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GOP Senate Hopeful: Bullying Bill Unconstitutional Because Kids Don’t Know They’re Gay

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Heather Wilson, a New Mexico Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate told supporters that a proposed anti-bullying bill is unconstitutional because children who haven’t reached puberty don’t know if they’re gay, and added the bill could violate the free-speech rights of bullies, and criminalize the act of teasing — which, she suggested, all kids do. Wilson was speaking about U.S. Senator Al Franken’s anti-bullying bill, the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity protections to federal civil rights laws for students in public schools. Wilson, a former U.S. Congresswoman, appeared physically uncomfortable even discussing aspects of anti-gay bullying or homosexuality in general, as evidenced in the video, below.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Wb2AklsIVMk%3Fversion%3D3%26hl%3Den_US

“It is an act that would criminalize harassment or bullying in schools of children who are gay or who — it criminalizes bullying. It basically makes federal funding dependent on school board policies that will not tolerate bullying of people based on their sexual orientation or, you know, even when kids are below puberty,” Wilson wrongly told the audience. Amazingly, also, Wilson is under the false impression that children who have not reached puberty are not able to determine if they are LGBT.

“I mean if somebody gets bullied for having, gosh a low voice — that’s never happened to me,” Wilson continued. “But I think one of the things why I don’t support the act is because I think it’s misplaced. They are things I’m willing to tolerate that I’m not willing to approve.”

Clearly, Wilson is stating she is willing to “tolerate” homosexuality, but is not willing to “approve” of it — nor is she willing to approve of legislation that would help protect LGBT students, who are exponentially more likely to attempt suicide, to be kicked out of their homes, and to experience bullying than their heterosexual peers — thanks in no small part to the environment anti-LGBT lawmakers and religious leaders create. In other words, Heather Wilson seems to think that LGBT students actually deserve the bullying they get.

“With respect to this particular agenda we have to recognize as parents that children tease each other because you’re short or you’re tall or you’re a redhead or because you’re ugly or because you’re smart or because you’re dumb or all kinds of differences and as parents we have to deal with that and strengthen our children to be comfortable with themselves and also to show empathy and acceptance towards others, but that particular act is so broad it would actually punish children and say that it’s prohibited to express an opinion with respect to homosexuality in the schools. I just think that’s wrong and it’s a violation of the First Amendment.”

Heather Wilson, a Rhodes Scholar, is surprisingly uninformed on a matter this simple.

Amanda Terkel at The Huffington Post this afternoon offered an excellent analysis of Wilson’s speech:

Wilson’s characterization of SB 555 is inaccurate in several ways. First of all, it would not “criminalize” teasing.

“If you create a crime [in a law], you need to put words in the law like ‘sentencing’ or ‘imprisoned,'” explained a Senate staffer who declined to be named to speak openly. “[The law] is just not creating any crimes. That’s just incorrect.”

It’s also not banning teasing between students. It prohibits discrimination by public schools, and it makes sure a school responds to cases of pervasive harassment that interfere with a child’s education.

SB 555 is modeled on existing civil rights laws — such as Title VI and Title IX — that already prohibit discrimination based on certain classifications. This legislation would simply extend those protections to discrimination that occurs based on sexual orientation and gender identity, so it seems unlikely that Franken’s bill would count as unconstitutional and violate the First Amendment. In fact, to safeguard against such a charge, Section 9(b) of SB 555 says, “Nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter legal standards regarding, or affect the rights available to individuals or groups under…the First Amendment.”

Unsurprisingly, Wilson’s behavior when she was a U.S. Congresswoman also showed her lack of understand and concern for LGBT citizens.

“On February 27, 2005, Maestas and companion Joshua Stockham were beaten by six young men who screamed anti-gay epithets at them. The attackers followed Maestas and friends from the restaurant where the encounter began. The six young men who attacked Maestas and Stockham were the first prosecuted under New Mexico’s new hate crimes law,” the LGBT Hate Crimes Project reported.

