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Buyer’s Remorse
I have been horrified to watch the wholesale attack on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) that has engulfed the federal government since the new administration took office. It is about the most un-American impulse possible. E pluribus unum, meaning “out of many, one” in Latin, is the motto of the United States, recalling the union…
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Et tu, Brute?
You know, up until this last week, I was very proud of the governor of my state, Gavin Newsom. He has long held a place of the highest honor and regard in the gay community for being the first politician, in the entire country, to use his considerable authority as the then-mayor of San Francisco…
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Broadcasting the Closet
As a young boy, I loved the television show Bewitched, where an attractive 60s housewife named Samantha Stephens (played by Elizabeth Montgomery) is married to an east coast ad exec named Darrin Stephens (played first by Dick York and later by Dick Sargent). Samantha is a witch; Darrin, is a mortal. They have a half witch/half…
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DOGE
Note to self: pinpoint just when in the past the combination of racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, income inequality, disregard for the environment, unaffordable healthcare, and militant Christian hegemony coalesced in one glorious moment of American greatness to which the new administration in Washington DC wants to return in an effort to “make America great again,”…
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Sexy Saturday
In the spate of executive orders signed by the new President of the United States this week, one stood out to me. Well, two did. I think it is asinine to say you’re going to remove violent criminals from our streets, and then grant pardons to over 1500 people, some of whom are violent criminals…
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The Jared McCain Paradox
I’m the last person to talk about sports in general and basketball in particular. When I was 14 and a freshman in high school, my father “suggested” I try out for the basketball team. So I did. About 20 of us gathered after school on the outside court; my alma mater is built on the…
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Desert Migration
As a 27-year survivor of HIV/AIDS, I remain particularly tuned-in to advancements in the treatment of the disease. Obviously, in all those years, a cure has remained elusive. But huge, almost miraculous, strides have been made rendering it a chronic, manageable disease. I remember the early days of the three-drug regimen which consisted of a…
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Visibility
I was born at the height of the civil rights movement, and in many ways, I am its beneficiary. The freedoms I enjoy as a gay man today are the result of years of social liberalization during my lifetime, a trend that has benefitted women, people of color, the disabled, and a host of other…
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Outside
It’s the most wonderful time of the year in the desert! The soul-crushing heat of a Coachella Valley summer has gone, and in its place are gentle days with temperatures tickling the mid-80s; nighttime and early mornings are cold, not the cold my relatives in Alaska endure this time of year, but cold enough for…
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The City and the Pillar
Gore Vidal was 21 (photo at left) when he published his first novel, Williwaw, in 1946. He was an out gay man at a time when to be openly gay was fraught with genuine peril – both professionally and personally – though he believed that all humans are naturally bisexual, and this natural inclination is…
Your mileage may vary.