Sarasota Republicans call for Tom Edwards’ resignation, but he brushes that off as a distraction

Sarasota Republicans call for Tom Edwards’ resignation, but he brushes that off as a distraction

This is more of the rights push to erase the LGBTQ+ from society. They are trying to return to the past when people could be fired simply for being gay. These people really carve the society of the 1950s when the LGBTQ+ were not in public society and the normal was considered straight and cis with any divergence considered an illness. I think it is because they can’t imagine something if they don’t feel it or understand it. They are straight so straight should be what everyone feels, to feel differently is weird and yucky to them. They view same sex acts as yucky because it doesn’t appeal to them, but they don’t stop to think that is how gay people feel about mixed sex relationships. Hugs

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Jacob OglesAugust 13, 20258min

The 2-term School Board member just took over as Executive Director of Project Pride SRQ.

Sarasota County School Board member Tom Edwards just joined a nonprofit promoting diversity programs. Now, local Republicans say he should resign his public office, but the incumbent brushed that off as a desperate attempt to distract from other bad news for the GOP.

Project Pride SRQ last week announced that Edwards, a second-term School Board member, had taken over as Executive Director of the Sarasota organization.

“Project Pride envisions a silo-free community that is proud, resilient, and unified by shared values, not tribal policies,” Edwards said last week. “I am so excited that Project Pride has given me this platform to do this important work.”

But the Republican Party of Sarasota (RPOS) immediately called out Edwards’ new job as a conflict.

“In his new role, Tom Edwards will have overt conflicts of interest. The press release announcing this new job said Edwards will work to establish multiple programs in the schools and after school to further this radical ideology rejected by the vast majority of Americans,” reads a statement from the party.

“Tom Edwards can do whatever that he wants in his private life. But this position leverages him as a School Board member to push programs in the public, taxpayer-funded schools of which he has enormous influence. He cannot hold this position and look out for the well-being of all students. He clearly is incentivized to prioritize a small minority.”

Edwards made clear he has no intention of stepping away from his new work.

“Mr. Brill, is this a political ploy created as another distraction from the (Jeffrey) Epstein files? Or perhaps, with the upcoming School Board elections, you are concerned about two of your previously-endorsed School Board members’ reputations spoiling the chances of election for their replacements? If that’s the case, is it the one who was embroiled in the ‘Throuplegate’ scandal along with her husband, who was terminated as the State Republican Party chair because of rape allegations? Or is it the one who behaved like a spoiled child, refusing to return to her post and complete her term after losing her election? I must have missed it when you called for their resignations,” Edwards said in a statement.

“Only you can answer what keeps you up at night. In the meantime, I will continue to do the good School Board work that the community – from both sides of the aisle – overwhelmingly reelected me to do. Additionally, I will use my new position at Project Pride SRQ to build a stronger, kinder, more resilient community that can respond to the bullying tactics frequently deployed on members of the LGTBQ+ community. I remain steadfast in building coalitions that foster inclusivity and stand against the elimination of human rights for any element of the population.”

Edwards, who is openly gay, has faced criticism since his election to the School Board in 2020, when he defeated incumbent School Board member Eric Robinson. Gov. Ron DeSantis listed the School Board member as a top target in the last election cycle, but Edwards won re-election regardless.

Edwards walked out of a School Board meeting in 2023 after members of the public hurled homophobic slurs at him. A few months later, he was among those members calling for fellow School Board member Bridget Ziegler to resign amid her own sex scandal; she remains on the board.

Now, Republicans want Edwards to step down, and labeled his agenda as extreme.

“School Board Member Tom Edwards is a supporter of radical LGBTQ beliefs and has pushed them as a School Board member — completely out of touch with what the Sarasota County community of parents want,” reads a statement sent out by RPOS Chair Jack Brill. “But now he has been named Executive Director of Project Pride SRQ, which consistently pushes ideas far outside the mainstream.”

