Queer Cafe

Cheers! Here's a toast to you! Here's to putting 2022 behind us! And here's to a fabulous 2023! Let's wring out the old and ring in the new! It's a brand new year! A new beginning! A fresh start! A clean slate! Best wishes and good luck! Here's wishing you much peace, happiness, success and optimism in the coming year! Here's hoping things will get better!

May your hope be rekindled and your passion restored.
May hurt turn to healing and wounds become wisdom.

May joy surround you and laughter infect you.

You Will Be Found

Out LGBTQ Celebrities

Best LGBTQ Films of 2022

Glee: This is Your New Year
LGBTQ Movies We’re Most Looking Forward to in 2023
Favorite Songs by LGBTQ Artists in 2022
LGBTQ Stars Who Came Out in 2022
Post Modern Jukebox: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Biggest LGBTQ Music Moments of 2022
Best Queer Books of 2022
Katy Perry: You're a Firework

Trans Books By Trans Authors in 2023

Baby There's COVID Outside

Celebrities Who Came Out as LGBTQ in 2022
Favorite LGBTQ Movies of 2022
LGBTQ Celebrities: Notable Coming Out Stories

Lesbian Highlights of 2022
Rod Stewart: Auld Lang Syne

Top LGBTQ TV Shows of 2022
Kasey Musgraves: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

LGBTQ Words Added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2022
LGBTQ Adult Population in United States Reaches 20 Million

Best Queer Video Games of 2022

Professional Men's Soccer Players Who Have Come Out
2022 LGBTQ Travel Trends

All the Drag Race Queens Who Won Crowns in 2022
Dan Fogelberg: Same Old Lang Syne
Celebrity LGBTQ Couples Who Got Engaged in 2022

ABBA: Happy New Year

Best Songs By Queer Artists in 2022
In 2022, LGBTQ Books Told New Stories and Experimented with Form
LGBTQ-Inclusive Films and Shows of 2022
Billboard: Best Pride Albums of 2022
2022: Violent Year for LGBTQ People

Athletes Who Came Out As LGBTQ in 2022

Every Celebrity That Came Out in 2022
Pentatonix: 12 Days Of Christmas

New Year Wishes

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right."
-Oprah Winfrey

"Hope smiles from the threshold of the new year, whispering, It will be happier."
-Alfred Lord Tennyson

"The New Year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written."
-Melody Beattie

"This is the new year. A new beginning. Another chance to turn it all around."
-Ian Axel

"May we always get what we need.

May we sometimes get what we want.

May we never get what we deserve."

-Irish Toast

"What can be said in New Year rhymes, that's not been said a thousand times?
The new years come, the old years go, we know we dream, we dream we know.
We rise up laughing with the light, we lie down weeping with the night.
We hug the world until it stings, we curse it then and sigh for wings.
We live, we love, we woo, we wed, we wreathe our prides, we sheet our dead.
We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear, and that's the burden of a year."
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox

“I have not always chosen the safest path. I've made my mistakes, plenty of them. I sometimes jump too soon and fail to appreciate the consequences. But I've learned something important along the way: I've learned to heed the call of my heart. I've learned that the safest path is not always the best path and I've learned that the voice of fear is not always to be trusted.”
-Steve Goodier

"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods.
There is a rapture on the lonely sea."
-Lord Byron

Top 10 National LGBTQ News Stories of 2022
Pentatonix: New Year's Day

Every Celebrity That Came Out in 2022

Best LGBTQ Films of 2022

2022: President Joe Biden's LGBTQ-History-Making Year

Best Songs By Queer Artists in 2022

Rob Thomas: Someday

Celebrities Who Came Out as LGBTQ in 2022
Best Queer Albums of 2022
Favorite LGBTQ Movies of 2022

Biggest LGBTQ News Stories of 2022
What Films, TV Shows, Books, and Music Did You Overlook in 2022?

