How ’bout That Flu This Year?

Ritsuko Kawai Science Jan 2, 2026 5:00 AM

What Is the ‘Super Flu’ That Is Spreading in the United States and Europe?

The “super flu” behind outbreaks in the US and UK is a new variant of influenza A H3N2, subclade K. Here’s what you need to know.

The spread of influenza became more severe this fall, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has designated the 2024-25 flu season as the most severe season since 2017-18. In the UK, the spread has begun earlier than at any time since 2003-04.

Against this backdrop, some media outlets have begun using the term “super flu.” However, this term is not an official medical term. The actual name is “subclade K,” a new variant of influenza A H3N2.

This variant has multiple mutations in a protein on the surface of the virus called hemagglutinin, making it antigenically different from the variants used in existing vaccines. This allows it to partially evade immunity acquired through previous infection or vaccines, making people more susceptible to infection. Genetic analysis by the UK Health Security Agency has revealed that 87 percent of H3N2 viruses detected since late August 2025 are subclade K.

The Outbreak Began Earlier Than Usual

The term “super flu” is not necessarily scientifically accurate. The H3N2 strain already caused severe illness in the elderly and children, and the new mutant strain has not made it more deadly. Contrary to the name, the virus’s inherent danger is said to be no different from the conventional H3N2 strain.

In 2025, the US influenza pandemic peaked in early February, with active epidemics occurring in 87.3 percent of the country. For 11 consecutive weeks, more than 50 percent of the country recorded high epidemic levels, an anomaly that led to 287 child deaths. However, these figures reflect the scale of the epidemic and do not imply an increase in the lethality of the virus itself.

The influenza epidemic is hitting earlier this year in many parts of the world. While the usual peak in Japan occurs between late December and February, in 2025 the epidemic began in earnest at the end of September. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, of the 23 H3 virus strains collected in Japan between September and November 5 that could be analyzed, 22 were subclade K.

The reason for the early outbreak is thought to be the decline in immunity of the population due to the countermeasures against new coronavirus infection (Covid-19), as well as a decline in physical strength due to the record-breaking heat wave. During the three years of the coronavirus pandemic, the influenza epidemic was largely suppressed. As a result, it is possible that population immunity to the virus was reduced. In fact, with the 2024 influenza pandemic in Australia at its highest level since 19 years, it would not be surprising to see a similar trend in the Northern Hemisphere.

Existing Vaccines Are Effective

There has also been much interest in vaccine efficacy in the face of this virulent strain. The vaccine for the 2025-26 season is based on the conventional J.2 lineage (subclade), which has different antigenicity from subclade K. However, early data from the UK has confirmed that 70-75 percent of vaccinated children and 30-40 percent of adults did not end up visiting the emergency room or being hospitalized after infection. This means that even if the antigenicity is not completely identical, the vaccine remains effective in preventing severe illness.

The basic prevention measures are the same as for conventional influenza. Vaccination is recommended from October to November before the epidemic, and the effect appears about two weeks after vaccination. It is particularly recommended for people aged 65 and over, people with underlying medical conditions, pregnant women, children aged 6 months to 5 years, and medical workers. In daily life, it is effective to thoroughly wash and disinfect your hands, and wear a mask when in crowds. Ventilation in rooms and maintaining appropriate humidity levels are also important in suppressing viral activity.

If symptoms appear, it is best to wait at least 12 hours after the onset of fever before visiting a medical institution. Anti-influenza medication is most effective when taken within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms, and Xofluza and Tamiflu are considered effective. People should refrain from going out for five days after the onset of symptoms and two days (three days for children) after the fever has subsided, and should make sure to get plenty of rest and stay hydrated.

Contrary to the impression given by the word “super,” this current epidemic is an extension of the traditional influenza. For this reason, it is essential to respond calmly based on scientific understanding rather than fear.

