Most days in my depraved, transsexual lifestyle start the same: I wake up at 5:15 a.m. to pet my cat, have some coffee, and journal a little before I get out the door. Meanwhile, Republicans are warming up for their bigger goals. If they can wipe away two decades of progress for trans people in a few short months, they’ll have playbook for overturning gay marriage by the end of the year.
14th Amendment
How Bathroom Bans on Federal Property Would Impact Trans Americans
A proposed bill in Congress would ban trans people from bathrooms in museums, national parks and other federal property. How would it be enforced, and what are the consequences?
Where Florida Went, The Nation Is About to Follow
Goodbye to America defining itself as a Beacon of Hope, the Light of Freedom, or any of that other stuff they told you in 3rd grade: the rule of law, checks and balances, free speech, science-based health care, and son on: we saw it all in Florida. It was just prelude.
Florida’s Abortion Rights and Recreational Pot Amendments Fail
A ballot proposal that would have enshrined abortion rights in the Florida Constitution failed Tuesday, giving a major political victory to Gov. Ron DeSantis — and dealing a huge blow to abortion-rights supporters. A $150 million-plus effort to allow recreational use of marijuana in Florida fizzled out.
Behind the Desperate Attempt to Defeat Abortion-Rights Amendment: GOP’s Contempt for Women’s Autonomy
DeSantis knows the majority of Floridians — like the majority of Americans — support a woman’s right to choose whether to have a baby, and he’s so scared Amendment 4 will pass he’s resorting to using every dirty trick in the patriarchal book to stop it. Like Donald Trump, he despises women, for whose right to determine what happens with their own bodies is nothing short of obsessive.
Florida’s Write-In ‘Loophole’ Disenfranchised 2 Million Voters in August. Why Aren’t Lawmakers Fixing It?
Florida has just had party primaries in which an estimated 2 million eligible residents were barred from voting in some state and local races by an indefensible little gimmick commonly known as the “write-in loophole.” It’s a legal fiction both parties refuse to fix because, every now and then, it comes in handy for them.
Property Owners Opposed to Public’s ‘Customary Use’ Of Beach Appeal Ruling in Case with Implications for Flagler
Property owners are challenging a ruling by U.S. District Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington that said the town had adequately shown a history of “customary use” by the public of parts of the beach that are privately owned, to let the public keep using those beaches.
The GOP’s Romance with Misogyny
That was Donald Trump watching the Democratic National Convention, wheezing in impotent rage at those uppity, nasty women, and all those people determined to elect Kamala Harris. The Party of Misogyny (you know them as Republicans) simply cannot process the possibility a woman, a chick, a human with a vajayjay! might become the most powerful person on the planet.
Appeals Court Stays Judge’s Injunction, Allowing Florida to Restrict Treatment for Transgender for Now
A federal appeals court has at least temporarily allowed Florida to move forward with restrictions on treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender people. A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday issued a stay of a ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle that blocked the restrictions. The stay effectively means the restrictions can take effect while the appeals court considers an underlying appeal of Hinkle’s decision.
Florida’s Teachers Unions Urge Judge to Side with Transgender Teacher Over State’s Pronoun Dogma
Accusing Florida of “dangerous political theater,” state and national teachers unions have urged an appeals court to side with a transgender Hillsborough County teacher who challenged a law requiring educators to use pronouns that align with their sex assigned at birth. The unions filed a 47-page brief arguing that the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should uphold a district judge’s decision that the law violated the First Amendment rights of teacher Katie Wood.
Florida Officials Want Supreme Court to Approve a Manipulated ‘Impact Statement’ on Abortion Amendment
Lawyers for Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and House Speaker Paul Renner on Friday urged the Florida Supreme Court to reject an attempt to invalidate a revised “financial impact statement” that would appear on the November ballot with a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights. A state panel made controversial changes to the financial impact statement, which Floridians Protecting Freedom–leading efforts to pass the constitutional amendment–wants invalidated.
Abortion Rights Bus Tours Florida Ahead of Convention
The national abortion rights advocacy group Free & Just brought its “Ride to Decide” bus tour to the Sunshine State this week, making appearances in Miami, Orlando, and Tampa. The bus tour kicked off in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention last month and is hitting states up and down the East Coast and South for the next few weeks before concluding at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later in August.
Florida and 3 States Scramble to Avoid Enforcement of Federal Rule Prohibiting Gender Discrimination
Hours after a U.S. district judge ruled against them, Florida and three other states late Tuesday asked an appeals court to temporarily halt a new federal rule about sex-based discrimination in education programs. The states have prevented transgender students from using school bathrooms that don’t match their sex assigned at birth and blocked or restricted treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for people with gender dysphoria.
