Yes the left is starting to fight back instead of giving in to the attempt by the religious right to erase those they don’t like or agree with from society. Also people are seeing through the fake claim that they are just trying to protect children from being sexualized. They don’t want to just mold their children, they want the right to mold your child in their image. They are demanding the right to take away your parental rights to raise your child, even as they are demanding more and more rights for themselves to dictate what children are taught. Be clear this is about removing any reference to the LGBTQ+ from first schools and then all of society. They are already moved on to banning drag, which in their written laws means wearing the clothing normally associated with a gender not assigned at birth in public. Why? It doesn’t sexualize kids if a man wears a nice skirt, but it does challenge the strict gender norms these fundamentalist are trying to return all the country to. These fundamentalist religious groups got a huge head start on their attempt to outlaw even the mention of what they don’t agree with, they pushed a false narrative on the public that many have bought into because they were not hearing the other side. Now we who are on the side of progress and advancement need to make sure people get the full story and real goals of these people. We have our work cut out for us, but to save the present and build the future we have to fight back. For the sake of the gay, lesbian, trans, and all the other non-cis and non-binary kids we must fight and win the right for them to see positive role models and see themselves represented in books and movies. We must grant these LGBTQ+ children the safety and security that we should give all children. Hugs
A standing room-only crowd gathered at the Lincolnwood Village Hall Monday for a heated debate about a book with LGBTQ+ content on the public library’s children’s collection.
The monthly library board meeting was moved from the library to the village hall to accommodate a large turnout after last month’s meeting got heated and ended early with police being called.
Once again, library board members and the public came face to face.
“The library has decided that they, not you the parent, knows what is best for your child,” said Bryan Johnson, Lincolnwood resident.
“Gay people and drag queens have a right to exist and be themselves and have books written about them,” said Jen Mierisch, Lincolnwood resident.
At the board meeting, some attendees voice objections to certain titles with LGBTQ+ themes that are part of the library’s children’s collection. At least one formal challenge was filed against a book called “The Hips On The Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish.”
The nursery rhyme book features characters in drag, and was read aloud during a library-sponsored story time over the summer.
“I’m not here to ask for a ban on any books,” said resident Rahila Siddiqui. “I’m here to fight for my right to choose when my elementary school children should be exposed to complicated topics like drag queens.”
“If parents prefer their children not read a book, that’s their decision. But that does not give them the right to impose their short-sighted beliefs on anyone else’s children,” said Susan Ginsburg, Lincolnwood resident.
After reviewing the book, library officials declined to remove it from the children’s department. The library director told ABC7 such action would constitute censorship, adding, “Our goal is to respect everyone in our community and what they want to read.”
“When you’re at Macy’s and you don’t like a purple shirt, you can’t demand that they take it away. Just don’t buy it,” said Judy Abelson, Lincolnwood resident.
Library officials said they also declined a patron’s request to remove another book that some consider anti-transgender. That patron has now dropped that formal challenge on censorship grounds.
“Book bans are about censorship, marginalizing people, marginalizing ideas and facts. Regimes ban books, not democracies,” Pritzker said.
“Parents and only parents have the right and responsibility to restrict their children and only their children’s access to library resources,” said Secretary Giannoulias.
“Those pushing book banning say they are doing it to protect people. Well that’s just not true. Book banning is most frequently used to silence the voices of the LGBTQ+ community as well as people of color,” said State rep. Anne Stava Murray (D-Downers Grove).
Governor JB Pritzker signed historic legislation Monday that would ban libraries from banning books. The law is the first of its kind in the nation, and would cut off funding to any libraries that remove books currently on the shelf.
The law was pushed by Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who is also the state’s librarian, and is a response to the backlash in many local school districts against controversial books, particularly some championed by the LBGTQ community.
“Book bans are about censorship, marginalizing people, marginalizing ideas and facts. Regimes ban books, not democracies,” Pritzker said.
Think how the black members of the military and other black workers at the base feel about working in a place named for someone who fought to keep them property to be used and abuse by whites. Of course, the racist white Christian nationalist DeathSantis would force black soldiers to work at a base named for a white man who fought to keep them slaves and property. Of course the racist white Christian nationalist bigot DeathSantis loves them confederates that attacked the very government he wants to lead as president. DeathSantis and his followers agree with the losers who committed treason against the US government, and formed a union based on the right to deny civil rights and human personhood to a segment of the population. They are doing it now to the LGBTQ+ community. The right / republicans seem driven to deny others their humanity, rights, and freedoms they demand for themselves. Think of it, they are demanding the right to oppress other members of the public, demanding that other people live according to the precepts of their church doctrines and racist bigotry even as they demand ever more privileges for themselves along with more accommodation of their beliefs. What scares me is how powerful DeathSantis has become, all due to right wing media and his willingness to gaslight and lie to the public to get what he wants. And make no mistake, what he wants is a white Christian ethnostate based on 1950s social norms. Hugs
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, speaking at the NCGOP convention Friday night, said if he’s elected president he would reverse the recent decision to change the name of Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty.
