The Pentagon is moving to recruit hundreds of troops to appear as spectators next month at President Donald Trump’s UFC cage-fighting event on the White House lawn, and requiring those who attend to pay their own way and meet height and weight requirements, according to people familiar with the matter and internal memos reviewed by The Washington Post.
The Defense Department in recent days has solicited troops across the services to attend the June 14 event. Officials are seeking junior enlisted personnel and junior officers specifically, according to internal messages that make clear travel will be “member-procured.”
Junior troops make up the military’s lowest pay grades. One memo, circulated within the Air Force, stipulates that to be eligible, personnel “MUST MEET CURRENT WAIST-HEIGHT RATIO and current physical fitness standard.” Troops will be required to wear their short-sleeve dress uniforms, the memo adds.
Cesar Chavez, Eric Swalwell, Justin Fairfax, and the gender politics of keeping their dirty secrets.
News about powerful men committing violence against women has bombarded the United States in recent months.
On April 16, 2026, Virginia’s former Lieutenant Gov. Justin Fairfax killed his wife, Dr. Cerina Fairfax, and then himself inside their family home. The shocking news came days after Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, resigned from Congress following multiple sexual misconduct allegations.
A few weeks prior, in March 2026, an investigation about labor movement leader Cesar Chavez revealed a decades-long pattern of sexual abuse, including against another farmworker icon, Dolores Huerta.
All three of these powerful men had known patterns of alleged predatory sexual behavior. But their secret was protected—in some cases for decades—not only by other men, but also by some of the same women they’d hurt.
Somehow, no matter how much progress we think we’ve made, women keep being sacrificed—or sacrificing ourselves—for men’s accomplishments and legacy. Our lives and futures and mental health are even sacrificed on the altar of their potential political accomplishments and legacy.
The Al Franken effect
I’m a legal historian and commentator on sexism and gender-based violence. I’ve studied violence against women and the criminal trials that let male perpetrators off the hook. I’m also a woman who experiences sexual harassment so often that it has become a dull hum following me throughout my day.
This self-sacrifice seemingly stems from what seems to me to be a societal belief that the men who commit harm are more needed than the women who are harmed. Our ideas, organizing, and logistical labor—often dismissed as “secretarial” work—can’t compete with the fear of losing a single powerful man.
When the allegations against Swalwell first broke, some on the left rushed to defend him. Some on social media claimed it was a Republican smear job because he’s been opposed to Trump’s policies and was running to be the next governor of California.
Women often come forward with their stories when a man is running for political office because they feel that information is relevant to voters. Or, they may speak out because it’s difficult to see one’s abuser portrayed so incompletely in the news.
Yet some people cast doubt on the timing of the Swalwell accusations, suggesting people were out to get attention or take a “good man” down before he can further ascend in his career. On social media, posts compared the situation to Al Franken resigning from Congress in 2017 over sexual misconduct allegations.
Franken’s resignation is often treated as an example of #MeToo going “too far,” because some reporting suggests that the initial accusation against Franken may have been trumped up. But he was sexually inappropriate with women both before and after taking office. His resignation was important to live up to progressive values, and the left didn’t actually lose any political clout over it: Franken’s replacement, Tina Smith, has been a fantastic senator.
It’s relatively rare for members of Congress to resign after being accused of sexual misconduct. According to the National Women’s Defense League, 23 lawmakers with public accusations are running for reelection in 2026 in 16 states, including nine people running for Congress.
The group held a press conference on April 21, 2026, to discuss two new reports on sexual misconduct in Congress and state government. According to its research, 80 percent of candidates publicly accused get reelected.
Cesar Chavez’s legacy
The calculus for marginalized women to come forward about sexual assault is even tougher.
The first line of Dolores Huerta’s public statement about her abuse says she kept quiet for nearly 60 years because she “believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.”
I believe many women stay quiet when they think coming forward could hurt a movement—in this case, one Huerta helped to build. But they may tell their story if they’re worried not doing so could cause even more harm.
Her story details two incidents of sexual assault that resulted in two hidden pregnancies. She gave both children up for adoption.
Soon after the investigation broke, Chavez’s name was erased from monuments across the country. That’s not necessarily an indication of local leaders taking sexual violence seriously. In some places, it may just as well reflect a desire to erase Mexican American achievements and the progress of the United Farmworkers Union in securing rights for migrant laborers, some of the most marginalized workers in the country.
I say that because we have the perfect replacement for Chavez’s legacy in Huerta herself. It would be so easy to simply rename every street and monument after her, rather than simply erase commemorations of the movement.
Huerta was already forced to sacrifice so much by Chavez, must she now watch as her life’s work goes down with him, too?ire News Group is a reader-supported, independent nonprofit newsroom.
Jewish history
In my own Jewish community, there is a long history of pressuring victims of domestic violence and sexual assault to stay quiet—and not air their suffering outside the community.
Doing so would be an example of “lashon hara,” or evil speech or gossip. If we report our abuse to police, we are contributing to negative ideas about the Jewish men in our community. Some men in the Jewish community even claim that because of Jewish teachings and customs, Jewish men can’t ever actually abuse their wives, because domestic violence is a Christian affliction of gentile culture—that is, a non-Jewish problem.
This myth persists outside the Jewish community, and it can impact how Jewish women are treated in secular American courts.
My doctoral dissertation research covered a case of a Jewish woman in New York City murdered in 1875. Both suspects in her killing were Jewish men protected by the community. During the trial, the victim was used as a cudgel against her own people to prove that Jews were dangerous.
If she had survived and was given the choice to report the violence she faced would she have feared exposing a man from her community to the criminal justice system?
This concern is even more heightened for Black women. If their abusers are Black, they know that reporting them means increasing exposure to a racist criminal justice system.
Research also suggests Black women are less likely to be seen as victims by the dominant society and more likely to be blamed for harming men of their own community, or accused of trying to “take down a good man.” (Think back to how accusations against R. Kelly, Mike Tyson, Bill Cosby, and Clarence Thomas were greeted.)
As Aishah Simmons, Black feminist and activist, explains, many people “think that exposing and addressing intra-racial sexual violence against Black women divides the community … and we should only focus … on racism since that is the ‘real problem.’”
This community protection can feel even more important when the abuse comes from a so-called “good Black man,” as author Kaitlyn Greenidge wrote on April 19, 2026, of Cerina Fairfax’s killing. The promise of a Black middle class life with a politician husband like Justin Fairfax is supposed to guarantee a safe and protected life.
Cerina Fairfax stood by her husband even after two women accused him of sexually assaulting them; one alleged incident occurred back when he and his accuser were undergraduates at Duke University.
The accusations against Fairfax came to light during a crisis in Virginia politics when he was poised to possibly take over the governorship from the scandal-plagued Ralph Northam. Fairfax denied any misconduct and refused to resign. No criminal charges were filed. He ran for governor in 2021, and lost.
In this case, Democrats did lose leadership of the state. Before the sexual assault allegations, Fairfax was seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party. Had his accusers not gone public, he might have become the state’s next governor.
But it’s equally true that had he resigned in 2019, after they did, a new Lt. governor could have stepped in and potentially run successfully in 2021.
Sacrificing for the cause
It irks me that Fairfax ran for governor after being accused of sexual misconduct. It irks me that Swalwell did, too.
Swalwell’s name remains on the primary ballots in the California governor race, and that will hurt the Democrats’ chances to hold onto that post. It was Swalwell’s hubris and entitlement hurt his party—not the women who came forward to prevent him from accruing more power.
I wonder: How many young staffers left politics because Swalwell was allowed to prey on his subordinates? What progress could have been made in the labor movement if the women abused by Chavez had instead been in leadership roles? Would Cerina Fairfax still be alive if her husband had been prosecuted in 2019?
We’ll never know how the world would look if the well-being of the women in these cases had been prioritized over the careers of their abusers. What I know is that the harm done to us as women is more important than the potential of the men who hurt us. And I know that the goals of movements or political gains can no longer rest on our silence and our labor.
It’s horrifying that these Jewish settlers who want to eradicate entirely the Muslim population. One woman described Islam as a cancer and wants the Islamists killed or reeducated. Muslims who own businesses can’t even open their shops. But there is a small minority trying to protect the arabs. Hugs
Yet the tRump administration trashed the government’s stance of fighting right wing violence or right wing extremist violent groups. It started with the republicans forcing Obama to remove a government study on right wing extremists. Now the current DOJ and FBI have removed all mention of right wing violence or violent actions instead claiming the violence is all being done and caused by Antifa. The government wants to make the public believe that the people who are against fascism are the real extremist threat to the public. Antifa is antifascism / antifascist. It has no headquarts or central organization it is just people who since the 1930s have pushed back against fascism and fascists. The tRump white supremacists want the public to believe violent groups like the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, Nazi groups, the 3 percenters, and other militia groups that joined in the insurrection riot on Jan 6th and are extreme white supremacists. The current people in charge love the way they can steal the money from the treasury and take away people’s rights, so they want to keep the hate groups that support them to be the good guys and anyone who tries to stop the destruction of democracy they hope to make the bad people. Hugs
Disclaimer: WWFU typically redacts the imagery seen in this zine with an iron front or an X, and encourages others to do the same. This zine also contains slurs that we typically redact. For the sake of eduction and proper recognition, the following content is un-redacted.
