May 29, 1932 In the depths of the Great Depression, the “Bonus Expeditionary Force,” a group of 1000 World War I veterans seeking to cash in their veterans’ bonus certificates, arrived in Washington, D.C. Though issued to the veterans in 1924, the certificates were not scheduled to be paid until 1945. By mid-June, the vets had set up a massive “Hooverville,” a contemporary term for an encampment of the homeless. The St. Louis contingent of the Bonus Expeditionary Force is pictured here as it starts for Washington, D.C., in May 1932. One month later, other veteran groups made their way to the nation’s capital, swelling the Bonus Marchers to nearly 20,000 strong, most of them unemployed veterans in difficult financial straits. President Herbert Hoover ordered the Army to clear out the veterans when they resisted being evicted by Washington police. Infantry and cavalry supported by six tanks were dispatched with Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur in command. Major Dwight D. Eisenhower served as his liaison with Washington police and Major George Patton led the cavalry. This was a direct violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the armed forces’ being used against U.S. citizens. More on the Bonus Army
May 29, 1965 In one of the first demonstrations promoting equal treatment of homosexuals, Jack Nichols, Barbara Gittings and others picketed in front of the White House. Her sign read, “Sexual preference is irrelevant to federal employment.” More about Barbara Gittings
May 29, 1986 The Christic Institute filed a lawsuit charging U.S. government complicity in an assassination bombing at La Penca, Nicaragua, and that the CIA had a role in smuggling cocaine into the U.S. to fund the Contras, an insurgent military force working to bring down the government of Nicaragua. Find out more about the Christic Institute
Fraser Horn is dropping Harry Potter tours from his roster (Dan Chiu-Lezeau)
The decision to drop Harry Potter tours in Edinburgh was not an easy one to make, but was necessary, says guide and Edinburgh Street Historians founder Fraser Horn, writing exclusively for PinkNews.
I was about 11 when I first got into Harry Potter, the kid looked a lot like me at the time.
My mum gave me a copy [of one of the books] and, like so many others, I felt the series captured the mood at the time: a sense of peril, mixed with optimism that the world could turn out OK if people stood up for what was right against what was wrong.
It was an instant classic of a kids book and that’s probably why so many millennials still hold such affection [for it] to this day. But we all grew after the series finished, some of us into decent people and others into cartoon villainy.
This is why today I’m announcing that following the success of the LGBTQ+ tour replacing Harry Potter, come July, the Harry Potter tour will not be coming back.
Fraser Horn. (Dan Chiu-Lezeau)
This decision was not made lightly. Although I wanted out of Potter ever since JK Rowling’s essay in 2020, the simple fact of the matter is that the story is so deeply ingrained in the Edinburgh tourism industry that it feels almost impossible to dislodge.
The connections between Edinburgh and Harry Potter very clearly involve Rowling, since it was [here] that the series was written. The films make demand stronger, bringing in a new audience, and repeat showings keep young people interested. With the new TV show, I expect Potter tourism to increase [here] and across the UK.
If any of those tourists are queer and want a tour that’s more important, they can book the LGBTQ+ one here.
I have been a guide since 2019 but went independent in February. Street Historians was a name that came from the idea that we would be like street magicians, but of history rather than magic. We’re fun, different and the best way to see Edinburgh, in my view.
The initial plan was to do a couple of tours – Edinburgh’s Old Town and Harry Potter – on a free/pay-what-you-want basis. I planned on doing this because I knew it worked. It was around March that I got in touch with LGBT Health and Wellbeing, a Scottish charity which focuses on supporting the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ adults. I wanted to discuss donating money from my Harry Potter profits to them but I also [said] I had offered an LGBTQ+ tour privately in the past.
They were particularly interested in the LGBTQ+ tour so I decided to run that every Friday at 6pm. It involves medical innovators, spies and [the] Aids [crisis], as well as how activists helped reshape society for the LGBTQ+ community. It is essential stuff.
I was motivated to drop Potter for Pride month because of the recent Supreme Court decision which will make our trans siblings unsafe. Rowling has confirmed she donated money to the organisation that advocated for the court decision and celebrated with a cigar picture on a boat, which made me want to drop Potter even more.
The Harry Potter tour will be replaced with a queer-related one. (Dan Chiu-Lezeau)
The response – both to the original LGBTQ tour and to replacing Potter with it – has been overwhelming.
People who have come on the LGBTQ+ tour love having an event which is a bit different from the standard fare, both in terms of walking tours and queer events. Guests have been making friends and these are the kind of life-long connections from which community is made. The decision to drop Potter for LGBTQ+ history has been a success and most have been positive about it.
However, some thought I was doing it for the wrong reason: rainbow capitalism, or purely to make money for Pride, before switching back to the Potter tours. It’s fair that the community might expect this sort of thing because as we’ve seen, companies change very quickly. A great example of this would be Barclays Bank, which has a very proud LGBTQ+ section. Then I read how they are banning trans people from using the toilets of their gender, based on the court ruling.
