Queer Cafe

Robert DeNiro: Loving My Country Again

This is My Fight Song

Barack Obama: Good Government

National Anthem: Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon

The Patriotism of LGBTQ Pride

Born in the USA
Party In The USA by Miley Cyrus

John Stewart: Patriotism
John Prine: I'm a Victim of the Great Compromise

--Have a drag show that features drag queens dressed as fabulous over-the-top versions of the Statue of Liberty, Betsy Ross, Miss Firecracker, Rosie the Riveter, Lady Justice, Dolly Madison, and Molly Pitcher, and flamboyant femme versions of Uncle Sam, Yankee Doodle Dandy, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, the Minute Men, and those three Spirit of 76 guys.

--Host a red-white-and blue party and ask guests to dress in red-white-and blue. Decorate in red-white-and-blue, Serve red-white-and-blue snacks and drinks.

--Rewrite the Declaration of Independence in the context of LGBTQ rights. Replace "all men are created equal" with "all people are created equal." Make the document gender-neutral.

--Have a movie marathon of gay classics, like The Birdcage, Milk, Boys in the Band, Love Simon, Moonlight, and Sordid Lives . . . and extremely campy patriotic shows, like 1776, Hamilton, Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Patriot, Flags of Our Fathers, Private Ryan, Born on the Fourth of July, Miracle, and The Right Stuff.

Declaration: Created Equal

Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus: National Anthem

Bill Maher: Celebrating America's 250th Birthday

Brandi Carlile at Superbowl: America the Beautiful

American Life by Madonna

James Baldwin Quotes About America

My Country Tis of Thee (New Version)

Trump is Clueless About the Declaration of Independence

--Host a group reading of the Declaration of Independence.

--Create a trivia game with questions about both the founding of America and the LGBTQ civil rights movement.

--Have a dance/choreography/performance/lip sync contest (ballroom style) using modern pop songs about America (Born in the USA, Party in the USA, ROCK in the USA, Coming to America, Living in America, American Pie).

--Organize a picnic, barbecue, pool party, or skating party with a patriotic (and LGBTQ) theme.

--You and your friends get together and binge-watch every episode of the Bicentennial Edition of Schoolhouse Rock. Have lyric sheets handy so everyone can sing along. Take a drink every time "America" is mentioned.

--Have a karaoke party in which participants sing patriotic songs.

--Throw a costume party and have everyone dress up as the Founding Fathers.

[Source: Alicia Lu, Bustle Magazine]

Pride and Patriotism
Party in the USA

Declaration: Created Equal

Dan & Shay Perform National Anthem at FIFA World Cup Match
Barack Obama: Good Government

Obituary of American Democracy by Robert L Arnold

Ukrainian Army Congratulates Americans on Independence Day
Patriotism and the LGBTQ Rights Movement

National Anthem by Lady Gaga at Biden Inauguration
Presidential Proclamation: LGBTQ Pride 2022

Happy 250th Birthday

Celebrating America's Birthday at the Trump White House

In the run up to the July 4th holiday, the Fascist-in-Chief threw himself a big, gaudy, tacky birthday party on the White House lawn. And nothing expresses the dignity of the national occasion better than a mixed martial art exhibition. Dubbed the UFC Freedom 250, it marks the first professional sporting event held on the presidential estate. The unprecedented spectacle on the South Lawn coincided with the nation’s 250th anniversary and President Trump’s 80th birthday.

The venue for the event was a Colosseum-style arena in which lightweight mixed martial arts champs sparred. Trump sat ringside next to the octagon with First Lady Melania and UFC CEO Dana White. The crowd included the president's family, military personnel, and high-profile figures like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Fan viewing extended to the nearby Ellipse for thousands of lottery winners, featuring corporate brand booths, sponsor activations, and jumbo screens.

Time Mag: UFC Freedom 250 Fight at the White House
USA Today: White House becomes Stage for UFC Freedom 250 Cage Fights
NBC News: Trump, Flyovers, and Bloody Fights at UFC Freedom 250 Event
PBS: Sneak Peak of UFC Octagon on White House Lawn
Addressing Josh Hokit: In Defense of Michelle Obama
John Stewart: Mockery of America
Jimmy Kimmel: Violent 80th Birthday Party

Raphael Warnock: Defending Michele Obama
UFC Event: Deeply Embarrassing and Heartbreaking
You're a Firework: Katy Perry

The unprecedented use of the White House for mixed martial arts "bloodsport" garnered starkly divided reactions. Supporters praised the epic scale, military flyovers, and unique patriotic celebration of American freedom. Critics, however, decried using presidential grounds for violent cage fighting, and protesters gathered outside the security perimeter.

The event generated controversy during a post-fight interview when heavyweight fighter Josh Hokit insulted former First Lady Michelle Obama. The remark sparked immediate backlash from pundits.

It had all the elegance of a tractor-pull, combined with the charm of mud wrestling, wrapped up in the spirit of a klan rally. It offered everything you would expect from the trashy, witless MAGA crowd... exaggerated patriotism, mindless piety, name-calling, bloody spectacle, senseless violence, macho posturing, and false bravado.

Everything about the event was crude and trashy. Even the weigh-in was replete with belligerence, macho posturing, and profanity. It was a cheap circus-style event devoted to aggression, fighting, and pugnacity. And it became a partisan occasion to hurl insults. Nothing about it seemed to be dignified or even remotely focused on Flag Day or America's 250th birthday.

[Source: QC Commentary, June 2026]

Time Mag: UFC Freedom 250 Fight at the White House
USA Today: White House becomes Stage for UFC Freedom 250 Cage Fights
NBC News: Trump, Flyovers, and Bloody Fights at UFC Freedom 250 Event
PBS: Sneak Peak of UFC Octagon on White House Lawn
John Stewart: Mockery of America
Jimmy Kimmel: Violent 80th Birthday Party

UFC Event: Deeply Embarrassing and Heartbreaking

The Long, Ongoing Debate Over 'All Men Are Created Equal'
Liberace, Art Carney, Dean Martin: Hot Pants Dance (1971)
Supporting LGBTQ Employees Is a Patriotic Act
Paul Lynde: July 4th Finale with Donnie & Marie, Kate Smith, and Bob Hope

The Trump Circus

As if this White House UFC circus had not already thoroughly embarrassed the presidency, the institution, and the country, it somehow managed to descend even further into the gutter. Fresh off his fight, Josh Hokit grabbed a microphone at an event being staged on the grounds of the White House and shouted, “Michelle Obama is a man.”

That was the message. A false and derogatory remark about the former First Lady. Not a thought about America. Not a reflection on the nation’s 250th anniversary. Not a word about service, sacrifice, citizenship, or unity. Just a juvenile insult aimed at Michelle Obama in front of a cheering crowd that has increasingly confused cruelty with courage and ignorance with authenticity.

Let’s be clear about what happened here. A man was handed a microphone at a White House event, and chose to use it to hurl a playground taunt at a former First Lady. This is the same White House where presidents have hosted world leaders, negotiated peace agreements, comforted grieving families, honored military heroes, welcomed civil rights icons, and attempted to project the best version of America to the rest of the world. On this particular evening, however, it served as the backdrop for a multimillion-dollar spectacle where one of the featured attractions was a fighter shouting insults about Michelle Obama.

And perhaps the most predictable part of all was what came immediately before it. Hokit thanked Jesus. Of course he did. Nothing captures the contradiction at the heart of modern performative outrage culture quite like invoking faith and humility moments before publicly humiliating someone for applause. Somewhere between the Beatitudes and the microphone, the message appears to have gotten lost.

Raphael Warnock: Defending Michele Obama
UFC Event: Deeply Embarrassing and Heartbreaking

What makes the entire episode so revealing is that it strips away all the patriotic wrapping paper surrounding this event. The giant flags. The military flyovers. The endless speeches about America. The declarations of strength. The choreographed displays of toughness. Beneath all of it lies something much smaller, much pettier, and much more juvenile. Strip away the fireworks and sponsorship logos and what remains is often little more than grievance, mockery, and the desperate need to own perceived enemies.

Michelle Obama has spent years encouraging education, public service, healthy living, and civic engagement. Whether one agrees with her politics is irrelevant. She conducted herself as First Lady with a level of discipline, composure, and dignity that stands in stark contrast to the carnival atmosphere that unfolded on the South Lawn. The fact that a former First Lady became the target of a cheap insult at an event supposedly celebrating America tells you everything you need to know about the priorities of the people involved.

The entire evening increasingly felt like a metaphor for the age we are living through. A giant steel structure towering over the White House. Billionaires congratulating billionaires. Corporate sponsors plastered everywhere. Politicians, influencers, and celebrities mingling beneath patriotic branding. Fighters emerging through rooms historically reserved for diplomacy. And now, apparently, insults directed at former First Ladies serving as entertainment.

This wasn’t strength. It wasn’t patriotism. It wasn’t even rebellion. It was trashy. White trashy. Not because of the sport. Not because of the athletes. Not because Americans enjoy competition. It was trashy because a building that is supposed to symbolize the highest aspirations of a democratic republic was treated like the set of a reality television food fight.

For years, defenders of Trump have insisted that critics were overreacting. That every new outrage was being exaggerated. That every breach of decorum was insignificant. Yet nights like this reveal the cumulative effect. Standards matter. Institutions matter. Symbols matter. Once you stop caring about them, eventually you find yourself applauding insults where statesmanship once lived.

[Source: Michael Jochum, June 2026]

Raphael Warnock: Defending Michele Obama
UFC Event: Deeply Embarrassing and Heartbreaking

Reaction to the Event

"The event was disgraceful and void of decency."
-Sheryl Crow

That embarrassing spectacle on the lawn of the White House was never about your country’s 250th anniversary, or about democracy and patriotism, or freedom. It was about Trump from the second it became another one of his idiotic schemes in that tiny little brain of his. Nothing he does is about anyone or anything other than himself. And he doesn’t care who he hurts or what he destroys or desecrates to do so.
-Dawn Gardham

I am to the point, I literally don't want to live in this country anymore. It's now, more than ever, easy to see, that the level of ignorance, hate, bigotry, and utter disgraceful behavior of the MAGA community, has gone way too far. If you support this kind of crap, you really need to take a good hard look at yourself in the mirror and realize that you are part of the problem.
-George Davies III

I feel so ashamed of this country right now. Trump's fans don't care what the president does, or what the government does, as long as they get that warm and fuzzy feeling from the exaggerated patriotism, and false bravado that this character, Donald Trump provides. And that's what he is. He's a character. He plays the character well. He's a professional. And he gives them that warm and fuzzy feeling you can only get from the kind of canned patriotism concentrate that he provides. A bald eagle flying over Mt. Rushmore carrying a Bible and wrapped in an American flag. That's what these people want. They don't want the real United states. They want the image. They want the warm fuzzy feeling.
-DT Mackey

Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus: National Anthem

Robert DeNiro: Loving My Country Again

Pride and Patriotism
Party in the USA

National Anthem by Lady Gaga at Biden Inauguration

Barack Obama: Good Government
American Life by Madonna

National Anthem: Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon
No Kings Protests Nationwide

Obituary of American Democracy by Robert L Arnold
John Prine: I'm a Victim of the Great Compromise
Trump is Clueless About the Declaration of Independence
Paul Lynde: July 4th Finale with Donnie & Marie, Kate Smith, and Bob Hope
LGBTQ People, We Will Have Our Freedom
All American Boy by Steve Grand

America the Beautiful, Baby!

Is the American Dream For All Americans?

"There’s never been equality for me, nor freedom in this homeland of the free."

-Langston Hughes

“I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”
-James Baldwin

As fireworks hearken the commemoration of Independence Day, it is helpful to remind ourselves that this democratic experiment is a work in progress. Over the past 249 years of growing pains, the United States of America has been in the process of learning what it means for all its citizens to be free.

Little by little, the promise of liberty has been reluctantly extended beyond wealthy, straight, white, christian males. While progress has been made, it has taken far too long for the blessings of freedom to eventually make its way to women, blacks, minorities, non-christians, gays, the poor, and those otherwise disenfranchised and powerless. As we continue to fight for our rights and defend our freedoms, may we soon come to appreciate the ongoing internal struggle that is inherent to living in a less than perfect union.

In 2025, the 4th of July might feel more aspirational than prescriptive. While harboring some cynicism at this time, we must still believe that all people are created equal. We must still believe in e pluribus unum . . . out of many, one. While our courts and politicians seem to be indicating otherwise, we must still believe that one day we will judge a person not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

We still believe that women, blacks, minorities, gays, non-christians, and the poor deserve equal justice, equal access, and personal independence. We still believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Is the American Dream available to all Americans? The elusiveness of the fruits of liberty are all too apparent to the huge numbers of those who have been marginalized by the partisan actions of power-hungry politicians. America needs to do a better job in assuring the rights and freedoms of all its citizens. Among those who understand the struggle are Langston Hughes and James Baldwin, both black, both gay.

Love Sweet Love

John Stewart: Patriotism

Brandi Carlile at Superbowl: America the Beautiful

USA Anthem Played at FIFA World Cup Match in Seattle
Patriotism and Understanding Military Service Among LGBTQ Veterans
This is My Fight Song
The Patriotism of LGBTQ Pride

Trump is Clueless About the Declaration of Independence

America: Land of Queer Opportunity
Party In The USA by Miley Cyrus

This Land is Your Land: Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen

Fall of America: Failure of Democracy and Capitalism

American Life by Madonna

James Baldwin Quotes About America

Somewhere in America
My Country Tis of Thee (New Version)

The Declaration of Independence was written by men in wigs, heels, and tights

"The American Dream belongs to all of us.”
–Kamala Harris, Vice President

“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

“There are those who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American Dream.”
–Archibald Macleish, Poet

“The promise of the American Dream requires that we are all provided an equal opportunity to participate in and contribute to our nation.”
-Charles B. Rangel, US Congress

“I have spent my life judging the distance between American reality and the American dream.”
-Bruce Springsteen, Musician

“To me, the American Dream is being able to follow your own personal calling. To be able to do what you want to do is incredible freedom.”
-Maya Lin, Architect

“For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.”
-Bernie Sanders, US Senator

"In the end, the American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay. Our families don't always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. But each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor."
-Julian Castro, Politician and Lawyer

Love Sweet Love

National Anthem: Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon

Dan & Shay Perform National Anthem at FIFA World Cup Match
Obituary of American Democracy by Robert L Arnold

Patriotism and Understanding Military Service Among LGBTQ Veterans
This is My Fight Song
The Patriotism of LGBTQ Pride

America: Land of Queer Opportunity
Party In The USA by Miley Cyrus

This Land is Your Land: Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen

American Life by Madonna
James Baldwin Quotes About America

Somewhere in America
My Country Tis of Thee (New Version)

A New Declaration

Effective July 4, 2025

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for a people to break from a leader who governs with cruelty, contempt, and corruption, a decent respect to the opinions of humankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all people are created equal, endowed with inherent dignity and unalienable rights—among these are life, liberty, equality, and the pursuit of justice.

That to secure these rights, governments derive their power from the consent of the governed. When a leader becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right and duty of the people to refuse allegiance and to stand united in the defense of their freedoms.
The current holder of high office has shown himself to be unfit to lead a free and just society.

--He disrespects women, mocking survivors of violence and stripping away their rights.
--He fuels racism and white supremacy, scapegoating communities of color and denying their equality.
--He assaults free speech, attacking the press, punishing dissent, and spreading disinformation.
--He exploits public office for private gain, enriching himself and the billionaire class while abandoning the poor and working people.
--He undermines justice, ignores the rule of law, and places himself above accountability.
--He disregards science, endangering lives in times of crisis and sacrificing the planet for profit.
--He fans division and incites violence to maintain power, wielding fear as a weapon against the people.

Time and again, we have protested peacefully, spoken truthfully, and appealed to our shared humanity. We have been met with indifference, hostility, and violence. A leader who governs through hatred and greed is unfit to govern at all.

Therefore, we, the people of conscience and conviction, do solemnly declare our independence from this tyrant and all he represents.

We withdraw our consent.
We refuse to be complicit in cruelty.
We reject the abuse of power for personal gain.
We stand for dignity, truth, equality, and justice for all people.
With firm reliance on each other and unwavering hope in our collective strength,
We pledge to resist oppression in all its forms,
To uphold the rights of the vulnerable,
And to build a future grounded in compassion, courage, and shared humanity.

Let this declaration be both a breaking and a beginning.

Barack Obama: Good Government

National Anthem by Lady Gaga at Biden Inauguration

Pride and Patriotism
Party in the USA

Brandi Carlile at Superbowl: America the Beautiful

Fall of America: Failure of Democracy and Capitalism

John Stewart: Patriotism

Trump is Clueless About the Declaration of Independence

Ukrainian Army Congratulates Americans on Independence Day
Patriotism and the LGBTQ Rights Movement

National Anthem by Lady Gaga at Biden Inauguration
Presidential Proclamation: LGBTQ Pride 2022

Let America Be America Again

by Langston Hughes

Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain seeking a home where he himself is free.
America never was America to me.

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed. Let it be that great strong land of love,
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme, that any man be crushed by one above.
It never was America to me.

O, let my land be a land where Liberty is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free, and equality is in the air we breathe.
There’s never been equality for me, nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.”

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart. I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land. I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek,
And finding only the same old stupid plan of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope, tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land! Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay! Of owning everything for one’s own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all. I am the people, humble, hungry, mean.
Hungry yet today despite the dream. Beaten yet today, O Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead, the poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream in the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true, that even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned that’s made America the land it has become.

America the Beautiful, Baby!

National Anthem: Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon

Obituary of American Democracy by Robert L Arnold

Paul Lynde: July 4th Finale with Donnie & Marie, Kate Smith, and Bob Hope

National Anthem by Lady Gaga at Biden Inauguration
Presidential Proclamation: LGBTQ Pride 2022

Supporting LGBTQ Employees Is a Patriotic Act
Love Sweet Love

Patriotism and Understanding Military Service Among LGBTQ Veterans

O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas in search of what I meant to be my home.
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore, and Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came to build a “homeland of the free.”

The free? Who said the free? Not me? Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike? The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed. And all the songs we’ve sung.
And all the hopes we’ve held. And all the flags we’ve hung.
The millions who have nothing for our pay, except the dream that’s almost dead today.

O, let America be America again, the land that never has been yet.
And yet must be. The land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine. The poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, me.

Who made America, whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose. The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives, e must take back our land again.

America! O, yes, I say it plain!
America never was America to me.
And yet I swear this oath, America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death, the rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem the land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain, all the stretch of these great green states,
And make America again!

Obituary of American Democracy by Robert L Arnold

Fall of America: Failure of Democracy and Capitalism

National Anthem by Lady Gaga at Biden Inauguration
Presidential Proclamation: LGBTQ Pride 2022

Supporting LGBTQ Employees Is a Patriotic Act
Love Sweet Love

Patriotism and Understanding Military Service Among LGBTQ Veterans

July 4th in the Queer Community

America is OK because it still has the Chicago Cubs. But, honestly, I’ve never been less enthusiastic about the 4th of July in my life and I’m in no mood to celebrate.

-Ken Schultz, Journalist, Stand Up Comic

What does Independence Day represent to LGBTQ folks? Today is the 4th of July: Independence Day in the United States. And in my lifetime, we have rarely been more divided. Not just politically, but in our opposition or support of America’s criminal justice system, our social media, our response to a national health crisis, and in the denial or embrace of science. Caught in the middle, or at times entirely forgotten, is our LGBTQ population. Most history books leave out gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in the telling of the colonists’ declaration of independence from their English oppressors.
-Dawn Ennis, Journalist

What Independence Day means to me is a day that we celebrate our independence and freedom, but everyone is not free. We live in a country where LGBTQ people and people of color don’t have the same freedom to pursue education, housing, jobs, and economic advancement compared to our white cisgender heterosexual counterparts. In the past couple of years, we saw the conversation and celebration of intersectionality with the Black Lives Matter Movement, but let me be clear, Independence Day is not a day for those that come from disenfranchised communities. As a LGBTQ person of color, I will be dedicating the 4th of July to remember the Indigenous people who were slaughtered to form this country and my black ancestors who built it. Because of everything that has happened in the past couple of months, I’m proud to say I am a Multicultural LGBTQ individual in America.

-Justice Horn, Community Organizer

Independence Day has always meant the same thing to me: A celebration of the birth of America and our freedoms. Even though we are not the most free country in the world, it is a day to celebrate and appreciate the freedoms we do have.

-Ryan O'Callaghan, NFL Football Player

America the Beautiful, Baby!
This is My Fight Song

The Patriotism of LGBTQ Pride

John Stewart: Patriotism

Liberace, Art Carney, Dean Martin: Hot Pants Dance (1971)

Party In The USA by Miley Cyrus
The Long, Ongoing Debate Over 'All Men Are Created Equal'

American Life by Madonna

Trump is Clueless About the Declaration of Independence

James Baldwin Quotes About America

America: Land of Queer Opportunity

Somewhere in America
My Country Tis of Thee (New Version)

Our nation needs to grow up! This Independence Day finds our nation having to deal with its national immaturity. COVID, race relations, LGBTQ relations, our body politics, our place in the world. These are things we need to ponder and this is perfect time to do it. Events leading up to our Fourth of July holiday represent another example for this nation to rise above its flaws and evolve. As a nation, we must accept the challenges before us and resolve to make decisions that will ensure a better future for everyone.

-Karleigh Chardonnay Webb, Athlete, Journalist

It would take on a lot more meaning if there was independence and freedom of oppression for all people. The world is calling out for justice for ALL Black lives, that is where true independence resides. The people are calling out for Queer and Trans liberation, that is where true freedom lives.

-Jaycee Cooper, Transgender Weightlifter, Advocate

This year 4th of July feels a lot different to me. The 4th of July to me used to be a fun day filled with being outdoors, grilling out, fireworks, and friends and family. With everything that’s going on in our country I think there’s been a shift in many people’s attitudes because there’s been a light shed on the flaws in the foundation that our country was built on. As a Black LGBTQ woman I experience the consequences of these flaws on a daily basis. The principle of liberty and justice for all that our country was founded on isn’t an accurate depiction of the struggles that many LGBTQ, POC, disabled, poor people face trying to gain our basic human rights in this country. So, although the 4th of July is a fun holiday I think it’s important to remember that the freedom we celebrate isn’t really freedom until everyone is free and has equality.

-Kaitlyn Long, Advocate, Athlete

For me, this Independence Day observes the escape from tyranny for some and not others. This has been the case each year. But this year, the observation is more visible. I think it’s safe at this point to say straight white cisgender men as a whole are the only ones who escaped the tyranny of themselves while becoming tyrants to the rest of the population. This is more their holiday than anyone else’s. So, kudos to them for the joy of reaping its benefits.

-Fallon Fox, Transgender Athlete

I think that Independence Day right now, in the context of the the current environment is in the turmoil that is occurring in the country for all for so many folk who are struggling and who have been systemically oppressed. I think that it is a day that needs to be used for reflection and for activism, for elevating those voices who have been oppressed, Because although the country may be celebrating this Independence Day, there are still many people who don’t really have that independence, who don’t have that equal opportunity.

-Rachel McBride, Non-Binary Triathlete

To me, the 4th is about quaint symbols (fireworks, community picnics, Uncle Sam, red-white-and-blue bunting) that overshadow a reality that so many people are not truly free. My dream is that our LGBTQ fellow Americans could experience freedom and acceptance to the point that the aforementioned symbols are just as quaint (and corny) to them.

-Dr. John Carvalho, Journalism Professor

Fall of America: Failure of Democracy and Capitalism

National Anthem by Lady Gaga at Biden Inauguration
Liberace, Art Carney, Dean Martin: Hot Pants Dance (1971)

Presidential Proclamation: LGBTQ Pride 2022

America: Land of Queer Opportunity

This Land is Your Land: Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen

Supporting LGBTQ Employees Is a Patriotic Act

I No Longer Recognize the Country of My Birth

I no longer recognize the country of my birth
The country that vowed to stay on track toward a more perfect union
But that country has changed direction
Now in retrograde toward autocracy
That country whose democracy was once seen as a model and envy of the world
That country whose democracy has devolved as it careens toward its sesquicentennial

No more parades of celebration spiriting our days
No more sparklers illuminating our nights
A string of flags reversed in crisis
Calling for We the People to set it right again
Or then again, maybe for the first time

No, not one man alone descending from the golden tower
Not he alone who stymied our course
But, rather, long festering wounds that never healed
Wounds we did not wish to acknowledge
Wounds we did not wish to feel
Wounds we did not wish to care for
And like cuts have infected the body
A nation, any nation, must resolve its past
It must probe its legacy as physicians probe a wound

Until that nation takes stock of its history
Until it accepts the hard truths
Its wounds will worsen, and its dreams will die

[Source: Warren Blumenfeld, July 2025]

Love Sweet Love

Trump is Clueless About the Declaration of Independence