To Neutralize Write-In Fraud, Switch to Republican: An Open Letter to My Flagler County Neighbors
Jake Scully, a lifelong Democrat until this summer, says the only way to get around the fraud of two-write-in candidates closing two County Commission races to almost 50,000 voters is to switch to Republican before the July 22 deadline.
2 Parents Suing Over Book Bans in St. Johns Schools Tell Flagler Freedom to Read Activists: ‘Be Loud and Proud’
Nancy Tray and Anne Watts, parents suing in federal court over book bans in St. Johns County, were guests today of the weekly meeting in Palm Coast of the Atlantic Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, a non-profit Chaired by Rabbi Merrill Shapiro. The group took stock of the state of book bans in the two counties and the state, how to counter them, and what to expect next.
Judge Blocks Biden Rule Preventing Gender-Identity Discrimination in Florida
The rule, which was scheduled to take effect Friday, is designed to help carry out a federal law that prevents discrimination in health-care programs that receive federal money. The law prevents discrimination based on “sex,” and the rule would apply that to include discrimination based on gender identity.
Banning Asylum Is No Way to an Immigration Fix
Under both U.S. and international law, anyone fleeing persecution in another country has a right to request asylum and have their claim assessed. But both the Trump and Biden administrations have dramatically undermined these protections. Most recently, Biden’s executive order and accompanying federal rule on “Securing the Border” — which effectively closed the U.S.-Mexico border this June — all but suspended the right to asylum altogether.
The Broader Strategy to Push Out Homeless People
Advocates for unhoused people argue anti-camping laws targeting the homeless effectively make homelessness a crime. Depending on its ruling, the Supreme Court could intensify cities’ efforts to treat the unhoused as criminals.
Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Access to Abortion Pill Without Foreclosing on a Future Challenge
Thursday’s ruling means that mifepristone will continue to remain widely available in the United States, where it is used in over 60% of abortions by health care providers. The decision, however, does not necessarily foreclose another challenge to the FDA’s actions. Three states with Republican attorneys general – Idaho, Missouri, and Kansas – joined the dispute in the lower court earlier this year.
Federal Judge Stops Florida’s Law Banning or Restricting Transgender Care, Calling It Discriminatory
A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that a 2023 Florida law and regulations prohibiting the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy to treat children for gender dysphoria and making it harder for trans adults to access care are unconstitutionally discriminatory and were motivated by “animus” toward transgender people.
In Florida and Elsewhere, New GOP Rules Hostile to Voter Registration Threaten Fines and Criminal Penalties
Republican lawmakers in Florida , Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, and Texas have enacted a variety of voter registration laws over the past four years. The measures add new requirements around registering and communicating with voters and threaten hefty penalties for violations. The stated goal of the new laws is to prevent fraud, but in the absence of any evidence of more than very rare fraud some voting rights groups contend their real purpose is to dampen participation by likely Democratic voters.
Judge Rules Unconstitutional Part of Florida Law Forbidding Non-Citizens from Gathering Petitions
A federal judge Wednesday issued a final decision blocking part of a 2023 Florida elections law that placed new restrictions on voter-registration groups, including preventing non-U.S. citizens from “collecting or handling” registration applications.
Bacardi Jackson , New Florida ACLU Leader, Points to ‘Urgency of Now’ at ‘Deeply Disturbing’ Juncture
Bacardi Jackson, a veteran litigator seeped in civil-rights advocacy, took the leadership of of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida on Monday amid a growing number of challenges to laws passed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Jackson views her new position as an opening to spur action at a critical juncture in the history of the state and the nation.
Florida Law Restricting Property Ownership By Nationals of 7 Countries Draws 2nd Discrimination Lawsuit
Almost exactly a year after Florida lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a measure to restrict property ownership by people from China and six other countries, housing and real-estate groups Monday filed a federal lawsuit alleging it is discriminatory. The lawsuit, filed in Miami, contends that the law violates the federal Fair Housing Act and part of the Florida Constitution.
Florida Joins GOP Lawsuit to Kill Federal Protections for Transgender Students
Republican State Attorney General Ashley Moody has enlisted Florida in multi-state litigation challenging new Biden administration regulations protecting transgender people from discrimination in schools, colleges, and universities.
Florida’s 6-Week Abortion ban Goes in Effect Wednesday. Here’s What It Means for Patients and the South.