Ingrid Michaelson: I Just Want to Be OK

Top Ships on Tumblr This Year Were All Queer

Best Queer Video Games of 2022

James Taylor: Auld Lang Syne

Top LGBTQ-Inclusive Films and Shows of 2022
Out LGBTQ Celebrities
Favorite LGBTQ TV Shows of 2022

Billboard: Best Pride Albums of 2022
Athletes Who Came Out As LGBTQ in 2022

New Year Song by ABBA

Best LGBTQ TV Shows of 2022
Pentatonix: Auld Lang Syne

Best LGBTQ Dating Sites 2022

LGBTQ Celebrities: Notable Coming Out Stories

Celebrity LGBTQ Couples Who Got Engaged in 2022
Favorite LGBTQ Books of 2022

This is Your New Year

Another year you made a promise, another chance to turn it all around,
And do not save this for tomorrow, embrace the past and you can live for now.

Speak louder that the words before you, and give them meaning no one else has found.
The role we play is so important, we are the voices of the underground,

Say everything you’ve always wanted, be not afraid of who you really are,
Because in the end we have each other, and that's at least one thing worth living for.

A million suns that shine upon me, A million eyes you are the brightest blue,
Let's tear the walls down that divide us, and build a statue strong enough for two.

[Source: Song by Ian Axel, This is the New Year]

Ian Axel: This is Your New Year

Athletes Who Came Out As LGBTQ in 2022

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

2021 Was Supposed to Be the Worst Year for LGBTQ Rights... Then Came 2022

Time Magazine Person of the Year: Volodymyr Zelensky
Favorite LGBTQ Books of 2022
LGBTQ-Inclusive Films and Shows of 2022

2022: Violent Year for LGBTQ People

All of the Celebrities Who Came Out in 2022
2022 LGBTQ Travel Trends

Top LGBTQ-Inclusive Films and Shows of 2022

Winners of LGBTQ Nation Heroes Award 2022

Katy Perry: You're a Firework

LGBTQ Stars Who Came Out in 2022
Favorite Songs by LGBTQ Artists in 2022

Biggest LGBTQ Music Moments of 2022
ABBA: Happy New Year

LGBTQ Words Added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2022

2022: President Joe Biden's LGBTQ-History-Making Year

Sundance Film Festival 2023: All the LGBTQ Movies We're Excited For

Rod Stewart: Auld Lang Syne

Billboard: Best Pride Albums of 2022

Favorite Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans TV Characters of 2022
Time Magazine Heroes of the Year: Women of Iran
2022 Out100 Honorees Changing the Game in Sports

Seasons of Love: Idina Menzel and Original Broadway Cast of Rent

In 2022, LGBTQ Books Told New Stories and Experimented with Form

Top LGBTQ TV Shows of 2022

Pentatonix: Auld Lang Syne

Cautiously Optimistic

It's easy to be optimistic at the start of a new year. But, listen up, here's the deal. Nobody claim 2023 as "your year," okay? We're all going to walk in real slow. Take it easy. Be good. Be quiet. Be cautious and respectful. Don't touch anything. And, most importantly, no sudden movements.

Yes, strains of Auld Lang Syne and fireworks may still be ringing in your ears. The year is still perfect. We are off to a good start.

So as we begin 2023, let’s not be naive enough to think that this year will be enormously better than any of the years that have preceded it. We know from experience that we have no idea what the next day brings, much less what the next 364 days will bring.

Let’s be adaptable to the challenges that the new year may bring. Being intractable and set in our ways won’t serve us well if we find ourselves in for another year of sudden changes in our schools, businesses and social lives.

There are challenges every year, yet we look back on some years with happy memories. Do we do so because those years were really that great? Or do we look back with fond memories because we adapted well to the challenges we faced?

Here's hoping the new year brings you and yours peace, happiness, fulfillment, good health and a treasure trove of wonderful memories that prompt you to look back on 2023 with fondness.

[Source: Times Observer, adapted]

Top 10 National LGBTQ News Stories of 2022
Winners of LGBTQ Nation Heroes Award 2022

All The Gays Nominated For 2023 Golden Globes
Favorite Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans TV Characters of 2022
2021 Was Supposed to Be the Worst Year for LGBTQ Rights... Then Came 2022

Bruce Springsteen: Auld Lang Syne

Best Queer Books of 2022

Rob Thomas: Someday

Time Magazine Heroes of the Year: Women of Iran
All of the Celebrities Who Came Out in 2022
Dan Fogelberg: Same Old Lang Syne

2022 Out100 Honorees Changing the Game in Sports

Biggest LGBTQ News Stories of 2022

Seasons of Love: Idina Menzel and Cast of Rent

What Films, TV Shows, Books, and Music Did You Overlook in 2022?

