(There was a time when this would not have been allowed to be spoken of within the pageant, even after VAWA passed. I’m glad we’ve managed to raise a few generations with more confidence than we had at their ages.)
Alexis Smith was crowned Miss Kansas last month. She wowed audiences when she told them that her abuser was in the audience, reinforcing her platform of ending domestic violence. Miss America/AP/FileCNN โ
Being a pageant winner takes more than beauty and talent. The newly crowned Miss Kansas Alexis Smith showed that winning the title sometimes requires bravery, too.
It only reinforced the importance of her platform โ โto eliminate unhealthy and abusive relationships.โ
When asked about her vision for her tenure as Miss Kansas, Smith maintained her composure in a sparkly azure dress.
โSome of you out in this audience saw me very emotional, because my abuser is here today,โ she said.
โBut thatโs not going to stop me from being on this Miss Kansas stage and from representing as the next Miss Kansas,โ she continued to applause and cheers. โBecause I and my community deserve healthy relationships.โ
She provided more context in an Instagram post the month after her win. On the night of the pageant, she said, โsomeone I have been healing from tried to disrupt my peace.โ
โInstead of falling into silence, I chose to live out my vision for a better world,โ she wrote. โI took back my power โ not just for myself, but for my dreams and everyone watching and listening.โ
She added, โIโm ready to use my story, tools, and resources to end unhealthy relationships in all forms.โ
This week is the first I’ve heard of this, but I am old, so of course I would have missed it before. However, it’s out here now, and looks kind of exciting, as to GOTV.
The internet has entered its Kamala Harris ‘coconut tree’ era
To many young people on X and TikTok, the vice president is unironically funny and all too easy to meme.
Democrats may soon nominate a presidential candidate capable of rivaling GOP nominee Donald Trump in memeability.
After President Joe Biden announced his decision to forfeit re–election, a tidal wave of memes about Vice President Kamala Harris โ whom Biden backed as the Democratic presidential candidate โ flooded the internet.
On platforms like TikTok and X, the mood felt celebratory as many left-leaning accounts posted upbeat fan edits of Harris and made memes out of her more memorable lines from speeches. On Sunday, British pop artist Charli XCX appeared to back Harris, calling her a โbrat,โ a reference to her new album, which has become the Gen Z theme of the summer.
Some political strategists say the memes are helping Harris generate a level of organic social media clout among Gen Z that Biden has struggled to cultivate, amplified by the spotlight of a possible presidential nomination.
โShe doesnโt take herself too seriously. She knows how to have fun, and sheโs somebody that is willing to be a little bit less stuffy than a traditional presidential candidate would be, and I think thatโs a good thing in this election cycle,โ said Marianna Pecora, the communications director for the Gen Z-run political advocacy group Voters of Tomorrow.
But Pecora said the viral moments arenโt just for laughs โ they also indicate broader support for Harris, particularly among young people who have at times felt disenchanted by presidential candidates.
โI donโt think that anyone is going to necessarily meme their way to the presidency,โ said Pecora, 20, a student at George Washington University. โBut I do think that being able to make this election something bright and fun and exciting and something thatโs infiltrating peopleโs feeds and therefore their everyday lives is only a good thing.โ
Part of Harrisโ frequent virality comes from her tendency to show off her seemingly authentic personality online. Itโs why many of her vocal online supporters โ who call themselves the KHive โ have staunchly defended her since her first presidential run in 2020.
โMy mother used to, she would give us a hard time sometimes and she would say to us, โI donโt know whatโs wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?โโ Harris said in the speech. โโYou exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.โโ
On Tuesday Night, the Teamsters Union posted a tweet criticizing President Sean O’Brien over anti-trans article endorsement. This comes after O’Brien spoke at the RNC, a first for the union.
Erin In The Morning is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a subscriber.
Subscribe
ย
ย
On Monday evening, Teamsters President Sean OโBrien made history byย speaking at the Republican National Conventionโthe first time a Teamsters Union President has ever done so. The move, however, didnโt come without controversy. Union Vice President John Palmerย calledย the decision โunconscionable.โ
OโBrien then stirred more debate byย tweeting in supportย of anย articleย by Republican Senator Josh Hawley, which criticized corporate initiatives supporting diversity, equity, inclusion, and transgender workers. The situation then erupted when the official Teamsters Twitter accountย posted a statementย condemning OโBrienโs endorsement, which was swiftly deleted.
โUnions gain nothing from endorsing the racist, misogynistic, and anti-trans politics of the far right, no matter how much people like Sen. Hawley attempt to tether such bigotry to a cynical pro-labor message. The message this sends to Teamsters of color, Teamster women, and LGBTQ Teamsters is that they are not welcome in the union unless they surrender their identity to a new kind of anti-woke unionism. You don’t unite a diverse working class by scoffing at its diversity,โ said the now deleted tweet.
OโBrienโs support for Hawleyโs views received swift backlash. โWe get it. He promised you Secretary of Labor,โ read a response by transgender writerย Parker Molloy.
โIf you’re a Teamster of color, are LGBTQ+, Sean O’Brien has just said he doesn’t give a fuck about you,โ said theย Daily Union Electionsย account.
โScab,โ said American journalist and labor activistย Talia Jane.
OโBrienโs speech at the RNC puzzled many observers. He used the platform to advocate for unions while also praising Donald Trump, calling him โone tough SOB.โ Throughout much of the speech, the applause was tepid to nonexistent. Reports even indicated that at leastย one audience memberย shouted โright to work,โ reflecting anti-union sentiments in the Republican Party.
Meanwhile, other labor union leaders were critical of OโBrienโs appearance at the RNC. Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO,ย responded, โDonald Trump and J.D. Vance are on the bossesโ sideโฆ We wonโt be fooled.โ These critiques were echoed by members of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, and other union leaders.
Even John Palmer, the Teamsters Vice President,ย weighed in: โA speaking engagement at the Republican National Convention by Teamsters President Sean OโBrien, regardless of the message, only normalizes and makes the most anti-union party and president Iโve seen in my lifetime seem palatable.โ
OโBrienโs support for a senatorโs explicitly anti-diversity and anti-LGBTQ+ viewsย runs contraryย to Teamsters Unionโs official documents and policies. One document on the Teamsters website states, โWe are pro-union and pro-equality. In keeping with the labor movement motto, โan injury to one is an injury to all,โ we support a strong and progressive labor movement that promotes full equality and respect for LGBTQ workers and their families.โ
The Teamsters presidentโs participation and apparent endorsement of anti-trans and anti-queer politics from the Republican Party could signal a profound betrayal to LGBTQ+ workers, who depend on union protections for their safety and rights. As the Teamsters Union remains silent on its presidential endorsement, the stakes have never been higher for those workers impacted by Republican policies. LGBTQ+ union members are left with the question of whether or not their rights will be bartered away for political favor with a party that has repeatedly positioned itself against their very existence.
Erin In The Morning is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a subscriber.
Donald Trump has chosen J.D. Vance as his running mate, theย former presidentย announced on Monday.
Vance, a first-term Republican senator from Ohio, was widely expected to be Trumpโs vice presidential pick as the pool of potential hopefuls narrowed earlier in the day. Just hours before the announcement, several outlets reported that Gov. Doug Burgum (R-N.D.) and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)ย were informed by the Trump campaignย that they would not be on the 2024 ticket. Others previously thought to be on Trumpโs short list included Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), U.S. House Rep. Elise Stefanink (R-N.Y.), and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.
ย
ย
In a post onย his own tech platform, Truth Social, Trump lauded Vance as the โperson best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States.โ
โJ.D. honorably served our Country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and is a Yale Law School Graduate, where he was Editor of The Yale Law Journal, and President of the Yale Law Veterans Association,โ he said, adding that he โwill be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond.โ
The choice of Vance, who rose to fame as the author of the controversial memoirย Hillbilly Elegy, was likely intended to help Trump shore up support among white, lower-income voters in the Midwest, where President Joe Biden is considered vulnerable in the 2024 race. According to poll averages fromย FiveThirtyEight, Trump leads Biden byย more than nine pointsย in Vanceโs home state of Ohio, and Biden also trails inย Michigan,ย Pennsylvania, andย Wisconsin. Biden would likely need to win all three of the latter states to stave off a second Trump term, with swing states like Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada also looking vulnerable in 2024.
ย
A former critic of Trump who recast himself as a politician in the MAGA model, Vanceโs LGBTQ+ record differs very little from the man at the top of his ticket. During his two years in the U.S. Senate, Vanceย opposed the Respect for Marriage Act, which codified federal same-sex marriage rights in the event thatย Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2004 ruling legalizing marriage equality, is repealed by the Supreme Court. He alsoย authored the Protect Childrenโs Innocence Act, which would make it a class C felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, to provide gender-affirming surgery to trans minors. (This despite the fact that transition surgeries are rarely offered to patients under the age of 18 and only in cases of extreme medical need.)
ย
ย
ย
Additionally, Vance is a supporter of the so-called โparentโs rightsโ movement, which advocates that LGBTQ+ students be outed to their parents and seeks to remove queer-affirming resources from classrooms. He has repeatedly referred to opponents of those actions as โgroomers,โ such as in anย April 2022 post on X. โI’ll stop calling people โgroomersโ when they stop freaking out about bills that prevent the sexualization of my children,โ he wrote at the time.
The 39-year-old politician has also opposed diversity and inclusion in the U.S. armed forces, suggesting that he is likely to support re-banning trans servicemembers from the military should Trump be elected. โAmerican political leaders should stop using Americaโs military as a social justice side project,โ hisย 2022 campaign siteย reads. โTroops donโt need to focus on diversity or equity or any other progressive buzzword; they need to focus on fighting and winning Americaโs wars.โ The removal of trans troops from the military is a major component ofย Project 2025, a set of far-right policy proposals shaped and promoted by the anti-LGBTQ+ Heritage Foundation, which Trumpย has sought to distance himselfย from in recent days.
Vanceโs anti-LGBTQ+ background also includes claiming that Biden supports Ukraine because Russian President Vladimir Putin is anti-trans and โโblaming the โchildless leftโย for Americaโs decline, specifically citing U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Furthermore, he once accused U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) of making up the term โTwo-Spirit,โ which is broadly embraced by LGBTQ+ Native Americans to describe their identities. โWould love if progressives just stopped inventing words,โ Vanceย posted on Xย in February 2021.
In repeatedly opposing LGBTQ+ equality, Vance has found aย perfect match in Trump, whose administration was responsible for more than 200 attacks on queer rights in four years, according toย GLAAD. These assaults included repealing protections for trans students, removing resources for LGBTQ+ Americans from federal websites, decimating funding for global HIV/AIDS prevention, and appointing a record-number of judges opposed to LGBTQ+ equality. His administration also made it harder for marginally housed people to find safe shelter and opposed workplace protections for LGBTQ+ employees.
Trump, whose own supportersย threatened to killย his last vice president for refusing to support Trumpโs 2020 bid to remain in office, is likely to resume many of those policies if reelected in November.
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump has been outlining what he plans to do if elected in November. That includes rolling back the rights of millions of LGBTQ+ people. Itโs part of a wider playbook to undo many modern civil rights advances for minority groups. White House Correspondent Laura Barrรณn-Lรณpez reports.
Miller has alsoย sued Kelloggโsย for โsexualizingโ its cereals, Target for sellingย Pride merchandise, Macyโs for its โwokeโย diversity programs, Virginia schools forย being pro-trans, Texas schools forย LGBTQ protections, and NASCAR for being โracistโย against white men. Earlier this year he called for imprisoning Biden and his entire Cabinet. In April,ย Axiosย reported that Miller plans toย enact federal lawsย against โanti-white racismโ should Trump get elected.
