[PHOTO] Looking north towards Rosedale from the Toronto Reference Library

The Toronto Reference Library is a wonderfully designed building, its architecture full of sensuous curves, but almost as good as the building are the views it offers of the neighbourhoods adjoining it. Looking north, the trees and towers of Rosedale stretch out far beyond Church Street.

[META] On the latest blogroll expansion

I've added two blogs this morning, one old and one new.

• Aziz Poonawalla's City of Brass, a blog dealing with Islam and minority issues, is newly added. His most recent post there, drawing from the Chicago Dyke March Jewish flag event to that intersectionality is too limited a concept, makes an interesting argument.


• LGBTQ-themed blog Unicorn Booty is a group blog that covers many queer issues. I would recommend one recent post reporting on the erasure of the nature of the Pulse massacre in Orlando by Trump (and others).

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• Citizen Science Salon links to some ongoing crowdsourced experiments that non-scientists can take part in.


• The LRB Blog reports on the return of Newt Gingrich to the American political scene.


• The NYR Daily compares Donald Trump to a 19th century counterpart, Andrew Jackson.


• Roads and Kingdoms reports on the now rather different cocaine problem of Medellín, Colombia.


• Starts with a Bang's Ethan Siegel reports on a paper suggesting potential problems with gravitational observatory LIGO.


• Towleroad notes a recent sharp drop in new HIV diagnoses in the United Kingdom, thanks to treatment and PrEP.


• Window on Eurasia reports on projected long-run economic decline in Russia, argues about the potential for instability in Tatarstan, and reports on Belarusianization.


• Arnold Zwicky describes Silver Age Rainbow Batman and his later pride appearances.

[NEWS] Seven queer links, from parades as resistance to apps to out schoolchildren

• NOW Toronto shares photos of the Pride Toronto parade.


• blogTO notes that, in a recent ranking, Toronto is one of the best cities in which to not be straight in the world.


• Bloomberg notes the importance of gay pride parades, as self-assertion and resistance, in the age of Trump.


• Kevin Ritchie's cover article for NOW Toronto looks at the successes and innovations of drag in the era of RuPaul's Drag Race.


• VICE looks at the extent to which gay life has been transformed by the culture of the app.


• If all it took for Germany to move towards same-sex marriage was to introduce Merkel to a nice couple ... well done. The Los Angeles Times reports.


• Laurel Gregory of Global News looks at research into children who have been out throughout their school years. I can scarcely imagine.