Oh, Really?

online polls

There is a new study out that looked at the worst business states for the LGBTQ+ community.

5 most LGBTQ-hostile states — and they're getting worse

A new business climate index found lower-ranked states falling further behind while top-performing states continue strengthening LGBTQ+ protections.

The Advocate

Jack Walker

Jun 05, 2026

An index that measures state-level LGBTQ+ inclusion for business leaders has measured a national decline in support for the LGBTQ+ community for the fourth consecutive year.

Released this month, the eighth annual State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index examines states across five main categories: legal protections, family support, political and religious attitudes, health care and employment. The index is published by OutLeadership, an LGBTQ+ business network.

This year’s report found that states that rank low in the index are performing worse year over year, and that fewer states are placing toward the middle of the 100-point index scale. The states with the lowest rankings were Arkansas, Tennessee, Idaho, South Carolina and Florida in that order.

What?

No Kentucky?

No Texas?

No Montana?

All of those states have passed a massive amount of anti-trans legislation, yet they don’t make the list.

Methinks there is bias in the selection of the states. It seems that all those laws are considered okay because they don’t affect the LGB community.

Just saying.

He Has This Image...

Of Crusaders going off to war... and women don't have a part in his weak male ego where he can't stand women in combat wrecking. It doesn't fit Hegseth's Walter Mitty dream of into vivid, heroic fantasies to escape a mundane reality.

Air Force cites DEI ban in cancellation of wreath-laying honoring women vets

Navy Times
By Hope Hodge Seck
Jun 11, 2026

 

 

 A 28th annual wreath-laying ceremony honoring women troops at a memorial outside Arlington National Cemetery was canceled earlier this month after organizers got word that multiple military services would not participate, with one citing Pentagon and White House guidance prohibiting “events related to cultural awareness months” and DEI programs.

The cancellation, first reported by Task and Purpose, was announced Wednesday by leaders of the Bipartisan Women’s Caucus in a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol.

Did you see that, they have been doing it for twenty-eight years and now!

A staffer for the Democratic Women’s Caucus told Military Times that the wreath-laying had been canceled June 10 after officials with the Department of the Air Force said they could not attend due to anti-DEI mandates published in January 2025, immediately after President Donald Trump took office.

 

 An Air Force spokeswoman, Ann Stefanek, confirmed to Military Times via email that “The Department of the Air Force declined participation in compliance with Executive Orders … and DoW guidance.”

This is idiotic! This is demeaning to women! This is misogynist! Congresswoman Emilia Sykes wrote;

 ICYMI: Rep. Sykes, DWC Honored Servicewomen & Veterans After Trump Policies Prohibited Military From Participating in Annual Ceremony

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, the Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) led by DWC Vice Chair Emilia Sykes (OH-13) hosted a press conference to honor fallen servicewomen, servicewomen, and women veterans. The event replaced the Bipartisan Women’s Caucus’ 28th Annual Women In Military Service Wreath Laying Ceremony, historically held at Arlington National Cemetery. The wreath laying ceremony was canceled this year because several military branches declined to participate, citing an Executive Order from President Trump and guidance from the Department of Defense that they say barred the military from attending an event that honors women.

Our servicewomen risk everything to serve our country. To be met with anything other than respect and honor is a disgrace. At the press conference, Members spoke on the importance of recognizing women veterans and servicemembers for their dedication and sacrifice. Rep. Sykes paid tribute to fallen servicewomen and called out the importance of honoring and supporting servicewomen and women veterans.

"For nearly 30 years, this bipartisan wreath-laying ceremony has honored the service and sacrifice of America's women veterans. This year, military branches told us they could not participate because of President Trump's executive order and guidance issued by Secretary Hegseth's Department of Defense. The result was the cancellation of a ceremony dedicated to recognizing women who answered the call to serve. At a time when women veterans should be celebrated, the Trump-Hegseth Pentagon is sidelining them. We will continue to honor their service and speak out against efforts to diminish their contributions to our nation," said Rep. Sykes.

