Random News: June 1, 2022

DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.

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Good morning. It’s June 1, 2022, and it’s a Wednesday. Random whatnot forthcoming…

• Today marks the start of Pride Month, designated to bring self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. If you want to learn more about the foundations of Pride, look up a lady named Brenda Howard.
• Up until a relatively recent time, homosexuality was considered either a mental illness or a criminal offense — or both — in most parts of the world, and remains so in some places.
• Sometimes when I’d bring up my support of the LGBTQIA+ community, people would wonder if I’m gay, or at least not straight. I used to tell them whether I was or wasn’t. Now I just let them wonder, because my support of a cause is independent of my direct connection to it.
• I was fortunate to grow up in an area with a comparatively large LGBT population, and my parents worked in the apparel/fashion industry, so interaction with gay and lesbian people was part of my upbringing. 
• That being said, I also went through that macho period of life in my teens and early 20s that many (most?) young men of my generation did, and I almost certainly tossed around anti-gay hate speech without thinking about it.
• It took time and maturity to understand that even said jokingly, the word “f*gg*t” was every bit as disgusting as the word “n*gg*r”, and being the kind of person who was purposefully harmful to others was the opposite of what I ever wanted to be.
• It’s easy from our perspective today to say that Pride has become commercialized. But still today, when you hear something like, “I’m not prejudiced against gays, but I’m just sick of it being shoved in my face,” that’s code speak for, “I wish I didn’t have to be aware of gay people at all,” which is a tiny step from, “I'd prefer that gay people didn’t exist.”
• But — speaking of Pride — I am proud to have made so many great friends over the course of my life who do identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ world, and my life is better for having known them.
• In other news, a 25-year-old woman from Ohio died after approaching and getting within ten feet a bison in Yellowstone National Park and getting gored. A bison is the largest terrestrial animal in North America. They’re about seven feet tall and weigh 2,500 pounds. They have huge heads and sharp horns. They can run up to 30mph, and it is said that they fear no other animal and are behaviorally unpredictable. Try to avoid them, or at least watch from a distance.
• Another scientific research article has come out to state that drinking coffee is linked to a lower risk of death. I’m going to live forever, if it’s true.
• Today in history… 1533: Anne Boleyn is crowned Queen of England. 1792: Kentucky is admitted as the 15th state of the USA. 1980: CNN begins broadcasting. 
• June 1 is the birthday of religious leader Brigham Young (1801), actor Andy Griffith (1926), singer/actor Pat Boone (1934), actor Morgan Freeman (1937), singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette (1974), and actor Tom Holland (1996).

Well, that’s all for now. I’ve got a lot going on, and I’m looking forward to having less going on. I would really appreciate some boredom right now, but truth be told, I’m never, ever bored. I’d just like the option to be bored if I so chose. Enjoy your day. Happy Pride!