Republicans are frantically working to make it harder for young people to vote as Gen Z has turned out for Democrats in record numbers. Idaho Republicans are banning student IDs to vote while Texas Republicans proposed banning voting centers on campuses. https://t.co/SZ9piZkDPV
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) April 15, 2023
community values** are reflected in each school library catalog in the district
**Some exclusions apply
Gay, trans, Black, Muslim, non-Christian community member’s values will not be reflected – or even acknowledged.
Also, Missouri has out-uglied Texas.
In Missouri, the Republican-controlled House on Tuesday approved a budget that completely defunds public libraries. The move came in response to an ACLU lawsuit filed by the Missouri Association of School Librarians and the Missouri Library Association, challenging a recent law that bans certain books. The measure has led to the removal of over 300 books from school libraries — many with LGBTQ characters and social justice topics. Missouri Democrats have denounced GOP censorship
For adults. This is not about protecting children, it is about wiping out a group of people that the religious right doesn’t like. It doesn’t fit their view of the world created by their god. So the right doesn’t just live and let live, these religious right groups force everyone to live by their church doctrines. Hugs
Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced plans to restrict health care for transgender people weeks ago, when protesters rallied at the Capitol to urge lawmakers to pass a law banning puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries for children. But the discussion was focused on minors, not adults.
Oh my god.
Missouri AG just essentially banned gender affirming care for most trans adults via emergency rule.
Requires 3 years of dysphoria, 18 months of therapy sessions, doesn't allow people with autism/depression.
Note how effortlessly the goalpost has shifted from saving harming minors to harming adults? Of course, as we here have always known, it was never about “protecting children.”
They’re testing the waters. Trans people are easy targets for the theofascists. I guarantee you that 80-90% of Americans know absolutely nothing about trans people, their lives and their challenges.
The theofascists’ ultimate target is the LGB community.
They see what other nations like Russia and Hungary are doing, and are envious.
This is exactly what happened in Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. Creeping restrictions on civil rights and criminalizing the existence of ‘suspect’ groups of people. We have to fight back and beat this before it spreads to other states.
The federal government is going to have to intervene. They did it in the civil rights movement for black people and they are going to have to find their will and courage to do it again. These people mean us harm and will not stop
This has always been the goal – not “protecting children,” but eliminating trans people from society, with an eye toward eliminating gays, lesbians and bisexuals too. Trans people are just the easiest target, and going after them makes for an effective divide and conquer strategy if you can get homocons and TERFs on board.
Anyone with a working brain knew this was going to happen. Like other people have said, this whole “think of the children” BS was just a cover! Now they are coming after trans adults. After that they will come after gay rights! I guarantee it! I’m sure interracial marriage will be on the chopping block too. These fascists will stop at nothing to get the right wing theocracy they crave. We must fight these asshats tooth and nail!
DeathSantis has made the state of Florida racist bigoted white supremacist religious right conservative maga paradise. He has made minority rule of pushing hate and intolerance against anyone not following the maga Christian talking points. It is not enough for these people to publicly live their maga Christian right hateful lives they demand they get to use those Christian maga conservative views against others, they feel entitled to attack those they feel are not following their church doctrines and they attack those that allow or are tolerant of others. They feel that every one around them must act according to their regressive, backwards beliefs. Hugs
Many elected leaders like U.S. Sen. Rick Scott denounced the Nazi salutes, anti-Jewish slurs and Nazi regalia. On Monday, the governor did not condemn the demonstrators. Instead, he criticized Democrats.
Meanwhile, bomb threats forced the temporary closure of historically Black colleges and universities. Also, on the first day of Black History Month, DeSantis asked the Florida Supreme Court whether Black congressman Al Lawson’s district was unconstitutional. Lawson responded that the governor is race-baiting to build political points with his base.
Wow. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) is now requiring state board applicants to write 500 words about what they “admire” about her before they can be considered for a job. The same application only requires 250 words for other questions. https://t.co/uJpJLLRD2U
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) April 12, 2023
Drag usually involves cross-dressing. A drag queen is someone who performs femininity and a drag king is someone who performs masculinity.
What is the difference between drag and burlesque?
Drag does not typically involve nudity or stripping, which are more common in the separate art of burlesque.
What is drag in culture?
