They walk among us and they vote

These took several days to wade through. I admit I do it not only for the news but for the memes in the comment sections which are pure gold. But just reading the headlines and blurbs can give you a great idea of how really dangerous and disastrous the right / republicans are. Fox is a totally unhinged media arm of cult tRump. The rest of the right wing media is desperate for their cult ideas of ruling people and having control of their private lives, sexual expressions, and how people simply exist. Please look these over and read the ones that interest you. This shit is serious and real and we have few days left before a direction is chosen for this country. Also notice that why the right claims that crime is up and people are terrified to step outside their homes, crime is way down. Hugs

Freedom Caucus Chairman Calls For Allocating All Of North Carolina’s Electors To Trump Ahead Of Election

Raikin, you may know, is a far-right extremist.

Harris appeared here in June 2021 when he attempted to bring a loaded and concealed handgun onto the House floor. He then denounced calls for his resignation as “cancel culture.”

In October 2021 he had to be physically separated from Democratic Rep. Collin Allred after an argument over the certification of the 2020 election, which Harris had voted against.

Newsmax: Revoke Medals From Trump’s Generals

Texas Town Council Approves Anti-Trans Bathroom Ban

Residents pleaded with the council, arguing that such proposals were divisive, stoked fear among the community, and would further stretch city services. “It is not only unnecessary but also a complete waste of the city’s time, money and resources,” Alexander Ermels, president of PFLAG’s Odessa chapter and a transgender man, said. Mayor Javier Joven [photo], who is up for reelection in November, has said his mission has been to help the city “repent.”

Penalties include a $500 fine and trespassing charges. Odessa, located in west Texas, has a population of 120,000.

Kremlin Behind Hurricane Disinfo Spread By Cultists

Felon: “I’ll Fire Crooked Jack Smith In Two Seconds”

Multiple Felon: “Jack Smith Should Be Considered Mentally Deranged And Thrown Out Of The Country”

Cleta Mitchell: “Dems See Illegals As Their Power Base”

Shapiro: Nobody “Gives A Shit” About Trump Praising Hitler Because They’re So Worried About Street Crime

Heritage Group Publishes Hit List Of “Subversive” Feds

FBI: Russia Behind Fake Video Of Destroyed Ballots

Trump: America Is “The Garbage Can For The World”

Multiple Felon Threatens “Long Prison Sentences” If Dems Repeat “Cheating And Skullduggery” Of 2020

Trump Crashes Vance Town Hall To Demand Praise

Trump just called into the News Nation town hall with JD Vance to ask, “How brilliant is Donald Trump?”

JD Vance replied: “First of all, sir, of course, you’re very brilliant.”

It's a cult. pic.twitter.com/XfI2kxJFaG
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) October 25, 2024

WSJ: Musk Is Having “Secret Conversations” With Putin

The contacts also raise potential national-security concerns.

Pentagon Debunks New Lie From Prominent Nutbags

NBC: Sheehy Lied About Navy’s “Medical Discharge”

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1849845488352108979

B: Are you okay if Trump says he wants his generals to be like Hitler's generals?

EMMER: You want to talk about anything but what the American people care about

B: Are you okay if he says he wants his generals to be like Hitler's?

E: Americans don't want to talk about that pic.twitter.com/vOwF3H0VxW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 25, 2024

Fox Host: Calling Trump “Fascist” Is “Hate Speech”

Feds: FL Postal Worker Tossed Political Mail Into Woods

https://twitter.com/Fla_Pol/status/1849867521836683335

Cops: TX Cultist Pummeled Elderly Poll Worker [VIDEO]

SC Judge Won’t Fix Glitch That Denied Young Voters

For the past 13 months, when a 17-year-old applied for a driver’s license or state ID and marked that they would like to register, the DMV’s system did not transmit their voter registration application to the SEC. As a result, approximately 17,000 young voters were not registered to vote despite indicating a desire to do so. These voters were also not notified that their registrations had been rejected.

