Tag: Human Rights

let’s celebrate acts of defiance

by Jeff Tiedrich

Governors are already saying no to Donald Read on Substack

Snippet (NSFW):

“do not obey in advance.”

that’s the sage advice from historian Timothy Snyder.

“Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.”

obeying in advance is how fascism wins.

just last month, we saw Dick-Rocket Czar Jeff Bezos — owner of the Washington Post — preemptively kowtow to Donny Convict.

‘please sir, don’t hit me. look, look, I’ve told my editor at the Post not to endorse Kamala. they had one all written, and I told them to shitcan it. see, sir? can we be friends now?’

today, lets check in on some leaders who are already saying no to the coming reign of King Fuckface the First.

Donny Convict hates the shit out of California — and, by extension, he hates its Governor, Gavin Newsom. look at this handsome fucker, with his square jaw and his thick head of hair. he makes Donny seem like a misshapen garden gnome by comparison — and Donny knows it.

inside Donny’s childish, ignorant brain, California is entirely populated by chardonnay-sipping hippie elites who hate his guts — and so when disaster strikes, he’s inclined to deny them federal aid.

there’s also that bit about the big fucking Canadian water faucet.

Donny somehow believes that all of California’s water comes from a massive faucet in Canada. this faucet is so ungodly ginormous that it takes an entire day to turn it. I wish I were making this up — but no, our incoming 47th president actually imagines that the reason California experiences droughts is because Gavin Newsom keeps that big-ass faucet under lock and key and won’t let anyone open it.

oh god oh god oh god he’s so fucking stupid. it hurt my brain just to type that last paragraph.

can we just pause to reflect for a moment on just how insane it is for a country to have a chief executive who believes in such a fever-swamp hallucination? this is a man who will once again be in charge of a nuclear arsenal — and he’s wandering about, babbling incoherently about giant spigots. holy shit.

Donny’s already threatening to inflict preemptive retribution on California as part of his Day One Dictatoring — and Governor Newsom has a message for Donny:

just try it, fuck-o.

California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, a fierce critic of former President Donald Trump, on Thursday called for lawmakers to convene a special session ahead of another Trump presidency to safeguard the state’s progressive policies. Meanwhile, attorneys general in blue states across the country announced they were also gearing up for a legal fight.

Newsom’s office told The Associated Press that the governor and lawmakers are ready to “Trump-proof” California’s state laws.

no word from Newsom on if he’s ever going to open that big fucking faucet.

Gavin Newsom is not the only governor already taking steps to Trump-proof his state. in Illinois, Governor JB Pritzker is vowing not to put up with any of Donny’s fuckery.

In Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker said on Thursday he would ask his state’s legislators, possibly as soon as next week, to address potential threats from a second Trump term. “You come for my people,” Mr. Pritzker said at a news conference, “you come through me.”

here’s New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul:

The announcements echoed a vow on Wednesday by Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York to “honor” the election results and to try to work with Mr. Trump, but also to fight any efforts to curtail reproductive freedoms, expand gun rights or curb environmental regulations.

At a news conference, Ms. Hochul addressed Mr. Trump directly: “If you try to harm New Yorkers or roll back their rights, I will fight you every step of the way.”

New York’s Attorney General Letitia James is also promising not to tolerate any of Donny’s shit.

“If possible, we will work with his administration, but we will not compromise our values or our integrity, our principles,” she said. “We did not expect this result, but we are prepared to respond to this result, and my office has been preparing for several months, because we’ve been here before, we’ve faced this challenge before, and we use the rule of law to fight back.”

Donny’s plan to round up million of immigrants and disappear them into detention camps hinges on using each state’s local law enforcement to do the rounding-up. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy say that Donny can stick that plan where the sun don’t shine.

However, plans for using local law enforcement and the National Guard could face roadblocks in states led by Democrats.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey told MSNBC that she would “absolutely not” allow state police to assist in mass deportations if the Trump administration requested it.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has a message for Donny, who has threatened to fire him: go ahead, make my day. (Snip-go see it)

Fears grow that woman arrested for undressing in Iran could be tortured in psychiatric unit

Protesters and political prisoners are being drugged, tortured and beaten in state-run institutions, say rights groups

Human rights organisations say they are gravely concerned that a young Iranian woman arrested for stripping down to her underwear could be subjected to torture after she was transferred to a psychiatric hospital by the authorities.

