Three Wins Today: Nov 30, 2025

I promise these wins aren't as boring as they sound

I have a favor to ask.

Can everyone stop automatically assuming a homophobic Republican politician is in the closet?

I get it, it’s a funny joke, and yes, we know for a fact Grindr breaks anytime there’s a Republican convention, but that doesn’t mean every asshole Republican is in the closet.

Some people are just evil. We don’t need to give them this whole backstory and find a motive. This isn’t a book. We’re not waiting for the climax where they accept themselves and join the side of good. These are legitimately horrible people who have made a conscious decision to do us harm.

It ends up becoming a way to soften their hatred. And I get that it’s a coping mechanism, I get that if we don’t laugh, we cry, cause everything is fucking scary, but we deserve better.

Why are we deciding that every truly despicable person is one of us? What does that say about our own respect level for ourselves and our community?

It’s like we’re blaming ourselves for our own oppression. If the only people who are homophobic are also gay, then we must be the problem. That’s such a shitty way to see the world.

We are not responsible for someone else’s bigotry.

Sure some people who are assholes have internalized homophobia, but that shouldn’t be the baseline assumption.

We don’t need to qualify Speaker Johnson’s creepy thing with his son, or refer to Lindsay Graham as if he’s a drag queen. Why are we making drag queens the butt of a bad joke in the first place?

We need to do better.

We are smart and capable and talented.

And, we can find better ways to lessen the pain without convincing ourselves we are the problem.

Right?

My photo from a June 23, 2018 protest. Scary how little has changed.

California

Tue, Nov 18 - Well over 100 healthcare organizations, focused on community health will receive new funding from the state to continue that work. Governor Gavin Newsom announced a $145.5 million investment:

Care comes in many forms to meet many needs – and California is committed to providing that care. The awards announced today are part of our work to improve access to a more effective health care, to support locally-provided, tailored programs that meet the unique needs of each community across the state.

The investment will be divided between 153 organizations across every single county in the state. It’s a reminder that, while we think certain counties are better off that others, healthcare is truly in trouble everywhere.

This will make a difference with the most vulnerable communities across the state.

While the federal government is doing everything to make people sicker and poorer, California is making sure to do the opposite.

Ohio

Wed, Nov 19 - Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has found that FirstEnergy, which includes Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, Ohio Edison and Toledo Edison increased their prices in 2017, saying it was to follow the new modernization requirements, but instead took the money and gave it to a completely unregulated affiliate.

PUCO ordered FirstEnergy to pay back all of what the stole from customers, which amounts to $179.99 million in three installments.

PUCO Chair Jenifer French said:

The Commission has remained steadfast in ensuring that we have followed the facts wherever they may lead. Our hope is the events underlying these proceedings will remain a cautionary lesson of accountability and honesty in utility regulatory matters.

In this world, where it seems like bad actors get away with doing bad things every single time, it’s important to highlight when they don’t.

National

Fri, Nov 21 - Clinton appointee, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the IRS sharing data they collect with ICE is, most likely, very illegal. And they must end their data sharing partnership immediately.

CEO of Democracy Forward, Skye Perryman, who represented the plaintiffs said:

This is an important win for millions of people in America whose information has been threatened by the Trump-Vance administration, and represents the first injunction against this unlawful data sharing. The privacy laws enacted in the post-Watergate era exist to prevent abuses of power like this and yet leaders in the IRS and ICE launched this effort.

We are still winning in court every single day, and it’s important not to forget that.

Republicans are hellbent on doing the most illegal things and assuming they’ll get away with it, and more often than not, that’s just not the case.

Someone being a taxpayer does not give the government carte blanche to invade their privacy. As scary as everything is, we are not there, and hopefully, as long as we keep fighting, we never will be.

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So those are today’s wins. I hope you learned something and I hope you didn’t miss me too much during my vacation. I definitely needed the break.

Our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!