ABOVE: Big, bad Brad.

BELOW: Keep reading for Minnesota's new conversion therapy restrictions, L.A. County slipping back into the grip of COVID-19, anti-gay slasher nailed in Queens and more ...

ABOVE: Hard to believe.

BELOW: Keep reading for Britney, Tom Holland, Zendaya and more ...

ABOVE: It's art.

Not the poster for the new Andrew Ahn movie, but keep reading for news on that ...

BELOW: Big news cycle. Gulp. Here goes:

ABOVE: Happy 51 to Steve Burton — and more like this here, if you follow.

BELOW: Keep reading for the NFL's pro-gay ad, Pride walk defaced, Al Gores Trump and more ...

Crowds showed up for even a truncated march! (All images by Matthew Rettenmund)

Pride was physically tumultuous for me in 2019, since I'd spent like six months with no exercise while nursing my sick pooch back to health; I'll never forget the feat of endurance it was to see Madonna perform then.

Pride in 2020 was virtually nonexistent.

Everyone was in good cheer.

This year, because NYC had not fully reopened when plans were laid, Pride was a mish-mash of classic and cautious, crowded and sparse, big and small — and I must say I was shocked just how often it landed on classic, crowded and BIG.

It was also punishingly humid out — we are entering a days-long heat wave — making this year's theme of The Fight Continues feel more like The Struggle Is Real.

Kids were the backbone of Pride this year.

On my way to the kickoff presser, I spied a family of hicks stumbling out of Port Authority, the teen son in a camo TRUMP cap, and then noticed a series of anti-vaxxer and anti-mask graffiti messages. I tried not to let this put me in the wrong mood. Most of New York state is vaxxed and I imagine way past 70% of NYC is by now, so the real nuts are in the minority, but it was still jarring to be reminded that fascism and populism masquerading as junk science are here to stay.

ABOVE: Help Dave raise some cash for a great cause.

BELOW: Keep reading for a gay paper's struggle to right itself post-pandemic, more Madonna Pride reviews, Thomas Doherty's thigh on parade and more ..

ABOVE: Come follow me on Instagram — you'll like it.

BELOW: Keep reading for a gay trailblazer in the music world, Madonna's secret revealed, a bipartisan breakthrough in the Senate and more ...

First press release I received re newcomer Britney: “At 16, Britney Spears enjoys being a girl.” (Image by Matthew Rettenmund)

Today, via Zoom, Britney Spears finally spoke out directly about her controversial conservatorship. I am not a fan of hers — I've never found her compelling on any level. In person, she was very nice, and I later had a weird business meeting with her that, in light of her current situation, is now much darker than I originally thought.

All that said, in spite of her gushing that she is happy on IG, Spears made it clear she lied and that she is desperately unhappy, and wants the conservatorship to end. In fact, she wants to sue her family.

She does not sound well to me, but she certainly sounds high-functioning and intelligent and articulate about her situation; she was not ranting.

I think the #FreeBritney movement — which has seemed like unhinged stans at times — has a lot of which to be proud, because they were right.

Britney's full statement to the court: