Blog: No More Kings

Today is June 14th, 2025, it’s about 3:30 PM Central Time, & I feel I’d be remiss if I didn’t use my platform & this blog to talk about it.

The significance of the day & its date, for those who find themselves out of the loop…somehow, is multilayered. Traditionally in here, in The US, it is flag day, the day in which the stars & stripes were introduced as the official flag of The United States of America by the 2nd Congress of the newly founded country back in 1777. It also, unfortunately, is Donald Trump’s birthday &, as such, also marks the publicly branded day of protest, No Kings Day.

Now, if my feelings towards the current administration weren’t abundantly clear, not just from blogs over the course of 2025, but also since 2016 & all over all of my social media pages, I loathe the man. I think he is the greasy, cheeto dust covered white head on the zit that is everything toxic, regressive, authoritarian, fascist, manipulative, destructive, & anti-anything good about this country. I understand him to be a symptom, not the condition, but he & his cronies; Elon Musk, JD Vance, Mike Johnson, Peter Thiel, Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boebert, Kristi Noem, RFK Junior, Pete Hegseth, Karoline Leavitt, Matt Gates, etc, etc, etc, are the current perpetrators & greatest threat to US democracy by leagues. I just wanted to be clear where I stand with all of this before we move on to the meat & potatoes of this blog. Just incase there was any question where my loyalties lie. Right, back to No Kings Day.

I feel we are standing on the precipice of something, on the edge of a knife that either tilts this country further into the wanna be authoritarian grips of MAGA Republicans, or something that tears down these constrictive establishments & finally allows this country to become a more modernized civilian centered state whose government truly exists for the betterment of the people of these United States. Naturally I, & the majority of the world, hope it’s the latter.

So, No Kings. Why today? Well for starters, as aforementioned, today is DJT’s birthday. He decided, in his best attempt to emulate a dictator, to throw himself a glorious propaganda parade centered around the military that cost the US tax payers an estimated $45 Million dollars. What better way to stick a thorn in the man’s side than to organize an even bigger event protesting him & everything he & his fellow conspirators are doing in Washington? That started out as the plan anyway. Then came the ICE raids.

Two weeks ago Trump let his brownshirts, ICE, loose on the city of Los Angeles. They began rounding up & arresting immigrants (here legally or not), citizens who fit a certain threshold of melanin present in their natural skin tone, peaceful protestors, & later even a sitting congressman who dared to ask Kristi Noam a question about their policies during a press conference. This of course spurred protestors to spring into action. The conflict then escalated when Trump called in the National Guard, which was neither sanctioned, nor approved by California Governor, Gavin Newsome. Traditionally, & according the the constitution, the National Guard should only be called in by the head executor of the state in question, i.e. the governor. Trump & Newsome then became to dispute which resulted in Trump calling for the arrest of Newsome & calling in the Marines to be used in “controlling” what have continued to be entirely peaceful protests. The conflict boils on with an estimated cost to tax payers sitting around $134 million dollars as of four days ago. So now, in addition to the general protest of everything Trump & Mob have been doing to rip this country to shreds, there is also the added layer of ICE protests happening throughout the No Kings Day Protests.

Alright, let’s pause, take a breath. I know I just gave you a lot of information if you weren’t in the know, now you are. I want to redirect for a second because I don’t want you all to think I’m just here to report the news to you, I know that a lot of you are already getting it bombarded at you from all angles & this may be an escape outlet for you to come & hear the ramblings to an ADHD riddled millennial who does way too many things & also way too little. The reason I came on here today & chose this as the topic is because of a few things.

One, naturally it’s timely, as we are currently sitting smack dab in the middle of the day where protests are still going on & the parade in DC is gearing up to go here shortly. If you’re reading this after the fact, I don’t know how this day ends. I don’t know if the powder keg is lit or if things go swimmingly, I don’t have the gift of foresight, nor am I writing this with the benefit of hindsight.

Second, this is clearly a moment in this country’s hopefully continued story that history has its eye on. I didn’t want to look back on my time on this earth & feel that I didn’t choose a side & that I didn’t stand up for those who are being violently discriminated against & vilified. I guess that’s a bit selfish & carries a weight of self importance, but I know a lot of people out there listen to my songs, watch my videos, read my blogs, & I don’t want any of those who may fall under the banner of this administration’s persecution to think that I do not stand for them, that I do not feel deeply for all that is happening, that I did nothing to try & prevent these atrocities from happening or expanding. I am here for you, whatever you need, wholeheartedly.

As of two hours ago there have been over 1 million people in attendance of the No Kings protest across 2,100 cities around the globe. This number is expected to reach more than 5 million with over 100,000 in the flagship protest in Philadelphia alone. This number rivals the record held by the 2017 Women’s March as the largest protest in United States history.

This cannot be ignored. The people of this country are screaming out for the reigns of government to be employed, for all of these horrid human beings to be held accountable for their actions, & for the continued terrorizing of marginalized communities to be stopped. If The United States is to continue as a democracy then the checks & balances put in place by the constitution must be upheld. Lawmakers must gain a backbone, put their constituents before their own personal fears & interests, & enforce the rule of law within the walls of Washington DC immediately.

If you are an immigrant in this country I want you to know that I stand with you & support you. I want you to know how important you are to this country, its history, its culture, & its community. Your struggle, the attacks on your communities will not be ignored or be allowed to go unanswered for. You are the backbone of this society & America would not exist without you & the hopes & dreams you have for yourself & your families. I am so sorry for everything that is happening, I am so sorry that this feels like an uphill fight. You are not at fault for the shortcomings of this country, the people who foster hate in their hearts, the people who support people like Donald Trump are. For what makes America great is its diversity, the melting pot of all that came before, all that is here, & all that will come after. You are valid & welcome here by those of us who actually understand the American dream for what it is & can be. Not some distorted, fear mongered, scapegoated abomination that rips families apart, keeps people in poverty, segregates, amplies voices of division & derision, & picks on the little man. I am here for you endlessly. For the night is darkest just before the dawn.

As always, much love to you all,

Please be safe out there, be vigilant, & take care of each other,

-C

Blog: Selective Solidarity Is Just Disguised Oppression

I started out this blog under that notion of one having their cake & eating it too, but for me, I don’t think that hit hard enough. So, I scoured the web & found some more options, the one that punched the most, naturally, ended up as our title for today. I want to lay out a few other favorites of mine that may help convey what this blog is about & I’m sure get those of you who probably need to read it the most to check out immediately. Here they are (we’ll go light to heavy on this:

• You want your bread buttered on both sides.

• You can’t walk on both sides of the street.

• You’re talking out of both sides of your mouth.

• You can’t ride two horses with one ass.

• You can’t straddle the fence forever.

• You can’t dance with the devil & call it worship (I almost went with this one).

• You can’t say you love my while stabbing me in the back (another great one that I almost went with).

• Allyship isn’t a label, it’s a practice (allyship felt too affirming to me in the context for which this blog will be written, so it also didn’t make the cut.)

Anyway, if you haven’t guessed by now, this blog will be not too dissimilar from what continues to be my most popular blog of all time, No Hate Like Christian Love, in the sense that we are going to talk about those who claim to love or support marginalized friends, family members, coworkers, acquaintances, etc. while actively supporting those who would seek to do violence against the groups in question.

I can already hear the groans. Really? Violence? Don’t be hyperbolic. So let’s give a little vocabulary lesson right quick shall we? Violence, as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary are actions that are intended to or likely to hurt people or cause damage. I specifically chose to use the word violence for this exact reason, because a lot of folks out there only think that an act of violence is physical & I think the word violence carries with it a connotation & an imagery that to most people is repulsive to a degree. We recoil from the idea. But the word violence also paints a beautifully tragic picture that I think helps nail in the point of all of this.

Now I want you to know that I will be getting specific in this here blog. I will be using exact names of individuals, exact events with sources, & will be mostly talking from my perspective as a queer individual, because that is where my lived experience lies, but naturally this point carries across to the many marginalized communities being affected by the executive orders, rhetoric, & laws being passed by the current admin. We would also be here for an eternity if I brought immigrants, veterans, impoverished people, racial minorities, women, etc. into this. I also need this blog to be an expression of the times we are living in, specifically in the United States of America under the second Trump administration. I can just hear the clicks on the ‘x’s’ at the top left for the screen continuing.

On March 9th, 2025 Donald Trump reposted a photo on his Truth Social account depicting a pink triangle crossed out with an opinion piece from the Washington Post praising him & AD Hegseth for their renewed ban of trans military members. Read more here. The Pink Triangle in question that adorns the image being that which gay individuals were forced to wear by the Nazi’s during WWII, specifically in concentration camps. Now, this is not the first time the administration has shared or sympathize directly with Nazi ideals. See Charlotte “Fine People,” Trump Praises Hitler, Elon Musk Salute/Holocaust Denial, Trump’s Continued Attempts At Trans Eradication, need I go on?…because sadly I can for a while… This post, naturally, sparked outrage amongst the LGBTQIA+ community who saw it for what it is, a blaring Dog Whistle.

You see many of us have been warning those we know who are shameless Trump voters of these coming threats for years, specifically when this past year’s election cycle came about, & we were all met with the same excuses or push back. “He’s not coming after anyone’s rights.” See here. “No one is coming for marriage equality.” See here. “But the economy.” See here. Or “the grocery prices” See here. Glad you sold your marginalized loved ones down the river just so you could hypothetically have cheaper groceries even though every major economist on the planet rightfully predicted that it would have the opposite effect.

And this is what gets me, election cycle after election cycle. The people who are in your life who profess to love you “unconditionally.” Time & time again, they are those who vote flagrantly against your rights as a member of a marginalized community & then when you get upset with them over it & over the things that are happening that you told them repeatedly would happen, they act like they didn’t know or that they are not partially at fault. They also don’t understand that even if they are 1 in 77,302,580ths responsible, that they still saw all of the ways this admin would damage your life & the lives of millions of others & signed off on it, put their literal stamp of approval on the man, his cronies in the cabinet, & their promised acts of retribution & violence against “the least of these.” Then they except you not to feel betrayed by that, to act as if nothing has happened, & that their brand of “unconditional love” doesn’t count when it comes to the voting booth. It’s gaslighting at its finest. Then, God forbid, they have the audacity to rub it in your face, to fly a MAGA flag or wear a MAGA hat or make jokes at your expense, all of which are signals to anyone who belongs to a minority that “you are not welcome here” & “I am not a safe person to be around.” They choose garish gloating &, a lovely german term, schadenfreude in place of compassion & empathy, both of which are much too late to be properly exhibited anyway.

You don’t get to stand on the grounds that you love or support someone & then turn around & blatantly vote their rights as a human being away without consequence. You don’t get to do that & expect them to treat you the same, to not feel entirely betrayed by you when you especially when they’ve wasted their breath trying to get you to understand the damage that will be done. Especially after witnessing the damage done from 2016-2020. I am so sick of the rhetoric or “but both sides” or “it’ll all change again in four years anyway” when clearly, clearly that is not the case. One side of the aisle, while they may be completely inefficient, does not actively seek to tear apart the lives of those who they have painted a target upon just because they can or just because it distracts from their inability or desire to fix the problems they perpetuate.

Naturally this is a hot button topic for me, as it seems to be for so many of my friends who find themselves on the receiving end of the Trump policies. So many of us who are openly LGBTQIA+, immigrants, environmentalists, non-evangelicals, non-white, are finding ourselves face to face with the heartbreak that is thinking the people you love, who you would do anything for, would do the same for you & quickly finding out they won’t even do something as simple as vote in your favor. It’s a terrible feeling, one I wouldn’t wish on anyone, & the worse part of it is, as I aforementioned, that they want you to continue on like they haven’t overtly committed acts of violence against you. They are fine being your oppressors if it gets them even the slightest perceived advantage in life & they will/have done so unapologetically. Not even unapologetically, but with outright disregard, deflecting any & all accountability & shifting blame or leaning into whataboutisms to avoid the reality & the harm of their actions. Then they wonder why we don’t want to be around them anymore.

I’m sorry if this was a tough read, I’m sorry if this was triggering for you. If you’re someone maybe not on the receiving end it might be time to look into the ‘why.’ I write this out of a desire to inform & with passion because it kills me. It kills me to experience it & it kills me to see so many beautiful human beings who are deserving of all of the love in the world have the same things happen to them. I write this to show you all what has been done & what continues to be done out of some, probably false, hope that someone will read this & finally understand & not continue making the same mistakes going forward. You cannot love your black, brown, white, immigrant, citizen, queer, trans, non-binary, etc., etc., etc. neighbor by voting against them. It is contradictory, hypocritical, & above all an act of violence against them. Where is the ‘love’ in that?

It’s tough out there, please be safe, take care of yourself & one another, & know that I love you.

Much love to you all,

-C