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Pride mattered when it was 'our' holiday. There's nothing to be proud of now.

Pride mattered when it was 'our' holiday. There's nothing to be proud of now.

USA Today3 days ago

Pride mattered when it was 'our' holiday. There's nothing to be proud of now. | Your Turn Do you think it's important to have a Pride Month? Are you concerned the Trump administration may try to further infringe upon the rights of LGBTQ+ people? Here's what you said.
You've likely heard the phrase, "Pride started as a riot." And while it's true that pride as we know it grew out of the Stonewall Uprising of June 1969 – the first pride parade took place one year later on June 28, 1970, with protest marches occurring in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles – LGBTQ+ history is still unfolding today.
Did you know it was still illegal to be gay as recently as 22 years ago? In 2003, the Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas decriminalized same-sex sexual conduct, ruling state sodomy laws as unconstitutional. And it wasn't until 10 years ago, in 2015, that full marriage equality arrived with the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. And it wasn't until 2020 – five years ago – that the Supreme Court ruled protections against workplace discrimination extended to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Under President Donald Trump's second administration, LGBTQ+ rights are back in the spotlight as he issues executive orders banning transgender military servicemembers and rescinding funding from educational institutions that allow trans athletes to compete in sports. So far in 2025, more than 500 bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community have been introduced across America.
As Pride Month 2025 gets underway across the country (albeit with fewer corporate sponsors), we asked what pride means to you – not just the parades, protests and community, but also your feelings, fears and hopes – and whether it can continue to exist in its current form. Here's what readers told us.
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I'm saddened by what pride ‒ and our country ‒ has become
Pride Month was extraordinarily significant to me when it was "our" holiday, until about 15-20 years ago. Since then, it has become a politically divisive public spectacle that is nothing to be proud of. All the corporate trucks and vans with no apparent association to our community, driving slowly down the parade route without even decorating their vehicles, are extravagantly insulting. Recently, there have been more gawking straight families in attendance than LGBTQ+ people.
I'm not at all disappointed with the businesses that are no longer participating in pride events. Their duplicitous "support" only benefited themselves. Our pride is not a commodity, despite the ignorance of younger LGBTQ+ people.
When Pride Month was new in Houston, every business in the Montrose neighborhood closed for the duration of the parade, even the bars. Andy Mills and Ray Hill assumed risks to their lives to direct us participants in the parade down Westheimer Road. They tolerated police raids, arrests and physical abuse by the cops for living authentic lives. They protected marchers from the Ku Klux Klan that threatened us about 40 years ago. Young community members are completely unaware that this is not a frivolous observation.
My wife and I have been exclusively committed for 33 years. In June 2015, the Supreme Court declared our marriage rights and we married the following week. We're in our 70s now and poor. But we're so fearful of President Donald Trump annulling our union that we're selling everything we own to move to Mexico. We have made two frugal trips and now have official Mexican residency cards. We anticipate leaving for good on June 8, the day after my best friend's funeral. We hope never, ever to return.
To the younger LGBTQ+ community: Please educate yourselves. There are only a few of us who were there in the beginning, but we'll be happy to share our information. And the fact is that we feel thoroughly disrespected by you.
— Jazz Paz, 73, Houston
Pride is so much more than rainbows and parades to me
Without a doubt, Pride Month is important, and it means so much more to me than rainbows and parades. From an outside view, it's easy to look at pride as a corporate-centered, rehearsed display of disingenuous virtue signaling. To those of us in the community, that skin-deep assumption is lobbed at us every June.
Pride to me, however, means acceptance. It means reflecting on the endless strife for equality ‒ in marriage, in employment, in housing and in spousal rights. We're celebrating how far we've come, but we're also rallying for the future and the challenges our community still faces.
Corporations and their involvement in Pride Month have long been controversial. Many in our community welcome the awareness, visibility and donations to LGBTQ+ causes. However, others see corporate sponsoring as a market scheme to cash out on our community and its allies by slapping some rainbows on merchandise for a month or making a cliché social media post advertising their support every first of June.
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Indeed, the reversal of several companies this year, deciding that pride is no longer profitable to them during this political climate, has shown just how shallow their sponsorship was all along. When they were given the chance to prove that those who were always skeptical of corporate support of pride were wrong, they didn't hesitate to bend the knee to bigotry and prove the pessimists correct.
