| If you value the diverse and thought-provoking opinions you see in this newsletter every day, now is a great time to buy a Washington Post subscription: Get one year for just $40. Click here to subscribe. When columnist John Paul Brammer was called a "faggot" for the first time, at age 7, he didn't know what the word meant. It wasn't until middle school that I had the slur hurled at me; I knew it by then. Somehow, the way Brammer describes the experience in his latest piece still hits home: "Before I was allowed to be a kid, before I had the chance to figure myself out, I was given an all-consuming directive, spoken and unspoken: Hide." Like so many queer people, Brammer eventually overcame that instinct. But amid "the throes of a moral panic where kids are being used as an excuse to target the LGBTQ community," he feels it coming back. Last month saw attack after nasty attack on Pride celebrations, and the "groomer" slander gains traction every day. Legislation increasingly chips away at dignity that had started to feel secure. How could we not feel the temptation to slip back into the closet? This is where straight people come in. Brammer hopes allies will stand against this "cultural regression," not just during Pride, but all year round. He hopes they will make some noise along with us queer folk -- and tell us we need not disappear. "Silence, I know from personal experience, is where kids go to hide," he says, "and sometimes never come out again." That hits home, too.  ((John Paul Brammer for The Washington Post)) Tell me I don't have to. By John Paul Brammer ● Read more » | | | Post Publisher: By visiting Saudi Arabia, the president is turning 'a blind eye' to murder of Jamal Khashoggi. By Fred Ryan ● Read more » | | | | Even if forced to pay the $1 billion cancelation fee, he may come out ahead. By Megan McArdle ● Read more » | | | | The Senate candidate beats Trump for mendacity and serene ignorance. By Eugene Robinson ● Read more » | | | | In the aftermath of violence, individual altruism becomes a grim barometer of our collective conscience. By Alyssa Rosenberg ● Read more » | | | | Ryan was heartbroken over Jan. 6, he wants you to know — but not enough to do much about it. By Paul Waldman ● Read more » | | | | Does the end of one constitutional right mean women should rush to embrace another? By Karen Attiah ● Read more » | | | | The media are asking the wrong question about the consequences of prosecuting Trump. By Jennifer Rubin ● Read more » | | | |
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