Anti-Trump Resistance Marches

The theme of gay pride parades around the country are dramatically shifting from celebrating gender and sexuality choices to a militant call to resist what organizers regard as oppressive societal and government forces. Parades will no longer be parades; they are "resistance marches." With Trump as President, the country, especially the LGBT community is in grave danger. It's as if a terrorist, not a patriot, has moved into the White House.

After witnessing the large crowds of protesters drawn to the pro-abortion Women's March on Washington, D.C., last January, one day after Trump's inauguration, Los Angeles entrepreneur Brian Pendleton had an idea. He wrote, "Floats and marching bands are nice when we are not at war. Now is the time we shake things up and take to the streets. The idea has caught on in many other locals. Planned 'Resist Marches' join several streams of protest and dissatisfaction coalescing under a single banner of "Equality March for Unity and Pride. This has become an international effort. The shift seems not be about feelings, not facts.  

There is a high level of fear in what is happening in our country, and even though we still have the right to marry and all the rights we had won before Trump took office, having our human rights stripped from us and going backward creates an underlying terror. That is where the sense of militant dissatisfaction with typical gay pride festivities is rising. 

There seems to be a need to return to the gay movement's counter-cultural roots. The majority of LGBT pride parades around the world were born out of protest. At this time there is a heightened threat level that is being actively promoted. Is this being promoted to bring as many people as possible into having a sense of personal threat to their well-being. I believe the threats are valid and too close to factual than is comfortable!

So what is the undefined threat? Who is the amorphous enemy? The ResistMarch.org Facebook page declares, "When any american's rights are under threat, all our rights are threatened. We are LGBTQ+. We are people of color. We are people of different faits. We are people of all genders and no gender. We are immigrants. We are dreamers. We are people with disabilities. We are parents. We are allies. And we are beautiful intersections of these. But most of all, we are American. Yet our rights are in jeopardy. Forces are gathering in government that intend to take away our hard-won basic human rights."

So, what do we resist? Who or what exactly threatens us? Many of us participate in pride events because of the alarms that are sounding and make impassioned pleas of resistance. But some who normally participate in these events are unclear on what they are being asked to do. They are even skeptical about the pride parades' co-opting by militant gay and transgender forces. 

The focused target is the Trump administration and resist marches across the country have focused on that. But is feels like the hate being directed toward everyone who isn't white, Christian, Republican, and heterosexual runs deeper and is older than Trumps chaotic administration. The anger this country has runs deeper than the threat of government, racial, and religious tyranny. It is thinly veiled in rage against each of those but many of us feel the hatred that is coming from a dark and buried place that most of us sense but do not remember how many generations if has been lingering or exactly what it is. Perhaps watching this anger and those fearful folks who voted for Trump and who are beginning to act the anger out will be the best way to bring into consciousness the true hatred that is at the roots of our American imbalance. Only then will we be truly confidant what to resist and what the real threat is.

Facebook Donates to Reyes's Campaign

Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court recently in a bid to preserve the state’s same-sex marriage ban. Reyes bluntly spelled out the stakes.

"It comes down to this,” the petition states. “Thousands of couples are being unconstitutionally denied the right to marry or millions of voters are being disenfranchised of their vote to define marriage. Either way, the court’s review is necessary, and this case is the right vehicle to do so.”

Calling it, without exaggeration, an “immensely important question,” Utah’s petition seeks review of a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision that struck down the state’s marriage restrictions. “The issue has been percolating for 40 years,” the petition notes. “Dozens of cases are challenging state marriage laws, and erratic use of stays has created legal chaos.”

In its 2-1 decision in June, the 10th Circuit concluded Utah’s same-sex marriage ban violated constitutional guarantees of equal protection. An amendment to the state’s constitution adopted by 66 percent of voters in 2004 declares that “marriage consists only of the legal union between a man and a woman” and that “no other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect”

In the 2012 primary election in Utah for Attorney General, Reyes challenged Swallow for the position. The Republican primary race was purported to be “one of the dirtiest in years”. Swallow defeated Reyes. Swallow went on to win the general election but then resigned in 2013. Reyes was appointed as Attorney General. He is facing his re-election this fall.

