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A transgender-led national nonprofit, The Gender Research Advisory Council & Education (GRACE), has launched its first commercial seeking to change the minds of politically right-of-center Americans to support transgender rights.The sixty-second ad, “Dads,” features an interview with Eric Childs, an Operation Iraqi Freedom combat veteran from rural South Carolina, who is the father of four children — including a transgender teenager. In the ad, Childs expresses how much he loves and supports his 15-year-old son –- whose name is not being published to avoid harassment and threats.

President Biden’s State of the Union speech and enlisted actress Scarlet Johansson to lampoon US Sen. Katie Britt’s GOP rebuttal in its opening sketch.“I have the honor or serving the great people of Alabama,” said Johansson.“But tonight I’ll be auditioning for the part of scary mom, and I’ll be performing an original monologue called this country is hell.

January 18, 2024All federal workers, including employees of Congress, are eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. That’s the benefit Buttigieg took advantage of when his children developed medical complications.But the decision to do so, in 2021, just months after being confirmed as Secretary of Transportation, has drawn jeers and derision from conservatives, many of whom believe that fathers shouldn’t qualify for parental leave since they do not directly give birth — or, apparently, have any significant role in child-rearing, except when it’s politically convenient to champion “parental rights.”Luna, 34, who gave birth to a son in August, had initially planned to return to Congress soon after giving birth.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and former US Ambassador Nikki Haley restrained themselves when speaking on former President Donald Trump’s character during their debate Wednesday evening.Both candidates underscored their gripes about Trump’s behavior — but stopped short of a full-throated rebuke.The debate moderators took note of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s parting message in which he knocked his rivals for not taking the fight to Trump and asked for their perspective on the former president’s character.

A new study from the Media Research Center found that 81% of all political jokes told on major late-night comedy shows in 2023 targeted conservatives. The media watchdog analyzed each of the 9,518 political jokes told between six major daily late-night shows from January 3 through December 22, 2023, and found that 7,729 of them took aim at “someone or something on the right side of the political spectrum.”The shows analyzed were ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”, CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and “The Late Late Show with James Corden” (until its cancelation in April).MRC also put together a video of some of the “worst late-night moments of the year” to showcase several examples of late-night comedy’s bias against conservatives.

Some congressional Republicans are flaming mad about a proposed federal rule requiring child welfare agencies to place LGBTQ youths in foster environments “free of hostility, mistreatment, or abuse” that are based on the child’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression. As a result, these GOP members have introduced or sponsored legislation that would outlaw elements of the Department of Health and Human Services’ proposal. Photo: Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

initially flagged 374 books for removal from shelves for possible violations, eventually reducing that number to 64.Similarly, the Norwalk Community School District also issued a list of 64 books for removal. Mason City banned 20 books from its schools, using artificial intelligence to help determine which ones should be banned — resulting in some classic novels, like The Handmaid’s Tale and Beloved, being banned.Republican Gov.

Green Day changed its lyrics to take a shot at former President Trump and his followers.Playing the 2004 hit for “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” on ABC Sunday night, the band changed the lyrics of the second verse for the MAGA take down.Though lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong appeared to garble the lyrics, multiple outlets reported that he sang, “I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda,” instead of the original, “I’m not a part of the redneck agenda.”Either way, the words “MAGA agenda” could be clearly made out during the performance, which appeared to elicit cheers from the audience. The song was written as a protest of American culture in the post-9/11 era, with verses summing up the band’s discontent with the country. The original lyrics of the second verse state, “Well, maybe I’m the f——, America.

disgraced former Congressman George Santos, which is scheduled to air at 11 a.m. EST Monday on her YouTube channel.Fumudoh, 31, posted the minute-long trailer to X on Sunday with the caption, “I asked George Santos all the hard-hitting questions.”“Oh my god.

