This is My Favorite Time of Year
#TC102
Welcome to Third Cultured – a foreign policy and LGBTQIA+ politics newsletter – published by yours truly, Kyle Borland. My goal is to highlight the unique role Queer people play in the politics of the United States and the world-at-large.
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This edition:
Personal Update
Personal Update
Whether it’s Memorial Day, Pride month, Juneteenth, or Independence Day that rings loudest for you – I hope everyone enjoyed their Solstice Festival Season.
Personally, I had a wonderful start to the summer.
I helped organize the D10 Pride Ride this year, attended the first public viewing of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at Oracle Park (go see it!), purchased and read a lot of gay books about historical and/or magical homosexuals, began our plant gay journey (pray for these poor hemp plants…), and started my “wellness journey.”
AKA – I got health insurance again and have been going to ALL of the appointments.
Things are going well in the life department, which I haven’t been able to say in a long time. There are still aches and pains I wish weren’t there, but I’m telling myself that’s a mixture of gaining 40 lbs during COVID and the unfortunate reality of aging. That said, I also just bought a MYX Fitness Bike to force myself to do cardio. I almost splurged for a Peloton because the peer pressure from social posts of so many close friends on Instagram was working its intended purpose, but my partner and a friend of mine who first recommended the MYX convinced me to not be a brand whore. (However, if it doesn’t give me that ooo-ooo-ah sensation within the first 30-days, then I may accept who I am and pay that brand markup.)
On the social front, I attended my first in-person work meeting in years last week. I luckily didn’t have to speak very much other than to introduce myself, but it was a great exercise for my COVID-charged social anxiety. Later this week, I've got a whole half day of in-person events, so I gotta get this mane tamed in time to be around actual professionals. I’m excited rather than anxious when I think about it, so I know I’m on a good track right now. Next weekend, the first friend I made in San Francisco is coming to stay with us Friday night and I’m beyond excited to see him.
For me, the start of Summer did what it’s supposed to do – rejuvenate.
I hope it did for you, too.
Stay safe and get vaccinated, beautiful people. Thanks for reading.
Roll Tide,
Kyle (@kgborland)
PS – Here are some timely Queer reads worth your time.
56 LGBTQ-Owned Bookstores You Can Be Proud to Support (Oprah)
377: The British colonial law that left an anti-LGBTQ legacy in Asia (BBC)
A Photographer Explores Family, Acceptance And Being Queer In Vietnam (NPR)
A Video Celebrating the Beauty and Resilience of Queer Asians (The Cut)
Activists: Vatican is ‘meddling’ in Italy’s LGBT law (Mercury News)
At a Time of Emergency, ACT UP Refused to Be Bystanders (Jacobin)
Boy Scouts of America settles for $850 million with more than 84,000 sexual abuse victims (Washington Post)
China’s LGBT community five times more likely to develop mental illness and consider suicide than general public, report finds (South China Morning Post)
Counting the economic cost of anti-LGBTQ laws (Al Jazeera)
Democrats introduce resolution apologizing to LGBT community for government discrimination (The Hill)
Drag performer Laganja Estranja comes out as transgender (LGBTQ Nation)
Fighting for LGBTQ rights in the Global South (Washington Blade)
for James Baldwin: 'Jimmy. You crowned us', by Toni Morrison - 1988 (Speakola)
For some LGBTQ employees, remote work is a ‘game changer’ for inclusion (CNBC)
Ghana's Speaker of Parliament is comparing LGBTQ - which doesn't harm or hurt anyone to COVID-19 - which has killed many and hit hard Ghana's struggling economy His words show lack of sympathy for those who have lost families and friends through COVID. #FixTheCountry for ALL!LGBTQI ‘worse’ than COVID-19, we’ll pass law criminalising it by end of 2021 – Bagbin https://t.co/a0HtDg8JbA #CitiNewsroom
CitiNewsroom @Citi973Hollywood Goes to Its First Lesbian Bar and Can’t Stop Staring (JSTOR)
Hong Kong court ruling overturns anti-LGBT housing policy (France 24)
How LGBTQ+ People Are Celebrating Pride All Around the World (them.)
It’s No Coincidence That These Historic LGBTQ+ Haunts Are Now Prime Real Estate—Here’s Why (Architectural Digest)
Comment: The answer is gentrification. Gays beautify an area and the straights come in to push us out so they can maximize real estate profits. Gayborhoods are dying for this exact reason. It’s not something to celebrate by any means.
It Seems I'm Full of Spite (Hola Papi)
James Baldwin and the FBI (JSTOR)
Julius Eastman, A Misunderstood Composer, Returns To The Light (NPR)
Kyle is transgender. It took 30 years and a pandemic for them to realize it. (WaPo)
LGBTQ students need inclusive sex ed – but less than 10% in US are receiving it, report says (USA Today)
LGBTQ troops and vets go to war with homophobia in Ukraine (DW)
Lil Nas X’s BET performance was a milestone for the Black queer community. Here’s why. (Yahoo! Life)
Looking Back at the Mistreatment of Marvel’s First Gay Comic Superhero (Hyperallergic)
Malaysia seeks stricter sharia laws for "promoting LGBT lifestyle" (CNN)
Marching for Pride, retirees recall an era when being gay was forbidden. (WaPo)
Navajo Nation celebrates its first official Pride parade after a devastating year (The Lily)
One Man Made It His Mission To Save Incredible Photos Of Queer Life in The 1950s (BuzzFeed News)
Orban’s tighter laws stoke taboos, fear among Hungary’s LGBT people (Reuters)
Photos Capture Golden Age of Discos “Before Bottle Service and Bland Design” (Hyperallergic)
Pope Francis compares work of U.S. priest whose ministry affirms LGBTQ people to the work of God (Washington Post)
Comment: Make up your mind, Francis.
President Biden Announces U.S. Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons (White House)
Queer people’s experiences during the pandemic include new possibilities and connections (The Conversation)
Queer readings of The Lord of the Rings are not accidents. (Polygon)
Queer people have always existed. The words for us have changed, will always change, but our hearts are the same. When we look at history, we must follow breadcrumbs to find ourselves. And like many of us, Sam Gamgee is obsessed with stories. He’s always noting that he and Frodo are in a great tale, and wondering whether it will be happy or sad. When he thinks he will die to defend Frodo’s body, he wonders if there will be songs written about this last act of loving defiance. He wonders, like so many others, if this love will be remembered.
Queer valedictorian's silenced LGBTQ identity speech may see federal civil rights review. (USA Today)
Raiders player Carl Nassib comes out as gay, first active player in NFL history (Outsports)
Reclaiming Our Space: Why We Need To Move From Tolerance To Acceptance For Inclusion (Forbes)
Rediscovering Eve Adams, the Radical Lesbian Activist (New Yorker)
Stripping Men & Myth: Lil Nas X’s Reconstitution of Greek tradition in MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) (Classical Studies)
Summer of 85 Captures the Power (and Angst) of Queer First Love (Hyperallergic)
Surviving as a Black transgender woman in Baton Rouge (Washington Post)
The Queer Quarantine (Washington Post Magazine)
TikTok's turn towards sexual conservatism. (Default Friend)
Turkey police bashed a LGBT pride picnic in Istanbul (Jerusalem Post)
Weapon Of Mass Destruction Found Dead At 88 (The Onion)
Why Queer Liberation Is an Environmental Justice Issue (Earth Justice)
Who Owns the Logo of the Lesbian Avengers, Decades Later? (Hyperallergic)
Xena: How Hollywood Created a Greek Warrior Princess that Never Existed (Greek Reporter)
