Wednesday, February 12, 2025

So You Think Connecticut Is Blue?

Well you are wrong... Connecticut is a purple state. The cities are a sold blue but everywhere else is sold red! Look at the bills that they have proposed... they are straight out of the Project 2025 handbook!
CT Mirror
by Mark Pazniokas
February 9, 2025


Before President Donald J. Trump signed his executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports, Republicans filed a dozen bills that would do the same thing in Connecticut, where a state law gives trans athletes the right to compete based on their gender identification. 

Other bills filed by outnumbered Republicans in the General Assembly align with Trump’s order aimed at prohibiting gender-affirming medical care for trans people before age 19 and his intention of financially punishing jurisdictions that do not fully cooperate with immigration agents.

Few, if any, of the bills are expected to clear the lowest hurdle of being raised by a legislative committee for a public hearing, but taken together they make a statement about the GOP minority’s identity as it tries to reverse a string of losses since the 2018 midterm elections.

“Certainly, all of those bills make a political statement, but I think they’re all based in sound policy,” said House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford. “So they’re not there to make a statement per se. They’re all substantive issues that we think need to be addressed.”
The bills are not going anywhere, but I am tracking them and also pro-LGBTQ+ legislation.

Elsewhere in Connecticut... the 19th News reported,
Kels Bowman, a doctoral student at Duke University, started tracking period bills in 2018 when dozens were being proposed. Since 2020, about 90 have passed, ranging from bills recognizing menstrual equity in the states to ones putting products in schools. The ones with bipartisan support had the best chance at passing; in some cases, they were introduced by Republicans as well as Democrats. But the language in them changed over time, Bowman noted. 

[...]

In Connecticut, the issue wasn’t controversial at all in 2023, when the state passed a law to put period product dispensers in school bathrooms, including all-gender bathrooms and “at least one men’s restroom” per school. 

The law won’t go into effect until this September, but staff at Brookfield High installed their tampon dispenser in a boys’ bathroom early, in January — and they were the first to see how the law had become more controversial after its passage. Only 22 minutes after the dispenser was installed, students ripped it off the wall and destroyed it, scattering tampons across the floor.
It wasn't an issue until the right-wing made it an issue!

Am I worried... no but I will be tracking their bills but it is not just the bills we have to watch out for it is also amendments, they like to stick poison pill amendments to kill a bill or in "must pass" legislation.

Connecticut is not a Blue state there are a lot of red in the state especially in the suburbs and the rural county outside of the cities. 

Technical Difficulties


I broke the charging cable from my laptop power supply and the replacement isn't coming until sometime Friday.

So I am stuck with using my tablet. 

 

The Best Government Money Can Buy!

Lord knows now that you're not a plaything,
Not a toy, or a puppet on a string.*
Tell me who is running the government? Who is the "President"?


Look at Trump while Musk is talking. You have to wonder who is actually running the government? It looks like Musk is playing Trump like a puppet on a string.
February 11, 2025


Elon Musk on Tuesday defended the work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside President Trump, who invited Musk to speak and sat at the resolute desk as the tech mogul gave a lengthy address.

“The people voted for major government reform and that’s what the people are going to get,” Musk said in response to pushback his work at DOGE has received. “That’s what democracy is all about.”

Musk also said he wants to add “commonsense controls” to government, arguing that his ideas are not “draconian.” And, when asked about personal conflicts of interest with his work overhauling the government, Musk replied, “transparency is what builds trust.”

In the first few weeks of Trump’s presidency, Musk has led an effort to dismantle federal agencies, buy out hundreds of thousands of federal workers from their jobs and take over payment systems within the Treasury Department and other agencies.
Hey Musk! No one elected you. They didn't vote for you! They didn't vote for you gutting the government, they voted about inflation and the economy! 

He lies just like a politician...
As examples of waste, Musk mentioned that people who are 150 years old, so are “probably dead,” are receiving Social Security checks and that bureaucrats with a salary of “a few $100,000” have “somehow managed to accrue tens of millions of dollars in net worth.” He said that happened with U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees, suggesting they “got wealthy at the taxpayers’ expense.”

Musk offered no specific evidence to back up these allegations.
Of course not. he can't find any so he lies, makes things up just like Trump!
Lord knows now that you're not a plaything,
Not a toy, or a puppet on a string.
And Trump is too afraid of him to rain him in,
By Lucy Leeson
February 6, 2025


Donald Trump fears Elon Musk and his “$44 billion megaphone”, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci has claimed.

The financier, who served at the White House in 2017, claimed the new president doesn’t like the attention Musk is getting.

Appearing on ITV’s Peston show on Wednesday (5 February), Mr Scaramucci said: “He doesn’t like the attention that Elon Musk is getting but I don’t think he’s going to go after Elon Musk. I think it’s too dangerous and perilous. I would say both sides feel that way.”
CNN writes that,
Elon Musk’s Oval Office address showed why he’s a menacing foe for the federal government and why President Donald Trump is playing with fire by ceding him so much power.

A portrait of George Washington gazed from the wall as his distant presidential successor put on a show with his billionaire friend Tuesday afternoon. Musk, in a black MAGA hat, long dark coat and with his son X sometimes perched on his shoulders, was framed by an ornate window as snow floated down outside.

The pair made their strongest defense yet of Musk’s operation to purge the federal government, which is imperiling basic services and medical research and desecrating the world’s largest foreign aid mission that has saved millions. 

[...]

But the show was about more than a bid to tamp down growing political consternation over Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

It was an unmistakable statement that true power in Washington lies not with the Congress or the courts, but somewhere in the rich mix of egos between the world’s most powerful man and the world’s richest person.

The spectacle was also an obvious demonstration of unity between Trump and Musk, amid constant speculation about the president’s tolerance for a performer who rivals his love for the spotlight.