Unconscious, Maestas was taken to St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe. Maestas suffered a broken nose and a concussion. He was kicked so hard that the food in his stomach came up into his throat, and stomach acid burned his lungs. He had also aspirated his own blood, and required the help of a respirator to breath.

On March 5, 300 people gathered at a vigil in support of Maestas. The vigil was attended by Police Chief Beverly Lennen and Governor Bill Richardson. During his remarks Richardson said, “What happened to James Maestas should never happen anywhere, on any planet. We as a society have got to find ways to end hatred.”

Wilson was one  of the few elected officials who not only did not attend the vigil, but did not make any public comments, nor does she support hate crimes legislation.

Unsurprisingly, in 2006, both the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) gave Wilson a 0% rating.

Perhaps Heather Wilson should sit down with the mother of Kenneth Weishuhn, Jr., the 14-year old who died by suicide this weekend because he was bullied by classmates and received death threats on his cell phone and social media sites.

 

Hat tip: American Bridge

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Activist Minister Slams Regal Movie Theaters for Running War ‘Propaganda’ Before Films

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June 16, 2026

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The Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie, an activist minister with the United Church of Christ, has called on the Regal Entertainment chain of movie theaters to stop running a Department of Defense promotional video before films.

In an open letter posted to social media, Currie says that when he went to see the latest Steven Spielberg film Disclosure Day at a Portland, Oregon theater, he was “forced to watch an advertisement touting the leadership of Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, and the so-called Department of War.”

“It was like we were at a movie theater in Russia or North Korea. Democracies do not do this. The audience loudly booed,” Currie wrote.

READ MORE: Trump Promotes Chilling Iran War Op-Ed Warning of What Could Be Coming Next

“We routinely see videos at Regal promoting careers in the military. This was not that,” he continued. “This was an advertisement promoting the political views of Donald Trump. It was not promoting our military. It was not promoting America’s greatest strength: our diversity. This was a MAGA campaign commercial highlighting a fake cabinet agency, the Department of War, which is actually called the Defense Department, and the MAGA America First platform.”

The video run before the film was likely this video first released to YouTube on Saturday. The video description calls it the first advertisement by the DoD since it was re-christened the Department of War. The clip touts President Donald Trump’s “Peace Through Strength” slogan. It features footage of soldiers intercut with images of Trump while audio of a speech by the president plays in the background.

The video was also shown during Sunday evening’s Freedom 250 UFC Fight at the White House.

“Regal’s decision to show this video can only be construed as an endorsement of Donald Trump, his failed war in Iran, and the white Christian nationalism advocated by Secretary Hegseth,” Currie wrote. “Again, I must demand that Regal stop showing this video immediately. Blessed are the peacemakers.”

Currie has been an outspoken progressive activist for years. In 2019, he even received death threats for his work, according to the Oregonian. Florida dentist Richard Glenn Kantwill told Currie, as well as other public figures, he would torture and kill him. Kantwill also called Currie an “immoral degenerate” and a fraud.

In 2025, Kantwill was sentenced to two years in prison for making the threats after pleading guilty in court.

Image by Staff Sgt. Michael L. Casteel via the U.S. Army.

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‘I Feel So Bad for Him’: George Conway Trolls Trump Amid White House Attack

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18 hours ago

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June 15, 2026

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Longtime Never-Trump critic turned Democratic congressional candidate George Conway is mocking President Donald Trump in a campaign video and a social media post while the White House targets him in a highly critical attack.

“Hi, Donald, it’s me, George Conway,” Conway, a conservative attorney, says in his video. “I cost you 88 f —— million dollars, and I’ve only just gotten started.”

“I know you like putting your name on everything from your plane to the Kennedy Center,” he continues. “But the only thing your name is gonna be left on when I’m done with you is the orange jumpsuit you’re going to have to wear in prison.”

“And you see that building back there?” he says over an image of Congress. “That’s where we’re gonna hold your third and final impeachment trial. The one that’s gonna put you away for good. And I’m gonna enjoy every minute of that.”

“We’ve got a lot of serious problems in this country, including, and especially, the price of gas — which is hitting $6 a gallon in some places, and that’s all because of you, Donald Trump. We can’t fix those problems until we impeach you and convict you. And that’s why I’m running for Congress.”

In a statement to Fox News, the White House blasted Conway.

“Lightweight George Conway is a stupid person’s idea of a smart person,” a spokesperson said. “His severe and debilitating disease known as Trump Derangement syndrome has melted his brain and made him crazy in the head.”

Conway is a co-founder of The Lincoln Project and was considered for a post as Trump’s Solicitor General at the start of his first administration. Conway withdrew his name from consideration.

On social media, Conway further mocked President Trump.

“Here’s our TV ad that poor wittle Donnie (@realDonaldTrump) didn’t wike and had to compwain to Fox ‘News’ about,” Conway wrote. “Sad! I feel so bad for him.”

Conway is running for a reliably blue seat in Manhattan.

“Conway, who previously lived in Bethesda, Md., before launching his congressional campaign, faces an uphill battle in the race for the heavily Democratic seat vacated by longtime Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who is retiring,” Fox News reported.

Earlier this year, Conway warned, “The way things are going in America, it should be clear we don’t have much time.”

“We certainly don’t have three years,” he said in February. “We need to help ourselves by pushing for impeachment and removal as hard as we can and carrying it out as soon as humanly possible.”

 

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A Letter From Florida Has a Blunt Verdict on the MAGA Movement: It’s ‘Dying’

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20 hours ago

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June 15, 2026

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The Villages in Florida, the largest retirement community in the world, has been home to an extremely active MAGA movement. Roughly seven out of ten county residents voted for Trump in 2024, and its MAGA golf cart parades are legendary.

But Sunday’s parade was sparsely attended, according to a letter to the editor in The Villages News, which declares that the MAGA movement there is “dying.”

Casey Marr writes that they arrived at President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday golf cart parade, found many open parking spaces “and only a few people milling around” 30 minutes before the starting time. At 1:00 p.m., the official start time, “there was certainly no big crowd of cheering people” to welcome the parade of golf carts, which numbered only about 100 and lasted just 20 minutes.

Marr explains that there were two smaller starting places, and says that even if they had a similar number of carts, there would only have been “a pitiful 303.”

“This was advertised as a Guinness World Record challenge,” Marr says. “The record was set on Sept. 4, 2005, here in The Villages with 3,321 golf carts.”

According to Newsweek, Trump’s approval in Florida is 13 points underwater. Nationwide, Trump is 23 points underwater.

“Several states that began his term in positive territory, including Florida, Ohio and Texas, are now net negative,” Newsweek noted. “Deep-red states still form Trump’s strongest base, but many of those margins have narrowed sharply since January 2025.”

The golf cart parade fell short of the record, but Marr notes that The Villages’ “No Kings” rallies have grown “exponentially.” The “latest had two locations with attendance close to 6,000.”

“There is now a ‘Leaving MAGA’ billboard here on U.S. Hwy. 441,” Marr writes. “The ‘Trump 47’ website is down. The MAGA Club almost never holds any events. You almost never see a Trump flag flying anymore.”

Trump, Marr charges, “is using the office to line his pockets. Started a war which spiked gas prices along with everything else. Inflation and unemployment are rising. Aligned himself with murderous war criminals like Putin. He continues to protect pedophilia. This weekend he is desecrating the White House by holding a fighting match like Caligula being entertained by gladiators. The list of horrific things being done, especially in this administration, is endless. And he’s even lost former stalwarts like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson.”

“Yes,” Marr declares, “MAGA is dying in the country and even here. Florida is purple now again and turning bluer daily.”

 

Image via Reuters 

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