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Trans medical history and its origins in Nazi medicine focused on sterilizing gay people.

Curiously, I am unable to seem to be able to find my last post I made in sharing Malcolm Clark's posts; it seems to have been removed. I would like to share Tumblr's anti-terrorism clause: "We don't tolerate content that promotes, encourages, or incites acts of terrorism. That includes content which supports or celebrates terrorist organizations, their leaders, or associated violent activities". I would also like to take a moment to recognize that Tumblr promotes and supports quite a lot of "gender affirmation" and trans healthcare related content. As a lesbian who is Jewish, I would also would like to express my appreciation for Tumblr's anti hate speech clause, which describes not promoting violence and hatred among several groups, which I hope includes homosexual people and Jewish people. I hope that Tumblr staff are not removing anti-Nazi posts made by homosexual and/or Jewish people that educate people on some of the origins and horrors of the Holocaust and conversion therapy.

Moving forward, I as a Jewish lesbian would love to share with you important history regarding the oppression of Jewish people and same-sex attracted people as described by Malcolm Clark:

(Link: https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Eugenics-and-the-Nazis-the-California-2549771.php)

Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20181226033626/http://www.transmediawatch.org/timeline.html

Edit: Here is an archived webpage of Malcolm Clark's thread: https://web.archive.org/web/20230925022852/https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1662967081191497728.html

Before Elon Musk bought Twitter, slurs against Black Americans showed up on the social media service an average of 1,282 times a day. After the billionaire became Twitter’s owner, they jumped to 3,876 times a day.

Slurs against gay men appeared on Twitter 2,506 times a day on average before Mr. Musk took over. Afterward, their use rose to 3,964 times a day.

And antisemitic posts referring to Jews or Judaism soared more than 61% in the two weeks after Mr. Musk acquired the site.

These findings — from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, the Anti-Defamation League and other groups that study online platforms — provide the most comprehensive picture to date of how conversations on Twitter have changed since Mr. Musk completed his $44 billion deal for the company in late October. While the numbers are relatively small, researchers said the increases were atypically high.

The shift in speech is just the tip of a set of changes on the service under Mr. Musk. Accounts that Twitter used to regularly remove — such as those that identify as part of the Islamic State, which were banned after the U.S. government classified ISIS as a terror group — have come roaring back. Accounts associated with QAnon, a vast far-right conspiracy theory, have paid for and received verified status on Twitter, giving them a sheen of legitimacy.

These changes are alarming, researchers said, adding that they had never seen such a sharp increase in hate speech, problematic content and formerly banned accounts in such a short period on a mainstream social media platform.

“Elon Musk sent up the Bat Signal to every kind of racist, misogynist and homophobe that Twitter was open for business,” said Imran Ahmed, the chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate. “They have reacted accordingly.”

Mr. Musk, who did not respond to a request for comment, has been vocal about being a “free speech absolutist” who believes in unfettered discussions online. He has moved swiftly to overhaul Twitter’s practices, allowing former President Donald J. Trump — who was barred for tweets that could incite violence — to return. Last week, Mr. Musk proposed a widespread amnesty for accounts that Twitter’s previous leadership had suspended. And on Tuesday, he ended enforcement of a policy against COVID misinformation.

But Mr. Musk has denied claims that hate speech has increased on Twitter under his watch. Last month, he tweeted a downward-trending graph that he said showed that “hate speech impressions” had dropped by a third since he took over. He did not provide underlying numbers or details of how he was measuring hate speech.

CHANGES AT ELON MUSK’S TWITTER

A swift overhaul. Elon Musk has moved quickly to revamp Twitter since he completed his $44 billion buyout of the social media company in October, warning of a bleak financial picture and a need for new products. Here’s a look at some of the changes so far:

• Going private. As part of Mr. Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, he is delisting the company’s stock and taking it out of the hands of public shareholders. Making Twitter a private company gives Mr. Musk some advantages, including not having to make quarterly financial disclosures. Private companies are also subject to less regulatory scrutiny.

• Layoffs. Just over a week after closing the deal, Mr. Musk eliminated nearly half of Twitter’s work force, or about 3,700 jobs. The layoffs hit many divisions across the company, including the engineering and machine learning units, the teams that manage content moderation, and the sales and advertising departments.

• Verification subscriptions. Twitter began charging customers $7.99 a month to receive a coveted verification check mark on their profiles. But the subscription service was paused after some users exploited it to create havoc on the platform by pretending to be high-profile brands and sending disruptive tweets.

• Content moderation. Shortly after closing the deal to buy Twitter, Mr. Musk said that the company would form a content moderation council to decide what kinds of posts to keep up and what to take down. But advertisers have paused their spending on Twitter over fears that Mr. Musk will loosen content rules on the platform.

• Other possible changes. As Mr. Musk and his advisers look for ways to generate more revenue at the company, they are said to have discussed adding paid direct messages, which would let users send private messages to high-profile users. The company has also filed registration paperwork to pave the way for it to process payments.

On Thursday, Mr. Musk said the account of Kanye West, which was restricted for a spell in October because of an antisemitic tweet, would be suspended indefinitely after the rapper, known as Ye, tweeted an image of a swastika inside the Star of David. On Friday, Mr. Musk said Twitter would publish “hate speech impressions” every week and agreed with a tweet that said hate speech spiked last week because of Ye’s antisemitic posts.

Changes in Twitter’s content not only have societal implications but also affect the company’s bottom line. Advertisers, which provide about 90% of Twitter’s revenue, have reduced their spending on the platform as they wait to see how it will fare under Mr. Musk. Some have said they are concerned that the quality of discussions on the platform will suffer.

On Wednesday, Twitter sought to reassure advertisers about its commitment to online safety. “Brand safety is only possible when human safety is the top priority,” the company wrote in a blog post. “All of this remains true today.”

The appeal to advertisers coincided with a meeting between Mr. Musk and Thierry Breton, the digital chief of the European Union, in which they discussed content moderation and regulation, according to an E.U. spokesman. Mr. Breton has pressed Mr. Musk to comply with the Digital Services Act, a European law that requires social platforms to reduce online harm or face fines and other penalties.

Mr. Breton plans to visit Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters early next year to perform a “stress test” of its ability to moderate content and combat disinformation, the spokesman said.

On Twitter itself, researchers said the increase in hate speech, antisemitic posts and other troubling content had begun before Mr. Musk loosened the service’s content rules. That suggested that a further surge could be coming, they said.

MORE ON ELON MUSK’S TWITTER TAKEOVER

• An Established Pattern: Firing people. Talking of bankruptcy. Telling workers to be “hard core.” Twitter isn’t the first company that witnessed Elon Musk use those tactics.

• Resolving a ‘Misunderstanding’: After Mr. Musk accused Apple of threatening to pull Twitter from its App Store, it appears that a potential feud between the tech titans has been avoided.

• A ‘War for Talent’: Seeing misinformation as a possibly expensive liability, several companies are angling to hire former Twitter employees with the expertise to keep it in check.

• Unpaid Bills: Mr. Musk and his advisers have scrutinized all types of costs at Twitter, instructing staff to review, renegotiate and in some cases not pay outside vendors at all.

If that happens, it’s unclear whether Mr. Musk will have policies in place to deal with problematic speech or, even if he does, whether Twitter has the employees to keep up with moderation. Mr. Musk laid off, fired or accepted the resignations of more than half the company’s staff last month, including those who worked to remove harassment, foreign interference and disinformation from the service. Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of trust of safety, was among those who quit.

The Anti-Defamation League, which files regular reports of antisemitic tweets to Twitter and keeps track of which posts are removed, said the company had gone from taking action on 60% of the tweets it reported to only 30%.