And no one should miss this: Trump was immovably installed behind the Resolute Desk, as Musk stood to his right – in a rebuke of a Time Magazine cover that showed the Tesla chief in the seat where the buck stops.
So who is running the government? Trump or Musk?
 There’s rarely been a more vivid demonstration of great wealth bringing great power. Musk was highly respectful of Trump, and they seem to enjoy one another’s company. But with his fortune and pyrotechnical platform on his X network, he’s going to take careful handling by the president.

The joint appearance came as a backlash grows to the blitzkrieg of the bureaucracy being led by Trump and his DOGE boys. The whizz kids sent into federal departments have already shuttered several agencies including USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and are now eyeing bigger prey. 
So I'll ask you again, who is the puppet?
Lord knows now that you're not a plaything,
Not a toy, or a puppet on a string.
And it is not just Trump who fears Musk but Congress!
February 10, 2025


GOP senators are terrified over the prospect of facing primary challengers funded by Elon Musk if they stick their necks out by opposing President Trump’s agenda.

The White House has signaled that Republicans who thwart Trump’s agenda by voting against his controversial nominees or opposing efforts by Musk to freeze government funding and slash federal agencies, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, will pay a political price.

And that’s a threat that carries a lot more weight when Musk, the world’s richest person, could easily pour tens of millions of dollars into a Senate Republican primary.

Musk warned Republican lawmakers in December that he was compiling a “naughty list” of members who buck Trump’s agenda. He also pledged shortly after Election Day that his political action committee would “play a significant role in primaries” next year.
I want you to remember three things...
  • First... Citizen United removed the laws governing limiting the amount of money a person can spend on elections... Musk gave $290 million to Trump's campaign!
  • Second, Musk gave a Nazi salute at Trump's inauguration!
  • Third, mid-term elections are in 2026!
*Cry Like a Baby Song by The Box Tops

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Ethnic Cleansing

By now you probably have heard that Trump wants to send "peace keepers" to take over Gaza but you haven't heard as Paul Harvey used to say the "rest of the story."
With Gaza Plan, an Unbound Trump Pushes an Improbable Idea
Once a critic of nation building, the president now envisions taking over a Middle East enclave, driving out its Palestinian population and transforming it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
The New York Times
By Peter Baker
Feb. 5, 2025
 
 
President Trump basked as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel praised his “willingness to think outside the box.” But when it came to Gaza, Mr. Trump’s thinking on Tuesday was so far outside the box that it was not clear he even knew there was a box.

Mr. Trump’s announcement that he intends to seize control of Gaza, displace the Palestinian population and turn the coastal enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East” was the kind of thing he might have said to get a rise on “The Howard Stern Show” a decade or two ago. Provocative, intriguing, outlandish, outrageous — and not at all presidential.

But now in his sequel term in the White House, Mr. Trump is advancing ever-more brazen ideas about redrawing the map of the world in the tradition of 19th-century imperialism. First there was buying Greenland, then annexing Canada, reclaiming the Panama Canal and renaming the Gulf of Mexico. And now he envisions taking over a devastated war zone in the Middle East that no other American president would want.
 
[...]
 
 Then at a formal news conference with Mr. Netanyahu in the East Room on Tuesday evening, he took it the final step, declaring not just that Palestinians should leave but that “the U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip” and rebuild it into a prosperous economic destination.

This was not a temporary takeover, but “a long-term ownership position” and he made clear that he had no intention of turning Gaza back over to the Palestinians but would make it a place “not for a specific group of people but for everybody.”
But it even gets crazier... 
“Is he talking in geopolitical terms, or does he simply see Gaza as a massive beachfront development project?” Mr. Elgindy asked. “And for whose benefit? Certainly not Palestinians, who are to be ‘relocated’ en masse. Will the U.S. be the new occupier in Gaza, replacing the Israelis? What U.S. interest could this possibly serve?”
As if it couldn't even get nuttier and we find out that it is not more than a land grab to build a playground for the rich and famous like Monte Carlo.
He seemed to be picking up an idea floated last year by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who noted in an interview that “Gaza’s waterfront property could be very valuable” and suggested Israel “move the people out and then clean it up.” But Mr. Kushner did not seem to envision forcing Palestinians out permanently or an American takeover.
 Of course all the billionaires are lining up to get a piece of the action.
 
The Daily Mail writes...
Trump, who spent his career as a property developer, has long talked up Gaza's coastal location and pleasant climate as a perfect holiday vacation.

In his vision, US reconstruction would create thousands of jobs and spare Palestinians the pain and expense of rebuilding once again.

That would also mean relocating 1.8 million Palestinians to other regions.

However, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for the United Nations to 'protect the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights,' saying that what Trump wanted to do would be 'a serious violation of international law.'
Hey it will not be the first time Trump thumbed his nose at the laws!
 
I wonder if there will be a new "Trump Towers" there?

This Is Big!

This is a stab in the back, this is an "Et tu, Brute" betrayal.
Staffers have slammed the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children for rolling over without a fight.
LGBTQ Nation
By Greg Owen Monday
February 10, 2025


The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) was ordered to erase any mention of trans youth from public-facing media and resources last week or face losing its funding from Donald Trump’s Justice Department.

The nonprofit complied.

Independent journalist Marisa Kabas first reported the order on Thursday. A staff meeting held on Friday confirmed the purge of materials referencing trans youth.

“All statements on all public facing material—including the website, reporting, training materials and survivor presentations—that spoke about genders other than male or female had to be edited to reflect male or female,” an NCMEC staff member told Kabas. “If those materials were not easily editable, they were to be removed.”
It is not just us that has been wiped out it is...
By Friday, NCMEC’s website had been scrubbed of all mentions of LGBTQ+ youth.
This is horrible! They caved-in without a fight when Lord Donald focused in on them they decreed all funding for us must stop!
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said it would be removing all references to transgender people from its public materials.
NBC News
By Kevin Collier and Ben Goggin
February 7, 2025


[...]

“Earlier this week, like many federally funded non-profits, NCMEC was directed by DOJ to comply with Executive Order 14168,” a NCMEC spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We are responding to this direction in a balanced way reviewing our publicly facing materials to ensure compliance while not impacting our 40-year mission of child protection.”

