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A Final Word On The Great Nationwide Kiss-In

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2009 will surely be christened the year of gay rights. We’ve added four states to the same-sex marriage list, bringing the total to six, and the White House, rumor has it, will soon move to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and DOMA. There’s also still hope the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill will make it to President Obama’s desk.

Sadly, 2009 will also be known as the year of anti-gay harassment and violence against gays.

Gay-bashings, and their severity, are on the rise. So is anti-gay rhetoric, and child-suicides related to anti-gay bullying. And, as we learned back in June and July, gays are being harassed, detained, and even arrested, after kissing in public.

In mid-July, I wrote a call-to-action, challenging gay rights groups, bloggers, and the media to find ways of keeping positive images of the LGBTQ community in the public eye during the month of August. Called, “Fill The Void,” it warned that the right would try to hijack the gay rights conversation in this country over the summer, since, with Congress and state legislatures out of session, there would be no opportunities for the media to focus on the gay rights debate.

Unfortunately, I was a bit off.

A late June, Gay Pride Day police harassment incident involving Texas local law enforcement officers incorrectly threatening a same-sex couple with arrest, simply for kissing was quickly followed by an even more egregious July 10 incident in Salt Lake City.

The Salt Lake incident went beyond the pale. On their way home from a concert, walking through Main Street Plaza, Mormon Church property that serves as a pedestrian thoroughfare, a gay couple was detained and subsequently arrested.  What initiated this obscenity? They were kissing.

True to form, and casting the first stone, despite what the Bible teaches, the Mormon Church, dissatisfied with the direction of growing public opinion against it after the same-sex kissing arrest, began a nasty smear campaign.

A full eight days after the arrest, the Church claimed the same-sex couple was drunk and violent:

“They engaged in passionate kissing, groping, profane and lewd language, and had obviously been using alcohol […and] they became belligerent.”

Fortunately, the Salt Lake City Prosecutor saw through the Church’s hypocrisy, and not only dropped all charges against the two men, but publicly chastised the Church for not marking the pedestrian mall as “private property.”

When I read about the Texas Gay Pride Day incident, in which, by the way, it was the same-sex couple and their friends who called police, I was upset. When I read about the Salt Lake City incident, I was angered. But after doing more research, I found other cases of harassment and arrest for kissing, and I was outraged.

So, on July 13 I called for a national kiss-in to protest these incidents. After writing, “It’s Time For A Nationwide Kiss-In!” I contacted a friend who happens to be the director and co-founder of Join The Impact, a dynamic (in their first week they amassed one million members) grassroots LGBTQ activist organization that was formed just after Prop 8 passed last November. Then, another friend, David Mailloux, a fellow writer who blogs at DYM SUM joined us, and the rest, as they say, is history.

In less than five weeks, The Great Nationwide Kiss-In became a movement. More than 4600 people joined us, and together, we held “Kiss-Ins” to affirm and celebrate everyone’s right to share acts of simple affection with their loved ones, in public.  In more than fifty cities across America, in major metropolitan areas like New York and Boston, and smaller towns like Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Athens, Georgia, people joined together. And we went international, holding an event in Canada, and one in Saipan, capitol of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

So, what was the point of all this? Simple, really.

Studies tell us that gay-rights opponents, or those sitting on the fence, are far more likely to alter their opinion in favor of gay rights once they get to know us. (As I like to say, to know us is to love us!) We wanted to educate the public, to help them see, literally, straight couples standing alongside gay couples, and all kissing their loved ones at exactly the same time, across the country. (Which, by the way, meant 4:00 AM in Saipan!) Personally, I can’t imagine a more powerful statement, or a more beautiful one.

It’s important to note that this was not a “gay event.” A great many of our organizers and participants were straight couples. Which was exactly the point. We showed that love knows no boundaries, no gender, makes no distinctions. Nor did we.

Did we make a difference? I can honestly say, “yes!” The public response and support was overwhelming. Stories from participants about the attitudes of passersby were almost wholly positive.

Importantly, we got people talking. We reminded people that there is more than one way to make a point. In the midst of this summer’s babbling “birther” and “death panel” stories in the media, against a backdrop of out-of-control screaming town halls and gun-toting attendees, we stood up and used a peaceful demonstration – not a protest, but a demonstration of love – to educate and combat hatred and homophobia.

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Republican Says Trump on Immigration Could Be Like Lincoln Was for Slavery

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July 16, 2025

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U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) is calling on President Donald Trump to support her bipartisan bill that would grant temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants, allowing them to remain in the United States. On immigration, Congresswoman Salazar says Trump could be just like Reagan was for communism or Lincoln was for slavery.

“There’s no way we can grow as a country and continue being the number one economy in the world if we don’t have hands,” Salazar said, referring to immigrant workers. “So let’s be intelligent. Let’s just bring them out of the shadows, make them pay—something that they’re not paying right now. Make them pay a fine, no federal programs, and they can go home for business, and they can buy a home.”

Her plan, the Dignity Act, would not provide amnesty or a path to citizenship. But, she says, it “offers a strong, commonsense approach and focused on putting American interests first.”

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Salazar praised President Trump, saying with his so-called One Big beautiful Bill, “the economy is going to gonna burst, just like it happened in 2019.”

“I go back to the president. The president is the guy who can make this happen. There is no other president like Trump. Look what he did with Iran. Look what he did Venezuela, with China.”

“So I have no doubt, I have faith that he could be for immigration, what Lincoln was for slavery, and Reagan was for communism.”

Critics blasted Salazar’s comparisons.

“Rep. Salazar has used this line a few times and while I understand what she *means* to say I respectfully submit that she has not thought through the implications of what she *actually* said,” remarked attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. He added: “hint: Reagan was not good for Communism and Lincoln was not good for slavery.”

“Maria Salazar comparing Trump to Lincoln on slavery and Reagan on communism is beyond absurd,” wrote investment banker Evaristus Odinikaeze. “Lincoln fought to end human bondage. Reagan opposed totalitarian regimes. Trump put kids in cages, demonized immigrants, and ran on fear, not freedom. History will remember the difference. Seems like she meant to compare Trump to Nixon, not Lincoln.”

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‘Go Home’: Noem Tells Farmers to Help Their Undocumented Workers ‘Self Deport’

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July 16, 2025

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U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has a blunt message for undocumented farmworkers: “Go home.” She’s urging farmers to assist in the process—by helping those workers “self-deport.”

“I would encourage everybody,” Secretary Noem said on Wednesday, “if people are here in this country illegally, go home.”

“I mean, the law is the law, and we are upholding the law, and, the President is very clear that he doesn’t believe that the law should apply to some people and not to others—that there should be consequences for some people and not for others,” she said.

President Donald Trump has said that he and his administration are working on a plan to help farmers keep their undocumented workers, many of whom, he said, are “almost impossible to replace.” Trump suggested some form of sponsorship might be possible in the future, where farmers would be responsible for their workers who are undocumented.

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Noem said that every undocumented person, including the undocumented farm workers—has “the opportunity right now to self deport.”

“We will buy their plane ticket and when they land, they will be able to get $1,000 in their hand to care for their families, and they get the chance to come back, she claimed. Federal law places bans on some of those trying to return, in some cases for up to ten years.

“And so, that’s what I think is so remarkable, is that we will let them come back the right way, and we’re facilitating that today,” she insisted.  “So every individual that’s here in this country that’s concerned, or every farmer out there that has somebody that’s working for them, that’s concerned, you know, you know, work with getting them home, so they can come back and get in the right way.”

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Jeremy Konyndyk is the president of Refugees International.

He says, “Farmers face financial ruin over deportations.”

Noem’s “claim that people can ‘come back’ after self-deporting is ludicrous on its face,” Konyndyk adds. “Why then deport in the first place? And in any case, that does nothing for farmers who need crops picked NOW.”

President Donald Trump’s favorability on immigration continues to drop. What was once among his most positive categories now has him underwater.

“About half (52%) of Americans think that Trump’s approach to immigration policy is too harsh; 36% think it is about right and 7% think it is too soft,” according to a YouGov poll report published Tuesday. “At the start of Trump’s term, significantly fewer — 40% — thought his approach to immigration was too harsh; 43% thought it was about right and 4% said it was too soft. The largest shift has been among Independents: 57% currently think Trump’s approach is too harsh, up from 36% in January.”

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Trump Appears to Forget He Appointed Fed Chair — Denies Rumors He May Fire Him

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July 16, 2025

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President Donald Trump is denying multiple reports that he intends to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, even as he continues to criticize him and express frustration over the Fed’s refusal to cut interest rates to the levels he has demanded. The Federal Reserve is an independent central bank, and the President has no legal authority to dictate its actions. On Wednesday, Trump criticized Powell, appeared to forget that he appointed him, and blamed President Joe Biden for his nomination.

Should Trump attempt to fire Powell, it would be an unprecedented move. The U.S. Supreme Court has indicated there are limits to the President’s authority to remove Fed officials.

On Tuesday evening, in a meeting with Republican lawmakers, Trump asked their opinion of firing Powell, whom he nominated in late 2017. Powell was renominated by President Joe Biden in 2021. The chairman of the Federal Reserve serves four-year terms, and Powell’s expires next year.

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“The President asked lawmakers how they felt about firing the Fed Chair. They expressed approval for firing him. The President indicated he likely will soon,” a senior White House official told CNBC, NBC News reported.

“A recent Supreme Court decision indicated that the president does not have the authority to remove Fed officials at will,” NBC also reported.

But CNBC later reported that Trump denies he plans to fire Powell.

“We’re not planning on doing it,” he said. “It’s highly unlikely.”

Minutes ago, in the Oval Office, Trump appeared to forget he had been the first to nominate Powell as Fed chair. He told reporters that Powell is a “terrible Fed chair,” and he was surprised he had even been appointed. Trump added, “I was surprised, frankly, that Biden put him in and extended him.”

Responding to the video (below) the House Ways and Means Democrats asked, “Did he forget?”

U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) wrote: “Legit question, does he have memory issues? Or does he remember but doesn’t want people to know that this is his fed chair? I just want a normal leader in this job….”

Watch the video below or at this link.

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Image via Reuters

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