Project Pride SRQ leaders had a different take on Edwards’ record.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Tom as our new executive director,” said Justyn Hunter-Ceruti, Project Pride SRQ Board President. “His leadership, experience, and deep ties to the community will be invaluable as we step into this next chapter. I look forward to working with Tom to advance our mission and ensure that Project Pride continues to be a powerful force for inclusion, connection, and resilience in Sarasota and beyond.”

Added Harry Cicchetti, Vice President of the organization’s board: “Tom brings a passion for our mission, a wealth of experience, and a dedication to advancing equity, justice and inclusion not only for LGBTQ+ people but for all who face barriers, which our organization is committed to addressing at this pivotal time in our culture. The board looks forward to working with Tom as he leads our organization into our next chapter of growth and impact.”

Regardless, the fact that the organization also said Edwards will work on issues like a peer-to-peer Support Squad of students to identify bullying and mobilize around victims has GOP leaders concerned.

“We call on Tom Edwards to resign his School Board seat if he wants to be Executive Director of this organization,” reads the RPOS statement. “Holding both positions is antithetical to ethical behavior and harmful to public school students.”

Jacob Ogles

Jacob Ogles has covered politics in Florida since 2000 for regional outlets including SRQ Magazine in Sarasota, The News-Press in Fort Myers and The Daily Commercial in Leesburg. His work has appeared nationally in The Advocate, Wired and other publications. Events like SRQ’s Where The Votes Are workshops made Ogles one of Southwest Florida’s most respected political analysts, and outlets like WWSB ABC 7 and WSRQ Sarasota have featured his insights. He can be reached at jacobogles@hotmail.com.

Way To Turn Things Around!

A Harry Potter-Themed Board Game Is Donating All Profits to Trans Charity

Publisher Czech Games Edition said they were “devastated” that the product was causing “harm instead of joy.”

By Mathew Rodriguez

Forget “100 points to Gryffindor,” 100% of profits going to trans charities sounds even better.

Czech Games Edition, the publisher behind the new board game Codenames: Back to Hogwarts, has announced that the total sum of profits made by the game will go to trans charities following consumer backlash against the Harry Potter tie-in product.

The gaming publisher announced the decision in a social media post issued on Friday. “We are all devastated that the project we were so excited to share with you caused harm instead of joy,” the August 8 statement reads. “Over time, the harmful views of the story’s creator have escalated into harmful actions. We apologize unreservedly for not doing more to consider that possibility, and for subsequently announcing the game without taking preemptive actions to mitigate the pain it would cause.”

Codenames is an award-winning word-based board game that has sold over 15 million units since its launch in 2015, per The Guardian. Czech Games Edition announced its first Harry Potter board game tie-in, Codenames: Harry Potter, in 2019, months before Rowling started making public anti-trans proclamations.

The company went on to say in its August 8 statement that it was “not prepared for the volume of the response” to Back to Hogwarts and that, aside from donating profits, it will ensure that “an amount equal to or greater than the fee paid to license this product” will go toward organizations that support the trans community. The company will determine which organizations receive the money based on community feedback, per the apology statement, prioritizing “those that offer direct, practical help to people in need.”

Czech Games Edition first announced Back to Hogwarts on July 23, per board game news website Wargamer. After two days of consumers pointing out the issues with licensing the J.K. Rowling-owned property, the company issued a statement saying that “we fully respect and understand those who do not wish to engage with this game,” and requesting an “ongoing conversation” characterized by “care, empathy and respect — both online and in person.”

On July 30, after continuing backlash, the company issued a follow-up statement saying that “our aim was never to cause harm,” and that it was working toward a “concrete solution” at the time.

Rowling’s anti-trans politics are well-known by now, as are her own monetary contributions to the movement, including her legal fund, which is hoping to push trans people out of public life. As Rowling’s views have grown louder and more vitriolic, actors attached to projects in the still-growing Harry Potter universe have made several statements condemning her views. One San Francisco bookstore has even announced that it would stop selling books about the Boy Wizard on its shelves, encouraging people who want to read them to seek out used copies instead.

