President Donald Trump has appealed to the Supreme Court to allow immediate firing of 29 active-duty transgender military service members.
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Trump asks Supreme Court to fire trans military members as Portland schools hire drag performer for joy video
The parade of institutional decisions continues: Trump asks the Supreme Court for permission to immediately fire 29 trans service members from the military, while Portland Public Schools hires a drag performer for their ‘radical joy’ welcome video. Both are personnel moves, both are public, and both signal who counts in the rooms where decisions are made. The military’s ask is about exclusion, couched in readiness; the school’s hire is about inclusion, packaged as joy. The contradiction isn’t in the values—they’re each just policies—but in the power to decide who belongs. For the folks at the bar, it’s another reminder that the rules aren’t about fairness, just about who sits at the table. When institutions make these calls, the stakes are real: livelihoods, rights, and the lesson handed down to every kid watching.
“One group gets fired for who they are, another gets hired for who they are—both decisions made by institutions with the power to shape lives. The stakes are real: the rules aren’t about fairness, just about who sits at the table.”
“It’s about protecting tradition and values. Military policy has always been a matter of readiness, and schools are just trying to create a positive environment. Those are different contexts, so it makes sense. Although, maybe, if you look at it another way, fairness—no, tradition—well, it’s complicated.”
The receipts
Drag performer Poison Waters opened Portland Public Schools' back-to-school video, drawing sharp criticism from Corey DeAngelis and others.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.