As a nonprofit, NCMEC relies heavily on grant money from the Department of Justice. It is the nation’s largest private sector organization to search for missing and exploited children, and it coordinates with law enforcement and tech companies to identify and remove child sexual abuse material.

[....]

Groups that advocate for transgender people condemned the move by NCMEC as singling out and demonizing people who are already marginalized.

“Missing persons organizations’ support should be available to all, and a minority group of children shouldn’t be targeted by the government,” the board of the Trans Doe Task Force, a trans-led nonprofit that searches for missing and murdered trans people, said in an emailed statement. “Many LGBTQIA+ children have gone missing due to unsafe conditions at home and unsupportive families.”
Back when I was interning for my MSW one of my assignments with the non-profit was to attend a meeting with Judicial Branch Court Support Services Division. Wow, fancy name but it didn't prepare me for what was ahead. At the meeting the agency was looking for shelter for a trans girl.

It is children like her, children that are thrown out on the streets that Trump is cutting funding to!

The girl was thrown out of her house in New York by her parents when she told them she was trans, she found her way to the bus station in Bridgeport. She was picked up by a pimp, hooked on heroin, forced in prosecution, busted, turns in her pimp, the pimp puts a contract out her, and she is shot on the court steps. At the meeting Court Support Service people said that they couldn't find and shelters to take her in... could we help?

Children like her are the people Trump wants to throw out on the streets!

The Modesto Bee wrote about it affecting Pride centers...
Veronica Ambrose, a community organizer at MoPride, said that while the DEI executive order does not directly impact her organization, it could restrict the grants it’s eligible to apply for in the future. 

“MoPride is always trying to make our community as diverse and equitable as possible,” Ambrose said. 

She noted that while she doubts nonprofits will bend to the order, she is concerned about the fate of programs that rely on direct federal funding. 

Roman Scanlon, executive director of the Cal Pride Center of Stanislaus County, said his organization primarily receives state funding, not federal, so it won’t be directly impacted by the executive order. 

However, CalPride collaborates with various community organizations, meaning the impact of federal funding cuts could extend beyond DEI-focused groups. Scanlon explained that because grants and funding streams are interconnected, cuts in one area can ripple across the entire community, affecting many other groups as well.
How many other Pride center are worried about their funding?

Context writes about LGBTQ+ legal organizations,
A lawsuit representing six active trans soldiers was filed by civil rights organisations GLAD Law and the National Center For Lesbian Rights (NCLR), against Trump's order on military service.

The American Civil Liberties Union and LGBTQ+ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign (HRC) have vowed to mobilise their networks to fight back against the directives.
I have started donating to LGBTQ legal organization;

I have worked along side of lawyers from GLAD for close to twenty years, since 2006 when I sat in on the Anti-Discrimination Coalition when we were trying to pass the gender inclusive non-discrimination bill. She is now working on a case for GLAD down in Washington DC she wrote on her Facebook page in part...
With a (tiny) bit of distance from the gloom of my D.C. visit, I have had time to reflect on an intense week of being in and out (and in) Court. Here is what I've got. It's a work in progress as we all take in the enormity of what we are facing. While I remain laser-focused on my area of expertise - defending transgender rights - I'm acutely aware that many other communities are under similar attack. My fervent prayer is that there are fierce and tireless advocates in those trenches too. My lane is and has been transgender advocacy and here are some reflections from my foxhole.

The systematic targeting of transgender Americans represents far more than isolated acts of discrimination. Last week, during our hearing seeking emergency relief from the military ban, the judge cut through the government's pretense. She asked the government's lawyer how she could possibly defend, as rational, a policy that literally declares that being transgender violates the values of honor, truthfulness, discipline, selflessness and humility - even though transgender service members must meet the exact same rigorous standards as their peers.

And then she went further, asking the government to reconcile this blatantly incoherent stance with the administration's sweeping attacks on transgender people -- far beyond the military and in so many disparate contexts. While our side will certainly argue that all these actions reveal the same underlying animus, what struck me most was the judge’s chilling, methodical listing of what this administration has done in less than two weeks. 
It cost money to send lawyers around the country, it takes money to try these cases so I am donating to some of these organizations. But I am no long on the front lines, I turned that over to the next generation, but if you can afford it donate to these NGOs (Non-Government Organizations).

Mini-Post: These Guy Are Lawyers?

These guys are lawyers and even me with no legal back ground remembers the 3 equal branches of government and checks and balance. But it seems like that the Republicans have a mental block when it come to it.
February 10, 2025


Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on Monday he thinks the courts should let the Trump administration and Congress do their work as they continue their efforts to reshape the federal government.

Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, Johnson expressed support for the work that President Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk are doing through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) commission, but he said “we’ll see” how the litigation proceeds through the courts.

“It has taken this level of audit from effectively an outside auditor — that’s what DOGE and Elon and the group really is — to be able to get into the systems and open the literal files and expose this stuff. And so, we are applauding that. This is what we have been wanting and trying to do for a long time. So, this is a good development,” Johnson said about the work DOGE is doing.

“I wish the courts would allow the executive and the legislative branches to work, but we’ll see how all that develops,” he continued.
One judge has already lambasted not following the court order!



Update: 8:30AM

The Independent writes about Vance,
Experts and officials expressed alarm on Sunday after Vice President JD Vance suggested federal courts “aren’t allowed” to limit the White House’s “legitimate power.”

The controversy began on Sunday morning, when Vance tweeted his views on executive power.

“If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal,” he wrote on X. “If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that's also illegal. Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power.

[...]

Vance has long argued the White House can defy orders it views as unconstitutional.

“And when the courts — because you will get taken to court — and when the courts stop you, stand before the country like Andrew Jackson did and say: ‘The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it,’” he told a podcast in 2021.

