Gay man supporting Donald Trump has meltdown after guilty verdict is announced

The meltdown of a gay man who supports Trump perfectly captures the moment we are in after guilty verdict in hush money trial.

By now, y'all know that Trump was found guilty on 34 counts in hush money criminal case involving porn star Stormy Daniels. That means for now, the presumptive GOP nominee for president is a convicted felon. 

And of course, folks are either happy or prognosticating what it may mean for the November election. I say let's rejoice in this moment because Trump had it coming for a long time. However, let's also not get carried away that we forget that an election is still in November, and he still has a chance to get back into the White House. 

Those of us who oppose Trump should use this verdict and what it brings as a way to remind people just how of a disaster this awful man was in 2016-2020, not to mention how much of a larger disaster he would be if he gets back in.  And how much better and calmer things are with a credible president like Joe Biden in office.

Or to put it another way, this is our opposition below, courtesy of journalist Oliya Scootercaster. According to his t-shirt, this man claims to be a gay supporter of Trump and he has a lot of impolite things to say. One on hand, his tirade is comical and definitely not safe for work or with the volume turned up. On the other hand, he is a perfect example of why the LGBTQ community and other folks in America must do all we can to keep Trump away from the Oval Office.

#BREAKING Jury has reached a verdict in Trump's Hush Money Trial. Expected to be announced in 30 minutes.
"We'll go inside the courthouse and tear it apart!" Trump Supporters react outside pic.twitter.com/dTWeScCR9o

— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) May 30, 2024

Now this is really scary. Before the verdict was read, he was threatening to take apart the courthouse.

Ment to add this video. Video above is from minutes prior to verdict https://t.co/b8rEVZDLIL

— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) May 30, 2024

California ballot measure targeting transgender kids fails to qualify for November election

Good news out of California courtesy of The Los Angeles Times:

 A measure that would have required schools to notify parents about their child’s gender identity and limited transgender youth medical care has failed to get enough signatures in support to qualify for the November ballot, proponents said Tuesday. 

The proposal sought to notify parents if their child changes their name or pronouns at school or requests to use facilities or play sports that don’t match their gender on official records. It also would have banned California doctors from prescribing hormones or otherwise providing gender-affirming care to minors. For the measure to qualify for the ballot, proponents had to submit the signatures of more than half a million registered voters by Tuesday, the deadline set by the California secretary of state.

The campaign fell short but gathered more than 400,000 signatures, according to Jonathan Zachreson, a Roseville school board member who was leading the initiative.

 . . . Supporters of the measure sought to bring Republican-backed debates over “parental rights” that have been playing out on school boards in conservative pockets of California to the statewide level. California Democrats in turn have fought to thwart gender notification policies considered by several school boards, measures they said are harmful to transgender students who may feel safe at school but not at home.

 . . .LGBTQ+ advocacy groups have warned that parental rights debates over gender identity are harmful to youth who already face high rates of suicide. “Across the country and here in California, LGBTQ+ young people are under attack from extremist politicians and school boards seeking to ban books, terrorize teachers and make transgender youth afraid to be themselves at school,” Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang said in a statement.

DeSantis anti-LGBTQ agenda collapsing after failed presidential run. LGBTQ Floridians enjoying the change.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a "war on woke" as the centerpiece of his pursuit of the White House.  After his very unsuccessful presidential campaign, the key part of his plan - an attack on the LGBTQ community via various laws - is collapsing. And LGBTQ Floridians are enjoying the change.

From The Guardian:

 Leaders of Florida’s much-embattled LGBTQ+ communities say the worst of Governor Ron DeSantis’s three-year onslaught against them may be over, with the official start of Pride month celebrations only days away. Evidence has been mounting over the past 12 months of a radical change in the political climate now facing LGBTQ+ people in Florida. 

The first sign came in June 2023 when a federal district court judge in Orlando granted an injunction that prevented the state from enforcing a DeSantis-backed law that prohibited children from attending public performances by drag queens. 

 The first quarter of this year brought more welcome news. In March, the state’s premier advocacy group for LGBTQ+ rights announced a settlement with the state over key provisions of the so-called “don’t say gay” law that DeSantis rammed through the Republican-controlled state legislature in 2022. Under the terms of that settlement, the state agreed to reinstate the rights of students and teachers to speak freely in the classroom about LGBTQ+ people, families and issues, according to Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida. 

The settlement acknowledged that the law does not prohibit the reading of books or the staging of musicals and plays featuring LGBTQ+ characters in the state’s public schools. 

