Wake up. We’re slowly slip-sliding into a Russian-orchestrated coup.

This goes way beyond the jokey rumors that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is blackmailing Donald Trump with a secret, compromising ‘pee tape.’ Consider how the U.S. voted in the United Nations with Russia, China and Iran against American supposed ally, Ukraine. Now there’s the shocking Oval Office ambush of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by Trump and JD Vance.

As a smirking gaslit affront to Republicans, Trump is performing his excessive allegiance to Putin under the recently installed portrait of former Republican icon, President Ronald Reagan. Once upon a time, Republicans ascribed the fall of the totalitarian Soviet Union to Reagan’s strong, moral, anti-Communist principles.   

“Let us be aware that while they preach the supremacy of the State, declare its omnipotence over individual man, and predict its eventual domination of all peoples on the earth, they are the focus of evil in the modern world,” Reagan exclaimed at the 1983 National Association of Evangelicals Convention in Orlando, Florida. He warned against ignoring “the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire…thereby remov[ing] yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil.”

Where are the Republicans who cheered Reagan’s ‘evil empire’ speech now? Why do Republicans plug their ears when historians say Putin wants to restore the glory of the Soviet empire – by any means necessary?

Why do Republicans ignore the fact that former KGB agent Vladimir Putin is a communist.

By the way – where are all the Charlton Heston-loving evangelicals who watched him as Moses and cheered when he shouted from atop Mount Sinai, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” – the first of God’s Ten Commandments. Look at that garish Golden Calf! It’s something charlatan Trump would feature in his NYC apartment or sell for crypto online.

Why have evangelicals forsaken their God for a fraudulent ‘savior’ who acts more like Satan in disguise?   

I confess that I’ve been pissed off at evangelicals since rabidly anti-gay Rev. Jerry Falwell said AIDS was “God’s punishment for homosexuality.” Pastor Peter J. Peters wrote in 1992, “The Death Penalty for Homosexuals is prescribed in the Bible.” Now, Christian Nationals and their allies Trump & Putin make self-determined exceptions to the Ten Commandments while mouthing morality.  

Nazi-loving Afrikaner Elon Musk’s unbridled enforcement of Project 2025 is not just about eradicating DEI but also about erasing us. Meanwhile, Democrats have been twisting in the wind trying to find a ‘message’ that will woo workers who believed Trump’s ‘populism.’ Pundits are advising the Democratic Party to stop talking about ‘identities’ and focus on ‘issues’ – with some progressives throwing trans folks under the bus to win votes instead of vigorously standing up for the values of fairness and equality.

Remember when Republicans were vehemently against government telling individuals what they can and cannot do and Democrats extolled the right to Freedom of Expression?  Now, ‘identity’ is a slur. 

Ask Black women if their race doesn’t impact their access to healthcare.  Ask same sex couples if they fear placing a photo of their loved ones on their work desk might get them fired. Ask fundraisers and pollsters and nonprofit organizers if ‘identity’ demographics matter when voting on issues.

But none of this will matter if we don’t actively intervene to stop Trump’s Putin coup.  Last week, former Fox Weekend co-host and current U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the U.S. Cyber Command to halt “all planning against Russia,” according to a Feb. 28 report in the cybersecurity publication The Record. 

The Recorded Future story reported how Russian state-backed hackers compromised SolarWinds Inc.’s systems and its Orion network management platform in 2023, distributing malware “to thousands of enterprises and government organizations” with “numerous other cyberattacks” discovered later.

“If Hegseth’s order only applies to the armed service members focused on Russia, it will reportedly affect several hundred cybersecurity experts,” though “several thousand personnel could be affected if the guidance also encompasses other teams,” The Report says. “Those other teams focus on tasks such as intelligence analysis and capabilities development.” 

“How much more proof do we need that this administration is completely compromised?” Brian Krebs, a cybercrime and security investigative journalist, wrote on infosec.exchange. “There is zero reason for the US to relax any offensive digital actions against Russia. If anything, we should be applying more.”

This is hard. How close we thought we’d come to full equality with Obama, Biden, Hillary and Kamala – only to find, like the Paul Simon song says, “the nearer your destination/The more you’re slip sliding away.”

