Allies Being Allies, Bravely

(It’s all here except a Facebook post, because the page is jam-packed with active ads. But this deserves to be known, wherever you read it. -A.

‘They belong here’: In defiance of Trump, Guster shares Kennedy Center stage with canceled children’s musical

Guster welcomed the cast of the children’s musical “Finn” to the Kennedy Center over the weekend after the center’s Trump-appointed board canceled its national tour.

Guster shared the Kennedy Center stage with the cast of children's musical "Finn" on Saturday, March 29. — Guster shared the Kennedy Center stage with the cast of children’s musical “Finn” on Saturday, March 29. Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

By Kevin Slane April 1, 2025 2 minutes to read

Guster won’t be playing PorchFest this year, but the alt-rock band originally formed in Somerville still knows how to draw headlines when it takes the stage.

When Guster performed at the Kennedy Center over the weekend with the National Symphony Orchestra, it brought out a special guest: The cast of the children’s musical “Finn.”

After opening at the Kennedy Center to strong reviews in November and December 2024, the Kennedy Center-commissioned musical was supposed to begin a national tour this year. “Finn” — about a young shark who “wants to let out his inner fish” — was co-created by Chris Nee, the openly gay creator of the popular children’s TV show “Doc McStuffins.”

But after President Donald Trump took over as chairman of the arts institute in February — firing its board of trustees and installing allies including White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino and Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo in their place — the planned national tour for “Finn” was canceled.

“We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!” Trump wrote on Truth Social in February. “Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP.”

According to Deadline, the new regime at the Kennedy Center cited financial considerations when canceling the musical’s planned tour, but “the musical’s theme of tolerance and acceptance – the young gray shark named Finn ultimately decides to let out his ‘inner fish’ by adopting a vibrantly colored and glittery new appearance – has been widely interpreted as at least a contributing factor in the tour’s axing.”

During Friday evening’s show, Guster brought the cast of “Finn” on stage to accompany the band on its song “Hard Times.”

Guster lead singer Ryan Miller addressed the audience before bringing the cast on stage, talking about his friendship with “Finn” co-creator Michael Kooman.

“As the new administration has made abundantly clear, ‘Finn’’s themes of inclusivity, love, and self-acceptance aren’t going to be welcome in this building while they are in control,” Miller said. “Tonight our band is here to say our stage is your stage. We are your allies, we stand with the LGBTQ community, and we want you to sing with us.

“Please welcome the cast of ‘Finn’ and composer Michael Kooman,” Miller concluded. “They belong here.”

In a Facebook post on Monday, the band wrote that it left the Kennedy Center “imbued with energy, purpose, and righteousness.”

“Reflecting on the weekend and feeling so grateful for our fans,” the band wrote. “Many of you were hesitant to enter the charged atmosphere at the Kennedy Center but trusted us to navigate these shows with purpose and showed up as your fullest most spirited selves.”

“I think all of us, and it’s like 5000 of us over the weekend, left that venue feeling the power of music to heal and refresh,” the post continued. “And the power of community to overcome. (snip unembeddable Facebook post)

Kevin Slane

Staff Writer

Some clips from The Majority report I liked.

No Foolin’-Sen. Booker’s Doin’ Something With Substance!

(Plus more Dem Senators pitchin’ in! Go see-video below)

Cory Booker Holding Senate Floor All Night Long (All Night), All Night Long (All Night) by Rebecca Schoenkopf

Washington Post takes pains to tell us it’s not REALLY a filibuster. Read on Substack

Since 7 p.m. Eastern yesterday, Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) has held the Senate floor, speaking out against what Donald Trump and his evil coconspirators are doing to America. He was still going when we started this piece at 8:30 this morning, and we expect he’ll still be going when we click “Publish.”

Booker began the all-night speech by making his intentions clear:

“I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able. I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis.

“In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety; financial stability; the core foundations of our democracy. These are not normal times in America. And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate.”

While we were writing this piece, Booker was every bit as impassioned as he condemned the Republican budget plan that would slash Medicaid and the social safety net so billionaires and corporations could have (more) huge tax cuts, adding trillions to the US debt, asking, “If you’re a Christian conservative, how can you hurt the weak to benefit the rich and powerful? The people of the United States have to stand up and say ‘NO!’”

This man does not look like he’s been speaking for more than 14 hours. Here’s the AP’s live feed. Watching this, we’re even feeling some hope — especially if other senators follow up with marathon speeches of their own.

(And it’s still running! -A)

Also too, we’re going to go ahead and call this a filibuster anyway, if only because the Washington Post went out of its way to explain in its subhead (archive link) that it’s not actually a filibuster because Booker isn’t delaying a vote on legislation. Just seems like the sort of nitpick best saved for the body of the article, which is where all the other outlets have placed it. So why did we mention it in our subhed? Because fuck WaPo is why.

Booker received help throughout the night — and still, this morning — from other senators, because he is allowed to take questions, which tend to come in the form of brief speeches ending with a question mark. But it’s not just a tactic to help him preserve his voice; it’s also a chance for fellow Democrats to show their unity, with multiple voices pointing out how completely not normal the last two months have been. Booker and other senators called out Trump and co-president Elon Musk for multiple assaults on democracy, like their attempts to shut down federal agencies created by Congress, to cancel spending authorized by Congress, to withhold grants to nonprofits that were already awarded, to fire large segments of the federal workforce without regard to worker protections, and to effectively dissolve America’s alliances by siding with Russia against Ukraine and our European allies. And much more.

We should also note that, unlike the longest talking filibuster on record, old racist Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond’s 25-hour filibuster of the 1957 Civil Rights bill, Mr. Booker doesn’t have the opportunity to take restroom breaks. Now that’s impressive.

During the speech, Booker repeatedly reminded Republicans — for any good it might do — that many of them saw who Donald Trump was, and why he was no good for America. He spoke with genuine affection about John McCain, who had the courage to shut down Trump’s attempt to end Obamacare:

“Senator McCain, I know you wouldn’t sanction this, I know you would be screaming, I’ve seen how angry you can get, John McCain. I’ve seen you tear people apart on this floor, Democrat and Republican, for doing the same stupid thing over and over again. Listen to John McCain explain why he voted ‘no’ the last time the Republican Party tried to unite and tear down health care with no idea how to fix it, threatening to put millions of Americans in financial crisis and health care crisis. I can’t believe we are here again.”

Booker returned again and again to that theme: Why on earth are we allowing this madness to happen? How on earth are we in a situation where a US president is threatening to invade our allies and help our adversaries?

As we wrap up here, Booker’s voice is beginning to get a little raspy, but his overall energy isn’t flagging so far. At the moment, he’s having a colloquy with Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware) about the importance of US foreign assistance, which Trump and musk have unconstitutionally slashed. Coons called attention to how those cuts have left us unable to provide help to the victims of the earthquake in Myanmar — and Booker immediately pointed out that by wrecking America’s soft power, Trump has handed all that influence to China.

We hope Booker keeps going a couple more hours. And that as many of his Democratic colleagues follow his example with filibusters of their own. (snip)

Good Commentary Here

This was linked in a substack I was reading, I found it worthy of sharing, and also of the author getting the clicks on their own page.

(Also Not April Fools. I’m gettin’ to it! Probably.)

It’s Time for a Republican Sickout

If you can’t find the strength to take a stand, at least lie down.

Ali Davis March 31, 2025

Hello, Congressional Republicans who still care about the republic! I know you’re out there because I kept hearing how differently Trump’s cabinet confirmations would have gone if only the votes have been secret.

We have reached a crisis point. We have reached so many crisis points. We reached like three new crisis points between me starting and finishing this article.

We have flipped our foreign policy so radically that we are now the villain of the world. All decision on that end seems to have been handed over to Putin and a bunch of preening technofascists. Our economy is crashing toward a depression and the only trick the Trump Administration pony has is more insane tariffs. High-level cabinet members endangered the lives of our servicemembers by discussing classified information on the already-hacked Signal app, and that doesn’t even cover gloating over civilian deaths, adding a journalist to the group text, and further damaging our relationship with Europe. The Trump administration is trying to start wars with freaking Denmark and Canada. DENMARK AND CANADA, for chrissakes.

And the most insane thing is that this is an abridged list. There are paragraphs and paragraphs of human rights horrors that I have skipped.

This is it. You are a part of an authoritarian government, a twisted and vile parody of what we once had. Elon Musk is stripping it for parts and awarding himself lucrative contracts while Donald Trump threatens Republican judges and lobs all of our state secrets straight to Putin.

The window for stopping this is small and vanishing. The most patriotic thing you could do is stand up and impeach Donald Trump, but, whether it’s due to a fear of Trump or fear of his zealots, you’re not doing that. The second most patriotic thing you could do is resign and leave your seat open to a flip by the Democrats. But you don’t seem to be doing that either. So here it is: The third most patriotic thing you can do, your last option for saving your beloved country from falling completely into authoritarianism: Get sick.

Get terribly sick and refuse to discuss your personal health information during this challenging time. Or get just a little bit sick and keep insisting that you’ll be as right as rain in a week or two. Have a family emergency. Or just take some dearly needed personal time.

Just drop out for a while. Hole up at home or get out of the country if you need to and let some trusted Democrats know that they’ll have the majority for a while and the time and leeway to move. (BE SURE YOU KNOW WHO IS ON THE SIGNAL CHAT.)

But what if someone is blackmailing me?

No offense, but this is bigger than you. Putin wants to break the United States. And he wants to break the United States so that he can roll over Western Europe. Do you really want to go to your grave knowing that you held onto your secret at the expense of Permanent Global Fascism? For that matter, do you really think complying now will stop them from burning you with it when you become inconvenient later?

Let’s be honest: A lot of us are already kind of assuming that you’re being blackmailed. And the fact that you’ve abandonedyour principles when the stakes are so high is making people think that the thing you’re being blackmailed over is much worse than what it probably really is. If Matt Gaetz can brazen it out, what on earth must you be hiding?

The good news is that there is nothing better for blowing your blackmail material straight out of the news cycle than a fiery Presidential impeachment that the nation can’t stop watching. There’s no better time to get out from under someone’s thumb.

But if the Democrats are smart, they’ll remove Johnson and prosecute Vance for the Signal debacle. That means a Democratic President will be in. I’ll lose some of my own power. What about that?

More real talk: Donald Trump has screwed the Republican party’s chances for decades at a minimum. You are now the party that let the Nazis in. You are the party that closed the national parks and tried to put Grandma out on the street. You are the party that kneecapped scientific research right when it looked like there might be a cure for pancreatic cancer. You are the party that crashed the stock market, the party that made us hated by the world, the party that let Musk and Putin take the reins. You are the party that just came out as pro-measles and made room for polio. The Republican Party is going the way of the Know-Nothings. You’re going to have to scrap it and start over.

And that’s if we ever have real elections again.

The only hope of you, personally, ever coming back into power is if Trump gets impeached and you become a zealous reformer. Toss out everyone who helped Trump, Musk, Thiel and Putin, support real jail time, and legislate us back out of Citizens United. Throw the bastards out and keep on throwing or you are surely getting tossed out yourself.

You can start right now, of course. That would be ideal. But you can also start after you take a little break to let the Democrats get the ball rolling.

Can’t I just keep my head down and appease Trump until things are magically better?

No. If you have read this far instead of screaming about George Soros and fake Venezuelan gang members, you are a Republican who thoughtcrimes against Trump. He and his barrel of vipers who the nonbelievers are. You won’t make it.

Fascists always need a villain to rail against. They always have a list. It is not a question of whether you are on the list, it’s a question of how far down you are. Right now, it’s foreign students and random brown people with innocent tattoos, but Trump is going to crave new meat and fresh news stories soon. You know that he needs to ritually humiliate and cast out a Republican every so often to reassert his dominance. You’re higher up the list than you think.

And if we hit the era of No Real Elections, which is more likely every day, there is no way you are keeping your elected position. Only perfect toadying cult members will make it through, and there is no way you can tap dance fast enough to make up for the past.

Besides: Is “enthusiastic supporter of the fascist regime” the way you want your grandchildren to remember you?

If you aren’t moved by the idea of saving the democratic republic we’ve all grown fond of, think about the fact that your only path to staying in your elected office is to get Trump out of his, and your chance to do that is slipping away.

It’s time to come down with a severe but undefined and conveniently curable medical issue. Play hooky. Go AWOL. Bunk out. Chuck a sickie. But do it quickly.

If you can’t bring yourself to impeach Donald Trump, you need to get the hell out of the way so someone else can. (snip)

Trump administration concedes Maryland father from El Salvador was mistakenly deported and sent to mega prison

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-administration-concedes-maryland-father-from-el-salvador-was-mistakenly-deported-and-sent-to-mega-prison/ar-AA1C2Ovi

This is horrific. They finally admit that without due process they are grabbing anyone brown and anyone Muslim even if they are here legally having a visa or green card and sending them as quickly as they can to a notorious horrific prison in El Salvador. They claimed they were all gang members and they did not care if they were or were not. The point was a Steven Miller Shock and Awe cause fear in anyone brown or Muslim. He is a hard core white supremacists. But the worst part is they know he is not the only one and they are refusing to bring him or any others back. Refusing a judges orders.

The administration argued that it cannot bring back Abrego Garcia because he’s in Salvadoran custody and knocked down concerns that he’s likely to be tortured or killed in CECOT.

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Salvadoran prison guards stand next to alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and the MS-13 gang recently deported by the US government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, in this handout image obtained March 31, 2025.© Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout/via Reuters

The Trump administration conceded in a court filing Monday that it mistakenly deported a Maryland father to El Salvador “because of an administrative error” and argued it could not return him because he’s now in Salvadoran custody.

The filing stems from a lawsuit over the removal of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who in 2019 was granted protected status by an immigration judge, prohibiting the federal government from sending him to El Salvador.

The filing, first reported by The Atlantic, appears to mark the first time the administration has admitted an error related to its recent deportation flights to El Salvador, which are now at the center of a fraught legal battle.

“On March 15, although ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was removed to El Salvador because of an administrative error,” the Trump administration filing states.

Abrego Garcia, who attorneys say fled gang violence in El Salvador more than a decade ago, had been identified by his wife in a photo of detainees entering intake at El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison CECOT.

Prior to his removal, he had been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in mid-March “due to his prominent role in MS-13,” according to a court declaration from a senior ICE official. His attorneys say he’s not a member of nor has any ties to the MS-13 gang.

“Abrego-Garcia was not on the initial manifest of the Title 8 flight to be removed to El Salvador,” Robert Cerna, an acting ICE field office director, said in his declaration, referring to federal immigration law. “Rather, he was an alternate. As others were removed from the flight for various reasons, he moved up the list and was assigned to the flight. The manifest did not indicate that Abrego-Garcia should not be removed.”

“Through administrative error, Abrego-Garcia was removed from the United States to El Salvador. This was an oversight, and the removal was carried out in good faith based on the existence of a final order of removal and Abrego-Garcia’s purported membership in MS-13,” the declaration reads.

The administration argued that it cannot bring back Abrego Garcia because he’s in Salvadoran custody and knocked down concerns that he’s likely to be tortured or killed in CECOT.

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Another link to this story is here. This article has more information and is slightly longer. It expands what the tRump government lawyers told the judge even thought the farmer had legal asylum they won’t bring him back with more detail than the story above. Hugs

Trump admin. admits it wrongly deported Maryland dad from El Salvador

“The heavy interest in the President’s primacy in foreign affairs outweigh the interests on the Plaintiffs’ side of the scale. Although the Defendants recognize the financial and emotional hardships to Abrego Garcia’s family, the public interest in not returning a member of a violent criminal gang to the United States outweighs those individual interests,” the filing continues.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/trump-admin-admits-it-wrongly-deported-maryland-dad-from-el-salvador/ar-AA1C3WtD

Crazy Republican stuff from Joe My God

I was going through Joe My God for news and memes. I found these stories either outrageous enough or so crazy I felt I should share them. Hugs.

Not much to say about the RFK ones.

CDC Ordered Staff Not To Release Measles Warning

WSJ: “Our Worst Fears About RFK Are Coming True”

So much for cutting fraud, waste, and inefficacies. Hugs

US Spent $40 Million To Jail 400 Migrants At Gitmo

CRT and DEI hate from the right is all about racism and bigotry. It is so clear that to them a mediocre white male is better than the most talented gifted woman, person of color, or anyone LGBTQ+. It doesn’t matter to them how good and educated anyone is if they are not a white male they are inferior to any white man. These people, these Nazi wannabees in charge of our government are desperate to enshrine in the law that white males are always better than anyone else. Why do they feel so inferior that they need to get rid of any attempts to allow others the same opportunities they have, to have shows and movies that represent the entirety of the population / society? What are they afraid of. Hugs

FCC Chairman Threatens ABC’s Broadcast Licenses

Talk about corruption much? The last voter give away he ran he first called it a lottery that anyone voting for a republican could win. But when he was taken to court because that was illegal he admitted that it was all a preplanned scam. Musk had already picked the winner which was some GOP insider. Seems he did the same thing here. Yet maga cult falls for it all the time. Hugs

