Boy Culture Links: Another ICE Murder in Minnesota, LGBTQ+ Event at Sundance, Erika Kirk's Troubling Résumé, Michael Ontkean Is 80 + More
JANUARY 25, 2026
INSTAGRAM: I was born at the cottage when it comes to Michael Ontkean, who turned 80 this weekend.
HUFFINGTON POST: Protester in Minneapolis shot dead by feds over weapon. So, like, the right is way into open carry — just not when it’s a leftist? P.S. No reports suggest the man was brandishing/pointing the weapon. He was just armed, not attacking them.
Video shows that ICE shot the guy like 10 times at point-blank range.
From Occupy Democrats:
“BREAKING: The man brutally murdered by ICE in Minneapolis today FOR NO REASON has been identified as 37-year-old Minneapolis resident and American CITIZEN Alex Jeffrey Pretti.
“Alex was a registered nurse with NO CRIMINAL RECORD. He was an athlete and avid outdoorsman. He worked for the VA, where he cared for veterans. He had a legal permit to carry, and video clearly shows that he did NOT brandish his gun at ICE officers. He was an ICE observer who was legally recording the ICE agents’ actions when he was stopped, detained, DISARMED, and THEN shot several times by ICE agents.
“Alex had a permit to carry
“He was legally exercising his 2nd Amendment right.
“He did not draw the weapon.
“He was filming when they approached him.
“ICE agents had taken his weapon from its holster before they shot him.
“It was MURDER.
“Let all that sink in.”
FACEBOOK: Sammy Obeid’s stand-up comedy about Erika Kirk is conspiracy theory-driven funny-hmmm more than funny-ha-ha.
TIKTOK: Erika Quirk is the creation of drag queen Lauren Banall (who is a queen of drag names, if you ask me), and she is hilariously evil and weird:
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PEOPLE: Ko Tin Zaw Htwe, a social media star from Myanmar with nearly 1M followers on TikTok, was found murdered and dumped in a forest.
NY1: A new USPS rule regarding postmarks will disenfranchise people trying to vote by mail — and many probably won’t notice.
By the way, I’m a USPS fan and user, and yet I must say it’s rather shitty that they announced a rate increase only for the holiday season, and now that the season has ended, the rate increase has stayed in place — and nudged up a bit! Priority mail flat-rate envelopes are $11.95!
GLAAD: Frameline, GLAAD and New Fest teamed up to host the annual Cheers, Queers event at Sundance this week. Ryan Mitchell emceed and David Hatkoff, Allegra Madsen and Alex Schmider hosted bringing together a dizzying array of LGBTQ+ filmmakers and creatives, including:
Brydie O’Connor, Guinevere Turner, Jenni Olson, Jennie Livingston, Jeffrey Winter, Opal Bennett, Laurie Townshend, Karen Song, Maya Satya Reddy, Sav Rodgers, Yvonne Welbon, Christine Vachon, Cheryl Dunye, Jamie Kiernan O’Brien, Nik Dodani, Paloma Schneideman, Eugene Hernandez, Nisha Ganatra, Ryan White, Andria Wilson Mirza, Kimberly Reed, Sandi DuBowski, Kim Pierce, Aitch Alberto, Bing Chen, Erica Cobb, Kevin Xian Ming Yu, Meredith Marks and Yasmin Kassim
So, everyone but you and me!
This is the last Sundance that will be held in Park City, Utah. End of an era.
WASHINGTON BLADE: Judge slaps down D.C. request to dismiss a gay cop’s anti-bias lawsuit. Capt. Paul Hrebenak alleges he was illegally demoted simply for taking parental leave.
TWITTER: Two of straight porn’s biggest guns — Peter North and Tommy Gunn — met up at the AVNs, where North’s new doc Peter premiered. Peter did several iconic gay scenes early in his career, about which we all hope he will be candid in this movie.
