MDMA in the Back Garden Blow Our Pupils Up
Spencer Macnaughton | Uncloseted Media Weekly Newsletter
OK, I’ll admit, the headline is clickbaity. But this hook from Lorde’s summer banger, “What Was That,” which has amassed nearly 100 million streams on Spotify, has hit my hippocampus like a wrecking ball this week: on the elliptical, at the pool, on morning coffee walks and while writing this newsletter.
It reminds me of my late teens and early 20s, when music would flow into my ear canals with an emotional intensity that is a privilege of youth. I remember listening to Jennifer Hudson’s “If This Isn’t Love” when I was hooking up with the first guy I ever dated—the New Zealand exchange student who had transferred to my Toronto public school for Grade 12. A few years later, I remember dancing to Lady Gaga’s “The Edge of Glory” at Unity, Montreal’s biggest gay nightclub, alongside my best friends and my first real love. At around 2 a.m., I told Adam I loved him and he said it back. It was euphoric.
As I was coming of age, the music I loved reflected the moment: LGBTQ rights were expanding with gay marriage on the brink of legalization in the U.S. It was a hopeful, exciting and fun time to be gay.
Fast forward to today: I’m a geriatric millennial whose job is to cover the expansion of America’s anti-LGBTQ ecosystem. It can be melancholic and exhausting and—at times—hard to have hope.
But it’s in moments of hopelessness that music has always come to the rescue for me. And I hope that as the queer community continues to weather the storm here in the U.S., our pop overlords will give us more anthemic, positive, uplifting music that gives us an escape to euphoria, even if only for a few moments.
As the fight to hold the line continues, I’ll keep Lorde on repeat.
Hope everyone is having a fantastic summer!
We are thrilled to announce that we won an NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists’ award. We won the Excellence in Health/Fitness Coverage award for our investigation into why trans men experience eating disorders at alarmingly high rates. Read it here. Kudos to Sam Donndelinger, who penned the piece.
This is an especially meaningful honor because Sam—who was originally my student at New York University—wrote this story for my class three years ago. After I hired her last year, she suggested repurposing the story and publishing it on Uncloseted. What a full circle moment and a testament to the power of student journalism!
Other winners include the LA Times, The New York Times, CBS News, and The Hill. For the full list of winners, see here.
U.S. Olympic Officials Bar Transgender Women From Women’s Competitions (The New York Times)
The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee changed its eligibility rules on Monday to comply with President Trump’s executive order, taking the decision away from national governing bodies for each sport.
Sarah McBride defends transgender troops on House floor as Pentagon expels ‘committed patriots’ (The Advocate)
“These are Americans who have served with honor, with distinction, and with unshakable patriotism,” the Delaware Democrat said.
Trump is ending the suicide hotline for LGBTQ+ youth. So California is filling the void. (LGBTQ Nation)
The move comes as the Trump administration ends the national suicide prevention hotline’s LGBTQ+ support options.
‘We can’t stop there': Marking 20 years since same-sex marriage was legalized (CBC)
Twenty years after same-sex marriage became legal in Canada, couples who fought for that right and other advocates are celebrating the milestone while also acknowledging that there’s a long way to go before reaching full equality.
Trump tried to cut $6.2M in HIV/AIDS funding. A federal court just stopped him. (LGBTQ Nation)
The administration argued that the LGBTQ+-focused HIV prevention organizations were illegal "DEI."
Obama Explains Why Men Need Gay and Nonbinary Friends (Them)
When it comes to men’s social lives, former President Barack Obama agrees: If you don’t have queer and nonbinary friends, you’re missing out.
Over the next week, be on the lookout for new Uncloseted reporting:
🆕 Shine Louise Houston is the founding director of Pink & White Productions, a porn production company that strives to make a place for queer and trans-centric work in the adult entertainment industry. I interview Houston about what it means to produce queer porn as major sites like PornHub are making it harder for production companies to profit.
🆕 “Corporal punishment,” including hitting, spanking, and paddling kids as a form of discipline, is still legal in 22 states. What does this mean for LGBTQ kids growing up in hostile households?
Thanks for reading! Feel free to email me with questions, complaints and story ideas!
Spencer Macnaughton, Editor-In-Chief — spencer@unclosetedmedia.com
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