Brooks and Capehart --- They Make Sense

Last week I was watching the PBS NewsHour when Brooks and Capehart came on, the lead up was that interesting but the first question got my attention. 

Brooks and Capehart on Trump’s legal woes and parents’ influence in schools

Jonathan, I want to start with you and pick up where Lisa's report left off, this whole issue of parental rights. It has come to mean so much.

My ears perked up.

Those that follow my blog know that I say that “parental rights” are a Republican code word for discrimination.

Jonathan Capehart:

Well, to me, when I hear parental rights, I keep thinking, what happened to the PTA, parent-teachers associations? Why, all of a sudden, is this an issue?

And I think it's an issue, given who they're targeting, because they need a foil. The far right needs a foil. That's not to say that parents don't have concerns about what their kids are learning in classrooms. It just seems like, from Governor Ron DeSantis in Florida, to Governor Huckabee in Arkansas, to the Republican-led House of Representatives, it seems like they have a problem specifically with trans kids.

And what I have a problem with is that the party of life, the party of respect for family and individual freedom has no problem putting a target on the backs of trans kids and their families. And so, when I hear parental rights, I think parental rights for whom?

BINGO!

“... the party of life, the party of respect for family and individual freedom has no problem putting a target on the backs of trans kids and their families. And so, when I hear parental rights, I think parental rights for whom?”

Not only us, but women rights to chose what they do with their bodies. Censoring Black history and the whole list of the laws that deny us proper healthcare.

Then that discuss the anti-trans laws.

And, Jonathan, I want to turn to you on this, because that's a striking number, first of all, when you think of the sheer volume of children who are impacted by that. But I'm wondering why you think this particular issue resonates so deeply right now.

Jonathan Capehart:

Because it makes people feel uncomfortable. Let's just be perfectly frank about it. It makes people uncomfortable.

But just because you're uncomfortable doesn't mean that you then target what makes you uncomfortable. And by target, you're targeting kids. You're targeting the families of those kids, making it impossible for them to get health care in their own home state, making it almost impossible for them to go out of state, criminalizing, in some cases, going out of state to get care.

All these kids and their families want are for these trans kids to be able to go to school like everyone else, learn like everyone else, and be left alone like everyone else, if possible, and to be able to learn in a classroom environment where there's neither a target on their back or they're not being denied the full history, the full curriculum that they're supposed to be taught.

The problem I have with what's been happening in the states, and particularly with this congressional bill, is that the language is so vague. In that report, the person said, it doesn't specify names of books and things. Well, no, it leaves it up to the discretion of whoever the person is complaining.

And so I think what needs to happen is that people need to — those really concerned parents, not only do they need to keep rising up. They need allies to rise up with them to add to their numbers, because there are more people who care about those children and care about their education than the rabble-rousing parents who are putting the targets on their backs.

Double BINGO!

David Brooks:

Yes, I mean, it's insane that we're having the education debate we're having right now.

And so if you look at what happened, if you look at New York City schools, 41 percent of kids were chronically truant. If you look at what's happened across American schools over the last few years — we spent 20 years doing education reform, trying to lift scores. All those gains were erased through COVID and over the last year or two.

That's going to alter the lives, the GDP of this country for decades. And so we're in the middle of an education, I don't want to say catastrophe, but a real setback in the way our kids are doing. And we're talking about this, the transgender stuff. Like, what?

Amna Nawaz:

But that's where Republicans are choosing to focus, right?

David Brooks:

Right, exactly. Exactly right.

Then they go on to discuss politicians winning on this platform like the Virginia governor.

It was very heartening to here us discussed in a reasonable and thoughtful discussion.

Flying Over The Capitol

For the first time in history the trans flag is flying over the Capitol in Hartford.

It has been a long, long journey but we prevailed thanks to our pioneers two of whom were Jerimarie Liesegang and Shawn Lang. They lead the way to where we are now. I only wish they were here to see it.

**********

Updated 3:30 PM.

For first time ever, Trans Pride Flag flies over Connecticut Capitol
Hartford Courant
By Alison Cross
March 31, 2023

The Transgender Pride Flag flew over the Connecticut Capitol Friday for the first time in state history, demonstrating a powerful message of allyship on International Trans Day of Visibility.

In a ceremony that highlighted both the triumphs and struggles facing the community, trans activists and allies joined Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz to mark the historic occasion.

“I am so proud to stand with you today to deliver a clear message that the trans community will always have a home in Connecticut,” Bysiewicz said. “It is a very clear reminder to the community that we see you, we love you, we welcome you, and we’re not going to stop fighting for you.”

A small crowd of lawmakers, faith leaders, community organizers and everyday folks clapped and cheered as the flag ascended above the Connecticut State Capitol. Some marveled that they never thought they would witness an occasion like this in their lifetime.

[...]

“It was people like Diana back in 2011 who said that the state of Connecticut should lead the world … to make a commitment to equal rights for every citizen of this state in all places and at all times,” Webb said. “And it is with this in mind that we have to continue that commitment and we have to extend the Connecticut example, not just here in this state but across this country.”

 **********

White House press release...

FACT SHEET: White House Honors Transgender Day of Visibility

Today, in honor of Transgender Day of Visibility, the Biden-Harris Administration is uplifting transgender communities—and especially transgender kids and their families—by celebrating their resilience in the face of hateful anti-transgender laws being advanced across the country. Since President Biden’s first day in office, the Administration has taken historic steps to advance equality, dignity, and safety for transgender Americans, and he is the first President in history to discuss the importance of expanding equality and combating attacks on the rights of transgender Americans in every State of the Union or joint session of Congress address. While transgender Americans have an unwavering champion in the President, conservative politicians have advanced hundreds of anti-transgender laws in states across the country so far this year, putting the fundamental rights and freedoms of trans Americans at risk. As President Biden has said, transgender Americans are some of the bravest people he knows, but nobody should have to be brave to be themselves.

[...]

• Issuing a landmark report on ways to support and affirm LGBTQI+ youth, especially transgender youth...
• Issuing guidance on gender identity inclusion for public servants.
• Signing a historic Executive Order to advance equality for LGBTQI+ people, especially children and families
• Intervening legally when states violate the rights of transgender youth and their families.
• Expanding mental health resources for transgender youth.
• Clarifying that LGBTQI+ youth are entitled to support and affirmation in the child welfare system. 
• Supporting transgender students in our nation’s schools.
• Directing agencies to strengthen LGBTQI+ rights.

These are just about a quarter of the items listed on the White House press release.

**********

Zip It Up!

Suppose you are a teacher. Suppose you are a teacher in Florida. Suppose you are teaching fifth grade. Suppose you are teacher beginning the new school year after summer vacation. Suppose you are a teacher and you want to ask your students how was their summer vacation but are afraid to ask. You are afraid to ask because you fear that one of the students has two moms. You are afraid to ask because the child might say “my moms…” and you will get sued by another mom of a child in the class because of the “Don’t Say Gay” law. So you “zip it up” and don’t ask the question that has been asked for a millennium but now you are worried about asking it.

