Born This Way

[Editorial]

This morning I wrote about the legal battle that is just over the horizon, and now I want to write about another one that we, as the trans community, will inevitably face.

Many conservatives believe that being trans or LGBTQ+ is a choice. Science, however, shows that it is not a choice—it is an inherent trait, shaped by biology and development.

The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that no one may be discriminated against, and courts have consistently ruled that it protects people based on race, gender, and other protected classes. Unfortunately, for the trans community, those protections are not yet fully recognized at the highest level. Lower courts have begun ruling that we are covered under the 14th Amendment—but the Supreme Court has yet to make a definitive ruling.

One of the key sticking points in these legal battles is whether being LGBTQ+ is a choice or an inherent trait. Until the Supreme Court addresses this question directly, our rights remain vulnerable.

There is a growing research that shows that it is not choice but we were “Born this way!”

Evidence Supporting the Biologic Nature of Gender Identity

Endocrine Practice

Volume 21, Issue 2, February 2015

Aruna Saraswat MD, Jamie D. Weinand BA, BS, & Joshua D. Safer MD

INTRODUCTION

Gender identity is a fundamental human attribute that has a profound impact on personal well-being. Transgender individuals are those whose lived and identified gender identity differs from their natal sex. Various etiologies for transgender identity have been proposed, but misconceptions that gender identity can be altered persist. However, clinical experience with treatment of transgender persons has clearly demonstrated that the best outcomes for these individuals are achieved with their …

[…]

CONCLUSION

Current data suggest a biologic etiology for transgender identity. Studies of DSD patients and neuroanatomical studies provide the strongest evidence for the organic basis of transgender identity. Because the sample sizes of most studies on this subject were small, the conclusions must be interpreted with caution. Further research is required to assign specific biologic mechanisms for gender identity...

There is a growing body of evidence that support us.

*** Note: Just because there might be a biological cause to being trans, it does not mean it is the only way we are trans. It is just one of many ways. ***

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Science Daily:

Gene variants provide insight into brain, body incongruence in transgender

Date:

February 5, 2020

Source:

Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University

Summary:

Some of the first biological evidence of the incongruence transgender individuals experience, because their brain indicates they are one sex and their body another, may have been found in estrogen receptor pathways in the brain of 30 transgender individuals.

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Journal of Clinical Medicine:

Brain Sex in Transgender Women Is Shifted towards Gender Identity

Abstract

Transgender people report discomfort with their birth sex and a strong identification with the opposite sex. The current study was designed to shed further light on the question of whether the brains of transgender people resemble their birth sex or their gender identity. For this purpose, we analyzed a sample of 24 cisgender men, 24 cisgender women, and 24 transgender women before gender-affirming hormone therapy. We employed a recently developed multivariate classifier that yields a continuous probabilistic (rather than a binary) estimate for brains to be male or female. The brains of transgender women ranged between cisgender men and cisgender women (albeit still closer to cisgender men), and the differences to both cisgender men and to cisgender women were significant (p = 0.016 and p < 0.001, respectively). These findings add support to the notion that the underlying brain anatomy in transgender people is shifted away from their biological sex towards their gender identity.

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PubMed

Is there a biological component in gender identity?

Natalia S Fernández 1, Rosa Fernández 2, Marcelino Gómez-Balaguer 3, Mireia Mora 4, Julio Guerrero-Fernández 5, Amadora Moral-Martos 6

Abstract

Introduction: Gender identity is each person's internal sense of being a woman, a man, both, neither, or anywhere along the gender spectrum, which may (cisgender) or may not (transgender) coincide with the sex assigned at birth. The multiple difficulties experienced by transgender individuals constitutes a risk factor for mood disorders and self-harming behaviors. However, knowledge about biological influences on gender identity development has the potential to reduce the stigmatization of gender minorities.

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Okay, what does all this mean? Absolutely nothing! Scientifically, it strongly suggests that gender identity is not a choice—but in legal terms, the only authority that ultimately matters is the nine justices sitting on the bench of the Supreme Court.

If they rule that being trans is an inborn trait, then we may be protected under the 14th Amendment. Notice I said “may be protected”—because, from my experience working with lawyers at CHRO and legal nonprofits, there is never a definite “yes” or “no” but rather “In my opinion.” At the end of the day, the Supreme Court justices could decide to ignore all the medical data and declare, “It’s a choice.”

And "We're screwed!"

A Showdown Is Coming

[Editorial]

I don’t know when or where, but it will be in a Southern state, and it will involve a challenge by a Northern trans woman.

