In Washington, D.C., rumors have long swirled around a certain long-time Republican senator, a perennial bachelor, being not-so-secretly gay. But the long-simmering issue came to a boiling point recently when a concerted effort to “out” the senator, dubbed “Lady G,” went viral. The result was widespread derision and mockery of the senator. And a cadre of left-wing LGBT activists suddenly found themselves doing a complete reversal, arguing that it’s now actually okay to involuntarily “out” someone—expose a closeted person’s sexuality—if one finds their viewpoints to be disagreeable. The sordid affair began when a male sex worker and gay porn star named Sean Harding publicly accused the senator of contracting his services—allegations that effectively outed the man as gay, to the extent one believes them. “There is a homophobic republican senator who is no better than Trump who keeps passing legislation that is damaging to the lgbt and minority communities,” Harding wrote in a tweet that quickly went viral, receiving more than 100,000 likes. (I won’t be linking to it, because I don’t see any point …

The COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged the planet. With almost 3,000,000 confirmed infections and 200,000 deaths, the human cost has been enormous. Hundreds of millions of workers have been laid off, and billions have become subject to lockdown policies. Given that the disease originally spread outward from Wuhan, China, and the manner by which Chinese officials repeatedly lied and sought to cover it up, it was natural that Beijing would become the target of widespread criticism and, in some cases, even vilification. Even after the pandemic began, China continued to allow the operation of unhygienic “wet markets,” which are suspected of being linked to the original COVID-19 outbreak. And the country has repeatedly attempted to spread misinformation and disseminate propaganda that serves to blame others. In the United States, prominent Republican politicians such as Sen. Lindsey Graham are proposing the use of protectionist trade policies to “punish” China (even though such measures would mostly hurt American consumers). A right-leaning German newspaper, Bild, has blasted China’s authoritarianism, and questioned whether China “should pay for the massive economic …

The high-school years can be a painful time. But for me, the normal adolescent angst was exacerbated by a slow-motion mental struggle over the fact that I was attracted only to other boys. I came of age in the early 2010s, when the shame and stigma attached to homosexuality had started to fade in the United States. Barack Obama was president, the Supreme Court had ruled to legalize same-sex marriage, and gay rights were ascendant across the commanding heights of Western culture. Yet my high school, situated in a largely rural Massachusetts exurb, hadn’t yet caught up. There were few gay students and staff. And my knowledge of gay life emerged from media stereotypes, like the effeminate, high-voiced Kurt on Glee. I never saw myself in that archetype, and so my journey to self-discovery was complicated and protracted. No, I never worried that I’d get beaten up by jocks and stuffed in a locker. At 6’4” and 200 lbs, I was a jock. But I truly believed my soccer and basketball teammates wouldn’t look at …