Category: Courts / Laws / legal

GOP Targets Small FL Town Over “Safe Space” Stickers

GOP Targets Small FL Town Over “Safe Space” Stickers

So these Christian Nationalist racist bigots are OK and promote businesses harming / refusing service to LGBTQIA people, but refuse and will use their office to demand no business offer a safe welcoming space to those same targeted LGBTQIA people.  That should tell you their goal.  Remove all LGBTQIA and anything supporting it from public society.  They basically are demanding a cis straight society only, a complete return back to the 1950s or earlier.  Hugs

The Associated Press reports:

Some central Florida lawmakers said they were considering “all legislative, legal and executive options available” to stop business owners in a small town from voluntarily displaying rainbow decals in their windows indicating that they are “safe place” for LGBTQ+ people who feel threatened.

Four Republican lawmakers wrote a letter to officials in Mount Dora two weeks ago warning that the new, optional city-sponsored program could put the central Florida community outside Orlando “in the crosshairs of potentially detrimental and absolutely unnecessary economic harm.”

Mount Dora’s city council approved the Safe Place Initiative last month. The city of 17,000 residents is known for its antique shops and weekend festivals. The council’s decision to approve the program has coincided with an uptick in anti-LGBTQ+ incidents, including vandalism last month at two LGBTQ+ centers in Orlando.

The Orlando Sentinel reports:

The initiative was approved by the City Council in a unanimous vote last week, but now may be reconsidered after city officials received the letter signed by Republican Sen. Dennis Baxley, and Reps. Keith Truenow, Taylor Yarkosky and Stan McClain.

“In light of what we have seen around this country in regards to the pushback and unprecedented financial harm to long standing American made companies such as Anheuser-Busch and Target Corporation, this local ‘Safe Place’ program is negligent, irresponsible and divisive at best.”

In a Facebook post applauding the letter – claiming a “legislative wipeout INCOMING” – the Lake County Republican Party said the city “passed a woke program demanding local business owners display ‘Anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime stickers’ on the front doors of their businesses.”

State Sen. Dennis Baxley [photo above] last year led the push in his chamber to pass the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. In 2019, he appeared here for his failed bill that would have directed public school teachers to argue against climate change and evolution. In 2005 he introduced the NRA-written “Stand Your Ground” bill that was successfully used in the murder of Trayvon Martin. That same year he introduced a failed bill that would have allowed students to sue university professors if they failed, for example, to allow students to promote Holocaust denial in classroom discussions. A descendant of a Confederate soldier, Baxley fought against the creation of the Florida Slavery Memorial, which was approved in 2018 and remains unbuilt.

 

Uncle Mark back in IL an hour ago

So the “free state” of Florida is prohibiting businesses from expressing their free speech and policies. I bet other businesses are allowed to display crosses in their windows in support of Christianity or Christofascists.

Friday  Uncle Mark back in ILan hour ago

Certainly some that whine for their ‘free speech’ or ‘religious freedom’ when they put up hostile signs and lies.

jimbo65 an hour ago

The fuckers just can’t leave anybody alone.

Doug105  jimbo65an hour ago

They constantly worry someone could be happy.

JoeMyGod Modan hour ago

Picturesque and hilly, Mount Dora has become an LGBTQ enclave of sorts in recent years due to its robust arts scene and the welcoming stance of town leaders. The town is centered around a lake of the same name about 40 minutes northwest of Orlando.

JoeMyGod Mod JoeMyGodan hour ago

My mother adores Mount Dora and attends their main art festival every year.

Williaman hour ago

If a business wants to post a sign in the window saying “Safe Space” ,great! Other businesses should feel free to post a sign saying “Hate Space” so customers can make their own decision.

David Walker  Williaman hour ago

Or a cross, emphasizing their strongly held religious beliefs.

BearEyes an hour ago edited

treating people equally, fairly, and with respect
– is negligent, irresponsible and divisive at best.”
Let that sink in.
What the fuck is wrong with these shit-stirring assholes – let alone harassing small businesses.

Sam_Handwich  BearEyesan hour ago

Religion

fuzzybits  BearEyesan hour ago

Anyone just a hair outside their world view is an enemy.

Yves R. Mektin an hour ago edited

1) I’m pretty sure that will not pass any kind of court challenge;
2) This is how far gone the GQP’s rotted little nazi brains are that they think it will; and
3) So much for the RepubliQans being the party of freedom for business!

another_steve  Yves R. Mektinan hour ago

Lol.

Ron DeSantis. Disney World.

“The party of freedom for business”

Halou an hour ago

Nothing says ‘free market capitalism’ quite like harassing small businesses for not adhering to party political diktats. /s

Jonty Coppersmith an hour ago

We still have a little thing called freedom in this country. These folks can put whatever they want in their windows. Fuck off!

Jay P  Jonty Coppersmithan hour ago edited

I’m still trying to wrap my head around the town ending up like Anheuser-Busch and Target. How does that even work?

These bigots still can’t get over Target for letting transgendered use their bathrooms and his rabid base followers will still drink Bud light.

