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The Weekly Readlines January 25
A note from the editor’s desk: we’re not apolitical at LGBTSr. We have an agenda—being there for the aging and elderly among us. This is acutely important during these times of erasure of us and the escalating assault on all things LGBTQ. If you take offense at my worldview, please be assured: it’s not going to change.
I tried that whole “I’m not going to be political” thing a few times, and the ghost of every friend I had who died from AIDS screamed, “What is wrong with you?” I heard them clearly and I won’t be getting along to get along any time soon. – Mark
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
In less that a week in office, Trump and his administration have effectively erased every trace of LGBTQ people from federal websites and resources. But just because they can’t see us doesn’t mean we’re not here. Ditto for the Spanish-language White House website (gone), women’s health resources (gone), and anything remotely offensive to the the non-white “color blind” world Project 2025 is rapidly creating for a country founded on slavery and genocide.
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The Weekly Readlines January 10
TOP TAKES AND TIDBITS
The Readlines is a short ‘top takes’ roundup from the weekly news, delivered family style so you can take what you like. Garlic knots are an upcharge. – Mark
LGBTQ+ People Relive Old Traumas As They Age On Their Own (Daily Kos)
Ontario Premiere Offers to Buy Alaska and Minnesota
Justice Department To Release Part Of Trump Election Interference Report, Leaving Out Documents Case
Why Would Trump Want Greenland And The Panama Canal? Here’s What’s Behind U.S. Interest
Jimmy Carter Funeral: Biden And Four Former Presidents Attend Memorial Service – Latest Updates
Social Security Fairness Act Brings Retirement Changes For Some Pensioners – CNBC
Is Bird Flu The Next Pandemic? What To Know After The First H5N1 Death In The US
Lifelong Exercise Promotes Brain Health In Older Adults | National Institute On Aging
166 Million-Year-Old ‘Dinosaur Highway’ Discovered In Southern England
Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary Fame Dies at 86
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The Weekly Readlines December 15
A note from the newsroom: It’s been a year, hasn’t it? And it’s not over yet. We’ve seen gains, we’ve seen losses, we’ve felt hope and we’ve felt heartbreak. Kind of like every year, when you think about it.Two very recent losses brought my youth to mind: the death of poet and activist Nikki Giovanni, and the passing of Michael Cole, one of the three now-dead leads from Mod Squad (1968 – 1973). It wasn’t until I saw the headline about Cole’s death that I remembered him as one of my boyhood TV man-crushes. Some others were Robert Conrad on Wild Wild West (“Who is your tailor, Mr. Conrad? Such tight fitting blue suits”) and Bill Bixby on The Courtship of Eddie’s Father.Nikki Giovanni was among a handful of poets I devoured in high school, learning from them how to use words most effectively, and how to make sense of a world I generally found unwelcoming.She was 81, he was 84, I’m 66. We all take a licking and keep on ticking … until the clock stops. So long, you two, thanks for being part of the puzzle that is me. – Mark
QUOTE FOR THE WEEK
“There is always something to do. There are hungry people to feed, naked people to clothe, sick people to comfort and make well. And while I don’t expect you to save the world I do think it’s not asking too much for you to love those with whom you sleep, share the happiness of those whom you call friend, engage those among you who are visionary and remove from your life those who offer you depression, despair and disrespect.”
Poet and Activist Nikki Gionanni (1943 – 2024)
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The Weekly Readlines November 24
A note from the newsroom: I’ve been asked to facilitate a journaling group for LGBTQ participants, mostly older, who live in and around New Hope, PA (I already run an adult writers’ group at the library there). The reason given to me was that many of us are worried and maybe even frightened by the incoming administration and its plans for us. I said yes, of course. I’m not personally scared, but I am determined to be supportive and to not “get along” with people who would be delighted to see us silent or dead … and really, is there a difference?
A lot of us don’t have the luxury of not being political. I don’t live a life free from concern for others who aren’t like me. I lost dozens of friends and loved ones to AIDS. I was shaped by some amazing transgender people. I maintain a website for older LGBTQ readers. My life is political and always has been. – Mark
– Mark
THE WEEK IN HEADLINES
LGBTQ
Singer Khalid Comes Out As Gay After Being Outed: ‘I Am Not Ashamed’ – Pinknews
Trump Nominates AIDS Denier Kennedy for HHS Secretary – BBC
City That Placed $10,000 Bounty On Trans People Who Use Public Restrooms Makes Law Even Worse
LBTQ+ Afghans ‘Suffer Sexual And Physical Abuse’ In Detention Under The Taliban – PinkNews
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The Weekly Readlines November 17
A note from the newsroom: I got a private message from a friend I met many years ago in California. She told me that she’d come from a very religious background and that meeting me (in my 20s then) opened her heart and mind to a wider, more loving world. One chance encounter, a friendship, and she and her now-adult children are the sort of people who make me feel safe. We CAN make a difference when we are ourselves, when we live truthfully, and when we live as examples. Hate may have no home here, as the yard signs in my beloved Lambertville say, but it has mansions all around us.