The very crux of Trump's second presidency has been to target minorities, whether it be us, racial minorities, the undocumented and many more. I think it's important to point out that just six years ago, Trump was declaring his support for Pride Month on Twitter during his first term. His administration's actions, back then, proved to be the opposite of supporting the LGBTQ+ community, but he still had the gall to at least pretend he cared about us.
Now, Trump wouldn't dare even mention Pride Month in a positive light because the fringe conservative wing he aligns himself with has grown so hateful and obsessed with LGBTQ+ issues that showing any shred of kindness to us would be worthy of excommunication to them.
I would be dumbfounded if the federal government recognized Pride Month during this administration. Cruelty, brashness and classlessness highlight the priorities of this administration. None of these are compatible with pride or what we stand for, so it's easy to see why it's an absolute no for them. Marginalization and apathy are all that Trump and his allies know.
My questions to the older LGBTQ+ generations would be: How have you remained so resilient?
— Jacob Vertrees, 21, Phoenix
My partner and I won't be at Pride Month. I fear for those who will.
I used to think pride was important, but I think that pride, and a lot of other gay events, have been overshadowed by the prevalence and acceptance of drugs in the LGBTQ+ community.
Although we have in the past, my partner and I won't be attending this year, specifically because of this. I think sponsors are pulling out because they don't want to be associated with what it has become.
It took an alarming amount of time for permits to be approved for WorldPride in Washington, DC. I am expecting them to arrest people who congregate on federal lands.
— David Thibodeau, 64, Washington, DC
This is just my 2nd Pride Month out. It feels like finally exhaling.
I think Pride Month's importance cannot be overstated enough. To me, pride means visibility, courage and, most important, joy. It's the exhale of built-up closeted anxiety and fears finally being able to be truly released among a community of those who not only accept you for who you are, but also celebrate it. This will be just my second Pride Month where I'm publicly out, and my grandfather is a gay man who had to live in shame and had the courage to finally come out in the 1980s while his friends died suddenly of AIDS.
Pride is also about honoring those who came before us, who paved the way for our freedom.
I absolutely think corporations and businesses have a role in pride. With such a large, influential monetary impact on society amid a backdrop of volatile and dangerous political rhetoric, corporations have a responsibility and moral obligation to support heritage events like Pride Month. Corporations can make a very powerful impact, which can not only change the lives of those who are struggling but also help boost their own success and productivity. Diversity makes things run smoothly and work better.
Trump is not shy about his direct homophobia, transphobia and attacks against the LGBTQ+ community. His putrid policies, hateful rhetoric and unconstitutional directives purport baseless attacks on the community that do not affect him in any way. If corporations, organizations, communities, lawmakers and individuals do not stand up, mobilize and advocate, we could see our country fall back in time where something as simple as being yourself is punishable by law.
With right-wing extremists at the helm, there is no telling what their next move will be. Would it be surprising? Not at all. But we have the responsibility ‒ as queer people, and those who are allies ‒ to stand up and not allow that to happen. Shunning our pride federally will not and cannot stop celebrations; that's how they win.
How can we rise together to combat this hatred?
— Gillian Gurney, 26, New York City
I'm an educator. I see how meaningful pride is to marginalized students.
As an educator, I realize that marginalized students face daily criticism from false stereotypes, misguided religious zealots and even their parents. Pride Month is not some "liberal" plot. It is a month to recognize marginalized citizens in our society. If we can have Mother's Day, Veterans Day and other events to recognize specific groups, it seems the only ones who dispute helping subgroups are the intolerant haters. Yes to helping anyone in the United States who needs help, not ignoring or hating them.
Since the war on diversity, equity and inclusion began with Project 2025's hope of making America more white-male centric, many American citizens have rejected this arrogant, racist theory. Businesses like Target and Tesla are losing financially and in public opinion.
The Trump administration's goal is to keep the American culture wars as inflamed as possible to deflect from gross mismanagement by Elon Musk and the Republican budget cuts to health care that will decimate senior citizens who rely on Social Security and Medicare for their survival. Sounds a bit like North Korea, does it not?
Why does a mostly white male administration need to target specific communities? Trump is the least Christian president ever; sleeping with a porn star while your wife is pregnant is not found in the New Testament.
— Neil Reilly, 57, Sacramento, California

