Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com

Independent LGBTQ+ journalist, mom, D&D DM. Tips: http://ko-fi.com/erininthemorn // Booking: http://erinreedwrites.com // Venmo erin888

Bylines @TheGuardian.com, @advocate.com, @xtramagazine.com

Subscribe to support my journalism www.erininthemorning.com

A day of birding out in Marayland... Beautiful Mockingbird, European Starling, and red shoulder hawk pictures :) Also saw a double-crested cormorant and a beautiful blue heron, but the pictures weren't as good, and plenty of other common birds!
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Reposted by Erin Reed
esqueer.net's profile picture
Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net
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You couldn't torture this out of me.
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10. Lastly, EITM is an award-winning media outlet covering LGBTQ+ issues every day. You can subscribe to support our journalism at www.erininthemorning.com/subscribe.
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9. But the battle continues. In Utah, Pride flag bans have been repeatedly tightened to prevent locals from bypassing loopholes. Other forms of Pride displays have come under fire, too. The LGBTQ community has had to get bold and creative amidst state repression.
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8. That’s where the Boise flagpoles come in. If the city couldn’t fly the flag, they’d do the next best thing.

Now, gay and trans flag stripes are permanently wrapped around the metal poles outside Boise City Hall, and behind them, draped from the windows, is a new banner, too.
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7. This year, Republicans went for a flag ban yet again with the passage of HB 561. This new provision further restricts permissible displays so that it could only include “entity” flags “established prior to January 1, 2023.”
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6. Conservatives were outraged. “That’s lawless, insubordinate, and intolerable,” said Representative Ted Hill, the Republican who sponsored several anti-Pride flag bills, according to Boise State Public Radio.

www.boisestatepublicradio.org/politics-government/2026-03-05/idaho-house-flag-fine-bill
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5. Naturally, Boise then adopted the Pride flag as an official “government entity” symbol, making it fair game to continue flying over City Hall.

www.boisestatepublicradio.org/politics-government/2025-05-07/lgbtq-flag-lauren-mclean-idaho
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4. It was widely understood that its primary target was Pride flags, even as bill supporters argued publicly that it was about government neutrality.

“The ultimate goal is for us to fly flags that unite and don’t divide,” said Republican State Senator Ben Toews, as per The Idaho Statesman.
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3. In March 2025, Idaho House Republicans successfully rushed House Bill 96 into law. This policy restricted any flag displayed on government-owned property to a select, pre-approved few categories, including the United States flag, of course, as well as “the official flag of a governmental entity.”
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2. “The art additions to city hall demonstrate our unwavering commitment to the people that call Boise home and to the values that we uphold every day,” the city said in a statement to CBS 2 - Idaho News.

idahonews.com/news/local/boise-replaces-pride-flag-with-signs-and-lights-outside-city-hall-after-new-state-law
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1. Idaho banned the pride flag on government property. So Boise made the pride flag their official city flag, which allowed them to fly it.

Then Idaho banned new city flags.

So in response, Boise has now wrapped the poles themselves in rainbows!

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Reposted by Erin Reed
evanurquhart.bsky.social's profile picture
Evan Urquhart @evanurquhart.bsky.social
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I think this is really important, and I'm worried it's never going to filter into the mainstream: Finland is producing studies that their researchers claim cast doubt on gender affirming care for youth, but they hide the ways their idiosyncratic approach itself could be to blame.
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10. Lastly, EITM is an award-winning media outlet covering LGBTQ+ news every day. You can subscribe to support our journalism at www.erininthemorning.com/subscribe.
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9. In the wake of the 2024 election, Democratic strategists at organizations like Third Way and the Searchlight Institute urged candidates to throw transgender people under the bus—to "moderate" on trans issues, to treat us as a political liability.

Voters yet again say this is not necessary.
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8. But Evers will not be governor forever; he is not seeking reelection in 2026. Meanwhile, the Trump administration's pressure campaign has already reached Wisconsin: in January, both Children's Wisconsin and UW Health—two of the state's largest pediatric hospitals—paused gender-affirming care.
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7. Taylor's win is significant for LGBTQ+ rights in the state. Wisconsin Republicans have tried to pass anti-transgender legislation, though Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed every bill that has reached his desk—including, just last week, five anti-trans bills he vetoed on Trans Day of Visibility.
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6. LGBTQ+ organizations praised the results. Fair Wisconsin posted a simple message to their Facebook page: "Thank you for voting for equality, Wisconsin!"
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5. Taylor carried more than 20 counties that voted for Donald Trump in 2024, and virtually every county in the state swung toward Democrats compared to the presidential race. Most remarkably, Taylor flipped Ozaukee County—part of the notorious "WOW counties" (Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington) .
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4. Lazar ran on an anti-trans strategy, with one ad opening: "It's just not fair. My daughter worked so hard and loves sports, but now I'm worried about her competing against boys because of activists like Chris Taylor. It breaks my heart to see her safety and dreams dashed by activist politicians."
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3. When conservatives attacked Taylor's pro-LGBTQ+ record, she did not disavow or distance herself from it. Despite the ads, Taylor won by a historic margin, following two other Wisconsin Supreme Court races in recent years where anti-trans ad strategy was a major part of the losing campaign.
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2. On Tuesday, Judge Chris Taylor defeated Judge Maria Lazar in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race by 20 points, the largest margin in 26 years by any justice. The race is significant because Lazar ran on a heavily anti-trans ad strategy, reminiscent of the strategy used by some Republicans in 2024.
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1. Anti-trans attack ads have failed again in Wisconsin, as Chris Taylor's win brings progressives to a 5-2 majority in the state.

It is the latest in a slew of races that featured anti-trans political campaigning against a Democrat that failed.

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Rich of the New York Times to talk about being anti-science.
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Reposted by Erin Reed
assignedmedia.org's profile picture
Assigned Media @assignedmedia.org
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A study from Finland has been used to cast doubt on gender affirming care for youth.

But Finland never offered gender affirming care.

Perhaps invasive, adversarial, fruitless years of assessment harm trans youth? New opinion by @evanurquhart.bsky.social:

www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/finland-trans-study-kaltiala-bad-science
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Oh no help me I am getting into birding and dragging my wife out the door early in the morning for walks now.

Looks like I found my latest hyper fixation lol.
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This is bad, but also, "laughs in Missoula"
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Here's the link btw :)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qvYCbvbeN8
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Oooo Iris has a friend!

Love the Missoula Iris bird cam, our favorite osprey!
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