'WNBA's Brianna Turner - Policies scapegoating trans women and athletes are distractions, don't protect women's sports' & other Mon/Tue news briefs

WNBA star Brianna Turner

I'm a WNBA player. Don't use athletes like me to exclude trans women - 

 The IOC has a documented history of refusing to actually protect women in elite sports, and their current invocation of protection does anything but. 

Policies that single out transgender women and athletes with intersex variations do not protect women’s sports. They manufacture a scapegoat while the real challenges to women’s sports go unaddressed: unequal funding, limited access to training and facilities, pay disparities, male-dominated leadership, gender-based violence and harassment across race, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity. Focusing on who should be allowed to call themselves a woman distracts from the structural inequities that actually limit women’s opportunities. 

 This policy also invites unequal scrutiny for women who already face heightened suspicion; Black and Brown athletes and competitors from the Global South will be unfairly targeted. 

New report shows affirming adults are critical to the success of LGBTQ+ students - 

 LGBTQ+ students with access to more supportive educators, anti-bullying policies that explicitly mention sexual orientation and gender identity, LGBTQ+-inclusive learning, and GSA presence reported a higher sense of belonging and higher GPAs, the survey revealed. 

The good news is that about 70% of LGBTQ+ students reported having six or more adults at school they could count on for support. These adults help by displaying “safe space” stickers, advising GSAs, or giving LGBTQ+-inclusive lessons, among other actions. That support, in turn, led to better student outcomes, including a lower likelihood of absenteeism due to safety concerns, less harassment or assault, higher GPAs, and a sense of belonging among LGBTQ+ students. 

Conservative Parents Are Suing a Minnesota School District for Letting Trans Kids Use Bathrooms -

 A conservative parents’ group is suing a Minnesota school district over its transgender-inclusive bathroom policy, one month after the Trump administration announced its own suit against the state’s Department of Education.

 . . . Minnesota has emerged as a major battleground in the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign against trans students’ rights, which Trump has waged since the first day of his second term. The president’s offensive against Minnesota also comes on the heels of this year’s disastrous “Operation Metro Surge,” during which ICE agents swarmed Minneapolis neighborhoods and killed at least two people, including queer resident Becca Good. 

LGBTQ+ groups score legal victory over Trump, restoring Pride flag at Stonewall National Monument - 

 The rainbow Pride flag will return permanently to the Stonewall National Monument after the federal government agreed to reinstall it as part of a legal settlement ending a high-profile lawsuit over its removal.

LGBTQ community explores arming up during heated political times - 

 “I want to be able to defend my community, especially being in political spaces and queer spaces,” said Snively, a trans woman. “It’s just having that extra line of safety, having that extra peace of mind would be important to me.” 

Snively is among what some say is a growing number of LGBTQIA+ gun owners across the United States. Gun rights organizations and advocates say interest in gun ownership appears to have increased in that community since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year. It began with outrage. It ends, for now, with a guarantee.

Author of Finnish study on trans youth has ties with anti-trans 'medical' group SEGM & history of anti-trans activism

The credibility of a controversial Finnish study on trans youth by Riittakerttu Kaltiala (seen here speaking at a 2023 conference held by anti-trans 'medical' group SEGM) is being called into question due to her ties with SEGM and history of anti-trans activism.

UPDATE - Some people are NOT happy with this post. Pan to after the "related posts" to read just a few of the messages I received on Twitter.

In my last post, I wrote about a Finnish study which anti-trans "medical" group SEGM claimed proves that gender-affirming care does not improve mental health of trans youth. 

Two things about it:

1. One of the sources I cited said that in spite of its flaws and limitations, the study is useful as a political document and will be cited on numerous occasions by those who oppose gender-affirming care. Unfortunately, this is true. SEGM's tweet has already reached over one million hits.

2. This is important. Apparently, the study has a conflict of interest. 

According to trans activist and substacker Erin Reed:

The study, published in the low-impact journal Acta Paediatrica, comes from Riittakerttu Kaltiala, a Finnish psychiatrist with extensive ties to at least one anti-LGBTQ+ hate group and a history of anti-trans political advocacy. The study uses Finnish registries and psychiatric visit data to support these conclusions. However, a closer examination reveals the study to be fatally flawed: it does not actually measure what it claims to measure, its headline finding is a massive artifact of surveillance bias, the clinics practices were abusive, and it operates within a system where its findings were essentially baked in from the start—regardless of what the actual mental health impacts of gender-affirming care might be.