Drag refers to an entertainment style wearing stylized clothing. Most common, it is men wearing women’s clothing cross-dressing, generally for the purpose of a performance. The origin of the term drag is uncertain. The first recorded use of drag in reference to actors dressed in women’s clothing is from 1870.
What is the definition of drag?
Drag is a type of entertainment where people dress up and perform, often in highly stylized ways. The term originated as British theater slang in the 19th century and was used to describe women’s clothing worn by men.
There is a lot more information online. Stop listening to hateful right wing media and republican MAGA leaders with an agenda to vilify groups to get votes. Drag is nothing new or scandals. It simply is being made out that way to create fear and loathing of the right wing voters to turn back the clock of social acceptance of the LGBTQ+
Again people are not forced to go to or watch a pride parade. Yet these Christian Taliban don’t care that participation is voluntary but instead wants to keep everyone from viewing the pride parades and banning them from being presented at all. Please note that one of the people against it was angry that the parade organizers won’t provide a booth for a Christian group to berate the parade participants / viewers and also to demand that gays never have sex with others but instead stay celibate. Also notice that in all prior years there was no issue with the parade, but now the Christian fundamentalists feel free to demand the entire community live by their views like a ruling religion. Hugs
The City of Franklin voted to allow the annual Pride festival to occur in town this year. This comes right after the city decided to wait to vote on the “community decency” policy for another few weeks.
The result came after the aldermen tied 4-4 in their votes, making it so Mayor Ken Moore of Franklin had to break the tie. He said while he approved the permit, he warned those putting on the festival will be under a microscope, but ultimately Moore said he wants to unite the community.
The Tuesday night vote comes just weeks after Governor Bill Lee signed the drag bill into law in March, which bans “adult-oriented performances” in places where children would be able to view them.
Some aldermen said they received threatening emails from people over this vote and repeated that figuring out which way to vote was not as easy of a decision in particular because of a potential lawsuit if they deny Franklin Pride the permit.
According to city leaders, last year, the event’s permit was approved 8-0 and the city has never denied a permit. “I don’t want to see a guy twerking in front of me. I am 60 years old,” said one speaker. “God’s word is clear that homosexuality is a sin,” said another.
While they were in the minority Tuesday night, those who wanted the event to take place believed denying the permit would infringe on their free speech, and send a harmful message to the LGBT community, and people who don’t want to attend are not forced to do so.
Give the tweets below a minute to fully load.
More than 100 people signed up to speak for and against Franklin Pride getting a permit this year. Here is a quick compilation of some of the people who oppose Pride with reasons ranging from homosexuality being a sin to not wanting to see grown men twerk. @WKRNpic.twitter.com/QSbqCa1LRr
The city of Franklin, Tennessee is voting whether to allow a Pride festival. Someone during public comment says it will result in “a rainbow room where 8-12 year-old kids are given butt plugs & dildos.”
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) April 12, 2023
This same Franklin aldermen is scolding pride festival organizers for refusing to offer a booth to this religious group, which believes that homosexual attraction is the result of Original Sin and teachers gay youth to embrace a lifetime of celibacy: https://t.co/6NrSBL7Bm5
HAPPENING NOW: Packed house at Franklin City Hall— hundreds are here waiting to see if the board will approve or deny a permit for the annual Pride festival. @NC5pic.twitter.com/M2BFkjApJ9
We are pleased to announce that the Franklin BOMA has approved our Special Event Permit. Franklin Pride will be on June 3rd at Harlinsdale Farm. pic.twitter.com/VYEuAWM6BE
This woman wearing a “Stop abusing kids” shirt said the Franklin Pride festival permit should not be allowed because the organizers didn’t allow gay conversation therapy groups to set up a booth. pic.twitter.com/FPigQ8PWkV
“I have cash in my pocket. Says ‘In God We Trust.’ … We shouldn’t be subjecting our kids to this whatsoever. … That’s not the way the country was founded.” pic.twitter.com/XARneVK0zj
One mother claimed that the festival was part of a coordinated national movement to groom children. A man read a passage from the Bible about resisting “sexual immorality.” “You think you are doing things based on laws,” a crying woman said, “but you are letting Satan in.”
Read the full article. Festival organizers have already agreed that there won’t be any drag performances.
