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Texas GOP Moves Toward Vote On Seceding From Union

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Final Vote Saturday On Whether Proposal Will Appear On Primary Ballot

Texas GOP leaders are set to vote Saturday on whether to place a measure on the March 1 ballot in favor of seceding from the Union. 

The proposal cleared the Texas Republican Party’s Resolutions Committee on Friday and is set for a vote by the 40-member State Republican Executive Committee on Saturday. 

If it passes, the resolution would place a non-binding measure on the primary ballot in favor of secession, and one recent poll suggests that GOP voters would approve it. 

“If the federal government continues to disregard the constitution and the sovereignty of the State of Texas, the State of Texas should reassert its status as an independent nation,” the resolution states. 

The Texas Nationalist Movement needs a few strong Texans who believe in Texas independence.Texnat.org/joinShare if you know someone who qualifies.

Posted by Texas Nationalist Movement on Saturday, September 13, 2014

A 2014 Reuters poll found that one in four Americans support the idea of secession, including one-third of all Texans and a whopping 53 percent of Republicans in the Lone Star State. 

Texas Democratic Party Executive Director Crystal Kay Perkins slammed the proposal after it cleared the Resolutions Committee on Friday. 

“This is one of the most un-American, unpatriotic things we have seen from the Republican Party of Texas in a while. It clearly proves one thing: the Tea Party has taken over the Republican Party. Rest in peace, GOP,” Kay Perkins said. “This should worry every hardworking Texan, because this is the same party that controls the majority of our state government. Just another day at the weird and wacky Republican Party of Texas?”

State GOP leaders have said they doubt the resolution will survive an Executive Committee vote, but members who responded to The Houston Chronicle this week were split on the issue. 

The resolution was introduced by Executive Committee member Tanya Robertson after the Texas Nationalist Movement, a secessionist group, reportedly failed to gather the 75,000 signatures needed to get secession on the primary ballot. 

Kudos to Les Cooksey for creating these excellent signs for his petition signing efforts. If you want an opportunity to…

Posted by Texas Nationalist Movement on Wednesday, August 5, 2015

“There’s been a big groundswell of Texans that are getting into the Texas independence issue,” Robertson told the Chronicle. “I believe conservatives in Texas should have a choice to voice their opinion.”

Another Executive Committee member who supports the resolution, Karl Voigtsberger, said the goal is “just to find out where the majority of Texas Republican primary voters are on this topic.” Voigtsberger also said the resolution would “send a message” to Washington that “things are so broke right now that we’re considering independence.” 

Will we be able to travel freely between Texas and the United States?Likely. That is an issue that is both negotiated…

Posted by Texas Nationalist Movement on Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Texas became an independent republic after splitting off from Mexico in 1836, but later joined the Union in 1845. 

In 1861, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that secession is illegal, and the federal government would be compelled to use force against any state that tries to leave the Union. 

While some in the Texas GOP have attempted to distance the party from the secessionist movement, there’s plenty of crossover.

Ready to see more billboards? Join TNM and help us make it happen. http://www.texasnationalist.com/join

Posted by Texas Nationalist Movement on Thursday, December 6, 2012

Former Gov. Rick Perry once advocated secession, and current Gov. Greg Abbott likes to boast about how many times he’s sued the federal government. 

Earlier this year, the vast majority of Republican legislators signed a letter in support of defying the U.S. Supreme Court on same-sex marriage. In 2014, a secessionist Republican candidate for governor, Larry Kilgore, advocated the death penalty for gays. 

UPDATE:
The vote failed, so for now at least secession will not be on the ballot. These tweets tell an interesting story:

 

All images via Texas Nationalist Movement/Facebook

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NYC Officials to Defy Trump Admin Over Pride Flag Removal From Stonewall National Monument

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New York City officials plan to defy the Trump administration after the National Park Service removed the iconic LGBTQ pride flag from the historic Stonewall National Monument, following guidance from the Trump administration. Many consider the Greenwich Village landmark to be the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement, and the backlash to the removal was swift.

Some officials vowed earlier to re-raise the flag on federal property. Those who do so are “setting up a potential fight with the White House,” according to Politico.

Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal told Politico that he and other NYC-area officials will re-raise the flag on Thursday.

“I think it’s important that we speak out and stand up for the community, frankly, just as our forebearers, who exhibited much more courage back in 1969,” Hoylman-Sigal said.

READ MORE: White House Shuts Down Briefing After Declaring Lutnick ‘Very Important’ to Trump’s Team

“This is not a moment for our community to stand by idly as attempts to undermine our history are put forward by Trump and the federal administration,” he added, calling it “another outrage by the Trump administration directed at the LGBTQ community, whether it’s transgender youth or immigrants or queer people in general.”

It’s unknown which other officials plan to be present on Thursday.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul told The Recount, “I believe in peaceful resistance, because we’re not going to be subjugated to someone who thinks he’s a king — and you cannot diminish or undermine an important community to all of us.”

“I’ll do whatever I can,” she added, “if I have to go out there and put my own flag right back up.”

New York City Mayor Kwame Mamdani wrote, “I am outraged by the removal of the Rainbow Pride Flag from Stonewall National Monument. New York is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and no act of erasure will ever change, or silence, that history. Our city has a duty not just to honor this legacy, but to live up to it. I will always fight for a New York City that invests in our LGBTQ+ community, defends their dignity, and protects every one of our neighbors—without exception.”

Human Rights Campaign national press secretary Brandon Wolf told CBS News, “Bad news for the Trump administration: these colors don’t run.”

READ MORE: Carville Predicts Trump Will Get a Complete and Total ‘Whipping’

“The Stonewall Inn & Visitors Centers are still privately owned, their flags are still flying high, and that community is still just as queer today as it was yesterday. While their policy agenda throws the country into chaos, the Trump administration is obsessed with trying to suffocate the joy and pride that Americans have for their communities,” Wolf said.

“For over a year, they’ve been on a witch hunt, targeting rainbow crosswalks, pride flags, Black Lives Matter murals, and throwing a tantrum about a Super Bowl performance they couldn’t control. But they will fail. We will keep showing up at Stonewall, for each other, and being out and proud. There’s nothing the White House can do about that,” he added.

READ MORE: Fascism Expert Warns Trump Could Invoke Emergency Powers to Cancel the Election

 

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White House Shuts Down Briefing After Declaring Lutnick ‘Very Important’ to Trump’s Team

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After Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick told senators on Capitol Hill that he took his family for lunch to the private island owned by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2012, the White House insisted that he remains an important part of the administration. There is bipartisan support for Lutnick to resign from the administration.

A reporter, mentioning Lutnick’s congressional testimony, reminded Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt that the family lunch occurred “after he said that he had cut ties with Epstein,” and that a DOJ document “showed that he was in contact with Epstein through 2018 over messages.”

Leavitt replied, “Secretary Lutnick remains a very important member of President Trump’s team, and the President fully supports the Secretary.”

Epstein was first convicted in 2008.

READ MORE: ‘Bullies’: Backlash as Trump Admin Pulls Pride Flag From Stonewall National Monument

Leavitt then chastised reporters for not asking questions about the White House’s recent “wins” — and then cut the press briefing short after about 20 minutes.

As The Independent reported, “rather than face follow-up questions about Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s relationship with deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein after documents released by the Justice Department — and Lutnick’s own sworn testimony to Congress — revealed how he lied about the extent of his ties to the late pedophile,” Leavitt “abruptly cut short a briefing with reporters.”

READ MORE: Carville Predicts Trump Will Get a Complete and Total ‘Whipping’

 

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‘Bullies’: Backlash as Trump Admin Pulls Pride Flag From Stonewall National Monument

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The Trump administration has removed the LGBTQ pride flag from New York City’s historic Stonewall National Monument, which many consider to be the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement. In 2016, the Stonewall National Monument became the first LGBTQ site to receive a national monument designation.

The move came in response to the Trump administration’s guidance on which flags may be displayed on federal properties.

“The removal comes amid a broader federal effort to scrub LGBTQ+ history from government sites and single out transgender people, raising fears among LGBTQ+ advocates that their community faces erasure from public life,” Axios reported.

According to Gay City News, which first reported the removal, the flag was raised “at Christopher Park in 2022 — back when the Biden administration allowed the flag to go up.”

READ MORE: Carville Predicts Trump Will Get a Complete and Total ‘Whipping’

“Under government-wide guidance,” a spokesperson for the National Park Service told Gay City News, “including General Services Administration policy and Department of the Interior direction, only the US flag and other congressionally or departmentally authorized flags are flown on NPS-managed flagpoles, with limited exceptions.”

“Any changes to flag displays are made to ensure consistency with that guidance. Stonewall National Monument continues to preserve and interpret the site’s historic significance through exhibits and programs.”

Axios noted that a “January memo includes narrow exemptions for non-agency flags, such as those that ‘provide historical context’ or ‘are part of historic reenactments.'”

Vowing to raise the pride flag again, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said, “We have confirmed that a January 21st federal order has resulted in the removal last weekend of the Pride flag at Stonewall, birthplace of the modern LGBTQ human rights movement. They cannot erase our history.”

New York State Senator Eric Bottcher wrote, “Ordering the removal of Gilbert Baker’s Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument is a shameful attempt to rewrite history. Stonewall is where our community fought back and demanded to be seen. You cannot separate that place from the symbol that grew out of it.”

READ MORE: Trump Pushes Claim Schiff and Swalwell OK’d Leaks to ‘Overthrow’ the Government

Calling Stonewall “sacred ground,” New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin declared the flag’s removal “a deliberate and cowardly attempt to erase … history.”

“This is an attack on LGBTQ+ New Yorkers,” she added, “and we will not stand for it. Our history will not be rewritten, and our rights will not be rolled back.”

California State Senator Scott Wiener commented, “Petty & mean are the point. Like removing the rainbow crosswalk at Pulse & removing Harvey Milk’s name from the navy ship. What these bullies forget is LGBTQ people have been bullied forever & we learned how to fight back. We fought back hard at Stonewall & we’ll do it again.”

U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) called the flag’s removal “another disgusting example of the Trump Administration’s effort to erase the LGBTQ+ community. Removing the Pride flag will not make us forget the legacy of Stonewall. I fought for Stonewall to become designated as a National Monument and I will fight to see that the Pride flag is raised again.”

READ MORE: ‘Lied About His Ties’: Fury After ‘Fraud’ Lutnick Says He Took Family to Epstein Island

Image via Shutterstock

 

 

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