Thousands of protesters gathered in Canada’s capital on Saturday to protest vaccine mandates, masks and lockdowns.
Some parked on the grounds of the National War Memorial and danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, others carried signs and flags with swastikas and some used the statue of Canadian hero Terry Fox to display an anti-vaccine statement, sparking widespread condemnation.
“I am sickened to see protesters dance on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and desecrate the National War Memorial. Generations of Canadians have fought and died for our rights, including free speech, but not this. Those involved should hang their heads in shame,” tweeted Gen. Wayne Eyre, Canada’s Defense Staff chief.
Protestors compared vaccine mandates to fascism, one truck carried a Confederate flag and many carried expletive-laden signs targeting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The statue of Fox, a national hero who lost a leg to bone cancer as a youngster, then set off in 1980 on a fundraising trek across Canada, was draped with a upside down Canadian flag with a sign that said “mandate freedom.”
Trudeau retweeted a statement from The Terry Fox Foundation that said “Terry believed in science and gave his life to help others.”
Eric Simmons, from Oshawa, Ontario, said all vaccine mandates should be ended.
“They’re not effective, they’re not working. It’s not changing anything. We can’t keep living like this. People are losing their jobs because they don’t want to get the vaccine,” Simmons said.
The convoy of truckers and others prompted police to prepare for the possibility of violence and warn residents to avoid downtown. A top Parliament security official advised lawmakers to lock their doors amid reports their private homes may be targeted.
Trudeau has said Canadians are not represented by this “very troubling, small but very vocal minority of Canadians who are lashing out at science, at government, at society, at mandates and public health advice.″
The prime minister’s itinerary for the day usually says he is in Ottawa if he’s at home, but on Saturday it said “National Capital Region” amid a report he’s been moved to an undisclosed location. One of Trudeau’s kids has COVID-19 and the prime minister has been isolating and working remotely.
Canada has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world and the premier of the province of Quebec who is proposing to tax the unvaccinated is popular.
Some are, in part, protesting a new rule that took effect Jan. 15 requiring truckers entering Canada be fully immunized against the coronavirus. The United States has imposed the same requirement on truckers entering that country.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance said a great number of the protesters have no connection to the trucking industry, adding they have a separate agenda to push. The alliance notes the vast majority of drivers are vaccinated.
The organizers of the protest have called for the forceful elimination of all COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates and some called for the removal of Trudeau.
The Shepherds of Good Hope, which has a soup kitchen for the homeless in Ottawa, reported staff and volunteers “experienced harassment from convoy protestors seeking meals from our soup kitchen. The individuals were given means to defuse the conflict.”
Some opposition Canadian Conservative lawmakers served coffee to the protesters. Conservative party leader Erin O’Toole met with some truckers. The protest has also attracted support from former U.S. President Donald Trump and some Fox News personalities.
“We want those great Canadian truckers to know that we are with them all the way,” Trump said at a rally in Conroe, Texas. “They are doing more to defend American freedom than our leaders by far.”
Former U.S. Ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman said the threat against democracy isn’t only happening in America.
“Both the use of the swastika and the confederate flag are symbols of hate. So very sad to see these symbols anywhere and especially in Canada,” said Heyman, who was the U.S. envoy under former President Barack Obama.
The Parliamentary Protective Service expects as many as 10,000 protesters as part of a weekend-long rally.
“I’m locked into my own country right now,” said Tom Pappin, an unvaccinated man who came from just outside Ottawa. “I can’t go on a holiday. I can’t go to a restaurant, I can’t go bowling. I can’t go to a movie. You know, these are things that it’s just gotten out of control.”
The 52-year-old said attendees are likely to stay parked by Parliament until vaccine mandates are lifted.
“Lindsey Graham has done nothing about J6. He doesn’t care about our justice system being completely violated by Democrats in their political war against Republicans and President Trump.
“I guess Lindsey Graham doesn’t care about being presumed innocent until proven guilty. Americans are being treated worst than Islamic terrorists at Gitmo and Lindsey Graham doesn’t care.
“He doesn’t care about their due process rights. He doesn’t care that they haven’t seen their families and are denied seeing their attorneys most of the time.