A Reference Guide For Recognizing Far Right Groups, Symbols and Dog Whistles
Introduction
As of spring 2026, this zine serves as a reference guide to far-right symbols, dogwhistles, and groups, helping you recognize and understand them. The list focuses on the most active groups and the most commonly used phrases and symbols at this time.
Not all neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups openly brand themselves with swastikas or SS bolts. Recognizing their dogwhistles is essential to accurately identifying them as the community threats they are. Some groups and individuals deliberately project a public facing image of “patriotism” or opposition to “foreign wars” to appear more mainstream, while privately holding the same beliefs as more openly neo-Nazi organizations. Because some symbols are not exclusive to neo-Nazis, fascists, or white supremacists, it’s important to look for additional context clues and patterns of use.
Dogwhistles are coded messages communicated through words or phrases understood by a specific in-group, but not by outside observers. Neo-Nazis and white supremacists use dogwhistles to signal to one another while maintaining plausible deniability.
Phrases / Numbers
131: Anti Communist Action (ACA), the numbers referring to the letters of the alphabet.
Blue Lives Matter/All Lives Matter: These phrases are nothing more than a response to people saying “Black Live Matter” and as way to silence Black voices. Cops can always choose to take off their uniform, while Black people cannot take off their skin or escape the discrimination that comes with it. No one would go to an event to save the rainforests and say that all forests matter. If all lives matter, as racists love to say, then Black lives have to matter. All lives can’t matter until Black lives matter because they are the ones being targeted by police, racist attacks, and everyday discrimination.
TDOTR: The Day of the Rope, a fictional day from the book The Turner Diaries in which race traitors (women who marry non-white men, the press, politicians, LGBTQ people and more) are hanged from lampposts.
6MWE: “Six Million Wasn’t Enough” referring to the number of Jewish people murdered during the holocaust.
The Great Replacement Theory: White supremacist conspiracy theory that argues democratic and government officials are intentionally facilitating non-white immigration to replace the white population for political purposes. Similar phrases include “white genocide.”
It’s okay to be white: While no one is saying it’s not okay to be white, this phrase creates perceived victimhood and is a stepping stone to great replacement.
WPWW: White Pride World Wide
GTKRWN: Gas the Kikes, Race War Now
RAHOWA: Racial Holy War
RWDS: Right Wing Death Squad
Blood and Soil: A reference to race and nationality from Nazi Germany
14: A reference to the 14 words “we must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children” coined by David Lane.
88: 8 Represents the 8th letter of the alphabet, HH or “Heil Hitler.” Variations include H8 and 83 “Heil Christ.” You will often see the numbers 14 and 88 together (1488 or 14/88).
WP: White Power. Also sometimes signified by an “okay” hand gesture.
Reclaim America: White supremacist slogan advocating for the “reclaiming” of America from immigrants (referencing the racist Great Replacement conspiracy theory).
We’ll Have Our Home Again: Popular phrase used by neo-nazis and white supremacists based on a song of the same title and similar to “reclaim America.”
Groups / Orgs
Patriot Front: A white nationalist group mostly focused on using patriotic imagery and rhetoric to spread propaganda and recruit. Founded by Thomas Rousseau, the group broke off from Vanguard America in 2017 after the deadly Charlottesville rally in Virginia. They care primarily about public image. Their style involves patriotic designs including red white and blue, fasces, khaki pants, and white masks with matching shirts, shields, the Confederate flag, the Betsy Ross flag, and the US flag. Despite their efforts to be palatable to a wider audience, outside of public view they espouse anti-semetic, pro-white and pro-nazi views. Patriot Front is currently one of the largest white nationalist groups in the US.
Active Clubs: Active Clubs are white supremacist fight clubs widespread across the US and throughout parts of Europe. They use the guise of fitness and training to try recruiting mostly younger white men into their clubs. Often members will march with other larger neo-nazi / white supremacist groups, and all chapters share the same logo of a Celtic Cross with text representative of their region. Many Active Clubs in the US are directly tied to Thomas Rousseau and Patriot Front.
Blood Tribe: Blood Tribe is a neo-nazi group started by former marine Christopher Pohlhaus. They are known for being one of the most outward facing Nazi groups, holding semi-regular marches in cities across the US. They wear matching red and black outfits with black face coverings, and march with matching black and white swastika flags, and will loudly chant white supremacist and nazi slogans. Their goal is to instill a Fourth Reich in the US.
AFN: “Aryan Freedom Network” is a neo-nazi group present widespread across the US. The group has begun functioning as an umbrella organization, bringing in members from other groups like the Ku Klux Klan and outlaw bikers to function under their name. Outside of flyering neighborhoods with nazi propaganda, they operate mostly out of public view. They train often with firearms and make efforts to organize nationally across as many regions as possible.
WLM: “White Lives Matter” is a white supremacist movement with chapters all around America and the globe, who focus their activism on low-risk tactics like stickers, flyers, and banners.