Observers on the left said Vance’s view went against the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent from the earliest days of the U.S. government.
I have predicted that we are going to face a Constitutional showdown,

Monday, February 10, 2025

Keep Your Fingers Crossed

"Your paper's please" send shivers up our spine because of Trump's Executive Order denying us of our true gender on our passports.
Transgender people have reported having requests to change the gender marker on their passports denied
By: AP via Scripps News
Feb 08, 2025


The day after President Donald Trump returned to office, Lisa Suhay took her 21-year-old daughter, Mellow, to a passport office in Norfolk, Virginia, where they live.

Getting a passport for Mellow, who is transgender, was urgent.

In an executive order Trump signed the night before, the president used a narrow definition of the sexes instead of a broader conception of gender. The order says a person is male or female and it rejects the idea that someone can transition from the sex assigned at birth to another gender. The framing is in line with many conservatives' views but at odds with major medical groups and policies under former President Joe Biden.

Her family wants Mellow to be able to leave the country if things became unbearable for transgender people in the U.S. as the federal government increasingly moves not to recognize them.
Fear! That what Trump has created, fear of our government. Fear that we have to flee the land of our birth!
The State Department quickly stopped issuing travel documents with the “X” gender marker preferred by many nonbinary people, who don’t identify as strictly male or female. The department also stopped allowing people to change the gender listed on their passport or get new ones that reflect their gender rather than their sex assigned at birth.

Applications that had already been submitted seeking gender marker changes were put on hold. The State Department also replaced its webpage with information for “LGBTQI+” travelers to just “LGB,” removing any reference to transgender or intersex people.
For me, ,my passport expires mid-summer will I be able to renew it?

A group of transgender people sued in U.S. District Court in Boston over an order that led to the halting of allowing gender markers to be changed on passports and barring the use of the “X” marker used by many nonbinary people.

The plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU, say the abrupt policy change last month did not comply with a requirement for a 60-day notice and comment period — and that it discriminates based on sex and, in some cases, transgender status.

The order in question was one that Trump signed his first day back in office that said the government would recognize only people’s sex and not their gender — and defined sex as unchangeable. That position is at odds with what the American Medical Association and other mainstream medical groups say.
I get the feelings more and more that Trump is going to thumb his nose at the court orders!


A U.S. judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to fully comply with a previous order lifting its broad freeze on federal spending, after a group of 23 Democratic state attorneys general last week said that some funds remained frozen.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island, ruled that, opens new tab all funding must be restored at least until he can hold a hearing on the states' motion for a longer-term order.

The Trump administration had told states that it believed the order did not apply to certain environmental and infrastructure spending, and that some payments were delayed for "operational and administrative reasons."

However, McConnell said that his order had been "clear and unambiguous" in applying to all funding frozen in response to sweeping executive orders by President Donald Trump.
Updated 3:26PM the Reuters article.

A CT Library Bill

This one good purposed bill AN ACT CONCERNING SCHOOL AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES... its goal is to prevent book from being taken off the library shelves that are LGBTQ+.
221 Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) The board of trustees, or other
222 governing body, of each public library shall adopt, in accordance with
223 the provisions of this section, a (1) collection development and
224 maintenance policy, (2) library program and display policy, and (3)
225 library material review and reconsideration policy. Each such policy
226 shall ensure that all library materials are evaluated and made accessible
227 in accordance with the protections against discrimination set forth in
228 section 46a-64 of the general statutes, including, but not limited to,
229 discrimination based on race, color, sex, gender identity, religion,
230 national origin, sexual orientation or disability. In developing each such
231 policy, the board shall have control over the content of each such policy,
232 provided such policies are in accordance with the provisions of this
233 section. The board of trustees or other governing body shall review, and
234 update as necessary, each such policy every five years.

[...]

Statement of Purpose:
To require public and school libraries to develop a (1) collection
development and maintenance policy, (2) library program and display
policy, and (3) library material review and reconsideration policy.
What this bill does, it prevents books from being yanked from the shelves just because the book is about a protected class.
 
The bill come up before the Committee on Children and we need your support...
 To submit testimony click here.



News Times reported that, more than 2,300 people submit testimony in CT over state Constitution proposal!
Skowera was one of the thousands of people who submitted testimony for a legislative proposal before the legislature's Government Administrations and Elections Committee aimed at expanding anti-discrimination protections for gender-affirming care and abortions. 

"Protected from discrimination, I am able to serve my community as both a civil servant and volunteer. I am given the opportunity to see the beauty and wonder of enabling others to be themselves, safe from the fear of employer retaliation or rejection from school systems," Skowera said. "Every day, I strive to make sure that no one feels the pain that I have experienced." 

[...]

Similarly, William Ollayos, administrator for the state's LGBTQ+ Justice & Opportunity Network, said the bill is a "declaration of Connecticut's values" as a leader in protecting civil rights. He said that without clear definitions in the state's constitution, courts and legislatures "must infer whether this protection extends to issues such as reproductive autonomy and LGBTQ plus rights."

Ollayos said other civil rights, like marriage equality, may be challenged on the federal level through the Supreme Court and SJ 35 "preemptively safeguards" residents from such a scenario. 

"If Obergefell were overturned, nearly 30 states could immediately move to reinstate same-sex marriage bans. If Dobbs is any indication, we should not assume that the current court will stop there," he said. "The most effective countermeasure is to embed these rights directly into our state's constitution, where they cannot be easily undone by future legislatures or courts. Beyond its moral and legal significance, this amendment is a practical necessity." 


My takeaways from Friday's hearing on the Constitutional amendment.

Many of the people who testified had no idea what the bill says... it is not about late term abortions, there is nothing in the bill that says anything at late term abortions, in Connecticut there is a law that prevents late term abortions except when the mother's life is in danger. And when they were questioned about that nobody knew it. The bill contains nothing about healthcare for trans children, nothing about trans sports but there were dozens and dozens of people testifying about that.

There were people testifying from all over the U.S. which I think is wrong. One woman from an anti-abortion organization testify about late-term abortion which isn't part of the bill and a Connecticut senate ate right up and asked question about. The senator from Sixteenth Senate District came back again to question a person about trans people who detransitioned and was part of a national organization, she sobbed how she transitioned early in life, went on puberty blockers and the detransitioned, how horrible her life was while she was a boy.

