Friends and family mourn victim of Dartmouth fire
Ron Dunphy died on Friday after a fire destroyed the Dartmouth home he shared with his partner. As Preston Mulligan reports, Dunphy's brother says he played a pivotal role in the early days of the Pride movement in Halifax.
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Chicago Tribune
3 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Ask Anna: How to make LGBTQ+ friends as an adult
Dear Anna, My girlfriend and I (both 28, together for three years) have a solid group of friends from college and work, but we're the only queer couple in the bunch. While our friends are supportive and inclusive, we're craving connections with other LGBTQ+ people who just 'get it' without explanation. The problem is, we're not sure how to branch out at this stage of our lives. We're past the club scene and dating apps obviously aren't the right tool for friendship. We've tried a few LGBTQ+ meetups but they skewed much older than us. How do we find our queer chosen family without it feeling forced or like we're abandoning our current friendships? We want to expand our circle, not replace it, but we're struggling to know where to start. — Bad at Finding Friends Dear BFF, The struggle is real. Regardless of sexual orientation, the older we get, the harder it is to make friends. This isn't your fault. When we're younger, socialization is built into a lot of our activities. As we age, that becomes less and less true. And depending on where you live, finding friends can be especially challenging, particularly if you're in a monogamous relationship, aka not doing the dating-to-friends pipeline. I have vivid memories of being 22 and making lifelong friends with random people on the sidewalk at Pride, getting swept into their friend group like some beautiful gay fairy tale. (Fairy gayle?) Alas, those days are over. Is it because I'm too jaded to strike up conversations with strangers on sidewalks? Or because everyone's buried in their phones? Probably both, plus the fun crushing weight of adult social anxiety. But fear not! Alternatives do exist. However, like getting abs or learning TikTok dances, a certain amount of effort must be invested to get anything worthwhile out of it. Let's talk apps, because as the cliche goes, there's an app for everything now, including queer friendship. Lex has a friendship/community component that (in my opinion) works way better than using it for dating. It's text-first, so you actually get to know people's personalities instead of judging their bathroom mirror selfie game. Plus, you can join group chats based on your interests — comedy shows, writing fan-fiction, rock climbing, erotic crochet (I mean, one can dream), etc. HER also lets you switch to 'looking for friends' mode, though you'll still get the occasional person who clearly didn't read your profile and propositions you anyway. And Bumble BFF exists too — not exclusively queer, but you can be pretty obvious about what you're seeking. For IRL connections, think beyond those generic 'LGBTQ+ Meetup' events where everyone stands around awkwardly eating gluten-free wafers. Look for activity-based groups where friendship happens naturally while you're distracted by actually doing something fun. What would you enjoy doing anyway that just happens to be better with other queer humans? Book clubs where you can argue about whether that character was actually gay or just 'really good friends,' hiking groups, volunteer work that doesn't make you want to cry. Many cities have queer sports leagues ranging from serious competition to less serious. (Drunk pickleball, anyone?) Gay bar trivia nights are clutch — nothing bonds people like collectively failing to remember who won Eurovision in 2019. Pro tip: Become the lesbian social coordinator you wish existed in the world. Host a casual Pride potluck and make each of your straight friends bring one queer person they know. Your allies probably have LGBTQ+ coworkers, cousins or that person from their yoga class who has a labret piercing and a rainbow carabiner. You'd be amazed how connected we all are through the gay grapevine. Check out local LGBTQ+ centers too — many have age-specific events so you don't end up feeling like someone's mom at a college mixer or someone's granddaughter at a retirement home bingo night. (Though I've done both and can say these events also have their charms.) Remember: Building chosen family is a marathon, not a sprint (unless you're really lucky and stumble into a friend group at karaoke night/a magical sidewalk). Start with one genuine connection and let it take as long as it takes to bloom. The beauty of queer friendship is real — that instant 'finally, someone who gets it' feeling when you don't have to explain why your heart quickens during certain Chappell Roan songs or watching Cate Blanchett do literally anything. Be patient and keep searching. Happy Pride. ___
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Liverpool Pride cancelled amid financial pressures
Liverpool's annual Pride event and the city's March with Pride have been cancelled amid "significant financial and organisational challenges". LCR Pride Foundation, which organises the event, which was due to take place on 26 July, said "with great sadness" it would "regretfully" not go ahead. The charity said rising costs and difficulty securing funding had made it "impossible to bring Pride in Liverpool this year". About 60,000 people turned out for last year's event, the largest number ever to attend. LCR Pride Foundation's board of directors said: "In recent months the charity has faced significant financial and organisational challenges, which have impacted timescales and resulted in it reverting to an almost entirely volunteer-led operation. "This, combined with rising costs and difficulty securing national and local funding, has made it impossible to bring Pride in Liverpool to the city this year." "We are devastated we will not be able to march together this year, at a time when coming together to stand in solidarity, protest and celebration is needed more than ever, and we understand how difficult this will be for our community." They added: "However, we strongly believe it is the right decision to ensure both the continuation of the organisation and to enable the return of Pride in Liverpool and our march in 2026." It said discussions with Liverpool City Council and a number of sponsors were already under way for next year's event and it was exploring other ways to bring the community together later in the year. Councillor Harry Doyle, the council's cabinet member for health, wellbeing and culture, said it was "hugely disappointing, especially given the success of last year's event". He continued: "I know it's a decision LCR Pride Foundation has tried valiantly to avoid. However, given the difficult circumstances they find themselves in it's also understandable and from a long-term point of view, it's the right decision for them." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230. Record crowds descend on city's Pride event LCR Pride Foundation Liverpool City Council
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sean Penn Criticizes Plan to Remove Harvey Milk's Name From Navy Ship
The U.S. Navy is reportedly preparing to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, a Navy support ship christened in honor of the assassinated gay rights icon, an order that comes directly from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Now Sean Penn and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who both won Oscars for the 2008 biopic Milk, are hitting back at the plan. 'This is yet another move to distract and to fuel the culture wars that create division,' Black told The Hollywood Reporter. 'It's meant to get us to react in ways that are self-centered so that we are further distanced from our brothers and sisters in equally important civil rights fights in this country. It's divide and conquer.' He continued, 'These guys are idiots. Pete Hegseth does not seem like a smart man, a wise man, a knowledgeable man. He seems small and petty. I would love to introduce him to some LGBTQ folks who are warriors who have had to be warriors our entire life just to live our lives openly as who we are.' Penn responded more tersely: 'I've never before seen a Secretary of Defense so aggressively demote himself to the rank of Chief PETTY Officer.' The Defense Department's announcement coincided with the beginning of Pride month, which is not a coincidence. The Defense Department source who spoke with said the decision to rename the ship during Pride month was an intentional choice. According to a memo obtained by CBS News, the choice to rename the ship was part of an effort to reestablish 'the warrior culture' within the military — a particular fixation of Hegseth. Milk was not only one of the most prominent figures in the gay rights movement in the '70s and '80s, he was also a Korean War veteran. He was ousted from the Navy in 1955 after being accused of engaging in then-banned homosexual activities. He was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977 — the first gay man elected to the position — after years working as an activist and leader of the Castro neighborhood's growing gay and lesbian community. As city supervisor, Milk worked closely with former Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, then also a city supervisor. Milk was assassinated along with former San Francisco Mayor George Moscone in 1978 by disgruntled former supervisor Dan White. Milk begins with Milk's arrival in San Francisco and follows his political ascendancy, leading up to his assassination. The film was written by Black and directed by Gus Van Sant, and eventually earned eight Oscar nominations. Penn won Best Actor for his portrayal of the leader and activist while Black won Best Original Screenplay. Rolling Stone's Peter Travers called the movie 'a total triumph, brimming with humor, heart, sexual heat, political provocation and a crying need to stir things up, just like Harvey did. If there's a better movie around this year, with more bristling purpose, I sure as hell haven't seen it.' He added, 'That Harvey's questing spirit not only lives but soars in this movie is a gift from Sean Penn, who plays him for real instead of for show.' Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Black suggested taking inspiration from Milk himself. 'Harvey Milk is an icon, a civil rights icon, and for good reason,' Black said. 'That's not going to change. Renaming a ship isn't going to change that. If people are pissed off, good, be pissed off — but take the appropriate action. Do what Harvey Milk had said we need to do, and it's about bringing back together the coalition of the 'us'-es that helps move the pendulum of progress forward. Stop the infighting and lock arms again. That's what Harvey would say.' More from Rolling Stone Late-Night Hosts Take Aim at Trump's Feud With Musk: 'Blew Up Faster Than a SpaceX Rocket' Yes, the Trump Admin Is Still Very Much Attacking Abortion Rights GOP Bill Would Legalize DOGE and Let Trump Dismantle Everything Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