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Trump aides want Texas to redraw its congressional maps to boost the GOP. What would that mean?
Trump aides want Texas to redraw its congressional maps to boost the GOP. What would that mean?

Yahoo

time23 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Trump aides want Texas to redraw its congressional maps to boost the GOP. What would that mean?

This coverage is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting access. Sign up for Votebeat Texas' free newsletters here. Republicans representing Texas in Congress are considering this week whether to push their state Legislature to take the unusual step of redrawing district lines to shore up the GOP's advantage in the U.S. House. But the contours of the plan, including whether Gov. Greg Abbott would call a special session of the Legislature to redraw the maps, remain largely uncertain. The idea is being driven by President Donald Trump's political advisers, who want to draw up new maps that would give Republicans a better chance to flip seats currently held by Democrats, according to two GOP congressional aides familiar with the matter. That proposal, which would involve shifting GOP voters from safely red districts into neighboring blue ones, is aimed at safeguarding Republicans' thin majority in Congress, where they control the lower chamber, 220-212. The redistricting proposal, and the Trump team's role in pushing it, was first reported by The New York Times Monday. Without a Republican majority in Congress, Trump's legislative agenda would likely stall, and the president could face investigations from newly empowered Democratic committee chairs intent on scrutinizing the White House. Here's what we know about the plan so far: On Capitol Hill, members of the Texas GOP delegation huddled Monday night to discuss the prospect of reshaping their districts. Most of the 25-member group expressed reluctance about the idea, citing concerns about jeopardizing their districts in next year's midterms if the new maps overextended the GOP's advantage, according to the two GOP aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private deliberations. Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock, was skeptical of the idea. 'We just recently worked on the new maps,' Arrington told The Texas Tribune. To reopen the process, he said, 'there'd have to be a significant benefit to our state.' The delegation has yet to be presented with mockups of new maps, two aides said. Each state's political maps must be redrawn once a decade, after each round of the U.S. census, to account for population growth and ensure every congressional and legislative district has roughly the same number of people. Texas lawmakers last overhauled their district lines in 2021. There's no federal law that prohibits states from redrawing district maps midcycle, said Justin Levitt, an election law professor at Loyola Marymount University and a former deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice's civil rights division. Laws around the timing to redraw congressional and state district maps vary by state. In Texas, the state constitution doesn't specify timing, so the redrawing of maps is left to the discretion of the governor and the Legislature. Lawmakers gaveled out of their 140-day regular session last week, meaning they would need to be called back for a special session to change the state's political maps. Abbott has the sole authority to order overtime sessions and decide what lawmakers are allowed to consider. A trial is underway in El Paso in a long-running challenge to the state legislative and congressional district maps Texas drew after the 2020 U.S. Census. If Texas redraws its congressional maps, state officials would then ask the court to toss the claims challenging those districts 'that no longer exist,' Levitt said. The portion of the case over the state legislative district maps would continue. If the judge agrees, then both parties would have to file new legal claims for the updated maps. It isn't clear how much maps could change, but voters could find themselves in new districts, and Levitt said redrawing the lines in the middle of the redistricting cycle is a bad idea. 'If the people of Texas think that their representatives have done a bad job, then when the [district] lines change, they're not voting on those representatives anymore,' Levitt said. 'New people are voting on those representatives.' The National Democratic Redistricting Committee, Democrats' national arm for contesting state GOP mapmaking, said the proposal to expand Republicans' stronghold in Texas was 'yet another example of Trump trying to suppress votes in order to hold onto power.' 