I thought, okay you transitioned found out that it wasn't for you so you detransitioned... um.. isn't that what the program supposed to do? Give you time to find out if it is right for you?


Did You Notice?

I don't know if you noticed but it seemed to me that that there were a number of ads that promoted unity.
February 9, 2025


Despite NFL commissioner’s Roger Goodell assertions that DEI initiatives will remain a permanent fixture in football, the NFL confirmed that they will remove the slogan “End Racism” from the end zone in Super Bowl LIX.

The timing of this revelation coincides with President Trump’s announcement on Tuesday that he will attend the big game. One cannot help but draw the conclusion that the league is bowing down to an administration, who is not only adamantly against DEI, but also actively working to dismantle it.
Was there an over abundance of ads with unity as a theme? Extra wrote,
Brad Pitt urged unity in a touching TV spot that aired during FOX's pre-game show ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl, referencing disasters in North Carolina and California to hammer the message home.

“By lifting others, that’s how we rise up. We, the people. Today we come together, not just these players and coaches or these teams and sides. We, all of us, the dreamers, the warriors, the builders and believers,” a scruffy Pitt said in the ad, which highlighted rebuilding after Hurricane Helene and the L.A. wildfires.

“Brought together to celebrate our greatest game, the game that teaches us what we can achieve when we gather together in a that most American of formations, the one most fundamental to every play call in every game, the huddle. Think about it. When we are bound by a common goal, we have reached heights, authored achievements, pushed progress, not alone but together, in ways that have lifted the world and one another.”
Then there was the Brad Pitt's Ad...
Actor Brad Pitt delivered a message urging American unity in a TV spot that aired during FOX's pre-game show2. Referencing disasters in North Carolina and California, Pitt emphasized that Americans can rise by lifting others and highlighted the power found in shared purpose.
ABC News 7 out of New York City...
For the third Super Bowl in a row, Come Near - a nonprofit that promotes the teachings of Jesus - is running an ad as part of its He Gets Us campaign. The ad, featuring Johnny Cash's cover of "Personal Jesus," shows everyday people being helpful and heroic. And the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, founded by New England Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft, has a stark ad featuring Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady saying what they hate about each other, in an effort to show how pointless hate is.

Xu said she expected more ads promoting that unifying message. But for the most part, advertisers went with humor, she said.

"We just had an election year and there's a lot of discussion around divisiveness," she said. "People might be wanting to see some unity, everybody coming together as a country."
Adweek reported that that Rocket's Country Home ad contained...
The ad: The mortgage company Rocket has gone for laughs in the past, but this year took a more serious tone. It shows scene after scene of families enjoying intimate moments in their homes or moving into them. A cover of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” plays in the background, and the spot ends with a play for unity, saying that “everyone deserves their shot at the American dream.”

How it aimed to touch hearts: Given the divisiveness of the political and cultural moment, anything that sounds like a call for unity has an emotional tinge to it. The brand told ADWEEK that it was a “complete departure” from its previous work. The Super Bowl ad also included an IRL singalong moment: After the ad aired, Rocket organized a singalong to “Country Roads” inside the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. 
Then Dove had this commercial:


I thought with the NFL dropping "End Racism" it looked liked to me the that the sponsors did a dig at Trump's anti-DEI stance.
 

 
Updated: 10:30AM
 

 



Sunday, February 09, 2025

Mini-posts: Closing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

We don't want to protect the people from frauds, scams, junk products, dangerous protects... we need to protect the billionaires like Musk.
AP News
By  CHRISTOPHER RUGABER
February 9, 2025


The Trump administration has ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop nearly all its work, effectively shutting down an agency that was created to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal.

Russell Vought, the newly installed director of the Office of Management and Budget, directed the CFPB, in a Saturday night email confirmed by The Associated Press, to stop work on proposed rules, to suspend the effective dates on any rules that were finalized but not yet effective, and to stop investigative work and not begin any new investigations. The agency has been a target of conservatives since President Barack Obama pushed to include it in the 2010 financial reform legislation that followed the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
Can't have the people to have more clout than the billionaires

Damn The Constitution... Full Speed Ahead!

I remember somewhere in the 2010 - 2011 time frame the Republicans hold up little copies of the Constitution and waving them in the air... well now they have a different view of the Constitution.
Rep. Andy Ogles proposed an amendment to the Constitution Thursday
By Elizabeth Elkind Fox News
January 23, 2025


One of President Donald Trump's top congressional allies introduced a resolution on Thursday evening to allow the commander-in-chief a third term.

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., is pushing a new amendment to the Constitution that would give a president three terms in office, but no more than two consecutive four-year stints.

The amendment would say, "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice."
On the Congressman's webpage...
 Congressman Andy Ogles introduced a House Joint Resolution to amend the Constitution of the United States to allow a President to be elected for up to but no more than three terms. The language of the proposed amendment reads as follows:
‘‘No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.’’
Then also consider this was proposed;
“The government has cloaked what is effectively a constitutional amendment under the guise of an executive order,” the judge said.
Politico
By Josh Gerstein
February 6, 2025


A federal judge in Seattle has accused President Donald Trump of brazenly defying the law by seeking to end birthright citizenship in the United States.

U.S. District Judge John Coughenour said during a hearing Thursday that Trump’s executive order is flagrantly unconstitutional, and he extended a temporary hold on the policy.

The executive order is now subject to two nationwide injunctions issued by separate judges on consecutive days. The injunctions keep the policy on ice while legal challenges proceed.

Coughenour, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, let loose on Trump for his dismissive approach toward legal constraints.

“It has become ever more apparent that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain,” the judge said. “Nevertheless, in this courtroom and under my watch, the rule of law is a bright beacon which I intend to follow.”
I totally agree "..that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals."