Somewhere, sometime soon, a trans woman is going to be arrested for using the bathroom. That arrest will trigger a court battle that could go all the way to the Supreme Court—potentially resulting in a ruling as significant as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793.

The court battle will be about “states’ rights,” echoing the very issue that caused the Civil War.

The state of Connecticut lists me as “female” on my birth certificate.

States such as Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and others have passed laws restricting bathroom use to individuals whose sex assigned at birth matches the facility’s designation.

And that, my friends, is where the clash is going to happen.

The U.S. Constitution’s Tenth Amendment states that any right not explicitly defined in the Constitution is reserved to the states. Nowhere does it grant the federal government the power to assign sex at birth. Therefore, it must be a state’s right. Again, the state of Connecticut says I am “female” on my birth certificate.

Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution states: “Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State.”

The showdown will occur when a trans woman from Connecticut walks into a women’s bathroom in another state and is arrested. The rest will be legal history. It will make or break the trans community. Will we be able to travel freely across this nation without fear of arrest and imprisonment simply for being ourselves? Can one state control our very existence while directly contradicting another state that legally recognizes our self-identification?

The Fugitive Slave Act was the law that contributed to the start of the Civil War. It required free states to return escaped slaves to their owners. At the time, if a slave reached a “free state,” they were considered free. After the law passed, slave hunters came north to reclaim Black individuals, and the northern states resisted.

Now, we face a similar division. Northern states are saying, under our law, this person is female and this person is male. Southern states are asserting their own definitions of womanhood.

The showdown at High Noon will be: does a state’s right to define its citizens travel with them when they visit other states? And what authority does a birth certificate hold—does it define someone universally, or only within the state that issued it?

[/Editorial]

Those Damn Libs…

[Editorial]

The Republicans blame everything on the Democrats from immigration to the price of electricity!

Here in Connecticut the Republicans blame it on the Public Benefits Charge which adds about $40 to $80 per month to the bill. But the real thing that is hurting Connecticut electric rate is Millstone! You see at the Republicans urging the state entered into an agreement to buy Millstone power at a fixed rate! That adds another $40 to $70 per month to the bill!

Then we have the price of energy, especially to the price of natural gas! The national average residential electricity rate has hit roughly 18.05 cents per kWh, a 5.4% increase over last year!

How are the Republicans going to stop the price of natural gas from going up?

Then we have Trump’s tariffs! Yup, as a result of Trump’s tariffs on Canada some of the Providences imposed a 25% tariff on energy exports!

The future doesn't look much better because of the war on renewables. The Trump’s moves to block offshore wind projects—including projects like Revolution Wind that Connecticut was counting on—will have a massive impact on our future rates. By killing off the very projects meant to provide cheap, local power and reduce our dependence on expensive natural gas, Trump wants us to be locking us into higher prices for years to come.

But the Connecticut Republicans have been hamming away at the Democrats for the price of electricity! When it is really beyond anything one state can do!

In the late ‘90s the buzz word was "Deregulation!" They forced the utilities to sell off their only income producing power plants and now we are at the whim of the suppliers! And as we add more regulations like how long an outage can be is added expenses to the utilities! They have to bring in extra crews at outrageous hourly costs to just sit around just in case of an outage!

So the next time you hear Republicans harping on the cost of electricity as them how? The Public Benefits Charge is only a small fraction of the increases in the price of electricity!

[/Editorial]

Mini-Post: A New Low

As more and more cities and towns ban the Pride flag. The feds are right behind them!

NYC officials plan to reraise pride flag at Manhattan’s Stonewall monument after Trump administration removed it

The Trump administration in January issued guidance drastically limiting the types of flags that could be displayed at NPS-managed sites.

Politico

By Gregory Svirnovskiy

02/10/2026

New York City officials plan to reraise a pride flag at the federal monument at Stonewall in Manhattan, setting up a potential fight with the White House at the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement nearly 60 years ago.

Federal officials quietly took the flag down after the Trump administration in January issued guidance drastically limiting the types of flags that could be displayed at sites managed by the National Park Service. But Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said in an interview Tuesday that he and other New York City-area politicians would reraise the flag at the federal monument Thursday.

“I think it’s important that we speak out and stand up for the community, frankly, just as our forebearers, who exhibited much more courage back in 1969,” he said. “This is not a moment for our community to stand by idly as attempts to undermine our history are put forward by Trump and the federal administration.”

Mark my words... marriage is next on their radar.

Stop The Presses!

