Kathi Wolfe

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‘Queer’ evolves from hateful epithet to expression of pride

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It hit me one morning this fall as I woke up: I’ve turned 70. As I’ve been celebrating this milestone, I’ve marveled at the changes that have occurred for our LGBTQ community during my lifetime. Marriage equality, Pete Buttigieg (or any LGBTQ person) running for president and/or the fab queer rom-com “Bros” would have been unimaginable when I began coming out 50 years ago. Then, just three years after the Stonewall uprising, I and many other LGBTQ folk felt far more shame than pride about our queerness. Most of us in that era wouldn’t have dreamed that, decades later, not […]

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‘Queer’ evolves from hateful epithet to expression of pride

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It hit me one morning this fall as I woke up: I’ve turned 70. As I’ve been celebrating this milestone, I’ve marveled at the changes that have occurred for our LGBTQ community during my lifetime. Marriage equality, Pete Buttigieg (or any LGBTQ person) running for president and/or the fab queer rom-com “Bros” would have been unimaginable when I began coming out 50 years ago. Then, just three years after the Stonewall uprising, I and many other LGBTQ folk felt far more shame than pride about our queerness. Most of us in that era wouldn’t have dreamed that, decades later, not […]

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DeSantis doesn’t want racism, LGBTQ topics taught in schools

Sometimes, when the news comes on your screen, you think: this must be from Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update. Until, a few seconds in, you realize: this isn’t satire, it’s all too real. That’s how I felt when I heard about the Stop W.O.K.E Act. I’m not making this up or satirizing the news. I wouldn’t even try to be like the fabulous Samantha Bee. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has introduced the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act (a.k.a. the Stop W.O.K.E Act) to the Florida Legislature. DeSantis, like many Republican politicos nationwide, including Virginia’s new governor […]

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Breaking barriers as an out trans ‘Jeopardy’ champion

“When was the last time anybody said ‘wow!’” a friend asked me. I couldn’t remember the last time anyone I know (including me) had any “Wow!” moments. Until I heard about trans woman and software engineering manager Amy Schneider’s 29-game winning streak on “Jeopardy.” You wouldn’t think anything could dispel our COVID exhaustion and political divisiveness. Yet, news about a champion on “Jeopardy,” a quiz show that has been on TV since 1964, has broken through our gloom. In our culture, there are few things that everyone loves. But, “Jeopardy” is beloved by many, from theater geeks to 80-year-old sports […]

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Coming out is a life-long process

“Tell me about your coming out,” my 30-something friend Seth recently said to me. “It was more than a day!” I joked. National Coming Out Day (NCOD) is on Oct. 11. The holiday, celebrated yearly on Oct. 11, was first observed on Oct. 11, 1988. That date was the one-year anniversary of the 1987 queer rights march in Washington, D.C. More than half a million people were at the march, which was a turning point in the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Robert H. Eichberg, a psychologist who died in 1995, and gay rights activist Jean O’Leary, who died in 2005, co-founded […]

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Obama Memoir Addresses Evolution on LGBTQ Rights

‘A Promised Land’By Barack Obamac.2020, Crown$45/768 pages Most memoirs of politicians are pablum — ghost-written snooze-inducers. At best, good door-stops.  “A Promised Land,” former President Barack Obama’s new memoir, breaks that mold. Though it’s over 700 pages, you won’t be tempted to turn away from this, by turns, measured, moving, detailed, witty, and self-aware volume. The memoir, narrated by Obama, is a great listen (29 hours, 10 minutes) on Audible.  Unlike most politicos, Obama can write! Many of us ink-stained wretches would give anything to have his writing chops. Obama’s first book, “Dreams from My Father,” Obama’s critically acclaimed 1995 coming-of-age […]

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Our Democracy Hinges on Decision in Fulton Case

Queer or non-queer, if you value democracy, civil rights and health care, nothing’s as scary as the Supreme Court. With the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, there’s the reasonable concern that the court (with a 6-3 conservative, Republican majority) might rule in favor of Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud. There’s the (not unreasonable) fear that millions of Americans will lose their health insurance if the court rules in favor of repealing the Affordable Care Act. Then, there’s Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a case that hasn’t gotten much attention in the midst of the election and the pandemic. […]

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Spellbound by ‘A Saint from Texas’

‘A Saint from Texas’By Edmund WhiteBloomsbury Publishing$18.20/304 pages I’ve never been fooled by magicians. Even if I’m entranced by their magic, I’m still trying to figure out what tricks are involved. Yet, in his latest novel “A Saint from Texas,” queer writer Edmund White makes you believe that you can pull a rabbit out of a hat.  Readers, queer and non-queer, look forward to a new book from White as eagerly as movie fans wait for the Oscars.  White, now 80, has written more books than you can count from “The Joy of Gay Sex” to memoirs such as “My […]

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New Netflix Doc Celebrates Lesbian Baseball Players

“Sis, you love baseball like a poet,” my late brother teased me one evening, “don’t even try to get what a foul ball is!”  He was spot on. I couldn’t tell you what a foul ball is if my life depended on it. Yet, baseball is one of the things I miss most during the pandemic. What is spring without opening day? Is anything more isolating than not being able to cheer on your home team (go Nats!)?  Our country had baseball even during World War II. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt believed baseball was essential for the nation’s morale during […]

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Tribute to Beloved Gay Children’s Book Author

When we were four, many of us daydreamed about being a ballerina, astronaut or magician. But, mostly, we were clueless about what we’d be when we grew up.  That wasn’t the case with Thomas (a.k.a. Tomie) dePaola, the acclaimed, gay children’s author and illustrator, who died at age 85 in Lebanon, N.H., from complications from surgery after a fall. DePaola, whose award-winning work was beloved by children and adults, wrote and illustrated more than 270 books. If you’ve been spellbound by magical grandmas; bullied; eagerly awaited the arrival of a new baby brother or sister; or frightened by news that […]

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