The promise by DeSantis to restore the name of the major military installation just north of Fayetteville, which earned loud cheers and applause from a ballroom full of Republican delegates at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, came just as President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden left newly named Fort Liberty after meeting with members of the armed forces.
“I also look forward to, as president, restoring the name of Fort Bragg,” DeSantis said to raucous cheers from the crowd. He added that he would “thank the people that have served there, and they’re proud of their service there.” “It’s an iconic name and an iconic base, and we’re not going to let political correctness run amok in North Carolina,” DeSantis said as the crowd continued to cheer.
Braxton Bragg was not only a famously inept Confederate general who, per historians, “wantonly shot his own soldiers,” he personally owned over 100 slaves. USA! USA! As I did last week, I encourage you to watch the US Army’s excellent clip below about the name change.
The promise to reverse the renaming of Fort Liberty drew loud cheers and applause from a ballroom full of Republicans in Greensboro. https://t.co/uKzZqn8Utu
DESANTIS: "I also look forward to, as President, restoring the name of FORT BRAGG to our great military base in Fayetteville, North Carolina… It's an iconic name and iconic base, and we're not gonna let political correctness run amok." pic.twitter.com/Bf7f93CLao
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) June 9, 2023
Today, Fort Bragg was redesignated as Fort Liberty.
The name liberty honors the heroism, sacrifices and values of the #USArmy Soldiers, civilians, and families who live and serve there. pic.twitter.com/AtAnLRKKCE
So you can’t mention gays or coloreds in school, or teach little Tommy and Jane how to get help if they’re being molested, but it’s imperative that we honor people who waged war against the US to defend tyrannical slavery? I guess they’ve got their own priorities.
I’ll restore Confederate names to army bases. I’ll make it illegal to talk about gay shit. I’ll make guns for teachers mandatory. I’ll do whatever it takes. Just please like me!
Braxton Bragg was not only a famously inept Confederate general who, per historians, “wantonly shot his own soldiers,” he personally owned over 100 slaves
Well, that explains part of why they like him so much.
My brother and I were born at Fort Bragg, NC. I didn’t think anything of it until a few years ago — I assumed he must’ve been an honored leader. Imagine my surprise. When I heard the name change I thought, “About damn time.” There were plenty of MAGA types mad about it on Twitter, but there were also many people who served there or grew up on the base and were very happy.
Bragg was a fucking malignant anger clown loser even by Confederate standards. If he hadn’t been a West Point classmate of Jefferson Davis, he’d have been hanged. A bristly myopic slaver.
His plan appears, to me anyway, to be to appeal to The Base, make it seem like he supports them AND their Glorious Tangerine Leader, so when T**** doesn’t get the nomination (for one reason or another) he can say, “All you poor, poor people, you and T**** were treated so, so badly. If you elect me, I’ll pardon him and you’ll all get your retribution!”
Yes, and people of color are over-represented in the military—especially in the enlisted ranks—compared to the general population. But no doubt the assholes cheering DeSantis’ fantasy pronouncement were all white, and probably very few were veterans.
This is hilarious. The butt hurt these people have over even the smallest bits of inclusion of others they hate into society causes them such pain and outrage. Go to the link and read the responses to the butt hurt, they are wonderfully funny. Hugs
Need I add anything more. DeathSantis supports everything the Nazis do, but his biggest concern is that the Democrats are noticing and talking about it. In other words, he wants his Christian Nationalist bigoted racist views ignored while he makes laws based on them, demanding no one criticize him for them. Hugs
Gov. Ron DeSantis is in Oklahoma delivering a political speech, but that doesn’t mean disturbing news isn’t happening closer to home. Rep. Anna V. Eskamani tweeted on Saturday video of Nazi demonstrators outside of Disney World. A second image, from Twitter user Shannon Watts, contends that “two dozen white supremacists are outside the main Disney World entrance in Orlando right now, marching with signs featuring Gov. DeSantis’s face, swastikas, the n-word and homophobic slurs.”
DeSantis has had to address neo-Nazi demonstrations in Orlando before, including back in 2022 when group of neo-Nazis lined a bridge in eastern Orange County, hanging the swastika flag and banners — including a banner with the pro-Donald Trump slogan “Let’s Go Brandon” — and yelling profanities and antisemitic slurs at passing cars. He was more concerned with Democrats talking about the issue in remarks after the fact.
Two dozen white supremacists are outside the main Disney World entrance in Orlando right now, marching with signs featuring Gov DeSantis’s face, swastikas, the n-word and homophobic slurs.
“DeSantis has had to address neo-Nazi demonstrations in Orlando before, including back in 2022 …. He was more concerned with Democrats talking about the issue in remarks after the fact.”
Translation: Fascism is fine. It is the political opposition I can’t stand.
I love how when Matt Walsh compares fully dressed drag queens reading to kids as obscene and sexual, lance reminds everyone about a place in public that many people of different sexes go wearing hardly anything, men in speedos and thongs, women in string bikinis all with kids around. Yet no outcry from the maga conservative religious right. Why because it is the beach or a pool and there is no association with the LGBTQ+ who are the real targets of the right. Hugs
Steve Schmidt reacts to the latest charges filed against former President Trump. He discusses that while Trump is presumed innocent until proven guilty, his indictment creates a dangerous hour for the Republican party and our nation as a whole.
Republican Senator Mitt Romney says the DOJ and special counsel have exercised “due care” in their investigation of Donald Trump and that the former president “brought these charges upon himself.” pic.twitter.com/AUvSfAWIGt
He could have done what Biden and Pence did, along with other innocent people, they gave them back to the government. Instead, Trump kept claiming they are his, and he was so importantly powerful that he could do anything he wants while people not him go to prison for doing this. Look at the other cases of this, and those people went to prison asap. Hugs
"1/50K know your bridges." Is an organizational code for county level insurrection. This man, who already sought a pardon for the Jan 6 insurrection, is organizing a revolt against the government on Twitter right now. Republicans are active traitors & a threat to our democracy. https://t.co/MDFTpsCkV7
— A New York Observer (@NewYorkHistory) June 9, 2023
Domestic terrorism against the public by religious gang brownshirt thug enforcers of the conservative wing. Please notice this is entirely religious driven, using Christian fundamentalist talking point. They are desperate to turn the secular US in to a religious Christian theocracy with their own moral police and Taliban enforcers. They are demanding the right of superior privilege for their religion yet deny any rights to others or other faiths. Notice also thewy changed their name to protecting the children to get more people to agree with their bigotry. Notice the leader of the religous group was asking for the pride leader to take down a old picture on his facebook page that said everyone should get laid once. Just that idea that people should be able to have enjoyable sex at least once was offencive to them. Hugs
Alex Keen wanted to show support for his local LGBTQ+ community. Now he’s afraid to even enter his home.
The downtown area of Connersville, IndianaPhoto: YouTube screenshot
Alex Keen, a 38-year-old gay man who grew up in the conservative rural Indiana town of Connersville (population 13,310), wanted to show support for his local LGBTQ+ community. So, last December, he founded a group called “Whitewater Pride” and later organized three events for this Pride Month.
Soon after announcing the events, two residents — Melissa Rose and her husband Andrew Rose — set up a now-defunct Facebook group called “Whitewater Groomer Removers,” which insinuated that Keen is a child sex abuser. Its members harassed his events’ sponsors. Keen has been followed in public by the group’s supporters and has gone into hiding. He now plans on moving out of the state, worried that someone will target him for violence.
After an angry crowd accused the district of “moral depravity” with its “Luciferian” policy, a vote for a school tax levy failed.
“I spent most of my life in the closet. I didn’t come out until I was 36. And so living in this community, surrounded by right-wing Christian conservatives, it’s hard to be gay, it’s hard to come out of the closet,” Keen told LGBTQ Nation. “I just wanted there to be some kind of organization, some kind of support for the LGBT community… Having that support system around us is very important.”
Keen’s group, which mostly consists of him and three board members, purchased a table at the May 15 Celebration in the Ville community fair. For Pride Month, his group planned two all-ages games nights at the local Fayette County Public Library, a drag night at a local bar named Ozzie’s on June 15, and an all-ages pool party at the Roberts Park Family Aquatic Center on June 30.
But on April 29, Ozzie’s bar canceled the event after people complained, Keen said. LGBTQ Nation contacted the bar for comment. The adults-only event didn’t have any drag queens booked. Instead, it offered a $50 award to the attendee wearing the best drag.
Around the same time, Keen became aware of a Facebook group named “Whitewater Groomer Removers.” One of its members linked to Keen’s personal Facebook page, and another wrote, “Sick… Let’s make him famous for trying to groom children.”
Andrew Rose posted an image of Pantera’s album Vulgar Display of Power that showed a man being punched in the face.