JohnJayan hour ago

Fine. Instead, just put up a sign: “No GOP Allowed!”… or “We Reserve the RIGHT to NOT Serve Republicans”.

BearEyes  TrollopeReaderan hour ago

they can’t think beyond their own narrow minded bigotry and ideology

Ann Kahan hour ago

What part of “voluntary” and “optional” fries your socks, Senator Baxley? Oh, it’s the “voluntary” and “optional” part …can’t go letting people make their own decisions, now can we?

Mike C42 minutes ago

This is what happens when you give conservatives an inch.

Ninja0980an hour ago

As always, when the GOP talks about smaller government, they don’t mean it when it comes to hurting people they don’t like.

 

 

Federal judge blocks Blount Co. District Attorney from enforcing Tennessee’s anti-drag law at Blount Pride festival

https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/injunction-stops-anti-drag-law-enforcement-at-blount-pride/51-0e7104bb-e309-46dd-b958-839fa62a2320

The ACLU sued on behalf of drag performer Flamy Grant and Blount Pride after District Attorney General Ryan Desmond warned them of possible prosecution in a letter.
 

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — U.S. District Court Judge J. Ronnie Greer issued a ruling blocking Blount County District Attorney General Ryan Desmond from enforcing Tennessee’s “Adult Entertainment Act,” at a festival celebrating the Blount County LGBTQ+ community on Saturday. 

Greer’s order said Desmond cannot enforce, detain, arrest or seek warrants to enforce the act and cannot interfere with Blount Pride’s festival. 

 

The Adult Entertainment Act makes it unlawful to perform “adult cabaret entertainment,” on public property or in a place where children can see. The Act defines “male or female impersonators” as adult cabaret entertainment, a classification that the ACLU said targets drag performers. 

In Shelby County, earlier this summer, District Judge Thomas L. Parker ruled it unconstitutional, saying it violated First Amendment rights, and barred the attorney general there from enforcing it. The District Attorney’s Office appealed that decision, and the Memphis-area lawsuit is going through the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Their ruling would apply across all districts in Tennessee.

He said it restricted free speech and was vague.

Judge-Ronnie-Greer-order

“Judge Parker’s 70-page opinion is well-written, scrupulously researched, and highly persuasive,” Judge Greer wrote. “The court, based on the parties’ arguments at this juncture in the proceedings sees no reason to ‘break new ground’ on the constitutional issues.” 

District Attorney General Desmond sent a letter to Blount Pride arguing Blount Pride was “marketing itself in a manner which raises concerns that the event may violate certain criminal statutes within the State of Tennessee.” His office would prosecute violations of the Adult Entertainment Act, Desmond wrote. 

The ACLU sued Desmond and other law enforcement in Blount County, to prevent enforcement of the law. Desmond’s office released a statement about the injunction, available below.

“My office will abide by the order of Judge Greer.  We are a nation of laws and this ruling is controlling over my office and our jurisdiction.  As such, we will respect and comply with the order of the Court.”

Judge Greer ordered parties involved in the lawsuit to appear at the James H. Quillen Courthouse in Greeneville, Tenn. on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, for a preliminary injunction hearing. 

 

Blount Pride previously said the event would go on as planned on Saturday. It starts at 1 p.m. at the Claxton Center in Maryville on Saturday.

A statement from Blount Pride board president Ari Baker is also available below.

“We are relieved that the court has taken action to ensure that law enforcement will not wrongly apply this unconstitutional law. This ruling allows us to fully realize Blount Pride’s goal of creating a safe place for LGBTQ people to connect, celebrate, and share resources. We appreciate the community support and look forward to celebrating with you all on Saturday.” 

 

Christian Father Turns Trans Daughter Into A Refugee | RE: Jeff Damon Younger

I have always enjoyed Ethel’s videos.  I have been watching them since she was a teen.  She is passionate, yet she not only well versed in the subject she speaks on, but includes all her resources in the channel notes so anyone can double check what she says if they disagree with her.  She has a slight speech impediment but the closed caption is great. 

The story of Luna and her rabid anti-trans Christian father is a story I have followed since I heard it when Luna was around 7 or 8, and of the horrible abuse anti-trans fanatics will go too against letting a child be themselves.  Despite court orders and against the child’s will he forcibly cut her hair, he refused to even allow girl’s clothing in his home and when she came to his home when he still had court ordered visitation would make her strip in the doorway after it was closed and go to the room assigned to her and put on male clothing.  He then would destroy the girl clothing in front of her.  Remember, at this point she was only socially transitioning, and he simply wouldn’t allow it.  His parental rights were removed because of his refusal to follow court orders and treat Luna as the girl she was.  And as is normal for Anti-trans haters he would go on the anti-trans Christian circuit and lie his ass off on everything.  For an example he would say his wife only took Luna to one pro-trans mental health doctor when in fact she saw four or five, two were ones he insisted on including a Christian practitioner.  They all agreed that Luna identified a girl.  But his denial abuse got so bad that the girl and her mother fled the state and moved to California to be safe, a court approved move.  But this is a man who would rather lose his child or see them dead than admit they might not be the gender that glancing between their legs at birth was assigned to them.   Hugs

Subscribe To My Backup & Personal Accounts!
   / @themisanthropichumanist  
   / @ethelthurston  

[Quick References]
[1]    • The Evidence Jeff Damon Younger Doesn…  
[2]    • Exposing Lies Surrounding The Luna Da…  
[3]    • The Tragic Case Of David Reimer & How…  
[12]    • Christian Father Torments His Trans D…  
[13]    • More Evidence Jeff Younger Lied About…  
[14]    • Christian Father Puts Trans Daughter’…  

[Script & References] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J…
[Chapters]
00:00 – Intro & Content Warning
01:28 – Jeff Damon Younger
16:01 – The Ministry of ‘Truth’ Film Festival
18:42 – Jeff Damon Younger Boasts About Turning Luna Into A Refugee
32:48 – Jeff Damon Younger’s Antisemitism [Social Media]

Hi, welcome to the Essence Of Thought YouTube channel! Please help support us and our work! http://www.patreon.com/EssenceOfThought

Federal judge bars Texas from enforcing book rating law

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/31/texas-book-rating-lawsuit/

House Bill 900 requires book vendors to rate all their materials based on their depictions or references to sex before selling them to schools. Vendors say the law aims to regulate protected speech with “vague and over broad” terms.

Books at Vandegrift High School's library on March 2, 2022.a
Books at Vandegrift High School’s library on March 2, 2022. A federal judge said Thursday he will temporarily block a new state law that would require book vendors to rate the materials they sell to school libraries based on the presence of sex depictions or references. Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune

 

A federal judge said Thursday he will stop a new Texas law aimed at keeping sexually explicit materials off of school library shelves on the eve of the law going into effect, according to state attorneys and lawyers for a group who sued over the proposal.

District Judge Alan D. Albright indicated during a hearing that he will grant a temporary injunction sought by a group of book groups and sellers, including two Texas bookstores, who sued the state over House Bill 900 in July, the group’s lawyers said in a statement. Albright will issue a written order in one to two weeks; in the meantime, the state cannot enforce the law, according to the statement.

HB 900, which was approved during this year’s regular legislative session, requires school library vendors to rate all their books and materials for appropriateness before selling them to schools based on the presence of sex depictions or references. It also requires vendors to rank materials previously sold to schools and issue a recall for those that are deemed sexually explicit and are in active use by a school.

The plaintiffs argue that the law violates their constitutional rights by targeting protected speech with its broad and vague language. The lawsuit further alleges HB 900 would force plaintiffs to comply with the government’s views, even if they do not agree with them, and that the law operates as prior restraint, which is government action that prohibits speech or other expression before the speech happens. The vendors say it is impossible for them to comply with the rating system because of the sheer volume of materials they would need to review.

 

The law also calls for creating state school library standards that prohibit sexually explicit materials, requiring parental consent for students to check out materials classified by vendors as “sexually relevant” and giving the Texas Education Agency authority to review a vendor’s rating. If the TEA disagrees with the vendor’s rating and gives it a different one, the vendor must use the agency’s rating. Vendors who do not will be added to a list of vendors that schools cannot buy library materials from.

During the bill’s legislative hearings, librarians and legal experts shared concerns and worries that its language would ensnare books that are not inappropriate and, to the contrary, may be titles important for students whose lived experiences may not be reflected in other literature.

The proposal, from Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, arrived amid an ongoing debate about what materials are appropriate to be stocked in school and public libraries. Patterson and supporters of such regulations say libraries are infested with inappropriate books that must be vetted and removed.

However, skeptics of that panic and literary advocates counter that the books singled out by politicians often explore sexuality and race, topics that have been swept up in culture-war politics but remain important for youth who may not be comfortable talking about such matters with others.

Despite the concerns, HB 900 sailed through the legislative process before Gov. Greg Abbott signed it in June. It was set to go into effect Friday; however, the law’s language suggests the new requirements won’t have to be fulfilled immediately.

Most, if not all, of the state’s roughly 5.4 million public schoolchildren have already begun the 2023-2024 school year.

The lawsuit’s plaintiffs include two bookstores, Austin’s BookPeople and West Houston’s Blue Willow Bookshop, as well as the American Booksellers Association, the Association of American Publishers, the Authors Guild and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

The Texas Attorney General’s office said Thursday it would move to reverse the injunction and appeal the judge’s decision. The office had not received the judge’s written order or decision by Thursday afternoon, a spokesperson said.

 

A court representative for Albright did not respond to an inquiry about his comments during Thursday’s hearing, reported by the plaintiffs’ lawyers and on social media by at least one plaintiff.

“We are grateful for the court’s swift action in deciding to enjoin this law, in the process preserving the long-established rights of local communities to set their own standards; protecting the constitutionally protected speech of authors, booksellers, publishers and readers; preventing the state government from unlawfully compelling speech on the part of private citizens; and shielding Texas businesses from the imposition of impossibly onerous conditions,” the plaintiffs said in a joint statement after the hearing. “We look forward to reading the court’s full opinion once it is issued.”

