Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Bernie Sanders joined a huge crowd of Democrats in protest of the president’s refugee and travel bans.
It’s on: Major West Coast LGBT protest planned to coincide with National Pride March
California is losing its chill — another major protest against Trump is on its way. The demonstration is being planned to coincide with Los Angeles Pride and the National Pride March in Washington D.C., so mark your calendar for June 11 and prepare to get loud.
At the rate things are going, Donald Trump’s presidency will go down as the dawn of a new era of resistance. On January 21, three times as many protesters showed up for the Women’s March in Washington compared to Trump’s inauguration the day before. Add in the numerous “sister marches” across the country and the world, and the number of Women’s March participants rises to the millions. In downtown Los Angeles alone, organizers estimated that 750,000 people took to the streets.
A major message of the day’s events was resilience.
When political activist, author and scholar Angela Davis took the stage to address the D.C. Women’s March, she said with unwavering determination:
“The next 1,459 days of the Trump administration will be 1,459 days of resistance: resistance on the ground, resistance in the classrooms, resistance on the job, resistance in our art and in our music.”
These were not idle words.
Last week we reported that activists on the East Coast, inspired by the Women’s March, are planning a “mass” LGBT demonstration in Washington D.C. to fall on Pride weekend. It was only a matter of time for the idea to fan out.
“I was seeing all the excitement around what was going on in Washington D.C. regarding their Gay Pride efforts,” activist and L.A. Police and Fire pension commissioner, and one of the California event’s organizers, Brian Pendleton told Queerty. “And coming off of what the Women’s March did around the country, it seemed like a natural fit.”
Pendleton created a Facebook page proposing that this year’s L.A. Pride parade be turned into a political march. “Floats and marching bands are nice when we are not at war. Now is the time we shake things up and take to the streets,” he wrote. In 24 hours, the event received over 20K positive responses in the form of RSVPs or people marking “interested.”
Support was echoed in many of the comments. “I’ve never attended a protest, but I will be attending this one,” wrote Bree Orozco. Sung Tse said “It’s my kid’s 18th bday! What an amazing way to celebrate!”
“We hope hundreds of thousands of people show up, with this idea of resisting,” Pendleton told Queerty. “We want to resist apathy. We want to resist having our rights rolled back by an unenlightened administration. And we want to be all-inclusive. We want to make sure that it’s everyone in the rainbow spectrum out there being represented.”
Pendleton and his fellow activists are in talks with Christopher Street West, the organizer of LA.’s annual Pride, as well as the City of West Hollywood, to get the one-time format change from parade to protest. And while he suggested to us that not everyone was immediately on board with the plan, “the good news is everyone’s at the table, and we’re all working together.”
ACLU: Trump Administration Not Complying With Judge's Immigration Order (Video)
The director of the Immigrants Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, Lee Gelernt, says President Trump “has to comply with the Constitution,” and says the government is not.
In the last seven days, Trump has signed an executive order to begin dismantling the Affordable Care Act, green-lit the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline projects, signed several executive orders on immigration to begin constructing the #WallofHate, argued with the Pope, ordered a communications blackout at multiple government agencies, banned Muslims from entering the country, launched attacks against several media outlets, and called Madonna “disgusting,” among other things. And we still have another 3 years, 11 months, 2 weeks, and 6 days to go!
To help get you through this difficult time, we’ve scoured the internet for the best memes that help illustrate Mr. Trump’s first week as POTUS. Scroll down for the story…
The church should not “adapt its doctrine to the fashions of any particular time”, said Graham James, the bishop of Norwich, at a press conference to present the report.
However, church law and guidance should be interpreted to provide “maximum freedom” for gay and lesbian people without a change of doctrine – meaning clergy will have some leeway in individual cases – the report said. “Maximum freedom has no definition but it’s part of this exploration we’re engaged in,” said James.
While calling for a “fresh tone and culture of welcome and support” for lesbians and gays, the report offered no concrete change.
LGBT activists within the church protested the move and warned that it risked alienating itself further from clergy and parishioners who have called for greater flexibility on matters of sexuality and who have already rebelled against its slow-moving ways.
However, the church claimed that such acts were isolated and that it had reached a broad consensus, even if not a unanimous one, and attempted to deflect criticism by suggesting this was not a final decision but merely the latest one. But prominent campaigners dissatisfied by this procrastination have termed it a “failure of leadership.”
White House Staying Mum on Rumors of Anti-LGBT Exec Order
Trump may rescind Obama’s nondiscrimination order covering federal contractors or issue an anti-LGBT one, but the press secretary won’t confirm anything yet.
Everyone’s journey on this planet is a little different then the next person; our struggles are unique. One thing I do know at the age of 42 is that the struggle is worth it. Every day I live with a genuine disconnect between my biological gender and the gender that I know I truly am. But in that struggle I find reasons to smile each day and to try to bring some joy into the lives of others around me. In the virtual world of Second Life I have been Evangeline Ling for almost 10 years now. Second Life has been a source of therapy and healing in my life and while it may not be the real transition that ideally I would want, it has provided me with a way of giving a semblance of humanity to my inner beauty. If by any chance you are reading this right now and you are struggling in your own way, know that although your struggle is unique you are not alone. And my message after 42 years is that it does get better. You too will find a path to the happiness that you want, albeit not without challenges. NEVER give up and don’t listen to the negative voices yelling in the darkness; they simply come from a place of misunderstanding often not even intended. Rather listen to the more powerful voice of beauty and goodness contained within you and within those who want nothing more then to lift you up and walk with you.
Peace <3
Evangeline Ling
(Second Life Avatar with a real heart with real struggles behind it)