The Ladies Who Lunch: giving their all to nonprofs, taking it back at the ballot box

Before I get started on the main topic of this post, let us have a few moments of silence, Dear Ones, for Saint Dolly, who, as the entire galaxy knows by now, passed on August 25, 2026.

Dolly Parton was loved by, and loved, pretty much everybody: young and old, Black and White, left and right. Regarding left and right, she was widely known for deliberately staying out of partisan politics throughout her long career. She wanted to unify and entertain, not divide and alienate. She even turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom, three different times, from presidents of both parties.

Dolly had a unique ability to connect with people all across the political spectrum, which is why her passing has elicited tributes from many factions in the culture wars. Even #NeverWasMyPresident Donald John Trump ordered that U.S flags be lowered to half-staff for a week in her honor.

When I first got word about this and verified that it was true, my initial thought was that this was of the few decent things Trump had ever done. It still didn't make up for his obscene lionization of fallen hatemonger Charlie Kirk, of which the order for flag lowering was but one aspect, but it was decent, and unquestionably the right thing to do. Even a stopped clock... (I also thought that it was a good thing for Dolly that she never criticized Trump; otherwise the flags would have stayed at full staff and he would probably be crowing that he was glad she was dead. That would be totally on brand for him.)

Later on, however, the Mango Megalomaniac undid all the decent by making the death of this beloved cultural icon all about him (do watch the video in that link). During an August 26 phone interview with Glenn Beck, the subject of Dolly's passing came up and Trump told Beck, "We all knew her so well, I knew her a little bit, she really liked me, I will tell you." Then he went on to explain that she just kept her admiration of him hidden because she didn't want to alienate the 20 percent or so of her fans who, according to Trump, didn't like him. And then later on, he posted a disgusting bit of AI slop showing an image of him and Dolly walking arm in arm at the White House like the bestest of buddies.

On his August 27, 2026 Substack, my favorite potty-mouthed pundit Jeff Tiedrich contrasts Dolly's countless true successes and lifelong humility with Donny's serial failures and constant grasping hunger for adulation. The differences between Dolly and Donny could not be more glaring.

Even Trump's clumsily worded praise on Truth Social, before he went on Beck's show and displayed his true garish orange colors, seemed focused on Dolly's accomplishments as a singer ("and far beyond" is really pretty ambiguous). It's very possible that he has little clue that Dolly was at least as well known for her altruism, her generosity, and her amazing philanthropic deeds as she was for her music. Possibly even better known. The list of her good deeds would fill a book, but here's a summary from Billboard.

And she was also known for her advocacy. Shush, Nappy Nurse Natalie: don't tell Donny, but Dolly famously stood up for some of the very people who are reviled by this administration and the whole MAGA crowd.

She repeatedly expressed support for racial justice and the Black community, and, though she did not participate in protests, she implied her support for the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2018, she removed the name "Dixie" from a dinner theater attraction at her famous theme park, Dollywood, due to its Confederate origins; she said that problems should be fixed as soon as they are recognized. She was also an outspoken ally for decades for the LGBTQ+ community. Her theme park hosts an annual LGBTQ+ pride event, and she has consistently opposed discriminatory legislation.

There's no way around it: Dolly Parton was woke as hell. She talked woke, though in as anodyne and apolitical a manner as possible, and she damn sure walked woke.

Widely loved though she was, it's also true that during her life she did get some criticism from the right for her stances, especially regarding LGBTQ+ rights. Southern "culture" diehards were plenty pissed about her removal of the word "Dixie" from her theme park attraction. Some conservative factions indignantly protested the idea that Dolly was supportive of Black Lives Matter.

And she even got blowback, both while she was alive and especially after her death, from the reich-wing anti-vax/COVID-is-no-big-deal crowd because during the height of the pandemic she donated $1 million towards vaccine development research, and she publicly advocated getting vaccinated. Vaccines and scientific research and other public health issues absolutely should not be political issues or culture-war issues, but in this crazy timeline they absolutely are.

For the most part, however, her attempts to float above the political and culture war battlefields were successful, which made it easy for bigots to forget that she was an advocate for many of the people and causes that they loathed.

Point is, Dolly Parton was everything that Donny and MAGA are not. If the world had more folks like Dolly and less like Donny, it would be a far, far better place. And Dolly, I hope you'll forgive me for being political, but it's what I do. Rest in power, bright angel. We will always love you.

* * * * *

Come to think of it, my brief tribute to Dolly Parton is not entirely unrelated to the post that I had already begun before I learned of her death. Dolly was a tireless giver, and I am living in a place where, as it happens, I am surrounded by tireless givers. My affluent county is often touted as one of the most generous, giving counties in the whole Great State of Texas and perhaps in the entire Divided States of America. It's home to scads of nonprofits. There are tons of opportunities for givers to give.

And give they do. They may not give on the scale that Dolly did -- I imagine that few do or even can -- but they give a lot of their money and in many cases their time and energy and passion to help those less fortunate. That's a good thing.

The problem is that so many of them, whether they realize it or not, are also takers of the worst kind. That's not good.

This matter has been on my mind for months and months, practically ever since I landed, more or less on my feet, in this idyllic city within a city where I now live. I can't let loose about it in the rooms where it happens; that wouldn't be fitting for a lady who occasionally lunches with the Ladies Who Lunch. It would only be counterproductive and would not be at all appropriate. I am very new in these circles and as such, am pretty much a nobody, so I don't have any standing to get on my soapbox. At least not in those rooms. Here on my own Whirled I can do it.

* * * * *

Put aside the longstanding and by now cliched criticism of the glitterati at the very tip-top of the food-and-drink chain -- the conspicuous altruists who are on the ultra-high-dollar charity event circuit primarily for recognition, with the desire to help others being secondary. They've been lambasted and lampooned for many decades. I don't move in those elevated circles. But there are plenty of Ladies Who Lunch in the middle tiers, affluent and involved in multiple charities, and while I admire their energy and dedication, there's this thing that's been on my mind.

I think it first hit me hard on a lovely afternoon this past spring, when I attended a casual-dressy charity event with a dear friend and her daughter who are not, strictly speaking, Ladies Who Lunch (they're much more like me), but they know their way around that crowd. For several years running they had attended this fundraiser, held in a beautiful venue overlooking a dazzling lake. It was my first time.

Hosted by a nonprofit community action agency that manages several large federally and locally funded community programs, this particular event directly benefited a much-loved program that supports local housebound seniors. It offered shopping from a wide range of local boutiques and vendors, as well as food and drinks, door prizes, auctions, a fashion show, and other activities.

And there were plenty of opportunities to give, either directly in various ways, or by bidding on auction items or purchasing stuff from the vendors who donated part of their proceeds to the charity. Ticket sales alone probably generated a pretty penny as well; they weren't Mar-a-Lago level but they weren't super cheap either. My friend had paid for mine; otherwise I couldn't have attended. The wine flowed freely (I stuck to tea), the conversations were animated and cumulatively quite loud, and the vendors' card processing devices were in constant operation.

Noise aside, it was overall an enjoyable experience, and I was on my best behavior, trying to fit in. I remained on good behavior even after the director of the organization was introduced and proceeded to deliver a speech that ended up disturbing me more than a little.

I suppose most of the other ladies had heard all of this numerous times before, and many continued their chatter right on through his entire presentation. I had to strain to hear the man, but I was very interested in what he had to say and I hung on his every word. Well, at least the words that I could hear over the nonstop chatter.

His speech was probably much like one he'd given countless times before. It was understated and diplomatic, but I grasped the subtext, and it made me both sad and angry. (Later I had a brief private conversation with him which verified that I had indeed understood the deeper message.) At the podium he gave an encouraging progress report, praised the generosity of the givers in the crowd and in the greater community, and acknowledged the hard work and commitment of his staff -- but it wasn't all sunshine.

I could tell that he was very carefully choosing his words as he explained that the organization was facing significant challenges because of freezes in funding from the government, which in light of inflation rates has the same result as a funding cut. The message, though he didn't put it in so many words, was that the callous slashing and burning by the present administration was making the work of serving the least fortunate much, much harder.

He seemed to be walking a difficult tightrope, wanting to be honest about what was happening without getting political about it. And maybe I've just become overly emotional from an extended period of nearly unbearable personal loss, but as he spoke I found myself fighting tears at times. Maybe I was projecting, but at times it looked like he was about to cry himself.

And the ladies in the room chatted on. They did manage to applaud at all of the appropriate times, but I think that's only because the moderator helped keep things on track.

Now, lest you think that I'm hopelessly naive about these matters, I completely understand that fundraising presentations for charitable causes almost always contain an element of pathos. Getting folks to care not only about whatever vulnerable populations the nonprof helps, but also about the survival of the charity itself, is key. So yes, I know that in the larger scheme of things this director's speech, and this event, were nothing out of the ordinary. I'm not that sheltered.

But this speech, at this event, at this moment...it all hit me. Roll your eyes if you must. Tell me I'm going on and on and on about nothing particularly remarkable. I'm still going to go on and on and on.

I thought about everything I was seeing and hearing. I looked at the compassionate and dedicated man who was trying to tell us what was going on, as well as his equally dedicated staffers who were also present, and I thought about how hard these people have to work every single day just to ensure that "the least of these brothers and sisters of mine" have some of the bare essentials for a decent life.

And I thought about the gabbing gala goers who also clearly care about "the least of these" -- I will give all credit where it is due -- but who for the most part keep on supporting the very political party, and its morally hollowed-out leader, whose policies and practices make the charities have to work so much harder to even pretend they can keep up with ever-increasing needs. Nonprofits are threatened not only by funding freezes and cuts, but in many cases these days by targeted political attacks as well. The Trump administration has blatantly portrayed many nonprofs as an enemy to go after.

The threat reaches far beyond the nonprofit world. Even so, my observations (not just on that day at that event, but over a period of months) indicate that many of the Ladies Who Lunch seem either oblivious to or unfazed by the fact that this administration has worked tirelessly to rip away safety nets, destroy benefits, and deprive the most vulnerable people of survival basics -- and, for that matter, to strip them of their basic human rights. (Actually, at this point everyone's basic human rights are in danger from this administration, but that's a whole other topic.)

What I so wanted to shout to the well-dressed ladies gathered in that elegantly appointed room was:
WAKE UP, FFS.

But I didn't. And I'm sorry for shouting it here. I should have warned you.

Here's the bottom line, whether you wish to accept it or not: If you are still voting red, if you're still supporting Trump, if you refuse to even consider voting for someone in "the other party" just because you believe that they're "the enemy" (socialist/communist/anti-Christian/Islamic terrorist/transgender-for-everyone-ist or whatever)...then you should think twice about patting yourself on the back for writing huge checks or putting in countless hours of your time every month or devoting all of your passion and creative energies to your favorite nonprofs. You might think that you're doing everything you can possibly do to help them, but you're not.

I'm not suggesting that supporting the Trumpublican party cancels all of the good you have actually done and continue to do. I know that the nonprofits deeply appreciate every dollar, every material donation, and every hour of time, regardless of the political affiliation of the person giving it. I know that directors and presenters have to be tactful because they don't want to bite the hands that are feeding them. (I am also well aware that not all of the Ladies Who Lunch are in fact waving the Trump flag. There's a pretty healthy sprinkling of blue voters and liberals in this community.)

What I am saying is that giving to charities while continuing to support the GOP is the proverbial two steps forward and one step back when it comes to doing something about the deep social ills that the charities were formed to mitigate. Every time you vote red, you could very well be voting to put your favorite charities in the red. You could be hurting the very people you intended to help.

* * * * *

Earlier this month my dear friend and I attended another luncheon event, this one less fancy but hosted by the same agency and benefiting the same organization. The director was there again with his staff, and once again he spoke about the progress made and the ongoing needs. Once again it was clear that he was carefully minding his words. And once again there was applause at all the right times.

It was actually a happy occasion because it was a thank you lunch for organizations and individuals who had helped the agency towards its fundraising goals. There was good news to report about the fundraising, and the service club to which my friend and I belong was recognized for the club's contributions to the cause. As well, one of our club's founding members, a woman of whom I've grown very fond, was specially recognized for her many years of above-and-beyond service.

But still, there was that underpinning of frustration because the agency and the organizations it helps are being strangled by this administration. In more ways than one, that was the elephant in the room.

I had another private talk with the director afterward. We talked about the frustrations, about how increasingly difficult it is to feed hungry kids and seniors, what with various programs being shrunk or eliminated altogether, supposedly because they're unaffordable.

I expressed that I especially felt bad about cuts in school lunch programs. "Let them eat the Ten Commandments!" I said, a reference to the inane reality that even though automatic free lunches for hungry kids are kaput in a major public school district in Houston -- part of what has become a pattern in Texas to starve kids -- our GOP-dominated state legislature managed to push through a requirement for every public schoolroom in the state to display the Ten Commandments.

The director nodded and smiled wryly. He said he and his family are religious and are churchgoers, but he believes religious trappings belong in the churches and in private homes, not in public schools. He also wondered why our government could afford to build multiple bombs at a billion dollars a pop, when the price of just one single bomb could feed so many hungry people. He didn't have anything against defense spending, he said, but surely some of that money could be redirected to helping people.

I said to him, "You do the work of angels." That's actually the same thing I had said that very morning to the compassionate vet who had helped me send my sweet old dog Roxanne over the Rainbow Bridge. This is not something that I ordinarily say to people, even people who I think do good work. But it's true of my vet, and it is certainly true of this man who was standing before me, looking a little sad and weary (or maybe I was projecting again?), but was not willing to give up.

* * * * *

About a week and a half later, my friend and I were at the monthly meeting of our service club, and the floor was open to discussion about the coming year's speaker lineup. Every month we have a speaker from a local nonprofit, and at the end of the presentation the club presents that speaker with a check for the nonprof. Some people were complaining, and seemed quite vehement about the matter, because the tentative 2027 lineup included not one but two organizations that benefit... gasp... animals.

These women noted that they like animals as well as the next person, but shouldn't limited funds and energy be directed towards people's needs first?

Several women echoed the complaint. Then a couple of women spoke up with great feeling about the vital role that pets play in emotional support, particularly among seniors (or others) who live alone and may have experienced devastating losses that the presence of a pet can ease. These women seemed hesitant to rock the "people first!" boat but I'm glad they had the courage to do so. But for the most part the sentiment seemed to be, "Take care of human needs first!"

I can actually see both sides, though I lean a bit towards the pro-animal side, because my non-human companions are my children. They have sometimes helped keep life from becoming unbearable since my husband Ron died. The discussion could have become pretty heated, but the club president and a couple of the board members cooled it down by agreeing that the program committee would re-convene to discuss revising the lineup, based on input from members. I have a strong feeling that the animal orgs are both going to be eliminated from the lineup.

Here's the kicker. The calm "middle ground" perspective seemingly agreed upon by most of the membership, and later echoed at a private lunch by the planning committee, was that yes, animals are vitally important in many people's lives, but hard times are getting harder, and human needs are more urgent now than ever. There's more homelessness, more poverty, more food insecurity, and just more of less, everywhere you turn.

I can get behind that sentiment. It is absolutely true.

But here are the words I dare not say when I am in any of the rooms where these matters are actively being discussed:

You can discard the animal charities and only embrace the most worthy human ones. Fine. You can embrace these worthiest of causes passionately, giving your time and treasure and heart and soul to elevate them. Good for you. But if you continue to vote red, if you continue to wear, either metaphorically or literally, that red cap showing your support of a man and a regime for whom cruelty is the only point besides enriching the oligarchs, then you, Ladies Who Lunch, are helping to unravel, thread by thread, the lovely tapestry of all of your good works.

And by the way, just in case you're a Dolly Parton fan and admire her for initiatives such as her beloved charity, Imagination Library, which has distributed more than 332 million free books to kids under five all over the world, here's something you should know. The republican lawmakers in several states, perhaps some of the very republicans who have joined in the great public circle of grief over Dolly's passing, have gutted funds to that charity. It's just part of a larger and undeniable pattern, ladies: republicans will always vote not just to take kids' food away, but their books as well. Think about that when you go to vote.

And so in light of all of the above... I'd like to propose a toast.

The Ladies Voters Who Lunch *
Here's to the ladies who lunch —
Everybody gives
Donating to causes
What a caring bunch
Where the goodness lives.
Off to the drive,
Signing a check for
Food bank supplies.
Glad they’re alive,
And yet most are on a
GOP high.
And most of them still vote for Trump.
Pass me that cup.

And here's to the gals at the ball —
Clad in silk and lace
Praising the nonprofit
Saving one and all
In their giving place.
Clapping their hands,
For the director’s
Tragic report.
Then they demand
Border interceptors,
Safety net short.
Aren't we the most caring domain?
Pour the champagne.

And here's to the girls who play cards —
Deeply filled with grace
Mourning the unfortunates
In the outer wards
Of this wealthy space.
Planning a gala,
Saving a clinic,
Wiping a tear.
Then voting MAGA,
Blind as a cynic,
Year after year.
"The cruelty's just a feature, my dear!"
Another beer.

And here's to the ones who just drift —
Warm and full of pride
Bragging that our county is
The ultimate gift
On the red-state side.
Minding their words,
The charity leaders
Dare not offend.
Feeding the birds,
While the bottom feeders
Meet a harsh end.
Another reason to just stay blind...
I'm losing my mind.

A collective of saints who endorse the squeeze,
Who pray for the poor while they chop down the trees,
Who cut off the safety nets at the knees!
Everybody rise!
Rise!
Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise!
Rise!

Here's to the ladies who lunch!
Give them a hand!
The most caring county in all the land!
And they'll vote red again...
And again...
And again...
And again...
And again!
I'll drink to that!
Tip your red hat
 Raise a toast to the ladies...
Who lunch!

I'll drink to that, with the nonalcoholic libation of my choice.

And then I will raise my glass again for Dolly. The world without her seems a little dimmer, a little grimmer. Kind of like, you know, a hard candy Christmas.

* Full disclosure: I directed my AI buddy (Google's Gemini, free version) to write this parody of Stephen Sondheim's famous song from the Broadway musical Company, "The Ladies Who Lunch." Here is a link to the original lyrics. And here's a link to a live performance on Sondheim's 80th birthday. I did change up a few of the lyrics that Google came up with, because editing is kind of my thing. This is the first time I have ever used "Google's janky six-fingered plagiarism robot" (as Jeff Tiedrich calls it) -- or any AI tool for that matter -- to write a song parody. It's not something I would normally do and I do not intend to make a habit of it. If I do I will tell you. In any case, I was in a rush today, preoccupied with other projects. So thank you, janky robot.

One more thing before you leave...
With my husband Ron's passing in February 2025, I have experienced significant income loss. I live in an affluent county, but I am far from affluent myself and am only here through the incredible generosity of my dearest friend. And now that I am facing new personal challenges, donations are urgently needed and profoundly appreciated. Here are some ways to do it:

• New: Venmo -- username @Connie-Schmidt-42. Here is a direct link to the Venmo page.
• New: PayPal -- Here is a direct link to my PayPal page.
• Old but still good: You can click on the "Donate" icon that currently appears on the right-hand side of every page of this blog on the Web version. There's also a donation link at the end of many of my older blog posts. In the case of both the icon and the links on the older posts, as well as the link in this sentence, this is also a PayPal link, but it references the email account RevRon -- which is cool, because it all ultimately goes to the same place.

NOTE: If you are donating by PayPal, please specify that your contribution is for "friends and family," which will waive PayPal's substantial transaction fee.

Whether you can donate or not, thank you for visiting this Whirled.

We the People vs. The Ugly Orange Stain: musings on America’s 250th

Happy 250th Birthday, America! A quarter-millennium of this grand, messy, experimental democracy is officially in the history books.

But if you're at all familiar with this Whirled, it will come as no surprise to you that reaching this milestone feels to me a bit like limping across a marathon finish line while wearing a ridiculously ill-fitting blue suit, a too-long red tie, and cheap shoes that are much too big. It's very hard to fully enjoy the patriotic fanfare when a significant portion of "We the People" remains completely enthralled by Mango Mussolini and his circus of grievances, which they have adopted as their own just because he commands it.

Watching the toxic wave of Trumpism wash over the land for nearly a dozen years has been exhausting, disheartening, and flat-out ugly, particularly during Trump 2.0. Every time we think it can't get any worse, Trump and/or his allies say, "Hold my beer." So again and again, many of us find ourselves looking around in dismay at the ruins, both figurative and, in the case of DC, literal, that litter the landscape on this momentous occasion. In that light (or lack thereof), the frantic flag-waving and grandiose expressions of patriotism we're seeing everywhere seem like little more than ostentatious virtue signaling by masses of people who, knowingly or unknowingly, are supporting efforts to tear this country limb from limb and throw it to the wolves.

I am not the only one who feels this way, of course. Millions of others in the US are similarly upset by the state of the union today, whether or not they blame Trump specifically or view Trumpism as symptomatic of a malaise that is both larger and deeper. And on the world stage, America has definitely lost its former glorious standing, with both allies and adversaries viewing the US at 250 as "a solid global citizen gone rogue," in the words of a July 3, 2026 headline for an opinion piece in The Guardian.

But birthdays are for reflection, not just complaining.

If these 250 years have taught us anything, it is that America is much bigger than any single demagogue, any single administration, or any temporary bout of national madness. This country, this flag, and this July 4th holiday do not belong to a cult of personality. They belong to all of us.

The red, white, and blue has survived deep wounds, terrible errors, and profound divisions before. A fabric this resilient can handle a stubborn, garish orange stain. It won't wash out overnight, but it is not permanent.

So today I am holding onto hope, the same hope that, hand-in-hand with my cynicism, I have consistently expressed on this blog throughout the Error of Trump. I am choosing to believe in the enduring power of our democratic experiment and the quiet decency of the people who keep it running. We are still here. We are still writing the story. Even my favorite foul-mouthed pundit, Jeff Tiedrich, took a break today from his usual Saturday "This Week In Stupid" column with this message for Americans:

today, let’s rest. tomorrow, the fight continues.

above all, do not let some tinpot fascist wanna-be spoil your day. the Fourth of July belongs to We the People.

here’s to you on this July 4th, America, you great big beautiful fucked up country.

So pass the hot dogs (or vegan equivalents), light the sparklers (but be cognizant of fire hazards, and please keep your pets safely in the house away from scary fireworks!), and let’s keep working to make this union a little more perfect.

PS ~ Here is an uplifting 250th birthday message from the president I miss the most, Barack Obama.

 

It's Pride Month, and the ignoranti are out in force

Sensitivity warning: This post contains explicit content about male naughty bits.

We're now well into June, and although I recently managed to escape rural Deep East Texas, there is, thanks to the Interwebs, no escaping the moronic pontifications of the ignoranti as Pride Month gets underway. The righteously hetero he-men and she-women are everywhere, and boy, do they ever come out in force in June.