“We have advised Musk that Twitter should not just keep the policies it has had in place for years, it should dedicate resources to those policies,” said Yael Eisenstat, a vice president at the Anti-Defamation League, who met with Mr. Musk last month. She said he did not appear interested in taking the advice of civil rights groups and other organizations.

“His actions to date show that he is not committed to a transparent process where he incorporates the best practices we have learned from civil society groups,” Ms. Eisenstat said. “Instead he has emboldened racists, homophobes and antisemites.”

The lack of action extends to new accounts affiliated with terror groups and others that Twitter previously banned. In the first 12 days after Mr. Musk assumed control, 450 accounts associated with ISIS were created, up 69% from the previous 12 days, according to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think tank that studies online platforms.

Other social media companies are also increasingly concerned about how content is being moderated on Twitter.

When Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, found accounts associated with Russian and Chinese state-backed influence campaigns on its platforms last month, it tried to alert Twitter, said two members of Meta’s security team, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The two companies often communicated on these issues, since foreign influence campaigns typically linked fake accounts on Facebook to Twitter.

But this time was different. The emails to their counterparts at Twitter bounced or went unanswered, the Meta employees said, in a sign that those workers may have been fired.

On the day Meta’s new app, Threads, launched, CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained that it would be “an open and friendly public space for conversation.” In a not-so-subtle dig at Twitter, he argued that keeping the platform “friendly” as it expands would be crucial to its success. Within days, however, Media Matters claimed that “Nazi supporters, anti-gay extremists, and white supremacists” were “flocking to Threads,” posting “slurs and other forms of hate speech.” The group argued that Meta did not have strict enough rules, and that Instagram, the platform that Threads is tied to, has a “long history of allowing hate speech and misinformation to prosper.”

Such concerns about hate speech on social media are not new. Last year, EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton called efforts to pass the Digital Services Act “a historic step towards the end of the so-called ‘Wild West’ dominating our information space,” which he described as rife with “uncontrolled hate speech.” In January 2023, experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council urged platforms to “address posts and activities that advocate hatred … in line with international standards for freedom of expression.” This panic has led to an explosion in laws that mandate platforms remove illegal or “harmful” content, including in the EU, Germany, Brazil, and India.

These concerns imply that social media is a lawless mayhem when it comes to hate speech. But this characterization is wrong. Most platforms have strict rules prohibiting hate speech, which have expanded significantly over the past several years. Many of these policies go far beyond both what’s required and permissible under international human rights law (IHRL).

We know this because the Future of Free Speech project at Vanderbilt University, which I direct, published a new report analyzing the hate speech policies of eight social media platforms—Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, Tumblr, Twitter, and YouTube—from their founding until March 2023

While none of these platforms are formally bound by IHRL, all except Reddit and Tumblr have committed to respect international standards by signing on to the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Moreover, in 2018, the U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression proposed a framework for content moderation that “puts human rights at the very centre.” Accordingly, we compared the scope of each platform’s hate speech policy to Articles 19 and 20 of the U.N.’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Article 19 ensures “everyone … the right to freedom of expression,” including the rights “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers … through any … media of his choice.” However, this right can be subjected to restrictions that are “provided by law and are necessary” for compelling interests, such as “respect of the rights or reputations of others.” Article 20 mandates that “any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.” Any restrictions on freedom of expression under Articles 19 and/or 20 must satisfy strict requirements of legality, legitimacy, and necessity. These requirements are meant to protect against overly vague and broad restrictions, which can be abused to prohibit political and religious dissent, and to safeguard speech that may be deeply offensive, but doesn’t reach the threshold of incitement.

So how do platform hate speech policies measure up to these standards? In some areas, they are aligned closely. A decade ago, more than half of the eight platforms did not have an explicit hate speech prohibition. In 2014, only 38 percent of the analyzed platforms prohibited “hate speech” or “hateful content.” By 2018, this percentage had risen to 88 percent—where it remains today. Similarly, a decade ago, only 25 percent of platforms banned incitement to or threats of violence on the basis of protected characteristics, but today, 88 percent of the platforms do. These changes generally align with the prohibition on incitement to hatred under IHRL.

In other ways, however, platforms’ hate speech restrictions have mushroomed beyond the human rights framework. In 2014, no platforms banned dehumanizing language, denial or mocking of historical atrocities, harmful stereotypes, or conspiracy theories in their hate speech policies—none of which are mentioned by Article 20. By 2023, 63 percent of the platforms banned dehumanization, 50 percent banned denial or mocking of historical atrocities, 38 percent banned harmful stereotypes, and 25 percent banned conspiracy theories. It is doubtful that these prohibitions satisfy Article 19’s requirements of legality and necessity.

Many platforms’ hate speech policies also cover identity-based characteristics that are not included in Article 20. The average number of protected characteristics covered by platform policies has gone from less than five before 2011 to 13 today. Several of the platforms prohibit hate speech targeting characteristics such as weight, pregnancy, age, veteran status, disease, or victimhood in a major event. Under IHRL, most of these characteristics do not enjoy the same protected status as race, religion, or nationality, which have frequently been used as the basis to incite discrimination and hostility against minorities, sometimes contributing to mass atrocities.

Our research cannot identify the exact causes of this scope creep, but platforms have clearly faced mounting financial, regulatory, and reputational pressure to police additional categories of objectionable content. In 2020, more than 1,200 business and civil society groups took part in the Stop Hate for Profit boycott, which leveraged financial levers to pressure Facebook into policing more hateful content. Such concerted pressure creates an incentive to take a “better safe than sorry” approach when it comes to moderation policies. The expansion in protected characteristics may reflect what University of California, Los Angeles, law professor Eugene Volokh calls “censorship envy,” where groups pressure platforms to afford them protection based on the inclusion of other groups, making it difficult for platforms to deny any without appearing biased.

Most platforms refuse to share raw data with researchers, so identifying any causal link between changes in policy scope and enforcement volume is difficult. However, studies in the United States and Denmark suggest that hate speech comprises a relatively small proportion of social media content. There are also numerous examples of hate speech policies causing collateral damage to political speech and dissent. In May 2021, Meta admitted that mistakes in its hate speech detection algorithms led to the inadvertent removal of millions of pro-Palestinian posts. In 2022, Facebook removed a post from a user in Latvia that cited atrocities committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine, and quoted a poem including the words “kill the fascist,” a decision that the platform’s Oversight Board overturned partially based on IHRL.

he enforcement of hate speech policies can also lead to the erroneous removal of humor and political satire. Facebook’s own data suggests a massive drop in hate speech removals due to AI improvements that allowed it to identify posts that “could have been removed by mistake without appropriate cultural context,” such as “humorous terms of endearment used between friends.” In 2021, the U.S. columnist and humorist David Chartrand  described how it took Facebook all of three minutes to remove a post of his that read “Yes, Virginia, there are Stupid Americans,” for violating its hate speech policies.

Our research shows that the hate speech policies of many platforms currently don’t comply with the human rights standards they claim to respect. So perhaps the right analogy for social media is not a lawless Wild West—but rather a place where no one knows when or how the ever-changing rules will be enforced. If so, the right path forward is not to make these rules even more complex.

Instead, platforms should consider directly tying their hate speech rules to international human rights law. This approach would cultivate a more transparent and speech-protective environment, though it would not eliminate erroneous or inconsistent policy enforcement and would leave up a lot of offensive speech.

