Impossible to prove intent on something like this.  And honestly, intent to inflict harm isn't the usual bar for freedom of speech.  How was harm actually demonstrated?  Was there a riot?  Assault or property damage? Or just some folks' feelings got hurt?  I doubt a reasonable court would call the statement "There are only two genders" any kind of threat.  Would the same thing be said about the statement "There are more than two genders?"  Of course not.  This ruling is partisan.  The 1st Circuit is in in the Northeast...   Wearing a swastika is freedom of speech.  Wearing a hammer-and-sickle is freedom of speech.  Burning the US flag is freedom of speech.  Supporting multiple genders, two genders, or none at all... its a political opinion that should be protected speech.  If we start banning what can be said because somebody is offended or feels bad about it, we don't have much freedom left.  That blade cuts in two directions.   I don't think that school is a good place for political speech such as this.  But that's solved by dress code or school uniforms, banning text or political speech broadly rather than singling out one opinion. 

Believes in climate change, anti-gun, etc...  Just being trans doesn't mean she'd have anything in common with me, even if I lived there.  Just the usual Democrat stuff, and no surprise for Biden's home state.    If you want progress, it would be interesting to see LGBTQ+ candidates who AREN'T Democrats.  Maybe Blaire White would run for office? 

I am not aware of her politics or record, but it's heartening to see increased respect and representation of minority voices.

I have met Sarah in person, and our lives intersect through a few other people as well.   I admire her immensely, and can  attest to her wonderful humanity.  She is a "Neighborhood Politician" in the sense that she is very open and close to her constituents both in daily interaction and even in presenting interests they have that may not fully line up with her political party, but give actual service.

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2024-06-12/democrat-sarah-mcbride-could-become-first-transgender-member-of-us-house   Wow, this would be tremendous, and is close to a sure bet in heavily democratic Delaware.  Her appeal goes far beyond the LGBT community, as she has proven herself to be an effective voice for her constituents and at getting legislation enacted.  Nothing is certain in politics, though, so I'll keep the Champaign in the closet for now.    Carolyn Marie

If the intent is to inflict harm, free speech does not provide protection. Wearing a shirt alone does not, ipso facto, necessarily inflict harm. Nor does unprotected speech require to meet the bar of profanity. However, if there was intended harm or demonstrable harm (such as incitement or threats) then first amendment protections are not provided--which a judge decided was so in this case.

https://apnews.com/article/swimming-transgender-rules-lia-thomas-8a626b5e7f7eafe5088b643c4d804c56     Not at all surprised by this.  In the end, allowing this controversy to die down may be of benefit to the trans community in the long run.  She was a lightning rod.   Carolyn Marie

This will eventually have to be decided by the Supreme Court... a court which seems to have avoided most trans-related stuff recently.  This ruling seems to get perilously close to violating the precedent set by Tinker vs. Des Moines in 1969.  Given that the shirt in question does not contain "profanity" as usually considered in American society, but merely a political opinion in common language....can it be said that it violates the "substantial disruption" test according to the Tinker ruling?    Personally, I'm not offended by a shirt that says "There are only two genders" nor do I believe that it causes disruption even in a school environment.  Impolite? Sure.  Substantial?  Hardly.  Yet none of this needs to happen.  Schools can easily avoid this by implementing a basic dress code or even a uniform, rather than singling out individual cases.  Problem solved in a way that is consistent with the law. 

Thank you, Ash and @Mirrabooka! You're too kind.   I have a nail salon around the corner, but my wife and kiddos had a bad experience there once. I think a lot of the issue is I have a bit of perfectionism in me (thanks mom!) and I want them to look nice and clean. This time the lacquer is a bit thin and needed extra coats to provide a fully opaque color, so they took an extra long time to dry--and got dinged or smeared because they hadn't fully set (we're talking probably close to two hours after the last coat), so I kept redoing each that got wrecked.   @Ashley0616, I haven't gone so far as to ask to be called anything different by all of my family yet. So I haven't run into problems with being misnamed. I kind of just persist and try to let the misgendering, "my boy", "nephew", "Mikey", etc. roll off my back. As for volunteering, I'm told my eldest and I may be set for some amount of volunteering for "the main event" Pride weekend at the end of the month, the group I'm registered with isn't doing anything this weekend. So instead I get to go to a D&D night at a local bar and a house party at a friend's of ours. Action packed weekend, here we come!   Oddly we ordered pizza tonight and when I went to pick it up, the cashier asked me how I spelled Maeve. He told me he had two "Maeves" order that night, the other spelled it in Gaelic fashion (Maebh) and he'd mixed up our orders. Two Maeves ordering pizza at the same joint from a little pizza joint in the Twin Cities at the same time!   Another update, I got my termination notice today (finally). Friday is my last day. 10 years there are coming to a close. Now to sell the house, pack up, move the family half-way across the country, and find a new place to live in the next two months! Wahoo!

Sitting here tonight wondering.... I was AFAB, but for some reason its like my husband understands me emotionally way better than my GF does.  So strange. 

Awww.... I feel for you.  I'm similarly useless with mechanical stuff. I just look at it and scratch my head....I'm useless and fluffy.  I'm always amazed how my GF can look under the hood, figure out exactly what's wrong, and drag out a bunch of tools and have a car in pieces within the hour.  I can barely identify what an alternator is, but she'll have it changed in 30 minutes or less.  We all have different talents, I guess.    HVAC is ridiculously expensive.  My husband has learned to do some of it himself, simply because of the cost.  We had a technician out to the house a while back, quoted $2,000 for a simple motor and a circuit board.  My husband ordered the parts on Amazon for $200, and installed in 20 minutes.  Easy enough that even I could have done it with a YouTube video.  Of course we had no central heat for a week while we waited for parts, but the wait was worth it to save money.  He and GF have been learning HVAC stuff since then, and bought a bunch of parts and tools.  It actually looks less hard than car repair, since there's more space between parts.  IDK how they can charge more money than car mechanics....

@Willow  I feel for you.  Sometimes female partners just can't be pleased.  Pick, pick, pick, as you say.  There are days my GF is just determined to have a fight with somebody...anybody...for any random reason.  She'll be nothing but fangs and claws and bitter complaints.  Its rough to live with somebody like that.  But there are also days where it isn't that way, and where they're the person we met years ago who captivated our attention 100%.  Patience....

So do I! But geez, talk about time consuming! @MaeBe, have you given much thought into getting regular professional manicures instead? (not that I've gone down that path myself)

Deep breaths honey, Deep breaths.

Ok venting time.  @KymmieL I know you’ll appreciate this on.   this morning the home health nurse was here.  I took a picture of how my wife’s wound looked to show her like I always do.  Then I asked the nurse about a line of spots no one side she explained them then asked if I had a picture from the beginning.  Which I did. Then I was scrolling through my pictures to see the progression my wife angerly says “enough”. After the nurse left we left to go to the post office, lunch and Costco.  As we are driving away from home she turns to me and says not too nicely that if I wanted to be a woman I needed to spend more effort on how I looked.  At the post office we bought a roll of package tape.  Of course it won’t peel off the roll and the longer it took to get it started the darker her looks became.  We go into Costco.  Right inside the door are tables with women’s shorts and blouses.  I ask her, do you like these shorts?  Yes this color or the other? Can’t make up her mind so I put one of each in the basket.  Next some blouses.  She picks what she wants and the size she wants. I picked up two what I thought were sleeveless for me.  (Turns out they had built in bras which I didn’t discover until I got home.  She tries on one of her tops, doesn’t like it and says to me you want them? No.   later I want to work on me paper.  Oh then I can’t watch tv?  I hate this condo.  I’ll just sit on the porch. Somewhere in all this I want the ac on and a ceiling fan.  Well that makes her made too.  She wants it 80 degrees with no fan. I prefer 76 with the fan.  And the night continues until she has made me quite annoyed with her.   pick, pick, pick.   next I’ll likely hear about the pjs I have on.  Argh!

Or actually, Lauren.  Most enjoyable. 

Excellent video @Ticket For Epic!

Yes, very exciting, experimental, and exploration days ahead.   Thank you so much for your support, Carolyn Marie. 

I must look like a raving lunatic with how much I still enjoy playing Space Invaders!    

Welcome to Trans Pulse, Lillis.  It's nice to meet you.  I think you'll enjoy being here.  This is a very exciting time for you, and I'm sure you will have a lot of questions.  We'll be here to answer them for you.  Best of luck and enjoy the E-Ticket ride you just got on.     HUGS   Carolyn Marie