Three Percenters: This movement was created in 2008 with the false claim that only 3% of American forces fought the British in the revolutionary war, and therefore it would take only 3% of the population to overthrow the current US government. They are a far-right militia movement of anti-government extremists focused on gun ownership.
Proud Boys: A group of western chauvinists founded by Gavin McInnes in 2016. Although the Proud Boys aren’t explicitly white supremacist, their emphasis on the “western” values and culture is a thinly veiled substitute for “White” values and culture and is used to deflect accusations of racism. Their ideology can be considered a form of proto-fascism as it contains elements of ultra-nationalism, traditionalism, misogyny, and social Darwinism. Their membership has different levels and members are encouraged to participate in street brawls. Level 1 is to exclaim “I am a proud western chauvinist and I refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.” Level two is to recite 5 cereal brands while other members perform a “beat in.” Level 3 is to get a tattoo of “PROUD BOY,” and level 4 is to engage in violence for their cause, usually against LGBTQ or antifascists. They use the acronyms POYB (Proud of Your Boy) and FAFO (Fuck Around and Find Out) and can be spotted in black and yellow Fred Perry polo shirts, or other clothes with the black/yellow color combination. They also use the “okay” hand sign on a regular basis.
NOVA: “National Organization for Vital Action” is a white-supremacist organization with the goal of building a “nation within a nation” for whites only. They aim to connect as many neo-nazi and white-supremacist groups and individuals as possible in order to create a broad network of racists in America. Their public actions mostly consist of banner drops and stickers. In private, the group has expressed their willingness to use violence to achieve their end goals of a whites only nation.
GDL: “Goyim Defense League”, founded by Jon Minadeo II, is a network of anti-semetic content creators who focus almost exclusively on anti-Jewish conspiracy theories and hatred. They primarily focus their efforts on online videos and live -streams, but are also active in-person, often flyering neighborhoods doing banner drops, harassing synagogues, and holding marches with swastika flags.
Groypers: “Groypers” are a term for followers of far-right, nazi influencer Nick Fuentes. Less of an organized group, it is a term given to adherents of the anti-immigrant, anti-semetic, and pro-white positions held by Nick Fuentes and pushed into the public. The primary function of Groypers is to push more “traditional conservatives” into a more radical, white supremacist sphere.
The Base: An accelerationist paramilitary nazi group formed by Rinaldo Nazzaro in 2018. They have similar aesthetics to Atomwaffen, but a different logo.
Atomwaffen Division: Also known as the National Socialist Order, Atomwaffen is an accelerationist (accelerating towards a race war in which they hope to overthrow the current government and society and replace it with a fascist order) nazi group responsible for several murders. After numerous arrests and infighting. the group dissolved, only recently attempting to reform in 2025, though failing to gain support. Responsible for popularizing the skull mask within neo-nazi groups, other symbols include the radioactive symbol and flecktarn (a German camo pattern similar to the “peas” pattern from WW2). Although now defunct, their influence remains significant.
Ku Klux Klan: One of the longst running white supremacist organizations. They use the number 311 to represent 3 Ks, which is the 11th letter of the alphabet. Their iconic robes have become so recognizable they may no longer count as a dog whistle. They also use the blood drop cross and variations on the blood drop cross including just the blood drop, and the confederate flag.
Gypsy Jokers: A one percenter motorcycle club with white supremacist sympathies who are known to traffic drugs and engage in low level organized crime and violence. They wear motorcycle gear adorned with nazi symbols and a back patch that says “Gypsy Jokers.” In recent years they have been known to associate with the Proud Boys.
Oathkeepers: Far-right anti-government militia founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes. Oathkeepers played a key role in the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. Oathkeepers appeal directly to military and law enforcement personnel, encouraging them to keep their “oath” to defend the public from what they perceive as the new world order, by means of discipline and violence. They’re also associated with three percenters.
Hammerskins: A racist skinhead group, aka boneheads. The feeder group is known as Crew 38 (38 for “Crossed Hammers”). Hammerskins focus mostly on spreading racist music, but they also engage in street fighting and targeted attacks. Hammerskin Nation is considered one of the most violent racist skinhead groups in the US. They use a hand sign of crossed arms with fists to represent the crossed hammers.
WoV: “Wolves of Vinland” is a group with heavy folkish influences that promotes white supremacy and misogyny, stressing Asatru or Paganism, including animal sacrifices and blood rituals in the woods. They have recently been partnering with Patriot Front and Active Clubs to hold fascist combat events. Their headquarters is in VA, but membership is not limited to that area. “Operation Werewolf” has been used as a recruiting tool and feeder group for WoV. They can be spotted with Celtic and Nordic imagery, runes, and wolf pack patches..
Asatru Folk Assembly: A norse pagan organization which advocates for pre-Christian European rituals and beliefs. The organization discourages “race-mixing” and promotes a whites-only vision of America, falsely claiming that white people were in North America first and were wiped out. Members of other neo-nazi groups such as Blood Tribe associate often with them.
764 / No Lives Matter: 764 is an international, predatory network that espouses neo-nazi, satanic, nihilistic, and accelerationist beliefs. It targets and exploits children / young people and encourages them to commit mass acts of violence. Adherents have been responsible for acts such as murder, firebombings, and school shootings.
Tempel ov Blood / 09A: The Order of Nine Angles (09A), and it’s most violent chapter, The Tempel ov Blood (ToB), are satanic neo-Nazi cults that have had a significant influence on far-right accelerationist projects, like the now-defunct Atomwaffen. Suffice to say, 09A and ToB glorify nazism and violence, and are adept at radicalizing (and abusing) teenagers. Symbols include the seven-pt star inside a circle, a downward sort of pitchfork with 333 above it, and “Drill Sgt Grey” – a sinister space alien in a military outfit.
Injekt Division: An accelerationist nazi group that was formed by Coleman Blevins (aka Korb) in 2021. They are organized in decentralized cells, embracing a terror guerrilla ideology that looks to collapse the “System”. Their symbols include a syringe, 1494 and “Pray For Rain”.
NWTI: “The Northwest Territorial Imperative” is a vision of a whites-only homeland in the Pacific NW. Proposed in the ’80s by Richard Butler of the Aryan Nations, it is an idea embraced by a wide variety of white supremacists, including secretive militant nazi groups dedicated to implementing the vision, such as Northwest Front (NF) or the Northwest Pioneer Association (NPA). NWTI is represented by an inverted Cascadian tri-color flag – having vertical stripes, rather than horizontal. Their flag sometimes includes a rune or swastika. Common associated phrases: “Come Home, White Man” and “Ex Gladio Libertas”.
Vinlanders Social Club: Vinlanders Social Club (VSC / Firm 22) is a violent neo-Nazi bonehead gang formed in 2003. It uses Firm 22 as a support crew of men and women; the men being prospects for full VSC membership. VSC / Firm 22 went into decline in the 2010s, but has been attempting to build itself back up through proximity to the active club movement, much like the Hammerskins. Its symbols include a black cross on a green flag, 22, 1422, an eagle holding brass knuckles, a red, white & blue shield patch with a laurel, or just a laurel.
TPUSA: “Turning Point USA” is an organization which targets high schoolers and college students with far-right propaganda, talking points, and literature. Founded by Charlie Kirk, and now led by his widowed wife Erika Kirk, the organization has chapters in schools across the US, and regularly sets up tents on college campuses in order to recruit and create content by means of filming bad-faith political “debates.” With a roster of speakers and frequent events, TPUSA regularly promotes popular anti-trans white nationalist talking points, white Christianity, and racial divisions. Using the public image of more traditional conservatism, they function as a pipeline to more fascist far-right ideologies.
References and Further Reading
For current / past antifascist articles, contact info for sharing tips, and other resources, you can visit:
I receive a couple of weekly emails from Friends Committee on National Legislation. I began working with them back when the US invaded Afghanistan. I’m copy-pasting today’s letter, which includes links for more info, and some even for taking a little action if someone cares to do it.Either way, it’s good to be informed.
After a months-long political standoff over immigration enforcement funding, congressional Republicans continue to push forward a $72 billion proposal, without measures to hold these rogue agencies accountable.
A ruling by the Senate parliamentarian Thursday set back the proposal for now. But we must continue the struggle against a blank check for more lawless, cruel enforcement.
One of the most impactful ways we can push back is by lifting up stories of the toll of these policies on our communities.
On Wednesday, a group of senators held a hearing spotlighting how immigrants brought to the U.S. as children are facing detention and deportation after being promised protections.
Stephanie Villarreal shared a story about her husband Juan, a DACA recipient who has lived in the U.S. for more than 25 years. On Feb. 18, Juan was driving to deliver breast milk to their newborn baby in the neonatal intensive care unit. He never arrived. On his way, Juan was seized by ICE agents as Stephanie listened on the phone helplessly. He has been in detention ever since, separated from his wife, his baby, and his other children.
“He did everything he was asked to,” Stephanie said. “But that didn’t matter.”
We were also moved by the story of Deiver Henao, a nine-year-old boy held in ICE detention.
“I don’t wanna be here anymore,” he said. “I want to be [in school] to be happy … I wish I could leave before the spelling bee.”
Thankfully, Deiver and his family were released after his case received media attention. But many other children like him remain detained.
These stories are not are exceptional: they are far too common. How we treat people like Juan and Deiver is a test of who are as a nation. We all deserve to be treated with dignity, love, and respect. It is up to us, as people of faith and conscience, to speak out against these heartbreaking injustices and demand better from our government.
