BYU students and others dressed as angels. (YouTube/Latter Gay Stories)
A group of “angel” defenders protected LGBTQ+ Brigham Young University students from protesters who targeted a Pride event.
Utah’s Brigham Young University (BYU) students were confronted by protesters on Saturday (3 September) during a scheduled “Back to School Pride Night” that included an all-ages drag show.
The hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ protesters reportedly screamed homophobic slurs and some had even brought handguns, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
But things took a turn after a group of counter-protesters appeared in white cloaks and wings made of sheets.
They formed a protective barrier around the group of rainbow-wearing students.
BYU student and “angel” Sabrina Wong told the Tribune: “I’m doing this because I want our LGBTQ community to feel like they can be themselves and know we have their backs.”
The religious university, which is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormon church, disallows LGBTQ+ students from meeting on campus in organised groups.
It forbids same-sex dating on campus (despite removing the official policy in 2020), potentially violating several civil rights clauses according to Associated Press.
The group of protesters included former and current BYU students ,who described gender dysphoria as a “social contagion“. Others screamed various slurs at the group, including saying they were “going against God”.
“This shouldn’t be at a public park,” co-founder of the informal BYU conservative group Thomas Stevenson said.
The “Back to School Pride Night” was organised by the RaYnbow Collective, a local group focused on creating safe spaces for LGBTQ+ BYU students and staff.
It was a spin-off of the usual annual Pride event for new students of BYU, this time also featuring a family-friendly drag show that included BYU students as performers.
RaYnbow Collective’s founder Maddison Tenney was told by police to expect large anti-LGBTQ+ crowds ahead of the event.
“Religion has been weaponised against the queer community for a long time,” she said. “But that needs to end. I believe there’s nothing more divine than who I am as a queer child of God.”
Tenney initially thought of the angel costumes after seeing them being used by friends of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in 1999.
Shepard died six days after being beaten, tortured, and left hanging from a fence by two homophobic men, who were eventually sentenced to two consecutive life terms without parole.
The tactic was used to block signs by members of the Westboro Baptist Church that read “God hates f*gs” from public view using the wings as a cover. It has become a common tactic by pro-LGBTQ+ religious groups, including at the funerals for the victims of the Orlando LGBTQ+ nightclub shooting in 2016.
Notice the main antagonist against the gay man was a white supremacist. The same people who support the republicans and the many of the elected republicans also are. Hugs
One superior mocked him asking, “Do they make those pants in a man’s size?”
According to a gay, former paramedic for Denver Health, the city’s largest health services provider has been corrupted by a “culture of discrimination, retaliation, sexism, [and] racism, and it “needs to stop.”
The paramedic, Jordan Christensen, filed a lawsuit alleging he faced serial harassment and discrimination from his superiors in Denver Health’s Paramedic Division due to his sexual orientation.
The suit follows a string of others filed by employees since 2017, including a whistleblower complaint and one alleging retaliation for calling out racial discrimination.
Christensen, who worked at Denver Health since 2012, was fired in January. His complaint details a litany of abuse.
Christensen was the object of harassment by one superior in particular. Lt. Christopher Pattinson, since fired for stealing fentanyl, would disparage the paramedic’s appearance with comments like, “Do they make those pants in a man’s size?”
Another mocked Christensen by saying, “Oh that’s right, you wouldn’t have kids.” According to Christensen, the same superior flashed a white power sign in a photo taken during an awards ceremony for a Black paramedic.
Christensen said the abuse started in earnest after he came out on social media.
“I always felt nervous for my job, and I always felt like I was doing something wrong,” he told Denver7 News. “I felt humiliated in front of my coworkers many times. It was embarrassing to be singled out.”
According to the suit, Denver Health brought in outside investigators to address growing complaints among staff in 2019. One investigator “encouraged Mr. Christensen to complain to the Defendant’s HR department and retain counsel due to the ongoing harassment.” Christensen claims his reports were ignored and the harassment only got worse. He also alleges he was singled out for disciplinary action while co-workers escaped scrutiny for the same actions.
Spencer Kontnik, Christensen’s attorney, said the hospital turned a “blind eye” to the paramedic’s complaints in violation of its own anti-discrimination policies.
“It was so egregious to the extent that Mr. Christensen started waiting in his car and hiding in his car before he went into work so he didn’t have to deal with that type of harassment,” the attorney said.
According to the suit, the abuse only ended with Christensen’s termination, when the paramedic was accused of mistreating a patient.
“I was treating a patient with superiors, including Lt. Chris Pattinson,” Christensen recounted. “I was brought up to discuss that call by myself without them, and I was terminated. We were all three actively treating the exact same patient who ultimately walked out of the hospital, gave us a hug and actually thanked us for the treatment that we provided her.”
“We want Denver Health to be held accountable for what it did,” said Christensen’s attorney. “He lost his career. He lost his profession.”
