Congress shall make no law... the right of the people peaceably to assemble...

The First Amendment, you know the one, the one the Republicans keep reciting that they think only applies to them.

Pride organizers keep eye on drag laws ahead of festivals

AP News

By Susan Haigh and Pat Eaton-Robb

May 5, 2023

Tennessee organizers booked more than 50 drag entertainers for next month’s Midsouth Pride festival in Memphis now that the state’s new law placing strict limits on cabaret shows is temporarily on hold.

But they are being cautious, making adjustments to performances should the limits of the first-in-the-nation law essentially banning drag from public property or in the presence of minors kick in before June celebrations.

“As soon as this stuff started making its way, I immediately started coming out with plans to be able to counteract that,” said longtime festival organizer Vanessa Rodley. “Because, at the end of the day, we can’t put on an event that then segregates a huge portion of our community, right? We just can’t do that. So you have to find ways around it.”

“… the right of the people peaceably to assemble ...”

Organizers of Pride festivals and parades in mostly conservative states where there’s been a broader push targeting LGBTQ+ rights have been under increasing pressure to censor their events. They’re taking steps like editing acts and canceling drag shows in order to still hold their annual celebrations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer identity in today’s contentious climate.

Pride events are going on around the country as scheduled in Blue states, we are having almost a dozen Pride events here in Connecticut, major Pride centers are holding large multi-day Pride events while smaller ones will be held on town greens all around the state.

“They’re attacking these people because they’re less likely to stand up and fight back, which is why it’s important that we all come together in solidarity and speak up when we see these injustices,” she said.

Why do we have a Puerto Rico parade? Why do we have an Irish parade? Why do we have a Columbus Day parade? The answer is very simple. It is because all of these groups at one time were oppressed communities. Which is why we don’t have a straight parade. 

The Pride festival in Hutchinson, Kansas, has also adjusted its program and secured a new venue after losing its original one when a local business owner posted a video on social media decrying the event, which included a drag queen story hour, as depraved.

“Our event is completely family friendly,” said Hutchinson Salt City Pride chair Julia Johnson.

Meanwhile, organizers in the Nashville, Tennessee, suburb of Franklin, opted not to include drag performances in their Pride celebrations so they can work with local officials to get other events permitted.

All of these are the result of oppression! These laws are an infringement on our First Amendment rights of Assembly. The states have passed laws prohibiting our other First Amendment right of “... abridging the freedom of speech …” by banning drag queens.

In Naples, Florida, Pride organizers agreed they wouldn’t allow drag performers to be tipped on stage, and later announced that the drag show portion of its festival will be held at an indoor venue because of safety concerns.

Why are there safety concerns, we demand the same protection by the police that other organization have when they peacefully assemble to “… redress of grievances ...”

The article ends with an eye opener. One of the purposes of Pride is to educate.

Support for the community is also making a difference. In Iowa, the Cedar Falls Mayor Rob Green, this week reversed his controversial decision not to sign a proclamation declaring June as Pride Month. He wrote on Facebook that he signed the proclamation out of concern for the safety and health of LGBTQIA+ residents after hearing stories and receiving letters from constituents.

“I learn a lot from these kind of letters and very much appreciate the opportunity to re-examine my assumptions and thought processes,” he wrote.

---

The AP article also mentioned…

Backlash against transgender individuals, drag performances and Pride events is not new. Last year, 31 members of a white supremacist group were arrested near an Idaho Pride event after they were found packed into the back of a U-Haul truck with riot gear.

And that is one of the major concerns not only at Pride events, but at nightclubs and other places where we gather.

Armed Ohio Neo-Nazis Waving Swastika Flags Target Drag Event Again

The same Ohio neo-Nazi group that attacked a Drag Queen Story Hour event in March menaced a drag brunch in the state on Saturday.

The Advocate

By Christopher Wiggins

May 2 2023

It has happened once again. On a Saturday afternoon in Ohio, neo-Nazis displaying swastikas and chanting neo-Nazi slogans threatened people with their flags and chants while at a drag brunch.

For the second time in as many months, neo-Nazi white supremacist skinhead Christopher Pohlhaus led his group, Blood Tribe, to protest LGBTQ-affirming events.

As part of the drag brunch event, Land Grant Brewing Company in Columbus hosted a fundraiser for Kaleidoscope Youth Center, an Ohio-based organization dedicated to providing safe and affirming spaces for LGBTQ+ youth in the community, according to local TV station WBNS.

As the affair started, a group of about two dozen right-wing extremists, some chanting and waving Swastika flags, protested the event, videos posted online show.

[…]

The group held a banner reading “There will be blood,” behind which they performed Nazi salutes while chanting about “no transgenders on our streets” and other bigoted sentiments.

[…]

Among the neo-Nazi group members was at least one who wore tactical gear and carried an AR-15-style rifle.

My worries are that someone at one of these events will pull the trigger and a massacre of our community will ensue.

An Ode To The Glory Of Skunk Cabbage

What I like about this time of the year is the new leaves coming out, I love the yellow-green color of them. The mountain in back of my house is all yellow-green. The swamp er… wetlands are all green with skunk cabbage.

Just about wherever you go in Connecticut there are skunk cabbages growing including my backyard. For me skunk cabbage goes back, where I grew up the low lands all had skunk cabbages. When I went backpacking in the spring in the Adirondacks you could smell the patch before you got to it.

When you see the flowers poking out of the snow… spring is near!

The flower is purple and believe it or not, the flower generates heat to melt through the snow and ice beating all the other flowers to be pollinated first. And the flower is intersexed… it can pollinate itself.

A third of my backyard is wetlands otherwise know as a swamp, the wetlands provide a buffer between my house and the state road, and right now it is covered with skunk cabbage. Over the years you can tell the seasons by what is growing in right now it is skunk cabbage, and the peepers and frog provide the choir. The ducks have already hatched their young and moved on and the lonely bullfrog is croaking its solo song hoping for a mate to hear it.

The leaves provide shelter to small animals and birds and last through out the summer and die off in the fall.

It is another sign of spring just like the first robin or the apple trees in blossom.

Saturday 9: Come On-A My House

Sam’s Saturday 9: Come On-A My House (1951)

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

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer the questions, however, and here is today's questions!

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

1) In this week's song, Rosemary Clooney offers us candy, peaches, pears, grapes, cake, etc. What tasty treat are you craving this morning?

French Toast, I haven’t had it in a couple of months. I make it Cinnamon Raisin bread.

 

2) The song was co-written by a pair of cousins more famous for their other jobs. William Saroyan was a Pulitzer Prize winning author and Ross Bagdasarian created Alvin and the Chipmunks. Tell us about one of your cousins.

One of my favorite cousins just lost her husband.

3) The song was inspired by the cousins' recollection of their Armenian relatives encouraging friends and family to visit by promising lots of food. Who most recently invited you to their home? What was the occasion?

A friend, with my health problems it is hard to keep my house clean and a friend came over to help me clean. My washing machine of 31 years finally gave up the ghost. I figured that I could have it fixed but it is 31 years old so I decided that I got my money worth out of it and going to go washer shopping next week. Ugh! It is not my favorite shopping trip and I want an American made machine.

