Marissa Higgins

The nation is reflecting on and mourning the events of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., and of course, in anticipation of the anniversary of this stain on national history, Fox News has been eager to question why Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s husband, Chasten Buttigieg, traveled with him overseas. 

Huh?

Somehow, yes. That is, in fact, what Fox News host Bret Baier tried to pull on Thursday, Jan. 5.

If anyone is having a rough start to the new year, I’m willing to bet it’s Rep.-elect George Santos. The openly gay MAGA Republican is swimming in controversy, and (somehow) it’s not about being just a Trump supporter, or a gay Republican, or even his defeat of an openly gay Democrat in New York’s 3rd District race, which includes parts of Long Island and Queens.

I’ve stayed in my fair share of Airbnbs. I’ve stayed in units where I had the entire space to myself, and I’ve stayed in units where the host was present. I’ve gone for the cheapest option, and I’ve splurged. But at this point, I’d choose a hotel every time. 

Preference counts here, obviously. In my personal view, there is something to be said for privacy.

In the wake of the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students—21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves; 21-year-old Madison Mogen; 20-year-old Xana Kernodle; and 20-year-old Ethan Chapin—Moscow Police have worked seemingly day and night alongside the FBI to solve this particularly disturbing (and befuddling) crime.

Depending on the news source you’ve followed on a very big and disturbing new case out of Riverside, California, it might be unclear to you whether or not Austin Edwards—the 28-year-old cop who allegedly catfished a teenager before killing her family—was an active officer of the law at the time of the crime.

There is no joy quite like diving into a debut book from a rising star writer. There’s a certain excitement and energy that, in my opinion, can’t be replicated. Of course, just being a debut doesn’t mean the book is great, or more specifically, great to your own taste.

Years into the COVID-19 pandemic, people are understandably eager to try and get back into “normal” life again. But the hard reality is that the public health crisis is far from over, and we are still learning how COVID-19 impacts us in both the short and long term. While some folks are eager to move away from masking—including in indoor spaces, like restaurants and classrooms—we know that masks actually do work pretty darn well at reducing the spread of the virus.

As part of the Republican effort to demonize and isolate LGBTQ+ people (and allies), conservatives have homed in on the lives of trans youth and adults. As we approach midterm elections, for example, we’ve watched Republicans push anti-trans bills to bar trans girls and women from participating in girls’ sports teams and keep trans folks from accessing the appropriate bathrooms and locker rooms.

Young people shouldn’t have to worry about their basic rights, dignities, and protections from harassment and abuse, but of course, thanks to Republicans, they do. Conservatives haven’t been shy about demonizing and isolating LGBTQ+ youth—and especially trans youth—from their peers if they think it’ll get them more votes in the midterm elections.

Another day, another Republican trying to turn the general public against a vulnerable, marginalized population. This time, we can look at a recent campaign ad from Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who decided to use trans folks as a scapegoat to try and get reelected in Kentucky, as covered by LGBTQ Nation. In the big picture, we’ve seen conservatives accuse trans girls of ruining the chances of cis girls to play sports and earn titles and scholarships.

Though Republicans love to accuse LGBTQ+ folks and allies of “grooming” young people into being queer, the reality is that our society is so deeply ingrained in a cisgender, heterosexual world that most people don’t even consider aspects of life to be norms—they just see it as normal.

LGBTQ+ people and allies are absolutely everywhere—and that includes religious spaces and higher education. One example of this comes to us out of Brigham Young University (BYU), a school operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, based in Provo, Utah. You might remember we covered the brave story of graduate Jillian Orr, an openly bisexual woman who went viral for revealing the Pride flag under her commencement robes.

Daily Kos recently covered the disturbing threats of violence—including an actual bomb threat—folks at Boston Children’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, faced because of extremist right-wing hysteria over trans rights. The hospital offers safe, age-appropriate, gender-affirming health care to trans people, including youth of certain ages. That treatment might include, for example, puberty blockers.

On Monday, Aug. 22, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who heralded the COVID-19 response for the United States amid the ongoing global pandemic, announced he will retire by the end of the year.

In a statement, Fauci clarified he is stepping down from his role as both chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden as well as his position as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

If you follow trans rights and trans news regularly, you’ll likely experience a number of ups and downs when it comes to good news versus bad news. Republicans are pretty much always at the helm of pushing violent, dangerous anti-trans ideologies and bills, including access to sports, health care, and even bathrooms and locker rooms.

As Daily Kos has continued to cover, Republicans are going after books. Attempts to ban books are so outrageous, that they sound like satire, but they’re sadly extremely real, and so are the ramifications of young people (and adults) losing access to stories by and about marginalized people. As covered by the Salt Lake Tribune, more than fifty books by several dozen authors are set to be removed from public school libraries in the biggest school district in Utah.

Republicans are launching all-out attacks on LGBTQ+ youth and adults. As Daily Kos has continued to cover, we’re seeing discriminatory anti-trans bills catch major speed across the nation, especially when it comes to denying people access to sports, bathrooms, and even life-saving gender-affirming health care.

If there’s one thing social media is good for, it’s recirculating events that have slightly faded from collective memory—or simply happened before viewers were around to see them. While this phenomenon can sometimes (unfortunately) mean folks are spreading misinformation by presenting photos or videos as though they’re current events, other times it’s just a way for people to react to and bond over moments that were, well, viral-worthy.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on abortion access and the law, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri attempted to derail the otherwise incredibly important conversation by trying to trip up expert Khiara Bridges. Bridges, a law professor at the University of California-Berkeley, had used inclusive language when referring to people who seek abortions. And Hawley couldn’t handle it.

Republicans love to churn false hysteria over trans folks, especially when it comes to trans adults being villainous predators. Conservatives paint a sadly familiar (and false) picture: Trans people “pretend” to be who they are in order to access spaces not intended for them and use that opportunity to prey on vulnerable people, like women and children.

Writing about a love of reading can feel like preaching to the choir. After all, most people who sit down to read such a thing (probably) like reading enough as a baseline to bother … Well, reading. But I still feel there is no solace quite like a book. It feels trite to say we’re in difficult times, but again, it feels true to say that books have been helping me keep a sense of stability and relief while so many of us are under so much stress.

In spite of it being Pride Month, Republicans aren’t making it easy for LGBTQ+ folks and allies to have many recent wins to celebrate. One victory comes to us thanks to Democratic Gov. David Ige, however, as he signed not one, not two, but three pro-LGBTQ+ bills into law to help protect and serve queer folks in Hawaii, as reported by the Los Angeles Blade.

So much about making a career as a writer is opaque and exclusionary. There’s also a lot that, frankly, simply depends on your specific situation. It’s hard to give advice that will work for everyone, much less most people.

Here in the United States, we have a truly unwieldy number of issues to tackle at any given time, especially if you’re not a white, cisgender, heterosexual, able-bodied person. Those people face real issues and barriers, too, of course, but marginalized folks face all of those and then some. Extra sadly but not surprisingly, low-income youth in the nation also face barriers, including access to school lunch.

We’re still trying to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, gun violence and police brutality continue to endanger everyone (especially people of color and Black men in particular), and Republicans are gearing up for the midterm elections by … banning books. Ah yes, the Republican way: distract and enrage. 

As Daily Kos has covered at length, we know conservatives are trying to attack marginalized folks on all fronts.

All young people attending school have had their worlds fundamentally altered during the COVID-19 pandemic. While some students are back in the in-person classroom—and even some without face masks—plenty of students are still in virtual or hybrid classrooms. Some people are homeschooled or learning on the road with their families.

As covered over at The Washington Post, White House officials are, as of the time of writing, planning to cancel $10,000 in federal student loans per borrower for individuals who earn less than $150,000. For married couples filing jointly, the cap is $300,000. Both incomes are based on the previous year. It seems there is no additional income testing.

Republicans at all levels of government have made book bans a recent rallying cry. Under the guise of fighting critical race theory (CRT), conservatives have lit hysteria under their voting base by convincing them that “inappropriate” books are going to invade their child’s brain. In reality, these books are more often than not by or about LGBTQ+ and/or people of color, with a handful of white, cisgender, heterosexual writers thrown in too.

Thanks to Republican hate and queerphobia, trans youth are already suffering. As Daily Kos has covered, trans and nonbinary youth are uniquely ill-protected when it comes to basic rights and dignities, including everyday things like having access to bathrooms that align with their gender identity. We’ve also seen efforts to ban already difficult to access safe, age-appropriate, gender-affirming health care.

As Daily Kos has covered at length, Republicans are making it exceptionally difficult for LGBTQ+ students, teachers, families, and frankly, people in general. This sad fact is unfortunately especially true in the state of Florida, with a special thanks to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed the discriminatory Don’t Say Gay bill into law. In short, the legislation bars public school staff, including teachers, from discussing LGBTQ+ topics or identities in the classroom.