Last week Sunday, over 2,000 people marched in New Delhi’s first LGBTQ Pride Parade in three years. Until now, the pandemic had caused the repeated cancellation of the event. “It’s good, it’s fabulous. Because we are here to celebrate ourselves, and after three years,” 23-year-old Vishal Rai told the Associated Press. India has still not legalized marriage equality, but in a historic 2018 ruling, the country’s Supreme Court ruled that homosexuality would no longer be considered a criminal offense. A colonial law, section 377, banned “carnal intercourse against the order of nature,” and had been interpreted to include sex between … Continue reading New Delhi’s LGBTQ+ Pride March returns after three-year hiatus

The American Dialect Society (ADS) has selected the suffix “-ussy” as its 2022 Word of the Year, after a TikTok trend popularized adding the end of the word “pussy” to basically any other word. “The selection of the suffix -ussy highlights how creativity in new word formation has been embraced online in venues like TikTok,” said the chair of ADS’s New Words Committee Ben Zimmer. “The playful suffix builds off the word pussy to generate new slang terms. The process has been so productive lately on social media sites and elsewhere that it has been dubbed -ussification.” The trend reportedly began … Continue reading “-ussy” is the American Dialect Society’s 2022 Word of the Year

One of the most highly anticipated new series of 2023, HBO’s The Last of Us premieres Sunday night. It has the odd distinction of being a prestige TV show based on, of all things, a video game—albeit a video game that has been lauded for its emotionally resonant storyline. The series, like the game, is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which a fungus—inspired, rather disturbingly, by the real Ophiocordyceps, which takes over the bodies of ants—has turned much of humanity into monstrous, blood-thirsty creatures. The action centers around a traumatized smuggler named Joel (Pedro Pascal) and the 14-year-old orphan, … Continue reading Critics are raving about HBO’s LGBTQ+ inclusive apocalyptic drama “The Last of Us”

Most Arizona voters disapprove of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) after she left the Democratic Party late last year, a new poll shows, making her one of “America’s most unpopular senators.” A new survey from the market research firm Morning Consult found that majorities of registered Democratic, Republican, and independent voters in Arizona all disapprove of the bisexual senator. Overall, 50 percent of all voters disapprove of Sinema’s job performance while only 38 percent approve. Among Democrats, 59 percent disapprove and 30 percent approve. Among Republicans, 43 percent disapprove and 42 percent approve. Among independents, 48 percent disapprove and 43 percent … Continue reading Majorities of every political party dislike Kyrsten Sinema now that she’s left the Democratic Party

There are lots of ways to see the world. You could backpack and hostel your way around the globe. You could join the Navy if you haven’t hit 42 yet. Or you could just stay home and watch a lot of Netflix. But if you have the means and you’re not a big planner — and you’re looking to meet new friends along the way — then an all-inclusive group tour might be your ticket to a worry-free holiday. Make no mistake: handing off all the arrangements for a group vacation comes with a price, but also some bonuses, including … Continue reading These are the top 8 easiest ways to see the world in 2023 if you’re 50+

Arkansas state Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R) has filed a bill that would classify drag queens as employees of an “adult-oriented business,” similar to nude models, porn actors, and sex workers. The bill would put restrictions on transgender and non-binary people singing and dancing in public. It would also require bars, restaurants, shops, and theaters to relocate if they allow such behavior from people of those identities or anything resembling drag. The bill, S.B. 43, defines a drag performance as one in which a performer “exhibits a gender identity that is different from the performer’s gender assigned at birth using clothing, … Continue reading GOP proposes anti-drag bill that classifies gender non-conforming performers as “adult oriented”

The thought processes of many young children are pretty remarkable before they are thoroughly socialized to incorporate society’s conventions. At the age of five or six, for example, with innocence and honesty, they maintain clear critical faculties before these tend to fade at each consecutive level of socialization in acceptance of dominant hegemonic ideologies. I remember my five-year-old self asking my mother: “Mommy, how can people be beside themselves? That’s kinda creepy. Is it magic?” My mother explained to me that “it is just an expression. It doesn’t mean that people are actually beside themselves. It means that people are … Continue reading Some questions about the stupid things that people say without thinking

Teacher, activist, and writer Chasten Buttigieg had some choice words for Fox News, which just published an article implying that Chasten’s husband – out Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg – did something wrong by limiting the amount of work he was doing during his paternity leave in 2021. The Fox article blasts Pete Buttigieg for refusing to take a call from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in September 2021 to discuss a bridge while he was on paternity leave following the birth of his and Chasten Buttigieg’s twins. The Fox article also says that Pete Buttigieg didn’t participate in “an hour-long … Continue reading Chasten Buttigieg epically slams Fox News for attacking his husband for being a good father

Republicans in Wisconsin voted Thursday to once again block a statewide ban on so-called LGBTQ+ “conversion therapy.” Under Gov. Tony Evers (D), the state’s Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling, and Social Work Examining Board, an examining board in the Department of Safety and Public Standards (DSPS) which oversees licensing for mental health professionals, adopted rules banning the widely discredited practice of attempting to change LGBTQ+ patients’ sexuality or gender identity in 2020. In 2021, Republicans on the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules temporarily suspended the ban. Republicans in both the state Senate and Assembly both took up … Continue reading Republican lawmakers block LGBTQ+ “conversion therapy” ban for second time

