We asked readers what they’re most (and least) looking forward to in 2025, as well as their plans and resolutions for the new year. Here’s what they had to say.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
How are you planning to celebrate New Year’s Eve?
RICHARD A., 46, Gay, D.C.: I’ll be hanging out with friends in our birthday suits!
GORDON BINDER, 76, Gay, D.C.: Time was back when we’d be out New Year’s Eve until early morning hours at one of D.C.’s discos, partying with friends. As we get on in years, however, those days are over, and likely my husband Michael and I will have a quiet celebration at home to welcome the new year.
SISTER WANDA DREAMS, 75, Gay, D.C.: I will probably be at home packing for a move to Virginia!
DAN E., 59, Gay, Silver Spring, Maryland: I’m planning on having a drink.
CHRISTOPHER G., 60, Gay, Falls Church, Virginia: At a nearby friend’s place with six people, having a meal, playing a game, soaking in the hot tub, toasting the new year.
CHRISTOPHER H., 30, Ally, Ireland: I plan to celebrate New Year’s Eve with my family and friends. Every year we spend the day together, sharing stories, baking treats, and watching films.
DAVID HOLLINGSWORTH, 39, Gay, Fayetteville, North Carolina: Full of worry and anxiety.
WILLIAM WEST HOPPER, 67, Gay, D.C.: My normal New Year’s ritual is a fire in the fireplace or something on the stove. I am not a night person, so enjoying time at home is my go-to. Though for this year, it does not mean it has to be that way. Who knows, a little romance may come my way, and I might share that with someone special or change it out completely.
BLAIR MICHAELS, 59, Gay, Buffalo, New York: I’ll be going out for the first time in four New Years to get my groove in with Brad, my husband of 34 years. We’ve not been able to due to health issues and we’re really looking to start 2025 on a great note. Going to Niagara Falls and Casino for a lobster and steak dinner.
JOHN MILLWE, 80, Gay, New York City: Instead of going out, we’re planning a quiet night at home, eating our shrimp cocktail, chips with onion dip, and drinking our champagne. We’ll watch on TV the ball drop ringing in the New Year instead of being at Times Square. As we get older, crowds are less appealing, and our relationship, more so.
RAMSEY PFEFFINGER, 26, Gay, Seattle, Washington: I am working until 8:30 p.m., and from there it will be a mad dash to get home and into the button-up shirt I bought for this occasion four months ago. Once I am freshened up, ready to see my favorite gay boys in Seattle, I’ll meet Pavel and Ben at Ryan’s apartment for some cocktails found off Pinterest. Finally, we will head out to Capitol Hill and wait for the Space Needle fireworks to blast off. It’s my first New Year’s Eve in the city, so I am excited to see how my neighbors celebrate!
MALCOLM R., 55, Gay, Knoxville, Tennessee:I am planning to celebrate New Year’s Eve 2025 with good friends who have created a safe space for me and my family. It will be a private event sharing food, stories, and hopes for the coming year. Making resolutions to strengthen our communities of support and advocacy. A celebration that expresses love for each other as we say farewell to one year and brace for the new one.
JOSE ROMERO, 46, Gay, D.C.: I plan on trekking out to the suburbs to hang out with some Maryland friends at their home. They always host an amazing potluck. I still don’t know what I’m making.
EDWARD S., 69, Gay, Farmville, Virginia: We are not fond of silly or angry drunk crowds. And too often, NYE celebrations mix up both. We prefer a quiet observance of the evening and a celebration on New Year’s Day: sometimes in the old Southern fashion of a simple, low-cost meal (e.g., cornbread, black eye peas with a bit of ham), and sometimes with a posher meal (Asian buffet). Sometimes going out to a movie we’ve intended to see, and sometimes a long/epic movie at home (we watch in two parts). Always a long walk. Virginia State Parks offer “First Day Walks” all over Virginia!
HOWARD S., 59, Gay, Canada: As usual, it will be alone on my couch. A little take-out dinner, some wine, and I’ll probably pass out before the clock strikes midnight.
BOB WITECK, 73, Gay, Arlington, Virginia: Guy Lombardo and Dick Clark having passed on, I enjoy an early dinner, a good book, and slumber by 9 p.m.
What are you looking forward to MOST in 2025?
JAMES ASHTON, 25, Bisexual, U.K.: Of course, the road to Pride and Eurovision is massive for me. And finishing my degree!
MIGUEL AYALA, 45, Gay, D.C.: WorldPride and the Capitol Cup, which promises to be an exhilarating time for all who attend.
DAN E.: I’m looking forward to WorldPride. I need to be uplifted.