Please notice that even when the organizers gave into these Christian Taliban by limiting what is and has been accepted free speech in public society for a long time by agreeing that they wouldn’t have drag at the event. Not risky sexual drag from an adult venue but not drag at all. I guess dressing up like Dolly Parton which is a favorite of drag queens is now to sexual for people to see. But it is not enough, these religious haters that want to force their religion church doctrine on everyone, they want the full Russian model of removing pride and the LGBTQ+ removed from society along with removed from the public in all cases. These are the same people that freak out when people want to restrict them from plastering their religious symbols everywhere and who try to pass laws to protect the display of confederate statues / symbols. But they do not give that courtesy to the rest of us, instead they try to demand their church doctrines rule us all. Hugs
If you don’t like Pride Fest then don’t go. Don’t think it’s appropriate for kids, then don’t take any. Problem solved. I steer clear of plenty of things myself. Most of us do.
Also, I have ancestors who were here in the 1600s so I guess that guy would think I have even more say than he does? What bullshit. You’re either a citizen or you aren’t no matter when you or your ancestors got here.
I wonder how he would react if a Native American countered his argument with the fact that their ancestors lived in the area before the white man arrived.
“I don’t want to see a guy twerking in front of me. I am 60 years old,” said one speaker. “God’s word is clear that homosexuality is a sin,” said another.
You can turn around, walk away, close your eyes, etc. But then it’s not about that, is it? It’s about Other People Having Fun.
““God’s word is clear that homosexuality is a sin,” said another.”
A) It’s not all that clear to me that the Christian bible is the word of any god B) The Christian bible isn’t all that clear that homosexuality is a sin, especially when compared with other rules C) Even assuming A and B, the Christian bible has a lot more to say about sins like divorce and eating pork or shellfish, yet I don’t see these folks out in near riot mode against those
Adultery makes God’s Top Ten. I’ve read somewhere that the Christians feel comfortable going after gays because, as opposed to adulterers, they can convince themselves that they don’t know any homos.
We all have seen drag. We all grew up with it. From Red Skeleton to Bob Hope, and so many more up to the 1970s Flip Wilson’s Geraldine who was amazingly popular. People love drag as it is simply dress up. It is Halloween at anytime. Drag is not a threat to society nor to anyone, not even children. What the right wants to make it is a boogieman they can use as a cudgel against others and something to rally up their base because their voting base works only on anger and rage. The right wants everyone to forget their fun drag memories and now think of any guy in a dress acting in drag as a “drag queen story hour reading to kids making them gay and trans” and also they want to make “all drag is trans people” so to spread the hate their base has for trans people to people playing dress up. Heck in their minds trans people are people playing dress up. Wow, how fucked up is that they will deny all medical science to keep their bigotry. Hugs
Knowing a trans or nonbinary person significantly reduced the chance that someone would say that they’re a threat.
A new poll found that a majority of Democratic, independent, and even Republican likely voters believe that there is “too much legislation” aimed at reducing LGBTQ+ rights at the state level.
Theprogressive polling firm and think tank Data for Progressconducted a survey of 1220 participants and asked about the 429 bills presented at state legislatures attacking LGBTQ+ rights. Most of the bills are aimed at transgender youth, and 17 have already become law this year.
Here are all the anti-trans bills that have become law in 2023
Republican lawmakers have worked round the clock to pass oppressive bills targeting gender-affirming care, bathroom usage, drag shows, and trans students.
72% of Democratic voters agreed with the statement that there is “too much legislation. Politicians are playing political theater and using these bills as a wedge issue,” and only 20% agreed that it’s “the right amount of legislation. Politicians are dealing with a real danger that needs to be addressed.” 65% of independent voters agreed that there is too much anti-LGBTQ+ legislation this year.
The more surprising result – considering how the vast majority of lawmakers voting for these bills are Republicans – was that 55% of Republican voters agreed that there is too much anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Only 33% said that there is the “right amount” of such bills.
The survey also asked if people believed that being transgender is a “natural phenomenon that has occurred throughout history” that’s “normal” or if they believed that being trans is a “new phenomenon created by our modern woke culture” that will “harm our children.” Most Democrats (78%) and most independents (58%) agreed that being trans is natural. Only 34% of Republicans agreed that being trans is natural, while a majority (55%) said that it’s a new phenomenon.