The anti-trans hate group Kaltiala is connected to is SEGM - the same group which praised her study. 

In a piece Reed wrote in June 2024:

Importantly, members and associates of the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) have recently played a significant role in the Cass Review, a supposedly “independent” review now being cited to crack down on transgender care in England and the United States. Recent investigations revealed that multiple SEGM members and associates were part of advisory groups to the review with secret memberships. One such person was Dr. Riittakerttu Kaltiala, a Finnish psychologist who prominently presented at the latest SEGM conference and has been closely associated with SEGM, which denies her membership due to the organization having “no official members.” Dr. Kaltiala facilitated a meeting between Dr. Cass and Dr. Patrick Hunter, a DeSantis medical board pick and member of Genspect. Dr. Cass later shared information with the team according a letter obtained exclusively by this publication. Dr. Kaltiala went on to “meet regularly” with the DeSantis appointees and even testified in favor of Florida’s ban on transgender care.

I've seen numerous tweets and articles (mostly in right-wing publications) praising the study, but none of them mentioned Kaltiala's connection with SEGM or her anti-trans activism. Some may argue that Kaltiala's personal bias and connections aren't a big deal. I'm guessing they will then push a "whataboutism" narrative.

 Regardless, there should have been some effort by SEGM and others promoting her study to be more forthcoming as to who she is because a serious conflict of interest does exist. Them not being forthcoming raises questions about the study's credibility.

Especially considering how a scenario not unlike this one played out over a decade ago.

This situation involving SEGM,  Kaltiala, and her study on trans youth is somewhat eerily similar to a situation in 2012 when Mark Regnerus, a University of Texas professor, published a study which claimed that children in same-sex households face numerous problems. It was later discovered that study was funded by conservative group at the amount of $695,000.  Other conservative and anti-LGBTQ groups tried to pass it off as objective and accurate in spite of the errors in its conclusion and methodology.

Related posts:

Fact Check: New Finnish "Study" Does Not Prove "Trans Youth Care Leads To Worse Outcomes" 

 Unfin(n)ished Business: What the Finnish Registry Study Can and Cannot Tell Us About Mental Health in Gender-Dysphoric Youth

Editor's note - I did NOT expect that the impact of this post would be so extensive. Apparently, I ruined some people's day and they let me know it. The following three are along the lines of the messages I received on Thursday:

Finally, being the proud Black Southern queen that I am, I had to engage in a little reading

Anti-transgender 'medical group' SEGM faces criticism for its interpretation of Finland study

SEGM, an anti-trans 'medical group,' got pushback after it implied that a Finland study refutes the belief that gender-affirming therapy helps trans youth.

Those who have followed this blog over the years (it will be 20 this September) know that a feature is me calling out the religious right and the anti-LGBTQ industry when they create junk science and distort legitimate studies to demonize LGBTQ people. It's been a while since I've done this, so I think today is a good time to throw one out with the help of people more knowledgeable on this particular subject that I am. 

First, a little background.

The Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM)  is an organization which claims to "promote safe, compassionate, ethical and evidence-informed healthcare for children, adolescents, and young adults with gender dysphoria."

However, its critics claim that the group pushes anti-transgender misinformation under the veneer of legitimate science. In 2024, the Southern Poverty Law Center designated SEGM as an anti-LGBTQ hate group.  The year before, SPLC issued an extensive report on how SEGM works with other anti-LGBTQ groups in legitimizing bigotry as science: 

 The report, Combating Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience Through Accessible Informative Narratives, also known as Project CAPTAIN, unpacks the proliferation of biased and misleading information used — under the guise of science — in state and federal legislation and litigation over the last decade and exposes the far right and far-reaching network behind it. 

 Researchers from the SPLC’s Intelligence Project identify a network of over 60 groups, including Alliance Defending Freedom, the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine and Genspect, with nearly 1,000 shared connections that have mobilized their efforts to challenge the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) standards, advance the so-called “Women’s Bill of Rights” and recruit for Project 2025. Project CAPTAIN lists the 100 commonly cited sources used by anti-LGBTQ+ actors to make junk science claims, including research papers and letters to the editor, that attack the scientific consensus of gender-affirming care, defend conversion therapy and generate moral panic over trans people. 

 “We show how this network of anti-LGBTQ+ actors have built a political and PR machine that twists data and opinion from a very small minority of the medical community and positions it as mainstream,” said R.G. Cravens, senior research analyst for SPLC’s Intelligence Project. 

 In 2021, The Trans Safety Network published an extensive report on SEGM's ties to other anti-LGBTQ groups, its campaigning against trans health funding, and questions about its funding. 

All of this background leads to a recent tweet SEGM sent out trumpeting the "results" of a Finland study on gender-affirming care for kids:

 

Finland’s data are critical in the current debates on pediatric gender medicine. To our knowledge, Finland is the only country reporting full registry data, meaning outcomes are captured for all patients. By contrast, Dutch follow-up studies rely on later volunteers, with dropout…

— SEGM (@segm_ebm) April 4, 2026

This claim was retweeted by many of SEGM's supporters, i.e. folks who want to ban gender-affirming therapy for trans kids (and probably trans adults.) However, there was some pushback calling out how SEGM interpreted the study.

 

pic.twitter.com/9OVeYapzx6

— LGBwiththeT (@LGBwiththeT) April 6, 2026

Dr. Laura Targownik sent out a series of tweets analyzing the study and SEGM's claim. Targownik has been called "a prominent leader in advocating for gender equity and transgender health rights within the medical profession."

The following are a few excerpts.

 

THERE IS A LOT IT DOESN'T TELL US!

1) In the patients who received gender interventions, we don't know if the increased use of psych services occurred after, during, or following the intervention, and for how long

2) we don't know if the psych visits were for management of…

— 👩‍⚕️ Dr. Laura 👩‍⚕️ (@datadriven_tdoc) April 5, 2026

Also,

MOST IMPORTANTLY, THERE IS LITTLE IN THE DATA TO SUPPORT SEGMs ASSERTIONS ABOUT PSYCH "SYMPTOMS" WORSENING AFTER TREATMENT

this study assessed psych service utilization, and did not measure symptoms

there is no way to assess mental or overall well being/quality-of-life, given…

— 👩‍⚕️ Dr. Laura 👩‍⚕️ (@datadriven_tdoc) April 5, 2026

Finally, and perhaps more importantly,

ZOMBIE STUDIES NEVER DIE!!!

The trans care evidence base is littered with what I call "zombie literature": severely methodologically flawed or limited studies that get repeatedly cited by supporters of a particular theory of a case as "proof" of a preferred outcome, and which… pic.twitter.com/HPxj3ik6c5

— 👩‍⚕️ Dr. Laura 👩‍⚕️ (@datadriven_tdoc) April 5, 2026

Not unlike other anti-LGBTQ groups masquerading as legitimate medical organizations, SEGM seems to be more interested in creating a narrative instead of genuine scientific research.

'Kristi Noem receiving brutal reminders of her anti-LGBTQ history in light of husband's crossdressing scandal' & other Wed/Thur news briefs

25 hilarious reactions to Kristi Noem's hypocrisy after husband's cross-dressing fetish leaks: 

Noem has also built a career on supporting policies restricting LGBTQ+ rights, and while governor of South Dakota, she signed the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act," which would have granted the state "a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people," HRC reported. She also approved a ban on transgender girls participating in women's sports, and supported gender affirming care restrictions. 

 Gay D.C. staffer Josh Sorbe, who attended the University of South Dakota, summed up Noem’s hypocrisy perfectly in an Instagram Reel he posted yesterday after the cross-dressing news broke. 

 "They will do horrible things to queer people in public," he said in the video. "They will ban their books, they will ban their healthcare, they will ban their expression, they will ban their drag shows, and then turn around and queen out and do gay sh*t behind the scenes all the time. That’s where I draw the line. Be whoever the hell you want to be because your business is your business, but the second that your business involves insecurity or hypocrisy and you decide to make that my business — no, no, no."

