By Joanie Juster–
While visiting Houston in 1999, I took a taxi ride with a driver from Kenya who was studying political science at Rice University. This was during the impeachment trial for President Clinton, and I expressed my dismay to this driver, embarrassed by the political theatre going on in Washington. To my surprise, the driver responded, “No, it’s absolutely wonderful! The senators are saying so many horrible things about the president, but he doesn’t have them taken out and shot! You cannot guarantee that in my country. America really is a free country!”
That exchange has been on my mind as we watch our country slide headlong into authoritarianism. In 1999, I could feel pretty confident in saying “Well, of course the president doesn’t have his opponents taken out and shot. This is America!” However, at the rate the right to free speech is being stripped away, I’m not sure how much longer we can guarantee that. He may not be having people taken out and shot yet, but he has been gleefully bludgeoning his opponents with every other tool available to him.
In the past few weeks, we have seen the illegal seizure and detention of Mahmoud Khalil; mass deportations to prisons in other countries with little or no information, accountability, or oversight; an untold number of people being held without recourse in for-profit detention centers; orders to defund universities for continuing to provide a safe and diverse space for learning; and threats to university students to cancel their scholarships and deport them if they are caught protesting the current administration or any of its policies.
If you weren’t worried about the disappearance of our civil rights before, you should absolutely, definitely, beyond a doubt, be worried now. And we all need to speak up, loud and clear, as often as we can.
I will never forget February 16, 2003, when nearly 250,000 people marched in the streets of San Francisco, joined by millions of others around the world, to protest U.S. plans to invade Iraq. It was a massive, global show of solidarity, with many more protests following in the ensuing weeks and months. More recently, the first Women’s March on January 21, 2017, brought millions of people together to raise their voices. We need that kind of energy in the streets now. And you can be part of it.
There are calls for a nationwide day of protest on Saturday, April 5, 2025. Wherever you may live, there will be a protest near you at noon. Mobilization groups including Indivisible, 50501, and many others are joining forces to call for a day when Americans across the country take to the streets to protest peacefully the destruction of our government, the rollback of civil rights, the attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, threats to our social safety nets, and so much more.
Please spread the word, show up, be loud, and be peaceful. Let’s show the world that Americans will not sit silently while our country is under attack. More info here: https://tinyurl.com/HandsOff5
Hit ‘Em Where It Hurts
The billionaires who are currently controlling the takedown of the U.S. government have made it clear they don’t give a darn about the American people. But there is one thing they do care about: profits.
That’s why the protests at Tesla dealerships around the world have been wildly successful. By staging an endless succession of peaceful protests outside Tesla dealerships everywhere, they have turned the once-popular brand into a pariah. Tesla sales have plummeted, their stock has plunged, and Musk is losing money. Lots of it.
Keep up the good work, folks. This is how our voices get heard: when our protests affect their stock portfolios. To join a Tesla protest near you, go to
https://tinyurl.com/TeslaTKD
Now You See It, Now You Don’t
We have grown used to seeing many variations on acronyms for the queer community: LGBT, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA2S+, and so on. But since the new administration took office, a jarring new set of initials has shown up, especially on government websites: LGB.
Those three lonely initials sit there looking incomplete, sad, and oh-so-wrong. Using a giant AI-generated eraser, the DOGE folks attempted to simply erase any mention of transgender, intersex, two-spirit, and other folks on the gender spectrum. Their efforts are as clumsy as they are cruel. Their attempts to simply ignore or erase the very existence of anyone who doesn’t fit neatly into their extremely narrow, heteronormative definitions are wildly ignorant, scientifically inaccurate, immature, and downright heartless.
They are also dangerous. By erasing the initials—and, by extension, the rich language, symbolism, and history of queer people—they are attempting to erase and dehumanize an entire population. What is regarded as insignificant becomes valueless, and therefore expendable. And when people are seen as expendable, it isn’t just their initials that start to disappear.
On March 20, Victor Orbán, the virulently homophobic autocratic leader of Hungary, announced new bills outlawing Pride events, and promoting the use of facial recognition technology to identify attendees. And we all know how much the current temporary-resident-of-the-White-House admires and tries to emulate Orbán. Meanwhile, the MAGA extremists who are now pulling his strings are falling all over themselves to see which state legislature can introduce the most hatefully homophobic and transphobic bills.
Even here in San Francisco, long-time corporate supporters of SF Pride have withdrawn their sponsorships, cowed by these current trends. It is yet another kind of erasure.
What can we do? Fight the erasure. Be visible and loud about it. Wear all the rainbows. Call out those who wield the erasers. And, every day, stand up for those who are being erased. Let them know they are seen, valued, and loved. They need to hear our voices.
Safety First: The Sisters Have Your Back
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have a long history of looking out after their community by promoting safety. Now they have launched a new safety campaign: “Safety First, Sexy Second.” Devised by Sister Roma and Sister Shalita Corndog, the eye-catching campaign aims to help people navigate hookups safely, empowering people to stay safe while still having fun. Check out their campaign (and stay safe!) here:
https://www.thesisters.org/safetyfirst
The Sisters Putting Out Again
The Sisters are also supporting the community through their annual grant cycle. Grant applications are being accepted through March 30 for amounts ranging from $250 to $1,000. The grants tend to be awarded to small, progressive grassroots organizations and projects that benefit the community by promoting wellness, joy, tolerance, and diversity. More info, and application link here: https://www.thesisters.org/grants
One Last Word
Friends, they are trying to crush us with cruelty. Let’s not let them. Go out and enjoy the beauty of spring, and be kind to one another.
Joanie Juster is a long-time community volunteer, activist, and ally.
In Case You Missed It
Published on March 27, 2025
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