And the republican’s in office and the republican candidates for office keep stoking the anger of their rabid gang enforcer brownshirt thugs, knowing those thugs will attack the legal events of the LGBTQ+. This result is the point, this violence against the LGBTQ+ is what they want. When they did not want women to use their legal rights to abortion they tried to use violence and threats made in anger stoked by the republicans in office. Now they got their way in the Supreme Court on taking away that civil right, so they are coming after the LGBTQ+ to take away their civil rights. Notice the police released the thugs who attacked the event with the goal of shutting it down. I posted a few weeks ago where the police attacked the counter protestors who were LGBTQ+ at a white pride event when the Proud Boys started to attack the LGBTQ+ counter protestors. The police have members that are part of these militia gang thug groups. It is likely they wont protect the LGBTQ+ community no matter what. Hugs
Anti-LGBTQ protesters clashed with anti-fascist counter protesters at the first Pride event in Riverside, CA, since 2009.
Protests outside an LGBTQ Pride event in Riverside, California erupted into violence on Sunday, leading to the arrest of at least one local far-right extremist.
The Inland Empire Pride Festival, held inside the Riverside Municipal Auditorium, was organized by local group Riverside LGBTQ+ Pride and was reportedly the first local Pride event since 2009. Inside the venue, the event featured live music, entertainment, dancing, panel discussions, information on the history of the LGBTQ community, and a youth program, according to The Press-Enterprise.
Outside, however, anti-LGBTQ protesters, led by local extremist Chris Reyes, clashed with local anti-fascist counter protesters. Video posted on YouTube by News2Share shows protesters, including Reyes, brawling on the street in front of the auditorium. The anti-LGBTQ protesters can be seen holding signs and banners with messages like, “No disgusting pedos/groomers” and “Pedophilia is not a sexual orientation.”
Chris Reyes, who was wearing a shirt with the crossed out word "Groomers" on it, struggled from mace in his eyes as he was pulled away by police in handcuffs.
Him being maced is visible 25 seconds into the previous tweet.
Protesters exchange punches outside Riverside's Inland Empire Pride festival at Riverside Municipal Auditorium in Riverside on Sunday, September 4, 2022. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) pic.twitter.com/sV0ttEQWlA
One particularly bellicose protester even seems to identify himself as gay while hurling profanity and slurs at festival attendees.
Reyes, who was reportedly an organizer of July’s far-right “Freedom Fest” in Phoenix, Arizona, and attended the “Stop the Steal” rally leading to the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, was arrested following the fight. According to News2Share’s Ford Fischer, Reyes was later released.
As the Antifa activists pointed out ahead of the event, the pride event itself was somewhat insulated from the violence that took place outside; because of the counter-protests that were expected, security checkpoint were used to form a perimeter around the event. pic.twitter.com/LJMcQfCkOu
The Riverside festival was just the latest Pride event to attract far-right protesters in recent months. Family friendly events like drag story hours at local libraries have been a particular target for groups like the Proud Boys.
The transcript from the September 1 hearing before Judge Aileen Cannon in the Southern District of Florida has been made public relating to the search warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago on August 8. The bizarre transcript shows Judge Cannon has very little understanding of the law about search warrants or even that she lacks jurisdiction to hear this case.
Boston Children’s Hospital, one of the top hospitals that provide trans healthcare for children, received a bomb threat after multiple reports of targeted online threats regarding transgender healthcare. The Majority Report crew talks about fascism and its influence on the Right. The MR crew also revisit one of Peterson’s famous videos on individualism and how it contradicts his statements about how trans people do not have the right as individuals to transition because it disrupts society.
The federal court in the Southern District of Florida just unsealed the more detailed inventory list of items seized from Mar-A-Lago during the search on August 8. In addition to showing hundreds of top secret classified documents that Trump stole, it also shows folders with top secret classified markings that are empty and apparently missing records.
Again the Libs Of TikTok with smears of pedophilia and attacks against teachers. Yet some people still believe the lies this group puts out about trans people, and kids being rushed into surgery or forced to transition. Hugs
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), his campaign, and the Florida Republican Party have launched a coordinated attack on Karla Hernández, the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Florida. They claim Hernández, as president of the United Teachers of Dade (UTD) union, “protected a sexual predator for years and accompanied him through numerous investigations into his sexual assaults of multiple students.” This claim, Popular Information has learned, is false.
The allegation against Hernández appears to have originated on Twitter from a notorious right-wing disinformation account, Libs of Tik Tok. News of Hernández’s selection as the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor, running on a ticket with Charlie Crist, was first reported on August 26 at 2:01 PM Eastern. At 8:36 PM, Libs of Tik Tok posted that Hernández was involved in a coverup “for a teacher who pled guilty to sexual assault of a student.”
But it is false that Hernández “protected” Wendell Nibbs or “accompanied him through numerous investigations.” The known allegations against Nibbs span from May 2004 to May 2016. Hernández did not become president of UTD, which represents more than 28,000 educators, until May 2016.
When an investigation into a teacher is criminal, UTD does not play any role, a union spokesperson told Popular Information. UTD confirmed that, after Hernández became president in 2016, UTD had no involvement with the investigation into Nibbs.
As the allegations against Hernandez failed to penetrate major media outlets, DeSantis himself voiced the debunked allegations. “You do not put union politics ahead of middle school students who are in danger of being sexually abused,” DeSantis said on Tuesday.
DeSantis Spreading False Libs of TikTok Claim Against Charlie Crist’s Running Mate: Report https://t.co/HBlezTxqaz via @mediaite
The UTD member Karla Hernandez Mats protected through years of investigations and student rape allegations pled guilty to rape of a child and was sentenced to prison in Jan 2020.
By May 2020, media was back to promoting Karla for her pro-lockdown stance.https://t.co/CmZ0UWxLOP
I wish people would judge someone by the tactics they stoop to. I don’t mind hardhitting stuff as long as it’s true. This acceptance of utter lying unapologetic spewing of batshit as a cool tactic is a major reason I despise any and all GOPers.
Well lets hope the democrats get a move on and are planning on calling the press together and call out the lies… and use the word LIES and point out how they have nothing to run on except fake take toc conspiracy theories and hate mongering . But it is Florida so ………..
What this guy is spouting is gaining traction all across the nation, not because more people are getting religious but because these type of assholes are pushing their Christian Taliban ideas backed up by the Republican political party and the violent maga brownshirt enforcers now enforcing a minority view on the public with little pushback from law enforcement. Hugs
Dalton Clodfelter accused The Satanic Temple’s Lucien Greaves of indoctrinating kids… by teaching them compassion
Dalton Clodfelter rants about Lucien Greaves (screenshot via Rumble)
If white nationalist Dalton Clodfelter has his way, the United States will become a Christian theocracy and The Satanic Temple’s co-founder Lucien Greaves will be imprisoned for life for his act of “terrorism” by… offering kids an After School Satan program to counter Bible clubs.
During his show Tuesday night, Clodfelter, for some reason, rehashed a story from January about an After School Satan club at an elementary school in Moline, Illinois. In short, the club was an alternative to a Christian club the district had already approved. Parents were furious because they assumed something evil was taking place (which is not true), and several of them protested outside the school, but administrators had no legal right to refuse the Satanists’ offer and said as much to the press.
Clodfelter didn’t mention any of those legal details. Instead, he just played a four-minute segment from KWQC before launching into his beliefs about how we ought to live in a Christian nation. He said Christianity should be the “national religion” and that the religion should be taught (presumably as fact) in every school. He claimed, with a straight face, that the ASS club represented “indoctrination of children.”
Then he launched into a broader attack on religious pluralism… before literally threatening Greaves:
After rehashing an old story about After School Satan clubs, white nationalist Dalton Clodfelter said non-Christians shouldn't be allowed to hold elected office… and that The Satanic Temple's Lucien Greaves should be charged with treason.
You see, I don’t believe that all religions are equal. I don’t necessarily believe that you should be able to serve public office if you are not Christian. I think if you are a Satan worshipper, if you are an atheist, if you are a Jew, if you are a Muslim, your interests do not equate the interests of the American people. You do not represent this country. This country was built on the backs of hard working Christian men, and what you are doing is simply an attack on faith.
…
I believe that we are going to take this country back and I believe that we are going to win. And when we do win, we will lock up The Satanic Temple guy, Lucien Greaves or whatever his name is, we will lock him up for attempting to indoctrinate children, because his plan is to destroy this nation’s morality. That is an act of terrorism and an act of treason.
Anyone who decided to indoctrinate a child into their false religion should be locked away forever for treason and domestic terrorism because they are destroying this nation from the inside.
Clodfelter’s arguments boil down to:
Non-Christians shouldn’t be in public office… violating the Establishment Clause and “No Religious Test” part of the Constitution.
Non-Christians “don’t represent” this country… when, by definition, they literally do.
The Founders were Christians… which is wildly inaccurate.
The mere existence of Satanists is an “attack on faith”… which is bizarre when you consider what the Satanists in question are attempting to teach.
Teaching kids compassion and empathy and humility and honesty and respect would “destroy this nation’s morality.”
Offering an explicitly non-Christian alternative to an after school Bible club is an “act of terrorism and an act of treason” and should be punished with a life-long prison sentence. (Technically, treason is punishable by execution, though he didn’t say that.)
It’s just Christian extremism, full of lies and threats, with no discernible pushback because he’s speaking in a right-wing bubble.
Despite that, Lucien Greaves laughed off the threat in an email to me:
I’m not familiar with this little Dalton fellow in the video, and I suppose that my immediate concern should be whether or not he’s attached to violent radicals, as he’s calling for me to be tried for treason. But, to be honest, it looks too much like a campaign video made by a kid running for middle school class president to be intimidating.
Poor Dalton tries to strike a commanding presence, but it is all too obvious that there is nothing that he doesn’t fear, as he fears what he doesn’t understand. But who knows? Maybe he’ll grow up and start experimenting—reading novels, eating “exotic” foods—and Dalton will start to appreciate, rather than fear, the unfamiliar world around him.
If not, I’m sure that when he and his friends come to arrest me for treason they’ll be wearing adorable little matching hats.
The problem with extremists like Clodfelter isn’t usually the guy himself, but rather what his followers may do. Here’s hoping no one’s listening.
Photo: Shutterstock
Chris Reyes Photo: Screenshot/News to Share
SEPTEMBER 1, 2022
Scottie's Playtime 