Whoa this is big! Trump banned the Democratic governors from the annual governors meeting at the White House.

Annual governors’ gathering with White House unraveling after Trump excludes Democrats

AP News

By  JOEY CAPPELLETTI, STEVE PEOPLES and STEVEN SLOAN

February 10, 2026

An annual meeting of the nation’s governors that has long served as a rare bipartisan gathering is unraveling after President Donald Trump excluded Democratic governors from White House events.

The National Governors Association said it will no longer hold a formal meeting with Trump when governors are scheduled to convene in Washington later this month, after the White House planned to invite only Republican governors. On Tuesday, 18 Democratic governors also announced they would boycott a traditional dinner at the White House.

[...]

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who chairs the NGA, told fellow governors in a letter on Monday that the White House intended to limit invitations to the association’s annual business meeting, scheduled for Feb. 20, to Republican governors only.

“Because NGA’s mission is to represent all 55 governors, the Association is no longer serving as the facilitator for that event, and it is no longer included in our official program,” Stitt wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

Is that going to piss off Trump, just remember that the Trickster" has a long memory.

It Won’t Work!

[Editorial]

Been there, done that!

With the internet, it’s now easier than ever to get pills—whether it's abortion pills or puberty blockers.

I’m old enough to remember the stories of backroom abortions; back when the rich took “vacations” to Switzerland while Black folks had to find "someone who knew someone." Today, it’s just a few taps on a keyboard and the hormones are on their way.

Back in the 2000s, I got my own hormones from Canada because my insurance wouldn't cover them. I’d send the prescription to a pharmacy there, and a few days later, they’d arrive in the mail. I figured the drug dogs were only looking for the hard stuff. The worst I expected was that the male dogs might have a—shall we say—unusual reaction to the scent.

If it was that easy twenty-five years ago, I can only imagine how much easier it is now. But then again, Trump is paranoid about us.

In the end, all he has done is handed organized crime a brand-new revenue source.

[/Editorial]

Well It Happened!

Pride has been canceled down in Florida. In Orlando.

Gay Days Orlando canceled, citing sponsor losses and mounting pressures on LGBTQ+ gatherings

It was supposed to be the event's 35th anniversary in June.

The Advocate

Christopher Wiggins

Feb 10, 2026

For more than three decades, Gay Days Orlando has functioned as both pilgrimage and proof of concept: a rolling, red-shirted demonstration that queer visibility could be festive, that tourism could be political, and that a loosely organized day at the theme parks could grow into one of the largest LGBTQ+ travel events in the country. This week, its organizers said they are pressing pause.

In a statement posted online Sunday, Gay Days announced it would not hold its June 4-7, 2026 event. The annual event usually sees thousands of queer people gather in Orlando to enjoy the city's many theme parks and attractions. Organizers cited the current political climate. They specified that changes to its host hotel agreement, the loss of key sponsorship support, and what they described as broader challenges facing LGBTQ+ events nationwide led them to cancel the 35th anniversary event. The group said the decision made it “impossible to deliver the experience our community deserves.”

I really am proud of those who have stayed in Florida.

Pride events and Pride centers are on the ropes; they are hurting from cooperate donations drying up.

Phoenix Pride faces $350,000 shortfall as sponsors cave to Trump’s anti-DEI attacks

KJZZ

By Lauren Gilger

December 4, 2025

Phoenix Pride is facing a major budget deficit — to the tune of $350,000. This comes after they saw pretty significant losses at this year’s annual Pride festival in attendance and sponsorships, and as they’re seeing donor support drop significantly.

And they’re not the only Pride organization across the country that’s facing these challenges. In August, Boise Pride had a $250,000 deficit a month before their festival. And in May, NYC Pride saw a $750,000 shortfall because of corporate sponsors pulling back.

It comes as the Trump administration has attacked diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the country; many companies have dropped their programs in response.

And Gay Sonoma writes,

Pride organizers say sponsors are pulling back amid DEI rollbacks, economic fears

Jo Yurcaba

April 15, 2025

The organizers of several of the country’s premier Pride celebrations told NBC News they have also lost funding from corporate sponsors this year, to the tune of $200,000 to $350,000 each. For some larger organizations — like those in New York City and San Francisco — the shortage makes up about 10% of their total Pride event budget, while for others, like St. Pete Pride in Florida, it could be about half.

Some organizers said past sponsors that are not returning or are reducing their sponsorship amounts this year have cited the political climate and the Trump administration’s hostility toward DEI and the LGBTQ community, while others have cited fear of an economic recession. Some didn’t provide any reasons at all, organizers said.

