Opinions
My Celebrity BEYOND transatlantic cruise arrives in Ft. Lauderdale
A memorable voyage comes to an end
Celebrity BEYOND Transatlantic Cruise: Blog #9
Day 10 dawned rainy and windy, with the boat rocking again. Though not quite as bad as some of the previous days. But for me that simply means another wonderful lazy day on the ship. My dermatologist would be thrilled with a few days of no sun for me, LOL. Again, it didn’t stop me from having fun.
This morning the first thing I did after having my coffee delivered to the cabin, was to finish my column and press the send button to the Blade. Kevin Naff, editor of the Blade, had been nice and allowed me to send it late because of the election. I usually submit my columns each week on Sunday. It was a great feeling to be able to write about Democrats being winners across the nation. I then headed to the gym for my morning thirty minutes on the Lifecycle, and another thirty with some weight machines. Hey, if you look at me, you know the weights I lift are light, but then something is better than nothing. Then it was off to the retreat lounge to make up the few calories I lost at the gym with my daily cappuccino.
This morning the chatter in the lounge was all about the elections. I don’t know about other groups on the ship, but our group, nearly all members of the LGBTQ+ community, and Democrats, were all very happy with the results. It was kind of like what I kid about in my coffee group back home at Java House in DC. We have a huge diversity of opinions, they go from A to C. The discussions this morning went on longer than usual, as we couldn’t head out to the sun deck, and for me it was fun. I also took the time to work with the concierge to straighten out the screwed-up reservations I had for dinner that evening at Le Voyage, the fancy Daniel Boulud restaurant on the ship. Finally got it straightened out and had reservations with Ken, Paul, and John, at 7:45. I was looking forward to it. But of course, I would eat before that and as lunch time approached a few of us, including Jason, Scott, Mike, and John, agreed to meet at 1pm at Luminae. It was more crowded than the last time I was there but the burger was just as good. Then it was suddenly nearly 3pm, and time for a break and some reading. I really enjoy having my kindle with me. I won’t let people look at my library on it as there are mostly junk, mindless, novels.
Then suddenly it was happy hour again. The LGBTQ happy hours each evening at 6:00pm in the Eden lounge are well attended. Unfortunately, John, Paul’s other half, there are a few Johns in our group, couldn’t join us, as he had work, and it also caused him to miss dinner at Le Voyage. He had to organize a zoom call for hundreds of medical professionals. The fate of the young who are still working. But Paul, Ken, and I, had a great dinner. I had Caviar on salmon for an appetizer, and we each got to taste two of the other appetizers which they put in the center of the table. I loved the roasted beets. Then lobster risotto for the main course, we all chose the same thing, and then dessert. We had all been welcomed with a glass of great champagne, and while Ken and Paul ordered some other wine with dinner, I stuck with champagne. By the end of dinner, which was more than two hours later, we were all stuffed and wondered if some people, the rich and famous, eat like this all the time. While dinner was great, doing it every night wouldn’t be all that appealing to any of us.
It was now about 10pm. Paul and Ken headed back to their cabins, Ken saying he may come back out to the casino, while I walked around a little to try and digest dinner. By eleven I headed back to my cabin for the night. On my bed was a little card telling me Dustin and Scott had made a deposit in my online account as a gift. They did this for everyone in their group and it was incredibly generous. A reminder why we all book with them. Also, Scott had shared with me some possible 2025 fjords cruises, one out of Southampton, on the APEX on June 5, 2025, and he was going to price them and share the information with everyone. Tomorrow would be our last sea day before reaching Bermuda.
Celebrity BEYOND Transatlantic Cruise: Blog #10
I woke up really early on day 11 of our cruise. It was partly sunny and warm, and the water was fairly smooth. I turned on the BBC and saw a program called HardTalk. The host sounded like he was on FOX news attacking the United States and Biden. But he did have a great guest, Fiona Hill, who pushed back on all he was saying. Fiona, who I had been lucky to meet at my friend Nick Irons’ gym, is a former US national security advisor and a specialist in Russia and Putin. She made so much sense in all she was saying and defending Biden’s view of the world and what the United States is and should be doing about the Israel/Hamas and Russian/Ukraine wars. Then there was a knock on the door and my coffee was delivered.
It was going to be a nice day, and after some writing, and coffee, I headed to the gym. If I don’t go in the morning I tend not to go and I made that commitment to myself to go on every sea day. After the gym instead of the retreat lounge, I headed to deck 17 and the retreat sun deck. It is a beautiful space. I took a lounge next to Mike, Scott, and Justin in the shade and ordered my morning cappuccino when a waiter came by. The crew is so great. It was quite windy and a member of the crew brought me a blanket to cover my legs. It kind of felt like we were on one of those old ships like the QE2 on a transatlantic voyage in the old days. I had been on the QE2 from Southampton to NY for my first transatlantic cruise nearly twenty years ago. All that was missing here were the little cucumber sandwiches.
After coffee, when the wind died down a little, I moved into the sun and sat with Diane, Will, Kenny, and others for a while. Then Dax and I agreed to meet at the Garden Café, the ship’s huge buffet, for lunch at 1 p.m. He and I had been on cruises together before but it was really the first time we had a more in-depth conversation. He is a great guy. He lives in Montreal and has a family condo in Miami Beach. He also, like me, has a lesbian sister. We sat and chatted for over two hours. Then it was time for me to head back to my cabin for a little down time. Once again, soon it was time to get ready for happy hour. The days on the ship just go very quickly.
There was a large group in the Eden lounge, and I met a couple of guys I hadn’t met before. Also joining us were Mark and Juan. I had a really nice conversation with Juan, who in addition to being a good-looking hunk, is a really smart, nice, and charming guy. I had met them first years ago on a Panama Canal cruise. They were heading to Eden for dinner. I was going to go with a group to Cyprus, one of the four main dining rooms. I found dinner a little lacking as the lentil soup was cold, and the pasta was just goopy. Much too much cream sauce on it with not all that much taste. The waiter was nice and brought me something else which was much better. And the warm apple pie a-la-mode for dessert, was delicious. After dinner most of us were just tired and after walking around the ship for a while headed to our cabins for an early night. Tomorrow was Bermuda and I had an excursion around the Island planned. It was going to be the first time for me in Bermuda.
Celebrity BEYOND transatlantic Cruise: Blog #11
Day 12 dawned warm and sunny as we docked in Bermuda. I headed to the theater, the meeting point for our excursion, and met Paul and Ken there. Turned out the excursion was going to be in a small taxi, and we hooked up with two guys from Canada, and got placed in a nice cab with a great driver/guide. He was incredibly knowledgeable, being a native Bermudian. He gave us a running commentary about the Island as we headed to our first top, a small interdenominational chapel he said was now used for weddings. It was in a beautiful small clearing with views of the sea. Then we continued on our way and headed into Hamilton, the largest city, and capital, of Bermuda. It is beautiful, with pastel-colored buildings, and spotlessly clean; set against a beautiful blue sea. After having 40 minutes to wander around, we again met our driver to continue the tour around the Island. He pointed out fishermen on the side of the road selling their fresh catch, and we passed a beautiful golf course where an international tournament was in progress. Then we headed to the beach, one of those famous pink sand beaches, and it was breathtaking. We stopped to walk on the sand, and head up the rocks for some beautiful views of the beach, and the ocean. The water was various colors of blue, and with the sun sparkling off it, made for incredible pictures. Then it was off to the lighthouse for a quick stop and some pictures, and then we continued the circle around the Island, back to the port and our ship. It had been a really great three hours in Bermuda, and I would go back.
I headed back on board the ship while John and Ken stayed in the port and partook of some local fish chowder and sandwiches. I headed to the Café buffet for lunch and bumped into John, who hadn’t come with us, and we had a nice lunch together. After lunch I gave John a tour of the retreat lounge and sundeck as he was considering booking the retreat for a future birthday cruise. I stayed on deck 17 until it was time for Dustin and Scott’s sail-away party in the iconic suite. It was a crowded affair and they had drafted flyers to hand out telling people about the planned 2025 cruises. One, I had asked them to plan, was a 12-day round-trip from Southampton, England to the Arctic and the Norwegian Fjords, on June 5, 2025. The other was our annual transatlantic cruise which would be on the ASCENT out of Rome in October, 2025. Planning ahead can get you some of the best prices.
