I’m pretty sure that one of the limitations of the First Amendment is the borders of the USA. The arrest in London of a guy from Ireland seems well outside the jurisdiction of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution!
And in this instance uk police acted on uk laws, from what I understand. There is a legitimate societal interest in not tolerating intolerance, especially calls to violence like lineham’s. Left unchecked, their hateful words begin more and more turning into hateful actions.
Further evidence that what we are up against will not be defeated if we all just "vote blue".
Again, I don't think Trump cares much about this issue specifically - he's just a political opportunist, and he knows it serves his political and financial interest to exploit a moral panic.
In that regard, he and Khanna and Newsom and many others are actually all on the same team.
This is a well-funded, well-organized, bipartisan effort to destroy us. Party politics will not save us here. We must turn to one another and our allies and construct our own independent legal, medical, and social support networks.
This is PERFORMATIVE on Ro Khanna's part. He didn't have to comment. Nobody EXPECTED him to weigh in on the subject. The first thing on a person's mind when some British asshole calls for violence against marginalized people isn't, "I wonder what Ro Khanna thinks about this?" He's figuratively punching us in the balls like a middle school bully to show that he's one of the "reasonable" progressives, whatever that might mean. And if he's doing it, I think we might see a lot more of it.
This is really out of left field, but perhaps my best possible action is to contact Democratic leadership and to explain to them why they can't assume they will have my support (financial or volunteerism) going forward. I have resolved that I will no longer support any politician who cannot or does not give full-throated support for trans people. (I have already told Abigail Spanberger's campaign why I will not give them money, and I will take this opportunity to reiterate that message.)
Just some feedback for y'all: I had very good conversations with the staffers of both of my senators. I introduced myself basically as someone who has been a die-hard, over-my-eyeballs supporter of the Democratic Party for my entire life - and someone who has contributed generously to their past campaigns. I explained why I feel abandoned by the Democratic Party and calmly laid out how my future support of my two senators will be contingent on real support that they show the transgender community. Lacking that support, I will simply wish them well, as I'm sure they will wish me well. I also drew in a few points about the larger LGBTQ community, indicating that although they are still figuring out their support, they remember DOMA, don't ask / don't tell, don't say gay, etc. They realize if Republicans can tell lies about trans people that Democrats won't debunk, and if Dems can just throw us under the bus out of political expedience, the same thing can happen to them, The staffers took notes. I heard a lot of keyboard chatter. They said they understood, and they seemed to take me pretty seriously. I say that as someone who has called a {{{{LOT}}}} of offices about a lot of things over a lot of years.
Anyway, I encourage others to do the same. Call any Democrats you've supported in the past, and let them know that if they don't support you, you won't continue to support them. The call will almost certainly go well. To find out how to contact Senator Joe Blow, search "contact Joe Blow." The main page should have their phone numbers. The Washington offices are area code 202. Talk to a person if you can, and be real with them. They don't bite. ;-)
OK, I called Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, and Ro Khanna. And I wrote to the DNC and Abigail Spanberger. I guess I'll call my two senators and school them on what sort of support I will be looking for in the future. Anyone else I should contact?
Money and volunteer time. I've noticed in the past that campaign offices often have a lot of help from the trans community. We are an unusually active population, politically, and the politicians know it.
I'm already there. No Newsom, for example. No Seth Moulton. Frankly, no Magaziner, either. I'm with Summer Lee, who said, “There is no poll result that could make me turn on marginalized people.”
I don't know why Democratic politicians of all corners of the political universe unfailingly buckle on this one issue of trans rights just because the degree of hatred, fear, bigotry and aggression whipped up by Trump and the MAGAs has steeped the country's mentality in popular lies and disgusting attitudes... Wait, I guess I DO know why. Shame on cowards no matter what level of "progressive" they claim to be.
Thanks for the link to his gov website. I just left a comment for him, pushing back and asking him to stop othering the trans community and supporting violence against trans folks.
I have been saying , for years, that there is very little difference between the Republican and Democrat parties (other than who they want big government to beat on). Incidents such as this merely prove my point. We are on our own people! The Democrat Party has come to see support for us as a liability. The Republicans see us as the personification of evil. The vast majority of people have never met one of us, let alone developed any sort of friendship with us. They see such hatred and shrug: "Oh well, at least it's not ME". Watch out for each other 'cause none of the major political groups is going to.
