Trump Fires National Portrait Gallery Director
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on May 30 announced that he has dismissed the director of the National Portrait Gallery, an institution in Washington known for hosting portraits of U.S. presidents and other artwork.
The National Portrait Gallery is part of the Smithsonian Institution and, along with the American Museum of Art, exhibits the portraits of every U.S. president alongside other prominent artwork by Americans and foreign artists. Famously, the facility houses one of four original 'Lansdowne Portraits' of President George Washington, as well as Kehinde Wiley's widely acclaimed portrait of former President Barack Obama.
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Pride Month starts this weekend. Here's what to expect
Pride Month kicks off with events around the world starting this weekend. It's an annual series of parades and other gatherings to celebrate LGBTQ+ culture and rights. At its heart, Pride is both a party and a protest. In the U.S. this year, that means speaking out against a slew of policies that impose restrictions on transgender people and that try to end diversity, equity and inclusion programming in government, education and businesses. Here's a look at the event's roots and this year's events and themes. The monthlong global celebration began with Gay Pride Week in late June 1970, a year after the violent police raid at New York's Stonewall Inn, a gay bar. At a time when many LGBTQ+ people kept their identities private, the June 28, 1969, raid sparked a series of public protests and catalyzed the gay rights movement. The first pride week featured marches in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, and it has since grown to other cities. On the calendar are events in Philadelphia this weekend; New Orleans on June 14; Chicago on June 21 and 22; and New York over the weekend of June 28 and 29. Many other events in big cities and small towns are also planned. There are pride celebrations around the world, including in Tokyo on June 8; Toronto on June 27-29; Sao Paolo on June 22; and Paris on June 28. Some events fall outside of June, too. World Pride, a biannual event held this year in Washington, D.C., began in May and goes through June 8. Pride in London is in July; a big celebration in Rio de Janeiro is in November and Atlanta's is in October. Former President Bill Clinton proclaimed June as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month in 1999, marking the first time a U.S. president did so. When President Donald Trump returned to office in January, he quickly attempted to roll back LGBTQ+ rights. He's especially targeted transgender people with policies that halted allowing people to change the sex listed on their passport, removed transgender military troops and sought to stop using federal insurance programs to pay for gender-affirming care for transgender people under age 19, and keep transgender athletes out of girls and women's sports competitions. All of those changes are being challenged in court. His actions follow years of policies in Republican-controlled states that bar gender-affirming care for transgender minors and dictate which sports transgender people can play and which school and other public bathrooms they are allowed to use. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this month on whether Tennessee's ban on medical treatment is constitutional. One of Trump's orders called for removing references to what he and some other conservatives call 'gender ideology' from government publications and websites. A result of that: References to transgender people have been removed from government websites, including the one for the Stonewall National Monument, site of the event that inspired Pride. About half of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling transgender issues, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found last month. About 4 in 10 voters approve of his job as president overall. But support for his individual policies on transgender people is not uniformly strong, with a clearer consensus against policies that affect youth. Organizers of Milwaukee's PrideFest are prepared for close to 50,000 people at the event scheduled for June 5-7. 'We're feeling that people will be showing up, and that's their protest,' said Wes Shaver, the president and CEO of Milwaukee Pride, Inc. The event's theme is 'Celebrating the Power of Pride' and for the first time, one of the entertainment stages one night will feature only transgender performers. Shaver said that's an intentional move in response to Trump's policies. Another night, the stage will feature only performers of color. Jeremy Williams, the executive producer of Philly Pride 365 in Philadelphia, said he didn't expect more protest than in the past there. 'Everybody's just there to be together,' he said. One milestone that's likely to be celebrated: This month marks the 10th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, which recognized same-sex marriage nationwide. It was a watershed event in establishing rights for LGBTQ+ people across the country. About two-thirds of LGBTQ+ adults in the U.S. said the case made the nation more accepting of same-sex couples, according to a Pew Research Center poll released last week. The poll found that LGBTQ+ people don't always feel accepted, though. About 6 in 10 said they see 'a great deal' or 'a fair amount' of social acceptance for those who are lesbian, gay or bisexual. But only about 1 in 10 said the same is true for nonbinary and transgender people. Several big companies have pulled back on sponsorships for Pride events this year. Among them: Anheuser-Busch, the St. Louis-based brewer, declined to sponsor PrideFest in its home city after three decades of support, leaving organizers $150,000 short of last year's budget, they told The Associated Press. NYC Pride said about 20% of its corporate sponsors dropped or reduced support, including PepsiCo and Nissan. The carmaker said it was reviewing all its marketing costs. In other cities, such as Kansas City, Missouri, pride events lost about half their budgets. Several companies that have pulled back have not explained why to the AP. But some experts see the change as part of a broader retreat from brand activism.
UPI
42 minutes ago
- UPI
On This Day, June 1: Lafayette Square protesters cleared for Trump church photo-op
1 of 6 | On June 1, 2020, law enforcement officers cleared protesters from Lafayette Square near the White House using tear gas and other tactics to allow President Donald Trump to walk to St. John's Episcopal Church to pose for a photo while holding a Bible. File Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI | License Photo On this date in history: In 1880, the first public pay telephone began operation in New Haven, Conn. In 1958, Charles de Gaulle became prime minister of France with emergency powers amid the collapse of the Fourth Republic. He was elected president of France at the end of the year amid the rise of the Fifth Republic. In 1962, Israel hanged Adolf Eichmann for his part in the killing of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany in World War II. In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court banned prayers and Bible teaching in public schools on the constitutional grounds of separation of church and state. File Photo by Erin Schaff/UPI In 1968, Helen Keller, a world-renowned author and lecturer despite being blind and deaf from infancy, died in Westport, Conn., at the age of 87. In 1973, Prime Minister George Papadopoulos abolished the Greek monarchy and proclaimed Greece a republic with himself as president. Constantine II, the last king of Greece, died in January 2023. In 1980, the Cable News Network -- CNN -- TV's first all-news service, went on the air. In 1993, President Jorge Serrano Elias of Guatemala was ousted by the military. In 1997, Betty Shabazz, Malcolm X's widow, sustained injuries when her 12-year-old grandson, Malcolm Shabazz, set fire to her apartment. She died nearly a month later. File Photo by Roger Celestin/UPI In 1997, teacher Jonathan Levin, the son of Time Warner's then-chairman, Gerald Levin, was tortured and killed by a former student who knew him to be wealthy and was seeking money. The student, Corey Arthur, was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. His alleged accomplice, Montoun Hart, was acquitted despite a signed, 11-page confession. In 2001, Nepalese Crown Prince Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev massacred nine members of his family, including his parents, King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya; his siblings, Prince Nirajan and Princess Shruti; and aunts and uncles Prince Dhirendra, Princess Shanti, Princess Sharada, Kumar Khadga and Princess Jayanti. Dipendra also shot himself in the head, but initially survived, and served as king for four days before dying. In 2008, a fire at Universal Studios Hollywood burned two city blocks and destroyed iconic movie sets, including those from When Harry Met Sally, The Sting and Back to the Future. In 2009, Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 people on board. In 2015, the Eastern Star, a passenger ship traveling along the Yangtze River from the eastern city of Nanjing, flipped during a violent storm, killing approximately 400 people. In 2020, law enforcement officers cleared protesters from Lafayette Square near the White House using tear gas and other tactics to allow President Donald Trump to walk to St. John's Episcopal Church to pose for a photo while holding a Bible. The photo op came amid protests against the police killing of George Floyd which caused damage to the church. In 2021, Adm. Linda Fagan took over for retiring Adm. Karl L. Schultz, becoming the first female commandant in the U.S. Coast Guard. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI
Business Journals
42 minutes ago
- Business Journals
Uneven ground: Why state-chartered banks bear the brunt of proposed legislation
The United States has one of the most diverse and robust banking sectors in the world and is represented by banks of all sizes that serve every segment of the American economy. The nation's approximately 4,500 banks include community banks, midsize banks, regional banks, and large banks. Banks of every size add unique value and are critically important to our financial system and our economy. While banks may have different business models and strengths, institutions succeed when they meet the needs of their communities. Part of what makes the U.S. banking system special is the dual banking system which provides bankers with a choice of operating under a national charter or a state charter. Unfortunately, the California state charter is under attack and its value proposition is diminishing. Just this year, several California legislative measures target state-chartered banks or will be preempted limiting the measure's application. One such measure allows the commissioner of the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation to enforce violations of the federal Dodd-Frank Act (DFA) through unfair, deceptive, abusive acts or practices claims. Proponents claim that this measure is necessary because the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) under President Donald Trump's administration will not enforce DFA. The reality is that the commissioner already possesses this authority; however, to deploy it, the commissioner must provide notice to the CFPB, which may become a party to the action and/or can seek to remove the action to federal court. The rationale behind this potential intervention is to avoid duplicative and uncoordinated enforcement actions. Large big box retailers are pushing a measure to limit the charging of an interchange fee by prohibiting the fee being assessed against sales tax. These retailers need to remember the convenience and certainty credit card payments have provided them, and that the underlying infrastructure that facilitates these transactions has a cost. Additionally, interchange fees support low and no-cost bank accounts and credit card reward points programs that customers appreciate. The bill will be preempted for federally chartered banks, leaving its application to state-chartered banks. Another measure establishes a state-level Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) applicable to certain state-licensed entities, including California-chartered banks. This effort is duplicative and potentially contradictory to the federal CRA, which all banks are subject to. Rather than layering on top of state banks, the measure should be amended to apply solely to California-chartered credit unions, which do not have a federal CRA requirement, though they are depository institutions and may operate similarly to banks. As we have fiercely advocated for our member banks, we commonly hear legislators express appreciation for community banks. But with measures advancing like those described above, we are increasingly convinced that those are just words and that their actions prove otherwise. Banks are highly regulated entities and miraculously excel at finding a path to compliance on what seems to be a never-ending list of new laws and regulations. But there is a breaking point. Consolidation within the industry has been driven, in part, by over-regulation. Smaller community banks, just like small businesses, are struggling to keep up with overregulation and are finding that they must get to scale to survive the regulatory avalanche. We are gravely concerned that new laws and regulations will accelerate consolidation and may leave communities who need access to banking services in financial deserts. This unfortunate result could push the door more widely open to the less-regulated shadow banking industry where there is often less consumer protection. And because of the dual-banking system, banks can exercise their choice and operate under a national charter, which leaves the state with less oversight. If policymakers really care about the important role of community banks, as they have suggested, it's time they put a stop to efforts that could make the state charter less valuable.