As Democrats look to regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives next year, one of the candidates that may help them do that is a gay former federal prosecutor. That candidate, 38-year-old Will Rollins, is again running against Republican incumbent Ken Calvert in California’s 41st Congressional District in Riverside County. Rollins narrowly lost to Calvert in 2022. Photo: Will Rollins for Congress

mounting a vigorous defense of himself during debate on the floor of the House.Santos, who faces 23 federal criminal charges, has claimed that the House Ethics Committee rushed its investigation into allegations against him, with the intent of reaching a predetermined conclusion that he was guilty of wrongdoing.Despite concerns from some lawmakers over the precedent that voting to expel a member who has not yet been convicted might set, and opposition from Republican House leadership, 105 Republicans — or almost half the caucus — voted with 206 Democrats to remove Santos from office.Those Republican members voting for expulsion were:On the other side of the aisle, only four Democrats voted against expelling Santos.Reps. Nikema Williams (Ga.) and Bobby Scott (Va.) voted against expelling the congressman, while Reps.

scathing report from the House Ethics Committee that found Santos had violated various ethical and campaign finance laws.That report, which has been made public, accuses the openly gay Republican lawmaker of deceiving donors into contributing to him, ostensibly to help pay for campaign expenses, only to use that money on personal expenses, including luxury clothing brands, Botox, spa treatments, and porn subscriptions.He also reported fictitious loans to political committees to encourage donors to continue contributing to him, and to convince Republican Party officials that he should qualify for special campaign funding.Following the report’s release, House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.) filed a resolution calling for Santos’s expulsion. But that resolution has not yet been filed as privileged, meaning that the Republican-led House could choose to delay a vote.Because Garcia and Goldman’s resolution is privileged, House leaders must schedule a vote on the matter within two legislative days, in this case by the end of Thursday.“The time has finally come to remove George Santos from Congress,” Garcia said in a statement.

pundits, for offenses — both real and imagined — often fixating on his sexual orientation. With respect to his travel habits, the Transportation Department announced in February it would audit Buttigieg’s use of FAA private jets.Buttigieg is believed to have taken 18 such flights since taking office, costing taxpayers around $42,000.

Donald Trump finally appeared at a Republican debate.While the real former president and current GOP frontrunner spent Saturday night taking in a UFC fight in Madison Square Garden, his “SNL” alter ego was gleefully belittling his Republican competitors and reminding viewers who’s top dog. The show kicked off with “SNL” depicting its own network’s Wednesday contest as the “kids’ table debate,” featuring Ego Nwodim as Vivek Ramaswamy, Heidi Gardner as Nikki Haley, John Higgins as Ron DeSantis, Molly Kearney as Chris Christie and Devon Walker as Sen. Tim Scott.

privileged resolution had cited Santos’s indictment on 23 criminal charges.It also cited the recent guilty plea by Nancy Marks to charges of falsifying campaign finance reports. Marks was the former treasurer for Santos’s congressional campaign.It also cited Santos’s history of fabrications — many to which he has admitted publicly — regarding his professional and personal background, including his heritage, his educational and work history, and his “history of misrepresenting his and his family’s connections to major events, including the Holocaust, Sept.

force a vote on expelling U.S. Rep.

The New York Times, Johnson, whom the newspaper called “the most important architect of the Electoral College objections,” crafted arguments alleging that certain states’ changes to voting procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic were unconstitutional. Therefore, he argued, the election results from those states should have been invalidated.On Tuesday night, after being nominated, a reporter tried to ask Johnson about his role in pushing to decertify the results of the 2020 election, only to be shouted down by members of the GOP caucus, who told the reporter to “shut up.”Johnson grinned slyly, shaking his head and refusing to answer.Politically, Johnson is a tried-and-true conservative, earning a lifetime rating of 92% from the American Conservative Union and 90% from Heritage Action.He has voted against a host of bipartisan bills, including a measure to establish a January 6 independent commission, and some of the Biden administration’s chief legislative accomplishments, including a national infrastructure funding bill, the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act.Earlier this year, Johnson voted in favor of raising the debt limit, but voted against a bill to avoid a government shutdown in early October.He has previously indicated, in a letter to colleagues shared to social media by U.S.

