Three Wins Today: Oct 26, 2025

Vote early, please please please!

Vote now. If you live in a district with an election on Nov 4, vote now. Unless your only option is to wait till election day, don’t wait.

You never know what could happen. For instance, Trump is sending election monitors to various places in New Jersey and California, but not right now. They’re not there yet. Make sure your vote is counted before they get there.

If you live in a state where you automatically get a mail-in ballot, fill it out today, don’t wait. It’s too late to send it by mail, plus I wouldn’t trust USPS with something as important as a ballot these days anyway, but drop boxes are incredibly secure in most places, and if you’re nervous about that, then just take your filled out ballot to your polling place and hand it in.

The point is, you never know what could happen on Nov 4. You could be sick, your child or parents could be sick. Your car could break down, you could have a work emergency, there could be a natural disaster. And again, there could be intimidation tactics at the polls that make it harder to vote on the day. Truly, anything could happen.

I get that we are trained to think “voting day” is a special day, it was a tradition in my family too, I get it. But we are in a new era, and therefore we need new traditions. Traditions that focus on getting our ballots in as early as possible and make sure our vote counts before voter disenfranchisement shenanigans take place.

So if you or someone you know is procrastinating, please stop. This is more important than that paper you have to write for class, or that midterm you have to study for. It’s more important than that memo your boss asked you to write or the laundry you still haven’t done.

Taking an hour or less (less in most places, there might be only one or two things on your ballot, California, I’m looking at you,) to stop doing something else to fill out your ballot will literally have lasting ramifications in this world. Chances are in a year you won’t remember anything about that paper you were working on.

There is no reason to risk something this important. We must win and over perform in as many of these races as we possibly can. Let’s make Republicans terrified for what comes next.

So, have you turned in your ballot yet?

On that note, here are the wins!

The Pride Monument in Palm Springs

Palm Springs, California

Fri, Oct 17 - A monument for the LGBTQ community was unveiled to commemorate 40 years of Palm Springs Pride. It’s in the shape of the Greek letter “Lambda,” which was one of the first chosen symbols of the Gay liberation movement, during the Stonewall era. It is made up entirely of triangles, to symbolize the pink triangles that the Nazis forced queer people to wear during the Holocaust, and it includes all the colors in Daniel Quasar’s Progress Flag, so the whole community is represented. The monument was designed by artists and Palm Springs resident, Jim Isermann.

You might thing, well this is Palm Springs, of course they’re doing this, but these days, anything celebrating the Queer community this loudly and proudly, and, most of all, permanently, is a big deal.

At the ribbon cutting ceremony, Mayor Ron DeHart said:

This is an historic day in Palm Springs. You’re not seeing days like this in cities across the country, or even around the world, especially in today’s political climate. In Palm Springs, we are not whispering our commitment to diversity, we cast it in steel, we paint it in every color of the spectrum, and we make it permanent. While others chose division, the city of Palm Springs has chosen sanctuary.

May there be many more days like these around the country and the world in the years to come.

Charleston, West Virginia

Fri, Oct 17 - Former Dem State Senator and current Circuit Court Judge, Richard Lindsay ruled against a child and his parents who were seeking to be exempt from getting the required vaccines for school thanks to an executive order by Governor Patrick Morrisey.

Corey Palumbo, the lawyer representing the Kanawha County Board of Education argued that the executive order, which was signed in January, can’t be applied, because it violates state code, and Judge Lindsay agreed.

In the hearing, he said:

The court finds that the plaintiff in this action is not likely to be successful given the fact that the compulsory vaccination law that’s at issue in this case has satisfied and passed and survived the strict scrutiny standard on multiple occasions as…determined by multiple West Virginia courts.

He continued:

In addition, the court believes that as far as this injunction, that in fact it would not be in the public interest to find for the plaintiff and grant the injunction,” Lindsay continued. “The public interest would be best served to deny the injunction and make certain that the compulsory vaccination law, which has been in place since 1937, continues to keep the children of Kanawha County healthy and safe.

There was also another reason, twice, the plaintiffs didn’t show up for the hearing. And for all these reasons, Judge Lindsay dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning the parents can’t bring the same case again.

Even in a state as red as West Virginia, where the only Dem who can be elected to the Senate is someone as centrist as Joe Manchin, we can still have wins like this.

Just some food for thought for people who think red states are a lost cause and everyone in them is responsible for their situation.

Washington DC

Mon, Oct 20 - Staff at four of the most well known music venues in DC are unionizing. 9:30 Club, The Atlantis, Lincoln Theatre, and the Anthem, are four of the five venues run by I.M.P. And like most venues, the staff are not paid what they’re worth, especially considering the conditions they work in. Door staff member at the 9:30 club, Hunter Spears told the Washingtonian:

I’ve taken boots to the face. I’ve been thrown up on. I’ve hurt my wrist catching crowd surfers.

The article also lists other reasons:

Those employees cited persistently low wages, lack of healthcare for many, slashed perks, and safety concerns among their reasons for moving to unionize. Many I.M.P. employees are paid $18 per hour, while performing hard work like lifting heavy objects and managing crowdsurfers.

The last straw, some employees say, came when I.M.P. revoked the privilege of a free end-of-shift drink for staff in March.

They’re hoping the management won’t get involved and they can do this without a fight. They’re optimistic because it has been done before. Back in November 2023, First Avenue Club in Minneapolis, MN and their six sister clubs had their union voluntarily recognized by their management team, though it took until January of this year to fully ratify their first contract.

And this might be helped by the fact that already, over 300 musicians have signed a letter supporting the creation of this union.

The letter says:

I.M.P. employees work hard to make events at these venues a safe and enjoyable experience for performers and concertgoers alike. Workers deserve to improve their working conditions, including fairer wages and more safety training.

We encourage you to listen to your workers and respect their demand for a fair process to unionize. We will continue to stand with venue workers as they organize because it will lead to a better and more united music scene for all.

itsmyunion

A post shared by @itsmyunion

If you want to help support them, you can do so by signing the petition from UNITE HERE local 25, which will be their union once they ratify their contract.

Hopefully this will be as seamless and easy a process as possible and I.M.P will cooperate. But only time will tell.

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So those are some of today’s wins. I hope they inspire you to resist and remind you that we’re always fighting.

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