A church in Florida held an LGBTQ+ conference for children 12 to 18



A church in Naples, Florida hosted an LGBTQ+ conference for children and young adults aged 12 to 18.

The event was held at the Naples United Church of Christ and was put on by the Collier County chapter of GLSEN. GLSEN is a national nonprofit organization that, according to its website, “was founded by a group of teachers in 1990” so that educators could “play key roles in creating affirming learning environments for LGBTQ youth.”

The organization focuses on “activating supportive educators” and conducts “extensive and original research to inform our evidence-based solutions for K-12 education.” According to its website, the group will “advise on, advocate for, and research comprehensive policies designed to protect LGBTQ students as well as students of marginalized identities.”

The conference’s Eventbrite page proclaimed that the event was a “one-day conference” that “will provide students with the opportunity to engage in LGBTQ-related issues facing them today while empowering them to be confident in all their identities.”

The church’s conference held a series of seminars featuring topics like “Forbidden Queer Literature,” “Political Action & Advocacy,” and “Inclusive Sex Education.”

GLSEN also hosted a “drag show from some of our local drag queens” and a panel discussion “with former high school students talking about life in the LGBTQ community after high school.”

The Post Millennial reported that there was some local concern about the event, especially since it appeared that many children attending the conference would be bused in directly from school without their parent’s knowledge.

According to a spokesperson for the local school district, Collier County Public Schools (CCPS), the school’s facilities may not be used as “transit points for the pickup and drop-off of students for this event.”

Florida’s Voice reported that the conference’s young attendees were asked to enter their pronouns and provide other personal information prior to registering for the event.

The spokesperson said, “The District was never informed nor contacted about this event. CCPS is not a sponsor of the event, which is being held at a private facility. CCPS also neither authorized nor approved the transportation of CCPS students to and from district school sites by the event organizers. Any inference to the contrary is fully rejected by CCPS.”

The spokesperson continued, “To this end, CCPS has spoken with the event organizer and explained that the information on the registration form, and any associated flyer must be immediately corrected to reflect that CCPS is not a co-sponsor nor will it allow its school sites to be used as transit points for the pickup and drop-off of students for this event.”

American households are spending $5,000 a year on gas as prices rise and economic woes worsen



U.S. households are expected to spend an average of $5,000 on gasoline this year.

Yardeni Research concluded that Americans are paying considerably more at the pump this year, CNBC reported. By Yardeni Research’s estimates, Americans were spending a mere $2,800 last year.

The rapid pace at which gas prices continue to increase drastically affects the estimated annual sum Americans are expected to pay. This past March, Americans were expected to pay an estimated $3,800 at the pump in 2022.

The American Automobile Association (AAA) reported that in March the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.22. CNBC noted that the average price for a gallon of gasoline during the week of May 16 was $4.59. A year ago, at this time, a gallon of gasoline was $3.04.

“No wonder the Consumer Sentiment Index is so depressed. The wonder is that retail sales have been so surprisingly strong during April and May,” Yardeni said in a note.

Yardeni stated that the inflation-adjusted incomes of most consumers are barely growing and that they have accumulated a decent amount of savings while charging a lot more on their credit cards.

However, Yardeni indicated that the American consumers’ spending habits are somewhat counterintuitive, which might give the economy an illusion of strength.

Yardeni stated, “When we are happy, we spend money. When we are depressed, we spend even more money!”

For instance, despite the Consumer Price Index surging by 8.3% in April and a massive technology stock sell-off, retail sales rose by 8.2%.

Gasoline sales actually declined in April from March, as prices temporarily fell before ramping up to record levels in early May. Spending on gasoline in April increased by nearly 37% from a year ago, according to data from the Department of Commerce.

Not only are Americans paying more for necessary products, like gasoline, but their earnings in real wages are falling rapidly.

As inflation continues to spiral out of control, the average hourly earnings for employees on private nonfarm payrolls cannot keep up. These payrolls rose by only 0.3% in April, which was far lower than what was expected by economists.

This 0.3% growth was also far below April’s inflationary increase of 8.3% and March’s 8.5% increase.

According to this data, the real earnings of the American people appear to be falling by multiple percentage points.

Economic experts expect similar economic woes to continue occurring throughout the world as global stock markets continue to hemorrhage money.