#vote for the rights of the LGBTQIA

[fishiteeth]

Toby may technically be a felon but he's not a convicted one so he can vote!

Unlike one of the presidential candidates....

All of my of-age American followers or folks who see this, please remember to get out there and vote

I voted in order to make sure I can keep my rights this morning and I implore yall to do the same

I am not a political account and this will be the only directly political piece you see from me

[reasonsforhope]

"Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear banned the use of ��conversion therapy” on minors in Kentucky on Wednesday, calling his executive order a necessary step to protect children from a widely discredited practice that tries to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling.

The governor used his executive powers after Republicans who control the state legislature repeatedly blocked efforts to enact a state law banning the practice. Beshear said he would no longer wait for others to “do what’s right.”

“My faith teaches me that all children are children of God,” Beshear said during the signing ceremony at the Kentucky Capitol. “And where practices are endangering and even harming those children, we must act. The practice of so-called ‘conversion therapy’ hurts our children.”

It was the latest action in a national debate over conversion therapy and the rights of LGBTQ+ children and their families.

The Kentucky event stirred many emotions. Activists for mental health and LGBTQ+ rights cheered the governor, but as he prepared to sign the ban, someone nearby shouted, “This is a denial of affirmation therapy!” Supporters drowned out the protest.

Among those in attendance was Zach Meiners, a 34-year-old filmmaker who said he wants young people to be spared the anguish and harm he endured during four years of therapy as a teenager, which caused him “anxiety and depression in ways that I’m still unraveling.”

“I can speak firsthand to how devastating it can be to someone’s mental health,” Meiners said in an interview. “And I consider myself very lucky to be a survivor.” ...

Nearly half the states and the District of Columbia prohibit conversion therapy on minors, Beshear’s office said. In Kentucky, 21% of LGBTQ young people reported being threatened with or subjected to conversion therapy, according to the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people."

-via AP News, September 18, 2024

--

Note: That last paragraph puts in perspective for me just how far we've come, even amongst all the hate. Fifteen years ago, not a single state banned conversion therapy for minors. Ten years ago, only two states banned conversion therapy. As of this law, 24 states now ban conversion therapy for minors, plus DC, with another three having some restrictions on the process.

I remember how amazed and relieved I was, when my state (California) became the second state ever to ban conversion therapy for minor in 2012. Now those protections apply to almost half of the states, and probably well over half the US population (I'm too tired to do the math but blue states tend to have significantly more people.)

They can't close the barn doors on this. It's too late. We're already out the door, and our rights are breaking out alongside us more and more every year.

[reasonandempathy]

Walz has served as Minnesota’s governor since 2019 after 12 years in the House of Representatives and now chairs the Democratic Governors Association. He has built a reputation as a folksy politician who can get things done, as Minnesota has adopted a number of progressive laws during his tenure. According to a poll conducted earlier this year, Walz enjoys an approval rating of 55% among Minnesotans. Since Minnesota Democrats achieved a legislative trifecta in the 2022 elections, Walz and his allies have used their power to push a slate of progressive policies. The governor has signed bills protecting abortion access, expanding background checks for prospective gun owners and legalizing recreational marijuana. “Right now, Minnesota is showing the country you don’t win elections to bank political capital,” Walz said last year. “You win elections to burn political capital and improve lives.” That philosophy has endeared him to progressives, who threw their support behind him as the veepstakes kicked into high gear over the past two weeks. They reshared clips of Walz lovingly mocking his daughter’s vegetarianism and tinkering with his car to paint him as the dad that America needs right now.

This is fucking awesome! Honestly, sincerely good news and a very promising pick for the potential Harris Administration. An aggressive, unabashed, popular, populist left-winger with a track record of enacting real, substantive help for people is capital-G Great.

What has he done, specifically?

Abortion rights

In a 1995 ruling, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld abortion rights in Minnesota. In January 2023, Walz signed the PRO Act (Protect Reproductive Options Act) into law, making abortion a "fundamental right," as well as access to contraception, fertility treatments, sterilization and other reproductive health care.

The law made Minnesota the first state to codify abortion rights in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which nullified Roe. v. Wade after nearly 50 years of precedent. In April 2023, Walz signed the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act into law, shielding women and providers from any legal action originating from the patient's state.

Pro-LGBTQIA+ legislation

In March 2023, Walz signed an executive order to protect the right of residents to have access to gender-affirming health care. Weeks later, he signed the "Trans Refuge" bill, banning the enforcement of arrest warrants, extradition requests and out-of-state subpoenas for those who traveled to Minnesota for care.

