Just one more pain and expense for migrants documented and undocumented face now under ICE.ย The goal is to make it so horrible that they will agree to self deport.ย Such hatred for another people simply due to skin color and language / accent is so foreign / alien to me that it seems like something out of reality.ย And who pays for these monitors?ย The immigrant who cannot afford it or the US tax payer.ย If the taxpayer meaning the government is paying for the costs is this just a way to enrich a private company on the taxpayers backs / dime.ย ย Yet all reports are that this is driven by Stephen Miller who is so shrill and over the top demanding that he put one commander in the hospital three times with his harassment and demands, and he is said to have driven ICE to attack protestors claiming that the public would be on the side of ICE if they could show that the protestors were dangerous thugs. Hugs
Agency uses devices, which are uncomfortable and interfere with employment, to push people to self-deport, advocates say
Critics say that ankle monitors impose psychological, economic and physical harms on the people required to wear them.ย Illustration: Guardian Design / Getty Images
For five years, an asylum-seeking woman attended routine check-ins with immigration authorities without issue. At her most recent appointment in October, she was unexpectedly ordered to strap on an ankle monitor, according to her attorney, Deepa Bijpuria.
Bijpuria, a supervising attorney in the immigration unit of Legal Aid DC, described the client as a single mom who fled her home country because of severe domestic violence, escaping while pregnant with her young daughter.
โ[The order] was just such a shift after sheโd been complying for years while waiting for her asylum application to be heard and decided,โ she said.
Bijpuria said the working mom, who declined an interview and requested anonymity due to her vulnerable situation, lost at least one job after receiving the ankle monitor.
Bijpuriaโs client is not the only immigrant to be blindsided by ankle monitor requirements. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uses electronic monitoring through itsย Alternatives to Detention (ATD)ย program, which was formally implemented in 2004 to ensure that immigrants comply with legal obligations while their cases proceed without being placed in detention.
ATD compliance methods also include mobile apps and telephone check-ins. But Evan Benz, a senior attorney at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, said there had been a โmarked shiftโ towards utilizing ankle monitors following a June 2025 internal ICE memo directing officers to place the devices on anyone enrolled in the ATD program.
ICE is using smartwatches to track pregnant women, even during labor: โShe was so afraid they would take her babyโ
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The number of people in the ATD program with ankle monitors nearly doubled in subsequent months, even as overall enrollment in the program remained stable. The total grew from about 24,000 at the time of the memo, a figureย reported by the Washington Post, to roughly 42,000 last month, according to aย February fiscal year 2026 ICE report.
The increase has not been evenly distributed across the country. The February ICE report revealed that enforcement varies by region, with the DC area having the highest number of people required to wear ankle monitors in the country.
โIf youโre in the area of the Washington DC field office, which covers Virginia and the city of Washington DC, then youโre drastically more likely to be subjected to ankle monitoring,โ Benz said. โBut itโs not really clear exactly what the reason is for regional variation.โ
In an email to the Guardian, an ICE spokesperson said that the ATD program used โindividualized determinationsโ to tailor supervision levels on a case-by-case basis, allowing ICE to escalate or de-escalate oversight as needed. The spokesperson added that decisions were based on criminal history, compliance record and โany other relevant factorsโ when determining whether to keep someone in detention during ongoing proceedings.
Bijpuria said uneven enforcement highlighted the โarbitraryโ nature of ankle monitor assignments, recalling many clients who were fitted with the devices despite having complied with their legal obligations. The cases, she said, raise questions about whether ensuring compliance is truly the goal behind the monitoring.
These concerns are reinforced by aย 2021 studyย conducted by the Cardozo School of Law, which found that ankle monitors do not necessarily improve compliance and may even be counterproductive. The report found that 98% of immigrants released without electronic ankle monitors attended all court hearings and ICE check-ins, compared with 93% of those required to wear the devices.
Legal experts say uncertainty about the motives behind ankle monitor orders is exacerbated by limited transparency from federal authorities. ICEโs internal memo was never released publicly, prompting the Amica Center to file a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
Benz said ICE initially responded to the lawsuit by saying it would publish the memo on its website. The agency later said it could not do so at the time because of the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown.
โWeโve seen that ICE is not an agency that cares very much about transparency in its dealings with immigrants, or really the public at large,โ Benz said.
Julia Decker, policy director at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, said the lack of transparency reflected a strategy of โintentional chaosโ, in which creating uncertainty and anxiety in immigrant communities was โpart of the planโ.
Decker raised concerns that the use of ankle monitors and the broader ATD program could become another way to โforceโ immigrants into a mistake that would push them into detention.
โI think that itโs very, very likely that any program like this becomes a way to funnel you right back into the very system that it was supposed to be an alternative to,โ she said. โParticularly with an administration like this one that has been very public with its statements about wanting to arrest and deport as many [people as possible].โ
Benz echoed Deckerโs concerns, calling the ATD program an โalternative form of detentionโ rather than a true alternative to detention.
