#QueerQuote: “Ignorance, Allied with Power, is the Most Ferocious Enemy Justice Can Have.” – James Baldwin

By Stephen Rutledge on August 2, 2022 12:12 pm

Baldwin (right of center) with Charlton Heston (left) and Marlon Brando (right) at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; with Sidney Poitier (rear) and Harry Belafonte (right of Brando) also in the crowd. Photo via Wikimedia Commons, public … [Read more...]

#WomenWeLove: Nazi Hunter, Myrna Loy

By Stephen Rutledge on August 2, 2022 9:45 am

MGM Publicity Shot, Wikimedia Commons, public domain "Some perfect wife I am. I’ve been married four times, divorced four times, have no children, and can’t boil an egg."Myrna Loy She was a woman who was the very essence of sophistication even though she was born Myrna … [Read more...]

#QueerQuote: “I Think the Republican Party Should be Placed in Drydock and Have the Barnacles Scraped Off Its Bottom.” – Tallulah Bankhead

By Stephen Rutledge on August 1, 2022 9:30 am

Today we celebrate the birthday of Miss Tallulah Bankhead (1902-1968). I am a gay man of a certain age, and in my time, in my tribe, telling Tallulah stories and imitating the famed personality was de rigueur at brunches and parties. But, nowadays, do the kids even know who she … [Read more...]

#WomenWeLove: Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis

By Stephen Rutledge on July 28, 2022 3:03 pm

This portrait of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy was painted by Aaron Shikler in 1970 and was placed on public display in the East Room in 1971 Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (1929- 1994) "There are two kinds of women, those who want power in the world and those who … [Read more...]

September 8th , LA: Chacruna Institute’s Globalization of Ayahuasca Event

By Andrea James on July 27, 2022 2:26 pm

Sign up now for an enlightening discussion in Los Angeles on September 8 about the psychedelic ayahuasca, titled The Genie Is Out of the Bottle. The … [Read more...]

Was George Bernard Shaw an Early Gay Rights Activist?

By Stephen Rutledge on July 26, 2022 1:05 pm

1936, public domain George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950): "If You Want to Tell People the Truth, Make Them Laugh, Otherwise They'll Kill You." Shaw is one of my favorite figures in history. He was a man of Theatre and Film, a vegetarian, a Socialist, and a rabble … [Read more...]

#WomenWeLove: Funny Lady, Gracie Allen

By Stephen Rutledge on July 26, 2022 11:55 am

Publicity photo of Gracie Allen from the Burns and Allen CBS Radio program, Wikimedia Commons Grace Allen (1895- 1964) "They laughed at Joan of Arc, but she went right ahead and built it." Gracie Allen made her stage debut in vaudeville as a singer and dancer when she … [Read more...]

#ThisIsCool: For $15, You Can Name a Black Hole for a Bigot You Dislike!

By Stephen Rutledge on July 26, 2022 10:31 am

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), Public Domain In April 2019, Scientists revealed the first image ever made of a black hole, showing its hot, shadowy edges where light bends around itself. The data gathered by eight radio telescopes around the world, created the … [Read more...]

Remembering Gay Founding Father, Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben

By Stephen Rutledge on July 4, 2022 3:03 am

1786, Von Steuben portrait by Ralph Earl (1751 – 1801), Creative Commons, public domain Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (1730 - 1794): "You say to your soldier, 'Do this' and he does it. But I am obliged to say to the American, 'This is why you ought to do this' … [Read more...]

#BornThisDay, American Anarchist, Emma Goldman

By Stephen Rutledge on June 27, 2022 3:03 am

1911, via Library of Congress, public domain June 27, 1869– Emma Goldman: If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal. Goldman was an anarchist noted for her political activism, smart writing and stirring public speeches. She played a pivotal role in the … [Read more...]