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Protests erupt after transgender references erased from Stonewall Monument website

Protests erupt after transgender references erased from Stonewall Monument website

Yahoo15-02-2025

The Brief
Protesters rallied at the Stonewall National Monument after the National Park Service removed transgender references from its website
Activists and officials, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, condemned the changes as an attempt to erase transgender history
Advocates plan to push for the restoration of transgender references and challenge the federal policy restricting gender recognition.
NEW YORK - Hundreds gathered at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City on Friday to protest the removal of transgender references from the National Park Service website.
What we know
The protest was sparked by the National Park Service removing the letters T and Q from LGBTQ+ references on the website, replacing them with "LGB rights movement."
The monument, which commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Riots, remains dedicated to LGBTQ+ history, but activists argue the changes undermine the contributions of transgender individuals, particularly transgender women of color.
The backstory
The Stonewall National Monument was designated in 2016 by President Barack Obama. Last year, a $3.2 million visitor center opened at the site, supported by private donations and a $450,000 contribution from the National Park Service.
The changes come as part of a broader Trump administration policy restricting federal recognition of gender to biological sex at birth. Conservative groups have praised the move, while medical professionals argue that gender is a spectrum.
What they're saying
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned the edits, calling them "cruel and petty."
"We will continue to exist, no matter what this administration throws at us," said Laura Li Creen, a transgender youth who spoke at the protest.
Protesters also blasted federal lawmakers from New York, demanding that Senator Chuck Schumer and Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries to "get your [expletive] together and fight back."
Stacy Lentz, CEO of The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative, accused officials of attempting to "cis-wash LGBTQ history."
The Source
This article was written using information gathered from FOX 5 reporters and crews in the field.

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Michiganders show up across the state to oppose Trump policies and say ‘No Kings'
Michiganders show up across the state to oppose Trump policies and say ‘No Kings'

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Michiganders show up across the state to oppose Trump policies and say ‘No Kings'

Several thousand people gathered at the Michigan Capitol in Lansing for a "No Kings Day" rally and protest. June 14, 2025 | Photo by Ben Solis Amid pro-immigration and anti-Trump administration slogans in English and Spanish, several thousand people gathered in Detroit's Clark Park Saturday afternoon for the a No Kings Day march and rally. Among the speakers at the rally was Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit), who expressed her support for the Detroit community in resisting the current federal administration. 'When I look at all of you, you don't have to have a ZIP code in Detroit to understand that fascism hurts all of us. Many of you have your stance in why you're here,' Tlaib told the crowd 'Maybe immigrant rights. Maybe Free Free Palestine. Maybe LGBTQ. Maybe it's fighting to make sure workers are protected. Maybe saying you will not dismantle education in our country. Whatever issue, the more we are connected, the more dangerous we become to this administration.' Tlaib emphasized support for immigrant families affected by federal border agents, not only in Michigan but also across the country. She also commented on how tax dollars are contributing to the war in Gaza. 'That's why you all are doing what you're doing and resisting. In the streets and demanding that our families stick together, demanding that our rights be protected, demanding that our country come back for the people, by the people. It's when you all resist.' Tlaib said. As speakers addressed the attendees, some counter protesters approached, sparking minor clashes involving shoving and insults, which volunteer protesters helped disperse. Detroit Police arrived minutes later, but no arrests were reported. However, individual pro-Trump counter protesters kept walking through the crowd. The Detroit gathering was one of dozens held across Michigan and more than 1,500 nationally. Other Michigan cities hosting protests included Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Ferndale, and even as far away as Ironwood in the western Upper Peninsula. In Lansing, several thousand people turned out for a protest in front of the Michigan State Capitol, as protestors held anti-Trump signs and waved American flags. The crowd later marched down Michigan Avenue to Cedar Street and then turned around and returned to the Capitol, where a No Kings carnival was being held. Small Michigan communities also saw well attended protests, including in Republican-heavy Livingston County. Approximately 300 protestors gathered in front of Howell City Hall where they were mostly cheered on by passing motorists. One of the protestors, Roni Evans of Howell, told the Michigan Advance she felt compelled to be there. 'It makes me sad. I protested a lot when I was younger and did rallies and campaigns, but I'm feeling so frustrated with what's going on in this country that I had to come out,' Evans said. At one point, a large pickup truck stopped on Grand River in front of the protest where the driver began revving its engine. However, a Howell Police officer quickly told him to move on. The protestors later marched through downtown Howell and were cheered on as they passed by the Historic Courthouse, where a Pride rally was being held by the Pride Alliance of Livingston. Meanwhile, just down I-96 in Brighton, several thousand demonstrators packed into the city's Mill Pond area to hear from several speakers, including Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel. 'At the end of the day, there is right and wrong. There is moral and immorality. At the end of all of our lives, the one question we'll be asked is 'What did we do in this moment?' These rallies are important, but they have to lead to action,' Hertel told the crowd to loud cheers. This is a developing story and will be updated.

Where Is Barack Obama?
Where Is Barack Obama?

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Where Is Barack Obama?

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In March, he celebrated the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act and posted his annual NCAA basketball brackets. In April, he sent out an Easter message and mourned the death of the pope. In May, he welcomed His Holiness Pope Leo XIV ('a fellow Chicagoan') and sent prayers to Joe Biden following his prostate-cancer diagnosis. No matter how brazen Trump becomes, the most effective communicator in the Democratic Party continues to opt for minimal communication. His 'audacity of hope' presidency has given way to the fierce lethargy of semi-retirement. Obama occasionally dips into politics with brief and unmemorable statements, or sporadic fundraising emails (subject: 'Barack Obama wants to meet you. Yes you.'). He praised his law-school alma mater, Harvard, for 'rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt' by the White House 'to stifle academic freedom.' He criticized a Republican bill that would threaten health care for millions. 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After he left office in 2017, Obama said that he would work to inspire and develop the next cohort of leaders, which is essentially the mission of his foundation. It would seem a contradiction for him to say that he's devoting much of his post-presidency to promoting civic engagement when he himself seems so disengaged. To some degree, patience with Obama began wearing thin when he was still in office. His approval ratings sagged partway through his second term (before rebounding at the end). The rollout of the Affordable Care Act in 2013 was a fiasco, and the midterm elections of 2014 were a massacre. Obama looked powerless as Republicans in Congress ensured that he would pass no major legislation in his second term and blocked his nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. 'Obama, out,' the president said in the denouement of his last comedy routine at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, in 2016. 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He delivered a showstopper speech at the Democratic National Convention and campaigned several times for Kamala Harris in the fall. But among longtime Obama admirers I've spoken with, frustration with the former president has built since Trump returned to office. While campaigning for Harris last year, Obama framed the stakes of the election in terms of a looming catastrophe. 'These aren't ordinary times, and these are not ordinary elections,' he said at a campaign stop in Pittsburgh. Yet now that the impact is unfolding in the most pernicious ways, Obama seems to be resuming his ordinary chill and same old bits. Green, of the Progressive Change Institute, told me that when Obama put out his March Madness picks this year, he texted Schultz, the Obama adviser. 'Have I missed him speaking up in other places recently?' Green asked him. 'He did not respond to that.' ​​(Schultz confirmed to me that he ignored the message but vowed to be 'more responsive to Adam Green's texts in the future.') Being a former president is inherently tricky: The role is ill-defined, and peripheral by definition. Part of the trickiness is how an ex-president can remain relevant, if he wants to. This is especially so given the current president. 'I don't know that anybody is relevant in the Trump era,' Mark Updegrove, a presidential historian and head of the LBJ Foundation, told me. Updegrove, who wrote a book called Second Acts: Presidential Lives and Legacies After the White House, said that Trump has succeeded in creating a reality in which every president who came before is suspect. 'All the standard rules of being an ex-president are no longer applicable,' he said. Still, Obama never presented himself as a 'standard rules' leader. This was the idea that his political rise was predicated on—that change required bold, against-the-grain thinking and uncomfortable action. Clearly, Obama still views himself this way, or at least still wants to be perceived this way. (A few years ago, he hosted a podcast with Bruce Springsteen called Renegades.) [From the July 1973 issue: The last days of the president] Stepping into the current political melee would not be an easy or comfortable role for Obama. He represents a figure of the past, which seems more and more like the ancient past as the Trump era crushes on. He is a notably long-view guy, who has spent a great deal of time composing a meticulous account of his own narrative. 'We're part of a long-running story,' Obama said in 2014. 'We just try to get our paragraph right.' Or thousands of paragraphs, in his case: The first installment of Obama's presidential memoir, A Promised Land, covered 768 pages and 29 hours of audio. No release date has been set for the second volume. But this might be one of those times for Obama to take a break from the long arc of the moral universe and tend to the immediate crisis. Several Democrats I've spoken with said they wish that Obama would stop worrying so much about the 'dilution factor.' While Democrats struggle to find their next phenom, Obama could be their interim boss. He could engage regularly, pointing out Trump's latest abuses. He did so earlier this spring, during an onstage conversation at Hamilton College. He was thoughtful, funny, and sounded genuinely aghast, even angry. He could do these public dialogues much more often, and even make them thematic. Focus on Trump's serial violations of the Constitution one week (recall that Obama once taught constitutional law), the latest instance of Trump's naked corruption the next. Blast out the most scathing lines on social media. Yes, it might trigger Trump, and create more attention than Obama evidently wants. But Trump has shown that ubiquity can be a superpower, just as Biden showed that obscurity can be ruinous. People would notice. Democrats love nothing more than to hold up Obama as their monument to Republican bad faith. Can you imagine if Obama did this? some Democrat will inevitably say whenever Trump does something tacky, cruel, or blatantly unethical (usually before breakfast). Obama could lean into this hypocrisy—tape recurring five-minute video clips highlighting Trump's latest scurrilous act and title the series 'Can You Imagine If I Did This?' Or another idea—an admittedly far-fetched one. Trump has decreed that a massive military parade be held through the streets of Washington on June 14. This will ostensibly celebrate the Army's 250th anniversary, but it also happens to fall on Trump's 79th birthday. The parade will cost an estimated $45 million, including $16 million in damage to the streets. (Can you imagine if Obama did this?) 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Article originally published at The Atlantic