“He doesn’t care that these pretrial J6 defendants are denied hair cuts, shaving, chapel, and the most basic of human rights.
“He doesn’t care that they are abused in the DC jail because they are white, male, and voted for the very President that he supposedly supports.
“Instead of actually doing something about the great injustice happening to pretrial Americans awaiting their day in court, Lindsey Graham turns his head to their abuse, votes for Joe Biden’s nominees, votes for Joe Biden’s Infrastructure bill, and then pretends to be a friend to President Trump.
“Aren’t we all sick and tired of those kind of ‘friends’?” – Marjorie Taylor Greene, posting to her Telegram account.
Marjorie Taylor Greene attacks Lindsey Graham for criticizing Trump's Jan. 6 'pardon' offer https://t.co/6QxZzdAcpO
In theory, Pennsylvania could be spending billions more to update aging roads and bridges.
But instead, the money is being rerouted to help fund State Police operations. The convoluted funding scheme has long been criticized by Harrisburg. But a new audit has given a more detailed picture of where the money is going.
Pennsylvania has almost 3,000 bridges classified as structurally deficient, though state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said Thursday that tally has actually been halved since 2008.
Over six years, $4.2 billion that could have helped fix those bridges has instead gone to State Police, he said.
The money mostly comes from the commonwealth’s fuel tax; at 57.6 cents, it’s the highest in the nation.
“There’s an inherent deal,” DePasquale said. “You’re going to have this high gas tax, but it’s going to go to fund roads and bridges. And now when they find out it’s not happening, I think that gets people upset.”
According to state Transportation Secretary Leslie Richards, Pennsylvania has fifth-largest state-maintained road system in the nation, and the third-largest state-maintained bridge system.
The department’s overall budget is $10.2 billion, and it allocates $2.5 billion to construction projects annually. Richards said, last year, $802 million went to state police.
In recent years, state lawmakers have been calling for another way to get police funding.
Gov. Tom Wolf has unsuccessfully pitched a few options, such as a per-person fee for communities that rely on State Police coverage.
In his latest budget proposal, he suggested a sliding-scale fee that would be higher for bigger cities that don’t have their own police forces than it would for smaller ones in the same position.
So far, those proposals have had a difficult time gaining purchase in the state Legislature.
Stop and think of this. This is money over the money budgeted for the police. It is extra slush fund money. Again why do the police need this much hidden cash? What the heck is going on with the policing in this country?
Thank you Nan for the link to this article. There are three more videos at the link but I am unable to post them here. I went to CNN YouTube channel and while they had clips dealing with tRump I couldn’t see the ones here in the article. I suggest going to the article to view them.
Former President Donald Trump on Saturday teased a 2024 presidential candidacy and said he would consider pardoning those who were charged in connection with the deadly January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol if he wins the White House again.
Trump’s comments came during a campaign-style rally in Texas in which he complained about the criminal prosecutions that Capitol rioters have faced as a result of their attempt to interrupt the counting of Electoral College votes after he lost the 2020 election. He said the rioters are being treated “so unfairly.”
“If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6 fairly. We will treat them fairly,” Trump said. “And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons. Because they are being treated so unfairly.”
His comments reflect the growing sentiment among Republicans that the Capitol rioters should be forgiven and the events of that day forgotten — as the House select committee investigating January 6 has issued scores of subpoenas to individuals and organizations as part of its probe and is expected to release an interim report on its findings this summer. Some of Trump’s allies in Congress have pleaded for pardons for rioters. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 Republican presidential contender, recently called one-year commemorations of the Capitol riot an effort to “smear” Trump’s supporters.
“It’s a disgrace. It’s a disgrace,” Trump said of the prosecutions and prison sentences rioters have faced.
The Department of Justice has charged more than 700 in connection with the attack on the Capitol.
Trump raised the prospect of pardons after a speech repeating his lies about widespread voter fraud causing his loss to President Joe Biden in 2020. Republicans in statehouses across the country have seized on Trump’s lies to enact new laws that would make voting more difficult for some, and to pursue ongoing reviews of the 2020 election results.