“Congressional action depends on local, personal stories from the communities they represent,” FCNL’s Anika Forrest explained.“Let’s make sure that Congress can’t look away.”
Elsewhere
War Powers Resolution on Iran barely falls short Public pressure to end war on Iran is moving Congress. Just this week, we saw resolutions to end the war almost pass – falling only one vote short in the House and two votes short in the Senate.
Public opposition to the war is bipartisan and fierce, and growing in Congress. Let’s keep up the momentum and get this over the finish line!
As Trump visits China, cries for cooperation multiply President Trump visited China this week, meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, talking about trade, Taiwan, and other issues. FCNL joined a broad coalition of organizations in calling for a peaceful, cooperative relationship between China and the U.S.As our letter to Congress puts it,
“At a time when so many domestic needs are going unmet, a confrontational posture toward China is costing untold billions.” Every dollar spent on war or preparing for war takes away from the desperate needs we have at home and abroad to build the world we seek.
Members of Congress call on U.S. to stop Ecuador operations The U.S. military is supporting Ecuadorian forces to violently crack down on accused drug traffickers. Twenty members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth demanding that the U.S. stop and investigate serious accusations of human rights abuses: “The United States cannot continue to be complicit in abuses abroad. There must be accountability.”
The path to abolishing the Selective Service Plans for automatic draft registration were announced about a month ago, fulfilling the mandate from 2025’s defense bill. Just yesterday, a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation which would end the Selective Service entirely.
FCNL’s Priya Moran explained what’s going on and what the future might hold, calling on Congress to “focus on preventing war, instead of maintaining a system designed to force young people to engage in it.” Call for Congress to act!
In peace, Bryan Bowman Social Media and Communications Strategist
The federal government is escalating efforts to seek private medical data for children undergoing gender-affirming care, as at least one hospital faces the first known criminal probe of its kind.
Last week, NYU Langone Hospitals in New York City received a grand jury subpoena for information about young patients who received gender-affirming care at their facilities anytime in the past six years.
A grand jury subpoena indicates that a federal criminal investigation is underway. This would be a first in regards to gender-affirming care.
The subpoena came from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Texas, part of the Justice Department. The office is also seeking the names of hospital employees involved in providing gender-affirming care. The government has previously sought medical records of transgender kids from other states, and so have Texas officials, but not like this.
Parents of trans youth under the age of 18 who have received care at NYU Langone got a notification from the hospital alerting them to the grand jury subpoena. According to that notification and to the hospital’s public statement, NYU Langone is one of several institutions that received a subpoena May 7. The hospital said it is still evaluating how it will respond to it.
New York law prevents the disclosure of medical records related to gender-affirming care and abortion except in limited circumstances and broadly prohibits law enforcement from cooperating with investigations into gender-affirming care. This sets up a potential legal fight over the subpoena.
Several legal battles are currently playing out in response to other attempts from the government to obtain trans kids’ medical records.
Eleven families just filed a class-action lawsuit to block the Justice Department from obtaining confidential information about young trans patients seeking gender-affirming care. The agency sent more than 20 subpoenas last summer to doctors and clinics involved in providing such care, with the intent to investigate “healthcare fraud, false statements, and more.” Both the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have sought to investigate gender-affirming care as medical fraud.
Multiple judges halted these DOJ subpoenas in their tracks, after hospitals fought back. A federal judge in Massachusetts called the agency’s investigations into gender-affirming care “motivated only by bad faith.” A judge in Colorado, who blocked a similar subpoena, said patient medical records must be protected from “improper disclosure.”
Separately, a federal judge this month temporarily blocked the FTC from investigating two medical groups that support gender-affirming care for transgender people. Those groups, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and the Endocrine Society, were served civil investigative demands for years of internal records and financial information. Both groups sued.
Over the past year, hospitals in states like New York, where gender-affirming care is legally protected, have come under pressure by the federal government to halt care for trans youth. For patients, that care has been spotty: earlier this year, NYU Langone halted gender-affirming care for young patients, citing “the current regulatory environment” as a key reason. More than 40 hospitals across the country have done the same, per STAT News.
Gender-affirming care for trans youth primarily refers to hormone therapy and puberty blockers used to treat gender dysphoria, which is a medical condition that can cause significant distress. Very few transgender youth seek and access surgeries. Restricting gender-affirming care is a top priority of the Trump administration, which has proposed regulations to greatly restrict the care for youth and stated its opposition to trans identity as a whole.
Look what he’s up to now! (Gotta laugh. Well, I had to, for a minute or so; they have kids, also I worry for Mrs. Walters, but they’re likely all safer now. Interestingly, he is who filed, not she. Of course, poor behavior of prominent husbands is how no-fault divorce came about to begin with.)
