Latest news with #MattMcClain
Global News
25-06-2025
- Automotive
- Global News
What could gas prices look like ahead of Canada Day weekend?
Many Canadians are crunching the numbers for what their future travels may cost them as Canada Day approaches, including the price of fuel during one of the busiest times of year for tourism. With fewer trips across the border into the United States reported as the trade war stretches on, many Canadians appear to be keeping their travels domestic this year — especially with more incentives to do so. The Canada Strong Pass is the newest plan by the federal government to promote tourism within Canada's borders this summer, and this might mean more demand for fuel to reach some of the destinations included in the pass for activities like camping and day trips to national parks and museums, which have discounted access fees for some through the pass. With the national average price for regular gasoline in Canada hovering around $1.40 per litre, some may be wondering where the price for consumers is heading in the coming days — especially after days of intensified conflict in the Middle East. Story continues below advertisement 'No one's got a crystal ball on this, and no one knows exactly what's going to happen moment to moment,' petroleum analyst Matt McClain at GasBuddy says. 'The reality is right now, we are expecting prices to fall.' Although this may be good news at the moment, oil markets remain volatile amid geopolitical tensions — so things could potentially change. 1:49 High gas prices mean drivers may change summer travel plans What determines how much you pay? The price consumers pay at gas pumps is set based on many factors. Story continues below advertisement One of the most crucial is usually the price of raw crude oil, which gets refined into what we use for transportation and many other applications. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Although large amounts of the oil Canada consumes come from places like Alberta, the price is set globally. For oil that Canada imports to fill gaps in supply, the United States and the Middle East are the most common sources. In recent weeks, the price of oil spiked as Iran and Israel exchanged attacks, and as anticipation was building about whether the U.S. might get involved. Soon after the U.S. bombed Iran's nuclear sites, concerns built about whether Iran would retaliate, with some speculation that it could even involve the Strait of Hormuz — a vital shipping route, especially for oil. Iran did retaliate, but not by impacting oil shipments. Instead, Iran attacked U.S. military bases in Qatar, with minimal damage and no reported casualties. In addition, U.S. President Trump claims that Iran and Israel have agreed to the terms of a ceasefire. The end result of these recent developments was a sense of relief for oil markets and global economies that tensions may subside. 'As with any ongoing conflict, we have multiple routes and avenues that we could possibly start walking or going down at any given moment,' McClain says. Story continues below advertisement 'This is all going to be contingent upon a ceasefire, and as of right now, that ceasefire seems to be holding.' So for now, Canadians anticipating filling up the gas tank in the coming days and weeks should find some price relief, but a lot will depend on whether cooler heads prevail in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which is still a volatile situation for oil markets. Although this may be good news for the travel outlook, experts advise to budget for higher prices in case things change. 'Plan for the worst and hope for the best. The best thing that people can do is have that budget, and possibly have some extra money that you thought you might be needing for fuel, but you no longer need,' McClain says. 'Whatever the case may be, we are still seeing crude oil prices plummet as well as wholesale gasoline prices — it's excellent news for the motorists.'
Toronto Sun
23-06-2025
- Climate
- Toronto Sun
Brutal temperatures will hit cities from Boston to Washington
Published Jun 23, 2025 • 3 minute read Dimitri Babb cools off in Canal Park on Sunday in Washington, D.C. MUST CREDIT: Matt McClain/The Washington Post Photo by Matt McClain / The Washington Post A heat wave will intensify along the East Coast this week as tropical humidity levels and 37 C temperatures reach big cities from Boston to Washington. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account On Sunday, humidity levels were higher in parts of the Northeast and southern Canada than in Florida, breaking records in some places. As of 6 a.m. Monday, temperatures exceeded 75 degrees for 190 million people across 33 states, underscoring that there will be limited relief from heat at night and in the morning. In New York, the low temperature Monday morning was 27 C, which could become the earliest such low temperature since records began in 1869. During the week ahead, around 95 locations in the Midwest and East are forecast to approach high-temperature records. About 150 locations across 31 states may experience record warm nights, especially from Monday to Wednesday. Late in the week, eastern heat will be tempered by clouds, showers and strong storms, though a renewed surge of hot weather will hit central states. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. High-temperature records may be approached, tied or broken in 23 states this week, from Illinois to Maine, and southward to Georgia. Record warm nights may affect 31 states, from Florida to Kansas, northward to Michigan and Maine. No state along the East Coast will be spared the chance for record-breaking heat. In cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, where it's forecast to reach 37 C , notable June heat records could be neared, tied or broken. For many eastern states, maximum heat index values are forecast to range from 40.5 to 46 degrees from Monday to Wednesday, significantly raising the risk for heat-related illnesses. Extreme heat warnings, watches and advisories stretch from Maine to South Carolina. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. By Thursday and Friday, the dome of heat will weaken as widespread afternoon showers and thunderstorms return to the Eastern Seaboard. Unusually high humidity On Sunday, parts of the Northeast and southern Canada were more humid than Florida. Maximum dew points, a direct measure of how much water vapor is in the air near the ground, broke June hourly records in Ithaca (26 C) and Syracuse (25 C) in New York and Toronto (25 C). As of early Monday, very high humidity was affecting more than 230 million people across 31 states. Extreme humidity was in place for an additional 20 million people in 15 states. Humidity levels will reach a peak in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic on Monday evening, when more June records may be set. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Surges of very high to extreme humidity are expected across the Mid-South, Midwest and Plains throughout the week. There won't be any significant relief from humidity in the Mid-Atlantic nor Southeast. Because of these conditions, several states in the East and Midwest are forecast to have an extreme Level 4 out of 4 risk for heat-related impacts for four or five consecutive days. The unusually humid weather is being driven by tropical winds from the marine heat-wave-affected Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Marine heat waves can increase air temperatures and atmospheric moisture. How long it will last A cold front from Canada will bring brief relief from the heat and humidity to the Upper Midwest on Monday and Tuesday and then the Northeast on Friday, though it's unlikely to push south of New York. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In the Mid-Atlantic and points farther south, there may not be any significant relief until early July. Before that possible relief, another surge of heat and humidity will probably move across the Plains and Midwest next weekend, reaching the East Coast in about a week. Beyond the United States and southern Canada, heat waves are hitting southern Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia this week, with around 1.4 billion people forecast to experience very unusually warm temperatures globally – more than double the number forecast to experience very unusually cool conditions. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Toronto & GTA Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto & GTA Toronto Blue Jays NBA
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Arizona Diamondbacks' offense hitless in last four innings, swept by Reds
CINCINNATI — With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning on Sunday, June 8, Diamondbacks catcher José Herrera set up his mitt above the outside of home plate to right-handed hitting Cincinnati Reds No. 9 hitter Matt McClain. The 0-1 slider from Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen missed the target and went right over the plate, where McClain was able to get a good swing and send the ball into the left-field seats for a two-run home run. Advertisement That shot broke a 2-2 tie for a 4-2 Reds lead, and it was all Cincinnati needed to take a win and a series sweep over the Diamondbacks this weekend at Great American Ball Park. It was one of three home runs for the Reds on the day, all off Gallen (4-8). "Maybe one of those stays in at another park," Gallen said. ''But it looked like they were hit pretty solid. Obviously, it's on your mind when you're out there, you're cognizant of this park playing a little bit smaller. You kind of tend to have higher home run totals. But I think when you make a mistake toward the middle of the plate, it doesn't matter where you're playing." Gallen — in his 150th career start as a Diamondback — allowed four runs on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts in 6⅔ innings, a decent outing but one not supported by much offense. The Diamondbacks (31-34) scored just six runs over three games in a hitter-friendly stadium, and on Sunday went the final four innings of the game without a hit or even a single runner on base. Advertisement "Very disappointed," manager Torey Lovullo said. "We lose two tough ballgames here. The middle game (13-1 loss) was a clunker yesterday, I'm aware of that. But they (the Reds) got big hits at most critical times, and we didn't. And that's the difference in the game. "Our guys are very capable of doing that. It just didn't happen," Lovullo added. "But Zac did his job today. He did everything he possibly could. He felt great, looked great, just made a couple of mistakes and he paid for it." The Diamondbacks had a 2-0 lead through three innings but couldn't build on it. They had two runners on base in both the fourth and fifth innings but couldn't score. Eugenio Suarez hit his second home run in as many days and Corbin Carroll drove in Alek Thomas for a run in the third inning, but Geraldo Perdomo grounded into a pair of double plays. Advertisement "He's so good at working counts, seeing the ball, just working his approach around the field," Lovullo said of Perdomo. "Maybe getting a little bit jumpy and pull-happy." Rain delayed the game 31 minutes before the top of the sixth inning, the second game in three days affected by precipitation in southern Ohio. "It's what happens when you come to the Midwest," Lovullo said. "It seems like every year when we come on this trip in this space. So we talked about it, it didn't surprise anybody. It's just one of those things you've got to deal with." Thomas led a good day on defense for the Diamondbacks with a diving catch in center field to rob Gavin Lux of an extra-base hit. There was a double p[ay turned in the infield, and Gallen picked off the speedy Elly De La Cruz as the Arizona executed the rundown play well. Advertisement Next for the Diamondbacks is the struggling Seattle Mariners back at Chase Field. They've dropped out of the top spot in the American League West. "When we go back home I think we're going to be just fine," Thomas said. "We're just going to put together good at-bats and pass the baton to the next guy, and get on base and drive them in. A little bit of luck in there, too, and things will fall our way." Backhus makes big league debut Left-handed reliever Kyle Backhus entered the game in the bottom of the eighth and made his major league debut, tossing a scoreless 1-2-3 inning. Backhus was called up from Triple-A Reno earlier in the day, and his first career MLB strikeout came against De La Cruz, the star of the Reds. Advertisement Lovullo said Backhus showed what the organization liked about him in spring training. "Super proud of him, super happy for him and he's got some really good stuff," Lovullo said. "We're very intrigued by what he's capable of doing." Backhus said there was not enough time for his wife and infant daughter to come see his debut on such short notice with the call-up. But they will join him when the Diamondbacks return to Phoenix on June 9. "It was exciting. Tried not to put too much into it," Backhus said. "A lot of guys in the bullpen helped calm my nerves a little bit. Being around some of these guys in camp helps a lot. Just going out there and doing my thing." Advertisement Backhus was on a road trip with Reno in Oklahoma City so he got two hours of sleep because he was awake doing laundry. "Other than that, it is what it is. I'll take this call 100 more times," Backhus said. Busy days for DBacks' Herrera José Herrera nodded his head in the clubhouse before Sunday's game, when asked how his arm felt. That was good for the Diamondbacks, who called upon Herrera to catch a full game for the second straight day. Herrera normally catches on Sundays, but he was pressed into service as catcher and for one inning, relief pitcher the day before. Herrera caught for 12 innings on June 7, then pitched a scoreless inning. Several teammates asked him if he was feeling good. Advertisement "I like the catchers pitching, because they throw the ball back to the pitcher at that distance, and it's not adding on to any more volume," Lovullo said. "They're going to receive one, they're going to throw one back to the pitcher, so it's a one-for-one proposition for me. They know the distance, they know how to gauge the speed, and they can lob it in there because they're used to it." Lovullo told Herrera not to throw more than 55 mph. Herrera's velocity was in the 40s, in a game the Diamondbacks lost 13-1. "I just don't want anybody to get hurt in that situation," Lovullo said. "I want to just get off the field healthy and live to fight another day." Moreno 'feeling much better,' Carroll back in lineup After not playing in the June 7 game against the Reds, catcher Gabriel Moreno's sore right hand was feeling better on June 8, Lovullo said. Moreno was OK to serve as a backup to Herrera. Advertisement Moreno seems to have avoided an injured list stint for the moment. "He got struck on the hand by a ball that got him in the right spot, and we felt like it was going to be day to day for a little while," Lovullo said. "But it was going to turn a corner quickly, and eventually get him back on the field much quicker than the 10 days (injured list), and that's kind of where we're at right now." Lovullo gave an update on the catching depth in the minor leagues. Adrian Del Castillo is about to return to Reno for games after rehabbing his injured shoulder at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, and Rene Pinto, who with Del Castillo and Garcia was also in spring training, recently broke his hand. Also, outfielder Corbin Carroll was back in the lineup on June 8 after two days out for rest. Advertisement "It's just nice to have one of the best players in the league available and back in your lineup," Lovullo said. "But we had to be careful. There's a lot of baseball, and it was a quick turnaround day in Atlanta, and he plays hard. He goes as hard as anybody we have, and the body was just not responding and needed a little bit more rest." Roster move The Diamondbacks had to return pitcher Christian Montes De Oca to Reno despite his solid outing on June 7, because he was the appointed 27th player on the active roster for the