Pride Month Begins

Trump hates Pride month. Trump hates trans people. Trump hates gays. But I don't know if he hates lesbians... he probably wants to jump any woman and thinks that he can "cure" them.

But his hatred is having a profound effect on Pride. Companies are afraid of getting on the wrong side of Trump.

Pride celebrations struggle as corporate sponsorships dry up

May 30, 2026

Weekend Edition Saturday

By Hannah Frances Johansson

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.

The squeeze is on; companies are nervous to bring down the wrath of "The Don." When big money walks away, working-class solidarity and community roots can step in to fill the gap.

It was beginning to be felt last June, as Non-Profit Quarterly wrote back then,

Citi, Lowe’s, Mastercard, PepsiCo, Target, and Walmart.

These are but a handful of the major corporate sponsors who have backed out of supporting Pride celebrations across the country this year.

In a climate increasingly hostile to LGBTQ+ people, many corporations renounced their commitments to Pride festivals and events parallel to dissolving their DEI initiatives. According to The Advocate, even before President Trump renounced DEI through executive order, “dozens of major companies had already abandoned their practices. Many made their decisions after conservatives online specifically targeted them for their policies and threatened boycotts.”

And now companies are quaking in their boots and bowing to the Golden Idol.

NPR goes on to write:

"It takes a lot of money to do this," said Dena Stanley, director of Pittsburgh Pride. "Permittings costs, security costs, headliners costs, staging costs, cleaning crew costs, insurance costs, all of these are expenses."

Over on the other side of pond, British organizers have coupled with unions,

Bigger and better than ever’: how Durham Pride beat Reform’s funding axe with help from the miners

Solidarity between LGBTQ+ people and unions has saved an event denied ‘a single penny’ of council money

Guardian

Hannah Al-Othman

Sat 30 May 2026

As the annual Pride parade weaved its way through Durham, the rainbow flags, trans rights placards and sequined cowboy hats filled the medieval city’s cobbled streets with a huge splash of colour.

But this year, the rainbow flags were almost matched in number by trade union banners, as miners, postal workers, and train drivers swelled the parade’s ranks in solidarity, making it the biggest in Durham Pride’s history.

When Reform UK won control of Durham county council last year, one of the party’s first moves in power was to take down the rainbow flag that flew over its headquarters. Soon after, it announced it was axing funding for the city’s Pride event.

“Durham Pride won’t be getting a single penny from this council next year,” the deputy leader, Darren Grimes, said last summer. “Taxpayers shouldn’t be bankrolling it.”

Conservatives are the same world wide... picking on minorities as scapegoats.

Maybe we should get back to our roots since Trump is trying to take us back there?

The Rainbow Was Just a Rental: Why “Corporate Allyship” is Failing Us in 2026

Gay Tucson

By Tony Ray Baker

January 29, 2026

For years, we’ve seen it every June, all over the news: a downtown skyline glowing in neon pink and purple, the bank logos suddenly sporting six-stripe flourishes, and the aisles of retailers overflowing with “Love is Love” t-shirts. We’ve come to know this phenomenon as “Rainbow Washing” (or Rainbow Capitalism)—the practice where companies adopt LGBTQ+ branding for profit during Pride Month while fundamentally lacking a deep, long-term commitment to the community.

But as we navigate the landscape of 2026, the masks have finally slipped. It turns out that for many of these “allies,” our community wasn’t a cause to support—we were just a demographic to rent.

[...]

Returning to Our Roots

The era of “Rainbow Washing” is ending because the corporate world has realized that standing with us requires actual courage—a commodity many of them lack. This betrayal is leading many Pride organizations to pivot back to their “protest roots,” seeking community-led funding rather than relying on unreliable corporate partners.

Here in Tucson and beyond, it’s time to ask: If your support is only available when it’s profitable, why should we give you our business at all?

Ask yourself these questions:

• Why did the Stonewall Uprising happen?
• What has Pride turned into?
• Have hate crimes against our community increased?
• Are hate crimes on the rise?
•  Have we gone back to the 1950s?

Reported hate crimes have more than doubled in a decade, with anti-Black, anti-Jewish, and anti-LGBTQ+ crimes being the most prevalent.