Former Oklahoma Schools Superintendent Ryan Walters is one of the holiest men in all the land. He worked tirelessly for many years to use the power of the state to convert children to Christianity, without care or regard to how “unconstitutional” that was. A Bible in every classroom! Every wall straight up papered with the Ten Commandments! State funding for Catholic charter schools! Forcing kids to watch videos of him praying to Donald Trump! Sure, many of his initiatives failed, but he did ultimately succeed in one thing: spending over $100,000 in taxpayer funds to pay PR firms to promote his “personal brand” and secure over 400 media appearances for him.
To be fair, he was also really good at sending and showing porn to his colleagues.
And now he is about to be very good at being alone.
Last Friday, Ryan Walters filed a petition to divorce Katie Walters, his wife of 15 years and mother to his four children. In the filing, Walters’s attorney cited “a state of complete and irreconcilable incompatibility” as the reason for the divorce, claiming that this “destroyed the aims of the marriage of the parties and rendered its continuation impossible.”
In other words, a no-fault divorce.
If you haven’t been paying too much attention to the worst people in the world, you may not be aware of the Right’s hysteria over “no-fault divorce” these last few years, which they claim has just ruined everything by allowing women to leave their shitty husbands without needing to prove abuse or adultery.
Sure, it’s also significantly decreased suicide rates in married women, decreased domestic violence across the board and led to far fewer men being fed arsenic-laced ham sandwiches by wives with no other recourse for getting out of a bad marriage. But it’s really inconvenienced men who would like to force the women they feel they own to stay married to them, as God intended.
While all states now allow for no fault divorces, Oklahoma allows for both no fault and fault divorce, which means he had the option to have a divorce of which his Christian Nationalist pals might have approved, but he decided against. One of the benefits, we might note, of no-fault divorce, is that people don’t end up having their dirty laundry made public in court records. Does Walters have something to hide? Did he send porn to too many people? Were there not enough Ten Commandment posters in their home, causing him to lapse and break the sixth?
Of course, it doesn’t actually seem as though Christian Nationalists are that mad at no-fault divorce when it’s the man who files, so perhaps that is the difference here? They haven’t been too clear about how they want this New Gilead to work beyond just, you know, women giving up all of their rights so that they can be happy.
After all, they seem to be pretty okay with all of Trump’s divorces in pursuit of younger women (though perhaps, in their world, it is a more valid reason than escaping domestic violence).
Because it’s important to re-read this proclamation every year, at least on Mother’s Day. And especially so in this year of strikes and other activism to get our government back to we the people, and in comparison to the retail profits from this holiday.
Too few Americans are aware that early advocates of Mother’s Day in the United States originally envisioned it as a day of peace, to honor and support mothers who lost sons and husbands to the carnage of the Civil War.
MOTHER’S DAY PROCLAMATION Boston, 1870
“Arise, then… women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, whether our baptism be that of water or of tears! Say firmly: We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.
From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: Disarm, Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence vindicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of council.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them then solemnly take council with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each bearing after his own kind the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God.
In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women, without limit of nationality, may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient, and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.“
~ Julia Ward Howe
May 10, 1857 The Sepoy Rebellion was triggered in Meerut, India, when native troops (known as Sepoys, which also designated a rank equivalent to private) turned on their British officers.It was the first instance of armed resistance against colonial rule. Indians constituted 96% of the 300,000-man British Army.Loading the Lee-Enfield Rifled Musket assigned to the Sepoys involved biting the end of a cartridge greased in a combination of pig fat and beef tallow. “Attack of the Mutineers,” a British illustration of the Sepoy Rebellion The former is haraam (forbidden) under Islamic law, the latter offensive to Hindus who consider the cow as aghanya (that which may not be slaughtered). When the Sepoys, including both Hindu and Muslim Indians, became aware of this, some refused to load their weapons. Mangal Pandey, a soldier in the Army shot his commander for forcing the Indian troops to use the controversial rifles. When others were charged with mutiny for refusing, Sepoys turned on their officers and released the imprisoned soldiers. The rebellion is now considered the first Indian war for independence. More on the rebellion
May 10, 1967 Army Captain Howard Levy, a physician, was imprisoned three years for refusing to train U.S. Special Forces soldiers for Vietnam. He refused an order to perform the training as he considered it a violation of his medical ethics. “The United States is wrong in being involved in the Viet Nam War. I would refuse to go to Viet Nam if ordered to do so. I don’t see why any colored soldier would go to Viet Nam: they should refuse to go to Viet Nam and if sent should refuse to fight because they are discriminated against and denied their freedom in the United States, and they are sacrificed and discriminated against in Viet Nam by being given all the hazardous duty and they are suffering the majority of casualties.” From the Supreme Court case, Parker, Warden, et al. v. Levy.