Another horrible constitutional amendment proposed is to give the president a line-item veto!
January 30, 2025


Recently, a member of the House of Representatives proposed changing the Constitution to allow current President Donald Trump the option of running for a third term as president. Constitutional amendment proposals are common during congressional terms, but few ever make it to the states as proposed amendments.
The other proposed amendment were,
Other proposed amendments in January 2025 include repealing of the federal income tax, lowering the voting age to 16 years of age for federal elections, placing limits on presidential pardon powers, and granting the president line-item veto powers.
Why I am against a line-item veto, when Congress is divided like it is now, they have compromises... you take this out and I will vote for the bill... then Congress approves the bill and then the president vetoes the compromise and signs the bill.

As an example... suppose the Democrats want protection for us in the bill and they approve includes healthcare for us. But then the president vetoes that line in the bill. The Democrats are locked out of passing a bill to include it, This give way too much power to the president!

Trump is not alone in wanting to stick it to the courts...
Raw Story
By David McAfee
February 8, 2025


Elon Musk appears poised to defy a judicial order, according to observers.

Musk, the richest man in the world and an appointee of Donald Trump, was dealt a blow over the weekend when a judge reportedly blocked Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing personal financial data from the Treasury Department, which resulted in a MAGA meltdown.

Musk wasn't too happy about the ruling, saying, "Corrupt judges protecting corruption."

Trump legal ally Mike Davis said, "These DC uniparty judges are shockingly insulated from Real Americans in Real America."

"They are arrogant and delusional enough to believe they are saving America from Trump," the lawyer added. "Even though Trump campaigned on doing precisely what he’s doing. And won a decisive electoral mandate."

[...]

In a separate post, Musk shared a statement from someone suggesting various reasons for defying court orders. That comment stated, "I don’t like the precedent it sets when you defy a judicial ruling, but I’m just wondering what other options are these judges leaving us…”
It should be interesting next four years? Will we still have the Constitution or will be a "Christian Nation"?

We Knew This…

But it is nice to see it in print, the driving force behind all of Trump’s Project 2025 stuff is… the far-right evangelical Christians! On this Sunday morning I'm writing about we are one step closer to a Christian Nation!
Christian nationalists insist that the US was founded as a Christian conservative nation (as 21st century far-right White Christians understand those terms) and should be ruled by contemporary White Christian conservative values.
Deccan Herald
By Francis Wilkinson Bloomberg
February 4, 2025


President Donald Trump, we are told, is endorsed by God.

“Father, when Donald Trump’s enemies thought he was down and out, You, and You alone, saved his life and raised him up with strength and power by Your mighty hand, ”said the Reverend Franklin Graham during his invocation at Trump’s inauguration last week. “Mr. President,” Graham addressed Trump, “the last four years, there are times, I’m sure, you thought, it was pretty dark. But look what God has done.”

Graham’s MAGA God might be unrecognisable to tens of millions of Americans, but anew poll released today by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute shows that two thirds (67 per cent) of Christian nationalists either completely or mostly agree that God ordained Trump to be the winner of the 2024 election.

In a survey of more than 22,000 adults, PRRI found that Christian nationalism is deeply embedded in the GOP, with a majority of Republicans qualifying as either Christian nationalist adherents (20 per cent) or sympathisers (33 per cent). That means they agreed with statements provided by PRRI such as, “being Christian is an important part of being truly American,” “God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all are as of American society,” and “if the US moves away from our Christian foundations, we will not have a country anymore.” The more Christian nationalists reside in a state, the greater the share of Trump voters.

Christian nationalists insist that the US was founded as a Christian conservative nation (as 21st century far-right White Christians understand those terms) and should be ruled by contemporary White Christian conservative values.
This just goes to show you how off the deep end these far-right evangelicals are, they think Trump walks on water. Now this is the scary part…
They are also among Trump’s most fanatical supporters. Christian nationalists were prominent among the violent mob that attacked the US Capitol on Jan. 6, mounting crosses along with a gallows. Proud Boys stopped and prayed before their assault, asking God to restore their “value systems” and seeking heavenly sanction for their impending attack on the seat of democracy. Some Christian nationalists think a bit of vigilantism may be necessary to secure godliness; nearly 4 in 10 agree that “because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may need to resort to violence in order to save our country.”

In return for such passion, Trump has delivered political goods. He pardoned all of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, including those who assaulted police. He installed a former Fox News host with Christian nationalist tattoos as the leader of the Department of Defense. Trump nominated Russell Vought, who said Republicans should focus less on religious liberty and more on “Christian nationalism,” as the head of the powerful White House Office of Management and Budget.
Not only did Trump appoint loyal followers but they are also “Christian Nationalist” fanatics who believe they are warriors to god!
“We want to bring religion back—stronger, bigger, better than ever before.”
Rolling Stone
By Julianne McShane
February 6, 2025


We always knew that Trump’s return to the White House would bring Christian nationalism to the highest levels of government.

There’s Russell Vought, an avowed Christian nationalist and an author of Project 2025, who is Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget—which leads the implementation of the president’s policies, regulations, and funding decisions across the federal government, as my colleague Isabela Dias has written. And there was the pair of Christian podcasters who, at a rally the night before Trump’s inauguration, thanked God for “choosing President Donald Trump as a vessel for your nation,” as my colleague David Corn covered.

The signs, in other words, have been there for a while.

But at the National Prayer Breakfast—a decades-old, purportedly interfaith annual event—in DC on Thursday, President Trump laid out the steps he will take, now that he’s in office, to make those dreams of Christian nationalist power a reality. “We want to bring religion back—stronger, bigger, better than ever before,” he said. These measures will allegedly include:
  • Creating a so-called Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty, which he so eloquently claimed will “be a very big deal”;
  • Signing an executive order ordering newly-confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi to “eradicate anti-Christian bias” inside the federal government and “prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society”;
  • And creating a new Faith Office in the White House, which will be led by the televangelist and Trump acolyte Rev. Paula White—who, as my colleagues Stephanie Mencimer and Kiera Butler have written, is often associated with an evangelical Christian movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation, whose leaders claim that God speaks directly to them and “that Christians are called to wage a spiritual battle for control of the United States.”
Hey? Remember Musk's Nazis salute? Does that fit in with the White Christian Nationalist's theme at the inauguration?  Are you scared yet?

