Bars and restaurants running short-staffed   By Johnny Trlica Commentary: No industry was hit harder by the pandemic than the hospitality industry. Bars and restaurants were forcibly closed. Then allowed to open. Then forced to close again.  Business owners were left without any source of income for months at a time. Millions of service industry employees were laid

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: All too often people stay in their own little bubble, rarely venturing out to see what’s happening beyond their own comfort zone. Fox News viewers never change the channel to get a different opinion, Whataburger lovers won’t be caught dead at an In-N-Out and gay men will not frequent a bar

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: They knew it would happen sooner or later. They were betting on later. They lost and Texans paid with their lives. Back when George W. Bush was governor and drag queens did more than twirl their wigs and jump off stages landing in a split, the Texas power grid was deregulated

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: My mother taught me many life lessons. Haste makes waste. Be careful what you wish for. Wear clean underwear.  If you screw it up, fix it.  That last one may be the hardest. It involves being honest with yourself and held accountable. When I was around nine or ten, my mother

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: “When we remember a time, we remember moments, a kaleidoscope of the sights, the sounds, the emotions that remind us of the way we were,” said the introduction to a 1986 ABC series called “Our World.” Looking through the kaleidoscope of 2020 does not present a pretty picture. Instead of brightly

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: Before this year, 2020 was synonymous with cheap liquor and bad hangovers. Pandemics were only read about in medical journals and fascism was what we watched on the History Channel. While over 70 million Americans looked at the last four years and said, “Yes, give me four more years of that,”

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: It’s the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. And when the contest is over, we meet at midfield, shake hands and go to happy hour together. In sports, yes, but not in politics. Politics is a blood sport and to the victor go the spoils. Long before a winner was

By Johnny Trlica “Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” —Haile Selassie Commentary: America has been confronted with evil at

Notwithstanding reduced crowds, COVID-19, and boycotts, Texans and Cowboys are playoff bound By Johnny Trlica Commentary: Some may ask, “What’s a gay publication know about professional football? They should stick to stories about over the top drag queens, gay bars and their new menus, and Cher/Madonna/Lady Gaga news.” Critics saying those kinds of remarks have

By Johnny Trlica Commentary: Calling all bartenders! Will the one who slept with Governor Greg Abbott’s wife please just apologize. I need a drink made by someone who knows what he’s doing. Thanks for allowing me to be like Joel Osteen and start with something funny. And that is the most like Osteen I ever