They Know But Don't Care

In Congress, Republicans introduced a federal "Don't Say Trans" bill.

Equality Caucus Rips Passage of Republicans’ Don’t Say Trans & Forced Outing Bill

CEC Chair Rep. Mark Takano: “Republicans claim to be the party of small government, but they have no problem bringing the full force of the federal government down against children.”

Press Release

May 20, 2026

After the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2616, a federal Don’t Say Trans bill that would also require schools to forcibly out transgender students—even if doing so would put the student in immediate danger—Rep. Mark Takano, Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, released the following statement"

“Republicans claim to be the party of small government, but they have no problem bringing the full force of the federal government down against children. The GOP thinks they can legislate transgender people out of existence with this inhumane Don’t Say Trans bill, but all they’re doing is making life worse for a small minority of already-vulnerable children,” said Rep. Mark Takano, Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus. “I spent 24 years as an educator where I worked with hundreds of high school students and their parents. Most children go to their parents when they need help or are struggling—including transgender children—but not all parents are accepting. The forced outing provision of this bill puts teachers in an impossible situation by requiring them to out trans kids to their parents in certain situations—even if the teacher knows the student will likely face physical abuse. Students like these are who Republicans want to put in immediate physical danger with this bill.”

Republicans know darn well what will happen to trans students,,, it has been well documented. medRxiv (pronounced "med-archive") reported on a survey that studied this exact issue and concluded:

Conclusion: Transgender and non-transgender youth reported experiencing more violence and suicidality as more anti-transgender legislation passed. More research is needed on how legislation may indirectly affect youth mental health.

The Center for Public Integrity wrote back in 2023 that,

A 2021 study by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network also found negative impacts on trans youth as a result of anti-trans legislation. Its recent research on school climates suggests the nationwide debates over trans rights have created more hostile attitudes toward LGBTQ+ students.

“Trans and nonbinary young people in schools who have been targeted by these athletic bans and medical bans have reported higher rates of things like bullying and harassment,” said Aaron Ridings, GLSEN chief of staff and deputy executive director for public policy and research.

Republicans know the harm they are inflicting on trans children, but to them, securing votes is clearly more important than the welfare of youth.

Question!

Trump's slush fund. You know the one... that gives 1,776 billion dollars to insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol! What could possibly go wrong?

This Is What Happens When Trump Packs The Courts

The Republicans played games with judicial appointments, you remember that during the Obama adminstration the Republican controlled legislation blocked President Obama court appointment? And that they did the same with President Biden's appointments. Trump appointed judges who put their religion before the Constitution. 

Then Congress played with Obama's Supreme Court appointment, appointing a justice just days before the elections!

Well it is now coming home to roost.

Court won't block Rhode Island hospital from releasing transgender care records to Texas judge

Reuters

By Nate Raymond

May 20, 2026

Summary

• Hospital turns over anonymized records following court order
• Several judges have previously quashed Justice Department subpoenas as overreaching
• Justice Department now centering probe in northern Texas, a venue favored by conservatives

A federal appeals court has declined to block a Rhode Island hospital from turning over medical records to a Texas ​judge that the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking as part of a Trump administration probe into the provision of gender-affirming care to transgender youth.

A three-judge ‌panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late on Tuesday rejected, opens new tab a request by the Rhode Island official charged with advocating for children in state care to bar Rhode Island Hospital from handing the records over to U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor after he ordered it to do so.

The panel said Rhode Island Child Advocate Katelyn Medeiros had not shown her agency would irreparably suffer if the hospital ​gave the records to a judge, "particularly one that has assured the parties that the records will not be disseminated unless and until the parties' appeals are resolved."

Medeiros ​had asked the 1st Circuit to intervene on an emergency basis after O'Connor ordered the hospital to provide him the records so he could ⁠secure them after previously ordering the Brown University Health-run institution to comply with a Justice Department subpoena.

So if the names and addresses have been removed, what use is the data for Texas. The will not know if the child is from Texas or not... so how are they going to know if Texas laws were broken. This is a witch hunt.

Judge Blocks Trump DOJ’s Demand for Rhode Island Transgender Kids’ Medical Records

Insurance Journal

By Kimberlee Kruesi

May 19, 2026

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s sweeping demands for confidential transgender patient information from Rhode Island’s largest hospital that provides gender-affirming care to minors.

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy’s Wednesday ruling is the latest setback for the U.S. Department of Justice, where at least seven other federal courts have agreed to quash or limit the expansive civil subpoenas sent to more than 20 doctors and hospitals last summer.

However, the appeals court overruled the Rhode Island judge.

The Trump adminstration is trying to warp the laws to fit their hatred of trans people. 

Sorry Donald!

Remember the tuna fish who kept striking out with "Sorry Charlie!" Well "The Donald" is losing some of the fear of legislators and some of them are trying to stand up to him.

Republicans expected to abandon $1B security proposal for White House and Trump's ballroom

Yahoo News

MARY CLARE JALONICK, KEVIN FREKING and JOEY CAPPELLETTI

May 21, 2026

 Senate Republican leaders are expected to abandon a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom on Thursday after members amid backlash from members of their own party.

Pressured by the White House, Republicans tried to add the money to a roughly $70 billion bill to restore funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. But the security proposal met with opposition from some GOP lawmakers who are questioning the timing of the request, the high cost and how the taxpayer dollars would be used.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged “ongoing vote issues” on Wednesday as leaders tried to measure Republican support and figure out what will be allowed in the bill under the chamber’s rules.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told reporters Wednesday that the bill was “back to square one” without the security money because “the votes are not there.”

Sorry Donald

---

Donald Trump’s Administration Says 250-Foot Arch Project Doesn’t Need Congress’s Approval

Evolve Editors

Thu, May 21, 2026

President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing forward with a monumental 250-foot arch near Washington’s National Mall. Officials now claim they can bypass Congress entirely, citing a century-old authorization.

Donald Trump’s administration plans to build 250 Ft Arch without Congress’s approval

The proposed site is Memorial Circle, a traffic roundabout on the man-made Columbia Island, for his planned 250-foot arch. Survey and geophysical testing crews began work at the National Park Service-managed site last week, which is the first visible steps toward construction.

Federal law designates certain parts of the capital, including Memorial Circle, as protected land requiring congressional authorization for new monuments. Yet, two people familiar with the administration’s plans reportedly confirmed there are no active plans to seek approval from the current Congress.

Hey... Laws mean nothing to "The Donald"

Censorship?

[Editorial]

This morning, I was researching a post for my blog regarding a federal appeals court ordering a hospital to turn over the medical records of trans patients due to off-label medication use. From what I understand, off-label use itself is not a crime... what is a crime is marketing or advertising for off-label use.

But every time I asked questions about the topic, I got a jarring message from ChatGPT: "This content may violate our usage policies."

ChatGPT would go on to answer the question anyway. But what does that red flag actually achieve? It makes users feel like they are doing something wrong just for seeking information.

It is censorship! Plain and simple.

It sends a damaging, implicit message to users: “People like me are not acceptable here.” It increases isolation. It compounds minority stress. That first point does the most damage; it feeds into self-harm, low self-esteem, and suicidal ideation.

When questioned about this censorship, the AI claims it uses an automated subroutine that pre-screens prompts based on specific keywords. Do you want to guess which keywords trigger the alarm? Yep... trans-related words.

No matter how tech companies justify it, it is still censorship, and it still causes real-world harm. The questions I was asking were strictly about court cases regarding the off-label use of puberty blockers. Yet, each time I pressed "enter," I got my hand slapped with a bright red warning, "This content may violate our usage policies."

This was the AI's actual reply when I challenged the censorship:

I hear you. A lot of people feel like discussions about trans issues get derailed immediately into culture-war talking points instead of staying focused on the actual question being asked.

You made a specific claim about the mechanism of puberty blockers, and that part is medically straightforward: they suppress puberty-related hormonal signaling. From there, people often jump into broader arguments about ethics, law, politics, identity, minors’ consent, or long-term outcomes, which can make it feel like the original point is being ignored.

When AI safety filters use overly broad keyword matching, they often end up marginalizing the very communities they are supposedly trying to protect; creating a chilling effect on legitimate research and discussion.

The AI can apologize or rationalize its algorithms all it wants. But unfortunately... the harm is already done.

[/Editorial]

It Is Not Big And Fancy

But it does a lot of work.

What it does is consolidate all the non-discrimination laws into one section. Before discrimination was in many different sections of the laws. There are something like fifteen protected classes under Connecticut laws!

• Race
• Color
• Religious creed
• Sex (including pregnancy)
• Age
• Sexual orientation
• Gender identity or expression
• National origin
• Ancestry
• Marital status
• Mental or physical disability (including blindness or past/present history)
• Intellectual or learning disability
• Genetic information
• Veteran or military status
• Status as a victim/survivor of domestic violence
• Prior criminal record (in employment, with certain exceptions)

And each and every one of the was in a different local of the statues and they also had different sentences for the same type of crime. So the bill standardized them.

Public Act No. 26-77

AN ACT REVISING AND CONSOLIDATING THE HATE CRIMES

STATUTES.

L & G On The Chopping Block!

Yup, Trump & Company has put lesbians and gays on the chopping block...

Trump administration proposes rollback of LGBTQ+ housing protections

The Trump administration has proposed a sweeping rollback of LGBTQ+ housing protections, including one that could force trans women into men’s shelters and strip away federal anti-discrimination safeguards.

The Pink News

by Tom Hutt-Dixon

April 25. 2026

The new rule from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would eliminate protections based on gender identity and sexual orientation first introduced under Barack Obama.

It would instead require shelters receiving federal funding to house people based on what it defines as their “biological sex”, even in states where local laws prohibit this, as per Transitics.

Okay, how are they going to determine “biological sex?” How?

Under the new rule, providers could request ‘reasonable assurances or evidence’ of someone’s sex. It doesn’t clarify what this means.

DROP YOUR DRAWS!

What they are really saying is: we are going to harass women who tend to look masculine, as well as trans people who do not “pass.” But those trans people who can assimilate into society won’t get harassed!

The only other way is to DNA test everyone, but I don't think people will like the government knowing their DNA! But that then brings up the question of intersex people... what will the law say about someone with XXY chromosomes? Or someone with Complete AIS?

The problem with Republican thinking is that their minds are so focused on us, trans women, that they don't even think about the fact that they will be putting trans men into women's shelters!

Then we have lesbians and gays... because Trump's edict also allows landlords to deny rentals to same-sex couples! You see, when Republicans make this a “Christian” issue, they will be able to discriminate against single women, unmarried women with children, trans people, gays, and lesbians! The Fair Housing Act of 1968 listed the protected classes: race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability. The Supreme Court, in a number of cases, has said that we fall under sex discrimination, but Trump doesn't care about the law! He will just leave us to battle it out in court.

Danger Will Roberson!

There are a few things that raises my heckles, I don't get a warm fuzzy feeling with this, religious zeolites rewriting the military code of justice... I don't know.

Pentagon begins sweeping review of military legal system

"Reviewing the military legal system is not a problem, reviewing it inside the building without independent structure is structural concern," Ira Rushing said.

Federal News Network

Anastasia Obis

May 18, 2026

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has launched a sweeping review of the military legal system, directing the Pentagon to evaluate legal programs across the services, compare them with one another and benchmark them against the Justice Department and criminal justice systems. 

In a May 8 memo to service secretaries, the Joint Chiefs staff and legal offices across the Defense Department, Hegseth instructed the Pentagon’s general counsel to convene a special review panel that will conduct what he described as an “ongoing, long-term, departmentwide review of all aspects of the military legal system as it affects our warriors.” 

The panel is expected to issue interim reports and recommendations over time rather than produce a single final study. Hegseth said the effort is intended to “cut unnecessary bureaucracy, strengthen training and organization and make military legal professionals more effective.”

And what will the religious make-up of this panel be, and who choses them?

The question is not whether to review the system — the military legal system faces a number of challenges, including yearslong backlogs, inconsistent policies across the services and chronic staffing shortages — but how that review is structured.

“There’s a lot of areas in the military legal system that need reform,” Ira Rushing, an associate at the Tully Rinckey law firm, told Federal News Network.  “I would have some reservations about having the panel structured and convened by DoD general counsel, which is a bureaucratic position, so a bureaucrat making suggestions on how to reduce bureaucracy. I think throughout the history of time that has never been a very good idea. But again the difference between this being an executive branch panel versus a legislative branch panel is its ability to actually effectuate any change to begin with.”

I don't really trust Hegseth, I am scared he will change the balance of their legal system to favor the military!

Some of the things to watch over the next six months to better understand where this panel is heading include its membership list, once it is released — the credibility of the effort will depend heavily on whether the panel includes independent voices such as retired military judges, defense practitioners and academic experts or it is dominated by political appointees and Pentagon insiders.

“The more diverse the better. If it’s a roster of political appointees or inside the building council  — maybe that’d be a different signal,” Rushing said.

Yup!

NO!

This is so wrong!

This is corruption!

DOJ official told GOP ally that big payouts were coming for Jan. 6 defendants

Months before the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund was announced, Ed Martin predicted Capitol rioters would get millions, even if it took until 2028, two people told NBC News.

NBC News

By Ryan J. Reilly

May 19, 2026

Earlier this year, not long after Trump administration official Ed Martin was stripped of his role as head of the Justice Department’s “weaponization” working group that targeted the president’s political foes, he sat down for breakfast at an upscale spot near the White House.

[...]

The two touched on the upcoming 2026 midterm elections, D.C. federal grand juries and former special counsel Jack Smith, according to two people with direct knowledge of their conversation.

Martin also predicted the Justice Department would dole out millions of dollars to those charged, and then later pardoned, in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, the people said. Even if it took until the end of President Donald Trump’s term.

Martin estimated it would be something like $40 million, the people said.

The pot ended up much, much larger.

This week, the Justice Department announced a $1.776 billion fund using taxpayer dollars to provide payouts for those “who suffered weaponization and lawfare” at the hands of the government. The money comes as part of a settlement with President Donald Trump, who sued the executive branch that he oversees — an unprecedented legal move, experts said.

This is nothing more than trying to influence voters!

So these creeps who disrupted Congress, attacked the police, and vandalized the Capitol are going to be given tens of thousands of your taxpayer dollars as a reward for their violence! In an AP News article, they wrote:

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday wouldn’t rule out the possibility that people who carried out violence during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol will be considered for payouts from a new $1.776 billion fund to pay individuals who believe they were targeted politically.

Pressed during a Congressional hearing over whether those who assaulted police officers would be eligible for compensation from the “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” Blanche responded that all people can apply if “they believe they were a victim of weaponization.” The acting attorney general also refused to say whether he would direct those responsible for deciding who receives payments — a commission whose members he is tasked with appointing — to restrict funds to those convicted of violence.

“What I will commit to is making sure that the commissioners are effectively doing their jobs, and that includes setting guidelines as you’re describing,” Blanche told Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat. The decisions on payouts will be made a five-member commission appointed by the attorney general.

It is a private slush fund to pay off MAGA loyalists!

This is:

• An abuse of executive authority,
• A misuse of taxpayer funds,
• A conflict of interest,
• An erosion of DOJ independence,
• And the use of government power to reward allies and punish opponents.

The Trump administration is on its way to becoming one of the most corrupt administrations ever... he is well on his way to surpassing Warren G. Harding's Teapot Dome scandal!

So who are inline for the handout?

Longtime Trump ally Michael Caputo files first known claim for ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

Caputo, a spokesperson at the Department of Health and Human Services during Trump’s first term, filed the claim a day after the Justice Department set up the $1.8 billion fund.

NBC News

Garrett Haake

Tue, May 19, 2026

Political operative and longtime Trump ally Michael Caputo filed the first known claim for the Justice Department’s new “anti-weaponization” fund Tuesday, seeking $2.7 million in restitution.

Caputo, who was a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services during President Donald Trump’s first term, says he was the target of “Crossfire Hurricane” — an FBI investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

Caputo posted a letter on X addressed to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche saying that “the machinery of government was clearly politically weaponized against my family from July 2016 to December 2025.”

[...]

Trump said Monday that the fund, which he said he had no involvement in establishing, was meant to reimburse people who were “horribly treated.”

Okay who believes that Trump has "no involvement?"

And just look at the amount... 1776!