But we can’t give up. Rather, let’s take inspiration from the “Eyes on the Prize” series: “We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest.”

Conclusion: America has switched sides in the Ukraine-Russian war. Up till now, we supported Ukraine’s existential fight for democracy, knowing they are on the frontlines for the free world.

I want to live & die knowing I fought for freedom.

In conjunction with WorldPride 2025, the Rainbow History Project is creating an exhibit on the evolution of Pride: “Pickets, Protests, and Parades: The History of Gay Pride in Washington.” It will be on Freedom Plaza from May 17 through July 7. This is the seventh in a series of 10 articles that will share the research themes and invite public participation. In “The Evolution of Visibility” we discuss how by the 1990s victories from Gay Pride grew into more groups calling for more types of events to celebrate more identities under the rainbow.

In 1988, due to a lack of inclusiveness and financial problems, the P Street Festival Committee dissolved itself and Gay and Lesbian Pride of Washington took up the mantle of organizing Pride. Gay women solidified their distinct identity as lesbians and oftentimes “lesbian” began to appear in front of the word gay at events. However, the conservative politics of Reagan’s 1980s and the AIDS pandemic had presented a public perception of the homosexual community as largely white and male despite the way AIDS ravaged Black and Brown communities and the role of lesbian leadership in responding to the crisis. 

According to her Rainbow History Project oral history, Carlene Cheatam was aware that “most of the people in the Black gay and lesbian community [were] in the closet” and knowing that a Pride organized by the P Street Festival without her would be overwhelmingly white, she sought to make space for African Americans in the gay community. Several efforts grew out of The Clubhouse, a popular Black-owned after-hours dance club in regards to the need for funds to support care of Black people suffering from AIDS. Those efforts led to the first Black Lesbian and Gay Pride Day on Memorial Day Weekend, 1991. Under Cheatam, and co-founders Welmore Cook, Theodore Kirkland, and Ernest Hopkins, Black Pride made space for African American gays and lesbians, and raised money to help AIDS service organizations.

Despite the turnout of nearly 1,000 people, and that D.C. was a majority Black city, “initial criticisms surfaced [in 1991] that we were being separatists,” one of the organizers told Gay Community News. The 1990s were characterized by an increasing diversity within the gay community, there was an ever growing number of people with a multiplicity of sexual and racial identities, all of whom wanted visibility and celebration. 

ENLACE, the first Latino/a gay and lesbian association was created to make space for and represent the Latin American and Caribbean gay community. In addition to sponsoring social events and the only Spanish-language hotline for gays and lesbians, ENLACE also educated the gay community about AIDS and worked within the Latino communities on issues of homophobia. ENLACE marched not only in the gay Pride parades, but also in the Latino community events. Support for ENLACE grew after the murder of Ana Maria Rosales, who was shot and killed on Jan. 7, 1993, in what many believed was a crime driven by racism and homophobia. 

The Lesbian Avengers organized the world’s first Dyke March on the eve of the April 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation. About 20,000 women marched against anti-gay bills, and for grassroots organizing, and awareness of women’s issues.

Transgender and bisexual people also lobbied to be included in Pride, more than just in name only. Transgender support groups and activist organizations were created in tandem during the 1990s. The Bisexual Centrist Alliance and Jeffrey Pendleton, a gay and transgender man, joined forces to create a separate Pride Festival to protest bi and trans exclusion from the Pride title and literature. The Transsexual Menaces demonstrated at Judiciary Square during the Stonewall 25 anniversary. Robin Margolis and other bi and trans coalition activists, assisted by members of various gay and lesbian organizations, held a Diversity Pride picnic in Rock Creek Park on June 10, 1996. 

Rainbow History Project’s exhibit centers the voices of the event organizers, includes dissenting opinions on Pride, and highlights the intersections with other movements for equal rights and liberation. We need your help to tell our story! If you have any images and input contact us and get involved!

Vincent Slatt is the senior curator for the Rainbow History Project.

