More than 190 firefighters were battling three wildfires on Chios in the Aegean Sea, which authorities are investigating as arson.

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A massive data center for Metas AI will likely lead to rate hikes for Louisiana customers, but Meta wants to keep the details under wraps.Holly Ridge is a rural community bisected by US Highway 80, gridded with farmland, with a big creekit is literally named Big Creekrunning through it. It is home to rice and grain mills and an elementary school and a few houses. Soon, it will also be home to Metas massive, 4 million square foot AI data center hosting thousands of perpetually humming servers that require billions of watts of energy to power. And that energy-guzzling infrastructure will be partially paid for by Louisiana residents.The plan is part of what Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said would be a defining year for AI. On Threads, Zuckerberg boasted that his company was building a 2GW+ datacenter that is so large it would cover a significant part of Manhattan, posting a map of Manhattan along with the data center overlaid. Zuckerberg went on to say that over the coming years, AI will drive our core products and business, unlock historic innovation, and extend American technology leadership. Let's go build! Mark Zuckerberg (@zuck) on ThreadsThis will be a defining year for AI. In 2025, I expect Meta AI will be the leading assistant serving more than 1 billion people, Llama 4 will become the leading state of the art model, and well build an AI engineer that will start contributing increasing amounts of code to our R&D efforts. To power this, Meta is building a 2GW+ datacenter that is so large it would cover a significant part of Manhattan.ThreadsWhat Zuckerberg did not mention is that "Let's go build" refers not only to the massive data center but also three new Meta-subsidized, gas power plants and a transmission line to fuel it serviced by Entergy Louisiana, the regions energy monopoly.Key details about Metas investments with the data center remain vague, and Metas contracts with Entergy are largely cloaked from public scrutiny. But what is known is the $10 billion data center has been positioned as an enormous economic boon for the areaone that politicians bent over backward to facilitateand Meta said it will invest $200 million into local roads and water infrastructure.A January report from NOLA.com said that the the state had rewritten zoning laws, promised to change a law so that it no longer had to put state property up for public bidding, and rewrote what was supposed to be a tax incentive for broadband internet meant to bridge the digital divide so that it was only an incentive for data centers, all with the goal of luring in Meta.But Entergy Louisianas residential customers, who live in one of the poorest regions of the state, will see their utility bills increase to pay for Metas energy infrastructure, according to Entergys application. Entergy estimates that amount will be small and will only cover a transmission line, but advocates for energy affordability say the costs could balloon depending on whether Meta agrees to finish paying for its three gas plants 15 years from now. The short-term rate increases will be debated in a public hearing before state regulators that has not yet been scheduled.The Alliance for Affordable Energy called it a black hole of energy use, and said to give perspective on how much electricity the Meta project will use: Metas energy needs are roughly 2.3x the power needs of Orleans Parish its like building the power impact of a large city overnight in the middle of nowhere.404 Media reached out to Entergy for comment but did not receive a response. By 2030, Entergys electricity prices are projected to increase 90 percent from where they were in 2018, although the company attributes much of that to damage to infrastructure from hurricanes. The state already has a high energy cost burden in part because of a storm damage to infrastructure, and balmy heat made worse by climate change that drives air conditioner use. The state's homes largely are not energy efficient, with many porous older buildings that dont retain heat in the winter or remain cool in the summer.You don't just have high utility bills, you also have high repair costs, you have high insurance premiums, and it all contributes to housing insecurity, said Andreanecia Morris, a member of Housing Louisiana, which is opposed to Entergys gas plant application. She believes Metas data center will make it worse. And Louisiana residents have reasons to distrust Entergy when it comes to passing off costs of new infrastructure: in 2018, the companys New Orleans subsidiary was caught paying actors to testify on behalf of a new gas plant. The fees for the gas plant have all been borne by the people of New Orleans, Morris said.In its application to build new gas plants and in public testimony, Entergy says the cost of Metas data center to customers will be minimal and has even suggested Metas presence will make their bills go down. But Metas commitments are temporary, many of Metas assurances are not binding, and crucial details about its deal with Entergy are shielded from public view, a structural issue with state energy regulators across the country.AI data centers are being approved at a breakneck pace across the country, particularly in poorer regions where they are pitched as economic development projects to boost property tax receipts, bring in jobs and where theyre offered sizable tax breaks. Data centers typically dont hire many people, though, with most jobs in security and janitorial work, along with temporary construction work. And the costs to the utilitys other customers can remain hidden because of a lack of scrutiny and the limited power of state energy regulators. Many data centerslike the one Meta is building in Holly Ridgeare being powered by fossil fuels. This has led to respiratory illness and other health risks and emitting greenhouse gasses that fuel climate change. In Memphis, a massive data center built to launch a chatbot for Elon Musks AI company is powered by smog-spewing methane turbines, in a region that leads the state for asthma rates.In terms of how big these new loads are, it's pretty astounding and kind of a new ball game, said Paul Arbaje, an energy analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, which is opposing Entergys proposal to build three new gas-powered plants in Louisiana to power Metas data center.Entergy Louisiana submitted a request to the states regulatory body to approve the construction of the new gas-powered plants that would create 2.3 gigawatts of power and cost $3.2 billion in the 1440 acre Franklin Farms megasite in Holly Ridge, an unincorporated community of Richland Parish. It is the first big data center announced since Louisiana passed large tax breaks for data centers last summer.In its application to the public utility commission for gas plants, Entergy says that Meta has a planned investment of $5 billion in the region to build the gas plants in Richland Parish, Louisiana, where it claims in its application that the data center will employ 300-500 people with an average salary of $82,000 in what it points out is a region of the state that has long struggled with a lack of economic development and high levels of poverty. Metas official projection is that it will employ more than 500 people once the data center is operational. Entergy plans for the gas plants to be online by December 2028.In testimony, Entergy officials refused to answer specific questions about job numbers, saying that the numbers are projections based on public statements from Meta.A spokesperson for Louisianas Economic Development told 404 Media in an email that Meta is contractually obligated to employ at least 500 full-time employees in order to receive incentive benefits.When asked about jobs, Meta pointed to a public facing list of its data centers, many of which the company says employ more than 300 people. A spokesperson said that the projections for the Richland Parish site are based on the scale of the 4 million square foot data center. The spokesperson said the jobs will include engineering and other technical positions to operational roles and our onsite culinary staff.When asked if its job commitments are binding, the spokesperson declined to answer, saying, We worked closely with Richland Parish and Louisiana Economic Development on mutually beneficial agreements that will support long-term growth in the area.Others are not as convinced. Show me a data center that has that level of employment, says Logan Burke, executive director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy in Louisiana.Entergy has argued the new power plants are necessary to satiate the energy need from Metas massive hyperscale data center, which will be Metas largest data center and potentially the largest data center in the United States. It amounts to a 25 percent increase in Entergy Louisianas current load, according to the Alliance for Affordable Energy.Entergy requested an exemption from a state law meant to ensure that it develops energy at the lowest cost by issuing a public request for proposals, claiming in its application and testimony that this would slow them down and cause them to lose their contracts with Meta.Meta has agreed to subsidize the first 15 years of payments for construction of the gas plants, but the plants construction is being financed over 30 years. At the 15 year mark, its contract with Entergy ends. At that point, Meta may decide it doesnt need three gas plants worth of energy because computing power has become more efficient or because its AI products are not profitable enough. Louisiana residents would be stuck with the remaining bill.It's not that they're paying the cost, they're just paying the mortgage for the time that they're under contract, explained Devi Glick, an electric utility analyst with Synapse Energy.When asked about the costs for the gas plants, a Meta spokesperson said, Meta works with our utility partners to ensure we pay for the full costs of the energy service to our data centers. The spokesperson said that any rate increases will be reviewed by the Louisiana Public Service Commission. These applications, called rate cases, are typically submitted by energy companies based on a broad projection of new infrastructure projects and energy needs.Meta has technically not finalized its agreement with Entergy but Glick believes the company has already invested enough in the endeavor that it is unlikely to pull out now. Other companies have been reconsidering their gamble on AI data centers: Microsoft reversed course on centers requiring a combined 2 gigawatts of energy in the U.S. and Europe. Meta swept in to take on some of the leases, according to Bloomberg.And in the short-term, Entergy is asking residential customers to help pay for a new transmission line for the gas plants at a cost of more than $500 million, according to Entergys application to Louisianas public utility board. In its application, the energy giant said customers bills will only rise by $1.66 a month to offset the costs of the transmission lines. Meta, for its part, said it will pay up to $1 million a year into a fund for low-income customers. When asked about the costs of the new transmission line, a Meta spokesperson said, Like all other new customers joining the transmission system, one of the required transmission upgrades will provide significant benefits to the broader transmission system. This transmission upgrade is further in distance from the data center, so it was not wholly assigned to Meta.When Entergy was questioned in public testimony on whether the new transmission line would need to be built even without Metas massive data center, the company declined to answer, saying the question was hypothetical.Some details of Metas contract with Entergy have been made available to groups legally intervening in Entergys application, meaning that they can submit testimony or request data from the company. These parties include the Alliance for Affordable Energy, the Sierra Club and the Union of Concerned Scientists.But Metawhich will become Entergys largest customer by far and whose presence will impact the entire energy gridis not required to answer questions or divulge any information to the energy board or any other parties. The Alliance for Affordable Energy and Union of Concerned Scientists attempted to make Meta a party to Entergys applicationwhich would have required it to share information and submit to questioningbut a judge denied that motion on April 4.The public utility commissions that approve energy infrastructure in most states are the main democratic lever to assure that data centers dont negatively impact consumers. But they have no oversight over the tech companies running the data centers or the private companies that build the centers, leaving residential customers, consumer advocates and environmentalists in the dark. This is because they approve the power plants that fuel the data centers but do not have jurisdiction over the data centers themselves.This is kind of a relic of the past where there might be some energy service agreement between some large customer and the utility company, but it wouldn't require a whole new energy facility, Arbaje said.A research paper by Ari Peskoe and Eliza Martin published in March looked at 50 regulatory cases involving data centers, and found that tech companies were pushing some of the costs onto utility customers through secret contracts with the utilities. The paper found that utilities were often parroting rhetoric from AI boosting politiciansincluding President Bidento suggest that pushing through permitting for AI data center infrastructure is a matter of national importance.The implication is that theres no time to act differently, the authors wrote.In written testimony sent to the public service commission, Entergy CEO Phillip May argued that the company had to bypass a legally required request for proposals and requirement to find the cheapest energy sources for the sake of winning over Meta.If a prospective customer is choosing between two locations, and if that customer believes that location A can more quickly bring the facility online than location B, that customer is more likely to choose to build at location A, he wrote.Entergy also argues that building new gas plants will in fact lower electricity bills because Meta, as the largest customer for the gas plants, will pay a disproportionate share of energy costs. Naturally, some are skeptical that Entergy would overcharge what will be by far their largest customer to subsidize their residential customers. They haven't shown any numbers to show how that's possible, Burke says of this claim. Meta didnt have a response to this specific claim when asked by 404 Media.Some details, like how much energy Meta will really need, the details of its hiring in the area and its commitment to renewables are still cloaked in mystery.We can't ask discovery. We can't depose. There's no way for us to understand the agreement between them without [Meta] being at the table, Burke said.Its not just Entergy. Big energy companies in other states are also pushing out costly fossil fuel infrastructure to court data centers and pushing costs onto captive residents. In Kentucky, the energy company that serves the Louisville area is proposing 2 new gas plants for hypothetical data centers that have yet to be contracted by any tech company. The company, PPL Electric Utilities, is also planning to offload the cost of new energy supply onto its residential customers just to become more competitive for data centers.It's one thing if rates go up so that customers can get increased reliability or better service, but customers shouldn't be on the hook to pay for new power plants to power data centers, Cara Cooper, a coordinator with Kentuckians for Energy Democracy, which has intervened on an application for new gas plants there.These rate increases dont take into account the downstream effects on energy; as the supply of materials and fuel are inevitably usurped by large data center load, the cost of energy goes up to compensate, with everyday customers footing the bill, according to Glick with Synapse.Glick says Entergys gas plants may not even be enough to satisfy the energy needs of Metas massive data center. In written testimony, Glick said that Entergy will have to either contract with a third party for more energy or build even more plants down the line to fuel Metas massive data center.To fill the gap, Entergy has not ruled out lengthening the life of some of its coal plants, which it had planned to close in the next few years. The company already pushed back the deactivation date of one of its coal plants from 2028 to 2030.The increased demand for gas power for data centers has already created a widely-reported bottleneck for gas turbines, the majority of which are built by 3 companies. One of those companies, Siemens Energy, told Politico that turbines are selling faster than they can increase manufacturing capacity, which the company attributed to data centers.Most of the organizations concerned about the situation in Louisiana view Metas massive data center as inevitable and are trying to soften its impact by getting Entergy to utilize more renewables and make more concrete economic development promises.Andreanecia Morris, with Housing Louisiana, believes the lack of transparency from public utility commissions is a bigger problem than just Meta. Simply making Meta go away, isn't the point, Morris says. The point has to be that the Public Service Commission is held accountable.Burke says Entergy owns less than 200 megawatts of renewable energy in Louisiana, a fraction of the fossil fuels it is proposing to fuel Metas center. Entergy was approved by Louisianas public utility commission to build out three gigawatts of solar energy last year , but has yet to build any of it.They're saying one thing, but they're really putting all of their energy into the other, Burke says.New gas plants are hugely troubling for the climate. But ironically, advocates for affordable energy are equally concerned that the plants will lie around disused - with Louisiana residents stuck with the financing for their construction and upkeep. Generative AI has yet to prove its profitability and the computing heavy strategy of American tech companies may prove unnecessary given less resource intensive alternatives coming out of China.There's such a real threat in such a nascent industry that what is being built is not what is going to be needed in the long run, said Burke. The challenge remains that residential rate payers in the long run are being asked to finance the risk, and obviously that benefits the utilities, and it really benefits some of the most wealthy companies in the world, But it sure is risky for the folks who are living right next door.The Alliance for Affordable Energy expects the commission to make a decision on the plants this fall.

In 1981, Bill Erickson and his future husband, John Burke, joined members of the LGBTQ+ Chiltern MountainClub for the Pride march in Boston.In the photo Erickson and Burke shared for Pride in Pictures, the young couple, 23 and 33 at the time, can be seen at the lower right, just over the shoulders of their fellow club member in the Clash t-shirt. The pic was captured by a friend from the Charles Street overpass along the march route. Related Ann Willoughby & Barb Goldstein have been together for 43 years & they still celebrate Pride The couple became posterchildren for marriage rights in 2012. Back in the beginning of the Pride marches, it was more of an in-your-face, Were here, were queer, get used to us event, Erickson tells LGBTQ Nation of those early protests. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today I certainly prefer the celebration atmosphere we had been seeing for so many years.Unfortunately, its going back towards protests I never thought wed be back fighting for our lives again. But here we are.The couple met the year before the march when Erickson was helping a friend move out of his apartment in Boston, and Burke was helping a friend move in.Bill Erickson and John Burke joined their outdoor adventure club for Bostons Pride march in 1981 | Provided by John Burke Our paths crossed.We decided to live together on July 4, 1980. Independence Day or Co-dependence day? Erickson asks, sharing a 22-year-olds commitment issues.The pair celebrates 45 years together next month, and theyve been married for twelve of them.We were visiting Sedona, Arizona, in 2006 when I proposed to John that if and when it became legal for us to marry, would he marry me? And he said yes.The couple, now 67 and 77, married in 2013 at their home in Palm Springs, where theyre both retired from the tech industry.Asked about the Gay Liberation movement at the time of their Boston march versus the fight for LGBTQ+ rights now, Erickson says, We were determined to make things better, and I believe we did. Unfortunately, the younger generation will need to continue that fight to maintain those rights.They have a head start that his generation didnt enjoy, Erickson adds, sharing a story from one of the couples annual summer road trips.John and I and our three dogs are traveling in our RV cross country. On June 7, 2025, we were passing through Rock Springs, Wyoming, and attended their Pride Fest. It was a small, grassroots gathering, which I was told has grown over the last few years. There was no march, but there was a festival in the city park. One thing that stood out to us was the number of straight people who were there, and the number of families in attendance those families being gay couples and their children, and straight couples and their children.While there were no protests that day in Wyoming, for or against the rights that LGBTQ+ people have earned since the couple marched in Boston 44 years ago, Erickson says that he and his husband have the younger generations backs in their own march for equality.We will be there to fight alongside them, he says.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Nature, Published online: 23 June 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01945-9UN in talks with governments and funding bodies to save highly-cited, 40-year health data set used by researchers in more than 90 countries.

Nature, Published online: 23 June 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01976-2Liraglutide, part of the family of blockbuster weight-loss drugs, reduces headaches by half in a small study.

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The FOIA Forum is a livestreamed event for paying subscribers where we talk about how to file public records requests and answer questions. If you're not already signed up, please consider doing sohere.Recently we had a FOIA Forum where we focused on our article This College Protester Isnt Real. Its an AI-Powered Undercover Bot for Cops.

Marriage and the ability to start a family are human rights. Ten years ago, on June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in the Obergefell v. Hodges case extended the right to marry to same-sex couples.With 7.6% of Americans identifying as LGBTQ+, this decision continues to have an impact beyond legal benefits.Marriage provides unique advantages a reality we have come to know as psychology researchers who focus on couples. The right to marry allowed same-sex couples the opportunity to experience these advantages.Benefits of a healthy marriageAlthough evidence largely comes from different-sex couples, psychology research documents the numerous benefits healthy marriage confers on well-being. Married people experience more positive emotions. They also have many physical health advantages, such as being more likely to survive cancer or major surgery. Children of married couples seem to benefit as well.A healthy marriage brings benefits that are distinct even from what couples in long-term relationships experience. Those who are married have better psychological well-being, such as less depression and better physical health than people in nonmarital romantic relationships, even those who live with their partner.Not surprisingly, the benefits of being married do not extend to unhappy marriages. The effects of marriage on physical well-being, life satisfaction, depression and mental health more broadly depend on marital quality, and so do outcomes for children.Whats so special about marriage?What makes a happy marriage different from a happy cohabiting, stable relationship when it comes to well-being? Social scientists dont know, but there are a few theories.The one with the most empirical support involves a concept from physics called inertia. Applied in relationship science, inertia describes the idea that a relationship will remain the same or continue moving along the same trajectory unless some outside force acts upon it.As relationships progress, they naturally gain momentum. Partners invest more into their relationship over time. They exchange gifts, meet each others friends, and start staying at each others homes. Eventually, a natural step in this progression is either cohabitation or marriage.Marriage is a milestone, marking a new stage in life. Deciding to get married is a long-term commitment that often takes years of planning. Cohabitation, on the other hand, is easy to slide into due to the forward trajectory of a relationship. Cohabitors tend to stay together less as an intentional choice but for convenience.The intentional lifelong commitment of marriage may explain why it offers more benefits than cohabitation.10 years of same-sex marriageAs more same-sex couples have married, are they seeing the same marriage benefits that other-sex couples always had? Research on the topic is only just beginning. Still, there is some preliminary evidence that they are.In a 2024 survey, respondents with same-sex spouses largely felt closer to their partner and more satisfied with life in general after getting married. Findings from one research study indicate that married same-sex couples see greater benefits to psychological well-being than do same-sex couples in registered domestic partnerships. Another study on same-sex relationships found that marriage was linked to greater happiness and fewer depression symptoms than cohabitation.As for children of same-sex parents, they do just as well as those with other-sex parents. Theres not much data yet on the impact on kids of same-sex parents divorcing.Do marriage benefits differ for same-sex couples?The happiness of same- and other-sex relationships is largely determined by the same factors, but there are two key differences: gender composition of the couple and stress from discrimination.In other-sex relationships, women tend to fall into subordinate positions. Same-sex couples are free from traditional male-female gender dynamics, allowing more of a balance of power. For instance, they have a more even division of household chores, and partners have a more equal say when resolving conflicts. Greater equality may improve the quality of same-sex relationships.The other distinguishing feature of same-sex couples is that their relationships are negatively affected by discrimination, a known stressor. In research done mostly on different-sex couples, even support from a partner does not ameliorate the downstream effects of discrimination and as is the case with other stressors can make relationship problems seem worse.Societal disapproval may lead someone to internalize negative ideas about their own sexuality and relationship. In other words, buying into societys message that ones relationship is morally wrong harms their own mental health and consequently their relationship. Psychology researchers theorize that societal disapproval is a key factor standing in the way of same-sex couples experiencing the full benefits of marriage.More societal acceptance post-ObergefellAs an increasing number of U.S. states, and eventually the federal government, legalized same-sex marriage, greater societal acceptance has followed. In 2025, 67% of LGBTQ+ adults agree that the country has become more accepting of same-sex couples due to the legalization of same-sex marriage.This trend is not unique to the U.S. Around the world, countries where same-sex marriage is legal tend to have a higher percentage of the population say they favor same-sex marriage. Although the causal direction is opaque, evidence from multiple countries indicates that same-sex marriage bans reinforce nonacceptance of LGBTQ+ people, while legal recognition fosters societal approval. Acceptance lowers stress for same-sex couples, allowing them to enjoy the benefits of marriage.Although societal acceptance in the United States has improved dramatically over the past couple of decades, it is important to note that 19% of Americans still strongly oppose same-sex marriage. Legalization was a major step, but it has by no means eliminated discrimination altogether.Alana L. Riso, Ph.D. Student in Clinical Psychology, Binghamton University, State University of New York and Matthew D. Johnson, Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training, Binghamton University, State University of New YorkThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.The post Expansion of marriage rights to same-sex couples also expanded access to the psychological benefits that come with tying theknot appeared first on News Is Out.

During an appearance onThe Kelly Mantle Show, legendary bisexual comedian Margaret Cho blasted Ellen DeGeneres as a mean girl. Its so weird now, like, public perception of her is, like, more true, Cho said. In 2020, DeGeneres pulled the plug on her daytime chat show after allegations of staff abuse. Related Modern Family star Aubrey Anderson-Emmons comes out as bisexual using iconic moment from the show The actress who played Lily is ready to celebrate Pride Month Ellen was really weird and not nice to me for most of my career, Cho told Mantle. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today I opened for her in the 1980s when she was a headliner in comedy clubs, way before her big fame, so later, when I would do her talk show in the 2000s, she acted like we just met. And Im like, B***h what? Thats weird! Like, we go way back. Its so creepy and weird!Cho also said she felt like Ellen had negative feelings toward her because her girlfriends and wives always liked her. The Ellen DeGeneres Showbegan to unravel late in its 19-year run when allegations of rampant abuse began to surface. Two explosive stories about the toxic work environment published byBuzzfeed Newsled to an investigation by Warner Bros., producer of the program along with DeGeneres own Very Good Productions. Three top producers got the axe.But the house-cleaning and a poorly received on-air apology from the host werent enough to salvage the multiple Emmy-winning show. DeGeneres signed off for the last time in May 2022 with her signature Be kind goodbye.And despite her attempts to redeem herself in a Netflix special, former employeessaidit was a case study in evasion and self-deception.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Scroll queer TikTok and youll find thousands of clips tagged #sobergasm, filled with couples raving about mind-blowing sober sex, dancers dripping with post-club euphoria, and breath-work devotees describing trippy highs with zero substances involved. After years of pandemic partying and hangxiety, a growing slice of LGBTQ+ folks are exploring pleasure minus the pour. Theyre calling the peak sensations sobergasms, and insisting the rush rivals any boozy buzz.So what exactly is happening when everything feels orgasmic, yet nothing stronger than sparkling water is in play? We asked three prossex educator Birna Gustafsson, pjur in-house sexologist Tim Lagman, and relationship expert Zachary Zaneto break down the trend.What is a sobergasm, anyway?A sobergasm is a portmanteau of sober and orgasm, used to describe the more intense or heightened orgasms people can experience when theyre sober, says Zane, noting that people within the queer communities often rely on drugs or alcohol to enhance their experience.Lagman agrees, adding, Its that rush of pleasure, emotional intensity, or spiritual clarity that feels orgasmic, but its entirely sober. While it can happen during sex, its not limited to erotic moments.In terms of TikTok discourse, Gustafsson notes that it can mean a literal lights-out climax, a festival-floor natural high, or simply a modern spin on straight edge, but centered more on pleasure than abstinence. Your brain on a natural highDuring a sobergasm, the body releases a cocktail of feel-good chemicals, including dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins, Lagman explains. Its the same neurochemical symphony behind orgasm or runners high, just triggered by breath, movement, or deep connection instead of alcohol.Gustafsson adds that while no actual genital orgasm occurs in many cases, feeling autonomy, confidence, release, and joy can mimic the rush of arousal. In other words, the circuitry is there, but the switch is just flipped differently.Why queer folks are swapping cocktails for clarityQueer nightlife has long revolved around bars, clubs, and chemsex scenes, sometimes as a refuge, and others as an escape. But thats shifting.Research shows that queer individuals tend to have higher rates of drug use and abuse compared to their straight counterparts, Zane says, with the American Addiction Centers showing that LGBTQ+ adults are more than twice as likely to use illicit drugs and suffer from a substance use disorder as their straight counterparts. Its understandable that some might seek out substance-free euphoria as an alternativeespecially in response to the often pervasive party and sex culture.Lagman sees the same pivot, noting post-pandemic introspection, rising wellness culture, and a generational craving for authentic intensity. Meanwhile, Gustafssons college workshops are packed with students asking how alcohol affects consent and pleasure. The idea of going out and having fun requires drinking is starting to grow old. As people feel more empowered to express their LGBTQ+ identities at a younger age than before, spaces that allow for connection for those under 21 set the tone for how they connect in later years.How to access a sobergasmExperiencing a sobergasm for yourself may be difficult, especially if youre more used to the traditional party scene of old. To try it on for yourself, Lagman rattles off the greatest hits:Sex with intention think tantric breath, somatic focus, [lube], and eye contact that doesnt blur.Music & dance sober raves and ecstatic dance where the beat drives a visceral high.Breathwork & meditation holotropic sessions or deep chanting that tip you into altered states.Nature & movement hiking, swimming, pole dancing, even cold plunges.Authentic connection vulnerability floods the brain with oxytocin, which bypasses the need for artificial simulation.Zane adds therapy to the toolkit, as well. It helps you explore the roots of why you might feel the need to drink to enjoy intimacywhat fears or shame are underlying those habits? Addressing these emotions can make sober sex more accessible and pleasurable, he says. Gustafssons also encourages people to practice flirting sober, which can be incredibly empowering once youve done the work of regulating your emotions when facing rejection. Sex, sobriety & the myth that booze is betterDespite marketing that pairs cocktails with confidence, alcohol can blunt sensation and stall orgasm.Alcohol and drugs can actually inhibit intimacy, says Zane. They can make it harder to be present, reach orgasm, or feel emotionally connected.Sobriety changes that emotional connection. Lagman describes partners taking their time and tuning into each others breath. Gustafsson notes this challenges chemsex norms that equate queer pleasure with narcotics. Sobergasms, as silly of a TikTok trend they may be, push back on this idea and show that you dont need to rely on anything but yourself to feel good. Yes, sober sex can feel raw at firstno haze to hide behindbut many discover its like having sex for the first time again, with full presence, Lagman says.Keeping sobergasms authentic (and hype-proof)Wellness buzzwords, like many trends, come with a branding risk.Theres a risk of companies or influencers offering superficial or misleading advice, or trying to commodify this experience for profit, Zane warns.Sobergasm could be turned into a hashtag to sell retreats, Lagman echoes. At its core, this concept is free. Its DIY. It belongs to the people, not the marketers.Gustafsson is skeptical of unregulated supplements that promise instant ecstasy. Most of these products rely on placebo effects, she says. If something is telling you youll have great sex, the possibility of having great sex, and the permission to seek it out are enough to ignite desire.Bringing sobergasms to your sexual practiceUltimately, reframing sobriety is about addition, not subtraction. Zane lists the gains: cash saved, deeper intimacy, no hangovers, sharper self-awareness. Lagman calls it awakening. Gustafsson sums it up:Sobriety isnt about what you cut out of your life, its about what you get back.So whether your next mind-blowing moment happens mid-breathwork, on a sunrise hike, or naked in bed with nothing stronger than lube and trust, remember: the most powerful drug might already be coursing through your own queer, vibrant body. Drink it inno chaser required.

Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said he believed Antonio Rdiger when the player told him he was a victim of racist abuse during their 3-1 win against Mexican side Pachuca at the Club World Cup on Sunday.

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Pep Guardiola has hailed Claudio Echeverri as an "incredible player" after the Argentinian youngster scored his first goal for Manchester City.

Liam Delap has revealed Cole Palmer helped convince him to join Chelsea this summer.

Palmeiras defender Murilo says he will copy Cristiano Ronaldo's trademark 'SIU' celebration if he scores against Lionel Messi's Inter Miami at the Club World Cup.

The British government announced plans to proscribe the group, Palestine Action, after members broke into a military air base.

Hugo Aguilar Ortiz se ha convertido en una de las figuras indgenas ms visibles de Mxico y en un smbolo de la reestructuracin del poder judicial impulsada por el partido gobernante en el pas.

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The OutLook is our weekly roundup of political issues that affect the LGBTQ+ community.The Supreme Court has upheld Tennessees ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors in a 63 ruling, allowing similar laws in other states to stand. Justice Sotomayor dissented, saying the court abandons transgender children and their families to political whims.California lawmakers plan to restore $40 million in LGBTQ+ health funding. Advocates urge Gov. Newsom to keep it in the final budget.The Supreme Courts ruling may be a setback for trans youth in Tennessee, but legal advocates say the fight isnt over and future challenges to anti-trans laws remain possible under existing circuit court precedent.LGBTQ+ leaders in Chicago condemned the Supreme Courts gender-affirming care ruling, warning it endangers trans youth nationwide.Johnston County schools in North Carolina may soon ban Pride flags and strip LGBTQ+ protections from key policies, as board members cite distractions and push back on inclusion efforts.The post The OutLook: June 20, 2025 appeared first on News Is Out.

Mental health has been in the spotlight for the last few yearsand the need for resources is more dire than ever, especially for the LGBTQ+ community.Several studies have confirmed the toll that various factors have taken on the demographic. For example, when compared to heterosexual males and females, gay men aresix times more likelyand lesbian females are two times more likely to attempt suicide, and it is one of the leading causes of death for gay men. (Unfortunately, there is no empirical data to substantiate the number of completed suicides within the queer community.)Identifying causesThe causes of suicide among gay men are myriad. Some include psychiatric disorders, depression, anxiety, discrimination, homophobia, bullying and substance abuse. Inolder gay men, risk factors can include stressful life events, family history or even financial problems.We have historically lacked data but we have the lived experiences of LGBTQ people. We dont have specifics about gay men; Ive found that the data is labelled under MSMmen who have sex with men, said Daniel C. Eggerding, a Chicagoan who is a 988 counselor with The Trevor Project, a leading LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention organization. The minority stress model [which identifies processes through which minority stress influences mental health for sexual minorities] is the main indicator of suicide among marginalized groups such as LGBTQ people and even veterans. Its not that theyre more at risk because of identity; its more about societal stigma and those other stress factors: anti-LGBTQ policy and legislation, historical discrimination. Most people arent taking their lives because theyre gay or queer. Its more about everyday stressors: anxiety or finances.Daniel C. Eggerding. Photo courtesy of EggerdingThe top [factors] are the stigma, affordability, people being afraid they wouldnt be taken seriously, being scared of hospitalization or even criminalization. Bullying is a top one, too.Conversion therapywhich purportedly aims to change a persons sexual orientation or gender identityis also an issue for some. (Twenty-three states and D.C. currently ban the practice for minors, according to theMovement Advancement Project.) However, a Trevor Project report found that there are still more than 1,000 such therapists. Its a state and local thingand its a sign of our political climate, Eggerding said. This administration and RFK are promoting conversion therapy by a different name now, but we have made major progress against it in the past 20 years.And speaking of the Trump administration, there is no denying that the president has had a major impact on gay people and suicideand it started with the news that he was elected last November.The 19threported that The Trevor Project saw an overall 700-percent increase in calls, texts and chats after Trump was elected, compared to prior weeks.All of the crisis-care services and the Crisis Care Continuum had to handle all those messages, Eggerding said. Weve seen the direct impact of just even talking about anti-LGBTQ politics and rhetoric. Also, people have moved from state to state because of whats happening. A stat we have is that 90% of young LGBTQ people (13-24) said that their well-being was negatively impacted due to recent politics. If thats not alarming, I dont know what is. We have a lot of work to do.A nightmare becomes realityWith the increases in gay men (and everyone else in the LGBTQ+ community) attempting and dying of suicide, the last thing one would need is to have life-saving telecommunications services being taken away.However, that nightmarish idea has become a reality.The Department of Health and Human Services hadproposeda budget for 2026 that eliminates specialized suicide hotline services for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults. The budget proposal would designate $520 million for 988, the suicide prevention line, as well as behavioral health crisis servicesthe same amount the Biden administration provided for 988. However, the 2026 proposal would end government funding for LGBTQ+-specific counseling to 988 callers upon request, with services ending Oct. 1.Rachel Cauley, a spokesperson for the White Houses Office of Management and Budget, said at the time that the budget didnt grant taxpayer money to a chat service where children are encouraged to embrace radical gender ideology by counselors without consent or knowledge of their parents. The term radical gender ideology represents part of the anti-trans rhetoric the Trump administration has embraced.988 may not be around much longer for LGBTQ+ individuals. Photo: Airam Dato-on for Pexels.But a newand devastatingwrinkle has taken place. On June 17, SAMSHA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) issued astatementsaying, On July 17, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will no longer silo LGB+ youth services, also known as the Press 3 option, to focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously served through the Press 3 option.The Press 3 option was established as a pilot program in Fiscal Year 2022 under a government agreement with a third party. The Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus included a Congressional directive for $29.7 million to fund the specialized services. Federal funding in FY24 for the Press 3 services increased to $33 million. As of June 2025, more than $33 million in funds have been spent to support the subnetworks, fully expending the monies allocated for 988 Lifeline LGB+ subnetwork services.However, SAMSHA also claimed that everyone who contacts the 988 Lifeline will continue to receive access to skilled, caring, culturally competent crisis counselors who can help with suicidal, substance misuse, or mental health crises, or any other kind of emotional distress. Anyone who calls the Lifeline will continue to receive compassion and help.When asked what his greatest fear was before the SAMSHAs act, Eggerding responded, Tragedy and preventable crises Yes, I might lose a job [with the lack of funding]but its so much bigger than me. My biggest fear is that there would be a lack of progress after we come so far. It would be such a devastating thing. Millions of people are reaching out; its clear that we need this program.After what transpired June 17, Eggerding sent a more official statement: This service has been more than a phone lineits truly been a lifeline for LGBTQ+ youth in crisis. Budgets are moral documents of priorities, and this decision is a moral failure. It sends a message that affirming care, which we know has saved countless young lives, is not worth funding. Even when it was passed through Congress. Even when it had bipartisan support. Again and again, queer and trans youth are told they are not worth the investment. But the public health crisis of suicide is one of the leading causes of death for young people in the U.S, and we know that LGBTQ+ youth, youth of color, and more communities are at even greater risk. When our service veterans reach out to 988, they can press 1 to get specialized, culturally competent support.That option exists because we understand that certain communities face unique challenges and deserve this specialized carenot specialized treatment that puts one life or group over another, but specialized care and connection with trained, affirming professionals who understand the unique experiences of LGBTQ+ young people in this country. LGBTQ+ youth deserve the same access to care and safety as any other American. Over 1.3 million people have used this service in just a few years. Behind every number is a young person who found help, maybe the only place they could. If that doesnt justify keeping this service, what does at this point?There is one very sobering statistic to consider: Each year, 1.8 million LGBTQ+ young people consider suicide, according to The Trevor Project. Factor in those older than their mid-20s and there would seem abona fidecrisis.Protective factorsSo with all the risk factors connected to suicide, what can people do to lessen the possibility of an attempt?There are protective factors, some which are more immediate, while others are more long-term.There are so many that come to mind, said Eggerding. Being human, being compassionate; trusting that people know who they are and whats best for themthats the American Dream, right? So, the support, the affirmation, the advocacy; not supporting politicians who advocate for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation; respecting pronouns, which is huge; asking questions; or even actions like having a Pride flag, [as] acts of solidarity can go a long way.Those in crisis can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), call or text 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. Regarding The Trevor Project, people can text START to 678678 or call 866-488-7386.The post Gay men face alarming suicide rates amid declining mental health resources appeared first on News Is Out.

Anti-LGBTQ+ Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed a law over the weekend to require every public school classroom in the state to display the Ten Commandments. SB 10 says the religious text must be displayed in a conspicuous place in the form of a durable poster or framed copy. The typeface must be legible to a person with average vision from anywhere in the classroom and must be at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall. Related The GOP is forcing the 10 Commandments on kids. Heres what classrooms really need on their walls. Students dont deserve to have religion forced upon them; they deserve the space to explore what it means to be good human beings. The focus of this bill is to look at what is historically important to our nation educationally and judicially, said the legislations co-sponsor, state Rep. Candy Noble (R), according to the Associated Press. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The legislation is a clear element of the far-rights Christian Nationalist agenda that is outlined in Project 2025 (masquerading as a fight for religious freedom).During a hearing on the bill, State Sen. Nathan Johnson (D) read a letter signed by more than 160 Texas faith leaders in opposition. We believe this legislation is a misguided effort that undermines the faith and freedom that we cherish, it said, explaining that the Constitutional right to religious freedom involves respecting the rights of individuals, parents, and faith communities to make decisions about the teaching of sacred texts that inform our relgiious understandings and practices. The letter said bills likes this demean that freedom and that the government has overstepped its authority by dictating an official state-approved version of a religious text, referring to a section in the bill mandating exactly what translation of the Ten Comandments is to hang on classroom walls, down to individual word choices that are not remotely universal or inclusive of all faith traditions. The leaders also recognized that the Ten Commandments hold no religious meaning for thousands of Texans and that It is not the place of govenrment nor public schools to impose these religious instructions on them. Last year, a federal judge blocked a similar law in Louisiana, which was the first state that attempted to enact a law forcing the display of the Biblical directives since a similar law in Kentucky was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1980 as a violation of the First Amendment.In his Louisiana decision, U.S District Court Judge John W. deGravelles said the law is unconstitutional on its face. He said its coercive to students, and, for all practical purposes, they cannot opt out of viewing the Ten Commandments when they are displayed in every classroom, every day of the year, every year of their education.The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which also considers Texas cases upheld deGravelles ruling. The Texas law will likely see challenges in court as well.Despite all of that, Texas is not the only state still trying to circumvent the First Amendment. A Ten Comandments law has also been making its way through the Alabama legislature, and in Arkansas earlier this year, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) signed SB 433, mandating the Ten Commandments hang in public classrooms. A lawsuit has already been filed by the ACLU on behalf of seven families.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

In Living Color A Celebration of Black Queer Elders NEW YORK, NY June 23, 2025 On June 19th, in a fitting tribute to Juneteenths legacy of Black liberation, Surface Level Podcast launched its vibrant and dynamic Pride Month 2025 campaign: In Living Color. In partnership with SAGE and proudly supported by Procter [...]The post In Living Color: Surface Level Podcast Launches Vibrant Pride 2025 Campaign Honoring Black Queer Legacy first appeared on GLAAD.

Kory Burns is doing more than heating up the summer... hes finally stepping into his truth.The handsome singer just dropped his sultry, genre-blending new single All Night Long" and the Miami-born R&B singer is making a bold musical and personal statement.Just in time for Pride Month, Burns is publicly coming out as bisexual for the first time, marking a major milestone in his life and career."Im just really bored with everything I hear in music today. So I figured it was time to shake things up in my own way. I decided to be as authentic as I could be, and this was the song that came to me," Burns tells PRIDE. See on Instagram "All Night Long" is the perfect Pride anthem as it celebrates sexual freedom and fluidity.The track switches between male and female pronouns, which serves as an intentional nod to bisexuality thats both empowering and inclusive."I was at the gym, heard a song that kept saying girl this, girl that, and thought it would be so much more fun if it flipped. Thats how this song came to be."Burns' coming out also marks a creative shift in his personal life in which the singer has faced several painful challenges, including two car accidents, surgeries, the loss of his dog and grandmother, and the collapse of a planned EP."My grandma told me before she passed, Dont let anybodys opinions sway you.' She always supported me, even though we didnt talk about my sexuality directly. She said a mother always knows. That stuck with me." See on Instagram While Burns says he never felt shame, he was cautious about being open earlier in his career."People made slick comments my whole life. This stuff wasnt as accepted a few years ago, and some artists careers suffered. That frightened me. But now? Singing a song about my bisexuality is whats taking me to the next level."Burns was discovered by the late soul legend Betty Wright, who mentored him and always encouraged honesty."She had her inklings!" "She was big on no censorship. Shed definitely be proud."With a dance remix recently released and possible tour dates in the works, Burns is only getting started. As he boldly embraces his next chapter as an openly bisexual man, the star has an important message to anyone questioning their own identity."Take your time. Be honest with yourself. The right people will love you no matter what. If no one else, know Im on your side.""All Night Long is available on all major platforms, and fans can follow Kory Burns on Instagram here.

Nature, Published online: 23 June 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09289-0Gating and noelin clustering of native Ca2+-permeable AMPA receptors

Nature, Published online: 23 June 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09284-5Modular arene functionalization by differential 1,2-diborylation

When the Thunder set out to build a champion, they learned hard lessons from how their historic trio of KD, Russell Westbrook and James Harden flamed out a decade ago.

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Sami Whitcomb and Laeticia Amihere are positioned to produce for their teams and fantasy managers ahead of a busy week in the WNBA.

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The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is expected to find millions of unknown objects in our solar system, and perhaps even a mysterious Planet Nine.

Housing affordability and quality-of-life concerns are pushing longtime Black New Yorkers out of the city, underscoring Democrats challenges with their base ahead of the mayoral election.

When President Trump took office, U.S.A.I.D. was one of the first agencies to be dismantled in the name of efficiency. Amy Schoenfeld Walker, a New York Times reporter and graphics editor who has been tracking the foreign aid cuts and restorations since they began in February, shares what shes learned through her reporting.

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Nine activists were arrested on the steps of the Supreme Court on Friday as they protested the conservative majoritys decision last week to uphold Tennessees ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors.The ruling in U.S. v Skrmetti affirmed laws passed in Tennessee and 26 other states denying gender-affirming care to trans youth. Related The Skrmetti ruling proved once & for all the Supreme Court believes ideology comes before the law The majority on the Supreme Court are just Project 2025 enablers in black robes. The nine arrested were part of a larger group of 30 activists led by the Gender Liberation Movement (GLM), a self-described national direct-action collective centering bodily autonomy in the face of gender-based sociopolitical threats. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Fridays protest saw nine of the activists self-administering real or symbolic hormone-replacement-therapy drugs, a gender reveal of pink and blue smoke, trans flags unfurled across the steps of the court, and speeches by the organizers, including an affirming parent of trans children.The groups co-founder, Raquel Willis, was among those taken into custody.Gender-affirming care is sacred, powerful, and transformative. With this ruling in U.S. v. Skrmetti, we see just how ignorant the Supreme Court is of the experiences of trans youth and their affirming families, Willis said in a statement before her arrest.Everyone deserves the right to holistic healthcare, and trans youth are no different. We will continue to fight for their bodily autonomy, dignity, and self-determination just like previous generations. No court, no law, no government gave us our power, and none can take it away.Tennessees ban, passed in 2023, denies medically commonplace treatments like hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and surgery to trans minors, but not to cisgender children. The court disagreed with the plaintiffs in the case that the distinction violated equal protection laws under the Constitution. After being detained for two hours, the nine arrested were released without charge, according to GLM co-founder Eliel Cruz.I am feeling a lot of exhilaration but definitely a lot of pride go figure in how we showed up today, Willis told The Cut after her release. Theres just been so much silence around this care that has been green-lit to be banned in upwards of 27 statesnow, but we just want to remind folks that we always have people power on our side. And no matter what ruling comes down, or what bans people try to pass, we still have the right to exist and speak up.Cruz called the ruling a historical moment of fascist attacks, in remarks to the media, and said the time had arrived for the LGBTQ+ community to organize and fight back. As a cisgender man, I stand in solidarity with the trans community during these escalating attacks on their safety, well-being, right to exist in this world, and ability to live a future free of violence, Cruz said. Im enraged at the Supreme Courts decision to uphold a ban on gender-affirming care for youth. My heart hurts for the families and young people who this will negatively impact and harm.Willis told The Cut that her arrest conjured our ancestors who faced criminalization just for being themselves, for speaking out. When I was in the back of that paddy wagon, I thought about the queen the street queen who essentially demanded that the crowd around her outside of the Stonewall Inn those decades agodo something, she said. This was the agenda.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Generation Queer: Stories of Youth Organizers, Artists, and Educators is educator-historian-artist Kimm Toppings love letter to a hopeful, joyful, peaceful, and productive future that will be created by members of the Millennial, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha generations, including the thirty organizers, artists, and educators profiled in this happy book.When I scanned the thirty names listed in the Table of Contents, grouped in a trinity of categories (Organizers, Artists, and Educators), I confess I didnt recognize a single one. Likely, few of us in the over-50 crowd would. Related Chasten Buttigieg never thought hed be a dad. Now his hit childrens book stars his own family. The sweet story is spreading joy across America and so is its author. This book, after all, is about the now, about what young LGBTQ+ people are doing to reconstruct the world; its about the multitude of moments that fly beneath certain radars; about educating and inspiring younger activists; and about bringing the older ones up to speed on a beautiful generation pushing multiple transformative paradigms in a world far different from the one we grew up in.While old-timer names (mine included) are found aplenty in this book, used for purposes of identifying historical milestones and establishing context, this book is not about them. It is about people under 35, mostly under 30, who have already grabbed cultural, political, and educational batons and are running the race themselves. They are in a hurry. They are brave and bold. They arent taking nonsense the way Baby Boomers and Generation X did. They speak up. They march. They assert their right to an equal portion of humanitys pursuit of happiness. Theres Andraya Yearwood, for example, a Black transgender woman, activist, and athlete, named in 2020 as one of Teen Vogues 21 Under 21. Yearwood envisions a future where everyone can be accepted. There is also Cyan Macias-Gmez, named in 2021 to GLAADs 20 under 20 list. Macias-Gmez wants to be a social worker and a lawyer, run for office, and teach history/ Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Dehkontee Chanchan focuses on housing justice; Gavin Grimm, who hopes to be an English teacher, took a transgender rights case all the way to the Supreme Court; Sherent Mishitashin Harris, a Two-Spirit artist, was named an LGBT History Month Icon in 2019 and graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 2023. Theres Zander Moricz, class president all four years of high school, who was the youngest plaintiff in Floridas Dont Say Gay lawsuit. And there is artist ALOK Vaid-Menon, who is gender and artistically nonconforming. Ella McKenzie is a photographic artist whose book Silenced chronicles LGBTQ+ youth in New York; Reeves Gift is a filmmaker whose prime directive is striving to heal the world through bridge building; and while I didnt recognize the name Blair Imani, I did in fact recognize her brilliant work: her brilliant web series called Smarter in Seconds and thankfully for us she plans to continue working in television and education.A starred review by Publishers Weekly calls the book a compelling and informative compendium of lush history, and a necessary addition to the literary canon for anyone invested in facilitating a radically empowered future.I cant outdo that praise, but Ill add that the illustrations and text, awash in soothing shades of lavender, are gentle on the eye, compelling, and meditative. The words are all that, too, largely in an easy-to-read soft black. I highly recommend this book be the next birthday or holiday gift for the young people in our lives who are striving against headwinds to contain losses, retain gains, and construct a stronger tomorrow. The young people in our lives and the rest of us need the inspiration.The books fourth chapter covers specific activist work led by or involving key youth organizers: Black Lives Matter, Trans Visibility March, Queer Youth Assemble, walkouts, demonstrations, testimonies before school boards and legislative committees. The last two chapters are titled Actions for Youth and Actions for Educators, wrapping up the book (a textbook, really) with practical suggestions for movement activists. As a bonus, a magnificent (and free) 21-page companion educators guide is available here.While this book is grounded in the past, it is wholly about the present and the future. These thirty profiles and the educational material scattered throughout the text will inspire countless others. It is about smart young people, active and alert, doing small and big things to move the conversation forward and protect human rights. I had no idea so much was happening beyond my vision by a cadre of amazing young activists, and author Kimm Topping is right: We should not wait until later to celebrate them.Rodney Wilson founded LGBTQ+ History Month in 1994. He is the subject of Taboo Teaching: A Profile of Missouri Teacher Rodney Wilson, available for free viewing here.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

The Ducks have traded Trevor Zegras to the Flyers for Ryan Poehling and two draft picks -- the No. 45 pick of the 2025 NHL draft and a fourth-round pick in 2026.

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A new paper from researchers at Stanford, Cornell, and West Virginia University seems to show that one version of Metas flagship AI model, Llama 3.1, has memorized almost the whole of the first Harry Potter book. This finding could have far-reaching copyright implications for the AI industry and impact authors and creatives who are already part of class-action lawsuits against Meta.Researchers tested a bunch of different widely-available free large language models to see what percentage of 56 different books they could reproduce. The researchers fed the models hundreds of short text snippets from those books and measured how well it could recite the next lines. The titles were a random sampling of popular, lesser-known, and public domain works drawn from the now-defunct and controversial Books3 dataset that Meta used to train its models, as well as books by plaintiffs in the recent, and ongoing, Kadrey vs Meta class-action lawsuit.According to Mark A. Lemley, one of the study authors, this finding might have some interesting implications. AI companies argue that their models are generativeas in, they make new stuff, rather than just being fancy search engines. On the other hand, authors and news outlets are suing on the basis that AI is just remixing existing material, including copyrighted content. I think what we show in the paper is that neither of those characterizations is accurate, says Lemley.The paper shows that the capacity of Metas popular Llama 3.1 70B to recite passages from The Sorcerers Stone and 1984among other booksis way higher than could happen by chance. This could indicate that LLMs are not just trained using books, but might actually be storing entire copies of the books themselves. That might mean that under copyright law that the model is less inspired by and more a bootleg copy of certain texts.Its hard to prove that a model has memorized something, because its hard to see inside. But LLMs are trained using the mathematical relationships between little chunks of data called tokens, like words or punctuation. Tokens all have varying probabilities of following each other or getting strung together in a specific order.The researchers were able to extract sections of various books by repeatedly prompting the models with selected lines. They split each book into 100-token overlapping strings, then presented the model with the first 50-token half and measured how well it could produce the second. This might take a few tries, but ultimately the study was able to reproduce 91 percent of The Sorcerers Stone with this method.Theres no way, its really improbable, that it can get the next 50 words right if it hadnt memorized it, James Grimmelmann, Tessler Family Professor of Digital and Information Law at Cornell, who has worked to define memorization in this space, told 404 Media.OpenAI has called memorization a rare failure of the learning process, and says that it sometimes happens when the topic in question appears many times in training data. It also says that intentionally getting their LLMs to spit out memorized data is not an appropriate use of our technology and is against our terms of use.The studys authors say in their paper that if the model is storing a book in its memory, the model itself could be considered to literally be a copy of the book. If thats the case, then distributing the LLM at all might be legally equivalent to bootlegging a DVD. And this could mean that a court could order the destruction of the model itself, in the same way theyve ordered the destruction of a cache of boxsets of pirated films. This has never happened in the AI space, and might not be possible, given how widespread these models are. Meta doesnt release usage statistics of its different LLMs, but 3.1 70B is one of its most popular. The Stanford paper estimates that the Llama 3.1 70B model has been downloaded a million times since its release, so, technically, Meta could have accidentally distributed a million pirate versions of The Sorcerers Stone.The paper found that different Llama models had memorized widely varying amounts of the tested books. There are lots of books for which it has essentially nothing, said Lerney. Some models were amazing at regurgitating, and others werent, meaning that it was more likely that the specific choices made in training the 3.1 70B version had led to memorization, the researchers said. That could be as simple as the choice not to remove duplicated training data, or the fact that Harry Potter and 1984 are pretty popular books online. For comparison, the researchers found that the Game of Thrones books were highly memorized, but Twilight books werent memorized at all.Grimmelman said he believes their findings might also be good news overall for those seeking to regulate AI companies. If courts rule against allowing extensive memorization, then you could give better legal treatment to companies that have mitigated or prevented it than the companies that didn't, he said. You could just say, if you memorize more than this much of a book, we'll consider that infringement. It's up to you to figure out how to make sure your models don't memorize more than that.

Strangers on the internet may be taking issue with Anna Camp's new relationship, but the actress recently took to Instagram to defend the age gap between her and her new girlfriend.The 42-year-old Pitch Perfect star went red carpet official with 24-year-old Jade Whipkey last week for the premiere of Camp's new film, Bride Hard. The relationship also marks Camp's coming out as queer, as she has previously only been romantically linked to men.Publications were quick to cover the cute pics of the two, including Pink News. The outlet shared a simple, non-judgmental clip of Camp and Whipkey posing, noting, "Anna Camp has made her red carpet debut with girlfriend Jade Whipkey just a month after confirming their relationship."See on InstagramA number of the comments focused on the 18 year age gap."I'm in my mid 30s and I can't imagine having the necessary common ground to start a relationship with a 20 year old," one person wrote. "What could they possibly have in common?"Actor Nick Dumont also chimed in, saying, "I don't know these two but I think too often we overlook age gaps in queer relationships. I even think 30 and 22 is a poor match. The brain is very very different in your early 20s and late 20s. The brain isn't even developed fully until 25/26. Obviously hope they are the exception!"(The claim that brains don't fully develop until 25 or 26 has become popular on social media, but isn't at all that simple.)Camp herself decided to jump in and defend her relationship after seeing some of the comments centered around age."I've dated men exactly my age and Jade is FAR more mature than any of them," she wrote. "We have more in common than anyone else I've ever dated and can literally talk about anything and everything. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I'm wishing everyone well :) Especially this Pride month."Age gap relationships have notably been a target of Gen Z ire in recent years even age gaps so small that they wouldn't even register as age gaps to many people. Maybe that's because much of Gen Z is still young enough that even a couple of years between two people can create a divide between adulthood and being underage, or maybe it's something else entirely.But a number of people in the Pink News Instagram comments defended Camp's relationship."Many don't understand that being a controversially young girlfriend is the lesbian dream," wrote @camryngrace."i love women in male dominated fields lets gooo," joked @tamararamli.One commenter wondered whether people were directing the same criticisms towards Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor and their 30+ year age gap, while another suggested people stop "infantilising a 24 year old adult.""Age gaps in queer relationships are very common and don't often elicit the same power imbalances as hetero relationships given that we live in a patriarchal society that prioritises men being in power and women being objectified," @laura.jane.turner pointed out. "Healthy queer relationships don't prescribe to those heteronormative gender dynamics."these two humans look so bloody happy and I'm ecstatic that more and more women are discovering who they are and finding true happiness."