WE’RE NOT DOOMED: Tue June 16, 2026
Queer wins are all around us. They are happening in red states and blue states and everywhere there are people. Because we are not backing down and we are not giving up.
Just look at this first story out of Florida….
Fri, May 8 - There are tire tracks in the brand new Gainsville City Hall Plaza. But don’t worry, that’s by design.
With taxpayer dollars from the Wild Spaces and Public Places Program, this plaza represents the diversity of Gainsville.
It includes a triangle of bricks from the rainbow crosswalk, that Florida’s Department of Transportation removed from in front of City Hall, in August of last year.
No one wanted to get rid of the rainbow crosswalk, but it was either that or Gainsville would lose all state and federal funding.
So, the City Commission voted unanimously in October to reuse the bricks in the plaza’s design. Commissioner Casey Willits explained that instead of throwing away “that piece of our history, we voted unanimously to incorporate those groups right into City Hall.”
This is a reminder of the power of voting, not just for city officials, but also for sales tax. This wouldn’t have been possible without those tax dollars.
And the refusal to respect the wishes of state and silence queer people gives me so much hope.
Fri, June 5 - A Trump Appointee, Mary McElroy, yes you heard that right, has referred the DOJ for disciplinary proceedings over their conduct in the lawsuit against a subpoena from Rhode Island Hospital for the medical records of the minors in their gender affirming care unit.
I’ll also note, she was an Obama nominee, but Trump confirmed her in his first term.
This started when the DOJ went to a sympathetic Texas judge to issue subpoenas compelling hospitals to give them the private medical records of their minor gender affirming care patients.
A group of parents with patients at the Rhode Island Hospital sued and the case was heard by Judge McElroy, who said in her May 13 ruling that the “DOJ has proven unworthy of this trust at every point in this case.”
From their choices misrepresenting data to searching for a sympathetic judge, also known as “judge shopping.”
That Texas judge now has the hospital records for “safe keeping” while the case in the in courts.
Between that and how the DOJ acted in her courtroom McElroy had enough. And on June 5, McElroy issued a text order referring the DOJ to disciplinary. proceedings.
We will very likely not be privy to how that plays out. This is the second time the DOJ has been referred to these proceedings this month. The first being about an immigration case.
It’s encouraging to see judges using every tool available to them.
Sun, June 7 - Regan Appointee, Royce Lamberth issued a preliminary injunction blocking 14 trans women from being moved to the men’s prison. I don’t know where cause all info about facilities has been redacted.
He agreed that the move would violate the plaintiffs’ eight amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment.
Shannon Minter, Legal Director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights said:
This decision reaffirms a bedrock constitutional principle: the government cannot knowingly place people in grave danger and simply look the other way.
Seeing a ruling like that, when the administration is actively trying to cause the most harm, gives me hope.
I hope these stories bring you hope today.
I will say, finding them didn’t. I had another story from Colorado before the DC story, and scrapped it when I found out the info I had was out of date. Google is getting so much worse and I only found out the situation has changed because I follow The Advocate on Threads, so just a reminder to follow news orgs you can trust cause Google will not help you.
On that note, if you read this whole post, comment ⌨️ (a keyboard) cause this was a stark reminder that we have to always do our due diligence
Anyway, remember our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!