While Republicans lag on that issue, Data for Progress noted that a majority of all likely voters (57%) said that being trans is natural, which could indicate that attacks on trans youth might not be the potent electoral winner that many Republican strategists believe it is.
While state Republican lawmakers have been introducing anti-transgender legislation for over a decade, there was an explosion of such legislation in 2021, just several weeks after Donald Trump’s loss in the general election. Democrats accused Republicans – many of whom had never shown any concern for the state of girls’ and women’s sports – of using transgender kids to distract from the GOP’s less popular positions on the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy.
Part of the reason that such a strategy could work is that transgender people make up a small percentage of the population and many people don’t think they know anyone who is transgender. Only 36% of Democrats, 39% of independents, and 25% of Republicans said that they know someone who is trans or nonbinary, and a majority of each group said that they didn’t.
And knowing a trans or nonbinary person decreases the chance that someone will see them as a threat. Among likely voters who know someone trans or nonbinary, 78% said that trans people are not a threat to straight families and 66% said that they’re not a threat to children. Among people who don’t know anyone who is trans, though, those numbers dropped to 52% and 41%, respectively.
Most Democratic voters (54%) and independent voters (63%) believe that Democratic elected officials should be doing more to fight anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. The survey didn’t ask what they believe Democrats should be doing.
When it comes to drag bans, a majority of Democrats (68%) and independents (55%) said that they had seen a drag performance either live or on TV. 53% of Republicans, though, said that they have never seen a drag performance at all.
I would like everyone to notice Joe’s tweet at the end. Pro-life pretenders in Florida legislators passed this b ill along with the anti-trans, don’t say gay bills, anti-woke bills, anti books with LGBTQ+ or race history all in the name of protecting the children, but they approve open carry with no training. The amount of gun violence is already high here in Florida and will now go up. How is this pro-life? I don’t get it. Hugs
Senate preps anti-drag show bill by @Clay_Yarborough for passage despite apparent conflict with existing law
🚨 JUST IN: Florida Republicans introduced a late-filed amendment to expand their bill censoring drag shows to include those at city pride parades.
They're now using intimidation and threats of misdemeanor charges to scare LGBTQ-friendly cities out of hosting drag altogether. pic.twitter.com/if60MwYUvO
— Carlos Guillermo Smith (@CarlosGSmith) April 4, 2023
To be clear, the bill doesn’t ban drag. It censors drag in front of minors w/vague, subjective language and threatens misdemeanors, $10,000 fines, and license revocation for violations. That means businesses, and now cities, will be scared to welcome drag for fear of punishment.
— Carlos Guillermo Smith (@CarlosGSmith) April 5, 2023
Florida is currently debating SB 1438, a bill banning drag shows. Senator Yarborough, the chief sponsor of the bill admits that the bill would apply to live performances of Rocky Horror Picture Show. pic.twitter.com/klRKy0dFp8
Op-ed: #Florida's attacks on drag shows puts Shakespeare theatrical productions at risk, because he often featured characters who cross-dressed. https://t.co/dSA0jaModg
Florida Replicans have introduced a late amendment to implement a criminal ban on pride events throughout the state of Florida if anyone present is dressed in drag. pic.twitter.com/RVHnpf0yww
This post has taken me three days to do. I had all these open tabs that I finially got cleared. I have to even looked at todays news yet. But I think after I post this I will go to bed. Hugs
Trans people deserve better journalism How the anti-trans movement took over legacy media.
“As far as trans health care is concerned, however, the medical consensus is well-established: Nearly a dozen major medical associations, including the World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics support and recommend gender-affirmative care.
“Yet the specific arguments about this care that make it into many mainstream media outlets result in stories that undermine the experts, stemming not from legitimate concerns but from a larger orchestrated push by the far right to mainstream transphobia.
“Journalists are failing at more than just reporting on the science. Mainstream publications like the Times increasingly follow the lead of anti-trans agitators, treating what should be understood as a fundamental human rights battle more like a semantic “debate,” fixating on terminology and labels and medical minutiae, instead of humanizing trans and nonbinary people and their experiences. In fact, this has become such a contentious pattern at the Times that this February, contributors and members of the Times’s staff posted an open letter protesting the paper’s escalating bias toward anti-trans talking points and pointing out many of these tactics.