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) held an anti-trans rally at the Capitol this week. A whopping 12 or so people attended and no major media outlets covered it. The rally was a veritable who’s who of contemporary transphobic trolls, including members of the book-banning “parents’ rights” group Moms for Liberty; members of the anti-LGBTQ conservative think tank Heritage Foundation; de-transitioned young adult right-wing media darling Chloe Cole; J.K. Rowling fanboy Chris Elston; conspiracy theorist James Lindsay; sexually harassing “comedian” Alex Stein; and of course, Greene herself. Gender Ideology doesn’t stand a chance.Today, @Moms4Liberty, @RepMTG, @billboardchris, @alexstein99, @ConceptualJames, @DrJayRichards, and I … Continue reading Marjorie Taylor Greene held an anti-trans rally at the Capitol & almost no one came

A 13-year-old boy in France named Lucas died by suicide last Saturday, January 7 after facing anti-LGBTQ+ bullying at school. People close to his family say that the school did little to stop the bullying. The student at the Louis Armand de Golbey middle school in the Vosges department was out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, the French magazine Têtu reports. “He was constantly harassed for the way he dressed, his mannerisms, his presence,” said Stéphanie, a family friend. “He didn’t hide himself and that bothered some people.” She said Lucas was “always pleasant, caring, spontaneous, full of … Continue reading 13-year-old boy died by suicide after homophobic bullying at school

Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Hilton Als was not a fan of Jerrod Carmichael’s performance as host of Tuesday night’s 80th annual Golden Globes. The New Yorker writer took to Instagram Wednesday to deliver his blistering critique. “Dystopian comedy is not really comedy because it doesn’t contain a shred of hope, or any other human aspiration, which is what comedy is: about how we aspire, fail, get up again,” Als wrote in the caption to a photo of Carmichael from the awards show. “Bitter smugness is not really a style, but it can be part of one’s self-proclamation, especially if you’re bathing … Continue reading Hilton Als accuses Jerrod Carmichael of cynicism, “dystopian comedy” in blistering critique

An Idaho school board meeting devolved into chaos on Monday night while a Republican state senator was virulently speaking out against a proposed policy to protect LGBTQ+ students in the district. The proposed Caldwell School Board policy seeks to prevent discrimination against LGBTQ+ students by, among other things, allowing them to use the locker rooms and bathrooms that align with their lived gender, requiring teachers and other staff to use their preferred names and pronouns, and allowing same-sex couples to attend dances and other activities. The room was reportedly filled to capacity that night, with several others standing up to … Continue reading School board meeting descends into chaos during debate about rights for LGBTQ+ students

House Republicans are either denouncing or cozying up to out Rep. George Santos (R-NY) as his entire life story has been found to be a series of lies. But one GOP lawmaker is taking a novel approach. She’s blaming President Joe Biden. In December, merely weeks after becoming the first out gay Republican elected to Congress, Santos’s life story came crumbling down. Multiple news reports said that there was no record of him attending the elite high school he said he attended or Baruch College and New York University, where he claimed to have gotten degrees. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs … Continue reading GOP Congresswoman blames Joe Biden for George Santos’s lies

A man in Florida who has been accused of stalking and harassing his LGBTQ+ neighbors was arrested earlier this week. Click Orlando reports that 57-year-old Frank Norviel had allegedly been harassing the couple who lived next door to him for months “primarily based on their sexual orientation,” according to a probable cause affidavit. Norviel is accused of shining lights and yelling slurs at the couple from the fence dividing their properties or while riding a bicycle past their home. Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies were told that in September 2022, Norviel screamed “It’s not Adam and Steve” at the victims … Continue reading Florida man faces hate crimes charges for brutal & intense harassment of gay family

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) faced harsh criticism online when she attacked out Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg as “clueless” and unqualified. On Tuesday night the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Notice to Air Missions system  (NOTAM) suffered an outage that lasted until Wednesday morning. The safety system was restored that morning. It’s currently unclear what caused the technological issue and Buttigieg said that the Department of Transportation is investigating. “There is no direct indication of any kind of external or nefarious activity, but we’re not yet prepared to rule that out,” he said on MSNBC yesterday. “We need to understand whether … Continue reading Lauren Boebert called Pete Buttigieg “clueless.” It didn’t end well for her.

An Indiana state Republican has introduced a bill that, at first glance, seems to ban conversion therapy. But a closer look reveals that it’s actually just a bill seeking to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth. It’s also designed to trick Democratic lawmakers into supporting it. Indiana state Rep. Lorissa Sweet (R) has introduced H.B. 1118, a bill that prohibits healthcare professionals from “subjecting a minor to certain activities that purposely attempt to change, reinforce, or affirm a minor’s perception of the minor’s own sexual attraction.” This sentence makes it sound like H.B. 1118 would ban conversion or reparative therapy, … Continue reading GOP lawmaker is disguising a trans healthcare ban as a conversion therapy ban. Will it work?