WILLIAM WEST HOPPER: I have been living under a dark cloud over the last few years due to the passing of my life partner of 40 years. I want to expand my boundaries, as I started to in 2024, when I went to a masturbation convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with some friends and 250 other gay men. So who knows what my Project 2025 will be all about?
GLEN LOVELAND, 49, Gay, Scottsdale, Arizona: The hope for world peace! The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has been a stark reminder of the fragility of international stability. The end of this war is not just a desire for the people of Ukraine, but a necessity for global harmony.
JOSHUA MAXEY, 32, Gay, D.C.: I am looking forward to celebrating life more and all the identities I hold. With D.C. hosting WorldPride and my own congregation, Bet Mishpachah, D.C.’s LGBTQ+ Synagogue, celebrating 50 years, there are many opportunities for joy in 2025.
JOHN MILLWE: I turn 80 in January, so I look forward to living another year with gusto. My partner and I will celebrate our 31st year together in 2025, and our love for each other only grows stronger. I look forward to new adventures together, like seeing more Broadway musicals and hopefully doing some traveling. Europe, here we come!
RAMSEY PFEFFINGER: I am most looking forward to traveling. I’m hoping to finally stay at the Trixie Motel in Palm Springs. I just got tickets to see Patti LuPone in New York on St. Patrick’s Day. I’m going to Paris to meet some friends I met studying back in 2019. The world is really beautiful, and there is nothing better than meeting new people.
MALCOLM R.: I am looking forward to moving my family to a more accepting and progressive part of the country and reconnecting with old friends within the District and Virginia. While I will regret leaving the wonderful friends I have made in Knoxville, Tennessee is not a state I want to raise my child in.
RICKARD SIMON, 77, Gay, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Performing at WorldPride 2025 with the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus in Washington, D.C. in June.
PATRICK WOODS, 44, Gay, D.C.: WorldPride 2025.
ROBERT YORK, 56, Gay, D.C.: Bringing the world to Washington, D.C. for WorldPride 2025 and the 50th anniversary of Capital Pride. This is my 30th year with our Capital Pride family, and I am so proud to be a part of an organization that is constantly growing and thriving to allow space and opportunities for every person in our rich tapestry of the LGBTQ community.
What are you looking forward to LEAST in 2025?
JAMES ASHTON: I don’t like to anticipate negativity. I like to try and make the year ahead look as positive as can be and deal with any challenges ahead with a clear mind and reasoning.
MIGUEL AYALA: Inauguration Day.
GORDON BINDER: I expect a lot of chaos as the incoming Trump team attempts to implement its upending agenda in so many areas. Protests, litigation, curtailing Home Rule here in D.C., endless news stories, along with attacks on traditional media. What I fear most is violence spurred by the far right. Not to ignore growing controversies and violence around the world.
DAVID CLARKE, 39, Gay, Brooklyn, New York: As an openly gay man in a domestic partnership with a Mexican-American gay man, even living in the relative safety of New York City, I can’t ignore the threats posed to our human rights by the return of Trump’s politics. His administration’s Project 2025 plan is particularly alarming. It openly aims to dismantle protections for LGBTQ people, including rolling back marriage equality and healthcare access. The rhetoric around “state’s rights” and “religious freedom” feels like a direct attack on our ability to live authentically and safely.
SISTER WANDA DREAMS: The chaos of Trump!
DAN E.: Trump being president. Yuck!
CHRISTOPHER G.: Hearing and reading about the horrific things the Trump administration is going to perpetrate on the country and world. Seeing people I know and care about living in fear instead of joy and hope.
CHRISTOPHER H.: I’m not looking forward to the ever-rising hatred that has been given the platform to grow.
GLEN LOVELAND: What I’m dreading most about 2025 isn’t any single policy or decision. It’s the cumulative effect, the slow-motion dismantling of democratic norms that we’ve seen before, but now with an added layer of retribution and institutional knowledge of how to do it more effectively.
Here’s the thing — and this is crucial: we are not just looking at the typical push and pull of partisan politics. What we’re facing is an administration that has openly stated its intentions to reshape the federal government, particularly the Justice Department and civil service, in ways that fundamentally alter its independence and core functions. And here’s where it gets really concerning — there’s a methodical playbook now.
The first term was chaotic, yes, but it was also a learning experience for those who want to consolidate power. They’ve spent years planning how to avoid the pitfalls and resistance they encountered the first time around. So when I look at 2025, what keeps me up at night isn’t just the policies — though, believe me, those are concerning enough — it’s the systematic restructuring of government institutions in ways that could fundamentally change how our democracy functions.
JOSHUA MAXEY: The unknown of the incoming administration is a cause of concern for many, especially when dealing with proposed rollbacks in the rights and protection of the LGBTQ community. But we are a resilient group and will continue to fight for our rights because we are not going anywhere.
