Conspiracy theories and transphobia thus far fueling GOP midterm election plans

The right-wing social media ecosystem did their work to spread a lie about James Talarico's mental health. But then the lie was exposed, leaving them scrambling to backtrack.

I have my fingers crossed regarding the upcoming mid-term election because I refuse to take anything for granted. One thing is for sure at least right now - Trump and the Republicans are running scared and fearing a huge blue wave.

That is evidenced by an ugly rumor their ecosystem spread about one of the Democratic candidates giving them the vapors. It was a rumor which delightfully backfired.

 The possible MVP of the midterms is James Talarico, the Democratic senatorial candidate for Texas. He has led the controversial and corrupt state attorney general Ken Paxton in the polls, and it has the MAGA influencers worried. So worried in fact that they recently started a rumor that Talarico took an absence from the campaign because of a mental health episode and checked himself into a mental health center in Ohio. They were full speed in pushing the lie until it blew up in their faces:

 Over just a few days, it went from an admitted rumor; to some like former Los Angeles GOP mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt claiming they had actual sources; to winks and nods from Talarico’s GOP opponent Ken Paxton and President Donald Trump; to right-wing sites covering the still-baseless claims; to some attempted independent journalism that has been repeatedly promoted by Elon Musk. 

 By Sunday afternoon, a pair of right-wing influencers shared audio of what they said was a call with a mental health center in Ohio seemingly confirming that Talarico had just been released from its facility.   

. . . The story then exploded on the right. But it just as quickly fell apart.

The Bulwark and others obtained the full phone call showing the apparent employee had previously and repeatedly flatly denied any record of Talarico being at the facility. She only said the above quote after being unable to locate any records for a person who told her Talarico was her cousin and had been staying there. 

The timeline didn’t even match up. The influencer said the call was placed on Saturday evening, so that would mean Talarico would have been discharged Saturday evening. But Talarico had already appeared publicly in Texas the night before and did so again on Saturday night.

The mental health center, called the Lindner Center of Hope, has now denied Talarico was ever there: “Representative James Talarico has never received treatment from Lindner Center of Hope.” 

Talarico says he has never even been to Ohio.

The article goes on to point out which MAGA Republicans are either deleting their tweets, backtracking, or staying firm in an attempt to pick some sense out of the nonsense they started.

Then there are the attacks on transgender Americans. In spite of the fact that Americans are more concerned with affordability, healthcare, Trump's war with Iran, and other vital issues, Republicans are hoping visions of spooky transgender predators will get reap them as much success as it was claimed to have done in the 2024 elections.

With the help of Elon Musk, who has thus far spent $100 million (that's right -  ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS) on anti-trans ads targeting Democrats, Republicans are trying very hard to distract voters from Trump's dismal record and their above and beyond the call of duty acquiesces to his madness.

Let me break down their attempts in three columns:

Failure - With the help of Soren Aldaco, an anti-trans activist, Republicans ran an ad accusing Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Democratic senatorial candidate, of supporting trans surgery for minors.  That attempt blew up in their faces when the certain facts - seen below - came out about Aldaco.

Maybe mixed success, but still tacky:

 

 Donald Trump shared this absolutely ridiculous ad attacking South Carolina senatorial candidate Annie Andrews, while mocking her as "Annie 'Trannie' Andrews."  Andrews responded back with an ad of her own, vocalizing anti-trans tropes:

“So I want you to hear me loud and clear: I don’t support biological men playing women’s sports and I don’t support — and haven’t ever performed — gender surgery for minors,” Andrews says.

Trump's attack was the latest in a barrage of anti-trans nonsense thrown at Andrews by ads from her opponent and the current Republican Senator Darlene Graham.  The ad can be seen as a possible mixed success because it made Andrews respond in a way which affirmed anti-trans tropes and have gotten some of her supporters angry with her.  Trust me when I say this because I am a South Carolinian and we are knee deep in this mess. Time will tell if Andrews' attempt to distance herself hurts her campaign.

Coming across as desperate:

California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton is running this inane anti-trans ad in a bid to attract Spanish speaking voters.

From LGBTQNation:

Republican California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton is targeting Spanish-speaking voters with an AI-generated ad that shows a caricature of a trans girl playing soccer against high school girls. 

 . . . The ad is airing in Spanish, but the New York Post shared an English-language version. It appears to be entirely AI-generated, and it opens with a father kissing his high school-aged daughter on the forehead at a soccer game before she runs to the field. The father asks, “Who is that?”

 “New starter,” a man says without even looking up from his phone. “Last week she declared herself a girl.” 

 The player, portrayed as a cis man with a mustache who appears to be around 30, is shown pushing the high school girls around on the field. While this person is supposed to represent a high school-age trans girl, the AI portrayal looks so much like a cis man that even the Post described the character as “a transgender man” twice. 

 “Who allowed this?” the father, who is now inexplicably standing in the middle of the field, asks as dramatic music plays. 

 “That? That was me,” AI-generated Becerra, who is also in the middle of the soccer field, responds. The name “Xavier Becerra” appears on the screen, even though this isn’t a clip of Becerra. “I fought for boys to play in girls’ sports, and I’ll keep doing it as governor.” 

“What if they get hurt?” the father asks. 

 “Sorry,” AI Becerra says, smiling.

Hilton's ad can be seen as desperate because, as the article points out, Becerra is leading Hilton by double digits.

Equality Forum's LGBTQ History Month icons are varied and controversial

October is LGBTQ History Month and on an annual basis, Equality Forum spotlights 31 iconic figures of LGBTQ history. This year is no different, but I think the choices will be seen as controversial, particularly a former president of the United States and a senator who was assaulted on the Congressional floor because his stance against slavery.

In light of efforts by the Trump Administration and their allies to erase LGBTQ history, videos like this are vital to our community.

BUSTED! Anti-trans activist, GOP super PAC caught lying in campaign ad against Sherrod Brown

A Republican group is running a political ad featuring anti-trans activist Soren Aldaco. The ad accuses U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown of supporting trans surgery for minors and implies that Aldaco's transition was somehow Brown's fault. As seen by the graphic courtesy of a news report from ABC affiliate WEWS, the ad is highly deceptive on both accusations.

In the 2024 election, scapegoating trans people, particularly trans children, was deemed a winning issue for the Republican party. 

Two years later people are slowly finding out that responding positively to spooky Republican ads about trans athletes, trans prisoners, or "trans surgeries for minors" didn't do anything to improve their healthcare, bring down prices, bring back jobs, or keep us out of war. This means conjuring up images of transgender boogeymen for the 2026 midterms doesn't seem to be having the same impact it did in 2024. 

But Republicans continue go about this course of action and in Ohio, they just got publicly called out for lying

From them: 

 A reelection advertisement created by a Republican super PAC in support of Ohio Senator Jon Husted misleads viewers into thinking that a young person’s gender transition was somehow Democratic opponent Sherrod Brown’s fault due to failed state-level policies. There’s only one problem: the person in the ad is not from Ohio and was a legal adult when she transitioned. 

 On September 24, the Senate Leadership Fund, which bills itself as the “only outside organization solely dedicated to protecting and expanding the Republican Senate Majority,” debuted the ad, “Sherrod Brown Does Whatever Extremists Demand,” aimed at linking the Ohio Democrat with gender-affirming care for minors, an ongoing wedge issue in the upcoming midterm elections.

 In the ad, 23-year-old Texan Soren Aldaco states that after a “20-minute meeting,” doctors told her parents that she was transgender, which led to “hormone shots” and a “botched double mastectomy,” which caused her “years of trauma.” She claims in the video that the surgery happened when she was a child. 

 After telling her story, Aldaco then links her personal situation to Brown’s alleged pro-trans policies, saying that Brown “supports sex change surgery for minors” and “admitted he would never oppose it.” Aldaco closes the ad by saying that Brown does “whatever extremists demand,” including “anything to hold onto power.” 

According to them, ABC affiliate WEWS and Politifact revealed that the ad is a highly deceptive.  WEWS ran a news segment about it (see graphic above.) Politifact posted a segment about it.

From Politifact: 

When contacted by PolitiFact about the 2026 ad, Senate Leadership Fund spokesperson Chris Gustafson cited Brown’s July 19, 2023, interview with WSYX-TV in Columbus, Ohio. That was also the sole source cited in the group’s 2024 ad, and in its other 2026 Ohio ads.

 The segment discussed legislation backed by then-Sen. JD Vance, the Protect Children’s Innocence Act, which Brown opposed. The measure would have made it a felony for doctors to provide surgery or prescribe puberty blockers to anyone younger than 18.

 In the interview, Brown said, “A child’s health care decisions are between them, their parents, their families, their doctors — not politicians. I will never agree with anybody that wants to bring politics into the family situation with health care, period.’” 

 Gustafson said this means Brown “does not support any limitations on transgender or gender-affirming procedures on children.” The wording of the 2026 ad goes further than the 2024 ad, which also mentioned “puberty blockers.” Nothing in Brown’s remarks to WSYX shows that he would force surgery on anyone. 

 The ad remains up on Youtube and in response, Brown ran his own ad:

#OHSen: Former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) is up on TV with this response spot on the trans issue -- Warren from Johnstown to camera: "Here they go again, those same attacks against Sherrod Brown" Mary from Granville: "With everything going on, that's what they're talking about?" Mike from Richwood: "In Ohio, it's against the law to perform transgender surgeries on kids. That's right, it's illegal"

— Medium Buying (@MediumBuying) September 18, 2026

Anti-trans grifter Riley Gaines suffers major court loss against NCAA

Riley Gaines

From the online publication them:

A federal judge dismissed Riley Gaines’ lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), accusing the organization of violating her Title IX rights, on September 28. This dismissal comes after U.S. District Judge Tiffany Johnson concluded that the evidence provided by Gaines’ team did not establish that the NCAA was a recipient of federal financial assistance, something that must occur in order for the Title IX law to apply. 

 The lawsuit in question was put forth by Riley Gaines and a group made up of both current and former female collegiate athletes back in March 2024 and centers their claim that the NCAA violated their Title IX rights by implementing trans-inclusive policies.

 . . . Gaines and her legal team plan to appeal the decision in order to continue their pursuit of suing the NCAA, per Politico. They must file a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit within 30 days to continue the lawsuit. 

 The evidence that Gaines’ legal team attempted to use in the lawsuit centers on money streams of the NCAA and the Department of Defense, both of which contributed money to the University of Indiana. Johnson maintained that the two organizations have separate funding streams, writing that “there is no evidence that the NCAA ever received, or could have received, federal funds. Thus, Plaintiffs’ Title IX claims cannot proceed." According to Johnson’s order, “[the] department’s money went to the university and other research participants rather than to the NCAA.”

Riley Gaines is like a musician with subpar talent constantly putting out remixes of the one hit song she was lucky to have. Her attacks on trans athletes and the trans community are very pathetic, seeing that her claim to fame was tying for fifth place in a swimming meet with trans athlete Lia Thomas. It's obvious that her "concern" for women's sports is a huge con game in which she is playing culture warrior for that "wingnut welfare" money which is plentiful for those faking conservative activism. 

When she's not portraying the virtuous white virgin tied to the railroad tracks of woke by dastardly trans villains, you will find her attempting to earn her coins by crying foul over so-called vital things such as Black Santas.  That is when she isn't having verbal fights with more successful athletes such as Simone Biles in embarrassingly blatant attempts to catch the proverbial "hem of their garment" so that she has at least a brief flicker of fame. That sort of thing is always good for a generous five minutes on Fox News for Gaines.

Seeing that as the case, this loss she just suffered in court should be good for maybe 10 minutes of pandering from a Fox News host Sean Hannity, Jesse Watters, or Laura Ingraham. It really doesn't matter because I can't tell those folks apart. They are bad combinations of the Borgs from Star Trek and The Stepford Wives.

'Recent articles show how Republicans are using transphobia to distract women, LGBs from harmful policies' & other Mon/Tue news briefs

Editor's note - two leading items in this evening's news brief post should be a clue to transphobic LGBs, and women that their anti-trans hysteria is being manipulated by Republicans to distract them from the actual harm being done by their policies.

Education Department formally rescinds Title IX protections for LGBTQ students - The "pick me" and the transphobic LGB folks were warned. There is no separating the LGBTQ community. When one of us gets attacked, we all get attacked.

A “monstrous injustice”: Trump admin announces pro-LGBTQ+ antidiscrimination rule ends tomorrow - More details about this vile happening. 

Ectopic Pregnancy Deaths Have Nearly Doubled. It’s Worse in States With Abortion Bans - This is an issue from earlier this month. I don't think it got as much attention as it should with all of the nonsense about trans athletes and idiots causing problems with the WNBA. Republicans like to appeal to anti-trans hysteria by asking folks "what is a woman." Now you can tell them "A woman is someone whose rate of death from ectopic pregnancies have doubled while y'all distract us with transphobic bullshit." 

Fox pundits enraged that Obama praised women leaders without being transphobic - More of the same from Fox News. 

A Different World returns with a refreshing take on a coming-of-age queer story - As a black gay man, I've always felt disconnected to the original iteration of A Different World because there were no LGBTQ storylines. In the show's defense, this was a period of time in which there were very few LGBTQ storylines on any shows because of the controversy it would cause. THANK YOU A Different World for addressing situations regarding LGBTQ students on HBCUs. And doing it rather well, I see.

 The US deported LGBTQ migrants to countries where homosexuality makes them a target - And I bet it's deliberate. More proof that the transphobic LGBs who voted for Trump (yes there are some) are writing death warrants for our community.

MAGA millionaire using Washington state anti-trans ballot measures to gain tax cut

According to LGBTQNation, a millionaire hedge fund manager and ally of Donald Trump is behind two Washington state anti-trans ballot measures in a scheme which could get him a tax cut and girl athletes subjected to genital tests.

 Brian Heywood, a hedge fund manager and close ally of President Donald Trump, is the “villain we’re up against,” Libby Watson, campaign manager for No Hate in WA State, tells LGBTQ Nation. That organization is the collection of non-profits, parents, medical professionals, students and teachers arrayed against Heywood’s self-funded right-wing political action committee, Let’s Go Washington. 

The group is behind two initiatives that Watson and No Hate are organizing against. 

 Initiative 638 would ban trans girls from school sports with a requirement for genital exams or other forms of testing to confirm the sex of every girl in the state who wants to play sports. Initiative 001 outs LGBTQ+ students to families, repeals records protections from the victims of child abuse, and opens confidential school meetings between students and counselors for inspection. 

 Together, they’re a one-two punch attacking what MAGA supporters of the anti-LGBTQ+ Let’s Go campaign characterize as “gender ideology” and the “transgender agenda.” 

According to the article, there is a third component to the anti-trans ballot measures.

After qualifying the two culture war initiatives for the ballot, Heywood ran a separate signature-gathering campaign to qualify Initiative 645, which would repeal the millionaires’ tax recently passed by the Washington legislature that established a 9.9% tax on income over $1 million per year. Let’s Go Washington is packaging all three together in their Yes campaign. 

 “Ultimately, what he really cares about is not being taxed, and so he’s using students, the trans kids, LGBTQ+ youth as a scapegoat to rile up his base with the hope that he can turn out enough conservatives and persuade enough voters to vote yes on all three initiatives,” Watson says. “It’s not about fairness in girls’ sports.”

You can read the entire article from this site.

Transphobes reintroduce faulty Finnish study while ignoring its credibility issues

JK Rowling and other transphobes are amplifying an anti-trans study as if it is new. In reality, it an old piece of nonsense which was called out in April for inaccurate conclusions and the author's problems with bias and objectivity.

The tweet above is from arch transphobe JK Rowling amplifying a study which claims that gender-affirming care does not improve the mental health of trans youth.

Rowling and others amplified this study last weekend while arguably implying that it is a new discovery. That implication would be a lie.

The study came out in earlier this year and when it did, many people called out its errors which can be summarized by the graphic below:

For those who want more intricate information other than a graphic, I wrote a blog post about it. My post included a wonderful critique of the study by Dr. Laura Targownik, who has been called "a prominent leader in advocating for gender equity and transgender health rights within the medical profession."

I also wrote a second post calling attention to the fact that the author of the study had a serious conflict of interest which put to question her objectivity. I said the following in the piece:

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.

What's interesting about that particular post was the visceral reaction I received by some who read it and others who obviously did not. I don't think I have ever received such an ugly reaction from anything I had published before:

These comments didn't upset me because it was obvious that I struck a nerve amongst the wolves. That's why I am amazed at how some of the same individuals are attempting to polish up the study while ignoring its past controversies in a sad attempt to make it seem new and fresh.

Then again, I am amazed, but I really shouldn't be. Nor should I be completely shocked.

Admitted liar JD Vance smears gay community service group as devil worshippers

Vice President JD Vance

From The Advocate:

Vice President JD Vance reached for satanic panic Monday while campaigning in Kansas, falsely describing the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as devil worshipers and mangling the group’s name in the process. 

 Vance appeared at a MAGA Inc.-organized rally at Webco Manufacturing in Olathe to support Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, who faces the Rev. Adam Hamilton, a prominent United Methodist pastor and Democrat, in November. State Senate President Ty Masterson, the Republican nominee for governor, also attended, according to the Kansas Reflector. 

 Hamilton “proudly supported a drag group called Our Ladies of Perpetual Indulgence,” Vance claimed. No organization by that name exists. He apparently meant the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the 47-year-old volunteer network of queer and transgender nuns. Vance called the Sisters “the devil worshiping group that was saying special blessings before LA Dodgers games” and an “anti-Christian hate group.” 

 The Advocate refuted that lie: 

 The Sisters do not worship the devil. Their stated mission is community service, human rights advocacy, spiritual outreach, and combating shame and bigotry through humor. The organization has raised money for community nonprofits and became an early provider of sex-positive safer-sex information during the AIDS crisis. 

 The Dodgers did not invite the Sisters to bless baseball games. The team honored the Los Angeles chapter with a Community Hero Award before its June 16, 2023, Pride Night game, recognizing its charitable work. Catholic leaders and conservative politicians opposed the honor because the Sisters satirize Catholic imagery — criticism Vance inflated into a tale of devil worship. 

Vance offered no evidence that Hamilton or his church contributed money directly to the Sisters or endorsed every PrideFest participant. He also claimed Hamilton considers being white and eating meat sinful. The Kansas Reflector reported that those accusations were assembled from old sermon excerpts stripped of context.

 Bear in mind that this is the same JD Vance who, during the 2024 election, helped Donald Trump spread the ugly lie that Haitian immigrants were kidnapping and eating people's pet dogs and cats. '

When confronted about this, Vance pretty much admitted that the story was a lie by saying:

“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do."

During the same time frame of him lying on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Hamilton, Vance also filmed a plea begging voters to give Trump and the Republicans "another chance" as the midterm elections approach. He did this due to the strong possibility that voters, fed up with Trump's incompetence, will give control of Congress to the Democrats.

With his lie, Vance is giving voters good reason not to be taken in by his ridiculous begging.

As for this voter, I have only one thing to say to Vance - Pretend that I am a couch and kiss my ass.

Those who know, know.

Former SC Moms for Liberty chapter chairs say they were told to stay silent when ally was jailed for child pornography

In South Carolina, nine former chapter chairs of Moms for Liberty cosigned a letter claiming the group has lost its way. One of their complaints has to do with how they were allegedly advised to stay silent when ally and former state legislator Robert (RJ) May was convicted of distributing child pornography.

In my state of South Carolina, infamous far right (and SPLC designated hate group) Moms for Liberty is having a massive membership problem.  One of the reasons seems to be that SC chapters were allegedly told to stay silent when an ally was sentenced to prison for distributing child pornography.

From The State:

Moms for Liberty, which started in 2021 in Florida amid the COVID pandemic, grew nationally and grew to 21 chapters around the Palmetto State. Chapters held events to talk about child safety when it came to technology and to hear from candidates for the state House. But frustration within the state, “internal disagreements,” a disillusionment with the national leadership, and alleged bullying by some chapters has taken place, those who left the organization say. Now only seven chapters in the state are listed on the group’s website and only three chapters with listed local leadership. 

 The State pointed out that in August, a group of nine former Moms for Liberty chapter leaders cosigned a letter claiming that the group "has lost its way." Part of the letter reads as follows: 

 “We are disappointed in the direction the national organization has taken in South Carolina,” the leadership team stated in a joint communication. The group identified several critical issues that led to this decision, including: 

Conflicts of Interest: Concerns regarding the intersection of organizational goals and private interest. 

Lack of Accountability: A perceived failure to enforce the organization’s own Code of Conduct, which these leaders helped establish to ensure ethical behavior and integrity. 

 The leadership team noted that they observed no consequences for behaviors that directly contravened the established standards of conduct intended to guide the organization’s decision-making and public presence. This departure follows a history of rigorous standards maintained by the South Carolina Legislative Committee, which required members to pledge themselves to the highest standards of ethical conduct, objectivity, and professional courtesy.

The State goes into great detail about internal pettiness and slights plague the organization. But what I feel is the most important part of the conflict has to do with former SC legislator and presently convicted sex offender Robert (RJ) May III. Before May got into trouble, he was an ally of Moms for Liberty and received the 2023 Legislator of the Year award from the group. 

From The Pink News: 

 During his time in office May was outspoken against gender-affirming care, trans inclusion in sports and drag performances, and was listed as a speaker at Mom’s for Liberty’s Reclaiming Education in America event in 2022. Many of his concerns about LGBTQ+ topics were cited in regards to child safety.

In January, May was convicted of distributing child pornography and sentenced to 17.5 years in prison. 

According to LGBTQNation in September of last year: 

(May) — an anti-LGBTQ+ politician who has accused drag queens and transgender people of harming kids — pleaded guilty . . .  to distributing child sex abuse material (CSAM) after first denying it, Newsweek reported — including images of adults sexually abusing seven-year-olds.  . . . May used the screen name “joebidennnn69” to exchange 265 different files of toddlers and young children involved in sex acts on the Kik social media network during spring 2024. Representing himself in court — despite not having a law degree — May had originally asked the judge to throw out the warrant used to search his home, laptop, and mobile devices, as well as evidence that he had flown to Colombia to film himself having sex with three underage girls.

According to the letter from the former Moms for Liberty chairs, how the group in general dealt with the controversy about May was a "breaking point."

For many of us, the breaking point was the RJ May scandal. Following the arrest and federal guilty plea of former Representative RJ May on charges of distributing child sexual abuse material, we expected absolute moral clarity. Instead, South Carolina leaders were instructed to remain silent. Protecting the organization’s image took precedence over speaking out against child exploitation.

The State goes also goes into more detail about this:

“We wanted to speak out and say like we’re not aligned with him. We’re just as shocked as you,” said Dawn Pierce, who previously led the now defunct Lexington County Moms for Liberty chapter. “They put out a very short, very short statement, and that’s it,” Pierce added about the national organization. 

 The national organization said it advised the local chapters not to engage on social media with people who were attacking the organization. 

“Moms For Liberty issued an unequivocal condemnation of RJ May and his atrocious actions,” a Moms for Liberty spokesperson said. “On social media, we observed that anti-Moms For Liberty trolls were trying to attack our South Carolina members and goad them into social media commentary. To protect our members, we asked that they not play into the hands of those bad actors and allow the organization’s statement to stand for itself.”

 The local chapters wanted to revoke the award given to May after his arrest and send a statement denouncing him. But they were encouraged not to say anything.

The situation in South Carolina wouldn't be the first time Moms for Liberty found itself embroiled in a sex scandal. In 2023, one of its founders, Bridget Ziegler and her husband (now former) GOP Florida state chair Christian Ziegler was involved in the middle of a huge scandal when Christian was accused of raping a woman with who he and his wife allegedly had a three -way consensual sexual relationship with in the past.