CNN Airs Clips Of Trump Labeling Harris A “Fascist” After GOP Leaders Condemn Harris For Her “Rhetoric”

WaPo: Musk Began US Career Working Here Illegally

Accused Welfare Scammer To Campaign With Felon

GOP Rep Blew Donor Money On Booze, Bars, Ubers

Largest known prime number discovered by amateur mathematician

October 25, 2024 Evrim Yazgin Cosmos science journalist

A number with more than 40 million digits has been discovered to be the largest known prime number by a network of amateurs.

Prime number blocks on white — Credit: Robert Brook / Science Photo Library / Getty Images Plus.

The number is 2^136279841-1. It has 41,024,320 digits. It was found by 36-year-old researcher and former NVIDIA employee Luke Durant on 12 October. The number was tested on other computers using different programs and confirmed prime on 19 October.

Prime numbers are wholly divisible by only 1 and themselves. For example, 7 is prime because only 1 and 7 go into 7 without leaving a remainder.

Primes have been an area of interest for mathematicians for centuries.

Among the most famous studiers of prime numbers is French monk Marin Mersenne (1588–1648 CE).

Mersenne is most well-known today for his attempts to find a formula that would represent all primes. He was ultimately unsuccessful in this quest, but Mersenne primes are still found today using a simple formula that he put forward in 1644: 2^p-1 is a prime number if p is a prime number.

No one has found a better method for finding more prime numbers than Mersenne.

But, as the power of 2 increases, so does the computing power to both calculate the possible Mersenne prime, and then to confirm whether it is a prime or composite number.

The new number, dubbed M136279821 rather than its full value for obvious reasons, is the 52nd Mersenne prime to be discovered.

Its finder, Durant, is a member of the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) – a collective of volunteers founded in 1996 that uses free software to hunt for Mersenne primes.

GIMPS has successfully found the last 18 Mersenne primes.

Durant’s number trumps the previous largest Mersenne prime, found by GIMPS in 2018, by 16 million digits.

A statement by GIMPS announcing the discovery notes that the 52nd prime is the first to be found on something other than an ordinary PC. Durant’s find relied on GPUs – previously used primarily for video cards to power gaming PCs, but now sparking an increase of power which is also being used in the development and use of artificial intelligence algorithms.

As with other GIMPS Mersenne prime discoverers, Durant has been awarded a US$3,000 (A$4,530) prize which he says he will donate to the Alabama School of Math and Science’s maths department.

Originally published by Cosmos as Largest known prime number discovered by amateur mathematician

https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/mathematics/largest-prime-number-2024/

Peace & Justice History for 10/27:

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryoctober.htm#october27

Definitely Worth the Click

Snippet:

The billionaire owners of the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times can hedge their bets about the possibility of a fascist in the White House, unrestrained by the rule of law and the idea that Americans are citizens, not subjects. The rest of us, including me, cannot. I want the United States that Donald Trump can’t, never could, and would never want to, give us all. That United States is one I believe Kamala Harris is working toward, and would continue to work toward as President.

In any year, Kamala Harris would be my choice for President of the United States. In this year, she is the only choice. She has my vote. She should have yours as well.

The Scalzi Endorsement: Kamala Harris for President

Mel Manuel, Trans Candidate for U.S. House, Injected T on Camera in a Campaign Ad

Manuel is running on a platform of abortion rights, universal healthcare, and gun control.

BY SAMANTHA RIEDEL

(Way to go-run for office! Especially in and as opposition to people like Steve Scalise-A)

A trans nonbinary Louisiana candidate for the U.S. House released a defiant campaign video this week, showing themself injecting testosterone to defend bodily autonomy.

Mel Manuel, who is running to unseat far-right House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, released the video on social media platforms on Tuesday. In the video, Manuel called on voters to “take a stand” while performing a routine testosterone injection.

“I believe that you, not the government, own your own body,” Manuel told viewers, wearing a “My Body My Choice” T-shirt. “LGBTQ+ rights are human rights.”

Manuel, who is running on a platform of abortion rights, universal healthcare, and gun control, highlighted a recent analysis that found Republicans had spent more than $65 million in anti-trans advertisements since the start of August. They also promoted Louisiana’s “Geaux Vote” app, which allows voters to find their polling location and get ballot information.