Men have been performing in drag since at least Shakespeare’s time, and probably long before that. But the fact that someone criticizes this as being “sexual” tells us more about the person who claims that than it does about the person performing.
As proven at trial, between September 2016 and November 2016, Mackey conspired with other influential Twitter users and with members of private online groups to use social media platforms, including Twitter, to disseminate fraudulent messages that encouraged supporters of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to “vote” via text message or social media which, in reality, was legally invalid.
For example, on November 1, 2016, in or around the same time that Mackey was sending tweets suggesting the importance of limiting “black turnout,” the defendant tweeted an image depicting an African American woman standing in front of an “African Americans for Hillary” sign. The ad stated: “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home,” “Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925,” and “Vote for Hillary and be a part of history.”
The fine print at the bottom of the deceptive image stated: “Must be 18 or older to vote. One vote per person. Must be a legal citizen of the United States. Voting by text not available in Guam, Puerto Rico, Alaska or Hawaii. Paid for by Hillary For President 2016.”
Prosecution cross-examined Douglass Mackey and repeatedly showed him his Ricky Vaughn-era statements calling Black people gullible or low IQ.
He called women: “children with the right to vote.”
Dark, nauseating vibes in court.
Tucker Carson has made this man a cause célèbre.
— Michael Edison Hayden (@MichaelEHayden) March 23, 2023
The wide-ranging bill (HB 1069) also seeks to restrict the way teachers and students can use preferred pronouns in schools and bolsters a process for people to object to instructional materials and school-library books.
It also expands school board jurisdiction to classroom libraries. The bill would allow a parent who disagrees with a district’s ruling on a book challenge to appeal the state education commissioner to appoint a special magistrate to hear the dispute.
“This bill has given a ticket for racist, homophobic people — that this chamber does not support – to pull books that matter to our children,” said state Rep. Robin Bartleman (D-Weston).
And in about a month, they’ll expand it yet again to all grades and start looking for ways they can force their anti-LGBTQ pogrom on colleges and universities.
Incredible scene outside the Florida House chamber this afternoon as hundreds of LGBTQ students descend right as the Don’t Say Gay expansion bill passes.
When are we actually going to become a decent country? Think about all the nice things that other industrialized nations have and have had for decades: reasonable gun control, universal health care, paid maternity leave and the like, not to mention democracy that isn’t slipping into outright theocratic fascism.
When do we get to have those things? How fucking shitty and unlivable does America have to become before it finally hits rock bottom and starts to become a better country?
I’m just so fucking sick and tired of watching everything deteriorate and nothing ever fucking gets better, and anytime something does get better everyone knows deep down it’s only a matter of time before the Republicans demolish it. Meanwhile the world passed us by a long time ago when it comes to just basic human development.
I’m becoming increasingly convinced this country is headed toward fascism, civil war or both, and there’s really nothing we can do about it. The Democrats are too weak to stop it, and the media will just bothsides it.
I’m sorry to be pessimistic, but shit like this just completely drains whatever hope I have left.
“Socialism is a scare word they have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years….Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people.” – President Truman, 1952
A powerful speech against anti-trans legislation from Kentucky State Rep. Pamela Stevenson (D-Louisville):
"First, you hated Black people. Then, you hated Jews. Now, you're hating everybody. So the question is when the only people left are you, will you hate yourself?" pic.twitter.com/9N5xHyAHpP
This is the first time that a state has put a law on the books that restricts its residents from interstate travel for abortion access. Idaho already has a near-total abortion ban in place. Neighboring Washington and Oregon allow minors to get an abortion without their parent’s consent.
Idaho’s HB 242 would imprison for up to five years any adult who accompanies a minor across out-of-state without a parent’s consent — an action that the bill calls “abortion trafficking.”
I heard last night on MSNBC that Obstetricians are leaving Idaho. Soon there will not be doctors to deliver babies in the state. It seems that doctors were not without alternatives in front of a maniacal state government.
Correct. Its happening in multiple states. First, blue states have a surge in demand so can offer higher pay. Second, treatment of legit miscarriages could cause an a doctor to be subject to police investigation or worse. The maternal death rate in red states (already higher than blue states) is going to skyrocket.
My daughter is an OBGYN in Georgia. She calls me and tells me terrifying and gory stories of things that happen on occasion, sometimes to young and perfectly healthy women, in the delivery room. Sometimes even the most skilled doctors have to hit the panic button and summon in a specialist because things can go terribly wrong in a fraction of a moment, even under the best of circumstances. Imagine now what will happen when the doctors have fled from the red states and there are not enough to go around to save the lives of these mothers and forced mothers to be? I get a chill when I think about it. What a terrifying time it is to be a girl/woman.
Frightening as hell. I image we will see an intra-country medical tourism where wealthy women will travel to blue states to spend there last few pregnant months near a hospital capable of delivering competent care.
It’s starts with “protecting the kids” to “we know what’s best for our women.” I’ve heard arguments that “the unborn are our state’s citizens, and we have the right to safeguard them.” How women and any men who love them aren’t outraged & unleashing hell upon their would-be captors stuns me to no end.
“Papers please. Please pee on this stick for us before you leave the state.”
Read the full article. Perhaps obviously, the bill is meant to allow Moms For Liberty fascists from anywhere in the state to run for school boards where they’d have a shot at winning. Last year Steele, a freshman rep, reported a net worth of over $440 million.
ICYMI #Florida’s GOP super majority is changing the way local communities elect their school boards: reducing school board term limits to 8 years, making those races partisan AND allowing people who don’t even live in your county to run for school board. https://t.co/pSgdj7bBvw
Seems the GQP are blood thirsty for children. “One statistic in particular stood out: one in 25 American five-year-olds today will not make it to their 40th birthday. No parent should ever have to bury their child, but in the US one set of parents from every kindergarten class most likely will.”
MO State Rep. Peter Merideth (D) on a just-passed GOP budget defunding libraries: "They actually took out all state aid for public libraries explicitly because librarians are suing over their First Amendment rights … We are starting to live in a dystopian future from 1984." pic.twitter.com/fej8ywxbCf
“And I mean, there’s things all throughout the week that I know is right to do. And sometimes, I don’t do them. And so we can nitpick what the Bible says is right and wrong, but I think just having that heart posture of wanting to serve God and do the right thing is so important.
Says the woman who attacks the gays and trans because her god hates that, but her underage son having sex outside of marriage and getting a girl pregnant is OK and hands off for some reason. WTF! Hugs
Exactly. Some portions of the Bible must be taken verbatim, and some require interpretation and context… but only Republicans can decide which and when, and that decision can vary dependent upon the situation as they see it at that particular time.
Situational Ethics, a philosophical system originally developed by Congregationalist pastor Charles Sheldon and Episcopalian priest Joseph Fletcher. In the hands of the GOP, it morphs from “How would Jesus love?” to “How can I excuse this?”
SB1993 author Sen. Mayes Middleton [photo] last appeared here for his bill to prosecute and disbar members of a law firm for “reimbursing travel costs of employees who leave Texas to murder their unborn children.”
Pretty wild: A bill in Texas would allow the SOS to overturn election results in Harris, Dallas, Bexar and other populous counties #SB1993https://t.co/xeM2uEdwqQ
Nope, not for Rethugs. First they turn a majority of voters into a minority of representation. Then they take away that minority representation altogether, creating one-party-only rule.
The demise of the US is accelerating. I can see this being illegal, but not really since so many lifetime judges are now IQ45 worshipers. Even if this were go to the SCOTUS it’s still up in the air. If it goes there and SCOTUS says TX has the right to decide an election and not the People then we will absolutely know for a fact that we are not a republic.
It’s long been the dream of “conservatives” to disfranchise Black voters. The polysyllabic racist, William F. Buckley, Jr., proposed legislation doing just that back in the 1950s, in areas where Black voters could influence the outcome of elections…because the “advanced race” just had to prevail.
He conceded that in order for the legislation to have the appearance of being Constitutional, some white voters might also be disfranchised. I don’t think he would shed too many tears over that if they were in heavily unionized areas.
Both women have alleged in interviews that the president compared them to Ivanka Trump.
Both below, courtesy of Anderson Cooper interviews with women.
Stormy Daniels : Yeah. He was like, “Wow, you — you are special. You remind me of my daughter.” You know — he was like, “You’re smart and beautiful, and a woman to be reckoned with, and I like you. I like you.”
McDougal: You know, he, he’s very proud of Ivanka, as he should be. I mean, she’s a brilliant woman. She’s beautiful. She’s — you know, that’s his daughter, and he should be proud of her. He said I was beautiful like her and, you know, you’re a smart girl. And there wasn’t a lot of comparing, but there was some, yes. I heard a lot about her. Yes.
The suit was brought by extremist anti-LGBTQ activist Steven Hotze [photo], who was recently ejected from a Texas Senate hearing after repeatedly calling transgender people “pedophiles.”
Hotze appeared on JMG in September 2022 when he explained how COVID vaccines are designed to connect people to the internet “so you can be mind-controlled by artificial intelligence.”
In April 2022, Hotze was charged with two felonies related to a bizarre 2020 “voter fraud search” incident.
Hotze appeared on JMG that year when he left a voice mail for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, telling him to “shoot to kill” Black Lives Matter activists.
You may recall that Steven Hotze has compared gays to “communist termites” eating away at America’s moral fabric. He is also fond of declaring that it’s now a hate crime to denounce homosexuality.
It was Hotze who bankrolled the successful campaign to repeal Houston’s “wicked, evil, Satanic” LGBT rights ordinance, during which he compared gays to rapists and murderers.
According to Hotze, same-sex marriage will result in children “practicing sodomy” in kindergarten.
In 2017, he appeared here when he “prophesied” that God will deliver “just retribution” to lawmakers who vote for LGBT rights.
When he’s not calling on God to kill politicians or for the governor to kill Black Lives Matter activists, Hotze sells “miracle” supplements because high cholesterol doesn’t really cause heart disease.
Hotze regularly quotes QAnon slogans.
Y’all want to know why conservative judges get shouted down at law schools? Because they’re literally looking for ways to justify exposing a disfavored group to a deadly virus and claiming it’s about administrative law formalism. They’re bigots in a robe.
O’Connor has widely been described as conservative. O’Connor has become a “go-to” favorite for conservative lawyers, as he tends to reliably rule against Democratic policies. Attorneys General in Texas appear to strategically file cases in O’Connor’s jurisdiction so that he will hear them.
More judge shopping by the Republicans. But you won’t hear Democrats even talk about this.
Though the full human impact of the current legislative assault on trans existence can never be quantified, a new analysis from the Human Rights Campaign shows its magnitude. According to new statistics from the LGBTQ+ organization, more than one-fifth of trans youth live in states that have passed bans on gender-affirming care for minors.
On Wednesday, HRC released a new map outlining attacks on gender-affirming care by state alongside a new report with information pulled from the organization’s own legislative tracking. The report also drew from data compiled by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law showing that there are more than 300,000 trans youth aged 13-17 in the United States. The map also illustrates which states have already banned gender-affirming care for minors and which are currently considering laws or policies to do so.
According to the report, 22.9% of trans youth live in states that have passed bans on gender-affirming care for minors, a list that includes Arizona, Utah, Texas, South Dakota, Iowa, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida. In three states — Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas — temporary court injunctions are currently blocking those bans. In addition to youth living in states that have already passed bans on gender-affirming care a further 27.5% of trans youth are at risk of losing access.
Combined, over half of trans youth (50.4%) live in states where they’ve already lost access to or are at risk of losing access to gender-affirming care, according to the HRC report. However, as ACLU communications strategist Gillian Branstetter pointed out on Twitter, this statistic accounts for every state that has a proposed ban, even though many of those bills will likely never pass into law. According to a separate report by HRC, 91% of the anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in 2022 failed to become law.
Few things: Most trans youth are already not accessing care. Just 0.2% of all youth 6-17 (in a generation where 2% identify as trans) accessed any GAC. Second, this count is including every state with a proposed bill, including MI, NJ, OR, WA, and others not likely to pass them https://t.co/WBoq4xQz70
However, that doesn’t change the fact that the mere introduction of these bills profoundly impacts LGBTQ+ people, especially trans people. Jay Brown, senior vice president of HRC, stated that Republican politicians “are spreading propaganda and creating more stigma, discrimination, and violence against transgender people just to rile up extreme members of their base.”