The More Things Change, …

Wednesday Star Hunter Doohan Says He Once “Hid” Photos to Conceal Sexuality

The 31-year-old actor says he faced a particularly “scrutinizing” audition.

By Abby Monteil / August 12, 2025

Wednesday star Hunter Doohan is opening up about the pressure he once felt to hide his sexuality in Hollywood.

During a recent appearance on the Zach Sang Show, the 31-year-old actor — who’s best-known for playing barista Tyler on the hit Netflix series — recounted the process of auditioning for the Showtime series Your Honor in 2019. Although Doohan was openly gay and already in a relationship with his now-husband, Fielder Jewett, he noted that the audition marked “the first time I’d done a network test and they were really scrutinizing.”

“I really was trying to hide it,” he said. “I went and hid pictures of us on Instagram, archived them.”

After Doohan booked the role, he found himself coming out once again to his co-star Bryan Cranston at 26.

“I was at lunch one time with Bryan and I said, ‘Grace called again,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, she’s my friend Grace,’” the actor recalled. “And he’s like, ‘Oh, just a friend?’ And I thought, ‘Oh God… I’ve been out for eight years and I have to come out of the closet again.’ It was so unsettling and awful. I was like, ‘I’m never going to do that for a role again.’”

Sang asked Doohan why he felt the need to hide his sexuality, he replied, “[My partner] was like, ‘Oh yeah, are you worried about this?’ But yeah, I don’t know.”

“I’ve never played a gay role and I’ve auditioned for them,” Doohan added. “But all the characters I’ve played have been straight.”

The Wednesday star pointed to openly gay star Jonathan Bailey as an example. “I read this Jonathan Bailey interview the other day that was so inspiring, like, the way he talks about [his sexuality] and just how he’s totally released all perceived limitations around it,” Doohan said. “We’re lucky to be living in a different time where we can [play non-gay roles] and people can watch it and suspend their disbelief like that.”

These days, the actor has other concerns — namely, the fact that he missed out on meeting Wednesday guest star Lady Gaga on set.

“I’m the one gay guy on the show, and I didn’t get to meet Gaga,” Doohan joked during a recent appearance on the Just for Variety podcast with Marc Malkin. “It might be a hate crime.”

Teen Says Restaurant Forced Her To Prove Gender Before Using Bathroom

Let’s talk about SCOTUS being asked to take rights from 26 million Americans….

Minnesota teen says server forced her to prove her gender in restaurant bathroom

As I keep repeating these bathroom bills hurt cis women because it is based solely on how someone looks to some other people. If as in this case a cis woman did not look feminine enough for the server and so this woman was forced to show her breasts. How is that feminism work going TERF people. These bathroom bills and the hype of fake false stories of danger to women only make all women less safe. See now people that look like men legally might have to use a female’s bathroom, so all a cis man has to say is he is trans and they can legally be in the woman’s bathroom. Same for any female that wants to go into the men’s room only needs to claim to be a trams women. All due to hate and bigotry making a problem where none existed. Think of it, the only assaults I have heard about in female restrooms is from cis people attacking cis females because they think they are trans. Hugs

https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/minnesota-teen-says-server-forced-prove-gender-restaurant-bathroom-rcna224562

The 18-year-old high school student said she unzipped her hoodie to show she had breasts after a Buffalo Wild Wings server didn’t believe she is a woman.

Aug. 12, 2025, 4:52 PM EDT

By Jo Yurcaba

A Minnesota teenager filed a charge of discrimination against a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant Tuesday, alleging a server followed her into the women’s restroom and demanded she “prove” she was a girl.