day. But the team did add a pitcher on June 8, with Backhus brought up and catcher Aramis Garcia designated for assignment. Garcia caught for a half-inning on June 7, soon after being called up to provide coverage, with Moreno unable to play due to right hand soreness. Advertisement Backhus is 4-4 with a 2.22 earned run average at Reno, with 24 appearances this season. Coming up Monday, June 9: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (6-2, 3.43) vs. Mariners RHP Emerson Hancock (2-2, 5.19). Tuesday, June 10: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (7-4, 5.51) vs. Mariners RHP Bryan Woo (5-3, 3.07). Wednesday, June 11: At Chase Field, 12:40 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (1-3, 6.70) vs. Mariners RHP Bryce Miller (2-5, 5.73) This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks' offense falters in loss and 3-game sweep by Reds
Yomiuri Shimbun
04-06-2025
- Health
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Some Advice from LGBTQ Elders as Worldpride Kicks off Amid Fears
Matt McClain/The Washington Post People dance during a WorldPride Welcome Party at Berhta in Northeast Washington on Saturday. They were born too late to have witnessed Stonewall, lived through darkest days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic or have memories of a time when it was illegal for same-sex couples to marry anywhere in the country. Still, four 20-somethings from a small private college in south-central Pennsylvania got out of bed before sunrise and spent a few hours on a bus to D.C. so they could make it to the U.S. Supreme Court for a gathering that would take them back in time. They would listen as longtime LGBTQ advocates, who had come together to celebrate the 100th anniversary of gay pioneer Frank E. Kameny's birth, spoke about struggle and the progress it has wrought. They would hold candles and look on as those advocates marched in loops in the high court's shadow holding large signs – black lettering on white poster board that recalled the very first gay rights demonstration in the nation's capital 60 years ago. The posters declared such things as 'Gay is good' and 'Homosexuals ask for the right to the pursuit of happiness.' Tatiana Gonzales, 22, watched in awe, an electric candle in each hand, a 'trans lives matter' shirt peeking out from beneath their black hoodie. Gonzales would later describe the experience as transformative, how the candles in their own hands felt more like a passed torch – a reminder that their generation must pick up the work started long before to ensure that progress is not undone. 'Wow,' Gonzales recalled thinking, 'these are really the people that helped make this happen. These are really the people who fought for us to have these rights.' As D.C. decks itself in rainbows and welcomes WorldPride, one of the largest international observances of Pride Month, many LGBTQ people say that they are finding inspiration not by imagining a brighter future – but instead by revisiting a more hostile past. After years of buoyant celebrations of advancements and greater acceptance for members of the LGBTQ community over the last two decades, for many, Pride is taking place this year in the shadow of mounting legal and cultural attacks: books featuring LGBTQ+ characters have been removed from school libraries and curriculums; hate crimes are on the rise; the federal government has barred transgender people from the military and girls' sports; HIV prevention programs and gender-affirming health care have been slashed; drag shows have been banned at the Kennedy Center; and state legislatures around the country have introduced more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills. The young people assembled outside the Supreme Court that day kept coming back to one word: 'Scary.' They feel fearful of political and social attacks on LGBTQ people, they said, and they worry about the safety of their friends, family and even themselves. 'There's a very real shot that we won't have those rights that we've just kind of had for the majority of our lives,' said Elspeth Hunter, 20. 'It's so scary.' In the D.C. area, LGBTQ trailblazers who formed secret societies in the '60s, marched in the '70s, read aloud the names of AIDS patients of the '80s and '90s, and staged kiss-ins and mass weddings in the aughts have also been reflecting on the nature of progress: how it is won and how it is protected. How they hope the next generation is listening – and preparing – to carry it into the future. Finding 'familia' at Pride José Gutierrez, 63, knows what it feels like to watch the government turn its back on LGBTQ people. When he was in his 20s, Gutierrez said, he kept a personal phone book with the names and numbers of all the people he knew. In the worst throes of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, he said, he would open that book nearly every month to cross out the names of those who had died. The grief felt inescapable, unending. 'I wish that new generations knew what that was like,' he said. 