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, writes,
February 6, 2025


[…]

Task force will misuse religious freedom to justify bigotry, discrimination’
“Americans United believes that all people, including Christians, should be able to live as themselves and believe as they choose so long as they don’t harm others. But rather than protecting religious beliefs, this task force will misuse religious freedom to justify bigotry, discrimination, and the subversion of our civil rights laws. We’ve seen Christian Nationalists do this already, turning the sacred concept of religious freedom on its head and into a license to harm others.

“If Trump really cared about religious freedom and ending religious persecution, he’d be addressing antisemitism in his inner circle, anti-Muslim bigotry, hate crimes against people of color and other religious minorities, but instead, he’s abolishing federal programs and protections that address those wrongs. This task force is not a response to Christian persecution; it’s an attempt to make America into an ultra-conservative Christian Nationalist nation.

“This is part of the Christian Nationalist crusade to remake our country. Not on our watch. Americans United and our hundreds of thousands of supporters across the country will not stop fighting for church-state separation until this nation lives up to its promise of freedom without favor and equality without exception.”
Now does it make sense, Trump attacks on us, the trans community? He is doing it for his Christian Nationalist base!

Their hate of us, is Trump’s hate of us.

*****


My prediction is that you will see them trying to pass more anti-abortion laws, more anti-trans laws, more anti-marriage equality laws, anti-divorce laws, ban birth control pills, and ban the mailings of abortion medications.

Mini - Post.... "Religious Freedom"

Have you noticed that "Religious Freedom" seems to be a one way street, their beliefs are okay , while others are not.

Texas is going after a shelter in Texas that caters to undocumented immigrants and of course that violates the conservatives "Religious Freedom" to hate others.
The stakes are high in the Texas attorney general’s legal dispute with a revered El Paso Catholic institution.
San Antonia News
By Express-News Editorial Board, Opinion Staff
Feb 7, 2025


It is nearly 600 miles from Austin to the Annunciation House in El Paso.

While the red-brick building is a familiar site to many El Pasoans, until recently the work at the migrant shelter has largely been unknown to other Texans.

For nearly 50 years, Annunciation House has put its faith into practice by providing shelter, food and clothing to immigrants, regardless of their status. Some may be asylum-seekers, some may be undocumented, some may be witnesses to federal crimes. Whatever the case, all are welcome at Annunciation House, which drew its inspiration from Mother Teresa, who visited El Paso in 1976.

[...]

Paxton has sought to shut it down, accusing the shelter of being a “stash house” that facilitates human smuggling and encourages illegal immigration. The case was recently argued before the Texas Supreme Court with immense implications for how the state defines religious expression, as well as the limits, if any, on Paxton’s office when it comes to revoking the license of a nonprofit or business.

In other words, this case is about much more than the religious freedom of one shelter in West Texas. As the El Paso Chamber of Commerce argued in a legal brief in support of Annunciation House, “The business-law issues in this case are of concern to all Texas companies, both large and small. The issues are not confined to nonprofit organizations with a religious and charitable mission like Annunciation House, and they are not isolated to this case’s circumstances as they relate to border-enforcement initiatives.”
So much for the Constitution! Republicans are above the law and answer to a higher authority... Trump. 

Saturday, February 08, 2025

Mini - Post... Kennedy Center

Once again Trump proves it is always about him!
Trump did not attend events at the arts institution during his first administration. The move is the latest of several directives to force changes at Washington’s cultural institutions
The Washington Post
By Travis M. Andrews
February 7, 2025


 President Donald Trump on Friday announced plans to overhaul the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, writing that he had decided to “immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees,” including chairman David M. Rubenstein, in a post on Truth Social. He added that he plans to install himself as the new chairman of the prominent arts institution.

He did not say which board members he plans to terminate. It is unclear whether the president has the power to make such changes.

“Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP,” he wrote. “The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation. For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”
Translation from Trump's Newspeak... Trump will bring it down to the level of "The Apprentice"

Mini - Post... Trump's EO

Because Trump Executive Orders are coming fast and furious it is hard to keep up...

Now he is pushing the fictions "anti-religious bias"...
USA Today
By Jayme Fraser, Francesca Chambers, and Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
February 7, 2025


President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order creating a Justice Department task force to eradicate what he called "anti-Christian bias" within the federal government.

In 2023, a House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government reported that under the pretext of tackling the threat of domestic terrorism, the FBI's Richmond office described certain "radical-traditionalist Catholics" as violent extremists and "proposed opportunities for the FBI to infiltrate Catholic churches as a form of threat mitigation."

[...]

The mission of the task force will be to "immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination in the federal government," including at the Department of Justice, the FBI, the IRS and other agencies, Trump said in a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday.
So it is okay for them to discriminate against us but when we call them out for discrimination we're biased!

Friday, February 07, 2025

There Is No Discrimination Against Us!

At least that is what the federal Equal Opportunity Commission thinks.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission staff have been told to “pause” their investigative work on new and existing cases.
Mother Jones
By Abby Vesoulis
February 6, 2025


The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has temporarily halted investigations into the complaints of workers who say they were targeted based on their gender identity or sexual orientation, three current and former EEOC staffers tell Mother Jones.

EEOC managers communicated this instruction to senior employees in recent days, according to these sources, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid retaliation. Industry publication HR Dive reported the pause in claim processing last week; Mother Jones can confirm the moratorium prevents staff from making telephone calls, conducting research, or otherwise investigating both new and existing complaints. “There is what they are calling a pause on investigations of both transgender rights and sexual orientation charges,” an EEOC employee says.

Neither the White House nor the EEOC communications team responded to requests for comment about the stoppage, but the EEOC sources say the pause is in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order on “gender ideology extremism.”
You know court cases that are not in their favor are ignored and blamed on "Activist judges"
Experts find the standstill concerning, especially considering how the Supreme Court previously ruled on Bostock v. Clayton County, a 2020 case related to workplace discrimination based on a person’s LGBTQ+ status. 