one-minute ad, by the right-wing American Principles Project — a “pro-family” political organization that has focused much of its political messaging on opposing LGBTQ rights — alleges that if Beshear wins re-election in November, non-affirming parents will soon lose custody of their children. In the ad, “Dinner Table,” a mother, father, and teenage girl are eating dinner when the teenager says, “Mom, Dad, I’m transgender. I think I might be a boy.”“Honey,” the mother says, “you know we love you no matter what, but, you’re a girl, so why would you say that?”A short-haired woman in a black blazer appears and interrupts her.“Whoa, whoa, whoa.

charging him with 23 counts of financial wrongdoing, fraud, and identity theft.Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, whose Long Island district borders Santos’s Queens and Long Island district, announced on the social website X that he would be introducing the resolution, calling his fellow Republican a “fraudster,” reports NBC News.D’Esposito told reporters he considers Santos a “stain” on the U.S.

Minneapolis Star-Tribune he lost a job calling bingo at the Mower County Fair in Austin, Minnesota, a gig he’s had for the past three years.He claimed it was due to the ongoing attempts to crack down on drag performances and displays of gender-nonconformity, which Republican politicians and conservatives have embraced in recent months. “It’s only been in the past year where I feel like every time Roxi goes to do something, I’m met with some sort of vocal backlash,” the 29-year-old said.

video, published by the conservative Family Policy Alliance, emerged of her telling an interviewer, back in March, that “protecting minor children from the transgender in this culture” should be among conservative lawmakers’ top priorities.In the video, Blackburn quickly shifts to speaking about KOSA as a way to stop children from being “indoctrinated,” blaming social media platforms for “inundating” minors with information that “they are, emotionally, not mature enough to handle.”The bill, which has been endorsed by President Joe Biden, would allow parents to sue social media companies and online platforms that do not sufficiently shield children from under 13 from “harmful” content.But Blackburn’s comments in the video, coming so soon after railing against transgender visibility, have led some LGBTQ advocates to fear that Republicans will attempt to hijack the bill to censor all LGBTQ-related information online and block access to LGBTQ resources, from suicide prevention hotlines to LGBTQ resource groups to academic sites with even generic information, by deeming them “harmful,” reports NBC News.In response to that speculation, Blackburn’s legislative director, Jamie Susskind, claimed in a post on X that opponents were conflating the two issues and spreading misinformation about the bill. Citing an article titled, “U.S.

Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, propelling a once-unknown songwriter from south-central Virginia onto the national stage. But he’s staying close to his roots.He opened his Rock the Block festival appearance by reading a Bible verse to the crowd of about 350 locals then said, “Despite what you’ve been reading on the Internet, this song still rings true,” and launched into his first song, “Ain’t Got a Dollar.”His life has changed since he first sang its lyric “I ain’t gotta dollar, But I don’t need a dime,” with his estimated earnings now as high as $40,000 a day.Then the crowd became his chorus when he sang his viral hit hit “Rich Men North of Richmond,” and when he invited anyone who wanted an autograph or photo after his four-tune set on the “Rock the Block” festival stage on Fourth Street, squeezed between the Railroad Club and First Baptist Church, he was mobbed.It was his second Farmville gig in four days.

Oliver Anthony, and I don’t approve this message. The man behind the No. 1 blue-collar anthem “Rich Men North of Richmond” shared his thoughts about his song being brought up in the Republican presidential debate on Wednesday.

A new study shows that nearly 40% of Florida residents have considered leaving the state since the passage of the “Don’t Say Gay” law, with local Republicans encouraging the law’s detractors to follow through on such plans. According to a new survey by the Williams Institute, an LGBTQ policy think tank at UCLA’s School of Law, half of the 40% considering leaving Florida claimed they “very much so” wished to leave the state.Overall, 11% of survey respondents said they would likely move within the next two years.