And then there is this bit of news, which I absolutely adored - the return of drag shows.

. . . A year ago this month, Kristina Bozanich reluctantly canceled an adults-only event at a gym in the central Florida town of St Cloud that would have featured a drag show. The appearance of a road sign in the neighboring community of Lake Nona that read “kill all gays” in the days leading up to the show had prompted the withdrawal of the four drag show performers who had agreed to appear at the event. That put an end to the 2023 Pride month celebrations that had been scheduled to take place in St Cloud on 10 June.

 A year later, the Proud in the Cloud program of events scheduled for 8 June has already received thousands of dollars in corporate contributions. A city council member and lifelong resident of St Cloud named Shawn Fletcher recently issued a proclamation declaring June 2024 to be Pride month in the community of approximately 67,000 people.

 “The drag ban is no longer enforced, and we have so much more backing, including from local law enforcement,” marvels the 32-year-old Bozanich. “I’ve been shocked – but in a good way.”

 

While this does not mean everything is sunshine and roses for LGBTQ Floridians, it does demonstrate yet again how resilient our community is and how we win when we fight together instead of backing down.

Drag performer awarded $1.1 million judgement against blogger who falsely accused him of exposing himself to kids

From The Associated Press:

A jury has awarded more than $1.1 million to an Idaho drag performer who accused a far-right blogger of defaming him when she falsely claimed that he exposed himself to a crowd, including children, during a Pride event in June 2022. The Kootenai County District Court jury unanimously found Friday that Summer Bushnell defamed Post Falls resident Eric Posey when she posted a doctored video of his performance with a blurred spot that she claimed covered his “fully exposed genitals,” the Coeur D’Alene Press reported.

The Coeur D'Alene Press also said:

Jurors awarded Posey $926,000 in compensatory damages for defamation. Because Posey proved that Bushnell knew her allegations were false when she made them or that she made the accusations with “reckless disregard” for the truth, the jury awarded additional punitive damages in the amount of $250,000. 

The day of Posey’s performance, June 11, 2022, Bushnell posted a video of herself discussing the mass arrest of Patriot Front members near City Park, as well as footage from Posey’s performance. “Why did no one arrest the man in a dress who flashed his genitalia to minors and people in the crowd?” she said in the video. “No one said anything about it and there’s video. I’m going to put up a blurred video to prove it.” 

The next day, Bushnell published an edited video she had received from local videographer Jeremy Lokken, which included a blur over Posey’s pelvis. Bushnell told others that the blur concealed “fully exposed genitals” and urged people to contact police. 

The edited video garnered many thousands of views, sparking national news coverage and a police investigation. City prosecutors ultimately declined to file charges and stated publicly that the unedited video showed no exposure. In reality the unedited video showed no indecent exposure, and prosecutors declined to file charges. Bushnell was expressionless as she hurried out of the courtroom Friday. 

The lie told on Posey was not an isolated incident. It was a part of a wide push by conservatives and those on the far right in which they would amplify videos or pictures of drag events taken out of context, altered, or deliberately mispresented to claim that drag performers and the LGBTQ community in general were sexually grooming kids. 

This has led to threats against drag performers, bomb threats against events, public protests, and even anti-drag legislation. Several state legislatures across the country passed vague legislation which purported to safeguard children but were actually mechanisms designed to ban drag public performances of any kind. This meant banning drag performances at pride events and even Drag Queen Story hour events in public libraries. However, the bans would fail with several courts declaring them unconstitutional and attacks on free speech.

This incident in Idaho, and folks please correct me if I am wrong, is the first time where someone directly making a false allegation against a drag performer was ordered to pay up.

 It's a wonderful consequence which I hope will send a message to others trafficking these lies, particularly a certain person by the name of Chaya Raichik.  And I hope it also sends a message to drag performers in general about what they can do to fight back.

Related posts:

Far right activists don't know the difference between a circus act and a drag show

Undercover investigators say no lewd acts were performed at drag show targeted by DeSantis

Taken out-of-context video fuels ugly lie about drag queens 'grooming' children

Drag performer sues far-right blogger alleging defamation over edited video 

BUSTED! Far right caught spreading false story that a drag queen exposed self to children 

Candace Owens can't even tell a good lie. Far right personality busted using fake photo of 'drag queen' 

Babylon Bee editor Seth Dillon caught spreading false story about a child tipping a half naked drag queen 

Silly conservative 'activist' doesn't know the difference between drag queens, drag kings, and strippers

'Colorado GOP to parents - 'Take your kids out of school because Democrats are turning them trans'' & other midweek news briefs

Colorado GOP tells parents the Democrats “turn more kids trans”​ - Lawd hammercy! This is simply shrill desperation. 

