Remember when Republican elected officials defended civil rights, free speech and private property rights?
So this convicted felon billionaire President* has "no problem" removing Pride flags from "private property?" Utterly unAmerican. In your guts, you know TRUMP is nuts.
“If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein." See West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943).In the midst of World War II, our Supreme Court reversed an erroneous decision that let Jehovah's Witnesses children be punished for refusing to salute the flag Let freedom ring. Freedom is speech is being violated as DJT celebrates cancellation of two (2) out of three (3) late night television hosts.
President* DONALD JOHN TRUMP is a fascist. I've said it before. After DJT incited January 6, 2021 insurrection riots attacking our U.S. Capitol Police and D.C. Metropolitan Police at our U.S. Capitol, I publicly said that DJT was a fascist at our St. Johns County Commission meeting, in non-agenda public comment. Silly superficial stiff-necked then County Commission Chair JEREMIAH RAY BLOCKER spitefully and sua sponte moved non-agenda public comment to the end of meetings, or any 'ole time. Krista Keating-Joseph defeated BLOCKER by some 175 votes. This same hick hack sad sack rejected a Pride Proclamation similar to those adopted by the cities of St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach. No reason given to the two ladies who requested it. Silence for months. No reason given for rejecting a Workers Memorial Day proclamation. No reason for rejecting a School Choice Proclamation.
For months, citizens wanting to speak in public comment were treated disdainfully, with non-agenda public comment times and duration unpredictable. What do you expect from a martinet?
Thanks to reform Commission Chair Krista Keating-Joseph, Commissioners Ann Taylor and Clay Murphy for restoring our free speech rights and for reversing the illegal, unconstitutional ukase by immature Florida National Guard Major BLOCKER.
Let freedom ring!
From The Washington Blade:
Trump would ‘have no problem’ removing Pride flags from private property in D.C.
President Donald Trump says he would “have no problem” with removing Pride flags from private property in D.C. as conservatives ramp up anti-transgender rhetoric
During a conversation with reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he would consider removing a “trans flag” flying on 14th Street, a major LGBTQ hub in D.C. that is home to many queer-owned businesses including bars, restaurants, and even a gay bathhouse.
The question came from Brian Glenn, White House correspondent for Real America’s Voice, a far-right media outlet, and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)’s boyfriend. Glenn referenced multiple Progress Pride flags waving just a mile from the White House.
Glenn framed his question by echoing right-wing pundits’ false claims about a supposed “violent” history of trans shooters. His comments came less than a week after conservative outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, incorrectly linked Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer to the trans community.
Since those stories were published, multiple LGBTQ organizations have condemned several media outlets for their coverage, criticizing how it contributed to inflaming anti-trans sentiment during an already dangerous time for trans people.
“A lot of people are very threatened by this flag. It means a lot of different negative things to people — violence,” Glenn said to the president.
“Well, I wouldn’t be,” Trump replied. “Then they’ll sue, and they’ll get freedom of speech stuff. So that’ll happen. But I would have no problem with it.”
Trump then pivoted to a brief rant about how burning the American flag should be illegal, despite it being a constitutionally protected act under the First Amendment. In the landmark 1989 Supreme Court case Texas v. Johnson, the justices ruled 5-4 that flag burning is a form of free speech.
The exchange came as Republican lawmakers continue to escalate their attacks on trans rights.
On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), Trump’s former White House physician, appeared on Newsmax and said this about trans people:
“We have to get them off the streets and we have to get them off the internet. We can’t let them communicate with each other. I’m all about free speech, but this is a virus, this is a cancer that’s spreading across this country that’s going to do great damage to normal, hard-working, law-abiding people.”
Delphine Luneau, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, condemned Jackson’s remarks.
“Trans people are part of the fabric of society and just trying to live our lives, and we don’t deserve to have self-serving politicians using us as a political punching bag in service to their political ambitions,” Luneau said in a statement to the Washington Blade. “Ronny Jackson, the man who was exposed for doling out amphetamines to White House staff like candy when he was Donald Trump’s physician, should keep his disgusting and malevolent thoughts about transgender people to himself. It is a dereliction of his duty as a public servant to spread hateful lies about us, especially as escalating anti-trans hate nationally puts people in harm’s way. Instead of bringing people together, this rhetoric serves simply to drive more hate and division. Texans deserve better.”
Ash Lazarus Orr, press relations manager for Advocates for Trans Equality — an organization formed from the merger of the National Center for Transgender Equality and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund — also condemned Trump’s remarks and the broader escalation of anti-trans rhetoric.
“Trump’s call to ban Pride flags is government censorship, plain and simple. Banning people from displaying a flag on their own property is a direct violation of free expression and an alarming attempt to silence LGBTQI+ voices,” said Orr.
“Censorship doesn’t stop with symbols. When leaders attack our flags, they send the message that trans people and our communities should be erased from public life. This kind of rhetoric fuels stigma, encourages harassment, and makes trans people less safe. We already live in a moment of rising anti-trans violence — we cannot afford political leaders adding fuel to the fire.
Trump isn’t offering solutions to real problems. Instead, he is targeting LGBTQI+ people to divide Americans and score political points. The Pride flag stands for love, resilience, and belonging. Trying to ban it reveals nothing but fear and intolerance.”
2 comments:
He doesn't care about LGBTQ, abortion, or religion... only appealing to a certain demographic with his speech and actions. A demographic with no respect for people who have certain lifestyles that differ from their own.
The Trump regime will do nothing for anyone. It's a phoney baloney bunch of people simply occupying seats and irritating people. This incompetent and fraudulent administration must go.
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