Associated Press.The new law, which prohibits access to hormone therapy, puberty-blocking drugs, and gender confirmation surgery although minors who had begun treatment prior to Aug. 1 may continue receiving puberty blockers or hormones if their doctors deem it medically necessary and their parents consent.

issued the injunction last month to block the state from enforcing its prohibitions on transgender females who seek to compete on female-designated sports teams while a lawsuit challenging those restrictions moves forward.Under the law, known as the Save Women’s Sports Act, transgender females are prohibited from competing on sex-segregated sports teams that align with their gender identity, and cisgender students who believe they lost out on athletic opportunities due to the presence of a transgender athlete can sue for damages.The law also allows for female athletes — both transgender and cisgender, particularly if a cisgender athlete does not conform to traditional stereotypes of femininity — to be subjected to genetic testing to “prove” their gender identity matches assigned sex at birth.But Zipps found that the law is “overly broad” and may be unconstitutional, violating not only female athletes’ right to equal protection, but Title IX, the federal law that bars discrimination based on sex in educational settings. As such, allowing the policy to be enforced before a final decision on the law’s constitutionality was reached would “irreparably harm” the transgender plaintiffs.Zipps also found that there was not sufficient evidence to prove that pre-pubertal athletes assigned male at birth hold a significant physiological or competitive advantage over cisgender females, as they have not yet developed secondary sex characteristics.

Bob DiBuono is getting more gigs now that the former president is out of office — and claims business has doubled since he announced his 2024 run.“People miss him and people want him back so badly that when he wasn’t in the public eye, it was like, ‘Get Bob DiBuono to show up,'” the standup comedian told The Post. The Clifton, New Jersey, resident gets hired for corporate events, private parties, and Republican fundraisers — and said he does as many as three a week.“I could be at a Hasidic event in Brooklyn one night and then I’m in Long Island the next night for a bunch of blue-collar guys that love him,” DiBuono, 47, said.

letter — a rambling, unfocused missive that allows the attorneys to vent their spleen at Target for embracing and celebrating LGBTQ consumers — accuses Target of violating laws meant to “protect children from harmful content meant to sexualize them and prohibit gender transitions of children.”“As Attorneys General committed to enforcing our States’ child-protection and parental-rights laws and our States’ economic interests as Target shareholders, we are concerned by recent events involving the company’s ‘Pride’ campaign,” the attorneys general wrote in the letter.“Our concerns entail the company’s promotion and sale of potentially harmful products to minors, related potential interference with parental authority in matters of sex and gender identity, and possible violation of fiduciary duties by the company’s directors and officers,” the letter continues.The letter further alleges that putting up Pride displays in stores may violate child protection laws penalizing the “sale or distribution” of “obscene matter.”The letter accuses LGBTQ activists of using Target to advance their own agenda of “exposing Target’s valuable customer base, which include families with young children across the country, to ‘LGBTQIA+’ concepts and values.”The letter lists a litany of offending merchandise that social conservatives were outraged by, such as Pride- or rainbow-themed T-shirts and clothing for children, a “tuck-friendly” swimsuit sold in adult sizes, and an adult-sized T-shirt with the drag queen Katya on it.Even though the latter two items were not marketed toward children nor sold in children’s sizes, the letter deliberately misstates facts and alleges that such products will encourage kids to become transgender.The attorneys then

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, vetoed three anti-LGBTQ+ bills Wednesday in defiance of veto-proof Republican majorities in the state legislature. Photo: North Carolina Governor’s Office.

statement announcing his veto of the bills, Cooper accused Republicans of “scheming for the next election” by “hurting vulnerable children” and pushing “political culture wars.”He likened the measures to the state’s infamous HB 2 “bathroom bill” restricting transgender access to certain public multi-user facilities, which passed in 2016 and led to a large-scale economic backlash against the state.“A doctor’s office is no place for politicians, and North Carolina should continue to let parents and medical professionals make decisions about the best way to offer gender care for their children,” Cooper said of the restrictions on gender-affirming care, which prohibit rarely-recommended surgical procedures, hormone therapy, and puberty blockers, as well as mental health therapy that affirms a trans-identifying youth’s gender identity.“Ordering doctors to stop following approved medical protocols sets a troubling precedent and is dangerous for vulnerable youth and their mental health,” Cooper added.

sued to block the law, arguing that it violated transgender people’s right to equal protection, parents’ rights to make appropriate medical decisions for their children and doctors’ free speech rights. They also asked for an injunction to block Arkansas officials from attempting to enforce the ban on transition-related care.In an 80-page ruling, U.S.

