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Still! It’s incredible. And it teaches me so much every time I listen to it.”In case you missed it, the singer with the powerhouse vocal cords, who began her career fronting the Grammy-winning rock band Alabama Shakes and has since moved on to an extraordinary — and Grammy-winning — solo career, is a huge Stevie Wonder fan.“I’m a diehard Stevie fan,” she grins. “I listened to Songs in the Key of Life just about every day during 2021, because of COVID.

Ban This Book, by Alan Gratz, from its shelves, overriding its own Florida district book-review committee’s decision rejecting a challenge to the book.The children’s novel follows a fictional fourth-grade student who creates a secret library of banned books in her locker after her local school board bans those titles.Indian River School Board members said they disliked how it referenced other books that have been removed from schools and accused it of “teaching rebellion of school board authority.”Ban This Book, which had been housed in two elementary school libraries and a middle school, was challenged by Jennifer Pippin, president of the local chapter of Moms for Liberty, a national right-wing group that routinely rails against books that they claim contain “age-inappropriate content” and address LGBTQ rights, among other fabricated grievances.The school board voted 3-2 to remove the book from shelves, with two candidates backed by Moms for Liberty voting to remove it, along with a third member , Kevin McDonald, who was recently appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to fill a vacant seat following the ill-timed resignation of Brian Barefoot.McDonald tried to justify banning the book by claiming the board was acting on behalf of parents who wanted to keep their children from being “indoctrinated” or exposed to allegedly “woke” ideas.“The title itself and the theme challenges our authority,” McDonald said of Ban This Book.

The Baltimore Banner.They declined to report on what might have prompted the release of the chemical agent or how many people were injured.“Our officers are diligently reviewing the surveillance video to gather all the necessary information and determine the sequence of events,” Freddie Talbert, a Baltimore Police public information officer, told the Banner.Talbert said police did not have any information to support the idea that the incident deliberately targeted Pride celebrations.Online social media posts, which described people being trampled by fleeing revelers, suggested the chemical agent was mace, which had reportedly been sprayed after a fight broke out near the stage. Kate Bowers, a Cockeysville resident who was near the stage at the time, described a scene that appeared to indicate that people in the crowd were suffering from the side effects of being maced.She and her friends reported an inability to stop coughing on the day after the incident.“All of the sudden, people were screaming and running,” Bowers said.

Postcards from Ihatov feels assured in its design and craftsmanship.Created and directed by multi-faceted visual theater artist Natsu Onoda Power, the world-premiere production skillfully blends music, poetry, puppetry, calligraphy, cutout animation, and, of course, drama to explore Iwatov, the imaginary universe where most of Miyazawa’s stories take place.The writer, known for his classic fantasy novel Night on the Galactic Railroad, named this fictional plane, filled with philosophical kids and talking animals who express deep inner lives, after his beloved hometown of Iwate.And, according to the be-whiskered professor (Matthew Vaky), who teaches lessons on Miyazawa to the play’s protagonist, an Unknown Author (Matthew Marcus), Miyazawa is still recognized as a favorite son of Iwate.The author’s affinity for home is reflected in his fiction, in the persistent images of the alder trees and fields of pampas grasses that characterize the Iwate landscape. Power reflects that landscape in her textured scenic design, which also features a front scrim curtain upon which pages of Miyazawa’s writing are projected.

obituary, which ran in the June 8 edition of the Albany Times-Union, included a message he wrote ahead of his death.“I must tell you one more thing,” the message begins. “I was Gay all my life: thru grade school, thru High School, thru College, thru Life.”The message then reveals Ryan “was in a loving and caring relationship with Paul Cavagnaro of North Greenbush. He was the love of my life.

first-ever PrideFest, last year at the Public Square, a parcel of city-owned property at the center of the town. Approximately 200 people attended the event, held without disruption.PrideFest’s organizers, the Patoka Valley AIDS Community Action Group, expected it would be green-lit this year and filed an application in November 2023 to hold it on September 7, 2024.

Homer News.The Seward Police Department responded, searching the library. They determined there was no incendiary device present.According to Alaska NPR affiliate KBBI, Seward Deputy Chief of Police Karl Schaefermeyer said that the bomb threat didn’t appear to come from a local resident.“We’ve been in contact with the FBI, and we’ll continue to track down some leads there and see if we can find out who’s responsible,” he said.The Drag Queen Story Hour resumed later in the day at the Alaska SeaLife Center.Attendees listened to stories, including Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, read aloud by local drag performers Totally Tiff and Mars.“This year, we [were] kind of joking before actually reading that there wasn’t much of a hullabaloo this year, and the turnout wasn’t as large,” Totally Tiff’s alias, Tyler Polo, a board member of the Seward Pride Alliance, told KBBI.

It might seem like another summer of Gay Sex Panic. News earlier this month from New York of a rare, drug-resistant fungal infection in a gay man follows Summer 2022’s Mpox mayhem and Summer 2021’s oceanside outbreak of COVID in the wake of Bear Week in Provincetown, Mass.

KARE. “I’ve never talked to him, never done anything negative to him.

June 1 Facebook post from the Charleston, W.V., Rock City Cake Co. doesn’t seem at all out of place.“Happy Pride Month everyone!” the post begins, accompanied by a rainbow retooling of the bakery’s logo.

ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender youth.Florida is currently one of 25 states with such restrictions in place.Hinkle’s ruling also blocks Florida officials from enforcing rules approved by the Florida Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine in order to comply with the law.Those rules not only bar youth from accessing gender-affirming treatments, but imposed the first-of-their-kind restrictions to make it more difficult for transgender adults in the state to access gender-affirming care.Among those restrictions were that adult patients could only see a doctor in person before receiving any kind of gender-affirming treatment, including regular prescription renewals. That limited the number of medical professionals available to transgender adults.