One Year After “Don’t Say Gay,” Florida Parents Say They’re Enraged and Afraid
Gov. DeSantis’ anti-LGBTQ+ crusade has left parents of queer and trans kids devastated. Many say they’re ready to move, yet many more say they’ll stay and fight back.
them
By Colleen Hamilton
March 27, 2023

[…]

In the year since DeSantis passed the Parental Rights in Education Act, or “Don’t Say Gay,” as it has become known, he has used the idea of “parental rights” to reshape Florida in his political image. Since at least the 1960s, conservative Christian activists have used parental rights as a call to arms to assert their beliefs in schools, which activists on the right believe have been eroded by a progressive embrace of LGBTQ+ children and classroom lessons about systemic racism. 

The seeds of Don’t Say Gay were planted at the height of the pandemic, when conversations about mask mandates, vaccines, and in-person schooling quickly transformed into culture war talking points. Two days after “Don’t Say Gay,” DeSantis passed the “Stop WOKE Act,” which “prohibits instruction on race relations or diversity that imply a person’s status as either privileged or oppressed.” Over the past year, these bills have had what activists, LGBTQ+ children, and parents describe as a “chilling effect,” creating an atmosphere of self-censorship and fear.

“Everything is a target now,” said Todd Delmay, an LGBTQ+ parent who has a child in public school and recently ran for state senate. That’s not due to what legislators explicitly wrote into the bill, he said; rather, “it’s what they haven’t.” 

Indeed, “Don’t Say Gay” is only six short paragraphs. However, those paragraphs were seemingly crafted to create an environment of paranoia and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, primarily through a clause that empowers parents to sue school districts over any material, at any age, that they deem “inappropriate.” 

Over the past year, parents say this has created an environment in which teachers are afraid to mention anything about gender or sexuality, even in casual conversations. “I served in the military, and they’ve essentially created a Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell environment for kids,” said Michael Rothgeb, an LGBTQ+ parent in the state.

Are you now or have you ever been a “Groomer?”

I’m a gay kindergarten teacher in Florida. These are the questions I’m asking myself.
How can I have frank, open conversations with my students about the world around them without being in danger of losing my job?
NBC News
By Cory Bernaert
April 22, 2022

Teaching has been my passion for the past 12 years. I am proud to call myself an educator. For the first two years, I taught first grade. It prepared me to effectively teach kindergarten while also focusing on kids’ social and emotional development. I have enjoyed working in Florida schools over the past six years, as has my partner, Jeramiah, who is also an educator. However, recently there has been a major cause for concern. 

I have been stricken with fear over how Florida’s new law limiting discussions of LGBTQ+ discussions in school will affect me as a person and a professional. As a kindergarten teacher who is gay and has pictures of himself and his partner in his classroom, I regularly answer questions from my students like: “Mr. Bernaert, who is that in those pictures?” “Is that your brother?” “What did you do over the weekend?” As contributing members of society, teachers shouldn’t have to feel like they need to go back into the closet or hide who they are as people.

Straight teachers can have a photo of their spouse on their desk but LGBTQ+ teachers cannot! That violates the Constitution!

The fear and fury of these Florida parents

The state has introduced new laws that affect nearly every stage of parenting. Some families are choosing between fight and flight.

The Washington Post

By Caitlin Gibson

March 8, 2023

One afternoon a few weeks ago, Alicea Hotchkiss’s 14-year-old son, Eli, came home from his high school in Tampa with a question about something a classmate had said to him. He’d heard the student use the word “gay” as an insult, so Eli responded the way he always does when this happens. “Hey,” Eli said, “my dad’s gay.” But this time, Eli told his mom, the other kid offered a startling rebuke: You’re not allowed to say that at school.

In a nearby community in central Florida, Barbara Mellen attended a recent open house at her son’s elementary school and asked her child’s teacher to suggest a few titles or authors that might help her second-grader develop more interest in reading. The teacher looked anxious, she says, and told her he couldn’t recommend any books.

The scary part…

Adding to the members’ sense of distress and disorientation, Minor says, is the knowledge that so many of their neighbors supported the state’s pivot from purple to solid red. Under Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who won reelection in a 20-point landslide in November and is poised for a potential presidential run, Florida has become the “center of gravity” for conservative policymaking, as James Nash, of the bipartisan ROKK Solutions public affairs strategy firm, has previously told The Washington Post. Florida families are now facing a slew of new laws and policy proposals that touch nearly every stage of parenting — from the reproductive health care a pregnant mother can receive, to the books available for an elementary school student to read, to the diversity and social culture awaiting students on college campuses.

[…]

At the center of all of this are families trying to navigate the transforming legal landscape of their home state. Parents who do not support these measures describe feeling both fearful and furious. Some have embraced activism for the first time, while longtime advocates have grown more outspoken. Others are just trying to manage what this new reality means for their families and futures.

That is exactly what the Republicans want… to shut up opposition to them.

“It feels like there are certain elements that are trying to turn the clock back on America, and turn the clock back on our state. The banning of books is a big concern for us,” Stottlemyer says, as is the “whitewashing of American history.” He is also distressed by the targeting of LGBTQ children: “As a parent, and especially with a 5-year-old, I just don’t know what path my daughter’s life is going to take, and it’s scary to think that there are people who are wanting to try to marginalize her.”

The era of McCarthyism and the Lavender Scare has returned… “Are you now or have you ever been a homosexual?”

Sen. Joe McCarthy once joked, “If you want to be against me, you have to be either a communist or a c**ksucker.”

Fear is running rampant through the school systems in Florida. Creating fear for the teachers, creating fear in the parents, and creating fear in the students.

What is going to happen when all the best and brightest teachers leave the state?

What is going to happen to the LGBTQ+ students when they are forced back in the closet?

What is going to happen to the colleges when liberal prospective college students don’t come to the Florida colleges and universities?

What will happen when the University of Florida, the University of South Florida, and Florida State University only get conservative students and conservative professors? Will the schools stay accredited?

They are creating a “Brave New World” of little conservatives racists, homophobes, transphobes, xenophobes, and islamophobes.

Parental Rights!

What are parental rights, the term is gathering legs and it made me wonder what are their rights?

The conservatives look at it as an on off switch… click. You’re 18 and all of sudden you have all your “rights” 17 years 264 days no rights and the next day you now have all your rights.

Liberals look at it as a transition of rights, the law looks at as a phased in process.

Then there is the emancipation of minors which when they turn 16 and they can get all the rights of an adult. From the 211 website,

WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR EMANCIPATION?

To be emancipated in Connecticut the youth must be at least sixteen years old and also must meet at least one of the following conditions:

• must be in a valid marriage whether or not that marriage has been terminated by dissolution
• must be serving in the United States armed forces
• must be living apart from your parents or guardian and be managing your own finances
• the court must determine that an emancipation is in the best interests of you, or your parents, or your minor child if you have one.

But that is like the nuclear option, only for the last resort.

So what are the soft transition options. Findlaw has a good article about this topic,

What are the Legal Rights of Children?