 My worry? Is that Hegseth is turning the military into a White Christian Nationalist military with allegiance not to the Constitution but to a cause.

 

Fair Weather Friends!

Some say you can't blame them; I say you can.

In years past, businesses would shower us with their support. Now? Nothing. The political climate has changed. For true friends, that shouldn't matter.

These brands deserted Pride Month. It could cost them.

By Jessica Guynn

USA TODAY

June 10, 2026

Key points:

• Levi Strauss released a Pride collection honoring queer motorcycle clubs, while REI featured a rainbow camping chair designed by nonbinary artist Alva Skog.
• Apple offered a Pride‑themed sport loop watchband and iPhone/iPad wallpapers for the month.
  
• Abercrombie & Fitch’s “Made with Pride” line included a $400,000 donation to The Trevor Project.
• According to a Harris Poll of nearly 5,000 U.S. adults, 77% of LGBTQ+ shoppers and 86% of LGBTQ+ Gen Z respondents said they would pay more for brands that meaningfully support gay and trans people.
• The same poll found that 42% of LGBTQ+ respondents would trust a brand less and 38% would look for another brand if it pulled back on Pride support.

Levi Strauss & Co.’s Pride collection celebrates queer motorcycle clubs as “the community protectors who became symbols of strength, safety and solidarity.” Nonbinary artist Alva Skog created a collection of rainbow clothing and gear, including a camping chair for REI. 

Apple has a Pride-themed sport loop watchband and Pride wallpaper for the iPhone and iPad. Abercrombie & Fitch's “Made with Pride”  lineup is accompanied by a $400,000 donation to youth crisis intervention organization, The Trevor Project. 

But this year’s Pride Month still has far less rainbow bling and fewer corporate sponsorships.

Pride Month has suffered corporate defections since gay and transgender rights emerged as a culture-war flashpoint and the Trump administration cracked down on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

We see, we remember.

“LGBTQ+ consumers are telling us that they notice when brands pull back, they can tell when support feels performative and many change how they shop when support disappears,” he said. 

Do you know why they courted us? We have disposable income. You know they used to call us: DINKs (Double Income, No Kids).

Pride celebrations struggle as corporate sponsorships dry up

NPR

By Hannah Frances Johansson

May 30, 2026

Pride celebrations across the country continue to lose out on large sponsorships as corporations, a key source of funding, shrink their affiliation with diversity causes and LGBTQ+ events.

Corporate sponsorships of celebrations in several cities, including New York City, Salt Lake City, Louisville, St. Louis, Orlando, and Pittsburgh are down from previous years, organizers said.

Jordan Braxton, co-president of the United States Association of Prides, which supports Pride celebrations nationwide, said that while some smaller Prides have seen a growth in sponsorships, a majority have seen a reduction.

She said the Trump administration's dismantling of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, has scared corporations away from sponsoring Pride celebrations. "I think that's why some of the corporations have pulled back, because they don't want that government scrutiny," she said.

In a way, this is good! We can go back to our roots!

I guess you can say that the original Prides were Cooper's Donuts, the Black Cat Tavern, Dewey’s Lunch Counter, Compton's Cafeteria, and Stonewall. They were the original sites of Pride where we stood up and said... ENOUGH!

Then we started passing non-discrimination legislation... Marriage Equality! We grabbed the "brass ring" on the carousel, and the partying began!

Support for grassroots organizations like Love Makes a Family dried up, but then the corporate sponsors started coming—and a new phrase was coined: "Rainbow Capitalism."

Now we are in the third wave... the era of Trump.

Gay Inc. is still in full swing. But others who have to make their living off the streets are just scraping by, and the trans community has borne the brunt of Trump's attacks.

We remember our true friends, not the fair-weather friends.

We remember the politicians who stand beside us, not the ones who run away when a dark cloud passes by.