A January report by the LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Trevor Project found that state-level anti-trans laws negatively affected the mental health of 86% of trans and nonbinary youth between ages 13 and 24.
“LGBTQ+ people are living in a state of emergency,” Brown said in a press release. “Today’s findings illustrate how the ongoing assault against transgender people is taking hold across the country and underscore how dire the situation is growing for our community by the day. These dangerous and discriminatory policies advocated by power-hungry politicians are void of any credible purpose.”
This is being allowed in the land of the free and where the laws apply to everyone! Yes the maga thugs who are the enforcement arm of the republicans preach about freedom but what they mean is freedom for them to oppress anyone who doesn’t do as the right dictates. This is a deliberate scare tactic telling other businesses that if you dare support something the right doesn’t like we will destroy your business and keep you from being able to make a living. Is this the USA we want to live in. When they get their way with the drag queens and drive the trans people from society who will they target next. Those gays who think they have a legal right to exist and marry, beat the shit out of everyone of them who dares to show themselves in public. Who next, any non-Christian? The Jewish people are already under attack by these same thugs who publicly support Nazism while working as the Hitler brownshirts for the republican party. There is a reason why these Nazi gang thugs support DeathSantis and other white supremacist republicans. Hugs
The attacks were relentless, and customers just stopped coming.
A bakery will permanently close its doors after experiencing months of vicious harassment for hosting a drag show.
Uprising bakery & café is located in a Chicago suburb called Lake in the Hills and owned by Corinna Sac, who opened the bakery in 2021 as an inclusive space for all. A press release announcing the closing details Sac’s desire for the bakery to be a space where LGBTQ+ couples could come for wedding cakes.
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“Her dream of an inclusive bakery has since become a nightmare no businessperson could have anticipated,” the release states.
“Closing our doors is the direct result of the horrific attacks, endless harassment, and unrelenting negative misinformation about our establishment in the last eight months,” Sac, who is bisexual, said in a statement. “From an award-winning bakery that donates to local organizations and supports diversity and inclusion, we have been rebranded by misinformation as ‘gay only’ and ‘pedophiles.’”
She added that the relentless protestors have caused local customers to be afraid to visit the bakery out of fear of harassment.
The press release describes the event in question as a “family friendly show featuring drag performers” that was hosted by the café in 2022 and required registration and a ticket.
“The event drew outrage from many resulting in a targeted attack of vandalism at the property the night before. The doors and windows were destroyed, the glass was shattered, and messages of hate were painted on the building.”
Sac said the man who did this, Joseph Collins, was a member of the white nationalist hate group Proud Boys and was charged with a hate crime.
After more attacks took place, the Village of Lake in the Hills then told Sac she could no longer hold events in the space due to zoning, even though she’d already been hosting events there for a year with no issues.
“A campaign was initiated to discredit, damage and defame Ms Sac, her staff, her food, and her patrons,” the press release went on. “Protestors spent more than 120 consecutive days on the property, creating disturbances, inciting violence, photographing license plates of patrons, and harassing them on social media and online.
Because patrons have been too intimated to visit the bakery, Sac’s sales have plummeted and thus, she cannot afford to stay open. She said she’d need $30,000 to keep her doors open.
Sac is currently working to raise money for employees so she can give them some financial padding. There are also events and fundraisers scheduled throughout the rest of the month to try to save the bakery. If they do not succeed, it will close on March 31st.
“Everything I have is in this business,” Sac said. “Our home, our cars, retirement, savings. We put everything we had on the line and personally secured this location, our equipment, and our dreams.”
No matter what happens, Sac vowed never to stop fighting for justice. She recently testified at the state legislature about her experiences.
“If we have to go out, we will go out with a BANG,” she declared in the release, “and make it long-lasting and positive. I will do everything I can to make sure what happened to my American Dream doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
Fueled by anti-LGBTQ+ misinformation on social media, over the past year, drag queen story hours and other family friendly LGBTQ+ events featuring drag performers have become a target for far-right groups like the Proud Boys as well Republican politicians. Earlier this month, Tennessee became the first state to pass a law intended to ban drag performances in public spaces. Similar legislation has been introduced in state houses across the country.
Photo: Shutterstock
Photo: Shutterstock
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