Then for me it was the 7 p.m. show in the theater, the much-postponed Elements, which was great. Then dinner at the Rooftop restaurant. It was windy, but a warm wind, and the food was good. Only one slight issue, the table next to us was so loud, it did get annoying. But then they were having fun. After dinner I headed to the next show I wanted to see, in The Club. It was the Eden cast and Slavik and Vlad were doing some of their aerial work. The Club has changed their seating from what it was on the APEX, more balcony space but less on deck 4. I was lucky and friends, Piotr and Mark, and Kenny and Tom, had a seat for me. It is not an easy space for the cast to work and they are running around a small path in the audience. Despite that, they did a great job. They are all so incredibly talented. Great singers, dancers, including tap dancing, and acrobatics and aerial work. Congratulations to Celebrity for finding such talent.
Then for me it was off to bed and preparing for another sea day, and heading to the last stop on our cruise, Nassau. Since I won’t get off the ship in Nassau, have been there several times before, and that was enough, it was going to be two days of relaxing on the ship.
Celebrity BEYOND transatlantic Cruise: Blog #12
Day 13 dawned warm and sunny and it was going to be a nice relaxing final sea day as we headed to Nassau. As usual had my coffee, bagel and Juice delivered to the room, and began work on my regular political column for the Blade to be submitted Sunday. I then made good on my commitment of going to the gym every sea day and went for an hour of Lifecyle and light weights. Then headed to the sundeck on 17 and grabbed a lounge chair. I saw Terry and Andy, and others already there. I found a chair in the shade and one of the ever-present waiters took my order. Instead of a cup and saucer, cappuccino was brought in a paper cup, but it tasted just as good. Around 1:30 I walked over to the bar and restaurant area, and saw Dustin and Rick at a table and asked if I could join them. They graciously said yes. I ordered a mudslide and a grilled chicken sandwich. It was getting late to make use of my premium drink package. Celebrity made out well on mine as I am not a big drinker. I had never chatted with Rick before and he is a great guy. Found out he is a financial planner in Houston, and a friend of Dustin’s for years. The next thing we realized it was after 4:00pm. Rick and his roommate will be going on the Galapagos cruise I will be going on in February, so look forward to continuing the conversation. I always enjoy chatting with Dustin and we will be talking about the 2025 trips just announced.
Then it was time to head back to the cabin and get washed up and changed for Happy Hour. I had big plans for the evening; another show and my third dinner at Eden. This was going to be with Paul, John, Ken, Mary, and Nancy. Ken backed out claiming a headache, so I bumped into Dax and invited him. He went to the show with me first. It was ok, but the pianist who was good, seemed more like great background music, and we and many around us, while enjoying him, were on our iPhone catching up on email or posting pictures to FB. After the show we headed to dinner and it was again great. The chef came by and Dax impressed all of us by having a long conversation with him in French. Didn’t know what he said, but it sounded impressive, but then remember Dax is French Canadian, and David, the chef, is from Paris.
After dinner I stayed in the Eden Lounge for another great show with the Eden cast including Slavik and Vlad. They again were great to watch. Then it was time for bed for this old guy.
Day 14 dawned warm and beautiful and as intended, stayed on the ship in Nassau. It was going to be a totally do-nothing day. Coffee, some writing, then took my kindle to lounge in the sun on Deck 17. I actually had my first meal alone, when I headed to the buffet at around 1pm. Easy to find a table as so many were off the ship. A number of our group had gone to swim with the pigs, yes, you heard me right, but it wasn’t swimming with those who had overeaten on the cruise, rather some real pigs and piglets. Ok, to each their own, LOL. That evening was our final Happy Hour, and it was crowded with everyone kissing, and saying goodbye. Next morning would be an early departure. I finally had the chance to chat with Jill, our official photographer, and relation of Scott. She has photographed movie stars and politicians. If you ever need a great photographer, just call her. I then hooked up with Michael and Edward, and a few others, and headed to the Martini Bar for one last drink, for me it was a club soda. Then over to Cyprus, where Dax joined us, for a final cruise dinner. After dinner I headed to one of the shops to use the money Scott and Dustin has given us as online credit, and purchased a shirt with the Celebrity Beyond logo. Then it was off to the cabin to finish last-minute packing, and set an alarm for 5:30 a.m. when I would take my luggage and meet Dalton, one of the great crew in the Retreat, at Fine Cut restaurant. He would lead us to the gangplank as we walked off the ship early Monday morning, day 15. This cruise was officially over.
I will be posting one more blog with my musings about the Celebrity Beyond, and Celebrity Cruises, which I wrote while sitting at the airport waiting for my flight back to D.C. Then there will be a column with the interview I had with Slavik, the Ukrainian acrobat and aerialist.
I hope those of you who read these blogs, enjoyed them, and maybe they even got you interested in coming on a future cruise with the great LGBTQ friends, and their friends, I cruise with. I know my good friends, Scott, and Dustin, of My Lux Cruise, would be happy to talk to you about cruises, either joining us, or going anywhere your heart desires. They really are experts, and can get great rates wherever you may want to wander on the waterways of the world.
Opinions
The global cost of Trump’s foreign aid ideology
Expanded global gag rule polices people’s identity
U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Jan. 23 announced the new Promoting Human Flourishing in Foreign Assistance Policy. This policy, which has nothing to do with flourishing, is part of the Trump administration’s effort to weaponize U.S. foreign assistance to enforce ideological conformity, to police people’s identity, and to suppress dissent — both at home and abroad.
One of the policy’s three pillars advances a discriminatory framework that denies transgender people’s existence and seeks to censor organizations that affirm transgender people and their rights.
The new policy expands the Mexico City Policy, also known as the global gag rule, which has restricted U.S. foreign aid to non-U.S. civil society organizations providing abortion care under every Republican administration since 1984. What is new — and unprecedented — is the expansion of this rights-restricting logic to efforts addressing gender identity and, more broadly, nondiscrimination efforts.
The new policy also applies to more categories of aid recipients, including multilateral organizations such as UN agencies.
With the expanded global gag rule, the Trump administration seeks to make transgender people invisible globally, as it has within the U.S. Whether it is threatening steep tariffs for countries that resist Trump’s appetite for Greenland, or withholding funds for organizations that refuse to toe the ideological line, the chilling message is clear: standing in the way of the administration’s political or ideological goals will come at a high cost.
Under this rule, organizations risk losing U.S. funding if their activities are seen to fall under the spurious concept of “gender ideology.” Organizations are not allowed to provide, refer for, or support access to gender-affirming care. Neither can they offer accurate information, counseling, or public-facing support for transgender people. The restrictions even apply to cultural activities such as “drag queen workshops, performances, or documentaries.”
Organizations that receive any foreign aid from the U.S. will need to censor themselves, even if their own national or regional laws enable — or oblige — them to speak up for human rights.
This new policy comes after the Trump administration dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has for decades provided the bulk of U.S. international development and humanitarian assistance.
To be clear, LGBT people, regardless of where they are, do not depend on the United States to organize, advocate, and stand up for their rights. And foreign aid is not the answer to undoing global inequity. But the sharp reversal of U.S. foreign policy will have wide-ranging consequences.
For years, protecting the rights of LGBT people had been a core tenet of the U.S. commitment to human rights. U.S. embassies often functioned as safe havens for human rights defenders in places where governments stoked homo- and transphobia for political gain. For LGBT people in the 65 countries that still criminalize same-sex intimacy, civil society-run clinics, supported with U.S. funds, became life-saving spaces — people could get HIV and other care there without fear of being turned away, ridiculed, or reported to the police.
Much of this is progress is now at risk. As a result of the U.S. funding cuts, organizations that directly provided health care and other services for LGBT people were forced to stop services abruptly, cutting off people’s access to chronic medication often without alternative care in place.
The impact extends beyond individual harm. Public health programs by definition are more likely to fail when stigma and fear are institutionalized. Transgender people are among the groups most at risk for ill health precisely because of discrimination and violence.
By prohibiting organizations, from local civil society groups to multilateral organizations like UNAIDS, from affirming transgender identities or addressing these underlying conditions, the expanded global gag rule actively undermines the foundations of effective public health programs.
Under the new and expanded gag rule, organizations face a terrible choice for accepting any U.S. funding. They can either self-censor and stop all work related to transgender people’s rights and needs. Or they forego U.S. funds and risk jeopardizing their organizational survival in an increasingly tough economic and funding climate.