'Texas's congressional map is already being sued for violating the Voting Rights Act because it diminishes the voting power of the state's fast-growing Latino population,' John Bisognano, president of the NDRC said. 'To draw an even more extreme gerrymander would only assure that the barrage of legal challenges against Texas will continue.' When Republicans in charge of the Legislature redrew the district lines after the 2020 census, they focused on reinforcing their political support in districts already controlled by the GOP. This redistricting proposal would likely take a different approach. As things stand, Republicans hold 25 of the state's 38 congressional seats. Democrats hold 12 seats and are expected to regain control of Texas' one vacant seat in a special election this fall. Most of Texas' GOP-controlled districts lean heavily Republican: In last year's election, 24 of those 25 seats were carried by a Republican victor who received at least 60% of the vote or ran unopposed. The exception was U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Edinburg, who captured 57% of the vote and won by a comfortable 14-point margin. With little competition to speak of, The Times reported, Trump's political advisers believe at least some of those districts could bear the loss of GOP voters who would be reshuffled into neighboring, Democratic-held districts — giving Republican hopefuls a better chance to flip those seats from blue to red. The party in control of the White House frequently loses seats during midterm cycles, and Trump's team is likely looking to offset potential GOP losses in other states and improve the odds of holding on to a narrow House majority. Incumbent Republicans, though, don't love the idea of sacrificing a comfortable race in a safe district for the possibility of picking up a few seats, according to GOP aides. In 2003, after Texas Republicans initially left it up to the courts to draw new lines following the 2000 census, then-U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Sugar Land Republican, embarked instead on a bold course of action to consolidate GOP power in the state. He, along with his Republican allies, redrew the lines as the opening salvo to a multistate redistricting plan aimed at accumulating power for his party in states across the country. Enraged by the power play, Democrats fled the state, depriving the Texas House of the quorum it needed to function. The rebels eventually relented under threat of arrest, a rare power in the Texas Constitution used to compel absent members back to return to Austin when the Legislature is in session. The lines were then redrawn, cementing the GOP majority the delegation has enjoyed in Washington for the past two decades. However, what's at play this time is different than in the early 2000s, when Republicans had a newfound majority in the Legislature and had a number of vulnerable Democratic incumbents they could pick off. Now, Republicans have been entrenched in the majority for decades and will have to answer the question of whether there's really more to gain, said Kareem Crayton, the vice president of the Brennan Center for Justice's Washington office. 'That's the tradeoff. You can do that too much so that you actually make them so competitive that the other side wins,' Crayton said. 'That's always a danger.' Texas Republicans are planning to reconvene Thursday to continue discussing the plan, according to Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving, and Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, who said they will attend the meeting. Members of Trump's political team are also expected to attend, according to Hunt and two GOP congressional aides familiar with the matter. Natalia Contreras is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with the Texas Tribune. She's based in Corpus Christi. Contact Natalia at ncontreras@ Disclosure: New York Times has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. Big news: 20 more speakers join the TribFest lineup! New additions include Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Michael Curry, former presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church; Beto O'Rourke, former U.S. Representative, D-El Paso; Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, founder and managing partner at 8VC; and Katie Phang, journalist and trial lawyer. Get tickets. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.

ICE raids accelerate, protests spread
ICE raids accelerate, protests spread

The Hill

time27 minutes ago

  • The Hill

ICE raids accelerate, protests spread

Evening Report is The Hill's P.M. newsletter. Sign up here or subscribe in the box below: Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here THE WHITE HOUSE vowed Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids would continue 'unabated,' as protests spread from Los Angeles into other major American cities. Demonstrations have sprung up in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago, Austin, Denver, San Francisco and other major cities. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) sought to rally the nation to his side, as U.S. Marines prepared to join National Guard troops dispatched to keep the peace in Los Angeles. 'This isn't just about protests here in Los Angeles,' Newsom said in a direct-to-camera address. 'This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes.' The White House warned protesters there would be consequences if demonstrations in other cities get out of hand. 'Let this be an unequivocal message to left-wing radicals in other parts of the country who might be thinking about copy-catting the violence in an effort to stop this administration's mass deportation efforts,' said press secretary Karoline Leavitt. 'You will not succeed. Any lawlessness will only strengthen this president's resolve to defend the majority of Americans who want to live their lives peacefully, free from the fear of violent criminal illegal aliens.' The New York Police Department said at least 80 people were arrested at anti-ICE protests in lower Manhattan on Tuesday night. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) deployed the National Guard to deal with protests in his state. 'Peaceful protest is legal,' Abbott posted on X. 'Harming a person or property is illegal & will lead to arrest. @TexasGuard will use every tool & strategy to help law enforcement maintain order.' 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Musk regrets some of his Trump criticisms, says they 'went too far'
Musk regrets some of his Trump criticisms, says they 'went too far'

Yahoo

time28 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Musk regrets some of his Trump criticisms, says they 'went too far'

Musk regrets some of his Trump criticisms, says they 'went too far' Elon Musk, the world's richest person and Donald Trump's former advisor, says he regretted some of his recent criticisms of the US president (Kevin Dietsch) (Kevin Dietsch/GETTY IMAGESvia AFP) Elon Musk, the world's richest person and Donald Trump's former advisor, said Wednesday he regretted some of his recent criticisms of the US president, after the pair's public falling-out last week. "I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far," Musk wrote on his social media platform X, in a message that was received favorably by the White House. Musk's expression of regret came just days after Trump threatened the tech billionaire with "serious consequences" if he sought to punish Republicans who vote for a controversial spending bill. Their blistering break-up -- largely carried out on social media before a riveted public since Thursday last week -- was ignited by Musk's harsh criticism of Trump's so-called "big, beautiful" spending bill, which is currently before Congress. ADVERTISEMENT Some lawmakers who were against the bill had called on Musk -- one of the Republican Party's biggest financial backers in last year's presidential election -- to fund primary challenges against Republicans who voted for the legislation. "He'll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that," Trump, who also branded Musk "disrespectful," told NBC News on Saturday, without specifying what those consequences would be. Trump also said he had "no" desire to repair his relationship with the South African-born Tesla and SpaceX chief, and that he has "no intention of speaking to him." But after Musk's expression of regret, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump was "appreciative," adding that "no efforts" had been made on a threat by Trump to end some of Musk's government contracts. "The president acknowledged the statement that Elon put out this morning, and he is appreciative of it," Leavitt said. ADVERTISEMENT According to the New York Times, Musk's message followed a phone call to Trump late on Monday night. Vice President JD Vance and Chief of Staff Susan Wiles had also been working with Musk on how to broker a truce with Trump, the report said. - 'Wish him well' - In his post on Wednesday, Musk did not specify which of his criticisms of Trump had gone "too far." The former allies had seemed to have cut ties amicably about two weeks ago, with Trump giving Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But their relationship cracked within days, with Musk describing the spending bill as an "abomination" that, if passed by Congress, could define Trump's second term in office. Trump hit back at Musk's comments in an Oval Office diatribe and from there the row detonated, leaving Washington stunned. ADVERTISEMENT Trump later said on his Truth Social platform that cutting billions of dollars in subsidies and contracts to Musk's companies would be the "easiest way" to save the US government money. US media have put the value of the contracts at $18 billion. With real political and economic risks to their falling out, both already appeared to inch back from the brink on Friday, with Trump telling reporters "I just wish him well," and Musk responding on X: "Likewise." Trump had spoken to NBC on Saturday after Musk deleted one of the explosive allegations he had made during their fallout, linking the president with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sex trafficking. bur-arp/aha

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