Horsey Hope

Strong Feelings About This

 

Birds of a Feather

Image:  Facebook

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting in Alaska right now.

In other words, we sent a felon and sexual abuser, and they sent a murderer and war criminal.

Cream isn't the only thing that rises.

Occupation

Image:  Pixabay

Against the backdrop of recently taking control of the Washington, D.C., police department and deploying the National Guard to our nation's capital, Donald Trump yesterday announced his choices for Kennedy Center honorees, and added that he'll be hosting the broadcast. The day before, the White House ordered a review of the Smithsonian Institution to make sure what it exhibits is in accord with Trump's wishes.

It's been a long time since an enemy of America overran Washington, D.C. Where's Dolley Madison when you need her?

This Week's Quote

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Trump to host Kennedy Center Honors ceremony

today's headline

Source:  Reuters

Beware

 

Moneymaking Marriages

Image by Welcome to All ! ツ from Pixabay

A study released this summer found that, in the ten years since the Obergefell decision legalized marriage equality, gay couples and their out-of-state wedding guests have poured about $5.9 billion into state and local economies.

I not only had a same-sex wedding, I also had a same-sex divorce, so I was doubly helpful to the local economy. Yet not a word of thanks from the chamber of commerce.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

In announcing her gubernatorial run in SC, Nancy Mace says she'll be "Trump in high heels." So which bathroom will she let herself use?

Paul Rudnick

Source:  X

Teaching Numbers

 

Shooting the Messenger

Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash

The government's Bureau of Labor Statistics released a decidedly weak jobs report on Friday. Hours later, Donald Trump fired the bureau's commissioner.

Had I known decades ago that sacking the person in charge is a viable option when you get news you don't like, the boss of the SAT wouldn't have lasted another minute.

You Need More Gay In Your Life

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Wikipedia

We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.

Bayard Rustin

Source: Goodreads

The Warrior's Achilles' Heel

Image:  Wikipedia

It feels like this was inevitable.

Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters is in hot water. Two members of the state's education board accuse him of having porn on a screen during a meeting.

Why do I bring this to your attention? Hang on.

Walters has been described as Oklahoma's "top culture warrior." A MAGA Christian nationalist, Walters last year directed all public schools to incorporate the Bible and Ten Commandments into their curriculum. He denies the very existence of transgender and non-binary people, and when non-binary student Nex Benedict died after a fight at school, advocates accused Walters of creating a dangerously intolerant atmosphere.

Walters was on Donald Trump's shortlist to be education secretary. Last fall, he wanted to require schools to show students a video of him praying for Trump.

In short, Walters is such an extreme Christian he'd even piss off Jesus.

Walters often railed against "sexual material," and now it's gone and turned up in his office. There can't be a single gay person anywhere in the country who's surprised, since we're so accustomed to this sort of screaming hypocrisy on the part of religious zealots.

I guess I'm a little surprised that it was naked women on his screen and not naked men, given his vocal anti-queerness. But Walters isn't a closet case. He's just an asshole.

Fancy That

 

Day One

Image:  Facebook

George Santos, the less-than-fabulous serial fabulist, begins his seven-year prison stretch today for identity theft, wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds.

The openly gay Santos couldn't tell the truth if his Ferragamo loafers depended on it.

The Advocate reports that the former congressman "has spent the week descending into a digital rampage, accusing prosecutors of conspiracy, threatening federal officials and journalists, and invoking far-right grievances against former President Barack Obama and the justice system, while praising President Donald Trump."

Santos has been holding out hope for a pardon from Trump. After all, they're so alike. Both are self-obsessed New York Republicans, both have used political power to enrich themselves, and both lie at a pace that breaks the land speed record.

In a final twist, Santos says he hopes to teach civics in prison. That would be like Jeffrey Dahmer teaching culinary arts.

Oh No

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

Republicans Look to Rename Kennedy Center Opera House After Melania Trump

Headline that I thought was a joke

Source:  The New York Times

Baby Boomer

 

Terminated

Image:  Facebook

Since the nation's Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 988, launched three years ago, it's fielded over 16 million calls, texts, and chats. Gay and transgender youth accounted for nearly 10% of those contacts.

The system is working. So . . . let's shut it down!

Last week the Trump administration pulled the plug on the "press 3" option, which connected queer young people with a counselor trained in their specific challenges, like discrimination, violence, and heightened suicidality.

I see this as a twofer for Trump and his suckerfish. First they actively vilify our community, especially transgender folks, and now they get to shutter a primary resource for coping with that vilification. So neat and tidy.

More and more I sense the need for a national Trump Crisis Lifeline so people can get emotional support dealing with the almost daily calamities he creates. Since 911 is taken, we need a different number. Funny, where Trump is concerned, all I can think of is 666.

Not Buying It

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

I'm not given to conspiracy theories. But I just can't swallow the White House claim that Donald Trump is experiencing a circulatory condition.

That requires a heart.

MAGA Distress

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

Who better to re-investigate the Epstein case for the Trump administration than another alleged sex trafficker?

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling on Lauren Boebert's suggestion that Matt Gaetz serve as special counsel

Source:  The New Republic

Another Day At the Office

Image:  Facebook

I couldn't make this up if I tried.

Here's what Donald Trump actually posted on Saturday:  "Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship. She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!"

Trump and O'Donnell have feuded for years, two loud New York celebrities swiping at each other. Now free of restraints, Trump believes if he as president loathes someone then that person is "a threat to humanity." Come on. Vladimir Putin is a threat to humanity. Rosie O'Donnell isn't even a threat to Brooklyn.

I don't know which is scariest, Trump's thin skin, his ego, or his willful disregard of what a president can legally do. All of them add up to a person you wouldn't want serving as a crossing guard, let alone as leader of the free world.

O'Donnell responded by posting. "I'm everything you fear. A loud woman,
a queer woman,
a mother who tells the truth,
an American who got out of the country before you set it ablaze. You are everything that is wrong with America—and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it."

She also posted a picture of Trump with Jeffrey Epstein, and I wonder whether the imbroglio Trump is in concerning Epstein is why he posted about O'Donnell, an attempt to divert his MAGA followers. So far, they're proving surprisingly undivertable.

O'Donnell concluded, "You want to revoke my citizenship?
Go ahead and try, King Joffrey with a tangerine spray tan." I've never seen "Game of Thrones," but I know Joffrey is described as a "villainous child-king," and that perfectly sums up Trump in 2025.

I'd argue, though, that his hue has morphed from tangerine to burnt umber.

The King Thing

Image:  Wikipedia

A few days ago I treated you to the story of Sure Foundation Baptist Church in Indianapolis, whose members are calling for gay people to commit suicide or be executed by the government.

No doubt they preach the love of Jesus in between.

Something has been niggling at me about these Westboro-wannabes, and I realized what around 10:30 last night when my historical gaydar finally kicked in.

While researching this delightful bunch, I'd read that they base their beliefs entirely on the King James Bible, which is called that because it was King James I of England who commissioned this translation.

Most recent historians believe King James was either gay or bisexual. 

Please, please, please, may I be the one to tell them?

This Week's Quote

Image by Mircea Iancu from Pixabay

Laugh a lot. It clears the lungs.

David Hockney

Source:  BrainyQuote

For the Love of God

Image:  Facebook

At Sure Foundation Baptist Church, a storefront affair in Indianapolis, it was "Men's Preaching Night."

Since women aren't allowed to preach, the name strikes me as redundant.

Anyway, on June 29, church member Stephen Falco offered a sermon tied to Pride Month. "Why do I hate sodomites, why do I hate faggots? Because they attack children,” he ranted."They’re coming after your children, they are attacking them in schools today, and not only schools, in public places, and they’re proud about it!"

Falco then declared gays should shoot themselves in the head. The Farce is strong with this one.

A few days later, the church responded to the ensuing criticism—by doubling down. 

"The Bible is crystal clear that sodomites (homosexuals) deserve the death penalty carried out by a government that actually cares about the law of God," said a Facebook message signed by Evangelist Justin Zhong.

So now it's the government that should kill us. Saves me having to buy a gun.

It's safe to say that Christian love isn't motivating these fellas. I suspect they preach violent homophobia and post it on YouTube because they want more than the 35 folks they get on an average Sunday.

For I believe it was Jesus who implored, "Don't hide your hate under a bushel."

I Checked

Image by TyliJura from Pixabay

Pride Month is over.

I'm still gay.

Takes the Cake

 

Fourth of July 2025

 

Question For You

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

The House has approved Donald Trump's "one big beautiful bill."

How do you feel?

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

The thing is, billionaires don't NEED a tax cut. They already have more money than they could ever hope to spend.

So why does the Republican spending bill give them one, at the cost of health care for the sick and food for the hungry?

To harm those they see as undeserving.

Hillary Clinton

Source:  X

Exit Stage Right

Image:  Facebook

Jimmy Swaggart, who died today at age 90, wasn't as virulent on the subject of homosexuality as fellow televangelists Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.

In 2004, well after he was caught cavorting with female prostitutes, Swaggart spoke of his opposition to same-sex marriage. "I’ve never seen a man in my life I wanted to marry," the Pentecostal preacher told his congregation.

"And I’m going to be blunt and plain: If one ever looks at me like that, I’m going to kill him and tell God he died," he said to laughter.

Swaggart later apologized. But gay men were understandably offended that he threatened murder. Other gay men were offended at the idea that they could be so lacking in taste as to hit on him in the first place.

Pride 2025

Image:  Facebook

In year one of Trump 2.0, it felt important to me to represent by attending Pride. So even though I'd had a rotten cold all week, I hauled my carcass to Seattle Pride yesterday, and marched in the parade with my fellow Unitarian Universalists.

I hid my red nose behind a rainbow fan.

The day before, about 100,000 Hungarians also felt a need to show up at Pride—under much scarier circumstances. The government of Hungarian Grand Poobah Viktor Orbán, which has been steamrolling democracy for years, recently decided it can ban public LGBTQ events.

So all those Hungarians, gay and straight, were actively defying an official ban. They risked heavy fines and conflict with police. The 30th annual Budapest Pride turned out to be not only record-setting in size, but also a clear rebuke of an autocrat's government.

A queer-led protest against abuse of power? Sounds like Stonewall to me.

Law of the Jungle

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

In this final week of its term, the Supreme Court has been very good to Donald Trump and his fellow travelers.

Today the Court decided that school systems must allow parents to pull their kids from class when course material conflicts with their religious views. Translation: If a book has LGBTQ characters, Junior is outta there.

Religion as an excuse to demonize a minority group is exceedingly tiresome for us, but I'll wager some of the most tired people on the planet right now are the Court's three liberals. Those women must feel they're the nation's last defense against presidential power grabs and right-wing cruelty.

No pressure or anything.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

Can't wait until the next Democratic president puts 2 pride flags up on those Trump flagpoles.

MAGAs will try to overthrow the government again.

Alex Cole

Source:  X

Face It

 

So Says He

Image:  Facebook

Last night I forced myself to watch Donald Trump justify bombing Iran. As part of his short remarks, he said, "I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before."

Now we know. Trump and Netanyahu are the Lennon and McCartney of warfare.

Then Trump thanked the American military for "an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades." He congratulated "all of the brilliant military minds involved in this attack." 

Also, "There's no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight, not even close. There's never been a military that could do what took place just a little while ago."

Trump boasted like a teenage boy who's just had sex for the first time.

He was losing his way at the end when he said, "And in particular, God, I want to just say, we love you God." This is what happens when a guy who doesn't have a spiritual bone in his body tries to pull off Christian-speak on the fly.

Whatever Trump does next in the Middle East, it will be the most brilliant move the world has seen since the beginning of time. And Jesus will agree.

This Crazy World

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Vladimir Putin has offered to mediate the Israel-Iran war.

That's like Donald Trump offering to preside over a rape trial.

June 19

 

This Week's Quote

Image by Mark Thomas from Pixabay

By retreating from meaningful judicial review exactly where it matters most, the Court abandons transgender children and their families to political whims. In sadness, I dissent.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who read her dissent aloud from the bench today

Source:  The Hill

Dig It

Image:  Facebook

Erik Shoji, the captain of the U.S. men's national volleyball team, posted a video on social media a few days ago. The 35-year-old libero sat down and said, "I am here to tell the world today that I am queer."

And I'm here to applaud him.

Also, I want to emphasize that just because the libero wears a jersey that's a different color from the rest of his team, doesn't mean all liberos are gay. But you can continue to hope.

Signing Off

I promise this is my last post regarding protest signs.

Until the next protest.

First, I wrote on the day of the "No Kings" demonstrations that I'd spied a slogan outside Seattle that I assumed was homegrown. It turns out "The only kings we want are salmon" was a protest theme in Alaska. So official—o-fish-el?—credit goes to residents of The Last Frontier.

Second, when my sister Kim and her kids protested in Bellingham, Wash., she carried a two-sided sign. With "USA:  Rejecting Kings Since 1776," she resisted Trump. On the other side, as the picture shows, she saluted Pride Month. When a straight family member does that, I feel supported.

A sign that both protests and uplifts? The way Kim multitasks is downright scary.

American Sign Language

Image:  Facebook

I've been at this protesting thing long enough to know that people share sign ideas online. So if you see a witticism on a sign in a Poughkeepsie protest, you'll see it again in news reports from Detroit, Little Rock, and Billings.

Today, as I joined hundreds of folks in a bedroom community outside Seattle for a "No Kings" protest, I noticed a woman holding a sign that I'm guessing is actually unique to the Pacific Northwest. It read "The only kings we want are salmon."

Royalty

 

Monarch of the Moment

My longtime friend Dennis is ready for a "No Kings" demonstration in Maine tomorrow. I love the itty-bitty hands, the endless tie, and the Burger King crown. I also love it when straight guys have artistic talent and aren't afraid to show it.

This Week's Quote

Image by 🆓 Use at your Ease 👌🏼 from Pixabay

Geoff Bennett: Does language like that coming from a sitting member of Congress, does that risk escalating tensions at this already volatile moment?

Rep. Norma Torres: Absolutely not, any more than language like just grab them by the P-word. Guess what, America? We have become the P-word.

Source:  PBS News Hour

Idiomatic

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

Labeling the Los Angeles protesters "insurrectionists" when you're the person who incited a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol? If that isn't the POTUS calling the kettle black.

We'd All Prefer It

 

Credit:  Ian Thomas Malone

Delusional Pride

Image:  Facebook

As expected, Donald Trump hasn't issued a proclamation recognizing June as Pride Month.

Yet he's still managing to benefit financially from Pride, because the Log Cabin Republicans of New York City are holding a Pride party at Trump Tower. These gay GOP'ers, who suffer from too much money and too little conscience, want you to join them "for our biggest event of the year."

For $175, you can attend PrideRight at Trump Tower. It'll feature an open bar, hors d'oeuvres, and "special guests!" LGBTQ Nation guesses that might turn out to be Melania Trump, since she has a symbiotic relationship with the Log Cabin Republicans—she likes to get paid, and the group likes to pay her.

The date is June 28, when Pride will be in full swing in the Big Apple. That Trump not only refuses to bless Pride but is busily attacking transgender people and wiping out gay history means nothing to these folks, who live in a different universe, and I'm not talking about Staten Island.

May their canapés be burnt, the booze watered, the help surly. And may every queer New Yorker refuse to sleep with any of this bunch all weekend long.