Why?

Think about this... why did they think that this was ok?

That’s the question; not just that they did it, but why they thought nothing would happen if they did.

Smiling students proudly spell out “hateful” slur during school assembly

Two 8th-grade boys seen holding hands were allegedly objects of ridicule by a group of seniors.

LGBTQ Nation

Greg Owen

February 17, 2026

Ten students at Redwood High School in California’s Central Valley are facing blowback from fellow students and the wider community after they spelled out the word “FA***TS” (without the asterisks) on t-shirts during a school assembly on Friday.

On Monday, Visalia Unified School District officials announced that “disciplinary action” had been taken over the “hateful homophobic slur.”

[...]

“A lot of people at school, including the senior class, are really upset about the ignorant and rash actions of people who were in the photo,” one Redwood High senior told KFSN News.

“They are widely known in school. They’re supposed to be leading by example with the clubs that they run and represent, and people are just really mad because online things can surface really fast,” she said.

Yes… they have First Amendment rights and all that. However, the question remains: why did they do it? Do you think two or three years ago they would have done it? If not, why? Has the political climate changed?

KFSN, ABC 30 reports that,

The Visalia Unified School District issued an updated statement regarding a photo that has sparked a nationwide backlash on social media.

[...]

In a statement this afternoon, Visalia Unified School District Superintendent Kirk Shrum said the district is continuing to investigate and take appropriate action in accordance with district board policy:

"This week, student leaders are being provided opportunities to engage in healthy and productive dialogue with their peers and staff about belonging and respect. As a district, we will convene a roundtable with community leaders who support students in modeling civility and engaging in positive discourse. Together, we will meet this moment with steadfast resolve to restore and strengthen our community. While we may hold differing views, we can all agree that every individual deserves to be treated with dignity and respect."

The message to parents went on to say Redwood High School Administrators are meeting with students to address hate speech, civility and the responsibility that comes with being a member of the Visalia schools community.

But we circle back to "Why" So I asked an AI what it thought about why they did it now... ChatGPT replied:

---

That’s a question a lot of people in the community have been asking about the Visalia Unified School District incident involving students at Redwood High School.

There isn’t a confirmed explanation from the students themselves, but when situations like this happen, there are some common factors people point to:

1️⃣ “It was just a joke” mindset

Teenagers sometimes frame harmful behavior as humor, especially if they’ve seen slurs normalized online or in peer groups. What feels like a “joke” inside a small group can be deeply harmful outside it.

2️⃣ Peer dynamics

Group settings can lower individual judgment. When several people participate together, responsibility can feel diluted (“everyone’s doing it”).

3️⃣ Social media culture

Shock value and attention often get amplified online. Some teens underestimate how fast images spread and how permanent they are.

4️⃣ Lack of understanding of impact

Some students may not fully grasp how slurs affect LGBTQ+ peers — especially if they haven’t had direct conversations about why that language is harmful.

5️⃣ Broader cultural influences

Language that circulates casually in certain online spaces, gaming communities, or social media can desensitize people to how serious it actually is.

It’s also important to say: thinking something is okay in the moment doesn’t mean it actually is okay. Adolescents’ decision-making and impulse control are still developing, and sometimes they only recognize the weight of their actions once there are consequences.

---

ABC 7 wrote;

"A lot of people at school, including the senior class, are really upset about the ignorant and rash actions of people who were in the photo," says an unnamed Redwood High senior.

[...]

A Redwood senior tells our sister station ABC30 Action News that the gym was filled with hundreds of students at the time, and says those in the photo were leaders on campus.

"They are widely known in school. They're supposed to be leading by example with the clubs that they run and represent, and people are just really mad because online things can surface really fast," says the Redwood High senior.

The best response to this is social isolation... otherwise known as shunning. A non-violent to show disapproval.

The district could not specify the punishment for these students, but says they could be facing serious punishment, including suspension and loss of privileges, but it will ultimately be determined by the district's code of conduct.

Of course not. There are federal laws that rightly prevent the release of that information.

It still all boils down to "Why" did they think it was okay to do?

This Is Far More Common

Every November 20^th we remember our dead. Assaults on trans people is increasing just in Connecticut there has been an increase in bias crimes against us.

Man charged after attacking transgender woman at Portland MAX stop, court records say

By Leslie Dominique and FOX 12 Staff

Published: Feb. 11, 2026

A 51-year-old man remains in custody after prosecutors charged him with a bias crime and several other offenses following an attack on a transgender woman at a Portland MAX station.

