#American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

[pintadorartist]

ADVOCATES IN CONGRESS HAVE THREATENED TO NOT VOTE FOR ANY SPENDING BILLS UNLESS KOSA IS INCLUDED

While the Continuing Resolutions does not include KOSA, advocates for the bill are still pushing VERY HARD to add it to the package of bills, even going as far as to not vote for disaster relief bills if KOSA is not added to the package of bills.

WE HAVE TO CALL AND MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD. Below are the posts for contact info and call tools to call, email, and fax both representatives and senators to tell them to say NO to KOSA, it's important to keep up the pressure.

STOP KOSA (SENATE VERSION)

STOP KOSA (HOUSE VERSION)

[lassieposting]

Yes, I am an ardent hater of today's "if you feel powerless, don't forget that you can donate :))) even though you can barely feed yourself :)))" culture, where the average person has no power or agency to fight for what they believe in beyond stumping up cash.

Yes, I am going to remind y'all anyway that the American Civil Liberties Union is there to fight for your rights and they could use your support if you have any to spare. If you subscribe to their newsletter they send you regular updates on what they're doing to fight Drumpf and his force of fascist fuckwits.

[captainxtra]

HEADS UP! HR 9495 HAS BEEN RECEIVED IN SENATE!

Reminder on how to find your Senators!

If you have a GOP/MAGA Senator, use this advice from Reddit in trying to convince them to oppose it:

Do not stop fighting!

[mentally-quiet-spycrab]

Urgent update!

Stop HR9495!

Say NO to S.5384! (Stop the bill that Abolishes the Department of Education, and for Other Purposes)

Say NO to H.R. 9218! (Stop the bill that would allow Representatives to re-define what Biological Sex is)

Say NO to SB72! (Ref 1) (ref 2)

Tell Congress: Take action to prevent cuts to IRS funding in the end-of-year government funding bill! (HURRY BEFORE DECEMBER 20TH COMES!)

(PLEASE CHECK AND COPY THE LINKS HERE AND REBLOG/REPOST THEM ON A NEW POST TO KEEP IT TO RELEVANCE!)

Stop HR9495 by calling your Representatives and Senators!

Spread awareness about the Australian Social Media Ban!

Stop the DOGE Acts!

Stop 472472!

Keep fighting! Please spread the word on BlueSky, Reddit, Instagram, etc.!

Call and message Majority Office, Senate Democrats to help Impeach trump and prevent him from taking role of president!

REJECT Brooke Rollins for Secretary of Department of Agriculture!

Say NO to Congress’s plan to gut Medicaid for tax giveaways to the rich and corporations!

Demand Congress that they Need to Safeguard Our Democracy! They must passes new federal legislation strengthening protections for voting rights and preventing election subversion! (Donations)

Resist Trump and Vance! Help Democrats TAKE BACK Congress and defend democracy! (WITH DONATIONS)

Help End the Age of Plastics: Global Plastics Treaty Now! (DONATE)

Help Bend the Arc reach $15,000 in donations to help resist Trump!

Help us DEFEND public education from the Trump/Vance administration! (With donations)

Protect public education and defend democracy!

Ireland must keep supporting Syrian refugees! Please sign Petition! (URGENT!)

Donate to Casa to help Defend Immigrants!

(NOTE: Please Repost or Reblog. Just likes alone don't really do much.)

[goopgirlie813]

https://action.aclu.org/reg-action/keep-trump-administrations-hands-our-data

The ACLU has set up a page to submit a demand that Biden make an exectuive order to prevent the government from buying people's data. This could be massive because if the Trump administration has that kind of access to people's information it could easily be used against people (like tracking people's periods to prevent them from getting abortions or targeting political opponents.)

I would also suggest just looking through the ACLU website in general and seeing what you can contribute to. Maybe make some posts of your own about them so they can get more support.

https://www.aclu.org/

[benandstevesposts]

CALIFORNIA POLICE OFFICER IN SPOTLIGHT FOR BODY SLAMMING LADY OUTSIDE GROCERY STORE

A police officer’s violent actions in southern California are being investigated after video footage showed the white cop brutalizing an unarmed Black woman for the apparent offense of recording officers detaining her husband.

The video footage recorded by a witness began by showing the woman holding a cell phone and filming officers handcuffing her husband, who can be heard repeatedly asking “why” he was being detained outside the supermarket in Lancaster.

