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Gov. Gavin Newsom isn't happy that a SoCal school board banned lessons on the late Harvey Milk for kids ... and it sounds like he's going to do something about it.

California's top governmental dog sounded off Saturday in response to a report about the Temecula Valley School Board recently voting to nix any literature about the former SF politician -- who was openly gay, and who served a member of the Board of Supervisors.

Board president, Dr. Joseph Komrosky, was hearing out a fellow member ... who wanted to ban a biography of Milk -- which was apparently available to 4th graders at a local elementary school as part of their social studies teachings -- which touched on his homosexual lifestyle in the supplemental resources section ... as a footnote.

The board member who raised this issue says he was made aware of the material, finding the information in it to be highly inappropriate for children -- and Komrosky agreed.

In fact, Komrosky shocked many in the audience by calling Milk a "pedophile" ... which several people, including some teachers/faculty/board members, pushed back on by strongly denying that characterization. They explained that he was instrumental in achieving gay rights in the U.S. ... and that that historical fact shouldn't be hidden from grade school kids.

Komrosky held his ground ... arguing that Milk's private life -- and presumably his public life at large -- wasn't relevant and not worthy of being in their curriculum. In the end, the board voted 3-2 to get rid of the Milk literature ... and now, Gov. Newsom is aware of it.

He took to Twitter and wrote, "An offensive statement from an ignorant person. This isn’t Texas or Florida. In the Golden State, our kids have the freedom to learn. Congrats Mr. Komrosky you have our attention. Stay tuned." Newsom didn't elaborate further.

Of course, GN's spoken out against other states trying to limit the scope of education as it pertains to issues like these -- especially in Florida, where Gov. DeSantis has set a tone.

As for the whole "pedophile" claim ... it's unclear why Komrosky referred to HM as that. It's possible he might be referencing Milk's one-time relationship with Jack McKinley, which is believed to have begun while McKinley was a teen ... but that part of history is a little hazy.

A Pride event in Tennessee is facing the reality of heightened threats and tension toward the LGBTQ community this year, beefing up security after warnings from the Aryan Nations.

Memphis is hosting the Mid-South Pride Festival Saturday, but Vanessa Rodley, Festival Director and President of the org, tells TMZ ... threats have been thrown at the group ahead of the big bash -- including claims that the Aryan Nations will be showing up to protest.

For those unaware, Aryan Nations is a large group of neo-Nazis, often composed of white skinheads that tout racist and homophobic beliefs. She says this year has been the worst in terms of threats ... but thinks it helps the group be more prepared in terms of security.

Vanessa adds her team is working with local authorities, FBI and Homeland Security to make sure the whole thing is safe -- adding they've been meeting with cops for the past few months in preparation.

BTW, 2 featured guests slated for Saturday's event are "RuPaul's Drag Race" stars Kameron Michaels and Lady Camden, joining a group of 50 drag performers, the most they've ever had.

In terms of Tennessee laws against drag, we're told they've figured out how to work around the grey areas ... stuff like performers arriving in costume due to laws mentioning "the act of unveiling costumes" and buckets for tips instead of directly accepting cash.

Claire Elisan, founder and Executive Director of the Florida-based LGBTQ+ nonprofit Project No Labels, tells us her team will also be enhancing security for all of its events this month.

President Joe Biden knows a thing or two about picking yourself up and trying again ... and he proved it again Thursday during a commencement address to Air Force grads.

Biden was the featured speaker at the 2023 U.S. Air Force Academy graduation in Colorado ... handing out diplomas. At the end of the ceremony, as he was saluting and shaking hands with the grads, when he tripped over a sandbag on the stage and fell shockingly hard.

It looked super serious as Biden crashed to the ground on his side. Secret Service, along with an Air Force officer, rushed to his aid and helped him up.

Biden got back on his feet, pointed to the sandbag, and carried on with the ceremony.

FNC's Matt Finn said, "There was strong sun during some of the Air Force Academy grad. He stood for a long time shaking the hand of all 900+ cadets ... He appeared alert and in good stamina throughout."

The White House issued a statement, saying the Prez was not injured.

This isn't the first time the Prez has taken a tumble. You'll recall, Biden fell off his bike last summer, during a weekend getaway in Delaware.

The scheduled headliner for a drag show on a U.S. Air Force base is ripping President Biden's administration for scrapping this year's event, saying it doesn't line up with the White House's supposed support for the LGBTQ+ community.

"RuPaul's Drag Race" star Coco Montrese joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live" to give us her reaction to the Pentagon's decision to nix tonight's scheduled drag show at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

There had been 2 previous drag shows on the base, and in fact, Coco performed at the first one in 2021.