Trump did not explicitly say he will run for president in 2024. Doing so would trigger a series of legal and campaign finance requirements.
But he said, in 2024, “We are going to take back the White House.”
Trump also used the speech to rail against New York prosecutors’ investigations into his business empire, calling for “the biggest protests we have ever had” if the prosecutors “do anything wrong or illegal.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James earlier this month laid out details of what her office believes to be “misleading or fraudulent” financial statements. And Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. has vowed to personally focus on a probe into Trump’s business practices. Both prosecutors — who Trump called “racists” — are Black, and neither has faced credible accusations of misconduct.
“These prosecutors are vicious, horrible people. They’re racists and they’re very sick — they’re mentally sick,” he said. “They’re going after me without any protection of my rights from the Supreme Court or most other courts. In reality, they’re not after me, they’re after you.”
The University of North Carolina, the flagship university of a state that is about is about ~25% black, is 7% black. And they are being sued by conservatives that think that number is too high.
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but trickle down economics is nothing more than a cruel hoax designed to enrich the wealthy and corporations at the expense of the American people.
The way corporations and the wealthy work it so the lower incomes must always pay.
They really are a lure for black market profiteers. According to my (possibly out of date) information, the active ingredient of catalytic converters is platinum. Carbon based gasses ‘break’ against tough large molecule metal alloys which include platinum. It accounts for the high price of catalytic converters and why they are so much more expensive if their is no return of the used converter. I have no idea how difficult it is to render catalytic converters down to pure platinum and separate it from the other materials in the alloy.
oh no, you say your child read a book with the word “damn” in it during the break between active shooter drills? is he ok
The death cult announces new sacrificial policies.
Thank goodness I'm at a school with a robust testing/vaccination requirement regime. I rather like my colleagues and students and greatly prefer that they don't die. https://t.co/Rh3xlW4swr
Palestinians live as an occupied people under military rule. They are not covered by civil laws that Israeli population enjoys. Palestinians are dealt with in military courts by military judges following military rules.
Tough little one, was willing to let it go but they pushed the situation.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Misleading right wing media cartoons / memes
Right but no mention of the millions tRump cost the taxpayer playing gulf at his properties. Need I say more? But I am running into complete amnesia over the things tRump did and said. His cult followers and the bots online seem unable to remember any of tRump missteps and false statements.
Remind us again why we should fund law enforcement that targets the poor and the minorities routinely to enrich themselves while enjoying immunity from any prosecution?
Fact: the United States of America has a greater percentage of it’s population in jail than any other country in the world. We need reform, all right, but not the reform conservatives favor.
• We put twice as many citizens per capita in prison than Russia, which is the only other big country that routinely imprisons a large fraction of their people
• 6 x more per capita than Canada
• 9 x more than Germany
• 12 x more than Ireland
• 14 x more than France
• 5 x more than China [not including their concentration camps]
• 5 x more than England
Americans are either :
❒ – the most criminal people in the world
or
❒ – we are doing something terribly wrong
The above cartoon was on comics kingdom. I have a bunch of those sites in my roundup check bookmarks. However often times the rabid insulting cult members get to post the most stupid disinformation, but my comments get removed or banned. Below is the one I wrote about this cartoon which has been removed. I have no idea why and there is no way to appeal.
The drums of war are always being beaten by those who find profit in wars. The defense contractors building everything the military needs to the contractors that supply the services that come with moving and caring for troops over seas. There is the money the media gets to both promote what side pays the most to filling peoples needs for the most sensational news to feed clicks. There are people like Lindsey Graham that have never seen a military intervention and police action he was against to people who really don’t want our troops injured like the families of those troops. Notice it is not the children of the high ranking politicians on the front line even if they join the National Guard during a war sucking up able bodied men to kill and main, like W Bush did. However we do have a duty to democracy and human rights. Some times the US has to stand up to the bullies and try to defend the ideals we claim to have. Even if we are violating those ideals at home and abroad ourselves.
Vaccinated people are LESS LIKELY to be hospitalized and may even be completely symptom-free. Vaccinated people are therefore LESS LIKELY to transmit the disease to others. Is it perfect? Of course not. Is ANYTHING perfect? Of course not.