And then more details came out regarding the sexual habits of the Zieglers.

 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.’”

Elon Musk, Republicans relying on desperate AI anti-trans gambit instead of the economy to win midterm elections

Elon Musk (seen here saluting) and the Republican party are spending major dollars on AI anti-trans ads in hopes of distracting voters during the midterm election.

Two things are obviously clear on this day

The midterm elections are in full swing, and Republicans are freaked out at the thought of losing both the House and the Senate. This means they are going to lean in hard on the "transgender boogeyman" narrative in an attempt to get distract voters from their dismal governing.

From The 19th:

America PAC, Elon Musk’s super PAC supporting conservative candidates and causes, is churning out dozens of digital ads vilifying transgender people and criticizing Democratic candidates over their past support for trans rights in the hopes of driving Republicans out to the polls in November. 

 In less than a week, the group, initially created to support President Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection campaign, has released at least 38 social media ads claiming Democrats in competitive midterm Senate races would “put our daughters in danger” and prioritize a “radical trans agenda” if elected. Most of the group’s ads focus exclusively on trans people, according to a review of America PAC’s ads in the Meta and Google libraries. 

. . . The ads, which portray trans women as drag queens rather than as they are in day-to-day life, follow a recent pattern of AI-generated attack ads targeting Democratic candidates over their support for trans rights. It’s unclear whether these specific ads are AI-generated, but they fall in the uncanny valley of authenticity. At minimum, they present harmful stereotypes of trans women — that they are physically imposing and always wear overdone makeup — to an audience who may not have ever met a trans person.

 In an ad against Democrat Sherrod Brown in Ohio, an image of a crossing guard with a blowout and dark eyeshadow, implied to be a trans woman, looms in the background as a voiceover declares that Brown “gave the green light to the radical trans agenda” while in office. Brown was ousted from the Senate in 2024, losing reelection to Republican Bernie Moreno, and is attempting a comeback against Sen. Jon Husted.

Will it work? I hope I'm not jinxing anything when I say I don't think so. 

People are upset with Trump's inability (more like refusal) to better our economy or at the very least keep it from getting worse, his confusing war (don't you dare call it a war) with Iran, his preoccupation with ridiculous building projects, the killing of Americans by ICE, betrayals of Latino and other ethnic communities who supported him and are now seeing the TPS status of their relatives being revoked, and a multitude of various other scandals, failures and broken promises.  All of these situations are adding up to a figurative form of the lingchi torture (slow death by a thousand cuts) of Trump voters who believed his promises during the 2024 election.  

So, while the anti-trans ads described above are dangerous, they may also be seen as desperate attempts to distract voters from how Trump broke his promises and how the Republican party were more concerned about kissing his ass than providing decent governance.

Happy 20th anniversary! Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters celebrating two-decade milestone

On Sunday, this blog reached a milestone of 20 years in existence. I can barely believe it myself. This blog, which began as a way to publicize a book which I was self-publishing, took a life of its own and has lasted this long. 

And after 20 years, over 10,000 posts, over 10 million hits, national and international acclaim (including one GLAAD Media Award and seven nominations), I think I still have work to do.

To put it plainly, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters is an extension of my anger at how the anti-LGBTQ industry was poisoning our existence with lies they spread about us. 

You know what lies I am talking about:

 We are violent, 

we are constantly trying to have sex with kids,

 we are "recruiting" or "grooming" kids, 

we have a multitude of diseases, we have hundreds to thousands of encounters, 

we have no capacity to love, we hate and want to hurt Christians, 

we lead unhappy lives and will go to hell when we die. 

I can remember an America before Pete Buttigieg, 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' and gay marriages and it wasn't a pleasant place to be.

So many of us lived in rock solid or plexiglass closets even where we had to endure the constant possibility of violence which could kill us, ugly whispers which could be turned into vocal rumors threatening our employment and family relationships, and very vocal AIDS jokes which denigrated our dignity as we lay dying while government officials did very little about it.  LGBTQ people were fed a steady diet of reasons why we should hate ourselves and we had very little power to push back. To some, those awful situations I described still exist, but the difference is we have the power to push back and we do.

It's rather funny to contemplate all of this now that I am older, but back then when I was trying to navigate my way through college and young adulthood in the 1990s, it was a huge detriment to know that there were people out there judging me and throwing roadblocks in my life designed to maneuver me (and so many others) in directions self-hatred. And not because of anything I had done, but because they felt they were ordained by God Himself tell me what my life will entail. They were so determined to save my soul from the fires of hell when I died that they have no problem making my life a living hell while I'm alive

And they didn't have any problems telling lies to accomplish their goals. That's where my blog came in. When I was in college, I promised myself that I would do something about it. That "something" came over 10 years later.  The book I was trying to self-publish came and went as disasters generally do. 