The incident occurred the night of Feb. 8 at the PSU Urban Center MAX stop, a routine transit hub for students at Southwest 6th Avenue and Southwest Montgomery Street.

Portland State University confirmed the victim is not affiliated with the university. Court documents say the victim, who identifies as a transgender woman, was waiting for a train when 51-year-old William Thomas Ashley allegedly approached her aggressively.

The victim told officers Ashley repeatedly called her “a man,” then ripped an umbrella from her hands and hit her with it several times. She said he grabbed her by the hair, dragged her to the ground and punched her.

---

Then in New York City, a trans woman was targeted in another attack:

Man attacked on NYC subway for kissing trans woman partner

Police are still searching for the suspect who slashed the man's face.

The Advocate

By Trudy Ring

Jan 21, 2026

New York City police are searching for the person who attacked a man on a subway train the evening of January 10 when the man was kissing his transgender female partner. The attacker shouted homophobic slurs and then slashed the right side of the man’s face with a sharp object, Gay City News reports.

The suspect escaped, and the 28-year-old victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment. The trans woman was not injured.

The attack is similar to one that occurred December 20, when a man on a subway train was slashed behind his left ear by another passenger after a verbal argument, Metro Weekly reports.

---

And in Seattle...

Convicted felon facing hate crime trial for attack on transgender woman

by Lynnanne Nguyen, KOMONews

February 4, 2026

A convicted felon, Andre Karlow, is on trial facing hate crime and assault charges for allegedly attacking a transgender woman in the U District last year.

Court records reveal this is not the first time Karlow has been accused of attacking a member of the transgender community.

According to court records, Karlow has a criminal history dating back more than 20 years, including more than 30 arrests.

He was convicted last fall for an unprovoked attack in 2024 on another transgender woman working as a Sound Transit fare ambassador. Karlow is scheduled for sentencing in March in that case.

There have been 26 mass shootings in one month in the U.S. from January 1 through January 31, 2026.

They Just Came For Marriage!

We seen the handwriting on the wall, well now it has come fruition!

Tennessee’s newest anti-LGBTQ bills go against U.S. Supreme Court rulings

WPLN

By Marianna Bacallao

February 11, 2026

Tennessee lawmakers have advanced a host of anti-LGBTQ bills that would run counter to U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

Two measures, both proposed by Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Franklin, would challenge landmark cases that legalized same-sex marriage and established protections for discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, questioned the legality to going against Bostock v. Clayton County, which established that LGBTQ people are protected from discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“We’re talking about federal law that supersedes state law,” Johnson said. “You can’t just ignore the federal law. So, therein is the problem for those of us who believe in our U.S. Constitution.”

And get a load of this take on the bill!

Marriage Equality and the Rise of Private-Citizen Protection Laws

Tennessee Stands

Anne Lowery

February 8, 2026

This past Tuesday, the Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee heard HB1473/SB1746, a bill sponsored by Rep. Gino Bulso (R – District 61) and Sen. Janice Bowling (R – District 16) , which would clarify that “Private citizens and organizations are not bound by the Fourteenth Amendment or by the Supreme Court’s purported interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015), and no private citizen or organization in this state is required to recognize a marriage or a purported marriage between individuals of the same sex, notwithstanding any other law.”

[...]

It’s important that we understand how we got here, as Tennessee has been in this fight for years. The conversation needs to go in two directions, one being the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage from a federal level and two, the moral implications. According to the American College of Pediatricians, the only leading medical organization fighting the transgender ideology in children, “Psychological theory of child development has always recognized the critical role that mothers play in the healthy development of children. More recent research reveals that when fathers are absent, children suffer as well. Girls without fathers perform more poorly in school, are more likely to be sexually active and become pregnant as teenagers. Boys without fathers have higher rates of delinquency, violence, and aggression.” The AACP also reports that, “This research has revealed that children reared in same-sex households are more likely to experience sexual confusion, engage in risky sexual experimentation, and later adopt a same-sex identity.”

Okay, the According to the American College of Pediatricians has about ~700 members and is a socially conservative advocacy group! While the American Academy of Pediatrics has ~67,000 member and supports LGBTQ+ rights and provides evidence-based guidelines for gender-affirming care.

They believe it is their god giving right to discriminate.

YES!

But don't expect it to go anywhere! It was all for "Show Tell"

Congress Top Democrats re-introduce trans bill of rights

Lawmakers spoke outside US Capitol on Wednesday

Washington Blade

February 11, 2026

By Joe Reberkenny

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and U.S. Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) announced the reintroduction of a “Trans Bill of Rights” on Wednesday.