Anti-Pride backlash has become such a thing that the sanctimonious guv'ners of some of the reich-wing states have gone so far as to obstinately declare that June is Nuclear Family Month (or, in some cases, "Fidelity Month," whatever that's supposed to mean to a political party that is firmly under the the bruised and mottled thumb of someone who wouldn't recognize fidelity of any kind if it took off its clothes and sat on his bloated orange face).

The guv'ner of Indiana even put out a splashy announcement about the Hoosier State's "Take Back the Rainbow" campaign, by way of a poster/meme stating in no uncertain terms that "one husband, one wife, and any biological, adopted, or foster children" has been "God's design for the family structure and the foundation of society since the beginning of the world." So there, pervs.

(And remember, the husband is the Head of the Household, as we're reminded in a widely-circulated bit of AI slop in which the Head of the Household has one protective manly paw on his wife's shoulder and another on the shoulder of his oldest daughter, and with yet another he is holding up a dull dark-gray cross-embellished umbrella to protect his family from the deadly vibrant colors of gayness. Yes, he has three hands. It's God's perfect plan!)

And then of course we have the usual rank-and-file (emphasis on the word "rank") culture warriors on social media, who just can't stop foaming about the atrocity of dedicating an entire month to "celebrating sin." To give but one of scads of examples, a post featuring a pic of a homophobic misinfographic popped up on my Facebook feed the other day (it's the one on the left in the graphic at the head of this post). The Texas fellow who shared the pic wrote:

Above all, Pride is a deadly sin. Thankfully, the month of June has been freed from this mental illness nonsense.

He does not specify exactly how the month of June has been "freed," but it's possible he is referencing the aforementioned nuke-fampaigns. His, of course, is far from the only anti-Pride hatepost on social media. I've seen nearly identical rants from numerous other folks, including that very same misinfographic, which appears on the "Take Back Canada" page, and more than likely you have too. But this one happened to catch my eye because the person is a member of a Facebook group I'm in that was set up for residents of my city within a city. The screed was on his personal page, but his profile is easy to access from the group page. And he's been known to inject political commentary into his posts on the group page as well.

The shared misinfographic replays, in glorious all-caps, almost the entire homophobic talking points hit parade:

No Pride In Gay Life

THE FACTS
GAYS:
1 % OF THE POPULATION
33 % OF THE CHILD MOLESTERS
67% OF ALL AIDS CASES
78% HAVE SEXUAL DISEASE

HAVE LIFESPANS 20 YEARS SHORTER THAN NORMAL
28% OF GAY MEN HAVE HAD 200 PARTNERS OR MORE
22% OF CHILDREN WHO HAD LESBIAN MOTHERS HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY MOLESTED BY A PARENT OR OTHER ADULT
RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT BEFORE AGE OF 16 ARE STRONGLY CORRELATED WITH HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR
GAYS BELIEVE THE BODY’S WASTE DISPOSAL UNIT IS A SEX ORGAN
THIS IS WHY HOMOSEXUALITY THROUGHOUT WESTERN HISTORY HAS BEEN CLASSIFIED AS A MENTAL DISORDER AND A CRIMINAL OFFENCE TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM THIS DANGEROUS BEHAVIOUR
SUICIDE LEVELS AMONG GAYS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN HETEROSEXUALS
HOMOSEXUALITY IS THREE TIMES MORE FATAL THAN SMOKING OR OBESITY

THAT’S A LOT TO BE PROUD OF

This particular guy's post got quite a few likes and shares. Only one person dissented, far more subtly than I would have, writing: "That's a lot of misinformation." But most of the respondents seemed to agree, and one of the poster's FB "friends" wrote this response:

I have always felt these pride celebrations are just for attention, we don’t have straight pride Asian pride black pride celebrations and why? Because we prefer to blend into society and not ask for attention.

To which the poster responded, "Amen, my beautiful friend."

Actually, His Beautiful Friend, there have been Black Pride celebrations and commemorations for... well, gosh... decades now. And here's a well-kept secret (at least it's apparently been well-kept from you): there's even -- gasp -- an entire Black History Month.

Naturally, MAGAts don't like those either. They resent Black History Month, and they're furious about Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth being federal holidays, and they scoffed at and spit on the whole Black Lives Matter movement. They've been whining about these issues nonstop for years and years, invariably asking -- and not always rhetorically -- why there isn't a White Pride month or a White Lives Matter movement. Moreover, the Turd Reich to which they have sold their souls has been laboring viciously, ever since Agolf Shitler regained power, to rewrite American history in such a way as to wipe out any mention of either Black achievements or America's history of systemic racism.