May 10, 1968 Peace talks began in Paris between the U.S. and North Vietnam with businessman, former New York governor, ambassador and cabinet secretary W. Averell Harriman representing the United States. Former Foreign Minister Xuan Thuy, heading the North Vietnamese delegation, immediately demanded cessation of U.S. bombing.
May 10, 1972 Jane Briggs Hart, the wife of Senator Philip A. Hart (D-Michigan), informed the Internal Revenue Service that she wouldn’t pay some of her taxes; instead, she deposited her quarterly estimated tax of $6,200 in a special bank account. She wrote: “I cannot contribute one more dollar toward the purchase of more bombs and bullets.” Jane Briggs Hart More about Jane Briggs Hart
May 10, 1980 A federal judge in Salt Lake City, Utah, found the U.S. government negligent for its above-ground testing of nuclear weapons in Nevada from 1951 to 1962. The land of the Nevada Test Site is scarred with craters from nuclear testing.
May 10, 1994 Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa’s first black president. He had won the country’s first election in which all South Africans could vote, regardless of race. Mandela had spent nearly three decades imprisoned for his part in the struggle to attain political and civil rights for black and colored citizens. This ended more than three centuries of white rule, beginning with the Dutch in 1652. Biography of Nelson Mandela South African chronology
A Florida man is facing life felony charges after allegedly brutally assaulting a defenseless 5-year-old boy in an act of hate-fueled child abuse. “This was a brutal and hateful attack on a defenseless child. There is absolutely no excuse for it. We will make sure justice is served and these children get the safety and support they deserve,” Sheriff Grady Judd said.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said that on Sunday, May 3, 33-year-old Andre Brown Jr. from Davenport was arrested for child abuse. According to officials, this charge has been categorized as a life felony because it is considered a hate crime.
During interviews with the children in Browns care, it was revealed that Brown had been physically abusive toward a 5-year-old boy, specifically targeting him because he was “mad at him for being gay.” Brown reportedly told deputies that he abused the child because of his sexual orientation, claiming he would “beat the gay out of him if possible.”
The boy told authorities he was afraid of Brown and did not want to talk much about what happened. He had the worst injuries of the three: marks and bruising on his legs, arms, back, and stomach; a fracture to his right wrist; and a contusion to his forehead. He had marks all over his body consistent with being hit by a belt, the sheriff’s office said.
When deputies attempted to remove Brown from the scene, he pulled away, became loud and began yelling slurs, the sheriff’s office said. He continued yelling and pulling away once placed in handcuffs, according to the release, and also was charged with resisting arrest.
Brown has a lengthy criminal history, including domestic battery strangulation, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping with intent to commit a felony, home invasion robbery with a firearm and battery on a law enforcement officer, the release said.
Emma Tenayuca was a labor organizer in Texas who is best known for leading a strike of pecan shellers in 1938. Workers called her “La Pasionaria“ which means “Passionflower.” From a young age, she survived violence and imprisonment in her quest to help workers get better working conditions and higher wages.
Tenayuca was born on December 21, 1916, and I know all of you December birthday people will identify with her plight – born too close to Christmas, she never got ‘birthday’ presents. Her family was Mexican American, and had lived in Texas for many generations. She was raised by grandparents who were interested in politics, and was also influenced by the speakers in the San Antonio town square. She was brought up with pride in her family and their roots, and she was encouraged to be educated and politically active by her family.
Emma Tenayuca in 1939, photographed for a Personality of the Week article in The San Antonio Light
Tenayuca was arrested for the first time at 16, for protesting alongside striking workers from the Finck Cigar Company. She used her bilingual language skills to help people with their problems and worked with many organizations working towards better pay and better conditions for Mexican-Americans.
One of the most common positions for Mexican-American women in the area was in the pecan industry. Pecan shelling for 6-7 cents a pound was difficult work (the meat of the shell must remain intact) for little pay. Additionally, the process filled the factory rooms with a fine dust that contributed towards tuberculosis.
In 1938, the factories cut pay to 3 cents a pound and Tenayuca, who was 21 years old at the time, found herself leading a strike of approximately 12,000 workers. The strike faced violent opposition, as detailed in the article “Remembering Emma Tenayuca:”
When Pecan production ground to a halt, the owners fought back: Tenayuca and hundreds of strikers were gassed and arrested by San Antonio police. Some were beaten as well. With the NWA rallying community support, the strike turned into a city-wide uprising of the poorest and most oppressed people in San Antonio.
Thirty-seven days after the strike began the pecan producers agreed to arbitration. A few weeks later, the workers had won a wage increase to seven or eight cents per pound.
Tenayuca faced opposition as a woman, as a Mexican-American, as a labor organizer, and as a member of the Communist Party (she left the Party in 1946). From Americans Who Tell the Truth:
