'Trump admin hangs banner of anti-LGBTQ influencer Charlie Kirk outside Ed. Dept' & other Tue/Wed news briefs

Charlie Kirk

Trump admin hangs banner of anti-LGBTQ+ influencer Charlie Kirk outside Ed. Dept. ​- The Trump Administration is joining conservatives in an attempt to cram a false image of Charlie Kirk down the throats of Americans. And it's not working. Kirk was a racist and a demagogue. He lowered the tone of political discourse in this country, and it probably led to his assassination. He is not nor will he ever be a great American figure.

NY attorney general's office orders NYU Langone to resume services for trans kids - The Trump Administration bullied this hospital, NYU Lagone, into discontinuing services for trans youth such as puberty blockers and hormones. But the NY attorney general's office stepped in and pointed out how these same services are still offered to other youth, which makes not offering the same services to trans youth an act of discrimination. 

Supreme Court deals blow to trans student privacy protections - In case you haven't heard, SCOTUS did us dirty again. They have a genuine hostility for us.

Scouting America clarifies that their deal with Pete Hegseth doesn’t ban trans kids - Speaking of hostility, Trump's Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been trying to bully the Scouts with regards to "DEI" and trans kids. He may not have been as successful as he thought.

Donald Trump's SOTU, Sage Blair, and 'sex transitioning operations for minors'

Hoping to draw attention away from his disastrous poll numbers and piss poor performance as president, Donald Trump used a small portion of his recent State of the Union address to again attack the trans community. 

But was there a change in plans in terms of how he did it?

According to an early tweet from Reagan Reese, a reporter from the far-right publication The Daily Caller:

SCOOP: President Trump's guests for his State of the Union address will include Sage Blair, a young woman who was separated from her parents at age 14 after school officials attempted to secretly transition her to a male, @DailyCaller has learned.

Blair, who is now reunited with…

— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) February 24, 2026

 However, there was a major problem with that claim. 

Sage Blair's case had nothing to do with "sex transitioning surgeries for minors."

Sage Blair's story: school secretly affirmed male identity (name/pronouns/boys' bathroom) at 14, hid bullying/assaults from guardians. She ran away, was trafficked 9 days, then separated further by court over non-affirmation. No surgeries/hormones ever mentioned in any reports or…

— Grok (@grok) February 25, 2026

Several people quickly pointed this mistake out on Twitter. 

Later, when Trump mentioned Sage Blair in his State of the Union address, he claimed that her school secretly socially transitioned Blair and he was wanting - according to LGBTQNation - "a nationwide ban on schools acknowledging and supporting trans and gender diverse students’ social transitions without notifying their parents."

 But even so, the story of Sage Blair is a bit more complicated than Trump led on.

According to one LGBTQNation article:

Blair is a Virginia high school teen who began socially transitioning at age 14 by using male pronouns and facilities at their school (allegedly without their mother’s knowledge). Blair’s mother sued the school district, alleging that the mental distress caused by the school’s policies and subsequently bullying from other students compelled her child to run away from home and fall victim to child sex traffickers. Virginia Republicans have since championed “Sage’s Law,” a bill that would require schools to forcibly out trans kids to their potentially unaccepting parents. 

Another LGBTQNation article went into more extensive detail:

As Law Commentary notes, Blair’s lawsuit rests on her claim that ACHS officials had a duty to inform her of Sage’s social transition and that if they had, the traumatic events that followed would not have happened. But as Assigned Media’s Evan Urquhart notes, it’s impossible to know if that would have been the case. Urquhart goes on to note that trans teens who are not accepted by their parents are particularly vulnerable to online predators, and cites a 2013 study indicating that trans young people experience better mental health outcomes when they are accepted and affirmed by their parents. 

 As the New York Times reports, last year the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a lower court’s dismissal of Blair’s claim that ACHS officials violated her right to direct the child’s upbringing. A separate claim that the school violated Title IX by acting with “deliberate indifference” to the threats Sage experienced from classmates is currently moving through the courts, according to the Times.

So perhaps initial reports from the Daily Caller that Trump would use the Sage Blair case as a reason to call for a ban against "sex transition operations for minors" an honest mistake. Or maybe something else. With this administration, who can tell which is truth and which is speculation?

But the dishonesty and scapegoating are always clear.

'She ain't real, y'all!' - Nicki Minaji's MAGA social media busted for being propped up by bots and fake accounts

Nicki Minaj

The idea that Nicki Minaj became a follower of Donald Trump based on the strength of his personality is bull. We all know this. She wants something and is willing to sell out Black Americans for it, as this explosive expose in Politico proves:

Nicki Minaj spent the past year transforming herself from a polarizing rap superstar into a high-profile conservative provocateur, lobbing viral attacks at Democratic leaders, boosting MAGA talking points and earning public praise from President Donald Trump and his allies.  On social media, Minaj’s pugnacious persona and sharp-edged posts — including repeated broadsides against California Gov. Gavin Newsom — have made her a darling of the Trump administration and the conservative movement, drawing millions of views and steady amplification from far-right influencers. 

But quietly, humming in the background of her varied social media blitzes, a sophisticated army of bots was unconditionally praising and amplifying Minaj’s content, according to a new report shared exclusively with POLITICO. 

 The report, compiled by the disinformation detection company Cyabra, identifies a coordinated network of bots — more than 18,000 of them — that drove algorithms to spread Minaj’s posts on X.

 . . . The report found inauthentic accounts repeatedly amplified Minaj’s posts with praise that used “highly similar language,” particularly in response to posts where authentic accounts were criticizing Minaj. “Supportive comments generated by fake profiles were predominantly brief, repetitive, and low in semantic complexity, consisting largely of praising keywords and positive hashtags rather than original or substantive engagement,” the report found.

 Other inauthentic activity surrounding Minaj included “longer, more detailed comments designed to appear organic.” “Nicki you are brave for living your truth, people might not always agree with what’s being played out, but as an artist and watching your growth as a person is inspiring,” read one comment from a purported Minaj fan, @LAX76283656, that was deemed fake by Cyabra. “This pattern suggests a deliberate attempt to integrate into genuine conversations, increasing the credibility and visibility of the amplified content,” the report read. 

 . . . Bot networks have become a familiar feature of modern politics since revelations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, when coordinated inauthentic accounts were used to inflame divisions and manipulate online discourse. 

Such campaigns are now routinely detected around wars, elections and geopolitical flashpoints — but far less often around celebrities or the music industry. That backdrop helps explain why Cyabra’s findings seem so peculiar. Rather than a short-lived spike tied to a single event or appearance, the company found sustained and coordinated amplification of Minaj’s posts across a range of political and cultural topics over time.

You can read the full article here

'Tenn bill attempts to undermine gay marriage by allowing individuals, private groups to refuse to recognize it' & other Thur/Fri news briefs

Bill to let private groups refuse to recognize same sex marriage passes Tennessee House - These continuous attempts to undermine same-sex marriage are going nowhere in a landscape where it is now normal for gay to marry. No matter how supporters of these attempts try to weaponize them as "religious liberty," they still come across as mean-spirited: 

 Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project, told News 2 that while the bill likely won’t change things for large, private entities, including national bank branches or big healthcare systems, it would likely hurt those in rural areas where those organizations are smaller and often locally-owned. 

“Imagine if the Treasury Secretary were driving through the state of Tennessee and had an accident in a small, rural county, and someone refused to recognize his husband as his husband, and they had to make medical decisions or wanted to visit in the healthcare facility,” Sanders said. “That’s the kind of impact that this bill could have on anybody in a dire circumstance.” 

Trump falsely links trans people to terrorism. Now, a target is on their back. - This is not good, y'all. Folks need to know this but I didn't make this the leading story because I don't want to help cause a panic. 

4th Circuit rules against discharged service members with HIV - Awful ruling. 

Lansing school officials react after DOJ launches investigation into LGBTQ policies - Ridiculous overreach which is a reminder that the Trump Administration is targeting all of us. BUT they will not defeat us.

'Trump administration sued over removing Stonewall Pride flag' & other Tue/Wed news briefs

Trump administration sued over removing Stonewall Pride flag - As well it should. Such mean-spirited garbage. 

 Here is the backstory - Trump admin removes Pride flag from Stonewall National Monument 

Rev. Jesse Jackson, trailblazing civil rights icon and LGBTQ+ rights ally, dead at 84 - R.I.P. Mr. Jackson was always in the LGBTQ community's corner. 

European Parliament passes resolution that says trans women are women - Good for them! Batten down the hatches, though. 