Best Queer Video Games of 2022

Pentatonix: New Year's Day

Every Celebrity That Came Out in 2022

2022: Violent Year for LGBTQ People

Trans Books By Trans Authors in 2023
Out LGBTQ Celebrities
Billboard: Best Pride Albums of 2022
Top Ships on Tumblr This Year Were All Queer

Best LGBTQ TV Shows of 2022

Athletes Who Came Out As LGBTQ in 2022

Katy Perry: You're a Firework

Best Queer Albums of 2022
In 2022, LGBTQ Books Told New Stories and Experimented with Form
LGBTQ-Inclusive Films and Shows of 2022

Rod Stewart: Auld Lang Syne

Best Songs By Queer Artists in 2022

Ingrid Michaelson: I Just Want to Be OK

"Well, another crazy year... You'll drink the night away, and forget about everything.
You used to think that it was so easy... You used to say that it was so easy... But you're trying, you're trying now.
Another year and then you'd be happy.... Just one more year and then you'd be happy... But you're crying', you're crying now."
-Gerry Rafferty, Baker Street

"An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves."
-Bill Vaughan

"Come, gentlemen, I hope we shall drink down all unkindness."
-William Shakespeare

“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”
-Thomas Jefferson

“No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.”
-Buddha

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go. They merely determine where you start.”
-Nido Qubein

New Year Full of Promise

"May you have the hindsight to know where you've been,

the foresight to know where you're going,

and the insight to know when you're going too far."
-Celtic Wisdom

“Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away! You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.”

-Dr. Seuss

"Maybe someday we'll figure all this out. Try to put an end to all our doubt. Try to find a way to make things better now. Maybe someday we'll live our lives out loud. We'll be better off somehow."
-Rob Thomas

"The New Year is full of promise, though you may also get a fair share of tough times. With each progressing year, you find yourself growing confident, experienced, and wise. That's the gift of the New Year. Raise a toast to the year that holds many promises. And may you be filled with optimism and enthusiasm."
-Simran Khurana

"For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning."
-TS Elliot

New Year Song by ABBA

Billboard: Best Pride Albums of 2022

Athletes Who Came Out As LGBTQ in 2022

2022: President Joe Biden's LGBTQ-History-Making Year

James Taylor: Auld Lang Syne

Trans Books By Trans Authors in 2023

Best LGBTQ Dating Sites 2022

LGBTQ Words Added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2022

Pentatonix: New Year's Day

Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality 2022
2021 Was Supposed to Be the Worst Year for LGBTQ Rights... Then Came 2022

Out LGBTQ Celebrities
Time’s 2022 Person of the Year: Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Biggest LGBTQ Music Moments of 2022
In 2022, LGBTQ Books Told New Stories and Experimented with Form
LGBTQ-Inclusive Films and Shows of 2022

Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg
Best LGBTQ Films of 2022

Post Modern Jukebox: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Top LGBTQ-Inclusive Films and Shows of 2022

Glee: This is Your New Year

2022: Violent Year for LGBTQ People

HRC Corporate Equality Index 2022

Best Gay Cities in 2022

Pentatonix: Auld Lang Syne

LGBTQ Celebrities Who Died in 2022
Drag Events Targeted with Threats and Violence 124 times in 2022

Bruce Springsteen: Auld Lang Syne

LGBTQ Stars Who Came Out in 2022
What Films, TV Shows, Books, and Music Did You Overlook in 2022?

Rod Stewart: Auld Lang Syne

Biggest LGBTQ News Stories of 2022

U2: New Year's Day

2022 LGBTQ Year in Review

- Television star MJ (Michaela Jaé) Rodriguez is the first transgender actor to win a Golden Globe award

- Transgender Jeopardy game show contestant Amy Schneider earns 40 consecutive wins ($1.3 million), second highest in history

- Andrea Jenkins is first openly transgender city council president (Minneapolis, MN)

- Gay fashion icon and editor André Leon Talley dies at 73

- Brittany Griner, lesbian WNBA athlete, is detained by Russian government (Released 10 months later)

- Arnie Kantrowitz, pioneering activist and GLAAD co-founder, dies at 81

- HIV discoverer Luc Montagnier dies at 89

- At least 35 out LGBTQ athletes compete in Beijing Olympic games

- Sam Brinton, non-binary, LGBTQ activist, drag queen, and fetishist, becomes Deputy Asst Secr at US Energy Dept Office of Nuclear Energy