Salish Explorer, dubbed the “Love For All Boat,” with 56 LGBTQ couples taking part in a vow renewal ceremony.Passengers were treated to a meal of Pacific Northwest cuisine and Washington wines following the ceremony. The ship traveled around Puget Sound at sunset, offering attendees views of the Olympic Mountains and Seattle’s skyline, with several iconic landmarks — including the Seattle Great Wheel, T-Mobile Park, Lumen Field, and Rainier Square — lit up to mark the celebration of what Seattle city leaders officially recognized as “Love For All Day.” Visit Seattle, which organized and hosted the event on board the cruise ship, worked with 13 of its hotel partners to create special packages for couples taking part in the ceremony.Couples who stayed at one of those 13 hotels received free admission to the event.Seattle resident and RuPaul’s Drag Race star BenDeLaCreme emceed the festivities, leading a celebratory cake cutting and giving a live performance.

Queer Planet aims to broaden perspectives about sexuality in the natural world.Narrated by out actor Andrew Rannells, the 90-minute documentary boasts a mostly queer lineup of esteemed scientists who guide the global voyage. Expounding on bighorn bromances in the Rockies, promiscuous pansexual bonobos in the Congo basin, and laidback lesbian macaques in Japan, among others, the show offers an intimate look at a fascinating spectrum of sex and gender, and configurations of family that defy convention.We’ve heard about gay penguins at the zoo — several zoos, in fact, have discovered same-sex couples among their captive colonies.

gratis, to thousands of clients living with serious illness.“We are so honored to have community support and to continue the amazing work that we have done over the past three decades,” said Food & Friends Executive Director Carrie Stoltzfus in a statement announcing this year’s highlights.“Chef’s Best is the standout culinary event of the summer, and we can’t wait to see old friends and new faces that will help us to serve people and families in the greater Washington region.”When Stoltzfus refers to the greater Washington region, that may be an understatement.While Food & Friends’ roots go back to Westminster Presbyterian Church where, in 1988, volunteers began an effort to deliver nutritious meals to D.C. locals suffering from AIDS-related illnesses, the organization now serves clients across a 6,100 square-mile area.But the focus will be squarely on the Convention Center come June 13, with dozens of venues serving up samples of their chefs’ best, from Anju’s contemporary Korean to Opal’s coastal Americana.Chef Derek Watson, most recently executive chef at Nama Ko, will oversee the benevolent buffet as this year’s “chef chair.” Be warned that a band of merry mixologists will be on hand to keep the event well-lubricated, as Food & Friends has had great luck over the years in securing incredibly talented auctioneers who will end the evening with an array of offerings.Notably, this year’s program also includes special recognition of the Xi Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, whose members have been volunteering with Food & Foods for the past quarter-century.The 31 st Annual Chef’s Best Dinner & Auction is Thursday, June 13, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Pl. It begins with

Amid right-wing legislative moves as heated as any in the U.S., Britain’s Conservative government, via the Dept. of Health and Social Care, closed out May with an emergency ban on drugs collectively referred to as “puberty blockers,” as reported by the U.K.’s LGBT Them news site.

Enjoy Youth, finds Thomas at the top of his game once again, with an album that has arrived just in time for heavy rotation through Pride month and beyond.While an eclectic roster of collaborators led him to take a varied queer-block-party approach on his last album, this one is a more focused outing. It’s expertly crafted and full of house- and disco-indebted dance bops that are unmistakably Bright Light.They were teased in the upbeat “Sweet Release” and the dramatic “I Don’t Know What I’m Gonna Do,” two singles that were released long before Enjoy Youth, but their energy is easily matched by the shimmery, cinematic synthpop power trip of “Snap!” and “Revived,” a feel-good house number ready for a summer tea dance.One of the feats Bright Light pulls off with Enjoy Youth is in keeping it almost relentlessly upbeat for its entire runtime without allowing it to lag or lose its sense of surprise.

Tara Hoot will host a Drag Queen Story Time event from noon to 2 p.m. Community organizations will have tables offering information on their services and food vendors will be set up in the area.On Monday, June 10, Montgomery County Councilmember Glass, along with County Executive Marc Elrich and other leaders, will host a Pride flag-raising ceremony in Rockville at the county’s Executive Office Building at 9 a.m.On Saturday, June 15, the first-ever Poolesville Pride Fest will take place at Locals Farm Market, 19929 Fisher Avenue, from 4 to 9 p.m.

Capital Pride Alliance announced the launch of a mobile app that will allow users to remain informed about the latest LGBTQ events in the greater Washington, D.C. area.The free iOs and Android app, known as “Pride365,” is intended to serve as a go-to resource for all LGBTQ gatherings, events, or networking opportunities.Users will be able to customize their experiences by highlighting events, businesses, nonprofits, and volunteer opportunities that interest them.The app, available on Google and Apple, allows users to create a private profile and mark their interests or community activities.Based on those selections, the app will then recommend similar events or gatherings that may interest users, or businesses that provide certain products or services based on users’ individual likes.Once users have selected events that they are interested in, the app creates weekly and monthly itineraries and synchs them with a user’s phone calendars, sending them reminders of upcoming events or highlighting community goings-on.

RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Bianca Del Rio. She threw the ball to Screech, the Nationals’ eagle mascot, who was clad in a rainbow-colored jersey.

notified on May 27 that the flags, which had been placed in the rotary at the intersection of Lowell Street, Bedford Road and Westford Road, were missing. The flags were lawfully permitted to be placed in public.

Philadelphia Gay News and sponsored by Visit Philadelphia. It drew a crowd of 263 people.Organizers claim the crowd’s size set a first-ever Guinness World Record in the category.