 Ohio Supreme Court denies attorney general’s request to enact healthcare ban for transgender youth - A good victory for now. 

Joe Biden celebrates 200th judicial confirmation paving the way for more LGBTQ+ judges - Voting and voting the CORRECT way matters. 

Florida won't light bridges in rainbow colors for Pride Month this year - Because DeSantis is a jackass. 

X is the worst social media app for LGBTQ+ people, says new report - Pretty much.

SC Gov signs harsh anti-trans bill into law: Bans gender-affirming care for minors, bans public funds & Medicaid from being used for all gender-affirming care, encourages outing of trans students

From The Associated Press:

 South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Tuesday signed into law a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors. When the ink dried, South Carolina became the 25th state to restrict or ban such care for minors. The governor announced the signing on social media and said he would hold a ceremonial bill signing next week. The law bars health professionals from performing gender-transition surgeries, prescribing puberty blockers and overseeing hormone treatments for patients under 18.

 . . .As the bill advanced in the General Assembly, doctors and parents testified before House and Senate committees that people younger than 18 do not receive gender-transition surgeries in South Carolina and that hormone treatments begin only after extensive consultation with health professionals. They said the treatments can be lifesaving, allowing young transgender people to live more fulfilling lives. Research has shown that transgender youth and adults are prone to stress, depression and suicidal behavior when forced to live as the sex they were assigned at birth. 

 Supporters of the bill have cited their own unpublished evidence that puberty blockers increase self-harm and can be irreversible. 

 To be more specific To be more specific, over 40 physicians, parents and kids testified against this bill. Only one person testified for it - a representative from the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is a group which pushed anti-LGBTQ group across the country. And what's worse, he didn't even bother to show up in person. He testified via video.

If anything, this nonsense proves yet again how Republicans and conservatives weaponize the claim of protecting children to in actuality havoc to the LGBTQ community. According to the Campaign for Southern Equality, the new law also:

Prohibits public funds and Medicaid from being used to cover the cost of transition-related healthcare for transgender people of any age – which could result in providers of gender-affirming care who receive public funds to restrict care, and would impact transgender people insured through the state employee healthcare plan. 

 Encourages school professionals to “out” students to their parents if they ask to go by a different name or pronouns, potentially before they are ready to share.

And according to LGBTQ Nation, the law runs counter to what majority of South Carolinians said about the issue in March poll:

A March 2024 poll found that 71% of South Carolina voters felt that the government should not intervene in LGBTQ gender-affirming healthcare decisions that regard individuals under the age of 18.

The Campaign for Southern Equality has information available for those impacted by this law:

With H.4624 immediately in effect, advocates have launched resources to support families navigating this challenging period. Families of transgender youth in South Carolina are now eligible to apply for support from the Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project (STYEP), a regional project of the Campaign for Southern Equality, led in partnership in SC with We Are Family, Uplift Outreach Center, and the Harriet Hancock Center. 

The project helps transgender youth whose access to gender-affirming care has been disrupted by government policies. Through STYEP, families can receive accurate information about H.4624; patient navigation to identify out-of-state gender-affirming care providers; and emergency grants of $500 for immediate needs, including travel, medication, and other logistics. Families can request support at www.southernequality.org/SCResources. 

 Transgender adults who may be impacted by H.4624 should contact the Campaign for Southern Equality’s informational hotline, which is available at https://southernequality.org/SCHealthcareHelp/

SCOTUS will not hear challenge to Maryland school district pro-trans policy. Second court victory for LGBTQ kids in a week.

 I'm as shocked as you, but a win is a win. The Supreme Court chose the safety of our LGBTQ children over fear tactics and general nonsense.  At least for now

From Reuters:

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a bid backed by a conservative Christian legal group to challenge a Maryland school district's policy against informing parents if their children identify as transgender or gender nonconforming. The justices turned away an appeal by three parents with children attending public schools in the Washington suburb of Montgomery County of a lower court's ruling holding that they lacked the necessary legal standing to challenge the policy. The plaintiffs are represented by the Virginia-based National Legal Foundation.

 The issue of transgender rights has become a flashpoint in the U.S. culture wars. As part of this, conservative litigants and parents groups have filed lawsuits in various U.S. jurisdictions challenging school policies that seek to respect requests by transgender students to not "out" them to their parents without their consent. 

 The policy at issue, adopted by the Montgomery County Board of Education for the 2020-2021 school year, permitted schools to develop gender support plans for students to ensure they "feel comfortable expressing their gender identity." The policy directs school personnel to help transgender and gender nonconforming students create a plan that addresses their preferred pronouns, names and bathrooms, and bars staff from informing parents of those plans without a student's consent. 

  The Los Angeles Blade posted the following about the failed lawsuit: 

 Three parents of students in the school district in suburban Maryland outside of D.C., — none of whom have trans or gender non-confirming children — filed the lawsuit. A judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last August dismissed the case. The plaintiffs appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. 

The victory comes a week after another victory in Maryland. That particular one had to do with LGBTQ+ curriculum and what I think was an attempted abuse of the opt-out policy. 

 Again, from The Los Angeles Blade: 

 A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled a group of Montgomery County parents cannot “opt out” their children from classes in which lessons or books on LGBTQ-related topics are taught. The parents filed their lawsuit in May 2023.

 An American Civil Liberties Union press release notes the lawsuit challenges Montgomery County Public Schools’ policy that “mandates the inclusion of literature with LGBTQ+ characters as part of the ELA (English and Language Arts) curriculum, aiming to promote understanding and acceptance among students.” 

 “Although the district originally allowed parents to opt their children out of some ELA lessons, it rescinded the opt-out policy because the number of requests grew too difficult to manage, student absenteeism soared, and it created a stigmatizing environment for students who are LGBTQ or have LGBTQ family members, undermining the purpose of the inclusivity requirement,” said the ACLU. 

 Opt-out policies have been generally used for sex education, but in recent times some parents - backed by conservative groups - have been attempted to weaponize them against anything regarding a mention of LGBTQ people in classrooms. In this case, the parents were objecting to age-appropriate books for pre-kindergartners and elementary schools simply because the books contained LGBTQ characters. 

 According to Reuters: 

 At issue was a set of LGBTQ-inclusive storybooks that the board in 2022 approved for use in Montgomery County Public Schools’ curriculum. Those books included “Pride Puppy!” an alphabet book by Robin Stevenson about a dog who gets lost amid a Pride parade, and “Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope,” a story by Jodie Patterson about her transgender son’s experience. 

 Parents could originally opt children out of reading the books, but the board abandoned the opt-out option with the 2023-2024 school year, prompting the lawsuit.

'Don't come home until your d!@k is wet.' Sex scandal involving Moms for Liberty founder heats up again.

According to a report, Moms for Liberty founder Bridget Ziegler would get her husband to go in search of women they could engage in threesomes with. Her instructions included "Don't come home until your dick is wet."

The sex scandal involving Moms For Liberty founder Bridget Ziegler and her husband Christian is heating up again.

From Florida Politics:

Ousted Republican Party of Florida Chair Christian Ziegler acknowledged in court he kept numerous videos of sexual partners besides his wife. The revelation come during a hearing on a now-closed investigation as the former politician as he and wife Bridget, a Sarasota County School Board member, seek to keep further details of their sex life private. The couple has sued the Sarasota Police Department and 12th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office to stop the further release of his personal data.

  Sarasota Police have copies of much of the videos Christian Ziegler references as part of some 30,000 videos downloaded from Ziegler’s iPhone last year. Authorities obtained the entire contents after serving a search warrant connected to an investigation whether Ziegler raped a woman or filmed a sexual encounter without permission. 

 Ziegler was never arrested, with police ultimately concluding that sex with the Sarasota woman leveling the accusation was “likely consensual” and prosecutors ultimately determining they lacked evidence to pursue a video voyeurism charge. Communications from the phone confirmed multiple encounters between Ziegler and the woman dating back years, including threesomes with Bridget. Now wait a minute.

 

 Hold your shock because it gets more detailed. Apparently when she was not busy accusing schools, teachers, books, and LGBTQ folks of "sexually grooming" children, Mrs. Ziegler was allegedly coordinating threesomes with her husband by getting him to prowl bars, take pictures of women, and then send her the photos. That's from a report obtained by The Florida Trident:

The report, obtained by the Florida Trident and authored by Sarasota police Det. Angela Cox, recounts how Christian Ziegler went “on the prowl” in bars for women to bring home to Bridget, a Sarasota County School Board member who has backed a number of anti-LGBTQ measures at both the state and local level, for threesome encounters. While at the bars, Christian would surreptitiously photograph prospective women and text the photos to Bridget for approval, according to the report. 

