John Gallagher

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As HHS secretary, RFK Jr. would be a direct threat to LGBTQ+ health

Among Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees, it’s hard to choose who is the most dangerous to LGBTQ+ rights. But it’s easy to pick out who is the most dangerous to LGBTQ+ health: Robert Kennedy Jr. As the nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Kennedy has the potential to make literal life-and-death decisions about the nation’s health. But his crackpot ideas are a direct threat to the very issues that can matter most to the LGBTQ+ community.  Much has been made of Kennedy’s conspiracy-ridden, fringe beliefs. He believes that vaccines cause autism, even though abundant evidence has shown no […]

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Anti-trans attacks aren’t the winning election issue the right thinks it is

Republicans are waging war against the transgender community, believing that they have a winning electoral strategy.  In terms of causing both physical and emotional damage, they have succeeded, as states like North Carolina and Missouri have banned gender-affirming treatment for minors. But the attacks may not be quite the brilliant campaign tactic that the GOP thinks it has. If anything, Republicans are finding that they may have gone too far. Moreover, based on history, attacking the trans community may be more of a losing proposition at the ballot box than Republicans believe.  The current run of attacks on the trans community is sadly not […]

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George Santos is a liar & grifter. He’s the perfect example of a modern gay Republican

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Even by the relaxed standards of politicians, George Santos has a distant relationship with the truth. He can barely say “hello” without telling a lie, and hardly a day goes by without the media uncovering some new whopper that Santos used to inflate his image. But in one sense, Santos fits right at home in today’s Republican party. From the open grifting to the flirtation with the party’s most anti-LGBTQ elements, he’s the epitome of the depths to which gay Republicans have sunk. That’s not to suggest that every gay Republican is an inveterate liar who steals money meant to treat dying dogs. For […]

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The right has a hot new legal theory to destroy LGBTQ+ rights

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The Federalist Society – the right-wing legal group that Donald Trump made the selection committee for his judicial appointees – has had a lot of success peeling back LGBTQ+ rights by promoting the doctrine of originalism. Originalism tests laws on the principle of whether the nation’s founders intended the Constitution to be interpreted in a particular way. Unsurprisingly, conservatives like the ways things looked in the 18th century a lot more than they do today, so originalism has been a handy way of bending the law rightward. The apotheosis of originalism was the Supreme Court’s decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. The majority […]

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Pedophilia accusations were once a fringe QAnon belief is now a standard GOP tactic

When QAnon burst on the scene a few years ago, the general feeling was that it was so deep in the fever swamps that it would never become anything more than a fringe conspiracy theory. After all, who could believe the premise that a cabal of Democratic politicians and Hollywood stars are engaged in Satanic practices that involve sex trafficking children and harvesting their blood to produce a psychoactive drug? As it turns out, the Republican party believes it. Or at least enough of the party’s leadership believes it that it has now embraced QAnon’s pedophilia claims and is now […]

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Clarence Thomas’ wife doesn’t believe in democracy. Does her husband?

Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has finally been attracting some attention for her ultra-conservative views. Mostly, the focus has been on the extraordinary conflict of interest she represents for her husband, and she hands out awards to people appearing before the court and advocates for issues her husband will be deciding on. But this week, Thomas surprised even her fiercest critics by engaging in what can only be called treason. In a series of emails released to the House committee studying the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol, Thomas called for the overturning of the election results with […]

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Is Ruben Gallego the perfect challenger to send Kyrsten Sinema packing from the Senate?

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) spent Thursday plunging a metaphorical knife into President Biden’s back, even as he was on his way to Capitol Hill to meet with Senate Democrats in an attempt to salvage pro-voting rights legislation. Having betrayed her president and her party — to say nothing of the LGBTQ community — Sinema is ripe for a primary challenge when she comes up for re-election in 2024. Infuriated Democrats in Arizona are already beginning to line up behind a replacement for Sinema. The frontrunner by far: Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ). Gallego is hardly shying away from the challenge. Shortly after Sinema’s speech, […]

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The Supreme Court’s love for religious freedom won’t just affect LGBTQ people

Whoever President Biden picks to replace Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court will have to prepare herself for being on the losing side of a lot of cases for the foreseeable future. With conservatives holding the majority of seats on the Court, John Roberts and (heaven help us) Brett Kavanaugh now are looked on as relative moderates compared to Amy Coney Barrett and Clarence Thomas. One of those battles will be over religious liberty. The Court has been dancing around the issue for several sessions now, mostly issuing very narrow rulings, most notably in the Masterpiece Cakeshop ruling in 2019. The Court stuck to a narrow issue […]

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Peter Thiel’s Warped Logic, And 4 Other Things To Watch For At The Republican National Convention

This week’s Republican National Convention promises to rival the circus. You’ll see politicians playing acrobats, walking a tightrope and doing backflips for the nominee. You’ll see wild animals roaring at the crowd (and occasionally making a mess on the floor). And clowns? Boy, will there be plenty of clowns. Going into the convention, Republicans are in complete disarray. The convention will reflect that. By all accounts, it is a mess, with a bizarre list of speakers and a shortage of funds. However, as anyone who has ever watched a reality show knows, disasters can make for great–or cringe-worthy–viewing. This time out is […]

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