By Ann Rostow –
I, for one, am happy to see the end of 2025. Our country has been taken over by a cabal of small, cruel men, who answer to a Caligula of a president. All we can do is protest, stand up for what’s right, and vote.
But, I have hope for 2026. I have hope that Trump’s polls will continue to decline, that more Republican lawmakers will rebel, that the mood of the country will start to shift back towards sanity. I have hope that our coverage next year will have more good news, more optimism, more light. Meanwhile, it’s time for our annual assessment of how closely you followed our insightful column over the last twelve months.
Good luck!
Question One
Kambree Nelson is …
a) a federal judge, who called legal arguments by the Trump Justice Department in favor of ousting transgender service members “soaked in animus and dripping with pretext.”
b) a “new media reporter” in the White House press gallery who believed the Democrats had hidden, or maybe destroyed, the moon.
c) a crazy mother who sent a death threat to her kid’s teacher after the teacher initiated a project that included the rainbow flag.
d) a lesbian who was caught on a Ring camera being murdered by her wife.
Question Two
In Budapest this year …
a) a satiric gay rights group called the Two-tailed Dog Party took to the streets in grey outfits calling for “death to colors,” and announcing that “being uniform is cool.”
b) an anti-gay mayoral candidate beat out his moderate opponent 50 percent to 49 percent.
c) after President Viktor Orban outlawed pride celebrations, roughly a quarter of a million people held the largest Pride rally in the Hungarian nation’s history.
d) two men won a victory from the Constitutional Court of Hungary recognizing their German marriage.
e) city police raided 42 GLBT clubs in one night.
Question Three
In 2025, the Trump administration denigrated our community with various gratuitous attacks. Which of these actually happened?
a) The Defense Department removed online references to the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
b) Trump and company removed the “T” from “LGBT” on the historical plaque at the Stonewall Inn.
c) Pete Hegseth renamed the Harvey Milk supply ship the Oscar V Peterson.
d) The government removed the menu option for GLBT callers to the national suicide hotline.
e) The Department of Transportation ordered rainbow crosswalks repainted in a dozen major cities around the country.
f) The White House mess canceled its long-standing contract with a Vermont maple syrup supplier because the company was run by a lesbian.
g) The Defense Department halted its congressionally mandated participation in the Scouts’ quadrennial Jamboree.
Question Four
True or False: In 2025, the Supreme Court …
a) ruled that a straight woman can sue for sexual orientation discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
b) ruled that South Carolina can block a transgender boy from using the boys’ facilities in high school.
c) ruled that Oklahoma can use taxpayer dollars to fund a Christian charter school.
d) ruled that parents cannot opt their kids out of general reading programs that may include GLBT books.
e) ruled that Tennessee can prohibit medical services for transgender minors.
f) allowed the Department of Defense to start ousting transgender troops while litigation continues.
g) ruled that states cannot outlaw conversion therapy without violating the First Amendment Rights of antigay therapists.
h) ruled that a Christian web designer can refuse gay clients.
i) decided to take the case of a former county clerk who seeks to end marriage equality.
j) ruled that the State Department can limit passports to gender at birth while lawsuits play out.
Question Five
Name the cities with the following airport codes:
a) GAY
b) FUK
c) DIK
d) PEE
e) POO
f) BUM
g) SUX
Question Six
What do the following newsmakers— Kalaya Morton, Marcy Rheintgen, Luca Strobel, and Ansley Baker—have in common?
a) They were young Republican leaders caught making racist and obscene comments in a secret chat group.
b) They were fired for criticizing Charlie Kirk after his death.
c) They were all ejected from women’s bathrooms.
d) They are all running for Republican-held seats in Congress.
Question Seven
Which gay animals made the news this
year, and why?
a) penguins Green Bean and Randi
b) Sexpot, the bonobo
c) the sheep from Rainbow Wool
d) Arlo, one of several pigs in an art installation
e) Tux, a penguin from the National Aquarium of New Zealand
Question Eight
Who did what? Match the following people to the incidents that follow: Sarah Ashworth, Phillippe Schneider, Lou Prevost, Derek Huffman, Michelle Wilson, Silas Shelton, David Maltinsky, Aidan Maese-Czeropski
a) This person was fired from an FBI training program after putting a rainbow flag on their office wall in 2024.
b) This person was groped during a parasailing adventure by the guide.
c) This person was arrested for murdering a man and cooking his body parts into a stew with vegetables.
d) This 24-year-old aide was fired for having sex in a senate anteroom and letting his partner video the moment.
e) This person insists that your pillowcases are aging you ten years.
f) This person had to shut down their Trumpy social media after their brother was named Pope.
g) This person moved their entire family to Russia to escape the woke culture of the U.S.
h) This person was accused of child rape after moaning that a gay friendly kids’ book series “made me sick.”
Question Nine
This year, former Oklahoma Governor Mike Huckabee …
a) spoke at the funeral of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson.
b) was appointed Ambassador to Norway.
c) published a book titled Kids’ Guide to President Trump.
d) was injured by a buffalo during a hunting trip in South Africa.
e) complained publicly about a lesbian couple with a baby in the Disney film Lightyear.
f) told a senate committee that the U.S. was subsidizing pastry classes for male prostitutes in Haiti.
Question Ten
In 2025, would you rather …
a) Win the midterms, or win five million dollars?
b) Write and publish a brilliant book of poetry that doesn’t even break even, or write and publish a best-selling cookbook?
c) Have an intimate dinner with Kristen Stewart and Joe Burrow, or have an intimate dinner with Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom?
d) See the High Court rule against birthright citizenship and uphold the rights of transgender athletes, or see the reverse scenario?
e) See Trump have a disabling stroke, or see Vance have a mental breakdown?
f) Feel great physically, or feel great emotionally?
g) Learn to speak Italian, or learn to make pasta by hand?
Answers
One
The answer is b) The forty-something “reporter” pointed out on social media that the moon had vanished, asking, “Why is everyone silent about this? They are quiet about the white sun as well.” Judge Ana Reyes wrote the scathing quote. Connie Rimes told the teacher: “U messed with the wrong family … so please say ur prayers and kiss ur kids goodbye and goodnight u never know when god says its our time so always be prepared.” And Rebecca Morodi was stabbed to death by her wife, Yolanda.
Two
The answers are a) and c). The antigay candidate, Karol Nawrocki, was the winning politician in the Polish presidential runoff. The two men who married in Germany were Polish, and won recognition from the European Court of Justice. And the Moscow police conducted the big raids.
Three
Options b), c), and d) are all true. And yes, all references to “gay” were purged from the Defense Department website, but Enola Gay was quickly restored. While several states including Florida and Texas have outlawed rainbow crosswalks, there has been no federal dictate. I made up the maple syrup company, and we have only seen a “draft memo” about the Scout deal, which was leaked to NPR.
Four
a) T, b) F, South Carolina was asking the justices to reverse an injunction issued by the Fourth Circuit, but, in a rare victory, the Court refused. c) F, Justice Barrett recused herself from this case, and the Court split 4–4, leaving the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling against the school intact. d) F, Of course they ruled in favor of the antigay parents. e) T, f) T, g) F, The Court heard oral arguments in this case but will rule next year, probably in favor of the antigay therapists. h) F, That was last year. i) F, They did not accept the marriage equality challenge. j) T.
Five
They are: a) Gaya, India, b) Fukuaka, Japan, c) Dickinson, North Dakota, d) Perm, Russia, e) Pocos de Caldas, Brazil, f) Butler, Missouri, and g) Sioux City, Iowa. I know that the folks in Gaya have tried repeatedly to get their abbreviation changed without success. Sioux City, by contrast, has leaned into “SUX” and sells all kinds of SUX merchandise in its airport stores.
Six
c) Kalaya was a cisgender woman, reported by a Walmart manager in Tucson. Marcy was a transwoman who deliberately challenged a Florida law banning transwomen from state bathroom facilities. Luca Strobel was a transman, who faced police after using the ladies’ room in a bar. Ansley, a cisgender woman, was escorted out of a hotel bathroom in Boston by security while other women jeered. I had more stories. Anyone who doesn’t look feminine enough is at risk.
Seven
The answers are a) and c). Green Bean and Randi are lesbian penguins who made it into the news for doing something amusing with a ball during a week when I was strapped for content, while the gay sheep starred in a Grindr-sponsored show called I Wool Survive that celebrated gay rams who are commonly culled. Bonobos were newsworthy in general due to their language skills, although “Sexpot” is made up. The unnamed pigs in the installation Now You Care by sociopath artist Marco Evaristti were meant to starve to death in public, while Tux won “Naughty penguin of the month” after he pushed another penguin off the pier after the victim had walked an hour to get there. There’s no evidence that either Tux or the pigs were gay.
Eight
Ashworth was selling the pillowcase that will take years off your look; Schneider is the cannibal; Prevost is the Pope’s unimpressive brother; Huffman took his family to Russia and had to go to the frontlines in Ukraine; Wilson was assaulted by her parasailing guide, who was instantly arrested; Shelton was a rapist pastor from Ohio; Maltinsky was fired by Kash Patel, but has filed suit, and Maese-Czeropski, “The Senate Twink,” found himself on a public sex tape back in 2023, but was recently interviewed so made it back into the 2025 headlines.
Nine
c) He wrote the kids’ book. He was also named Ambassador to Israel, not Norway, and some unrelated businessman was killed by the Capetown buffalo. It was Snoop Dogg who complained about the movie, and Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana who told colleagues about the alleged pastry classes.
Ten
As far as I’m concerned, a) I’ll take the midterms, b) I’ll write the cookbook since I just gave up five million dollars out of patriotism, c) Tough call, but I’m going with Kristen and Joe, d) Reverse scenario. I’m never happy about losing trans cases, but ending birthright citizenship would completely upend constitutional law. e) I’d go with the Vance option. f) I’d rather feel great emotionally. That’s the definition of “feeling great.” g) I love the sound of Italian, don’t you? We can buy pasta.
See you next year, dear readers! arostow@aol.com
GLBT Fortnight in Review
Published on December 18, 2025
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