Trigger Warnings. My feelings about Christmas what happened to me as a child.

Hello everyone. This is a hard post but one I feel I must make for my own continued healing and to explain why this season hits me so hard. Before I get to the abuse let me tell everyone that yesterday taking things out of the car I was standing sideways with my knee pressed hard against the seat of the car as I reached across needing just an inch or two to grab the package … and as I strained to grab the parcel my knee snapped, I heard a grinding sound and fell to the ground. I fell to the ground seeing stars.

Ron rushed to me as soon as he saw me on the ground, we got me into my room and realized that my knee cap had been pushed into the cartilage beneath the cap. What ever happened to my knee caused me agony and lost me the ability to stand or use my leg. The pain made moving my leg in any way mind-blowing excoriating pain. Remember I take two kinds of morphine and other pain relievers. Ron got my walker from the bedroom but even using that was not able to help me move around. I went to bed. During the night I was OK if I did not move. The longer I stayed still the more the knee healed and the few times I had to get up to pee, well I had the walker and now understood how to hold my leg. The more it healed, the better it got. So this morning I was able to get up, and using the walker make my way to the kitchen and make my coffee. Then on to the Pink Palace to start my day.

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Now to the reason for my post. I seriously warn for abuse trigger warnings. Please. The reason for this post, I am going to post something I wrote to a fellow survivor about why I get so withdrawn during this time. I appreciate his care and concern, plus I want you to know that it was Randy my grand real brother who talked to me this morning and made it possible for me to deal with posting this time in my life. I won’t include what he replied when I showed him the stuff I wanted to post but I assure you he was a comfort unparalleled in giving me the strength to do this. When I look to the past, what happened in late 2013 and in 2014 forward I wonder if I would be here if not for the unflagging love and care of my grand brother Randy.

Below is what I wrote to a fellow survivor who was worried about me.

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…

Christmas always brings depression and a desire to hide or withdraw from life for me. Short story … it provided more time for abusers to use me and more of them around. During the weeks leading up to Christmas day as presents were placed under the tree which I knew better than go near the hell spawn would mess with their presents to figure out what they were, then when it was discovered I was of coursed blamed and punished for it in front of everyone.

But the worst was Christmas day, and despite what I knew had happened in the past and would happen that day I would get excited thinking of the gifts. After the nighttime / early morning rapes / giving oral to both males and females, I would be told where to sit. One of the hell spawns would pass the gifts out, one at a time. When it was my turn I would carefully unwrap the present even though I was being told to speed up, then give the required thanks to the person it was from, then place it on the floor next to me.

After all the gifts had been unwrapped while the adults gathered their gifts to stash in their room, the hell spawn gathered around me where I still sat. They took what they wanted of what I was “given”, most of which would have been bought knowing they would be the ones to get it. I was left with the clothing, socks, shirts, a pair of pants or two. One Christmas I got a coloring book that they let me keep but they took the crayons. I would take my gifts to my hallway mat until I was nearly 8 and got a bed of my own in the male hell spawns room as we moved and there was no longer a hallway for me to be made sleep in. I knew better than to complain or make a fuss, it was just the way things were, my place there, my life. To cry or complain would get me a public punishment and then a private worse punishment for ruining their Christmas. The private one would be very humiliatingly to insure it stuck with me. I learned not to complain, just shut down.

Anyway you asked if I have gotten any help. No. Two of my doctors want me to get a therapist, along with a neurologist, and several other specialists for different symptoms I have. I do not have the income for all the doctors, tests, and scans these doctors claim I need. Maybe this year. I get through Christmastime by withdrawing and shutting down, kept sane only by my husband and my best friend, and the little internet communications I feel well enough to doing. Mostly during this time I watch videos, movies, not really seeing the screen, not even remembering what I watched, just existing for one more minute, one more hour, one more day.

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Grand for me this year I got a true real Christmas gift. One with no costs of my body for exchange as in my childhood if I wanted something. When at my youngest even food came with me providing sexual favors.

Yes this year I got a Christmas gift with no strings attached. Yes Ron gives me those but this one was special. My brother Randy gave me money to spend on me, not on the house, not on others, but just on me. I have been working for years with a broken keyboard which the backlighting has given out, and my mouse now takes many clicks to make work. Even Ron was frustrated by it during the times we sat together paying bills and wanted me to replace them.

So remembering the spirit this gift was given, I used it to buy the following things. It will make my life so much better. I got them in white. Thank you my grand brother. Hugs

https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/mice/mx-master-3s.910-006558.html

https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/keyboards/mx-keys-s.920-011559.html

Cenk Uygur NEGATIVE Opinion Segment Casts Trans-Activism in NEGATIVE Light AGAIN!

This is a video from the Letterhack. I like the host’s clam informative delivery. I don’t know how anyone who watches Play Time feel about Cenk and Anna, but I do know how I feel. When this situation first erupted and Anna went ballistic on something that was only used on select medical forms and when criticized about it Cenk acted like a teen boy defending his hot girlfriend and went way over board defending her against anyone even vaguely critical and making threats claiming things that were said that never were. But here is the thing that because they refused to accept any criticism of that they claimed, they were supported by republicans and championed the cause republicans would use to win. From there Cenk and Anna branched into bashing Biden while claiming that crime was soaring echoing the right wing media talking point about crime and homelessness. Cenk then went so far as to attack trans supporters and advocates while trying to cozy up to republicans like tRump. I left TYT when Cenk said that the only way to win nation elections was to drop support for the T in LGBTQ+. He was so adamant in that, just throw them under the bus and when we win we can go back and get them. Yet the years that Cenk was pushing this all the republicans trying to run on trans hate lost. They lost by huge margins. But Cenk and Anna never admitted they were wrong using the time to go further right on other republican issues like housing the unhoused and finding ways to deal with crime. They ignored the real reasons for these problems adopting a hard right republican view of the issues. Anyone who disagreed with them was attacked vigorously.

So here is a video and I am not sure at what point in the saga this was videoed at. All I know is Cenk, Anna, and most of TYT has lost the mantel of “Home of the Progressives” and taken on a more smarmy look. Look this is an important video on supporting the trans community and not on attacking Cenk. But we can not let anyone on the left claim to be the home of the progressive left and then give the haters room to attack trans people. Trans rights, trans people, are far more important today than maybe they ever had been. But if you know your history, congratulation you survived the educational purges, then you know that the Stonewall riots where the LGBTQ+ rose to defend themselves and their rights wouldn’t have happened without the valiant drag queens and trans people who used their high heels as weapons to defend the rights of all the LGBTQ+. We need to keep that in mind knowing we still and will always need them and their courage. Hugs

Cenk Uygur continues to use anti-activist rhetoric when discussing Trans-Rights in dehumanizing ways while neglecting to include facts in his wild opinions about gender affirming care for minors.

The Veil Over The Eyes Of Christian Nationalists

Man Sues Employer After Being Fired For Repeatedly Posting Anti-LGBTQ Bible Verses On Company’s System

Man Sues Employer After Being Fired For Repeatedly Posting Anti-LGBTQ Bible Verses On Company’s System

This person was not fired for his religious beliefs. He was fired for pushing his beliefs on others and doing something at work on work property that their employer told them not to do. How many of us get to disregard the orders of our bosses and when fired claim it was because of ours religious beliefs?

But this is entirely about getting the case to the SCOTUS to move the US a little closer to making Christianity the official religion of the country, and cementing into law that Christians do not have to follow the non-discrimination laws due to being Christians, so above such laws. It is about making Christians above any law or rule because of … god, because you can make the bible say anything you desire. It is about making it legal for Christians to push their religious beliefs on coworkers while insulting and refusing to work with those they claim their god dislikes. And forcing the employer to make special concessions to them again based on what they claim their holy book says and it is only their holy book that counts. Hugs.

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January 3, 2025 Christianists, LGBT News

Law.com reports:

Eli Lilly & Co. has been hit with a suit claiming it fired a New Jersey drug sales representative for holding a biblically based view on sexual morality. In a case that pits an employee’s right to religious expression against the company’s support of its LGBTQ+ workers, plaintiff Jonathan Samaniego claims he was terminated based on his religious views, in violation of Title VII and New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination.

In Samaniego v. Eli Lilly & Co., the plaintiff began posting scripture passages during a discussion of Pride Month on the company’s in-house employee communication system, Yammer.

On June 14, 2024, Samaniego’s manager, Jacqueline Porter, posted a lengthy message about Pride Month on Yammer, according to the lawsuit. According to Samaniego’s suit, the plaintiff prayed about how to respond to Porter’s Pride Month posting, then made his own post to Yammer from the book of Leviticus, which said, “You shall not sleep with a male as a with a woman. It is an abomination.”

