Dolly

Just that one word and you knew who I meant.

She had a heart so big it encompassed every human being every living thing on this planet.

Dolly Parton’s chauffeur and assistant of 30+ years was a trans man she supported and loved

Parton repeatedly thanked Jason Pirro — whose employment was widely celebrated by trans newsletters — throughout her career.

The Advocate

Mathew Rodriguez - them

Aug 27, 2026

As the world is still reeling from the news of the death of legendary Queen of Country Music Dolly Parton on Tuesday, many of her LGBTQ+ fans have resurfaced evidence of her long and enduring support of the LGBTQ+ community.

That support included a job and a lasting friendship with a transgender chauffeur, Jason Pirro, who previously spoke with the press about Parton, saying that the singer “knows all about me and is a very nice lady.”

Twenty Minutes, a transgender newsletter that circulated in the late 1980s and early 1990s, wrote about then 44-year-old Pirro in its August 1990 issue, pulled from a story in which the tabloid Star spoke to Pirro about his relationship with Parton.

[…]

The Twenty Minutes issue highlighting the Star article remains widely accessible through the Digital Transgender Archives, an online hub of materials meant to preserve trans history. That newsletter itself is housed in the Sexual Minorities Archives in Holyoke, Massachusetts, which also holds the research materials of late trans author and activist Leslie Feinberg

With her, it wasn’t something that was “in”; it was a way of life. When asked to write a song for the movie Transamerica, she not only wrote it, but she sang it—and it earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song! It also received Golden Globe and Grammy nominations and won Best Original Song from the Phoenix Film Critics Society. “Travelin’ Thru” is a song from her heart, written for the trans community.

[As I was listening to this while I am writing this and I had to pause… I was crying too hard! Why can’t everyone share this sentiments as this. Why does there have to be hate?]

The Los Angeles Times wrote in “Appreciation: Dolly Parton was special to the LGBTQ+ community. She showed us our country loves us” that:

In a brief online elegy for Dolly Parton, with whom she’d worked on the women-empowering film “9 to 5,” actor and famed liberal activist Jane Fonda made it a point to note that Parton cared about her queer fans.

“To her gay and trans fans, I want you to know that she loved you,” Fonda wrote. “You know that without me telling you.”

Indeed, we do.

Dolly meant something special to the LGBTQ+ community, in part because she represented an America where we are accepted — not just in big blue cities, but in one-room cabins in East Tennessee and in every rural, American-flag-flying corner of this big country.

She also spoke up for us, LGBTQ+ Nation wrote…

Country music star Dolly Parton expressed support for LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender people, when asked about the recent ban on gender-affirming care for minors in her home state of Tennessee. She also discussed working with several queer musicians on her soon-to-be-released album, Rockstar.

“I just want everybody to be treated good,” Parton said when asked about the ban in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I try not to get into the politics of everything. I try to get into the human element of it. I have some of everybody in my own immediate family and in my circle of employees. I’ve got transgender people. I’ve got gays. I’ve got lesbians. I’ve got drunks. I’ve got drug addicts — all within my own family. I know and love them all, and I do not judge.”

While LGBTQ+ community members resent being compared to drug addicts, Parton intended the comparison as an example of people who are often rejected by society. She noted that she grew up in a church where “so many things were a sin” and where congregants criticized her as being “trash” and a “whore” for “being young and dressing the way I did and being the way that I was.”

“I know [trans people] and love them all, and I do not judge,” she continued. “And I just see how broken-hearted they get over certain things and I know how real they are. I know how important [gender-affirming care] is to them. That’s who they are. They cannot help that any more than I can help being Dolly Parton, you know, the way people know me. If there’s something to be judged, that is God’s business. But we are all God’s children and how we are is who we are.”

Her love for us was real. She will be dearly missed.

Travelin' through

I'm just travelin' through

I'm just travelin' through

I'm just travelin' through

I'm just travelin', travelin', I'm just travelin' through

[/Editorial]

Why Do They Hate Us?

All that comes out of Trump's mouth are lies about us, designed to cause fear and anxiety in our community while creating hatred against us.

Trump and Linda McMahon lie about trans kids — in front of schoolchildren

The president and Linda McMahon turned a back-to-school celebration into a barrage of falsehoods about transgender students, education and vaccines.

The Advocate

Christopher Wiggins

Aug 25, 2026

President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon used a White House back-to-school celebration Monday to spread lies about transgender children and education in front of students. Trump then inexplicably invited attendees to tour the construction of his helipad and ballroom, returning to his White House construction obsession.

And now come the lies:

“Every public school in America is now on notice that if they tell a child that they’re trapped in the wrong body, they are committing child abuse,” Trump said.

That’s not true. No Biden policy forced children to identify as transgender, and Trump cited no law making affirmation abuse—the targeted policies concern names, pronouns and privacy — not medical treatment.

And more lies:

McMahon repeated the lie that schools secretly transition children and threatened their federal funding over supposed “radical experiments.”

“After the Biden administration allowed schools to secretly transition students without parents’ knowledge, President Trump is defending parental rights like never before,” McMahon said. “At his direction, we are working hand in hand with the Department of Justice to ensure no school district ever has more power over a child than their own parents.”

Trump repeatedly lies about us, using those lies to create fear and anxiety in our community while fueling hatred toward us.

The mainstream media are complicit in this by not calling Trump and his administration out on these lies. FactCheck.org reported:

Trump Misleads on Transgender Issues

By Catalina Jaramillo

April 7, 2025

On the first day of his administration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the federal government to no longer consider a person’s gender and to recognize people as either male or female, as defined by the size of their reproductive cells.

The directive served as a basis for a series of subsequent orders that called for defunding medical or educational institutions that have protections for transgender students, provide gender-affirming medical care to transgender youth or allow transgender girls or women to participate in women’s sports. Another order attempted to ban transgender people from the military. 

But some of those orders — and Trump’s later comments — lack context or include incorrect or misleading statements.

“For four long years, we had an administration that tried to abolish the very concept of womanhood and replace it with radical gender ideology,” Trump said on March 26 at a Woman’s History Month event at the White House.

Is it just for political gain that he is willing to cause harm to children? I don't know what is worse: the fact that he is using us for political gain, the fact that he is willing to accept that children will suffer lifelong consequences from not receiving appropriate medical care, or the fact that he is willing to accept that some children might harm themselves.

Failure of Judgment?

[Editorial]

Did the Secretary of Defense have a serious lapse in judgment in the firing of the Army’s Chief of Staff, Gen. Randy George, weeks into Trump’s War? Trump invaded Iran, and five weeks later, Gen. George was “Shit Canned” for no reason given at the time.

But let us go back in time, just before his firing… Army attack helicopters did an unauthorized fly-by of Kid Rock’s house. Here is what was reported at the time...

Hegseth ousts Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George
CBS News
By Jennifer Jacobs, Eleanor Watson, James LaPorta
April 2, 2026

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to step down and take immediate retirement, sources familiar with the decision told CBS News.

One of the sources said Hegseth wants someone in the role who will implement President Trump and Hegseth's vision for the Army.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that George "will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately. The Department of War is grateful for General George's decades of service to our nation. We wish him well in his retirement."

A senior Defense Department official told CBS News, "We are grateful for his service, but it was time for a leadership change in the Army."

Just like that—BOOM! With no hints… just the ax, with no replacement waiting in the wings! In the middle of the war. What could the general have done? That hasn’t come out until now, and the dots connect it to the Kid Rock fly-by… the general was all for investigating it against his boss’s wishes.

The Los Angeles Times reported back in April that:

The forced departure of George in the middle of a war created yet another blow to morale inside the Pentagon, where multiple officials expressed dismay over the state of the department’s leadership. Over the last year, Hegseth has fired five sitting members of the joint chiefs of staff, with only two holdovers remaining in their posts.

“Whenever you have a change in leadership, military or otherwise, there is bound to be some churn in information management,” one U.S. official said, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “So what you’re doing, in the middle of a war, as we are taking U.S. casualties, is you’re taking out the general in charge of making sure the right people and equipment are flowing into the Middle East."

Was it the bad news that got him “Shit Canned,” or was it something else? CBS News goes on to report:

The ouster follows Hegseth's X post lifting the suspension of the aircrew that flew by Kid Rock's house in Nashville last weekend. After the Army announced the suspension of the aviators involved and an administrative review, Hegseth overruled the Army, writing on his personal X account, "No punishment. No investigation. Carry on, patriots."

Timing?

But wait, there’s more! Since then…

Before Hegseth fired him, top general was advised to drop Kid Rock probe
Dan Lamothe and Noah Robertson,
The Washington Post
August 26, 2026

Days before the Army's top officer was abruptly fired earlier this year, he was advised by a fellow general now vying to replace him to stop the military's investigation into an unauthorized helicopter flyby of musician Kid Rock's Tennessee estate, three people familiar with the matter said.

Gen. Randy George, whom Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth removed as the Army chief of staff without explanation, felt it was important to follow typical protocol and determine whether any safety regulations had been violated during the March 28 flyby, these people said. Like some others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the episode.

Gen. Chris LaNeve, the Army's No. 2 officer, told George that Hegseth did not want the investigation to proceed, one person said. The two others said that George later confided in colleagues that he seemed troubled by the encounter with LaNeve, who suggested it would be best if the review was scuttled.

The revelation, which has not previously been reported, adds a new layer of understanding to Hegseth's potential motivations for firing George on April 2. Kid Rock, whose legal name is Robert Ritchie, is a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump and avowed critic of many Democratic politicians and causes.

Here we are, right in the middle of Trump’s War, and we are changing leaders—not because of incompetence or a failure of judgment by the general. It was because a MAGA hotshot pilot wanted to impress a friend of Trump’s, Kid Rock, so he did a fly-by. The Army Chief of Staff wanted to pursue the possible violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), but his boss didn’t. His boss put politics ahead of the law and morale. That is why he was fired… he didn’t want special rules for special people. The general was advised to drop the Kid Rock investigation but felt it was important to follow normal protocol, and for that, he got fired!

Think about this: Gen. George was the Army’s senior uniformed officer during the planning and execution of the war in Iran. For that, I believe the Secretary of Defense showed a Failure of Judgment in putting politics before the war effort when he fired him.

I am reminded of “The Want of a Nail” by Todd Rundgren:

… For the want of a nail (the world was lost)
For the want of a nail, oh yeah (the world was lost)
For the want of a nail (the world was lost)
For the want of a nail (the world was lost)

[/Editorial]

What I Read Into This

There is an article in the Huff Post over this photo.

First lady Melania Trump, left, and President Donald Trump arrive for a Fostering the Future event
in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026.
Bloomberg via Getty Images

But to me what this looks like is a battle of wills. This looks like abuse to me. It looks to me as if he is squeezing her hand until it hurts. Dominance, I am the boss, I am the president.

Others see it differently, the Huff Post article says,

Abbie Maroño, a behavioral scientist, told HuffPost that the couple entering the Rose Garden gave off a “controlled, coordinated display of unity.”

“Their interaction is restrained rather than overtly affectionate, but they are presenting themselves very clearly as a pair,” she said.

But is it forced?

Is Crossdressing Going the Way of the Dinosaur?

[Editorial]

Is it only the boomers who crossdress?

Think about it: support groups for crossdressers are mainly seniors. Conferences… seniors. Boomers. Where are the other generations? The alphabet generations?

Well, they are in queer groups. Huh? Yeah, you see, there is a lot less stigma attached to crossdressing, so why do they need their own support groups? They are out there with their own generation.

So, will our support groups turn up inside LTC centers?

Senior Center’s Monday Meetings:

The Knitting Circle

Setback

The Crossdresser Club

Bingo

Photography Club

Is this our fate?

Since I earned my “senior” badge by officially playing Bingo at a senior center, I think I qualify to wonder if we will truly see ourselves in “old folks’ homes”… Or will we just have another closet?

[/Editorial]

Duh!

[Editorial]

It’s the economy, stupid!

That was the gist of the 2024 election. The economy was the #1 issue, according to voters.

Then he started all his tariffs in 2025.

Then he started a war with Iran that choked off oil supplies and used up all the bombs and rockets.

Now he has added a 50% tariff on our number-one trading partner.

Meanwhile, they can’t feed the troops.

They hide the true material losses.

Warships are breaking down and need to be towed.

The guy is a total basket case! And still, his MAGA-loyal followers worship at his feet.

[/Editorial]

They’re Not Pawns

[Editorial]

Before I retired, I ran an electronic test department. At its peak, I managed 24 techs, including an Air Force master tech. Every once in a while, he would vanish for a month or two. So I had to hire a “Rent-A-Tech,” and we paid the difference in salaries.

When he came back in the middle of winter with a tan, all he said was, “There was a lot of sand.” But in the news, we knew that the military had sent troops to the Afghanistan area.

The thing is, he was a vital person on my team. His loss was felt!

It cost the company to hire a temp!

The company covered the difference in salaries, but many businesses do not, so it is a hardship on the families!

We didn’t mind because he was being used for what he signed up for, but… picking up trash in Washington, D.C., is wrong. Trump doesn’t care. He is using the Guard as pawns in a chess match. He doesn’t care about the hardships he is causing.

Now he is pissed off about a report that showed that the National Guard is not making any difference, and Trump is pissed. And, true to form, he is attacking the media.

Trump threatens lawsuit against nonprofit that questioned whether National Guard plan lessened crime

AP News

By  GARY FIELDS

August 21, 2026

President Donald Trump is threatening to sue a left-leaning think tank unless it retracts a report that said his National Guard deployments to various cities did not reduce crime as he said.

The letter gave the Washington, D.C.-based Center for American Progress until the end of business Friday to issue the retraction or face a $5 billion lawsuit. The center declined.

The nonprofit’s president and chief executive, Neera Tanden, said in a statement that the lawsuit “is a transparent attempt to silence us. We will neither cower nor bend in the face of it.”

The report, published July 13, criticized the administration for taking credit for a historic drop in violent crime at a time when that decline was already underway. The analysis concluded that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard “had no measurable effect on violent crime trends.”

In typical Trump fashion……. ATTACK!

Before, he used to short his subs on construction jobs. Now he has the full weight of the U.S. government behind him. The FCC is attacking Disney/ABC. The Defense Department went after Stars and Stripes for publishing the article about the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. The First Amendment be damned! When asked about the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the reports were "fake news" and the conditions "completely misrepresented," and insisted the Pentagon makes sure "every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment." So instead of focusing on fixing the problem he went after the media.

The thing is… these are people’s lives. They signed up to defend the Constitution, not to be used as some political pawns, not as cannon fodder for Trump’s political ambitions and to gather more wealth for the Trump family. 

[/Editorial]

---

Updated: 8/26 @ 6AM

I just came across this NPR article: In candid interviews, National Guard members speak out about D.C. deployment and they write,

Thousands of armed National Guard members have been patrolling Washington, D.C., for more than a year now. But central voices have been missing from the public discourse around that deployment, and that's the Guard members themselves. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf has been speaking with some of them, and they say they're worried that this is a new norm of armed troops patrolling American cities. Kat's with me now. Good morning.

[...]

FADEL: So what did they tell you?

LONSDORF: Well, all three spoke really bluntly about how they didn't buy the justification for the deployment by this administration, which, remember, came after President Trump declared a crime emergency despite a 30-year low in violent crime in the city. They all said that reasoning was confusing to them in the beginning but even more so now, as the deployment has been extended for several years.

One Guard member said, quote, "it feels like the Guard is being exploited, being used for political narratives by the administration." Another told me that he hopes there will be some kind of official reckoning someday about why the Guard is here and whether it was worth it. And another Guard member told me that it, quote, "embarrasses" him to be involved in any way with the deployment.

They feel the same way I wrote... that they are nothing but pawns!