A sitting U.S. senator has been censured by his own party for supporting a pro-marriage equality bill.Delegates of the North Carolina Republican Party voted overwhelmingly, by a 799-361 margin, to reprimand U.S.

One of the chief things for which televangelist Pat Robertson will be remembered is his long record of anti-LGBTQ+ statements.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg slammed Republicans over their repeated attacks against the LGBTQ community, claiming that conservative politicians are seeking to exploit populist anger over culture-war issues in order to distract from the more unpopular parts of their party’s platform.Speaking to MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing during an on-air interview on Tuesday, Buttigieg offered an explanation for what appears to be an onslaught of attacks targeting the LGBTQ community or displays of LGBTQ visibility.“I think it’s being done out of the perception that it is politically convenient to target vulnerable groups,” Buttigieg said of the GOP attacks, which take the form of both screeds by anti-LGBTQ pundits and legislation seeking to restrict LGBTQ rights or censor expressions of LGBTQ identity.In the past six months, more than 75 anti-LGBTQ bills have been signed into law in more than 20 states, prompting theHuman Rights Campaign to declare a national state of emergency for LGBTQ Americans.

a ban on transgender athletes last year.The most prominent of the bills is a measure to ban transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming treatments meant to treat gender dysphoria, including puberty blockers, hormones, or surgical interventions, the latter of which are rarely performed on minors.The ban on gender-affirming care appeared to be dead last month after Sen. Fred Mills (R-New Iberia, the chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, voted with Democrats to reject the bill when it came before the committee.  Mills said that his decision had been heavily influenced by a 2022 Louisiana Health Department study on gender-affirming health care.It found that no gender-affirming surgical procedures had been performed on any minors enrolled in Medicaid in the state between 2017 and 2021, and that hormone and puberty blockers were rarely prescribed to transgender-identifying minors in Louisiana during that same period. National conservative pundits — who have deemed opposition to LGBTQ visibility, transgender rights, and “wokeness” as essential to their party’s brand — were outraged at Mills’ defection, and promised political retribution.Mills’ fellow Republicans caved to pressure from those voices to revive the bill.Senators then used a rare procedural maneuver to recommit the bill to a different committee, allowing it to pass on a 29-10 vote, reports the Associated Press.The bill now heads back to the House, which previously overwhelmingly approved the ban on gender-affirming care.

slammed by LGBTQ advocates as one of the worst bills targeting the transgender community, in part due to its provisions that extend well beyond the realm of transgender health care.In addition to banning gender-affirming medical care for minors, it restricts what bathrooms students may use in schools, limits the scope of sex education to exclude LGBTQ-related topics or information on sexually transmitted diseases, and allows school administrators, employees, and students to misgender trans-identifying minors. None of those other provisions have been challenged in court. The plaintiff families sued last month, alleging the law’s provisions barring transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming treatments infringe on their parents’ right to autonomy in terms of how they choose to raise and make medical decisions for their children and on the youths’ right to equal protection under the law.Corey Shapiro, the legal director for the ACLU of Kentucky, said in a statement that the families “should be able to begin or continue essential medical care” for their children, arguing that the law is an egregious form of government overreach into personal family decisions.They also argue that it is inconsistent with leading medical organizations’ recommendations for treating children suffering from gender dysphoria.“Banning medically necessary care for trans youth is not supported by science or reputable major medical organizations,” Shapiro said.