Michael Helquist

South Carolina, take a bow, if you must. This summer the state took the lead among all states for the most book ban operations. The surge in book censorship isn't really about protecting children.

Let Freedom Read Day On October 11, take one action to defend books from censorship and take a stand for library staff, educators, writers, publishers and booksellers!

uniteagainstbookbans.org/let-freedom-...

a GLBTQ History Month hero, perserving our history, countering erasure attempts on our lives.

I'm here. Others will follow (wont they?)

RACE, NATION, TRANSLATION: SOUTH AFRICAN ESSAYS, 1990-2013 by Zoë Wicomb (2018) The most significant nonfiction writings of Zoë Wicomb, a South African author and intellectual, are collected here. This compilation features essays on the works of such prominent South African writers as Bessie Head, Nadine Gordimer, Njabulo Ndebele, and J. M. Coetzee, as well as on a wide range of cultural and political topics, including gender politics, sexuality, 'race', identity, nationalism, and visual art. Also presented here are a reflection on Nelson Mandela and a revealing interview with Wicomb. In these essays, written between 1990 and 2013. Wicomb offers her interpretation into South Africa's history, politics, and people. In a world in which nationalist rhetoric is on the rise and right-wing populist movements are the declared enemies of diversity and pluralism, her essays speak powerfully to a host of current international issues. Zoë Wicomb is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Strathclyde and was an inaugural recipient of the Donald Windham-Sandy M. Campbell Literature Prize. Her acclaimed works include DAVID'S STORY (2000) and PLAYING IN THE LIGHT (2006), and the short-story collections YOU CAN'T GET LOST IN CAPE TOWN (1987) and THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY (2008).

A selection of life-altering books beloved or enjoyed by The Emperor of Solitude across the decades of a long life and in the many incarnations of the #LateImperialLibrary.

🫅🏾📚🤓📖📝🗝🚪🌳🌍

📚💙 📚🖋 873

August is #WomensMonth in South Africa to commemorate the Women's March of #9August1956

Jimmy Kimmel’s Show to Return to ABC on Tuesday Night

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/b...

How they do spin the story once it blows up in their faces. Benjamin Carr, your misspeaking and dodging speak for themselves. Too much blowback for you, it seems, after firing Jimmy Kimmel. Seems the public is more effective in protest than you anticipated. #freespeech #JimmyKimmel #Disney #ABC

An update on the slash and burn of AIDS funding in the Global South. Hope remains for salvage.

Whether PEPFAR Lives or Dies, HIV Leaders Seek a New Way Forward Amid the self-destruction of the U.S.’s global AIDS response, we’re seeing signs that nations most impacted by HIV will rise to meet the moment.

www.thebody.com/hiv/pepfar-f...

"...the time is now, and the stakes could not be higher at this moment due to the potential deletion of global HIV funding: “It’s really important to see, in the next two years, that we don’t slip back too far,” she said, “because that would be a wasted 40 years of work.”

Some hope for AIDS/PEPFAR.

Why do you think we need horror writers in the books not bans movement?

Give it up for Oregon, my home state, trying to protect Oregonians from the insidiouis effect of book bans. #oregon #bookbans #libraries #freedomtoread #booksnotbans

The AI Revolution in Book Publishing - The Authors Guild Aside from the ongoing concerns about the impact of AI on authors and the writing profession, the technology is undeniably a major disruptor across the publishing industry itself. Author Thad McIlroy,...

AI is a significant disruptor for authors and the publishing industry as a whole. Author Thad McIlroy will join us to discuss his book THE AI REVOLUTION IN BOOK PUBLISHING and the ever-evolving trends surrounding AI.

Register FREE: authorsguild.org/event/the-ai...

Opinion | A Small but Telling Moment in Kennedy’s Hearing

None of the news from the Senate hearing re: RFK jr. is encouraging. The damage is being done, has been done.
#CDC #RFKjr #vaccines #covid

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/o...

Audiobook Cover: "Tales of the City" by Armistead Maupin Introduction Written and Read by Rachel Maddow Performed by Frances McDormand. Illustration a corner block in San Francisco.

I can't imagine anything more wonderful than an audiobook of Armistead Maupin's iconic "Tales of the City" performed by Frances McDormand with an introduction written and read by @maddow.msnbc.com

Netflix co-founder drops $2 million into Gavin Newsom's redistricting campaign Reed Hastings is a longtime Democratic donor and Newsom ally.

www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

Funding the opposition.

@thelastmileusaid.bsky.social

Results show that for every reported professional benefit that scientists once gained from Twitter, scientists can now gain that benefit more effectively on Bluesky than on Twitter.

report by DS Shiffman, J Wester
Thanks to @thadmcilroy.bsky.social‬ for alerting me to this.

Here we report on the results of a survey distributed to scientists on Twitter and Bluesky (n = 813).Results overwhelmingly confirm that changes to Twitter have made the social media platform no longer professionally useful or pleasant, and that many scientists have abandoned it in favor of Bluesky.

For scientists, Bluesky more beneficial than X/Twitter.

Bluesky has been suggested as a good alternative to Twitter, but the phenomenon of academics switching social media platforms has not previously been studied.

Project 2026: Restore the government, Evict the demolition crew. RFK Jr. is a good place to start.

Your Guide to All 12 States Choosing Their Next Elections Chief in November Candidates are debating how easy to make mail voting and direct democracy. And in some states, election deniers are still bidding to take over the system.

In several states, including Missouri, Oregon, and Vermont, candidates are running for secretary of state this fall who have embraced false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. They’ve proposed taking drastic actions such as ending mail-in voting. boltsmag.org/electio...

Multicolored graphic with the logos of Jim Owles, Lambda Independent, and Stonewall Democrats which reads “NYC’s LGBTQIA+ Leaders Endorse Zohran for NYC”

With Trump threatening our city's LGBTQ+ community, New Yorkers need a mayor unafraid to stand up for them.

Proud to receive the endorsement of @jimowlesclub.bsky.social, @sdnyc.bsky.social, and Lambda Independent—three clubs that have led the fight for equality and justice.

Cuomo was a same-sex marriage champion. He’s not courting LGBTQ+ votes now. The front-runner in the New York City mayoral primary snubbed LGBTQ+ political clubs, who shunned him in turn.

Andrew Cuomo counts same-sex marriage among top accomplishments, but he’s not targeting LGBTQ+ voters ... He’s taken a Rose Garden approach to campaigning and limited his appearances, which has contributed to cutting out crucial Democratic clubs that help drive LGBTQ+ voters to polls. 1/2

Yes I get that, as if they wore blinders or simply blocked others feeling and experiences

I'm curious about your experience and how "it shows" ; I managed to avoid physical bullying but there was always the threat of verbal harrassment, homphobia was never far away, resulting in internalized homophobia for a long time.

Stonewall Awards: Sex With a Brain Injury | Harper-Hugo Darling Get more from Harper-Hugo Darling on Patreon

Sex With a Brain Injury by Annie Liontas is a memoiristic collection of essays surrounding the life and brain injuries of Annie Liontas. Concerned primarily with queerness and disability, Sex With a Brain Injury won the 2025 Stonewall Israel Fishman Nonfiction Award
www.patreon.com/posts/124141...

One of the many ways individuals can counter the transphobia on the rise....and a WAPO story by Casey Parks, the author of the excellent "Diary of a Misfit: A Memoir and a Mystery."

Thank you, Governor Newsom.