By Johnny Trlica Commentary: “In fiction and less frequently in non-fiction, satire is a genre of literature and performing arts, in which vices, follies, abuses and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its

| Looking back at the highs and lows By Johnny Trlica Commentary: As another year comes to a close, let’s take a look back at 2019 and some of the most talk about stories on the Houston Rainbow Herald’s Facebook page. January The new make-up of Congress promises to hold President Donald Trump accountable and

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: It’s like screaming, “Red light! Red light! Red light!” and the driver floors the accelerator. With a riveting three days of testimony before the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, that in a normal era would have ended Donald Trump’s presidency, essentially nothing has changed. “We have a criminal living in the White

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: Two of the biggest stories of the past couple of weeks involve a city election and the unexpected death of a trans activist. In a perfect world, we are all equal, no child goes to bed hungry, and our elected leaders are impeccable. All too often, voters complain about having to

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: Current events are pretty scary and frightening and deserve attention, but once in a while we like to step away from politics to share a funny story or a memory. This is one of those times. The best way to celebrate Halloween is to get scared out of your skin. One can

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: Halloween is the great gay holiday. Long before June officially became Gay Pride Month and October became Coming Out Month for the LGBTQ community, Halloween was unofficially our yearly celebrated “holiday,” dating as far back as the 1970s, when it was a massive annual street party in San Francisco’s Castro district.

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: There are five definitive warning signs of a cult. 1. The leader is always right. 2. Criticism of the leader is characterized as “persecution.” 3. No matter how harmful, the leader’s behavior is justified. (Pay close attention to this one.) 4. Adherents are obsessed with the leader. 5. The leader has

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: Review! Reviews! Reviews! Businesses are all about the reviews they receive nowadays. Unfortunately, most people only take the time to write a review when they have had a negative experience. And write, they do! Why is it that negative reviews are always 10 times longer than a positive one? The next

|Predictions for this football season By Johnny Trlica Football season has arrived and yes, there are lots of gays who know, love, and understand the gridiron game. We can talk about tight ends and wide receivers and it’s not a Grindr conversation. Besides patting each other on the butt, football can be a bonding experience.

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: The LGBTQ community knows all too well what it’s like to be in the crosshairs of a deranged person filled with hate. When the killer (we will not publish the his name) drove more than 650 miles from Allen, Texas to El Paso for the sole purpose to “kill as many