- According to Gallup Poll, percent of Americans identifying as LGBTQ is 7.1%

- New Zealand bans conversion therapy

- Niecy Nash and Jessica Betts become first same-sex couple on Essence Magazine cover

- Lia Thomas becomes first out transgender athlete to win NCAA Div I title, finishing 1st place in women's 500-yard freestyle swim event

- Ariana DeBose, LGBTQ Latinx actor, wins Academy Award for West Side Story

Biggest LGBTQ News Stories of 2022

James Taylor: Auld Lang Syne

Best Songs By Queer Artists in 2022

Auld Lang Syne (Traditional)
Favorite LGBTQ TV Shows of 2022

Winners of LGBTQ Nation Heroes Award 2022

All The Gays Nominated For 2023 Golden Globes
Favorite Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans TV Characters of 2022
Time Magazine Heroes of the Year: Women of Iran
All of the Celebrities Who Came Out in 2022

Glee: This is Your New Year

Best Queer Books of 2022

Kasey Musgraves: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

New Year Song by ABBA

Post Modern Jukebox: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Best Gay Cities in 2022

LGBTQ Celebrities Who Died in 2022
Sundance Film Festival 2023: All the LGBTQ Movies We're Excited For

Pentatonix: 12 Days Of Christmas

Best LGBTQ TV Shows of 2022

Desiderata

- Florida governor and legislature pass bills to restrict classroom discussion around LGBTQ topics

- Lawmakers in several states copy Florida's example regarding bills to restrict classroom discussion around LGBTQ topics

- Ellen DeGeneres ends 19 seasons of the Ellen day time TV talk show

- TJ House, major league baseball player, comes out as gay

- President Biden signs historic executive order advancing LGBTQ equality

- Musicians Adam Lambert and Queen perform at Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee (Elizabeth dies 3 months later)

- Texas GOP party adopts shockingly explicit anti-LGBTQ platform

- US Supreme Court overturns Roe vs. Wade decision regarding abortion rights

- Slovenia legalizes same-sex marriage

- Monkeypox outbreak; majority of patients are men who have had sex with men

- Singapore decriminalizes sex between men

- Record number of states pass laws to curtail LGBTQ rights

- United Nations urges United States to improve its LGBTQ rights and protections

- Molly Kearney is first out non-binary cast member of Saturday Night Live TV show

Top 10 National LGBTQ News Stories of 2022
You Will Be Found

Best LGBTQ TV Shows of 2022

Sundance Film Festival 2023: All the LGBTQ Movies We're Excited For

Top Ships on Tumblr This Year Were All Queer

Happy New Year Quotes

Pentatonix: Auld Lang Syne

In 2022, LGBTQ Books Told New Stories and Experimented with Form
LGBTQ-Inclusive Films and Shows of 2022

All of the Celebrities Who Came Out in 2022
Best Queer Video Games of 2022

Top LGBTQ-Inclusive Films and Shows of 2022

LGBTQ Celebrities Who Died in 2022

Biggest LGBTQ Music Moments of 2022

Sanity Clause by The Marx Brothers
Top 10 National LGBTQ News Stories of 2022

Dan Fogelberg: Same Old Lang Syne

What Films, TV Shows, Books, and Music Did You Overlook in 2022?

LGBTQ Words Added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2022

Billboard: Best Pride Albums of 2022

Every Celebrity That Came Out in 2022

HRC Corporate Equality Index 2022

2021 Was Supposed to Be the Worst Year for LGBTQ Rights... Then Came 2022
Best Gay Cities in 2022

Biggest LGBTQ News Stories of 2022

Norah Jones: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Favorite LGBTQ TV Shows of 2022

2022: President Joe Biden's LGBTQ-History-Making Year

LGBTQ Stars Who Came Out in 2022
Best LGBTQ Films of 2022

2022: Violent Year for LGBTQ People

LGBTQ Celebrities Who Died in 2022
Auld Lang Syne by Mairi Campbell

Best LGBTQ Dating Sites 2022

Drag Events Targeted with Threats and Violence 124 times in 2022

Best Queer Albums of 2022
2022 LGBTQ Travel Trends

- Cuba votes to legalize same-sex marriage

- Karine Jean-Pierre, a gay black woman, appointed White House Press Secretary
- Long-running Scooby-Doo animated series features main character Velma as a lesbian

