Thomas Ilalaole is a graduate student at Northwestern University and a Washington resident. She made this video on SMYAL youth for her program in the Medill School of Journalism where she’s working on a journalism master’s — video/broadcast. She focuses on LGBTQ stories, issues and policies.

She hopes to continue working in queer journalism. Ilalaole is gay/non-binary.

SMYALPKG_Ilalaole from Medill Washington on Vimeo.

(Screenshot courtesy of MSNBC)

George Takei spoke with MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts about Donald Trump’s comments proposing to ban muslims from the U.S.

Takei stated that he didn’t think Trump was learning from the U.S.’s history of incarcerating Japanese-Americans during World War II. Takei and his family were sent to a World War II Japanese- American internment camp in Arkansas. His personal experience has given him cause for alarm to Trump’s comments.

“Donald Trump is a perfect example of that failure,” Takei says. “It was because political leadership could not educate the hysteria that was sweeping across this country. ‘Get rid of the Japs’ was the most popular political issue of the time.”

The actor and activist continued on to riff on Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again” for his Islamaphobic views.

“What Donald Trump is talking about is something that’s going to make his logo ‘America Disgraced Again.’ It’s all over again,” Takei says.

Takei also took issue with Roanoke Mayor David Bowers for choosing the word “sequester” to describe President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration’s internment of Japanese-Americans.

“We were imprisoned, incarcerated in barbed wire prison camps, concentration camps,” Takei says. “And we were American citizens.”

Takei currently is starring in the Broadway musical “Allegiance.” The play is inspired by Takei’s experiences during the Japanese-American internment of World War II.

(Right Wing Watch Screen capture from YouTube)

Family Research Council Founder James Dobson has given his reaction to the Supreme Court’s ruling that same-sex marriage is constitutional in June.

Dobson, who also founded Family Research Council, spoke candidly in an interview with Christian evangelical televangelist Andrew Womack on “The Gospel Truth”  as reported by People For the American Way’s “Right Wing Watch.”

Dobson stated that he felt like he was in a “black cloud” when the announcement was made.

“It hit me like a ton of bricks,” Dobson says. “What had hit me is that that decision is not really about gay marriage. it’s about everything else.”

Dobson vaguely described how he thought same-sex marriage would lead to negative effects on all aspects of life.

“We lost the entire culture war with that one decision,” Dobson says. “It’s going to touch every dimension.”

As Womack nodded along in agreement Dobson continued on about his fear about same-sex marriage.

“It’s about control of the public schools and it’s what happens in universities,” Dobson says.” It’s about the economy and it’s about business and it’s about the military and it’s about medicine. It’s about everything.”