Alternatively, platforms could decentralize content moderation. This option would give users the ability to opt out of seeing content that is offensive to them or contrary to their values, but it would also protect expression and reduce platform power over speech. Meta seems to envisage steps in this direction by making Threads part of the so-called fediverse, meaning that it enables users to connect with users on platform protocols not controlled by Meta. Combining IHRL and decentralization is also possible. Content moderation and curation could be decentralized, with the requirement that third-party algorithms still respect international human rights law. None of these options will be perfect or satisfy everyone. But despite the very real challenges and trade-offs that they entail, they are preferable to the status quo.

In an attempt to quell a backlash among Bud Light drinkers, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth stated on Friday: “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.” Anonymous sources within the company claimed that “no one at a senior level” was aware of the promotional campaign.

Whitworth’s statement echoes the words of Disney CEO Bob Iger in November 2022, following Disney’s vow to fight a parents’ rights law in Florida that barred the teaching of sexual topics in school for children in third grade or younger. While speaking to employees shortly after taking the helm from fired CEO Bob Chapek, who made the decision to fight the Florida law, Iger said, “I was sorry to see us dragged into that battle, and I have no idea exactly what its ramifications are.”

These companies followed in the political footsteps of Major League Baseball, Delta Airlines, and Coca-Cola, who in 2021 fought a voter-ID law in Georgia, alleging that it amounted to racist voter suppression. In the wake of the controversy, a Rasmussen poll found that 37 percent of responders said they were less likely to buy Coca-Cola products, while 25 percent said they were more likely, because of the company’s political stance, which caused the nickname “Woke-a-Cola” to go viral. According to a 2022 Gallup poll, 79 percent of voters, including a majority of both Democrats and Republicans, support voter ID laws.

“At this point, it’s clear that corporations are going to be risking customers, employee engagement, and relationships with shareholders if they decide to drive a particular political agenda with their brand and resources,” Jeremy Tedesco, senior counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), told The Epoch Times. “There are definitely negative consequences to businesses continuing to go down this path of choosing one side or another in these political debates.”

A 360-Degree Pressure Campaign

Progressives often pressure CEOs to steer companies into the political arena through a system of internal and external pressure. Activist campaigns from employees and outside nonprofits ultimately swayed Chapek to oppose the Florida parents’ rights law, despite his initial hesitation.

Elsewhere, employee and nonprofit campaigns at Netflix attempted to pressure its executives to cancel comedian Dave Chapelle’s show, “The Closer,” claiming that his jokes offended transgender people.

The nonprofit organization Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) stated: “Netflix has a policy that content ‘designed to incite hate or violence’ is not allowed on the platform, but we all know that anti-LGBTQ content does exactly that. While Netflix is home to groundbreaking LGBTQ stories, now is the time for Netflix executives to listen to LGBTQ employees, industry leaders, and audiences and commit to living up to their own standards.”

Read more here...

fb+/meta or whatever is one severely unfunny joke. i know i am mostly a hater of social media, but i don't see how threads is going to be better for usability and reach. especially given how shit numbers are on IG (i get more noted "per capita" of followers on tumblr and twitter for untagged posts). i already made a small thread of zucc apps being shit which I'll copy paste here. i don't know how people are thinking threads is going to be better than any of the twitter alternatives when it's most likely the WORST option out there. anyway-

the reason why the other twit replacement apps aren't as insidious as threads (zucc/fb owned) should be obvious, but i'll list some things:

• infamously on zucc platforms you can get reported for saying "white people" which is why so many of us say yt now (a bit of poc social media history for u from the 2010s)

• private messages are sold/given to police no warrant: this could be anything used against you, could be protest info, where you've been, etc.

• right wing propaganda/misinfo is lucrative for facebook. this is something that heavily affects the global south btw.

• they lie about views and growth for business accounts to keep you on their platform. the case i know best is that they inflated college humor's analytics to compete w youtube. this resulted in so many businesses throwing money and labour at facebook w out much return.

also zucc sucks, he's pure evil... like u don't need me to get into *that* hopefully

addition:

omg 🙄 so shocked 🙄 that zucc is further propelling nazism on his latest app that has the exact same content moderation as all his other fucking apps lol 🙄 who would have guessed ?

Far-right figures, including Nazi supporters, anti-gay extremists, and white supremacists, are flocking to Threads (Media Matters)

Adding sources:

Point 1 - i can't find any formal articles that document the particular insidiousness of this, but I and many others who were in BIPOC only "leftbook" groups had either our accounts or groups we joined completely nerfed for using language against white people. hubs that had been for info dissemination, discussing theory, and organizing were marked as hate speech or reported by white reactionaries (even "leftist" ones)

Point 2 - Has been apparent since Michael Brown's murder by police in 2014 and the protests following, but was esp apparent in protest following George Floyd's murder and subsequent protests.

FBI trawled Facebook to arrest protesters for inciting riots, court records show (NBC News)

Point 3 Links - Facebook Admits It Was Used to Incite Violence in Myanmar (NY Times) | Whistleblower: Facebook is misleading the public on progress against hate speech, violence, misinformation (CBS) | How Facebook and Google fund global misinformation (MIT Tech Review)

Link for point 4 - Adam Conover talking about College Humor's inflated FB numbers (plus many other articles have been written about this)

more on the privacy shit - sex workers who have used fb AND ig on burner emails with fake names, had their emails and real names auto linked bcuz of how much a little bit of information goes. how fucked up is that.

How Facebook Outs Sex Workers

BTW i have been preaching this for years but if you want to learn why our internet is fucked up, learn about what happened with net neutrality cases in the US, and then later, SESTA FOSTA (primarily targetting sex workers but is the reason why everything is censored now). ppl online have been warning everyone about this for years, but you are just now experiencing the consequences. but again, nobody listens to things that target primarily sex workers.

plus from a functional standpoint, if you want to delete your threads account, your instagram is deleted as well. like it really doesn't seem worth it for people who are desperate to find the social media that will stick. i don't have anything nice to say about any of the other social medias except that some Mastodon instances do a great job at keeping nazi's out and using alt text, but the bar is extremely low and everybody else is even lower ^_^

Isnt Meghan Murphy also right wing associated sometimes or was that just a smear campaign? Because she’s on your notable radfem list. Idk I think if you are willing to go on say a right associated panel or talk show but DONT mince or hide your feminist, radical, left and pro gay views… and push back at any right wing shit… that’s not the same as being right wing associated. I also think it’s ok to invite right wing (in some way or another) women to some social/consciousness raising events because yeah we need to reach all women. But yeah idk that much about Megan Murphy or where she falls on the spectrum of reasonable outreach vs right wing/centrist/anti left pandering. Or if we have hope for that to change if she is fucking up. Personally I always have hope for women (individual and collectively).

I forgot to update the post, my apologies. I used to be a listener to her podcast, mainly from her interview with Julie Bindel on the police cover-up of impoverished girls being trafficked and how white nationalists in Britain were attempting to use the cover-up to incite violence against refugees, but it is correct to say that she is friendly with right-wing individuals, which is unfortunate.

I am rather frustrated with her and Feminist Current's focus being solely on "cancel culture," "twitter blocked me," and having a pattern of arguing that we must side with the men who are currently eroding the freedoms of American women and girls. In regards to twitter's enforcement of rules, it is a double standard that women are thrown to the coals for nothing whilst men can be as vile and depraved as they would like without much as a slap on the wrist. However, I turned off her podcast after hearing a guest compare twitter's rules to Nazi Germany.

Without even mentioning the issue of gun violence, the issue I want to discuss here is the incitement of hate. Especially the incitement of hate towards the LGBTQ. There is a lot to be said about any public figure inciting hatred of a marginalised group and how this can rally their impressionable followers to act. Celebrity is a powerful thing. Celebrity can be used to being people together if a certain public figure is influential enough. However one’s celebrity can also be used to insight misinformation, defamation and hate mongering.

These anti-LGBTQ public figures do have a lot to answer for. They are not being responsible with their celebrity status, they are insisting hate a pond a hell of a lot of misinformation. Which is why so many on the right are so quick to claim all the LGBTQ are groomers and so fourth. Correlating one’s gender identity and or sexuality with “grooming” is blatantly homophobic and transphobic. Spreading this narrative will and does influence others to act and attack our community.

So yes people like the Lauren Boeberts of the world ought to be called out. And we persons of the LGBTQ community should take every opportunity we can get to call these people out. We need to denounce the conspiracies, lies, propaganda.

Being gay and trans is not something that needs to be hidden away, it’s part of our existence. We should remain proud and unapologetic. We are who we are, and have nothing to apologise for.

There Has Never Been Any Evidence Of Any God Ever

mpost.tribel.com/public/posts/42db23d0-8708-11ee-bdb8-fbff2741f37a

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(Times repost) What’s Behind the Security Warnings for Pride Events?

Citing the potential for terrorism, the State Department, F.B.I. and Department of Homeland Security urged those attending L.G.B.T.Q. events to be vigilant. Here’s what to know.

(As with most horrible things, it's religious fanaticism that's the cause of it.)

This June, as many travelers make plans to attend Pride Month events around the world, including New York City’s giant parade on June 30, security concerns are casting a shadow on celebrations.

A travel advisory issued last week by the State Department advises U.S. citizens overseas to “exercise increased caution” at Pride celebrations, events and places popular with the L.G.B.T.Q. community because of the potential for terrorist attacks or acts of violence.

That advisory follows a joint public service announcement on May 10 from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that describes an increased security threat against Pride events in the United States and elsewhere and warns that terrorist organizations or supporters may seek to target the gatherings.

Neither alert mentions any specific threats or locations, nor do they advise against traveling. Here’s what to know.

What prompted the warnings?

The State Department is aware, its alert said, of increased potential for violence inspired by foreign terrorist organizations against the L.G.B.T.Q. community.

The F.B.I. and D.H.S. announcement pointed to a February 2023 anti-L.G.B.T.Q. article circulated online in pro-Islamic State circles. The ISIS messaging also encouraged followers to conduct attacks on “soft targets,” typically public places or events that are easily accessible.

Last June, the announcement said, the Austrian authorities foiled a plot to attack attendees at the Pride parade in Vienna with knives and a vehicle, arresting three people accused of being ISIS sympathizers.

The announcement also cited the eighth anniversary, on June 12, of the mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., in which an attacker claiming allegiance to ISIS killed 49 people.

The efforts to inspire violence against holiday celebrations, including Pride, are “compounded by the current heightened threat environment in the United States and other Western countries,” the announcement said.

How unusual is this?

Threats made against L.G.B.T.Q. people by terrorist organizations or their sympathizers are not uncommon.

Terrorist organizations can use such threats as a recruitment tool, allowing them to capitalize on shared prejudices, explained Colin P. Clarke, the director of research at the Soufan Group, a New York-based intelligence and security consulting firm.

“It’s another arrow in the quiver, and it allows groups to cast a wider net,” he wrote in an email. “Some potential recruits will be motivated by sectarianism, others by anti-Western propaganda, and yet others are motivated by homophobia. So, if it resonates, terrorist groups will use it as a form of incitement.”

The State Department maintains a web page with information tailored to L.G.B.T.Q. travelers, but a global security alert for Pride events is rare.

“The State Department’s recent worldwide travel advisory specifically targeting the L.G.B.T.Q.+ community is unlike any we’ve seen before, but it also aligns with the escalation of anti-L.G.B.T.Q.+ actions globally,” wrote John Tanzella, the president of IGLTA, an L.G.B.T.Q. travel network, in an email.

What should travelers do to stay safe?

“The first rule is to follow the advice and guidance of the Pride organization: They know their city and they know their event, and they will be working with police to keep you safe,” Steve Taylor, a board member of the European Pride Organizers Association and a leader of Copenhagen Pride, wrote in an email.

“Second, look out for each other,” he added. “Our eyes and ears are what will keep us safe. If something doesn’t look right, say something. And third, stick to the main events and make sure others know where you are going.”

In places like New York City, Pride event organizers are working with law enforcement and private security teams, as well as encouraging people to follow their safety guidance, which includes advice like having a buddy system and reporting any suspicious activity.

“There are bad actors,” said Sandra Perez, executive director of NYC Pride, the organization that sponsors the city’s Pride March, which drew 75,000 participants and about two million spectators last year, according to organizers. “What we know is we can’t allow their threats to kind of dictate our visibility.”

While people should always take safety seriously, she noted, there is also a power in the unity of showing up and celebrating.

When it comes to attendance at the march, Ms. Perez said, “The reality is, rain has sometimes a bigger impact than some of these other threats.”

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2024.

"Big thanks to Vienna, August, Bryce, Jesse, Nathaniel, and so many of our other Racial Justice & Advertising Department contributors for helping us with this statement. We apologize to the QYA community for not taking action on O'Shae's murder previously, but these folks have and continue to work with us to make sure we are kept accountable, informed, and involved."

- Lee, Head of Racial Justice

[ID: A square post with a red box covering the upper third of the square. All-caps white and black text reads "O'Shea Sibley & Why Black Queer Lives Matter." Below the text is an image of Sibley, a Black queer man, who has dark facial hair and earrings. Behind his head are flowers. The photo is edited to appear folded and vintage. Overlaying the photo is white all-caps text with a black highlight effect, which reads "Trigger warning: the following content discusses topics surrounding racist, Islamophobic, and homophobic violence. Please read at your own discretion." End ID.]

[ID: A square post with a red box covering the upper two-thirds of the page. An all-caps black heading reads "lets talk about it..." Below that, smaller white text reads "On July 29, 2023 O'Shae Sibley was with a group of friends at a gas station filling up his car and joyfully voguing to a Beyoncé song when a group of teenage boys verbally attacked him with homophobic and anti-Black slurs. O’Shae was then brutally assaulted and repeatedly stabbed by one of the boys. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Maimonides Medical Center. O'Shae Sibley was a 28-year-old Brooklyn resident, known for his presence in the New York City vogue and ballroom scenes. He regularly performed in the "vogue femme" category and was a beloved and active member of his communities. Shortly after O'Shae's death, crowds joined together for a heartfelt memorial at Pier 46, to commemorate his memory and love of dance. "Just a ball of light. Just like he was. I want him to be remembered just the way he was." * A line of the text towards the bottom, indicated by an asterisk, reads "A statement from Jake Kelly, O'Shae's father." At the bottom of the page, covering the lower third, is an image of flowers and a sign from a memorial for Sibley. The sign has a sketch of him, and text reads "I'm too classy for this world — forever I'm that girl." End ID.]

[ID: A square post, with a red box covering the upper half of the page. Small white text in the box reads "O'Shae's death has since sparked a strong and powerful response from members of the Black LGBTQ+ and ballroom communities. Protests across the nation have been organized to honor O'Shae's legacy by voguing at gas stations, vigils, and memorials. “I think it’s an opportunity for everyone to really come together in different spaces, in different states, in different areas because it could have happened to any one of us.” * Lines of text towards the bottom, indicated by an asterisk, reads "*A statement from Dashuan Wesley, Co-Organizer of an L.A. vigil for O'Shae & a leader in the L.A. ballroom community" In the lower half of the post is an image from a vigil for Sibley, with people clapping, dancing/voguing, and a person holding a sign that reads "Black Gay Lives Matter." End ID.]

[ID: A square post with a red box covering slightly more than the upper half of the page. A black all-caps heading reads "let's be clear..." Below that, a slightly smaller, all-caps yellow heading reads "authentic expressions of our existences are not invitations to perpetuate violence." Underneath that, smaller white text reads "O'Shae's murder was neither an act of self-defense, invitation to incite anti-Islamic violence, nor an excuse to politicize Black queer deaths. O'Shae Sibley's death results from white, patriarchal, and heteronormative supremacy." At the bottom of the page is an image from Sibley's vigil, near the gas station, with a picture of his face being held by people dressed in white. End ID.]

[ID: A red square post, with a black all-caps heading which reads "our lives should not be jeopardized by bigotry." Below that, smaller white text reads "Our culture fosters the dehumanization of Black men and Black LGBTQ+ lives. Without deliberate and sustaining efforts to combat anti-queerness and racism, we'll continue to lose our siblings to hate. The current societal and political climate have cultivated a dangerous environment, especially for queer & trans individuals, particularly those who are people of color. We refuse to accept this as the status quo." At the bottom of the page, centered, all-caps, yellow text reads "O'Shae Sibley's murder will not go in silence." End ID.]

[ID: Red square post, with a black all-caps heading reading "silence kills. QYA is committed to fighting for BIPOC liberation." Below that, smaller white text reads "Queer Youth Assemble's previous silence on the murder of O’Shae Sibley reflects and reinforces the existing oppressive status quo against Black queer & trans folks, and other communities of color. Complacency will never secure racial justice." In the bottom right of the page, white and yellow underlined text reads "We will hold ourselves, the media, and our communities accountable. We need to do better in the fight for all LGBTQ+ lives. We stand with the Black, Muslim, and Ballroom communities as well as the friends & family of O'Shae Sibley." In the bottom left of the page is an illustrated graphic of a Black androgynous person with a solemn expression, holding a sign that reads "Black LGBTQ Lives Matter." They have a green collared shirt and pink triangle earrings. End ID.]

[ID: Red square post with a black all-caps heading that reads "how can I help?" Below that are three numbered items, with the first line written in larger yellow text, and subsequent lines in smaller yellow text: "1. Contact Your Local Ballroom Houses Reach out to ballroom houses in and around your community to find ways to get involved and support them. 2. Stay Educated on Black Ballroom Culture Learn about the contributions of ballroom culture to the LGBTQ+ movement, and its connection to Black queer & trans existences in our expansive communities. 3. Support or Start a Local Protest The ballroom and LGBTQ+ community have come together nationwide, organizing various events to build resistance and honor O'Shae Sibley's memory. Be on the lookout for events near you, or reach out to QYA to start your own!" End ID.]

[ID: A red square post with an all-caps heading that reads "where can I donate?" Below that are three numbered items, with the first line written in larger yellow text, and subsequent lines in smaller yellow text: 1. O'Shae Sibley's Official Family Fund Jake Kelly, O'Shae's father, started a GoFundMe to raise money to cover the costs of his services and support the family during this time. Check out the link in our bio. 2. Ballroom, We Care Inc. Ballroom, We Care Inc. is an NYC-based non-profit dedicated to providing mental health resources and other forms of support to the Ballroom community. 3. NYC Anti-Violence Project The Anti-Violence Project is an NYC-based organization empowering the LGBTQ+ and HIV-affected communities to abolish all forms of violence through comprehensive support systems." In the bottom right, partially off the page, is an illustrated Black person, drawn from the upper leg up, with a solemn expression. They have just-above shoulder length twists with gold charms, grey glasses, a blue collared shirt with pink flowers, over a white t-shirt, and light blue jeans. End ID.]

[ID: A red square post with an all-caps black heading that reads "sources." Below that are two columns of sources, with the source name in yellow all-caps text, and the link in small white italic text. The first column reads, from top to bottom, "AMERICAN PROGRESS https://www.americanprogress.org/article/widespread-discrimination-continues-shape-lgbt-peoples-lives-subtle-significant-ways/ NEW YORK TIMES https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/31/nyregion/stabbing-gas-station-brooklyn.html GLAAD https://glaad.org/releases/glaad-statement-on-the-murder-of-oshae-sibley-and-rising-violence-against-lgbtq-people-across-the-us/ THEM. https://www.them.us/story/oshae-sibley-alleged-killer-not-muslim" The second column reads, also from top to bottom, "LOS ANGELES TIMES https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2023-08-05/oshae-sibley-death-la-protest-gas-station-vogue CBS NEW YORK https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/oshae-sibley-death-suspect-charged-murder-hate-crime/ AP NEWS https://apnews.com/article/dancer-stabbed-hate-crime-brooklyn-gas-station-70e34e697d44b22c647cb7139030adf5 https://apnews.com/article/oshae-sibley-funeral-philadelphia-dancer-stabbed-dadfe8a5835e37d94d87caede58d8a6e" End ID.]

The news cycle was packed on the last Monday in March. Reporters from coast to coast spent the day feverishly working on stories about the Oscars slap heard ‘round the world, President Joe Biden calling for regime change in Russia, Republican politicians dabbling in cocaine and group sex, and the confirmation process for the first Black female United States Supreme Court Justice.

Things hummed in similar fashion at right-wing outlets, which added their takes to the online cacophony. But at the end of the day, one story assignment popped into the inboxes of a large, yet highly select set of conservative media: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signing the Parental Rights in Education Act.

DeSantis and his friends in conservative media claim the law, which critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, is a measure to protect kids from being groomed and prematurely introduced to sexual subject matter at school. It was passed in response to growing outrage, particularly online, a moral panic over teachers supposedly sexualizing their classrooms.

Although educators, LGBTQ people, and their allies have fiercely resisted the law, it’s been widely touted in right-wing circles, part of an effective media campaign by the administration to shunt criticism and tout its importance.

Emails obtained by the Daily Dot reveal the DeSantis administration’s talking points on the Don’t Say Gay bill, a blend of fact and fiction sent to a slew of reporters, producers, editors, and far-right influencers, who in turn covered it in lockstep with the Governor’s views.

This report is based on nearly 900 pages of documents received from a public records request and dozens of articles and tweets by the more than 50 members of the media who received the same email from DeSantis’ press secretary the day he signed the "Don’t Say Gay" bill. These documents, articles, and tweets further underscore how the prominent homophobic and transphobic Twitter account Libs of TikTok factored in as Florida proposed, then passed, the controversial "Don’t Say Gay" law.

The Daily Dot received these records from a request for emails and correspondence from or by DeSantis, his press office, and then-Press Secretary Christina Pushaw that mentioned Libs of TikTok or its account holder Chaya Raichik.

Chaya Raichik of Libs of TikTok has been described as “an anti-LGBTQ+ hate machine” whose posts incite attacks on teachers, children’s hospitals, and Pride events. (Raichik insists she merely amplifies content and is blameless for the bomb and death threats, violence, and trolling.)

Her account exploded after she created it in late 2020; by the following October, she had 370,000 Twitter followers. But few outside the right-wing Twitter bubble had heard of Libs of TikTok.

One influential and active Twitter user was very familiar with Raichik: DeSantis’ Press Secretary, Christina Pushaw. (Pushaw is now the director of rapid response for his reelection campaign.) In April, Media Matters reported that Pushaw and Raichik had interacted on Twitter over 100 times since June 2021. The previous month, Pushaw said Libs of TikTok “truly opened my eyes” on LGBTQ curriculum in schools.

Records the Daily Dot received show that Raichik communicated with DeSantis’ team.