Gerika Mudra, 18, went to dinner in April with a friend in Owatonna, about an hour south of Minneapolis. When she went to the restroom, a server followed her inside and banged on the stall door while saying: “This is a women’s restroom. The man needs to get out of here,” according to Gender Justice, a Minnesota gender-equality organization that filed the charge on Mudra’s behalf.

Gerika Mudra, 18, says she was harassed by a server who accused her of being a boy in the girls’ bathroom.Gender Justice

Mudra, a biracial lesbian who isn’t transgender, said that she has been in similar situations before, when people have suggested she’s in the wrong restroom, but that when she tells them she’s a woman they leave her alone. However, when she came out of the stall at Buffalo Wild Wings and told the server, “I am a lady,” she said, the server responded, “You have to get out now,” Gender Justice said in a statement.

Mudra said she felt she had to prove to the server that she is a woman, so she unzipped her hoodie to show she has breasts. The server didn’t say anything in response but left the restroom, Mudra said.

“She made me feel very uncomfortable,” Mudra said. “After that, I just don’t like going in public bathrooms. I just hold it in. … I want to be able to use the bathroom in peace.”

Inspire Brands, which represents Buffalo Wild Wings, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Buffalo Wild Wings in Owatonna, Minn.Google Maps

Gender Justice filed the charge of discrimination with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, arguing that what happened to Mudra violates the state’s Human Rights Act, which protects people from discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, among other protected statuses.

Sara Jane Baldwin, senior staff attorney at Gender Justice, said at a news conference Tuesday that even though Mudra isn’t trans, the server’s actions “were based on assumptions that she made about” Mudra, and that Minnesota’s law protects against discrimination based on stereotypes or assumptions about protected characteristics like gender identity.

“Businesses have a legal obligation not to just have antidiscrimination policies on paper, but to train staff and ensure that those policies are followed in real time,” Baldwin said. “When that doesn’t happen, the business is liable for the harm caused.”

Gender Justice said Mudra’s experience “reflects a broader climate of fear and suspicion aimed at anyone who doesn’t conform to narrow expectations of what girls and women ‘should’ look like.” That suspicion has been driven largely by the wave of state legislation targeting trans people, particularly their access to school sports and bathrooms that align with their gender identities, though Minnesota hasn’t enacted any such legislation.

Nineteen states have laws that prohibit trans people from using bathrooms that align with their gender identities in K-12 schools, and in many of those states the restrictions apply to other government-owned buildings, as well, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank. Twenty-seven states prohibit trans people from playing on school sports teams that align with their gender identities.

Even before such laws, trans people had long reported facing harassment in public restrooms and avoided using them as a result. There have been several reports this year of women who aren’t transgender alleging harassment in public restrooms because they were suspected of being trans, including at the U.S. Capitol in January, Phoenix in February, Florida in March and Boston in May.

“This kind of gender policing is, unfortunately, nothing new,” Megan Peterson, executive director at Gender Justice, said in a statement. “And yet, in our current climate we have to ask: What if Gerika had been a trans person? Would this story have ended differently? That’s the terrifying reality too many trans people live with every day.”

Even if Mudra had been trans, she would be able to file a discrimination complaint under state law in Minnesota, which is one of 21 states and Washington, D.C., that explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in public accommodations, according to the Movement Advancement Project. Two states explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation only, and six additional states interpret existing measures against discrimination based on sex to also include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Twenty-one states don’t have explicit protections from discrimination based on gender identity in public accommodations.

Jo Yurcaba

Jo Yurcaba is a reporter for NBC Out.

Straight Month?

I saw this clip and it reminded me about this weekend. Here’s the clip:

Have you ever noticed that people are quite happy with what they have right up until they see someone else have something they deem greater than their lot? Give one kid a cookie and they dance, give their sibling a larger cookie and tears run like desperate rivers – and far too many of us seem to hold on to that right through “adulthood”.