So maybe, Beautiful Friend, you should sit this one out. (I should also mention to the rest of y'all that a few years ago B.F. chose a closeup of her mostly exposed and very generous cleavage as a profile pic... so maybe she's not such a blender-inner who doesn't ask for attention. Nevertheless, out of courtesy to her I will not provide a link.)

As for why there's no Straight Pride month, it's really stupid that anyone is still bringing up this issue at all, but for those few who might genuinely be wondering, please allow me to quote myself, from a post on this Whirled a year ago:

...marginalized groups such as LGBTQ+ have been systematically written out of history, excluded, and made invisible. The vast majority of people in the U.S. identify as heterosexual, and their norms are widely reflected in mainstream media. The majority don't need a special day or month; every month is already by default "their" month anyway.

I know I've made this comparison here several times previously, but the constant boo-hooing from members of the default demographics reminds me of a comic strip I saw decades ago. A kid said to his mom, "There's Mother's Day and Father's Day. How come there isn't a Children's Day?" Mom of course said, "Every day is Children's Day!"

And in Trumpistan as in the world at large, every month is Straight Cisgender Month. And for that matter, every month is White Pride Month. And so forth. So let's move beyond that and take a closer look some of the "facts" that the Facebook poster I cited above so proudly shared.

Consider the source, of course, of course
If you look closely at the top of the photo on the post, you can read the name of a website, www.irishlightpaper.com. As it happens, The Irish Light is a far-right conspiracy theory "newspaper" published in Ireland, launched in 2021 and edited by two ultra-right loons named Gemma O'Doherty and John Waters (Waters in particular seems to be a dedicated homophobe). It's the sister publication to the UK-based paper The Light, which was founded by a flat-earther (yes, he really does believe that) named Darren Scott Nesbitt, aka Darren Smith, in September 2020.

Both rags, according to an AI-generated summary on Google, 'frequently promote extremist content and disinformation'—which is an extraordinarily polite way of saying they are devoted to the batshit crazy codswallop currently permeating modern life. It’s a collective brain rot infecting everything from the halls of Congress, to your social media feeds, right down to your Trumpy Drunkle Bob, who loves to hold forth at the Thanksgiving table until he loses consciousness mid-sentence and faceplants into the yams, rendering his forehead almost as orange as his Dear Leader.

As is the case with most reich-wing sources, the misinfo and disinfo spewed by The Irish Light and its sister tabloid would be merely snicker-worthy if not for the fact that they're also potentially dangerous. They are packed with Covid-19 disinformation, hate speech and antisemitism, climate change denial, and anti-vax propaganda.

And, of course, with outrageous lies about the LGBTQ+ community.

The message in the tabloid sheet pictured on the Facebook post is a laundry list of long-debunked myths and fabricated data, largely stemming from the widely discredited 1980s and 1990s work of a single anti-LGBTQ+ activist: a frothing-at-the-mouth homophobe named Paul Cameron. Cameron is a disgraced American psychologist who founded the anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Family Research Institute. His entire body of work has been aimed at misrepresenting gay, lesbian, and bisexual populations.

So let's get back to that misinfographic. Major medical and scientific organizations have consistently refuted the "facts" listed on it. I won't take the time to go down the list, claim by claim -- you can easily find this info yourself -- but a closer look at just a couple of them should provide an idea of the level of credibility of the whole wackadoodle list. Consider it a starter pack, just in case your Drunkle Bob sobers up enough to actually listen to a refutation of some of his most cherished beliefs.

1. Take the declaration that 33 percent of child molesters are gay people, a "fact" that's supposed to be particularly shocking since according to the same misinfographic, gays are only 1 percent of the population.
Setting aside the fact that even if true, this would indicate that a whopping 67 percent of child molesters are hetero, the 33 percent stat is a fabricated figure with zero basis in legitimate science. It originates from Paul Cameron, who pulled the molestation figure out of his ass during his 1980s campaign to ban gay people from becoming teachers or foster parents. The number was the end result of some deeply flawed "convenience sampling," and of Cameron's intentional conflation of homosexual orientation and pedophilia. He weaponized several small, non-random surveys, some of which had sample sizes as low as 17 people, and then threw in his own personal interpretations of old newspaper clippings. Very scientific, indeed.

As indicated above, mainstream medical, psychological, and law enforcement orgs have wholeheartedly and aggressively rejected Cameron's work for decades. The American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have issued statements clarifying that a person's sexual orientation is completely unrelated to a predisposition to abuse children. And decades of peer-reviewed criminological data consistently show that the vast majority of child sexual abuse is committed by heterosexual men targeting young girls within their own families or close social circles. (But I guess as long as it takes place in a nuclear family setting, or better yet in a "Christian" church, it's okay.)

Nevertheless the lies about the LGBTQ+ community and sexual abuse persist. And if you look at that shot of the tabloid page, you'll see that the homophobic graphic was placed under the heading, "Child Grooming."