"When someone else is given basic rights, others don't lose theirs," Walz said. "We aren't cutting a pie here. We're giving basic rights to every single Minnesotan."

Paid family, medical and sick leave

In May 2023, Walz signed a law creating a state-run program to provide paid family and medical leave for Minnesota workers, funded by a 0.7% payroll tax on employers, by 2026.

Legalization of recreational marijuana

In May 2023, Minnesota became the 23rd state in the nation to legalize recreational cannabis use. Three months later, people 21 and older could start to possess certain amounts of marijuana at home and on their person, in addition to legally growing up to eight plants at a time.

Restoration of voting rights for former felons

In March 2023, Walz signed a bill that restored the right to vote to more than 50,000 convicted felons who had already served their time.

Universal school meals

Amid the increase in food insecurity for many Minnesotans during the pandemic, and the subsequent strain on the state's food shelves that remains to this day, Walz signed a bill in March 2023 that ensures all K-12 students in the state have access to free breakfast and lunch on school days.

Do you know what makes this even better?

Fuck 'Em. I know negative partisanship is important and can help motivate right-wingers to vote, but they're going to vote anyway. And him being afraid of Walz is just a sign that he's a good pick, in policy and politics.

[rollwithdicey]

Before I get back to fully posting normally I also want to put this out there,

If you live in the United States,

If you become a member of the Satanic Temple you are legally protected by your First Amendment right for "Freedom Of Religion" to your own bodily autonomy.

The Satanic Temple is legally recognized as a church by the IRS and the Federal Court System. The are in multiple lawsuits against states such as Texas, Idaho, Missouri, and Arkansas that are implementing strict abortion bans.

This Bodily Autonomy also includes LGBTQIA+ members and Transgender individuals seeking medical attention

You can contact them and they will fight for you and your rights to practice your religion

This link brings you to their RRR Campaign page for more information:

Signing up is free and you can easily find a congregation near you, and it's not exclusive to the US, but for what's currently happening in the US following the presidential election, I'm making this post for you. You're also able to purchase a membership card and certificate after you join but joining is completely free.

One's body is inviolable, subject to one's own will alone.

Hail thyself

[nyxieluvs]

I swear to fucking god.

If any of you who call yourselves allies try to gamble with our fucking rights in November by voting independent don't even fucking bother calling yourself that. I'm all for voting independent *when its fucking safe* Its not safe. Project 2025 WILL become reality if Trump wins, and if you facilitate that by gambling with our rights then you can get out. I don't want to die because you're unrealistically optimistic.

[wobblefloss]

Link to full article on OTW website.

Hey. Yo.

Call your US senators!

TLDR::

Bill 9495 would allow the US government to kill OTW and Ao3. (And any other organizations that help LGBTQIA+ or homeless or immigrant or womb-having or etc communities!!) Call your 2 US senators and tell them NO!

Full text of the bill.

I see this is bad, but I don't know my senators.

No problem! Enter your address here, and you'll get your 2 senators and your House Representative. The House has already passed this bad bill. Call the senators. Their phone numbers will be listed under their names.

I don't know what to say, though.

Very little, actually! I just called my two senators.

One had an "Opinion Voicemail" set up for me to say, "Hi, my name is [XXX] and I live in your state. I want you to vote NO on 9495. It's very bad and I feel very strongly about this."

For my second senator, I said the same thing to a staffer with a tally sheet.

No one is expecting you to defend your opinion or to give your reasons. You can explain yourself, but you won't be talking to the senator directly. No need to worry about sounding super-political or ultra-smart.

Does this really work?

Yes, actually! What makes it work isn't that any one of us gives a speech so powerful that we single-handly change the hearts and minds of the US Congress. It's a group effort.

When hundreds of us call and bitch about it to each of our senators, that's 100 senators from 50 states with 100 headaches from all the calls.

Some senators are cool and already agree to vote NO on 9495.

Some senators need to be made aware of just how many of us there are. We're watching. We're voting.

Do your duty as a US citizen. Keep AO3, its writers, & its readers safe.

Call and Complain.

[theacecouple]

TOMORROW!

October 23rd, 2024 is the 4th annual Disabled Ace Day!

Disabled Ace Day, which takes place on Wednesday during Ace Week, is dedicated to awareness, visibility, and celebration of the intersections of Asexuality and Disability and advocates for material and social support of Disabled Aces everywhere.

