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We have reached the fifth and final Friday in July!

I feel as if I’ve just been playing catch-up at work all week. Our region has mostly avoided the heat this week, for which I am grateful.

Anyway, it’s time for this week’s Friday Five in which I bring you: a headline I felt needed its own topic, the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, five stories about people who aren’t thinking, and five stories about haters and deplorables (plus two posts I wrote plus some notable obituaries).

This Week in Deserves Its Own Category!:

CDC wants vaccinated Americans to wear masks indoors in Covid hot spots – The announcement marks a sharp change in policy for the nation’s leading health agency

Stories of the Week:

Mysterious ‘Jetpack Man’ may have been spotted again in the skies near LAX – Air traffic controllers warned pilots that a person in a jetpack was spotted flying near LAX

This Man Does Not Make Poppers – For decades, poppers have been the go-to sex drug for gay men. But where do they come from? This is a very odd tale…

Some people in Missouri are getting vaccinated in secret to avoid backlash from loved ones, doctor says

These kids had questions about trans athletes. So they asked one. – Sometimes, the power of a simple conversation is all it takes to understand something you didn’t before

Lil Nas X’s New Video Is More Than a Homoerotic Prison Romp

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

Stephanie Dolson is first out American athlete to win Olympic gold medal – With over 160 out athletes participating in the Tokyo Olympics, Dolson isn’t the first member of "Team LGBTQ" to win a gold medal, but she’s still a trailblazer

Illinois Decriminalizes HIV Exposure, Adds Gender-Neutral Birth Certificate Option And More As Pritzker Signs LGBTQ-Affirming Laws

Gay athletes more comfortable living their lives openly — and that’s a good thing – It’s not as though gay athletes suddenly appeared out of the blue. They’ve always been here, just hidden, fearful, living closeted lives while playing the games they love

Atlanta mayor hosts job fair for LGBTQ applicants

A Chicago suburb is finally repealing a law that bans people from wearing opposite sex clothing – The ordinance governed "obscene and immoral acts." And relics of old anti-LGBTQ laws like it are still on the books nationwide

This Week in What Were They Thinking:

Woman Charged After Viral Close Call With Grizzly – The woman videoed approaching within 15 feet of a Grizzly sow and her two cubs in Yellowstone National Park in May of this year has been charged with two citations. Investigators used tips and an investigation of social media posts to identify the Illinois tourist

Elizabeth Warren Schools Billionaire Over Social Security – Billionaire thinks he’s gonna get one over on Sen. Elizabeth Warren with "easy" question

Washington State Patrol’s toxicology lab ran tests in office contaminated by meth, possibly jeopardizing thousands of cases

Florida Man Hospitalized After Jumping Into Jaguar Exhibit at Zoo

Punk’d: Fox Airs Deep-Faked Story Stoking White Resentment – Fox should air a retraction since the "letter" they whine about turns out to be from a right-wing astroturf organization.

This Week in Deplorable People:

Trump Family Loses Big Appeals Court Fight to Force Fraud and Deceptive Practices Lawsuit into Secret Arbitration

Defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick Is Charged With Sexually Assaulting A Teen

Former Virginia policeman charged in Capitol riot to stay in jail after buying guns – A federal judge called his purchases "a remarkable shopping spree for high-powered assault weapons."

11th Circuit strikes down Florida megachurch challenge to hate group label – An evangelical Christian ministry listed as an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center was not discriminated against when its application to fundraise through Amazon’s charitable website was denied, the court ruled

Gaetz Hastily Escorted Out of Press Conference as Reporter Repeatedly Asks: ‘Are You a Pedophile?’

In Memoriam:

ZZ Top Bassist Dusty Hill Dead At Age 72

Ron Popeil, ‘Set it and forget it’ infomercial star, dead at 86

Things I Wrote:

Miss Piggy was aggressively straight, yet it took decades to acknowledge the existence of Muppets who aren’t straight

Mid-week Update: Scared little boys playing soldier