Ken Paxton told therapists to stop affirming trans patients. Here’s why they shouldn’t listen: 

 But here’s the wrench in Paxton’s nefarious threat: His opinion – even when issued with an official seal – doesn’t actually change the law. “People are taking this opinion as fact, as Ken Paxton altering the law or reinterpreting the law to suit his whims,” Naveen Farrani, strategic Communications Manager for Equality Texas, told LGBTQ Nation. “He does not have the jurisdiction to do that.” 

These 10 out LGBTQ women made history as firsts in sports: 

 “Pioneer” is a term often thrown around loosely, but these nine out LGBTQ women in sports exemplify the term. Each of them has done something no publicly out gay, lesbian, bi or trans athlete had done before them. Some like Billie Jean King are household names, while others are lesser-known but no less important. We celebrate the women who have led the way out of the closet in sports.

Colo. activists condemn SCOTUS conversion therapy ruling: 

 The Supreme Court ruled in Chiles v. Salazar that a Colorado law banning conversion therapy is unconstitutional, striking down the state’s 2019 statute and potentially impacting similar laws across the country. Religious advocates have hailed Tuesday’s decision as a victory for the First Amendment and evangelical Christians, while LGBTQ activists warn it could lead to increased harm for LGBTQ youth. The conservative majority, joined by two progressive members of the court, sided 8–1 with Kaley Chiles on March 31 in what some critics are calling a landmark ruling for religious zealots, placing the teachings of the Bible above established medical consensus.

How in the world was the Supreme Court’s awful conversion therapy ruling 8–1?: 

More likely, the conservative justices have a unique hostility toward pro-LGBTQ+ protections and concoct bespoke reasons to strike them down—rules that are not applied to laws that these justices favor. We saw this move in 2023’s 303 Creative v. Elenis, which undermined another Colorado law protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in the marketplace without fully dismantling all civil rights law. And we could see it again in Chiles. This time around, Kagan and Sotomayor may have sought to mitigate the damage rather than take a loss on the chin. But Jackson’s pessimism gives us every reason to fear that her colleagues have crafted a doctrine that lets them impose their own orthodoxy in the name of free expression. 

The ugly history behind the Olympics’ new gender test: 

 How Nazi-era fears about gender gave rise to sex testing—and why the policy is resurfacing now.

'Leader of national Republican group says gay men take over gyms to spread AIDS' & other Mon/Tues news briefs

Kai Schwemmer

Leader of national GOP organization says gay men take over gyms to spread AIDS:

The College Republicans of America (CRA) — an organization for young conservatives that has over 280 chapters on campuses nationwide, as well as had numerous recent scandals involving bigoted statements from its leadership — appointed right-wing broadcaster Kai Schwemmer as its new political director on March 5. However, Schwemmer has ties to white supremacist Nick Fuentes, and a recent review of Schwemmer’s past videos reportedly revealed his homophobic, antisemitic, and racist comments, including a claim that gay men are trying to give people AIDS by taking over gyms. The CRA has refused to apologize for hiring Schwemmer and said it will not bow down to the “woke mob” that has expressed concern over his views.

 According to The Guardian, also:

 Schwemmer said he would accept a world in which slavery was legal if abortion was criminalized, describes himself as “very much an anti-universal suffrage guy” and accepts a supporter’s description of him as “our Mormon Nick Fuentes” – referring to the white nationalist influencer whose platform he streamed on for years. The comments were made after Schwemmer’s return from a two-year Mormon mission to Argentina; a period he recently claimed had seen him undergo a “process of growth” that led him to abandon previous racist beliefs. Schwemmer had previously expressed extremist and bigoted views.

Trump DOJ sues Minnesota over its trans-inclusive school sports policies: 

 Keith Ellison, the attorney general for Minnesota, said, “Donald Trump is currently facing an unpopular war that he launched, rising gas prices, massive health insurance price hikes, and a partial government shutdown caused in part by his ICE agents killing two Minnesotans in broad daylight. It is astonishing that any president would try to target, shame, and harass children just trying to be themselves, let alone a president with so many actual problems to address.” 