Please understand that Miller and his ilk believe that white men should have all the better jobs, that black people and LGBTQ+ people should have only lowing paying menial jobs if they are hired at all.ย No woman should work at all in their world.ย No out LGBTQ+ person should be allowed to work.ย These are white supremacist and they love tRump.ย And tRump like this guy’s ideas.ย He is a sack of hate and vile bile bigotry.ย Hugs.ย Scottie
A former anchor on KCAL and KCBS has filed a $5 million lawsuit claiming he was fired because he was a white man. Jeff Vaughn is represented by America First Legal, the conservative legal group that has taken aim at diversity, equity and inclusion programs, calling them illegal โanti-white discrimination.โ
Vaughn worked at the CBS-owned station group for eight years, until his departure last September. In the suit, he says he was never given a reason for his firing. โBut it was obvious,โ the suit states. โHe was fired because he is an older, white, heterosexual, male.โ
Miller has alsoย sued Kelloggโsย for โsexualizingโ its cereals, Target for sellingย Pride merchandise, Macyโs for its โwokeโย diversity programs, Virginia schools forย being pro-trans, Texas schools forย LGBTQ protections, and NASCAR for being โracistโย against white men. Earlier this year he called for imprisoning Biden and his entire Cabinet. In April,ย Axiosย reported that Miller plans toย enact federal lawsย against โanti-white racismโ should Trump get elected.
Jeff Vaughn, Former KCAL Anchor, Files $5 Million Suit For 'Anti-White' Discrimination https://t.co/Bld1uLUK61
What people don’t understand about these fundamentalist Christians is they don’t accept the rights and feelings of anyone else.ย They are the maximum in selfishness.ย They cry rivers about their feelings not being respected, such as Jordon Peterson claiming it hurt him to use a person’s preferred pronoun, but he couldn’t give a shit about the pain of the misgendered person he just insulted.ย ย The Alito’s are the same, their feelings are very important and must be respected.ย But not yours, not anyone who disagrees with them, those people are to be disregarded entirely.ย Hugs.ย Scottieย ย
โIโm often reminded that the most important thing in my life โ which is my marriage, and my family and the two beautiful children that my husband Chasten and I are raising โ that that marriage only exists by the grace of the single vote on the United States Supreme Court. That expanded our rights and freedoms back in 2015 and made it possible for somebody like me to get married.
โAnd, you know, Supreme Court justices have an unbelievable amount of power and โ by the nature in the structure, the Supreme Court โ thereโs no supervision over that power. They are entrusted with it literally for as long as they live. And part of that trust is we expect them to enter into those enormously consequential decisions that that shape our everyday lives with a sense of fairness.
โI also hope that most Americans can understand the difference between a flag that symbolizes you know, love and acceptance and signals to people who have sometimes feared for their safety that theyโre going to be okay โ and insurrectionists symbology, Iโll just leave it at that.โ โ Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg, on Martha-Ann Alitoโs condemnation of โshamefulโ Pride flags.
The cult is raging.
WATCH: Pete Buttigieg insinuates that Justice Alito and his wife support "insurrection symbology." pic.twitter.com/yRIeVUPhHH
Our Pride flag hangs outside of our house 365 days per year and one day a non-binary teenager who was having a crisis knocked on our door and asked for safety. We hung out with them and chatted and kept them warm and comfortable until they felt ok to go back home.
THAT is what the Pride flag means. Love, safety, and a shoulder to cry on if you need it.
I wish I could do that. However in this neck of the Oklahoma outback, I would be taking my life and putting into their hands — and, at 88, I don’t feel that reckless. My pride flag sits in the drawer beside the door, where it has been for many years – just waiting for the time when it is safe. I know there will be criticism on this site for this, but down here, it is what it is. I am proud — just not stupid.
Those of us who’ve lived through decades of anti-gay violence understand completely.
When you’re in danger of attack from religious assholes for putting up a pride flag – keep safe, and see what other, less public, things you can do to help local LGBT people.
Anyone who criticizes you for this is young and living in a bubble in some big city, and can’t believe the awful things that have been done to many of us over the decades. I hope they’re never beaten up or burned out of their home for being gay. I wish that would end for everyone, but it hasn’t stopped yet in many parts of the country.ย
Scottie's Playtime 