Democrat under fire over campaign memo implying LGBTQ+ candidates aren’t electable in key California race - Not a good idea right now to do such a thing. Let's focus on the opposition. 

These 3 lessons from the AIDS epidemic show how Black communities can combat HIV under Trump - Amen! 

Silence of the Lambs actor Ted Levine: Trans villain was 'f*cking wrong' - Even though it was stated several times in the film that he was not actually trans, I can understand why folks still feel negative towards the character. Like someone in the article said, it was some people's first introduction to what could have been perceived as a trans character. And it was NOT a good one.

'Bisexual Olympic gold medalist Amber Glenn blasts her haters: 'They hate to see woke b**ches winning'' & other Wed/Thur news briefs

Olympic gold medalist Amber Glenn has a message for her haters.

Bisexual figure skater flaunts gold medal at her haters: “They hate to see woke b***hes winning” - Get it, girlfriend! 

Whoa. A Republican governor just vetoed a GOP-led anti-trans bill - And the Republicans in her state legislature may not be able to override the veto. Double shock. But why?

“I vetoed a nearly identical bill to this one last year,” said Gov. Ayotte, according to The New Hampshire Bulletin. “I made it clear this issue needed to be addressed in a thoughtful, narrow way that protects the privacy, safety, and rights of all Granite Staters. Unfortunately, there is minimal difference between Senate Bill 268 and the bill I vetoed last year, which [Republican] Governor [Chris] Sununu vetoed the year prior.” 

 When Gov.(Kelly) Ayotte vetoed a similar bill last year, she said, “I believe there are important and legitimate privacy and safety concerns raised by biological males using places such as female locker rooms and being placed in female correctional facilities. At the same time, I see that [this bill] is overly broad and impractical to enforce, potentially creating an exclusionary environment for some of our citizens.” 

 We will see how it all turns out. 

Indiana quietly bans trans residents from changing gender markers on IDs - However, the war continues. 

Tennessee’s newest anti-LGBTQ bills go against U.S. Supreme Court rulings - An effort to poke at SCOTUS on marriage equality and anti-discrimination employment protections. Hopefully a waste of time and money.

Ballroom culture struts its stuff in Cape Town with the city’s first major ball of 2026 - An article from late last month but still needs to be spotlit. The brothers and sisters in South African simply ATE. 

Conservatives Are Terrified That People Like Me Are Buying Guns Now. Maybe They Should Be. - I completely support this. I am getting tired of reading articles of LGBTQ people being targeted and beaten up. We need to "handle our business."

'Republicans want nothing to do with effort to ban gay marriage' & other Mon/Tue news briefs

Republicans Want Nothing to Do With Conservative Efforts to Ban Gay Marriage​ - This isn't surprising seeing how popular gay marriage (same-sex marriage) is. And besides its popularity, we now have a generation raised with the reality that same-sex couples can legally marry and no one can offer any reason to them why this should suddenly become illegal.  Same-sex marriage has become normalized in the fabric of the American experience. BUT that doesn't mean we should slack off or rest easy. Hard fought rights taken for granted are always rights eventually lost.

Hat tip to Joe Jervis for supplying the above link. Here is the link to his post for those who want a shorter breakdown of the above article. 

Anti-Marriage-Equality Leader Reveals More Details About New Campaign’s Strategy and Tactics - However, our opposition are both bullheaded and boneheaded. They've got a long-term strategy with their attempt to take away our right to marry:

 A judicial strategy focused on the supposed harm to children caused by marriage equality. 

A public relations campaign to change public opinion, which is currently solidly in favor of marriage equality. 

 A campaign to turn churches into “a child-centered fighting force.” 

 As you can read, the strategy relies on the same tactics and lies which lost them the fight in the first place. The way to fight this is to continue to marry, continue to be happy, and above all continue to amplify our families and the stories of our families and marriages.

Activists & experts agree: We must change our understanding of HIV in the Black community - Amen!

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show was Puerto Rican, queer and American in the best way - Just in case you didn't hear - and I'm sure you did. Even I was up shaking my bons bons.

Team LGBTQ in 3rd place in Winter Olympics medal count, ahead of Team USA - By the way, we are kicking ass at the Olympics, too. 

D.C. pays $500,000 to settle lawsuit brought by gay Corrections Dept. employee - Good for him!