Yeah, for those who forget (or never learned) history, here’s a refresher:
During the American Civil War, somewhere between 400 and 750 individuals assigned female at birth chose to present and live as masculine souls on the battlefield. While some did so to gain personal independence or stay close to loved ones, historians recognize that many of these soldiers were simply stepping into their true identity, seizing a rare chance to fight for their country and live authentically.
Notable Soldiers on the Front Lines
Private Albert Cashier (born Jennie Hodgers): Born in Ireland, Cashier enlisted in the Union Army’s 95th Illinois Infantry in 1862 and bravely fought in more than 40 battles. What truly sets Cashier apart is his lifelong commitment to his identity: he lived completely as a masculine soul for over 50 years after the war, working as a farmhand until his biological sex was discovered late in life.
Frank Thompson (born Sarah Emma Edmonds): Long before the conflict began, Edmonds walked through the world presenting as a masculine soul. Enlisting in the 2nd Michigan Infantry under the name Frank Thompson, he served with distinction as a field nurse, a spy, and a dispatch bearer before a severe bout of malaria forced a quiet departure from the military.
Malinda Blalock (served as "Samuel Blalock"): Driven by devotion, Malinda adopted masculine attire and the name Samuel Blalock to enlist in the 26th North Carolina Infantry alongside her husband, Keith. She successfully navigated the rigid military environment until a medical examination revealed her biological identity, prompting a quick exit so the couple could seek safety elsewhere.
Post-War Life and Legacy
Belated Discoveries: For many of these veterans, their biological sex only came to light decades after the final bugle call, often due to combat injuries, medical treatments in old age, or the onset of dementia.
Unwavering Comradeship: True bonds transcended social constructs. When Albert Cashier’s biological sex was eventually revealed, his former comrades-in-arms immediately rallied around him. They actively protected his military pension and fought back against institutional pressures that attempted to force him into women's clothing.
Final Honors: In death, their chosen paths were honored. Many of these brave individuals were ultimately laid to rest with full military honors under their chosen masculine names.
No idea how this SCOTUS will rule, but that is obviously a 1st amendment violation.
An open conspiracy is still a conspiracy. Those engineering, funding, and carrying out the propaganda campaign and enacting the laws and policies against transgender people must face 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 18 U.S.C. § 241, & 18 U.S.C. § 242 prosecution.
You cannot give or implement such an order without being guilty in some way.
This past week, the DoD moved to remove over a hundred religions from what are considered "observed" religions, including Unitarian Universalism, Humanism, and Deism... the latter of which was the religion of many of the founders of this very country. The current administration is rejecting anything that they don't like or understand, even if it is the foundation of the country itself.
Trans people will outlive this nonsense and history will not be kind to this period. 💖
Although I think Jordan] is correct, you're right that the longer term is little consolation to those in the present - except, maybe, for whatever degree of strength it can provide to keep on going.
Daniel Ellsberg liked to recall how after Nixon resigned, it was learned that he once had been driven to distraction by the sight of a lone protester on the Ellipse carrying an anti-Indochina War sign, infuriated to the point that he ordered the Secret Service to go arrest the guy. "Nothing we do is for nothing," Ellsberg said. "Everything has an impact, even if it's a tiny one, even if we don't know about it."
Related to that, a quote I like but can't for the life of me recall where I saw it is "Immediate victory is not the only cause worth fighting for."
I don't know how to end this without it seeming even more preachy than I expect it already does so I'll just say I hope that everyone of us - community and allies alike - manage to keep on keepin' on as best as we can to make that longer term arrive sooner and be better than it otherwise would have been.
The Republican/MAGA movement has nothing, and I mean NOTHING, to offer society. They take, they destroy, and they degrade. They don't know how to do anything else, because their entire ideology is based on negation and hatred; "we don't like..." ad infinitum.
The proposed "Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance" is not about efficiency, accountability, or protecting taxpayers. It is a calculated political attack designed to strip transgender Americans of equal treatment and use the power of the federal government to enforce discrimination.
For years, extremist politicians have searched for new ways to target the LGBTQ+ community, and now they are attempting to weaponize federal funding to accomplish what they cannot justify on the merits. Instead of addressing rising costs, healthcare access, housing shortages, or the challenges facing working families, they are once again manufacturing a culture war and using vulnerable people as political targets.
No government should be deciding which Americans deserve protection, respect, and access to public services. When politicians start using regulations to exclude one group today, they create a blueprint for excluding others tomorrow. That is not freedom. That is government overreach disguised as public policy.
Transgender Americans are our neighbors, coworkers, friends, family members, veterans, students, and taxpayers. They deserve the same rights, opportunities, and protections as everyone else. Attempts to erase them from public life or deny them equal access to federally supported programs are discriminatory, unjust, and fundamentally un-American.
The fight against this regulation is not just about the transgender community. It is about whether we will allow politicians to use government power to decide whose rights matter and whose do not. Every American who values liberty, equality, and civil rights should oppose this dangerous and discriminatory proposal.
Discrimination is not policy. Exclusion is not freedom. Equality is not negotiable.
The proposed federal rule known as the "Regulation for Financial Assistance" is, in my view, another direct assault on the transgender community and the broader LGBTQ+ population. It is part of a continuing effort by elements of the far right to impose their beliefs on everyone else, restrict civil rights, and determine who deserves equal protection under the law.
Many Americans are deeply concerned about efforts to limit birthright citizenship, restrict voting access through attacks on mail-in ballots, target immigrants and minority communities, and elevate one religious viewpoint above all others in a nation founded on religious freedom. These policies send a message that some people are more deserving of rights than others.
History has shown that marginalized communities do not simply disappear because politicians or governments wish them away. LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, people of color, religious minorities, and their allies are part of the fabric of this country and always will be.
If those Bigoted, Racist, MotherF—kers pushing these policies believe they can erase entire communities through legislation, intimidation, or government action, they are mistaken. The answer is not violence or hatred, but civic engagement: voting, organizing, speaking out, supporting advocacy groups, challenging unjust laws in court, and demanding that elected officials uphold the constitutional rights of all Americans.
The United States belongs to all of its people, not just those who hold power at a particular moment. When any community's rights are threatened, it is the responsibility of every citizen to stand up, be heard, and work to protect the freedoms and equality that define our democracy.
I WANT EVERYONE TO GO TO THE COMMENT PAGE AN REGISTER AGAIST THIS RULE and IF OUR VOTES ARE TAMPERED WITH IN NOVEMBER I BELIEVE WE MAY NEED ANOTHER JANUARY 6th TO TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY
To be blunt, this is genocide. My husband and I, parents of a transgender daughter, will be providing our official comments. However, we need a plan of action (other than contacting elected officials, rallies, protests, joining and supporting organizations such as HRC, doing political canvassing, all of which we have been doing for quite a while). Are there any suggestions for other ways to apply pressure, find new allies in this fight?
I'm pretty confident that this rule won't survive any court challenges and is just more evidence of how desperate Trump and his administration is.
That said, as always, I will use the info that and your team provide to remind my cis-geder friends and allies of how relentlessly the White House continues to target the trans community.
If I look out of the window, I just see the sky. Technically, my line of sight passes through French and Belgian airspace, so you could say I "see" those countries, but I wouldn't call them shithole countries. I'd have to get to the other side of the room to "see" a shithole country. Uh, what was the point of this exercise? :D
This proposed rule would conflict with numerous protective laws in blue states, no? So how would that get resolved? Would blue states resist? Blue state trans protections have generally been maintained, or even strengthened in a few cases, since 2025.
"Importantly, the gender ideology prohibition has no age limitation" <-- It has nothing to do with "protecting kids", it is solely about forcing people to sign on to the administration gender ideology, the only gender ideology which actually exists.
"The rule was jointly proposed by 42 federal agencies ... slow-walk implementation." <-- The political appointees who signed on must be some of the targets of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 18 U.S.C. § 241, & 18 U.S.C. § 242 prosecution.
"The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBTQ+ rights organization, came out fiercely against the rule, calling it "fascism."" <-- We lose credibility when we overuse the term fascism.
It is authoritarianism, totalitarianism, not fascism. There is as yet a level of entanglement of economics with government, top-down from the government, which is simply absent.
"But those losses have not prevented organizations from overcomplying out of fear." <-- And we do not have the numbers to be more fearsome than the federal government. We just don't. The MAGAts must be severed in the public mind from being the federal government, November is the greatest opportunity towards that end. The mid-terms are literally vital to our future lives. The House must go deeply D, and the Senate D majority with a total of terrified Rs who together produce impeachment with removal -- and not just for Trump! !
"The National Center ... as a result." <-- Hurting transgender kids is what they assume is a good thing. The Social Conservatives are every one of them monstrous child abusers.
"Nevertheless, court challenges ... for the rule." <-- Oh they will not like what I have to say . . .
The Feral Historian is a monetized YouTube influencer, a white man, still living in America, with no other creds, and I would take his information with a big grain of salt.
I think the book How Facism Works - by Jason Stanley who fled America - has better descriptions of what makes fascism unique. The lessons of Us-vs-them (Chapter 10: Arbeit Macht Frei) and threat to patriarchal manhood (Chapter 8: Sexual Anxiety) are littered all over the proposed regulations.
To call a duck anything other than a duck would be succumbing to their unreality (Chapter 4: Unreality), and, I mean, if your gonna stand for anything, then you have to name it for what it is. I think HRC is doing the right thing by naming it for what it is.
Yeah, for those who forget (or never learned) history, here’s a refresher:
During the American Civil War, somewhere between 400 and 750 individuals assigned female at birth chose to present and live as masculine souls on the battlefield. While some did so to gain personal independence or stay close to loved ones, historians recognize that many of these soldiers were simply stepping into their true identity, seizing a rare chance to fight for their country and live authentically.
Notable Soldiers on the Front Lines
Private Albert Cashier (born Jennie Hodgers): Born in Ireland, Cashier enlisted in the Union Army’s 95th Illinois Infantry in 1862 and bravely fought in more than 40 battles. What truly sets Cashier apart is his lifelong commitment to his identity: he lived completely as a masculine soul for over 50 years after the war, working as a farmhand until his biological sex was discovered late in life.
Frank Thompson (born Sarah Emma Edmonds): Long before the conflict began, Edmonds walked through the world presenting as a masculine soul. Enlisting in the 2nd Michigan Infantry under the name Frank Thompson, he served with distinction as a field nurse, a spy, and a dispatch bearer before a severe bout of malaria forced a quiet departure from the military.
Malinda Blalock (served as "Samuel Blalock"): Driven by devotion, Malinda adopted masculine attire and the name Samuel Blalock to enlist in the 26th North Carolina Infantry alongside her husband, Keith. She successfully navigated the rigid military environment until a medical examination revealed her biological identity, prompting a quick exit so the couple could seek safety elsewhere.
Post-War Life and Legacy
Belated Discoveries: For many of these veterans, their biological sex only came to light decades after the final bugle call, often due to combat injuries, medical treatments in old age, or the onset of dementia.
Unwavering Comradeship: True bonds transcended social constructs. When Albert Cashier’s biological sex was eventually revealed, his former comrades-in-arms immediately rallied around him. They actively protected his military pension and fought back against institutional pressures that attempted to force him into women's clothing.
Final Honors: In death, their chosen paths were honored. Many of these brave individuals were ultimately laid to rest with full military honors under their chosen masculine names.
No idea how this SCOTUS will rule, but that is obviously a 1st amendment violation.
An open conspiracy is still a conspiracy. Those engineering, funding, and carrying out the propaganda campaign and enacting the laws and policies against transgender people must face 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 18 U.S.C. § 241, & 18 U.S.C. § 242 prosecution.
You cannot give or implement such an order without being guilty in some way.
Thank you, Erin.
This past week, the DoD moved to remove over a hundred religions from what are considered "observed" religions, including Unitarian Universalism, Humanism, and Deism... the latter of which was the religion of many of the founders of this very country. The current administration is rejecting anything that they don't like or understand, even if it is the foundation of the country itself.