But this blog has lasted. It has endured. For 20 years, I have attacked, called out, and brought receipts against just about every lie about LGBTQ people. I have called attention to the deliberate falsehoods, bad science, cherry-picked science, and basic bullshit that groups like the Family Research Council and people like the late James Dobson have thrown at us.  And I'm still doing it when it comes to the new haters like Donald Trump and Libs of Tiktok.

 I hope that folks who view this blog become empowered by what they read. I also hope that they use it as a historical and reference guide. Our community has come a long way since 2006. Some of it has been wonderful, some of it has been ugly and disappointing, but through it all, here we are. And while it may not seem so at times, we are in a much better place than we were in 2006.

I think my blog contributed to that. It's my legacy and contribution to LGBTQ people and our history. It's been a hell of a ride, but it ain't over yet. 

Not by a long shot. Thank you all for taking this journey with me.

Below what I wrote as the first post of Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters 20 years ago. It clarifies the goals of this blog for folks who remain curious:

There are a bunch of organizations in this country who thrive on ignorance, fear, and a sense of entitlement.

They refer to themselves as "pro family" and even members of the gay community regard them as the religious right


With all due respect, I don't see them as that. They are an anti-gay industry who seeks to gain political power by building on the religious beliefs and ignorance of people of faith. And they have been pretty successful.

Central to this success are their so-called studies on the gay community. In order to prove that gays and lesbians should not have any protection of laws, they have created a written and oral pattern of deception that is not only blatant in its attempts but shameful in its audacity. In their zeal to prove the worst about the gay community, the anti-gay industry runs roughshod over science and truth. They have created a houses of pseudo-scientific studies based on distortions, lies, headless monsters, and legitimate studies taken out of context, which are then pushed by fake experts, Ph.D.s, conservative columnists and bloggers, and ignorant people of faith all willing to sacrifice their integrity on the altar of an alleged higher calling.

We know the claims these studies make:

gays have a short life span
gays molest children at a higher level than heterosexuals
lesbians abuse their partners at a high level
gays are more violent and are prone to crimes
gays are promiscuous and cannot handle the concept of marriage.

For two years, I have studied the methodologies of so-called "pro family" groups (i.e. Focus on the Family, Concerned Women for America, the Traditional Values Coalition, etc) and am glad to say that their claims are rooted in lies, outright deceptions, and legitimate studies with portions cherry picked out.

In 2007, I will publish my book, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, detailing just what how the anti-gay industry propagandizes about the gay community. Through this blog, I will publish some of my findings and update everyone as to the progress of my book. I will update this blog on a weekly basis.

Now I must emphasis that I am not attacking anyone's religion. I respect a Christian's right to believe that homosexuality is an abomination. I also respect the right of the Boys Scouts of America to prohibit gays from serving as members. Of course, I also believe that if the organization had any integrity at all, it should refuse any form of public monies because some of this money is derived from gay sources via taxes. And isn't accepting money from those who you feel will not conform to your moral code just as bad as allowing them in your group.

But I digress.

What I am saying through my book and my blog is that distortions and lies in the name of God are still distortions and lies. And anyone who knowingly uses them and can still refer to themselves as a person of faith needs to examine themselves.

Six times anti-LGBTQ activists have been caught lying about drag queens and children

In 2022, anti-LGBTQ activist Seth Dillon claimed that this was a picture of a children being encouraged to tip a half-naked drag queen. The allegation was a lie.

Editor's note - This blog post is a portion of one I published last week. Someone requested that I make it into a blog post of its own and I thought that was a wonderful idea.

Attacks on drag queens have been a cause celebre for Republicans, the anti-LGBTQ industry, the far right, and conservative evangelicals for a number of years. They claim drag in itself is sexually explicit - even when it's merely drag queens reading children's books to kids - and that it's a plot by us to supposedly "groom" children to become LGBTQ. In the past, they've accused us of simply trying to "sexually recruit" children. Now they say we are playing Invasion of the Body Snatchers in that we are seeking to convert children by wrecking "their innocence."

 Also in the past, they simply accused us of "recruiting" children for sexual behavior and back then, it was just words in publications or accusations made in speeches and interviews. 

These days, social media has become their tools of bigoted storytelling. Memes playing upon people's hidden and unhidden prejudices have become their weapons. Lies backed by doctored photos and out-of-context videos spread at a rapid pace and poison the conversation before the truth comes out. By the time truth does in fact come out, it doesn't matter because the lie has become unkillable.

But there are times in which they get caught in their lies and have to pay a price. Sometimes they have to scamper back to their holes while licking their figurative wounds which come from heavy public ridicule. Other times - and I wish there were more of these times - they have to pay significant monetary penalties:

Six times anti-LGBTQ activists have been caught lying about drag queens and children

In two separate court cases, drag queens have won a settlement of $200,000 and a court judgement of $1.1 million after being falsely accused of being a sex offender, dancing lewd with children, or exposing themselves to children.