Despite chilling winds and snow on the ground, transgender activists, LGBTQ rights advocates, and trans-supporting lawmakers gathered outside the U.S. Capitol to announce the reintroduction of the “Transgender Bill of Rights” resolution to protect trans Americans, as the Trump-Vance administration continues to target LGBTQ Americans.

About 30 people gathered outside to hear from legislators and individuals impacted by recent White House policies.

“Today we say loud and clear that trans rights are human rights, and they must be protected every single day of every single year,” Markey told the crowd. “We stand together in solidarity with the trans community and with those who have too often been left behind by a system that refuses to recognize their humanity. We are here to ensure that every trans and gender-diverse person in America can live freely and safely and authentically. That’s what the Trans Bill of Rights is all about.”

You know darn well that this is going nowhere with a Republican Congress and a Republican in the Oval Office!

---

However... 

Kansas governor vetoes anti-trans bathroom bill, citing ‘numerous and significant consequences’

By: Morgan Chilson-

February 13, 2026

Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a controversial bill that forces transgender people to use bathrooms that match their biological sex at birth, saying the poorly drafted legislation would have far-reaching consequences.

The Democratic governor now hands House Substitute for Senate Bill 244 back to a Legislature that has enough Republican votes to override her veto and put the bill into law.

The bill requires government entities to police bathrooms and other private spaces in their buildings, and levies fines against the governing body for failing to comply. It also sets up escalating penalties for individuals who use a bathroom that doesn’t match their sex at birth.

In a statement Friday, Kelly cited multiple situations that would be affected by HB 244.

“If your grandfather is in a nursing home in a shared room, as a granddaughter, you would not be able to visit him,” Kelly said. “If your sister is living in a dorm at K-State, as a brother, you would not be able to visit her in her room.”

Kelly said she vetoed the bill because of those “numerous and significant consequences.”

“I believe the Legislature should stay out of the business of telling Kansans how to go to the bathroom and instead stay focused on how to make life more affordable for Kansans,” she said.

Hmm... maybe it is because he never had to stand in a long line to use the women's bathroom, how many women have run into the men's room because they had to go NOW!

And the Republicans did some heavy handed stuff to ram this through;

 A week later, the committee debated the bill with no advance notice. Rep. Bob Lewis, R-Garden City, proposed an amendment to ban transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice and prohibiting anyone from taking a child older than 10 into a bathroom for the opposite sex.

In a “gut and go” move, the committee then placed HB 2426 into SB 244, which was completely unrelated. The move allowed the Senate, following passage by the House, to hold an immediate vote without a committee hearing first.

Numerous Democrats blasted the lack of transparency in the process during a six-hour House debate.

In a statement Friday, House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard said SB 244 was a failure of “process and priorities.”

“The bill was rushed through the Legislature without meaningful public input or debate. Beyond its flawed process, the legislation targets a small and vulnerable group of Kansans while creating sweeping and unintended consequences for communities across our state,” he said in a statement.

You have to ask your self, what were the Republicans afraid of? What were they trying to hide?

Did You Know? I Didn't.

Did you know that we are in the Olympics? Neither did I!

Swedish skier becomes first transgender Winter Olympian

Axios

Ina Fried

Feb 10, 2026

Swedish skier Elis Lundholm became the first openly transgender athlete to compete at the Winter Olympics on Tuesday, after completing the first qualification run in women's moguls.

Why it matters: While the Olympics and many international sporting federations have taken steps that limit participation by transgender athletes, some athletes have been able to compete in the category corresponding to their assigned gender at birth.

• Lundholm, who was assigned female at birth, is allowed to compete in the women's category but identifies as male.
• Lundholm finished in 29th place out of the 30-person field during Tuesday's first qualification run, with only the top 10 automatically reaching the finals. That means Lundholm will need a significantly higher finish on Wednesday to advance to the finals.

Kind of makes you wonder what advantage trans athletes have? 29^th out of 30!

Explainer: Can transgender athletes compete at the Milano Cortina Winter Games?

Reuter

By Karolos Grohmann

February 2, 2026

 The 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics opens on Friday, bringing the world's top athletes together in the biggest winter sports show on earth. The Games will be the last one to be held with the existing and fragmented regulations regarding the eligibility of transgender athletes in women's categories.

The International Olympic Committee is expected to shortly issue new and universal guidelines, which it says are designed to protect women's sport.

[...]

HAVE TRANSGENDER ATHLETES TAKEN PART IN PAST OLYMPICS?