Bob Witeck, president of Witeck Communications, a firm specializing in LGBTQ marketing, said he isn’t surprised that corporations are reducing or withdrawing Pride sponsorships this year, because many of them are feeling vulnerable to “unfair and uninvited attacks.” He said publicly regulated businesses and those that work directly with federal agencies and under contracts “are more vulnerable to possible litigation as well as facing potential losses.”

They are running scared! The corporations are scared of Trump & Company giving them the "Target" treatment of boycotts!

I have always said about getting back to our pride roots, once you take corporate funding you are beholding to them, but being cut off cold turkey is going to force many centers to close and Pride events canceled. How does that saying go about lying down with dogs and getting fleas?

Corporations only care about one thing... their bottom line. They give to LGBT centers because they believed it would help their bottom line... but now they think that it will their shareholders. They gave not because they believe in us but they thought that they could make a buck off of us.

Connecticut Pride Centers are hurting, not as bad as in Red states but still they are feeling the pinch. And the CT legislature gave funding to help them:

• Bridgeport Pride Center, Inc.
• Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective, Inc.
• New Haven Gay and Lesbian Community Center, Inc.
• OutCT, Inc.
• PFLAG Enfield, Inc.
• Queer Youth Program of Connecticut, Inc.
• Triangle Community Center, Inc.
• New Haven Gay and Lesbian Community Center, Inc.

Hmm... I wonder if any Republican states gave funding to Pride centers?

I guess we have to get back to our roots when Pride was a rally, a statement that "We are here, we are queer, and we are in your face" 

Back to when Pride was a protest, not just a party!

Back to when Pride was powered by people, not corporations

Character Counts

How many times have you heard that in employment? When you are in business, your character is important; your word is everything. This seems to be true for everything except politics.

Trump has shown he has no character at all… I take that back — he has the character of a conniving leech.

He cares more about having his name plastered over everything.

Trump’s quest to name things after himself takes an even more desperate turn

Yahoo News
Analysis by Aaron Blake, CNN

Fri, February 6, 2026

Donald Trump’s insatiable desire to name things after himself has been clear for a very long time. And as president, he’s rapidly pushed the envelope in that regard, naming things after himself in ways it appears no previous president ever has.

But even by his standards, this quest has taken a desperate — and seemingly politically unwise — turn.

Trump last month sought to have Congress rename Dulles International Airport near DC and New York City’s Penn Station after himself.

CNN’s Manu Raju and Adam Cancryn report that Trump pitched the renamings to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as a condition for releasing billions of dollars in frozen funds for a major New York infrastructure project. Schumer, a New York Democrat, turned it down. The news was first reportedby Punchbowl.

You know there’s a word for that. It’s called extortion.

While things are named after presidents, experts have said there is simply no precedent for naming things after a sitting president like this. The New York Times recently dug into the data, backing up that other presidents have almost always had to wait until after leaving office.

But what did you expect from Trump? Look at his list of failed businesses!

• Trump Steaks
• Trump Vodka
• Trump Ice
• Trump University
• Trump Shuttle
• Trump: The Game
• Trump Taj Mahal
• Trump Castle
• Plaza Hotel (NYC)
• Trump Hotels & Casinos
• Trump Entertainment

Does this foretell failures ahead for other named properties, like,

• The Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace
• The Trump-Kennedy Center
• Trump Accounts
• TrumpR_x
• The Trump-Class Navy Warships
• The Trump Gold Coin
• The Trump Ballroom
• The Trump Arch

And now Dulles Airport and Penn Station? Is the government going to share the same fate as his businesses?

Politico reports that TrumpR_x is a scam!

Trump’s drug-pricing deals won’t benefit most Americans today. They could over time.

Most Americans likely will not benefit immediately from efforts to lower prescription prices. Administration officials expect effects to spread as markets are reshaped.

But will most Americans feel like the deals make their lives more affordable?

The answer is likely “No” — at least not in the near future — according to some health policy analysts and drug-pricing experts.

The confidential agreements lack some critical details and largely don’t help the roughly two-thirds of Americans who use private health insurance, they say. It’s also unclear whether the deals — which are voluntary on the part of drugmakers — will last beyond the current administration.

“The vast majority of consumers are not going to see any benefit in their pocketbook,” said Chris Meekins, a Raymond James health care analyst, and a former health official in the first Trump administration.