We remember the companies and businesses that stood by us in tough times.

And we have long memories.

What I have learned from history: is you don't want to be around us when we have a coffee in our hands.

---

Our struggles continues, this is from this month!

Tennessee congressman called ‘absolutely idiotic’ by fellow Republicans after vile antigay post

June 3, 2026

By Christopher Wiggins

The Advocate

Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee posted a message on X on Tuesday declaring that "homosexuality has no place in America" before deleting it amid criticism from Democrats, LGBTQ+ advocates, and fellow members of the GOP.

The Republican congressman published the message on Tuesday, the second day of Pride Month, adding, "Happy Nuclear Family Month." The post referred to a nonbinding resolution signed by Gov. Bill Lee in April that defines a nuclear family as "one husband, one wife" and their children.

Ogles later deleted the post and blamed a staff member, saying in a statement that he was working on his farm when his phone "began going crazy" over a post that he claimed was made by a member of his communications team.

"The post was stupid, hurtful and a complete distraction from my America First focus," Ogles wrote, adding that the employee had been reprimanded.

The explanation prompted skepticism from critics, who questioned how such a message could have been posted from the congressman's official account.

Congressman Mark Takano of California, who serves as the chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus and who is gay, sharply criticized Ogles.

“America is beautiful because every person, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, is welcome here. Republicans turn to posting hateful garbage online because they have no real plans to solve problems for American families,” Takano told The Advocate. “I think Rep. Ogles’ explanation raises more questions, like what kind of people is he hiring that would have thought that tweet was a good idea in the first place? Whoever that staffer was clearly thought the tweet would fit Mr. Ogles’ voice because of his extreme anti-LGBTQI+ record.”

They Call Themselves Holy Men!

I was watching a a news show, and they had segment about Christian nationalism and events connected to America's upcoming 250th anniversary, it is called "Rededicate 250". What struck me were ministers standing on the pulpit and claiming that the founders intended the United States to be a Christian nation. That claim is not supported by the historical record. I just don’t understand how a pious person can knowingly tell such a lie.

Then they had a segment about Trump reading from a Bible. What a crock. He’s a grifter and a confidence man—he’ll promise you the moon and tell you whatever you want to hear. He has been convicted on 34 felony counts in a criminal case, and in a civil case, a jury found him liable for sexually abusing and battering E. Jean Carroll. Yet people still believe him when he says that we are a Christian Nation.

 Here are some of the statements our founding father said about religion.

George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation (Newport, Rhode Island – 1790)

"For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens…"

The Treaty of Tripoli (1797)

"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen [Muslims]... it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists (Connecticut – 1802)

"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."

The Founders left a substantial written record of their views on religion and government.

Founder	What They Said / Did
Thomas Jefferson	Coined the phrase "wall of separation between church and state." Literally cut up the New Testament to remove all miracles, creating the "Jefferson Bible."
James Madison	The "Father of the Constitution" argued that blending government and religion corrupts both. He even opposed hiring chaplains for Congress and the military with public tax dollars.
John Adams	Signed the Treaty of Tripoli, which stated: "The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." He also noted that the U.S. was founded on reason and human rights, not dogma.
Benjamin Franklin	Wrote that when a religion requires the help of the "civil power" to support itself, it is a sign of it being a bad one. Explicitly stated in his autobiography that public preaching spaces should be open to all faiths, including Islam.

But these holy men have they have no qualms to lying from the pulpit or their political agenda.

---

And "Men" is the key word,

Southern Baptists vote to advance a formal ban on churches with women pastors

AP News

By  PETER SMITH

June 10, 2026

Thousands of Southern Baptists overwhelmingly voted Wednesday to advance a formal ban on women pastors in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, sending a clear message that men alone should preach to these conservative evangelical congregations.

The amendment would tighten existing restrictions in the Southern Baptist Convention, which already has a faith statement opposing women pastors.

