The digital billboards in rural Ohio proclaim "No child has two dads” and “No child has two moms" in rainbow lettering. It’s an obvious attack on the LGBTQ+ community, but Them Before Us didn’t seem to consider just how many families they’re degrading with this message, like foster kids and kids with step-parents.

“It’s not making any impact on the people who agree with that,” said Zachary Joseph, the director of Ohio Pride. “What makes me so upset is the impact on the kid who drives past that billboard and has two moms or who has two dads. That’s telling them they’re different. And that’s not OK.”

But Ohioans didn’t stand for it. The community held a peaceful protest in front of the Lima City Building last week, and when the Dayton-based nonprofit Have A Gay Day heard about the billboards, they jumped into action. They raised $18,000 through a GoFundMe to put up their own billboards countering the hateful message with ones of love and inclusion.

These inclusive digital messages are now appearing on dozens of billboards across Ohio.

Them Before Us tried to divide communities and make kids feel like their family is somehow not real, but everyday Ohioans stepped up. It’s proof that we don’t have to accept division and hate — when we band together, we can spread our own message of love.

Our RWB Network Organizer, Sarah Goodman, and our Digital Community Manager, Lisa Reese, hit the road this week, traveling across Georgia to empower our incredible local group leaders and promote starting new groups throughout the state!

Their goal? Strengthen grassroots organizing across Georgia and boost voter turnout in this year's critical state and local elections. With highly competitive races for governor and U.S. Senate likely to be decided by razor-thin margins in battleground counties, every conversation matters. Our members were fired up, ready to get to work, and eager to make an impact!

Sarah and Lisa traveled more than 700 miles in three days, meeting with new and longtime members organizing in their communities, coalition partners such as the League of Women Voters and Indivisible, and local leaders to build relationships and plan future collaborations.

And because it’s Red Wine & Blue, organizing came with plenty of fun. We hosted a happy hour and coffee gathering in Roswell, met with members at a woman-owned restaurant in Columbus, and wrapped up in Augusta with sweets and cocktails at the Boll Weevil Cafe.

This trip is an important reminder that change is created one mile, one conversation, and one community at a time. Georgia's women are organizing, showing up for one another, and laying the groundwork for major wins this November. And we're just getting started.

And Danielle didn’t disappoint. She gave some valuable advice about how we can feel more fulfilled in our work and tools to re-evaluate whether we should be doing another kind of work entirely! And her advice isn’t limited to traditional jobs with a 40-hour workweek — it can apply to parenting, volunteering, relationships, or anything else in our life that we care about deeply but can burn us out.

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“Work-life balance doesn’t really exist,” Danielle told us. “It isn’t built into how our workplace is designed. We’re taught that success equals money, success equals productivity, success equals loyalty and sacrifice. These are all definitions of success that were put into place by white men.

The 9:00 to 5:00 was never designed with women’s bodies in mind. We are operating off of a premise from 100 years ago that was built for the assembly line. So I think it’s important to reframe around that. Otherwise, we’re just operating on autopilot.”

Danielle was an amazing balance point between our resident workaholic Katie and our self-care advocate LaFonda. Whether you work full-time, you’re retired, your activism is your work, your family is your work, or anything in between, there’s something for everyone to learn from Danielle’s wisdom.

This world is trying so hard to burn us out, but we can resist. Our communities need us.

Instead, they’re shifting their target to birth control.

Trump’s attacks on birth control:

• Sex Ed: Removed birth control education from the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program and replaced it with “period tracking.”

• Title X: Shifted the nation’s family planning program away from affordable contraception in favor of “natural family planning.”

• Clinics: Cut funding that forced reproductive health providers to reduce services or close their doors.

• Pharmacists: Expanded protections allowing pharmacists to refuse to dispense birth control based on personal beliefs.

None of this is happening by accident.

While politicians do their best to restrict access to birth control, a well-funded network of conservative influencers has been laying the groundwork online for years.

From MAHA wellness creators to Evie magazine, they have flooded our TikTok and Instagram algorithms with anti-birth control content, repackaging misinformation as "women's wellness."

