‘Undeniable’: Journalist Warns LGBT Civil Rights ‘Are Already Being Stripped Away Right Before Our Eyes’
‘It Often Doesn’t Matter What the Majority of Americans Believe’
Michelangelo Signorile is a veteran journalist who for many years has hosted his own show on SiriusXM radio. He’s also the editor-at-large for HuffPost’s Queer Voices. And he’s out with an eight-point alert for LGBT people: our civil rights are in danger. In fact, our rights “are already being stripped away right before our eyes,” he warns in a post at HuffPost titled, “It’s Now Undeniable That LGBTQ Rights Are In Danger Of Being Rolled Back.”
Signorile says it’s “naive and enormously dangerous” for LGBT people to think our “rights are secured ― while not seeing the perils ahead.”
By way of example, Signorile says “some recent exchanges and interactions I’ve had lead me to believe that many people, queer and straight, still believe that LGBTQ rights are secure and advancing. They point to public opinion polls, to cultural changes and to progress even in the most conservative corners of the country.”
“One person, educated in the history of the LGBTQ movement, told me that he couldn’t believe that the Supreme Court would undo something that the majority of Americans now supported ― marriage equality ― and implied a lot of the sounding of the alarm was for the conspiracy-minded.”
Many people think that.
One highly-respected LGBT civil rights legal group, after Trump was elected, published an FAQ saying marriage was not in immediate danger. But they noted related equality rights for gay people certainly could be.
(Since then, several have noted just how easy it could be to effectively take marriage away from same-sex couples. Or even overturn Obergefell. And some states are working to revoke marital benefits from same-sex couples.)
“Even though the Court is extremely unlikely to take away your marriage, there are ways short of reversing a marriage decision in which the new administration could make life harder for same-sex spouses and their children, such as by permitting discrimination against these families in some contexts,” Lambda Legal wrote in December last year. “It is also possible that the new administration could reduce the respect given by federal government agencies to the marriages of same-sex spouses.”
We’re seeing that, and similar actions against LGBT people being taken already. Betsy DeVos’ Dept. of Education offers several  examples, as does Jeff Sessions’ DOJ.
Here’s the crux of Signorile’s very valid argument:
“It often doesn’t matter what the majority of Americans believe ― over 90 percent support universal background checks on gun purchases, after all, but we can’t get the legislation passed. The Supreme Court has handed down ruling after ruling that reversed precedents and defied the majority of Americans’ beliefs on voting rights, corporate money in politics, immigration and so many other issues. What is happening in our country right now is clear: a powerful minority is in control and is trying to get the fix in so that it can rule from the minority for a long time to come. “
And to prove it, he offers these eight events:
- “Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick Neil Gorsuch”
- “Mississippi last year passed the most far-reaching anti-LGBTQ law”
- “Texas joined Michigan, South Dakota and Mississippi in allowing bans on adoption to same-sex couples by state-funded adoption agencies”
- North Carolina’s newly-elected Democratic governor signed a so-called repeal of HB2 that “still bans local LGBT rights ordinances statewide and regulates transgender people until some time in the future ― when it will surely be extended.”
- “The Trump administration has thrown transgender students overboard”
- “Trump has essentially made LGBTQ people invisible,” by not issuing an LGBT Pride month declaration and removing questions about sexual orientation and “refusing to collect vital data”
- “Some Democratic strategists are advising that the party move away from “’identify politics,’ and that means steering clear of LGBTQ rights”
- And this vital observation: “Trump’s cabinet and undersecretaries include some of the most ardent foes of LGBT rights, from Housing Secretary Ben Carson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price and his director of the Office of Civil Rights at HHS, Roger Severino, an anti-LGBTQ advocate who last year accused the Obama administration of attempting to ‘coerce everyone, including children, into pledging allegiance to a radical new gender ideology.’ Already, we’re seeing important programs that affect LGBT people in jeopardy.”
“None of us can believe any of the rights we’ve fought for are safe,” Signorile rightly warns. “But more importantly, we need to wake up and see that they are already being stripped away right before our eyes.”