I was visiting with my parents this weekend and Dad had to tell me about a great comedian he heard. This great comedian made such a great point: Why is it that Abraham Lincoln, the man who freed the slaves, only gets one day of recognition. Worse, he asks, is that he has to share it with George Washington! How unfair, he says. I don’t really see him honoring Lincoln and Washington, but perhaps he does it quietly. But, in keeping with this comedian’s bit, if only they’d sucked off each-other, they would get a full month! Why isn’t that just humorous?

Some days I really don’t know what to think about people. Isn’t it bad enough that people who say they love us vote for those who’d choose to outlaw us, to kill us, to disenfranchise us, to relegate us to obscurity back into the closet? These same people hate, denigrate, despise… and I guess in Rob Schneider’s case, make jokes. He’s funny, don’t you know. I was rolling. Anyway … and those who say they love us vote for them, patronize them, clap for them, and tell their gay son just how that comedian is so very funny and wise.

Thanks Dad. Love you.

‘This Book is Gay’ among 55 titles banned in Florida, including in Broward County

Again I keep saying this, it is a fundamentalist Christian attempt to remove all media featuring or talking about the LGBTQ+. They do not want LGBTQ+ children seeing themselves in media, in library books, but more important they do not want straight cis kids to read or see kids who are different who are accepted. They want kids to grow up thinking those LGBTQ+ kids are bad and need to be ostracized or harassed / threatened to be cis straight. They want to return to the society / schools of the 1950s. These people can not accept that other people and other cultures exist that are different from the way they feel or live. They want what Russia and Hungary did, outlaw being gay in public. Hugs

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2025/08/07/this-book-is-gay-among-55-titles-banned-in-florida-including-in-broward-county/

The Florida Department of Education has identified more than 50 books it says are no longer permitted in public schools across the state, citing inappropriate and pornographic content.

But some parents and advocacy groups are questioning whether the state should have the final say over what books are allowed in schools — including in Broward County.

A parent who spoke with Local 10’s Roy Ramos on Thursday with believes families should have input, and that local reviews should take place before books are removed.

“You will remove these 55 books,” said Stephana Ferrell, a parent and director of the Florida Freedom to Read Project, responding to the state’s recent directive.

The Department of Education’s list bans 55 titles from public school libraries statewide. Ferrell said the move overrides local input.

“Every district basically got that message that those 55 books violate the law according to the state. It doesn’t matter if local community standards say no, these books are okay for certain grades and we believe them to fit our community standards,” she said.

Local 10 obtained a copy of the banned list. Some of the titles were described by the state as pornographic and unsuitable for children.

Among them: Choke, This Book Is Gay, Forever, and Breathless.

Portions of these books contain graphic content, including descriptions of male genitalia, sexual acts and intercourse — some of which were too explicit to air on television.

“They are saying we can remove these books based on experts alone and it doesn’t matter what the literary value is,” Ferrell said. “They are making the argument that our school library are government speech and they can decide what is appropriate or not.”

Under current Florida law, parents may challenge books in their school district. Those challenges are then reviewed by a committee to determine whether the content is inappropriate.

Ferrell argues the state is bypassing that process entirely.

“I believe that you have to review these books in their entirety to determine whether or not the intent of the work is to sexually excite the reader,” she added. “There is no opportunity for local parents to get involved. “None of it matters. The state has decided for us.”

Broward County schools were given until Tuesday to comply with the directive and remove the books.

The list currently includes 55 titles, but critics believe more will be added.

Local 10 has reached out to Broward County Public Schools for comment on the state’s order.

From The TPM Morning Memo:

This is hugely pertinent to our interests. And the history callback of Dobbs/Roe is spot on!! This needs we the people’s work sooner rather than later. The story linked within is important background for working on this. Seriously: pick one or two (or more!) rights organizations and do what you can with them, now, while it’s not still too late, and stick with it until the other side is defeated. Please don’t wait until this is in court. Then:

A very sound scheme is to check in with your states on their legislative websites, see what the laws are right now, and what’s in the chute. Overturning Obergefell can’t/won’t change state laws regarding marriage, just as overturning Roe didn’t change state laws regarding repro rights. But knowing what could be coming, especially in red states, is imperative for getting ourselves protected, and protecting others. If your state is safe, well, pick another state that isn’t, and help them out. If your state has no law at all, lobby hard to get one, ASAP. And thanks! -A.