– Mark
QUOTE FOR THE WEEK
“If you come for my people, you come through me.”
– Illinois Governor JB Pritzer
THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
LGBTQ
Discovery of New Oscar Wilde Books Resolves a Serious Loss in LGBT Literary History.
LGBTQ+ Community Urged to Take Legal Precautions Amid Potential Risks in a Second Trump Term
U.S. POLITICS
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Reveals Plans To Fire 600 Federal Health Workers – LGBTQ Nation
One Election Victory Does Not Make A New Era In American Politics
Trump Expected to Appoint Anti-LGBTQ+ White Nationalist Stephen Miller
HEALTH AND AGING
Nearly Three-Fourths Of Veterans Are Age 50 Or Older; Here Are Simple Ways To Help Them
Ultra-Processed Foods May Accelerate Biological Aging – Medicalnewstoday
Beyond the Binary: Shaping the Future of LGBTQ+ Health Data – QNews
LGBTQ+ Adults May Have Greater Risk of Poor Brain Health – OutSmart
SCIENCE
Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity Faces Challenge
Sunita Williams Addresses Health Concerns From Aboard The Space Station
TRAVEL
The Best Safety Devices for Travel
ENTERTAINMENT
Freevee Sent To Amazon Graveyard – Ars Technica
All the Girls and Gays Defied Gravity at the ‘Wicked’ Premiere – Autostraddle
Ella Jenkins, The First Lady Of Children’s Music, Has Died At 100
Shaboozey’s ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy)’ Hits Another Pop Chart Milestone
ISN’T THAT SOMETHING?
Koala Found Relaxing In South Australia Couple’s Bedroom – UPI.Com
Just Like Us: Animals Become Less Social as They Age — Here’s Why
Mattel Apologizes For Misprint On ‘Wicked’ Doll Packaging That Links To Porn Website – UPI
Painting by an AI robot sells for more than $1 million
Sunita Williams Witnesses 16 Sunrises, Sunsets Every Day
The Science Behind Your Dog’s Most Annoying Behavior
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The Weekly Readlines August 1
QUOTE FOR THE WEEK
what didn’t you do to bury me
but you forgot that I was a seed
Greek poet Dinos Christianopoulos (1978)
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
President Biden and his administration successfully negotiated an extremely complex, multi-national prisoner swap, from deep within the depths of his supposed dementia.
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris challenged Trump to “Say it to my face” as voter enthusiasm continued to surge for the preferred candidate of childless cat ladies everywhere.
Catastrophic V.P. pick J.D. Vance doubled down on his ickiness, while admitting his wife is not white but he loves her anyway.
Trump rolled out the new Republican strategy, which is the same old racism, trying to get people to focus on Kamala Harri’s biracial heritage, which he pretends he doesn’t understand. Hopefully people outside MAGA-land won’t fall for it.
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The Weekly Readlines July 27
QUOTE FOR THE WEEK
“I am afraid. Not of life, or death, or nothingness, but of wasting it as if I had never been.” — Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Wow, that was an earthquake. Vice President Kamala Harris will be the Democratic nominee. On Sunday, President Biden announced he would not run for a second term and immediately endorsed VP Harris. Within 24 hours, nearly every significant Democrat and Democratic organization had lined up behind her.
Meanwhile, Trump remains chained to the virulently misogynistic, homophobic literary fraud and Christian nationalist cheerleader JD Vance (his preferred name).
LGBTQ
Kamala Harris To Appear On ‘Rupaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ Season Finale
LGBTQ+ Americans Are Coming Out Earlier In Life: Gallup – The Hill -
The Weekly Readlines July 20
QUOTE FOR THE WEEK
“Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
There is no bigger story this week than the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. It feels like a fuse has been lit and we will not know where this goes until it reaches its destination.
Republicans failed at hiding their true natures at the convention in Milwaukee, capping off with a nutso rambling speech by Donald “The Second Coming” Trump.
and Calif. Governor Newsom signed a law prohibiting schools from ratting out LGBTQ students into their parents.
LGBTQ NEWS
Foreign Office Warns UK Tourists Not To ‘Show Affection In Public’ – Birmingham Live
Trans Killings Now Punishable By Up To 70 Years In Mexico City – Scranton Times
U.S. POLITICS
Trump Rally Shooting Comes Amid Rise In Support For Political Violence – The Guardian
Donald Trump Plans To Gut Queer And Trans Rights In A Second Term – Them.Us
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The Weekly Readlines June 28
QUOTE FOR THE WEEK
“Life becomes easier when you learn to accept an apology you never got.” – Robert Brault
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
By almost all accounts President Biden bombed at the debate. No further comment.
From the good news beat, Biden pardoned military veterans who were convicted for same-sex activities prior to the repeal of DADT, and the number of elected LGBTQ officials jumped 200 percent since 2017. Pickings from the happy place are a bit slim these days
NEWS FOR Qs
Biden Protections For LGBT Students Blocked In Six More States | WTVB
US Supreme Court To Hear Challenge To Ban On Transgender Care For Minors – AOL.com
Peru stops labeling transgender people as mentally ill – Yahoo News Canada
Georgian Parliament Gives Initial Approval To Sweeping Curbs On LGBT Rights | Reuters
Cleveland Is Home To One Of The Oldest LGBT Community Centers In The Nation – WEWS
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The Weekly Readlines April 5
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
The right indulged in another manufactured freakout, this time over the White House Easter egg hunt, and Biden’s observation of the Trans Day of Visibility. The egg hunt has had the same rules about not including religious imagery for 45 years, and trans visibility day has been on March 31 since it began in 2009. Meanwhile, Trump escalates his fusion of politics and Christian nationalist grievance, declaring that election day will be ‘Christian Visibility Day.’ As if anyone could miss the most ubiquitous religion in America.
Costo weighs in on the weight-loss game with its new $179 three-month plan, in partnership with Sesame, its healthcare vendor. You can sign up after snagging their super popular $1.50 hot dogs with a whopping 700 calories. Seems like the perfect combo.
Disney shareholders rejected a push for an anti-trans policy in an explosive annual meeting, and the Talented Mr. Ripley got a remake on Netflix that has everyone calling it a masterpiece.
SMALL PLATES AND FINGER FOODS
LGBT Adults More Likely To Experience Discrimination In The Exam Room – MSN
A Queer Muslim HIV-positive Journey – POZ Magazine
Joe Biden Calls Trans People “Fabric Of Our Nation” In Trans Day Of Visibility Proclamation
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The Weekly Readlines March 21
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
Like rain in the dessert, President Biden finally gets a boost in the polls, beating Trump in three of them this past week. Maybe it was that whole ‘there will be a bloodbath’ thing Trump promised to his enthralled supporters in Ohio. Or maybe people are finally realizing the man’s got stage-three something of the brain. Biden’s also crushing Trump in fundraising, possibly because Biden donors aren’t paying off his legal bills.
SCOTUS gave Texas the green light to start its own dictatorship, seizing immigration authority explicitly given to the federal government in the Constitution. But hey, what’s that dusty old document when it stands in the way of six ‘strict constructionists’ everyone knows by now aren’t strict at all.
In a preview of gay life in America beneath the boot of Christian nationalism, Russia arrested the managers of a gay club under its ‘Extremism’ law. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
And primed for success, Amazon began selling over-the-counter birth control pills online. But is there free shipping?
IN OTHER NEWS
First Openly Gay Top Flight Footballer Proposes To His Partner On The Pitch – Indy100
LGBTQ+ voters in Michigan, other battleground states overwhelmingly support Biden
Retirement Fears Do Not Play Out In Reality, Survey Shows – Journal Of Accountancy
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The Weekly Readlines March 8
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
BREAKING: Biden scorches a win with his State of the Union, reminding a country that needs it of the dangers ahead. Will we stop hearing about his age and his imagined infirmities? Perhaps in the real world where it’s needed. In the right-wing bubble? Not so much. Bravo!
2024 is now set to be among the longest years in memory. Barring the arrival of a species-ending comet, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee. Joe Biden, as the incumbent, will face him in another cage match for the gerontocracy. One of these two men will occupy the White House for the following four years. And to think we once had a president named Obama who was younger than me.
Nikki Haley has dropped out of the race, with her expected genuflection coming soon. Even Mitch McConnell, stepping down as Senate Minority Leader, having at one time affixed blame for the assault on the Capitol squarely on Trump, and having allowed his wife to endure Trump’s and racist slurs, has kissed the ring in record time. I wouldn’t call what they’re all kissing a ring.
To absolutely no one’s disappointment, fashion hound and senatorial obstructionist Krysten Sinema has announced her retirement. Don’t let the changing booth door hit you in the ass on the way out.
LGBTQ NEWS
GLAAD Releases 2024 Voter Poll: 94% Of LGBTQ Americans Are Motivated To Vote
California survey seeks insights on LGBTQ older adults – Q Voice News
AARP-Backed LGBTQ+ Bill of Rights Takes Effect for Oregon Nursing Homes
As a Catholic Doctor, I Know Gender-Affirming Care Is Essential for Transgender Youth.