“To my LGBTQ+ family and our allies… No one is coming to save us,” Manuel wrote in the video description. “We have to show up at the polls for ourselves and for those we love. I’ve spent the last year and a half campaigning because we need to speak up and be represented before it’s too late. You can speak up now with your vote.”

Manuel is the cofounder of Queer Northshore, an LGBTQ+ activist organization based in St. Tammany Parish, and has previously organized against conservative book bans and anti-trans laws in the state. In contrast, Scalise has earned a reputation as a staunchly anti-LGBTQ+ Republican since first taking office in 2008, voting against the Byrd-Shepard Hate Crime Prevention Act, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and the Respect for Marriage Act; he is also firmly anti-trans, condemning “the left’s radical gender ideology” in a 2022 statement calling for trans girls to be banned from school sports. Scalise even once described himself as “David Duke without the baggage,” referring to the infamous former leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

Given that Manuel is running in opposition to all that, injecting T on camera is a pretty big flex. Still, that doesn’t necessarily mean they expect to win; as their campaign website notes, Manuel’s goal is simply to get 35% of the vote. “Even if your candidate doesn’t win, if we can move the needle to 35 percent or 40 percent of the vote, that means the next progressive candidate will get more funding,” they explained to The Nation last year. “There’s a very, very small chance at winning, and I understand that, but we can still use the role of candidacy as a platform in and of itself.”

https://www.them.us/story/mel-manuel-campaign-ad-injection-testosterone

Peace & Justice History for 10/26:

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryoctober.htm#october26

I Am So Glad

to see Scottie posting more again! I’ve missed him here, and I’m sure everyone else who reads here did, as well. So, here’s to many more fine Playtime posts by the original!

It’s also been handy, because life has been busy at the Redford manse, and somewhat stressful. We’ve needed foundation work for years, probably since before DH bought the house, even (he had it when I came into the picture; we paid it off, and just never did move out. Anyway.) So, having saved, and retired, it’s time. Meeting with the contractor, learning necessary facts, and of course, parting with the dollars needed to get the work done. Part of the work will be done the second week of November, the other part will be done the first week of December. There are some things that need to be moved before the December date; we’ll need some help with a few items. But we’ll get it worked out. Things will be all right.

3 weeks ago, Corky crossed the Rainbow Bridge. She went into acute kidney failure, likely due to age, according to the vet. She was 13, and a larger medium dog, though very healthy until this happened. I worry it’s because we let her have too much human food, but she was a happy old girl until the last 2 days of her life, and even then, was not miserable. She is very missed after 4.5 years with us, and the search is on for who she’s sending us. But it’s cut a bit of brightness out of the days, until The One shows up.

Other than the election, which is discussed everywhere all the time, that’s what’s happening. I’ve gotten the postcards done, and am awaiting the phone banking instructions. Life sometimes takes time, though, so I haven’t posted so much. (Probably a relief to readers!) I hope all are doing at least as well in your own little slices of heaven, and here’s to a good day today.

‘Shameful’: Naval Academy cancels authoritarianism lecture After ‘MAGA pressure’

(There is always a lot of news on https://currentstatus.io/ . The Current Status page sometimes doesn’t have any news a person wants to read, and some days, no news anyone needs to read. It compiles via algorithms based on what people are clicking on during a day. Sometimes it’s just discouraging to see what people are reading when they could be reading good and/or necessary stuff. Last night was necessary stuff, but I can’t post it all. I chose this one. -A)

Written by David Badash October 24, 2024

The U.S. Naval Academy is under fire after it invited — then uninvited — a distinguished expert on authoritarianism and fascism to give a lecture.

Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat is a professor of history and Italian Studies at New York University, where her bio says she “writes about fascism, authoritarianism, propaganda, and the threats these present to democracies around the world.” She is the author of books on fascism and serves as an advisor to the nonpartisan nonprofit organization Protect Democracy. She is also an MSNBC opinion columnist, where she appears as a commentator, as she does on other news networks.

For weeks, since early October, right-wing media has been criticizing the U.S. Naval Academy for inviting her to speak.

The Daily Caller, founded by Tucker Carlson, described Dr. Ben-Ghiat as “an outspoken anti-Trump guest” who was invited to “give the keynote speech at a high-level lecture this month.”

“Ben-Ghiat announced that she’d be speaking at the event in an op-ed last month and further claimed that former President Donald Trump was an ‘authoritarian ‘and drew comparisons between him and world dictators,” The Daily Caller’s Jake Smith wrote in an opinion piece.

For weeks, since early October, right-wing media has been criticizing the U.S. Naval Academy for inviting her to speak.

The Daily Caller, founded by Tucker Carlson, described Dr. Ben-Ghiat as “an outspoken anti-Trump guest” who was invited to “give the keynote speech at a high-level lecture this month.”

“Anti-Trump historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat is scheduled to lecture midshipmen on ‘authoritarianism,’” two Heritage Foundation officials, Mathew Lee and Wilson Beaver, wrote at The Daily Signal in a piece marked commentary. They called for the Naval Academy to retract the invitation to Dr. Ben-Ghiat.

The Heritage Foundation is the headquarters of Project 2025. The ACLU calls Project 2025, “a federal policy agenda and blueprint for a radical restructuring of the executive branch authored and published by former Trump administration officials in partnership with The Heritage Foundation, a longstanding conservative think tank that opposes abortion and reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrants’ rights, and racial equity. Project 2025’s largest publication, ‘Mandate For Leadership,’ is a 900-page manual for reorganizing the entire federal government agency by agency to serve a conservative agenda.”

Dr. Ben-Ghiat in her Substack piece also wrote about Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery, where a cemetery official was “pushed,” allegedly by Trump campaign staffers, according to an Army report. A judge on Tuesday ordered the Pentagon to release its records related to Trump’s visit there in August, by the end of this week.

“The conduct of Trump and his campaign on those hallowed grounds violated federal prohibitions against election-linked activities at military cemeteries,” Ben-Ghiat wrote. “The photos and videos they took there also showed graves of U.S. service members whose families had not given permission. Additionally, a Trump aide shoved an Arlington employee who was trying to enforce the rules, and Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung claimed she initiated the aggression and was having a ‘mental health episode.’”

“It seems counter-intuitive when you are running for president and commander-in-chief to insult the U.S. military,” she added. “But that hasn’t stopped Trump: insulting and mocking the military are among his most consistent habits.”

On Tuesday, in an opinion piece in the Baltimore Banner, Rick Hutzell slammed the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 for getting Dr. Ben-Ghiat’s lecture canceled. (The U.S. Naval Academy is based in Annapolis, Maryland.)

“If Trump wins, the right-wing thought police will come for the Naval Academy,” Hutzell wrote in a scorching editorial.

“You could hear the spittle fly as the Heritage Foundation shouted out its latest intellectual assault on the Naval Academy,” he wrote. “All over Ruth Ben-Ghiat and a lecture the midshipmen likely will never hear.”

“Her politics were the problem, not her lecture.”

“As controversies go, it was easy to miss this one. It all took place within the conservative media ecosystem. But it could foreshadow what might happen to the U.S. service academies if Trump is elected next month,” he added. “Deep within Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s 925-page roadmap for the next Republican president, its authors say they want the service academies scrubbed of anything and anyone deemed insufficiently pure of thought — exactly what they did to Ben-Ghiat.”

Ben-Ghiat in an email told Hutzell: “The lecture had nothing to do with contemporary America and I was not going to mention Mr. Trump at all in this strictly nonpartisan event at an institution, the U.S. Naval Academy, which I greatly admire.”

Hutzell wrote that Heritage “Foundation ‘researchers’ Matthew Lee and Wilson Beaver made the connection a month after Ben-Ghiat’s announcement and simply made up the rest, assuming she planned to attack Trump.” He also pointed to another piece at The Daily Signal by “Heritage Foundation mouthpieces Hans von Spakovsky and Cully Stimson,” and n0ted (sic) that “U.S. Rep. Keith Self — a West Point graduate who represents a district north and northeast of Dallas — wrote Vice Adm. Yvette M. Davids, the academy superintendent, and demanded that she cancel the lecture.”

He also reports The Daily Signal’s managing editor called for an apology from the Naval Academy, and Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee “called for an explanation.”

Rep. Nick LaLota, running for reelection in up-for-grabs NY-01, was one of the signers of this letter, demanding an explanation from the Naval Academy for inviting NYU historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat to give a history department lecture, after pressure from Heritage Foundation because… https://t.co/3BjZiIWoHY pic.twitter.com/rhp51zlJvL
— Jacqueline Sweet (@JSweetLI) October 24, 2024

“The harrumph over Ben-Ghirat (sic) smacks of hamfisted stagecraft. It’s not about protecting young minds from learning what tools authoritarians use, it’s about preparing the case for an intellectual bloodletting,” Hutzell concluded.

Others lashed out at the Naval Academy.

“This is a shameful move by @NavalAcademy. If our armed services are truly training people to be loyal to the Constitution, not to an individual, this is one lecture they need to hear. Very disappointing,” declared attorney and former FBI Special Agent Asha Rangappa, a legal and national security expert.

She also blasted the “members of Congress who do not want students at service academies to learn what happens when you turn into Hitler’s generals,” likely a response to news of Trump allegedly praising Hitler and saying he had wanted “Hitler’s generals.”

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, a professor of law and MSNBC/NBC News legal analyst, pointing to Ben-Ghiat being disinvited, warned: “This is exactly what she’s been warning about—caving in to the demands of authoritarian leaders, even before they’re in place. Dangerous & shameful.”

Historian and professor of strategic studies Phillips P. O’Brien, author of several books including, “How the War Was Won: Air-Sea Power and Allied Victory in World War II,” called Hutzell’s editorial a “terribly worrying story about how MAGA pressure is already leading to censorship in the US military. The US Naval Academy disinvited the distinguished historian @ruthbenghiat from delivering a major lecture because of Heritage-MAGA pressure.”

https://www.alternet.org/authoritarianism-maga-pressure/

The Facts on Anti-Trans Ads: Years in, Anti-Trans Attacks Remain a Political Loser

https://www.hrc.org/news/the-facts-on-anti-trans-ads

Again I wish to thank Janet, whose link I will place below, for showing me the article that had this link. I was in a bit of despair of having to fight all over the same fights I fought as a kid. Not realizing for years my fight was over while hers has continued. I realized how self centered I was being. I am not sure if the links will come through, but if you go to the site linked above they list states where anti-trans attacks have failed. Again thanks Janet. Hugs

https://janetannelogan.com/

————————————————————————————————————————-

by Brandon Wolf • October 3, 2024

Voters have routinely rejected candidates who peddle transphobia and try to control their personal health care decisions, and polling shows widespread American support for equality, Democrats as defenders of young people, and a rejection of anti-transgender rhetoric.

In State After State, Anti-Trans Attacks Have Failed

In Arizona…

In Georgia…

In Kansas…

In Kentucky’s 2023 gubernatorial race…

In Michigan…

In Nevada…

In Ohio…

In Pennsylvania…

In Wisconsin…

In Virginia…

In 2022 Post-Election Polling, Equality Was a Winner and Anti-LGBTQ+ Attacks Were A Dud

Equality Voters delivered huge margins to Democrats at every level of the ballot.

At the U.S. House level, 81 percent of Equality Voters supported the Democratic candidate. Equality Voters delivered similar margins for Democratic U.S. Senate candidates and Democratic candidates for governor.

That number was comparable to the level of support Equality Voters gave Joe Biden in 2020 (also 81 percent) and nearly matched the level of support Black voters delivered this cycle (87 percent).

Among self-identified LGBTQ+ voters, who made up a midterm record 7 percent of the 2022 electorate, fully 80 percent supported U.S. House Democrats. LGBTQ+ voters delivered similar margins for Democratic U.S. Senate candidates and Democratic candidates for governor.

MAGA efforts to spread propaganda about and attack transgender people failed.

In this survey, voters were asked which specific issues motivated them to vote this year. Inflation (52 percent) and abortion (29 percent) ranked first and second on this list. Less than 5 percent identified gender affirming care for transgender youth or transgender participation in sports as issues motivating them to vote – last on this list.

This confirmed extensive research prior to the election that found anti-transgender attacks were only effective in riling up extreme members of the conservative base

While the attacks were ineffective with the general electorate and in fact repelled swing voters, they still caused harm, including increasing stigma, discrimination, and violence against the transgender community.

A Super Majority of Americans Support Equality

New data from Navigator Research shows strong majority support for LGBTQ+ equality, and deep concern over MAGA attacks on fundamental freedoms.

Nearly two-in-three Americans support federal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people, including 58% of independents and 42% of Republicans.

61% say they will not support candidates who want to ban health care for transgender people, including 59% of independents and 41% of Republicans.

70% say they are concerned that politicians are attacking gay and transgender youth to divide us, maintain their political power and control, and score political points, a clear indication that the American people see through the MAGA anti-LGBTQ+ agenda.

A majority of Americans agree that parents, mental health professionals, and doctors are best equipped to decide the kind of care a child needs, not politicians.

The vast majority of Americans — 7 in 10 — think that politicians are not informed enough about abortion and gender-affirming care to create fair policies

According to September 2023 polling by The 19th and SurveyMonkey, Americans would prefer that politicians either protect transgender people or not focus on transgender issues at all. Only 17% of Americans, and only 29% of Republicans, say politicians should focus on restricting gender-affirming care.

Americans Believe the Amount of Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation Is Excessive, Agreeing It Is “Political Theater”

Likely voters across all political parties look at GOP efforts to flood state legislatures with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation as political theater. Polling indicates that 64% of all likely voters, including 72% of Democrats, 65% of Independents, and 55% of Republicans think that there is “too much legislation” aimed at “limiting the rights of transgender and gay people in America” (Data For Progress survey of 1,220 likely voters, 3/24-26, 2023).

This quote from Cuban-American former Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen sums it up:

“Intolerance is not a good look on anyone. I remain optimistic that voters will see through this charade and will encourage their elected officials to solve the real problems of America instead of masquerading as Moral Police Officers.”

Majorities Disapprove of Banning LGBTQ+ Content in Schools – and Seem Prepared to Punish Candidates Who Do So

When asked if middle school libraries should include materials related to “gender identity” (57% “should”) and “sexual orientation” (56%), the majority of Americans believe this content should be available. In fact, by a margin of 32 percentage points, Americans are more worried that “materials that could be valuable to students will be removed from school libraries” (62%), than worry that “materials that could be harmful to students will remain in school libraries” (30%).

Yet again, Democrats and Independents are in a different place than their GOP counterparts suggesting headaches for Republicans in the 2024 elections. (Grinnell College National Poll, 3/14-19, 2023)

Indeed, it looks like this issue could be a disqualifier for elected officials who support curriculum censorship and book bans, based on recent polling (Ipsos, 4/24-25, 2023 among 1,005 adults nationwide, the vast majority of whom are registered to vote). More than six in 10 Americans say they would be less likely to back a candidate who “supports policies that ban books in schools and in school libraries on subject matter that deals with sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity” (38% more likely, 62% less likely).

And Americans Trust Democrats to Defend Equality, Youth Wellbeing

The 2024 Navigator Research poll showed that President Biden and the Democratic Party are more trusted than Republicans to safeguard LGBTQ+ equality and protect America’s youth.

60% of those polled say they trust Democrats to protect the LGBTQ+ community, compared to just 19% who say they trust the GOP.

54% say they trust Democrats to protect the rights and freedoms of the community, compared to just 22% who say they trust the GOP.

46% say they trust Democrats to care for children’s wellbeing, compared to just 37% who say they trust the GOP.

ICYMI: New Survey Finds Anti-Trans Ads Ineffective, Disliked by Voters

https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/icymi-new-survey-finds-anti-trans-ads-ineffective-disliked-by-voters

I admit I was getting very discouraged lately. I fought the hate generated by hyper religious Anita Bryant as a gay kid growing up, listening to adults around me from my adoptive parents and hell spawn who were abusing me to teachers / adults around me. They bought in to her save the children as all gays are monsters who abuse little boys. Yes the irony was not lost on me that my adopted family bought into the lies. But we gay people fought for acceptance. In my last two years in the Army I was able to live almost fully out, until a new company commander came in who was an infantry officer who told me that if I did not leave the service when my time was up he would have me court marshaled for being gay. During the following years as a civilian in the late 1980s and 1990s I fought for acceptance living as an openly gay man. I got beat up at work, I lost promotions despite being told I had the best scores for a supervisory position, I was told no man was going to take direction from a fagot. I lost jobs when the bosses realized I was gay. It was a horrible time. But in the early 2000 it got better and as time moved on it got better. Schools were pushing acceptance and tolerance for those different. In 2015 in January we were the first gay couple in our county in Florida to be married by the county clerks and the entire office wanted to be involved. They gave us so much time, photos, and love it was incredible. When I go into doctor’s offices and mention my husband the people, especially younger workers are all supportive. I really though things were really moving forward. Then came the Libs of TikTok and Chaya Raichik who admitted to lying with the hate she spewed because as a Christian woman lying was not illegal was it. She found fame creating the most horrible attacks on innocent people demonizing the LGBTQ+ and their supporters and she glorified in it. Red state politician jumped on the bandwagon and the Christian nationalists thinking they found a way to force their morality / god on everyone in the nation led the charge to try to return the society to the 1950s and roll back the rights of everyone not white cis and straight. To hell with the rest of the population as long as their god is happy because of forcing their ways on everyone else.

Then Janet who has had a fight as hard or in a lot of ways far harder than I ever did to gain acceptance for who she is gave me some rays of sunshine and hope. Amazing how when people stick together and help each other the gloom and doom can be pushed back and strength be gained. Thank you, Janet, for this article. Hugs.

by Kathryn Smith • October 24, 2024

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Data for Progress finds that among likely voters, Democrats, Independents and Republicans alike don’t want to see “mean-spirited” ads targeting the transgender community.

74% of voters say that transgender people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

Polling released today from Data For Progress shows just how ineffective and unpopular the anti-transgender ads being run by MAGA candidates really are with voters.

Key findings from the poll back up the long-supported claims that anti-transgender rhetoric is not what wins elections:

The use of political attack ads against transgender people was described as “sad and shameful” by the majority of Democrats (61%) and Independents (58%), and even by a plurality of Republicans (41%). The majority of voters also said that they feel that these ads are “mean-spirited” and “out of hand”

85% of Republicans said candidates should back away from transgender messaging, more than the share of Democratic (75%) and independent (82%) voters who said the same

By a more than 20 point margin (52% to 31%), voters would back a candidate who supports transgender rights versus a candidate who opposes transgender rights; by similar margins (52% to 29%), voters trust the Democratic Party over the Republican Party to handle transgender issues

In addition, a study from Ground Media found that a recent Trump anti-trans advertisement yielded “no statistically significant shift” in voter choice, mobilization or likelihood to vote.

It’s not just the ads that voters dislike, it’s also the policies. Data for Progress found that among likely voters:

Nearly three in four (74%) say that transgender people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect

58% of respondents believe the government should be “less involved in regulating what transgender people are allowed to do, including health care they can receive”– including 61% of Independents and a plurality (45%) of Republicans

55% of respondents there is too much legislation targeting transgender people, and view them as “political theater”

Without a positive message or any plans to improve the lives of families, MAGA politicians continue to resort to these ads to try and distract voters from their failures and unpopular positions. But voters continue to prove that their efforts to spread hate and division are a political loser. Read more about the long history of the failure of anti–trans ads here.