โWeโve seen a number of cases where ICE has used the ankle monitor to track down someone at home,โ he said. โSometimes there has been a ruse of โHey, can you come outside? We got an alert. Thereโs something wrong with your ankle monitor, and we just need to check it out.โ And then that person is actually detained by ICE.โ
Immigrant trucker returns to war-torn Ukraine rather than risk ICE encounter: โI preferred going back homeโ
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Beyond increasing the risk of detention, ankle monitors impose psychological, economic and physical harms on the people required to wear them, experts said.
โThere are very onerous conditions of supervision, like curfews, home inspections and restrictions on where you can travel,โ Benz said. โAll of these combined can take a great toll on an individual on a psychological level. They donโt feel free. They feel as if theyโre being watched, and they are also having their liberty, their freedom of movement, actually physically restrained.โ
He noted that people wearing ankle monitors were more likely to lose their jobs, as the devices are often associated with the criminal legal system and can make those who wear them appear suspicious to employers.
Bijpuria emphasized the physical discomfort of ankle monitors. โBesides the psychological trauma, shame and disruption, itโs difficult to sleep.โ
She added that the combination of deportation threats and the various harms of ankle monitors appeared designed to pressure people into self-deportation. Last year, the then DHS secretary, Kristi Noem,ย announcedย a nationwide, multimillion-dollar campaign that offered incentives for self-deportation, including up to $1,000 in financial assistance and free travel.
โWeโve seen people whoโve been detained or put on ankle monitoring who have options but, because of the conditions that theyโre subjected to, ultimately decide to self-deport,โ Bijpuria said. โYou also have to remember there are private companies involved, and there is someone whoโs making money from all this. They donโt have enough capacity for detaining everyone, so this is an alternative still getting you in that pipeline to ultimate removal.โ
Amid the shifting landscape of immigration policies, a continuing DHS shutdown and leadership changes, Benz stressed the importance of submitting a written request to ICE for removal or avoidance of the device, supported by medical documentation demonstrating its negative impacts. Benz pointed to guides forย attorneysย representing clients in the ATD program and people navigating the processย without legal representation.
โI think that [ankle monitoring and the ATD program] have flown under the radar in part because there are so many awful things that this agency is doing every day in terms of ripping people away from their families and their communities,โ Benz said. โBut the use of ankle monitors by ICE is a very harmful phenomenon.โ
This is a doctor working in Gaza.ย He describes the conditions. The Israelis are sniping World Health doctors. Israelis are moving the “yellow line” that they are claiming is the new boundary line between Israel and Palestinians.ย They are slowly moving the line deeper ad deeper into Gaza.ย The Israeli snipers were shooting the young boys in different areas on different days, now they are using drones to fire on young children alone with horrific results. Remember from the last clip he was saying how Israel is blocking and destroying the medical supplies and equipment. Israel is deliberately shooting and killing children.ย They want the chaos it causes, they like the fear it promotes, and they like that no new generations of Palestinians are growing. The doctor spoke of other atrocities that Israel is inflicting daily on the Palestinians.ย Israel is a criminal nation doing a genocide, and much of our democratic leadership is deeply in the pockets of AIPAC.ย Notice that Hakeem Jeffries was also at the same event.ย People here have asked why I am so anti-democratic leadership; this is one of the reasons why. They are beholden to the big money donors and lobbies doing their bidding while ignoring the desires and will of the people they are supposed to represent, not rule over.ย Hugs
Senate Minority Leaderย Chuck Schumerย has emphasized his commitment to maintaining pro-Israel sentiments within theย Democratic Party. In recent statements,ย Schumerย articulated that his role is to ensure that the left remains supportive of Israel, a position he conveyed during an interview withย The New York Times. This assertion reflects a broader concern regarding the changing dynamics of the Democratic Party’s support for Israel and Jewish causes. Schumer’s comments have sparked discussions about the implications of this shift, particularly in light of the party’s historical alignment with pro-Israel policies. Opinion pieces have noted that Schumer views the preservation of American institutions as integral to protecting religious minorities, highlighting the intersection of Jewish identity and political advocacy.ย https://deepnewz.com/middle-east/chuck-schumer-emphasizes-role-keeping-left-pro-israel-says-job-to-keep-the-left-f0ff217c
โI have many jobs as [Senate] leader… and one is to fight for aid to Israel โ all the aid that Israel needs,โ Schumer said at a gathering of Jewish leaders and community members in New York on Sunday.
โI will continue to fight for it.,โ Schumer continued. โWe delivered more security assistance to Israel, our ally, than ever, ever before.โ
According to Jacob Kornbluh, who provided footage of the remarks whileย reportingย forย The Forward, Schumer told the audience that his support for Jewish security funding will only continue growing under his leadership, calling it his โbaby.โย https://www.commondreams.org/news/schumer-israel-aid
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said on Sunday that one of his most important jobs as Senate minority leader is to โfight for aid to Israel,โ as the Trump administrationโs masked federal agents continue their deadly raids of the U.S. with little to no pushback from Democrats.
Dr. Tarek Loubani, a Canadian emergency room physician who has been volunteering in Palestine joins the program from Gaza for a harrowing interview. If you can, please support Dr. Loubaniโs Glia Project, a medical solidarity organization that empowers low-resource communities to build sustainable, locally-drive healthcare projects.