While every woman’s experience with birth control is different, and too many of us have felt ignored or dismissed by the healthcare system, that’s exactly what this social media misinformation exploits.

These social media posts aren’t about empowering women to make informed choices.

They’re trying to convince young women that birth control is inherently harmful, while framing the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict access as something that protects rather than limits their freedom.

We all deserve the right to decide if, when, and how we start or grow our families. If you want to learn more and discover how to take action in your local communities, visit our We Decide Not Politicians campaign.

With more than 700 local Network groups in all 50 states, Red Wine & Blue is kicking off election season by making sure that voters have the confidence and resources they need. This November’s elections will shape the policies and priorities that affect our everyday lives, so we can’t afford to tune out. We have a little over 14 weeks to make sure we’re informed and ready to vote… and to make sure that’s true for our neighbors, family, and friends too.

Now’s a great time to make sure you’re registered to vote. With the election shenanigans happening across the country, it’s important to double-check even if you think you’re already registered.

And if you want to get involved in this election season by connecting with neighbors who share your values, you can search for a RWB Network group in your area.

We have 100 days. Let’s get it done!

A few months ago, ICE bought two huge warehouses in Schuylkill county on the eastern side of Pennsylvania. The plan, of course, was to turn these warehouses into detention centers that could house thousands of people. Besides the moral injustice of locking up mothers, fathers, and children who had committed no crime, the detention centers would strain local water, sewer, emergency response, and other public services.

But the people who lived nearby refused to accept it without a fight. They packed meetings, called their local officials, and suddenly ICE’s plans didn’t seem like such a done deal after all.

In February, PA Governor Josh Shapiro met with local elected officials and community leaders to hear their concerns. What he heard was a strong unified message that stretched across political parties, faith communities, and environmental advocates: ICE OUT.

His office informed ICE that they wouldn’t be allowed to use the municipal water and sewer systems, effectively shutting down their plans. The federal government appealed the decision, but two days ago they officially dropped the case and confirmed that they “will not be using either property as a detention center.”

Here’s what Governor Shapiro had to say:

The upcoming midterms are incredibly important, but this goes to show that democracy isn’t just voting every four — or two — years. When we join together with our neighbors, we can make real change.

In reality, of course, it all serves to draw women into systems of oppression — whether it’s MAGA or the evangelical church. And if you question these systems, like our guest host Aimee did, the power of shame keeps you frozen in place.

Kristin said she hopes that knowing these systems were set up this way intentionally can help inspire more women to break free. Being shamed by your community is one of the worst feelings in the world, but it isn’t really personal. It’s about a few people at the top desperately clinging to their power.

The more we can welcome and not shame women who leave these controlling systems, the more women will feel like escape is an option. Like there’s another community ready to welcome them with open arms. Of course accountability is important, but more shame isn’t going to build a better world.

Stories like Aimee’s of escaping the evangelical church give us a peek into just how hard it is to leave. Shame and self-loathing are such powerful forces; it takes tremendous courage to speak your truth anyway. But it is possible, as Aimee proved. With empathy and community, we can make it a little easier.

Live Laugh Love is coming out on September 15 and pre-orders are available now!

This week’s guest host Aimee Saunders is one of these women. She grew up in the evangelical church and did everything that was expected of her: submitting to her husband, homeschooling her kids, only making friends within the church, and not pursuing her own career.

It didn’t feel right, but she was told that she was the problem. The rigid structure was fine, she just had to pray and obey harder. But reading Jesus and John Wayne with a virtual bookclub six years ago, Aimee realized she needed to break up with the evangelical church.

LISTEN HERE

Now, Kristin Du Mez has a new book coming out in September: Live Laugh Love, The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made. Aimee and Kristin’s conversation about gender, community, politics, and the church was fascinating... after all, Aimee lived the history that Kristin writes about in her books.

Many conservatives, including evangelicals, are trying to convince us right now that hierarchy and power are holier than empathy and equality. They even have a new word for it: toxic empathy. There are new ways of getting women to be submissive too, with trad wives on social media selling the same rigid gender roles that evangelical women have taught each other for decades.

But whether you’re religious or not, we can’t allow them to redefine goodness or justice. For some, like Aimee, that means leaving the church entirely. For some, like Kristin, it means sticking around but standing up for her values. For the rest of us, we’re just lucky to hear these two smart women have this important conversation.

Durán Guerrero was authorized to work in the U.S., had a Social Security number, and was not the target of ICE's operation.

Durán Guerrero is the 11th person fatally shot by federal immigration officials since Trump began his second term, and the second fatal ICE shooting in less than a week.

Just days earlier, ICE agents fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old husband and devoted father of three, while searching for someone else.

GoFundMe campaigns have been created to help cover funeral expenses and support the children and loved ones of Durán Guerrero and Araujo. If you're able, consider contributing or sharing their fundraisers.

We can’t sit quietly while ICE terrorizes our communities and threatens our neighbors. Moms for Good is a way for all of us to process our fear and anger and turn it into action.

If you’re looking for a way to get involved, our ICE Resistance Playbook has practical tools to help you know your rights, support your neighbors, and take action in your own community.

One way they accomplished this? By providing food and other essentials to families visiting their loved ones at Delaney Hall, an ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey, or to anyone released from it.

Every other Thursday, group members make food, collect much-needed supplies such as toys, ride-share gift cards, and toiletries, and deliver them to the detention center. They consistently show up for their neighbors in any way they can, month after month.

Kathleen, the group leader, said “For me, I'm animated by my faith to do what I can. Hospitality is a core principle. Feeding people is showing love by providing a basic need.”

Kathleen and the women of Team No Nonsense North Jersey are a powerful reminder that when women come together, they can create real, lasting change in their communities while showing up for their neighbors when they need it most.

If you’re interested in finding a Red Wine & Blue Network group in your community or starting a new group, check out our Network page!

But it can be hard to know how to channel that outrage. There are a lot of ways to stand up against ICE, from protesting at detention centers to calling our representatives. Some of those actions have already had an effect, as the administration has (temporarily) suspended immigration traffic stops.

We’ve put together a playbook for protecting your neighbors when ICE comes to your town — you can download the guide here.

But in the midst of fighting against ICE, we can’t forget to directly support the immigrants in our own communities. That’s where our guest on the podcast this week comes in.

Listen Here

When Julie Pospishil (also known as Maestra Julia) joined our recent event with Heather Cox Richardson, she shared how she’s supporting immigrants by taking groups of friends to Spanish-speaking restaurants in her town. Heather was so excited about the idea, and Julie was such a ray of sunshine, we knew we needed to bring her on the podcast.

Julie’s a Spanish teacher in Omaha, Nebraska, but she doesn’t stop at teaching the language. She shares cultural information about the many Spanish-speaking immigrants in their community and, of course, their delicious food. After all, what brings people together better than food? The more we can understand our immigrant neighbors, the better we can protect them from ICE.

If you want to plan a global food tour to support immigrants in your own community, we also have a guide for that!

Going out to dinner may feel like a small way to oppose ICE, but for immigrant restaurant owners, it makes a huge difference. We can’t only fight against injustice; we also have to fight for the better world we want to see. By patronizing immigrant-owned restaurants in our own towns, we contribute not just our dollars but our emotional support.

Turns out, justice tastes pretty good.

On July 4, the White House released a 162-page report accusing the Smithsonian Institution of promoting a "radical view of American history" and engaging in "extreme political activism" — all because they’re telling the accurate story of our history.

The report specifically targets the National Museum of American History for exhibits about racism, immigration, and LGBTQ+ Americans, falsely labeling them as "woke ideology" and "anti-White."

This didn't come out of nowhere.

The report follows Trump's executive order, "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," which directed federal agencies to scrutinize Smithsonian exhibits the administration considers too "woke." It's part of a larger effort to reshape what Americans learn about their country's past by pressuring schools, museums, and cultural institutions to only teach an idealized, sanitized version of America.

As a Smithsonian spokesperson commented, “For more than 180 years, the Smithsonian has served the American public with nonpartisan and independent scholarship, and we remain committed to doing so.”

The Smithsonian exists to preserve and share America’s full history, not just the parts Donald Trump approves of.

And on the 4th of July this year, some of his supporters experienced that full history when Freedom250 attendees had to seek shelter from thunderstorms… inside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History. Hopefully at least some of those taking shelter from the storm absorbed and appreciated the stories told there. Maybe a few came to understand that sharing our true history isn’t about “wokeness” — it’s about recognizing the depth and complexity of America.

We need to speak up, support institutions like the Smithsonian that protect our real history, and keep pushing back. We can’t allow politicians to decide which facts are acceptable and which voices should be erased.

Good Trouble Davie County, a group in North Carolina, banded together with other neighbors to convince their county commissioners to hit pause on a proposed data center in their area. The meeting started in the best possible way: being relocated to a larger venue because so many people wanted to attend.

The group’s leader Misty spoke out alongside her neighbors, many dressed in matching orange DAVIE AGAINST DATA tee-shirts and hats. She warned the commissioners that voting for data centers can be career-ending and the community won’t forget the results of their vote.

In the end, the Davie county commissioners agreed! They voted for a one-year moratorium on data centers to get their ducks in a row and figure out how to ban them from the county in a more lasting way.

“A 600-acre industrial campus of any kind in Davie County is not something that I think we need,” said Commissioner Mark Jones. "I don't oppose development, but there's a time and a place, and this is not the place.”

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In a week full of disappointment and heartbreak on the national level, from Graham Platner in Maine to more killings by ICE, this is where we can make a real difference. Just look at that packed auditorium, full of neighbors making their voices heard. Not only that, but speaking to a panel of commissioners who are also their neighbors and also want the best for their community.

It worked in Misty’s county and it can work in yours too. If you’re interested in joining or starting a Red Wine & Blue Network group, you can learn more here!

For years, Red Wine & Blue members have loved The Daily Beans. And listeners of her podcasts (affectionately called “Leguminati”) have talked about their great experiences at RWB events. So it only makes sense that we’d join forces in this crucial moment leading up to the midterms!

The Daily Beans is “news, with swearing” so obviously we had to invite her on our podcast How To Not Lose Your Shit. Allison, Katie and LaFonda had a great conversation not just about our partnership, but about voting, the Supreme Court, self-care, and how humor can poke at the powerful.

Don’t miss this week’s episode, and you can look forward to more collabs between us in the future!

In recent days, more than 10,000 people have been detained in a five-day span, with daily arrests doubling compared to earlier this year. This comes after ICE officials were told that the White House wanted an increase in arrests, and that 2,000 arrests a day was the new standard for enforcement.

ICE agents are now being told to prioritize arrests at routine check-ins, traffic stops, and on the street, as the agency pushes toward a goal of 2,000 arrests per day.

The impact is showing up in communities across the country.

At the same time, fear has grown after a recent Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS), putting hundreds of thousands of immigrants at risk.

People are scared. Some are skipping appointments, staying home, and avoiding driving when they can just to stay safe.

This moment is scary. But we are not powerless.

We created a Moms for Good guidebook that shares lessons from women on the ground in communities impacted by ICE, plus expert-backed resources, safety information, legal tools, trainings, and ways to get organized where you live.

You don't need to be an expert. You just need to be willing to do something. Get started by downloading your guidebook today.

Together with Heather, we reflected on our history, celebrated the people who impacted our nation, and acknowledged the work needed to live up to our values. Heather shared how we can celebrate America’s 250th in a way that honors our full history and helps us build a better future for all Americans.

You can listen to the podcast here or watch the video here!

We hope you have a meaningful Independence Day that helps you celebrate the ideals and potential of America... your own way.

