If stores and other LGBTQ+ allies hide their support the hateful fundamentalist Christian white supremacist maga brownshirt gang thugs win.Β Β That encourages them to do more acts of this domestic terrorism.Β Β And they are proud of their tactics.Β Β And they won’t stop, they can not be appeased.Β Β Hugs Β
Just in via press release:
Recent pushback against businesses such as Anheuser-Busch and Target, blatantly organized by extremist groups, serves as a wake up call for all businesses that support the LGBTQ+ community.
Weβve seen this extremist playbook of attacks before. Their goal is clear: to prevent LGBTQ+ inclusion and representation, silence our allies and make our community invisible.
These attacks fuel hate against LGBTQ+ people, just as weβve seen this year with more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that restrict basic freedoms and aim to erase LGBTQ+ people.
Extremist attacks and harassment of businesses for standing in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community and values of diversity, equity and inclusion have challenged Target, and businesses more broadly, to lead β to demonstrate they mean what they say when investing in and standing with LGBTQ+ people, creatives, and organizations.
Businesses must continue to lead and respond with unwavering support for LGBTQ+ employees, shareholders, customers, allies β and the broader community. When values of diversity, equity and inclusion are tested, business must defend them unequivocally.
Doubling down on your values is not only the right thing to do, itβs good for business. Research shows that if a brand publicly supports and demonstrates a commitment to expanding and protecting LGBTQ+ rights, Americans are 2x more likely to buy or use the brand.
Americans ages 18-34 are 5.5x more likely to want to work at a company if it publicly supports and demonstrates a commitment to expanding and protecting LGBTQ+ rights.
It isnβt just LGBTQ+ consumers and communities: 70% of non-LGBTQ+ people believe companies should publicly support and include the LGBTQ+ community through practices like hiring, advertising and sponsorships (Accelerating Acceptance, 2023).
At this moment, itβs critical that Target champions equity and inclusion as it has for over a decade. Target consistently tops the list for brands that show genuine, authentic support of the LGBTQ+ community through outreach and policies.
Target received recognition for outstanding commitment to DEI from the Executive Leadership Council in 2022. Itβs time to prove the recognition was earned.
When it comes to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion, there is no such thing as neutrality.
Weβre calling on Target to release a public statement in the next 24 hours reaffirming their commitment to the LGBTQ+ community, put Pride merchandise back on the sales floor and online in full, ensure safety of team members who are on the front lines.
Target, and all businesses, can leverage the support of LGBTQ+ organizations to navigate this hate, so that together, we can let extremists know unequivocally that, just as with every other failed anti-LGBTQ+ campaign of the past, fear will not win.
The above is cosigned by GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National LGBTQ Task Force, the National Black Justice Coalition, and other groups mentioned below.
Recent attacks on businesses supporting LGBTQ+ equality are a wake-up call for them to be ready to respond with strength. Extremist groups will not bully businesses, and Target must serve as an example by standing up, not stepping back, on equality. https://t.co/Ci3zhqnlpy
If you're a corporate marketing officer concerned over what's happening with Target, let me make something abundantly clear: you will never appease anti-LGBTQ extremists. They don't want *some* concessions. They want all of them. But there's a colder truth at play here.
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— Charlotte Clymer πΊπ¦ (@cmclymer) May 25, 2023
This is how it started in Hitler’s Germany. Nazi propaganda campaigns claimed that Jews were “predators” who were “coming for your children.” Then came the attacks and violence. Flash forward to America in 2023. Christofascists claim that trans people, drag queens and pretty much anyone who isn’t a far-right fascist is a “groomer” who’s “coming for your children.” They won’t stop until there’s blood in the streets.
Beyond that, it only makes things much worse. As soon as any waffling happens, the fascists smell blood in the water. It only amps them up. To them it’s a sign of weakness and a signal to pounce en masse. More people need to understand the psychology of fascism, it’s well documented and there are many resources online. Knowledge is power.
