Pew also found that the internet brings a lot of value to queer people’s lives. While only about a quarter of straight and cisgender people said the internet brings either a “great deal” or “quite a bit” of value to their lives, 42% of LGBTQ+ respondents said the same.

And, almost three-quarters of LGBTQ+ Americans who have a “most-visited” online community say that they go there in order to feel acceptance.

Beyond finding acceptance, LGBTQ+ respondents said that they go online to share their thoughts (83%), get support (74%), obtain advice (80%) and meet new people (58%). In each of these categories, LGBTQ+ respondents agreed at a higher percentage with the statement than non-LGBTQ+ people.

Democrats seize control of the Senate as results roll in across the US, posing a major challenge to Republicans.

If Democrats succeed in the midterms, the number of openly LGBTQ members of the House of Representatives could grow from 12 to as many as 17. Such an increase would mean more openly LGBTQ lawmakers in positions to push back against the Trump-Vance administration’s policies.

A Democratic takeover of the House could put several openly LGBTQ lawmakers in positions to influence investigations, legislation, and funding decisions that could have direct consequences for the administration’s LGBTQ policy agenda.

https://archive.li/hX28d

“When it comes to our kids, Sarah is just plain dangerous,” says Shellie Flockhart, a Dallas Center city councilwoman identified in the ad by her first name.

Flockhart, 55, pleaded guilty to charges related to child endangerment and driving under the influence after authorities said she drove drunk with two of her children in the car in 2017. Flockhart provided a one-page statement to The Washington Post with conditions for its use that would violate The Post’s editorial standards.
Flockhart’s detractors on social media in recent years have brought up her criminal history.

As state legislators and the federal government continue to target the rights of transgender people across the country — including access to health care, obtaining IDs that align with their gender identity, and the ability to serve in the military — trans choruses are providing much-needed refuge for this marginalized community.

Over the last two decades, trans choruses and choirs have grown and spread across the country through various political pendulum swings, as a recent in-depth NBC News report notes.

cross-posted from: https://quokk.au/c/politics/p/1264826/dccc-releases-its-first-anti-trans-ad-supporting-sc-democrat-nancy-lacore

Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas, the Democratic leader behind the state’s redistricting effort, was arrested Thursday in connection with an alleged bribery and racketeering scheme.

In a 45-page indictment filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, Lucas and six co-defendants were charged with conspiring to distribute and possess marijuana, conspiring to launder money, laundering money, and committing bribery by distributing large quantities of illegal marijuana under the auspices of her legal medical cannabis business.

Lucas, an 82-year-old great-grandmother, has served in the Virginia Senate since 1992. She faces five of the eight charges included in the indictment. These charges arrive five months after the FBI raided Lucas’s office in Portsmouth, Virginia, and the neighboring cannabis dispensary she co-owns.

More fascist BS.

MAGA political consultant Seth Weathers launched Ultra Right Beer, a “100% woke-free American beer,” in April 2023 in response to the right-wing boycott of Bud Light over its collaboration with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

But over three years later, the website for Ultra Right Beer has disappeared; hundreds of customers who paid nearly $35 for a single six-pack are complaining that they never received their pre-ordered beer; and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) has opened an investigation into the company, Wired reports.