After two officers struggled to handcuff the husband, one walked directly to the wife. When the camera follows the officer, he’s shown grabbing the wife by the back of her neck before violently flinging her to the ground.

The person recording can be heard yelling for the cop to “get off of her” and not to hit her to no avail.

The cop is next shown kneeling on the wife’s neck, evoking horrific imagery from Derek Chavin’s police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

As with the woman’s husband, the officer struggled to place her in handcuffs even though she wasn’t resisting.

Her husband can be heard in the background pleading for the officer to stop. He also said she has cancer. Neither claim prevented the officer from accosting the woman standing at least 20 feet away from the officers when they were handcuffing her husband.

To view the video, you may visit the original report by visiting the site it appeared here.

UPDATED REPORT ADDED REGARDING AREA WHERE ALLEGED ASSAULT TOOK PLACE

[commiepinkofag]

Threat of KOSA Remains Despite Revisions

KOSA now has the support of 60 senators.

The larger organizations for 'respectable gays' like HRC, GLAAD & GLSEN have withdrawn opposition against KOSA in its latest draft.

These national conservative gay organizations continue to throw queer & trans folx under the bus.

American Civil Liberties Union still opposes KOSA

“At its core, KOSA is still an internet censorship bill that will harm the very communities it claims to protect,” said Jenna Leventoff, ACLU senior policy counsel. “The First Amendment guarantees everyone, including children, the right to access information free from censorship. We urge lawmakers to continue to amend this bill so the government is no longer the one determining what content is or is not fit for children.”

From ACLU:

Requiring or incentivizing age-verification chills speech for adults and minors

“Duty of Care” requirements still entice platforms to censor content

Government interference in online speech is unconstitutional

Take Action

[speedygal]

I'm very glad to see they are willing and ready to go into another long drawn battle that spans four years defending democracy that means beating up fascism in the courts. Stopping him. at. every. chance they can get.

ACLU, you're our only hope stopping America from being gutted and transformed into something negative.

The hero that millions of people need.

The hero that we need.

The hero that America needs.

The hero who can be a safeguard to America keeping it from going off the rails from the very first minute.

We're counting on you!

Fight! Fight! Fight!

[life-of-sebastian]

Y'all, please donate to the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), they are fighting for our civil rights.

[pintadorartist]

Bill HR 9495 still remains a threat to nonprofits and independent news

Bill H.R. 9495, aka the “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act,” was meant to protect US Hostages from tax penalties; the problem is that the bill received an add-on that would give the Treasury Secretary the power to strip any non-profit of their tax-exempt status based on the idea that the nonprofit is a “terrorist supporting” organization, all without due process or a justification.

And although another exemption was added to the bill that would "protect" Non-profits from this by exempting Non-Profits that have approval from the Office of Foreign Assets Control(OFAC). This would still target non-profit organizations since all it would take to attack them is to just rescind that prior approval

This would give the upcoming Trump administration the power to kill any non-profit org, from AO3 to the ACLU. Even local nonprofits and independent news sources could be stripped of their status and be unable to receive funding to stay open, all because they had different views than the government.

Unfortunately, the bill passed the House and is headed toward the Senate, but there hasn't been any update regarding the bill or a date to vote on it; it's probably best to find your Senator and call, email, or fax them to tell them to vote no if it comes to a vote.

Below are some tools and a list of Senate leaders you should call in addition to your senator:

Democrat Senate Leaders:

Chuck Schumer:

Phone: (202) 224-6542

Fax: (202) 228-3027

Dick Durbin:

Phone: 202-224-2152

Debbie Stabenow:

Phone:(202) 224-4822

Elizabeth Warren:

Phone: (202) 224-4543

Mark R. Warner:

Phone: 202-224-2023

Amy Klobuchar:

Phone: 202-224-3244

Fax: 202-228-2186

Bernie Sanders:

Phone: 202-224-5141 Fax: 202-228-0776

Catherine Cortez Masto:

Phone: (202) 224-3542

Joe Manchin:

Phone: 202-224-3954 Fax: 202-228-0002

Cory A. Booker:

Phone: (202) 224-3224

Fax: (202) 224-8378

Tammy Baldwin:

Phone: (202) 224-5653

Brian Schatz:

Phone: (202) 224-3934

Republican Senate Leaders:

Mitch McConnell:

Phone: (202) 224-2541 Fax: (202) 224-2499

John Thune:

Phone: (202) 224-2321

Fax: (202) 228-5429

John Barrasso:

Main: 202-224-6441 Fax: 202-224-1724

Joni Ernst:

PHONE: (319) 365-4504

FAX: (319) 365-4683

Shelley Capito:

Phone: 202-224-6472

Steve Daines:

p: (202) 224-2651 f: 202-228-1236

Find Your Senator:

Or you can call the Congressional switchboard today and ask to be connected with each of your Senators’ offices. Demand they vote against this bill: (202) 224-3121

If you don’t like talking to people, you can call after their offices close so you can leave a message

you can also Text RESIST to 50409 to send your message into a fax and email to your senator

Fax tool:

Here are some call scripts that you can use as fax and email as well:

If you have a Democrat Senator, you can use this script:

“I am calling Senator [THEIR LAST NAME] as a constituent to urge them to vote against the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, when it comes to the Senate floor. This bill would give the Treasury the power to kill non-profit organizations without evidence, and will be used as a sledge hammer to destroy any organization that speaks out against the incoming President’s agenda. No matter who was in power, this bill would be authoritarian and ripe for abuse. Handing this power to a President known to be vindictive, and who has promised to be a “day one” dictator, would be a failure of congressional leadership. Please share my thoughts with the Senator, urging them to vote against this dangerous legislation. Thank you”

If you have a Republican Senator, you can use this script:

“As your constituent, I urge you to vote NO on H.R. 9495. This bill poses a dangerous threat to the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment and must not pass the Senate. It grants any incoming administration unchecked authority to revoke the tax-exempt status of non-profit organizations without oversight or due process. Such government overreach is not what the Founding Fathers envisioned for our democracy. This bill undermines the principles of free speech and freedom of association, cornerstones of American liberty.

H.R. 9495 threatens to pave the way for political suppression, allowing the government to selectively target and shut down organizations based on ideological disagreements. This could affect any non-profit, including churches and conservative groups, as well as organizations that champion human rights and civil liberties. Regardless of political leanings, this bill sets a chilling precedent that no American patriot should support.

While situations relating to the hostages deserve careful attention, they can and should be addressed in a separate, narrowly tailored bill. H.R. 9495, however, is a broad, unconstitutional overreach that strikes at the heart of free speech and freedom. It is unpatriotic and incompatible with the values we hold dear as Americans.

I implore you to stand as a defender of liberty and uphold the rights of your constituents. Be a patriot, listen to the voice of the people, protect our God given right to free speech as Americans, and reject this dangerous legislation. Vote NO on H.R. 9495. Thank you, God Bless and God Bless America.”

Here’s that petition again:

[tenderlywicked]

I'm very glad my short story was included in this anthology after all! It might be a bit weird but it means a lot to me :) It's about two modes of resilience during dark times, and there's some Slavic mythology and m/m romance mixed in. Huge thanks to @fromhereonblind for beta-reading it!

The book will be out on January 20th. At the moment, it's still possible to join the ARC team and read it for free, or you can pre-order it on Amazon. And reposts are most welcome of course :)

The whole list of authors:

[captainxtra]

A reminder that House and Senate will be back in session this coming week, we need to look out for bad bills like HR 9495 in case they do go up for a vote.

Reminder on how to find your Senator in order to contact them:

If you have a GOP/MAGA Senator, read the advice given here:

Don’t spam them with messages!

[mentally-quiet-spycrab]

In a leaked memo, Trump’s pick Anti-LGBTQ and transphobic Andrew Ferguson, who vows to reverse Khan’s “war on mergers,” fight “wokeness,” and target the “trans agenda.” And it gets worse– as a current FTC commissioner, Ferguson would become chair on day 1 of the Trump administration, no Senate confirmation needed.

The FTC is responsible for keeping Big Tech companies like Amazon and Meta in check, overseeing the growing use of AI, and fighting for everyday internet users’ rights. Instead, Trump wants to weaponize the FTC against queer and trans people, covering with weak lip service to “reigning in Big Tech.” We deserve an FTC working in our interest.

With Ferguson at the helm, the FTC could do major damage to anti-trust wins and put our most marginalized communities at risk.

Please help the Fight for The Future campaign with a donation to fuel the uphill battle against Trump’s FTC in the new year!

Spread it to BlueSky, Reddit, etc.!

[vyorei]

That's a true statement that needs audible support from the public.