'Those were difficult times because we didn't have any medications, we didn't have services, and people that were infected with HIV/AIDS, some of them, not everybody, but some, would prefer to commit suicide.' In 1993, Gutierrez was invited to attend the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation as a representative from Atlanta and a member of the Latino community. When he arrived, he said, he could hardly believe what he was witnessing: A million people in the streets. ACT UP protesters carrying coffins through the city to protest the government's inaction in response to the epidemic. A giant memorial quilt unfurled across the National Mall that included panels from every state and 28 countries. Gutierrez was asked to read aloud the names of Latino people who had died of the disease. Recalling that moment still makes him weep. Gutierrez moved to Washington soon after, inspired to continue working to support those who were HIV-positive and immigrants and Latinos in the LGBTQ community. He's advocated for better bilingual health care and education about the HIV/AIDS epidemic and worked to create distinct spaces for LGBTQ Latinos in the District. In 2000, he founded the Latino GLBT History Project. Seven years later, he organized the first D.C. Latino Pride. On Saturday, Gutierrez will ride at the front of the Pride parade as an honoree and co-chair of this year's WorldPride march – an event he said is as much a protest as it is a celebration. 'We're protesting because we need visibility for many reasons. The first is: We have, against our community, the LGBTQ community and especially the transgender community, so much violence and hate,' Gutierrez said. 'We also need to celebrate our lives, our rights, even though we are now having a lot of issues, just to be with thousands and thousands of people around the world in a safe space.' 'Familia, like we call it in Spanish,' he added. At Pride, 'we're in familia.' The pendulum keeps swinging Eva Freund isn't coming to the parade. She doesn't like crowds or loud noises and, is still recovering from a fall last year in which she broke her femur. But at 87, Freund is one of the earliest members of the District's first gay rights group, the Mattachine Society of Washington, and still makes herself – and her beliefs – known everywhere she goes. In the retirement community where she lives with her wife, Elke Martin, Freund's front door stands out in the long, winding hall. Rainbow flags dot the wall, the door frame and the flower pot from which a long, winding pothos vine crawls. A sticker declares her home a 'hate free zone,' and a rainbow plate says, 'Love always wins.' An ornate marriage contract, framed and signed by Freund and Martin, hangs in the hallway surrounded by photos. Even the mezuzah at the entryway is painted as a rainbow. On a recent day, as Freund made her way upstairs, a young man stopped and thanked her for speaking out at a recent event. 'Hey, kudos to you for saying what everyone was thinking,' the man said. Freund smiled. She had asked a visiting politician what meaningful actions they planned to take to protect marginalized people – she was tired of the talk and the 'do-nothing Democrats,' she said. 'I just appreciate you standing up and saying what you said yesterday; I know that's nothing new to you,' he added. 'But especially in that setting where everybody's there and everybody's kind of like, 'Did she really just say that?' And, like, 'Yeah. She did.' ' When Freund began identifying as a lesbian in the 1960s, being gay was all but illegal in public spaces. Workers suspected of being gay were fired from their jobs in the federal government. LGBTQ people were routinely rounded up and arrested at bars or in parks amid police raids. Even the American Psychiatric Association at the time classified homosexuality as a mental illness. In her youth, Freund demonstrated for women's rights and gay liberation. She carried signs with other trailblazers like Paul Kuntzler and Lilli Vincenz, calling for federal reforms and the removal of homosexuality from the APA's list of mental illness diagnoses. She was defiant in the face of police, who, when Freund was at a D.C. lesbian bar with her friends in the early '60s, raided the joint, asking each patron to hand over their IDs. 'I never saw myself as an activist. I saw myself as a curmudgeon,' Freund said. 'I wouldn't be necessarily someone who wanted to lead marches or organize marches, because I know that change comes incrementally. Unless you have a really bloody revolution, change does not come in a big fell swoop. And people's minds get changed incrementally.' But, she admits, she has seen a whole lot of change: Friends, who for years hid who they were, able to come out. Her marriage to Martin, her partner of more than 30 years. Legal protection against discrimination – in Virginia, where she lives, it's illegal to deny housing or employment to anyone based on sexual orientation or gender identity. She doesn't take it for granted. Freund has recently found herself thinking about the period after the Civil War – a period of reconstruction and freedom, for some, but also a devastating backlash that brought with it systemic segregation and discrimination against Black Americans. 'When the pendulum swings,' she said, 'the folks who are in power lose power, and they can't stand it. So when they get back in power they have to chip, chip, chip, chip away' at whatever progress was made. 