The majority of EEOC cases cite Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which stipulates employers cannot discriminate against a person’s race, religion, sex, or national origin. In Bostock, the Supreme Court held in a 6-3 opinion—authored by Trump-appointee Neil Gorsuch—that the term “sex” in Title VII protected LGBTQ+ employees from being fired as a result of their sexual orientation or whether they are trans.

“Discrimination against somebody on the basis of their being gay, for instance, or their being someone who is a transgender individual, is illegal employment discrimination, because the Supreme Court held that it is sex discrimination in Bostock,” says Brian Wolfman, a Georgetown law professor who won a sex-based employment discrimination case in front of the Supreme Court last year.
But they believe that they have a god given right to discriminate people who are not like them! HR Dive writes,
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2020 held that Title VII protects workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and there may be ways for workers to pursue those claims in court, regardless of EEOC’s next steps. Additionally, many states independently protect employees from such discrimination at work.
But Trump and his cronies are transphobic and homophobic and they can't let a little thing like laws and courts get in their way!


The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has made significant changes to its handling of workplace discrimination claims, rolling back several policies related to gender identity protections. Acting Chair Andrea Lucas announced that the agency is refocusing on what she describes as “protecting women from sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination in the workplace.” The changes, which include removing gender-neutral markers from forms and modifying enforcement guidance, have sparked concern among civil rights advocates who warn they could undermine LGBTQ+ protections.

[...]

EEOC’s Policy Shift
According to the EEOC’s official statement, the agency is aligning itself with Executive Order 14168, which directs federal agencies to enforce laws protecting “biologically distinct” sexes. As part of this shift, the EEOC has:

Eliminated gender-neutral identifiers by removing the “X” gender marker from its intake forms.

Revoked the option for employees to display pronouns in Microsoft 365 profiles.

Directed modifications to EEOC charge of discrimination forms to eliminate “Mx.” as a prefix option.

Commenced a review of its “Know Your Rights” poster, which employers must display in workplaces.
So now the agency that was charged with eliminating discrimination is now discriminating! 

Why Do Their Rights Trump Our Rights?

Have you noticed that when the right-wing people "Parental Rights" they ignore our "Parental Rights?" They want to dictate to us when our children can read!
A Montgomery County public librarian is out of a job—terminated by the county judge and commissioners. She says she still doesn’t know why she was let go.
KHOU
By Anayeli Ruiz
February 6, 2025


A place once known for quiet reading and learning has now become a political flashpoint. A Montgomery County public librarian was terminated by the county judge and commissioners. She says she never saw it coming. 

A librarian for 23 years, Rhea Young spent the last two and a half in Montgomery County. Last week, she was suddenly out of a job. She saw her own name on the county agenda.

County Commissioners discussed her employment during executive session on January 28. And move to appoint the judge as the interim director. That afternoon Young says she was fired. When she asked why? 

"His reply was that I knew why," said Young. "I do not know why. He reiterated it was in the best interest of the county to terminate my employment at this time."
We all know what they mean... that they often focus on pushing heir own conservative views while disregarding the rights of parents with progressive views!
"I had found over 100 books teaching gender ideology," said one resident during public comment at commissioners court.  

Some residents wanted specific books removed from the county public library. 

"Anything with LGBT or sexual," said another resident during county commissioners court.
They think by taking our books off the shelf that we will disappear!

ABC News had an article on this a couple of years ago and they wrote...
"Two of the books in particular that they were targeting were written by and about people who identify as part of [the LGBTQ+] community," Dewey, whose son is gay, told ABC News. "And so, it felt really personal to me. It felt like a direct attack on my son and my family."

[...]

Grady is chair of the local chapter of the national Moms for Liberty -- a conservative organization -- and said she got involved with the group because she was worried about the proficiency of student reading and writing abilities, claiming educators instead are bringing "political ideologies" into schools.

"The thing is that the schools are moving away from core education," Grady told ABC News. "The role of schools isn't to teach my child the lived experiences of every single ... of the 6 billion people on the planet. These kids aren't even emotionally ready to handle that type of thing."
A bunch of right-wing old biddies backed by billionaires! "Core education" translated from Republican "Newspeak" means teaching only "Reading, Riting, and Rithmetic" because a child who can think is a liberal child.

Canada is also having this debate,
If you truly believe in parental rights, you must accept that other parents may raise their children in ways you disagree with
National Post
By Adam Zivo
July 9, 2024


The resurgent “parental rights” movement has spurred vigorous debate about how much control families should exert over their children’s upbringing and education. While this is not a bad thing, supporters have often defended parental rights selectively, insofar as they entrench conservative values, and ignored the fact that progressive families have the right to raise their children how they see fit, too.

This should change.

Though parental rights activism has existed for decades, support for the movement erupted in 2021, when American lawmakers began to pass legislation banning “critical race theory” from elementary and secondary schools. These reforms, which have since been expanded to restrict discussions of gender and sexuality, are now active in almost half of American states — and that’s reasonable.

[...]

Should racial justice be understood through a progressive lens (as epitomized by the work of “anti-racist” thinkers like Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo) or a conservative one (in the tradition of Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele and John McWhorter)? Are radical approaches to gender and sexuality correct, or are “gender critical” perspectives more convincing? What middle ground can be found by recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of different frameworks?

[...]

While these reforms illustrate the virtues of the parental rights movement, there are other areas where advocates have overreached and infringed upon the rights of progressive families — most notably with recent campaigns to ban LGBTQ-related books and youth-oriented drag events.

Yes, conservative families should have the right to shield younger children from some books that they believe are harmful (controlling the intellectual diet of older teenagers is another matter). However, progressive parents also have the right to expose their children to books that align with their own family values, including LGBTQ-related material.
Yes, parents should have a right to chose what their children read, however they shouldn't impose their beliefs on others!