Welcome to the first Friday of September. September, the most blesséd month, when superior babies are born.

It’s been a week. Again.

It’s time for the Friday Five in which I bring you: two bonus categories, the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers are our allies, five stories about election stuff, plus an obituary.

This Week in Justice:

Ex-NYPD officer who assaulted D.C. officer on Jan. 6 gets record 10-year sentence – Thomas Webster, a retired New York City officer, was convicted of several felonies for attacking a Washington officer with a flagpole and tackling him to the ground on Jan. 6

Proud Boy sentenced to 4.5 years in prison in Jan. 6 case, still says election was stolen – The judge who sentenced Joshua Pruitt, a former Washington, D.C., bartender, called the Jan. 6 riot "a national disgrace."

This Week in The Former Guy:

Ex-Trump Aides Say He Probably Has More Sensitive Documents At Other Properties – Michael Cohen and John Bolton said they suspect Trump could have more classified documents stored in Bedminster, New Jersey, and elsewhere

The DOJ’s new filing punctures Trump’s greatest delusion – Trump thinks that ex-president’s are somehow a protected class under the law. The Justice Department disagrees

Stories of the Week:

Biden delivers prime-time speech on the "battle for the soul of the nation" in Philadelphia

Are lightning bugs disappearing from night skies? Dimming prospects face some fireflies

It Is Long Past Time To Give Up On Most Of The Right – The Fever Will Never Break

Attacks on the LGBTQ+ Community Amount to Stochastic Terrorism

Remember Al Gore? – 2000 vs. 2020 (and 2022)

Stories of Interest to Queers and Our Allies:

California may act as U.S. refuge for transgender youths – Legislation would provide legal refuge to parents from other states who risk having their trans children taken away or being prosecuted if they support their children’s access to gender-affirming care

Biden Administration Outlines Measures to End HIV by 2030 – The plan calls for an increase in testing, education, and access to PrEP at a time when those are endangered

‘A League of Their Own’ remake shows what it’s like to be Black and trans in the 1940s – Lea Robinson, a Black nonbinary and transgender actor, plays the role of a Black trans man known as Bertie Hart in the new Amazon series

Virginia Won’t Ban Books for Obscenity—for Now – “We have to keep working our way up the ladder,” said the Republican stage legislator who brought the case

New Super PAC To Target Anti-LGBTQ Candidates – Agenda PAC says their aim is to defeat candidates who oppose same-sex marriage and other rights for LGBTQ Americans

Elections and Related:

Ron DeSantis’ First Voter Fraud Bust Is Quickly Imploding – The governor’s own administration greenlighted the defendants’ voter registration applications. Now it has arrested them for voting

Michigan groups ask state court to put abortion rights measure on the Nov. ballot – The amendment — now in limbo — would insert permanent protections into the state’s constitution for abortion and other reproductive health services

‘Really?!’ Bewildered Sarah Palin implodes after losing congressional race to a Democrat

Florida GOP leader to quit after conviction in ‘ghost’ candidate scandal: report

"Corrupt as hell": Ginni Thomas effort to overturn Trump’s loss even more extensive than reported – It wasn’t just Arizona — messages show Thomas leaning on Wisconsin lawmakers to block Biden’s win

In Memoriam:

Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet leader who helped end the Cold War, has died – Born in the village of Privolnoye, Gorbachev grew up a committed communist during World War II. He wound up winning a Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for helping end the Cold War