Ops... I miss read the question, I thought it was who you invited to your home.

Easter was when I was invited to my bother and sister-in-law condo in Maine.

 

4) This was a big hit for Rosemary Clooney. She got her start singing live on Cincinnati's WLW radio station. Today WLW is an all-news station. When you were a kid, what radio station did you tune into for the hits and new music?

WPOP AM (Where Bud was a DJ) and when FM station took over it was WHCN

5) Rosemary was also an actress, appearing in motion pictures and made-for-TV movies. The most famous is 1954's White Christmas. Have you seen it?

Is the sky blue? Of course I have seen it many, many times.

5) Yes, Rosemary Clooney is related George Clooney. She was his aunt. She appeared with him on ER and received an Emmy Award nomination. Do you enjoy doctor shows?

Nope.

7) In 1951, when this song was #1, Yankees superstar Joe DiMaggio retired from baseball. He remained in the public eye, endorsing products and acting as Major League Baseball's ambassador around the world. His second marriage, a few years after his retirement, was almost as legendary as his baseball career. Without looking it up, do you know who his bride was?

My first thought was “Who?” but then I saw it was Joe DiMaggio… Marilyn Monroe.

 P.S. If you want to buy Marilyn Monroe's Connecticut driver license it is being auctioned off!

8) Also in 1951, I Love Lucy premiered and has never been off the air since. That's right: for 72 years, without interruption, viewers have been entertained by the Ricardos and Mertzes. When you think of I Love Lucy, what's the first thing that comes to mind?

Chocolate

9) Random question -- You're playing roulette and suddenly doubled your winnings. Do you walk away when you're ahead, or do you stay at the table to play your winning streak? 

Well I have been to both casinos here in Connecticut. Well the first thing “suddenly doubled your winnings” is speculative fiction, every time I went I came back with empty pockets. I go with a $100, my nest egg has always gone down, never up. If I “suddenly doubled your winnings” I would probably take the money and run.

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

I Was An Intern*…

And I was asked to attend a meeting and the meeting left a lasting impression on me.

LGBTQ kids kicked out with nowhere to go; Life on the streets

Kicked out, surviving by living on park benches & truck stops, these kids face a terrifying reality of discrimination, isolation, & violence

The Los Angeles Blade

By Simha Hadda

April 17, 2023

With homophobia, bullying, harassment, and extremist hate on the rise, both from the government and civilians alike, queer youth of today are facing a torrent of obstacles leading to a devastating increase in mental health crises.

Even more devastating is the number of queer youth who are facing these challenges while homeless. Kicked out of their homes and living on park benches and truck stops, these kids face a terrifying reality of discrimination, isolation, and violence. 

The Rainbow Youth Project a nonprofit based out of Indiana serves as a godsend for many of these LGBTQ+ youth. The organization provides mental health, financial, housing, services and counseling assistance to homeless LGBTQ+ youth under the age of eighteen across the nation.

Kicked Out with Nowhere to Go

Seventeen-year-old Rainbow Youth Project clients, KV from Monrovia, California, and Mayra from just outside Houston, Texas, shared their stories of living on the streets after their families kicked them out for being queer.

You have to understand, my background is from a white suburban middle class town. In high school we had zero minorities. So when I was interning I was asked to attend a meeting of the Judicial Branch Court Support Services Division meeting. I went into the meeting cold, not really understand what the meeting was about.

“I didn’t know where else to go,” Mayra told The Blade. “I couldn’t call any of my friends because everybody was making fun of me and threatening to beat me up. I just kind of hung out in the park for a couple of days. After a few days, I realized that was still my best option. I just fell into staying on the streets.”

Mayra took to sleeping in the bathrooms of truck travel stops, sporadically getting handouts of leftover food from restaurants such as Subway and Cinnabon.

What the meeting was about was a runaway trans girl. Her parents threw her out when she came out as trans, and the meeting talked about what happened after that.

 “The first thing I had to learn was safety,” said KV. “There are some pretty bad people out there. I got beat up a couple of times because I was in somebody’s space. It’s almost like a game. You have to learn the rules of the game like this is Joe’s space over here. Even if his stuff isn’t here, you can’t be in that area, or he is going to get mad. People don’t understand even if you are were living in a park, your space is like your house, and you can’t go into somebody else’s house. Learning that was kind of hard. I had heard about tent cities and all of that, but I was never really a part of it before.”

The girl ended up sleeping in the Bridgeport bus station where she was “befriended” by a pimp who took her under his wings… and forced her on heroin… and pimped her out.

“It was a tough thing, and I’m not proud of what I had to do to get the things I needed,” KV told The Blade. “But I think the thing that shocked me about it more than even me having to do this was how many kids were doing it and how many people were looking for it. I mean, people every day, every 15 minutes to 30 minutes, would come up to me looking for kids for sex. I’d be walking down Santa Monica or just sitting at a bus stop, and somebody would pull over and say, ‘What do you do for 50? What do you do for 20? That happens all the time.”

She got busted. She ratted out the pimp. He put a contract out on her.

“Rainbow Youth Project saved my life,” KV told the Blade, who found out about RYP through a friend. “My goal was to get off the streets. I had had enough. Even after a week, I knew I had to do something. I called Rainbow Youth Project. I wasn’t expecting too much. I spoke to Brandon. Brandon asked me where I was, and I said LA. He said, ‘What if I told you we have a counselor we work with at UCLA that might be able to help you.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I ain’t got no way out to UCLA. No insurance, none of that stuff. He said, ‘Don’t worry. I’ve got you.’ The next day, he sent an Uber for me that took me up to see the counselor at UCLA. They already had an overnight package that had blankets and socks and underwear stuff that I didn’t have and a phone. And I’ve been in touch with them ever since. That was in June.”

Court Support Services Division was looking for a place to take her in, a shelter, foster parents, someone to help. Someone to help a 16 years old drug addict… with a contract out on her.

LGBTQ youth are overrepresented among young people experiencing homelessness and housing instability in the United States. This elevated risk of homelessness and housing instability has detrimental effects on LGBTQ youths’ mental health.

Do you know what it is like when I hear all these conservative right-wing politicians come down against trans kids knowing that this is what those politicians are committing trans children to by not allowing proper healthcare. Knowing when politicians pass laws forcing teachers to out students to their parents they are forcing teenagers out on the street.

---

*I was going for my MSW and my second year internship was with a LGBTQ family and youth services organizations.

Breaking News! Florida Passes Bill Affecting Parenting Rights.

All around the country the Republicans are pushing so called “Parent Rights” except of you are a trans parent or a parent of a trans child.

No, Florida can’t ‘kidnap’ trans kids under proposed law, but it does affect custody disputes 

IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT

• Florida S.B. 254 broadly prohibits gender-affirming care for transgender minors and restricts access for adults. A subsection of the bill would alter a child custody jurisdiction law that most states share. 
• Under the bill, Florida courts could temporarily make custody decisions for children in Florida who are receiving gender-affirming care, if their custody order was from another state. But the state that made the original custody agreement would have the final say. 
• A second provision in the bill relates to a warrant to take physical custody of a child who is at risk of serious harm, including gender-affirming care. But sources disagree on the provision’s scope and whom it can impact.

PolitiFact

By Grace Abels

May 4, 2023

Are critics right that this new law would give the Sunshine State permission to take trans kids away from their parents? 

The bill does not grant the state unilateral power to "kidnap" or take custody of a child receiving gender-affirming care from a family. The Disney World example would not apply. But the bill does change how custody disputes between parents are resolved, especially when another state issued the original custody order.

But the legislation contains broad and confusing language that has left legal experts divided about its potential impact. 

Critics worry that, if enacted, the law may encourage parents to seek emergency refuge in Florida if they disagree with their co-parent’s decision to help a transgender child seek gender-affirming care. If enacted, the law is likely to be challenged in court. 

[…]

One clause stoking fear grants Florida courts the power of "temporary emergency jurisdiction" over children in the state receiving or "threatened with being subjected to" gender-affirming care.

This is really scary! It sound like the is so broadly written that no one what is allowed and not allowed. It sends chills up and down my spine. This is something authoritarian governments do! Putin’s Russian just took thousands of Ukrainian children away from their parents.

S.B. 254 adds one more exception to the list: A state can take emergency jurisdiction when a child has been "subjected to or is threatened with being subjected to," gender-affirming health care in the form of puberty blockers, hormones and in some rare cases, surgeries.

Bernard Perlmutter, a law professor and co-director of the Children & Youth Law Clinic at the University of Miami, argued that this new addition doesn’t meet the same "harm" standard as abandonment, mistreatment or abuse.

"It's supposed to be very parsimoniously exercised," Perlmutter said. "You don't use this to exert sweeping powers over the parents. It has to really be predicated upon actual harm to the child." 

And DeSantis is bragging on national television what he is doing to trans children!

So much for “Parental Rights” it only means what the Republicans want. Not what is best for the child.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) writes,

Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, condemns Florida legislators for sending an extreme gender affirming care ban, SB 254, to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk for signature or veto. The House passed SB 254 today 83-28.

Even among the crowded field of extreme and damaging bans on best practice, age-appropriate health care, this bill stands out as particularly mean-spirited. SB 254 is an extreme, unprecedented attack on transgender people, their health care, and the families and health care providers who care for them.

[...]

This extreme ban contradicts guidelines recommended by every major medical association – representing over 1.3 million doctors in the United States – including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 

In an article on WTLV First Coast News webpage they say,

A group of parents of transgender youth is fighting back.

The group has two lawsuits against the state.

One challenges the Florida Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine's rules banning doctors from prescribing gender-affirming care to minors.

Simone Chriss, the attorney representing the parents, says the ruling was put into the senate bill.

"But, the piece that we are challenging under our existing lawsuit on behalf of the seven families we're representing is the provision that bans doctors from prescribing this care and threatens them with the penalty of both losing their license to practice medicine but also with a felony," Chriss said.

The parents are asking a federal court to block the bill before it goes into effect.  

"Yet these parents are being stripped of their most fundamental deeply rooted right to make medical decisions that are in the best interest of their children aligned with what their children's medical providers are recommending," Chriss said.

 ***

Not all politicians will follow the new law…

Florida mayors pledge support for LGBTQ community amid passage of restrictive bills

Mayors from Orlando, Tampa and more signed the pledge, according to GLSEN.

ABC News

ByKiara Alfonseca

May 4, 2023

Florida mayors across the state are speaking out in support of LGBTQ rights in light of several bills targeting the community that have been passed by the state legislature and are heading to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

At least eight mayors from Orlando, Miami Beach, Tampa, Tallahassee and more have signed the pledge in support of the LGBTQ advocacy organization GLSEN and its Rise Up campaign, according to the group.

Several local leaders issued city proclamations, which promised "safe learning environments that include and affirm all children, including LGBTQ+ students," one proclamation read.

"I was elected to be mayor for every resident of Gainesville, and it is important to me that all our neighbors, particularly the youngest and most vulnerable, feel welcome and safe in our community," Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward told ABC News in a statement.

He continued, "I support the well-being and healthy development of every person in our community through the guarantee of basic human rights."

Boy is this going piss off DeSantis and we know how the governor punishes those who cross him! Will he start to remove mayors? Just like he did with other elected officials?

---

Meanwhile up north....

Maryland signs law to protect trans healthcare: ‘No one should have to justify their own humanness’

Maryland has bucked the worrying trend of rising anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the United States by signing abortion and trans healthcare protections into law.

Pink News

By Emily Chudy

May 5, 2023

The state’s Democratic governor, Wes Moore, enacted several bills on Wednesday (3 May) which will protect gender-affirming healthcare and abortion rights, NPR reported.

The ground-breaking laws include legislation that allows transgender people in the state to use Medicaid (state-funded health insurance) to cover gender-affirming care, at a time when several other states, including Florida and Alabama, have gone out of their way to limit access such care for trans youth. 

Moore signed six bills in total, with one creating a referendum aimed at enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution for the 2024 election, and another requiring confidentiality of patients seeking an abortion in the Free State.

The legislation provides vital protection for those travelling from less-liberal states to seek an abortion.

The repealing of the landmark case of Roe vs Wade last year means several states have restricted abortion access, with some even attempting to stop their citizens travelling elsewhere for the procedure.

Moore explained at the signing: “We are living at a time when the Supreme Court is actively working to take Americans’ rights away instead of expanding them. We are living at a time when more than half the states in our country are moving toward banning or severely restricting abortion access.”

Gee can you tell the difference between Red and Blue states?

It Is Not Easy Being A LGBTQ Reporter.

 One of the news sites that I visit is one by the Poynter Institute. Hun? Who? What?

The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a non-profit journalism school and research organization in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The school is the owner of the Tampa Bay Times newspaper and the International Fact-Checking Network. It also operates PolitiFact.

I was checking the other day and I came across this article.

How LGBTQ+ journalists can survive this moment in American politics

A legislative blitz of anti-LGBTQ+ bills has hit statehouses across the country. What’s an LGBTQ+ journalist to do?

By: Mike De Socio

May 2, 2023

This year is shaping up to be one of the hardest years yet to be a queer or trans journalist in America.

A legislative blitz of more than 450 anti-LGBTQ+ bills has hit statehouses across the country. Add to that a near-constant cycle of debate in the political arena — over everything from trans rights to drag queens — and it can be debilitating to absorb all of the hate aimed at LGBTQ+ people.

So, what’s an LGBTQ+ journalist to do? How do we report on these mounting atrocities while protecting our mental health? What should newsroom leaders be doing to support us at this moment? And where do we draw the line of “objectivity” when our own rights are under attack?

“There’s a heightened level of scrutiny now for every LGBT person who is writing about the trans or anti-LGBT laws, that somehow we have this agenda or this political motivation, when really all we’re talking about is being fair and accurate in our coverage,” said Ken Miguel, president of the board of directors for NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists, and a special projects producer for ABC7 in San Francisco.

I know a couple trans journalists and it must be hard when you represent LGBTQ+ media, somehow I don’t think that governors DeSantis and Abbott will be eager to give an interview to them.