The vote was 6,028 to 2,026 — a 3-to-1 margin — which easily exceeded the required two-thirds majority. It will require a similar two-thirds vote at next year’s meeting to become part of the constitution.

The two-day meeting concluded Wednesday after bringing more than 11,000 delegates, or messengers, to a cavernous convention center in Orlando, Florida.

It fits right in with Christian Nationalist and the Republican push to send us back to the 1950s.

Corruption "R" Us

The Daily Beast writes...

Trump Family Scores Massive Payday as Company Falls Apart

KA-CHING!

The Trumps made a killing from a partnership with a fintech company—but investors weren’t as lucky.

Julia Ornedo

Jun. 10 2026

Investors have seen steep losses since putting their money on a fintech firm that partnered with a Trump family-backed crypto venture—but the president’s family got the better end of the deal, according to a new report.

ALT5 Sigma, now known as AI Financial Corp., teamed up with the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial last August in a deal that the president’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, celebrated with cheery photos at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York.

Since the 1970s, presidents generally took steps to separate themselves from assets that could create conflicts of interest, often through blind trusts or by holding only broadly diversified investments. Ethics experts have noted that every president from the post-Watergate era through Obama used some form of blind trust, divestment, or conflict-free investment arrangement.

However with Trump, retained ownership of the Trump Organization while president.

Management was transferred primarily to his sons rather than to an independent blind trustee.

Under the deal, ALT5 acquired $1.5 billion in crypto tokens from World Liberty Financial. In turn, President Donald Trump and undisclosed members of his family were entitled to a staggering $500 million in proceeds from the sale, according to WLF disclosures first reported by CNBC.

This has resulted in massive profits for the family!

Is The FIFA World Cup Coming Apart At The Seams?

There has been growing talk in FIFA about obtaining visas for many of the players and visitors for the World Cup! The Guardian wrote:

World Cup 2026 visa chaos: from referee Omar Artan to Iranian officials – who is affected?

Fifa has found its tournament squarely caught up in the second Trump administration’s aggressive border restrictions

Martin Belam

Tue 9 Jun 2026

For successive men’s World Cup tournaments Fifa has managed to bulldoze its way through costly immigration and entry requirements. In 2014 Brazil passed a law granting free temporary visas to ticket holders, and for Russia and Qatar, the respective autocracies bypassed traditional border friction using Fan IDs and Hayya cards as makeshift visa entry documents that also provided free public transport. Not so in 2026, where Fifa has found its tournament squarely caught up in the second Trump administration’s aggressive border restrictions. Here are some of the people that have been affected.

But here in the U.S.,

Omar Artan, one of 52 referees appointed by Fifa for the tournament, has been refused entry to the US after arriving in Miami. Artan had been set to become the first person from Somalia to officiate at a World Cup.

Fifa confirmed he “will be unable to train and officiate” and washed its hands of the diplomatic consequences. In a statement, the governing body said: “Fifa is not involved in host country immigration processes, including visa adjudications … a host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and who is admitted into their country.”

And then there is...

Visa denials, border incidents cast shadow over 2026 FIFA World Cup

Treatment of delegations from Iran, Iraq, Senegal, and Uzbekistan, all World Cup qualifiers, as well as FIFA’s silence over the incidents, sparks widespread criticism in sports community

AA

Yunus Kaymaz

09 June 2026

- US denies visas to 13 members of Iran’s national team delegation and detains Iraqi footballer Aymen Hussein for 7 hours at Chicago airport

- US also turns away Somali referee Omar Artan, invited by FIFA, and subjects Senegalese and Uzbek delegations to strict security screenings

Just days before the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, several countries have found themselves in the spotlight not for their preparations on the pitch, but for visa disputes, lengthy interrogations, and heightened security procedures.