To reassure people, Potter will not be coming back to the Street Historians roster. We have been looking for more interesting stories to tell, for example on forgotten women.
Even with significant economic considerations, it seems necessary for me to drop Potter. The series may be a draw for other people but it is proving harder as time goes by to conjure up enthusiasm. Some may be upset, but I guess that’s the lesson I took from the sort of books I read growing up. We have to take a stand eventually or nothing will ever change.
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful. (snip)
May 28, 1892 The Sierra Club, America’s oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, was organized in San Francisco with wilderness explorer John Muir as its first president. The organization’s initial effort was to defeat a proposed reduction in the boundaries of Yosemite National Park. Muir introduced President Theodore Roosevelt to Yosemite the following year, inspiring him during his presidency to establish the U.S. Forest Service, create 5 national parks, and sign the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 national monuments. “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.” – John Muir, The Yosemite (1912) John Muir The Sierra Club today
May 28, 1961 Amnesty International (AI) was founded on this date in Great Britain. It is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights, particularly as laid out in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Members of AI help maintain a media focus on political prisoners, and organize public pressure to afford them their legal rights and obtain their release. Visit Amnesty International Read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Amnesty International projects
May 28, 1963 Black and white civil rights advocates were attacked as they sat-in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Jackson, Mississippi. They were defying state laws against serving “colored” citizens at “whites-only” public facilities. According to John Salter, AKA Hunter Bear, one of those who sat in: “This was the most violently attacked sit-in during the 1960s and is the most publicized. A huge mob gathered, with open police support while the three of us sat there for three hours. I was attacked with fists, brass knuckles and the broken portions of glass sugar containers, and was burned with cigarettes. I’m covered with blood and we were all covered by salt, sugar, mustard, and various other things.” Attacked for trying to eat at Woolworth’s (L to R): John Salter (Hunter Bear), Joan Trumpauer (now Mulholland), and Anne Moody. More photos and the story of the struggle against segregation Freedom Movement Bibliography
May 28, 1982 Seven women fasted for 10 days in Springfield, Illinois, in support of ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment by the Illinois state legislature. The amendment had already been ratified by 35 other states of the 38 required.
May 28, 1998 Pakistan exploded five underground nuclear devices in response to India’s most recent nuclear tests. Since the British partitioned the subcontinent in 1947, there have been three wars between the two countries and numerous border clashes over the disputed Kashmir province. Kashmir had a majority (77%) Muslim population at the time of partition, but became part of predominantly Hindu (80%), though constitutionally secular, India. Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, widely proclaimed as the ” Father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb,” stands in the access tunnel inside the Chagai Hills nuclear test site before Pakistan’s 28 May 1998 underground nuclear test. Read more
The entire world has come to know that the Oval Office is now a trap.
When Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky visited the White House, Trump sprang a trap on him that included veep, JD Vance, who definitely doesn’t fuck couches. I’m glad we cleared that up.
Trump used JD as a pitbull to start the attack, and for him to come in from behind. Zelensky can be scary, yo. And it was smart as Zelesnky picked apart JD’s attack of “Why haven’t you tried diplomacy?” Zelesnky calmly gave JD a thorough history lesson.
JD and Trump were raising their voices, shouting at Zelensky as though it was his fault Russia illegally invaded his nation, and Ukraine had failed to use diplomacy to avoid it, just as Poland had failed to use diplomacy against the Nazis. Haven’t we learned anything from history?
At some point, Trump and JD realized they were embarrassing themselves and the nation, and they kicked Zelensky out of the White House. I can’t wait until we kick Trump out of the White House. Again.
In April, Trump was interviewed by Terry Moran of ABC News in the Oval Office, and Trump bullied Moran, trying to get him to accept that a fake photo was real.
“MS13” had been superimposed onto the photo Trump was showing of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man Trump illegally deported to a Salvadoran prison, with the text clearly typed on top of his knuckles. Oddly enough, Trump had shared the same photo a week before without the text superimposed. Our president (sic) is a moron.
Moran tried to direct the conversation away from the silly photo, probably trying to save Trump some further embarrassment, but Grandpa wouldn’t let it go. He kept insisting that Moran believe the obvious lie.
Trump did it again last week, springing an Oval Office trap on the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa.
Trump was showing Ramaphosa photos and videos, often of the wrong places and without context, insisting that White genocide was taking place in his nation. It’s not. (snip-MORE)
May 27, 1940 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled a sit-down strike was not a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act even if it interfered with interstate commerce. The company had sued for treble damages (triple their financial loss) under the Act. The Court said that if the strike were found to be a restraint of trade, then “practically every strike in modern industry would be brought within the jurisdiction of the federal courts under the Sherman Act.” The American Federation of Full Fashioned Hosiery Workers under its president, William Leader, had declared a strike at Apex Hosiery Co. in Philadelphia, and had organized support among other workers in the city. When Apex refused to recognize the union, he declared a sit-down strike and led an occupation of the factory which lasted for seven weeks. Unlike the UAW sit-down at the GM plant in Flint, however, violence was committed against the management personnel and significant damage was done to manufacturing equipment. Summary and full text of the Supreme Court decision
May 27, 1963 The record album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, which featured the song “Blowin’ in the Wind,” was released. The song warns of the perils of nuclear war.“ …how many times must the cannon balls fly Before they’re forever banned?” The song and the lyrics
May 26, 1647 The first person in America was executed for the crime of witchcraft. Alse Young was arrested, tried in Windsor, Connecticut, and hanged at Meeting House Square in Hartford, the site of what is now the Old State House. There is no further record of Young’s trial or the specifics of the charge — only that she was a woman, as 80% of those executed for witchcraft were. The Salem witch trials would not begin for another 45 years. Some 300 years later the U.S. experienced another “witch hunt” as Senator Joe McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee pursued communists. Arthur Miller makes this comparison in his famous play “The Crucible.” Read more about the play “The Crucible” The Guardian
May 26, 1937 United Auto Workers organizers and Ford Service Department men clashed in a violent confrontation on the Miller Road Overpass outside Gate 4 of the Ford River Rouge Plant in Dearborn, Michigan. It became known as “The Battle of the Overpass.” Henry Ford announced: “We’ll never recognize the United Automobile Workers Union or any other union.” Though General Motors and Chrysler signed collective bargaining agreements with the UAW in 1937, Ford held out until 1942. More background and photos Read more T The Ford Servicemen (goons) approach Walter Reuther and Richard Frankensteen, third and second from right, and the other unionists. UAW official Richard Frankensteen being beaten by Ford goons
May 26, 1946 A patent was filed in the U.S. for the H-Bomb, the hydrogen, or fusion-based, nuclear explosive device.
May 26, 1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono (along with her 5-year-old daughter Kyoko) held their second Bed-in for Peace at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. A late-night rendition of “Give Peace a Chance,” recorded in the hotel room with their visitors singing and accompanying, reached No.14 on the Billboard pop music charts. John and Yoko meet cartoonist Al Capp in their hotel room
May 26, 1972 The Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty was signed by U.S. and U.S.S.R. (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which included Russia and 15 other republics). The two countries agreed not to build defensive missile systems and thus to limit escalation of the nuclear arms race. It was reasoned that if either side deployed defensive missiles, the other would be forced to respond by increasing the number, explosive yield or effectiveness of their offensive nuclear weapons and delivery systems to maintain the balance of nuclear deterrence. Research and development of defensive systems was allowed under the ABM treaty, the U.S. having spent about $100 billion in the 20 years before the treaty was abrogated by President George W. Bush in the first months of his presidency.
May 26, 1991 20,000 Israeli Jews and Palestinians participated in a peace rally in Israel’s capital, Tel Aviv.
Dictator Donald wants everyone afraid and confused at all times. Verily, God says fuck that.
There is a better story I want to share.
Harvard just announced free online courses for every US citizen. Topics include basic government, the Constitution, and how to recognize a dictatorship.
Now that is how you defeat tyranny. Not with fear, or panic, but with knowledge. With clarity. With truth. And with stories of hope.
The fight is far from over. But we are not alone.
We will not go quietly. We will not forget. We will fight like hell. And we will win.
Everyday’s a good day to do that!Jeff Tiedrich included this in his substack today about the President’s grad speech at West Point. I also linked that below this snippet, if anyone’s interested in that. It’s TMI for me today, but very good; I read his most days. Meanwhile, back to the Army news: -A
Ronald Reagan was even involved in this largely-forgotten tradition.
By Dan Tracer Friday, June 21, 2024 · Updated on June 22, 2024
Long before RuPaul’s Drag Race, Drag Queen Story Hour, or any one of the countless drag shows gracing the stages of LGBTQ+ bars around the world, there was another popular spot for performative gender-bending: U.S. military bases in the 1940s.
During World War II, the military embraced drag shows as a unique form of entertainment and a morale-boosting activity. These officially sanctioned events featured all-male performances with soldiers often dressing in women’s attire. According to author Allan Bérubé, GIs staged these shows everywhere from makeshift platforms to grand theater stages, incorporating popular female impersonation routines of the day.
Due to the official segregation of the armed forces, service-member theater productions had no option but to cast men in female roles.
One of the most iconic productions of the era, “This is the Army,” was initially a Broadway musical designed to raise funds for troops. It later became a sensation as a 1943 film starring Ronald Reagan, 37 years before he was elected President of the United States. These shows not only provided soldiers with much-needed diversion during the stresses of conflict but also served as a safe haven for gay service members, as explained by Joe E. Jeffreys, a drag historian and professor at New York University’s New School. (snip; a little MORE with video)
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elderly golfer’s brain goes fuckity-bye in batshit West Point speech by Jeff Tiedrich
Donny can’t be bothered to act like a human being Read on Substack
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Scottie's Playtime 