- Brazil elects two openly transgender women to congress

- Leslie Jordan, actor and comedian, dies in car crash at age 67

- Sam Smith and Kim Petras become first out non-binary and transgender musicians to rank no. 1 on Billboard Hot 100

- Mexico legalizes same-sex marriage

- LGBTQ candidates for public office are on the ballot in all 50 states

- Miss Argentina (Mariana Varela) and Miss Puerto Rico (Fabiola Valentín), of Miss Grand International pageant, married each other

- Maura Healey (Massachusetts) and Tina Kotek (Oregon) become first out lesbians elected governors in US

- Robert Garcia becomes first out gay immigrant in US Congress

- Qatar hosts World Cup amid protests and boycotts by participants, fans, and organizations due to anti-LGBTQ policies

- Same sex households in the US surpass 1 million for the first time

- New York City gay bar Julius' is declared a historical landmark
- Gunman kills 5 and injures 18 at Club Q gay club in Colorado

- Respect for Marriage Act signed into law, codifying federal protections for inter-racial and same-sex marriage

- Vivienne Westwood, fashion designer and activist, dies at 81

- Emilia Schneider becomes first trans woman elected deputy in the history of Chile

Ian Axel: This is Your New Year

Best Songs By Queer Artists in 2022

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

2021 Was Supposed to Be the Worst Year for LGBTQ Rights... Then Came 2022

Seasons of Love: Idina Menzel and Cast of Rent

Professional Men's Soccer Players Who Have Come Out
All the Drag Race Queens Who Won Crowns in 2022
Celebrity LGBTQ Couples Who Got Engaged in 2022

Pentatonix: New Year's Day

2022: Violent Year for LGBTQ People

Rod Stewart: Auld Lang Syne

Top LGBTQ TV Shows of 2022

Lea Michele: Auld Lang Syne

Time Magazine Person of the Year: Volodymyr Zelensky
Favorite LGBTQ Books of 2022
Winners of LGBTQ Nation Heroes Award 2022

Rob Thomas: Someday

ABBA: Happy New Year

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Transformative New Year

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done
before, and more importantly, you're doing something. So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make new mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art or love or work or family or life. Whatever it is you're scared of doing, do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”
-Neil Gaiman

“New Year's Day. A fresh start. A new chapter in life waiting to be written. New questions to be asked, embraced, and loved. Answers to be discovered and then lived in this transformative year of delight and self-discovery. Today carve out a quiet interlude for yourself in which to dream. Take a leap of faith and begin this wondrous new year by believing. Believe in yourself. And believe in your dreams. Only dreams give birth to change.”
-Sarah Ban Breathnach

"I hope there are days when your coffee tastes like magic, your playlist makes you dance, strangers make you smile, and the night sky touches your soul. I hope you fall in love with being alive again."

-Social Media Meme

“You live you learn. You love you learn. You cry you learn. You lose you learn. You bleed you learn. You scream you learn. You grieve you learn. You choke you learn. You laugh you learn. You choose you learn. You pray you learn. You ask you learn.”
-Alanis Morrissette

Top 10 National LGBTQ News Stories of 2022
Bruce Springsteen: Auld Lang Syne

LGBTQ Stars Who Came Out in 2022
2022: President Joe Biden's LGBTQ-History-Making Year

Ingrid Michaelson: I Just Want to Be OK

Trans Books By Trans Authors in 2023
Out LGBTQ Celebrities

Kasey Musgraves: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

2022 Out100 Honorees Changing the Game in Sports

Billboard: Best Pride Albums of 2022
Every Celebrity That Came Out in 2022

Athletes Who Came Out As LGBTQ in 2022

Biggest LGBTQ News Stories of 2022

James Taylor: Auld Lang Syne

All The Gays Nominated For 2023 Golden Globes
Favorite Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans TV Characters of 2022

Barry Manilow: It's Just Another New Year's Eve

Winners of LGBTQ Nation Heroes Award 2022

Time Magazine Heroes of the Year: Women of Iran
All of the Celebrities Who Came Out in 2022

Top Ships on Tumblr This Year Were All Queer

New Year Song by ABBA

Best Queer Video Games of 2022

Pentatonix: 12 Days Of Christmas

Desiderata

New Year's Good Luck Traditions

--Hoppin' John | In the southern US, it's said that anyone who makes this dish of black-eyed peas, pork, collard greens, and cornbread on January 1 will experience luck, peace and mostly prosperity for the rest of the year. The collard greens resemble money. The cornbread represents gold. The black-eyed peas are coins. Some families boost the potential of their Hoppin’ John by placing a penny underneath the dishes to bring more luck.

