Virginia Gay Workers: The State Is Stripping Your Rights Away
One step forward, two steps back. Literally.
Virginia gay state workers’ anti-discrimination protections were stripped away just days after newly-elected Governor Bob McDonnell took office. McDonnell signed a new state policy that specifically removed LGBTQ protections from his predecessor and DNC chair Tim Kaine’s policy. So, one day, if you worked for the state, you were protected from being fired if you were gay. The next day, you weren’t.
Now, McDonnell, who was the Attorney General before becoming Governor, has inspired the new Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli II, to further that policy against Virgina gay state workers. The Washington Post reports,
“Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II has asked the state’s public colleges and universities to rescind policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, arguing in a letter sent to each school Thursday that their boards of visitors have no legal authority to adopt such statements.
“In the letter, Cuccinelli (R) wrote that only the General Assembly can extend legal protections to gay state employees — a move the legislature has repeatedly declined to take, including as recently as this week.
“It is my advice that the law and public policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia prohibit a college or university from including ‘sexual orientation,’ ‘gender identity,’ ‘gender expression,‘ or like classification as a protected class within its non-discrimination policy absent specific authorization from the General Assembly,” he wrote.”
(Emphasis mine.)
What is especially troubling is that where we are seeing the LGBTQ community gain a modicum of equality, conservatives are hard at work stripping us of those advances as hard as they possibly can. These calculated and targeted anti-gay rights actions are proof. Virginia gay workers are not the only ones losing ground, merely the latest.
For example, the gay community won marriage in Maine. Maine is a state that for years the public was if favor of same-sex marriage, but when groups like the National Organization for Marriage rolled in with their huge bank accounts and robocalls and lies and fear, and were able to get the law that a fairly-elected legislature and governor had passed and signed, put to a vote, we lost.
Now, in Virginia, Governor Bob McDonnell, who campaigned with a focus on not social issues, but the economy, has gone to work not only not for us, but actively against us. As has new Virginia Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli II.
This is unacceptable.
If you are a member of the LGBTQ community, if you have not yet read “Eight Months From Today, The America We Know Will Be Gone,” I urge you to do so now. Then make sure you are registered to vote. And make sure you do. Every candidate is important. I’m sure as Virginians were voting for Attorney General, the last issue they thought of was LGBTQ rights. But maybe they should have.
Right Wing Watch today quoted then-candidate Ken Cuccinelli II:
“My view is that homosexual acts, not homosexuality, but homosexual acts are wrong. They’re intrinsically wrong. And I think in a natural law based country it’s appropriate to have policies that reflect that. … They don’t comport with natural law. I happen to think that it represents (to put it politely; I need my thesaurus to be polite) behavior that is not healthy to an individual and in aggregate is not healthy to society.”
Imagine years from now, if, like his predecessor, Virginia’s Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II becomes Governor.
Seeds of anti-LGBTQ bigotry are planted deep, and they’re growing.
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A large panel fell seemingly dozens of feet from above onto the stage during a rehearsal for a performance at an event for President Donald Trump’s Freedom 250, according to video posted by attorney Aaron Parnas.
“The stage is falling apart at the rehearsal for Freedom 250’s July 4th celebration,” Parnas wrote.
After the panel fell, someone can be heard on the video saying, “I was waiting for something like that to happen.”
Critics blasted the administration while others issued warnings.
“This is incredibly dangerous stuff,” wrote journalist Ryan Grim. “Trump cutting safety corners with stage building is the kind of thing somebody can genuinely be prosecuted for if someone dies, which is not uncommon if you slap it together like this. This equipment is deadly when falling from those heights.”
“Literally a miracle no one was hurt here,” noted journalist Philip Lewis.
“In all seriousness, that actually looks really dangerous for the performers. It’s scary how unsafe this all seems,” observed journalist Pablo Manríquez.
“The sheer incompetence of this administration is really rather astonishing. Everything these people touch is shoddily done. This era is replete with evidence that experience and professionalism actually matter,” wrote author Jennifer Erin Valent.
“If there was ever a metaphor for how historians will look back at Trump’s presidency at this moment in time, it’s this,” wrote health care consultant and National Organization for Women vice president Melanie D’Arrigo.
“The Freedom 250 rehearsal stage falling apart is the perfect analogy for the Trump administration,” The Lincoln Project commented.
“Glad everyone’s ok — it’s also hard to imagine a better metaphor for the current state of [America] than this,” wrote the progressive media outlet The Tennessee Holler.
“Trump’s state fair is *literally* falling apart,” remarked liberal political commentator Harry Sisson.
One commenter added, “Those performers are incredibly lucky. That falling piece of debris looked heavy, sharp and came down at incredible speed.”
Trump’s Freedom 250 July 4th event is also besieged by a massive heat wave enveloping part of the country.
“U.S. Capitol Police have already restricted Thursday night’s rehearsal for ‘A Capitol Fourth Concert’ to essential personnel, posting on X that they came to the decision after consulting with the Capitol’s Office of the Attending Physician,” The New Republic reported.
“For safety reasons, the public will not be able to attend tonight’s rehearsal concert,” the Capitol Police’s post read. “Everyone is sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. The National Weather Service is forecasting an extreme heat watch with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees.”
The stage is falling apart at the rehearsal for Freedom 250’s July 4th celebration. pic.twitter.com/bPbg94hp6X
— Aaron Parnas (@AaronParnas) July 2, 2026
Longtime political scientist Dr. Norman Ornstein on Thursday floated a prediction that one political commentator suggested could throw the November 2026 midterms into chaos.
“Something I predicted multiple times is about to come true,” said Ornstein, an emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and contributing editor for The Atlantic.
Ornstein said that President Donald Trump’s acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, “is going to cut a deal with Maduro to have him falsely claim that Venezuela tilted the 2020 elections. In return, he and his wife are likely to be in the same prison as Ghislaine Maxwell.”
Maduro is Nicolás Maduro, the former president of Venezuela whom the U.S. Army’s Delta Force captured in January. He and his wife, currently imprisoned in Brooklyn, are expected to stand trial on numerous drug-trafficking charges.
Blanche reportedly is behind the controversial move of former Epstein partner Ghislaine Maxwell to a less-restrictive prison.
Political commentator Tara Setmayer, co-founder of The Seneca Project, appeared to agree with Ornstein.
“I’m hearing this Maduro rumor also,” she wrote. “As soon as he was captured, I thought Trump would try this nonsense.”
“Firing [Pam] Bondi, then [Tulsi] Gabbard opened up this scheme with Blanche & [Bill] Pulte as the henchmen,” she explained. Pulte is the acting Director of National Intelligence, who replaced Gabbard.
“I hope this doesn’t happen but it’s more than plausible and would throw the midterms into utter chaos,” Setmayer warned.
Political strategist and California State Senate candidate Christine Pelosi responded to Ornstein, saying, “Co-sign.”
She explained that she had discussed the scenario with journalist April Ryan back in February.
“My personal theory on this is, number one, Donald Trump can’t believe he lost” in 2020, Pelosi told Ryan. “He would like to take every ballot and recount them himself, but he can’t.”
“But I think they seized Georgia [ballots] because he wants to find a way to pardon Maduro,” Pelosi continued. “He wants to find a way for Maduro to admit election fraud in 2020, so he can justify taking over the financial resources of Venezuela. It’s always the money. Yes, it’s the racism. Yes, it’s the xenophobia. Yes, it’s the pulling up the ladder behind it. But ultimately, with Donald Trump, it is follow the money.”
Also responding to Ornstein was investigative journalist Dave Troy, who wrote: “This is insane but totally plausible. We are living in a fact-free world now.”
Image via Reuters
As temperatures in the Big Apple are set to hit triple digits, Republicans are melting down over New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s request that residents in the five boroughs turn their air conditioners to 78 degrees — advice President Donald Trump’s own Department of Energy offers as well, as do some of their own states.
“New York: it’s hot out there, and the power grid is working overtime to keep us cool,” Mayor Mamdani noted on Wednesday, as a multi-day heat wave pushed temperatures to the mid-90s. Temperatures are expected to hit 100 degrees on Thursday for the first time in over a decade.
“Set your AC to 78 degrees, turn off lights/electronics you’re not using, and unplug what you can,” Mamdani asked. “Our City is doing its part too: maintaining the 78 degrees rule in our buildings, dimming/turning off our lights during peak electricity demand, asking private partners to do the same, and powering down non-essential equipment. A stable grid means the AC stays on, and lives are saved. Let’s ease demand — and get through the heat — together.”
That request did not go over well on the right.
“Welcome to socialism, where the government demands you turn your house into a sauna because they can’t plan for the super unpredictable fact that it tends to get hot in the summer,” retorted U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX).
“This is what socialism looks like, folks,” added Vivek Ramaswamy, the GOP’s nominee for governor of Ohio. “The right answer isn’t restrictions or mandates. It’s drilling, fracking, coal, & nuclear. That’s how we’ll roll in Ohio.”
“In a first-world country, you could turn on the A/C….” wrote U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), only to be met with a community note on the X social media platform, which read: “Ted Cruz’s own state has made the same request on numerous occasions.”
Emmy Award-winning WTTG anchor Jim Lokay also responded to Senator Cruz, writing: “Trump’s own Department of Energy website recommends setting the AC at a range of 75-78 degrees.”
Indeed, on its website, the Department of Energy says: “The Department of Energy (DOE) and ENERGY STAR recommend finding a comfortable indoor temperature during the day and increasing it by 7°F when no one is home. Start with an indoor temperature between 75-78°F during the day.”
Critics slammed some of the Republicans’ responses — especially that of Sen. Cruz.
“You are the absolute LAST person to weigh in, Captain Cancun,” retired intelligence officer Travis Akers wrote.
“Your state’s electrical grid crashes if it gets too hot or cold, so I wouldn’t be throwing stones here,” said Democratic strategist Mike Nellis.
NYC SIZZLES 🥵: FOX Weather Senior Correspondent Robert Ray hits the scorching streets of New York City as an intense heat dome traps millions in life-threatening temperatures. New Yorkers are already feeling the burn: pic.twitter.com/HbMhU6L2P6
— FOX Weather (@foxweather) July 2, 2026
Image via Shutterstock
Video Shows Freedom 250 Rehearsal Turning ‘Incredibly Dangerous’ as Stage Falls Apart
Political Scientist Predicts Deal That Could Throw November Midterms Into Chaos
GOP Melts Down Over Mamdani’s Heat Wave Advice — Trump’s Energy Dept. Says the Same Thing
Nobel Economist Torches the Socialist Panic Republicans Keep Pushing
Underwater in Six Key States Trump to Blame if Democrats Win Back the Senate: CNN Analyst
News3 days agoVideo Shows Freedom 250 Rehearsal Turning ‘Incredibly Dangerous’ as Stage Falls Apart
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News3 days agoPolitical Scientist Predicts Deal That Could Throw November Midterms Into Chaos
News3 days agoGOP Melts Down Over Mamdani’s Heat Wave Advice — Trump’s Energy Dept. Says the Same Thing
News3 days agoUnderwater in Six Key States Trump to Blame if Democrats Win Back the Senate: CNN Analyst
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