Kansas reporter sues Marion police chief, alleging retaliation in newsroom raid

https://www.kake.com/story/49572694/kansas-reporter-sues-marion-police-chief-alleging-retaliation-in-newsroom-raid

This is an important update to the illegal police raid on a newspaper’s office, taking all their equipment and personal items sent in by Ali.  I hope the federal government / DOJ will investigate and prosecute the police and the judge that authorized a clearly illegal raid, and the fact that police illegally copied the information and kept it, including the names of the people who talk to the reporter about the illegal actions of the police chief, judge, and the restaurant owner.  It is a dangerous and chilling example of how some police and judges feel they are above the laws, able to do what ever they want.  Hugs

Wednesday, August 30th 2023, 3:27 PM CDT
written by Kansas Reflector
 
A new lawsuit says Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, top left, spearheaded the Aug. 11 raid of the Marion County Record in retaliation against the journalists who worked there.
A new lawsuit says Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, top left, spearheaded the Aug. 11 raid of the Marion County Record in retaliation against the journalists who worked there.
(Marion County Record screen capture of surveillance video)
 

TOPEKA — Police Chief Gideon Cody arrived at the Marion County Record and handed a copy of a search warrant to Deb Gruver, the veteran reporter who had questioned him about alleged misconduct at his previous job.

 

As Gruver read the search warrant, she told Cody she needed to call her publisher and editor, Eric Meyer. The police chief, who was ostensibly investigating another reporter’s computer use, snatched the phone out of Gruver’s hand.

 

The scene is recounted in a lawsuit Gruver filed Wednesday in federal court that says Cody had no legal basis for taking her personal cellphone. She is seeking damages for “emotional distress, mental anguish and physical injury” as a result of Cody’s “malicious and recklessly indifferent violation” of her First Amendment free press rights and Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure.

 

Cody spearheaded the Aug. 11 raid under the pretense that reporter Phyllis Zorn committed identity theft when she accessed public records on a public website. His real motivation, Gruver’s lawsuit contends, was to punish the journalists for investigating and reporting news stories.

 

Gruver had questioned Cody in April, when he was hired as police chief, about allegations made by his former colleagues with the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department. They accused Cody of making sexist comments, being a poor leader and driving over a dead body at a crime scene. The newspaper initially declined to write about the allegations without an on-the-record source or documentation that Cody was in danger of being demoted when he left Kansas City.

 

 

 
Marion County Record reporter Deb Gruver on Wednesday had the words “freedom of the press” tattooed on her arm.
Marion County Record reporter Deb Gruver on Wednesday had the words “freedom of the press” tattooed on her arm. (Submitted by Deb Gruver to Kansas Reflector)
 

In Marion, a town of about 1,900, Cody became an ally of Kari Newell, who owns a restaurant and cafe.

 

A dizzying drama unfolded in the days preceding the Aug. 11 raid as Newell had Cody evict Meyer and Zorn from a public meeting at her cafe, and a confidential source provided Zorn with information that could jeopardize Newell’s efforts to obtain a liquor license at her restaurant.

 

The source said Newell had lost her driver’s license following a 2008 drunken driving conviction. When Zorn asked the Kansas Department of Revenue how to verify the information, the agency directed her to search the public records in its online database. Meyer told Cody about the information in part because the source also alleged that police knew Newell was driving without a license and had ignored repeated violations by Newell of driving laws.

 

Cody prepared an affidavit that claimed Newell was the victim of identity theft, and he requested permission to raid the newspaper office. Cody wrote in his affidavit that Zorn had accessed Newell’s driver’s license history by impersonating Newell or lying. Magistrate Laura Viar authorized the raid.

 
 

Nothing in the affidavit or search warrant connects Gruver or her cellphone to the alleged crime. The search warrant only identifies Zorn as a suspect.

 

Cody ignored federal and state laws that prohibit authorities from taking journalists’ materials as he and his four police officers, aided by two sheriff’s deputies, seized an assortment of electronic devices from the newsroom that were unrelated to Zorn’s supposed crime.

 

Officers read the reporters their Miranda warning during the raid, then left them waiting outside for three hours in heat that reached 100 degrees. After the raid, Gruver went to the sheriff’s office, where police stored the confiscated equipment, to ask for her personal cellphone.

 

Gruver spoke with Cody there and told him she had nothing to do with the search of driver’s license records.

 

Cody grinned.

 

“I actually believe you,” he said, according to the court filing.

 
A Marion County undersheriff on Aug. 16, 2023, reaches into an evidence locker for items seized from the Marion County Record during an Aug. 11, 2023, raid. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
A Marion County undersheriff on Aug. 16, 2023, reaches into an evidence locker for items seized from the Marion County Record during an Aug. 11, 2023, raid. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)  
 

The equipment was returned five days later, when the county attorney determined there wasn’t evidence to support the search warrants. Police altered an evidence list to avoid disclosing they secretly copied and unlawfully retained files from the computers.

 

Gruver is seeking at least $75,000, the minimum threshold for filing a civil case in federal court. She is suing Cody in his individual capacity for the “shocking, unprecedented and unconstitutional police raid,” her lawsuit says. Cody could claim qualified immunity, but the lawsuit argues that no reasonable police officer would think his actions were constitutional.

 

“At this point I will let the lawsuit against Chief Cody do the talking and will have no comment, other than to say: Although I brought this suit in my own name, I’m standing up for journalists across the country. It is our constitutional right to do this job without fear of harassment or retribution, and our constitutional rights are always worth fighting for,” Gruver said.

 

Blake Shuart, a Wichita attorney, is representing Gruver.

 
 

Newell is not a defendant in the lawsuit, but her name appears 25 times through 18 pages of the complaint.

 

The lawsuit notes that Gruver and Newell had been friendly before Cody’s arrival. When Gruver was new to town in August 2022, the lawsuit says, she wrote a “glowing review” of Newell’s restaurant. The review complemented Newell’s spatchcock chicken with whole new potatoes and asparagus, followed by “death by chocolate” cake.

 

Then, in April 2023, Newell objected to Gruver talking to sources on the phone while at her restaurant and began complaining about her reporting, the lawsuit says. In a contentious exchange of text messages, according to the lawsuit, Newell told Gruver she was not one to mess with.

 

News of police raiding a newsroom attracted international scrutiny. The Marion County Record continued to publish its weekly paper and report on the circumstances surrounding the raid.

 

Recent Record stories revealed additional allegations made against Cody by his former colleagues. A former internal affairs detective for the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department said he “lost count” of Cody’s violations. The detective asked not to be named.

 

“He has horrible, horrible ‘little man syndrome.’ His ego is taller than he is,” the detective said.

GEORGE TAKEI SPEAKS FROM EXPERIENCE … WE SHOULD LISTEN

George Takei Speaks From Experience … We Should Listen

Jill has again showed us an important voice that we should hear.  I know a lot of people that come here also go to Jill’s blog, but in case anyone missed it, please go to her site and read it.  Thanks.  Hugs

Virginia Republican Official Posts Obscene Anti-Biden Banner At Little League Game, Invites Boys For Selfies

Virginia Republican Official Posts Obscene Anti-Biden Banner At Little League Game, Invites Boys For Selfies

Please tell me again how teachers are groomers?  Please tell me how books and movies with LGBTQIA characters are sexualizing lids?   This guy is showing drawings of a penis complete with hairy balls and sperm droplets labeled my kids, to 12 or 13 year old kids and had to break the rules / laws to get his truck as close to them as possible.  Think about this, a teacher can not have a rainbow sticker in the classroom or on the door because of these people, yet this upstanding member of the Republican Party who was a GOP leader can not only show kids dick drawings but take their pictures next to it!  WTF.   It is a game to these people, they don’t believe it in any way harms kids, in fact they support little girls being forced to marry older men and be forced to have babies.  It is all about enraging the base and removing the LGBTQIA from the public, from society.   Hugs

The Meidas Touch reports:

Ron Hedlund displayed a massive penis sign with the words, “Biden Sucks” written across it at a youth baseball game at RF&P Park in Henrico County, Virginia.

In a video captured at the event, Hedlund, who is listed as a Virginia GOP Central Committee Representative defended his sign after a community member said it was inappropriate because there were children present.

The man also had a “Fuck Biden” inflatable “air dancer” sign in the back of his pick up truck parked near the field. Hedlund celebrated and posted videos of teenage boys taking selfies with his massive penis sign at the park.

From a November 2021 report:

Capitol Police detain two men at the Virginia War Memorial’s Veterans Day ceremony in Richmond. On Nov. 11 after 11 a.m. when the ceremony began, officers noticed a man driving over a sidewalk and around barricades on 2nd Street.

The driver then stopped at the base of the amphitheater, which was blocked off due to the ceremony, with a ‘F*** Biden’ sign in the bed of his truck.

Police say the sign was ‘highly visible’ to the crowd at the ceremony. Members of the Capitol Police approached him and asked him to move. The man was identified as Ronald Hedlund, 60, of Glen Allen. Hedlund refused to move.

Hedlund, who also goes by “Ron Benghazi,” has a YouTube channel full of confrontations with the police. And of course, he has a money beg on the Christian site GiveSendGo:

Living in a free society comes with much responsibility and blood, sweat and tears. It also may involve numerous legal battles as corrupt local governments seek to usurp our rights many take for granted. I have been unlawfully arrested at the Virginia Capitol.

That charge was dropped after hiring an attorney for $2500. I have been charged with loitering and that charge was dropped, as well, after representing myself. Currently, I have been served a Protective Order that required hiring an attorney at $1500 and resulted in a 2 year Permanent Protective Order.

I now find myself needing another $2500 to appeal this travesty of justice whereby I will lose all my firearms for a period of two years unless I am able to overturn this legally unsupported Order. This Order is the result of citizens legally exercising our First and Second Amendement rights on public property in spite of objections of the Henrico County Manager.

 

Charles in Bloomington 5 days ago

He has raised a total of $25 in 26 days!

JoeMyGod Mod5 days ago
Thumbnail
 
MarkOH  JoeMyGod5 days ago

isn’t that illegal? Isn’t he exposing minors to porn?

ConnieHinesDorothyProvine  MarkOH 5 days ago

IOKIYAR

ConnieHinesDorothyProvine  JoeMyGod5 days ago

grooming, he says…

Ragnar Lothbrok 5 days ago

He thought that sign with “my kids” squirting out is ok to show anywhere much less around kids? Fucking freak

worstcultever 5 days ago

For anybody still wondering if sexual anxiety is the core of fascism, here’s your answer

northalabama5 days ago

i can’t imagine any parent (or other adults) supporting this childish behavior, no matter their personal politics – where are the adults?

also, i wonder, how many self-identity as people of faith?

TnCTampa 5 days ago

Hedlund celebrated and posted videos of teenage boys taking selfies with his massive penis sign at the park.

There is a whole generation of young white men being turned into INCELS and taught all the violence that goes along with it.

Joe in NM  TnCTampa5 days ago

The perfect definition of ‘grooming’. And the irony of course is that he has a sign that says ‘stop grooming our children’. FFS these idiots.

CubbyPQ 5 days ago edited

Christ! I live in Henrico county. Is this on the local news here? Hell no. Thank you Joe for giving us the news that TV refuses to give us.

stuckinthewoods  Chris5 days ago

We saw nothing on the local news either. BlueVirginia labels them the Gross Old Perverts party – but if not for Bitecofer, Kristol, Meidas, it wouldn’t get covered. Crickets from the Gov. https://bluevirginia.us/202…

weshlovrcm5 days ago

It’s not Drag Queens, but far-right fascists who are the real groomers and the ones sexualizing children. Leave kids alone!

Friday  weshlovrcm5 days ago

Grooming for fascism and dysfunction, particularly.

JWC 5 days ago

Question?? How is this not a 1000 times worse than Drag Queen Story Hour ?? He even posed for selfies with teenagers Grooming???

What, me worry?  JWC5 days ago

Boys only. No grooming here….

Chucktech  JWC5 days ago

You know it’s 1000 times worse, we know it, even they, deep down inside know it. They just hate drag queens (queers).

Dramphooey 5 days ago edited

An XXXL t-shirt does not hide the fact that you are obese, pal.

The “My Kids” is a new one. He didn’t just draw a penis. He drew a cumshot. Enjoying children posing in front of that is just gross.

 


 
 
 

Denver Archdiocese sues Colorado over right to exclude LGBTQ people from universal preschool

Denver Archdiocese sues Colorado over right to exclude LGBTQ people from universal preschool

Of course they are.  Another attempt at establishing extra rights to discriminate and be above any laws Christians don’t like.  “We don’t have to follow laws because of our god special rights”.  But we still deserve to not pay taxes and still get taxpayer money from the state because again we are most special because of our god.  Pay us to discriminate against taxpayers.   Because hate and bigotry are more important than inclusion.  Way to spread Chritistan love and the message of Christ.   Hugs

State’s non-discrimination requirements “directly conflict with St. Mary’s, St. Bernadette’s, and the Archdiocese’s religious beliefs,” the lawsuit says.

Archbishop Samuel Aquila speaks during a ...
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
 In this file photograph Archbishop Samuel Aquila speaks during a press conference to address sexual abuse in the Catholic church on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019.
By  | ehernandez@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
PUBLISHED:  | UPDATED: 
 

The Denver Catholic Archdiocese along with two of its parishes is suing the state alleging their First Amendment rights are violated because their desire to exclude LGBTQ parents, staff and kids from Archdiocesan preschools keeps them from participating in Colorado’s new universal preschool program.

The program is intended to provide every child 15 hours per week of state-funded preschool in the year before they are eligible for kindergarten. To be eligible, though, schools must meet the state’s non-discrimination requirements.

The Denver Archdiocese, St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton and St. Bernadette Catholic Parish in Lakewood filed suit against Lisa Roy, executive director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, and Dawn Odean, director of Colorado’s Universal Preschool Program, on Wednesday.

The Denver Archdiocese and the Colorado Department of Early Childhood could not immediately be reached for comment.

“The Department is purporting to require all preschool providers to accept any applicant without regard to a student or family’s religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity, and to prohibit schools from “discriminat[ing] against any person” on the same bases,” the lawsuit said. “These requirements directly conflict with St. Mary’s, St. Bernadette’s, and the Archdiocese’s religious beliefs and their religious obligations as entities that carry out the Catholic Church’s mission of Catholic education in northern Colorado.”

The Denver Archdiocese said in the suit they do not believe adhering to their religious beliefs against accepting LGBTQ people qualifies as discrimination. The Denver Post published written guidance last year issued by the Denver Archdiocese to its Catholic schools on the handling of LGBTQ issues, including telling administrators not to enroll or re-enroll transgender or gender non-conforming students and explaining that gay parents should be treated differently than heterosexual couples.