They are merely fighting over who gets to run the Empire. I.e. Gaza. You can't find a meaningful difference between the leadership of each other than style points.
Hurtful, shameful, and discouraging. Ro Khanna is also busy working with one of the most vile republicans in Congress to release the Epstein dirt as if it will change any minds in the cult. Hope he doesn’t sell us out further to deliver on this worthless pursuit.
Meanwhile, I was banned from Reddit this week for calling Trump supporters maggots on a post about charliekirk calling for us to lose our 2A rights in the US. The comments were mostly slurs against trans people and misinformation about us committing violence, and it all remains on the post. Yet I was banned so they can “protect vulnerable communities.”
It’s getting worse than not standing up for us. People who expect our votes or claim to help us are promoting misinformation and violence against us. They may not notice trans ppl as they throw us under the bus, but they will notice us when we don’t vote for them or use their platforms.
Seriously disappointed by rho khanna. Seems very out of character. I don't get it. It's not something he even needed to comment on. Promoting violence is not speech that is allowed.
Sadly…. Dems being Dems. I don’t want to seem flippant but this is just Dems being Dems. The party seems to be coalescing around anti trans positions. Everyone’s ranting about Dems sweeping 2026 but effectively that will most likely mean absolutely nothing to the hellscape our lives have become. Before I support any candidate I am asking for a detailed position “paper” on their position on trans rights.
This is very disappointing - while free speech is everyone’s right calling for violence is not and should be not be acceptable . No one who calls for violence should be arrested and watched very very close
The irony is that we're constantly being told : "If you see/hear something, DO something". So, here we have authorities doing SOMETHING about an individual who freely posts violent rants and those same hand wringers cry "What about his freedom of speech?" Bigots can't be ignored. When they say they want us eradicated, BELIEVE them.
I'm all for free speech, but there are limitations. Calling for violence against a marginalized community should NEVER be condoned. F U Ro Khanna.
Well, here's the thing: Nobody ASKED for his opinion. Nobody EXPECTED his opinion. And yet he opined.
I’m pretty sure that one of the limitations of the First Amendment is the borders of the USA. The arrest in London of a guy from Ireland seems well outside the jurisdiction of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution!
And in this instance uk police acted on uk laws, from what I understand. There is a legitimate societal interest in not tolerating intolerance, especially calls to violence like lineham’s. Left unchecked, their hateful words begin more and more turning into hateful actions.
Further evidence that what we are up against will not be defeated if we all just "vote blue".
Again, I don't think Trump cares much about this issue specifically - he's just a political opportunist, and he knows it serves his political and financial interest to exploit a moral panic.
In that regard, he and Khanna and Newsom and many others are actually all on the same team.
This is a well-funded, well-organized, bipartisan effort to destroy us. Party politics will not save us here. We must turn to one another and our allies and construct our own independent legal, medical, and social support networks.
I’ve said it many times, and I’ll say it many more. With friends like these, who needs enemies?
That was my thought, exactly.
This is PERFORMATIVE on Ro Khanna's part. He didn't have to comment. Nobody EXPECTED him to weigh in on the subject. The first thing on a person's mind when some British asshole calls for violence against marginalized people isn't, "I wonder what Ro Khanna thinks about this?" He's figuratively punching us in the balls like a middle school bully to show that he's one of the "reasonable" progressives, whatever that might mean. And if he's doing it, I think we might see a lot more of it.
This is really out of left field, but perhaps my best possible action is to contact Democratic leadership and to explain to them why they can't assume they will have my support (financial or volunteerism) going forward. I have resolved that I will no longer support any politician who cannot or does not give full-throated support for trans people. (I have already told Abigail Spanberger's campaign why I will not give them money, and I will take this opportunity to reiterate that message.)
Just some feedback for y'all: I had very good conversations with the staffers of both of my senators. I introduced myself basically as someone who has been a die-hard, over-my-eyeballs supporter of the Democratic Party for my entire life - and someone who has contributed generously to their past campaigns. I explained why I feel abandoned by the Democratic Party and calmly laid out how my future support of my two senators will be contingent on real support that they show the transgender community. Lacking that support, I will simply wish them well, as I'm sure they will wish me well. I also drew in a few points about the larger LGBTQ community, indicating that although they are still figuring out their support, they remember DOMA, don't ask / don't tell, don't say gay, etc. They realize if Republicans can tell lies about trans people that Democrats won't debunk, and if Dems can just throw us under the bus out of political expedience, the same thing can happen to them, The staffers took notes. I heard a lot of keyboard chatter. They said they understood, and they seemed to take me pretty seriously. I say that as someone who has called a {{{{LOT}}}} of offices about a lot of things over a lot of years.