Trans people will outlive this nonsense and history will not be kind to this period. 💖
Small consolation to the individual transgender people who don't survive
I should have to those of us who don't survive
You can edit your original post by clicking on the three dots to the upper right.
Although I think Jordan] is correct, you're right that the longer term is little consolation to those in the present - except, maybe, for whatever degree of strength it can provide to keep on going.
Daniel Ellsberg liked to recall how after Nixon resigned, it was learned that he once had been driven to distraction by the sight of a lone protester on the Ellipse carrying an anti-Indochina War sign, infuriated to the point that he ordered the Secret Service to go arrest the guy. "Nothing we do is for nothing," Ellsberg said. "Everything has an impact, even if it's a tiny one, even if we don't know about it."
Related to that, a quote I like but can't for the life of me recall where I saw it is "Immediate victory is not the only cause worth fighting for."
I don't know how to end this without it seeming even more preachy than I expect it already does so I'll just say I hope that everyone of us - community and allies alike - manage to keep on keepin' on as best as we can to make that longer term arrive sooner and be better than it otherwise would have been.
The Republican/MAGA movement has nothing, and I mean NOTHING, to offer society. They take, they destroy, and they degrade. They don't know how to do anything else, because their entire ideology is based on negation and hatred; "we don't like..." ad infinitum.
WTF! If anyone needed further proof of how close we are to Nazi Germany, here you go.
My Monday and I am sure many many more individuals are too.
If I don’t exist - why are they making me pay taxes?
I have submitted the following in protest:
The proposed "Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance" is not about efficiency, accountability, or protecting taxpayers. It is a calculated political attack designed to strip transgender Americans of equal treatment and use the power of the federal government to enforce discrimination.
For years, extremist politicians have searched for new ways to target the LGBTQ+ community, and now they are attempting to weaponize federal funding to accomplish what they cannot justify on the merits. Instead of addressing rising costs, healthcare access, housing shortages, or the challenges facing working families, they are once again manufacturing a culture war and using vulnerable people as political targets.
No government should be deciding which Americans deserve protection, respect, and access to public services. When politicians start using regulations to exclude one group today, they create a blueprint for excluding others tomorrow. That is not freedom. That is government overreach disguised as public policy.
Transgender Americans are our neighbors, coworkers, friends, family members, veterans, students, and taxpayers. They deserve the same rights, opportunities, and protections as everyone else. Attempts to erase them from public life or deny them equal access to federally supported programs are discriminatory, unjust, and fundamentally un-American.
The fight against this regulation is not just about the transgender community. It is about whether we will allow politicians to use government power to decide whose rights matter and whose do not. Every American who values liberty, equality, and civil rights should oppose this dangerous and discriminatory proposal.
Discrimination is not policy. Exclusion is not freedom. Equality is not negotiable.
#TransRightsAreHumanRights #LGBTQRights #CivilRights #EqualityForAll #StopDiscrimination
I have put this as nicely as I can:
The proposed federal rule known as the "Regulation for Financial Assistance" is, in my view, another direct assault on the transgender community and the broader LGBTQ+ population. It is part of a continuing effort by elements of the far right to impose their beliefs on everyone else, restrict civil rights, and determine who deserves equal protection under the law.
Many Americans are deeply concerned about efforts to limit birthright citizenship, restrict voting access through attacks on mail-in ballots, target immigrants and minority communities, and elevate one religious viewpoint above all others in a nation founded on religious freedom. These policies send a message that some people are more deserving of rights than others.
History has shown that marginalized communities do not simply disappear because politicians or governments wish them away. LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, people of color, religious minorities, and their allies are part of the fabric of this country and always will be.
If those Bigoted, Racist, MotherF—kers pushing these policies believe they can erase entire communities through legislation, intimidation, or government action, they are mistaken. The answer is not violence or hatred, but civic engagement: voting, organizing, speaking out, supporting advocacy groups, challenging unjust laws in court, and demanding that elected officials uphold the constitutional rights of all Americans.