 And speaking of Trump and the trans community:

‘Transgender MUTILIZATION’: Donald Trump just making up words in bizarre, unfocused late-night rants - Trump keeps claiming that Democrats want to engage in "mutilization" of kids. He's repeating the false narrative about trans kids and surgery but keeps repeating "mulitization," a word he apparently made up. From what I hear, he means to say "mutlilation" but his people are too chickenshit to correct him.

Chicago Bulls cut Jaden Ivey after anti-gay social media posts, reports say - If you're going to be a homophobic athlete, you had better produce in what you are being paid for on the court, field, etc. The end. 

State bans against conversion therapy are ineffective, argues leading LGBTQ+ activist - From my friend and a hell of an activist, Wayne Besen.

Visual reminder - homophobia and transphobia are two heads on the same beast

I have a visual reminder for everyone, particularly the relatively small number but nonetheless extremely annoying and ignorant LGB people in my community. 

Remember when these notions were openly expressed about gays:

There has been a small shift:

This not to say that lies about LGB people have gone away. But there have been some "incorporations." They have gone from this:

To this:

 Some folks have expressed the stupid belief that this new wave coming against us is the fault of the trans community. The people and groups who spew the vile tropes which I've just featured seek to eliminate equality, as well as the right to self-determination, and safety from all of us. Not just the trans community. 

Think of homophobia and transphobia as two heads on the same beast. And this beast has always hit at us from a perceived weak angle.  Once it was those of us who wanted to marry.  Today it's the trans community. Who knows which part of our community will be the next victim of its undeserved attention. 

We should have sense enough as a community to not open our doors and invite the beast in.  And we definitely should have sense to know that allowing the beast to feed on a portion of our community won't satisfy it. 

It wants all of us.

 

Hat tip to Comics with Problems for some of the images in this post.

'Ohio GOP's drag ban cosponsor was accused of sexual conduct with a minor' & other Mon/Tue news briefs

Ohio state rep Rodney Creech

Ohio GOP's drag ban cosponsor was accused of sexual misconduct with minor relative:

 (State Rep. Rodney) Creech was accused in 2023 by a minor female relative of climbing into bed with her while erect and wearing only his underwear, according to Bureau of Criminal Investigation documents obtained by the Statehouse News Bureau. Text messages showed the minor complaining that Creech had been rubbing her legs and grabbing her waist, according to NBC4. Creech admitted to investigators he had gotten into bed with the minor in his underwear but denied the sexual nature of the allegations. 

 Clark County Prosecutor Daniel Driscoll, brought in as a special prosecutor, declined to file charges but wrote that Creech’s “behavior during the time of the investigation was concerning and suspicious,” according to documents reported by the Dayton Daily News. Creech has called the allegations “demonstrably false.” 

 The allegations were initially brought to the Preble County Sheriff’s Department in July 2023, but no investigation was opened. Both the sheriff and then-Prosecutor Martin Votel — personal friends of Creech — later recused themselves. Five months after Votel was credited by the sheriff with turning away the allegations, Creech donated $4,100 to Votel’s judicial campaign — accounting for roughly 75% of Votel’s total fundraising, according to the Dayton Daily News. Votel, now a Preble County Common Pleas Court judge, denied any impropriety. 

 Tennessee librarian risks job after refusing to move LGBTQ+ children’s books: 

 Luanne James, director of the Rutherford County Library System in Tennessee, has garnered national support after refusing to move more than 190 LGBTQ+-themed books out of youth sections. In an 18 March letter she sent to the board, she argued that relocating the titles would amount to “viewpoint discrimination” and violate the First Amendment, writing plainly: “Therefore, I will not comply.”

Heard enough news about trans people? Believe me, so have I - Jace Woodrum, a trans man and executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina breaks it down: 

 Like most people, I’m shocked at what I’m paying at the grocery store. I’m worried about how South Carolina might change as people continue moving here. I’m concerned about the teachers who have left my kid’s school for jobs outside of education. 

But our lawmakers don’t seem to be doing anything about how expensive everything is or about rapid growth. And they don’t seem to be doing enough about the pressures facing our educators. Our legislators have only 54 days out of each year to get things done in their regular session. They seem to be spending a lot of time on proposals that harm a small population instead of using that time to help the everyday South Carolinians who sent them there. 

Trans Ohioans create a safe space to teach other trans people how to shoot guns and handle firearms safely - I fully support this. In this climate, it is vital that trans Americans learn to defend themselves: 

Some have never shot a firearm before, but felt safe enough to do it with the help of Fifi and Bella, two trans people of color. (The Buckeye Flame has omitted surnames and changed some first names upon request due to safety concerns.) Fifi was inspired to host the class after they moved back home to Ohio in 2022. They had been living in Portland, Oregon and was shocked by the amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation moving through the Republican-controlled Ohio Statehouse. Range goers cited the legislation as key to their decision to own a gun and to learn how to shoot.

MAGA Christian Nationalist pastor: We are going to impose our (morality) on America. If you don't like it, I'm sorry

Why do white conservative evangelicals support Donald Trump even though he is the antithesis of everything they claim to oppose? Because he gives them power. With him in office, they are feeling incredibly sure of themselves, as this seen this item below. While people's heads are turned and distracted by Trump's various mad exploits (the Iran War, the attacks on DEI, etc.) and unprecedented attacks on the transgender community, MAGA pastors such William Wolfe are plotting to impose their religious will on the country. 

 

 From Right Wing Watch: 

 On Saturday, former Trump administration official and radical Christian nationalist William Wolfe delivered a speech at Bethel Church in Petersburg, West Virginia, entitled "Five Popular Lies About Faith & Politics." Wolfe, who now runs the Center For Baptist Leadership and has become an increasingly fanatical anti-immigrant activist, openly admitted that the goal of Christian nationalists is to gain political power and impose their morality upon everyone else.

 "We should not blink, we should not hesitate to tell people—not because we are so wise, not because we made the rules of the world; we didn't—we humbly submit to how God made the rules of the world, and we say, 'This is how we should order our lives together,'" Wolfe said.

"And frankly, yes, we are going to impose it upon you. If you don't like it, I'm sorry, but this is good and right and just if it lines up with God's standards and I am going to enforce my morality on you inasmuch as our morality is God's morality." 

 "You should always check yourselves," Wolfe continued. "Do I believe what God believes? Am I defending what God says is good? And if it is, then you should have the courage to say, 'This is how we're going to run our town, this is how we're going to run our county, this is how we're going to run our state, and this is how we should run the United States of America by legislating the morality that we can find in the Bible.'"

'The absolute gayest moments from this year's Oscars' & other Mon/Tue news briefs

Editor's note - I am going to start out today's news briefs with something frivolous because there are so many awful things going on and so much hatred being passed around. Much of it is thanks to the dumbass in the White House who a bunch of other dumbasses decided to put in charge of our country. Specifically, this first item is dedicated to a friend of mine on Facebook (who shall remain nameless) as a way of saying self-care is always important. Sometimes you have to tune it out from time to time to replenish your spirit and preserve your happiness and health. And above all, find something funny to laugh about. It's good for you.

 

The absolute gayest moments from this year’s Oscars, from that winning kiss to Channing Tatum’s glittery thong - Last night at the Oscars was very enjoyable and as you will read, very gay. Even a certain gay icon showed up and sang as a tribute.

Dr. Oz Tried to Pressure Medical Societies to Oppose Trans Youth Care - And we are back to the grind. Luckily Dr. Oz failed in his endeavor. Oz already has much to answer for due to his bizarre tangent late last year regarding certain claims about "bottom surgery" costs for trans kids - something which is NOT happening.

Zohran Mamdani recruits NYC’s first openly trans director for new LGBTQIA+ Affairs office - Good for New York! 

Trump says Iran throws gays off buildings after trying to deport same-sex couple there - The man is a moron. Point blank.

'Maine residents rally to keep LGBTQ book in local libraries' & other Wed/Thur news briefs

Resident in the city of Gardiner, ME rallied to keep the LGBTQ book 'Prince and Knight' on the library shelves after some people called it 'propaganda' created to 'indoctrinate' children.

Residents rally to keep LGBTQ book in Gardiner-area school libraries - Good news coming from Maine to start it all off on a positive note. 

Engineer sues LA County for right to work from home when Pride flag is displayed​ - It's ridiculous, but the Supreme Court has everyone playing the "it's my religious liberty" card so he could win. It's becoming annoying how almost every time we are mentioned in the public square, someone pulls the "religious liberty" card to render us invisible or create some sort of psychological roadblock which they would never do in other situations.