I think the article is self explaintary and clear.ย The hate directed against the LGBTQ+ seems irrational and immoral.ย Why is it immoral if it is being done by religious groups?ย Because they have no qualms about lying, giving false and misleading information, and forcing their church doctrines on others who don’t agree with those doctrines. Below are just a few quotes fromย the article.ย The last one from florida would make pointing out the truth about how a person is acting or speaking illegal, but doing the racist bigoted stuff would stay legal. Hugs
Anti-trans bathroom bans made aย comeback, with four passed in Alabama, Idaho, Ohio and South Carolina.
Policy changes enactedย barriersย to gender markers and name changes for IDs/personal documents inย Arkansas and Florida.
Florida introduced a bill thatย limited free speech, making public accusations, whether true or false, of a person being homophobic, transphobic, racist or sexist equivalent to defamation and punishable by fine. The bill did not pass.
A central theme of anti-LGBTQ+ organizing and ideology is the opposition to LGBTQ+ rights or support of homophobia, heterosexism and/or cisnormativity, often expressed through demonizing rhetoric and grounded in harmful pseudoscience that portrays LGBTQ+ people as threats to children, society and often public health.
Top Takeaways
In 2024, the number of anti-LGBTQ+ groups increased by about 13% from the previous year. Anti-LGBTQ+ groups maintained a trend in heavy mobilization across multiple strategies with increasing political and financial support from the hard right.
Anti-trans narratives were instrumental to the 2024 election at all levels of government, especially at the local level where anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-inclusive education activism continue to heavily overlap. The politicization of gender-affirming health care and LGBTQ+-inclusive school curricula contributed to what has been characterized as the โmost Anti-LGBTQ electionย in decades.โ Republicans spentย almost $215 Millionย on TV ads to smear trans people,ย surpassing adsย on rival issues such as economy, immigration and housing. Another wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation broke records at state and federal levels, but such bills wereย not as nearlyย as successful as last year.
Anti-LGBTQ+ groups are heavily invested inย the courtsย and pushing policy change by judicial decision. Hard right and anti-LGBTQ+ extremists on social media continue their campaign to โmake pride toxicโ by targeting inclusive business and marketing practices while anti-LGBTQ+ legal groups take up administrative law and lobbying strategies to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in the public and private sectors under the guise of โviewpoint diversityโ and โreligious freedomโ advocacy. ย
Key Moments
Throughout the state legislative sessions, anti-LGBTQ+ movement organizations continued their facilitation of a decades long effort to foment anti-trans moral panic in public discourse. Legislative assaults broke records for the fifth consecutive year, albeit with fewer successes.
Several factors slowed the trend, including coordinated community responses and reporting, such as the SPLCโsย Project CAPTAIN, on the networks that perpetuate anti-LGBTQ+ talking points and legislation๏ฟผ. Legislation trends of concern include:
A Florida billย promotedย insurance coverage conversion therapy for detransition. The bill passed the House, butย diedย in the Senate.
Anti-trans bathroom bans made aย comeback, with four passed in Alabama, Idaho, Ohio and South Carolina.
Policy changes enactedย barriersย to gender markers and name changes for IDs/personal documents inย Arkansas and Florida.
Florida introduced a bill thatย limited free speech, making public accusations, whether true or false, of a person being homophobic, transphobic, racist or sexist equivalent to defamation and punishable by fine. The bill did not pass.
In February 2024, anti-trans influencers spun a disinformation campaign to exploit the tragic shooting at Lakewood Church in Houston by alleging the shooter was trans. Hard-right social media influencers, equipped with talking points that help fuel gun purchases, used this and other mass shootings in 2024 to perpetuate anti-immigrant and anti-trans conspiracy theories. Despite claiming anti-trans activism helps โprotect children,โย the SPLC reportedย that in the wake of mass shootings, anti-trans extremists divert attention from meaningful reforms to prevent gun violence, which is the leading cause of death for children in the United States.
In response to online campaigns by hard-right social media personalities, many major brandsย scaled backย Pride merchandise in 2024. Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) reported anti-LGBTQ+ ย protests at Pride events decreased in 2024; however, GLAAD documentedย 110 anti-LGBTQ+ย incidents during June 2024. In addition, the SPLC monitored at least 74 bomb threats targeting LGBTQ people and events between January 1 and June 30, 2024.
Theย Colorado Republican Partyย posted โBurn all the #pride flags this Juneโ and shared a video clip titled โGod Hate F__s.โ There was no shortage of vandalism: In Poulsbo, Washington, 14 Pride banners were slashed, and overย 200 pride flagsย were stolen from the town center in Carlisle, Massachusetts. Throughout June, SPLC tracked dozens of protests, bomb threats and harassment campaigns directed at civil society groups like Pride committees and LGBTQ+-inclusive religious congregations. Hate groups including MassResistance,ย Gays Against Groomers, Protect Texas Kids, White Lives Matter, and Aryan Freedom Network were active at Pride events in June 2024.