In fact, the risk of developing severe symptoms can be significantly reduced by combining vaccination with basic infection control measures. Because this is a rare situation in which there are consecutive high-severity seasons, making responsible choices based on accurate information will help protect the health of society as a whole.

This story originally appeared in WIRED Japan and has been translated from Japanese.

Russia carried out a record number of missile and drone attacks on Ukraine in 2025

I want to thank https://personnelente.wordpress.com/2025/12/31/attacking-ukraine/ for the link to this news article. I think it is seriously important we realize Ukraine is suffering to keep the rest of the world safe. If Putin has his way he will recreate the world of the USSR in the 1980s again, taking territory of other countries by force and stealing their resources, just as tRump thinks the US should be able to do the countries the US deals with or are in our hemisphere. None of this will come to any good for the world. Right from the start Ukraine should have been given the weapons it needed with no restraint on how to use them. Biden did as much to damage Ukraine as Putin’s military did. Biden forced Ukraine to fight with their hands tied behind their backs. Thankfully Europe is realizing that mistake and removing the no attacks on Russian soil restrictions. Hugs

Russia carried out a record number of missile and drone attacks on Ukraine in 2025

31.12.2025

In 2025, Russian troops carried out a record number of air attacks on the territory of Ukraine. According to the United24 platform, the enemy used more than 60 thousand guided bombs, about 2.4 thousand missiles and more than 100 thousand drones of various types.

Number of air alerts in Ukraine in 2025 / United 24

During the year, at least 19,033 air alerts were announced throughout the country. The sirens sounded most often in the Kharkiv region (2,020 times), Zaporizhia (1,807 times) and Sumy region (1,793 times). The fewest alerts were recorded in Transcarpathia (126 times), Ivano-Frankivsk region (133 times) and Lviv region (140 times).

If in the winter and spring months there were one or two major attacks per month, then since June-July their number has increased significantly. During individual strikes, the enemy used up to 60 missiles and hundreds of drones, sometimes up to 700–800 drones in a single attack.

The most massive attacks of 2025:

January 15: 177 targets (of which 43 missiles and 74 drones, air defense destroyed 30 missiles and all drones)

February 1: 165 targets (of which 42 missiles and 123 drones)

March 7: 261 (of which 67 missiles and 194 drones)

April 24: 215 (of which 70 missiles and 145 drones)

May 25: 367 (of which 69 missiles and 298 drones)

Starting in June, the shelling has intensified significantly:

June 29: 537 targets (of which 60 missiles and 477 drones)

July 9: 728 drones.

In August, the number of attacks remained at a high level:

August 21: 614 targets (including 40 missiles and 574 drones)

August 28: 629 targets (including 31 missiles and 598 drones)

August 30: 582 targets (including 45 missiles and 537 UAVs).

Consequences of the shelling of Donetsk : National Police of Ukraineregion

A record number of drones was recorded on September 7 – 823 targets (including 810 drones and 13 missiles), and on October 30 the enemy launched 705 targets (including 52 missiles and 653 drones). During November and December, massive attacks continued: the number of missiles reached 51, drones – up to 653 in one shelling.

United24 emphasizes that human suffering cannot be fully measured in numbers, but statistics clearly demonstrate the scale of the threat and confirm that Ukraine needs enhanced air defense and support from international partners.