More than 25,000 women traveled to Florida for an abortion over the past five years, most from states like Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi with little or no access to abortion. Hundreds traveled from as far as Texas. Starting on May 1, Florida’s 6-week ban goes in effect. The ban could be short-lived if 60% of Florida voters in November approve a constitutional amendment adding the right to an abortion.
Brendan Depa’s Sentence: Neither Vengeance Nor Mercy. Only Humane Justice.
On May 1 Circuit Judge Terence Perkins will sentence Brendan Depa on a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. The punishment will be nowhere near that: the sentencing guidelines don’t call for it, the incident doesn’t warrant it, and Perkins is not a hanging judge. The question is whether he will impose any prison time, and whether reason and justice, not mercy or vengeance, will prevail.
St. Johns County Among 3 Finalists for Site of Florida Museum of Black History
A committee on Friday narrowed down options for the site of a Florida Museum of Black History, selecting as finalists St. Johns County, Eatonville in Orange County and Opa-locka in Miami-Dade County.
The Flood of anti-LGBTQ+ Laws Shadowing Nex Benedict’s Suicide
Nex Benedict’s death is shadowed by the sentiment and ideology behind a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ laws sweeping the country. In 2024 alone, various state legislatures have introduced almost 500 such bills, many of which target LGBTQ+ youth in schools. Some of these bills restrict which restrooms transgender students can use and which sports teams they can join. Others censor the information that all students receive at school about sexual orientation and gender identity.
DeSantis and Surgeon General Turn Fentanyl Bill-Signing Into Attack on Transgender Athletes
Just moments after the governor said that he would sign two bills, one promoting opioid antagonists to prevent deaths from overdose and another boosting penalties for recklessly exposing first responders to fentanyl, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo opened fire on athletic competitions that pit transgender women and girls against those who are biologically female.
DeSantis Lashes Out at Pot Freedom and Abortion-Rights Amendments
Gov. Ron DeSantis lashed out at two proposed constitutional amendments that will appear on the November ballot, three days after the Florida Supreme Court signed off on the measures.
6-Week Ban and Abortion-Rights Measure on November Ballot Could Boost Florida Democrats
Following a pair of blockbuster decisions by the Florida Supreme Court, Democrats are galvanizing around abortion as a “front and center” issue that they say could affect races up and down the ballot in November. Focus on the abortion issue exploded shortly after the Supreme Court overturned decades of precedent and triggered a 2023 law preventing abortions after six weeks. Critics maintain that the six-week restriction, which will take effect next month, amounts to a virtual ban on abortions.
You May Not Have An Abortion Past 6 Weeks in Florida. You May Vote To Restore Abortion Rights in November.
The Florida Supreme Court released two blockbuster rulings on abortion rights on Monday — one that within a few weeks will allow a ban on the procedure after six weeks’ gestation to take effect, and another allowing the voters to decide in November whether to amend the Florida Constitution to protect access to the procedure.
Florida Is Blatantly Mixing Church and State in So-Called ‘Pregnancy Crisis Centers’
Planned Parenthood says Crisis Pregnancy Centers are “run by anti-abortion activists who have a shady, harmful agenda: to scare, shame, or pressure you out of getting an abortion, and to tell lies about abortion, birth control, and sexual health.”
They/Them vs. Him/Her: A Federal Judge Will Decide Legality of Florida’s Ban on Pronoun Freedom
A federal judge on Friday heard arguments in a court battle over a law restricting educators’ use of personal pronouns and titles in schools, in one of a series of challenges to Florida policies targeting LGBTQ people. The challenge alleges the law violates the teachers’ First Amendment rights and runs afoul of a federal civil-rights law.
Wrongfully Arrested Migrant To Be Freed on Immigration Bond as Civil Rights Suit Is Filed Against St. Johns Sheriff
Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, the Guatemalan migrant who had been wrongfully arrested outside his motel in St. Johns County last May and charged with manslaughter after the sudden death by heart attack of his arresting deputy, is to be released from federal custody on an immigration bond this week. On Tuesday, one of his attorneys filed an amended federal lawsuit accusing St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick of violating Mendez’s civil rights.
To An Increasingly Hysterical Right, Women and Their Bodies Are a Danger To the Republic
What’s America’s biggest problem? Not catastrophic climate change; not income inequality; not systemic racism. It’s women. OK, also communists. They’re everywhere, but the Florida Legislature means to nip that in the bud. But even the threat of a worker’s revolt pales in comparison to the Woman Problem. To the increasingly hysterical Right, women — and their unruly bodies — are a danger to the Republic.
Federal Appeals Court Stops DeSantis’s ‘Stop Woke’ Restrictions on Workplace Training Against Bigotry
The workplace-training part of the law listed eight race-related concepts and said that a required training program or other activity that “espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels such individual (an employee) to believe any of the following concepts constitutes discrimination based on race, color, sex, or national origin.”