2. Then there's the claim that the lifespan of gays on average is 20 years shorter than that of heterosexuals.
That has its origin in another flawed 1990s study by Cameron, who invented the statistic by gathering a couple thousand obituaries from old LGBTQ+ community newspapers printed during the height of the 1980s and early 1990s AIDS crisis. Then he calculated the average age of the people in those obituaries and declared that to be the "average lifespan" of all gay people. Demographers jeered at the study because it totally ignored how a generational epidemic -- AIDS -- artificially skewed death ages in the 1980s. Moreover it was based on a time when young people were far more likely to be out and active in urban gay communities than elderly people.

Times have changed, though. Drastically. Although LGBTQ life expectancy is a subject of ongoing research, legitimate modern census and actuarial data show that the actual gap in life expectancy between gay individuals and heterosexual individuals is roughly one year. (That's 19 less than 20, for math-impaired MAGAts.) And the consensus among public health researchers is that even this minor gap is almost entirely driven by "minority stress," which includes higher rates of mental health struggles, suicide, and lack of healthcare access caused by societal homophobia and discrimination. Nice work, MAGAts. You're helping to kill a bunch of people who have done nothing to harm you or society. Jeezus would be so proud. No, not really. But Hitler sure would.

Because his "research" relied on fabricated data, misrepresentations of valid science, and serious methodological bias, Paul Cameron was formally expelled from the American Psychological Association in 1983 for violating their code of ethics. He was subsequently condemned by the American Sociological Association, the Canadian Psychological Association, and the Nebraska Psychological Association.

The fact that Cameron's exact sorry statistics are still being printed in The Irish Light in 2026, and shared by presumably educated adults on their social media feeds, shows that modern far-right anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda is deeply dependent upon the recycling of thoroughly debunked, decades-old hate literature.

Random musings on dicks of various kinds
I was particularly amused by one statement on the Irish Light rant:

GAYS BELIEVE THE BODY’S WASTE DISPOSAL UNIT IS A SEX ORGAN

This is apparently a reference to anal intercourse. I get it. The 'phobes think it's disgusting to use the poop chute as a playground. For me, though, this just raises a question: isn't urine waste too? And don't people with penises, regardless of their sexual orientation, pee and ejaculate out of the very same organ, which technically is a sex organ? I mean, sure, the ejaculate and the urine originate in separate tubes, but they both come out of the urethra to get to their ultimate destinations.

By the definition implied in the screed in The Irish Light, anyone who uses the same organ to dispose of waste and to have sex is a pervert. So if you have a penis, and you use it both to pee and to have sex, even if that sex is with your lawfully wedded person who has a vagina, shame on you. If you want to get right with God, you gotta give up either peeing or sexing.

And speaking of dicks, can we talk about Trump for a moment? Our righteous Facebook poster reminded us that above all, pride is a deadly sin. This is a guy who praises Trump on his personal profile and has shared posts accusing anyone who criticizes Trump of having a "sheep brain" or suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome. I'm thinking, though, that perhaps our Trumpster needs to take a closer look at the fact that his Orange Overlord is the fat festering embodiment not only of pride, but also of the six other deadly sins: greed (avarice), lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth.

And while we're on the subject, let's not rule out the possibility that Trump himself might possibly be a little bit on the gay-ish side himself (not that there's anything wrong with that!). There's no denying that he is constantly obsessing over muscly, manly-looking men.

Here is a lovely montage of clips of Cantaloupe Caligula paying homage to male beauty.

And who can forget that time on the 2024 campaign trail when Trump riffed about a dead golfer's schlong?

Just saying.

* * * * *

All righty then, enough of that. It's time to get out there and celebrate Pride Month, whether you are LGBTQ+ or merely (like me) a proud ally. Love is love; embrace and rejoice in it. Fly your rainbow colors proudly. Play your Randy Rainbow reels loudly. Make those MAGAts clutch their pearls and their crosses and their Trump bibles closer to their hollow breasts as it finally dawns on them there is absolutely nothing they can do to stop the love that, after centuries of suppression, finally dares not just to speak its name, but to shout it to the stars.

Related on this Whirled:

June 2025: Celebrate Pride Month: No Kings, but bring on the queens! Last year's offering, ahead of the first No Kings march, which took place on June 14, Caligula's birthday. Good news: there's gonna be another No Kings affiliated event this June 14: Rise Up, Sing Out!.

June 2015: Love wins, but hate is still throwing tantrums over there in the corner: A celebration of the June 26, 2015 decision by SCOTUS to legalize same-sex marriage across the country. Clearly it's a right that couldn't be taken for granted back then, and is in danger now from the GOP.