This matters because civil society is one of the few effective counterweights to the global rise of populist and authoritarian governance. Alongside a coordinated global backlash against women’s and LGBT people’s rights are efforts to concentrate power, erode accountability, and close civic space.
Civil society organizations are crucial in exposing and resisting the authoritarian creep and in supporting marginalized groups. Gagging organizations into silence, or hollowing them out through funding cuts, accelerates civic space closure, and strengthens authoritarian governance.
Where the U.S. retreats and bullies, other countries and communities need to step up to offset the funding shortfalls and reduce organizations’ dependency on ideologically restricted U.S. foreign aid.
They need to support marginalized groups, increase funding for civil society groups, and commit funds to bolster multilateral mechanisms such as the Global Fund, which supports funding to combat HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria. They should clearly and consistently affirm everyone’s human rights, without exception.
Alex Muller is the director of Human Rights Watch’s LGBT Rights Program.
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Renee Good. Alex Pretti.
During this last year, I wondered who would be the first U.S. citizen to be shot by our government. It was not a matter of if, but when. Always.
And now we know.
I thought it would be soldiers. But the masked men got there first. Because when you mix guns and protests, guns inevitably go off. The powers that be always knew it, hoped for it, and wanted it to happen.
Why? Because masked men and guns instill fear. And that’s the point. Ask yourself when’s the last time you saw masked men and guns in our cities, or anywhere for that matter. I always thought that men masked men with guns robbed banks. I was wrong.
Masked men want to rob us of our dignity as human beings. Of our assurance in the calmness and contentment of our communities. They want to rob us of our trust in our institutions, and our faith in each other. And truly they want to rob us of the happiness and joy that we all constantly yearn to find in our lives.
But our only collective ability as a nation to push back is our protests. Peaceful protests. As Renee and Alex did.
But peaceful protests? Because they are the perfect power to shame the cowardice of those that believe guns and force are the only true authority. Fortunately, our last hope and fiercest ally is our Constitution, which gives us the power — and the right — to protest.
How much more peaceful can you get when you hear Renee Good’s last words, “I’m not mad at you, Dude.” I may be mad at the system, the government, the powers of unknown people pulling the strings but not you personally. “Dude.” Peaceful to the last word.
Yet, what becomes lost in the frantic pace of hair-trigger news cycles, of officials declaring impetuous damnations alongside johnny-on-the spot podcasters spouting their split-second opinions are the two human beings who have lost their lives.
How habituated we’ve become as we instantly devour their instant obituaries. The sum of their lives declared in less than 10 seconds of cellphone video. They haven’t just lost their lives. They’ve lost all of their lives. And now we watch over and over again as their death is re-revealed, re-churned, re-evaluated, and re-consumed. In that endless repetition, we forget the meaning of life itself.
We must remember that Renee and Alex believed in their communities, in the purpose of their work, in the happiness of their loves and lives, and in the dignity and curiosity of life itself. They were singular individuals who did not deserve to die at the end of a gun barrel for any reason, ever.
How fitting that Renee was a poet. Sometimes in confronting the massiveness of loss in our lives, we look to our poetry and our psalms, our hymns and our lullabies, to find a moment of solace in our communal grief, and to remember Renee and Alex, for what they gave us in life.
Yet, at this moment, I cannot escape the reality of what was taken from them so soon, so violently and so forever. They were exceptionally courageous and normal people, and for that reason, I must remember them through a poem to explain to me, and others, the unexplainable.
I dream of this not happening.
I dream this day and night.
For none of this is real.
And none of this is right.
I dream of these sons and daughters
who now will not go home,
and dream of their mothers and fathers,
who now must stand alone.
I dream of all the flowers that they will never hold —
the kisses never shared again, the secrets to not be told.
I dream of all the sunsets that for them will never set,
I dream of all the love they gave and now they must forget.
I dream of all their dinners
with wine to never spill,
or books to read, or bread to break
or babies to be held.
I dream of each one still reaching
in the middle of the night,
for a hand that needs another
to stop a nightmare’s flight.
I dream of them not dreaming,
which I could never do,
for how can you not dream a dream
that never will come true.
I dream of this not happening.
I dream this day and night.
For none of this is real
And none of this is right.
Carew Papritz is the award-winning author of “The Legacy Letters,” who inspires kids to read through his “I Love to Read” and the “First-Ever Book Signing” YouTube series.
Opinions
Gay Treasury Secretary’s silence on LGBTQ issues shows he is scum
Scott Bessent is a betrayal to the community
We all know the felon in the White House is basically a POS. He is an evil, deranged, excuse for a man, out only for himself. But what is just as sad for me is the members of the LGBTQ community serving in his administration who are willing to stand by silently, while he screws the community in so many ways. The leader, with his silence on these issues, is the highest ranking “out” gay ever appointed to the Cabinet; the current secretary of the treasury, the scum who goes by the name, Scott Bessent.
Bessent has an interesting background based on his Wikipedia page. He is from South Carolina and is what I would call obscenely wealthy. According to his financial assets disclosure to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Bessent’s net worth was at least $521 million as of Dec. 28, 2024; his actual net worth is speculated to be around $600 million. He married John Freeman, a former New York City prosecutor, in 2011. They have two children, born through surrogacy. I often wonder why guys like Bessent conveniently forget how much they owe to the activists in the LGBTQ community who fought for the right for them to marry and have those children. Two additional interesting points in the Wikipedia post are Bessent reportedly has a close friendship with Donald Trump’s brother Robert, whose ex-wife, Blaine Trump, is the godmother of his daughter. The other is disgraced member of the U.S. House of Representatives, John Jenrette, is his uncle.
Bessent has stood silent during all the administrations attacks on the LGBTQ community. What does he fear? This administration has kicked members of the trans community out of the military. Those who bravely risked their lives for our country. The administration’s policies attacking them has literally put their lives in danger. This administration supports removing books about the LGBTQ community from libraries, and at one point even removed information from the Pentagon website on the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb, thinking it might refer to a gay person. It was actually named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Col. Paul Tibbets. That is how dumb they are. Bessent stood silent during WorldPride while countries around the world told their LGBTQ citizens to avoid coming to the United States, as it wouldn’t be safe for them, because of the felon’s policies.
Now the administration has desecrated the one national monument saluting the LGBTQ community, Stonewall, in New York City, by ordering the removal of the rainbow flag. The monument honors the people who get credit for beginning the fight for equality that now allows Bessent, and his husband and children, to live their lives to the fullest. That was before this administration he serves came into office. I hope his children will grow up understanding how disgusting their father’s lack of action was. That they learn the history of the LGBTQ community and understand the guts it took for a college student Zach Wahls, now running for the U.S. Senate from Iowa, to speak out for his “two moms” in the Iowa State Legislature in 2011, defending their right to marry.
Bessent is sadly representative of the slew of gays in the administration, all remaining silent on the attacks on the community. They are mostly members of the Log Cabin Republicans who have given up on their principles, if they ever had any, to be subservient to the felon, and the fascists around him, all for a job.
There are so many like them who supported the felon in the last election. Some who believed in Project 2025, others who didn’t bother to read it. Many continue to stand with him, with the sycophants in the Congress, and the incompetents and fascists in the administration, as they work to destroy our country and end the democracy that has served us so well for 250 years. To keep out all immigrants from a nation of immigrants. They all seem to forget it was immigrants who built our country, who fought against a king, and won. These sycophants now support the man who wants to be king. Who openly says, “I am president I can do anything only based on my own morality,” which history clearly shows us he has none.
I believe we will survive these horrendous times in American history. We have fought a king before and won. We have kept our country alive and thriving through a civil war. We the people will defeat the felon and his minions, along with the likes of those who stood by silently like Scott Bessent. They seem to forget “Silence = Death.”
Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist.
The global cost of Trump’s foreign aid ideology
Two very different views of the State of the Union
Va. activists preparing campaign in support of repealing marriage amendment
PHOTOS: Queen of Hearts
New book profiles LGBTQ Ukrainians, documents war experiences
How do we honor Renee Good, Alex Pretti?
D.C. police arrest man for burglary at gay bar Spark Social House
PHOTOS: Cupid’s Undie Run
Going for gold: Ford Bronco Sport vs. Toyota RAV4
