Some ask why I often write about the felon in the White House. It’s because we should never stop highlighting his outrageousness, how he is destroying our country, and creating havoc in the world. His gaffes are often venal, and in most cases just his way of insulting someone. Recently it’s again obvious he either has dementia, or is just plain dumb. Clearly, he is being manipulated by some corrupt aides and personally motivated by vindictiveness. He asked the president of Liberia how his English is so good, apparently not knowing that English is the language of Liberia. 

He was asked who stopped the shipments of weapons to Ukraine, didn’t know, or remember. Then appears to forget, or doesn’t know, only two countries actually came to final tariff deals with the U.S. He went to Iowa to tout his disgusting bill and used the term “Shylock,” the name of the Jewish character in the “Merchant of Venice,” clearly used today as an anti-Semitic slur, and lied saying he never heard of it that way. Then he said Putin was a hero in World War II, when he wasn’t born until after the war ended. Now he thinks we should change the Department of Defense back to Department of War. He often forgets where he is in speeches. 

This is the man who occupies the most powerful office in the world. He is an embarrassment to the nation. He uses the presidency to get back at his perceived enemies, doing it openly. He is a grifter, enriching himself using the power that comes with being president of the United States. Others are helping, or excusing him. House Speaker Johnson was asked about the president taking grift, and said contrary to his attacks on Biden, who he said did it secretly, what Trump is doing is OK, since he is doing it publicly. Yes, he is doing it publicly, taking a jet from Qatar and cutting deals to build hotels in the Middle East. He said he wants to build a resort in Gaza after removing all the Palestinians. While enriching himself and his friends, in the process he is screwing the American people. 

Trump is making policy based on personal interests. Like framing his threat to slap a bruising 50 percent tariff on Brazil as a quest for justice for his friend and ally, far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro. Then he upped the ante based on a recent BRICS meeting, one of Trump’s top foreign policy targets, a coalition of emerging economies that includes founding members Brazil, Russia, India, and China, as well as South Africa and six other countries that have joined the group in recent years. They are stronger based on the felon’s policies. 

I keep writing about this felon because he is always doing something outrageous. The MAGA Republicans in Congress keep supporting him, willingly screwing their constituents. The MAGA Log Cabin Republicans, supporting Trump, recently honored four MAGA members of Congress, all of whom are opposed to the Equality Act. One, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), when asked by her constituents why she supported taking away their Medicaid, said “It doesn’t matter you will die anyway.” That is the attitude of the felon in the White House and all his MAGA supporters. 

I am not blind to the fact that there has always been racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia, in our society. But for many years we worked hard to ensure those feelings couldn’t be voiced in the public square. If someone did voice them, they were called out for it. Then during Trump’s first term, from the day he came down that escalator to announce his candidacy and called out people in derogatory terms, he gave others tacit permission to do the same. If he could do it, then why couldn’t they? And things only got worse from there. 

Trump took hold of the Republican Party and rational Republicans simply dropped like flies afraid to criticize him. It became clear nearly 35% of the Republican Party became a Trump cult, and no Republican could win without their votes. So today, the Republican Party supports a sick, old, lying felon, a racist, homophobe, misogynist, found liable for sexual assault, whose closest allies produced Project 2025, the blueprint for destroying democracy. 

So that is why I will always write about him, and urge others to do the same. We must all speak out every day, until we rid ourselves of this despot in our midst.

Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.

There are a lot of conversations in the LGBTI community about Prides becoming “too commercial,” but what about grassroots, leftist radical Prides? Well, the idea of community-organized, grassroots Prides is amazing, but unfortunately, it is very human to make mistakes.

While big LGBTI Prides that are organized with help from businesses are trying to be inclusive, grassroots Prides have sometimes gone too far in their attempts to create an “edgy,” rebellious atmosphere. Some slogans that have been used at “independent” Prides create more problems than they solve, making these events non inclusive and unacceptable for a large part of the LGBTI community.

I believe in intersectionality. I was one of the very few activists in Russia who began writing and speaking about the need for intersectional approaches in the LGBTI community — speaking up for neurodivergent, disabled, non-white, Muslim, and Jewish LGBTI people. In the U.K., I’m part of various groups supporting LGBTI refugees.