Sean Reyes has openly spoken out against same sex marriage. Not only does he disagree with the LGBT community’s right to equal marriage, he is actively against it. He has said he will “spend whatever it takes” to fight against same sex marriage. He has even gone so far as to hire attorney Monte Stewart, founder of anti-equal marriage legal group Marriage Law Foundation to attempt to overturn a Utah ban on Equal marriage.

In a controversial move, it has been revealed that Facebook has donated $10,000 to Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes’ re-election campaign. Facebook, who made the donation in May, has defended their support of this candidate in a letter to The Huffington Post:

“Facebook has a strong record on LGBT issues and that will not change, but we make decisions about which candidates to support based on the entire portfolio of issues important to our business, not just one...

The question has to be asked – Why Sean Reyes? His aggressive stance on gay marriage not only condemns us, but also actively fights against our right to equality. In answer, Facebook has declared that they do not necessarily support Reyes position on gay marriage, stating – “A contribution to a candidate does not mean that we agree with every policy or position that candidate takes. We made this donation for the same reason we’ve donated to Attorneys General on the opposite side of the issue –because they are committed to fostering innovation and an open Internet”.

Companies and Products Boycotted for Supporting LGBT Rights

Oreo's support of Pride Month may have been applauded by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights advocates after the popular brand released an image of a rainbow-stuffed cookie on its Facebook page, but not everyone was as ecstatic after the now-iconic shot vent viral on a number of social media platforms.

As a result, a number of different Facebook groups have sprung up denouncing the controversial image. The founder of one writes, "Kraft foods and Oreo cookies have decided to toss the morals that formed our great nation right out the window and literally toss them right down our throat! Boycott Oreo cookies and hit them where it hurts...in the wallet."

Still, a Kraft Foods spokesperson defended the Oreo image. "As a company, Kraft Foods has a proud history of celebrating diversity and inclusiveness. We feel the Oreo ad is a fun reflection of our values."

Of course, the brand is not the first to experience a backlash of conservative consumers after publicly supporting LGBT rights.

Other companies have been boycotted by conservatives in recent years until as the groups say they "stop going down the Path of Destruction".

The following is a list of companies who have supported LGBT and have been boycotted because of it:

Betty Crocker

Levis

Cheerios and General Mills Products

American Apperal

Walt Disney World Resort

Starbucks

Wheaties

Tide - Proctor and Gamble

Microsoft

Home Depot

Pampers Diapers

Pepsi

Safeway

Crest

Old Navy

Girl Scouts

Macys

Target

JC Penney

Pillsbury

Walgreens

Ford 

Gap

Green Giant

The conservative anti-gay group behind this spring's scrapped JCPenney boycott is now targeting Oreos for the cookie brand's controversial endorsement of Pride month. In a post titled "Oreo -- No Longer Favorite Cookie," members of One Million Moms are condemning a now-iconic image which showed the cookie filled with rainbow-colored cream. The image, which was praised by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights advocates, was unveiled last weekend on Oreo's offical Facebook page and quickly went viral on a number of social media platforms after its release.

"The cookie maker is quick to point out that the picture is simply an ad, and doesn't depict a true product," the group notes on its website. "But it announced to American consumers where it stands on the controversial "gay" marriage issue. Homosexuals are weighing in, hoping Oreo makes the fake cookie real."

"There are plenty of cookies on the market for moms to buy for their families that do not support liberal causes," the group's rant continues. "We have a choice. Kraft's brands include Oreo, Cadbury, Maxwell House, and Nabisco."

One Million Moms' assessment, unfortunately, is shared by a number of vocal consumers, as evidenced by a number of different Facebook groups which have sprung up denouncing the controversial image. The latest tiraid comes just weeks after One Million Moms members condemned DC Comics and Marvel Superheroes for their inclusion of gay characters. The group is perhaps best know, however, for threatening to boycott JCPenney, after the retail group hired Ellen DeGeneres, who is openly gay, as its spokeswoman. Members of the group also blasted JCPenney in May, after the Texas-based chain included a lesbian couple as models in its Mother's Day shopping catalog, and yet again in June after a gay male couple was featured in the Father's Day edition. 

Gay issues continue to become more and more visible and this rainbow-stuffed Oreo add has done a lot to bring awareness to us and our need for human rights and equality. It will be interesting to watch the LGBT journey unfold!