When Miguel wanted to report on the early days of the marriage equality debate in California in 2004, there was some question about whether he, as a gay journalist, should be allowed to cover the story at all. His TV newsroom decided that “having somebody with intimate knowledge of the ‘other side,’ so to speak, was more beneficial than harmful,” he said, and Miguel was allowed to cover the story. But it wasn’t easy.

He and a lesbian photographer conducted an interview with a lawmaker in Sacramento who was opposed to same-sex marriage. The pair tried to brace themselves; they knew the politician was likely to say some hateful things about gay people. The conversation left a mark, and they spent the drive back to San Francisco processing what they had heard. “Looking back, I can say it was traumatic,” Miguel said.

I was on the other side of the interviews and 99.999 percent of them were alright with me. One Sunday morning talk show host was not, the interview became about trans athletes instead of all the bills before the legislature that year. It left a very sour taste in my mouth. Another wasn’t combative but rather ignorant… zero knowledge on the subject. We finally got it through their thick head to take a look at the Associated Press Stylebook first, it did turn out that once he thought that we were not telling him what to say but trying to educate him he mellowed. But most of the time the reporter would talk to you first and chat with you. But for the Sunday morning talk show they just escorted me, I sat down and the host just kept on asking about trans sports and locker rooms.

A similar dynamic is now playing out for LGBTQ+ reporters. What happens when you’re queer or trans, and the “other side” is arguing that you shouldn’t be able to get married, or get medical care, or even exist in public?

“I think sometimes LGBT people give the opposing point of view too much credit because they feel they have to overcompensate,” Miguel said. It’s better for journalists to resist this impulse, he advised, and instead anchor their reporting in the facts. He cited the debate over gender-affirming care for trans youth.

I think of James Baldwin a lot: “We can disagree and still love each other, unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.”

You can discuss both sides of slavery and you can’t discuss both sides of oppression.

“You have the entire medical community reinforcing that this is life-saving care,” Miguel said. “And then you have lawmakers who are trying to remove those rights from people and that care from people, without any knowledge. … Is that a fair argument? Is that fair reporting?”

He said he would argue that it isn’t. Reporters can’t put the genie back in the bottle, but they can report that the person making the anti-trans argument does not have any medical degree, or is not qualified to speak on the topic.

Ding, ding, ding… We see this now down in Florida where DeSantis crew is passing an anti-trans health bill but many of the media outlets don’t mention that all the major medical associations are against the bill.

The hostile political climate toward LGBTQ+ people means that journalists also need to consider their mental health.

[…]

“Our newsrooms should be thinking about ways to make that work sustainable and minimize burnout,” Petrin said. 

It can’t be fun interviewing a politician who is anti-LGBTQ.

Finally The Cause Has Been Found!

[SATIRE]

Finally the cause of gender dysphoria has been found!

And it has been driving conservatives off the deep end. They are refusing to drink any water only straight beer. But even beer has been found to contaminated with the forever chemicals, they found it in the food we eat, the water we drink, and even in the air we breath, wherever they look they have found PFAS the forever chemicals. It was used in nonstick cookware, water-repellent clothing, stain resistant fabrics and carpets, some cosmetics, some firefighting foams, and products that resist grease, water, and oil.

Through years of research they found PFAS in the body mimics estrogen!

Research showed that the increase of gender dysphoria is directed related to the amount PFAS in a fetus, the higher the level of PFAS in the fetus the more likely the child develops gender dysphoria and is intersex.

Proud Boys and MAGA men are in a panic vowing not to eat or drink anything! There is a big market in “Thousand Year Old” water and huckster are selling fake “Thousand Year Old” which is really triple distilled water. New sections of grocery store have been created for certified PFAS free food!

Many men are having their “Man Boobs” removed in secret fearing that their friends might hear about surgery, they are sneaking in the back door of the plastic surgeons afraid that they would be seen. Late night TV commercials advertising herbal testosterone to “man them up!” and black market sales of testosterone have popped up… "I know someone who knows someone who sells questionable black market testosterone that have been cut a half a dozen times." Men who have money are having their blood filter to remove any PFAS or microplastics.

Born again preachers are preaching the end of the world as “men become women” that it is god’s punishment because they didn't eradicate trans people! That PFAS is god’s punishing us for gay marriage!

The conservatives says that this is all a liberal plot to wipe them out and are calling for a civil war as they live in fear of becoming women.

[/SATIRE]

Political Prosecution.

This sure looks likes her arrest was political motivated so that it could be put out on social media but I bet they didn’t post about the results.

Fairborn transgender woman not guilty in Xenia YMCA indecent exposure case

Springfield News Sun

By London Bishop

May 1, 2023

A local transgender woman has been found not guilty of public indecency charges related to incidents at the Xenia YMCA last year.

Rachel Glines, 31, of Fairborn, was charged in Xenia Municipal Court with three counts of public indecency, all fourth-degree misdemeanors, for incidents in September and November 2022, and a third incident between November 2021 and 2022.

“The facts and law have been on Ms. Glines’ side from the beginning. It’s unfortunate not only for her, but for the entire community, that the filing of these charges ever occurred,” Glines’ attorneys said in a statement Monday. “We are grateful that the rule of law and the truth prevailed so that Ms. Glines and the community can move on in peace.”

Xenia police received “several complaints of a naked man in the females’ locker room” of the YMCA branch, which is located on Progress Drive in Xenia, according to the criminal complaint.

Setting the Wayback Machine…

Trans-Identified Male Charged With Indecent Exposure After Using Women’s Changing Rooms At Ohio YMCA

Reduxx

By Anna Slatz

February 2, 2023

A trans-identified male is facing multiple indecent exposure charges after repeatedly stripping down in the women’s locker room at a YMCA in Xenia, Ohio, including when minors were present.

Rachel Glines, born Darren, was the subject of multiple complaints from female patrons between 2021 and 2022. Glines, 31, has now been charged with three counts of indecent exposure and is due in court on February 6.

Some details of the allegations were discussed by city council president William Urschel at a January 24 meeting of the Greene County Tea Party. In a recording of the meeting uploaded to YouTube, Urschel is heard recounting details of one incident stemming from a woman who brought her complaints about Glines forward.

“So she went to the front desk and said, ‘Hey, I don’t know if you know what’s going on… but there’s a naked man in there,’” Urshchel said. “She was informed, ‘No this is actually a woman, and that you shouldn’t be disturbed by this.’” Urschel’s comments were met by members attending the meeting loudly proclaiming “insanity!”

Now tell me that the arrest wasn’t politically motivated! It was all over the conservative media with her name, that she’s trans, and was arrested public indecency. William Urschel is a Republican and the complainant was a pastor’s wife.

Transgender woman found not guilty of Public Indecency at Xenia YMCA

WKEF

By Joshua Richardson

May 1st 2023

A Xenia Municipal Court has found a transgender woman not guilty of Public Indecency after a complaint filed because of her use of the women's locker room at the Xenia YMCA.

Xenia Municipal Judge David M. McNamee ruled on Friday that there was insufficient evidence to support the charge against Rachel Glines, who was listed in court documents as Darren C. Glines.

"There is no question that the Defendant was in the Women's Locker Room," McNamee wrote in his decision. "However, the Defendant was not charged with trespass, nor was the Defendant charged with being in an area of the YMCA where the Defendant was not supposed to be. Quite simply, the facts do not exist to support a finding of guilt, as charged."