Author: Anna Romaniv | View all publications by the author

Pro-ICE Democrat Is Afraid

One of the things that shocked me when I started following politics was how racist so many of the republican party members are and to be honest a few democrats as well. They finally drove Steve King out due to his over the top hate for black people and constant promotion of whites as the only salvation for the country. But I saw this in Reagan in the 1980s and it has gotten much worse. So many openly racist people are now in the US congress and they are not just men; at least one is a woman from the south who openly hates Black people. First let me be clear, I have heard the arguments made up by white supremacists with their false made up claims, but when I got the chance to work with people of a different skin tone I found two things. One was there was no difference between us in mental ability or the way we did our jobs, and second … Sorry but some of the nonwhite guys I knew were hot and made me horny as hell. Now having said that I of course respected everyone’s boundaries, and I won’t say if I had a few interesting 4 day passes with persons of a different skin tone than mine. But just say I did I can honestly report the melanin in their skin did not change their reactions or our pleasures on those passes … if they happened. OK, yes, they did and I loved it. So did they. But you get my point. The only difference between them and me at that age in that situation was our skin color and I saw how soft bigotry worked. Two young white guys going into a motel in South Carolina raised no eye browes, but when I went to that same hotel with a dark skinned companion, we had to show our military IDs, give my license plate information, and plenty of other things. That was my go to place because they had a nearby amusement park which we could pretend was what we were there for … not the hot sex happening in the hotel room. So even then racism was real in the 1980s and every time it happened I saw the person I was with shrink a bit more inside themselves. Something I understood as an abused child. We really need to do more to fight it. Hugs

The New Anti-Trans Rules Are SO Much Worse Than You Think

Minnesota Fraud Scandal EXPLAINED

NYC phone ban reveals some students can’t read clocks

https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-phone-ban-reveals-some-students-cant-read-clocks

Getty Images

Some New York City teachers say it’s high time for a refresher on old-fashioned clocks.

Tiana Millen, an assistant principal at Cardozo High School in Queens, said this year’s ban on smartphones revealed that many teens struggle to read traditional clocks. “That’s a major skill that they’re not used to at all,” she said.

Overall, Millen said, the phone ban has been a major success at the school, and has helped kids focus in class and socialize at lunch. Foot traffic is moving more swiftly in hallways. Without eyes glued to their phones, more students are getting to class on time. The problem is they don’t know it, she said, “because they don’t know how to read the clocks.”

For years, parents and teachers have blamed technology for a range of lapsed skills — from legible handwriting to sustained attention to reading whole books — even as their proficiency with technology far outstrips their elders. Still, while educators have widely praised New York’s statewide smartphone ban that went into effect this fall, multiple teachers told Gothamist it has also laid bare an unexpected gap: How to tell time.

“The constant refrain is ‘Miss, what time is it?’ said Madi Mornhinweg, who teaches high school English in Manhattan. “It’s a source of frustration because everyone wants to know how many minutes are left in class. … It finally got to the point where we I started saying ‘Where’s the big hand and where’s the little hand?’”

According to the education department, students learn how to read clocks in first and second grade. “At NYCPS, we recognize how essential it is for our students to tell the time on both analog and digital clocks,” education department spokesperson Isla Gething said. “As our young people are growing up in an increasingly digital world, no traditional time-reading skills should be left behind.” Officials said kids are taught to master terms including “o’clock,” “half-past” and “quarter-to” in early elementary years.

After dismissal outside Midwood High School in Brooklyn, many students said they do know how to read wall clocks — but they have classmates who can’t.

“They just forgot that skill because they never used it, because they always pulled out their phone,” said Cheyenne Francis, 14.

“I know how to read a clock,” she added. ”The only time I guess I would struggle is if the time is wrong on the clock. Because sometimes they don’t set the proper time.”

Several students said clocks in their school are often broken.

Farzona Yakuba, 15, said she can tell time the old-fashioned way, but she empathizes with classmates who struggle.

“I feel like I’m one of those students sometimes because I know how to read the clock if I really need to. But I feel like most students here, they just get lazy and they ask. And I feel like I do that a lot,” she said.

Concern about students’ analog clock literacy predates the phone ban. In 2017, an Oklahoma study found only one in five kids ages 6-12 knew how to read clocks. England started replacing analog clocks in classrooms with digital ones in 2018. Grandfather and cuckoo clocks just aren’t as common as they used to be. Even kids who master clocks early on don’t have to practice that skill the way they used to.

“It’s underutilized,” said Travis Malekpour, who teaches social studies and math at Cardozo. He said he’s integrated telling time and managing calendars into some of his algebra lessons.

