A Trump Wantabe

Another president is following in Trump footsteps this one is from Brazil and he might even be worst than Trump.

Brazil’s New President Is Already Attacking LGBTQ Rights
He also went after indigenous groups and descendants of slaves on his first day in office.
NewNowNext
By Jeff Taylor
January 4, 2019

Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has wasted no time showing he will lead the country in the same regressive manner that he ran his campaign, setting his sights on the LGBTQ community, indigenous people, and the descendants of slaves.

On day one, within hours of taking over, Bolsonaro signed executive orders limiting the rights of each group, the Associated Press reports.

He removed concerns of the LGBTQ community from consideration by the new human rights ministry, and did not name another group to take over that work. Damares Alves (pictured below), the new human rights minister, did not discuss that order in her first address.

Both Alves and Bolsonaro have made clear their anti-LGBTQ stances. The new president has said he would rather have a dead son than a gay one, and has called “gender-based ideology” a threat to the country’s Christian values.

Alves is an evangelical pastor who said, “The state is lay, but this minister is terribly Christian,” and promised to make girls “princesses” and boys “princes.”

“There will be no more ideological indoctrination of children and teenagers in Brazil,” she added.

The Star Observer reported,

The far-right former army captain, whose inauguration has seen a spike in the local stock market after new cabinet ministers promised to loosen gun control laws and privatise state-owned companies, was also criticised for restrictions placed on the press during his inauguration, reports the Associated Press.

Confirming fears expressed by LGBTI Brazilians that the new administration would roll back their rights, the self-proclaimed “proud homophobe” signed an executive order which removed LGBTI concerns from the responsibilities of the Human Rights Ministry, and failed to transfer the responsibility to another agency.

LGBTI advocate Symmy Larrat responded to the order, saying she wasn’t expecting reasonable treatment from the Bolsonaro government.

Yup, he is following Trump’s playbook.

I don’t think that he will be the last of the despots who are elected.

Senator Sanders said,

Bernie Sanders: 'Authoritarian leaders around the world' inspired by Trump
CNN Politics
By Elizabeth Landers
October 9, 2018

(CNN)Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders -- one of multiple lawmakers discussed as possible presidential candidates in 2020 -- offered a line-by-line rebuke Tuesday of the current foreign policy stances that President Donald Trump has taken, saying Trump is inspiring "authoritarian leaders around the world."

"While this authoritarian trend certainly did not begin with Donald Trump, there's no question that other authoritarian leaders around the world have drawn inspiration from the fact that the President of the world's oldest and most powerful democracy is shattering democratic norms, is viciously attacking an independent media and an independent judiciary, and is scapegoating the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society," Sanders said in a speech focusing on countering authoritarianism.
[…]
"On one hand, we see a growing worldwide movement toward authoritarianism, oligarchy and kleptocracy," Sanders said. "On the other side, we see a movement toward strengthening democracy, egalitarianism, and economic, social, racial and environmental justice."

In times of economic turmoil we are at the cusp of becoming an oligarchy or a kleptocracy. We need to address the social economic inequalities, as long as a dozen people control 90% of the wealth in the U.S. we are going to see continued social unrest.

I keep on thinking about the Arab Spring in 2011 how it started off as a prodemocracy movement and then it was hijacked by religious zealots and most of the countries ended up worst off.

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Now for some good news!

New Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton flies trans flag outside office
Pink News
By Nick Duffy
4th January 2019

Newly-elected Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton is flying a transgender pride flag from her Capitol Hill office, and has revealed she has a trans relative.

The Virginia Democratic lawmaker was sworn in to the House of Representatives on January 3, and wasted no time in setting out her support for equal rights, flying the trans flag alongside her US flag and Virginia state flags.
[…]
The congresswoman said to me [Narissa Rahaman, who works for Human Rights Campaign (HRC)], ‘Did you see the flag?! I think we’re the only office on the Hill with one.’

“Thank you to everyone who knocked a door and made a phone call on this campaign. This flag is there because of you and for you! My heart is full.”

We are everywhere!

Just by being ourselves we change people views of trans people.

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The trans organization of our neighboring state to the north of us had a change in leadership.
Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition issued this statement…

New Year, New Paths, New Opportunity

Every year, around this time, I look back on the year that’s passed, and contemplate the challenges and opportunities in the year ahead.

2018 marked so many exciting milestones for MTPC: it was the 17th year since our founding, we helped successfully protect our nondiscrimination protections from repeal, we removed medical requirements for gender marker changes on state IDs and began working hand in hand with the Massachusetts RMV to start issuing nonbinary gender markers (which will roll out in 2019), and so much more. For me, personally, this past August marked my fifth years as executive director here at MTPC. It has been a profound honor to serve my community in this capacity.

During my time with MTPC, I have had wonderful opportunities to work with community members, allies, and organizations across the state. I’ve met so many of you out there, and forged new friendships that have enriched my life beyond what I ever anticipated.

But now it’s time for someone new to have the same opportunities I have had as executive director, and carry this organization down new paths, with new vision. There are so many amazing trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming leaders out there - and part of my role in this organization has been lifting up your voices across the state. Now, it’s time for me to step aside and open the opportunity up to our community.

So, in the next few months, I will be leaving my position here. The dedicated people who serve on MTPC’s Steering Committee have begun the process of strategically planning the next priority areas for the organization, and later will open up a search for the new Executive Director to lead us into a new era of trans rights advocacy in Massachusetts.

I am excited to see where MTPC will go in this new phase, and honored to have had a small part in the history of this amazing organization. My life has been forever changed, because of MTPC and the community members, leaders, and supporters I’ve met along the way. And I know that wherever I go next, a part of me will always be here with you.

As for me - I am exploring my next career move, although I don’t have solidified plans at the moment. I’m excited to see where life will take me, and open to all the many new possibilities that may come my way.

Thank you for over five amazing years of growth, opportunity, and friendship. And onward to exciting new adventures for trans rights.

In solidarity,
Mason J. Dunn