Good Friday morning. The weekend is (almost) upon us. We’re also two days into Pride. So, belatedly, Happy Pride!
As a reminder, the birth of this month is rooted in the Stonewall riots, which took place over a six days and was sparked by a police raid on the Stonewall Inn – at the time one of the city’s most popular gay bars, owned by the mafia (I did not know this until today, to my surprise) and located in Greenwich Village – on June 28, 1969.
The Stonewall Uprising was a turning point for the Gay Liberation Movement and fundamentally changed the course of history. Its impacts are still being felt to this day.
The first Pride march in New York City was held on the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots in 1970. That was also the year of the first Gay Pride Week. (If you want to go deep on the history of how this came about, click here).
This commemoration has grown into a full-blown celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community. Celebrations vary widely from one community to the next, but often include parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposia and concerts, with millions of participants worldwide.
It hasn’t all been parties and parades, though. Pride Month has long served as an opportunity to elevate awareness about issues and challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ individuals – from the HIV/AIDS epidemic to the fight to legalize same-sex marriage.
Unfortunately, the LGBTQIA+ community is losing hard-fought ground on the civil rights front. We’re now living in a world where lawmakers in states around the nation are seeking to ban drag shows, prohibit gender-affirming care and even limit how – and whether – teachers can broach the subjects of sexuality and gender.
Anti-gay sentiment and a fear of violence caused one Florida community to cancel its Gay Pride celebrations altogether this year. In California, an investigation is underway after a rainbow flag was burned at an elementary school.
I would not be surprised to see a lot more where this came from.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s also what I think is fair to characterize as a full-scale culture war taking place when high-profile brands like Target and Bud Light right in the thick of it. Ever heard of the term “rainbow washing”? Well, now you have.
And in case you think this sort of thing is unique to the U.S., think again. Hello, Uganda, I’m looking at you.
I wish I had some words of wisdom to impart on all this, but it just makes me inexplicably sad. Why it matters who wears what or who loves whom as long as no one is hurting anyone else…I just will never really understand.
Can’t we all just get along? Apparently not.
And on THAT cheery note. There’s rain in the forecast (finally!) this weekend, with thunderstorms likely this afternoon/evening, though temperatures will be in the low-90s. Things will cool off Saturday into the low-to-mid 70s, with more rain in the morning. Sunday will again be in the 70s, with partly cloudy skies.
In the headlines…
With just days to spare before the deadline for the nation to face financial default, the Senate approved compromise, bipartisan legislation to lift the debt ceiling. It cleared the chamber by a bipartisan 63-36 vote.
“Tonight’s vote is a good outcome because Democrats did a very good job taking the worst parts of the Republican plan off the table,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters. The bill now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed.
Biden, just moments after the Senate passed the debt limit bill, praised Congress for its efforts and said in a statement that he looked forward to signing the legislation.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said that it is “bulls—” Republicans have been characterized as the driving force behind a provision green-lighting a natural gas pipeline included in the debt ceiling bill.
Biden brokered a debt limit deal by following instincts developed through long, hard and sometimes painful experience in Washington.
Even as Biden appears to have pushed off reaching the next debt limit until 2025, top Democrats on Capitol Hill say what he really needs to do is what he should have done last fall: Come out in favor of a drastic change to strip Congress of this power forever.
The Senate voted largely along party lines on legislation to block Biden’s student debt relief program after the measure cleared a key procedural hurdle in the chamber.
The 52-46 vote to pass the legislation comes a day after senators took a similarly close vote to proceed to the measure, which would repeal Biden’s debt relief program and end the administration’s pause on federal student loan payments.
The White House said it will veto the measure, which means borrowers have little to worry about.
Biden amplified fears of scientists who say artificial intelligence could “overtake human thinking” in his most direct warning to date on growing concerns about the rise of AI.
Biden, 80, took a fall on stage at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation ceremony in Colorado, after delivered the commencement address. He walked away unassisted once upright and continued to stand and greet people for the remainder of the ceremony.
The White House said the president was fine after the fall. He returned to his seat in the stands without assistance, and appeared in good spirits as the ceremony concluded.
Biden has said he is confident that Sweden will join NATO “as soon as possible”, despite Turkey and Hungary continuing to block the northern European country’s accession to the alliance.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that New York will be offering spots at SUNY and CUNY colleges for all of the state’s graduating high school seniors.
SUNY and CUNY administrators will reach out to high school seniors in other new ways, such as providing information enrollment coaching and tutorials, and multiple points of contact to assist with enrolling in college and applying for financial aid, her office said.
Republican state legislators demanded that Hochul withhold taxpayer funds from any CUNY campus that allows incendiary rhetoric at school-sponsored events as the fallout from a law graduate’s infamous “hate-filled” commencement speech continues.
GOP Rep. Mike Lawler is introducing legislation aimed at preventing universities that allow “antisemitic events on campus” from participating in student loan and grant programs.
Two of the top political issues under debate at the state Capitol — wiping criminal records and increasing housing — are on track to be settled in the final days of the legislative session that ends next week.
A bill that would end the state tax break under the Qualified Opportunity Zone program cleared the state Senate as New York lawmakers seek to unwind a Trump-era tax break.
A revised proposal to expand New York’s wrongful death statute is poised to gain full passage again in the state Legislature amid ongoing opposition from business organizations and local governments.
In the waning days of the Albany legislative session, the Democratic-controlled Legislature is considering a series of 11th-hour changes that would weaken reforms to New York’s campaign finance system, according to a government watchdog group.
A bill that would restore that “Tappan Zee” name to the bridge that spans the Hudson River between Rockland and Westchester counties is expected to come for a vote in the State Senate in the coming days.
Honorably discharged veterans would have more opportunities for internships under a measure that cleared the state Senate. The bill, yet to pass in the state Assembly, would set aside 10% of the positions in the legislative internship program for veterans.
A report released by the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter says New York has failed to regulate the spreading of sewage sludge that the group says is contaminated with manufacturing chemicals that can harm humans.
Mayor Eric Adams will allow thousands of city employees to work remotely two days a week, in a concession to staffers who clamored for flexibility after working from home during the height of the pandemic.
Adams, who up until recently was a stern critic of remote work, announced the pilot program deal with DC37 yesterday, describing it as a sign that the “post-pandemic reality” is here to stay.
The New York City mayor has made an art form of telling stories about himself that are nearly impossible to verify, adding fresh details to often-told anecdotes.
Adams is demanding the state Legislature pass a plan that he says will lead to more affordable housing.
Adams, who vowed as a candidate to make transparency a hallmark of his administration — offered full-throated support for his embattled correction commissioner’s decision to not disclose deaths of inmates in city custody.
The MTA struck a three-year deal with the union that represents its 40,000-strong subway and bus workforce late yesterday that will raise wages nearly 10 percent and offer $4,000 essential worker bonuses for service during the coronavirus pandemic.
Renters in New York will soon have the right to know whether their home is in a designated flood zone — and if there’s been flood damage — thanks to a state law that kicks in June 21.
A Manhattan grand jury has begun hearing evidence against former Marine Daniel Penny concerning the chokehold killing of Jordan Neely on the subway last month.
In a pair of lawsuits, Airbnb and three hosts claim that new rules requiring short-term rental properties to be registered with the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement will “all but eliminate” the market for home-based vacation stays in the city.
Airbnb called the new scheme “extreme and oppressive” and said it clashes with a federal law that has shielded many tech platforms from liability for content posted by its users.
Families of some victims of the 2018 stretch limousine crash in Schoharie reached legal settlements in principle with Mavis Discount Tire in their wrongful-death lawsuits against the national auto chain, according to the state judge overseeing discovery.
After several years of charging fair visitors a single admission price that included rides, the Altamont Fair announced the gate admission and ride pricing is now separate.
Siena College staff and students welcomed new President Charles Seifert with a prank on his first day.
Longtime Schenectady County Public Defender Stephen Signore was recently ordered to take additional sexual harassment and supervisory training classes for statements he made about “a hot tub in the office.”
People in the Village of Manlius reacted with shock this week when the authorities announced that over the weekend three teenagers had stolen Faye the swan in the middle of the night, killed her and then eaten her.
The Supreme Court dropped its latest anti-labor decision, expanding the rights of companies to sue striking workers.
After 14 rounds of words like “probouleutic” and “zwitterion” and “schistorrhachis,” Dev Shah, an eighth grader from Florida, reached the apotheosis of his craft, correctly spelling “psammophile” to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