Kris Perry, executive director of Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, said it makes sense that teens who have grown up in a fully digital environment haven’t had to practice analog clock-reading. She said the question is whether the shift amounts to a “a cognitive downgrade or just a replacement.”

She noted that brain scans have shown that holding books and handwriting generally lead to more brain activity than reading and typing on screens.

But several educators pointed out that while students’ clock-reading skills may be lagging, their digital skills are strong. Many schools have sophisticated coding and robotics programs, and teachers said they sometimes turn to kids for help with technology.

Mornhinweg said she recently had trouble opening a PDF for a lesson because of new software. She said her students calmly walked her through it.

“I was freaking out and they were like, ‘Miss it’s fine, this is what you do.’ I felt really old,” she said.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the subjects Travis Malekpour teaches.

The fight over Christian nationalism in a small Tennessee town

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c997j105941o

15 hours ago

Ellie House and Mike Wendling Gainesboro, Tennessee

BBC/Ellie House

Real estate developer Josh Abbotoy on the site of his planned future development outside Gainesboro. Abbotoy’s customers, including two self-described Christian nationalists, have caused controversy locally

As Josh Abbotoy gazes out at lush green woods and pastureland nestled among Tennessee’s Appalachian hills, he describes what he intends to build here: a neighbourhood with dozens of residential lots, centred around a working farm and, crucially, a church.

“A customer might very well buy and build roughly where we’re standing right now,” he says as we hike up to the top of a ridge.

Mr Abbotoy is founder of the real estate company Ridgerunner, which has bought land here and in neighbouring Kentucky. But his is no garden-variety housing development.

Mr Abbotoy is prominent in US conservative circles and describes his development as an “affinity-based community” – marketed to people not only interested in the peace and quiet of rural life, but in a constellation of right-wing ideals.

“Faith, family and freedom,” he says. “Those are the values that we try to celebrate.”

BBC/Mike Wendling

Josh Abbotoy points to a map of his development in the Ridgerunner offices in Gainesboro

Initially he didn’t attract much local attention after setting up shop in Jackson County.

But in late 2024, a local TV news report broadcast controversial statements made by two of Mr Abbotoy’s first, and most outspoken, customers: Andrew Isker, a pastor and author originally from Minnesota, and C Jay Engel, a businessman from California.

They are self-described “Christian nationalists” who question modern values, such as whether female suffrage and the civil rights movement were good ideas, and call for mass deportations of legal immigrants far in excess of President Donald Trump’s current plan. Another thing they sometimes say: “Repeal the 20th Century.”

The TV report raised an alarm bell amongst some local residents.

“You don’t know who these people are, or what they’re capable of,” says Nan Coons, a middle-aged woman who spoke in a firm southern accent during a recent interview near the town square in Gainesboro – of which this land is a part.

“And so it’s scary.”

Although Abbotoy himself does not identify as a Christian nationalist, he says concerns about his tenants are overblown.

The Ridgerunner development has since drawn national attention. And people in Gainesboro, home to around 900 people and one traffic light, have now found themselves in the middle of a dispute that is a proxy for much bigger political battles.

Podcasters move in

Mr Isker and Mr Engel announced their move to Gainesboro last year on their podcast Contra Mundum – Latin for “against the world”.

On their show, which is now recorded in a studio within Ridgerunner’s Gainesboro office, they have encouraged their fans to move into small communities, seek local influence, and join them in their fight to put strict conservative Christian values at the heart of American governance.

“If you could build places where you can take political power,” Mr Isker said on one episode, “which might mean sitting on the [board of] county commissioners, or even having the ear of the county commissioners and sheriff… being able to do those things is extremely, extremely valuable.”

Contra Mundum

C Jay Engel (l) and Andrew Isker (r) shown during an episode of their podcast

On X, Mr Engel has popularised the idea of “heritage Americans” – a fuzzy concept but one that applies mainly to Anglo-Protestants whose ancestors arrived in the US at least a century ago. He says it is not explicitly white, but it does have “strong ethnic correlations”.

He’s called for mass deportations of immigrants – including legal ones – writing: “Peoples like Indians, or South East Asians or Ecuadorians or immigrated Africans are the least capable of fitting in and should be sent home immediately.”

In their broadcasts and writings they have also expressed anti-gay sentiments. The podcasters deny they are white nationalists.

Both are Ridgerunner customers, and Mr Isker’s church will move into the community’s chapel when it’s complete.

The ‘resistance’

Their hardcore views have alarmed residents, with some locals setting up an informal resistance group.

“I believe that they have been attempting to brand our town and our county as a headquarters for their ideology of Christian nationalism,” says town matriarch Diana Mandli, a prominent local businesswoman who until recently owned a pub on Gainesboro’s central square

Late last year, Mandli led the charge by writing a message on a chalkboard outside her business: “If you are a person or group who promotes the inferiority or oppression of others, please eat somewhere else.”

BBC/Mike Wendling

More signs opposed to the new development followed. When people caught wind that the Ridgerunner guys were holding a meeting at a nearby fast food joint, dozens turned up to confront them.

Ms Coons, whose ancestors have lived in Gainesboro since around the time of the US Revolutionary War, says she engaged Mr Engel in conversation.

“He explained to me that what they’re promoting is what he called ‘family voting’… one vote per family, and of course, the husband in that family would be the one voting” with women frozen out of the electorate.

Mr Engel has since said publicly that it’s not “wrong” for women to vote, although he does support the idea of household suffrage.

BBC/Mike Wendling

Local residents put up a billboard outside of town

In a county that voted 80% for Donald Trump in the last election, Ms Coons is used to living next door to neighbours with conservative views.

But she and others came away from the protest convinced more than ever that the beliefs of their new neighbours were too extreme.

They say they don’t want to run them out of town, but intend to sound the alarm about what they say are extreme views, as well as thwart any future attempt to take over the local government.

“This is where we have to draw the line,” Ms Coons says.

What is Christian nationalism?

Christian nationalism is a nebulous worldview without a single coherent definition.

At the extreme end, as outlined by theorists including author Stephen Wolfe, Christian nationalists advocate for rule by a “Christian prince” – an all-powerful religious dictator, who reigns over the civil authorities and leads his subjects to “godliness”.

Listen to this story in the UK on Crossing Continents, from BBC Radio 4

Less extreme versions take the form of calls for Christian law to be explicitly enshrined in American legal codes, for religious leaders to get heavily involved in politics, or simply for an acknowledgement of the Christian background of America’s founding fathers.

This multiplicity of definitions has created a strategic ambiguity that experts say has helped Christian nationalism seep into the mainstream.

Big ideas or far-right plan?

Mr Abbotoy’s development is still in the early stages – his company is building roads and organising sanitation infrastructure. When the BBC visited in November, workers were busy knocking down a decrepit old barn, one of many that dot the Appalachian landscape.

But business is brisk. Around half of the lots are already under contract. Mr Abbotoy anticipates that the first houses will be built and new customers will begin moving in at the beginning of 2027.

BBC/Ellie House

Building on the Brewington Farms site will start within months, with new residents moving in soon, in just over a year

Many of his customers, he says, are moving to heavily Republican Tennessee from Democratic-majority states like California and New York.

“People want to live in communities where they feel like they share important values with their neighbours,” he says.

Mr Abbotoy says he doesn’t call himself a Christian nationalist, but describes the criticism of his customers as “absurd” and says they have no intention to try to take over local government.

“They’re talking about big ideas and books,” he says. As for some of their more controversial views, he insists that “rolling back the 20th Century can mean a lot of things. A lot of conservatives would say we took a lot of wrong turns.”

