The AggreGAYtor: September 4

Diana Nyad has swum from Cuba to the U.S., proving that it can be done, and that therefore we must hire sharks with laser beams to protect the border. (Image via openwaterpedia.com)

Obama gives Putin the cold shoulder, the IRS gives married couples a break, and the Texas National Guard gives us a brewing scandal, as your AggreGAYtor applauds like a girl gone wild, a good girl gone wild.

The Good

• All legally married same-sex couples can now file joint tax returns with the IRS, but not those in “second-best” civil unions.

• President Obama plans to risk arrest in Russia by meeting with LGBTQ activists during the G20 Summit, after canceling meetings with President Putin.

• As our community continues to make strides, we mustn’t forget our allies in organized labor.

• The Archbishop of Canterbury calls on people of faith to stop kicking us while we’re down, but calls on us to stay down.

• Queer swimmer Diana Nyad became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage, at age 64.

The Bad

• Military branches administered by the State of Texas are defying post-DADT U.S. Department of Defense policy in denying benefits to same-sex couples.

• “My friends tell me that if I go back to Iran, the government will welcome me home by killing me.”

The Fugly

• Talib Kweli thinks that to combat homophobia in hip hop, there just needs to be someone who’s “better than everyone else.” Eat it, Talib.

It Came from the Tubes