A University of Arizona assistant professor who moonlights as a drag queen, Harris Kornstein, pushed children to support Hamas during a recent drag story hour with Valley Families for Palestine, arranged by Queer Storytime for Palestine.
Kornstein encouraged the crowd of children to chant “Free Palestine!” as a response to: “If you’re a drag queen and you know it…” during a performance this week.
An indoctrination double whammy: "Free Palestine" meets "drag queen story hour" in Connecticut River Valley pic.twitter.com/uQ6bf67Owg
Palestinians don’t tolerate LGBTQ+ individuals, especially Hamas. Anyone involved in those lifestyles in the area risks persecution and violence at minimum, even death.
Valley Families for Palestine, an activist coalition located in the Connecticut River Valley, privatized their social media accounts after Kornstein’s video went viral.
Also involved in the drag story hour were Sarah Prager, an LGBTQ+ author; Hannah Moushabeck, a queer author and Palestinian supporter; Jewish Voice for Peace Western Mass; Booklink Books; MassEquality; Parasol Patrol at Western Mass; and Western Mass Mask Bloc.
Kornstein, who goes by the drag name “Lil Miss Hot Mess,” often does his drag performances for minors in other states in addition to drag story hours.
Kornstein is also a board member for Drag Queen Story Hour, and author of two books marketed to children normalizing drag lifestyles: “The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish,” and “If You’re a Drag Queen and You Know It.”
Drag Queen Story Hour is a national organization with state chapters that emerged from Michelle Tea, a leftist author from San Francisco who launched it out of her desire almost 10 years ago to raise her toddler in “queer culture.”
In a 2021 research paper, Kornstein defended the creation of Drag Queen Story Hour as a means of allowing children to explore “queer pedagogy” and engage in “queer imagination” from a young age. The latter term, Kornstein said, enhanced child development through play as praxis, aesthetic transformation, strategic defiance, destigmatization of shame, and embodied kinship. Kornstein noted that drag queen engagement with children would lead to normalization of the practice.
“Within this complex political landscape, [Drag Queen Story Hour] seems to uniquely thread the needle between queer activism and broad cultural acceptance,” said Kornstein.
At the University of Arizona, Kornstein taught in the College of Humanities Public & Applied Humanities. Up until he went on research leave last year, Kornstein served as an assistant professor for the Institute for LGBTQ+ Studies, School of Art, School of Information, and Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory.
Kornstein was able to go on leave thanks to a $60,000 grant from the Biden administration’s National Endowment for the Humanities. That funding is going toward a book project theorizing queer and transgender strategies of countering “surveillance capitalism” through observations of drag queens, transgender taxi drivers, cruising gay men, witchcraft, “mystical intuition,” and “gay hanky codes.”
Last December, the University of Arizona awarded Kornstein the Chatfield Impact Award — an honor for exemplary teaching, research, and service — for which he received $5,000.
Kornstein auctioned his books for a “Books for Palestine” fundraiser last November.
The Arizona House voted on Wednesday to repeal the state’s total abortion ban in a close 32-28 vote. The repeal is now in the Senate’s hands.
Three Republicans joined Democrats to eradicate Arizona’s abortion ban: Tim Dunn, Matt Gress, Justin Wilmeth. The repeal would mean that another existing law restricting abortions after 15 weeks goes into effect.
The historic abortion ban predates Arizona’s statehood and lasted up until the Supreme Court’s codification of abortion in 1973 through Roe v. Wade.
House Speaker Ben Toma, congressional candidate for District 8, said in a press release that the vote was rushed, a grave error that would allow for the slaughter of unborn children for up to 15 weeks.
“It would have been prudent and responsible to allow the courts to decide the constitutionality of the pre-Roe law,” said Toma. “I feel compelled to reiterate my personal view that this decision to repeal the abortion ban in Arizona effectively means that we are allowing the murder of unborn children up to 15 weeks of pregnancy.”
Toma chided Democrats for a lack of decorum on the House floor, citing outbursts and personal attacks. The speaker also warned that the opposing party would continue to push for a wider window for abortions, all the way up to birth — effectively, infanticide.
“Democrats are pushing radicalism and will not relent until Arizona recognizes abortion on demand and abortion through 9 months of pregnancy,” said Toma.
🚨Statement from Arizona House Speaker @RepBenToma on today’s vote on HB 2677:
“I fervently disagree with my Democrat colleagues who advocate for extremism through unlimited, unrestricted, and unregulated abortions. Abortions are not healthcare. Abortion kills life. Abortion… pic.twitter.com/X7QsmWulzK
— Arizona House Republicans (@AZHouseGOP) April 24, 2024
One of the three Republicans to join Democrats to repeal the abortion ban, Dunn, defended his vote in a press release insisting that he is pro-life, but that abortions should still be allowed in cases of rape and incest — situations for which the historic abortion ban didn’t grant exceptions. Dunn said his decision was the “most pro-life vote” possible.
“Should the pre-Roe law remain in effect, I firmly believe more lives will be lost over time. The public backlash would result in codifying disturbing and unlimited abortions in the Arizona Constitution, which is something that I cannot allow to happen,” said Dunn.