McNamee said the YMCA had given Glines permission to use the women's locker rooms at all Greater Dayton area branches.

But she was arrested and her name dragged through the mud.

I see this as politically motivated, everything points to it… pastor, the Tea Party, and the city council president. Was it a setup?

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Our neighbors to the north have a court case that could create trouble for us in New Hampshire.

NH Supreme Court case could influence school policies on transgender students

New Hampshire Public Radio

By Paul Cuno-Booth

April 28, 2023

The New Hampshire Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in a case brought by a Manchester parent challenging school policies around transgender and nonbinary students.

The parent says she was kept in the dark when her child began using a different name and identifying as a different gender at school — something the parent objected to.

The case is part of a broader fight over the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming students playing out in New Hampshire. Republican lawmakers are rallying behind legislation that would force schools to disclose a student’s gender identity to parents when asked. The House narrowly rejected one such proposal last month, but another remains on the table after passing the Senate along party lines.

In court this week, attorney Richard Lehmann told the justices that parents have a fundamental, constitutional right to raise their children as they see fit. Lehmann, who is also the longtime legal counsel for Republicans in the state Senate, said that extends to knowing whether their child is socially transitioning at school.

“Parental input into that kind of decision matters,” he said.

At issue is a district policy that says Manchester school staff generally shouldn’t disclose when a student identifies as transgender or gender nonconforming, without that student’s permission.

And what will happen if the parents don’t accept their child being trans? What happens if the child runs away? What happens if it is a state that doesn’t ban conversion therapy? The Republicans scream “Parental Rights” but what about our rights?

Last year, a lower court judge sided with the school district and dismissed the lawsuit, saying Manchester's policy did not violate the parent’s rights. The parent, who filed suit anonymously to protect her child’s privacy, is appealing that order.

And what if the parents would rather have a dead child than a trans child?

NBC news reported… “A Montana lawmaker suggested she’d rather risk her child’s suicide than let her transition”

What Is It Going To Take… Our Deaths?

The Supreme Court just heard another landmark case that has deep ramification for our community. And the questions that they asked doesn’t bode well for us.

Non-discrimination laws do not infringe (At least for now.) on the First Amendment free speech rights because you had to prove one of two things either it resulted in violence or a threat was made. You can say anything or do anything as long a injury or threaten a person or place.

Speech that threatens others is not constitutionally protected. Does SCOTUS agree? | Opinion

Sacramento Bee

By Erwin Chemerinsky

April 30, 2023

There should be no First Amendment right to use speech to cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety. Based on oral arguments in the Supreme Court on April 19 in Counterman v. Colorado, however, it appears that the justices are likely to make it much harder to prove that speech is a threat. For over two years, Billy Raymond Counterman sent messages over Facebook to a singer, identified as “C.W.” Sometimes he sent several messages a day; sometimes there were long gaps between messages. 

Over six years, Counterman sent her over a million messages. C.W. said it was as if Counterman was “trying to continue a conversation with me . . . which I am not engaging in.” Some of Counterman’s messages expressed frustration that C.W. was not responding to him. Over time, his messages became more aggressive. C.W. said that she became concerned, “canceled a few shows,” and filed a complaint with police.

Counterman was prosecuted under a Colorado law that provides for criminal liability if speech “would cause a reasonable person to suffer serious emotional distress.” The Colorado Supreme Court had previously held that conviction requires proof only that the speaker “knowingly” made repeated communications, and does not “require that a perpetrator be aware that his or her acts would cause a reasonable person to suffer serious emotional distress.” Counterman was convicted and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison. The Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction, and the 

Colorado Supreme Court denied review. This is the right result: Speech that threatens others is not constitutionally protected. The focus should be on whether a reasonable person felt threatened by the speech, not what the speaker had in mind.

This is kind of a grey area, he didn’t threaten her but his actions posed a threat. The article mentions another case.

Robert Watts, then 18, attended a rally and stated, “I have already received my draft classification as 1-A and I have got to report for my physical this Monday coming. I am not going. If they ever make me carry a rifle the first man I want to get in my sights is L.B.J.” Watts was arrested and convicted for violating a federal law that makes it a crime to “knowingly and willfully” threaten the life of the president.

[…]

The court has reaffirmed that true threats are not protected by the First Amendment, but it has never articulated the standard for determining what constitutes a true threat under the First Amendment. Colorado and a number of other courts use an objective test: Would a reasonable person feel threatened under the circumstances? But a different test is used by many other courts, requiring proof that the defendant subjectively intended to threaten another person.

So depending upon how this ruling is framed it could be bad news for us.

The Supreme Court could narrowly define the case to this one incident and it could make it that “fighting words” are not enough. Stay tuned for the out of this case in June!

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While out in Ohio the Nazi were protesting drag queens.

Nazis protest at Land-Grant drag brunch: Here's what you need to know now

The Columbus Dispatch

By Max Filby

May 1, 2023

A group of neo-Nazi protesters showed up outside a drag brunch fundraiser in Columbus over the weekend, prompting a flurry of social media posts, outrage and pushback from local leaders.

The protesters, dressed in red, appear to have worn black ski masks to cover their faces, video and photos taken during the incident Saturday outside Land-Grant Brewing Co., which was hosting a drag brunch Saturday benefiting a local LGBTQ+ organization.

The few dozen protesters carried a black flag with a swastika — a symbol that harkens back to Nazi Germany in the 1940s — and a banner with the words "there will be blood." They chanted sayings including "no transgenders on our streets" and something with the phrase "under the Aryan sun," social media posts show.

The people in charge of the sound system for the drag party at Land-Grant reportedly turned up the music to drown out the protesters.

The cowards wore ski masks to cover their identity.

Most of the protestors [sic] donned black ski masks and sunglasses, preventing their faces from being shown.

They are afraid that there will be repercussions if they were known to be bigots and transphobes.

Members of the Blood Tribe appear to have showed up Saturday at the brewery at 424 W. Town St. to protest a drag brunch for people ages 21 and older.

They should change their name to the Wimp Tribe, if they want to protest something they should stand proud and tall and not hide behind ski masks.

Last month, another anti-drag protest drew attention in northeast Ohio. Armed white supremacists showed up outside a drag queen story hour in March in Wadsworth. One person wore a hoodie with the words "Proud Boys," a reference to a right-wing extremist group that is misogynistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and anti-immigration, according to the ADL.

They are getting very dangerous, I am concern that violence will break out at one of these events.

Not All Celebrities Are Behind Us.

We all know that the author of the Harry Potter series J. K. Rowling is transphobic but added to that list over the weekend…

KISS and Twisted Sister Rock Legends Go Full-on Transphobic

KISS’s Paul Stanley and Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider both made very transphobic remarks on Twitter over the weekend.

The Advocate

By Christopher Wiggins

May 1, 2023

Paul Stanley has spent the better part of his 71 years on Earth wearing makeup and high heels, but the KISS co-founder believes that affirming children’s gender identity is a “dangerous fad.”

This is according to unsolicited “thoughts” the rocker shared on Twitter Sunday.

