Hi there,

👏🏽 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth found himself on the defensive Thursday as California Democratic U.S. Rep. Sara Jacobs used a House Armed Services Committee hearing to expose what she demonstrated is the hypocrisy of the Trump administration’s purge of transgender service members. Video of the takedown went viral.

🏛️ Seventy members of Congress are demanding that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforce protections against anti-transgender discrimination.

❌ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered flags to fly at half-mast to honor Pulse victims on the mass shooting's 9th anniversary last week. But unlike in previous years, he made no mention of the Latine and LGBTQ+ communities in his declaration. Forty-nine people were killed and 53 were injured; most of the victims were Latine and LGBTQ+.

Onward and upward,

Alex Cooper

Editor-in-Chief, The Advocate

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