Rachel Sachs, a senior adviser in the Office of the General Counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services during the Biden administration, said the deals’ confidential nature makes them harder to judge.

Trump loves secrecy! But you know what? The voters are beginning to see the smoke and mirrors!

Confidence in Trump Dips, and Fewer Now Say They Support His Policies and Plans

Rising share of Democrats want their party’s congressional leaders to stand up to Trump

Pew Reserach

By Hannah Hartig and Jocelyn Kiley

January 29, 2026

A year into his second administration, Americans’ views of President Donald Trump – already more negative than positive – have continued to slip.

• Trump’s approval rating stands at 37%, down from 40% in the fall.
• By more than two-to-one, Americans say the administration’s actions have been worse than they expected (50%) rather than better (21%).
• Only about a quarter of Americans today (27%) say they support all or most of Trump’s policies and plans, down from 35% when he returned to office last year. That change has come entirely among Republicans.

A new Pew Research Center survey of 8,512 U.S. adults, conducted Jan. 20-26, also finds that – across six key qualities and abilities needed to serve as president – more Americans express little or no confidence in Trump than say they are extremely or very confident in him.

Confidence is down on all six measures since last year, particularly among Republicans.

The romance is over!

Trump’s quest to name things after himself takes an even more desperate turn

CNN

Analysis by Aaron Blake

Donald Trump’s insatiable desire to name things after himself has been clear for a very long time. And as president, he’s rapidly pushed the envelope in that regard, naming things after himself in ways it appears no previous president ever has.

But even by his standards, this quest has taken a desperate — and seemingly politically unwise — turn.

Trump last month sought to have Congress rename Dulles International Airport near DC and New York City’s Penn Station after himself.

CNN’s Manu Raju and Adam Cancryn report that Trump pitched the renamings to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as a condition for releasing billions of dollars in frozen funds for a major New York infrastructure project. Schumer, a New York Democrat, turned it down. The news was first reported by Punchbowl.

Trump knows this is extortion! But he doesn't care and you know what else, he knows once he leaves  - his name will come down! So... is he thinking that he will stay in power longer 2028?

But usually his efforts to leverage his authority for personal glorification are a little more subtle like that — with the quid pro quo a little less direct. His proposition to Schumer practically slaps you across the face in its degree of blatant self-dealing.

Republicans should probably start asking themselves how much they’re willing to entertain this level of self service.

But the Republicans are spineless and will not stand up to Trump, yes some Republicans are starting to stand up to Trump. Why now? They see cracks.

The survey also found Trump hitting a record low on the percentage of Americans who said he “cares about people like you.” Just 33% said that applied to Trump. A whopping 77% of independents disagreed.

And Americans said 63%-37% that they disagreed with the idea that Trump “puts the good of the country above his personal gain.”

To put a fine point on that: Nearly two-thirds of Americans said Trump is mostly out for himself.

Trump & Company is all about Me! Me! They know that their coattails are tied to Trump.

Support for Trump’s policies

• There has also been a significant decline over the last year in the share of adults who say they agree with Trump’s plans and policies.
• Last year, 35% said they supported all or most of his plans, 17% supported some of them and 47% supported only a few or none.
• Today, 27% say they support all or most, 20% support some and 52% support few or none.

The decline in support has come exclusively among Republicans. Last year, 67% said they supported all or most of Trump’s plans and policies. Today, 56% do.

Very small shares of Democrats say they support his policies. Most (87%) support only a few or none.

CNN went on to write.

That may be fueled, in part, by perceptions Trump is enriching himself financially in office. (The White House has repeatedly maintained it’s committed to ethics and transparency.) But potential conflicts of interest are a lot more difficult to explain than PLASTERS HIS OWN NAME ACROSS A BUILDING.

And Trump’s quest to name things after himself seems especially ill-timed given the state of the economy. We’re currently in the midst of what the vast majority of Americans regard as bad economic times, and about three-quarters of Americans don’t think he’s done enough to lower prices.

The Daily Beast writes...

The erosion extends beyond Trump himself and into broader Republican electoral prospects. In the 2024 congressional elections, Republicans won non-college voters by 13 points. Looking ahead to 2026, that advantage has narrowed sharply to just 4 points, based on CNN polling and Enten’s aggregate.

“A four-point lead among non-college voters is not anywhere close to being good enough,” Enten warned, pointing out that Democrats are “dominating among voters with a college degree, up by 20 points.”

The voters are waking up to realize that Trump is in this for:

1. Himself
2. His families
3. His billionaire friends

We The People are not on the list.