The singer and guitarist posted a statement titled “My Thoughts On What I’m Seeing,” which got attention for its bigotry and hypocrisy. He also seems to have gotten sexual orientation and gender identity confused.

“There is a BIG difference between teaching acceptance and normalizing and even encouraging participation in a lifestyle that confuses young children into questioning their sexual identification as though some sort of game and then parents in some cases allow it,” he wrote.

Ding, ding, ding, ding… “lifestyle!” These people still think that it is a choice!

Republicans have spent recent years demonizing gender-affirming care for children, leading to at least 15 GOP-controlled states banning what major medical associations agree is necessary health care for gender-diverse youth. Missouri Republicans banned this care for adults and minors alike. The bans from previous years on care are currently blocked by courts.

Online, people were quick to note that KISS released and performed the 1977 song called “Christine Sixteen” in which the adult singers lament their attraction to a teenage girl they have to have, according to the lyrics.

Dee Snider, 68, the former Twisted Sister frontman, endorsed Stanley’s message.

Their bigotry and phobias are coming out in open. They made millions off a very diverse fans but now they are sticking it to a part of their fan base.

After some Snider fans questioned why he contributed to anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry, he dismissed the community.

“Am I losing a hero here?” a Twitter user asked.

“Apparently so. I guess I’ll just need to turn in my LGBTQIA+ membership card…oh wait! I’m gonna need it in a big way TBA,” Snider replied.

After some Snider fans questioned why he contributed to anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry, he dismissed the community.

“Am I losing a hero here?” a Twitter user asked.

“Apparently so. I guess I’ll just need to turn in my LGBTQIA+ membership card…oh wait! I’m gonna need it in a big way TBA,” Snider replied.

[…]

Snider and Stanely spent decades making millions of dollars by applying makeup to their faces and wearing what many would consider traditionally women’s clothing and shoewear as they sang and danced and gyrated onstage with their respective bands.

Okay fans… bend over.

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On the opposite side of the coin…

Xena Actor Lucy Lawless Slams Supergirl Star Kevin Sorbo for Transphobia: “You need to stomp on Transpeople to feel taller?”

Fandom Wire

By Ankush Mallick

April 4, 2023

Recently, Xena actor Lucy Lawless slammed Supergirl star Kevin Sorbo for his transphobic comments. Sorbo had made a statement on social media where he claimed that trans people were mentally ill and that allowing them to use the bathroom of their choice would lead to chaos. Lawless was quick to call out Sorbo for his ignorance and insensitivity.

Lucy Lawless was quick to shut down Kevin Sorbo

Lawless’ response to Sorbo’s comments is particularly significant because it sheds light on the ongoing issue of transphobia in our society. Despite the progress that has been made toward LGBTQ+ rights and equality in recent years, transgender people still face a great deal of discrimination and intolerance.

Don’t forget Nicole Maines played Nia Nal, who was Dreamer on Supergirl along side Kevin Sorbo.

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Met Gala 2023: Dwyane Wade uses red carpet to share powerful message on trans suicide rates

Basketballer Dwyane Wade, father of the pioneering 15-year-old trans model Zaya Wade, has used his appearance on the Met Gala 2023 red carpet to share an important message about trans suicide rates.

Pink News

By Marcus Wratten

May 2, 2023

Each year, the Met Gala is an opportunity for the biggest stars to share their best eye-catching looks, but it’s also a platform to share crucial statements of equality – like actor Tommy Dorfman’s ‘Protect Trans Kids’ bag at last year’s event.

This year, Dwyane Wade spent time on the red carpet promoting acceptance for trans youth, and underlining the harrowing reality of what happens when young trans people are abandoned.

Asked by a Variety reporter what message he would like to send to Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who is currently pushing forward with a string of anti-trans policies, Wade said: “I don’t know him. But I do know men lie, women lie, but numbers don’t.

“I do know that when our children feel accepted, that 43 per cent of our children that feel accepted, from their parents, from the world, it lowers the death rate.”

[...]

Continuing his powerful statement, Wade added: “Suicide is high in the trans community. It’s high in youth and so I’m going to step on the side of acceptance and I’m not going to even go on the other side. I’m going to focus on acceptance.

“Let’s make sure our kids have an opportunity to live this life that we all get to live.”

Amen.

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Update May 9, 2023

Paul Stanley is doing a quick two step...

Kiss star Paul Stanley backtracks after branding gender-affirming youth care a ‘dangerous fad’

The co-founder of heavy metal band Kiss, Paul Stanley, has backtracked over anti-trans comments he made last month.

Pink News

By Jake McKee

May 9, 2023

In a statement posted on Twitter on 30 April, Stanley criticised gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth, saying it had become “a sad and dangerous fad”.

The post was widely condemned, including by The Offspring guitarist Kevin Wasserman, who said it was “a very disappointing take, especially from someone who wore high heels, makeup and teased up hair his whole career”.

Wasserman – who is also known by the stage name Noodles – added: “As a young kid, your band helped teach me that I could be whatever I wanted to be. I guess it was just gimmickry after all.”

But Stanley now seems to have had second thoughts.

In a tweet posted on 4 May, he wrote: “While my thoughts were clear, my words clearly were not.

“Most importantly and above all else, I support those struggling with their sexual identity while enduring constant hostility, and those whose path leads them to reassignment surgery. It’s hard to fathom the kind of conviction that one must feel to takes those steps.

I am always a little leery of apologies or “correction” made after an outcry, I have to wonder if it is sincere or it is to deflect the outcry and anger.

We’re Blue And We See The Difference?

 

There is a big, big difference between Red and Blue states.

Gender equality gets CT support

Nonbinary license designations slowly growing in acceptance

Hartford Courant

By Susan Dunne

May 1, 2023

At the Connecticut DMV, one nonbinary license is issued about every other day. The gender designation, denoting someone outside of the binary male or female, was offered by the state Department of Motor Vehicles beginning Jan. 27, 2020.

More than three years later, 571 Connecticut residents have chosen the “X,” rather than the “M” or “F,” the DMV reports.

That may not seem like much, compared to the thousands of people the DMV, and AAA, serve every day. But for people who chose the X, it’s an empowering form of self-determination.

“This means my state was giving me legal recognition and affirming me in a way that some people might not be capable of doing,” said Lindsey M. Pasquale of Hebron [Just to set the record correct, Lindsey is a friend]. “From a mental health standpoint, it’s a very positive thing.”

Pasquale, Northeast Regional Director at PFLAG National, was so keen to get an X that she and her friend went to the Manchester AAA on the first day they were offered. Pasquale’s friend was the first in the state to get it. Pasquale was the second.

“I wanted to adopt it early. I thought there was a risk of it getting removed or getting underutilized and that people would think that not many people out there wanted it,” Pasquale said.

Now tell me do you think you will see non-binary designation on driver licenses in say Tennessee? What about in Florida or Texas?

But for some they don’t want an “X” on their documents for fear of discrimination.

“A lot of people aren’t comfortable making the change. There are people living at home not out to their parents. People might be concerned how it might effect their job prospects by having it on there because they’re not ready to come out at work,” she said. “So many things go through people’s heads.”‘Having the strength’

[…]

Becoming a target

Others in the LGBTQ community have chosen not to check the X when they apply for or renew their licenses.

Mel Cordner, executive director of LGBTQ youth support agency Q Plus, said the rising tide of transphobia makes some hesitant to declare their gender identity on an official document.

“I know a lot of people, myself included, who haven’t changed theirs because they don’t want to become more of a target from whoever might access their ID, like police and doctors,” Cordner said. “That sounds sort of dramatic but it is reality.”

Red states v. Blue states and sometimes you have to travel between them.

“Having an X option is well-intentioned, as it tries to create space to include more people. But all the X does is put us all in a new box, reinforcing the idea that we don’t fit in the standard boxes,” they said.

Yeah, that is why I have a “F” and not an “X.”

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On the town's Facebook page someone is selling lawn pride signs. Forty-one people commented about them and not one negative comment. The difference between Red and Blue states.

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Ticky tacky little boxes. Why do we even need boxes?

It Is Time To Get Out The Dice Again.

It is time for another crap shoot.

There is another LGBTQ+ case going to the Supreme Court and how they will rule is anyone’s guess. Our human rights depend upon nine people many of whom were picked not for the knowledge of the Constitution but rather for the Christian beliefs.

Supreme Court LGBTQ+ Rights Case: What’s At Stake in 303 Creative v. Elenis

The case may deliver a substantial blow to the civil rights and liberties of same-sex couples.

Teen Vouge

By Catherine Caruso

May 1, 2023

The US Supreme Court has played an important role in a number of major civil rights victories for LGBTQ+ Americans over the years. In the last few decades, the court has eliminated sodomy laws, gutted the Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA), legalized marriage equality, and established workplace nondiscrimination protections for queer and trans people. However, the Court’s latest LGBTQ+ rights case, 303 Creative v. Elenis, may deliver a substantial blow to the civil rights and liberties of same-sex couples and the greater LGBTQ+ community.

The case concerns Lorie Smith, a Colorado-based graphic designer and owner of the web design firm 303 Creative, who refuses to create wedding websites for LGBTQ+ couples, citing her deeply held religious beliefs. Smith is seeking an exemption from a Colorado law that prohibits discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Smith is arguing that being forced to comply with this law would infringe on her First Amendment rights by compelling her to use her art to convey a “message” she finds objectionable. She’s being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled an anti-LGBTQ hate group. (ADF disputes that label.) For nearly three decades, the ADF has been associated with legal efforts to allow businesses to deny goods and services to LGBTQ+ people, among other homophobic policies. 

This is not another Masterpiece Cakeshop case, in that case the Colorado human rights commission made a mistake and brought religion in to the discussion but in this case they avoided the religion pitfall.

The oddest part about this case is that it’s based entirely on something that has not yet occurred: Smith’s company does not currently offer wedding website designs, nor has she turned away any same-sex couples seeking this service. Unlike most Supreme Court cases dealing with nondiscrimination protections, there are no specific aggrieved individuals in this case. Instead, lawyers at the ADF have preemptively filed a lawsuit against the state of Colorado on Smith’s behalf in order to directly challenge and undermine this law.

This case is just about the question, can a person or business refuse to serve a person of a protected class because because of their religious beliefs?

Now, however, the central question the Court will need to decide is “whether applying a public-accommodation law to compel an artist to speak or stay silent violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment," according to SCOTUSblog. 

Based on some of the comments made during oral arguments in December, the Court’s conservative majority seems poised to vote in favor of Smith. According to Pizer, Justice Samuel Alito’s line of questioning revealed a disconcerting level of apathy for victims of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination. For example, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson brought up an analogy, replacing sexual orientation with race, in which a mall Santa refused to take pictures with Black children because the pictures offered were “sepia-toned” and nostalgic and so refusing to have the children in the photo would be adhering to historical accuracy. Alito raised an alternate hypothetical involving forcing a Black mall Santa to take pictures with a child wearing a KKK costume.

This case is big!

It can strip every state non-discrimination in the nation! It would allow a store owner to discriminate against an unmarried mother.  It would allow a store owner to discriminate against a Jew or a Muslim.  It would allow an apartment owner to refuse to rent to a Black person.

At the end of the day, the implications of this case will depend entirely on the breadth of the Supreme Court ruling. The justices can either decide to rule narrowly again, as they did in Masterpiece Cakeshop, or hand down a decision that is much broader in scope. “They could just say, ‘We're only applying this to websites,’ and so the immediate impact might be small and not felt, but there certainly will be more challenges that will go out of it,” Kreis said. “Or the justices could have a very broad and sweeping ruling, which would almost immediately have that kind of profound impact, which would still be harmful and consequential for folks in those public spaces.”

Kreis is hopeful that the justices will deliver a narrower verdict. “When it comes to this idea of pinning gay rights against religious folks' rights, this is not a Court that's going to look on LGBTQ+ people with a sense of sympathy,” he said. “I don't think there's any chance that this will come out in Colorado's favor. It's just a matter of how small or big the loss will be.”

Depending upon the out come of the case all a person would have to do to discriminate against another person is to say the magic words, a kind of “Get out of jail free” card, “It is against my religion belief.”

A Government Against Us.

 As I wrote this morning I don’t like reporting articles like these…

“A death sentence”: Trans Texas teen plots his future as proposed ban on hormone therapy progresses

As Texas House members could soon vote to ban transition-related care for minors, many lives are in limbo, and trans kids like 16-year-old Randell are grappling with difficult decisions.

Texas Tribune 

By Alex Nguyen

May 1, 2023

Randell and his family are bracing for the worst-case scenario.

Over the past few months, the 16-year-old North Texas boy has watched Senate Bill 14 — which would bar transgender youth like himself from receiving puberty blockers and hormone therapy — sail through the Senate and a House committee. The legislation would also ban transition-related surgeries, but they are rarely performed on kids. And on Tuesday, the bill could be up for a key vote in the lower chamber, where the legislation has more than enough support to pass.

“I am a really happy kid, and I have a really positive outlook on life,” said Randell, who is usually quick to laugh. “That would push me past my breaking point.”

That legislative progress means Texas, which has among the country’s biggest trans youth populations, is on the brink of joining over a dozen other states in banning transition-related care for minors — treatment medical groups and LGBTQ advocates say is vital for a portion of the youth population at high risk for depression and suicide.

“The last appointment we went to, the endocrinologist didn’t start with, ‘Hey, how’s your medicine going?’” said Kay, Randell’s mother. “They started with, ‘The government’s probably going to shut down the clinic. Where will you go for your next appointment?’”

At the moment, Randell hasn’t completely worked out what he’ll do next, though he is lining up options.

This is spreading across the country, from one Republican state to another just like COVID did and it is creating havoc just like the plague it did.

U.S. Facing Growing Extremism in Denying Care to Transgender People: Report

A recent report has found that transgender people’s gender-affirming care is in peril at an alarmingly high rate.

The Advocate

By Christopher Wiggins

April 30 2023

In a report released earlier this month, Movement Advancement Project (MAP) highlights the growing number, scope, and severity of bills that aim to prevent transgender individuals from receiving gender-affirming care.

MAP’s “LGBTQ Policy Spotlight: Bans on Medical Care for Transgender People” is the most comprehensive analysis of the efforts to limit or ban medical care for transgender youth and adults, according to the organization.

On Friday, Montana became the nation’s first state to restrict gender-affirming medical care.

MAP examined more than 250 bills introduced over the last several years that threaten the rights of transgender patients to receive medical care. In addition, several anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been passed in the past year, and these measures are part of a more comprehensive climate of record-breaking anti-LGBTQ+ activities.

MAP reports that state legislators have introduced over 650 bills aimed at attacking LGBTQ+ people this year, including more than 125 bills limiting the rights of transgender people to receive health care.

The report highlights the extreme measures taken by these bills.

It seems like the states are trying to outdo each other in who can come up with the most oppressive legislation.

The president has stepped into the fray on our behalf!

Politico wrote last year that,

Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday instructing HHS to deny federal funding to programs that offer discredited conversion therapy and to draft guidance for states to improve transgender and broader LGBTQ health care practices. The order also directs health officials to bolster access and care in the foster system, where disparities leave LGBTQ youth especially vulnerable.

“Right now, there are young people sitting in their bedroom, doors closed, silent, scrolling through social media, staring at the ceiling, wondering if they’ll ever be loved, ever have a family, ever be accepted by their own families,” Biden said at a White House event to sign the order.

Biden continued to turn around family rhetoric that some conservatives have used to raise concerns about minors seeking gender-affirming care: “I don’t have to tell you about the ultra-MAGA agenda attacking families and our freedoms.”

And let us not forget who president Biden appointed as Assistant Health Secretary, Rachel Levine.

Biden administration files suit against Tennessee ban on lifesaving care for transgender youth

The Hill

By Stephen Neukam

April 26, 2023

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Tennessee’s recently-signed law that bans gender-affirming care for minors, alleging the law violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed the bill banning the care last month, making it just one of a number of Republican-led states that have taken similar action. The Biden administration is challenging the law in federal court. The DOJ called the Tennessee measure a “ law that denies necessary medical care to youth based solely on who they are.”

“The complaint alleges that SB 1’s ban on providing certain medically necessary care to transgender minors violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause,” the DOJ said in a release on Wednesday.

The DOJ argued the law violates the equal protection clause because it prohibits transgender youth from accessing some “medically necessary” care while allowing others access to the same or similar care. 

“No person should be denied access to necessary medical care just because of their transgender status,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.

But it will still have to make it by the Trump hand-picked Supreme Court.

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Life for us is hard and is social media making it worst for us?

When Social Media Presents Only an ‘Unlivable Life’

Twitter’s suppression of trans joy can kill, at the precise moment we need to be strong.

Wired

By Katherine Alejandra Cross

April 17, 2023

THERE ARE TIMES when I wonder whether I’m in denial about the perilous state of trans rights; I find my attention snapping from a lovely dinner with my polycule, most of whom are trans, to the screaming Mouth of Sauron that is social media’s endless shouting about how me and my people are all going to die. It can feel convincing; the evidence piles up with every legislative filing, from coast to coast. It’s a bleak picture made up of far more than unkind words.

In the US, we’ve watched legislators criminalize trans children and rob them of gender-affirming health care, ban us from public accommodation, and threaten the health care of transgender adults, all while angry men with guns are dispatched to any public library where a drag queen is reading to kids. Combine this with the call from the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) to “eradicate transgenderism,” a veiled demand that every trans person should detransition or submit to some as-yet-undisclosed punishment, and it’s not the most cheerful environment in which one goes about her day as a trans woman—or for any trans person.

[…]

SOCIOLOGIST LAUREL WESTBROOK calls this state of unending terror, this sense of infinite vulnerability and futility, “an unlivable life.” They analyze trans activist materials from 1990 to 2009, the long dawn of the transgender rights movement, and argue that activists’ hyperfocus on extravagantly gruesome murders—like the killings of Brandon Teena and Gwen Araujo—taught a generation of trans people that our lives were permanently endangered and unlivable. The attendant minimization of joy, Westbrook argues, leaves transgender people terrified—and, worse, “these narratives do not push people to stand up against the violence so much as run away and hide.”

You might have noticed that I have cut back on using the word “h**e” because it seems that I get censored when I use the word “h**e” to describe the “h**e” that is being directed towards us so I have been using “animosity” in place of using the word “h**e.” I got my hand slapped a couple of times.

This post was put behind a warning for readers because it contains sensitive content as outlined in Blogger’s Community Guidelines.

Kind of ironic isn’t it? You get censored for writing about an article about the animosity that is being directed at us.

It’s what makes Gillian Branstetter clear-eyed about this politically perilous moment. “I’ve spoken to the families who’ve been targeted by [government] agencies. I have listened to parents beg for their children’s lives in Federal court. I stare into the abyss of the current political situation every. Single. Day. I am not ignorant to what we face. But that’s only made it more urgent that we are being clear and holistic in our practice.” Because our lives are worth living—and that story needs to be told, algorithms, irony, and doomerism be hanged.

You Know We Know…

 [Editorial]

That the right-wing conservatives have geared up against us. The list just keeps going on and on, it is not getting smaller but sadly it just keeps growing. There is a never ending list of laws, bills, and violence against us. The question is do I keep reporting it or just ignore the negative news?

Just google “transgender” in Google News and you get a never ending list of negative news articles and almost not one positive article.

• Juneau Empire: State association considers transgender ban on student sports
• CNN: Republicans ramp up attacks on transgender people, in statehouses and on the campaign trail
• Sentinel-Tribune: Conflict over transgender rights simmers across the USAdvocate.com
• U.S. Facing Growing Extremism in Denying Care to Transgender ...
• Texas Tribune: “A death sentence”: Trans Texas teen plots his future as proposed ban on hormone therapy progresses
• The Texas Tribune: Transgender Texas teen plots his future as anti-LGBTQ bills progress
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Whistleblower pushes back on St. Louis transgender center findings ...

The list goes on and on and these are just the top headline.

This is far different from the Lavender Scare because now it is well organized. Well funded by millionaires and billionaires. Backed by evangelical Christians religions. And enforced by armed militias with assault rifles outside drag events chanting death to us. Doctors who refusing to treat us. All supported by lies.

It is depressing but that is idea the Republican pogrom wants, they want to eradicate force into a dark corner out of sight and out of mind. They have even come out and said that, HRC reported “The wave of hatred culminated with a speech in which a Daily Wire commentator called for the “eradication” of transgender people…”

The government is systematically attacking a minority of their citizens for political advancement just like it was done in the 1920s, the 1930s, 1950s, 1960s, and the 1970s. Then the Tea Party came along stirred up by Trump and he used us to stir up animosity toward us. He used the Proud Boys just like the Brownshirt were used in the 1920s and 1930s to terrorize the Jews. Marching with torches to create fear among the minorities.

My dilemma is do I write about it or do I write about fluff feel good articles? You know that times are hard for us do I need to keep pointing it out? It is also depressing to write about all the hate and violence that is against the trans and LGBTQ+ communities. I look at the stats and they are good, yesterday 1235 visited my blog. It tells me that people keep reading my blog but I have to think about this for a while.

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