Yes, a small number of openly transgender athletes have taken part in past editions of the Olympic Games. New Zealand's Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender athlete to compete in a different gender category to that assigned at birth when the weightlifter took part in the women's weightlifting competition at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

We continue to struggle for our rights!

Breaking News! Very Sad Another School Shooting

This time with a link to the trans community. Reports are still coming in but the early media reports are not good.

Rhode Island ice rink shooting suspect's gender identity was source of past family conflict: docs

Robert Dorgan is accused of opening fire during youth hockey game in what police called a 'family dispute'

Michael Dorgan By Michael Dorgan Fox News

Published February 17, 2026

A suspect accused of shooting and killing two people at a Rhode Island ice rink on Monday before killing himself was identified as transgender and had a history of past family conflict over his gender identity, a local news outlet reported, citing court documents.

Court records show Robert Dorgan had been involved in multiple disputes with relatives in recent years, including allegations that tensions escalated after he underwent gender reassignment surgery, according to WPRI.

Boston.com writes,

“It looked like it was a family dispute, and there was one individual that was a family friend. But as for identifying the victims, at this time, it’s too early in the investigation to identify people, because obviously we want to make sure that their families are well aware of what’s going on before we put it out to the public again,” Gonclaves said.

And then... and then...

Canadian school shooting sparks anti-trans uproar after shooter identified

Authorities have identified the shooter that killed eight people as an 18-year-old local resident.

The Advocate

Ryan Adamczeski

Feb 12, 2026

Canadian authorities have identified the shooter who killed eight people — mostly children — at a school in British Columbia on Tuesday.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have named Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-ohatld resident of Tumbler Ridge, as a suspect, believing she died by suicide after fatally shooting her 39-year-old mother, 11-year-old stepbrother, a 39-year-old teacher, three 12-year-old girls, and two boys ages 12 and 13.

Police had responded to multiple wellness checks that involved weapons at Rootselaar's home over the past several years, Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said at a press conference Wednesday, including one incident two years ago where they confiscated firearms from her. She was detained on more than one occasion for assessment and follow-up under the nation's Mental Health Act, and did not have any firearms registered to her at the time of the shooting.

Rootselaar was assigned male at birth but had began transitioning six years ago, according to McDonald. RCMP is not identifying her as transgender, as officials identify suspects as "they chose to be identified in public and in social media," and Rootselaar identified as female "both socially and publicly."

The Big Lie... SAVE Act!

Trump & Company is touting their latest attempt at voter suppression, they know it works because a state passed a similar bill!

Trump floats executive order on voter ID if SAVE Act stalls in Senate

The Hill

by Ryan Mancini - 02/13/26

President Trump on Friday indicated he will issue an executive order seeking to require voters to present proof of citizenship if the Senate does not pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which passed in the House this week.

“There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!” Trump wrote on Truth Social around 4:30 p.m. EST. “Also, the People of our Country are insisting on Citizenship, and No Mail-In Ballots, with exceptions for Military, Disability, Illness, or Travel.”

[...]

“This is an issue that must be fought, and must be fought, NOW!” Trump wrote in a lengthy post on Truth Social. “If we can’t get it through Congress, there are Legal reasons why this SCAM is not permitted. I will be presenting them shortly, in the form of an Executive Order.”

He accused Democrats of being “horrible, disingenuous CHEATERS” who have “all sorts of reasons why it shouldn’t be passed, and then boldly laugh in the backrooms after their ridiculous presentations.”

You all have probably have heard of the Heritage Foundation, you know, the ones who did Project 2025. Well here is what they found.

 “Heritage has just added seven more fraud cases from Alabama, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas, to the database.    “With the addition of these seven cases, the database now holds 1,567 proven instances of election fraud, and we are tracking almost 300 additional potential cases that are in the investigative or prosecutorial stage by law enforcement.”

Wow! 1,567 cases! But out out how many? A 100 million?

• AP News reported Wisconsin found 46 cases of suspected fraud!
• AP News also reported: "A review of Iowa’s voter rolls last year found a fraction of that number — 35 people who are not U.S. citizens — were among more than 1.6 million Iowa voters who cast ballot in the 2024 election, and there were 277 noncitizens registered to vote out of nearly 2.3 million."
• The Austin-American Statesman wrote: Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced this week that a new review of Texas' voter registration rolls matched against a federal citizenship database identified that more than 2,700 possible non-citizens among the 18.6 million people eligible to vote.

Voter fraud is Trump's big lie!

But many Republicans are pushing it in the Big Lie, WABI writes about Susan Collins of Maine, 

Senator Susan Collins recently announced her support for the Save America Act. If passed, the bill would create stricter voter ID law requiring individuals to provide documented proof of citizenship when registering to vote and to show a photo ID before voting.

The bill passed the house last Wednesday and now makes its way to the senate.

When asked about her support for the legislation, Collins says passing the bill would ensure confidence in election results. Critics argue it would disenfranchise millions of voters.

---

Did you know that Kansas passed their version of the SAVE America Act... and it had the desired affect, disenfranchising tens of thousands of voters, denying their right voters to vote.

‘We’ve been proactive to make sure we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country.’

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem

Hun? What? What does she mean by "the right people voting"? Yup, that is what SAVE America Act does. blocking "the wrong people" from voting! The ACLU wrote back in 2018 what the Kansas law did to voters!

The federal trial over a Kansas law requiring people to show citizenship documents like a birth certificate or passport when registering to vote begins on March 6 in Kansas City. The American Civil Liberties Union will represent the League of Women Voters and several individuals whose voting rights were violated. Kris Kobach — the secretary of state of Kansas, chief architect of the law, and the defendant in the lawsuit — will represent himself.

From 2013 to 2016, more than 35,000 Kansans were blocked from registering because of Kobach’s documentary proof-of-citizenship law — approximately 14 percent of new registrants. Many Kansans, including several of our clients, went to the polls on Election Day in 2014 with every reason to believe that they were registered, only to be told, “Sorry, you haven’t proven that you’re a U.S. citizen.”

We filed suit in 2016, charging that Kobach’s law undermines the fundamental right to vote and violates the National Voter Registration Act. In a preliminary ruling for the 10th Circuit, Judge Jerome Holmes, who was appointed by George W. Bush, found that the law had caused the “mass denial of a fundamental constitutional right.”

What does she mean by "the right people"? In 2020 the ACLU showed us the answer in 2018. In Kansas, over 35,000 citizens (14% of new registrants) were blocked from voting because they didn't have a birth certificate or passport handy at the DMV.

Judge Jerome Holmes, a George W. Bush appointee, called it a “mass denial of a fundamental constitutional right.” Even though the Supreme Court effectively killed the Kansas law in 2020, the Trump administration is using that exact same failed logic for this federal bill.

The Republican Strategy for 2026

Gerrymandering, the SAVE Act, and threats of using ICE at polling places are all parts of the same machine. It is designed for one thing: a Republican win on November 3, 2026. Their motto seems to be: "If you can't win honestly... cheat!."

This Crosses The Line

It’s called extortion. Why is the Trump administration creating files on members of Congress and secretly investigating them?

Members of Congress demand DOJ stop tracking lawmakers' Epstein files searches

Attorney General Pam Bondi took a document referring to Rep. Pramila Jayapal's search history to a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday.

NBC News

By Megan Lebowitz, Kyle Stewart and Daisy Conant

Feb 12, 2026

Members of Congress sharply criticized the Justice Department over allegations that it was tracking what lawmakers were searching for as they viewed unredacted versions of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

A Reuters photo showed Bondi at a congressional hearing Wednesday holding a document labeled “Jayapal Pramila Search History.” The document listed Epstein files that the Democratic representative from Washington confirmed she searched.

The DOJ began allowing lawmakers this week to view unredacted Epstein files. The review process could take place in person at the Justice Department on DOJ computers. In a letter from the Justice Department to lawmakers obtained by NBC News, it said that it “will keep a log of the dates and times of all members’ reviews.”

The backlash from lawmakers adds to growing outrage over the department's handling of its Epstein records. At Wednesday's oversight hearing with the House Judiciary Committee, Bondi faced criticism from Democratic lawmakers and two Republicans who accused the department of mishandling survivors' information, improperly redacting files that named prominent individuals, among other concerns.

The Constitution establishes three equal branches of government as a system of checks and balances. When one branch is secretly investigating another, that shattered those checks and balances.

"Bondi showed up today with a burn book that held a printed search history of exactly what emails I searched," Jayapal continued, referring to a stack of documents that Bondi read off of during the hearing. "That is outrageous and I intend to pursue this and stop this spying on members."

Jayapal told NBC News that she spoke to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and confirmed "that that was my search history that she had it in the binder, that there’s a photograph of it that it matched what I searched, and that it was unacceptable."

All the warning signs of a dictatorship are there...

• Attacking the press,
• Attacking higher education,
• Attacking voting rights and limiting who can vote,
• Using legal attacks on political opponents,
• Using unaccountable paramilitary police,
• Replacing nonpartisan career officials with loyalists,
• Using government transport for private trips.

"Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!"