I wonder if it was made in China like the trump maga hats.
Oh yes that is what we should strive for in the US is vigilant justice and gang enforcement instead of a government rule of laws. Heck why have courts, save the money and let police met out what ever punishment they want. Let every private citizen met out justice according to their mood and recently watched movies. that would be fair right? Because that will make everything so much better for everyone.
No I am not in favor of crimes nor criminals. But we need a uniform system of justice and reasonable responsive punishments for breaking the laws to have a civilized country. We really need to address the reasons for crime, what makes the criminal and why they do what they do. Ask why the US has so much more crime than other developed countries and such a higher prison population than any other country in the world. Is it just the US is more criminal? Are we just worse people? It is not a bumper sticker response that fits on a cartoon but it works far better than just locking everyone up and having for profit prisons charge the taxpayer for profit. Crime and how it effects people is a serious issue, and just wanting a feel good retribution fantasy is not a viable solution.
Yup just want it was designed for right? Talk about shifting the conversation. The vaccine also wont lift a rocket to the moon. But inflation and crime it might help reduce as people go back to work feeling safe both crime and inflation will drop.
PSA: The Trump coup never ended. In 2021, more than 440 voter suppression bills were introduced in 29 states. The attempt to upend our democracy is very much ongoing.
“States are not engaging in trying to suppress voters whatsoever” Mitch McConnell claimed last year
Here are facts: "During municipal elections in Nov, Georgia voters were 45 times more likely to have their mail ballot applications rejected—and not vote as a result—than in 2020" pic.twitter.com/3f0B73ICLj
Less than two weeks ago, Joe Manchin remarked, “We act like we’re going to obstruct people from voting. That’s not going to happen.”
Hello? Black voters accounted for half of all ballot application rejections in Georgia. People of color are being disenfranchised as we speak. https://t.co/WtH1z5ZFCR
Parents who want submission from their kids, who fear their curiosity, and want to negate their exposure/inclusivity, are vile.
Attn: fragile white people
I guess those decades of homeschooling hiding from reality/diversity/science was not good.
Respect labor. Respect women. Invest in education. Increase school resources.
Republicans have controlled the PA Senate every year for the past 28 years and the PA House every year for the past 11 years. Billions of dollars in road and bridge funding went to the state police instead because that's how Republicans wanted it. https://t.co/exSwXgkM7A
After the bridge collapse today, I don’t know why Democrats aren’t all over the media pointing out that the entire Republican Party votes against improving America’s infrastructure, at every turn.
All the gun control legislation up north does no good whatsoever when a quick trip down south can re-stock your arsenal! For 110 years there has been a flow of illegal guns into NYC and other cities like Boston or DC from States with lax or no gun laws. Prior to 1968 there were almost zero federal laws regarding handguns allowing bulk smuggling of cheap throw down “Saturday Night Special” pistols. Today the story is things like $500 Glock in a Free State goes for $3,000 on the street in NYC. Guns be cheap and available down south, then can be sold up north. Profitable!
“One of the more strange, uniquely American phenomena over the past two years is when media personalities and politicians talk about Covid like it’s a sentient, rational enemy that must be defied, stood up to, and spited.” https://t.co/RjCe1m91gP
Refusing to wear a mask does not make you "free," in the same way that refusing to wear a seat belt does not make you free. Why has something this simple become this controversial?
Hey, hey, my, my, hope other artists leave Spotify.
One person can start the conversation that brings change
Just goes to show cops don’t follow rules. They think they are beyond reproach. They never atone.
These idiots, full of bad judgment and racist confirmation bias, eschew all training, and act out white supremacist ‘judge and jury’ violence and ‘I was so scared’ cowardice script.
Yes there are some really whacked out ideas like the flat earth movement or the anti-vaxx people. But the thing to understand is most ideas that become mainstream started as fringe ideas.
Benson is very annoyed that Breyer chose to give Biden the opportunity to replace him before the midterms. Be sure that McConnell, Manchin, et al will do everything they can to delay it until after the newly elected Senators are seated.
Lisa and the other Trump Disciples were deliriously happy when Ruth Bader Ginsberg died. They had her replacement nominated before she was even buried. They celebrated the opportunity to put a perjurer who was also credibly accused of sexual assault, on the court.
Fear, be very afraid. That is the message the misleading right wing wants to sent to their followers. Keeping them fearful and outraged so they wont notice that the Republicans have no polices to make the public lives better. The only polices the Republicans have is to empower themselves and to divide the country while denying rights to diverse segments of the population.
As stated often enough despite the right wing talking points wanting to make it so the withdrawal from Afghanistan was not a disaster. Biden’s actions on the Ukraine issue seems to be working well, Putin has hesitated and not invaded as of this time. I have not figured out the right on this. Do they want Biden to insert troops into Ukraine to start a war even the Ukrainians don’t intend to fight in an army to army way? That wouldn’t be smart at all. Does the right want the US to step aside and let Putin have the entire country of Ukraine like Tucker Carlson is pushing for? What is it the right wants here?
He also said he was picking the most qualified person he could find. Is it really a big surprise that judge that is also a black woman would fit that bill. No it would not. The Supreme Court needs more diversity, not less. It certainly needs fewer religious nuts and sexual predators to be sure. All things being equal, is there any reason not to have a black woman’s viewpoint on the high court? If Mitch had wanted a moderate, he should have confirmed Merrick Garland. That ship has sailed, especially with all the right wing hacks that are currently sitting on a bench that they aren’t even qualified to clean.
A court that represents the entire nation should be as diverse as the nation it represents.
If the USA hadn’t been so thoroughly racist for so long, there wouldn’t be a need to try and ensure that the diversity of the court reflects that of the nation.
It would be great if we didn’t have to manufacture this kind of diversity, but in reality, we’re still not there yet.
Militarized police? Are the police an occupying army to control the conquered population? Why is it the police are not serving the people but the enemy of the people? Now do you understand the idea behind defund the police. Let’s get civilian control back from the armed thugs that patrol our neighborhoods and streets making some of us afraid of them.
Kristin M. Kingrey of the West Virginia Air National Guard says a threat her career would be jeopardized if she didn’t look “more feminine” came true when she lost out on two jobs.
Tim Teeman
Senior Editor And Writer
Courtesy of Kristin M. Kingrey
For nearly 14 years, Tech. Sgt. Kristin M. Kingrey has served her country as a member of the West Virginia Air National Guard. Now Kingrey, a 37-year-old lesbian, is suing the Army and Air Force, claiming a senior male leader said she should grow her hair, wear makeup, “and ultimately appear more feminine,” or prepare to face the negative professional consequences.
Kingrey told The Daily Beast that after the remarks were made a job she had successfully applied for was suddenly withdrawn, and the Guard also refused to hire her for a position she was qualified for, “despite her satisfactory performance as a federal employee,” as her lawsuit, filed in a federal court, states.
When the comment was allegedly made, it was not the first time. “From 2016 to 2018, I was constantly being pulled into my seniors’ offices being told my hair was out of regs (non-regulation),” Kingrey told The Daily Beast. “It crossed a line into harassment, and I carried on my person a copy of our regulations in regards to female hair length because I was not breaking any rules.”
Kingrey, from Charleston, West Virginia, believes that sexism and homophobia are key parts of her case—she was singled out as a woman, and a lesbian woman specifically. Hers comports to a stereotypical lesbian appearance, she says, and her boss wanted her appearance to be more conventionally “feminine.”
The lawsuit, filed on Nov. 23last year, claims Kingrey was subject to “continued harassment, discrimination, and retaliation based upon her sex—including her sexual orientation and perceived gender nonconformity.”
The incident that sparked the lawsuit occurred after Kingrey’s senior leader, Vice Wing Commander Col. Michael Cadle, called a female lieutenant colonel and asked her to go to lunch.