The treatment of national team delegations from Iran, Iraq, Senegal, and Uzbekistan – all of which qualified for the tournament – as well as the US decision to deny entry to a Somali referee appointed by FIFA, has triggered widespread criticism across the sporting world.

FIFA has faced growing scrutiny for remaining silent as the incidents unfolded and for failing to respond to developments many critics say contradict the inclusive spirit of a global sporting event.

But as they say on those late-night infomercials, "But wait! There's more!"

The Council on Foreign Relations writes,

For fans who clear the legal entry barriers to attend U.S. games, another hurdle is cost. Aside from this year’s games having the most expensive tickets of any cup so far, the Iran war caused airline prices to soar, and nonimmigrant visa holders from five participating countries—Algeria, Cape Verde, the Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Tunisia—expected to face a $15,000 bond requirement to attend matches on U.S. soil. In mid-May, the U.S. government waived the requirement for fans from those five countries who had purchased tournament tickets as of mid-April. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could also ramp up screenings for visitors from countries not affected by current travel restrictions. One proposal would require applicants from forty-two countries—including close U.S. partners—to hand over troves of online data, though it remains unfinalized just a week before the tournament’s opening. U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed in May that the new rule likely would not be finalized until later this year, but the agency planned to conduct more targeted social media screenings of select travelers. 

High costs, intense application processes, and bans aside, Alden suggested another barrier could be psychological: “Are people going to be scared to enter the United States?” 

Ad Week reported that "Visa costs and travel warnings are keeping overseas fans home, raising questions about the cachet brands like Adidas and McDonald's pay billions for"

Donald "The Art of the Deal" Trump's touch turns gold into lead. It looks like his track record is catching up with him.

Good News!

The judges once again slapped Trump's nose saying... "NO! Bad Trump!"

Trump’s anti-trans prison policy halted by court

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from transferring 14 transgender women in federal custody to men’s prisons, ruling that the women are likely to succeed in their legal challenge against the policy.

Pink News

by Siân Thompson

June 10, 2026

The Sunday (7 June) decision prevents the Federal Bureau of Prisons from enforcing part of President Donald Trump’s 2025 executive order requiring incarcerated people to be housed according to their sex assigned at birth.

In a sharply worded ruling, US District Judge Royce C. Lamberth found that each of the 14 plaintiffs had demonstrated a substantial risk of serious harm if transferred to men’s facilities.

The court cited evidence that the women, many of whom have undergone gender-affirming medical treatment and have histories of sexual assault, self-harm, or other vulnerabilities, could face heightened risks of violence, sexual assault, and psychological trauma if moved.

The judge lambasted the policies, saying that,

Lamberth also criticised the administration’s position that any resulting harm could simply be treated after the fact: “It is fundamentally unreasonable for prison officials to respond to serious risks such as mental health deterioration, self-harm, and suicide by intentionally creating those risks and offering to treat them after they predictably occur,” he wrote.

But, as usual, Trump's cronies don't care about us; they only care about the points they score with their MAGA base.

There Is No Such Thing As Discrimination!

That is what Trump & Company think. If you look at Trump's track record with discrimination, ten years ago Mother Jones wrote:

Here’s Another Time a Trump Company Was Sued for Discriminating Against Black People

After signing a consent order with the feds, Trump’s family real estate firm was again accused of racial bias.

David Corn

October 25, 2016

At the first presidential debate, Hillary Clinton brought up a notable and much-covered chapter in Donald Trump’s business career: when the Justice Department in 1973 sued the Trump family real estate business founded by his father Fred for discriminating against African Americans seeking to rent apartments in its buildings in New York City and Norfolk, Virginia. Donald Trump, who was president of the firm at the time of the lawsuit, tried to downplay the matter, noting, “We along with many, many other companies throughout the country, it was a federal lawsuit, were sued. We settled the suit with zero—with no admission of guilt. It was very easy to do.” Trump didn’t acknowledge that federal investigators had gathered compelling evidence of bias (Trump employees had coded applications from minorities with a “C” for colored) and that his company had fiercely battled the suit for two years before signing a consent decree—hailed by equal housing advocates—that would guarantee the desegregation of Trump properties. In 1978, though, the Justice Department accused the Trumps of violating the agreement and charged they were still discriminating against African Americans, but that case fizzled out by 1982.