Drag queens will get $200,000 settlement and apology from lawmaker who falsely accused them of obscene behavior with children - In 2024, New Hampshire Republican lawmaker David Love paid a combined $200,000 to two drag queens to settle accusations that he defamed them by falsely calling one a sex offender and claiming the other danced with children in a sexual manner. 

Drag performer awarded $1.1 million judgement against blogger who falsely accused him of exposing himself to kids - Earlier that same year in Idaho, drag performer Eric Posey received a $1.1 million judgement against a far-right blogger after she falsely accused him of exposing himself to adults and children at a Pride event in June 2022. 

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A video posted by anti-LGBTQ activist Robby Starbuck allegedly showed a drag queen in Tennessee encouraging a little girl to stroke his crotch. The allegation wasn't even close to the truth.

Taken out-of-context video fuels ugly lie about drag queens 'grooming' children - In September 2022, a video from Tennessee allegedly showing a drag queen inviting a little girl to stroke his crotch went mega viral. But that wasn't the case at all. None of it was true. 

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Via a dishonest use of a screen block, anti-LGBTQ activists spread a lie that a drag queen exposed himself to children during a Drag Queen Story Hour event. And a lot of people on social media believed it.

BUSTED! Far right caught spreading false story that a drag queen exposed self to children - In June 2022, bigots altered a photo to spread a false claim that a drag queen exposed himself to children during a drag queen story hour event. 

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Conservative anti-LGBTQ activist Seth Dillon claimed that this was a picture of a child tipping a half-naked drag queen (top photo). This was a lie and the bottom photo shows that he was informed of this by those responding his tweet.

Babylon Bee editor Seth Dillon caught spreading false story about a child tipping a half-naked drag queen - In that same month in 2022, a far-right activist Seth Dillon, tried to spread a claim that a child was encouraged to tip a half-naked drag queen. Except there weren't any drag performers involved in the incident.

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Mass Resistance, an anti-LGBTQ hate group in Massachusetts, said during a Drag Queen Story Hour event, children were exposed to a lewd book about underwear. The book in question, 'What Color is Your Underwear,' is a children's book.

Hate group makes fool of itself with latest attack on Drag Queen Story Hour - In 2019, Massachusetts hate group Mass Resistance claimed that during a drag queen story hour event, children were being read a lewd book about underwear. This was a lie.

Drag is an art It is an old and very respected art. This is not to say that it's never lewd because sometimes it can be lewd or X-rated. But to automatically designate drag as lewd and to spin ridiculous conspiracy theories that LGBTQ people and our allies are using drag to somehow "groom" or outright sexually molest children is bigoted.  It's the latest way in which those who oppose our equality scapegoat us as the "dangerous other" out to wreck American society. 

With regards to the possibility of kids attending drag shows which are adult-oriented, it is in the hands of parents to make that judgement and also where the blame should lie if in fact the occasion may arise. Not drag queens.

But generally speaking, I have a question to all of the conservative evangelical, anti-LGBTQ activists, and the rest of that bunch who like to point the finger of accusation against drag queens:

Who has been arrested the most for molesting kids? Drag queens or the folks in YOUR ranks?

'SC Arts Commission demand that LGBTQ groups prove themselves 'worthy' of funding' & other Mon/Tue news briefs

Greenville Gay Men's Chorus - one of the two groups in the middle of a funding controversy with the SC Arts Commission. (taken from group's webpage)

South Carolina Pulls Funds From Just Two Out of 180 Arts Orgs: A Gay Men’s Chorus and an LGBTQ+ Theater Company​ - Do NOT let anyone fool you. This is all about discrimination against LGBTQ people. And as a taxpayer of South Carolina, I have a serious problem with what was done here. 

 For more details about this situation, check out the article below from The Post and Courier:

Arts leaders fear SC making LGBTQ+ arts groups re-prove merit for funding sets dangerous precedent - Basically, the SC Arts Commission is "questioning the artistic merit of these LGBTQ groups." It is demanding that these LGBTQ groups prove that they are deserving of funding. This is a request the Commission did NOT demand from other fund seekers.

In other news: 

Pete Hegseth’s crusade drove a transgender veteran from military service and into homelessness - Under Pete Hegseth, the military is withholding more than $66,000 from Chloe Shapiro, a transgender woman and a former member of the Army National Guard. Cruelty is definitely the point with the Trump Administration. 

Supreme Court will decide if preschools that decline children of same-sex couples may receive state funding - Pay attention to this case. The ability of religious entities to discriminate against LGBTQ people while grabbing tax dollars has finally coming to SCOTUS. With this court, nothing is for sure. But if we lose this, a hornet's nest of bullshit will be opened. 

LGBTQ+ adults are delaying getting healthcare for 2 alarming reasons - The two reasons may not shock you, but the usual culprit isn't one of them. 

New book examines Trump cuts to LGBTQ healthcare - "‘Aftershocks’ details impact of policy shifts on HIV response, broader public health"