Rose wrote, “The vibe of this song is the vibe I’m going for with this group…. I refuse to allow these freaks impost their will in my community…. I plan to protest every event put on by the suspected child grooming operation known as ‘whitewater pride’ (as well as any other group promoting the same degeneracy) & I’m going to need A LOT of good people behind me. I crated this group to organize & discuss such matters.”
Facebook screenshotAn image from “Whitewater Groomer Removers” co-founder Andrew Rose
Melissa Rose posted an image of a late March edition of the local newspaper, the Connersville News Examiner, specifically an article mentioning Whitewater Pride’s efforts. She told her group’s members to call the paper and complain, stating, “We don’t want this group sexualizing and grooming our children in Fayette County.”
LGBTQ Nation contacted the Roses for comment.
One of their group’s members reposted an image from Whitewater Pride’s Facebook group announcing its three Pride Month events. Commenters wrote, “Pride is a sin in the eyes of God! And everything associated with it,” “Our kids are targeted by the left,” “Yes they are! Bas**rds are everywhere,” “Shame on all of them.”
When Keen looked through the group’s members, he recognized about a third of its members, including a person who regularly cut his lawn. He knew some of these people from around town. A week after discovering the group, he stopped staying at his home. Ever since, he has stayed at a friend’s place about 10 minutes away.
“It’s got to the point it’s affecting me physically,” he said. “I usually wake up and throw up in the morning, not really eating anything.”
By May 5, “Whitewater Groomer Removers” changed its name to “Protecting Our Children.” Its banner image showed a white man rolling up his sleeves.
As the May 15 Celebration in the Ville community fair approached, Melissa Rose sent messages to Sassy Peacock Events, the fair’s organizer, discouraging them from allowing Whitewater Pride to host a table at the event. She claimed that the group wants to allow pornography in schools, let “men be able to use girls’ locker rooms and restrooms,” and legalize the “mutilation of children under the age of 18” (even though gender-affirming genital surgeries aren’t conducted on minors).
At this point, Whitewater Pride’s Facebook page only contained posts about respecting people’s pronouns, Indiana’s anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, suicide and bullying statistics for queer youth, a bio of Stonewall veteran Marsha P. Johnson, announcements of upcoming game nights, a call for volunteers, and posts recognizing International Women’s Day and the International Transgender Day of Visibility.
“They are most certainly trying to set up a stronghold of far left sexually inappropriate ideologies for children,” Melissa Rose wrote to Sassy Peacock Events. “These are all of the issues that they are fighting for, on the side of evil, and that is ver much going to be devisive in a Conservative, Christian family oriented community. They should not even be trying to do all of this political activism while also trying to embed themselves in our community, under the guise of ‘helping kids to feel accepted.’… [They are] doing all of this work to indoctrinate confused kids.”
She demanded that Sassy Peacock Events allow her group to have a booth as well and suggested that she might stage a possible protest.
Though that protest never materialized, Sassy Peacock Events contacted the mayor’s office and local police anyway. In a public May 2 Facebook post, the organizer wrote, “There will be an extensive multi-departmental security presence Friday evening for set-up, through the night and all day Saturday till the end of the event. The whole downtown area has security cameras, there will be multiple drones capturing footage for us throughout the event as well.”
“We expect everyone to behave in a professional, respectful manner,” the organizer added. “Sassy Peacock Events has no tolerance for hate speech, disruptive displays, harassment, or protests.”
Facebook screenshotAn image advertising Whitewater Pride’s Pride Month events
In early May, Whitewater Proud announced that it had received a grant from the Fayette Community Foundation, a local organization that funds local non-profit efforts, as well as small donations from a few other local businesses. The Roses’ followers called the foundation and those businesses to complain, Keen said.
During one of Whitewater Pride’s game nights at the Fayette County Public Library in early May, three older men from a “second amendment club” showed up to try and disrupt the event, the library staff told LGBTQ Nation. The men complained about the hour-long event, even though they’re poorly attended and held in a private room separate from the main library.
“It was all awful and I wish it hadn’t happened,” library staff said of the men’s appearance.
On May 15, Andrew and Melissa Rose confronted Keen at one of his library game nights. In a video of their conversation in the library’s lobby, Andrew Rose said it wasn’t right to “indoctrinate” children. He claimed that Keen’s group and game nights “encourage children.”
“They’re sitting there,” he said. “They’re watching, they’re observing.” At this time, however, no minors had ever attended the game night.
“God doesn’t think it’s right either,” Andrew Rose told Keen. When Keen told him that he was free to have his own religious beliefs, Andrew Rose said, “Well, LGBT is a religion.”
Melissa Rose told Keen that she and her husband are “super nice and calm and wouldn’t harm anyone” and that her online comments had no “context of anger, violence, or hatred behind them.” She claimed that Facebook commenters had called her group’s members’ employers to get them fired and that her son’s girlfriend had also been “targeted.”
“We’ve had people from all over the globe, LGBT, coming and then saying we are literally causing harm and violence and trying to eradicate their community,” she said.
Melissa Rose then expressed disappointment that Keen and his group didn’t publicly defend her group when a nearby Pride organization, Rainbow Richmond, made an April 28 Facebook post referring to the Roses’ group as an “active hate group.” Keen has no affiliation with Rainbow Richmond.
“You could have certainly approached [Rainbow Richmond] and said ‘Look, this really is just escalating the situation, All this is doing is just fueling the fire of hatred and ignorance,’” she told Keen. “We didn’t want to contribute to any sort of disruption in the community or make you guys feel threatened in any way.”
She also admitted that she took down her group’s page when she “realized it was getting so much attention.” She then asked if Keen would make a statement against her group being called a hate group.
“I started hysterically laughing,” said Jama Sullivan, a local straight ally who was present during the discussion. “I was like, ‘First of all, we’re not doing that. Second of all, you are bigots…. I told her, ‘You started a fire and you’re getting burned a little from the flames, and you want us to put it out? Like, no, it doesn’t work that way.’”
Sullivan said she too has been publicly identified and targeted by Roses’ followers because of her support for Whitewater Pride.
“I put cameras all around my property because now we’re worried because you’ve targeted us,” Sullivan said she told the Roses. “It takes one person you’ve triggered, one person to come to my home and shoot at my house. I have a child there. So no, we will not put out a public statement on your behalf. You’re an idiot.”
When another person asked Melissa Rose why their respective groups can’t just co-exist, Rose said, “You can exist. No one’s trying to stop you.”
Melissa Rose then said that she doesn’t think that it’s appropriate for Keen to say he supports children because his personal Facebook page contained a photo, taken years ago at the Coachella Music Festival, of something that said, “Everyone should get laid once.”
“I think you should delete that,” Rose told Keen. He told her that he had already deleted that post.
During the conversation, Sullivan said she pointed out to the Roses that the U.S. Catholic Church has been accused of hundreds of thousands of child sex abuse cases.
“You’re not at our local Catholic school saying, ‘Get these kids out of here. They’re not safe,’” Sullivan told the couple. “You’re the library attacking adults. I mean, there’s not even children here. It’s just adults in a room playing games.”
“In Connersville,” Sullivan said, “we have one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the state of Indiana, one of the highest unemployment rates in the state of Indiana. We have one of the highest drug uses in the state of Indiana. Connersville is ranked like 92 out of 100 in the healthiest cities in Indiana. The education system is suffering dramatically. The rate of high school dropouts is astronomical.”
She recently advised a lesbian friend against moving to the town because she’d likely be targeted with hate if she and her same-sex spouse walked into a Walmart store holding hands.
“So what can we do, as a community, to make people feel welcome to get them to stay here?” Sullivan asked rhetorically.
The Roses showed up again at June 5 Pride Month game night with three fellow protesters. Keen said they “got incredibly worked up” when four older teenagers showed up to play games.
“I heard one of them call me a coward when I walked away from them,” Keen said. He said that the protesters followed him to his car after the game night ended. Though he hasn’t personally received any death threats, Keen hasn’t returned to his home since early May. He plans on selling his house and moving out of state because he no longer feels safe.
Facebook screenshotAn image advertising Whitewater Pride’s Pride march
He contacted several LGBTQ+ and Pride organizations around the state for advice on how to safely hold his events. Volunteers from other local Pride groups have said they’ll help with their security. That may come in handy, since the Roses have reportedly pledged to protest his June 30 pool party.
Despite the intimidation, Keen has added one extra event to his Pride Month plans: a June 28 march through Connersville on the 54th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
“I just want a combined show of strength that the LGBTQ community in the area has come together and is going to stand up to the people who want to bully us back into the closet,” Keen said.
Sullivan praised Keen when he first told her about his plans to start Whitewater Pride because she felt their community really needed it. But when Keen told her of his plans to leave the state, she said, “You can’t Alex, because they win. You’re letting them win.”
“I’m angry. I’m so angry,” she said. Keen told her that he doubted anyone would want to continue leading Whitewater Pride after he leaves because of all the hatred he’s endured.
“I think I’m going to tell him, I’ll [run his group] in the interim and take applications for a new director,” Sullivan said, “because I don’t want this to go away.”