The result: In 1975, Donald Trump and his father signed a consent decree to settle the case. They didn't admit to any wrongdoing, but it required them to implement extensive changes.

Back in the sixties, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed with bipartisan support, but since then, support for the act has diminished to the point where they are now actively attacking the law and turning the definition of discrimination on its head! It was during the Goldwater campaign that we started to hear that it represents an unconstitutional overreach of federal power directed at private businesses, and Trump has run with that. Under Trump, even saying you don't discriminate can get you into hot water.

DOJ finds EEOC guidelines on workplace discrimination unconstitutional

The Hill

by Rebecca Beitsch

June 9, 2026

The Justice Department on Tuesday found the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) hiring guidelines unconstitutional, finding they pressure employers to take race into consideration.

The opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is not a court opinion but could nonetheless make it more difficult for employees to bring discrimination claims against their employers.

[...]

In an unusual move, the Justice Department announced the opinion alongside the EEOC. 

“The fundamental problem is that disparate-impact liability tends to incent—and even coerce—employers to make race-based decisions to avoid liability or the threat of liability,” T. Elliot Gaiser, assistant attorney general for OLC, wrote in the opinion.

In this ganged up attack on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 it turns everything on it's head!

Under Trump, the EEOC has launched a number of investigations into major companies and law firms to determine if their hiring practices disadvantaged white people. It also rescinded its harassment guidance, pointing to President Trump’s executive order declaring there to be two sexes.

But it is not just race or LGBTQ+ individuals under attack; it is also other parts of the law that Trump & Company are going after, including a case against the DOJ itself for failing to accommodate the disabled.

Lawsuit claims DOJ is retaliating against employees with disabilities who request telework

Many agencies have instituted policies to more strictly scrutinize telework as a reasonable accommodation for workers with disabilities since the Trump administration’s return-to-office mandate.

Government Executive

June 3, 2026

Anew lawsuit alleges that the Justice Department discriminated and retaliated against two of its employees with disabilities “as part of a systematic, agency-wide practice of refusing to grant requests for telework as a reasonable accommodation.”

Both employees teleworked for years in their roles as supervisory IT program managers in the Criminal Division’s Office of Administration without any adverse impacts to their work, according to the complaint. But President Donald Trump’s January 2025 return-to-office directive for the federal workforce upended that.

It even has spread to the military... The Atlantic writes in the article Being Black in Pete Hegseth’s Military that,

But last year, after Donald Trump signed executive orders gutting DEI programs across the federal government and the military, people in the Pentagon noticed that a painting of James had been taken down from its prominent location in the Air Force Art Gallery. Instead of putting a new painting in the spot where James’s portrait had been, the Pentagon kept the space empty, leaving employees with the impression that, in spite of his many achievements, the new administration viewed the general as a symbol of unearned advancement, unworthy of recognition.

James, who died in 1978, might not have been surprised. “One of the most insulting questions that gets asked to me sometimes is Did they give you your fourth star just because it’s the bicentennial year coming up and they wanted to say we got a Black general? ” he said in a 1975 interview. “They didn’t give me anything. And they don’t give away stars in my service. You got to earn them.”

Racism, sexism, transphobia, and ableism. Under Trump & Company, the message from the top is loud and clear: If it fits Trump & Company’s agenda, discrimination isn't just tolerated—it’s government policy.

And under Trump and Hegseth it is getting worst!

Racism, sexism, transphobia, and ableism. Under Trump & Company, the message from the top is loud and clear: If it fits Trump & Company’s agenda, discrimination isn't just tolerated—it’s government policy.