 2023 has been a very difficult year for LGBTQ plus people because the legal attacks have been the worst that I can remember. And you would think that each year things would get progressively better with regard to civil rights issues. But we've made so many steps backwards this year that it's almost unfathomable. The ACLU has mapped a total of 491 anti-LGBTQ plus bills in legislatures across the country, mostly anti-trans bills. And we're only in June, there's still half the year left to go. But these bigots are so unoriginal that they haven't even bothered to change their talking points. For example, look at the images that Matt juxtaposed here of Anita Bryant's and Marjorie Taylor Greene. It's literally the same style of bigotry, but in color. But I mean, if history really does repeat itself, then we all know what's probably next. If we were going to go on a crusade across the nation and try to do away with the homosexuals, then we certainly would have done it on June the 8th after one of the most overwhelming victories in the country. But we didn't. We tried to avoid it and went into a place called Northport, Virginia, and we're met with protest and all kinds of problems. But on a more serious note, one thing that we've always kind of had working in our favor is the U.S. Constitution, baby. And I know that it sounds corny, but I think it's true. As flawed as that document may be, I think that the 14th Amendment is very crucial. It's the most powerful tool that we have. I mean, the judiciary is where we fought and successfully won a lot, if not most, of our rights. I mean, marriage equality was not something that was codified by Congress. The Supreme Court said that bans on same-sex marriages are unconstitutional, and that's how we got that right. And I think that that's still mostly true to this day. And I say this because we got more victories that were delivered by the judiciary, including one from a right-wing judge that was appointed by Donald Trump that you wouldn't necessarily expect. So the Tennessee ban on drag that we just talked about a couple of weeks ago that was struck down by a judge appointed by Donald Trump, citing that it violates free speech. And as the Washington Post explains, in his ruling issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker wrote that the law violates First Amendment freedom of speech protections and was unconstitutionally vague and substantially overboard. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scrimetti said in a statement that he expects to appeal the ruling at the appropriate time. LGBTQ rights groups are taking the Tennessee ruling as a victory that could set the tone for legal challenges to drag bans nationwide. Attorney Bryce Timmons, one of the lawyers who represented the plaintiffs in this case, said he and his Donati law colleague, Melissa Stewart, are headed to Florida for a hearing on their court challenge to that state's drag ban. You love to see it. Now that drag ban in Tennessee was one of 26 introduced across the country. And these Republican lawmakers, let's be clear, are well aware that these bans, they violate the First Amendment because obviously, but what they're doing is they're throwing red meat to the base. And even if they know that they're going to get struck down, they're still taking this as a political win for their base. But hopefully this ruling will create a sort of domino effect where Republicans feel less emboldened and hopefully less inclined to target drag shows or at least limit the scope of these bans if they're planning to keep them on the books. But thankfully, our country has strong protections for freedom of speech and drag obviously is a form of speech because it is a form of art. So they're going to have a hard time getting these unconstitutional laws to stick, but odds are they're going to continue to push them because that's what they've decided to do this year. But the article mentioned how Florida is their next battleground, or at least the battleground for these attorneys here. And as many of you know, Ron DeSantis also signed an effective ban on drag shows that is already having a chilling effect on free speech since several pride parades have been canceled altogether. But when it comes to Florida's ban on gender-affirming care, something that we talked about a couple of weeks ago, we got another positive development there as well. As Axios reports, a federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a pair of Florida bans on gender-affirming care for youths while a legal challenge plays out, arguing that both are likely to be found unconstitutional. Four Florida families argued in their lawsuit that the bans violated the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause by singling out transminors and asked the court to freeze the bans while the lawsuit is reviewed. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkel said that most of Florida's bans represent a purposeful discrimination against transgenders. The law not only criminalized care for trans people under 18, but added restrictions for adults seeking care. While the injunction doesn't address the adult restrictions, lawyers for the plaintiffs are planning to ask the court to block them, said Simone Chris, director of the Transgender Rights Initiative at the Florida-based Southern Legal Council. That could mean adding an adult trans Floridian as a plaintiff in the suit. And I really hope that that is the case because trans adults in Florida, they are in a state of crisis and panic for good reason. But more on that in a moment. First of all, I want to comment on what is probably the best part about this story aside from the good news itself, and that is what the judge wrote about this piece of shit law. So he did not mince words, he ruthlessly shredded this piece of shit law, not his words, mine, by the way, but his criticism was extremely scathing. And this, in my opinion, just shows that our judiciary, it's like the only functioning part of government that we have left, it's still hanging on by a thread. But like when you see these types of judgments, you just, you can't not feel at least a little bit more hopeful. As Politico explains, quote, nothing could have motivated this remarkable intrusion into parental prerogatives other than opposition to transgender status itself, wrote Hinkle, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton. Hinkle also added that the statute and the rules were an exercise in politics, not good medicine. This is a politically fraught area. There has long been and still is substantial bigotry directed at transgender individuals. Common experience confirms this as does a Florida legislator's remarkable reference to transgender witnesses at a committee hearing as mutants and demons. And even when not based on