 Investigators found “numerous sexual videos” on Christian Ziegler’s phone involving the couple and other women, according to Cox’s report. The detective noted that it wasn’t clear if the women in the videos knew they were being recorded or not. “There were numerous text messages between Bridget and Christian where they are on the prowl for a female and Bridget is directing him to numerous different bars in search of a female that they are both interested in,” Cox wrote of the Ziegler phone contents. 

“During these conversations Christian is secretly taking photographs of women in the bars and sending them to Bridget asking her if she wants this one or that one. Bridget is telling him to pretend to take pictures of his beer, so they don’t see him taking pictures of them. She tells him ‘Don’t come home until your dick is wet.’”

I'm the last person to moralize (although taking pictures of anyone for the alleged purposes stated in the article is tacky as hell), so this isn't about sex. It's about hypocrisy of an extreme level. As much as I hate to generalize, there is something to the claim that if you "scratch" a far-right conservative moralizer, you're bound to find a sex fiend. It amazes me how certain folk gripe about society's decaying moral, accuse schools and books of sexually grooming children, or scapegoat LGBTQ people and culture while secretly engaging conduct in which would make my hair turn white. It would be funny if it didn't piss me off when I consider how many innocent people - especially school administrators and teachers - were branded as pedophiles and groomers. Or how many LGBTQ kids lost access to vital resources.

It's really not funny at all.

Hat tip to JoeMyGod

'School board member receiving death threats after renouncing claims of LGBTQ indoctrination in schools' & other mid-week news briefs

School board member who once championed book bans now faces death threats for changing her mind - When Courtney Gore found no evidence LGBTQ+ indoctrination in local schools, Republicans turned against her.

A GOP Texas school board member campaigned against schools indoctrinating kids. Then she read the curriculum. - For those wanting the full story, here is the original article cited in LGBTQ Nation. 

Biden Administration Looks to Protect LGBTQ+ Foster Kids With New Rule - Yet another reason why elections matter. Never mind the idiots who claim that voting doesn't matter. It makes a huge difference in the support LGBTQ people and our kids get in terms of laws and regulations. 

Maryland parents can’t opt kids out of LGBTQ book curriculum, court rules - This has nothing to do with sexual behavior. Parents objected to kids reading books with LGBTQ characters. Folks need to understand what's going on here. There is a slow but steady movement to paint any and every aspect of the LGBTQ community as a matter of sexual behavior and therefore something which needs to be kept from kids. We saw this with how they tried tis by automatically classifying drag in itself as obscene behavior. 

Bills targeting LGBTQ+ youth in Louisiana close to final approval - Speaking of which.

Appeals court teaches Georgia county an expensive lesson in anti-trans discrimination

Another week, another court victory for transgender Americans and this one comes with a hefty price tag for those who sought to discriminate against her.

From The Associated Press

A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that a Georgia county illegally discriminated against a sheriff’s deputy by failing to pay for her gender-affirming surgery. In its ruling Monday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was tasked with determining whether a health insurance provider can be held liable under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for denying coverage for a procedure because an employee is transgender. 

The three-judge panel decided in a 2-1 vote that it can and that the lower court had ruled correctly. Houston County Sgt. Anna Lange, an investigator for the Houston County sheriff’s office, had sued Sheriff Cullen Talton and the county in 2019 after she was denied coverage. 

 . . .U.S. District Court Judge Marc Treadwell ruled in 2022 that the county’s refusal to cover Lange’s prescribed gender-affirmation surgery amounted to illegal sex discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Treadwell’s order cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision finding that a Michigan funeral home could not fire an employee for being transgender.

 The judge ordered the county’s insurance plan to pay for the surgery and Lange eventually underwent the procedure. A jury awarded Lange $60,000 in damages in 2022. The county sought to undo Treadwell’s order and the damage award. 

 According to LGBTQ Nation, the county spent $1.2 million in legal fees when the surgery would have only been $10,000. Oh well. That's what the county gets. Some people aren't content unless they learn the hard way. 

And I'm here for it.

Expansion of Alabama 'Don't Say Gay' bill dies in on final day of legislative session

Alabama legislators pushing an expansion of a statewide 'Don't Say Gay' bill nearly brought it closer to being a law.  But they stumbled at the finish line.

From The Alabama Reflector

A bill that would have expanded Alabama’s “Don’t Say Gay” law died on the final day of the 2024 regular session. HB 130, sponsored by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, would have extended Alabama’s prohibition on discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten to fifth grade to kindergarten to eighth grade. It also would have banned flags or other insignia indicating gender identity or sexual orientation. Butler said in a Friday phone interview that he didn’t know what the issues were in the final days of the session but said there was a filibuster in the Senate “which is not uncommon.” 

 So what exactly happened? According to LGBTQ Nation, the bill died because of confusion regarding what it meant:

 Alabama public school teachers are already prohibited from leading discussions on LGBTQ+ identities through fifth grade. The new legislation, H.B. 130, would extend that restriction through 12th grade. The bill would also remove a line from existing law stating that teachers cannot discuss LGBTQ+ identities “in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards” and completely ban such discussions. Opponents of the bill said that it would force LGBTQ+ students and staff to go back into the closet in schools since the law was vague about what discussions, exactly, would be restricted.

 . . . Some of the confusion about the bill was discussed in the Alabama Senate, where state Sen. Larry Strutts (R) asked whether it would apply to bumper stickers on cars in school parking lots. Butler replied that school property doesn’t include parking lots.

 “The property is not the parking lot?” Stutts asked. “Well, we’re talking about the actual building,” Butler replied. Butler later told reporters that the concern was “ridiculous” but admitted that confusion around the bill may have prevented it from passing. 

 And apparently, according to LGBTQ Nation, this was just one of the many problems. Another one sprang up after someone attempted to add an amendment about the state's Space Camp,

Butler also reportedly tried to add an amendment – which failed – specifically stating that the state’s Space Camp may not teach children about LGBTQ+ issues. The amendment was issued in reaction to the revelation that a single employee of the Huntsville Space Camp is transgender. The revelation angered a slew of parents and politicians who called for the employee to be fired.

Several state and federal lawmakers targeted the trans employee. However, she was defended by the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and, as far as I know, has been able to keep her job.

Donald Trump promises to roll back protections for trans students 'on day one' if he is elected

Yet another reason why November's election is important to the LGBTQ community. Trump promises to reverse protections for trans students is bad enough in itself. But if you think the rest of us in the community aren't going to be targeted, you're being very naive. We can stop this before it happens, if we do the right thing. No need to march en masse in the streets after the fact if we took the time to march en masse to the voting booth in November.

From The Hill:

Former President Trump said Friday he would roll back transgender student protections enacted last month by the Biden administration “on day one” of his presidency if he is reelected in November. The Education Department in April unveiled a final set of sweeping changes to Title IX, the federal civil rights law preventing sex discrimination in schools and education programs that receive government funding. The new regulations, which are slated to take effect Aug. 1, cover discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity for the first time. 

 “We’re gonna end it on day one,” Trump said Friday during an appearance on “Kayal and Company,” a conservative talk radio show in Philadelphia. “Don’t forget, that was done as an order from the president. That came down as an executive order. And we’re gonna change it — on day one it’s gonna be changed.”

 President Biden in a 2021 executive order wrote that “all students should be guaranteed an educational environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex, including discrimination in the form of sexual harassment, which encompasses sexual violence, and including discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.”

 “For students attending schools and other educational institutions that receive Federal financial assistance, this guarantee is codified, in part, in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972,” Biden wrote in the executive order, which formally charged the Education Department with overhauling Title IX regulations instituted under Trump

. “Tell your people not to worry about it,” Trump told hosts Nick Kayal and Dawn Stensland on Friday, referring to the new Title IX rule. “It’ll be signed on day one. It’ll be terminated.”

Editor's note - Donald Trump's promise to reverse protections for trans students is an opportunity to remind the LGBTQ community and everyone in general how much of a liar he is. When he ran for president in 2016, he promised to fight for us. 

After he was elected, his policies were just the opposite. And he didn't even bother to give an explanation because the media generally didn't give enough of a damn to demand one. But I kept "receipts." Listed below are just a few.

News brief special - Trump, religious right team up in attempt to devastate LGBTQ equality, health, and wellness 

The Slate reports that Trump's newest trans troops ban was developed in part by anti-LGBTQ activists 

Trump broke all of the promises he made to the LGBTQ community, but the media doesn't care enough to ask why 

The Trump Administration has attacked the LGBTQ community 92 times in policy and rhetoric

Trump's betrayal of the LGBTQ community is central to the dishonesty of his joke of a presidency 

Don't forget Donald Trump's lie to the LGBTQ community

Donald Trump gave LGBTQ Americans lots of broken promises. Anyone telling you different is a liar.

Trashy and dangerous move - SC legislators pass bill banning gender-affirming care. Bill also outs trans kids to parents.

I am completely disappointed, but not surprised that legislators in my state would pass such a dangerous bill. But it's not over. NOT by a longshot. Like I told a friend of mine when this initially passed, we are just in the first inning.

South Carolina has passed a gender-affirming care ban. Here's what families can do​ - Completely ridiculous. They did this after lots of people came out to testify against it. They only had one person testifying for it and he did it via video. A complete stunt. But our community will prevail. 

After originating in the state Senate, H.4624 now heads to Republican Gov. Henry McMaster for his signature. The bill prohibits youth under the age of 18 in the state from receiving all medically necessary transgender health care, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgery. It also prohibits public funds and Medicaid from being used to cover the cost of transition-related healthcare for transgender people of any age. 

In response, the Campaign for Southern Equality has announced that families of transgender youth in South Carolina are now eligible to apply for support from the Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project (STYEP), a regional project that helps transgender youth whose access to gender-affirming care has been disrupted by government policies.

 “South Carolina lawmakers have turned their backs on transgender youth and passed this dangerous bill, which will needlessly and cruelly disrupt the lives of trans people in our state," said Domenico Ruggerio, Executive Director of We Are Family. "But our community is prepared to support families through this crisis – and we’ll never stop working toward a state where transgender and gender nonconforming people in South Carolina can be themselves and live with peace and power.” 

South Carolina will soon ban gender-affirming & out trans kids to their parents - More details about this awful bill. 

 The bill forbids public funding, including Medicaid, from being used “directly or indirectly” for gender-affirming care. This provision may face an immediate challenge since the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes South Carolina, ruled in April that government- and state-funded health care and insurance plans cannot exclude coverage for gender-affirming medical care, The Hill reported.

 The bill also requires school principals and counselors to notify parents if a child indicates in any way that their gender identity doesn’t match the sex they were assigned at birth. This provision will make trans, nonbinary, and gender-fluid students less likely to seek help from trusted adults in schools, leaving them without any adult support if their parents disapprove of their gender identity. 

 In January, Gov. McMaster called the bill “a good idea,” adding, “If they wanna make those decisions later when they’re adults then that’s a different story, but we must prevent our young people from making irreversible errors.” Several studies have shown that most people who receive gender-affirming healthcare do not regret it. 

 A March 2024 poll found that 71% of South Carolina voters felt that the government should not intervene in LGBTQ gender-affirming healthcare decisions that regard individuals under the age of 18.

Judge throws out lawsuit against school by mother who claimed it encouraged and hid her teen's gender expression

From The Associated Press:

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by a Maine woman who accused school officials of encouraging her teen’s gender expression by providing a chest binder and using a new name and pronouns, without consulting parents. 

 U.S. District Judge Jon Levy acknowledged his decision that a mother such as Amber Lavigne “might expect school officials to keep her informed about how her child is navigating matters related to gender identity” but he concluded that she failed to establish legal claims for which the school district could be held liable. The lawsuit filed last year was the latest to weigh a minor’s right to privacy when confiding in a mental health professional against a parent’s right to supervise their children’s health and education. 

 

 LGBTQ Nation provides details about the failed lawsuit: 

 The mother, Amber Lavigne, filed a lawsuit in April of last year against the school for allegedly violating her rights as a parent. She said that she found a chest binder in her 13-year-old child’s room and that her child said they got it from a social worker at school. Lavigne said administrators did not inform her that her child was given a chest binder and that they were going by a different name and pronouns at school. 

She met with school employees who said that their policy on transgender students is in line with state law. She sued, saying the school had a policy “of intentionally withholding and concealing certain information from parents” that was unconstitutional, but the evidence didn’t show that that was the policy, according to the judge. 

 According to the recently retired Chief U.S. District Judge Jon Levy, none of the claims cited within the lawsuit indicated that the school violated any laws. “It is understandable that a parent, such as Lavigne, might expect school officials to keep her informed about how her child is navigating matters related to gender identity at school,” said Levy in the ruling. “Her Complaint, however, fails to plead facts which would, if proven, establish municipal liability… based on an unwritten custom, ratification by a final policymaker, or failure to train.” 

 The guidelines imposed by the district allow for parents to learn of their child’s gender identity, and they oppose keeping secrets. Lavigne reportedly only identified a single instance of this being violated – not enough to hold the school liable, Levy says.

Video: Top 20 LGBTQ+ Couples on Animated Shows

 

 This was done 10 months ago, but I saw it only recently and it made me think.

 I'm 53 years-old, so I remember a time before Ellen or Will & Grace or having an openly gay member of the Presidential cabinet. I remember when my local tv station pre-empted a movie called Making Love because of the gay storyline. I remember when someone being openly gay for talk show fodder for days. And I remember "special episodes" of television show which featured a gay friend of the main character, and the plot was generally about him or her coming out and how the main character had to deal with it.  These episodes generally had a happy ending, but it still didn't feel right.

So, this video above is nice. It's a definite reminder of where we came from and how hard we fought to get here.

Arizona Republicans furious about Drag Queen Story Hour event in which no children were in attendance

The lies that Drag Queen Story Hour and drag queens in general are integral in some plot to "sexualize" or "trans" kids is a lie. We all knew this from the beginning. A recent incident at the Arizona State Capitol puts an exclamation point to that declaration.

Check out the tweet courtesy of Arizona Republicans:

⚠️ WARNING: THIS CONTENT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN.

Arizona Democrat lawmakers teamed up with Planned Parenthood to host ‘Drag Story Hour’ at the Capitol to encourage parents to transition their kids. This is ahead of LGBTQ+ YOUTH Day at the Capitol tomorrow.

Your… pic.twitter.com/4qpS6lj4Gb

— AZSenateRepublicans (@AZSenateGOP) April 30, 2024

 

The hysterical narrative is that stuff like this is a way of supposedly "sexualizing" or "transing" kids. That in itself is ridiculous, but The Arizona Central also adds more details which underscores the inanity of the claim.

Opinion: Arizona Republicans are scandalized over a 'drag story hour' in the House basement. Quick, grab the smelling salts. https://t.co/XIsFChTPTt

— azcentral (@azcentral) May 2, 2024

From The Arizona Central:

 On Tuesday, the Arizona Legislature was, as usual, not working, and so the Arizona LGBTQ+ Caucus met in the House basement for a “drag story hour.” There were no children present, according to Rep. Lorena Austin, D-Mesa, who organized the event in conjunction with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona. There was nothing sexually explicit or even vaguely provocative, based upon videos posted to social media. Just a person dressed in makeup, a sparkly suit and what looked to be a rather cool hat that Zorro would have totally worn, reading a story to adults about issues confronting the LGBTQ+ community. 

 To reiterate, there was nothing scandalous or sexual about this event. And not only that, NO children were in attendance anyway. 

 But in terms of hypocrisy, the situation gets funnier. While Republicans are all "in the vapors" about the Drag Queen Story Hour event, they said nothing when several weeks ago, other Republicans held a prayer circle on the Senate floor. These folks even knelt on the state seal as one of them spoke in tongues:

So this happened today at the #AZLeg. 🫠🫠🫠#Arizona #AZSenate #AZSupremeCourt pic.twitter.com/g2LVL41UWk

— Jeanne Casteen (@JeanneCasteen) April 8, 2024

Hat tip to JoeMyGod, which recently celebrated its 20-year anniversary. Thank you for your service to the community, Joe Jervis!!!

Detransitioner must pay $40,00 for frivolous lawsuit, United Methodists repeals ban on LGBTQ clergy, & other midweek news briefs

Detransitioner Soren Aldaco Must Pay $40,000 for Frivolous Lawsuit​ - Certain people, including certain "journalists," attacking gender-affirming healthcare probably don't want you to know this bit of information: 

 The judge in a prominent detransitioner lawsuit in Texas has dismissed part of the case with prejudice and ordered the plaintiff, Soren Aldaco, to pay the attorney fees for some of her former providers, as first reported on Twitter by Assigned Media contributor Julie Rei Goldstein. 

A visual history of lesbian activism from around the world: 58 images of dyke marches- Handle your business, ladies. 

United Methodists repeal longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy - This is a wonderful bit of news. 

Ben Shapiro tried to use Jason Collins’ coming out in his anti-gay campaign. It hasn’t worked. - A nice flashback reminding us all how useless Ben Shapiro is. 

GOP speaker issues absurd punishment to Arizona Dems for hosting a Drag Story Hour - Oh COME ON, guy!! 

Ohio judge extends temporary restraining order that blocks ban on gender-affirming care for minors - This post began with good news for the transgender community. Let's end it the same way.