San José State University Sues Trump Admin Over Anti-Trans Threats—Refusing to Capitulate - Good for them!

Cisgender kids in Texas can’t get care due to anti-trans laws - Transphobes like to smear puberty blockers when they are prescribed to trans teens. They don't say a word when they are prescribed to other kids for different conditions. 

There Is No Evidence For Banning Trans Women From Sports - SCOTUS is not going to rule in our favor on this subject because it's all about fears and irrational suspicions. Still, this information is needed.

He helped ban conversion therapy. Now the Supreme Court could undo it all. - Now we could win this SCOTUS case. But then again, it could be the "it's my religious freedom" card played again.

This conservative is losing his mind over Biden’s “gay maps,” but the joke’s on him - The joke's on him? He is a joke.

LGBTQ studies are necessary in K-12 education - Amen! We need to have this conversation. and NOW.

Moms risk arrest to protect gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth

From Orion Rummler of The 19th by way of The Advocate comes a simple fact that the parents of trans kids are determined to keep their children healthy and safe. 

Even if they have to be arrested for it:

(Larissa) Godfrey-Smith was one of over 50 people who joined a protest last month against the Trump administration’s plans to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth. They blocked the entrance to the Health and Human Services Department headquarters to demand that the government stop blocking medical care for transgender kids. Godfrey-Smith was among the 25 protesters arrested.

 Parents and grandparents of trans youth, plus their therapists and medical providers, are fed up after years of health care bans and hostile rhetoric. Those feelings are driving them to do things they’ve never done before — like plan to get arrested at a protest.

 . . . As a licensed professional counselor who specializes in LGBTQ+ mental health, Godfrey-Smith, who uses she and they pronouns, works with trans kids and their families as they navigate the complexities of gender changing over time. They answer nervous parents’ questions. They talk about concerns regarding medical transition. They also work with trans adults who are well into their 30s and 40s and figuring it all out for the first time. 

 The Trump administration is not helping those patients, she said; bans and rhetoric are just making everything worse. Families are confused about what they can access and what to believe. Financial costs to find knowledgeable providers are rising. And parents are scared about the world their trans children are growing up in. 

“I’m so angry and so frustrated. I’m just so exhausted at the misinformation,” they said. As a mental health provider, they know that families feel abandoned. She wants those families to see people standing up for them. 

 

Read the entire article here. 

'Trump causes MAGA meltdown with post accidentally supporting 'child transgender surgery'' & other Thur/Fri news briefs

Trump's original Truth Social post which causes a conservative meltdown

Trump Deletes Post Backing Child Transgender Surgery With ‘Approval of the Parents’ Following Backlash From Conservatives​ - Gender-affirming healthcare for trans kids generally doesn't involve surgery and I'm sure this was an error in syntax on Trump's part. STILL, it was hilarious to watch conservatives flip out over it. 

Joe Rogan calls trans people “f**king perverts” & blames them for school shootings - Joe Rogan's personal animus against the trans community is probably one of the things which fueled transphobic backlashes. 

13 HIV/AIDS activists arrested on Capitol Hill - Good for them! 

West Virginia Senate passes ‘anti-LGBTQ’ bills on Crossover Day - Bizarre bills. I guess they were meant to be anti-LGBTQ

'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!

Franklin Graham gets called out for hypocritical attack on Bad Bunny while ignoring Kid Rock's sexualized lyrics

In a recent tweet, prominent conservative pastor Franklin Graham accused Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny of having a 'sexualized agenda.' He also praised Kid Rock who has in the past sang about sex with underage girls. Responders to his tweet were very vocal about his hypocrisy.

Sunday is the Superbowl and MAGA conservatives are upset that Puerto Rican superstar and recent Grammy recipient for 'Album of the Year' Bad Bunny is headlining the halftime show. So, to counter it, far-right group Turning Point USA (associated with the late Charlie Kirk) is putting on its own halftime show.

This show will feature has been rock star Kid Rock. 