Anyway, I encourage others to do the same. Call any Democrats you've supported in the past, and let them know that if they don't support you, you won't continue to support them. The call will almost certainly go well. To find out how to contact Senator Joe Blow, search "contact Joe Blow." The main page should have their phone numbers. The Washington offices are area code 202. Talk to a person if you can, and be real with them. They don't bite. ;-)
OK, I called Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, and Ro Khanna. And I wrote to the DNC and Abigail Spanberger. I guess I'll call my two senators and school them on what sort of support I will be looking for in the future. Anyone else I should contact?
You've set the path for us all. Well done!
We all need to cut off the money for every politician not defending civil rights for all people.
Money and volunteer time. I've noticed in the past that campaign offices often have a lot of help from the trans community. We are an unusually active population, politically, and the politicians know it.
I'm already there. No Newsom, for example. No Seth Moulton. Frankly, no Magaziner, either. I'm with Summer Lee, who said, “There is no poll result that could make me turn on marginalized people.”
I don't know why Democratic politicians of all corners of the political universe unfailingly buckle on this one issue of trans rights just because the degree of hatred, fear, bigotry and aggression whipped up by Trump and the MAGAs has steeped the country's mentality in popular lies and disgusting attitudes... Wait, I guess I DO know why. Shame on cowards no matter what level of "progressive" they claim to be.
Thanks for the link to his gov website. I just left a comment for him, pushing back and asking him to stop othering the trans community and supporting violence against trans folks.
Calling for violence IS NOT PROTECTED FREE SPEECH. Never has been and it never will be. I don't know why this is so hard for people to understand.
Came here to say this!
Yes—and hard for elected representatives to understand?!!?? wtf
I have been saying , for years, that there is very little difference between the Republican and Democrat parties (other than who they want big government to beat on). Incidents such as this merely prove my point. We are on our own people! The Democrat Party has come to see support for us as a liability. The Republicans see us as the personification of evil. The vast majority of people have never met one of us, let alone developed any sort of friendship with us. They see such hatred and shrug: "Oh well, at least it's not ME". Watch out for each other 'cause none of the major political groups is going to.
They are merely fighting over who gets to run the Empire. I.e. Gaza. You can't find a meaningful difference between the leadership of each other than style points.
Hurtful, shameful, and discouraging. Ro Khanna is also busy working with one of the most vile republicans in Congress to release the Epstein dirt as if it will change any minds in the cult. Hope he doesn’t sell us out further to deliver on this worthless pursuit.
Meanwhile, I was banned from Reddit this week for calling Trump supporters maggots on a post about charliekirk calling for us to lose our 2A rights in the US. The comments were mostly slurs against trans people and misinformation about us committing violence, and it all remains on the post. Yet I was banned so they can “protect vulnerable communities.”
It’s getting worse than not standing up for us. People who expect our votes or claim to help us are promoting misinformation and violence against us. They may not notice trans ppl as they throw us under the bus, but they will notice us when we don’t vote for them or use their platforms.
Seriously disappointed by rho khanna. Seems very out of character. I don't get it. It's not something he even needed to comment on. Promoting violence is not speech that is allowed.
Sadly…. Dems being Dems. I don’t want to seem flippant but this is just Dems being Dems. The party seems to be coalescing around anti trans positions. Everyone’s ranting about Dems sweeping 2026 but effectively that will most likely mean absolutely nothing to the hellscape our lives have become. Before I support any candidate I am asking for a detailed position “paper” on their position on trans rights.
I’m tired, boss
What bs. With t h e Epstein witnesses speaking out, do we not know who the real person preators are?
This is very disappointing - while free speech is everyone’s right calling for violence is not and should be not be acceptable . No one who calls for violence should be arrested and watched very very close
The irony is that we're constantly being told : "If you see/hear something, DO something". So, here we have authorities doing SOMETHING about an individual who freely posts violent rants and those same hand wringers cry "What about his freedom of speech?" Bigots can't be ignored. When they say they want us eradicated, BELIEVE them.
Violence is not protected free speech.
This guy is a sick person.