| Out astrophysicist Jane Rigby, chief scientist at the world’s most powerful telescope, has received a Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The acclaimed scientist, who is an out lesbian, was one of nineteen people to receive the nation’s highest civilian honor Friday. The medal is “presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors,” according to the White House.
Rigby is a civil servant Astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, as well as the senior project scientist at the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful telescope in the world. She has also done extensive data research for the Keck and Magellan Observatories and the Hubble Space Telescope.
Rigby has received numerous accolades throughout her career, including being named the LGBTQ+ Scientist of the Year in 2022 by Out to Innovate, which recognizes outstanding LGBTQ+ professionals in science, technology, engineering, and math. She was also a founding member of the American Astronomical Society's LGBTQ+ Equality Working Group, the Committee for Sexual-Orientation & Gender Minorities in Astronomy (SGMA).
Rigby has a Bachelors in Psychics, Astronomy, and Astrophysics from Penn State, and earned both her Masters and Doctorate in Astronomy at The University of Arizona. She said in a SGMA interview that first came out as a lesbian in 2000, and it was still illegal to be gay in Arizona when she moved there a few years later for graduate school. Rigby now resides in Maryland with her wife, Dr. Andrea Leistra, and their young child.
Jane Rigby Receives Medal of Freedom |
Challengers
| The horny psychological thriller is back. Over the course of the past week, Challengers – the movie everyone and their mom is talking about – received it’s delayed, much-anticipated wide release. The two-hour-long movie tells the story of professional tennis champion Art (Mike Faist) who is gearing up to make a return to the court, thanks to the help of his coach and wife, Tashi (Zendaya). Playing him at a Challenger event is Patrick (Josh O’Connor), whose status as a player has gone from a one-to-watch to a relative unknown. In the past, the two boys vyed for Tashi’s affections, resulting in a tumultuous love triangle which serves as the foundation of the movie. Over the course of the past year, teasers suggested a ménage à trois of sorts, sparking excitement for the film. In general, Challengers has been well received, despite some debates regarding the sexuality and representation in the film. But half the fun of Challengers is the will-they-or-won’t-they aspect, which manifests in the form of parasocial sexual tension.
In the present-day sequences, it’s 2019, and Tashi is married to Art. She’s coached him, elevating his status from a subpar tennis player to a US Open champion. They first met in 2006, when Art and Patrick won the boys’ junior doubles title at the US Open. The two invite Tashi to their hotel room, where they both kiss Tashi and, later, each other. Tashi shuts down the activity before it goes any further, but promises the boys she will give her number to whoever wins the junior singles final the next day.
Patrick wins. Over the course of the movie, we see Patrick and Tashi navigate a long-distance relationship, as well as a friendship with Art, complete with sensual churro-feeding. While Art and Tashi are studying at Stanford, Patrick has gone pro. Art suggests to Tashi that Patrick doesn’t actually love her, to which she responds, “What makes you think I want someone to be in love with me?”
Challengers |
Response to Utah's Ban
| Utah officials say they have been inundated with more than 4,000 bogus complaints of transgender people using public bathrooms just 72 days after the state launched a program to report such instances.
“We didn’t see anything that looks credible,” Utah Auditor John Dougall told The Salt Lake City Tribune.
The auditor’s office created an online complaint form in order to comply with the state’s controversial “Sex-based Designations for Privacy, Anti-bullying and Women’s Opportunities” bill, which was signed into law in January and mandates Utahns only use the bathroom matching their reproductive organs.
Under the law, which went into effect May 1, the state auditor’s office was ordered to “establish a process to receive and investigate alleged violations of this chapter” by the government.
If the violation goes unresolved, the auditor must refer the issue to the Utah attorney general’s office who can impose fines up to $10,000 “per violation per day” on the government entity found at fault.
“I would assume the Legislature probably didn’t think through what kind of public backlash might happen,” Dougall told The Tribune.
Response to Utah's Ban |
Bella Thorne Is Pansexual
| Bella Thorne has come out as pansexual after recently discovering what the term actually means.
The 21-year-old former Disney child star had previously identified as bisexual but told ‘Good Morning America’ that after finding out about pansexuality, which does not consider sex or gender, she has had a self realisation.
“I’m actually pansexual and I didn’t know that,” she explained. “Somebody explained to me really thoroughly what that is.
“You like beings. You like what you like. Doesn’t have to be a girl or a guy or a he or she or they or this or that. It’s literally you like personality.
“You just like a being.”
The ‘Shake It Up’ star is currently in a relationship with Italian pop singer Benjamin Mascolo, but was previously in a polyamorous relationship with YouTuber Tana Mongeau and American rapper Mod Sun.
Bella Thorne Is Pansexual |
Liam Hendriks Is An Ally
| One perk of writing about LGBTQ allies in baseball is that I’ve picked up a bunch of new favorite players over the past few years.
Red Sox relief pitcher Liam Hendriks is at the top of that list. Even before I ever got an Outsports byline, I already liked Hendriks for fully embracing the “raging Australian closer” archetype as his on-field persona.
For instance, his miked up appearance in the 2021 All Star Game sounded like what would happen if Hugh Jackman developed a condition where he could only communicate by screaming David Mamet dialogue. He was the epitome of a fun baseball dude.
Then in 2022, Hendriks revealed that when he spoke with the White Sox as a free agent, he asked them “Do you guys have a Pride Night?” and let them know that this was a requirement in order for him to sign.
If there was a Cy Young for allyship, Hendriks would’ve clinched the next five in a row.
Since then, though, he’s had a rough go of it healthwise. After the 2022 season, Hendriks revealed he had been diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Liam Hendriks Is An Ally |
Your Laugh For The Day!
Contributors: CellarDweller115
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