Texas Prosecutor Disciplined for Allowing Murder Charge Against Woman who Self-Managed an Abortion
The State Bar of Texas has fined and suspended Starr County’s district attorney for pursuing a murder indictment against 26-year-old woman after she self-managed an abortion.
State Attorney Dismisses Charges Against Virgilio Mendez, 18, Migrant Accused of Manslaughter in Deputy’s Death
The State Attorney’s Office today dropped the charges against Virgilio Mendez, the 18-year-old migrant arrested last May in St. Augustine over a dubious encounter with sheriff’s deputies prompted by nothing apparent, then charged with aggravated manslaughter in the death of one of the deputies, who had died of a heart attack the medical examiner ruled was of natural causes from heart disease. The charges drew widespread public outrage.
Florida House Passes Ban on Homeless Sleeping In Public Despite Added Burdens to Local Governments
The Florida House on Friday approved a controversial proposal that would prevent homeless people from sleeping in public, despite concerns about increased costs for local governments. The Republican-controlled House voted 82-26 along almost-straight party lines to pass the bill (HB 1365), which is backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. It also would make it easier for residents and business owners to challenge local officials over how homelessness is addressed.
The Controversial Concept of ‘Fetal Personhood’ Is Creeping Up on Florida
If fetuses have legal personhood, abortion-rights activists argue it would infringe the rights of pregnant women and have serious implications for medical procedures like in vitro fertilization and the treatment of ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages. For all practical matters, the Florida Constitution is silent on the issue of fetal personhood, despite Chief Justice Muniz’s suggestion that fetal personhood rights might already exist.
Federal Judge Ends Challenges to Florida’s Election Law Targeting Black Voters
Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued a 17-page order after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year overturned a ruling in which he found the law improperly discriminated against Black voters. Walker appeared to criticize the appeals court for “reweighing” facts in the case.
Some Florida Justices Skeptical About State’s Attempt to Keep Abortion Rights Amendment Off the Ballot
Some justices questioned how far the court can go to prevent initiatives from being placed on the ballot as they heard arguments about whether a proposal to ensure abortion rights in the state should be placed on th November ballot. “People in Florida aren’t stupid. I mean, they can figure this out,” Chief Justice Carlos Muniz said.
Florida’s Open Season on Civil Liberties
Florida lawmakers don’t care about the insurance crisis; they don’t care about runaway rents; they don’t care about hungry children or sick women or the climate crisis or pollution or the teacher shortage or anything that you and I and anyone else with two brain cells to rub together would identify as pressing problems here in the increasingly dysfunctional State of Florida. What they care about is ending your liberties. Here’s a list.
Threatening Charges, Florida Forbids Trans’ Preferred Gender Identity on Driver’s Licenses
Transgender people can no longer obtain a driver’s license that reflects their gender identity under a new policy that treats “misrepresenting one’s gender, understood as sex, on a driver license” as fraud punishable by civil and criminal penalties plus cancellation, suspension, or revocation of the license.
This Hyper Talk of a Border ‘Invasion’ Is an Old American Playbook
With persecution, poverty, and climate change driving large numbers of migrants to the southern border, some in politics and the media are again pushing the panic button and purposely but inaccurately using words like “invasion” to describe problems at the border.
Defense Calls Out Sharp Inaccuracies in Arrest Account of Migrant Facing Manslaughter Charge in Death of Deputy
The defense lawyer for Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, the 18-year-old migrant held for over eight months on an aggravated manslaughter of an officer charge in the death of a St. Johns County deputy, is calling his arrest “legally insufficient,” describing his arrest report as a series of misrepresentations and misapplications of the law, and citing the medical examiner’s report to conclude that the death of the deputy was unrelated to the arrest.
Stop the LGBTQ Cheap Shots
There are some feel-good bills and cheap shots that require no courage to vote for and bring the political bonus of being difficult for an opponent to argue against this summer, when most legislators will be back home running for re-election. And no topic makes for easier demagoguery than sex, specifically any activity that makes strait-laced Republicans a little squeamish.
70 Years After Brown vs. Board of Education, Deep Segregation Persists
In June 2023, the Supreme Court ended most race-conscious college admissions efforts. The decision followed the Covid pandemic, which exacerbated racial inequalities in the U.S.. Politicians and school boards have banned or removed books by authors of color from school libraries and restricted teaching about racism in U.S. history. These setbacks amid the current political climate make finally realizing the full promise of Brown more urgent.
