free Press)
My goodness Vanity Fair used to pay all the money in the world. (Yale Review)
New Polish freedom cow just dropped but it is an Australian wiener dog. (Guardian)
Snip-there is more, and you should go read, and even subscribe, in order to get these every day. Great stuff! -A
Republican Projection
Deranged MAGA by Clay Jones
Republicans want to classify their opponents as insane Read on Substack
Let’s make one thing clear. Trump Derangement Syndrome, or TDS if you prefer, is not a thing. It’s not like it’s ever been featured in the New England Journal of Medicine or been studied at the Mayo Clinic. It’s about as legitimate a medical condition as rock-and-roll pneumonia, a bad case of loving you, or being cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. Sure, Cocoa Puffs is delicious, but it doesn’t make people cuckoo any more than Trix is exclusively for kids and not weird, stalkery creeper rabbits. I always felt like the cereal was just a cover for what that rabbit was really going after.
That rabbit probably wanted what Justin Eichorn wanted, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
Five Republican men in the Minnesota state senate have introduced a bill that would include TDS in the statutory definition of mental illness. The bill defines the syndrome as characterised by “verbal expressions of intense hostility toward” Donald Trump and “overt acts of aggression and violence against anyone supporting [Trump] or anything that symbolises [Trump].”
According to Republicans, if hate that Trump sucks up to Putin, then you’re deranged.
If you think it’s weird that Trump wants to “date” his daughter, then you’re deranged.
If you don’t like that Trump is a grifter, you’re deranged.
If you hate that selling products while in office, you’re deranged.
If you hate tariffs, you’re deranged.
I think Trump shouldn’t be attacking our allies, you’re deranged.
If you don’t think the president of the United States should be Elon’s personal sock puppet, then you’re deranged.
If you think the president shouldn’t be a felon, you’re deranged.
If you believe the president of the United States should know more words than a
Beagle, you are deranged. In a Beagle’s defense, after you start spelling words so the Beagle won’t know what you’re saying, the Beagle learns how to spell.
It’s easier to dismiss your political opponents’ arguments as crazy or irrational than to counter with an argument of your own. You would think the deranged person is the one who supports deranged positions he can’t defend.
Deranged is living through the worst administration in US history, then voting for it again.
Recently, Kentucky Congressman James Comer issued a statement comparing town halls to “therapy sessions for left-wing activists suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome.” If someone asks you to justify Elon’s unconstitutional assault on the government and what right he has to work as an unelected fourth branch of government, it’s easier to dismiss that person as crazy than to answer the question. TDS is a very handy argument for Republican chickenshits.
Harriet Hageman, Wyoming’s lone representative in Congress, dismissed town halls as “hysteria,” and her reason for not holding any. Derangement is kicking out Liz Cheney because she investigated an attack against our nation and replacing her with a representative who’s going to accuse you of “hysteria.”
It’s a common Republican tactic to dismiss your opponents instead of countering facts. Instead of taking accountability for leaking classified information to a journalist, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Jeffrey Goldberg is a “deceitful and highly discredited, so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again.” Even if any of that were true, it still doesn’t answer the question or explain why he was added to your chat.
If Jeffrey Goldberg was truly deceitful, highly discredited, and has made a profession of peddling hoaxes, then why did you have him in your group chat discussing classified information? Doesn’t that make it worse? And your answer to that question would probably be, “That cartoonist has Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Pete Hegseth isn’t even smart enough to deflect, less alone to possess classified information.
The chances of this TDS bill passing into Minnesota law are slim and none, but what makes these five Republican state senators qualified to diagnose a mental illness or identify a fake condition as one? Are they doctors? I’m glad you asked.
The sponsors of the bill are Glenn Gruenhagen, Nathan Wesenberg, Steve Drazkowski, Eric Lucero, and Justin Eichorn. These men must be doctors, right? I looked into it.
Gruenhagen’s career is in finance, NOT medicine. Wesenberg is a wildlife biologist. Maybe he can tell whether or not squirrels are crazy (they are), but not you. Drazkowski is a firearms safety instructor who probably votes to protect the rights of mentally ill people to purchase guns, but he’s not trained to determine who is and isn’t because he’s NOT a doctor. Lucero is NOT a doctor but should probably see one because he’s a chem-trail conspiracy theorist, which is not a thing either. And finally, Justin Eichorn is NOT a doctor either but is a possible pedophile and realtor.
So these guys who want to make TDS a mental condition demand that…hold up. Did I write that one of these guys is a possible pedophile? How could Justin Eichorn be a pedophile? How could any Republican be a pedophile? Aren’t they the ones who spent the past four years calling us “groomers?” Eichorn has also taken a conservative stand against young children learning about gender diversity and sexual orientations, yet…I’m sure he was planning to show his sexual orientation to the 17-year-old girl he believed he was talking to before To Catch A Predator busted his ass.
It wasn’t To Catch a Predator that caught him. That show ended years ago, but now I wish it was still on. I would have loved to see the surprised look on Eichorn’s face as he walked in with a six-pack of wine coolers while discovering his underage date was a bunch of cops. My money is on the entrapment defense.
Last week, more Republican state senators were arrested in Minnesota for soliciting a minor than drag queens.
But what happened? Was Eichorn rushing the TDS bill with the other four guys and saying, “Hurry this up, guys. I have a date.”?
According to the Bloomington (MN) Police Department, 40-year-old Eichorn was arrested after allegedly arranging to meet up with someone whom he believed to be a 17-year-old girl. When he got to the location, he was met by uniformed police officers and booked into jail before being transported to the Hennepin County Adult Detention Center. He must have been disappointed it wasn’t the Juvenile Detention Center.
According to the cops, when the fake minor told Eichorn she was only 17, his response was, “Cool. Do you like raspberry or watermelon-flavored wine coolers?” or something to that effect.
Police said, “Felony charges of Soliciting Under 18 Year Old to Practice Prostitution are pending from the Hennepin County Attorney’s office.” But then, federal prosecutors took over the case, and now Eichorn is facing a federal charge of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution. This might be his lucky break because a Trump-appointed prosecutor could drop the charges, and federal charges can be pardoned. I mean, pedophilia is bad, but Trump once endorsed a pedophile for the US Senate. He’s done business with pedophiles. He’s appointed pedophiles. He’s partied with pedophiles and even rode on their planes. It’s not like Eichorn did something “illegal,” like boycotted Tesla or said something “treasonous” about Trump’s tiny fingers.
Eichorn has resigned from the state senate because it’s not a place for pedophiles, but there may be an opening soon in Trump’s cabinet. Trump did try to make a pedophile his Attorney General.
Ya know, I’m starting to think it’s not the Left who’s deranged.
Creative notes: I had two ideas for this one, and it was difficult for me to choose between them, and not just because I already used Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs back in 2021. Both roughs will be featured in the next Blog o’ Roughs, coming soon.
Drawn in 30 seconds: (snip-go see)
Peace & Justice History for 3/27
| March 27, 1867 Newly freed negroes after the American Civil War staged ride-ins on Charleston, South Carolina, streetcars. The railway company integrated later the same year. Similar efforts were made in Richmond, Virginia, and Mobile, Alabama. |
March 27, 1966 20,000 Buddhists marched silently for peace in Hue, South Vietnam. |
March 27, 1969 Alurista The first Chicano Youth Liberation Conference was held by the Crusade for Justice. The poet known as Alurista presented his poem, “Plan Espiritual De Aztlán,” on the concept of Aztlán, a unifying spiritual and geographic homeland of the Chicanos. He took the concept that the land belongs to those who work it from Mexican Revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. Aztlán is a name for the home of the Aztecs. Read more about Alurista |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymarch.htm#march27
Good News re Draggieland-
Federal Judge Shuts Down “Unconstitutionally Vague” Drag Ban at Texas A&M University
“Draggieland,” an annual drag show scheduled for this Thursday at Texas A&M University, can now proceed as planned.
By Mathew Rodriguez March 25, 2025
A federal judge ruled on Monday that “Draggieland,” an annual drag show scheduled for this Thursday at Texas A&M University, could proceed as planned. She also blocked the university from enforcing its blanket drag ban, calling the policy “unconstitutionally vague,” and implied that drag shows are a protected form of speech.
“To ban the performance from taking place on campus because it offends some members of the campus community is precisely what the First Amendment prohibits,” U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal wrote in her opinion in Texas A&M Queer Empowerment Council v. William Mahomes.
Draggieland — a portmanteau of “drag” and “aggie,” a nickname that harkens back to the school’s original name, Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas — is an annual pageant put on by the Texas A&M Queer Empowerment Council (QEC) in which contestants answer questions about LGBTQ+ culture while in drag. Since the event’s inception, it has repeatedly sold out, per the Texas Tribune.
The QEC said they were “overjoyed” with the decision in a statement posted online on Monday. “This is another display of the resilience of queer joy, as that is an unstoppable force despite those that wish to see it destroyed,” the statement reads. “While this fight isn’t over, we are going to appreciate the joy we get to bring by putting on the best show that we can do.” QEC was represented in court by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
In its own statement, FIRE said that the university “has the utmost duty to respect the First Amendment rights of students” and that it cannot “banish speech from campus just because it offends them, any more than they could shut down a political rally or a Christmas pageant.”
In February, Texas A&M University banned drag events on all 11 of its campuses. At the time, the university’s board said that drag shows are “inconsistent with [the system’s] mission and core values, including the value of respect for others.” The board also said that drag itself involved the “mockery of objectification of women,” which would likely “create or contribute to a hostile environment for women.” The false claim that drag mocks women and femininity is often included in right-wing and anti-trans complaints about drag performances.
At the time of the ban, a spokesperson for the ACLU of Texas called the move a “waste of time and resources” that showed that the university is “more focused on culture wars than educating their students.”
In her ruling, Lee struck down several key components of the university’s argument against drag shows, including Draggieland. According to the ruling, the university’s Board of Regents argued that the ban is “intended to serve as providing an effective learning environment to its students”; however, Rosenthal ruled that there’s no plausible way that the drag show could interfere with students’ education.
“Draggieland is set to occur at 7:30 in the evening, when most classes are likely not in session, and in a venue where academic classes are not typically held,” she wrote. “There is no evidence that Draggieland causes any interference with students’ ability to obtain an education.”
Texas Reportedly Kept Records of Trans Drivers Who Requested Gender Marker Changes
It is not known why this information was collected or if collection remains ongoing.
The university also argued that allowing a drag performance could threaten federal funding as it might be seen as the university supporting “gender ideology” and flouting Donald Trump’s executive order, which would block money from institutions supporting anything that goes beyond a binary concept of gender. However, Rosenthal ruled that allowing an event does not endorse it and that Texas A&M has a “constitutional obligation to allow different messages and viewpoints, including those viewed as offensive to some, to be expressed at a university that is committed to critical thought about a wide range of conflicting and divergent viewpoints and ideologies.”
The judges’ ruling is a temporary ban based on the fact that QEC was “likely to succeed” in its case to show that the university’s ban violates the constitution’s First Amendment. While the show will go on as scheduled, the litigation between QEC and the university will continue.
People Not Enjoying Soccer Again
Orlando Pride Soccer Player Barbra Banda, Who Is Cis, Is Once Again Receiving Anti-Trans Abuse
A Reddit user who claimed to have witnessed the incident said that Gotham FC fans “expressed bigotry” toward Banda during a recent match.
By Abby Monteil
Gotham FC, Orlando Pride, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), and the NWSL Players’ Association are addressing “hateful language” aimed at Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda during Sunday’s match between the two teams.
Banda, who is from Zambia, and plays on their national team, joined the Orlando Pride in 2024. This instance of alleged harassment comes months after she became the target of anti-intersex and anti-trans online bullying after she was named BBC’s Women’s Footballer of the Year last November. Shortly after the BBC’s announcement, anti-trans critics in the U.K. — including J.K. Rowling — began spreading a conspiracy that Banda, a cis woman, was secretly a “man” masquerading within the world of women’s sports. Much of this “transvestigation” stemmed from a 2022 incident in which Banda was prohibited from competing in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) because a “sex verification” test found that her testosterone levels were allegedly determined to be above what the organization had deemed a “normal” amount.
Sources familiar with the controversy told the AP in 2023 that mismanagement within the Council of African Football (CAF) and FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, was to blame for the situation rather than Banda herself, and WAFCON organizers reportedly don’t have a maximum testosterone level at all. Nevertheless, Banda has faced unfounded anti-trans vitriol over the past several months — including “hateful language” during the Orlando Pride’s March 23 match against Gotham at Gotham’s home field, the Sports Illustrated Stadium.
Reddit user @mitzibitsy claimed to be present at the game and to have witnessed the harassment in a March 24 Reddit post. “One fan got pulled aside by security after he cheered for Banda falling down and yelled, ‘She shouldn’t be on the field anyway!’” they wrote. “I was satisfied to see security speak to him, but all he got was a warning. In the meantime, this really ruined the game for me, and made me feel really unsafe in my season ticket seat going forward.”
Advocates have noted that attacks on athletes’ womanhood put women athletes at risk of violence, particularly women of color such as Banda and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif.
The Orlando Pride, Gotham FC, and the NWSL all spoke out against the incident in a series of March 24 social media statements.
“This behavior is unacceptable and has no place in our league or in our stadiums,” the Orlando Pride’s statement reads. “Barbra is an outstanding role model and an influential advocate for soccer both in Africa and here in the United States. We look forward to continuing to celebrate and support her on and off the pitch.”
The Pride added that “as a club, the Pride will collaborate with the NWSL and with Gotham to ensure that the proper action is taken to hold individuals accountable when violating the league’s standards.”
Gotham FC’s statement noted that “Gotham and the NWSL are working together to further investigate the incident and take additional action where appropriate under the league’s Fan Code of Conduct.”
The league’s Fan Code of Conduct states that “fans are strictly prohibited from using threatening, abusive, or discriminatory words, signs, symbols, or actions based on race, ethnicity, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, cultural identity, nationality, citizenship status, age, appearance, disability, and/or religion.”
Fans who violate the NWSL Fan Code of Conduct are subject to penalties such as loss of ticket privileges for future games, ejection without refund, and revocation of season tickets. According to the New York Times, Gotham FC is reviewing footage of the March 23 incident using stadium security logs, and the team has spoken to Reddit user @mitzibitsy about what they witnessed.
The NWSL’s statement reaffirmed that “we are committed to ensuring that our venues are safe and respectful environments for all — especially for the athletes who represent the very best of our sport.”
Soccer Star Barbra Banda Attacked By Transphobes After Winning BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year
J.K. Rowling delusionally described the win by the cis, Zambian athlete as the BBC attempting to “spit directly in women’s faces.”
“Barba Banda is both an exceptional player and person, and the NWSL is immensely proud to support her as a member of our league,” the league’s statement continued.
In a statement of their own, the NWSL Players’ Association emphasized that “there is no place for harassment or abuse in our sport, and we support efforts to address this incident swiftly and responsibly.”
“Soccer is built on principles of fairness, inclusion, and respect for human dignity,” the statement continued. “Any form of hateful conduct undermines these values and has no place in our fandom. Barbra Banda is a generational talent, and we are fortunate to witness her compete at the highest level.”
During a March 14 appearance on NPR’s All Things Considered, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said that the league has been working for the past few months to find a “technology partner who could help us to monitor all of the social media hate that many [players] are targets of.”
“There were a lot of lessons learned, both about things that we could have done better to support [Banda last year], internally and externally,” Berman continued. “[…] Hopefully, we’ll be in a better position to respond quickly if that happens again in the future.”
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