JOHN MILLWE: I am not looking forward to Trump’s second term, but I am eager to help resist it in as many ways as I can. So much is on the line for our country and our world with him in power once again. Daily chaos will invade our lives, so we must fight it with all our might.
RAMSEY PFEFFINGER: I am least looking forward to the constant barrage of new horrors unleashed every morning by the new presidential transition team settling into power. I remember the waves of uncertainty, backlash, and doubling down from every corner of the country last time.
MALCOLM R.: The beginning of the president-elect’s time in office and all the destruction it will bring. The suppression, stripping, and denying of rights to come. The unjust struggle that individuals and communities will have to endure. And the loss of so many and so much as a result of his ascendance and those like him.
JOSE ROMERO: I think, like most people in D.C., I’m not looking forward to the further deterioration of the rights of marginalized communities.
EDWARD S.: A world increasingly consumed by idiots and villains on the Internet, from the Right, from the Left, making money fraudulently or immorally, treating people abusively, propagating lies, fears, anxiety, and anger.
HOWARD S.: It’s been a tough 4 months since my mother passed, and I’ve been taking care of my dad in her absence. I don’t look forward to the anniversary date of her passing, but I suppose it is inevitable.
CHARLES W., 59, Bisexual, Hyattsville, Maryland: The new political cabinet and their potential actions.
BOB WITECK: Explaining to high school students that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is exactly the opposite of everything his father, Robert F. Kennedy, stood for and believed.
PATRICK WOODS: Donald Trump’s inauguration.
JEFF Y., 55, Bisexual, Alexandria, Virginia: The incoming administration seems to herald a heartbreaking shift toward hate, divisiveness, and disregard for the rule of law.
ROBERT YORK: A former president being inaugurated again, and the people that surround him that fully want to implement Project 2025.
What are your hopes for the LGBTQ community in 2025?
JAMES ASHTON: I want conversion therapy completely banned and made illegal in the U.K. (and everywhere, for that matter). For my American friends across the pond, I have a lot of fear for the LGBTQ community because of the new American government, but I wish them to all stay true to themselves and fight for what they believe in.
MIGUEL AYALA: That we hold together as a whole community, standing behind our trans friends, our immigrant family, and everyone who comes under attack by the hatemongers.
GORDON BINDER: While I’m not holding my breath, I do hope that the mounting attacks on the queer community (all-inclusive) will fade or be blocked by an outpouring of support. WorldPride here in D.C., I hope, will be a festive occasion we can all celebrate.
DAVID CLARKE: My hopes for the LGBTQ+ community are rooted in a vision of safety, unity, and progress. I dream of a future where violence against trans people is not just reduced but eradicated and where our rights are solidified in federal legislation, ensuring protection for all, no matter who holds power.
I also hope to see our community come together in celebration of the diverse tapestry we represent. From our varied tastes in art and music to the groundbreaking, creative solutions we contribute to the world’s challenges, our differences are our greatest strength. Finally, I would love to see an end to divisive movements like “LGB without the T.” True progress comes when we stand together, honoring and uplifting every identity within our beautifully diverse community. Together, there’s so much we can achieve.
NICK COLLINS, 65, Gay, Lewes, Delaware: Peace and love, especially for my trans brothers and sisters.
SISTER WANDA DREAMS: That we survive the chaos of Trump!
CHRISTOPHER G.: Getting through the next four years without losing too many lives to horrendous policies and suicides. Learning how to regroup to protect and nurture our community, and bring allies to our cause to help us not lose ground.
CHRISTOPHER H.: 2025 will be an incredibly terrifying and tumultuous year for the LGBTQ community with the return of Donald Trump to the White House. My hope is the community can seek refuge in each other’s care and that their families continue to learn and better themselves for the love of their LGBTQ relatives.
WILLIAM WEST HOPPER: It is crucial that we support our young and coming-out LGBTQ kids, helping them become comfortable in their skins and productive citizens of the world.
ROBERT KESTEN, 60, Gay, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida: That we come together as a community in ways we never have before — including the fight against HIV/AIDS.
GLEN LOVELAND: My hope for the LGBTQ community in 2025 is that we continue riding this wave of progress but with even more fierce, unapologetic authenticity. I want to see more queer representation in every corner of culture — from the boardroom to the big screen — and more protection for LGBTQ kids who are just trying to live their truth. And let’s talk about love, because we deserve all of it. I want fewer barriers to marriage, adoption, and healthcare globally.
DENNY LYON, 80, Gay, Baltimore, Maryland: Get a grip on reality and stop the in fighting. We just need to get along and be supportive of one another.
RAMSEY PFEFFINGER: I hope everyone in vulnerable groups across the country sees a challenge to be won, rather than a battle to be lost. We are stronger together. This upcoming year, we will have an opportunity to reform our political power, invest in our well-being, and exercise our rights in new, and dare I say exciting, ways.
MALCOLM R.: I hope the LGBTQ community can strengthen our network of support and advocacy. Build bastions of safety for those most vulnerable in our community and organize platforms from which to fight against those who deny us human dignity. To become beacons of understanding, self-worth, and joy. Joy, most of all. Celebrating who we are in the face of open hatred and supporting each other through it.
EDWARD S.: I hope, but do not expect, LGBTQ national and state organizations, cultural institutions, and media to actually and faithfully respect and include rural and other working-class LGBTQ! We have always been neglected, unheard, and unserved by LGBTQ media and national groups (name all of them: none have strong rural services). Even state “equality” groups, the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, etc., have few or usually no rural services.
CHARLES W.: I hope that WorldPride is a massive success for the D.C. region.
BOB WITECK: I hope the LGBTQ community is empowered by our tremendous gifts, and uses them to build strong, enduring coalitions for change with all Americans who believe as we do. We are a cradle of love — and that always outlasts hate.
JEFF Y.: That the community continues to demonstrate support for our brothers and sisters, compassion for all, resilience in the face of bigotry and adversity, and clear-eyed policy approaches to the difficult challenges with which we wrestle.
What are your New Year’s resolutions?
JAMES ASHTON: To eliminate any toxic friendships.
GORDON BINDER: To get back into creating artwork, reading a backlog of appealing books, and getting to the gym regularly.
NICK COLLINS: Trying to maintain sanity during these trying times.
CHRISTOPHER G.: Avoid reading about Trump and his train wreck of a clown show, spend more time with friends and neighbors, being easier on myself and my shortcomings. Living for small pleasures in life.
CHRISTOPHER H.: My resolutions are to not worry as much, and to find solace in what I have rather than being disappointed in what I don’t.
WILLIAM WEST HOPPER: Expand my personal horizons and continue to grow as a gay man in my sixties, as sadly, many of my compatriots never made it due to the AIDS epidemic that I was able to live through in my twenties and thirties. I want to do more things with friends, enjoy great cars, and have exciting travel adventures.
ROBERT KESTEN: Never make them.
GLEN LOVELAND: First up, I’m finally going to stop pretending my “occasional” UberEats habit isn’t slowly bankrupting me. Look, I know my mum would be horrified at how much I’m spending on delivered dumplings when I could just make them, but 2025 is the year I will actually learn to budget like a proper adult. Maybe. I’m also promising to call my family more often. Not just when I need my mum’s recipe for chocolate cake or when my sister has posted something cryptic on Instagram that requires immediate investigation. Look, we all know New Year’s resolutions are basically elaborate lies we tell ourselves while still slightly hungover from New Year’s Eve, but hey, a boy can dream, right?
JOHN MILLWE: I always want to eat better, exercise more, and limit the clutter in my life. Once again, I will resolve to do this, but with stronger intentions and realistic strategies to meet my goals. More importantly, I also want to deepen my relationships and honor the love that sustains me.
JOSE ROMERO: To continue to strongly support the queer community in D.C.
Use my Peloton more. Wear more fabulous shoes.
HOWARD S.: To gain new employment with a progressive company that won’t be hit by a recession or a poor economy. I’m hoping that Mr. Trump goes easy on the tariffs with Canada.
MARK SCHULTE, 59, Bisexual, New York City: To take better care of my health.
RICKARD SIMON: More home improvements on my residence. Better self-realization and growth.
More personal volunteering and service in my community. The last of which I have no control over is a romantic relationship. Not that we have to move in together, but to know another man who wants to spend as much time with me as I want to spend with him.
GRANT SUTOR VUILLE, 74, Gay, United States: Eating a healthy vegetarian diet and contributing to animal and environmental charities.
CHARLES W.: I don’t really have resolutions anymore, but weight loss is always on the agenda.
BOB WITECK: New Year’s resolutions are like pie crusts. Easily made, more easily broken. After 73 years, I know the path forward, and it is trying to do good every single day.
PATRICK WOODS: I don’t believe in resolutions, just goals. My goal is to be the best version of myself, give back to my community, and laugh and find joy in the little things.
DOUG Y., 68, Gay, Fairfax, Virginia: Stop loathing Trump — just settle for not liking him.
JEFF Y.: That I demonstrate staunch control over any outrage and fear that I experience, and resilience in the face of unfairness and adversity. That I continuously stand in support of people and causes that build a better present and future for our world. That I show unwavering consideration and compassion for all — even those with whom I disagree. And that I face, clear-eyed, the future and the challenges with which we wrestle.
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Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