--Wear White | Brazil makes it easier too choose your New Year's Eve outfit. Everyone wears white for good luck and peace. Plus, matching outfits make for good photos!

--Jump Seven Waves | Also in Brazil, if you head to the beach, you can increase your luck by heading to the water and jumping over seven waves. You get one wish for each wave.

--Smash a Plate | In Denmark, broken dishes are a good thing. People go around breaking dishware on the doorsteps of their friends and family. The more shards there are in front of your home the next day, the luckier and more well liked you are.

Biggest LGBTQ Music Moments of 2022
Post Modern Jukebox: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Trans Books By Trans Authors in 2023

Baby There's COVID Outside

Favorite LGBTQ TV Shows of 2022

Best Queer Video Games of 2022

Top LGBTQ-Inclusive Films and Shows of 2022

Best Songs By Queer Artists in 2022

Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg

Favorite Songs by LGBTQ Artists in 2022

Best Queer Books of 2022

What Films, TV Shows, Books, and Music Did You Overlook in 2022?

Biggest LGBTQ News Stories of 2022

Athletes Who Came Out As LGBTQ in 2022

Bruce Springsteen: Auld Lang Syne

Celebrities Who Came Out as LGBTQ in 2022
Best LGBTQ TV Shows of 2022

Pentatonix: Auld Lang Syne

Lesbian Highlights of 2022
Favorite LGBTQ Movies of 2022
Best Queer Albums of 2022
LGBTQ Celebrities: Notable Coming Out Stories

In 2022, LGBTQ Books Told New Stories and Experimented with Form
U2: New Year's Day

Top LGBTQ TV Shows of 2022

Best LGBTQ Films of 2022

Rod Stewart: Auld Lang Syne

--Eat 12 Grapes | Yes, exactly 12, one at each stroke of midnight. That's what they do in Spain. Pop one grape for every month of the New Year. Eating one grape at each of midnight’s 12 clock chimes guarantees you a lucky year if and only if you simultaneously ruminate on their significance (Each grape represents an upcoming month.) If you fail to conscientiously finish your grapes by the time the clock stops chiming, you’ll face misfortune in the new year.

--Kiss a Loved One | You've heard of this one before. When the clock strikes midnight, you're supposed to kiss someone you love. And it's not just about stealing a smooch. This is borrowed from English and German folklore, which stated that it's the first person with whom a person came in contact that dictated the year’s destiny. Choose your partner wisely!

--Jump Into the New Year | Also, in Denmark, people stand on their chairs and "leap" into January at midnight to bring good luck and banish bad spirits.

--Grab a Suitcase | In Colombia, people take empty suitcases and run around the block as fast as they can. It's supposed to guarantee a year filled with travel.

--Smash the Peppermint Pig | In upstate New York, they sell special peppermint pigs all throughout the holiday season. Everyone gets to take a turn hitting it with a special candy-size hammer and eating a piece for good fortune in the coming year. The peppermint is very strong, so only take a small piece.

Top 10 National LGBTQ News Stories of 2022
Rob Thomas: Someday

LGBTQ Stars Who Came Out in 2022
2022: President Joe Biden's LGBTQ-History-Making Year

Bruce Springsteen: Auld Lang Syne

Favorite Songs by LGBTQ Artists in 2022

ABBA: Happy New Year

Favorite Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans TV Characters of 2022
Time Magazine Heroes of the Year: Women of Iran
Every Celebrity That Came Out in 2022

Sundance Film Festival 2023: All the LGBTQ Movies We're Excited For

Favorite LGBTQ TV Shows of 2022

2022 Out100 Honorees Changing the Game in Sports

Ingrid Michaelson: I Just Want to Be OK

2021 Was Supposed to Be the Worst Year for LGBTQ Rights... Then Came 2022

Top LGBTQ TV Shows of 2022

Kasey Musgraves: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Billboard: Best Pride Albums of 2022

--Open the Doors and Windows | It's a common superstition that opening the doors and windows will let the old year out, and the new year in unimpeded.

--Lucky Underwear | Certain countries, especially in Latin America, believe that the color of your underwear can bring good things to you in the next 12 months. Yellow is for luck. Red is for love. And white undies bring peace.

--Throw Water Out the Window | In Puerto Rico, they believe that dumping a bucket of water out the window drives away evil spirits. Puerto Ricans also sprinkle sugar outside their houses to invite the good luck in.

--Buy a New Lucky Charm | In Germany and Austria, there are a few different lucky symbols that you'd gift to friends and family to bring them good fortune. These include pigs, mushrooms, clovers and chimney sweeps. You can buy little tokens of these lucky charms at a Christmas market. Or get edible ones in fun combinations made out of marzipan.

--Save a Wish | Write down a resolution, goal, wish or note to your future self. Put it in a jar and save it for the year. On the next New Year's Eve, you can retrieve the jar and read the notes to see how far you have progressed.

[Source: Marisa Lascala, Good Housekeeping, Dec 2020]

Ian Axel: This is Your New Year

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

New Year Song by ABBA

Pentatonix: 12 Days Of Christmas

Baby There's COVID Outside

Dan Fogelberg: Same Old Lang Syne

Barry Manilow: It's Just Another New Year's Eve

Katy Perry: You're a Firework

Norah Jones: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Post Modern Jukebox: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Pentatonix: Auld Lang Syne

You Will Be Found

Desiderata

Looking Forward

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.”

-Eleanor Roosevelt

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”

-Harriet Tubman

“We all get the exact same 365 days. The only difference is what we do with them.”

-Hillary DePiano

"What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year."

-Vern McLellanmn

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”

-Margaret Mead

“New beginnings are in order, and you are bound to feel some level of excitement as new chances come your way.”

-Auliq Ice

“Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.”

-Helen Keller

“You’ve always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.”

-The Wizard of Oz

Top 10 National LGBTQ News Stories of 2022
Rod Stewart: Auld Lang Syne

Best LGBTQ Films of 2022

2022: President Joe Biden's LGBTQ-History-Making Year

Rob Thomas: Someday

Best Songs By Queer Artists in 2022

Dan Fogelberg: Same Old Lang Syne

Bruce Springsteen: Auld Lang Syne

Best Queer Books of 2022

Kasey Musgraves: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Pentatonix: Auld Lang Syne

HRC Corporate Equality Index 2022

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New Year's Resolutions

The New Year is the time most folks reflect on the past year and make promises to do better in the year to come. As another calendar year begins, it makes perfect sense that people might examine themselves, question the direction of their lives, seek to improve themselves, and make vows, plans and promises. Making New Year resolutions has become a real tradition.

For the queer community (or for anybody), it’s time to ask those questions all over again. What do I remember from last year? What mistakes did I make? What regrets do I have? What have I learned? What did I accomplish? In what ways did I succeed or fail? What decisions (good and bad) have I made?

Perhaps we should go a little easy on ourselves. Being LGBTQ in this current environment can sometimes be challenging. Perhaps we should put an end to the "New Year, New Me" mentality and just relax a little bit. After all, being proud of who you are without apology or compromise is the most critical goal. And if you are trying to improve yourself, remember that people don't change overnight and old habits can be tough to break.

So, before parading into the New Year making resolutions that will get broken a week later, here are a few tips for your consideration that hopefully won't get lost in the sea of confetti, cheap champagne and regrets. And, of course, these suggestions are purely for self-reflection and not intended to impose any kind of strict moral code.

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--Try dating without the dating apps and see how it goes. Interfacing is not the same as interacting. Who knows, you might find the love of your life at the bookstore or the neighborhood gay bar or a non-judgmental gym. And you might just enjoy honing your interpersonal skills and leading with your personal charm.

--Be a nicer person. You can choose your attitude and your behavior. Sometimes it's just easier to be a jerk. But, this year, what if you chose, instead, to be a more friendly, kind, compassionate, sensitive, empathetic, and patient person?

