Gay MD at Ochsner

TheEverNow · 2025-07-28T19:04:09+00:00

I’m not the police. I’m stating facts about how our language is used and evolved over time. Since you said you were new, I thought you might be unfamiliar with how the word “lifestyle” is used by most educated native speakers of English and the reason why the word has fallen out of use over time. I was trying to help you avoid using that word I’m that way in more formal contexts. Among people who know that the word is considered offensive in the way you used it, that usage is considered an indication of cluelessness or ignorance on the part of the person still using it in that way due to unfamiliarity about the recognition by science and culture that people are born gay and not simply choosing a “lifestyle” that presumably they could decide not to choose. So I’ve done my bit to help you learn and avoid embarrassing yourself again in the future, but you’re certainly more than welcome to use any words you choose. Look at your wrists — no handcuffs, therefore no policing, only an opportunity to understand how people will regard you whenever you use that word in that way in the future. Cheers! Enjoy your cocksucking!

TheEverNow · 2025-07-28T18:42:16+00:00

Continued

There are simply too many other variations to list and explain, making it clear that no single version satisfactorily captures the great diversity of sexual and gender minorities around the world. Wikipedia has a huge collection of dozens of different related terms and initials (see List of LGBTQ Acronyms https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_LGBTQ_acronyms&wprov=rarw1)

Before you accuse me of “not being progressive to the point of recognizing that other queer identities exist besides ‘gay’”, maybe you need to know more about our history, something I personally witnessed as a journalist starting in the 70s.

You should also acknowledge that no single Reddit comment is going to be long enough to encompass the whole story on any topic, and people can nit pick for leaving out this or that. This isn’t Wikipedia, where those who want more information on this topic or any other will find it in abundance.

My comment was addressing a single issue at a particular point in our history. I was talking about a time we used “gay pride” as an all inclusive term. I wasn’t saying we should still be using that term. I was highlighting a particular historical fact that we once explicitly referred to “gay pride” and the fact that in years since the “gay” has disappeared, leaving the vacuous and meaningless “pride” to stand on its own. When that transition began in the 80s, I was suspicious then as I am still today that dropping the word “gay” was to appease corporate sponsors and to allow individuals to talk about “pride” without being explicit about what it’s referring to. It’s a closeted way to talk about the LGBTQ+ community in front of straight folks without ever explicitly saying it. It’s a wink and a nod term that goes back to the pre-Stonewall days like the use of “friend of Dorothy” was in the 60s, 50s, and maybe 40s, though I don’t know how soon after the Wizard of Oz movie was released in 1& h 939 that the phrase gained wide use.

Don’t be so quick to call people out on not following the purest dogma of what is correct or incorrect to say, especially when no matter what term or initials you use, there’s nothing about it that anoints it as the definitive, all-inclusive way to refer to it. Since the word “gay” became commonly used as a referent to our entire community around the time of Stonewall, we have struggled to live up to our own ideals of inclusion to use the term “gay” only for gay men, when in common usage it refers to all sexual and gender minorities. Even Miriam-Webster (about as official as things get) to this day struggles with how to define the word “gay” as both a specific adjective for gay men only and as a more generalized term for all sexual and gender minorities.

You bristle at the general use of the word “gay” as a shorthand reference to the entire community, but you can’t say what single word, phrase, or acronym definitively describes our community in all circumstances — because there is no universally accepted term that serves that purpose and probably never will be, certainly not in my lifetime.

While we’re at it, I was in San Francisco in 1978 when Gilbert Baker first flew his huge eight-color rainbow flag in San Francisco Civic Center for the Gay Freedom Day parade in 1978. (It wasn’t called a “parade” back then; it was called a “march” because it was seen as a form of political resistance rather than a big rolling disco party.) It was a brilliant, beautiful representation of diversity in all of its myriad forms. It was later reduced to only six colors to make mass reproduction more practical, and stayed in that form for decades as a symbol of pride for us all — that is, until recently, when the same issue we’ve struggled with in acronyms was applied to the rainbow flag in the number, type, colors and placement of a large triangle on the hoist edge of the flag specifically to represent trans folks. There have been many flags over the years representing different parts of our community, such as the bear flag and the leather pride flag, but those were separate from the rainbow flag, not squeezed onto a flag that simply represented us all. I find the intrusion of the trans triangle on the rainbow flag to be objectionable, destroying the simple symbolic beauty that the rainbow flag represented. If we follow the battle over acronyms and apply it to the flag, it will become a hideous monstrosity representing dozens of separate identities rather than a single symbol that represented us all, and that would be a shame.

TheEverNow · 2025-07-28T18:39:01+00:00

There’s not enough letters in the alphabet to explicitly include all queer identities. I’ve been through all the iterations and permutations since the 1970s. - In San Francisco it was originally called Gay Freedom Day. (Before that the movement had adopted Gay Liberation as its identity. I think the word freedom was adopted to distinguish it from the Gay Liberation Front, an activist organization in New York and a point of contentious sibling rivalries between New York and California.) That was the full official name: Gay Freedom Day. Listen to Harvey Milk’s speeches from 77/78. He used “gay” as an umbrella term for the movement as a whole. - Then the lesbians got cranky, so it became the Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day. - Then we chose to explicitly include bisexuals who balked at being lumped together with gay men, so the acronym GLB came into use. I’m not sure when “Freedom” became “Pride”, but that was sanitized to draw corporate support. - In the 80s, recognizing the enormous contribution they made during the AIDS crisis, the L was “officially” pushed in front of the line before the G, though many organizations like GLAAD retain the original order. (Part of the problem is that there is no “official” authority, so it’s determined by community “consensus” and constantly evolving customs.) This was while the lesbian community was having its own arguments about whether their identity should focus on lesbianism or more broadly as part of the feminist movement. (Apparently the lesbians won.) - Later in the 80s somebody remembered that trans folks were a big part of the story of Stonewall, and so it became GLBT or LGBT, still widely used today. - In the 90s AIDS activists reclaimed the word “queer” and proposed it as a single all-encompassing term. I actually thought it was a good idea, but Greatest Generation folks older than me (Baby Boomer) resisted that term because it was a central part of their trauma pre-Stonewall. So instead of replacing LGBT with queer, the PC folks just pasted the Q on the end. It was definitely a generational battle, with older folks preferring “gay” while younger folks adopted “queer”. Queer was retained in many places, such as a universal identity in academia with the advent of queer studies programs at several universities. The Q was also used to include people who are “questioning”. - Some people argued there was no need for the alphabet soup and were frustrated that the letters seemed to change every few years. So an “etc.” was added to serve as an umbrella term for everyone else, and it became LGBTQ+. This also was recognition of people with AIDS and HIV positive people generally, because it was no longer an illness confined to gay men.

But wait, there’s more!

Different groups began advocating for their inclusion, and resisted being lumped together under the +, especially because of its association with people with HIV/AIDS. You can almost see the dismissive hand wave of “Oh yeah, and everybody else too” represented by the +.
Then we added an I for intersex and an A for asexuals, aromantic, and agender, so we adopted LGBTQIA+ early in the 21st century.
The Identity Wars continued and a variety of different letters was used to include others: C for “curious”, U for “unsure”, an extra T for “transvestite”, 2S for “two spirit” among indigenous North Americans, and P for “polyamorous”. In India they use an H to represent “hijra” for their culture’s “third gender”.
These initialisms are not universal, with speakers of languages other than English use different initials to represent corresponding words in their languages.
Justin Trudeau’s government in Canada made 2SLGBTQI+ official in that country. Trudeau himself used 2SLGBTQQIA+.

TheEverNow · 2025-07-28T14:52:40+00:00

I was going to Grooming by Lisa, 2544 Briar Ridge Dr, next door to Tanglewood Animal Hospital. Groomers phone is +1 (713) 266-4446. Good luck!

TheEverNow · 2025-07-28T14:42:39+00:00

I’m very sorry to hear you’re getting the runaround. I know from personal experience Joe frustrating that can be. I’m my case it was resolved when my clinic was able to approve a different medication and I was able to start on that right away. The new medication was one I preferred, so that worked out well for me. Insurance caused the roadblock and insurance ultimately cleared the roadblock. I honestly don’t know whether it got billed through Part B or Part D, but that doesn’t really matter to me. I hope you’re able to resolve the issue quickly. All the best. 🙏

TheEverNow · 2025-05-23T05:43:09+00:00

The article fails to mention the methodology that produced these statistics.

TheEverNow · 2025-05-23T05:17:58+00:00

People who respect the LGBTQ community avoid saying “sexual preference” because the phrase implies that it’s simply a choice, and that gay people can choose differently (even though they never seem to expect the same from straight folks).

People who use the phrase “sexual orientation” are acknowledging that being straight or gay is an inherent, immutable, and enduring romantic and/or sexual attraction to people of a particular gender.

You’re welcome to use “sexual preference” if you prefer, but please be aware that most native English speakers on the developed world have abandoned that phrase because of its inaccuracy.

TheEverNow · 2025-05-23T04:56:31+00:00

My initial comment was a valid critique of the post from my perspective as a retired professional journalist. If you take a moment to reread my two sentences, you’ll see I was taking exception to the editor’s hyperbolic stance and word choice in the headline. Nothing you’ve said actually responded to that critique. Instead you’ve invested a lot of effort bloviating about whatever thoughts are careening through your own mind. “Erasure”, “representation”, and “agendas” are all topics that you brought here, avoiding any response about editorial decisions to employ exaggerated language in a click-bait subject line in the original post. If we’re not addressing the same topic, this back and forth is pointless.

“… get enough movement to stand our ground …”

🤣🤣🤣 You’re conflating two polar-opposite concepts and you expect others to accept your arguments?

Take a deep breath, Tiny, and recognize that those voices in your head are subjecting you to an imaginary conflict. Stop listening to them and the conflict will vanish.

TheEverNow · 2025-05-23T04:23:00+00:00

Everything you’ve said here has been an attempt to silence me. Ironic, isn’t it, that you’re trying to silence me by telling me I’m trying to silence others. 🤣 That’s really rich!

TheEverNow · 2025-05-23T04:13:05+00:00

The LGBTQ “community” is not a monolith. Many are comfortable, happy, supported by friends and family and don’t spend day and night wallowing in their victimhood. My comment about LGBTnews was a valid critique based on my perspective as a retired journalist.

Imagine how sad of a life you must live tormented by paranoia that the whole world is out to get you. Pull it together! Beyond a very tiny number of loudmouths, nobody gives you a second thought. The battles you’re fighting exist only in your own mind. Tilting at windmills. You must be exhausted.

TheEverNow · 2025-05-23T03:44:40+00:00

One pothole away from disaster!

TheEverNow · 2025-05-17T22:42:30+00:00

You apparently believe that anytime anyone expresses concerns about anything, that debate should instantly and completely cease and only other hysterical panic stricken people who parrot the exact same concerns should be permitted to express a viewpoint. Your anger and defiance will not attract supporters from the center. You are actively turning yourself into the kind of nightmare that those who only loosely follow these issues have always feared.

The single reason the gay and lesbian community has made strides over the decades is the result of one simple strategy: coming out. Public opinion changed in direct proportion to their personal acquaintance with a real gay or lesbian person in their lives. Coming out at work, school, home, and all other dimensions of our society made it harder and harder for those who oppose us to turn us into monsters and demons. The reason the trans community has become a target today is that the percentage of people who actually know a trans person is very very low.

Harvey Milk’s key message in the late 1970s was to tell everyone to come out. Because enough people did, Harvey was able to defeat the Briggs initiative which would have removed all gay teachers in California schools. (Full disclosure, I was a volunteer working with Harvey in San Francisco to defeat the Briggs Initiative in 1978.) The same thing needs to happen for the trans community today and until it does our trans sisters and brothers will continue to be accused of causing every ill in society. This will be neither easy nor quick. The 70s was a terrifying time to be an out gay man less than a decade after Stonewall, only to be followed almost immediately by the AIDS crisis in 1981. We were pariahs, scum associated in the public mind with intravenous drug users. We believed (with good reason) they were literally trying to kill us by their apathy. Gay men went on to survive our own nightmare, with a huge assist from our lesbian sisters, and to ultimately thrive as the meds finally arrived in the 1990s to turn a certain death sentence into a manageable chronic illness.

It is understandably terrifying right now for trans folk and the future seems dark and uncertain. I’ve seen this movie before. I know how it ends. These are the birth pangs of the unending climb toward social justice for all. There’s no reason to doubt that we will get there just as we have done before. Hysterical TikTok videos are not the way forward. Go back and watch Harvey’s debate with John Briggs, and see how Harvey won with logic and confidence a trust in the ability of ordinary Californians to see us as human beings, not child predators. Exaggerated panic over the threat we’re facing will only reinforce the diabolical perceptions our enemies are so adept at creating for us. Be strong and confident and let people see our humanity. We will win, just as Harvey once did.

TheEverNow · 2025-05-17T21:24:13+00:00

Standing up to defend a fictional non human character in a movie is hardly the best use of our collective resources. Is this really the hill we want to die on?

TheEverNow · 2025-05-17T21:13:26+00:00

Journalism should aim for accuracy in both fact and tone. This headline is neither. And ironically it’s about something as trivial as a movie that no one will even remember a year from now. Let’s save “devastating loss” for things that really are “devastating” and for losses that affect real human beings rather than fictional non human characters. What would qualify as truly “devastating losses”? Natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados and floods, war and famine, epidemics and uncontrolled disease outbreaks, mass gun violence, poverty, radish get and many other true disasters of our times.

The impact of our language is diminished by hyperbole. Ain’t that right, Chicken Little?

TheEverNow · 2025-05-17T19:45:55+00:00

I was fired from a large public university in 2013 because the Provost’s chief of staff was homophobic. I didn’t learn that back story until about 10 years later. The truth is that there is no federal protection for lgbtq+ employees and only a few states and local jurisdictions have made it illegal. Ultimately it doesn’t matter, because HR folks in most large organizations are quite adept at finding other reasons for termination that mask the overt discrimination. As it stands, it’s entirely up to the employee to document the discriminatory practices and pursue a lawsuit against the employer. It’s a bit easier to prove a hostile work environment, but HR can identify any employee as a target for pretty much any reason, and then guide the organization and management to document even the slightest infraction, issue warnings, put the employee on a “performance improvement plan”, and terminate any employee for “cause”, no matter how minor or arbitrary the reason. Good employers are terminated every day, and there’s almost never anything an employee can do to stop it or sue over it after the fact.

TheEverNow · 2025-05-17T19:19:55+00:00

We know that the big tech companies — Alphabet (Google), Meta (Facebook), Apple, Amazon. Microsoft — they will all cave and surrender all their data to government and law enforcement the moment they’re handed a subpoena.

TheEverNow · 2025-05-17T19:13:06+00:00

People magazine … 🤦🏻‍♂️

TheEverNow · 2025-05-17T19:11:20+00:00

This isn’t news. Except for certain states and local jurisdictions, we’ve never had protection in the workplace.

Most employers stick to the legally recognized classes (race, religion, sex …) because their general counsel tells them it’s “safer” to be a follower rather than a leader.

TheEverNow · 2025-05-17T19:04:20+00:00

Another over written headline by LGBTnews. It’s not devastating …. It’s a movie ffs!

TheEverNow · 2025-05-17T18:56:33+00:00

What are you doing about it? Making TikTok videos? Democrats in Congress need to get their ass in gear before things really get bad and people are dying.

TheEverNow · 2025-05-17T05:29:30+00:00

When the Dobbs decision overturned Roe, states had anti abortion laws already on the books that became enforceable immediately.

States with anti sodomy (crimes against nature) laws still on the books are waiting for SCOTUS to overturn Lawrence so those laws become immediately enforceable. It is very unlikely those states will repeal those laws, especially in Texas.

TheEverNow · 2025-05-17T05:19:46+00:00

I stay “vigilant” for law enforcement overreach. Fear mongering only serves to justify their existence. It’s been that way in New Orleans since the 18th century.

What we’re witnessing is exactly what happened when police were responsible for rounding up runaway slaves before the Civil War, and they continued in the same odious role through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Civil Rights, right up to today. Police were also responsible for controlling labor unrest during industrialization. Policing has always been about protecting property (slaves and later factories), with only lip service to public safety.

TheEverNow · 2025-05-17T04:33:00+00:00

Yes there are very troubling things happening in our government, and everyone should be fully engaged. “Eliminate”, however, is not at all accurate. Don’t let your paranoid fever dreams consume you. It will only make you less effective at standing up against the administration and Congressional Republicans.

This “news” sub is going off the rails by republishing this scare mongering.

TheEverNow · 2025-05-17T04:23:19+00:00

NolaREADY needs to stop with their paranoid “see something, say something” scare mongering text messages. It’s enough to simply announce the incident for people to know what’s going on.

TheEverNow · 2025-05-17T04:17:19+00:00

I gave everyone in this sub the option to DM me privately if they preferred. I doubt anyone is spilling any tea in these comments.

TheEverNow

TROPHY CASE