I posted about this before. Now I need to post an update. Rule by gang violence must always be rejected and pushed back against as hard as possible. Hugs
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The Birmingham News reports:
A few hours before the city of Prattville’s annual Christmas parade was to start, a federal judge ordered the city to allow an LGBTQ pride group’s float to be included. Prattville Pride called the order “a powerful affirmation of the importance of visibility, representation, and inclusion for all members of our community,” in a Facebook post.
In his order, U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker of the Middle District of Alabama wrote: “While there are areas of unprotected speech, such as incitement of violence, the City makes no argument and provides no evidence that Prattville Pride has engaged in any speech or behavior that would remotely fall into an unprotected speech category. It is undisputed that Prattville Pride has complied with the City’s regulations.“
“The City removed Prattville Pride from the parade based on its belief that certain members of the public who oppose Prattville Pride, and what is stands for, would react in a disruptive way. But discrimination based on a message’s content “cannot be tolerated under the First Amendment,” the order continued.
From yesterday’s Alabama Political Reporter report:
An LGBTQ+ float has been denied participation in the Prattville Christmas parade, with Mayor Bill Gillespie citing safety concerns. “This morning, it was brought to the City’s attention from Prattville Pride that there are serious safety concerns regarding Prattville Pride’s participation in the Christmas parade,” Gillespie said in a statement Thursday morning.
Asked to clarify these safety concerns, Gillespie said the safety concerns were brought to the attention of the city by Prattville Pride itself in a Thursday morning email:
“Subsequent to the city council meeting held on Dec. 3, there have been some additional threats made against our organization referencing harmful actions to be taken against us and our float during the Prattville Christmas Parade. At this time, Prattville Pride is requesting Prattville police officers to specifically monitor us and our surroundings during staging, as well as assign two officers to walk near the crowd alongside our float.”
From yesterday’s Courthouse News report:
After a hearing for an emergency injunction Friday morning, an Alabama LGBTQ organization is waiting for a ruling from federal judge about whether it can participate in the city of Prattville’s annual Christmas parade, scheduled for Friday evening. Prattville Pride filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the city after it withdrew permission for the organization to march.
Caryl Lawson, vice president and co-founder of Pratville Pride, told the council the group had been subjected to “hateful pushback and rhetoric.” On social media forums, there have been suggestions the group will be clad in lingerie or will toss sex toys and LGBTQ literature to children along the parade route. There were also threats to vandalize the group’s float or toss objects including “rotten tomatoes” at members of the organization.
From my first report last month:
Prattville Pride was the very first organization to enter the City of Prattville’s annual Christmas parade this year. The group paid the fee like other organizations and says they plan to abide by the city’s rules. However, Clean Up Alabama, the group that originally formed to challenge LGBTQ+ titles in the Prattville library, is calling on the city to reverse course and deny Prattville Pride the opportunity to participate.
“The Christmas parade is a celebration of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ the Messiah. It is NOT a time to celebrate someone’s sexual preferences. And it is certainly not a place for a drag show,” Clean Up Alabama said in an email pushing for the removal of Prattville Pride. The fervor started after a far-right website highlighted Prattville Pride’s participation in the event.
Trump nominated Judge Huffaker to the federal bench in 2019 and he was confirmed by the Senate in a lopsided 89-4 vote with the support of Democratic then-US Sen. Doug Jones. There’s more in the video report below. Prattville Pride is celebrating with a suggestion for donations to the Trevor Project.
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**Official Statement from Prattville Pride**
We are thrilled to share the news that a federal court has granted us an injunction upholding Prattville Prides right to participate in the city’s Christmas parade. This ruling is a powerful affirmation of the importance of visibility, representation, and inclusion for all members of our community. The Christmas parade is a cherished holiday tradition, and we are excited to celebrate alongside our neighbors and friends in the spirit of love, joy, and unity.
We want to express our deepest gratitude to our attorney, Julia Collins, and the Harris Law Firm for their incredible support and timely response. Their willingness to prioritize this case as soon as they heard about the city’s decision was crucial in getting the motion filed in time. We also want to extend a special thank you to Keirsten Wallace for her invaluable assistance in preparing parts of the brief. Her hard work and dedication played an important role in this success.
While we celebrate this important step forward, we must also acknowledge the challenges and hateful rhetoric that have been directed towards our organization and the LGBTQ+ community during this process. Such negativity can have a profound and damaging effect on LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly youth, who often face heightened risks of isolation, mental health struggles, and rejection.
This is why Prattville Pride exists—to ensure that LGBTQ+ individuals feel safe, seen, and supported. Our participation in the Christmas parade is more than just a celebration; it is a statement of belonging and a reminder that love and acceptance are integral to the fabric of our community.
In addition to our ongoing Point of Pride fundraiser, we are calling on our supporters to consider donating to The Trevor Project, a vital organization dedicated to serving at-risk LGBTQ+ youth. By contributing, we can help ensure that young people in our community and beyond receive the support and resources they need to thrive.
We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has stood by us and advocated for equality. Together, we are building a more inclusive Prattville where everyone has a place to belong. We look forward to spreading holiday cheer and representing the spirit of pride and love during this year’s Christmas parade.
Thank you for your continued support. Let’s keep working together to create a community where every individual feels valued and celebrated.
With pride and gratitude,
**Prattville Pride Leadership**
https://give.thetrevorproject.org/give/63307…
Your life-saving gift today will help us provide them with the affirmation
Some more to the story. Please notice the religious hate and bigotry along with the crazy idea the Christmas a country wide holiday belongs only to Christians due to their beliefs. Notice the misinformation deliberately thrown out to confuse and mislead the public over what the Pride float was about. Notice the attempt to make the LGBTQ+ in to degenerate perverts trying to corrupt and harm children. Save the kids from a threat that doesn’t exist by banning the Pride float along with LGBTQ+ people. It is the entire Russian playbook being enacted here by religious and maga gang thugs. Hugs
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The Alabama Political Reporter reports:
An LGBTQ+ float has been denied participation in the Prattville Christmas parade, with Mayor Bill Gillespie citing safety concerns. “This morning, it was brought to the City’s attention from Prattville Pride that there are serious safety concerns regarding Prattville Pride’s participation in the Christmas parade,” Gillespie said in a statement Thursday morning.
Asked to clarify these safety concerns, Gillespie said the safety concerns were brought to the attention of the city by Prattville Pride itself in a Thursday morning email:
“Subsequent to the city council meeting held on Dec. 3, there have been some additional threats made against our organization referencing harmful actions to be taken against us and our float during the Prattville Christmas Parade. At this time, Prattville Pride is requesting Prattville police officers to specifically monitor us and our surroundings during staging, as well as assign two officers to walk near the crowd alongside our float.”
Courthouse News reports:
After a hearing for an emergency injunction Friday morning, an Alabama LGBTQ organization is waiting for a ruling from federal judge about whether it can participate in the city of Prattville’s annual Christmas parade, scheduled for Friday evening. Prattville Pride filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the city after it withdrew permission for the organization to march.
Caryl Lawson, vice president and co-founder of Pratville Pride, told the council the group had been subjected to “hateful pushback and rhetoric.” On social media forums, there have been suggestions the group will be clad in lingerie or will toss sex toys and LGBTQ literature to children along the parade route. There were also threats to vandalize the group’s float or toss objects including “rotten tomatoes” at members of the organization.
From my first report last month:
Prattville Pride was the very first organization to enter the City of Prattville’s annual Christmas parade this year. The group paid the fee like other organizations and says they plan to abide by the city’s rules. However, Clean Up Alabama, the group that originally formed to challenge LGBTQ+ titles in the Prattville library, is calling on the city to reverse course and deny Prattville Pride the opportunity to participate.
“The Christmas parade is a celebration of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ the Messiah. It is NOT a time to celebrate someone’s sexual preferences. And it is certainly not a place for a drag show,” Clean Up Alabama said in an email pushing for the removal of Prattville Pride. The fervor started after a far-right website highlighted Prattville Pride’s participation in the event.
There’s much more at the first link above.
We can only hope the divisions and internal infighting will delay the worst of the things the most maga want to do including tRump. Remember the republicans in congress and in the states still have to be voted in. Call your local offices even if they are republicans, tell them you are a voter, be polite and to the point. You disagree and why. They are worried about their job and even in deep red districts republicans won’t be happy if their incomes and funds are cut or shit interferes with their families. Sadly a lot of people who voted for tRump thinking he did not mean them or their families will find out he did, just as the people deported last time whose family members voted for tRump. Hugs.
Important info for fighting back. As I said the other day, tie everything up in the courts until we can win the Senate back. And we will. As crazy as tRump is / will try to be, we will win in 2026. Hugs
By MICHAEL R. SISAK Updated 6:47 PM CDT, September 3, 2024
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday swiftly rejected Donald Trump’s request to intervene in his New York hush money criminal case, spurning the former president’s attempt at an end-run around the state court where he was convicted and is set to be sentenced in two weeks.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein’s ruling — just hours after Trump’s lawyers asked him to weigh the move — upends the Republican presidential nominee’s plan to move the case to federal court so that he could seek to have his conviction overturned in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling.
Hellerstein, echoing his denial of Trump’s pretrial bid to move the case, said the defense failed to meet the high burden of proof for changing jurisdiction and that Trump’s conviction for falsifying business records involved his personal life, not official actions that the Supreme Court ruled are immune from prosecution. (snip-more on the page, but this is the news.)
Scottie's Playtime 