The end of June serves as a strange reminder of how much time has no meaning in 2025. Whereas I started the month with fear that Pride Month would experience a handful of dark controversies, I wasn’t aware that they wouldn’t be the ones I was used to. Given that we’re coming off of years where rainbow capitalism lead to bomb threats, allies being murdered at their place of business, and violent protests for school boards acknowledging June as Pride Month, I’m confused with how much the queer conversation just didn’t matter this year. The closest we came to a noteworthy story was the Hetero-Awesomeness Parade, which, in Idaho, dragged out less than 50 attendees over several days. It’s maybe the one time that I found the “could’ve been an e-mail” joke funny, if just because nobody learned anything from the super straights of yore and at least knew to hire a better organizer.
But no, if there’s been one thing on America’s mind, it’s anything but. Outside of the familiar legislation constantly pushing the grounds of indecency, there is something to be said about how the president chose to spend two weeks doing the opposite of sew confidence. Following Elon Musk’s firing, he accused him of indecent behavior with minors online only to days later stage ICE Raids in Southern California before calling for Gavin Newsom to be arrested to hosting an underwhelming military parade (that also ignored other branches and wars) while most of America participated in a No Kings Protest before deciding to tell Iran to get their act together before bombing them impulsively (without proper legal consent) and calling a ceasefire without caring to negotiate one and thus getting mad when his “Mission Accomplished” banner wasn’t respected. There’s undoubtedly more, but the fever dream of knowing that the most controversial parts of June started with the president receiving a personal plane shows just how much being alive is like throwing Pop Rocks in Coke. How we’ve gotten this far without any ramifications is beyond me. So yeah, it’s hard to really feel enthusiastic about this summer.
On another note, June 26, 2025, also marked the 10th anniversary of gay marriage. My hope was that by now that culture would’ve shifted for the better. We’d get past the bakers refusing to make same-sex couples a cake and discover a more tolerant world. If you want to look at the bigger picture, I’d argue A LOT of good has happened since 2015 for gay rights. Representation has improved, and there is a greater sense of community than I saw growing up in the late 2000s. However, I think it was ultimately one of those tools that became weaponized when it was clear that the party in power was losing their dominance – albeit over things that shouldn’t have ever concerned them. Who cares if other people are happy? Isn’t that the aspirational goal of this country? I understand it’s a conflict not unique to LGBTQIA+ individuals, but it does feel like they’ve become easier targets the more that culture has supported outspokenness. While nothing has come of it (yet), the call by a Supreme Court Justice to reconsider gay marriage in the wake of a notorious Roe vs. Wade overturning makes it hard to not feel like everything will crumble in time. After they get done robbing the trans community of their humanity, they will come for the rest. It hurts, but it only makes me more relieved to know people are capable of fighting and making small differences.
Because otherwise, gay marriage was an exciting turn in history. My first election in 2008 saw me voting on Prop 8, which would’ve made gay marriage illegal (in CALIFORNIA? Yours truly. In fact, our current governor was the poster boy as the mayor of San Francisco who encouraged gay couples to get married there). Only by living through the bad times do you not take good times for granted. May 26, 2015, was a thrilling day that reminded you that change was possible. There was room for tolerance to grow and larger opinions to improve. All it takes is noticing one’s humanity. As the now decade-old joke goes, the best part of gay marriage is that it means they can be as miserable as the rest of us.
It’s the type of anniversary that made me wish there was more hoopla. There were Pride Parades as usual. I missed Andrew Rannells at the Los Angeles event, which bummed me out. However, I think living near Orange County has made me hyper-aware of the small ways it differs from L.A. County.
For two years now, I’ve attended touring musicals and realized a small (possibly coincidental) difference. The Ahmanson (L.A.) and Segerstrom (O.C.) tend to overlap a lot of their programming. However, Ahmanson’s programming has featured A Strange Loop and Parade: two overtly political shows that comment on sexual politics and anti-Semitism, respectively. While I acknowledge that there’s a lot of great art to choose from and Segerstrom’s recent run of Life of Pi is astonishing, it does feel like O.C. has skewed safer and hasn’t touched on musicals with overtly challenging themes. I think the edgiest show I saw there lately was Hairspray, which even then is about covertness. Given its lack of overall commercial popularity, I get why A Strange Loop hasn’t been more of a marquee pick, but Parade shook me to my core. My one caveat is that I was attending Segerstrom shows in 2022 when the line-up had riskier subject matter, and I feel like the underattendance during that season (three of the shows I attended could have their collective turnouts fill one auditorium) scared them into doing family-friendly stuff. Which is fine. I’m sure somebody likes Back to the Future: The Musical. They deserve to be happy too.
But yeah, it’s the small ways that make me realize that Southern California has been a place of contrasting ideologies. On the one hand, I can go to a WNBA game at Crypto Arena and find the most welcoming crowd imaginable, full of rainbows and “Abolish ICE” messaging that gets the room roaring. I shouldn’t say that O.C. feels like a hostile place, but there’s a reason that ICE targeted Los Angeles first. It feels more welcoming and open to different perspectives. As messed up as it is to say, there is something to driving around Long Beach and seeing a Pride Flag out in the open. I hear so much about other cities tearing them down that I am torn between happiness and concern that something will happen. Unfortunately, this is a feeling that I’ve been moving towards in recent years, even as I try to be proud of the community that has some of the nicest people in the world.
To start shifting into less tumultuous subject matter… The Tonys! As someone who has been a fan of David Yazbek’s The Band’s Visit and Tootsie (which is my favorite comedy musical recording since Book of Mormon), I was especially shocked to learn that Dead Outlaw takes place in my neck of the woods. I was caught off guard when their performance featured a few shout-outs to Long Beach, specifically The Pike area which has been having a moment (see also: Lana Del Rey). I haven’t listened to the cast recording, but the show sounds up my alley, even if the more I learn would suggest it seems better suited for a Ride the Cyclone-style Off Broadway existence. Anyway, please-please-please have this play at The Terrace. It would be such a fitting way to go.
Then there was the big winner. I hadn’t thought a lot about Maybe Happy Ending in part because the podcast I was getting impressions from (Bottomless Broadway) was indifferent to it. The subject matter also struck me as being a bit too conventional, and the fireflies routine at The Tonys didn’t help matters. I’ll give myself a pass for not predicting it to win. In fairness, I didn’t listen to Operation Mincemeat either.
With that said, I spent the hours since giving the cast recording a listen. Maybe it’s because I still don’t care for The Outsiders, but I was so caught off guard with how the best show won. Had I given it a chance, my heart would’ve been all-in. Even watching the marketing videos presented some of the most inventive uses of theater I could find. For as much as I would’ve loved to see Boop! in the mix, Maybe Happy Ending has the creativity and pathos that I crave in live theater. Darren Criss delivers some of the best harmonies that I’ve heard in years. Even without the context of the staging, this show has been my go-to comfort record in the past few weeks, and I love how easily it sways my emotions. More than anything, it understands that area between happiness and melancholy so well that I don’t think I’ve heard a show this in touch with that feeling. I’d say the next best is Dear Evan Hansen – but I don’t want to be laughed at.
Only time will tell how I feel about Maybe Happy Ending eventually tours. With that said, I am also curious to check out Floyd Collins. I haven’t heard the Jeremy Jordan version, but the staging was spectacular, and I loved how it used lighting. The original production, meanwhile, is worth a listen if you want more experimental works. I loved how it used the echoes of the cave to create a layered harmony. Later songs make me curious to know how the show presents things, because I’ll just say it becomes something less direct. With Jordan’s version coming out soon, I am optimistic that I’ll like the updates. Given that he’s coming off the underrated Great Gatsby, he's having a moment that is worth celebrating.
Another thing that I’ve found especially exciting about June is discovering the work of Tim Robinson. As I mentioned previously, I saw Friendship (2025) and thought that he gave one of the best performances of the year. The way he plays with discomfort is refreshing and captures something that I feel is distinctly relatable. This inspired me to start watching I Think You Should Leave. While I have been moving away from sketch comedy, the chance to discover his unfiltered potential made me happy. Maybe it’s because I’m also watching fellow weirdo TV How To with John Wilson, but I’m loving his deranged sensibilities and how nothing feels all that predictable. Sometimes it’s beyond indecent, but it’s nice to laugh at egotism instead of fear it. I personally love the joke about a guy putting a picture of his father through JibJab just to imagine he's still alive. Something about that idea is beautifully sad and one of many examples of Robinson knowing where the tolerability line of offensiveness is. I’m considering going even further back into Detroiters when I have my schedule open up after The Bear and Squid Game because he really is a one-of-a-kind comedian.
To be honest, a lot of June has been about doing personal things that have made me happy. It’s been a creatively rich period that’s found me returning to my keyboard and trying to get as many ideas out of my head as possible. My hope is that this summer turns out okay because it’ll find me approaching the back half of my 30s and with that a need to recognize the things I want to achieve by the time I’m 40. This decade has remained a surreal experience that I haven’t fully felt accomplished, but still had some noteworthy breakthroughs. I think I’m at the age where I’m also now recognizing I’m not totally “with it” sometimes. For as much as I can listen to Ethel Cain’s “Nettles” and find reason to anticipate the future, I still need to figure out what I want. It’s odd because I promise it’s changed a little over the years.
For now, I remain shocked that I got this relatively on target of my usual goal. Whereas most months find me going much longer, I am fine with what I’ve said. June has been a good month that’s found reason to go for walks outside and take in the fresh air. While the world feels more chaotic and at risk than ever before, there’s still time for me to create value for my own life. To know that this community is working together to solve problems gives me hope that everything’s not lost. There is still room to grow and learn from these mistakes… even in their costliness. I don’t know. I’m not an economist. At most, I’m someone who romanticizes the diverse ecosystem that is Southern California and wants it to stay that way. We have our problems, but there are better ways to solve them than scaring the entire public with nameless goons.
I guess this is my effort to stay optimistic during a rough time. For as much as it’s been 10 years of great things like gay marriage, it’s also been a decade since a certain someone walked down the escalator and slowly turned this country into his reality show. It’s been exhausting, but the good news is that we’re still here. A lot of great people still give me reason to keep living. It can’t last forever. I hope the change will be worthwhile. That’s all I can really say at this time. It’s our job to make the world we want, and I can only hope people listen to each other long enough to come up with a better plan.
As mentioned, next month is my birthday. I won’t touch on it anymore here, but I am looking forward to whatever will come next. It’s the start of a new chapter that will also hopefully present positive developments. For now, I am thankful for all I’ve done at 35. Even if it’s not a runaway success story, putting yourself out there and being yourself is just as important. I hope that everyone is hanging in there and not letting the bad news ruin their day too much. I hope someone out there cares about you and will protect you when things get worse. This is going to be a long summer, though hopefully one that’s not too cruel. We’ll have to see. For now, stay safe and take care of yourselves. If it makes you feel any better, there’s a new Lorde album that just came out. Check it out and ride into the weekend with a shimmy and a shake.
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