Kingrey said Col. Cadle had told the female lieutenant colonel to encourage Kingrey “to grow my hair out and start wearing makeup because if I didn’t it would be detrimental to my career in the West Virginia Air National Guard. I had heard of other females with short hair having issues with people saying things, but I don’t know that progressed to the extent mine did. My hair length has nothing do with my work ethic or job performance. I should be judged on my merit. But my seniors clearly think females should not have short hair. I do not conform to what they think a female should look like. I wish I had an answer as to why this comment was made, or why this is so important to Col. Cadle.”
The female lieutenant who was tasked with talking to Kingrey was “completely appalled and angered” by the comments, Kingrey told The Daily Beast. “She knew I was within regulations and did not understand why this was so important. When I found out about the comment, I was truly disheartened and disturbed,” Kingrey said. “I’ve been in the military for a little over 14 years. They’ve become my family. I see my military family more than my own family. Initially I was embarrassed. I could not believe that not fitting their mold of how I should look would truly impact my career. It was devastating.”
The lawsuit states, “Other instances of discrimination and harassment include colleagues and superiors perpetuating the rumor that Plaintiff Kingrey was ‘transitioning’ from female to male.” Kingrey was also allegedly forced to try on a woman’s Honor Guard jacket in front of others to “confirm that none of the women’s sizes would fit,” the lawsuit states.
“This is about what they think a lesbian female should look like,” Kingrey told The Daily Beast. “It leaves me in such disbelief. They have made this my life. Whenever I discuss it I am at a loss for words. It was a completely unacceptable comment, and a completely unacceptable situation. I am fighting this case not just because what happened to me was blatantly wrong, but, most importantly, I truly hope positive change comes from my case and it prevents another individual having to walk this path, because it is a very long and dark path to walk.”
When she initially heard of Col. Cadle’s alleged remark, “for a very brief moment, literally a moment,” Kingrey thought she should take Cadle’s words to heart. If she didn’t, “I thought it would really devastate my career. Then I thought, ‘I’m within the guidance. This is a personal belief on their part. I am who I am. I am being myself. I am not the one in the wrong. I am not the one who crossed the line. Why should I have to change because of someone else’s belief?’”
Kingrey says that after the comment was made the job that had been verbally offered to her was suddenly longer no longer available because of an alleged funding cut. The role was then re-advertised. “I want the job back that was taken from me,” said Kingrey. “I started connecting the dots and realized his threat had come true. That’s when I decided enough was enough.”
“What does having short hair and not wearing makeup have to do with my work performance?”
The lawsuit, filed on Nov. 23, is using the precedent by the Supreme Court’s Bostock ruling of June 2020, which enshrined that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act sex discrimination extends to anti-LGBTQ and gender identity discrimination. The lawsuit charges that the Army and Air Force “discriminated against Plaintiff Kingrey on the basis of her sex—including her sexual orientation and perceived gender nonconformity—by eliminating a position which Plaintiff Kingrey had already been selected—and hired—nearly 18 months after her initial acceptance.”
Kingrey told The Daily Beast that since bringing the case she has been subject to “retaliation,” with her and some female colleagues presently being investigated for “fraternization,” which she says is the socializing of those from different ranks. “In all my time in the military, no one has blinked when men do it—hunting, going fishing, playing golf, families vacationing together—but here we are, three women, under investigation for the same. I find it very odd that shortly after I filed my Equal Employment Opportunity Complaint complaint [EEOC] I find myself under investigation.”
Col. Cadle, while not her immediate boss, remains in Kingrey’s chain of command while the case continues, which is “very stressful. It’s a very heavy burden, very taxing mentally, and for me there is no getting out from under it,” she told The Daily Beast. “The workplace is uncomfortable, although nothing has been said about the case. We can all save that for the courtroom.”
Mike Hissam, Kingrey’s attorney, told The Daily Beast that while the military typically could not be sued in federal court, in Kingrey’s case it was possible to do so because the job in question was a civilian position within the military. The Army and Air Force are being sued together because Kingrey works on a joint forces’ base. Kingrey is suing her employer as a civilian.
Her complaint states, “As a dual status technician, Plaintiff Kingrey serves as a federal employee in a civilian position with the National Guard, Department of the Army and/or Department of the Air Force. As a dual status technician, Plaintiff Kingrey is employed with the Department of the Air Force as an Air Transportation Craftsman and as an HRO Benefits Specialist—a position funded by the Department of the Army and/or Department of the Air Force.”
The case could last from 18 months to 2 years, Hissam said. The defendants in the case are named as Defendant Frank Kendall, the secretary of the Department of the Air Force and Defendant Christine Wormuth, secretary of the Department of the Army.
The Army and Air Force have yet to respond legally to the complaint. The Air Force did not respond to requests for comment by The Daily Beast. A U.S. Army spokesperson told The Daily Beast, “As a matter of policy, the Army does not comment on ongoing litigation.”
In a statement at the end of December, the West Virginia National Guard said: “The West Virginia National Guard (WVNG) is fully committed to an inclusive and diverse workforce free from harassment. As a matter of policy, the WVNG does not comment on matters that are currently pending in litigation. But generally, the WVNG advised an outside agency who is charged with conducting investigations that are prompt, fair, and impartial in matters like this one. They produced a report with the factual record, and it was determined that no discrimination and/or harassment occurred. As such, we are continuing the process to present the facts to fully resolve this matter in the court system.”
“I think even without the Bostock ruling, this is a viable case,” Hissam told The Daily Beast. “Issues around gender conformity and hair and makeup would come under gender discrimination before sexual orientation was added under Title VII. It’s discrimination on the basis of sex regardless of her sexual orientation. There’s a loaded history around sexual orientation that goes back a long time.
“We will be arguing that this was discrimination on the basis of sex, and discrimination on the basis of Kristin not conforming to the gender norms that the leadership of the organization thought she should conform to. We know that from some of the correspondence so far that they will argue that they cannot discriminate against lesbians because other lesbian women within the organization have thrived. What is clear is that those other lesbian women don’t have the same issues that Kristin has faced.”
“No one should have to go through the kind of harassment and discrimination Technical Sergeant Kingrey faced over the years,” Andrew Schneider, executive director of Fairness West Virginia, said in a statement. “This is someone who has devoted her life to serving her country and her state, and this is how she’s treated? We’re better than this. For all of the lawmakers who say discrimination isn’t a problem anymore—here’s proof it is.”
Kingrey told The Daily Beast she would accept an apology from Col. Cadle, “but what I would really like to convey to him is that just because you have a personal disagreement with official guidance does not give you the latitude to impact an individual’s career. There are many things I personally don’t agree with, but that doesn’t give me the right to treat a person differently, without basic human or professional respect. What does having short hair and not wearing makeup have to do with my work performance? I would love an answer to that.”
Kingrey says that an assistant to the adjutant general reached out to her, to offer his support, and then when she responded seeking that, she was informed that he had been told to stand down and not engage with her and could now not help her. “I felt extremely ostracized,” said Kingrey.
“The whole thing has made me feel that I don’t belong, and that my career will be hindered,” said Kingrey. “But I have not considered quitting. I will not be defeated. They are not going to make me leave something that I truly love, and I truly love putting on the uniform every single day. I love my country, and I love my state, and I have served them both honorably for over 14 years.”
Kingrey said she has received support at work, with some colleagues telling her they appreciate her standing up for herself, while other colleagues are “afraid, because they have their own careers and lives which I understand.”
The ghost of the notorious “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy still lingers in the military, Kingrey told The Daily Beast. “Early in my career it was very prominent, and even today my personal life is not workplace talk. I’m not embarrassed of who I am. The workplace is just not somewhere where I talk openly about my personal life.
“People have said other things about me over the years. Once I wore earrings, again within regulations, to work, and a male leader asked me when the Air Force had allowed men to start wearing earrings. It was a very hurtful joke, again based on stereotypes of what women, and lesbian women, look like. I like to remain professional at all times. I corrected him, and he was apologetic. A lot of such comments are not said directly to me but get back to me. I know who the people are and what they have said. People talk, it happens. In the past I brushed it off and pressed forward.”
In Kingrey’s estimation, the National Guard has remained more entrenched in anti-LGBTQ attitudes than other branches of the military.