The lawsuit said St. Mary’s and St. Bernadette’s each require their preschool staff sign annual Archdiocese-approved employment contracts affirming that staff abide by traditional Catholic teachings on life, sexuality and marriage. They require parents who send their kids to their preschools “to understand and accept the community’s worldview and convictions regarding Catholic moral issues like life, marriage, and human sexuality,” the lawsuit said.

The Denver Archdiocese argues in the lawsuit that the state has “cornered the market” for preschool services by providing universal funding and any preschool providers who don’t participate will be “severely disadvantaged” and forced to charge “significantly” higher fees, disadvantaging low-income families whose children attend Archdiocesan schools.

“Colorado did not have to create a universal preschool funding program, but in doing so it cannot implement that program in a way that excludes certain religious groups and providers based on their sincerely held religious beliefs,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said enrolling children with gay parents into an Archdiocesan school “is likely to lead to intractable conflicts” because a “Catholic school cannot treat a same-sex couple as a family equivalent to the natural family without compromising its mission and Catholic identity.”

The lawsuit is seeking a jury trial and for the state to reverse its decision and allow the Denver Archdiocese to participate in the universal preschool program while giving them the ability to exclude LGBTQ students, staff and parents from their schools.

A Tallahassee student group for Black men might have to change its name

https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/education/2023-08-13/a-tallahassee-student-group-for-black-men-might-have-to-change-its-name

Blacks don’t deserve a group just to help them the right believes.  Notice a white support group wouldn’t have to change their name.  But it is part of the push to keep and enshrine a dwindling white majority rule in the US.  Seriously this has to be stopped, it is again a resurgence of the confederate south.  As one student said.  “Trying to erase things that we’ve been through that we had to deal with to get to where we are now is just trying to water down the things that we’ve done,” Wiggins said. “I think our history is very important.” Hugs

Exterior of Computer Technology and Workplace Development buildings at Tallahassee Community College.
Patrick Sternad
 
WFSU Public Media
Exterior of Computer Technology and Workplace Development buildings at Tallahassee Community College.
————————————————————————————
The Black Male Achievers at Tallahassee Community College might have to change its name or risk losing state and federal funding under a new Florida law.

A student organization that serves African-American men who attend Tallahassee Community College might have to change its name or risk losing funding under a new Florida law.

Tyler Soto, a student at TCC, is a member of Black Male Achievers. He says they’re working out possible new names, such as “Male Achievers” or “Scholar Male Achievers.”

“We’re going to have to change the name of our organization or they’re going to defund it because it has ‘Black’ in front of it.”

A new law prohibits student-led organizations that “advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion” and other social and political causes from receiving state or federal funding. While those organizations aren’t banned outright, they may only receive funding from student-activity fees under the new law.

That has him and his classmates concerned as they get ready to return to campus this month, Soto said.

Soto, who’s also a member of TCC’s Student Government Association, says changes like these only encourage him to get more involved in the political process.

“It has made me want to step up and be the change.”

Soto’s classmate Denzel Wiggins is also a member of SGA and the Black Male Achievers.

“I don’t think we should have to change our name because obviously it’s for the Black community, so I’m not a fan.”

Wiggins says he’s also not happy about the Stop Woke Act, which restricts the way race is taught in college and university classrooms. That law is the driver behind the state’s controversial new African American history standards in K-12 schools.

“Trying to erase things that we’ve been through that we had to deal with to get to where we are now is just trying to water down the things that we’ve done,” Wiggins said. “I think our history is very important.”


Clarification: WFSU News reached out to TCC by phone and email before the story published on Friday.

TCC says that it had no conversations with members of the Black Male Achievers about having to change the organization’s name.

A spokesperson emailed WFSU News the following statement on Wednesday:

“BMA provides academic support and student services to help underrepresented populations, like minority males, persist and graduate. As with all TCC clubs, orgs and programs, membership into BMA is open to any and all currently-registered students.”

Texas University Forced To Close LGBTQ Center

Texas University Forced To Close LGBTQ Center

This part of the plan to wipe out the LGBTQIA from society, from public view.  Because if you can not see us, we won’t exist.   But they can put crosses and churches on every street.  It seems strange to me that in Texas which is a state that is already minority majority with whites staying in political power by the dirty tricks of voter suppression and gerrymandering.  Suppressing the brown people’s votes as much as possible.  So here are a bunch of white cis men trying to remain the most powerful group by outlawing and banning diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at public higher education institutions.  Hugs

The Texas Tribune reports:

Jamie Gonzales, a former program coordinator at the University of Houston’s LGBTQ Resource Center, hasn’t slept well ever since she heard that the center will be disbanded in accordance with Senate Bill 17, a law banning diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at public higher education institutions.

Although she knew the closure was coming after the bill passed in April in the Texas Senate, she still found herself emotionally ill-prepared to grapple with the reality: an end of an era for a place that served as a beacon of acceptance, safety and support for thousands of queer “Coogs,” as UH students often call themselves.