bigotry, there are those who incorrectly, but sincerely believe that gender identity is not real, but instead just a choice. Again, that was a judge who wrote that. It's really nice to see, honestly, this judge knows what's up. He is plugged into the discourse and he saw this law for what it was, bigotry in its purest form. And for those of you unaware to what he was referring to when he pointed out the mutants and demon reference, he was explaining how Florida Republican Webster Barnaby literally called trans people demons and mutants. And it's not necessarily surprising to know that these fascist Republicans think about trans people this way. But what was surprising is that he bothered to apologize at least. I mean, he probably didn't mean it, but I guess it's better than nothing, right? Now, another really interesting element about this story is as Harvard Law's Alejandro Carbio points out, Florida could not provide evidence of a single resident who regretted transition. This is exactly why they have to fly Chloe Cole into every state. They don't have anyone else, let alone anyone who actually lives in Florida. Yeah, it's almost like they have no evidence and they also realize that their arguments are legally flimsy. So they're grasping at straws. And for those of you who don't know who Chloe Cole is, this is a so-called detransitioner who has decided to be a useful idiot for the Republican Party and she has been basically making the case for them as to why gender affirming care should be banned for minors. And they're using her as evidence that it's bad. Her testimony is doing this. And I'm sure that one day she's going to come to regret her decisions. But regardless, she's doing a lot of harm and that's what they're using. But under, you know, this judge's opinion, it's still not good enough. Now, obviously the fight in Florida is not over. But I hope that adults can at least sometime soon get temporary relief because Florida has put trans people in an impossible predicament to where they may have to lead their state soon. And they shouldn't have to do this, but that's where we're at, right? Ron DeSantis signed this ban into law and it caused a complete disruption for trans people across the state because nurse practitioners were banned from administering gender affirming care to trans adults. Now, the reason why that's so substantial is because 80% of trans adults get their care from nurse practitioners. So if you prohibit them from giving adults gender affirming care, you are effectively banning it for most adults in Florida. And that's what Ron DeSantis did. And trans adults still don't have relief. They're still wondering where they can get gender affirming care. Some of them have been on it for years, if not decades. But that was cut off like that because of Republican fascists in this state. Now, we're not going to get into this article, but I do want to highly recommend that you read Chris Walker's write-up in Truthout about the dozens of GoFundMe's from trans people in red states trying to escape. Not that long ago, I shared my friend Ashley's GoFundMe, and thankfully she has since raised enough funds to leave Florida. But there's still thousands of trans people that need to get out. But what people need to realize, and I can't not emphasize this enough, is that we are in a state of emergency for trans rights in this country and Florida is ground zero. And that is affecting trans people in substantial ways. And these stories are important. For example, ABC News explains Eli and Lucas, trans men who are a couple, followed the discussions in the legislature where Democrats warned that trans children would be more prone to suicide under a ban on gender affirming care for minors and Republicans responded with misplaced tales of mutilated kids. Eli said he and his partner felt blindsided when they discovered the bill contained language that would also disrupt their lives. Lucas, 26, lost his access to treatment when the Orlando Clinic that prescribed him hormone replacement therapy stopped providing gender affirming care altogether. The couple also worries about staying in a state that this year enacted several other bills targeting the LGBTQ plus community. My entire life is here. All my friends, my family, I just got a promotion at my job, which I'm probably not going to be able to keep. Lucas, who works in a financial aid office at a college, said, I'm losing everything except Eli and my pets moving out of here. So this was not a decision that I took lightly at all. Yeah, and I can't even imagine what they're going through. It's already difficult enough to be a gay couple in a red state, but when you are a gay trans couple, it just adds to the discrimination that you're feeling and the persecution that you're experiencing, both legally and socially. So they shouldn't have to worry about this, but here we are. And we often talk about how moving is very difficult. It requires capital, connections and resources. But what's also really important to note is that you shouldn't have to fucking move. Even if you are able to move, you shouldn't have to leave your home and your family and your job and start all over because fascists don't accept who you are. Americans should be free, regardless of what fucking state they live in, but that's not the reality of the situation. That's not the world that we currently live in, unfortunately. And as Republicans devolve further into an authoritarian fascistic organization, trans rights are the first rights to go. They're the first rights on the chopping block. But heed my words, it's not going to stop there. Your rights are next if you don't stand up for trans people. So this is something that all of us need to care about. When Americans are being persecuted and discriminated against, none of us are free, all of us are in jeopardy. So I absolutely feel so bad for everyone living in Florida currently, just everyone, but primarily trans adults. You as an adult should be able to make decisions about your healthcare. But the fact that that is being denied to you is not just cruel. It is a violation of your human rights and it has to be stopped and fought against vociferously. Every single person must be speaking out as loudly as they possibly can because this cannot stand. And I believe that it will not stand. But just the fact that you have to wait to get healthcare that you've been receiving for years is completely just unacceptable. Woke, mom, mom. Ke kano, ke kano, ke kano, ke kano, ke kano. Woke, mom, mom. Ke kano, ke kano, ke kano, ke kano, ke kano. Woke ideology. Woke ideology. Woke ideology. Woke ideology. Woke ideology. Woke task. Woke ideology. Woke Olympic. Woke ideology. Woke ideology. Woke ideology. Woke ideology. Woke ideology. Woke ideology. Woke ideology. Woke ideology. Woke ideology.