Amnesty International said it had found evidence that the Iranian regime used electric shocks, torture, beatings and chemical substances on protesters and political prisoners taken to state-run psychiatric institutions after being called mentally unstable. It said the situation facing the young woman was “alarming”.

Video of the young woman, who has not been formally identified, walking around a university campus in Tehran in her underwear was widely circulated on social media last week before she was seen being arrested by police officers. She is believed to have been protesting at being physically assaulted by campus security guards at the Islamic Azad University in Tehran for failing to comply with the strict dress code imposed on all Iranian women.

The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) called the student’s transfer to an undisclosed psychiatric facility a “kidnapping”, saying the use of forced transfer of anti-regime protesters to mental health facilities was being increasingly used to silence dissent.

A woman in her underwear sits on a wall while others, including veiled women, walk past
The woman is believed to have been protesting at being physically assaulted by campus security guards. Photograph: X/Amnesty

“Iranian authorities systematically use involuntary psychiatric hospitalisation as a tool to suppress dissent, branding protesters as mentally unstable to undermine their credibility,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of CHRI.

“Transferring individuals who participate in peaceful protests to psychiatric hospitals represents not only an act of arbitrary detention but also constitutes a form of kidnapping. This practice is a blatantly unlawful move to discredit activists by labelling them mentally unstable.”

There have been a number of other high-profile cases of protesters arrested during the Woman, Life, Freedom demonstrations who were also committed to psychiatric hospitals after their arrest.

Saman Yasin, a well-known Kurdish rapper, was taken by the authorities to Tehran’s Aminabad psychiatric hospital after his arrest at a protest in 2022, where he was allegedly tortured and coerced into a confession. He spent two years in prison before being released on medical furlough last month.

A source close to Yasin told the Guardian: “Saman was tied to the bed in the psychiatric centre in a cruciform position for a long time. They administered high-dose sedatives and despite his unconscious state, the restraints on his hands and feet were not removed.”

In October 2023, Roya Zakeri, a young Iranian woman who was filmed chanting anti-regime slogans, was called mentally unwell by state media and taken to the women’s ward of Razi psychiatric hospital. The Guardian has been told by people close to her family that she was injected with sleeping agents, physically assaulted and had her arms and feet chained.

A woman with her head uncovered stands on a bin or postbox with passersby at her feet, holdinga hijab inthe air.
Rights activist Azam Jangravi protesting in Tehran in 2018. Photograph: supplied

Azam Jangravi, a human rights activist, said she was pressed by Iranian authorities to sign a statement saying she had mental health issues after photographs of her waving her hijab over her head on a Tehran street were widely circulated in 2018.

“When they interrogated me, they accused me of being a spy,” she said. “They wanted me to write a confession stating that I regretted my protest and that I did it because I was mentally unwell. I didn’t sign it … They keep taunting us during interrogations by citing the examples of former political prisoners who were sent to these psychiatric hospitals, [telling us] ‘If you don’t regret your act of protest, you’ll face the same fate.’ I fear the university student is under horrific conditions right now and we must demand her release,” she said.

The Guardian spoke to young women in Iran who said they been inspired by the video of the university student, who was rapidly hailed as a new icon of Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom movement after the video was posted online.

“Nobody I know who protested and has called for freedom from the Islamic Republic does not support her act of protest,” said Farah*, a university student in Tehran. “This is what we are fighting for, to have the freedom to choose. We are in awe of her bravery. If it were up to the regime, all of us who protested would be branded as mentally unwell.”

Images of the young woman have also been posted by pro-regime social media accounts, which have circulated messages about her mental health and personal life.

*Name has been changed

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/nov/08/woman-arrested-iran-undressing-protesters-psychiatric-institutions-rights-groups

Peace & Justice History for 11/8

Short one today, very bad one tomorrow but also some light.