Children, or minors, don't have the full legal capacity of adults. Typically, minors aren't granted the rights of adults until they reach the age of 18, although this varies from state to state. For example, in Alabama and Nebraska the age of majority is 19. In Mississippi, it's 21.

Because children are still developing both physically and mentally, they aren't considered capable of handling the same rights as mature adults. For example, children don't have certain political rights like the right to vote. They can also not own property, consent to medical treatment, sue or be sued, or enter into certain types of contracts. As their level of competency concerning these matters is considered to fall below required thresholds, children are not afforded these rights.

However, children do have some legal rights as soon as they are born. They are entitled to human rights and civil rights, for example, as any other human being is. They also receive other rights as they grow up. Additionally, children are able to access some of the rights available only to adults, such as legal actions, when a parent or legal guardian acts on their behalf.

Did you get that? “... Additionally, children are able to access some of the rights available only to adults…” So a parent rights are not absolute.

Some of the legal rights of children are acquired as children grow, depending on their age and level of maturity. For example, children have a limited right to free speech. In many instances, children are encouraged to form opinions and freely speak their mind. However, schools may limit the child's speech if they feel it could harm other students. This rule can have strikingly different applications for student bodies of different ages. For example, a student painting that features nudity might be inappropriate in middle school, while it might be considered cutting-edge art in high school.

In my search I came across this article in Science Direct…

Exploration for physicians of the mature minor doctrine

The “mature minor doctrine” is the common-law rule that allows an adolescent who is mature to give consent for medical care. Ethical decisions regarding consent and confidentiality should be distinguished from legal requirements. Recent court decisions have altered the law, especially in regard to consent for refusal of life-sustaining treatment…

...There is minimal legal risk in allowing adolescents older than 14 years of age to give consent for treatments entailing small degrees of risk, when they can make adultlike decisions and demonstrate signs of maturity.

And that lead me to U.S. Legal,

The Mature Minor Doctrine

The “mature minor” doctrine provides for minors to give consent to medical procedures if they can show that they are mature enough to make a decision on their own. It is a relatively new legal concept, and as of 2002 only a few states such as Arkansas and Nevada have enacted the doctrine into statute. In several other states, including Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Illinois, Maine and Massachusetts, state high courts have adopted the doctrine as law.

In the states where it exists, the mature minor doctrine takes into account the age and situation of the minor to determine maturity, in addition to factors and conduct that can prove maturity. The Arkansas statute states, “any unemancipated minor of sufficient intelligence to understand and appreciate the consequences of the proposed surgical or medical treatment or procedures, for himself [may offer consent].” The standard is typical of the requirements of the mature minor doctrine.

So there does seem to be precedent for a soft turn for the rights of minors.

When I see laws for “Parental Rights” a chill goes up my spine because it leaves out the rights of a child to make their decisions on their lives.

When I was a lonely MSW intern I was sent to a meeting with a state agency.

Taking a step backwards for a second. My MSW is not in micro but macro… I don’t treat patients, I organize rallies, protests, work on legislation, etc. So when I was asked by my field instructor about my support network I thought that I will never need one because I’m macro. Boy was I wrong!

So I was sent to a meeting at a state agency, they were looking for a foster home or shelter for a 16 year old. This 16 year old came out as trans and was tossed out on to the street by her parents in NYC, she made her way to Connecticut and was sleeping in the bus station. She was befriended by a pimp who hooked on heroin and pimped her out where she got busted.

She told the police about the pimp and he put a contract out on her. Someone tried to shot her as she came put of the court house. The state agency was now looking for a safe house for a 17 yo former heroin addict with a contract out on her.

I needed my support network that night.

So this brings me back to “Parental Rights” there are great parents and then there are shitty parents, the type that throws their child out on the street to let something like what happened to child. The Republicans don’t care what the parents are like, they see the power of the parent over their child as absolute. No exception, a dictatorial power over the child.

So what do you all think? All or nothing or a phased in of children’s rights.

I Think We Knew This --- But It Is Nice To See It In Print

This is all about power.

Here are a couple of letters-to-the-editor from the Lexington Herald Leader…

LET’S BE CLEAR

Let’s be clear about SB 150. It is certainly not about protecting children, and it is mostly not about fear and loathing of the LGBTQ+ community, though some members of the Republican Party seem motivated by those unfortunate, uninformed feelings. SB 150 is best understood as a marker laid down by the far-right members of the Republican Party. That marker draws a line and dares their more moderate fellow Republicans to cross it, regardless of their true beliefs and regardless of their serious reservations about the bill. This vote was about discipline. This vote was about loyalty. This vote was about careerism. I could not be more disappointed in the good people of the Republican Party who voted for SB 150. Not only will the passage of SB 150 cause great harm, but it signals exactly what the far-right wants: capitulation to an extreme agenda that threatens the well-being of all of us. I call on the good and reasonable legislators in the Republican Party to search their consciences and support Gov. Andy Beshear’s likely veto. At this moment in history, only you have the power to stop this shameful and damaging abuse of power and authority. 

Steve Kay, Lexington

***

LEGISLATIVE HARMS

SB 150, the Anti-Trans Bill, goes too far and was pushed through in an unfair manner. Did the people who voted “yes” even have time to read all of what’s included? Here’s what concerns me most in SB 150: 1) Doctors would be required to “de-transition” patients in their care who have already begun the transition process. 2) Schools would not be allowed to discuss sexual orientation and gender identity with students of any age. If SB 150 becomes law, I believe many trans students will become suicidal; many doctors and educators will choose not to practice in Kentucky in the future; and other kids will be harmed by all of this. Nearly every young person I know has already faced severe mental health challenges during the pandemic years. They certainly do not need another blow to their sense of security and stability, another threat to their future and their freedom, or another impediment to their education. This bill delivers all of that. I trust that Gov. Andy Beshear will do the right thing and veto it. Legislators need to let the veto stand. Voters—please urge Gov. Beshear to veto SB 150 and legislators to not override the veto.

Rachel Dorroh, Berea

***

GOP OVERREACH

Fear and hatred in the name of Jesus have infested the Republican Party. Anger and a deep sadness are ready to consume me if I should allow. But I believe what surprises me most is the government overreach, the antithesis of the Republican Party as I knew it. Their legislation is inside our wombs and our homes, usurping the rights of parents to provide needed care for their LGBTQ children as well as care for women who are carrying morbidly defective or dead fetuses. There are so many real problems facing Kentuckians such as killer guns, affordable housing, food insecurity, underpaid and under-appreciated teachers, to name a few, but Republicans ignore these issues and instead pander to their hate-filled base. The Bible-thumpers need to actually read the words of the Prince of Peace, lover of all God’s children and who are made in His image. Saundra Toussaint, Lexington

***

PARTY OF HATE

The GOP has become the party of “I hate everyone that is not in my mirror and doesn’t look like me or the few submissives I tolerate and keep only for procreation” party. And the “Anyone that doesn’t look like me in my mirror or doesn’t submit to my dominance, needs to not exist” Party. Even their God is that image in the mirror (that really frankly, no matter how self-admired... Hate incarnate is about as ugly as anything gets). Hate is diabolic, not divine no matter what Holy Books they attempt to pummel people with. The GOP is the Party of Narcissism. The GOP looks like Putin and acts like Trump. As Madeline Albright said, “Fascism is narcissism writ large”.

