Weekend Tennis Roundup

 The men and women are battling it out in Rome, with plenty to feast your eyes on BELOW.

Purr Chance Encounter?

Damian and I are on the train en route to Vermont to visit my niece (Ally) and hoping to run into this noted alum!

UPDATE:

We had a wonderful time in the Green Mountain State, where we went to help my niece move out of her dorm.

We stayed right near her campus in a funky Airbnb ...

which was a converted Texaco station, as you can see.

Across the street is the town of Castleton’s famed Birdseye diner, which we ate up!

On Night 1 we joined my sister and my brother-in-law for a great dinner at the nearby Lake Bomoseen Lodge, where we also got to hang out with one of Ally's cool suitemates. 

On Sunday we helped pack things up ... and then while Ally and her friend celebrated the end of the year, the grownups spent the day in Woodstock, the quintessential Vermont town replete with charming shops, farm-to-table cafes, several covered bridges and a famous gorge.

While we never crossed paths with Max the Cat -- I even emailed him, to no avail -- I give the state and family time five stars! xo

Maxed out

In Maxier times

On the Rag, Vol. 906

This week's rag 'n' mag roundup features Frank Christians, Dionne Warwick, gay hockey leagues, the "return" of chest hair and more BELOW.

Remains of the Day (05/06)

The AIDS Memorial: Was bittersweet to wake up to this tribute to my late friend and former roommate Ken Seymour -- aka Mike Henson

Fight Back: It's not too late to sign up for David Wise's interactive theater event that transports you to an ACT Up meeting in 1989

Gr8er Days: A newly restored print of Frank Perry’s bleak, transgressive 1969 Fire Island drama “Last Summer” is finally seeing the light of day -- and Richard Thomas is revisiting the film that helped launch his career 

New York Magazine: Bryant Rousseau thinks the New York Times discriminated against him for being a white man … and Andrew Sullivan has thoughts

Wrestle Wednesday: Front or back?

Broadway World: Amory Legato’s “Memoirs of a Drag Queen” will receive a four-week off-Broadway run at the Sargent Theatre at the American Theatre of Actors

Boystack: For years, a sketchy photo of a nude young man has been misidentified as James Dean -- but who was he really, and who did he hope to become?

Out: Meet Jacob Martinez, the out actor taking over Javi on "Days of Our Lives"

PinkNews: Florida man charged with hate crime after trying to "beat gay out of child"

Instinct: Secret Service agent arrested for allegedly masturbating in hotel hallway

Attitude: Spanish-language gay film "A Few Feet Away" explores hookup culture in the digital age

BAR: Senate hearing addresses challenges faced by LGBTQ seniors

Out: Former NFL player Ryan Russell and his hot boyfriend go viral in newly leaked pics

Fox13: Suspect wanted in shooting outside LGBTQ community center that injured 2 identified

People: Dolly Parton cancels Las Vegas residency, says "everything is treatable" but she's still healing

Hot Cat of the Day: Gerry works hard for the vittles

2026 Tony Award Nominations: "The Lost Boys" and "Schmigadoon!" lead with 12 nods

Are Trans Rights the New Gun Rights for Democrats?

From the Don't Shoot the Cis Messenger files:

I wish I could say I'm surprised that many queers aren't happy with Barney Frank's hospice interview urging Democrats to rethink the party's approach to trans rights. 

But if we ever want to control the House again -- or any level of federal power -- naysayers need to remember when Dems strategically backed away from running aggressively on another issue where we were on the right side of history -- GUN CONTROL -- and apply that to what's going on now. 

Yes, sensible progressives are correct where trans people are concerned. But just as we learned in the 1994 midterms when we were 100 percent correct about gun control -- we didn't take back control until Nancy Pelosi in 2008! -- trans rights are a thorny issue with the voting public at large and will continue to be one with the right twisting the topic into knots, lying to people by claiming that 8-year-olds are having gender-affirming surgery and weaponizing the issue against us. 

Instead, we need to WIN power and then enact laws and policies that protect trans people. Elections are won by the tiniest of margins these days, so don't think for one second this isn't a factor. 

While in the recent past most Americans were in favor of civil rights for trans people -- job and housing protections, the right to use the bathroom -- the right has capitalized on this trans women in sports issue, which lets them rile up the base, scare centrists and sow divisions among liberals all at once. 

While it affects very few people in practice, it's a lightning rod -- somewhere Lee Atwater is ejaculating without touching himself knowing that gay icon Martina Navratilova is a pariah among many of her peers -- and the issue is killing us at the ballot box because reckless activists don't want to accept that most Americans think it's a loser, including two out of three Gen Zers, and it has nothing to do with "transphobia." 

This is what Frank actually said about the subject:

"[Trans women competing in women's sports] is the most controversial, the most difficult. It affects the fewest number of people ... [yet] people who believe that’s important should advocate for it. But they should not make it a litmus test and say well if you’re not for that you’re not a supporter of the rights of transgender people. There are places where people are supportive, and we want to encourage that."

Hear! Hear!

Barney Frank and Bill Maher are deeply flawed people, but even broken clocks are right twice a day: Frank is correct that this litmus-test way of doing business is not tenable -- and Maher hit the nail on the head when he said that if we keep it up, "good luck with President Vance."

I've always thought Democrats were the smart party, so when are we going to start using our brains to win elections?

"That's their party platform."

SMH. This is what we're dealing with.

Tennis Tuesday: Camilo Ugo Carabelli

For some reason, not even a host of regrettable tattoos can stop me from, um, thinking about the 26-year-old Argentine. More to lust BELOW.