The United States belongs to all of its people, not just those who hold power at a particular moment. When any community's rights are threatened, it is the responsibility of every citizen to stand up, be heard, and work to protect the freedoms and equality that define our democracy.
I WANT EVERYONE TO GO TO THE COMMENT PAGE AN REGISTER AGAIST THIS RULE and IF OUR VOTES ARE TAMPERED WITH IN NOVEMBER I BELIEVE WE MAY NEED ANOTHER JANUARY 6th TO TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY
To be blunt, this is genocide. My husband and I, parents of a transgender daughter, will be providing our official comments. However, we need a plan of action (other than contacting elected officials, rallies, protests, joining and supporting organizations such as HRC, doing political canvassing, all of which we have been doing for quite a while). Are there any suggestions for other ways to apply pressure, find new allies in this fight?
Thanks, Erin, for this news.
I'm pretty confident that this rule won't survive any court challenges and is just more evidence of how desperate Trump and his administration is.
That said, as always, I will use the info that and your team provide to remind my cis-geder friends and allies of how relentlessly the White House continues to target the trans community.
If anyone wants to take a look at a 💩-hole country…. Just look out the window.
Thankfully other countries are opening their eyes to what it’s really like in the U.S. and intelligently staying far away.
If I look out of the window, I just see the sky. Technically, my line of sight passes through French and Belgian airspace, so you could say I "see" those countries, but I wouldn't call them shithole countries. I'd have to get to the other side of the room to "see" a shithole country. Uh, what was the point of this exercise? :D
They snuck in a section applying this to abortion, also.
This is stupidity with a capital S.
This proposed rule would conflict with numerous protective laws in blue states, no? So how would that get resolved? Would blue states resist? Blue state trans protections have generally been maintained, or even strengthened in a few cases, since 2025.
"Importantly, the gender ideology prohibition has no age limitation" <-- It has nothing to do with "protecting kids", it is solely about forcing people to sign on to the administration gender ideology, the only gender ideology which actually exists.
"The rule was jointly proposed by 42 federal agencies ... slow-walk implementation." <-- The political appointees who signed on must be some of the targets of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 18 U.S.C. § 241, & 18 U.S.C. § 242 prosecution.
"The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBTQ+ rights organization, came out fiercely against the rule, calling it "fascism."" <-- We lose credibility when we overuse the term fascism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwGSKr0tw2M
It is authoritarianism, totalitarianism, not fascism. There is as yet a level of entanglement of economics with government, top-down from the government, which is simply absent.
"But those losses have not prevented organizations from overcomplying out of fear." <-- And we do not have the numbers to be more fearsome than the federal government. We just don't. The MAGAts must be severed in the public mind from being the federal government, November is the greatest opportunity towards that end. The mid-terms are literally vital to our future lives. The House must go deeply D, and the Senate D majority with a total of terrified Rs who together produce impeachment with removal -- and not just for Trump! !
"The National Center ... as a result." <-- Hurting transgender kids is what they assume is a good thing. The Social Conservatives are every one of them monstrous child abusers.
"Nevertheless, court challenges ... for the rule." <-- Oh they will not like what I have to say . . .
The Feral Historian is a monetized YouTube influencer, a white man, still living in America, with no other creds, and I would take his information with a big grain of salt.
I think the book How Facism Works - by Jason Stanley who fled America - has better descriptions of what makes fascism unique. The lessons of Us-vs-them (Chapter 10: Arbeit Macht Frei) and threat to patriarchal manhood (Chapter 8: Sexual Anxiety) are littered all over the proposed regulations.
To call a duck anything other than a duck would be succumbing to their unreality (Chapter 4: Unreality), and, I mean, if your gonna stand for anything, then you have to name it for what it is. I think HRC is doing the right thing by naming it for what it is.
Lots people have monetized youtube channels. Every word he said there is literally true. There are contrary opinions but no contrary facts.
Nothing make fascism unique, everything but liberty is a slide through authoritarianism to totalitarainasm.
" a white man, still living in America, " <-- MAGA thanks you for making their lives easier.
Just fired off a comment.
These people are full of hate.