'More Democrats rebuke scapegoating trans people after election loss' & other Wed/Thur news briefs

Several Democratic Senators Rebuke Scapegoating Trans People After Election​ - Y'all really need to be reading Erin Reed's substack. She keeps up with the news we all need. And this item is definitely needed in the face of certain people trying to blame the trans community for Harris's election loss. 

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear: Democrats don't have to abandon LGBTQ+ people to win - Amen. Thank you, Gov Beshear. 

Trump Expected to Appoint Anti-LGBTQ+ White Nationalist Stephen Miller to Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy - And that's only the ugly preliminaries. 

Donald Trump names anti-LGBTQ+ Rep. Matt Gaetz as the next attorney general - This right here is an ugly main event. Luckily, no one is happy at about this, INCLUDING Republicans. At least for now. '

Wake-up call': LGBTQ crisis hotlines see surge of calls amid presidential election - Above all, we have to provide help for ourselves and our people after this election.

Trans Congresswoman Sarah McBride pushes back against those scapegoating trans people for election loss

Newly elected Congresswoman Sarah McBride

People in the midst of their sorrow about last week's election are forgetting something very important. The first transgender Congresswoman was elected to public office. Her name is Sarah McBride, she's from Delaware, and she's hitting the ground running.

From Erin Reed:

In the aftermath of the 2024 election results, a handful of political pundits and two Democratic members of Congress have pointed fingers at transgender people, blaming them for Kamala Harris’s loss in the presidential race. While few voices are echoing these claims, prominent publications like The Atlantic and The New York Times have amplified these sentiments to millions of readers, despite limited evidence linking transgender issues to Democratic losses. Now, Sarah McBride, the first transgender Democratic congressperson in U.S. history, is pushing back.

 During a press conference held by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which represents over 100 progressive members of Congress, caucus chair Pramila Jayapal was asked, “Some have blamed that voters in your party have leaned too far into culture war issues, transgender issues… how should your party respond to that?” In response, Jayapal turned to other caucus members present, prompting Sarah McBride to step forward and deliver a sharp rebuke of those claims. 

 “Let’s be clear,” McBride started. “The party that was focused on culture wars… the party that was focused on trans people… was the Republican Party. It was Donald Trump. It was the hundred million, two hundred million dollars they spent on television ads. But I want to be clear: I do not believe, from what I’ve seen from the voters in Delaware, that the voters in my state were responding to those attacks… We were seeing those ads that Donald Trump clearly prioritized… What I was hearing from voters across the state of Delaware was not the ads that Donald Trump was putting on the air. What I was hearing from folks was the need to build an economy for everyone… What I was hearing was that the American dream is increasingly unaffordable and inaccessible. What I was hearing was that we need to guarantee affordable healthcare, housing, and childcare for every person in this state and country.”

My thought is that Kamala Harris' loss in last week's election was about inflation and economics. As much as she tried, she simply could not untie herself to President Biden's low approval rating. And with people concerned about less money their pockets, Trump probably would have won the election even if he conducted a rally in the nude.

Perish the thought.

I was going to step down from Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, but . . .

If Kamala Harris had won Tuesday's election, I would have announced I was stepping down from Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters and closing shop.

I'm sure some of you have noticed that I haven't been blogging as much as usual. Well, this blog is 18 years old. I began it when I was 35. Now I am 53 and things aren't moving along inside me as quickly as they were back then. Also, as some of you know, my dear mother passed away two years ago and it has still taken a lot out of me.

Furthermore, I think blogging is a little passe. This is the age of substacks, podcasts, and people looking to brand and market themselves. All I ever wanted was to educate folks on anti-gay lies. I think I've accomplished this on many levels. In addition, I got a bit of notoriety and a few awards out of it. I figured a Kamala Harris possible victory would allow me to go out on a high note.

But as we know, this didn't happen. I could still hang it all up, but I won't. For one, I ain't going out like this. I've spent too much time and effort on this blog to end it on such an awful note. I've got too much pride and, yes, ego to allow that to happen.

Secondly, Tuesday took me back to 2004 after another presidential election. George Bush was re-elected then and it was on the strength of several anti-marriage equality referendums which were also on ballots across the country. He even got assistance from Black pastors. As a black gay man, that vexed the hell out of me. So much in fact that I help to start one of Columbia, SC's first Black LGBTQ organizations called Palmetto Umoja.

The other thing I did was to begin working on a book about religious right lies. It was later self-published and wasn't exactly one of my best efforts. But a side project of my book effort was to create a blog to promote the book.

This blog right here 

Believe me when I say there is nothing like a reminder of one's origin to put things in proper perspective. 

Between the creation of this blog and today, I have seen and covered a lot of the times when my community have been found itself fearful for the future. From the passing of Prop 8 to several ballot initiatives passed via smearing us as pedophiles. I've also seen and covered a lot of victories from Obama's election to seeing marriage equality become legal via SCOTUS.

I am not going to attempt to predict the future because I don't know what's going to happen. I do know that unfortunately, things are going to get ugly before they get better. And we had better be prepared to fight and get at least as ugly as legally necessary.

As you can tell by the above picture, I have no problem with getting ugly (you can take that however you would like.)

But I can tell you that I intend to be here to educate you, get you angry, make you smile and laugh, and basically feel empowered.  I may not blog as much as I used to, but I will keep up. I will also keep you up on as much as I can. Lastly, I intend to extend what I cover. And definitely be more caustic. It's time to put that stereotype of being the "vicious queen" into effect. But only just a little.

The bottom line is as long as you're reading, you can count on me to continue writing. And I intend to raise some serious hell.

Video: Donald Trump simulates graphic sex acts during Wisconsin campaign speech

This is exactly what it looks like.  You can see the video below.

During a campaign speech in Wisconsin, I guess Trump was expressing a displeasure with the microphone. I'm only explaining why you are seeing what you're seeing. And judging by the crowd's reaction, I guess the party which accuses LGBTQ people of 'sexually grooming' children has no problem with its presidential candidate pretending to masturbate and fellate a microphone in front of a crowd which includes children.

This right here is some straight up bullshit and if the media ignores this, then I don't know what to tell you. It doesn't matter if seeing this won't change the minds of his supporters. To hell with them if they still support him. We don't need trash like this in the White House. He should have never been elected the first time and every day, he continues to prove that point.

Trump: *Stroking and pretending to deep throat a microphone stand* pic.twitter.com/8AJFj8RIzM

— Polling USA (@USA_Polling) November 2, 2024