Robert Moreland, Lexington

The governor did veto the bill! But…

Kentucky legislature overrides veto of anti-trans bill despite LGBTQ+ youths' pleas

Louisville Courier Journal

By Olivia Krauth

March 30, 2023

Heavy fog blanketed Kentucky’s state Capitol Wednesday morning, at points so dense it rendered the Capitol building invisible. 

But the fuzzy outlines of people standing in throngs outside the Capitol and gathering in clumps in the parking garage could not be erased. 

Hundreds of LGBTQ+ youths and their allies, young and old, protested as a last-ditch attempt at convincing Kentucky’s Republican-dominated legislature to let a veto of one of the nation's most extreme anti-trans bills stand.

Their efforts were to no avail.

Shortly after gaveling in Wednesday afternoon, the Kentucky Senate voted to override Gov. Andy Beshear's veto of Senate Bill 150. Around an hour later, the House also voted to override the veto - making SB 150 law.

Kentucky SB 150 is now expected to face legal challenges to block its implementation.

The people know this is legislation is wrong but the Republicans are blinded by their power.

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The Republicans in a feeding frenzy go after the commissioner of Kentucky Department of Education who had the audacity to be inclusive of us.

GOP Ky. state lawmakers urge ouster of education commissioner over inclusive LGBTQ stance
Lexington Herald Leader via Yahoo News
By Valarie Honeycutt Spears, Tessa Duvall
March 29, 2023

Three Republican state lawmakers said Wednesday they were filing resolutions urging the ouster of Kentucky Education Commissioner Jason Glass, who has been criticized for inclusive LGBTQ policies.

Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington, speaking at a rally hosted by the conservative Family Foundation in the Capitol rotunda, said he was going to file a resolution “for the Kentucky Board of Education to send him packing.”

Calloway’s resolution, filed along with Rep. Bill Wesley, R-Ravenna, urges the Kentucky Board of Education to dismiss Glass but is not binding in any way.

“My children don’t belong to the government. They don’t belong to the school,” Calloway said. “And they also do not belong to Commissioner Jason Glass. ... We are not going to stand idly by and let these things happen.”

Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, filed a similar resolution urging the state board to dismiss Glass.

Glass has a four year contract with the Kentucky Board of Education, expiring in September of 2024, said Kentucky Department of Education spokesperson Toni Konz Tatman.

For the Republicans it their way or the highway.

So You Say That There Is No Difference.

Kentucky Republican legislature passes anti-trans bill, Democratic governor shoots it down!

Kentucky governor vetoes sweeping GOP transgender measure

AP News

By Bruce Schereiner

March 24, 2023

Kentucky’s Democratic governor issued an election-year veto Friday of a sweeping Republican bill aimed at regulating the lives of transgender youths that includes banning access to gender-affirming health care and restricting the bathrooms they can use.

The bill also bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools and allows teachers to refuse to refer to transgender students by the pronouns they use. It easily passed the GOP-dominated legislature with veto-proof margins, and lawmakers will reconvene next week for the final two days of this year’s session, when they could vote to override the veto.

Gov. Andy Beshear said in a written veto message that the bill allows “too much government interference in personal healthcare issues and rips away the freedom of parents to make medical decisions for their children.”

Do you still think that there is no difference between the parties?

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Read and watch (She is the first one to testify) what a 100 year old great grandmother had to say...

The Advocate reported.

“One of the freedoms that the Nazis crushed was the freedom to read the books they banned,” she said. “They stopped the free press and banned and burned books. The freedom to read, which is protected by the First Amendment, is our essential right and duty of our democracy. Even so, it is continually under attack by both the public and private groups who think they hold the truth.”

[...]

“Banning books and burning books are the same. Both are done for the same reason—fear of knowledge. Fear is not freedom. Fear is not liberty. Fear is control. My husband died as a father of freedom,” she said.

A centenarian gets it! To bad the Republicans can't get it through their thick skulls.

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Update 3/29/23 5:30 PM

This just in...

GOP lawmakers override veto of transgender bill in Kentucky
AP News
By Bruce Schreiner
March 29, 2023

Republican lawmakers in Kentucky on Wednesday swept aside the Democratic governor’s veto of a bill regulating some of the most personal aspects of life for transgender young people — from banning access to gender-affirming health care to restricting the bathrooms they can use.

The votes to override Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto were lopsided in both legislative chambers — where the GOP wields supermajorities — and came on the next-to-last day of this year’s legislative session.

The debate is likely to spill over into this year’s gubernatorial campaign in Kentucky and could reach the courts if opponents follow through on a threat to mount a legal challenge against the bill.

Activists on both sides of the impassioned debate gathered at the statehouse to make competing appeals shortly before lawmakers took up the transgender bill.

So you think that there is no difference between the Reds and the Blues?

Another One Bites The Dust.

Another state passed a “bathroom bill,”

Idaho governor signs transgender bathroom bill
The Hill
By Brooke Migdon
March 24, 2023

Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, this week signed legislation barring transgender students from using school facilities consistent with their gender identity, making the state the third this year — and this week — to enact such a law.

Little quietly signed Idaho’s Senate Bill 1100 Thursday without comment. The measure, first introduced in mid-February, sailed through the state’s GOP-controlled legislature, passing each chamber with an overwhelming majority.

The new law, effective July 1, prevents transgender public school students from using multiperson restrooms or locker rooms that match their gender identity. The law’s restrictions do not extend to single-occupancy facilities.

It also prohibits them from sleeping in the same room as their peers or sharing a bathroom or changing area during overnight field trips authorized by the school.

Okay think about this.

Suppose you are unable to tell a trans girl from the other girls, will she get challenged going to the bathroom?

Suppose you can tell a trans girl from the other girls, will she get challenged going to the bathroom?

Suppose a cis-gender girl from the other girls looks masculine, will she get challenged going to the bathroom?

This bill will be a disaster! Can you imagine being that girl? Always having your gender question all because some old white men are afraid that they might unknowingly have the hots for a trans woman.

“These bills will not accomplish anything other than to further alienate and stigmatize those already on the margins of life in this state,” she said.

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The madness continues...

The Republicans are in a feeding frenzy!

Anything remotely connected with LGBTQ+ they are going after… the latest!

Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton's 'acceptance' song banned from school for being 'too controversial'
VT
By Asiya Ali
March 27, 2023

A Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton song collaboration was believed to be "too controversial" to be performed by students at a school.

First-grade students at Heyer Elementary in Waukesha, Wisconsin were set to sing 'Rainbowland' - a 2017 duet between Cyrus and Parton from the former's 2017 album Younger Now - before administrators for the school district banned the song ahead of the spring concert, per The New York Post.