Read the full article.

According to the report, Samaniego was called into HR and told to refrain from such future postings on the company’s system.

However, days later he reportedly posted anti-gay bible verses again, including this from Corinthians: “Do you know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

After refusing to sign a directive agreeing to stop the postings, he was then terminated, per the report.

Samaniego is being represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation, which appeared here in 2022 when they sued to block LGBTQ-related questions from the US Census.

The group first appeared on JMG in 2010 when they sued then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in an attempt to force him to defend Proposition 8 in federal court.

In 2012, they attempted to force a California state referendum that would have banned mentioning LGBTQ figures in history lessons.

Also in 2012, they attempted to sanction DOJ attorneys for opposing the Defense of Marriage Act.

The group has repeatedly sued to overturn state bans on ex-gay torture, claiming that 80% of ex-gay “conversions” are successful.

In 2019 they sued California to end sexual education and HIV prevention instructions in public schools.

The Pacific Justice Institute, their parent organization, was named a hate group by the SPLC in 2014.

Since the advent of the pandemic, the group has also filed multiple lawsuits against COVID protocols and vaccine mandates.

Ann Kah16 hours ago

“…fired …for holding a biblically based view on sexual morality…”

No, you have the right to hold any view you choose. You were fired for spreading it around on company media, which you mistakenly thought was a pulpit. Your religious beliefs are YOUR beliefs, just yours.

Stoned and loving it 17 hours ago

you have every right to wallow in your own ignorance. you have no right to fling your wallow shit at others. mind your own damn business.

Chris H.17 hours ago

Company property. No different than spray painting bible quotes on a building.

FireCrown-No Kings in the USA!17 hours ago edited

The right to freedom of speech and to religious practice is not an entitlement to use your employer’s systems to spread your personal views.

He should lose, but I have no faith in SCOTUS. (If it reaches them and they take it up, which isn’t guaranteed.)

Jean-Marc Canada – ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ17 hours ago

Dear Religious Fucknut,

The company has a right to its policies, seriously, it’s right there in virtually every employee handbook of the majority of companies. You used company property to push your cult bullshit, thus committing acts of discrimination, they warned you and you chose to violate the policy again.

Also, this is in no way a Title VII violation of your rights as you had been told, via the company, that you were violating their employee guidelines and non-discrimination policy that they set. The irony of you suing for doing what you claim they did to you is hilarious. This should be laughed out of court, but in present day USA, anything religious takes priority, even over other human rights.

Ridiculous nonsense

Nancy Mace’s Capitol Hill Bathroom Ban Missing from House Rules Package

https://www.yahoo.com/news/nancy-mace-capitol-hill-bathroom-174534337.html

Remember that Mace doesn’t believe in her rhetoric, she just wants the media attention. She wants the adoration she thinks that having people paying attention to her gives to her. She is a child desperately acting out to get the adults to pay attention to her. She is the child who never accepted she was at fault or mistaken but wants to blame everyone else including those pretend causes in her head alone. She was for trans rights, a big supporter of LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion when she felt it gained her media attention. Then when she saw the attention the Libs of TikTok and other haters on social media get, she waited for the opportunity to create enough spectacle for the spotlight to land on her. She tweeted over 500 times in 2 days on the bird site trying to milk the situation for views and clicks, often forgetting to switch to her burner accounts to praise her own stance. But now the drama has died down and no one is looking so she doesn’t care. She has to find the new outrage to pounce on. Maybe she will again throw a fit, and try to get some of the attention she got the first time, but she knows she has to wait, as it would be overwhelmed by current events. No if she still wants it, she will wait until about a couple of months in then claim she couldn’t use a bathroom because it is full of trans women. Hugs

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Josh Fiallo

Fri, January 3, 2025 at 12:45 PM EST

Evelyn Hockstein / REUTERS

Nancy Mace’s hopes of banning transgender women from sharing a bathroom with her on Capitol Hill appear dashed for now.

The South Carolina Republican’s controversial bathroom ban was not included in the GOP’s House rules package unveiled this week—a surprise omission less than two months after Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly assured Mace it would be included.

The resolution was all the rage in November, with Mace pulling out different theatrics to drum up support for the ban. That included her using a bullhorn to read Miranda rights to sit-in protesters and using anti-transgender slurs to reference them.

https://twitter.com/cami_mondeaux/status/1864734540167627205

Mace admitted her ban was to target the newly-elected Rep. Sarah McBride, a transgender Democrat from Delaware. Mace’s office did not respond to questions texted by the Daily Beast on Friday.

Johnson announced on Nov. 20 that “all single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings […] are reserved for individuals of that biological sex.” This suggested he backed Mace’s proposal even if he was not as fervent in his public comments, but it is unclear why the ban didn’t make into the latest rules package.

“We welcome all new members with open arms who are duly elected representatives of the people,” Johnson said the day prior. “I believe it’s a command that we treat all persons with dignity and respect.”

Mace doesn’t appear to have any bad blood over the omission. She posted Friday morning that Johnson still had her vote to remain House Speaker.

“A vote for @SpeakerJohnson is a vote for President Trump’s America First agenda,” she wrote. “After the last few days of chaos we’ve seen in these tumultuous times, we need steady leadership and continuity. We need to stick together and get to work. We don’t have any time to waste.”

Rep. Sarah McBride, a Democrat from Delaware, is the first openly transgender member of Congress. / Bill Clark/Getty Images

While McBride was the resolution’s target, the ban would have applied to any trans person in the Capitol, including staffers and visitors

McBride, the first openly-trans member of Congress, has not commented on the ban’s omission. Back in November, she did not try to go toe-to-toe with Mace on the matter—instead asserting that she would follow whatever the House rules were.

“I’m not here to fight about bathrooms,” she wrote in a statement. “I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them.”

Gay couple brought to tears as Japanese court rules marriage equality ban unconstitutional

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/12/gay-couple-brought-to-tears-as-japanese-court-rules-marriage-equality-ban-unconstitutional/

As other countries with much smaller fundamentalist Christian influence over the government are working steadily towards equality and full legal rights of the LGBTQ+ communities the US is falling backwards in a regressive retreat of minority rights. Again for some reason driven by fundamentalist Christian religious groups who create problems that never existed and use lies to promote disinformation creating hate towards the minorities they target. You ask why the republicans have partnered with these fundamentalist Christians? Because both groups seen the lost of group power over society they banded together to force society back to a time and culture when they did have majority power. It comes down to power over others, and control of society. I did not think that Christians believed in that. At least I know Rev. Ed Trevors doesn’t. But for far too many tradition, what was done by my grandparents, done by my parents, should be done by me also. That is wrong because time, cultures, and the understandings change. Hugs.

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One of the same-sex partners uncontrollably cried as the judge read the ruling.

By Daniel Villarreal Friday, December 13, 2024

2017 MAY 08. TOKYO JAPAN. LGBT rainbow flag covered on back of a man

The Fukuoka High Court of Japan has become the third of Japan’s eight high courts to rule that the government’s policy against same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. However, the court upheld a lower court ruling that dismissed three same-sex couples who had sought 1 million yen ($6,540) each for being denied their constitutional rights to gender and legal equality, individual dignity, and the pursuit of happiness.

The couples, who live in the southwestern cities of Fukuoka and Kumamoto, had their damage claims dismissed by the Fukuoka District Court in 2023 after the court ruled that the government wasn’t obliged to compensate them or legalize marriage equality legislation despite being in “state of unconstitutionality,” The Mainichi reported.

Related:

Historic Japan court ruling allows trans woman to change gender without surgery

Trans people just scored an important win for bodily autonomy and freedom.

High Court Judge Takeshi Okada ruled that civil laws forbidding same-sex marriages violate the nation’s constitution, saying, “There is no longer any reason to not legally recognize marriage between same-sex couples.” However, he noted that any change in national marriage laws must be decided by Japan’s legislature, known as the National Diet.

As the judge read his ruling, a 35-year-old plaintiff identified in the media as Kosuke couldn’t stop crying. Despite this, his 37-year-old partner Masahiro said “[the judge] understood our suffering, and I felt very reassured.”

Opponents of marriage equality in Japan have noted that Article 24 of the Japanese constitution specifically states, “Marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes and it shall be maintained through mutual cooperation with the equal rights of husband and wife as a basis.”

However, marriage equality advocates have also pointed out that the constitution’s other articles state, “The people shall not be prevented from enjoying any of the fundamental human rights,” and, “All of the people are equal under the law and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.”

Regardless, in October the Tokyo High Court ruled similarly, echoing another one made by the Sapporo High Court in March, which said that limiting marriage to couples of the opposite sex is “unconstitutional” and “discriminatory.” Despite the rulings, the country’s judiciary doesn’t have the power to overturn existing civil marriage codes.

Marriage equality has divided the country’s court system in opposing rulings over several years. Meanwhile, Japan’s conservative government lags behind increasingly supportive public opinion. Seventy percent of the Japanese public supports marriage equality, but it faces opposition from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The party lost its parliamentary majority in last Sunday’s election and will likely have to compromise on more liberal policies pushed by the opposition parties, like marriage equality, the aforementioned publication noted.

Right now, Japan doesn’t offer national LGBTQ+ non-discrimination protections or same-sex marriage. As a result, LGBTQ+ people in Japan often face inequities in employment, housing, education, and health care.

More than 200 Japanese municipalities offer some form of recognition for same-sex couples. Such recognition can help same-sex couples rent apartments together, visit each other in city hospitals, and receive other services that married heterosexual couples enjoy.

Though several jurisdictions offer “partnership certificates,” they’re entirely symbolic and don’t offer federal benefits given to married heterosexual couples.

LGBTQ+ advocacy groups have pushed for a national bill that would enshrine equal civil rights and non-discrimination protections into law. However, the conservative party of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida helped defeat the effort in the lead-up to the 2021 Olympic Summer Games.

Japan remains the only country in the G7, a political and economic forum of seven of the world’s most advanced economies, that has not legalized marriage equality. Currently, the only Asian countries that have legalized same-sex marriage are Taiwan, Nepal, and Thailand.

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Young LGBTQ+ people advise each other on how to survive challenging times

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/12/young-lgbtq-people-advise-each-other-on-how-to-survive-challenging-times/

“Just look for the people who love you no matter what.”

By Daniel Villarreal Wednesday, December 11, 2024

With a record number of social and political stressors facing young LGBTQ+ people, the Trevor Project has released a collection of advice given by young queers to their peers.

The responses were taken from the organization’s 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People which made the following open-ended request to respondents (who were between the ages of 13 and 24): “We would love for you to share a message of advice or encouragement to other young people in the LGBTQ community.”

Related:

Pro-LGBTQ+ laws boost queer people’s mental health

“I walk around my city, and I see businesses that have gay pride flags and pride flags in their windows,” one gay man said.

One respondent wrote, “Finding a sense of community helps so much, whether it’s online or in person. Just find a place where you can ask questions and read about other people’s experiences.”

Another stressed the importance of envisioning a better future and doing what one can to cultivate community support now.

“Find your group and work towards where you wanna be in life and you’ll make it there,” one wrote, as other offered encouraging words like, “Keep pushing,” “Keep going for another day,” “Just keep going, please,” and “Please keep strong.”

Another urged resilience and perseverance. “Be yourself always,” they wrote. “You may lose connections along the way but trust, there’s someone out there who will love you.” Another respondent agreed, writing, “Just look for the people who love you no matter what.”

Others urged self-compassion and patience as young people figure out their identities. One such message said, “Don’t rush finding your identity. Take your time to explore, and don’t be afraid to take up labels if they feel right at the time.”

Some respondents suggested repeating self-affirmations like the following:

I love you.

I believe in you.

You got this.

You are so strong and you are deserving of love always.

“Wake up everyday, and tell yourself you love yourself — until, one day, you believe it,” one young person wrote.

Other respondents acknowledged the adversity faced by young LGBTQ+ people, whether in politics or unaccepting homes.

“[It’s] very easy to think that the entire world [despises] you for who you are when your home environment conveys that,” one wrote. “You might not feel safe and happy now,” another wrote, “but hopefully, there will come a day when you find your home.”

“Don’t let the people around you tell you that you can’t love who you want and feel what you want to feel,” one respondent wrote.

Another added, “I know things look down right now and it’s hard to see past the hate that’s being spread but it always helps to remember that most people don’t hate us and that there are tons of us out there that are willing to help.”

“We’ve always been here. And we always will be,” another wrote. “They cannot erase us.”

Other respondents advised doing things to lessen negativity.

“Ignore the Idiots and cut people off if [you] have too [sic]. Life is too short to care what people think about you and they don’t even have to live your life and experience the things you do.”

In the same vein, another respondent replied, “Don’t let the people around you tell you that you can’t love who you want and feel what you want to feel.”

“Peer support is associated with lower levels of emotional and behavioral distress among LGBTQ+ young people,” the Trevor Project wrote. “However, not all LGBTQ+ young people have consistent access to peer support, especially LGBTQ+ young people who hold multiple marginalized identities.”

As such “hearing words of encouragement and advice from fellow LGBTQ+ young people has never been more needed,” the group added.

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This government just took a major step towards banning anti-LGBTQ+ hate speech

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/12/this-government-just-took-a-major-step-towards-banning-anti-lgbtq-hate-speech/

We in the US need to have the same hope and constant drive as the LGBTQ+ in Poland. See their government is anti-LGBTQ+ and the leader calls them “evil”. But they did not give up and kept working to change the hearts and minds of the people. And it is working. We need to do the same. Hugs.

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The proposed legislation still has a long way to go, but advocates are optimistic.

By Mira Lazine Monday, December 2, 2024

June 10, 2018: Warsaw’s LGBTQ pride equality march

Poland made a landmark move for LGBTQ+ rights after it banned hate speech against sexual orientation and gender in a new set of regulations.

Currently, the country’s laws prohibit hate speech on the basis of race, religion, and ethnicity. “These provisions do not provide sufficient protection for all minority groups who are particularly vulnerable to discrimination, prejudice and violence,” the national justice ministry said.

Related:

Polish state TV anchor issues extraordinary on-air public apology to LGBTQ+ people

After years of government persecution, the move was unprecedented.

“The new regulations aim to more fully implement the constitutional prohibition of discrimination and to meet international recommendations on standards of protection against hate speech and hate crimes,” the ministry added.

The United Nations Human Rights Council has previously criticized the country’s lack of hate crime protections for LGBTQ+ individuals.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk approved the new legislation. It now moves on to Parliament. If Parliament passes it, President Andrzej Duda will have the option to sign it into law or pass it. He has previously stated that he believes LGBTQ+ individuals are “evil.”

However, Duda’s final presidential term ends next year, and the ruling party hopes they can get someone to replace him in time to sign the legislation into law.

Bart Straszewski, an LGBTQ+ activist in Poland, told PinkNews, “I felt like a second-category citizen, and we were treated like second-category citizens. The government is telling you that you don’t deserve equal rights, that you are not creating families, and that you are an agent of the West trying to fight family values or tradition.

“The atmosphere was hostile. We felt that they didn’t want us here, but we still were here, we still were fighting for our country because we are part of it,” Straszewski added.

Poland previously has not been friendly to LGBTQ+ rights. During the Law and Justice (PiS) party’s time in power, the country became one of the most viciously anti-LGBTQ+ countries in Europe. Cities designated themselves “LGBT-free” zones and government-run media outlets regularly demonized and spread lies about the queer community. Gay reporters were fired from publications as part of the national purge.

However, advocates have been working tirelessly to grant protections for LGBTQ+ individuals. A TV anchor apologized this year for his past anti-LGBTQ+ statements and came out in support of the community. Activists also rejoiced when the Polish Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is not illegal, per Poland’s Constitution.

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Discover more

Costco Board Rejects Demands Of Anti-Diversity Group

Costco Board Rejects Demands Of Anti-Diversity Group

Finally a company showing how to stand up to the bigot racist and calling out the real reasons these groups are demanding these changes. I hope the shareholders stand firm on inclusion and diversity. Hugs

December 28, 2024 Business, Trump cultists

Newsweek reports:

The Costco Board pushed back against its anti-diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) shareholders, who had suggested the wholesale corporation re-evaluate its “illegal discrimination” program.

The Costco board responded to a group of shareholders, unanimously recommending a vote against the proposal to “report on the risks of maintaining DEI efforts.”

The shareholders had suggested Costco employees would potentially become victim to “illegal discrimination because they are white, Asian, male or straight,” which could create “tens of billions of dollars” in legal costs to the company.

The Hill reports:

In its response to the proposal, Costco called out the group for “inflicting burdens” on companies through “policy bias” and said their proposal did not aim to address financial risks but to strike down DEI efforts.

“The proponent’s broader agenda is not reducing risk for the Company but abolition of diversity initiatives,” the board of directors added.

The annual meeting where shareholders will vote on the matter will take place in late January. Earlier this year, Lowe’s, Harley Davidson and Walmart announced the repeal of DEI practices after facing similar pushback from conservative groups.

Hit both links for much more.