And yet history is repeating itself again.Β The very acceptance of homosexuality and personal sexual freedom experienced by German People was attacked by a movement that wanted to villainize it and made a virtue of not just all things heterosexual but of attacking the homosexuals along with those things that symbolized them or support for them.Β Β The things happening in Florida, on the Daily Wire, and in the fundamentalist Republican Party are the same steps taken by Nazi’s in 1930 Germany and in Russia more recently.Β Β As yourself, if the Nazi’s stopped with just the homosexuals or trans?Β Β Are you comfortable with the direction of the Russian / openly Nazi supporting Republican Party today?Β Β Hugs
The conversation had been growing and growing by the week. What started as murmurs of far-right thugs had developed into a fear of a coming political party. Across the bars and meeting places all over the country, the LGBT community of Germany could feel a storm coming. Homosexuality was illegal at the start of 20th century Germany but was counterweighted by a healthy thriving gay culture. Yet what was once angry grandstanding from a fringe socialist worker’s party soon became national policy. In 1933, Adolf Hitler would become Chancellor of Germany and enforced a thoroughly phobic policy agenda by the day. Barely a year later, following a Night of long knives, the Nazi police state made Germanyβs homosexual population a primary target. Persecution, arrests, physical abuse, castration, and even the fate of the concentration camps lay ahead. Welcome to History on Fleek, today we examine the unspeakable fates of gay men in Nazi Germany.
This is the goal of the fundamentalist right wing maga Christians racists bigots.Β Β It is not about protecting kids.Β It is about returning to a 1950s social public morality and enforced gender roles.Β Β It is about rolling back all social advances gained since the civil rights era.Β Β It is entirely about wiping minority rights away and pushing the LGBTQ+ back into the closet while making them afraid to come out openly into society.Β It is about returning to a time of white straight Christian superiority and automatic assumed authority, with subservient women to do their bidding.Β Β So now that this very vocal aggressive arrogant violent minority that feels laws and polite society norms don’t apply to them feels as they have the right to make the entire population follow their religiously driven views from a book written 2,500 years ago.Β Β Hugs
βMatt [Walsh] made this point, he articulated it directly, but this has been the point that has been building for months now, which is we need to make that symbol toxic, the pride flag symbol, we need to make that toxic.
βWe need to have companies think twice about it. Everyone was talking about the Dylan Mulvaney incident as being harmful to the Bud Light brand. Thatβs true.
βBut more importantly, it was harmful to the Dylan Mulvaney brand. Now, other companies are going to think twice before sponsoring Dylan Mulvaney because they donβt want to lose $6 billion in market cap in two days. Thatβs what we got to do.
βAnd then once we make these things culturally toxic or as weβre making these symbols culturally toxic, weβve got to bring in the cavalry, weβve got to come back in with more political force to ban some of this stuff and to say no.β βΒ Daily WireΒ host Michael Knowles.
Knowles appeared here last week when he declared that millennials should not haveΒ the right to vote.
Last month Knowles appeared here when he declared thatΒ the bible instructs usΒ to burn books.Β Knowles, who has called for televising executions, previously declared that banning drag shows and burning books is βvery American.β
Earlier this year Knowles declared from the CPAC stage that βtransgenderism must be eradicated.β
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Knowles performed in aΒ gay sex sceneΒ for a college film.
I just found an old short film that Michael Knowles acted in.
The current headliner of conservative homophobia and transphobia played a gay twink. So much for restoring "traditional masculinity" π pic.twitter.com/sC8fcoQ3HC
Thatβs exactly where this is going. Does anyone think that a company that caves to homophobic and transphobic terrorists wonβt do the same when itβs antisemites calling in bomb threats?
Can’t stop thinking about the highway construction blinky sign in Florida with KILL ALL GAYS flashing away. I’m looking forward to my death because I’m so fucking tired of having to live with people like that on this earth.
Itβs amazing how people fail to realize how quickly a tolerant society can become an oppressive one when you have a disciplined and determined far-right movement that will stop at nothing to win.
Pride parades need to change. They need to be more political and less celebratory. We are in the middle of a right wing assault on our very existence. We need to make pride more like the silence=death activity in the ’80s and ’90s.
Itβs not enough that theyβre trying to ban drag and trans healthcare – now theyβre going after corporations that support LGBT people to try and bully them into turning their backs on us. Today, itβs Bud Light hiring a trans spokesperson and Target selling Pride gear. Tomorrow, itβs any company that says or does anything to support us or offers benefits for same-sex spouses of employees.
Something tells me that sooner rather than later, all those people who complain about Pride becoming too corporate are going to miss the days before corporations stopped having floats at Pride for fear of terrorism and boycotts.
…and how many of those who complain about corporations, etc .. actually work for corporations?
A lot of the corporate donations / flags / pride months came *because* the corportate suite realized how many lgbtq’s etc they employed when those employees became vocal — started lgbt work groups, awareness campaigns, etc … it comes from within, and from without, too ..
Note: Foreign-born describes adults born outside the U.S., where neither parent is a U.S. citizen, and includes legally-admitted immigrants, refugees, temporary residents and undocumented immigrants; Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Chart: Axios Visuals
The share of foreign-born workers in theΒ U.S. labor forceΒ reached a record high last year, per new data from theΒ Labor Department.
Why it matters:Β With more AmericansΒ aging outΒ of the workforce than entering into it β and at a time of labor shortages βΒ immigrants are playing an increasingly crucial role in the labor market.
State of play:Β The share of foreign-born people in the workforce has been steadily rising for decades, but dipped during the pandemic β making last year’s uptick look a bit more striking than it is, said Abraham Mosisa, a senior economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Still, this is a trend that isn’t going anywhere. The U.S. labor force participation rate of native born men has been consistently decreasing, he pointed out. And the rate for women hasΒ stagnated.
The number of foreign-born workers in the U.S. increased to 29.8 million in 2022, from 27.9 million the previous year βΒ a jump of about 6%.
The number of native-born workers went from 133.2 million to 134.5 million βΒ up barely 1%.
One key factor is that a bigger share of the immigrant population is of working age (18-64), at 77%, according to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute (MPI). That compares with about 59% of the native-born population.
Meanwhile:Β The relative size of the immigrant population has stayed flat over the past two decades β comprising 13.6% of the total U.S. population in 2021, according to theΒ most recently available dataΒ from MPI βΒ just below where it was before the pandemic.
Zoom in:Β Foreign-born workers tend to take different jobs than the native-born (see the chart below), and they typically earn less money.
In 2022, median weekly earnings for foreign-born full-time workers was $945, or 87% of their native-born counterparts.
Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Chart: Rahul Mukherjee/Axios
Worth noting:Β Immigration opponents might see the record number of foreign-born workers and argue that foreign born workers are somehow stealing jobs from Americans β but that’s not what’s happening.
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Although was a big increase inΒ net immigrationΒ in 2022 β essentially catching up from the COVID slump βΒ there were plenty of jobs to go around.
At times last year there were actually two jobs available for every job-seeker. And this year, the unemployment rate has continued to hover around a record low.
Zoom out:Β As wealthier nations contend with shrinking workforces, many are crafting new immigration policies to find more workers β and combat inflation, as theΒ Wall Street JournalΒ reported earlier this month.
Policies that encourage immigration “will determine the extent and persistence of labor supply challenges,” as a note from Moody’s Investors Service pointed out a few weeks ago.
Immigration law in the U.S., meanwhile, remains a contentious and fairly intractable political issue.
What they’re saying:Β “If you want a growing workforce, without immigration, that isn’t going to happen,” said Phillip Connor, a senior demographer at FWD.US, an immigration advocacy group.
The Texas family finds Oregon welcoming — but urges vigilance
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) β When Karenβs daughter was 3, she knew how she felt. She didnβt know the word βtransβ but she knew how she felt. She felt like a girl.
βI just shot that down real quick,β Karen told KOIN 6 News. ββYouβre not a girl, youβre a boy. You donβt have to worry. You donβt have to be a girl to like girl things.’β
But the feeling didnβt ever go away.
βI just saw her disappearing into herself and she came to me in the kitchen again. She was 6 years old and she said, βMom, Iβm a girl.β And I repeated the same thing, βYou donβt have to be a girl to like girl things.β She went, βI know. But Iβm a girl who likes girl things.β And she just held my gaze,β Karen said. βI knew. And I knew she meant it and I didnβt understand but it was my job to find out because Iβm her mom.β
Karenβs love for her child turned into advocacy β in Texas, where she, her husband and children lived.
Karen is the mother of an 11-year-old trans girl who moved her family from Texas to Oregon, May 2023 (KOIN)
In 2021, Karen joined other people rallying at the state capital in Austin against a slate of bills targeting health care for transgender children, like puberty blockers, or even seeking therapy from a behavioral health provider.
The bills and the attacks were relentless. The attacks focused on their health care, tried to go after providers of care that has been deemed best-practice medical care by literally every major medical association. After advocates and some push back from the business community, many of the bills did not pass that session.
Then in 2022, Gov. Greg Abbott β facing primary challenges to his reelection β ordered the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate providingΒ gender-affirming care as child abuse.Β He also ordered the parents who provided it to their children to be investigated.
βI would always say, βWell, Iβm going to stay here and fight until they try and take my kids away.β And I would say it as, like a, well, you know, thatβs never going to happen. But then it did,β Karen said.
βWe were advised to leave before we couldnβt leave.β
Karen is the mother of an 11-year-old trans girl who moved her family from Texas to Oregon, May 2023 (KOIN)
Her lawyers said her public advocacy made her a target. She remembers the children of family friends were approached at school by Protective Services agents. She had to train both her children about what to do if that happened to them.
βWe had to talk about, βHere is the little card that you will carry around with you in your pocket and in your backpack. And if CPS shows up at your school you show them the card that says, βI donβt consent to talk to you. This is my lawyerβs information.β
The tipping point to move
A year ago Karen feared not only for her daughterβs safety but the affect the politics in Texas was having on her.
Her daughter was having panic attacks. One day in the car, the stress became clear when Karen asked her daughter if she wanted to record a statement for a rally in front of the Texas governorβs mansion.
βShe was very quiet and she was sitting behind me,β Karen said. βThen, I just heard her little 10-year-old voice ask, βAm I going to die?’β
βIt seems to come from out of nowhere except, no, that kind of question must be on her mind constantly hearing about all of this hate, all of these lies about her. So I pulled over and I asked, βWhy would you say that? Of course youβre not going to die.β
βShe looked at me and said, βBecause everybody hates me here.β And I just knew I canβt ask her to grow up in a place like this.β
Karen is the mother of an 11-year-old trans girl who moved her family from Texas to Oregon, May 2023 (KOIN)
The order by Gov. Abbot to investigate families of trans kids was struck down by a court last summer around the same time Karen and her family fled their native Texas.
Her husbandβs employer saw the stress the political battle was having on their family and helped accommodate their move to Portland.
It was immediately a reset for Karenβs daughter.
βWhen we got into Oregon we went downtown. Then thereβs thisΒ massive Pride festivalΒ and I thought it was really cool,β she said. βI felt like Iβm in the right place. This is where I live now and I donβt plan on moving ever again.β
Karen sees a freedom in her daughter she didnβt see when they lived in Texas, a freedom from worry, freedom of thought β and freedom to be a kid again.
βI remember before she first started school (in Oregon, I asked) βAre you going to tell them that youβre trans?β And she went, βProbably. Itβs safe, right?β I went, βYeah, I think so.β She just feels so supported.β
Her daughter said she was really nervous at her new school. βBut I knew there was another trans kid in my class because when I visited, everyone told me this other person was trans just so I could know. And I was, like, cool. Then I felt more safe. Then I adjusted to my school more because everyone was so nice and so friendly. And it was so beautiful and I spent most of the time playing.β
Playing at school, like an 11-year-old should.
Karen feels relief in Oregon. Sheβs finally able to testify on legislation she supports. But during testimony in Salem earlier this spring she heard similar false arguments made here that she heard in Texas.
Just this year there have been more bills targeting the existence of transgender children introduced than the last 8 years combined, according toΒ TransLegislation.com.
She hopes Oregonians remain vigilant in protecting equal rights for transgender people.
The craziest Qanon fundamentalist Christian conservative ideologists have figured out that public schools teaching facts keep them from taking over.Β Β So they are going after the schools.Β Β That we have known for a few years.Β They have this idea that they can indoctrinate kids into myths, misinformation, and hateful ideas and the kids will continue that way all their lives, letting the crazies run the country as a dictatorship unquestioned.Β Β Here is an example.Β This person is going to be forcing the batshittery she spouts on public school kids whose parents do not have the time or energy to school their kids against her lies.Β Β She wouldn’t even let her children go to public school, she homeschooled them.Β Yet she will now have a say in what other parents kids learn.Β Β The US better wake up, public schools have been under attack in the US for generations with defunding and Christians trying to force their religion back into schools as factual learning material.Β Β Now the most fundamentalist crazies are taking over to finish destroying what is left of public schools.Β Β But notice this stuff is not taught in the wealthy elite private schools.Β Β HugsΒ
Last week, Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R)Β announcedΒ that he had appointed Laurie Cardoza-Moore to serve on the Tennessee Standards Recommendation Committee to oversee βSocial Studies materials being reviewed for use in classrooms statewide.β Cardoza-Moore, known for holding extremist views and promoting conspiracy theories, has called “U.S. history textbooks” currently used in classrooms the “greatest national security threat to the United States.”
With her new appointment, Cardoza-Moore willΒ have the power toΒ βsubmit final recommendations for [Social Studies] standards to the State Board.β In aΒ statementΒ about her new position, Cardoza-Moore said, β[t]he materials we will be reviewing can only accomplish the mission of educating good American citizens if our Tennessee textbooks are devoid of left-aligned historic revisionism and the toxic material found in the antisemitic Critical Race Theory; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Social-Emotional Learning and Ethnic Studies.β
Cardoza-MooreΒ homeschooled her five childrenΒ and has criticized the existing public school curriculum forΒ exposing childrenΒ to βanti-Semitic, anti-American, anti-Judeo-Christian content in our public schools.β In a radio interview on the Tennessee Star Report, Cardoza-MooreΒ said, “[i]tβs ruining our childrenβs lives. Our children are depressed and unless we as parentsβ¦ stand up and speak up and take back control of our childrenβs education, we are going to lose this country.”
In 2021, Cardoza-Moore was alsoΒ appointed by SextonΒ to the Tennessee Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission, which isΒ in charge ofΒ βrecommend[ing] an official list of textbooks and instructional materials for approval of the State Board of Education.βΒ
Sexton appointed Cardoza-Moore to important positions shaping state educational standards despite her repeated embrace of conspiracy theories. Over the years, Cardoza-Moore has promoted claims that 9/11 was an “inside job,” that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, and that January 6 insurrectionists were actually βAntifa.β In 2011, Cardoza-MooreΒ claimedΒ that former President Barack Obama was causing “horrific tornadoes” because he made a speech that discussed the plight of Palestinians. Asked if she still held these views, Cardoza-Moore did not respond.Β
Cardoza-Moore has few academic credentials, which she has attempted to bolster by padding her resume. She refers to herself as βLaurie Cardoza-Moore, ThD.β But her βdoctorateβ is βan honorary doctorate degree in theology from the Latin University of Theology,β an unaccredited diploma mill. According toΒ Chalkbeat Tennessee, the only degree Cardoza-Moore holds is βan associate degree from the KD Conservatory College of Film and Dramatic Arts in Dallas.β It’s unclear how this qualifies her to set standards for millions of Tennessee students. Sexton did not respond to a request for comment.
Cardoza-Moore and 9/11 conspiracy theories
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Cardoza-Moore is the founder and president of the nonprofit Proclaiming Justice to the Nations (PJTN), aΒ Christian ZionistΒ organization that claims to fight the βglobal war against antisemitism.β The group, which was once classified a hate group, has been aΒ profitable endeavorΒ for Cardoza-Moore. In 2019, she paid herself $145,000, paid her husbandβs business $85,000, claimed $50,000 in occupancy expenses for her home, and spent $23,000 on meals and entertainment, among other things. The organization is also rated as aΒ βtwo-star charityβ on Charity Navigator, indicating that the organization βneeds improvement.β
In March 2021, during a Tennessee State Senate hearing for Cardoza-Mooreβs appointment to the Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission, Democratic Chair Raumesh AkbariΒ asked Cardoza-MooreΒ about PJTNβs statements questioning basic facts about the September 11 terrorist attacks.Β
According to Akbari, whenΒ reviewing a textbook passage, PJTN βsuggest[ed] removingβ a sentence stating that βmembers of al-Qaeda carried outβ the September 11 attacks. PJTN cited a βplethora of evidenceβ for the suggested removal, stating, βThis is a highly contested (per [A]rchitects and [E]ngineers for 9/11 Truth, and demolition experts) argument.β Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth was a group that falsely claimed that 9/11 was an “inside job” because they believed the impact of the planes into the World Trade Center towers could not have resulted in their collapse. According toΒ Akbari, βthe quote was pulled βdirectly from a review that [Cardoza-Moore] made.βΒ
In response, Cardoza-Moore attempted to distance herself from the controversy. “I need to see the quote in the context that youβre pulling it [from],” Cardoza-MooreΒ said. “Is that a Powerpoint presentation that I put together? Because I would never say that al-Qaeda didnβt participate.βΒ
Cardoza-Moore and January 6 conspiracy theories
Β
Cardoza-Moore also pushed false claims about the 2020 election and conspiracy theories about the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021. On December 9, 2020, Cardoza-MooreΒ tweeted, βCalling on all citizens of the USA. Please contact your State Attorney General and let them know that as a citizen of your state, you want them to join the State of TX in the lawsuit filed against GA, WI, MI and PA for the fraudulent way their elections were held.β
On December 17, 2020, Cardoza-Moore responded to a tweet from former President Donald Trump claiming that there were β[t]remendous problems being found with voting machines.β Cardoza-MooreΒ tweeted, β[w]hy arenβt these people being arrested? If the lawless get away with this, our Republic is lost! Youβre a Churchill President Trump, PLEASE EXECUTE JUSTICE!β There is no evidence that any widespread voter fraud occurred in the 2020 election.
According to the Memphis Flyer, Cardoza-Moore alsoΒ encouragedΒ people to travel to D.C. on January 6, 2021, posting, βIβll see you in DC on 1/6.β In a now-deleted post from December 28, 2020, Cardoza-Moore said, βWill you join me in DC to defend our Constitutional Republic? This is it! If we canβt defend our Constitutional Republic, we WILL LOSE IT! Make arrangements now!βΒ
Cardoza-Moore continued to push conspiracy theories after the insurrection occurred at the Capitol on January 6, claiming that it was actually βAntifaβ and not Trump supporters that stormed the Capitol. βAntifa stormed the Capitol! It wasnβt led by Trump Patriots,β Cardoza-MooreΒ tweetedΒ on January 7, 2021.
Cardoza-Moore defends plot to kidnap the Governor of Michigan
Β
In spring 2020, Cardoza-Moore celebrated on social media as armed protesters stormed Michiganβs capitol to demonstrate against the stateβs COVID-19 response. βARE WE WATCHING THE BEGINNING OF A REVOLUTION IN AMERICA!β Cardoza-MooreΒ wrote.
Later that year, when news broke that right-wing extremists were planning to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D), Cardoza-Moore also expressed support for the kidnapping plot.Β
βAm I missing something here? Didnβt the Founders address removing a tyrant from office in the Constitution?β Cardoza-MooreΒ wroteΒ in a now-deleted Facebook post. βMichiganders, itβs time to step up and defend your Constitutional rights!β
Cardoza-Moore and anti-Muslim bigotry
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Cardoza-Moore is also notorious for spewing anti-Muslim rhetoric. She first came to public attention in 2010 when sheΒ led oppositionΒ to the construction of a Tennessee mosque and argued that the mosque was a βterrorist training camp.β That year, she also falselyΒ claimedΒ that 30% of Muslims are terrorists while speaking at a rally against the Islamic Center in New York City. She would go on to repeat this baseless claim onΒ The Daily Show.
Aside from this, Cardoza-Moore has alsoΒ spread rumorsΒ that Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
In 2021, during her confirmation hearing, Cardoza-Moore stood by her anti-mosque comments and falsely alleged that there were βabsolutelyβ terrorists in the group. Despite this, sheΒ toldΒ Chalkbeat in 2022 that sheβs not anti-Muslim.Β
Cardoza-Moore and racial discrimination
Β
Endorsed by the right-wing parents group Moms for Liberty, Cardoza-Moore has also frequently accused schools of indoctrinating studentsβdespite the fact that all five of her children were homeschooled.Β
Cardoza-Moore is also a staunch opponent of Critical Race Theory, calling it βanti-semitic.β She believes lawmakers should eliminate βsocialist propagandaβ from education and is against virtually any curriculum that makes mention of race or inequity.Β
During herΒ hearingΒ in 2021, she βdeclined to answer questions about her beliefs around teaching students about the nationβs history of colonialism and slavery.β At the time, she said this was because she was only reviewing math textbooks, βtherefore her thoughts on history and social studies were not relevant,β the TennesseanΒ reports. With Cardoza-Mooreβs new appointment, however, she will be tasked with reviewing social studies standards.
Cardoza-Moore also doesnβt believe that systemic racism exists. In an email sent this month, she criticizes the incoming Tennessee education commissioner and writes, βTo suggest that Americans are racist in 2023 because of our history is outrageous!β
βWe, the majority of our society, have overcome that ideology. We elected a Black president; we have a Black Supreme Court Justice; we have Black, Asian, Hispanic, and Jewish leaders and on and on and onβ¦ Are there pockets of hate, racism, and antisemitism? Absolutely! Is it systemic? Absolutely not!β
According to Cardoza-Moore, acknowledging the countryβs βsystemic racism and social and financial inequityβ is the βnightmare facing Tennessee.β
The Jesuits used to say ‘give me a child of seven and I will give you the man.’ They don’t any more, probably because a priest using the words ‘give me a child of seven’ will prompt any responsible parent to call child protection before the rest of the sentence is out of his mouth.
WHERE are the good people standing up to this bull shit. All this crazy isn’t happening in a vacuum. We are at a tipping point and it is getting tooooo risky for comfort. These nut jobs are evil. This fuck head is right out of central casting as an officer in the SS. My morning cup of madness is running over.