And this is why I see that some modern attempts by Western LGBTI activists to be mindful of different forms of oppression have actually excluded people from Pride and divided the LGBTI community. I’ve seen these tendencies across Europe, the U.S., and the U.K.

Personally, I’ve never felt less included at a Pride than I did last weekend at a local U.K. Pride, where the crowd was forced to yell: “Death to the IDF (Israel Defense Forces),” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and “Yemen, Yemen made us proud, turn another ship around.”

The last slogan, about Yemen, didn’t even catch on with the crowd — probably because most people at the Pride had no idea why they should be proud of Yemen. And the truth is, they shouldn’t. The slogan refers to Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have hijacked and fired missiles at dozens of commercial and military ships in the Red Sea, supposedly to “protect” Palestinian rights.

Let me make it clear: I have no problem with the “protecting Palestinian people” part of the story. I believe that there are many war criminals in the current Israeli administration, and the bombing of Gaza refugee camps is unacceptable, no matter what.

But at the same time, I couldn’t understand why we were being asked to support attacks on commercial ships or show solidarity with the Houthi rebels, who, according to Amnesty International, are not only responsible for the deaths of dozens of LGBTI people, but are also extremely authoritarian and prone to sectarian violence.

If we’re speaking from an intersectional perspective, I know how triggering those slogans must have been for many Sunni Muslims (and yes, most Muslims from Gaza are Sunni), as well as for LGBTI refugees from Yemen and Iran who may have lost loved ones to the Houthis or the Iranian regime that support them. And I am sure there were likely some queer Iranians at that Pride.

The chanting about the Israel Defence Forces was also extremely disturbing — not only because there were likely Jewish queers at the Pride, some of whose relatives may even oppose Israeli actions in Gaza and support a two-state solution, but who served in the Israeli army due to conscription laws. But the problem is, I’ve never heard people at a Pride chant in support of Ukrainian people, or Chechens, or Uyghurs, or Yazidis — despite the fact that all of them have survived genocide. I’ve never heard queer people at Pride yelling “death to Russian occupiers,” even when Russian missiles destroyed Ukrainian schools and shelters in Mariupol, bombed Aleppo, persecuted Crimean Tatars, or wiped out entire Chechen villages.

China built concentration camps for Uyghurs, but no one is promoting the death of the Chinese government. Moreover, China, Russia, and Assad’s Syria are more homophobic than Israel. So, what is the reason for yelling “Death to the IDF” but not, for example, calling for the Russian government’s collapse or the end of the Chinese Communist Party? There are only two logical explanations:

• It is either antisemitism or ignorance about other wars except for the one that is going on in Gaza. Both reasons are quite bad.

• It is not intersectionality. It is anti-intersectionality, because it erases every other war survivor who isn’t Palestinian from LGBTI community. It also alienated LGBTI Jewish people because only Jewish State had a “special” hatred for war crimes that atheists and Christian don’t have. 

It’s also an attempt to turn the LGBTI movement into an ideological club instead of a group fighting for the rights of a specific marginalized community.

Another triggering thing I saw at this Pride was the glorification of socialism. But not all LGBTI people are socialists, and not all countries that called themselves “socialist” have been LGBTI-friendly.

I couldn’t even imagine what a queer person from North Korea, or a gay man who was imprisoned in the Soviet Union for being gay must have felt when hearing calls for a socialist revolution at Pride. It must have been devastating. Pride should feel like a free, anti-authoritarian space.

Pride also needs to focus on the real problems LGBTI people face. In the U.K., the Supreme Court ruled that only cis women can be considered real women. Thousands of trans kids have lost access to hormone therapy. LGBTI books are being censored in libraries. The government is cutting benefits for disabled people: LGBTI disabled people will be among the first to be harmed, because they face double stigma and more challenges finding employment, even when they are able to work.

But none of this was the main point at Pride. For some reason, we were asked to repeat pro-Palestinian slogans more often than slogans defending trans people or LGBTI people with disabilities.

The organisers were so obsessed with Palestine and socialism that, if I weren’t already involved in LGBTI activism, I might have assumed the LGBTI community has no real problems left — and that now we just campaign about unrelated political issues.