'The question,' she went on, 'is how much damage can they accomplish in all that chipping?' Freund does what she can in her own little slice of the world to keep that chipping at bay. That means trying to help young people understand the history that came before them – how to persevere in the face of hatred and discrimination – and being out, proud and visible. Each night when Freund goes down to the community dining room to eat with her wife, she said, the two of them walk in together, past tables of people, holding hands. The last survivor of the 1965 march Kuntzler, the sole surviving participant of the District's first gay rights march in 1965, has remained active in the ways he knows how. The 82-year-old, who still rides his bike to get around the city, is a regular at anti-Donald Trump demonstrations, having attended the 2017 Women's March on Washington, where he held up a sign that read 'Donald Trump Is the Ugly American' (a nod to the 1958 novel 'The Ugly American'). He later walked in the March for Science and the People's Climate March. In April, Kuntzler marked Trump's second term by attending the 'Hands Off!' rally on the National Mall with a homemade sign: 'Trumpism is fascism.' Later that month, he joined supporters at a reenactment of the 1965 protest for gay rights in front of the White House. As he walked in circles outside the tall White House fence, Kuntzler held up a placard much like the one he made more than half a century ago. It read: 'Fifteen Million U.S. Homosexuals Protest Federal Treatment.' The figure he cited – 15 million – was an estimate based on the statistic that about 10 percent of the population at the time was probably gay. Decades later, Kuntzler marvels at the passage of time and the progress it has brought. Gay and lesbian politicians hold office in Congress and state legislatures around the country; the former U.S. secretary of transportation, Pete Buttigieg, is openly gay, married and a dad. Kuntzler and his partner of more than 40 years, Stephen Brent Miller, became legal domestic partners in a civil ceremony in 2002 – two years before Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage. 'Well, I think probably the national gay community, LGBT, probably have made more progress than any other group in America. I mean, the change has been astonishing,' Kuntzler said. 'We couldn't conceive of the idea back in the '60s that there would be laws to protect us from discrimination, that there would be openly gay elected officials. … The whole idea of marriage equality was something we couldn't conceive of.' Kuntzler ran Kameny's campaign for Congress in 1971 – a historic first in several ways: Kameny was the first openly gay man to seek congressional office and he did so in the District of Columbia's first election for its nonvoting delegate seat. Kuntzler had planned to attend Kameny's centennial demonstration, but rainy weather kept him home. Kuntzler was heartened, however, to hear that so many young people had attended. He hopes they'll also come to a public exhibit he's featured in and leads tours of: the Rainbow History Project's display in Freedom Plaza on 'Pickets, Protests, and Parades: The History of Gay Pride in Washington.' Vincent Slatt, the curator, said he built the exhibit to be more than a look back at history. Slatt said he hopes it serves as inspiration – and instruction. 'At that first picket in 1965, it was 10 people outside the White House. By the 1993 March on Washington, it was a million people. What we have grown here, in Washington, D.C., is a movement,' Slatt said. 'This exhibit is not about old people and what old people do or did. … These were all young people who got off their asses and fought, and sometimes they won and sometimes they lost. But over 60 years, we've won a lot more than we've lost.'
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Reds Make Milestone Elly De La Cruz Announcement Sunday
Reds Make Milestone Elly De La Cruz Announcement Sunday originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Cincinnati Reds fell to 29-31 on the young MLB season Sunday as they lost 7-3 to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, falling further behind in the National League Central. Advertisement The loss kept manager Terry Francona's team from gaining ground on the St. Louis Cardinals, who lost 8-1 to the Texas Rangers. Sunday's game included a milestone achievement from shortstop Elly De La Cruz, who continued a solid season with a strong game, adding to his legend in Cincinnati. The Reds made an announcement on De La Cruz as the day wore on, spotlighting his achievement on social media. Elly De La Cruz (top) embraces Matt McClain on May 30, 2025. © David Banks-Imagn Images "Elly De La Cruz gets his 50th career home run," the Reds' X account wrote as they shared a highlight video of the momentous occasion. Cruz blasted a 423-foot bomb at Wrigley, a two-run shot that provided a spark of hope for a Reds team that has been beaten down at times this season in the competitive NL Central. Advertisement Known more for his base stealing than his power numbers, De La Cruz has continued to hit for power during a rough first half of the season at times for Francona's team. De La Cruz's home run came after the death of his sister Genelis De La Cruz on Saturday. Elly De La Cruz insisted on playing despite his heavy heart and made it count as he knocked in two runs in one fell swoop. "For his sister," one fan wrote with a red heart emoji. "He smashed that one. I thought it was a foul at first," another said with a '100' emoji. "Sheer joy," another wrote as part of a congratulatory message on De La Cruz's milestone, bittersweet moment. Related: Reds Cut Ties with All-Star Closer This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