I hope you will join me in encouraging a culture of life, one that supports mothers, children, families and always stands for the unborn. pic.twitter.com/C6E6916vl5
Gress also issued a press release claiming he is pro-life. However, Gress didn’t go into details about how the abortion ban went too far. Rather, Gress lumped those supportive of total abortion bans and those supportive of unfettered abortion together as extremists.
“As someone who is both pro-life and the product of strong women in my life, I refuse to buy into the false notion pushed by the extremes on both sides of this issue that we cannot respect and protect women and defend new life at the same time,” said Gress.
Democratic lawmakers celebrated the vote. The author of the bill repealing the historic abortion ban, House Bill 2677, was Democratic Representative Stephanie Stahl Hamilton.
The House narrowly rejected a motion to transmit the bill immediately to Governor Katie Hobbs, 30-30, should the Senate have returned the bill unamended. Gress was the sole Republican who joined his Democratic colleagues in voting for that motion.
Hobbs praised the abortion ban repeal, calling the law “archaic” and a threat to women’s lives. As Toma predicted, Hobbs indicated that the securing of abortions up to 15 weeks was only the beginning.
“I will do everything I can to stop harmful legislation that strips women’s control of their bodies. But there is much more to do,” said Hobbs. “I encourage each Arizonan to continue to speak out and fight for your reproductive freedoms.”
I’m thrilled the House has finally decided to do the right thing and repeal the archaic 1864 near-total abortion ban, which would have jailed doctors & threatened women’s lives.
It’s time for the Senate to follow suit and send the repeal to my desk. Immediately.
On Monday, the Arizona Superior Court declared a mistrial in the case of George Alan Kelly, 75, the rancher who shot and killed an illegal immigrant trespassing his property.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict in Kelly’s case (CR-23-0026). Judge Thomas Fink scheduled a status reading for next Monday, April 29, to allow the state to determine whether it would request a retrial.
Fink read aloud a note from the jurors insisting that further deliberations wouldn’t resolve their deadlock.
The Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office initially charged Kelly with first-degree murder for killing an illegal immigrant, 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, trespassing Kelly’s property in Nogales last January. Cuen-Buitimea had previously been convicted and deported several times. The attorney’s office later lowered the charge to second-degree murder.
According to court documents, discovery of Cuen-Buitimea’s remains occurred after Kelly had called law enforcement twice: once in the early afternoon to report illegal immigrants possibly firing shots on his property, and once that evening to report the discovery of Cuen-Buitimea’s remains. Cuen-Buitimea was found unarmed.
Kelly’s co-counsel, Kathy Lowthorp, told NewsNation post-verdict that the jury was 7-1 for a “not guilty” verdict. Only one juror believed that Kelly was guilty of second-degree murder. Their defense team unsuccessfully fought the mistrial ruling and supported extending jury deliberation. The prosecution supported the declaration of a mistrial.
The jurors opted to maintain their deadlock over a unanimous decision on either reckless manslaughter or negligent homicide, which Fink suggested.
The Arizona Superior Court posted all videos of the 18-day trial to their YouTube page; they have also posted relevant case documents to their website, which includes the minute entries outlining the main events in the trial. The trial began exactly a month ago.
During court proceedings, Kelly’s other co-counsel, Brenna Larkin, testified that Cuen-Buitimea was one among a group of five men trespassing his land with large backpacks and rifles. Larkin clarified that Kelly shot in the sky above the men to ward them off after hearing a shot fired, ostensibly by the group of men.
Larkin stated in closing arguments that Cuen-Buitimea posed a very real threat to Kelly and his wife.
“Long story short, this is simply not somebody who’s looking for the American dream,” said Larkin. “There’s no evidence that this person is here for those kinds of benign purposes.”
The prosecution’s key witness against Kelly — Daniel Ramirez, another in the group that trespassed Kelly’s land on that fateful day — has falsely told the court he had no prior drug-related convictions, though he was previously convicted of drug smuggling nearly a decade ago.
Kelly’s counsel further claimed that the prosecution had coached, editorialized, and mistranslated Ramirez’s testimony.
“It is particularly disturbing that the State either failed to review the witness’s criminal history prior to putting him on the stand, or the State concealed the witness’s criminal history,” stated Kelly’s counsel.
AP News reported that Nogales’ consul general of the Mexican consulate, Marcos Moreno Baez, waited with Cuen-Buitimea’s daughters on Monday after the verdict to meet with prosecutors.
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Democratic Congressman and Senate candidate Ruben Gallego was characterized as having “walked out” on his wife and unborn child in a new attack ad from GOP forces.
The ad, created by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), said Gallego left his former wife, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, for a “D.C. lobbyist”: his current wife, Sydney Barron, a lobbyist for the National Association of Realtors.
“If deadbeat dad Ruben Gallego would abandon his own family, he won’t be there for Arizonans when it matters most,” stated the ad.
A press release accompanying the attack ad pointed out that Gallego continues to champion women’s rights and prioritizing women on issues like abortion and higher pay, yet walked away from the closest woman in his life.
I grew up in a house with four strong, independent Latinas. They made me the man I am today.