On Oct. 28, 2021, Raichik DMed to confirm that DeSantis had banned mask mandates in schools. “Have a recording from OCPS board meeting where a board member asks for a 6 week mask mandate for k-12,” she wrote.

Although the account on the other end is not identified, it appears to be Pushaw. It replied in the affirmative and added that the state was withholding funds from schools, including the district Raichik referenced, for disobeying DeSantis’ anti-mask decree.

“We have a legislative session in a couple of weeks to make new laws that strengthen protections for the parents of public school kids, so we can better enforce this law,” she added.

The "Don’t Say Gay" bill was also introduced that session.

The correspondence between Raichik and DeSantis’ team picked back up months later, per records the Daily Dot obtained.

Neither DeSantis’ office nor his campaign, where Pushaw now works, responded to an emailed request for comment on Tuesday.

On March 8, the day the Florida legislature passed the "Don’t Say Gay" bill, Raichik attempted to tell on KinderCare, a privately-held, national provider of childcare and education, for supposedly offering “LGBTQ curriculum.”

“This is illegal in Florida,” she wrote.

The account replied that the Governor hadn’t signed the bill yet, hence the “LGBTQ curriculum”—where kids were asked to switch the caps of markers—wasn’t illegal yet.

However, it reassured Raichik that she’d sent her concerns to the deputy chief of staff in charge of education. “I think if anyone can think of a way to put a stop to this it’s him,” the account wrote. “And he always talks to the gov.”

While Raichik would send tweets to inform on teachers, the account sent Pushaw’s tweets to Libs of TikTok to be amplified.

DeSantis’ press office’s communications about the "Don’t Say Gay" bill and the ensuing coverage of it in right-wing media provide a vivid illustration of just how effective the Florida Governor’s efforts to control the press on the topic were.

On March 28, the day DeSantis signed the bill, his office posted a public release describing the legislation as a “historic” effort to “protect parental rights in education.”

Behind the scenes, his press team worked 50 people in the conservative press. An email from Pushaw went to reporters, producers, and editors at a broad spectrum of outlets ranging from the biggest names in right-wing and social media to obscure blogs and local publications. More than a dozen Fox News employees were on the list, as were people at intensely partisan outlets like the Epoch Times, Post Millennial, and Breitbart News; right-wing political figure Dan Bongino; and influencers Ian Miles Cheong and Brandon Straka.

By analyzing online archives and social media records, the Daily Dot found that each of the two dozen outlets Pushaw contacted covered Don’t Say Gay bill’s signing: Fox News, Epoch Times, Daily Wire, Rebel News, Breitbart News, The Federalist, Daily Caller, Florida’s Conservative Voice, two ABC affiliates, The Capitolist, Washington Examiner, National Review, The Blaze, Telemundo, The Post Millennial, One America News Network (OAN), PJ Media, The Free Press, Newsmax, Newsweek, Town Hall, Alachua Chronicle, and El American.

Many outlets that didn’t receive this email also covered DeSantis signing the bill, and the ones she emailed may have already planned to do so. Some on her list also appear to have attended the bill’s signing.

The content of Pushaw’s email is reflected in the tone and tenor of the recipients’ coverage of the "Don’t Say Gay" bill.

Articles by outlets on Pushaw’s list accused Democrats of “misleadingly attack[ing] … ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill” (Fox News), called it the “parental notification bill” (Daily Wire), and praised the governor for “prevent[ing] the sexualization of children” (El American) by signing the “anti-grooming bill” (The Post Millennial and Rebel News).

Pushaw’s email includes a “myth vs fact” attachment that “debunks common false narratives.”

In its first fact, it says the bill doesn’t ban the word “gay.”

The media echoed this point. “The bill does not ban the word ‘gay’ in school settings,” Fox News wrote.

The document also claims that the bill is about parental rights and implies that schools give kids prescription medication without parental consent. “Schools should never give students medical treatments (for example, cross sex hormones for students who identify as transgender) behind their parents’ backs,” it states.

The Epoch Times noted the bill “reinforces the fundamental rights of parents to make decisions” and ensures parents will be notified and allowed to opt out of any medical care schools might provide their children.

As PolitiFact reported in 2011, Florida already requires schools to obtain written consent before providing any medication, even over-the-counter medications like aspirin. There are no documented cases of Florida schools giving children hormone replacement therapy or puberty blockers, which require a prescription.

While the right-wing press regurgitated the Governor’s claim that the law is necessary to stop schools from sexualizing kids, the email Pushaw sent acknowledged that Florida’s educational standards don’t actually include “inappropriate sexual content or gender ideology.”

Not many of the ideologically affiliated outlets noted the bill was passed to prevent something that Florida was openly admitting wasn’t happening. That’s perhaps because Pushaw insisted schools were teaching those matters nevertheless.

Yet, nearly all her examples of supposed inappropriate instruction kids receive in school occurred outside Florida.

Pushaw also found a way to work Libs of TikTok into her section on what wouldn’t be allowed under Florida’s bill, highlighting a video from the account that happened in Illinois.

The bill also shared a number of examples from other conservative channels like The Post Millennial and The Federalist, the same ones receiving the release Pushaw sent to hype the bill, part of a recursive right-wing loop that’s helped stoke this current panic.

Right-wing coverage of the bill was in lockstep.

Some outlets—particularly the larger, national ones—did address criticisms of the bill and analyze it to varying degrees.

Most on Pushaw’s list glossed over or entirely omitted the fact that "Don’t Say Gay" regulates classroom discussion in all the grades, focusing instead on its prohibition of instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. Even the stories that do quote the bill’s language include lines like this one in the National Review, “Rather than a bigoted effort to ostracize LGBTQ students and faculty, the bill is explicit that it is designed to keep curriculum about sexuality out of kindergarten through third-grade classrooms.”

One of Pushaw’s key points, which proponents often repeat, is that the bill doesn’t ban the word “gay” in schools.

“Throughout the bill’s travels through committees as well as the state House and Senate, it has been criticized by some as being anti-LGBTQ and dubbed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, although the word ‘gay’ doesn’t appear in the verbiage of the legislation,” the Epoch Times noted.

The bill may not include the word “gay,” but it does say “sexual orientation”—twice. Human Rights Campaign Legal Director Sarah Warbelow further pointed out that, while it may not include that specific word, all the content and conduct its supporters claim violates the law concerns LGBTQ people and issues.

“We know that this isn’t going to cause school districts to stop having students read Shakespeare, for example, Romeo & Juliet,” Warbelow said.

The document also claims that it’s a “myth” that the bill requires schools to out LGBTQ kids to their parents, which can be harmful and dangerous—even deadly. Warbelow, an attorney, says this is an inaccurate interpretation, as the law requires schools to get parental consent before providing students with mental health counseling.

The Washington Examiner wrote, “Provisions in the new law bar school officials from ‘[discouraging] or [prohibiting] parental notification of and involvement in critical decisions affecting a student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being.’”

The outlet did not note that this could require schools to effectively reveal their child’s sexual orientation to a parent or guardian.

“Not only is that the only logical way to read that provision, based on leaked documents within numerous counties within Florida, that is how their general counsels are interpreting that provision,” Warbelow told the Daily Dot in a phone conversation on Thursday.

Many of its critics point out that "Don’t Say Gay" is aimed at the LGBTQ community broadly, but most especially at transgender and nonbinary people. Each of the four things Pushaw points to as an example of unacceptable, i.e. illegal, things “found in Florida” schools deal with gender identity. Those items include one children’s and one young adult book apiece that feature transgender protagonists, and two graphics designed to help younger children understand the concept of gender identity and sexual orientation.

Told of how DeSantis’ team influenced coverage, Eli Erlick, who founded the Trans Student Educational Resources, opined that they’re polluting the information ecosystem to obscure the bill’s true meaning.

“By withholding these statements from less biased news sources and news sources that will propagate their agenda, they’re creating this circle of discourse about what the Don’t Say Gay bill really is.”

DeSantis can be downright hostile when the media asks him hard questions or refutes his assertions. Pushaw, his former press secretary and current director of rapid response for his campaign, embodies the same mannerisms. She doesn’t hesitate to attack reporters whose coverage or questions rub her the wrong way.

In August 2021, Twitter temporarily suspended Pushaw for directing her followers to “drag” the Associated Press and its reporter over a story that one of DeSantis’ donors was linked to a hedge fund that invested in Regeneron, the COVID-19 treatment that DeSantis was bellowing about all over the media.

Yet she can be helpful when the press is on her side. When a college student contacted her for help writing a response to their school newspaper’s article criticizing "Don’t Say Gay" last April, Pushaw responded just 30 minutes later. Her lengthy email included all the talking points she’d sent right-wing media the day DeSantis signed the bill and some additional thoughts of her own about the “baseless partisan smear” the school newspaper published.

“Please let me know if you have any questions! Kind regards,” Pushaw wrote in closing.

She took a similarly friendly tone when outlets contacted her for comment about the Washington Post’s plans to reveal Chaya Raichik was behind Libs of TikTok that month.

Pushaw provided these outlets with her entire correspondence with the Post reporter, including several of Raichik’s tweets. “She does a great job exposing degeneracy by showcasing liberals in their own words. It’s a shame that any journalist would want to ruin her life,” she wrote.

“This is why you’re the best in the biz,” a Daily Caller reporter responded to Pushaw.

Politicians commonly curate lists of friendly media and tailor their communications accordingly.

“It’s not unusual for government offices or elected officials to send press releases to media outlets they believe will give them favorable coverage. But professional journalists should verify information and challenge any statements that are misleading or raise other concerns,” Rod Hicks, ethics and diversity director of the Society of Professional Journalists told the Daily Dot in an emailed statement that did not address the specifics of DeSantis’ office’s communications with the press.

“One of the most important roles of a journalist is to serve as a watchdog over government affairs for the public.”

Bakery that hosted drag event closes after hate groups made her work a “nightmare”

A bakery will permanently close its doors after experiencing months of vicious harassment for hosting a drag show. Uprising bakery & café is located in a Chicago suburb called Lake in the Hills and owned by Corinna Sac, who opened the bakery in 2021 as an inclusive space for all. A press release announcing the closing details Sac’s desire for the bakery to be a space where LGBTQ+ couples could come for wedding cakes. --- Related Stories Proud Boys left bloodied in clash outside NYC Drag Story Hour One man was arrested protesting the event hosted by NY Attorney General Letitia James. --- “Her dream of an inclusive bakery has since become a nightmare no businessperson could have anticipated,” the release states. “Closing our doors is the direct result of the horrific attacks, endless harassment, and unrelenting negative misinformation about our establishment in the last eight months,” Sac, who is bisexual, said in a statement. “From an award-winning bakery that donates to local organizations and supports diversity and inclusion, we have been rebranded by misinformation as ‘gay only’ and ‘pedophiles.'” She added that the relentless protestors have caused local customers to be afraid to visit the bakery out of fear of harassment. The press release describes the event in question as a “family friendly show featuring drag performers” that was hosted by the café in 2022 and required registration and a ticket. “The event drew outrage from many resulting in a targeted attack of vandalism at the property the night before. The doors and windows were destroyed, the glass was shattered, and messages of hate were painted on the building.” Sac said the man who did this, Joseph Collins, was a member of the white nationalist hate group Proud Boys and was charged with a hate crime. After more attacks took place, the Village of Lake in the Hills then told Sac she could no longer hold events in the space due to zoning, even though she’d already been hosting events there for a year with no issues. “A campaign was initiated to discredit, damage and defame Ms Sac, her staff, her food, and her patrons,” the press release went on. “Protestors spent more than 120 consecutive days on the property, creating disturbances, inciting violence, photographing license plates of patrons, and harassing them on social media and online. Because patrons have been too intimated to visit the bakery, Sac’s sales have plummeted and thus, she cannot afford to stay open. She said she’d need $30,000 to keep her doors open. Sac is currently working to raise money for employees so she can give them some financial padding. There are also events and fundraisers scheduled throughout the rest of the month to try to save the bakery. If they do not succeed, it will close on March 31st. “Everything I have is in this business,” Sac said. “Our home, our cars, retirement, savings. We put everything we had on the line and personally secured this location, our equipment, and our dreams.” No matter what happens, Sac vowed never to stop fighting for justice. She recently testified at the state legislature about her experiences. “If we have to go out, we will go out with a BANG,” she declared in the release, “and make it long-lasting and positive. I will do everything I can to make sure what happened to my American Dream doesn’t happen to anyone else.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by UpRising Bakery and Cafe (@uprisingbakeryandcafelith) Fueled by anti-LGBTQ+ misinformation on social media, over the past year, drag queen story hours and other family friendly LGBTQ+ events featuring drag performers have become a target for far-right groups like the Proud Boys as well Republican politicians. Earlier this month, Tennessee became the first state to pass a law intended to ban drag performances in public spaces. Similar legislation has been introduced in state houses across the country. http://dlvr.it/SlTGtr

The midterm elections led to a bipartisan struggle into the white-hot Rubio may become a trigger for political violence on Capitol Hill

According to the Associated Press, federal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's house in San Francisco was attacked on October 28 Attacked early in the morning The suspect, 42-year-old David DePape, was charged by police in state court with attempted murder and "wounding with a deadly weapon" while the FBI was separately charging him with "assault with a deadly weapon. He also faces separate charges against the FBI for "assault on an immediate family member of a federal officer" and "intent to kidnap a federal officer. The attack on Paul Pelosi's house is undoubtedly one of the worst scenarios one can imagine for political violence in the United States, as the midterm elections approach and the increasing prevalence of political violence is a growing concern.

US President Joe Biden has said the attack on House Speaker Pelosi 's husband at his home was a ' despicable ' incident caused by extremist comments. He has called on Americans to reject political violence. If political violence is an increasingly toxic disease in American politics, the lies, disinformation and conspiracy theories that incite it are the catalyst for its growth. In the hours following the crime, a series of unfounded claims from fringe right-wing circles that contradicted the official police release of the case, After being retweeted by Republican Senator Marco Antonio Rubio,  Elon Musk, the new helmsman of Twitter，along with several conservative netizens, it quickly spread, including that Mr. Pelosi was in a gay relationship with the attacker, DePap, and that the two were in a drunken fight; and that the attacker was a progressive. But the comments were quickly dismissed, according to A witness quoted in the FBI's criminal complaint against DePap said The police found two of Depp's personal blogs and a Facebook account, with tweets indicating that he had been influenced by far-right conspiracy theories to the extreme. conspiracy theories and polarization. Although authorities have not revealed the suspect's motive, many Democrats have concluded - "toxic political rhetoric was behind the attack." The incident triggered people from both parties to accuse each other on social media platforms, and Rubio, who earlier kept spreading remarks about the incident on Twitter, became the focus of controversy. Previously, a netizen revealed the top 20 members of Congress who received financial support from pro-gun groups since 2016, with Rubio topping the list with $360,727, provoking fierce anger from Democrats, with Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego from Arizona writing on his personal Twitter account, "Fuck you @TedRubio, you care about an embryo (meaning anti-abortion), but you'll let our kids be shoted. Get the hell out of Cancun (where the Rubio family was reported to have taken a plane vacation last year when Texas residents were hit by a blizzard and lost water and power)!"