Everyday I get more and more ashamed of being an American. We put absolutely lunatics into office and think nothing of it. We have an entire party that is dedicated to turning the United States into a fascist theocracy. I honestly never thought I would see the day this would happen.
Never underestimate the damage even just one highly motivated individual can do. In fact, there’s a portion of the evangelical movement that dwells in a space believing in the power of positive thinking, and making a difference by being an influence on others.
That maybe doesn’t sound so bad, until you witness the reality of where it leads when paired with a religious agenda. It ends up manifesting with the sort of people who believe they must be an active force for spreading Christianity in the workplace. I once quit a job where the new personnel director was exactly such a person, and insisted on leading people in prayer before meetings.
I’m not talking about some small business. It was at the headquarters for a large business covering the midwestern United States, with sister companies covering other regions of the USA, and all of them just one piece of a much, much bigger international business.
When these racist people show you who they are, believe them.Β Florida is becoming a fundamentalist Christian white supremacist nationalist maga paradise.Β Β Think of this:Β DeathSantis says he is running for president to make the entire country like Florida.Β He wants to take the Nazi Christian racist hateful anti-LGBTQ+ anti-civil right strict 1950s society gender roles.Β Β Notice it was all books about racism and overcoming racism this single parent complained about, and it was one parent complaining that got the material banned so no student could access it.Β Notice the woman is the wife of a Proud Boy maga gang thug.Β Β Hugs
A K-8 school in Miami-Dade County last month issued restrictions for elementary-aged students on three books and one poem after a parent objected to five titles, claiming they included topics that were inappropriate for students and should be removed βfrom the total environment.β
In March, Daily Salinas, a parent of two students at at Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes, challengedΒ The ABCs of Black History,Β Cuban Kids,Β Countries in the News Cuba, the poemΒ The Hills We Climb, which was recited by poet Amanda Gorman at the inauguration of President Joe Biden, andΒ Love to LangstonΒ for what she said included references of critical race theory, βindirect hate messages,β gender ideology and indoctrination, according to records obtained by the Florida Freedom to Read Project and shared with theΒ Miami Herald.
In an interview with theΒ HeraldΒ on Monday, Salinas said she βis not for eliminating or censoring any books.β Instead, she wants materials to be appropriate and for students βto know the truthβ about Cuba, she said in Spanish.
Meet Proud Boy event & far-right school board protest regulars, Alberto Rego RBT and wife βDaily Rego,β real name Daily Salinas of Miami Lakes.
At the school board mt in July Daily Salinas & M4L members disrupted the meeting w several outbursts, almost getting expelled. 9/ pic.twitter.com/A9qXsvehqg
— Miami Against Fascism π΄βοΈ (@MIAagainstFash) November 3, 2022
At this point, there should be a group of parents pushing to remove every book with heterosexual-presenting characters. Then sue under the fascist laws that forbid ‘sexual identity’ being presented to students.
That’s a clever idea, but it will be ignored and dismissed. Cleverness is not getting us out of this. We have to show up and outvote them in every election from now on.
I’m so over these insufferable people. I’d like to wake up one day and realize that the whole sorry Trump era was just a bad dream, like Bobby Ewing emerging from the shower, very much alive, in “Dallas.” Alas, that is not to be. We’re stuck with these assholes forever.
…afterΒ a parentΒ objected to five titles, claiming they included topics that were inappropriate for students and should be removed βfrom the total environment.
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The only way to fix this one-parent veto of library offerings is for sensible people to begin filing similar complaints and force the issue into the courts with claims of unequal enforcement of these silly new laws. Surely ALL mentions of gender, sexuality, and violence should be restricted equitably or not restricted at all.
And so the Christian Taliban maga brownshirts win.Β I have seen one of the videos of these extremists telling other shoppers that a rainbow shirt was from the devil and it was supporting child sex, question workers and other shoppers if they were Satanist or believed in god, talking of grooming kids, all this hyper anti-gay religious stuff.Β That video is below in the comments.Β These people have learned to be violent, like the maga that went into stores and threw beer out of the shelves and coolers.Β Instead of standing up to these domestic terrorist, these chain stores are giving in to them.Β Β Shades of 1930s Germany.Β Hugs
Target is removing certain items from its stores and making other changes to its LGBTQ merchandise nationwide ahead of Pride month, after an intense backlash from some customers including violent confrontations with its workers. βSince introducing this yearβs collection, weβve experienced threats impacting our team membersβ sense of safety and well-being while at work,β Target said in a statement Tuesday.