USAFacts

Nationwide, the number of reported hate crimes have increased by about 100% since 2015, rising from 5,843 to 11,679.

[...]

Sexual orientation and gender identity

Together, sexual orientation and gender identity biased crimes accounted for 23% of total hate crimes in 2024. The primary biases were anti-gay male (49%), anti-transgender (17%), and anti-LBGTQ+ as a whole (34%).  

Anti-LBGTQ+ biases, as a whole, account for all but 1% of sexual orientation- and gender-identity-motivated hate crimes, and they’ve risen by 110% since 2015.  

The FBI first collected data on gender-identity motivated hate crimes in 2012. Anti-transgender crimes accounted for 378 of 521 reported gender identity hate crimes in 2024, up 55% since 2020. (Due to the newness of the category to FBI tracking, we're highlighting the 5-year change rather than a decade.)

 Are We Returning to the Era of the Lavender Scare?

When we ask if we have gone back to the 1950s—to the mid-century McCarthy era—we should remember that the United States government weaponized the state against our community in what became known as the "Lavender Scare." Today, we are watching history repeat itself with a modern twist.

The Trump administration's aggressive dismantling of protections for the LGBTQ+ community and attacks on laws and policies enacted since Stonewall are stripping away the very rights and safeguards we have spent decades fighting to secure. Just as we saw back then, with companies caving to government pressure and firing LGBTQ+ employees, we are now seeing corporations ditch their support for Pride the second things get tough.

 

With June we usually see a increase in acts of vandalism. Many time people do not want to report them to the police because they are afraid of their name coming out in the news. So Connecticut has set up tip line... 

Report a bias or hate incident

Have you experienced or witnessed a bias or hate incident in Connecticut? Tell us what happened.

If you have experienced or witnessed a bias or hate incident in Connecticut, you can report that information here. The State of Connecticut will use this information to determine when and where hate incidents occur, improve resource allocation, and develop community anti-bias programs.

Information may be shared with law enforcement. To ensure this incident is investigated by the police, please contact law enforcement directly.

This information will be kept private and confidential by the state agencies that receive it. However, it is not exempt from Freedom of Information requests. While state agencies will seek to protect your information from an FOI request, this cannot be guaranteed.

Important: If you fear for your safety or the safety of others, please call 911 immediately.

Another Drop-Out From Freedom 250

There has been another cancelation for the Freedom 250... Trump.

Trump says ‘cancel’ concert for America’s 250th birthday

The Hill

by Ryan Mancini

May 31, 2026

President Trump on Saturday called for the cancellation of the concert celebrating America’s 250th birthday after multiple artists withdrew from performing at the upcoming Great American State Fair on the National Mall. 

Trump wrote on Truth Social that there should be “a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain.”

“Cancel it, just like I canceled my involvement with the failing and unsafe to be in Kennedy Center, because a Highly Conflicted, Crooked Federal Judge, said that I should not be allowed to spend my time and money in order to MAKE THE CENTER GREAT AGAIN, actually, far greater than it ever was before!” the president added.

Warning! Warning! You just got on Donald "Vengeance Is Mine" Trump sh*t list! The Donald never forgets!

Trump lambasted the artists who pulled out of performing as “Third Rate ‘Artists,'” and said he will deliver a “major speech” instead. He added that he directed his representatives “to look at the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally on Wednesday, Washington, D.C., same time, same location.”

So once again, if things do not go Trump's way, he takes back his marbles.

NPR News says Trump Will hold a rally instead!

President Trump has suggested that an event celebrating America's 250 birthday should instead be a Make America Great Again rally after many of the artists who were announced to perform dropped out.

The Great American State Fair, which is set to begin on June 25 on the National Mall, had featured artists such as Martina McBride, Morris Day and the Time, The Commodores and Poison's Bret Michaels — who have all since withdrawn from the lineup.

"I know who really loves me... my MAGA loyal base. Yeah, they will come to my party!"

"In my mind I thought this was a great way to celebrate the states and also bring people together in the way that only music can. I saw it as just a bigger version of so many state fairs I have performed at over the years, celebrating community and what makes each state special," McBride wrote in the post on Thursday night. "Yesterday things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening."

[...]

"We should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain," Trump wrote.

"Say goodnight, Gracie." the party's over.

The Republican New Cheating Scheme

Hey do you pay bills by mail? In Trump's attack on mail-in-voting will be causing massive problems for those who pay bills by mail.

Postal Service moving forward with Trump’s attack on mail voting

Democracy Docket

By Jacob Knutson, Jim Saksa

May 29, 2026

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) said in a yet-to-be-published proposed rule Friday that it’s drawing up plans to radically crack down on mail voting by sending ballots only to voters who are registered with the federal government.

The proposed rule, which will be formally published next week, is an alarming step toward implementing President Donald Trump’s sweeping attack on mail voting ahead of the 2026 midterm election. And it would represent a massive expansion of federal control over voting, without congressional authorization.

Trump signed a sweeping executive order in March that, in part, ordered the Postal Service to only send mail ballots to voters on lists created and controlled by the federal government. 

The order is currently the subject of multiple lawsuits. USPS’s proposed rule came a day after a federal judge overseeing one of the lawsuits declined to block the order. The judge concluded the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the order since federal agencies had not yet taken steps to implement it.

[...]

USPS is moving forward with the order even though legal experts and voting rights organizations have warned that it is a blatantly unconstitutional attempt to restrict the right to vote and usurp states’ authority over elections.

This is on top of this...

How USPS Postmark Change Could Affect Mail Deadlines

Dates on mail now reflect when it’s processed by the Postal Service, not when it’s dropped off

AARP

By Aaron Kassraie  

Published December 31, 2025

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) implemented new procedures for dating mail on Dec. 24, postmarking letters and packages with the date they are processed at a postal facility rather than when they are dropped off in a mailbox — a shift that could affect whether time-sensitive mail is considered on time. 

The USPS says the change is aimed at meeting strategic goals to cut costs and streamline mail processing by concentrating it in a smaller number of facilities. But it could create real challenges for consumers dealing with deadline-driven mail matters this tax season and beyond, from IRS filings and Medicare documents to mail-in ballots and government benefit notices.

Date differences between when a piece of mail is dropped off by the sender and when it is processed and postmarked are likely to “become more common” as the changes roll out, according to USPS.

That means a tax return dropped in a big blue mailbox on April 15 or a vote-by-mail ballot sent on Election Day could still be marked late — risking IRS penalties or a rejected vote — because USPS now postmarks when mail is processed rather than when it is sent.

Why are they doing this?

The answer lies in this "crack down on mail voting by sending ballots only to voters who are registered with the federal government." It is the same old lie about voter fraud. Now here is a 1984's Big Brother twist... the Republicans are the voter fraud is hidden (Hence: the reason why nobody found any rampant fraud.)

The Constitution gives the states the right to determine their voting policies, this is a classic case of Trump's  "Delay is a victory."

Chowdah

I am old enough to know how clam chowder has changed just in the time that I’ve been alive. In the last decade alone, it seems like there has been a race to see who can make the thickest chowdah!

Set your Way-Back Machine to the year of the Revolution… 1776! What was in their bowls back then looked more like Manhattan Clam Chowder. Brace yourself: the recipe consisted of clams, salt pork, onions, potatoes, and tomatoes in a clear broth.

Jumping forward to the 1830s and the recipe has morphed to…

CHOWDER RECIPE (1830)

The Frugal Housewife (1830)

Lydia Maria Child

TO MAKE A CHOWDER

Four pounds of fish are enough to make a chowder, for four or five people,—half dozen slices of salt pork in the bottom of the pot,—hang it high, so that the pork may not burn,—take it out when done very brown,—put in a layer of fish, cut in lengthwise slices,—then a layer formed of crackers, small or sliced onions, and potatoes sliced as thin as a four-pence, mixed with pieces of pork you have fried; then a layer of fish again, and so on. Six crackers are enough. Strew a little salt and pepper over each layer; over the whole pour a bowl full of flour and water, enough to come up even with the surface of what you have in the pot. A sliced lemon adds to the flavor. A cup of Tomato catsup is very excellent. Some people put in a cup of beer. A few clams are a pleasant addition. It should be covered so as not to let a particle of steam escape, if possible. Do not open it, except when nearly done, to taste if it be well seasoned.

OMG! There’s the tomatoes again!

In the 1920s, a lightning bolt split the chowder world apart. Those who worshipped New England called it Boston Clam Chowder, while those who still swore their allegiance to the tomato called it Rhode Island Red Chowder

Things got so heated that by 1939, a Maine politician actually tried to make putting tomatoes in chowder illegal! According to the New England Historical Society, the proposed law would have sentenced anti-creamy offenders to the impossible task of digging a barrel of clams at high tide.

It wasn't until the middle of the century that we saw chowder change from something resembling a clam stew into a true chowder.

Now, in the new century, we see chowdah get heavily thickened. It seems like a spoon needs to stand straight up in the bowl for it to even be called clam chowder anymore!

I prefer mine with milk or cream and no thickeners. One of the reasons I don’t like it thick is because the added starch spikes my blood sugar! When I'm on the Cape, I love going to Mac’s On The Pier—their chowdah is the perfect, traditional thin style.

Chalk Up Another One For Trump

60 Minutes first went on the air on September 24, 1968 and you can thank Trump for killing the show... 

Opinion | Major shakeup at “60 Minutes” raises questions about its future

Two program hosts were fired and its new executive producer has no background in traditional network news

Poynter

By: Tom Jones

May 29, 2026

Put this moment in your memory bank.

Years from now, we may look back and see what happened Thursday as among the most pivotal days — maybe for the better, although many are predicting for the worse — in the history of the best American TV journalism show that’s ever been.

On Thursday, CBS News and controversial editor-in-chief Bari Weiss shook up TV news gold standard, “60 Minutes.” This isn’t a minor tweak or slight change in philosophy. This is a major overhaul.

Weiss fired executive producer Tanya Simon, who had been with the program for nearly three decades and is part of CBS News royalty, (Her late father, Bob Simon, was a legendary CBS newsman).

Ever since CBS bowed down and kiss Trumps feet their ratings have dropped.

Wa! Wa!

Trump is taking all his marbles and going home!

Judge says Kennedy Center board broke law putting Trump’s name on building, blocks closure

AP News

By  MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and STEVEN SLOAN

May 29, 2026

A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump’s name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center and blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations — the latest legal setback for Trump’s efforts to leave his personal mark on the landscape of the nation’s capital.

Trump said in response that he’s backing away from his proposed renovation and returning control of the arts institution to Congress.

“Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND,’” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He is having a five-year-old's temper tantrum. The $257 million renovation project was less about structural preservation and more about personal branding. Trump is like a little child living Never, Never Land in his own little fantasy world.

He is obsessed with branding everything with his name. If you have ever taken a dog for a walk, you know they have to brand everything with their scent: "This is my territory, keep your hands off!"

Cooper also concluded that the board “overstepped its statutory bounds” by unilaterally adding Trump’s name to the center. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it, he said.

Wa!

Trump can't get his way, so he throws a petulant tantrum, takes his marbles, and walks away.

Only The Best, Only The Fittest

That caught my attention. The Secretary of Defense said that, and my first thought was, "Huh? What does he mean?"

Troops Must Be Fit and Tall to Attend Trump’s UFC Fight

“No fat troops” at the president’s birthday.

Mother Jones

Inae Oh

May 30, 2026

In preparation for President Donald Trump’s UFC fight on the White House South Lawn next month, Pentagon officials are hoping to lure hundreds of troops to attend the event. The catch? Troops need to meet strict physical requirements, including weight and height standards, in order to be eligible.

That’s according to internal memos seen by the Washington Post, including one demanding that troops “MUST MEET CURRENT WAIST-HEIGHT RATIO” and wear short-sleeved uniforms. Another memo revealed that the Pentagon is soliciting only junior-level officers. In other words: No heavyweights. You better be jacked. And no old people.

The report comes as construction for the cage fight begins to take shape, with the beginnings of a beastly octagon-shaped arena popping up on the South Lawn this week. The effort to attract a very specific kind of soldier is something of a theme for the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has effectively gone to war with “fat troops” and what he has deemed as “unacceptable” physical appearances in the military.

“Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops,” Hegseth said in October. “Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon.”

I would like to remind you all that this comes from history. We have seen this obsession with the hyper-masculine "perfect warrior" before.