Minnesota State Patrol reveals ‘No Kings' flyers in car of suspect who shot two lawmakers
Minnesota State Patrol reveals ‘No Kings' flyers in car of suspect who shot two lawmakers

New York Post

time6 hours ago

  • New York Post

Minnesota State Patrol reveals ‘No Kings' flyers in car of suspect who shot two lawmakers

The Minnesota State Patrol implored the public not to participate in the planned 'No Kings' protests across the North Star State in light of the attack that killed a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband, while badly injuring another politician. Officials revealed that the suspect behind the deadly attack had flyers for the 'No Kings' rally in their vehicle. 'Given the targeted shootings of state lawmakers overnight, we are asking the public to not attend today's planned demonstrations across Minnesota out of an abundance of caution,' state patrol said in a statement. Advertisement 3 Former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were gunned down in their home. Melissa Hortman/Facebook 3 Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were injured in a similar shooting at their home a couple miles away from Hortman. John Hoffman/Facebook 3 People take part in a 'No Kings' protest in Bethesda, Maryland, on the outskirts of Washington in defiance of President Trump. AFP via Getty Images Advertisement 'The photo is of flyers inside the vehicle of the suspect in today's shootings.' Thousands of 'No Kings' protests had been planned across the US in defiance of President Trump and the 250th Army anniversary parade. Organizers for the demonstrations canceled the planned protests in Northeast Minneapolis.

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