ArchiveJune 2021

A right-wing group is bragging about disrupting a meeting of the Loudoun County, Virginia, School Board on Tuesday night that had convened to discuss inclusivity. One man was arrested, another person was injured, and one man was ticketed for trespassing as the school board heard public comments on a draft policy for the Loudoun County Public Schools that would mandate “All students shall be...

Senior White House officials met with leaders from several LGBTQ and gender justice groups on Monday to discuss the importance of Congress passing the Equality Act. Those leaders say the country is more than ready for the broad protections the bill would provide to millions of Americans. The legislation, which would provide sweeping nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people in housing...

During a Senate hearing Tuesday on statehood for Washington, D.C., Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) argued against representation for the city’s over 690,000 residents, asserting that they can just move to neighboring states if they want voting representation in Congress. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, of which Lankford is a member, held a hearing titled...

In a speech given on the floor of the Senate on Monday night, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) extensively quoted from a bigoted column written by conservative pundit Mark Steyn. Tuberville made his statement in the course of attacking “critical race theory,” an approach to the academic study of systemic racism that many Republicans have recently called a divisive anti-American concept...

In a pleading letter to Senate and House leadership, more than 480 state legislators called for the passage of H.R. 1, the For the People Act, Democrats’ major voting rights bill that is likely destined for failure when it comes to a vote Tuesday. “We are out of options. We need your help,” the lawmakers, representing all 50 states, wrote Monday. They added, “The world is...

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) on Thursday described her 2020 House election victory in terms often used by Christian conservatives that place U.S. politics in a context of biblical miracles. During an interview with Tony Perkins, president of the far-right anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council, Boebert said, “My victory in this race is certainly a sign and a wonder, just like God promised.”...

The White House issued a careful response on Monday, after an influential group of U.S. Catholic bishops advanced a plan to potentially rebuke President Joe Biden and other progressive politicians for their stance on abortion. “It’s personal to him. He doesn’t see it through a political prism,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at a daily press briefing...

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough announced on June 19 that his department will move forward with plans to offer veterans gender transition-related surgeries. According to a transcript published by Lambda Legal, McDonough said, “I am announcing today that we are taking the first necessary steps to expand VA’s care to include gender confirmation surgery — thus allowing...

Idaho Republican gubernatorial candidate Ammon Bundy claimed America was under attack from an “invasive species” that must be destroyed in a video posted online a few weeks before he declared his candidacy over the weekend. Bundy, a notorious anti-government militant, formally kicked off his gubernatorial campaign on Saturday, June 19. He joins seven other candidates who are already...

On July 20, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will cross the final frontier with an 11-minute rocket trip into space. Tens of thousands of petitioners are asking that he stay there. Bezos will travel to space with his brother Mark and another private citizen who bid $28 million in an auction conducted by Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Bezos in 2000 that is sending the New Shepard...