Musk’s $1M “Winner” Happens To Be GOP Group Chair

Gee tRump is banning refugees from most other countries, trying hard to close the Southern border, revoking the visas and green cards of legal non-white residents … yet opening the door to white South Africans. Begging the white people who formerly keep the black people as impoverished near slaves in their own country to move here. tRump influenced by the South African immigrant currently screwing up every department of the government maybe, you know the guy that gave the Nazi salute? Or self avowed white supremacist Stephen Miller? The reason given is the South African government is being mean to white people and taking their land. That is not what the law says. The fact is that the whites took the farm land from the blacks and they couldn’t legally own it. The law seeks to balance that ownership out fairly. The law has safeguards for the white owners. The law says … expropriate land from private parties if it’s in the public interest and allows for expropriation without compensation, but only if negotiations for a reasonable settlement have failed, the government says. It says it does not allow land to be taken arbitrarily. Hugs

US Opens Refugee Centers For White South Africans

So much for lowering prices on … groceries. You know that word that seemed to fascinate tRump. Guess cars are not eggs. And yes why would billionaires and millionaires care if prices rise and the lower incomes can’t afford to live, it won’t stop them from eating, from having homes, from driving nice cars. Hugs

Trump “Couldn’t Care Less” If Tariffs Spike Car Prices

Why not let the Department Of Defense, the upper ranks and people who understand the military and its equipment / abilities. Why farm the work out to a political regressive think tank that wants desperately wants a 1950s world. From the article … It outlines, in broad and sometimes partisan detail, the execution of Trump’s vision to prepare for and win a potential war against Beijing and defend the United States from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama Canal. Hugs

Heritage Wrote Hegseth’s Secret Memo On China

In the land of the free where we are supposed to have freedom of speech and the right to protest. But anyone that says anything supporting the Palestinians being exterminated and going through a genocide done by Israel. Any acknowledgment of what Israel is doing the administration now claims is an antisemitic attack on Jewish people. That is wrong! It is a gross lie and crazy misinformation made to vilify the people who are correct. Oh I have a post cued up to make about the father shipped by mistake to El Salvador but PINO tRump refuses to bring him back. After all he is brown you know. The real reason these people are being targeted is some are brown and others are Muslim, or both Hugs

ICE Is Secretly Revoking Students’ Immigration Status

SCOOP: The Trump admin appears to be going into a visa database to quietly change students' immigration status. It's coming entirely by surprise — setting students up to be detained without warning.

It's Mahmoud Khalil & Rumeysa Ozturk — on a wider scale.https://t.co/MV7P1z56kx
— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) March 30, 2025

I think the constitution is very clear. After this term he can’t serve as either president or vice president. The 22nd forbids more than two terms, and the 12th forbids anyone who can not be president from being the vice president. Plus with his mental decline so clear he soon will be sitting in a corner talking to the wall where he thinks there are people listening to him. The way he eats and his health he will be lucky if he doesn’t have a health emergency before the end of the year much less by 2028. I wonder if he says this stuff just for distraction? He does think he is entitled to anything he wants and always has. Hugs

Trump: “There Are Methods” For Me To Get Third Term

Peace & Justice History for 3/31

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymarch.htm#march31

Texas Gov Backs Batshit QAnon Bill To Ban “Furries” In Schools, Resurrects Stupid QAnon “Litter Boxes” Claims

Texas Gov Backs Batshit QAnon Bill To Ban “Furries” In Schools, Resurrects Stupid QAnon “Litter Boxes” Claims

I know this is ten days old, but I had it open in a saved tab to share. Most of those I am deleting but this one is just too over the top stupid in a way to keep their maga cult base hyped up or enraged. This has to be one of the greatest hoaxes ever pulled on the right. But remember Texas is run by a group of very wealthy fundamentalist religious leaders who demand society return to the 1950s society they remember and loved. They want a state / country that is white Christian male dominated and give unearned respect. They want Christianity, their version of the god worshiped by their church to be forced on everyone so they can get more donations, more forced white babies that are dragged to church by their parents, more butts in pews, more donations in the plate, more tithes. These are the kind of people that if they don’t feel that way, if they are not into something, then no one should be. They are straight cis people who think anyone not straight or cis is doing it as a choice because they are mentally ill and need to be fixed / cured. These are the people with no empathy who want conversion therapy torture done on children and young adults who are LGBTQ+. Hugs

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March 21, 2025

The Dallas Observer reports:

A freshly filed bill brings the topic of furries in Texas schools to the House. The bill, Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education Act, pet-named the F.U.R.R.I.E.S Act, would ban students from observing “non-human behaviors,” which include, but are not limited to, meowing, barking and hissing; wearing a tail, collar, or ears; and licking oneself in a grooming manner.

The F.U.R.R.I.E.S Act, filed by Rep. Stan Gerdes [photo], a Republican lawmaker from Central Texas, does not apply to any specific age group, and instead blankets all students at Texas schools, at the public and private level. The only exceptions are mascots, designated dress-up days and children participating in performances.

The bill follows a debunked right-wing conspiracy theory that teachers were providing students who identify as cats with litter boxes. Indeed, a section of the bill explicitly prohibits “using a litter box for the passing of stool, urine, or other human byproducts.”

The Houston Chronicle reports:

Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday resurrected debunked rumors that public schools were putting litter boxes in classrooms for students dressed as cats, amplifying right-wing criticism of some educators as he pushes for a statewide private school voucher program. The Texas Republican told a gathering of pastors at a Baptist church in Austin that the so-called furries trend is “alive and well” in communities across the state, and that lawmakers needed to ban it.

“In some small rural sections of school districts in the state of Texas, they have in their schools, what are called furries. Y’all know what this is?” Abbott asked the crowd, which responded with a smattering of “yeahs.” “Kids go to school dressed up as cats with litter boxes in their classrooms,” Abbott said. Abbott referenced two rural school districts but did not name them in his address to the Texas Pastors Policy Conference.

From the editorial board of the Dallas Morning News:

No, there aren’t schools in Texas putting out litter boxes for kids to use. That’s internet garbage that naive people take as gospel. In fact, we can think of few more effective ways to spread “furry” culture than to tell the kids it’s against the law. Gov. Greg Abbott, repeating the internet hoax about litter boxes in place of school bathrooms, has either fallen for furry worry or knows there are enough gullible people among his electorate that he can play like a fiddle by plucking their fears.

Abbott has gone full batshit QAnon.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s furry fear in Texas schools is hiss-terical | Opinion https://t.co/39iratfJpV
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) March 19, 2025

Gov. Greg Abbott resurrected debunked rumors that public schools were putting litter boxes in classrooms for students dressed as cats, amplifying right-wing criticism of some educators as he pushes for a statewide private school voucher program. https://t.co/PnNhVBZH2H pic.twitter.com/kqmheHHxDo
— San Antonio Express-News (@ExpressNews) March 16, 2025

The F.U.R.R.I.E.S. Act to ban “Furry” behavior in our schools now has the support of Governor @GregAbbott_TX and Speaker @Burrows4TX, who recognize the importance of keeping distractions out of our classrooms.

Speaker Burrows has reassigned our legislation as House Bill 54, a… pic.twitter.com/ymECDPheUC
— Stan Gerdes (@StanGerdesforTX) March 14, 2025

Laverne Cox On The Importance of Trans Issues & Stories

Some news items I wanted to post that got lost in the short time I have to share stuff.

These four articles come from March 17 / 18th and I really wish I could have posted them then. Hugs

How many eggs can you send? U.S. asks countries to help lower soaring prices

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/how-many-eggs-can-you-send-us-asks-countries-help-lower-soaring-prices-2025-03-14/

The above is the tRump admin trying to get other countries with higher standards in their food to send us their eggs to protect tRump from the soaring prices.

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Hungary To Use Facial Recognition Against LGBTQs

Hungary To Use Facial Recognition Against LGBTQs

This scares me because the fundamentalist and white cis straight male supremacists will demand it be used here. First on trans people to protect the children then expand it to the entire LGBTQ+ as they have been doing everything else they tried to use against trans kids / people.

Famed Navajo Code Talkers Axed From Pentagon Sites

Famed Navajo Code Talkers Axed From Pentagon Sites

Yes I know that these were restored. But now tRump is demanding Vance who is on the board of the Smithson and the National Zoo to remove all illegal (purge) references to race, gender, the LGBTQ+ and so much more. He is demanding a national landmark the US government doesn’t control to toe the fundamentalist straight cis white supremacy Christians agenda to deny anything but them into history or society. We really are seeing a complete take over of society and we must do all we can to prevent the rollback of all rights and equality of anyone not white straight cis Christian males. This is horrifyingly scary. Because these hate groups have learned if they can control information, control education, control what is considered good or bad by their standards they can force the youngest people in the country to voice that belief and grow up to enforce it. It is what theocratic Islamic nations do. Are we now a nation taken over by theocratic Christian fundamentalist demanding a change in even the constitution to force everyone to follow their god and their rules? Please kill me first.

Kentucky Republicans Overturn Ex-Gay Torture Ban

Kentucky Republicans Overturn Ex-Gay Torture Ban

Every accredited organization except those directly driven by fundamentalist religiously motivated agree this is simply torture. The religious just simply refuse to believe sexual orientation is not a choice and no one wants to be like that no matter what has to be done to change it. Including electroshock therapy to the genitals. Think of yourself, gay straight, or any other orientation. If you are cis and straight, how much conversion therapy would it take to make you believe you were gay / lesbian and desire that. How could who you are attracted to be changed. That all comes from the idea that it is a mental illness and a sickness that needs to be cured. Which the majority of medical organizations reject, agreeing it is an inborn part of a fetus development. Plus if you could change a sexual orientation … look at my childhood. I was forced to please sexually both males and females. But the only rapes that totally crashed me in the military was the one by a woman with more rank than me who demanded I have sex with her … four times. The last time I was so upset and humiliated that I ran nude up the stairs of the housing unit for higher enlisted and pounded on my soon to be E-7’s door. I was sobbing incoherently. I have been raped all my life and was able to stand that. Why did what this woman force me to do reduced me to that state? Because it was against my very nature of who I was. I was having same sex relations with another young guy and loving it. What she was forcing me to do was against everything I felt inside. That is what the people of these gay conversions want to do.

Some of them think that being gay is a choice because … well when did they decide instead of men they would like to have sex with women? No they just felt it, but what gay / lesbian people feel is not valid and must be forced to change. The rest of this group feels their interpretations of their view of what their god wants must be enforced on everyone even those that don’t follow their god. Because it is their god and he must be pleased because their god hates what they hate. Even if it is not in the bible or they misunderstood it, their hate preacher told them it was so. They can not let others live their lives, everyone must live by their church dictates. Why??? Because only that way their god will love them? I am an atheist that is willing to let religious people believe as they wish as long as they don’t try to force their beliefs on others. You do you … but why can’t they do the same. They insist that no one can be different from them and their beliefs. That is scary just that they think like that and more that they are now running the US government.

PS. When James was a newly teen of 13 his parents went to the Florida Keys with a group of us. They always stayed apart even though they asked to be part of the caravan of RV going. Well I caused an issue. His … maybe abusive parents had lots of tattoos and were highly Catholic religious … even had a statue of the mother Mary in the entrance of their home. Yes the husband ruled the house and told the wife what she would do at all times. Which included the abuse of the child which is where we came in. In a year or so after this even the boy started staying at our home because he was not allowed home until the mother was there. I had seen a young kid come in with a Mohawk. The boy had his hair shaved on both sides of his head and long in the front and back. We had already talked to their son at our table because the parents they were trying to force the boy to get Christian tattoos.

When I spoke up and said there is …. next hair cut … it will look grand on him. His stepdad exploded and said he wouldn’t ever allow the boy in the house with that and he would hold him down and shave all his hair off. As anyone can imagine I got triggered, I had been held down and had my hair cut. I flew up from the table as Ron was grabbing at me and yelled you want him to have tattoos which is against the bible but a simple haircut which can be changed or grow back and has no mentioned in the bible upsets you so much you’re threatening the kid. I loudly said, “What the fuck is wrong with you”! They took the boy from our table and left his meal uneaten. I was furious. Others who did not know of my childhood tried to calm me down. The family of the boy left that day from our group at the campground. Next time the boy came to our home his hair was cut short and the parents never went on another trip with us. Hugs

FL GOP Advances Ban On City Diversity Initiatives

FL GOP Advances Ban On City Diversity Initiatives

Again an attempt to turn the country into a while male cis straight only nation. How much clearer can it be. And all these republicans or most of them are fundamentalist Christians who were funded by their church in a steal run to get elected. This not what the publican wants. But these republican fundamentalist groups understand … politicians can force change in public opinion if they support something loud and forcefully enough. Which is one why Kamala Harris l think lost the election, the democrats refused to respond to the attacks on trans people fearing it would hurt them. That is how you bring people along to a new understanding. The republicans are doing it in reverse of what the progressive movement did with government support in the early 2000s. Now that democrats have retreated only the hard right republicans are getting their voices heard returning the countries view to pre-rights for LGBTQ+ people. Hugs