But that would be a false impression.

LGBTI people are under attack in countries around the world — from U.S. to Russia to the U.K. Moreover, far-right ideologies are rising across the West. Yes, it’s important to understand the international context, but now, more than ever, it is equally important to unite against the global rise of fascism and not divide the movement based on economic ideology or international political views.

Imagine walking into a pharmacy, prescription in hand, and being told, “Sorry, we don’t give that to people like you.” Now imagine the government says that’s perfectly fine—as long as it’s wrapped in words like “concern” or “safety.”

That’s not a dystopian movie plot. That’s United States v. Skrmetti.

On June 18, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s SB1, a state law that bans gender-affirming care for minors. Puberty blockers. Hormone therapy. All of it. Not because the treatments are dangerous (they’re not), or untested (they’re not), but because the kids receiving them are transgender.

Let’s be clear: this isn’t regulation. It’s targeted denial. And it just got the Supreme Court’s stamp of approval.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, said SB1 doesn’t discriminate. He argued the law merely regulates treatment based on “age and purpose.” That’s a little like banning seatbelts—but only for gay people—and claiming it’s about “safety.” Here’s the truth: SB1 bans hormone therapy only when it’s used for gender transition. Those same drugs are still allowed for other conditions. That’s not neutral. That’s surgical discrimination, written into law.

Even Tennessee’s legal team admitted it: the law “only affects those who seek to transition.” That’s not an accidental loophole. That’s the entire point.

Even worse, the Court ducked the bigger question: Do transgender Americans qualify as a “suspect class” under the Constitution—meaning they deserve stronger protections against discrimination?

Historically, groups with a long track record of discrimination, limited political power, and immutable traits (like race or religion) have gotten this status. Trans people check every box. Yet the Court said nothing.

That silence wasn’t a technicality. It was a political decision. A willful refusal to say: “You matter. You count. You’re protected here.”

Let’s drop the pretense. This isn’t about medicine or morality. Gender-affirming care is backed by every major U.S. medical association—from the American Academy of Pediatrics to the AMA. It’s safe. It’s effective. And it saves lives.

But these laws don’t ban puberty blockers across the board. They just ban them for trans kids.

That’s not policy—it’s punishment.

We wouldn’t tolerate a law that banned mammograms for women, or insulin for diabetics, only if they’re queer. But that’s exactly what this is: identity-based medical apartheid.

Supporters claim it’s about protecting children. But you don’t protect kids by denying them care recommended by doctors and supported by science. You do that to control who they’re allowed to become.

Here’s the part that should make us all pause: Most Americans don’t agree with this decision. A recent Pew poll found that 64% of Americans support protections for transgender people. Nearly 60% support access to gender-affirming care. Among young adults, those numbers are even higher.

This isn’t a red state vs. blue state issue. It’s a basic civil rights question in the 21st century. The people are not divided. But our institutions—the courts, the legislatures—are lagging behind. Or worse, being weaponized.

This ruling leaves trans youth legally exposed and politically abandoned. But that doesn’t mean we’re powerless.

Here’s what must happen now:

· State legislatures must pass ironclad non-discrimination laws that protect transgender youth where federal protections now fall short.

· Congress must pass the Equality Act—in full—and enshrine civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ Americans nationwide.

· The media must stop framing this as just another “culture war.” This isn’t about ideology. It’s about constitutional rights—access to care, bodily autonomy, and equal protection under the law.

· And we the people must act. Vote. Call your lawmakers. Tell your stories. Make it clear that civil rights don’t depend on your zip code, political party, or gender identity.

This moment is more than a court ruling. It’s a moral test for a country that claims to believe in liberty and justice for all.

You don’t have to be trans to be alarmed. If the state can deny medical care to one group based on identity, what’s to stop them from doing it to you? Your kid? Your neighbor?

History will remember where we stood. Let it remember this: we stood with trans kids and their parents. Loudly. Unapologetically. And without retreat.

James Bridgeforth, Ph.D., is a national columnist on the intersection of politics, morality, and civil rights. His work regularly appears in The Chicago Defender and The Black Wall Street Times.