Mr Isker and Mr Engel did not respond to multiple requests for comment and a list of questions.

BBC/Ellie House

Nan Coons belongs to an informal group of Gainesboro residents who are alarmed at their new Christian nationalist neighbours

Small-town fight goes nationwide

The fight here in Gainesboro has drawn in players far from small-town Tennessee.

Mr Abbotoy, who was educated at Harvard Law School, is also a partner at a conservative venture capital fund, New Founding, and a founder of the American Reformer, a website that has published the writings of a number of other prominent Christian nationalists.

His opponents meanwhile have received research assistance and advice from a national organisation, States at the Core, established last year to tackle authoritarianism in small communities. It is funded by a constellation of left-wing organisations. States at the Core declined our request for an interview.

The men of Ridgerunner have pointed to the organisation as evidence that the pushback against their project has been orchestrated by powerful liberals. The locals say this is ridiculous.

“Nobody’s cut me a cheque to say anything,” Ms Coons says.

In Gainesboro, people on all sides see a much bigger story – one of large-scale political fights playing out in rural America.

Republicans have made huge gains in rural areas this century, and in 2024 Trump stretched his lead in rural communities, winning 69% of the vote. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recently announced a reported eight-figure investment ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, a chunk of which will be dedicated to winning rural voters.

“There’s definitely a renewed, [Democratic Party] focus on rural engagement,” Mr Abbotoy says. “And at the same time, there’s been a wave of people moving to small town America precisely because they like the Bible Belt, they like the conservative traditional culture.”

But Nan Coons and her allies say they aren’t ready to concede rural areas like her hometown to Christian nationalists.

“If we are going to turn this tide, it starts on your street, it starts in your neighbourhood, it starts in your small town,” she says.

“I have to stand for something, and this is where I stand.”

I don’t believe they did that news … well yes I do

The Epstein files / tRump DOJ /

Trump To DOJ: Stop Working On The Epstein Files

More tRump stupidity / tRump putting his branding everywhere / is he the president or chief architect / Fluffing tRump’s ego / tRump’s grifting / tRump’s lies & misinformation

Trump Wants “Marble Armrests” In Kennedy Center

tRump bans the word affordability / Costs / Pricing

Trump: Midterm Elections Will Be All About “Pricing”

Fox News Host: “Trump Is A Victim Of His Own Success”

Trump Buys Tens Of Millions In Corporate Debt

FactCheck.org: “Trump’s Biggest Whoppers Of 2025”

Does Congress matter anymore / Defying congress /

Cabinet Members Have Refused To Testify In Public

Putin owns tRump / Russia’s war against Ukraine /

Russia Bombs Kyiv Ahead Of Trump-Zelenksy Meeting

Zelensky Says He’ll Call Referendum On Peace Deal

Trump Confers With Putin Ahead Of Zelensky Meeting

TODAY: Trump And Zelensky To Meet At Mar-A-Lago

GOP Rep Dodges On Trump Siding With Russia [VIDEO]

Trump: “I Do Believe We Have The Makings Of A Deal”

Trump Backs Putin In Opposing Ceasefire [VIDEO]

tRump’s illegal war for oil

NYT: How Oil Fueled Trump’s Venezuela Campaign

Letting China gain while tRump grifts

WaPo: China Expands Nuclear Warhead Capacity

ICE / Hate / Racism / FBI / Christian Nationalism / Forcing Christian doctrine on everyone else / White privilege

DOJ Moves To Void Thousands Of Asylum Applications

Voldemort Cites Christmas Movie To Attack Immigrants

Voldemort Rewrites US History In Anti-Immigrant Rant

Trump To Pay Palau $7.5M To Take Just 75 Migrants

That’s $100,000/head. tRump doesn’t care as he spends the taxpayers money / countries treasury like a drunk spending other peoples money. He is a tryant in that he thiinks that money is his todo what he wants even though the law states that only congress controls spending. This is human traficing plain and simple. Hugs

HUD Sec Blames Migrants For High Cost Of Housing

In September 2025, Turner’s agency sponsored a far-right anti-LGBTQ extremist to lead a massive Christian nationalist rally on Washington DC’s National Mall, the first-ever such event formally sanctioned by the federal government.

In June, it was reported that Turner is moving to take over the former National Science Foundation building as his agency’s headquarters, where he has demanded a full-floor executive suite, a private dining room, and parking for his five personal cars.

Patel: I’m Shutting Down FBI’s Building “Permanently”

Voldemort’s Wife: Women Should Be “Raising Babies”

It is not lost on me that the above story is a woman with a career telling other woman they need to be stay at home mothers / trad wives to please a man because of religious dogma. Hugs

Florida Republicans Introduce “The Bible Says So” Bill

Yarborough appeared here last month for his bill that would ban Pride flags at government buildings, including public schools.

He appeared here in April 2025 for his bill that would ban thousands of books, including classic novels, over sexual content.

Yarborough appeared here March 2025 for his bill that would ban civil rights ordinances enacted by cities and counties, including, presumably, LGBTQ protections.

He first appeared on JMG in 2010, when as a member of the Jacksonville City Council he declared that gays, Muslims, and atheists should not be permitted to hold public office, otherwise God will smite the country.

In April 2023, lawmakers approved Yarborough’s ban on drag shows before minors. Yarborough is also the author several anti-trans bills.

Borrero appeared here in 2023 for a ban on Pride flags that died in committee. He tried again last year, but that attempt died after passage in its first committee hearing.

Borerro first appeared on JMG in January 2022 for his successful bill mandating that Florida public schools recognize an annual “Victims Of Communism Day.”

Just stupid / Idiotic /

COPS: Man Killed Neighbor While Target-Shooting

“Death To Biden And Polis” Cultist Runs For CO Gov

Oltmann appeared here last year when he called for executing Joe Biden, adding, “I want to send the mainstream media to the gallows, radical leftists to the gallows, traitors to our nation to the gallows, and they all kind of fit in the same bucket.”

In 2022, he appeared here when he announced that he would lead a “well-armed action” to install Kari Lake as governor of Arizona.

In 2021, he appeared here when he called for executing the 19 Republican Senators who voted to avert a government shutdown.

GOP official rages at “demonic” Christmas drag show because kids might be near the building it’s in

This AG was not elected to any office, he was handpicked and given his job by DeathSantis. Both are Christian nationalist who feel it is great to force their religion on others even as they do not live by their own church doctrines in any way. They seem to feel forcing the public to live by their church doctrines or what ever view they think their god endorses is perfectly fine regardless if others disagree. They are the first to scream the loudest if their rituals or they think their rights to oppress others is interfered with, but they also seem unable to give others the same rights they demand for themselves. Hugs

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/11/gop-official-rages-at-demonic-christmas-drag-show-because-kids-might-be-near-the-building-its-in/?utm_source=lgbtqnation&utm_medium=directlink&utm_campaign=directlink&utm_content=GOP+official+rages+at+%E2%80%9Cdemonic%E2%80%9D+Christmas+drag+show+because+kids+might+be+near+the+building+it%E2%80%99s+in

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier says the show must be cancelled because it “mocks… the Christian faith.”

Molly Sprayregen (She/Her)November 10, 2025, 11:00 am EST

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier speaks about the arrest of 28 members of the Mongols motorcycle gang during a press conference at the Stephen Saboda Training Center near Daytona Beach, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. | © Nigel Cook/News-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) is urging the Pensacola City Council to shut down a Christmas-themed drag show, which he has deemed “demonic” and “harmful” to children, despite how it is exclusively for adults over the age of 18.

The city’s Saenger Theatre plans to host “A Drag Queen Christmas” on December 23. The website says fans should “expect a fabulous remix of classic Christmas hits, dazzling themed variety performances, and interactive moments to share your Christmas cheer.”

A letter from Uthmeier claimed the show “openly mocks one of the most sacred holidays in the Christian faith” and expressed horror that some of the queens evoke “satanic imagery” in their outfits or characters. He also decried the fact that it will be playing at the same time as the city’s family-centered Winterfest.

“So, while Penscola children are taking pictures with Santa, men dressed as garish women in demonic costumes will be engaged in obscene behavior mere feet away,” he ranted, even though the drag show will take place inside a theater where the children at the festival won’t be able to see it.

The Pensacola city attorney has reportedly refused to cancel the show, saying it would violate the drag show production company’s First Amendment rights and the city’s contract with the theater’s management company.

Uthmeier, however, said the city – which owns the theater – has a legal right to supersede the management company’s decision to put on the show if it deems a performance detrimental to public health or safety. He said the drag show meets this criterion because it will be taking place near children at Winterfest, even though they won’t be able to see it.

“While the First Amendment safeguards freedom of expression, it does not require a city to platform and endorse disgusting, obscene content that denigrates its residents’ religious beliefs,” Uthmeier concluded.

He claimed it may even amount to religious discrimination and could cause legal issues for the city, especially if one of the “deranged performers” were “to expose themselves to the kids” nearby. The preposterous idea that LGBTQ+ people are inherently a danger to children has long been used by the right to fearmonger and stir anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment.

The letter comes after a group of churches in the city launched a campaign to pressure the Pensacola City Council to cancel the drag show. The controversy has caused an uproar in the community, the Pensacola News Journal reported, where pro- and anti-LGBTQ+ residents continue to clash over whether the drag show should be permitted to go on.

At a packed and contentious city council meeting in early October, resident Jermaine Williams called out the hypocrisy of those claiming to oppose the show on religious grounds.

“I mean, we see how y’all vote,” Williams said. “Half of these people that spoke today wouldn’t know Jesus if they stared him in the face.”

Another resident, Stephen McCollum, gushed that drag queens are “more than entertainers.”

“They’re small business owners. They’re advocates and they’re educators who use creativity to uplift others and welcome all. They welcome all, demonstrating that this art form is more than just a performance. It’s a form of connection, and it’s a form of community, and it’s a form of hope.”

Uthmeier has long used his position to vilify and terrorize LGBTQ+ people. Earlier this year, he launched a crusade against a Life Time Fitness in Palm Beach Gardens after discovering that the private business had a trans inclusive policy. State law requires people use facilities aligned with their sex assigned at birth, but that does not apply to private businesses.

Uthmeier, however, claimed otherwise in a letter sent to the gym. He falsely claimed that trans inclusion leads to “assaults, exploitation, and fear” and that he was merely doing this to protect women and girls.

Even after Life Time said it would comply with his demands, Uthmeier posted a video in which he visited the gym in person to make sure they are “not allowing trans women into women’s bathrooms, not in Florida,” and “actually following the law.”

“It appears they are,” he reported to followers, though it’s unclear how he could have confirmed this without major privacy violations of the individuals entering and exiting the locker rooms there.

This past October, Uthmeier also filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of a parental rights activist who dubiously claims her child’s middle school helped her child secretly transition. She has now petitioned the Supreme Court to take her case.

Uthmeier’s brief claims government officials across the United States “are fundamentally altering the upbringing of children and keeping parents in the dark” with “secret transition” policies.

These policies do not involve schools encouraging students to be trans or transition, but rather to support any students who willingly communicate that their gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth and to allow the student to choose when to share that private information with their parents. For some students with anti-trans parents, telling them could be dangerous.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Molly Sprayregen is the Deputy Editor of LGBTQ Nation and has been reporting on queer stories for almost a decade. She has written for Them, Out, Forbes, Into, Huffington Post, and others. She has a BA in English and Creative Writing from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from Northwestern University.