Donald the Don

 

The Uncomfy Truth

Image by Justin Vogt from Pixabay

Yesterday was "National Honor Our LGBT Elders Day," and the organization that supports queer seniors here in Seattle hosted a "Silver in the Rainbow Dance Party."

I attended, accepting the reality that at 62 I belonged there. Though all evening I kept saying, "I can't believe I'm at an event co-sponsored by AARP."

A Classic

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

Trump brought Lara and Eric, Elon and Marco Rubio with him to China. It's similar to when the early settlers brought smallpox to America.

Paul Rudnick

Source:  X

A Hero Passes

Image:  Facebook

Jason Collins, the NBA's first out gay player, has died of brain cancer at the age of 47.

In a 2013 essay he penned for Sports Illustrated, Collins wrote, "I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay. I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation."

That conversation about gay men in sports hasn't stopped since, and we owe Collins a great debt. It's a shame he didn't live longer to see more and more jocks come out. But at least he died knowing he set a ferocious pick on homophobia.

Republican Career Gal

Image:  Facebook

I want to acknowledge that Karoline Leavitt was the first pregnant White House press secretary, and she worked until just a few days before giving birth to her daughter on May 1.

Clearly Leavitt is a devoted servant of the president, lying with almost the same aplomb he does, and she plans to return to her job after maternity leave. She could get back even sooner if she hired a wet nurse.

I hear Bryon Noem is available.

Research

 

Thomas Tenure

Image:  Facebook

As of today, Justice Clarence Thomas has served on the Supreme Court for 34 years, six months, and 13 days. That makes the arch-conservative the second-longest serving justice in history.

Funny. To me it feels like he's been on the Supreme Court a mere 800 years.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. You don’t get to enjoy Hispanic cuisine. Eat a Twinkie and be quiet.

Brunette Bohemian

Source:  X

More Than Enough

 

Color Me Impressed

Image by Janet Reddick from Pixabay

As red states go, Texas is downright crimson.

But sometimes crimson has a blue undertone, and this week that distinction belongs to the city of San Antonio. For the first time, the San Antonio City Council issued a proclamation recognizing Trans History Week, a global event that starts today.

Will this move amount to waving a red flag to the bull? Will conservative Texans go red in the face? Are they being tossed red meat? Is the proclamation crossing a red line?

I could stop, but that would make me blue.

Balance in 2026

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

Yesterday evening I volunteered at a fundraiser for a group that helps transgender people with limited means flee red states and move here to western Washington.

The event highlighted an inherent tension in the group's efforts. With all the official and unofficial threats against trans folks right now, the group considers secrecy paramount. But fundraisers require publicity. How the hell do you publicize an event you can't talk about?

The answer is very carefully, and I'm pleased to say the room was mostly full last night. But obviously we could've brought in many more donors with unshackled publicity. It's a tough balance to strike.

One attendee told me she wanted to shout out before the program began, "Will the FBI informant please stand up and leave?" I would've added, "Please donate before you go!"

That's When the Trouble Starts

This Week's Quote

Image:  X

TWO KINGS.

The caption for a photo of King Charles III and Donald Trump

Source: The White House's official X account

Both Sides Agreeing on Something

Image:  Facebook

I noticed that my Facebook feed has been oddly heavy on liberal conspiracy theories in response to the attempted assassination at Saturday's Correspondents' dinner. The Washington Post reports that the rush to declare conspiracies, by both the left and right, was unusually "marked and potent."

Both sides claim Donald Trump and his flunkies staged the chaos in order to build support for Trump, floundering in the polls, and that ridiculous ballroom he lusts after so much it might as well be a female eastern European.

Disinformation experts noted something I glommed onto, namely that all this conjecturing highlights a growing disenchantment with Trump among MAGA types. It would be poetic justice if he who gained the White House on a hot mess of lies were brought down by the same.

A big factor in this conspiracy theory explosion is the human need to make sense of a crisis when little information is available. One expert said that Trump calling for the ballroom right after the incident created mental discomfort for some, who then leaped to conclusions. "It's like conspiratorial Mad Libs."

I loved Mad Libs as a kid. My siblings and I used to think it was hilarious that whenever a noun was called for, we shouted "toilet!"

We were ahead of our time. The conspiracy theorists need to plug in something to make the world make sense—and under Trump, Washington IS a toilet.

Last Night

Image:  Facebook

Regarding the events at last night's White House Correspondents' dinner, I loathe Donald Trump as much as any thinking American, but I don't believe he, nor any of his minions, should be assassinated.

That said, let me tell you who I felt the most sympathy for last night:  the female reporters. Do you have any idea how hard it is to hurl yourself under a table wearing a formal dress and heels? I'd have strangled myself on the tablecloth in the attempt.

One Cold Fish

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

Anyone that knows me knows that I will always tell you I told you so, but knowing that Sue Bird would eventually dump Megan Rapinoe, well, that was very, very easy. First, Megan Rapinoe . . . is a predator, and Sue Bird, I told you forever was not a lifetime lesbian. Maybe I'm wrong, but I knew, I knew that was never gonna last because Rapinoe is a predator.

The aptly named Dick Dakich, former ESPN announcer

Source:  Out

We Miss You, Jill

Image:  Facebook

As you well know, the Trump administration has labored to roll back gay rights and to destroy transgender people.

The cavernous difference between this administration and the previous one jumped out at me as I read that former First Lady Jill Biden attended The LGBT Community Center's Dinner in New York City last week. Apparently she's such a fan of "Heated Rivalry," the gay hockey series, that she bid $35,000 for a walk-on role.

She lost. We know how she feels.

The queer community, in a short amount of time, has gone from being supported to being vilified by Washington. We have whiplash like we were checked into the boards by a toothless enforcer from Saskatchewan.

The Trashy Trinity

 

News Flash

Image:  Facebook

I was driving home this afternoon, listening to NPR, when the local affiliate teased that the biggest power couple here in Seattle sports had split up.

I sat in the driveway, listening to the piece on the breakup of Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe. I soon discovered that The Seattle Times had emailed a news bulletin announcing the same.

In fact, this story of a lesbian rupture made mainstream news all over the country. That in itself is news, a positive sign of how things have changed. The accounts I read were direct and respectful. No need to hint at what their relationship had been, since Bird and Rapinoe didn't.

What I wonder now is will the mainstream press get the rest of the story: that from coast to coast, half of all lesbians are sad about the Bird-Rapinoe split, and the other half are weighing their chances with the both of them.

Too Late Now

Image:  Facebook

Like a lot of Americans, I was none too happy about paying taxes this week to a government that's spending mind-boggling amounts of money on a war it had no business starting.

Worse yet, I keep thinking all this waste, destruction, and loss of life could've been avoided if we'd just let Donald Trump dress like Louis XIV, and given Pete Hegseth a crusader's outfit and a rocking horse.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

Eric Swalwell's political career died so fast it's like JD Vance endorsed him.

Covie

Source:  X

Dr. Do-Little

 

Foreign Service?

Image:  Facebook

JD Vance flew to Budapest to endorse Hungarian president Viktor Orbán in his re-election bid, but the strongman lost in a landslide.

Vance flew to Pakistan to lead American peace talks with Iran, but failed to achieve peace.

If Vance flies to Cuba, may it be just for salsa lessons.

Oh, They're Good

 

Boise, Master of Workarounds

Image:  Facebook

The flag feud in the Gem State continues.

In a bid to stifle expressions of queerdom last year, the Idaho state legislature passed a law banning cities from flying flags not on the sanctioned list. To sidestep that, the city of Boise then adopted the Pride flag as an official city flag.

This year the state responded by imposing fines of $2,000 per day for any naughty flags. The governor signed that bill into law on March 31, and that day Boise's Pride flag came down.

But the city said, "Hold my (craft) beer."

Rainbow colors now wrap flagpoles. Boise City Hall is illuminated in rainbow accent lighting, and features a rainbow-stripe sign that reads "Creating a city for everyone."

Well-played, Boise. So, is it a stalemate? Or will the Idaho legislature try to outlaw rainbows? Stay tuned for the next episode of "As the Flag Flaps."

This Week's Quote

Image by kalhh from Pixabay

Regardless of whether it’s all talk, when the leader of our country expresses plainly genocidal intent, everyone has to do something.

For citizens of all political stripes, it means rejecting this madness. For Congress, it means taking action to rein him in. Now.

Pete Buttigieg

Source:  Facebook

Warning

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Donald Trump, president of these United States, threatened in a post this morning that if Iran doesn't agree to his terms then "a whole civilization will die tonight."

A pretty solid indication that ours already has.

Strange Time for Romance

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

Let's take a break from the impending end of the world and examine something much lighter: My attempt at dating.

As a 62-year-old divorced lesbian, I know the odds of pairing up at this juncture aren't great. But hope stings eternal, and in a weak moment I found myself researching lesbian dating sites.

I settled on one called Pink Cupid. In the week that I've been on there, it's become abundantly clear that I didn't do enough research.

Oh, I receive a daily stream of likes and messages, so I should be in dyke heaven, right? Wrong. The folks trying to strike up a connection are frauds. The profiles are fake. Once in a while a real lesbian breaks through, but that's rare. It's a deluge of deceit.

The stilted language in messages, the way the photos and listed ages don't match, and the fact that some photos reappear as a different person are some of the hints that these profiles are pure fiction.

Also, I've twice seen an image of Sue Bird.

The scammers, likely male, assume that I want a younger woman, so they offer up gals from 25 to 55. The women are all attractive to gorgeous. And some of them are so well-endowed they make Bryon Noem look flat.

Thanks to the multitudinous attempts to swindle me, Pink Cupid has been an unhappy experiment. Now I know I'm gonna be all alone in that bomb shelter.

Easter Keester?

 

Agreed

Image:  Facebook

It surprised me when the White House released its fantastical budget proposal yesterday that there was one item I could get behind.

Donald Trump wants $152 million to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz. Fine—as long as he's the first new resident.

Most Devoted of Servants

Image:  Facebook

Talk about ingratitude.

As attorney general, Pam Bondi weaponized the Justice Department to open investigations into Donald Trump's enemies; she tried to stonewall the Epstein files; she shrilly sang Trump's praises at every opportunity; she even hung a banner with Trump's face outside the Justice Department building.

All that playing fast and loose with ethics and the law on behalf of that man, and today Trump fires her.

Oh Pam, it doesn't matter that you were true blue. Trump is always true poo.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

After discovering that her husband visits fetish sites and dresses up as a busty woman, Kristi Noem has asked for "privacy, and thoughts and prayers." I'm sending prayers and tube tops.

Paul Rudnick

Source:  X

Full-Court Press

Image:  Facebook

On this Transgender Day of Visibility, the Supreme Court decided free speech trumps queer kids' right to be themselves.

The justices sided 8-1 with a Christian counselor who claimed Colorado's law banning conversion therapy violated her First Amendment right to tell gay and trans youth that they're going to spend eternity in the fires of hell. (Okay, I presume she didn't put it that way.)

This means that the bans on conversion therapy enacted by bunches of states are up in the air. So brace yourself for the return of "Christian" therapy aimed at changing teens' sexual orientation or gender identity. To be followed by guilt, depression, and suicidal ideation.

On the upside, we all know of cases where a gay kid goes to conversion camp and meets his first boyfriend.

That Tracks

 

Harumph

Image:  Facebook

I've now participated in all three No Kings protests, but I haven't received a penny in payment.

I intend to report George Soros to the Department of Labor.

He's Not Our Fault!

Image:  Facebook

The constant stream of verbal malarkey that comes out of Donald Trump's mouth included this gem yesterday: "I did very well with the gay vote."

Trump won about 12 percent of the LGBTQ vote in 2024, with Kamala Harris capturing about 86 percent.

If he thinks that's doing well, I've got a strait by the name of Hormuz to sell him.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

After missing its recruitment goals, the U.S. Army is now raising its max enlistment age to 42 and removing its waiver requirement for a single marijuana possession.

Gosh... if only thousands of highly qualified trans soldiers hadn't been kicked out last year for no good reason.

Charlotte Clymer

Source: X

Florida Flip

Image:  Facebook

Today in Florida, a Democrat defeated a Trump-backed Republican in the race for the open District 87 state House seat. District 87 happens to include . . . Mar-a-Lago.

Feel free to bask in the moment.

I'm not so optimistic as to say the flipping of this seat is a harbinger of things to come, but I sure am digging the symbolism.

By the way, for all his carping on the subject, Trump voted by mail. And probably always will, until they put a polling place on a golf course.

The Whole Shed Shimmies

 

Processing Chavez

Image:  Facebook

I've waited a couple of days to let the news about César Chavez sink in. I hoped giving myself that time would allow me to come up with an incisive comment.

It hasn't.

Apparently I'm on the emotional slow train, only just moving from shock to deep disappointment. With stops at anger along the way.

It's one thing when a social-justice hero is revealed to have had feet of clay. Think MLK's many infidelities. It's another thing when the icon is revealed to have been a serial rapist.

What do we progressive types do with this news? Wallow in sadness? Work to separate the man from his accomplishments? Become even more cynical?

I admit I've had overwrought thoughts like, "Men just can't be trusted, and for the sake of girls, women, and the planet, should all be confined to Oklahoma."

But even this lesbian needs men, as friends and relatives and to balance my existence. Besides, my straight women friends couldn't live without men—although more and more sound willing to try.

So far what I've taken from the revelations about Chavez is an abiding respect for his accusers. That the two women he groomed as girls have come forward despite enormous cultural pressure is beyond brave.

And Dolores Huerta, telling her ghastly truth at the age of 95, keeping the secrets all these years so the farmworker movement wouldn't be wounded. That's heroic, tragic, and so female.

If it should turn out that Huerta likes to strangle kittens in her free time, don't tell me. I can't take it.

On the Dog Low

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

The only thing prohibiting transit in the strait right now is Iran shooting at shipping. It is open for transit should Iran not do that.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

Source:  ABC News

Phantom Support

Image:  Facebook

Twice yesterday Donald Trump claimed he talked to one of his predecessors about the Iran war, and the former president told him, "I wish I did what you did."

However, aides to George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama said no conversations took place, and Joe Biden has also been ruled out, reports NBC News, exhausting the pool of living former presidents.

So either Trump—gasp—lied, or he meant he talked to himself, since he's also a former president, and received hearty approval.

I suppose there's a third possibility, that he's in nightly contact with Rutherford B. Hayes, but let's not make things worse than they already are.

Timeline

 

The Basics

Image:  Pixabay

After church today, I decided I needed to stop for some groceries. And by "groceries," I mean Girl Scout cookies.

If you think mama's going to get through the next months of Trump and war and Trump without Thin Mints, you're desperately mistaken.

The News We Need

Image:  Facebook

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has established the first Mayor's Office for LGBTQIA+ Affairs. He put Taylor Brown in charge of it, making her the first openly transgender person to lead a NYC office.

"She's gonna make sure that everybody gonna be somebody," said Rosetta Ferguson, Brown's grandmother.

Can't type anymore. Got something in my eye.

Better Than the Florsheims Trump's Been Doling Out?

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

If you want policy to change, if you want this White House to take care of you, actually it’s surprisingly easy. Any one of you ought to try this: Take a million dollars, donate it to the ballroom that they’re building in the East Wing. Take another million dollars; I assume we all have a couple more lying around, right? Put it in the fund for that crypto company. Take another million dollars. Last time I checked, that is the entrance fee, not the membership, but just the initiation fee for a membership at Mar-a-Lago. And that’s all you’ve got to do to start getting your calls returned by this White House.

Pete Buttigieg

Source:  LGBTQ Nation