Have You Noticed?

That there has been an increase in pro-LGBTQ+ articles? I don’t know if is because of some computer program deciding that is what I want to read or if there really is an increase in articles.

Anyhow, USA Today has a good article about us.

'War' on LGBTQ existence: 8 ways the record onslaught of 650 bills targets the community
USA Today
By Susan Miller
March 31, 2023

LGBTQ people are under siege by a staggering number of bills across the U.S. with a deliberate aim, a new report says: to expunge the community.

So far in 2023, 46 states have introduced more than 650 anti-LGBTQ bills, according to a report by the Movement Advancement Project, or MAP, a think tank that researches LGBTQ issues and laws.

Young people, particularly those who are transgender, are being targeted, MAP's research shows: More than 160 anti-LGBTQ school-specific bills were unveiled in state legislatures in just the first two months of the year.

"It’s clear that we are in a disturbing new era of attacks on our communities, and especially on transgender people," Logan Casey, MAP's senior policy researcher and adviser, told USA TODAY. "This dramatic rise in political attacks clearly illustrates how emboldened anti-LGBTQ activists seem to feel. Over the years we’ve seen many attacks on LGBTQ communities, but this moment is very different and frankly terrifying for many people."

The report has a blunt warning not to view 2023 as a time of progress, marred by setbacks. "In reality, this is a war against LGBTQ people in America and their very right and ability to openly exist," the report says.

Yes, here in Connecticut we had some right-wing bills introduced but they never made it out of committee.

MAP's analysis points to eight distinct legislative fronts that put the community in the crosshairs from school policies on transgender youths to the elimination of harassment protections to book bans. When a bill makes progress in one state, copycat language and similar bills quickly crop up in other states, the report notes, citing coordinated efforts by far-right lobbyists and extremist groups.    

"There are a range of reasons for the rise in these political attacks, including a deliberate misinformation campaign seeking political gain, which exploits the fact that many people are still learning what it means to be transgender," Casey said.

Stop and think for a moment. This isn’t some highbrow newspaper like the New York Times or the Washington Post. This is USA Today who is saying this. The same newspaper stuck under every hotel room door. I think it has a much wider impact than some of the elite media outlets.

The goal is to "force LGBTQ people out of public life," said Naomi Goldberg, MAP's deputy director. "If LGBTQ youth are unmentionable in school, if government cannot collect survey information about LGBTQ people’s lives, and if transgender youth must be called by their old names and pronouns, it will be as if LGBTQ people no longer exist.”

BINGO! They want to force us back to the world of “Father Knows Best” where Blacks knew their place, gays were forced into backstreet bars and we didn’t even exist as far as they are concerned. And is right out of the Lavender Scare... "Are you now or every have been a 'homosexual'?" and the  Anita Bryant's "Save Our Children" campaign.

Here are the eight ways that MAP says LGBTQ people are being targeted:

• Censoring discussions of LGBTQ people in schools
• Enacting school policies that target trans youths
• Eliminating bullying, harassment protections
• Outlawing, criminalizing supportive school environments
• Protecting educators who don't use correct pronouns
• Nixing school survey efforts
• Putting a bulls-eye on libraries
• Regulating drag shows

There were some that I didn’t even think about like “nixing school survey efforts.” Yeah, I can see that. Not allowing surveys like GSLEN annual school climate survey.

I have been saying this for years that they want to "force LGBTQ people out of public life" just like they forced abortion to back-alleys again. They want to force us back into the “Stonewalls” again, where we could get fired for being LGBTQ, and us arrested for not having three pieces of male clothing on.

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Here in Blue Connecticut this can't be happening!

Racist flyers found in Stamford as antisemitic acts double statewide in 2022
Connecticut Public Radio
By Eddy Martinez
March 27, 2023

A Jewish neighborhood in Stamford is one of the latest areas in the region targeted by hate literature from a white supremacist group. The flyers were discovered on driveways in the Pepper Ridge-Springdale neighborhood in mid-March, as antisemitic incidents have risen throughout the state and country, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

Police said they are investigating the incident, and no one has been charged.

The ADL reported that antisemitic incidents in the United States hit an all-time high in 2022, representing the largest number of incidents against the nation’s Jewish population since the organization began tracking in 1979.

For white supremacist groups, the mission of the flyers is simple: quickly promoting their views and raising money, said Stacey Sobel, the regional director for ADL Connecticut. She said residents who find hate flyers should contact police and her organization.

“We call on everyone to stand up,” Sobel said. “We as a community need to speak out.”

But it is!

It takes a village to end the bigotry and to drive them back into the swamp.