This Could Be Roe all Over Again

Some of Trump’s judicial nominees have refused in confirmation hearings to acknowledge that the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, striking down state bans on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional, was correctly decided. According to an analysis by JP Collins at the legal website Balls and Strikes, Eric Tung, who Trump nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, said only, “the Supreme Court granted such a right.” William Mercer, a nominee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, said Obergefell is “binding precedent,” but declined to “grade the Supreme Court.”

As Collins points out, these verbal gymnastics to avoid saying the case was correctly decided mirror those of Trump’s first term Supreme Court nominees who said Roe v. Wade was precedent but would not say it was correctly decided — and then voted to overturn it.

One might say marriage equality is different from abortion. Obergefell is just 10 years old, and Roe was decades old. But the most important feature that both decisions share is the enmity of the Christian right, and its determination to overturn them, no matter how many years or decades it takes.

Even before the court decided Obergefell in 2015, the Christian right was already planning to treat it just like Roe. The Supreme Court’s 1973 decision, they argued, was not the end of the abortion issue but rather the beginning. They used money, media, political might, religion, and relentless organizing to use abortion to drive politics and shape the judiciary. Their plans for Obergefell and LGBTQ rights are no different.

Photo by Astrid Riecken For The Washington Post via Getty Images

Ruined Afternoon Swim

sigh.

A Trans Woman and Her Friends Were Violently Assaulted at an Austin Swimming Hole

The incident is being investigated by police as a possible hate crime.

By Samantha Riedel

A transgender woman and several friends were harassed and assaulted in Austin, Texas last weekend, and one bystander who stepped in to defend them was hospitalized, in an incident police are investigating as a possible hate crime.

On July 26, the trans woman — who has requested anonymity during the ongoing investigation — and several friends visited Barton Springs, a public swimming hole in Austin’s Zilker Park, as Chron reported Wednesday. During their visit, three men they didn’t know flirted heavily with members of the group, the woman told Chron, but soon began harassing and pointing at her, making remarks about not “support[ing] that lifestyle.”

The three men then reportedly began shoving members of the group and poking the women “near their breasts,” according to a Reddit user who posted about the incident on Monday, claiming to be a friend of one of the victims. At that point, a bystander — identified as Jarod — intervened, and was attacked himself.

“The three men then proceeded to get violent and aggressive, yelling at us and getting in our faces until one of them decided to start swinging and punched Jarod in the jaw, knocking him unconscious,” the anonymous trans woman told Chron. “I quickly ran over to him in an attempt to help Jarod out but was then punched in the face by the assailant in the orange shorts.” The men then shoved another of the women to the ground and left the scene soon after, according to video footage of the incident posted to social media.

The Austin Police Department (APD) released a statement on Tuesday stating that the alleged assault was under investigation and could be declared a hate crime by the city’s Hate Crime Review Committee. “APD remains unwavering in its commitment to fostering a secure and inclusive Austin community,” the department stated. (Community leaders called for APD to be investigated for excessive force in March this year, after videos circulated online that appeared to show officers throwing a trans woman onto the ground during an arrest.)

Austin-area drag performer Brigitte Bandit posted about the assault on Instagram Monday, asking locals for help identifying the attackers. In a follow-up post the next day, Bandit stated that the men had been identified and the information had been shared privately with the victims. “I will not be posting their information without consent of the people involved in the attack,” Bandit wrote, adding, “[l]et’s let them decide which routes they decide [are] best.” (snip-MORE. Also embedded tweet. Then, if you click through, you’ll see they’ve gotten the suspects ID’d.)