In keeping with our "expanded focus" on all human rights, Jeri Ann put together this episode she calls "Christian Nationalism". Apparently, we were both educated at a time when "civics" or "social studies" classes taught things like how are nation came to be, and how our system of law and government came to be. And we have both been alarmed at the rise in influence of the so-called Christian Nationalist movement. Things like the state of Texas now requiring The Ten Commandments to be posted in every school in the state have us deeply concerned about this movement that wants to turn our system of law and government into a theocracy.

News Links:

https://apnews.com/article/what-happened-ice-raid-la-macarthur-park-cc04479ed94ed68d11acf807d97914e6https://www.advocate.com/politics/bipartisan-effort-lgbtq-988-linehttps://www.ncronline.org/opinion/guest-voices/stop-legitimizing-pseudoscience-marginalize-trans-peoplehttps://southdakotasearchlight.com/2025/06/25/transgender-rights-group-aims-to-expand-activist-founded-database-of-lgbtq-friendly-businesses/https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/539/558/https://folklife.si.edu/talkstory/2016/are-you-a-friend-of-dorothy-folk-speech-of-the-lgbt-communityhttps://www.out.com/news/hetero-awesome-fest-idaho-racism#rebelltitem1

We have been watching our country's breathtaking descent into authoritarian fascism since the day Donald Trump started his second term as President.

Earlier this month, we watched in horror as our President deployed National Guard troops and U.S. Marines against peaceful protesters in Los Angeles. On June 14th, we watched somewhere between 12 and 15 million people rally around the country on "No Kings" day, and raise their middle finger to fascism.

That was kind of inspiring, to say the least, and we realized that we had to use our voice to talk about more than "trans issues". We're just two old ladies from the Houston area, but we have a voice. After some soul-searching, we've decided to add our voice to the resistance. As Jeri Ann puts it, we are broadening our focus. Trans rights are human rights, after all, and we see human rights being trampled more and more every day, by a corrupt and hateful administration.

In this episode we'll describe what we are seeing, and why it alarms us. And we will call on our listeners to join us in resisting what is being done to our country.

With the Republicans' dominance of government and medial, we've notice a huge jump in the amount of disinformation and outright lies about gender dysphoria and transgender people. We do our part in calling out the B.S. but lately (since Trump returned to the White House) it has taken a much darker turn. It is clearly being used as just one more distraction from their actual goal of creating an authoritarian kleptocracy, i.e. stealing from the citizens of this country and their descendants.

https://www.wdtv.com/2025/05/26/morrisey-issues-statement-transgender-athlete-wva-state-track-field-meet/https://gazette.com/military/transgender-air-force-academy-cadets-graduate/article_844c7f24-70d1-472d-af4e-6c24e9a9ea27.htmlhttps://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/no-link-between-trans-inclusive-policies-bathroom-safety-study-finds-n911106https://law.uh.edu/judges/PHYLLIS%20RANDOLPH%20FRYE.asphttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-018-0335-zhttps://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/gender-inclusive-bathroom-window-pennsylvania-middle-school-rcna173917https://www.denverpost.com/2025/06/01/transgender-dysphoria-therapy-trump/https://www.foxnews.com/sports/men-dont-belong-womens-sports-nba-star-believes-amid-debate-over-transgender-athletes&ct=ga&cd=CAEYCCoTMTQwNTU5ODAzMjM2NTYyNzc5NDIaZDkzNzQwN2M0YmFmOTRmOTpjb206ZW46VVM&usg=AOvVaw3bUlyUtk09qwvcS5uYQ9bwhttps://www.foxnews.com/sports/men-dont-belong-womens-sports-nba-star-believes-amid-debate-over-transgender-athletes&ct=ga&cd=CAEYCCoTMTQwNTU5ODAzMjM2NTYyNzc5NDIaZDkzNzQwN2M0YmFmOTRmOTpjb206ZW46VVM&usg=AOvVaw3bUlyUtk09qwvcS5uYQ9bwhttps://www.cpr.org/2025/06/05/proposed-ballot-initiatives-target-trans-youth/https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=580769998378874

In a move very similar to those being pursued in many red states, the Texas legislature recently passed the "vouchers" bill, which takes taxpayer money and gives it to wealthy donors to pay for tuition at private schools. Our own Dr. Jeri Anny Young has some things to say about that...

Oh, and by the way, the news is not all bad. Listen in and learn how voters, right down at the local level, are responding to the right's decades long attack on public education.

News Links:

https://www.advocate.com/business/pride-support-business-winner

https://www.prdaily.com/how-fortune-500-companies-say-theyre-handling-pride-this-year

/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm26e1rl05eohttps://theconversation.com/christianity-has-long-revered-saints-who-would-be-called-transgender-today-254769

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/eradicating-anti-christian-bias/

https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-massachusetts-lgbtq-tshirt-student-speech-e04fa045740e3e8ab21b0e14781ce3ad

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/transgender-service-members-face-heartbreaking-decision-amid-trump/story?id=121750146

https://abc7news.com/post/transgender-community-rallies-effort-reclaim-site-comptons-cafeteria-riot-1966/16463325/

Once again, we devote out entire episode to news items and other events that are of import to the transgender community.

News Links

https://www.them.us/story/john-ewing-jr-jean-stothert-anti-trans-propaganda-omaha-mayor-election

https://x.com/NebraskaDems/status/1921361481536278934

https://lambdalegal.org/newsroom/cross_mt_20250513_court-strikes-down-ban-on-healthcare-for-trans-youth/

Support Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union

https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/10/texas-house-trans-bills-advance/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2025/04/30/airyn-robert-de-niro-daughter-transgender/83362160007/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/voices/stop-using-phony-science-to-justify-transphobia/

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6372693269112

There has been so much news to report, that we have decided that a special episode was needed, just to come close to catching up on all the stuff that's happening to us.

More than the usual amount of opinion in this episode, but we did warn you... "Oh, and lots of opinion, honey", right there on the web site. :)

News Links:

https://nypost.com/2025/03/25/us-news/nih-cuts-off-620k-in-funding-to-prevent-pregnancy-in-transgender-boys/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/health/dr-oz-transgender-care-abortion-josh-hawley-confirmation-cms.htmlhttps://www.cpr.org/2025/03/31/colorado-senate-transgender-day-of-visibility-trans-protection-bills/https://www.foxnews.com/sports/usa-fencing-transgender-controversy-get-doge-hearing-after-stephanie-turner-kneels-protesthttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/16/critics-of-trans-rights-win-uk-supreme-court-case-over-definition-of-womanhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/video/2025/apr/19/thousands-protest-for-trans-rights-in-london-after-supreme-court-ruling-videohttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/29/uks-first-trans-judge-victoria-mccloud-appeals-to-european-court-over-supreme-court-rulinghttps://www.cnn.com/2025/04/16/politics/doj-maine-transgender-sports-lawsuit/index.html

https://apnews.com/article/transgender-passports-trump-executive-order-ee211c3298f0c6f561f829cf5adca281https://www.aclu-nm.org/en/news/human-toll-trumps-anti-trans-crusadehttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-100-days-renee-richards-transgender-sports-pioneer/https://19thnews.org/2025/04/americans-politicians-trans-issues-poll/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/trumps-hhs-urges-therapy-for-transgender-youth-departing-from-broader-gender-affirming-health-carehttps://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2025/04/30/airyn-robert-de-niro-daughter-transgender/83362160007/https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/voices/stop-using-phony-science-to-justify-transphobia/

So! We finally get Jeri Ann back on the air, after losing her to The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Yes, the Rodeo ended a couple of months ago, but the responsibilities of a volunteer team captain are almost year-round. Anyway...

This episode, we're going to debate about how to address the storm of hateful disinformation and political activity that our trans brothers and sisters have faced over the last few years. No, we are not in complete agreement on the prospects for widespread acceptance, or the best approach to that, but we (Jeri Ann and I) do agree on what kind of strategy that progressive politics is going to need.

Spoiler alert: It's not going to be popular with some of our LGBTQ+ allies.

News Story Links:

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-judge-questions-trumps-passport-policy-targeting-transgender-people-2025-03-25/https://www.newsweek.com/pete-hegseth-judge-transgender-troops-military-ban-trump-2049221https://www.axios.com/2025/03/23/allies-issue-usa-travel-guidlines-transgenderhttps://www.notus.org/congress/transgender-politics-democrats-househttps://x.com/Acyn/status/1900243687856365674

Here it is, the last of "The Lost Episodes". This is our interview with Dr. Jessica Zweiner, of Braeswood Endocrinology here in Houston.