In an incredible show at the White House, President Felon, and his VP Vance, embarrassed the United States in front of the world. They attacked the president of an ally, and lied when doing so. They told him they trusted Putin more than him, and feigned anger when he reminded them that Russia was the aggressor. It seemed like a set-up, and that they might have intended to ambush Zelenskyy. 

Zelenskyy reminded them Ukraine signed the last ceasefire in 2019 with Putin. He then reminded them it was broken when Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022. Then Vance simply yelled at him, as if yelling could make the truth disappear. Trump basically asked Zelenskyy to kiss his ass, so he could deliver for Putin. Thankfully, Zelenskyy wouldn’t do it. 

The world knows the reason the United States supports Ukraine against Russia. It was understood if Putin could take Ukraine, he wouldn’t stop there. He would go after other countries. Zelenskyy rightfully said oceans may not be enough to protect the United States in the future. It is also true if the United States remains a member of NATO, which is in question under Trump, we would be required under the NATO agreement to help defend the member countries. That could mean sending our men and women to the battlefield. What I hope is Americans understand the money allocated for the weapons we sent to Ukraine, was mostly spent here. Our citizens made the money when those weapons were manufactured. We support Ukraine with weapons so we don’t have to send troops. We understood the Ukrainian people did the fighting and dying, for us, to help protect freedom around the world. Trump lied about all that, and tried to blame Zelenskyy for not wanting to sign a peace deal without any future security. Fucking outrageous. But as the meeting was falling apart Vance got what he wanted. He was one of the few Senators to vote against providing Ukraine weapons. So here was his opportunity to lie, and support his own view of the world. Also, a way to remind people he was Vice-President, since he has been all but overshadowed by Trump’s Co-president, Musk.  Trump keeps lying about how much aid we sent to Ukraine, saying we spent more than Europe. The facts are generally conceded Europe provided $138 billion in weapons and aid, and the $US 119 billion in various aid and weapons. Neither Europe nor the United States said these were all loans. Just ask Lockheed Martin how much of that money they got to manufacture those weapons here in the US in their factories in various states. 

It is clear Trump sees himself as a dictator with powers equal to what Putin and Xi have in Russia, and China. We will see if our Congress, and our courts, acquiesce to that. In the long run will our military acquiesce to him. Will any of them stand up to the felon in the White House. So far, we see only one Republican member of Congress willing to call out Trump and Vance, and that is Don Bacon (R-Neb). Those like the disgusting Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who once called for the assassination of Putin, have gone down on bended knee to support Trump. 

It was also clear Trump still holds a grudge against Zelenskyy for not helping him by lying in the 2020 campaign. You saw that with Trump’s rant about Obama, Biden, Hillary, and Hunter Biden’s laptop. It was so sad, and embarrassing. While it may not have been the reason for the ambush, it was clearly still on Trump’s mind. 

Trump is in love with Putin. I still believe Putin is holding something over him. In his working with, and supporting Putin, Trump is holding all of Europe hostage, not just Ukraine and the heroic Ukrainian people. He was trying to blackmail Zelenskyy into signing away half his countries mineral deposits, and with how they handled the meeting, it was Trump and Vance who ensured the deal wouldn’t be signed. It was a deal that would have benefitted the United States, and left Ukraine open to Putin again. Thankfully, Zelenskyy wouldn’t sign without some security guarantees. The only person who benefitted from what Trump and Vance did by creating this spectacle in the Oval Office, was Putin. Maybe that is what Trump wanted all along.

The time has come for the rest of the world to tell Trump to go screw himself. They need to understand if Putin attacks another country in NATO, Trump will never willingly come to their aid, no matter what is written in the NATO charter. I am still waiting to see if any Republican senators, who have for years understood Russia and Putin are our enemy, will do anything. Will they all continue to go down on bended knee, like Graham, and let Trump destroy our country? I will not hold my breath for any of them to gain some courage. Will the still free press report this for what it is, and excoriate Trump and Vance? I still have hope. And I have some hope that at some point, former Presidents Clinton, Obama, and Bush, will find a way to speak out in defense of rationality, and the future of our country. I can only pray for that to happen. 

Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist.