The state trooper who made a controversial arrest of trans woman Celena Morrison-McLean and her husband Darius McLean during a traffic stop on the Vine Street Expressway has been fired. In a May 10 news release, Pennsylvania State Troopers Association president Stephen Polishan announced the firing, calling it “reprehensible.” “This young trooper, on the job for only six months, deserved better from our department…Today, our department sent a terrible message to all troopers that politics matter more than doing the right thing,” Polishan said. Prior to his dismissal, the trooper had been on re ..read more

Aries: Mercury moves into Taurus on the 15th, where it will highlight your second house. This is a time to readjust your spending and saving habits. You may be in a period of cleaning out your closet and becoming more choosy with what you buy. You seek to make life more comfortable and you take practical approaches to make it happen. Taurus: Your mind and mental energy is sharpened as Mercury enters your sign on the 15th. This is a great time for learning, research and education. You are in a naturally curious and social headspace for the next three weeks. Challenge yourself by practicing new ..read more

I believe what Donald Trump says. So should you. No, I haven’t lost my mind — I’ve never had such clarity of thought about any presidential candidate. After nearly four decades of covering politics for the mainstream, queer and feminist press, I have learned that what Black feminist writer and philosopher Dr. Maya Angelou said is profoundly true: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” I wrote close to 300 stories about Donald Trump during the 2015-2016 election cycle, mostly for the mainstream media. Not enough people believed what Trump said nor the warnings Democ ..read more

“It was a really isolating experience because you really didn’t know where to go, who to talk to, who you can trust,” said Joseph Torre about being gay as a young person before the time of social media or more open dialogues about queer identity. His memories of feeling isolated and alone growing up guided him as he co-founded Resilience Resource Center in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania — where LGBTQ+ people living in Montgomery County and adjacent areas can access not only traditional therapy and weekly support groups but also career counseling, style advice, art events, peer connections and ..read more

“It’s a new day in our United Methodist Church,” said Barbara Revere — the Sunday morning liturgist on May 5 at First United Methodist Church of Germantown (known as FUMCOG, pronounced phonetically). Those gathered cheered knowingly.  Rainbow banners hung around the historic sanctuary, and colorful fabric was draped atop the communion table. Attendees sang joyously.  The denomination’s governing body recently voted to eliminate problematic language and stances regarding LGBTQ+ people that exist in the Book of Discipline — which outlines the denomination’s beliefs, laws, standards and ..read more

We did not have agreeing with Elon Musk on our 2024 bingo card but here we are.  “Harry Potter” author and known transphobe J.K. Rowling posted a nearly 700-word tweet last month spouting off her usual rhetoric about how trans inclusion “has caused, and continues to cause, very real harm to vulnerable people” while also confusingly stating how she wants trans people “to be free to dress and present themselves however they like and I want them to have exactly the same rights as every other citizen regarding housing, employment and personal safety.”  Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter (wh ..read more

Like many of you, we at PGN still encounter stereotypes at times. It’s intriguing how messages in my inbox often raise points that either amuse me or prompt me to ponder the origins of assumptions, many of which are rooted in stereotypes. Some are even personally antisemitic, while others assign positions onto individuals, which can be quite painful. Heterosexuals and even some within our own community often assume that just because an LGBTQ+ organization is led by someone who is not a person of color, the rest of the organization follows suit. This perpetuates the old belief or stereotype tha ..read more

Pop quiz time! If you had a dollar for every time a book was banned during the 2023-2024 school year, you would have: $4 $40 $400 $4,000 The answer is $4,000, though it could also be “all of the above” because the 2023-2024 school year isn’t over yet, and right-wing extremists who want to “protect” children from the scourge of critical thinking and compassion for others that reading books often provokes are not slowing down. As The Advocate reports, “The bans, sweeping across 42 states, have disproportionately targeted books dealing with sexual violence, LGBTQ+ themes, and racial issues.” Beca ..read more

Brittney Griner says she thought about killing herself during the first few weeks she spent in a Russian jail, during her grueling 10-month wrongful detention in Russia in 2022. Now, 17 months after her release, Griner’s still recovering from the trauma; her healing includes mental health support from a therapist. In a new memoir, “Coming Home,” released May 7, the WNBA All Star and two-time Olympic Gold medalist details how she navigated the punishing Russian penal system and how her life as a Black queer woman and the discrimination that entails had perhaps given her some resilience to face ..read more

Joseph J. Buches comes from a musical family. His mother was a singer and his father was an organist. The latter taught him how to play the organ when Buches was 5.  During college, he studied many different aspects of music, including music education, organ and conducting. This led to him becoming a music instructor at Chestnut Hill Academy and Episcopal Academy.  In 2004, he began working with the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus (PGMC) part-time while teaching. Prior to this, he had sung with the group a couple of times in the ’90s. “When I started there, there were 35 members and wi ..read more