Charlotte Royals Rugby makes move to include all LGBTQ+ community
The Charlotte Royals rugby team have moved to the new USA Rugby Open Division to protest new policy changes. In response to Executive Order 14201, which requires women’s sports to be limited to biological females, USA Rugby updated its eligibility, prompting the clubs to shift to an inclusive “open” category rather than exclude trans women.…
Record number of out athletes capture medals at ’26 Winter Olympics
As the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics concluded Sunday, publicly out LGBTQ+ athletes recorded their strongest Winter Games medal wins to date. According to tracking by Outsports, 49 publicly out LGBTQ+ Olympians competed in Milan, a record number for a Winter Olympics. Of those athletes, 19 won gold, silver or bronze medals, the highest total documented…
A winter reset: Simple ways to keep moving
The holidays are gone, but for many of us, the extra pounds from family, friends and workplace gatherings tend to linger. Add in winter’s shorter days, colder mornings, earlier sunsets and the temptation to hibernate, and movement can quickly feel optional. Winter has a way of slowing everything down. But over the years, I’ve learned…
Wellness rooted in community
January has a way of making us pause and ask the real questions: How am I doing, and what do I need this new year? For many of us, wellness is not just a trend or a resolution. It is survival. As people look to reset their minds, bodies and spirits, finding wellness spaces that…
IOC signals shift on trans women in Olympic sports
The International Olympic Committee is considering a new global policy that could prohibit transgender women from competing in female Olympic events. IOC officials say no final decision has been made, but the organization’s medical and scientific director, Dr. Jane Thornton, recently presented research showing that individuals born male retain certain physical advantages even after lowering…
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NC sticks with its vaccination recommendations despite CDC changes
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is not planning to change its 2015 list of recommended vaccinations for children up to 18. On Jan. 5, the CDC announced changes to its recommendations for vaccines for children and adolescents, cutting the list from 17 to 11. Vaccines for RSV, hepatitis A and B,…
out in print
“Gays on Broadway”
“Gays on Broadway” by Ethan Mordden c.2023, Oxford University Press | 233 pages $29.95 You had to look around you and check your seat. Yep, you were still in a theater in a large building, fanny planted in a dusty red seat. You weren’t in a Brooklyn tenement or a castle, or at a society…
arts & culture
Out in Music: The Golden Age of Thomas Dolby
It’s hard to believe that “The Golden Age of Wireless,” the debut album by musician Thomas Dolby was released more than 40 years ago. Regardless of its vintage, it still sounds as fresh and appealing as the day it hit record store shelves. A versatile artist who lists Joni Mitchell, Lene Lovich, Prefab Sprout and…
