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The Weekly Readlines August 25
The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) is a feature at LGBTSr providing news you can use every Friday.
In Memoriam: Laura Ann Carleton, murdered for being a friend of the LGBTQ community. Her killer was a Christian extremist, no surprise there.
Republicans had their first debate in Milwaukee, without Trump. Be very afraid.
Students say bans on LGBTQ topics and discussions are pointless: they were never taught in class anyway.
And the ‘war on woke’ is flopping as a fire starter for the GOP. Most Republicans are over it, if they ever cared in the first place, which is unlikely.
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The Weekly Readlines August 11
Quote for the Week: “I come from regular stock, and I prefer that — I prefer being around that.” – Clarence Thomas, in a documentary financed by one of his billionaire benefactors
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Maui has been devastated by wildfires, claiming at least 55 lives and destroying the historic town of Lahaina, once the seat of the Hawaiian kingdom.
Special Counsel Jack Smith has requested January 2 as the start date for Trump’s trial, possibly hoping to make him a convicted felon in time for Super Tuesday.
And The Band’s Robbie Robertson died at 80, having given us the most most famous and unfortunately enduring Confederate apologia ever recorded, The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down. If only it had stayed there.
LGBTQ NEWS
Milan To Resume Registering Children From Male Couples
ReutersDr. Fauci To Be Succeeded By First Openly LGBTQ Director Of NIAID
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The Weekly Readlines August 4
On a personal note: The Readlines is moving to Friday mornings, as I change my production schedule. Other new content from LGBTSr.com will go out on Mondays. – Mark
Quote for the week: “The attack on our nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy. As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies. Lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S. government: the nation’s process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election.” – Special Counsel Jack Smith
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Former President Donald Trump was indicted (again). The charges are extremely serious, involving his efforts to overturn the election he lost, and may result in America having its first incarcerated Commander in Chief.
Actor Paul Reubens, aka Peewee Herman, died at 70. While it was sad, it was another one of those ‘He was 70?!’ moments I experience these days when people who are essentially my peers are exiting Planet Earth.
LGBTQ NEWS
Anti-LGBTQ Bills Drive Top Louisiana Kids’ Heart Doctor Out Of State
Shreveport TimesChicago LGBT Hall of Fame to announces 2023 inductees
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The Weekly Readlines July 25
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Florida history teachers are now required to say slavery was a skill set offered at no cost to the enslaved, kind of like free tuition to college in Hell.
Not to be outdone in the hate stakes, GOP House members struck the only three (3) earmarks in the Transportation-HUD appropriations bill that benefited LGBTQ people, including one for senior housing. I guess we’re never too old to groom!
And Alabama defied the Supreme Court and refused to add a second majority-Black district, paving the way for the rest of us to ignore their rulings, too.
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The Weekly Readlines July 19
Quote for the times: “Too many people hate the people that AIDS most affects: gay people and people of color. I do not mean dislike, or feel uncomfortable with. I mean hate. Downright hate. Down and dirty hate.” – the late Larry Kramer, true as it ever was
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Actors joined writers on strike, when SAG-AFTRA walked out over stalled contract negotiations.
Republicans assured defeat of the must-pass Defense bill by stuffing it with anti-women, anti-LGBTQ amendments meant to thrill the base but cripple the military. We predict the extortion will fail.
And California voters will have the chance to right a wrong by repealing Prop 8, the state’s same-sex marriage ban, with a vote in 2024. Be careful what you wish for, they could keep it.
LGBTQ NEWS
Idaho ‘Abortion Travel Ban’ Challenged By LGBT Group
FISM TVWhat’s A Tea Dance? The Fascinating History Behind These Unique Parties
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The Weekly Readlines July 12
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Well, that didn’t take long. A hair salon owner in Michigan declared she won’t serve portions of the LGBTQ community who use pronouns that freak her out. The chances she had any transgender clients before this? Zero.
Revelations about Clarence Thomas’s grifts just keep coming. Mo billionaires, mo problems, to paraphrase Biggy.
The super important GOP whistleblower guaranteed to bring down the Biden dynasty turns out to be a spy for China. Oops.
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The Weekly Readlines July 5
Quotes for the Week: “If any Arizonan believes that they have been the victim of discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, or ancestry in a place of public accommodation, they should file a complaint with my office. I will continue to enforce Arizona’s public accommodation law to its fullest extent.”
– Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes
“The court is part of a gang of reactionaries clawing back rights we already won, which means we can win them back.”
– Rebecca Solnit, on the current Supreme Court majority.
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Civil rights groups sue Harvard to end affirmative action for kids of rich white alumni.
Cocaine was found in the White House, possibly left behind by Trump family or Hunter Biden, depending on your political affiliation.
And this July 3 was the hottest day ever recorded. Climate change? What climate change?
LGBTQ NEWS
Arizona AG Kris Mayes Tells Supreme Court To Take Their Discrimination Elsewhere
DailyKosGovernor Expands Spending Benchmarks to LGBT, Disability-Owned Businesses
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The Weekly Readlines Special Edition July 2: SCOTUS Turns the Clock Back
The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines) is a round with news you can use every week. Today’s special edition is brought to you by a house on fire.
Quote for the Week: “The logic would be amusing if it weren’t so embarrassing.” – Justice Sotomayor, scorching Gorsuch in her dissent in the LGBTQ discrimination case.
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIESSCOTUS took a blow torch to freedom at the end of its term, slicing and dicing 50 years of affirmative action, gut-punching Bidens student debt relief effort, and greenlighting anti-LGBTQ discrimination as the cherry of top of their hate fudge sundae.
LGBTQ NEWSMoms for Liberty’s Conference Infiltrated by Activists Calling Out Its Hate
Advocate.comHouse Democrats organize against anti-trans bills across U.S. – Axios
AxiosLGBT Support Makes Good Economic Sense
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The Weekly Readlines June 21 (Now Every Wednesday!)
The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) is a Wednesday roundup of news you can use.
NEWS FLASH! I will now be providing The Weekly Readlines every Wednesday, and sending it to our email subscribers as a stand-alone supplement. All other content will arrive in their virtual mailboxes on Friday as usual. – Mark/the newsroom team
Quote for the Week: “Fear kills more dreams than failure ever will.” – Anonymous
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIESIn a bit of good news amidst the onslaught of hate, a Federal judge permanently blocked Arkansas’ ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
Hunter Biden reached a plea deal on tax-evasions charges and a gun violation, causing right-wing head explosions nationwide.
The most recent one-term president was raked over the coals in an interview with Bret Baier on Fox, essentially admitting to obstructing justice. But will he soon have a jumpsuit to match the spray tan?
LGBTQ NEWS’Just Us’ Documentary Explores The Lives Of LGBTQ People
Colorado Public RadioBuilding Support, Celebrating Contributions Are Key to LGBTQ+ Pharmacists
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The Weekly Readlines June 16
The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) is a roundup of news you can use every Friday.
Quote for the Week: “Our thing is this: If you come into this house, love one another. If you’re an a–hole, there are plenty of other places on Lower Broadway to go.” Garth Brooks, on continuing to serve Bud Light at his Nashville bar BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIESDozens of supporters showed up to protest the former president’s arraignment in Miami, in a show of force unequaled since Attila the Hun led his horsemen down the steppes.
A Starbucks union reported that Starbucks pulled its Pride merch nationwide, before a corporate denial the same day. Avoid the controversy, support your local coffee shops!
President Biden showed he had the spine lacking in corporate America to stand up for LGBTQ people by flying the Pride flag at the White House, much to the dismay of the rightwing hate machine.
And the great Glenda Jackson, whose breathtaking portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I on PBS so many years ago, has left this mortal coil.
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The Weekly Readlines June 9
The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines) offers news you can use every Friday.
Quote for the Week: “When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.” – King Lear, Act 4 Scene 5
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIESThere is only one truly huge story: Donald Trump has been indicted. I’m still trying to digest this, and the possible consequences. It’s a sad day for America, and as much as I loathe the man and what his movement has done to this country, the thought of an American president in prison is chilling. Let’s think this through …
The manufactured debt ceiling crisis, that stressful Kabuki theater staged by Republicans every time there’s a Democrat in the White House, failed to materialize once Biden and McCarthy struck a deal. The empire lives to crumble another day!
Despite Florida Republicans’ efforts to stuff LGBTQ people back into ill-fitting closets, Disney’s annual Gay Days went on with glorious rainbow defiance.
And the Bible was removed from one school district’s elementary and junior high libraries due to ‘vulgarity or violence.’ What’s good for the goose …
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The Weekly Readlines May 25
The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) is a feature at LGBTSr offering news you can use every week.
Quote for the Week: “Until a drag queen walks into a school and beats eight kids to death with a copy of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ I think you’re focusing on the wrong shit.” – Wanda Sykes
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIESTina Turner has died at 81, and the world mourns the loss of a great.
In hopeful signs, several Florida cities are fighting back, refusing to cancel Pride events or ban drag performers from them. Meanwhile, Target has moved some of its Pride merchandise to the back of its stores because that’s what threats of violence can make you do – and they know it.
Governor Ron “Benito” DeSantis has announced his candidacy, setting himself up as the little stuffed arcade doll Trump will soon be blasting off the shelf. Perhaps the only entertainment value in any of this?
And the country teeters once again on the verge of default, held hostage by the usual Republican suspects to the surprise of absolutely no one.