In July and August 2024, anti-trans influencers manufactured controversy over the gender identity ofย Olympic athletesย Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting. Thisย anti-trans controversyย exclusively targeted Taiwanese and Algerian athletes, scrutinizing the legitimacy of their womanhood. The crux of arguments made by the anti-trans actors re-animated misogynoir stereotypes to exclude women of color from being considered women based on white Eurocentric beauty standards of femininity. The series of events suggests eugenics and racism underlie transphobia and exhibited how anti-trans hysteria disproportionately impacts women of color on an international scale.
In September 2024, the anti-LGBTQ+ hate groupย Family Research Councilย held its annual Pray Vote Stand conference. FRC hosted a variety of anti-immigrant commentary ranging from Katy Faust, president of the anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Them Before Us, urging attendees to โbreed outโ immigrants and trans people. At the conference, Oklahoma superintendent of public instruction Ryan Walters alleged illegal immigrants were bringing fentanyl into schools; and the summit featured population control myths espoused by both anti-abortion and anti-vax panelists. FRC devoted multiple plenary sessions to anti-trans, anti-abortion and anti-immigrant coded topics.
The election of the first trans member of congress, Sarah McBride, was immediately met with a trans bathroom ban on all restrooms on the House side of the Capitol complex. The resolution was introduced by Nancy Mace and supported by House Speaker and former Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Mike Johnson. Mace postedย anti-trans slursย on X following aย bathroom sit-inย at the Capitol in protest of the bathroom ban. The protesters were arrested and taken to the Capitol Police station; Mace then posted a video showing her outside the stations saying, โSome trโโs got arrested protesting my ban.โ She then began reading them their Miranda rights along with demeaning commentary about the protesters.
States will continue to be labs for experimenting with anti-LGBTQ+ public policy. The legislative early filing period in Texas shows 32 anti-trans bills already filed for the 2025 legislative session. This year will show a continued pressure on erasing trans people from public life. With Donald Trumpโs re-election, federal civil rights enforcement litigation will likely swing against LGBTQ+ inclusion.
Authors of Project 2025 areย being tappedย as cabinet picks for the second Trump administration. Project 2025 is an authoritarian and theocratic road map, and anti-trans scapegoating makes up key policy recommendations.
Background
Anti-LGBTQ+ groups in the United States oppose LGBTQ+ rights but also generally support heterosexism, an ideology that assumes heterosexuality is the only โnormalโ sexuality, and/or cisnormativity, an ideology that assumes oneโs gender identity always matches the sex one was assigned at birth. Anti-LGBTQ+ groups primarily consist of Christian Right groups but also include such organizations as the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) that purport to be scientific. Anti-LGBTQ+ groups in America have employed a variety of strategies in their efforts to oppose LGBTQ+ rights or support heterosexism and/or cisnormativity, including engaging in the crudest type of name-calling.
Anti-LGBTQ+ groups on the SPLC hate list often link being LGBTQ+ inherently to criminal behavior; claim that the marriage equality and LGBTQ+ people in general are dangers to children and families; contend that being LGBTQ+ itself is dangerous and support the criminalization of LGBTQ+ people and transgender identity. These groups also believe in a false conspiracy that LGBTQ+ people seek to destroy Christianity and the whole of society. More recently, hard-line anti-LGBTQ+ groups have promoted their discriminatory laws and policies that limit the rights of LGBTQ people under the guise of religion, blurring the lines between the separation of church and state and discarding anti-discrimination civil rights policies. These same groups have promoted legislative models to push anti-trans legislation into law under a conservative religious assumption that gender can only be understood as either โmaleโ or โfemale.โ
Many leaders and spokespeople of SPLC-designated anti-LGBTQ+ groups have used degrading and derogatory language to describe LGBTQ+ people. Others disseminate disparaging information about LGBTQ+ people that are simply untrue โ an approach no different from how white supremacists and nativist extremists propagate lies about African American people and immigrants to make these communities seem like a danger to society. Viewing LGBTQ+ people as unbiblical or simply opposing marriage equality does not qualify an organization to be listed as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group.
2024 Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate Groups
* โ Asterisk denotes headquarters.
Abiding Word Baptist Church, Revival Baptist Church
Orange Park, Florida
Advocates Protecting Children
Arlington, Virginia
Alliance Defending Freedom
Scottsdale, Arizona
American College of Pediatricians
Gainesville, Florida
American Family Association
Indianapolis, Indiana
Tupelo, Mississippi *
Franklin, Pennsylvania
American Vision
Powder Springs, Georgia
Americans for Truth About Homosexuality
Columbus, Ohio
ATLAH Media Network
New York, New York
California Family Council
Fresno, California
The Campus Ministry USA
Terre Haute, Indiana
Center for Christian Virtue
Columbus, Ohio
Center for Family and Human Rights (C-FAM)
New York, New York*
Washington, D.C.
Chalcedon Foundation
Vallecito, California
Child and Parental Rights Campaign
Johns Creek, Georgia
Church Militant/St. Michaelโs Media
Ferndale, Michigan
Concerned Christian Citizens
Temple, Texas
D. James Kennedy Ministries
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Do No Harm
Glen Allen, Virginia
Faith2Action
North Royalton, Ohio
Faithful Word Baptist Church
Tempe, Arizona
Straight Paths Baptist Church
Tucson, Arizona
Family Action Council of Tennessee
Franklin, Tennessee
The Family Foundation of Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Family Policy Alliance
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Family Research Council
Washington, D.C.
Family Research Institute
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Family Watch International
Gilbert, Arizona
First Works Baptist Church
Anaheim, California
Florida Family Voice
Orlando, Florida
Focus on the Family
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Frontline Policy Council
Atlanta, Georgia
Gays Against Groomers
Fountain Hills, Arizona
California
Georgia
Kansas City, Missouri
Monroe, North Carolina
Vancouver, Washington
Milwaukee, Wisconsin*
Generations
Elizabeth, Colorado
Genspect
Chicago, Illinois
Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment (H.O.M.E.)
Downers Grove, Illinois
Illinois Family Institute
Tinley Park, Illinois
Liberty Baptist Church
Rock Falls, Illinois
Liberty Counsel
Orlando, Florida
Louisiana Family Forum
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
MassResistance
Torrance, California
Pocatello, Idaho
Idaho
Waltham, Massachusetts*
New Jersey
Fort Worth, Texas
Houston, Texas
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Gilette, Wyoming
Lander, Wyoming
Massachusetts Family Institute
Wakefield, Massachusetts
Mission: America
Columbus, Ohio
Montana Family Foundation
Laurel, Montana
Pacific Justice Institute
Sacramento, California
Santa Ana, California
Miami, Florida
Mississippi
Reno, Nevada
Salem, Oregon
Seattle, Washington
Partners for Ethical Care
Chicago, Illinois
Pass the Salt Ministries
Hebron, Ohio
Pennsylvania Family Institute
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Pilgrims Covenant Church
Monroe, Wisconsin
The Pray In Jesus Name Project
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Probe Ministries
Plano, Texas
Public Advocate of the United States
Merrifield, Virginia
Revival Baptist Church
Clermont, Florida
Ruth Institute
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Save California
Sacramento, California
Scott Lively Ministries
Springfield, Massachusetts
Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine
Twin Falls, Idaho
Stedfast Baptist Church
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Cedar Hills, Texas *
Strong Hold Baptist Church
Norcross, Georgia
Sure Foundation Baptist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
Vancouver, Washington*
Seattle, Washington
Spokane Valley, Washington
Them Before Us
Seattle, Washington
Tom Brown Ministries
El Paso, Texas
True Light Pentecost Church
Spartanburg, South Carolina
United Families International
Gilbert, Arizona
Verity Baptist Church
Sacramento, California
Warriors for Christ
Mount Juliet, Tennessee
Westboro Baptist Church
Topeka, Kansas
World Congress of Families/International Organization for the Family
Rockford, Illinois
Remember a couple of things as you read this below.ย First there is nothing wrong with being LGBTQ+ and the feelings associated with those letters.ย Second most children are desperate to fit in to the majority, to be “normal”.ย The country was well on the way to reassuring these kids / adults that those feelings were normal and OK.ย That the child was not damaged not an abomination to god, and did not need to be fixed.ย Then the right wing religious hate machine managed to pass don’t say gay laws, bathroom bills, and “lets make those who are not straight or cis be attacked outcasts again” laws.ย
There are two errors not really mentioned here. Minors who are going to these “religious anti-LGBTQ+ be straight cis only” therapestย / religious leaders are normally forced there by parents who have been convinced by religious leaders in their church that their child is damaged and needs to be fixed as they are sinning just for feeling as they do and so will be going to hell.ย (Side note Jesus never said anything like that.ย I remember being told that I was “acting gay / doing gay things” because I liked sinning.ย To which I replied, You have it backwards.ย I was born gay and I like doing / being gay and so I don’t care that it is sinning to you.)ย The child is often told this to the point where even if they don’t fully hate themselves they are willing to do anything their parents want to “be normal” or get their parents off their backsides about it. And often the child is threatened with being thrown out of the home if they don’t go to conversion therapy.ย And then the religious therapist reinforces the message that they are damaged, broken, that they cannot be as they are but must be fixed, must be healed of the sin / feelings.ย Every major medical association has reviewed and studied conversion therapy and they conclude it is harmful, has no basis in science and those kids who go through it are far more likely to try to end their livesย so they recommend helping young people to accept themselves and their feelings except for the minor one started by a religious group that has rejected all the studies and findings for the religious belief that god wouldn’t create anyone that way and because we are not that so those people / kids that feel that way must be forced to change to make them and their god happy.ย ย
There are facts, and then there are religious beliefs that disregard those facts.ย The fact is that the data and medical studies show that helping non-straight non-cis children accept that they are normal also shows that gender afirming care is the most beneficial way to help young people who are LGBTQ+ and struggling with the idea of wanting to be “normal” or like the other students are.ย I did not want to be gay as a kid growing up. I knew my attraction perhaps sooner than most kids due to my childhood situation. But all the time growing up I heard about how bad and horrible people who had the feelings I did were and how doing what I was being forced to do made me the worst possible human.ย I was attacked at school even though I was not out but some thought I was different and that was enough.ย When I had to join the church to get to leave my abusive home to get to safety I heard constantly how bad / sinfull / an abomination I and people like me were to god who wanted mankind to wipe me out… wait why does god need mankind to do that, especially white Christian men to do that, can’t he just stop makingย gay people with out a demon in them?ย
At my church school a lot of the boys were flirting with same sex attractions as they were horny teen boys separated from girls. Similar to the situation I found in the military where I had a group of “straight” guys asking me to go on passes with them.ย And it was very fun, but they always claimed not to be able to remember what happened on those trips.ย But each of those kids and some of those adults I had consensual fun with blamed themselves for failing god and failing to be normal.ย I had one really cute fun guy who I would go on passes with who couldn’t wait to get into the hotel room to have sex.ย And it was not just one way either.ย He received as he gave and what he enjoyed he returned if you catch my trying not to be too explicit. But that was the same with all the guys, they were not hung up on straight norms while in a hotel room with me.ย But this one guy would always on the way back to base tell me we couldn’t do that again.ย It was wrong.ย It was something we shouldn’t do.ย I did not argue.ย But 3 weeks or a month later he was begging me to go on a four day pass with him.ย ย
My point was this guy was 18 / 19 like me.ย I had already long accepted who I was and how I felt. He had taken the be normal message to heart.ย He could have used therapy to accept his feelings and needs.ย But the one thing he did not need and would have been harmful was conversion therapy. That guy was with me in Germany, after a wonderful weekend he again said we couldn’t do that again,ย He got married and it lasted a year, then he got divorced.ย I lost touch with him.ย But lives were harmed because he just couldn’t face he was gay, couldn’t tell his religious parents he was gay, and would have been placed in conversion therapy if his parents had known as a teen he struggled with same sex attraction and was not straight. Hugs
The Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a major win for the free speech rights of counselors and therapists, ruling in an 8-1 decision that a Colorado law prohibiting licensed counselors from engaging in talk therapy to help a person โreduce or eliminate unwanted sexual attractions, change sexual behaviors, or grow in the experience of harmony with [their] bod[ies]โ unconstitutionally violated the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
FRC President Tony Perkins called the decision โA Supreme Court win for free speech and biological reality.โ
โIโm encouraged to see the muzzle removed from therapists seeking to help willing patients come to terms with, and be at peace with, how God created them,โ reflected Perkins in a statement to The Washington Stand.
โThe Left is using the levers of government to block families and individuals seeking help. Under Colorado law, a girl could legally seek a therapistโs help to change her gender but could not seek help from that same therapist to align her identity with her biological sex. Where is the fairness or logic in that? I commend the court for striking down this deeply invasive and unjust law.โ
Read theย full article. In 2013, Exodus International โ then the nationโs largest ex-gay group โ disbanded. Its longtime president Alan Chambers declared that not one of his groupโs thousands of victims had ever become heterosexual.
Conversion therapy is discredited junk science that inflicts harm on LGBTQ youth.The Supreme Courtโs decision is disappointing and puts vulnerable kids at risk.
I know about the ginned up outrage dragged up by the Mills campaign.ย The dozens of years ago old Reddit posts that Platner responded to head on, explained, and I have seen him with women around him and he doesn’t act like a misogynist. He doesn’t try to justify the comments and denounces them.ย He does explain the mindset at the time he wrote them.ย A man in a male dominated macho military infantry unit who had been in combat was letting off steam in writing, not acting physically.ย He doesn’t believe that stuff now but the internet is a forever machine.ย He has changed from that angry young man into a thoughtful adult.ย If I were in Maine I could clearly see what he brings to the table vrs what Mills does.ย I strongly support Platner.ย Hugs
In February 2026, a rumor spread that Bo French, a Republican candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas, wanted to deport Native Americans โ people indigenous to the U.S. Several social media posts made the claim, including on Facebook, where one user said French had called for the deportation of โthird world savagesโ including Native Americans.
Some posts linked to a Feb. 10, 2026, article inย Texas Monthly, which included a line that read, โOne of Frenchโs favorite phrases is โthird world savagesโโwhich he has applied to Afghan asylum seekers, Muslims, and even Native Americans, who he also wants deported.โ It is true that French called for the deportation of Native Americans. He did so in an Oct. 10, 2025, post on X.
Read theย full article. French, who is allied with two far-right Christian nationalist fracking billionaire pastors, last appeared here in November 2024 when he declared that Democrats are โretarded unmanly homos.โ He appeared here in September 2024 when he lost a court battle to ban early voting on college campuses.
A former instructor for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday accused the agency of dramatically slashing training standards for new officers and lying to Congress about it as the Trump administration seeks to rapidly expand its mass deportation operation.
Ryan Schwank, who resigned from his job at an ICE academy in Georgia last week, told congressional Democrats at a hearing that the agency eliminated 240 hours of โvital classesโ from a mandatory 580-hour training program, including instruction about the legal boundaries for the use of force, how to safely handle firearms, and the proper way to detain and arrest immigrants.
โLaw enforcement is a deadly serious biz. It is not a place for shortcuts,โ Schwank said. โDeficient training can and will get people killed. โฆ ICE is lying to Congress and the American people about the steps it is taking to ensure that 12,000 officers can faithfully uphold the Constitution and perform their jobs.โ
Ryan Schwank, a former ICE academy instructor, testified in front of Congress today about constitutional violations.โAt the academy, we took out the class that tells the officers that they have an oath to the Constitution.โ
Former ICE agent: My first day training new cadets, I received secretive orders to teach them to violate the Constitution by entering homes without a warrant. I watched ICE cut classes that teach our legal system, firearms training, use of force, lawful arrests, and the limits of officers' authority
Former ICE trainer Ryan Schwank is telling Congress that agents are being trained to ignore the Constitution. "I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution when I joined ICE. I followed it when I resigned. The legally required training program at the ICE academy is deficient, defective, and broken."
Director Lyons looked me in the eyes and said ICE was receiving proper training.Now a whistleblower says officials are lying about how much training new recruits actually get.Theyโre cutting corners and covering up. We need real answers and accountability. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-whi…
Project 2025 was very clear.ย The goal is to remove all representation of LGBTQ+ people from society.ย Pride flags are determined to be political incitement and agitation; media representation and books with even an LGBTQ+ character are called sexualizing children while the same with straight kids is not, and letting a child express how they deeply feel inside by letting them change their hairstyle and clothing is called child abuse while doing the discredited / harmful conversion therapy to force a person of any age to be straight and cis is considered to be healthy for the child. Liesย are spread constantly about puberty blockers by people who misrepresent what these medical studies show or only claim in fake medical studies that have no peer reviewed status by medical personnel in that field of study. The goal is to do what Russia, Hungary, and several other highly religious authoritarian countries have done, which is to wipe the existence of anything not straight and not cis from being. Iย don’t know if this is due to their being highly religious and wanting to force everyone in the country to live by their church doctrines or if they just are straight / cis so they don’t think if they don’t feel it that it can’t be true.ย I ran into that decades ago as a gay man with straight people claiming everyone was straight because they were and that was normal, but some people choose to be weird deviants and have bad types of sex.ย But if you ask them when they chose to be straight they think it is a stupid question as they never chose; they just were.ย Clips below.ย Hugs
โThey go in the bathroom theyโre supposed to, they upset people. If they go in the one that they now look like, theyโre breaking the law, which could include pretty severe penaltiesโ Guthrie told senators. โ โฆ We seem to be really focused on this space and ignoring the fact that there are people that are just like us, human beings, just like us. What are they supposed to do?โ
โDo I feel like going to jail today, or do I feel like being attacked?โ trans man testifies
The bill builds on a wave of anti-LGTBQ+ bills that the Legislature and the governor have approved in recent years.ย
โOver the last several years, legislators have gone from refusing to protect us to actively targeting us,โ Nikson Mathews, who serves as chair of the Idaho Democratic Queer Caucus,ย saidย at a news conference in February.
โEvery single day when Iโm out in public, I have to decide: Do I feel like going to jail today, or do I feel like being attacked,โ Mathews told lawmakers.ย
ย A bathroom sign as seen on March 16, 2026, at the State Capitol Building in Boise. (Photo by Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)
The Idaho Legislature widely approved a bill that would criminalize โwillfullyโ entering public and government bathrooms and changing rooms designated for another sex.
The bill โ which heads to Gov. Brad Little for final consideration โย would effectively block transgender people from using their preferred public bathrooms in Idaho, expanding on the stateโs transgender bathroom ban in public schools.
House Bill 752 would create criminal misdemeanor and felony charges for people who โknowingly and willfullyโ enter a bathroom or changing room designated for the opposite sex, with some exceptions. The bill would apply in government-owned buildings and places of public accommodations, like private businesses.ย
A first offense would carry a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison. A second offense within five years would be a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
Only three states โ Utah, Florida and Kansas โย ย have criminal bansย on trans people using bathrooms that align with their gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group.ย
In a statement, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates โ Idaho called the bill โthe most extreme anti-transgender bathroom ban in the nation.โ
One Republican opposed the bill in the Senate
In the Idaho Senate, the bill passed on a near-party line 28-7 vote Friday, with all six Democrats opposing. One Republican,ย Sen. Jim Guthrie, from McCammon, broke with Republicans support of the bill.ย
He called legislation like it โharmful.โ
โThey go in the bathroom theyโre supposed to, they upset people. If they go in the one that they now look like, theyโre breaking the law, which could include pretty severe penaltiesโ Guthrie told senators. โ โฆ We seem to be really focused on this space and ignoring the fact that there are people that are just like us, human beings, just like us. What are they supposed to do?โ
Idaho Sen. Ben Toews, R-Coeur dโAlene, walks through the halls at the State Capitol building on Jan. 9, 2023. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun)
Bill sponsorย Sen. Ben Toews, R-Coeur dโAlene, told senators that the bill protects โcommon sense realities.โ
โThe Legislature has a fundamental duty to protect the bodily privacy and safety of Idaho citizens,โ Toews said. โHouse Bill 752 provides a clear, proactive tool to secure sex-separated private spaces in our state, while accommodating common-sense realities.โ
Once the bill is transmitted to Little, he has five days to decide on it. He has three options: sign it into law, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature.ย
In the House, the billย passedย on a 54-15 vote earlier this month, with six Republicans joining the Houseโs nine Democrats in opposition.
โDo I feel like going to jail today, or do I feel like being attacked?โ trans man testifies
The bill builds on a wave of anti-LGTBQ+ bills that the Legislature and the governor have approved in recent years.ย
And for more than a decade, efforts to add anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people to state law have failed.ย
โOver the last several years, legislators have gone from refusing to protect us to actively targeting us,โ Nikson Mathews, who serves as chair of the Idaho Democratic Queer Caucus,ย saidย at a news conference in February.
Mathews, a trans man with a beard, told a House committee earlier this year that the bathroom bill would force him to use the womenโs restroom.ย
โEvery single day when Iโm out in public, I have to decide: Do I feel like going to jail today, or do I feel like being attacked,โ Mathews told lawmakers.ย
A 2025ย studyย by the UCLA School of Lawโs Williams Institute found โno evidence of increased harms to people who are not transgender when transgender people are allowed to use restrooms and other gendered facilities according to their identity.โ But when trans people are refused access to facilities that align with their gender, the study found that trans people report verbal harassment and physical assault.ย
Bill is about discrimination, Democratic senator says
Sen. Ron Taylor, a Democrat from Hailey, said the bill is about discrimination. He said constituents told him that theyโd move out of Idaho if it passed โ because it would throw their transgender children in jail.
Idaho state Sen. Ron Taylor, D-Hailey, enters the House of Representatives chamber for the governorโs State of the State Address on Jan. 12, 2026, at the State Capitol in Boise. (Photo by Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)
โNow maybe thatโs what some of us want, is to chase a population thatโs marginalized out of Idaho,โ Taylor said. โBut thatโs not Idaho. Idaho was founded by a population that was marginalized.โ
Sen. Brian Lenney, a Republican from Nampa, said the bill is about keeping women and girls safe from having men in their spaces.ย
โTrans women arenโt women,โ saidย Sen. Joshua Kohl, a Republican from Twin Falls. โTheyโre men. And they need to be treated as such.โ
Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, listens to proceedings during the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee meeting on Jan. 13, 2026, at the State Capitol Building in Boise. (Photo by Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)
Sen. Jim Woodward,ย a Republican from Sagle in North Idaho, said the bill is largely borne out of an event where he said a man was found in a womenโs locker room in a YMCA in Sandpoint. He said heโd vote for the bill, but he had some reservations.
โWhat comes next and how much further do we venture inside of a private building?โ Woodward said. โI donโt support the punitive measures in this bill, but the policy does reflect the sentiment of my community, and so for that reason, I will support it. It is the best for the most.โ
Sen. Melissa Wintrow, a Boise Democrat, said she saw people crying after a recent committee hearing on the bill.
โThey were crying because they just didnโt feel as if they were human. That a simple little thing they had to do, like go to the bathroom, would have to be in a law,โ Wintrow said.ย
Idaho Fraternal Order of Police opposed the bill
The bill was opposed by some law enforcement groups and several transgender Idahoans.ย
The bill outlines several exceptions, including to give medical assistance, law enforcement assistance, and if someone โis in dire need of urinating or defecating and such facility is the only facility reasonably available at the time of the personโs use.โ
The Idaho Fraternal Order of Police flagged that exception as concerning.
โOfficers responding to a complaint would be placed in the difficult position of determining an individualโs biological sex in order to enforce the statute,โ Idaho Fraternal Order of Police President Bryan Lovellย wrote. โIn many circumstances, there is no clear or reasonable way for officers to make that determination without engaging in questioning or investigative actions that could be viewed as invasive and inappropriate.โ
Kyle Pfannenstiel
Kyle Pfannenstiel is a reporter for the Idaho Capital Sun, covering health care and state politics. He previously reported for the Post Register/Report for America, Idaho Education News and the Idaho Press. Kyle is a military brat who calls Idaho home. He has a bachelorโs degree in journalism and political science from University of Idaho.
Idaho Capital Sun is part ofย States Newsroom, the nationโs largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
As Belle says tRump started a war and is blocking the funding for the very department in charged with securing the country against foreign threats until the all important trans people playing sports are banned.ย tRump is putting paid unmasked ICE agents in airports so why can’t they go unmasked on the streets of our towns and cities to stand around watching TSA agents work for free all because his feelings are hurt by trans people.ย ย She said something similar about FEMA but it all comes down to tRump using the scape goat of trans people and the Christian nationalists need to have a white male straight cis nation to live in even though those people are not representative of most of the nation nor of all Christians.ย But to not fund FEMA during horrific flooding and wildfires, to not fund DHS and TSA for security, to not fund the coast guard for our protection and assistance in local waters, and more just because he has a hard time understanding the truth that trans people exist and are normal members of society that deserve full unconditional civil rights and equality.ย Hugs
Critics say that ankle monitors impose psychological, economic and physical harms on the people required to wear them.ย Illustration: Guardian Design / Getty Images
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