From Mediaite:

Since the announcement that Bad Bunny would be the Super Bowl’s headlining act, conservatives have criticized the choice by pointing to his previous comments on President Donald Trump. At last Sunday’s Grammy Awards, Bad Bunny also spoke out against ICE’s immigration enforcement in the U.S. In response to the conservative outcry, Turning Point has organized an alternative show for those not interested in the Spanish-speaking artist. 

TPUSA’s show will also include Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett. In a video posted by Benny Johnson, Kid Rock hinted at what he’ll be bringing to the table Sunday night: 

 But I think one thing important that I would like to get out there and say to everyone is that I think I speak for us all at Turning Point, the other artists that are performing, when I say that in no way, shape or form, don’t let the left twist this around. Like, in no way are we approaching this with any hate in our hearts. We’re simply gonna go play some great songs, like I’ve said, for our base, people who love football, love America, love good music, love Jesus. It’s pretty much that simple.

The Mediaite article also said:

It’s unknown just how many people will tune in to Turning Point’s show, but prominent conservatives have vowed to boycott the NFL’s. Samaritan’s Purse CEO Franklin Graham claimed on X/Twitter that he’d be watching the former — complaining that the NFL show has been “pushing moral boundaries.”

Graham's tweet is below:

Like most Americans, I’ve enjoyed watching the Super Bowl. But the halftime shows began pushing moral boundaries and have become more and more sexualized. This year, they’re having Bad Bunny perform. The @NFL leadership is pushing this sexualized agenda. Thank you, @TPUSA and…

— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) February 5, 2026

Here is where the story gets deliciously interesting. 

All of this Superbowl attention has created a renewed interest in Kid Rock's past songs, particularly one song named Daddy Cool in which he talked about sex with underage girls:

His song "Cool, Daddy Cool" with rapper Joe Calleja, or Joe C., includes lyrics in which Kid Rock sang, "I like 'em underage," referring to women. "Young ladies, young ladies, I like 'em underage, see. Some say that's statutory," Kid Rock sings in the song. "But I say it's mandatory," Joe C. sings in response.

Graham's hypocrisy about Bad Bunny and Kid Rock did not escape notice. Responders to his tweet proceeded to call him out and figuratively drag him all over Twitter.  As for myself, I found the entire thing amusing that after all of these years of falsely accusing LGBTQ people of sexualizing kids, Franklin Graham has the gall to publicly praise someone who actually sang about sexualizing kids.

Well, Elmer Gantry, Kid Rock -does- sing the new anthem of the Republican Party.

Your hypocrisy isn’t even startling any longer, but it gets more pathetic every day.

Thank you for helping to make more ex-christians. pic.twitter.com/BeqZlPxIae

— HerewardTheWake 🇺🇸 (@BCH1066) February 5, 2026

Christian? pic.twitter.com/mHI8s4CDLN

— Jorge Washington (@theredhombre) February 5, 2026

Neither of you are Christians.
As a born Catholic , I resent you and those like you using the Lord as a cheap political pawn and misrepresenting his teachings. SHAME https://t.co/GIF156cmdm

— Lisa Grande 🫶🇺🇸✌️ (@LisaGrande13) February 5, 2026

@Franklin_Graham you’re bastardizing Jesus. Go look up Kid Rock lyrics then ask yourself if those lyrics are sexualized or not.

— Reh Harvey (@XRehhhh) February 5, 2026

You’re a man of God? Judgmental much? Perhaps this picture will enlighten you as it pertains to Bad Bunny. I also suggest u read kid rock articles. pic.twitter.com/dv1gE7GLrf

— Buffy (@skyking68946420) February 5, 2026

These are the lyrics Kid Rock sings. This is what you’re promoting. @SouthernBaptist how do you feel about this? Obviously @Franklin_Graham approves but would Jesus? @USATODAY pic.twitter.com/qUVP9HyQwH

— Serendipous (@serendipous) February 5, 2026

pic.twitter.com/2SvheZgtjb

— Life is 💜School (@Lisaaif2) February 6, 2026

re #TPUSA and their wholesome alternative to the official #SuperBowl #HalftimeShow

Hey FRANKLIN… So, feel free to sing along with paragon of virtue #KidRock. Ready? I’ll just attach the lyrics here: pic.twitter.com/jijyHo6EiA

— Peter Brady (@Ronnie_Mombacho) February 5, 2026