With a vitally important election coming up in the US, we will be talking politics tomorrow on the The Ace Couple podcast by discussing the laws that create marriage inequality in our country for Disabled people, for Asexual & Aromantic people, and for Black Americans.

Obergefell v. Hodges may have allowed for same-sex marriage at the federal level, but it does NOT mean that we have true marriage equality in this country.

We encourage Disabled Aces from around the globe to talk about your own experience, be it personal or political, to raise awareness this Ace Week.

Disabled Ace Day logo by Emmalee Larghi Dahlgren

[nadias-orizonta]

If nothing else, you're still here. I cannot stress enough YOU'RE STILL HERE!!! You were here last time, you survived long enough to still be here now. I'm proud of you! If they want us gone, make them work for it. If they want to take our rights, fight to hold on and if they win, fight back again and again and again!!! They take so much already, don't let them take your hope, don't make it easy for them, don't give them your heart, never give up your life!

The one thing they hate more than anything, is the fact that YOU ARE STILL HERE!!!

Let them seethe, let them cry, let them be consumed by the hate in their hearts, and let them be forgotten by all but the dirt they'll rot within.

Let them watch as all of their work amounts to nothing because WE WILL STILL BE HERE!!!!

[quantumfrail]

[thalassianwaves]

THERE'S STILL TIME TO STOP TRUMP

Not enough people are talking about this and there's still time.

Trump did actually cheat and someone compiled all the evidence on twitter: https://x.com/Espaking2/status/1854287198331515005

Edit:

If you don't have twitter, this will show most of the thread but may not have the entire thing: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1854287198331515005.html

People are reposting and saving it because from what I saw in the comments, Elon has been deleting any evidence against trump tampering the election.

- Trump said a few weeks back that he didn't need anymore votes, that he had more than enough.

- Trump also said he 'had a trick up his sleeve' to win.

- A bomb scare was called into areas where voting was taking place, so people would flee the areas and not vote.

- Ballot boxes were then set on fire by trump supporters.

- 20 MILLION Ballots went missing. People only just got emails today about their ballots going missing, their signatures suddenly not being accepted, or some outright being destroyed if they didn't vote for trump.

- Trump has a long history of lying, cheating, blackmailing and bribing people to get what he wants.

- Kamala was in the lead to win but literally after these ballots were lost and after the russian bomb scare, somehow trump ended up with the highest republican vote in over 20+ years.

- Russian software used for rigging elections was found being used.

All of the evidence is in that tweet but I've also saved a copy of everything in case Elon attacks that post too. There's a link to contact the white house and to (politely) demand a refund due to the evidence of trump cheating:

Submit directly to the president.

Click the first option, select your reasoning as election security.

State these pieces of information as a paragraph:

- 32 fake bomb threats were called into democratic leaning poll places, rendering polls to be closed for at least an hour

- a lot of people reporting their ballots weren't counted for various reasons that are not very sound seeming (signature invalidation, information that vote counter could not have had)

- This all occured in swing states (PA, Nevada, Georigia, ETC.)

- This is all too coincidental that these things happen and swing in his favor after months of hinting of foul play

- Directly stat that an investigation for tampering/fraud is required, not just a recount.

Again, there is not much time, please, please, please make this spread like wildfire, there's still time to do this!

(trigger warning, SA

(trump is not a good person. Aside from a history of the above and dodgy legal activities, he also has a long history of SA towards women and children. Trump is a convicted p*dophile and project 2025 will strip away the rights from anyone who isn't a cis white man.

Please, please, please spread this information, read through the twitter evidence thread and share it. There's still time to demand an investigation but we have to act NOW

[squishymain]

Reminder

[limerence-leftovers]

I voted. I tried. I love you.

— Millions of Americans for Kamala Harris

[whatareyoureallyafraidof]

You can bet your ass!

[1stpoliticalcartoons]

[whenweallvote]

It’s the last weekend of Pride, y’all! #Pride started as an uprising in 1969, and we have the numbers to bring that same energy straight to the voting booth in 2024. 

Join us and Billy Porter in registering to vote now at weall.vote/register.

[monchy-cronchy]

Exist unapologetically‼️♿️🏳️‍⚧️

It’s a hard time for a lot of communities right now, in the US because of the election. It’s not yet over, but it’s not looking very good. Remember to be yourself, but safely! They don’t want us to exist. They don’t LIKE us existing, so EXIST. Do not disappear. Do not lay silent. Do not fall, we have each other.

Be safe, be proud, be you. 💙

and if for some god awful reason you follow any of my socials and voted red, get the hell out