“There were a lot of special moments held in that space,” said Gonzales while crying during a phone interview this week. Before Thursday, the effect of the law at UH was unclear to many students, alumni and faculty. But all that changed last week when students noticed a flyer taped to the door of the center that read, “In Accordance with Texas Senate Bill 17, the LGBTQ Resource Center has been disbanded.”

Read the full article.

The law’s author, Sen. Brandon Creighton [photo], is also behind his state’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill for public schools. Creighton first appeared on JMG in 2019 for his bill seeking to overturn LGBTQ protections enacted by Texas cities. In March 2023, he appeared here for his bill that would deny the prospect of tenure to newly-hired university professors. Creighton has spearheaded the Texas campaign to protect Confederate monuments.

 

Todd20036 6 days ago

This isn’t even about children. College students are adults

It’s about erasing LBGTs out of existence

Todd20036 6 days ago

This isn’t even about children. College students are adults

It’s about erasing LBGTs out of existence

Ninja0980  Todd200366 days ago

They want us dead, simple as that.

Max-1 🔫+cult(R)=☠️  Todd200366 days ago

The CultPAC spoke,
Eradicate (people) from public life.

This is but one step.

customartist  Todd200366 days ago

Private colleges should begin offering public school tuition rates to LGBTQ students.

THE CAPE CUBSADER  Todd200366 days ago

IT’S ABOUT ANYTHING THAT IS NOT WHITE!

AzBearin 6 days ago

many years ago I was a student at Northern IL university and during this time I was confused and questioning my sexuality. I found out there was a small office for Gay and Lesbian folk so I went and had an interesting and worthwhile discussion with a wonderful lesbian who shared her story with me. i still remained in the closet for a few more years but I have never forgotten what she told me, in her own way she helped me come out some years later. I still wonder what if I had not gone to that office that day,.

Posthumously  AzBearin6 days ago

That kind of affirmation is exactly what Republicans are trying to prevent.

patty thomas  AzBearin5 days ago

It’s an amazing feeling when you first realize you aren’t the only one in the world. I’m not gay, just an ally but I went through a somewhat similar experience when I first found out I wasn’t the only atheist in the world. I didn’t even know there was a word for it. We need connections to survive and thrive.

Edwin&Rufus  Randy5035 days ago edited

In the mid 80’s, I was at a homophobic, major university in Indiana. The chancellor declared in a speech, there were no “homosexuals” there.

By accident, I found a gay, then gay/lesbian group across the street from the student union, but actually iff campus in the Wesley Foundation. It was jointly sponsored by the Methodist / Episcopalian outreach programs. No religion was pushed. We met in the church basement.

It was truly life saving, during the era of lethal, rampant AIDS, police stings, discrimination, and other abuses.

The University couldn’t touch them. They were off campus, and inna church.

CJ 6 days ago

“a law banning diversity, equity and inclusion”

There is NO question what Republicans have in mind.

BeccaM  CJ6 days ago

Yes: All out unapologetic white nationalism.

Niblet58  BeccaM5 days ago

White straight nationalism.

another_steve 6 days ago

They want us dead, peeps.

How do we respond?

BeccaM  another_steve6 days ago edited

By driving them out of elected office, a process that will likely take as long as it took *them* to seize power. Which is to say, it needs to be a sustained and unrelenting effort that over the course of many election cycles.

another_steve  BeccaM6 days ago

As a survivor of the HIV/AIDS crisis, I see uncanny similarities in how today’s Republican Party is attacking our community.

Back then, it was “let them die, they deserve death.”

Today it’s “do what we can to make their lives, their beings, invisible and non-existent.”

Ninja0980  BeccaM6 days ago

Taking the courts back as well is part of that.

doninkansas  BeccaM6 days ago

we have to start local (county and city, then state), then work our way up to federal, challenging and changing judges as we go. it is a multipronged effort that all too many don’t want to take time to do. that was how the “moral majority” did it, they started with school boards and city councils, then county level and state level. when they had a strong base in place, then they took federal offices quite easily. once in place there, they appointed judges from within their ranks and owned the country. we will have to fight tooth and nail to get this reversed.

Archipelagos  another_steve6 days ago edited

Political mobilization is super important, but I would also gently encourage folks to also give space to what is necessary to protect their own health and wellbeing, and that of their friends and family. Don’t panic, prepare has been my mantra for a while now.

Boreal6 days ago

Guess what, knuckledraggers? You have one, maybe two presidential election cycles before the generation you keep fucking over is the majority. They will decide what nursing homes you end up in as well as a host of other issues that will affect your hateful lives.

AyJayDee2  Boreal6 days ago edited

That’s why they’re trying to destroy democracy – it’s to create minority rule. Remember that whites were always a minority in South Africa, and Apartheid lasted almost 50 years.

jk1056 days ago

I remember in the 60s and 70s colleges having sit ins to create these centers. I think it is time for such activism to start again.

Flora DeMann  jk1056 days ago

Those 60s and 70s college students are today’s college students’ grandparents. I don’t know what happened.