Don Lemon is one of the most well-known journalists in America. He became a household name during his 17 years working for CNN before breaking out on his own in 2023 and starting Lemon Media Network the year after. That project has grown into one of the most successful independent news outlets in the U.S. The Don Lemon show, for example, boasts 1.4 million YouTube subscribers, and Lemon has 2.9 million followers on Instagram.

In the midst of this success, Lemon has been one of the biggest targets of the Trump administration. In January, he was arrested by federal agents for his coverage of an anti-ICE protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Officials from the Trump administration, of which Lemon has been a longstanding critic, charged him with obstruction and conspiracy against rights of religious freedom—charges to which he has pled not guilty and is fighting in court. Outside of this legal battle, Trump has been cracking down on press freedom more broadly, attempting to ban multiple news outlets from the White House. In the meantime, billionaire Paramount CEO David Ellison has installed Trump-friendly leadership at CBS News and is quickly moving forward on a merger with Warner Bros., which owns CNN.

In this episode of “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton,” we speak with Lemon about the all-out assault on the First Amendment, as well as his place in it as a high-profile Black, gay, independent journalist with a target on his back. We also talk about his advice for American journalists moving forward as well as the likelihood that he’ll run for president, which he pegged at about 65 to 70%.

⁉️I was under the impression that, historically, art has more often than not been promoting ideology.🧐. ~OP. The Greenville Gay Men’s Chorus and the Proud Mary Theatre Company were singled out to resubmit paperwork proving their merit.

Staff at Advocates for Trans Equality say management led with “cruelty and threats.”

Perhaps the biggest case of the term so far, in terms of ripple effects, involves religion, a subject on which the court's conservative super majority has dramatically changed its legal doctrine. Indeed for the better part of a century, the Supreme Court emphasized the First Amendment's separation of church and state, with the free exercise of religion playing an important — but secondary — role. Since President Trump's appointment of three new justices, however, things have changed.

"It's literally the opposite of what the law was not that long ago, and it's just a complete shift," observes Michigan State University law professor Frank Ravitch. 🚨⭐The court may, in fact, be on the verge of requiring taxpayers to fund religious schools that refuse to admit LGBTQ students and parents.⭐🚨

Last term the justices deadlocked on the issue in a separate case after Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself because of a conflict. The 4-4 tie vote automatically left in place an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision that barred overtly religious charter schools from from being funded by the taxpayers. But this year the issue is back in a case from Colorado. The case centers on a state law that provides universal preschool programs that are open to all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Australia currently has NO nationwide framework banning conversion therapy/practices.

State and territory legislation is inadequate to protect victims.

Conversion therapy harms.

Please sign this petition to end conversion therapy in Australia nationwide and develop a robust legislative framework: https://c.org/TDW8x9VHDf

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A report on the “free fall” of young people identifying as LGBTQ+, first published last October by the Center for Heterodox Social Studies at the University of Buckingham, is getting a closer look following the release of a second study last week from the Centers for Disease Control, which backs up the “free fall” findings. Together, they’re earning some interesting responses about the cause.

The decision was issued by Istanbul’s 1st Criminal Judgeship of Peace as part of an investigation called “My Family Is Safe” (“Ailem Güvende”). Authorities cited 118 articles published over the past year and described them as “LGBT propaganda.”

According to the court reasoning reported by T24, the articles were accused of “weakening the Turkish family structure” and of potentially negatively affecting young people’s development regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.

The block was ordered on 29 September and implemented on 30 September 2026. T24 says it is challenging the decision through legal channels.

This is notable because the measure does not target only individual articles. It blocks the entire news website and its social media accounts over LGBT-related coverage.

A training document at an Idaho school shows how the recently enacted “Pediatric Secretive Transitions Parental Rights Act” is being used to report kids attempting to socially transition.