“There is some homophobia, some ignorance, some people just don’t understand. Within the past three years the National Guard has come out heavily on inclusion and diversity. We get all this training. I am hearing the conversation and not seeing the action. The storefront is there, and it’s great, but there’s nothing really behind it. If all of the fine words are true, why am I where I am with what I am dealing with? A true victory would see the Air Force or National Guard come to the table and be honest and open about diversity and inclusion. Show the action. I win if nobody else has to go through anything like this again.”
Kingrey is presently working at the same base where the comment was made, with all her same colleagues and bosses. “I get up and go to work every day. I give 100 percent while I am at work, and at the end of the day I come home.”
She has a partner of three years, and the situation at work has been “challenging” for the relationship, she told The Daily Beast. “When I come home I am working on the case. I’m constantly researching something. A lot of this takes time away from our relationship, unfortunately. It’s also very comforting to know I have someone supporting me who is non-military, to be able to come home and be with someone outside that environment. I can somewhat detach from it for brief periods of time.”
Kingrey says she has been very depressed. “I have felt completely lost. I have felt less of a valuable asset and member because of this. It’s very hard mentally, emotionally, and physically. There have been many, many sleepless nights because my mind goes over so many different scenarios. I am in such a heightened state of vigilance, only once I get home can I turn that off. It’s like a vicious cycle. There’s no break from it.”
Within the last couple of months Kingrey has begun therapy, “because I realized my depression was getting to a point where I realized I needed it. But it’s a lot of work, because I am still living in this situation every day.”
“It’s truly a privilege every day to put that uniform on and serve my country”
Growing up, Kingrey was inspired by the example of her uncle who was in the Air Force and Air National Guard in West Virginia. “I watched him throughout his career. I saw the pride he had putting on his uniform and performing his military duties. I knew at an early age the military was something I definitely wanted to be part of, and my way of giving back to my community, my state, and my country.”
When she joined up at 23, it was “one of the best decisions I ever made. It offered me the opportunity to do things and go to places I have never been to. I have met some of the greatest people, and have friends all over the world. It’s truly a privilege every day to put that uniform on and serve my country.”
Coming out was “a very long and difficult period” of Kingrey’s life. “I come from a family that has disagreements towards homosexuality, but at the end of the day they told me they loved me and that they accepted and loved me for who I was.”
Being gay was never an issue earlier in her career when she was deployed on active duty. “Nobody was focused on who was LGBTQ. There was no stereotyping stigma. My hair and makeup was never an issue. When I was deployed in the Middle East where it was 130 degrees during the day, profusely sweating while having short hair and not wearing makeup was a plus. It was a totally different environment. Everybody was there to do a job. At the end of your shift you’re exhausted and just ready go to back to your bunk, take a shower, go to bed, and get ready for the next day.”
“It is unfortunate, the way it has happened,” Kingrey said of the case. “But it needed to happen. It needed to come out. The problem needs to be addressed, and changes made where necessary, so another individual never has to experience the anxiety and fear of being discriminated against, or put up with derogatory comments that have nothing to do with regulations but someone else’s personal beliefs.”
Hissam said he was confident of victory. “If we have to go all the way we will go all the way, even if that means trial,” he said.
“We would want reinstatement and back pay,” Hissam said of what a successful resolution would look like. “Kristin should get the position she applied for and would have gotten had it not been for the unlawful discrimination she suffered. That’s the outcome she wants.”
Kingrey told The Daily Beast she “definitely wants to stay and finish out a 20-plus year career in the military. I am committed to the military. I just want to go through my career on a fair basis. I’ve never asked for favoritism just because I am from the LGBTQ community. I just want to be allowed to continue my military career based on my own merits and off my work ethic. Judge me on that.”
Scottie's Playtime 
Remind us again why we should fund law enforcement that targets the poor and the minorities routinely to enrich themselves while enjoying immunity from any prosecution?
https://slate.com/business/2022/01/alabama-police-brookside-highway-fines-fees.html
https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-11-09/fbi-has-investigated-kansas-city-kansas-police-for-decades-but-prosecution-of-bad-cops-is-rare
https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/578798-the-high-cost-of-innocence-when-police-seize-cash