On the setlist of the concert was Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World', 'Rainbow Connection' by Kermit the Frog from The Muppet Movie, and Dolly Parton's duet with Miley Cyrus. However, both 'Rainbowland' and 'Rainbow Connection' was barred from the song selection after the board of education deemed the lyrics to be contentious.

A dual language teacher at the school named Melissa Tempel took to her social media page to express frustration over the board for banning the song which preaches acceptance.

"My first graders were so excited to sing 'Rainbowland' for our spring concert, but it has been vetoed by our administration. When will it end?" Tempel wrote on Twitter.

So what set off the old biddies?

The lyrics…

Rainbowland Lyrics

"Hey Miley
It's me, I'm in Nashville
I'm on my way to Dollywood, busy as you are
Can't get enough stuff to do, can't
But anyway, I'm excited about singing with you
So I'm just gonna turn my, CD player on with you singing
I'm gon' put this on a cassette
Sing along with it, and then I'll run you off a CD later
Oh, I'm so high tech
I got a flip phone, too
But anyhow, see what you think
And um, here I go"
Come on
Living in a Rainbowland
Where everything goes as planned
And I smile
'Cause I know if we try, we could really make a difference in this world
I won't give up, I'll sleep a wink
It's the only thought I think, you know where I stand
I believe we can start living in a Rainbowland
Living in a Rainbowland
Where you and I go hand in hand
Oh, I'd be lying if I said this was fine
All the hurt and the hate going on here
We are rainbows, me and you
Every color, every hue
Let's shine on through
Together, we can start living in a Rainbowland
Living in a Rainbowland
The skies are blue and things are grand
Wouldn't it be nice to live in paradise
Where we're free to be exactly who we are
Let's all dig down deep inside
Brush the judgment and fear aside
Make wrong things right
And end the fight
'Cause I promise ain't nobody gonna win (come on)
Living in a Rainbowland
Where you and I go hand in hand
Oh, I'd be lying if I said this was fine
All the hurt and the hate going on here
We are rainbows, me and you
Every color, every hue
Let's shine on through
Together, we can start living in a Rainbowland
Living in a Rainbowland
Where you and I go hand in hand together (let's do it together)
Chase dreams forever
I know there's gonna be a greener land
We are rainbows, me and you
Every color, every hue
Let's shine on
Together, we can start living in a Rainbowland
"Hey Miley
Look, I know it sounds scrambled when I'm singing it with you
Wish I could do a little better
At least, I might not get it all the way through
'Cause I'm not sure of the structure without you
But I think this could work well, don't you?
If not, like I said
I'll write that love song for you
You probably wrote it about some boy you loved, didn't ya?
Well"

When will this craziness end?

Yup, It Didn’t Take Long.

Out of the hundreds and hundreds of mass killers… one just one by a trans person has brought out the conservatives to gloat.

The Far Right Is Exploiting the Nashville Tragedy to Promote Transphobia
As soon as it became known that the shooter may have identified as trans, the right-wing media outrage ecosystem went to work.
The Advocate
By Christopher Wiggins
March 28 2023

Even before police officials in Tennessee identified the person responsible for murdering three children and three adults in the latest mass school shooting in the U.S., far-right extremists and transphobic people began spreading misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation focused on transgender people and not guns.

After Nashville police officials announced that the shooter, 28-year-old Audrey E. Hale — a former student at the Covenant School — identified as transgender, right-wing circles wasted no time and immediately began exploiting the tragedy for political opportunities to attack transgender people.

Officials initially identified the shooter as a female and experts remarked on the rarity with which mass shooters are female; however, Hale's LinkedIn profile reportedly indicated that Hale used he and him pronouns. Hale died in the shootout with police.

The usual drum beaters are leading the parade…

Georgia Republican firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is proudly and vocally transphobic, implied that because the shooter was trans, they were mentally ill and suffering from side effects of their gender-affirming care.

“How much hormones like testosterone and medications for mental illness was the transgender Nashville school shooter taking? Everyone can stop blaming guns now,” she tweeted.

And there is pushback…

Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, an organization calling for better gun laws, also called out Greene's posts.

"The shooter had access to two AR-style rifles, an AR-style handgun, and a handgun, but a Congresswoman is blaming the trans community for gun violence. People who are trans are much more likely to be the victims of violent crime than the perpetrators. It’s the guns," Watts wrote.

The Daily Beast wrote,

“Why are some trans people so angry, and why do they seem to be mad specifically at traditional Christians?” Carlson asked Tuesday, echoing a similar line to that of other conservative commentators in the wake of Monday’s shooting.

To make his point, the Fox News host cited three examples of gender-nonconforming people who were responsible for threats or violence in recent years—largely without context. There have been more than 300 mass shootings in the United States since 2009, according to Everytown For Gun Safety, a pro-gun control nonprofit.

Here is my prediction.

The Second Amendment group will by calling for laws banning gun ownership by trans people because we are “mentally ill.” You watch, the usual suspect Republican states will propose laws banning gun ownership by us.

The Insider said;

Following a deadly shooting at an elementary school in Tennessee, some prominent Republicans are highlighting evidence that the perpetrator was transgender — and suggesting that gender identity played a role in causing the violence.

Details continue to emerge about the shooting, but there is no evidence to suggest that identifying as transgender leads to a propensity for inflicting violence.

By contrast, several studies have found that transgender people face disproportionate levels of violence by virtue of their identity.

Nashville television station WION said;

In the aftermath of the deadly Nashville shooting where six people were killed including three nine-year-olds, a section of the US media is trying to conjure a connection to transgender activism. As per claims made in these reports, the shooting carried out by 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a transgender person, took place days ahead of the so-called 'Trans Day of Vengeance', which was purported to be held on March 31-April 1.

The reports are referring to websites and Twitter posts of a so-called Trans Radical Activist Network (TRAN), which appears to have made a call-to-action to 'end trans genocide'. 

Anyone ever heard of this organization? I haven’t. What about 'Trans Day of Vengeance'? I thinks these are figments of the right-wing imagination.

Some reports also claimed that the group was raising money for firearms training for the group members. The Twitter handle of the account has been locked with tweets only visible to the followers. 

The right-wing propaganda machine has been cranked up on Maximum.

Much of this reporting is coming from right-wing media outlets in the US. It is not clear if Hale was in any way associated with the movement or inspired by the call-to-action.

Yeah, sadly we saw the right-wing conservative media blitz coming as soon as the media said the shooter was trans.

Violence is never the answer, we must respond with our voice and the voting box. 

A Bucket Of Ice Water.

The Florida “Don’t Say Gay” bill or as it is formally know as HB 1557 and it has had a very chilling effect of the schools in Florida. The pogrom against us has grown much since the bill was passed last year, it has spread to healthcare, books, and drag queens.

One Year After “Don’t Say Gay,” Florida Parents Say They’re Enraged and Afraid
Gov. DeSantis’ anti-LGBTQ+ crusade has left parents of queer and trans kids devastated. Many say they’re ready to move, yet many more say they’ll stay and fight back.
them
By Colleen Hamilton
March 27, 2023

In early February, a massive carpool descended on Tallahassee, Florida’s capital. Dozens of middle and high schoolers had missed Geometry and English class for the occasion; parents had taken hard earned days off work to chaperone their children. However, this was no school sanctioned event. It was the final deliberation meeting of the Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine, which would determine whether the state would move forward with a ban on gender-affirming care for trans and nonbinary youth. 

Although the Boards had been discussing a potential ban for months, this was the first and only chance the public would have to voice their concerns about the rule. For the young people who had traveled to Tallahassee that day, the decision would have an immeasurable impact on their lives. School would have to wait.

DeSantis did an end run around the state legislature and having open debate, he chose to do it by a fatwa from the Department of Health.

Unlike other states that have banned gender-affirming care through their state houses, Florida’s ban will enter into effect exclusively through the state’s medical board, without the vote of any elected officials. This means advocates and organizers have not had a fair chance to lobby against it, and their only opportunity to appeal will be through a right-leaning Federal Court system. In fact, the Tampa Bay Times has reported that members of the Board of Medicine who were appointed by Gov. DeSantis have contributed over $80,000 to his campaigns and political action committee. 

He “has figured out a way to subvert the democratic process, subvert the legislature, and utilize politically-appointed people who he can put into power at his will,” said Simone Chriss, Director of the Transgender Rights Initiative at Southern Legal Counsel.

But… you always know that there is a but. In this case the law suit against HB1557 was tossed out on a technicality by a federal judge but has been refiled.

Some parents are fleeing the state and other are staying to fight!

Other LGBTQ+ parents say they see staying put as their responsibility. “When your freedoms are literally being taken away, you have to fight,” said Janelle Perez, who lives in Miami with her wife and two children. Her family fled to Florida from Cuba, and the efforts that they’ve made to build a life — a neighborhood full of siblings, devoted grandparents, supportive queer friends — are too immense to leave behind. “I’m not going to let these people push us out,” she said. “We want people to come here and organize and support us.” 

This echoes a sentiment shared by many parents and youth organizers. They worry that if supportive adults leave the state, queer and trans children will be left to fend for themselves in an increasingly hostile political environment.

“We’re trying to combat this idea that Florida is a lost cause,” said Fenning. “It’s the third most populous state in the country. There are so many queer people here. We can’t afford to divest from the state in a way that would harm millions of people.”

I don’t hold anything against the parents that are fleeing or staying and fighting. They have to do what they feel is right for their families and no one can judge them for that. It must be a very hard decision to make and they don’t need strangers to second guess them.

Here comes the Judge! They refiled the lawsuit and it is slowly winding its way through the courts.

Simone Chriss, of Southern Legal Counsel, says that she has to constantly remind herself that her work isn’t just about winning legal cases; it’s the fight itself that matters. In her view, this is the far right’s greatest fear: “kids who are comfortable with who they are, who aren’t afraid, who aren’t hiding, and who are going to hold the people in charge accountable.”

My thoughts…

Every parent, every LGBTQ+ person in the state should sue. Thousands and thousand of lawsuits against the school systems. Just flood them with lawsuits!

Every LGBTQ+ person in the state should be knocking on the doors of the Democrat party offices and asking “What can I do to help?” There are simple things that need to be done like stuffing envelops to writing letters-to-the-editors (No anti-LGBTQ+ letter-to-the-editor go unchallenged!), to talking to the legislators, to knocking on doors.

Turn Florida Blue!

Remember as Smokey the Bear says... only you can turn the state Blue, Vote!

You All Probably Have Heard!

That the mass murder was trans. He was trans masculine.

 Nashville Christian school shooter was a former student, police chief says

The shooter, Audrey Hale, 28, of Nashville, carefully planned the attack with detailed maps and surveillance, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said.
NBC News
By David K. Li and Marlene Lenthang
March 27, 2023

The shooter who gunned down three children and three staff members at a Nashville Christian school on Monday was a former student who carefully planned the attack with detailed maps and surveillance, police said.

“We have some writings that we’re going over that pertain to this date, the actual incident,” Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters hours after the shooting at The Covenant School. “We have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place.”

The shooter, Audrey Hale, 28, of Nashville, identified as transgender and had no previous criminal record, according to the chief.

You know damn well that Fox News will condemn all of us. Dozens and dozens of mass murders by white supremacists, at the beginning of March there were over 100 mass shootings and one by a trans person and the conservatives will go ballistic.

Forbes wrote,

Six people, including three children were killed at a Nashville elementary school Monday when a 28-year-old alleged shooter opened fire at the private Christian school, marking a stark contrast to almost all mass shootings in recent years—this time, the alleged assailant was a woman.

[…]

Before Monday’s shooting, there had only been four women assailants in 172 mass shootings in the U.S., as documented by The Violence Project since 1966, which documents shootings involving at least four fatalities, not including the shooter.

An article on ABC News reported that,

A police spokesperson told ABC News that Hale was assigned female at birth, and pointed to a social media account linked to Hale that included use of the pronouns he/him.

The article goes on to say,

A neighbor of the family told ABC News that Audrey Hale lived at the family's home with Hale's parents, who the neighbor described as "very nice" and "very religious."

You know the conservatives will only see “trans” and not that she is a man.

Violence is never justified.

Shooting Their Citizen In The Feet.

In their haste in passing laws against diversity the are creating financial hardships to their citizens, they are passing laws against ESG. What is ESG you ask? They’re funds that consider environmental, social and governance issues. They are what the right-wing conservatives called “WOKE” so they are trying to ban their citizens from investing in funds that invest in ESGs.

Retirement funds for teachers and firefighters are caught in ESG crossfire

Business groups, labor unions and others are sounding off against state GOP efforts to bar public pensions from making environmentally and socially conscious investments.

NBC News

By Nidhi Sharma

March 26, 2023

A growing wave of public pension administrators, business groups and labor unions are sending a message to Republicans looking to curb so-called “woke” investing: our money, our choice.

Regulatory efforts to stop money from going to funds that consider environmental, social and governance issues, commonly known as ESG investing, have typically targeted big Wall Street asset managers. Now, public pensions are increasingly caught in the crosshairs and with them the retirement funds of teachers, librarians, firefighters and other public service employees.

But while opponents of the anti-ESG restrictions are getting louder, their dissent hasn’t yet stopped the tide.

[…]

At least seven red states have implemented or are considering regulations banning public entities from considering ESG factors when investing state resources, according to a Harvard University report. Eight states have advanced bills or directives that target companies or banks accused of boycotting investments in oil and gas or firearms.

So now the Republicans are telling you how to invest!

Now their citizens who have invested their retire accounts will have to sell them off maybe at a lost!

“These states talk about limited government, the free market, and now are using government regulations and legislation to actually curtail the responsibilities and the fiduciary obligations of retirement systems,” said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, which boasts some 1.7 million members. “They are using the government to intrude upon and undermine the needs of retirees.”

[…]

“The anti-ESG movement is a political show because it’s creating an enemy when there isn’t one, in order to appear defensive of the fossil fuel industry,” she said.

The unions, state pension plans, employee retirement funds they will all have to sell off their investments foe a loss and create anarchy in the financial system. There are no guidelines; is a solar panel company ESG, what about a company that makes their window AC units more efficient, or a company that does diversity training, or for that matter suppose that their company business is only 25 or 30 diversity training and the rest of their business is payroll processing… does that qualify as an ESG company? How much of fund's investments in ESG will qualify for blacklisting the fund, 20%? 30%, 50%?

This is going to be a nightmare!

So much for getting the government off our backs. First they tell us what we can do with our bodies, then they tell us what we can and cannot say and what books we can read!

---

Government buttinskies!

Experts: Guarding schools against litigation can produce unforeseen consequences

The Herald Bulletin

By Andy Knight

March 25, 2023

In addition to arousing passions about an issue fraught with political and moral overtones, South Madison Community Schools Corp.’s gender support plan presents a legal conundrum.

Specifically, when the gender identity choices of minor students collide with parents’ interests in knowing about issues affecting their children while they’re at school, which side should ultimately prevail?

“Schools are kind of on a tightrope here,” South Madison Superintendent Mark Hall said. “We have to protect student privacy. We also are trying to be cognizant of parents getting the information that’s important to them about their kids. So we are kind of in a really tight spot.”

[…]

As a public school system that receives millions of dollars in federal funding annually, South Madison is obligated to adhere to guidelines set forth by the federal Office of Civil Rights, Hall said.

He pointed to the U.S. Department of Education’s interpretation of Title IX. The DOE “interprets Title IX’s prohibition on sex discrimination to encompass discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

And let us not forget the Supreme Court decision on Title IX in the Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board case. After the Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the ruling in favor of Gavin on August 26, 2020. But that goes in one ear and out the other, the Republicans don’t care what the law is they just want to win points from their base and even if it gets shot down by the courts the Republicans will be out their blaming the “liberal courts.”

In another decision in 2017, the federal Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled that Title IX, as a matter of law, requires public schools to permit transgender students to use restrooms corresponding to their gender identities. The school district in that case, Kenosha Unified School District in Wisconsin, appealed the decision to the Supreme Court before settling with the transgender student who brought the suit.

Hall and other local school officials believe it’s inevitable that the high court will be asked to rule on the issue.

Yup, they want it to go to the Supreme Court hoping that after being packed by McConnell and Trump with religious conservatives they will find in their favor. 

The Insanity Continues!

Get a load of the latest complaint of the buttinskies... try not to laugh.

Michelangelo’s “David” is pornographic. Yup you are reading correctly.

The line between art and pornography is at the center of an education dispute after a Florida charter school principal resigned following accusations that middle school students were shown inappropriate adult content.

At issue? Students in the school were shown images of Michelangelo’s Renaissance period sculpture “David,” leading to complaints that the children were shown pornographic material.

WGN Ch 9

By: Sam Sachs

March 24, 2023

The line between art and pornography is at the center of an education dispute after a Florida charter school principal resigned following accusations that middle school students were shown inappropriate adult content.

At issue? Students in the school were shown images of Michelangelo’s Renaissance period sculpture “David,” leading to complaints that the children were shown pornographic material.

[…]

Principal Hope Carrasquilla, according to the Democrat, resigned Monday after the school board chair told her to resign or be fired. Chair Barney Bishop confirmed to the Democrat that he gave Carrasquilla that ultimatum, but would not explain why due to “advice” from the school’s attorney. Parents were informed by email on Monday.

The Florida Times-Union wrote,

The statue depicts David, hero of the Jewish Torah and Christian Bible who slew Goliath and went on to become a king. Most depictions of David in paintings and sculptures to that point showed him as a boy facing or standing over the fallen giant, but the 26-year-old Michelangelo depicted him as a muscular nude man, alone and defiant, before the fight. The sculpture is a symbol of the strength and independence of the Florentines, according to the Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze, the museum which displays it, and it has become of the world's most recognizable and treasured works of art.

[…]

There are copies of "David" all over the world, including a cast-bronze replica in the courtyard of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota where it became the focus of the official seal of the city.

 The Witch Hunt continues, now even the Greek classic are not immune!

---

They know not what they are doing. They don't know and don't want to know the harm that they are doing to the children!

A clueless Capitol and its obsession with drag shows | Steve Bousquet
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Steve Bousquet
March 26, 2023

The Florida Legislature has become a parody of itself.

A state Capitol that was once a place of stirring debate on the overriding issues of the day is now all about “prosthetic genitals.” Tallahassee has lost its way. That’s what happens when one party has total control.

The latest illustration of the Legislature’s flight from reality came Friday in the House Commerce Committee as Republicans pushed ahead with a bill they say is for “protection of children.”

The hypocrisy is staggering.

Too many Florida kids go to bed at night hungry, and too many others die or suffer life-altering trauma from gun violence.

But some of the same House members who a few hours later Friday voted to legalize the permitless carrying of concealed weapons have decided that the real danger to our kids is not loaded guns.

It’s drag shows.

You may have been cancelled by your property insurance carrier, or someone you care about is couch-surfing to avoid living on the streets. But the supermajority in Tallahassee is fighting to protect kids from, among other things, “the lewd exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts.”

[…]

“Fortunately, I personally have very little personal experience with these kinds of things,” he said.

You got that?

He doesn’t know what it is but he’s protecting the children… from what? He doesn’t know but he’s protecting them!

The Democrats are not buying it!

Democrats call the bill overly subjective. They pelted Fine with questions for more than an hour, asking him to define “knowingly,” and “lewd,” and what constitutes a “live” performance, and whether Pride parades with drag performers might be outlawed.

If kids at drag shows are off limits, Fine was asked, what about a gathering at Hooters where the waitress sings Happy Birthday?

“It’s not a show in front of a live audience,” Fine said.

[…]

Rep. Dotie Joseph, D-North Miami, called Fine’s bill “state-sponsored homophobia” and added: “It’s bludgeoning businesses over the head for supporting a community that needs our help more than ever.”

Opponents accused Republicans of creating a “manufactured moral panic” in Florida.

Friday’s vote was 13 to 6. Every yes vote was cast by Republicans, and every no vote was cast by Democrats.

So you think that there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats?

---

A drag story hour got firebombed in Ohio!

Fox 8 reports,

A local church says it was vandalized on Friday ahead of its drag show brunch and story hour planned for April 1.

The Community Church of Chesterland said in a press release that its sign was destroyed by Molotov cocktails leaving minimal damage to the church, which was unoccupied at the time, and no injuries.

“Despite the minimal damage, the church is taking extraordinary security precautions ahead of the planned protest scheduled for April 1 and services will resume as scheduled,” the church said.

Also, a sign that usually hangs in the front portion of the church was smashed with a sledgehammer.

“That kind of violence is pitiful. There are people who say, ‘think of the children, think of the children.’ Well, children go here. We have a preschool here,” said Pastor Jess Peacock.

Think what it is teaching the children about violence?

Fallout!

All this anti-LGBTQ+ animosity is having its toll on us and others, they are running scared.

NHL team won’t wear Pride jerseys, citing new Russian law

AP News

By Jay Cohen and Stephen Whyno

March 24, 2023

A National Hockey League team with a Russian player has decided against wearing special warmup jerseys to commemorate Pride night, citing an anti-gay Kremlin law that could imperil Russian athletes when they return home.

The Chicago Blackhawks, who have at least two more players with connections to Russia, will not wear Pride-themed warmup jerseys before Sunday’s game against Vancouver, a person with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press, because of security concerns involving the law, which expands restrictions on supporting LGBTQ rights. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed it in December.

The decision was made by the Blackhawks following discussions with security officials within and outside the franchise, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke Wednesday to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the move.

The Dessert News wrote…

The Minnesota Wild’s second annual Pride Night sparked confusion Tuesday after the team scrapped one of the planned events with little warning or explanation.

Although some Wild players had rainbow-colored tape on their sticks during warmups, they did not wear Pride-themed warmup jerseys. The jerseys had been advertised in advance of the game, along with the team’s plans to auction them off.

While the Washington Blade in January said,

New York LGBTQ Rangers fans were disappointed after the National Hockey League team forwent wearing the team’s special warm-up jerseys and using Pride stick tape during the team’s 7th annual Pride Night Friday.

The Rangers had promoted Friday night’s Madison Square Garden home game against Vegas Golden Knights, saying players “will be showing their support by donning pride-themed warm-up jerseys and tape in solidarity with those who continue to advocate for inclusivity.”  But ultimately the team wore their “Liberty Head” jerseys in warmups instead.

Will the Hartford Yard Goats drop their Pride Night? What about Connecticut Sun, the women’s basketball team at Mohegan Sun? Will they run scared?

And their excuse! They worry about their Russian players???? Why?

They worry that they might embarrass them? They are worried about offending the Russian people? The ones that support an invasion of a country? That “Does not compute.”

I believe that the real reason is they afraid of antagonizing their right-wing base. They are afraid that it will hurt their bottom line.

Big Or Small? That Is The Question

There is a new kid on the block, they question is will they play with others.

I am not saying that I am against them but only that we have to be be aware that it can happen and guard against it.

Pa. LGBTQ leaders create statewide advocacy organization

The group, Keystone Equality, is meant to mirror the diversity of LGBTQ communities

Philadelphia Gay News

By Michele Zipkin

February 7, 2023

In an effort to advance LGBTQ inclusion in Pennsylvania, leaders from across the state formed Keystone Equality, a nonpartisan organization with a goal of organizing statewide LGBTQ advocacy initiatives. The organization’s membership will accomplish this via community building within local, state and federal governments; and it will work to get LGBTQ community supporters elected, facilitate LGBTQ voter participation and convey to government officials that LGBTQ Pennsylvanians have political power. 

“We have been in need of a state-wide LGBT group for some time now,” said Keystone Equality Board Co-Chair Bre Reynolds, president and founder of the Clinton County LGBTQ+ Network. “Several folks came to the table from a variety of different areas to start this. It’s very necessary with the way politics are going these days, with the way that the elections shook out in the fall.”

I agree we need a  state-wide LGBT group, but… but…

Will they dominate in the state.

2011 Celebrating the passing on the
non-discrimination law 

I was there in the beginning when CT Equality was formed with a grant from Love Makes a Family. Back in 2010 the focus was on passing the gender inclusive none discrimination law. Then it kind of faded into the background but it was recreated a couple of years ago to dominate.

Back then a question was raised and never answered… what about the smaller LGBTQ orgainizations like the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective and outCT will they be pushed aside? What will happen to them in their quest for funding? What about when the media reaches out for interviews who will they ask? Will a national advocacy organization be good for the states?

Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head

Saturday 9: Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head (1969)

On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…

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

1) In this week's song, BJ Thomas sings that he knows it won't be long until he finds happiness. What are you looking forward to today? What's going to make you smile?

Babies, puppies, kittens...

2) BJ Thomas met his wife Gloria at a bar. She was there with his drummer, but BJ let his friend know he felt a connection to Gloria and was going to drive her home. BJ and Gloria were married for 50 years, until his death. Have you and a friend ever found yourselves attracted to the same person? If yes, how did you handle it?

Nope.

3) This song is from Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, which has been called "the most entertaining Western ever made." Do you enjoy Westerns?

Yes and no. All westerns are not made the same. Some are really bloody and gory and some are not. There is a difference between old time westerns and the new blood and guts western. In the old days a bad guy in western who got shot clutched his stomach and died, not there is blood and guts splattered over the walls, and they show a body with its head blown off.

4) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is one of the most popular movies Paul Newman made, but he liked to say his "favorite role is philanthropist." He raised an amazing $500 million for children's charities through his Newman's Own brand. The most popular Newman's Own product is salad dressing. What flavor of salad dressing would we find in your kitchen right now?

Well if you open my refrigerators door you will see a whole row of salad dressing… some going back over a year.

I have driven by Newman's Hole in the Wall children’s camp and I usually only buy Newman's Own brand of juice, spaghetti sauce and salad dressing. The old camp burned down and the new camp is just reopening.

5) Burt Bacharach won the first of his three Oscars for this song. Yet 20th Century Fox originally wanted to cut the song from the movie, maintaining that that song and the famous "bicycle sequence" between Paul Newman and Katharine Ross were anachronistic and made the movie too long. Burt and the movie's director George Roy Hill fought for it, insisting that it helped define the optimistic character of Butch. Tell us about a time you were glad you stood your ground.

When I decided to get my MSW there was some opposition to it.

6) Edith Head also won an Oscar for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. She said that Robert Redford, who played Sundance, presented a wardrobe problem. His jawline is too strong so she had to create special wider-brimmed hats to balance it. If you could magically change one of your physical features, which would you choose? And which feature would you never change?

My face.

One thing I wish would disappear is my belly. 

7) In 1969, when this song was a hit, The Beatles played their last concert on the roof of Abbey Road Studios. When did you last climb onto the roof?

Not for a very long time ago, but I will tell you a story of when I was around 16,

We were using a snow coaster as a frisbee and it landed up on our roof. So I climbed up on the roof of the our ranch style home on the sunny side of the roof. I took one step from the sunny side to the shady side and zip… it was all ice and I slid all the down and off the roof on to the drivway.

Just then my mother came out looking for me. I zipped over her head and on to the driveway, rolled and got up. Being a teenager I tried to act nonchalant after having fallen off the roof and said “You wanted me?” Needless to say my mother was freaking out.

8) Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries sold at a brisk pace at Christmastime 1969. They're still popular today. Were you a fan?

No I was in my 20s and those books were too young for me.

9) Random question: Do you consider yourself old fashioned?

No, but the younger generation does.

***

Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid brings back many a memory for me, I went on a first date, I had graduated from high school two years earlier  and I just got a date with a high school senior that i had a crush on and we went to watch the movie.

Afterward I went out and bought the album, and somewhere I still have the ticket stub from the movie.