Coco says all the drag queens performed to a packed house, and they were generally well received -- which is why she's disappointed military brass switched course, and scrapped Thursday's show at the last minute.

She told us the decision is at odds with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's public statements of support for the military's LGBTQ+ members and Pride Month. Coco suggests the Prez can make amends ... by hosting a drag show right there at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

It's interesting ... the Pentagon says the Department of Defense will not host drag events at bases because "these types of events in federally funded facilities is not a suitable use of DOD resources."

However, Coco says the scrapped show at Nellis was privately funded, so that would have been a moot point.

The Pentagon has reportedly nixed a drag show scheduled for the beginning of Pride Month -- after it had already been approved by the chain of command.

According to CNN, the performance -- set for Thursday -- was canceled at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and it was supposed to highlight the significance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members of the military.

This would have been the third drag event at Nellis, but Pentagon officials put the kibosh on it Wednesday, CNN said. It wasn't clear if the show would be moved to another venue.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been super supportive of the LGBTQ+ community, commending them for their service and publicly supporting Pride Month in the military. But Austin has made it clear he doesn't want drag shows on U.S. military bases because the Defense Department should not have to pay for the expense.

A Pentagon rep explained, "As Secretary Austin has said, the DOD will not host drag events at U.S. military installations or facilities. Hosting these types of events in federally funded facilities is not a suitable use of DOD resources. Our Service members are diverse and are allowed to have personal outlets."

Uncle Sam isn't liking Uganda's new harsh anti-gay law -- which criminalizes "aggravated homosexuality" -- and we might just do something about it as a nation to condemn it.

President Biden's Sec. of State, Anthony Blinken, spoke out against the African nation's Anti-Homosexuality Act, which just got signed into law, and he says the U.S. will now consider visa restrictions against Ugandan officials and others for what he calls a human rights abuse.

Blinken says he's instructed the State Dept. to update travel guidance as well for Americans who might want to travel to Uganda for business or pleasure -- so, perhaps restricting travel.

As for POTUS ... he's also slamming the law, and says he might even impose sanctions against Uganda over this -- adding he would review the ramifications of the law "on all aspects of U.S. engagement with Uganda."

As for what is actually illegal now ... well, it's murky. Uganda says one can still identify as gay or as part of the LGBT community -- but that any promotion of homosexuality or any overt public acts of homosexuality, as it's vaguely described, is punishable by prison.

If you're thinking our politicians here would be divided on this, you'd be wrong -- at least as it pertains to Sen. Ted Cruz, anyway ... who publicly called out Uganda for overstepping.

He wrote, "This Uganda law is horrific & wrong. Any law criminalizing homosexuality or imposing the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” is grotesque & an abomination.  ALL civilized nations should join together in condemning this human rights abuse."

President Biden says a deal has been reached with the GOP on a bill to raise the U.S. debt ceiling -- but Congress still has to sign off on it ... and pretty soon, too.

JB made the announcement Sunday, telling reporters he and Speaker Kevin McCarthy finalized the language on legislation they'll introduce to the House of Representatives later this week ... in hopes that it passes quickly, at which point it goes to the Senate.

While it remains to be seen if that'll actually happen -- and it needs to before early June, or else -- Joe sounded optimistic about the bipartisan agreement ... noting both sides didn't necessarily get everything they wanted ... but, in the same breath, admitting that what they'd landed on was good enough to avoid a catastrophic default/likely economic collapse.

As for what exactly the deal entails ... well, that'll be revealed when the bill is posted publicly so everyone can peruse the deets. Reports have been flying ahead of that though ... and it sounds like SNAP benefit recipients are going to be hit with new work requirements, something many Democrats are lamenting. But some Republicans are groaning as well.

Without bogging you down with the minutiae ... some GOPers say McCarthy conceded too much and didn't cut back federal spending in a meaningful way -- but rather, kicked the can down the road ... while also letting Biden and the Dems to maintain a lot of the budgeting they've already put in place, including pretty much everything in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Another element from the deal ... this debt deadline issue -- which circles back every few years or so -- will be untouched for another two years ... when we'll do this all over again.

The funny thing ... both sides are sorta lauding the new budget deal as a W for their respective parties -- although there are dissenters from each side of the aisle crying foul ... and considering Speaker McCarthy has to appease MAGA Republicans forever more, it'll be interesting to see if they call for his seat in the fallout. He's said he isn't worried about it.

Here's a cool piece of United States history going up for sale ... the proclamation George Washington issued making Thanksgiving a national holiday.

America's first President issued the proclamation way back in October 1798, designating a Thursday in late November as the first official Thanksgiving holiday.

The founding father's handwritten proclamation, complete with his signature at the bottom, is going up for sale through Moments In Time ... with a whopping $15 million price tag.

The historically significant document is being sold by a private collector, and its value has risen exponentially over the years as it's changed hands.

When the piece first hit the open market in 1977, it sold for $3,000 ... and when it was on the market again almost 7 years ago, it sold for $6.5 million.

Now it's going for $15 million ... which is an awful lot of Thanksgiving dinners.

Congressman Adam Schiff tries his hand at live stand-up comedy once a year ... but he sees nothing funny about how CNN set up Donald Trump's town hall for a national audience.

The distinguished gentleman from Burbank, CA joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live" and we asked him about his upcoming comedy set at The Improv in L.A.

Schiff, who's running for U.S. Senate, is hosting a fundraiser next month at the famous West Hollywood venue -- and while he'll mostly be introducing professional comics, he says he likes to mix in a few jokes of his own.

As Adam explains, he's performed full stand-up acts at his annual fundraiser in the past -- usually writing his own jokes during the cross-country flight -- and he let us in on some of his favorite material.

All jokes aside, Adam's not only eyeing the Senate seat currently occupied by Sen. Dianne Feinstein ... he's also paying attention to Trump's presidential campaign.

Rep. Schiff ripped CNN for this month's town hall with the former President -- although, he doesn't take issue with CNN holding the event, he strongly objects to one thing about the spectacle ... comparing it to a reality TV show.

Governor Ron DeSantis just announced his run for President on Twitter ... but not without massive technical failure as Elon Musk says the company's servers are to blame.

DeSantis made the big announcement Wednesday on the bird app ... dropping a campaign video that takes jabs at President Biden, blaming him for crime-filled streets and conflict at the border. He goes on to say he's the guy to lead the "great American comeback."

Of course, DeSantis was slated to drop the big news in a Twitter Spaces chat with Elon ... but apparent technical issues forced hundreds of thousands of listeners to listen as moderator David Sacks' audio kept cutting in and out.

Elon can be heard saying Twitter's servers are struggling to keep up -- and folks on the very same app are dragging him and the whole thing for the big mess ... with one calling it a "car crash," while another calling DeSantis' failed attempt "a perfect metaphor."

Even Biden took a jab at the whole thing -- with a tweet to his donation page that reads, "This link works."

You'll recall, TMZ confirmed Elon was set to join DeSantis for the declaration -- something that appears to be a push to make the app feel more like regular TV. Elon also called on ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon to start a show on his platform after Tucker Carlson said he'd be doing the same. Obviously, this mess might make Elon reconsider.

As for DeSantis, he's been seen as one of the only candidates that stands a chance at knocking down former President Donald Trump -- who announced his bid for the 2024 seat back in November.

DeSantis picking Twitter for his announcement spot doesn't just set him apart from the rest of his competition, but it appears to be a big "F-U" to Trump ... who infamously was taken off the platform after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

A school in Florida has put the kibosh on its younger students reading Amanda Gorman's powerful poem -- the one she read at President Joe Biden's inauguration -- after one parent claimed it was riddled with hate ... also claiming it was penned by Oprah.

The Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes imposed the prohibition on Gorman's "The Hill We Climb," making it available only to middle schoolers at the K-8 school.

Daily Salinas, the complaining parent, filed a complaint in March, claiming the poem could cause "confusion and indoctrinate students" with "hate messages" ... adding a specious claim Oprah was the writer and not Gorman.

After learning about the ban, the 25-year-old poet took to social media to call out Salinas ... saying, “So they ban my book from young readers… fail to specify what parts of my poetry they object to, refuse to read any reviews, and offer no alternatives." She says she's "gutted" that it takes only 1 complaint to get works of art removed.

Gorman now says publisher Penguin Random House is teaming up with PEN America -- an org that defends free expression through literature -- to fight back against book bans with a lawsuit.

Claudia Conway -- daughter of Kellyanne Conway -- is taking up a new trade ... launching a career as an online Playboy model.

The famous brand made the announcement Wednesday from its official IG account with a photo of Claudia ... captioned, "Introducing your newest Bunny: @claudiamconway 🐰 See her exclusive content, only on @PlayboyCenterfold Subscribe at the link in stories..."

The DailyMail first reported ... 18-year-old daughter of Donald Trump's former advisor reportedly launched her account back in April, and so far, she's posted several photos posing in bikinis. Folks can also buy more risque online photos, like cleavage close-ups, with prices ranging from $5 to $99.

Claudia, who has been a vocal critic of Trump, gained popularity from her TikToks and her tumultuous relationship with her mother.

The two have gotten into several on-camera spats, and Claudia has had no problem airing it all out online.

As we told you, the mother-daughter duo has since been working on their relationship, and seem to be in a much better place now.

You'll recall, she auditioned for "American Idol" back in 2021 and shocked a ton of fans with her vocals, despite eventually getting eliminated.

Ron DeSantis is making his presidential run official with the help of Elon Musk, jumping on the bird app with its owner to make the big announcement -- something the tech mogul is, no doubt, seeing as a MAJOR win.

TMZ has confirmed ... the current Florida Governor will join Elon in a Twitter spaces chat Wednesday to announce he is, indeed, throwing his hat in the 2024 presidential race.

Tech entrepreneur David Sacks will moderate the meeting, and DeSantis will drop his first campaign video around the same time.

As you know, Elon's been pushing to get Twitter to become more like mainstream TV ... after ex-FOX News host Tucker Carlson took to the platform earlier this month to say he'd be launching a "new version" of his show on Twitter ... which Elon quickly embraced.

Following Tucker's announcement, Elon called out Don Lemon -- who's also out of a gig -- to have him come over to the same app and start his own show ... digging at CNN's ratings by adding, "Maybe worth a try. Audience is much bigger."

Looks like Elon's tryin' hard to get as many eyes on his platform as possible, and if recent history is any indication ... politics is the perfect way to do that.

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson works in a building that is kind of an island to itself, but unlike her favorite show, no one gets voted off.

The newest Justice shared her jam during a commencement address to graduating law students at American University in D.C.

She confessed she's a "Survivor superfan," using the long-running show to deliver her message. Justice Jackson talked about the goal of setting priorities and using resources, however scant, to chart your path.

Jackson told the crowd, "I watch it with my husband and my daughters even now, which I will admit it's not easy to do with the demands of my day job. But you have to set priorities, people, and that's exactly the first lesson that I have for you today."

The Justice has watched since Season 2, and had another good takeaway ... "Season after season, the players who tend to do really well are those who appear to come in with the understanding that this game is about existing both in community and conflict."

Senator Dianne Feinstein raised new alarm bells about her ability to serve in Congress, after she seemed to forget she's been MIA for 3 months.

An L.A. Times reporter buttonholed the 89-year-old Feinstein -- who just returned to D.C. after spending 3 months in California recuperating from shingles -- and asked her if she heard all the well wishes from her fellow Senators upon returning to work. Her response ... "What have I heard about what?" The reporter said, "About your return," to which Feinstein said, "I haven't been gone ... I've been working."

The reporter pressed ... "You've been working from home is what you're saying?" The frail Senator replied, "I've been here. I've been voting. Please, either know or don't know."

Her hometown newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, detailed last year what they say is her deteriorating memory, and the latest encounter is yet another example. There has been open talk on Capitol Hill that she is often disoriented and can't follow conversations.

There has also been a gentle campaign among lawmakers for her to resign, and even some Democrats are on board. Fact is ... Feinstein is on the Judiciary Committee, and a number of nominations for the federal bench have been held up due to her absences.

Feinstein said last week, "Even though I’ve made significant progress and was able to return to Washington, I’m still experiencing some side effects from the shingles virus."

Meghan Markle received her own coronation of sorts Tuesday night in NYC.

The Duchess of Sussex and hubby Prince Harry flew to the Big Apple to attend a fancy-schmancy gala honoring Meghan with a Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Award from her friend and political activist Gloria Steinem.

It was Meghan's first public appearance since she skipped the coronation of her father-in-law, King Charles, and his wife, Queen Camilla, earlier this month in London.

As you know, Harry went solo to the coronation and had an awkward time with his royal family given all of their drama. Since then, Harry and Meghan have kept a low profile only being seen -- briefly we might add -- leaving a sushi restaurant in Montecito.

But now they've come out of their shell. Check out video of Meghan and Harry arriving in an SUV to the awards ceremony at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan. As shutterbugs snapped photos, Harry jumped out of the backseat followed by Meghan, who looked stunning in a Johanna Ortiz gold dress. Meghan's mom, Doria, also tagged along.

After the three went inside, Meghan hit the stage and accepted the award from Steinem for her advocacy work to empower women. She delivered a speech, giving a shout-out to her mom and thanking Steinem for being a mentor. She also talked about the impact "Ms." magazine had on her life growing up.

Harry and Meghan then left exactly how they came in -- surrounded by paparazzi and flashing cameras. The couple jumped into the back of an SUV, which then drove off.