November 8, 1892
Thirty thousand Black and White factory and dock workers staged a general strike in New Orleans, demanding union recognition, closed shops (where all co-workers join the union), and hour and wage gains. They were joined by non-industrial laborers, such as musicians, clothing workers, clerks, utility workers, streetcar drivers, and printers.
November 8, 1935
United Mine Workers president John L. Lewis and other labor leaders formed the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). They had split with the existing labor union umbrella organization, the American Federation of Labor (AFL), which was not interested in organizing unskilled workers, such as those in the steel, rubber, textile and auto industries.

John L. Lewis
CIO history 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorynovember.htm#november8

Marjorie Taylor Greene is taking this election as a mandate to attack trans rights

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/11/marjorie-taylor-greene-is-taking-this-election-as-a-mandate-to-attack-trans-rights/

“America will no longer tolerate this communist regime,” she said before gleefully describing what she hopes Trump will do.
By  
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. speaks during the first day of the Republican National Convention.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. speaks during the first day of the Republican National Convention.

Fresh off of her Election Night victory, anti-LGBTQ+ Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has expressed excitement that she, President-elect Donald Trump, and their MAGA cohorts will no longer tolerate “turning our kids trans.”

“I am so excited!” Greene said from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Election Night party to convicted former Trump advisor Steve Bannon on the Real Americas Voice network. “America will no longer tolerate this communist regime, ripping our border wide open, turning our kids trans, and promoting abortion as reproductive rights. The American people are fed up with a weaponized government. President Trump is going back to the White House!”

Related:

Marjorie Taylor Greene outraged that puberty blockers don’t do a thing they were never meant to do

She said that “Big Pharma” is lying to people about gender-affirming care.

She also claimed that Republicans will have to “continue to fight for election integrity…. because the Democrats will steal elections if they’re given the opportunity.” She and Trump have baselessly claimed that Trump only lost the 2020 election due to an unprecedented nationwide conspiracy of voter fraud that only occurred in the states that Trump lost.

She also said that Trump will pardon the insurrectionists who were jailed for the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, “end the climate change scam,” and “go after the people” who persecuted Trump and his supporters, including former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves, U.S. Rep. Bennie Gordon Thompson (D-MS), and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Trump has referred to Pelosi as a “sick, crazy b**ch” and “an enemy from within.”

Last night, Greene defeated her Democratic challenger Shawn Harris, winning 71.7% of the vote in her deep red district.

Greene has repeatedly tried to shut down Congress to stop votes on the Equality Act, a bill to enshrine federal LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination protections. She has introduced legislation to ban gender-affirming care, has voted against marriage equality, and has repeatedly accused LGBTQ+ allies of being “pedophiles” and “groomers.”

https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1854073924696379547

In July, Greene spoke at a press conference heralding the start of Bannon’s four-month sentence in the Danbury Federal Correctional Institution today for defying a congressional subpoena investigating his assistance in inciting the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots.

Greene has previously said that an airplane never hit the Pentagon during the September 11 terrorist attacks, claimed that all school shootings are fake, said that California wildfires were started by a Jewish-owned space laser, and accused former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of slicing off a child’s face and wearing it.

 Trump has promised to ban gender-affirming care for minors nationwide and prohibit federal agencies from “promot[ing] the concept of sex and gender transition at any age.” He has pledged to deny federal funding to schools that push “radical gender ideology, and other inappropriate … sexual or political content on our children.”  He has also promised to repeal Biden-era protections for LGBTQ+ students “on Day One.”

 

Trump insulted Bannon when he was convicted of a crime

On the last day of Trump’s presidency, he pardoned Bannon who served as chief executive officer of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Bannon also served as White House chief strategist and senior counselor to Trump from January 2017 until August 18, 2017, when Trump fired him.

In August 2020, Bannon was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly spending $1 million of a $25 million GoFundMe campaign to help Trump construct a U.S.-Mexico border wall. Bannon pleaded not guilty and was set to face trial in May 2021 before Trump pardoned him.

Trump initially said the Mexican government would pay for the wall — they never did, and Trump only built 458 total miles of barriers, PolitiFact reported.

In January 2018, Trump and Bannon’s relationship soured after Bannon was quoted in Michael Wolff’s book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House as calling the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump “dumb as a brick” and calling Trump “a crooked business guy” and a “scumbag.”

In response, Trump said in a statement, “Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind,” adding, “Steve had very little to do with our historic victory.” Trump later referred to Bannon as “Sloppy Steve” on Twitter (now X) and claimed that Bannon “cried when he got fired and begged for his job.”

Liberal Redneck – Reaction to Trump Victory

Gay man hospitalized after mob attacks him in McDonald’s while no one helped

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/11/gay-man-hospitalized-after-homophobic-mob-attacks-him-at-mcdonalds/

This is the growing anti-LGBTQ+ that the right has been working on creating since the first tRump term.  The person who helped craft the don’t say gay bill in Florida was a fundamentalist Christian who said he did it because it horrified him that fellow students, other kids welcomed the LGBTQ+ kids that came out.  He felt they should be attacked, beaten, ostracized, made friendless, scared, and stay in hiding.  That is what these people want.  We must find a messaging to fight back.  Blue states have it but it must find a way to reach into red states.   My husband is terrified to even let me fly a progressive pride flag in one of our front facing windows.  That is what these people want, they want us afraid.  I don’t want to live that life, I stopped living like that when I was 23.  I took the hits for it.  I am almost 62.  I don’t want to live the rest of my life in a closet I never fitted in.   Hugs

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“No one in the restaurant intervened. No one screamed ‘stop.’”
 
By  
Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarro before and after the attack
Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarro before and after the attack

A group of 10 to 15 individuals allegedly attacked Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarro, a 22-year-old Colombian model, inside a Washington, D.C., McDonald’s fast food restaurant after a member of the group uttered homophobic slurs. The attack left Lascarro hospitalized, and he criticized both emergency personnel and local police for their responses to the violence.

The attack allegedly occurred in the early morning hours of Sunday, October 27, after Lascarro and his husband left two nearby LGBTQ+ nightclubs: Crush Bar and Bunker. While Lascarro was in line to use a McDonald’s self-service kiosk to place his order, Lascarro’s spouse, Stuart West, said a woman then screamed at his husband to “watch where the f**k he was going,” he told WTTG.

Lascarro reportedly tried to leave in order to avoid a conflict, when a group of 10 to 15 individuals — who were reportedly the woman’s friends — blocked Lascarro from leaving and allegedly called him homophobic slurs like “fa**ot” and demanded he apologize to the woman. Lascarro refused, and the assault allegedly began.

“Five to 10 individuals started just punching him all over his face, all over his body,” West said. “No one in the restaurant intervened; no one screamed ‘stop.’”

The attack reportedly left Lascarro injured and bleeding on the sidewalk outside the restaurant while the mob threw food, trash, and drinks at him. Two passers-by eventually contacted emergency medical services to assist Lascarro.

At Howard University Hospital, Lascarro was treated for a busted lip, scrapes, and bruises. He was placed in a neck brace and photos show him with bruises and blood on his face. Lascarro is reportedly recovering from his injuries.

 

“I fear for his mental health,” West said. “We’ve had conversations about whether D.C. is safe for us and whether the United States was the right choice.” Lascarro is originally from Colombia, moved to Washington, D.C., last year, and became a permanent resident of the U.S. this year, NBC News reported.

West and Lascarro said that they felt dismissed by both the emergency medical technicians (EMTs) who arrived at the scene and police who took a report of their incident later on. Lascarro said the EMTs failed to “acknowledge the severity of the assault and his experience as a gay man,” and West said police initially refused to acknowledge the attack as a possible hate crime until he contacted the police department’s LGBTQ+ liaison.

West launched a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign to help pay for Lascarro’s medical bills, as the attack has made it difficult for him to keep modeling. The campaign had raised $7,037 of its $20,000 goal by Monday morning.

 

“Thomas is a loving, compassionate person who did not deserve this, and no one in our community should face this kind of hatred,” West wrote for the campaign website. “Any help to ensure he gets the care he needs to regain his health and peace of mind will be a blessing.”

This isn’t the first time a homophobic attack has occurred in a D.C. fast food restaurant. In August, a gay man was allegedly beaten by Shake Shack employees after kissing his boyfriend.

The ACLU already has ‘battle plan’ drawn up to fight Trump’s policies

https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/11/07/the-aclu-already-has-battle-plan-drawn-up-to-fight-trumps-policies/

Remember all we have to do is tie his every policy change up in courts for two years just like the republicans did with Biden.  Then work like hell to flip the Senate.  Once we do that all of his minions plans for a white straight cis Christian paradise will mostly end.   Hugs

———————————————————————————————————

Former US president Donald Trump

The ACLU already have an anti-Trump ‘battle plan’ drawn up to fight his policies (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) already has plans in place to “take action” against president-elect Donald Trump’s policies.

The not-for-profit organization took to social media as soon as news outlets called the US presidential election in favor of Trump, saying it was fed up with “waiting anxiously”, and was ready to “ensure that erosion of civil rights or civil liberties will be hotly contested”.

A spokesperson on X/Twitter said: “We are ready to take action the minute Trump takes the oath of office [on 20 January].

“We’re clear-eyed about the chaos and destruction a second Trump administration will cause to our nation. That’s why we’re done with hand-wringing, admiring the problem, or waiting anxiously to see which unlawful action Trump will take on day one.”

The ACLU claimed it was the “first organization to challenge [Trump’s] Muslim ban” when the Republican was elected eight years ago, adding that its legal battles “stopped the inhumane practice of separating immigrant families” and won the fight to prevent “a citizenship question on the 2020 census”.

It filed “434 legal actions against the first Trump administration” including to support the LGBTQ+ community, which were won in front of “Trump-appointed judges”, the spokesperson went on to claim.

“At the ACLU, we play the long game. We’ve been here for 105 years, through 19 presidents.”

In recent years, the ACLU has been in the forefront of the battle against discriminatory legislation in the US, keeping track of every anti-LGBTQ+ law that has been introduced across the country.

“The ACLU will not stop speaking out against these cruel attacks nationwide, LGBTQ people have a right to live in safety, to thrive and to be treated with dignity,” the spokesperson continued.

Experts have warned that a second Trump term, with JD Vance as his vice-president, could be catastrophic for queer rights in the US, with the pair having pushed anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric during the long campaign.

Among other measures, Trump claimed that he would cut federal funding to school districts that adopt trans-friendly policies, exclude transgender women from women’s sports, and restore his ban on trans people serving in the military.

And, in the wake of the overturning of abortion rights case Roe v Wade in 2022, campaigners have expressed fears that the conservative-controlled Supreme Court could next turn its attention to Obergefell vs Hodges, which gave the fundamental right to marry to same-sex couples in 2015.

    How Project 2025 – a right-wing wish list for Trump’s second term – threatens LGBTQ+ rights

    https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/11/06/project-2025-donald-trump-lgbtq/

    https://btv.social/1743706_41167/#cp Video link

    Project 2025, assuming it still needs to be explained at this point, is an infamous proposed manifesto for the ultra-conservative faction of the Republican Party and, many believe, Donald Trump’s second term.

    And with many LGBTQ+ Americans waking up on 6 November to the bleak and shocking reality of a second Trump presidency, it feels like a particularly good time to unpick what the document could signify for queer peoples’ rights in the US over the next four years.

    Unsurprisingly, while Project 2025 promises to “take down the ‘Deep State’ and return the government to the people”, it also threatens to shred the rights and advancements of the LGBTQ+ community in the US.

    The handbook’s authors claim that one of the biggest problems facing the US today is the “toxic normalization of transgenderism with drag queens and pornography invading school libraries.”

    Project 2025 goes on to say that “transgender ideology” is one form of “pornography” linked to the “sexualization of children”. In total, “gender” is mentioned 111 times, and “LGBT” or “LGBTQ” 18 times, in the handbook.

    LGBTQ+ rights would all but disappear if Project 2025 came to fruition. (Getty)

    Viewed as a sort of right-wing wish-list, Project 2025 pledges to strip away anti-discrimination policies, making it easier to target and discriminate against LGBTQ+ people.

    Published by the hard-line right-wing Heritage Foundation, the document calls for the removal of terms such as “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” from federal rules and legislation, and the revoking of regulations prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status and sex characteristics.

    Project 2025 set out plans to restrict the application of the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock vs. Clayton County, which extended workplace protections against sex discrimination to LGBTQ+ employees.

    In addition, it plans to restrict access to healthcare for transgender people, something it refers to as a form of “child abuse”. Its authors also want to see trans healthcare no longer being covered by insurance schemes Medicare and Medicaid, and an end to anti-discrimination rules based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

    In addition, there are plans to reverse policies allowing transgender people to serve in the military, a ban that was initially brought in under the Trump administration but reversed by president Joe Biden. If enacted, Project 2025 would expel transgender servicemen and women as well as those living with HIV.

    Donald Trump
    Donald Trump has tried to distance himself from the hard-line right-wing document. (Getty)

    The State Department’s LGBTQ+ equality initiatives in Africa would also be axed. In other words, there would be no effort to stop draconian anti-queer laws being passed in countries such as Uganda.

    In terms of education, the conservative blueprint is even more staunchly anti-LGBTQ+. It calls for a ban on students using names or pronouns that don’t match the sex on their birth certificate, and no school employee would be “forced” to use a pupil’s chosen pronouns. 

    It document outlines ideas to remove LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculums and policies from schools, claiming that “critical race theory and gender ideology” are “poisoning and indoctrinating children with leftist ideologies”. Instead, families “comprised of a married mother, father and their children” would be prioritized.

    Despite many of its authors being one-time Trump administration advisors, the former president claims to know “nothing about Project 2025” or who is behind it, saying: “I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal.”

    And two of his campaign advisors insisted: “President Trump’s campaign has been very clear that Project 2025 had nothing to do with the campaign, did not speak for the campaign, and should not be associated with the campaign in any way.”

    A spokesperson for Project 2025 has even told CNN that it “does not speak for any candidate or campaign.”

    However, Democrats have continued to point to links between the 922-page document and Trump. As he’s now won the election, will Trump finally admit to having any involvement with Project 2025? Only time will tell.

    Trump says there’s ‘no price tag’ for his mass deportation plan

    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-says-no-price-tag-mass-

    deportation-plan-rcna179178

    Why is it only the southern border that the right is concerned with?  Most undocumented people in the US are here on visas and flew into the country legally.  They just never then went home when the visa ended.  Why is it only some country the right whines about immigrating to the US?  Racism and bigotry is the answer.  Think about it.  The right is terrified that white people will be replaced by non-white people.  Elon Musk is always claiming white people need to have more babies.  But only white people.  Also the right fails to understand that Puerto Rico is part of the US and the Puerto Ricoian people are US citizens.   But remember how tRump wanted to sell the island because it was full of … those brown people.   Hugs

    —————————————————————————————————————

    In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Trump talked about his campaign promise to carry out the largest mass deportation of immigrants in U.S. history.

    Video at link above

    By Kristen Welker and Alexandra Marquez

    President-elect Donald Trump told NBC News on Thursday that one of his first priorities upon taking office in January would be to make the border “strong and powerful.” When questioned about his campaign promise of mass deportations, Trump said his administration would have “no choice” but to carry them out.

    Trump said he considers his sweeping victory over Vice President Kamala Harris a mandate “to bring common sense” to the country.

     

    “We obviously have to make the border strong and powerful and, and we have to — at the same time, we want people to come into our country,” he said. “And you know, I’m not somebody that says, ‘No, you can’t come in.’ We want people to come in.”

    As a candidate, Trump had repeatedly vowed to carry out the “largest deportation effort in American history.” Asked about the cost of his plan, he said, “It’s not a question of a price tag. It’s not — really, we have no choice. When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here. There is no price tag.”

    It’s unclear how many undocumented immigrants there are in the U.S., but acting ICE Director Patrick J. Lechleitner told NBC News in July that a mass deportation effort would be a huge logistical and financial challenge. Two former Trump administration officials involved in immigration during his first term told NBC News that the effort would require cooperation among a number of federal agencies, including the Justice Department and the Pentagon.

    Trump’s win included record gains among Latino voters, who Democrats had tried to capture by pointing to Trump’s rhetoric on immigrants and a pro-Trump comedian’s racist joke about Puerto Rico.

