Oh really, how many time have you heard that about the Democrats and Republicans?
I was posting some links on Facebook when I ran across this, now tell me do you think that in Republican states you would see this web page on a the state website?
Do you think that you would find a web page like this on the Florida or Texas web pages?We are proud to announce that our staff have received training from the National Resource Center on LGBTQ+ Aging and the State Unit on Aging is now a Safe Space for our friends in the LGBTQ+ community.
What about this? The governor’s Hate Crimes Advisory Council [Which I am a member] do you think you would see anything like this in Republican states?
The Republicans were introduced last year over 510 anti-LGBTQ bills up from 180 in 2022! Democrats, zero!
So I don’t want to hear about not voting this year! Our lives depend upon it!
It is something that trans people know really well... bias crimes and bias speech.
Here is where I stand on the topic of the college protests, if it is peaceful and they are not threatening anyone then it is covered under the 1st Amendment.
But however, Republicans and Democrats see it differently,
By Alexis Simendinger and Kristina KarischApril 29, 2024Pro-Palestine protests on college campuses across the country are here to stay.
From Ivy League universities in New York and the Northeast, to schools in the Midwest, Texas, the South and California, the surge in student activism has resulted in protest encampments and other demonstrations, drawing significant police crackdowns and sometimes appearing to attract outside disruptors. At least 900 protesters have been arrested during demonstrations on college campuses in the last 10 days, according to a Washington Post tally.
So what are they protesting?
It seems to me that the debate is over our country's policy on the middle-East and that is a fair topic to debate.
THE PROTESTS HAVE EMERGED as the latest flashpoint in the internal Democratic debate over the war. Most Democrats say they both support free speech and condemn antisemitism, and consider criticism of the Israeli government to be fair game. But debates over how to distinguish between legitimate criticism of Israel and antisemitic speech are fraught and reaching a fever pitch on campus.[...]THE PROTESTERS ON CAMPUSES are getting very different responses from elected officials in red and blue states. Texas is seeing pushback after state troopers in riot gear arrested more than 50 people at a peaceful demonstration, and Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has threatened expulsion for students who engage in unsanctioned demonstrations, while New York has made clear the National Guard will not be called in as authorities negotiate with Columbia University’s student encampment.
The Republicans believe we should all fall in-line behind them like good little ducks in a row.
“That is a concerning difference,” said Kaivan Shroff, senior adviser to the Institute for Education and a Democratic political strategist. “I think that there is a much more sort of set of standards for protecting free speech and basic human rights in the blue states.” [Their emphasis]
Then we have the Democratic Presidential Convention this year...
The clashes between anti-war protesters and police is spreading alarm among congressional Democrats who worry that anger over Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza could engulf their convention in late August. Images of police arresting students have Democratic lawmakers bracing for chaos in Chicago — where in 1968, the Democratic National Convention was marked by violent clashes between police and anti-Vietnam War protesters. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who attended the 1968 convention, said he’s worried that protests at this year’s convention might overshadow the official proceedings.
I am also worried about the convention.
Let's bust heads! Politico writes,
State troopers and local police this week arrested scores of demonstrators who assembled at flagship public schools in red states with a history of setting trends on free speech, diversity programs and LGBTQ+ issues for the right. Texas institutions are staring down an order from Gov. Greg Abbott to overhaul campus policies. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis is suggesting expelling students who cross the line separating free speech from targeted harassment.[...]Now prominent Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, are calling for National Guard troops to be deployed to clamp down on protests.
“It’s not an accident that it’s Mike Johnson, rather than the Democrats in the House, who are going to Columbia to decry it as insufficiently protective of the sensitivities of a minority group,” Dorf said in an interview. “He’s making the same kinds of claims that the DeSantises of the world were complaining about less than a year ago.”
Gee when and where have we seen that? I know 1970 and Kent State, and my memory of it, it didn't go well. Back then it was a Republican governor that called in the Guard and now it is the Republican governors and Republican Congressional delegates that wanted the Guard to step in to the peaceful demonstrations. They want to show the voters that they are tough on crime even when no laws were broken.
Bias Speech is not a crime! It is a crime only if there are threats made or calls of violence.
Diana, what I see happening qualifies as an installment of "Back to the Future!" I was a college student from 1965 to 1969 and actually strolled onto the protests on the Columbia campus during those occupations. My own campus further uptown was experiencing the same thing. When Kent State happened in May 1970 I was slogging through rice patties as an infantryman. America was in turmoil. I thought we had outgrown all that hate and hostility; obviously we have not!
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