βGiven these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior.β Target confirmed that it has moved its Pride merchandise from the front of the stores to the back in some Southern stores after confrontations and backlash from shoppers in those areas.
Targetβs Pride month collection has also been the subject of several misleading videos in recent weeks, with social media users falsely claiming the retailer is selling βtuck-friendlyβ bathing suits designed for kids or in kidsβ sizes.
Target is removing certain items from its stores ahead of Pride month after an intense backlash from some of its customers, including violent confrontations with workers. https://t.co/cJsNN6m73F
Target has had a Pride collection for 10 years. Itβs not new. What is new is that bigots have learned that threatening violence works, so Target capitulated. And given the nature of violence in this country, part of me canβt blame them. In 2023, violent intimidation works https://t.co/VGm3OpKcI9
— Eric Ansley Diaz π³οΈβπ (@GeekBoyEric) May 24, 2023
BOOM β‘οΈβ‘οΈβ‘οΈβ‘οΈβ‘οΈ And itβs only been 1 day!!! Donβt let up!https://t.co/jS5uzIgOp3
I get so sick and tired of this shit! I understand Target wanting to protect its employees but caving in to terrorist demands only emboldens these cretans. “Don’t have a Pride parade or we’ll kill ya!” Result: Pride parade canceled. “Don’t have Drag Queen story hour or we’ll kill ya!” Result: Drag Queen story hour canceled. “Don’t sell gay merchandise or we’ll kill ya!” Result: Gay merch banned. Seriously, when does this end? What’s next? “Don’t be gay in public or we’ll kill ya!” So all gay people have to act straight? This is nonsense! I am tired of Bible thumping bigots trying to rule our lives.
This video is a year old. Not complaining, mind you because it shows the mindset of the Christian nut jobs who go around preaching hate. But it is not a recent event from this year.
That said there has been some hateful woman going around filming herself in Target screaming about LGBT merchandise. I saw one of her videos yesterday, can’t remember if it was here or on Reddit.
What a little weenie with his little agenda. What an wrongly righteous creep. I hope I don’t run into these kind of people anywhere. What idiocy for Christian grooming and Christian nationalist terrorism.
If the store staff was being threatened, call the police and have the terrorist arrested! If the local yocals, county clowns, or staties won’t prosecute, call the FBI. After all, they are the ones who are supposed to deal with domestic terrorism. Turn over the store security videos to the FBI and make examples of a few NAZIs.
Most Target stores I’ve been to have security already. They are usually up by the front doors (not far from where Pride items are/were). Now that Target is hiding the Pride merchandise it will be more vulnerable to vandalism.
Target might as well get rid of all the Pride stuff. They’re shown they really don’t have our backs like they’ve pretended to.
It is definitely different this year in a few of the Tucson stores. Not only is there NOT as much stuff, it is hidden in the very back of the store. The display is inconspicuous. There is only but a few items of clothing, translucent cups, plates, and … yep, that’s about it. A couple of years ago, in that same store, there were three (maybe FOUR!) displays, including one dedicated to music by itself. What in the hell is wrong with Target? As you mentioned, they are capitulating to the whims of the bigots. Something has to change…for the better.
Correction: What the hell is wrong with SOCIETY that Target has to actually protect its employees and its customers from this shit? I wholeheartedly agree with posters (in different threads) here that Target still deserves our support. Unlike other corporate chains, Target has been — and hopefully, will continue to be — supportive of the LGBTQ+ community. I sure as hell would not expect to even find any pride merchandise in, say, Hobby Lobby to start with. So, the mere fact that Target employees have toΒ HIDEΒ merchandiseΒ in the first placeΒ speaks volumes about the supportive environment of the store and the corporation.
A transgender high school student in Mississippi missed her graduation ceremony after a federal judge denied her request to wear a dress and heels. The student, who has not been identified, had been planning to wear a dress and heels under her graduation gown in accordance with the school’s dress code for female students. However, the school’s principal told her that she would not be allowed to wear the dress and heels, citing the school’s dress code policy.
The student’s family filed a lawsuit against the school, arguing that the dress code policy was discriminatory. However, a federal judge denied the family’s request for an injunction, allowing the school to enforce its dress code policy. As a result, the student missed her graduation ceremony.
The student’s case has drawn attention to the issue of transgender rights in schools. Transgender students are often subjected to discrimination in schools, including being denied the right to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. The student’s case is a reminder that transgender students still face significant challenges in schools, and that more needs to be done to protect their rights.
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