America’s 250th celebration should be a time to reflect on our history, celebrate the people who impacted our nation, and acknowledge the work needed to live up to our ideals. Instead, the current Administration is giving us UFC fights, gold plated statues, and an algae-filled Reflecting Pool.

Join Heather Cox Richardson and Red Wine & Blue’s own Katie Paris at 7:30pm ET tonight to talk about how we can celebrate America's birthday in a way that honors our full history and helps us build a better future for all Americans. Heather will share more about her own 250 Project, how we counter this administration and protect our democracy, and the information we all should be sharing with family and friends.

America’s story belongs to all of us, so let’s reclaim it!

You can register to attend here and if you can’t make it tonight (or you just want to hear Heather again!), we’ll be sharing the recording tomorrow on How To Not Lose Your Sh!t.

When including other states, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that the number of children nationally who are no longer on SNAP could be as high as 1 million.

SNAP is one of the most effective investments we can make in children and families. Research shows that children who have access to SNAP in early childhood, or whose parents received SNAP during pregnancy, have better birth and health outcomes and are more likely to be food secure as adults.

But it doesn’t end there: the loss of SNAP benefits creates additional barriers for low-income children attempting to qualify for other essential nutrition programs, such as free school lunches and WIC. These cuts can even make it harder for entire schools to offer free meals through the Community Eligibility Provision by reducing the number of students directly certified through SNAP.

Research shows that children who receive SNAP benefits are healthier, have better academic outcomes, and have better mental health as teenagers, and isn’t that exactly what the Trump administration claims it wants?

If they really want America to be healthier, they should all be on board with making sure children have the food they need to grow and thrive.

Instead, the politicians who promised to make America healthier are doing the opposite. They're making it harder to put food on the table.

We can't ignore the gap between what they're saying and what's actually happening. We need to talk with our friends, families, and neighbors about the real impact of these cuts and the hypocrisy of their ‘Make America Healthy Again’ agenda.

Within months, they organized the first-ever PWC Hunger-Free food drive to support the 43% of households that experience food insecurity in their county.

In its first year, the event raised $5,000. This year, the group doubled its impact, raising more than $10,000 to help support the greater Prince William County community.

And they didn't do it alone.

PWC Women that Wine partnered with a countywide coalition that included Indivisible NOVA West, the Latino Advocacy Network of the DMV, and local elected officials, showing what's possible when neighbors come together to solve problems and support one another.

For Jess and PWC Women that Wine, this is only the beginning.

With continued SNAP benefit cuts and the rising cost of living, food insecurity remains a pressing issue. The group is committed to continuing the work, building community, and taking action to ensure more families have the support they need.

PWC Women that Wine is just one of hundreds of Red Wine & Blue Network groups doing important, community-focused work across the country. If you’re interested in finding a Network group in your community or starting a new group, check out our Red Wine & Blue Network page!

Do you remember where you were when you heard the news? Were you shocked or sadly unsurprised? Did it spur you to action?

At Red Wine & Blue, we drew our community close in those initial days, holding events and helping women take action like marching, calling their legislators, and sharing their personal abortion stories. After all, one in four American women has had an abortion. There’s no reason for such stigma over a medical procedure — especially one that can save lives.

And later on, we helped Ohio put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to enshrine abortion rights in their state. Unfortunately, a constitutional amendment doesn’t necessarily protect care — from conservative legislators or from extremist violence.

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE

In today’s episode of our podcast How to Not Lose Your Sh!t, we talked to Nan Whaley and Gwynne Perry from Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio. This spring, an anti-choice protester attacked their clinic and set it on fire, but Nan and Gwynne didn’t hesitate. They opened the clinic the very next day, ensuring that patients didn’t experience even a one-day interruption in their care.

In Gwynne’s words, “We thought, hell no. We’re not doing this. We’re gonna see patients. So we did.”

Her defiance was especially important because after Dobbs, their clinic became the only abortion care for a thousand miles for many women in the South. Four years on from the Dobbs decision, lifesaving care is being provided not by politicians or Supreme Court Justices. It’s coming from women like Gwynne and Nan — and for that, we’re grateful.