To the women who made their impact and the ones paving the way for generations, this #WomensHistoryMonth, we celebrate you!
NRSC spokesman Tate Mitchell emphasized the timing of the Gallegos’ divorce as a disqualifier for Gallego serving in the Senate.
“Arizona women can’t trust a man who divorced his wife when she was weeks away from having their child,” said Mitchell.
Gallego once believed that divorce wasn’t an option, writing in a 2012 Twitter post that his Catholicism prevented him from ever seeking it. It’s unclear what changed for Gallego in the span of a few short years.
“I am Catholic [and] don’t believe in divorce,” said Gallego.
I am Catholic don't believe in divorce. Sorry Pakistan you are stuck with me #debate
Gallego and Barron didn’t begin dating until several years after the divorce. The pair wed in 2021.
Ruben and Kate were married from 2010, the year Gallego joined Congress, to 2017, when Kate was still part of the city council. The pair divorced shortly before the birth of their son, Michael.
Kate became mayor of Phoenix in 2018, after then-Mayor Greg Stanton announced his run for Congress.
According to Gallego, he met Barron in 2018. Gallego and his second wife welcomed their first child, a daughter named Isla, into the world last July.
Five years ago, I met Sydney at the Congressional baseball game, and now we’re getting ready to welcome our daughter into the world any day.
The Phoenix mayor doesn’t publicly appear to hold hard feelings against her ex-husband. She endorsed him last December.
“I’m proud to endorse Ruben because I know first-hand his commitment to building a brighter future for Arizona,” said the mayor. “We have real challenges facing our state that require a leader who is dedicated to fighting for working families and the most vulnerable. He’ll do an excellent job working for all of us as our next senator.”
However, Gallego has excluded the mayor’s endorsement from his official endorsement page. The only Phoenix official he’s featured under his lengthy list of Arizona official endorsements is former vice mayor Yassamin Ansari, who is now running for Congress.
The GOP attack line on Gallego’s love life and fatherhood record wasn’t a new concept rolled out recently. The NRSC released a similar ad last November with the characterization of Gallego as a “deadbeat dad.”
.@RubenGallego abandoned his wife when she was nearly 9 months pregnant, then married a DC lobbyist. @kyrstensinema is a liberal Democrat.
Gallego has posted about his son from his personal, now campaign account nearly every single month last year, with a sporadic array of posts in the years prior.
Becoming a dad was the best thing that ever happened to me. Michael brought me strength, humility, and so much love. Just a few weeks until i’m a dad of two.
Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ-01) gave a brief rundown on the state of his constituents’ financial well-being under Biden before Congress on Tuesday.
Schweikert said that his district consists of some of the more well-off, educated, and entrepreneurial constituents in Arizona and the country. Yet, Schweikert says his more “prosperous” district has become poorer even when accounting for factors like wage growth.
“In my district, we’ve had the highest inflation in the continental United States. If you do not make 23.6 percent more money today than you did the day President Biden took office, you are poorer,” said Schweikert.
Want to understand why the public isn’t so bubbly about the economy?
If you live in the Phoenix-Scottsdale area and haven’t received a 23.6% pay increase since President Biden took office, you are poorer today.
Schweikert’s district spans a northeast section of Phoenix that encompasses Scottsdale, Paradise Valley Fountain Hills, Cave Creek, the Salt River and Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation reservations, and part of the Tonto National Forest.
The congressman went on to say that his fellow congressmen, dubbed “the clown show,” needed to have “an honest conversation” with constituents to acknowledge that they’ve grown poorer in recent years.
Arizona experienced the highest inflation rates since February 2021, only returning to a lower rate of 2.7 percent earlier this year, last seen March 2021.
Both Arizona State University business professor and Carey School director Mark Stapp and University of Arizona economics center director George Hammond toldCronkite News last year that the reason for Arizona having the highest inflation — mainly Phoenix — has to do with shelter costs.
Arizona’s high growth rate, coupled with the lack of supply, prompted a rapid rise in housing and rent prices.
In 2022, the state boasted the highest inflation rate in the nation. At the time, the Phoenix area had a 13 percent inflation, much higher than the nationwide inflation rate at the time of 8 percent.
Schweikert has repeatedly urged his colleagues to curb inflation, last month pointing out the effects of the record levels of spending under the Biden administration. Schweikert projected that the total deficit spending for the 2024 fiscal year will be higher than both the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have projected.
Over the past three years, Arizona’s food banks have reported an unprecedented increase in the number of clientele they’re serving. The Arizona Food Bank Network reported earlier this year that it and its member food banks have served 14 percent more individuals in 2023 than in 2022 (a total of nearly 570,000 people a month), and 20 percent more than before the pandemic.
Conversely, the census reported that 12.5 percent of Arizonans were living in poverty in 2023 — the lowest rate in the past decade.
Schweikert hasn’t been the only one of Arizona’s congressmen to criticize federal leaders’ approach to handling inflation. Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) remarked during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union last month that the overall inflation rate had hit nearly 20 percent since 2021, costing Arizonans nearly $13,000 in 2023 according to the Joint Economic Committee.
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