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come yee gays/theys and gather round. we cover queer culture the way it actually happens: the news worth your rage, the joy worth a toast, and the occasional villain who has earned the drag. new stories all week, full issues sundays and wednesdays.

the 10 gay novels that mattered in 2026 so far. two are up for the booker. one is already an A24 show. The Watering Hole's list of the best gay novels of 2026 so far: Fruit Fly by Josh Silver, John of John by Douglas Stuart, The Disappearers by Marlon James, Pretend You're Dead and I Carry You by Julián Delgado Lopera,... october 13 trump told an ohio rally he "looked at" a senator's ass, then came back 40 minutes later for the jawline. sir, this is a rally. At a rally at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, President Trump said that after learning Sen. Jon Husted had been a college football star, "I started examining his body" and "I looked at his... october 13 a california high school's pride flag has flown every day since 2019. a 3-2 board vote says it now needs permission to come out in june. The Sonoma Valley Unified School District board voted 3-2 on Oct. 8, 2026 for a flag policy that ends the daily Pride flag at Sonoma Valley High School, where it had flown since 2019. Board President David Bell and trustees... october 11 pasadena's only gay bar has one month left and is spending it throwing a halloween party. somebody please buy this bar. The Boulevard, the gay bar at 3199 E. Foothill Blvd. in Pasadena, California, will close after its last night on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, the bar announced on Instagram. Owner Steve Terradot, 69, who bought the bar in 1999, told... october 11 a trans hairstylist from miami got deported to a country she had never set foot in. she shares a room with four men there. we are not okay. Daniela Fuentes, a Cuban transgender woman who worked as a hairstylist and drag performer in Miami, was deported by the United States to the Central African Republic, a country she has no ties to, the Associated Press reported on Oct.... october 11 alabama's republican chair says two trans women on the ballot have "mental disorders." one of them has paperwork saying she's of sound mind. does he? Alabama Republican Party chair Scott Stadthagen told the Eastern Shore Republican Women in Fairhope on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, that two transgender Democratic candidates for the Alabama House were "men who have mental disorders." The candidates, Terri Osborne (House District... october 11 carson kressley once performed a whole musical for an audience of bushes and the secret service. his review of the secret service: "super hot." On the Oct. 8, 2026 Watch What Happens Live After Show, Carson Kressley recalled George H.W. Bush, Barbara Bush and family watching a dress rehearsal of The Drowsy Chaperone, in which he played Man in Chair at the Ogunquit Playhouse... october 11 republicans spent $10 million telling ohio sherrod brown wants surgery on kids. his reply ad opens with "they're a complete lie" and ends on epstein. a democrat who hits back. i need to sit down. On Oct. 8, 2026, Ohio Senate candidate Sherrod Brown put a TV ad on the air answering a Senate Leadership Fund ad featuring detransitioner Soren Aldaco. Brown's ad calls the attack "a complete lie," says Aldaco is from Texas and... october 11 one of the scream killers says strangers keep telling him he was their queer awakening. his answer at comic con has us screaming (sorry). At a New York Comic Con panel for Scream's 30th anniversary on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, Matthew Lillard, who played Stu Macher, said fans often tell him and Skeet Ulrich, who played Billy Loomis, that the characters were their "queer... october 11 a former wnba player had one note for white players with opinions on trans athletes: "nobody wants to hear your opinion." we're framing it. Former WNBA guard Sydney Colson, on the Oct. 8, 2026 episode of her podcast Unsupervised with Syd & TP, told white players in the league who say "harmful" things about trans athletes that "nobody respects you" and "nobody wants to... october 11 a politician tweeted something filthy about a gay mp, then fought it for three years. australia's highest court just declined to hear him. bye. Australia's High Court on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, refused former federal Labor leader Mark Latham special leave to appeal, with costs, ending his challenge to a Federal Court ruling that a 2023 tweet defamed Sydney independent MP Alex Greenwich, who... october 11 a police chief used an anti-gay slur at work and got a 30-day suspension. two judges said they were "shocked" and gave him his firing back. On Oct. 9, 2026, a two-judge panel of New Jersey's Appellate Division reinstated the Borough of Roselle's firing of police chief Stacey Williams for using an anti-gay slur at work, overturning the Civil Service Commission's 30-day suspension. The judges wrote... october 11