A central part of Nazi ideology during World War II was the promotion of a highly idealized form of masculinity: physically strong, disciplined, militaristic, emotionally stoic, and devoted to the state.

Sound familiar?

Miltarty.com reported that,

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host and National Guardsman, has attempted to reframe the role of the Pentagon's top civilian leader during his first months on the job, casting himself as a relatable everyman -- "one of the guys."

Instead of the standard suit and tie, he regularly appears in khaki hiking pants, rolled-up sleeves that reveal tattooed forearms and occasionally a trucker hat emblazoned with an American flag. He often posts videos and photos of himself working out with troops.

But that carefully curated image -- so different from past defense secretaries -- may not be totally landing with the rank and file. Interviews with service members and a review of hundreds of social media posts on message boards suggest the image the Pentagon chief is trying to project is seen by some as overly manufactured and desperate for affirmation.

I think Hegseth has visions of himself as Crusader on a white horse leading the charge carrying the banner of the Crusades.

His visions match those of Germany 90 years ago.

 

Theme	Pete Hegseth's "Warrior Ethos"	Nazi "Hyper-Male" Ideal
Social Status	A separate "breed" of human untethered to the norms of polite society.	An elite racial/military aristocracy (SS) operating above regular law.
The Body's Role	Must be physically imposing, fit, uniform, and stripped of personal expression (no "shabby" troops).	Must project "Aryan" physical perfection, symmetry, and absolute uniformity.
View on Diversity	Rejects DEI and gender inclusivity as "woke weakness" that dilutes combat lethality.	Rejects diversity as "degeneration" and a contaminant to the collective state.
Rules of War	Rejects international constraints and rules of engagement in favor of maximum violence.	Utterly rejected international law, viewing violence as a positive good for state survival.

Oh, and by the way... just like the Secretary of Defense, Nazi Germany also hated gay people.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Mystical Magical (2025)
On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…
 

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This week's song is about a new love affair, and Benson Boone bounces between frustration and optimism when he thinks about it. Does anything inspire your mixed emotions these days?
Surviving.

2) The lyrics mention "moonbeam ice cream," which is something Benson just made up. Last summer, when this week's song became popular, ice cream shops were inspired to create flavors with that name. What's your favorite ice cream flavor, and will you take that in a cup or cone?
How can you limit yourself to one flavor when there are so many great flavors; rum raisin, butter pecan, cookies and cream, but you asked for my favorite… Husky Tracks! Every time I had to go on UConn's campus I always stopped by and got some. UConn is an agricultural college and they have their own dairy herd; you can't get ice cream fresher than that!
Husky Tracks
Vanilla ice cream with fudge swirl and peanut butter cups

3) He sings that "once you know" about a love like this, "you know." Tell us about something you had to experience to fully understand.
Boy, that's a hard question because it is something I haven't really thought about it. you know when you are retired one day just blurs into another.

4) He composed this song at the piano. Do you play piano?
Nope… I can’t keep a beat. I have Auditory Dyslexia where I miss a beat or double beat.
Gemini: “There is actually a fascinating and deeply researched connection between dyslexia and the inability to keep a steady beat.

For a long time, people thought dyslexia was purely a visual issue—seeing letters floating around or backwards. However, modern neuroscience has revealed that dyslexia is fundamentally a timing and rhythm processing issue in the brain.”

5) He first sang in public at a high school talent show, which he only entered on a dare. Can you recall any dares from your junior high or high school days?
Um… I don’t think that the statue of limitation has expired yet. So I take the Fifth! But most of us survived.

6) Benson was a good high school athlete and competed in diving at the state level. Can you execute a dive off the diving board?
Well first you have to be willing to jump into the water… I like to get my toes wet first.

7) When he was 18, Boone auditioned for American Idol. What were you up to when you were 18?
Well, I had just graduating and the drinking age was 18… so it is pretty easy to figure out. Party-time!

8) Benson has a dog named Max. He's not alone in this. "Max" is one of the most popular pet names in the US today. Have you ever known anyone (furry or otherwise) named Max?
Nope.

9) Random question: If we knocked on your door on one of your lazy, stay-at-home days, what would we likely find you wearing?
You mean like every day? When you are retired everyday is a lazy, stay-at-home day… PJs

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!