    In Thursday’s phone interview, he partially credited his message on immigration as a reason he won the race, saying, “They want to have borders, and they like people coming in, but they have to come in with love for the country. They have to come in legally.”

    Trump also noted the diverse coalition of voters he attracted, pointing to gains he made among Latino voters, young voters, women and Asian American voters from 2020. 

    “I started to see realignment could happen because the Democrats are not in line with the thinking of the country,” the president-elect said. “You can’t have defund the police, these kind of things. They don’t want to give up and they don’t work, and the people understand that.”

    Trump also spoke about his phone calls with Harris and President Joe Biden since the election.

    “Very nice calls, very respectful both ways,” Trump said, describing the conversations, adding that Harris “talked about transition, and she said she’d like it to be smooth as can be, which I agree with, of course.”

    In her concession speech at Howard University on Wednesday, Harris said she told Trump, “We will help him and his team with their transition and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power.”

    Biden, addressing the nation in remarks from the White House on Thursday morning, urged voters to “accept the choice the country made” in re-electing Trump.

    Trump also said that he and Biden on the phone agreed to have lunch together “very shortly.”

    He also said he’s spoken to “probably” 70 world leaders since Wednesday morning, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which the president-elect described as “a very good talk.”

    Trump also said that he spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but didn’t divulge details about that conversation.

    He added that he had not yet spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but “I think we’ll speak.”

    Over the course of the campaign, Trump promised to end Russia’s war with Ukraine if elected, saying in September that he would negotiate a deal “that’s good for both sides.“

    Kristen Welker

    Kristen Welker is the moderator of “Meet the Press.”

    Alexandra Marquez

    Alexandra Marquez is a politics reporter for NBC News.

    Donald Trump’s grim LGBTQ+ views explored – could he reverse hard-won civil rights?

    https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/11/06/project-2025-donald-trump-lgbtq/

    Donald Trump

    Donald Trump has been outspoken against the LGBTQ+ community. (Getty)

    At the time of writing, it seems almost inevitable that Donald Trump will become the 47th President of the United States, meaning LGBTQ+ rights are under serious threat.

    The election was one of the closest in history according to voting polls over the past few weeks, with polling group FiveThirtyEight reporting that Harris just barely reached a 1.2 per cent lead on Trump a day before the results were counted.

    The Trump-Vance Republican ticket has been vocal and incredibly negative about the LGBTQ+ community in recent weeks, constantly pushing anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and promising to enact abhorrent policies.

    The last Trump presidency led to a roll-back of protections and anti-discrimination laws for LGBTQ+ people, and it doesn’t look as if a second term would be any different if he is re-elected, based on campaign promises and the detailed policy proposals outlined in Project 2025 – although Trump has tried to distance himself from the right-wing proposals.

    In anticipation of a Trump win, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) suggested a new Trump administration would “reinstate and significantly escalate the removal of anti-discrimination policies… proactively require discrimination by the federal government [and] weaponize federal law against transgender people across the country”.

    So, what are Trump’s views about LGBTQ+ rights, and what exactly might he do?

    Erase federal non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people

    Trump’s first term was extremely detrimental to the rights and protections of LGBTQ+ people, and a second term could roll back protections once again.

    LGBTQ+ people might no longer be guaranteed to be free of discrimination across several federal government programs, such as Social Security, Medicare, housing and employment.

    This would embolden and increase discrimination towards all queer people, but towards trans people in particular. Already, 53 per cent of LGBTQ+ people have reported experiencing discrimination because of their sexual orientation and 18 percent due to their gender identity.

    Exclude openly transgender people from the military

    The first Trump administration reversed policies allowing trans people to serve in the military, and it is not difficult to foresee the president doing so again.

    Another ban on trans people in the military would force out active-duty transgender service personnel as well as prevent trans people enlisting in the future.

    This is despite a report in 2016 revealing that trans-inclusive policies have “little or no impact on unit cohesion, operational effectiveness, or readiness”.

    In fact, trans-inclusive military policies could benefit all active service members by “creating a more inclusive and diverse force.”

    man in camo with a trans flag
    Trans people could once again be banned from serving. (Getty)

    Withhold federal funding if school officials affirm transgender students

    Trump has said he would act to stop any school district introducing or maintaining trans-inclusive policies and practices.

    This would include withholding federal funding that allow trans students to use toilets and changing rooms that align with their gender identity, or even acknowledging that they are trans, as well as arguing that trans-inclusive policies violate the rights of cisgender pupils.

    Discrimination against trans students, causing significant harm to the community as a whole, would be the likely result of such a move.

    Many trans children and teenagers already report feeling unsafe going to school because of bullying and mental-health distress.

    Ban trans women from women’s sports

    During a recent campaign rally, Trump said he was not going to “let” trans women compete in sporting events at all if he becomes president again.

    He said invoking the ban would “not [be] a big deal”, citing recent sporting events in which trans women competed against cisgender women, claiming that the trans athlete had a competitive edge over their opponent.

    “Physically, from a muscular standpoint… look at what’s happened in swimming. Look at the records that are being broken,” he said.

    Prohibit gender-affirming care in federal healthcare programmes

    Gender-affirming medical care is likely to be non-existent in a second Trump term. He has already pledged to “end left-wing gender insanity” and would outlaw federal funding for reassignment surgeries.

    His website also promises that on his first day in the Oval Office, he would issue an executive order “instructing every federal agency to cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition, at any age”.

    The administration would also probably deny Medicaid funding for hospitals that provide gender-affirming care, forcing medics to deny trans people the care they require.

    Access to healthcare for more than 100,000 transgender youngsters in 24 states has already been halted in the past three years.

    Allow employers to discriminate against LGBTQ+ staff

    A second Trump administration could bring in provisions to allow employers to discriminate against LGBTQ+ members of staff based on the boss’ stated religious beliefs, a reversal of existing non-discrimination laws.

    This would not require congress or bipartisan support, and could be pushed through using an executive order from the president.

    The administration could go one step further to prevent state and local governments enforcing non-discrimination laws if the defendant says the discrimination was based on religious belief.

    Laws protecting LGBTQ+ people and other minorities from discrimination based on protected characteristics might also disappear.

    Donald Trump
    Donald Trump has continued to target the LGBTQ+ community. (Getty)

    Criminalize gender-non-conformity in public life

    Project 2025 – a hard-line right-wing blueprint for a future Republican president – suggests the use of criminal laws to punish gender-non-conformity in public life, with pornography being the crux of the issue.

    The authors of the plan, the Heritage Foundation, inexplicably link pornography with “transgender ideology” and argue that neither has a “claim to First Amendment protection” and therefore should be outlawed.

    “The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned,” they demand. “Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders, and telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be [closed down].”

    That means any discussion of transgender people in schools and libraries could be criminalized, and trans people might face jail time for being themselves.

    Trump would only be able to put this into practice with congress’ approval and there is unlikely to be bipartisan support for such a law, but even the slim possibility is terrifying.

    Finally – could gay marriage be reversed?

    Same-sex marriage supporter Vin Testa, of Washington DC, waves a rainbow pride flag near the Supreme Court
    Same-sex marriage supporter Vin Testa, of Washington DC, waves a rainbow pride flag near the Supreme Court. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

    Unfortunately, yes, it could.

    After crucial abortion legislation Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, many people said that next, they would be coming for Windsor and Obergefell and Lawrence – three rulings that unlocked a national right to same-sex marriage.

    Whether a same-sex couple could marry varied by state before 2015. With its 5-4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court extended the full federal right to marry to all same-sex couples.

    So would – or could it be taken away? Many people think that the Supreme Court wouldn’t dare. Same-sex marriage is now too accepted in American society, they argue. It would cause “legal chaos.”

    However, it remains the case that some justices, particularly Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, appear to be itching to overturn Obergefell. In 2022, Justice Thomas said the Supreme Court “should reconsider” its past rulings codifying rights to contraception access, same-sex relationships and same-sex marriage.

    It’s important to remember in all of this Pride is a protest, and it continues to be. We can fight any and all of these attacks by standing up, speaking out and refusing to stay silent.