--Take a more active interest in politics. Equal rights for LGBTQ people are dependent on the vigilance of the LGBTQ community in demanding those rights and resisting oppression and injustice. Some LGBTQ folks, of course, have done a better job than others. Some have been protesting nonstop, signing petitions, and making calls for years. They've been active since day one and haven’t stopped. Consider getting more involved in the movement.

--Exercise for health, not just to show off a ripped bod. Fitness is important, of course. And taking care of our body is a good habit. But it is also important learn to love your body as it is and to be comfortable in your skin. Do you really have to starve yourself? Do you really have to look like a model? Understand that looks (and fashion) alone don't make the person. A pleasant personality and good manners do too.

--Take a trip to a gay mecca. Go to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Australia or Carnival in Rio. Visit Provincetown on Cape Code or Fire Island in New York or the Castro District in San Francisco or Key West in Florida.

--Make more time for reading. Increase your literacy and vocabulary. Expand your sources of information. Be more informed. Broaden your mind. Read for knowledge and for enrichment. And audiobooks and podcasts count as reading.

--Be more adventurous. Do something that frightens you. Face your fears. Try something outside of your comfort zone. The list can include learning to tap dance, skydiving, eating alone at a restaurant, doing karaoke, going to a nude beach, exploring drag or crossdressing, visiting a foreign country, learning a new hobby, getting a little kinky in bed. Having unprotected sex with a complete stranger should not be on the list.

--Be more intentional about relationships. Don't be afraid to begin a new romance or to tell that special person how you really feel about them. But, also, don’t be afraid to end a relationship that’s not going anywhere. And remember that it is okay to be single.

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--Learn more about queer history and queer pioneers. What happened at Stonewall? Do you know? Do you know any famous LGBTQ people? Who is Oscar Wilde? Are you familiar with any LGBTQ authors and literature? What are the origins of certain LGBTQ terminology? What do the various queer flags mean? Who is Sappho? Where does voguing come from?

--Diversify your music taste. Try to expand your appreciation for a wider genre of music beyond the the pop divas and disco queens. Even among LGBTQ artists there is an amazing variety of sounds that you might enjoy discovering. Divas like longtime LGBTQ ally and icon Ariana Grande are great, but there’s a whole new world of music out there that is just waiting to be explored.

--Be better at safe sex. The AIDS epidemic taught us critical lessons about sexually transmitted infections. If you’re on PrEP that’s awesome, but you can still get other STIs. It’s always good to wear a condom. Get tested regularly and be honest about your sexual activities and risk with your partners.

--Cut down on alcohol consumption. For your own long-term health, it might be good to have more nights on the town without getting drunk. We all know that alcohol loosens you up and makes you more sociable. But, if you find that the only way you can build up your courage is to get intoxicated, you might have a drinking problem.

[Source: Zachary Zane and Aniruddha Mahale; Edited]

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Wisdom for the New Year

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow."

-Albert Einstein

"Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."

-George Bernard Shaw

"It’s never too late, never too late to start over, never too late to be happy."

-Jane Fonda

"Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every New Year find you a better person."

-Benjamin Franklin

"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself."
-Rumi

"Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can."

-Danny Kaye

"Tomorrow is a new day. Begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been."
-Rainer Maria Rilke

Barry Manilow: It's Just Another New Year's Eve

Baby There's COVID Outside

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New Day's Lyric: Amanda Gorman
Ian Axel: This is Your New Year

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New Year Song by ABBA

You Will Be Found
Bruce Springsteen: Auld Lang Syne

Rob Thomas: Someday

Seasons of Love: Idina Menzel and Cast of Rent

Pentatonix: New Year's Day

Auld Lang Syne by Mairi Campbell

Happy New Year Quotes

Norah Jones: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Auld Lang Syne (Traditional)

You Will Be Found

Desiderata

Katy Perry: You're a Firework

Rod Stewart: Auld Lang Syne

Ingrid Michaelson: I Just Want to Be OK

Baby There's COVID Outside

New Year Blessing

May you be blessed with discomfort
At easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart

May you be blessed with anger
At injustice, oppression and exploitation of people
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace

May you be blessed with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, poverty and war
So that you may reach our your hand to comfort them
To turn their pain into joy.

And may you be blessed with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done

[Source: Sister Ruth Fox, Non-Traditional Benedictine Blessing, 1985]

Remember 2021?