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Image by Ted Eytan via Flickr and a CC licenseÂ
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The House Ethics Committee has reportedly announced that U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) is facing a review by the Office of Congressional Conduct.
The origin of the review was not been disclosed. Under committee rules, officials are prohibited from stating whether the matter constitutes a formal investigation or identifying its underlying cause. The Committee only stated that there is a “matter regarding Representative Nancy Mace.”
“The Committee notes that the mere fact of a referral or an extension, and the mandatory disclosure of such an extension and the name of the subject of the matter, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee,” the Ethics Committee statement reads. It was posted to social media by congressional journalist Jamie Dupree.
The statement also says the committee will “announce its course of action in this matter on or before March 2, 2026.”
Congresswoman Mace is currently running for governor of South Carolina.
Earlier this month Mace warned that Republicans may lose control of the House, saying they have not “done enough” and could “do a lot more” to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda, The Hill reported.
Image via Shutterstock
A prominent Republican lawmaker is vowing to thwart any attempt by President Donald Trump to acquire Greenland through force or financial means.
Speaking from Copenhagen as part of a bipartisan delegation of U.S. congressional lawmakers, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), told reporters it is “an important message for the people of the Kingdom of Denmark to understand” that the United States has “three separate but equal branches” of government.
Reminding them that under the U.S. Constitution it is Congress that controls spending, Senator Murkowski, who has broken ranks and stood up to President Trump at times, said, “In Congress, we have tools at our disposal under our constitutional authority that speaks specifically to the power of the purse through appropriations.”
She noted also that “Congress has a role. Certainly, when it comes to spending authorities, the Congress has a role in basically helping to facilitate the message that comes from our constituents, to be reflected in whether it’s legislation or appropriations, or actions or measures, that can indicate, again, the will of the Congress.”
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The “vast majority” of Americans do not support the acquisition of Greenland, Senator Murkowski added, noting that “some 75 percent will say we do not think that that is a good idea.”
“Greenland needs to be viewed as our ally, not as an asset,” Murkowski also told reporters.
Politico reported that U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) “also took part in the visit by House and Senate lawmakers,” and “said he would push ahead with legislation to curb Trump’s power to act unilaterally.”
He also denied President Trump’s claims that Greenland is necessary to be owned by the U.S. for national security reasons.
“Are there real, pressing threats to the security of Greenland from China and Russia?” Coons said. “No, not today.”
Sen. Murkowski: “When you ask the American people whether or not they think it is a good idea for the United States to acquire Greenland, the vast majority, some 75%, will say, we do not think that that is a good idea. This senator from Alaska does not think it is a good idea.” pic.twitter.com/zfitY31LyF
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) January 16, 2026
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Image via Reuters
Just one day after threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota, which would allow him to unleash domestic military forces onto American streets, President Donald Trump once again on Friday hinted he would do so while suggesting he may be “forced” to take action.
Trump targeted Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, both Democrats, claiming they “don’t know what to do” after he deployed roughly 3,000 federal troops to the city.
“In Minnesota,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, “the Troublemakers, Agitators, and Insurrectionists are, in many cases, highly paid professionals.”
“The Governor and Mayor don’t know what to do, they have totally lost control, and our currently being rendered, USELESS! If, and when, I am forced to act, it will be solved, QUICKLY and EFFECTIVELY!”
The Guardian labeled Trump’s claims that protesters are paid as baseless.
Attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick wrote: “Note that the Trump admin hasn’t yet been able to produce evidence of a SINGLE ‘paid protestor.’ They’ve had total control of the FBI and the DOJ and ICE HSI and yet despite all of that, they can’t even find ONE person who they can accuse of being paid to protest.”
Separately, The Steady State, a group of over 365 former national security officials, while not referring to Trump’s remarks from Friday morning, noted that the Insurrection Act is “an extraordinary power meant for true emergencies, not a shield for unconstitutional policing. Using it to silence dissent or justify unlawful paramilitary activity at the hand of ICE undermines the rule of law.”
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Image via Reuters
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