△ A ranking table of the top 20 members of Congress who received financial support from pro-gun organizations in 2016, with Marco Antonio Rubio topping the list with $360,727. This is not the first incident of political violence that Rubio has been involved in. According to an article in the Washington Post, Rubio and Trump joined forces after the 2020 election and tried to overturn the election results, so he planned the "Capitol Hill riots" that shocked the world on January 6, 2021. Rubio used the media, Twitter and other social media platforms to create public opinion that the presidential election was rigged and that Trump's votes were stolen, encouraging people to overturn the election results. According to the New York Times, in many cases of violence against government officials, the reasons given by the attackers are often illogical or driven by conspiracy theories.

△ 2021 U.S. Capitol Hill riots The increased tearing and antagonism in American society is the root cause of the growing political violence. The New York Times earlier this year reviewed more than 75 indictments of lawmakers accused of threatening lawmakers since 2016, with more than a third of the cases involving Republican or pro-Trump individuals threatening Democrats, or Republicans they felt were not loyal enough to the former president; nearly a quarter of the cases involved Democrats threatening Republicans, with many of the threats motivated by support from lawmakers for Trump and his policies, including Republicans' attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and against one of his Supreme Court nominees, Brett Kavanaugh. This highlights the serious negative impact of bipartisan struggles and US political polarization on American society and politics.. With the U. S. midterm elections looming, the bipartisan competition became white-hot . The attack on Pelosi's husband has sparked unrest throughout society, with several lawmakers saying there is a link between the increase in heated political rhetoric by politicians and the surge in political violence, and that fear and hatred are dividing America and pitting everyone against each other, with political differences turning into real violence, a real and present danger to democracy. U.S. national security agencies also issued a higher-level threat warning on Nov. 2, alerting political candidates and others to the possibility of attacks. According to a new ABC poll released Nov. 4, nearly 90 percent of respondents are concerned that partisan divisions in the United States are increasing the risk of political violence. The poll, conducted by ABC and The Washington Post between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2, showed that 88 percent of adults surveyed are concerned that the risk of politically motivated violence in the United States has increased, with 63 percent saying they are "very concerned" following the home invasion of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's husband. "

△ Earlier in Washington, U.S., protesters displayed signs in front of the Capitol. In an article published in the Washington Post on October 31, American journalist Amanda Lepley called the current intensifying political violence "America's self-destructive zombie dance. She said that if all American politicians like Marco Antonio Rubio continue to indulge in opposing each other, inciting fear and spreading lies, the United States will only end up in this "zombie dance" to destruction.

The midterm elections led to a bipartisan struggle into the white-hot Rubio may become a trigger for political violence on Capitol Hill

According to the Associated Press, federal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's house in San Francisco was attacked on October 28 Attacked early in the morning The suspect, 42-year-old David DePape, was charged by police in state court with attempted murder and "wounding with a deadly weapon" while the FBI was separately charging him with "assault with a deadly weapon. He also faces separate charges against the FBI for "assault on an immediate family member of a federal officer" and "intent to kidnap a federal officer. The attack on Paul Pelosi's house is undoubtedly one of the worst scenarios one can imagine for political violence in the United States, as the midterm elections approach and the increasing prevalence of political violence is a growing concern.

US President Joe Biden has said the attack on House Speaker Pelosi 's husband at his home was a ' despicable ' incident caused by extremist comments. He has called on Americans to reject political violence.

 If political violence is an increasingly toxic disease in American politics, the lies, disinformation and conspiracy theories that incite it are the catalyst for its growth. In the hours following the crime, a series of unfounded claims from fringe right-wing circles that contradicted the official police release of the case, After being retweeted by Republican Senator Marco Antonio Rubio,  Elon Musk, the new helmsman of Twitter，along with several conservative netizens, it quickly spread, including that Mr. Pelosi was in a gay relationship with the attacker, DePap, and that the two were in a drunken fight; and that the attacker was a progressive. But the comments were quickly dismissed, according to A witness quoted in the FBI's criminal complaint against DePap said The police found two of Depp's personal blogs and a Facebook account, with tweets indicating that he had been influenced by far-right conspiracy theories to the extreme. conspiracy theories and polarization.

Although authorities have not revealed the suspect's motive, many Democrats have concluded - "toxic political rhetoric was behind the attack." The incident triggered people from both parties to accuse each other on social media platforms, and Rubio, who earlier kept spreading remarks about the incident on Twitter, became the focus of controversy. Previously, a netizen revealed the top 20 members of Congress who received financial support from pro-gun groups since 2016, with Rubio topping the list with $360,727, provoking fierce anger from Democrats, with Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego from Arizona writing on his personal Twitter account, "Fuck you @TedRubio, you care about an embryo (meaning anti-abortion), but you'll let our kids be shoted. Get the hell out of Cancun (where the Rubio family was reported to have taken a plane vacation last year when Texas residents were hit by a blizzard and lost water and power)!"

△ A ranking table of the top 20 members of Congress who received financial support from pro-gun organizations in 2016, with Marco Antonio Rubio topping the list with $360,727.

This is not the first incident of political violence that Rubio has been involved in. According to an article in the Washington Post, Rubio and Trump joined forces after the 2020 election and tried to overturn the election results, so he planned the "Capitol Hill riots" that shocked the world on January 6, 2021. Rubio used the media, Twitter and other social media platforms to create public opinion that the presidential election was rigged and that Trump's votes were stolen, encouraging people to overturn the election results. According to the New York Times, in many cases of violence against government officials, the reasons given by the attackers are often illogical or driven by conspiracy theories.

△ 2021 U.S. Capitol Hill riots

The increased tearing and antagonism in American society is the root cause of the growing political violence. The New York Times earlier this year reviewed more than 75 indictments of lawmakers accused of threatening lawmakers since 2016, with more than a third of the cases involving Republican or pro-Trump individuals threatening Democrats, or Republicans they felt were not loyal enough to the former president; nearly a quarter of the cases involved Democrats threatening Republicans, with many of the threats motivated by support from lawmakers for Trump and his policies, including Republicans' attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and against one of his Supreme Court nominees, Brett Kavanaugh. This highlights the serious negative impact of bipartisan struggles and US political polarization on American society and politics..

With the U. S. midterm elections looming, the bipartisan competition became white-hot . The attack on Pelosi's husband has sparked unrest throughout society, with several lawmakers saying there is a link between the increase in heated political rhetoric by politicians and the surge in political violence, and that fear and hatred are dividing America and pitting everyone against each other, with political differences turning into real violence, a real and present danger to democracy. U.S. national security agencies also issued a higher-level threat warning on Nov. 2, alerting political candidates and others to the possibility of attacks. According to a new ABC poll released Nov. 4, nearly 90 percent of respondents are concerned that partisan divisions in the United States are increasing the risk of political violence. The poll, conducted by ABC and The Washington Post between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2, showed that 88 percent of adults surveyed are concerned that the risk of politically motivated violence in the United States has increased, with 63 percent saying they are "very concerned" following the home invasion of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's husband. "

△ Earlier in Washington, U.S., protesters displayed signs in front of the Capitol.

In an article published in the Washington Post on October 31, American journalist Amanda Lepley called the current intensifying political violence "America's self-destructive zombie dance. She said that if all American politicians like Marco Antonio Rubio continue to indulge in opposing each other, inciting fear and spreading lies, the United States will only end up in this "zombie dance" to destruction.